The number of existing principal
consular offices is believed to be greater than is at all necessary
for the conduct of the public business. It need not be our policy
to maintain more than a moderate number of principal offices, each
supported by a salary sufficient to enable the incumbent to live in
comfort, and so distributed as to secure the convenient supervision,
through subordinate agencies, of affairs over a considerable district.
I repeat the recommendations heretofore made by me that the
appropriations for the maintenance of our diplomatic and consular
service should be recast; that the so-called notarial or unofficial
fees, which our representatives abroad are now permitted to treat as
personal perquisites, should be forbidden; that a system of consular
inspection should be instituted, and that a limited number of
secretaries of legation at large should be authorized.
Preparations for the centennial celebration, on April 30, 1889, of the
inauguration of George Washington as President of the United States, at
the city of New York, have been made by a voluntary organization of the
citizens of that locality, and believing that an opportunity should be
afforded for the expression of the interest felt throughout the country
in this event, I respectfully recommend fitting and cooperative action
by Congress on behalf of the people of the United States.
The report of the Secretary of the Treasury exhibits in detail the
condition of our national finances and the operations of the several
branches of the Government related to his Department.
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