from the Secretary of War of the 6th instant, and accompanying papers,
recommending the passage of an act making certain debts incurred by
soldiers a lien against their pay.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _March 10, 1882_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I herewith transmit, in response to a resolution of the House of
Representatives of the 7th ultimo, a report of the Secretary of State,
touching the arrest and imprisonment in Mexico of Thomas Shields and
two other American citizens, to which that resolution relates.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _March 10, 1882_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith, in answer to the resolution of the House of
Representatives of the 30th of January last, a report from the Secretary
of State, with accompanying paper.[7]

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

[Footnote 7: List of promotions, removals, and appointments in the
consular service since March 4, 1877.]

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _March 13, 1882_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith a communication from the president of the National
Board of Health, calling attention to the necessity for additional
legislation to prevent the introduction of contagious and infectious
diseases into the United States from foreign countries.

The subject is commended to the careful consideration of Congress.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _March 11, 1882_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I inclose herewith an amended estimate for an increase in the clerical
force of the office of the Commissioner of Pensions, which I recommend
to your consideration.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

[The same message was sent to the Senate.]

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _March 16, 1882_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit herewith a report of the Secretary of State and an
accompanying paper, in further response to the resolution of the Senate
of the 13th of December last, calling for correspondence touching
affairs in or between Peru and Chile.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _March 11, 1882_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith a communication from the Secretary of the Interior,
with accompanying papers, covering the action of the Osage Indians
declining to accede to the terms of the act of March 3, 1881, reducing
the price of their lands in Kansas.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _March 18