150 



CONGRESS. (THE PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE.) 



Government the principal and interest of said 

 bonds, amounting to $58,812,715.48. There has 

 been paid thereon $11,762,543.12, which has been 

 covered into the Treasury, and the remainder, 

 payable within ten years, with interest at the rate 

 of 3 per cent, per annum, payable semiannually, 

 is secured by the deposit of an equal amount of 

 first-mortgage bonds of the Pacific Railway com- 

 panies. The amounts paid and secured to be paid 

 to the Government on account of the Pacific Rail- 

 road subsidy claims are: 



Union Pacific, cash 



Kansas Pacific, cash 



( vnt ral and Western Pacific, cash 



Notes, secured ................................ 47,050,1 , 2.36 



Kansas Pacific dividends for deficiency due 

 United States, cash ........................ 821. 897. <U 



Making a total of ......................... $124,421,607.96 



The whole indebtedness was about $130,000,000, 

 more than half of which consisted of accrued in- 

 terest, for which sum the Government has realized 

 the entire amount less about $6,000,000 within a 

 period of two years. 



On June 30, 1898, there were 30 forest reserva- 

 tions (exclusive of the Afognak Forest and Fish 

 Culture Reserve in Alaska), embracing an esti- 

 mated area of 40,719,474 acres. During the past 

 year two of the existing forest reserves, the Tra- 

 buco Cafion (California) and Black Hills (South 

 Dakota and Wyoming) have been considerably 

 enlarged, the area of the Mount Rainier Reserve, 

 in the State of Washington, has been somewhat 

 reduced, and six additional reserves have been es- 

 tablished, namely, the San Francisco Mountains 

 (Arizona), the Black Mesa (Arizona), Lake Tahoe 

 (California), Gallatin (Montana), Gila River (New 

 Mexico), and Fish Lake (Utah), the total esti- 

 mated area of which is 5,205,775 acres. This 

 makes at the present time a total of 36 forest 

 reservations, embracing an estimated area of 

 46,021,899 acres. This estimated area is the aggre- 

 gated areas within the boundaries of the reserves. 

 The lands actually reserved are, however, only the 

 vacant public lands therein, and these have been 

 set aside and reserved for sale or settlement in 

 order that they may be of the greatest use to the 

 people. 



Protection of the national forests, inaugurated 

 by the Department of the Interior in 1897, has 

 been continued during the past year, and much 

 has been accomplished in the way of preventing 

 forest fires and the protection of the timber. 

 There are now large tracts covered by forests 

 which will eventually be reserved and set apart 

 for forest uses. Until that can be done Congress 

 should increase the appropriations for the work 

 of protecting the forests. 



The Department of Agriculture is constantly 

 consulting the needs of producers in all the States 

 and Territories. It is introducing seeds and plants 

 of great value and promoting fuller diversifica- 

 tion of crops. Grains, grasses, fruits, legumes, and 

 vegetables are imported for all parts of the United 

 States. Under this encouragement the sugar-beet 

 factory multiplies in the North and far West, 

 semitropical plants are sent to the South, and con- 

 genial climates are sought for the choice produc- 

 tions of the far East. The hybridizing of fruit 

 lives and grains is conducted in the search for 

 varieties adapted to exacting conditions. The in- 

 troduction of tea gardens into the Southern States 

 promises to provide employment for idle hands, as 

 well as to supply the home market with tea. The 

 subject of irrigation where it is of vital importance 

 to the people is being carefully studied, steps are 

 being taken to reclaim injured or abandoned lands, 



and information for the people along these lines 

 is being printed and distributed. 



Markets are being sought and opened up for sur- 

 plus farm and factory products in Europe and in 

 Asia. The outlook for the education of the young 

 farmer through agricultural college and experi- 

 ment station, with opportunity given to specialize 

 in the Department of Agriculture, is very promis- 

 ing. The people of Hawaii, Porto Rico, and the 

 Philippine Islands should be helped, by the estab- 

 lishment of experiment stations, to a more scien- 

 tific knowledge of the production of coffee, India 

 rubber, and other tropical products, for which 

 there is demand in the United States. 



There is widespread interest in the improvement 

 of our public highways at the present time, and 

 the Department of Agriculture is co-operating with 

 the people in each locality in making the best 

 possible roads from local material and in experi- 

 menting with steel tracks. A more intelligent 

 system of managing the forests of the country 

 is being put in operation and a careful study of 

 the whole forestry problem is being conducted 

 throughout the United States. A very extensive 

 and complete exhibit of the agricultural and horti- 

 cultural products of the United States is being 

 prepared for the Paris Exposition. 



On the 10th of December, 1898, the treaty of 

 peace between the United States and Spain was 

 signed. It provided, among other things, that 

 Spain should cede to the United States the archi- 

 pelago known as the Philippine Islands, that the 

 United States should pay to Spain the sum of 

 $20,000,000, and that the civil rights and political 

 status of the native inhabitants of the territories 

 thus ceded to the United States should be deter- 

 mined by the Congress. The treaty was ratified 

 by the Senate on the 6th of February, 1899. and 

 by the Government of Spain on the 19th of March 

 following. The ratifications were exchanged on 

 the llth of April and the treaty publicly pro- 

 claimed. On the 2d of March the Congress voted 

 the sum contemplated by the treaty, and the 

 amount was paid over to the Spanish Government 

 on the 1st of May. 



In this manner the Philippines came to the 

 United States. The islands were ceded by the 

 Government of Spain, which had been in undis- 

 puted possession of them for centuries. They were 

 accepted not merely by our authorized commis- 

 sioners in Paris, under the direction of the Execu- 

 tive, but by the constitutional and well-considered 

 action of the representatives of the people of the 

 United States in both houses of Congress. I had 

 every reason to believe, and I still believe, that this 

 transfer of sovereignty was in accordance with the 

 wishes and the aspirations of the great mass of 

 the Filipino people. 



From the earliest moment no opportunity was 

 lost of assuring the people of the islands of our 

 ardent desire for their welfare and of the intention 

 of this Government to do everything possible t<> 

 advance their interests. In my order of the 19th 

 of May, 1898, the commander of the military expe- 

 dition dispatched to the Philippines was instructed 

 to declare that we came not to make war upon 

 the people of that country, "nor upon any party 

 or faction among them, but to protect them in 

 their homes, in their employments, and in their 

 personal and religious rights." That there should 

 be no doubt as to the paramount authority there. 

 on the 17th of August it was directed that " there 

 must be no joint occupation with the insurgents "; 

 that the United States must preserve the peace 

 and protect persons and property within the terri- 

 tory occupied by their military and naval fon<-: 

 that the insurgents and all others must recognize 



