stating that the revenue steamer built at the yard of the Pusey & Jones Com pany, Wilmington, Del., for the United States of Colombia, is now ready for and awaiting inspection, as desired by that Government, by an officer of the United States Navy, before the formal acceptance of the steamer by Colombia.

I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant,

Hon. WILLIAM E. CHANDLER,

Secretary of the Navy.

JOHN DAVIS,

Acting Secretary.

NEW YORK, January 4, 1884.

SIR: I beg to refer to your esteemed favor of November 17th ultimo, also to my reply thereto of the following day's date, and to advise you that the revenue steamer built at the yard of the Pusey & Jones Company, Wilmington, Del., for the Government of the United States of Colombia, is now ready for and awaiting inspection by an officer of the United States Navy detailed for that purpose by request of the said Government of the United States of Colombia made through your Department.

I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant,

Hon. FREDERICK T. FRELINGHUYSEN,

M. CAMACHO ROLDAN, Per J. N. VAN SICKEL.

Secretary of State, Washington, D. C.

NAVY DEPARTMENT, Washington, D. C., January 10, 1884.

SIR: Application having been made by the Government of the United States of Colombia that a steam revenue cutter built by the Pusey & Jones Company, of Wilmington, Del., may be inspected by a United States naval officer for the purpose of determining whether the specifications and the contract between the company and the Government have been carried out, and whether the vessel is likely to fulfill the conditions required of her as a revenue cutter, you have been selected for that duty.

The Department having been notified that the steamer has been completed and is now awaiting inspection by an officer of the United States Navy, you will proceed without delay to New York and put yourself in communication with Señor M. Camacho Roldan, 87 Wall street (P. O. box 1609), and arrange with him the time for making the necessary steam trials and examinations.

From New York you will proceed to Wilmington, Del., and having acquainted the Pusey & Jones Company with the tenor of your instructions, and having received authority from them, make careful examinations of the steam vessel built under contract with the Government of the United States of Colombia, a copy of which is contained in the Diario Oficial, published in Bogota May 19, 1883, herewith inclosed.

After having thoroughly examined the above-mentioned steamer, under way and at the dock, you will report to this Department whether or not the steamer fulfills the terms of the specifications and contract, and whether or not the vessel is likely to prove efficient in the service for which she is intended.

Should you find that the terms of the contract have not been carried out, you will so inform the Department, stating wherein the specifications have not been complied with.

Be pleased to return to the Department the inclosed copy of the Diario Oficial when you shall have finished the examination of the steamer.

Upon the completion of this duty return to your home and await orders. This employment on shore duty is required by the public interests, and such service will continue until February 10, 1884, unless it is otherwise ordered. Very respectfully,

W. E. CHANDLER,

Secretary of the Navy.

Washington, D. C.

Commander J. W. PHILIP, U. S. N.,

NAVY DEPARTMENT, Washington, January 17, 1884.

SIR: I have the honor to inclose herewith, in connection with your letter of the 7th instant, notifying this Department "that the revenue steamer built at the yard of the Pusey & Jones Company, Wilmington, Del., for the United States of Colombia, is now ready for and awaiting inspection," a copy of an order to Commander J. W. Philip, U. S. N., and a copy of his report upon the inspection of the steamer Boyaca, built by the Pusey & Jones Company, Wilmington, Del., for the Government of the United States of Colombia. I also inclose, as requested in your letter of the 5th November last, the copy of the Diario Oficial, published in Bogota, forwarded therewith.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

WM. E. CHANDLER,

Secretary of the Navy.

Secretary of State.

Hon. FREDERICK T. FRELINGHUYSEN,

NEW YORK, January 16, 1884.

SIR: In obedience to your order of January 10 I have carefully examined the steamer Boyaca, built by the Pusey & Jones Company, of Wilmington, Del., for the Government of the United States of Colombia, and respectfully submit the following report:

The steamer was in the water, coaled and provisioned, and about ready for her sea voyage, consequently I could not make that examination of her under-water portion-viz, stem, sternpost, rudderpost, rudder, sheathing, etc.-that the specifications called for, but all parts of the vessel attainable were carefully examined and measured and found to be in strict accordance with the specifications and very neatly and well constructed.

Owing to ice in river and creek, it was impracticable to get the vessel under way, Señor Rolden agreeing with me that it would be best to dispense with that part of the examination.

Adock trial" was had, when the engines ran very smoothly, noiselessly, and with but little vibration, thus showing evidences of careful construction from good material with promises of giving entire satisfaction. In examining and measuring about the vessel, if discrepancies exist they are in favor of the steamer-for instance, both anchors and chains are larger and heavier than the specifications call for, and the boats are lifeboats instead of the ordinary yard-built cutters.

On questioning the captain and chief engineer, they told me that, so far as they were able to judge, the best of material had been used in the construction of the hull and engines and that the company (Pusey & Jones) had been most liberal in the supply of stores and supplies, both in regard to quantity and quality.

After the above examinations I am able to report that the steamer Boyaca fulfills the terms of the specifications and contract, and I am of the opinion that she will prove most efficient in the service for which she is intended.

I return herewith the copy of the Diario Oficial.

Hoping my report will meet with the approval of the Department, I remain, sir, very respectfully,

Hon. W. E. CHANDLER,

JNO. W. PHILIP, Commander, United States Navy.

Secretary of the Navy.

March 3, 1886.

[Senate Report No. 186.]

Mr. Brown, from the Committee on Foreign Relations, submitted the following report:

In the matter of the medal tendered by the Chilean Government to Capt. D. W. Mullan, of the United States Navy, your committee submit the following report:

During the late war between the Governments of Chile and Peru

Captain Mullan, then a lieutenant in the United States Navy off the coast of Chile, was sent by Commander J. A. Howell, of the Navy, then in command of the U. S. S. Adams, to visit the headquarters of the Chilean army and request that he be permitted to accompany the staff of the Army during the operations near Lima. The request was granted by the Chilean Government, and Lieutenant Mullan observed the operations of the Chilean army during two or three important battles.

On the 14th of October, 1885, the minister of war of the Chilean Government addressed a letter to W. R. Roberts, then representing the United States Government near the Government of Chile, conveying to him a medal for Captain Mullan, which the minister of war says is intended in the character of simply a memento, and not as a military recompense, etc.

From the whole case it appears that Captain Mullan was detailed by authority of our own Government to visit and remain for the time at the headquarters of the Chilean army to observe its military operations. In that capacity he had no right to render any service to the Chilean Government or to take any part whatever in the military operations then being conducted. He was simply there, by the courtesy of that Government, to observe its military operations. It is not pretended that he rendered any service to the Chilean Government or that he did anything to the detriment of the Peruvian Government, and it seems that the medal is intended simply as a memento of what he saw at the battles which were fought while he was at the headquarters of the Chilean army.

While your committee are of the opinion that Congress should authorize the acceptance by American officers of medals or decorations or other presents, where they were in condition properly to render and did render important services to a foreign government, or perform acts of gallantry or humanity which in the opinion of the foreign government entitled them to marked consideration, your committee think that this practice is carried too far, and that Congress should not as a matter of course, without regard to the merits of the case, pass an act authorizing every officer of the United States to whom a decoration or medal may be tendered by a foreign government to accept.

In this case your committee do not see from an examination of the papers that any important service was rendered to the Chilean Government or any act of humanity performed which would entitle Captain Mullan to any special consideration at the hands of the Government of Chile. They are therefore of the opinion that no act of Congress should be passed authorizing the acceptance of the medal above referred to.

March 3, 1886.

[Senate Report No. 187.J

Mr. Brown, from the Committee on Foreign Relations, submitted the following report:

This is an application made to the State Department by Mr. E. J. Smithers, chargé d'affaires ad interim at Perkin, informing the State Department that Li Hung Chang, viceroy of China, has informed him. that His Imperial Majesty the Emperor of China has conferred upon

Lieut. D. Pratt Mannix, of the United States Marine Corps, the decoration of the third class of the Double Dragon, on account of distinguished services rendered by him to China as torpedo instructor. The viceroy states that he displayed the utmost ability, and that all the soldiers under his tuition have become proficient, which has been a service of great satisfaction to the viceroy.

As this was a service rendered the Emperor of China by a citizen of the United States, which was eminently satisfactory to His Majesty, and as the Secretary of State of the United States joins in the recommendation that he be permitted to accept the decoration tendered by the Emperor, your committee report the accompanying joint resolution and recommend that it do pass.

March 17, 1886.

[Senate Report No. 237.]

Mr. Frye, from the Committee on Foreign Relations, submitted the following report:

The Committee on Foreign Relations, to whom was referred the application of Augustus J. Cassard to be permitted to accept a gold medal conferred on him by the Government of France, submit the following report:

An examination of the facts in this case, as appears from the communications of the Secretary of State, shows that for eight months prior to February, 1881, Mr. Cassard, our consul at Tampico, rendered valuable services to the French Government by taking charge of its consular archives and interests, there being during that period no French consul in that district. For this service Mr. Cassard could receive no compensation, and therefore the French Government desired to present a medal as a mark of its appreciation therefor. A gold medal has been prepared by the French Government and forwarded through the proper diplomatic channels, but as it can not be delivered to or accepted by Mr. Cassard without the permission of Congress, your committee present the joint resolution accompanying this report and recommend its passage.

June 5, 1886.

[Senate Report No. 1280.]

Mr. Sherman, from the Committee on Foreign Relations, submitted the following report:

The Committee on Foreign Relations, to whom was referred the message of the President relating to the acceptance and inauguration of the colossal statue of Liberty Enlightening the World, having considered the same, beg leave to report herewith an amendment intended to be proposed to the bill making appropriations for sundry civil expenses of the Government, providing for an appropriation of $106,100, to be used as recommended in the message of the President cited, which they ask may be referred to the Committee on Appropriations, with accompanying documents.

[Message from the President of the United States, relating to the acceptance and inauguration of the colossal statue of Liberty Enlightening the World.]

To the Senate and House of Representatives:

By a joint resolution of Congress approved March 3, 1877, the President was authorized and directed to accept the colossal statue of Liberty Enlightening the World when presented by the citizens of the French Republic, and to designate and set apart for the erection thereof a suitable site upon either Governors or Bedloes Island, in the harbor of New York, and upon the completion thereof to cause the statue "to be inaugurated with such ceremonies as will serve to testify the gratitude of our people for this expressive and felicitous memorial of the sympathy of the citizens of our sister Republic."

The President was further thereby "authorized to cause suitable regulations to be made for its future maintenance as a beacon, and for the permanent care and preservation thereof as a monument of art and the continued good will of the great nation which aided us in our struggle for freedom."

Under the authority of this resolution, on the 4th day of July, 1884, the minister of the United States to the French Republic, by direction of the President of the United States, accepted the statue and received a deed of presentation from the Franco-American Union, which is now preserved in the archives of the Department of State.

I now transmit to Congress a letter to the Secretary of State from Joseph W. Drexel, esq., chairman of the executive committee of "the American committee on the pedestal of the great statue of Liberty Enlightening the World,'" dated the 27th of April, 1886, suggesting the propriety of the further execution by the President of the joint resolution referred to, by prescribing the ceremonies of inauguration to be observed upon the complete erection of the statue upon its site on Bedloes Island, in the harbor of New York.

Thursday, the 3d of September, being the anniversary of the signing of the treaty of peace at Paris by which the Independence of these United States was recognized and secured, has been suggested by this committee, under whose auspices and agency the pedestal for the statue has been constructed, as an appropriate day for the ceremonies of inauguration.

The international character which has been impressed upon this work by the joint resolution of 1877 makes it incumbent upon Congress to provide means to carry their resolution into effect. Therefore I recommend the appropriation of such sum of money as in the judgment of Congress shall be deemed adequate and proper to defray the cost of the inauguration of this statue.

I have been informed by the committee that certain expenses have been incurred in the care and custody of the statue since it was deposited on Bedloes Island, and the phraseology of the joint resolution providing for "the permanent care and preservation thereof as a monument of art" would seem to include the payment by the United States of the expense so incurred since the reception of the statue in this country.

The action of the French Government and people in relation to the presentation of this statue to the United States will, I hope, meet with hearty and responsive action upon the part of Congress, in which the Executive will be most happy to cooperate.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, May 11, 1886.

GROVER CLEveland.

To the President:

I transmit to you herewith a letter dated April 27, 1886, addressed to this Department by Joseph W. Drexel, esq., chairman of the executive committee of "the American committee on the pedestal of the great statue of Liberty Enlightening the World.' Mr. Drexel's letter, after referring to the joint resolution of Congress approved March 3, 1877, in accordance with which the statue was accepted by this Government, suggests the propriety of taking measures for its proper inauguration upon its completion, and asks for the payment of certain expenses incurred in taking care of the statue.

I recommend that the subject be submitted to Congress for its consideration. Respectfully submitted.

DEPARTMENT OF STATE,

T. F. BAYARD.

Washington, May 7, 1886.