CONGRESS. (THE PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE.) 



1'J? 



$829,402,402, also exceeded the annual average value 



of the ten years prior to IH'.H by $i:i:>,--l ; ",9 '" "r- 

 ing tlu- fiscal year IH'.II; the value of ini|irU< fret- of 

 duty amounted to $457,999,658, the largest aggregate 

 in the history of our commerce. The value t' the 

 import.* >!' merchandise entered free of duty in !M*vJ 

 was 6.V.".". JUT cent, of tin- toul valuo of inii>ort, as 

 compurc.l with 43*35 per cent in 1891 and 38-06 per 

 cent, lit 1890. 



In our coastwise truth- a most encouraging develop- 

 ment is in progress, there having been in the lust 

 four years an increase of 16 per cent. In internal 

 commerce the statistics show that no such period of 

 prosperity has ever before existed. The freight car- 

 ric.l in the coastwise trade of the Great Lakes in 1890 

 aggregated 28,295,959 tons. On the Mississippi, Mis- 

 souri, and Ohio rivers and tributaries in the same 

 vear the traffic aggregated 29,405,046 tons, and the 

 total vessel tonnage passing through the Detroit 

 river during that year was 21,fi84,000 tons. The 

 vessel tonnage entered and cleared in the foreign 

 trade of London during 1890 amounted to 13,480,767 

 tons, and of Liverpool 10,941,800 tons, a total for 

 these two great shipping ports of 24,422,568 tons, only 

 slightly in excess of the vessel tonnage passing 

 through the Detroit river. And it should be said 

 that the season for the Detroit river was but two 

 hundred and twenty-eight days, while, of course, in 

 London and Liverpool the season was for the entire 

 year. The vessel toniiage passing through the St. 

 Mary's Canal for the fiscal year 1892 amounted to 

 9,828,874 tons, and the freight'tonnage of the Detroit 

 river is estimated for that year at 25,000,000 tons, 

 against 23.209,619 tons in 1891. The aggregate traffic 

 on our railroads for the year 1891 amounted to 704,- 

 398,609 tons of freight, compared with 691,344,437 

 tons in 1890, an increase of 13,054,172 tons. 



Another indication of the general prosperity of the 

 country is found in the fact that the number of de- 

 positors in savings banks increased from 693,870 in 

 1860 to 4,258,893 in 1890, an increase of 513 per cent., 

 and the amount of deposits from $149,277,504 in 1860 

 to $1,524,844,506 in 1890, an increase of 921 per cent. 

 In 1891 the amount of deposits in savings banks was 

 $1,623,079,749. It is estimated that 90 per cent of 

 these deposits represent the savings of wage earners. 

 The bank clearances for nine months ending Sept. 

 30, 1891, amounted to $41,049,390,808. For the same 

 months in 1892 they amounted to $45,189,601,947, an 

 excess for the nine months of $4,140,211,139. 



There never has been a time in our history when 

 work was so abundant or when wages were as high, 

 whether measured by the currency in which they are 

 paid or by their power to supply the necessaries and 

 comforts of life. It is true that the market prices of 

 cotton and wheat have been low. It is one of the 

 unfavorable incidents of agriculture that the farmer 

 can not produce upon orders. Ho must sow and reap 

 in ignorance of the aggregate production of the year, 

 and is peculiarly subject to the depreciation which 

 follows overproduction. But, while the fact I have 

 stated is true as to the crops mentioned, the general 

 average of prices has been such as to give to agricul- 

 ture a fair participation in the general prosperity. 

 The value of our total farm products has increased 

 from $1,363,646,866 in 1860 to $4,500,000,000 in 1891, 

 as estimated by statisticians, an increase of 230 per 

 cent The number of hogs, Jan. 1, 1891, was 50,625,- 

 106, and their value $210,193,925 ; on Jan. 1, 1892, the 

 number was 52,398,019, and the value $241,031,415. 

 On Jan. 1, 1891, the number of cattle was 36,875,648, 

 and the value $544,127,908; on Jan. 1, 1892, the num- 

 ber was 37,651,239, and the value $570,749,155. 



If any are discontented with their state here ; if 

 any believe that wages or prices, the returns for hon- 

 cst toil, arc inadequate, they should not fail to re- 

 member that there is no other country in the world 

 where the conditions that seem to the'm hard would 

 not be accepted as highly prosperous. The English 

 agriculturist would be glad to exchange the returns 

 ol his labor for those of the American fanner, and 



the Manchester workmen their wages for those of 

 their fellows tit Fall Kiver. 



I believe that tin- protective system, which has now 

 for something more than thirty years continuously 

 prevailed in our legislation, has been u mighty instru- 

 ment for the development of our national wealth 

 und a most powerful agency in protecting the home.* 

 of our workingmen from the invasion of want I 

 have felt a most solicitous interest to preserve to our 

 working people rates of wages that would not only 

 give daily bread, but supply a comfortable margin 

 for ttiose home attractions and family comfort,-* and 

 enjoyments without which life is neither hopeful nor 

 sweet. They are American citizens a part of tin- 

 great people for whom pur Constitution and Govern- 

 ment were framed and instituted and it can not be 

 a perversion of that Constitution to so legislate as to 

 preserve in their homes the comfort, independence, 

 loyalty, and sense of interest in the Government 

 which are essential to good citizenship in peace, and 

 which will bring this stalwart throng, as in 1661, to 

 the defense of the flag when it is assailed. 



It is not my purpose to renew here the argument 

 in favor of a protective taritF. The result of the re- 

 cent election must be accepted as having introduced 

 a new policy. We must assume that the present 

 tariff, constructed upon the lines of protection, is to 

 be repealed, and that there is to be substituted for it 

 a tariff law constructed solely with reference to reve- 

 nue ; that no duty is to be higher because the in- 

 crease will keep open an American mill or keep up 

 the wages of an American workman, but that in 

 every case such a rate of duty is to be imposed as 

 will bring to the Treasury of the United States the 

 largest returns of revenue. The contention has not 

 been between schedules, but between principles, and 

 it would be offensive to suggest that the prevailing 

 party will not carry into legislation the principles 

 advocated by it and the pledges given to the people. 

 The tariff bills passed by the House of Representa- 

 tives at the last session were, as I suppose even in 

 the opinion of their promoters inadequate, and justi- 

 fied only by the fact that the Senate and House of 

 Representatives were not in accord, and that a gen- 

 eral revision could not therefore be undertaken. 



I recommend that the whole subject of tariff revi- 

 sion be left to the incoming Congress. It is matter 

 of regret that this work must be delayed for at least 

 three months; for the threat of great tariff changes 

 introduces so much uncertainty that an amount, not 

 easilv estimated, of business inaction and of dimin- 

 ished production will necessarily result It is possi- 

 ble also that this uncertainty may result in decreased 

 revenues from customs duties, for our merchants will 

 make cautious orders for foreign goods in view of 

 the prospect of tariff reductions and the uncertainty 

 as to when they will take effect Those who have 

 advocated a protective tariff' can well afford to have 

 their disastrous forecasts of a change of policy disap- 

 pointed. 



If a system of customs duties can be framed that 

 will set the idle wheels and looms of Europe in mo- 

 tion and crowd our warehouses with foreign-made 

 goods, and at the same time keep our own mills busy ; 

 that will give us an increased participation in the 

 " markets of the world " of greater value than the 

 home market we surrender ; that will give increased 

 work to foreign workmen upon products to be con- 

 sumed by our people without diminishing the 

 amount of work to be done here; that will enable 

 the American manufacturer to pay to his workmen 

 from 50 to 100 per cent more in wages than is paid 

 in the foreign mill and yet to compete in our market 

 and in foreign markets with the foreign producer ; 

 that will further reduce the cost of articles of wear 

 and food without reducing the wages of those who 

 produce them ; that can be celebrated, after its effects 

 nave been realized, as its expectation has been, in 

 European as well as in American cities, the authors 

 and promoters of it will be entitled to the highest 

 praise. We have had in our history several expert- 



