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

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WILLIAM McKINLEY.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, April 15, 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
accompanying papers relating to postal telegraphs, telephones, and
postal savings banks in the colony of Victoria.

WILLIAM McKINLEY.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, April 27, 1898_.

_To the Congress_:

I transmit herewith a 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 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, _May 16, 1898_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith a communication from the Secretary of State,
accompanying the annual reports of the consuls of the United States upon
foreign industries and commerce. In view of the value of these reports
to the business interests of the country, I indorse the recommendation
of the Secretary of State that Congress authorize the printing of a
special edition of 10,000 copies of the general summary entitled "Review
of the World's Commerce," and 5,000 copies of Commercial Relations
(including this summary), to enable the Department of State to meet the
demands for such information.

WILLIAM McKINLEY.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 16, 1898_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I return herewith to the House of Representatives, in which it
originated, House bill No. 2219, entitled "An act for the relief of the
administrators of Isaac P. Tice, deceased, and others," without my
approval.

The object of this bill is to confer upon the Court of Claims
jurisdiction to retry and determine a case brought by the
representatives of Isaac P. Tice against the United States in the Court
of Claims in the year 1873 to recover from the Government the sum of
$25,000, the alleged value of certain meters invented by Isaac P. Tice
for the purpose of measuring the quality and strength of distilled
spirits.

It was claimed that this amount, together with the sum of $733.33 for
storage of said meters, was due to the claimant under a contract made
between Tice and the Commissioner of Internal Revenue in pursuance of
section 15 of the act of March 2, 1867 (14 Stats., 481). From the report
of the case in 13 Court of Claims Reports, 112, it appears that the
matter was fully and deliberately tried and argued both on behalf of the
claimant and of the United States, and that at December term, 1877, the
Court of Claims rendered a decision adverse to the claimant, expressly
stating that the claimants had failed to establish their claim both in
law and on the facts. Not satisfied with this conclusion of the Court of
Claims, the claimants took an appeal to the Supreme Court of the United
States, where the case was again argued and was decided, October term,
1878, the judgment of the Court of Claims being declared to be in
accordance with the law and therefore affirmed. In these two decisions
the law and the facts pertaining to the claim were fully set forth and
discussed.

The bill further confers upon the Court of Claims jurisdiction to try
and determine certain alleged claims of said Tice and others for money
collected on account of the Tice meters, but not paid over to him or
them under the regulations of the Treasury.

The amount of the latter claim, according to the report of the committee
of the House of Representatives to which this bill was referred, is
$140,000. It does not appear from the report of the committee, nor from
any documents to which I have access, who are the other persons by whom
this latter sum is claimed. The claim for $140,000 must have accrued
prior to July, 1871, and therefore at this time is of at least
twenty-seven years' standing.

It will thus be perceived that the object of the bill is to remove from
the pathway of the claimants two legal bars to the prosecution of their
claim in the courts--one, the bar of the statute of limitations, which
requires all claimants against the Government to present their claims
and bring actions thereon within six years from the time the cause of
action accrues; and the other, that bar of estoppel which arises by
reason of a former adverse judgment, rendered in a court of competent
jurisdiction. This is not a general modification of the law in these
respects, but a special application of it to these particular claimants.

If the principle on which the statute of limitations is founded is
wise and beneficent, then the effect of it ought not to be impaired by
special legislative exemptions in favor of particular persons or cases
except upon very clear and just grounds, where no lack of diligence in
the prosecution of the claim is apparent. I cannot find in the papers
submitted to me any sufficient grounds to justify a special exception
from the ordinary rule in favor of these claimants. As to the claim for
$140,000, no reason is stated why it was not included in the original
suit nor why action upon it was not brought against the Government
within the six years allowed by the statute for that purpose. To permit
such an action to be brought now is simply, without any reason of a
special nature, to grant a privilege to these claimants which is denied
to all other citizens of the United States, in accordance with the
provisions of the general statute of limitations. The principle
underlying statutes of limitations and the reasons for the maintenance
of such a rule of litigation are much more cogent when applied to claims
against the Government than when applied to claims against individuals.

These claims do not differ in their character from ordinary business
transactions such as transpire every day between private persons or
business corporations. The Government can only defend itself against
claims of this nature through its public officers and with the use of
such public records as the Departments may furnish. Great difficulties
are experienced by it in contesting fraudulent and unjust claims, and it
is only fair in the interest of the public that a rigorous adherence to
some rule of limitation should be maintained.

The provision of the bill which practically directs a new trial of the
claim for $25,000, decided adversely to the claimants more than twenty
years ago, is still more objectionable. These parties had their day in
court. They produced their witnesses and were heard both originally and
upon appeal, and upon the case they were then able to make the court
decided they had no claim against the Government. It is now suggested
that other witnesses have been discovered who can supply the lack of
proof which was produced on the former trial. Such a ground for a new
trial would never be considered in any court of law in the land in a
case between private parties where such a length of time had intervened
since the former trial. No explanation of a satisfactory nature is
furnished for the failure of the claimants to produce these witnesses
upon the original trial.

The bill further provides that upon a retrial of the original claim, or
upon the trial of the new claim, the claimants shall be at liberty to
offer in evidence the depositions of witnesses now on the files of any
of the committees of Congress in relation to the aforesaid matters,
which may be introduced as evidence in case of the death or disability
of the deponents.

This provision will enable the claimants to present _ex-parte_
affidavits, prepared by the claimants or their attorneys, without
opportunity being afforded to the Government to cross-examine, provided
the claimants can show that the deposing witnesses are either dead or
under disability, by which, no doubt, is intended any such disability by
reason of absence, illness, and the like, as may render them legally
incapable of being produced in person to testify upon the retrial. Such
a provision as this is most dangerous to the interests of the
Government.

I fail to see any reason in the facts connected with these claims for
granting to these parties relief of this extraordinary nature.

The Treasury of the United States ought to be very carefully guarded
against attacks of those who come forward with stale claims, and
especially from the attacks of those who have already been fully heard
according to the methods prescribed by the statutes.

To approve this bill would be to furnish a very dangerous precedent
which would open the door to demands upon Congress in other cases which
have been fully heard and determined.

For these reasons I am constrained to withhold my approval from this
bill.

WILLIAM McKINLEY.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, June 14, 1898_.

_To the Congress of the United States_:

I transmit herewith (having reference to Senate Document No. 4,
Fifty-fifth Congress, second session) a report made by Thomas W.
Cridler, Third Assistant Secretary of State, who, upon the death of
Maj. Moses P. Handy, I designated to continue the work as special
commissioner, under the act of Congress approved July 19, 1897, in
relation to the acceptance by the Government of the United States of the
invitation of France to participate in the International Exposition to
be held at Paris from April 15 to November 5, 1900.

I cordially renew my recommendation that a liberal appropriation be
immediately granted.

WILLIAM McKINLEY.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 23, 1898_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of the Interior relative
to Senate resolution of June 10, 1898, requesting the President "to make
such arrangements as may be necessary to secure at the Trans-Mississippi
and International Exposition to be held in the city of Omaha, Neb., the
attendance of representatives of the Iroquois tribes and Delawares of
Canada and of the Abenakis of St. Francis and Becaucourt, and such other
Indian nations as have emigrated from the territory now of the United
States to Canada."

To carry out this resolution, if it shall be found agreeable to the
Government of Canada, it will be necessary for this Government to send
an agent to visit the tribes and secure their assent, organize the
representative delegations, escort them to the exposition, take charge
of and care for them while there and until they are returned to their
respective tribes.

The resolution seems to presuppose that there are funds which may be
lawfully used to defray the expenses which must necessarily be incurred
in the premises. By reference to the Secretary's report, it will be seen
that there are no moneys lawfully available for that purpose.

It is not to be presumed that the Senate, under such circumstances,
would desire the Executive to take the action indicated in the
resolution, and I am therefore constrained to await the requisite
appropriation by Congress for the payment of the expenses that must be
necessarily incurred in the accomplishment of the proposed objects.

WILLIAM McKINLEY.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _December 6, 1898_.

_To the Congress of the United States_:

I transmit herewith, for the information of the Congress, the report of
the Hawaiian Commission appointed in pursuance of the "Joint resolution
to provide for annexing the Hawaiian Islands to the United States,"
approved July 7, 1898, together with a copy of the civil and penal laws
of Hawaii.

WILLIAM McKINLEY.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 5, 1899_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith a report of the Secretary of Agriculture on the work
and expenditures of the agricultural experiment stations established
under the act of Congress of March 2, 1887, for the fiscal year ending
June 30, 1898, in accordance with the act making appropriations for the
Department of Agriculture for the said fiscal year.

WILLIAM McKINLEY.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 5, 1899_.

_To the Senate_:

In response to the resolution of the Senate of December 21, 1898,
requesting the President, "If it be not inconsistent with the public
service, to inform the Senate whether authentic information is in
possession of the Government as to the alleged dissolution of the
Government of the United States of Central America." I transmit herewith
a report from the Secretary of State with accompanying papers.

WILLIAM McKINLEY.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, January 6, 1899_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit herewith in answer to the resolution of the Senate of
December 15, 1898, a communication from the Secretary of State covering
a preliminary report from the Nicaraguan Canal Commission, dated
December 26, 1898, relative to its progress in investigating the
question of the proper route, the feasibility, and cost of construction
of the Nicaragua Canal.

WILLIAM McKINLEY.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, January 6, 1899_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith a communication from the Secretary of State,
inclosing the annual report of the Director of the Bureau of the
American Republics, with accompanying documents. In view of the improved
condition and increasing usefulness of the Bureau, to which I have
already called attention in my annual message, and the welcome
assurances of greater activity on the part of the other American
republics in support of its purposes, I cordially indorse the
recommendations of the Secretary of State. It will doubtless be as
gratifying to Congress as it is to me to be informed that the Argentine
Republic has decided to renew its relations with the Bureau, and that
there are grounds for hoping that the International American Union,
created by the impressive conference of the representatives of our
sister republics and those of the United States in Washington in
1889-90, will soon be perfected by the adhesion of the Republic of Chile
to the compact for the support of the Bureau as the organ of the union.
The interest of the United States in giving the fullest possible effect
to the laudable desire of the international conference to promote not
only trade intercourse but a closer fellowship among the various
republics of this hemisphere is so evident that I am satisfied the
progress made by the bureau, as a practical agency for attaining these
objects, will receive the commendation and support of Congress.

WILLIAM McKINLEY.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, January 11, 1899_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In response to the resolution of the Senate of June 6, 1898, I transmit
a report from the Secretary of State, inclosing copies of all papers on
file in the Department of State relating to the case of Hugo O. Loewi,
including those printed in Document No. 186, Senate, Fifty-fifth
Congress, second session.

WILLIAM McKINLEY.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 17, 1899_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

It will be remembered that in the month of October, 1897, reports were
received here of the probable loss of the whaling fleet in the Arctic
regions, and of the likelihood that nearly 300 men, composing the
officers and crews of the fleet, would perish from hunger unless succor
could reach them early in the spring.

The revenue cutter _Bear_ was known to be _en route_ from the
Arctic Ocean to Puget Sound, Washington. Her arrival was anxiously
awaited, as no other suitable Government vessel could be made available
for Arctic work. That ship arrived at Seattle, Wash., on the 6th of
November, after a six-months' cruise in the Arctic, and I at once
ordered an expedition prepared for the relief of the imperiled whalemen.

The preparation of the _Bear_ was commenced on the 11th of
November, under the direction of the Secretary of the Treasury. Her
officers and men of the Revenue-Cutter Service all volunteered for the
perilous work, and the ship was completely fitted out, and, under the
command of Capt. Francis Tuttle, of the Revenue-Cutter Service, sailed
on her errand of mercy November 29, 1897, within nineteen days from the
inception of the movement.

The plan of the expedition was briefly as follows:

The ship was to be fully provided with rations for the ice-imperiled
whalemen, which were to be conveyed to them as soon as the ice
conditions in Bering Strait would permit the passage through. An
overland expedition was to be landed from the _Bear_ as soon as
practicable, at some point on the coast of Alaska, in Bering Sea, to be
determined upon by Captain Tuttle. The problem of getting food to the
imperiled people at the earliest time possible was the all-important
consideration, for it was fully understood that the _Bear_ could
not, under the most favorable conditions of ice navigation in that
region, reach their neighborhood before the following July or August.
The utter lack of transportation of any kind in this far-off land
suggested the idea, which was adopted as the only possible plan, of
driving reindeer overland, to be slaughtered on arrival, for food to
last until the arrival of the _Bear_ with supplies the following
summer. The reindeer were to be collected by the overland expedition
from several points in Alaska, notably Cape Prince of Wales and Point
Rodney, and, with such aid as could be procured from natives and others,
driven to Point Barrow.

The overland expedition was formed, and consisted of First Lieut. David
H. Jarvis, Revenue-Cutter Service, commanding; Second Lieut. Ellsworth
P. Bertholf, Revenue-Cutter Service, and Dr. Samuel J. Call, surgeon of
the _Bear_, all volunteers. This overland expedition was landed
from the _Bear_ at Cape Vancouver, in Bering Sea, Alaska, on the
16th of December, 1897, and commenced its toilsome and dreary journey
through an arctic night to Point Barrow, Captain Tuttle returning with
his command to winter at Dutch Harbor, Alaska, and from there to take
advantage of the first opportunity in the early summer of 1898 to get
north.

The overland expedition worked its way to the reindeer stations named,
and succeeded in getting together about 450 deer. They were materially
aided by Mr. W.T. Lopp, agent of the American Missionary Society at Cape
Prince of Wales, and Artisarlook, a native of that region, both of whom,
at great personal sacrifice, left their families and accompanied the
reindeer herd to Point Barrow.

The overland expedition, after a difficult and hazardous journey of
nearly 2,000 miles through the storms and bitter cold of an arctic
winter, reached Point Barrow with the herd on the 29th of March, 1898,
three months and twelve days from their landing from the _Bear_ at
Cape Vancouver, Alaskan coast of Bering Sea. They arrived none too soon.
From the lack of an authoritative head, supplemented by bad sanitary
conditions and want of proper food, the men from the whale ships
quartered there were found upon the verge of great suffering, while
sickness had broken out among them. Lieutenant Jarvis, under the
instructions given him by the Secretary of the Treasury, at once assumed
charge, in the name of the Government, of the camp and locality of Point
Barrow, and he and Dr. Call devoted themselves with intelligent energy
to correcting the wretched conditions found to exist. Order was at once
inaugurated. Fresh meat from the reindeer herd was supplied, the
sanitary conditions were improved, and the general health and comfort
of the whalemen received immediate attention. Lieutenant Jarvis and
Dr. Call remained at Point Barrow in charge until the arrival of the
_Bear_, July 28, 1898, a period of four months. As soon as the
_Bear_ arrived Captain Tuttle began the distribution of ample
supplies to the whalemen on shipboard and on shore. Having supplied all
demands generously, succored the needy to the number of 275 between
Point Barrow and Kotzebue Sound, taking on board the _Bear_ 146
whalemen, 91 of whom were brought to the Pacific coast (the remainder
having of their own volition left the ship _en route_), the vessel
arrived back at Seattle on the 13th of September, after an absence in
the bleak and dreary regions of Bering Sea and the Arctic Ocean of about
seventeen months.

The hardships and perils encountered by the members of the overland
expedition in their great journey through an almost uninhabited region,
a barren waste of ice and snow, facing death itself every day for nearly
four months, over a route never before traveled by white men, with no
refuge but at the end of the journey, carrying relief and cheer to 275
distressed citizens of our country, all make another glorious page in
the history of American seamen. They reflect by their heroic and gallant
struggles the highest credit upon themselves and the Government which
they faithfully served. I commend this heroic crew to the grateful
consideration of Congress and the American people.

The year just closed has been fruitful of noble achievements in the
field of war; and while I have commended to your consideration the
names of heroes who have shed luster upon the American name in valorous
contests and battles by land and sea, it is no less my pleasure to
invite your attention to a victory of peace the results of which cannot
well be magnified, and the dauntless courage of the men engaged stamps
them as true heroes, whose services cannot pass unrecognized.

I have therefore the honor to submit the following recommendations and
to ask your favorable action thereon:

1. That the thanks of Congress be voted to Capt. Francis Tuttle,
Revenue-Cutter Service, and the officers and enlisted men composing his
command for their able and gallant services.

2. That the thanks of Congress be extended to the members of the
overland expedition; First Lieut. David H. Jarvis, Revenue-Cutter
Service, commanding the overland expedition; to Second Lieut. Ellsworth
P. Bertholf, Revenue-Cutter Service, and to Dr. Samuel J. Call, Surgeon.

3. That gold medals of honor of appropriate design, to be approved by
the Secretary of the Treasury, be awarded to Lieutenants Jarvis and
Bertholf and Dr. Call, commemorative of their heroic struggles in aid of
suffering fellow-men.

4. That the sum of $2,500 be appropriated to be disbursed by the
Secretary of the Treasury in bestowing rewards upon W.T. Lopp,
Artisarlook, and native herders, who rendered material aid to the relief
expedition.

WILLIAM McKINLEY.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 19, 1899_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith a second report on the investigations of the
agricultural capabilities of Alaska for the year 1898, in accordance
with the acts of Congress making appropriations for the Department of
Agriculture for the fiscal years ending June 30, 1898, and June 30,
1899.

WILLIAM McKINLEY.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 19, 1899_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I herewith return without approval Senate bill No. 708, entitled "An act
for the relief of Albert E. Redstone."

My objections to the bill are:

First. It assumes that the beneficiary, Albert E. Redstone, sustained a
loss by the incorporation of his preemption claim within the limits of
the Sierra Forest Reserve. This reserve was established by executive
proclamation of February 14, 1893 (27 Stats., 1059), issued under
section 24 of the act of March 8, 1891 (26 Stats., 1103), and contains
the following saving clause for the protection of existing claims under
the public land laws:

* * * Excepting from the force and effect of this proclamation all lands
which may have been, prior to the date hereof, embraced in any legal
entry or covered by any lawful filing duly of record in the proper
United States Land Office, or upon which any valid settlement has been
made pursuant to law, and the statutory period within which to make
entry or filing of record has not expired; * * *

Mr. Redstone did not sustain any loss by the creation of this reserve,
because his rights, if he had any at that time, were fully recognized
and protected by this provision in the proclamation.

Second. Mr. Redstone's preemption declaratory statement was filed April
6, 1889, and alleged settlement upon the same day. The land covered
thereby had not been proclaimed for sale, and under sections 2265 and
2267 of the Revised Statutes, Mr. Redstone had thirty-three months from
the date of his settlement within which to make proof and payment for
the land, but in fact he never attempted to make such proof or payment.
His preemption claim had therefore expired by operation of law long
before the creation of this reserve. After his filing had thus expired
Mr. Redstone was cited by the Land Department to show cause why his
claim should not be declared at an end, and his filing formally canceled
upon the public records, but he made no response or defense, and the
filing was accordingly canceled.

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