I respectfully urge upon Congress this appropriation.

I cordially concur in the views of the Secretary of State and trust that the policy of the United States toward Liberia will be so shaped as to fulfill our national duty to the Liberian people who, by the efforts of this Government and through the material enterprise of American citizens, were established on the African coast and set on the pathway to sovereign statehood.

The herds have been reduced to such an extent that the question of profit has become a mere incident, and the controlling question has become one of conservation.

The rapid depletion of these herds is undoubtedly to be ascribed to the practice of pelagic sealing.

The present lease will expire on the 30th of April, 1910, and it is important to determine whether or not changed conditions call for a modification of the policy which has so far been followed.

It is recommended, therefore, that the provision for a renewal of the lease be repealed.

I transmit herewith, for the information of the Congress, a report of the International Waterways Commission, dated January 8, 1910, on the regulation of Lake Erie, together with the appendix, tables, and plates.

It is hereby ordered that all lands within the Mescalero Apache Indian Reservation, N. Mex., embraced in small holdings claims Nos. 484 and 486, T. 13 S., R. 12 E., New Mexico principal meridian, as shown on the records of the General Land Office and the blue print attached herewith, be and the same are hereby restored to the public domain.

By a budget system I mean a reference of proposed expenditures and receipts to some one authority or tribunal, which, after determining what the revenues are to be, must also determine what the expenditures can be, and make a budget without a deficit.

Every one must admit the wisdom of providing for the payment of the canal expenditure by bonds.

That the Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized and directed to make practical and exhaustive investigation of the character, extent, and value of the coal deposits in and under the segregated coal lands of the Choctaw and Chickasaw nations, in Indian Territory;