pective departments and
their necessary independence, and also the need for the exercise of all
the power intrusted to each in that spirit of comity and cooperation
which is essential to the proper fulfillment of the patriotic
obligations which rest upon us as faithful servants of the people.

The jealous watchfulness of our constituencies, great and small,
supplements their suffrages, and before the tribunal they establish
every public servant should be judged.

It is gratifying to announce that the relations of the United States
with all foreign powers continue to be friendly. Our position after
nearly a century of successful constitutional government, maintenance of
good faith in all our engagements, the avoidance of complications with
other nations, and our consistent and amicable attitude toward the
strong and weak alike furnish proof of a political disposition which
renders professions of good will unnecessary. There are no questions of
difficulty pending with any foreign government.

The Argentine Government has revived the long dormant question of the
Falkland Islands by claiming from the United States indemnity for their
loss, attributed to the action of the commander of the sloop of war
_Lexington_ in breaking up a piratical colony on those islands in
1831, and their subsequent occupation by Great Britain. In view of the
ample justification for the act of the _Lexington_ and the derelict
condition of the islands before and after their alleged occupation by
Argentine colonists, this Government considers the claim as wholly
groundless.

Question has arisen with the Government of Austria-Hungary touching
the representation of the United States at Vienna. Having under my
constitutional prerogative appointed an estimable citizen of unimpeached
probity and competence as minister at that court, the Government of
Austria-Hungary invited this Government to take cognizance of certain
exceptions, based upon allegations against the personal acceptability
of Mr. Keiley, the appointed envoy, asking that in view thereof the
appointment should be withdrawn. The reasons advanced were such as
could not be acquiesced in without violation of my oath of office
and the precepts of the Constitution, since they necessarily involved a
limitation in favor of a foreign government upon the right of selection
by the Executive and required such an application of a religious test
as a qualification for office under the United States as