Show THE presidents MERGE MESSAGE I 1 AS DELIVERED IN TO DAYS SESSION OF THE to the congress of the united states your assembling is clouded by a sense of public bereavement caused by the recent sudden death of thomas A hendricks vice president of the united states stated his ilia distinguished public services servi ceSi his complete integrity and add devotion to every duty and nis his personal virtues will find honorable honorable rec ord in his tits count rys history ample and repeated proofs of the esteem and confidence ii in which he was held by his fellow lellow countrymen were manifested by ais bis election to of the most important trust and highest i dignity and at length f full fuli ull oil of years s and honors he lie has been laid at rest amidst general sorrow borrow and benediction THE MESSAGE the constitution which requires those chosen to leri legislate I 1 slate for the people to annually meet in the discharge of their solemn trust also requires the president to give congress information of the state of the union and recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall deem necessary essary to expedite at the threshold a compliance sith with these constitutional directions it is well for ua us to bear in mind that our usefulness to tile the peoples people 9 s interests will be promoted by a constant appreciation of the scope and character of eur our ur respective duties as they relate to federal legislation while the executive may recommend such measures as lie ile h e shall deem expedient the responsibility ler lor legislative action must and should rest upon those selected by ty the people to make their laws contemplation of the grave and responsible functions assigned to the executive branches of the government under the constitution will disclose the partitions of power between our respective departments and their feces necessary sary independence pen dence and also the need for the of all the power entrusted to each in that spirit of comity and cooperation which is essential to the proper f of the patriotic patriot fe obligations ligat ions which rest upon us as faithful servants ot of the people the tha jealous watchfulness of our constituencies great and small supplements ther their suffrage and therefore by bv the tribunal they establish every public servant should be judged OUR FOREIGN RELATIONS it is gratifying to announce that the relations mus of the united states with all foreign powers continue to be friendly our position after nearly a century of ot successful constitutional government the maintenance of good faith in all of our en engagements a cements the avoidance of comell complications with other nations and tiie the consistent and amicable attitude toward the strong and weak alike furnish proof of apol apoi a political disposition which renders professions of good will unnecessary there are no questions of difficulty pending with any foreign government ARGENTINE CLAIMS the argentine government has revived therong dormant question of the falkland islands by claiming from the united states indemnity for their loss attributed to the action of the coin colu mander of the sloop of war lexington in breaking up a piratical colony on these islands in 1831 and their subsequent occupation by great britain in view of thea theu the mple ample justification for the act of the lexington and the dire condition of the islands before and after their alleged occupation by the argentine colonists this government deems their claim as wholly groundless kellys KL ilys REJECTION A arisen with the government of austro hungary touching the representation of the united states ut at vienna having under my constitutional prerogative appointed an estimable citizen of probity and competence as minister at that court the government of austro hungary invited liis lils ibis government to take cognizance of certain exceptions based upon allegations against the tho personal acceptability of mr Ke ilythe appointed envoy asking that in view thereof the appointment should be withdrawn the reasons advanced were such as could not be acquiesced in without a violation of my oath of office ollice and the precepts of the constitution 8 ince since they necessarily involved a I 1 limitation lm ta tion la in favor of a foreign government upon the right of selection by the executive and required such an application of a religious test as a qualification for office under the united states as would have resulted in the practical disfranchisement of a large class of our citizens and tile the abandonment ot of a vital principle of our government the autro au tro hungarian government finally decided not to io receive mr kelly as the envoy of the united states and that gentleman has since resigned his commission I 1 caving the post vacant I 1 have made navy naw nominations and the interests of this govern government ment at vienna are now in the care of the secretary of legation as charge daf faires ad interim early in march last war broke out in central america caused by theat the attempt of guatemala to consolidate the several states into a single government in these thes e contests contes t s between our neighboring states the united states lor tor forbore laore to interfere actively but lent the aid of their friendly office offices s la to depreciation reIt relt ion lon of war an and ana to p promote peace and concord among the belligerents and by such counsel contribute lm importantly ito to the restoration of tran quilitz cullity in that locality CENTRAL AMERICA emergencies growing out of civil war in the united states stales of colombia demanded of the government at the bs be of this thia administration the employment of an armed force to f ful tul al nii jill lia ita guarantees under ol 01 the thirty ili III intili it article ut of the treaty of 1846 in order tu to keep the transit open across the It thinus ol 01 pan Pau panama atila desirous of ex 1 1 1 anly the tile powers expressly reserved to us by tile the treaty and mindful odthe of the rights of colombia the forces sent tent sent to the were instructed to confine their act acton auton on to positively and preventing the transit and its accessories from belu bein being intercepted or embarrassed the execution of this delicate and responsible task necessarily involved police control where the local authority was temporarily powerless but always in deference to and mindful of the sovereignty of Coloin colombia bla the prompt and successful fulfillment of its duty duly by this government was highly appreciated by the government of colombia and has been followed by an expression of its satisfaction and high praise to the off omm meers officers and men engaged in inthis this service the restoration of peace on the isthmus bythe by the rees re es of the constituted government there beins being thus accomplished accomplish i the forces of the united states stales were withdrawn pending these occurrences a question of much importance was presented by decrees of the colombian government proclaiming the closure of certain ports then in the them hands of the insurgents and declaring vessels held by tile tiie revolutionists tobe to be piratical and liable to tb capture by any power to neither of these propositions could the united states assent an effective closure of ports not in the possession of the government ern ment but held by the hostile artisans partisans could not be recognized delther deither neither could the vessels of insurgents against the legitimate be deemed hosta bosta of insurgents within w thin I 1 the precepts of international law whatever inight ini 11 ht be the definition of the penalty of their acts under the municipal law of the state against whose authority they were in revolt the denial by the government of the colombian propositions did not however imply the admission of a belligerent status on the part of the insurgents the colombian government has expressed its willingness to negotiate e a convention for tor the adjustment by arbitration bit ration of the claims by foreign citizens arising out of the destruction of the city olty of aspinwall by the insurrectionary forces the interest of the united states in a practicable transit for ships across the strip of land separating the atlantic from the pacific has haa been repeatedly ralf raif peat edly manifested during the last half halt century my immediate predecessor caused to he be negotiated with nicaragua a treaty for the construction by and at the sole cost of the united states of a canal through nicaraguan agdan territory and laid it before the senate pending the action of that body thereon I 1 withdrew the treaty for reexamination and an attentive consideration of its provisions leads me to withhold it from submission resubmission re to th the senate maintaining as I 1 do the tenor of a line of presidents from gatons days i which proscribe enlarging entangling lilli alliances ances auces with foreign states I 1 d do not favor a policy of acquisition of new and distant territory or the incorporation of remote interests with our own the laws of progress are vital and or organic anic and we must be conscious 0 of 5 that irresistible tide mercial elpa expansion dision which as the concomitant of oar active civilization day by day is being urged onward by those increasing facilities of pro production transportation a and aud u d communication to 10 which steam m and electricity have given birth but our duty in the present instructs us to address ourselves mainly to the development of the vast resources of the great reat area committed to our charge and to the cultivation of the arts of peace within our borders though jealously alert in in preventing the american hemisphere hemis hewis phere irom in the political problems and complication of distant governments I 1 therefore corej am unable to recommend recommends a proposition involving param paramount 0 ont out privileges of ownership or right 0 outside our own territory when n coup ledwith absolute and unlimited engagements to defend the territorial terrI tortal integrity inte grit y of the state where such interests may be ISTHMIAN CANAL while the general project of connecting the two oceans by means of a canal is to be encouraged I 1 am of the opinion that any scheme to that end to be considered with favor shall be f free ree from toul joni the features alluded to the te huante pec route is declared by engineers of the highest repute and by competent scientists to afford an entirely practical transit for vessels and cargoes by means of arhip railway from the uhe atlantic to the pacific the obvious advantages of such a route if feasible over others more distant from the axial lines of traffic between europe and the pacific and particularly between the valley of the mississippi V P p 1 and the western coast ot of north 1 r t h a aud and n d south america are deservi deserving hig fig ol 01 consideration whatever highway may be constructed across the barrier dividing the two greatest maritime arcas areas of the world must be for the worlds trust for mankind to be removed from the chance of domination by any single singie power nor must it become a point for fr invitation invitation for hostilities or a prize for warlike ambition an engagement combining the construction ownership ili ill p and operation of such a work by thi this government with an offensive and defensive dalliance lal tal liance for its protection with the foreign state whose responsibilities bili ties and rights we would share Is in my judgment inconsistent with such dedication to universal and neutral use and would moreover entail measures for its realization beyond the escape of our neutral policy or present means the lapse of years vears has abundantly confirmed the wisdom and foresight of these earlier administrations which long before the conditions 0 of maritime intercourse were changed and enlarged by the progress of the age proclaimed the vital need of inter oceanic traffic across the commercial isthmus and consecrated it in fit advance to td the common use of 0 mankind by their positive declarations and through the formal obliga obligation tiou of treaties toward such realization of their efforts my ad administration mints will be applied ever dearin bearin bearing in mind the principles principled on which it must rest and which were declared in no uncertain tones by mr cass who while secretary of state in 1858 an bounced that what the united states want in central america to the happiness of its people is the tho security and neutral neutrality lt of the inter oceanic routes walca lead through it the construction of three transcontinental lines toes of railway all in successful f al operation wholly within our terri uniting the atlantic and pacific oceans has been accompanied by results ofa ota of a most interesting anu and impressive nature and has created hew new conditions not in the routes of commerce only but in political geobra geography by which powerfully affect our relations toward and necessarily increase our interests in any trans isthmian route which may be opened and employed for the ends of peace and tramm traffic le or in other contingencies for lor use inimical to both transportation por tation is a factor in the hosts of commodities consumed second to that of their production and weighs as heavily upon the On consumer our existence already has proven the great preat importance of having the competition between land carriage carriage and water carriage fully developed each acting as a protection to the public against th the tendency of monopoly which is inherent in the consolidation of wealth and power in the hands of vast corporations these suggestions may serve to emphasize what I 1 have already said on the score of the necessity of a neutralization of any transit and this can only be accomplished by making the uses of the route open to all nations and subject to the ambition and warlike war like necessities of none the drawings andreport and report of a lecent recent survey of the nicaragua canal route made by chief engineer menocal will be communicated tor for your information the claims of citizens of the united states for tor losses by reason of the late military operations of chill in peru tind und bolivia are the subject of a negotiation for a claims convention with chill providing for their submission to ar arbitration CHINA AND THE CHINESE QUESTION the harmony of our relations with china Is fully sustained in the uie application of the acts lately passed to execute the treaty of 1880 isso restrictive of the immigration of chinese laborers into the tile united states individual cases of hardship have occurred beyond the power of the executive to remedy and calling for judicial determination nain rain mi nation atlon the condition of the chinese question in the western states and territories is despite this thia restrictive legislation far from bein being berng satisfactory the recent outbreak in wyoming 0 territory boff toft where numbers of 1 unoffending t adin 9 indisputably the protection of the treaties and the law were murdered by a mob and the still more recent threatened outbreak of the same character in washington territory are still fresh in the mands minds of all and there is apprehension lest the bitterness of feeling against the mon mongolian olian race on the pacific slope may tind find pent bent vent in ba similar lawless demonstration all the power of this government should be exerted to maintain the amplest good faith toward china in the treatment of these men and the inflexible fie sternness of the law in bringing the wrong doers to justice should be insisted upon every effort has been made by this government to prevent these violent outbreaks and to aid the representatives of china in their of these outrages and it is but just to say that they are traceable to the lawlessness of men not citizens of the |