ne 30, 1894, is
$165,000,000. The Commissioner of Pensions believes that if the present
legislation and methods are maintained and further additions to the
pension laws are not made the maximum expenditure for pensions will be
reached June 30, 1894, and will be at the highest point $188,000,000
per annum.

I adhere to the views expressed in previous messages that the care
of the disabled soldiers of the War of the Rebellion is a matter of
national concern and duty. Perhaps no emotion cools sooner than that
of gratitude, but I can not believe that this process has yet reached
a point with our people that would sustain the policy of remitting the
care of these disabled veterans to the inadequate agencies provided by
local laws. The parade on the 20th of September last upon the streets of
this capital of 60,000 of the surviving Union veterans of the War of the
Rebellion was a most touching and thrilling episode, and the rich and
gracious welcome extended to them by the District of Columbia and the
applause that greeted their progress from tens of thousands of people
from all the States did much to revive the glorious recollections of the
Grand Review when these men and many thousand others now in their graves
were welcomed with grateful joy as victors in a struggle in which the
national unity, honor, and wealth were all at issue.

In my last annual message I called attention to the fact that some
legislative action was necessary in order to protect the interests of
the Government in its relations with the Union Pacific Railway. The
Commissioner of Railroads has submitted a very full report, giving exact
information as to the debt, the liens upon the company's property, and
its resources. We must deal with the question as we find it and take
that course which will under existing conditions best secure the
interests of the United States. I recommended in my last annual message
that a commission be appointed to deal with this question, and I renew
that recommendation and suggest that the commission be given full power.

The report of the Secretary of Agriculture contains not only a most
interesting statement of the progressive and valuable work done under
the administration of Secretary Rusk, but many suggestions for the
enlarged usefulness of this important Department. In the successful
efforts to break down the restrictions to the free introduction of our
meat products in the countries of Europe the Secretary has been unt