The Portland daily press., 1874-12-08
T HE p R ESS.
TUESDAY MORNING, DEC. s, 1874
The Presidents Message.


As usual. President Grants message is
matter of fact document. No time has been
wasted in rounding periods, or celebrating
sentences. 1t is so brief that every citizen
can find time to read it, and so full and faith
ful is it in the recital Of the workings of the
government the past year, that all necessary
relative thereto, can be obtained
by persual. Noting the present prost-a.
ton of business, the President points out, as
the only remedy, an early resumption of
specie payments. The necessity as well as
the duty of this step, lie eaforces by brief,
but unanswerable arguments. He also rec
ommends the repeal of legal tender clause of
the currency bill under certain conditions,
and also advocates system of free banking.
Passing from the financial topic, which he
considers the most important, the President
proceeds to give brief account of our rela-
tions with other nations. 1t is enough to
state here that we are at peace with the
world. His suggestion relative to Chirese
immigration will commend itself TO thought
full people. He discusses at length the rights
of citizenship, and calls attention to abuses
practised under our naturalization laws.
He deems an increase of the revenue i'm
portant, and to obtain this he recommends
that tariff be again imposed upon tea and
colee, and the tax increased ten cents on
whiskey. He would also re-adjust the tariff,
in which he takes ground in favor of the pro-
tective system.
The next important topic noticed is the
Southern troubles. He defends his action in
the Louisiana affair, and relates the difficult
ties now existing in Arkansas. He believes
that the Fifteenth amendment and the laws
under it are for the protection Of the colored
he declares that ''their enfranchisement is
worse than mockery aud little better than
crime" His closing remarks on this subject
are worthy of consideration. He declares
that both parties have done wrong in the
past and urges new departure as the only
road to peace.
OF the other topics considered in the mes
sage we can only speak briefly. The Presi-
nent recommends that the number of Asso-
ciate Justices of the Supreme Court be in
creased to eleven he hopes the Centennial
Exhibition will be successful, but makes no
recommendation for an appropriation; he is
more and more convinced in the necessity of
civil service reform, but notifies Congress that
ates with him, which he urges it to do; he
congratulates the country on the revival of
ship-building, and urges that American built
and owned steamships should have the pref.
erence in carrying our mails.
Briefly stated, these are the prominent
features OF The message. On all important
topics, it will meet the approval of the Eas-
tern states and of conservative people gen.
orally. He does not renew his recommended
ton of last year for grand system of internal
improvements, or that of two years ago for
free trade in ships.
The message, as transmitted by telegraph,
is full of inaccuracies, and the paper closes
very abruptly and without a benediction.
There is, however, hardly a point at which
the everyday citizen can lake exception.
The Saturday morning club of Boston, of
which the New York Times gives an enter
tanning account, is an institution worth mod
cling after. The club, which numbers seven
ty members, is composed of young unmarried
ladies, Boston's brightest and best. 1t is an
association for mutual improvement and in
struction, and the meetings are held at pri-
vate house. The leading writers of Boston
give the young ladies the benefit of the first
hearing of their magazine articles, lectures,
poems, etc. and submit them to the criticism
of the club. Members who are abroad send
letters descriptive of what they see. The club
is divided into sections, according to the
tastes of the members. One section is devot-
ed to art. The studios Of the city are visited,
and the work of the members is submitted to
the criticism of the section. The important
matter of house decoration and furnishing is
very properly included IN the department of
art. Another section is devoted to cookery.
At stated times each member gives luncheon
to the others, each of whom must come with
a dish of her own concoction. The accumu-
lation of receipts is one of the objects of the
cooking section. All this sounds good enough
to be true.