Section 15 of the Act of March 2, 1867 (14 Stats., 481). From the Report

of the case in 13 Court of Claims Reports, 112, it appears that the matter was fully and deliberately tried and argued both on behalf of the claimant and of the United States, and that at December term, 1877, the Court of Claims rendered a decision adverse to the claimant, expressly stating that the claimants had failed to establish their claim both in law and on the facts. Not satisfied with this conclusion of the Court of Claims, the claimants took an appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States, where the case was again argued and was decided, October term, 1878, the judgment of the Court of Claims being declared to be in accordance with the law and therefore affirmed. In these two decisions the law and the facts pertaining to the claim were fully set forth and discussed.

The bill further confers upon the Court of Claims jurisdiction to try and determine certain alleged claims of said Tice and others for money collected on account of the Tice meters, but not paid over to him or them under the regulations of the Treasury.

The amount of the latter claim, according to the report of the committee of the House of Representatives to which this bill was referred, is $140,000. It does not appear from the report of the committee, nor from any documents to which I have access, who are the other persons by whom this latter sum is claimed. The claim for $140,000 must have accrued prior to July, 1871, and therefore at this time is of at least twenty-seven years' standing.

It will thus be perceived that the object of the bill is to remove from the pathway of the claimants two legal bars to the prosecution of their claim in the courts--one, the bar of the statute of limitations, which requires all claimants against the Government to present their claims and bring actions thereon within six years from the time the cause of action accrues; and the other, that bar of estoppel which arises by reason of a former adverse judgment, rendered in a court of competent jurisdiction. This is not a general modification of the law in these respects, but a special application of it to these particular claimants.

If the principle on which the statute of limitations is founded is wise and beneficent, then the effect of it ought not to be impaired by special legislative exemptions in favor of particular persons or cases except upon very clear and just grounds, where no lack of diligence in the prosecution of the claim is apparent. I cannot find in the papers submitted to me any sufficient grounds to justify a special exception from the ordinary rule in favor of these claimants. As to the claim for $140,000, no reason is stated why it was not included in the original suit nor why action upon it was not brought against the Government within the six years allowed by the statute for that purpose. To permit such an action to be brought now is simply, without any reason of a special nature, to grant a privilege to these claimants which is denied to all other citizens of the United States, in accordance with the provisions of the general statute of limitations. The principle underlying statutes of limitations and the reasons for the maintenance of such a rule of litigation are much more cogent when applied to claims against the Government than when applied to claims against individuals.

These claims do not differ in their character from ordinary business transactions such as transpire every day between private persons or business corporations. The Government can only defend itself against claims of this nature through its public officers and with the use of such public records as the Departments may furnish. Great difficulties are experienced by it in contesting fraudulent and unjust claims, and it is only fair in the interest of the public that a rigorous adherence to some rule of limitation should be maintained.

The provision of the bill which practically directs a new trial of the claim for $25,000, decided adversely to the claimants more than twenty years ago, is still more objectionable. These parties had their day in court. They produced their witnesses and were heard both originally and upon appeal, and upon the case they were then able to make the court decided they had no claim against the Government. It is now suggested that other witnesses have been discovered who can supply the lack of proof which was produced on the former trial. Such a ground for a new trial would never be considered in any court of law in the land in a case between private parties where such a length of time had intervened since the former trial. No explanation of a satisfactory nature is furnished for the failure of the claimants to produce these witnesses upon the original trial.

The bill further provides that upon a retrial of the original claim, or upon the trial of the new claim, the claimants shall be at liberty to offer in evidence the depositions of witnesses now on the files of any of the committees of Congress in relation to the aforesaid matters, which may be introduced as evidence in case of the death or disability of the deponents.

This provision will enable the claimants to present ex-parte affidavits, prepared by the claimants or their attorneys, without opportunity being afforded to the Government to cross-examine, provided the claimants can show that the deposing witnesses are either dead or under disability, by which, no doubt, is intended any such disability by reason of absence, illness, and the like, as may render them legally incapable of being produced in person to testify upon the retrial. Such a provision as this is most dangerous to the interests of the Government.

I fail to see any reason in the facts connected with these claims for granting to these parties relief of this extraordinary nature.

The Treasury of the United States ought to be very carefully guarded against attacks of those who come forward with stale claims, and especially from the attacks of those who have already been fully heard according to the methods prescribed by the statutes.

To approve this bill would be to furnish a very dangerous precedent which would open the door to demands upon Congress in other cases which have been fully heard and determined.

For these reasons I am constrained to withhold my approval from this bill.

WILLIAM McKINLEY.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, June 14, 1898.

To the Congress of the United States:

I transmit herewith (having reference to Senate Document No. 4, Fifty-fifth Congress, second session) a report made by Thomas W. Cridler, Third Assistant Secretary of State, who, upon the death of Maj. Moses P. Handy, I designated to continue the work as special commissioner, under the act of Congress approved July 19, 1897, in relation to the acceptance by the Government of the United States of the invitation of France to participate in the International Exposition to be held at Paris from April 15 to November 5, 1900.

I cordially renew my recommendation that a liberal appropriation be immediately granted.

WILLIAM McKINLEY.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, June 23, 1898.

To the Senate of the United States:

I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of the Interior relative to Senate resolution of June 10, 1898, requesting the President "to make such arrangements as may be necessary to secure at the Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition to be held in the city of Omaha, Neb., the attendance of representatives of the Iroquois tribes and Delawares of Canada and of the Abenakis of St. Francis and Becaucourt, and such other Indian nations as have emigrated from the territory now of the United States to Canada."

To carry out this resolution, if it shall be found agreeable to the Government of Canada, it will be necessary for this Government to send an agent to visit the tribes and secure their assent, organize the representative delegations, escort them to the exposition, take charge of and care for them while there and until they are returned to their respective tribes.

The resolution seems to presuppose that there are funds which may be lawfully used to defray the expenses which must necessarily be incurred in the premises. By reference to the Secretary's report, it will be seen that there are no moneys lawfully available for that purpose.

It is not to be presumed that the Senate, under such circumstances, would desire the Executive to take the action indicated in the resolution, and I am therefore constrained to await the requisite appropriation by Congress for the payment of the expenses that must be necessarily incurred in the accomplishment of the proposed objects.

WILLIAM McKINLEY.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, December 6, 1898.

To the Congress of the United States:

I transmit herewith, for the information of the Congress, the report of the Hawaiian Commission appointed in pursuance of the "Joint resolution to provide for annexing the Hawaiian Islands to the United States," approved July 7, 1898, together with a copy of the civil and penal laws of Hawaii.

WILLIAM McKINLEY.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, January 5, 1899.

To the Senate and House of Representatives:

I transmit herewith a report of the Secretary of Agriculture on the work and expenditures of the agricultural experiment stations established under the act of Congress of March 2, 1887, for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1898, in accordance with the act making appropriations for the Department of Agriculture for the said fiscal year.

WILLIAM McKINLEY.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, January 5, 1899.

To the Senate:

In response to the resolution of the Senate of December 21, 1898, requesting the President, "If it be not inconsistent with the public service, to inform the Senate whether authentic information is in possession of the Government as to the alleged dissolution of the Government of the United States of Central America." I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State with accompanying papers.

WILLIAM McKINLEY.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, January 6, 1899.

To the Senate of the United States:

I transmit herewith in answer to the resolution of the Senate of December 15, 1898, a communication from the Secretary of State covering a preliminary report from the Nicaraguan Canal Commission, dated December 26, 1898, relative to its progress in investigating the question of the proper route, the feasibility, and cost of construction of the Nicaragua Canal.

WILLIAM McKINLEY.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, January 6, 1899.

To the Senate and House of Representatives:

I transmit herewith a communication from the Secretary of State, inclosing the annual report of the Director of the Bureau of the American Republics, with accompanying documents. In view of the improved condition and increasing usefulness of the Bureau, to which I have already called attention in my annual message, and the welcome assurances of greater activity on the part of the other American republics in support of its purposes, I cordially indorse the recommendations of the Secretary of State. It will doubtless be as gratifying to Congress as it is to me to be informed that the Argentine Republic has decided to renew its relations with the Bureau, and that there are grounds for hoping that the International American Union, created by the impressive conference of the representatives of our sister republics and those of the United States in Washington in 1889-90, will soon be perfected by the adhesion of the Republic of Chile to the compact for the support of the Bureau as the organ of the union. The interest of the United States in giving the fullest possible effect to the laudable desire of the international conference to promote not only trade intercourse but a closer fellowship among the various republics of this hemisphere is so evident that I am satisfied the progress made by the bureau, as a practical agency for attaining these objects, will receive the commendation and support of Congress.

WILLIAM McKINLEY.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, January 11, 1899.

To the Senate of the United States:

In response to the resolution of the Senate of June 6, 1898, I transmit a report from the Secretary of State, inclosing copies of all papers on file in the Department of State relating to the case of Hugo O. Loewi, including those printed in Document No. 186, Senate, Fifty-fifth Congress, second session.

WILLIAM McKINLEY.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, January 17, 1899.

To the Senate and House of Representatives:

It will be remembered that in the month of October, 1897, reports were received here of the probable loss of the whaling fleet in the Arctic regions, and of the likelihood that nearly 300 men, composing the officers and crews of the fleet, would perish from hunger unless succor could reach them early in the spring.

The revenue cutter Bear was known to be en route from the Arctic Ocean to Puget Sound, Washington. Her arrival was anxiously awaited, as no other suitable Government vessel could be made available for Arctic work. That ship arrived at Seattle, Wash., on the 6th of November, after a six-months' cruise in the Arctic, and I at once ordered an expedition prepared for the relief of the imperiled whalemen.

The preparation of the Bear was commenced on the 11th of November, under the direction of the Secretary of the Treasury. Her officers and men of the Revenue-Cutter Service all volunteered for the perilous work, and the ship was completely fitted out, and, under the command of Capt. Francis Tuttle, of the Revenue-Cutter Service, sailed on her errand of mercy November 29, 1897, within nineteen days from the inception of the movement.

The plan of the expedition was briefly as follows:

The ship was to be fully provided with rations for the ice-imperiled whalemen, which were to be conveyed to them as soon as the ice conditions in Bering Strait would permit the passage through. An overland expedition was to be landed from the Bear as soon as practicable, at some point on the coast of Alaska, in Bering Sea, to be determined upon by Captain Tuttle. The problem of getting food to the imperiled people at the earliest time possible was the all-important consideration, for it was fully understood that the Bear could not, under the most favorable conditions of ice navigation in that region, reach their neighborhood before the following July or August. The utter lack of transportation of any kind in this far-off land suggested the idea, which was adopted as the only possible plan, of driving reindeer overland, to be slaughtered on arrival, for food to last until the arrival of the Bear with supplies the following summer. The reindeer were to be collected by the overland expedition from several points in Alaska, notably Cape Prince of Wales and Point Rodney, and, with such aid as could be procured from natives and others, driven to Point Barrow.

The overland expedition was formed, and consisted of First Lieut. David H. Jarvis, Revenue-Cutter Service, commanding; Second Lieut. Ellsworth P. Bertholf, Revenue-Cutter Service, and Dr. Samuel J. Call, surgeon of the Bear, all volunteers. This overland expedition was landed from the Bear at Cape Vancouver, in Bering Sea, Alaska, on the 16th of December, 1897, and commenced its toilsome and dreary journey through an arctic night to Point Barrow, Captain Tuttle returning with his command to winter at Dutch Harbor, Alaska, and from there to take advantage of the first opportunity in the early summer of 1898 to get north.

The overland expedition worked its way to the reindeer stations named, and succeeded in getting together about 450 deer. They were materially aided by Mr. W.T. Lopp, agent of the American Missionary Society at Cape Prince of Wales, and Artisarlook, a native of that region, both of whom, at great personal sacrifice, left their families and accompanied the reindeer herd to Point Barrow.

The overland expedition, after a difficult and hazardous journey of nearly 2,000 miles through the storms and bitter cold of an arctic winter, reached Point Barrow with the herd on the 29th of March, 1898, three months and twelve days from their landing from the Bear at Cape Vancouver, Alaskan coast of Bering Sea. They arrived none too soon. From the lack of an authoritative head, supplemented by bad sanitary conditions and want of proper food, the men from the whale ships quartered there were found upon the verge of great suffering, while sickness had broken out among them. Lieutenant Jarvis, under the instructions given him by the Secretary of the Treasury, at once assumed charge, in the name of the Government, of the camp and locality of Point Barrow, and he and Dr. Call devoted themselves with intelligent energy to correcting the wretched conditions found to exist. Order was at once inaugurated. Fresh meat from the reindeer herd was supplied, the sanitary conditions were improved, and the general health and comfort of the whalemen received immediate attention. Lieutenant Jarvis and Dr. Call remained at Point Barrow in charge until the arrival of the Bear, July 28, 1898, a period of four months. As soon as the Bear arrived Captain Tuttle began the distribution of ample supplies to the whalemen on shipboard and on shore. Having supplied all demands generously, succored the needy to the number of 275 between Point Barrow and Kotzebue Sound, taking on board the Bear 146 whalemen, 91 of whom were brought to the Pacific coast (the remainder having of their own volition left the ship en route), the vessel arrived back at Seattle on the 13th of September, after an absence in the bleak and dreary regions of Bering Sea and the Arctic Ocean of about seventeen months.

The hardships and perils encountered by the members of the overland expedition in their great journey through an almost uninhabited region, a barren waste of ice and snow, facing death itself every day for nearly four months, over a route never before traveled by white men, with no refuge but at the end of the journey, carrying relief and cheer to 275 distressed citizens of our country, all make another glorious page in the history of American seamen. They reflect by their heroic and gallant struggles the highest credit upon themselves and the Government which they faithfully served. I commend this heroic crew to the grateful consideration of Congress and the American people.

The year just closed has been fruitful of noble achievements in the field of war; and while I have commended to your consideration the names of heroes who have shed luster upon the American name in valorous contests and battles by land and sea, it is no less my pleasure to invite your attention to a victory of peace the results of which cannot well be magnified, and the dauntless courage of the men engaged stamps them as true heroes, whose services cannot pass unrecognized.

I have therefore the honor to submit the following recommendations and to ask your favorable action thereon:

1. That the thanks of Congress be voted to Capt. Francis Tuttle, Revenue-Cutter Service, and the officers and enlisted men composing his command for their able and gallant services.

2. That the thanks of Congress be extended to the members of the overland expedition; First Lieut. David H. Jarvis, Revenue-Cutter Service, commanding the overland expedition; to Second Lieut. Ellsworth P. Bertholf, Revenue-Cutter Service, and to Dr. Samuel J. Call, Surgeon.

3. That gold medals of honor of appropriate design, to be approved by the Secretary of the Treasury, be awarded to Lieutenants Jarvis and Bertholf and Dr. Call, commemorative of their heroic struggles in aid of suffering fellow-men.

4. That the sum of $2,500 be appropriated to be disbursed by the Secretary of the Treasury in bestowing rewards upon W.T. Lopp, Artisarlook, and native herders, who rendered material aid to the relief expedition.

WILLIAM McKINLEY.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, January 19, 1899.

To the Senate and House of Representatives:

I transmit herewith a second report on the investigations of the agricultural capabilities of Alaska for the year 1898, in accordance with the acts of Congress making appropriations for the Department of Agriculture for the fiscal years ending June 30, 1898, and June 30, 1899.

WILLIAM McKINLEY.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, January 19, 1899.

To the Senate of the United States:

I herewith return without approval Senate bill No. 708, entitled "An act for the relief of Albert E. Redstone."

My objections to the bill are:

First. It assumes that the beneficiary, Albert E. Redstone, sustained a loss by the incorporation of his preemption claim within the limits of the Sierra Forest Reserve. This reserve was established by executive proclamation of February 14, 1893 (27 Stats., 1059), issued under