The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1884-12-04
Meeting of Congress.
THE SECOND SESSION OF THE 4STH BE
GINs.-MEssAGE OF THE PRESIDENT.


THE SECOND SESSION OF THE 4STH Be
GINs.-MEssAGE OF THE PRESIDENT.
| On Monday last, at II O'Clock, both
Houses of Congress met in their respective
halls. Senator Edmunds presided over the
Senate, and speaker Carlisle occupied the
chair in the House. The desks OF a num-
Der of members were handsomely decorated
with flowers and floral designs.
The principal business of the day was
the reading of the Presidents message, q
summary of which is as follows:
THE MESA GE.
At the outset the President refers to the re-
cont political contest, and remarks that it Is q
| subject of general congratulaton that after the
| controversy, despite the closeness of the vote
the public peace suffered no disturbance, but
| the people awaited the result patiently and
quietly. Nothing could more strikingly Illus
| trate the temper Of the American citizen his
loyalty to law, nor more sgnally demonstrate
the strength and Wisdom OF our political insti-
| Our relations with all foreign powers continue
| to be amicable, The Congo question Is COM
portance. and the rich prospective trade of the
Congo Valley leads to the conviction tina: ii
| should be open to all nations upon equal terms.
The necessary legislation to make effective
| the Mexican commercial treaty Is recommended
as one of the first measures to claim attention
| from Congress.
| The Nicaraguan treaty recently concluded
| which authorizes the construction of O canal
| and railway by the San Juan and Lake Nicara-
| qua route, the President believes will COM
Inand universal approval at home and abroad
| To the United States the commercial and polit-
1cal advantages OF the treaty can scarcely be
over estimated.
| The approval of new Spanish commercial
treaty, which will soon be submitted to the Sem
ate, Is urged.
The question of International copyright is
! brought to the attention of Congress.
4 He recommends an enlargement of the scope
| nantfalitV n ifp
! committed within our territory and aimed at
the peace of friendly nations.
| He sees no reason why overt preparations In
| this country for the commission of such crimi-
| nal acts should not be alike punishable, whether
or a foreign country with which we are at
peace. The reorganization of the diplomatic
and consular service Is recommended.
On the subject of finance the President con-
| ours with the Secretary of the Treasury in re-
commencing the immediate suspension of sill
yer dollar coinage and of the issuance of silver
certifcafes the fact that of the SIS 900 coined
during the past six years but little more than
S4O.0oO,0 900 arb In actual circulation, seems to
furnish cogent argument for the repeal of the
| statute ~ 4
| He renews Recommendations of 1882. ia
voring the abolition Of all excise taxes except
those relating to distilled spirits Ifthese taxes
be abolished, the revenue still remaining to the
Government will not only suffice to meet its
| reasonable expenditures, but will afford a sur
| plus large enough to permit such tariff reduc-
ton as may seem advisable when the results OF
| recent revenue laws and commercial treaties
| shall have shown In what quarters those reduc-
tons can be most judiciously effected.
the PRESIDENT says that although fully sensi-
bic OF the objections to be made to the appoint
ment OF commission to ascertain the most eff
fective means for increasing our foreign trade
ne still believes this to be the most speedy and
efficacious method. He indorses the recon-
N endation of the Secretary of the Treasury IA
yoring liberal subsidies to mail steamship lines
as an incentive to the investment of American
| capital in American steamships, and declares
| that unless that course be pursued our foreign
carrying trade must remain as 1t Is to-day al
most exclusively in the hands of foreigners
On the subject OF National Bank circulation
s"The question of how to avert the contraction
OF the currency caused by the retirement of the
three per cent. bonds is one of constantly in
cessive security is now demanded from the
banks, and that larger circulation than is now
allowed may be granted with safety.N
The President hopes that the bill permitting
the issue OF notes equal to the face value OF
bonds deposited will commend Itself to APP
proval.
The construction of adequate seaboard de.
lenses for principal cities by the gradual cx-
penditure of s6000O,OOO cannot be longer de.
1erred, and about One-tenth of that amount
should be at once appropriated. The erection
OF one military and one naval factory for heavy
structlon of the Navy is urged imperatively
necessary and no longer to be delayed.
III, Inc presldent believes that postal revenue
and recommends that unit OF weight with first
class mail matter should be increased TO one
ounce, and that postage on drop-letters be re-
duced to one cent and that the free-delivery
system be extended.
{ The President concurs with the Secretary o.
the Interior, in advising the repeal of the pre-.
emptton law, the enactment of statutes resolv-
Ing the present legal complications touching
lapsed grants to railroad companies and the
funding the debt of the several Pacific rail-
roads under such guaranty as shall efIectually
secure Its ultimate payment.
He believes that If polygamy can be sup
pressed in Utah by law, 1t can only be by the
most radical legislation consistent with the
restraints of the Constitution.
He recommends that Congress assume abso-
lutte political control of the Territory of Utah
and provide for the appointment of commits
sioners, with such governmental powers as in
IT'S Judgment may justly and wisely be put into
their hands.
The President devotes considerable space to q
consideration of the policy of the Government
regarding tho extension of our foreign trade
stated
I'VE people apt In me chanical pursuits
ARE fertile In invention; we cover a vast ex-
tent OF territory, rich in agricultural products
and in nearly all the raw materials necessary
for successful manufacture; we have system
OF productive establishments more than suffi-
cient to supply our own demands; the wages
OF labor are nowhere else SO great.
sought to devise {. scheme by which. Withonf
unfavorably changing the condition of the
workingman, our merchant marine shall be
| raised from its enfeebed condition and new
| m arkets provided for the sale beyond our Dor
ders of the manifold fruits of our industrial en-
tergrises.
1.-THE scale of living of our artizan classes is
such as tends to secure their perso nal comfort
and the development of those higher moral and
intellectual qualities that go to the making oil
good citizens. Our system of tax and tariff leg.
islation is yielding revenue which is in excess
OF the present needs of the Government.
"The problem is complex, and can be solved
BY no single measure of innovation or reform
adjacent islands are for the United states the
lnatural marts of supply and demand.
at is from them that we should obtain what
them that the surplus product ions of our fields
our mills and our workshops should flow, under
conditions that will utilize or favor them in
comparison with foreign competition
| Four paths OF policy, the President says, seem
to point to this end. First, series of recipro-
cal commercial treaties with the countries OF
America which shall foster between us and
them an unhampered movement of trade. The
conditions of these treaties should be the free
admission of such merchandise as this country
does not produce in return for the admission
free, or under favored scheme Of duties, of our
apply only to goods carried under the flags OF
the parties to the contract; the removal of both
mage dues and National Imports so that these
vessels may ply unhindered between our ports
and those OF the other contracting parties,
though without infringing on the reserved home
| cOasting trade; the removal or reduction OF
burdens on the exported products of those coun-
tries coming within the benefits OF
the treaty. and the avoidance of the technical
restrictions and penalties by which our inter
course with those countries is at present ham
pered. Secondly, the establishment of the con-
sular service of the United States on q salaried
footing, thus permitting the REIMBURSEMENT OF
consular ices, not only as respects vessels under
the national flag but also as respects vessels of
thetreaty nations carrying goods entitled to the
benefits of the treaties.
Thirdly, the enactment of measures to favor
the construction and maintenance of O steam
| rying marine under the flag of the United States
"Fourthly, the establishment of an uniform
| currency basis for the counties OF America
| SO that the coined products of our mines may
| circulate on equal terms throughout the whole
| system of commonwealth. This would reuuire
| q monetary union of America, whereby the
| output OF the bullion-producing countries, and
| the circulation of those which yield neither
| gold nor silver could be adjusted in conformity
/ with the population, wealth and commercial
| needs OF each. AS many of the countries furn-
| ish no bullion to the common stock, the sur
| plus production of our moneys and minis
| might then be utilized and o step take n toward
| the general monetization of silver. ~
| To the accomplishment of these ,epds, SO far
| the negotiations already concluded, and now
| in progress, have been directed, and the favor
which this enlarged policy has thus far re-
lceived, warrants the belief that its operations
! will ere long embrace all, or nearly all, the
countries OF this hemisphere.
1t Is by no means desirable, however, that
/ the policy under consideration should be APP
| piled to these countries alone. The healthful
| enlargement of our trade with Europe Asia
and Africa should be sought by reducing tariff
| burdens on such of their wares as neither we
| nor the other American States are fitted to
| produce, and thus enabling ourselves to obtain
| in return better market for our supplies OF
| food. of raw materials, and of the manufac-
lures in which we excel.
at seems to me that many of the embarrass-