THE ANNUAL MESSAGE-PROSPERITY.

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retary Blaine in his note to Mr. Lowell, our Minister to CHAP Great Britain. The Message says: "My lamented pre- LXIX. decessor felt it his duty to place before the European 1881. powers the reasons which make the prior guarantee of the United States indispensable, and for which the interjection of any foreign guarantee might be regarded as a superfluous and unfriendly act." "I have not hesitated to supplement the action of my predecessor by proposing to her Majesty's Government the modification of that instrument (the Clayton-Bulwer treaty, 1850), and the abrogation of such clauses thereof as do not comport with the obligations of the United States toward Colombia, or with the vital needs of the two friendly parties to the compact."

On Civil Service Reform the Message says: "Original appointments should be based upon ascertained fitness. The tenure of office should be stable. Positions of responsibility should so far as practicable be filled by the promotion of worthy and efficient officers." On the Indian question he recommended that lands or homesteads should be allotted in severalty to such Indians as desire it to induce them to become civilized; he also urged that liberal appropriations be made to support schools for Indian children.

All the members of Garfield's Cabinet, except Sec. Lincoln, resigned. The new officers were: F. T. Frelinghuysen of N. J., Secretary of State; C. T. Folger of N. Y., Treasury; Wm. E. Chandler of Vt., Navy; Henry M. Teller of Col., Interior; T. O. Howe of Wis., Postmaster-General; Benj. H. Brewster of Penn., AttorneyGeneral.

The country continued to advance in its prosperity during the whole of the year 1881. The income from Internal Revenue was unprecedentedly large, owing to our industrial progress, and the consequent increase of general business throughout the country, as well as that

The sur

CHAP. derived from duties on imported merchandise. LXIX. plus of these importations has been very largely of arti 1881. cles of luxury, such as textile fabrics of an unusually

expensive character; works of art of almost every variety, evincing a tendency in those having the means to gratify their taste in the adornments of persons or of dwellings. These heavy importations of luxuries must aid in turning the balance of trade against us, seeing that our exports may not be hereafter so large as for the last few years, when the crops of Europe were comparatively short. Financial prudence takes alarm at this unusual expenditure.'

The last six months of the year paid off more than $75,000,000 of the national debt, which on Jan. 1, 1882, was in round numbers about $1,703,000,000.

The American people have taken an interest in explorations, not only in the Antarctic Ocean, but also in the Arctic, in efforts to reach the North Pole. After Dr. Kane's return from his unsuccessful attempt to rescue Sir John Franklin, Dr. Isaac J. Hayes, who accompanied him in capacity of surgeon, organized an expedition to explore what he believed to be an open sea around the Pole. This theory is held by many, though it has not yet been verified; thus far the discoveries made do not prove its fallacy. Dr. Hayes was aided by private sub1860. scriptions; he sailed from Boston direct for the west July 6. coast of Greenland, arriving at Upernavik (74° north) in that country on the 12th of August. His picked crew consisted of only fourteen men, but here he obtained a few more. He sailed again, expecting to reach a point about 79° or 80° north, but was frozen in in latitude 78°. By means of sledges and with much toil he reached GrinMay nell Land, 81° 35′ north lat. and west long. 70° 30′, beyond which further progress was impeded on account of rotten ice and cracks. This was the most northerly point

Aug.

20.

1861.

11.

1 Hist. p. 1059.

Hist. pp. 742, 841.

ARCTIC EXPEDITIONS.

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LXIX.

thus far reached. From a high peak of land in the vicin- CHAP ity Dr. Hayes saw what he believed to be the open sea surrounding the Pole, but still further north appeared 1861. other high land.

Captain Charles F. Hall, a practical whaleman who became interested in the subject, set out on an exploration from New London, Conn., in 1860 in a whale-ship; unfortunately losing his boat he was compelled to return without accomplishing his purpose. Nothing daunted, 1864. he organized another expedition and sailed for the Arctic regions in 1864. He penetrated north of Hudson's Bay, and brought home many relics of Sir John Franklin and much important information. Captain Hall spent five years among the Esquimaux; learning their language and obtaining a knowledge of their customs; he returned to the United States in 1869. He now received aid from Congress and again sailed in the schooner Polaris, 400 1871. tons burden. He reached 81° 38' north, but impeded by ice he made a sledge expedition, and reached 82° 16' -about 502 statute miles from the Pole; he returned to the ship, where soon after he was taken ill and suddenly died. Captain Tyson of Hall's crew with eighteen others became separated from the latter, when suddenly the ice on which they were, separated from the main field and they were carried away; thus they floated, in different directions, about two thousand miles, and were finally rescued by the British steamship Tigress.

Lieutenant Frederick Schwatka, of the United States Army, left New York in the ship Eothen. This expedi- 1878. tion was fitted out by private subscription, the main ob- June ject being to ascertain more fully in respect to the fate of Sir John Franklin. It was very successful.

A recent expedition (1879) under the command of Lieutenant De Long was fitted out by the munificence of James Gordon Bennett of New York City. De Long, in a staunch steam vessel, the Jeannette, chose the new

19.

LXIX.

CHAP. route through Behring Straits; all the others passed up either the west side of Greenland or the west side of 1881. Norway. When fairly through the Straits the Jeannette headed toward the Pole, but when in the latitude of about 71° was caught in the ice near an island since known as Herald Island, and thence held fast; she floated helplessly twenty-one months in a north-westerly direction, until finally crushed by the ice in latitude about 77,° and near west longitude 160° from Greenwich. The crew took to the boats, and a portion of them reached land at the mouth of the river Lena in the Russian Empire. George W. Melville, engineer of the expedition, one of the survivors, heroically returned with well-equipped forces, found and buried the bodies of De Long and his companions (April 7, 1882), and secured the records.

Prof. Nordenskjöld, sailing from Tromsoë in Norway on the Atlantic, passed round to the east and reached. Behring Straits in the Pacific, thus accomplishing the long sought for "North-east Passage"(1878-9).

Meanwhile, expeditions had been fitted out in Europe-from Germany, Austria, Denmark, Norway, France and England. The English Lieut. Aldrich, under Commandant Nares in 1876, reached the nearest point to the Pole, 83° 07' N., and Commander Markham of the same expedition attained to 83° 20' 26" N.

These explorations have assumed an international character. The plan proposed is for each government at some convenient point to establish depots for provisions and suitable materials for making repairs. Parties can avail themselves of these as starting points, and fall back upon them when necessity requires. The United States government has already two such stations; one at Point Barrow and one at Lady Franklin Bay-north of Smith Sound-about 81° 30' north and 50° west longitude. The latter is the most northerly point ever inhabited for a length of time; it being about 588 statute miles from the Pole.