Latterly, for very many years, specific sums have been appropriated for designated missions or employments, and as a rule the omission by Congress to make an appropriation for any specific port has heretofore been accepted as an indication of a wish on the part of Congress which the executive branch of the Government respected and complied with. In calling attention to the passage which I have indicated I assume that the intention of the provision is only to exercise the constitutional prerogative of Congress over the expenditures of the Government and to fix a time at which the compensation of certain diplomatic and consular officers shall cease, and not to invade the constitutional rights of the Executive, which I should be compelled to resist; and my present object is not to discuss or dispute the wisdom of failing to appropriate for several offices, but to guard against the construction that might possibly be placed on the language used, as implying a right in the legislative branch to direct the closing or discontinuing of any of the diplomatic or consular offices of the Government. U. S. GRANT. [For message of August 15, 1876, withdrawing objections to Senate bill No. 779, see p. 388.] To the Senate of the United States: WASHINGTON, August 15, 1876. I transmit to the Senate, in answer to its resolution of the 24th ultimo, a report from the Secretary of State, with its accompanying statement.* U. S. GRANT. VETO MESSAGES. EXECUTIVE MANSION, February 3, 1876. To the House of Representatives: I have the honor to return herewith without my approval House bill No. 1561, entitled "An act transferring the custody of certain Indian trust funds from the Secretary of the Interior to the Treasurer of the United States," for the reasons set forth in the accompanying communication from the Secretary of the Interior. The PRESIDENT. U. S. GRANT. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, Washington, February 2, 1876. SIR: I acknowledge the receipt of your communication of the 29th ultimo, transmitting House bill No. 1561 and requesting this Department to report whether any objections to its becoming a law are known to exist. Aggregate number of civil officers in or connected with the Department of State from 1859 to 1875, inclusive, In reply I have the honor to state that I am fearful that the act is not sufficiently definite in terms to accomplish the end desired, namely, the mere transfer of the custody of said trust funds, enabling this Department to receive the interest from the custodian and apply it as heretofore without the intervention of Congress. The nature of the guardianship and control over the Indians exercised by me as Secretary and trustee is such as to require this Department to keep an account of the funds to their credit or held in trust for them, and to receive the interest on their trust funds promptly when due. I am fearful that this bill may not allow me to do so, and to guard against any danger of embarrassment in the transaction of this business I inclose a draft of a bill* which, if substituted for the one already passed, will, it is believed, obviate the difficulties which may arise if the present bill should become a law. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, Z. CHANDLER, Secretary. EXECUTIVE MANSION, March 27, 1876. To the House of Representatives: I have the honor to return herewith without my approval the bill (H. R. No. 83) entitled "An act for the relief of James A. Hile, of Lewis County, Mo.," for the reasons set forth in the accompanying communication of the Secretary of War. The PRESIDENT. U. S. GRANT. WAR DEPARTMENT, Washington City, March 25, 1876. SIR: I have the honor to return act H. R. 83, with the following report from the Adjutant-General: "It appears from the records of this office that James A. Hile, private Company F, Twenty-first Missouri Volunteers, enlisted July 15, 1861; deserted June 14, 1862; returned August 2, 1862; was restored to duty by special order No. 38, headquarters District of Columbus, Department of Tennessee, dated Columbus, Ky., February 26, 1863. He reenlisted February 28, 1864, as a veteran volunteer; was tried by general court-martial for absence without leave from November 25, 1864, to December 13, 1864, and sentenced to forfeit all pay and allowances for time absent by general order No. 48, headquarters Second Division, Sixteenth Army Corps, dated May 22, 1865. “On the muster-out roll of company dated April 19, 1866, he is reported, Deserted March 1, 1866, at Bladen Springs, Ala.' “This man, in his application to this office for discharge, stated under oath (affidavit dated July 27, 1870) that he left his command without leave and returned to his home February 28, 1866, having previously applied for a furlough, which was refused. "This man, according to his own statement under oath, did desert as reported, and if this bill becomes a law it will be an injustice to every soldier who served honorably with his command until his services were no longer required by the Government, in addition to falsifying the record, as the bill directs the record shall be made to show he is no deserter. "This is only one of many similar cases." The remarks of the Adjutant-General adverse to the passage of the bill are concurred in. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, * Omitted. ALPHONSO TAFT, EXECUTIVE MANSION, March 31, 1876. To the Senate of the United States: For the reasons set forth in the accompanying communication from the Secretary of the Treasury, I have the honor to return herewith without my approval Senate bill No. 489, entitled "An act for the relief of G. B. Tyler and E. H. Luckett, assignees of William T. Cheatham." U. S. GRANT. The PRESIDENT: TREASURY DEPARTMENT, March 30, 1876. Referring to the letter of the 25th instant, written by your direction, transmitting Senate bill No. 489, "for the relief of G. B. Tyler and E. H. Luckett, assignees of William T. Cheatham," and requesting my opinion as to the propriety of its approval by you, I have to say that there are no data on file in the Department, so far as I can learn, which indicate that the amount it is proposed by this bill to refund to the assignees of Mr. Cheatham was wrongfully collected or that the amount should be refunded. The Commissioner of Internal Revenue, in his report to me in reference to the matter, says: "The reimbursement to the United States by said Cheatham of the salary paid to this storekeeper by the collector of internal revenue for the months of December, 1869, and January, 1870, was in accordance with the provisions of joint resolution of March 29, 1869 (16 U. S. Statutes at Large, p. 52), and there appears to be no reason for the refunding by the United States to the assignees of said Cheatham the salary of this storekeeper that would not apply with equal force to similar payments by all other distillers who were operating their distilleries or had spirits in their warehouses at that time." The facts above stated are considered by this office valid and serious objections to the approval of this bill, and they would have been communicated to the Congressional committee before the passage of the bill had they called the attention of this office to the subject. The bill is herewith returned. I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant, B. H. BRISTOW, Secretary. EXECUTIVE MANSION, April 18, 1876. To the Senate of the United States: Herewith I return Senate bill No. 172, entitled "An act fixing the salary of the President of the United States," without my approval. I am constrained to this course from a sense of duty to my successors in office, to myself, and to what is due to the dignity of the position of Chief Magistrate of a nation of more than 40,000,000 people. When the salary of the President of the United States, pursuant to the Constitution, was fixed at $25,000 per annum, we were a nation of but 3,000,000 people, poor from a long and exhaustive war, without commerce or manufactures, with but few wants and those cheaply supplied. The salary must then have been deemed small for the responsibilities and dignity of the position, but justifiably so from the impoverished condition of the Treasury and the simplicity it was desired to cultivate in the Republic. The salary of Congressmen under the Constitution was first fixed at $6 per day for the time actually in session-an average of about one hundred and twenty days to each session—or $720 per year, or less than onethirtieth of the salary of the President. Congress have legislated upon their own salaries from time to time since, until finally it reached $5,000 per annum, or one-fifth that of the President, before the salary of the latter was increased. No one having a knowledge of the cost of living at the national capital will contend that the present salary of Congressmen is too high, unless it is the intention to make the office one entirely of honor, when the salary should be abolished—a proposition repugnant to our republican ideas and institutions. I do not believe the citizens of this Republic desire their public servants to serve them without a fair compensation for their services. Twentyfive thousand dollars does not defray the expenses of the Executive for one year, or has not in my experience. It is not now one-fifth in value of what it was at the time of the adoption of the Constitution in supplying demands and wants. Having no personal interest in this matter, I have felt myself free to return this bill to the House in which it originated with my objections, believing that in doing so I meet the wishes and judgment of the great majority of those who indirectly pay all the salaries and other expenses of Government. U. S. GRANT. To the House of Representatives: EXECUTIVE MANSION, May 26, 1876. I return herewith without my approval House bill No. 1922, entitled "An act providing for the recording of deeds, mortgages, and other conveyances affecting real estate in the District of Columbia." The objection to affixing my signature to this bill may be found in the communication addressed to me by the Attorney-General, and which accompanies this message. The PRESIDENT. U. S. GRANT. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, SIR: In reply to your note of the 19th instant, in which you request me to report whether there are objections to your approval of "An act providing for the recording of deeds, mortgages, and other conveyances affecting real estate in the District of Columbia," being House bill No. 1922, I have the honor to state that the bill seems to me objectionable because of indefiniteness and uncertainty as to the time which it purports to fix when deeds of trust, mortgages, etc., shall take effect and be valid as to creditors and subsequent purchasers for valuable consideration without notice. Although there is no constitutional objection to the act, yet for the reason above stated I hesitate to advise its approval. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, EDWARDS PIERREPONT, Attorney-General. EXECUTIVE MANSION, June 9, 1876. To the Senate of the United States: I return herewith without my approval Senate bill No. 165, entitled "An act for the relief of Michael W. Brock, of Meigs County, Tenn., late a private in Company D, Tenth Tennessee Volunteers." The objection to affixing my signature to this bill may be found in the indorsement (which accompanies this message) by the Adjutant-General of the Army. U. S. GRANT. WAR DEPARTMENT, ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE, Washington, June 8, 1876. Respectfully returned to the Secretary of War. The records of this office show that Michael W. Brock, Company D, Tenth Tennessee Volunteers, deserted November 24, 1864, due United States for horse and horse equipments, carbine, saber, and pistol, all complete. He presented satisfactory evidence of his having left the service by proper authority, and the charge of desertion has been removed and the soldier furnished an honorable discharge. No evidence has been presented to this office to establish that he was erroneously charged with Government property. If satisfactory evidence is furnished showing conclusively that this soldier was erroneously charged with Government property, taken at time of his reported desertion, the charge will be removed, and in that case the inclosed act for his relief will be unnecessary. E. D. TOWNSEND, Adjutant-General. EXECUTIVE MANSION, June 30, 1876. To the Senate of the United States: I return herewith without my approval Senate bill No. 692, entitled "An act to amend chapter 166 of the laws of the second session of the Forty-third Congress." The objections to affixing my signature to this bill may be found in the report, which accompanies this message, of the Chief of Engineers of the Army to the Secretary of War. The PRESIDENT. U. S. GRANT. WAR DEPARTMENT, Washington City, June 28, 1876. SIR: I have the honor to return herewith Senate bill No. 692, "to amend chapter 166 of the laws of the second session of the Forty-third Congress," and beg to invite |