which the lands are located, the title of the United States and the beneficial interest of the Indians in the lands should not be subjected to sale for the delinquency of the purchasers in paying tax assessments levied upon the lands. The effect of the provision which has been quoted would, in my opinion, give to the purchaser at a tax sale a title superior to the lien of the Government for purchase money. The bill should have contained a proviso that only the interest of the purchasers from the Government could be sold for taxes, and that the tax sale should be subject to the lien of the United States for unpaid purchase-money. EXECUTIVE MANSION, BENJ. HARRISON. July 9, 1890. RETIREMENT OF CAPT. CHARLES STIVERS. To the House of Representatives: I return herewith, without my approval, the joint resolution (H. Res. 39) declaring the retirement of Capt. Charles B. Stivers, of the U. S. Army, legal and valid, and that he is entitled, as such officer to his pay. Captain Stivers was dismissed the service summarily by order of the President on July 15, 1863. A subsequent examination into the causes leading to this action seems to have satisfied the President that an injustice had been done to the officer, and on the 11th day of August, 1863, an order was issued revoking the order of dismissal and restoring Captain Stivers to duty as an officer of the Army. On December 30, 1864, by a proper order from the War Department, after examination, Captain Stivers was placed upon the retired list of the Army. The Supreme Court has decided, in the case of the United States vs. Corson (114 U. S. Reports, 619): First. That at the time of the issuance of the order of dismissal the President had authority, under the law, to summarily dismiss an officer, and that the effect of such an order was absolutely to separate the officer from the service. Second. That having been thus separated from the service, he could not be restored except by nomination to the Senate and its advice and consent to the appointment. Mr. Garland, as Attorney-General, gave an opinion to the Secretary of War in the case of Captain Stivers, based upon the decision of the Supreme Court to which I have referred, holding that Captain 15151-15 Stivers was not an officer on the retired list of the Army. The present Attorney-General, with whom I have conferred, takes the same view of the law. Indeed, the decision of the Supreme Court to which I have referred is so exactly in point that there can be no doubt as to the law of the case. It is undoubtedly competent for Congress, by act or joint resolution, to authorize the President, by and with the advice of the Senate, to appoint Captain Stivers to be a captain in the Army of the United States, and to place him upon the retired list. It is also perfectly competent, by suitable legislation, for Congress to give to this officer the pay of his grade during the interval of time when he was improperly carried upon the Army lists. But the joint resolution which I herewith return does not attempt to deal with the case in that way. It undertakes to declare that the retirement of Captain Stivers was legal and valid, and that he always has been and is entitled to his pay as such officer. I do not think this is a competent method of giving the relief intended. The retirement, under the law as it then existed, was not legal and valid, as the highest judicial tribunal under the Constitution has declared, for the reason that Captain Stivers was not then an officer on the active list. That being so, it follows of course that he was not entitled to draw the pay of an office he did not hold. The relief should have taken the form usual in such cases, which is to authorize the appointment of the officer to a place made for him on the retired list. EXECUTIVE MANSION, September 30, 1890. BENJ. HARRISON. RELIEF OF CHARLES P. CHOUTEAU. To the Senate: I return without my approval Senate bill No. 1857, "for the relief of Charles P. Chouteau, survivor of Chouteau, Harrison and Valle." This claim has been once presented to the Court of Claims and fully heard. This bill authorizes a rehearing. I find upon examination that every fact connected with the case, necessary to the determination of the question whether the claim should be appropriated for, has already been found and stated by the Court of Claims in a published opinion. Judgment was given against the claimant upon the ground that a settlement had been made and a receipt given in full. If in the opinion of Congress, this receipt, given under the circumstances which accompanied it, should not be held a bar to such further appropriation as is equitable, all the facts have been found that can be necessary to determine the question what further payment should be made to the contractors. There can be no reason, as it seems to me, for a re-trial of the case in the Court of Claims, in the absence of any showing of newly discovered evidence. The result would only differ from the result already obtained in that under the bill which I return the court would enter a judgment instead of a finding and the judgment could only be paid after Congressional action. The finding which has already been made, as I have said, is a complete basis for any such action as Congress may think should be taken in the premises. EXECUTIVE MANSION, BENJ. HARRISON. October 1, 1890. GAMING IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. To the Senate: I return without my approval the bill (S. 3830)" to prohibit bookmaking of any kind and pool-selling in the District of Columbia for the purpose of gaming." My objection to the bill is that it does not prohibit book-making and pool-selling, but on the contrary expressly saves from the operations of its prohibitions and penalties the Washington Jockey Club "and any other regular organizations owning race tracks no less than 1 mile in length" etc. If this form of gambling is to be prohibited, as I think it should be, the penalties should include all persons and all places. BENJ. HARRISON. EXECUTIVE MANSION, October 1, 1890. RELIEF OF THE PORTLAND COMPANY. To the Senate: I return to the Senate, without my approval, the bill (S. 473) "for the relief of the Portland Company, of Portland, Maine." This bill confers upon the Court of Claims jurisdiction to inquire into and determine how much certain steam machinery, built for the United States under contract and to be used in the vessels Agawam and Pontoosuc, cost the contractors over and above the contract price and any allowances for extra work which have been made; and requires the court to enter judgment in favor of the claimant for the excess of cost above such contract price and allow ances. The bill differs from others which have been presented to me, and one of which I have approved, in that it does not make the further allowance to the contractors contingent upon the fact that the additional expense was the result of the acts of the Government, through its officers, causing delays and increased cost in the construction of the work. The bill in effect directs the court to ignore the contract entirely, except as payments under it are to be treated as credits, and to allow the contractors the cost of the work, and that without reference to their own negligence, or want of skill, in executing the work. There would seem to be no object in the Government making a contract for work if the contract is only to be binding upon the parties in the event that the contractor realizes a profit. I can not give my approval to the proposition applied here, which if allowed here should be given general application, that every contractor with the Government who, during the early days of the war failed to realize, by reason of increase in the cost of labor and materials, a profit upon the contract, shall now have access to the Court of Claims to recover upon the quantum meruit the cost of the work. BENJ. HARRISON. EXECUTIVE MANSION, October 1, 1890. PUBLIC BUILDING AT BAR HARBOR, ME. To the Senate: I return to the Senate, in which it originated, with my objections, the bill (No. 544) "to provide for the purchase of a site, and the erection of a public building thereon, at Bar Harbor, in the State of Maine." The statement of a few facts will show, I think, that the public needs do not justify the contemplated expenditure of $75,000 for the erection of a public building at Bar Harbor. Only one public office, the post-office, is to be accommodated. It appears from a report of the Postmaster-General that the rent paid by the United States for a room containing 875 square feet of floor space was, in 1888, $300, and the expenditure for fuel and lights $60. One clerk was employed in the office and no carriers. The gross postal receipts for that year were $7,000. Bar Harbor is almost wholly a summer resort. The population of the town of Eden, of which Bar Harbor forms a part, as taken by the census enumerators, was less than 2,000. During one quarter of the year this population is largely increased by summer visitors, but for the other three quarters is not much above the census enumeration. The postal receipts for 1890, by quarters, show that for more than half the year the gross receipts of the post-office are about $8 per day. The salary of a janitor for the new building would be more than twice the present cost to the Government for rent, fuel, and lights. I can not believe that upon reconsideration the Congress will approve the contemplated expenditure. EXECUTIVE MANSION, December 24, 1890. BENJ. HARRISON. RAILROAD BONDS-OKLAHOMA CITY. To the House of Representatives: I return herewith, without my approval, the bill (H. R. 12365) entitled "An act to authorize Oklahoma City, in Oklahoma Territory, to issue bonds to provide a right of way for the Choctaw Coal and Railway Company through said city." This bill authorizes the corporation of Oklahoma City to issue corporate bonds to the amount of $40,000, for the purpose of providing a right of way for a railroad company through the city, if the proposition shall receive |