CONGRESS. (Tun PRESIDENT'S MKSSAOE.) 



lion several difficult problems remained t IK- grap- 

 pled witli iiik<l solved botbro tin- efficiency in action 

 ol'.nir ships ciul)l ! secured. It in believed tliut, as 

 ill)' iv> u It. of new processes in the construction of 

 urmor plate, our later whips will be clothed with 

 defensive plates of higher resisting power than un> 

 found on anv war vessels ulloat. Wo were without 

 torpedoes. Terta have been made to ascertain the 

 relative i-tliciency of different construction*, a tor] >c>l 

 ha^ Keen adopted, and the work of construction is 

 now being curried on successfully. We were with- 

 out armor-piercing shells, and without a shop in 

 stnictcd and equipped for the construction of them. 

 \\ '> an- now making what is believed to lie a project- 

 ile superior to any before in use. A smokeless pow- 

 der lias been developed, and a slow-burning powder 

 for ^uns of large caliber. A high explosive, capable 

 of u.M! in shells tired from service guns, lias been 

 found, and the manufacture of gun cotton has been 

 developed so that the question of supply is no longer 

 in doubt. 



The development of a naval militia, which has 

 l>eei> organized in eight Status and brought into cor- 

 dial ana co-operative relations with the navy, is 

 another important achievement. There are now en- 

 listed in these organizations 1,800 men, and they are 

 likely to be greatly extended. I recommend such 

 legislation and appropriations as will encourage and 

 develop this movement. The recommendations of 

 the Secretary will, I do not doubt, receive the friendly 

 consideration of Congress, for he has enjoyed, as he 

 has deserved, the confidence of all those interested in 

 the development of our navy, without any division 

 upon partisan lines. I earnestly express the hope 

 that a work which has made such noble progress 

 may not now be stayed. The wholesome influence 

 for peace and the increased sense of security which 

 our citizens domiciled in other lands feel when these 

 magnificent ships under the American flag appear is 

 already most gratefully apparent. The ships from 

 our navy which will appear in the great naval parade 

 next April in the harbor of New York will be a con- 

 vincing demonstration to the world that the United 

 States is again a naval power. 



The work of the Interior Department, always very 

 burdensome, has been larger than ever before'during 

 the administration of Secretary Noble. The dis- 

 ability pension law, the taking of the eleventh cen- 

 sus, the opening of vast areas of Indian lands to set- 

 t lenient, the organization of Oklahoma, and the nego- 

 tiations for the cession of Indian lands furnish some 

 of the particulars of the increased work ; and the re- 

 sults achieved testify to the ability, fidelity, and in- 

 dustry of the head of the department and his efficient 

 a-M-tants. 



Several important agreements for the cession of 

 Indian lands negotiated by the commission ap- 

 pointed under the act of March 2, 1889, are awaiting 

 the action of Congress. Perhaps the most important 

 of these is that for the cession of the Cherokee Strip. 

 This region has been the source of great vexation to 

 th)' Executive Department, and of great friction and 

 unrest between the settlers who desire to occupy it 

 and the Indians who assert title. The agreement. 

 which has been made by the commission is perhaps 

 the most satisfactory that could have been reached. 

 It will bo noticed that it is conditioned upon its rati- 

 tieatioii by Congress before March 4, 1893. The Sec- 

 retary of the Interior, who has given the subject very 

 careful thought, recommends the ratification of the 

 agreement, and I am inclined to follow his recom- 

 mendation. Certain it is that some action by which 

 this controversy shall be brought to an end and these 

 lands opened to settlement is urgent. 



The form of government provided by Congress on 

 May 17, 1884, for Alaska was, in its frame and pur- 

 pose, temporary. The increase of population ana the 

 development of some important mining and commer- 

 cial interests make it imperative that the law should 

 lie revised and better provision made for the arrest 

 stud punishment of criminals. 



Tho report of the Secretary shows a very gratify- 

 ing state of fact* us to the condition of the General 

 Land Office. The work of issuing agricultural put 

 ent*s which seemed to be hopelessly in arrear when 

 the present Secretary undertook tne duties of hi* 

 otlice, has !>een so expedited that the bureau is now 

 upon current business. The relief thus affordt-d to 

 honest and worthy settlers upon the public lands, by 

 giving to them an assured title to their entries, has 

 i" I.M of incalculable benefit in developing the new 

 States and the Territories. 



The Court of Private Land Claims established by 

 Congress for the promotion of this policy of speedily 

 settling contested land titles is making satisfactory 

 progress in its work, and when the work is completed 

 a great impetus will bo given to the development ot 

 those regions where unsettled claims under Mexican 

 grants have so long exercised their repressive influ- 

 ence. When to these results are added the enormous 

 cessions of Indian lands which have been opened to 

 settlement, aggregating during this administration 

 nearly 26,000,000 acres, and the agreements nego- 

 tiated and now pending in Congress for ratification 

 by which about 10,000,000 additional acres will be 

 opened to settlement, it will be seen how much has 

 been accomplished. 



The work in the Indian Bureau, in the execution 

 of the policy of recent legislation, has been largely 

 directed to two chief purposes : First, the allotment 

 of lands in Feveralty to the Indians and the cession 

 to the United States of the surplus lands, and, sec- 

 ondly, to the work of educating the Indian for his 

 own protection in his closer contact with the white 

 man and for the intelligent exercise of his new citi- 

 zenship. Allotments have been made and patent* 

 issued to 5,900 Indians under the present Secretary 

 and commissioner, and 7,600 additional allotments 

 have been made for which patents are now in process 

 of preparation. The school attendance of Indian 

 children has been increased during that time over 18 

 per cent., the enrollment for 1892 being nearly 20,000. 

 A uniform system of school text-books and of study 

 has been adopted, and the work in these national 

 schools brought as near as may be to the basis of the 

 free common schools of the States. These schools 

 can be transferred and merged into the common- 

 school systems of the States when the Indian has 

 fully assumed his new relation to the organized civil 

 community in which he resides, and the new States 

 are able to assume the burden. 



I have several times been called upon to remove 

 Indian agents appointed by me, and have done so 

 promptly upon every sustained complaint of unfit- 

 ness or 'misconduct. I believe, however, that the 

 Indian service at the agencies lias been improved, 

 and is now administered on the whole with a good 

 degree of efficiency. If any legislation is possible by 

 which the selection of Indian agents can be wholly 

 removed from all partisan suggestions or considera- 

 tions, I am sure it would be a great relief to the 

 Executive and a great benefit to the service. Tho 

 appropriation for the subsistence of the Cheyenno 

 and Arapahoe Indians made at the last session of 

 Congress was inadequate. This smaller appropria- 

 tion was estimated for by the commissioner upon the 

 theory that the large fund belonging to the tribe in 

 the public Treasury could bo ana ought to be used 

 for their support. In view, however, of the pending 

 depredation claims against this fund and other con- 

 siderations, the Secretary of the Interior on the 12th 

 of April last submitted a supplemental estimate for 

 $50,000. This appropriation was not made, as it 

 should have beon, and the oversight ought to bo 

 remedied at the earliest possible date. 



In a special message to this Congress at the last ses- 

 sion I stated the reasons why 1 had not approved the 

 deed for the release to the United States by the Choc- 

 taws and ChickasawH of the lands formerly embraced 

 in the Cheyenno and Arapahoe Reservation and re- 

 maining after allotments to that tribe. A resolution 

 of the Senate expressing the opinion of that body that, 



