PUBLIC DOCUMENTS. 



661 



my hope to aid in their settlement in the same 

 peaceful and honorable way, thus securing to our 

 country the great blessings of peace and mutual 

 good offices with all the nations ot the world. 



Fellow-citizens, we have reached the close of a 

 political contest marked by the excitement which 

 usually attends the contests between great political 

 parties, whose members espouse and advocate with 

 earnest faith their respective creeds. 



The circumstances were perhaps in no respect 

 extraordinary save in the closeness and the conse- 

 quent uncertainty of the result. For the first time 

 in the history of the country it has been deemed 

 best, in view of the present circumstances of the 

 csse, that the objections and questions in dispute 

 in reference to counting the electoral vote should be 

 referred to the decision of a tribunal appointed for 

 this purpose. That tribunal, established for this 

 sole purpose; its members, all of them men of long- 

 estaolished reputation for integrity and intelligence, 

 and, with the exception of those who are also mem- 

 bers of the supreme judiciary, chosen equally from 

 both political parties; its deliberations enlightened 

 by the research and the arguments of able counsel, 

 was entitled to the fullest confidence of the Ameri- 

 can people. 



Its decisions have been patiently waited for and 

 accepted as legally conclusive by the general judg- 

 ment of the public. For the present, opinion will 

 widely vary as to the wisdom of the several con- 

 clusions announced by that tribunal. 



This is to be anticipated in every instance where 

 matters of dispute are made subject of arbitration 

 under the forms of law. Human judgment is never 

 unerring, and is rarely regarded as otherwise than 

 wrong by the unsuccessful party in the contest. 



Tne fact that two great political parties have in 

 this way settled a dispute in regard to which good 

 nun differ as to the facts and the law, no less fian 

 ai to the proper course to be pursued in solving the 

 question m controversy, is an occasion for general 

 rdjoicing. Upon one point there is entire unanimity 

 in public sentiment that conflicting claim* to the 

 presidency must be amicably and peacefully adjust- 

 ed, and that when so adjusted the general acquies- 

 cence of the nation ought surely to follow. 



It has been reserved for a government of the 

 people, where the right of suffrage is universal, to 

 give to the world the first example in the history of 

 a great nation in the midst of a struggle of opposing 

 parties for power, hushing its party tumults, to yield 

 the issue of the contest to adjustment according to 

 the forms of law. 



Looking for the guidance of that divine hand by 

 which the destinies of nations and individuals are 

 shaped, I call upon you, Senators, Representatives, 

 judges, fellow-citizens, here and everywhere, to unite 

 with me in an earnest effort to secure to our country 

 the blessings not only of material prosperity, but of 

 justice, peace, and union a union depending not 

 upon the constraint of force, but upon the loving de- 

 votion of a free people, "and that all things may be 

 so ordered and settled upon the best and surest 

 foundations fiat peace and happiness, truth and 

 justice, religion, and piety, may be established 

 among us for all generations." 



Message of President HA.YK8,a the opeiiny of 



the extra session of Congress, October 16, 



1877. 

 FFLLOW-CITIZENS OF THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REP- 



BE8ENTATIVE8 : 



The adjournment of the last Congress without 

 making appropriations for the support of the Army 

 for the present fiscal year has rendered necessary a 

 suspension of payments to the officers and men of 

 the sums due them for services rendered after the 



80th day of June last. The Army exists by virtue 

 of statutes which prescribe its numbers and regulate 

 its organization and employment, and which fix the 

 pay of its officers and uitm and declare their right to 

 receive the same at stated periods. The bUuuUs. 

 however, do not authorize the payment of the troops 

 in the absence of specific appropriations therefor. 

 The Constitution has wisely provided that " no 

 money shall be drawn from the Treasury but in 

 consequence of appropriations made by law, " and 

 it has ulso been declared by statute that " no depart- 

 ment of the Government shall expend in any one 

 fiscal year any sum in excess of appropriations made 

 by Congress for that fiscal year.'' We have, there- 

 fore, an Army in service, authorized by law aud en- 

 titled to be paid, but no funds available for that 

 purpose. It may also be said, as an additional 

 incentive to prompt action by Congress, that since 

 the commencement of the fiscal year the Army, 

 though without pay, has been constantly and active- 

 ly employed in arduous and dangerous service, in 

 the performance of which both officers aud men 

 have discharged their duty with fidelity and courage, 

 and without complaint. 



These circumstances, in my judgment, constitute* 

 an extraordinary occasion, requiring thut Congress 

 be convened in advance of the time prescribed by 

 law for your meeting in regular session. The im- 

 portance of speedy action upon this subject on the 

 part of Congress is so manifest that 1 venture to 

 suggest the propriety of making the necessary ap- 

 propriations for the support of the Army for the 

 current year at its present maximum numerical 

 strength of 25,000 men, leaving for future consider- 

 ation all questions relating to an increase or decrease 

 of the number of enlisted men. In the event of the 

 reduction of the Army by subsequent legislation 

 during the fiscal year, the excess of the appropri- 

 ation could not be expended, and in the event of its 

 enlargement, the additional sura required for the ex- 

 tra force could be provided in due time. It would 

 bi unjust to the troops now in service, and whose 

 pay is already largely in arrears, if payment to them 

 should be further postponed until after Congress 

 shall have considered all the questions likely to 

 arise in the effort to fix the proper limit to the 

 strength of the Army. 



Estimates of appropriations for the support of 

 the military establishment for the fiscal year ending 

 June 30, 1878, were transmitted to Congress by the 

 former Secretary of the Treasury at the opening of 

 the session in December last. These estimates, 

 modified by the present Secretary so as to conform 

 to present requirements, are now renewed, amount- 

 ing to $82,436,764.98, and, having been transmitted 

 to both Houses of Congress, are submitted for your 

 consideration. 



There is also required by the Navy Department 

 $2,003,861.27. This sum is made up of $1,444,M8.- 

 16 due to officers and enlisted men for the last quar- 

 ter of the last fiscal year; $811,953.50 due for ad- 

 vances made by the fiscal agent of the Government 

 in London for the support of the foreign service ; 

 $50,000 due to the Naval Hospital fund ; $150.<v* 

 due for arrearages of pay to officers, and $*.'>, il. r 

 for the support of the Marino Corps. Thcro will 

 also bo needed an appropriution of $2fS2,(V35. 

 defray the unsettled expenses of the United Stat- 

 Courts for the fiscal year endine Juno JKHh last, now 

 duo to attorneys, clerks, commissioners, and msr- 

 shals, and for rent of court-rooms, the support of 

 prisoners, and other deficiencies. 



A part of the building of the Interior Depart- 

 ment was destroyed by flro on the 

 month. Some immediate repairs and 

 structures have in consequence become nc-oeaaary, 

 estimates for which will be transmitted U> Conr 

 immediately, and an appropriation of the roquii 

 funds is respectfully recommended. 



The Secretary of the Treasury will oomrauniet 



