The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1873-12-03
Aitllmond 1lspatth.
80. .DECEMBEk 3. 1870.
The Presidents Message.

We publish this morning 6cncia' "kANi
annual message to Congress. We shall no.
lice here only portion Of IFS features.
The first remarkable thing In the message
20 ~, statement that San Domingo has ap-
n,ied TO Uncle SAN to take her under his
rr,,cc,jnc care. How this secret has been
so well kept We cannot imagine. We should
not be surprised if the Cuban troubles cause
Congress to look with more favor upon TINS
nroposi,ion than it would otherwise have
done. To hold San Domingo would 'each
Us 70 expcct soon to hold Cuba. If we get
hold OF either, VIC shall not be likeiy ever to
lose our hold.
The Presidents recommendations III re-
gard to relieving the farmers of the great
West from the present oncrous charges Tor
transporting their grain to the markets Of the
East do not seem to us to come up 10 the
requirements Of the case. TO enter into Co.
partnership or alliance with canal companies
or States is no remedy. What the people
want is cheap transportation. Ihcy must
have it. And they will expect Congress 10
give i: TO them, whether the President recon-
rncnds i, or not. OF course he would not
veto bill having this for lis Object. lie Is
An Illinois man, and may, therefore. be en-
cused for his reference 10 the Illinois river.
He runs off 10 South America and re-
commends an exploring party, ana he
advises Congress TO go into the business OF
Irritating lands lying so far from the sea-
board that they can never send wheat away
from home, whilst be says not word IN
favor of the James River canal, q work
which would do more for the farming class
than dozen schemes Of irrigation. The
rich lean Of the Ohio and Mississippi and
Missouri valleys already produces immense
quantities Of grain which caunot hnd o
market; and yet the President would have
Congress overlook this fact, and undertake
to render productive the alkuli that the great
American Desert (as it used to be called pro-
duces in such abundance. We shall cen
tinuc to rely upon the good sense Of Con-
cresS TO do better than this.
Tic Presidents recommendations in Ic-
gard TO the bankrupt law We cordially COM
mend. What will the loyal bankrupt organs
say Of the President for recommending just
what the Dispatch has SO often advised in
regard 10 the bankrupt law!
We also approve his recommendation in
recard 10 the discriminating veto, which, as
we have bad occasion TO say several times
before, ought to be part Of the constitution
OF every Suite as well as Of that Of the United
States.
We are not sure that Congress ought TO be
compelled at an extra session called by the
President to confne It's action 10 measures
recommended by him. Perhaps it would be
better to give him the power to proroguc
Congress at all such sessions, but not at the
regular sessions. That is, as he has to be re-
sponsible for the beginning of the session.
let him have power to end it.
We have heretofore expressed our opiD-
ions in general way as to the postal deposit
tories. When we shall have seen the details
OF bill to establish them we can speak more
intcigeatly. We certainly hold that there
should be devised some plan for enabling
persons TO deposit their money where they
will feel that it is safe, and whence it will
not he drawn whenever JAY COOKE fails,
TO the ruin of the country and the delight Of
those who profit by ranics.
The President still believes that universal
amnesty is the best policy for the Govern
mcnt. He has consistently held this ground.
We would fain hope that Congress has By
this time learned that he is right. 1t is the
Federal Constitution that still excludes Il
few people from ofllce-(not the State Con-
sttution, rs we inadvertently said ycster-
day;) and it is only by the action Of Con-
grcss that these constitutional disabilities
can be removed
The pay Of Congress and the Cabinet Off.
GERS has constantly been increasing from the
foundation of the Government till now, and
the character Of the incumbents OF these
places and Of the services rendered by them
has just as constantly been deteriorating. In
view of these facts the country will probl.
bly, be slow to approve the Presidents re-
COMMUNICATION that the pay Of these officials
shall be increased by giving them houses to
live in. And as to army officers, Congress
hptIts uO IL IL Hpuiu Tx llltll Day dL Il
certain amount and forbid all allowances,
whether for houSe-rent or any other pur-
pose.
The Presidents financial notions seem TO
be Il little mixed. We approve Of bis recon-.
mendation that the banks should be pro-
hibtcd from paying interest upon deposits.
His ideas as to free banking seem to be
sound. But his recommendation as to the
resumption of specie payments and the re-
denption Of bank-notes do not strike us as
being what the country needs In this mat
ter.
Altogether, the message is not bad one.
The President seems to be anxious to DO his
duty. His failure to refer to Louisiana
stands IN striking contrast to his solicitude
for the negroes in Cuba, who are not more
truly deprived of their rights than are the
white people of Louisiana. Still, we repeat,
the message might have been made more
Objectionable.
NJ Lam 'lnfn "