in mourning for a period of thirty days, and that they be closed from the morning of the 8th instant until after the obsequies of the deceased shall have been solemnized. I have the honor to be, your obedient servant, HAMILTON FISH. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, September 7, 1869. The remains of the Hon. John A. Rawlins, late Secretary of War, will be interred with military honors, under the direction of the General of the Army, on Thursday, the 9th instant, at 10 o'clock a. m. persons will officiate as pallbearers on the occasion: The following Brevet Major-General Edward D. Townsend, Adjutant-General; Brevet Major-General Randolph B. Marcy, Inspector-General; Brevet MajorGeneral Joseph Holt, Judge-Advocate-General; Brevet Major-General Montgomery C. Meigs, Quartermaster-General; Brevet Major-General Amos B. Eaton, Commissary-General; Brevet Major-General Joseph K. Barnes, Surgeon-General; Brevet Major-General B. W. Brice, PaymasterGeneral; Brevet Major-General A. A. Humphreys, Chief of Engineers; Brevet Major-General Alexander B. Dyer, Chief of Ordnance; Brevet Brigadier-General Albert J. Myer, Chief Signal Officer; Brevet MajorGeneral O. O. Howard; Brevet Major-General John E. Smith; Commodore Melancton Smith, Chief Bureau Equipment; Brigadier-General Jacob Zeilin, Marine Corps; Brigadier-General Giles A. Smith, Second Assistant Postmaster-General; Hon. Sayles J. Bowen, mayor of Washington. On the day of the funeral the customary number of guns will be fired from all arsenals, forts, and navy-yards in the United States and from the Military and Naval Academies. Flags will be kept at half-mast, customhouses closed, and all public work suspended during the day. The General of the Army and heads of the several Executive Departments will issue the orders necessary for carrying these directions into effect. By order of the President: HAMILTON FISH, Secretary of State. GENERAL ORDERS, No. 69. HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMY, ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE, I. The following order of the President has been received from the War Department: EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, October 8, 1869. The painful duty devolves upon the President of announcing to the people of the United States the death of one of his honored predecessors, Franklin Pierce, which occurred at Concord early this morning. Eminent in the public councils and universally beloved in private life, his death will be mourned with a sorrow befitting the loss which his country sustains in his decease. As a mark of respect to his memory, it is ordered that the Executive Mansion and the several Departments at Washington be draped in mourning, and all business suspended on the day of the funeral. It is further ordered that the War and Navy Departments cause suitable military and naval honors to be paid on the occasion to the memory of this illustrious citizen who has passed from us. U. S. GRANT. II. In compliance with the instructions of the President and of the Secretary of War, on the day after the receipt of this order at each military post the troops will be paraded at 10 o'clock a. m. and the order read to them, after which all labors for the day will cease. The national flag will be displayed at half-staff. At dawn of day thirteen guns will be fired, and afterwards at intervals of thirty minutes between the rising and setting sun a single gun. and at the close of the day a national salute of thirty-seven guns. The officers of the Army will wear crape on the left arm and on their swords and the colors of the several regiments will be put in mourning for the period of thirty days. By command of General Sherman: J. C. KELTON, Assistant Adjutant-General. GENERAL ORDER. NAVY DEPARTMENT, Washington, October 9, 1869. The death of ex-President Franklin Pierce is announced in the following order of the President of the United States: [For order see preceding page.] In pursuance of the foregoing order, it is hereby directed that twentyone guns be fired, at intervals of one minute each, at the several navyyards and stations, on the day of the funeral where this order may be received in time, otherwise on the day after its receipt, commencing at noon, and also on board the flagships in each fleet. The flags at the several navy-yards, naval stations, marine barracks, and vessels in commission will be placed at half-mast from sunrise to sunset on the day when the minute guns are fired. All officers of the Navy and Marine Corps wili wear the usual badge of mourning attached to the sword hilt and on the left arm for thirty days. GEO. M. ROBESON, Secretary of the Navy. BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE ORDER. WASHINGTON, October 19, 1869. All communications in writing intended for the executive department of this Government and relating to public business of whatever kind, including suggestions for legislation, claims, contracts, employment, appointments, and removals from office, and pardons, must be transmitted through the Department to which the care of the subject-matter of the communication properly belongs. Communications otherwise transmitted will not receive attention. By order of the President: HAMILTON FISH, Secretary of State. FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE. EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, D. C., December 6, 1869. To the Senate and House of Representatives: In coming before you for the first time as Chief Magistrate of this great nation, it is with gratitude to the Giver of All Good for the many benefits we enjoy. We are blessed with peace at home, and are without entangling alliances abroad to forebode trouble; with a territory unsurpassed in fertility, of an area equal to the abundant support of 500,000,000 people, and abounding in every variety of useful mineral in quantity sufficient to supply the world for generations; with exuberant crops; with a variety of climate adapted to the production of every species of earth's riches and suited to the habits, tastes, and requirements of every living thing; with a population of 40,000,000 free people, all speaking one language; with facilities for every mortal to acquire an education; with institutions closing to none the avenues to fame or any blessing of fortune that may be coveted; with freedom of the pulpit, the press, and the school; with a revenue flowing into the National Treasury beyond the requirements of the Government. Happily, harmony is being rapidly restored within our own borders. Manufactures hitherto unknown in our country are springing up in all sections, producing a degree of national independence unequaled by that of any other power. These blessings and countless others are intrusted to your care and mine for safe-keeping for the brief period of our tenure of office. In a short time we must, each of us, return to the ranks of the people, who have conferred upon us our honors, and account to them for our stewardship. I earnestly desire that neither you nor I may be condemned by a free and enlightened constituency nor by our own consciences. Emerging from a rebellion of gigantic magnitude, aided, as it was, by the sympathies and assistance of nations with which we were at peace, eleven States of the Union were, four years ago, left without legal State governments. A national debt had been contracted; American commerce was almost driven from the seas; the industry of one-half of the country had been taken from the control of the capitalist and placed where all labor rightfully belongs-in the keeping of the laborer. The work of restoring State governments loyal to the Union, of protecting and fostering free labor, and providing means for paying the interest on the public debt has received ample attention from Congress. Although your efforts have not met with the success in all particulars that might have been desired, yet on the whole they have been more successful than could have been reasonably anticipated. Seven States which passed ordinances of secession have been fully restored to their places in the Union. The eighth (Georgia) held an election at which she ratified her constitution, republican in form, elected a governor, Members of Congress, a State legislature, and all other officers required. The governor was duly installed, and the legislature met and performed all the acts then required of them by the reconstruction acts of Congress. Subsequently, however, in violation of the constitution which they had just ratified (as since decided by the supreme court of the State), they unseated the colored members of the legislature and admitted to seats some members who are disqualified by the third clause of the fourteenth amendment to the Constitution-an article which they themselves had contributed to ratify. Under these circumstances I would submit to you whether it would not be wise, without delay, to enact a law authorizing the governor of Georgia to convene the members originally elected to the legislature, requiring each member to take the oath prescribed by the reconstruction acts, and none to be admitted who are ineligible under the third clause of the fourteenth amendment. The freedmen, under the protection which they have received, are making rapid progress in learning, and no complaints are heard of lack of industry on their part where they receive fair remuneration for their labor. The means provided for paying the interest on the public debt, with all other expenses of Government, are more than ample. The loss of our commerce is the only result of the late rebellion which has not received sufficient attention from you. To this subject I call your earnest |