Daily Republican. [volume] ([Wilmington, Del.]) 1874-1890, 1889-12-04
The Presidents Message.

p'o'o summary OF the affairs Of the ma
.iohai government since the 4th OF last
harch. Its utterances, which for the
most part are guarded and moderate and
even over-cantious In tone, are precisely
wnas nave Deen expected of the Presi-
ueht. IL is clear. calm and simple In OK.
PRESTON, and is marked on every page
win those conservative traits which are
foremost In the Presidents character.
Ihe whole foreign affairs situation Ia
comprehensiyely gathered up In the sen.
enee advising the public that goodwill
anu cordiality have characterized our re.
latlons with other Governments, leaving
put iew International questions of i'm. :.
poItance unadjusted.
a readIustnent OF Chinese relatIons IA
suggested; and 1t should be- had, for tbey
afe now great discredt to tho country.
Much goot is expected from the new Sa-
moan treaty, based on the rights of the
hatlVes. that's good basis. Canada is
behaving In way to create less friction
on the fishery question; all the better for
Canada. An enlargement OF the list of
extradltable ofienses between the United
states and Great Britain Is desirable, aud
TO this end nav extradition treaty has
been recently negotiated. As this has
done.
Some cmbarrassments to the Nicara-
qua lnteroceanic Caual have beea moved
out OF tile way by friendly agreement be.
tween Nicaragua and Costa Rica,
Troubles with Germany about AmerI-
can naturalization, that were not long
ago frequent aud somewhat warm, are
disposed of now In sweet temper. and to
the satlalaction OF both Governments,
ihe President very naturally finds n
subject for felicltation in the presence in
the Unitei States of Ministers from all
the independent American States aud
countries holding Conference concerning
peace anu commerce-and of still anot her
International Conference looking after
the safety OF life and property at sea IN
the interests of all maiitime peoples-the
two Conferences having delegates from
no less than "th'rty three nations" That
Is very gratifying. lie hopes ior great
good from this. Commerce il cool; but
Amity and Peace with Commerce are
better and hest
The Message gives us a glimpse of the
Federal pocket book. Our aggregate in
come last year was S'87 900, ,068.SI; the
ordinary expenditures were SaS1, ,996,-
oio'op, aud the total outlay, including
| appropriations towards paving of the
public debt, was S3?9, $40, q2325. The
surplus over everything was S57 no.
ls9. 81. IL Is estimated that, at the end
OF June, 1880, there will nc a surplus of
a., 3,6Is, ms, and surplus at the end Of
June, 1891, of S43. 500, 5a2. Plenty OF
money.
The existence of such Surplusss should
prompt Congress to reduce Trea .ury re-
eeipt5 TO GoverL ment needs; the collec.
| lions OF moneys not needed for public use
is not wholesome; 1t hus called Into use
expedients of very Questionable propri.
ETY. Tue lQaning OF pubic funds without
interest ON the security of bonds is re-
garded AS an unauthorized aud dangerous
expedient, and deposits now outstanding
shoud gradually be withdrawn and an
pliedSb the purchase Of bonds. That ia
what tho message suggests on that sub
ject, aud It 10 quite right.
Inc PRESIDENT recommends g "revla
Ion" OF our tariff Law, both In its admin
istrativc features and in the schedules
Revision, 1t Ia observed, is the word.
and the right word ''Taritr reformU IA
hlgh-sOunding chant; it may be made
to mean anything, everything and moth |
lug. Dealing with the tariff is delicate |
thing, because oi its effect on the bllslpess |
OF The country, causing apprehension and |
disturbance. That is sure to be SO when |
reform" means aggressive and hostile |
cutting down to "tho quick F." but no dis. |
turbance need he feared when the BRO. |
cess is revision" guided by friendly |
and just hands. The defects of tho adj. |
ministratiye part of tho law shoull be |
corrected. and the inequalities of the tax ,
part OF the law should be adjusted: but |
the protective principle should be main
talned and fairly applied to the products
OF our latms as we'll as our shops.
The PRESIDENT then suggests such ex.
tension OF the Tree list as will not injuti-
onsly compete nth home labor, together
Win tue removal OF the tobacco tax, and
OF the tax on spirits used in the arts.
The advocates of free and unlimited
silver coinage get but cold comloft from
the message. Neither the present Secre-
tary OF the Treasury nor any OF bis pre-
decessore has deemed 1t safe to exercise
tie discretion of Increasing the mwntLly
purchase OF silver bullion up to the four
million maximum per month. The
President Is lnanliestly OF the same way
oil thinking, aud considers It clear that il
the coinage of silver at the present ratio
should he made free, we must expect that
the difference in the bullion values of the
gold and silver dollars Will be taken nc.
count of Ia commercial transactions,
This could hardly fail to happen, and
there wonld be bad time. We should
keep or from that danger.
The Secretary of the Treas ury seems to
favor plan for the issuance of notes or
certificates upon the deposit OF silver at
its market value. There might be me it
and value in that, but the President steers
cautiously clear Of it until better advised.
Concerning sundry other affairs the
President thinks 1t time to begin our
coast do'ences, now that We are getting
biz guns; that the attempt to murder
Justice Field, OF the Supreme Court, in
vltes legislation on that general subject.
that the Supreme Court docket should be
relieved by an intermediate Court; tnat
The salaries OF some United States Judges .
are inadequate; that "Trusts" which
crush out" competitors should be
halted; that international copyright
should be promoted; that hostile Social 5
sts "and such' should not be natural
zed; that Federal bankrupt law is de-
,irable; that the weather service should
be detached from the War Department; \
md that the 'Quadro Centenniarj
Worlds Fair proposition will be pre-
ented to Congress.
In the matter of pensions President !
Harrison is In favor OF liberal policy. II
While he Is aware of the large pension v
oil which now exists, and OF the heavy
which it causes. he dec ares .
hat this fact will not deter him from II
skiing Congress 10 extend the grants v
uade to soldiers and sailors. In his
Judgment pen sions should be granted TO p
hose bonorably discharged veterans of n
he civil war, who having rendered n
service" are now dependent
lpon their own labor for II maintenance i
nd by disease or casualty are incapacl- a