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A COMPILATION OF THE MESSAGES AND PAPERS OF THE PRESIDENTS

BY JAMES D. RICHARDSON

A REPRESENTATIVE FROM THE STATE OF TENNESSEE

Resolution Authorizing the Compilation

JOINT COMMITTEE ON PRINTING,
UNITED STATES SENATE, Washington, D. C., August 20, 1894. Hon. JAMES D. RICHARDSON,

House of Representatives.
SIR :    I am directed by Senator GORMAN, the Chairman of the Joint Committee on Printing, to transmit to you the accompanying resolution, adopted by the Joint Committee this day and entered upon its journal. 
Very respectfully,
F. M. Cox, Clerk Joint Committee on Printing.

Whereas Congress has passed the following resolution, to wit:
Resolved by the House of Representatives, the Senate concurring, That there be printed and bound in cloth six thousand copies of the complete compilation of all the annual, special, and veto messages, proclamations, and inaugural addresses of the Presidents of the United States from 1789 to 1894, inclusive, two thousand copies for the use of the Senate and four thousand copies for the use of the House. The work shall be performed under the direction of the Joint Committee on Printing:

Therefore, resolved by the Joint Committee on Printing, That Hon. JAMES D. RICHARDSON be, and he is hereby, authorized and requested to take charge of the work contemplated in said resolution, and prepare, compile, and edit same. He is given full power and discretion to do this work for and on behalf of this Committee.

VOLUME 1

1897

Prefatory Note

In compliance with the authorization of the Joint Committee on Printing,
I have undertaken this compilation.

The messages of the several Presidents of the United States  annual,
veto, and special  are among the most interesting, instructive, and
valuable contributions to the public literature of our Republic. They
discuss from the loftiest standpoint nearly all the great questions of
national policy and many subjects of minor interest which have engaged
the attention of the people from the beginning of our history, and
so constitute important and often vital links in their progressive
development. The proclamations, also, contain matter and sentiment no
less elevating, interesting, and important. They inspire to the highest
and most exalted degree the patriotic fervor and love of country in the
hearts of the people.

It is believed that legislators and other public men, students of our
national history, and many others will hail with satisfaction the
compilation and publication of these messages and proclamations in
such compact form as will render them easily accessible and of ready
reference. The work can not fail to be exceedingly convenient and useful
to all who have occasion to consult these documents. The Government has
never heretofore authorized a like publication.

In executing the commission with which I have been charged I have sought
to bring together in the several volumes of the series all Presidential
proclamations, addresses, messages, and communications to Congress
excepting those nominating persons to office and those which simply
transmit treaties, and reports of heads of Departments which contain
no recommendation from the Executive. The utmost effort has been made
to render the compilation accurate and exhaustive.

Although not required by the terms of the resolution authorizing the
compilation, it has been deemed wise and wholly consistent with its
purpose to incorporate in the first volume authentic copies of the
Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, and the
Constitution of the United States, together with steel engravings of
the Capitol, the Executive Mansion, and of the historical painting the
"Signing of the Declaration of Independence." Steel portraits of the
Presidents will be inserted each in its appropriate place.

The compilation has not been brought even to its present stage without
much labor and close application, and the end is far from view; but if it shall prove satisfactory to Congress and the country, I will feel compensated for my time and effort.

The first volume of this compilation was given to Congress and the public about May I, 1896. I believe I am warranted in saying here that it met with much favor by all who examined it. The press of the country was unsparing in its praise.

The resolution authorizing this work required the publication of the annual, special, and veto messages, inaugural addresses, and proclamations of the Presidents. I have found in addition to these documents others which emanated from the Chief Magistrates, called Executive Orders; they are in the nature of proclamations, and have like force and effect. I have therefore included all such Executive Orders as may appear to have national importance or to possess more than ordinary interest.

The controversy over the United States Bank, including President Jackson's reasons for the removal of the deposits from that bank; his Farewell Address, and other important papers, all of which are characteristic of the man, are subjects of never failing interest to American bankers, business men and publicists. It was during the second Administration of President Jackson that the act changing the ratio between the gold and silver dollar was passed.

President Van Buren's message recommending the independent treasury or subtreasury, and the discussion of that subject, which terminated in what has been termed "the divorce of the bank and state in the fiscal affairs of the Federal Government," and which President Van Buren considered a second Declaration of Independence, continue the discussion so vigorously begun by Jackson. The controversy with Great Britain in relation to the northeastern boundary of the United States is also included in Van Buren's Administration, and will prove highly interesting.

The eight years of our history from March 4, 1841, to March 4, 1849, include the four years' term of Harrison and Tyler and also the term of James K. Polk. During the first half of this period the death of President Harrison occurred, when for the first time under the Constitution the Vice-President succeeded to the office of President. As a matter of public interest, several papers relating to the death of President Harrison are inserted.

A number of highly interesting vetoes of President Tyler appear, among which are two vetoing bills chartering a United States bank and two vetoing tariff measures. During President Tyler's Administration the protective tariff act of 1842 was passed; the sub-treasury law was repealed; the treaty with Great Britain of August 9, 1842. was negotiated, settling the northeastern boundary controversy, and providing for the final suppression of the African slave trade and for the surrender of fugitive criminals; and acts establishing a uniform system of bankruptcy and providing for the distribution of the sales of the public lands were passed. The treaty of annexation between the United States and the Republic of Texas was negotiated, but v/as rejected by the Senate.

During the Administration of President Polk Texas was finally annexed to the United States; Texas, Iowa, and Wisconsin were admitted into the Union; the Oregon boundary was settled; the independent treasury system was reenacted; the Naval Academy was established ; acts were passed establishing the Smithsonian Institution and creating the Department of the Interior; the war with Mexico was successfully fought, and the territory known as New Mexico and Upper California was acquired. The acquisition of territory by Mr. Polk's Administration added to the United States California and New Mexico and portions of Colorado, Utah, and Nevada, a territory containing in all 1,193,061 square miles or over 763,000,000 acres, and constituting a country more than half as large as all that held by the Republic before he became President. This addition to our domain was the next largest in area ever made. It was exceeded only by the purchase by President Jefferson of the Louisiana Territory, in which was laid so deep the foundation of the country's growth and grandeur. If our country had not already attained that rank by the acquisition of the Louisiana Territory, the further additions made by Mr. Polk's Administration advanced it at once to a continental power of assured strength and boundless promise.

The next twelve years include the four years' term of the Taylor-Fillmore Administration and the full terms of Presidents Pierce and Buchanan. This brings the history down to March 4, 1861, the beginning of the late war between the States. These twelve years form an important and eventful epoch in the affairs of our country, as they immediately precede the war and cover the official utterances of the Executives during this period. Some of the more important events and incidents of these twelve years are the Bulwer-Clayton treaty with Great Britain for a joint occupancy of the proposed ship canal through Central America; the compromise measures of 1850; the admission of California, Minnesota, Oregon, and Kansas as States; the Gadsden purchase, by which the United States acquired 45,535 square miles of territory, being portions of Arizona and New Mexico; the Kansas-Nebraska legislation; the famous Dred Scott decision; the John Brown insurrection, and the disruption of the Democratic party in the national campaign of 1860.

Vetoes by President Pierce of "An act making a grant of public lands to the several States for the benefit of indigent insane persons"; of six acts relating to internal improvements; of an act for a subsidy for ocean mails, and of an act for the ascertainment and allowance of French spoliation claims; vetoes by President Buchanan of an act granting lands for agricultural purposes; of two acts relating to internal improvements, and of a homestead act, mark the antagonism of these Presidents to Congress during the period.

Interesting reading is furnished in the protests of President Buchanan against the action of the House of Representatives in ordering the appointment of a committee to investigate the conduct of the President.

The Presidential papers during the period from March 4, 1861, to March 4, 1869, relate the history of the Civil War and the reconstruction of the Union. No other period of American history since the Revolution comprises so many events of surpassing importance. The Administrations of Presidents Lincoln and Johnson represent two distinct epochs. That of Abraham Lincoln was dedicated to the successful prosecution of the most stupendous war of modern times, while that of Andrew Johnson was dedicated to the reestablishment of peace and the restoration of the Union as it had existed prior to the war. Strange to say, it fell to the lot of the kind hearted humanitarian, who loved peace and his fellow man, to wage the bloody conflict of civil war, and the more aggressive, combative character directed the affairs of the Government while the land took upon itself the conditions of peace. Yet who can say that each was not best suited for his particular sphere of action! A greater lover of his kind has not filled the office of President since Thomas Jefferson, and no public servant ever left with the people a gentler memory than Abraham Lincoln. A more self willed and determined Chief Executive has not held that office since Andrew Johnson, and no public servant ever left with the people a higher character for honesty, integrity, and sincerity of purpose and action than Andrew Johnson. The life of each of these two great men had been a series of obscure but heroic struggles; each had experienced a varied and checkered career; each reached the highest political station of earth. Their official state papers are of supreme interest, and comprise the utterances of President Lincoln while he in four years placed in the field nearly three millions of soldiers; what he said when victories were won or when his armies went down in defeat ; what treasures of blood and money it cost to triumph; also, the utterances of President Johnson as he through his eventful term waged the fiercest political battle of our country's history in his efforts, along his own lines, for the restoration of peace and the reunion of the States.

Interesting papers relating to the death and funeral obsequies of President Lincoln have been inserted, as also the more important papers and proceedings connected with the impeachment of President Johnson.

The perusal of these papers should enkindle within the heart of every citizen of the American Republic, whether he fought on the one side or the other in that unparalleled struggle, or whether he has come upon the scene since its closing, a greater love of country, a greater devotion to the cause of true liberty, and an undying resolve that all the blessings of a free government and the fullest liberty of the individual shall be perpetuated.

The election of General Grant to the Presidency by the people of the United States was another instance illustrating the gratitude of a republic to a successful soldier. But for the great civil war no one supposes he would ever have been elevated to this exalted post. His services in that heroic struggle were such as to win the highest encomiums from his countrymen, and naturally at the first opportunity after the closing of the war when a Chief Executive was to be chosen they turned their eyes to the most conspicuous figure in that war and made him President of the United States. During this period of twelve years    that is, from March 4, 1869, to March 4, 1881    the legislation for the restoration of the Southern States to their original positions in the Union was enacted, the reunion of the States was perfected, and all sections of the land again given full and free representation in Congress. Much of the bitterness engendered by the war, and which had been left alive at its closing, and which was not diminished to any appreciable extent during President Johnson's term, was largely assuaged during President Grant's administration, and under that of President Hayes was further softened and almost entirely dissipated.

It will be seen that President Grant in his papers dwelt especially upon the duty of paying the national debt in gold and returning to specie payments; that he urged upon Congress a proposition to annex Santo Domingo; that during his Administration the "Quaker Peace Commission" was appointed to deal with the Indians, the fifteenth amendment to the Constitution of the United States was proclaimed, the treaty of Washington was negotiated, and, with a subsequent arbitration at Geneva, a settlement was provided of the difficulties relating to the Alabama claims and the fisheries; that in 1870 and frequently afterwards he urged upon Congress the need of reform in the civil service. His appeals secured the passage of the law of March 3, 1871, under which he appointed a civil service commission. This commission framed rules, which were approved by the President. They provided for open competitive examination, and went into effect January i, 1872; and out of these grew the present civil service rules. One of his most important papers was the message vetoing the "inflation bill." The closing months of his public life covered the stormy and exciting period following the Presidential election of 1876, when the result as between Mr. Tilden and Mr. Hayes was so long in doubt. There is very little, however, in any Presidential paper of that period to indicate the great peril to the country and the severe strain to which our institutions were subjected in that memorable contest.

The Administration of Mr. Hayes, though it began amid exciting scenes and an unprecedented situation which threatened disasters, was rather marked by moderation and a sympathy with what he considered true reform. Some of his vetoes are highly interesting, and indicate independence of character and that he was not always controlled by mere party politics. One of the most famous and best remembered of his messages is that vetoing the Bland-Allison Act, which restored the legal tender quality to the silver dollar and provided for its limited coinage. Other papers of interest are his message recommending the resumption of specie payments; vetoes of a bill to restrict Chinese immigration, of an Army appropriation bill, of a legislative, executive, and judicial appropriation bill, and of the act known as the "funding act of 1881." It was during Mr. Hayes's Administration (when the Forty-fifth Congress met in extraordinary session on March 18, 1879), that for the first time since the Congress that was chosen with Mr. Buchanan in 1856 the Democratic party was in control of both Houses.

The death of President Garfield at the hand of an assassin early in his Administration created a vacancy in the office of the Chief Executive, and for the fourth time in our history the Vice-President succeeded to that office. The intense excitement throughout the land brought about by the tragic death of the President, and the succession of the Vice-President, caused no dangerous strain upon our institutions, and once more proof was given, if, indeed, further evidence was required, that our Government was strong enough to quietly and peacefully endure a sudden change of rulers and of administration, no matter how distressing and odious the cause.

During the Administration of President Arthur a treaty between the United States and the Republic of Nicaragua was signed, providing for an inter-oceanic canal across the territory of that State. An able and learned discussion of this proposition will be found among his papers. This treaty was pending when he retired from office, and was promptly withdrawn by President Cleveland. The act to regulate and improve the civil service of the United States was approved by President Arthur, and he put into operation rules and regulations wide in their scope and far reaching for the enforcement of the measure. In his papers will be found frequent and interesting discussions of this question. His vetoes of "An act to execute certain treaty stipulations relating to Chinese" and of "An act making appropriations for the construction, repair, and preservation of certain works on rivers and harbors, and for other purposes," are interesting and effective papers.

Cleveland's accession to the Presidency marked the return of the Democratic party to power. No Democrat who had been chosen by his party had held the office since the retirement of Buchanan, in 1861. At an early date after Mr. Cleveland's inauguration he became involved in an important and rather acrimonious discussion with the Senate on the subject of suspensions from office. The Senate demanded of him and of the heads of some of the Executive Departments the reasons for the suspension of certain officials, and the papers and correspondence incident thereto. In an exhaustive and interesting paper he declined to comply with the demand. His annual message of December, 1887, was devoted exclusively to a discussion of the tariff. It is conceded by all to be an able document, and is the only instance where a President in his annual message made reference to only one question. His vetoes are more numerous than those of any other Chief Executive, amounting within the four years to over three hundred, or more than twice the number in the aggregate of all his predecessors. These vetoes relate to almost all subjects of legislation, but mainly to pension cases and bills providing for the erection of public buildings throughout the country.

The work of compiling was begun by me in April, 1895, just after the expiration of the Fifty third Congress. I then anticipated that I could complete the work easily within a year. Though I have given my entire time to the undertaking when not engaged in my official duties as a Representative, instead of completing it within the time mentioned it has occupied me for nearly four years. The labor has been far greater than the Joint Committee on Printing or I supposed it would be. I had no idea of the difficulties to overcome in obtaining the Presidential papers, especially the proclamations and Executive orders. In this Prefatory Note I said above: "I have sought to bring together in the several volumes of the series all Presidential proclamations, addresses, messages, and communications to Congress excepting those nominating persons to office and those which simply transmit treaties, and reports of heads of Departments which contain no recommendation from the Executive." But after the appearance of Volume I, and while preparing the contents of Volume II, I became convinced that I had made a mistake and that the work to be exhaustive should comprise every message of the Presidents transmitting reports of heads of Departments and other communications, no matter how brief or unintelligible the papers were in themselves, and that to make them intelligible I should insert editorial notes explaining them. Having acted upon the other idea in making up Volume I and a portion of Volume II, quite a number of such brief papers were intentionally omitted. Being convinced that all the papers of the Executives should be inserted, the plan was modified accordingly, and the endeavor was thereafter made to publish all of them.

In order, however, that the compilation may be "accurate and exhaustive," I have gone back and collected all the papers    those which should have appeared in Volumes I and II, as well as such as were unintentionally omitted from the succeeding volumes. While this may occasion some little annoyance to the reader who seeks such papers in chronological order, yet, inasmuch as they all appear at their proper places in the Encyclopedic Index, it is not believed that any serious inconvenience will result.

The editor and compiler has resorted to every possible avenue and has spared no effort to procure all public Presidential papers from the beginning of the Government to March 4, 1897. He has looked out for every reference to the work in the public prints, has endeavored to read all the criticisms made because of omissions, and has availed himself of all the papers to which his attention has been called by anyone; has diligently and earnestly sought for same himself, so that he feels warranted in saying that if he has given to the country all he could find and all any critic or reviewer has been able to find he has done his whole duty, and reasonable complaint can not be made if any paper is still omitted. In view of the inaccessibility of many of the messages by reason of their not having been entered on the journals of either House of Congress, and of the fact that the Government itself does not possess many of the proclamations and Executive orders, it may be that there yet can be found a few papers omitted from this work; but with much confidence, amounting to a positive conviction, I feel that assurance may be safely given that only a few, if any at all, have been overlooked.

Congress in June, 1897, by law requested me to prepare an index to the entire compilation. In addition to making the Index simply an index to the various messages and other papers I have added to it the encyclopedic feature. There will therefore be found in the Index, in alphabetical order, a large number of encyclopedic definitions of words and phrases used by the Chief Executives, and of other politico historical subjects. It is believed that this feature will not detract in any manner from the Index, but, on the other hand, will add largely to its value and to the value of the entire compilation and develop more fully questions or subjects to which only indirect reference is made or which are but briefly discussed by them. There will also be found short accounts of several hundred battles in which the armies of the United States have been engaged; also descriptions of all the States of the Union and of many foreign countries. We have striven earnestly to make these encyclopedic articles historically correct, and to this end have carefully compared them with the most eminent authorities. This feature was not within the scope of the work as contemplated when the resolution authorizing the compilation was passed, nor when the act was passed requiring the preparation of the Index; but with the approval of the Joint Committee on Printing I have inserted the articles, believing that they would be of interest. They contain facts and valuable information not always easily accessible, and it is hoped that they will serve to familiarize the young men of the country who read them with its history and its trials and make of them better citizens and more devoted lovers of our free institutions. There has been no effort or inclination on my part to give partisan bias or political coloring of any nature to these articles. On the other hand, I have sought only to furnish reliable historical data and well authenticated definitions and to avoid even the appearance of an expression of my own opinion. It is proper to add that these articles have all been read and approved by Mr. A. R. Spofford, Chief Assistant Librarian of Congress, to whom I now make acknowledgment of my indebtedness.

The work has met with public favor far beyond all expectations, and words of praise for it have come from all classes and callings. Those who possess it may be assured that they have in their libraries all the official utterances of the Presidents of the United States from 1789 to the present time that could possibly be found after the most diligent search, and that these utterances are not to be found complete in any other publication.

JAMES D. RICHARDSON.

NOTE.    The pages of "The Messages and Papers of the Presidents" have been renumbered from page one to the end, and the division into volumes has been altered. This plan is required by the addition of new matter and the desirability of keeping the volumes as nearly uniform in size as possible.
 
The Encyclopedic Index is not only an index to the other volumes, not only a key that unlocks the treasures of the entire publication, but it is in itself an alphabetically arranged brief history or story of the great controlling events constituting the History of the United States.

Under its proper alphabetical classification the story is told of every great subject referred to by any of the Presidents in their official Messages, and at the end of each article the official utterances of the Presidents themselves are cited upon the, subject, so that you may readily turn to the page in the body of the work itself for this original information.

Next to the possession of knowledge is the ability to turn at will to where knowledge is to be found.

JAMES D. RICHARDSON.

WASHINGTON, D.C.,

 February 22, 1896 .