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Title: A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents. Volume 8, part 1: James A. Garfield

Editor: James D. Richardson

Release date: May 1, 2004 [eBook #12318]
                Most recently updated: December 14, 2020

Language: English

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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A COMPILATION OF THE MESSAGES AND PAPERS OF THE PRESIDENTS. VOLUME 8, PART 1: JAMES A. GARFIELD ***




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Proofreading Team





A COMPILATION
OF THE
MESSAGES AND PAPERS
OF THE
PRESIDENTS


By JAMES D. RICHARDSON

A Representative from the State of Tennessee



VOLUME VIII

1897




Prefatory Note

This volume comprises the Garfield-Arthur term of four years and the
first term of Cleveland. The period covered is from March 4, 1881, to
March 4, 1889. The death of President Garfield at the hand of an
assassin early in his Administration created a vacancy in the office of
the Chief Executive, and for the fourth time in our history the
Vice-President succeeded to that office. The intense excitement
throughout the land brought about by the tragic death of the President,
and the succession of the Vice-President, caused no dangerous strain
upon our institutions, and once more proof was given, if, indeed,
further evidence was required, that our Government was strong enough to
quietly and peacefully endure a sudden change of rulers and of
administration, no matter how distressing and odious the cause.

During the Administration of President Arthur a treaty between the
United States and the Republic of Nicaragua was signed, providing for an
interoceanic canal across the territory of that State. An able and
learned discussion of this proposition will be found among his papers.
This treaty was pending when he retired from office, and was promptly
withdrawn by President Cleveland. The act to regulate and improve the
civil service of the United States was approved by President Arthur, and
he put into operation rules and regulations wide in their scope and
far-reaching for the enforcement of the measure. In his papers will be
found frequent and interesting discussions of this question. His vetoes
of "An act to execute certain treaty stipulations relating to Chinese"
and of "An act making appropriations for the construction, repair, and
preservation of certain works on rivers and harbors, and for other
purposes," are interesting and effective papers.

The latter half of the period comprised in this volume, as already
stated, covers the Administration of Cleveland. His accession to the
Presidency marked the return of the Democratic party to power. No
Democrat who had been chosen by his party had held the office since the
retirement of Buchanan, in 1861. President Cleveland's papers fill 558
pages of this volume, occupying more space than any other Chief
Magistrate, Andrew Johnson being next with 457 pages. At an early date
after Mr. Cleveland's inauguration he became involved in an important
and rather acrimonious discussion with the Senate on the subject of
suspensions from office. The Senate demanded of him and of the heads of
some of the Executive Departments the reasons for the suspension of
certain officials and the papers and correspondence incident thereto. In
an exhaustive and interesting paper he declined to comply with the
demand. His annual message of December, 1887, was devoted exclusively to
a discussion of the tariff. It is conceded by all to be an able
document, and is the only instance where a President in his annual
message made reference to only one question. His vetoes are more
numerous than those of any other Chief Executive, amounting within the
four years to over three hundred, or more than twice the number in the
aggregate of all his predecessors. These vetoes relate to almost all
subjects of legislation, but mainly to pension cases and bills providing
for the erection of public buildings throughout the country.

James D. Richardson.

July 4, 1898.




James A. Garfield

March 4, 1881, to September 19, 1881



James A. Garfield


James Abram Garfield was born in Orange, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, November
19, 1831. His father, Abram Garfield, was a native of New York, but of
Massachusetts ancestry; descended from Edward Garfield, an English
Puritan, who in 1630 was one of the founders of Watertown. His mother,
Eliza Ballou, was born in New Hampshire, of a Huguenot family that fled
from France to New England after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes
in 1685. Garfield, therefore, was from lineage well represented in the
struggles for civil and religious liberty, both in the Old and in the
New World. His father moved to Ohio in 1830 and settled in what was then
known as the "Wilderness," now as the "Western Reserve," which was
occupied by Connecticut people. He died at the age of 33, leaving a
widow and four small children, of whom James was the youngest. Mrs.
Garfield brought up her family unaided, and impressed upon them a high
standard of moral and intellectual worth. James attended school in a log
hut at the age of 3 years, learned to read, and began that habit of
omnivorous reading which ended only with his life. At 10 years of age
was accustomed to manual labor, helping out his mother's meager income
by work at home or on the farms of the neighbors. Attended the district
school in the winter months, made good progress, and was conspicuous for
his assiduity. At the age of 14 had a fair knowledge of arithmetic and
grammar, and was particularly apt in the facts of American history. His
imagination was especially kindled by tales of the sea, and he so far
yielded to his love of adventure that in 1848 he went to Cleveland and
proposed to ship as a sailor on board a lake schooner. Seeing that this
life was not the romance he had conceived, he turned promptly from the
lake; but loath to return home without adventure and without money, he
drove some months for a boat on the Ohio Canal, when he was promoted
from the towpath to the boat. Attended the Geauga Seminary at Chester,
Ohio, during the winter of 1849-50. In the vacations learned and
practiced the trade of a carpenter, helped at harvest, taught--did
anything and everything to earn money to pay for his schooling. After
the first term he asked and needed no aid from home; he had reached the
point where he could support himself. Was converted under the
instructions of a Christian preacher, was baptized and received into
that denomination. As soon as he finished his studies in Chester entered
(1851) the Hiram Eclectic Institute (now Hiram College), at Hiram,
Portage County, Ohio, the principal educational institution of his
church. He was not very quick of acquisition, but his perseverance was
indomitable and he soon had an excellent knowledge of Latin and a fair
acquaintance with algebra, natural philosophy, and botany. His
superiority was easily recognized in the prayer meetings and debating
societies of the college, where he was assiduous and conspicuous. Living
here was inexpensive, and he readily made his expenses by teaching in
the English departments, and also gave instruction in the ancient
languages. Entered Williams College in the autumn of 1854, and graduated
with the highest honors in the class of 1856. Returned to Ohio and
resumed his place as a teacher of Latin and Greek at Hiram Institute,
and the next year, being then only 26 years of age, was made its
president. The regulations and practices of his church, known as the
Christian Church, or Church of the Disciples, permitted him to preach,
and he used the permission. He also pursued the study of law, entering
his name in 1858 as a student in a law office in Cleveland, but studying
in Hiram. Cast his first vote in 1856 for John C. Fremont, the first
Republican candidate for the Presidency. Married Lucretia Rudolph
November 11, 1858. In 1859 was chosen to represent the counties of
Summit and Portage in the Ohio senate. In August, 1861, Governor William
Dennison commissioned him lieutenant-colonel in the Forty-second
Regiment Ohio Volunteers. Was promoted to the command of this regiment.
In December, 1861, reported to General Buell in Louisville, Ky. Was
given a brigade and assigned the difficult task of driving the
Confederate general Humphrey Marshall from eastern Kentucky. General
Garfield triumphed over the Confederate forces at the battle of Middle
Creek, January 10, 1862, and in recognition of his services was made a
brigadier-general by President Lincoln. During the campaign of the Big
Sandy, while Garfield was engaged in breaking up some scattered
Confederate encampments, his supplies gave out and he was threatened
with starvation. Going himself to the Ohio River, he seized a steamer,
loaded it with provisions, and on the refusal of any pilot to undertake
the perilous voyage, because of a freshet that had swelled the river, he
stood at the helm for forty-eight hours and piloted the craft through
the dangerous channel. In order to surprise Marshall, then intrenched in
Cumberland Gap, Garfield marched his soldiers 100 miles in four days
through a blinding snowstorm. Returning to Louisville, he found that
General Buell was away; overtook him at Columbia, Tenn., and was
assigned to the command of the Twentieth Brigade. Reached Shiloh in time
to take part in the second day's fight. Was engaged in all the
operations in front of Corinth, and in June, 1862, rebuilt the bridges
on the Memphis and Charleston Railroad, and exhibited noticeable
engineering skill in repairing the fortifications of Huntsville. Was
granted leave of absence July 30, 1862, on account of ill health, and
returned to Hiram, Ohio, where he lay ill for two months. Went to
Washington on September 25, 1862, and was ordered on court-martial duty.
November 25 was assigned to the case of General Fitz John Porter. In
February, 1863, returned to duty under General Rosecrans, then in
command of the Army of the Cumberland. Rosecrans made him his chief of
staff, with responsibilities beyond those usually given to this office.
In this field Garfield's influence on the campaign in middle Tennessee
was most important. One familiar incident shows and justifies the great
influence he wielded in its counsels. Before the battle of Chickamauga,
June 24, 1863, General Rosecrans asked the written opinion of seventeen
of his generals on the advisability of an immediate advance. All others
opposed, but Garfield advised it, and his arguments were so convincing
that Rosecrans determined to seek an engagement. General Garfield wrote
out all the orders of that fateful day, September 19, excepting one, and
that one was the blunder that lost the day. Garfield volunteered to take
the news of the defeat on the right to General George H. Thomas, who
held the left of the line. It was a bold ride, under constant fire, but
he reached Thomas and gave the information that saved the Army of the
Cumberland. For this action he was made a major-general September 19,
1863--promoted for gallantry on a field that was lost. Yielded to Mr.
Lincoln's urgent request and on December 5, 1863, resigned his commission
and hastened to Washington to sit in Congress, to which he had been
chosen fifteen months before. Was offered a division in the Army of the
Cumberland by General Thomas, but yielded to the representations of the
President and Secretary Stanton that he would be more useful in the
House of Representatives. Was placed on the Committee on Military
Affairs, then the most important in Congress. In the Thirty-ninth
Congress (1865) was changed, at his own request, from the Committee on
Military Affairs to the Committee on Ways and Means. In the Fortieth
Congress (1867) was restored to the Committee on Military Affairs and
made its chairman. In the Forty-first Congress the Committee on Banking
and Currency was created and he was made its chairman. Served also on
the Select Committee on the Census and on the Committee on Rules. Was
chairman of the Committee on Appropriations in the Forty-second and
Forty-third Congresses. In the Forty-fourth, Forty-fifth, and
Forty-sixth Congresses (the House being Democratic) was assigned to the
Committee on Ways and Means. In 1876, at President Grant's request, went
to New Orleans in company with Senators Sherman and Matthews and other
Republicans, to watch the counting of the Louisiana vote. He made a
special study of the West Feliciana Parish case, and embodied his views
in a brief but significant report. In January, 1877, made two notable
speeches in the House on the duty of Congress in a Presidential
election, and claimed that the Vice-President had a constitutional
right to count the electoral vote. Opposed the Electoral Commission,
yet when the commission was ordered was chosen by acclamation to fill
one of the two seats allotted to Republican Representatives. Mr. Blaine
left the House for the Senate in 1877, and this made Mr. Garfield the
undisputed leader of his party in the House. At this time and
subsequently was its candidate for Speaker. Was elected to the United
States Senate January 13, 1880. Attended the Republican convention which
met at Chicago in June, 1880, where he opposed the renomination of
President Grant and supported Senator Sherman. On the thirty-sixth
ballot the delegates broke, their ranks, and, rushing to General
Garfield, he was unanimously nominated for President on June 8, 1880.
Was elected November 2, 1880, receiving 214 electoral votes to 144 that
were cast for Winfield S. Hancock. Was shot July 2, 1881, by an assassin
in the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad station, in Washington, and died
from the effects of the wound September 19 at Elberon, N.J. He was
buried at Cleveland, Ohio.



INAUGURAL ADDRESS.

Fellow-Citizens: We stand to-day upon an eminence which overlooks a
hundred years of national life--a century crowded with perils, but
crowned with the triumphs of liberty and law. Before continuing the
onward march let us pause on this height for a moment to strengthen our
faith and renew our hope by a glance at the pathway along which our
people have traveled.

It is now three days more than a hundred years since the adoption of the
first written constitution of the United States--the Articles of
Confederation and Perpetual Union. The new Republic was then beset with
danger on every hand. It had not conquered a place in the family of
nations. The decisive battle of the war for independence, whose
centennial anniversary will soon be gratefully celebrated at Yorktown,
had not yet been fought. The colonists were struggling not only against
the armies of a great nation, but against the settled opinions of
mankind; for the world did not then believe that the supreme authority
of government could be safely intrusted to the guardianship of the
people themselves.

We can not overestimate the fervent love of liberty, the intelligent
courage, and the sum of common sense with which our fathers made the
great experiment of self-government. When they found, after a short
trial, that the confederacy of States was too weak to meet the
necessities of a vigorous and expanding republic, they boldly set it
aside, and in its stead established a National Union, founded directly
upon the will of the people, endowed with full power of
self-preservation and ample authority for the accomplishment of its
great object.

Under this Constitution the boundaries of freedom have been enlarged,
the foundations of order and peace have been strengthened, and the
growth of our people in all the better elements of national life has
indicated the wisdom of the founders and given new hope to their
descendants. Under this Constitution our people long ago made themselves
safe against danger from without and secured for their mariners and flag
equality of rights on all the seas. Under this Constitution twenty-five
States have been added to the Union, with constitutions and laws, framed
and enforced by their own citizens, to secure the manifold blessings of
local self-government.

The jurisdiction of this Constitution now covers an area fifty times
greater than that of the original thirteen States and a population
twenty times greater than that of 1780.

The supreme trial of the Constitution came at last under the tremendous
pressure of civil war. We ourselves are witnesses that the Union emerged
from the blood and fire of that conflict purified and made stronger for
all the beneficent purposes of good government.

And now, at the close of this first century of growth, with the
inspirations of its history in their hearts, our people have lately
reviewed the condition of the nation, passed judgment upon the conduct
and opinions of political parties, and have registered their will
concerning the future administration of the Government. To interpret and
to execute that will in accordance with the Constitution is the
paramount duty of the Executive.

Even from this brief review it is manifest that the nation is resolutely
facing to the front, resolved to employ its best energies in developing
the great possibilities of the future. Sacredly preserving whatever has
been gained to liberty and good government during the century, our
people are determined to leave behind them all those bitter
controversies concerning things which have been irrevocably settled, and
the further discussion of which can only stir up strife and delay the
onward march.

The supremacy of the nation and its laws should be no longer a subject
of debate. That discussion, which for half a century threatened the
existence of the Union, was closed at last in the high court of war by a
decree from which there is no appeal--that the Constitution and the laws
made in pursuance thereof are and shall continue to be the supreme law
of the land, binding alike upon the States and the people. This decree
does not disturb the autonomy of the States nor interfere with any of
their necessary rights of local self-government, but it does fix and
establish the permanent supremacy of the Union.

The will of the nation, speaking with the voice of battle and through
the amended Constitution, has fulfilled the great promise of 1776 by
proclaiming "liberty throughout the land to all the inhabitants
thereof."

The elevation of the negro race from slavery to the full rights of
citizenship is the most important political change we have known since
the adoption of the Constitution of 1787. No thoughtful man can fail to
appreciate its beneficent effect upon our institutions and people. It
has freed us from the perpetual danger of war and dissolution. It has
added immensely to the moral and industrial forces of our people. It has
liberated the master as well as the slave from a relation which wronged
and enfeebled both. It has surrendered to their own guardianship the
manhood of more than 5,000,000 people, and has opened to each one of
them a career of freedom and usefulness. It has given new inspiration to
the power of self-help in both races by making labor more honorable to
the one and more necessary to the other. The influence of this force
will grow greater and bear richer fruit with the coming years.

No doubt this great change has caused serious disturbance to our
Southern communities. This is to be deplored, though it was perhaps
unavoidable. But those who resisted the change should remember that
under our institutions there was no middle ground for the negro race
between slavery and equal citizenship. There can be no permanent
disfranchised peasantry in the United States. Freedom can never yield
its fullness of blessings so long as the law or its administration
places the smallest obstacle in the pathway of any virtuous citizen.

The emancipated race has already made remarkable progress. With
unquestioning devotion to the Union, with a patience and gentleness not
born of fear, they have "followed the light as God gave them to see the
light." They are rapidly laying the material foundations of
self-support, widening their circle of intelligence, and beginning to
enjoy the blessings that gather around the homes of the industrious
poor. They deserve the generous encouragement of all good men. So far as
my authority can lawfully extend, they shall enjoy the full and equal
protection of the Constitution and the laws.

The free enjoyment of equal suffrage is still in question, and a frank
statement of the issue may aid its solution. It is alleged that in many
communities negro citizens are practically denied the freedom of the
ballot. In so far as the truth of this allegation is admitted, it is
answered that in many places honest local government is impossible if
the mass of uneducated negroes are allowed to vote. These are grave
allegations. So far as the latter is true, it is the only palliation
that can be offered for opposing the freedom of the ballot. Bad local
government is certainly a great evil, which ought to be prevented; but
to violate the freedom and sanctities of the suffrage is more than an
evil. It is a crime which, if persisted in, will destroy the Government
itself. Suicide is not a remedy. If in other lands it be high treason to
compass the death of the king, it shall be counted no less a crime here
to strangle our sovereign power and stifle its voice.

It has been said that unsettled questions have no pity for the repose
of nations. It should be said with the utmost emphasis that this
question of the suffrage will never give repose or safety to the States
or to the nation until each, within its own jurisdiction, makes and
keeps the ballot free and pure by the strong sanctions of the law.

But the danger which arises from ignorance in the voter can not be
denied. It covers a field far wider than that of negro suffrage and the
present condition of the race. It is a danger that lurks and hides in
the sources and fountains of power in every state. We have no standard
by which to measure the disaster that may be brought upon us by
ignorance and vice in the citizens when joined to corruption and fraud
in the suffrage.

The voters of the Union, who make and unmake constitutions, and upon
whose will hang the destinies of our governments, can transmit their
supreme authority to no successors save the coming generation of voters,
who are the sole heirs of sovereign power. If that generation comes to
its inheritance blinded by ignorance and corrupted by vice, the fall of
the Republic will be certain and remediless.

The census has already sounded the alarm in the appalling figures which
mark how dangerously high the tide of illiteracy has risen among our
voters and their children.

To the South this question is of supreme importance. But the
responsibility for the existence of slavery did not rest upon the South
alone. The nation itself is responsible for the extension of the
suffrage, and is under special obligations to aid in removing the
illiteracy which it has added to the voting population. For the North
and South alike there is but one remedy. All the constitutional power of
the nation and of the States and all the volunteer forces of the people
should be surrendered to meet this danger by the savory influence of
universal education.

It is the high privilege and sacred duty of those now living to educate
their successors and fit them, by intelligence and virtue, for the
inheritance which awaits them.

In this beneficent work sections and races should be forgotten and
partisanship should be unknown. Let our people find a new meaning in the
divine oracle which declares that "a little child shall lead them," for
our own little children will soon control the destinies of the Republic.

My countrymen, we do not now differ in our judgment concerning the
controversies of past generations, and fifty years hence our children
will not be divided in their opinions concerning our controversies. They
will surely bless their fathers and their fathers' God that the Union
was preserved, that slavery was overthrown, and that both races were
made equal before the law. We may hasten or we may retard, but we can
not prevent, the final reconciliation. Is it not possible for us now to
make a truce with time by anticipating and accepting its inevitable
verdict?

Enterprises of the highest importance to our moral and material
well-being unite us and offer ample employment of our best powers. Let
all our people, leaving behind them the battlefields of dead issues,
move forward and in their strength of liberty and the restored Union win
the grander victories of peace.

The prosperity which now prevails is without parallel in our history.
Fruitful seasons have done much to secure it, but they have not done
all. The preservation of the public credit and the resumption of specie
payments, so successfully attained by the Administration of my
predecessors, have enabled our people to secure the blessings which the
seasons brought.

By the experience of commercial nations in all ages it has been found
that gold and silver afford the only safe foundation for a monetary
system. Confusion has recently been created by variations in the
relative value of the two metals, but I confidently believe that
arrangements can be made between the leading commercial nations which
will secure the general use of both metals. Congress should provide that
the compulsory coinage of silver now required by law may not disturb our
monetary system by driving either metal out of circulation. If possible,
such an adjustment should be made that the purchasing power of every
coined dollar will be exactly equal to its debt-paying power in all the
markets of the world.

The chief duty of the National Government in connection with the
currency of the country is to coin money and declare its value. Grave
doubts have been entertained whether Congress is authorized by the
Constitution to make any form of paper money legal tender. The present
issue of United States notes has been sustained by the necessities of
war; but such paper should depend for its value and currency upon its
convenience in use and its prompt redemption in coin at the will of the
holder, and not upon its compulsory circulation. These notes are not
money, but promises to pay money. If the holders demand it, the promise
should be kept.

The refunding of the national debt at a lower rate of interest should be
accomplished without compelling the withdrawal of the national-bank
notes, and thus disturbing the business of the country.

I venture to refer to the position I have occupied on financial
questions during a long service in Congress, and to say that time and
experience have strengthened the opinions I have so often expressed on
these subjects.

The finances of the Government shall suffer no detriment which it may be
possible for my Administration to prevent.

The interests of agriculture deserve more attention from the Government
than they have yet received. The farms of the United States afford homes
and employment for more than one-half our people, and furnish much the
largest part of all our exports. As the Government lights our coasts for
the protection of mariners and the benefit of commerce, so it should
give to the tillers of the soil the best lights of practical science and
experience.

Our manufactures are rapidly making us industrially independent, and are
opening to capital and labor new and profitable fields of employment.
Their steady and healthy growth should still be matured. Our facilities
for transportation should be promoted by the continued improvement of
our harbors and great interior waterways and by the increase of our
tonnage on the ocean.

The development of the world's commerce has led to an urgent demand for
shortening the great sea voyage around Cape Horn by constructing ship
canals or railways across the isthmus which unites the continents.
Various plans to this end have been suggested and will need
consideration, but none of them has been sufficiently matured to warrant
the United States in extending pecuniary aid. The subject, however, is
one which will immediately engage the attention of the Government with a
view to a thorough protection to American interests. We will urge no
narrow policy nor seek peculiar or exclusive privileges in any
commercial route; but, in the language of my predecessor, I believe it
to be the right "and duty of the United States to assert and maintain
such supervision and authority over any interoceanic canal across the
isthmus that connects North and South America as will protect our
national interest."

The Constitution guarantees absolute religious freedom. Congress is
prohibited from making any law respecting an establishment of religion
or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. The Territories of the United
States are subject to the direct legislative authority of Congress, and
hence the General Government is responsible for any violation of the
Constitution in any of them. It is therefore a reproach to the
Government that in the most populous of the Territories the
constitutional guaranty is not enjoyed by the people and the authority
of Congress is set at naught. The Mormon Church not only offends the
moral sense of manhood by sanctioning polygamy, but prevents the
administration of justice through ordinary instrumentalities of law.

In my judgment it is the duty of Congress, while respecting to the
uttermost the conscientious convictions and religious scruples of every
citizen, to prohibit within its jurisdiction all criminal practices,
especially of that class which destroy the family relations and endanger
social order. Nor can any ecclesiastical organization be safely
permitted to usurp in the smallest degree the functions and powers of
the National Government.

The civil service can never be placed on a satisfactory basis until it
is regulated by law. For the good of the service itself, for the
protection of those who are intrusted with the appointing power against
the waste of time and obstruction to the public business caused by the
inordinate pressure for place, and for the protection of incumbents
against intrigue and wrong, I shall at the proper time ask Congress to
fix the tenure of the minor offices of the several Executive Departments
and prescribe the grounds upon which removals shall be made during the
terms for which incumbents have been appointed.

Finally, acting always within the authority and limitations of the
Constitution, invading neither the rights of the States nor the reserved
rights of the people, it will be the purpose of my Administration to
maintain the authority of the nation in all places within its
jurisdiction; to enforce obedience to all the laws of the Union in the
interests of the people; to demand rigid economy in all the expenditures
of the Government, and to require the honest and faithful service of all
executive officers, remembering that the offices were created, not for
the benefit of incumbents or their supporters, but for the service of
the Government.

And now, fellow-citizens, I am about to assume the great trust which you
have committed to my hands. I appeal to you for that earnest and
thoughtful support which makes this Government in fact, as it is in law,
a government of the people.

I shall greatly rely upon the wisdom and patriotism of Congress and of
those who may share with me the responsibilities and duties of
administration, and, above all, upon our efforts to promote the welfare
of this great people and their Government I reverently invoke the
support and blessings of Almighty God.

March 4, 1881.



SPECIAL MESSAGES.


Executive Mansion,
_Washington, April 6, 1881.
To the Senate of the United States:_

I transmit herewith in response to the resolution of the Senate of the
18th ultimo, a report of the Secretary of State, with accompanying
papers, in relation to the capitulations of the Ottoman Empire.

JAMES A. GARFIELD


Executive Mansion,
_Washington, May 20, 1881.
To the Senate of the United States:_

I transmit herewith a report of the Secretary of State, with
accompanying papers, submitted in response to the Senate resolution of
the 12th ultimo, touching the case of Michael P. Boyton.[A]

JAMES A. GARFIELD

[Footnote A: Arrested and imprisoned by authorities of Great Britain.]



EXECUTIVE ORDER.


Executive Mansion,
_Washington, May 28, 1881._

Dear Sir:[A] I am directed by the President to inform you that the
several Departments of the Government will be closed on Monday, the 30th
instant, to enable the employees to participate in the decoration of the
graves of the soldiers who fell during the rebellion.

Very respectfully,

J. STANLEY BROWN, _Private Secretary_.

[Footnote A: Addressed to the heads of the Executive Departments, etc.]



DEATH OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD.


ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE ASSASSINATION TO REPRESENTATIVES OF
THE UNITED STATES ABROAD.

[From the Washington Post, July 3, 1881.]


Department of State,
_Washington, July 2, 1881._

James Russell Lowell,
_Minister, etc., London:_

The President of the United States was shot this morning by an assassin
named Charles Guiteau. The weapon was a large-sized revolver. The
President had just reached the Baltimore and Potomac station, at about
9.20, intending, with a portion of his Cabinet, to leave on the limited
express for New York. I rode in the carriage with him from the Executive
Mansion and was walking by his side when he was shot. The assassin was
immediately arrested, and the President was conveyed to a private room
in the station building and surgical aid at once summoned. He has now,
at 10.20, been removed to the Executive Mansion. The surgeons, on
consultation, regard his wounds as very serious, though not necessarily
fatal. His vigorous health gives strong hopes of his recovery. He has
not lost consciousness for a moment. Inform our ministers in Europe.

JAMES G. BLAINE, _Secretary of State_.


PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT OF DEATH BY THE PHYSICIANS.

[From the New York Herald, September 20, 1881.]

Elberon, N.J., _September 19--11.30 p.m._

The President died at thirty-five minutes past 10 p.m. After the
bulletin was issued at half past 5 this evening the President continued
in much the same condition as during the afternoon, the pulse varying
from 102 to 106, with rather increased force and volume. After taking
nourishment he fell into a quiet sleep about thirty-five minutes before
his death, and while asleep his pulse ran to 120 and was somewhat more
feeble. At ten minutes after 10 o'clock he awoke, complaining of severe
pain over the region of the heart, and almost immediately became
unconscious, and ceased to breathe at twenty-five minutes to 11.

D.W. BLISS.
FRANK H. HAMILTON.
D. HAYES AGNEW.


ANNOUNCEMENT TO THE VICE-PRESIDENT.

[From the New-York Times, September 20, 1881.]

[Long Branch, N.J., _September 19, 1881_.]

Hon. Chester A. Arthur,
_No. 123 Lexington Avenue, New York:_

It becomes our painful duty to inform you of the death of President
Garfield and to advise you to take the oath of office as President of
the United States without delay. If it concur with your judgment, we
will be very glad if you will come here on the earliest train to-morrow
morning.

WILLIAM WINDOM,
_Secretary of the Treasury._
WILLIAM H. HUNT,
_Secretary of the Navy._
THOMAS L. JAMES,
_Postmaster-General._
WAYNE MacVEAGH,
_Attorney-General._
S.J. KIRKWOOD,
_Secretary of the Interior._

[The Secretaries of State and of War were absent from Long Branch.]


REPLY OF THE VICE-PRESIDENT.

[From the Evening Star, Washington, September 20, 1881.]

New York, _September 20, 1881_.[A]

I have your message announcing the death of President Garfield. Permit
me to renew through you the expression of sorrow and sympathy which I
have already telegraphed to Attorney-General MacVeagh. In accordance
with your suggestion, I have taken the oath of office as President
before the Hon. John R. Brady, justice of the supreme court of the State
of New York. I will soon advise you further in regard to the other
suggestion in your telegram.

C.A. ARTHUR.

[Footnote A: Addressed to the Cabinet.]


ANNOUNCEMENT TO REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES
ABROAD.

[From the Sun, New York, September 21, 1881.]

[Long Branch, N.J., _September 20, 1881_.]

Lowell, _Minister, London:_

James A. Garfield, President of the United States, died at Elberon,
N.J., last night at ten minutes before 11 o'clock. For nearly eighty
days he suffered great pain, and during the entire period exhibited
extraordinary patience, fortitude, and Christian resignation. The sorrow
throughout the country is deep and universal. Fifty millions of people
stand as mourners by his bier. To-day, at his residence in the city of
New York, Chester A. Arthur, Vice-President, took the oath of office as
President, to which he succeeds by virtue of the Constitution. President
Arthur has entered upon the discharge of his duties. You will formally
communicate these facts to the British Government and transmit this
dispatch by telegraph to the American ministers on the Continent for
like communication to the Governments to which they are respectively
accredited.

BLAINE, _Secretary_.


ANNOUNCEMENT TO REPRESENTATIVES OF FOREIGN GOVERNMENTS
IN THE UNITED STATES.

[From official records, Department of State.]

Department of State
_Washington, September 20, 1881._

Sir: It is my sad duty to announce to you that the illness of the
President of the United States, which you have followed with an anxiety
similar to our own and a sympathy which you have repeatedly testified to
this Department during the sorrowful period that has passed since he was
shot by an assassin on the 2d of July, terminated last evening, when he
expired at thirty-five minutes past 10 o'clock.

As soon as the order and details of the funeral ceremonies are arranged
you will be duly informed thereof.

ROBERT R. HITT,
_Acting Secretary._


ANNOUNCEMENT TO THE ARMY.

[From official records, War Department.]

General Orders, No. 71.

Headquarters of the Army,
Adjutant-General's Office,
_Washington, September 20, 1881._

I. The following order of the Secretary of War announces to the Army the
death of James A. Garfield, President of the United States:

War Department, _September 20, 1881_.

With profound sorrow the Secretary of War announces to the Army that
James A. Garfield, President of the United States, died at Elberon,
N.J., at twenty-five minutes before 11 in the evening of September 19,
1881.

The great grief which is felt by the nation at the untimely death of the
President will be especially felt by the Army, in whose service he bore
so distinguished a part during the War of the Rebellion. In him the Army
has lost a beloved Commander in Chief, friend, and former comrade.

Proper honors will be paid to the memory of the late Chief Magistrate of
the nation at headquarters of each military department and division and
at each military station.

The General of the Army will give the necessary instructions for
carrying this order into effect.

ROBT. T. LINCOLN, _Secretary of War_.

II. On the day after the receipt of this order at the headquarters of
military commands in the field, and at each military station, and at the
Military Academy at West Point, the troops and cadets will be paraded at
10 o'clock a.m. and the order read to them, after which all labor for
the day will cease.

At dawn of day thirteen guns will be fired at each military post, and
afterwards at intervals of thirty minutes between the rising and setting
sun a single gun, and at the close of the day a national salute of
thirty-eight guns.

The national flag will be displayed at half-staff at the headquarters of
the several military divisions and departments and at all military
stations until the remains of the late Chief Magistrate are consigned to
their final resting place at Cleveland, Ohio, at 2 p.m. on the 26th
instant.

The officers of the Army of the United States will wear the badge of
mourning on the left arm and on their swords and the colors of the
regiments will be draped in mourning for the period of six months.

III. The following officers of the Army will, with a like number of
officers of the Navy selected for the purpose, compose the guard of
honor and accompany the remains of their late Commander in Chief from
the national capital to Cleveland, Ohio, and continue with them until
they are consigned to their final resting place: The General of the
Army, Major-General Winfield S. Hancock, Quartermaster-General M.C.
Meigs, Adjutant-General R.C. Drum, Inspector-General D.B. Sacket.

By command of General Sherman:
R.C. DRUM, _Adjutant-General_.


[From official records, War Department.]

General Orders, No. 72.

Headquarters of the Army,
Adjutant-General's Office,
_Washington, September 20, 1881._

The following order has been received from the War Department:

The Secretary of War announces to the Army that upon the death of James
A. Garfield, President of the United States, Chester A. Arthur,
Vice-President, on the 20th day of September, 1881, at his residence in
the city of New York, took the oath of office as President of the United
States, to which office he succeeded by virtue of the Constitution.
President Arthur has entered upon the discharge of his official duties.

ROBT. T. LINCOLN,
_Secretary of War._
By command of General Sherman:
R.C. DRUM, _Adjutant-General_.


ANNOUNCEMENT TO THE NAVY.

[From official records, Navy Department.]

General Order.

Navy Department,
_Washington, September 20, 1881._

The officers and men of the Navy and of the Marine Corps of the United
States are hereby notified that President Garfield died at Long Branch
on the 19th instant at 10 o'clock and 40 minutes p.m. Under the
Constitution and laws of the Government Chester A. Arthur, then
Vice-President, duly took the oath as President of the United States,
and has entered upon the duties of that office. As President and
Commander in Chief of the Navy of the United States he will be obeyed
and respected by all persons connected with this Department. It is
becoming that at a time when the heart of the nation is heavy with grief
a proper expression should be given to the respect and affection so
sincerely and universally entertained for the memory of the wise,
patriotic, and noble Chief Magistrate who has departed this life under
circumstances so distressing. To this end the officers of the Navy will
see to it that all honors and ceremonies befitting the occasion are
observed by their respective commands in accordance with the regulations
of the service.

The offices of the Department will remain closed for all business during
the time the remains of the President shall lie in state at the Capitol.

WILLIAM H. HUNT,
_Secretary of the Navy._


[From official records, Navy Department.]

Special Order.

Navy Department,
_Washington, September 23, 1881._

Struck down by the hand of a cowardly assassin, in the day of his vigor
and usefulness, on the eve of departure from the capital in search of
much-needed rest from the toils and cares of office, our Chief
Magistrate, President, and Commander in Chief, James A. Garfield, after
bearing with heroic fortitude untold suffering, succumbed to the dread
summons and yielded up his life at Elberon, N.J., on the evening of the
19th instant. The nation mourns its loss. The funeral services will take
place at Cleveland, Ohio, on Monday, the 26th instant. It is eminently
fit and proper that special honors should be paid to the memory of the
late President on that day, and the Department therefore directs that at
all naval stations and on board all vessels in commission the flags
shall be at half-mast from sunrise to sunset and a gun fired every half
hour during that period. The period of mourning by half-masted colors
will cease at sunset. On foreign stations this order will be carried out
on the day after its receipt. The navy-yards will be closed and all work
suspended during the day. Officers of the Navy and Marine Corps will, as
a further mark of respect, wear crape on the left arm and sword hilt for
six months from the 20th instant.

ED. T. NICHOLS,
_Acting Secretary of the Navy._


ACTION OF SENATORS AND OF REPRESENTATIVES ELECT IN
WASHINGTON.

The members of the Senate and members elect of the House of
Representatives in Washington held meetings on September 22 and selected
the following gentlemen to accompany the remains of the late President
to Cleveland, Ohio:

Senators Henry B. Anthony, of Rhode Island; John Sherman, of Ohio;
Thomas F. Bayard, of Delaware; John J. Ingalls, of Kansas; James L.
Pugh, of Alabama; Henry W. Blair, of New Hampshire; Johnson N. Camden,
of West Virginia, and John T. Morgan, of Alabama.

Representatives elect John Randolph Tucker, of Virginia; John A. Kasson,
of Iowa; Samuel J. Randall, of Pennsylvania; Frank Hiscock, of New York;
Benjamin Wilson, of West Virginia; John R. Thomas, of Illinois; Amos
Townsend, of Ohio, and Charles M. Shelley, of Alabama.


ORDERS OF THE HEADS OF THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS.

[From the National Republican, Washington, September 21, 1881.]

LONG BRANCH, _September 20._[A]

It has been agreed here by all the heads of Departments that the
Departments shall remain closed from this time until the conclusion of
President Garfield's funeral ceremonies in Washington, and it is
understood that you will notify the acting heads of all Departments of
this arrangement. * * *

ROBERT T. LINCOLN,
_Secretary of War._

[Footnote A: Sent to the chief clerk of the War Department.]


[From official records, Treasury Department.]

Order.

Treasury Department,
Office of the Secretary,
_Washington, D.C., September 20, 1881._

It is ordered, as a mark of respect to the memory of President Garfield,
that the Treasury Department be closed during this day.

H.F. FRENCH,
_Acting Secretary._


[From official records, Treasury Department.]

Notice.

Treasury Department,
Office Of The Secretary,
_Washington, D.C., September 21, 1881._

As a token of respect to the memory of the late President, James A.
Garfield, the Treasury Department will be closed to public business
to-day at 12 o'clock noon, and remain closed Thursday and Friday, the
22d and 23d instant.

H.F. FRENCH,
_Acting Secretary._


[From official records, Treasury Department.]

Order.

Treasury Department,
Office of the Secretary,
_Washington, D.C., September 24, 1881._

In accordance with the proclamation of the President[B] appointing
Monday, the 26th day of September, as a day of humiliation and mourning,
being the day of the burial of the late President, James A. Garfield, it
is ordered that this Department be closed during that day.

H.F. FRENCH,
_Acting Secretary._

[Footnote B: See p. 34.]


[From official records, Post-Office Department.]

Post-Office Department,
_Washington, D.C., September 20, 1881._

_Ordered_, That, owing to the death of President James A. Garfield, this
Department be closed for all public business until after the funeral
party shall have left Washington for Ohio.

RICHD. A. ELMER,
_Acting Postmaster-General_.


[From official records, Post-Office Department.]

POST-OFFICE DEPARTMENT,
_Washington, D.C., September 24, 1881._

_Ordered_, That, in conformity with the action of other executive
branches of the Government, this Department be closed on Monday next,
the 26th instant, and that the day be fittingly observed by all persons
connected therewith as the occasion of the consignment to their final
resting place of the remains of the late beloved and honored Chief
Magistrate of the United States, James A. Garfield.

RICHD. A. ELMER, _Acting Postmaster-General._


[From official records, Interior Department.]

Order.

Department of the Interior,
_Washington, September 20, 1881._

As a token of respect to the memory of the late President, James A.
Garfield, the Department of the Interior and the several bureaus and
offices thereof will be closed to public business until Saturday, the
24th instant.

A. BELL, _Acting Secretary_.


[From official records, Interior Department.]

Order.

Department of the Interior,
_Washington, September 24, 1881._

In pursuance of the proclamation of the President of the United
States[A] appointing Monday, the 26th instant, as a day of humiliation
and mourning for the death of the late President, this Department and
the several bureaus and offices thereof will be closed to business on
that day.

A. BELL, _Acting Secretary_.

[Footnote A: See p. 34.]


Funeral Announcement to the Public.

[From the New-York Times, September 21, 1881.]

[ELBERON, N.J., _September 20, 1881._]

The remains of the late President of the United States will be removed
to Washington by special train on Wednesday, September 21, leaving
Elberon at 10 a.m. and reaching Washington at 4 p.m. Detachments from
the United States Army and from the marines of the Navy will be in
attendance on arrival at Washington to perform escort duty. The remains
will lie in state in the Rotunda of the Capitol on Thursday and Friday,
and will be guarded by deputations from the Executive Departments and by
officers of the Senate and House of Representatives.

Religious ceremonies will be observed in the Rotunda at 3 o'clock on
Friday afternoon. At 5 o'clock the remains will be transferred to the
funeral car and be removed to Cleveland, Ohio, _via_ the Pennsylvania
Railroad, arriving there Saturday at 2 p.m. In Cleveland the remains
will lie in state until Monday at 2 p.m., and be then interred in
Lakeview Cemetery. No ceremonies are expected in the cities and towns
along the route of the funeral train beyond the tolling of bells.
Detailed arrangements for final sepulture are committed to the municipal
authorities of Cleveland, under the direction of the executive of the
State of Ohio.

JAMES G. BLAINE,
_Secretary of State._


OFFICIAL ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE FUNERAL.

[From official records, War Department.]

Order of Arrangement for the Funeral at Washington City of James A.
Garfield, Late President of the United States.

The remains of the late President will lie in state in the Rotunda of
the Capitol until 3 o'clock p.m. on Friday, the 23d instant, when they
will be borne to the depot of the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad and
thence conveyed to their final resting place at Cleveland, Ohio.

Order of Procession.

FUNERAL ESCORT.

(Under command of Brevet Major-General R.B. Ayres.)
Battalion of District of Columbia Volunteers.
Battalion of marines.
Battalion of foot artillery.
Battery of light artillery.


CIVIC PROCESSION.

(Under command of Chief Marshal Colonel Robert Boyd.)
Clergymen in attendance.
Physicians who attended the late President.
Guard of honor.
Guard of honor.
Hearse.
Bearers.
Bearers.

(The officers of the Army, Navy, and Marine Corps in the city, and not
on duty with the troops forming the escort, in full dress, will form,
right in front, on either side of the hearse--the Army on the right and
the Navy and Marine Corps on the left--and compose the guard of honor.)

Family of the late President.
Relatives of the late President.
Ex-Presidents of the United States.
The President.
The Cabinet ministers.
The Diplomatic Corps.
The Chief Justice and Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the
  United States.
The Senators of the United States.
Members of the United States House of Representatives.
Governors of States and Territories and Commissioners of the
  District of Columbia.
The judges of the Court of Claims, the judiciary of the
  District of Columbia, and judges of the United States courts.
The Assistant Secretaries of State, Treasury, and Interior Departments.
The Assistant Postmasters-General.
The Solicitor-General and the Assistant Attorneys-General.
Organized societies.
Citizens and strangers.

The troops designated to form the escort will assemble on the east side
of the Capitol and form line fronting the eastern portico of the Capitol
precisely at 2 o'clock p.m. on Friday, the 23d instant.

The procession will move on the conclusion of the religious services at
the Capitol (appointed to commence at 3 o'clock), when minute guns will
be fired at the navy-yard by the vessels of war which may be in port, at
Fort Myer, and by the battery of artillery stationed near the Capitol
for that purpose. At the same hour the bells of the several churches,
fire-engine houses, and the schoolhouses will be tolled.

The civic procession will form in accordance with directions to be given
by the chief marshal.

The officers of the Army and Navy selected to compose the guard of honor
and accompany the remains to their final resting place will assemble at
4 p.m. at the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad depot, where they will
receive the body of the late President and deposit it in the car
prepared for the purpose.

ROBERT T. LINCOLN,
_Secretary of War._
WILLIAM H. HUNT,
_Secretary of the Navy._
J. DENT,
_President Board of Commissioners District of Columbia._


[From the Washington Post, September 23, 1881.]

Circular.

Headquarters of the Army,
Adjutant-General's Office,
_Washington, September 22, 1881._

The officers of the Army in this city not otherwise ordered for special
duty on this occasion will assemble in full uniform at 3 p.m. on the 23d
instant on the east front of the Capitol and form line, right in front,
on the right of the hearse, to act as a guard of honor to the remains of
the late President of the United States from the Capitol to the
Baltimore and Potomac Railroad depot.

By command of General Sherman:
R.C. DRUM, _Adjutant-General_.


[From records in possession of Colonel Amos Webster.]

Orders, No. 22.

Adjutant-General's Office,
District of Columbia Militia,
_September 21, 1881._

Pursuant to orders from the honorable Secretary of War, the troops
comprising the militia of the District of Columbia will assemble in
full-dress uniform at 3 p.m. on the 21st instant on Sixth street NW.,
the right resting on Pennsylvania avenue, the left extended south, to
take part in and form a portion of the escort to the remains of the late
President, and will also hold themselves in readiness to participate at
the funeral ceremonies on Friday, the 23d instant, The formation will be
as follows on both occasions:

Washington Light Infantry Corps, Captain W.G. Moore.
Union Veteran Corps, Captain S.E. Thomason.
National Rifles, Captain J.O.P. Burnside.
Washington Light Guards, Lieutenant P.S. Hodgson.
Butler Zouaves, Captain C.B. Fisher.
Capital City Guards, Captain W.S. Kelly.
Washington Cadets, Captain C.A. Dolan.

The officers of Light Battery A, District of Columbia Artillery, will
report to adjutant-general District of Columbia Militia for duty as aids
on both occasions.

A. WEBSTER,
_Adjutant-General District of Columbia Militia._


[From records in possession of Colonel Amos Webster.]

General Order No. 23.

Adjutant-General's Office,
District of Columbia Militia,
_September 22, 1881._

Pursuant to orders from the honorable Secretary of War, and in
compliance with general order No. 22 from these headquarters, all the
organizations comprising the militia of the District of Columbia will
assemble in full-dress uniform at 2 p.m. on the 23d instant on the
ground east of the Capitol, right resting on B street N., the left
extending south, facing west. The formation will be the same as
designated in general order No. 22. Upon their arrival on the ground
designated each commanding officer will report in person to the
commanding officer of the District Volunteers.

By order of the Commissioners of the District of Columbia:
AMOS WEBSTER,
_Adjutant-General District of Columbia Militia, Commanding._


[From the Washington Post, September 23, 1881.]

Special Order.

Navy Department,
_Washington, September 22, 1881._

The officers of the Navy and Marine Corps on duty and resident in
Washington will assemble to-morrow, the 23d instant, at 3 o'clock p.m.,
at the east front of the Capitol, in full dress, to accompany the
remains of the late President Garfield to the Baltimore and Potomac
Railroad depot.

Commander H.L. Howison, United States Navy, is hereby appointed
adjutant, and will direct the formation of the officers of the Navy and
Marine Corps.

ED. T. NICHOLS,
_Acting Secretary of the Navy._


[From the Medical Record, New York, 1881, vol. 20, p. 364.]

OFFICIAL BULLETIN OF THE AUTOPSY ON THE BODY OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD.

The following official bulletin was prepared by the surgeons who have
been in attendance upon the late President:

By previous Arrangement a _post-mortem_ examination of the body of
President Garfield was made this afternoon in the presence and with the
assistance of Drs. Hamilton, Agnew, Bliss, Barnes, Woodward, Reyburn,
Andrew H. Smith, of Elberon, and Acting Assistant Surgeon D.S. Lamb, of
the Army Medical Museum, of Washington. The operation was performed by
Dr. Lamb. It was found that the ball, after fracturing the right
eleventh rib, had passed through the spinal column in front of the
spinal cord, fracturing the body of the first lumbar vertebra, driving a
number of small fragments of bone into the adjacent soft parts, and
lodging below the pancreas, about 2-1/2 inches to the left of the spine
and behind the peritoneum, where it had become completely encysted.

The immediate cause of death was secondary hemorrhage from one of the
mesenteric arteries adjoining the track of the ball, the blood rupturing
the peritoneum and nearly a pint escaping into the abdominal cavity.
This hemorrhage is believed to have been the cause of the severe pain in
the lower part of the chest complained of just before death. An abscess
cavity 6 inches by 4 in dimensions was found in the vicinity of the gall
bladder, between the liver and the transverse colon, which were strongly
adherent. It did not involve the substance of the liver, and no
communication was found between it and the wound.

A long suppurating channel extended from the external wound, between the
loin muscles and the right kidney, almost to the right groin. This
channel, now known to be due to the burrowing of pus from the wound, was
supposed during life to have been the track of the ball.

On an examination of the organs of the chest evidences of severe
bronchitis were found on both sides, with broncho-pneumonia of the lower
portions of the right lung, and, though to a much less extent, of the
left. The lungs contained no abscesses and the heart no clots. The liver
was enlarged and fatty, but not from abscesses. Nor were any found in
any other organ except the left kidney, which contained near its surface
a small abscess about one-third of an inch in diameter.

In reviewing the history of the case in connection with the autopsy it
is quite evident that the different suppurating surfaces, and especially
the fractured, spongy tissue of the vertebrae, furnish a sufficient
explanation of the septic condition which existed.

D.W. BLISS.
J.K. BARNES.
J.J. WOODWARD.
ROBERT REYBURN.
FRANK H. HAMILTON.
D. HAYES AGNEW.
ANDREW H. SMITH.
D.S. LAMB.


[September 20, 1881.]

FORMAL OATH OF OFFICE ADMINISTERED TO PRESIDENT ARTHUR.

President Chester A. Arthur took the formal oath of office as President
of the United States in the room of the Vice-President, in the Capitol,
Thursday, September 22, 1881, at 12.10 o'clock p.m. Chief Justice
Morrison R. Waite administered the oath prescribed by the Constitution
in the presence of the members of the Cabinet, the Justices of the
Supreme Court, ex-Presidents Grant and Hayes, General W.T. Sherman, and
a number of Senators and Representatives.

[For Inaugural Address of President Arthur see pp. 33-34.]


ACTION OF CONGRESS.

President Arthur, in his first annual message to the first session of
the Forty-seventh Congress, thus announced the death of his predecessor:

    An appalling calamity has befallen the American people since their
    chosen representatives last met in the halls where you are now
    assembled. We might else recall with unalloyed content the rare
    prosperity with which throughout the year the nation has been
    blessed. Its harvests have been plenteous; its varied industries
    have thriven; the health of its people has been preserved; it has
    maintained with foreign governments the undisturbed relations of
    amity and peace. For these manifestations of His favor we owe to Him
    who holds our destiny in His hands the tribute of our grateful
    devotion.

    To that mysterious exercise of His will which has taken from us the
    loved and illustrious citizen who was but lately the head of the
    nation we bow in sorrow and submission.

    The memory of his exalted character, of his noble achievements, and
    of his patriotic life will be treasured forever as a sacred
    possession of the whole people.

    The announcement of his death drew from foreign governments and
    peoples tributes of sympathy and sorrow which history will record as
    signal tokens of the kinship of nations and the federation of
    mankind.


The Senate on December 6, 1881, adopted the following resolution:

    _Resolved_, That a committee of six Senators be appointed on the
    part of the Senate to join such committee as may be appointed on the
    part of the House to consider and report by what token of respect
    and affection it may be proper for the Congress of the United States
    to express the deep sensibility of the nation to the event of the
    decease of the late President, James A. Garfield, and that so much
    of the message of the President as relates to that melancholy event
    be referred to said committee.

The committee on the part of the Senate, having been subsequently
increased to eight, comprised the following-named gentlemen:

John Sherman, of Ohio; George H. Pendleton, of Ohio; Henry L. Dawes, of
Massachusetts; Elbridge G. Lapham, of New York; Thomas F. Bayard, of
Delaware; John T. Morgan, of Alabama; Omar D. Conger, of Michigan, and
Joseph E. Brown, of Georgia.

The House of Representatives on December 6, 1881, passed the following
resolution:

    _Resolved_, That a committee of one member from each State
    represented in this House be appointed on the part of the House to
    join such committee as may be appointed on the part of the Senate to
    consider and report by what token of respect and affection it may be
    proper for the Congress of the United States to express the deep
    sensibility of the nation to the event of the decease of their late
    President, James Abram Garfield, and that so much of the message of
    the President as refers to that melancholy event be referred to said
    committee.

The committee on the part of the House of Representatives comprised the
following-named gentlemen:

William McKinley, Jr., of Ohio; Romualdo Pacheco, of California; James
B. Belford, of Colorado; John T. Wait, of Connecticut; William H.
Forney, of Alabama; Poindexter Dunn, of Arkansas; Edward L Martin, of
Delaware; Robert H.M. Davidson, of Florida; Alexander H. Stephens, of
Georgia; Joseph G. Cannon, of Illinois; Godlove S. Orth, of Indiana;
John A. Kasson, of Iowa; John A. Anderson, of Kansas; John G. Carlisle,
of Kentucky; Randall L. Gibson, of Louisiana; Nelson Dingley, jr., of
Maine; Robert M. McLane, of Maryland; Benjamin W. Harris, of
Massachusetts; Roswell G. Horr, of Michigan; Mark H. Dunnell, of
Minnesota; Charles E. Hooker, of Mississippi; Nicholas Ford, of
Missouri; Edward K. Valentine, of Nebraska; George W. Cassidy, of
Nevada; Joshua G. Hall, of New Hampshire; John Hill, of New Jersey;
Samuel S. Cox, of New York; Robert B. Vance, of North Carolina; Melvin
C. George, of Oregon; Charles O'Neill, of Pennsylvania; Jonathan Chace,
of Rhode Island; D. Wyatt Aiken, of South Carolina; Augustus H.
Pettibone, of Tennessee; Roger Q. Mills, of Texas; Charles H. Joyce, of
Vermont; J. Randolph Tucker, of Virginia; Benjamin Wilson, of West
Virginia, and Charles G. Williams, of Wisconsin.

The following concurrent resolutions were adopted by both Houses of
Congress on December 21, 1881:

    Whereas the melancholy event of the violent and tragic death of
    James Abram Garfield, late President of the United States, having
    occurred during the recess of Congress, and the two Houses sharing
    in the general grief and desiring to manifest their sensibility upon
    the occasion of the public bereavement: Therefore

    _Be it resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate
    concurring),_ That the two Houses of Congress will assemble in the
    Hall of the House of Representatives on a day and hour to be fixed
    and announced by the joint committee, and that in the presence of
    the two Houses there assembled an address upon the life and
    character of James Abram Garfield, late President of the United
    States, be pronounced by Hon. James G. Blaine, and that the
    President of the Senate _pro tempore_ and the Speaker of the House
    of Representatives be requested to invite the President and
    ex-Presidents of the United States, the heads of the several
    Departments, the judges of the Supreme Court, the representatives of
    the foreign governments near this Government, the governors of the
    several States, the General of the Army, and the Admiral of the
    Navy, and such officers of the Army and Navy as have received the
    thanks of Congress who may then be at the seat of Government to be
    present on the occasion.

    _And be it further resolved,_ That the President of the United
    States be requested to transmit a copy of these resolutions to Mrs.
    Lucretia R. Garfield, and to assure her of the profound sympathy of
    the two Houses of Congress for her deep personal affliction and of
    their sincere condolence for the late national bereavement.

February 1, 1882, both Houses of Congress adopted the following resolution:

    _Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring),_
    That Monday, the 27th day of February, 1882, be set apart for the
    memorial services upon the late President, James A. Garfield.

[For proclamation of President Arthur appointing, in consequence of the
death of James Abram Garfield, late President of the United States, a
day of humiliation and mourning, see p. 34.]









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