-
* the Commission, reported to me in writing
vision for the publication of the annual report
should be promptly remedied. The pablie in-
terest in the report and its value to the farm-
ing community I am sure will not be dimin-
ished under the new organization of the De-
partment.
THE WEATHER BUREAU.
I recommend that the Weather Service be
separated from the War Department and es-
tablished as a Bureau in the Department of
Agriculture. This will involve an entire reor-
ganization both of the Weather Bureau and of
the Signal Corps, making of the first a purely
civil organization and of the other a purely
military staff corps. The report of the Chief
Signal Officer shows that the work of the corps
on its military side has been deteriorating.
THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.
The interests of the people of the District of
Columbia should not be lost sight of in the
pressure for consideration of measures affect-
ing the whole country. Having no legislature
of its own, either municipal or general, its peo-
ple must look to Congress for the regulation of
all those concerns that, in the States, are the
subject of local control. Our whole people
have an interest that the National Capital
should be made attractive and beautiful, and
above all that its repute for social order should
be well maintained. The laws regulating the
sale of intoxicating drinks in the District
should be revised with a view to bringing the
traffic under stringent limitations and control.
In execution of the power conferred upon
me by the act making appropriations for the
expenses of the District of Columbia for the
year ending June 30, 1889, I did, on the 17th
day of August last, appoint Fuolnls Hering, of
New York, Samuel A, Gray, of Rhode Island,
and Frederick P. Stearns, of Massachusetts,
three eminent sanitary engineers, to examine
and report upon the system of sewerage exist
ing in the District of Columbia. Their report,
which is not yet completed, will be in due
course submitted to Congress. ;
The report of the Commissioners of the Dis-
trict is herewith transmitted, and the attention
of Congress is called to the suggestions con-
tained therein.
THE EXPOSITION.
The proposition to observe the four hun-
dredth anniversary of the discovery of Rmerica
by the opening of a world’s fair or exposition
in some one of our great cities will be pre-
sented for the cdnsideration of Congress. The
value and interest of such an exposition may
well claim the promotion of the General Gov-
ernment.
THE CIVIL SERVICE LAW.
On the 4th of March last the Civil Service
Commission had but a single member. The
vacancies were filled on the 7th day of May,
and since then the commissioners have been
industriously, though with an inadequate force,
engaged in executing the law. They were as-
sured by me that a cordial support would be
given them in the faithful and impartial en-
forcement of the statute and of the rules and
regulations adopted in aid of it.
Heretofore the book of eligibles has been
closed to every one, except as certifications
were made upor the requisition of the appoint-
ing officers. This sccrecy was the source of
much suspicion, and of many charges of favor-
itism in the administration of the law. What
is secrct is always suspected; what is open can
be judged. The Commission, with the full ap-
proval of all its members, has now opened the
list of eligibles to the public. The eligible lists
for the classified post-oftices and custom-houses
are now publicly posted in the respective
offices, as are also the certifications for appoint-
ments. The purpose of the civil-service
law was absolutely to exclude any other
consideration in connection with appointments
under it than that of merit as tested by the ex-
aminations. The business proceeds upon the
theory that both the examining boards and the
appointing-officers are absolutely ignorant as
to the political views and associations of all
persons onghe civil-service lists, It is not too
much to say, however, that some recent Con-
gressional investigations have somewhat shaken
public confidence in the impartiality of the
selections for appointment.
The reform of the civil service will make no
safe or satisfactory advance until the present
law and its equal administration are well es-
tablished in the confidence of the people. It
will be my pleasure, as it is my duty, to see
that the law 1s executed with firmness and im-
partiality. If some of its provisions have been
fraudulently evaded by appointing-officers, our
resentment should not suggest the repeal of
the law, but reform in its administration. We
should have one view of the matter, and hold it
with a sincerity that is not affected by the con-
sideration that the party to which we belong is
for the time in power.
My predecessor, on the 4th day of January,
1889, by an executive order to take effect
March 15, brought the Railway Mail Service
under the operation of the ecivil-service law.
Provision was made that the order should take |
effect sooner in any State where an eligible list
was sooner obtained. On the 11th day of
March Mr. Lyman, then the only member of
that it would not be possible to have the list of
eligibles ready before May 1, and requested |
that the taking effect of the order be post |
poned until that time, which was done, subject |
to the same provision contained infghe original
order as to States in which an eligible list was |
sooner obtained.
As a result of the revision of the rules, of the
new classification, and of the inclusion of the
Railway Mail Service, the work of the Commis-
sion has been greatly increased, and the pres-
ent clerical force is found to be inadequate, I
recommend that the additional clerks asked by
the Commission be appropriated for.
The duty of appointment is devolved by the
Constitution or by the law, and the appointing
officers are properly held to a high responsi-
bility in its exercise. The growth of the
country and the constant increase of the civil
list have magnified this function of the Execu-
tive disproportionally. It can not be denied,
however, that the labor connected with this
necessary work is increased, often to the point
of actual distress, by the sudden and excessive
demands that are made upon an incoming
administration for removals and appointments.
But, on the other hand, it is not true that
incumbency is a conclusive argument for a
«continuance in office. Impartiality, modera-
tion, fidelity to public duty, and a good attain-
ment in the discharge of it must be added
‘before the argument is complete, When those
holding administrative offices so conduct them-
selves as to convince just political opponents
that no party consideration or bias affects in
any way the discharge of their public duties,
we can more easily stay the demand for re-
ovals.
I am satisfied that both in and out of the
classified service great benefit would accrue
from the adoption of some system by which the
officer would receive the distinction and ben-
efit that, in all private employments, comes
from exceptional faithfulness and efficiency in
the Furformmen of duty.
I have suggested to the heads of the Execu-
tive Departments that they consider whether a
record might not be kept in each Bureau of all
those elements that are covered by the terms
“faithfulness” and ‘wefficiency,” and a rating
made showing the relative merits of the clerks
of each class, this rating to be regarded asa
fest of merit in making promotions.
1 have also suggested to the Postmaster-Gen-
eral that he adopt some plan by which he can,
upon the basis of the reports to the Department
and of frequent inspection, indicate the rela-
tive merit of postmasters of each class. They
will be SH ontiely indicated in the official
vegister and in the report of the Department.
That a great stimulus would thus be given to
the whole service I do not doubt, and such a
record would be the best defense against in-
considerate removals from office.
NATIONAL AID TO EDUCATION.
The interest of the General Government in
the education of the people found an early ex-
pression, not only 1n the thoughtful and some-
times warning utterances of our ablest states-
men, but in liberal Approptiationg from the
common resources for the support of education
in the new States. No one will deny that itis
of the gravest national concern that those who
hold the ultimate control of all public affairs
should have the necessary intelligence wisely
to direct and determine them. National aid to
education has heretofore taken the form of
land grants, and in that form the constitutional
power of Congress to promote the education
of the people is not seriously questioned. 1
do not think it can be successfully questioned
when the form is changed to that of a direct
grant of money from the public treasury.
Such aid should be, as it always has been,
suggested by some exceptional conditions. The
a emancipation of the slaves of the
‘South, the bestowal of the suffrage, whichsoon
followed, and the impairment of the ability of
the States where these new citizens were
chiefly found to adequately provide educa-!
tional facilities, presented not only exceptional
but unexampled conditions, That the situa-
tion has been much ameliorated there is no
doubt. The ability and interest of the States
have happily increased.
But a great work remains to be done, and I
think the General Government should lend its
aid. As the suggestion of a national grant in
aid of education grows chiefly out of the condi-
tion and needs of the emancipated slave and
his descendants, the relief should, as far as pos-
sible, while necessarily Jroceoding upon some
general lines, be applied to the need that sug-
gested it. It is essential, if much good is to be
accomplished, that the sympathy and active
interest of the people of the States should be
enlisted, and that the methods adopted should
be such as to stimulate and not to supplant
local taxation for school purposes. .
As one Congress can not bind a succeeding
one in such a case, and as the effort must, in
some degree, be experimental, I recommend
that any appropriation made for this purpose
be so limited in annual amount and as to the
time over which it is to extend as will, on the
one hand, give the local school authorities op-
portunity to make the best use of the first year’s
allowance, and on the other deliver them from
the temptation to unduly postpone the assump-
tion of the whole burden themselves.
WHITE AND COLORED.
The colored people did not intrude them-
selves upon us; they were brought here in
chains and held in the communities where they
are now chiefly found, by a cruel slave code.
Happily for both races they are now free.
They have, from a stand-point of ignorance
and poverty, which was our shame, not theirs,
made remarkable advances in education and in
the acquisition of property. They have, as a
people, shown themselves to be friendly and
faithful towards the white race, under tempta-
tions of tremendous strength. They have
their representatives in the national cemeteries
where a grateful Government has gathered the
ashes of those who died in its defense. They
have furnished to our regular Army regiments
that have won high praise from their com-
manding officers for courage and soldierly
qualities, and for fidelity to the enlistment
oath. In civil life they are now the toilers of
their communities, making their full contri-
bution to the widening streams of prosperity
which these communities are receiving. Their
sudden withdrawal would stop production and
bring disorder into the household as well as
the shop. Generally they do not desire to quit
their homes, and their employers resent the
interference of the emigration agents who seek
to stimulate such a desire.
But, notwithstanding all this, in many parts
of our country where the colored population is
large the people of that race are, by various
devices, deprived of any effective exercise of
their political rights and of many of their civil
rights. The wrong does not expend itself upon
those whose votes are suppressed. Every con-
stituency in the Union is wronged.
It has bee n the hope of every patriot that a
sense of justice and of respect for the law
would work a gradual cure of these flagrant
evils. Surely, no one supposes that the present
can be accepted as a permanent condition. If
it is said that these communities must work
out this problem for themselves, we have a
right to usk whether they are at work upon it.
Do they suggest any solution? When and
under what conditions is the black man to
have a free ballot? When is he in fact to have
those full civil rights which have so long been
his in law? When is that equality of intluence
which our form of government was intended
to secure to the electors to be restored? This
generation should courageously face these
grave questions and not leave them as a her-
tage of woe to the next. The consultation
should proceed with candor, calmness and
great patience; upon the lines of justice and
humanity, not of prejudice and cruelty. No
question in our country can be at rest except
upon the firm base of justice and of the law.
1 earnestly invoke the attention of Congress
to the consideration of such measures within
its well-defined constitutional powers® as will
secure to all our people a free exercise of the
right of suffrage and every other civil right
under the Constitution and laws of the United
States. No evil, however deplorable, can jus-
tify the assumption, either on the part of the
Executive or of Congress, of powers not
granted; but both will be highly blamable if all
the powers granted are not wisely but firmly
used te correct these evils. The power to take
the whole direction and control of the election
of members of the House of Representatives 18
clearly given to the General Government. A
partial end qualified supervision of these elec-
tigusis now provided for by law, andin my
¢, .nion this law may be so strengthened and
extended as to sccure, on the whole, bétter re-
sufta than can be attained by a lw taking all
the processes of such election in ‘ederal con-
trol, The colored man should be Pratected in
all of his relations to the Federal Goveynment,
whether as litigant, juror or witness in our
courts, as an elector for members of Congress,
or as a peaceful traveler upon our interstate
railways,
OUR MERCHANT MARINE.
There is nothing more justly humiliating to
the national pride, and nothing more hurtful
to the national prosperity than the inferiority
of our merchant marine compared with that
of other nations whose general resources,
wealth, and sea-coast lines do not suggest any
reason for their supremacy on the sea. It was
not always so, and our people are agreed, I
think, that it shall not continue to be so. Itis
not possible in this communication to discuss
the causes of the decay of our shipping inter-
ests or the different methods by which it is
proposed to restore them. The statement of a
few well-authenticated facts and some general
suggestions as to legislation is all that is prac-
ticable. That the great steam-ship lines sail-
ing under the flags of England, France, Ger-
many, Spain, and Italy, and engaged in foreign
commerce, were promoted, and have since
been and now are liberally aided, by grants of
public money, in one form or another, is gen-
erally known. That the American lines of
steam-ships have been abandoned by us to an
unequal contest with the aided lines of other
nations until they have been withdrawn, or, in
the few cases where they are still maintained,
are subject to serious disadvantages, 1s matter
of common knowledge.
The present situation is such that travelers
and merchandise find Liverpool often a neces-
sary intermediate port between New York and
some of the South American capitals, The fact
thatsome of the delegates from South Ameri-
can states to the Conference of American Na-
tions, now in session at Washington, reached
our shores by reversing that line of travel, is
very conclusive of the need of such a confer-
ence, and very suggestive as to the firstand most
necessary step in the direction of fuller and
more beneficial intercourse with nations that
are now our neighbors upon the lines of lati-
tude, but not upon the lines of established
commercial intercourse.
MAIL SUBSIDIES RECOMMENDED.
I recommend that such appropriations be
made for ocean-mail service, in American
steam ships, between our ports and those of
Central and South America, China, Japan, and
the important islands in both of the great
oceans, as will be liberally remunerative for the
service rendered, and as will encourage the es-
tablishment and in some fair degree equalize
the chances of American steam-ship lines in the
competitions which they must meet. That the
American states lying sonth of us will cordiall;
co-operate in establishing and maintaining oT
lines of steam-ships to their principal ports I
do not doubt.
A NAVAL RESERVE.
We should also make provision for a naval
reserve to consist of such merchant ships, of
American construction and of a specified ton-
nage and speed, as the owners will consent to
place at the use of the Government, in case of
need, as armed cruisers. England has adopted
this policy, and as a result can now, upon
necessity, at once place upon her naval list
some of the fastest steam-ships in the world,
A proper supervision of the construction of
such vessels would make their conversion into
effective ships of war very easy.
A LIBERAL AND PROGRESSIVE POLICY.
I am an advocate of economy in our national
expenditures, but it 1s a misuse of terms to
make this word describe a policy that with-
holds an expenditure for the purpose of ex-
tending our foreign commerce. The enlarge-
ment and improvement of our merchant
marine, the development of a sufficient body of
trained American seamen, the promotion of
rapid and regular mail communication between
the ports of other countries and our own, and
the adaptation of large and swift American
merchant steam-ships to naval uses, in time of
war, are public purposes of the highest concern.
The enlarged participation of our people in
the carrying of trade, the new and increased
markets that will be opened for the products of
our farms and factories, and the fuller and
better employment of our mechanics, which
will result from a liberal promotion of our for-
eign commerce, insure the widest possible
diffusion of benefit to all the States and to all
our people. Everything is most propitious for
the present inauguration of a liberal and pro-
gressive policy yboz this subject, and we should
enter upon it with promptness and decision.
The legislation which I have suggested, it is
sincerely believed, will promote the peace and
honor of our country and the prosperity and
security of the people. I invoke the diligent
and serious attention of Congress to the con-
sideration of these and such other measures
as may be presented, having the same great
end in view. BeNJ. HARRISON,
Iixecutive Mansion,
Washington, December 3, 1889.