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Messages and Papers of William McKinley V.2. by William McKinley

W >> William McKinley >> Messages and Papers of William McKinley V.2.




The act of May 9, 1900, among other things provides for an extension
of income to widows pensioned under said act to $250 per annum. The
Secretary of the Interior believes that by the operations of this act
the number of persons pensioned under it will increase and the increased
annual payment for pensions will be between $3,000,000 and $4,000,000.

The Government justly appreciates the services of its soldiers and
sailors by making pension payments liberal beyond precedent to them,
their widows and orphans.

There were 26,540 letters patent granted, including reissues and
designs, during the fiscal year ended June 30, 1900; 1,660 trademarks,
682 labels, and 93 prints registered. The number of patents which
expired was 19,988. The total receipts for patents were $1,358,228.35.
The expenditures were $1,247,827.58, showing a surplus of $110,400.77.

The attention of the Congress is called to the report of the Secretary
of the Interior touching the necessity for the further establishment of
schools in the Territory of Alaska, and favorable action is invited
thereon.

Much interesting information is given in the report of the Governor of
Hawaii as to the progress and development of the islands during the
period from July 7, 1898, the date of the approval of the joint
resolution of the Congress providing for their annexation, up to April
30, 1900, the date of the approval of the act providing a government for
the Territory, and thereafter.

The last Hawaiian census, taken in the year 1896, gives a total
population of 109,020, of which 31,019 were native Hawaiians. The number
of Americans reported was 8,485. The results of the Federal census,
taken this year, show the islands to have a total population of 154,001,
showing an increase over that reported in 1896 of 44,981, or 41.2 per
cent.

There has been marked progress in the educational, agricultural, and
railroad development of the islands.

In the Territorial act of April 30, 1900, section 7 of said act repeals
Chapter 34 of the Civil Laws of Hawaii whereby the Government was to
assist in encouraging and developing the agricultural resources of the
Republic, especially irrigation. The Governor of Hawaii recommends
legislation looking to the development of such water supply as may exist
on the public lands, with a view of promoting land settlement. The
earnest consideration of the Congress is invited to this important
recommendation and others, as embodied in the report of the Secretary of
the Interior.

The Director of the Census states that the work in connection with the
Twelfth Census is progressing favorably. This national undertaking,
ordered by the Congress each decade, has finally resulted in the
collection of an aggregation of statistical facts to determine the
industrial growth of the country, its manufacturing and mechanical
resources, its richness in mines and forests, the number of its
agriculturists, their farms and products, its educational and religious
opportunities, as well as questions pertaining to sociological
conditions.

The labors of the officials in charge of the Bureau indicate that the
four important and most-desired subjects, namely, population,
agricultural, manufacturing, and vital statistics, will be completed
within the limit prescribed by the law of March 3, 1899.

The field work incident to the above inquiries is now practically
finished, and as a result the population of the States and Territories,
including the Hawaiian Islands and Alaska, has been announced. The
growth of population during the last decade amounts to over 13,000,000,
a greater numerical increase than in any previous census in the history
of the country.

Bulletins will be issued as rapidly as possible giving the population by
States and Territories, by minor civil divisions. Several announcements
of this kind have already been made, and it is hoped that the list will
be completed by January 1. Other bulletins giving the results of the
manufacturing and agricultural inquiries will be given to the public as
rapidly as circumstances will admit.

The Director, while confident of his ability to complete the
different branches of the undertaking in the allotted time, finds
himself embarrassed by the lack of a trained force properly equipped for
statistical work, thus raising the question whether in the interest of
economy and a thorough execution of the census work there should not
be retained in the Government employ a certain number of experts not
only to aid in the preliminary organization prior to the taking of the
decennial census, but in addition to have the advantage in the field and
office work of the Bureau of trained assistants to facilitate the early
completion of this enormous undertaking.

I recommend that the Congress at its present session apportion
representation among the several States as provided by the Constitution.

The Department of Agriculture has been extending its work during the
past year, reaching farther for new varieties of seeds and plants;
co-operating more fully with the States and Territories in research
along useful lines; making progress in meteorological work relating to
lines of wireless telegraphy and forecasts for ocean-going vessels;
continuing inquiry as to animal disease; looking into the extent
and character of food adulteration; outlining plans for the care,
preservation, and intelligent harvesting of our woodlands; studying
soils that producers may cultivate with better knowledge of conditions,
and helping to clothe desert places with grasses suitable to our arid
regions. Our island possessions are being considered that their peoples
may be helped to produce the tropical products now so extensively
brought into the United States. Inquiry into methods of improving our
roads has been active during the year; help has been given to many
localities, and scientific investigation of material in the States and
Territories has been inaugurated. Irrigation problems in our semiarid
regions are receiving careful and increased consideration.

An extensive exhibit at Paris of the products of agriculture has made
the peoples of many countries more familiar with the varied products of
our fields and their comparative excellence.

The collection of statistics regarding our crops is being improved and
sources of information are being enlarged, to the end that producers may
have the earliest advices regarding crop conditions. There has never
been a time when those for whom it was established have shown more
appreciation of the services of the Department.

In my annual message of December 5, 1898, I called attention to the
necessity for some amendment of the alien contract law. There still
remain important features of the rightful application of the eight-hour
law for the benefit of labor and of the principle of arbitration, and I
again commend these subjects to the careful attention of the Congress.

That there may be secured the best service possible in the Philippine
Islands, I have issued, under date of November 30, 1900, the following
order:

The United States Civil Service Commission is directed to render such
assistance as may be practicable to the Civil Service Board, created
under the act of the United States Philippine Commission, for the
establishment and maintenance of an honest and efficient civil service
in the Philippine Islands, and for that purpose to conduct examinations
for the civil service of the Philippine Islands, upon the request of the
Civil Service Board of said islands, under such regulations as may be
agreed upon by the said Board and the said United States Civil Service
Commission.


The Civil Service Commission is greatly embarrassed in its work for
want of an adequate permanent force for clerical and other assistance.
Its needs are fully set forth in its report. I invite attention to
the report, and especially urge upon the Congress that this important
bureau of the public service, which passes upon the qualifications and
character of so large a number of the officers and employees of the
Government, should be supported by all needed appropriations to secure
promptness and efficiency.

I am very much impressed with the statement made by the heads of all the
Departments of the urgent necessity of a hall of public records. In
every departmental building in Washington, so far as I am informed, the
space for official records is not only exhausted, but the walls of rooms
are lined with shelves, the middle floor space of many rooms is filled
with file cases, and garrets and basements, which were never intended
and are unfitted for their accommodation, are crowded with them. Aside
from the inconvenience there is great danger, not only from fire, but
from the weight of these records upon timbers not intended for their
support. There should be a separate building especially designed for the
purpose of receiving and preserving the annually accumulating archives
of the several Executive Departments. Such a hall need not be a costly
structure, but should be so arranged as to admit of enlargement from
time to time. I urgently recommend that the Congress take early action
in this matter.

I transmit to the Congress a resolution adopted at a recent meeting of
the American Bar Association concerning the proposed celebration of John
Marshall Day, February 4, 1901. Fitting exercises have been arranged,
and it is earnestly desired by the committee that the Congress may
participate in this movement to honor the memory of the great jurist.

The transfer of the Government to this city is a fact of great
historical interest. Among the people there is a feeling of genuine
pride in the Capital of the Republic.

It is a matter of interest in this connection that in 1800 the
population of the District of Columbia was 14,093; to-day it is 278,718.
The population of the city of Washington was then 3,210; to-day it is
218,196.

The Congress having provided for "an appropriate national celebration
of the Centennial Anniversary of the Establishment of the Seat of the
Government in the District of Columbia," the committees authorized by it
have prepared a programme for the 12th of December, 1900, which date has
been selected as the anniversary day. Deep interest has been shown in
the arrangements for the celebration by the members of the committees
of the Senate and House of Representatives, the committee of Governors
appointed by the President, and the committees appointed by the citizens
and inhabitants of the District of Columbia generally. The programme, in
addition to a reception and other exercises at the Executive Mansion,
provides commemorative exercises to be held jointly by the Senate and
House of Representatives in the Hall of the House of Representatives,
and a reception in the evening at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in honor
of the Governors of the States and Territories.

In our great prosperity we must guard against the danger it invites of
extravagance in Government expenditures and appropriations; and the
chosen representatives of the people will, I doubt not, furnish an
example in their legislation of that wise economy which in a season of
plenty husbands for the future. In this era of great business activity
and opportunity caution is not untimely. It will not abate, but
strengthen, confidence. It will not retard, but promote, legitimate
industrial and commercial expansion. Our growing power brings with it
temptations and perils requiring constant vigilance to avoid. It must
not be used to invite conflicts, nor for oppression, but for the more
effective maintenance of those principles of equality and justice upon
which our institutions and happiness depend. Let us keep always in mind
that the foundation of our Government is liberty; its superstructure
peace.

WILLIAM McKINLEY.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, December 4, 1900_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith, for the information of Congress, copy of a letter
from the Commissioner-General of the United States to the Paris
Exposition of 1900, of November 17, 1900, giving a detailed statement of
the expenditures of the commission for the year ended November 15, 1900.

WILLIAM McKINLEY.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, December 6, 1900_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith the report from the Secretary of State and
accompanying papers relating to the claim against the United States of
the Russian subject, Gustav Isak Dahlberg, master and principal owner of
the Russian bark _Hans_, based on his wrongful and illegal arrest
and imprisonment by officers of the United States District Court for the
southern district of Mississippi, and, in view of the opinion expressed
by the Department of Justice that the said arrest and detention of the
complainant were wrongful and without the authority of law, I recommend
the appropriation by Congress of the sum of $5,000 to reimburse the
master and owners of the vessel for all losses and damages incurred by
reason of his said wrongful and illegal arrest and detention.

WILLIAM McKINLEY.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, December 6, 1900_.

_To the Congress of the United States_:

I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State, with
accompanying papers, in relation to the lynching, in La Salle County,
Tex., on October 5, 1895, of Florentine Suaste, a Mexican citizen.

Following the course pursued in the case of the lynching of three
Italian subjects at Hahnville, La., on August 8, 1896, and in that of
the lynching of the Mexican citizen, Luis Moreno, at Yreka, Cal., in
August, 1895, I recommend the appropriation by Congress, out of humane
consideration, and without reference to the question of liability of the
Government of the United States, of the sum of $2,000, to be paid by the
Secretary of State to the Government of Mexico, and by that Government
distributed to the heirs of the above-mentioned Florentino Suaste.

WILLIAM McKINLEY.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 3, 1901_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In reply to a resolution of the Senate of December 19, 1900, directing
the Secretary of War "to transmit to the Senate the report of Abraham L.
Lawshe, giving in detail the result of his investigations, made under
the direction of the War Department, into the receipts and expenditures
of Cuban funds," the Senate is informed that for the reasons stated in
the accompanying communication from the Secretary of War, dated December
28, 1900, it is not deemed compatible with the public interest to
transmit the report to the Senate at this time.

WILLIAM McKINLEY.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, January 16, 1901_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith for the information of the Congress a letter from
the Secretary of Agriculture, in which he presents a preliminary report
of investigations upon the forests of the southern Appalachian Mountain
region. Upon the basis of the facts established by this investigation
the Secretary of Agriculture recommends the purchase of land for a
national forest reserve in western North Carolina, eastern Tennessee,
and adjacent States. I commend to the favorable consideration of
Congress the reasons upon which this recommendation rests.

WILLIAM McKINLEY.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 25, 1901_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

For the information of the Congress and with a view to such action on
its part as it may deem wise and appropriate I transmit a report of the
Secretary of War, made to me under date of January 24, 1901, containing
the reports of the Taft commission, its several acts of legislation, and
other important information relating to the conditions and immediate
wants of the Philippine Islands.

I earnestly recommend legislation under which the government of the
islands may have authority to assist in their peaceful industrial
development in the directions indicated by the Secretary of War.

WILLIAM McKINLEY.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, January 29, 1901_.

_To the Congress_:

I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State relating to
the treaty between the United States and Spain, signed at Washington,
November 7, 1900, providing for the cession of any and all islands of
the Philippine Archipelago lying outside of the lines described in
Article III of the treaty of peace of December 10, 1898.

I recommend the appropriation by Congress during the present session of
the sum of one hundred thousand dollars for the purpose of carrying out
the obligations of the United States under the treaty.

WILLIAM McKINLEY.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, January 29, 1901_.

_To the Congress_:

I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State relating to the
lynching of two Italian subjects at Tallulah, La., on July 20, 1899.

I renew the recommendation made in my annual message to the Congress on
December 3, 1900, that in accordance with precedent Congress make
gracious provision for indemnity to the families of the victims in the
same form as heretofore.

WILLIAM McKINLEY.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, January 29, 1901_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith a communication from the Secretary of State
accompanying the Commercial Relations of the United States for the year
1900, being the annual and other reports of consular and diplomatic
officers upon the industries and commerce of foreign countries, with
particular reference to the growing share of the United States in
international trade. The advance in the general efficiency of our
consular service in promoting trade, which was noted in my message of
March 1, 1900, transmitting the reports for 1899, was even more marked
than last year. The promptitude with which the reports of the consuls
are printed and distributed, the generous recognition which is being
increasingly accorded by our business interests to the practical value
of their efforts for enlarging trade, and the continued testimony of
competent foreign authorities to the general superiority of their
commercial work, have naturally had a stimulating effect upon its
consular corps as a whole, and experience in the discharge of their
duties adds greatly to their efficiency. It is gratifying to be able to
state that the improvement in the service, following closely upon the
steady progress in expediting the publication of reports, has enabled
the Department of State this year to submit the annual reports a month
in advance of the usual time, and to make them as nearly as possible a
contemporaneous picture of the trade of the world. In view of the great
importance of these reports to our producers, manufacturers, exporters,
and business interest generally, I cordially approve the recommendation
of the Secretary of State that Congress shall authorize the printing as
heretofore of an edition of 10,000 copies of the summary, entitled
"Review of the World's Commerce," and of 5,000 copies of Commercial
Relations (including this summary), to be distributed by the Department
of State.

WILLIAM McKINLEY.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 14, 1901_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

During our recent war with Spain the United States naval force on the
North Atlantic Station was charged with varied and important duties,
chief among which were the maintenance of the blockade of Cuba, aiding
the army, and landing troops and in subsequent operations, and
particularly in the pursuit, blockade, and destruction of the Spanish
Squadron under Admiral Cervera.

This naval campaign, embracing objects of wide scope and grave
responsibilities, was conducted with great ability on the part of the
commander-in-chief, and of the officers and enlisted men under his
command. It culminated in the annihilation of the Spanish fleet in the
battle of July 3, 1898, one of the most memorable naval engagements in
history.

The result of this battle was the freeing of our Atlantic coast from the
possibilities to which it had been exposed from Admiral Cervera's fleet,
and the termination of the war upon the seas.

I recommend that, following our national precedents, especially that
in the case of Admiral Dewey and the Asiatic Squadron, the thanks of
Congress be given to Rear-Admiral William T. Sampson, United States
Navy, and to the officers and men under his command for highly
distinguished conduct in conflict with the enemy, and in carrying on
the blockade and naval campaign on the Cuban coast, resulting in the
destruction of the Spanish fleet at Santiago de Cuba July 3, 1898.

WILLIAM McKINLEY.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 21, 1901_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith, for the information of the Congress and with a view
to its publication in suitable form, if such action is deemed desirable,
a special report of the United States Board on Geographic Names,
relating to geographic names in the Philippine Islands, and invite
attention to the recommendation of the Board:

"That in addition to the usual number, there be printed 15,000 copies:
2,000 copies for the use of the Senate, 3,000 copies for the use of the
House of Representatives, and 10,000 copies for distribution by the
Board to the Executive Departments and the public."

WILLIAM McKINLEY.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, February 26, 1901_.

_To the Congress_:

I transmit herewith, for the consideration of Congress, in connection
with my message of January 29, 1901, relative to the lynching of certain
Italian subjects at Tallulah, La., a report by the Secretary of State
touching a claim for $5,000 presented by the Italian ambassador at
Washington on behalf of Guiseppe Defina, on account of his being obliged
to abandon his home and business.

WILLIAM McKINLEY.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, February 28, 1901_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith, in pursuance of the act of Congress approved July
1, 1898 (U.S. Stat. L., vol. 30, pp. 645, 646), the report of Mr.
Ferdinand W. Peck, commissioner-general of the United States to the
International Exposition held at Paris, France, during the year 1900.

WILLIAM McKINLEY.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, March 1, 1901_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I return herewith, without approval, House bill No. 3204, entitled "An
act to refer certain claims for Indian depredations to the Court of
Claims."

General relief has been extended to citizens who have lost property by
reason of Indian depredations by the act of March 3, 1891, conferring
jurisdiction upon the Court of Claims to hear and determine such cases.
That act provides for payment for damages growing out of depredations
committed by any Indian or Indians belonging to a band, tribe, or nation
in amity with the United States, excluding from consideration all claims
which originated during the existence of actual hostilities between the
United States and the Indian tribe.

In making this discrimination the act of 1891 follows the general
principle which has been asserted in all general legislation which has
ever been enacted for the payment of claims for property destroyed by
Indians. The first act which promised such indemnity, that of May 19,
1796, contained the same restriction, and it was reported in every
subsequent general act of Congress dealing with the subject. This
policy, which has been clearly manifested from the beginning, is in
accord with the recognized principle that the nation is not liable for
damage to the private property of its citizens caused by the act of the
public enemy. This statute has been thoroughly considered by the Court
of Claims and by the Supreme Court and its interpretation fixed, and it
has been declared to be in accord not only with the policy of Congress
as expressed through the legislation of the century, but with the
general principles of international law.

I am informed that the records of the Court of Claims show that the
claims of four of the five beneficiaries named in the present bill
have been presented to that court under the general law and decided
adversely, the court having held that a state of war existed between
the United States and the Sioux Indians in the year 1862 when the
claims arose. The remaining claim, which originated under the same
circumstances and at the same time, would, of course, be subject to
the same defense if presented.

The bill provides that these claims shall be sent back to the Court of
Claims for trial according to the principles and rules which governed
the commission appointed under the act of February 16, 1863. That act,
which was a special act relating to losses occurring during the
hostilities of the previous year, did not, of course, impose the
requirement of amity, the claims allowed by the commission being paid
out of the funds belonging to the hostile Indians sequestered by the
statute. The effect of this bill, if it became a law, would be to
provide for the payment out of the Treasury of the United States of
these claims which were not presented for payment out of the Indian
funds and which have been rejected by the courts under the general law.
There are many hundreds of cases, aggregating a large amount claimed,
which have been filed in the Court of Claims, but which are excluded
from its jurisdiction for the same reason which necessitated the
dismissal of the petitions filed by these claimants. There is no legal
obligation on the part of the United States, and no promise, express or
implied, for the payment of such claims.

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We do not know the women's names, but their voices are quite distinct. All are pregnant. But while the first woman awaits the birth of her baby with a moon-like serenity, the other two are not so lucky. One, whose previous pregnancies have failed to go to term, is experiencing a heartbreaking late miscarriage; the other is a young student whose accidental pregnancy will end in her child being put up for adoption.

Sylvia Plath's only play was never intended for the stage, being broadcast instead on BBC radio in August 1962. Less than six months later, Plath killed herself, but not before the burst of astonishing creative energy that produced her extraordinary, terrifying Ariel poems.

Anyone who knows Plath's poetry will see the connection between Three Women and Plath's subsequent poems, particularly in the way she talks about the agony of childbirth, the rush of love for this tiny alien being, and both the wonder and wounded rawness of motherhood. It is a beautiful piece, full of startling imagery that draws you in through the sheer intensity of its femaleness, and because it so precisely articulates the emotions that are often thought but seldom voiced by women - certainly not in the early 1960s - about men, motherhood and our relationship to our bodies.

It's been 20 years since there has been an attempt at a professional stage version and - in a theatre world that happily accepts the poetic offerings of Sarah Kane and Debbie Tucker Green, or the staged possibilities of The Waves, one of Plath's own inspirations for the piece, I see no reason why it shouldn't be brought to life. Sadly, it doesn't breathe here, in a production by Robert Shaw that is clearly a labour of love, but which never finds a way to give the internal a physical reality. Plath's poetry, like most babies, is more robust than it appears - and won't break if treated with a little less reverence and considerably more grit.

Instead, what we are offered is tinkling piano music, mournful mood lighting, an innocuous pale setting, as well as three perfectly good but indisputably ladylike performances that capture none of the wounded redness of Plath's poetry, and do her the disservice of making her sound bleached and somewhat prissy. It's a pity. What might have been a wonder ends up a mere curiosity.

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