y the Senate and
House of Representatives in the Hall of the House of Representatives,
and a reception in the evening at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in honor
of the Governors of the States and Territories.

In our great prosperity we must guard against the danger it invites of
extravagance in Government expenditures and appropriations; and the
chosen representatives of the people will, I doubt not, furnish an
example in their legislation of that wise economy which in a season of
plenty husbands for the future. In this era of great business activity
and opportunity caution is not untimely. It will not abate, but
strengthen, confidence. It will not retard, but promote, legitimate
industrial and commercial expansion. Our growing power brings with it
temptations and perils requiring constant vigilance to avoid. It must
not be used to invite conflicts, nor for oppression, but for the more
effective maintenance of those principles of equality and justice upon
which our institutions and happiness depend. Let us keep always in mind
that the foundation of our Government is liberty; its superstructure
peace.

WILLIAM McKINLEY.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, December 4, 1900_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith, for the information of Congress, copy of a letter
from the Commissioner-General of the United States to the Paris
Exposition of 1900, of November 17, 1900, giving a detailed statement of
the expenditures of the commission for the year ended November 15, 1900.

WILLIAM McKINLEY.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, December 6, 1900_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith the report from the Secretary of State and
accompanying papers relating to the claim against the United States of
the Russian subject, Gustav Isak Dahlberg, master and principal owner of
the Russian bark _Hans_, based on his wrongful and illegal arrest
and imprisonment by officers of the United States District Court for the
southern district of Mississippi, and, in view of the opinion expressed
by the Department of Justice that the said arrest and detention of the
complainant were wrongful and without the authority of law, I recommend
the appropriation by Congress of the sum of $5,000 to reimburse the
master and owners of the vessel for all losses and damages incurred by
reason of his said wrongful and illegal arrest and detention.

WILLIAM McKINLEY.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _