office.  There is, therefore, no opportunity for the supervisory control of the Commissioner over entries so made to be exercised under the statutes, and thus the express requirements of existing law, as well as the essential harmony of the land system, are interfered with by its provisions.  To remedy this defect in the proposed law I recommend that the act be returned to the legislative body with the request for an enactment in lieu of the second section which shall provide for the regular transmission of the papers to this office, as in other cases, or the simple striking out of the section altogether, as the provisions of existing law would then cover the case, and require the same disposal of this class of entries as obtains under present regulations so far as relates to the transmission of papers and proof to this office and the certification of the same by the Commissioner, under seal, for purposes of evidence.

I observe in section 3, line 4, the omission of the word “he” after the word “corrupt,” which destroys the grammatical construction of the language and was probably a clerical error.

I return herewith the act referred to.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

A. WILLIAMSON, Commissioner.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, January 23, 1877.

To the House of Representatives: 

I return herewith House bill (No. 4350) to abolish the board of commissioners of the Metropolitan police of the District of Columbia and to transfer its duties to the Commissioners of the District of Columbia, without my approval.

It is my judgment that the police commissioners, while appointed by the Executive, should report to and receive instructions from the District Commissioners.  Under other circumstances than those existing at present I would have no objection to the entire abolition of the board and seeing the duties devolved directly upon the District Commissioners.  The latter should, in my opinion, have supervision and control over the acts of the police commissioners under any circumstances; but as recent events have shown that gross violations of law have existed in this District for years directly under the eyes of the police, it is highly desirable that the board of police commissioners should be continued in some form until the evil complained of is eradicated and until the police force is put on a footing to prevent, if possible, a recurrence of the evil.  The board of police commissioners have recently been charged with the direct object of accomplishing this end.

U.S.  GRANT.

WASHINGTON, January 26, 1877.

To the House of Representatives: 

I return to the House of Representatives, in which they originated, two joint resolutions, the one entitled “Joint resolution relating to congratulations from the Argentine Republic,” the other entitled “Joint resolution in reference to congratulations from the Republic of Pretoria, South Africa.”