The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1879-12-05
The Presidents Message.

The annual message of President Hayes
was published in advance of its presentation
to Congress, a copy of it having been stolen
and sold to newspapers in Chicago and Gin
cinnati. 1t was not worth the price paid for
it, for more uninterestng message has
rarely ever been transmitted to Congress-
Some of the leading daily papers merely pub
lish abstracts of it, rather than burden their
columns with it. The following synopsis,
from the New York Sun, gives the principal
points in the document:
He opens with the finances, upon which
his notions are that the coinage of silver dol
lars mt the present legal ratio should be sus-
pended; that the greenbacks, or legal-tender
United States notes, should be retired from
circulation, and that the law for sinking
fund to extingush the public debt should be
maintained.
He then refers to polygamy in Utah, the
laws against which should be enforced, and
to the protection of the right of suffrage
which Congress must look after.
Then he presents his notions, to date, about
civil service reform. He has had the British
system examined. He dsapproves of the
partisan spoils system which he himself has
practised. He holds that he himself, and his
Cabinet should not be debarrcd from election
eering business, but that all other otficehold-
ers should be, and these others ought to pro-
cure and hold their places through competi-
tive examination.
A number of petty items of foreign bust
ness that Mr.. Evarts looks after are catalogued.
Peace ON the Mexican border has yet to be-
come so assured as to justify modification
of the present orders to military commanders,
as to crossing the borders, without encour-
aging such disturbance as would endanger
the peace of the two countries.
Mr.. Hayes quotes from McCrary's and
Thompson's reports some figures about those
monstrously expensive establishments, the
army and the navy. He holds with Tecum-
sch Sherman that there should be slight
enlargement of the army at present, and that
sundry new army buildings should be pro,
vided for The naval estimates for the next
fiscal year exceed the appropriations for this
Not word is there from Hayes about put
ting stop to the extravaganza of the eXpend'
lures upon the army and navy.
Hayes desires Congress to make an appro-
priation which it refused to make at last SEES
sion for marshals and their deputies employ,
ed in the enforcement of the election laws
AS the business of the Supreme Court is
largely in arrears, he repeats the suggestion
of the AttorneyGe that ten additional
SICulJ Judges SHOull DC uppOllIcu' III
Post Office Department seeks to be empow-
cred to advertise for proposals for increased
service and speed at increased compensation
and desires law authorizing contracts with
American-built steamers carrying the Ameri-
can flag to transport certain mails. Mr.
Hayes next talks of the Indian question, and
of Mr.. Carl SchurZ's plan for preventing de-
predations in the public forests.
New and liberal appropriations are requir-
ed for the Department of Agriculture; the
Bureau of education needs measures of tinan-
cial aid; the national literature ought to be
preserved and perpctuated by the erection OF
a new public building for library at Wash,
ington; further appropriations should be
made for Washington's monument, and a
generous policy should be adopted toward
the District of Columbia
This is all there is of Hayes's message
which is destitute of any great or important
suggestion on any subject whatever, and
which mainly tattles about getting more
money for one thing or another, under one
pretext or another, out of the country.