In consideration of this agreement I directed the withdrawal
of all opposition by the United States authorities to the landing of the
cable and to the working of it until the meeting of Congress. I regret
to say that there has been no modification made in the company's
concession, nor, so far as I can learn, have they attempted to secure
one. Their concession excludes the capital and the citizens of the
United States from competition upon the shores of France. I recommend
legislation to protect the rights of citizens of the United States,
as well as the dignity and sovereignty of the nation, against such
an assumption. I shall also endeavor to secure, by negotiation, an
abandonment of the principle of monopolies in ocean telegraphic cables.
Copies of this correspondence are herewith furnished.
The unsettled political condition of other countries, less fortunate
than our own, sometimes induces their citizens to come to the United
States for the sole purpose of becoming naturalized. Having secured
this, they return to their native country and reside there, without
disclosing their change of allegiance. They accept official positions of
trust or honor, which can only be held by citizens of their native land;
they journey under passports describing them as such citizens; and it
is only when civil discord, after perhaps years of quiet, threatens
their persons or their property, or when their native state drafts them
into its military service, that the fact of their change of allegiance
is made known.
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