A \ B \ C \ D \ E \ F \ G \ H \ I \ J \ K \ L \ M \ N \ O \ P \ R \ S \ T \ U \ V \ W \Z

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

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




A general system of public surveys has not yet been extended to Alaska
and all entries thus far made in that district are upon special surveys.
The act of Congress extending to Alaska the mining laws of the United
States contained the reservation that it should not be construed to put
in force the general land laws of the country. By act approved March 3,
1891, authority was given for entry of lands for town-site purposes and
also for the purchase of not exceeding one hundred and sixty acres then
or thereafter occupied for purposes of trade and manufacture. The
purpose of Congress as thus far expressed has been that only such rights
should apply to that Territory as should be specifically named.

It will be seen how much remains to be done for that vast and remote
and yet promising portion of our country. Special authority was given to
the President by the Act of Congress approved July 24, 1897, to divide
that Territory into two land districts and to designate the boundaries
thereof and to appoint registers and receivers of said land offices, and
the President was also authorized to appoint a surveyor-general for the
entire district. Pursuant to this authority, a surveyor-general and
receiver have been appointed, with offices at Sitka. If in the ensuing
year the conditions justify it, the additional land district authorized
by law will be established, with an office at some point in the Yukon
Valley. No appropriation, however, was made for this purpose, and that
is now necessary to be done for the two land districts into which the
Territory is to be divided.

I concur with the Secretary of War in his suggestions as to the
necessity for a military force in the Territory of Alaska for the
protection of persons and property. Already a small force, consisting of
twenty-five men, with two officers, under command of Lieutenant-Colonel
Randall, of the Eighth Infantry, has been sent to St. Michael to
establish a military post.

As it is to the interest of the Government to encourage the development
and settlement of the country and its duty to follow up its citizens
there with the benefits of legal machinery, I earnestly urge upon
Congress the establishment of a system of government with such
flexibility as will enable it to adjust itself to the future areas of
greatest population.

The startling though possibly exaggerated reports from the Yukon River
country, of the probable shortage of food for the large number of people
who are wintering there without the means of leaving the country are
confirmed in such measure as to justify bringing the matter to the
attention of Congress. Access to that country in winter can be had only
by the passes from Dyea and vicinity, which is a most difficult and
perhaps an impossible task. However, should these reports of the
suffering of our fellow-citizens be further verified, every effort at
any cost should be made to carry them relief.

For a number of years past it has been apparent that the conditions
under which the Five Civilized Tribes were established in the Indian
Territory under treaty provisions with the United States, with the right
of self-government and the exclusion of all white persons from within
their borders, have undergone so complete a change as to render the
continuance of the system thus inaugurated practically impossible. The
total number of the Five Civilized Tribes, as shown by the last census,
is 45,494, and this number has not materially increased; while the white
population is estimated at from 200,000 to 250,000 which, by permission
of the Indian Government has settled in the Territory. The present area
of the Indian Territory contains 25,694,564 acres, much of which is very
fertile land. The United States citizens residing in the Territory, most
of whom have gone there by invitation or with the consent of the tribal
authorities, have made permanent homes for themselves. Numerous towns
have been built in which from 500 to 5,000 white people now reside.
Valuable residences and business houses have been erected in many of
them. Large business enterprises are carried on in which vast sums
of money are employed, and yet these people, who have invested their
capital in the development of the productive resources of the country,
are without title to the land they occupy, and have no voice whatever
in the government either of the Nations or Tribes. Thousands of their
children who were born in the Territory are of school age, but the doors
of the schools of the Nations are shut against them, and what education
they get is by private contribution. No provision for the protection of
the life or property of these white citizens is made by the Tribal
Governments and Courts.

The Secretary of the Interior reports that leading Indians have
absorbed great tracts of land to the exclusion of the common people, and
government by an Indian aristocracy has been practically established, to
the detriment of the people. It has been found impossible for the United
States to keep its citizens out of the Territory, and the executory
conditions contained in the treaties with these Nations have for the
most part become impossible of execution. Nor has it been possible for
the Tribal Governments to secure to each individual Indian his full
enjoyment in common with other Indians of the common property of the
Nations. Friends of the Indians have long believed that the best
interests of the Indians of the Five Civilized Tribes would be found in
American citizenship, with all the rights and privileges which belong to
that condition.

By section 16, of the act of March 3, 1893, the President was authorized
to appoint three commissioners to enter into negotiations with the
Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Muscogee (or Creek), and Seminole Nations,
commonly known as the Five Civilized Tribes in the Indian Territory.
Briefly, the purposes of the negotiations were to be: The extinguishment
of Tribal titles to any lands within that Territory now held by any and
all such Nations or Tribes, either by cession of the same or some part
thereof to the United States, or by allotment and division of the same
in severalty among the Indians of such Nations or Tribes respectively as
may be entitled to the same, or by such other method as may be agreed
upon between the several Nations and Tribes aforesaid, or each of them,
with the United States, with a view to such an adjustment upon the basis
of justice and equity as may, with the consent of the said Nations of
Indians so far as may be necessary, be requisite and suitable to enable
the ultimate creation of a State or States of the Union which shall
embrace the lands within said Indian Territory.

The Commission met much opposition from the beginning. The Indians
were very slow to act, and those in control manifested a decided
disinclination to meet with favor the propositions submitted to them.
A little more than three years after this organization the Commission
effected an agreement with the Choctaw Nation alone. The Chickasaws,
however, refused to agree to its terms, and as they have a common
interest with the Choctaws in the lands of said Nations, the agreement
with the latter Nation could have no effect without the consent of the
former. On April 23, 1897, the Commission effected an agreement with
both tribes--the Choctaws and Chickasaws. This agreement, it is
understood, has been ratified by the constituted authorities of the
respective Tribes or Nations parties thereto, and only requires
ratification by Congress to make it binding.

On the 27th of September, 1897, an agreement was effected with the Creek
Nation, but it is understood that the National Council of said Nation
has refused to ratify the same. Negotiations are yet to be had with the
Cherokees, the most populous of the Five Civilized Tribes, and with the
Seminoles, the smallest in point of numbers and territory.

The provision in the Indian Appropriation Act, approved June 10, 1896,
makes it the duty of the Commission to investigate and determine the
rights of applicants for citizenship in the Five Civilized Tribes,
and to make complete census rolls of the citizens of said Tribes. The
Commission is at present engaged in this work among the Creeks, and has
made appointments for taking the census of these people up to and
including the 30th of the present month.

Should the agreement between the Choctaws and Chickasaws be ratified by
Congress and should the other Tribes fail to make an agreement with the
Commission, then it will be necessary that some legislation shall be had
by Congress, which, while just and honorable to the Indians, shall be
equitable to the white people who have settled upon these lands by
invitation of the Tribal Nations.

Hon. Henry L. Dawes, Chairman of the Commission, in a letter to the
Secretary of the Interior, under date of October 11, 1897, says:
"Individual ownership is, in their (the Commission's) opinion,
absolutely essential to any permanent improvement in present conditions,
and the lack of it is the root of nearly all the evils which so
grievously afflict these people. Allotment by agreement is the only
possible method, unless the United States Courts are clothed with the
authority to apportion the lands among the citizen Indians for whose use
it was originally granted."

I concur with the Secretary of the Interior that there can be no cure
for the evils engendered by the perversion of these great trusts,
excepting by their resumption by the Government which created them.

The recent prevalence of yellow fever in a number of cities and towns
throughout the South has resulted in much disturbance of commerce, and
demonstrated the necessity of such amendments to our quarantine laws
as will make the regulations of the national quarantine authorities
paramount. The Secretary of the Treasury, in the portion of his report
relating to the operation of the Marine Hospital Service, calls
attention to the defects in the present quarantine laws, and recommends
amendments thereto which will give the Treasury Department the requisite
authority to prevent the invasion of epidemic diseases from foreign
countries, and in times of emergency, like that of the past summer, will
add to the efficiency of the sanitary measures for the protection of the
people, and at the same time prevent unnecessary restriction of
commerce. I concur in his recommendation.

In further effort to prevent the invasion of the United States by yellow
fever, the importance of the discovery of the exact cause of the
disease, which up to the present time has been undetermined, is obvious,
and to this end a systematic bacteriological investigation should be
made. I therefore recommend that Congress authorize the appointment of a
commission by the President, to consist of four expert bacteriologists,
one to be selected from the medical officers of the Marine Hospital
Service, one to be appointed from civil life, one to be detailed from
the medical officers of the Army, and one from the medical officers of
the Navy.

The Union Pacific Railway, Main Line, was sold under the decree of the
United States Court for the District 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, $58,448,223.75.
The bid at the sale covered the first mortgage lien and the entire
mortgage claim of the Government, principal and interest.

The sale of the subsidized portion of the Kansas Pacific Line, upon
which the Government holds a second mortgage lien, has been postponed at
the instance of the Government to December 16, 1897. The debt of this
division of the Union Pacific Railway to the Government on November 1,
1897, was the principal of the subsidy bonds, $6,303,000, and the unpaid
and accrued interest thereon, $6,626,690.33, making a total of
$12,929,690.33.

The sale of this road was originally advertised for November 4, but for
the purpose of securing the utmost public notice of the event it was
postponed until December 16, and a second advertisement of the sale was
made. By the decree of the Court, the upset price on the sale of the
Kansas Pacific will yield to the Government the sum of $2,500,000 over
all prior liens, costs, and charges. If no other or better bid is made,
this sum is all that the Government will receive on its claim of nearly
$13,000,000. The Government has no information as to whether there will
be other bidders or a better bid than the minimum amount herein stated.
The question presented therefore is: Whether the Government shall, under
the authority given it by the act of March 3, 1887, purchase or redeem
the road in the event that a bid is not made by private parties covering
the entire Government claim. To qualify the Government to bid at the
sales will require a deposit of $900,000, as follows: In the Government
cause $500,000 and in each of the first mortgage causes $200,000, and
in the latter the deposit must be in cash. Payments at the sale are as
follows: Upon the acceptance of the bid a sum which with the amount
already deposited shall equal fifteen per cent of the bid; the balance
in installments of twenty-five per cent thirty, forty, and fifty days
after the confirmation of the sale. The lien on the Kansas Pacific
prior to that of the Government on the 30th July, 1897, principal and
interest, amounted to $7,281,048.11. The Government, therefore, should
it become the highest bidder, will have to pay the amount of the first
mortgage lien.

I believe that under the act of 1887 it has the authority to do this and
in absence of any action by Congress I shall direct the Secretary of the
Treasury to make the necessary deposit as required by the Court's decree
to qualify as a bidder and to bid at the sale a sum which will at least
equal the principal of the debt due to the Government; but suggest in
order to remove all controversy that an amendment of the law be
immediately passed explicitly giving such powers and appropriating in
general terms whatever sum is sufficient therefor.

In so important a matter as the Government becoming the possible owner
of railroad property which it perforce must conduct and operate, I feel
constrained to lay before Congress these facts for its consideration and
action before the consummation of the sale. It is clear to my mind that
the Government should not permit the property to be sold at a price
which will yield less than one-half of the principal of its debt and
less than one-fifth of its entire debt, principal and interest. But
whether the Government, rather than accept less than its claim, should
become a bidder and thereby the owner of the property, I submit to the
Congress for action.

The Library building provided for by the act of Congress approved April
15, 1886, has been completed and opened to the public. It should be a
matter of congratulation that through the foresight and munificence of
Congress the nation possesses this noble treasure-house of knowledge. It
is earnestly to be hoped that having done so much toward the cause of
education, Congress will continue to develop the Library in every phase
of research to the end that it may be not only one of the most
magnificent but among the richest and most useful libraries in the
world.

The important branch of our Government known as the Civil Service,
the practical improvement of which has long been a subject of earnest
discussion, has of late years received increased legislative and
Executive approval. During the past few months the service has been
placed upon a still firmer basis of business methods and personal merit.
While the right of our veteran soldiers to reinstatement in deserving
cases has been asserted, dismissals for merely political reasons have
been carefully guarded against, the examinations for admittance to the
service enlarged and at the same time rendered less technical and more
practical; and a distinct advance has been made by giving a hearing
before dismissal upon all cases where incompetency is charged or demand
made for the removal of officials in any of the Departments. This order
has been made to give to the accused his right to be heard but without
in any way impairing the power of removal, which should always be
exercised in cases of inefficiency and incompetency, and which is one
of the vital safeguards of the civil service reform system, preventing
stagnation and deadwood and keeping every employee keenly alive to the
fact that the security of his tenure depends not on favor but on his
own tested and carefully watched record of service.

Much of course still remains to be accomplished before the system can
be made reasonably perfect for our needs. There are places now in the
classified service which ought to be exempted and others not classified
may properly be included. I shall not hesitate to exempt cases which I
think have been improperly included in the classified service or include
those which in my judgment will best promote the public service. The
system has the approval of the people and it will be my endeavor to
uphold and extend it.

I am forced by the length of this Message to omit many important
references to affairs of the Government with which Congress will
have to deal at the present session. They are fully discussed in the
departmental reports, to all of which I invite your earnest attention.

The estimates of the expenses of the Government by the several
Departments will, I am sure, have your careful scrutiny. While the
Congress may not find it an easy task to reduce the expenses of the
Government, it should not encourage their increase. These expenses will
in my judgment admit of a decrease in many branches of the Government
without injury to the public service. It is a commanding duty to keep
the appropriations within the receipts of the Government, and thus avoid
a deficit.

WILLIAM McKINLEY.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, December 6, 1897_.

_To the Congress of the United States_:

The act of Congress, approved July 19, 1897, entitled "An act making
appropriations to supply deficiencies in the appropriations for the
fiscal year ending June 30, 1897, and for prior years, for other
purposes," provided for the acceptance by the Government of the United
States of the invitation extended by the Republic of France to
participate in an international exposition to be held at Paris, from
April 15 to November 15, 1900, and authorized the President to appoint a
special commissioner with a view to securing all attainable information
necessary to a full and complete understanding by Congress in regard to
the participation of this Government in that exposition.

Maj. Moses P. Handy of Chicago, was appointed such special commissioner,
and I now enclose his report, giving the details of his mission. It is
a comprehensive and clear presentation of the situation. He recommends
that an appropriation of $919,600 be granted, so that a creditable
exhibit on behalf of the United States may be made. The details of this
report will show how this appropriation may be profitably expended.

Besides securing a much larger amount of space than had been reserved,
Major Handy obtained the gratifying assurance that the United States
will be placed on a footing with the most favored nations, and "that in
the installation of every important department the United States will
have a location commensurate with the dignity and importance of the
country and adjoining in every case countries of the first rank."

In view of the magnitude and importance of the approaching exposition,
and of our standing among the nations which will be there represented,
and in view also of our increased population and acknowledged progress
in arts, science, and manufactures, I earnestly commend the report of
Major Handy to your consideration, and trust that a liberal
appropriation may be made.

Moreover, the magnificent exhibit of the French Republic at Chicago
in 1893, on which a million dollars were expended, should be a strong
incentive to reciprocal liberality on the part of the Government of the
United States, and suggests to our citizens the necessity as well as the
propriety of installing at the Paris Exposition an exhibit on a par with
that of the Government and people of France at Chicago, and in keeping
with the scope and extent of the preparations which are being made by
nearly all the important nations of the earth for their proposed
exhibits in that exposition.

I suggest that the subject be given timely and favorable consideration.

WILLIAM McKINLEY.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, January 14, 1898_.

_To the Congress of the United States_:

I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State in regard to
the award of the commissioners appointed pursuant to the stipulations of
the convention of February 8, 1896, between the United States and Great
Britain, providing for the settlement of the claims presented by the
latter against the former in virtue of the convention of February 29,
1892.

The report of the Secretary of State presents a clear epitome of the
award and renders unnecessary any extended observations on my part
further than to say that I cordially coincide with his recommendation
and that our treaty obligations demand prompt and favorable action by
Congress, which I urgently hope may be taken, to the end that these
long-pending questions may be finally and satisfactorily terminated.

The total amount necessary to satisfy the award of the commissioners is
$473,151.26, which I recommend be appropriated.

WILLIAM McKINLEY.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, January 18, 1898_.

_To the Congress of the United States_:

I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State, with
accompanying papers, touching the lynching in 1895 at Yreka, Cal., of
Luis Moreno, a Mexican citizen, and the demand of the Mexican Government
for an indemnity for his relatives on account thereof.

Following the course adopted in the case of the lynching of three
Italian subjects at Hahnville, La., on August 8, 1896, 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 in the premises, of the sum of $2,000 to be paid by the Secretary
of State to the Government of Mexico, to be by that Government
distributed among the heirs of the above-named Luis Moreno.

WILLIAM McKINLEY.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, January 26, 1898_.

_To the Congress_:

I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State and
accompanying papers presenting the claim of Capt. B. Tellefsen, of the
Norwegian steamer _Albert_, against the Government of the United
States, for $998.96, being the expenses incurred by him in consequence
of a violation of Article XIII of the treaty of commerce and navigation
of 1827 between the United States and Sweden and Norway.

WILLIAM McKINLEY.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, March 22, 1898_.

_To the Senate_:

In connection with Senate Document No. 39, Fifty-fifth Congress, second
session, and in further response to the resolution of the Senate of July
12, 1897, I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State, with
additional papers, relating to postal telegraphs, telephones, and postal
savings banks in Austria.

WILLIAM McKINLEY.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _March 31, 1898_.

_To the Congress_:

I transmit herewith, for the information of Congress, a communication
from the Secretary of Agriculture covering a detailed report showing the
present condition of the beet-sugar industry in this country and the
results of experiments made by the Department of Agriculture in the
production of sugar from beets in the United States during the past
year.

WILLIAM McKINLEY.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, April 4, 1898_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In response to the resolution of the Senate of January 17, 1898,
I transmit a report from the Secretary of State, accompanied by copies
of correspondence exchanged between Henry Woodruff, trustee and of
counsel for the holders of a majority of the first-mortgage bonds
of "The Railway of the East," of Venezuela, _et al._, and the
Department of State, and by a list of claims of citizens of the United
States presented after August 1, 1898, and, so far as appears, not
settled by Venezuela, nor disposed of by the commission of 1889-90.

WILLIAM McKINLEY.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _April 7, 1898_.

_To the Senate_:

In response to the resolution of the Senate of February 26, 1898,
requesting the President "if not incompatible with the public interest,
to transmit to the Senate the proceedings of the international
commission authorized in the concurrent resolution of Congress of April
29, 1890, and a subsequent international convention between the United
States and Mexico of May 6, 1896, and also the correspondence relating
thereto with Mexico by the Department of the Interior, Department of
War, and Department of Justice, as well as the Department of State,
relating to the equitable distribution of the waters of the Rio Grande
River, including the draft of an incomplete treaty between said
Governments, negotiated between the late Secretary of State, Mr. Olney,
on the part of the United States, and Mr. Romero, on the part of Mexico,
and all the correspondence between said officials relating thereto," I
transmit herewith reports from the Secretary of State, the Secretary of
War, the Secretary of the Interior, and the Attorney-General, with
accompanying papers.

Copyright (c) 2007. bestextbooks.com. All rights reserved.

Niccolo Machiavelli - "Machiavelli, Volume I"

Beatrix Potter - "The Tale of Timmy Tiptoes"

Dietlof Van Warmelo - "On Commando"

Joseph A. Altsheler - "The Rulers of the Lakes"

Obituary: Donald Westlake
Articles published by guardian.co.uk Books

Theatre review: Three Women, Jermyn Street, London
Obituary: Prolific crime novelist, Oscar-nominated screenwriter and man of many pseudonyms

Obama to feature in Marvel comic

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.

guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds