To the Senate and House of Representatives:

In submitting my eighth and last annual message to Congress it seems proper
that I should refer to and in some degree recapitulate the events and
official acts of the past eight years.

It was my fortune, or misfortune, to be called to the office of Chief
Executive without any previous political training. From the age of 17 I had
never even witnessed the excitement attending a Presidential campaign but
twice antecedent to my own candidacy, and at but one of them was I eligible
as a voter.

Under such circumstances it is but reasonable to suppose that errors of
judgment must have occurred. Even had they not, differences of opinion
between the Executive, bound by an oath to the strict performance of his
duties, and writers and debaters must have arisen. It is not necessarily
evidence of blunder on the part of the Executive because there are these
differences of views. Mistakes have been made, as all can see and I admit,
but it seems to me oftener in the selections made of the assistants
appointed to aid in carrying out the various duties of administering the
Government--in nearly every case selected without a personal acquaintance
with the appointee, but upon recommendations of the representatives chosen
directly by the people. It is impossible, where so many trusts are to be
allotted, that the right parties should be chosen in every instance.
History shows that no Administration from the time of Washington to the
present has been free from these mistakes. But I leave comparisons to
history, claiming only that I have acted in every instance from a
conscientious desire to do what was right, constitutional, within the law,
and for the very best interests of the whole people. Failures have been
errors of judgment, not of intent.

My civil career commenced, too, at a most critical and difficult time. Less
than four years before, the country had emerged from a conflict such as no
other nation had ever survived. Nearly one-half of the States had revolted
against the Government, and of those remaining faithful to the Union a
large percentage of the population sympathized with the rebellion and made
an "enemy in the rear" almost as dangerous as the more honorable enemy in
the front. The latter committed errors of judgment, but they maintained
them openly and courageously; the former received the protection of the
Government they would see destroyed, and reaped all the pecuniary advantage
to be gained out of the then existing state of affairs, many of them by
obtaining contracts and by swindling the Government in the delivery of
their goods.

Immediately on the cessation of hostilities the then noble President, who
had carried the country so far through its perils, fell a martyr to his
patriotism at the hands of an assassin.

The intervening time to my first inauguration was filled up with wranglings
between Congress and the new Executive as to the best mode of
"reconstruction," or, to speak plainly, as to whether the control of the
Government should be thrown immediately into the hands of those who had so
recently and persistently tried to destroy it, or whether the victors
should continue to have an equal voice with them in this control.
Reconstruction, as finally agreed upon, means this and only this, except
that the late slave was enfranchised, giving an increase, as was supposed,
to the Union-loving and Union-supporting votes. If free in the full sense
of the word, they would not disappoint this expectation. Hence at the
beginning of my first Administration the work of reconstruction, much
embarrassed by the long delay, virtually commenced. It was the work of the
legislative branch of the Government. My province was wholly in approving
their acts, which I did most heartily, urging the legislatures of States
that had not yet done so to ratify the fifteenth amendment to the
Constitution. The country was laboring under an enormous debt, contracted
in the suppression of rebellion, and taxation was so oppressive as to
discourage production. Another danger also threatened us--a foreign war.
The last difficulty had to be adjusted and was adjusted without a war and
in a manner highly honorable to all parties concerned. Taxes have been
reduced within the last seven years nearly $300,000,000, and the national
debt has been reduced in the same time over $435,000,000. By refunding the
6 per cent bonded debt for bonds bearing 5 and 4 1/2 per cent interest,
respectively, the annual interest has been reduced from over $130,000,000
in 1869 to but little over $100,000,000 in 1876. The balance of trade has
been changed from over $130,000,000 against the United States in 1869 to
more than $120,000,000 in our favor in 1876.

It is confidently believed that the balance of trade in favor of the United
States will increase, not diminish, and that the pledge of Congress to
resume specie payments in 1879 will be easily accomplished, even in the
absence of much-desired further legislation on the subject.

A policy has been adopted toward the Indian tribes inhabiting a large
portion of the territory of the United States which has been humane and has
substantially ended Indian hostilities in the whole land except in a
portion of Nebraska, and Dakota, Wyoming, and Montana Territories--the
Black Hills region and approaches thereto. Hostilities there have grown out
of the avarice of the white man, who has violated our treaty stipulations
in his search for gold. The question might be asked why the Government has
not enforced obedience to the terms of the treaty prohibiting the
occupation of the Black Hills region by whites. The answer is simple: The
first immigrants to the Black Hills were removed by troops, but rumors of
rich discoveries of gold took into that region increased numbers. Gold has
actually been found in paying quantity, and an effort to remove the miners
would only result in the desertion of the bulk of the troops that might be
sent there to remove them. All difficulty in this matter has, however, been
removed--subject to the approval of Congress--by a treaty ceding the Black
Hills and approaches to settlement by citizens.

The subject of Indian policy and treatment is so fully set forth by the
Secretary of the Interior and the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, and my
views so fully expressed therein, that I refer to their reports and
recommendations as my own.

The relations of the United States with foreign powers continue on a
friendly footing.

Questions have arisen from time to time in the foreign relations of the
Government, but the United States have been happily free during the past
year from the complications and embarrassments which have surrounded some
of the foreign powers.

The diplomatic correspondence submitted herewith contains information as to
certain of the matters which have occupied the Government.

The cordiality which attends our relations with the powers of the earth has
been plainly shown by the general participation of foreign nations in the
exhibition which has just closed and by the exertions made by distant
powers to show their interest in and friendly feelings toward the United
States in the commemoration of the centennial of the nation. The Government
and people of the United States have not only fully appreciated this
exhibition of kindly feeling, but it may be justly and fairly expected that
no small benefits will result both to ourselves and other nations from a
better acquaintance, and a better appreciation of our mutual advantages and
mutual wants.

Congress at its last session saw fit to reduce the amount usually
appropriated for foreign intercourse by withholding appropriations for
representatives of the United States in certain foreign countries and for
certain consular officers, and by reducing the amounts usually appropriated
for certain other diplomatic posts, and thus necessitating a change in the
grade of the representatives. For these reasons, immediately upon the
passage of the bill making appropriations for the diplomatic and consular
service for the present fiscal year, instructions were issued to the
representatives of the United States at Bolivia, Ecuador, and Colombia, and
to the consular officers for whom no appropriation had been made, to close
their respective legations and consulates and cease from the performance of
their duties; and in like manner steps were immediately taken to substitute
charge's d'affaires for ministers resident in Portugal, Denmark, Greece,
Switzerland, and Paraguay.

While thoroughly impressed with the wisdom of sound economy in the foreign
service, as in other branches of the Government, I can not escape the
conclusion that in some instances the withholding of appropriations will
prove an expensive economy, and that the small retrenchment secured by a
change of grade in certain diplomatic posts is not an adequate
consideration for the loss of influence and importance which will attend
our foreign representatives under this reduction. I am of the opinion that
a reexamination of the subject will cause a change in some instances in the
conclusions reached on these subjects at the last session of Congress.

The Court of Commissioners of Alabama Claims, whose functions were
continued by an act of the last session of Congress until the 1st day of
January, 1877, has carried on its labors with diligence and general
satisfaction. By a report from the clerk of the court, transmitted
herewith, bearing date November 14, 1876, it appears that within the time
now allowed by law the court will have disposed of all the claims presented
for adjudication. This report also contains a statement of the general
results of the labors of the court to the date thereof. It is a cause of
satisfaction that the method adopted for the satisfaction of the classes of
claims submitted to the court, which are of long standing and justly
entitled to early consideration, should have proved successful and
acceptable.

It is with satisfaction that I am enabled to state that the work of the
joint commission for determining the boundary line between the United
States and British possessions from the northwest angle of the Lake of the
Woods to the Rocky Mountains, commenced in 1872, has been completed. The
final agreements of the commissioners, with the maps, have been duly
signed, and the work of the commission is complete.

The fixing of the boundary upon the Pacific coast by the protocol of March
10, 1873, pursuant to the award of the Emperor of Germany by Article XXXIV
of the treaty of Washington, with the termination of the work of this
commission, adjusts and fixes the entire boundary between the United States
and the British possessions, except as to the portion of territory ceded by
Russia to the United States under the treaty of 1867. The work intrusted to
the commissioner and the officers of the Army attached to the commission
has been well and satisfactorily performed. The original of the final
agreement of the commissioners, signed upon the 29th of May, 1876, with the
original official "lists of astronomical stations observed," the original
official "list of monuments marking the international boundary line," and
the maps, records, and general reports relating to the commission, have
been deposited in the Department of State. The official report of the
commissioner on the part of the United States, with the report of the chief
astronomer of the United States, will be submitted to Congress within a
short time.

I reserve for a separate communication to Congress a statement of the
condition of the questions which lately arose with Great Britain respecting
the surrender of fugitive criminals under the treaty of 1842.

The Ottoman Government gave notice, under date of January 15, 1874, of its
desire to terminate the treaty of 1862, concerning commerce and navigation,
pursuant to the provisions of the twenty-second article thereof. Under this
notice the treaty terminated upon the 5th day of June, 1876. That
Government has invited negotiations toward the conclusion of a new treaty.

By the act of Congress of March 23, 1874, the President was authorized,
when he should receive satisfactory information that the Ottoman Government
or that of Egypt had organized new tribunals likely to secure to citizens
of the United States the same impartial justice enjoyed under the exercise
of judicial functions by diplomatic and consular officers of the United
States, to suspend the operation of the act of June 22, 1860, and to accept
for citizens of the United States the jurisdiction of the new tribunals.
Satisfactory information having been received of the organization of such
new tribunals in Egypt, I caused a proclamation to be issued upon the 27th
of March last, suspending the operation of the act of June 22, 1860, in
Egypt, according to the provisions of the act. A copy of the proclamation
accompanies this message. The United States has united with the other
powers in the organization of these courts. It is hoped that the
jurisdictional questions which have arisen may be readily adjusted, and
that this advance in judicial reform may be hindered by no obstacles.

The necessary legislation to carry into effect the convention respecting
commercial reciprocity concluded with the Hawaiian Islands in 1875 having
been had, the proclamation to carry into effect the convention, as provided
by the act approved August 15, 1876, was duly issued upon the 9th day of
September last. A copy thereof accompanies this message.

The commotions which have been prevalent in Mexico for some time past, and
which, unhappily, seem to be not yet wholly quieted, have led to complaints
of citizens of the United States of injuries by persons in authority. It is
hoped, however, that these will ultimately be adjusted to the satisfaction
of both Governments. The frontier of the United States in that quarter has
not been exempt from acts of violence by citizens of one Republic on those
of the other. The frequency of these is supposed to be increased and their
adjustment made more difficult by the considerable changes in the course of
the lower part of the Rio Grande River, which river is a part of the
boundary between the two countries. These changes have placed on either
side of that river portions of land which by existing conventions belong to
the jurisdiction of the Government on the opposite side of the river. The
subject of adjustment of this cause of difficulty is under consideration
between the two Republics.

The Government of the United States of Colombia has paid the award in the
case of the steamer Montijo, seized by authorities of that Government some
years since, and the amount has been transferred to the claimants.

It is with satisfaction that I am able to announce that the joint
commission for the adjustment of claims between the United States and
Mexico under the convention of 1868, the duration of which has been several
times extended, has brought its labors to a close. From the report of the
agent of the United States, which accompanies the papers transmitted
herewith, it will be seen that within the time limited by the commission
1,017 claims on the part of citizens of the United States against Mexico
were referred to the commission. Of these claims 831 were dismissed or
disallowed, and in 186 cases awards were made in favor of the claimants
against the Mexican Republic, amounting in the aggregate to $4,125,622.20.
Within the same period 998 claims on the part of citizens of the Mexican
Republic against the United States were referred to the commission. Of
these claims 831 were dismissed or disallowed, and in 167 cases awards were
made in favor of the claimants against the United States, amounting in the
aggregate to $150,498.41.

By the terms of the convention the amount of these awards is to be deducted
from the amount awarded in favor of our citizens against Mexico, and the
balance only to be paid by Mexico to the United States, leaving the United
States to make provision for this proportion of the awards in favor of its
Own citizens.

I invite your attention to the legislation which will be necessary to
provide for the payment.

In this connection I am pleased to be able to express the acknowledgments
due to Sir Edward Thornton, the umpire of the commission, who has given to
the consideration of the large number of claims submitted to him much time,
unwearied patience, and that firmness and intelligence which are well known
to belong to the accomplished representative of Great Britain, and which
are likewise recognized by the representative in this country of the
Republic of Mexico.

Monthly payments of a very small part of the amount due by the Government
of Venezuela to citizens of the United States on account of claims of the
latter against that Government continue to be made with reasonable
punctuality. That Government has proposed to change the system which it has
hitherto pursued in this respect by issuing bonds for part of the amount of
the several claims. The proposition, however, could not, it is supposed,
properly be accepted, at least without the consent of the holders of
certificates of the indebtedness of Venezuela. These are so much dispersed
that it would be difficult, if not impossible, to ascertain their
disposition on the subject.

In former messages I have called the attention of Congress to the necessity
of legislation with regard to fraudulent naturalization and to the subject
of expatriation and the election of nationality.

The numbers of persons of foreign birth seeking a home in the United
States, the ease and facility with which the honest emigrant may, after the
lapse of a reasonable time, become possessed of all the privileges of
citizenship of the United States, and the frequent occasions which induce
such adopted citizens to return to the country of their birth render the
subject of naturalization and the safeguards which experience has proved
necessary for the protection of the honest naturalized citizen of paramount
importance. The very simplicity in the requirements of law on this question
affords opportunity for fraud, and the want of uniformity in the
proceedings and records of the various courts and in the forms of the
certificates of naturalization issued affords a constant source of
difficulty.

I suggest no additional requirements to the acquisition of citizenship
beyond those now existing, but I invite the earnest attention of Congress
to the necessity and wisdom of some provisions regarding uniformity in the
records and certificates, and providing against the frauds which frequently
take place and for the vacating of a record of naturalization obtained in
fraud.

These provisions are needed in aid and for the protection of the honest
citizen of foreign birth, and for the want of which he is made to suffer
not infrequently. The United States has insisted upon the right of
expatriation, and has obtained, after a long struggle, an admission of the
principle contended for by acquiescence therein on the part of many foreign
powers and by the conclusion of treaties on that subject. It is, however,
but justice to the government to which such naturalized citizens have
formerly owed allegiance, as well as to the United States, that certain
fixed and definite rules should be adopted governing such cases and
providing how expatriation may be accomplished.

While emigrants in large numbers become citizens of the United States, it
is also true that persons, both native born and naturalized, once citizens
of the United States, either by formal acts or as the effect of a series of
facts and circumstances, abandon their citizenship and cease to be entitled
to the protection of the United States, but continue on convenient
occasions to assert a claim to protection in the absence of provisions on
these questions.

And in this connection I again invite your attention to the necessity of
legislation concerning the marriages of American citizens contracted
abroad, and concerning the status of American women who may marry
foreigners and of children born of American parents in a foreign country.

The delicate and complicated questions continually occurring with reference
to naturalization, expatriation, and the status of such persons as I have
above referred to induce me to earnestly direct your attention again to
these subjects.

In like manner I repeat my recommendation that some means be provided for
the hearing and determination of the just and subsisting claims of aliens
upon the Government of the United States within a reasonable limitation,
and of such as may hereafter arise. While by existing provisions of law the
Court of Claims may in certain cases be resorted to by an alien claimant,
the absence of any general provisions governing all such cases and the want
of a tribunal skilled in the disposition of such cases upon recognized
fixed and settled principles, either provides no remedy in many deserving
cases or compels a consideration of such claims by Congress or the
executive department of the Government.

It is believed that other governments are in advance of the United States
upon this question, and that the practice now adopted is entirely
unsatisfactory.

Congress, by an act approved the 3d day of March, 1875, authorized the
inhabitants of the Territory of Colorado to form a State government, with
the name of the State of Colorado, and therein provided for the admission
of said State, when formed, into the Union upon an equal footing with the
original States.

A constitution having been adopted and ratified by the people of that
State, and the acting governor having certified to me the facts as provided
by said act, together with a copy of such constitution and ordinances as
provided for in the said act, and the provisions of the said act of
Congress having been duly complied with, I issued a proclamation upon the
1st of August, 1876, a copy of which is hereto annexed.

The report of the Secretary of War shows that the Army has been actively
employed during the year in subduing, at the request of the Indian Bureau,
certain wild bands of the Sioux Indian Nation and in preserving the peace
at the South during the election. The commission constituted under the act
of July 24, 1876, to consider and report on the "whole subject of the
reform and reorganization of the Army" met in August last, and has
collected a large mass of statistics and opinions bearing on the subject
before it. These are now under consideration, and their report is
progressing. I am advised, though, by the president of the commission that
it will be impracticable to comply with the clause of the act requiring the
report to be presented, through me, to Congress on the first day of this
session, as there has not yet been time for that mature deliberation which
the importance of the subject demands. Therefore I ask that the time of
making the report be extended to the 29th day of January, 1877.

In accordance with the resolution of August 15, 1876, the Army regulations
prepared under the act of March 1, 1875, have not been promulgated, but are
held until after the report of the above-mentioned commission shall have
been received and acted on.

By the act of August 15, 1876, the cavalry force of the Army was increased
by 2,500 men, with the proviso that they should be discharged on the
expiration of hostilities. Under this authority the cavalry regiments have
been strengthened, and a portion of them are now in the field pursuing the
remnants of the Indians with whom they have been engaged during the
summer.

The estimates of the War Department are made up on the basis of the number
of men authorized by law, and their requirements as shown by years of
experience, and also with the purpose on the part of the bureau officers to
provide for all contingencies that may arise during the time for which the
estimates are made. Exclusive of engineer estimates (presented in
accordance with acts of Congress calling for surveys and estimates for
improvements at various localities), the estimates now presented are about
six millions in excess of the appropriations for the years 1874-75 and
1875-76. This increase is asked in order to provide for the increased
cavalry force (should their services be necessary), to prosecute
economically work upon important public buildings, to provide for armament
of fortifications and manufacture of small arms, and to replenish the
working stock in the supply departments. The appropriations for these last
named have for the past few years been so limited that the accumulations in
store will be entirely exhausted during the present year, and it will be
necessary to at once begin to replenish them.

I invite your special attention to the following recommendations of the
Secretary of War:

First. That the claims under the act of July 4, 1864, for supplies taken by
the Army during the war be removed from the offices of the Quartermaster
and Commissary Generals and transferred to the Southern Claims Commission.
These claims are of precisely similar nature to those now before the
Southern Claims Commission, and the War Department bureaus have not the
clerical force for their examination nor proper machinery for investigating
the loyalty of the claimants.

Second. That Congress sanction the scheme of an annuity fund for the
benefit of the families of deceased officers, and that it also provide for
the permanent organization of the Signal Service, both of which were
recommended in my last annual message.

Third. That the manufacturing operations of the Ordnance Department be
concentrated at three arsenals and an armory, and that the remaining
arsenals be sold and the proceeds applied to this object by the Ordnance
Department.

The appropriations for river and harbor improvements for the current year
were $5,015,000. With my approval, the Secretary of War directed that of
this amount $2,000,000 should be expended, and no new works should be begun
and none prosecuted which were not of national importance. Subsequently
this amount was increased to $2,237,600, and the works are now progressing
on this basis.

The improvement of the South Pass of the Mississippi River, under James B.
Eads and his associates, is progressing favorably. At the present time
there is a channel of 20.3 feet in depth between the jetties at the mouth
of the pass and 18.5 feet at the head of the pass. Neither channel,
however, has the width required before payments can be made by the United
States. A commission of engineer officers is now examining these works, and
their reports will be presented as soon as received.

The report of the Secretary of the Navy shows that branch of the service to
be in condition as effective as it is possible to keep it with the means
and authority given the Department. It is, of course, not possible to rival
the costly and progressive establishments of great European powers with the
old material of our Navy, to which no increase has been authorized since
the war, except the eight small cruisers built to supply the place of
others which had gone to decay. Yet the most has been done that was
possible with the means at command; and by substantially rebuilding some of
our old ships with durable material and completely repairing and refitting
our monitor fleet the Navy has been gradually so brought up that, though it
does not maintain its relative position among the progressive navies of the
world, it is now in a condition more powerful and effective than it ever
has been in time of peace.

The complete repairs of our five heavy ironclads are only delayed on
account of the inadequacy of the appropriations made last year for the
working bureaus of the Department, which were actually less in amount than
those made before the war, notwithstanding the greatly enhanced price of
labor and materials and the increase in the cost of the naval service
growing out of the universal use and great expense of steam machinery. The
money necessary for these repairs should be provided at once, that they may
be completed without further unnecessary delay and expense.

When this is done, all the strength that there is in our Navy will be
developed and useful to its full capacity, and it will be powerful for
purposes of defense, and also for offensive action, should the necessity
for that arise within a reasonable distance from our shores.

The fact that our Navy is not more modern and powerful than it is has been
made a cause of complaint against the Secretary of the Navy by persons who
at the same time criticise and complain of his endeavors to bring the Navy
that we have to its best and most efficient condition; but the good sense
of the country will understand that it is really due to his practical
action that we have at this time any effective naval force at command.

The report of the Postmaster-General shows the excess of expenditures
(excluding expenditures on account of previous years) over receipts for the
fiscal year ended June 30, 1876, to be $4,151,988.66.

Estimated expenditures for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1878, are
$36,723,432.43.

Estimated revenue for same period is $30,645,165, leaving estimated excess
of expenditure, to be appropriated as a deficiency, of $6,078,267.43.

The Postmaster-General, like his predecessor, is convinced that a change in
the basis of adjusting the salaries of postmasters of the fourth class is
necessary for the good of the service as well as for the interests of the
Government, and urgently recommends that the compensation of the class of
postmasters above mentioned be based upon the business of their respective
offices, as ascertained from the sworn returns to the Auditor of stamps
canceled.

A few postmasters in the Southern States have expressed great apprehension
of their personal safety on account of their connection with the postal
service, and have specially requested that their reports of apprehended
danger should not be made public lest it should result in the loss of their
lives. But no positive testimony of interference has been submitted, except
in the case of a mail messenger at Spartanburg, in South Carolina, who
reported that he had been violently driven away while in charge of the
mails on account of his political affiliations. An assistant superintendent
of the Railway Mail Service investigated this case and reported that the
messenger had disappeared from his post, leaving his work to be performed
by a substitute. The Postmaster-General thinks this case is sufficiently
suggestive to justify him in recommending that a more severe punishment
should be provided for the offense of assaulting any person in charge of
the mails or of retarding or otherwise obstructing them by threats of
personal injury.

"A very gratifying result is presented in the fact that the deficiency of
this Department during the last fiscal year was reduced to $4,081,790.18,
as against $6,169,938.88 of the preceding year. The difference can be
traced to the large increase in its ordinary receipts (which greatly exceed
the estimates therefor) and a slight decrease in its expenditures."

The ordinary receipts of the Post-Office Department for the past seven
fiscal years have increased at an average of over 8 per cent per annum,
while the increase of expenditures for the same period has been but about
5.50 per cent per annum, and the decrease of deficiency in the revenues has
been at the rate of nearly 2 per cent per annum.

The report of the Commissioner of Agriculture accompanying this message
will be found one of great interest, marking, as it does, the great
progress of the last century in the variety of products of the soil;
increased knowledge and skill in the labor of producing, saving, and
manipulating the same to prepare them for the use of man; in the
improvements in machinery to aid the agriculturist in his labors, and in a
knowledge of those scientific subjects necessary to a thorough system of
economy in agricultural production, namely, chemistry, botany, entomology,
etc. A study of this report by those interested in agriculture and deriving
their support from it will find it of value in pointing out those articles
which are raised in greater quantity than the needs of the world require,
and must sell, therefore, for less than the cost of production, and those
which command a profit over cost of production because there is not an
overproduction.

I call special attention to the need of the Department for a new gallery
for the reception of the exhibits returned from the Centennial Exhibition,
including the exhibits donated by very many foreign nations, and to the
recommendations of the Commissioner of Agriculture generally.

The reports of the District Commissioners and the board of health are just
received--too late to read them and to make recommendations thereon--and
are herewith submitted.

The international exhibition held in Philadelphia this year, in
commemoration of the one hundredth anniversary of American independence,
has proven a great success, and will, no doubt, be of enduring advantage to
the country. It has shown the great progress in the arts, sciences, and
mechanical skill made in a single century, and demonstrated that we are but
little behind older nations in any one branch, while in some we scarcely
have a rival. It has served, too, not only to bring peoples and products of
skill and labor from all parts of the world together, but in bringing
together people from all sections of our own country, which must prove a
great benefit in the information imparted and pride of country engendered.

It has been suggested by scientists interested in and connected with the
Smithsonian Institution, in a communication herewith, that the Government
exhibit be removed to the capital and a suitable building be erected or
purchased for its accommodation as a permanent exhibit. I earnestly
recommend this; and believing that Congress would second this view, I
directed that all Government exhibits at the Centennial Exhibition should
remain where they are, except such as might be injured by remaining in a
building not intended as a protection in inclement weather, or such as may
be wanted by the Department furnishing them, until the question of
permanent exhibition is acted on.

Although the moneys appropriated by Congress to enable the participation of
the several Executive Departments in the International Exhibition of 1876
were not sufficient to carry out the undertaking to the full extent at
first contemplated, it gives me pleasure to refer to the very efficient and
creditable manner in which the board appointed from these several
Departments to provide an exhibition on the part of the Government have
discharged their duties with the funds placed at their command. Without a
precedent to guide them in the preparation of such a display, the success
of their labors was amply attested by the sustained attention which the
contents of the Government building attracted during the period of the
exhibition from both foreign and native visitors.

I am strongly impressed with the value of the collection made by the
Government for the purposes of the exhibition, illustrating, as it does,
the mineral resources of the country, the statistical and practical
evidences of our growth as a nation, and the uses of the mechanical arts
and the applications of applied science in the administration of the
affairs of Government.

Many nations have voluntarily contributed their exhibits to the United
States to increase the interest in any permanent exhibition Congress may
provide for. For this act of generosity they should receive the thanks of
the people, and I respectfully suggest that a resolution of Congress to
that effect be adopted.

The attention of Congress can not be too earnestly called to the necessity
of throwing some greater safeguard over the method of choosing and
declaring the election of a President. Under the present system there seems
to be no provided remedy for contesting the election in any one State. The
remedy is partially, no doubt, in the enlightenment of electors. The
compulsory support of the free school and the disfranchisement of all who
can not read and write the English language, after a fixed probation, would
meet my hearty approval. I would not make this apply, however, to those
already voters, but I would to all becoming so after the expiration of the
probation fixed upon. Foreigners coming to this country to become citizens,
who are educated in their own language, should acquire the requisite
knowledge of ours during the necessary residence to obtain naturalization.
If they did not take interest enough in our language to acquire sufficient
knowledge of it to enable them to study the institutions and laws of the
country intelligently, I would not confer upon them the right to make such
laws nor to select those who do.

I append to this message, for convenient reference, a synopsis of
administrative events and of all recommendations to Congress made by me
during the last seven years. Time may show some of these recommendations
not to have been wisely conceived, but I believe the larger part will do no
discredit to the Administration. One of these recommendations met with the
united opposition of one political party in the Senate and with a strong
opposition from the other, namely, the treaty for the annexation of Santo
Domingo to the United States, to which I will specially refer, maintaining,
as I do, that if my views had been concurred in the country would be in a
more prosperous condition to-day, both politically and financially.

Santo Domingo is fertile, and upon its soil may be grown just those
tropical products of which the United States use so much, and which are
produced or prepared for market now by slave labor almost exclusively,
namely, sugar, coffee, dyewoods, mahogany, tropical fruits, tobacco, etc.
About 75 per cent of the exports of Cuba are consumed in the United States.
A large percentage of the exports of Brazil also find the same market.
These are paid for almost exclusively in coin, legislation, particularly in
Cuba, being unfavorable to a mutual exchange of the products of each
country. Flour shipped from the Mississippi River to Havana can pass by the
very entrance to the city on its way to a port in Spain, there pay a duty
fixed upon articles to be reexported, transferred to a Spanish vessel and
brought back almost to the point of starting, paying a second duty, and
still leave a profit over what would be received by direct shipment. All
that is produced in Cuba could be produced in Santo Domingo. Being a part
of the United States, commerce between the island and mainland would be
free. There would be no export duties on her shipments nor import duties on
those coming here. There would be no import duties upon the supplies,
machinery, etc., going from the States. The effect that would have been
produced upon Cuban commerce, with these advantages to a rival, is
observable at a glance. The Cuban question would have been settled long ago
in favor of "free Cuba." Hundreds of American vessels would now be
advantageously used in transporting the valuable woods and other products
of the soil of the island to a market and in carrying supplies and
emigrants to it. The island is but sparsely settled, while it has an area
sufficient for the profitable employment of several millions of people. The
soil would have soon fallen into the hands of United States capitalists.
The products are so valuable in commerce that emigration there would have
been encouraged; the emancipated race of the South would have found there a
congenial home, where their civil rights would not be disputed and where
their labor would be so much sought after that the poorest among them could
have found the means to go. Thus in cases of great oppression and cruelty,
such as has been practiced upon them in many places within the last eleven
years, whole communities would have sought refuge in Santo Domingo. I do
not suppose the whole race would have gone, nor is it desirable that they
should go. Their labor is desirable--indispensable almost--where they now
are. But the possession of this territory would have left the negro "master
of the situation," by enabling him to demand his rights at home on pain of
finding them elsewhere.

I do not present these views now as a recommendation for a renewal of the
subject of annexation, but I do refer to it to vindicate my previous action
in regard to it.

With the present term of Congress my official life terminates. It is not
probable that public affairs will ever again receive attention from me
further than as a citizen of the Republic, always taking a deep interest in
the honor, integrity, and prosperity of the whole land.

U. S. GRANT