The President was able to present, in his annual message to Congress
on the 4th of December, 1882, a very favorable statement of the
condition of the United States during the preceding year. He
recalled the attention of Congress to the recommendation in his
previous message on the importance of relieving the industry and
enterprise of the country from the pressure of unnecessary taxation,
and to the fact that the public revenues had far exceeded the
expenditures, and, unless checked by appropriate legislation, such
excess would continue to increase from year to year. The surplus
revenue for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1881, amounted to
$100,000,000, and for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1882, it
amounted to more than $145,000,000. This was applied to the payment
of the public debt. He renewed the expression of his conviction
that such rapid extinguishment of the national indebtedness as was
taking place was by no means a cause for congratulation, but rather
for serious apprehension. He therefore urged upon Congress the
policy of diminishing the revenue by reducing taxation. He then
stated at length his opinion of the reductions that ought to be
made. He felt justified in recommending the abolition of all
internal taxes except those upon tobacco in its various forms, and
upon distilled spirits and fermented liquors. The message was a
clear and comprehensive statement of the existing tariff system,
and the unequal distribution of both its burdens and its benefits.
He called attention to the creation of the tariff commission, and
to the report of that commission as to the condition and prospects
of the various commercial, manufacturing, agricultural, mining and
other interests of the country, and recommended an enlargement of
the free list, so as to include within it numerous articles which
yielded inconsiderable revenue, a simplification of the complex
and inconsistent schedule of duties upon certain manufactures,
particularly those of cotton, iron and steel, and a substantial
reduction of the duties upon those and various other articles.
The subsequent action of Congress did not, in my opinion, conform
to this, in some respects, wise recommendation of the President.
In his closing paragraph he stated:

"The closing year has been replete with blessings for which we owe
to the Giver of all good our reverent acknowledgment. For the
uninterrupted harmony of our foreign relations, for the decay of
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