192 



CONGRESS. (PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE.) 



much appreciated by the brave men who left 

 their homes and employments to help the country 

 in its emergency. (e 



In my last annual message I stated: 

 Union Pacific Railway, main line, was sold under 

 the decree of the United States court for the dis- 

 trict of Nebraska on the 1st and 2d of November 

 of this year. The amount due the Government 

 consisted of the principal of the subsidy bonds, 

 $27,236,512, and the accrued interest thereon, $31,- 

 211,711.75, making the total indebtedness $58,- 

 44S.223.75. The bid at the sale covered the first- 

 mortgage lien and the entire mortgage claim of 

 the Government, principal and interest." 



Thi* left the Kansas Pacific case unconcluded. 

 By a decree of the court in that case an upset 

 price for the property was fixed at a sum which 

 would yield to the Government only $2,500,000 

 upon its lien. The sale at the instance _of the 

 Government was postponed first to Dec. 15, 1897, 

 and later, upon the application of the United 

 States, was postponed to the 16th day of Febru- 

 ary, 1898. 



Having satisfied myself that the interests of 

 the Government required that an effort should 

 be made to obtain a larger sum, I directed the 

 Secretary of the Treasury, under the act passed 

 March 3* 1887, to pay out of the Treasury to the 

 persons entitled to receive the same the amounts 

 due upon all prior mortgages upon the eastern 

 and middle divisions of said railroad out of any 

 money in the Treasury not otherwise appropri- 

 ated. " Whereupon the Attorney-General prepared 

 a petition to be presented to the court offering 

 to redeem said prior liens in such manner as the 

 court might direct, and praying that thereupon 

 the United States might be held to be subrogated 

 to all the rights of said prior lien holders, and 

 that a receiver might be appointed to take pos- 

 session of the mortgaged premises and maintain 

 and operate the same until the court or Congress 

 otherwise directed. Thereupon the Reorganiza- 

 tion Committee agreed that if said petition was 

 withdrawn and the sale allowed to proceed on 

 the Kith of February, 1898, they would bid a sum 

 at the sale which would realize to the Govern- 

 ment the entire principal of its debt, $6,303,000. 



Believing that no better price could be ob- 

 tained, and appreciating the difficulties under 

 which the Government would labor if it should 

 become the purchaser of the road at the sale, 

 in the absence of any authority by Congress to 

 take charge of and operate the road, I directed 

 that upon the guarantee of a minimum bid which 

 should give the Government the principal of its 

 debt the sale should proceed. By this transaction 

 the Government secured an advance of $3,803,- 

 000 over and above the sum which the court had 

 fixed as the upset price, and which the reorgan- 

 ization committee had declared was the maxi- 

 mum which they would pay for the property. 



It is a gratifying fact that the result of these 

 proceedings against the Union Pacific system and 

 the Kansas Pacific line is that the Government 

 has received on account of its subsidy claim the 

 sum_of $64,751,223.75, an increase of $18,997,- 

 163.76 over the sum which the Reorganization 

 Committee originally agreed to bid for the joint 

 property, the Government receiving its whole 

 claim, principal and interest, on the Union Pacific, 

 and the principal of its debt on the Kansas Pa- 

 cific Railroad. 



Steps had been taken to foreclose the Govern- 

 ment's lien upon the Central Pacific Railroad 

 Company, but before action was commenced Con- 

 gress passed an act, approved July 7, 1898, cre- 

 ating a commission, consisting of the Secretary 



of the Treasury, the Attorney-General, and the 

 Secretary of the Interior, and their successors in 

 office, with full power to settle the indebtedness 

 to the Government growing out of the issue of 

 bonds in aid of the construction of the Central 

 Pacific and Western Pacific bond-aided railroads, 

 subject to the approval of the President. 



No report has yet been made to me by the 

 commission thus created. Whatever action is 

 had looking to a settlement of the indebtedness 

 in accordance with the act referred to will be duly 

 submitted to the Congress. 



I deem it my duty to call to the attention of 

 Congress the condition of the present building 

 occupied by the Department of Justice. The busi- 

 ness of that department has increased very great- 

 ly since it was established in its present quarters. 

 The building now occupied by it is neither large 

 enough nor of suitable arrangement for the proper 

 accommodation of the business of the depart- 

 ment. The supervising architect has pronounced 

 it unsafe and unsuited for the use to which it 

 is put. The Attorney-General in his report states 

 that the library of the department is upon the 

 fourth floor, and that all the space allotted to it 

 is so crowded with books as to dangerously over- 

 load the structure. The first floor is occupied 

 by the Court of Claims. The building is of an 

 old and dilapidated appearance, unsuited to the 

 dignity which should attach to this important 

 department. 



A proper regard for the safety, comfort, and 

 convenience of the officers and employees would 

 justify the expenditure of a liberal sum of money 

 in the erection of a new building of commodious 

 proportions and handsome, appearance upon the 

 very advantageous site already secured for that 

 purpose, including the ground occupied by the 

 present structure and adjoining vacant lot, com- 

 prising in all a frontage 'of 201 feet on Pennsyl- 

 vania Avenue and a depth of 136 feet. 



In this connection I may likewise refer to the 

 inadequate accommodations provided for the Su- 

 preme Court in the Capitol, and suggest the wis- 

 dom of making provision for the erection of a 

 separate building for the court and its officers 

 and library upon available ground near the 

 Capitol. 



The postal service of the country advances with 

 extraordinary growth. Within twenty years 

 both the revenues and the expenditures of the 

 Post-Office Department have multiplied threefold. 

 In the last ten years they have nearly doubled. 

 Our postal business grows much more rapidly 

 than our population. It now involves an ex- 

 penditure of $100,000,000 a year, numbers 73,000 

 post offices, and enrolls 200,000 employees. This 

 remarkable extension of a service which is an 

 accurate index of the public conditions presents 

 gratifying evidence of the advancement of educa- 

 tion, of the increase of communication and busi- 

 ness activity, and of the improvement of mail 

 facilities leading to their constantly augmenting 

 use. 



The war with Spain laid new and exceptional 

 labors on the Post-Office Department. The mus- 

 tering of the military and naval forces of the 

 United States required special mail arrangements 

 for every camp and every campaign. The com- 

 munication between home and camp was natu- 

 rally eager and expectant. In some of the larger 

 places of rendezvous as many as 50,000 letters a 

 day required handling. This necessity was met 

 by the prompt detail and dispatch of experienced 

 men from the established force, and by directing 

 all the instrumentalities of the railway-mail and 

 post-office service, so far as necessary, to this 



