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+The Project Gutenberg eBook, A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of
+the Presidents, Volume V, Part 1; Presidents Taylor and Fillmore, by James
+D. Richardson
+
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+
+
+
+Title: A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents, Volume
+V, Part 1; Presidents Taylor and Fillmore
+
+Author: James D. Richardson
+
+Release Date: February 5, 2004  [eBook #10951]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: US-ASCII
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A COMPILATION OF THE MESSAGES AND
+PAPERS OF THE PRESIDENTS, VOLUME V, PART 1; PRESIDENTS TAYLOR AND
+FILLMORE***
+
+
+E-text prepared by Juliet Sutherland, David Garcia, and the Project
+Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team
+
+
+
+A COMPILATION OF THE MESSAGES AND PAPERS OF THE PRESIDENTS,
+
+VOLUME V, PART 1
+
+BY JAMES D. RICHARDSON
+
+A REPRESENTATIVE FROM THE STATE OF TENNESSEE
+
+1902
+
+
+
+
+
+
+This volume, the fifth of the series, comprises a period of twelve
+years. It includes the four years' term of the Taylor-Fillmore
+Administration and the full terms of Presidents Pierce and Buchanan.
+This brings the history down to March 4, 1861, the beginning of the late
+war between the States. These twelve years form an important and
+eventful epoch in the affairs of our country, as they immediately
+precede the war and cover the official utterances of the Executives
+during this period. Some of the more important events and incidents of
+these twelve years are the Bulwer-Clayton treaty with Great Britain for
+a joint occupancy of the proposed ship canal through Central America;
+the compromise measures of 1850; the admission of California, Minnesota,
+Oregon, and Kansas as States; the Gadsden purchase, by which the United
+States acquired 45,535 square miles of territory, being portions of
+Arizona and New Mexico; the Kansas-Nebraska legislation; the famous Dred
+Scott decision; the John Brown insurrection, and the disruption of the
+Democratic party in the national campaign of 1860.
+
+This volume contains several veto messages which are interesting. By
+President Pierce, vetoes of "An act making a grant of public lands to
+the several States for the benefit of indigent insane persons;" of six
+acts relating to internal improvements; of an act for a subsidy for
+ocean mails, and of an act for the ascertainment and allowance of French
+spoliation claims. By President Buchanan, vetoes of an act granting
+lands for agricultural purposes; of two acts relating to internal
+improvements, and of a homestead act.
+
+Interesting reading is furnished in the protests of President Buchanan
+against the action of the House of Representatives in ordering the
+appointment of a committee to investigate the conduct of the President.
+ The careful reader will find in this volume errors which the compiler
+could not correct. For instance, on page 410 certain figures are given
+from a report of the Postmaster-General, which when added do not produce
+the total given. The error may arise from the failure to make the proper
+addition, or it may be that the total is correct and that the figures
+first given are incorrect. The original message contains the same error.
+Similar errors occur elsewhere in the compilation. These matters are,
+however, trivial and perhaps need not have been mentioned.
+
+JAMES D. RICHARDSON.
+JULY 4, 1897.
+
+
+
+
+
+Zachary Taylor
+
+March 5, 1849, to July 9, 1850
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Zachary Taylor
+
+Zachary Taylor was born in Orange County, Va., November 24, 1784. He was
+the third son of Richard Taylor, a colonel in the War of the Revolution,
+who was conspicuous for his zeal and courage. In 1785 his father removed
+to Kentucky, then a sparsely occupied county of Virginia, and made his
+home near the present city of Louisville, where he died. Zachary had but
+little opportunity for attending school in this new settlement, but was
+surrounded during all the years of his childhood and early manhood by
+conditions and circumstances well adapted to form the character
+illustrated by his eventful career. In 1808 he was appointed a
+Lieutenant in the Seventh Infantry, and in 1810 was promoted to the
+grade of captain in the same regiment. The same year was married to Miss
+Margaret Smith, of Maryland. For meritorious conduct in defending Fort
+Harrison, on the Wabash River, against the Indians received the brevet
+of major. In 1814 commanded in a campaign against hostile Indians and
+their British allies on Rock River. Was made lieutenant-colonel of the
+First Infantry in 1819, and in 1832 became full colonel of that
+regiment, with headquarters at Fort Crawford, Prairie du Chien. Was
+occupied with his regiment fighting the Indians in the Black Hawk and
+other campaigns until 1836, when he was transferred to Florida for
+service in the Seminole War. For gallant conduct there the next year
+received the brevet of brigadier-general, and in 1838 was appointed to
+the chief command in Florida. In 1840 was assigned to command the
+southern division of the western department of the Army. About this time
+he made his family home at Baton Rouge, La. In 1845 was ordered to the
+defense of Texas, which had been annexed to the United States. He went
+to Corpus Christi, and on March 8, 1846, advanced, and after some
+fighting, in which he routed and drove the enemy across the Rio Grande,
+on May 18 occupied Matamoras. He remained there for a short period,
+obtaining reenforcements. In September fought the enemy at Monterey and
+captured that town. The following February fought and won the battle of
+Buena Vista. In the meantime, besides engagements less important, he had
+won the victories of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma, which created
+great enthusiasm throughout the Union. The terms of capitulation granted
+by him to the enemy at Monterey were not approved by the Government at
+Washington. Soon after the battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma
+he received the rank of brevet major-general, and on June 27, 1846, was
+appointed major-general and was commander in chief of all the American
+forces in Mexico until Major-General Scott was ordered there in 1846.
+The latter part of November returned to his home in Louisiana. Upon his
+return to the United States he was received wherever he went with
+popular demonstrations. Was nominated for President by the national
+convention of the Whig party at Philadelphia on June 7, 1848, on the
+fourth ballot, defeating General Scott, Mr. Clay, and Mr. Webster. At
+the election on November 7 the Whig ticket (Taylor and Fillmore) was
+successful, receiving 163 electoral votes, while the Democratic
+candidates (Cass and Butler) each received 127 votes. He was inaugurated
+March 5, 1849, and died in Washington City July 9, 1850. Was buried in
+Cave Hill Cemetery, Louisville, Ky.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+INAUGURAL ADDRESS.
+
+Elected by the American people to the highest office known to our laws,
+I appear here to take the oath prescribed by the Constitution, and, in
+compliance with a time-honored custom, to address those who are now
+assembled.
+
+The confidence and respect shown by my countrymen in calling me to be
+the Chief Magistrate of a Republic holding a high rank among the nations
+of the earth have inspired me with feelings of the most profound
+gratitude; but when I reflect that the acceptance of the office which
+their partiality has bestowed imposes the discharge of the most arduous
+duties and involves the weightiest obligations, I am conscious that the
+position which I have been called to fill, though sufficient to satisfy
+the loftiest ambition, is surrounded by fearful responsibilities.
+Happily, however, in the performance of my new duties I shall not be
+without able cooperation. The legislative and judicial branches of the
+Government present prominent examples of distinguished civil attainments
+and matured experience, and it shall be my endeavor to call to my
+assistance in the Executive Departments individuals whose talents,
+integrity, and purity of character will furnish ample guaranties for the
+faithful and honorable performance of the trusts to be committed to
+their charge. With such aids and an honest purpose to do whatever is
+right, I hope to execute diligently, impartially, and for the best
+interests of the country the manifold duties devolved upon me.
+
+In the discharge of these duties my guide will be the Constitution,
+which I this day swear to "preserve, protect, and defend." For the
+interpretation of that instrument I shall look to the decisions of the
+judicial tribunals established by its authority and to the practice of
+the Government under the earlier Presidents, who had so large a share in
+its formation. To the example of those illustrious patriots I shall
+always defer with reverence, and especially to his example who was by so
+many titles "the Father of his Country."
+
+To command the Army and Navy of the United States; with the advice and
+consent of the Senate, to make treaties and to appoint ambassadors and
+other officers; to give to Congress information of the state of the
+Union and recommend such measures as he shall judge to be necessary; and
+to take care that the laws shall be faithfully executed--these are the
+most important functions intrusted to the President by the Constitution,
+and it may be expected that I shall briefly indicate the principles
+which will control me in their execution.
+
+Chosen by the body of the people under the assurance that my
+Administration would be devoted to the welfare of the whole country, and
+not to the support of any particular section or merely local interest, I
+this day renew the declarations I have heretofore made and proclaim my
+fixed determination to maintain to the extent of my ability the
+Government in its original purity and to adopt as the basis of my public
+policy those great republican doctrines which constitute the strength of
+our national existence.
+
+In reference to the Army and Navy, lately employed with so much
+distinction on active service, care shall be taken to insure the highest
+condition of efficiency, and in furtherance of that object the military
+and naval schools, sustained by the liberality of Congress, shall
+receive the special attention of the Executive.
+
+As American freemen we can not but sympathize in all efforts to extend
+the blessings of civil and political liberty, but at the same time we
+are warned by the admonitions of history and the voice of our own
+beloved Washington to abstain from entangling alliances with foreign
+nations. In all disputes between conflicting governments it is our
+interest not less than our duty to remain strictly neutral, while our
+geographical position, the genius of our institutions and our people,
+the advancing spirit of civilization, and, above all, the dictates of
+religion direct us to the cultivation of peaceful and friendly relations
+with all other powers. It is to be hoped that no international question
+can now arise which a government confident in its own strength and
+resolved to protect its own just rights may not settle by wise
+negotiation; and it eminently becomes a government like our own, founded
+on the morality and intelligence of its citizens and upheld by their
+affections, to exhaust every resort of honorable diplomacy before
+appealing to arms. In the conduct of our foreign relations I shall
+conform to these views, as I believe them essential to the best
+interests and the true honor of the country.
+
+The appointing power vested in the President imposes delicate and
+onerous duties. So far as it is possible to be informed, I shall make
+honesty, capacity, and fidelity indispensable prerequisites to the
+bestowal of office, and the absence of either of these qualities shall
+be deemed sufficient cause for removal.
+
+It shall be my study to recommend such constitutional measures to
+Congress as may be necessary and proper to secure encouragement and
+protection to the great interests of agriculture, commerce, and
+manufactures, to improve our rivers and harbors, to provide for the
+speedy extinguishment of the public debt, to enforce a strict
+accountability on the part of all officers of the Government and the
+utmost economy in all public expenditures; but it is for the wisdom of
+Congress itself, in which all legislative powers are vested by the
+Constitution, to regulate these and other matters of domestic policy. I
+shall look with confidence to the enlightened patriotism of that body to
+adopt such measures of conciliation as may harmonize conflicting
+interests and tend to perpetuate that Union which should be the
+paramount object of our hopes and affections. In any action calculated
+to promote an object so near the heart of everyone who truly loves his
+country I will zealously unite with the coordinate branches of the
+Government.
+
+In conclusion I congratulate you, my fellow-citizens, upon the high
+state of prosperity to which the goodness of Divine Providence has
+conducted our common country. Let us invoke a continuance of the same
+protecting care which has led us from small beginnings to the eminence
+we this day occupy, and let us seek to deserve that continuance by
+prudence and moderation in our councils, by well-directed attempts to
+assuage the bitterness which too often marks unavoidable differences of
+opinion, by the promulgation and practice of just and liberal
+principles, and by an enlarged patriotism, which shall acknowledge no
+limits but those of our own widespread Republic.
+
+MARCH 5, 1849.
+
+
+
+
+
+SPECIAL MESSAGES.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _March 13, 1849_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States:_
+
+I herewith communicate to the Senate, in confidence, a report and
+accompanying papers[1a] from the Secretary of State, in answer to its
+resolution of the 12th instant.
+
+[Footnote 1a: Instructions to United States minister at London relative
+to further extension of reciprocity and equality in the laws of
+navigation, and contemplating the opening of the coasting trade of the
+United States to the vessels of other nations.]
+
+Z. TAYLOR.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _March 20, 1849_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States:_
+
+In answer to the resolution of the Senate of yesterday, passed in
+executive session, requesting a communication of certain papers relative
+to the amendments made by the Senate to the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo,
+I transmit a report from the Secretary of State and the documents by
+which it was accompanied. It is desirable that the latter should be
+returned to the Department of State.
+
+Z. TAYLOR.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _March 22, 1849_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States:_
+
+In compliance with the request contained in the resolution of the Senate
+yesterday, adopted in executive session, calling for certain papers in
+relation to the amendments made by the Senate in the treaty of Guadalupe
+Hidalgo, I transmit a report from the Secretary of State and the
+documents by which it was accompanied.
+
+Z. TAYLOR.
+
+
+
+
+PROCLAMATION.
+
+BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.
+
+A PROCLAMATION.
+
+
+There is reason to believe that an armed expedition is about to be
+fitted out in the United States with an intention to invade the island
+of Cuba or some of the Provinces of Mexico. The best information which
+the Executive has been able to obtain points to the island of Cuba as
+the object of this expedition. It is the duty of this Government to
+observe the faith of treaties and to prevent any aggression by our
+citizens upon the territories of friendly nations. I have therefore
+thought it necessary and proper to issue this my proclamation to warn
+all citizens of the United States who shall connect themselves with an
+enterprise so grossly in violation of our laws and our treaty
+obligations that they will thereby subject themselves to the heavy
+penalties denounced against them by our acts of Congress and will
+forfeit their claim to the protection of their country. No such persons
+must expect the interference of this Government in any form on their
+behalf, no matter to what extremities they may be reduced in consequence
+of their conduct. An enterprise to invade the territories of a friendly
+nation, set on foot and prosecuted within the limits of the United
+States, is in the highest degree criminal, as tending to endanger the
+peace and compromit the honor of this nation; and therefore I exhort all
+good citizens, as they regard our national reputation, as they respect
+their own laws and the laws of nations, as they value the blessings of
+peace and the welfare of their country, to discountenance and prevent by
+all lawful means any such enterprise; and I call upon every officer of
+this Government, civil or military, to use all efforts in his power to
+arrest for trial and punishment every such offender against the laws
+providing for the performance of our sacred obligations to friendly
+powers.
+
+Given under my hand the 11th day of August, A.D. 1849, and the
+seventy-fourth of the Independence of the United States.
+
+Z. TAYLOR.
+
+By the President:
+  J.M. CLAYTON,
+    _Secretary of State_.
+
+
+
+
+
+EXECUTIVE ORDER.
+
+
+GENERAL ORDERS, No. 34.
+
+WAR DEPARTMENT,
+
+ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE,
+
+_Washington, June 19, 1849_.
+
+I. The following orders of the President of the United States and
+Secretary of War communicate to the Army the death of the late
+ex-President, James K. Polk:
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _June 19, 1849_.
+
+The President with deep regret announces to the American people the
+death of James K. Polk, late President of the United States, which
+occurred at Nashville on the 15th instant.
+
+A nation is suddenly called upon to mourn the loss of one the
+recollection of whose long services in its councils will be forever
+preserved on the tablets of history.
+
+As a mark of respect to the memory of a citizen who has been
+distinguished by the highest honors which his country could bestow, it
+is ordered that the Executive Mansion and the several Departments at
+Washington be immediately placed in mourning and all business be
+suspended during to-morrow.
+
+It is further ordered that the War and Navy Departments cause suitable
+military and naval honors to be paid on this occasion to the memory of
+the illustrious dead.
+
+Z. TAYLOR.
+
+
+
+WAR DEPARTMENT, _June 19, 1849_.
+
+The President of the United States with deep regret announces to the
+Army the death of James K. Polk, our distinguished and honored
+fellow-citizen.
+
+He died at Nashville the 15th instant, having but recently left the
+theater of his high public duties at this capital and retired to his
+home amid the congratulations of his fellow-citizens. He died in the
+prime of life, after having received and enjoyed the highest honors of
+the Republic.
+
+His Administration was eventful. No branch of the Government will be
+more intimately associated with it in history than the Army and its
+glorious achievements. Accordingly, the President orders that
+appropriate military honors shall be paid to his memory by the Army of
+the United States.
+
+The Adjutant-General will give the necessary instructions for carrying
+into effect the foregoing orders.
+
+G.W. CRAWFORD,
+
+_Secretary of War_.
+
+
+II. On the day succeeding the arrival of this general order at each
+military post the troops will be paraded at 10 o'clock a.m. and the
+order read to them, after which all labors for the day will cease.
+
+The national flag will be displayed at half-staff.
+
+At dawn of day thirteen guns will be fired, and afterwards at intervals
+of thirty minutes between the rising and setting sun a single gun, and
+at the close of the day a national salute of thirty guns.
+
+The officers of the Army will wear crape on the left arm and on their
+swords and the colors of the several regiments will be put in mourning
+for the period of six months.
+
+By order:
+
+R. JONES,
+
+_Adjutant-General_.
+
+
+
+
+FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE.
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _December 4, 1849_.
+
+_Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives:_
+
+Sixty years have elapsed since the establishment of this Government, and
+the Congress of the United States again assembles to legislate for an
+empire of freemen. The predictions of evil prophets, who formerly
+pretended to foretell the downfall of our institutions, are now
+remembered only to be derided, and the United States of America at this
+moment present to the world the most stable and permanent Government on
+earth.
+
+Such is the result of the labors of those who have gone before us. Upon
+Congress will eminently depend the future maintenance of our system of
+free government and the transmission of it unimpaired to posterity.
+
+We are at peace with all the other nations of the world, and seek to
+maintain our cherished relations of amity with them. During the past
+year we have been blessed by a kind Providence with an abundance of the
+fruits of the earth, and although the destroying angel for a time
+visited extensive portions of our territory with the ravages of a
+dreadful pestilence, yet the Almighty has at length deigned to stay his
+hand and to restore the inestimable blessing of general health to a
+people who have acknowledged His power, deprecated His wrath, and
+implored His merciful protection.
+
+While enjoying the benefits of amicable intercourse with foreign
+nations, we have not been insensible to the distractions and wars which
+have prevailed in other quarters of the world. It is a proper theme of
+thanksgiving to Him who rules the destinies of nations that we have been
+able to maintain amidst all these contests an independent and neutral
+position toward all belligerent powers.
+
+Our relations with Great Britain are of the most friendly character. In
+consequence of the recent alteration of the British navigation acts,
+British vessels, from British and other foreign ports, will under our
+existing laws, after the 1st day of January next, be admitted to entry
+in our ports with cargoes of the growth, manufacture, or production of
+any part of the world on the same terms as to duties, imposts, and
+charges as vessels of the United States with their cargoes, and our
+vessels will be admitted to the same advantages in British ports,
+entering therein on the same terms as British vessels. Should no order
+in council disturb this legislative arrangement, the late act of the
+British Parliament, by which Great Britain is brought within the terms
+proposed by the act of Congress of the 1st of March, 1817, it is hoped
+will be productive of benefit to both countries.
+
+A slight interruption of diplomatic intercourse which occurred between
+this Government and France, I am happy to say, has been terminated, and
+our minister there has been received. It is therefore unnecessary to
+refer now to the circumstances which led to that interruption. I need
+not express to you the sincere satisfaction with which we shall welcome
+the arrival of another envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary
+from a sister Republic to which we have so long been, and still remain,
+bound by the strongest ties of amity.
+
+Shortly after I had entered upon the discharge of the Executive duties I
+was apprised that a war steamer belonging to the German Empire was being
+fitted out in the harbor of New York with the aid of some of our naval
+officers, rendered under the permission of the late Secretary of the
+Navy. This permission was granted during an armistice between that
+Empire and the Kingdom of Denmark, which had been engaged in the
+Schleswig-Holstein war. Apprehensive that this act of intervention on
+our part might be viewed as a violation of our neutral obligations
+incurred by the treaty with Denmark and of the provisions of the act of
+Congress of the 20th of April, 1818, I directed that no further aid
+should be rendered by any agent or officer of the Navy; and I instructed
+the Secretary of State to apprise the minister of the German Empire
+accredited to this Government of my determination to execute the law of
+the United States and to maintain the faith of treaties with all
+nations. The correspondence which ensued between the Department of State
+and the minister of the German Empire is herewith laid before you. The
+execution of the law and the observance of the treaty were deemed by me
+to be due to the honor of the country, as well as to the sacred
+obligations of the Constitution. I shall not fail to pursue the same
+course should a similar case arise with any other nation. Having avowed
+the opinion on taking the oath of office that in disputes between
+conflicting foreign governments it is our interest not less than our
+duty to remain strictly neutral, I shall not abandon it. You will
+perceive from the correspondence submitted to you in connection with
+this subject that the course adopted in this case has been properly
+regarded by the belligerent powers interested in the matter.
+
+Although a minister of the United States to the German Empire was
+appointed by my predecessor in August, 1848, and has for a long time
+been in attendance at Frankfort-on-the-Main, and although a minister
+appointed to represent that Empire was received and accredited here, yet
+no such government as that of the German Empire has been definitively
+constituted. Mr. Donelson, our representative at Frankfort, remained
+there several months in the expectation that a union of the German
+States under one constitution or form of government might at length be
+organized. It is believed by those well acquainted with the existing
+relations between Prussia and the States of Germany that no such union
+can be permanently established without her cooperation. In the event of
+the formation of such a union and the organization of a central power in
+Germany of which she should form a part, it would become necessary to
+withdraw our minister at Berlin; but while Prussia exists as an
+independent kingdom and diplomatic relations are maintained with her
+there can be no necessity for the continuance of the mission to
+Frankfort. I have therefore recalled Mr. Donelson and directed the
+archives of the legation at Frankfort to be transferred to the American
+legation at Berlin.
+
+Having been apprised that a considerable number of adventurers were
+engaged in fitting out a military expedition within the United States
+against a foreign country, and believing from the best information I
+could obtain that it was destined to invade the island of Cuba, I deemed
+it due to the friendly relations existing between the United States and
+Spain, to the treaty between the two nations, to the laws of the United
+States, and, above all, to the American honor to exert the lawful
+authority of this Government in suppressing the expedition and
+preventing the invasion. To this end I issued a proclamation enjoining
+it upon the officers of the United States, civil and military, to use
+all lawful means within their power. A copy of that proclamation is
+herewith submitted. The expedition has been suppressed. So long as the
+act of Congress of the 20th of April, 1818, which owes its existence to
+the law of nations and to the policy of Washington himself, shall remain
+on our statute books, I hold it to be the duty of the Executive
+faithfully to obey its injunctions.
+
+While this expedition was in progress I was informed that a foreigner
+who claimed our protection had been clandestinely and, as was supposed,
+forcibly carried off in a vessel from New Orleans to the island of Cuba.
+I immediately caused such steps to be taken as I thought necessary, in
+case the information I had received should prove correct, to vindicate
+the honor of the country and the right of every person seeking an asylum
+on our soil to the protection of our laws. The person alleged to have
+been abducted was promptly restored, and the circumstances of the case
+are now about to undergo investigation before a judicial tribunal. I
+would respectfully suggest that although the crime charged to have been
+committed in this case is held odious, as being in conflict with our
+opinions on the subject of national sovereignty and personal freedom,
+there is no prohibition of it or punishment for it provided in any act
+of Congress. The expediency of supplying this defect in our criminal
+code is therefore recommended to your consideration.
+
+I have scrupulously avoided any interference in the wars and contentions
+which have recently distracted Europe. During the late conflict between
+Austria and Hungary there seemed to be a prospect that the latter might
+become an independent nation. However faint that prospect at the time
+appeared, I thought it my duty, in accordance with the general sentiment
+of the American people, who deeply sympathized with the Magyar patriots,
+to stand prepared, upon the contingency of the establishment by her of a
+permanent government, to be the first to welcome independent Hungary
+into the family of nations. For this purpose I invested an agent then in
+Europe with power to declare our willingness promptly to recognize her
+independence in the event of her ability to sustain it. The powerful
+intervention of Russia in the contest extinguished the hopes of the
+struggling Magyars. The United States did not at any time interfere in
+the contest, but the feelings of the nation were strongly enlisted in
+the cause, and by the sufferings of a brave people, who had made a
+gallant, though unsuccessful, effort to be free.
+
+Our claims upon Portugal have been during the past year prosecuted with
+renewed vigor, and it has been my object to employ every effort of
+honorable diplomacy to procure their adjustment. Our late charge
+d'affaires at Lisbon, the Hon. George W. Hopkins, made able and
+energetic, but unsuccessful, efforts to settle these unpleasant matters
+of controversy and to obtain indemnity for the wrongs which were the
+subjects of complaint. Our present charge d'affaires at that Court will
+also bring to the prosecution of these claims ability and zeal. The
+revolutionary and distracted condition of Portugal in past times has
+been represented as one of the leading causes of her delay in
+indemnifying our suffering citizens.
+
+But I must now say it is matter of profound regret that these claims
+have not yet been settled. The omission of Portugal to do justice to the
+American claimants has now assumed a character so grave and serious that
+I shall shortly make it the subject of a special message to Congress,
+with a view to such ultimate action as its wisdom and patriotism may
+suggest.
+
+With Russia, Austria, Prussia, Sweden, Denmark, Belgium, the
+Netherlands, and the Italian States we still maintain our accustomed
+amicable relations.
+
+During the recent revolutions in the Papal States our charge d'affaires
+at Rome has been unable to present his letter of credence, which,
+indeed, he was directed by my predecessor to withhold until he should
+receive further orders. Such was the unsettled condition of things in
+those States that it was not deemed expedient to give him any
+instructions on the subject of presenting his credential letter
+different from those with which he had been furnished by the late
+Administration until the 25th of June last, when, in consequence of the
+want of accurate information of the exact state of things at that
+distance from us, he was instructed to exercise his own discretion in
+presenting himself to the then existing Government if in his judgment
+sufficiently stable, or, if not, to await further events. Since that
+period Rome has undergone another revolution, and he abides the
+establishment of a government sufficiently permanent to justify him in
+opening diplomatic intercourse with it.
+
+With the Republic of Mexico it is our true policy to cultivate the most
+friendly relations. Since the ratification of the treaty of Guadalupe
+Hidalgo nothing has occurred of a serious character to disturb them. A
+faithful observance of the treaty and a sincere respect for her rights
+can not fail to secure the lasting confidence and friendship of that
+Republic. The message of my predecessor to the House of Representatives
+of the 8th of February last, communicating, in compliance with a
+resolution of that body, a copy of a paper called a protocol, signed at
+Queretaro on the 30th of May, 1848, by the commissioners of the United
+States and the minister of foreign affairs of the Mexican Government,
+having been a subject of correspondence between the Department of State
+and the envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of that
+Republic accredited to this Government, a transcript of that
+correspondence is herewith submitted.
+
+The commissioner on the part of the United States for marking the
+boundary between the two Republics, though delayed in reaching San Diego
+by unforeseen obstacles, arrived at that place within a short period
+after the time required by the treaty, and was there joined by the
+commissioner on the part of Mexico. They entered upon their duties, and
+at the date of the latest intelligence from that quarter some progress
+had been made in the survey. The expenses incident to the organization
+of the commission and to its conveyance to the point where its
+operations were to begin have so much reduced the fund appropriated by
+Congress that a further sum, to cover the charges which must be incurred
+during the present fiscal year, will be necessary. The great length of
+frontier along which the boundary extends, the nature of the adjacent
+territory, and the difficulty of obtaining supplies except at or near
+the extremes of the line render it also indispensable that a liberal
+provision should be made to meet the necessary charges during the fiscal
+year ending on the 30th of June, 1851. I accordingly recommend this
+subject to your attention.
+
+In the adjustment of the claims of American citizens on Mexico, provided
+for by the late treaty, the employment of counsel on the part of the
+Government may become important for the purpose of assisting the
+commissioners in protecting the interests of the United States. I
+recommend this subject to the early and favorable consideration of
+Congress.
+
+Complaints have been made in regard to the inefficiency of the means
+provided by the Government of New Granada for transporting the United
+States mail across the Isthmus of Panama, pursuant to our postal
+convention with that Republic of the 6th of March, 1844. Our charge
+d'affaires at Bogota has been directed to make such representations to
+the Government of New Granada as will, it is hoped, lead to a prompt
+removal of this cause of complaint.
+
+The sanguinary civil war with which the Republic of Venezuela has for
+some time past been ravaged has been brought to a close. In its progress
+the rights of some of our citizens resident or trading there have been
+violated. The restoration of order will afford the Venezuelan Government
+an opportunity to examine and redress these grievances and others of
+longer standing which our representatives at Caracas have hitherto
+ineffectually urged upon the attention of that Government.
+
+The extension of the coast of the United States on the Pacific and the
+unexampled rapidity with which the inhabitants of California especially
+are increasing in numbers have imparted new consequence to our relations
+with the other countries whose territories border upon that ocean. It is
+probable that the intercourse between those countries and our
+possessions in that quarter, particularly with the Republic of Chili,
+will become extensive and mutually advantageous in proportion as
+California and Oregon shall increase in population and wealth. It is
+desirable, therefore, that this Government should do everything in its
+power to foster and strengthen its relations with those States, and that
+the spirit of amity between us should be mutual and cordial.
+
+I recommend the observance of the same course toward all other American
+States. The United States stand as the great American power, to which,
+as their natural ally and friend, they will always be disposed first to
+look for mediation and assistance in the event of any collision between
+them and any European nation. As such we may often kindly mediate in
+their behalf without entangling ourselves in foreign wars or unnecessary
+controversies. Whenever the faith of our treaties with any of them shall
+require our interference, we must necessarily interpose.
+
+A convention has been negotiated with Brazil providing for the
+satisfaction of American claims on that Government, and it will be
+submitted to the Senate. Since the last session of Congress we have
+received an envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary from that
+Empire, and our relations with it are founded upon the most amicable
+understanding.
+
+Your attention is earnestly invited to an amendment of our existing laws
+relating to the African slave trade with a view to the effectual
+suppression of that barbarous traffic. It is not to be denied that this
+trade is still in part carried on by means of vessels built in the
+United States and owned or navigated by some of our citizens. The
+correspondence between the Department of State and the minister and
+consul of the United States at Rio de Janeiro, which has from time to
+time been laid before Congress, represents that it is a customary device
+to evade the penalties of our laws by means of sea letters. Vessels sold
+in Brazil, when provided with such papers by the consul, instead of
+returning to the United States for a new register proceed at once to the
+coast of Africa for the purpose of obtaining cargoes of slaves. Much
+additional information of the same character has recently been
+transmitted to the Department of State. It has not been considered the
+policy of our laws to subject an American citizen who in a foreign
+country purchases a vessel built in the United States to the
+inconvenience of sending her home for a new register before permitting
+her to proceed on a voyage. Any alteration of the laws which might have
+a tendency to impede the free transfer of property in vessels between
+our citizens, or the free navigation of those vessels between different
+parts of the world when employed in lawful commerce, should be well and
+cautiously considered; but I trust that your wisdom will devise a method
+by which our general policy in this respect may be preserved, and at the
+same time the abuse of our flag by means of sea letters, in the manner
+indicated, may be prevented.
+
+Having ascertained that there is no prospect of the reunion of the five
+States of Central America which formerly composed the Republic of that
+name, we have separately negotiated with some of them treaties of amity
+and commerce, which will be laid before the Senate.
+
+A contract having been concluded with the State of Nicaragua by a
+company composed of American citizens for the purpose of constructing a
+ship canal through the territory of that State to connect the Atlantic
+and Pacific oceans, I have directed the negotiation of a treaty with
+Nicaragua pledging both Governments to protect those who shall engage
+in and perfect the work. All other nations are invited by the State of
+Nicaragua to enter into the same treaty stipulations with her; and the
+benefit to be derived by each from such an arrangement will be the
+protection of this great interoceanic communication against any power
+which might seek to obstruct it or to monopolize its advantages. All
+States entering into such a treaty will enjoy the right of passage
+through the canal on payment of the same tolls. The work, if constructed
+under these guaranties, will become a bond of peace instead of a subject
+of contention and strife between the nations of the earth. Should the
+great maritime States of Europe consent to this arrangement (and we have
+no reason to suppose that a proposition so fair and honorable will be
+opposed by any), the energies of their people and ours will cooperate in
+promoting the success of the enterprise. I do not recommend any
+appropriation from the National Treasury for this purpose, nor do I
+believe that such an appropriation is necessary. Private enterprise, if
+properly protected, will complete the work should it prove to be
+feasible. The parties who have procured the charter from Nicaragua for
+its construction desire no assistance from this Government beyond its
+protection; and they profess that, having examined the proposed line of
+communication, they will be ready to commence the undertaking whenever
+that protection shall be extended to them. Should there appear to be
+reason, on examining the whole evidence, to entertain a serious doubt of
+the practicability of constructing such a canal, that doubt could be
+speedily solved by an actual exploration of the route.
+
+Should such a work be constructed under the common protection of all
+nations, for equal benefits to all, it would be neither just nor
+expedient that any great maritime state should command the
+communication. The territory through which the canal may be opened ought
+to be freed from the claims of any foreign power. No such power should
+occupy a position that would enable it hereafter to exercise so
+controlling an influence over the commerce of the world or to obstruct a
+highway which ought to be dedicated to the common uses of mankind.
+
+The routes across the Isthmus at Tehuantepec and Panama are also worthy
+of our serious consideration. They did not fail to engage the attention
+of my predecessor. The negotiator of the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was
+instructed to offer a very large sum of money for the right of transit
+across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. The Mexican Government did not accede
+to the proposition for the purchase of the right of way, probably
+because it had already contracted with private individuals for the
+construction of a passage from the Guasacualco River to Tehuantepec. I
+shall not renew any proposition to purchase for money a right which
+ought to be equally secured to all nations on payment of a reasonable
+toll to the owners of the improvement, who would doubtless be well
+contented with that compensation and the guaranties of the maritime
+states of the world in separate treaties negotiated with Mexico, binding
+her and them to protect those who should construct the work. Such
+guaranties would do more to secure the completion of the communication
+through the territory of Mexico than any other reasonable consideration
+that could be offered; and as Mexico herself would be the greatest
+gainer by the opening of this communication between the Gulf and the
+Pacific Ocean, it is presumed that she would not hesitate to yield her
+aid in the manner proposed to accomplish an improvement so important to
+her own best interests.
+
+We have reason to hope that the proposed railroad across the Isthmus at
+Panama will be successfully constructed under the protection of the late
+treaty with New Granada, ratified and exchanged by my predecessor on the
+10th day of June, 1848, which guarantees the perfect neutrality of the
+Isthmus and the rights of sovereignty and property of New Granada over
+that territory, "with a view that the free transit from ocean to ocean
+may not be interrupted or embarrassed" during the existence of the
+treaty. It is our policy to encourage every practicable route across the
+isthmus which connects North and South America, either by railroad or
+canal, which the energy and enterprise of our citizens may induce them
+to complete, and I consider it obligatory upon me to adopt that policy,
+especially in consequence of the absolute necessity of facilitating
+intercourse with our possessions on the Pacific.
+
+The position of the Sandwich Islands with reference to the territory of
+the United States on the Pacific, the success of our persevering and
+benevolent citizens who have repaired to that remote quarter in
+Christianizing the natives and inducing them to adopt a system of
+government and laws suited to their capacity and wants, and the use made
+by our numerous whale ships of the harbors of the islands as places of
+resort for obtaining refreshments and repairs all combine to render
+their destiny peculiarly interesting to us. It is our duty to encourage
+the authorities of those islands in their efforts to improve and elevate
+the moral and political condition of the inhabitants, and we should make
+reasonable allowances for the difficulties inseparable from this task.
+We desire that the islands may maintain their independence and that
+other nations should concur with us in this sentiment. We could in no
+event be indifferent to their passing under the dominion of any other
+power. The principal commercial states have in this a common interest,
+and it is to be hoped that no one of them will attempt to interpose
+obstacles to the entire independence of the islands.
+
+The receipts into the Treasury for the fiscal year ending on the 30th of
+June last were, in cash, $48,830,097.50, and in Treasury notes funded
+$10,833,000, making an aggregate of $59,663,097.50; and the expenditures
+for the same time were, in cash, $46,798,667.82, and in Treasury notes
+funded $10,833,000, making an aggregate of $57,631,667.82.
+
+The accounts and estimates which will be submitted to Congress in the
+report of the Secretary of the Treasury show that there will probably
+be a deficit occasioned by the expenses of the Mexican War and treaty on
+the 1st day of July next of $5,828,121.66, and on the 1st day of July,
+1851, of $10,547,092.73, making in the whole a probable deficit to be
+provided for of $16,375,214.39. The extraordinary expenses of the war
+with Mexico and the purchase of California and New Mexico exceed in
+amount this deficit, together with the loans heretofore made for those
+objects. I therefore recommend that authority be given to borrow
+whatever sum may be necessary to cover that deficit. I recommend the
+observance of strict economy in the appropriation and expenditure of
+public money.
+
+I recommend a revision of the existing tariff and its adjustment on a
+basis which may augment the revenue. I do not doubt the right or duty of
+Congress to encourage domestic industry, which is the great source of
+national as well as individual wealth and prosperity. I look to the
+wisdom and patriotism of Congress for the adoption of a system which may
+place home labor at last on a sure and permanent footing and by due
+encouragement of manufactures give a new and increased stimulus to
+agriculture and promote the development of our vast resources and the
+extension of our commerce. Believing that to the attainment of these
+ends, as well as the necessary augmentation of the revenue and the
+prevention of frauds, a system of specific duties is best adapted, I
+strongly recommend to Congress the adoption of that system, fixing the
+duties at rates high enough to afford substantial and sufficient
+encouragement to our own industry and at the same time so adjusted as to
+insure stability.
+
+The question of the continuance of the subtreasury system is
+respectfully submitted to the wisdom of Congress. If continued,
+important modifications of it appear to be indispensable.
+
+For further details and views on the above and other matters connected
+with commerce, the finances, and revenue I refer to the report of the
+Secretary of the Treasury.
+
+No direct aid has been given by the General Government to the
+improvement of agriculture except by the expenditure of small sums for
+the collection and publication of agricultural statistics and for some
+chemical analyses, which have been thus far paid for out of the patent
+fund. This aid is, in my opinion, wholly inadequate. To give to this
+leading branch of American industry the encouragement which it merits, I
+respectfully recommend the establishment of an agricultural bureau, to
+be connected with the Department of the Interior. To elevate the social
+condition of the agriculturist, to increase his prosperity, and to
+extend his means of usefulness to his country, by multiplying his
+sources of information, should be the study of every statesman and a
+primary object with every legislator.
+
+No civil government having been provided by Congress for California, the
+people of that Territory, impelled by the necessities of their political
+condition, recently met in convention for the purpose of forming a
+constitution and State government, which the latest advices give me
+reason to suppose has been accomplished; and it is believed they will
+shortly apply for the admission of California into the Union as a
+sovereign State. Should such be the case, and should their constitution
+be conformable to the requisitions of the Constitution of the United
+States, I recommend their application to the favorable consideration of
+Congress.
+
+The people of New Mexico will also, it is believed, at no very distant
+period present themselves for admission into the Union. Preparatory to
+the admission of California and New Mexico the people of each will have
+instituted for themselves a republican form of government, "laying its
+foundation in such principles and organizing its powers in such form as
+to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness." By
+awaiting their action all causes of uneasiness may be avoided and
+confidence and kind feeling preserved. With a view of maintaining the
+harmony and tranquillity so dear to all, we should abstain from the
+introduction of those exciting topics of a sectional character which
+have hitherto produced painful apprehensions in the public mind; and I
+repeat the solemn warning of the first and most illustrious of my
+predecessors against furnishing "any ground for characterizing parties
+by geographical discriminations."
+
+A collector has been appointed at San Francisco under the act of
+Congress extending the revenue laws over California, and measures have
+been taken to organize the custom-houses at that and the other ports
+mentioned in that act at the earliest period practicable. The collector
+proceeded overland, and advices have not yet been received of his
+arrival at San Francisco. Meanwhile, it is understood that the customs
+have continued to be collected there by officers acting under the
+military authority, as they were during the Administration of my
+predecessor. It will, I think, be expedient to confirm the collections
+thus made, and direct the avails (after such allowances as Congress may
+think fit to authorize) to be expended within the Territory or to be
+paid into the Treasury for the purpose of meeting appropriations for the
+improvement of its rivers and harbors.
+
+A party engaged on the coast survey was dispatched to Oregon in January
+last. According to the latest advices, they had not left California; and
+directions have been given to them, as soon as they shall have fixed on
+the sites of the two light-houses and the buoys authorized to be
+constructed and placed in Oregon, to proceed without delay to make
+reconnoissances of the most important points on the coast of California,
+and especially to examine and determine on sites for light-houses on
+that coast, the speedy erection of which is urgently demanded by our
+rapidly increasing commerce.
+
+I have transferred the Indian agencies from upper Missouri and Council
+Bluffs to Santa Fe and Salt Lake, and have caused to be appointed
+sub-agents in the valleys of the Gila, the Sacramento, and the San
+Joaquin rivers. Still further legal provisions will be necessary for the
+effective and successful extension of our system of Indian intercourse
+over the new territories.
+
+I recommend the establishment of a branch mint in California, as it
+will, in my opinion, afford important facilities to those engaged in
+mining, as well as to the Government in the disposition of the mineral
+lands.
+
+I also recommend that commissions be organized by Congress to examine
+and decide upon the validity of the present subsisting land titles in
+California and New Mexico, and that provision be made for the
+establishment of offices of surveyor-general in New Mexico, California,
+and Oregon and for the surveying and bringing into market the public
+lands in those Territories. Those lands, remote in position and
+difficult of access, ought to be disposed of on terms liberal to all,
+but especially favorable to the early emigrants.
+
+In order that the situation and character of the principal mineral
+deposits in California may be ascertained, I recommend that a geological
+and mineralogical exploration be connected with the linear surveys, and
+that the mineral lands be divided into small lots suitable for mining
+and be disposed of by sale or lease, so as to give our citizens an
+opportunity of procuring a permanent right of property in the soil. This
+would seem to be as important to the success of mining as of
+agricultural pursuits.
+
+The great mineral wealth of California and the advantages which its
+ports and harbors and those of Oregon afford to commerce, especially
+with the islands of the Pacific and Indian oceans and the populous
+regions of eastern Asia, make it certain that there will arise in a few
+years large and prosperous communities on our western coast. It
+therefore becomes important that a line of communication, the best and
+most expeditious which the nature of the country will admit, should be
+opened within the territory of the United States from the navigable
+waters of the Atlantic or the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific. Opinion, as
+elicited and expressed by two large and respectable conventions lately
+assembled at St. Louis and Memphis, points to a railroad as that which,
+if practicable, will best meet the wishes and wants of the country. But
+while this, if in successful operation, would be a work of great
+national importance and of a value to the country which it would be
+difficult to estimate, it ought also to be regarded as an undertaking of
+vast magnitude and expense, and one which must, if it be indeed
+practicable, encounter many difficulties in its construction and use.
+Therefore, to avoid failure and disappointment; to enable Congress to
+judge whether in the condition of the country through which it must pass
+the work be feasible, and, if it be found so, whether it should be
+undertaken as a national improvement or left to individual enterprise,
+and in the latter alternative what aid, if any, ought to be extended to
+it by the Government, I recommend as a preliminary measure a careful
+reconnoissance of the several proposed routes by a scientific corps and
+a report as to the practicability of making such a road, with an
+estimate of the cost of its construction and support.
+
+For further views on these and other matters connected with the duties
+of the home department I refer you to the report of the Secretary of the
+Interior.
+
+I recommend early appropriations for continuing the river and harbor
+improvements which have been already begun, and also for the
+construction of those for which estimates have been made, as well as for
+examinations and estimates preparatory to the commencement of such
+others as the wants of the country, and especially the advance of our
+population over new districts and the extension of commerce, may render
+necessary. An estimate of the amount which can be advantageously
+expended within the next fiscal year under the direction of the Bureau
+of Topographical Engineers accompanies the report of the Secretary of
+War, to which I respectfully invite the attention of Congress.
+
+The cession of territory made by the late treaty with Mexico has greatly
+extended our exposed frontier and rendered its defense more difficult.
+That treaty has also brought us under obligations to Mexico, to comply
+with which a military force is requisite. But our military establishment
+is not materially changed as to its efficiency from the condition in
+which it stood before the commencement of the Mexican War. Some addition
+to it will therefore be necessary, and I recommend to the favorable
+consideration of Congress an increase of the several corps of the Army
+at our distant Western posts, as proposed in the accompanying report of
+the Secretary of War.
+
+Great embarrassment has resulted from the effect upon rank in the Army
+heretofore given to brevet and staff commissions. The views of the
+Secretary of War on this subject are deemed important, and if carried
+into effect will, it is believed, promote the harmony of the service.
+The plan proposed for retiring disabled officers and providing an asylum
+for such of the rank and file as from age, wounds, and other infirmities
+occasioned by service have become unfit to perform their respective
+duties is recommended as a means of increasing the efficiency of the
+Army and as an act of justice due from a grateful country to the
+faithful soldier.
+
+The accompanying report of the Secretary of the Navy presents a full and
+satisfactory account of the condition and operations of the naval
+service during the past year. Our citizens engaged in the legitimate
+pursuits of commerce have enjoyed its benefits. Wherever our national
+vessels have gone they have been received with respect, our officers
+have been treated with kindness and courtesy, and they have on all
+occasions pursued a course of strict neutrality, in accordance with the
+policy of our Government.
+
+The naval force at present in commission is as large as is admissible
+with the number of men authorized by Congress to be employed.
+
+I invite your attention to the recommendation of the Secretary of the
+Navy on the subject of a reorganization of the Navy in its various
+grades of officers, and the establishing of a retired list for such of
+the officers as are disqualified for active and effective service.
+Should Congress adopt some such measure as is recommended, it will
+greatly increase the efficiency of the Navy and reduce its expenditures.
+
+I also ask your attention to the views expressed by him in reference to
+the employment of war steamers and in regard to the contracts for the
+transportation of the United States mails and the operation of the
+system upon the prosperity of the Navy.
+
+By an act of Congress passed August 14, 1848, provision was made for
+extending post-office and mail accommodations to California and Oregon.
+Exertions have been made to execute that law, but the limited provisions
+of the act, the inadequacy of the means it authorizes, the ill
+adaptation of our post-office laws to the situation of that country, and
+the measure of compensation for services allowed by those laws, compared
+with the prices of labor and rents in California, render those exertions
+in a great degree ineffectual. More particular and efficient provision
+by law is required on this subject.
+
+The act of 1845 reducing postage has now, by its operation during four
+years, produced results fully showing that the income from such reduced
+postage is sufficient to sustain the whole expense of the service of the
+Post-Office Department, not including the cost of transportation in mail
+steamers on the lines from New York to Chagres and from Panama to
+Astoria, which have not been considered by Congress as properly
+belonging to the mail service.
+
+It is submitted to the wisdom of Congress whether a further reduction of
+postage should not now be made, more particularly on the letter
+correspondence. This should be relieved from the unjust burden of
+transporting and delivering the franked matter of Congress, for which
+public service provision should be made from the Treasury. I confidently
+believe that a change may safely be made reducing all single-letter
+postage to the uniform rate of 5 cents, regardless of distance, without
+thereby imposing any greater tax on the Treasury than would constitute a
+very moderate compensation for this public service; and I therefore
+respectfully recommend such a reduction. Should Congress prefer to
+abolish the franking privilege entirely, it seems probable that no
+demand on the Treasury would result from the proposed reduction of
+postage. Whether any further diminution should now be made, or the
+result of the reduction to 5 cents, which I have recommended, should be
+first tested, is submitted to your decision.
+
+Since the commencement of the last session of Congress a postal treaty
+with Great Britain has been received and ratified, and such relations
+have been formed by the post-office departments of the two countries in
+pursuance of that treaty as to carry its provisions into full operation.
+The attempt to extend this same arrangement through England to France
+has not been equally successful, but the purpose has not been abandoned.
+
+For a particular statement of the condition of the Post-Office
+Department and other matters connected with that branch of the public
+service I refer you to the report of the Postmaster-General.
+
+By the act of the 3d of March, 1849, a board was constituted to make
+arrangements for taking the Seventh Census, composed of the Secretary
+of State, the Attorney-General, and the Postmaster-General; and it was
+made the duty of this board "to prepare and cause to be printed such
+forms and schedules as might be necessary for the full enumeration of
+the inhabitants of the United States, and also proper forms and
+schedules for collecting in statistical tables, under proper heads, such
+information as to mines, agriculture, commerce, manufactures, education,
+and other topics as would exhibit a full view of the pursuits, industry,
+education, and resources of the country." The duties enjoined upon the
+census board thus established having been performed, it now rests with
+Congress to enact a law for carrying into effect the provision of the
+Constitution which requires an actual enumeration of the people of the
+United States within the ensuing year.
+
+Among the duties assigned by the Constitution to the General Government
+is one of local and limited application, but not on that account the
+less obligatory. I allude to the trust committed to Congress as the
+exclusive legislator and sole guardian of the interests of the District
+of Columbia. I beg to commend these interests to your kind attention. As
+the national metropolis the city of Washington must be an object of
+general interest; and founded, as it was, under the auspices of him
+whose immortal name it bears, its claims to the fostering care of
+Congress present themselves with additional strength. Whatever can
+contribute to its prosperity must enlist the feelings of its
+constitutional guardians and command their favorable consideration.
+
+Our Government is one of limited powers, and its successful
+administration eminently depends on the confinement of each of its
+coordinate branches within its own appropriate sphere. The first section
+of the Constitution ordains that--
+
+   All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress
+of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of
+Representatives.
+
+The Executive has authority to recommend (not to dictate) measures to
+Congress. Having performed that duty, the executive department of the
+Government can not rightfully control the decision of Congress on any
+subject of legislation until that decision shall have been officially
+submitted to the President for approval. The check provided by the
+Constitution in the clause conferring the qualified veto will never be
+exercised by me except in the cases contemplated by the fathers of the
+Republic. I view it as an extreme measure, to be resorted to only in
+extraordinary cases, as where it may become necessary to defend the
+executive against the encroachments of the legislative power or to
+prevent hasty and inconsiderate or unconstitutional legislation. By
+cautiously confining this remedy within the sphere prescribed to it in
+the cotemporaneous expositions of the framers of the Constitution, the
+will of the people, legitimately expressed on all subjects of
+legislation through their constitutional organs, the Senators and
+Representatives of the United States, will have its full effect. As
+indispensable to the preservation of our system of self-government, the
+independence of the representatives of the States and the people is
+guaranteed by the Constitution, and they owe no responsibility to any
+human power but their constituents. By holding the representative
+responsible only to the people, and exempting him from all other
+influences, we elevate the character of the constituent and quicken his
+sense of responsibility to his country. It is under these circumstances
+only that the elector can feel that in the choice of the lawmaker he is
+himself truly a component part of the sovereign power of the nation.
+With equal care we should study to defend the rights of the executive
+and judicial departments. Our Government can only be preserved in its
+purity by the suppression and entire elimination of every claim or
+tendency of one coordinate branch to encroachment upon another. With the
+strict observance of this rule and the other injunctions of the
+Constitution, with a sedulous inculcation of that respect and love for
+the Union of the States which our fathers cherished and enjoined upon
+their children, and with the aid of that overruling Providence which has
+so long and so kindly guarded our liberties and institutions, we may
+reasonably expect to transmit them, with their innumerable blessings, to
+the remotest posterity.
+
+But attachment to the Union of the States should be habitually fostered
+in every American heart. For more than half a century, during which
+kingdoms and empires have fallen, this Union has stood unshaken. The
+patriots who formed it have long since descended to the grave; yet still
+it remains, the proudest monument to their memory and the object of
+affection and admiration with everyone worthy to bear the American name.
+In my judgment its dissolution would be the greatest of calamities, and
+to avert that should be the study of every American. Upon its
+preservation must depend our own happiness and that of countless
+generations to come. Whatever dangers may threaten it, I shall stand by
+it and maintain it in its integrity to the full extent of the
+obligations imposed and the powers conferred upon me by the
+Constitution.
+
+Z. TAYLOR.
+
+
+
+
+SPECIAL MESSAGES.
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _December 17, 1849_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States:_
+
+I transmit to the Senate, for its consideration with a view to
+ratification, a convention between the United States and His Majesty the
+Emperor of Brazil, signed at Rio de Janeiro on the 27th of January last,
+providing for the adjustment of claims of citizens of the United States
+on the Brazilian Government. A copy of a dispatch from Mr. Tod, the
+United States minister at Rio de Janeiro, relative to the convention is
+also herewith communicated. As it is understood that the Emperor's
+ratification is ready to be exchanged for that of the United States, and
+as the period limited for the exchange will expire on the 27th of next
+month, it is desirable that the decision of the Senate in regard to the
+instrument should be known as soon as may be convenient.
+
+Z. TAYLOR.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _December 21, 1849_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States:_
+
+I transmit to the Senate, for its consideration with a view to
+ratification, a treaty between the United States and His Majesty the
+King of the Hawaiian Islands, yesterday concluded and signed in this
+city on the part of the respective Governments by the Secretary of State
+of the United States and by James Jackson Jarves, His Hawaiian Majesty's
+special commissioner.
+
+Z. TAYLOR.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _December 27, 1849_.
+
+_To the Senate and House of Representatives:_
+
+In consequence of the unexpected delay in proceeding to business, I deem
+it necessary to invite the immediate attention of Congress to so much of
+the report of the Secretary of the Treasury as relates to the
+appropriations required for the expenses of collecting the revenue for
+the second half of the current fiscal year.
+
+Z. TAYLOR.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _January 4, 1850_.
+
+_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States:_
+
+I herewith submit to you copies of a correspondence with the lady of Sir
+John Franklin, relative to the well-known expedition under his command
+to the arctic regions for the discovery of a northwest passage. On the
+receipt of her first letter imploring the aid of the American Government
+in a search for the missing ships engaged in an enterprise which
+interested all civilized nations, I anxiously sought the means of
+affording that assistance, but was prevented from accomplishing the
+object I had in view in consequence of the want of vessels suitable to
+encounter the perils of a proper exploration, the lateness of the
+season, and the want of an appropriation by Congress to enable me to
+furnish and equip an efficient squadron for that object. All that I
+could do in compliance with a request which I was deeply anxious to
+gratify was to cause the advertisements of reward promulged by the
+British Government and the best information I could obtain as to the
+means of finding the vessels under the command of Sir John Franklin to
+be widely circulated among our whalers and seafaring men whose spirit
+of enterprise might lead them to the inhospitable regions where that
+heroic officer and his brave followers, who periled their lives in the
+cause of science and for the benefit of the world, were supposed to be
+imprisoned among the icebergs or wrecked upon a desert shore.
+
+Congress being now in session, the propriety and expediency of an
+appropriation for fitting out an expedition to proceed in search of the
+missing ships, with their officers and crews, is respectfully submitted
+to your consideration.
+
+Z. TAYLOR.
+
+
+
+EXECUTIVE OFFICE, _January 14, 1850_.
+
+THE PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES.
+
+SIR: I transmit herewith, to be laid before the Senate for its
+constitutional action thereon, a treaty concluded with the half-breeds
+of the Dacotah or Sioux Indians for lands reserved for them in the
+treaty of July 15, 1830, with the Sioux and other Indians, with
+accompanying papers.
+
+Z. TAYLOR.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _January 14, 1850_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States:_
+
+I herewith transmit reports from the Secretary of State and the
+Secretary of the Navy, containing the information called for by the
+resolution of the Senate of the 7th instant, in relation to the
+abduction[2a] of Rey, _alias_ Garcia, from New Orleans.
+
+[Footnote 2a: By the Spanish consul at New Orleans.]
+
+Z. TAYLOR.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _January 14, 1850_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States:_
+
+I transmit to the Senate, for their consideration, a copy of a
+correspondence between the Department of State and the charge d'affaires
+of Austria near this Government, on the subject of the convention for
+the extension of certain stipulations contained in the treaty of
+commerce and navigation of August 27, 1829, between the United States
+and Austria, concluded and signed on the 8th of May, 1848, and submitted
+to the Senate on the same day by my predecessor.
+
+Z. TAYLOR.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _January 23, 1850_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States:_
+
+I transmit to the Senate, in answer to a resolution of that body
+passed on the 17th instant, the accompanying reports of heads of
+Departments, which contain all the official information in the
+possession of the Executive asked for by the resolution.
+
+On coming into office I found the military commandant of the Department
+of California exercising the functions of civil governor in that
+Territory, and left, as I was, to act under the treaty of Guadalupe
+Hidalgo, without the aid of any legislative provision establishing a
+government in that Territory, I thought it best not to disturb that
+arrangement, made under my predecessor, until Congress should take some
+action on that subject. I therefore did not interfere with the powers of
+the military commandant, who continued to exercise the functions of
+civil governor as before; but I made no such appointment, conferred no
+such authority, and have allowed no increased compensation to the
+commandant for his services.
+
+With a view to the faithful execution of the treaty so far as lay in the
+power of the Executive, and to enable Congress to act at the present
+session with as full knowledge and as little difficulty as possible on
+all matters of interest in these Territories, I sent the Hon. Thomas
+Butler King as bearer of dispatches to California, and certain officers
+to California and New Mexico, whose duties are particularly defined in
+the accompanying letters of instruction addressed to them severally by
+the proper Departments.
+
+I did not hesitate to express to the people of those Territories my
+desire that each Territory should, if prepared to comply with the
+requisitions of the Constitution of the United States, form a plan of a
+State constitution and submit the same to Congress with a prayer for
+admission into the Union as a State, but I did not anticipate, suggest,
+or authorize the establishment of any such government without the assent
+of Congress, nor did I authorize any Government agent or officer to
+interfere with or exercise any influence or control over the election of
+delegates or over any convention in making or modifying their domestic
+institutions or any of the provisions of their proposed constitution. On
+the contrary, the instructions given by my orders were that all measures
+of domestic policy adopted by the people of California must originate
+solely with themselves; that while the Executive of the United States
+was desirous to protect them in the formation of any government
+republican in its character, to be at the proper time submitted to
+Congress, yet it was to be distinctly understood that the plan of such a
+government must at the same time be the result of their own deliberate
+choice and originate with themselves, without the interference of the
+Executive.
+
+I am unable to give any information as to laws passed by any supposed
+government in California or of any census taken in either of the
+Territories mentioned in the resolution, as I have no information on
+those subjects.
+
+As already stated, I have not disturbed the arrangements which I found
+had existed under my predecessor.
+
+In advising an early application by the people of these Territories for
+admission as States I was actuated principally by an earnest desire to
+afford to the wisdom and patriotism of Congress the opportunity of
+avoiding occasions of bitter and angry dissensions among the people of
+the United States.
+
+Under the Constitution every State has the right of establishing and
+from time to time altering its municipal laws and domestic institutions
+independently of every other State and of the General Government,
+subject only to the prohibitions and guaranties expressly set forth in
+the Constitution of the United States. The subjects thus left
+exclusively to the respective States were not designed or expected to
+become topics of national agitation. Still, as under the Constitution
+Congress has power to make all needful rules and regulations respecting
+the Territories of the United States, every new acquisition of territory
+has led to discussions on the question whether the system of involuntary
+servitude which prevails in many of the States should or should not be
+prohibited in that territory. The periods of excitement from this cause
+which have heretofore occurred have been safely passed, but during the
+interval, of whatever length, which may elapse before the admission of
+the Territories ceded by Mexico as States it appears probable that
+similar excitement will prevail to an undue extent.
+
+Under these circumstances I thought, and still think, that it was my
+duty to endeavor to put it in the power of Congress, by the admission of
+California and New Mexico as States, to remove all occasion for the
+unnecessary agitation of the public mind.
+
+It is understood that the people of the western part of California have
+formed a plan of a State constitution and will soon submit the same to
+the judgment of Congress and apply for admission as a State. This course
+on their part, though in accordance with, was not adopted exclusively in
+consequence of, any expression of my wishes, inasmuch as measures
+tending to this end had been promoted by the officers sent there by my
+predecessor, and were already in active progress of execution before any
+communication from me reached California. If the proposed constitution
+shall, when submitted to Congress, be found to be in compliance with the
+requisitions of the Constitution of the United States, I earnestly
+recommend that it may receive the sanction of Congress.
+
+The part of California not included in the proposed State of that name
+is believed to be uninhabited, except in a settlement of our countrymen
+in the vicinity of Salt Lake.
+
+A claim has been advanced by the State of Texas to a very large portion
+of the most populous district of the Territory commonly designated by
+the name of New Mexico. If the people of New Mexico had formed a plan of
+a State government for that Territory as ceded by the treaty of
+Guadalupe Hidalgo, and had been admitted by Congress as a State, our
+Constitution would have afforded the means of obtaining an adjustment of
+the question of boundary with Texas by a judicial decision. At present,
+however, no judicial tribunal has the power of deciding that question,
+and it remains for Congress to devise some mode for its adjustment.
+Meanwhile I submit to Congress the question whether it would be
+expedient before such adjustment to establish a Territorial government,
+which by including the district so claimed would practically decide the
+question adversely to the State of Texas, or by excluding it would
+decide it in her favor. In my opinion such a course would not be
+expedient, especially as the people of this Territory still enjoy the
+benefit and protection of their municipal laws originally derived from
+Mexico and have a military force stationed there to protect them against
+the Indians. It is undoubtedly true that the property, lives, liberties,
+and religion of the people of New Mexico are better protected than they
+ever were before the treaty of cession.
+
+Should Congress, when California shall present herself for incorporation
+into the Union, annex a condition to her admission as a State affecting
+her domestic institutions contrary to the wishes of her people, and even
+compel her temporarily to comply with it, yet the State could change her
+constitution at any time after admission when to her it should seem
+expedient. Any attempt to deny to the people of the State the right of
+self-government in a matter which peculiarly affects themselves will
+infallibly be regarded by them as an invasion of their rights, and, upon
+the principles laid down in our own Declaration of Independence, they
+will certainly be sustained by the great mass of the American people. To
+assert that they are a conquered people and must as a State submit to
+the will of their conquerors in this regard will meet with no cordial
+response among American freemen. Great numbers of them are native
+citizens of the United States, not inferior to the rest of our
+countrymen in intelligence and patriotism, and no language of menace to
+restrain them in the exercise of an undoubted right, substantially
+guaranteed to them by the treaty of cession itself, shall ever be
+uttered by me or encouraged and sustained by persons acting under my
+authority. It is to be expected that in the residue of the territory
+ceded to us by Mexico the people residing there will at the time of
+their incorporation into the Union as a State settle all questions of
+domestic policy to suit themselves.
+
+No material inconvenience will result from the want for a short period
+of a government established by Congress over that part of the territory
+which lies eastward of the new State of California; and the reasons for
+my opinion that New Mexico will at no very distant period ask for
+admission into the Union are founded on unofficial information which, I
+suppose, is common to all who have cared to make inquiries on that
+subject.
+
+Seeing, then, that the question which now excites such painful
+sensations in the country will in the end certainly be settled by the
+silent effect of causes independent of the action of Congress, I again
+submit to your wisdom the policy recommended in my annual message of
+awaiting the salutary operation of those causes, believing that we shall
+thus avoid the creation of geographical parties and secure the harmony
+of feeling so necessary to the beneficial action of our political
+system. Connected, as the Union is, with the remembrance of past
+happiness, the sense of present blessings, and the hope of future peace
+and prosperity, every dictate of wisdom, every feeling of duty, and
+every emotion of patriotism tend to inspire fidelity and devotion to it
+and admonish us cautiously to avoid any unnecessary controversy which
+can either endanger it or impair its strength, the chief element of
+which is to be found in the regard and affection of the people for each
+other.
+
+Z. TAYLOR.
+
+[A similar message, dated January 21, 1850, was sent to the House of
+Representatives, in answer to a resolution of that body.]
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _January 23, 1850_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States:_
+
+I transmit to the Senate a copy of the convention between the United
+States and His Majesty the Emperor of Brazil, providing for the
+satisfaction of claims of citizens of the United States against the
+Brazilian Government, signed at Rio de Janeiro on the 27th of January
+last, and the ratifications of which were exchanged in this city on the
+18th instant. It is desirable that Congress should prescribe the mode in
+which the claims referred to are to be adjusted and the money stipulated
+to be paid by Brazil shall be distributed amongst the claimants.
+Extracts from dispatches of the minister of the United States at Rio de
+Janeiro and a copy of a letter from an agent of claimants there are also
+herewith communicated, to which your attention is invited. I have
+authorized our minister to demand, receive, and give acquittances for
+the amount payable by Brazil, and have caused him to be instructed to
+remit the same to the Treasury of the United States.
+
+Z. TAYLOR.
+
+[The same message was sent to the House of Representatives.]
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _January 30, 1850 _.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States:_
+
+In reply to the resolution of the Senate of the 7th instant, requesting
+of me all the official correspondence since the 4th of March last
+between this Government and its military authorities at Santa Fe or with
+the authorities of the State of Texas relating to the boundary or
+occupation of Texas, and the reasons why the judicial authority of Texas
+has not been recognized by the military authority at Santa Fe, I
+herewith submit the accompanying reports, which contain the information
+called for by the resolution.
+
+I have not been informed of any acts of interference by the military
+forces stationed at Santa Fe with the judicial authority of Texas
+established or sought to be established there. I have received no
+communication from the governor of Texas on any of the matters referred
+to in the resolution. And I concur in the opinion expressed by my
+predecessor in the letter addressed by the late Secretary of State to
+the governor of Texas on the 12th day of February, 1847, that the
+boundary between the State of Texas and the Territory of New Mexico "is
+a subject which more properly belongs to the legislative than to the
+executive branch of the Government."
+
+Z. TAYLOR.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _February 6, 1850_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States:_
+
+In reply to the resolution of the Senate of the 28th ultimo, I have to
+state that the resolution of the Senate of the 2d of March, 1849,
+respecting James W. Schaumburg, was in April of that year submitted for
+the opinion of the Attorney-General upon questions arising in the case.
+No opinion had been given by him when it became necessary, prior to the
+meeting of the Senate, to prepare the nominations for promotions in the
+Army. The nomination of Lieutenant Ewell was then decided upon, after
+due consideration was given to the resolution of the Senate of the 2d of
+March, 1849.
+
+I herewith submit a report from the Secretary of War, showing the
+grounds upon which the decision above referred to was made.
+
+Z. TAYLOR.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _February 13, 1850_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States:_
+
+I have received a resolution of the Senate of the 28th ultimo,
+requesting the President of the United States "to cause to be laid
+before the Senate, in open session if in his opinion consistent with the
+public interest, otherwise in executive session, copies of all
+instructions and communications of the late Secretary of State to our
+late charge d'affaires to Guatemala and all dispatches and
+communications from said charge d'affaires to the Department of State,
+including any conventions or treaties he may have concluded with either
+of the States composing the late Republic of Central America; and also
+all correspondence between our said charge d'affaires and the Government
+or representatives of either of said States; and also all instructions
+and communications from the present Secretary of State to our late
+charge d'affaires or our present charge d'affaires to either of said
+States and all dispatches or communications from our charge d'affaires
+to the Department of State, including any conventions or treaties he may
+have concluded with either of said States; and also all correspondence
+between the Department of State and either of said charges d'affaires
+touching the so-called Kingdom of the Mosquitos and the right of way
+from the Atlantic to the Pacific through Lake Nicaragua."
+
+The information called for by this resolution will be cheerfully
+communicated to the Senate as soon as it shall be found to be compatible
+with the public interest.
+
+Z. TAYLOR.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _February 13, 1850_.
+
+_To the House of Representatives of the United States:_
+
+I have received a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 24th
+ultimo, requesting the President of the United States "to communicate to
+that body (provided the publication thereof be not prejudicial to the
+public interest) all such information as may be within the knowledge of
+the executive department relative to the alleged extraordinary
+proceedings of the English Government in the forcible seizure and
+occupation of the island of Tigre, in the State of Nicaragua, Central
+America; also all facts, circumstances, or communications within the
+knowledge of the Executive relative to any seizure, occupation, or
+attempted seizure or occupation, by the English Government of any port,
+river, town, territory, or island belonging to or claimed by any of the
+States of Central America; also that he be requested to communicate to
+this House, if not incompatible with the public interest, all treaties
+not heretofore published which may have been negotiated with any of the
+States of Central America by any person acting by authority from the
+late Administration or under the auspices of the present Executive." The
+information called for by this resolution will be cheerfully
+communicated to the House as soon as it shall be found compatible with
+the public interest.
+
+Z. TAYLOR.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _February 13, 1850_.
+
+_To the House of Representatives of the United States:_
+
+I transmit herewith to the House of Representatives, for the information
+of that body, an authenticated copy of the constitution of the State of
+California, received by me from General Riley.
+
+Z. TAYLOR.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _February 13, 1850_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States:_
+
+I transmit herewith to the Senate, for the information of that body, an
+authenticated copy of the constitution of California, received by me
+from the Hon. William M. Gwyn.
+
+Z. TAYLOR.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _March 1, 1850_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States:_
+
+In reply to the resolution of the Senate of the 12th ultimo, requesting
+the President of the United States "to inform the Senate of the amount
+of prize money paid into the Treasury in conformity with the eighteenth
+section of the act of March 3, 1849," etc., I transmit herewith a report
+from the Secretary of the Navy, with accompanying documents.
+
+Z. TAYLOR.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _March 4, 1850_.
+
+_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States:_
+
+I herewith transmit to Congress copies of a recent correspondence
+between the Department of State and the British minister at Washington,
+relating to subjects[3a] which seem to require the consideration of the
+legislative rather than the executive branch of the Government.
+
+[Footnote 3a: Navigation laws and tariff on British productions.]
+
+Z. TAYLOR.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _March 6, 1850_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States:_
+
+In answer to the inquiries contained in the resolution of the Senate of
+the 4th instant, in relation to the appointment of postmasters by the
+Postmaster-General, I send to the Senate herewith the letter of the
+Postmaster-General furnishing the desired information.
+
+Z. TAYLOR.
+
+
+
+MARCH 8, 1850.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States:_
+
+The Postmaster-General has this day communicated to me the letter
+herewith transmitted, in addition to his communication by me sent to the
+Senate on the 6th instant, in relation to the inquiries contained in the
+resolution of the Senate as to the appointment of postmasters.
+
+Z. TAYLOR.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _March 19, 1850_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States:_
+
+I transmit herewith, for the consideration and constitutional action of
+the Senate, a communication from the Secretary of the Interior, covering
+two treaties with Indians of New Mexico, one negotiated with the Navajo
+tribe on the 9th of September last by Colonel John Washington, of the
+Army, and J.S. Calhoun, United States Indian agent at Santa Fe, and the
+other with the Utah tribe, negotiated by J.S. Calhoun on the 13th of
+December last.
+
+Z. TAYLOR.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _March 19, 1850_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States:_
+
+I herewith transmit to the Senate, for their advice in regard to its
+ratification, "a general treaty of amity, navigation, and commerce"
+between the United States of America and the State of Nicaragua,
+concluded at Leon by E. George Squier, charge d'affaires of the United
+States, on their part, and Senor Zepeda, on the part of the Republic of
+Nicaragua.
+
+I also transmit, for the advice of the Senate in regard to its
+ratification, "a general treaty of amity, navigation, and commerce"
+negotiated by Mr. Squier with the Republic of San Salvador.
+
+I also transmit to the Senate a copy of the instructions to and
+correspondence with the said charge d'affaires relating to those
+treaties.
+
+I also transmit, for the advice of the Senate in regard to its
+ratification, "a general treaty of peace, amity, commerce, and
+navigation" negotiated by Elijah Hise, our late charge d'affaires, with
+the State of Guatemala.
+
+I also transmit, for the information of the Senate, a copy of a treaty
+negotiated by Mr. Hise with the Government of Nicaragua on the 21st of
+June last, accompanied by copies of his instructions from and
+correspondence with the Department of State.
+
+On the 12th day of November, 1847, Senor Buetrago, secretary of state
+and of the affairs of war and foreign relations and domestic
+administration of the Supreme Government of the State of Nicaragua,
+addressed a letter from the Government House at Leon to Mr. Buchanan,
+then Secretary of State of the United States, asking the friendly
+offices of this Government to prevent an attack upon the town of San
+Juan de Nicaragua, then contemplated by the British authorities as the
+allies of the Mosquito King. That letter, a translation of which is
+herewith sent, distinctly charges that--
+
+   The object of the British in taking this key of the continent is not
+to protect the small tribe of the Mosquitos, but to establish their own
+empire over the Atlantic extremity of the line, by which a canal
+connecting the two oceans is most practicable, insuring to them the
+preponderance on the American continent, as well as their direct
+relations with Asia, the East Indies, and other important countries in
+the world.
+
+No answer appears to have been returned to this letter.
+
+A communication was received by my predecessor from Don Jose Guerrero,
+President and Supreme Director of the State of Nicaragua, dated the 15th
+day of December, 1847, expressing his desire to establish relations of
+amity and commerce with the United States, a translation of which
+is herewith inclosed. In this the President of Nicaragua says:
+
+  My desire was carried to the utmost on seeing in your message at
+  the opening of the Twenty-ninth Congress of your Republic a sincere
+  profession of political faith in all respects conformable with the
+  principles professed by these States, determined, as they are, to
+  sustain with firmness the continental cause, the rights of Americans in
+  general, and the noninterference of European powers in their concerns.
+
+This letter announces the critical situation in which Nicaragua was
+placed and charges upon the Court of St. James a "well-known design to
+establish colonies on the coast of Nicaragua and to render itself master
+of the interoceanic canal, for which so many facilities are presented by
+the isthmus in that State." No reply was made to this letter.
+
+The British ships of war _Alarm_ and _Vixen_ arrived at San Juan de
+Nicaragua on the 8th day of February, 1848, and on the 12th of that
+month the British forces, consisting of 260 officers and men, attacked
+and captured the post of Serapaqui, garrisoned, according to the British
+statements, by about 200 soldiers, after a sharp action of one hour and
+forty minutes.
+
+On the 7th day of March, 1848, articles of agreement were concluded by
+Captain Locke, on the part of Great Britain, with the commissioners of
+the State of Nicaragua in the island of Cuba, in the Lake of Nicaragua,
+a copy of which will be found in the correspondence relating to the
+Mosquito Territory presented to and published by the House of Commons of
+Great Britain on the 3d day of July, 1848, herewith submitted. A copy of
+the same document will also be found accompanying the note of the
+minister for foreign affairs of Nicaragua to the Secretary of State of
+the United States under date the 17th March, 1848.
+
+By the third article of the agreement it is provided that Nicaragua
+"shall not disturb the inhabitants of San Juan, understanding that any
+such act will be considered by Great Britain as a declaration of open
+hostilities." By the sixth article it is provided that these articles of
+agreement will not "hinder Nicaragua from soliciting by means of a
+commissioner to Her Britannic Majesty a final arrangement of these
+affairs."
+
+The communication from Senor Sebastian Salinas, the secretary of foreign
+affairs of the State of Nicaragua, to Mr. Buchanan, the Secretary of
+State of the United States, dated 17th March, 1848, a translation of
+which is herewith submitted, recites the aggressions of Great Britain
+and the seizure of a part of the Nicaraguan territory in the name of the
+Mosquito King. No answer appears to have been given to this letter.
+
+On the 28th day of October, 1847, Joseph W. Livingston was appointed by
+this Government consul of the United States for the port of San Juan de
+Nicaragua. On the 16th day of December, 1847, after having received his
+exequatur from the Nicaraguan Government, he addressed a letter to Mr.
+Buchanan, Secretary of State, a copy of which is herewith submitted,
+representing that he had been informed that the English Government would
+take possession of San Juan de Nicaragua in January, 1848.
+
+In another letter, dated the 8th of April, 1848, Mr. Livingston states
+that "at the request of the minister for foreign affairs of Nicaragua
+he transmits a package of papers containing the correspondence relative
+to the occupation of the port of San Juan by British forces in the name
+of the Mosquito nation."
+
+On the 3d day of June, 1848, Elijah Hise, being appointed charge
+d'affaires of the United States to Guatemala, received his instructions,
+a copy of which is herewith submitted. In these instructions the
+following passages occur:
+
+  The independence as well as the interests of the nations on this
+  continent require that they should maintain the American system of
+  policy entirely distinct from that which prevails in Europe. To
+  suffer any interference on the part of the European Governments with
+  the domestic concerns of the American Republics and to permit them
+  to establish new colonies upon this continent would be to jeopard
+  their independence and to ruin their interests. These truths ought
+  everywhere throughout this continent to be impressed on the public
+  mind. But what can the United States do to resist such European
+  interference whilst the Spanish American Republics continue to weaken
+  themselves by division and civil war and deprive themselves of the
+  ability of doing anything for their own protection?
+
+This last significant inquiry seems plainly to intimate that the United
+States could do nothing to arrest British aggression while the Spanish
+American Republics continue to weaken themselves by division and civil
+war and deprive themselves of the ability of doing anything for their
+protection.
+
+These instructions, which also state the dissolution of the Central
+American Republic, formerly composed of the five States of Nicaragua,
+Costa Rica, Honduras, San Salvador, and Guatemala, and their continued
+separation, authorize Mr. Hise to conclude treaties of commerce with the
+Republics of Guatemala and San Salvador, but conclude with saying that
+it was not deemed advisable to empower Mr. Hise to conclude a treaty
+with either Nicaragua, Honduras, or Costa Rica until more full and
+statistical information should have been communicated by him to the
+Department in regard to those States than that which it possesses.
+
+The States of Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Honduras are the only Central
+American States whose consent or cooperation would in any event be
+necessary for the construction of the ship canal contemplated between
+the Pacific and Atlantic oceans by the way of Lake Nicaragua.
+
+In pursuance of the sixth article of the agreement of the 7th of March,
+1848, between the forces of Great Britain and the authorities of
+Nicaragua, Senor Francisco Castillon was appointed commissioner from
+Nicaragua to Great Britain, and on the 5th day of November, 1848, while
+at Washington on his way to London, addressed a letter to the Secretary
+of State, a translation of which is herewith submitted, asking this
+Government to instruct its minister plenipotentiary residing in London
+to sustain the right of Nicaragua to her territory claimed by Mosquito,
+and especially to the port of San Juan, expressing the hope of Nicaragua
+"that the Government of the Union, firmly adhering to its principle of
+resisting all foreign intervention in America, would not hesitate to
+order such steps to be taken as might be effective before things reached
+a point in which the intervention of the United States would prove of no
+avail."
+
+To this letter also no answer appears to have been returned, and no
+instructions were given to our minister in London in pursuance of the
+request contained in it.
+
+On the 3d day of March, 1847, Christopher Hempstead was appointed consul
+at Belize, and an application was then made for his exequatur through
+our minister in London, Mr. Bancroft. Lord Palmerston referred Mr.
+Bancroft's application for an exequatur for Mr. Hempstead to the
+colonial office. The exequatur was granted, and Mr. Hempstead, in a
+letter to the Department of State bearing date the 12th day of February,
+1848, a copy of which is herewith submitted, acknowledged the receipt of
+his exequatur from Her Britannic Majesty, by virtue of which he has
+discharged his consular functions. Thus far this Government has
+recognized the existence of a British colony at Belize, within the
+territory of Honduras. I have recalled the consul, and have appointed no
+one to supply his place.
+
+On the 26th day of May, 1848, Mr. Hempstead represented in a letter to
+the Department of State that the Indians had "applied to Her Majesty's
+superintendent at Belize for protection, and had desired him to take
+possession of the territory which they occupied and take them under his
+protection as British subjects;" and he added that in the event of the
+success of their application "the British Government would then have
+possession of the entire coast from Cape Conte to San Juan de
+Nicaragua." In another letter, dated the 29th day of July, 1848, he
+wrote:
+
+  I have not a doubt but the designs of Her Majesty's officers here and
+  on the Mosquito shore are to obtain territory on this continent.
+
+The receipt of this letter was regularly acknowledged on the 29th day of
+August, 1848.
+
+When I came into office I found the British Government in possession of
+the port of San Juan, which it had taken by force of arms after we had
+taken possession of California and while we were engaged in the
+negotiation of a treaty for the cession of it, and that no official
+remonstrance had been made by this Government against the aggression,
+nor any attempt to resist it. Efforts were then being made by certain
+private citizens of the United States to procure from the State of
+Nicaragua by contract the right to cut the proposed ship canal by the
+way of the river San Juan and the lakes of Nicaragua and Managua to
+Realejo, on the Pacific Ocean. A company of American citizens entered
+into such a contract with the State of Nicaragua. Viewing the canal as a
+matter of great importance to the people of the United States, I
+resolved to adopt the policy of protecting the work and binding the
+Government of Nicaragua, through whose territory it would pass, also to
+protect it. The instructions to E. George Squier, appointed by me charge
+d'affaires to Guatemala on the 2d day of April, 1849, are herewith
+submitted, as fully indicating the views which governed me in directing
+a treaty to be made with Nicaragua. I considered the interference of the
+British Government on this continent in seizing the port of San Juan,
+which commanded the route believed to be the most eligible for the canal
+across the Isthmus, and occupying it at the very moment when it was
+known, as I believe, to Great Britain that we were engaged in the
+negotiation for the purchase of California, as an unfortunate
+coincidence, and one calculated to lead to the inference that she
+entertained designs by no means in harmony with the interests of the
+United States.
+
+Seeing that Mr. Hise had been positively instructed to make no treaty,
+not even a treaty of commerce, with Nicaragua, Costa Rica, or Honduras,
+I had no suspicion that he would attempt to act in opposition to his
+instructions, and in September last I was for the first time informed
+that he had actually negotiated two treaties with the State of
+Nicaragua, the one a treaty of commerce, the other a treaty for the
+construction of the proposed ship canal, which treaties he brought with
+him on his return home. He also negotiated a treaty of commerce with
+Honduras; and in each of these treaties it is recited that he had full
+powers for the purpose. He had no such powers, and the whole proceeding
+on his part with reference to those States was not only unauthorized by
+instructions, but in opposition to those he had received from my
+predecessor and after the date of his letter of recall and the
+appointment of his successor. But I have no evidence that Mr. Hise,
+whose letter of recall (a copy of which is herewith submitted) bears
+date the 2d day of May, 1849, had received that letter on the 21st day
+of June, when he negotiated the treaty with Nicaragua. The difficulty of
+communicating with him was so great that I have reason to believe he had
+not received it. He did not acknowledge it.
+
+The twelfth article of the treaty negotiated by Mr. Hise in effect
+guarantees the perfect independence of the State of Nicaragua and her
+sovereignty over her alleged limits from the Caribbean Sea to the
+Pacific Ocean, pledging the naval and military power of the United
+States to support it. This treaty authorizes the chartering of a
+corporation by this Government to cut a canal outside of the limits of
+the United States, and gives to us the exclusive right to fortify and
+command it. I have not approved it, nor have I now submitted it for
+ratification; not merely because of the facts already mentioned, but
+because on the 31st day of December last Senor Edwardo Carcache, on
+being accredited to this Government as charge d'affaires from the State
+of Nicaragua, in a note to the Secretary of State, a translation of
+which is herewith sent, declared that he was "only empowered to exchange
+ratifications of the treaty concluded with Mr. Squier, and that the
+special convention concluded at Guatemala by Mr. Hise, the charge
+d'affaires of the United States, and Senor Selva, the commissioner of
+Nicaragua, had been, as was publicly and universally known, disapproved
+by his Government."
+
+We have no precedent in our history to justify such a treaty as that
+negotiated by Mr. Hise since the guaranties we gave to France of her
+American possessions. The treaty negotiated with New Granada on the 12th
+day of December, 1846, did not guarantee the sovereignty of New Granada
+on the whole of her territory, but only over "the single Province of the
+Isthmus of Panama," immediately adjoining the line of the railroad, the
+neutrality of which was deemed necessary by the President and Senate to
+the construction and security of the work.
+
+The thirty-fifth article of the treaty with Nicaragua, negotiated by Mr.
+Squier, which is submitted for your advice in regard to its
+ratification, distinctly recognizes the rights of sovereignty and
+property which the State of Nicaragua possesses in and over the line of
+the canal therein provided for. If the Senate doubt on that subject, it
+will be clearly wrong to involve us in a controversy with England by
+adopting the treaty; but after the best consideration which I have been
+able to give to the subject my own judgment is convinced that the claims
+of Nicaragua are just, and that as our commerce and intercourse with the
+Pacific require the opening of this communication from ocean to ocean it
+is our duty to ourselves to assert their justice.
+
+This treaty is not intended to secure to the United States any monopoly
+or exclusive advantage in the use of the canal. Its object is to
+guarantee protection to American citizens and others who shall construct
+the canal, and to defend it when completed against unjust confiscations
+or obstructions, and to deny the advantages of navigation through it to
+those nations only which shall refuse to enter into the same guaranties.
+A copy of the contract of the canal company is herewith transmitted,
+from which, as well as from the treaty, it will be perceived that the
+same benefits are offered to all nations in the same terms.
+
+The message of my predecessor to the Senate of the 10th February, 1847,
+transmitting for ratification the treaty with New Granada, contains in
+general the principles by which I have been actuated in directing the
+negotiation with Nicaragua. The only difference between the two cases
+consists in this: In that of Nicaragua the British Government has seized
+upon part of her territory and was in possession of it when we
+negotiated the treaty with her. But that possession was taken after our
+occupation of California, when the effect of it was to obstruct or
+control the most eligible route for a ship communication to the
+territories acquired by us on the Pacific. In the case of New Granada,
+her possession was undisturbed at the time of the treaty, though the
+British possession in the right of the Mosquito King was then extended
+into the territories claimed by New Granada as far as Boca del Toro. The
+professed objects of both the treaties are to open communications across
+the Isthmus to all nations and to invite their guaranties on the same
+terms. Neither of them proposes to guarantee territory to a foreign
+nation in which the United States will not have a common interest with
+that nation. Neither of them constitutes an alliance for any political
+object, but for a purely commercial purpose, in which all the navigating
+nations of the world have a common interest. Nicaragua, like New
+Granada, is a power which will not excite the jealousy of any nation.
+
+As there is nothing narrow, selfish, illiberal, or exclusive in the
+views of the United States as set forth in this treaty, as it is
+indispensable to the successful completion of the contemplated canal to
+secure protection to it from the local authorities and this Government,
+and as I have no doubt that the British pretension to the port of San
+Juan in right of the Mosquito King is without just foundation in any
+public law ever before recognized in any other instance by Americans or
+Englishmen as applicable to Indian titles on this continent, I shall
+ratify this treaty in case the Senate shall advise that course. Its
+principal defect is taken from the treaty with New Granada, the
+negotiator having made it liable to be abrogated on notice after twenty
+years. Both treaties should have been perpetual or limited only by the
+duration of the improvements they were intended to protect. The
+instructions to our charge d'affaires, it will be seen, prescribe no
+limitation for the continuance of the treaty with Nicaragua. Should the
+Senate approve of principle of the treaty, an amendment in this respect
+is deemed advisable; and it will be well to invite by another amendment
+the protection of other nations, by expressly offering them in the
+treaty what is now offered by implication only--the same advantages
+which we propose for ourselves on the same conditions upon which we
+shall have acquired them. The policy of this treaty is not novel, nor
+does it originate from any suggestion either of my immediate predecessor
+or myself. On the 3d day of March, 1835, the following resolution,
+referred to by the late President in his message to the Senate relative
+to the treaty with New Granada, was adopted in executive session by the
+Senate without division:
+
+  _Resolved_, That the President of the United States be respectfully
+  requested to consider the expediency of opening negotiations with the
+  Governments of Central America and New Granada for the purpose of
+  effectually protecting, by suitable treaty stipulations with them,
+  such individuals or companies as may undertake to open a communication
+  between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans by the construction of a ship
+  canal across the isthmus which connects North and South America, and
+  of securing forever by such stipulations the free and equal rights
+  of navigating such a canal to all such nations on the payment of such
+  reasonable tolls as may be established to compensate the capitalists
+  who may engage in such undertaking and complete the work.
+
+President Jackson accorded with the policy suggested in this resolution,
+and in pursuance of it sent Charles Biddle as agent to negotiate with
+the Governments of Central America and New Granada. The result is fully
+set forth in the report of a select committee of the House of
+Representatives of the 20th of February, 1849, upon a joint resolution
+of Congress to authorize the survey of certain routes for a canal or
+railroad between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. The policy indicated
+in the resolution of the 3d March, 1835, then adopted by the President
+and Senate, is that now proposed for the consideration and sanction of
+the Senate. So far as my knowledge extends, such has ever been the
+liberal policy of the leading statesmen of this country, and by no one
+has it been more earnestly recommended than by my lamented predecessor.
+
+Z. TAYLOR.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _March 26, 1850_.
+
+_To the House of Representatives of the United States:_
+
+I herewith transmit, for the information of Congress, a copy of the
+report[4a] of Thomas Butler King, esq., appointed bearer of dispatches
+and special agent to California, made in pursuance of instructions
+issued from the Department of State on the 3d day of April last.
+
+[Footnote 4a: On California affairs.]
+
+Z. TAYLOR.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _March 28, 1850_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States:_
+
+In compliance with a resolution of the Senate of the 22d instant,
+requesting the President of the United States to communicate to that
+body a copy of the instructions given to the agent of the United States
+who was employed to visit Hungary during the recent war between that
+country and Austria, and of the correspondence by and with such agent,
+so far as the publication of the same may be consistent with the public
+interest, I herewith transmit to the Senate a copy of the instructions
+to A. Dudley Mann, esq., relating to Hungary, he having been appointed
+by me special agent to that country on the 18th day of June last,
+together with a copy of the correspondence with our late charge
+d'affaires to Austria referred to in those instructions and of other
+papers disclosing the policy of this Government in reference to Hungary
+and her people. I also transmit, in compliance with the resolution of
+the Senate, but in a separate packet, a copy of the correspondence of
+Mr. Mann with the Department of State. The latter I have caused to be
+marked "_executive_"--the information contained in it being such as will
+be found on examination most appropriately to belong to the Senate in
+the exercise of its executive functions. The publication of this
+correspondence of the agent sent by me to Hungary is a matter referred
+entirely to the judgment and discretion of the Senate.
+
+It will be seen by the documents now transmitted that no minister or
+agent was accredited by the Government of Hungary to this Government at
+any period since I came into office, nor was any communication ever
+received by this Government from the minister of foreign affairs of
+Hungary or any other executive officer authorized to act in her behalf.
+
+My purpose, as freely avowed in this correspondence, was to have
+acknowledged the independence of Hungary had she succeeded in
+establishing a government _de facto_ on a basis sufficiently permanent
+in its character to have justified me in doing so according to the
+usages and settled principles of this Government; and although she is
+now fallen and many of her gallant patriots are in exile or in chains, I
+am free still to declare that had she been successful in the
+maintenance of such a government as we could have recognized we should
+have been the first to welcome her into the family of nations.
+
+Z. TAYLOR.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _April 3, 1850_.
+
+_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States:_
+
+I transmit a translation of a note, under date the 20th of last month,
+addressed to the Secretary of State by the minister of the Mexican
+Republic accredited to this Government, expressing the views of that
+Government with reference to the control of the wild Indians of the
+United States on the frontier of Mexico, as stipulated for in the
+eleventh article of the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.
+
+Z. TAYLOR.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _April 22, 1850_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States:_
+
+I herewith transmit to the Senate, for their advice with regard to its
+ratification, a convention between the United States and Great Britain,
+concluded at Washington on the 19th instant by John M. Clayton,
+Secretary of State, on the part of the United States, and by the Right
+Hon. Sir Henry Lytton Bulwer, on the part of Great Britain.
+
+This treaty has been negotiated in accordance with the general views
+expressed in my message to Congress in December last. Its object is to
+establish a commercial alliance with all great maritime states for the
+protection of a contemplated ship canal through the territory of
+Nicaragua to connect the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, and at the same
+time to insure the same protection to the contemplated railways or
+canals by the Tehuantepec and Panama routes, as well as to every other
+interoceanic communication which may be adopted to shorten the transit
+to or from our territories on the Pacific.
+
+It will be seen that this treaty does not propose to take money from the
+public Treasury to effect any object contemplated by it. It yields
+protection to the capitalists who may undertake to construct any canal
+or railway across the Isthmus, commencing in the southern part of Mexico
+and terminating in the territory of New Granada. It gives no preference
+to any one route over another, but proposes the same measure of
+protection for all which ingenuity and enterprise can construct. Should
+this treaty be ratified, it will secure in future the liberation of all
+Central America from any kind of foreign aggression.
+
+At the time negotiations were opened with Nicaragua for the construction
+of a canal through her territory I found Great Britain in possession of
+nearly half of Central America, as the ally and protector of the
+Mosquito King. It has been my object in negotiating this treaty not only
+to secure the passage across the Isthmus to the Government and citizens
+of the United States by the construction of a great highway dedicated to
+the use of all nations on equal terms, but to maintain the independence
+and sovereignty of all the Central American Republics. The Senate will
+judge how far these objects have been effected.
+
+If there be any who would desire to seize and annex any portion of the
+territories of these weak sister republics to the American Union, or to
+extend our dominion over them, I do not concur in their policy; and I
+wish it to be understood in reference to that subject that I adopt the
+views entertained, so far as I know, by all my predecessors.
+
+The principles by which I have been regulated in the negotiation of this
+treaty are in accordance with the sentiments well expressed by my
+immediate predecessor on the 10th of February, 1847, when he
+communicated to the Senate the treaty with New Granada for the
+protection of the railroad at Panama. It is in accordance with the whole
+spirit of the resolution of the Senate of the 3d of March, 1835,
+referred to by President Polk, and with the policy adopted by President
+Jackson immediately after the passage of that resolution, who dispatched
+an agent to Central America and New Granada "to open negotiations with
+those Governments for the purpose of effectually protecting, by suitable
+treaty stipulations with them, such individuals or companies as might
+undertake to open a communication between the Atlantic and Pacific
+oceans by the construction of a ship canal across the isthmus which
+connects North and South America, and of securing forever by such
+stipulations the free and equal right of navigating such canal to all
+such nations on the payment of such reasonable tolls as might be
+established to compensate the capitalists who should engage in such
+undertaking and complete the work."
+
+I also communicate herewith a copy of the correspondence between the
+American Secretary of State and the British plenipotentiary at the time
+of concluding the treaty. Whatever honor may be due to the party first
+proposing such a treaty justly belongs to the United States. My
+predecessor, in his message of the 10th of February, 1847, referring to
+the treaty with New Granada for the protection of the Panama Railroad,
+observes that--
+
+   Should the proposition thus tendered be rejected we may deprive the
+United States of the just influence which its acceptance might secure to
+them, and confer the glory and benefits of being the first among the
+nations in concluding such an arrangement upon the Government either of
+Great Britain or France. That either of these Governments would embrace
+the offer can not be doubted, because there does not appear to be any
+other effectual means of securing to all nations the advantages of this
+important passage but the guaranty of great commercial powers that the
+Isthmus shall be neutral territory. The interests of the world at stake
+are so important that the security of this passage between the two
+oceans can not be suffered to depend upon the wars and revolutions which
+may arise among different nations.
+
+Should the Senate in its wisdom see fit to confirm this treaty, and the
+treaty heretofore submitted by me for their advice in regard to its
+ratification, negotiated with the State of Nicaragua on the 3d day of
+September last, it will be necessary to amend one or both of them, so
+that both treaties may stand in conformity with each other in their
+spirit and intention. The Senate will discover by examining them both
+that this is a task of no great difficulty.
+
+I have good reason to believe that France and Russia stand ready to
+accede to this treaty, and that no other great maritime state will
+refuse its accession to an arrangement so well calculated to diffuse the
+blessings of peace, commerce, and civilization, and so honorable to all
+nations which may enter into the engagement.
+
+Z. TAYLOR.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _May 6, 1850_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States:_
+
+I transmit to the Senate, for its consideration with a view to
+ratification, a consular convention between the United States and the
+Republic of New Granada, signed in this city on the 4th of this month by
+the Secretary of State on the part of the United States, and by Senor
+Don Rafael Rivas, charge d'affaires of New Granada, on the part of that
+Republic.
+
+Z. TAYLOR.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _May 7, 1850_.
+
+_To the House of Representatives of the United States:_
+
+I herewith transmit to the House of Representatives copies of a
+correspondence between the Department of State and the British legation
+in this city, relative to the reciprocal admission of the natural
+products of the United States and Canada free of duty into the
+territories of both countries. It will be seen by the accompanying
+documents that the late Secretary of the Treasury recommended, in his
+correspondence with the Committee on Commerce in the House of
+Representatives, reciprocal free trade in the natural products of the
+United States and Canada; that in March and June, 1849, a correspondence
+was opened between the British charge d'affaires then residing in
+Washington and the Secretary of State upon the subject of a commercial
+convention or treaty to carry out the views of Her Majesty's Government
+in relation thereto, and that the proposition for such a convention or
+treaty was declined on the part of the American Government for reasons
+which are fully set forth in the note of the Secretary of State to Mr.
+Crampton of the 26th of June last. During the negotiations connected
+with this correspondence, not considering the markets of Canada as an
+equivalent for those of the United States, I directed the Secretary of
+State to inquire what other benefits of trade and commerce would be
+yielded by the British authorities in connection with such a measure,
+and particularly whether the free navigation of the St. Lawrence would
+be conceded to us. That subject has accordingly been presented to the
+British Government, and the result was communicated by Her Majesty's
+minister in Washington on the 27th of March last in reply to a note from
+the Secretary of State of the 26th of that month. From these papers it
+will be perceived that the navigation of the St. Lawrence and of the
+canals connecting it with the Western lakes will be opened to the
+citizens of the United States in the event that the bill referred to in
+the correspondence, providing for the admission of their natural
+products, should become a law. The whole subject is now submitted to the
+consideration of Congress, and especially whether the concession
+proposed by Great Britain is an equivalent for the reciprocity desired
+by her.
+
+Z. TAYLOR.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _May 8, 1850_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States:_
+
+With reference to the convention between the United States and Her
+Britannic Majesty relative to interoceanic communication by the way of
+Nicaragua, recently submitted to the Senate, I transmit a copy of a
+note, under date the 29th ultimo, addressed to the Secretary of State by
+Sir Henry L. Bulwer, Her Britannic Majesty's minister here, and of Mr.
+Clayton's reply, under date the 30th ultimo. Intelligence received from
+the charge d'affaires of the United States in Central America and from
+other quarters having led to an apprehension that Mr. Chatfield, Her
+Britannic Majesty's minister in that country, had concluded a treaty
+with the Government of Costa Rica placing that State under the
+protection of the British Government, I deemed it my duty to cause
+inquiries upon the subject to be addressed to Her Majesty's Government
+through Sir Henry L. Bulwer. The note of that functionary communicates
+the answer to those inquiries, and may be deemed satisfactory, both from
+the denial of the fact that any such treaty has been concluded and from
+its positive disavowal on behalf of the British Government of the policy
+intended to be subserved by such treaties.
+
+Z. TAYLOR.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _May 18, 1850_.
+
+_To the House of Representatives of the United States:_
+
+I herewith transmit to the House of Representatives a report of the
+Secretary of State, with accompanying papers,[5a] in answer to its
+resolution of the 28th of March last.
+
+Z. TAYLOR.
+
+[Footnote 5a: Communications from the United States consul at Vienna.]
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _May 20, 1850_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States:_
+
+I transmit herewith reports from the Secretary of the Interior and
+Secretary of War, in reply to the resolution of the Senate of the 30th
+ultimo, calling for information in relation to the hostilities and
+outrages committed during the past year by the Seminole Indians in
+Florida, the steps taken for their removal west of the Mississippi, the
+area now occupied by them, etc.
+
+Z. TAYLOR.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _May 22, 1850_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States:_
+
+I herewith transmit to the Senate reports of the several heads of
+Departments, to whom were referred the resolutions of the Senate of the
+9th instant, "requesting the President of the United States to furnish
+to the Senate copies of all correspondence between any of the Executive
+Departments and General Persifor F. Smith and Brigadier-General B.
+Riley, or either of them, relative to affairs in California, which had
+not been communicated to the Senate; and also all information existing
+in any of the Executive Departments respecting the transactions of the
+convention in California by which the project of a State government was
+prepared, and particularly a copy of the journals of said convention and
+of such of the ordinances adopted by it as may in any way have been
+communicated to any of the said Departments; and likewise to inform the
+Senate if the surrender of General Riley to the jurisdiction and civil
+authority of the government made by the aforesaid convention was by
+order of the Executive of the United States, and, if not, whether the
+proclamation of General Riley recognizing the said State government and
+submitting to its jurisdiction has received the sanction of the
+Executive; and also that he furnish to the Senate whatever intelligence
+may have been received in the executive department respecting the
+condition of civil affairs in the Oregon Territory."
+
+The reports, with the official correspondence accompanying them, it is
+believed, embrace all the information in the Departments called for by
+the resolutions.
+
+Z. TAYLOR.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _May 24, 1850_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States:_
+
+In the month of January last I nominated Thomas Sewall to be consul of
+the United States for the port of Santiago de Cuba, to which office he
+had been appointed by me during the recess of the Senate. The Spanish
+Government having refused to recognize Mr. Sewall as consul for that
+port, I now withdraw that nomination and nominate William N. Adams to
+fill the vacancy thus occasioned.
+
+Z. TAYLOR.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _May 29, 1850_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States:_
+
+I transmit to the Senate a copy of a dispatch from the minister of the
+United States at London, together with the memorial and other documents
+addressed to the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
+States by Count de Bronno Bronski which accompanied it, relative to an
+improved breed of silkworms which he desires to have introduced into
+this country.
+
+Z. TAYLOR.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _June 3, 1850_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States:_
+
+I transmit to the Senate herewith reports from the several heads of
+Departments, which contain all the information in possession of the
+Executive relative to the subject of the resolution of the 23d instant
+[ultimo].
+
+No information has been received establishing the existence of any
+revolutionary movement in the island of Cuba among the inhabitants of
+that island. The correspondence submitted discloses, however, the fact
+that repeated attempts have been made under the direction of foreigners
+enjoying the hospitality of this country to get up armed expeditions in
+the United States for the purpose of invading Cuba. It will be seen by
+that correspondence that this Government has been faithful in the
+discharge of its treaty obligations with Spain and in the execution of
+the acts of Congress which have for their object the maintenance in this
+regard of the peace and honor of this country.
+
+Z. TAYLOR.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _June 10, 1850_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States:_
+
+I submit herewith, in reply to a resolution of the Senate of the 3d
+instant, calling for "copies of the instructions given and orders issued
+in relation to the assemblage of persons on Round Island, coast of
+Mississippi, during the summer of 1849, and of the correspondence
+between the President or heads of Departments and the governor of
+Mississippi and the officers, naval or military, of the United States in
+reference to the observation, investment, and dispersion of said
+assemblage upon said island," a report from the Secretary of the Navy
+and accompanying documents, which contain all the information on the
+subject not heretofore communicated to the Senate.
+
+Z. TAYLOR.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _June 13, 1850_.
+
+_To the House of Representatives of the United States:_
+
+I transmit to the House of Representatives a copy of a dispatch
+addressed by the minister of the United States at Paris to the Secretary
+of State, with a translation of the documents which accompanied it,
+relative to the memorial of Pierre Piron, a citizen of the French
+Republic, who, it will be perceived, presents a just claim to pecuniary
+remuneration from this Government on account of services rendered to
+citizens of the United States.
+
+Z. TAYLOR.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _June 17, 1850_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States:_
+
+I have received a copy of the resolution of the Senate of the 11th June
+instant, requesting me "to inform the Senate whether any orders have
+been issued to any military officer or officers at Santa Fe to hold
+possession against the authority of Texas, or in any way to embarrass or
+prevent the exercise of her jurisdiction over that country, and to
+furnish the Senate with copies of any correspondence which may have
+taken place between the War Department and the military stationed at
+Santa Fe since the date of my last communication to the Senate on that
+subject."
+
+In reply to that resolution I state that no such orders have been given.
+
+I herewith present to the Senate copies of all the correspondence
+referred to in the resolution. All the other orders relating to the
+subject-matter of the resolution have been heretofore communicated to
+the Senate.
+
+I have already, in a former message, referred to the fact that the
+boundary between Texas and New Mexico is disputed. I have now to state
+that information has been recently received that a certain Robert S.
+Neighbors, styling himself commissioner of the State of Texas, has
+proceeded to Santa Fe with a view of organizing counties in that
+district under the authority of Texas. While I have no power to decide
+the question of boundary, and no desire to interfere with it, as a
+question of title, I have to observe that the possession of the
+territory into which it appears that Mr. Neighbors has thus gone was
+actually acquired by the United States from Mexico, and has since been
+held by the United States, and, in my opinion, ought so to remain until
+the question of boundary shall have been determined by some competent
+authority. Meanwhile, I think there is no reason for seriously
+apprehending that Texas will practically interfere with the possession
+of the United States.
+
+Z. TAYLOR.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _June 26, 1850_.
+
+_To the House of Representatives of the United States:_
+
+I herewith transmit a report of the Secretary of War, communicating the
+information, as far as it can be furnished, required by the resolution
+of the House of Representatives of the 17th instant, respecting the
+amount of money collected from customs in California from the conclusion
+of the war until the collector appointed under the act of March 3, 1849,
+entered upon his duties, the objects for which said money has been
+expended, and the authority under which the collections and
+disbursements were made.
+
+Z. TAYLOR.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _June 27, 1850_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States:_
+
+In compliance with the resolution of the Senate of the 3d instant,
+requesting information in regard to the indemnity stipulated to be paid
+by the Government of Peru to the Government of the United States
+pursuant to the modified convention of the 17th of March, 1841, I
+transmit a report from the Secretary of State and the documents by which
+it was accompanied. The sums paid by that Government under the
+convention are mentioned in the letters of Messrs. E. McCall & Co., of
+Lima, who were appointed by my predecessor the agents to receive the
+installments as they might fall due.
+
+Z. TAYLOR.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _July 1, 1850_.
+
+_To the House of Representatives of the United States:_
+
+In reply to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 17th
+ultimo, in regard to the number of vessels, guns, and men constituting
+the African squadron, the annual expenses of that squadron, etc., I
+submit herewith a report from the Secretary of the Navy, with
+accompanying documents.
+
+Z. TAYLOR.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _July 1, 1850_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States:_
+
+I herewith transmit a report from the Secretary of War, prepared in
+answer to a resolution of the Senate of the 27th ultimo, requesting
+information of the proceedings of the Executive in regard to the
+appointment of the officer now commanding in New Mexico, the orders and
+instructions given to and correspondence with him, and upon other
+subjects mentioned in the resolution.
+
+Z. TAYLOR.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _July 2, 1850_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States:_
+
+In the month of March last I nominated William McNeir to be a justice of
+the peace in and for the county of Washington, in the District of
+Columbia, and on the 24th day of June the Senate advised and consented
+to the nomination. Since then I have learned from the late mayor of the
+city of Washington, upon whose recommendation the nomination was made,
+that the person whom he intended to recommend for that office was George
+McNeir, whom I now nominate to be a justice of the peace in and for the
+county of Washington, in the District of Columbia.
+
+In the month of February last I nominated Benjamin Riddells as consul of
+the United States for Chihuahua, and on the 10th day of June last the
+Senate advised and consented to that nomination. I have since learned
+that the persons recommending the appointment of Mr. Riddells by the
+praenomen of Benjamin intended to recommend Bennet Riddells, whom I now
+nominate to be consul of the United States for Chihuahua in order to
+correct the mistake thus inadvertently made.
+
+Z. TAYLOR.
+
+
+
+
+PROCLAMATIONS.
+
+
+ZACHARY TAYLOR, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
+
+_To all whom it may concern:_
+
+An exequatur having been granted to Senor Carlos de Espana, bearing date
+the 29th October, 1846, recognizing him as the consul of Her Catholic
+Majesty at the port of New Orleans and declaring him free to exercise
+and enjoy such functions, powers, and privileges as are allowed to the
+consuls of the most favored nations in the United States:
+
+These are now to declare that I do no longer recognize the said Carlos
+de Espana as consul of Her Catholic Majesty in any part of the United
+States, nor permit him to exercise and enjoy any of the functions,
+powers, or privileges allowed to the consuls of Spain; and I do hereby
+wholly revoke and annul the said exequatur heretofore given, and do
+declare the same to be absolutely null and void from this day forward.
+
+In testimony whereof I have caused these letters to be made patent and
+the seal of the United States of America to be hereunto affixed.
+
+[SEAL.]
+
+Given under my hand this 4th day of January, A.D. 1850, and of the
+Independence of the United States the seventy-fourth.
+
+Z. TAYLOR.
+
+By the President:
+  JOHN M. CLAYTON,
+    _Secretary of State_.
+
+
+
+BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.
+
+A PROCLAMATION.
+
+
+Whereas by an act of the Congress of the United States of the 14th of
+August, 1848, entitled "An act to establish the Territorial government
+of Oregon," the President of the United States is authorized to
+establish such ports of delivery in the collection district created by
+that act, not exceeding two in number (one of which shall be located on
+Pugets Sound), as he may deem proper:
+
+Now, therefore, I, Zachary Taylor, President of the United States of
+America, do hereby declare and proclaim the ports of Nesqually (on
+Pugets Sound) and Portland, in the collection district of Oregon, in the
+Territory of Oregon, to be constituted ports of delivery, with all the
+privileges authorized by law to such ports.
+
+In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of
+the United States to be affixed.
+
+[SEAL.]
+
+Done at the city of Washington, this 10th day of January, A.D. 1850, and
+of the Independence of the United States the seventy-fourth.
+
+Z. TAYLOR.
+
+By the President:
+  J.M. CLAYTON,
+    _Secretary of State_.
+
+
+
+
+DEATH OF PRESIDENT TAYLOR.
+
+
+ANNOUNCEMENT TO MR. FILLMORE.
+
+[From official records in the State Department.]
+
+DEPARTMENT OF STATE,
+
+_Washington, July 9, 1850_.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE,
+
+_President of the United States_.
+
+SIR: The melancholy and most painful duty devolves on us to announce to
+you that Zachary Taylor, late President of the United States, is no
+more. He died at the President's mansion this evening at half-past 10
+o'clock.
+
+We have the honor to be, etc.,
+
+JOHN M. CLAYTON,
+  _Secretary of State_.
+
+W.M. MEREDITH,
+  _Secretary of the Treasury_.
+
+T. EWING,
+  _Secretary of the Interior_.
+
+GEO. W. CRAWFORD,
+  _Secretary of War_.
+
+WM. BALLARD PRESTON,
+  _Secretary of the Navy_.
+
+J. COLLAMER,
+  _Postmaster-General_.
+
+[The announcement as published in the Daily National Intelligencer of
+July 11, 1850, contains also the signature of Reverdy Johnson,
+Attorney-General.]
+
+
+
+REPLY OF MR. FILLMORE.
+
+[From official records in the State Department.]
+
+WASHINGTON, _July 9, 1850_.
+
+To the Hons. JOHN M. CLAYTON, Secretary of State; W.M. MEREDITH,
+Secretary of the Treasury; T. EWING, Secretary of the Interior; GEO. W.
+CRAWFORD, Secretary of War; WM. BALLARD PRESTON, Secretary of the Navy;
+J. COLLAMER, Postmaster-General; REVERDY JOHNSON, Attorney-General.
+
+GENTLEMEN: I have just received your note conveying the melancholy and
+painful intelligence of the decease of Zachary Taylor, late President of
+the United States. I have no language to express the emotions of my
+heart. The shock is so sudden and unexpected that I am overwhelmed with
+grief.
+
+I shall avail myself of the earliest moment to communicate this sad
+intelligence to Congress, and shall appoint a time and place for taking
+the oath of office prescribed to the President of the United States. You
+are requested to be present and witness the ceremony.
+
+I am, gentlemen, etc.,
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+COMMUNICATION TO THE SENATE FROM MR. FILLMORE.
+
+[From Senate Journal, Thirty-first Congress, first session, p. 443.]
+
+WASHINGTON, _July 10, 1850_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States:_
+
+In consequence of the lamented death of Zachary Taylor, late President
+of the United States, I shall no longer occupy the chair of the Senate,
+and I have thought that a formal communication to the Senate to that
+effect, through your Secretary, might enable you the more promptly to
+proceed to the choice of a presiding officer.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE
+
+
+
+ANNOUNCEMENT TO CONGRESS.
+
+[From Senate Journal, Thirty-first Congress, first session, p. 443.]
+
+WASHINGTON, _July 10, 1850_.
+
+_Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives:_
+
+I have to perform the melancholy duty of announcing to you that it has
+pleased Almighty God to remove from this life Zachary Taylor, late
+President of the United States. He deceased last evening at the hour of
+half-past 10 o'clock, in the midst of his family and surrounded by
+affectionate friends, calmly and in the full possession of all his
+faculties. Among his last words were these, which he uttered with
+emphatic distinctness:
+
+  I have always done my duty. I am ready to die. My only regret is
+  for the friends I leave behind me.
+
+Having announced to you, fellow-citizens, this most afflicting
+bereavement, and assuring you that it has penetrated no heart with
+deeper grief than mine, it remains for me to say that I propose this day
+at 12 o'clock, in the Hall of the House of Representatives, in the
+presence of both Houses of Congress, to take the oath prescribed by the
+Constitution, to enable me to enter on the execution of the office which
+this event has devolved on me.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+ANNOUNCEMENT TO REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES ABROAD.
+
+[From official records in the State Department]
+
+CIRCULAR.
+
+DEPARTMENT OF STATE,
+
+_Washington, July 10, 1850._
+
+Sir: It has become my most painful duty to announce to you the decease
+of Zachary Taylor, late President of the United States.
+
+This afflicting event took place on the 9th instant at the Executive
+Mansion in this city, at thirty minutes after 10 o'clock in the evening.
+
+I am, sir, respectfully, your obedient servant,
+
+JOHN M. CLAYTON.
+
+
+
+ANNOUNCEMENT TO REPRESENTATIVES OF FOREIGN GOVERNMENTS IN THE UNITED
+STATES.
+
+[From official records in the State Department.]
+
+CIRCULAR.
+
+DEPARTMENT OF STATE,
+
+_Washington, July 10, 1850._
+
+SIR: It is my great misfortune to be obliged to inform you of an event
+not less afflicting to the people of the United States than distressing
+to my own feelings and the feelings of all those connected with the
+Government.
+
+The President, Zachary Taylor, departed this life yesterday at half-past
+10 o'clock in the evening.
+
+You are respectfully invited to attend the funeral ceremonies, which
+will take place on Saturday next, and with the particular arrangements
+for which you will be made acquainted in due time.
+
+Not doubting your sympathy and condolence with the Government and people
+of the country on this bereavement, I have the honor to be, sir, with
+high consideration, your obedient servant,
+
+JOHN M. CLAYTON.
+
+
+
+ANNOUNCEMENT TO THE ARMY.
+
+[From official records in the War Department.]
+
+GENERAL ORDERS, No. 21.
+
+WAR DEPARTMENT, ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE,
+
+_Washington July 11, 1850_.
+
+I. The following order of the President of the United States announces
+to the Army the lamented death of the illustrious General Zachary
+Taylor, late President of the United States:
+
+
+WAR DEPARTMENT, _July 11, 1850_.
+
+The President of the United States with profound sorrow announces to the
+Army, the Navy, and Marine Corps the death of Zachary Taylor, late
+President of the United States. He died at the Executive Mansion on the
+night of the 9th instant at half-past 10 o'clock.
+
+His last public appearance was in participating in the ceremonies of our
+national anniversary at the base of the monument now rearing to the
+memory of Washington. His last official act was to affix his signature
+to the convention recently concluded between the United States and Great
+Britain.
+
+The vigor of a constitution strong by nature and confirmed by active and
+temperate habits had in later years become impaired by the arduous toils
+and exposures of his military life.
+
+Solely engrossed in maintaining the honor and advancing the glory of his
+country, in a career of forty years in the Army of the United States he
+rendered himself signal and illustrious. An unbroken current of success
+and victory, terminated by an achievement unsurpassed in our annals,
+left nothing to be accomplished for his military fame.
+
+His conduct and courage gave him this career of unexampled fortune, and
+with the crowning virtues of moderation and humanity under all
+circumstances, and especially in the moment of victory, revealed to his
+countrymen those great and good qualities which induced them unsolicited
+to call him from his high military command to the highest civil office
+of honor and trust in the Republic; not that he desired to be first, but
+that he was felt to be worthiest.
+
+The simplicity of his character, the singleness of his purpose, the
+elevation and patriotism of his principles, his moral courage, his
+justice, magnanimity and benevolence, his wisdom, moderation, and power
+of command, while they have endeared him to the heart of the nation, add
+to the deep sense of the national calamity in the loss of a Chief
+Magistrate whom death itself could not appall in the consciousness of
+"having always done his duty."
+
+The officers of the Army, of the Navy, and Marine Corps will, as a
+manifestation of their respect for the exalted character and eminent
+public services of the illustrious dead, and of their sense of the
+calamity the country has sustained by this afflicting dispensation of
+Providence, wear crape on the left arm and upon the hilt of the sword
+for six months.
+
+It is further directed that funeral honors be paid at
+each of the military posts according to general regulations, and at
+navy-yards and on board all public vessels in commission, by firing
+thirty minute guns, commencing at meridian, on the day after the receipt
+of this order, and by wearing their flags at half-mast.
+
+By order of the President:
+
+GEORGE W. CRAWFORD,
+
+_Secretary of War_.
+
+
+II. The day after the receipt of this general order at each military
+post the troops will be paraded at 10 o'clock a.m. and the order read to
+them, after which all labors for the day will cease.
+
+The national flag will be displayed at half-staff.
+
+At dawn of day thirteen guns will be fired, and afterwards at intervals
+of thirty minutes between the rising and setting sun a single gun, and
+at the close of the day a national salute of thirty guns.
+
+The officers of the Army will wear the badge of mourning on the left arm
+and on their swords and the colors of the several regiments will be put
+in mourning for the period of six months.
+
+By order: R. JONES,
+
+_Adjutant-General._
+
+[The Secretary of the Navy made the same announcement to the Navy as
+that portion of the above signed by the Secretary of War.]
+
+
+
+ORDER OF THE PRESIDENT.
+
+[From the Daily National Intelligencer, July 12, 1850.]
+
+WASHINGTON, _July 10, 1850_.
+
+In consequence of the death of the President of the United States, I
+direct that the several Executive Departments be closed until after the
+funeral of the illustrious deceased, and that they, as well as the
+Executive Mansion, be placed in mourning, and that the several officers
+of the Government wear the usual badge of mourning for the term of six
+months.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+ACTION OF CONGRESS.
+
+[From Senate Journal, Thirty-first Congress, first session, p. 445.]
+
+RESOLUTION OF THE SENATE.
+
+Whereas it has pleased Divine Providence to remove from this life
+Zachary Taylor, late President of the United States, the Senate,
+sharing in the general sorrow which this melancholy event must produce,
+is desirous of manifesting its sensibility on this occasion: Therefore
+
+_Resolved_, That a committee consisting of Messrs. Webster, Cass, and
+King be appointed on the part of the Senate to meet such committee as
+may be appointed on the part of the House of Representatives to consider
+and report what measures it may be deemed proper to adopt to show the
+respect and affection of Congress for the memory of the illustrious
+deceased and to make the necessary arrangements for his funeral.
+
+[From House Journal, Thirty-first Congress, first session, p. 1121.]
+
+RESOLUTION OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
+
+Whereas it has pleased Divine Providence to remove from this life
+Zachary Taylor, late President of the United States, the House of
+Representatives, sharing in the general sorrow which this melancholy
+event must produce, is desirous of manifesting its sensibility on the
+occasion: Therefore
+
+_Resolved_, That a committee consisting of thirteen members be appointed
+on the part of this House to meet such committee as may be appointed on
+the part of the Senate to consider and report what measures it may be
+deemed proper to adopt in order to show the respect and affection of
+Congress for the memory of the illustrious deceased and to make the
+necessary arrangements for his funeral.
+
+[The committee consisted of Messrs. Conrad, of Louisiana; McDowell, of
+Virginia; Winthrop, of Massachusetts; Bissell, of Illinois; Duer, of New
+York; Orr, of South Carolina; Breck, of Kentucky; Strong, of
+Pennsylvania; Vinton, of Ohio; Cabell, of Florida; Kerr, of Maryland;
+Stanly, of North Carolina; Littlefield, of Maine.]
+
+
+
+OFFICIAL ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE FUNERAL.
+
+[From the Daily National Intelligencer, July 13, 1850.]
+
+WASHINGTON, _July 11, 1850_.
+
+The Committee of Arrangements of the two Houses of Congress, having
+consulted with the family of the deceased, have concluded that the
+funeral of the late President be solemnized on Saturday, the 13th of
+July, at 12 o'clock; the religious services to be performed by the Rev.
+Dr. Pyne at the Executive Mansion, according to the usage of the
+Episcopal Church, in which church the deceased most usually worshiped;
+the body to be afterwards taken from the President's house to the
+Congress Burying Ground, accompanied by a military escort and civic
+procession, and deposited in the receiving tomb.
+
+The military arrangements to be under the direction of Major-General
+Scott, the General Commanding in Chief of the Army of the United States,
+and Major-General Walter Jones, of the militia of the District of
+Columbia.
+
+Commodore Warrington, the senior naval officer now in the city, to have
+the direction of the naval arrangements.
+
+The marshal of the District of Columbia to have the direction of the
+civic procession.
+
+All the members of the diplomatic corps, all officers of Government, the
+clergy of the District and elsewhere, all associations and fraternities,
+and citizens generally are invited to attend.
+
+And it is respectfully recommended to the officers of the Government
+that they wear the usual badge of mourning.
+
+ORDER OF THE PROCESSION.
+
+FUNERAL ESCORT.
+
+(In column of march.)
+
+Composed of such corps of the Army and the militia as may be ordered or
+as may report themselves for duty on the occasion.
+
+CIVIC PROCESSION.
+
+The United States marshal of the District of Columbia and his aids.
+
+The mayors of Washington and Georgetown.
+
+The Committee of Arrangements of the two Houses of Congress.
+
+The chaplains of the two Houses of Congress and the officiating
+clergyman of the occasion.
+
+Attending physicians to the late President.
+
+_Pallbearers_.--Hon. Henry Clay, Hon. T.H. Benton, Hon. Lewis Cass, Hon.
+Daniel Webster, Hon. J.M. Berrien, Hon. Truman Smith, Hon. R.C.
+Winthrop, Hon. Linn Boyd, Hon. James McDowell, Hon. S.F. Vinton, Hon.
+Hugh White, Hon. Isaac E. Holmes, G.W.P. Custis, esq., Hon. R.J. Walker,
+Chief Justice Cranch, Joseph Gales, esq., Major-General Jesup,
+Major-General Gibson, Commodore Ballard, Brigadier-General Henderson.
+
+The horse used by General Taylor in the late war.
+
+Family and relatives of the late President.
+
+The President of the United States and the heads of Departments.
+
+The Sergeant-at-Arms of the Senate.
+
+The Senate of the United States, preceded by the President _pro tempore_
+and Secretary.
+
+The Sergeant-at-Arms of the House of Representatives.
+
+The House of Representatives, preceded by their Speaker and Clerk.
+
+The Chief Justice and associate justices of the Supreme Court of the
+United States and its officers.
+
+The diplomatic corps.
+
+Governors of States and Territories.
+
+Ex-members of Congress.
+
+Members of State legislatures.
+
+District judges of the United States.
+
+Judges of the circuit and criminal courts of the District of Columbia,
+with the members of the bar and officers of the courts.
+
+The judges of the several States.
+
+The Comptroller of the Treasury, Auditors, Treasurer, Register,
+Solicitor, and Commissioners of Land Office, Pensions, Indian Affairs,
+Patents, and Public Buildings.
+
+The clerks, etc., of the several Departments, preceded by their
+respective chief clerks, and all other civil officers of the Government.
+
+Clergy of the District of Columbia and elsewhere.
+
+Officers and soldiers of the Revolution.
+
+Corporate authorities of Washington.
+
+Corporate authorities of Georgetown.
+
+Officers and soldiers who served in the War of 1812 and in the late war.
+
+Presidents, professors, and students of the colleges of the District of
+Columbia.
+
+Such societies and fraternities as may wish to join the procession, to
+report to the marshal of the District, who will assign them their
+respective positions.
+
+Citizens and strangers.
+
+The procession will move from the President's house at 1 o'clock
+precisely, or on the conclusion of the religious services.
+
+DANIEL WEBSTER,
+_Chairman of the Committee on the part of the Senate_.
+
+CHAS. M. CONRAD,
+_Chairman of the Committee on the part of the House of Representatives_.
+
+
+
+[From official records in the War Department.]
+
+GENERAL ORDERS, No. 22.
+
+WAR DEPARTMENT, ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE,
+
+_Washington, July 11, 1850_.
+
+The joint committees of the Congress of the United States having
+designated the General in Chief, Major-General Scott, to take charge of
+the military arrangements for the funeral ceremonies of the late
+President of the United States, the Secretary of War directs that the
+Commanding General of the Army give the necessary orders and
+instructions accordingly. The military arrangements will conform to the
+directions found in the reports of the special committees of the Senate
+and House of Representatives.
+
+By order of the Secretary of War:
+
+R. JONES,
+
+_Adjutant-General._
+
+
+
+GENERAL ORDERS.
+
+HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMY,
+
+ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE,
+
+_Washington, July 12, 1850_.
+
+The Major-General Commanding the Army of the United States, having been
+charged by the joint committees of Congress with the military
+preparations for the funeral honors to be paid to the illustrious
+statesman, soldier, and citizen, Zachary Taylor, late President of the
+United States, directs the following order of arrangement:
+
+ORDER OF THE MILITARY PROCESSION.
+
+FUNERAL ESCORT.
+
+(In column of march.)
+
+_Infantry_.--Maryland volunteers; volunteer troops from other States;
+battalion of volunteers from the District of Columbia.
+
+_Firing party_ (to be commanded by an officer of the Army).--Two
+companies of volunteers from Washington; two companies of volunteers
+from Baltimore; battalion of United States marines; battalion of United
+States artillery, as infantry; troop of United States light artillery.
+
+Dismounted officers of volunteers, Marine Corps, Navy, and Army, in the
+order named.
+
+Mounted officers of volunteers, Marine Corps, Navy, and Army, in the
+order named.
+
+Major-General Walter Jones, commanding the militia; aids-de-camp.
+
+Major-General Winfield Scott, commanding the Army; aids-de-camp.
+
+The troops will be formed in line in the Avenue, north of the
+President's mansion, precisely at 11 o'clock a.m., Saturday, the 13th
+instant, with the right (Brevet Major Sedgwick's troop of light
+artillery) resting opposite the War Department.
+
+The procession will move at 1 o'clock p.m., when minute guns will be
+fired by detachments of artillery stationed near St. John's church, the
+City Hall, and the Capitol, respectively.
+
+On arriving on the north front of the Congressional Burial Ground the
+escort will be formed in two lines, the first consisting of the firing
+party, facing the cemetery and 30 paces from it; the second composed of
+the rest of the infantry, 20 paces in rear; the battery of artillery to
+take position on the rising ground 100 paces in rear of the second line.
+
+At sunrise to-morrow (the 13th instant) a Federal salute will be fired
+from the military stations in the vicinity of Washington, minute guns
+between the hours of 1 and 3, and a national salute at the setting of
+the sun.
+
+The usual badge of mourning will be worn on the left arm and on the hilt
+of the sword.
+
+The Adjutant-General of the Army is charged with the details of the
+military arrangements of the day, aided by the Assistant
+Adjutants-General on duty at Washington, by Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel
+Swords, of the staff, and Lieutenant W.T. Sherman, Third Artillery.
+
+The United States marshal of the District of Columbia having been
+charged with the direction of the civic procession, the military will
+cooperate in the general order of arrangements.
+
+By command of Major-General Scott:
+
+R. JONES,
+
+_Adjutant-General_.
+
+
+
+[From the Daily National Intelligencer, July 12, 1850.]
+
+GENERAL ORDER.
+
+The major-general, zealous to execute the honorable commission in which
+the joint committees of Congress have associated him with the General in
+Chief of the Army, deems it proper and conducive to the end in view to
+make the best preparation in his power for carrying into effect the
+field arrangements of the military movements in the procession of the
+funeral of the late President, arrangements which must necessarily await
+the arrival of the General in Chief. For that purpose he thinks it
+expedient to appoint a general rendezvous where all the corps and
+companies of militia, including all who may march from any of the
+States with those of this District, may assemble at an early hour in the
+morning of Saturday, the 13th instant, and there receive final orders
+for being formed and posted. They are therefore requested to take notice
+that such rendezvous is in front of the City Hall. The corps and
+companies from the States are requested to repair to this general
+rendezvous immediately on arrival; those of the District not later than
+9 o'clock a.m. The commandants of corps and companies are expected to
+report, immediately on arriving at the rendezvous, to the major-general
+or such staff officer as may be detailed for the purpose, the strength
+of their respective commands.
+
+All officers not on duty in their respective corps or companies are
+requested to appear in full uniform and mounted. The post intended for
+them is in the personal suite of the General in Chief. The major-general
+knows of no more honorable or more interesting post that he could assign
+them in time of peace than that of following the lead of the renowned
+Scott in the procession of the funeral of the renowned Taylor.
+
+WALTER JONES,
+_Major-General Militia District of Columbia_.
+
+
+
+RESOLUTION OF CONDOLENCE BY CONGRESS.
+
+[From original in the State Department.]
+
+A RESOLUTION expressing the condolence of Congress for Mrs. Margaret S.
+Taylor.
+
+_Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
+States of America in Congress assembled,_ That the President of the
+United States be requested to transmit a copy of the proceedings of the
+two Houses on the 10th instant in relation to the death of the late
+President of the United States to Mrs. Margaret S. Taylor, and to assure
+her of the profound respect of the two Houses of Congress for her person
+and character and of their sincere condolence on the late afflicting
+dispensation of Providence.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Millard Fillmore
+
+July 10, 1850, to March 4, 1853
+
+
+
+
+Millard Fillmore
+
+Millard Fillmore was born February 7, 1800, in the township of Locke
+(now Summerhill), Cayuga County, N.Y. He was the second son of
+Nathaniel Fillmore and Phoebe Millard. His ancestors served with
+distinction in the French and Revolutionary wars. He attended the
+primitive schools in the neighborhood three months in the year,
+devoting the other nine to working on his father's farm. His father,
+having formed a distaste for farming, was desirous that his sons
+should follow other occupations. Accordingly, Millard, after serving
+an apprenticeship for a few months, began in 1815 the business of
+carding and dressing cloth. Was afterwards a school-teacher. In 1819
+decided to become a lawyer, and in 1823, although he had not completed
+the usual course required, was admitted as an attorney by the court of
+common pleas of Erie County. February 5, 1826, was married to Miss
+Abigail Powers, daughter of a clergyman. In 1827 was admitted as an
+attorney and two years later as counselor before the supreme court. In
+1830 removed to Buffalo and became a successful lawyer. His political
+career began and ended with the birth and extinction of the Whig
+party. Was elected to the legislature of his State in 1828, and served
+three terms; while there he was distinguished by his advocacy of the
+act to abolish imprisonment for debt, which passed in 1831. In 1832
+was elected to Congress, and after serving one term retired till 1836,
+when he was reelected, and again returned in 1838 and 1840, declining
+a renomination in 1842. Was the author of the tariff of 1842. He
+retired from Congress in 1843. Was an unsuccessful candidate for
+Vice-President before the Whig convention at Baltimore in 1844. Was
+nominated by acclamation for governor of New York in the following
+September, but was defeated by Silas Wright. In 1847 was elected
+comptroller of the State. In 1848 was nominated by the Whigs for
+Vice-President on the ticket with General Taylor and was elected in
+the following November. He presided as Vice-President with strict
+impartiality during exciting debates in the Senate. By the death of
+President Taylor became President July 10, 1850. Was a candidate for
+President at the Whig convention in 1852, but General Scott received
+the nomination. Three weeks after the close of his Administration his
+wife died. Afterwards married Caroline C. McIntosh, who survived him.
+In 1856, while in Rome, he was nominated for the Presidency by the
+American (Whig) party, but was defeated by Mr. Buchanan. After his
+retirement from office he resided in Buffalo the remainder of his
+life. He established the Buffalo Historical Society. Was called upon
+to welcome distinguished visitors to his city, and frequently presided
+over conventions and other public meetings, but held no office after
+retiring from the Presidency. He again visited Europe in 1866. Died at
+Buffalo, N.Y., March 8, 1874, and was buried in that city in Forest
+Lawn Cemetery.
+
+
+
+
+SPECIAL MESSAGES.
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _July 10, 1850_.
+
+_Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives_:
+
+A great man has fallen among us, and a whole country is called to an
+occasion of unexpected, deep, and general mourning.
+
+I recommend to the two Houses of Congress to adopt such measures as in
+their discretion may seem proper to perform with due solemnities the
+funeral obsequies of Zachary Taylor, late President of the United
+States, and thereby to signify the great and affectionate regard of
+the American people for the memory of one whose life has been devoted
+to the public service, whose career in arms has not been surpassed in
+usefulness or brilliancy, who has been so recently raised by the
+unsolicited voice of the people to the highest civil authority in the
+Government, which he administered with so much honor and advantage to
+his country, and by whose sudden death so many hopes of future
+usefulness have been blighted forever.
+
+To you, Senators and Representatives of a nation in tears, I can say
+nothing which can alleviate the sorrow with which you are oppressed. I
+appeal to you to aid me, under the trying circumstances which surround
+me, in the discharge of the duties from which, however much I may be
+oppressed by them, I dare not shrink; and I rely upon Him who holds in
+His hands the destinies of nations to endow me with the requisite
+strength for the task and to avert from our country the evils
+apprehended from the heavy calamity which has befallen us.
+
+I shall most readily concur in whatever measures the wisdom of the two
+Houses may suggest as befitting this deeply melancholy occasion.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _July 15, 1850_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I transmit to the Senate, for its consideration with a view to
+ratification, a treaty between the United States and the Republic of
+Peru, signed in this city on the 13th instant by the plenipotentiaries
+of the parties. A report from the Secretary of State relative to the
+treaty, and the documents therein referred to, are also herewith
+transmitted.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _July 17, 1850_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+In further answer to a resolution of the Senate of the 27th ultimo, in
+reference to a proclamation issued by the military officer commanding
+in New Mexico and other matters, I herewith transmit a report from
+the Secretary of War, communicating information not received at the
+Department until after the date of his report of the 1st instant on
+this subject.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _July 17, 1850_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+In answer to a resolution of the Senate of the 1st instant, requesting
+the President to furnish the Senate with "the report and map of
+Lieutenant J.D. Webster, Corps of Topographical Engineers, of a survey
+of the Gulf coast at the mouth of the Rio Grande and its vicinity,"
+and in compliance therewith, I transmit herewith a report from the
+Secretary of War, accompanied by the report and map above referred to.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _July 18, 1850_.
+
+_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:
+
+I herewith transmit to the House of Representatives, in compliance with
+the request contained in their resolution of the 24th day of January
+last, the information asked for by that resolution, relating to certain
+proceedings of the British Government in the forcible seizure and
+occupation of the island of Tigre; also all the "facts, circumstances,
+and communications within the knowledge of the Executive relative to any
+seizure or occupation, or attempted seizure or occupation, by the
+British Government of any port, river, town, territory, or island
+belonging to or claimed by any of the States of Central America."
+
+The resolution of the House speaks of the island of Tigre, in the
+State of Nicaragua. I am not aware of the existence of any such island
+in that State, and presume that the resolution refers to the island of
+the same name in the Gulf of Fonseca, in the State of Honduras.
+
+The concluding part of the resolution, requesting the President to
+communicate to the House all treaties not heretofore published which
+may have been negotiated with any of the States of Central America "by
+any person acting by authority of the late Administration or under the
+auspices of the present Administration," so far as it has reference to
+treaties negotiated with any of those States by instructions from this
+Government, can not be complied with, inasmuch as those treaties have
+not been acted upon by the Senate of the United States, and are now in
+the possession of that body, to whom by the Constitution they are
+directed to be transmitted for advice in regard to their ratification.
+
+But as its communication is not liable to the same objection, I
+transmit for the information of the House a copy of a treaty in regard
+to a ship canal across the Isthmus, negotiated by Elijah Hise, our
+late charge d'affaires in Guatemala, with the Government of Nicaragua
+on the 21st day of June, 1849, accompanied by copies of his
+instructions from and correspondence with the Department of State.
+
+I shall cheerfully comply with the request of the House of
+Representatives to lay before them the treaties negotiated with the
+States of Central America, now before the Senate, whenever it shall be
+compatible with the public interest to make the communication. For the
+present I communicate herewith a copy of the treaty with Great Britain
+and of the correspondence between the American Secretary of State
+and the British plenipotentiary at the time it was concluded. The
+ratifications of it were exchanged at Washington on the 4th day of
+July instant.
+
+I also transmit the report of the Secretary of State, to whom the
+resolution of the House was referred, and who conducted the
+negotiations relative to Central America, under the direction of
+my lamented predecessor.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _July 20, 1850_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I herewith transmit to the Senate, with a view to its ratification, a
+convention between the United States and the Mexican Republic for the
+extradition of fugitives from justice. This convention was negotiated
+under the directions of my predecessor, and was signed this day by
+John M. Clayton, Secretary of State, on the part of the United States,
+and by Senor Don Luis de la Rosa, envoy extraordinary and minister
+plenipotentiary of Mexico, on the part of that Republic. The length of
+the boundary line between the two countries, extending, as it does,
+from the Pacific to the Gulf, renders such a convention indispensable
+to the maintenance of good order and the amicable relations now so
+happily subsisting between the sister Republics.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _July 23, 1850_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I lay before the Senate, for their consideration and advice as to its
+ratification, a treaty concluded in the city of Washington on the 1st
+day of April, 1850, by and between Ardavan S. Loughery, commissioner
+on the part of the United States, and delegates of the Wyandott tribe
+of Indians.
+
+I also lay before the Senate a letter from the Secretary of the Interior
+and the papers therein referred to.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _July 30, 1850_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I herewith transmit to the Senate, in answer to its resolution of the
+5th instant, requesting the President to communicate to that body "any
+information, if any has been received by the Government, showing that
+an American vessel has been recently stopped upon the high seas and
+searched by a British ship of war," the accompanying copies of papers.
+The Government has no knowledge of any alleged stopping or searching
+on the high seas of American vessels by British ships of war except in
+the cases therein mentioned. The circumstances of these cases will
+appear by the inclosed correspondence, taken from the files of the
+Navy Department. No remonstrance or complaint by the owners of these
+vessels has been presented to the Government of the United States.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _August 2, 1850_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I have the honor to transmit herewith a report of the Secretary of
+War, in answer to a resolution of the Senate passed on the 8th of July
+last, calling for information in relation to the removal of Fort Polk,
+etc. The documents accompanying the report contain all the information
+required by the resolution.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _August 6, 1850_.
+
+_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:
+
+I herewith transmit to the two Houses of Congress a letter from his
+excellency the governor of Texas, dated on the 14th day of June last,
+addressed to the late President of the United States, which, not
+having been answered by him, came to my hands on his death; and I also
+transmit a copy of the answer which I have felt it to be my duty to
+cause to be made to that communication.
+
+Congress will perceive that the governor of Texas officially states
+that by authority of the legislature of that State he dispatched a
+special commissioner with full power and instructions to extend the
+civil jurisdiction of the State over the unorganized counties of El
+Paso, Worth, Presidio, and Santa Fe, situated on its northwestern
+limits.
+
+He proceeds to say that the commissioner had reported to him in an
+official form that the military officers employed in the service of
+the United States stationed at Santa Fe interposed adversely with
+the inhabitants to the fulfillment of his object in favor of the
+establishment of a separate State government east of the Rio Grande,
+and within the rightful limits of the State of Texas. These four
+counties, which Texas thus proposes to establish and organize as being
+within her own jurisdiction, extend over the whole of the territory
+east of the Rio Grande, which has heretofore been regarded as an
+essential and integral part of the department of New Mexico, and
+actually governed and possessed by her people until conquered and
+severed from the Republic of Mexico by the American arms.
+
+The legislature of Texas has been called together by her governor
+for the purpose, as is understood, of maintaining her claim to the
+territory east of the Rio Grande and of establishing over it her own
+jurisdiction and her own laws by force.
+
+These proceedings of Texas, may well arrest the attention of all
+branches of the Government of the United States, and I rejoice that
+they occur while the Congress is yet in session. It is, I fear, far
+from being impossible that, in consequence of these proceedings of
+Texas, a crisis may be brought on which shall summon the two Houses of
+Congress, and still more emphatically the executive government, to an
+immediate readiness for the performance of their respective duties.
+
+By the Constitution of the United States the President is constituted
+Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy, and of the militia of the
+several States when called into the actual service of the United
+States. The Constitution declares also that he shall take care that
+the laws be faithfully executed and that he shall from time to time
+give to the Congress information of the state of the Union.
+
+Congress has power by the Constitution to provide for calling forth
+the militia to execute the laws of the Union, and suitable and
+appropriate acts of Congress have been passed as well for providing
+for calling forth the militia as for placing other suitable and
+efficient means in the hands of the President to enable him to
+discharge the constitutional functions of his office.
+
+The second section of the act of the 28th of February, 1795, declares
+that whenever the laws of the United States shall be opposed or their
+execution obstructed in any State by combinations too powerful to be
+suppressed by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings or the power
+vested in the marshals, the President may call forth the militia, as
+far as may be necessary, to suppress such combinations and to cause
+the laws to be duly executed.
+
+By the act of March 3, 1807, it is provided that in all cases of
+obstruction to the laws either of the United States or any individual
+State or Territory, where it is lawful for the President to call forth
+the militia for the purpose of causing the laws to be duly executed,
+it shall be lawful for him to employ for the same purposes such part
+of the land or naval force of the United States as shall be judged
+necessary.
+
+These several enactments are now in full force, so that if the laws of
+the United States are opposed or obstructed in any State or Territory
+by combinations too powerful to be suppressed by the judicial or civil
+authorities it becomes a case in which it is the duty of the President
+either to call out the militia or to employ the military and naval
+force of the United States, or to do both if in his judgment the
+exigency of the occasion shall so require, for the purpose of
+suppressing such combinations. The constitutional duty of the
+President is plain and peremptory and the authority vested in him by
+law for its performance clear and ample.
+
+Texas is a State, authorized to maintain her own laws so far as they
+are not repugnant to the Constitution, laws, and treaties of the
+United States; to suppress insurrections against her authority, and to
+punish those who may commit treason against the State according to the
+forms provided by her own constitution and her own laws.
+
+But all this power is local and confined entirely within the limits
+of Texas herself. She can possibly confer no authority which can be
+lawfully exercised beyond her own boundaries.
+
+All this is plain, and hardly needs argument or elucidation. If Texas
+militia, therefore, march into any one of the other States or into any
+Territory of the United States, there to execute or enforce any law of
+Texas, they become at that moment trespassers; they are no longer
+under the protection of any lawful authority, and are to be regarded
+merely as intruders; and if within such State or Territory they
+obstruct any law of the United States, either by power of arms or mere
+power of numbers, constituting such a combination as is too powerful
+to be suppressed by the civil authority, the President of the United
+States has no option left to him, but is bound to obey the solemn
+injunction of the Constitution and exercise the high powers vested in
+him by that instrument and by the acts of Congress.
+
+Or if any civil posse, armed or unarmed, enter into any Territory of
+the United States, under the protection of the laws thereof, with
+intent to seize individuals, to be carried elsewhere for trial for
+alleged offenses, and this posse be too powerful to be resisted by the
+local civil authorities, such seizure or attempt to seize is to be
+prevented or resisted by the authority of the United States.
+
+The grave and important question now arises whether there be in
+the Territory of New Mexico any existing law of the United States
+opposition to which or the obstruction of which would constitute a
+case calling for the interposition of the authority vested in the
+President.
+
+The Constitution of the United States declares that--
+
+  This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be
+  made in pursuance thereof, and all treaties made, or which shall be
+  made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme
+  law of the land.
+
+
+If, therefore, New Mexico be a Territory of the United States, and if
+any treaty stipulation be in force therein, such treaty stipulation
+is the supreme law of the land, and is to be maintained and upheld
+accordingly.
+
+In the letter to the governor of Texas my reasons are given for
+believing that New Mexico is now a Territory of the United States,
+with the same extent and the same boundaries which belonged to it
+while in the actual possession of the Republic of Mexico, and before
+the late war. In the early part of that war both California and New
+Mexico were conquered by the arms of the United States, and were
+in the military possession of the United States at the date of the
+treaty of peace.
+
+By that treaty the title by conquest was confirmed and these
+territories, provinces, or departments separated from Mexico forever,
+and by the same treaty certain important rights and securities were
+solemnly guaranteed to the inhabitants residing therein.
+
+By the fifth article of the treaty it is declared that--
+
+  The boundary line between the two Republics shall commence in the Gulf
+  of Mexico 3 leagues from land, opposite the mouth of the Rio Grande,
+  otherwise called Rio Bravo del Norte, or opposite the mouth of its
+  deepest branch if it should have more than one branch emptying
+  directly into the sea; from thence up the middle of that river,
+  following the deepest channel where it has more than one, to the point
+  where it strikes the southern boundary of New Mexico; thence
+  westwardly, along the whole southern boundary of New Mexico (which
+  runs north of the town called Paso) to its western termination; thence
+  northward along the western line of New Mexico until it intersects the
+  first branch of the river Gila (or, if it should not intersect any
+  branch of that river, then to the point on the said line nearest to
+  such branch, and thence in a direct line to the same); thence down the
+  middle of the said branch and of the said river until it empties into
+  the Rio Colorado; thence across the Rio Colorado, following the
+  division line between Upper and Lower California, to the Pacific
+  Ocean.
+
+
+The eighth article of the treaty is in the following terms:
+
+  Mexicans now established in territories previously belonging to
+  Mexico, and which remain for the future within the limits of the
+  United States as defined by the present treaty, shall be free to
+  continue where they now reside or to remove at any time to the Mexican
+  Republic, retaining the property which they possess in the said
+  territories, or disposing thereof and removing the proceeds wherever
+  they please without their being subjected on this account to any
+  contribution, tax, or charge whatever.
+
+  Those who shall prefer to remain in the said territories may either
+  retain the title, and rights of Mexican citizens or acquire those of
+  citizens of the United States; but they shall be under the obligation
+  to make their election within one year from the date of the exchange
+  of ratifications of this treaty; and those who shall remain in the
+  said territories after the expiration of that year without having
+  declared their intention to retain the character of Mexicans shall be
+  considered to have elected to become citizens of the United States.
+
+  In the said territories property of every kind now belonging to
+  Mexicans not established there shall be inviolably respected. The
+  present owners, the heirs of these, and all Mexicans who may hereafter
+  acquire said property by contract shall enjoy with respect to it
+  guaranties equally ample as if the same belonged to citizens of the
+  United States.
+
+
+The ninth article of the treaty is in these words:
+
+  The Mexicans who, in the territories aforesaid, shall not preserve the
+  character of citizens of the Mexican Republic, conformably with what
+  is stipulated in the preceding article, shall be incorporated into the
+  Union of the United States and be admitted at the proper time (to be
+  judged of by the Congress of the United States) to the enjoyment of
+  all the rights of citizens of the United States according to the
+  principles of the Constitution, and in the meantime shall be
+  maintained and protected in the free enjoyment of their liberty and
+  property and secured in the free exercise of their religion without
+  restriction.
+
+
+It is plain, therefore, on the face of these treaty stipulations that
+all Mexicans established in territories north or east of the line of
+demarcation already mentioned come within the protection of the ninth
+article, and that the treaty, being a part of the supreme law of the
+land, does extend over all such Mexicans, and assures to them perfect
+security in the free enjoyment of their liberty and property, as well
+as in the free exercise of their religion; and this supreme law of
+the land, being thus in actual force over this territory, is to be
+maintained until it shall be displaced or superseded by other legal
+provisions; and if it be obstructed or resisted by combinations too
+powerful to be suppressed by the civil authority the case is one which
+comes within the provisions of law and which obliges the President to
+enforce those provisions. Neither the Constitution nor the laws nor my
+duty nor my oath of office leave me any alternative or any choice in
+my mode of action.
+
+The executive government of the United States has no power or
+authority to determine what was the true line of boundary between
+Mexico and the United States before the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo,
+nor has it any such power now, since the question has become a
+question between the State of Texas and the United States. So far as
+this boundary is doubtful, that doubt can only be removed by some
+act of Congress, to which the assent of the State of Texas may be
+necessary, or by some appropriate mode of legal adjudication; but
+in the meantime, if disturbances or collisions arise or should be
+threatened, it is absolutely incumbent on the executive government,
+however painful the duty, to take care that the laws be faithfully
+maintained; and he can regard only the actual state of things as
+it existed at the date of the treaty, and is bound to protect all
+inhabitants who were then established and who now remain north and
+east of the line of demarcation in the full enjoyment of their liberty
+and property, according to the provisions of the ninth article of the
+treaty. In other words, all must be now regarded as New Mexico which
+was possessed and occupied as New Mexico by citizens of Mexico at the
+date of the treaty until a definite line of boundary shall be
+established by competent authority.
+
+This assertion of duty to protect the people of New Mexico from
+threatened violence, or from seizure to be carried into Texas for
+trial for alleged offenses against Texan laws, does not at all include
+any claim of power on the part of the Executive to establish any civil
+or military government within that Territory. _That power_ belongs
+exclusively to the legislative department, and Congress is the sole
+judge of the time and manner of creating or authorizing any such
+government.
+
+The duty of the Executive extends only to the execution of laws and
+the maintenance of treaties already in force and the protection of all
+the people of the United States in the enjoyment of the rights which
+those treaties and laws guarantee.
+
+It is exceedingly desirable that no occasion should arise for
+the exercise of the powers thus vested in the President by the
+Constitution and the laws. With whatever mildness those powers might
+be executed, or however clear the case of necessity, yet consequences
+might, nevertheless, follow of which no human sagacity can foresee
+either the evils or the end.
+
+Having thus laid before Congress the communication of his excellency
+the governor of Texas and the answer thereto, and having made such
+observations as I have thought the occasion called for respecting
+constitutional obligations which may arise in the further progress of
+things and may devolve on me to be performed, I hope I shall not be
+regarded as stepping aside from the line of my duty, notwithstanding
+that I am aware that the subject is now before both Houses, if I
+express my deep and earnest conviction of the importance of an immediate
+decision or arrangement or settlement of the question of boundary
+between Texas and the Territory of New Mexico. All considerations of
+justice, general expediency, and domestic tranquillity call for this.
+It seems to be in its character and by position the first, or one of
+the first, of the questions growing out of the acquisition of California
+and New Mexico, and now requiring decision.
+
+No government can be established for New Mexico, either State or
+Territorial, until it shall be first ascertained what New Mexico
+is, and what are her limits and boundaries. These can not be fixed
+or known till the line of division between her and Texas shall be
+ascertained and established; and numerous and weighty reasons
+conspire, in my judgment, to show that this divisional line should be
+established by Congress with the assent of the government of Texas. In
+the first place, this seems by far the most prompt mode of proceeding
+by which the end can be accomplished. If judicial proceedings were
+resorted to, such proceedings would necessarily be slow, and years
+would pass by, in all probability, before the controversy could be
+ended. So great a delay in this case is to be avoided if possible.
+Such delay would be every way inconvenient, and might be the occasion
+of disturbances and collisions. For the same reason I would, with the
+utmost deference to the wisdom of Congress, express a doubt of the
+expediency of the appointment of commissioners, and of an examination,
+estimate, and an award of indemnity to be made by them. This would be
+but a species of arbitration, which might last as long as a suit at
+law.
+
+So far as I am able to comprehend the case, the general facts are
+now all known, and Congress is as capable of deciding on it justly
+and properly now as it probably would be after the report of the
+commissioners. If the claim of title on the part of Texas appears
+to Congress to be well founded in whole or in part, it is in the
+competency of Congress to offer her an indemnity for the surrender of
+that claim. In a case like this, surrounded, as it is, by many cogent
+considerations, all calling for amicable adjustment and immediate
+settlement, the Government of the United States would be justified,
+in my opinion, in allowing an indemnity to Texas, not unreasonable
+or extravagant, but fair, liberal, and awarded in a just spirit of
+accommodation.
+
+I think no event would be hailed with more gratification by the people
+of the United States than the amicable adjustment of questions of
+difficulty which have now for a long time agitated the country and
+occupied, to the exclusion of other subjects, the time and attention
+of Congress.
+
+Having thus freely communicated the results of my own reflections on
+the most advisable mode of adjusting the boundary question, I shall
+nevertheless cheerfully acquiesce in any other mode which the wisdom
+of Congress may devise. And in conclusion I repeat my conviction that
+every consideration of the public interest manifests the necessity of
+a provision by Congress for the settlement of this boundary question
+before the present session be brought to a close. The settlement of
+other questions connected with the same subject within the same period
+is greatly to be desired, but the adjustment of this appears to me to
+be in the highest degree important. In the train of such an adjustment
+we may well hope that there will follow a return of harmony and good
+will, an increased attachment to the Union, and the general
+satisfaction of the country.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _August 8, 1850_.
+
+_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:
+
+It has been suggested that the language in the first paragraph of my
+message to the two Houses of Congress of the 6th instant may convey
+the idea that Governor Bell's letter to my predecessor was received by
+him before his death. It was addressed to him, but appears, in point
+of fact, to have been sent to me from the post-office after his death.
+
+I make this communication to accompany the message and prevent
+misapprehension.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _August 10, 1850_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I transmit herewith a communication from the Department of the
+Interior and the papers which accompanied it, being the first part of
+the results of investigations by Henry R. Schoolcraft, esq., under the
+provisions of an act of Congress approved March 3, 1847, requiring the
+Secretary of War "to collect and digest such statistics and materials
+as may illustrate the history, the present condition, and future
+prospects of the Indian tribes of the United States,"
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _August 24, 1850_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+
+I have the honor to transmit herewith a report submitted by the
+Secretary of the Treasury, to whom was referred the resolution of the
+Senate of the 3ist July last, requesting to be furnished with certain
+information in relation to the commerce, etc., of the district of
+Brazos Santiago, in Texas.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _August 26, 1850_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I have the honor to inclose herewith a letter just received from the
+Secretary of War, transmitting a communication from the Colonel of
+the Corps of Topographical Engineers, with accompanying papers, which
+he requests may be taken as a supplement to the "report and map of
+Lieutenant J.D. Webster, Corps of Topographical Engineers, of a survey
+of the Gulf coast at the mouth of the Rio Grande and its vicinity,"
+called for by a resolution of the Senate of the 1st of July last.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _September 2, 1850_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I have the honor herewith to transmit to your honorable body a
+report from the Secretary of the Navy, accompanied by copies of the
+correspondence relating to the resignation of Edward C. Anderson, a
+lieutenant in the Navy, in answer to a resolution of the Senate of
+August 28, 1850, adopted in executive session.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _September 9, 1850_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+In answer to a resolution of the Senate of the 5th instant, I have the
+honor herewith to transmit to the Senate a letter from the Secretary
+of State, accompanied by a copy of the report of the commissioner to
+China made in pursuance of the provisions of the act to carry into
+effect certain provisions of the treaties between the United States
+and China and the Ottoman Porte, giving certain judicial powers, etc.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _September 9, 1850_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+In compliance with the request of the Hon. Manuel Alvarez, acting
+governor, etc., I have the honor to transmit to the Senate herewith a
+copy of the constitution recently adopted by the inhabitants of New
+Mexico, together with a digest of the votes for and against it.
+
+Congress having just passed a bill providing a Territorial government
+for New Mexico, I do not deem it advisable to submit any recommendation
+on the subject of a State government.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _September 12, 1850_.
+
+The SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
+
+SIR: In answer to a resolution of the House of Representatives adopted
+September 2, 1850, calling upon me to communicate the full and exact
+cost of each of the lines of mail steamers now in service, etc., I
+have the honor to transmit herewith reports from the Secretary of
+the Navy and Postmaster-General, containing the desired information.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _September 16, 1850_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+In answer to a resolution of the Senate of the 9th instant, adopted in
+executive session, asking information in reference to the nomination
+of John Howard Payne as consul to Tunis, I have the honor to transmit
+a report from the Secretary of State, giving the desired information.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _September 23, 1850_.
+
+_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:
+
+Having been informed that it is the wish of the family and relatives
+of the late lamented President of the United States that his remains
+should be removed to the State of Kentucky, and being desirous of
+manifesting the most sincere and profound respect for the character of
+the deceased, in which I doubt not Congress will fully concur, I have
+felt it to be my duty to make known to you the wishes of the family,
+that you might previous to your adjournment adopt such proceedings and
+take such order on the subject as in your wisdom may seem meet and
+proper on the occasion.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+[The remains of the late President of the United States were removed
+from Washington to Louisville, Ky., October 25, 1850.]
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _September 27, 1850_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I herewith transmit to the Senate, in answer to their resolution of
+the 23d instant, a report from the Secretary of State, with the
+papers[1] therein referred to.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+[Footnote 1: Communications from the United States minister to Turkey
+relative to the Hungarian exiles.]
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _September 28, 1850_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+In answer to your resolution of the 24th instant, expressing an
+opinion adverse to the alleged resignation of Lieutenant Anderson,
+of the Navy, I have the honor herewith to transmit a report from the
+Secretary of the Navy, accompanied by the correspondence in reference
+to such resignation.
+
+Regarding the opinion of the Senate in this matter with the most
+profound respect, I have given to the subject the most anxious
+consideration, and submitted the question to the deliberation of my
+Cabinet, and after a careful examination of the whole correspondence
+they are unanimously of opinion that Lieutenant Anderson tendered
+his resignation, which was duly accepted, and that he was therefore
+rightfully dropped from the Register. I concur fully in this opinion.
+With these convictions I feel compelled to adhere to the decision
+of my lamented predecessor, and can only regret that I have the
+misfortune in this instance to differ from those for whom,
+individually and collectively, I entertain the highest respect.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+
+PROCLAMATION.
+
+BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
+
+A PROCLAMATION.
+
+
+Whereas by an act of the Congress of the United States of the 24th
+of May, 1828, entitled "An act in addition to an act entitled 'An
+act concerning discriminating duties of tonnage and impost' and to
+equalize the duties on Prussian vessels and their cargoes," it is
+provided that upon satisfactory evidence being given to the President
+of the United States by the government of any foreign nation that no
+discriminating duties of tonnage or impost are imposed or levied
+in the ports of the said nation upon vessels wholly belonging to
+citizens of the United States, or upon the produce, manufactures, or
+merchandise imported in the same from the United States or from any
+foreign country, the President is thereby authorized to issue his
+proclamation declaring that the foreign discriminating duties of
+tonnage and impost within the United States are and shall be suspended
+and discontinued so far as respects the vessels of the said foreign
+nation and the produce, manufactures, or merchandise imported into the
+United States in the same from the said foreign nation or from any
+other foreign country, the said suspension to take effect from the
+time of such notification being given to the President of the United
+States and to continue so long as the reciprocal exemption of vessels
+belonging to citizens of the United States and their cargoes, as
+aforesaid, shall be continued, and no longer; and
+
+Whereas satisfactory evidence has lately been received by me from the
+Government of the Republic of Chile, through an official communication
+of Senor Don Manuel Carvallo, accredited to this Government as envoy
+extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of that Republic, under
+date of the 31st of October, 1850, that no other or higher duties of
+tonnage and impost are imposed or levied in the ports of Chile upon
+vessels wholly belonging to citizens of the United States and upon the
+produce, manufactures, or merchandise imported in the same from the
+United States and from any foreign country whatever than are levied on
+Chilean ships and their cargoes in the same ports and under like
+circumstances:
+
+Now, therefore, I, Millard Fillmore, President of the United States of
+America, do hereby declare and proclaim that so much of the several
+acts imposing discriminating duties of tonnage and impost within the
+United States are and shall be suspended and discontinued so far as
+respects the vessels of Chile and the produce, manufactures, and
+merchandise imported into the United States in the same from Chile and
+from any other foreign country whatever, the said suspension to take
+effect from the day above mentioned and to continue thenceforward so
+long as the reciprocal exemption of the vessels of the United States
+and the produce, manufactures, and merchandise imported into Chile in
+the same, as aforesaid, shall be continued on the part of the
+Government of Chile.
+
+Given under my hand, at the city of Washington, this 1st day of
+November, A.D. 1850, and the seventy-fifth of the Independence of the
+United States.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+By the President:
+  W.S. DERRICK,
+    _Acting Secretary of State_.
+
+
+
+
+FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE.
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _December 2, 1850_.
+
+_Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and of the House of Representatives_:
+
+
+Being suddenly called in the midst of the last session of Congress by
+a painful dispensation of Divine Providence to the responsible station
+which I now hold, I contented myself with such communications to the
+legislature as the exigency of the moment seemed to require. The
+country was shrouded in mourning for the loss of its venerable Chief
+Magistrate and all hearts were penetrated with grief. Neither the time
+nor the occasion appeared to require or to justify on my part any
+general expression of political opinions or any announcement of the
+principles which would govern me in the discharge of the duties to the
+performance of which I had been so unexpectedly called. I trust,
+therefore, that it may not be deemed inappropriate if I avail myself
+of this opportunity of the reassembling of Congress to make known my
+sentiments in a general manner in regard to the policy which ought to
+be pursued by the Government both in its intercourse with foreign
+nations and its management and administration of internal affairs.
+
+Nations, like individuals in a state of nature, are equal and
+independent, possessing certain rights and owing certain duties to
+each other, arising from their necessary and unavoidable relations;
+which rights and duties there is no common human authority to protect
+and enforce. Still, they are rights and duties, binding in morals, in
+conscience, and in honor, although there is no tribunal to which an
+injured party can appeal but the disinterested judgment of mankind,
+and ultimately the arbitrament of the sword.
+
+Among the acknowledged rights of nations is that which each possesses
+of establishing that form of government which it may deem most
+conducive to the happiness and prosperity of its own citizens, of
+changing that form as circumstances may require, and of managing its
+internal affairs according to its own will. The people of the United
+States claim this right for themselves, and they readily concede it to
+others. Hence it becomes an imperative duty not to interfere in the
+government or internal policy of other nations; and although we may
+sympathize with the unfortunate or the oppressed everywhere in their
+struggles for freedom, our principles forbid us from taking any part
+in such foreign contests. We make no wars to promote or to prevent
+successions to thrones, to maintain any theory of a balance of power,
+or to suppress the actual government which any country chooses to
+establish for itself. We instigate no revolutions, nor suffer any
+hostile military expeditions to be fitted out in the United States
+to invade the territory or provinces of a friendly nation. The great
+law of morality ought to have a national as well as a personal and
+individual application. We should act toward other nations as we wish
+them to act toward us, and justice and conscience should form the rule
+of conduct between governments, instead of mere power, self-interest,
+or the desire of aggrandizement. To maintain a strict neutrality in
+foreign wars, to cultivate friendly relations, to reciprocate every
+noble and generous act, and to perform punctually and scrupulously
+every treaty obligation--these are the duties which we owe to other
+states, and by the performance of which we best entitle ourselves to
+like treatment from them; or, if that, in any case, be refused, we can
+enforce our own rights with justice and a clear conscience.
+
+In our domestic policy the Constitution will be my guide, and in
+questions of doubt I shall look for its interpretation to the judicial
+decisions of that tribunal which was established to expound it and to
+the usage of the Government, sanctioned by the acquiescence of the
+country. I regard all its provisions as equally binding. In all its
+parts it is the will of the people expressed in the most solemn form,
+and the constituted authorities are but agents to carry that will into
+effect. Every power which it has granted is to be exercised for the
+public good; but no pretense of utility, no honest conviction, even,
+of what might be expedient, can justify the assumption of any power
+not granted. The powers conferred upon the Government and their
+distribution to the several departments are as clearly expressed in
+that sacred instrument as the imperfection of human language will
+allow, and I deem it my first duty not to question its wisdom, add to
+its provisions, evade its requirements, or nullify its commands.
+
+Upon you, fellow-citizens, as the representatives of the States and
+the people, is wisely devolved the legislative power. I shall comply
+with my duty in laying before you from time to time any information
+calculated to enable you to discharge your high and responsible trust
+for the benefit of our common constituents.
+
+My opinions will be frankly expressed upon the leading subjects of
+legislation; and if--which I do not anticipate--any act should pass
+the two Houses of Congress which should appear to me unconstitutional,
+or an encroachment on the just powers of other departments, or with
+provisions hastily adopted and likely to produce consequences
+injurious and unforeseen, I should not shrink from the duty of
+returning it to you, with my reasons, for your further consideration.
+Beyond the due performance of these constitutional obligations, both
+my respect for the Legislature and my sense of propriety will restrain
+me from any attempt to control or influence your proceedings. With you
+is the power, the honor, and the responsibility of the legislation of
+the country.
+
+The Government of the United States is a limited Government. It is
+confined to the exercise of powers expressly granted and such others
+as may be necessary for carrying those powers into effect; and it is
+at all times an especial duty to guard against any infringement on the
+just rights of the States. Over the objects and subjects intrusted to
+Congress its legislative authority is supreme. But here that authority
+ceases, and every citizen who truly loves the Constitution and desires
+the continuance of its existence and its blessings will resolutely and
+firmly resist any interference in those domestic affairs which the
+Constitution has clearly and unequivocally left to the exclusive
+authority of the States. And every such citizen will also deprecate
+useless irritation among the several members of the Union and all
+reproach and crimination tending to alienate one portion of the
+country from another. The beauty of our system of government consists,
+and its safety and durability must consist, in avoiding mutual
+collisions and encroachments and in the regular separate action of
+all, while each is revolving in its own distinct orbit.
+
+The Constitution has made it the duty of the President to take care
+that the laws be faithfully executed. In a government like ours, in
+which all laws are passed by a majority of the representatives of the
+people, and these representatives are chosen for such short periods
+that any injurious or obnoxious law can very soon be repealed, it
+would appear unlikely that any great numbers should be found ready
+to resist the execution of the laws. But it must be borne in mind
+that the country is extensive; that there may be local interests or
+prejudices rendering a law odious in one part which is not so in
+another, and that the thoughtless and inconsiderate, misled by their
+passions or their imaginations, may be induced madly to resist such
+laws as they disapprove. Such persons should recollect that without
+law there can be no real practical liberty; that when law is trampled
+under foot tyranny rules, whether it appears in the form of a military
+despotism or of popular violence. The law is the only sure protection
+of the weak and the only efficient restraint upon the strong. When
+impartially and faithfully administered, none is beneath its
+protection and none above its control. You, gentlemen, and the country
+may be assured that to the utmost of my ability and to the extent of
+the power vested in me I shall at all times and in all places take
+care that the laws be faithfully executed. In the discharge of this
+duty, solemnly imposed upon me by the Constitution and by my oath of
+office, I shall shrink from no responsibility, and shall endeavor to
+meet events as they may arise with firmness, as well as with prudence
+and discretion.
+
+The appointing power is one of the most delicate with which the
+Executive is invested. I regard it as a sacred trust, to be exercised
+with the sole view of advancing the prosperity and happiness of the
+people. It shall be my effort to elevate the standard of official
+employment by selecting for places of importance individuals fitted
+for the posts to which they are assigned by their known integrity,
+talents, and virtues. In so extensive a country, with so great a
+population, and where few persons appointed to office can be known to
+the appointing power, mistakes will sometimes unavoidably happen and
+unfortunate appointments be made notwithstanding the greatest care.
+In such cases the power of removal may be properly exercised; and
+neglect of duty or malfeasance in office will be no more tolerated
+in individuals appointed by myself than in those appointed by others.
+
+I am happy in being able to say that no unfavorable change in our
+foreign relations has taken place since the message at the opening of
+the last session of Congress. We are at peace with all nations and we
+enjoy in an eminent degree the blessings of that peace in a prosperous
+and growing commerce and in all the forms of amicable national
+intercourse. The unexampled growth of the country, the present amount
+of its population, and its ample means of self-protection assure for
+it the respect of all nations, while it is trusted that its character
+for justice and a regard to the rights of other States will cause that
+respect to be readily and cheerfully paid.
+
+A convention was negotiated between the United States and Great
+Britain in April last for facilitating and protecting the construction
+of a ship canal between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and for other
+purposes. The instrument has since been ratified by the contracting
+parties, the exchange of ratifications has been effected, and
+proclamation thereof has been duly made.
+
+In addition to the stipulations contained in this convention, two
+other objects remain to be accomplished between the contracting
+powers:
+
+First. The designation and establishment of a free port at each end of
+the canal.
+
+Second. An agreement fixing the distance from the shore within which
+belligerent maritime operations shall not be carried on.
+
+On these points there is little doubt that the two Governments will
+come to an understanding.
+
+The company of citizens of the United States who have acquired from
+the State of Nicaragua the privilege of constructing a ship canal
+between the two oceans through the territory of that State have made
+progress in their preliminary arrangements. The treaty between the
+United States and Great Britain of the 19th of April last, above
+referred to, being now in operation, it is to be hoped that the
+guaranties which it offers will be sufficient to secure the completion
+of the work with all practicable expedition. It is obvious that this
+result would be indefinitely postponed if any other than peaceful
+measures for the purpose of harmonizing conflicting claims to
+territory in that quarter should be adopted. It will consequently be
+my endeavor to cause any further negotiations on the part of this
+Government which may be requisite for this purpose to be so conducted
+as to bring them to a speedy and successful close.
+
+Some unavoidable delay has occurred, arising from distance and the
+difficulty of intercourse between this Government and that of
+Nicaragua, but as intelligence has just been received of the
+appointment of an envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of
+that Government to reside at Washington, whose arrival may soon be
+expected, it is hoped that no further impediments will be experienced
+in the prompt transaction of business between the two Governments.
+
+Citizens of the United States have undertaken the connection of the
+two oceans by means of a railroad across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec,
+under grants of the Mexican Government to a citizen of that Republic.
+It is understood that a thorough survey of the course of the
+communication is in preparation, and there is every reason to expect
+that it will be prosecuted with characteristic energy, especially when
+that Government shall have consented to such stipulations with the
+Government of the United States as may be necessary to impart a
+feeling of security to those who may embark their property in the
+enterprise. Negotiations are pending for the accomplishment of that
+object, and a hope is confidently entertained that when the Government
+of Mexico shall become duly sensible of the advantages which that
+country can not fail to derive from the work, and learn that the
+Government of the United States desires that the right of sovereignty
+of Mexico in the Isthmus shall remain unimpaired, the stipulations
+referred to will be agreed to with alacrity.
+
+By the last advices from Mexico it would appear, however, that that
+Government entertains strong objections to some of the stipulations
+which the parties concerned in the project of the railroad deem
+necessary for their protection and security. Further consideration, it
+is to be hoped, or some modification of terms, may yet reconcile the
+differences existing between the two Governments in this respect.
+
+Fresh instructions have recently been given to the minister of the
+United States in Mexico, who is prosecuting the subject with
+promptitude and ability.
+
+Although the negotiations with Portugal for the payment of claims of
+citizens of the United States against that Government have not yet
+resulted in a formal treaty, yet a proposition, made by the Government
+of Portugal for the final adjustment and payment of those claims, has
+recently been accepted on the part of the United States. It gives me
+pleasure to say that Mr. Clay, to whom the negotiation on the part of
+the United States had been intrusted, discharged the duties of his
+appointment with ability and discretion, acting always within the
+instructions of his Government.
+
+It is expected that a regular convention will be immediately
+negotiated for carrying the agreement between the two Governments into
+effect.
+
+The commissioner appointed under the act of Congress for carrying into
+effect the convention with Brazil of the 27th of January, 1849, has
+entered upon the performance of the duties imposed upon him by that
+act. It is hoped that those duties may be completed within the time
+which it prescribes. The documents, however, which the Imperial
+Government, by the third article of the convention, stipulates to
+furnish to the Government of the United States have not yet been
+received. As it is presumed that those documents will be essential for
+the correct disposition of the claims, it may become necessary for
+Congress to extend the period limited for the duration of the
+commission. The sum stipulated by the fourth article of the convention
+to be paid to this Government has been received.
+
+The collection in the ports of the United States of discriminating
+duties upon the vessels of Chili and their cargoes has been suspended,
+pursuant to the provisions of the act of Congress of the 24th of
+May, 1828. It is to be hoped that this measure will impart a fresh
+impulse to the commerce between the two countries, which of late, and
+especially since our acquisition of California, has, to the mutual
+advantage of the parties, been much augmented.
+
+Peruvian guano has become so desirable an article to the agricultural
+interest of the United States that it is the duty of the Government to
+employ all the means properly in its power for the purpose of causing
+that article to be imported into the country at a reasonable price.
+Nothing will be omitted on my part toward accomplishing this desirable
+end. I am persuaded that in removing any restraints on this traffic
+the Peruvian Government will promote its own best interests, while it
+will afford a proof of a friendly disposition toward this country,
+which will be duly appreciated.
+
+The treaty between the United States and His Majesty the King of the
+Hawaiian Islands, which has recently been made public, will, it is
+believed, have a beneficial effect upon the relations between the two
+countries.
+
+The relations between those parts of the island of St. Domingo which
+were formerly colonies of Spain and France, respectively, are still in
+an unsettled condition. The proximity of that island to the United
+States and the delicate questions involved in the existing controversy
+there render it desirable that it should be permanently and speedily
+adjusted. The interests of humanity and of general commerce also
+demand this; and as intimations of the same sentiment have been
+received from other governments, it is hoped that some plan may soon
+be devised to effect the object in a manner likely to give general
+satisfaction. The Government of the United States will not fail, by
+the exercise of all proper friendly offices, to do all in its power
+to put an end to the destructive war which has raged between the
+different parts of the island and to secure to them both the benefits
+of peace and commerce.
+
+I refer you to the report of the Secretary of the Treasury for a
+detailed statement of the finances.
+
+The total receipts into the Treasury for the year ending 30th of June
+last were $47,421,748.90.
+
+The total expenditures during the same period were $43,002,168.90.
+
+The public debt has been reduced since the last annual report from the
+Treasury Department $495,276.79.
+
+By the nineteenth section of the act of 28th January, 1847, the
+proceeds of the sales of the public lands were pledged for the
+interest and principal of the public debt. The great amount of those
+lands subsequently granted by Congress for military bounties will, it
+is believed, very nearly supply the public demand for several years
+to come, and but little reliance can, therefore, be placed on that
+hitherto fruitful source of revenue. Aside from the permanent annual
+expenditures, which have necessarily largely increased, a portion of
+the public debt, amounting to $8,075,986.59, must be provided for
+within the next two fiscal years. It is most desirable that these
+accruing demands should be met without resorting to new loans.
+
+All experience has demonstrated the wisdom and policy of raising a
+large portion of revenue for the support of Government from duties on
+goods imported. The power to lay these duties is unquestionable, and
+its chief object, of course, is to replenish the Treasury. But if in
+doing this an incidental advantage may be gained by encouraging the
+industry of our own citizens, it is our duty to avail ourselves of
+that advantage.
+
+A duty laid upon an article which can not be produced in this country,
+such as tea or coffee, adds to the cost of the article, and is chiefly
+or wholly paid by the consumer. But a duty laid upon an article which
+may be produced here stimulates the skill and industry of our own
+country to produce the same article, which is brought into the market
+in competition with the foreign article, and the importer is thus
+compelled to reduce his price to that at which the domestic article
+can be sold, thereby throwing a part of the duty upon the producer of
+the foreign article. The continuance of this process creates the skill
+and invites the capital which finally enable us to produce the article
+much cheaper than it could have been procured from abroad, thereby
+benefiting both the producer and the consumer at home. The consequence
+of this is that the artisan and the agriculturist are brought
+together, each affords a ready market for the produce of the other,
+the whole country becomes prosperous, and the ability to produce every
+necessary of life renders us independent in war as well as in peace.
+
+A high tariff can never be permanent. It will cause dissatisfaction,
+and will be changed. It excludes competition, and thereby invites the
+investment of capital in manufactures to such excess that when changed
+it brings distress, bankruptcy, and ruin upon all who have been misled
+by its faithless protection. What the manufacturer wants is uniformity
+and permanency, that he may feel a confidence that he is not to be
+ruined by sudden changes. But to make a tariff uniform and permanent
+it is not only necessary that the laws should not be altered, but that
+the duty should not fluctuate. To effect this all duties should be
+specific wherever the nature of the article is such as to admit of it.
+_Ad valorem_ duties fluctuate with the price and offer strong
+temptations to fraud and perjury. Specific duties, on the contrary,
+are equal and uniform in all ports and at all times, and offer a
+strong inducement to the importer to bring the best article, as he
+pays no more duty upon that than upon one of inferior quality. I
+therefore strongly recommend a modification of the present tariff,
+which has prostrated some of our most important and necessary
+manufactures, and that specific duties be imposed sufficient to raise
+the requisite revenue, making such discriminations in favor of the
+industrial pursuits of our own country as to encourage home production
+without excluding foreign competition. It is also important that an
+unfortunate provision in the present tariff, which imposes a much
+higher duty upon the raw material that enters into our manufactures
+than upon the manufactured article, should be remedied.
+
+The papers accompanying the report of the Secretary of the Treasury
+will disclose frauds attempted upon the revenue, in variety and amount
+so great as to justify the conclusion that it is impossible under
+any system of _ad valorem_ duties levied upon the foreign cost or
+value of the article to secure an honest observance and an effectual
+administration of the laws. The fraudulent devices to evade the law
+which have been detected by the vigilance of the appraisers leave no
+room to doubt that similar impositions not discovered, to a large
+amount, have been successfully practiced since the enactment of the
+law now in force. This state of things has already had a prejudicial
+influence upon those engaged in foreign commerce. It has a tendency to
+drive the honest trader from the business of importing and to throw
+that important branch of employment into the hands of unscrupulous and
+dishonest men, who are alike regardless of law and the obligations of
+an oath. By these means the plain intentions of Congress, as expressed
+in the law, are daily defeated. Every motive of policy and duty,
+therefore, impels me to ask the earnest attention of Congress to this
+subject. If Congress should deem it unwise to attempt any important
+changes in the system of levying duties at this session, it will
+become indispensable to the protection of the revenue that such
+remedies as in the judgment of Congress may mitigate the evils
+complained of should be at once applied.
+
+As before stated, specific duties would, in my opinion, afford the
+most perfect remedy for this evil; but if you should not concur in
+this view, then, as a partial remedy, I beg leave respectfully to
+recommend that instead of taking the invoice of the article abroad
+as a means of determining its value here, the correctness of which
+invoice it is in many cases impossible to verify, the law be so
+changed as to require a home valuation or appraisal, to be regulated
+in such manner as to give, as far as practicable, uniformity in the
+several ports.
+
+There being no mint in California, I am informed that the laborers
+in the mines are compelled to dispose of their gold dust at a large
+discount. This appears to me to be a heavy and unjust tax upon the
+labor of those employed in extracting this precious metal, and I doubt
+not you will be disposed at the earliest period possible to relieve
+them from it by the establishment of a mint. In the meantime, as an
+assayer's office is established there, I would respectfully submit for
+your consideration the propriety of authorizing gold bullion which has
+been assayed and stamped to be received in payment of Government dues.
+I can not conceive that the Treasury would suffer any loss by such
+a provision, which will at once raise bullion to its par value, and
+thereby save (if I am rightly informed) many millions of dollars to
+the laborers which are now paid in brokerage to convert this precious
+metal into available funds. This discount upon their hard earnings is
+a heavy tax, and every effort should be made by the Government to
+relieve them from so great a burden.
+
+More than three-fourths of our population are engaged in the
+cultivation of the soil. The commercial, manufacturing, and navigating
+interests are all to a great extent dependent on the agricultural.
+It is therefore the most important interest of the nation, and has
+a just claim to the fostering care and protection of the Government
+so far as they can be extended consistently with the provisions of
+the Constitution. As this can not be done by the ordinary modes of
+legislation, I respectfully recommend the establishment of an
+agricultural bureau, to be charged with the duty of giving to this
+leading branch of American industry the encouragement which it so well
+deserves. In view of the immense mineral resources of our country,
+provision should also be made for the employment of a competent
+mineralogist and chemist, who should be required, under the direction
+of the head of the bureau, to collect specimens of the various
+minerals of our country and to ascertain by careful analysis their
+respective elements and properties and their adaptation to useful
+purposes. He should also be required to examine and report upon the
+qualities of different soils and the manures best calculated to
+improve their productiveness. By publishing the results of such
+experiments, with suitable explanations, and by the collection and
+distribution of rare seeds and plants, with instructions as to the
+best system of cultivation, much may be done to promote this great
+national interest.
+
+In compliance with the act of Congress passed on the 23d of May,
+1850, providing, among other things, for taking the Seventh Census,
+a superintendent was appointed and all other measures adopted which
+were deemed necessary to insure the prompt and faithful performance
+of that duty. The appropriation already made will, it is believed,
+be sufficient to defray the whole expense of the work, but further
+legislation may be necessary in regard to the compensation of some
+of the marshals of the Territories. It will also be proper to make
+provision by law at an early day for the publication of such abstracts
+of the returns as the public interests may require.
+
+The unprecedented growth of our territories on the Pacific in wealth
+and population and the consequent increase of their social and
+commercial relations with the Atlantic States seem to render it the
+duty of the Government to use all its constitutional power to improve
+the means of intercourse with them. The importance of opening "a line
+of communication, the best and most expeditious of which the nature of
+the country will admit," between the Valley of the Mississippi and the
+Pacific was brought to your notice by my predecessor in his annual
+message; and as the reasons which he presented in favor of the measure
+still exist in full force, I beg leave to call your attention to them
+and to repeat the recommendations then made by him.
+
+The uncertainty which exists in regard to the validity of land titles
+in California is a subject which demands your early consideration.
+Large bodies of land in that State are claimed under grants said to
+have been made by authority of the Spanish and Mexican Governments.
+Many of these have not been perfected, others have been revoked, and
+some are believed to be fraudulent. But until they shall have been
+judicially investigated they will continue to retard the settlement
+and improvement of the country. I therefore respectfully recommend
+that provision be made by law for the appointment of commissioners to
+examine all such claims with a view to their final adjustment.
+
+I also beg leave to call your attention to the propriety of extending
+at an early day our system of land laws, with such modifications as
+may be necessary, over the State of California and the Territories of
+Utah and New Mexico. The mineral lands of California will, of course,
+form an exception to any general system which may be adopted. Various
+methods of disposing of them have been suggested. I was at first
+inclined to favor the system of leasing, as it seemed to promise the
+largest revenue to the Government and to afford the best security
+against monopolies; but further reflection and our experience in
+leasing the lead mines and selling lands upon credit have brought
+my mind to the conclusion that there would be great difficulty in
+collecting the rents, and that the relation of debtor and creditor
+between the citizens and the Government would be attended with many
+mischievous consequences. I therefore recommend that instead of
+retaining the mineral lands under the permanent control of the
+Government they be divided into small parcels and sold, under such
+restrictions as to quantity and time as will insure the best price and
+guard most effectually against combinations of capitalists to obtain
+monopolies.
+
+The annexation of Texas and the acquisition of California and New
+Mexico have given increased importance to our Indian relations. The
+various tribes brought under our jurisdiction by these enlargements of
+our boundaries are estimated to embrace a population of 124,000.
+
+Texas and New Mexico are surrounded by powerful tribes of Indians,
+who are a source of constant terror and annoyance to the inhabitants.
+Separating into small predatory bands, and always mounted, they
+overrun the country, devastating farms, destroying crops, driving off
+whole herds of cattle, and occasionally murdering the inhabitants or
+carrying them into captivity. The great roads leading into the country
+are infested with them, whereby traveling is rendered extremely
+dangerous and immigration is almost entirely arrested. The Mexican
+frontier, which by the eleventh article of the treaty of Guadalupe
+Hidalgo we are bound to protect against the Indians within our border,
+is exposed to these incursions equally with our own. The military
+force stationed in that country, although forming a large proportion
+of the Army, is represented as entirely inadequate to our own
+protection and the fulfillment of our treaty stipulations with Mexico.
+The principal deficiency is in cavalry, and I recommend that Congress
+should, at as early a period as practicable, provide for the raising
+of one or more regiments of mounted men.
+
+For further suggestions on this subject and others connected with our
+domestic interests and the defense of our frontier, I refer you to the
+reports of the Secretary of the Interior and of the Secretary of War.
+
+I commend also to your favorable consideration the suggestion
+contained in the last-mentioned report and in the letter of the
+General in Chief relative to the establishment of an asylum for the
+relief of disabled and destitute soldiers. This subject appeals so
+strongly to your sympathies that it would be superfluous in me to say
+anything more than barely to express my cordial approbation of the
+proposed object.
+
+The Navy continues to give protection to our commerce and other
+national interests in the different quarters of the globe, and, with
+the exception of a single steamer on the Northern lakes, the vessels
+in commission are distributed in six different squadrons.
+
+The report of the head of that Department will exhibit the services of
+these squadrons and of the several vessels employed in each during the
+past year. It is a source of gratification that, while they have been
+constantly prepared for any hostile emergency, they have everywhere
+met with the respect and courtesy due as well to the dignity as to the
+peaceful dispositions and just purposes of the nation.
+
+The two brigantines accepted by the Government from a generous citizen
+of New York and placed under the command of an officer of the Navy to
+proceed to the Arctic Seas in quest of the British commander Sir John
+Franklin and his companions, in compliance with the act of Congress
+approved in May last, had when last heard from penetrated into a high
+northern latitude; but the success of this noble and humane enterprise
+is yet uncertain.
+
+I invite your attention to the view of our present naval establishment
+and resources presented in the report of the Secretary of the Navy,
+and the suggestions therein made for its improvement, together with
+the naval policy recommended for the security of our Pacific Coast and
+the protection and extension of our commerce with eastern Asia. Our
+facilities for a larger participation in the trade of the East, by
+means of our recent settlements on the shores of the Pacific, are too
+obvious to be overlooked or disregarded.
+
+The questions in relation to rank in the Army and Navy and relative
+rank between officers of the two branches of the service, presented to
+the Executive by certain resolutions of the House of Representatives
+at the last session of Congress, have been submitted to a board of
+officers in each branch of the service, and their report may be
+expected at an early day.
+
+I also earnestly recommend the enactment of a law authorizing officers
+of the Army and Navy to be retired from the service when incompetent
+for its vigorous and active duties, taking care to make suitable
+provision for those who have faithfully served their country and
+awarding distinctions by retaining in appropriate commands those who
+have been particularly conspicuous for gallantry and good conduct.
+While the obligation of the country to maintain and honor those who,
+to the exclusion of other pursuits, have devoted themselves to its
+arduous service is acknowledged, this obligation should not be
+permitted to interfere with the efficiency of the service itself.
+
+I am gratified in being able to state that the estimates of
+expenditure for the Navy in the ensuing year are less by more than
+$1,000,000 than those of the present, excepting the appropriation
+which may become necessary for the construction of a dock on the coast
+of the Pacific, propositions for which are now being considered and on
+which a special report may be expected early in your present session.
+
+There is an evident justness in the suggestion of the same report that
+appropriations for the naval service proper should be separated from
+those for fixed and permanent objects, such as building docks and
+navy-yards and the fixtures attached, and from the extraordinary
+objects under the care of the Department which, however important,
+are not essentially naval.
+
+A revision of the code for the government of the Navy seems to require
+the immediate consideration of Congress. Its system of crimes and
+punishments had undergone no change for half a century until the last
+session, though its defects have been often and ably pointed out;
+and the abolition of a particular species of corporal punishment,
+which then took place, without providing any substitute, has left the
+service in a state of defectiveness which calls for prompt correction.
+I therefore recommend that the whole subject be revised without delay
+and such a system established for the enforcement of discipline as
+shall be at once humane and effectual.
+
+The accompanying report of the Postmaster-General presents a
+satisfactory view of the operations and condition of that Department.
+
+At the close of the last fiscal year the length of the inland mail
+routes in the United States (not embracing the service in Oregon and
+California) was 178,672 miles, the annual transportation thereon
+46,541,423 miles, and the annual cost of such transportation $2,724,426.
+
+The increase of the annual transportation over that of the preceding
+year was 3,997,354 miles and the increase in cost was $342,440.
+
+The number of post-offices in the United States on the 1st day of July
+last was 18,417, being an increase of I,670 during the preceding year.
+
+The gross revenues of the Department for the fiscal year ending June 30,
+1850, amounted to $5,552,971.48, including the annual appropriation of
+$200,000 for the franked matter of the Departments and excluding the
+foreign postages collected for and payable to the British Government.
+
+The expenditures for the same period were $5,212,953.43, leaving a
+balance of revenue over expenditures of $340,018.05.
+
+I am happy to find that the fiscal condition of the Department is such
+as to justify the Postmaster-General in recommending the reduction of
+our inland letter postage to 3 cents the single letter when prepaid and
+5 cents when not prepaid. He also recommends that the prepaid rate shall
+be reduced to 2 cents whenever the revenues of the Department, after the
+reduction, shall exceed its expenditures by more than 5 per cent for two
+consecutive years; that the postage upon California and other letters
+sent by our ocean steamers shall be much reduced, and that the rates of
+postage on newspapers, pamphlets, periodicals, and other printed matter
+shall be modified and some reduction thereon made.
+
+It can not be doubted that the proposed reductions will for the present
+diminish the revenues of the Department. It is believed that the
+deficiency, after the surplus already accumulated shall be exhausted,
+may be almost wholly met either by abolishing the existing privileges of
+sending free matter through the mails or by paying out of the Treasury
+to the Post-Office Department a sum equivalent to the postage of which
+it is deprived by such privileges. The last is supposed to be the
+preferable mode, and will, if not entirely, so nearly supply that
+deficiency as to make any further appropriation that may be found
+necessary so inconsiderable as to form no obstacle to the proposed
+reductions.
+
+I entertain no doubt of the authority of Congress to make appropriations
+for leading objects in that class of public works comprising what are
+usually called works of internal improvement. This authority I suppose
+to be derived chiefly from the power of regulating commerce with foreign
+nations and among the States and the power of laying and collecting
+imposts. Where commerce is to be carried on and imposts collected there
+must be ports and harbors as well as wharves and custom-houses. If ships
+laden with valuable cargoes approach the shore or sail along the coast,
+light-houses are necessary at suitable points for the protection of
+life and property. Other facilities and securities for commerce and
+navigation are hardly less important; and those clauses of the
+Constitution, therefore, to which I have referred have received from the
+origin of the Government a liberal and beneficial construction. Not only
+have light-houses, buoys, and beacons been established and floating
+lights maintained, but harbors have been cleared and improved, piers
+constructed, and even breakwaters for the safety of shipping and sea
+walls to protect harbors from being filled up and rendered useless by
+the action of the ocean, have been erected at very great expense. And
+this construction of the Constitution appears the more reasonable from
+the consideration that if these works, of such evident importance
+and utility, are not to be accomplished by Congress they can not be
+accomplished at all. By the adoption of the Constitution the several
+States voluntarily parted with the power of collecting duties of imposts
+in their own ports, and it is not to be expected that they should raise
+money by internal taxation, direct or indirect, for the benefit of that
+commerce the revenues derived from which do not, either in whole or in
+part, go into their own treasuries. Nor do I perceive any difference
+between the power of Congress to make appropriations for objects of this
+kind on the ocean and the power to make appropriations for similar
+objects on lakes and rivers, wherever they are large enough to bear on
+their waters an extensive traffic. The magnificent Mississippi and its
+tributaries and the vast lakes of the North and Northwest appear to me
+to fall within the exercise of the power as justly and as clearly as the
+ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. It is a mistake to regard expenditures
+judiciously made for these objects as expenditures for local purposes.
+The position or sight of the work is necessarily local, but its utility
+is general. A ship canal around the Falls of St. Mary of less than a
+mile in length, though local in its construction, would yet be national
+in its purpose and its benefits, as it would remove the only obstruction
+to a navigation of more than 1,000 miles, affecting several States, as
+well as our commercial relations with Canada. So, too, the breakwater at
+the mouth of the Delaware is erected, not for the exclusive benefit of
+the States bordering on the bay and river of that name, but for that
+of the whole coastwise navigation of the United States and, to a
+considerable extent, also of foreign commerce. If a ship be lost on the
+bar at the entrance of a Southern port for want of sufficient depth of
+water, it is very likely to be a Northern ship; and if a steamboat be
+sunk in any part of the Mississippi on account of its channel not having
+been properly cleared of obstructions, it may be a boat belonging to
+either of eight or ten States. I may add, as somewhat remarkable, that
+among all the thirty-one States there is none that is not to a greater
+or less extent bounded on the ocean, or the Gulf of Mexico, or one of
+the Great Lakes, or some navigable river.
+
+In fulfilling our constitutional duties, fellow-citizens, on this
+subject, as in carrying into effect all other powers conferred by the
+Constitution, we should consider ourselves as deliberating and acting
+for one and the same country, and bear constantly in mind that our
+regard and our duty are due not to a particular part only, but to the
+whole.
+
+I therefore recommend that appropriations be made for completing such
+works as have been already begun and for commencing such others as may
+seem to the wisdom of Congress to be of public and general importance.
+
+The difficulties and delays incident to the settlement of private claims
+by Congress amount in many cases to a denial of justice. There is reason
+to apprehend that many unfortunate creditors of the Government have
+thereby been unavoidably ruined. Congress has so much business of a
+public character that it is impossible it should give much attention to
+mere private claims, and their accumulation is now so great that many
+claimants must despair of ever being able to obtain a hearing. It may
+well be doubted whether Congress, from the nature of its organization,
+is properly constituted to decide upon such cases. It is impossible that
+each member should examine the merits of every claim on which he is
+compelled to vote, and it is preposterous to ask a judge to decide a
+case which he has never heard. Such decisions may, and frequently must,
+do injustice either to the claimant or the Government, and I perceive
+no better remedy for this growing evil than the establishment of some
+tribunal to adjudicate upon such claims. I beg leave, therefore,
+most respectfully to recommend that provision be made by law for the
+appointment of a commission to settle all private claims against the
+United States; and as an _ex parte_ hearing must in all contested
+cases be very unsatisfactory, I also recommend the appointment of a
+solicitor, whose duty it shall be to represent the Government before
+such commission and protect it against all illegal, fraudulent, or
+unjust claims which may be presented for their adjudication.
+
+This District, which has neither voice nor vote in your deliberations,
+looks to you for protection and aid, and I commend all its wants to your
+favorable consideration, with a full confidence that you will meet them
+not only with justice, but with liberality. It should be borne in mind
+that in this city, laid out by Washington and consecrated by his name,
+is located the Capitol of our nation, the emblem of our Union and the
+symbol of our greatness. Here also are situated all the public buildings
+necessary for the use of the Government, and all these are exempt from
+taxation. It should be the pride of Americans to render this place
+attractive to the people of the whole Republic and convenient and safe
+for the transaction of the public business and the preservation of
+the public records. The Government should therefore bear a liberal
+proportion of the burdens of all necessary and useful improvements. And
+as nothing could contribute more to the health, comfort, and safety of
+the city and the security of the public buildings and records than an
+abundant supply of pure water, I respectfully recommend that you make
+such provisions for obtaining the same as in your wisdom you may deem
+proper.
+
+The act, passed at your last session, making certain propositions to
+Texas for settling the disputed boundary between that State and the
+Territory of New Mexico was, immediately on its passage, transmitted by
+express to the governor of Texas, to be laid by him before the general
+assembly for its agreement thereto. Its receipt was duly acknowledged,
+but no official information has yet been received of the action of the
+general assembly thereon. It may, however, be very soon expected, as,
+by the terms of the propositions submitted they were to have been acted
+upon on or before the first day of the present month.
+
+It was hardly to have been expected that the series of measures passed
+at your last session with the view of healing the sectional differences
+which had sprung from the slavery and territorial questions should at
+once have realized their beneficent purpose. All mutual concession in
+the nature of a compromise must necessarily be unwelcome to men of
+extreme opinions. And though without such concessions our Constitution
+could not have been formed, and can not be permanently sustained, yet we
+have seen them made the subject of bitter controversy in both sections
+of the Republic, It required many months of discussion and deliberation
+to secure the concurrence of a majority of Congress in their favor. It
+would be strange if they had been received with immediate approbation by
+people and States prejudiced and heated by the exciting controversies of
+their representatives. I believe those measures to have been required
+by the circumstances and condition of the country. I believe they
+were necessary to allay asperities and animosities that were rapidly
+alienating one section of the country from another and destroying
+those fraternal sentiments which are the strongest supports of the
+Constitution. They were adopted in the spirit of conciliation and for
+the purpose of conciliation. I believe that a great majority of our
+fellow-citizens sympathize in that spirit and that purpose, and in
+the main approve and are prepared in all respects to sustain these
+enactments. I can not doubt that the American people, bound together by
+kindred blood and common traditions, still cherish a paramount regard
+for the Union of their fathers, and that they are ready to rebuke any
+attempt to violate its integrity, to disturb the compromises on which
+it is based, or to resist the laws which have been enacted under its
+authority.
+
+The series of measures to which I have alluded are regarded by me as
+a settlement in principle and substance--a final settlement of the
+dangerous and exciting subjects which they embraced. Most of these
+subjects, indeed, are beyond your reach, as the legislation which
+disposed of them was in its character final and irrevocable. It may
+be presumed from the opposition which they all encountered that none
+of those measures was free from imperfections, but in their mutual
+dependence and connection they formed a system of compromise the most
+conciliatory and best for the entire country that could be obtained
+from conflicting sectional interests and opinions.
+
+For this reason I recommend your adherence to the adjustment established
+by those measures until time and experience shall demonstrate the
+necessity of further legislation to guard against evasion or abuse.
+
+By that adjustment we have been rescued from the wide and boundless
+agitation that surrounded us, and have a firm, distinct, and legal
+ground to rest upon. And the occasion, I trust, will justify me in
+exhorting my countrymen to rally upon and maintain that ground as the
+best, if not the only, means of restoring peace and quiet to the country
+and maintaining inviolate the integrity of the Union.
+
+And now, fellow-citizens, I can not bring this communication to a close
+without invoking you to join me in humble and devout thanks to the Great
+Ruler of Nations for the multiplied blessings which He has graciously
+bestowed upon us. His hand, so often visible in our preservation, has
+stayed the pestilence, saved us from foreign wars and domestic
+disturbances, and scattered plenty throughout the land.
+
+Our liberties, religious and civil, have been maintained, the fountains
+of knowledge have all been kept open, and means of happiness widely
+spread and generally enjoyed greater than have fallen to the lot of any
+other nation. And while deeply penetrated with gratitude for the past,
+let us hope that His all-wise providence will so guide our counsels as
+that they shall result in giving satisfaction to our constituents,
+securing the peace of the country, and adding new strength to the united
+Government under which we live.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+
+SPECIAL MESSAGES.
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _December 9, 1850_.
+
+_To the House of Representatives_:
+
+I communicate to the House of Representatives a translation of a note
+of the 5th instant addressed to the Secretary of State by the minister
+of the Mexican Republic accredited to this Government, relative to a
+subject[2] to which the attention of Congress was invited in my message
+at the opening of the present session.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+[The same message was sent to the Senate.]
+
+[Footnote 2: Incursions of Indians of the United States upon the
+population of the Mexican frontier.]
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _December 12, 1850_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I herewith transmit a report of the Secretary of State, with accompanying
+documents, relating to the African slave trade, in answer to the
+resolution of the Senate of the 28th of August last.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _December 13, 1850_.
+
+_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:
+
+
+I have the pleasure of announcing to Congress the agreement on the part
+of Texas to the propositions offered to that State by the act of
+Congress approved on the 9th day of September last, entitled "An act
+proposing to the State of Texas the establishment of her northern
+and western boundaries, the relinquishment by the said State of all
+territory claimed by her exterior to said boundaries and of all her
+claims upon the United States, and to establish a Territorial government
+for New Mexico."
+
+By the terms of that act it was required that the agreement of Texas to
+the propositions contained in it should be given on or before the 1st
+day of December, 1850. An authenticated transcript of a law passed by
+the legislature of Texas on the 25th day of November, agreeing to and
+accepting the propositions contained in the act of Congress, has been
+received. This law, after reciting the provisions of the act of Congress,
+proceeds to enact and declare as follows, viz:
+
+  Therefore, first. _Be it enacted by the legislature of the State of
+  Texas_, That the State of Texas hereby agrees to and accepts said
+  propositions; and it is hereby declared that the said State shall be
+  bound by the terms thereof according to their true import and meaning.
+
+  Second. That the governor of this State be, and is hereby, requested to
+  cause a copy of this act, authenticated under the seal of the State, to
+  be furnished to the President of the United States by mail as early as
+  practicable, and also a copy thereof, certified in like manner, to be
+  transmitted to each of the Senators and Representatives of Texas in
+  Congress. And that this act take effect from and after its passage.
+
+  C. G. KEENAN,
+  _Speaker of the House of Representatives_.
+
+  JOHN A. GREER,
+  _President of the Senate_.
+
+Approved, November 25, 1850.
+
+P.H. BELL.
+
+
+From the common sources of public information it would appear that
+a very remarkable degree of unanimity prevailed, not only in the
+legislature, but among the people of Texas, in respect to the agreement
+of the State to that which had been proposed by Congress.
+
+I can not refrain from congratulating Congress and the country on the
+success of this great and leading measure of conciliation and peace. The
+difficulties felt and the dangers apprehended from the vast acquisitions
+of territory under the late treaty with Mexico seem now happily overcome
+by the wisdom of Congress. Within that territory there already exists
+one State, respectable for the amount of her population, distinguished
+for singular activity and enterprise, and remarkable in many respects
+from her condition and history. This new State has come into the Union
+with manifestations not to be mistaken of her attachment to that
+Constitution and that Government which now embrace her and her interests
+within their protecting and beneficent control.
+
+Over the residue of the acquired territories regular Territorial
+governments are now established in the manner which has been most usual
+in the history of this Government. Various other acts of Congress may
+undoubtedly be requisite for the benefit as well as for the proper
+government of these so distant parts of the country. But the same
+legislative wisdom which has triumphed over the principal difficulties
+and accomplished the main end may safely be relied on for whatever
+measures may yet be found necessary to perfect its work, so that the
+acquisition of these vast regions to the United States may rather
+strengthen than weaken the Constitution, which is over us all, and the
+Union, which affords such ample daily proofs of its inestimable value.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _December 17, 1850_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I herewith transmit a letter from the Secretary of War, communicating a
+report of a board of officers to which, in pursuance of a resolution of
+the Senate passed on the 30th of September last, were submitted the
+questions proposed therein, relative to the expediency and necessity of
+creating additional grades of commissioned officers in the Army and of
+enacting provisions authorizing officers of the Army to exercise civil
+functions in emergencies to be enumerated and restraining them from
+usurping the powers of civil functionaries.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _December 30, 1850_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I herewith transmit to the Senate, in reply to their resolution of the
+26th instant, a report from the Secretary of State, with accompanying
+papers.[3]
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+[Footnote 3: Correspondence with the Austrian charge d'affaires
+respecting the appointment or proceedings of the agent sent to examine
+and report upon the condition and prospects of the Hungarian people
+during their struggle for independence.]
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _January 3, 1851_.
+
+_To the House of Representatives_:
+
+By a resolution passed by the House of Representatives on the 24th day
+of July, 1850, the President was requested to cause to be prepared and
+communicated to the House certain opinions of the Attorneys-General
+therein specified. On inquiry I learned that the force employed in the
+Attorney-General's Office was not sufficient to perform this work;
+consequently, I employed Benjamin F. Hall, esq., a counselor at law,
+on the 9th day of September last, to execute it, and requested him to
+commence it immediately. I informed him that I was not authorized to
+give any other assurances as to compensation than that it rested with
+Congress to provide and fix it. I believe Mr. Hall to be in all respects
+competent and well fitted for the task which he has undertaken, and
+diligent in the performance of it; and it appears to me that the most
+just mode of compensation will be to make a per diem allowance of $8 per
+day for the time actually employed, to be paid on the certificate of the
+Attorney-General.
+
+I also transmit herewith a portion of the manuscript prepared in
+pursuance of said resolution, with a letter from Mr. Hall to me
+indicating the mode in which he thinks the work should be prepared and
+printed, which appears to me worthy of consideration and adoption by the
+House.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _January 10, 1851_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I have the honor herewith to transmit to the Senate a communication from
+the Secretary of the Navy on the subject of the discipline of the Navy,
+suggesting such amendments of the law as may be necessary in consequence
+of the recent act abolishing flogging; to which I respectfully invite
+the immediate attention of Congress.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _January 14, 1851_.
+
+_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:
+
+In compliance with the resolution of the House of Representatives
+adopted July 18, 1850, requesting the President to communicate his views
+on sundry questions of rank, precedence, and command among officers of
+the Army and officers of the Navy, respectively, and of relative rank
+between officers of the Army and Navy when brought into cooperation, I
+caused to be convened a board of intelligent and experienced officers in
+each branch of the service to consider the matters involved in said
+resolutions and to report their opinion for my advice and information.
+
+Their reports have been made, and I have the honor herewith to submit
+copies of them, together with bills drafted substantially in accordance
+therewith, on the subject of rank in each branch of the service.
+
+The subject is one of great interest, and it is highly important that it
+should be settled by legislative authority and with as little delay as
+possible consistently with its proper examination.
+
+The points on which it will be perceived that the two boards disagree in
+regard to relative rank between officers of the Army and Navy are not
+esteemed of very great practical importance, and the adoption of the
+rule proposed by either would be acceptable to the Executive.
+
+But even if a decision on these shall be suspended, it is hoped that the
+bills which are designed to regulate rank, precedence, and command in
+the Army and Navy as separate branches of service may receive the
+sanction of Congress, with such amendments as may be deemed appropriate,
+in the course of the present session.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _February 3, 1851_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I transmit to the Senate a report from the Secretary of State, with
+accompanying papers,[4] in answer to their resolution of the 30th
+ultimo.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+[Footnote 4: Correspondence relative to the possessory rights of the
+British Hudsons Bay Company in Oregon.]
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _February 12, 1851_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State, with accompanying
+documents,[5] in answer to the Senate's resolution of the 1st
+instant.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+[Footnote 5: Correspondence with Spain relative to the claim of the
+owners of the schooner _Amistad_ for compensation on account of the
+liberation of negroes on board said vessel.]
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _February 13, 1851_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I herewith communicate to the Senate, for its consideration, a general
+convention between the United States and the Swiss Confederation,
+concluded and signed at Berne on the 25th day of November last by Mr. A.
+Dudley Mann on the part of the United States and by Messrs. Druey and
+Frey-Herosee on the part of the Swiss Confederation. I communicate at
+the same time a copy of the instructions under which Mr. Mann acted and
+his dispatch of the 30th November last, explanatory of the articles of
+the convention.
+
+In submitting this convention to the consideration of the Senate I
+feel it my duty to invite its special attention to the first and
+fifth articles. These articles appear to contain provisions quite
+objectionable, if, indeed, they can be considered as properly embraced
+in the treaty-making power.
+
+The second clause of the first article is in these words:
+
+  In the United States of America citizens of Switzerland shall be
+  received and treated in each State upon the same footing and upon the
+  same conditions as citizens of the United States born in or belonging to
+  other States of the Union.
+
+
+It is well known that according to the Constitution of the United States
+a citizen of one State may hold lands in any other State; and States
+have, sometimes by general, sometimes by special, laws, removed the
+disabilities attaching to foreigners not naturalized in regard to the
+holding of land. But this is not supposed to be a power properly to be
+exercised by the President and Senate in concluding and ratifying a
+treaty with a foreign state. The authority naturally belongs to the
+State within whose limits the land may lie. The naturalization of
+foreigners is provided for by the laws of the United States, in
+pursuance of the provision of the Constitution; but when, under the
+operation of these laws, foreigners become citizens of the United
+States, all would seem to be done which it is in the power of this
+Government to do to enable foreigners to hold land. The clause referred
+to, therefore, appears to me inadmissible.
+
+The fourth clause of the same article provides, among other things, that
+citizens of Switzerland may, within the United States, acquire, possess,
+and alienate personal and real estate, and the fifth article grants them
+the power of disposing of their real estate, which, perhaps, would be no
+otherwise objectionable, if it stood by itself, than as it would seem to
+imply a power to hold that of which they are permitted to dispose.
+
+These objections, perhaps, may be removed by striking out the second
+clause of the first article and the words "and real" in the fourth
+clause. An amendment similar to the last here suggested was made by the
+Senate in the convention between the United States and the King of
+Bavaria, the ratification of which, as amended, the Senate advised and
+consented to on the 15th day of March, 1845.
+
+But there is another and a decisive objection, arising from the last
+clause in the first article. That clause is in these words:
+
+  On account of the tenor of the federal constitution of Switzerland,
+  Christians alone are entitled to the enjoyment of the privileges
+  guaranteed by the present article in the Swiss Cantons. But said
+  Cantons are not prohibited from extending the same privileges to
+  citizens of the United States of other religious persuasions.
+
+
+It appears from this that Christians alone are, in some of the Swiss
+Cantons, entitled to the enjoyment of privileges guaranteed by the first
+article, although the Cantons themselves are not prohibited from
+extending the same privileges to citizens of the United States of other
+religious persuasions.
+
+It is quite certain that neither by law, nor by treaty, nor by any other
+official proceeding is it competent for the Government of the United
+States to establish any distinction between its citizens founded on
+differences in religious beliefs. Any benefit or privilege conferred by
+law or treaty on one must be common to all, and we are not at liberty,
+on a question of such vital interest and plain constitutional duty,
+to consider whether the particular case is one in which substantial
+inconvenience or injustice might ensue. It is enough that an inequality
+would be sanctioned hostile to the institutions of the United States and
+inconsistent with the Constitution and the laws.
+
+Nor can the Government of the United States rely on the individual
+Cantons of Switzerland for extending the same privileges to other
+citizens of the United States as this article extends to Christians. It
+is indispensable not only that every privilege granted to any of the
+citizens of the United States should be granted to all, but also that
+the grant of such privilege should stand upon the same stipulation and
+assurance by the whole Swiss Confederation as those of other articles of
+the convention.
+
+There have been instances, especially some of recent occurrence,
+in which the Executive has transmitted treaties to the Senate with
+suggestions of amendment, and I have therefore thought it not improper
+to send the present convention to the Senate, inviting its attention
+to such amendments as appeared to me to be important, although I have
+entertained considerable doubt whether it would not be better to send
+back the convention for correction in the objectionable particulars
+before laying it before the Senate for ratification.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _February 13, 1851_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+In answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 10th instant, calling
+for information relative to a contract alleged to have been made by Mr.
+I.D. Marks with the Mexican Government, I transmit a report from the
+Secretary of State and the documents[6] which accompanied it.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+[Footnote 6: Relating to drafts upon the Treasury of the United States
+by Mexico on account of indemnity due that Government in pursuance of
+the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.]
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _February 13, 1851_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+In compliance with the resolution of the Senate of the 28th of January,
+1851, I have the honor to transmit herewith reports from the Secretary
+of State and Secretary of the Treasury, giving the required
+correspondence in the case of the British ship _Albion_, seized in
+Oregon for an alleged violation of the revenue laws.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _February 15, 1851_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+In addition to the information heretofore communicated, I now transmit
+to the Senate a report from the Secretary of State, with accompanying
+papers,[7] in answer to their resolution of the 28th ultimo.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+[Footnote 7: Additional correspondence relative to the seizure of the
+British ship _Albion_.]
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _February 15, 1851_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I herewith transmit to the Senate a report[8] from the Secretary of
+State, in answer to their resolution of the 10th instant.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+[Footnote 8: Relating to taxation by New Granada on United States
+citizens when _in transitu_ across the Isthmus of Panama, and to
+the United States mail service at said Isthmus.]
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _February 18, 1851_.
+
+The PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE:
+
+In addition to the papers already transmitted to the Senate in
+compliance with its resolution of the 28th ultimo, I have the honor
+herewith to transmit an additional report[9] from the Secretary of the
+Treasury.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+[Footnote 9: Relating to the seizure of the British ship _Albion_.]
+
+
+
+EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT, _February 19, 1851_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I have received the resolution of the Senate of the 18th instant,
+requesting me to lay before that body, if not incompatible with the
+public interest, any information I may possess in regard to an alleged
+recent case of a forcible resistance to the execution of the laws of the
+United States in the city of Boston, and to communicate to the Senate,
+under the above conditions, what means I have adopted to meet the
+occurrence, and whether in my opinion any additional legislation is
+necessary to meet the exigency of the case and to more vigorously
+execute existing laws.
+
+The public newspapers contain an affidavit of Patrick Riley, a
+deputy marshal for the district of Massachusetts, setting forth the
+circumstances of the case, a copy of which affidavit is herewith
+communicated. Private and unofficial communications concur in
+establishing the main facts of this account, but no satisfactory
+official information has as yet been received; and in some important
+respects the accuracy of the account has been denied by persons whom it
+implicates. Nothing could be more unexpected than that such a gross
+violation of law, such a high-handed contempt of the authority of the
+United States, should be perpetrated by a band of lawless confederates
+at noonday in the city of Boston, and in the very temple of justice. I
+regard this flagitious proceeding as being a surprise not unattended by
+some degree of negligence; nor do I doubt that if any such act of
+violence had been apprehended thousands of the good citizens of Boston
+would have presented themselves voluntarily and promptly to prevent it.
+But the danger does not seem to have been timely made known or duly
+appreciated by those who were concerned in the execution of the process.
+In a community distinguished for its love of order and respect for the
+laws, among a people whose sentiment is liberty and law, and not liberty
+without law nor above the law, such an outrage could only be the result
+of sudden violence, unhappily too much unprepared for to be successfully
+resisted. It would be melancholy indeed if we were obliged to regard
+this outbreak against the constitutional and legal authority of the
+Government as proceeding from the general feeling of the people in a
+spot which is proverbially called "the Cradle of American Liberty."
+Such, undoubtedly, is not the fact. It violates without question the
+general sentiment of the people of Boston and of a vast majority of the
+whole people of Massachusetts, as much as it violates the law, defies
+the authority of the Government, and disgraces those concerned in it,
+their aiders and abettors.
+
+It is, nevertheless, my duty to lay before the Senate, in answer to its
+resolution, some important facts and considerations connected with the
+subject.
+
+A resolution of Congress of September 23, 1789, declared:
+
+  That it be recommended to the legislatures of the several States to
+  pass laws making it expressly the duty of the keepers of their jails
+  to receive and safe keep therein all prisoners committed under the
+  authority of the United States until they shall be discharged by the
+  course of the laws thereof, under the like penalties as in the case of
+  prisoners committed under the authority of such States respectively;
+  the United States to pay for the use and keeping of such jails at the
+  rate of 50 cents per month for each prisoner that shall, under their
+  authority, be committed thereto during the time such prisoner shall be
+  therein confined, and also to support such of said prisoners as shall
+  be committed for offenses.
+
+
+A further resolution of Congress, of the 3d of March, 1791, provides
+that--
+
+  Whereas Congress did, by a resolution of the 23d day of September, 1789,
+  recommend to the several States to pass laws making it expressly the
+  duty of the keepers of their jails to receive and safe keep therein all
+  prisoners committed under the authority of the United States: In order,
+  therefore, to insure the administration of justice--
+
+  _Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
+  States of America in Congress assembled_, That in case any State shall
+  not have complied with the said recommendation the marshal in such
+  State, under the direction of the judge of the district, be authorized
+  to hire a convenient place to serve as a temporary jail, and to make the
+  necessary provision for the safe-keeping of prisoners committed under
+  the authority of the United States until permanent provision shall be
+  made by law for that purpose; and the said marshal shall be allowed his
+  reasonable expenses incurred for the above purposes, to be paid out of
+  the Treasury of the United States.
+
+
+And a resolution of Congress of March 3, 1821, provides that--
+
+  Where any State or States, having complied with the recommendation of
+  Congress in the resolution of the 23d day of September, 1789, shall have
+  withdrawn, or shall hereafter withdraw, either in whole or in part, the
+  use of their jails for prisoners committed under the authority of the
+  United States, the marshal in such State or States, under the direction
+  of the judge of the district, shall be, and hereby is, authorized and
+  required to hire a convenient place to serve as a temporary jail, and to
+  make the necessary provision for the safe-keeping of prisoners committed
+  under the authority of the United States until permanent provision shall
+  be made by law for that purpose; and the said marshal shall be allowed
+  his reasonable expenses incurred for the above purposes, to be paid out
+  of the Treasury of the United States.
+
+
+These various provisions of the law remain unrepealed.
+
+By the law of Massachusetts, as that law stood before the act of the
+legislature of that State of the 24th of March, 1843, the common jails
+in the respective counties were to be used for the detention of any
+persons detained or committed by the authority of the courts of the
+United States, as well as by the courts and magistrates of the State.
+But these provisions were abrogated and repealed by the act of the
+legislature of Massachusetts of the 24th of March, 1843.
+
+That act declares that--
+
+  No judge of any court of record of this Commonwealth and no justice of
+  the peace shall hereafter take cognizance or grant a certificate in
+  cases that may arise under the third section of an act of Congress
+  passed February 12, 1793, and entitled "An act respecting fugitives
+  from justice and persons escaping from the service of their masters,"
+  to any person who claims any other person as a fugitive slave within
+  the jurisdiction of the Commonwealth.
+
+
+And it further declares that--
+
+  No sheriff, deputy sheriff, coroner, constable, jailer, or other officer
+  of this Commonwealth shall hereafter arrest or detain, or aid in the
+  arrest or detention or imprisonment, in any jail or other building
+  belonging to this Commonwealth, or to any county, city, or town thereof,
+  of any person for the reason that he is claimed as a fugitive slave.
+
+
+And it further declares that--
+
+  Any justice of the peace, sheriff, deputy sheriff, coroner, constable,
+  or jailer who shall offend against the provisions of this law by in any
+  way acting, directly or indirectly, under the power conferred by the
+  third section of the act of Congress aforementioned shall forfeit a sum
+  not exceeding $1,000 for every such offense to the use of the county
+  where said offense is committed, or shall be subject to imprisonment
+  not exceeding one year in the county jail.
+
+
+This law, it is obvious, had two objects. The first was to make it a
+penal offense in all officers and magistrates of the Commonwealth to
+exercise the powers conferred on them by the act of Congress of the 12th
+of February, 1793, entitled "An act respecting fugitives from justice
+and persons escaping from the service of their masters," and which
+powers they were fully competent to perform up to the time of this
+inhibition and penal enactment; second, to refuse the use of the jails
+of the State for the detention of any person claimed as a fugitive
+slave.
+
+It is deeply to be lamented that the purpose of these enactments is
+quite apparent. It was to prevent, as far as the legislature of the
+State could prevent, the laws of Congress passed for the purpose of
+carrying into effect that article of the Constitution of the United
+States which declares that "no person held to service or labor in
+one State, under the laws thereof, escaping into another, shall in
+consequence of any law or regulation therein be discharged from such
+service or labor, but shall be delivered up on claim of the party
+to whom such service or labor may be due" from being carried into
+effect. But these acts of State legislation, although they may cause
+embarrassment and create expense, can not derogate either from the duty
+or the authority of Congress to carry out fully and fairly the plain and
+imperative constitutional provision for the delivery of persons bound to
+labor in one State and escaping into another to the party to whom such
+labor may be due. It is quite clear that by the resolution of Congress
+of March 3, 1821, the marshal of the United States in any State in which
+the use of the jails of the State has been withdrawn, in whole or in
+part, from the purpose of the detention of persons committed under the
+authority of the United States is not only empowered, but expressly
+required, under the direction of the judge of the district, to hire
+a convenient place for the safe-keeping of prisoners committed under
+authority of the United States. It will be seen from papers accompanying
+this communication that the attention of the marshal of Massachusetts
+was distinctly called to this provision of the law by a letter from
+the Secretary of the Navy of the date of October 28 last. There is no
+official information that the marshal has provided any such place for
+the confinement of his prisoners. If he has not, it is to be regretted
+that this power was not exercised by the marshal under the direction
+of the district judge immediately on the passage of the act of the
+legislature of Massachusetts of the 24th of March, 1843, and especially
+that it was not exercised on the passage of the fugitive-slave law of
+the last session, or when the attention of the marshal was afterwards
+particularly drawn to it.
+
+It is true that the escape from the deputy marshals in this case was not
+owing to the want of a prison or place of confinement, but still it is
+not easy to see how the prisoner could have been safely and conveniently
+detained during an adjournment of the hearing for some days without such
+place of confinement. If it shall appear that no such place has been
+obtained, directions to the marshal will be given to lose no time in the
+discharge of this duty.
+
+I transmit to the Senate the copy of a proclamation issued by me on the
+18th instant in relation to these unexpected and deplorable occurrences
+in Boston, together with copies of instructions from the Departments of
+War and Navy relative to the general subject. And I communicate also
+copies of telegraphic dispatches transmitted from the Department of
+State to the district attorney and marshal of the United States for
+the district of Massachusetts and their answers thereto.
+
+In regard to the last branch of the inquiry made by the resolution of
+the Senate, I have to observe that the Constitution declares that "the
+President shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed," and
+that "he shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United
+States, and of the militia of the several States when called into the
+actual service of the United States," and that "Congress shall have
+power to provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of
+the Union, suppress insurrections, and repel invasions." From which it
+appears that the Army and Navy are by the Constitution placed under the
+control of the Executive; and probably no legislation of Congress could
+add to or diminish the power thus given but by increasing or diminishing
+or abolishing altogether the Army and Navy. But not so with the militia.
+The President can not call the militia into service, even to execute the
+laws or repel invasions, but by the authority of acts of Congress passed
+for that purpose. But when the militia are called into service in the
+manner prescribed by law, then the Constitution itself gives the command
+to the President. Acting on this principle, Congress, by the act of
+February 28, 1795, authorized the President to call forth the militia to
+repel invasion and "suppress insurrections against a State government,
+and to suppress combinations against the laws of the United States, and
+cause the laws to be faithfully executed." But the act proceeds to
+declare that whenever it may be necessary, in the judgment of the
+President, to use the military force thereby directed to be called
+forth, the President shall forthwith, by proclamation, command such
+insurgents to disperse and retire peaceably to their respective abodes
+within a limited time. These words are broad enough to require a
+proclamation in all cases where militia are called out under that act,
+whether to repel invasion or suppress an insurrection or to aid in
+executing the laws. This section has consequently created some doubt
+whether the militia could be called forth to aid in executing the laws
+without a previous proclamation. But yet the proclamation seems to be in
+words directed only against insurgents, and to require them to disperse,
+thereby implying not only an insurrection, but an organized, or at least
+an embodied, force. Such a proclamation in aid of the civil authority
+would often defeat the whole object by giving such notice to persons
+intended to be arrested that they would be enabled to fly or secrete
+themselves. The force may be wanted sometimes to make the arrest, and
+also sometimes to protect the officer after it is made, and to prevent
+a rescue. I would therefore suggest that this section be modified by
+declaring that nothing therein contained shall be construed to require
+any previous proclamation when the militia are called forth, either to
+repel invasion, to execute the laws, or suppress combinations against
+them, and that the President may make such call and place such militia
+under the control of any civil officer of the United States to aid him
+in executing the laws or suppressing such combinations; and while so
+employed they shall be paid by and subsisted at the expense of the
+United States.
+
+Congress, not probably adverting to the difference between the militia
+and the Regular Army, by the act of March 3, 1807, authorized the
+President to use the land and naval forces of the United States for the
+same purposes for which he might call forth the militia, and subject
+to the same proclamation. But the power of the President under the
+Constitution, as Commander of the Army and Navy, is general, and his
+duty to see the laws faithfully executed is general and positive; and
+the act of 1807 ought not to be construed as evincing any disposition in
+Congress to limit or restrain this constitutional authority. For greater
+certainty, however, it may be well that Congress should modify or
+explain this act in regard to its provisions for the employment of the
+Army and Navy of the United States, as well as that in regard to calling
+forth the militia. It is supposed not to be doubtful that all citizens,
+whether enrolled in the militia or not, may be summoned as members of
+the _posse comitatus_, either by the marshal or a commissioner
+according to law, and that it is their duty to obey such summons. But
+perhaps it may be doubted whether the marshal or a commissioner can
+summon as the _posse comitatus_ an organized militia force, acting
+under its own appropriate officers, without the consent of such
+officers. This point may deserve the consideration of Congress.
+
+I use this occasion to repeat the assurance that so far as depends on me
+the laws shall be faithfully executed and all forcible opposition to
+them suppressed; and to this end I am prepared to exercise, whenever
+it may become necessary, the power constitutionally vested in me to
+the fullest extent. I am fully persuaded that the great majority of
+the people of this country are warmly and strongly attached to the
+Constitution, the preservation of the Union, the just support of the
+Government, and the maintenance of the authority of law. I am persuaded
+that their earnest wishes and the line of my constitutional duty
+entirely concur, and I doubt not firmness, moderation, and prudence,
+strengthened and animated by the general opinion of the people, will
+prevent the repetition of occurrences disturbing the public peace and
+reprobated by all good men.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _February 25, 1851_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I transmit to the Senate, for its consideration with a view to
+ratification, a convention between the United States and the Mexican
+Republic for the protection of a transit way across the Isthmus of
+Tehuantepec, signed in the City of Mexico on the 25th ultimo.
+
+Accompanying the treaty is a letter from Mr. P.A. Hargous, the present
+proprietor and holder of the privileges granted by Mexico, signifying
+his assent to and acceptance of the terms of its provisions. There is
+also an abstract of title to him from the original grantee and copies
+of the several powers and conveyances by which that title is derived to
+him. It may be well that these papers should be returned to be deposited
+among the archives of the Department of State.
+
+The additional article of the treaty makes an unnecessary reference to
+the eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth articles of the treaty of the 22d
+of June last, because the eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth articles
+of the present treaty contain exactly the same provisions as those
+contained in the same articles of that treaty, as will appear from the
+copy of the treaty of the 22d of June last, herewith communicated.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _February 26, 1851_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I herewith communicate to the Senate, for its consideration, a
+convention for the adjustment of certain claims of citizens of the
+United States against Her Most Faithful Majesty's Government,[10]
+concluded and signed this day in the city of Washington by the
+respective plenipotentiaries.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+[Footnote 10: Portugal.]
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _February 27, 1851_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I transmit herewith a report of the Secretary of State, with
+accompanying documents,[11] in compliance with the resolution of the
+Senate of the 17th ultimo.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+[Footnote 11: Correspondence relative to prisoners captured by Spanish
+authorities at or near the island of Contoy, and to projected
+expeditions to Cuba.]
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _February 28, 1851_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+In answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 16th ultimo, requesting
+information touching the difficulties between the British authorities
+and San Salvador, I transmit a report from the Secretary of State and
+the documents which accompanied it.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _March 1, 1851_.
+
+Hon. Howell Cobb,
+
+_Speaker of the House of Representatives_:
+
+I have the honor herewith to transmit to the House of Representatives
+manuscript No. 2 of the opinions of the Attorneys-General, prepared in
+pursuance of its resolution.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _March 3, 1851_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+In answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 26th ultimo, calling
+for information respecting a forcible abduction of any citizen of the
+United States from the Territory of New Mexico and his conveyance within
+the limits of the Mexican Republic, I transmit a report from the
+Secretary of State and the documents which accompanied it.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+
+PROCLAMATIONS.
+
+
+BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
+
+A PROCLAMATION.
+
+
+Whereas by an act of the Congress of the United States of the 9th of
+September, 1850, entitled "An act proposing to the State of Texas the
+establishment of her northern and western boundaries, the relinquishment
+by the said State of all territory claimed by her exterior to said
+boundaries and of all her claims upon the United States, and to
+establish a Territorial government for New Mexico," it was provided that
+the following propositions should be, and the same were thereby, offered
+to the State of Texas, which, when agreed to by the said State in an act
+passed by the general assembly, should be binding and obligatory upon
+the United States and upon the said State of Texas, provided the said
+agreement by the said general assembly should be given on or before the
+1st day of December, 1850, namely:
+
+"First. The State of Texas will agree that her boundary on the north
+shall commence at the point at which the meridian of 100 deg. west from
+Greenwich is intersected by the parallel of 36 deg. 30' north latitude, and
+shall run from said point due west to the meridian of 103 deg. west from
+Greenwich; thence her boundary shall run due south to the thirty-second
+degree of north latitude; thence on the said parallel of 32 deg. of north
+latitude to the Rio Bravo del Norte, and thence with the channel of said
+river to the Gulf of Mexico.
+
+"Second. The State of Texas cedes to the United States all her claim to
+territory exterior to the limits and boundaries which she agrees to
+establish by the first article of this agreement.
+
+"Third. The State of Texas relinquishes all claim upon the United States
+for liability of the debts of Texas and for compensation or indemnity
+for the surrender to the United States of her ships, forts, arsenals,
+custom-houses, custom-house revenue, arms and munitions of war, and
+public buildings with their sites, which became the property of the
+United States at the time of the annexation.
+
+"Fourth. The United States, in consideration of said establishment of
+boundaries, cession of claim to territory, and relinquishment of claims,
+will pay to the State of Texas the sum of $10,000,000 in a stock bearing
+5 per cent interest, and redeemable at the end of fourteen years, the
+interest payable half-yearly at the Treasury of the United States.
+
+"Fifth. Immediately after the President of the United States shall have
+been furnished with an authentic copy of the act of the general assembly
+of Texas accepting these propositions, he shall cause the stock to be
+issued in favor of the State of Texas, as provided for in the fourth
+article of this agreement: _Provided also_, That no more than $5,000,000
+of said stock shall be issued until the creditors of the State holding
+bonds and other certificates of stock of Texas for which duties on
+imports were specially pledged shall first file at the Treasury of
+the United States releases of all claim against the United States
+for or on account of said bonds or certificates in such form as
+shall be prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury and approved by
+the President of the United States: _Provided_, That nothing herein
+contained shall be construed to impair or qualify anything contained in
+the third article of the second section of the 'Joint resolution for
+annexing Texas to the United States,' approved March 1, 1845, either as
+regards the number of States that may hereafter be formed out of the
+State of Texas or otherwise;" and
+
+Whereas it was further provided by the eighteenth section of the same
+act of Congress "that the provisions of this act be, and they are
+hereby, suspended until the boundary between the United States and the
+State of Texas shall be adjusted, and when such adjustment shall have
+been effected the President of the United States shall issue his
+proclamation declaring this act to be in full force and operation;" and
+
+Whereas the legislature of the State of Texas, by an act approved the
+25th of November last, entitled "An act accepting the propositions made
+by the United States to the State of Texas in an act of the Congress of
+the United States approved the 9th day of September, A.D. 1850, and
+entitled 'An act proposing to the State of Texas the establishment of
+her northern and western boundaries, the relinquishment by the said
+State of all territory claimed by her exterior to said boundaries and of
+all her claims upon the United States, and to establish a Territorial
+government for New Mexico,'" of which act a copy, authenticated under
+the seal of the State, has been furnished to the President, enacts "that
+the State of Texas hereby agrees to and accepts said propositions, and
+it is hereby declared that the said State shall be bound by the terms
+thereof, according to their true import and meaning."
+
+Now, therefore, I, Millard Fillmore, President of the United States
+of America, do hereby declare and proclaim that the said act of the
+Congress of the United States of the 9th of September last is in full
+force and operation.
+
+[SEAL.]
+
+Given under my hand, at the city of Washington, this 13th day of
+December, A.D. 1850, and the seventy-fifth of the Independence of these
+United States.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+By the President:
+  DANL. WEBSTER,
+    _Secretary of State_.
+
+
+
+BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.
+
+A PROCLAMATION.
+
+
+Whereas information has been received that sundry lawless persons,
+principally persons of color, combined and confederated together for the
+purpose of opposing by force the execution of the laws of the United
+States, did, at Boston, in Massachusetts, on the 15th of this month,
+make a violent assault on the marshal or deputy marshals of the United
+States for the district of Massachusetts, in the court-house, and did
+overcome the said officers, and did by force rescue from their custody
+a person arrested as a fugitive slave, and then and there a prisoner
+lawfully holden by the said marshal or deputy marshals of the United
+States, and other scandalous outrages did commit in violation of law:
+
+Now, therefore, to the end that the authority of the laws may be
+maintained and those concerned in violating them brought to immediate
+and condign punishment, I have issued this my proclamation, calling on
+all well-disposed citizens to rally to the support of the laws of their
+country, and requiring and commanding all officers, civil and military,
+and all other persons, civil or military, who shall be found within the
+vicinity of this outrage, to be aiding and assisting by all means in
+their power in quelling this and other such combinations and assisting
+the marshal and his deputies in recapturing the above-mentioned
+prisoner; and I do especially direct that prosecutions be commenced
+against all persons who shall have made themselves aiders or abettors
+in or to this flagitious offense; and I do further command that the
+district attorney of the United States and all other persons concerned
+in the administration or execution of the laws of the United States
+cause the foregoing offenders and all such as aided, abetted, or
+assisted them or shall be found to have harbored or concealed such
+fugitive contrary to law to be immediately arrested and proceeded with
+according to law.
+
+Given under my hand and the seal of the United States this 18th day of
+February, 1851.
+
+[SEAL.]
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+DANL. WEBSTER,
+  _Secretary of State_.
+
+
+
+
+[From Executive Journal of the Senate, Vol. VIII, p. 299.]
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _March 3, 1851_.
+
+_To the Senators of the United States, respectively_.
+
+SIR: Whereas divers and weighty causes connected with executive business
+necessary to be transacted create an extraordinary occasion requiring
+that the Senate be convened, you are therefore requested, as a member of
+that body, to attend a meeting thereof to be holden at the Capitol, in
+the city of Washington, on the 4th day of March instant.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+
+SPECIAL MESSAGES.
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _March 4, 1851_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+Sundry nominations having been made during the last session of the
+Senate which were not finally disposed of, I hereby nominate anew each
+person so nominated at the last session whose nomination was not finally
+acted on before the termination of that session to the same office for
+which he was nominated as aforesaid.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _March 10, 1851_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I transmit herewith a report of the Secretary of State, with the
+accompanying documents,[12] in compliance with the resolution of the
+Senate of the 8th instant.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+[Footnote 12: Correspondence with the United States minister at
+Constantinople respecting the liberation of Kossuth and his companions.]
+
+
+
+
+PROCLAMATIONS.
+
+
+BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.
+
+A PROCLAMATION.
+
+
+Whereas there is reason to believe that a military expedition is about
+to be fitted out in the United States with intention to invade the
+island of Cuba, a colony of Spain, with which this country is at
+peace; and
+
+Whereas it is believed that this expedition is instigated and set on
+foot chiefly by foreigners who dare to make our shores the scene of
+their guilty and hostile preparations against a friendly power and
+seek by falsehood and misrepresentation to seduce our own citizens,
+especially the young and inconsiderate, into their wicked schemes--an
+ungrateful return for the benefits conferred upon them by this people
+in permitting them to make our country an asylum from oppression and
+in flagrant abuse of the hospitality thus extended to them; and
+
+Whereas such expeditions can only be regarded as adventures for plunder
+and robbery, and must meet the condemnation of the civilized world,
+whilst they are derogatory to the character of our country, in violation
+of the laws of nations, and expressly prohibited by our own. Our
+statutes declare "that if any person shall, within the territory or
+jurisdiction of the United States, begin or set on foot or provide or
+prepare the means for any military expedition or enterprise to be
+carried on from thence against the territory or dominions of any foreign
+prince or state or of any colony, district, or people with whom the
+United States are at peace, every person so offending shall be deemed
+guilty of a high misdemeanor and shall be fined not exceeding $3,000 and
+imprisoned not more than three years:"
+
+Now, therefore, I have issued this my proclamation, warning all persons
+who shall connect themselves with any such enterprise or expedition in
+violation of our laws and national obligations that they will thereby
+subject themselves to the heavy penalties denounced against such
+offenses and will forfeit their claim to the protection of this
+Government or any interference on their behalf, no matter to what
+extremities they may be reduced in consequence of their illegal conduct.
+And therefore I exhort all good citizens, as they regard our national
+reputation, as they respect their own laws and the laws of nations, as
+they value the blessings of peace and the welfare of their country, to
+discountenance and by all lawful means prevent any such enterprise; and
+I call upon every officer of this Government, civil or military, to use
+all efforts in his power to arrest for trial and punishment every such
+offender against the laws of the country.
+
+Given under my hand the 25th day of April, A.D. 1851, and the
+seventy-fifth of the Independence of the United States.
+
+[SEAL.]
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+By the President:
+  W.S. DERRICK,
+    _Acting Secretary of State_.
+
+
+
+
+BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.
+
+A PROCLAMATION.
+
+
+Whereas there is reason to believe that a military expedition is about
+to be fitted out in the United States for the purpose of invading the
+Mexican Republic, with which this country is at peace; and
+
+Whereas there is reason to apprehend that a portion of the people of
+this country, regardless of their duties as good citizens, are concerned
+in or may be seduced to take part in the same; and
+
+Whereas such enterprises tend to degrade the character of the United
+States in the opinion of the civilized world and are expressly
+prohibited by law:
+
+Now, therefore, I have issued this my proclamation, warning all persons
+who shall connect themselves with any such enterprise in violation of
+the laws and national obligations of the United States that they will
+thereby subject themselves to the heavy penalties denounced against such
+offenses; that if they should be captured within the jurisdiction of the
+Mexican authorities they must expect to be tried and punished according
+to the laws of Mexico and will have no right to claim the interposition
+of this Government in their behalf.
+
+I therefore exhort all well-disposed citizens who have at heart the
+reputation of their country and are animated with a just regard for its
+laws, its peace, and its welfare to discountenance and by all lawful
+means prevent any such enterprise; and I call upon every officer of this
+Government, civil or military, to be vigilant in arresting for trial and
+punishment every such offender.
+
+Given under my hand the 22d day of October, A.D. 1851, and the
+seventy-sixth of the Independence of the United States.
+
+[SEAL.]
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+By the President:
+  J.J. CRITTENDEN,
+    _Acting Secretary of State_.
+
+
+
+
+SECOND ANNUAL MESSAGE.
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _December 2, 1851_.
+
+_Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and of the House of Representatives_:
+
+I congratulate you and our common constituency upon the favorable
+auspices under which you meet for your first session. Our country is
+at peace with all the world. The agitation which for a time threatened
+to disturb the fraternal relations which make us one people is fast
+subsiding, and a year of general prosperity and health has crowned the
+nation with unusual blessings. None can look back to the dangers which
+are passed or forward to the bright prospect before us without feeling a
+thrill of gratification, at the same time that he must be impressed with
+a grateful sense of our profound obligations to a beneficent Providence,
+whose paternal care is so manifest in the happiness of this highly
+favored land.
+
+Since the close of the last Congress certain Cubans and other foreigners
+resident in the United States, who were more or less concerned in the
+previous invasion of Cuba, instead of being discouraged by its failure
+have again abused the hospitality of this country by making it the scene
+of the equipment of another military expedition against that possession
+of Her Catholic Majesty, in which they were countenanced, aided, and
+joined by citizens of the United States. On receiving intelligence
+that such designs were entertained, I lost no time in issuing such
+instructions to the proper officers of the United States as seemed to
+be called for by the occasion. By the proclamation a copy of which
+is herewith submitted I also warned those who might be in danger of
+being inveigled into this scheme of its unlawful character and of the
+penalties which they would incur. For some time there was reason to hope
+that these measures had sufficed to prevent any such attempt. This hope,
+however, proved to be delusive. Very early in the morning of the 3d of
+August a steamer called the _Pampero_ departed from New Orleans for
+Cuba, having on board upward of 400 armed men with evident intentions
+to make war upon the authorities of the island. This expedition was
+set on foot in palpable violation of the laws of the United States.
+Its leader was a Spaniard, and several of the chief officers and some
+others engaged in it were foreigners. The persons composing it, however,
+were mostly citizens of the United States.
+
+Before the expedition set out, and probably before it was organized,
+a slight insurrectionary movement, which appears to have been soon
+suppressed, had taken place in the eastern quarter of Cuba. The
+importance of this movement was, unfortunately, so much exaggerated in
+the accounts of it published in this country that these adventurers seem
+to have been led to believe that the Creole population of the island not
+only desired to throw off the authority of the mother country, but had
+resolved upon that step and had begun a well-concerted enterprise for
+effecting it. The persons engaged in the expedition were generally young
+and ill informed. The steamer in which they embarked left New Orleans
+Stealthily and without a clearance. After touching at Key West, she
+proceeded to the coast of Cuba, and on the night between the 11th and
+12th of August landed the persons on board at Playtas, within about 20
+leagues of Havana.
+
+The main body of them proceeded to and took possession of an inland
+village 6 leagues distant, leaving others to follow in charge of the
+baggage as soon as the means of transportation could be obtained. The
+latter, having taken up their line of march to connect themselves with
+the main body, and having proceeded about 4 leagues into the country,
+were attacked on the morning of the 13th by a body of Spanish troops,
+and a bloody conflict ensued, after which they retreated to the place of
+disembarkation, where about 50 of them obtained boats and reembarked
+therein. They were, however, intercepted among the keys near the shore
+by a Spanish steamer cruising on the coast, captured and carried to
+Havana, and after being examined before a military court were sentenced
+to be publicly executed, and the sentence was carried into effect on the
+16th of August.
+
+On receiving information of what had occurred Commodore Foxhall A.
+Parker was instructed to proceed in the steam frigate _Saranac_ to
+Havana and inquire into the charges against the persons executed, the
+circumstances under which they were taken, and whatsoever referred to
+their trial and sentence. Copies of the instructions from the Department
+of State to him and of his letters to that Department are herewith
+submitted.
+
+According to the record of the examination, the prisoners all admitted
+the offenses charged against them, of being hostile invaders of the
+island. At the time of their trial and execution the main body of the
+invaders was still in the field making war upon the Spanish authorities
+and Spanish subjects. After the lapse of some days, being overcome by
+the Spanish troops, they dispersed on the 24th of August. Lopez, their
+leader, was captured some days after, and executed on the 1st of
+September. Many of his remaining followers were killed or died of hunger
+and fatigue, and the rest were made prisoners. Of these none appear
+to have been tried or executed. Several of them were pardoned upon
+application of their friends and others, and the rest, about 160 in
+number, were sent to Spain. Of the final disposition made of these we
+have no official information.
+
+Such is the melancholy result of this illegal and ill-fated expedition.
+Thus thoughtless young men have been induced by false and fraudulent
+representations to violate the law of their country through rash and
+unfounded expectations of assisting to accomplish political revolutions
+in other states, and have lost their lives in the undertaking. Too
+severe a judgment can hardly be passed by the indignant sense of the
+community upon those who, being better informed themselves, have yet led
+away the ardor of youth and an ill-directed love of political liberty.
+The correspondence between this Government and that of Spain relating
+to this transaction is herewith communicated.
+
+Although these offenders against the laws have forfeited the protection
+of their country, yet the Government may, so far as consistent with its
+obligations to other countries and its fixed purpose to maintain and
+enforce the laws, entertain sympathy for their unoffending families and
+friends, as well as a feeling of compassion for themselves. Accordingly,
+no proper effort has been spared and none will be spared to procure the
+release of such citizens of the United States engaged in this unlawful
+enterprise as are now in confinement in Spain; but it is to be hoped
+that such interposition with the Government of that country may not be
+considered as affording any ground of expectation that the Government of
+the United States will hereafter feel itself under any obligation of
+duty to intercede for the liberation or pardon of such persons as are
+flagrant offenders against the law of nations and the laws of the United
+States. These laws must be executed. If we desire to maintain our
+respectability among the nations of the earth, it behooves us to enforce
+steadily and sternly the neutrality acts passed by Congress and to
+follow as far as may be the violation of those acts with condign
+punishment.
+
+But what gives a peculiar criminality to this invasion of Cuba is that,
+under the lead of Spanish subjects and with the aid of citizens of the
+United States, it had its origin with many in motives of cupidity. Money
+was advanced by individuals, probably in considerable amounts, to
+purchase Cuban bonds, as they have been called, issued by Lopez, sold,
+doubtless, at a very large discount, and for the payment of which the
+public lands and public property of Cuba, of whatever kind, and the
+fiscal resources of the people and government of that island, from
+whatever source to be derived, were pledged, as well as the good faith
+of the government expected to be established. All these means of
+payment, it is evident, were only to be obtained by a process of
+bloodshed, war, and revolution. None will deny that those who set on
+foot military expeditions against foreign states by means like these
+are far more culpable than the ignorant and the necessitous whom they
+induce to go forth as the ostensible parties in the proceeding. These
+originators of the invasion of Cuba seem to have determined with
+coolness and system upon an undertaking which should disgrace their
+country, violate its laws, and put to hazard the lives of ill-informed
+and deluded men. You will consider whether further legislation be
+necessary to prevent the perpetration of such offenses in future.
+
+No individuals have a right to hazard the peace of the country or to
+violate its laws upon vague notions of altering or reforming governments
+in other states. This principle is not only reasonable in itself and in
+accordance with public law, but is ingrafted into the codes of other
+nations as well as our own. But while such are the sentiments of this
+Government, it may be added that every independent nation must be
+presumed to be able to defend its possessions against unauthorized
+individuals banded together to attack them. The Government of the United
+States at all times since its establishment has abstained and has sought
+to restrain the citizens of the country from entering into controversies
+between other powers, and to observe all the duties of neutrality. At an
+early period of the Government, in the Administration of Washington,
+several laws were passed for this purpose. The main provisions of these
+laws were reenacted by the act of April, 1818, by which, amongst other
+things, it was declared that--
+
+  If any person shall, within the territory or jurisdiction of the United
+  States, begin, or set on foot, or provide or prepare the means for, any
+  military expedition or enterprise to be carried on from thence against
+  the territory or dominions of any foreign prince or state, or of any
+  colony, district, or people, with whom the United States are at peace,
+  every person so offending shall be deemed guilty of a high misdemeanor,
+  and shall be fined not exceeding $3,000 and imprisoned not more than
+  three years.
+
+
+And this law has been executed and enforced to the full extent of the
+power of the Government from that day to this.
+
+In proclaiming and adhering to the doctrine of neutrality and
+nonintervention, the United States have not followed the lead of other
+civilized nations; they have taken the lead themselves and have been
+followed by others. This was admitted by one of the most eminent of
+modern British statesmen, who said in Parliament, while a minister of
+the Crown, "that if he wished for a guide in a system of neutrality he
+should take that laid down by America in the days of Washington and the
+secretaryship of Jefferson;" and we see, in fact, that the act of
+Congress of 1818 was followed the succeeding year by an act of the
+Parliament of England substantially the same in its general provisions.
+Up to that time there had been no similar law in England, except certain
+highly penal statutes passed in the reign of George II, prohibiting
+English subjects from enlisting in foreign service, the avowed object
+of which statutes was that foreign armies, raised for the purpose of
+restoring the house of Stuart to the throne, should not be strengthened
+by recruits from England herself.
+
+All must see that difficulties may arise in carrying the laws referred
+to into execution in a country now having 3,000 or 4,000 miles of
+seacoast, with an infinite number of ports and harbors and small inlets,
+from some of which unlawful expeditions may suddenly set forth, without
+the knowledge of Government, against the possessions of foreign states.
+
+"Friendly relations with all, but entangling alliances with none," has
+long been a maxim with us. Our true mission is not to propagate our
+opinions or impose upon other countries our form of government by
+artifice or force, but to teach by example and show by our success,
+moderation, and justice the blessings of self-government and the
+advantages of free institutions. Let every people choose for itself and
+make and alter its political institutions to suit its own condition
+and convenience. But while we avow and maintain this neutral policy
+ourselves, we are anxious to see the same forbearance on the part of
+other nations whose forms of government are different from our own. The
+deep interest which we feel in the spread of liberal principles and the
+establishment of free governments and the sympathy with which we witness
+every struggle against oppression forbid that we should be indifferent
+to a case in which the strong arm of a foreign power is invoked to
+stifle public sentiment and repress the spirit of freedom in any
+country.
+
+The Governments of Great Britain and France have issued orders to their
+naval commanders on the West India station to prevent, by force if
+necessary, the landing of adventurers from any nation on the island of
+Cuba with hostile intent. The copy of a memorandum of a conversation on
+this subject between the charge d'affaires of Her Britannic Majesty and
+the Acting Secretary of State and of a subsequent note of the former to
+the Department of State are herewith submitted, together with a copy of
+a note of the Acting Secretary of State to the minister of the French
+Republic and of the reply of the latter on the same subject. These
+papers will acquaint you with the grounds of this interposition of two
+leading commercial powers of Europe, and with the apprehensions, which
+this Government could not fail to entertain, that such interposition, if
+carried into effect, might lead to abuses in derogation of the maritime
+rights of the United States. The maritime rights of the United States
+are founded on a firm, secure, and well-defined basis; they stand
+upon the ground of national independence and public law, and will be
+maintained in all their full and just extent. The principle which this
+Government has heretofore solemnly announced it still adheres to, and
+will maintain under all circumstances and at all hazards. That principle
+is that in every regularly documented merchant vessel the crew who
+navigate it and those on board of it will find their protection in the
+flag which is over them. No American ship can be allowed to be visited
+or searched for the purpose of ascertaining the character of individuals
+on board, nor can there be allowed any watch by the vessels of any
+foreign nation over American vessels on the coast of the United States
+or the seas adjacent thereto. It will be seen by the last communication
+from the British charge d'affaires to the Department of State that he
+is authorized to assure the Secretary of State that every care will be
+taken that in executing the preventive measures against the expeditions
+which the United States Government itself has denounced as not being
+entitled to the protection of any government no interference shall take
+place with the lawful commerce of any nation.
+
+In addition to the correspondence on this subject herewith submitted,
+official information has been received at the Department of State of
+assurances by the French Government that in the orders given to the
+French naval forces they were expressly instructed, in any operations
+they might engage in, to respect the flag of the United States wherever
+it might appear, and to commit no act of hostility upon any vessel or
+armament under its protection.
+
+Ministers and consuls of foreign nations are the means and agents of
+communication between us and those nations, and it is of the utmost
+importance that while residing in the country they should feel a perfect
+security so long as they faithfully discharge their respective duties
+and are guilty of no violation of our laws. This is the admitted law of
+nations and no country has a deeper interest in maintaining it than the
+United States. Our commerce spreads over every sea and visits every
+clime, and our ministers and consuls are appointed to protect the
+interests of that commerce as well as to guard the peace of the country
+and maintain the honor of its flag. But how can they discharge these
+duties unless they be themselves protected? And if protected it must be
+by the laws of the country in which they reside. And what is due to our
+own public functionaries residing in foreign nations is exactly the
+measure of what is due to the functionaries of other governments
+residing here. As in war the bearers of flags of truce are sacred,
+or else wars would be interminable, so in peace ambassadors, public
+ministers, and consuls, charged with friendly national intercourse,
+are objects of especial respect and protection, each according to the
+rights belonging to his rank and station. In view of these important
+principles, it is with deep mortification and regret I announce to you
+that during the excitement growing out of the executions at Havana the
+office of Her Catholic Majesty's consul at New Orleans was assailed by
+a mob, his property destroyed, the Spanish flag found in the office
+carried off and torn in pieces, and he himself induced to flee for
+his personal safety, which he supposed to be in danger. On receiving
+intelligence of these events I forthwith directed the attorney of the
+United States residing at New Orleans to inquire into the facts and the
+extent of the pecuniary loss sustained by the consul, with the intention
+of laying them before you, that you might make provision for such
+indemnity to him as a just regard for the honor of the nation and the
+respect which is due to a friendly power might, in your judgment, seem
+to require. The correspondence upon this subject between the Secretary
+of State and Her Catholic Majesty's minister plenipotentiary is herewith
+transmitted.
+
+The occurrence at New Orleans has led me to give my attention to the
+state of our laws in regard to foreign ambassadors, ministers, and
+consuls. I think the legislation of the country is deficient in not
+providing sufficiently either for the protection or the punishment of
+consuls. I therefore recommend the subject to the consideration of
+Congress.
+
+Your attention is again invited to the question of reciprocal trade
+between the United States and Canada and other British possessions near
+our frontier. Overtures for a convention upon this subject have been
+received from Her Britannic Majesty's minister plenipotentiary, but
+it seems to be in many respects preferable that the matter should be
+regulated by reciprocal legislation. Documents are laid before you
+showing the terms which the British Government is willing to offer and
+the measures which it may adopt if some arrangement upon this subject
+shall not be made.
+
+From the accompanying copy of a note from the British legation at
+Washington and the reply of the Department of State thereto it will
+appear that Her Britannic Majesty's Government is desirous that a part
+of the boundary line between Oregon and the British possessions should
+be authoritatively marked out, and that an intention was expressed to
+apply to Congress for an appropriation to defray the expense thereof
+on the part of the United States. Your attention to this subject is
+accordingly invited and a proper appropriation recommended.
+
+A convention for the adjustment of claims of citizens of the United
+States against Portugal has been concluded and the ratifications have
+been exchanged. The first installment of the amount to be paid by
+Portugal fell due on the 30th of September last and has been paid.
+
+The President of the French Republic, according to the provisions of the
+convention, has been selected as arbiter in the case of the _General
+Armstrong_, and has signified that he accepts the trust and the high
+satisfaction he feels in acting as the common friend of two nations with
+which France is united by sentiments of sincere and lasting amity.
+
+The Turkish Government has expressed its thanks for the kind reception
+given to the Sultan's agent, Amin Bey, on the occasion of his recent
+visit to the United States. On the 28th of February last a dispatch was
+addressed by the Secretary of State to Mr. Marsh, the American minister
+at Constantinople, instructing him to ask of the Turkish Government
+permission for the Hungarians then imprisoned within the dominions of
+the Sublime Porte to remove to this country. On the 3d of March last
+both Houses of Congress passed a resolution requesting the President to
+authorize the employment of a public vessel to convey to this country
+Louis Kossuth and his associates in captivity.
+
+The instruction above referred to was complied with, and the Turkish
+Government having released Governor Kossuth and his companions from
+prison, on the 10th of September last they embarked on board of the
+United States steam frigate _Mississippi_, which was selected to carry
+into effect the resolution of Congress. Governor Kossuth left the
+_Mississippi_ at Gibraltar for the purpose of making a visit to England,
+and may shortly be expected in New York. By communications to the
+Department of State he has expressed his grateful acknowledgments for
+the interposition of this Government in behalf of himself and his
+associates. This country has been justly regarded as a safe asylum for
+those whom political events have exiled from their own homes in Europe,
+and it is recommended to Congress to consider in what manner Governor
+Kossuth and his companions, brought hither by its authority, shall be
+received and treated.
+
+It is earnestly to be hoped that the differences which have for some
+time past been pending between the Government of the French Republic and
+that of the Sandwich Islands may be peaceably and durably adjusted so
+as to secure the independence of those islands. Long before the events
+which have of late imparted so much importance to the possessions of the
+United States on the Pacific we acknowledged the independence of the
+Hawaiian Government. This Government was first in taking that step, and
+several of the leading powers of Europe immediately followed. We were
+influenced in this measure by the existing and prospective importance of
+the islands as a place of refuge and refreshment for our vessels engaged
+in the whale fishery, and by the consideration that they lie in the
+course of the great trade which must at no distant day be carried on
+between the western coast of North America and eastern Asia.
+
+We were also influenced by a desire that those islands should not pass
+under the control of any other great maritime state, but should remain
+in an independent condition, and so be accessible and useful to the
+commerce of all nations. I need not say that the importance of these
+considerations has been greatly enhanced by the sudden and vast
+development which the interests of the United States have attained in
+California and Oregon, and the policy heretofore adopted in regard to
+those islands will be steadily pursued.
+
+It is gratifying, not only to those who consider the commercial interests
+of nations, but also to all who favor the progress of knowledge and the
+diffusion of religion, to see a community emerge from a savage state and
+attain such a degree of civilization in those distant seas.
+
+It is much to be deplored that the internal tranquillity of the Mexican
+Republic should again be seriously disturbed, for since the peace
+between that Republic and the United States it had enjoyed such
+comparative repose that the most favorable anticipations for the future
+might with a degree of confidence have been indulged. These, however,
+have been thwarted by the recent outbreak in the State of Tamaulipas,
+on the right bank of the Rio Bravo. Having received information that
+persons from the United States had taken part in the insurrection,
+and apprehending that their example might be followed by others, I
+caused orders to be issued for the purpose of preventing any hostile
+expeditions against Mexico from being set on foot in violation of the
+laws of the United States. I likewise issued a proclamation upon the
+subject, a copy of which is herewith laid before you. This appeared to
+be rendered imperative by the obligations of treaties and the general
+duties of good neighborhood.
+
+In my last annual message I informed Congress that citizens of the
+United States had undertaken the connection of the two oceans by means
+of a railroad across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, under a grant of
+the Mexican Government to a citizen of that Republic, and that this
+enterprise would probably be prosecuted with energy whenever Mexico
+should consent to such stipulations with the Government of the United
+States as should impart a feeling of security to those who should invest
+their property in the enterprise.
+
+A convention between the two Governments for the accomplishment of that
+end has been ratified by this Government, and only awaits the decision
+of the Congress and the Executive of that Republic.
+
+Some unexpected difficulties and delays have arisen in the ratification
+of that convention by Mexico, but it is to be presumed that her decision
+will be governed by just and enlightened views, as well of the general
+importance of the object as of her own interests and obligations.
+
+In negotiating upon this important subject this Government has had
+in view one, and only one, object. That object has been, and is,
+the construction or attainment of a passage from ocean to ocean, the
+shortest and the best for travelers and merchandise, and equally open to
+all the world. It has sought to obtain no territorial acquisition, nor
+any advantages peculiar to itself; and it would see with the greatest
+regret that Mexico should oppose any obstacle to the accomplishment of
+an enterprise which promises so much convenience to the whole commercial
+world and such eminent advantages to Mexico herself. Impressed with
+these sentiments and these convictions, the Government will continue to
+exert all proper efforts to bring about the necessary arrangement with
+the Republic of Mexico for the speedy completion of the work.
+
+For some months past the Republic of Nicaragua has been the theater of
+one of those civil convulsions from which the cause of free institutions
+and the general prosperity and social progress of the States of Central
+America have so often and so severely suffered. Until quiet shall have
+been restored and a government apparently stable shall have been
+organized, no advance can prudently be made in disposing of the
+questions pending between the two countries.
+
+I am happy to announce that an interoceanic communication from the
+mouth of the St. John to the Pacific has been so far accomplished as
+that passengers have actually traversed it and merchandise has been
+transported over it, and when the canal shall have been completed
+according to the original plan the means of communication will be
+further improved. It is understood that a considerable part of the
+railroad across the Isthmus of Panama has been completed, and that
+the mail and passengers will in future be conveyed thereon.
+
+Whichever of the several routes between the two oceans may ultimately
+prove most eligible for travelers to and from the different States on
+the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico and our coast on the Pacific, there is
+little reason to doubt that all of them will be useful to the public,
+and will liberally reward that individual enterprise by which alone they
+have been or are expected to be carried into effect.
+
+Peace has been concluded between the contending parties in the island of
+St. Domingo, and, it is hoped, upon a durable basis. Such is the extent
+of our commercial relations with that island that the United States can
+not fail to feel a strong interest in its tranquillity.
+
+The office of commissioner to China remains unfilled. Several persons
+have been appointed, and the place has been offered to others, all of
+whom have declined its acceptance on the ground of the inadequacy of the
+compensation. The annual allowance by law is $6,000, and there is no
+provision for any outfit. I earnestly recommend the consideration of
+this subject to Congress. Our commerce with China is highly important,
+and is becoming more and more so in consequence of the increasing
+intercourse between our ports on the Pacific Coast and eastern Asia.
+China is understood to be a country in which living is very expensive,
+and I know of no reason why the American commissioner sent thither
+should not be placed, in regard to compensation, on an equal footing
+with ministers who represent this country at the Courts of Europe.
+
+By reference to the report of the Secretary of the Treasury it will be
+seen that the aggregate receipts for the last fiscal year amounted to
+$52,312,979.87, which, with the balance in the Treasury on the 1st July,
+1850, gave as the available means for the year the sum of
+$58,917,524.36.
+
+The total expenditures for the same period were $48,005,878.68. The
+total imports for the year ending June 30, 1851, were $215,725,995,
+of which there were in specie $4,967,901. The exports for the same
+period were $217,517,130, of which there were of domestic products
+$178,546,555; foreign goods reexported, $9,738,695; specie, $29,231,880.
+
+Since the 1st of December last the payments in cash on account of the
+public debt, exclusive of interest, have amounted to $7,501,456.56,
+which, however, includes the sum of $3,242,400, paid under the twelfth
+article of the treaty with Mexico, and the further sum of $2,591,213.45,
+being the amount of awards to American citizens under the late treaty
+with Mexico, for which the issue of stock was authorized, but which was
+paid in cash from the Treasury.
+
+The public debt on the 20th ultimo, exclusive of the stock authorized
+to be issued to Texas by the act of 9th September, 1850, was
+$62,560,395.26.
+
+The receipts for the next fiscal year are estimated at $51,800,000,
+which, with the probable unappropriated balance in the Treasury on the
+30th June next, will give as the probable available means for that year
+the sum of $63,258,743.09.
+
+It has been deemed proper, in view of the large expenditures consequent
+upon the acquisition of territory from Mexico, that the estimates for
+the next fiscal year should be laid before Congress in such manner as
+to distinguish the expenditures so required from the otherwise ordinary
+demands upon the Treasury.
+
+The total expenditures for the next fiscal year are estimated at
+$42,892,299.19, of which there is required for the ordinary purposes of
+the Government, other than those consequent upon the acquisition of our
+new territories, and deducting the payments on account of the public
+debt, the sum of $33,343,198.08, and for the purposes connected,
+directly or indirectly, with those territories and in the fulfillment of
+the obligations of the Government contracted in consequence of their
+acquisition the sum of $9,549,101.11.
+
+If the views of the Secretary of the Treasury in reference to the
+expenditures required for these territories shall be met by
+corresponding action on the part of Congress, and appropriations made in
+accordance therewith, there will be an estimated unappropriated balance
+in the Treasury on the 30th June, 1853, of $20,366,443.90 wherewith to
+meet that portion of the public debt due on the 1st of July following,
+amounting to $6,237,931.35, as well as any appropriations which may be
+made beyond the estimates.
+
+In thus referring to the estimated expenditures on account of our newly
+acquired territories, I may express the hope that Congress will concur
+with me in the desire that a liberal course of policy may be pursued
+toward them, and that every obligation, express or implied, entered into
+in consequence of their acquisition shall be fulfilled by the most
+liberal appropriations for that purpose.
+
+The values of our domestic exports for the last fiscal year, as compared
+with those of the previous year, exhibit an increase of $43,646,322. At
+first view this condition of our trade with foreign nations would seem
+to present the most flattering hopes of its future prosperity. An
+examination of the details of our exports, however, will show that the
+increased value of our exports for the last fiscal year is to be found
+in the high price of cotton which prevailed during the first half of
+that year, which price has since declined about one-half.
+
+The value of our exports of breadstuffs and provisions, which it was
+supposed the incentive of a low tariff and large importations from
+abroad would have greatly augmented, has fallen from $68,701,921 in
+1847 to $26,051,373 in 1850 and to $21,948,653 in 1851, with a strong
+probability, amounting almost to a certainty, of a still further
+reduction in the current year.
+
+The aggregate values of rice exported during the last fiscal year, as
+compared with the previous year, also exhibit a decrease, amounting to
+$460,917, which, with a decline in the values of the exports of tobacco
+for the same period, make an aggregate decrease in these two articles of
+$1,156,751.
+
+The policy which dictated a low rate of duties on foreign merchandise,
+it was thought by those who promoted and established it, would tend to
+benefit the farming population of this country by increasing the demand
+and raising the price of agricultural products in foreign markets.
+
+The foregoing facts, however, seem to show incontestably that no such
+result has followed the adoption of this policy. On the contrary,
+notwithstanding the repeal of the restrictive corn laws in England, the
+foreign demand for the products of the American farmer has steadily
+declined, since the short crops and consequent famine in a portion
+of Europe have been happily replaced by full crops and comparative
+abundance of food.
+
+It will be seen by recurring to the commercial statistics for the past
+year that the value of our domestic exports has been increased in the
+single item of raw cotton by $40,000,000 over the value of that export
+for the year preceding. This is not due to any increased general demand
+for that article, but to the short crop of the preceding year, which
+created an increased demand and an augmented price for the crop of last
+year. Should the cotton crop now going forward to market be only equal
+in quantity to that of the year preceding and be sold at the present
+prices, then there would be a falling off in the value of our exports
+for the present fiscal year of at least $40,000,000 compared with the
+amount exported for the year ending 30th June, 1851.
+
+The production of gold in California for the past year seems to promise
+a large supply of that metal from that quarter for some time to come.
+This large annual increase of the currency of the world must be attended
+with its usual results. These have been already partially disclosed
+in the enhancement of prices and a rising spirit of speculation and
+adventure, tending to overtrading, as well at home as abroad. Unless
+some salutary check shall be given to these tendencies it is to be
+feared that importations of foreign goods beyond a healthy demand in
+this country will lead to a sudden drain of the precious metals from us,
+bringing with it, as it has done in former times, the most disastrous
+consequences to the business and capital of the American people.
+
+The exports of specie to liquidate our foreign debt during the past
+fiscal year have been $24,263,979 over the amount of specie imported.
+The exports of specie during the first quarter of the present fiscal
+year have been $14,651,827. Should specie continue to be exported at
+this rate for the remaining three quarters of this year, it will drain
+from our metallic currency during the year ending 30th June, 1852, the
+enormous amount of $58,607,308.
+
+In the present prosperous condition of the national finances it will
+become the duty of Congress to consider the best mode of paying off the
+public debt. If the present and anticipated surplus in the Treasury
+should not be absorbed by appropriations of an extraordinary character,
+this surplus should be employed in such way and under such restrictions
+as Congress may enact in extinguishing the outstanding debt of the
+nation.
+
+By reference to the act of Congress approved 9th September, 1850, it
+will be seen that, in consideration of certain concessions by the State
+of Texas, it is provided that--
+
+  The United States shall pay to the State of Texas the sum of $10,000,000
+  in a stock bearing 5 per cent interest and redeemable at the end of
+  fourteen years, the interest payable half-yearly at the Treasury of
+  the United States.
+
+In the same section of the law it is further provided--
+
+  That no more than five millions of said stock shall be issued until the
+  creditors of the State holding bonds and other certificates of stock of
+  Texas, _for which duties on imports were specially_ pledged, shall first
+  file at the Treasury of the United States releases of all claims against
+  the United States for or on account of said bonds or certificates, in
+  such form as shall be prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury and
+  approved by the President of the United States.
+
+The form of release thus provided for has been prescribed by the
+Secretary of the Treasury and approved. It has been published in all
+the leading newspapers in the commercial cities of the United States,
+and all persons holding claims of the kind specified in the foregoing
+proviso were required to file their releases (in the form thus
+prescribed) in the Treasury of the United States on or before the 1st
+day of October, 1851. Although this publication has been continued
+from the 25th day of March, 1851, yet up to the 1st of October last
+comparatively few releases had been filed by the creditors of Texas.
+
+The authorities of the State of Texas, at the request of the Secretary
+of the Treasury, have furnished a schedule of the public debt of that
+State created prior to her admission into the Union, with a copy of the
+laws under which each class was contracted.
+
+I have, from the documents furnished by the State of Texas, determined
+the classes of claims which in my judgment fall within the provisions of
+the act of Congress of the 9th of September, 1850.
+
+On being officially informed of the acceptance by Texas of the
+propositions contained in the act referred to I caused the stock to be
+prepared, and the five millions which are to be issued unconditionally,
+bearing an interest of 5 per cent from the 1st day of January, 1851,
+have been for some time ready to be delivered to the State of Texas. The
+authorities of Texas up to the present time have not authorized anyone
+to receive this stock, and it remains in the Treasury Department subject
+to the order of Texas.
+
+The releases required by law to be deposited in the Treasury not having
+been filed there, the remaining five millions have not been issued.
+This last amount of the stock will be withheld from Texas until the
+conditions upon which it is to be delivered shall be complied with by
+the creditors of that State, unless Congress shall otherwise direct by
+a modification of the law.
+
+In my last annual message, to which I respectfully refer, I stated
+briefly the reasons which induced me to recommend a modification of
+the present tariff by converting the _ad valorem_ into a specific duty
+wherever the article imported was of such a character as to permit it,
+and that such a discrimination should be made in favor of the industrial
+pursuits of our own country as to encourage home production without
+excluding foreign competition.
+
+The numerous frauds which continue to be practiced upon the revenue by
+false invoices and undervaluations constitute an unanswerable reason for
+adopting specific instead of _ad valorem_ duties in all cases where the
+nature of the commodity does not forbid it. A striking illustration of
+these frauds will be exhibited in the report of the Secretary of the
+Treasury, showing the custom-house valuation of articles imported under
+a former law, subject to specific duties, when there was no inducement
+to undervaluation, and the custom-house valuations of the same articles
+under the present system of _ad valorem_ duties, so greatly reduced
+as to leave no doubt of the existence of the most flagrant abuses under
+the existing laws. This practical evasion of the present law, combined
+with the languishing condition of some of the great interests of the
+country, caused by overimportations and consequent depressed prices,
+and with the failure in obtaining a foreign market for our increasing
+surplus of breadstuffs and provisions, has induced me again to recommend
+a modification of the existing tariff.
+
+The report of the Secretary of the Interior, which accompanies this
+communication, will present a condensed statement of the operations
+of that important Department of the Government.
+
+It will be seen that the cash sales of the public lands exceed those
+of the preceding year, and that there is reason to anticipate a still
+further increase, notwithstanding the large donations which have been
+made to many of the States and the liberal grants to individuals as
+a reward for military services. This fact furnishes very gratifying
+evidence of the growing wealth and prosperity of our country.
+
+Suitable measures have been adopted for commencing the survey of the
+public lands in California and Oregon. Surveying parties have been
+organized and some progress has been made in establishing the principal
+base and meridian lines. But further legislation and additional
+appropriations will be necessary before the proper subdivisions can
+be made and the general land system extended over those remote parts
+of our territory.
+
+On the 3d of March last an act was passed providing for the appointment
+of three commissioners to settle private land claims in California.
+Three persons were immediately appointed, all of whom, however,
+declined accepting the office in consequence of the inadequacy of the
+compensation. Others were promptly selected, who for the same reason
+also declined, and it was not until late in the season that the services
+of suitable persons could be secured. A majority of the commissioners
+convened in this city on the 10th of September last, when detailed
+instructions were given to them in regard to their duties. Their first
+meeting for the transaction of business will be held in San Francisco
+on the 8th day of the present month.
+
+I have thought it proper to refer to these facts, not only to explain
+the causes of the delay in filling the commission, but to call your
+attention to the propriety of increasing the compensation of the
+commissioners. The office is one of great labor and responsibility,
+and the compensation should be such as to command men of a high order
+of talents and the most unquestionable integrity.
+
+The proper disposal of the mineral lands of California is a subject
+surrounded by great difficulties. In my last annual message I
+recommended the survey and sale of them in small parcels under
+such restrictions as would effectually guard against monopoly and
+speculation; but upon further information, and in deference to the
+opinions of persons familiar with the subject, I am inclined to change
+that recommendation and to advise that they be permitted to remain as at
+present, a common field, open to the enterprise and industry of all our
+citizens, until further experience shall have developed the best policy
+to be ultimately adopted in regard to them. It is safer to suffer the
+inconveniences that now exist for a short period than by premature
+legislation to fasten on the country a system founded in error, which
+may place the whole subject beyond the future control of Congress.
+
+The agricultural lands should, however, be surveyed and brought into
+market with as little delay as possible, that the titles may become
+settled and the inhabitants stimulated to make permanent improvements
+and enter on the ordinary pursuits of life. To effect these objects
+it is desirable that the necessary provision be made by law for the
+establishment of land offices in California and Oregon and for the
+efficient prosecution of the surveys at an early day.
+
+Some difficulties have occurred in organizing the Territorial
+governments of New Mexico and Utah, and when more accurate information
+shall be obtained of the causes a further communication will be made on
+that subject.
+
+In my last annual communication to Congress I recommended the
+establishment of an agricultural bureau, and I take this occasion
+again to invoke your favorable consideration of the subject.
+
+Agriculture may justly be regarded as the great interest of our people.
+Four-fifths of our active population are employed in the cultivation of
+the soil, and the rapid expansion of our settlements over new territory
+is daily adding to the number of those engaged in that vocation. Justice
+and sound policy, therefore, alike require that the Government should
+use all the means authorized by the Constitution to promote the
+interests and welfare of that important class of our fellow-citizens.
+And yet it is a singular fact that whilst the manufacturing and
+commercial interests have engaged the attention of Congress during a
+large portion of every session and our statutes abound in provisions for
+their protection and encouragement, little has yet been done directly
+for the advancement of agriculture. It is time that this reproach to our
+legislation should be removed, and I sincerely hope that the present
+Congress will not close their labors without adopting efficient means
+to supply the omissions of those who have preceded them.
+
+An agricultural bureau, charged with the duty of collecting and
+disseminating correct information as to the best modes of cultivation
+and of the most effectual means of preserving and restoring the
+fertility of the soil and of procuring and distributing seeds and plants
+and other vegetable productions, with instructions in regard to the
+soil, climate, and treatment best adapted to their growth, could not
+fail to be, in the language of Washington in his last annual message
+to Congress, a "very cheap instrument of immense national benefit."
+
+Regarding the act of Congress approved 28th September, 1850, granting
+bounty lands to persons who had been engaged in the military service of
+the country, as a great measure of national justice and munificence,
+an anxious desire has been felt by the officers intrusted with its
+immediate execution to give prompt effect to its provisions. All the
+means within their control were therefore brought into requisition
+to expedite the adjudication of claims, and I am gratified to be
+able to state that near 100,000 applications have been considered
+and about 70,000 warrants issued within the short space of nine
+months. If adequate provision be made by law to carry into effect
+the recommendations of the Department, it is confidently expected
+that before the close of the next fiscal year all who are entitled
+to the benefits of the act will have received their warrants.
+
+The Secretary of the Interior has suggested in his report various
+amendments of the laws relating to pensions and bounty lands for the
+purpose of more effectually guarding against abuses and frauds on the
+Government, to all of which I invite your particular attention.
+
+The large accessions to our Indian population consequent upon the
+acquisition of New Mexico and California and the extension of our
+settlements into Utah and Oregon have given increased interest and
+importance to our relations with the aboriginal race.
+
+No material change has taken place within the last year in the condition
+and prospects of the Indian tribes who reside in the Northwestern
+Territory and west of the Mississippi River. We are at peace with all of
+them, and it will be a source of pleasure to you to learn that they are
+gradually advancing in civilization and the pursuits of social life.
+
+Along the Mexican frontier and in California and Oregon there have been
+occasional manifestations of unfriendly feeling and some depredations
+committed. I am satisfied, however, that they resulted more from the
+destitute and starving condition of the Indians than from any settled
+hostility toward the whites. As the settlements of our citizens progress
+toward them, the game, upon which they mainly rely for subsistence,
+is driven off or destroyed, and the only alternative left to them
+is starvation or plunder. It becomes us to consider, in view of this
+condition of things, whether justice and humanity, as well as an
+enlightened economy, do not require that instead of seeking to punish
+them for offenses which are the result of our own policy toward them
+we should not provide for their immediate wants and encourage them to
+engage in agriculture and to rely on their labor instead of the chase
+for the means of support.
+
+Various important treaties have been negotiated with different tribes
+during the year, by which their title to large and valuable tracts of
+country has been extinguished, all of which will at the proper time be
+submitted to the Senate for ratification.
+
+The joint commission under the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo has been
+actively engaged in running and marking the boundary line between the
+United States and Mexico. It was stated in the last annual report of
+the Secretary of the Interior that the initial point on the Pacific
+and the point of junction of the Gila with the Colorado River had been
+determined and the intervening line, about 150 miles in length, run and
+marked by temporary monuments. Since that time a monument of marble has
+been erected at the initial point, and permanent landmarks of iron have
+been placed at suitable distances along the line.
+
+The initial point on the Rio Grande has also been fixed by the
+commissioners, at latitude 32 deg. 22', and at the date of the last
+communication the purvey of the line had been made thence westward
+about 150 miles to the neighborhood of the copper mines.
+
+The commission on our part was at first organized on a scale which
+experience proved to be unwieldy and attended with unnecessary expense.
+Orders have therefore been issued for the reduction of the number of
+persons employed within the smallest limits consistent with the safety
+of those engaged in the service and the prompt and efficient execution
+of their important duties.
+
+Returns have been received from all the officers engaged in taking
+the census in the States and Territories except California. The
+superintendent employed to make the enumeration in that State has
+not yet made his full report, from causes, as he alleges, beyond his
+control. This failure is much to be regretted, as it has prevented the
+Secretary of the Interior from making the decennial apportionment of
+Representatives among the States, as required by the act approved May
+23, 1850. It is hoped, however, that the returns will soon be received,
+and no time will then be lost in making the necessary apportionment and
+in transmitting the certificates required by law.
+
+The Superintendent of the Seventh Census is diligently employed, under
+the direction of the Secretary of the Interior, in classifying and
+arranging in tabular form all the statistical information derived from
+the returns of the marshals, and it is believed that when the work shall
+be completed it will exhibit a more perfect view of the population,
+wealth, occupations, and social condition of a great country than has
+ever been presented to the world. The value of such a work as the basis
+of enlightened legislation can hardly be overestimated, and I earnestly
+hope that Congress will lose no time in making the appropriations
+necessary to complete the classifications and to publish the results
+in a style worthy of the subject and of our national character.
+
+The want of a uniform fee bill, prescribing the compensation to be
+allowed district attorneys, clerks, marshals, and commissioners in civil
+and criminal cases, is the cause of much vexation, injustice, and
+complaint. I would recommend a thorough revision of the laws on the
+whole subject and the adoption of a tariff of fees which, as far as
+practicable, should be uniform, and prescribe a specific compensation
+for every service which the officer may be required to perform. This
+subject will be fully presented in the report of the Secretary of the
+Interior.
+
+In my last annual message I gave briefly my reasons for believing that
+you possessed the constitutional power to improve the harbors of our
+Great Lakes and seacoast and the navigation of our principal rivers, and
+recommended that appropriations should be made for completing such works
+as had already been commenced and for commencing such others as might
+seem to the wisdom of Congress to be of public and general importance.
+Without repeating the reasons then urged, I deem it my duty again to
+call your attention to this important subject. The works on many of the
+harbors were left in an unfinished state, and consequently exposed to
+the action of the elements, which is fast destroying them. Great numbers
+of lives and vast amounts of property are annually lost for want of
+safe and convenient harbors on the Lakes. None but those who have been
+exposed to that dangerous navigation can fully appreciate the importance
+of this subject. The whole Northwest appeals to you for relief, and
+I trust their appeal will receive due consideration at your hands.
+
+The same is in a measure true in regard to some of the harbors and
+inlets on the seacoast.
+
+The unobstructed navigation of our large rivers is of equal importance.
+Our settlements are now extending to the sources of the great rivers
+which empty into and form a part of the Mississippi, and the value of
+the public lands in those regions would be greatly enhanced by freeing
+the navigation of those waters from obstructions. In view, therefore,
+of this great interest, I deem it my duty again to urge upon Congress
+to make such appropriations for these improvements as they may deem
+necessary.
+
+The surveys of the Delta of the Mississippi, with a view to the
+prevention of the overflows that have proved so disastrous to that
+region of country, have been nearly completed, and the reports thereof
+are now in course of preparation and will shortly be laid before you.
+
+The protection of our southwestern frontier and of the adjacent Mexican
+States against the Indian tribes within our border has claimed my
+earnest and constant attention. Congress having failed at the last
+session to adopt my recommendation that an additional regiment of
+mounted men specially adapted to that service should be raised, all
+that remained to be done was to make the best use of the means at my
+disposal. Accordingly, all the troops adapted to that service that could
+properly be spared from other quarters have been concentrated on that
+frontier and officers of high reputation selected to command them. A new
+arrangement of the military posts has also been made, whereby the troops
+are brought nearer to the Mexican frontier and to the tribes they are
+intended to overawe.
+
+Sufficient time has not yet elapsed to realize all the benefits that are
+expected to result from these arrangements, but I have every reason to
+hope that they will effectually check their marauding expeditions. The
+nature of the country, which furnishes little for the support of an army
+and abounds in places of refuge and concealment, is remarkably well
+adapted to this predatory warfare, and we can scarcely hope that any
+military force, combined with the greatest vigilance, can entirely
+suppress it.
+
+By the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo we are bound to protect the territory
+of Mexico against the incursions of the savage tribes within our border
+"with equal diligence and energy" as if the same were made within our
+territory or against our citizens. I have endeavored to comply as far
+as possible with this provision of the treaty. Orders have been given
+to the officers commanding on that frontier to consider the Mexican
+territory and its inhabitants as equally with our own entitled to their
+protection, and to make all their plans and arrangements with a view
+to the attainment of this object. Instructions have also been given to
+the Indian commissioners and agents among these tribes in all treaties
+to make the clauses designed for the protection of our own citizens
+apply also to those of Mexico. I have no reason to doubt that these
+instructions have been fully carried into effect; nevertheless, it is
+probable that in spite of all our efforts some of the neighboring States
+of Mexico may have suffered, as our own have, from depredations by the
+Indians.
+
+To the difficulties of defending our own territory, as above mentioned,
+are superadded, in defending that of Mexico, those that arise from its
+remoteness, from the fact that we have no right to station our troops
+within her limits and that there is no efficient military force on the
+Mexican side to cooperate with our own. So long as this shall continue
+to be the case the number and activity of our troops will rather
+increase than diminish the evil, as the Indians will naturally turn
+toward that country where they encounter the least resistance. Yet these
+troops are necessary to subdue them and to compel them to make and
+observe treaties. Until this shall have been done neither country will
+enjoy any security from their attacks.
+
+The Indians in California, who had previously appeared of a peaceable
+character and disposed to cultivate the friendship of the whites, have
+recently committed several acts of hostility. As a large portion of the
+reenforcements sent to the Mexican frontier were drawn from the Pacific,
+the military force now stationed there is considered entirely inadequate
+to its defense. It can not be increased, however, without an increase of
+the Army, and I again recommend that measure as indispensable to the
+protection of the frontier.
+
+I invite your attention to the suggestions on this subject and on others
+connected with his Department in the report of the Secretary of War.
+
+The appropriations for the support of the Army during the current fiscal
+year ending 30th June next were reduced far below the estimate submitted
+by the Department. The consequence of this reduction is a considerable
+deficiency, to which I invite your early attention.
+
+The expenditures of that Department for the year ending 30th June last
+were $9,060,268.58. The estimates for the year commencing 1st July next
+and ending June 30, 1853, are $7,898,775.83, showing a reduction of
+$1,161,492.75.
+
+The board of commissioners to whom the management of the affairs of the
+military asylum created by the act of 3d March last was intrusted have
+selected a site for the establishment of an asylum in the vicinity of
+this city, which has been approved by me subject to the production of
+a satisfactory title.
+
+The report of the Secretary of the Navy will exhibit the condition of
+the public service under the supervision of that Department. Our naval
+force afloat during the present year has been actively and usefully
+employed in giving protection to our widely extended and increasing
+commerce and interests in the various quarters of the globe, and our
+flag has everywhere afforded the security and received the respect
+inspired by the justice and liberality of our intercourse and the
+dignity and power of the nation.
+
+The expedition commanded by Lieutenant De Haven, dispatched in search
+of the British commander Sir John Franklin and his companions in the
+Arctic Seas, returned to New York in the month of October, after having
+undergone great peril and suffering from an unknown and dangerous
+navigation and the rigors of a northern climate, without any satisfactory
+information of the objects of their search, but with new contributions
+to science and navigation from the unfrequented polar regions. The
+officers and men of the expedition having been all volunteers for this
+service and having so conducted it as to meet the entire approbation
+of the Government, it is suggested, as an act of grace and generosity,
+that the same allowance of extra pay and emoluments be extended to them
+that were made to the officers and men of like rating in the late
+exploring expedition to the South Seas.
+
+I earnestly recommend to your attention the necessity of reorganizing
+the naval establishment, apportioning and fixing the number of officers
+in each grade, providing some mode of promotion to the higher grades of
+the Navy having reference to merit and capacity rather than seniority or
+date of entry into the service, and for retiring from the effective list
+upon reduced pay those who may be incompetent to the performance of
+active duty. As a measure of economy, as well as of efficiency, in this
+arm of the service, the provision last mentioned is eminently worthy of
+your consideration.
+
+The determination of the questions of relative rank between the sea
+officers and civil officers of the Navy, and between officers of
+the Army and Navy, in the various grades of each, will also merit
+your attention. The failure to provide any substitute when corporal
+punishment was abolished for offenses in the Navy has occasioned the
+convening of numerous courts-martial upon the arrival of vessels
+in port, and is believed to have had an injurious effect upon the
+discipline and efficiency of the service. To moderate punishment from
+one grade to another is among the humane reforms of the age, but to
+abolish one of severity, which applied so generally to offenses on
+shipboard, and provide nothing in its stead is to suppose a progress of
+improvement in every individual among seamen which is not assumed by
+the Legislature in respect to any other class of men. It is hoped that
+Congress, in the ample opportunity afforded by the present session, will
+thoroughly investigate this important subject, and establish such modes
+of determining guilt and such gradations of punishment as are consistent
+with humanity and the personal rights of individuals, and at the same
+time shall insure the most energetic and efficient performance of duty
+and the suppression of crime in our ships of war.
+
+The stone dock in the navy-yard at New York, which was ten years in
+process of construction, has been so far finished as to be surrendered
+up to the authorities of the yard. The dry dock at Philadelphia is
+reported as completed, and is expected soon to be tested and delivered
+over to the agents of the Government. That at Portsmouth, N.H., is also
+nearly ready for delivery; and a contract has been concluded, agreeably
+to the act of Congress at its last session, for a floating sectional
+dock on the Bay of San Francisco. I invite your attention to the
+recommendation of the Department touching the establishment of a
+navy-yard in conjunction with this dock on the Pacific. Such a station
+is highly necessary to the convenience and effectiveness of our fleet
+in that ocean, which must be expected to increase with the growth of
+commerce and the rapid extension of our whale fisheries over its waters.
+
+The Naval Academy at Annapolis, under a revised and improved system of
+regulations, now affords opportunities of education and instruction to
+the pupils quite equal, it is believed, for professional improvement, to
+those enjoyed by the cadets in the Military Academy. A large class of
+acting midshipmen was received at the commencement of the last academic
+term, and a practice ship has been attached to the institution to afford
+the amplest means for regular instruction in seamanship, as well as for
+cruises during the vacations of three or four months in each year.
+
+The advantages of science in nautical affairs have rarely been more
+strikingly illustrated than in the fact, stated in the report of the
+Navy Department, that by means of the wind and current charts projected
+and prepared by Lieutenant Maury, the Superintendent of the Naval
+Observatory, the passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific ports of
+our country has been shortened by about forty days.
+
+The estimates for the support of the Navy and Marine Corps the ensuing
+fiscal year will be found to be $5,856,472.19, the estimates for the
+current year being $5,900,621.
+
+The estimates for special objects under the control of this Department
+amount to $2,684,220.89, against $2,210,980 for the present year, the
+increase being occasioned by the additional mail service on the Pacific
+Coast and the construction of the dock in California, authorized at the
+last session of Congress, and some slight additions under the head of
+improvements and repairs in navy-yards, buildings, and machinery.
+
+I deem it of much importance to a just economy and a correct
+understanding of naval expenditures that there should be an entire
+separation of the appropriations for the support of the naval service
+proper from those for permanent improvements at navy-yards and stations
+and from ocean steam mail service and other special objects assigned to
+the supervision of this Department.
+
+The report of the Postmaster-General, herewith communicated, presents
+an interesting view of the progress, operations, and condition of his
+Department.
+
+At the close of the last fiscal year the length of mail routes within
+the United States was 196,290 miles, the annual transportation thereon
+53,272,252 miles, and the annual cost of such transportation $3,421,754.
+
+The length of the foreign mail routes is estimated at 18,349 miles
+and the annual transportation thereon at 615,206 miles. The annual
+cost of this service is $1,472,187, of which $448,937 are paid by
+the Post-Office Department and $1,023,250 are paid through the Navy
+Department.
+
+The annual transportation within the United States, excluding the
+service in California and Oregon, which is now for the first time
+reported and embraced in the tabular statements of the Department,
+exceeds that of the preceding year 6,162,855 miles, at an increased
+cost of $547,110.
+
+The whole number of post-offices in the United States on the 30th day of
+June last was 19,796. There were 1,698 post-offices established and 256
+discontinued during the year.
+
+The gross revenues of the Department for the fiscal year, including the
+appropriations for the franked matter of Congress, of the Departments,
+and officers of Government, and excluding the foreign postages collected
+for and payable to the British post-office, amounted to $6,727,866.78.
+
+The expenditures for the same period, excluding $20,599.49, paid under
+an award of the Auditor, in pursuance of a resolution of the last
+Congress, for mail service on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers in 1832
+and 1833, and the amount paid to the British post-office for foreign
+postages collected for and payable to that office, amounted to
+$6,024,566.79, leaving a balance of revenue over the proper expenditures
+of the year of $703,299.99.
+
+The receipts for postages during the year, excluding the foreign
+postages collected for and payable to the British post-office, amounted
+to $6,345,747.21, being an increase of $997,610.79, or 18.65 per cent,
+over the like receipts for the preceding year.
+
+The reduction of postage under the act of March last did not take effect
+until the commencement of the present fiscal year. The accounts for
+the first quarter under the operation of the reduced rates will not be
+settled before January next, and no reliable estimate of the receipts
+for the present year can yet be made. It is believed, however, that
+they will fall far short of those of the last year. The surplus of the
+revenues now on hand is, however, so large that no further appropriation
+from the Treasury in aid of the revenues of the Department is required
+for the current fiscal year, but an additional appropriation for the
+year ending June 30, 1853, will probably be found necessary when the
+receipts of the first two quarters of the fiscal year are fully
+ascertained.
+
+In his last annual report the Postmaster-General recommended a reduction
+of postage to rates which he deemed as low as could be prudently adopted
+unless Congress was prepared to appropriate from the Treasury for
+the support of the Department a sum more than equivalent to the mail
+services performed by it for the Government. The recommendations of the
+Postmaster-General in respect to letter postage, except on letters from
+and to California and Oregon, were substantially adopted by the last
+Congress. He now recommends adherence to the present letter rates and
+advises against a further reduction until justified by the revenue of
+the Department.
+
+He also recommends that the rates of postage on printed matter be so
+revised as to render them more simple and more uniform in their operation
+upon all classes of printed matter. I submit the recommendations of the
+report to your favorable consideration.
+
+The public statutes of the United States have now been accumulating
+for more than sixty years, and, interspersed with private acts, are
+scattered through numerous volumes, and, from the cost of the whole,
+have become almost inaccessible to the great mass of the community.
+They also exhibit much of the incongruity and imperfection of hasty
+legislation. As it seems to be generally conceded that there is no
+"common law" of the United States to supply the defects of their
+legislation, it is most important that that legislation should be as
+perfect as possible, defining every power intended to be conferred,
+every crime intended to be made punishable, and prescribing the
+punishment to be inflicted. In addition to some particular cases spoken
+of more at length, the whole criminal code is now lamentably defective.
+Some offenses are imperfectly described and others are entirely omitted,
+so that flagrant crimes may be committed with impunity. The scale
+of punishment is not in all cases graduated according to the degree
+and nature of the offense, and is often rendered more unequal by the
+different modes of imprisonment or penitentiary confinement in the
+different States.
+
+Many laws of a permanent character have been introduced into
+appropriation bills, and it is often difficult to determine whether the
+particular clause expires with the temporary act of which it is a part
+or continues in force. It has also frequently happened that enactments
+and provisions of law have been introduced into bills with the title or
+general subject of which they have little or no connection or relation.
+In this mode of legislation so many enactments have been heaped upon
+each other, and often with but little consideration, that in many
+instances it is difficult to search out and determine what is the law.
+
+The Government of the United States is emphatically a government of
+written laws. The statutes should therefore, as far as practicable, not
+only be made accessible to all, but be expressed in language so plain
+and simple as to be understood by all and arranged in such method as
+to give perspicuity to every subject. Many of the States have revised
+their public acts with great and manifest benefit, and I recommend that
+provision be made by law for the appointment of a commission to revise
+the public statutes of the United States, arranging them in order,
+supplying deficiencies, correcting incongruities, simplifying their
+language, and reporting them to Congress for its action.
+
+An act of Congress approved 30th September, 1850, contained a provision
+for the extension of the Capitol according to such plan as might be
+approved by the President, and appropriated $100,000 to be expended
+under his direction by such architect as he should appoint to execute
+the same. On examining the various plans which had been submitted by
+different architects in pursuance of an advertisement by a committee
+of the Senate no one was found to be entirely satisfactory, and it
+was therefore deemed advisable to combine and adopt the advantages
+of several.
+
+The great object to be accomplished was to make such an addition as
+would afford ample and convenient halls for the deliberations of the two
+Houses of Congress, with sufficient accommodations for spectators and
+suitable apartments for the committees and officers of the two branches
+of the Legislature. It was also desirable not to mar the harmony and
+beauty of the present structure, which, as a specimen of architecture,
+is so universally admired. Keeping these objects in view, I concluded
+to make the addition by wings, detached from the present building, yet
+connected with it by corridors. This mode of enlargement will leave the
+present Capitol uninjured and afford great advantages for ventilation
+and the admission of light, and will enable the work to progress without
+interrupting the deliberations of Congress. To carry this plan into
+effect I have appointed an experienced and competent architect. The
+corner stone was laid on the 4th day of July last with suitable
+ceremonies, since which time the work has advanced with commendable
+rapidity, and the foundations of both wings are now nearly complete.
+
+I again commend to your favorable regard the interests of the District
+of Columbia, and deem it only necessary to remind you that although its
+inhabitants have no voice in the choice of Representatives in Congress,
+they are not the less entitled to a just and liberal consideration in
+your legislation. My opinions on this subject were more fully expressed
+in my last annual communication.
+
+Other subjects were brought to the attention of Congress in my last
+annual message, to which I would respectfully refer. But there was one
+of more than ordinary interest, to which I again invite your special
+attention. I allude to the recommendation for the appointment of a
+commission to settle private claims against the United States. Justice
+to individuals, as well as to the Government, imperatively demands that
+some more convenient and expeditious mode than an appeal to Congress
+should be adopted.
+
+It is deeply to be regretted that in several instances officers of the
+Government, in attempting to execute the law for the return of fugitives
+from labor, have been openly resisted and their efforts frustrated and
+defeated by lawless and violent mobs; that in one case such resistance
+resulted in the death of an estimable citizen, and in others serious
+injury ensued to those officers and to individuals who were using their
+endeavors to sustain the laws. Prosecutions have been instituted against
+the alleged offenders so far as they could be identified, and are still
+pending. I have regarded it as my duty in these cases to give all aid
+legally in my power to the enforcement of the laws, and I shall continue
+to do so wherever and whenever their execution may be resisted.
+
+The act of Congress for the return of fugitives from labor is one
+required and demanded by the express words of the Constitution.
+
+The Constitution declares that--
+
+  No person held to service or labor in one State, under the laws thereof,
+  escaping into another, shall, in consequence of any law or regulation
+  therein, be discharged from such service or labor, but shall be
+  delivered up on claim of the party to whom such service or labor may
+  be due.
+
+
+This constitutional provision is equally obligatory upon the legislative,
+the executive, and judicial departments of the Government, and upon every
+citizen of the United States.
+
+Congress, however, must from necessity first act upon the subject by
+prescribing the proceedings necessary to ascertain that the person is a
+fugitive and the means to be used for his restoration to the claimant.
+This was done by an act passed during the first term of President
+Washington, which was amended by that enacted by the last Congress,
+and it now remains for the executive and judicial departments to take
+care that these laws be faithfully executed. This injunction of the
+Constitution is as peremptory and as binding as any other; it stands
+exactly on the same foundation as that clause which provides for the
+return of fugitives from justice, or that which declares that no bill of
+attainder or _ex post facto_ law shall be passed, or that which provides
+for an equality of taxation according to the census, or the clause
+declaring that all duties shall be uniform throughout the United States,
+or the important provision that the trial of all crimes shall be by
+jury. These several articles and clauses of the Constitution, all
+resting on the same authority, must stand or fall together. Some
+objections have been urged against the details of the act for the return
+of fugitives from labor, but it is worthy of remark that the main
+opposition is aimed against the Constitution itself, and proceeds from
+persons and classes of persons many of whom declare their wish to see
+that Constitution overturned. They avow their hostility to any law
+which shall give full and practical effect to this requirement of the
+Constitution. Fortunately, the number of these persons is comparatively
+small, and is believed to be daily diminishing; but the issue which they
+present is one which involves the supremacy and even the existence of
+the Constitution.
+
+Cases have heretofore arisen in which individuals have denied the
+binding authority of acts of Congress, and even States have proposed to
+nullify such acts upon the ground that the Constitution was the supreme
+law of the land, and that those acts of Congress were repugnant to
+that instrument; but nullification is now aimed not so much against
+particular laws as being inconsistent with the Constitution as against
+the Constitution itself, and it is not to be disguised that a spirit
+exists, and has been actively at work, to rend asunder this Union,
+which is our cherished inheritance from our Revolutionary fathers.
+
+In my last annual message I stated that I considered the series of
+measures which had been adopted at the previous session in reference
+to the agitation growing out of the Territorial and slavery questions
+as a final settlement in principle and substance of the dangerous and
+exciting subjects which they embraced, and I recommended adherence to
+the adjustment established by those measures until time and experience
+should demonstrate the necessity of further legislation to guard against
+evasion or abuse. I was not induced to make this recommendation because
+I thought those measures perfect, for no human legislation can be
+perfect. Wide differences and jarring opinions can only be reconciled by
+yielding something on all sides, and this result had been reached after
+an angry conflict of many months, in which one part of the country was
+arrayed against another, and violent convulsion seemed to be imminent.
+Looking at the interests of the whole country, I felt it to be my duty
+to seize upon this compromise as the best that could be obtained amid
+conflicting interests and to insist upon it as a final settlement, to
+be adhered to by all who value the peace and welfare of the country.
+A year has now elapsed since that recommendation was made. To that
+recommendation I still adhere, and I congratulate you and the country
+upon the general acquiescence in these measures of peace which has been
+exhibited in all parts of the Republic. And not only is there this
+general acquiescence in these measures, but the spirit of conciliation
+which has been manifested in regard to them in all parts of the country
+has removed doubts and uncertainties in the minds of thousands of good
+men concerning the durability of our popular institutions and given
+renewed assurance that our liberty and our Union may subsist together
+for the benefit of this and all succeeding generations.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+
+SPECIAL MESSAGES.
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _December 12, 1851_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I transmit to the Senate, for its consideration with a view to
+ratification, a treaty of friendship, commerce, and navigation between
+the United States and the Republic of Costa Rica, signed in this city
+on the 10th day of July last.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _December 15, 1851_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I transmit to the Senate a report[13] of the Secretary of State, in
+answer to their resolution of the 8th of March last.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+[Footnote 13: Relating to the free navigation of the St. Lawrence, St.
+John, and other large rivers, and to the free enjoyment of the British
+North American fisheries by United States citizens.]
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _December 15, 1851_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I have received a resolution of the Senate, adopted on the 12th instant,
+in the following terms:
+
+  _Resolved_, That the President of the United States be requested to
+  communicate to the Senate, if not inconsistent with the public interest,
+  any information the Executive may have received respecting the firing
+  into and seizure of the American steamship _Prometheus_ by a British
+  vessel of war in November last near Greytown, on the Mosquito Coast,
+  and also what measures have been taken by the Executive to ascertain
+  the state of the facts and to vindicate the honor of the country.
+
+In answer to this request I submit to the Senate the accompanying
+extracts from a communication addressed to the Department of State by
+Mr. Joseph L. White, as counsel of the American, Atlantic and Pacific
+Ship Canal Company, dated 2d instant.
+
+This communication is the principal source of the information received
+by the Executive in relation to the subject alluded to, and is presumed
+to be essentially correct in its statement of the facts. Upon receiving
+this communication instructions such as the occasion seemed to demand
+were immediately dispatched to the minister of the United States in
+London. Sufficient time has not elapsed for the return of any answer
+to this dispatch from him, and in my judgment it would at the present
+moment be inconsistent with the public interest to communicate those
+instructions. A communication, however, of all the correspondence will
+be made to the Senate at the earliest moment at which a proper regard
+to the public interest will permit.
+
+At the same time instructions were given to Commodore Parker, commanding
+the Home Squadron, a copy of which, so far as they relate to the case of
+the _Prometheus_, is herewith transmitted to the Senate.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _December 16, 1851_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+In answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 9th instant, requesting
+information in regard to the imprisonment of John S. Thrasher at Havana,
+I transmit a report from the Secretary of State and the documents which
+accompanied it.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _December 16, 1851_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+In answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 8th instant, requesting
+the communication of a dispatch[14] addressed to the Department of State
+by Mr. Niles, late charge d'affaires of the United States at Turin, I
+transmit a report from the Secretary of State, which is accompanied by
+a copy of the dispatch.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+[Footnote 14: On the subject of a ship canal between the Atlantic and
+Pacific oceans.]
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _December 23, 1851_.
+
+_To the House of Representatives_:
+
+I transmit to the House of Representatives a report from the Secretary
+of State, in answer to the first part[15] of a resolution of the 15th
+December, 1851, and also a report from the Secretary of the Navy, in
+answer to the remaining part[16] of the same resolution.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+[Footnote 15: Relating to the conclusion of a treaty between Spain,
+France, and Great Britain in respect to the island of Cuba.]
+
+[Footnote 16: Pertaining to the relative strength of the British, French,
+and United States squadrons in the West India seas, and whether
+additional appropriations are necessary to increase the United States
+force on that station.]
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _December 23, 1851_.
+
+_To the House of Representatives_:
+
+In answer to a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 15th
+instant, requesting information in regard to the imprisonment, trial,
+and sentence of John S. Thrasher in the island of Cuba, I transmit a
+report from the Secretary of State and the documents which accompanied
+it.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _December 29, 1851_.
+
+_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:
+
+I transmit herewith a copy of a letter of the 26th instant, addressed
+to the Secretary of State by the contractors for paying the next
+installment due to Mexico pursuant to the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo,
+representing the necessity of an immediate appropriation by Congress
+of the money necessary for that purpose.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _January 2, 1852_.
+
+_To the House of Representatives_:
+
+As a further answer to the resolution of the House of Representatives
+of the 15th ultimo, calling for information respecting the imprisonment,
+trial, and sentence of John S. Thrasher in the island of Cuba, I transmit
+another report from the Secretary of State.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _January 2, 1852_.
+
+_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:
+
+I transmit to the House of Representatives a copy of the resolution
+adopted by the Legislative Council of Canada, together with the copy of
+the note by which the resolution was communicated to this Government,
+expressing the satisfaction of that Council at receiving intelligence
+of certain donations in aid of the reconstruction of the library of
+the Canadian Parliament.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+[The same message, dated January 6, 1852, was sent to the Senate.]
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _January 3, 1852_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I nominate Elisha Whittlesey and Elias S. Terry to be commissioners
+under the seventeenth article of the treaty concluded with the Cherokee
+tribe of Indians at New Echota on the 29th day of December, 1835, to
+adjudicate the claim of David Taylor for 640 acres of land, which has
+been duly appraised in accordance with the terms of the ninth article
+of said treaty, but not paid for. The facts of the case will more fully
+appear in the accompanying papers from the Department of the Interior.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _January 5, 1852_.
+
+_To the House of Representatives_:
+
+I transmit to the House of Representatives a report of the Secretary of
+State, relative to the persons belonging to the expedition of Lopez who
+were taken prisoners in Cuba and afterwards sent to Spain, and who have
+now been pardoned and released by Her Catholic Majesty. The appropriation
+the expediency of which is suggested in the report I cordially commend
+to the consideration of Congress, with the single additional suggestion
+that to be available it should be promptly made.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+[The same message was sent to the Senate.]
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _January 9, 1852_.
+
+_To the House of Representatives_:
+
+In answer to a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 15th
+ultimo, requesting information in regard to the Territory of Utah, I
+transmit a report from the Secretary of State, to whom the resolution
+was referred.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _January 12, 1852_.
+
+_To the House of Representatives_:
+
+In answer to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 5th
+instant, I herewith transmit to it a report and accompanying papers[17]
+from the Secretary of State.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+[Footnote 17: Relating to a circular issued by the secretary of state
+for the British colonial department relative to the employment in the
+British West India colonies of free blacks and liberated slaves from
+the United States.]
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _January 16, 1852_.
+
+_To the House of Representatives_:
+
+I transmit a copy of a letter which has been addressed to me by the
+secretary of the Territory of Utah since my recent message to the House
+of Representatives in answer to its resolution requesting information
+in regard to the affairs of that Territory.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _January 19, 1852_.
+
+_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_:
+
+I transmit to Congress a report from the Secretary of State, accompanied
+by a letter to him from the contractors for paying the installment of
+Mexican indemnity due on the 31st May next, and respectfully invite
+attention to the subject.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _January 20, 1852_.
+
+_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_:
+
+I communicate to both Houses of Congress a report from the Department
+of State, containing copies of the correspondence which has taken place
+between that Department and the minister of the United States in Paris
+respecting the political occurrences which have recently taken place
+in France.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _January 22, 1852_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+In compliance with a resolution of the Senate passed March 13, 1851,
+I herewith transmit a report of the Secretary of War, containing
+information in regard to the claims of citizens of California for
+services rendered and for money and for property furnished in 1846
+and 1847 in the conquest of that country.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _January 23, 1852_.
+
+_To the House of Representatives_:
+
+I transmit a report from the Secretary of State and the documents
+which accompanied it, upon the subject of a resolution of the House
+of Representatives of yesterday, relative to the Mexican indemnity.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _January 28, 1852_.
+
+_To the House of Representatives_:
+
+In answer to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the
+15th ultimo, requesting information respecting the seizure and
+confiscation of the bark _Georgiana_, of Maine, and brig _Susan Loud_,
+of Massachusetts,[18] I transmit a report from the Secretary of State
+and the documents which accompanied it.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+[Footnote 18: By the Spanish or Cuban authorities]
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _January 28, 1852_.
+
+_To the House of Representatives_:
+
+In answer to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the
+7th August, 1850, and the 17th December, 1851, requesting information
+touching the claims of citizens of the United States on the Government
+of Portugal, I transmit a report from the Secretary of State and the
+documents which accompanied the same.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _February 9, 1852_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I transmit to the Senate, for its consideration with a view to
+ratification, a treaty of friendship, commerce, and navigation between
+the United States and the Republic of Peru, concluded and signed at
+Lima on the 26th day of July last.
+
+A copy of a dispatch of Mr. J.R. Clay, the charge d'affaires of the
+United States at Lima, to the Secretary of State, bearing date the 6th
+December last, is also transmitted for the information of the Senate.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _February 10, 1852_.
+
+_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:
+
+I transmit to Congress a copy of the instruction dispatched from the
+Department of State to the minister of the United States at London
+respecting the attack on the United States steamer _Prometheus_ in the
+harbor of San Juan de Nicaragua by the British brig of war _Express_,
+and also a copy of the dispatches of Mr. Lawrence to that Department and
+of his correspondence with Her Britannic Majesty's principal secretary
+of state for foreign affairs on the same subject.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+EXECUTIVE CHAMBER,
+
+_Washington City, February 10, 1852_.
+
+_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_:
+
+I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of the Interior,
+containing a report from Thomas U. Walter, architect for the extension
+of the Capitol.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _February 12, 1852_.
+
+_To the House of Representatives_:
+
+In answer to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 26th
+of December last, requesting information in regard to the seizure of the
+brig _Arve_[19] at Jeremie, in the island of St. Domingo, I transmit a
+report from the Secretary of State and the documents by which it was
+accompanied.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+[Footnote 19: By Haytien authorities.]
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _February 12, 1852_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+In compliance with the resolution of the Senate of the 26th ultimo,
+requesting information upon the subject of the mission of Mr. Balistier,
+late consul at Singapore, to eastern Asia, I transmit a report from the
+Secretary of State and the documents which accompanied it.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _February 13, 1852_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I transmit herewith, for the constitutional action of the Senate,
+treaties recently concluded with certain Indian tribes at Traverse des
+Sioux, Mendota, Pembina, and Fort Laramie, together with communications
+from the Department of the Interior and other documents connected
+therewith.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _February 14, 1852_.
+
+_To the House of Representatives_:
+
+I communicate to the House of Representatives herewith a report to me,
+dated the 13th instant, from the Secretary of the Interior, respecting
+the delay and difficulty in making the apportionment among the several
+States of the Representatives in the Thirty-third Congress, as required
+by the act of 23d May, 1850, in consequence of the want of full returns
+of the population of the State of California, and suggesting the
+necessity for remedial legislation.
+
+The subject is one of much importance, and I earnestly commend it to
+the early consideration of Congress.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+[The same message was sent to the Senate.]
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _February 16, 1852_.
+
+_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_:
+
+I transmit to Congress a letter addressed to the Secretary of State by
+the commissioner of the United States under the convention with Brazil,
+setting forth the obstacles which have impeded the conclusion of the
+business of that commission.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _February 16, 1852_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I herewith communicate to the Senate, for its consideration with a view
+to ratification, a treaty of commerce and navigation concluded by the
+minister resident of the United States at Constantinople with the charge
+d'affaires of the Shah of Persia at the same place. The treaty is in
+the Persian and French languages, but is accompanied by an English
+translation. A copy of the correspondence between the Department of
+State and the legation of the United States at Constantinople on the
+subject is also herewith communicated.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _February 18, 1852_.
+
+_To the House of Representatives_:
+
+In answer to the resolution of the House of Representatives requesting
+the official correspondence respecting an alleged misunderstanding
+between Captain Long, of the Navy of the United States, and Louis
+Kossuth, I transmit reports from the Secretaries of State and of the
+Navy and the papers which accompanied them.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _March 1, 1852_.
+
+_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_:
+
+In compliance with the provisions of the act of Congress of the 11th
+August, 1848, I transmit to that body the copy of a dispatch from the
+commissioner _ad interim_ of the United States at Canton, together with
+the copy of certain rules and regulations for masters, officers, and
+seamen of vessels of the United States of America at the free ports of
+China, which accompanied said dispatch, and which are submitted for the
+revision of Congress.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _March 4, 1852_.
+
+_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:
+
+In compliance with the resolution of the House of Representatives of the
+17th ultimo, I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of the Navy
+and a report from the Solicitor of the Treasury Department in relation
+to the accounts of Prosper M. Wetmore, late navy agent in the city of
+New York.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _March 4, 1852_.
+
+_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_:
+
+I transmit to Congress a letter addressed to me by the governor of the
+Territory of Minnesota, with the statements to which it refers, of the
+disbursements up to the 1st of January last of the money appropriated by
+the act approved June 11, 1850, for the erection of public buildings in
+that Territory.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _March 4, 1852_.
+
+_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_:
+
+I transmit to Congress a dispatch addressed to the Secretary of State
+by the minister of the United States at Mexico, and the papers therein
+referred to, relative to the cemetery which has been constructed in the
+neighborhood of that city as a place of sepulture for the remains of the
+officers and soldiers of the United States who died or were killed in
+that vicinity during the late war, and for such citizens of the United
+States as may hereafter die there. A copy of the report of the agent who
+was sent for the purpose of superintending the work is also herewith
+transmitted. It will be seen that a sum of $2,500 or $3,000, in addition
+to the amount appropriated by the act of Congress approved September 28,
+1850, is represented to be necessary to carry the objects of that
+appropriation into full effect. I accordingly recommend that provision
+therefor may be made.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _March 25, 1852_.
+
+_To the House of Representatives_:
+
+As a further answer to the resolution of the House of Representatives of
+the 5th of January last, requesting information in regard to a circular
+of Her Britannic Majesty's secretary of state for colonial affairs in
+respect to the encouragement of the emigration of colored laborers from
+the United States to the British West India islands, I transmit another
+dispatch addressed to the Department of State by the minister of the
+United States at London.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _March 26, 1852_.
+
+_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_:
+
+At the close of the commission to adjudicate upon the claims of citizens
+of the United States under the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo I directed a
+list to be made of papers which had been presented to that commission,
+and, pursuant to the act of Congress approved 3d March, 1849, the papers
+themselves to be carefully arranged and deposited for safe-keeping in
+the Department of State. I deemed all this necessary as well for the
+interest of the claimants as to secure the Government against fraudulent
+claims which might be preferred hereafter. A few days since I was
+surprised to learn that some of these papers had been fraudulently
+abstracted by one of the claimants, and upon the case being made known
+to me by the Secretary of State I referred it to the Attorney-General
+for the purpose of ascertaining what punishment could be inflicted upon
+the person who had been guilty of this offense.
+
+I now communicate to you his opinion and that of the attorney of the
+United States for this District, by which you will perceive that it
+is doubtful whether there be any law for punishing the very grave
+offense of fraudulently abstracting or mutilating the papers and public
+documents in the several Departments of this Government. It appears to
+me that the protection of the public records and papers requires that
+such acts should be made penal and a suitable punishment inflicted upon
+the offender, and I therefore bring the subject to your consideration,
+to enable you to act upon it should you concur with me in this opinion.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _March 26, 1852_.
+
+_To the House of Representatives_:
+
+In compliance with the resolution of the House of Representatives of
+the 18th instant, I transmit a copy of the correspondence with John P.
+Gaines, governor of the Territory of Oregon, relative to the seat of
+government of said Territory.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _March 29, 1852_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+In compliance with the resolution of the Senate of the 24th instant,
+relating to the extension of the Capitol, I have the honor to submit
+herewith a report from the Secretary of the Interior, which furnishes,
+it is believed, the required information.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON CITY, _March 29, 1852_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I have the resolution of your honorable body adopted in executive
+session March 24, 1852, by which I am requested to return to the Senate
+the resolution advising and consenting to the appointment of George C.
+Laurason as collector of the customs for the district of New Orleans,
+provided a commission had not been issued to him, and in reply thereto
+I would respectfully state that prior to the receipt of said resolution
+I had signed the commission to Mr. Laurason and transmitted it to the
+Secretary of the Treasury, to whom your resolution was immediately
+referred; and I have the honor now to transmit his reply, by which
+it will be seen that the commission, after having been duly executed,
+was sent to the First Comptroller, where it still remains. I suppose,
+according to the doctrine laid down in the case of Marbury _v._ Madison
+(1 Cranch R., 137), the appointment must be deemed complete, and nothing
+short of the removal of Mr. Laurason can enable me again to submit his
+nomination to the consideration of the Senate; but as the commission has
+not been technically issued to Mr. Laurason, I deem it most respectful
+to comply with your request by returning the copy of the resolution
+which notified me that the Senate advised and consented to his
+appointment.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON CITY, _April 6, 1852_.
+
+_To the House of Representatives_:
+
+In compliance with the resolution of the House of the 31st ultimo,
+I have the honor herewith to transmit a report from the Secretary
+of War, accompanied by the original manuscript report of Captain
+Thomas J. Crane, dated February 3, 1844, on the best mode of improving
+the navigation of the Ohio River at the Falls of Louisville, together
+with the original maps accompanying the same.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _April 8, 1852_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I herewith transmit to the Senate, in reply to their resolution of the
+4th ultimo, a report from the Secretary of State, with accompanying
+papers.[20]
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+[Footnote 20: Relating to the relations between the United States and
+Japan.]
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _April 19, 1852_.
+
+_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_:
+
+I invite the attention of Congress to the state of affairs in the
+Territory of Oregon, growing out of a conflict of opinion among the
+authorities of that Territory in regard to a proper construction of the
+acts of Congress approved the 14th August, 1848, and 11th June, 1850,
+the former entitled "An act to establish a Territorial government of
+Oregon," and the latter entitled "An act to make further appropriations
+for public buildings in the Territories of Minnesota and Oregon." In
+order to enable Congress to understand the controversy and apply such
+remedy with a view to adjust it as may be deemed expedient, I transmit--
+
+1. An act of the legislative assembly of that Territory, passed February
+1, 1851, entitled "An act to provide for the selection of places for the
+location and erection of public buildings of the Territory of Oregon."
+
+2. Governor Gaines's message to the legislative assembly of the 3d
+February, 1851.
+
+3. The opinion of the Attorney-General of the United States of 23d
+April, in regard to the act of the legislative assembly of the 1st
+February, 1851.
+
+4. The opinion of the supreme court of Oregon, pronounced on the 9th
+December, 1851.
+
+5. A letter of Judge Pratt of the 15th December, 1851, dissenting from
+that opinion.
+
+6. Governor Gaines's letter to the President of the 1st January, 1852.
+
+7. Report of the Attorney-General of the United States on that letter,
+dated 22d March, 1852.
+
+If it should be the sense of Congress that the seat of government
+of Oregon has not already been established by the local authorities
+pursuant to the law of the United States for the organization of that
+Territory, or, if so established, should be deemed objectionable, in
+order to appease the strife upon the subject which seems to have arisen
+in that Territory I recommend that the seat of government be either
+permanently or temporarily ordained by act of Congress, and that that
+body should in the same manner express its approval or disapproval
+of such laws as may have been enacted in the Territory at the place
+alleged to be its seat of government, and which may be so enacted
+until intelligence of the decision of Congress shall reach there.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _May 1, 1852_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I transmit to the Senate, for their consideration and advice with regard
+to its ratification, a convention between the United States and the Free
+and Hanseatic Republics of Hamburg, Bremen, and Lubeck, signed in this
+city by their respective plenipotentiaries on the 30th day of April,
+A.D. 1852, for the mutual extension of the jurisdiction of consuls. A
+copy of a note from the special plenipotentiary of Hamburg, Bremen, and
+Lubeck accompanies the convention.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _May 5, 1852_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+On the 3d of March, 1849, a general convention of peace, amity,
+commerce, and navigation between the United States and the Republic of
+Guatemala, by Elijah Hise, the charge d'affaires of the United States
+to that Republic, on the part of this Government, and by Senor Don Jose
+Mariano Rodriguez, minister for foreign affairs, on the part of the
+Government of Guatemala. This convention was approved by the Senate
+on the 24th of September, 1850, and by a resolution of the 27th of
+that month that body authorized the ratification of this Government
+to be exchanged for the ratification of the Government of Guatemala at
+any time prior to the 1st of April, 1851. I accordingly ratified the
+convention on the 14th of November, 1850, but there was then no person
+in this country authorized to effect the exchange of ratifications on
+the part of the Guatemalan Government, and the United States had no
+diplomatic representative there. When, however, in the summer of 1851,
+Mr. J. Bozman Kerr proceeded to Nicaragua as the charge d'affaires of
+the United States, he was empowered and instructed, when he should have
+concluded the business, which it was presumed would not have detained
+him long, in Nicaragua, to repair to Guatemala and effect the exchange
+on the part of this Government. Circumstances, however, have hitherto
+prevented him from accomplishing this object. Meanwhile Senor Don Felipe
+Molina has been received as charge d'affaires of Guatemala here, and has
+been empowered to effect the exchange on the part of that Government.
+
+I accordingly recommend that the Senate authorize a further extension
+of the period for exchanging the ratifications, in order that the
+convention may go into operation. It is presumed that if this
+recommendation should be adopted a few weeks from the date of the
+decision of the Senate upon the subject would be necessary to complete
+the preparations for carrying it into effect.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _May 29, 1852_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+The resolution of the Senate of the 6th instant, requesting the "papers
+and proofs on file in any of the Executive Departments touching the
+claim of Samuel A. Belden & Co., of Brownsville, Tex., against the
+Mexican Government for injuries inflicted upon said Belden & Co., as
+alleged by them in violation of the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo," was
+referred to the heads of those Departments, and the documents herewith
+transmitted have been reported to me from the Department of State
+as comprising all on the files of that Department called for by the
+resolution, with the exception of those of a diplomatic character. As
+the claim referred to is a subject of negotiation with the Mexican
+Government, it is not deemed expedient at this juncture to make public
+the documents which have been reserved. According to the reports of
+the Secretary of the Treasury, of the Secretary of the Interior,
+of the Secretary of War, of the Secretary of the Navy, and of the
+Postmaster-General, there are no papers in their respective Departments
+relative to the claim of Messrs. Belden & Co.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _June 1, 1852_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I communicate to the Senate herewith, for its constitutional action
+thereon, eighteen treaties negotiated with Indian tribes in California,
+as described in the accompanying letter of the Secretary of the
+Interior, dated the 22d ultimo, with a copy of the report of the
+superintendent of Indian affairs for the State of California and other
+correspondence in relation thereto.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _June 11, 1852_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I transmit to the Senate, for its consideration with a view to
+ratification, a convention between the United States and the Sultan
+of Borneo, signed at Bruni on the 23d of June, 1850. A copy of two
+dispatches to this department from Mr. Balestier, who concluded the
+convention on the part of this Government, one dated the 22d of April
+and the other the 24th June, 1851, is also transmitted for the
+information of the Senate. As the period limited for the exchange of the
+ratifications, which is to be effected at Bruni, will expire on the 23d
+instant, I recommend that if the Senate should approve the convention
+authority may be given to perform that ceremony within a year from that
+date. The instrument would have been submitted to the Senate in season
+for the ratification to be exchanged within the stipulated time had not
+Mr. Balestier's arrival with it in the United States been unavoidably
+delayed.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _June 11, 1852_.
+
+_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:
+
+I transmit to Congress a report from the Secretary of State, on the
+subject of the disorders on the Rio Grande frontier, and recommend the
+legislation which it suggests, in order that the duties and obligations
+of this Government occasioned thereby may be more effectually discharged
+and the peace and security of the inhabitants of the United States in
+that quarter more efficiently maintained.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _June 14, 1852_.
+
+_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:
+
+I transmit herewith, for your consideration, a report from the
+Secretary of State, accompanied by a communication from His Excellency
+Senor Don A. Calderon de la Barca, envoy extraordinary and minister
+plenipotentiary of Her Catholic Majesty, claiming indemnity for those
+Spanish subjects in New Orleans who sustained injury from the unlawful
+violence of the mob in that city consequent upon hearing the news of the
+execution of those persons who unlawfully invaded Cuba in August, 1851.
+My own views of the national liability upon this subject were expressed
+in the note of the Secretary of State to Mr. Calderon of the 13th
+November, 1851, and I do not understand that Her Catholic Majesty's
+minister controverts the correctness of the position there taken. He,
+however, insists that the thirteenth article of the treaty of 1795
+promises indemnity for such injuries sustained within one year after
+the commencement of war between the two nations, and although he admits
+this is not within the letter of the treaty, yet he conceives that, as
+between two friendly nations, it is within the spirit of it.
+
+This view of the case is at his request submitted for your
+consideration, but whether you may deem it correct or not, there is,
+perhaps, one ground upon which this indemnity, which can not be large in
+amount, may be granted without establishing a dangerous precedent, and
+the granting of which would commend itself to the generous feelings
+of the entire country, and that is this: The Queen of Spain, with a
+magnanimity worthy of all commendation, in a case where we had no legal
+right to solicit the favor, granted a free pardon to all the persons who
+had so unjustifiably invaded her dominions and murdered her subjects in
+Cuba, in violation of her own laws as well as those of the United States
+and the public law of nations. Such an act of mercy, which restored many
+misguided and unfortunate youth of this country to their parents and
+friends, seems to me to merit some corresponding act of magnanimity
+and generosity on the part of the Government of this country, and I
+think that there can be none more appropriate than to grant an indemnity
+to those Spanish subjects who were resident among us and who suffered
+by the violence of the mob, not on account of any fault which they
+themselves had committed, but because they were the subjects of the
+Queen of Spain. Such an act would tend to confirm that friendship which
+has so long existed between the two nations and to perpetuate it as a
+blessing to both, and I therefore recommend it to your favorable
+consideration.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _June 22, 1852_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State, with the
+accompanying documents,[21] in compliance with the Senate's resolution
+of the 29th of April last.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+[Footnote 21: Correspondence of the American charge at Vienna on the
+subject of the apprehension and imprisonment by the Austrian authorities
+of Rev. Charles L. Brace, an American citizen.]
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _June 22, 1852_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I transmit to the Senate, for its consideration with a view to
+ratification, a convention for the mutual delivery of criminals
+fugitives from justice in certain cases between the United States on
+the one part and Prussia and other States of the Germanic Confederation
+on the other part, signed in this city on the 16th instant.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _June 23, 1852_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State, with the
+accompanying documents,[22] in compliance with the Senate's resolution
+of the 3d instant.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+[Footnote 22: Correspondence relative to the withdrawal of Mr. Huelsemann,
+charge d'affaires from Austria to the United States.]
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _June 26, 1852_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I transmit and commend to the consideration of the Senate a report from
+the Secretary of State, touching the convention between the United
+States and the Mexican Republic for the mutual extradition of fugitives
+from justice in certain cases, which convention I submitted to the
+Senate soon after I entered upon the office of President of the United
+States.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+DEPARTMENT OF STATE,
+
+_Washington, June 26, 1852_.
+
+The PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES:
+
+It was understood that at the close of the Administration of your
+predecessor an extradition treaty was concluded in this city between the
+United States and the Mexican Republic, which, however, was submitted to
+the Senate by yourself, but before I entered upon my present office.
+
+It is presumed that as the treaty has not been returned to this
+Department the Senate has made no decision in regard to it.
+
+The necessity for a compact upon that subject between the two
+Governments, whose territories, being conterminous, afford great
+facilities for wrongdoers in the one to screen themselves from
+punishment by seeking refuge in the other, would at all times be
+obvious, but at the present juncture may be considered as urgent.
+
+I would consequently suggest that the attention of the Senate be
+respectfully invited to the matter, in order that if the treaty before
+them should be deemed objectionable another, embodying such amendments
+as may be supposed to be necessary, may be proposed to the Mexican
+Government.
+
+Respectfully submitted,
+
+DANL. WEBSTER.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _June 26, 1852_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I have received and taken into respectful consideration the resolution
+of the Senate of yesterday, adopted in executive session, requesting
+information in regard to supposed negotiations between the United States
+and Great Britain and between the United States and the Republics of
+Nicaragua and Costa Rica, respectively. Any information which may be in
+the possession of the Executive on these subjects shall in due time be
+laid before the Senate, but it is apprehended that it would not comport
+with the public interests to communicate it under existing
+circumstances.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _June 26, 1852_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I have received the resolution of the Senate of the 11th instant, passed
+in executive session, making inquiry respecting supposed propositions
+of the King of the Sandwich Islands to convey the sovereignty of those
+islands to the United States and requesting all official information in
+my possession touching the subject.
+
+This request has been taken into the most respectful consideration, but
+the conclusion at which I have arrived is that the public interest would
+not be promoted, but, on the contrary, might under circumstances of
+possible occurrence, be seriously endangered if it were now to be
+complied with.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON CITY, _July 1, 1852_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+On the 26th ultimo I received a resolution of the Senate, passed in
+executive session, in the following words:
+
+  _Resolved,_ That the President of the United States be requested to
+  inform the Senate, if not in his opinion incompatible with the public
+  interest, whether any convention or compact has been entered into on the
+  part of the United States and the Government of Great Britain whereby
+  the two Governments jointly recommend or advise the Republics of Costa
+  Rica and Nicaragua, or either of those Republics, and the Mosquito
+  Indians, inhabiting the Mosquito Coast, in Central America, on matters
+  affecting their several and respective boundaries, or whereby any
+  recommendation or advice is given to either of said Republics or said
+  Indians respecting the territorial rights thereafter to be enjoyed or
+  observed by them respectively, or in any other manner affecting or
+  regulating the relations hereafter to be maintained between said
+  Republics themselves, or either of them, and the said Indians concerning
+  their territorial boundaries or other matters thereto appertaining. And
+  if there be any such convention or compact, then that the President be
+  requested to communicate the same, or a copy thereof, to the Senate, and
+  to inform the Senate whether the same was made at the request or
+  invitation of either of said Republics or of said Indians, or with their
+  privity, approbation, or consent. And that the President be further
+  requested to communicate to the Senate copies of all correspondence
+  between the Executive and Great Britain, or with either of said
+  Republics of Central America, touching said convention, and of all
+  documents connected therewith. And if such convention or compact has
+  been made, that the President be further requested to inform the Senate
+  whether the same has been formally communicated to the respective
+  Governments of Nicaragua and Costa Rica and the Mosquito Indians on the
+  part of the Governments of Great Britain and the United States, and in
+  what form such communications have been made to them, and that he lay
+  before the Senate copies of any instructions that have been given to the
+  representatives or agents of the United States at Nicaragua and Costa
+  Rica touching such convention and the matters therein contained, with
+  copies of like instructions to any naval officer of the United States
+  relating to or in any manner concerning the said convention or its
+  communication to said Republics or said Indians.
+
+
+On the same day I returned the following answer to that resolution:
+
+  I have received and taken into respectful consideration the resolution
+  of the Senate of yesterday, adopted in executive session, requesting
+  information in regard to supposed negotiations between the United States
+  and Great Britain and between the United States and the Republics of
+  Nicaragua and Costa Rica, respectively. Any information which may be in
+  the possession of the Executive on these subjects shall in due time be
+  laid before the Senate, but it is apprehended that it would not comport
+  with the public interests to communicate it under existing
+  circumstances.
+
+
+Great was my surprise to observe this morning in one of the public
+journals a statement of what purports to be a proposition, jointly
+signed by Her Britannic Majesty's minister here and the Secretary of
+State, for the adjustment of certain claims to territory between
+Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and the Mosquito Indians. I have caused immediate
+inquiry to be made into the origin of this highly improper publication,
+and shall omit no proper or legal means for bringing it to light.
+Whether it shall turn out to have been caused by unfaithfulness or
+breach of duty in any officer of this Government, high or low, or by
+a violation of diplomatic confidence, the appropriate remedy will be
+immediately applied, as being due not only to this Government, but to
+other governments. And I hold this communication to be especially proper
+to be made immediately by me to the Senate, after what has transpired
+on this subject, that the Senate may be perfectly assured that no
+information asked by it has been withheld and at the same time permitted
+to be published to the world.
+
+This publication can not be considered otherwise than as a breach of
+official duty by some officer of the Government or a gross violation of
+the confidence necessary always to be reposed in the representatives of
+other nations. An occurrence of this kind can not but weaken the faith
+so desirable to be preserved between different governments and to injure
+the negotiations now pending, and it merits the severest reprobation.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON CITY, _July 2, 1852_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I herewith transmit, for the advice and consent of the Senate, a treaty
+recently negotiated with the Chickasaw Nation of Indians.
+
+The nature and objects of the treaty are fully explained by the report
+of Mr. Harper, who negotiated it in behalf of the United States.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _July 2, 1852_.
+
+_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:
+
+By an act of Congress approved on the 10th day of February, 1852, an
+appropriation of $6,000 was made for the relief of _American citizens_
+then lately imprisoned and pardoned by the Queen of Spain, intended
+to provide for the return of such of the Cuban prisoners as were
+citizens of the United States who had been transported to Spain and
+there pardoned by the Spanish Government. It will be observed that no
+provision was made for such foreigners or aliens as were engaged in the
+Cuban expedition, and who had shared the fate of American citizens, for
+whose relief the said act was intended to provide. I now transmit a
+report from the First Comptroller, with accompanying papers, from which
+it will be perceived that fifteen foreigners were connected with that
+expedition, who were also pardoned by the Queen of Spain, and have been
+transported to the United States under a contract made with our consul,
+at an expense of $1,013.34, for the payment of which no provision
+has been made by law. The consul having evidently acted with good
+intentions, the claim is submitted for the consideration of Congress.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _July 13, 1852_.
+
+_To the House of Representatives_:
+
+In answer to the resolution of the House of Representatives requesting
+information relative to the policy of the Government in regard to the
+island of Cuba, I transmit a report from the Department of State and
+the documents by which it was accompanied.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+EXECUTIVE MANSION,
+
+_Washington City, July 26, 1852_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+In obedience to your resolution adopted in executive session June 11,
+1852, I have the honor herewith to communicate a report[23] from the
+Secretary of the Interior, containing the information called for by that
+resolution.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+[Footnote 23: Relating to the boundary line between the United States
+and Mexico.]
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _July 27, 1852_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+In answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 19th instant,
+requesting the correspondence between the Government of the United
+States and that of the Mexican Republic respecting a right of way
+across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, I transmit a report from the
+Department of State and the documents by which it was accompanied.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _July 29, 1852_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+In compliance with the resolution of the Senate of the 27th instant,
+I transmit the copy of the notes[24] of Mr. Luis de la Rosa and Mr.
+J.M. Gonzales de la Vega, which it requests.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+[Footnote 24: Upon the subject of the American and Mexican boundary
+commission.]
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _July 31, 1852_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I communicate to the Senate herewith, for its constitutional action
+thereon, nineteen treaties negotiated by commissioners on the part of
+the United States with various tribes of Indians in the Territory of
+Oregon, accompanied by a letter to me from the Secretary of the Interior
+and certain documents having reference thereto.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _August 2, 1852_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+In answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 23d ultimo, requesting
+information in regard to the fisheries on the coasts of the British
+possessions in North America, I transmit a report from the Acting
+Secretary of State and the documents by which it was accompanied.
+Commodore M.C. Perry, with the United States steam frigate _Mississippi_
+under his command, has been dispatched to that quarter for the purpose
+of protecting the rights of American fishermen under the convention of
+1818.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _August 9, 1852_.
+
+_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:
+
+I transmit a report from the Acting Secretary of State and the documents
+by which it was accompanied, in answer to a resolution of the House of
+Representatives of the 22d ultimo, on the subject of the fisheries, and
+state for the information of that House that the United States steam
+frigate _Mississippi_ has been dispatched to the fishing grounds on the
+coasts of the British possessions in North America for the purpose of
+protecting the rights of American fishermen under the convention between
+the United States and Great Britain of the 20th of October, 1818.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _August 10, 1852_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I transmit a copy of the certificate of the exchange of the
+ratifications of the general convention of peace, amity, commerce, and
+navigation between the United States and the Republic of San Salvador,
+signed at Leon, in Nicaragua, on the 2d of January, 1850. It will be
+seen that the exchange was not effected until the 2d of June last, but
+that it was stipulated that the convention was not to be binding upon
+either of the parties thereto until the Senate of the United States
+should have duly sanctioned the exchange.
+
+The Senate by its resolution of the 27th of September, 1850, authorized
+the exchange to take place at any time prior to the 1st of April, 1851.
+
+Mr. Kerr, the charge d'affaires of the United States to Nicaragua,
+however, who was authorized to make the exchange on the part of this
+Government, was unavoidably detained in that Republic, in consequence of
+which the exchange could not be effected within the period referred to.
+
+The expediency of sanctioning the exchange which has been made by
+Mr. Kerr, and of authorizing the convention to go into effect, is
+accordingly submitted to the consideration of the Senate.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _August 12, 1852_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+In answer to the resolution of the Senate dated the 20th ultimo,
+requesting information in regard to controversies between the consul of
+the United States at Acapulco and the Mexican authorities, I transmit
+a report from the Secretary of State and the documents by which it was
+accompanied.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _August 13, 1852_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I transmit a report from the Secretary of State upon the subject of the
+relations between the United States and the Republics of Nicaragua and
+Costa Rica, in Central America, which has been delayed longer than I
+desired in consequence of the ill health of the Secretary of State.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _August 14, 1852_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I have received a resolution from your honorable body of the 6th
+instant, appearing to have been adopted in open legislative session,
+requesting me "to inform the Senate, if not incompatible with the public
+interests, whether any propositions have been made by the King of the
+Sandwich Islands to transfer the sovereignty of these islands to the
+United States, and to communicate to the Senate all the official
+information on that subject in my possession;" in reply to which I have
+to state that on or about the 12th day of June last I received a similar
+resolution from the Senate adopted in executive or secret session, to
+which I returned an answer stating that in my opinion a communication of
+the information requested at that juncture would not comport with the
+public interest. Nothing has since transpired to change my views on that
+subject, and I therefore feel constrained again to decline giving the
+information asked.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _August 21, 1852_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+In answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 9th instant, requesting
+information touching the Lobos Islands, I transmit a report from the
+Secretary of State and the documents by which it was accompanied. The
+instructions to the squadron of the United States called for by the
+resolution will be communicated on an early future occasion.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _August 27, 1852_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+In answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 14th ultimo, requesting
+a copy of the correspondence of Mr. R.M. Walsh while he was employed
+as a special agent of this Government in the island of St. Domingo,
+I transmit a report from the Secretary of State and the documents by
+which it was accompanied.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _August 27, 1852_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I transmit a further report from the Secretary of State relative to the
+Lobos Islands. This report is accompanied by a copy of the orders of the
+Navy Department to Commodore McCauley, requested by the resolution of
+the Senate of the 9th instant.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _August 27, 1852_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+As it is not deemed advisable that the instruction to Mr. R.M. Walsh,[25]
+a copy of which is herewith transmitted, should be published at this
+time, I communicate it confidentially to the Senate in executive
+session.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+[Footnote 25: Special agent of the United States in the island of St.
+Domingo.]
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _August 27, 1852_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I transmit to the Senate, for its consideration with a view to
+ratification, a supplementary convention relative to commerce and
+navigation between the United States and the Netherlands, signed
+in this city on the 26th instant.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _August 27, 1852_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I transmit to the Senate, for its consideration with a view to
+ratification, a convention between the United States and Belgium for
+regulating the right of inheriting and acquiring property, signed in
+this city on the 25th instant.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _August 31, 1852_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+In answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 21st instant,
+requesting information in respect to foreign postal arrangements, and
+especially cheap ocean postage, I transmit a report of the Secretary
+of State and the documents by which it was accompanied.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+
+EXECUTIVE ORDERS.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON CITY,
+
+_May 17, 1852_.
+
+The SECRETARY OF WAR.
+
+MY DEAR SIR: I have just issued an authority to Hugh Maxwell, collector
+at New York, under the eighth section of the act of April 20, 1818,
+to arrest any unlawful expedition that may be attempted to be fitted
+out within his district, and I have given him power to call upon
+any military and naval officers that may be there to aid him in the
+execution of this duty; and I will thank you to issue the necessary
+instructions to the proper military officer in that district.
+
+I am, your obedient servant,
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON CITY,
+
+_Tuesday, June 29, 1852--12.30 o'clock p.m._
+
+SIR:[26] The tolling bells announce the death of the Hon. Henry Clay.
+Though this event has been long anticipated, yet the painful bereavement
+could never be fully realized. I am sure all hearts are too sad at this
+moment to attend to business, and I therefore respectfully suggest that
+your Department be closed for the remainder of the day.
+
+I have the honor to be, your obedient servant,
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+[Footnote 26: Addressed to the heads of the several Executive
+Departments.]
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _September 13, 1852_.
+
+General Jos. G. TOTTEN.
+
+SIR: I have to acknowledge the receipt of your favor of the 11th instant
+and to say that I shall be pleased if you will cause the necessary
+surveys, projects, and estimates for determining the best means of
+affording the cities of Washington and Georgetown an unfailing and
+abundant supply of good and wholesome water to be made as soon as
+possible.
+
+I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+[From the Daily National Intelligencer, October 26, 1852.]
+
+EXECUTIVE MANSION,
+
+_Washington, Monday Morning, October 25, 1852_.
+
+The ACTING SECRETARY OF STATE and the SECRETARIES OF THE TREASURY,
+INTERIOR, WAR, NAVY, the ATTORNEY-GENERAL and POSTMASTER-GENERAL.
+
+GENTLEMEN: The painful intelligence received yesterday enforces upon me
+the sad duty of announcing to the Executive Departments the death of the
+Secretary of State. Daniel Webster died at Marshfield, in Massachusetts,
+on Sunday, the 24th of October, between 2 and 3 o'clock in the morning.
+
+Whilst this irreparable loss brings its natural sorrow to every American
+heart and will be heard far beyond our borders with mournful respect
+wherever civilization has nurtured men who find in transcendent
+intellect and faithful, patriotic service a theme for praise, it
+will visit with still more poignant emotion his colleagues in the
+Administration, with whom his relations have been so intimate and
+so cordial.
+
+The fame of our illustrious statesman belongs to his country, the
+admiration of it to the world. The record of his wisdom will inform
+future generations not less than its utterance has enlightened the
+present. He has bequeathed to posterity the richest fruits of the
+experience and judgment of a great mind conversant with the greatest
+national concerns. In these his memory will endure as long as our
+country shall continue to be the home and guardian of freemen.
+
+The people will share with the Executive Departments in the common
+grief which bewails his departure from amongst us.
+
+In the expression of individual regret at this afflicting event the
+Executive Departments of the Government will be careful to manifest
+every observance of honor which custom has established as appropriate
+to the memory of one so eminent as a public functionary and so
+distinguished as a citizen.
+
+The Acting Secretary of State will communicate this sad intelligence to
+the diplomatic corps near this Government and, through our ministers
+abroad, to foreign governments.
+
+The members of the Cabinet are requested, as a further testimony of
+respect for the deceased, to wear the usual badges of mourning for
+thirty days.
+
+I am, gentlemen, your obedient servant,
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+
+THIRD ANNUAL MESSAGE.
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _December 6, 1852_.
+
+_Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and of the House of Representatives_:
+
+The brief space which has elapsed since the close of your last session
+has been marked by no extraordinary political event. The quadrennial
+election of Chief Magistrate has passed off with less than the usual
+excitement. However individuals and parties may have been disappointed
+in the result, it is, nevertheless, a subject of national congratulation
+that the choice has been effected by the independent suffrages of a free
+people, undisturbed by those influences which in other countries have
+too often affected the purity of popular elections.
+
+Our grateful thanks are due to an all-merciful Providence, not only
+for staying the pestilence which in different forms has desolated some
+of our cities, but for crowning the labors of the husbandman with an
+abundant harvest and the nation generally with the blessings of peace
+and prosperity.
+
+Within a few weeks the public mind has been deeply affected by the
+death of Daniel Webster, filling at his decease the office of Secretary
+of State. His associates in the executive government have sincerely
+sympathized with his family and the public generally on this mournful
+occasion. His commanding talents, his great political and professional
+eminence, his well-tried patriotism, and his long and faithful services
+in the most important public trusts have caused his death to be lamented
+throughout the country and have earned for him a lasting place in our
+history.
+
+In the course of the last summer considerable anxiety was caused for
+a short time by an official intimation from the Government of Great
+Britain that orders had been given for the protection of the fisheries
+upon the coasts of the British Provinces in North America against the
+alleged encroachments of the fishing vessels of the United States and
+France. The shortness of this notice and the season of the year seemed
+to make it a matter of urgent importance. It was at first apprehended
+that an increased naval force had been ordered to the fishing grounds
+to carry into effect the British interpretation of those provisions in
+the convention of 1818 in reference to the true intent of which the two
+Governments differ. It was soon discovered that such was not the design
+of Great Britain, and satisfactory explanations of the real objects of
+the measure have been given both here and in London.
+
+The unadjusted difference, however, between the two Governments as to
+the interpretation of the first article of the convention of 1818 is
+still a matter of importance. American fishing vessels, within nine or
+ten years, have been excluded from waters to which they had free access
+for twenty-five years after the negotiation of the treaty. In 1845 this
+exclusion was relaxed so far as concerns the Bay of Fundy, but the just
+and liberal intention of the home Government, in compliance with what
+we think the true construction of the convention, to open all the
+other outer bays to our fishermen was abandoned in consequence of the
+opposition of the colonies. Notwithstanding this, the United States
+have, since the Bay of Fundy was reopened to our fishermen in 1845,
+pursued the most liberal course toward the colonial fishing interests.
+By the revenue law of 1846 the duties on colonial fish entering our
+ports were very greatly reduced, and by the warehousing act it is
+allowed to be entered in bond without payment of duty. In this way
+colonial fish has acquired the monopoly of the export trade in our
+market and is entering to some extent into the home consumption. These
+facts were among those which increased the sensibility of our fishing
+interest at the movement in question.
+
+These circumstances and the incidents above alluded to have led me to
+think the moment favorable for a reconsideration of the entire subject
+of the fisheries on the coasts of the British Provinces, with a view to
+place them upon a more liberal footing of reciprocal privilege. A
+willingness to meet us in some arrangement of this kind is understood to
+exist on the part of Great Britain, with a desire on her part to include
+in one comprehensive settlement as well this subject as the commercial
+intercourse between the United States and the British Provinces. I have
+thought that, whatever arrangements may be made on these two subjects,
+it is expedient that they should be embraced in separate conventions.
+The illness and death of the late Secretary of State prevented the
+commencement of the contemplated negotiation. Pains have been taken to
+collect the information required for the details of such an arrangement.
+The subject is attended with considerable difficulty. If it is found
+practicable to come to an agreement mutually acceptable to the two
+parties, conventions may be concluded in the course of the present
+winter. The control of Congress over all the provisions of such an
+arrangement affecting the revenue will of course be reserved.
+
+The affairs of Cuba formed a prominent topic in my last annual message.
+They remain in an uneasy condition, and a feeling of alarm and
+irritation on the part of the Cuban authorities appears to exist. This
+feeling has interfered with the regular commercial intercourse between
+the United States and the island and led to some acts of which we have
+a right to complain. But the Captain-General of Cuba is clothed with no
+power to treat with foreign governments, nor is he in any degree under
+the control of the Spanish minister at Washington. Any communication
+which he may hold with an agent of a foreign power is informal and
+matter of courtesy. Anxious to put an end to the existing inconveniences
+(which seemed to rest on a misconception), I directed the newly
+appointed minister to Mexico to visit Havana on his way to Vera Cruz.
+He was respectfully received by the Captain-General, who conferred with
+him freely on the recent occurrences, but no permanent arrangement was
+effected.
+
+In the meantime the refusal of the Captain-General to allow passengers
+and the mail to be landed in certain cases, for a reason which does not
+furnish, in the opinion of this Government, even a good presumptive
+ground for such prohibition, has been made the subject of a serious
+remonstrance at Madrid, and I have no reason to doubt that due respect
+will be paid by the Government of Her Catholic Majesty to the
+representations which our minister has been instructed to make on the
+subject.
+
+It is but justice to the Captain-General to add that his conduct toward
+the steamers employed to carry the mails of the United States to Havana
+has, with the exceptions above alluded to, been marked with kindness and
+liberality, and indicates no general purpose of interfering with the
+commercial correspondence and intercourse between the island and this
+country.
+
+Early in the present year official notes were received from the
+ministers of France and England inviting the Government of the United
+States to become a party with Great Britain and France to a tripartite
+convention, in virtue of which the three powers should severally and
+collectively disclaim now and for the future all intention to obtain
+possession of the island of Cuba, and should bind themselves to
+discountenance all attempts to that effect on the part of any power or
+individual whatever. This invitation has been respectfully declined, for
+reasons which it would occupy too much space in this communication to
+state in detail, but which led me to think that the proposed measure
+would be of doubtful constitutionality, impolitic, and unavailing. I
+have, however, in common with several of my predecessors, directed the
+ministers of France and England to be assured that the United States
+entertain no designs against Cuba, but that, on the contrary, I should
+regard its incorporation into the Union at the present time as fraught
+with serious peril.
+
+Were this island comparatively destitute of inhabitants or occupied by a
+kindred race, I should regard it, if voluntarily ceded by Spain, as a
+most desirable acquisition. But under existing circumstances I should
+look upon its incorporation into our Union as a very hazardous measure.
+It would bring into the Confederacy a population of a different national
+stock, speaking a different language, and not likely to harmonize with
+the other members. It would probably affect in a prejudicial manner the
+industrial interests of the South, and it might revive those conflicts
+of opinion between the different sections of the country which lately
+shook the Union to its center, and which have been so happily
+compromised.
+
+The rejection by the Mexican Congress of the convention which had been
+concluded between that Republic and the United States for the protection
+of a transit way across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec and of the interests
+of those citizens of the United States who had become proprietors of
+the rights which Mexico had conferred on one of her own citizens in
+regard to that transit has thrown a serious obstacle in the way of the
+attainment of a very desirable national object. I am still willing to
+hope that the differences on the subject which exist, or may hereafter
+arise, between the Governments will be amicably adjusted. This subject,
+however, has already engaged the attention of the Senate of the United
+States, and requires no further comment in this communication.
+
+The settlement of the question respecting the port of San Juan de
+Nicaragua and of the controversy between the Republics of Costa Rica and
+Nicaragua in regard to their boundaries was considered indispensable to
+the commencement of the ship canal between the two oceans, which was the
+subject of the convention between the United States and Great Britain
+of the 19th of April, 1850. Accordingly, a proposition for the same
+purposes, addressed to the two Governments in that quarter and to the
+Mosquito Indians, was agreed to in April last by the Secretary of State
+and the minister of Her Britannic Majesty. Besides the wish to aid in
+reconciling the differences of the two Republics, I engaged in the
+negotiation from a desire to place the great work of a ship canal
+between the two oceans under one jurisdiction and to establish the
+important port of San Juan de Nicaragua under the government of a
+civilized power. The proposition in question was assented to by Costa
+Rica and the Mosquito Indians. It has not proved equally acceptable
+to Nicaragua, but it is to be hoped that the further negotiations on
+the subject which are in train will be carried on in that spirit of
+conciliation and compromise which ought always to prevail on such
+occasions, and that they will lead to a satisfactory result.
+
+I have the satisfaction to inform you that the executive government of
+Venezuela has acknowledged some claims of citizens of the United States
+which have for many years past been urged by our charge d'affaires at
+Caracas. It is hoped that the same sense of justice will actuate the
+Congress of that Republic in providing the means for their payment.
+
+The recent revolution in Buenos Ayres and the Confederated States having
+opened the prospect of an improved state of things in that quarter, the
+Governments of Great Britain and France determined to negotiate with the
+chief of the new confederacy for the free access of their commerce to
+the extensive countries watered by the tributaries of the La Plata; and
+they gave a friendly notice of this purpose to the United States, that
+we might, if we thought proper, pursue the same course. In compliance
+with this invitation, our minister at Rio Janeiro and our charge
+d'affaires at Buenos Ayres have been fully authorized to conclude
+treaties with the newly organized confederation or the States composing
+it. The delays which have taken place in the formation of the new
+government have as yet prevented the execution of those instructions,
+but there is every reason to hope that these vast countries will be
+eventually opened to our commerce.
+
+A treaty of commerce has been concluded between the United States and
+the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, which will be laid before the Senate.
+Should this convention go into operation, it will open to the commercial
+enterprise of our citizens a country of great extent and unsurpassed in
+natural resources, but from which foreign nations have hitherto been
+almost wholly excluded.
+
+The correspondence of the late Secretary of State with the Peruvian
+charge d'affaires relative to the Lobos Islands was communicated to
+Congress toward the close of the last session. Since that time, on
+further investigation of the subject, the doubts which had been
+entertained of the title of Peru to those islands have been removed,
+and I have deemed it just that the temporary wrong which had been
+unintentionally done her from want of information should be repaired
+by an unreserved acknowledgment of her sovereignty.
+
+I have the satisfaction to inform you that the course pursued by Peru
+has been creditable to the liberality of her Government. Before it was
+known by her that her title would be acknowledged at Washington, her
+minister of foreign affairs had authorized our charge d'affaires at Lima
+to announce to the American vessels which had gone to the Lobos for
+guano that the Peruvian Government was willing to freight them on its
+own account. This intention has been carried into effect by the Peruvian
+minister here by an arrangement which is believed to be advantageous to
+the parties in interest.
+
+Our settlements on the shores of the Pacific have already given a great
+extension, and in some respects a new direction, to our commerce in that
+ocean. A direct and rapidly increasing intercourse has sprung up with
+eastern Asia. The waters of the Northern Pacific, even into the Arctic
+Sea, have of late years been frequented by our whalemen. The application
+of steam to the general purposes of navigation is becoming daily more
+common, and makes it desirable to obtain fuel and other necessary
+supplies at convenient points on the route between Asia and our Pacific
+shores. Our unfortunate countrymen who from time to time suffer
+shipwreck on the coasts of the eastern seas are entitled to protection.
+Besides these specific objects, the general prosperity of our States on
+the Pacific requires that an attempt should be made to open the opposite
+regions of Asia to a mutually beneficial intercourse. It is obvious that
+this attempt could be made by no power to so great advantage as by
+the United States, whose constitutional system excludes every idea of
+distant colonial dependencies. I have accordingly been led to order an
+appropriate naval force to Japan, under the command of a discreet and
+intelligent officer of the highest rank known to our service. He is
+instructed to endeavor to obtain from the Government of that country
+some relaxation of the inhospitable and antisocial system which it has
+pursued for about two centuries. He has been directed particularly to
+remonstrate in the strongest language against the cruel treatment to
+which our shipwrecked mariners have often been subjected and to insist
+that they shall be treated with humanity. He is instructed, however,
+at the same time, to give that Government the amplest assurances that
+the objects of the United States are such, and such only, as I have
+indicated, and that the expedition is friendly and peaceful.
+Notwithstanding the jealousy with which the Governments of eastern
+Asia regard all overtures from foreigners, I am not without hopes of a
+beneficial result of the expedition. Should it be crowned with success,
+the advantages will not be confined to the United States, but, as in the
+case of China, will be equally enjoyed by all the other maritime powers.
+I have much satisfaction in stating that in all the steps preparatory to
+this expedition the Government of the United States has been materially
+aided by the good offices of the King of the Netherlands, the only
+European power having any commercial relations with Japan.
+
+In passing from this survey of our foreign relations, I invite the
+attention of Congress to the condition of that Department of the
+Government to which this branch of the public business is intrusted. Our
+intercourse with foreign powers has of late years greatly increased,
+both in consequence of our own growth and the introduction of many new
+states into the family of nations. In this way the Department of State
+has become overburdened. It has by the recent establishment of the
+Department of the Interior been relieved of some portion of the domestic
+business. If the residue of the business of that kind--such as the
+distribution of Congressional documents, the keeping, publishing, and
+distribution of the laws of the United States, the execution of the
+copyright law, the subject of reprieves and pardons, and some other
+subjects relating to interior administration--should be transferred from
+the Department of State, it would unquestionably be for the benefit of
+the public service. I would also suggest that the building appropriated
+to the State Department is not fireproof; that there is reason to think
+there are defects in its construction, and that the archives of the
+Government in charge of the Department, with the precious collections of
+the manuscript papers of Washington, Jefferson, Hamilton, Madison, and
+Monroe, are exposed to destruction by fire. A similar remark may be made
+of the buildings appropriated to the War and Navy Departments.
+
+The condition of the Treasury is exhibited in the annual report from
+that Department.
+
+The cash receipts into the Treasury for the fiscal year ending the
+30th June last, exclusive of trust funds, were $49,728,386.89, and
+the expenditures for the same period, likewise exclusive of trust
+funds, were $46,007,896.20, of which $9,455,815.83 was on account
+of the principal and interest of the public debt, including the last
+installment of the indemnity to Mexico under the treaty of Guadalupe
+Hidalgo, leaving a balance of $14,632,136.37 in the Treasury on the
+1st day of July last. Since this latter period further purchases
+of the principal of the public debt have been made to the extent of
+$2,456,547.49, and the surplus in the Treasury will continue to be
+applied to that object whenever the stock can be procured within the
+limits as to price authorized by law.
+
+The value of foreign merchandise imported during the last fiscal year
+was $207,240,101, and the value of domestic productions exported was
+$149,861,911, besides $17,204,026 of foreign merchandise exported,
+making the aggregate of the entire exports $167,065,937. Exclusive of
+the above, there was exported $42,507,285 in specie, and imported from
+foreign ports $5,262,643.
+
+In my first annual message to Congress I called your attention to what
+seemed to me some defects in the present tariff, and recommended such
+modifications as in my judgment were best adapted to remedy its evils
+and promote the prosperity of the country. Nothing has since occurred
+to change my views on this important question.
+
+Without repeating the arguments contained in my former message in favor
+of discriminating protective duties, I deem it my duty to call your
+attention to one or two other considerations affecting this subject.
+The first is the effect of large importations of foreign goods upon
+our currency. Most of the gold of California, as fast as it is coined,
+finds its way directly to Europe in payment for goods purchased.
+In the second place, as our manufacturing establishments are broken
+down by competition with foreigners, the capital invested in them is
+lost, thousands of honest and industrious citizens are thrown out of
+employment, and the farmer, to that extent, is deprived of a home market
+for the sale of his surplus produce. In the third place, the destruction
+of our manufactures leaves the foreigner without competition in our
+market, and he consequently raises the price of the article sent here
+for sale, as is now seen in the increased cost of iron imported from
+England. The prosperity and wealth of every nation must depend upon its
+productive industry. The farmer is stimulated to exertion by finding a
+ready market for his surplus products, and benefited by being able to
+exchange them without loss of time or expense of transportation for the
+manufactures which his comfort or convenience requires. This is always
+done to the best advantage where a portion of the community in which
+he lives is engaged in other pursuits. But most manufactures require
+an amount of capital and a practical skill which can not be commanded
+unless they be protected for a time from ruinous competition from
+abroad. Hence the necessity of laying those duties upon imported goods
+which the Constitution authorizes for revenue in such a manner as to
+protect and encourage the labor of our own citizens. Duties, however,
+should not be fixed at a rate so high as to exclude the foreign article,
+but should be so graduated as to enable the domestic manufacturer
+fairly to compete with the foreigner in our own markets, and by this
+competition to reduce the price of the manufactured article to the
+consumer to the lowest rate at which it can be produced. This policy
+would place the mechanic by the side of the farmer, create a mutual
+interchange of their respective commodities, and thus stimulate the
+industry of the whole country and render us independent of foreign
+nations for the supplies required by the habits or necessities of
+the people.
+
+Another question, wholly independent of protection, presents itself,
+and that is, whether the duties levied should be upon the value of
+the article at the place of shipment, or, where it is practicable,
+a specific duty, graduated according to quantity, as ascertained by
+weight or measure. All our duties are at present _ad valorem_. A
+certain percentage is levied on the price of the goods at the port
+of shipment in a foreign country. Most commercial nations have found it
+indispensable, for the purpose of preventing fraud and perjury, to make
+the duties specific whenever the article is of such a uniform value in
+weight or measure as to justify such a duty. Legislation should never
+encourage dishonesty or crime. It is impossible that the revenue
+officers at the port where the goods are entered and the duties paid
+should know with certainty what they cost in the foreign country. Yet
+the law requires that they should levy the duty according to such cost.
+They are therefore compelled to resort to very unsatisfactory evidence
+to ascertain what that cost was. They take the invoice of the importer,
+attested by his oath, as the best evidence of which the nature of the
+case admits. But everyone must see that the invoice may be fabricated
+and the oath by which it is supported false, by reason of which the
+dishonest importer pays a part only of the duties which are paid by the
+honest one, and thus indirectly receives from the Treasury of the United
+States a reward for his fraud and perjury. The reports of the Secretary
+of the Treasury heretofore made on this subject show conclusively that
+these frauds have been practiced to a great extent. The tendency is to
+destroy that high moral character for which our merchants have long been
+distinguished, to defraud the Government of its revenue, to break down
+the honest importer by a dishonest competition, and, finally, to
+transfer the business of importation to foreign and irresponsible
+agents, to the great detriment of our own citizens. I therefore again
+most earnestly recommend the adoption of specific duties wherever it
+is practicable, or a home valuation, to prevent these frauds.
+
+I would also again call your attention to the fact that the present
+tariff in some cases imposes a higher duty upon the raw material
+imported than upon the article manufactured from it, the consequence of
+which is that the duty operates to the encouragement of the foreigner
+and the discouragement of our own citizens.
+
+For full and detailed information in regard to the general condition
+of our Indian affairs, I respectfully refer you to the report of the
+Secretary of the Interior and the accompanying documents.
+
+The Senate not having thought proper to ratify the treaties which have
+been negotiated with the tribes of Indians in California and Oregon, our
+relations with them have been left in a very unsatisfactory condition.
+
+In other parts of our territory particular districts of country have
+been set apart for the exclusive occupation of the Indians, and their
+right to the lands within those limits has been acknowledged and
+respected. But in California and Oregon there has been no recognition by
+the Government of the exclusive right of the Indians to any part of the
+country. They are therefore mere tenants at sufferance, and liable to be
+driven from place to place at the pleasure of the whites.
+
+The treaties which have been rejected proposed to remedy this evil
+by allotting to the different tribes districts of country suitable
+to their habits of life and sufficient for their support. This provision,
+more than any other, it is believed, led to their rejection; and as
+no substitute for it has been adopted by Congress, it has not been
+deemed advisable to attempt to enter into new treaties of a permanent
+character, although no effort has been spared by temporary arrangements
+to preserve friendly relations with them.
+
+If it be the desire of Congress to remove them from the country
+altogether, or to assign to them particular districts more remote from
+the settlements of the whites, it will be proper to set apart by law the
+territory which they are to occupy and to provide the means necessary
+for removing them to it. Justice alike to our own citizens and to the
+Indians requires the prompt action of Congress on this subject.
+
+The amendments proposed by the Senate to the treaties which were
+negotiated with the Sioux Indians of Minnesota have been submitted to
+the tribes who were parties to them, and have received their assent.
+A large tract of valuable territory has thus been opened for settlement
+and cultivation, and all danger of collision with these powerful and
+warlike bands has been happily removed.
+
+The removal of the remnant of the tribe of Seminole Indians from Florida
+has long been a cherished object of the Government, and it is one to
+which my attention has been steadily directed. Admonished by past
+experience of the difficulty and cost of the attempt to remove them
+by military force, resort has been had to conciliatory measures.
+By the invitation of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, several of
+the principal chiefs recently visited Washington, and whilst here
+acknowledged in writing the obligation of their tribe to remove with
+the least possible delay. Late advices from the special agent of the
+Government represent that they adhere to their promise, and that a
+council of their people has been called to make their preliminary
+arrangements. A general emigration may therefore be confidently
+expected at an early day.
+
+The report from the General Land Office shows increased activity in
+its operations. The survey of the northern boundary of Iowa has been
+completed with unexampled dispatch. Within the last year 9,522,953
+acres of public land have been surveyed and 8,032,463 acres brought
+into market.
+
+                                                            Acres.
+  In the last fiscal year there were sold..............  1,553,071
+  Located with bounty-land warrants....................  3,201,314
+  Located with other certificates......................    115,682
+                                                         ---------
+  Making a total of....................................  4,870,067
+  In addition there were--
+  Reported under swamp-land grants.....................  5,219,188
+  For internal improvements, railroads, etc............  3,025,920
+                                                         ---------
+  Making an aggregate of............................... 13,115,175
+
+
+Being an increase of the amount sold and located under land warrants of
+569,220 acres over the previous year.
+
+The whole amount thus sold, located under land warrants, reported under
+swamp-land grants, and selected for internal improvements exceeds that
+of the previous year by 3,342,372 acres; and the sales would without
+doubt have been much larger but for the extensive reservations for
+railroads in Missouri, Mississippi, and Alabama.
+
+                                                            Acres.
+  For the quarter ending 30th September, 1852, there
+                                          were sold.....   243,255
+  Located with bounty-land warrants..................... 1,387,116
+  Located with other certificates.......................    15,649
+  Reported under swamp-land grants...................... 2,485,233
+                                                         ---------
+  Making an aggregate for the quarter of................ 4,131,253
+
+
+Much the larger portion of the labor of arranging and classifying the
+returns of the last census has been finished, and it will now devolve
+upon Congress to make the necessary provision for the publication of
+the results in such form as shall be deemed best. The apportionment
+of representation on the basis of the new census has been made by the
+Secretary of the Interior in conformity with the provisions of law
+relating to that subject, and the recent elections have been made in
+accordance with it.
+
+I commend to your favorable regard the suggestion contained in the
+report of the Secretary of the Interior that provision be made by law
+for the publication and distribution, periodically, of an analytical
+digest of all the patents which have been or may hereafter be granted
+for useful inventions and discoveries, with such descriptions and
+illustrations as may be necessary to present an intelligible view of
+their nature and operation. The cost of such publication could easily
+be defrayed out of the patent fund, and I am persuaded that it could be
+applied to no object more acceptable to inventors and beneficial to the
+public at large.
+
+An appropriation of $100,000 having been made at the last session for
+the purchase of a suitable site and for the erection, furnishing, and
+fitting up of an asylum for the insane of the District of Columbia and
+of the Army and Navy of the United States, the proper measures have been
+adopted to carry this beneficent purpose into effect.
+
+By the latest advices from the Mexican boundary commission it appears
+that the survey of the river Gila from its confluence with the Colorado
+to its supposed intersection with the western line of New Mexico has
+been completed. The survey of the Rio Grande has also been finished from
+the point agreed on by the commissioners as "the point where it strikes
+the southern boundary of New Mexico" to a point 135 miles below Eagle
+Pass, which is about two-thirds of the distance along the course of the
+river to its mouth.
+
+The appropriation which was made at the last session of Congress for the
+continuation of the survey is subject to the following proviso:
+
+  _Provided_, That no part of this appropriation shall be used or
+  expended until it shall be made satisfactorily to appear to the
+  President of the United States that the southern boundary of New
+  Mexico is not established by the commissioner and surveyor of the
+  United States farther north of the town called "Paso" than the same
+  is laid down in Disturnell's map, which is added to the treaty.
+
+
+My attention was drawn to this subject by a report from the Department
+of the Interior, which reviewed all the facts of the case and submitted
+for my decision the question whether under existing circumstances any
+part, of the appropriation could be lawfully used or expended for the
+further prosecution of the work. After a careful consideration of the
+subject I came to the conclusion that it could not, and so informed
+the head of that Department. Orders were immediately issued by him to
+the commissioner and surveyor to make no further requisitions on the
+Department, as they could not be paid, and to discontinue all operations
+on the southern line of New Mexico. But as the Department had no exact
+information as to the amount of provisions and money which remained
+unexpended in the hands of the commissioner and surveyor, it was left
+discretionary with them to continue the survey down the Rio Grande as
+far as the means at their disposal would enable them or at once to
+disband the commission. A special messenger has since arrived from the
+officer in charge of the survey on the river with information that the
+funds subject to his control were exhausted and that the officers and
+others employed in the service were destitute alike of the means of
+prosecuting the work and of returning to their homes.
+
+The object of the proviso was doubtless to arrest the survey of the
+southern and western lines of New Mexico, in regard to which different
+opinions have been expressed; for it is hardly to be supposed that there
+could be any objection to that part of the line which extends along the
+channel of the Rio Grande. But the terms of the law are so broad as to
+forbid the use of any part of the money for the prosecution of the work,
+or even for the payment to the officers and agents of the arrearages of
+pay which are justly due to them.
+
+I earnestly invite your prompt attention to this subject, and recommend
+a modification of the terms of the proviso, so as to enable the
+Department to use as much of the appropriation as will be necessary
+to discharge the existing obligations of the Government and to complete
+the survey of the Rio Grande to its mouth.
+
+It will also be proper to make further provision by law for the
+fulfillment of our treaty with Mexico for running and marking the
+residue of the boundary line between the two countries.
+
+Permit me to invite your particular attention to the interests of the
+District of Columbia, which are confided by the Constitution to your
+peculiar care.
+
+Among the measures which seem to me of the greatest importance to its
+prosperity are the introduction of a copious supply of water into the
+city of Washington and the construction of suitable bridges across the
+Potomac to replace those which were destroyed by high water in the early
+part of the present year.
+
+At the last session of Congress an appropriation was made to defray
+the cost of the surveys necessary for determining the best means of
+affording an unfailing supply of good and wholesome water. Some progress
+has been made in the survey, and as soon as it is completed the result
+will be laid before you.
+
+Further appropriations will also be necessary for grading and paving the
+streets and avenues and inclosing and embellishing the public grounds
+within the city of Washington.
+
+I commend all these objects, together with the charitable institutions
+of the District, to your favorable regard.
+
+Every effort has been made to protect our frontier and that of the
+adjoining Mexican States from the incursions of the Indian tribes.
+Of about 11,000 men of which the Army is composed, nearly 8,000 are
+employed in the defense of the newly acquired territory (including
+Texas) and of emigrants proceeding thereto. I am gratified to say that
+these efforts have been unusually successful. With the exception of some
+partial outbreaks in California and Oregon and occasional depredations
+on a portion of the Rio Grande, owing, it is believed, to the disturbed
+state of that border region, the inroads of the Indians have been
+effectually restrained.
+
+Experience has shown, however, that whenever the two races are brought
+into contact collisions will inevitably occur. To prevent these
+collisions the United States have generally set apart portions of
+their territory for the exclusive occupation of the Indian tribes. A
+difficulty occurs, however, in the application of this policy to Texas.
+By the terms of the compact by which that State was admitted into the
+Union she retained the ownership of all the vacant lands within her
+limits. The government of that State, it is understood, has assigned no
+portion of her territory to the Indians, but as fast as her settlements
+advance lays it off into counties and proceeds to survey and sell it.
+This policy manifestly tends not only to alarm and irritate the Indians,
+but to compel them to resort to plunder for subsistence. It also
+deprives this Government of that influence and control over them without
+which no durable peace can ever exist between them and the whites. I
+trust, therefore, that a due regard for her own interests, apart from
+considerations of humanity and justice, will induce that State to assign
+a small portion of her vast domain for the provisional occupancy of the
+small remnants of tribes within her borders, subject, of course, to her
+ownership and eventual jurisdiction. If she should fail to do this, the
+fulfillment of our treaty stipulations with Mexico and our duty to the
+Indians themselves will, it is feared, become a subject of serious
+embarrassment to the Government. It is hoped, however, that a timely
+and just provision by Texas may avert this evil.
+
+No appropriations for fortifications were made at the two last sessions
+of Congress. The cause of this omission is probably to be found in a
+growing belief that the system of fortifications adopted in 1816, and
+heretofore acted on, requires revision.
+
+The subject certainly deserves full and careful investigation, but
+it should not be delayed longer than can be avoided. In the meantime
+there are certain works which have been commenced, some of them nearly
+completed, designed to protect our principal seaports from Boston to New
+Orleans and a few other important points. In regard to the necessity for
+these works, it is believed that little difference of opinion exists
+among military men. I therefore recommend that the appropriations
+necessary to prosecute them be made.
+
+I invite your attention to the remarks on this subject and on others
+connected with his Department contained in the accompanying report of
+the Secretary of War.
+
+Measures have been taken to carry into effect the law of the last
+session making provision for the improvement of certain rivers and
+harbors, and it is believed that the arrangements made for that purpose
+will combine efficiency with economy. Owing chiefly to the advanced
+season when the act was passed, little has yet been done in regard
+to many of the works beyond making the necessary preparations. With
+respect to a few of the improvements, the sums already appropriated
+will suffice to complete them; but most of them will require additional
+appropriations. I trust that these appropriations will be made, and
+that this wise and beneficent policy, so auspiciously resumed, will be
+continued. Great care should be taken, however, to commence no work
+which is not of sufficient importance to the commerce of the country
+to be viewed as national in its character. But works which have been
+commenced should not be discontinued until completed, as otherwise the
+sums expended will in most cases be lost.
+
+The report from the Navy Department will inform you of the prosperous
+condition of the branch of the public service committed to its charge.
+It presents to your consideration many topics and suggestions of which
+I ask your approval. It exhibits an unusual degree of activity in the
+operations of the Department during the past year. The preparations for
+the Japan expedition, to which I have already alluded; the arrangements
+made for the exploration and survey of the China Seas, the Northern
+Pacific, and Behrings Straits; the incipient measures taken toward a
+reconnaissance of the continent of Africa eastward of Liberia; the
+preparation for an early examination of the tributaries of the river La
+Plata, which a recent decree of the provisional chief of the Argentine
+Confederation has opened to navigation--all these enterprises and the
+means by which they are proposed to be accomplished have commanded my
+full approbation, and I have no doubt will be productive of most useful
+results.
+
+Two officers of the Navy were heretofore instructed to explore the whole
+extent of the Amazon River from the confines of Peru to its mouth. The
+return of one of them has placed in the possession of the Government an
+interesting and valuable account of the character and resources of a
+country abounding in the materials of commerce, and which if opened to
+the industry of the world will prove an inexhaustible fund of wealth.
+The report of this exploration will be communicated to you as soon as
+it is completed.
+
+Among other subjects offered to your notice by the Secretary of the
+Navy, I select for special commendation, in view of its connection
+with the interests of the Navy, the plan submitted by him for the
+establishment of a permanent corps of seamen and the suggestions he
+has presented for the reorganization of the Naval Academy.
+
+In reference to the first of these, I take occasion to say that I think
+it will greatly improve the efficiency of the service, and that I regard
+it as still more entitled to favor for the salutary influence it must
+exert upon the naval discipline, now greatly disturbed by the increasing
+spirit of insubordination resulting from our present system. The plan
+proposed for the organization of the seamen furnishes a judicious
+substitute for the law of September, 1850, abolishing corporal
+punishment, and satisfactorily sustains the policy of that act under
+conditions well adapted to maintain the authority of command and the
+order and security of our ships. It is believed that any change which
+proposes permanently to dispense with this mode of punishment should be
+preceded by a system of enlistment which shall supply the Navy with
+seamen of the most meritorious class, whose good deportment and pride
+of character may preclude all occasion for a resort to penalties of a
+harsh or degrading nature. The safety of a ship and her crew is often
+dependent upon immediate obedience to a command, and the authority to
+enforce it must be equally ready. The arrest of a refractory seaman
+in such moments not only deprives the ship of indispensable aid, but
+imposes a necessity for double service on others, whose fidelity to
+their duties may be relied upon in such an emergency. The exposure to
+this increased and arduous labor since the passage of the act of 1850
+has already had, to a most observable and injurious extent, the effect
+of preventing the enlistment of the best seamen in the Navy. The plan
+now suggested is designed to promote a condition of service in which
+this objection will no longer exist. The details of this plan may be
+established in great part, if not altogether, by the Executive under the
+authority of existing laws, but I have thought it proper, in accordance
+with the suggestion of the Secretary of the Navy, to submit it to your
+approval.
+
+The establishment of a corps of apprentices for the Navy, or boys to
+be enlisted until they become of age, and to be employed under such
+regulations as the Navy Department may devise, as proposed in the
+report, I cordially approve and commend to your consideration; and
+I also concur in the suggestion that this system for the early training
+of seamen may be most usefully ingrafted upon the service of our merchant
+marine.
+
+The other proposition of the report to which I have referred--the
+reorganization of the Naval Academy--I recommend to your attention as a
+project worthy of your encouragement and support. The valuable services
+already rendered by this institution entitle it to the continuance of
+your fostering care.
+
+Your attention is respectfully called to the report of the
+Postmaster-General for the detailed operation of his Department during
+the last fiscal year, from which it will be seen that the receipts from
+postages for that time were less by $1,431,696 than for the preceding
+fiscal year, being a decrease of about 23 per cent.
+
+This diminution is attributable to the reduction in the rates of postage
+made by the act of March 3, 1851, which reduction took effect at the
+commencement of the last fiscal year.
+
+Although in its operation during the last year the act referred to
+has not fulfilled the predictions of its friends by increasing the
+correspondence of the country in proportion to the reduction of postage,
+I should, nevertheless, question the policy of returning to higher
+rates. Experience warrants the expectation that as the community becomes
+accustomed to cheap postage correspondence will increase. It is believed
+that from this cause and from the rapid growth of the country in
+population and business the receipts of the Department must ultimately
+exceed its expenses, and that the country may safely rely upon the
+continuance of the present cheap rate of postage.
+
+In former messages I have, among other things, respectfully recommended
+to the consideration of Congress the propriety and necessity of further
+legislation for the protection and punishment of foreign consuls
+residing in the United States; to revive, with certain modifications,
+the act of 10th March, 1838, to restrain unlawful military expeditions
+against the inhabitants of conterminous states or territories; for the
+preservation and protection from mutilation or theft of the papers,
+records, and archives of the nation; for authorizing the surplus revenue
+to be applied to the payment of the public debt in advance of the time
+when it will become due; for the establishment of land offices for the
+sale of the public lands in California and the Territory of Oregon;
+for the construction of a road from the Mississippi Valley to the
+Pacific Ocean; for the establishment of a bureau of agriculture for the
+promotion of that interest, perhaps the most important in the country;
+for the prevention of frauds upon the Government in applications for
+pensions and bounty lands; for the establishment of a uniform fee bill,
+prescribing a specific compensation for every service required of
+clerks, district attorneys, and marshals; for authorizing an additional
+regiment of mounted men for the defense of our frontiers against the
+Indians and for fulfilling our treaty stipulations with Mexico to defend
+her citizens against the Indians "with equal diligence and energy as our
+own;" for determining the relative rank between the naval and civil
+officers in our public ships and between the officers of the Army
+and Navy in the various grades of each; for reorganizing the naval
+establishment by fixing the number of officers in each grade, and
+providing for a retired list upon reduced pay of those unfit for active
+duty; for prescribing and regulating punishments in the Navy; for the
+appointment of a commission to revise the public statutes of the United
+States by arranging them in order, supplying deficiencies, correcting
+incongruities, simplifying their language, and reporting them to
+Congress for its final action; and for the establishment of a commission
+to adjudicate and settle private claims against the United States. I am
+not aware, however, that any of these subjects have been finally acted
+upon by Congress. Without repeating the reasons for legislation on these
+subjects which have been assigned in former messages, I respectfully
+recommend them again to your favorable consideration.
+
+I think it due to the several Executive Departments of this Government
+to bear testimony to the efficiency and integrity with which they are
+conducted. With all the careful superintendence which it is possible for
+the heads of those Departments to exercise, still the due administration
+and guardianship of the public money must very much depend on the
+vigilance, intelligence, and fidelity of the subordinate officers and
+clerks, and especially on those intrusted with the settlement and
+adjustment of claims and accounts. I am gratified to believe that they
+have generally performed their duties faithfully and well. They are
+appointed to guard the approaches to the public Treasury, and they
+occupy positions that expose them to all the temptations and seductions
+which the cupidity of peculators and fraudulent claimants can prompt
+them to employ. It will be but a wise precaution to protect the
+Government against that source of mischief and corruption, as far as it
+can be done, by the enactment of all proper legal penalties. The laws
+in this respect are supposed to be defective, and I therefore deem it
+my duty to call your attention to the subject and to recommend that
+provision be made by law for the punishment not only of those who shall
+accept bribes, but also of those who shall either promise, give, or
+offer to give to any of those officers or clerks a bribe or reward
+touching or relating to any matter of their official action or duty.
+
+It has been the uniform policy of this Government, from its foundation
+to the present day, to abstain from all interference in the domestic
+affairs of other nations. The consequence has been that while the
+nations of Europe have been engaged in desolating wars our country has
+pursued its peaceful course to unexampled prosperity and happiness. The
+wars in which we have been compelled to engage in defense of the rights
+and honor of the country have been, fortunately, of short duration.
+During the terrific contest of nation against nation which succeeded
+the French Revolution we were enabled by the wisdom and firmness of
+President Washington to maintain our neutrality. While other nations
+were drawn into this wide-sweeping whirlpool, we sat quiet and unmoved
+upon our own shores. While the flower of their numerous armies was
+wasted by disease or perished by hundreds of thousands upon the
+battlefield, the youth of this favored land were permitted to enjoy the
+blessings of peace beneath the paternal roof. While the States of Europe
+incurred enormous debts, under the burden of which their subjects still
+groan, and which must absorb no small part of the product of the honest
+industry of those countries for generations to come, the United States
+have once been enabled to exhibit the proud spectacle of a nation free
+from public debt, and if permitted to pursue our prosperous way for a
+few years longer in peace we may do the same again.
+
+But it is now said by some that this policy must be changed. Europe is
+no longer separated from us by a voyage of months, but steam navigation
+has brought her within a few days' sail of our shores. We see more of
+her movements and take a deeper interest in her controversies. Although
+no one proposes that we should join the fraternity of potentates who
+have for ages lavished the blood and treasure of their subjects in
+maintaining "the balance of power," yet it is said that we ought to
+interfere between contending sovereigns and their subjects for the
+purpose of overthrowing the monarchies of Europe and establishing
+in their place republican institutions. It is alleged that we have
+heretofore pursued a different course from a sense of our weakness, but
+that now our conscious strength dictates a change of policy, and that it
+is consequently our duty to mingle in these contests and aid those who
+are struggling for liberty.
+
+This is a most seductive but dangerous appeal to the generous sympathies
+of freemen. Enjoying, as we do, the blessings of a free Government,
+there is no man who has an American heart that would not rejoice to see
+these blessings extended to all other nations. We can not witness the
+struggle between the oppressed and his oppressor anywhere without the
+deepest sympathy for the former and the most anxious desire for his
+triumph. Nevertheless, is it prudent or is it wise to involve ourselves
+in these foreign wars? Is it indeed true that we have heretofore
+refrained from doing so merely from the degrading motive of a conscious
+weakness? For the honor of the patriots who have gone before us, I can
+not admit it. Men of the Revolution, who drew the sword against the
+oppressions of the mother country and pledged to Heaven "their lives,
+their fortunes, and their sacred honor" to maintain their freedom, could
+never have been actuated by so unworthy a motive. They knew no weakness
+or fear where right or duty pointed the way, and it is a libel upon
+their fair fame for us, while we enjoy the blessings for which they so
+nobly fought and bled, to insinuate it. The truth is that the course
+which they pursued was dictated by a stern sense of international
+justice, by a statesmanlike prudence and a far-seeing wisdom, looking
+not merely to the present necessities but to the permanent safety and
+interest of the country. They knew that the world is governed less by
+sympathy than by reason and force; that it was not possible for this
+nation to become a "propagandist" of free principles without arraying
+against it the combined powers of Europe, and that the result was
+more likely to be the overthrow of republican liberty here than its
+establishment there. History has been written in vain for those who
+can doubt this. France had no sooner established a republican form of
+government than she manifested a desire to force its blessings on all
+the world. Her own historian informs us that, hearing of some petty
+acts of tyranny in a neighboring principality, "the National Convention
+declared that she would afford succor and fraternity to all nations
+who wished to recover their liberty, and she gave it in charge to the
+executive power to give orders to the generals of the French armies
+to aid all citizens who might have been or should be oppressed in the
+cause of liberty." Here was the false step which led to her subsequent
+misfortunes. She soon found herself involved in war with all the rest
+of Europe. In less than ten years her Government was changed from a
+republic to an empire, and finally, after shedding rivers of blood,
+foreign powers restored her exiled dynasty and exhausted Europe sought
+peace and repose in the unquestioned ascendency of monarchical
+principles. Let us learn wisdom from her example. Let us remember that
+revolutions do not always establish freedom. Our own free institutions
+were not the offspring of our Revolution. They existed before. They
+were planted in the free charters of self-government under which the
+English colonies grew up, and our Revolution only freed us from the
+dominion of a foreign power whose government was at variance with
+those institutions. But European nations have had no such training for
+self-government, and every effort to establish it by bloody revolutions
+has been, and must without that preparation continue to be, a failure.
+Liberty unregulated by law degenerates into anarchy, which soon becomes
+the most horrid of all despotisms. Our policy is wisely to govern
+ourselves, and thereby to set such an example of national justice,
+prosperity, and true glory as shall teach to all nations the blessings
+of self-government and the unparalleled enterprise and success of a free
+people.
+
+We live in an age of progress, and ours is emphatically a country of
+progress. Within the last half century the number of States in this
+Union has nearly doubled, the population has almost quadrupled, and our
+boundaries have been extended from the Mississippi to the Pacific. Our
+territory is checkered over with railroads and furrowed with canals. The
+inventive talent of our country is excited to the highest pitch, and the
+numerous applications for patents for valuable improvements distinguish
+this age and this people from all others. The genius of one American has
+enabled our commerce to move against wind and tide and that of another
+has annihilated distance in the transmission of intelligence. The
+whole country is full of enterprise. Our common schools are diffusing
+intelligence among the people and our industry is fast accumulating the
+comforts and luxuries of life. This is in part owing to our peculiar
+position, to our fertile soil and comparatively sparse population;
+but much of it is also owing to the popular institutions under which
+we live, to the freedom which every man feels to engage in any useful
+pursuit according to his taste or inclination, and to the entire
+confidence that his person and property will be protected by the laws.
+But whatever may be the cause of this unparalleled growth in population,
+intelligence, and wealth, one thing is clear--that the Government must
+keep pace with the progress of the people. It must participate in their
+spirit of enterprise, and while it exacts obedience to the laws and
+restrains all unauthorized invasions of the rights of neighboring
+states, it should foster and protect home industry and lend its powerful
+strength to the improvement of such means of intercommunication as are
+necessary to promote our internal commerce and strengthen the ties which
+bind us together as a people.
+
+It is not strange, however much it may be regretted, that such an
+exuberance of enterprise should cause some individuals to mistake change
+for progress and the invasion of the rights of others for national
+prowess and glory. The former are constantly agitating for some change
+in the organic law, or urging new and untried theories of human rights.
+The latter are ever ready to engage in any wild crusade against a
+neighboring people, regardless of the justice of the enterprise and
+without looking at the fatal consequences to ourselves and to the cause
+of popular government. Such expeditions, however, are often stimulated
+by mercenary individuals, who expect to share the plunder or profit of
+the enterprise without exposing themselves to danger, and are led on by
+some irresponsible foreigner, who abuses the hospitality of our own
+Government by, seducing the young and ignorant to join in his scheme of
+personal ambition or revenge under the false and delusive pretense of
+extending the area of freedom. These reprehensible aggressions but
+retard the true progress of our nation and tarnish its fair fame. They
+should therefore receive the indignant frowns of every good citizen who
+sincerely loves his country and takes a pride in its prosperity and
+honor.
+
+Our Constitution, though not perfect, is doubtless the best that ever
+was formed. Therefore let every proposition to change it be well weighed
+and, if found beneficial, cautiously adopted. Every patriot will rejoice
+to see its authority so exerted as to advance the prosperity and honor
+of the nation, whilst he will watch with jealousy any attempt to
+mutilate this charter of our liberties or pervert its powers to acts
+of aggression or injustice. Thus shall conservatism and progress blend
+their harmonious action in preserving the form and spirit of the
+Constitution and at the same time carry forward the great improvements
+of the country with a rapidity and energy which freemen only can
+display.
+
+In closing this my last annual communication, permit me,
+fellow-citizens, to congratulate you on the prosperous condition of
+our beloved country. Abroad its relations with all foreign powers are
+friendly, its rights are respected, and its high place in the family of
+nations cheerfully recognized. At home we enjoy an amount of happiness,
+public and private, which has probably never fallen to the lot of
+any other people. Besides affording to our own citizens a degree of
+prosperity of which on so large a scale I know of no other instance,
+our country is annually affording a refuge and a home to multitudes,
+altogether without example, from the Old World.
+
+We owe these blessings, under Heaven, to the happy Constitution and
+Government which were bequeathed to us by our fathers, and which it is
+our sacred duty to transmit in all their integrity to our children. We
+must all consider it a great distinction and privilege to have been
+chosen by the people to bear a part in the administration of such a
+Government. Called by an unexpected dispensation to its highest trust at
+a season of embarrassment and alarm, I entered upon its arduous duties
+with extreme diffidence. I claim only to have discharged them to the
+best of an humble ability, with a single eye to the public good, and
+it is with devout gratitude in retiring from office that I leave the
+country in a state of peace and prosperity.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+
+SPECIAL MESSAGES.
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _December 7, 1852_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I transmit to the Senate, for its consideration with a view to
+ratification, a treaty of friendship, commerce, and navigation, between
+the United States and the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, signed at
+Montevideo on the 28th of August last.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _December 8, 1852_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I transmit to the Senate, for its consideration with a view to
+ratification, an additional article, signed in this city on the 16th
+ultimo, to the convention for the mutual delivery of criminals fugitives
+from justice in certain cases between the United States on the one part
+and Prussia and other States of the Germanic Confederation on the other
+part, concluded on the 15th of June, 1852.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _January 4, 1853_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+In answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 30th ultimo, requesting
+information in regard to the establishment of a new British colony in
+Central America, I transmit a report from the Secretary of State and
+the documents by which it was accompanied.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _January 4, 1853_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+In answer to the Senate's resolution of the 3d instant, calling for
+information relative to a proposed tripartite convention on the subject
+of the island of Cuba, I transmit to the Senate a report from the
+Secretary of State and the papers which accompanied it.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _January 12, 1853_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+In pursuance of the eleventh article of the treaty with the Chickasaw
+Indians signed on the 20th day of October, 1832, I herewith transmit a
+recommendation from the Secretary of the Treasury for the investment
+of a portion of the funds belonging to said nation, for the purpose of
+obtaining the advice and consent of the Senate to make the investment
+as therein recommended.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _January 12, 1853_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+In reply to the resolution of your honorable body of the 5th instant,
+I herewith communicate a report of the Secretary of the Interior giving
+the information[27] required.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+[Footnote 27: Relating to the Mexican boundary commission.]
+
+
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+In answer to the resolution of the Senate dated the 13th ultimo,
+requesting further information in regard to the imprisonment of the
+United States consul and of other American citizens in the castle at
+Acapulco, I transmit a report from the Secretary of State and the
+documents by which it is accompanied.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+JANUARY 17, 1853.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _January 17, 1853_.
+
+_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:
+
+I transmit herewith a communication lately received at the Department of
+State from the minister of Her Most Catholic Majesty, accompanied by a
+letter of instructions from the Spanish Government relative to the case
+of the _Amistad_. In Mr. Calderon's communication reference is had to
+former letters addressed by him to the Department of State on the same
+subject, copies of which are herewith transmitted, and an earnest wish
+is expressed that a final settlement of this long-pending claim should
+be made. The tone of the letter of instructions from Mr. Manuel Bertran
+de Lis is somewhat more peremptory than could be wished, but this
+circumstance will not, probably, prevent Congress from giving his
+suggestions the attention to which they may be entitled.
+
+The claim of the Spanish Government on behalf of its subjects interested
+in the _Amistad_ was the subject of discussion during the Administration
+of President Tyler between the Spanish minister and Mr. Webster, then
+Secretary of State. In an elaborate letter of the latter, addressed to
+the Chevalier d'Argais on the 1st of September, 1841, the opinion is
+confidently maintained that the claim is unfounded. The Administration
+of President Polk took a different view of the matter. The justice of
+the claim was recognized in a letter from the Department of State to the
+Spanish minister of the 19th of March, 1847, and in his annual message
+of the same year the President recommended its payment.
+
+Under these circumstances the attention of Congress is again invited to
+the subject. Respect to the Spanish Government demands that its urgent
+representation should be candidly and impartially weighed. If Congress
+should be of opinion that the claim is just, every consideration points
+to the propriety of its prompt recognition and payment, and if the two
+Houses should come to the opposite conclusion it is equally desirable
+that the result should be announced without unnecessary delay.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _January 18, 1853_.
+
+_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_:
+
+I have the honor herewith to transmit a report from the Secretary of
+the Interior, from which it appears that the efforts of that Department
+to induce the Indians remaining in Florida to migrate to the country
+assigned to their tribe west of the Mississippi have been entirely
+unsuccessful. The only alternative that now remains is either to compel
+them by force to comply with the treaty made with the tribe in May,
+1832, by which they agreed to migrate within three years from that
+date, or allow the arrangement made with them in 1842, referred to in
+the Secretary's report, by which they were permitted to remain in the
+temporary occupancy of a portion of the peninsula until the Government
+should see fit to remove them, to continue.
+
+It can not be denied that the withholding so large a portion of her
+territory from settlement is a source of injury to the State of Florida;
+and although, ever since the arrangement above referred to, the Indians
+have manifested a desire to remain at peace with the whites, the
+presence of a people who may at any time and upon any real or fancied
+provocation be driven to acts of hostility is a source of constant
+anxiety and alarm to the inhabitants on that border.
+
+There can be no doubt, also, that the welfare of the Indians would be
+promoted by their removal from a territory where frequent collisions
+between them and their more powerful neighbors are daily becoming more
+inevitable.
+
+On the other hand, there is every reason to believe that any
+manifestation of a design to remove them by force or to take possession
+of the territory allotted to them would be immediately retaliated by
+acts of cruelty on the defenseless inhabitants.
+
+The number of Indians now remaining in the State is, it is true, very
+inconsiderable (not exceeding, it is believed, 500), but owing to the
+extent of the country occupied by them and its adaptation to their
+peculiar mode of warfare, a force very disproportioned to their numbers
+would be necessary to capture them, or even to protect the white
+settlements from their incursions. The military force now stationed in
+that State would be inadequate to these objects, and if it should be
+determined to enforce their removal or to survey the territory allotted
+to them some addition to it would be necessary, as the Government has
+but a small force available for that service. Additional appropriations
+for the support of the Army would also, in that event, be necessary.
+
+For these reasons I have deemed it proper to submit the whole matter to
+Congress, for such action as they may deem best.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _January 19, 1853_.
+
+_To the House of Representatives_:
+
+In answer to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 27th
+ultimo, requesting information relative to the claims on Spain in the
+cases of the bark _Georgiana_ and the brig _Susan Loud, I_ transmit a
+report from the Secretary of State, to whom the resolution was referred.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _January 21, 1853_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+In compliance with the resolution of the Senate of the 10th instant,
+requesting certain correspondence relative to Central America, I
+transmit a report from the Secretary of State and the documents by
+which it was accompanied.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _January 24, 1853_.
+
+_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:
+
+In obedience to a resolution of your honorable body of December 27,
+1852, in reference to claims of custom-house officers for additional
+pay, I have the honor herewith to transmit a report from the Secretary
+of the Treasury giving the desired information; and in answer to the
+seventh interrogatory, asking "whether in my opinion further legislation
+is necessary or advisable either to protect the Treasury from unjust
+claims or to secure to the claimants their just rights," I would state
+that in my opinion no further legislation is necessary to effect either
+object. My views on this subject will be more fully seen on reference to
+an opinion given by me to the Secretary of the Treasury, a copy of which
+is annexed to his report.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _January 24, 1853_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+In answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 14th instant, relative
+to the award of the Emperor Louis Napoleon, of France, in the case of
+the brig _General Armstrong_, I transmit a report from the Secretary of
+State and the documents by which it was accompanied.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _January 27, 1853_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+In answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 13th instant,
+requesting a copy of correspondence and other documents relative
+to Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and the territory claimed by the Mosquito
+Indians, I transmit a report of the Secretary of State, to whom the
+resolution was referred.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _January 27, 1853_.
+
+_To the House of Representatives_:
+
+Since my last message to your honorable body, communicating a report
+from the Treasury Department, in answer to your resolution of the 3d
+instant [27th ultimo?], in reference to the compensation of weighers and
+gangers, further communications on that subject have been received from
+New Orleans, which have just been reported to me by the Secretary of the
+Treasury and which I deem it my duty to communicate to the House.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _February 3, 1853_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I transmit herewith to the Senate in a new draft the convention with the
+Swiss Confederation, originally negotiated at Berne and concluded in
+that city on the 25th of November, 1850. On the 7th of March, 1851, it
+was considered by the Senate of the United States, whose assent was
+given to it with certain amendments, as will appear from the Journal of
+the Senate of that day. The convention was sent back to Switzerland with
+these alterations, which were taken into consideration by the Government
+of that Confederation, whose action in the premises will be learned by a
+letter from its President of the 5th of July, 1852.
+
+The modifications which the Government of the Swiss Confederation are
+desirous of introducing into the amendments made by the Senate of the
+United States and the articles affected by them are not inconsistent
+with the object and spirit of those amendments, and appear to me to
+proceed upon a reasonable principle of compromise.
+
+I have thought it expedient, in submitting them to the Senate with a
+view to their advice and consent to the ratification of the treaty in
+its present form, to have the entire instrument taken into a continuous
+draft, as well the portions--by far the greater part--already assented
+to by the Senate as the modifications proposed by the Government of the
+Swiss Confederation in reference to these amendments. In preparing the
+new draft a few slight alterations have been made in the modifications
+proposed by the Swiss Government.
+
+Should the convention receive the approbation of the Senate in its
+present form, it will be immediately transmitted to Switzerland for
+ratification by the Swiss Confederation.
+
+The delays which have taken place in the negotiation of this treaty have
+been principally caused by the want of a resident diplomatic agent of
+the United States at Berne, and are among the reasons for which an
+appropriation for a charge d'affaires to that Government has recently,
+by my direction, been recommended in a letter from the Department of
+State to the chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations of the
+Senate.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _February 3, 1853_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+In compliance with the resolution of the Senate of the 11th ultimo,
+asking for information with regard to the execution of the postal
+convention between the United States and Great Britain, I transmit a
+report from the Secretary of State and the documents which accompanied
+it.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _February 7, 1853_.
+
+_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:
+
+Having in my message to Congress at the opening of the session adverted
+to the pending negotiations between this Government and that of Great
+Britain relative to the fisheries and commercial reciprocity with the
+British American Provinces, I transmit for the information of Congress
+the accompanying report from the Department of State on the present
+state of the negotiations, and I respectfully invite the attention of
+the two Houses to the suggestion in the latter part of the report.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _February 9, 1853_.
+
+_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:
+
+I herewith transmit a communication from the Secretary of the Navy,
+accompanied by the first part of Lieutenant Herndon's report of the
+exploration of the valley of the Amazon and its tributaries, made by him
+in connection with lieutenant Gardner Gibbon, under instructions from
+the Navy Department.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _February 14, 1853_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I herewith communicate to the Senate, for its consideration with a
+view to ratification, a convention on the subject of the extradition
+of fugitives from justice between the United States and Belgium,
+concluded and signed in this city on the 11th instant by the respective
+plenipotentiaries.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _February 18, 1853_.
+
+_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:
+
+I transmit a report from the Secretary of State, embodying the substance
+of recent communications made by the minister of Her Britannic Majesty
+to the Department of State on the subject of the interoceanic canal by
+the Nicaragua route, which formed the chief object of the treaty between
+the United States and Great Britain of the 19th April, 1850, and the
+relations of Great Britain to the protectorate of Mosquito, which she
+expresses herself desirous of relinquishing on terms consistent with
+her honorable engagements to the Indians of that name.
+
+In consequence of these communications and other considerations stated
+in the report, it is deemed advisable by the Department that our
+diplomatic relations with the States of Central America should be placed
+on a higher and more efficient footing, and this measure meets my
+approbation. The whole subject is one of so much delicacy and importance
+that I should have preferred, so near the close of my Administration,
+not to make it the subject of an Executive communication. But inasmuch
+as the measure proposed can not, even if deemed expedient by my
+successor, take effect for near a twelvemonth unless an appropriation is
+made by this Congress, I have thought it my duty to submit the report of
+the Department to the two Houses. The importance of the measure seemed
+to require an exposition somewhat in detail of the grounds on which it
+is recommended.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _February 18, 1853_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I transmit to the Senate, with the view to its ratification, a
+convention which was yesterday concluded between the United States
+and Great Britain for the establishment of international copyright.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _February 19, 1853_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+In answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 14th instant, relative
+to the fisheries on the coasts of Florida, I transmit herewith a report
+from the Secretary of State and the documents which accompanied it.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _February 21, 1853_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+In compliance with your resolution of the 19th of February instant,
+I herewith communicate a report from the Secretary of War, containing
+the report of Lieutenant Meigs, of the Engineer Corps, on the surveys,
+projects, and estimates for supplying the cities of Washington and
+Georgetown with an unfailing and abundant supply of water.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _February 21, 1853_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I have the honor to transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of
+the Treasury of the 21st instant, in reference to the reinvestment of
+certain moneys belonging to the Chickasaw Nation of Indians which will
+come into the Treasury during the succeeding vacation of the Senate,
+and I respectfully concur in the recommendation made by the Secretary.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _February 23, 1853_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I transmit to the Senate, for advice and consent with a view to
+ratification, a convention between the United States and Her Britannic
+Majesty for the adjustment of certain claims of citizens of the United
+States on the British Government and of British subjects on the
+Government of the United States, signed in London on the 8th instant.
+Although it is stipulated by the terms of the first article of the
+convention that the commissioner on the part of this Government shall be
+appointed by the President of the United States, it is not understood
+that this stipulation was intended to dispense with the concurrence of
+the Senate in such appointment.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _February 25, 1853_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I transmit to the Senate, for its consideration with a view to
+ratification, a consular convention concluded in this city on the
+23d instant between the United States and His Majesty the Emperor
+of the French.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _February 26, 1853_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I transmit a copy of a proclamation of yesterday, which I deemed it
+advisable to issue, relative to an extraordinary session of the Senate
+on the 4th of March next.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _February 28, 1853_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+In answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 17th January last,
+requesting information in regard to the fisheries on the coasts of the
+British North American Provinces, I transmit a report from the Secretary
+of State and the documents which accompanied it.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _February 28, 1853_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I herewith transmit, for the consideration and advice of the Senate, a
+treaty recently entered into with the Apache Indians in New Mexico by
+Colonel Stunner and Mr. Greiner, acting on behalf of the United States,
+together with the letter of Colonel Sumner on the subject of the treaty
+and reports thereon from the Commissioner of Indian Affairs and the
+Secretary of the Interior.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+
+
+PROCLAMATION.
+
+
+BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
+
+A PROCLAMATION.
+
+
+The attention of the President having been called to the proceedings of
+Congress at the close of its session on the 4th of March, 1851, from
+which it appears that the constitutional term of that body was held
+not to have expired until 12 o'clock at noon of that day, and a notice
+having been issued, agreeably to former usage, to convene the Senate at
+11 o'clock a. m. on the 4th of March next, it is apparent that such call
+is in conflict with the decision aforesaid:
+
+Now, therefore, as well for the purpose of removing all doubt as to the
+legality of such call as of establishing a precedent of what is deemed
+a proper mode of convening the Senate, I, Millard Fillmore, President
+of the United States, have considered it to be my duty to issue this
+my proclamation, revoking said call and hereby declaring that an
+extraordinary occasion requires the Senate of the United States to
+convene for the transaction of business at the Capitol, in the city of
+Washington, on Friday, the 4th day of March next, at 12 o'clock at noon
+of that day, of which all who shall at that time be entitled to act as
+members of that body are hereby required to take notice.
+
+[SEAL.]
+
+Given under my hand and the seal of the United States, at Washington,
+this 25th day of February, A.D. 1853, and of the Independence Of the
+United States the seventy-seventh.
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+By the President:
+  EDWARD EVERETT,
+    _Secretary of State_.
+
+
+
+***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A COMPILATION OF THE MESSAGES AND
+PAPERS OF THE PRESIDENTS, VOLUME V, PART 1; PRESIDENTS TAYLOR AND
+FILLMORE***
+
+
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