Evening Star Newspaper, December 5, 1898, Page 2

THE EVENING STAR, MONDAY, DECEMBER 5, 1898. ly. for the purpose of arranging and carry- ing out the details of the stipulated evac- yation of Cuba, Porto Rico and other Span- ish islands tn the West Indies. The fifth article provided for the appoint- ment of not more than five Commissioners ach s to meet at Paris not later Detober Ist, and to proceed to the tion and conclusion ef a treaty of abject to ratification according to : consiitutional forms of the d last article provided that nature of the protocol hostil- n the two countries should be and that notice to that effect given as soon as possible by each ment to the commanders of its mili- and naval forces y upon the conclusion of the ed a proclamation of August spending hestilities on the part of protocol [ iss! 12th the United States. The necessary orders to that end were at once given by telegraph. The blockade of the ports of Cuba and San J © Porto Rico was in like manner raised. On the Isth of August the muster out of 100,000 volunteers, or as near that number as ¥ found to be practicable, was the ist of December 101,165 officers and men had been mustered out and dis- charged from the service and 9,0 will be mustered out by the loth of this month. Also a ccrresponding number of general and general staff officers have been honorably discharged the servic The military commissions to superintend the uation of Cuba, Porto Rico, and the adjacent islands were forthwith ap- pointed: for Cuba, Major General James Wade, Rear Admiral William T. Sampson, Major General Matthew C. Butler: for Port -o, Major General John R. Brooke, Rear Admiral Winfield S. Schley, Brigadier G al William W. Gordon. who soon afterwards met the Spanish Commissioners at Havana and San Juan, respectively. The Porto Rican Joint Commission specdily a complished its task, and by the 18th of Oetober the evacuation of the island was completed. The United States flag w: raised over the island at noon on that day The a istration of its affairs has been ly intrusted to a military gov- until the Congress shall otherwise The Cuban Joint Commission hi abors. Owing to of removing the rner provide rot yet ter pated ficulties in nish large numbers of troops still in Cuba, the evacuation cannot be completed before the Ist of January next. Pursnant to the fifth article of the pro- te 1 appointed William R. Day, lately reretary of § Cushman K. Davis, William P. Fr. ud Georg Gray, Senators of the United States. and Whitelaw Reld to be the Peace Commissioners on the part ft United Sta hs ceeding in due season to Paris, th-y there met on the Ist of October five commissioners, similarly appointed on the part of Spain. Thelr ne- iations have n hopeful progres: t I trust soon able to lay a defi- waty befor: the Senate, review the steps leading to its so nitive t with a gnat ia nt « which war w of peace ot not d the f will «7 1S at this time the govern- ure of the new possessions to us as the result of the ch discussion will be ne treaty of peace shall meantime m h Spain appropriate after be ratified. In th and until the Congress has legisiated otherwise it my duty to co th> milltary gov ments which ve existed since our upation and give to the people security in life and property and encouragement ander a just and ben-ficent rule. Independence of Cuba. in De m of Cu ba ha paci 1 the island it will be necessary to give aid and direction to its people io form a ernment for them- seives. This should b> undertaken at the earliest mome et with safety and assured suce It is important that our shall be of the character and our commer- It should every proper way “e of the Island, f the people, and government which . thus realiz and reciprocal in » Cuban p. replaced by a just, benevolent an government, cre- ted by the pe ba, capable of per- forming all ional obligations and which st + thrift, industry and note peace and good habitants, what- their relations in the X on should vernment. Until ty tn the Island t inaugurated mili- ued the rupt rcourse of the U at family of 1 with cordiality. nation! and the tion of 1884 for the protection of submarine cables was signed, and the day is, I trust, not far distant when this medium for the transmission of thought from tand to land may be brought within the domain of in- ternational concert as completely as is the material carriage of commerce and cor- respondence upon the face of the waters that divide them. The claim of Thomas Jefferson Page against Argentina, which has been pending Many years, has been adjusted. The sum awarded by the Congress of Argentina was $4,242.35. The sympathy of the American people has justly been offered to the Ruler and the people of Austria-Hungary by reason of the affliction that has lately befallen them in the assassination of the Empress-Queen of that historic realm. On the 10th of September, 1897, a conflict took place at Lattimer, Pa., between a body of striking miners and the sheriff of Lu- zerne county and his deputies, in which 22 miners were killed and 44 wounded, of whom 10 of the killed and 12 of the wound- ed were Austrian and Hungarian subjects. This deplorable event naturally aroused the solicitude of the Austro-Hungarian Govern- ment, which, on the assumption that the killing and wounding involved the unjuisti- fiable misuse of authority, claimed repara- tion for the sufferers. Apart from the searching investigation and peremptory ac- tion of the authorities of Pennsylvania, the Federal Executive took appropriate steps to learn the merits of the case, in order to be In a position to meet the urgent com- paint of a friendly power. The sheriff and his deputies, having been indicted for mur- der, were tried, and acquitted after pro- tracted proceedings and the hearing of hun- dreds of witnesses on the ground that the killing was in the Ine of their offictal duty to uphold law and preserve public order in the State. A representative of the Depart- ment of Justice attended the trial and re- ported its course fully. With all the facts r finds most of the rise in the complex es adjusted or ele to a just and ble agreement. the ex- the Argentine le, stretching along the m the southern border of- Desert to Magellan Straits, ngth of the South ssumed an acute oft and af- mment occasion to ex- to arbitr: ted by existing con- 8, might prevall * arising in its y that ar- » been perfected, which the re- . ble to to Her as to resort iiffieult n happy nee ermination. A the northern ama Desert, ed no ade ustment, bids falr to be settled in joint commission, upon Minister uenos to serve as umpire I found occasion to approach the Argentine Government with a view to re- moving differences of rat harges imposed of an American corporation on between Buenos Aires Uruguay and Brazil of ing from and to the ransmit i the rough me of ssages pa. in Its possession, this government expects to reach a harmonious understanding on the subject with that of Austria-Hungary, notwithstanding the renewed claim of the latter after learning the result of the trial, for indemnity for its injured subjects. Despite the brief time allotted for prepa- ration, the exhibits of this country at the Universal Exposttion at Brussels in 1897 en- joyed the singular distinction of a larger proportion of awards, having regard to the number and classes of articles entered, than those of other countries. The worth of such a result in making known our national ca- pacity to supply the world’s markets is obvious. Exhibitions of this International charac- ter are becoming more frequent as the ex- ges of commercial countries grow more intimate and varied. Hardly a year passes that this Government fs not invited to na- tional participation at some important for- eign center, but often on too short notice to permit of recourse to Congress for the power anil means to do so. My predece:s- sors have suggested the advisability of pro- viding by a general enactment and a stand- ing appropriation for accepting such invi- tations and for representation of this coun- try by a commission. This plan has my cordial approval. I trust that the Belgian restrictions on the importation of cattle from the United States, criginally adopted as a sanitary pre- caution, will at an early day be relaxed as to their present features of hardship and discrimination, so as to admit live cattle urder due regulation of their slaughter af- ter landing. I am hopeful, too, of favor- able change In the Belgian treatment of our preserved and salted meats. The growth of direct trade between the two countries, not alone for Belgian consump- tion and Belgian products, but by the way of transit from and to other continental states, has been both encouraging and ben- efictal. No effort will be spared to enlarge its advantages by seeking the removal of needless impediments and by arrangements for increased commercial exchanges. zvents in Central America. The year's events in Central than passing mention. ng rupture between Costa Rica and Nicaragua was happily composed by the signature of a convention between the parties, with the concurrence of the Guste- malan representative as a mediator, th ct being negotiated and signed on board the America United States steamer Alert, then lying in Central American waters. It is velieved that the good offices of our envoy and of the commander of that vessel contributed toward this gratifyIng outcome. In my last annual message the situation Was presented with respect to the dipto- matic representation of this Government in Central America, created by the association of Nicaragua, Honduras, and Salvador un- der the title of the Greater Republic cf Central America and the delegation of their international functions to ‘the Diet thereof. While the representative character of the Diet was recognized by my predecessor and has been confirmed during my Admin- istration by receiving its accredited envoy and granting exequaters to consuls com- missioned under its authority, that recogni- tion was qualified by the distinct under- standing that the responsibility of eaca of the component sovereign Republics vowsrd the United States remained wholly affected. This proviso was needful Inasmuch 2s the compact of the three Republics was ot the outset an association whereby certain representative functions were delegated to a tripartite commission, rather than 2 fed- eration possessing centralized powers ct government and administration. In this view of their relation, and of the relation of the United States to the several Repub- les, a change in the representation 0? thi country in Central America was nelther recommended by the Executive nor initiated by thus leaving one of our en- voys ited as heretofore separately to two States of the Greater Republic, Nicara- un- Congre: gua and Salvador, and to a third State, Cesta Rica, which was not a party to the compact, while our other envoy was simi- larly accredited to a union State—Hondu- ras—and a non-union state—Guatemala. The result has been that the one has pre- ed credentials of Costa Rica, the ceived only by the mala. Subsequently s only to the President other having been Government of Guate- the three associated Repub- lics entered into negotiations for taking the steps forecast in the original compact. A convention of their delegates framed for them a federa! constitution under the name of the United States of Central Ameri and provided for a central federal govern- ment and legislature. Upon ratification by the constituent States, the Ist of Novem- ed States, Although the matter is com- exclusive concessions by Uru- nd Brazil to foreign companies, there { 4 good understanding d and that the important ommercial communication be- Unite sand the Atlantic ties of South America may be freed from an almost ; ory discrimination. In this rela my sen national agre ange of messax I may be permitted to 3 of an inter- whereby the inter- S over connecting cables expr may be reguiated on a fair basis of uni- formi ‘Ths world has seen the postal system developed from a congeries of inde- and exclusive services into a well- union, of which all countries enjoy the manifold benefits. It would be strange were the nations not in time brought to wealize that modern civilization, which owes so much of its progress to the ani hilation of space by the electric force, de- mands that this all-tmportant means of communication be a heritage of all peoples, lo be administered and regulated in their common behoof. A step in this direction kee taken when the International Conven- ber last was fixed for the new system to go into operation. Within a few weeks thereafter the plan was severely tested by revolutionary movements arising, with a consequent demand for unity of action on the part of the military power of the fed- eral States to suppress them. Under this strain the new Union seems to have been weakened through the withdrawal of its more important members. This goyern- ment was not officially advised of the fn- stallation of the federation and has main- tained an attitude of friendly expectancy, while in nowise relinquishing the position held from the outset that the responsibil- ities of the several States toward us re- mained unaltered by their tentative rela- tions among themselves. Nicaraguan Canal Commissi: ‘The Nicaragua Canal Commission, under the chairmanship of Rear-Admiral John G. Walker, appointed July 24, 1897, under the authority of a provision in the sundry civil act of June 4 of that year, has nearly com. pleted its labors, and the results of its ex- baustive inquiry inte the proper route, the feasibility, and ihe cost of construction of an interoceanic canal by a Nicaraguan route will be laid before you. In the per- formance of its task the Commission re- ceived all possible courtesy and assistance from the Governments of Nicaragua and Costa Rica, which thus testified their ap- preciation of the importance of giving a speedy and practical outcome to the great project that has for so many years en- grossed the attention of the respective countries. As the scope of the recent inquiry em- braced the whole subject with the aim of making plans and surveys for a canal by the most conventent route, it necessarily included a review of the results of previous surveys and plans, and in particular those adopted by the Maritime Canal Company under its existing concessions from Wica- ragua and Costa Rica, so that to this ex- tent those grants necessarily hold as es- sential a part in the deliberations and con- clusions of the Canal Commission as they have held and must needs hold in the dis- cussion of the matter by the Congress. Under these circumstances and in view of overtures made to the Governments of Nicaragua and Costa Rica by other parties for a new canal concession predicated on the assumed approaching lapse of the con- tracts of the Maritime Canal Company with those States, I have not hesitated to ex- press my conviction that considerations of expediency and international policy as be- tween the several governments interested in the construction and control of an inter- oceanic canal by this route require the maintenance of the status quo until the Canal Commission shall have reported and the United States Congress shall nave had the opportunity to pass finally upon the whole matter during the present sesston, without prejudice by reason of any change in the existing conditions. Nevertheless, it appears that the govern- ment of Nicaragua, as one of its last sover- eign acts before merging {ts powers in those of the newly formed United States of Cen- tral America, has granted an optional con- cession to another association, to become effective on the expiration of the present grant. It does not appear what surveys have been made or what route is proposed under this contingent grant, so that an ex- amination of the feasibility of its plans is necessarily not embraced in the report of the canal commission. All these circum- Stantes suggest the urgency of some defi- nite action by the Congress at this session if the labors of the past are to be utilized and the linking of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans by a practical waterway is to be re- alized. That the construction of such a maritime highway {!s now more than ever indispensable to that intimate and ready in- tercommunication between our eastern and western seabuards demanded by the annex- ation of the Hawaiian Islands and the pros- pective expansion of our influence and com- merce in the Pacific, and that our national policy now more imperatively than ever calls for its control by this government, are propositions which I doubt not the Con- gress will duly appreciate and wisely act upon. ‘A convention providing for the revival of the late United States and Chilean claims commission and the consideration of claims which were duly presented to the late com- mission but not considesed because of the expiration of the time limited for the dura- tion of the commission, was signed May 24, 1897, and has remained vnacted upon by the Senate. The term therein fixed for ef- fecting the exchange of ratifications having elapsed, the convention falls unless the time be extended by amendment, which I am ¢n- deavoring to bring about, with -he friendly concurrence of the Chilean government. The Eastern Question. The United States has not been an indif- ferent spectator of the extraordinary events transpiring in the Chinese empire, whereby portions of its maritime provinces are pass- ing under the control of various European powers; but the prospect that the vast com- merce which the energy of our citizens and the necessity of our ‘staple productiong for Chinese uses has built up {n those regions may not be prejudiced through any exclu- sive treatment by the new occupants has obviated the need of our country becoming an actor in the scene. Our position among nations, having a large Pacific coast and a constantly expanding direct trade with the fartifer orient, gives us the equitable claim to consideration and friendly treatment in this regard, and it will be my adm to sub- serve our large interests in that quarter by all means appropriate to the constant pol- icy of our government. The territories of Kilao-chow of Wel-hai-wai and of Port Ar- thur and Talenwan, leased to Germany, Great Britain and Russia, respectively, for terms of years, will, {t 1s announced, be open to international commerce during such alien occupation; and if no discriminating treatment of American citizens and their trade be found to exist, or be hereafter de- veloped, the desire of this government would appear to be realized. In this relation,as showing the volume and value of our exchanges with China and the pecuHarly favorable conditions which exist for the expansion in the normal course of trade, I refer to the communication ad- dressed to the Speaker of the House of Rep- rsentatives by the Secretary of the Treas vry on the 14th of last June, with its ac- companying letter of the Secretary of State, recommending an appropriation for a com- mission to study the commercial and in- dustrial conditions in the Chinese Empire and report as to the opportunities for and obstacles to the enlargement of markets in China for the raw products and man- ufactures of the United States. Action was not taken thereon during the late session. I cordially urge that the recommendation receive at your hands the consideration which its importance and timeliness merit. Meanwhile, there may be just ground for disquietude in view of the unrest and re- vival of the old sentiment of opposition and prejudice to alien people which pervades certain of the Chinese provinces. As in the case of the attacks upon our citizens in Szechuan and at Kutien in 1895, the United States Minister has been instructed to secure the fullest measure of protection, both local and tmperial, for any menaced American interests, and to demand, in case of lawless injury to person or property, in- stant reparation appropriate to the case. War ships have been stationed at Tientsin for more ready observation of the disorders which have invaded even the Chinese cap- ital, so as to be in a position to act should need arise, while a guard of marines has been sent to Peking to afford the Minister the same measure of authoritative protec- tion as the representatives of other nations have been constrained to employ. Following close upon the rendition of the award of my predecessor as arbitrator of the claim of Italian subject, Cerruti, against the Republic of Colombia, differ- ences arose between the parties to the ar- bitration in regard to the scope and ex- tension of the award, of which certain ar- ticles were contested by Colombia, while Italy clatmed their Mteral fulfillment. The award having been made by the President of the United States, as an act of friendly consideration, and with the sole view to an impartial composition of the matter fn dispute, [ could not but feel deep concern at such a miscarriage, and, while unable to accept the Colombian theory that I, in my official capacity, possessed continuing functions as arbitrator, with power to in- terpret or revise the terms of the awarg, my best efforts were lent to bring the par- ‘es to a harmonious agreement as to the execution of its provisions. A naval demonstration by Italy resulted in an engagement to pay the liabilities claimed upon their ascertainment; but this apparent disposition of the controversy was followed by a rupture of diplomatic inter- course between Colombia and Italy which still continues, although fortunately with- out acute symptoms having supervened. Notwithstanding this, efforts are reported to be ccntinuing for the ascertainment of Colombia’s contingent Hability on account of Ceruti’s debts, under the fifth article of the award. A claim of an American citizen against the Dominican Republic for a public bridge over the Ozama River, which has been in diplomatic controversy for several years, has been settled by expert arbitration and an eward in favor of the claimant amount- ing to about $90,000. It however remains unpaid despite urgent demands for its set- tiement according to the terms of the com- et. pe The Paris Exposition. 3 There is now every prospect that the par- ticipation of the United States in the Unt- versal Exposition to be held in Paris in 1900 will be on a scale commensurate with the advanced position held by our products and industries in the world’s chief marts. The preliminary report of Mr. Moses P. Handy, who, under the act approved July 19, 1897, was appointed Special Commis- sioner, with a view to securing all attain- able informatiop necessary to a full and complete understanding by Congress in rp- gard to the participation of this Govern ment in the Paris Exposition, was laid be- fore you by my message of December 6, 1897, and showed the large opportunities opened to maké known our national pro gress in arts, science, and manufactures, as well as the urgént need of tmmediate and adequate proviston to enable due advan- tage thereof to be.taken. Mr. Handy’s death soon afterwards rendered it necessary for another to take up and complete his un- finished work, and on January 11 last Mr. Thomas W. Cridler, Third Assistant Secre- tary of State, was designated to fulfill thut task. His report was laid before you by my message of June 14, 1898, with the gratify- ing result of awakening renewed interest in the projected display. By a provision in the sundry civil appropriation act of July J, 1898, a sum not to exceed $650,000 was al- lotted for the organization of a commission to care for the proper preparation and it.- stallation of American exhibits, and for tue display of suitable exhibits by the several Executive Departments, particularly by the Department of Agriculture, the Fish Con:- mission, and the Smithsonian Institution, in representation of the Government of the United States. Pursuant to that enactment I appointed Mr. Ferdinand W. Peck, of Chicago, Com- missioner-General, with an Assistant Com- missioner-General and a Secretary. Mr. Peck at once proceeded to Paris, where his success in enlarging the scope and variety of the United States exhibit has been most gratifying. Notwithstanding the compara- tively limited area of the Exposition site— less than one-half that of the World's Fair at Chicago—the space assigned to the United States has been increased from the absolute allotment of 157,403 square fect reported by Mr. Handy to some 202,00u Square feet, with corresponding augmenta- tion of the field for a truly characteristic representation of the various important branches of our country’s development. Mr. Peck’s report will be laid before you. In my judgment its recommendations will call for your early consideration, especially as regards an increase of the appropria- tion to at least one million dollars in all, so that not only may the assigned space be fully taken up by the best possible ex- hibits in every class, but the preparation and installation be on so perfect a scale as to rank among the first in that unpar- alleled competition of artistic and inventive production, and thus counterbalance the disadvantage with which we start as com- pared with other countries whose appro- priations are on a more generous scale and whose preparations are In a state of much greater forwardness than our own. Where our artisans have the admitted capacity to excel, where our inventive genius has initiated many of the grandest discoveries of these later days of the century, and where the native resources of our land are as limitless as they are valu- able to supply the world’s needs, it is our province, as it should be our earnest care, to lead in the march of human progre: and not rest content with any secondary place. Moreover, if this be due to our- selves, it is no less due to the great French nation whose guests we become, and which has in so many ways testified its wish and hope that our participation shall befit the place the two peoples have won in the field of universal development. The commercial arrangement made with France on the 28th of May, 1898, under the provisions of section 3 of the Tariff Act of 1897, went into effect on the Ist day of June following. It has relieved a portion of our export trade from serious embar- rassment. Further negotiations are now pending under section 4 of the same act, with a view to the increase of trade be- tween the two countries to thelr murual advantage. Negotiations with other G ernments, in part interrupted by the war with Spain, are in progress under both sec- tions of the Tariff Act. I hope to be able to announce some of the results of these negotiations during the present session of Congress, Negotiations to the same end with Ger- many have been set on foot. Meanwhile no effort has been relaxed to convince the Im- perial Government of the thoroughness of our inspection of pork products for exporta- tion and it is trusted that the efficient ad- ministration of this measure by the Depart- ment of Agriculture will be recognized as a guarantee of the healthfulness of the food staples we send abroad to countries where their use is large and necessary. I transmitted to the Senate, on the 10th of February last, information touching the prohibition against the importation of fresh fruits from this country, which had then recently been decreed by Germany on the ground of danger of disseminating the San Jose scale insect. This precautionary meas- ure was justified by Germany on the score of the drastic steps taken in several States of the Union against the spread of the pest, the elaborate reports of the Department of Agriculture being put in evidence to show the danger to German fruit-growing inter- ests should the scale obtain a lodgement in that country. Temporary relief was afford- ed in the case of large consignments of fruit then on the way by inspection and ad- mission when found non-infected. Later the prohibition was extended to dried fruits of every kind, but was relaxed so as to apply only to unpeeled fruit and fruit waste, As was to be expected, the alarm reached to other countries, and Switzer- land has adopted a similar inhibition. Ef- forts are in progress to induce the German and Swiss Gobernments to relax the pro- hibition in-favor of dried fruits shown to have been cured under circumstances ren- dering the existence of animal life impossi- ble. Our relations with Great Britain have con- tinued on the most friendly footing. Assent- ing to our request, the protection of Ameri- cans and their interests in Spanish jurisdic- tion was assumed by the diplomatic and con- sular representatives of Great Britain, who fulfilled their delicate and arduous trust with tact and zeal, eliciting high commend- ation, I may be allowed to make fitting allusion to the instance of Mr. Ramsden, Her Majesty’s Consul at Santiago de Cuba, whose untimely, death after distinguished service and untiring effort during the siege of that city wag sincerely lamented. In the early part of April Jast pursuant to a request le at the instance of the Secretary of State py the British Ambas- sador at this caj ita), the Canadian govern- nent araciet rates for the passage of four United Sta ies i Coie cutters from the Great Lakes tojthe Atlantic Coast by way of the Canadian canals and the St. Law- rence River. The vessels had reached Lake Ontario and were awaiting the open- nh war was declared and Spain. Her ing of naviga' Werevpon, by a pesastine ptr Ui communication of the latter part of April, stated that the permission granted before the outbreak of hostilities would not be withdrawn provided the United States Gov- ernment gave assurance that the vessels in question would proceed direct to a United States port without engaging in any hos- tile operation. This Government promptly agreed to the stipulated condition, it being understood that the vessels would not be prohibited from resisting any hostile attack. It will give me especial satisfaction if I shall be authorized to communicate to you a favorable conclusion of the pending nego- Uations with Great Britain in respect to the Dominion of Canada. It is the earnest wish of this Government to remove all sources of discord and irritation in our relations with the neighboring Dominion. The trade be- tween the two countries is constantly in- creasing, and it is important to both coun- tries that all reasonable facilities should be granted for its development. The Government of Greece strongly urges the onerousness of the duty here imposed upon the currants of that country, amount- ing to 100 per cent or more of their market value. This fruit is stated to be exclusively a Greek product, not coming into competi- tion with any domestic product. The ques- tion of reciprocal commercial relations with Greece, including the restoration of cur- rants to the free list, is under consideration. The long-standing claim of Bernard Campbell for damages for injuries sustain- ed from a violent assault committed against him by military authorities in the Island of Haiti, has been settled by the agreement of that Republic to pay him $10,000 In Amer-- ican gold. Of this sum $5,000 has already been paid. It is hoped that other pending claims of American citizens against that Republic may be amicably adjusted. GOVERNMENT OF HAWAII Pending the consideration by the Senate of the treaty signed June 16, 1897, by the plenipotentiaries of the United States and of the Republic of Hawaii, providing for the annexation of the Islands, a joint reso- lution to accomplish the same purpose by accepting the offered cession and incorpor- ating the ceded territory into the Union was adopted by the Congress and approved July 7, 1898, I thereupon directed the U. S. S. Philadelphia to convey Rear-Admiral Miller to Honolulu, and intrusted to his hands. this important legislative act, to be delivered to the President of the Republic of Hawail, with whom the Admiral and the United States Minister were authorized to make appropriate arrangements for trans- ferring the sovereignty of the Islands to the United States. This was simply but impressively accomplished on the 12th of August last, by the delivery of a certified copy of the resolution to President Dole, who thereupon yielded up to the represent- ative of the government of the United States the sovereignty and public property of the Hawaiian Islands. Pursuant to the terms of the joint resolu- tion and in exercise of the authority there- by conferred upon me, I directed that the civil, judicial, and military powers there- tofore exercised by the officers of the Gov- ernment of the Republic of Hawaii should continue to be exercised by those officers until Congress shall provide a government for the incorporated territory, subject to my power to remove such officers and to fill vacancies. The President, officers, and troops of the Republic thereupon took the oath of allegiance to the United States, thus providing for the uninterrupted con- tinuance of all the administrative and mu- nicipal functions of the annexed territory until Congress shall otherwise enact. Following the further provision of the Joint resolution, I appointed the Honorables Shelby M. Cullom, of Illinois, John T. Mor- gan, of Alabama, Robert R. Hitt, of Illi- nois, Sanford B. Dole, of Hawaii, and Wal- ter F. Frear, of Hawaii, as commissioners to confer and recommend to Congress such legislation concerning the Hawaiian Islands as they should deem necessary or proper. The Commissioners having fulfilled the mission confided to them, their report will be laid before you at an early day. It is believed that their recommendations will have the earnest consideration due to the magnitude of the responsibility resting upon you to give such shape to the relationship of those mid-Pacific lands to our home Union as will benefit both in the highest degree, realizing the aspirations of the com- munity that has cast its lot with us and elected to share our political heritage, while at the same time justifying_the foresight of those who for three-quarters of a cen- tury have looked to the assimilation of Hawaii as a natural and inevitable con- summation, in harmony with our needs and in fulfillment of our cherished tradi- tions. The questions heretofore pending between Hawaii and Japan, growing out of the al- leged mistreatment of Japanese treaty im- migrants, were, I am pleased to say, ad- justed before the act of transfer by the payment of a reasonable indemnity to the Government of Japan. Under the provisions of the joint resolu- tion, the existing customs relations of the Hawaiian Islands wiih the United States and with other countries remain unchanged until legislation shall otherwise provide. The consuls of Hawaii, here and in foreign countries, continue to fulfill their com- mercial agencies, while the United States consulate at Honolulu is maintained for all appropriate services pertaining to trade and the revenue. It would be desirable that all foreign consuls in the Hawaiian Islands should receive new exequaturs from this Government. ‘The attention of Congress is called to the fact that our consular offices having ceased to exist In Hawali, and being about to cease in other countries coming under the sov- ereignty of the United States, the provisions for the relief and transportation of desti- tute American seamen in these countries under our consular regulations will in con- sequence terminate. It is proper, therefore, that new legislation should be enacted upon this subject, in order to meet the changed conditions, The interpretation of certain provisions of the extradition convention of December uu, 1 has besn at various times the occasion of controversy with the Govern- ment of Mexico. An acute difference arose in the case of the Mexican demand for the delivery of Jesus Guerra, who, having led @ marauding expedition near the border with the proclaimed purpose of initiating an insurrection against escaped into Texas. Extradition was re- fused on the ground that th> alleged of- fense was political in its character and therefore came within the treaty proviso, of nonsurrender. The Mexican contention was that the exception only relat2d to pure- ly political offenses, and that as Guerra’s acts were admixed with the common crime of murder, arson, kidnaping, and robbery the option of nondelivery became void, a position which this Government was un- able to admit in view of the received inter- national doctrine and practice in the mat- ter. The Mexican Government, in view of this, gave notic? January 24, 1898, of the termination of the convention, to take effect twelve months from that date, at the same time Inviting the conclusion of a new convention, toward which negotia- tions are on foot. In this relation I may refer to the neces- sity of some amendment of our existing extradition statute. It is a common stipu- lation of such treaties that nelther party shall be bound to give up its own citizens, with the added proviso in on2 of our trea- ties, that with Japan, that it may surrender if it see fit. It is held in this country by an almost uniform course of decisions that where a treaty nesatives the obligation to surrender the P::sident is not invested with legal authority to act. Th: confer- ment of such aut! . rity would be in the line of that sound morality which shrinks from affording secure asylum to the author of a President Diaz, | heinous crime. Again, statutory provision might well be made for what is styled ex- tradition by way of transit, whereby a fugitive surrendared by one foreign gov- ernment to another may be conveyed across the territory of the United States to the jurisdiction of the demanding state. A recommendation in this bohalf, made in the President's Message of 1886, was not acted upon. The matter is presented for your consideration. The problem of the Mexican Free Zon2 has been often discussed with regard to its inconvenience as a provocative of &mug- gling into the United States along an ex- tensive and thinly guarded land border. The effort made by the joint resolution of March 1, E895, to remedy the abuse charged by suspending the privilege of free trans- portation in bond across the territory of the United States to Mexico failed of good result, as is stated in Report No. 702 of the House of Representatives, submitted in the last session, March 11, 1898. As the ques- tion is one to be conveniently mot by wise concurrent legislation of the two countries looking to the protection of the revenues by harmonious measures operating equally on either side of the boundary, rather than by conventional arrangements, I suggest that Congress consider the advisability of authorizing and inviting a conference of representatives of the Treasury Depart- ments of th> United States and Mexico to consider the subject in all its complex bear- ings, and make report with pertinent recommendations to the respective Govern- ments for th> information and considera- ton of their Congresses. The Mexican Water Boundary Commis- sion has adjusted all matters submitted to it to the satisfactton of both Governments save in three important cases; that of the “Chamizal” at El Paso, Texas, where the two Commission>rs failed to agree and wherein, for this case only, this Govern- ment has proposed to Mexico the addition of a third member; the proposed elimina- tion of what are known as “Bancos,” small isolated islands formed by the cutting off of bends in the Rlo Grande, from the opera- tion of the Treaties of 1884 and ISS, recom- mended by the Commissioners and ap- Proved by this Government, but still und=r consideration by Mexice; and the subject of the “Equitable Distribution of the Waters of the Rio Grand for which the Commis- sioners recommended an international dam and res>rvotr, approved by Mexico, but still under consideration by this Government Pending these questions it is necessary to extend the life of the Commission which expires Decemb>r 23d next. The coronation of the young Queen of the Netherlands was made the occasion of fit- ting congratulations, The claim of Victor H. McCord agains Peru, which for a number of years has been press-d by this Government and has on several occasions attracted the attention of the Congress, has been satisfactorily ad- justed. A protocol was signed May 17, 1898, whereby, the fact of liability being admitted, the question of the amount to b= awarded was submitted to the Chief Justice of Canada as sole arbitrator. His award sets the indemnity due the claimant at $4,- 00, < The Government of Peru has given th> prescribed notification of its intention to abrogate the Treaty of Friendship, Com- merce, and Navigation concluded with this country August 31, 1887. As that treaty contains many important provisions neces- sary to the maintenanc> of commerce and good relations, which could with difficulty be replaced by the negotiation of renewed Provisions within the brief twelve months intervening before the treaty terminates, I have invited suggestions by Peru as to the Particular provisions it is desired to annul, in the hope of reaching an arrangement whereby the r>maining articles may be pro- visionally saved. RELATIONS WITH RUSSIA. His Majesty the Tsar having announced his purpose to raise the Imperial Russian mission at this Capital to the rank of an Embassy, I responded, under the authority conferred by the act of March 3, 1898, by commissioning and accrediting th> actual representative at St. Petersburg in the ca- pacity of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary. The Russian Ambassador to this country has since presented his cre- dentials. The proposal of the Tsar for a gen>ral re- duction of the vast military establishments that weigh so heavily upon many peoples in time of peace was communicated this Government with an earnest invitation to be represented in the conference which it is contemplated to assemble with a view to discussing the means of accomplishing so desirable a result. His Majesty was at once informed of the cordial sympathy of this Government with the principle involyed in his exalted proposal and of the readin>ss of the United States to take part in the con- ference. The active military forces of the United States, as measured by our popula- tion, territorial area, and taxable wealth, is, and under any conceivable prospective conditions must continue to be, in time of peace so conspicuously less than that of the armed powers to whom the Tsar's ap- peal is especially addressed that th» ques- tion can have for us no practical import- ance save as marking an auspicious step toward the betterment of the condition of the modern peoples and the cultivation of peac? and good will among them; but in this view it behooves us as a nation to lend countenance and aid to the beneficent pro- ject. The claims of owners of American sealing vessels for seizure by Russian cruisers in Bering Sea are being pressed to a settle- ment. The equities of the cases justify the expectation that a measure of reparation will eventually be accorded in harmony with precedent and in the light of the proven facts, The recommendation made in my spe message of April 27th last is renewed, that appropriation be made to reimburse the master and owners of the Russian bark Hans for wrongful arrest of the master and detention of the vessel in February, 1896, by officers of the United States district court for the southern district of Missis- sippi. The papers accompanying my said message make out a most meritorious claim, and justify the urgency with which it has been presented by the Government of Russia. Malletoa Laupepa, King of Samoa, died on August 22d last. According to Article I of the general act of Berlin “his successor shall be duly elected according to the laws and customs of Samoa.” Arrangements having been agreed upon between the signatories of the general act for the return of Mataafa and the other exiled Samoan chiefs, they were brought from Jaluit by a German war vessel and landed at Apia on September 18th last. Whether the death of Malietoa and the return of his old-time rival Mataafa will add to the undesirable complications which the execution of the tripartite General Act thas heretofore developed remains to be seen. The efforts of this government will, as heretofore, be addressed toward a harmo- nious and exact fulfillment of the terms of the international engagement to which the United States became a party in 1889, The Cheek claim against Siam, after some five years of controversy, has been adjusted by arbitration, under an agreement signed July 6, 1897, an award of 706,721 ticals (about $187,987.78), with release of the Cheek estate from mortgage claims, having been rendered March 21, 1898, in favor of the claimant, by the arbitrator, Sir Nicholas John Hannen, British Chief Justice for China and Japan. An envoy from Siam has been accredited to this government and has presented his credentials. Fmmediately upon the outbreak of the war —==3 with Spain the Swiss Government, fulfilling the high mission it has deservedly assum-d as the patron of the International Red Cross, proposed to the United States and Spain that they should severally recognize and carry into execution, as a modus vi- vendi, during the continuance of hostilities, the additional articles proposed by the in- ternational conference of Geneva, October 2), 1888, extending the effects of the ex- isting Red Cross convention of I864 to the conduct of naval war. Following the exam- ple set by France and Germany in 1870 In adopting such a modus vivendi, and in view ot the accession of the United States to these additional articles in 1882, although the exchange of ratifications thereof still remained uneffected, the Swiss proposal was Promptly and cordially accepted by us, and, simultaneously, by Spain. This Government feels a keen satisfaction in having thus been enabled to testify its adherence to the broadest principles of bu- mantty even amidst the clash of war, and it is to be hoped that the extension of the Red Cross compact to hostilities by sea as well as on land may soon become an ac- complished fact through the gi muigation of the additional Cross articles by the maritime powers now parties to the Convention of 1864, The important question of ¢ Switzerland to the perpetual cantonal al- legiance of American citizens of Swiss origin has not made hopeful progress to ward a solution, and controversies in this regard still continue The newly accredited envoy of the United States to the Ottoman Porte carries In- structions looking to the disposal of mat- ters in controversy With Turkey for a num- ber of years. He is especially charged to Press for a just settlement of our clain's for indemnity by reason of the destruction of the property of* American missionaries restdent in that country during the Ar- menian troubles of 18%, as well as for the recognition of older claims of equal just- ness. He is also instructed to seek an adju ment of the dispute growing out +f refusal of Turkey to recognize the acquired citizenship of Ottoman-born persons nat laim of uraliged in the United States since 186) without prior imperial consent; and in the same general relation he is directed ty «1 deavor to bring about a solution of th question which has more or less acutely existed since 1869 concerning the tienal rig! of the United State te of criminal procedure and punishment under Article IV of the treaty of 1890. This latter difficulty grows out of a verba difference, claimed by Turkey essen- tial, between the original Turkish text and the promulgated translation. After more (han two years from the pointment of a consul of this country Zrzerum, he has re The arbitral triby treaty of February jurisdic- in mat- to be ap- to i his exequatur pointed under the between. t Britain and Venezuela, to determine the boundary line between the latter and the colony of British Guiana, is to convene at Paris during the present month. It is a source of much gratification t nment to see the friendly resort of arbi- tration applied to the settlement of this controversy, not alone because of the earn- part we have had in bringing about the this Gov- Tesuit, but also because the two memb named on behalf of Venezuela, Mr. Chie Justice Fuller and Mr. Justice Brew chosen from our highest court, appr priately testify the continuing interest we feel in the definite adjustment of the ques tion according to the strictest rules of jus- tice. The British members, Lord Herschel and Sir Richard Collins, are jurists of no less exalted repute, while the fifth member and President of the Tribunal, M. F. de Martens, has earned a world-wide reputa- tion as an autaority upon international law. The claim of Felipe Scandella against Venezuela for arbitrary expulsion and in- jury wo his business has been adjusted by the revocation of the order of expuls! and by the payment of the sum of $16,000. Bureau of American Republics I have the satisfaction of being able to state that the Bureau of the American Re- publics, created in I8# as the organ for promoting commercial intercourse and fra- ternal relations among th Western Hemisphere, has efficient instrument of the of its founders, and is receiving the cord support of the contributing mem! International Union which represented in its board of managemet A commercial directory, in two volumes, containing a mass of statistical matter de- seriptive of the industrial and commercial interests of the various countric printed in English, Spanish, Portugue and French, and a monthly bulletin pub- lished in these four languages and dist uted in the Latin-American well as in the United States, countries of the become a more wise purposes al ers of th act are has b countries has prove be a valuable medium for disseminating in- formation and furthering the varied in ests of the International Union, During the past year the important work of collecting information of practical bene- fit to American industries and trade through the agency of the diplomatic consular officers has been steadily vanced, and in order to lay such da fore the public with the least delay the practice was begun in January, IN98, of is- suing the commercial reports from day day as they are received by the Depart- ment of State. It is believed that for promptitude as well as fullness of informa- tion the service thus supplied to our mer- chants and manufacturers will be found to show sensible improvement and to merit the liberal support of Congress. The experiences of the last year bring forethly home to us a sense of the burdens and the waste of war. We desire, in com- mon with most civilized nations, to reduce to the lowest possible point the damage sustained in time of war by peaceable trade and commerce. It is true we may suffer in such cases less than other communiti but all nations are damaged more or les by the state of uneasiness and apprehen- sion into which an outbreak of thostilities turows the entire commercial world. It should be our object, therefore, to min- imize, so far as practicable, this inevitable loss and disturbance. This purpose can probably best be accomplished by an inter- national agreement to regard all private property at sea as exempt from capture or destruction by the forces of belligerent powers. The United States Government has for many years adyocated thie hu- mane and beneficent principle, and is now in position to recommend it to other powers. without the imputation of selfish motives. I therefore suggest for your con- sideration that the Executive be authorized to correspond with the Governments of the principal maritime powers with a view of incorporating into the permanent law of civilized nations the principle of the ex- emption of ail private property at sea, not contraband of war, from capture or dee struction by belligerent powers. GOVERNMENT FINANCES, The Secretary of the Treasury reports that the receipts of the Government from all sources during the fiscal year ended June 30, 1898, including $64,751,223 received from sale of Pacific Raflroads, amounted to $405,321,335 and its expenditures to $443,- 368.582. There was collected from customs $14¥,575,062 and from internal revenue $170,- 900,041. Our dutiable imports amounted to $524,635,479, a decrease of $58,156,090 over the preceding year, and importations free of duty amounted to $291,414,175, a decrease from the preceding year of $90,524,068. In- ternal-revenue receipts exceeded those of the preceding year by $24,212,067. ‘The total tax collected on distilled spirits Was $02,546,999; on manufactured tobece:, 336,230,522, and on fermented Mquors, $30,- 515,421. We exported merchandise during the year amounting to $1,231,482,330, an ine