A COMPILATION OF THE MESSAGES AND PAPERS OF THE PRESIDENTS

BY JAMES D. RICHARDSON

A REPRESENTATIVE FROM THE STATE OF TENNESSEE


VOLUME I



1897




Prefatory Note


In compliance with the authorization of the Joint Committee on Printing,
I have undertaken this compilation.

The messages of the several Presidents of the United States--annual,
veto, and special--are among the most interesting, instructive, and
valuable contributions to the public literature of our Republic. They
discuss from the loftiest standpoint nearly all the great questions of
national policy and many subjects of minor interest which have engaged
the attention of the people from the beginning of our history, and
so constitute important and often vital links in their progressive
development. The proclamations, also, contain matter and sentiment no