nt remain unchanged, I shall not, without an expression of the
wish of Congress that I should do so, take any action either in making
or granting requisitions for the surrender of fugitive criminals under
the treaty of 1842.

Respectfully submitted.

U.S. GRANT.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _July 8, 1876_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I have the honor to transmit herewith a report[109] from General W.T.
Sherman [J.D. Cameron, Secretary of War], together with the most
recent reports received from Brigadier-General A.H. Terry, as a response
to the resolution of the Senate of the 7th instant, a copy of which is
attached to this message.

U.S. GRANT.

[Footnote 109: Relating to hostile demonstrations of the Sioux Indians
and the disaster to the forces under General Custer.]

WASHINGTON, _July 13, 1876_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith, in answer to a resolution of the House of
Representatives of the 1st ultimo, a report[110] from the Secretary of
State upon the subject.

U.S. GRANT.

[Footnote 110: Stating that no correspondence has taken place with Great
Britain relative to the sequestration of the lands and property in New
Zealand claimed by William Webster, an American citizen.]

WASHINGTON, _July 19, 1876_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I transmit a report from the Secretary of State, in answer to the
resolution of the House of Representatives of the 1st of April last, on
the subject of commercial intercourse with Mexico and Central America.

U.S. GRANT.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _July 31, 1876_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

The act making appropriations for sundry civil expenses of the
Government for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1877, is so defective
in what it omits to provide for that I can not announce its approval
without at the same time pointing out what seems to me to be its
defects. It makes but inadequate provision for the service at best,
and in some instances fails to make any provision whatever.

Notably among the first class is the reduction in the ordinary annual
appropriations for the Revenue-Cutter Service, to the prejudice of the
customs revenue.

The same may be said of the Signal Service, as also the failure to
provide for the increased expense devolved upon the mints and assay
offices by recent legislation, and thus tending to defeat the objects of
that legislation.

Of this class also are public buildings, for the