To the House of Representatives: EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, January 20, 1896. In response to the resolution of the House of Representatives of December 28, 1895, I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State and accompanying papers, relating to certain speeches made by Thomas F. Bayard, ambassador of the United States to Great Britain. In response to that part of said resolution which requests information as to the action taken by the President concerning the speeches therein referred to, I reply that no action has been taken thereon by the President except such as is indicated in the report and correspondence herewith submitted. GROVER CLEVELAND. To the House of Representatives: EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, January 22, 1896. I transmit herewith, in compliance with the resolution of the House of Representatives of December 28, 1895, a report from the Secretary of State, with copies of all the correspondence of record in the Department of State in relation to the schooner Henry Crosby, fired upon while at anchor at Azua, Santo Domingo, December 10, 1893. GROVER CLEVELAND. EXECUTIVE MANSION, January 22, 1896. To the Senate of the United States: In response to the resolution adopted by the Senate on December 16, 1895, respecting what action had been taken in regard to the payment of the appropriation for the bounty on sugar contained in the sundry civil bill approved March 2, 1895, I herewith transmit a communication received from the Secretary of the Treasury, which contains all the information I have upon the subject. GROVER CLEVELAND. To the Senate: EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, January 23, 1896. I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State, in answer to a resolution of the Senate of the 16th instant, requesting information in regard to the treatment of naturalized citizens of the United States of Armenian origin, and their families, by the Turkish Government. GROVER CLEVELAND. To the House of Representatives: EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, January 27, 1896. I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State, with copies of all correspondence of record relating to the failure of the scheme for the colonization of negroes in Mexico, necessitating their return to their home in Alabama. I referred to this matter in my message to Congress at the beginning of the present session, and for the reasons then given* I again urge the propriety of making an appropriation to cover the cost of transportation furnished by the railroad companies. GROVER CLEVELAND. To the House of Representatives: EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, January 30, 1896. I transmit herewith a communication from the Secretary of State, accompanying the reports of the consuls of the United States on trade and commerce. In view of the evident value of this compilation to our business interests, I indorse the recommendation of the Secretary that Congress authorize the printing of a special edition of 10,000 copies of the General Summary of the Commerce of the World for distribution by the Department of State, and of 2,500 copies of Commercial Relations (including this summary) to enable the Department to meet the increasing demand for commercial information. GROVER CLEVELAND. To the Congress: EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, February 3, 1896. In my last annual message allusion was made to the lawless killing of certain Italian laborers in the State of Colorado,† and it was added that "the dependent families of some of the unfortunate victims invite by their deplorable condition gracious provision for their needs." It now appears that in addition to three of these laborers who were riotously killed two others, who escaped death by flight, incurred pitiable disabilities through exposure and privation. Without discussing the question of the liability of the United States for these results, either by reason of treaty obligations or under the general rules of international law, I venture to urge upon the Congress the propriety of making from the public Treasury prompt and reasonable pecuniary provision for those injured and for the families of those who were killed. To aid in the consideration of the subject I append hereto a report of the Secretary of State, accompanied by certain correspondence which quite fully presents all the features of the several cases. GROVER CLEVELAND. To the House of Representatives: Pursuant to the request made in a House resolution passed on the 30th day of January, 1896, I herewith transmit the report, with accompanying maps and exhibits, of the board of engineers under the provisions of chapter 189 of laws of 1895, for the purpose of ascertaining the feasibility, permanence, and cost of the construction and completion of the Nicaragua Canal by the route contemplated and provided for by the act which passed the Senate January 28, 1895, entitled "An act to amend an act entitled 'An act to incorporate the Maritime Canal Company of Nicaragua,' approved February 20, 1889." FEBRUARY 7, 1896. GROVER CLEVELAND. To the Senate of the United States: EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, February 10, 1896. I transmit herewith, in answer to the resolution of the Senate of December 18, 1895, a report by the Secretary of State, accompanied by copies of correspondence touching the establishment or attempted establishment of post routes by Great Britain or the Dominion of Canada over or upon United States territory in Alaska; also as to the occupation or attempted occupation by any means of any portion of that territory by the military or civil authorities of Great Britain or of Canada. GROVER CLEVELAND. To the Senate: EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, February 10, 1896. I transmit herewith, for the consideration of the Senate with a view to its ratification, a convention signed at Washington the 8th instant between the Governments of the United States of America and of Her Britannic Majesty, providing for the settlement of the claims presented by Great Britain against the United States in virtue of the convention of February 29, 1892, and of the findings of the Paris Tribunal of Arbitration pursuant to article 8 of said convention, as well as of the additional claims specified in paragraph 5 of the preamble of the present convention. GROVER CLEVELAND. To the Senate of the United States: EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, February 11, 1896. I transmit herewith, in answer to the resolution of the Senate of December 9, 1895, a report from the Secretary of State, accompanied by copies of correspondence and other papers in regard to the case of John L. Waller, a citizen of the United States, at present in the custody of the French Government. It will be seen upon examination, as would of course be expected, that there is a slight conflict of evidence upon some of the features of Mr. Waller's case. Nevertheless, upon a fair and just consideration of all the facts and circumstances as presented, and especially in view of Mr. Waller's own letters, the conclusions set forth in the report of the Secretary of State do not appear to admit of any reasonable doubt nor to leave open to the Executive any other course of action than that adopted and acted upon as therein stated. It is expected that Mr. Waller's release from imprisonment will be immediately forthcoming. GROVER CLEVELAND. [A similar message was sent to the House of Representatives in answer to a resolution of that body of December 28, 1895.] To the House of Representatives: EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, February 11, 1896. In response to the resolution of the House of Representatives of December 28 last, as follows— Resolved, That the Secretary of State be directed to communicate to the House of Representatives, if not inconsistent with the public interests, copies of all correspondence relating to affairs in Cuba since February last I transmit herewith a communication from the Secretary of State and such portions of the correspondence requested as I deem it not inconsistent with the public interests to communicate. To the Senate: GROVER CLEVELAND. EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, February 14, 1896. In response to the resolution of the Senate of January 7, 1896, I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State, with an accompanying report of the special agent of the United States sent to the Fiji Islands to investigate the claims of B. H. Henry and other American citizens for compensation for certain lands alleged to have been owned by them and claimed to have been appropriated by the British Government. GROVER CLEVELAND. To the Senate of the United States: EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, February 14, 1896. I transmit, with the accompanying papers, a report from the Secretary of State, answering the resolution of the Senate of January 16, 1896, addressed to him, calling for information concerning the claims against Peru of Thomas W. Sparrow, N. B. Noland, and others, members of the commission known as the Hydrographic Commission of the Amazon, employed by the Government of Peru, for compensation for their services on said commission. GROVER CLEVELAND. EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, February 14, 1896. To the Senate and House of Representatives: I transmit herewith, for the information of Congress, a communication from the Secretary of State, covering the report of the Director of the Bureau of the American Republics for the year 1895. To the House of Representatives: GROVER CLEVELAND. EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, February 17, 1896. I transmit herewith, in compliance with the resolution of the House of Representatives of February 1, 1896, a report from the Secretary of State, with copies of the correspondence of record in the Department of State in relation to the exclusion of life-insurance companies of the United States from transacting business in Germany. GROVER CLEVELAND. EXECUTIVE MANSION, February 18, 1896. To the House of Representatives: In compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives, the Senate concurring, I return herewith Senate bill 879, entitled "An act to amend an act entitled 'An act to grant to the Gainesville, McAlester and St. Louis Railroad Company a right of way through the Indian Territory.'"' GROVER CLEVELAND. To the Senate: EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, February 28, 1896. I transmit herewith, in response to the resolutions of the Senate of the 18th and 19th instant, a report of the Secretary of State, in regard to the claim of A. H. Lazare against the Government of Hayti. GROVER CLEVELAND, |