156 



CONGRESS. (PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE.) 



before the prisoner's examination, would prevent a 

 long and expensive judicial inquiry into a charge 

 which the foreign government might not desire to 

 press. 1 also recommend that express provision be 

 made for the immediate discharge from custody of 

 persons committed for extradition where the Presi- 

 dent is of opinion that surrender should not be made. 



The drift of sentiment in civilized communities to- 

 ward full recognition of the rights of property in the 

 creations of the human intellect has brought about 

 the adoption, by many important nations, of an In- 

 ternational Copyright Convention, which was signed 

 at Berne on the 18th of September, 1885. 



Inasmuch as the Constitution gives to Congress the 

 power " to promote the progress of science and useful 

 arts by securing for limited times to authors and in- 

 ventors the exclusive right to their respective writings 

 and discoveries," this Government did not feel war- 

 ranted in becoming a signatory pending the action of 

 Congress upon measures of international copyright 

 now before it, but the right of adhesion to the Berne 

 Convention hereafter, has been reserved. I trust the 

 subject will receive at your hands the attention it de- 

 serves, and that the just claims of authors, so urgently 

 pressed, will be duly heeded. 



Kepresentations continue to be made to me of the 

 injurious effect upon American artists studying abroad 

 and having free access to the art collections of foreign 

 countries, of maintaining a discriminating duty against 

 the introduction of the works of their brother artists 

 of other countries ; and I am induced to repeat my 

 recommendation for the abolition of that tax. 



Pursuant to a provision of the diplomatic and con- 

 sular appropriation act, approved July 1, 1836, the 

 estimates submitted by the Secretary of State for the 

 maintenance of the consular service have been recast, 

 on the basis of salaries for all officers to whom such 

 allowance is deemed advisable. Advantage has been 

 taken of this to redistribute the salaries of the offices 

 now appropriated for, in accordance with the work 

 performed, the importance of the representative duties 

 of the incumbent, and the cost of living at each post. 

 The last consideration has been too often lost signt of 

 in the allowances heretofore made. The compensa- 

 tion which may suffice for the decent maintenance of 

 a worthy and capable officer in a position of onerous 

 and representative trust at a post readily accessible, 

 and where the necessaries of life are abundant ana 

 cheap, may prove an inadequate pittance in distant 

 lands, where the better part of a year's pay is con- 

 sumed in reaching the post of duty, and where the 

 comforts of ordinary civilized existence can only be 

 obtained with difficulty and at exorbitant cost. I 

 trust that, in considering the submitted schedules, no 

 mistaken theory of economy will perpetuate a system 

 which in the past has virtually closed to deserving 

 talent many offices where capacity and attainments of 

 a high order are indispensable, and in not a few in- 

 stances has brought discredit on our natioral charac- 

 ter and entailed embarrassment and even suffering on 

 those deputed to uphold our dignity and interests 

 abroad. 



In connection with this subject I earnestly reiterate 

 the practical necessity of supplying some mode of 

 trustworthy inspection and report of the manner in 

 which the consulates are conducted. In the absence 

 of such reliable information, efficiency can scarcely bo 

 rewarded, or its opposite corrected. 



Increasing competition in trade has directed atten- 

 tion to the value of consular reports printed by the 

 Department of State, and the efforts of the Govern- 

 ment to extend the practical usefulness of these re- 

 ports have created a wider demand for them at home 

 and a spirit of emulation abroad. Constituting a rec- 

 ord of the changes occurring in trade and of the prog- 

 ress of the arts and invention in foreign countries, they 

 are much sought for by all interested in the subjects 

 which they embrace. 



The report of the Secretary of the Treasury exhibits 

 in detail the condition of the public finances and of 



the several branches of the Government related to his 

 department. I especially direct the attention of the 

 Congress to the recommendations contained in this 

 and the last preceding report of the Secretary, touch- 

 ing the simplification and amendment of the laws re- 

 lating to the collection of our revenues ; and in the 

 interest of economy and justice to the Government, 

 I hope they may be adopted by appropriate legis- 

 lation. 



The ordinary receipts of the Government for the fis- 

 cal year ended June 30, 1886, were 1336,439,727 06. 

 Of tnis amount $192,905,023.41 was received from cus- 

 toms and 1116,805,936.48 from internal revenue. The 

 total receipts, as here stated, were $13,749,020.68 great- 

 er than tor the previous year, but the increase from 

 customs was $11,434,084.10, and from internal reve- 

 nue $4,407,210.94, making a gain in these items for 

 the last year of $15.841,295.04 a falling off in other 

 resources reducing the total increase to the smaller 

 amount mentioned. 



The expense, at the different custom-houses, of col- 

 lecting this increased customs revenue was less than 

 the expense attending the collection of such revenue 

 for the preceding year by $490,608 ; and the increased 

 receipts of internal revenue were collected at a cost 

 to the Internal - Eevenue Bureau $155.944.99 less 

 than the expense of such collection for tne previous 

 year. 



The total ordinary expenses of the Government for 

 the fiscal year ended June 30, 1886, were $242,483,- 

 138.50, being less by $17,788,797 than such expendi- 

 tures for the year preceding, and leaving a surplus in 

 the Treasury at the close of the last fiscal year of $93,- 

 956,588.56 as against $63,463,771.27 at the close of the 

 previous year, being an increase in such surplus of 

 $30,492,817.29. 



The expenditures are compared with those of the 

 preceding fiscal year, and classified as follow : 



For the current year to end June 30, 1887. the ascer- 

 tained receipts up* to Oct. 1, 1886, with such receipts 

 estimated for the remainder of the year, amount to 

 $356,000,000. 



The expenditures ascertained and estimated for the 

 same period are $266,000,000, indicating an anticipated 

 surplus at the close of the year of $90.000.000. 



The total value of the exports from the United States 

 to foreign countries during the fiscal year is stated and 

 compared with the preceding year as follows : 



The value of some of our leading exports during the 

 last iiscal year, as compared with the value of the 

 same for the year immediately preceding, is here giv- 

 en, and furnishes information both interesting and 

 suggestive : 



