l.V' 



i:ESS. (THE PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE.) 



CONGRE88. The second session ,.f the 1 

 fourth Congress began Monday. Dec, 7 



lificalion that 



any communication, the President sent in the 

 folio* 



queue**, iraugm wun mn 



ness and passion, ha* 

 our land, and determined b 



T" the Ctapreat of the Vit< 

 As reprwrntativos of the |KM,ple in the legislative 

 branch of their (iovernment. YOU ha\e assembled 

 at a time when the m .:id exeelb-n. -f our 



;s:itiiti,,ii and the fitness of our cid/ 

 i-pi,lar nile have been again made manifest 

 ill teal contest involving momentous conse- 

 quence*, fraught with feverish apprehension, and 

 so intense as to approach 

 been wage I throughout 

 by the decree of free and 

 nt suffrage, without disturbance of our 

 tranquillity or the least sign of weakness in our 



nal structure. 



When we consider these incidents and contem- 

 plate the |>eaceful ot id manly s;il>mi in 

 ceded a heated clash of political 

 ' abundant evidence of a deter- 

 mination on the part of our countrymen to abide 

 erdict of the popular will, and to be con- 

 trolled at all times by an abiding faith in the agen- 

 cies established for the direction of the affairs of 

 their Government. 



Thus our people exhibit a patriotic disposition 

 which entitles them to demand of those who under- 

 take to make and execute their laws such faithful 

 and unselfish service in their In-half as can only be 

 nted by a serious appreciation <>f the trust and 

 fence which the acceptance of public duty in- 



In obedience to a constitutional requirement. I 

 i submit to the Congress certain information 



concerning national affairs, with the suggestion of 

 such legislation as in my judgment is necessary and 

 expedient. To secure 'brevity and avoid tfntOOM 

 narration. 1 shall omit many details concerning 

 matters within Federal control, which, though by 

 no means unimportant, are more profitably dis- 

 cussed in departmental reports. I shall also further 

 curtail this communication by omitting a minute 

 recital of many minor incidents connected with 

 our foreign relations which have heretofore found 

 a place in Kxccutivc messages, but are now con- 

 tained in a report of the Secretary of State, which 

 is herewith submit ted. 



the outset of a reference to the more impor- 

 tant matters affecting our relations with foreign 

 powers, it would afford me satisfaction if I could 

 assure the Congress that the disturbed condition in 

 Asiatic Turkey had during the past year ass Mm ,.,| a 

 less hideous and bloody aspect, and that cither as a 

 consequence of the awakening of the Turkish 

 ernment to the f humane civilisation, or 



as the result of decisive action, on the part of the 

 mat nations having the right by treaty to interfere 

 f..r the protection of those exposed to the m. 

 mad bigotry and cruel fanaticism, the shocking 



-* of the situation had been mitigated. In- 

 stead, however, of welcoming a softened disposition 

 or protean, intervention, we have been afflicted 

 DOtinued and not unfre^uent f the 



wanton destruction of home* and the bloody butch- 

 ery of men, women, and children, made martyrs to 



profession of Christian faith. 



While non- of our citi/ens j n Turkey have thus 

 far been killed or wound-d. though often in the 

 midst of dreadful scenes of danger, their safety in 

 the future is by no means assured. Our Govern- 

 ment at home and our minister at Constantinople 

 have left nothing undone to protect our mi 

 nries in Ottoman territory, who constitute nearly 



all the individ i right 



to claim our protection on the score of An;. 

 citi/ciiship. our efforts in this direct ion will not 

 be relaxed; but the deep feeling and s\ mpalhy 

 that .! people ought 



not to so far blind their reason and judgment 

 lead them to demand impossible thing-.. Tl. 

 breaks of blind fury which lead to murder and pil- 

 lage in Turkey occur suddenly and without i 

 and an attempt on our part to force such a I 



gilt I'e effectixe for plV\- 



"i protection would not only be resisted I 

 Ottoman (iovi-rniiH-nt. but would be regarded' 

 interruption of their plans by the great n. 

 who assert their exclusive right to inters 

 own time and method for the securily of In 

 rty in Turkey. 



ral naval \e- i! i -d in 



measure of caution and to furnish 

 all possible relief and rel i. -f einer-, 



ha\e nun:. t the Turkish ' 



eminent for the pillage and destruction of mi 

 ary property at llarpoot and Mara^h during upris- 

 ings at th the validity <! 

 demands has n,,t been admitted, though o'ur minis. 

 ter. prior to such outrage* and in ant icipat ion of 

 danger, demanded protection fr the ] 

 property of our mi i< nary citi/.en- in tin 

 mentioned, and notwithstanding that sii-oii- 

 dence exists of actual complicity of Turk, 

 in the work of destruction and'rob! 



The facts as they now appear do not' permit 

 doubt the justice of these claims, and nothing will 

 be omitted to bring about their prompt settlement. 



A number of Armenian refugees havi; 

 at our ports, an order has lately l.rn obtained fr^m 

 the Turkish (Joverninent permitting the \\i\, 

 children of such refugees to join them i 

 hoped that hereafter no obstacle will be inter: 

 to p re vent the escape of all those who *,->]<. ti- 

 the perils which threaten them in Turki-i 

 minions. 



Our recently appointed consul to Kr/erum 

 his post and discharging the duties ,,f hj s . 

 though for some unaccountable rea^n his formal 

 f.in{inifnr fn.m the Sultan has not been js^m-d. 



I do not believe that the present somber pr< 

 in Turkey will be long permitted to offend tin 

 of Christendom. It so mars the humane and en- 

 lightened civili/ation that belongs to the cl 

 the nineteenth century that it seems hardly |>" 

 that the earnest demand of good people throu- 

 the Christian world for iU treatment will 



remain unanswered. 



The insurrection in Cuba still continues with all 

 its perplexities. It j s difficult to perceive thai 

 progress ha* thus- f a r been made toward the j 

 cation of the island, or that the situation of ,. 

 as depicted in my last annual message has in the 

 least improved. If Spain still holds II 

 the seaports and all the considerable towns, the in- 



ill nnm at will over at least two thir 

 the inland country. If the determination of - 

 to put lown the insurrection seems but tostren- 

 with the lapse of time, and is evinced by her un- 

 hesitating devotion <if largely increased mi, 

 and naval forces to t he task, there is much r- 

 to believe that the insurgents have gained in i 

 of numbers, and character, and resources, an-; 

 nonetheless inflexible in their resolve not t- 

 cumb. without practically securing tin 

 jects for which they took' up arms. If Span 

 -et re-establish'ed her authority, neither 

 the insurgents yet made good their title to i 

 garded as an independent state. Indeed, as 



e on. the p retens.- that civil govern- 

 ment exists on the island, except so far as Spain is 



