d increasing business of the Government has been transacted
by the several Departments during the year with faithfulness, energy,
and success.

The revenues, amounting to above $450,000,000, have been collected and
disbursed without revealing, so far as I can ascertain, a single case
of defalcation or embezzlement. An earnest effort has been made to
stimulate a sense of responsibility and public duty in all officers and
employees of every grade, and the work done by them has almost wholly
escaped unfavorable criticism. I speak of these matters with freedom
because the credit of this good work is not mine, but is shared by
the heads of the several Departments with the great body of faithful
officers and employees who serve under them. The closest scrutiny of
Congress is invited to all the methods of administration and to every
item of expenditure.

The friendly relations of our country with the nations of Europe and of
the East have been undisturbed, while the ties of good will and common
interest that bind us to the States of the Western Hemisphere have been
notably strengthened by the conference held in this capital to consider
measures for the general welfare. Pursuant to the invitation authorized
by Congress, the representatives of every independent State of the
American continent and of Hayti met in conference in this capital in
October, 1889, and continued in session until the 19th of last April.
This important convocation marks a most interesting and influential
epoch in the history of the Western Hemisphere. It is noteworthy that
Brazil, invited while under an imperial form of government, shared
as a republic in the deliberations and results of the conference. The
recommendations of this conference were all transmitted to Congress
at the last session.

The International Marine Conference, which sat at Washington last
winter, reached a very gratifying result. The regulations suggested have
been brought to the attention of all the Governments represented, and
their general adoption is confidently expected. The legislation of
Congress at the last session is in conformity with the propositions of
the conference, and the proclamation therein provided for will be issued
when the other powers have given notice of their adhesion.

The Conference of Brussels, to devise means for suppressing the slave
trade in Africa, afforded an opportunity for a new expression of the
interest the American people feel in that great wo