Middletown transcript., 1873-12-06

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wheses II 10 taken, Is reliable:
IL the very first sentence Of the mes.
sage the President speaks Of the past year,
especially tho latter part Of is,' 10 !" nm.
svcniiul one 10 the country" aud then
proceeds to summarize the crenfs thst have
haPpsnsd. somewhat oddly including
among them, aad in the same breath With
the virgisius sdair. the fact thss ..politicsl
par,issnship has almost ceased to exis., %.
Pscially in the agricultural regions" The
statement is somewhat obscure, and whsth
or intended to refer to the rise Of the
oranges at the West. or the decline Of the
ku-klux at the South. does not clearly
appear. In any case tho fact chronicled
can hardly be classcd amosg crcnts.
Following the usual order Of subjects
observed in such documents. the mossage
begins as fat frsm home as possible, with
our foreign relations. and with one Of the
rsinotcst Of these--the Emperor Of China.
Gradually approaching matters Of more
consequence, the President refers to tho
payment by Great Britain Of the Geneva
award. and urges the appointment Of a
commission to make distribution OF tho a.
mount among the parties estiticd to IT,
Common honesty would suggest as much.
asd il is to be hoped that the Presidents
recommendation will bo acted upon. There
can be no justification for the appropria.
ton or retention Of this money by the
United States. A very sensible and iimcly
recommendation 10 made in reference to
the subject Of sxpatriation. II 10 shown
how exceedingly defective our present leg
islation is. and how anomalous The position
OF this country before the world in this re-
spcct. The nation which was tho first to
resist tho slsvish doctrine of perpetual al
legiaacc is nov among the last 10 indicate
how its own citissns may elect a foreign
nationality.
Upon the subject Of the yirginius moth
ing new is communicated in the message.
The terms OF settlement are stated in the
most favorable manner possible to the
United States, with curious omission to
mention those provisos end qualifications
which tho public have been given to un-
dcrs'and form part Of tho settlement and
which were evidently inserted as safe. |
guards Of Spanish honor and TO soothe
Spanish pride. The President excuses
himself from going into greater detail, upon
the ground that the correspondence be-
tween the two governments was cone ductcd |
in eyphcr and by telegraph. aud he awaits
the receipt Of the actual text by mail.
Passing from matters foreign to domes-
tic, the President recommends further a.
mendincnts TO the constitution authorizing |
the executive to veto bills in pnrt and TO |
approve in part; prohibiting any lesisla-
tion by Congress within the las, twenty
four hours Of its sitting, and restricting
thnt body when convened in extra session |
to such business as the executive may Law |
before il. IL is questionable whether any |
Of these measures are sufficiently import.
ant to require an amendment 10 the con-
sii,usion.
ln introducing the subjec, of the nation
al inances, the President alluies TO the
present difficulty Of making both onds
meet, and the necessity OF greater econo-
my in the matter Of government expcni.
lures. Ons saving recommended being
the suspension, for the present., Of work
upon government buildings not yet CON-
msuced, the hope is incidentally expressed
that one day wc may feel rich enough to
build houses at Washington for tho cabi.
net officers and all persons whs now 70.
ccive communication for quarters or rent st
government expense. and that the States
may be tempted to do the handsome thing
by building similar residences for their
Senators.
Later on in the message the city Of
Washington, its improved streets and ave-
nues, aud its board Of public works. come
in for a ''irst-ratc notice" NJ tho hands Of
tho President. The idea. which hss eeas.
ed to bo novel one. is presented that the
establishment Of the capital should be au
object Of pride and interest to tho whole
country. and that the improvements in
question should bc regarded as "a national
investment"
Upon the subject Of tho finances geHer-
ally, and the cognate topics Of the curren.
cy and the ''panic. the message will hard
ly satisfy the expectations Of those who
have been more or lees eagerly awaiting
its uttcrauces. There is Want Of clear.
ness in the language Of the massage which
10 painfully suggestive Of want Of clearness
10 the ideas Of the writer. First aud fore.
most we have the declaration "that wc
cannot have permanent prosperity until .
specie basis is reached. aud thst . specie
basis cannot be reached and maintained
until our exports. exclusive OF gold. pay
for our imports, interest due abroad, ssd
other specie obligations, or 80 nearly % to