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diff --git a/old/11125.txt b/old/11125.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a6276ba --- /dev/null +++ b/old/11125.txt @@ -0,0 +1,13625 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of +the Presidents, 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 + Section 3 (of 4) of Volume 5: Franklin Pierce + +Author: James D. Richardson + +Release Date: February 17, 2004 [EBook #11125] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FRANKLIN PIERCE *** + + + + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, David Garcia and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team. + + + + + +A COMPILATION OF THE MESSAGES AND PAPERS OF THE PRESIDENTS + +BY JAMES D. RICHARDSON + + +Franklin Pierce + +March 4, 1853, to March 4, 1857 + + + +Franklin Pierce + + +Franklin Pierce was born in Hillsboro, N.H., November 23, 1804. Was +the fourth son of Benjamin and Anna Pierce. His father was a citizen of +Massachusetts; was a soldier in the War of the Revolution, attaining the +rank of captain and brevet major. After peace was declared he removed +from Massachusetts to New Hampshire and located near what is now +Hillsboro. His first wife was Elizabeth Andrews, who died at an early +age. His second wife, the mother of Franklin Pierce, was Anna Kendrick, +of Amherst, N.H. He was sheriff of his county, a member of the State +legislature and of the governor's council, and was twice chosen governor +of his State (as a Democrat), first in 1827 and again in 1829, For many +years he was declared to be "the most influential man in New Hampshire," +He died in 1839. Franklin was given an academic education in well-known +institutions at Hancock, Francestown, and Exeter, and in 1820 was sent +to Bowdoin College, His college mates there were John P. Hale, his +future political rival; Professor Calvin E. Stowe; Sergeant S. Prentiss, +the distinguished orator; Henry W. Longfellow, and Nathaniel Hawthorne, +his future biographer and lifelong friend. He graduated in 1824, being +third in his class. After taking his degree he began the study of law +at Portsmouth in the office of Levi Woodbury, where he remained about +a year. Afterwards spent two years in the law school at Northampton, +Mass., and in the office of Judge Edmund Parker, at Amherst, N.H. +In 1827 was admitted to the bar and began practice in his native +town. Espoused the cause of Andrew Jackson with ardor, and in 1829 was +elected to represent his native town in the legislature, where by three +subsequent elections he served four years, the last two as speaker. +In 1833 was elected to represent his native district in the lower House +of Congress, where he remained four years; served on the Judiciary and +other important committees. His first important speech in the House was +delivered in 1834 upon the necessity of economy and of watchfulness +against frauds in the payment of Revolutionary claims. In 1834 married +Miss Jane Means Appleton, daughter of Rev. Jesse Appleton, president of +Bowdoin College. In 1837 was elected to the United States Senate. On +account of ill health of his wife, deeming it best for her to return to +New Hampshire, on June 28, 1842, resigned his seat, and returning to his +home resumed the practice of the law. In 1838 he changed his residence +from Hillsboro to Concord. In 1845 declined an appointment to the United +States Senate to fill a vacancy. Also declined the nomination for +governor, tendered by the Democratic State convention, and in 1845 an +appointment to the office of Attorney-General of the United States, +tendered by President Polk. In 1846, when the war with Mexico began, he +enlisted as a private in a volunteer company organized at Concord; was +soon afterwards commissioned colonel of the Ninth Regiment of Infantry; +March 3, 1847, was commissioned brigadier-general in the Volunteer Army, +and on March 27 embarked for Mexico, arriving at Vera Cruz June 28. +August 6, 1847, joined General Scott with his brigade at Puebla, and +soon set out for the capture of the City of Mexico. Took part in the +battle of Contreras September 19, 1847, in which engagement he was +severely injured by being thrown from his horse. The next day, not +having recovered, he undertook to accompany his brigade in action +against the enemy, when he fainted. He persisted in remaining on duty +in the subsequent operations of the Army. His conduct and services were +spoken of in high terms by his superior officers, Generals Scott, Worth, +and Pillow. Before the battle of Molino del Rey was appointed one of the +American commissioners in the effort for peace, a truce being declared +for that purpose. The effort failed and the fighting was renewed. +Participated in the battle of Molino del Rey and continued on duty till +peace was declared. Resigned his commission in March, 1848, and returned +to his home. The same month the legislature of his State voted him +a sword of honor in appreciation of his services in the war. Resumed +his law practice and was highly successful. In 1850 was a member +of the constitutional convention which met at Concord to amend the +constitution of New Hampshire, and was chosen to preside over its +deliberations; he favored the removal of the religious-test clause in +the old constitution, by which Roman Catholics were disqualified from +holding office in the State, and also the abolition of any "property +qualification;" he carried these amendments through the convention, +but the people defeated them at the election. In January, 1852, the +Democratic State convention of New Hampshire declared for him for +President, but in a letter January 12 he positively refused to permit +the delegation to present his name. The national convention of the party +met at Baltimore June 1, 1852. On the fourth day he was nominated for +President, and was elected in November, receiving 254 electoral votes, +while his opponent, General Scott, received only 42. Was inaugurated +March 4, 1853. In 1856 he was voted for by his friends in the national +Democratic convention for renomination, but was unsuccessful. Upon the +expiration of his term as President he retired to his home at Concord, +where he resided the remainder of his life. Died October 8, 1869, and +was buried at Concord. + + + + +INAUGURAL ADDRESS. + + +My Countrymen: It is a relief to feel that no heart but my own can know +the personal regret and bitter sorrow over which I have been borne to a +position so suitable for others rather than desirable for myself. + +The circumstances under which I have been called for a limited period to +preside over the destinies of the Republic fill me with a profound sense +of responsibility, but with nothing like shrinking apprehension. I +repair to the post assigned me not as to one sought, but in obedience to +the unsolicited expression of your will, answerable only for a fearless, +faithful, and diligent exercise of my best powers. I ought to be, +and am, truly grateful for the rare manifestation of the nation's +confidence; but this, so far from lightening my obligations, only adds +to their weight. You have summoned me in my weakness; you must sustain +me by your strength. When looking for the fulfillment of reasonable +requirements, you will not be unmindful of the great changes which have +occurred, even within the last quarter of a century, and the consequent +augmentation and complexity of duties imposed in the administration both +of your home and foreign affairs. + +Whether the elements of inherent force in the Republic have kept pace +with its unparalleled progression in territory, population, and wealth +has been the subject of earnest thought and discussion on both sides of +the ocean. Less than sixty-four years ago the Father of his Country made +"the" then "recent accession of the important State of North Carolina +to the Constitution of the United States" one of the subjects of his +special congratulation. At that moment, however, when the agitation +consequent upon the Revolutionary struggle had hardly subsided, when +we were just emerging from the weakness and embarrassments of the +Confederation, there was an evident consciousness of vigor equal to the +great mission so wisely and bravely fulfilled by our fathers. It was not +a presumptuous assurance, but a calm faith, springing from a clear view +of the sources of power in a government constituted like ours. It is +no paradox to say that although comparatively weak the new-born nation +was intrinsically strong. Inconsiderable in population and apparent +resources, it was upheld by a broad and intelligent comprehension of +rights and an all-pervading purpose to maintain them, stronger than +armaments. It came from the furnace of the Revolution, tempered to the +necessities of the times. The thoughts of the men of that day were as +practical as their sentiments were patriotic. They wasted no portion of +their energies upon idle and delusive speculations, but with a firm +and fearless step advanced beyond the governmental landmarks which had +hitherto circumscribed the limits of human freedom and planted their +standard, where it has stood against dangers which have threatened from +abroad, and internal agitation, which has at times fearfully menaced at +home. They proved themselves equal to the solution of the great problem, +to understand which their minds had been illuminated by the dawning +lights of the Revolution. The object sought was not a thing dreamed +of; it was a thing realized. They had exhibited not only the power to +achieve, but, what all history affirms to be So much more unusual, the +capacity to maintain. The oppressed throughout the world from that day +to the present have turned their eyes hitherward, not to find those +lights extinguished or to fear lest they should wane, but to be +constantly cheered by their steady and increasing radiance. + +In this our country has, in my judgment, thus far fulfilled its highest +duty to suffering humanity. It has spoken and will continue to speak, +not only by its words, but by its acts, the language of sympathy, +encouragement, and hope to those who earnestly listen to tones which +pronounce for the largest rational liberty. But after all, the most +animating encouragement and potent appeal for freedom will be its own +history--its trials and its triumphs. Preeminently, the power of our +advocacy reposes in our example; but no example, be it remembered, +can be powerful for lasting good, whatever apparent advantages may be +gained, which is not based upon eternal principles of right and justice. +Our fathers decided for themselves, both upon the hour to declare and +the hour to strike. They were their own judges of the circumstances +under which it became them to pledge to each other "their lives, their +fortunes, and their sacred honor" for the acquisition of the priceless +inheritance transmitted to us. The energy with which that great conflict +was opened and, under the guidance of a manifest and beneficent +Providence, the uncomplaining endurance with which it was prosecuted to +its consummation were only surpassed by the wisdom and patriotic spirit +of concession which characterized all the counsels of the early fathers. + +One of the most impressive evidences of that wisdom is to be found in +the fact that the actual working of our system has dispelled a degree of +solicitude which at the outset disturbed bold hearts and far-reaching +intellects. The apprehension of dangers from extended territory, +multiplied States, accumulated wealth, and augmented population has +proved to be unfounded. The stars upon your banner have become nearly +threefold their original number; your densely populated possessions +skirt the shores of the two great oceans; and yet this vast increase +of people and territory has not only shown itself compatible with +the harmonious action of the States and Federal Government in their +respective constitutional spheres, but has afforded an additional +guaranty of the strength and integrity of both. + +With an experience thus suggestive and cheering, the policy of my +Administration will not be controlled by any timid forebodings of evil +from expansion. Indeed, it is not to be disguised that our attitude as a +nation and our position on the globe render the acquisition of certain +possessions not within our jurisdiction eminently important for our +protection, if not in the future essential for the preservation of the +rights of commerce and the peace of the world. Should they be obtained, +it will be through no grasping spirit, but with a view to obvious +national interest and security, and in a manner entirely consistent with +the strictest observance of national faith. We have nothing in our +history or position to invite aggression; we have everything to beckon +us to the cultivation of relations of peace and amity with all nations. +Purposes, therefore, at once just and pacific will be significantly +marked in the conduct of our foreign affairs. I intend that my +Administration shall leave no blot upon our fair record, and trust I may +safely give the assurance that no act within the legitimate scope of my +constitutional control will be tolerated on the part of any portion of +our citizens which can not challenge a ready justification before the +tribunal of the civilized world. An Administration would be unworthy of +confidence at home or respect abroad should it cease to be influenced by +the conviction that no apparent advantage can be purchased at a price so +dear as that of national wrong or dishonor. It is not your privilege as +a nation to speak of a distant past. The striking incidents of your +history, replete with instruction and furnishing abundant grounds for +hopeful confidence, are comprised in a period comparatively brief. +But if your past is limited, your future is boundless. Its obligations +throng the unexplored pathway of advancement, and will be limitless as +duration. Hence a sound and comprehensive policy should embrace not less +the distant future than the urgent present. + +The great objects of our pursuit as a people are best to be attained by +peace, and are entirely consistent with the tranquillity and interests +of the rest of mankind. With the neighboring nations upon our continent +we should cultivate kindly and fraternal relations. We can desire +nothing in regard to them so much as to see them consolidate their +strength and pursue the paths of prosperity and happiness. If in the +course of their growth we should open new channels of trade and create +additional facilities for friendly intercourse, the benefits realized +will be equal and mutual, Of the complicated European systems of +national polity we have heretofore been independent. From their wars, +their tumults, and anxieties we have been, happily, almost entirely +exempt. Whilst these are confined to the nations which gave them +existence, and within their legitimate jurisdiction, they can not affect +us except as they appeal to our Sympathies in the cause of human freedom +and universal advancement. But the vast interests of commerce are +common to all mankind, and the advantages of trade and international +intercourse must always present a noble field for the moral influence +of a great people. + +With these views firmly and honestly carried out, we have a right to +expect, and shall under all circumstances require, prompt reciprocity. +The rights which belong to us as a nation are not alone to be regarded, +but those which pertain to every citizen in his individual capacity, at +home and abroad, must be sacredly maintained. So long as he can discern +every star in its place upon that ensign, without wealth to purchase +for him preferment or title to secure for him place, it will be his +privilege, and must be his acknowledged right, to stand unabashed even +in the presence of princes, with a proud consciousness that he is +himself one of a nation of sovereigns and that he can not in legitimate +pursuit wander so far from home that the agent whom he shall leave +behind in the place which I now occupy will not see that no rude hand +of power or tyrannical passion is laid upon him with impunity. He must +realize that upon every sea and on every soil where our enterprise may +rightfully seek the protection of our flag American citizenship is an +inviolable panoply for the security of American rights. And in this +connection it can hardly be necessary to reaffirm a principle which +should now be regarded as fundamental. The rights, security, and repose +of this Confederacy reject the idea of interference or colonization on +this side of the ocean by any foreign power beyond present jurisdiction +as utterly inadmissible. + +The opportunities of observation furnished by my brief experience as a +soldier confirmed in my own mind the opinion, entertained and acted upon +by others from the formation of the Government, that the maintenance of +large standing armies in our country would be not only dangerous, but +unnecessary. They also illustrated the importance--I might well say +the absolute necessity--of the military science and practical skill +furnished in such an eminent degree by the institution which has made +your Army what it is, under the discipline and instruction of officers +not more distinguished for their solid attainments, gallantry, and +devotion to the public service than for unobtrusive bearing and high +moral tone. The Army as organized must be the nucleus around which in +every time of need the strength of your military power, the sure bulwark +of your defense--a national militia--may be readily formed into a +well-disciplined and efficient organization. And the skill and +self-devotion of the Navy assure you that you may take the performance +of the past as a pledge for the future, and may confidently expect that +the flag which has waved its untarnished folds over every sea will still +float in undiminished honor. But these, like many other subjects, will +be appropriately brought at a future time to the attention of the +coordinate branches of the Government, to which I shall always look +with profound respect and with trustful confidence that they will accord +to me the aid and support which I shall so much need and which their +experience and wisdom will readily suggest. + +In the administration of domestic affairs you expect a devoted +integrity in the public service and an observance of rigid economy +in all departments, so marked as never justly to be questioned. If this +reasonable expectation be not realized, I frankly confess that one of +your leading hopes is doomed to disappointment, and that my efforts +in a very important particular must result in a humiliating failure. +Offices can be properly regarded only in the light of aids for the +accomplishment of these objects, and as occupancy can confer no +prerogative nor importunate desire for preferment any claim, the public +interest imperatively demands that they be considered with sole +reference to the duties to be performed. Good citizens may well claim +the protection of good laws and the benign influence of good government, +but a claim for office is what the people of a republic should never +recognize. No reasonable man of any party will expect the Administration +to be so regardless of its responsibility and of the obvious elements +of success as to retain persons known to be under the influence of +political hostility and partisan prejudice in positions which will +require not only severe labor, but cordial cooperation. Having no +implied engagements to ratify, no rewards to bestow, no resentments to +remember, and no personal wishes to consult in selections for official +station, I shall fulfill this difficult and delicate trust, admitting +no motive as worthy either of my character or position which does not +contemplate an efficient discharge of duty and the best interests of my +country. I acknowledge my obligations to the masses of my countrymen, +and to them alone. Higher objects than personal aggrandizement gave +direction and energy to their exertions in the late canvass, and +they shall not be disappointed. They require at my hands diligence, +integrity, and capacity wherever there are duties to be performed. +Without these qualities in their public servants, more stringent laws +for the prevention or punishment of fraud, negligence, and peculation +will be vain. With them they will be unnecessary. + +But these are not the only points to which you look for vigilant +watchfulness. The dangers of a concentration of all power in the +general government of a confederacy so vast as ours are too obvious +to be disregarded. You have a right, therefore, to expect your agents +in every department to regard strictly the limits imposed upon them +by the Constitution of the United States. The great scheme of our +constitutional liberty rests upon a proper distribution of power +between the State and Federal authorities, and experience has shown +that the harmony and happiness of our people must depend upon a just +discrimination between the separate rights and responsibilities of +the States and your common rights and obligations under the General +Government; and here, in my opinion, are the considerations which should +form the true basis of future concord in regard to the questions which +have most seriously disturbed public tranquillity. If the Federal +Government will confine itself to the exercise of powers clearly granted +by the Constitution, it can hardly happen that its action upon any +question should endanger the institutions of the States or interfere +with their right to manage matters strictly domestic according to the +will of their own people. + +In expressing briefly my views upon an important subject which has +recently agitated the nation to almost a fearful degree, I am moved by +no other impulse than a most earnest desire for the perpetuation of that +Union which has made us what we are, showering upon us blessings and +conferring a power and influence which our fathers could hardly have +anticipated, even with their most sanguine hopes directed to a far-off +future. The sentiments I now announce were not unknown before the +expression of the voice which called me here. My own position upon this +subject was clear and unequivocal, upon the record of my words and my +acts, and it is only recurred to at this time because silence might +perhaps be misconstrued. With the Union my best and dearest earthly +hopes are entwined. Without it what are we individually or collectively? +What becomes of the noblest field ever opened for the advancement of our +race in religion, in government, in the arts, and in all that dignifies +and adorns mankind? From that radiant constellation which both illumines +our own way and points out to struggling nations their course, let but a +single star be lost, and, if there be not utter darkness, the luster of +the whole is dimmed. Do my countrymen need any assurance that such a +catastrophe is not to overtake them while I possess the power to stay +it? It is with me an earnest and vital belief that as the Union has been +the source, under Providence, of our prosperity to this time, so it is +the surest pledge of a continuance of the blessings we have enjoyed, and +which we are sacredly bound to transmit undiminished to our children. +The field of calm and free discussion in our country is open, and will +always be so, but never has been and never can be traversed for good +in a spirit of sectionalism and uncharitableness. The founders of the +Republic dealt with things as they were presented to them, in a spirit +of self-sacrificing patriotism, and, as time has proved, with a +comprehensive wisdom which it will always be safe for us to consult. +Every measure tending to strengthen the fraternal feelings of all the +members of our Union has had my heartfelt approbation. To every theory +of society or government, whether the offspring of feverish ambition +or of morbid enthusiasm, calculated to dissolve the bonds of law +and affection which unite us, I shall interpose a ready and stern +resistance. I believe that involuntary servitude, as it exists in +different States of this Confederacy, is recognized by the Constitution. +I believe that it stands like any other admitted right, and that the +States where it exists are entitled to efficient remedies to enforce the +constitutional provisions. I hold that the laws of 1850, commonly called +the "compromise measures," are strictly constitutional and to be +unhesitatingly carried into effect. I believe that the constituted +authorities of this Republic are bound to regard the rights of the South +in this respect as they would view any other legal and constitutional +right, and that the laws to enforce them should be respected and obeyed, +not with a reluctance encouraged by abstract opinions as to their +propriety in a different state of society, but cheerfully and according +to the decisions of the tribunal to which their exposition belongs. +Such have been, and are, my convictions, and upon them I shall act. +I fervently hope that the question is at rest, and that no sectional or +ambitious or fanatical excitement may again threaten the durability of +our institutions or obscure the light of our prosperity. + +But let not the foundation of our hope rest upon man's wisdom. It will +not be sufficient that sectional prejudices find no place in the public +deliberations. It will not be sufficient that the rash counsels of human +passion are rejected. It must be felt that there is no national security +but in the nation's humble, acknowledged dependence upon God and His +overruling providence. + +We have been carried in safety through a perilous crisis. Wise counsels, +like those which gave us the Constitution, prevailed to uphold it. Let +the period be remembered as an admonition, and not as an encouragement, +in any section of the Union, to make experiments where experiments are +fraught with such fearful hazard. Let it be impressed upon all hearts +that, beautiful as our fabric is, no earthly power or wisdom could ever +reunite its broken fragments. Standing, as I do, almost within view +of the green slopes of Monticello, and, as it were, within reach of +the tomb of Washington, with all the cherished memories of the past +gathering around me like so many eloquent voices of exhortation from +heaven, I can express no better hope for my country than that the kind +Providence which smiled upon our fathers may enable their children to +preserve the blessings they have inherited. + +MARCH 4, 1853. + + + + +SPECIAL MESSAGES. + + +WASHINGTON, _March 21, 1853_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +In answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 17th instant, +respecting certain propositions to Nicaragua and Costa Rica relative to +the settlement of the territorial controversies between the States and +Governments bordering on the river San Juan, I transmit a report from +the Secretary of State and the documents by which it was accompanied. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _March 21, 1853_. + +_To the Senate_: + + +The eleventh article of the treaty with the Chickasaw Indians of the +20th October, 1832, provides that certain moneys arising from the sales +of the lands ceded by that treaty shall be laid out under the direction +of the President of the United States, by and with the advice and +consent of the Senate, in such safe and valuable stock as he may approve +of, for the benefit of the Chickasaw Nation. + +The report of the Secretary of the Treasury of the 15th instant, +herewith transmitted, shows that the sum of $58,100 5 per cent stock, +created under the act of 3d March, 1843, now stands on the books of the +Treasury in the name of the Secretary of the Treasury, as trustee for +the Chickasaw national fund. This stock, by the terms of its issue, is +redeemable on the 1st July next, when interest thereon will cease. It +therefore becomes my duty to lay before the Senate the subject of +reinvesting this amount under the same trust. + +The second section of the act of 11th September, 1841 (the first section +of which repeals the provisions of the act of 7th July, 1838, directing +the investment of the Smithsonian fund in the stocks of the States), +enacts that "all other funds held in trust by the United States, and the +annual interest accruing thereon, when not otherwise required by treaty, +shall in like manner be invested in stocks of the United States bearing +a like rate of interest." + +I submit to the Senate whether it will advise and consent that the +Secretary of the Treasury be authorized, under my direction, to reinvest +the above-mentioned sum of $58,100 in stocks of the United States under +the same trust. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _March 21, 1853_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +In answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 18th of January last, +calling for further correspondence touching the revolution in France of +December, 1851, I transmit a report from the Secretary of State and the +documents by which it was accompanied. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +EXECUTIVE CHAMBER, _March 25, 1853_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I nominate Mrs. Mary Berard to be deputy postmaster at "West Point," +N.Y., the commissions for said office having exceeded $1,000 for the +year ending the 30th June, 1852. Mrs. B. has held said office since the +12th of May, 1848, under an appointment of the Post-Office Department. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + + +EXECUTIVE ORDERS. + + +EXECUTIVE OFFICE, _March 23, 1853_. + +Believing that the public interests involved in the erection of the +wings of the United States Capitol will be promoted by the exercise of +a general supervision and control of the whole work by a skillful and +competent officer of the Corps of Engineers or of the Topographical +Corps, and as the officers of those corps are more immediately amenable +to the Secretary of War, I hereby direct that the jurisdiction +heretofore exercised over the said work by the Department of the +Interior be transferred to the War Department, and request that the +Secretary of War will designate to the President a suitable officer +to take charge of the same. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. + +WASHINGTON, _April 20, 1853_. + +The President has, with deep sorrow, received information that the +Vice-President of the United States, William R. King, died on the 18th +instant at his residence in Alabama. + +In testimony of respect for eminent station, exalted character, and, +higher and above all station, for a career of public service and +devotion to this Union which for duration and usefulness is almost +without a parallel in the history of the Republic, the labors of the +various Departments will be suspended. + +The Secretaries of War and Navy will issue orders that appropriate +military and naval honors be rendered to the memory of one to whom such +a tribute will not be formal, but heartfelt from a people the deceased +has so faithfully served. + +The public offices will be closed to-morrow and badges of mourning be +placed on the Executive Mansion and all the Executive Departments at +Washington. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +GENERAL ORDERS, No. II. + + +WAR DEPARTMENT, + +ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE, + +_Washington, April 20, 1853_. + +I. The following order announces to the Army the death of William Rufus +King, late Vice-President of the United States: + + +WAR DEPARTMENT, + +_Washington, April 20, 1853_. + +With deep sorrow the President announces to the Army the death of +William Rufus King, Vice-President of the United States, who died on the +evening of Monday, the 18th instant, at his residence in Dallas County, +Ala. + +Called into the service of his country at a period in life when but few +are prepared to enter upon its realities, his long career of public +usefulness at home and abroad has always been honored by the public +confidence, and was closed in the second office within the gift of the +people. + +From sympathy with his relatives and the American people for their loss +and from respect for his distinguished public services, the President +directs that appropriate honors to his memory be paid by the Army. + +JEFFERSON DAVIS, + +_Secretary of War_. + + +II. On the day next succeeding the receipt of this order at each +military post the troops will be paraded at 10 o'clock a.m. and this +order read to them. + +The national flag will be displayed at half-staff. + +At dawn of day thirteen guns will be fired. Commencing at 12 o'clock m. +seventeen minute guns will be fired and at the close of the day the +national salute of thirty-one guns. + +The usual badge of mourning will be worn by officers of the Army and the +colors of the several regiments will be put in mourning for the period +of three months. + +By order: + +S. COOPER, + +_Adjutant-General_. + + + +[From the Daily National Intelligencer, April 21, 1853.] + +GENERAL ORDER. + +NAVY DEPARTMENT, + +_April 20, 1853_. + +With deep sorrow the President announces to the officers of the Navy +and Marine Corps the death of William Rufus King, Vice-President of the +United States, who died on the evening of Monday, the 18th instant, at +his residence in Alabama. + +Called into the service of his country at a period of life when but few +are prepared to enter upon its realities, his long career of public +usefulness at home and abroad has always been honored by the public +confidence, and was closed in the second office within the gift of the +people. + +From sympathy with his relatives and the American people for their loss +and from respect for his distinguished public services, the President +directs that appropriate honors be paid to his memory at each of the +navy-yards and naval stations and on board all the public vessels in +commission on the day after this order is received by firing at dawn +of day thirteen guns, at 12 o'clock m. seventeen minute guns, and at +the close of the day the national salute, by carrying their flags at +half-mast one day, and by the officers wearing crape on the left arm +for three months. + +J.C. DOBBIN, + +_Secretary of the Navy_. + + + + +FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE. + + +WASHINGTON, D.C., _December 5, 1853_. + +_Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and of the House of Representatives_: + +The interest with which the people of the Republic anticipate the +assembling of Congress and the fulfillment on that occasion of the duty +imposed upon a new President is one of the best evidences of their +capacity to realize the hopes of the founders of a political system +at once complex and symmetrical. While the different branches of the +Government are to a certain extent independent of each other, the duties +of all alike have direct reference to the source of power. Fortunately, +under this system no man is so high and none so humble in the scale of +public station as to escape from the scrutiny or to be exempt from the +responsibility which all official functions imply. + +Upon the justice and intelligence of the masses, in a government thus +organized, is the sole reliance of the confederacy and the only security +for honest and earnest devotion to its interests against the usurpations +and encroachments of power on the one hand and the assaults of personal +ambition on the other. + +The interest of which I have spoken is inseparable from an inquiring, +self-governing community, but stimulated, doubtless, at the present time +by the unsettled condition of our relations with several foreign powers, +by the new obligations resulting from a sudden extension of the field of +enterprise, by the spirit with which that field has been entered and the +amazing energy with which its resources for meeting the demands of +humanity have been developed. + +Although disease, assuming at one time the characteristics of a +widespread and devastating pestilence, has left its sad traces upon +some portions of our country, we have still the most abundant cause +for reverent thankfulness to God for an accumulation of signal mercies +showered upon us as a nation. It is well that a consciousness of rapid +advancement and increasing strength be habitually associated with an +abiding sense of dependence upon Him who holds in His hands the destiny +of men and of nations. + +Recognizing the wisdom of the broad principle of absolute religious +toleration proclaimed in our fundamental law, and rejoicing in the +benign influence which it has exerted upon our social and political +condition, I should shrink from a clear duty did I fail to express +my deepest conviction that we can place no secure reliance upon any +apparent progress if it be not sustained by national integrity, resting +upon the great truths affirmed and illustrated by divine revelation. +In the midst of our sorrow for the afflicted and suffering, it has been +consoling to see how promptly disaster made true neighbors of districts +and cities separated widely from each other, and cheering to watch the +strength of that common bond of brotherhood which unites all hearts, in +all parts of this Union, when danger threatens from abroad or calamity +impends over us at home. + +Our diplomatic relations with foreign powers have undergone no essential +change since the adjournment of the last Congress. With some of them +questions of a disturbing character are still pending, but there are +good reasons to believe that these may all be amicably adjusted. + +For some years past Great Britain has so construed the first article of +the convention of the 20th of April, 1818, in regard to the fisheries +on the northeastern coast, as to exclude our citizens from some of the +fishing grounds to which they freely resorted for nearly a quarter of a +century subsequent to the date of that treaty. The United States have +never acquiesced in this construction, but have always claimed for +their fishermen all the rights which they had so long enjoyed without +molestation. With a view to remove all difficulties on the subject, +to extend the rights of our fishermen beyond the limits fixed by the +convention of 1818, and to regulate trade between the United States and +the British North American Provinces, a negotiation has been opened with +a fair prospect of a favorable result. To protect our fishermen in the +enjoyment of their rights and prevent collision between them and British +fishermen, I deemed it expedient to station a naval force in that +quarter during the fishing season. + +Embarrassing questions have also arisen between the two Governments in +regard to Central America. Great Britain has proposed to settle them by +an amicable arrangement, and our minister at London is instructed to +enter into negotiations on that subject. + +A commission for adjusting the claims of our citizens against Great +Britain and those of British subjects against the United States, +organized under the convention of the 8th of February last, is now +sitting in London for the transaction of business. + +It is in many respects desirable that the boundary line between the +United States and the British Provinces in the northwest, as designated +in the convention of the 15th of June, 1846, and especially that part +which separates the Territory of Washington from the British possessions +on the north, should be traced and marked. I therefore present the +subject to your notice. + +With France our relations continue on the most friendly footing. The +extensive commerce between the United States and that country might, +it is conceived, be released from some unnecessary restrictions to +the mutual advantage of both parties. With a view to this object, +some progress has been made in negotiating a treaty of commerce and +navigation. + +Independently of our valuable trade with Spain, we have important +political relations with her growing out of our neighborhood to the +islands of Cuba and Porto Rico. I am happy to announce that since the +last Congress no attempts have been made by unauthorized expeditions +within the United States against either of those colonies. Should any +movement be manifested within our limits, all the means at my command +will be vigorously exerted to repress it. Several annoying occurrences +have taken place at Havana, or in the vicinity of the island of Cuba, +between our citizens and the Spanish authorities. Considering the +proximity of that island to our shores, lying, as it does, in the track +of trade between some of our principal cities, and the suspicious +vigilance with which foreign intercourse, particularly that with the +United States, is there guarded, a repetition of such occurrences may +well be apprehended. + +As no diplomatic intercourse is allowed between our consul at Havana +and the Captain-General of Cuba, ready explanations can not be made or +prompt redress afforded where injury has resulted. All complaint on the +part of our citizens under the present arrangement must be, in the first +place, presented to this Government and then referred to Spain. Spain +again refers it to her local authorities in Cuba for investigation, and +postpones an answer till she has heard from those authorities. To avoid +these irritating and vexatious delays, a proposition has been made to +provide for a direct appeal for redress to the Captain-General by our +consul in behalf of our injured fellow-citizens. Hitherto the Government +of Spain has declined to enter into any such arrangement. This course +on her part is deeply regretted, for without some arrangement of this +kind the good understanding between the two countries may be exposed to +occasional interruption. Our minister at Madrid is instructed to renew +the proposition and to press it again upon the consideration of Her +Catholic Majesty's Government. + +For several years Spain has been calling the attention of this +Government to a claim for losses by some of her subjects in the case +of the schooner _Amistad_. This claim is believed to rest on the +obligations imposed by our existing treaty with that country. Its +justice was admitted in our diplomatic correspondence with the Spanish +Government as early as March, 1847, and one of my predecessors, in his +annual message of that year, recommended that provision should be made +for its payment. In January last it was again submitted to Congress by +the Executive. It has received a favorable consideration by committees +of both branches, but as yet there has been no final action upon it. I +conceive that good faith requires its prompt adjustment, and I present +it to your early and favorable consideration. + +Martin Koszta, a Hungarian by birth, came to this country in 1850, and +declared his intention in due form of law to become a citizen of the +United States. After remaining here nearly two years he visited Turkey. +While at Smyrna he was forcibly seized, taken on board an Austrian brig +of war then lying in the harbor of that place, and there confined in +irons, with the avowed design to take him into the dominions of Austria. +Our consul at Smyrna and legation at Constantinople interposed for +his release, but their efforts were ineffectual. While thus in prison +Commander Ingraham, with the United States ship of war _St. Louis_, +arrived at Smyrna, and after inquiring into the circumstances of the +case came to the conclusion that Koszta was entitled to the protection +of this Government, and took energetic and prompt measures for his +release. Under an arrangement between the agents of the United States +and of Austria, he was transferred to the custody of the French +consul-general at Smyrna, there to remain until he should be disposed of +by the mutual agreement of the consuls of the respective Governments at +that place. Pursuant to that agreement, he has been released, and is now +in the United States. The Emperor of Austria has made the conduct of our +officers who took part in this transaction a subject of grave complaint. +Regarding Koszta as still his subject, and claiming a right to seize +him within the limits of the Turkish Empire, he has demanded of this +Government its consent to the surrender of the prisoner, a disavowal of +the acts of its agents, and satisfaction for the alleged outrage. After +a careful consideration of the case I came to the conclusion that Koszta +was seized without legal authority at Smyrna; that he was wrongfully +detained on board of the Austrian brig of war; that at the time of his +seizure he was clothed with the nationality of the United States, and +that the acts of our officers, under the circumstances of the case, +were justifiable, and their conduct has been fully approved by me, +and a compliance with the several demands of the Emperor of Austria has +been declined. + +For a more full account of this transaction and my views in regard +to it I refer to the correspondence between the charge d'affaires of +Austria and the Secretary of State, which is herewith transmitted. The +principles and policy therein maintained on the part of the United +States will, whenever a proper occasion occurs, be applied and enforced. + +The condition of China at this time renders it probable that some +important changes will occur in that vast Empire which will lead to a +more unrestricted intercourse with it. The commissioner to that country +who has been recently appointed is instructed to avail himself of all +occasions to open and extend our commercial relations, not only with the +Empire of China, but with other Asiatic nations. + +In 1852 an expedition was sent to Japan, under the command of Commodore +Perry, for the purpose of opening commercial intercourse with that +Empire. Intelligence has been received of his arrival there and of his +having made known to the Emperor of Japan the object of his visit. But +it is not yet ascertained how far the Emperor will be disposed to +abandon his restrictive policy and open that populous country to a +commercial intercourse with the United States. + +It has been my earnest desire to maintain friendly intercourse with the +Governments upon this continent and to aid them in preserving good +understanding among themselves. With Mexico a dispute has arisen as +to the true boundary line between our Territory of New Mexico and the +Mexican State of Chihuahua. A former commissioner of the United States, +employed in running that line pursuant to the treaty of Guadalupe +Hidalgo, made a serious mistake in determining the initial point on +the Rio Grande; but inasmuch as his decision was clearly a departure +from the directions for tracing the boundary contained in that treaty, +and was not concurred in by the surveyor appointed on the part of the +United States, whose concurrence was necessary to give validity to that +decision, this Government is not concluded thereby; but that of Mexico +takes a different view of the subject. + +There are also other questions of considerable magnitude pending between +the two Republics. Our minister in Mexico has ample instructions to +adjust them. Negotiations have been opened, but sufficient progress has +not been made therein to enable me to speak of the probable result. +Impressed with the importance of maintaining amicable relations with +that Republic and of yielding with liberality to all her just claims, +it is reasonable to expect that an arrangement mutually satisfactory to +both countries may be concluded and a lasting friendship between them +confirmed and perpetuated. + +Congress having provided for a full mission to the States of Central +America, a minister was sent thither in July last. As yet he has had +time to visit only one of these States (Nicaragua), where he was +received in the most friendly manner. It is hoped that his presence and +good offices will have a benign effect in composing the dissensions +which prevail among them, and in establishing still more intimate and +friendly relations between them respectively and between each of them +and the United States. + +Considering the vast regions of this continent and the number of states +which would be made accessible by the free navigation of the river +Amazon, particular attention has been given to this subject. Brazil, +through whose territories it passes into the ocean, has hitherto +persisted in a policy so restricted in regard to the use of this river +as to obstruct and nearly exclude foreign commercial intercourse with +the States which lie upon its tributaries and upper branches. Our +minister to that country is instructed to obtain a relaxation of that +policy and to use his efforts to induce the Brazilian Government to open +to common use, under proper safeguards, this great natural highway for +international trade. Several of the South American States are deeply +interested in this attempt to secure the free navigation of the Amazon, +and it is reasonable to expect their cooperation in the measure. As the +advantages of free commercial intercourse among nations are better +understood, more liberal views are generally entertained as to the +common rights of all to the free use of those means which nature has +provided for international communication. To these more liberal and +enlightened views it is hoped that Brazil will conform her policy and +remove all unnecessary restrictions upon the free use of a river which +traverses so many states and so large a part of the continent. I am +happy to inform you that the Republic of Paraguay and the Argentine +Confederation have yielded to the liberal policy still resisted by +Brazil in regard to the navigable rivers within their respective +territories. Treaties embracing this subject, among others, have been +negotiated with these Governments, which will be submitted to the Senate +at the present session. + +A new branch of commerce, important to the agricultural interests of +the United States, has within a few years past been opened with Peru. +Notwithstanding the inexhaustible deposits of guano upon the islands of +that country, considerable difficulties are experienced in obtaining the +requisite supply. Measures have been taken to remove these difficulties +and to secure a more abundant importation of the article. Unfortunately, +there has been a serious collision between our citizens who have +resorted to the Chincha Islands for it and the Peruvian authorities +stationed there. Redress for the outrages committed by the latter was +promptly demanded by our minister at Lima. This subject is now under +consideration, and there is reason to believe that Peru is disposed to +offer adequate indemnity to the aggrieved parties. + +We are thus not only at peace with all foreign countries, but, in regard +to political affairs, are exempt from any cause of serious disquietude +in our domestic relations. + +The controversies which have agitated the country heretofore are passing +away with the causes which produced them and the passions which they had +awakened; or, if any trace of them remains, it may be reasonably hoped +that it will only be perceived in the zealous rivalry of all good +citizens to testify their respect for the rights of the States, their +devotion to the Union, and their common determination that each one of +the States, its institutions, its welfare, and its domestic peace, shall +be held alike secure under the sacred aegis of the Constitution. + +This new league of amity and of mutual confidence and support into which +the people of the Republic have entered happily affords inducement and +opportunity for the adoption of a more comprehensive and unembarrassed +line of policy and action as to the great material interests of the +country, whether regarded in themselves or in connection with the powers +of the civilized world. + +The United States have continued gradually and steadily to expand +through acquisitions of territory, which, how much soever some of them +may have been questioned, are now universally seen and admitted to have +been wise in policy, just in character, and a great element in the +advancement of our country, and with it of the human race, in freedom, +in prosperity, and in happiness. The thirteen States have grown to be +thirty-one, with relations reaching to Europe on the one side and on the +other to the distant realms of Asia. + +I am deeply sensible of the immense responsibility which the present +magnitude of the Republic and the diversity and multiplicity of its +interests devolves upon me, the alleviation of which, so far as relates +to the immediate conduct of the public business, is, first, in my +reliance on the wisdom and patriotism of the two Houses of Congress, +and, secondly, in the directions afforded me by the principles of public +polity affirmed by our fathers of the epoch of 1798, sanctioned by long +experience, and consecrated anew by the overwhelming voice of the people +of the United States. + +Recurring to these principles, which constitute the organic basis of +union, we perceive that vast as are the functions and the duties of +the Federal Government, vested in or intrusted to its three great +departments--the legislative, executive, and judicial--yet the +substantive power, the popular force, and the large capacities for +social and material development exist in the respective States, which, +all being of themselves well-constituted republics, as they preceded +so they alone are capable of maintaining and perpetuating the American +Union. The Federal Government has its appropriate line of action in the +specific and limited powers conferred on it by the Constitution, chiefly +as to those things in which the States have a common interest in their +relations to one another and to foreign governments, while the great +mass of interests which belong to cultivated men--the ordinary business +of life, the springs of industry, all the diversified personal and +domestic affairs of society--rest securely upon the general reserved +powers of the people of the several States. There is the effective +democracy of the nation, and there the vital essence of its being and +its greatness. + +Of the practical consequences which flow from the nature of the Federal +Government, the primary one is the duty of administering with integrity +and fidelity the high trust reposed in it by the Constitution, +especially in the application of the public funds as drawn by taxation +from the people and appropriated to specific objects by Congress. + +Happily, I have no occasion to suggest any radical changes in the +financial policy of the Government. Ours is almost, if not absolutely, +the solitary power of Christendom having a surplus revenue drawn +immediately from imposts on commerce, and therefore measured by the +spontaneous enterprise and national prosperity of the country, with +such indirect relation to agriculture, manufactures, and the products +of the earth and sea as to violate no constitutional doctrine and yet +vigorously promote the general welfare. Neither as to the sources of the +public treasure nor as to the manner of keeping and managing it does any +grave controversy now prevail, there being a general acquiescence in the +wisdom of the present system. + +The report of the Secretary of the Treasury will exhibit in detail the +state of the public finances and the condition of the various branches +of the public service administered by that Department of the Government. + +The revenue of the country, levied almost insensibly to the taxpayer, +goes on from year to year, increasing beyond either the interests or the +prospective wants of the Government. + +At the close of the fiscal year ending June 30, 1852, there remained in +the Treasury a balance of $14,632,136. The public revenue for the fiscal +year ending June 30, 1853, amounted to $58,931,865 from customs and to +$2,405,708 from public lands and other miscellaneous sources, amounting +together to $61,337,574, while the public expenditures for the same +period, exclusive of payments on account of the public debt, amounted +to $43,554,262, leaving a balance of $32,425,447 of receipts above +expenditures. + +This fact of increasing surplus in the Treasury became the subject of +anxious consideration at a very early period of my Administration, and +the path of duty in regard to it seemed to me obvious and clear, namely: +First, to apply the surplus revenue to the discharge of the public debt +so far as it could judiciously be done, and, secondly, to devise means +for the gradual reduction of the revenue to the standard of the public +exigencies. + +Of these objects the first has been in the course of accomplishment in +a manner and to a degree highly satisfactory. The amount of the public +debt of all classes was on the 4th of March, 1853, $69,190,037, payments +on account of which have been made since that period to the amount of +$12,703,329, leaving unpaid and in continuous course of liquidation the +sum of $56,486,708. These payments, although made at the market price of +the respective classes of stocks, have been effected readily and to the +general advantage of the Treasury, and have at the same time proved of +signal utility in the relief they have incidentally afforded to the +money market and to the industrial and commercial pursuits of the +country. + +The second of the above-mentioned objects, that of the reduction of the +tariff, is of great importance, and the plan suggested by the Secretary +of the Treasury, which is to reduce the duties on certain articles and +to add to the free list many articles now taxed, and especially such as +enter into manufactures and are not largely, or at all, produced in the +country, is commended to your candid and careful consideration. + +You will find in the report of the Secretary of the Treasury, also, +abundant proof of the entire adequacy of the present fiscal system +to meet all the requirements of the public service, and that, while +properly administered, it operates to the advantage of the community +in ordinary business relations. + +I respectfully ask your attention to sundry suggestions of improvements +in the settlement of accounts, especially as regards the large sums of +outstanding arrears due to the Government, and of other reforms in the +administrative action of his Department which are indicated by the +Secretary; as also to the progress made in the construction of marine +hospitals, custom-houses, and of a new mint in California and assay +office in the city of New York, heretofore provided for by Congress, and +also to the eminently successful progress of the Coast Survey and of the +Light-House Board. + +Among the objects meriting your attention will be important +recommendations from the Secretaries of War and Navy. I am fully +satisfied that the Navy of the United States is not in a condition +of strength and efficiency commensurate with the magnitude of our +commercial and other interests, and commend to your especial attention +the suggestions on this subject made by the Secretary of the Navy. +I respectfully submit that the Army, which under our system must always +be regarded with the highest interest as a nucleus around which the +volunteer forces of the nation gather in the hour of danger, requires +augmentation, or modification, to adapt it to the present extended +limits and frontier relations of the country and the condition of the +Indian tribes in the interior of the continent, the necessity of which +will appear in the communications of the Secretaries of War and the +Interior. + +In the administration of the Post-Office Department for the fiscal year +ending June 30, 1853, the gross expenditure was $7,982,756, and the +gross receipts during the same period $5,942,734, showing that the +current revenue failed to meet the current expenses of the Department +by the sum of $2,042,032. The causes which, under the present postal +system and laws, led inevitably to this result are fully explained by +the report of the Postmaster-General, one great cause being the enormous +rates the Department has been compelled to pay for mail service rendered +by railroad companies. + +The exhibit in the report of the Postmaster-General of the income and +expenditures by mail steamers will be found peculiarly interesting and +of a character to demand the immediate action of Congress. + +Numerous and flagrant frauds upon the Pension Bureau have been brought +to light within the last year, and in some instances merited punishments +inflicted; but, unfortunately, in others guilty parties have escaped, +not through the want of sufficient evidence to warrant a conviction, but +in consequence of the provisions of limitation in the existing laws. + +From the nature of these claims, the remoteness of the tribunals to pass +upon them, and the mode in which the proof is of necessity furnished, +temptations to crime have been greatly stimulated by the obvious +difficulties of detection. The defects in the law upon this subject are +so apparent and so fatal to the ends of justice that your early action +relating to it is most desirable. + +During the last fiscal year 9,819,411 acres of the public lands have +been surveyed and 10,363,891 acres brought into market. Within the +same period the sales by public purchase and private entry amounted to +1,083,495 acres; located under military bounty-land warrants, 6,142,360 +acres; located under other certificates, 9,427 acres; ceded to the +States as swamp lands, 16,684,253 acres; selected for railroad and other +objects under acts of Congress, 1,427,457 acres; total amount of lands +disposed of within the fiscal year, 25,346,992 acres, which is an +increase in quantity sold and located under land warrants and grants +of 12,231,818 acres over the fiscal year immediately preceding. The +quantity of land sold during the second and third quarters of 1852 was +334,451 acres; the amount received therefor was $623,687. The quantity +sold the second and third quarters of the year 1853 was 1,609,919 acres, +and the amount received therefor $2,226,876. + +The whole number of land warrants issued under existing laws prior to +the 30th of September last was 266,042, of which there were outstanding +at that date 66,947. The quantity of land required to satisfy these +outstanding warrants is 4,778,120 acres. + +Warrants have been issued to 30th of September last under the act +of 11th February, 1847, calling for 12,879,280 acres, under acts of +September 28, 1850, and March 22, 1852, calling for 12,505,360 acres, +making a total of 25,384,640 acres. + +It is believed that experience has verified the wisdom and justice of +the present system with regard to the public domain in most essential +particulars. + +You will perceive from the report of the Secretary of the Interior that +opinions which have often been expressed in relation to the operation of +the land system as not being a source of revenue to the Federal Treasury +were erroneous. The net profits from the sale of the public lands to +June 30, 1853, amounted to the sum of $53,289,465. + +I recommend the extension of the land system over the Territories of +Utah and New Mexico, with such modifications as their peculiarities may +require. + +Regarding our public domain as chiefly valuable to provide homes for +the industrious and enterprising, I am not prepared to recommend any +essential change in the land system, except by modifications in favor +of the actual settler and an extension of the preemption principle in +certain cases, for reasons and on grounds which will be fully developed +in the reports to be laid before you. + +Congress, representing the proprietors of the territorial domain and +charged especially with power to dispose of territory belonging to +the United States, has for a long course of years, beginning with the +Administration of Mr. Jefferson, exercised the power to construct roads +within the Territories, and there are so many and obvious distinctions +between this exercise of power and that of making roads within the +States that the former has never been considered subject to such +objections as apply to the latter; and such may now be considered the +settled construction of the power of the Federal Government upon the +subject. + +Numerous applications have been and no doubt will continue to be made +for grants of land in aid of the construction of railways. It is not +believed to be within the intent and meaning of the Constitution that +the power to dispose of the public domain should be used otherwise than +might be expected from a prudent proprietor, and therefore that grants +of land to aid in the construction of roads should be restricted to +cases where it would be for the interest of a proprietor under like +circumstances thus to contribute to the construction of these works. +For the practical operation of such grants thus far in advancing the +interests of the States in which the works are located, and at the same +time the substantial interests of all the other States, by enhancing the +value and promoting the rapid sale of the public domain, I refer you +to the report of the Secretary of the Interior. A careful examination, +however, will show that this experience is the result of a just +discrimination and will be far from affording encouragement to a +reckless or indiscriminate extension of the principle. + +I commend to your favorable consideration the men of genius of our +country who by their inventions and discoveries in science and arts have +contributed largely to the improvements of the age without, in many +instances, securing for themselves anything like an adequate reward. +For many interesting details upon this subject I refer you to the +appropriate reports, and especially urge upon your early attention the +apparently slight, but really important, modifications of existing laws +therein suggested. + +The liberal spirit which has so long marked the action of Congress in +relation to the District of Columbia will, I have no doubt, continue to +be manifested. + +The erection of an asylum for the insane of the District of Columbia and +of the Army and Navy of the United States has been somewhat retarded by +the great demand for materials and labor during the past summer, but +full preparation for the reception of patients before the return of +another winter is anticipated; and there is the best reason to believe, +from the plan and contemplated arrangements which have been devised, +with the large experience furnished within the last few years in +relation to the nature and treatment of the disease, that it will prove +an asylum indeed to this most helpless and afflicted class of sufferers +and stand as a noble monument of wisdom and mercy. + +Under the acts of Congress of August 31, 1852, and of March 3, 1853, +designed to secure for the cities of Washington and Georgetown an +abundant supply of good and wholesome water, it became my duty to +examine the report and plans of the engineer who had charge of the +surveys under the act first named. The best, if not the only, plan +calculated to secure permanently the object sought was that which +contemplates taking the water from the Great Falls of the Potomac, +and consequently I gave to it my approval. + +For the progress and present condition of this important work and for +its demands so far as appropriations are concerned I refer you to the +report of the Secretary of War. + +The present judicial system of the United States has now been in +operation for so long a period of time and has in its general theory and +much of its details become so familiar to the country and acquired so +entirely the public confidence that if modified in any respect it should +only be in those particulars which may adapt it to the increased extent, +population, and legal business of the United States. In this relation +the organization of the courts is now confessedly inadequate to the +duties to be performed by them, in consequence of which the States of +Florida, Wisconsin, Iowa, Texas, and California, and districts of other +States, are in effect excluded from the full benefits of the general +system by the functions of the circuit court being devolved on the +district judges in all those States or parts of States. + +The spirit of the Constitution and a due regard to justice require +that all the States of the Union should be placed on the same footing +in regard to the judicial tribunals. I therefore commend to your +consideration this important subject, which in my judgment demands the +speedy action of Congress. I will present to you, if deemed desirable, +a plan which I am prepared to recommend for the enlargement and +modification of the present judicial system. + +The act of Congress establishing the Smithsonian Institution provided +that the President of the United States and other persons therein +designated should constitute an "establishment" by that name, and that +the members should hold stated and special meetings for the supervision +of the affairs of the Institution. The organization not having taken +place, it seemed to me proper that it should be effected without delay. +This has been done; and an occasion was thereby presented for inspecting +the condition of the Institution and appreciating its successful +progress thus far and its high promise of great and general usefulness. + +I have omitted to ask your favorable consideration for the estimates of +works of a local character in twenty-seven of the thirty-one States, +amounting to $1,754,500, because, independently of the grounds which +have so often been urged against the application of the Federal revenue +for works of this character, inequality, with consequent injustice, is +inherent in the nature of the proposition, and because the plan has +proved entirely inadequate to the accomplishment of the objects sought. + +The subject of internal improvements, claiming alike the interest +and good will of all, has, nevertheless, been the basis of much +political discussion and has stood as a deep-graven line of division +between statesmen of eminent ability and patriotism. The rule of strict +construction of all powers delegated by the States to the General +Government has arrayed itself from time to time against the rapid +progress of expenditures from the National Treasury on works of a local +character within the States. Memorable as an epoch in the history of +this subject is the message of President Jackson of the 27th of May, +1830, which met the system of internal improvements in its comparative +infancy; but so rapid had been its growth that the projected +appropriations in that year for works of this character had risen to +the alarming amount of more than $100,000,000. + +In that message the President admitted the difficulty of bringing back +the operations of the Government to the construction of the Constitution +set up in 1798, and marked it as an admonitory proof of the necessity of +guarding that instrument with sleepless vigilance against the authority +of precedents which had not the sanction of its most plainly defined +powers. + +Our Government exists under a written compact between sovereign States, +uniting for specific objects and with specific grants to their general +agent. If, then, in the progress of its administration there have been +departures from the terms and intent of the compact, it is and will ever +be proper to refer back to the fixed standard which our fathers left us +and to make a stern effort to conform our action to it. It would seem +that the fact of a principle having been resisted from the first by many +of the wisest and most patriotic men of the Republic, and a policy +having provoked constant strife without arriving at a conclusion which +can be regarded as satisfactory to its most earnest advocates, should +suggest the inquiry whether there may not be a plan likely to be crowned +by happier results. Without perceiving any sound distinction or +intending to assert any principle as opposed to improvements needed for +the protection of internal commerce which does not equally apply to +improvements upon the seaboard for the protection of foreign commerce, +I submit to you whether it may not be safely anticipated that if the +policy were once settled against appropriations by the General +Government for local improvements for the benefit of commerce, +localities requiring expenditures would not, by modes and means clearly +legitimate and proper, raise the fund necessary for such constructions +as the safety or other interests of their commerce might require. + +If that can be regarded as a system which in the experience of more than +thirty years has at no time so commanded the public judgment as to give +it the character of a settled policy; which, though it has produced some +works of conceded importance, has been attended with an expenditure +quite disproportionate to their value and has resulted in squandering +large sums upon objects which have answered no valuable purpose, the +interests of all the States require it to be abandoned unless hopes may +be indulged for the future which find no warrant in the past. + +With an anxious desire for the completion of the works which are +regarded by all good citizens with sincere interest, I have deemed it my +duty to ask at your hands a deliberate reconsideration of the question, +with a hope that, animated by a desire to promote the permanent and +substantial interests of the country, your wisdom may prove equal to the +task of devising and maturing a plan which, applied to this subject, may +promise something better than constant strife, the suspension of the +powers of local enterprise, the exciting of vain hopes, and the +disappointment of cherished expectations. + +In expending the appropriations made by the last Congress several cases +have arisen in relation to works for the improvement of harbors which +involve questions as to the right of soil and jurisdiction, and have +threatened conflict between the authority of the State and General +Governments. The right to construct a breakwater, jetty, or dam would +seem necessarily to carry with it the power to protect and preserve such +constructions. This can only be effectually done by having jurisdiction +over the soil. But no clause of the Constitution is found on which to +rest the claim of the United States to exercise jurisdiction over the +soil of a State except that conferred by the eighth section of the first +article of the Constitution. It is, then, submitted whether, in all +cases where constructions are to be erected by the General Government, +the right of soil should not first be obtained and legislative provision +be made to cover all such cases. + +For the progress made in the construction of roads within the +Territories, as provided for in the appropriations of the last Congress, +I refer you to the report of the Secretary of War. + +There is one subject of a domestic nature which, from its intrinsic +importance and the many interesting questions of future policy which it +involves, can not fail to receive your early attention. I allude to the +means of communication by which different parts of the wide expanse of +our country are to be placed in closer connection for purposes both +of defense and commercial intercourse, and more especially such as +appertain to the communication of those great divisions of the Union +which lie on the opposite sides of the Rocky Mountains. + +That the Government has not been unmindful of this heretofore is +apparent from the aid it has afforded through appropriations for mail +facilities and other purposes. But the general subject will now present +itself under aspects more imposing and more purely national by reason of +the surveys ordered by Congress, and now in the process of completion, +for communication by railway across the continent, and wholly within the +limits of the United States. + +The power to declare war, to raise and support armies, to provide and +maintain a navy, and to call forth the militia to execute the laws, +suppress insurrections, and repel invasions was conferred upon Congress +as means to provide for the common defense and to protect a territory +and a population now widespread and vastly multiplied. As incidental to +and indispensable for the exercise of this power, it must sometimes be +necessary to construct military roads and protect harbors of refuge. +To appropriations by Congress for such objects no sound objection can +be raised. Happily for our country, its peaceful policy and rapidly +increasing population impose upon us no urgent necessity for +preparation, and leave but few trackless deserts between assailable +points and a patriotic people ever ready and generally able to protect +them. These necessary links the enterprise and energy of our people are +steadily and boldly struggling to supply. All experience affirms that +wherever private enterprise will avail it is most wise for the General +Government to leave to that and individual watchfulness the location and +execution of all means of communication. + +The surveys before alluded to were designed to ascertain the most +practicable and economical route for a railroad from the river +Mississippi to the Pacific Ocean. Parties are now in the field making +explorations, where previous examinations had not supplied sufficient +data and where there was the best reason to hope the object sought might +be found. The means and time being both limited, it is not to be +expected that all the accurate knowledge desired will be obtained, but +it is hoped that much and important information will be added to the +stock previously possessed, and that partial, if not full, reports of +the surveys ordered will be received in time for transmission to the two +Houses of Congress on or before the first Monday in February next, as +required by the act of appropriation. The magnitude of the enterprise +contemplated has aroused and will doubtless continue to excite a +very general interest throughout the country. In its political, its +commercial, and its military bearings it has varied, great, and +increasing claims to consideration. The heavy expense, the great delay, +and, at times, fatality attending travel by either of the Isthmus routes +have demonstrated the advantage which would result from interterritorial +communication by such safe and rapid means as a railroad would supply. + +These difficulties, which have been encountered in a period of peace, +would be magnified and still further increased in time of war. But +whilst the embarrassments already encountered and others under new +contingencies to be anticipated may serve strikingly to exhibit the +importance of such a work, neither these nor all considerations combined +can have an appreciable value when weighed against the obligation +strictly to adhere to the Constitution and faithfully to execute the +powers it confers. + +Within this limit and to the extent of the interest of the Government +involved it would seem both expedient and proper if an economical and +practicable route shall be found to aid by all constitutional means +in the construction of a road which will unite by speedy transit the +populations of the Pacific and Atlantic States. To guard against +misconception, it should be remarked that although the power to +construct or aid in the construction of a road within the limits of +a Territory is not embarrassed by that question of jurisdiction which +would arise within the limits of a State, it is, nevertheless, held +to be of doubtful power and more than doubtful propriety, even within +the limits of a Territory, for the General Government to undertake +to administer the affairs of a railroad, a canal, or other similar +construction, and therefore that its connection with a work of this +character should be incidental rather than primary. I will only add +at present that, fully appreciating the magnitude of the subject and +solicitous that the Atlantic and Pacific shores of the Republic may be +bound together by inseparable ties of common interest, as well as of +common fealty and attachment to the Union, I shall be disposed, so far +as my own action is concerned, to follow the lights of the Constitution +as expounded and illustrated by those whose opinions and expositions +constitute the standard of my political faith in regard to the powers +of the Federal Government. It is, I trust, not necessary to say that +no grandeur of enterprise and no present urgent inducement promising +popular favor will lead me to disregard those lights or to depart from +that path which experience has proved to be safe, and which is now +radiant with the glow of prosperity and legitimate constitutional +progress. We can afford to wait, but we can not afford to overlook +the ark of our security. + +It is no part of my purpose to give prominence to any subject which may +properly be regarded as set at rest by the deliberate judgment of the +people. But while the present is bright with promise and the future full +of demand and inducement for the exercise of active intelligence, the +past can never be without useful lessons of admonition and instruction. +If its dangers serve not as beacons, they will evidently fail to fulfill +the object of a wise design. When the grave shall have closed over +all who are now endeavoring to meet the obligations of duty, the year +1850 will be recurred to as a period filled with anxious apprehension. +A successful war had just terminated. Peace brought with it a vast +augmentation of territory. Disturbing questions arose bearing upon the +domestic institutions of one portion of the Confederacy and involving +the constitutional rights of the States. But notwithstanding differences +of opinion and sentiment which then existed in relation to details and +specific provisions, the acquiescence of distinguished citizens, whose +devotion to the Union can never be doubted, has given renewed vigor to +our institutions and restored a sense of repose and security to the +public mind throughout the Confederacy. That this repose is to suffer +no shock during my official term, if I have power to avert it, those +who placed me here may be assured. The wisdom of men who knew what +independence cost, who had put all at stake upon the issue of the +Revolutionary struggle, disposed of the subject to which I refer in the +only way consistent with the Union of these States and with the march of +power and prosperity which has made us what we are. It is a significant +fact that from the adoption of the Constitution until the officers and +soldiers of the Revolution had passed to their graves, or, through the +infirmities of age and wounds, had ceased to participate actively in +public affairs, there was not merely a quiet acquiescence in, but a +prompt vindication of, the constitutional rights of the States. The +reserved powers were scrupulously respected. No statesman put forth the +narrow views of casuists to justify interference and agitation, but +the spirit of the compact was regarded as sacred in the eye of honor +and indispensable for the great experiment of civil liberty, which, +environed by inherent difficulties, was yet borne forward in apparent +weakness by a power superior to all obstacles. There is no condemnation +which the voice of freedom will not pronounce upon us should we prove +faithless to this great trust. While men inhabiting different parts of +this vast continent can no more be expected to hold the same opinions or +entertain the same sentiments than every variety of climate or soil can +be expected to furnish the same agricultural products, they can unite +in a common object and sustain common principles essential to the +maintenance of that object. The gallant men of the South and the North +could stand together during the struggle of the Revolution; they could +stand together in the more trying period which succeeded the clangor of +arms. As their united valor was adequate to all the trials of the camp +and dangers of the field, so their united wisdom proved equal to the +greater task of founding upon a deep and broad basis institutions which +it has been our privilege to enjoy and will ever be our most sacred +duty to sustain. It is but the feeble expression of a faith strong and +universal to say that their sons, whose blood mingled so often upon the +same field during the War of 1812 and who have more recently borne in +triumph the flag of the country upon a foreign soil, will never permit +alienation of feeling to weaken the power of their united efforts nor +internal dissensions to paralyze the great arm of freedom, uplifted for +the vindication of self-government. + +I have thus briefly presented such suggestions as seem to me especially +worthy of your consideration. In providing for the present you can +hardly fail to avail yourselves of the light which the experience of the +past casts upon the future. + +The growth of our population has now brought us, in the destined career +of our national history, to a point at which it well behooves us to +expand our vision over the vast prospective. + +The successive decennial returns of the census since the adoption of the +Constitution have revealed a law of steady, progressive development, +which may be stated in general terms as a duplication every quarter +century. Carried forward from the point already reached for only a short +period of time, as applicable to the existence of a nation, this law of +progress, if unchecked, will bring us to almost incredible results. +A large allowance for a diminished proportional effect of emigration +would not very materially reduce the estimate, while the increased +average duration of human life known to have already resulted from the +scientific and hygienic improvements of the past fifty years will tend +to keep up through the next fifty, or perhaps hundred, the same ratio +of growth which has been thus revealed in our past progress; and to the +influence of these causes may be added the influx of laboring masses +from eastern Asia to the Pacific side of our possessions, together +with the probable accession of the populations already existing in +other parts of our hemisphere, which within the period in question will +feel with yearly increasing force the natural attraction of so vast, +powerful, and prosperous a confederation of self-governing republics and +will seek the privilege of being admitted within its safe and happy +bosom, transferring with themselves, by a peaceful and healthy process +of incorporation, spacious regions of virgin and exuberant soil, which +are destined to swarm with the fast-growing and fast-spreading millions +of our race. + +These considerations seem fully to justify the presumption that +the law of population above stated will continue to act with +undiminished effect through at least the next half century, and that +thousands of persons who have already arrived at maturity and are now +exercising the rights of freemen will close their eyes on the spectacle +of more than 100,000,000 of population embraced within the majestic +proportions of the American Union. It is not merely as an interesting +topic of speculation that I present these views for your consideration. +They have important practical bearings upon all the political duties we +are called upon to perform. Heretofore our system of government has +worked on what may be termed a miniature scale in comparison with the +development which it must thus assume within a future so near at hand +as scarcely to be beyond the present of the existing generation. + +It is evident that a confederation so vast and so varied, both in +numbers and in territorial extent, in habits and in interests, could +only be kept in national cohesion by the strictest fidelity to the +principles of the Constitution as understood by those who have adhered +to the most restricted construction of the powers granted by the people +and the States. Interpreted and applied according to those principles, +the great compact adapts itself with healthy ease and freedom to an +unlimited extension of that benign system of federative self-government +of which it is our glorious and, I trust, immortal charter. Let us, +then, with redoubled vigilance, be on our guard against yielding to the +temptation of the exercise of doubtful powers, even under the pressure +of the motives of conceded temporary advantage and apparent temporary +expediency. + +The minimum of Federal government compatible with the maintenance of +national unity and efficient action in our relations with the rest of +the world should afford the rule and measure of construction of our +powers under the general clauses of the Constitution. A spirit of strict +deference to the sovereign rights and dignity of every State, rather +than a disposition to subordinate the States into a provincial relation +to the central authority, should characterize all our exercise of the +respective powers temporarily vested in us as a sacred trust from the +generous confidence of our constituents. + +In like manner, as a manifestly indispensable condition of the +perpetuation of the Union and of the realization of that magnificent +national future adverted to, does the duty become yearly stronger and +clearer upon us, as citizens of the several States, to cultivate a +fraternal and affectionate spirit, language, and conduct in regard to +other States and in relation to the varied interests, institutions, and +habits of sentiment and opinion which may respectively characterize +them. Mutual forbearance, respect, and noninterference in our personal +action as citizens and an enlarged exercise of the most liberal +principles of comity in the public dealings of State with State, whether +in legislation or in the execution of laws, are the means to perpetuate +that confidence and fraternity the decay of which a mere political +union, on so vast a scale, could not long survive. + +In still another point of view is an important practical duty suggested +by this consideration of the magnitude of dimensions to which our +political system, with its corresponding machinery of government, +is so rapidly expanding. With increased vigilance does it require us +to cultivate the cardinal virtues of public frugality and official +integrity and purity. Public affairs ought to be so conducted that a +settled conviction shall pervade the entire Union that nothing short of +the highest tone and standard of public morality marks every part of +the administration and legislation of the General Government. Thus will +the federal system, whatever expansion time and progress may give it, +continue more and more deeply rooted in the love and confidence of the +people. + +That wise economy which is as far removed from parsimony as from corrupt +and corrupting extravagance; that single regard for the public good +which will frown upon all attempts to approach the Treasury with +insidious projects of private interest cloaked under public pretexts; +that sound fiscal administration which, in the legislative department, +guards against the dangerous temptations incident to overflowing +revenue, and, in the executive, maintains an unsleeping watchfulness +against the tendency of all national expenditure to extravagance, while +they are admitted elementary political duties, may, I trust, be deemed +as properly adverted to and urged in view of the more impressive sense +of that necessity which is directly suggested by the considerations now +presented. + +Since the adjournment of Congress the Vice-President of the United +States has passed from the scenes of earth, without having entered upon +the duties of the station to which he had been called by the voice of +his countrymen. Having occupied almost continuously for more than thirty +years a seat in one or the other of the two Houses of Congress, and +having by his singular purity and wisdom secured unbounded confidence +and universal respect, his failing health was watched by the nation +with painful solicitude. His loss to the country, under all the +circumstances, has been justly regarded as irreparable. + +In compliance with the act of Congress of March 2, 1853, the oath of +office was administered to him on the 24th of that month at Ariadne +estate, near Matanzas, in the island of Cuba; but his strength gradually +declined, and was hardly sufficient to enable him to return to his home +in Alabama, where, on the 18th day of April, in the most calm and +peaceful way, his long and eminently useful career was terminated. + +Entertaining unlimited confidence in your intelligent and patriotic +devotion to the public interest, and being conscious of no motives on +my part which are not inseparable from the honor and advancement of my +country, I hope it may be my privilege to deserve and secure not only +your cordial cooperation in great public measures, but also those +relations of mutual confidence and regard which it is always so +desirable to cultivate between members of coordinate branches of the +Government. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + + +SPECIAL MESSAGES. + + +WASHINGTON, _December 12, 1853_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +In answer to the resolutions of the Senate of the 17th of August, 1852, +and 23d of February last, requesting a copy of correspondence relative +to the claim on the Government of Portugal in the case of the brig +_General Armstrong_, I transmit a report from the Secretary of State, +to whose Department the resolutions were referred. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _December 12, 1853_. + +_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 Paraguay, concluded on the 4th of March last. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _December 12, 1853_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + + +I transmit to the Senate, for its consideration with a view to +ratification, a treaty for the free navigation of the rivers Parana and +Uruguay between the United States and the Argentine Confederation, +concluded on the 10th of July last. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _December 12, 1853_. + +_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 Argentine Confederation, concluded on the 27th +of July last. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _December 12, 1853_. + +_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 extradition of fugitives +from justice in certain cases, concluded at London on the 12th day of +September last between the Government of the United States and the +Kingdom of Bavaria. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _December 19, 1853_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + + +I transmit certain documents in answer to the resolution of the Senate +of the 6th of April ultimo, requesting information in regard to +transactions between Captain Hollins, of the _Cyane_, and the +authorities at San Juan de Nicaragua. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _December 23, 1853_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + + +In answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 18th January, 1853, +in regard to the claims of American citizens against Hayti and to the +correspondence of the special agent sent to Hayti and St. Domingo in +1849, I transmit a report from the Secretary of State and the documents +by which it is accompanied. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _December 31, 1853_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + + +I transmit to the Senate a report from the Secretary of State, with +accompanying papers,[1] in answer to their resolution of the 12th +instant. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + +[Footnote 1: Correspondence relative to the treaty of Wathington of July +4, 1850, between Great Britain and the United States] + + + +WASHINGTON CITY, _January 9, 1854_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I herewith communicate to the Senate a letter from the Secretary of the +Interior, accompanied by a report of the result of an investigation of +the charge of fraud and misconduct in office alleged against Alexander +Ramsey, superintendent of Indian affairs in Minnesota, which I have +caused to be made in compliance with the Senate's resolution of the 5th +of April last. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _January 9, 1854_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +In answer to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 3d +of January, 1854, I have the honor to transmit herewith a letter of the +Secretary of the Navy and the papers[2] accompanying it. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + +[Footnote 2: Correspondence with and orders to commanders of vessels or +squadrons on the Atlantic coast of British North America relative to +protecting the rights of fishing and navigation secured to citizens of +the United States under treaties with Great Britain.] + + + +WASHINGTON, _January 19, 1854_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State, with +accompanying documents,[3] in compliance with the resolution of the +House of Representatives of the 3d instant. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + +[Footnote 3: Relating to seizure and imprisonment by Spanish authorities +at Puerto Rico of officers and crew of schooner _North Carolina_.] + + + +WASHINGTON, _January 23, 1854_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit to Congress a report of the Secretary of State, together with +the set of works illustrative of the exhibition in London of 1851 to +which it refers, in order that such disposal may be made of them as may +be deemed advisable. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _January 25, 1854_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State, with +accompanying documents,[4] in compliance with a resolution of the Senate +of the 23d instant. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + +[Footnote 4: Relating to a complimentary mission to the United States of +Archbishop Gaetano Bedini, apostolic nuncio to the Empire of Brazil, for +the purpose of conveying, in the name of Pope Pius IX, sentiments of +regard for the President of the United States.] + + + +WASHINGTON, _February 2, 1854_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State, with +accompanying documents,[5] in compliance with the resolution of the +House of Representatives of the 30th ultimo. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + +[Footnote 5: Correspondence with the American charge to Austria relative +to the claim of Simon Tousig to the protection of the United States.] + + + +EXECUTIVE OFFICE, _February 4, 1854_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I submit to the Senate herewith, for their constitutional action +thereon, a treaty negotiated on the 27th of July, 1853, by Agent Thomas +Fitzpatrick, on behalf of the United States, with the Comanche, Kiowa, +and Apache Indians inhabiting the territory on the Arkansas River. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +EXECUTIVE OFFICE, _February 4, 1854_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I submit to the Senate herewith, for their constitutional action +thereon, two treaties, one negotiated on the 10th day of September, +1853, by Superintendent Joel Palmer and Agent Samuel H. Culver, on the +part of the United States, and the chiefs and headmen of the bands of +the Rogue River tribe of Indians in Oregon; the other negotiated on +the 19th of the same month, on behalf of the Government by the said +superintendent, with the chiefs of the Crow Creek band of Umpqua Indians +in said Territory. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _February 6, 1854_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I transmit a report from the Secretary of State upon the subject of the +resolution[6] of the House of Representatives of the 14th of December +last, and recommend that the appropriation therein suggested as being +necessary to enable him to comply with the resolution be made. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + +[Footnote 6: Requesting a statement of the privileges and restrictions +of the commercial intercourse of the United States with foreign nations +and a comparative statement between the tariff of the United States and +other nations.] + + + +WASHINGTON, _February 10, 1854_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I herewith transmit a communication from the Secretary of the Navy, +accompanied by the second 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 Lardner Gibbon under instructions from the +Navy Department. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _February 10th, 1854_. + +_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 Mexican +Republic, signed by the plenipotentiaries of the parties in the City of +Mexico on the 30th of December last. Certain amendments are proposed to +the instrument, as hereinafter specified, viz: + +In order to make the duties and obligations stipulated in the second +article reciprocal, it is proposed to add to that article the following: + + + And the Government of Mexico agrees that the stipulations contained in + this article to be performed by the United States shall be reciprocal, + and Mexico shall be under like obligations to the United States and the + citizens thereof as those hereinabove imposed on the latter in favor of + the Republic of Mexico and Mexican citizens. + + +It is also recommended that for the third article of the original treaty +the following shall be adopted as a substitute: + + + In consideration of the grants received by the United States and the + obligations relinquished by the Mexican Republic pursuant to this + treaty, the former agree to pay to the latter the sum of $15,000,000 + in gold or silver coin at the Treasury at Washington, one-fifth of + the amount on the exchange of ratifications of the present treaty at + Washington and the remaining four-fifths in monthly installments of + three millions each, with interest at the rate of 6 per cent per annum + until the whole be paid, the Government of the United States reserving + the right to pay up the whole sum of fifteen millions at an earlier + date, as may be to it convenient. + + The United States also agree to assume all the claims of their citizens + against the Mexican Republic which may have arisen under treaty or + the law of nations since the date of the signature of the treaty of + Guadalupe, and the Mexican Republic agrees to exonerate the United + States of America from all claims of Mexico or Mexican citizens which + may have arisen under treaty or the law of nations since the date of + the treaty of Guadalupe, so that each Government, in the most formal + and effective manner, shall be exempted and exonerated of all such + obligations to each other respectively. + + +I also recommend that the eighth article be modified by striking out all +after the word "attempts" in the twenty-third line of that article. The +part to be omitted is as follows: + + + They mutually and especially obligate themselves, in all cases of such + lawless enterprises which may not have been prevented through the civil + authorities before formation, to aid with the naval and military forces, + on due notice being given by the aggrieved party of the aggressions of + the citizens and subjects of the other, so that the lawless adventurers + may be pursued and overtaken on the high seas, their elements of war + destroyed, and the deluded captives held responsible in their persons + and meet with the merited retribution inflicted by the laws of nations + against all such disturbers of the peace and happiness of contiguous and + friendly powers. It being understood that in all cases of successful + pursuit and capture the delinquents so captured shall be judged and + punished by the government of that nation to which the vessel capturing + them may belong, conformably to the laws of each nation. + + +At the close of the instrument it will also be advisable to substitute +"seventy-eighth" for "seventy-seventh" year of the Independence of the +United States. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _February 13, 1854_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit to the Senate, for its consideration with a view to +ratification, an additional article to the convention for the +establishment of international copyright, which was concluded at +Washington on the 17th of February, 1853, between the United States of +America and Her Britannic Majesty, extending the time limited in that +convention for the exchange of the ratifications of the same. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _February 23, 1854_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I communicate herewith a report from the Secretary of State and the +documents[7] therein referred to, in compliance with the resolution of +the Senate of the 13th instant. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + +[Footnote 7: Relating to the repair of the United States frigate +_Susquehanna_ at Rio de Janeiro.] + + + +WASHINGTON, _March 1, 1854_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit to the Senate a report from the Secretary of State, with +accompanying documents,[8] in compliance with their resolution of the 2d +ultimo. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + +[Footnote 8: Communications from the American legation at Constantinople +respecting the seizure of Martin Koszta by Austrian authorities at +Smyrna.] + + + +WASHINGTON, _March 1, 1854_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +In accordance with the resolution of the House of Representatives of +the 13th instant, requesting information respecting negotiations with +Peru for the removal of restrictions upon the exportation of guano, +I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State, with the +correspondence therein referred to. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _March 1, 1854_. + +_To the House of Representatives of the United States_: + +In compliance with the resolution of the House of Representatives +of the 23d January last, "that the President of the United States +be respectfully requested to furnish this House with copies of all +contracts made by and correspondence subsequently with the Chief of +the Bureau of Topographical Engineers for furnishing materials of wood +and stone for improving the harbors and rivers on Lake Michigan, under +and by virtue of the act making appropriations for the improvement of +certain harbors and rivers," approved August 30, 1852, I transmit +a letter of the Secretary of War submitting a report of the Colonel +of Topographical Engineers inclosing copies of the contracts and +correspondence called for. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _March 1, 1854_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +In answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 7th of December last, +requesting me to present to the Senate the plan referred to in my annual +message to Congress, and recommended therein, for the enlargement and +modification of the present judicial system of the United States, +I transmit a report from the Attorney-General, to whom the resolution +was referred. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _March 1, 1854_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a report of the Attorney-General, in answer to +the resolutions of the House of the 22d of December, requesting me to +communicate to the House the plan for the modification and enlargement +of the judicial system of the United States, recommended in my annual +message to Congress. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _March 7, 1854_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State and the +documents[9] therein referred to, in answer to the resolution of the +Senate of the 26th March, 1853. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + +[Footnote 9: Correspondence with R.C. Schenck, United States minister to +Brazil, relative to the African slave trade.] + + + +WASHINGTON, _March 7, 1854_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State and the +documents[10] therein referred to, in answer to the resolution of the +Senate in executive session of the 3d January, 1854. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + +[Footnote 10: Correspondence with the Mexican Republic touching the +eleventh article of the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, and copies of +instructions on that subject to the United States minister to Mexico.] + + + +WASHINGTON, _March 11, 1854_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit herewith to the Senate a report of the Secretary of State, +with accompanying documents,[11] in compliance with their resolution of +the 9th of March, 1853. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + +[Footnote 11: Correspondence relative to the imprisonment, etc., of James +H. West in the island of Cuba.] + + + +WASHINGTON, _March 14, 1854_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +In transmitting to the Senate the report of the Secretary of +State, together with the documents therein referred to, being the +correspondence called for by the resolution of that body of the 9th of +January last, I deem it proper to state briefly the reasons which have +deterred me from sending to the Senate for ratification the proposed +convention between the United States of America and the United Mexican +States, concluded by the respective plenipotentiaries of the two +Governments on the 21st day of March, 1853, on the subject of a transit +way across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. + +Without adverting to the want of authority on the part of the American +minister to conclude any such convention, or to the action of this +Government in relation to the rights of certain of its citizens under +the grant for a like object originally made to Jose Garay, the +objections to it upon its face are numerous, and should, in my judgment, +be regarded as conclusive. + +Prominent among these objections is the fact that the convention binds +us to a foreign Government, to guarantee the contract of a private +company with that Government for the construction of the contemplated +transit way, "to protect the persons engaged and property employed in +the construction of the said work from the commencement thereof to +its completion against all confiscation, spoliation, or violence of +whatsoever nature," and to guarantee the entire security of the capital +invested therein during the continuance of the contract. Such is the +substance of the second and third articles. + +Hence it will be perceived that the obligations which this Government is +asked to assume are not to terminate in a few years, or even with the +present generation. + +And again: "If the regulations which may be prescribed concerning the +traffic on said transit way shall be clearly contrary to the spirit and +intention of this convention," even then this Government is not to be at +liberty to withdraw its "protection and guaranty" without first giving +one year's notice to the Mexican Government. + +When the fact is duly considered that the responsibility of this +Government is thus pledged for a long series of years to the interests +of a private company established for purposes of internal improvement, +in a foreign country, and that country peculiarly subject to civil wars +and other public vicissitudes, it will be seen how comprehensive and +embarrassing would be those engagements to the Government of the United +States. + +Not less important than this objection is the consideration that the +United States can not agree to the terms of this convention without +disregarding the provisions of the eighth article of the convention +which this Government entered into with Great Britain on April 19, 1850, +which expressly includes any interoceanic communication whatever by the +Isthmus of Tehuantepec. However inconvenient may be the conditions of +that convention, still they exist, and the obligations of good faith +rest alike upon the United States and Great Britain. + +Without enlarging upon these and other questionable features of the +proposed convention which will suggest themselves to your minds, I will +only add that after the most careful consideration I have deemed it my +duty not to ask for its ratification by the Senate. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _March 15, 1854_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +In compliance with the resolution of the House of Representatives of the +10th instant, I herewith transmit a report of the Secretary of State, +containing all the information received at the Department in relation to +the seizure of the _Black Warrior_ at Havana on the 28th ultimo. + +There have been in the course of a few years past many other instances +of aggression upon our commerce, violations of the rights of American +citizens, and insults to the national flag by the Spanish authorities in +Cuba, and all attempts to obtain redress have led to protracted, and as +yet fruitless, negotiations. + +The documents in these cases are voluminous, and when prepared will be +sent to Congress. + +Those now transmitted relate exclusively to the seizure of the _Black +Warrior_, and present so clear a case of wrong that it would be +reasonable to expect full indemnity therefor as soon as this +unjustifiable and offensive conduct shall be made known to Her Catholic +Majesty's Government; but similar expectations in other cases have not +been realized. + +The offending party is at our doors with large powers for aggression, +but none, it is alleged, for reparation. The source of redress is in +another hemisphere, and the answers to our just complaints made to the +home Government are but the repetition of excuses rendered by inferior +officials to their superiors in reply to representations of misconduct. +The peculiar situation of the parties has undoubtedly much aggravated +the annoyances and injuries which our citizens have suffered from the +Cuban authorities, and Spain does not seem to appreciate to its full +extent her responsibility for the conduct of these authorities. In +giving very extraordinary powers to them she owes it to justice and +to her friendly relations with this Government to guard with great +vigilance against the exorbitant exercise of these powers, and in case +of injuries to provide for prompt redress. + +I have already taken measures to present to the Government of Spain the +wanton injury of the Cuban authorities in the detention and seizure of +the _Black Warrior_, and to demand immediate indemnity for the injury +which has thereby resulted to our citizens. + +In view of the position of the island of Cuba, its proximity to our +coast, the relations which it must ever bear to our commercial and +other interests, it is vain to expect that a series of unfriendly +acts infringing our commercial rights and the adoption of a policy +threatening the honor and security of these States can long consist +with peaceful relations. + +In case the measures taken for amicable adjustment of our difficulties +with Spain should, unfortunately, fail, I shall not hesitate to use the +authority and means which Congress may grant to insure the observance of +our just rights, to obtain redress for injuries received, and to +vindicate the honor of our flag. + +In anticipation of that contingency, which I earnestly hope may not +arise, I suggest to Congress the propriety of adopting such provisional +measures as the exigency may seem to demand. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +EXECUTIVE OFFICE, + +_Washington, March 17, 1854_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I communicate to the Senate herewith, for its constitutional action, two +treaties recently negotiated by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, as +commissioner on the part of the United States, with the delegates now at +the seat of Government representing the confederated tribes of Otoes and +Missourias and the Omaha Indians, for the extinguishment of their titles +to lands west of the Missouri River. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +EXECUTIVE OFFICE, + +_Washington, March 18. 1854_. + +Hon. LINN BOYD, + +_Speaker of the House of Representatives_. + +SIR: I transmit to you herewith a report of the present date from the +Secretary of the Interior, accompanied by a tabular statement containing +the information[12] called for by resolution of the House of +Representatives adopted the 13th ultimo. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + +[Footnote 12: Area of each State and Territory; extent of the public +domain remaining in each State and Territory, and the extent alienated +by sales, grants, etc.] + + + +WASHINGTON, _March 21, 1854_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +In answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 15th instant, adopted +in executive session, I transmit confidentially a report from the +Secretary of State and the documents[13] by which it was accompanied. +Pursuant to the suggestion in the report, it is desirable that such of +the papers as may be originals should be returned to the Department of +State. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + +[Footnote 13: Instructions and correspondence relative to the negotiation +of the treaty with Mexico of December 30, 1853, etc.] + + + +EXECUTIVE OFFICE, + +_March 25, 1854_. + +Hon. LENN BOYD, + +_Speaker of the House of Representatives_: + +I communicate to the House of Representatives herewith a report from the +Secretary of the Interior, dated the 24th instant, containing so much of +the information called for by the resolution of the 17th instant as it +is practicable or compatible with the public interest to furnish at +the present time, respecting the proceedings which have been had and +negotiations entered into for the extinguishment of the Indian titles +to lands west of the States of Missouri and Iowa. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _March 29, 1854_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +In answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 21st instant, adopted +in executive session, relative to the claims of the Mexican Government +and of citizens of the Mexican Republic on this Government, and of +citizens of the United States on the Government of that Republic, I +transmit a report from the Secretary of State, to whom the resolution +was referred. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _March 31, 1854_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +In answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 13th instant, +requesting a confidential communication of information touching the +expedition under the authority of this Government for the purpose of +opening trade with Japan, I transmit a report from the Secretary of +State, to whom the resolution was referred. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, D.C., _April 1, 1854_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit herewith the report of the Secretary of State in reply to the +resolution of the Senate of the 27th ultimo. + +That part of the document which purports to recite my official +instructions is strictly correct; that which is avowedly unofficial and +unauthorized, it can hardly be necessary for me to say, in view of the +documents already before the Senate, does not convey a correct +impression of my "views and wishes." + +At no time after an intention was entertained of sending Mr. Ward as +special agent to Mexico was either the Garay grant or the convention +entered into by Mr. Conkling alluded to otherwise than as subjects which +might embarrass the negotiation of the treaty, and were consequently not +included in the instructions. + +While the departure of Mr. Ward, under any circumstances or in any +respect, from the instructions committed to him is a matter of regret, +it is just to say that, although he failed to convey in his letter to +General Gadsden the correct import of remarks made by me anterior to his +appointment as special agent, I impute to him no design of +misrepresentation. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _April 5, 1854_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit to the Senate a report of the Secretary of State, with +accompanying documents,[14] in compliance with their resolution of +the 14th ultimo. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + +[Footnote 14: Correspondence relative to the seizure of Martin Koszta +by Austrian authorities at Smyrna.] + + + +WASHINGTON, _April 5, 1854_. + +_To the House of Representatives of the United States_: + +I transmit herewith to the House of Representatives a report of the +Secretary of State, with accompanying documents,[15] in further compliance +with their resolution of the 10th of March, 1854. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + +[Footnote 15: Relating to violations of the rights of American citizens +by Spanish authorities and their refusal to allow United States vessels +to enter ports of Cuba, etc.] + + + +WASHINGTON, _April 5, 1854_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit herewith a report[16] from the Secretary of State, in answer +to the resolution of the Senate in executive session of the 3d instant. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + +[Footnote 16: Relating to expeditions organized in California for the +invasion of Sonora, Mexico.] + + + +WASHINGTON, _April 8, 1854_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith to the House of Representatives a report[17] of the +Secretary of State, in answer to their resolution of the 3d instant. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + +[Footnote 17: Stating that the correspondence relative to the refusal +by the authorities of Cuba to permit the United States mail steamer +_Crescent City_ to land mail and passengers at Havana had been +transmitted with the message to the House of April 5, 1854.] + + + +WASHINGTON, _April 10, 1854_ + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I communicate to the Senate herewith a communication from the Secretary +of the Interior, accompanied by the articles of a convention recently +entered into for an exchange of country for the future residence of the +Winnebago Indians, and recommend their ratification with the amendment +suggested by the Secretary of the Interior. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _April 11, 1854_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit herewith a report[18] from the Secretary of State, in reply +to the Senate's resolution of yesterday passed in executive session. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + +[Footnote 18: Relating to claims growing out of the eleventh article of +the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.] + + + +WASHINGTON, _April 12, 1854_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State, with +accompanying documents,[19] in compliance with the resolution of the +House of Representatives of the 4th instant. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + +[Footnote 19: Correspondence relative to the seizure of Martin Koszta +by Austrian authorities at Smyrna.] + + + +WASHINGTON, _April 13, 1854_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit herewith a report[20] from the Secretary of State, in reply +to the resolution of the Senate adopted in executive session yesterday. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + +[Footnote 20: Relating to the abrogation of the eleventh article of the +treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, etc.] + + + +WASHINGTON, _April 24, 1854_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I have the honor to transmit herewith a report of the Attorney-General, +suggesting modifications in the manner of conducting the legal business +of the Government, which are respectfully commended to your favorable +consideration. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + +[The same message was also addressed to the Speaker of the House of +Representatives.] + + + +WASHINGTON, _April 27, 1834_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit to Congress a copy of a correspondence between the Secretary +of State and Her Britannic Majesty's minister accredited to this +Government, and between the Secretary of State and the Secretary of the +Treasury, relative to the expediency of further measures for the safety, +health, and comfort of immigrants to the United States by sea. As it is +probable that further legislation may be necessary for the purpose of +securing those desirable objects, I commend the subject to the +consideration of Congress. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _May 2, 1854_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I transmit the report[21] of the Secretary of State in compliance with a +resolution of the House of Representatives of the 5th ultimo. + +It is presumed that the omission from the resolution of the usual +clause giving the Executive a discretion in its answer was accidental, and +as there does not appear to be anything in the accompanying papers +which upon public considerations should require them to be withheld, +they are communicated accordingly. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + +[Footnote 21: Relating to the application of Rev. James Cook Richmond for +redress of wrongs alleged to have been committed by Austrian authorities +in Pest, and to the refusal to grant an exequatur upon the commission of +the United States consul appointed for Trieste.] + + + +WASHINGTON, _May 5, 1854_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State, with accompanying +documents,[22] in compliance with the resolution of the Senate of +the 12th ultimo. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + +[Footnote 22: Correspondence relative to the arrest and detention at +Bremen of Conrad Schmidt, and arrest and maltreatment at Heidelberg of +E.T. Dana, W.B. Dingle, and David Ramsay, all citizens of the United +States; correspondence with the King of Prussia relative to religious +toleration.] + + + +WASHINGTON, _May 5, 1854_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit herewith a report[23] from the Secretary of State, together +with the documents therein referred to, in compliance with the resolution +of the Senate of the 12th January last. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + +[Footnote 23: Relating to the impressment of seamen from the United +States whale ship _Addison_ at Valparaiso, and imprisonment of William +A. Stewart, an American citizen, at Valparaiso on the charge of murder, +and on conviction released by Chilean authorities.] + + + +WASHINGTON, _May 11, 1854_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I transmit a report from the Secretary of State, with accompanying +papers,[24] in answer to the resolution of the House of Representatives +of the 1st instant. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + +[Footnote 24: Relating to the rights accorded to neutrals and the rights +claimed by belligerents in the war between certain European powers.] + + + +WASHINGTON, _May 20, 1854_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State, with +accompanying documents,[25] in compliance with the Senate's resolution +of the 30th of January last. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + +[Footnote 25: Correspondence relative to the difficulties between Rev. +Jonas King and the Government of Greece.] + + + +WASHINGTON, _May 23, 1854_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit a report from the Secretary of State, on the subject of +documents[26] called for by the resolution of the Senate of the 9th +instant. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + +[Footnote 26: Researches of H.S. Sanford, late charge d'affaires at +Paris, on the condition of penal law in continental Europe, etc.; also a +"Memoir on the Administrative Changes in France since the Revolution of +1848," by H.S. Sanford.] + + + +WASHINGTON, _May 25, 1854_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I communicate to the Senate herewith, for its constitutional action +thereon, four several treaties recently negotiated in this city by +George W. Manypenny, as commissioner on the part of the United States, +with the delegates of the Delaware, Ioway, Kickapoo, and Sac and Fox +tribes of Indians. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _May 29, 1854_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I communicate to the Senate herewith, for its constitutional action +thereon, a treaty negotiated on the 12th instant at the Falls of Wolf +River, in Wisconsin, by Francis Huebschmann, superintendent of Indian +affairs for the northern superintendency, and the Menomonee Indians, by +the chiefs, headmen, and warriors of that tribe. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _May 30, 1854_. + +_To the House of Representatives of the United States_: + +I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State, with +accompanying documents,[27] in compliance with the resolution of the +House of Representatives of the 20th December last. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + +[Footnote 27: Correspondence relative to the imposition of Sound dues, +etc., upon United States commerce to the Baltic.] + + + +WASHINGTON, _June 12, 1854_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I transmit a report from the Secretary of State, with accompanying +papers,[28] in answer to the resolution of the House of Representatives +of the 24th of April last. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + +[Footnote 28: Relating to the instructions referred to by President +Monroe in his annual message of December 2, 1823, on the subject of the +issue of commissions to private armed vessels.] + + + +WASHINGTON, _June 19, 1854_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State, with +accompanying documents,[29] in compliance with the resolution of the +House of Representatives of the 30th ultimo. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + +[Footnote 29: Correspondence of the American minister to Turkey relative +to the expulsion of the Greeks from Constantinople.] + + + +WASHINGTON, _June 20, 1854_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I have received information that the Government of Mexico has agreed to +the several amendments proposed by the Senate to the treaty between the +United States and the Republic of Mexico signed on the 30th of December +last, and has authorized its envoy extraordinary to this Government to +exchange the ratifications thereof. The time within which the +ratifications can be exchanged will expire on the 30th instant. + +There is a provision in the treaty for the payment by the United States +to Mexico of the sum of $7,000,000 on the exchange of ratifications and +the further sum of $3,000,000 when the boundaries of the ceded territory +shall be settled. + +To be enabled to comply with the stipulation according to the terms +of the treaty relative to the payments therein mentioned, it will be +necessary that Congress should make an appropriation of $7,000,000 for +that purpose before the 30th instant, and also the further sum of +$3,000,000, to be paid when the boundaries shall be established. + +I therefore respectfully request that these sums may be put at the +disposal of the Executive. + +I herewith transmit to the House of Representatives a copy of the said +treaty. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _June 20, 1854_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit to the Senate, for its consideration with a view to +ratification, a treaty extending the right of fishing and regulating the +commerce and navigation between Her Britannic Majesty's possessions in +North America and the United States, concluded in this city on the 5th +instant between the United States and Her Britannic Majesty. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _June 24, 1854_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit to Congress the copy of two communications of the 26th ultimo +and 4th instant, respectively, from Her Britannic Majesty's minister +accredited to this Government to the Secretary of State, relative to the +health on shipboard of immigrants from foreign countries to the United +States. This was the subject of my message to Congress of the 27th of +April last. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON CITY, _June 29, 1854_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I herewith communicate to the Senate, for its constitutional action +thereon, three treaties recently negotiated in this city by George +W. Manypenny, as commissioner on the part of the United States; one +concluded on the 19th ultimo with the delegates of the Shawnee Indians, +one on the 5th instant with the Miami Indians, and the other on the 30th +ultimo with the united tribes of Kaskaskia and Peoria and Wea and +Piankeshaw Indians. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _July 3, 1854_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit herewith to the Senate, for its constitutional action +thereon, an article of agreement made on the 13th day of June, 1854, +by William H. Garrett, agent on the part of the United States, and a +delegation of Creek Indians, supplementary to the Creek treaty of 1838. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _July 5, 1854_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +In compliance with the resolution of the Senate of the 1st instant, I +herewith return the articles of convention made and concluded with the +Winnebago Indians on the 6th of August, 1853, together with the Senate +resolution of the 9th ultimo, advising and consenting to the +ratification of the same with amendments. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _July 12, 1854_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith the inclosed communication from the Secretary of the +Navy, respecting the observations of Lieutenant James M. Gillis, of the +United States Navy, and the accompanying documents.[30] + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + +[Footnote 30: Report of the United States naval astronomical expedition +to the Southern Hemisphere.] + + + +WASHINGTON, _July 12, 1854_. + +_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 Empire of +Japan, signed at Kanagawa on the 31st day of March last by the +plenipotentiaries of the two Governments. The Chinese and Dutch +translations of the instrument and the chart and sketch to which it +refers are also herewith communicated. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _July 17, 1854_. + +_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 Her Britannic +Majesty for the extension of the period limited for the duration of the +mixed commission under convention between the United States and Great +Britain of the 8th of February, 1853. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _July 19, 1854_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I transmit a report from the Secretary of State, with accompanying +papers,[31] in answer to the resolution of the House of Representatives +of the 6th of February last. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + +[Footnote 31: Correspondence of Humphrey Marshall, commissioner to China.] + + + +WASHINGTON, _July 22, 1854_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I have this day given my signature to the "Act making further +appropriations for the improvement of the Cape Fear River, in North +Carolina." + +The occasion seems to render it proper for me to deviate from the +ordinary course of announcing the approval of bills by an oral statement +only, and, for the purpose of preventing any misapprehension which might +otherwise arise from the phraseology of this act, to communicate +in writing that my approval is given to it on the ground that the +obstructions which the proposed appropriation is intended to remove +are the result of acts of the General Government. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _July 24, 1854_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit to the Senate, for its consideration with a view to +ratification, a convention concerning the rights of neutrals, concluded +in this city on the 22d instant between the United States and His +Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _July 26, 1854_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit a report from the Secretary of State, in answer to the +resolution of the Senate of the 23d of May last, relative to the slave +trade in the island of Cuba. + +The information contained in the papers accompanying the report will, it +is believed, be considered important, and perhaps necessary to enable +the Senate to form an opinion upon the subjects to which they relate; +but doubts may be entertained in regard to the expediency of publishing +some of the documents at this juncture. + +This communication is accordingly addressed to the Senate in executive +session, in order that a discretion may be exercised in regard to its +publication. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _July 27, 1854_. + +The PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: + +In compliance with the resolution of the Senate of the 24th instant, +requesting me to cause to be transmitted to the Senate the Fourth +Meteorological Report of Professor Espy, the accompanying papers and +charts are respectfully submitted. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _July 29, 1854_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +In compliance with the Senate resolution of the 10th July instant, +requesting that I would "cause to be communicated to the Senate copies +of all the correspondence and other official documents on file in +the Department of the Interior respecting the claims of persons for +services performed and supplies and subsistence furnished to Indians +in California under contracts with Indian agents in the year 1851, and +embracing the names of claimants, the amount, respectively, of their +claims, on what account created and by what authority, if any," +I transmit herewith a communication from the Secretary of the Interior, +accompanied by copies of all the papers called for which have not +heretofore been furnished. As it appears that most of the papers called +for were communicated to the Senate at its first and special sessions +of the Thirty-second Congress, I have not supposed that it was the +intention of the Senate to have them again sent, and I have therefore +not directed them to be copied. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _July 31, 1854_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +In compliance with a resolution of the Senate of the 28th instant, +requesting information in respect to the bombardment of San Juan de +Nicaragua, I transmit reports from the Secretaries of State and of the +Navy, with the documents which accompanied them. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _July 31, 1854_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +In answer to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 28th +instant, requesting information in regard to the destruction of San Juan +de Nicaragua, I transmit reports from the Secretaries of State and of +the Navy, with the documents accompanying them. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _August 1, 1854_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I hasten to respond briefly to the resolution of the Senate of this +date, "requesting the President to inform the Senate, if in his opinion +it be not incompatible with the public interest, whether anything has +arisen since the date of his message to the House of Representatives of +the 15th of March last concerning our relations with the Government of +Spain which in his opinion may dispense with the suggestions therein +contained touching the propriety of 'provisional measures' by Congress +to meet any exigency that may arise in the recess of Congress affecting +those relations." + +In the message to the House of Representatives referred to I availed +myself of the occasion to present the following reflections and +suggestions: + + + In view of the position of the island of Cuba, its proximity to our + coast, the relations which it must ever bear to our commercial and + other interests, it is vain to expect that a series of unfriendly + acts infringing our commercial rights and the adoption of a policy + threatening the honor and security of these States can long consist + with peaceful relations. + + In case the measures taken for amicable adjustment of our difficulties + with Spain should, unfortunately, fail, I shall not hesitate to use the + authority and means which Congress may grant to insure the observance + of our just rights, to obtain redress for injuries received, and to + vindicate the honor of our flag. + + In anticipation of that contingency, which I earnestly hope may not + arise, I suggest to Congress the propriety of adopting such provisional + measures as the exigency may seem to demand. + + +The two Houses of Congress may have anticipated that the hope then +expressed would be realized before the period of its adjournment, +and that our relations with Spain would have assumed a satisfactory +condition, so as to remove past causes of complaint and afford better +security for tranquillity and justice in the future. But I am +constrained to say that such is not the fact. The formal demand for +immediate reparation in the case of the _Black Warrior_, instead of +having been met on the part of Spain by prompt satisfaction, has only +served to call forth a justification of the local authorities of Cuba, +and thus to transfer the responsibility for their acts to the Spanish +Government itself. + +Meanwhile information, not only reliable in its nature, but of an +official character, was received to the effect that preparation was +making within the limits of the United States by private individuals +under military organization for a descent upon the island of Cuba with +a view to wrest that colony from the dominion of Spain. International +comity, the obligations of treaties, and the express provisions of law +alike required, in my judgment, that all the constitutional power of +the Executive should be exerted to prevent the consummation of such a +violation of positive law and of that good faith on which mainly the +amicable relations of neighboring nations must depend. In conformity +with these convictions of public duty, a proclamation was issued to warn +all persons not to participate in the contemplated enterprise and to +invoke the interposition in this behalf of the proper officers of the +Government. No provocation whatever can justify private expeditions of +hostility against a country at peace with the United States. The power +to declare war is vested by the Constitution in Congress, and the +experience of our past history leaves no room to doubt that the wisdom +of this arrangement of constitutional power will continue to be verified +whenever the national interest and honor shall demand a resort to +ultimate measures of redress. Pending negotiations by the Executive, +and before the action of Congress, individuals could not be permitted +to embarrass the operations of the one and usurp the powers of the other +of these depositaries of the functions of Government. + +I have only to add that nothing has arisen since the date of my former +message to "dispense with the suggestions therein contained touching the +propriety of provisional measures by Congress." + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _August 2, 1854_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit herewith a report of the Secretary of State, with the +accompanying documents,[32] in answer to the resolution of the Senate +of the 5th ultimo. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + +[Footnote 32: Correspondence relative to the imprisonment of George +Marsden and to the seizure of the cargo of the American bark _Griffon_ +by the authorities of Brazil.] + + + +WASHINGTON, _August 2, 1854_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I herewith transmit to you a copy of a treaty between the United States +and Great Britain, negotiated at Washington on the 5th of June last. +It has been concurred in by the Senate, and I have no doubt that the +ratifications of it will be soon exchanged. It will be observed that by +the provision of the fifth article the treaty does not go into operation +until after legislation thereon by the respective parties. + +Should Congress at its present session pass the requisite law on the +part of the United States to give effect to its stipulations, the +fishing grounds on the coasts of the British North American Provinces, +from which our fishermen have been heretofore excluded, may be opened to +them during the present season, and apprehended collisions between them +and British fishermen avoided. + +For this reason and for the purpose of securing to the citizens of the +United States at the earliest practicable period other advantages which +it is believed they will derive from this treaty, I recommend the +passage by Congress at the present session of such a law as is necessary +on the part of the United States to give effect to its provisions. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + + +VETO MESSAGES. + + +WASHINGTON, _May 3, 1854_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +The bill entitled "An act making a grant of public lands to the several +States for the benefit of indigent insane persons," which was presented +to me on the 27th ultimo, has been maturely considered, and is returned +to the Senate, the House in which it originated, with a statement of the +objections which have required me to withhold from it my approval. + +In the performance of this duty, prescribed by the Constitution, I have +been compelled to resist the deep sympathies of my own heart in favor +of the humane purpose sought to be accomplished and to overcome the +reluctance with which I dissent from the conclusions of the two Houses +of Congress, and present my own opinions in opposition to the action of +a coordinate branch of the Government which possesses so fully my +confidence and respect. + +If in presenting my objections to this bill I should say more than +strictly belongs to the measure or is required for the discharge of my +official obligation, let it be attributed to a sincere desire to justify +my act before those whose good opinion I so highly value and to that +earnestness which springs from my deliberate conviction that a strict +adherence to the terms and purposes of the federal compact offers the +best, if not the only, security for the preservation of our blessed +inheritance of representative liberty. + +The bill provides in substance: + +First. That 10,000,000 acres of land be granted to the several States, +to be apportioned among them in the compound ratio of the geographical +area and representation of said States in the House of Representatives. + +Second. That wherever there are public lands in a State subject to sale +at the regular price of private entry, the proportion of said 10,000,000 +acres falling to such State shall be selected from such lands within it, +and that to the States in which there are no such public lands land +scrip shall be issued to the amount of their distributive shares, +respectively, said scrip not to be entered by said States, but to be +sold by them and subject to entry by their assignees: _Provided_, That +none of it shall be sold at less than $1 per acre, under penalty of +forfeiture of the same to the United States. + +Third. That the expenses of the management and superintendence of said +lands and of the moneys received therefrom shall be paid by the States +to which they may belong out of the treasury of said States. + +Fourth. That the gross proceeds of the sales of such lands or land scrip +so granted shall be invested by the several States in safe stocks, to +constitute a perpetual fund, the principal of which shall remain forever +undiminished, and the interest to be appropriated to the maintenance of +the indigent insane within the several States. + +Fifth. That annual returns of lands or scrip sold shall be made by the +States to the Secretary of the Interior, and the whole grant be subject +to certain conditions and limitations prescribed in the bill, to be +assented to by legislative acts of said States. + +This bill therefore proposes that the Federal Government shall make +provision to the amount of the value of 10,000,000 acres of land for an +eleemosynary object within the several States, to be administered by the +political authority of the same; and it presents at the threshold the +question whether any such act on the part of the Federal Government +is warranted and sanctioned by the Constitution, the provisions and +principles of which are to be protected and sustained as a first and +paramount duty. + +It can not be questioned that if Congress has power to make provision +for the indigent insane without the limits of this District it has the +same power to provide for the indigent who are not insane, and thus +to transfer to the Federal Government the charge of all the poor in +all the States. It has the same power to provide hospitals and other +local establishments for the care and cure of every species of human +infirmity, and thus to assume all that duty of either public +philanthropy or public necessity to the dependent, the orphan, the +sick, or the needy which is now discharged by the States themselves +or by corporate institutions or private endowments existing under the +legislation of the States. The whole field of public beneficence is +thrown open to the care and culture of the Federal Government. Generous +impulses no longer encounter the limitations and control of our +imperious fundamental law; for however worthy may be the present object +in itself, it is only one of a class. It is not exclusively worthy of +benevolent regard. Whatever considerations dictate sympathy for this +particular object apply in like manner, if not in the same degree, to +idiocy, to physical disease, to extreme destitution. If Congress may +and ought to provide for any one of these objects, it may and ought to +provide for them all. And if it be done in this case, what answer shall +be given when Congress shall be called upon, as it doubtless will be, to +pursue a similar course of legislation in the others? It will obviously +be vain to reply that the object is worthy, but that the application has +taken a wrong direction. The power will have been deliberately assumed, +the general obligation will by this act have been acknowledged, and the +question of means and expediency will alone be left for consideration. +The decision upon the principle in any one case determines it for the +whole class. The question presented, therefore, clearly is upon the +constitutionality and propriety of the Federal Government assuming +to enter into a novel and vast field of legislation, namely, that of +providing for the care and support of all those among the people of the +United States who by any form of calamity become fit objects of public +philanthropy. + +I readily and, I trust, feelingly acknowledge the duty incumbent on us +all as men and citizens, and as among the highest and holiest of our +duties, to provide for those who, in the mysterious order of Providence, +are subject to want and to disease of body or mind; but I can not find +any authority in the Constitution for making the Federal Government the +great almoner of public charity throughout the United States. To do so +would, in my judgment, be contrary to the letter and spirit of the +Constitution and subversive of the whole theory upon which the Union of +these States is founded. And if it were admissible to contemplate the +exercise of this power for any object whatever, I can not avoid the +belief that it would in the end be prejudicial rather than beneficial in +the noble offices of charity to have the charge of them transferred from +the States to the Federal Government. Are we not too prone to forget +that the Federal Union is the creature of the States, not they of +the Federal Union? We were the inhabitants of colonies distinct in +local government one from the other before the Revolution. By that +Revolution the colonies each became an independent State. They achieved +that independence and secured its recognition by the agency of a +consulting body, which, from being an assembly of the ministers of +distinct sovereignties instructed to agree to no form of government +which did not leave the domestic concerns of each State to itself, was +appropriately denominated a Congress. When, having tried the experiment +of the Confederation, they resolved to change that for the present +Federal Union, and thus to confer on the Federal Government more ample +authority, they scrupulously measured such of the functions of their +cherished sovereignty as they chose to delegate to the General +Government. With this aim and to this end the fathers of the Republic +framed the Constitution, in and by which the independent and sovereign +States united themselves for certain specified objects and purposes, and +for those only, leaving all powers not therein set forth as conferred on +one or another of the three great departments--the legislative, the +executive, and the judicial--indubitably with the States. And when the +people of the several States had in their State conventions, and thus +alone, given effect and force to the Constitution, not content that any +doubt should in future arise as to the scope and character of this act, +they ingrafted thereon the explicit declaration that "the powers not +delegated to the United States by the Constitution nor prohibited by +it to the States are reserved to the States respectively or to the +people." Can it be controverted that the great mass of the business +of Government--that involved in the social relations, the internal +arrangements of the body politic, the mental and moral culture of men, +the development of local resources of wealth, the punishment of crimes +in general, the preservation of order, the relief of the needy or +otherwise unfortunate members of society--did in practice remain with +the States; that none of these objects of local concern are by the +Constitution expressly or impliedly prohibited to the States, and that +none of them are by any express language of the Constitution transferred +to the United States? Can it be claimed that any of these functions +of local administration and legislation are vested in the Federal +Government by any implication? I have never found anything in the +Constitution which is susceptible of such a construction. No one of +the enumerated powers touches the subject or has even a remote analogy +to it. The powers conferred upon the United States have reference to +federal relations, or to the means of accomplishing or executing things +of federal relation. So also of the same character are the powers taken +away from the States by enumeration. In either case the powers granted +and the powers restricted were so granted or so restricted only where +it was requisite for the maintenance of peace and harmony between the +States or for the purpose of protecting their common interests and +defending their common sovereignty against aggression from abroad or +insurrection at home. + +I shall not discuss at length the question of power sometimes claimed +for the General Government under the clause of the eighth section of the +Constitution, which gives Congress the power "to lay and collect taxes, +duties, imposts, and excises, to pay debts and provide for the common +defense and general welfare of the United States," because if it has not +already been settled upon sound reason and authority it never will be. +I take the received and just construction of that article, as if written +to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises _in order_ to pay +the debts and _in order_ to provide for the common defense and general +welfare. It is not a substantive general power to provide for the +welfare of the United States, but is a limitation on the grant of power +to raise money by taxes, duties, and imposts. If it were otherwise, all +the rest of the Constitution, consisting of carefully enumerated and +cautiously guarded grants of specific powers, would have been useless, +if not delusive. It would be impossible in that view to escape from the +conclusion that these were inserted only to mislead for the present, +and, instead of enlightening and defining the pathway of the future, +to involve its action in the mazes of doubtful construction. Such a +conclusion the character of the men who framed that sacred instrument +will never permit us to form. Indeed, to suppose it susceptible of any +other construction would be to consign all the rights of the States and +of the people of the States to the mere discretion of Congress, and thus +to clothe the Federal Government with authority to control the sovereign +States, by which they would have been dwarfed into provinces or +departments and all sovereignty vested in an absolute consolidated +central power, against which the spirit of liberty has so often and +in so many countries struggled in vain. In my judgment you can not by +tributes to humanity make any adequate compensation for the wrong you +would inflict by removing the sources of power and political action from +those who are to be thereby affected. If the time shall ever arrive +when, for an object appealing, however strongly, to our sympathies, +the dignity of the States shall bow to the dictation of Congress by +conforming their legislation thereto, when the power and majesty and +honor of those who created shall become subordinate to the thing of +their creation, I but feebly utter my apprehensions when I express +my firm conviction that we shall see "the beginning of the end." + +Fortunately, we are not left in doubt as to the purpose of the +Constitution any more than as to its express language, for although the +history of its formation, as recorded in the Madison Papers, shows that +the Federal Government in its present form emerged from the conflict of +opposing influences which have continued to divide statesmen from that +day to this, yet the rule of clearly defined powers and of strict +construction presided over the actual conclusion and subsequent adoption +of the Constitution. President Madison, in the Federalist, says: + + + The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution are few and defined. + Those which are to remain in the State governments are numerous and + indefinite. ... Its [the General Government's] jurisdiction extends to + certain enumerated objects only, and leaves to the several States a + residuary and inviolable sovereignty over all other objects. + + +In the same spirit President Jefferson invokes "the support of +the State governments in all their rights as the most competent +administrations for our domestic concerns and the surest bulwarks +against anti-republican tendencies;" and President Jackson said that our +true strength and wisdom are not promoted by invasions of the rights and +powers of the several States, but that, on the contrary, they consist +"not in binding the States more closely to the center, but in leaving +each more unobstructed in its proper orbit." + +The framers of the Constitution, in refusing to confer on the Federal +Government any jurisdiction over these purely local objects, in my +judgment manifested a wise forecast and broad comprehension of the true +interests of these objects themselves. It is clear that public charities +within the States can be efficiently administered only by their +authority. The bill before me concedes this, for it does not commit the +funds it provides to the administration of any other authority. + +I can not but repeat what I have before expressed, that if the several +States, many of which have already laid the foundation of munificent +establishments of local beneficence, and nearly all of which are +proceeding to establish them, shall be led to suppose, as, should this +bill become a law, they will be, that Congress is to make provision for +such objects, the fountains of charity will be dried up at home, and the +several States, instead of bestowing their own means on the social wants +of their own people, may themselves, through the strong temptation which +appeals to states as to individuals, become humble suppliants for the +bounty of the Federal Government, reversing their true relations to +this Union. + +Having stated my views of the limitation of the powers conferred by +the eighth section of the first article of the Constitution, I deem it +proper to call attention to the third section of the fourth article +and to the provisions of the sixth article bearing directly upon +the question under consideration, which, instead of aiding the claim +to power exercised in this case, tend, it is believed, strongly to +illustrate and explain positions which, even without such support, +I can not regard as questionable. The third section of the fourth +article of the Constitution is in the following terms: + + + The Congress shall have power to _dispose_ of and make all needful rules + and regulations respecting the territory or other property belonging + to the United States; and nothing in this Constitution shall be so + construed as to prejudice any claims of the United States or of any + particular State. + + +The sixth article is as follows, to wit, that-- + + + All debts contracted and engagements entered into before the adoption of + this Constitution shall be as valid against the United States under this + Constitution as under the Confederation. + + +For a correct understanding of the terms used in the third section of +the fourth article, above quoted, reference should be had to the history +of the times in which the Constitution was formed and adopted. It was +decided upon in convention on the 17th September, 1787, and by it +Congress was empowered "to dispose of," etc., "the territory or other +property belonging to the United States." The only territory then +belonging to the United States was that then recently ceded by the +several States, to wit: By New York in 1781, by Virginia in 1784, by +Massachusetts in 1785, and by South Carolina in August, 1787, only +the month before the formation of the Constitution. The cession from +Virginia contained the following provision: + + + That all the lands within the territory so ceded to the United States, + and not reserved for or appropriated to any of the before-mentioned + purposes or disposed of in bounties to the officers and soldiers of the + American Army, shall be considered a common fund for the use and benefit + of such of the United States as have become or shall become members of + the Confederation or Federal Alliance of the said States, Virginia + included, according to their usual respective proportions in the general + charge and expenditure, and shall be faithfully and _bona fide disposed + of_ for that purpose and for no other use or purpose whatsoever. + + +Here the object for which these lands are to be disposed of is clearly +set forth, and the power to dispose of them granted by the third section +of the fourth article of the Constitution clearly contemplates such +disposition only. If such be the fact, and in my mind there can be no +doubt of it, then you have again not only no implication in favor of the +contemplated grant, but the strongest authority against it. Furthermore, +this bill is in violation of the faith of the Government pledged in the +act of January 28, 1847. The nineteenth section of that act declares: + + + That for the payment of the stock which may be created under the + provisions of this act the sales of the public lands are hereby pledged; + and it is hereby made the duty of the Secretary of the Treasury to use + and apply all moneys which may be received into the Treasury for the + sales of the public lands after the 1st day of January, 1848, first, + to pay the interest on all stocks issued by virtue of this act, and, + secondly, to use the balance of said receipts, after paying the interest + aforesaid, in the purchase of said stocks at their market value, etc. + + +The debts then contracted have not been liquidated, and the language of +this section and the obligations of the United States under it are too +plain to need comment. + +I have been unable to discover any distinction on constitutional grounds +or grounds of expediency between an appropriation of $10,000,000 +directly from the money in the Treasury for the object contemplated and +the appropriation of lands presented for my sanction, and yet I can not +doubt that if the bill proposed $10,000,000 from the Treasury of the +United States for the support of the indigent insane in the several +States that the constitutional question involved in the act would have +attracted forcibly the attention of Congress. + +I respectfully submit that in a constitutional point of view it is +wholly immaterial whether the appropriation be in money or in land. + +The public domain is the common property of the Union just as much as +the surplus proceeds of that and of duties on imports remaining +unexpended in the Treasury. As such it has been pledged, is now pledged, +and may need to be so pledged again for public indebtedness. + +As property it is distinguished from actual money chiefly in this +respect, that its profitable management sometimes requires that portions +of it be appropriated to local objects in the States wherein it may +happen to lie, as would be done by any prudent proprietor to enhance the +sale value of his private domain. All such grants of land are in fact +a disposal of it for value received, but they afford no precedent or +constitutional reason for giving away the public lands. Still less do +they give sanction to appropriations for objects which have not been +intrusted to the Federal Government, and therefore belong exclusively +to the States. + +To assume that the public lands are applicable to ordinary State +objects, whether of public structures, police, charity, or expenses of +State administration, would be to disregard to the amount of the value +of the public lands all the limitations of the Constitution and confound +to that extent all distinctions between the rights and powers of the +States and those of the United States; for if the public lands may be +applied to the support of the poor, whether sane or insane, if the +disposal of them and their proceeds be not subject to the ordinary +limitations of the Constitution, then Congress possesses unqualified +power to provide for expenditures in the States by means of the public +lands, even to the degree of defraying the salaries of governors, +judges, and all other expenses of the government and internal +administration within the several States. + +The conclusion from the general survey of the whole subject is to +my mind irresistible, and closes the question both of right and of +expediency so far as regards the principle of the appropriation proposed +in this bill. Would not the admission of such power in Congress to +dispose of the public domain work the practical abrogation of some +of the most important provisions of the Constitution? + +If the systematic reservation of a definite portion of the public lands +(the sixteenth sections) in the States for the purposes of education and +occasional grants for similar purposes be cited as contradicting these +conclusions, the answer as it appears to me is obvious and satisfactory. +Such reservations and grants, besides being a part of the conditions on +which the proprietary right of the United States is maintained, along +with the eminent domain of a particular State, and by which the public +land remains free from taxation in the State in which it lies as long +as it remains the property of the United States, are the acts of a mere +landowner disposing of a small share of his property in a way to augment +the value of the residue and in this mode to encourage the early +occupation of it by the industrious and intelligent pioneer. + +The great example of apparent donation of lands to the States likely +to be relied upon as sustaining the principles of this bill is the +relinquishment of swamp lands to the States in which they are situated, +but this also, like other grants already referred to, was based +expressly upon grounds clearly distinguishable in principle from any +which can be assumed for the bill herewith returned, viz, upon the +interest and duty of the proprietor. They were charged, and not without +reason, to be a nuisance to the inhabitants of the surrounding country. +The measure was predicated not only upon the ground of the disease +inflicted upon the people of the States, which the United States could +not justify as a just and honest proprietor, but also upon an express +limitation of the application of the proceeds in the first instance +to purposes of levees and drains, thus protecting the health of the +inhabitants and at the same time enhancing the value of the remaining +lands belonging to the General Government. + +It is not to be denied that Congress, while administering the public +lands as a proprietor within the principle distinctly announced in my +annual message, may sometimes have failed to distinguish accurately +between objects which are and which are not within its constitutional +powers. + +After the most careful examination I find but two examples in the acts +of Congress which furnish any precedent for the present bill, and those +examples will, in my opinion, serve rather as a warning than as an +inducement to tread in the same path. + +The first is the act of March 3, 1819, granting a township of land to +the Connecticut asylum for the education of the deaf and dumb; the +second, that of April 5, 1826, making a similar grant of land to the +Kentucky asylum for teaching the deaf and dumb--the first more than +thirty years after the adoption of the Constitution and the second more +than a quarter of a century ago. These acts were unimportant as to the +amount appropriated, and so far as I can ascertain were passed on two +grounds: First, that the object was a charitable one, and, secondly, +that it was national. To say that it was a charitable object is only +to say that it was an object of expenditure proper for the competent +authority; but it no more tended to show that it was a proper object of +expenditure by the United States than is any other purely local object +appealing to the best sympathies of the human heart in any of the +States. And the suggestion that a school for the mental culture of the +deaf and dumb in Connecticut or Kentucky is a national object only +shows how loosely this expression has been used when the purpose was +to procure appropriations by Congress. It is not perceived how a school +of this character is otherwise national than is any establishment of +religious or moral instruction. All the pursuits of industry, everything +which promotes the material or intellectual well-being of the race, +every ear of corn or boll of cotton which grows, is national in the same +sense, for each one of these things goes to swell the aggregate of +national prosperity and happiness of the United States; but it confounds +all meaning of language to say that these things are "national," as +equivalent to "Federal," so as to come within any of the classes of +appropriation for which Congress is authorized by the Constitution +to legislate. + +It is a marked point of the history of the Constitution that when it was +proposed to empower Congress to establish a university the proposition +was confined to the District intended for the future seat of Government +of the United States, and that even that proposed clause was omitted in +consideration of the exclusive powers conferred on Congress to legislate +for that District. Could a more decisive indication of the true +construction and the spirit of the Constitution in regard to all matters +of this nature have been given? It proves that such objects were +considered by the Convention as appertaining to local legislation only; +that they were not comprehended, either expressly or by implication, +in the grant of general power to Congress, and that consequently they +remained with the several States. + +The general result at which I have arrived is the necessary consequence +of those views of the relative rights, powers, and duties of the States +and of the Federal Government which I have long entertained and often +expressed and in reference to which my convictions do but increase in +force with time and experience. + +I have thus discharged the unwelcome duty of respectfully stating my +objections to this bill, with which I cheerfully submit the whole +subject to the wisdom of Congress. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _August 4, 1854_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I have received the bill entitled "An act making appropriations for the +repair, preservation, and completion of certain public works heretofore +commenced under the authority of law." It reaches me in the expiring +hours of the session, and time does not allow full opportunity for +examining and considering its provisions or of stating at length the +reasons which forbid me to give it my signature. + +It belongs to that class of measures which are commonly known as +internal improvements by the General Government, and which from a very +early period have been deemed of doubtful constitutionality and +expediency, and have thus failed to obtain the approbation of successive +Chief Magistrates. + +On such an examination of this bill as it has been in my power to make, +I recognize in it certain provisions national in their character, and +which, if they stood alone, it would be compatible with my convictions +of public duty to assent to; but at the same time, it embraces others +which are merely local, and not, in my judgment, warranted by any safe +or true construction of the Constitution. + +To make proper and sound discriminations between these different +provisions would require a deliberate discussion of general principles, +as well as a careful scrutiny of details for the purpose of rightfully +applying those principles to each separate item of appropriation. + +Public opinion with regard to the value and importance of internal +improvements in the country is undivided. There is a disposition on all +hands to have them prosecuted with energy and to see the benefits sought +to be attained by them fully realized. + +The prominent point of difference between those who have been regarded +as the friends of a system of internal improvements by the General +Government and those adverse to such a system has been one of +constitutional power, though more or less connected with considerations +of expediency. + +My own judgment, it is well known, has on both grounds been opposed to +"a general system of internal improvements" by the Federal Government. I +have entertained the most serious doubts from the inherent difficulties +of its application, as well as from past unsatisfactory experience, +whether the power could be so exercised by the General Government as to +render its use advantageous either to the country at large or effectual +for the accomplishment of the object contemplated. + +I shall consider it incumbent on me to present to Congress at its next +session a matured view of the whole subject, and to endeavor to define, +approximately at least, and according to my own convictions, what +appropriations of this nature by the General Government the great +interests of the United States require and the Constitution will admit +and sanction, in case no substitute should be devised capable of +reconciling differences both of constitutionality and expediency. + +In the absence of the requisite means and time for duly considering the +whole subject at present and discussing such possible substitute, it +becomes necessary to return this bill to the House of Representatives, +in which it originated, and for the reasons thus briefly submitted to +the consideration of Congress to withhold from it my approval. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +[The following message is inserted here because it is an exposition of +the reasons of the President for the veto of August 4, 1854, immediately +preceding.] + +WASHINGTON, _December 30, 1854_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +In returning to the House of Representatives, in which it originated, +a bill entitled "An act making appropriations for the repair, +preservation, and completion of certain public works heretofore +commenced under the authority of law," it became necessary for me, owing +to the late day at which the bill was passed, to state my objections +to it very briefly, announcing at the same time a purpose to resume +the subject for more deliberate discussion at the present session of +Congress; for, while by no means insensible of the arduousness of the +task thus undertaken by me, I conceived that the two Houses were +entitled to an exposition of the considerations which had induced +dissent on my part from their conclusions in this instance. + +The great constitutional question of the power of the General Government +in relation to internal improvements has been the subject of earnest +difference of opinion at every period of the history of the United +States. Annual and special messages of successive Presidents have been +occupied with it, sometimes in remarks on the general topic and +frequently in objection to particular bills. The conflicting sentiments +of eminent statesmen, expressed in Congress or in conventions called +expressly to devise, if possible, some plan calculated to relieve the +subject of the embarrassments with which it is environed, while they +have directed public attention strongly to the magnitude of the +interests involved, have yet left unsettled the limits, not merely of +expediency, but of constitutional power, in relation to works of this +class by the General Government. + +What is intended by the phrase "internal improvements"? What does it +embrace and what exclude? No such language is found in the Constitution. +Not only is it not an expression of ascertainable constitutional power, +but it has no sufficient exactness of meaning to be of any value as the +basis of a safe conclusion either of constitutional law or of practical +statesmanship. + +President John Quincy Adams, in claiming on one occasion, after his +retirement from office, the authorship of the idea of introducing into +the administration of the affairs of the General Government "a permanent +and regular system" of internal improvements, speaks of it as a system +by which "the whole Union would have been checkered over with railroads +and canals," affording "high wages and constant employment to hundreds +of thousands of laborers;" and he places it in express contrast with the +construction of such works by the legislation of the States and by +private enterprise. + +It is quite obvious that if there be any constitutional power which +authorizes the construction of "railroads and canals" by Congress, the +same power must comprehend turnpikes and ordinary carriage roads; nay, it +must extend to the construction of bridges, to the draining of marshes, +to the erection of levees, to the construction of canals of irrigation; +in a word, to all the possible means of the material improvement of the +earth, by developing its natural resources anywhere and everywhere, even +within the proper jurisdiction of the several States. But if there be +any constitutional power thus comprehensive in its nature, must not the +same power embrace within its scope other kinds of improvement of equal +utility in themselves and equally important to the welfare of the whole +country? President Jefferson, while intimating the expediency of so +amending the Constitution as to comprise objects of physical progress +and well-being, does not fail to perceive that "other objects of public +improvement," including "public education" by name, belong to the same +class of powers. In fact, not only public instruction, but hospitals, +establishments of science and art, libraries, and, indeed, everything +appertaining to the internal welfare of the country, are just as much +objects of internal improvement, or, in other words, of internal +utility, as canals and railways. + +The admission of the power in either of its senses implies its existence +in the other; and since if it exists at all it involves dangerous +augmentation of the political functions and of the patronage of the +Federal Government, we ought to see clearly by what clause or clauses of +the Constitution it is conferred. + +I have had occasion more than once to express, and deem it proper now +to repeat, that it is, in my judgment, to be taken for granted, as a +fundamental proposition not requiring elucidation, that the Federal +Government is the creature of the individual States and of the people +of the States severally; that the sovereign power was in them alone; +that all the powers of the Federal Government are derivative ones, the +enumeration and limitations of which are contained in the instrument +which organized it; and by express terms "the powers not delegated to +the United States by the Constitution nor prohibited by it to the States +are reserved to the States respectively or to the people." + +Starting from this foundation of our constitutional faith and proceeding +to inquire in what part of the Constitution the power of making +appropriations for internal improvements is found, it is necessary to +reject all idea of there being any grant of power in the preamble. +When that instrument says, "We, the people of the United States, in +order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic +tranquillity, provide for the common defense, promote the general +welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our +posterity," it only declares the inducements and the anticipated results +of the things ordained and established by it. To assume that anything +more can be designed by the language of the preamble would be to +convert all the body of the Constitution, with its carefully weighed +enumerations and limitations, into mere surplusage. The same may be said +of the phrase in the grant of the power to Congress "to pay the debts +and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United +States;" or, to construe the words more exactly, they are not +significant of grant or concession, but of restriction of the specific +grants, having the effect of saying that in laying and collecting +taxes for each of the precise objects of power granted to the General +Government Congress must exercise any such definite and undoubted power +in strict subordination to the purpose of the common defense and general +welfare of all the States. + +There being no specific grant in the Constitution of a power to sanction +appropriations for internal improvements, and no general provision broad +enough to cover any such indefinite object, it becomes necessary to look +for particular powers to which one or another of the things included in +the phrase "internal improvements" may be referred. + +In the discussions of this question by the advocates of the organization +of a "general system of internal improvements" under the auspices of the +Federal Government, reliance is had for the justification of the measure +on several of the powers expressly granted to Congress, such as to +establish post-offices and post-roads, to declare war, to provide and +maintain a navy, to raise and support armies, to regulate commerce, and +to dispose of the territory and other public property of the United +States, + +As to the last of these sources of power, that of disposing of the +territory and other public property of the United States, it may be +conceded that it authorizes Congress, in the management of the public +property, to make improvements essential to the successful execution of +the trust; but this must be the primary object of any such improvement, +and it would be an abuse of the trust to sacrifice the interest of the +property to incidental purposes. + +As to the other assumed sources of a general power over internal +improvements, they being specific powers of which this is supposed to be +the incident, if the framers of the Constitution, wise and thoughtful +men as they were, intended to confer on Congress the power over a +subject so wide as the whole field of internal improvements, it is +remarkable that they did not use language clearly to express it, or, in +other words, that they did not give it as a distinct and substantive +power instead of making it the implied incident of some other one; for +such is the magnitude of the supposed incidental power and its capacity +of expansion that any system established under it would exceed each of +the others in the amount of expenditure and number of the persons +employed, which would thus be thrown upon the General Government. + +This position may be illustrated by taking as a single example one of +the many things comprehended clearly in the idea of "a general system of +internal improvements," namely, roads. Let it be supposed that the power +to construct roads over the whole Union, according to the suggestion of +President J.Q. Adams in 1807, whilst a member of the Senate of the +United States, had been conceded. Congress would have begun, in +pursuance of the state of knowledge at the time, by constructing +turnpikes; then, as knowledge advanced, it would have constructed +canals, and at the present time it would have been embarked in an almost +limitless scheme of railroads. + +Now there are in the United States, the results of State or private +enterprise, upward of 17,000 miles of railroads and 5,000 miles of +canals; in all, 22,000 miles, the total cost of which may be estimated +at little short of $600,000,000; and if the same works had been +constructed by the Federal Government, supposing the thing to have +been practicable, the cost would have probably been not less than +$900,000,000. The number of persons employed in superintending, +managing, and keeping up these canals and railroads may be stated at +126,000 or thereabouts, to which are to be added 70,000 or 80,000 +employed on the railroads in construction, making a total of at least +200,000 persons, representing in families nearly 1,000,000 souls, +employed on or maintained by this one class of public works in the +United States. + +In view of all this, it is not easy to estimate the disastrous +consequences which must have resulted from such extended local +improvements being undertaken by the General Government. State +legislation upon this subject would have been suspended and private +enterprise paralyzed, while applications for appropriations would have +perverted the legislation of Congress, exhausted the National Treasury, +and left the people burdened with a heavy public debt, beyond the +capacity of generations to discharge. + +Is it conceivable that the framers of the Constitution intended that +authority drawing after it such immense consequences should be inferred +by implication as the incident of enumerated powers? I can not think +this, and the impossibility of supposing it would be still more glaring +if similar calculations were carried out in regard to the numerous +objects of material, moral, and political usefulness of which the idea +of internal improvement admits. It may be safely inferred that if the +framers of the Constitution had intended to confer the power to make +appropriations for the objects indicated, it would have been enumerated +among the grants expressly made to Congress.. When, therefore, any one +of the powers actually enumerated is adduced or referred to as the +ground of an assumption to warrant the incidental or implied power of +"internal improvement," that hypothesis must be rejected, or at least +can be no further admitted than as the particular act of internal +improvement may happen to be necessary to the exercise of the granted +power. Thus, when the object of a given road, the clearing of a +particular channel, or the construction of a particular harbor of refuge +is manifestly required by the exigencies of the naval or military +service of the country, then it seems to me undeniable that it may be +constitutionally comprehended in the powers to declare war, to provide +and maintain a navy, and to raise and support armies. At the same time, +it would be a misuse of these powers and a violation of the Constitution +to undertake to build upon them a great system of internal improvements. +And similar reasoning applies to the assumption of any such power as +is involved in that to establish post-roads and to regulate commerce. +If the particular improvement, whether by land or sea, be necessary to +the execution of the enumerated powers, then, but not otherwise, it +falls within the jurisdiction of Congress. To this extent only can +the power be claimed as the incident of any express grant to the +Federal Government. + +But there is one clause of the Constitution in which it has been +suggested that express authority to construct works of internal +improvement has been conferred on Congress, namely, that which empowers +it "to exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever over such +district (not exceeding 10 miles square) as may by cession of particular +States and the acceptance of Congress become the seat of the Government +of the United States, and to exercise like authority over all places +purchased by the consent of the legislature of the State in which the +same shall be for the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dockyards, +and _other needful buildings_..." But any such supposition will be seen +to be groundless when this provision is carefully examined and compared +with other parts of the Constitution. + +It is undoubtedly true that "like authority" refers back to "exclusive +legislation in all cases whatsoever" as applied to the District of +Columbia, and there is in the District no division of powers as between +the General and the State Governments. + +In those places which the United States has purchased or retains within +any of the States--sites for dockyards or forts, for example--legal +process of the given State is still permitted to run for some purposes, +and therefore the jurisdiction of the United States is not absolutely +perfect. But let us assume for the argument's sake that the jurisdiction +of the United States in a tract of land ceded to it for the purpose of a +dockyard or fort by Virginia or Maryland is as complete as in that ceded +by them for the seat of Government, and then proceed to analyze this +clause of the Constitution. + +It provides that Congress shall have certain legislative authority over +all places purchased by the United States for certain purposes. It +implies that Congress has otherwise the power to purchase. But where +does Congress get the power to purchase? Manifestly it must be from some +other clause of the Constitution, for it is not conferred by this one. +Now, as it is a fundamental principle that the Constitution is one of +limited powers, the authority to purchase must be conferred in one of +the enumerations of legislative power; so that the power to purchase is +itself not an unlimited one, but is limited by the objects in regard to +which legislative authority is directly conferred. + +The other expressions of the clause in question confirm this +conclusion, since the jurisdiction is given as to places purchased +for certain enumerated objects or purposes. Of these the first great +division--forts, magazines, arsenals, and dockyards--is obviously +referable to recognized heads of specific constitutional power. There +remains only the phrase "and other _needful_ buildings." Wherefore +needful? Needful for any possible purpose within the whole range of +the business of society and of Government? Clearly not; but only such +"buildings" as are "needful" to the United States in the exercise of +any of the powers conferred on Congress. + +Thus the United States need, in the exercise of admitted powers, not +only forts, magazines, arsenals, and dockyards, but also court-houses, +prisons, custom-houses, and post-offices within the respective States. +Places for the erection of such buildings the General Government may +constitutionally purchase, and, having purchased them, the jurisdiction +over them belongs to the United States. So if the General Government has +the power to build a light-house or a beacon, it may purchase a place +for that object; and having purchased it, then this clause of the +Constitution gives jurisdiction over it. Still, the power to purchase +for the purpose of erecting a light-house or beacon must depend on the +existence of the power to erect, and if that power exists it must be +sought after in some other clause of the Constitution. + +From whatever point of view, therefore, the subject is regarded, whether +as a question of express or implied power, the conclusion is the same, +that Congress has no constitutional authority to carry on a system of +internal improvements; and in this conviction the system has been +steadily opposed by the soundest expositors of the functions of the +Government. + +It is not to be supposed that in no conceivable case shall there be +doubt as to whether a given object be or not a necessary incident +of the military, naval, or any other power. As man is imperfect, so +are his methods of uttering his thoughts. Human language, save in +expressions for the exact sciences, must always fail to preclude all +possibility of controversy. Hence it is that in one branch of the +subject--the question of the power of Congress to make appropriations +in aid of navigation--there is less of positive conviction than in +regard to the general subject; and it therefore seems proper in this +respect to revert to the history of the practice of the Government. + +Among the very earliest acts of the first session of Congress was that +for the establishment and support of light-houses, approved by President +Washington on the 7th of August, 1789, which contains the following +provisions: + + + That all expenses which shall accrue from and after the 15th day of + August, 1789, in the necessary support, maintenance, and repairs of + all light-houses, beacons, buoys, and public piers erected, placed, or + sunk before the passing of this act at the entrance of or within any + bay, inlet, harbor, or port of the United States, for rendering the + navigation thereof easy and safe, shall be defrayed out of the Treasury + of the United States: _Provided, nevertheless_, That none of the said + expenses shall continue to be so defrayed after the expiration of one + year from the day aforesaid unless such light-houses, beacons, buoys, + and public piers shall in the meantime be ceded to and vested in the + United States by the State or States, respectively, in which the same + may be, together with the lands and tenements thereunto belonging and + together with the jurisdiction of the same. + + +Acts containing appropriations for this class of public works were +passed in 1791, 1792, 1793, and so on from year to year down to the +present time; and the tenor of these acts, when examined with reference +to other parts of the subject, is worthy of special consideration. + +It is a remarkable fact that for a period of more than thirty years +after the adoption of the Constitution all appropriations of this class +were confined, with scarcely an apparent exception, to the construction +of light-houses, beacons, buoys, and public piers and the stakage of +channels; to render navigation "safe and easy," it is true, but only +by indicating to the navigator obstacles in his way, not by removing +those obstacles nor in any other respect changing, artificially, the +preexisting natural condition of the earth and sea. It is obvious, +however, that works of art for the removal of natural impediments to +navigation, or to prevent their formation, or for supplying harbors +where these do not exist, are also means of rendering navigation safe +and easy, and may in supposable cases be the most efficient, as well as +the most economical, of such means. Nevertheless, it is not until the +year 1824 that in an act to improve the navigation of the rivers Ohio +and Mississippi and in another act making appropriations for deepening +the channel leading into the harbor of Presque Isle, on Lake Erie, and +for repairing Plymouth Beach, in Massachusetts Bay, we have any example +of an appropriation for the improvement of harbors in the nature of +those provided for in the bill returned by me to the House of +Representatives. + +It appears not probable that the abstinence of Congress in this respect +is attributable altogether to considerations of economy or to any +failure to perceive that the removal of an obstacle to navigation might +be not less useful than the indication of it for avoidance, and it may +be well assumed that the course of legislation so long pursued was +induced, in whole or in part, by solicitous consideration in regard to +the constitutional power over such matters vested in Congress. + +One other peculiarity in this course of legislation is not less +remarkable. It is that when the General Government first took charge of +lighthouses and beacons it required the works themselves and the lands +on which they were situated to be ceded to the United States. And +although for a time this precaution was neglected in the case of new +works, in the sequel it was provided by general laws that no light-house +should be constructed on any site previous to the jurisdiction over the +same being ceded to the United States. + +Constitutional authority for the construction and support of many of the +public works of this nature, it is certain, may be found in the power +of Congress to maintain a navy and provide for the general defense; but +their number, and in many instances their location, preclude the idea of +their being fully justified as necessary and proper incidents of that +power. And they do not seem susceptible of being referred to any other +of the specific powers vested in Congress by the Constitution, unless it +be that to raise revenue in so far as this relates to navigation. The +practice under all my predecessors in office, the express admissions of +some of them, and absence of denial by any sufficiently manifest their +belief that the power to erect light-houses, beacons, and piers is +possessed by the General Government. In the acts of Congress, as we +have already seen, the inducement and object of the appropriations +are expressly declared, those appropriations being for "light-houses, +beacons, buoys, and public piers" erected or placed "within any bay, +inlet, harbor, or port of the United States for rendering the navigation +thereof easy and safe." + +If it be contended that this review of the history of appropriations +of this class leads to the inference that, beyond the purposes of +national defense and maintenance of a navy, there is authority in the +Constitution to construct certain works in aid of navigation, it is +at the same time to be remembered that the conclusions thus deduced +from cotemporaneous construction and long-continued acquiescence are +themselves directly suggestive of limitations of constitutionality, as +well as expediency, regarding the nature and the description of those +aids to navigation which Congress may provide as incident to the revenue +power; for at this point controversy begins, not so much as to the +principle as to its application. + +In accordance with long-established legislative usage, Congress may +construct light-houses and beacons and provide, as it does, other means +to prevent shipwrecks on the coasts of the United States. But the +General Government can not go beyond this and make improvements of +rivers and harbors of the nature and to the degree of all the provisions +of the bill of the last session of Congress. + +To justify such extended power, it has been urged that if it be +constitutional to appropriate money for the purpose of pointing out, +by the construction of light-houses or beacons, where an obstacle to +navigation exists, it is equally so to remove such obstacle or to avoid +it by the creation of an artificial channel; that if the object be +lawful, then the means adopted solely with reference to the end must +be lawful, and that therefore it is not material, constitutionally +speaking, whether a given obstruction to navigation be indicated for +avoidance or be actually avoided by excavating a new channel; that if +it be a legitimate object of expenditure to preserve a ship from wreck +by means of a beacon or of revenue cutters, it must be not less so +to provide places of safety by the improvement of harbors, or, where +none exist, by their artificial construction; and thence the argument +naturally passes to the propriety of improving rivers for the benefit +of internal navigation, because all these objects are of more or less +importance to the commercial as well as the naval interests of the +United States. + +The answer to all this is that the question of opening speedy and easy +communication to and through all parts of the country is substantially +the same, whether done by land or water; that the uses of roads and +canals in facilitating commercial intercourse and uniting by community +of interests the most remote quarters of the country by land +communication are the same in their nature as the uses of navigable +waters; and that therefore the question of the facilities and aids to +be provided to navigation, by whatsoever means, is but a subdivision of +the great question of the constitutionality and expediency of internal +improvements by the General Government. In confirmation of this it is to +be remarked that one of the most important acts of appropriation of this +class, that of the year 1833, under the Administration of President +Jackson, by including together and providing for in one bill as well +river and harbor works as road works, impliedly recognizes the fact that +they are alike branches of the same great subject of internal +improvements. + +As the population, territory, and wealth of the country increased and +settlements extended into remote regions, the necessity for additional +means of communication impressed itself upon all minds with a force +which had not been experienced at the date of the formation of the +Constitution, and more and more embarrassed those who were most anxious +to abstain scrupulously from any exercise of doubtful power. Hence the +recognition in the messages of Presidents Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe +of the eminent desirableness of such works, with admission that some of +them could lawfully and should be conducted by the General Government, +but with obvious uncertainty of opinion as to the line between such +as are constitutional and such as are not, such as ought to receive +appropriations from Congress and such as ought to be consigned to +private enterprise or the legislation of the several States. + +This uncertainty has not been removed by the practical working of our +institutions in later times; for although the acquisition of additional +territory and the application of steam to the propulsion of vessels have +greatly magnified the importance of internal commerce, this fact has at +the same time complicated the question of the power of the General +Government over the present subject. + +In fine, a careful review of the opinions of all my predecessors and of +the legislative history of the country does not indicate any fixed rule +by which to decide what, of the infinite variety of possible river and +harbor improvements, are within the scope of the power delegated by +the Constitution; and the question still remains unsettled. President +Jackson conceded the constitutionality, under suitable circumstances, of +the improvement of rivers and harbors through the agency of Congress, +and President Polk admitted the propriety of the establishment and +support by appropriations from the Treasury of light-houses, beacons, +buoys, and other improvements within the bays, inlets, and harbors of +the ocean and lake coasts immediately connected with foreign commerce. + +But if the distinction thus made rests upon the differences between +foreign and domestic commerce it can not be restricted thereby to the +bays, inlets, and harbors of the oceans and lakes, because foreign +commerce has already penetrated thousands of miles into the interior +of the continent by means of our great rivers, and will continue so to +extend itself with the progress of settlement until it reaches the limit +of navigability. + +At the time of the adoption of the Constitution the vast Valley of the +Mississippi, now teeming with population and supplying almost boundless +resources, was literally an unexplored wilderness. Our advancement has +outstripped even the most sanguine anticipations of the fathers of +the Republic, and it illustrates the fact that no rule is admissible +which undertakes to discriminate, so far as regards river and harbor +improvements, between the Atlantic or Pacific coasts and the great lakes +and rivers of the interior regions of North America. Indeed, it is quite +erroneous to suppose that any such discrimination has ever existed +in the practice of the Government. To the contrary of which is the +significant fact, before stated, that when, after abstaining from all +such appropriations for more than thirty years, Congress entered upon +the policy of improving the navigation of rivers and harbors, it +commenced with the rivers Mississippi and Ohio. + +The Congress of the Union, adopting in this respect one of the ideas of +that of the Confederation, has taken heed to declare from time to time, +as occasion required, either in acts for disposing of the public lands +in the Territories or in acts for admitting new States, that all +navigable rivers within the same "shall be deemed to be and remain +public highways." + +Out of this condition of things arose a question which at successive +periods of our public annals has occupied the attention of the best +minds in the Union. This question is, What waters are public navigable +waters, so as not to be of State character and jurisdiction, but of +Federal jurisdiction and character, in the intent of the Constitution +and of Congress? A proximate, but imperfect, answer to this important +question is furnished by the acts of Congress and the decisions of the +Supreme Court of the United States defining the constitutional limits of +the maritime jurisdiction of the General Government. That jurisdiction +is entirely independent of the revenue power. It is not derived from +that, nor is it measured thereby. + +In that act of Congress which, in the first year of the Government, +organized our judicial system, and which, whether we look to the +subject, the comprehensive wisdom with which it was treated, or the +deference with which its provisions have come to be regarded, is only +second to the Constitution itself, there is a section in which the +statesmen who framed the Constitution have placed on record their +construction of it in this matter. It enacts that the district courts of +the United States "shall have exclusive cognizance of all civil cases +of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction, including all seizures under +the law of impost, navigation, or trade of the United States, when the +seizures are made on waters which are navigable from the sea by vessels +of 10 or more tons burden, within their respective districts, as well +as upon the high seas." In this cotemporaneous exposition of the +Constitution there is no trace or suggestion that nationality of +jurisdiction is limited to the sea, or even to tide waters. The law is +marked by a sagacious apprehension of the fact that the Great Lakes +and the Mississippi were navigable waters of the United States even +then, before the acquisition of Louisiana had made wholly our own the +territorial greatness of the West. It repudiates unequivocally the rule +of the common law, according to which the question of whether a water +is public navigable water or not depends on whether it is salt or not, +and therefore, in a river, confines that quality to tide water--a rule +resulting from the geographical condition of England and applicable to +an island, with small and narrow streams, the only navigable portion of +which, for ships, is in immediate contact with the ocean, but wholly +inapplicable to the great inland fresh-water seas of America and its +mighty rivers, with secondary branches exceeding in magnitude the +largest rivers of Great Britain. + +At a later period it is true that, in disregard of the more +comprehensive definition of navigability afforded by that act of +Congress, it was for a time held by many that the rule established for +England was to be received in the United States, the effect of which was +to exclude from the jurisdiction of the General Government not only the +waters of the Mississippi, but also those of the Great Lakes. To this +construction it was with truth objected that, in so far as concerns the +lakes, they are in fact seas, although of freshwater; that they are the +natural marine communications between a series of populous States and +between them and the possessions of a foreign nation; that they are +actually navigated by ships of commerce of the largest capacity; that +they had once been and might again be the scene of foreign war; and that +therefore it was doing violence to all reason to undertake by means of +an arbitrary doctrine of technical foreign law to exclude such waters +from the jurisdiction of the General Government. In regard to the river +Mississippi, it was objected that to draw a line across that river at +the point of ebb and flood of tide, and say that the part below was +public navigable water and the part above not, while in the latter the +water was at least equally deep and navigable and its commerce as rich +as in the former, with numerous ports of foreign entry and delivery, was +to sanction a distinction artificial and unjust, because regardless of +the real fact of navigability. + +We may conceive that some such considerations led to the enactment in +the year 1845 of an act in addition to that of 1789, declaring that-- + + + The district courts of the United States shall have, possess, and + exercise the same jurisdiction in matters of contract and tort arising + in, upon, or concerning steamboats and other vessels of 20 tons burden + and upward, enrolled and licensed for the coasting trade and at the time + employed in business of commerce and navigation between ports and places + in different States and Territories upon the lakes and navigable waters + connecting said lakes, as is now possessed and exercised by the said + courts in cases of the like steamboats and other vessels employed in + navigation and commerce upon the high seas or tide waters within the + admiralty and maritime jurisdiction of the United States. + + +It is observable that the act of 1789 applies the jurisdiction of the +United States to all "waters which are navigable from the sea" for +vessels of 10 tons burden, and that of 1845 extends the jurisdiction to +enrolled vessels of 20 tons burden, on the lakes and navigable waters +connecting said lakes, though not waters navigable from the sea, +provided such vessels be employed between places in different States and +Territories. + +Thus it appears that these provisions of law in effect prescribe +conditions by which to determine whether any waters are public navigable +waters, subject to the authority of the Federal Government. The +conditions include all waters, whether salt or fresh, and whether of +sea, lake, or river, provided they be capable of navigation by vessels +of a certain tonnage, and for commerce either between the United States +and foreign countries or between any two or more of the States or +Territories of the Union. This excludes water wholly within any +particular State, and not used as the means of commercial communication +with any other State, and subject to be improved or obstructed at will +by the State within which it may happen to be. + +The constitutionality of these provisions of statute has been called +in question. Their constitutionality has been maintained, however, +by repeated decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States, and +they are therefore the law of the land by the concurrent act of the +legislative, the executive, and the judicial departments of the +Government. Regarded as affording a criterion of what is navigable +water, and as such subject to the maritime jurisdiction of the Supreme +Court and of Congress, these acts are objectionable in this, that the +rule of navigability is an arbitrary one, that Congress may repeal +the present rule and adopt a new one, and that thus a legislative +definition will be able to restrict or enlarge the limits of +constitutional power. Yet this variableness of standard seems inherent +in the nature of things. At any rate, neither the First Congress, +composed of the statesmen of the era when the Constitution was adopted, +nor any subsequent Congress has afforded us the means of attaining +greater precision of construction as to this part of the Constitution. + +This reflection may serve to relieve from undeserved reproach an +idea of one of the greatest men of the Republic--President Jackson. +He, seeking amid all the difficulties of the subject for some practical +rule of action in regard to appropriations for the improvement of rivers +and harbors, prescribed for his own official conduct the rule of +confining such appropriations to "places below the ports of entry or +delivery established by law." He saw clearly, as the authors of the +above-mentioned acts of 1789 and 1845 did, that there is no inflexible +natural line of discrimination between what is national and what local +by means of which to determine absolutely and unerringly at what point +on a river the jurisdiction of the United States shall end. He +perceived, and of course admitted, that the Constitution, while +conferring on the General Government some power of action to render +navigation safe and easy, had of necessity left to Congress much of +discretion in this matter. He confided in the patriotism of Congress to +exercise that discretion wisely, not permitting himself to suppose it +possible that a port of entry or delivery would ever be established by +law for the express and only purpose of evading the Constitution. + +It remains, therefore, to consider the question of the measure of +discretion in the exercise by Congress of the power to provide for the +improvement of rivers and harbors, and also that of the legitimate +responsibility of the Executive in the same relation. + +In matters of legislation of the most unquestionable constitutionality +it is always material to consider what amount of public money shall be +appropriated for any particular object. The same consideration applies +with augmented force to a class of appropriations which are in their +nature peculiarly prone to run to excess, and which, being made in the +exercise of incidental powers, have intrinsic tendency to overstep the +bounds of constitutionality. + +If an appropriation for improving the navigability of a river or +deepening or protecting a harbor have reference to military or naval +purposes, then its rightfulness, whether in amount or in the objects +to which it is applied, depends, manifestly, on the military or naval +exigency; and the subject-matter affords its own measure of legislative +discretion. But if the appropriation for such an object have no distinct +relation to the military or naval wants of the country, and is wholly, +or even mainly, intended to promote the revenue from commerce, then the +very vagueness of the proposed purpose of the expenditure constitutes +a perpetual admonition of reserve and caution. Through disregard of +this it is undeniable that in many cases appropriations of this nature +have been made unwisely, without accomplishing beneficial results +commensurate with the cost, and sometimes for evil rather than good, +independently of their dubious relation to the Constitution. + +Among the radical changes of the course of legislation in these matters +which, in my judgment, the public interest demands, one is a return to +the primitive idea of Congress, which required in this class of public +works, as in all others, a conveyance of the soil and a cession of the +jurisdiction to the United States. I think this condition ought never to +have been waived in the case of any harbor improvement of a permanent +nature, as where piers, jetties, sea walls, and other like works are to +be constructed and maintained. It would powerfully tend to counteract +endeavors to obtain appropriations of a local character and chiefly +calculated to promote individual interests. The want of such a provision +is the occasion of abuses in regard to existing works, exposing them to +private encroachment without sufficient means of redress by law. Indeed, +the absence in such cases of a cession of jurisdiction has constituted +one of the constitutional objections to appropriations of this class. +It is not easy to perceive any sufficient reason for requiring it in +the case of arsenals or forts which does not equally apply to all other +public works. If to be constructed and maintained by Congress in the +exercise of a constitutional power of appropriation, they should be +brought within the jurisdiction of the United States. + +There is another measure of precaution in regard to such appropriations +which seems to me to be worthy of the consideration of Congress. It is +to make appropriation for every work in a separate bill, so that each +one shall stand on its own independent merits, and if it pass shall +do so under circumstances of legislative scrutiny entitling it to be +regarded as of general interest and a proper subject of charge on the +Treasury of the Union. + +During that period of time in which the country had not come to look to +Congress for appropriations of this nature several of the States whose +productions or geographical position invited foreign commerce had +entered upon plans for the improvement of their harbors by themselves +and through means of support drawn directly from that commerce, in +virtue of an express constitutional power, needing for its exercise +only the permission of Congress. Harbor improvements thus constructed +and maintained, the expenditures upon them being defrayed by the very +facilities they afford, are a voluntary charge on those only who see fit +to avail themselves of such facilities, and can be justly complained of +by none. On the other hand, so long as these improvements are carried on +by appropriations from the Treasury the benefits will continue to inure +to those alone who enjoy the facilities afforded, while the expenditure +will be a burden upon the whole country and the discrimination a double +injury to places equally requiring improvement, but not equally favored +by appropriations. + +These considerations, added to the embarrassments of the whole question, +amply suffice to suggest the policy of confining appropriations by the +General Government to works necessary to the execution of its undoubted +powers and of leaving all others to individual enterprise or to the +separate States, to be provided for out of their own resources or by +recurrence to the provision of the Constitution which authorizes the +States to lay duties of tonnage with the consent of Congress. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + + +PROCLAMATIONS. + +BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. + +A PROCLAMATION. + +Whereas information has been received by me that an unlawful expedition +has been fitted out in the State of California with a view to invade +Mexico, a nation maintaining friendly relations with the United States, +and that other expeditions are organizing within the United States for +the same unlawful purpose; and + +Whereas certain citizens and inhabitants of this country, unmindful +of their obligations and duties and of the rights of a friendly power, +have participated and are about to participate in these enterprises, +so derogatory to our national character and so threatening to our +tranquillity, and are thereby incurring the severe penalties imposed +by law against such offenders: + +Now, therefore, I, Franklin Pierce, President of the United States, +have issued this my proclamation, warning all persons who shall connect +themselves with any such enterprise or expedition that the penalties +of the law denounced against such criminal conduct will be rigidly +enforced; and I exhort all good citizens, as they regard our national +character, as they respect our laws or the law of nations, as they +value the blessings of peace and the welfare of their country, +to discountenance and by all lawful means prevent such criminal +enterprises; and I call upon all officers of this Government, civil +and military, to use any efforts which may be in their power to arrest +for trial and punishment every such offender. + +[SEAL.] + +Given under my hand and the seal of the United States, at Washington, +this 18th day of January, A.D. 1854, and the seventy-eighth of the +Independence of the United States. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + +By the President: + W.L. MARCY, + _Secretary of State_. + + + +BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. + +A PROCLAMATION. + +Whereas information has been received that sundry persons, citizens of +the United States and others residing therein, are engaged in organizing +and fitting out a military expedition for the invasion of the island of +Cuba; and + +Whereas the said undertaking is contrary to the spirit and express +stipulations of treaties between the United States and Spain, derogatory +to the character of this nation, and in violation of the obvious duties +and obligations of faithful and patriotic citizens; and + +Whereas it is the duty of the constituted authorities of the United +States to hold and maintain the control of the great question of peace +or war, and not suffer the same to be lawlessly complicated under any +pretense whatever; and + +Whereas to that end all private enterprises of a hostile character +within the United States against any foreign power with which the United +States are at peace are forbidden and declared to be a high misdemeanor +by an express act of Congress: + +Now, therefore, in virtue of the authority vested by the Constitution in +the President of the United States, I do issue this proclamation to warn +all persons that the General Government claims it as a right and duty to +interpose itself for the honor of its flag, the rights of its citizens, +the national security, and the preservation of the public tranquillity, +from whatever quarter menaced, and it will not fail to prosecute with +due energy all those who, unmindful of their own and their country's +fame, presume thus to disregard the laws of the land and our treaty +obligations. + +I earnestly exhort all good citizens to discountenance and prevent any +movement in conflict with law and national faith, especially charging +the several district attorneys, collectors, and other officers of the +United States, civil or military, having lawful power in the premises, +to exert the same for the purpose of maintaining the authority and +preserving the peace of the United States. + +[SEAL.] + +Given under my hand and the seal of the United States, at Washington, +the 31st day of May, A.D. 1854, and the seventy-eighth of the +Independence Of the United States. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + +By the President: + W.L. MARCY, + _Secretary of State_. + + + + +SECOND ANNUAL MESSAGE. + + +WASHINGTON, _December 4_, _1854_. + +_Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and of the House of Representatives_: + +The past has been an eventful year, and will be hereafter referred to as +a marked epoch in the history of the world. While we have been happily +preserved from the calamities of war, our domestic prosperity has not +been entirely uninterrupted. The crops in portions of the country have +been nearly cut off. Disease has prevailed to a greater extent than +usual, and the sacrifice of human life through casualties by sea and +land is without parallel. But the pestilence has swept by, and restored +salubrity invites the absent to their homes and the return of business +to its ordinary channels. If the earth has rewarded the labor of the +husbandman less bountifully than in preceding seasons, it has left him +with abundance for domestic wants and a large surplus for exportation. +In the present, therefore, as in the past, we find ample grounds for +reverent thankfulness to the God of grace and providence for His +protecting care and merciful dealings with us as a people. + +Although our attention has been arrested by painful interest in passing +events, yet our country feels no more than the slight vibrations of the +convulsions which have shaken Europe. As individuals we can not repress +sympathy with human suffering nor regret for the causes which produce +it; as a nation we are reminded that whatever interrupts the peace or +checks the prosperity of any part of Christendom tends more or less +to involve our own. The condition of States is not unlike that of +individuals; they are mutually dependent upon each other. Amicable +relations between them and reciprocal good will are essential for the +promotion of whatever is desirable in their moral, social, and political +condition. Hence it has been my earnest endeavor to maintain peace and +friendly intercourse with all nations. + +The wise theory of this Government, so early adopted and steadily +pursued, of avoiding all entangling alliances has hitherto exempted +it from many complications in which it would otherwise have become +involved. Notwithstanding this our clearly defined and well-sustained +course of action and our geographical position, so remote from Europe, +increasing disposition has been manifested by some of its Governments to +supervise and in certain respects to direct our foreign policy. In plans +for adjusting the balance of power among themselves they have assumed to +take us into account, and would constrain us to conform our conduct to +their views. One or another of the powers of Europe has from time to +time undertaken to enforce arbitrary regulations contrary in many +respects to established principles of international law. That law the +United States have in their foreign intercourse uniformly respected and +observed, and they can not recognize any such interpolations therein as +the temporary interests of others may suggest. They do not admit that +the sovereigns of one continent or of a particular community of states +can legislate for all others. + +Leaving the transatlantic nations to adjust their political system in +the way they may think best for their common welfare, the independent +powers of this continent may well assert the right to be exempt from all +annoying interference on their part. Systematic abstinence from intimate +political connection with distant foreign nations does not conflict with +giving the widest range to our foreign commerce. This distinction, so +clearly marked in history, seems to have been overlooked or disregarded +by some leading foreign states. Our refusal to be brought within and +subjected to their peculiar system has, I fear, created a jealous +distrust of our conduct and induced on their part occasional acts of +disturbing effect upon our foreign relations. Our present attitude and +past course give assurances, which should not be questioned, that our +purposes are not aggressive nor threatening to the safety and welfare of +other nations. Our military establishment in time of peace is adapted to +maintain exterior defenses and to preserve order among the aboriginal +tribes within the limits of the Union. Our naval force is intended only +for the protection of our citizens abroad and of our commerce, diffused, +as it is, over all the seas of the globe. The Government of the United +States, being essentially pacific in policy, stands prepared to repel +invasion by the voluntary service of a patriotic people, and provides no +permanent means of foreign aggression. These considerations should allay +all apprehension that we are disposed to encroach on the rights or +endanger the security of other states. + +Some European powers have regarded with disquieting concern the +territorial expansion of the United States. This rapid growth has +resulted from the legitimate exercise of sovereign rights belonging +alike to all nations, and by many liberally exercised. Under such +circumstances it could hardly have been expected that those among them +which have within a comparatively recent period subdued and absorbed +ancient kingdoms, planted their standards on every continent, and now +possess or claim the control of the islands of every ocean as their +appropriate domain would look with unfriendly sentiments upon the +acquisitions of this country, in every instance honorably obtained, or +would feel themselves justified in imputing our advancement to a spirit +of aggression or to a passion for political predominance. + +Our foreign commerce has reached a magnitude and extent nearly equal to +that of the first maritime power of the earth, and exceeding that of any +other. Over this great interest, in which not only our merchants, but +all classes of citizens, at least indirectly, are concerned, it is +the duty of the executive and legislative branches of the Government +to exercise a careful supervision and adopt proper measures for its +protection. The policy which I had in view in regard to this interest +embraces its future as well as its present security. Long experience has +shown that, in general, when the principal powers of Europe are engaged +in war the rights of neutral nations are endangered. This consideration +led, in the progress of the War of our Independence, to the formation of +the celebrated confederacy of armed neutrality, a primary object of +which was to assert the doctrine that free ships make free goods, except +in the case of articles contraband of war--a doctrine which from the +very commencement of our national being has been a cherished idea of the +statesmen of this country. At one period or another every maritime power +has by some solemn treaty stipulation recognized that principle, and it +might have been hoped that it would come to be universally received and +respected as a rule of international law. But the refusal of one power +prevented this, and in the next great war which ensued--that of the +French Revolution--it failed to be respected among the belligerent +States of Europe. Notwithstanding this, the principle is generally +admitted to be a sound and salutary one, so much so that at the +commencement of the existing war in Europe Great Britain and France +announced their purpose to observe it for the present; not, however, as +a recognized international right, but as a mere concession for the time +being. The cooperation, however, of these two powerful maritime nations +in the interest of neutral rights appeared to me to afford an occasion +inviting and justifying on the part of the United States a renewed +effort to make the doctrine in question a principle of international +law, by means of special conventions between the several powers of +Europe and America. Accordingly, a proposition embracing not only the +rule that free ships make free goods, except contraband articles, but +also the less contested one that neutral property other than contraband, +though on board enemy's ships, shall be exempt from confiscation, has +been submitted by this Government to those of Europe and America. + +Russia acted promptly in this matter, and a convention was concluded +between that country and the United States providing for the observance +of the principles announced, not only as between themselves, but also +as between them and all other nations which shall enter into like +stipulations. None of the other powers have as yet taken final action on +the subject. I am not aware, however, that any objection to the proposed +stipulations has been made, but, on the contrary, they are acknowledged +to be essential to the security of neutral commerce, and the only +apparent obstacle to their general adoption is in the possibility that +it may be encumbered by inadmissible conditions. + +The King of the Two Sicilies has expressed to our minister at Naples his +readiness to concur in our proposition relative to neutral rights and to +enter into a convention on that subject. + +The King of Prussia entirely approves of the project of a treaty to +the same effect submitted to him, but proposes an additional article +providing for the renunciation of privateering. Such an article, +for most obvious reasons, is much desired by nations having naval +establishments large in proportion to their foreign commerce. If it +were adopted as an international rule, the commerce of a nation having +comparatively a small naval force would be very much at the mercy of its +enemy in case of war with a power of decided naval superiority. The bare +statement of the condition in which the United States would be placed, +after having surrendered the right to resort to privateers, in the +event of war with a belligerent of naval supremacy will show that this +Government could never listen to such a proposition. The navy of the +first maritime power in Europe is at least ten times as large as that of +the United States. The foreign commerce of the two countries is nearly +equal, and about equally exposed to hostile depredations. In war between +that power and the United States, without resort on our part to our +mercantile marine the means of our enemy to inflict injury upon our +commerce would be tenfold greater than ours to retaliate. We could not +extricate our country from this unequal condition, with such an enemy, +unless we at once departed from our present peaceful policy and became a +great naval power. Nor would this country be better situated in war with +one of the secondary naval powers. Though the naval disparity would be +less, the greater extent and more exposed condition of our widespread +commerce would give any of them a like advantage over us. + +The proposition to enter into engagements to forego a resort to +privateers in case this country should be forced into war with a great +naval power is not entitled to more favorable consideration than would +be a proposition to agree not to accept the services of volunteers for +operations on land. When the honor or the rights of our country require +it to assume a hostile attitude, it confidently relies upon the +patriotism of its citizens, not ordinarily devoted to the military +profession, to augment the Army and the Navy so as to make them fully +adequate to the emergency which calls them into action. The proposal to +surrender the right to employ privateers is professedly founded upon the +principle that private property of unoffending noncombatants, though +enemies, should be exempt from the ravages of war; but the proposed +surrender goes but little way in carrying out that principle, which +equally requires that such private property should not be seized or +molested by national ships of war. Should the leading powers of Europe +concur in proposing as a rule of international law to exempt private +property upon the ocean from seizure by public armed cruisers as well +as by privateers, the United States will readily meet them upon that +broad ground. + +Since the adjournment of Congress the ratifications of the treaty +between the United States and Great Britain relative to coast fisheries +and to reciprocal trade with the British North American Provinces have +been exchanged, and some of its anticipated advantages are already +enjoyed by us, although its full execution was to abide certain acts of +legislation not yet fully performed. So soon as it was ratified Great +Britain opened to our commerce the free navigation of the river St. +Lawrence and to our fishermen unmolested access to the shores and bays, +from which they had been previously excluded, on the coasts of her North +American Provinces; in return for which she asked for the introduction +free of duty into the ports of the United States of the fish caught +on the same coast by British fishermen. This being the compensation +stipulated in the treaty for privileges of the highest importance and +value to the United States, which were thus voluntarily yielded before +it became effective, the request seemed to me to be a reasonable one; +but it could not be acceded to from want of authority to suspend our +laws imposing duties upon all foreign fish. In the meantime the Treasury +Department issued a regulation for ascertaining the duties paid or +secured by bonds on fish caught on the coasts of the British Provinces +and brought to our markets by British subjects after the fishing grounds +had been made fully accessible to the citizens of the United States. +I recommend to your favorable consideration a proposition, which will +be submitted to you, for authority to refund the duties and cancel the +bonds thus received. The Provinces of Canada and New Brunswick have +also anticipated the full operation of the treaty by legislative +arrangements, respectively, to admit free of duty the products of +the United States mentioned in the free list of the treaty; and an +arrangement similar to that regarding British fish has been made for +duties now chargeable on the products of those Provinces enumerated in +the same free list and introduced therefrom into the United States, a +proposition for refunding which will, in my judgment, be in like manner +entitled to your favorable consideration. + +There is difference of opinion between the United States and Great +Britain as to the boundary line of the Territory of Washington adjoining +the British possessions on the Pacific, which has already led to +difficulties on the part of the citizens and local authorities of the +two Governments. I recommend that provision be made for a commission, +to be joined by one on the part of Her Britannic Majesty, for the +purpose of running and establishing the line in controversy. Certain +stipulations of the third and fourth articles of the treaty concluded by +the United States and Great Britain in 1846, regarding possessory rights +of the Hudsons Bay Company and property of the Pugets Sound Agricultural +Company, have given rise to serious disputes, and it is important to +all concerned that summary means of settling them amicably should be +devised. I have reason to believe that an arrangement can be made on +just terms for the extinguishment of the rights in question, embracing +also the right of the Hudsons Bay Company to the navigation of the river +Columbia; and I therefore suggest to your consideration the expediency +of making a contingent appropriation for that purpose. + +France was the early and efficient ally of the United States in +their struggle for independence. From that time to the present, with +occasional slight interruptions, cordial relations of friendship have +existed between the Governments and people of the two countries. The +kindly sentiments cherished alike by both nations have led to extensive +social and commercial intercourse, which I trust will not be interrupted +or checked by any casual event of an apparently unsatisfactory +character. The French consul at San Francisco was not long since brought +into the United States district court at that place by compulsory +process as a witness in favor of another foreign consul, in violation, +as the French Government conceives, of his privileges under our consular +convention with France. There being nothing in the transaction which +could imply any disrespect to France or its consul, such explanation +has been made as, I hope, will be satisfactory. Subsequently +misunderstanding arose on the subject of the French Government having, +as it appeared, abruptly excluded the American minister to Spain from +passing through France on his way from London to Madrid. But that +Government has unequivocally disavowed any design to deny the right of +transit to the minister of the United States, and after explanations to +this effect he has resumed his journey and actually returned through +France to Spain. I herewith lay before Congress the correspondence on +this subject between our envoy at Paris and the minister of foreign +relations of the French Government. + +The position of our affairs with Spain remains as at the close of the +last session. Internal agitation, assuming very nearly the character +of political revolution, has recently convulsed that country. The late +ministers were violently expelled from power, and men of very different +views in relation to its internal affairs have succeeded. Since this +change there has been no propitious opportunity to resume and press +on negotiations for the adjustment of serious questions of difficulty +between the Spanish Government and the United States. There is reason +to believe that our minister will find the present Government more +favorably inclined than the preceding to comply with our just demands +and to make suitable arrangements for restoring harmony and preserving +peace between the two countries. + +Negotiations are pending with Denmark to discontinue the practice of +levying tolls on our vessels and their cargoes passing through the +Sound. I do not doubt that we can claim exemption therefrom as a matter +of right. It is admitted on all hands that this exaction is sanctioned, +not by the general principles of the law of nations, but only by special +conventions which most of the commercial nations have entered into with +Denmark. The fifth article of our treaty of 1826 with Denmark provides +that there shall not be paid on the vessels of the United States and +their cargoes when passing through the Sound higher duties than those of +the most favored nations. This may be regarded as an implied agreement +to submit to the tolls during the continuance of the treaty, and +consequently may embarrass the assertion of our right to be released +therefrom. There are also other provisions in the treaty which ought to +be modified. It was to remain in force for ten years and until one year +after either party should give notice to the other of intention to +terminate it. I deem it expedient that the contemplated notice should +be given to the Government of Denmark. + +The naval expedition dispatched about two years since for the purpose +of establishing relations with the Empire of Japan has been ably and +skillfully conducted to a successful termination by the officer to whom +it was intrusted. A treaty opening certain of the ports of that populous +country has been negotiated, and in order to give full effect thereto it +only remains to exchange ratifications and adopt requisite commercial +regulations. + +The treaty lately concluded between the United States and Mexico settled +some of our most embarrassing difficulties with that country, but +numerous claims upon it for wrongs and injuries to our citizens remained +unadjusted, and many new cases have been recently added to the former +list of grievances. Our legation has been earnest in its endeavors to +obtain from the Mexican Government a favorable consideration of these +claims, but hitherto without success. This failure is probably in some +measure to be ascribed to the disturbed condition of that country. +It has been my anxious desire to maintain friendly relations with +the Mexican Republic and to cause its rights and territories to be +respected, not only by our citizens, but by foreigners who have resorted +to the United States for the purpose of organizing hostile expeditions +against some of the States of that Republic. The defenseless condition +in which its frontiers have been left has stimulated lawless adventurers +to embark in these enterprises and greatly increased the difficulty of +enforcing our obligations of neutrality. Regarding it as my solemn duty +to fulfill efficiently these obligations, not only toward Mexico, but +other foreign nations, I have exerted all the powers with which I am +invested to defeat such proceedings and bring to punishment those who by +taking a part therein violated our laws. The energy and activity of our +civil and military authorities have frustrated the designs of those who +meditated expeditions of this character except in two instances. One of +these, composed of foreigners, was at first countenanced and aided by +the Mexican Government itself, it having been deceived as to their +real object. The other, small in number, eluded the vigilance of the +magistrates at San Francisco and succeeded in reaching the Mexican +territories; but the effective measures taken by this Government +compelled the abandonment of the undertaking. + +The commission to establish the new line between the United States and +Mexico, according to the provisions of the treaty of the 30th of +December last, has been organized, and the work is already commenced. + +Our treaties with the Argentine Confederation and with the Republics of +Uruguay and Paraguay secure to us the free navigation of the river La +Plata and some of its larger tributaries, but the same success has not +attended our endeavors to open the Amazon. The reasons in favor of the +free use of that river I had occasion to present fully in a former +message, and, considering the cordial relations which have long existed +between this Government and Brazil, it may be expected that pending +negotiations will eventually reach a favorable result. + +Convenient means of transit between the several parts of a country +are not only desirable for the objects of commercial and personal +communication, but essential to its existence under one government. +Separated, as are the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the United States, +by the whole breadth of the continent, still the inhabitants of each +are closely bound together by community of origin and institutions and +by strong attachment to the Union. Hence the constant and increasing +intercourse and vast interchange of commercial productions between +these remote divisions of the Republic. At the present time the most +practicable and only commodious routes for communication between them +are by the way of the isthmus of Central America. It is the duty of the +Government to secure these avenues against all danger of interruption. + +In relation to Central America, perplexing questions existed between +the United States and Great Britain at the time of the cession of +California. These, as well as questions which subsequently arose +concerning interoceanic communication across the Isthmus, were, +as it was supposed, adjusted by the treaty of April 19, 1850, but, +unfortunately, they have been reopened by serious misunderstanding as +to the import of some of its provisions, a readjustment of which is now +under consideration. Our minister at London has made strenuous efforts +to accomplish this desirable object, but has not yet found it possible +to bring the negotiations to a termination. + +As incidental to these questions, I deem it proper to notice an +occurrence which happened in Central America near the close of the +last session of Congress. So soon as the necessity was perceived of +establishing interoceanic communications across the Isthmus a company +was organized, under the authority of the State of Nicaragua, but +composed for the most part of citizens of the United States, for the +purpose of opening such a transit way by the river San Juan and Lake +Nicaragua, which soon became an eligible and much used route in the +transportation of our citizens and their property between the Atlantic +and Pacific. Meanwhile, and in anticipation of the completion and +importance of this transit way, a number of adventurers had taken +possession of the old Spanish port at the mouth of the river San Juan +in open defiance of the State or States of Central America, which +upon their becoming independent had rightfully succeeded to the local +sovereignty and jurisdiction of Spain. These adventurers undertook to +change the name of the place from San Juan del Norte to Greytown, and +though at first pretending to act as the subjects of the fictitious +sovereign of the Mosquito Indians, they subsequently repudiated the +control of any power whatever, assumed to adopt a distinct political +organization, and declared themselves an independent sovereign state. +If at some time a faint hope was entertained that they might become +a stable and respectable community, that hope soon vanished. They +proceeded to assert unfounded claims to civil jurisdiction over Punta +Arenas, a position on the opposite side of the river San Juan, which was +in possession, under a title wholly independent of them, of citizens of +the United States interested in the Nicaragua Transit Company, and which +was indispensably necessary to the prosperous operation of that route +across the Isthmus. The company resisted their groundless claims, +whereupon they proceeded to destroy some of its buildings and attempted +violently to dispossess it. + +At a later period they organized a strong force for the purpose of +demolishing the establishment at Punta Arenas, but this mischievous +design was defeated by the interposition of one of our ships of war at +that time in the harbor of San Juan. Subsequently to this, in May last, +a body of men from Greytown crossed over to Punta Arenas, arrogating +authority to arrest on the charge of murder a captain of one of the +steamboats of the Transit Company. Being well aware that the claim to +exercise jurisdiction there would be resisted then, as it had been on +previous occasions, they went prepared to assert it by force of arms. +Our minister to Central America happened to be present on that occasion. +Believing that the captain of the steamboat was innocent (for he +witnessed the transaction on which the charge was founded), and +believing also that the intruding party, having no jurisdiction over +the place where they proposed to make the arrest, would encounter +desperate resistance if they persisted in their purpose, he interposed, +effectually, to prevent violence and bloodshed. The American minister +afterwards visited Greytown, and whilst he was there a mob, including +certain of the so-called public functionaries of the place, surrounded +the house in which he was, avowing that they had come to arrest him by +order of some person exercising the chief authority. While parleying +with them he was wounded by a missile from the crowd. A boat dispatched +from the American steamer _Northern Light_ to release him from the +perilous situation in which he was understood to be was fired into by +the town guard and compelled to return. These incidents, together with +the known character of the population of Greytown and their excited +state, induced just apprehensions that the lives and property of our +citizens at Punta Arenas would be in imminent danger after the departure +of the steamer, with her passengers, for New York, unless a guard was +left for their protection. For this purpose, and in order to insure the +safety of passengers and property passing over the route, a temporary +force was organized, at considerable expense to the United States, for +which provision was made at the last session of Congress. + +This pretended community, a heterogeneous assemblage gathered from +various countries, and composed for the most part of blacks and persons +of mixed blood, had previously given other indications of mischievous +and dangerous propensities. Early in the same month property was +clandestinely abstracted from the depot of the Transit Company and taken +to Greytown. The plunderers obtained shelter there and their pursuers +were driven back by its people, who not only protected the wrongdoers +and shared the plunder, but treated with rudeness and violence those who +sought to recover their property. + +Such, in substance, are the facts submitted to my consideration, and +proved by trustworthy evidence. I could not doubt that the case demanded +the interposition of this Government. Justice required that reparation +should be made for so many and such gross wrongs, and that a course of +insolence and plunder, tending directly to the insecurity of the lives +of numerous travelers and of the rich treasure belonging to our citizens +passing over this transit way, should be peremptorily arrested. Whatever +it might be in other respects, the community in question, in power to do +mischief, was not despicable. It was well provided with ordnance, small +arms, and ammunition, and might easily seize on the unarmed boats, +freighted with millions of property, which passed almost daily within +its reach. It did not profess to belong to any regular government, and +had, in fact, no recognized dependence on or connection with anyone +to which the United States or their injured citizens might apply for +redress or which could be held responsible in any way for the outrages +committed. Not standing before the world in the attitude of an organized +political society, being neither competent to exercise the rights nor to +discharge the obligations of a government, it was, in fact, a marauding +establishment too dangerous to be disregarded and too guilty to pass +unpunished, and yet incapable of being treated in any other way than +as a piratical resort of outlaws or a camp of savages depredating on +emigrant trains or caravans and the frontier settlements of civilized +states. + +Reasonable notice was given to the people of Greytown that this +Government required them to repair the injuries they had done to our +citizens and to make suitable apology for their insult of our minister, +and that a ship of war would be dispatched thither to enforce compliance +with these demands. But the notice passed unheeded. Thereupon a +commander of the Navy, in charge of the sloop of war _Cyane_, was +ordered to repeat the demands and to insist upon a compliance therewith. +Finding that neither the populace nor those assuming to have authority +over them manifested any disposition to make the required reparation, +or even to offer excuse for their conduct, he warned them by a public +proclamation that if they did not give satisfaction within a time +specified he would bombard the town. By this procedure he afforded +them opportunity to provide for their personal safety. To those also +who desired to avoid loss of property in the punishment about to be +inflicted on the offending town he furnished the means of removing their +effects by the boats of his own ship and of a steamer which he procured +and tendered to them for that purpose. At length, perceiving no +disposition on the part of the town to comply with his requisitions, he +appealed to the commander of Her Britannic Majesty's schooner _Bermuda_, +who was seen to have intercourse and apparently much influence with the +leaders among them, to interpose and persuade them to take some course +calculated to save the necessity of resorting to the extreme measure +indicated in his proclamation; but that officer, instead of acceding to +the request, did nothing more than to protest against the contemplated +bombardment. No steps of any sort were taken by the people to give the +satisfaction required. No individuals, if any there were, who regarded +themselves as not responsible for the misconduct of the community +adopted any means to separate themselves from the fate of the guilty. +The several charges on which the demands for redress were founded had +been publicly known to all for some time, and were again announced +to them. They did not deny any of these charges; they offered no +explanation, nothing in extenuation of their conduct, but contumaciously +refused to hold any intercourse with the commander of the _Cyane_. +By their obstinate silence they seemed rather desirous to provoke +chastisement than to escape it. There is ample reason to believe that +this conduct of wanton defiance on their part is imputable chiefly to +the delusive idea that the American Government would be deterred from +punishing them through fear of displeasing a formidable foreign power, +which they presumed to think looked with complacency upon their +aggressive and insulting deportment toward the United States. The +_Cyane_ at length fired upon the town. Before much injury had been done +the fire was twice suspended in order to afford opportunity for an +arrangement, but this was declined. Most of the buildings of the place, +of little value generally, were in the sequel destroyed, but, owing to +the considerate precautions taken by our naval commander, there was no +destruction of life. + +When the _Cyane_ was ordered to Central America, it was confidently +hoped and expected that no occasion would arise for "a resort to +violence and destruction of property and loss of life." Instructions to +that effect were given to her commander; and no extreme act would have +been requisite had not the people themselves, by their extraordinary +conduct in the affair, frustrated all the possible mild measures for +obtaining satisfaction. A withdrawal from the place, the object of his +visit entirely defeated, would under the circumstances in which the +commander of the _Cyane_ found himself have been absolute abandonment +of all claim of our citizens for indemnification and submissive +acquiescence in national indignity. It would have encouraged in these +lawless men a spirit of insolence and rapine most dangerous to the lives +and property of our citizens at Punta Arenas, and probably emboldened +them to grasp at the treasures and valuable merchandise continually +passing over the Nicaragua route. It certainly would have been most +satisfactory to me if the objects of the _Cyane's_ mission could have +been consummated without any act of public force, but the arrogant +contumacy of the offenders rendered it impossible to avoid the +alternative either to break up their establishment or to leave them +impressed with the idea that they might persevere with impunity in +a career of insolence and plunder. + +This transaction has been the subject of complaint on the part of some +foreign powers, and has been characterized with more of harshness than +of justice. If comparisons were to be instituted, it would not be +difficult to present repeated instances in the history of states +standing in the very front of modern civilization where communities far +less offending and more defenseless than Greytown have been chastised +with much greater severity, and where not cities only have been laid in +ruins, but human life has been recklessly sacrificed and the blood of +the innocent made profusely to mingle with that of the guilty. + +Passing from foreign to domestic affairs, your attention is naturally +directed to the financial condition of the country, always a subject +of general interest. For complete and exact information regarding the +finances and the various branches of the public service connected +therewith I refer you to the report of the Secretary of the Treasury, +from which it will appear that the amount of revenue during the last +fiscal year from all sources was $73,549,705, and that the public +expenditures for the same period, exclusive of payments on account of +the public debt, amounted to $51,018,249. During the same period the +payments made in redemption of the public debt, including interest and +premium, amounted to $24,336,380. To the sum total of the receipts of +that year is to be added a balance remaining in the Treasury at the +commencement thereof, amounting to $21,942,892; and at the close of the +same year a corresponding balance, amounting to $20,137,967, of receipts +above expenditures also remained in the Treasury. Although, in the +opinion of the Secretary of the Treasury, the receipts of the current +fiscal year are not likely to equal in amount those of the last, yet +they will undoubtedly exceed the amount of expenditures by at least +$15,000,000. I shall therefore continue to direct that the surplus +revenue be applied, so far as it can be judiciously and economically +done, to the reduction of the public debt, the amount of which at the +commencement of the last fiscal year was $67,340,628; of which there had +been paid on the 20th day of November, 1854, the sum of $22,365,172, +leaving a balance of outstanding public debt of only $44,975,456, +redeemable at different periods within fourteen years. There are also +remnants of other Government stocks, most of which are already due, and +on which the interest has ceased, but which have not yet been presented +for payment, amounting to $233,179. This statement exhibits the fact +that the annual income of the Government greatly exceeds the amount of +its public debt, which latter remains unpaid only because the time of +payment has not yet matured, and it can not be discharged at once except +at the option of public creditors, who prefer to retain the securities +of the United States; and the other fact, not less striking, that the +annual revenue from all sources exceeds by many millions of dollars +the amount needed for a prudent and economical administration of the +Government. + +The estimates presented to Congress from the different Executive +Departments at the last session amounted to $38,406,581 and the +appropriations made to the sum of $58,116,958. Of this excess of +appropriations over estimates, however, more than twenty millions was +applicable to extraordinary objects, having no reference to the usual +annual expenditures. Among these objects was embraced ten millions to +meet the third article of the treaty between the United States and +Mexico; so that, in fact, for objects of ordinary expenditure the +appropriations were limited to considerably less than $40,000,000. +I therefore renew my recommendation for a reduction of the duties on +imports. The report of the Secretary of the Treasury presents a series +of tables showing the operation of the revenue system for several +successive years; and as the general principle of reduction of duties +with a view to revenue, and not protection, may now be regarded as the +settled policy of the country, I trust that little difficulty will be +encountered in settling the details of a measure to that effect. + +In connection with this subject I recommend a change in the laws, which +recent experience has shown to be essential to the protection of the +Government. There is no express provision of law requiring the records +and papers of a public character of the several officers of the +Government to be left in their offices for the use of their successors, +nor any provision declaring it felony on their part to make false +entries in the books or return false accounts. In the absence of such +express provision by law, the outgoing officers in many instances have +claimed and exercised the right to take into their own possession +important books and papers, on the ground that these were their private +property, and have placed them beyond the reach of the Government. +Conduct of this character, brought in several instances to the notice of +the present Secretary of the Treasury, naturally awakened his suspicion, +and resulted in the disclosure that at four ports--namely, Oswego, +Toledo, Sandusky, and Milwaukee--the Treasury had, by false entries, +been defrauded within the four years next preceding March, 1853, of the +sum of $198,000. The great difficulty with which the detection of these +frauds has been attended, in consequence of the abstraction of books and +papers by the retiring officers, and the facility with which similar +frauds in the public service may be perpetrated render the necessity of +new legal enactments in the respects above referred to quite obvious. +For other material modifications of the revenue laws which seem to me +desirable, I refer you to the report of the Secretary of the Treasury. +That report and the tables which accompany it furnish ample proofs of +the solid foundation on which the financial security of the country +rests and of the salutary influence of the independent-treasury system +upon commerce and all monetary operations. + +The experience of the last year furnishes additional reasons, I regret +to say, of a painful character, for the recommendation heretofore made +to provide for increasing the military force employed in the Territory +inhabited by the Indians. The settlers on the frontier have suffered +much from the incursions of predatory bands, and large parties of +emigrants to our Pacific possessions have been massacred with impunity. +The recurrence of such scenes can only be prevented by teaching these +wild tribes the power of and their responsibility to the United States. +From the garrisons of our frontier posts it is only possible to detach +troops in small bodies; and though these have on all occasions displayed +a gallantry and a stern devotion to duty which on a larger field would +have commanded universal admiration, they have usually suffered severely +in these conflicts with superior numbers, and have sometimes been +entirely sacrificed. All the disposable force of the Army is already +employed on this service, and is known to be wholly inadequate to the +protection which should be afforded. The public mind of the country has +been recently shocked by savage atrocities committed upon defenseless +emigrants and border settlements, and hardly less by the unnecessary +destruction of valuable lives where inadequate detachments of troops +have undertaken to furnish the needed aid. Without increase of the +military force these scenes will be repeated, it is to be feared, on +a larger scale and with more disastrous consequences. Congress, I am +sure, will perceive that the plainest duties and responsibilities of +Government are involved in this question, and I doubt not that prompt +action may be confidently anticipated when delay must be attended by +such fearful hazards. + +The bill of the last session providing for an increase of the pay of +the rank and file of the Army has had beneficial results, not only in +facilitating enlistments, but in obvious improvement in the class of men +who enter the service. I regret that corresponding consideration was not +bestowed on the officers, who, in view of their character and services +and the expenses to which they are necessarily subject, receive at +present what is, in my judgment, inadequate compensation. + +The valuable services constantly rendered by the Army and its +inestimable importance as the nucleus around which the volunteer forces +of the nation can promptly gather in the hour of danger, sufficiently +attest the wisdom of maintaining a military peace establishment; but the +theory of our system and the wise practice under it require that any +proposed augmentation in time of peace be only commensurate with our +extended limits and frontier relations. While scrupulously adhering +to this principle, I find in existing circumstances a necessity for +increase of our military force, and it is believed that four new +regiments, two of infantry and two of mounted men, will be sufficient to +meet the present exigency. If it were necessary carefully to weigh the +cost in a case of such urgency, it would be shown that the additional +expense would be comparatively light. + +With the increase of the numerical force of the Army should, I think, be +combined certain measures of reform in its organic arrangement and +administration. The present organization is the result of partial +legislation often directed to special objects and interests; and the +laws regulating rank and command, having been adopted many years ago +from the British code, are not always applicable to our service. It is +not surprising, therefore, that the system should be deficient in the +symmetry and simplicity essential to the harmonious working of its +several parts, and require a careful revision. + +The present organization, by maintaining large staff corps or +departments, separates many officers from that close connection with +troops and those active duties in the field which are deemed requisite +to qualify them for the varied responsibilities of high command. Were +the duties of the Army staff mainly discharged by officers detached +from their regiments, it is believed that the special service would be +equally well performed and the discipline and instruction of the Army be +improved. While due regard to the security of the rights of officers and +to the nice sense of honor which should be cultivated among them would +seem to exact compliance with the established rule of promotion in +ordinary cases, still it can hardly be doubted that the range of +promotion by selection, which is now practically confined to the grade +of general officers, might be somewhat extended with benefit to the +public service. Observance of the rule of seniority sometimes leads, +especially in time of peace, to the promotion of officers who, after +meritorious and even distinguished service, may have been rendered +by age or infirmity incapable of performing active duty, and whose +advancement, therefore, would tend to impair the efficiency of the Army. +Suitable provision for this class of officers, by the creation of a +retired list, would remedy the evil without wounding the just pride of +men who by past services have established a claim to high consideration. +In again commending this measure to the favorable consideration of +Congress I would suggest that the power of placing officers on the +retired list be limited to one year. The practical operation of the +measure would thus be tested, and if after the lapse of years there +should be occasion to renew the provision it can be reproduced with any +improvements which experience may indicate. The present organization +of the artillery into regiments is liable to obvious objections. The +service of artillery is that of batteries, and an organization of +batteries into a corps of artillery would be more consistent with the +nature of their duties. A large part of the troops now called artillery +are, and have been, on duty as infantry, the distinction between the +two arms being merely nominal. This nominal artillery in our service is +disproportionate to the whole force and greater than the wants of the +country demand. I therefore commend the discontinuance of a distinction +which has no foundation in either the arms used or the character of the +service expected to be performed. + +In connection with the proposition for the increase of the Army, I have +presented these suggestions with regard to certain measures of reform as +the complement of a system which would produce the happiest results from +a given expenditure, and which, I hope, may attract the early attention +and be deemed worthy of the approval of Congress. + +The recommendation of the Secretary of the Navy having reference to +more ample provisions for the discipline and general improvement in the +character of seamen and for the reorganization and gradual increase of +the Navy I deem eminently worthy of your favorable consideration. The +principles which have controlled our policy in relation to the permanent +military force by sea and land are sound, consistent with the theory +of our system, and should by no means be disregarded. But, limiting +the force to the objects particularly set forth in the preceding part +of this message, we should not overlook the present magnitude and +prospective extension of our commercial marine, nor fail to give due +weight to the fact that besides the 2,000 miles of Atlantic seaboard +we have now a Pacific coast stretching from Mexico to the British +possessions in the north, teeming with wealth and enterprise and +demanding the constant presence of ships of war. The augmentation of +the Navy has not kept pace with the duties properly and profitably +assigned to it in time of peace, and it is inadequate for the large +field of its operations, not merely in the present, but still more in +the progressively increasing exigencies of the commerce of the United +States. I cordially approve of the proposed apprentice system for our +national vessels recommended by the Secretary of the Navy. + +The occurrence during the last few months of marine disasters of the +most tragic nature, involving great loss of human life, has produced +intense emotions of sympathy and sorrow throughout the country. It +may well be doubted whether all these calamitous events are wholly +attributable to the necessary and inevitable dangers of the sea. The +merchants, mariners, and shipbuilders of the United States are, it is +true, unsurpassed in far-reaching enterprise, skill, intelligence, and +courage by any others in the world. But with the increasing amount of +our commercial tonnage in the aggregate and the larger size and improved +equipment of the ships now constructed a deficiency in the supply of +reliable seamen begins to be very seriously felt. The inconvenience may +perhaps be met in part by due regulation for the introduction into our +merchant ships of indented apprentices, which, while it would afford +useful and eligible occupation to numerous young men, would have a +tendency to raise the character of seamen as a class. And it is +deserving of serious reflection whether it may not be desirable to +revise the existing laws for the maintenance of discipline at sea, upon +which the security of life and property on the ocean must to so great +an extent depend. Although much attention has already been given by +Congress to the proper construction and arrangement of steam vessels and +all passenger ships, still it is believed that the resources of science +and mechanical skill in this direction have not been exhausted. No good +reason exists for the marked distinction which appears upon our statutes +between the laws for protecting life and property at sea and those for +protecting them on land. In most of the States severe penalties are +provided to punish conductors of trains, engineers, and others employed +in the transportation of persons by railway or by steamboats on rivers. +Why should not the same principle be applied to acts of insubordination, +cowardice, or other misconduct on the part of masters and mariners +producing injury or death to passengers on the high seas, beyond the +jurisdiction of any of the States, and where such delinquencies can be +reached only by the power of Congress? The whole subject is earnestly +commended to your consideration. + +The report of the Postmaster-General, to which you are referred for many +interesting details in relation to this important and rapidly extending +branch of the public service, shows that the expenditure of the year +ending June 30, 1854, including $133,483 of balance due to foreign +offices, amounted to $8,710,907. The gross receipts during the same +period amounted to $6,955,586, exhibiting an expenditure over income +of $1,755,321 and a diminution of deficiency as compared with the last +year of $361,756. The increase of the revenue of the Department for the +year ending June 30, 1854, over the preceding year was $970,399, No +proportionate increase, however, can be anticipated for the current +year, in consequence of the act of Congress of June 23, 1854, providing +for increased compensation to all postmasters. From these statements it +is apparent that the Post-Office Department, instead of defraying its +expenses according to the design at the time of its creation, is now, +and under existing laws must continue to be, to no small extent a charge +upon the general Treasury. The cost of mail transportation during the +year ending June 30, 1854, exceeds the cost of the preceding year +by $495,074. I again call your attention to the subject of mail +transportation by ocean steamers, and commend the suggestions of the +Postmaster-General to your early attention. + +During the last fiscal year 11,070,935 acres of the public lands have +been surveyed and 8,190,017 acres brought into market. The number of +acres sold is 7,035,735 and the amount received therefor $9,285,533. +The aggregate amount of lands sold, located under military scrip and +land warrants, selected as swamp lands by States, and by locating +under grants for roads is upward of 23,000,000 acres. The increase of +lands sold over the previous year is about 6,000,000 acres, and the +sales during the first two quarters of the current year present the +extraordinary result of five and a half millions sold, exceeding by +nearly 4,000,000 acres the sales of the corresponding quarters of the +last year. + +The commendable policy of the Government in relation to setting apart +public domain for those who have served their country in time of war is +illustrated by the fact that since 1790 no less than 30,000,000 acres +have been applied to this object. + +The suggestions which I submitted in my annual message of last year in +reference to grants of land in aid of the construction of railways were +less full and explicit than the magnitude of the subject and subsequent +developments would seem to render proper and desirable. Of the soundness +of the principle then asserted with regard to the limitation of the +power of Congress I entertain no doubt, but in its application it is not +enough that the value of lands in a particular locality may be enhanced; +that, in fact, a larger amount of money may probably be received in a +given time for alternate sections than could have been realized for +all the sections without the impulse and influence of the proposed +improvements. A prudent proprietor looks beyond limited sections of his +domain, beyond present results to the ultimate effect which a particular +line of policy is likely to produce upon all his possessions and +interests. The Government, which is trustee in this matter for the +people of the States, is bound to take the same wise and comprehensive +view. Prior to and during the last session of Congress upward of +30,000,000 acres of land were withdrawn from public sale with a view +to applications for grants of this character pending before Congress. +A careful review of the whole subject led me to direct that all such +orders be abrogated and the lands restored to market, and instructions +were immediately given to that effect. The applications at the last +session contemplated the construction of more than 5,000 miles of road +and grants to the amount of nearly 20,000,000 acres of the public +domain. Even admitting the right on the part of Congress to be +unquestionable, is it quite clear that the proposed grants would be +productive of good, and not evil? The different projects are confined +for the present to eleven States of this Union and one Territory. The +reasons assigned for the grants show that it is proposed to put the +works speedily in process of construction. When we reflect that since +the commencement of the construction of railways in the United States, +stimulated, as they have been, by the large dividends realized from +the earlier works over the great thoroughfares and between the most +important points of commerce and population, encouraged by State +legislation, and pressed forward by the amazing energy of private +enterprise, only 17,000 miles have been completed in all the States in a +quarter of a century; when we see the crippled condition of many works +commenced and prosecuted upon what were deemed to be sound principles +and safe calculations; when we contemplate the enormous absorption +of capital withdrawn from the ordinary channels of business, the +extravagant rates of interest at this moment paid to continue +operations, the bankruptcies, not merely in money but in character, and +the inevitable effect upon finances generally, can it be doubted that +the tendency is to run to excess in this matter? Is it wise to augment +this excess by encouraging hopes of sudden wealth expected to flow +from magnificent schemes dependent upon the action of Congress? Does +the spirit which has produced such results need to be stimulated or +checked? Is it not the better rule to leave all these works to private +enterprise, regulated and, when expedient, aided by the cooperation of +States? If constructed by private capital the stimulant and the check go +together and furnish a salutary restraint against speculative schemes +and extravagance. But it is manifest that with the most effective guards +there is danger of going too fast and too far. + +We may well pause before a proposition contemplating a simultaneous +movement for the construction of railroads which in extent will equal, +exclusive of the great Pacific road and all its branches, nearly +one-third of the entire length of such works now completed in the United +States, and which can not cost with equipments less than $150,000,000. +The dangers likely to result from combinations of interests of this +character can hardly be overestimated. But independently of these +considerations, where is the accurate knowledge, the comprehensive +intelligence, which shall discriminate between the relative claims of +these twenty-eight proposed roads in eleven States and one Territory? +Where will you begin and where end? If to enable these companies to +execute their proposed works it is necessary that the aid of the General +Government be primarily given, the policy will present a problem so +comprehensive in its bearings and so important to our political and +social well-being as to claim in anticipation the severest analysis. +Entertaining these views, I recur with satisfaction to the experience +and action of the last session of Congress as furnishing assurance that +the subject will not fail to elicit a careful reexamination and rigid +scrutiny. + +It was my intention to present on this occasion some suggestions +regarding internal improvements by the General Government, which want +of time at the close of the last session prevented my submitting on +the return to the House of Representatives with objections of the bill +entitled "An act making appropriations for the repair, preservation, +and completion of certain public works heretofore commenced under the +authority of law;" but the space in this communication already occupied +with other matter of immediate public exigency constrains me to reserve +that subject for a special message, which will be transmitted to the two +Houses of Congress at an early day. + +The judicial establishment of the United States requires modification, +and certain reforms in the manner of conducting the legal business of +the Government are also much needed; but as I have addressed you upon +both of these subjects at length before, I have only to call your +attention to the suggestions then made. + +My former recommendations in relation to suitable provision for various +objects of deep interest to the inhabitants of the District of Columbia +are renewed. Many of these objects partake largely of a national +character, and are important independently of their relation to the +prosperity of the only considerable organized community in the Union +entirely unrepresented in Congress. + +I have thus presented suggestions on such subjects as appear to me to +be of particular interest or importance, and therefore most worthy of +consideration during the short remaining period allotted to the labors +of the present Congress. + +Our forefathers of the thirteen united colonies, in acquiring their +independence and in founding this Republic of the United States of +America, have devolved upon us, their descendants, the greatest and the +most noble trust ever committed to the hands of man, imposing upon all, +and especially such as the public will may have invested for the time +being with political functions, the most sacred obligations. We have to +maintain inviolate the great doctrine of the inherent right of popular +self-government; to reconcile the largest liberty of the individual +citizen with complete security of the public order; to render cheerful +obedience to the laws of the land, to unite in enforcing their +execution, and to frown indignantly on all combinations to resist +them; to harmonize a sincere and ardent devotion to the institutions +of religious faith with the most universal religious toleration; to +preserve the rights of all by causing each to respect those of the +other; to carry forward every social improvement to the uttermost limit +of human perfectibility, by the free action of mind upon mind, not by +the obtrusive intervention of misapplied force; to uphold the integrity +and guard the limitations of our organic law; to preserve sacred +from all touch of usurpation, as the very palladium of our political +salvation, the reserved rights and powers of the several States and of +the people; to cherish with loyal fealty and devoted affection this +Union, as the only sure foundation on which the hopes of civil liberty +rest; to administer government with vigilant integrity and rigid +economy; to cultivate peace and friendship with foreign nations, and to +demand and exact equal justice from all, but to do wrong to none; to +eschew intermeddling with the national policy and the domestic repose of +other governments, and to repel it from our own; never to shrink from +war when the rights and the honor of the country call us to arms, but +to cultivate in preference the arts of peace, seek enlargement of the +rights of neutrality, and elevate and liberalize the intercourse of +nations; and by such just and honorable means, and such only, whilst +exalting the condition of the Republic, to assure to it the legitimate +influence and the benign authority of a great example amongst all the +powers of Christendom. + +Under the solemnity of these convictions the blessing of Almighty God is +earnestly invoked to attend upon your deliberations and upon all the +counsels and acts of the Government, to the end that, with common zeal +and common efforts, we may, in humble submission to the divine will, +cooperate for the promotion of the supreme good of these United States. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + + +SPECIAL MESSAGES. + + +WASHINGTON, _December 5, 1854_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit to the Senate, for its consideration with a view to approval, +a compact between the United States and the royal Government of Lew +Chew, entered into at Napa on the 11th day of July last, for securing +certain privileges to vessels of the United States resorting to the Lew +Chew Islands. + +A copy of the instructions of the Secretary of State upon the subject is +also herewith transmitted. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _December 5, 1894_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit to the Senate, for its consideration with a view to +ratification, a convention for regulating the right of inheriting and +acquiring property, concluded in this city on the 21st day of August +last between the United States and His Highness the Duke of Brunswick +and Luneburg. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _December 11, 1854_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +An act for the relief of the legal representatives of Samuel Prioleau, +deceased, which provided for the payment of the sum of $6,928.60 to the +legal representatives of said Prioleau by the proper accounting officer +of the Treasury, was approved by me July 27, 1854. It having been +ascertained that the identical claim provided for in this act was +liquidated and paid under the provisions of the general act of August 4, +1790, and of the special act of January 24, 1795, the First Comptroller +of the Treasury declined to give effect to the law first above referred +to without communicating the facts for my consideration. This refusal +I regard as fully justified by the facts upon which it was predicated. + +In view of the destruction of valuable papers by fire in the building +occupied by the Treasury Department in 1814 and again in 1833, it is not +surprising that cases like this should, more than seventy years after +the transaction with which they were connected, be involved in much +doubt. The report of the Comptroller, however, shows conclusively by +record evidence still preserved in the Department and elsewhere that the +sum of $6,122.44, with $3,918.36 interest thereon from the date of the +destruction of the property, making the sum of $10,040.80, was allowed +to Samuel Prioleau under the act for his relief passed in 1795. + +That amount was reported by the Auditor to the Comptroller on the +4th day of February, 1795, to be funded as follows, to wit. + + + Two thirds of $6,122.44 called 6 per cent stock $4,081.63 + One third called deferred stock 2,040.81 + Interest on the principal, called 3 per cent stock 3,918.36 + + Total 10,040.80 + + On the books of the loan office of South Carolina, under date of April + 27, 1795 is an entry showing that there was issued of the funded 6 per + cent stock to + + Samuel Prioleau 4,081.63 + Of the deferred stock 2,040.81 + Of the 3 per cent stock 3,918.36 + + Total 10,040.80 + + +On the ledger of said loan office an account was opened with Samuel +Prioleau, in which he was credited with the three items of stock and +deputed by the transfer of each certificate to certain persons named, +under dates of May 20, 1795, August 24, 1795, and April 19, 1796. + +These records show that the account of Samuel Prioleau, required to be +settled by the act of January 28, 1795, was settled; that the value of +the property destroyed was allowed; that the amount so found due was +funded by said Prioleau and entered by his order on the loan-office +books of South Carolina, and soon thereafter by him sold and +transferred. That the entire funded debt of the United States was long +since paid is matter of history. + +It is apparent that the claim has been prosecuted under a +misapprehension on the part of the present claimants. + +I present the evidence in the case collected by the First Comptroller +and embodied in his report for your consideration, together with a copy +of a letter just received by that officer from the executor of P.G. +Prioleau, and respectfully recommend the repeal of the act of July 27, +1854. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _December 11, 1854_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + + +I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State, with +accompanying documents,[33] in compliance with the resolution of the +House of Representatives of the 27th of July last. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + +[Footnote 33: Correspondence of the American consul-general at Cairo +relative to the expulsion of the Greeks from Egypt.] + + + +WASHINGTON, _December 11, 1854_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I herewith transmit a communication from the Secretary of the Treasury, +requesting authority to invest the sum of $6,561.80, received from the +sales of lands in the Chickasaw cession, in stocks for the benefit of +the Chickasaw national fund, as required by the eleventh article of the +treaty with the Chickasaws of the 20th October, 1832, and the act of +Congress of 11th September, 1841. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _December 12, 1854_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +Herewith I transmit a report of the Secretary of State, with +accompanying papers,[34] in answer to the resolution of the Senate +of the 3d of August last. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + +[Footnote 34: Correspondence relative to difficulties between Rev. +Jonas King and the Government of Greece.] + + + +WASHINGTON, _December 16, 1854_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I transmit a report from the Secretary of State, with accompanying +papers,[35] in answer to the resolution of the House of Representatives +of the 27th of July last. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + +[Footnote 35: Relating to the case of Walter M. Gibson, held in duress by +the Dutch authorities at Batavia, island of Java, on a charge of having +attempted to excite the native chiefs of Sumatra to throw off their +allegiance to the Dutch Government.] + + + +WASHINGTON, _December 19, 1854_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I transmit a report from the Secretary of War, with accompanying papers, +in answer to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 2d of +August last, requesting such information as may be in the possession of +the War Department touching the cause of any difficulties which may have +arisen between the Creek and Seminole Indians since their removal west +of the Mississippi and other matters concerning the tribes. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _December 20, 1854_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I herewith transmit to the Senate, for its constitutional action +thereon, a treaty made at the Neosho Agency on the 12th August, 1854, by +Andrew J. Dorn, commissioner on the part of the United States, and the +chiefs and warriors of the Quapaw tribe of Indians. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _December 20, 1854_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I herewith transmit to the Senate, for its constitutional action +thereon, a treaty made by Andrew J. Dorn, commissioner on the part +of the United States, on the 23d of August, 1854, and the chiefs and +warriors of the Senecas of Sandusky and the Senecas and Shawnees of +Lewistown, designated by the treaty of 1832 as the United Nation of +Seneca and Shawnee Indians. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _December 20, 1854_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I herewith transmit to the Senate, for its constitutional action +thereon, a treaty made at La Pointe, Wis., on the 30th of September, +1854, by Henry C. Gilbert and David B. Harriman, commissioners on the +part of the United States, and the chiefs and headmen of the Chippewas +of Lake Superior and the Mississippi. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _December 26, 1854_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +In compliance with the resolution of the Senate of the 5th instant, +requesting me, if not incompatible with the public interests, to +communicate to that body "copies of all instructions and correspondence +between the different Departments of the Government and Major-General +Wool, commanding the Pacific division of the Army, in regard to his +operations on that coast," I transmit the accompanying documents. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + +[For message of December 30, 1854, giving an exposition of the reasons +of the President for vetoing "An act making appropriations for the +repair, preservation, and completion of certain public works heretofore +commenced under the authority of law," see pp. 257-271.] + + + +WASHINGTON, D.C., _January 1, 1855_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +In response to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the +11th ultimo, requesting the President "to communicate to this House +any proposition which may have been made to the Government by the city +authorities of Memphis relative to the navy-yard property recently ceded +to that city, together with his views and those of the Navy Department +as to the propriety of accepting the proposed re-cession and of +reestablishing a naval depot and yard of construction at Memphis," +I transmit herewith a report of the Secretary of the Navy, and have +only to add my concurrence in the views by him presented. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _January 9, 1855_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit herewith to the Senate, for its constitutional action +thereon, an article of agreement and convention made and concluded on +the 9th day of December, 1854, between the United States, by George +Hepner, United States Indian agent, and the chiefs and headmen of the +confederate tribes of Otoe and Missouria Indians, being a supplement to +the treaty made between the United States and said confederate tribes on +the 15th day of March, 1854. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _January 10, 1855_. + +_To the House of Representatives of the United States_: + +I transmit herewith a report of the Attorney-General, with the +accompanying documents, communicating the information required by the +following resolution of the House of Representatives, of the 28th ultimo: + + _Resolved_, That the President of the United States be requested to + communicate to this House any information possessed by him regarding a + suit instituted in the Territory of Minnesota by or in the name of the + United States against the Minnesota and Northwestern Railroad Company. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _January 11, 1855_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +In compliance with the resolution of the Senate of the 3d instant, +requesting "a statement of the names of the ministers, charges +d'affaires, and the secretaries of legation of the United States +appointed since the 4th of March, 1849, together with the dates of +their commissions, the time of the commencement of their compensation, +of their departure for their posts, and of their entering upon their +official duties thereat," I transmit the accompanying report from the +Secretary of State. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _January 16, 1855_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a letter of the Secretary of War upon the subject of +Indian hostilities. The employment of volunteer troops, as suggested by +the Secretary, seems to afford the only practicable means of providing +for the present emergency. + +There is much reason to believe that other cases similar in character +to those particularly referred to in the accompanying papers will at +an early day require vigorous measures and the exhibition of a strong +military force. The proposed temporary provision to meet a special +demand, so far from obviating, in my judgment only serves to illustrate +the urgent necessity of an increase of the Regular Army, at least to +the extent recommended in my late annual message. Unless by the plan +proposed, or some other equally effective, a force can be early brought +into the field adequate to the suppression of existing hostilities, the +combination of predatory bands will be extended and the difficulty of +restoring order and security greatly magnified. On the other hand, +without a permanent military force of sufficient strength to control +the unfriendly Indians, it may be expected that hostilities will soon +be renewed and that years of border warfare will afflict the country, +retarding the progress of settlement, exposing emigrant trains to savage +barbarities and consuming millions of the public money. + +The state of things made known in various letters recently received +at the War Department, extracts from a portion of which are herewith +inclosed, is calculated to augment the deep solicitude which this matter +has for some time past awakened, and which has been earnestly expressed +in previous messages and in the annual reports of the Secretary of War. + +I respectfully submit that the facts now communicated urgently call for +immediate action on the part of Congress. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _January 17, 1855_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +In further compliance with the resolution of the Senate of the 5th +of December last, requesting copies of correspondence[36] between +Major-General Wool and the different Departments of the Government, +I transmit a report from the Secretary of State and the documents by +which it was accompanied. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + +[Footnote 36: Relating to affairs on the Pacific Coast.] + + + +WASHINGTON, _January 19, 1855_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +In further compliance with the resolution of the House of +Representatives of the 27th of July last, upon the subject of the case +of Walter M. Gibson, I transmit a report from the Secretary of State. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _January 19, 1855_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I communicate to the Senate herewith a letter from the Secretary of the +Interior, dated the 18th instant, covering a communication from the +Commissioner of Indian Affairs, with accompanying papers, and asking +that certain appropriations be made for the service of the Indian +Department. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _January 22, 1855_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_: + +I communicate to Congress herewith a communication of this date from the +Secretary of the Interior, with accompanying papers, and recommend that +the appropriation[37] therein asked for be made. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + +[Footnote 37: For payment of interest due the Cherokee Indians.] + + + +WASHINGTON, _January 24, 1855_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a report of the Secretary of the Interior and the +Postmaster-General, together with accompanying documents, communicating +what has been done in execution of the act of Congress of August 2, +1854, entitled "An act to provide for the accommodation of the courts +of the United States in the cities of New York and Philadelphia." + +I have deemed it best under the circumstances not to enter into +contracts for the purchase of sites, but to submit all proposals made, +in response to public advertisement for several weeks in the principal +newspapers in each of the cities designated, to Congress, for such +action as it may deem proper to take in fulfillment of the original +design of the before-mentioned act. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _January 29, 1855_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_: + +I transmit to Congress herewith a communication of this date from the +Secretary of the Interior, with accompanying papers, and recommend that +the appropriations therein asked for be made. + +I avail myself of the occasion to suggest a modification of existing +laws, with a view to enable me more effectually to carry into execution +the treaties with the different Indian tribes in Kansas Territory. + +With an earnest desire to promote the early settlement of the ceded +lands, as well as those held in trust and to be sold for the benefit of +the Indians, I shall exercise all the power intrusted to me to maintain +strictly and in good faith our treaty obligations. + +I respectfully recommend that provisions be made by law requiring the +lands which are to be sold on account of the Indians by the Government +to be appraised and classified; a minimum price to be fixed, for a less +sum than which no sales shall be made without further provision of law; +and authorizing the sale of the lands in such quantities and at such +times and places as the obligations of the Government, the rights of +the Indian tribes, and the public interest, with reference to speedy +settlement, may render expedient. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _January 30, 1855_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +In compliance with the resolution of the Senate of the 6th of December +last, requesting the President "to communicate to the Senate, if in his +opinion not incompatible with the public interest, the instructions, +correspondence, and other documents relating to the naval expedition to +Japan, and the proceedings and negotiations resulting in a treaty with +the Government thereof," I transmit the inclosed report from the +Secretary of the Navy, with the accompanying documents. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _February 1, 1855_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit to the Senate, with a view to ratification, a convention +which was concluded between the United States and Mexico at the City +of Mexico on the 8th day of January last. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _February 4, 1855_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_: + +I communicate to Congress herewith, for its consideration, the +accompanying papers from the Secretary of the Interior, on the subject +of the proviso of the act of July 31, 1854, in relation to the removal +of the California Indians. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _February 4, 1855_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_: + +I communicate to Congress the accompanying papers[38] from the Secretary +of the Interior, and recommend that the appropriations therein asked for +may be made. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + +[Footnote 38: Relating to the expenses necessary to be incurred in +colonizing the Texas Indians.] + + + +WASHINGTON, _February 5, 1855_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I communicate to the Senate herewith, for its constitutional action +thereon, articles of agreement and convention made and concluded at +the city of Washington on the 31st day of January, 1855, by George W. +Manypenny, as commissioner on the part of the United States, and the +chiefs and delegates of the Wyandott tribe of Indians. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _February 6, 1855_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +In compliance with the resolution of the Senate of the 11th ultimo, in +relation to the case of Francis W. Rice,[39] late United States consul +at Acapulco, I transmit a report from the Secretary of State, with the +accompanying documents. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + +[Footnote 39: Arrested and imprisoned at Acapulco, Mexico.] + + + +WASHINGTON, _February 6, 1855_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a report[40] from the Secretary of State, in answer +to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 27th ultimo. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + +[Footnote 40: Stating that the information relative to the applicability +to the Spanish colonies of the treaty of 1795 with Spain, and whether +American citizens residing in said colonies are entitled to the benefits +of its provisions, had been already transmitted.] + + + +WASHINGTON, _February 7, 1855_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit to the Senate, for its advice with regard to ratification, +a convention for the mutual extradition of fugitives from justice in +certain cases between the United States and His Majesty the King of +Hanover, signed by the plenipotentiaries of the two Governments at +London on the 18th of January last. An extract from a dispatch of Mr. +Buchanan to the Secretary of State relative to the convention is also +herewith communicated. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _February 7, 1855_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_: + +I communicate to Congress herewith a letter and accompanying papers from +the Secretary of the Interior, of the 5th instant, on the subject of the +colonization of the Indians in the State of California, and recommend +that the appropriation therein asked for may be made. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _February 7, 1855_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_: + +I communicate to Congress the accompanying letter from the Secretary of +the Interior, with its inclosure, on the subject of a treaty between the +United States and the Chippewa Indians of Lake Superior, and recommend +that the appropriation therein asked for may be made. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _February 9, 1855_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I communicate to the Senate herewith a report from the Secretary of +the Treasury, and also one from the Secretary of the Interior, with +accompanying papers, containing information called for by the resolution +adopted by the Senate on the 30th ultimo, respecting the advance of +public moneys to the marshal of the United States for the western +district of Arkansas. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _February 9, 1855_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I herewith communicate to the Senate, for its constitutional action +thereon, the articles of convention and agreement between the Choctaw +and Chickasaw tribes of Indians made on the 4th day of November, 1854, +at Doaksville, near Fort Towson, Choctaw Nation. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _February 12, 1855_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +The resolution of the Senate of the 11th of December last, requesting a +copy of the official correspondence relative to the late difficulties +between the consul of France at San Francisco and the authorities of the +United States in California, has been under consideration, and it was +hoped that the negotiations on the subject might have been brought to +a close, so as to have obviated any objection to a compliance with the +resolution at this session of Congress. Those negotiations, however, are +still pending, but I entertain a confident expectation that the affair +will be definitely and satisfactorily adjusted prior to the next +session. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _February 14, 1855_. + +_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 +King of the Netherlands, upon the subject of the admission of the United +States consuls into the ports of the Dutch colonies. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _February 14, 1855_. + +_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 King of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, relative to the rights of +neutrals during war. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _February 17, 1855_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_: + +I communicate herewith a letter[41] of the Secretary of the Interior and +accompanying paper, for the consideration of Congress. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + +[Footnote 41: Recommending an appropriation to supply a deficit in the +amount held on Indian account, caused by the failure of Selden, Withers +& Co., with whom it was deposited.] + + + +WASHINGTON, _February 19, 1855_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit herewith, for the constitutional action of the Senate, +a treaty made on the 15th day of November, 1854, by Joel Palmer, +superintendent of Indian affairs, on the part of the United States, and +the chiefs and headmen of the Rogue River Indians in Oregon Territory. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _February 19, 1855_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit herewith, for the constitutional action of the Senate, a +treaty made by Isaac I. Stevens, governor and superintendent of Indian +affairs in Washington Territory, on the part of the United States, +and the chiefs, headmen, and delegates of the Nesqually, Puyallup, +Steilacoom, Squawksin, S'Homamish, Ste'h-chass, F'peeksin, Squi-aitl, +and Sa-heh-wamish tribes and bands of Indians occupying the lands lying +around the head of Pugets Sound and the adjacent inlets in Washington +Territory. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _February 19, 1855_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit herewith, for the constitutional action of the Senate, two +treaties, one made on the 18th day of November, 1854, by Joel Palmer, +superintendent of Indian affairs, on the part of the United States, and +the chiefs and headmen of the Quil-si-eton and Na-hel-ta bands of the +Chasta tribe of Indians, the Cow-non-ti-co, Sa-cher-i-ton, and Na-al-ye +bands of Scotans, and the Grave Creek band of Umpqua Indians in Oregon +Territory; the other, made on the 29th of November, 1854, by Joel +Palmer, superintendent of Indian affairs, on the part of the United +States, and the chiefs and headmen of the confederated bands of the +Umpqua tribe of Indians and the Calaponas, residing in Umpqua Valley, +Oregon Territory. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _February 21, 1855_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_: + +I communicate to Congress a communication of this date from the +Secretary of the Interior, with the accompanying paper, and recommend +that the appropriation[42] therein asked for be made. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + +[Footnote 42: For extending and improving the culvert running from the +United States Capitol Grounds down the center of South Capitol street +toward the canal.] + + + +WASHINGTON, _February 22, 1855_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +In compliance with the resolution of the Senate of the 21st instant, I +transmit a report from the Secretary of State, inclosing a copy of the +letter[43] addressed to the Department of State on the 17th November, +1852, by Mr. Joaquin J. de Osma, envoy extraordinary and minister +plenipotentiary of the Republic of Peru. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + +[Footnote 43: Proposing a settlement of the Lobos Islands controversy.] + + + +WASHINGTON, _February 23, 1855_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_: + +I communicate to Congress herewith a communication of this date from the +Secretary of the Interior, with accompanying estimates, and recommend +that the appropriation[44] therein asked for be made. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + +[Footnote 44: To fulfill treaty stipulations with the Wyandotte Indians.] + + + +WASHINGTON, _February 24, 1855_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +In compliance with the resolution of the Senate of the 22d instant, +I transmit a report from the Secretary of State, together with the copy +of a communication from Francis W. Rice,[45] therein referred to. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + +[Footnote 45: Late United States consul at Acapulco, relative to outrages +committed upon him by authorities of Mexico.] + + + +WASHINGTON, _February 26, 1855_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit herewith a report of the Secretary of the Navy, in compliance +with a resolution of the Senate of the 20th instant, requesting the +President "to communicate to the Senate a copy of the order issued by +the Navy Department to the officer in command of the Home Squadron in +pursuance of which the United States sloop of war _Albany_ was ordered +on her last cruise to Carthagena and Aspinwall, etc.; also of the orders +given by such officer to Commander Gerry to proceed upon such cruise, +and also of any reports or letters from the captain of the _Albany_ on +the necessity of repairs to said vessel." + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _February 27, 1855_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_: + +I transmit to Congress herewith a communication of this date from the +Secretary of the Interior, and recommend that the appropriation[46] +therein asked for be made. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + +[Footnote 46: For surveying public lands in the northern part of +Minnesota Territory acquired from the Chippewa Indians.] + + + +WASHINGTON, _February 27, 1855_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_: + +I communicate herewith, for the consideration of Congress, a letter of +this date from the Secretary of the Interior, and accompanying paper, +recommending certain appropriations[47] on account of the Indian service. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + +[Footnote 47: For running the boundary line between the Chickasaw and +Choctaw nations of Indians and for negotiations with the Menominee +Indians.] + + + +WASHINGTON, _February 27, 1855_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I communicate to the Senate herewith, for its constitutional action +thereon, a treaty made in this city on the 22d instant between the +United States and the Mississippi, the Pillager, and the Lake +Winnibigoshish bands of Chippewa Indians. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _February 28, 1855_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +For eminent services in the late war with Mexico, I nominate +Major-General Winfield Scott, of the Army of the United States, to be +lieutenant-general by brevet in the same, to take rank as such from +March 29, 1847, the day on which the United States forces under his +command captured Vera Cruz and the castle of San Juan de Ulua. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _February 28, 1855_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I communicate to the Senate herewith, for its constitutional action +thereon, a treaty made and concluded in this city on the 27th day of +February, 1855, between George W. Manypenny, commissioner on the part of +the United States, and the chiefs and delegates of the Winnebago tribe +of Indians. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _March 1, 1855_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_: + +I communicate to Congress herewith a copy of an act of the legislature +of the State of Texas, approved the 11th of February, 1854, making +partial provision for running and marking the boundary line between the +said State and the territories of the United States from the point where +the said line leaves the Red River to its intersection with the Rio +Grande, and appropriating $10,000 toward carrying the same into effect, +when the United States shall have made provision by the enactment of +a law for the appointment of the necessary officers to join in the +execution of said survey. + +It will be perceived from the accompanying papers that the early +demarcation of said boundary line is urgently desired on the part of +Texas, and, acquiescing in the importance thereof, I recommend that +provision be made by law for the appointment of officers to act in +conjunction with those to be appointed by the State of Texas, and that +the sum of $10,000 at least be appropriated for the payment of their +salaries and necessary incidental expenses. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _March 2, 1855_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I communicate to the Senate herewith, for its constitutional action +thereon, the articles of a treaty negotiated on the 4th of January, +1855, between Joel Palmer, superintendent of Indian affairs in Oregon, +and the chiefs of certain confederated tribes of Indians residing in the +Willamette Valley of Oregon. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +EXECUTIVE MANSION, _March 2, 1855_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I herewith submit a report of the Secretary of War, containing all the +information that can now be furnished in reply to the resolution of the +Senate of the 28th ultimo, requesting "a statement of the number of +muskets, rifles, and other arms and equipments delivered to the State +arsenals, respectively, the number remaining on hand, and the number +sold and accounted for; also, the date and amount of such sales." + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _March 2, 1855_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_: + +I transmit to Congress herewith a communication of this date from the +Secretary of the Interior, with accompanying papers,[48] and recommend +that the appropriations therein asked for be made. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + +[Footnote 48: Estimates of appropriations necessary for carrying out the +bounty-land law.] + + + +WASHINGTON, _March 2, 1855_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_: + +I transmit to Congress herewith a communication of this date from the +Secretary of the Interior, with its inclosure,[49] and recommend that the +appropriations therein asked for be made. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + +[Footnote 49: Additional estimate of appropriations necessary for pay of +Indian agents.] + + + +WASHINGTON, _March 3, 1855_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith to the House of Representatives a report from the +Secretary of State, with accompanying documents,[50] in answer to their +resolutions of the 30th of January and 23d February last. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + +[Footnote 50: Correspondence relative to the causes disturbing the +friendly relations between Spain and the United States and instructions +to United States diplomatic agents relative to the same; correspondence +relative to Cuba, etc.] + + + + +VETO MESSAGES. + + +WASHINGTON, _February 17, 1855_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I have received and carefully considered the bill entitled "An act +to provide for the ascertainment of claims of American citizens for +spoliations committed by the French prior to the 31st of July, 1801," +and in the discharge of a duty imperatively enjoined on me by the +Constitution I return the same with my objections to the House of +Representatives, in which it originated. + +In the organization of the Government of the United States the +legislative and executive functions were separated and placed in +distinct hands. Although the President is required from time to time +to recommend to the consideration of Congress such measures as he shall +judge necessary and expedient, his participation in the formal business +of legislation is limited to the single duty, in a certain contingency, +of demanding for a bill a particular form of vote prescribed by the +Constitution before it can become a law. He is not invested with power +to defeat legislation by an absolute veto, but only to restrain it, and +is charged with the duty, in case he disapproves a measure, of invoking +a second and a more deliberate and solemn consideration of it on the +part of Congress. It is not incumbent on the President to sign a bill +as a matter of course, and thus merely to authenticate the action of +Congress, for he must exercise intelligent judgment or be faithless to +the trust reposed in him. If he approve a bill, he shall sign it, but +if not he shall return it with his objections to that House in which +it shall have originated for such further action as the Constitution +demands, which is its enactment, if at all, not by a bare numerical +majority, as in the first instance, but by a constitutional majority +of two-thirds of both Houses. + +While the Constitution thus confers on the legislative bodies the +complete power of legislation in all cases, it proceeds, in the spirit +of justice, to provide for the protection of the responsibility of the +President. It does not compel him to affix the signature of approval to +any bill unless it actually have his approbation; for while it requires +him to sign if he approve, it, in my judgment, imposes upon him the duty +of withholding his signature if he do not approve. In the execution of +his official duty in this respect he is not to perform a mere mechanical +part, but is to decide and act according to conscientious convictions of +the rightfulness or wrongfulness of the proposed law. In a matter as to +which he is doubtful in his own mind he may well defer to the majority +of the two Houses. Individual members of the respective Houses, owing to +the nature, variety, and amount of business pending, must necessarily +rely for their guidance in many, perhaps most, cases, when the matters +involved are not of popular interest, upon the investigation of +appropriate committees, or, it may be, that of a single member, whose +attention has been particularly directed to the subject. For similar +reasons, but even to a greater extent, from the number and variety of +subjects daily urged upon his attention, the President naturally relies +much upon the investigation had and the results arrived at by the two +Houses, and hence those results, in large classes of cases, constitute +the basis upon which his approval rests. The President's responsibility +is to the whole people of the United States, as that of a Senator is to +the people of a particular State, that of a Representative to the people +of a State or district; and it may be safely assumed that he will not +resort to the clearly defined and limited power of arresting legislation +and calling for reconsideration of any measure except in obedience +to requirements of duty. When, however, he entertains a decisive and +fixed conclusion, not merely of the unconstitutionality, but of the +impropriety, or injustice in other respects, of any measure, if he +declare that he approves it he is false to his oath, and he deliberately +disregards his constitutional obligations. + +I cheerfully recognize the weight of authority which attaches to the +action of a majority of the two Houses. But in this case, as in some +others, the framers of our Constitution, for wise considerations of +public good, provided that nothing less than a two-thirds vote of one +or both of the Houses of Congress shall become effective to bind the +coordinate departments of the Government, the people, and the several +States. If there be anything of seeming invidiousness in the official +right thus conferred on the President, it is in appearance only, for the +same right of approving or disapproving a bill, according to each one's +own judgment, is conferred on every member of the Senate and of the +House of Representatives. + +It is apparent, therefore, that the circumstances must be extraordinary +which would induce the President to withhold approval from a bill +involving no violation of the Constitution. The amount of the claims +proposed to be discharged by the bill before me, the nature of the +transactions in which those claims are alleged to have originated, +the length of time during which they have occupied the attention of +Congress and the country, present such an exigency. Their history +renders it impossible that a President who has participated to any +considerable degree in public affairs could have failed to form +respecting them a decided opinion upon what he would deem satisfactory +grounds. Nevertheless, instead of resting on former opinions, it has +seemed to me proper to review and more carefully examine the whole +subject, so as satisfactorily to determine the nature and extent of my +obligations in the premises. + +I feel called upon at the threshold to notice an assertion, often +repeated, that the refusal of the United States to satisfy these claims +in the manner provided by the present bill rests as a stain on the +justice of our country. If it be so, the imputation on the public honor +is aggravated by the consideration that the claims are coeval with the +present century, and it has been a persistent wrong during that whole +period of time. The allegation is that private property has been taken +for public use without just compensation, in violation of express +provision of the Constitution, and that reparation has been withheld +and justice denied until the injured parties have for the most part +descended to the grave. But it is not to be forgotten or overlooked that +those who represented the people in different capacities at the time +when the alleged obligations were incurred, and to whom the charge of +injustice attaches in the first instance, have also passed away and +borne with them the special information which controlled their decision +and, it may be well presumed, constituted the justification of their +acts. + +If, however, the charge in question be well founded, although its +admission would inscribe on our history a page which we might desire +most of all to obliterate, and although, if true, it must painfully +disturb our confidence in the justice and the high sense of moral and +political responsibility of those whose memories we have been taught +to cherish with so much reverence and respect, still we have only one +course of action left to us, and that is to make the most prompt and +ample reparation in our power and consign the wrong as far as may be +to forgetfulness. + +But no such heavy sentence of condemnation should be lightly passed upon +the sagacious and patriotic men who participated in the transactions out +of which these claims are supposed to have arisen, and who, from their +ample means of knowledge of the general subject in its minute details +and from their official position, are peculiarly responsible for +whatever there is of wrong or injustice in the decisions of the +Government. + +Their justification consists in that which constitutes the objection to +the present bill, namely, the absence of any indebtedness on the part +of the United States. The charge of denial of justice in this case, and +consequent stain upon our national character, has not yet been indorsed +by the American people. But if it were otherwise, this bill, so far from +relieving the past, would only stamp on the present a more deep and +indelible stigma. It admits the justice of the claims, concedes that +payment has been wrongfully withheld for fifty years, and then proposes +not to pay them, but to compound with the public creditors by providing +that, whether the claims shall be presented or not, whether the sum +appropriated shall pay much or little of what shall be found due, the +law itself shall constitute a perpetual bar to all future demands. This +is not, in my judgment, the way to atone for wrongs if they exist, nor +to meet subsisting obligations. + +If new facts, not known or not accessible during the Administration of +Mr. Jefferson, Mr. Madison, or Mr. Monroe, had since been brought to +light, or new sources of information discovered, this would greatly +relieve the subject of embarrassment. But nothing of this nature has +occurred. + +That those eminent statesmen had the best means of arriving at a correct +conclusion no one will deny. That they never recognized the alleged +obligation on the part of the Government is shown by the history of +their respective Administrations. Indeed, it stands not as a matter of +controlling authority, but as a fact of history, that these claims have +never since our existence as a nation been deemed by any President +worthy of recommendation to Congress. + +Claims to payment can rest only on the plea of indebtedness on the part +of the Government. This requires that it should be shown that the United +States have incurred liability to the claimants, either by such acts as +deprived them of their property or by having actually taken it for +public use without making just compensation for it. + +The first branch of the proposition--that on which an equitable claim +to be indemnified by the United States for losses sustained might +rest--requires at least a cursory examination of the history of the +transactions on which the claims depend. The first link which in the +chain of events arrests attention is the treaties of alliance and of +amity and commerce between the United States and France negotiated in +1778. By those treaties peculiar privileges were secured to the armed +vessels of each of the contracting parties in the ports of the other, +the freedom of trade was greatly enlarged, and mutual obligations were +incurred by each to guarantee to the other their territorial possessions +in America. + +In 1792-93, when war broke out between France and Great Britain, the +former claimed privileges in American ports which our Government did +not admit as deducible from the treaties of 1778, and which it was held +were in conflict with obligations to the other belligerent powers. The +liberal principle of one of the treaties referred to--that free ships +make free goods, and that subsistence and supplies were not contraband +of war unless destined to a blockaded port--was found, in a commercial +view, to operate disadvantageously to France as compared with her enemy, +Great Britain, the latter asserting, under the law of nations, the right +to capture as contraband supplies when bound for an enemy's port. + +Induced mainly, it is believed, by these considerations, the Government +of France decreed on the 9th of May, 1793, the first year of the war, +that "the French people are no longer permitted to fulfill toward the +neutral powers in general the vows they have so often manifested, and +which they constantly make for the full and entire liberty of commerce +and navigation," and, as a counter measure to the course of Great +Britain, authorized the seizure of neutral vessels bound to an enemy's +port in like manner as that was done by her great maritime rival. +This decree was made to act retrospectively, and to continue until the +enemies of France should desist from depredations on the neutral vessels +bound to the ports of France. Then followed the embargo, by which our +vessels were detained in Bordeaux; the seizure of British goods on +board of our ships, and of the property of American citizens under the +pretense that it belonged to English subjects, and the imprisonment of +American citizens captured on the high seas. + +Against these infractions of existing treaties and violations of our +rights as a neutral power we complained and remonstrated. For the +property of our injured citizens we demanded that due compensation +should be made, and from 1793 to 1797 used every means, ordinary and +extraordinary, to obtain redress by negotiation. In the last-mentioned +year these efforts were met by a refusal to receive a minister sent +by our Government with special instructions to represent the amicable +disposition of the Government and people of the United States and their +desire to remove jealousies and to restore confidence by showing that +the complaints against them were groundless. Failing in this, another +attempt to adjust all differences between the two Republics was made in +the form of an extraordinary mission, composed of three distinguished +citizens, but the refusal to receive was offensively repeated, and thus +terminated this last effort to preserve peace and restore kind relations +with our early friend and ally, to whom a debt of gratitude was due +which the American people have never been willing to depreciate or to +forget. Years of negotiation had not only failed to secure indemnity +for our citizens and exemption from further depredation, but these +long-continued efforts had brought upon the Government the suspension +of diplomatic intercourse with France and such indignities as to induce +President Adams, in his message of May 16, 1797, to Congress, convened +in special session, to present it as the particular matter for their +consideration and to speak of it in terms of the highest indignation. +Thenceforward the action of our Government assumed a character which +clearly indicates that hope was no longer entertained from the amicable +feeling or justice of the Government of France, and hence the subsequent +measures were those of force. + +On the 28th of May, 1798, an act was passed for the employment of the +Navy of the United States against "armed vessels of the Republic of +France," and authorized their capture if "found hovering on the coast +of the United States for the purpose of committing depredations on the +vessels belonging to the citizens thereof;" on the 18th of June, 1798, +an act was passed prohibiting commercial intercourse with France under +the penalty of the forfeiture of the vessels so employed; on the 25th +of June, the same year, an act to arm the merchant marine to oppose +searches, capture aggressors, and recapture American vessels taken by +the French; on the 28th of June, same year, an act for the condemnation +and sale of French vessels captured by authority of the act of 28th of +May preceding; on the 27th of July, same year, an act abrogating the +treaties and the convention which had been concluded between the United +States and France, and declaring "that the same shall not henceforth +be regarded as legally obligatory on the Government or citizens of the +United States;" on the 9th of the same month an act was passed which +enlarged the limits of the hostilities then existing by authorizing our +public vessels to capture armed vessels of France wherever found upon +the high seas, and conferred power on the President to issue commissions +to private armed vessels to engage in like service. + +These acts, though short of a declaration of war, which would put ail +the citizens of each country in hostility with those of the other, were, +nevertheless, actual war, partial in its application, maritime in its +character, but which required the expenditure of much of our public +treasure and much of the blood of our patriotic citizens, who, in +vessels but little suited to the purposes of war, went forth to battle +on the high seas for the rights and security of their fellow-citizens +and to repel indignities offered to the national honor. + +It is not, then, because of any failure to use all available means, +diplomatic and military, to obtain reparation that liability for private +claims can have been incurred by the United States, and if there is any +pretense for such liability it must flow from the action, not from the +neglect, of the United States. The first complaint on the part of France +was against the proclamation of President Washington of April 22, 1793. +At that early period in the war which involved Austria, Prussia, +Sardinia, the United Netherlands, and Great Britain on the one part and +France on the other, the great and wise man who was the Chief Executive, +as he was and had been the guardian of our then infant Republic, +proclaimed that "the duty and interest of the United States require that +they should with sincerity and good faith adopt and pursue a conduct +friendly and impartial toward the belligerent powers." This attitude of +neutrality, it was pretended, was in disregard of the obligations of +alliance between the United States and France. And this, together with +the often-renewed complaint that the stipulations of the treaties of +1778 had not been observed and executed by the United States, formed the +pretext for the series of outrages upon our Government and its citizens +which finally drove us to seek redress and safety by an appeal to force. +The treaties of 1778, so long the subject of French complaints, are now +understood to be the foundation upon which are laid these claims of +indemnity from the United States for spoliations committed by the French +prior to 1800. The act of our Government which abrogated not only the +treaties of 1778, but also the subsequent consular convention of 1788, +has already been referred to, and it may be well here to inquire what +the course of France was in relation thereto. By the decrees of 9th of +May, 1793, 7th of July, 1796, and 2d of March, 1797, the stipulations +which were then and subsequently most important to the United States +were rendered wholly inoperative. The highly injurious effects which +these decrees are known to have produced show how vital were the +provisions of treaty which they violated, and make manifest the +incontrovertible right of the United States to declare, as the +consequence of these acts of the other contracting party, the treaties +at an end. + +The next step in this inquiry is whether the act declaring the treaties +null and void was ever repealed, or whether by any other means the +treaties were ever revived so as to be either the subject or the source +of national obligation. The war which has been described was terminated +by the treaty of Paris of 1800, and to that instrument it is necessary +to turn to find how much of preexisting obligations between the two +Governments outlived the hostilities in which they had been engaged. +By the second article of the treaty of 1800 it was declared that the +ministers plenipotentiary of the two parties not being able to agree +respecting the treaties of alliance, amity, and commerce of 1778 and the +convention of 1788, nor upon the indemnities mutually due or claimed, +the parties will negotiate further on these subjects at a convenient +time; and until they shall have agreed upon these points the said +treaties and convention shall have no operation. + +When the treaty was submitted to the Senate of the United States, the +second article was disagreed to and the treaty amended by striking it +out and inserting a provision that the convention then made should +continue in force eight years from the date of ratification, which +convention, thus amended, was accepted by the First Consul of France, +with the addition of a note explanatory of his construction of the +convention, to the effect that by the retrenchment of the second article +the two States renounce the respective pretensions which were the object +of the said article. + +It will be perceived by the language of the second article, as +originally framed by the negotiators, that they had found themselves +unable to adjust the controversies on which years of diplomacy and of +hostilities had been expended, and that they were at last compelled to +postpone the discussion of those questions to that most indefinite +period, a "convenient time." All, then, of these subjects which was +revived by the convention was the right to renew, when it should be +convenient to the parties, a discussion which had already exhausted +negotiation, involved the two countries in a maritime war, and on which +the parties had approached no nearer to concurrence than they were when +the controversy began. + +The obligations of the treaties of 1778 and the convention of 1788 were +mutual, and estimated to be equal. But however onerous they may have +been to the United States, they had been abrogated, and were not revived +by the convention of 1800, but expressly spoken of as suspended until an +event which could only occur by the pleasure of the United States. It +seems clear, then, that the United States were relieved of no obligation +to France by the retrenchment of the second article of the convention, +and if thereby France was relieved of any valid claims against her the +United States received no consideration in return, and that if private +property was taken by the United States from their own citizens it was +not for public use. But it is here proper to inquire whether the United +States did relieve France from valid claims against her on the part of +citizens of the United States, and did thus deprive them of their +property. + +The complaints and counter complaints of the two Governments had been +that treaties were violated and that both public and individual rights +and interests had been sacrificed. The correspondence of our ministers +engaged in negotiations, both before and after the convention of 1800, +sufficiently proves how hopeless was the effort to obtain full indemnity +from France for injuries inflicted on our commerce from 1793 to 1800, +unless it should be by an account in which the rival pretensions of the +two Governments should each be acknowledged and the balance struck +between them. + +It is supposable, and may be inferred from the contemporaneous history +as probable, that had the United States agreed in 1800 to revive the +treaties of 1778 and 1788 with the construction which France had placed +upon them, that the latter Government would, on the other hand, have +agreed to make indemnity for those spoliations which were committed +under the pretext that the United States were faithless to the +obligations of the alliance between the two countries. + +Hence the conclusion that the United States did not sacrifice private +rights or property to get rid of public obligations, but only refused to +reassume public obligations for the purpose of obtaining the recognition +of the claims of American citizens on the part of France. + +All those claims which the French Government was willing to admit were +carefully provided for elsewhere in the convention, and the declaration +of the First Consul, which was appended in his additional note, had no +other application than to the claims which had been mutually made by the +Governments, but on which they had never approximated to an adjustment. +In confirmation of the fact that our Government did not intend to cease +from the prosecution of the just claims of our citizens against France, +reference is here made to the annual message of President Jefferson of +December 8, 1801, which opens with expressions of his gratification at +the restoration of peace among sister nations; and, after speaking of +the assurances received from all nations with whom we had principal +relations and of the confidence thus inspired that our peace with them +would not have been disturbed if they had continued at war with each +other, he proceeds to say: + + + But a cessation of irregularities which had affected the commerce of + neutral nations, and of the irritations and injuries produced by them, + can not but add to this confidence, and strengthens at the same time the + hope that wrongs committed on unoffending friends under a pressure of + circumstances will now be reviewed with candor, and will be considered + as founding just claims of retribution for the past and new assurance + for the future. + + +The zeal and diligence with which the claims of our citizens against +France were prosecuted appear in the diplomatic correspondence of the +three years next succeeding the convention of 1800, and the effect of +these efforts is made manifest in the convention of 1803, in which +provision was made for payment of a class of cases the consideration of +which France had at all previous periods refused to entertain, and which +are of that very class which it has been often assumed were released by +striking out the second article of the convention of 1800. This is shown +by reference to the preamble and to the fourth and fifth articles of the +convention of 1803, by which were admitted among the debts due by France +to citizens of the United States the amounts chargeable for "prizes made +at sea in which the appeal has been properly lodged within the time +mentioned in the said convention of the 30th of September, 1800;" and +this class was further defined to be only "captures of which the council +of prizes shall have ordered restitution, it being well understood that +the claimant can not have recourse to the United States otherwise than +he might have had to the French Republic, and only in case of the +insufficiency of the captors." + +If, as was affirmed on all hands, the convention of 1803 was intended +to close all questions between the Governments of France and the United +States, and 20,000,000 francs were set apart as a sum which might +exceed, but could not fall short of, the debts due by France to the +citizens of the United States, how are we to reconcile the claim now +presented with the estimates made by those who were of the time and +immediately connected with the events, and whose intelligence and +integrity have in no small degree contributed to the character and +prosperity of the country in which we live? Is it rational to assume +that the claimants who now present themselves for indemnity by the +United States represent debts which would have been admitted and paid by +France but for the intervention of the United States? And is it possible +to escape from the effect of the voluminous evidence tending to +establish the fact that France resisted all these claims; that it was +only after long and skillful negotiation that the agents of the United +States obtained the recognition of such of the claims as were provided +for in the conventions of 1800 and 1803? And is it not conclusive +against any pretensions of possible success on the part of the +claimants, if left unaided to make their applications to France, that +the only debts due to American citizens which have been paid by France +are those which were assumed by the United States as part of the +consideration in the purchase of Louisiana? + +There is little which is creditable either to the judgment or patriotism +of those of our fellow-citizens who at this day arraign the justice, +the fidelity, or love of country of the men who founded the Republic in +representing them as having bartered away the property of individuals to +escape from public obligations, and then to have withheld from them just +compensation. It has been gratifying to me in tracing the history of +these claims to find that ample evidence exists to refute an accusation +which would impeach the purity, the justice, and the magnanimity of the +illustrious men who guided and controlled the early destinies of the +Republic. + +I pass from this review of the history of the subject, and, omitting +many substantial objections to these claims, proceed to examine somewhat +more closely the only grounds upon which they can by possibility be +maintained. + +Before entering on this it may be proper to state distinctly certain +propositions which it is admitted on all hands are essential to prove +the obligations of the Government. + +First. That at the date of the treaty of September 30, 1800, these +claims were valid and subsisting as against France. + +Second. That they were released or extinguished by the United States in +that treaty and by the manner of its ratification. + +Third. That they were so released or extinguished for a consideration +valuable to the Government, but in which the claimants had no more +interest than any other citizens. + +The convention between the French Republic and the United States of +America signed at Paris on the 30th day of September, 1800, purports +in the preamble to be founded on the equal desire of the First Consul +(Napoleon Bonaparte) and the President of the United States to terminate +the differences which have arisen between the two States. It declares, +in the first place, that there shall be firm, inviolable, and universal +peace and a true and sincere friendship between the French Republic and +the United States. Next it proceeds, in the second, third, fourth, and +fifth articles, to make provision in sundry respects, having reference +to past differences and the transition from the state of war between the +two countries to that of general and permanent peace. Finally, in the +residue of the twenty-seventh article, it stipulates anew the conditions +of amity and intercourse, commercial and political, thereafter to exist, +and, of course, to be substituted in place of the previous conditions of +the treaties of alliance and of commerce and the consular convention, +which are thus tacitly but unequivocally recognized as no longer in +force, but in effect abrogated, either by the state of war or by the +political action of the two Republics. + +Except in so far as the whole convention goes to establish the fact that +the previous treaties were admitted on both sides to be at an end, none +of the articles are directly material to the present question save the +following: + + + ART. II. The ministers plenipotentiary of the two parties not being able + to agree at present respecting the treaty of alliance of 6th February, + 1778, the treaty of amity and commerce of the same date, and the + convention of 14th of November, 1788, nor upon the indemnities mutually + due or claimed, the parties will negotiate further on these subjects at + a convenient time; and until they may have agreed upon these points the + said treaties and convention shall have no operation, and the relations + of the two countries shall be regulated as follows: + + * * * * * + + ART. V. The debts contracted by one of the two nations with individuals + of the other, or by the individuals of one with the individuals of the + other, shall be paid, or the payment may be prosecuted, in the same + manner as if there had been no misunderstanding between the two States. + But this clause shall not extend to indemnities claimed on account of + captures or confiscations. + + +On this convention being submitted to the Senate of the United States, +they consented and advised to its ratification with the following +proviso: + + + _Provided_, That the second article be expunged, and that the following + article be added or inserted: It is agreed that the present convention + shall be in force for the term of eight years from the time of the + exchange of ratifications. + + +The spirit and purpose of this change are apparent and unmistakable. +The convention as signed by the respective plenipotentiaries did not +adjust all the points of controversy. Both nations, however, desired the +restoration of peace. Accordingly, as to those matters in the relations +of the two countries concerning which they could agree, they did agree +for the time being; and as to the rest, concerning which they could not +agree, they suspended and postponed further negotiation. + +They abandoned no pretensions, they relinquished no right on either +side, but simply adjourned the question until "a convenient time." +Meanwhile, and until the arrival of such convenient time, the relations +of the two countries were to be regulated by the stipulations of the +convention. + +Of course the convention was on its face a temporary and provisional +one, but in the worst possible form of prospective termination. It was +to cease at a convenient time. But how should that convenient time be +ascertained? It is plain that such a stipulation, while professedly not +disposing of the present controversy, had within itself the germ of a +fresh one, for the two Governments might at any moment fall into dispute +on the question whether that convenient time had or had not arrived. +The Senate of the United States anticipated and prevented this question +by the only possible expedient; that is, the designation of a precise +date. This being done, the remaining parts of the second article became +superfluous and useless, for as all the provisions of the convention +would expire in eight years, it would necessarily follow that +negotiations must be renewed within that period, more especially as the +operation of the amendment which covered the whole convention was that +even the stipulation of peace in the first article became temporary and +expired in eight years, whereas that article, and that article alone, +was permanent according to the original tenor of the convention. + +The convention thus amended, being submitted to the First Consul, was +ratified by him, his act of acceptance being accompanied with the +following declaratory note: + + + The Government of the United States having added in its ratification + that the convention should be in force for the space of eight years, and + having omitted the second article, the Government of the French Republic + consents to accept, ratify, and confirm the above convention with the + addition importing that the convention shall be in force for the space + of eight years and with the retrenchment of the second article: + _Provided_, That by this retrenchment the two States renounce the + respective pretensions which are the object of the said article. + + +The convention, as thus ratified by the First Consul, having been again +submitted to the Senate of the United States, that body resolved that +"they considered the convention as fully ratified," and returned the +same to the President for promulgation, and it was accordingly +promulgated in the usual form by President Jefferson. + +Now it is clear that in simply resolving that "they considered the +convention as fully ratified" the Senate did in fact abstain from any +express declaration of dissent or assent to the construction put by the +First Consul on the retrenchment of the second article. If any inference +beyond this can be drawn from their resolution, it is that they regarded +the proviso annexed by the First Consul to his declaration of acceptance +as foreign to the subject, as nugatory, or as without consequence or +effect. Notwithstanding this proviso, they considered the ratification +as full. If the new proviso made any change in the previous import of +the convention, then it was not full; and in considering it a full +ratification they in substance deny that the proviso did in any respect +change the tenor of the convention. + +By the second article, as it originally stood, neither Republic had +relinquished its existing rights or pretensions, either as to other +previous treaties or the indemnities mutually due or claimed, but +only deferred the consideration of them to a convenient time. By the +amendment of the Senate of the United States that convenient time, +instead of being left indefinite, was fixed at eight years; but no +right or pretension of either party was surrendered or abandoned. + +If the Senate erred in assuming that the proviso added by the First +Consul did not affect the question, then the transaction would amount +to nothing more than to have raised a new question, to be disposed of +on resuming the negotiations, namely, the question whether the proviso +of the First Consul did or not modify or impair the effect of the +convention as it had been ratified by the Senate. + +That such, and such only, was the true meaning and effect of the +transaction; that it was not, and was not intended to be, a +relinquishment by the United States of any existing claim on France, and +especially that it was not an abandonment of any claims of individual +citizens, nor the set off of these against any conceded national +obligations to France, is shown by the fact that President Jefferson did +at once resume and prosecute to successful conclusion negotiations to +obtain from France indemnification for the claims of citizens of the +United States existing at the date of that convention; for on the 30th +of April, 1803, three treaties were concluded at Paris between the +United States of America and the French Republic, one of which embraced +the cession of Louisiana; another stipulated for the payment of +60,000,000 francs by the United States to France; and a third provided +that, for the satisfaction of sums due by France to citizens of the +United States at the conclusion of the convention of September 30, 1800, +and in express compliance with the second and fifth articles thereof, +a further sum of 20,000,000 francs should be appropriated and paid by +the United States. In the preamble to the first of these treaties, which +ceded Louisiana, it is set forth that-- + + + The President of the United States of America and the First Consul of + the French Republic, in the name of the French people, desiring to + remove all source of misunderstanding relative to objects of discussion + mentioned in the second and fifth articles of the convention of the 8th + Vendemiaire, an 9 (30th September, 1800), relative to the rights claimed + by the United States in virtue of the treaty concluded at Madrid the + 27th of October, 1795, between His Catholic Majesty and the said United + States, and willing to strengthen the union and friendship which at the + time of the said convention was happily reestablished between the two + nations, have respectively named their plenipotentiaries, ... who ... + have agreed to the following articles. + + +Here is the most distinct and categorical declaration of the two +Governments that the matters of claim in the second article of the +convention of 1800 had not been ceded away, relinquished, or set off, +but they were still subsisting subjects of demand against France. The +same declaration appears in equally emphatic language in the third of +these treaties, bearing the same date, the preamble of which recites +that-- + + + The President of the United States of America and the First Consul of + the French Republic, in the name of the French people, having by a + treaty of this date terminated all difficulties relative to Louisiana + and established on a solid foundation the friendship which unites the + two nations, and being desirous, in compliance with the second and fifth + articles of the convention of the 8th Vendemiaire, ninth year of the + French Republic (30th September, 1800), to secure the payment of the + sums due by France to the citizens of the United States, have appointed + plenipotentiaries-- + + +who agreed to the following among other articles: + + + ART. I. The debts due by France to citizens of the United States, + contracted before the 8th of Vendemiaire, ninth year of the French + Republic (30th September, 1800), shall be paid according to the + following regulations, with interest at 6 per cent, to commence from + the periods when the accounts and vouchers were presented to the + French Government. + + ART. II. The debts provided for by the preceding article are those whose + result is comprised in the conjectural note annexed to the present + convention, and which, with the interest, can not exceed the sum of + 20,000,000 francs. The claims comprised in the said note which fall + within the exceptions of the following articles shall not be admitted + to the benefit of this provision. + + * * * * * + + ART. IV. It is expressly agreed that the preceding articles shall + comprehend no debts but such as are due to citizens of the United States + who have been and are yet creditors of France for supplies, for + embargoes, and prizes made at sea in which the appeal has been properly + lodged within the time mentioned in the said convention, 8th + Vendemiaire, ninth year (30th September, 1800). + + ART. V. The preceding articles shall apply only, first, to captures of + which the council of prizes shall have ordered restitution, it being + well understood that the claimant can not have recourse to the United + States otherwise than he might have had to the Government of the French + Republic, and only in case of insufficiency of the captors; second, the + debts mentioned in the said fifth article of the convention, contracted + before the 8th Vendemiaire, an 9 (30th September, 1800), the payment of + which has been heretofore claimed of the actual Government of France + and for which the creditors have a right to the protection of the + United States; the said fifth article does not comprehend prizes whose + condemnation has been or shall be confirmed. It is the express intention + of the contracting parties not to extend the benefit of the present + convention to reclamations of American citizens who shall have + established houses of commerce in France, England, or other countries + than the United States, in partnership with foreigners, and who by + that reason and the nature of their commerce ought to be regarded as + domiciliated in the places where such houses exist. All agreements and + bargains concerning merchandise which shall not be the property of + American citizens are equally excepted from the benefit of the said + convention, saving, however, to such persons their claims in like manner + as if this treaty had not been made. + + * * * * * + + ART. XII. In case of claims for debts contracted by the Government of + France with citizens of the United States since the 8th Vendemiaire, + ninth year (30th September, 1800), not being comprised in this + convention, may be pursued, and the payment demanded in the same manner + as if it had not been made. + + +Other articles of the treaty provide for the appointment of agents to +liquidate the claims intended to be secured, and for the payment of them +as allowed at the Treasury of the United States. The following is the +concluding clause of the tenth article: + + + The rejection of any claim shall have no other effect than to exempt + the United States from the payment of it, the French Government + reserving to itself the right to decide definitively on such claim so + far as it concerns itself. + + +Now, from the provisions of the treaties thus collated the following +deductions undeniably follow, namely: + +First. Neither the second article of the convention of 1800, as it +originally stood, nor the retrenchment of that article, nor the proviso +in the ratification by the First Consul, nor the action of the Senate of +the United States thereon, was regarded by either France or the United +States as the renouncement of any claims of American citizens against +France. + +Second. On the contrary, in the treaties of 1803 the two Governments +took up the question precisely where it was left on the day of the +signature of that of 1800, without suggestion on the part of France that +the claims of our citizens were excluded by the retrenchment of the +second article or the note of the First Consul, and proceeded to make +ample provision for such as France could be induced to admit were justly +due, and they were accordingly discharged in full, with interest, by the +United States in the stead and behalf of France. + +Third. The United States, not having admitted in the convention of +1800 that they were under any obligations to France by reason of the +abrogation of the treaties of 1778 and 1788, persevered in this view of +the question by the tenor of the treaties of 1803, and therefore had no +such national obligation to discharge, and did not, either in purpose +or in fact, at any time undertake to discharge themselves from any such +obligation at the expense and with the property of individual citizens +of the United States. + +Fourth. By the treaties of 1803 the United States obtained from France +the acknowledgment and payment, as part of the indemnity for the cession +of Louisiana, of claims of citizens of the United States for spoliations, +so far as France would admit her liability in the premises; but even then +the United States did not relinquish any claim of American citizens not +provided for by those treaties; so far from it, to the honor of France be +it remembered, she expressly reserved to herself the right to reconsider +any rejected claims of citizens of the United States. + +Fifth. As to claims of citizens of the United States against France, +which had been the subject of controversy between the two countries +prior to the signature of the convention of 1800, and the further +consideration of which was reserved for a more convenient time by the +second article of that convention, for these claims, and these only, +provision was made in the treaties of 1803, all other claims being +expressly excluded by them from their scope and purview. + +It is not to be overlooked, though not necessary to the conclusion, +that by the convention between France and the United States of the +4th of July, 1831, complete provision was made for the liquidation, +discharge, and payment on both sides of all claims of citizens of either +against the other for unlawful seizures, captures, sequestrations, or +destructions of the vessels, cargoes, or other property, without any +limitation of time, so as in terms to run back to the date of the +last preceding settlement, at least to that of 1803, if not to the +commencement of our national relations with France. + +This review of the successive treaties between France and the United +States has brought my mind to the undoubting conviction that while +the United States have in the most ample and the completest manner +discharged their duty toward such of their citizens as may have been at +any time aggrieved by acts of the French Government, so also France has +honorably discharged herself of all obligations in the premises toward +the United States. To concede what this bill assumes would be to impute +undeserved reproach both to France and to the United States. + +I am, of course, aware that the bill proposes only to provide +indemnification for such valid claims of citizens of the United States +against France as shall not have been stipulated for and embraced in +any of the treaties enumerated. But in excluding all such claims it +excludes all, in fact, for which, during the negotiations, France could +be persuaded to agree that she was in any wise liable to the United +States or our citizens. What remains? And for what is five millions +appropriated? In view of what has been said there would seem to be no +ground on which to raise a liability of the United States, unless it be +the assumption that the United States are to be considered the insurer +and the guarantor of all claims, of whatever nature, which any +individual citizen may have against a foreign nation. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _March 3_, [_1855_.] + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return herewith to the House of Representatives, in which it +originated, the bill entitled "An act making appropriations for +the transportation of the United States mail, by ocean steamers and +otherwise, during the fiscal years ending the 30th of June, 1855, and +the 30th of June, 1856," with a brief statement of the reasons which +prevent its receiving my approval. The bill provides, among other +things, that-- + + + The following sums be, and the same are hereby, appropriated, to be + paid out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, for + the year ending the 30th of June, 1856: + + For transportation of the mails from New York to Liverpool and back, + $858,000; and that the proviso contained in the first section of the + act entitled "An act to supply deficiencies in the appropriations for + the service of the fiscal year ending the 30th of June, 1852," approved + the 21st of July, 1852, be, and the same is hereby, repealed: + _Provided_, That Edward K. Collins and his associates shall proceed + with all due diligence to build another steamship, in accordance with + the terms of their contract, and have the same ready for the mail + service in two years from and after the passage of this act; and if the + said steamship is not ready within the time above mentioned, by reason + of any neglect or want of diligence on their part, then the said Edward + K. Collins and his associates shall carry the United States mails + between New York and Liverpool from the expiration of the said two + years, every fortnight, free of any charge to the Government, until the + new steamship shall have commenced the said mail service. + + +The original contract was predicated upon the proposition of E.K. +Collins of March 6, 1846, made with abundant means of knowledge as to +the advantages and disadvantages of the terms which he then submitted +for the acceptance of the Government. The proposition was in the +following terms: + + + WASHINGTON, _March 6, 1846_. + + E.K. Collins and his associates propose to carry the United States mail + between New York and Liverpool twice each month during eight months of + the year and once a month during the other four months for the sum of + $385,000 per annum, payable quarterly. For this purpose they will agree + to build five steamships of not less than 2,000 tons measurement and of + 1,000 horsepower each, which vessels shall be built for great speed and + sufficiently strong for war purposes. + + Four of said vessels to be ready for service in eighteen months from + the signing of the contract. The fifth vessel to be built as early as + possibly practicable, and when not employed in the mail service to be + subject to the orders of the Government for carrying dispatches, for + which service a fair compensation is to be paid. Contract to be for + the term of ten years. It is also proposed to secure to the United + States the privilege of purchasing said steamships whenever they + may be required for public purposes, at a fair valuation, to be + ascertained by appraisers appointed by the United States and by the + owners. + + EDWARD K. COLLINS. + + +The act of March 3, 1847, provides-- + + + That from and immediately after the passage of this act it shall + be the duty of the Secretary of the Navy to accept, on the part of + the Government of the United States, the proposals of E.K. Collins + and his associates, of the city of New York, submitted to the + Postmaster-General, and dated at Washington, March 6, 1846, for + the transportation of the United States mail between New York and + Liverpool, and to contract with the said E.K. Collins and his + associates for the faithful fulfillment of the stipulations therein + contained, and in accordance with the provisions of this act. + + +And under this proposition and enactment the original contract was +made. + +According to the terms of that contract the parties were to receive from +the United States for twenty round trips each year the sum of $19,250 +the trip, or $385,000 per annum; and they were to construct and provide +five ships of a stipulated size and quality for the performance of this +or other service for the Government. + +Of the ships contracted for, only four have been furnished--the +_Atlantic, Pacific, Arctic_, and _Baltic_--and the present bill proposes +to dispense entirely with the original condition of a fifth ship, by +only requiring the construction of one, which would but supply the +place of the _Arctic_, recently lost by peril of the sea. Certain minor +conditions involving expense to the contractors, among which was one +for the accommodation and subsistence of a certain number of passed +midshipmen on each vessel, had previously been dispensed with on the +part of the United States. + +By act of Congress of July 21, 1852, the amount of compensation to +the contractors was increased from $19,250 to $33,000 a trip and the +number of trips from twenty to twenty-six each year, making the whole +compensation $858,000 per annum. During the period of time from the +commencement of the service of these contractors, on the 27th of April, +1850, to the end of the last fiscal year, June 30, 1854, the sum paid +to them by the United States amounted to $2,620,906, without reckoning +public money advanced on loan to aid them in the construction of the +ships; while the whole amount of postages derived to the Department has +been only $734,056, showing an excess of expenditure above receipts of +$1,886,440 to the charge of the Government. In the meantime, in addition +to the payments from the Treasury, the parties have been in the +enjoyment of large receipts from the transportation of passengers and +merchandise, the profits of which are in addition to the amount allowed +by the United States. + +It does not appear that the liberal conditions heretofore enjoyed by +the parties were less than a proper compensation for the service to be +performed, including whatever there may have been of hazard in a new +undertaking, nor that any hardship can be justly alleged calling for +relief on the part of the Government. + +On the other hand, the construction of five ships of great speed, +and sufficiently strong for war purposes, and the services of passed +midshipmen on board of them, so as thus to augment the contingent force +and the actual efficiency of the Navy, were among the inducements of the +Government to enter into the contract. + +The act of July 21, 1852, provides "that it shall be in the power of +Congress at any time after the 31st day of December, 1854, to terminate +the arrangement for the additional allowance herein provided for upon +giving six months' notice;" and it will be seen that, with the exception +of the six additional trips required by the act of July 21, 1852, there +has been no departure from the original engagement but to relieve +the contractors from obligation, and yet by the act last named the +compensation was increased from $385,000 to $858,000, with no other +protection to the public interests provided than the right which +Congress reserved to itself to terminate the contract, so far as this +increased compensation was concerned, after six months' notice. This +last provision, certainly a primary consideration for the more generous +action of the Government, the present bill proposes to repeal, so as to +leave Congress no power to terminate the new arrangement. + +To this repeal the objections are, in my mind, insuperable, because in +terms it deprives the United States of all future discretion as to the +increased service and compensation, whatever changes may occur in the +art of navigation, its expenses, or the policy and political condition +of the country. The gravity of this objection is enhanced by other +considerations. While the contractors are to be paid a compensation +nearly double the rate of the original contract, they are exempted from +several of its conditions, which has the effect of adding still more to +that rate; while the further advantage is conceded to them of placing +their new privileges beyond the control even of Congress. + +It will be regarded as a less serious objection than that already +stated, but one which should not be overlooked, that the privileges +bestowed upon the contractors are without corresponding advantages to +the Government, which receives no sufficient pecuniary or other return +for the immense outlay involved, which could obtain the same service of +other parties at less cost, and which, if the bill becomes a law, will +pay them a large amount of public money without adequate consideration; +that is, will in effect confer a gratuity whilst nominally making +provision for the transportation of the mails of the United States. + +To provide for making a donation of such magnitude and to give to the +arrangement the character of permanence which this bill proposes would +be to deprive commercial enterprise of the benefits of free competition +and to establish a monopoly in violation of the soundest principles of +public policy and of doubtful compatibility with the Constitution. + +I am, of course, not unmindful of the fact that the bill comprises +various other appropriations which are more or less important to the +public interests, for which reason my objections to it are communicated +at the first meeting of the House following its presentation to me, in +the hope that by amendment to bills now pending or otherwise suitable +provision for all the objects in question may be made before the +adjournment of Congress. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + + +PROCLAMATIONS. + + +BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. + +A PROCLAMATION. + +Whereas by an act of the Congress of the United States approved the +5th day of August, 1854, entitled "An act to carry into effect a +treaty between the United States and Great Britain signed on the 5th +day of June, 1854," it is provided that whenever the President of the +United States shall receive satisfactory evidence that the Imperial +Parliament of Great Britain and the Provincial Parliaments of Canada, +New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edwards Island have passed laws +on their part to give full effect to the provisions of the said treaty, +he is authorized to issue his proclamation declaring that he has such +evidence; and + +Whereas satisfactory information has been received by me that the +Imperial Parliament of Great Britain and the Provincial Parliaments +of Canada, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edwards Island have +passed laws on their part to give full effect to the provisions of the +treaty aforesaid: + +Now, therefore, I, Franklin Pierce, President of the United States +of America, do hereby declare and proclaim that from this date the +following articles, being the growth and produce of the said Provinces +of Canada, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edwards Island, to +wit: Grain, flour, and breadstuffs of all kinds; animals of all kinds; +fresh, smoked, and salted meats; cotton wool, seeds and vegetables, +undried fruits, dried fruits, fish of all kinds, products of fish and +all other creatures living in the water, poultry, eggs; hides, furs, +skins, or tails, undressed; stone or marble in its crude or unwrought +state, slate, butter, cheese, tallow, lard, horns, manures, ores of +metals of all kinds, coal, pitch, tar, turpentine, ashes; timber and +lumber of all kinds, round, hewed, and sawed, unmanufactured in whole +or in part; firewood; plants, shrubs, and trees; pelts, wool, fish oil, +rice, broom corn, and bark; gypsum, ground or unground; hewn or wrought +or unwrought burr or grind stones; dyestuffs; flax, hemp, and tow, +unmanufactured; unmanufactured tobacco, rags--shall be introduced into +the United States free of duty so long as the said treaty shall remain +in force, subject, however, to be suspended in relation to the trade +with Canada on the condition mentioned in the fourth article of the said +treaty, and that all the other provisions of the said treaty shall go +into effect and be observed on the part of the United States. + +Given under my hand, at the city of Washington, the 16th day of March, +A.D. 1855, and of the Independence of the United States the +seventy-ninth. + +[SEAL.] + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + +By the President: + W.L. MARCY, + _Secretary of State_. + + + +BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. + +A PROCLAMATION. + +Whereas the act of Congress of the 28th of September, 1850, entitled "An +act to create additional collection districts in the State of California +and to change the existing district therein, and to modify the existing +collection districts in the United States," extends to merchandise +warehoused under bond the privilege of being exported to the British +North American Provinces adjoining the United States in the manner +prescribed in the act of Congress of the 3d of March, 1845, which +designates certain frontier ports through which merchandise may be +exported, and further provides "that such other ports situated on the +frontiers of the United States adjoining the British North American +Provinces as may hereafter be found expedient may have extended to them +the like privileges on the recommendation of the Secretary of the +Treasury and proclamation duly made by the President of the United +States specially designating the ports to which the aforesaid privileges +are to be extended:" + +Now, therefore, I, Franklin Pierce, President of the United States of +America, in accordance with the recommendation of the Secretary of the +Treasury, do hereby declare and proclaim that the ports of Rouses Point, +Cape Vincent, Suspension Bridge, and Dunkirk, in the State of New York; +Swanton, Alburg, and Island Pond, in the State of Vermont; Toledo, in +the State of Ohio; Chicago, in the State of Illinois; Milwaukee, in the +State of Wisconsin; Michilimackinac, in the State of Michigan; Eastport, +in the State of Maine; and Pembina, in the Territory of Minnesota, are +and shall be entitled to all the privileges in regard to the exportation +of merchandise in bond to the British North American Provinces adjoining +the United States which are extended to the ports enumerated in the +seventh section of the act of Congress of the 3d of March, 1845, +aforesaid, from and after the date of this proclamation. + +In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of +the United States to be affixed. + +Done at the city of Washington, this 2d day of July, A.D. 1855, and of +the Independence of the United States of America the seventy-ninth. + +[SEAL] + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + +By the President: + W.L. MARCY, + _Secretary of State_. + + + + +THIRD ANNUAL MESSAGE. + + +WASHINGTON, _December 31, 1855_. + +_Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and of the House of Representatives_: + +The Constitution of the United States provides that Congress shall +assemble annually on the first Monday of December, and it has been usual +for the President to make no communication of a public character to the +Senate and House of Representatives until advised of their readiness to +receive it. I have deferred to this usage until the close of the first +month of the session, but my convictions of duty will not permit me +longer to postpone the discharge of the obligation enjoined by the +Constitution upon the President "to give to the Congress information of +the state of the Union and recommend to their consideration such +measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient." + +It is matter of congratulation that the Republic is tranquilly advancing +in a career of prosperity and peace. + +Whilst relations of amity continue to exist between the United States +and all foreign powers, with some of them grave questions are depending +which may require the consideration of Congress. + +Of such questions, the most important is that which has arisen out of +the negotiations with Great Britain in reference to Central America. + +By the convention concluded between the two Governments on the 19th of +April, 1850, both parties covenanted that "neither will ever" "occupy, +or fortify, or colonize, or assume or exercise any dominion over +Nicaragua, Costa Rica, the Mosquito Coast, or any part of Central +America." + +It was the undoubted understanding of the United States in making this +treaty that all the present States of the former Republic of Central +America and the entire territory of each would thenceforth enjoy +complete independence, and that both contracting parties engaged equally +and to the same extent, for the present and for the future, that if +either then had any claim of right in Central America such claim and all +occupation or authority under it were unreservedly relinquished by the +stipulations of the convention, and that no dominion was thereafter to +be exercised or assumed in any part of Central America by Great Britain +or the United States. + +This Government consented to restrictions in regard to a region of +country wherein we had specific and peculiar interests only upon the +conviction that the like restrictions were in the same sense obligatory +on Great Britain. But for this understanding of the force and effect of +the convention it would never have been concluded by us. + +So clear was this understanding on the part of the United States that in +correspondence contemporaneous with the ratification of the convention +it was distinctly expressed that the mutual covenants of nonoccupation +were not intended to apply to the British establishment at the Balize. +This qualification is to be ascribed to the fact that, in virtue of +successive treaties with previous sovereigns of the country, Great +Britain had obtained a concession of the right to cut mahogany or +dye-woods at the Balize, but with positive exclusion of all domain +or sovereignty; and thus it confirms the natural construction and +understood import of the treaty as to all the rest of the region +to which the stipulations applied. + +It, however, became apparent at an early day after entering upon the +discharge of my present functions that Great Britain still continued in +the exercise or assertion of large authority in all that part of Central +America commonly called the Mosquito Coast, and covering the entire +length of the State of Nicaragua and a part of Costa Rica; that she +regarded the Balize as her absolute domain and was gradually extending +its limits at the expense of the State of Honduras, and that she had +formally colonized a considerable insular group known as the Bay +Islands, and belonging of right to that State. + +All these acts or pretensions of Great Britain, being contrary to the +rights of the States of Central America and to the manifest tenor of her +stipulations with the United States as understood by this Government, +have been made the subject of negotiation through the American minister +in London. I transmit herewith the instructions to him on the subject +and the correspondence between him and the British secretary for foreign +affairs, by which you will perceive that the two Governments differ +widely and irreconcilably as to the construction of the convention and +its effect on their respective relations to Central America. + +Great Britain so construes the convention as to maintain unchanged all +her previous pretensions over the Mosquito Coast and in different parts +of Central America. These pretensions as to the Mosquito Coast are +founded on the assumption of political relation between Great Britain +and the remnant of a tribe of Indians on that coast, entered into at a +time when the whole country was a colonial possession of Spain. It can +not be successfully controverted that by the public law of Europe and +America no possible act of such Indians or their predecessors could +confer on Great Britain any political rights. + +Great Britain does not allege the assent of Spain as the origin of her +claims on the Mosquito Coast. She has, on the contrary, by repeated and +successive treaties renounced and relinquished all pretensions of her +own and recognized the full and sovereign rights of Spain in the most +unequivocal terms. Yet these pretensions, so without solid foundation +in the beginning and thus repeatedly abjured, were at a recent period +revived by Great Britain against the Central American States, the +legitimate successors to all the ancient jurisdiction of Spain in that +region. They were first applied only to a defined part of the coast of +Nicaragua, afterwards to the whole of its Atlantic coast, and lastly to +a part of the coast of Costa Rica, and they are now reasserted to this +extent notwithstanding engagements to the United States. + +On the eastern coast of Nicaragua and Costa Rica the interference of +Great Britain, though exerted at one time in the form of military +occupation of the port of San Juan del Norte, then in the peaceful +possession of the appropriate authorities of the Central American +States, is now presented by her as the rightful exercise of a +protectorship over the Mosquito tribe of Indians. + +But the establishment at the Balize, now reaching far beyond its +treaty limits into the State of Honduras, and that of the Bay Islands, +appertaining of right to the same State, are as distinctly colonial +governments as those of Jamaica or Canada, and therefore contrary to the +very letter, as well as the spirit, of the convention with the United +States as it was at the time of ratification and now is understood by +this Government. + +The interpretation which the British Government thus, in assertion +and act, persists in ascribing to the convention entirely changes +its character. While it holds us to all our obligations, it in a +great measure releases Great Britain from those which constituted the +consideration of this Government for entering into the convention. It +is impossible, in my judgment, for the United States to acquiesce in +such a construction of the respective relations of the two Governments +to Central America. + +To a renewed call by this Government upon Great Britain to abide by and +carry into effect the stipulations of the convention according to its +obvious import by withdrawing from the possession or colonization of +portions of the Central American States of Honduras, Nicaragua, and +Costa Rica, the British Government has at length replied, affirming that +the operation of the treaty is prospective only and did not require +Great Britain to abandon or contract any possessions held by her in +Central America at the date of its conclusion. + +This reply substitutes a partial issue in the place of the general one +presented by the United States. The British Government passes over the +question of the rights of Great Britain, real or supposed, in Central +America, and assumes that she had such rights at the date of the treaty +and that those rights comprehended the protectorship of the Mosquito +Indians, the extended jurisdiction and limits of the Balize, and the +colony of the Bay Islands, and thereupon proceeds by implication to +infer that if the stipulations of the treaty be merely future in effect +Great Britain may still continue to hold the contested portions of +Central America. The United States can not admit either the inference +or the premises. We steadily deny that at the date of the treaty Great +Britain had any possessions there other than the limited and peculiar +establishment at the Balize, and maintain that if she had any they were +surrendered by the convention. + +This Government, recognizing the obligations of the treaty, has, of +course, desired to see it executed in good faith by both parties, and +in the discussion, therefore, has not looked to rights which we might +assert independently of the treaty in consideration of our geographical +position and of other circumstances which create for us relations to the +Central American States different from those of any government of +Europe. + +The British Government, in its last communication, although well knowing +the views of the United States, still declares that it sees no reason +why a conciliatory spirit may not enable the two Governments to overcome +all obstacles to a satisfactory adjustment of the subject. + +Assured of the correctness of the construction of the treaty constantly +adhered to by this Government and resolved to insist on the rights +of the United States, yet actuated also by the same desire which is +avowed by the British Government, to remove all causes of serious +misunderstanding between two nations associated by so many ties of +interest and kindred, it has appeared to me proper not to consider +an amicable solution of the controversy hopeless. + +There is, however, reason to apprehend that with Great Britain in the +actual occupation of the disputed territories, and the treaty therefore +practically null so far as regards our rights, this international +difficulty can not long remain undetermined without involving in serious +danger the friendly relations which it is the interest as well as the +duty of both countries to cherish and preserve. It will afford me +sincere gratification if future efforts shall result in the success +anticipated heretofore with more confidence than the aspect of the case +permits me now to entertain. + +One other subject of discussion between the United States and Great +Britain has grown out of the attempt, which the exigencies of the war in +which she is engaged with Russia induced her to make, to draw recruits +from the United States. + +It is the traditional and settled policy of the United States to +maintain impartial neutrality during the wars which from time to time +occur among the great powers of the world. Performing all the duties of +neutrality toward the respective belligerent states, we may reasonably +expect them not to interfere with our lawful enjoyment of its benefits. +Notwithstanding the existence of such hostilities, our citizens retained +the individual right to continue all their accustomed pursuits, by land +or by sea, at home or abroad, subject only to such restrictions in this +relation as the laws of war, the usage of nations, or special treaties +may impose; and it is our sovereign right that our territory and +jurisdiction shall not be invaded by either of the belligerent parties +for the transit of their armies, the operations of their fleets, the +levy of troops for their service, the fitting out of cruisers by or +against either, or any other act or incident of war. And these +undeniable rights of neutrality, individual and national, the United +States will under no circumstances surrender. + +In pursuance of this policy, the laws of the United States do not +forbid their citizens to sell to either of the belligerent powers +articles contraband of war or take munitions of war or soldiers on +board their private ships for transportation; and although in so doing +the individual citizen exposes his property or person to some of the +hazards of war, his acts do not involve any breach of national neutrality +nor of themselves implicate the Government. Thus, during the progress +of the present war in Europe, our citizens have, without national +responsibility therefor, sold gunpowder and arms to all buyers, +regardless of the destination of those articles. Our merchantmen have +been, and still continue to be, largely employed by Great Britain and by +France in transporting troops, provisions, and munitions of war to the +principal seat of military operations and in bringing home their sick +and wounded soldiers; but such use of our mercantile marine is not +interdicted either by the international or by our municipal law, and +therefore does not compromit our neutral relations with Russia. + +But our municipal law, in accordance with the law of nations, +peremptorily forbids not only foreigners, but our own citizens, to fit +out within the United States a vessel to commit hostilities against any +state with which the United States are at peace, or to increase the +force of any foreign armed vessel intended for such hostilities against +a friendly state. + +Whatever concern may have been felt by either of the belligerent powers +lest private armed cruisers or other vessels in the service of one might +be fitted out in the ports of this country to depredate on the property +of the other, all such fears have proved to be utterly groundless. Our +citizens have been withheld from any such act or purpose by good faith +and by respect for the law. + +While the laws of the Union are thus peremptory in their prohibition of +the equipment or armament of belligerent cruisers in our ports, they +provide not less absolutely that no person shall, within the territory +or jurisdiction of the United States, enlist or enter himself, or hire +or retain another person to enlist or enter himself, or to go beyond the +limits or jurisdiction of the United States with intent to be enlisted +or entered, in the service of any foreign state, either as a soldier or +as a marine or seaman on board of any vessel of war, letter of marque, +or privateer. And these enactments are also in strict conformity with +the law of nations, which declares that no state has the right to raise +troops for land or sea service in another state without its consent, and +that, whether forbidden by the municipal law or not, the very attempt to +do it without such consent is an attack on the national sovereignty. + +Such being the public rights and the municipal law of the United States, +no solicitude on the subject was entertained by this Government when, +a year since, the British Parliament passed an act to provide for the +enlistment of foreigners in the military service of Great Britain. +Nothing on the face of the act or in its public history indicated that +the British Government proposed to attempt recruitment in the United +States, nor did it ever give intimation of such intention to this +Government. It was matter of surprise, therefore, to find subsequently +that the engagement of persons within the United States to proceed to +Halifax, in the British Province of Nova Scotia, and there enlist in the +service of Great Britain, was going on extensively, with little or no +disguise. Ordinary legal steps were immediately taken to arrest and +punish parties concerned, and so put an end to acts infringing the +municipal law and derogatory to our sovereignty. Meanwhile suitable +representations on the subject were addressed to the British Government. + +Thereupon it became known, by the admission of the British Government +itself, that the attempt to draw recruits from this country originated +with it, or at least had its approval and sanction; but it also appeared +that the public agents engaged in it had "stringent instructions" not to +violate the municipal law of the United States. + +It is difficult to understand how it should have been supposed that +troops could be raised here by Great Britain without violation of the +municipal law. The unmistakable object of the law was to prevent every +such act which if performed must be either in violation of the law or in +studied evasion of it, and in either alternative the act done would be +alike injurious to the sovereignty of the United States. + +In the meantime the matter acquired additional importance by the +recruitments in the United States not being discontinued, and the +disclosure of the fact that they were prosecuted upon a systematic plan +devised by official authority; that recruiting rendezvous had been +opened in our principal cities and depots for the reception of recruits +established on our frontier, and the whole business conducted under the +supervision and by the regular cooperation of British officers, civil +and military, some in the North American Provinces and some in the +United States. The complicity of those officers in an undertaking which +could only be accomplished by defying our laws, throwing suspicion over +our attitude of neutrality, and disregarding our territorial rights is +conclusively proved by the evidence elicited on the trial of such of +their agents as have been apprehended and convicted. Some of the +officers thus implicated are of high official position, and many of them +beyond our jurisdiction, so that legal proceedings could not reach the +source of the mischief. + +These considerations, and the fact that the cause of complaint was not a +mere casual occurrence, but a deliberate design, entered upon with full +knowledge of our laws and national policy and conducted by responsible +public functionaries, impelled me to present the case to the British +Government, in order to secure not only a cessation of the wrong, but +its reparation. The subject is still under discussion, the result of +which will be communicated to you in due time. + +I repeat the recommendation submitted to the last Congress, that +provision be made for the appointment of a commissioner, in connection +with Great Britain, to survey and establish the boundary line which +divides the Territory of Washington from the contiguous British +possessions. By reason of the extent and importance of the country +in dispute, there has been imminent danger of collision between the +subjects of Great Britain and the citizens of the United States, +including their respective authorities, in that quarter. The prospect of +a speedy arrangement has contributed hitherto to induce on both sides +forbearance to assert by force what each claims as a right. Continuance +of delay on the part of the two Governments to act in the matter will +increase the dangers and difficulties of the controversy. + +Misunderstanding exists as to the extent, character, and value of the +possessory rights of the Hudsons Bay Company and the property of the +Pugets Sound Agricultural Company reserved in our treaty with Great +Britain relative to the Territory of Oregon. I have reason to believe +that a cession of the rights of both companies to the United States, +which would be the readiest means of terminating all questions, can be +obtained on reasonable terms, and with a view to this end I present the +subject to the attention of Congress. + +The colony of Newfoundland, having enacted the laws required by the +treaty of the 5th of June, 1854, is now placed on the same footing in +respect to commercial intercourse with the United States as the other +British North American Provinces. + +The commission which that treaty contemplated, for determining the +rights of fishery in rivers and mouths of rivers on the coasts of +the United States and the British North American Provinces, has been +organized, and has commenced its labors, to complete which there are +needed further appropriations for the service of another season. + +In pursuance of the authority conferred by a resolution of the Senate of +the United States passed on the 3d of March last, notice was given to +Denmark on the 14th day of April of the intention of this Government +to avail itself of the stipulation of the subsisting convention of +friendship, commerce, and navigation between that Kingdom and the United +States whereby either party might after ten years terminate the same at +the expiration of one year from the date of notice for that purpose. + +The considerations which led me to call the attention of Congress to +that convention and induced the Senate to adopt the resolution referred +to still continue in full force. The convention contains an article +which, although it does not directly engage the United States to submit +to the imposition of tolls on the vessels and cargoes of Americans +passing into or from the Baltic Sea during the continuance of the +treaty, yet may by possibility be construed as implying such submission. +The exaction of those tolls not being justified by any principle of +international law, it became the right and duty of the United States to +relieve themselves from the implication of engagement on the subject, +so as to be perfectly free to act in the premises in such way as their +public interests and honor shall demand. + +I remain of the opinion that the United States ought not to submit to +the payment of the Sound dues, not so much because of their amount, +which is a secondary matter, but because it is in effect the recognition +of the right of Denmark to treat one of the great maritime highways of +nations as a close sea, and prevent the navigation of it as a privilege, +for which tribute may be imposed upon those who have occasion to use it. + +This Government on a former occasion, not unlike the present, signalized +its determination to maintain the freedom of the seas and of the great +natural channels of navigation. The Barbary States had for a long time +coerced the payment of tribute from all nations whose ships frequented +the Mediterranean. To the last demand of such payment made by them the +United States, although suffering less by their depredations than many +other nations, returned the explicit answer that we preferred war to +tribute, and thus opened the way to the relief of the commerce of the +world from an ignominious tax, so long submitted to by the more powerful +nations of Europe. + +If the manner of payment of the Sound dues differ from that of the +tribute formerly conceded to the Barbary States, still their exaction +by Denmark has no better foundation in right. Each was in its origin +nothing but a tax on a common natural right, extorted by those who were +at that time able to obstruct the free and secure enjoyment of it, but +who no longer possess that power. + +Denmark, while resisting our assertion of the freedom of the Baltic +Sound and Belts, has indicated a readiness to make some new arrangement +on the subject, and has invited the governments interested, including +the United States, to be represented in a convention to assemble for the +purpose of receiving and considering a proposition which she intends to +submit for the capitalization of the Sound dues and the distribution of +the sum to be paid as commutation among the governments according to +the respective proportions of their maritime commerce to and from the +Baltic. I have declined, in behalf of the United States, to accept this +invitation, for the most cogent reasons. One is that Denmark does not +offer to submit to the convention the question of her right to levy the +Sound dues. The second is that if the convention were allowed to take +cognizance of that particular question, still it would not be competent +to deal with the great international principle involved, which affects +the right in other cases of navigation and commercial freedom, as well +as that of access to the Baltic. Above all, by the express terms of the +proposition it is contemplated that the consideration of the Sound dues +shall be commingled with and made subordinate to a matter wholly +extraneous--the balance of power among the Governments of Europe. + +While, however, rejecting this proposition and insisting on the right +of free transit into and from the Baltic, I have expressed to Denmark +a willingness on the part of the United States to share liberally with +other powers in compensating her for any advantages which commerce shall +hereafter derive from expenditures made by her for the improvement and +safety of the navigation of the Sound or Belts. + +I lay before you herewith sundry documents on the subject, in which my +views are more fully disclosed. Should no satisfactory arrangement be +soon concluded, I shall again call your attention to the subject, with +recommendation of such measures as may appear to be required in order to +assert and secure the rights of the United States, so far as they are +affected by the pretensions of Denmark. + +I announce with much gratification that since the adjournment of the +last Congress the question then existing between this Government and +that of France respecting the French consul at San Francisco has been +satisfactorily determined, and that the relations of the two Governments +continue to be of the most friendly nature. + +A question, also, which has been pending for several years between +the United States and the Kingdom of Greece, growing out of the +sequestration by public authorities of that country of property +belonging to the present American consul at Athens, and which had been +the subject of very earnest discussion heretofore, has recently been +settled to the satisfaction of the party interested and of both +Governments. + +With Spain peaceful relations are still maintained, and some progress +has been made in securing the redress of wrongs complained of by this +Government. Spain has not only disavowed and disapproved the conduct +of the officers who illegally seized and detained the steamer _Black +Warrior_ at Havana, but has also paid the sum claimed as indemnity for +the loss thereby inflicted on citizens of the United States. + +In consequence of a destructive hurricane which visited Cuba in 1844, +the supreme authority of that island issued a decree permitting the +importation for the period of six months of certain building materials +and provisions free of duty, but revoked it when about half the period +only had elapsed, to the injury of citizens of the United States who had +proceeded to act on the faith of that decree. The Spanish Government +refused indemnification to the parties aggrieved until recently, when it +was assented to, payment being promised to be made so soon as the amount +due can be ascertained. + +Satisfaction claimed for the arrest and search of the steamer _El +Dorado_ has not yet been accorded, but there is reason to believe that +it will be; and that case, with others, continues to be urged on the +attention of the Spanish Government. I do not abandon the hope of +concluding with Spain some general arrangement which, if it do not +wholly prevent the recurrence of difficulties in Cuba, will render them +less frequent, and, whenever they shall occur, facilitate their more +speedy settlement. + +The interposition of this Government has been invoked by many of its +citizens on account of injuries done to their persons and property for +which the Mexican Republic is responsible. The unhappy situation of that +country for some time past has not allowed its Government to give due +consideration to claims of private reparation, and has appeared to +call for and justify some forbearance in such matters on the part +of this Government. But if the revolutionary movements which have +lately occurred in that Republic end in the organization of a stable +government, urgent appeals to its justice will then be made, and, it +may be hoped, with success, for the redress of all complaints of our +citizens. + +In regard to the American Republics, which from their proximity and +other considerations have peculiar relations to this Government, while +it has been my constant aim strictly to observe all the obligations of +political friendship and of good neighborhood, obstacles to this have +arisen in some of them from their own insufficient power to check +lawless irruptions, which in effect throws most of the task on the +United States. Thus it is that the distracted internal condition of the +State of Nicaragua has made it incumbent on me to appeal to the good +faith of our citizens to abstain from unlawful intervention in its +affairs and to adopt preventive measures to the same end, which on a +similar occasion had the best results in reassuring the peace of the +Mexican States of Sonora and Lower California. + +Since the last session of Congress a treaty of amity, commerce, and +navigation and for the surrender of fugitive criminals with the Kingdom +of the Two Sicilies; a treaty of friendship, commerce, and navigation +with Nicaragua, and a convention of commercial reciprocity with the +Hawaiian Kingdom have been negotiated. The latter Kingdom and the +State of Nicaragua have also acceded to a declaration recognizing as +international rights the principles contained in the convention between +the United States and Russia of July 22, 1854. These treaties and +conventions will be laid before the Senate for ratification. + +The statements made in my last annual message respecting the anticipated +receipts and expenditures of the Treasury have been substantially +verified. + +It appears from the report of the Secretary of the Treasury that the +receipts during the last fiscal year, ending June 30, 1855, from all +sources were $65,003,930, and that the public expenditures for the same +period, exclusive of payments on account of the public debt, amounted to +$56,365,393. During the same period the payments made in redemption of +the public debt, including interest and premium, amounted to $9,844,528. + +The balance in the Treasury at the beginning of the present fiscal year, +July 1, 1855, was $18,931,976; the receipts for the first quarter and +the estimated receipts for the remaining three quarters amount together +to $67,918,734; thus affording in all, as the available resources of the +current fiscal year, the sum of $86,856,710. + +If to the actual expenditures of the first quarter of the current +fiscal year be added the probable expenditures for the remaining three +quarters, as estimated by the Secretary of the Treasury, the sum total +will be $71,226,846, thereby leaving an estimated balance in the +Treasury on July 1, 1856, of $15,623,863.41. + +In the above-estimated expenditures of the present fiscal year are +included $3,000,000 to meet the last installment of the ten millions +provided for in the late treaty with Mexico and $7,750,000 appropriated +on account of the debt due to Texas, which two sums make an aggregate +amount of $10,750,000 and reduce the expenditures, actual or estimated, +for ordinary objects of the year to the sum of $60,476,000. + +The amount of the public debt at the commencement of the present fiscal +year was $40,583,631, and, deduction being made of subsequent payments, +the whole public debt of the Federal Government remaining at this time +is less than $40,000,000. The remnant of certain other Government +stocks, amounting to $243,000, referred to in my last message as +outstanding, has since been paid. + +I am fully persuaded that it would be difficult to devise a system +superior to that by which the fiscal business of the Government is +now conducted. Notwithstanding the great number of public agents of +collection and disbursement, it is believed that the checks and guards +provided, including the requirement of monthly returns, render it +scarcely possible for any considerable fraud on the part of those agents +or neglect involving hazard of serious public loss to escape detection. +I renew, however, the recommendation heretofore made by me of the +enactment of a law declaring it felony on the part of public officers +to insert false entries in their books of record or account or to make +false returns, and also requiring them on the termination of their +service to deliver to their successors all books, records, and other +objects of a public nature in their custody. + +Derived, as our public revenue is, in chief part from duties on imports, +its magnitude affords gratifying evidence of the prosperity, not only of +our commerce, but of the other great interests upon which that depends. + +The principle that all moneys not required for the current expenses of +the Government should remain for active employment in the hands of the +people and the conspicuous fact that the annual revenue from all sources +exceeds by many millions of dollars the amount needed for a prudent and +economical administration of public affairs can not fail to suggest the +propriety of an early revision and reduction of the tariff of duties on +imports. It is now so generally conceded that the purpose of revenue +alone can justify the imposition of duties on imports that in +readjusting the impost tables and schedules, which unquestionably +require essential modifications, a departure from the principles of the +present tariff is not anticipated. + +The Army during the past year has been actively engaged in defending the +Indian frontier, the state of the service permitting but few and small +garrisons in our permanent fortifications. The additional regiments +authorized at the last session of Congress have been recruited and +organized, and a large portion of the troops have already been sent to +the field. All the duties which devolve on the military establishment +have been satisfactorily performed, and the dangers and privations +incident to the character of the service required of our troops have +furnished additional evidence of their courage, zeal, and capacity to +meet any requisition which their country may make upon them. For the +details of the military operations, the distribution of the troops, and +additional provisions required for the military service, I refer to the +report of the Secretary of War and the accompanying documents. + +Experience gathered from events which have transpired since my last +annual message has but served to confirm the opinion then expressed of +the propriety of making provision by a retired list for disabled +officers and for increased compensation to the officers retained on the +list for active duty. All the reasons which existed when these measures +were recommended on former occasions continue without modification, +except so far as circumstances have given to some of them additional +force. The recommendations heretofore made for a partial reorganization +of the Army are also renewed. The thorough elementary education given +to those officers who commence their service with the grade of cadet +qualifies them to a considerable extent to perform the duties of every +arm of the service; but to give the highest efficiency to artillery +requires the practice and special study of many years, and it is not, +therefore, believed to be advisable to maintain in time of peace a +larger force of that arm than can be usually employed in the duties +appertaining to the service of field and siege artillery. The duties of +the staff in all its various branches belong to the movements of troops, +and the efficiency of an army in the field would materially depend upon +the ability with which those duties are discharged. It is not, as in +the case of the artillery, a specialty, but requires also an intimate +knowledge of the duties of an officer of the line, and it is not doubted +that to complete the education of an officer for either the line or the +general staff it is desirable that he shall have served in both. With +this view, it was recommended on a former occasion that the duties of +the staff should be mainly performed by details from the line, and, with +conviction of the advantages which would result from such a change, +it is again presented for the consideration of Congress. + +The report of the Secretary of the Navy, herewith submitted, exhibits in +full the naval operations of the past year, together with the present +condition of the service, and it makes suggestions of further +legislation, to which your attention is invited. + +The construction of the six steam frigates for which appropriations were +made by the last Congress has proceeded in the most satisfactory manner +and with such expedition as to warrant the belief that they will be +ready for service early in the coming spring. Important as this addition +to our naval force is, it still remains inadequate to the contingent +exigencies of the protection of the extensive seacoast and vast +commercial interests of the United States. In view of this fact and of +the acknowledged wisdom of the policy of a gradual and systematic +increase of the Navy an appropriation is recommended for the +construction of six steam sloops of war. + +In regard to the steps taken in execution of the act of Congress to +promote the efficiency of the Navy, it is unnecessary for me to say more +than to express entire concurrence in the observations on that subject +presented by the Secretary in his report. + +It will be perceived by the report of the Postmaster-General that +the gross expenditure of the Department for the last fiscal year was +$9,968,342 and the gross receipts $7,342,136, making an excess of +expenditure over receipts of $2,626,206; and that the cost of mail +transportation during that year was $674,952 greater than the previous +year. Much of the heavy expenditures to which the Treasury is thus +subjected is to be ascribed to the large quantity of printed matter +conveyed by the mails, either franked or liable to no postage by law or +to very low rates of postage compared with that charged on letters, and +to the great cost of mail service on railroads and by ocean steamers. +The suggestions of the Postmaster-General on the subject deserve the +consideration of Congress. + +The report of the Secretary of the Interior will engage your attention +as well for useful suggestions it contains as for the interest and +importance of the subjects to which they refer. + +The aggregate amount of public land sold during the last fiscal year, +located with military scrip or land warrants, taken up under grants for +roads, and selected as swamp lands by States is 24,557,409 acres, of +which the portion sold was 15,729,524 acres, yielding in receipts the +sum of $11,485,380. In the same period of time 8,723,854 acres have been +surveyed, but, in consideration of the quantity already subject to +entry, no additional tracts have been brought into market. + +The peculiar relation of the General Government to the District of +Columbia renders it proper to commend to your care not only its material +but also its moral interests, including education, more especially in +those parts of the District outside of the cities of Washington and +Georgetown. + +The commissioners appointed to revise and codify the laws of the +District have made such progress in the performance of their task as to +insure its completion in the time prescribed by the act of Congress. + +Information has recently been received that the peace of the settlements +in the Territories of Oregon and Washington is disturbed by hostilities +on the part of the Indians, with indications of extensive combinations +of a hostile character among the tribes in that quarter, the more +serious in their possible effect by reason of the undetermined foreign +interests existing in those Territories, to which your attention has +already been especially invited. Efficient measures have been taken, +which, it is believed, will restore quiet and afford protection to our +citizens. + +In the Territory of Kansas there have been acts prejudicial to good +order, but as yet none have occurred under circumstances to justify the +interposition of the Federal Executive. That could only be in case of +obstruction to Federal law or of organized resistance to Territorial +law, assuming the character of insurrection, which, if it should occur, +it would be my duty promptly to overcome and suppress. I cherish the +hope, however, that the occurrence of any such untoward event will be +prevented by the sound sense of the people of the Territory, who by its +organic law, possessing the right to determine their own domestic +institutions, are entitled while deporting themselves peacefully to the +free exercise of that right, and must be protected in the enjoyment of +it without interference on the part of the citizens of any of the +States. + +The southern boundary line of this Territory has never been surveyed and +established. The rapidly extending settlements in that region and the +fact that the main route between Independence, in the State of Missouri, +and New Mexico is contiguous in this line suggest the probability that +embarrassing questions of jurisdiction may consequently arise. For these +and other considerations I commend the subject to your early attention. + +I have thus passed in review the general state of the Union, including +such particular concerns of the Federal Government, whether of domestic +or foreign relation, as it appeared to me desirable and useful to bring +to the special notice of Congress. Unlike the great States of Europe and +Asia and many of those of America, these United States are wasting +their strength neither in foreign war nor domestic strife. Whatever +of discontent or public dissatisfaction exists is attributable to the +imperfections of human nature or is incident to all governments, however +perfect, which human wisdom can devise. Such subjects of political +agitation as occupy the public mind consist to a great extent of +exaggeration of inevitable evils, or overzeal in social improvement, or +mere imagination of grievance, having but remote connection with any +of the constitutional functions or duties of the Federal Government. +To whatever extent these questions exhibit a tendency menacing to the +stability of the Constitution or the integrity of the Union, and no +further, they demand the consideration of the Executive and require +to be presented by him to Congress. + +Before the thirteen colonies became a confederation of independent +States they were associated only by community of transatlantic origin, +by geographical position, and by the mutual tie of common dependence on +Great Britain. When that tie was sundered they severally assumed the +powers and rights of absolute self-government. The municipal and social +institutions of each, its laws of property and of personal relation, +even its political organization, were such only as each one chose to +establish, wholly without interference from any other. In the language +of the Declaration of Independence, each State had "full power to levy +war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and to do +all other acts and things which independent states may of right do." The +several colonies differed in climate, in soil, in natural productions, +in religion, in systems of education, in legislation, and in the forms +of political administration, and they continued to differ in these +respects when they voluntarily allied themselves as States to carry +on the War of the Revolution. + +The object of that war was to disenthrall the united colonies from +foreign rule, which had proved to be oppressive, and to separate them +permanently from the mother country. The political result was the +foundation of a Federal Republic of the free white men of the colonies, +constituted, as they were, in distinct and reciprocally independent +State governments. As for the subject races, whether Indian or +African, the wise and brave statesmen of that day, being engaged in +no extravagant scheme of social change, left them as they were, and +thus preserved themselves and their posterity from the anarchy and the +ever-recurring civil wars which have prevailed in other revolutionized +European colonies of America. + +When the confederated States found it convenient to modify the +conditions of their association by giving to the General Government +direct access in some respects to the people of the States, instead of +confining it to action on the States as such, they proceeded to frame +the existing Constitution, adhering steadily to one guiding thought, +which was to delegate only such power as was necessary and proper to the +execution of specific purposes, or, in other words, to retain as much as +possible consistently with those purposes of the independent powers of +the individual States. For objects of common defense and security, they +intrusted to the General Government certain carefully defined functions, +leaving all others as the undelegated rights of the separate independent +sovereignties. + +Such is the constitutional theory of our Government, the practical +observance of which has carried us, and us alone among modern republics, +through nearly three generations of time without the cost of one drop +of blood shed in civil war. With freedom and concert of action, it has +enabled us to contend successfully on the battlefield against foreign +foes, has elevated the feeble colonies into powerful States, and has +raised our industrial productions and our commerce which transports them +to the level of the richest and the greatest nations of Europe. And the +admirable adaptation of our political institutions to their objects, +combining local self-government with aggregate strength, has established +the practicability of a government like ours to cover a continent with +confederate states. + +The Congress of the United States is in effect that congress of +sovereignties which good men in the Old World have sought for, but +could never attain, and which imparts to America an exemption from the +mutable leagues for common action, from the wars, the mutual invasions, +and vague aspirations after the balance of power which convulse from +time to time the Governments of Europe. Our cooperative action rests +in the conditions of permanent confederation prescribed by the +Constitution. Our balance of power is in the separate reserved rights +of the States and their equal representation in the Senate. That +independent sovereignty in every one of the States, with its reserved +rights of local self-government assured to each by their coequal power +in the Senate, was the fundamental condition of the Constitution. +Without it the Union would never have existed. However desirous the +larger States might be to reorganize the Government so as to give +to their population its proportionate weight in the common counsels, +they knew it was impossible unless they conceded to the smaller ones +authority to exercise at least a negative influence on all the measures +of the Government, whether legislative or executive, through their equal +representation in the Senate. Indeed, the larger States themselves could +not have failed to perceive that the same power was equally necessary +to them for the security of their own domestic interests against the +aggregate force of the General Government. In a word, the original +States went into this permanent league on the agreed premises of +exerting their common strength for the defense of the whole and of +all its parts, but of utterly excluding all capability of reciprocal +aggression. Each solemnly bound itself to all the others neither to +undertake nor permit any encroachment upon or intermeddling with +another's reserved rights. + +Where it was deemed expedient particular rights of the States were +expressly guaranteed by the Constitution, but in all things besides +these rights were guarded by the limitation of the powers granted and by +express reservation of all powers not granted in the compact of union. +Thus the great power of taxation was limited to purposes of common +defense and general welfare, excluding objects appertaining to the local +legislation of the several States; and those purposes of general welfare +and common defense were afterwards defined by specific enumeration as +being matters only of co-relation between the States themselves or +between them and foreign governments, which, because of their common and +general nature, could not be left to the separate control of each State. + +Of the circumstances of local condition, interest, and rights in which +a portion of the States, constituting one great section of the Union, +differed from the rest and from another section, the most important was +the peculiarity of a larger relative colored population in the Southern +than in the Northern States. + +A population of this class, held in subjection, existed in nearly all +the States, but was more numerous and of more serious concernment in the +South than in the North on account of natural differences of climate and +production; and it was foreseen that, for the same reasons, while this +population would diminish and sooner or later cease to exist in some +States, it might increase in others. The peculiar character and +magnitude of this question of local rights, not in material relations +only, but still more in social ones, caused it to enter into the special +stipulations of the Constitution. + +Hence, while the General Government, as well by the enumerated powers +granted to it as by those not enumerated, and therefore refused to it, +was forbidden to touch this matter in the sense of attack or offense, +it was placed under the general safeguard of the Union in the sense of +defense against either invasion or domestic violence, like all other +local interests of the several States. Each State expressly stipulated, +as well for itself as for each and all of its citizens, and every +citizen of each State became solemnly bound by his allegiance to the +Constitution that any person held to service or labor in one State, +escaping into another, should not, in consequence of any law or +regulation thereof, be discharged from such service or labor, but should +be delivered up on claim of the party to whom such service or labor +might be due by the laws of his State. + +Thus and thus only, by the reciprocal guaranty of all the rights of +every State against interference on the part of another, was the present +form of government established by our fathers and transmitted to us, and +by no other means is it possible for it to exist. If one State ceases +to respect the rights of another and obtrusively intermeddles with its +local interests; if a portion of the States assume to impose their +institutions on the others or refuse to fulfill their obligations to +them, we are no longer united, friendly States, but distracted, hostile +ones, with little capacity left of common advantage, but abundant means +of reciprocal injury and mischief. Practically it is immaterial whether +aggressive interference between the States or deliberate refusal on the +part of any one of them to comply with constitutional obligations arise +from erroneous conviction or blind prejudice, whether it be perpetrated +by direction or indirection. In either case it is full of threat and of +danger to the durability of the Union. + +Placed in the office of Chief Magistrate as the executive agent of the +whole country, bound to take care that the laws be faithfully executed, +and specially enjoined by the Constitution to give information to +Congress on the state of the Union, it would be palpable neglect of duty +on my part to pass over a subject like this, which beyond all things at +the present time vitally concerns individual and public security. + +It has been matter of painful regret to see States conspicuous for their +services in founding this Republic and equally sharing its advantages +disregard their constitutional obligations to it. Although conscious +of their inability to heal admitted and palpable social evils of their +own, and which are completely within their jurisdiction, they engage +in the offensive and hopeless undertaking of reforming the domestic +institutions of other States, wholly beyond their control and authority. +In the vain pursuit of ends by them entirely unattainable, and which +they may not legally attempt to compass, they peril the very existence +of the Constitution and all the countless benefits which it has +conferred. While the people of the Southern States confine their +attention to their own affairs, not presuming officiously to intermeddle +with the social institutions of the Northern States, too many of the +inhabitants of the latter are permanently organized in associations to +inflict injury on the former by wrongful acts, which would be cause of +war as between foreign powers and only fail to be such in our system +because perpetrated under cover of the Union. + +Is it possible to present this subject as truth and the occasion require +without noticing the reiterated but groundless allegation that the +South has persistently asserted claims and obtained advantages in the +practical administration of the General Government to the prejudice of +the North, and in which the latter has acquiesced? That is, the States +which either promote or tolerate attacks on the rights of persons and of +property in other States, to disguise their own injustice, pretend or +imagine, and constantly aver, that they, whose constitutional rights are +thus systematically assailed, are themselves the aggressors. At the +present time this imputed aggression, resting, as it does, only in the +vague declamatory charges of political agitators, resolves itself into +misapprehension, or misinterpretation, of the principles and facts of +the political organization of the new Territories of the United States. + +What is the voice of history? When the ordinance which provided for the +government of the territory northwest of the river Ohio and for its +eventual subdivision into new States was adopted in the Congress of the +Confederation, it is not to be supposed that the question of future +relative power as between the States which retained and those which did +not retain a numerous colored population escaped notice or failed to +be considered. And yet the concession of that vast territory to the +interests and opinions of the Northern States, a territory now the seat +of five among the largest members of the Union, was in great measure the +act of the State of Virginia and of the South. + +When Louisiana was acquired by the United States, it was an acquisition +not less to the North than to the South; for while it was important to +the country at the mouth of the river Mississippi to become the emporium +of the country above it, so also it was even more important to the whole +Union to have that emporium; and although the new province, by reason of +its imperfect settlement, was mainly regarded as on the Gulf of Mexico, +yet in fact it extended to the opposite boundaries of the United States, +with far greater breadth above than below, and was in territory, as in +everything else, equally at least an accession to the Northern States. +It is mere delusion and prejudice, therefore, to speak of Louisiana as +acquisition in the special interest of the South. + +The patriotic and just men who participated in that act were influenced +by motives far above all sectional jealousies. It was in truth the great +event which, by completing for us the possession of the Valley of the +Mississippi, with commercial access to the Gulf of Mexico, imparted +unity and strength to the whole Confederation and attached together by +indissoluble ties the East and the West, as well as the North and the +South. + +As to Florida, that was but the transfer by Spain to the United States +of territory on the east side of the river Mississippi in exchange for +large territory which the United States transferred to Spain on the west +side of that river, as the entire diplomatic history of the transaction +serves to demonstrate. Moreover, it was an acquisition demanded by the +commercial interests and the security of the whole Union. + +In the meantime the people of the United States had grown up to a proper +consciousness of their strength, and in a brief contest with France and +in a second serious war with Great Britain they had shaken off all which +remained of undue reverence for Europe, and emerged from the atmosphere +of those transatlantic influences which surrounded the infant Republic, +and had begun to turn their attention to the full and systematic +development of the internal resources of the Union. + +Among the evanescent controversies of that period the most conspicuous +was the question of regulation by Congress of the social condition of +the future States to be founded in the territory of Louisiana. + +The ordinance for the government of the territory northwest of the river +Ohio had contained a provision which prohibited the use of servile labor +therein, subject to the condition of the extraditions of fugitives from +service due in any other part of the United States. Subsequently to the +adoption of the Constitution this provision ceased to remain as a law, +for its operation as such was absolutely superseded by the Constitution. +But the recollection of the fact excited the zeal of social propagandism +in some sections of the Confederation, and when a second State, that of +Missouri, came to be formed in the territory of Louisiana proposition +was made to extend to the latter territory the restriction originally +applied to the country situated between the rivers Ohio and Mississippi. + +Most questionable as was this proposition in all its constitutional +relations, nevertheless it received the sanction of Congress, with +some slight modifications of line, to save the existing rights of the +intended new State. It was reluctantly acquiesced in by Southern States +as a sacrifice to the cause of peace and of the Union, not only of the +rights stipulated by the treaty of Louisiana, but of the principle +of equality among the States guaranteed by the Constitution. It was +received by the Northern States with angry and resentful condemnation +and complaint, because it did not concede all which they had exactingly +demanded. Having passed through the forms of legislation, it took its +place in the statute book, standing open to repeal, like any other act +of doubtful constitutionality, subject to be pronounced null and void by +the courts of law, and possessing no possible efficacy to control the +rights of the States which might thereafter be organized out of any part +of the original territory of Louisiana. + +In all this, if any aggression there were, any innovation upon +preexisting rights, to which portion of the Union are they justly +chargeable? + +This controversy passed away with the occasion, nothing surviving it +save the dormant letter of the statute. + +But long afterwards, when by the proposed accession of the Republic of +Texas the United States were to take their next step in territorial +greatness, a similar contingency occurred and became the occasion for +systematized attempts to intervene in the domestic affairs of one +section of the Union, in defiance of their rights as States and of the +stipulations of the Constitution. These attempts assumed a practical +direction in the shape of persevering endeavors by some of the +Representatives in both Houses of Congress to deprive the Southern +States of the supposed benefit of the provisions of the act authorizing +the organization of the State of Missouri. + +But the good sense of the people and the vital force of the Constitution +triumphed over sectional prejudice and the political errors of the day, +and the State of Texas returned to the Union as she was, with social +institutions which her people had chosen for themselves and with express +agreement by the reannexing act that she should be susceptible of +subdivision into a plurality of States. + +Whatever advantage the interests of the Southern States, as such, gained +by this were far inferior in results, as they unfolded in the progress +of time, to those which sprang from previous concessions made by the +South. + +To every thoughtful friend of the Union, to the true lovers of their +country, to all who longed and labored for the full success of this +great experiment of republican institutions, it was cause of gratulation +that such an opportunity had occurred to illustrate our advancing power +on this continent and to furnish to the world additional assurance of +the strength and stability of the Constitution. Who would wish to see +Florida still a European colony? Who would rejoice to hail Texas +as a lone star instead of one in the galaxy of States? Who does not +appreciate the incalculable benefits of the acquisition of Louisiana? +And yet narrow views and sectional purposes would inevitably have +excluded them all from the Union. + +But another struggle on the same point ensued when our victorious +armies returned from Mexico and it devolved on Congress to provide for +the territories acquired by the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. The great +relations of the subject had now become distinct and clear to the +perception of the public mind, which appreciated the evils of sectional +controversy upon the question of the admission of new States. In that +crisis intense solicitude pervaded the nation. But the patriotic +impulses of the popular heart, guided by the admonitory advice of the +Father of his Country, rose superior to all the difficulties of the +incorporation of a new empire into the Union. In the counsels of +Congress there was manifested extreme antagonism of opinion and +action between some Representatives, who sought by the abusive and +unconstitutional employment of the legislative powers of the Government +to interfere in the condition of the inchoate States and to impose their +own social theories upon the latter, and other Representatives, who +repelled the interposition of the General Government in this respect and +maintained the self-constituting rights of the States. In truth, the +thing attempted was in form alone action of the General Government, +while in reality it was the endeavor, by abuse of legislative power, +to force the ideas of internal policy entertained in particular States +upon allied independent States. Once more the Constitution and the +Union triumphed signally. The new territories were organized without +restrictions on the disputed point, and were thus left to judge in that +particular for themselves; and the sense of constitutional faith proved +vigorous enough in Congress not only to accomplish this primary object, +but also the incidental and hardly less important one of so amending the +provisions of the statute for the extradition of fugitives, from service +as to place that public duty under the safeguard of the General +Government, and thus relieve it from obstacles raised up by the +legislation of some of the States. + +Vain declamation regarding the provisions of law for the extradition of +fugitives from service, with occasional episodes of frantic effort to +obstruct their execution by riot and murder, continued for a brief time +to agitate certain localities. But the true principle of leaving each +State and Territory to regulate its own laws of labor according to its +own sense of right and expediency had acquired fast hold of the public +judgment, to such a degree that by common consent it was observed in the +organization of the Territory of Washington. + +When, more recently, it became requisite to organize the Territories +of Nebraska and Kansas, it was the natural and legitimate, if not the +inevitable, consequence of previous events and legislation that the same +great and sound principle which had already been applied to Utah and New +Mexico should be applied to them--that they should stand exempt from the +restrictions proposed in the act relative to the State of Missouri. + +These restrictions were, in the estimation of many thoughtful men, null +from the beginning, unauthorized by the Constitution, contrary to the +treaty stipulations for the cession of Louisiana, and inconsistent with +the equality of these States. + +They had been stripped of all moral authority by persistent efforts to +procure their indirect repeal through contradictory enactments. They had +been practically abrogated by the legislation attending the organization +of Utah, New Mexico, and Washington. If any vitality remained in them it +would have been taken away, in effect, by the new Territorial acts in +the form originally proposed to the Senate at the first session of the +last Congress. It was manly and ingenuous, as well as patriotic and +just, to do this directly and plainly, and thus relieve the statute book +of an act which might be of possible future injury, but of no possible +future benefit; and the measure of its repeal was the final consummation +and complete recognition of the principle that no portion of the United +States shall undertake through assumption of the powers of the General +Government to dictate the social institutions of any other portion. + +The scope and effect of the language of repeal were not left in doubt. +It was declared in terms to be "the true intent and meaning of this act +not to legislate slavery into any Territory or State, nor to exclude it +therefrom, but to leave the people thereof perfectly free to form and +regulate their domestic institutions in their own way, subject only to +the Constitution of the United States." + +The measure could not be withstood upon its merits alone. It was +attacked with violence on the false or delusive pretext that it +constituted a breach of faith. Never was objection more utterly +destitute of substantial justification. When before was it imagined by +sensible men that a regulative or declarative statute, whether enacted +ten or forty years ago, is irrepealable; that an act of Congress is +above the Constitution? If, indeed, there were in the facts any cause to +impute bad faith, it would attach to those only who have never ceased, +from the time of the enactment of the restrictive provision to the +present day, to denounce and condemn it; who have constantly refused +to complete it by needful supplementary legislation; who have spared no +exertion to deprive it of moral force; who have themselves again and +again attempted its repeal by the enactment of incompatible provisions, +and who, by the inevitable reactionary effect of their own violence +on the subject, awakened the country to perception of the true +constitutional principle of leaving the matter involved to the +discretion of the people of the respective existing or incipient States. + +It is not pretended that this principle or any other precludes the +possibility of evils in practice, disturbed, as political action is +liable to be, by human passions. No form of government is exempt from +inconveniences; but in this case they are the result of the abuse, and +not of the legitimate exercise, of the powers reserved or conferred in +the organization of a Territory. They are not to be charged to the great +principle of popular sovereignty. On the contrary, they disappear before +the intelligence and patriotism of the people, exerting through the +ballot box their peaceful and silent but irresistible power. + +If the friends of the Constitution are to have another struggle, its +enemies could not present a more acceptable issue than that of a State +whose constitution clearly embraces "a republican form of government" +being excluded from the Union because its domestic institutions may not +in all respects comport with the ideas of what is wise and expedient +entertained in some other State. Fresh from groundless imputations of +breach of faith against others, men will commence the agitation of this +new question with indubitable violation of an express compact between +the independent sovereign powers of the United States and of the +Republic of Texas, as well as of the older and equally solemn compacts +which assure the equality of all the States. + +But deplorable as would be such a violation of compact in itself and +in all its direct consequences, that is the very least of the evils +involved. When sectional agitators shall have succeeded in forcing on +this issue, can their pretensions fail to be met by counter pretensions? +Will not different States be compelled, respectively, to meet extremes +with extremes? And if either extreme carry its point, what is that so +far forth but dissolution of the Union? If a new State, formed from the +territory of the United States, be absolutely excluded from admission +therein, that fact of itself constitutes the disruption of union between +it and the other States. But the process of dissolution could not +stop there. Would not a sectional decision producing such result by a +majority of votes, either Northern or Southern, of necessity drive out +the oppressed and aggrieved minority and place in presence of each other +two irreconcilably hostile confederations? + +It is necessary to speak thus plainly of projects the offspring of that +sectional agitation now prevailing in some of the States, which are as +impracticable as they are unconstitutional, and which if persevered in +must and will end calamitously. It is either disunion and civil war +or it is mere angry, idle, aimless disturbance of public peace and +tranquillity. Disunion for what? If the passionate rage of fanaticism +and partisan spirit did not force the fact upon our attention, it would +be difficult to believe that any considerable portion of the people of +this enlightened country could have so surrendered themselves to a +fanatical devotion to the supposed interests of the relatively few +Africans in the United States as totally to abandon and disregard +the interests of the 25,000,000 Americans; to trample under foot the +injunctions of moral and constitutional obligation, and to engage in +plans of vindictive hostility against those who are associated with them +in the enjoyment of the common, heritage of our national institutions. + +Nor is it hostility against their fellow-citizens of one section of the +Union alone. The interests, the honor, the duty, the peace, and the +prosperity of the people of all sections are equally involved and +imperiled in this question. And are patriotic men in any part of the +Union prepared on such issue thus madly to invite all the consequences +of the forfeiture of their constitutional engagements? It is impossible. +The storm of frenzy and faction must inevitably dash itself in vain +against the unshaken rock of the Constitution. I shall never doubt it. +I know that the Union is stronger a thousand times than all the wild +and chimerical schemes of social change which are generated one after +another in the unstable minds of visionary sophists and interested +agitators. I rely confidently on the patriotism of the people, on the +dignity and self-respect of the States, on the wisdom of Congress, and, +above all, on the continued gracious favor of Almighty God to maintain +against all enemies, whether at home or abroad, the sanctity of the +Constitution and the integrity of the Union. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + + +SPECIAL MESSAGES. + + +WASHINGTON, _December 26, 1855_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +In compliance with a resolution of the Senate of the 17th instant, +I send herewith the "memorial of citizens of New Orleans, complaining +of the irregularity of the mail service between Washington and New +Orleans." I deem it proper also to transmit with the memorial my note +of the 18th instant to the memorialists and a copy of the letter of the +Postmaster-General therein referred to. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _December 27, 1855_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit to the Senate, for consideration with a view to ratification, +a treaty between the United States and Nicaragua, signed at Granada on +the 20th day of June, A.D. 1855. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _December 27, 1855_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit to the Senate, for consideration with a view to ratification, +a treaty between the United States and the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies +and a declaration as to the construction thereof, both signed at Naples +on the 1st day of October last. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _December 27, 1855_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit to the Senate, for consideration with a view to ratification, +a treaty between the United States and His Majesty the King of the +Hawaiian Islands, signed in Washington the 20th day of July, A.D. 1855. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON CITY, _January 3, 1856_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I herewith lay before the Senate, for its constitutional action thereon, +the following-described Indian treaties, negotiated by George W. +Manypenny and Henry C. Gilbert, as commissioners on the part of the +United States: + +A. Treaty with the Chippewas of Saginaw, Swan Creek, and Black River, +dated 2d August, 1855. + +B. Treaty with the Chippewas of Sault Ste. Marie, dated August 2, 1855. + +C. Treaty with the Ottawas and Chippewas, dated July 31, 1855. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _January 11, 1856_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit to the Senate a report from the Secretary of State, with the +accompanying document,[51] in answer to their resolution of yesterday. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + +[Footnote 51: Letter of Lord John Russell declaring that the British +Government intends to adhere to the treaty of Washington of April 19, +1850, and not to assume any sovereignty in Central America.] + + + +WASHINGTON CITY, _January 21, 1856_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I communicate to the Senate herewith a letter from the Secretary of +the Interior, accompanying six several treaties negotiated by Governor +Meriwether, of New Mexico, with the Indians in that Territory, for its +constitutional action thereon. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _January 23, 1856_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I communicate herewith to the Senate, for its constitutional action +thereon, a treaty between the United States and the Choctaw and +Chickasaw tribes of Indians, made and concluded in this city on the +22d day of June, 1855. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _January 24, 1856_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +Circumstances have occurred to disturb the course of governmental +organization in the Territory of Kansas and produce there a condition of +things which renders it incumbent on me to call your attention to the +subject and urgently to recommend the adoption by you of such measures +of legislation as the grave exigencies of the case appear to require. + +A brief exposition of the circumstances referred to and of their causes +will be necessary to the full understanding of the recommendations which +it is proposed to submit. + +The act to organize the Territories of Nebraska and Kansas was a +manifestation of the legislative opinion of Congress on two great +points of constitutional construction: One, that the designation of +the boundaries of a new Territory and provision for its political +organization and administration as a Territory are measures which of +right fall within the powers of the General Government; and the other, +that the inhabitants of any such Territory, considered as an inchoate +State, are entitled, in the exercise of self-government, to determine +for themselves what shall be their own domestic institutions, subject +only to the Constitution and the laws duly enacted by Congress under +it and to the power of the existing States to decide, according to +the provisions and principles of the Constitution, at what time the +Territory shall be received as a State into the Union. Such are the +great political rights which are solemnly declared and affirmed by +that act. + +Based upon this theory, the act of Congress defined for each Territory +the outlines of republican government, distributing public authority +among lawfully created agents--executive, judicial, and legislative--to +be appointed either by the General Government or by the Territory. +The legislative functions were intrusted to a council and a house of +representatives, duly elected, and empowered to enact all the local laws +which they might deem essential to their prosperity, happiness, and good +government. Acting in the same spirit, Congress also defined the persons +who were in the first instance to be considered as the people of each +Territory, enacting that every free white male inhabitant of the same +above the age of 21 years, being an actual resident thereof and +possessing the qualifications hereafter described, should be entitled +to vote at the first election and be eligible to any office within the +Territory, but that the qualification of voters and holding office at +all subsequent elections should be such as might be prescribed by the +legislative assembly; provided, however, that the right of suffrage and +of holding office should be exercised only by citizens of the United +States and those who should have declared on oath their intention to +become such and have taken an oath to support the Constitution of the +United States and the provisions of the act; and provided further, that +no officer, soldier, seaman, or marine or other person in the Army or +Navy of the United States or attached to troops in their service should +be allowed to vote or hold office in either Territory by reason of being +on service therein. + +Such of the public officers of the Territories as by the provisions +of the act were to be appointed by the General Government, including +the governors, were appointed and commissioned in due season, the law +having been enacted on the 30th of May, 1854, and the commission of +the governor of the Territory of Nebraska being dated on the 2d day of +August, 1854, and of the Territory of Kansas on the 29th day of June, +1854. Among the duties imposed by the act on the governors was that of +directing and superintending the political organization of the +respective Territories. + +The governor of Kansas was required to cause a census or enumeration +of the inhabitants and qualified voters of the several counties and +districts of the Territory to be taken by such persons and in such mode +as he might designate and appoint; to appoint and direct the time and +places of holding the first elections, and the manner of conducting +them, both as to the persons to superintend such elections and the +returns thereof; to declare the number of the members of the council +and the house of representatives for each county or district; to +declare what persons might appear to be duly elected, and to appoint +the time and place of the first meeting of the legislative assembly. +In substance, the same duties were devolved on the governor of Nebraska. + +While by this act the principle of constitution for each of the +Territories was one and the same and the details of organic legislation +regarding both were as nearly as could be identical, and while the +Territory of Nebraska was tranquilly and successfully organized in the +due course of law, and its first legislative assembly met on the 16th +of January, 1855, the organization of Kansas was long delayed, and has +been attended with serious difficulties and embarrassments, partly the +consequence of local maladministration and partly of the unjustifiable +interference of the inhabitants of some of the States, foreign by +residence, interests, and rights to the Territory. + +The governor of the Territory of Kansas, commissioned as before stated, +on the 29th of June, 1854, did not reach the designated seat of his +government until the 7th of the ensuing October, and even then failed +to make the first step in its legal organization, that of ordering the +census or enumeration of its inhabitants, until so late a day that the +election of the members of the legislative assembly did not take place +until the 30th of March, 1855, nor its meeting until the 2d of July, +1855. So that for a year after the Territory was constituted by the act +of Congress and the officers to be appointed by the Federal Executive +had been commissioned it was without a complete government, without any +legislative authority, without local law, and, of course, without the +ordinary guaranties of peace and public order. + +In other respects the governor, instead of exercising constant vigilance +and putting forth all his energies to prevent or counteract the +tendencies to illegality which are prone to exist in all imperfectly +organized and newly associated communities, allowed his attention to be +diverted from official obligations by other objects, and himself set +an example of the violation of law in the performance of acts which +rendered it my duty in the sequel to remove him from the office of chief +executive magistrate of the Territory. + +Before the requisite preparation was accomplished for election of a +Territorial legislature, an election of Delegate to Congress had been +held in the Territory on the 29th day of November, 1854, and the +Delegate took his seat in the House of Representatives without +challenge. If arrangements had been perfected by the governor so that +the election for members of the legislative assembly might be held in +the several precincts at the same time as for Delegate to Congress, any +question appertaining to the qualification of the persons voting as +people of the Territory would have passed necessarily and at once under +the supervision of Congress, as the judge of the validity of the return +of the Delegate, and would have been determined before conflicting +passions had become inflamed by time, and before opportunity could have +been afforded for systematic interference of the people of individual +States. + +This interference, in so far as concerns its primary causes and its +immediate commencement, was one of the incidents of that pernicious +agitation on the subject of the condition of the colored persons held +to service in some of the States which has so long disturbed the repose +of our country and excited individuals, otherwise patriotic and law +abiding, to toil with misdirected zeal in the attempt to propagate their +social theories by the perversion and abuse of the powers of Congress. + +The persons and the parties whom the tenor of the act to organize the +Territories of Nebraska and Kansas thwarted in the endeavor to impose, +through the agency of Congress, their particular views of social +organization on the people of the future new States now perceiving +that the policy of leaving the inhabitants of each State to judge for +themselves in this respect was ineradicably rooted in the convictions +of the people of the Union, then had recourse, in the pursuit of +their general object, to the extraordinary measure of propagandist +colonization of the Territory of Kansas to prevent the free and natural +action of its inhabitants in its internal organization, and thus to +anticipate or to force the determination of that question in this +inchoate State. + +With such views associations were organized in some of the States, and +their purposes were proclaimed through the press in language extremely +irritating and offensive to those of whom the colonists were to become +the neighbors. Those designs and acts had the necessary consequence to +awaken emotions of intense indignation in States near to the Territory +of Kansas, and especially in the adjoining State of Missouri, whose +domestic peace was thus the most directly endangered; but they are far +from justifying the illegal and reprehensible countermovements which +ensued. + +Under these inauspicious circumstances the primary elections for members +of the legislative assembly were held in most, if not all, of the +precincts at the time and the places and by the persons designated and +appointed by the governor according to law. + +Angry accusations that illegal votes had been polled abounded on all +sides, and imputations were made both of fraud and violence. But the +governor, in the exercise of the power and the discharge of the duty +conferred and imposed by law on him alone, officially received and +considered the returns, declared a large majority of the members of +the council and the house of representatives "duly elected," withheld +certificates from others because of alleged illegality of votes, +appointed a new election to supply the places of the persons not +certified, and thus at length, in all the forms of statute, and with +his own official authentication, complete legality was given to the +first legislative assembly of the Territory. + +Those decisions of the returning officers and of the governor are final, +except that by the parliamentary usage of the country applied to the +organic law it may be conceded that each house of the assembly must have +been competent to determine in the last resort the qualifications and +the election of its members. The subject was by its nature one +appertaining exclusively to the jurisdiction of the local authorities +of the Territory. Whatever irregularities may have occurred in the +elections, it seems too late now to raise that question. At all events, +it is a question as to which, neither now nor at any previous time, has +the least possible legal authority been possessed by the President of +the United States. For all present purposes the legislative body thus +constituted and elected was the legitimate legislative assembly of the +Territory. + +Accordingly the governor by proclamation convened the assembly thus +elected to meet at a place called Pawnee City; the two houses met and +were duly organized in the ordinary parliamentary form; each sent to and +received from the governor the official communications usual on such +occasions; an elaborate message opening the session was communicated by +the governor, and the general business of legislation was entered upon +by the legislative assembly. + +But after a few days the assembly resolved to adjourn to another place +in the Territory. A law was accordingly passed, against the consent +of the governor, but in due form otherwise, to remove the seat of +government temporarily to the "Shawnee Manual Labor School" (or +mission), and thither the assembly proceeded. After this, receiving +a bill for the establishment of a ferry at the town of Kickapoo, the +governor refused to sign it, and by special message assigned for reason +of refusal not anything objectionable in the bill itself nor any +pretense of the illegality or incompetency of the assembly as such, but +only the fact that the assembly had by its act transferred the seat of +government temporarily from Pawnee City to the Shawnee Mission. For +the same reason he continued to refuse to sign other bills until in the +course of a few days he by official message communicated to the assembly +the fact that he had received notification of the termination of his +functions as governor, and that the duties of the office were legally +devolved on the secretary of the Territory; thus to the last recognizing +the body as a duly elected and constituted legislative assembly. + +It will be perceived that if any constitutional defect attached to the +legislative acts of the assembly it is not pretended to consist in +irregularity of election or want of qualification of the members, +but only in the change of its place of session. However trivial this +objection may seem to be, it requires to be considered, because upon it +is founded all that superstructure of acts, plainly against law, which +now threaten the peace, not only of the Territory of Kansas, but of +the Union. + +Such an objection to the proceedings of the legislative assembly was +of exceptionable origin, for the reason that by the express terms of +the organic law the seat of government of the Territory was "located +temporarily at Fort Leavenworth;" and yet the governor himself remained +there less than two months, and of his own discretion transferred the +seat of government to the Shawnee Mission, where it in fact was at the +time the assembly were called to meet at Pawnee City. If the governor +had any such right to change temporarily the seat of government, still +more had the legislative assembly. The objections are of exceptionable +origin for the further reason that the place indicated by the governor, +without having any exclusive claim of preference in itself, was a +proposed town site only, which he and others were attempting to +locate unlawfully upon land within a military reservation, and for +participation in which illegal act the commandant of the post, a +superior officer in the Army, has been dismissed by sentence of +court-martial. Nor is it easy to see why the legislative assembly might +not with propriety pass the Territorial act transferring its sittings to +the Shawnee Mission. If it could not, that must be on account of some +prohibitory or incompatible provision of act of Congress; but no such +provision exists. The organic act, as already quoted, says "the seat +of government is hereby located temporarily at Fort Leavenworth;" and +it then provides that certain of the public buildings there "may be +occupied and used under the direction of the governor and legislative +assembly." These expressions might possibly be construed to imply that +when, in a previous section of the act, it was enacted that "the first +legislative assembly shall meet at such place and on such day as +the governor shall appoint," the word "place" means place at Fort +Leavenworth, not place anywhere in the Territory. If so, the governor +would have been the first to err in this matter, not only in himself +having removed the seat of government to the Shawnee Mission, but in +again removing it to Pawnee City. If there was any departure from the +letter of the law, therefore, it was his in both instances. But however +this may be, it is most unreasonable to suppose that by the terms of +the organic act Congress intended to do impliedly what it has not done +expressly--that is, to forbid to the legislative assembly the power +to choose any place it might see fit as the temporary seat of its +deliberations. That is proved by the significant language of one of +the subsequent acts of Congress on the subject--that of March 3, +1855--which, in making appropriation for public buildings of the +Territory, enacts that the same shall not be expended "until the +legislature of said Territory shall have fixed by law the permanent +seat of government." Congress in these expressions does not profess +to be granting the power to fix the permanent seat of government, but +recognizes the power as one already granted. But how? Undoubtedly by the +comprehensive provision of the organic act itself, which declares that +"the legislative power of the Territory shall extend to all rightful +subjects of legislation consistent with the Constitution of the United +States and the provisions of this act." If in view of this act the +legislative assembly had the large power to fix the permanent seat +of government at any place in its discretion, of course by the same +enactment it had the less and the included power to fix it temporarily. + +Nevertheless, the allegation that the acts of the legislative assembly +were illegal by reason of this removal of its place of session was +brought forward to justify the first great movement in disregard of +law within the Territory. One of the acts of the legislative assembly +provided for the election of a Delegate to the present Congress, and a +Delegate was elected under that law. But subsequently to this a portion +of the people of the Territory proceeded without authority of law to +elect another Delegate. + +Following upon this movement was another and more important one of the +same general character. Persons confessedly not constituting the body +politic or all the inhabitants, but merely a party of the inhabitants, +and without law, have undertaken to summon a convention for the purpose +of transforming the Territory into a State, and have framed a +constitution, adopted it, and under it elected a governor and other +officers and a Representative to Congress. In extenuation of these +illegal acts it is alleged that the States of California, Michigan, and +others were self-organized, and as such were admitted into the Union +without a previous enabling act of Congress. It is true that while +in a majority of cases a previous act of Congress has been passed to +authorize the Territory to present itself as a State, and that this is +deemed the most regular course, yet such an act has not been held to be +indispensable, and in some cases the Territory has proceeded without it, +and has nevertheless been admitted into the Union as a State. It lies +with Congress to authorize beforehand or to confirm afterwards, in +its discretion. But in no instance has a State been admitted upon the +application of persons acting against authorities duly constituted by +act of Congress. In every case it is the people of the Territory, not +a party among them, who have the power to form a constitution and ask +for admission as a State. No principle of public law, no practice or +precedent under the Constitution of the United States, no rule of +reason, right, or common sense, confers any such power as that now +claimed by a mere party in the Territory. In fact what has been done +is of revolutionary character. It is avowedly so in motive and in aim +as respects the local law of the Territory. It will become treasonable +insurrection if it reach the length of organized resistance by force to +the fundamental or any other Federal law and to the authority of the +General Government. In such an event the path of duty for the Executive +is plain. The Constitution requiring him to take care that the laws of +the United States be faithfully executed, if they be opposed in the +Territory of Kansas he may, and should, place at the disposal of the +marshal any public force of the United States which happens to be within +the jurisdiction, to be used as a portion of the _posse comitatus_; and +if that do not suffice to maintain order, then he may call forth the +militia of one or more States for that object, or employ for the same +object any part of the land or naval force of the United States. So, +also, if the obstruction be to the laws of the Territory, and it be +duly presented to him as a case of insurrection, he may employ for its +suppression the militia of any State or the land or naval force of the +United States. And if the Territory be invaded by the citizens of other +States, whether for the purpose of deciding elections or for any other, +and the local authorities find themselves unable to repel or withstand +it, they will be entitled to, and upon the fact being fully ascertained +they shall most certainly receive, the aid of the General Government. + +But it is not the duty of the President of the United States to +volunteer interposition by force to preserve the purity of elections +either in a State or Territory. To do so would be subversive of public +freedom. And whether a law be wise or unwise, just or unjust, is not a +question for him to judge. If it be constitutional--that is, if it be +the law of the land--it is his duty to cause it to be executed, or to +sustain the authorities of any State or Territory in executing it in +opposition to all insurrectionary movements. + +Our system affords no justification of revolutionary acts, for the +constitutional means of relieving the people of unjust administration +and laws, by a change of public agents and by repeal, are ample, and +more prompt and effective than illegal violence. These means must be +scrupulously guarded, this great prerogative of popular sovereignty +sacredly respected. + +It is the undoubted right of the peaceable and orderly people of the +Territory of Kansas to elect their own legislative body, make their +own laws, and regulate their own social institutions, without foreign +or domestic molestation. Interference on the one hand to procure the +abolition or prohibition of slave labor in the Territory has produced +mischievous interference on the other for its maintenance or +introduction. One wrong begets another. Statements entirely unfounded, +or grossly exaggerated, concerning events within the Territory are +sedulously diffused through remote States to feed the flame of sectional +animosity there, and the agitators there exert themselves indefatigably +in return to encourage and stimulate strife within the Territory. + +The inflammatory agitation, of which the present is but a part, has for +twenty years produced nothing save unmitigated evil, North and South. +But for it the character of the domestic institutions of the future new +State would have been a matter of too little interest to the inhabitants +of the contiguous States, personally or collectively, to produce among +them any political emotion. Climate, soil, production, hopes of rapid +advancement and the pursuit of happiness on the part of the settlers +themselves, with good wishes, but with no interference from without, +would have quietly determined the question which is at this time of such +disturbing character. + +But we are constrained to turn our attention to the circumstances of +embarrassment as they now exist. It is the duty of the people of Kansas +to discountenance every act or purpose of resistance to its laws. Above +all, the emergency appeals to the citizens of the States, and especially +of those contiguous to the Territory, neither by intervention of +nonresidents in elections nor by unauthorized military force to attempt +to encroach upon or usurp the authority of the inhabitants of the +Territory. + +No citizen of our country should permit himself to forget that he is a +part of its Government and entitled to be heard in the determination +of its policy and its measures, and that therefore the highest +considerations of personal honor and patriotism require him to maintain +by whatever of power or influence he may possess the integrity of the +laws of the Republic. + +Entertaining these views, it will be my imperative duty to exert the +whole power of the Federal Executive to support public order in the +Territory; to vindicate its laws, whether Federal or local, against all +attempts of organized resistance, and so to protect its people in the +establishment of their own institutions, undisturbed by encroachment +from without, and in the full enjoyment of the rights of self-government +assured to them by the Constitution and the organic act of Congress. + +Although serious and threatening disturbances in the Territory of +Kansas, announced to me by the governor in December last, were speedily +quieted without the effusion of blood and in a satisfactory manner, +there is, I regret to say, reason to apprehend that disorders will +continue to occur there, with increasing tendency to violence, until +some decisive measure be taken to dispose of the question itself which +constitutes the inducement or occasion of internal agitation and of +external interference. + +This, it seems to me, can best be accomplished by providing that when +the inhabitants of Kansas may desire it and shall be of sufficient +number to constitute a State, a convention of delegates, duly elected by +the qualified voters, shall assemble to frame a constitution, and thus +to prepare through regular and lawful means for its admission into the +Union as a State. + +I respectfully recommend the enactment of a law to that effect. + +I recommend also that a special appropriation be made to defray any +expense which may become requisite in the execution of the laws or the +maintenance of public order in the Territory of Kansas. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _January 25, 1856_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +By the inclosed letter of the Secretary of the Treasury it appears that +$24,233 belonging to the Chickasaw Indians should be invested in stocks +of the United States, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. +I therefore recommend that the necessary authority be given for that +purpose. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _January 28, 1856_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State, in answer to +the resolution of the Senate of the 10th of January, calling for the +correspondence between the Secretary of State and Edward Worrell while +the latter was acting as consul at Matanzas in relation to the estates +of deceased American citizens on the island of Cuba. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _January, 1856_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I transmit herewith a copy of the "proceedings of the court-martial in +the case of Colonel Montgomery, of the United States Army," as requested +by the resolution of the Senate of the 7th instant. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _February 5, 1856_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +In further compliance with the Senate's resolution adopted in executive +session on the 15th January last, in respect to the correspondence +relating to the estates of deceased American citizens on the island of +Cuba, I transmit a report from the Secretary of State, with the papers +which accompanied it. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _February 14, 1856_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit a report from the Secretary of State, in answer to the +resolution of the Senate of the 17th ultimo, requesting transcripts +of certain correspondence and other papers touching the Republics of +Nicaragua and Costa Rica, the Mosquito Indians, and the convention +between the United States and Great Britain of April 19, 1850. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _February 18, 1856_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +In compliance with the resolution of the Senate of the 4th instant, +requesting transcripts of certain papers relative to the affairs of the +Territory of Kansas, I transmit a report from the Secretary of State and +the documents which accompanied it. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _February 21, 1856_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I communicate herewith a report of the Secretary of War and accompanying +documents, also of the Secretary of the Navy and accompanying documents, +in answer to a resolution of the Senate passed the 11th February, +"that the President of the United States be requested to communicate +to the Senate copies of all the correspondence between the different +Departments of the Government and the officers of the Army and Navy +(not heretofore communicated) on the Pacific Coast touching the Indian +disturbances in California, Oregon, and Washington." + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _February 25, 1856_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit a copy of a letter of the 7th of March last from the acting +commissioner of the United States in China, and of the regulations and +notification which accompanied it, for such revision thereof as Congress +may deem expedient, pursuant to the sixth section of the act approved +11th August, 1848. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _February 25, 1856_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I communicate to the Senate herewith, for its constitutional action +thereon, a treaty made and concluded on the 17th October, 1855, by and +between A. Cumming and Isaac I. Stevens, commissioners on the part of +the United States, and the Blackfeet and other tribes of Indians on the +Upper Missouri and Yellowstone rivers. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _February 26, 1856_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_: + +I herewith transmit and recommend to the favorable consideration of +Congress a communication from the Secretary of War, asking a special +appropriation of $3,000,000 to prepare armaments and ammunition for the +fortifications, to increase the supply of improved small arms, and to +apply recent improvements to arms of old patterns belonging to the +United States and the several States. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _February 27, 1856_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +In answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 25th instant, +I transmit reports[52] from the Secretary of State and the +Attorney-General, to whom the resolution was referred. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + +[Footnote 52: Relating to the enlistment of soldiers within the United +States by agents of the British Government.] + + + +WASHINGTON, _February 29, 1856_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit a report from the Secretary of State, with accompanying +papers,[53] in answer to the resolution of the Senate of yesterday. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + +[Footnote 53: Relating to an offer of the British Government to refer +to the arbitrament of some friendly power the questions of difference +between the United States and Great Britain upon the construction of +the convention of April 19, 1850.] + + + +WASHINGTON, _March 4, 1856_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I transmit a report on the commercial relations of the United States +with all foreign nations, in answer to the resolution of the House of +Representatives of December 14, 1853. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _March, 4, 1856_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I herewith communicate to the Senate, for its constitutional action +thereon, two treaties recently negotiated by Francis Huebochmann, the +superintendent of Indian affairs for the northern superintendency, one +with the Menominee Indians and the other with the Stockbridge and Munsee +Indians, and more particularly referred to in the accompanying +communications of the Secretary of the Interior of this date. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _March 5, 1856_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +In compliance with the resolution of the Senate of the 21st ultimo, +I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of the Interior, with +accompanying papers.[54] + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + +[Footnote 54: Correspondence relative to transportation of the mails, +etc., over the Illinois Central Railroad.] + + + +EXECUTIVE OFFICE, _March 5, 1856_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_: + +I present herewith a communication from the Secretary of the Interior, +in relation to Indian disturbances in the Territories of Oregon and +Washington, and recommending an immediate appropriation of $300,000. +I commend this subject to your early consideration. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _March 5, 1856_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +In answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 26th ultimo, requesting +information in regard to the site selected for the building to be used +for the preservation of the ordnance, arms, etc., of the United States, +under the act approved March 3, 1855, I transmit a letter from the +Secretary of War, with an accompanying report of the Chief of Ordnance, +containing the information. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _March 10, 1856_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +In compliance with a resolution of the Senate of the 21st ultimo, +requesting the President of the United States to "communicate to +the Senate any correspondence which may have taken place between the +Illinois Central Railroad Company and any of the Departments of the +Government," etc., I transmit herewith communications from the Secretary +of the Treasury and from the Postmaster-General, together with the +accompanying papers.[55] + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + +[Footnote 55: Correspondence relative to transportation of the mails, +etc., over the Illinois Central Railroad.] + + + +WASHINGTON, _March 14, 1856_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I herewith communicate to the House of Representatives, in compliance +with their resolution of the 28th ultimo, a report from the Secretary +of the Interior, containing such information as is in possession of his +Department touching the cause of the difficulties existing between the +Creek and Seminole Indians since their emigration west of the +Mississippi River. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I herewith transmit to the House of Representatives a report of the +Secretary of War, with copies prepared in compliance with a resolution +of the House of the 28th ultimo, requesting "copies of all +correspondence, documents, and papers in relation to the compensation +and emoluments of Brevet Lieutenant-General Scott under the joint +resolution of Congress approved February 15, 1855." + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + +MARCH 17, 1856. + + + + +WASHINGTON, _March 17, 1856_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +In answer to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 27th +ultimo, on the subject of correspondence between this Government and +that of Great Britain touching the Clayton and Bulwer convention, +I transmit a report from the Secretary of State, to whom the resolution +was referred. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _March 17, 1856_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit to Congress the copy of a correspondence which has recently +taken place between Her Britannic Majesty's minister accredited to this +Government and the Secretary of State, in order that the expediency of +sanctioning the acceptance by the officers of the United States who were +in the American expedition in search of Sir John Franklin of such token +of thankfulness as may be offered to them on the part of Her Majesty's +Government for their services on the occasion referred to may be taken +into consideration. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _March 20, 1856_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +In compliance with a resolution of the Senate of the 26th ultimo, +I herewith communicate "a copy of the report, with the maps, of an +exploration of the Big Witchitaw and the head waters of the Brazos +rivers, made by Captain R.B. Marcy, of the United States Army, while +engaged in locating lands for the Indians of Texas in the year 1854." + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _March 24, 1856_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +In answer to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the +18th of last month, requesting the transmission of documents touching +the affairs of the Territory of Kansas, I transmit a report from the +Secretary of State, to whom the resolution was referred. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +EXECUTIVE OFFICE, + +_Washington, March 24, 1856_. + +Hon. NATHANIEL P. BANKS, + +_Speaker of the House of Representatives_: + +I herewith transmit to the House of Representatives, in obedience to +their resolution of the 17th instant, a communication from the Secretary +of the Interior, accompanied by a copy of the report of Superintendent +Cumming in regard to his late expedition among the tribes of Indians on +the Upper Missouri. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _April 1, 1856_. + +_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 Grand Duchy +of Baden for the mutual surrender of fugitive criminals, concluded at +Berlin on the 10th ultimo. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _April 3, 1856_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +In answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 27th ultimo, requesting +additional documents relating to the condition of affairs in Kansas +Territory, I transmit a report from the Secretary of State, to whom the +resolution was referred. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _April 9, 1856_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +In execution of an act of Congress entitled "An act to provide for the +accommodation of the courts of the United States for the district of +Maryland and for a post-office at Baltimore city, Md.," approved +February 17, 1855, I communicate herewith, for the consideration of +Congress, copies of conditional contracts which I have caused to be +executed for two sites, with buildings thereon, together with plans +and estimates for fitting up and furnishing the same. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _April 9, 1856_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State, with accompanying +document,[56] in compliance with the resolution of the House of +Representatives of the 4th instant. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + +[Footnote 56: Dispatch from the United States minister at Naples relative +to the saving from shipwreck of certain American vessels and their crews +by officers of the Neapolitan navy and marine service.] + + + +WASHINGTON, _April 10th, 1856_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit herewith a report of the Secretary of the Interior, with +accompanying documents, in compliance with a resolution of the Senate +of the 6th ultimo. The documents, it is believed, contain all the +information in the Executive Departments upon the subject[57] to which +the resolution refers. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + +[Footnote 57: Claim of Richard W. Thompson for alleged services to the +Menominee Indians.] + + + +WASHINGTON, _April, 1856_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_: + +I communicate to Congress herewith a letter from the Secretary of the +Interior and a copy of a conditional contract entered into, under +instructions from that Department, for the purchase of a lot and +the building thereon, for the use of the United States courts at +Philadelphia, in the State of Pennsylvania, and recommend that an +appropriation of $78,000 be made to complete the same. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _April 14, 1856_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit herewith the report of the Secretary of War, with the +accompanying documents, in answer to the resolution of the Senate of the +7th instant, respecting "the steps pursued in execution of the clause +of the act making appropriations for the civil and diplomatic expenses +of the Government, approved March 3, 1855, which provides for the +construction of an armory for the District of Columbia." + +The selection of the site was made after a full hearing of the parties +interested and a personal examination by myself of all the sites +suggested as suitable for the purpose. + +It will be perceived upon an examination of the accompanying documents +that although two additional purposes were added by Congress after +the estimate of the War Department was made, and the expense of the +structure consequently increased, still by the terms of my indorsement +on the report of the colonel of ordnance fixing the site, the size and +arrangement of the building were to be such that it could be _completed_ +without exceeding the appropriation of $30,000, and that this +requirement has been strictly adhered to in every stage of the +proceedings. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _April 14, 1856_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit herewith the report of the Secretary of State, with the +accompanying documents, in answer to the resolution of the Senate of +the 20th ultimo, respecting the adjustment of the boundary line and the +payment of the three millions under the treaty with Mexico of the 30th +June [December], 1853. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _April 17, 1856_. + +The SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES: + +I transmit herewith reports of the Secretaries of the War and +Interior Departments, in response to the resolution of the House of +Representatives of the 31st ultimo, calling for information in relation +to the origin, progress, and present condition of Indian hostilities in +the Territories of Oregon and Washington, and also of the means which +have been adopted to preserve peace and protect the inhabitants of said +Territories. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _April 29, 1856_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit herewith the report of the Secretary of State, with the +accompanying documents, in answer to the resolution of the Senate of the +24th February, 1855, in relation to the settlement of the controversy +respecting the Lobos Islands. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _April 30, 1856_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith to the House of Representatives a report[58] from the +Secretary of State, in answer to their resolution of the 7th instant. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + +[Footnote 58: Relating to indemnification by the Spanish Government of +the captains, owners, and crews of the bark _Georgiana_ and the brig +_Susan Loud_ for their capture and confiscation by the Spanish +authorities.] + + + +WASHINGTON, _May 3, 1856_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I communicate herewith a letter of the Postmaster-General, with +accompanying correspondence, in relation to mail transportation between +our Atlantic and Pacific possessions, and earnestly commend the subject +to the early consideration of Congress. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _May 3, 1856_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I communicate herewith a letter from the Secretary of War, with +accompanying papers, in response to a resolution of the Senate of the +21st ultimo, upon the subject of damages which will be "incurred by the +United States in case of the repeal of so much of the act of March 3, +1855, as provides for the construction of an armory in the District of +Columbia," and also a further answer from the Secretary of War to the +resolution of the Senate of the 7th ultimo, requesting a full report +of the steps pursued in execution of the clause of the act making +appropriations for the civil and diplomatic expenses of the Government, +approved March 2, 1855, which provides for the construction of the +armory in this District before referred to. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _May 15, 1856_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith reports of the Secretary of State, the Secretary +of the Navy, and the Attorney-General, in reply to a resolution of the +Senate of the 24th of March last, and also to a resolution of the House +of Representatives of the 8th of May instant, both having reference to +the routes of transit between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through +the Republics of New Granada and Nicaragua and to the condition of +affairs in Central America. + +These documents relate to questions of the highest importance and +interest to the people of the United States. + +The narrow isthmus which connects the continents of North and South +America, by the facilities it affords for easy transit between the +Atlantic and Pacific oceans, rendered the countries of Central America +an object of special consideration to all maritime nations, which has +been greatly augmented in modern times by the operation of changes in +commercial relations, especially those produced by the general use of +steam as a motive power by land and sea. To us, on account of its +geographical position and of our political interest as an American State +of primary magnitude, that isthmus is of peculiar importance, just as +the Isthmus of Suez is, for corresponding reasons, to the maritime +powers of Europe. But above all, the importance to the United States of +securing free transit across the American isthmus has rendered it of +paramount interest to us since the settlement of the Territories of +Oregon and Washington and the accession of California to the Union. + +Impelled by these considerations, the United States took steps at an +early day to assure suitable means of commercial transit by canal +railway, or otherwise across this isthmus. + +We concluded, in the first place, a treaty of peace, amity, navigation, +and commerce with the Republic of New Granada, among the conditions of +which was a stipulation on the part of New Granada guaranteeing to the +United States the right of way or transit across that part of the +Isthmus which lies in the territory of New Granada, in consideration of +which the United States guaranteed in respect of the same territory the +rights of sovereignty and property of New Granada. + +The effect of this treaty was to afford to the people of the United +States facilities for at once opening a common road from Chagres to +Panama and for at length constructing a railway in the same direction, +to connect regularly with steamships, for the transportation of mails, +specie, and passengers to and fro between the Atlantic and Pacific +States and Territories of the United States. + +The United States also endeavored, but unsuccessfully, to obtain from +the Mexican Republic the cession of the right of way at the northern +extremity of the Isthmus by Tehuantepec, and that line of communication +continues to be an object of solicitude to the people of this Republic. + +In the meantime, intervening between the Republic of New Granada and +the Mexican Republic lie the States of Guatemala, Salvador, Honduras, +Nicaragua, and Costa Rica, the several members of the former Republic of +Central America. Here, in the territory of the Central American States, +is the narrowest part of the Isthmus, and hither, of course, public +attention has been directed as the most inviting field for enterprises +of interoceanic communication between the opposite shores of America, +and more especially to the territory of the States of Nicaragua and +Honduras. + +Paramount to that of any European State, as was the interest of +the United States in the security and freedom of projected lines of +travel across the Isthmus by the way of Nicaragua and Honduras, still +we did not yield in this respect to any suggestions of territorial +aggrandizement, or even of exclusive advantage, either of communication +or of commerce. Opportunities had not been wanting to the United States +to procure such advantage by peaceful means and with full and free +assent of those who alone had any legitimate authority in the matter. +We disregarded those opportunities from considerations alike of domestic +and foreign policy, just as, even to the present day, we have persevered +in a system of justice and respect for the rights and interests of +others as well as our own in regard to each and all of the States of +Central America. + +It was with surprise and regret, therefore, that the United States +learned a few days after the conclusion of the treaty of Guadalupe +Hidalgo, by which the United States became, with the consent of the +Mexican Republic, the rightful owners of California, and thus invested +with augmented special interest in the political condition of Central +America, that a military expedition, under the authority of the British +Government, had landed at San Juan del Norte, in the State of Nicaragua, +and taken forcible possession of that port, the necessary terminus of +any canal or railway across the Isthmus within the territories of +Nicaragua. + +It did not diminish the unwelcomeness to us of this act on the part of +Great Britain to find that she assumed to justify it on the ground of +an alleged protectorship of a small and obscure band of uncivilized +Indians, whose proper name had even become lost to history, who did not +constitute a state capable of territorial sovereignty either in fact or +of right, and all political interest in whom and in the territory they +occupied Great Britain had previously renounced by successive treaties +with Spain when Spain was sovereign to the country and subsequently with +independent Spanish America. + +Nevertheless, and injuriously affected as the United States conceived +themselves to have been by this act of the British Government and by its +occupation about the same time of insular and of continental portions +of the territory of the State of Honduras, we remembered the many and +powerful ties and mutual interests by which Great Britain and the United +States are associated, and we proceeded in earnest good faith and with +a sincere desire to do whatever might strengthen the bonds of peace +between us to negotiate with Great Britain a convention to assure the +perfect neutrality of all interoceanic communications across the Isthmus +and, as the indispensable condition of such neutrality, the absolute +independence of the States of Central America and their complete +sovereignty within the limits of their own territory as well against +Great Britain as against the United States. We supposed we had +accomplished that object by the convention of April 19, 1850, which +would never have been signed nor ratified on the part of the United +States but for the conviction that in virtue of its provisions neither +Great Britain nor the United States was thereafter to exercise any +territorial sovereignty in fact or in name in any part of Central +America, however or whensoever acquired, either before or afterwards. +The essential object of the convention--the neutralization of the +Isthmus--would, of course, become a nullity if either Great Britain +or the United States were to continue to hold exclusively islands or +mainland of the Isthmus, and more especially if, under any claim of +protectorship of Indians, either Government were to remain forever +sovereign in fact of the Atlantic shores of the three States of Costa +Rica, Nicaragua, and Honduras. + +I have already communicated to the two Houses of Congress full +information of the protracted and hitherto fruitless efforts which the +United States have made to arrange this international question with +Great Britain. It is referred to on the present occasion only because of +its intimate connection with the special object now to be brought to the +attention of Congress. + +The unsettled political condition of some of the Spanish American +Republics has never ceased to be regarded by this Government with +solicitude and regret on their own account, while it has been the source +of continual embarrassment in our public and private relations with +them. In the midst of the violent revolutions and the wars by which they +are continually agitated, their public authorities are unable to afford +due protection to foreigners and to foreign interests within their +territory, or even to defend their own soil against individual +aggressors, foreign or domestic, the burden of the inconveniences and +losses of which therefore devolves in no inconsiderable degree upon the +foreign states associated with them in close relations of geographical +vicinity or of commercial intercourse. + +Such is more emphatically the situation of the United States +with respect to the Republics of Mexico and of Central America. +Notwithstanding, however, the relative remoteness of the European +States from America, facts of the same order have not failed to appear +conspicuously in their intercourse with Spanish American Republics. +Great Britain has repeatedly been constrained to recur to measures of +force for the protection of British interests in those countries. France +found it necessary to attack the castle of San Juan de Uloa and even to +debark troops at Vera Cruz in order to obtain redress of wrongs done to +Frenchmen in Mexico. + +What is memorable in this respect in the conduct and policy of the +United States is that while it would be as easy for us to annex and +absorb new territories in America as it is for European States to do +this in Asia or Africa, and while if done by us it might be justified as +well on the alleged ground of the advantage which would accrue therefrom +to the territories annexed and absorbed, yet we have abstained from +doing it, in obedience to considerations of right not less than of +policy; and that while the courageous and self-reliant spirit of our +people prompts them to hardy enterprises, and they occasionally yield to +the temptation of taking part in the troubles of countries near at hand, +where they know how potential their influence, moral and material, must +be, the American Government has uniformly and steadily resisted all +attempts of individuals in the United States to undertake armed +aggression against friendly Spanish American Republics. + +While the present incumbent of the executive office has been in +discharge of its duties he has never failed to exert all the authority +in him vested to repress such enterprises, because they are in violation +of the law of the land, which the Constitution requires him to execute +faithfully; because they are contrary to the policy of the Government, +and because to permit them would be a departure from good faith toward +those American Republics in amity with us, which are entitled to, and +will never cease to enjoy, in their calamities the cordial sympathy, and +in their prosperity the efficient good will, of the Government and of +the people of the United States. + +To say that our laws in this respect are sometimes violated or +successfully evaded is only to say what is true of all laws in all +countries, but not more so in the United States than in any one whatever +of the countries of Europe. Suffice it to repeat that the laws of +the United States prohibiting all foreign military enlistments or +expeditions within our territory have been executed with impartial +good faith, and, so far as the nature of things permits, as well in +repression of private persons as of the official agents of other +Governments, both of Europe and America. + +Among the Central American Republics to which modern events have +imparted most prominence is that of Nicaragua, by reason of its +particular position on the Isthmus. Citizens of the United States have +established in its territory a regular interoceanic transit route, +second only in utility and value to the one previously established in +the territory of New Granada. The condition of Nicaragua would, it is +believed, have been much more prosperous than it has been but for the +occupation of its only Atlantic port by a foreign power, and of the +disturbing authority set up and sustained by the same power in a portion +of its territory, by means of which its domestic sovereignty was +impaired, its public lands were withheld from settlement, and it was +deprived of all the maritime revenue which it would otherwise collect +on imported merchandise at San Juan del Norte. + +In these circumstances of the political debility of the Republic of +Nicaragua, and when its inhabitants were exhausted by long-continued +civil war between parties neither of them strong enough to overcome +the other or permanently maintain internal tranquillity, one of +the contending factions of the Republic invited the assistance and +cooperation of a small body of citizens of the United States from the +State of California, whose presence, as it appears, put an end at once +to civil war and restored apparent order throughout the territory of +Nicaragua, with a new administration, having at its head a distinguished +individual, by birth a citizen of the Republic, D. Patricio Rivas, +as its provisional President. + +It is the established policy of the United States to recognize all +governments without question of their source or their organization, or +of the means by which the governing persons attain their power, provided +there be a government _de facto_ accepted by the people of the country, +and with reserve only of the time as to the recognition of revolutionary +governments arising out of the subdivision of parent states with which +we are in relations of amity. We do not go behind the fact of a foreign +government exercising actual power to investigate questions of +legitimacy; we do not inquire into the causes which may have led to +a change of government. To us it is indifferent whether a successful +revolution has been aided by foreign intervention or not; whether +insurrection has overthrown existing government, and another has been +established in its place according to preexisting forms or in a manner +adopted for the occasion by those whom we may find in the actual +possession of power. All these matters we leave to the people and +public authorities of the particular country to determine; and their +determination, whether it be by positive action or by ascertained +acquiescence, is to us a sufficient warranty of the legitimacy of +the new government. + +During the sixty-seven years which have elapsed since the establishment +of the existing Government of the United States, in all which time this +Union has maintained undisturbed domestic tranquillity, we have had +occasion to recognize governments _de facto_, founded either by domestic +revolution or by military invasion from abroad, in many of the +Governments of Europe. + +It is the more imperatively necessary to apply this rule to the +Spanish American Republics, in consideration of the frequent and not +seldom anomalous changes of organization or administration which they +undergo and the revolutionary nature of most of these changes, of +which the recent series of revolutions in the Mexican Republic is an +example, where five successive revolutionary governments have made +their appearance in the course of a few months and been recognized +successively, each as the political power of that country, by the +United States. + +When, therefore, some time since, a new minister from the Republic of +Nicaragua presented himself, bearing the commission of President Rivas, +he must and would have been received as such, unless he was found +on inquiry subject to personal exception, but for the absence of +satisfactory information upon the question whether President Rivas was +_in fact_ the head of an established Government of the Republic of +Nicaragua, doubt as to which arose not only from the circumstances of +his avowed association with armed emigrants recently from the United +States, but that the proposed minister himself was of that class of +persons, and not otherwise or previously a citizen of Nicaragua. + +Another minister from the Republic of Nicaragua has now presented +himself, and has been received as such, satisfactory evidence appearing +that he represents the Government _de facto_ and, so far as such exists, +the Government _de jure_ of that Republic. + +That reception, while in accordance with the established policy of the +United States, was likewise called for by the most imperative special +exigencies, which require that this Government shall enter at once into +diplomatic relations with that of Nicaragua. In the first place, a +difference has occurred between the Government of President Rivas and +the Nicaragua Transit Company, which involves the necessity of inquiry +into rights of citizens of the United States, who allege that they +have been aggrieved by the acts of the former and claim protection +and redress at the hands of their Government. In the second place, +the interoceanic communication by the way of Nicaragua is effectually +interrupted, and the persons and property of unoffending private +citizens of the United States in that country require the attention of +their Government. Neither of these objects can receive due consideration +without resumption of diplomatic intercourse with the Government of +Nicaragua. + +Further than this, the documents communicated show that while the +interoceanic transit by the way of Nicaragua is cut off, disturbances +at Panama have occurred to obstruct, temporarily at least, that by the +way of New Granada, involving the sacrifice of the lives and property +of citizens of the United States. A special commissioner has been +dispatched to Panama to investigate the facts of this occurrence with a +view particularly to the redress of parties aggrieved. But measures of +another class will be demanded for the future security of interoceanic +communication by this as by the other routes of the Isthmus. + +It would be difficult to suggest a single object of interest, external +or internal, more important to the United States than the maintenance +of the communication, by land and sea, between the Atlantic and Pacific +States and Territories of the Union It is a material element of the +national integrity and sovereignty. + +I have adopted such precautionary measures and have taken such action +for the purpose of affording security to the several transit routes +of Central America and to the persons and property of citizens of +the United States connected with or using the same as are within my +constitutional power and as existing circumstances have seemed to +demand. Should these measures prove inadequate to the object, that +fact will be communicated to Congress with such recommendations as +the exigency of the case may indicate. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +EXECUTIVE OFFICE, + +_Washington, May 16, 1856_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I communicate to Congress a report from the Secretary of the Interior, +containing estimates of appropriations required in the fulfillment of +treaty stipulations with certain Indian tribes, and recommend that the +appropriations asked for be made in the manner therein suggested. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _May 19, 1856_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +In compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives of the +7th ultimo, requesting the President "to communicate what information he +may possess in regard to citizens of the United States being engaged in +the slave trade, or in the transportation in American ships of coolies +from China to Cuba and other countries with the intention of placing or +continuing them in a state of slavery or servitude, and whether such +traffic is not, in his opinion, a violation of the spirit of existing +treaties, rendering those engaged in it liable to indictment for piracy; +and especially that he be requested to communicate to this House the +facts and circumstances attending the shipment from China of some 500 +coolies in the ship _Sea Witch_, of the city of New York, lately wrecked +on the coast of Cuba," I transmit the accompanying report of the +Secretary of State. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _May 20, 1856_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit a copy of and extracts from dispatches of the late minister +of the United States at London, and of his correspondence with Lord +Clarendon which accompanied them, relative to the enlistment of soldiers +for the British army within the United States by agents of the +Government of Great Britain. These dispatches have been received since +my message to the Senate upon the subject of the 2th of February last. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _May 22, 1856_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I communicate herewith a report from the Secretary of War, in response +to a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 12th instant, +requesting me to inform the House "whether United States soldiers have +been employed in the Territory of Kansas to arrest persons charged with +a violation of certain supposed laws enacted by a supposed legislature +assembled at Shawnee Mission." + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _May 29, 1856_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I have ceased to hold intercourse with the envoy extraordinary and +minister plenipotentiary of Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom +of Great Britain and Ireland near this Government. + +In making communication of this fact it has been deemed by me proper +also to lay before Congress the considerations of indispensable public +duty which have led to the adoption of a measure of so much importance. +They appear in the documents herewith transmitted to both Houses. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _May 29, 1856_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +In further answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 17th of January +last, requesting a copy of any official correspondence not previously +communicated touching the construction and purport of the convention +between the United States and Great Britain of the 19th of April, 1850, +I transmit a copy of an instruction of the 24th instant from the +Secretary of State to the minister of the United States at London. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _June 3, 1856_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_: + + +I herewith communicate a letter of the 26th instant from the Secretary +of the Interior, and accompanying papers, relative to the conflict of +jurisdiction between the Federal and Cherokee courts and the inadequacy +of protection against the intrusion of improper persons into the +Cherokee country, and recommend the subject to the consideration of +Congress. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _June 3, 1856_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I transmit a report[59] from the Secretary of State, in answer to a +resolution of the House of Representatives of the 29th ultimo. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + +[Footnote 59: Stating that no information relative to the action of +the leading powers of Europe on the subject of privateering has been +officially communicated by any foreign government.] + + + +WASHINGTON, _June 4, 1856_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +In answer to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the +8th of last month, requesting information in regard to a contemplated +imposition of additional duties on American leaf tobacco by the +Zollverein or Commercial Union of the German States, I transmit a report +from the Secretary of State, to whom the resolution was referred. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _June 13, 1856_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +In compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives of the +18th of February last, requesting me to communicate to the House "the +report of Captain E.B. Boutwell, and all the documents accompanying it, +relative to the operations of the United States sloop of war _John +Adams_, under his command, at the Fejee Islands in the year 1855," +I transmit herewith a report of the Secretary of the Navy. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _June 18, 1856_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit a report from the Secretary of State, with accompanying +documents,[60] in answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 16th +instant. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + +[Footnote 60: Instructions to Mr Buchanan, late minister to England, +on the subject of free ships making free goods, and letter from Mr. +Buchanan to Lord Clarendon on the same subject.] + + + +WASHINGTON, _June 20, 1856_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_: + +I communicate herewith a letter from the Secretary of the Interior and +accompanying papers, respecting the sum of $16,024.80 now in the hands +of the agent of the Choctaw Indians, being a balance remaining from the +sales of Choctaw orphan reservations under the nineteenth article of the +treaty of 1830, and commend the subject to the favorable consideration +of Congress. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _June 23, 1856_. + +_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, and for other purposes, +concluded at The Hague on the 29th ultimo between the United States +and His Majesty the King of the Netherlands. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _July 3, 1856_. + +_To the House of Representatives of the United States_: + +In response to a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 18th +ultimo, requesting me to inform the House "what measures, if any, have +been taken to carry out the provisions of a late act of Congress +authorizing the President to contract with Hiram Powers, the great +American sculptor, now in Italy, for some work of art for the new +Capitol, and appropriating $25,000 for that purpose," I transmit +herewith copies of three letters--one from Mr. Powers to Hon. Edward +Everett and two from myself to the same gentleman. + +Since the date of my letter of July 24, 1855, I have communicated with +Mr. Everett upon the subject verbally and in writing, and the final +proposition on my part, resulting therefrom, will be found in the +accompanying extract of a letter dated June 5, 1856. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _July 7 1856_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +In compliance with a resolution of the Senate of the 6th ultimo, +respecting the location of the District armory upon the Mall in this +city, I transmit the accompanying report from the Secretary of War. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _July 7, 1856_. + +_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 between the United States and Austria, signed +in this city on the 3d instant. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _July 8, 1856_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I communicate herewith a report of the Secretary of War, in reply to a +resolution of the House of the 25th ultimo, "on the subject of Indian +hostilities in Oregon and Washington Territories." + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _July 11, 1856_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +In reply to a resolution of the Senate of May 23, requesting a "detailed +statement of the sums which have been paid to newspapers published in +Washington for advertisements or other printing published or executed +under the orders or by authority of the several Departments since the +4th day of March, 1853," I communicate herewith reports from the several +Departments. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _July 15, 1856_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit a copy of a letter of November 27, 1854, from the +commissioner of the United States in China, and of the regulations, +orders, and decrees which accompanied it, for such revision thereof as +Congress may deem expedient, pursuant to the sixth section of the act +approved August 11, 1848. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +EXECUTIVE OFFICE, + +_Washington, July 21, 1856_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_: + +I communicate to Congress herewith a letter from the Postmaster-General +and a copy of a conditional contract entered into under instructions +from me for the purchase of a lot and building thereon for a post-office +in the city of Philadelphia, together with a copy of a report of Edward +Clark, architect of the Patent Office building, in relation to the site +and building selected, and recommend that an appropriation of $250,000 +be made to complete the purchase, and also an appropriation of $50,000 +to make the required alterations and furnish the necessary cases, boxes, +etc., to fit it up for a city post-office. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _July 22, 1856_. + +_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, navigation, and +extradition between the United States and the Republic of Chili, +signed at Santiago, in that Republic, on the 27th of May last. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _July 24, 1856_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I herewith present to Congress a copy of "minutes of a council held +at Fort Pierre, Nebraska Territory, on the 1st day of March, 1856, +by Brevet Brigadier-General William S. Harney, United States Army, +commanding the Sioux expedition, with the delegations from nine of the +bands of the Sioux;" also copies of sundry papers upon the same subject. + +Regarding the stipulations between General Harney and the nine bands of +the Sioux as just and desirable, both for the United States and for the +Indians, I respectfully recommend an appropriation by Congress of the +sum of $100,000 to enable the Government to execute the stipulations +entered into by General Harney. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _July 29, 1856_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I herewith lay before the Senate, for its constitutional action thereon, +a treaty made and concluded at Muckl-te-oh, or Point Elliott, by Isaac +I. Stevens, governor and superintendent of Indian affairs of Washington +Territory, on the part of the United States, and chiefs, headmen, and +delegates of the Dwamish, Suquamish, Sk-tahl-mish, Sam-ahmish, +Smalh-kamish, Skope-ahmish, St-kah-mish, Snoqualmoo, Skai-wha-mish, +N'Quentl-ma-mish, Sk-tah-le-jum, Stoluck-wha-mish, Sno-ho-mish, Ska-git, +Kik-i-allus, Swin-a-mish, Squin-ah-mish, Sah-ku-mehu, Noo-wha-ha, +Nook-wa-chah-mish, Mee-see-qua-guilch, Cho-bah-ah-bish, and other allied +and subordinate tribes and bands of Indians in said Territory. + +Also a treaty made and concluded at Hahd Skus, or Point no Point, on the +26th day of January, 1855, by and between the same commissioner on the +part of the United States and the chiefs, headmen, and delegates of the +different villages of the S'Klallams Indians in said Territory. + +Also a treaty made and concluded at Neah Bay on the 31st day of January, +1855, by and between the same commissioner on the part of the United +States and the chiefs, headmen, and delegates of the same villages of +the Makah tribe of Indians in the said Territory. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _July 29, 1856_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I herewith lay before the Senate, for its constitutional action thereon, +a treaty made and concluded by and between Isaac I. Stevens, governor +and superintendent of Indian affairs of the Territory of Washington, on +the part of the United States, and the chiefs, headmen, and delegates +of the different tribes and bands of the Qui-nai-elt and Quil-leh-ute +Indians in Washington Territory. + +Said treaty was made on the 1st of July, 1855, and 25th January, 1856. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _July 29, 1856_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I herewith lay before the Senate, for its constitutional action thereon, +a treaty made and concluded at the treaty ground at Hell Gate, in the +Bitter Root Valley, on the 16th day of July, 1855, by and between Isaac +I. Stevens, governor and superintendent of Indian affairs for the +Territory of Washington, on the part of the United States, and the +chiefs, headmen, and delegates of the confederate tribes of the +Flathead, Koo-tenay, and Upper Pend d'Oreilles Indians, who by the +treaty are constituted a nation, under the name of the Flat Head Nation. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _July 29, 1856_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I herewith lay before the Senate, for its constitutional action thereon, +a treaty made and concluded at Wasco, near the Dalles of the Columbia +River, in Oregon Territory, by and between Joel Palmer, superintendent +of Indian affairs, on the part of the United States, and the chiefs +and headmen of the confederated tribes and bands of Walla-Wallas and +Was-coes Indians residing in middle Oregon. Said treaty was made on +the 25th day of June, 1855. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _July 29, 1856_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I herewith lay before the Senate, for its constitutional action thereon, +a treaty made and concluded on the 21st day of December, 1855, by and +between Joel Palmer, superintendent of Indian affairs, on the part of +the United States, and the chiefs and headmen of the Mo-lal-la-las, or +Molel, tribe of Indians in Oregon Territory. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _July 29, 1856_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I herewith lay before the Senate, for its constitutional action thereon, +a treaty made on the 9th of June, 1855, by and between Isaac I. Stevens, +governor and superintendent of Indian affairs of the Territory of +Washington, and Joel Palmer, superintendent of Indian affairs of the +Territory of Oregon, on the part of the United States, and the chiefs, +headmen, and delegates of the Walla-Wallas, Cayuses, and Umatilla tribes +and bands of Indians, who for the purposes of the treaty are to be +regarded as one nation. Also a treaty made on the 11th of June, 1855, by +and between the same commissioners on the part of the United States and +the chiefs, headmen, and delegates of the Nez Perce tribe of Indians. + +The lands ceded by the treaties herewith lie partly in Washington and +partly in Oregon Territories. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _July 29, 1856_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I herewith lay before the Senate, for its constitutional action thereon, +a treaty made and concluded at Camp Stevens, Walla Walla Valley, on the +9th day of June, 1855, by and between Isaac I. Stevens, governor of and +superintendent of Indian affairs for Washington Territory, on the part +of the United States, and the head chiefs, chiefs, headmen, and +delegates of the Yakama, Palouse, Pisquouse, Wenatshapam, Klikatat, +Klin-quit, Kow-was-say-ee, Li-ay-was, Skin-pah, Wish-ham, Shyiks, +Oche-chotes, Kah-milt-pah, and Se-ap-cat tribes and bands of Indians, +who for the purposes of the treaty are to be known as the "Yakama" +Nation of Indians. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _July 30, 1856_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +By the sixteenth article of the treaty of 4th March, 1853, between the +United States and the Republic of Paraguay, as amended by a resolution +of the Senate of the 1st May, 1854, it was provided that the exchange +of the ratifications of that instrument should be effected within +twenty-four months of its date; that is, on or before the 4th +March, 1855. + +From circumstances, however, over which the Government of the United +States had no control, but which are not supposed to indicate any +indisposition on the part of the Paraguayan Government to consummate +the final formalities necessary to give full force and validity to the +treaty, the exchange of ratifications has not yet been effected. + +A similar condition exists in regard to the treaty between the United +States and the Oriental Republic of Uruguay of the 28th August, 1852. +The Senate, by a resolution of 13th June, 1854, extended the time within +which the ratifications of that treaty might be exchanged to thirty +months from its date. That limit, however, has expired, and the exchange +has not been effected. + +I deem it expedient to direct a renewal of negotiations with the +Governments referred to, with a view to secure the exchange of the +ratifications of these important conventions. But as the limit +prescribed by the Senate in both cases has passed by, it is necessary +that authority be conferred on the Executive for that purpose. + +I consequently recommend that the Senate sanction an exchange of the +ratifications of the treaties above mentioned at any time which may be +deemed expedient by the President within three years from the date of +the resolution to that effect. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _August 1, 1856_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_: + +I communicate to Congress herewith the report of Major W.H. Emory, +United States commissioner, on the survey of the boundary between +the United States and the Republic of Mexico, referred to in the +accompanying letter of this date from the Secretary of the Interior. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +EXECUTIVE OFFICE, + +_Washington, August 4, 1856_. + +_To the House of Representatives of the United States_: + +I herewith lay before the House of Representatives a report of the +Secretary of War, in reply to a resolution of the House requesting +"information in regard to the construction of the Capitol and +Post-Office extensions." + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +EXECUTIVE OFFICE, + +_August 4, 1856_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I communicate herewith a report of the Secretary of War, in response +to a resolution of the Senate calling for information in relation to +instructions "issued to any military officer in command in Kansas to +disperse any unarmed meeting of the people of that Territory, or to +prevent by military power any assemblage of the people of that +Territory." + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _August 4, 1856_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +In answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 1st instant, requesting +a copy of papers touching recent events in the Territory of Washington, +I transmit a report from the Secretary of State and the documents by +which it was accompanied. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +EXECUTIVE OFFICE, + +_Washington, August 6, 1856_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +In compliance with a resolution of the Senate of the 28th ultimo, +requesting the President to inform the Senate in relation to any +application "by the governor of the State of California to maintain the +laws and peace of the said State against the usurped authority of an +organization calling itself the committee of vigilance in the city and +county of San Francisco," and also "to lay before the Senate whatever +information he may have in respect to the proceedings of the said +committee of vigilance," I transmit the accompanying reports from the +Secretary of State and the Secretary of the Navy. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _August 8, 1856_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I herewith submit to the Senate, for its constitutional action thereon, +a treaty negotiated with the Creek and Seminole Indians, together with +the accompanying papers. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _August 9, 1856_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +With a message of the 23d of June last I transmitted, for the +consideration of the Senate, a convention for the mutual delivery +of criminals fugitives from justice in certain cases, and for other +purposes, concluded at The Hague on the 29th of May last between the +United States and His Majesty the King of the Netherlands. Deeming it +advisable to withdraw that instrument from the consideration of the +Senate, I request that it may be returned to me. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit to the Senate, for its consideration with a view to +ratification, a treaty of amity, commerce, and navigation, and for the +surrender of fugitive criminals, between the United States and the +Republic of Venezuela, signed at Caracas on the 10th of July last. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + +AUGUST 9, 1856. + + + +WASHINGTON, _August 11, 1856_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +In compliance with the resolution of the Senate of the 3d March, 1855, +requesting information relative to the proceedings of the commissioners +for the adjustment of claims under the convention with Great Britain of +the 8th of February, 1853, I transmit a report from the Secretary of +State, to whom the resolution was referred. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _August 11, 1856_. + +_To the House of Representatives of the United States_: + +I transmit herewith a report of the Secretary of War, in reply to a +resolution of the House of Representatives of May 26, 1856, in relation +to the Capitol and Post-Office extensions. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _August 12, 1856_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit a report from the Secretary of State, with accompanying +papers,[61] in answer to the resolution of the Senate of yesterday. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + +[Footnote 61: Relating to "The declaration concerning maritime law," +adopted by the plenipotentiaries of Great Britain, Austria, France, +Prussia, Russia, Sardinia, and Turkey at Paris April 16, 1856.] + + + +WASHINGTON, _August 12, 1856_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +In compliance with the resolution of the Senate of the 7th instant, +in relation to the refusal of the Government of Honduras to receive +a commercial agent from this country, I transmit a report from the +Secretary of State and the documents which accompanied it. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _August 13, 1856_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a communication from the Secretary of War, inclosing +a report of Captain M.C. Meigs, stating that the sum of $750,000 will be +necessary for the prosecution of the Capitol extension until the close +of the next session of Congress, and recommend that that amount may be +appropriated. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _August 15, 1856_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +In answer to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 4th +instant, requesting a copy of letters and papers touching the pardons +or remission of the imprisonment of Daniel Drayton and Edward Sayres in +August, 1852, I transmit a report from the Secretary of State, to whom +the resolution was referred. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _August 15, 1856_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of War, in relation +to an error in a communication[62] of Captain Meigs. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + +[Footnote 62: Relating to the Capitol extension.] + + + +WASHINGTON, _August 16, 1856_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +In compliance with a resolution of the Senate of the 11th instant, +in relation to the public accounts of John C. Fremont, I transmit the +accompanying report from the Secretary of the Treasury, to whom the +resolution was referred. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _August 16, 1856_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +In compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives of the +17th April, 1856, requesting me to have prepared and presented to the +House of Representatives "a statement showing the appropriations made +by the Thirty-first, Thirty-second, and Thirty-third Congresses, +distinguishing the appropriations made at each session of each Congress, +distinguishing also the appropriations made on the recommendations of +the President, heads of Departments, or heads of bureaus from those that +were made without such recommendation, and showing what expenditures +have been made by the Government in each fiscal year, commencing with +the 1st day of July, 1850, and ending on the 30th day of June, 1855; and +also what, if any, defalcations have occurred from the 30th day of June, +1850, to the 1st day of July, 1855, and the amount of such defalcations +severally, and such other information as may be in his power bearing +upon the matters above mentioned," I submit the following reports from +the Secretaries of the Treasury, War, Navy, and Interior Departments and +the Postmaster-General. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + + +VETO MESSAGES. + + +WASHINGTON, _May 19, 1856_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I return herewith to the Senate, in which it originated, the bill +entitled "An act to remove obstructions to navigation in the mouth of +the Mississippi River at the Southwest Pass and Pass a l'Outre," which +proposes to appropriate a sum of money, to be expended under the +superintendence of the Secretary of War, "for the opening and keeping +open ship channels of sufficient capacity to accommodate the wants of +commerce through the Southwest Pass and Pass a l'Outre, leading from +the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico." + +In a communication addressed by me to the two Houses of Congress on the +30th of December, 1854, my views were exhibited in full on the subject +of the relation of the General Government to internal improvements. +I set forth on that occasion the constitutional impediments, which in +my mind are insuperable, to the prosecution of a system of internal +improvements by means of appropriations from the Treasury of the United +States, more especially the consideration that the Constitution does +not confer on the General Government any express power to make such +appropriations, that they are not a necessary and proper incident of +any of the express powers, and that the assumption of authority on +the part of the Federal Government to commence and carry on a general +system of internal improvements, while exceptionable for the want of +constitutional power, is in other respects prejudicial to the several +interests and inconsistent with the true relation to one another of +the Union and of the individual States. + +These objections apply to the whole system of internal improvements, +whether such improvements consist of works on land or in navigable +waters, either of the seacoast or of the interior lakes or rivers. + +I have not been able, after the most careful reflection, to regard the +bill before me in any other light than as part of a general system of +internal improvements, and therefore feel constrained to submit it, +with these objections, to the reconsideration of Congress. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _May 19, 1856_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I return herewith to the Senate, in which it originated, a bill +entitled "An act making an appropriation for deepening the channel +over the St. Clair flats, in the State of Michigan," and submit it for +reconsideration, because it is, in my judgment, liable to the objections +to the prosecution of internal improvements by the General Government +which have already been presented by me in previous communications to +Congress. + +In considering this bill under the restriction that the power of +Congress to construct a work of internal improvement is limited to cases +in which the work is manifestly needful and proper for the execution +of some one or more of the powers expressly delegated to the General +Government, I have not been able to find for the proposed expenditure +any such relation, unless it be to the power to provide for the common +defense and to maintain an army and navy. But a careful examination of +the subject, with the aid of information officially received since my +last annual message was communicated to Congress, has convinced me that +the expenditure of the sum proposed would serve no valuable purpose as +contributing to the common defense, because all which could be effected +by it would be to afford a channel of 12 feet depth and of so temporary +a character that unless the work was done immediately before the +necessity for its use should arise it could not be relied on for the +vessels of even the small draft the passage of which it would permit. + +Under existing circumstances, therefore, it can not be considered +as a necessary means for the common defense, and is subject to those +objections which apply to other works designed to facilitate commerce +and contribute to the convenience and local prosperity of those more +immediately concerned--an object not to be constitutionally and justly +attained by the taxation of the people of the whole country. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _May 22, 1856_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +Having considered the bill, which originated in the Senate, entitled "An +act making an appropriation for deepening the channel over the flats of +the St. Marys River, in the State of Michigan," it is herewith returned +without my approval. + +The appropriation proposed by this bill is not, in my judgment, a +necessary means for the execution of any of the expressly granted powers +of the Federal Government. The work contemplated belongs to a general +class of improvements, embracing roads, rivers, and canals, designed +to afford additional facilities for intercourse and for the transit of +commerce, and no reason has been suggested to my mind for excepting +it from the objections which apply to appropriations by the General +Government for deepening the channels of rivers wherever shoals or other +obstacles impede their navigation, and thus obstruct communication +and impose restraints upon commerce within the States or between the +States or Territories of the Union. I therefore submit it to the +reconsideration of Congress, on account of the same objections which +have been presented in my previous communications on the subject of +internal improvements. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _August 11, 1856_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I return herewith to the House of Representatives, in which it +originated, a bill entitled "An act for continuing the improvement of +the Des Moines Rapids, in the Mississippi River," and submit it for +reconsideration, because it is, in my judgment, liable to the objections +to the prosecution of internal improvements by the General Government +set forth at length in a communication addressed by me to the two Houses +of Congress on the 30th day of December, 1854, and in other subsequent +messages upon the same subject, to which on this occasion I respectfully +refer. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _August 14, 1856_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I return herewith to the Senate, in which it originated, a bill entitled +"An act for the improvement of the navigation of the Patapsco River and +to render the port of Baltimore accessible to the war steamers of the +United States," and submit it for reconsideration, because it is, in +my judgment, liable to the objections to the prosecution of internal +improvements by the General Government set forth at length in a +communication addressed by me to the two Houses of Congress on the +30th day of December, 1854, and other subsequent messages upon the +same subject, to which on this occasion I respectfully refer. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + + +PROCLAMATIONS. + + +BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. + +A PROCLAMATION. + +Whereas information has been received by me that sundry persons, +citizens of the United States and others resident therein, are +preparing, within the jurisdiction of the same, to enlist, or enter +themselves, or to hire or retain others to participate in military +operations within the State of Nicaragua: + +Now, therefore, I, Franklin Pierce, President of the United States, do +warn all persons against connecting themselves with any such enterprise +or undertaking, as being contrary to their duty as good citizens and to +the laws of their country and threatening to the peace of the United +States. + +I do further admonish all persons who may depart from the United States, +either singly or in numbers, organized or unorganized, for any such +purpose, that they will thereby cease to be entitled to the protection +of this Government. + +I exhort all good citizens to discountenance and prevent any such +disreputable and criminal undertaking as aforesaid, charging all +officers, civil and military, having lawful power in the premises, +to exercise the same for the purpose of maintaining the authority +and enforcing the laws of the United States. + +In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal +of the United States to be affixed to these presents. + +[SEAL.] + +Done at the city of Washington, the 8th day of December, 1855, and +of the Independence of the United States the eightieth. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + +By the President: + W.L. MARCY, + _Secretary of State_. + + + +BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. + +A PROCLAMATION. + +Whereas on the second section of an act of the Congress of the United +States approved the 5th day of August, 1854, entitled "An act to carry +into effect a treaty between the United States and Great Britain signed +on the 5th day of June, 1854," it is provided that whenever the island +of Newfoundland shall give its consent to the application of the +stipulations and provisions of the said treaty to that Province and the +legislature thereof and the Imperial Parliament shall pass the necessary +laws for that purpose, grain, flour, and breadstuffs of all kinds; +animals of all kinds; fresh, smoked, and salted meats; cotton wool, +seeds and vegetables, undried fruits, dried fruits, fish of all kinds, +products of fish and all other creatures living in the water, poultry, +eggs; hides, furs, skins, or tails, undressed; stone or marble in its +crude or unwrought state, slate, butter, cheese, tallow, lard, horns, +manures, ores of metals of all kinds, coal, pitch, tar, turpentine, +ashes; timber and lumber of all kinds, round, hewed, and sawed, +unmanufactured in whole or in part; firewood; plants, shrubs, and trees; +pelts, wool, fish oil, rice, broom corn, and bark; gypsum, ground or +unground; hewn or wrought or unwrought burr or grind stones, dyestuffs; +flax, hemp, and tow, unmanufactured; unmanufactured tobacco, and +rags--shall be admitted free of duty from that Province into the United +States from and after the date of a proclamation by the President of the +United States declaring that he has satisfactory evidence that the said +Province has consented in a due and proper manner to have the provisions +of the treaty extended to it and to allow the United States the full +benefits of all the stipulations therein contained; and + +Whereas I have satisfactory evidence that the Province of Newfoundland +has consented in a due and proper manner to have the provisions of the +aforesaid treaty extended to it and to allow the United States the full +benefits of all the stipulations therein contained, so far as they are +applicable to that Province: + +Now, therefore, I, Franklin Pierce, President of the United States of +America, do hereby declare and proclaim that from this date the articles +enumerated in the preamble of this proclamation, being the growth and +produce of the British North American colonies, shall be admitted from +the aforesaid Province of Newfoundland into the United States free of +duty so long as the aforesaid treaty shall remain in force. + +In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal +of the United States to be affixed to these presents. + +[SEAL.] + +Done at the city of Washington, the 12th day of December, A.D. 1855, +and of the Independence of the United States the eightieth. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + +By the President: + W.L. MARCY, + _Secretary of State_. + + + +BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. + +A PROCLAMATION. + +Whereas indications exist that public tranquillity and the supremacy of +law in the Territory of Kansas are endangered by the reprehensible acts +or purposes of persons, both within and without the same, who propose +to direct and control its political organization by force. It appearing +that combinations have been formed therein to resist the execution of +the Territorial laws, and thus in effect subvert by violence all present +constitutional and legal authority; it also appearing that persons +residing without the Territory, but near its borders, contemplate armed +intervention in the affairs thereof; it also appearing that other +persons, inhabitants of remote States, are collecting money, engaging +men, and providing arms for the same purpose; and it further appearing +that combinations within the Territory are endeavoring, by the agency of +emissaries and otherwise, to induce individual States of the Union to +intervene in the affairs thereof, in violation of the Constitution of +the United States; and + +Whereas all such plans for the determination of the future institutions +of the Territory, if carried into action from within the same, will +constitute the fact of insurrection, and if from without that of +invasive aggression, and will in either case justify and require the +forcible interposition of the whole power of the General Government, +as well to maintain the laws of the Territory as those of the Union: + +Now, therefore, I, Franklin Pierce, President of the United States, do +issue this my proclamation to command all persons engaged in unlawful +combinations against the constituted authority of the Territory of +Kansas or of the United States to disperse and retire peaceably to their +respective abodes, and to warn all such persons that any attempted +insurrection in said Territory or aggressive intrusion into the same +will be resisted not only by the employment of the local militia, but +also by that of any available forces of the United States, to the end +of assuring immunity from violence and full protection to the persons, +property, and civil rights of all peaceable and law-abiding inhabitants +of the Territory. + +If, in any part of the Union, the fury of faction or fanaticism, +inflamed into disregard of the great principles of popular sovereignty +which, under the Constitution, are fundamental in the whole structure +of our institutions is to bring on the country the dire calamity of +an arbitrament of arms in that Territory, it shall be between lawless +violence on the one side and conservative force on the other, wielded +by legal authority of the General Government. + +I call on the citizens, both of adjoining and of distant States, to +abstain from unauthorized intermeddling in the local concerns of the +Territory, admonishing them that its organic law is to be executed with +impartial justice, that all individual acts of illegal interference +will incur condign punishment, and that any endeavor to intervene by +organized force will be firmly withstood. + +I invoke all good citizens to promote order by rendering obedience +to the law, to seek remedy for temporary evils by peaceful means, +to discountenance and repulse the counsels and the instigations of +agitators and of disorganizers, and to testify their attachment to +their country, their pride in its greatness, their appreciation of +the blessings they enjoy, and their determination that republican +institutions shall not fail in their hands by cooperating to uphold the +majesty of the laws and to vindicate the sanctity of the Constitution. + +In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal +of the United States to be affixed to these presents. + +[SEAL.] + +Done at the city of Washington, the 11th day of February, A.D. 1856, +and of the Independence of the United States the eightieth. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + +By the President: + W.L. MARCY, + _Secretary of State_. + + + +FRANKLIN PIERCE, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. + +_To all whom it may concern_: + +Whereas by letters patent under the seal of the United States bearing +date the 2d day of March, A.D. 1843, the President recognized Anthony +Barclay as consul of Her Britannic Majesty at New York and declared him +free to exercise and enjoy such functions, powers, and privileges as are +allowed to the consuls of the most favored nations, but, for good and +sufficient reasons, it is deemed proper that he should no longer +exercise the said functions within the United States: + +Now, therefore, be it known that I, Franklin Pierce, President of +the United States of America, do hereby declare that the powers and +privileges conferred as aforesaid on the said Anthony Barclay are +revoked and annulled. + +In testimony whereof I have caused these letters to be made patent and +the seal of the United States to be hereunto affixed. + +[SEAL.] + +Given under my hand, at the city of Washington, the 28th day of May, +A.D. 1856, and of the Independence of the United States of America +the eightieth. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + +By the President: + W.L. MARCY, + _Secretary of State_. + + + +FRANKLIN PIERCE, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. + +_To all whom it may concern_: + +Whereas by letters patent under the seal of the United States bearing +date the 2d day of August, A.D. 1853, the President recognized George +Benvenuto Mathew as consul of Her Britannic Majesty at Philadelphia and +declared him free to exercise and enjoy such functions, powers, and +privileges as are allowed to the consuls of the most favored nations, +but, for good and sufficient reasons, it is deemed proper that he should +no longer exercise the said functions within the United States: + +Now, therefore, be it known that I, Franklin Pierce, President of +the United States of America, do hereby declare that the powers and +privileges conferred as aforesaid on the said George Benvenuto Mathew +are revoked and annulled. + +In testimony whereof I have caused these letters to be made patent and +the seal of the United States to be hereunto affixed. + +[SEAL.] + +Given under my hand, at the city of Washington, the 28th day of May, +A.D. 1856, and of the Independence of the United States of America +the eightieth. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + +By the President: + W.L. MARCY, + _Secretary of State_. + + + +FRANKLIN PIERCE, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. + +_To all whom it may concern_: + +Whereas by letters patent under the seal of the United States bearing +date the 17th day of August, A.D. 1852, the President recognized Charles +Rowcroft as consul of Her Britannic Majesty at Cincinnati and declared +him free to exercise and enjoy such functions, powers, and privileges as +are allowed to the consuls of the most favored nations, but, for good +and sufficient reasons, it is deemed proper that he should no longer +exercise the said functions within the United States: + +Now, therefore, be it known that I, Franklin Pierce, President of +the United States of America, do hereby declare that the powers and +privileges conferred as aforesaid on the said Charles Rowcroft are +revoked and annulled. + +In testimony whereof I have caused these letters to be made patent and +the seal of the United States to be hereunto affixed. + +[SEAL.] + +Given under my hand, at the city of Washington, the 28th day of May, +A.D. 1856, and of the Independence of the United States of America +the eightieth. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + +By the President: + W.L. MARCY, + _Secretary of State_. + + + +BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. + +A PROCLAMATION. + +Whereas, pursuant to the first article of the treaty between the United +States and the Mexican Republic of the 30th day of December, 1853, the +true limits between the territories of the contracting parties were +declared to be as follows: + +Retaining the same dividing line between the two Californias as already +defined and established according to the fifth article of the treaty of +Guadalupe Hidalgo, the limits between the two Republics shall be as +follows: + +Beginning in the Gulf of Mexico 3 leagues from land, opposite the mouth +of the Rio Grande, as provided in the fifth article of the treaty of +Guadalupe Hidalgo; thence, as defined in the said article, up the middle +of that river to the point where the parallel of 31 deg. 47' north latitude +crosses the same; thence due west 100 miles; thence south to the +parallel of 31 deg. 20' north latitude; thence along the said parallel of +31 deg. 20' to the one hundred and eleventh meridian of longitude west of +Greenwich; thence in a straight line to a point on the Colorado River 20 +English miles below the junction of the Gila and Colorado rivers; thence +up the middle of the said river Colorado until it intersects the present +line between the United States and Mexico. + +And whereas the said dividing line has been surveyed, marked out, and +established by the respective commissioners of the contracting parties, +pursuant to the same article of the said treaty: + +Now, therefore, be it known that I, Franklin Pierce, President of the +United States of America, do hereby declare to all whom it may concern +that the line aforesaid shall be held and considered as the boundary +between the United States and the Mexican Republic and shall be +respected as such by the United States and the citizens thereof. + +In testimony whereof I have caused the seal of the United States to be +hereunto affixed. + +[SEAL.] + +Given under my hand, at the city of Washington, this 2d day of June, +A.D. 1856, and of the Independence of the United States the eightieth. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + +By the President: + W.L. MARCY, + _Secretary of State_. + + + +BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. + +A PROCLAMATION. + +Whereas whilst hostilities exist with various Indian tribes on the +remote frontiers of the United States, and whilst in other respects the +public peace is seriously threatened, Congress has adjourned without +granting necessary supplies for the Army, depriving the Executive of +the power to perform his duty in relation to the common defense and +security, and an extraordinary occasion has thus arisen for assembling +the two Houses of Congress, I do therefore by this my proclamation +convene the said Houses to meet in the Capitol, at the city of +Washington, on Thursday, the 21st day of August instant, hereby +requiring the respective Senators and Representatives then and there +to assemble to consult and determine on such measures as the state of +the Union may seem to require. + +In testimony whereof I have caused the seal of the United States to be +hereunto affixed and signed the same with my hand. + +[SEAL.] + +Done at the city of Washington, the 18th day of August, A.D. 1856, and +of the Independence of the United States the eighty-first. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + +By order: + W.L. MARCY, + _Secretary of State_. + + + + +SPECIAL SESSION MESSAGE. + + +WASHINGTON, _August 21, 1856_. + +_Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +In consequence of the failure of Congress at its recent session to make +provision for the support of the Army, it became imperatively incumbent +on me to exercise the power which the Constitution confers on the +Executive for extraordinary occasions, and promptly to convene the two +Houses in order to afford them an opportunity of reconsidering a subject +of such vital interest to the peace and welfare of the Union. + +With the exception of a partial authority vested by law in the Secretary +of War to contract for the supply of clothing and subsistence, the Army +is wholly dependent on the appropriations annually made by Congress. +The omission of Congress to act in this respect before the termination of +the fiscal year had already caused embarrassments to the service, which +were overcome only in expectation of appropriations before the close +of the present month. If the requisite funds be not speedily provided, +the Executive will no longer be able to furnish the transportation, +equipments, and munitions which are essential to the effectiveness of a +military force in the field. With no provision for the pay of troops the +contracts of enlistment would be broken and the Army must in effect be +disbanded, the consequences of which would be so disastrous as to demand +all possible efforts to avert the calamity. + +It is not merely that the officers and enlisted men of the Army are to +be thus deprived of the pay and emoluments to which they are entitled by +standing laws; that the construction of arms at the public armories, the +repair and construction of ordnance at the arsenals, and the manufacture +of military clothing and camp equipage must be discontinued, and the +persons connected with this branch of the public service thus be +deprived suddenly of the employment essential to their subsistence; +nor is it merely the waste consequent on the forced abandonment of the +seaboard fortifications and of the interior military posts and other +establishments, and the enormous expense of recruiting and reorganizing +the Army and again distributing it over the vast regions which it now +occupies. These are evils which may, it is true, be repaired hereafter +by taxes imposed on the country; but other evils are involved, which no +expenditures, however lavish, could remedy, in comparison with which +local and personal injuries or interests sink into insignificance. + +A great part of the Army is situated on the remote frontier or in the +deserts and mountains of the interior. To discharge large bodies of men +in such places without the means of regaining their homes, and where +few, if any, could obtain subsistence by honest industry, would be to +subject them to suffering and temptation, with disregard of justice and +right most derogatory to the Government. + +In the Territories of Washington and Oregon numerous bands of Indians +are in arms and are waging a war of extermination against the white +inhabitants; and although our troops are actively carrying on the +campaign, we have no intelligence as yet of a successful result. On the +Western plains, notwithstanding the imposing display of military force +recently made there and the chastisement inflicted on the rebellious +tribes, others, far from being dismayed, have manifested hostile +intentions and been guilty of outrages which, if not designed to provoke +a conflict, serve to show that the apprehension of it is insufficient +wholly to restrain their vicious propensities. A strong force in the +State of Texas has produced a temporary suspension of hostilities there, +but in New Mexico incessant activity on the part of the troops is +required to keep in check the marauding tribes which infest that +Territory. The hostile Indians have not been removed from the State of +Florida, and the withdrawal of the troops therefrom, leaving that object +unaccomplished, would be most injurious to the inhabitants and a breach +of the positive engagement of the General Government. + +To refuse supplies to the Army, therefore, is to compel the complete +cessation of all its operations and its practical disbandment, and thus +to invite hordes of predatory savages from the Western plains and the +Rocky Mountains to spread devastation along a frontier of more than +4,000 miles in extent and to deliver up the sparse population of a vast +tract of country to rapine and murder. + +Such, in substance, would be the direct and immediate effects of +the refusal of Congress, for the first time in the history of the +Government, to grant supplies for the maintenance of the Army--the +inevitable waste of millions of public treasure; the infliction of +extreme wrong upon all persons connected with the military establishment +by service, employment, or contracts; the recall of our forces from the +field; the fearful sacrifice of life and incalculable destruction of +property on the remote frontiers; the striking of our national flag +on the battlements of the fortresses which defend our maritime cities +against foreign invasion; the violation of the public honor and good +faith, and the discredit of the United States in the eyes of the +civilized world. + +I confidently trust that these considerations, and others appertaining +to the domestic peace of the country which can not fail to suggest +themselves to every patriotic mind, will on reflection be duly +appreciated by both Houses of Congress and induce the enactment of the +requisite provisions of law for the support of the Army of the United +States. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + + +SPECIAL MESSAGE. + + +EXECUTIVE OFFICE, + +_Washington, August 21, 1856_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a letter from the Secretary of War, in relation to +the balances remaining in the Treasury from the last appropriation for +the support of the Army. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + + +FOURTH ANNUAL MESSAGE. + + +WASHINGTON, _December 2, 1856_. + +_Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and of the House of Representatives_: + +The Constitution requires that the President shall from time to time not +only recommend to the consideration of Congress such measures as he may +judge necessary and expedient, but also that he shall give information +to them of the state of the Union. To do this fully involves exposition +of all matters in the actual condition of the country, domestic or +foreign, which essentially concern the general welfare. While performing +his constitutional duty in this respect, the President does not speak +merely to express personal convictions, but as the executive minister of +the Government, enabled by his position and called upon by his official +obligations to scan with an impartial eye the interests of the whole and +of every part of the United States. + +Of the condition of the domestic interests of the Union--its agriculture, +mines, manufactures, navigation, and commerce--it is necessary only to +say that the internal prosperity of the country, its continuous and +steady advancement in wealth and population and in private as well +as public well-being, attest the wisdom of our institutions and the +predominant spirit of intelligence and patriotism which, notwithstanding +occasional irregularities of opinion or action resulting from popular +freedom, has distinguished and characterized the people of America. + +In the brief interval between the termination of the last and the +commencement of the present session of Congress the public mind has been +occupied with the care of selecting for another constitutional term the +President and Vice-President of the United States. + +The determination of the persons who are of right, or contingently, to +preside over the administration of the Government is under our system +committed to the States and the people. We appeal to them, by their +voice pronounced in the forms of law, to call whomsoever they will to +the high post of Chief Magistrate. + +And thus it is that as the Senators represent the respective States of +the Union and the members of the House of Representatives the several +constituencies of each State, so the President represents the aggregate +population of the United States. Their election of him is the explicit +and solemn act of the sole sovereign authority of the Union. + +It is impossible to misapprehend the great principles which by their +recent political action the people of the United States have sanctioned +and announced. + +They have asserted the constitutional equality of each and all of the +States of the Union as States; they have affirmed the constitutional +equality of each and all of the citizens of the United States as +citizens, whatever their religion, wherever their birth or their +residence; they have maintained the inviolability of the constitutional +rights of the different sections of the Union, and they have proclaimed +their devoted and unalterable attachment to the Union and to the +Constitution, as objects of interest superior to all subjects of local +or sectional controversy, as the safeguard of the rights of all, as the +spirit and the essence of the liberty, peace, and greatness of the +Republic. + +In doing this they have at the same time emphatically condemned the idea +of organizing in these United States mere geographical parties, of +marshaling in hostile array toward each other the different parts of the +country, North or South, East or West. + +Schemes of this nature, fraught with incalculable mischief, and which +the considerate sense of the people has rejected, could have had +countenance in no part of the country had they not been disguised by +suggestions plausible in appearance, acting upon an excited state of the +public mind, induced by causes temporary in their character and, it is +to be hoped, transient in their influence. + +Perfect liberty of association for political objects and the widest +scope of discussion are the received and ordinary conditions of +government in our country. Our institutions, framed in the spirit +of confidence in the intelligence and integrity of the people, do not +forbid citizens, either individually or associated together, to attack +by writing, speech, or any other methods short of physical force the +Constitution and the very existence of the Union. Under the shelter +of this great liberty, and protected by the laws and usages of the +Government they assail, associations have been formed in some of the +States of individuals who, pretending to seek only to prevent the spread +of the institution of slavery into the present or future inchoate States +of the Union, are really inflamed with desire to change the domestic +institutions of existing States. To accomplish their objects they +dedicate themselves to the odious task of depreciating the government +organization which stands in their way and of calumniating with +indiscriminate invective not only the citizens of particular States with +whose laws they find fault, but all others of their fellow-citizens +throughout the country who do not participate with them in their +assaults upon the Constitution, framed and adopted by our fathers, and +claiming for the privileges it has secured and the blessings it has +conferred the steady support and grateful reverence of their children. +They seek an object which they well know to be a revolutionary one. +They are perfectly aware that the change in the relative condition of +the white and black races in the slaveholding States which they would +promote is beyond their lawful authority; that to them it is a foreign +object; that it can not be effected by any peaceful instrumentality of +theirs; that for them and the States of which they are citizens the +only path to its accomplishment is through burning cities, and ravaged +fields, and slaughtered populations, and all there is most terrible in +foreign complicated with civil and servile war; and that the first step +in the attempt is the forcible disruption of a country embracing in its +broad bosom a degree of liberty and an amount of individual and public +prosperity to which there is no parallel in history, and substituting in +its place hostile governments, driven at once and inevitably into mutual +devastation and fratricidal carnage, transforming the now peaceful and +felicitous brotherhood into a vast permanent camp of armed men like the +rival monarchies of Europe and Asia. Well knowing that such, and such +only, are the means and the consequences of their plans and purposes, +they endeavor to prepare the people of the United States for civil war +by doing everything in their power to deprive the Constitution and the +laws of moral authority and to undermine the fabric of the Union by +appeals to passion and sectional prejudice, by indoctrinating its people +with reciprocal hatred, and by educating them to stand face to face as +enemies, rather than shoulder to shoulder as friends. + +It is by the agency of such unwarrantable interference, foreign and +domestic, that the minds of many otherwise good citizens have been so +inflamed into the passionate condemnation of the domestic institutions +of the Southern States as at length to pass insensibly to almost equally +passionate hostility toward their fellow-citizens of those States, and +thus finally to fall into temporary fellowship with the avowed and +active enemies of the Constitution. Ardently attached to liberty in the +abstract, they do not stop to consider practically how the objects they +would attain can be accomplished, nor to reflect that, even if the evil +were as great as they deem it, they have no remedy to apply, and that it +can be only aggravated by their violence and unconstitutional action. +A question which is one of the most difficult of all the problems of +social institution, political economy, and statesmanship they treat +with unreasoning intemperance of thought and language. Extremes beget +extremes. Violent attack from the North finds its inevitable consequence +in the growth of a spirit of angry defiance at the South. Thus in the +progress of events we had reached that consummation, which the voice of +the people has now so pointedly rebuked, of the attempt of a portion of +the States, by a sectional organization and movement, to usurp the +control of the Government of the United States. + +I confidently believe that the great body of those who inconsiderately +took this fatal step are sincerely attached to the Constitution and the +Union. They would upon deliberation shrink with unaffected horror from +any conscious act of disunion or civil war. But they have entered into +a path which leads nowhere unless it be to civil war and disunion, and +which has no other possible outlet. They have proceeded thus far in +that direction in consequence of the successive stages of their progress +having consisted of a series of secondary issues, each of which +professed to be confined within constitutional and peaceful limits, but +which attempted indirectly what few men were willing to do directly; +that is, to act aggressively against the constitutional rights of +nearly one-half of the thirty-one States. + +In the long series of acts of indirect aggression, the first was the +strenuous agitation by citizens of the Northern States, in Congress and +out of it, of the question of negro emancipation in the Southern States. + +The second step in this path of evil consisted of acts of the people +of the Northern States, and in several instances of their governments, +aimed to facilitate the escape of persons held to service in the +Southern States and to prevent their extradition when reclaimed +according to law and in virtue of express provisions of the +Constitution. To promote this object, legislative enactments and other +means were adopted to take away or defeat rights which the Constitution +solemnly guaranteed. In order to nullify the then existing act of +Congress concerning the extradition of fugitives from service, laws were +enacted in many States forbidding their officers, under the severest +penalties, to participate in the execution of any act of Congress +whatever. In this way that system of harmonious cooperation between the +authorities of the United States and of the several States, for the +maintenance of their common institutions, which existed in the early +years of the Republic was destroyed; conflicts of jurisdiction came to +be frequent, and Congress found itself compelled, for the support of +the Constitution and the vindication of its power, to authorize the +appointment of new officers charged with the execution of its acts, as +if they and the officers of the States were the ministers, respectively, +of foreign governments in a state of mutual hostility rather than +fellow-magistrates of a common country peacefully subsisting under the +protection of one well-constituted Union. Thus here also aggression was +followed by reaction, and the attacks upon the Constitution at this +point did but serve to raise up new barriers for its defense and +security. + +The third stage of this unhappy sectional controversy was in +connection with the organization of Territorial governments and +the admission of new States into the Union. When it was proposed to +admit the State of Maine, by separation of territory from that of +Massachusetts, and the State of Missouri, formed of a portion of the +territory ceded by France to the United States, representatives in +Congress objected to the admission of the latter unless with conditions +suited to particular views of public policy. The imposition of such a +condition was successfully resisted; but at the same period the question +was presented of imposing restrictions upon the residue of the territory +ceded by France. That question was for the time disposed of by the +adoption of a geographical line of limitation. + +In this connection it should not be forgotten that when France, of +her own accord, resolved, for considerations of the most far-sighted +sagacity, to cede Louisiana to the United States, and that accession was +accepted by the United States, the latter expressly engaged that "the +inhabitants of the ceded territory shall be incorporated in the Union +of the United States and admitted as soon as possible, according to the +principles of the Federal Constitution, to the enjoyment of all the +rights, advantages, and immunities of citizens of the United States; +and in the meantime they shall be maintained and protected in the free +enjoyment of their _liberty, property_, and the religion which they +profess;" that is to say, while it remains in a Territorial condition +its inhabitants are maintained and protected in the free enjoyment of +their liberty and property, with a right then to pass into the condition +of States on a footing of perfect equality with the original States. + +The enactment which established the restrictive geographical line was +acquiesced in rather than approved by the States of the Union. It stood +on the statute book, however, for a number of years; and the people of +the respective States acquiesced in the reenactment of the principle as +applied to the State of Texas, and it was proposed to acquiesce in its +further application to the territory acquired by the United States +from Mexico. But this proposition was successfully resisted by the +representatives from the Northern States, who, regardless of the statute +line, insisted upon applying restriction to the new territory generally, +whether lying north or south of it, thereby repealing it as a +legislative compromise, and, on the part of the North, persistently +violating the compact, if compact there was. + +Thereupon this enactment ceased to have binding virtue in any sense, +whether as respects the North or the South, and so in effect it was +treated on the occasion of the admission of the State of California and +the organization of the Territories of New Mexico, Utah, and Washington. + +Such was the state of this question when the time arrived for the +organization of the Territories of Kansas and Nebraska. In the progress +of constitutional inquiry and reflection it had now at length come to +be seen clearly that Congress does not possess constitutional power to +impose restrictions of this character upon any present or future State +of the Union. In a long series of decisions, on the fullest argument and +after the most deliberate consideration, the Supreme Court of the United +States had finally determined this point in every form under which the +question could arise, whether as affecting public or private rights--in +questions of the public domain, of religion, of navigation, and of +servitude. + +The several States of the Union are by force of the Constitution coequal +in domestic legislative power. Congress can not change a law of domestic +relation in the State of Maine; no more can it in the State of Missouri. +Any statute which proposes to do this is a mere nullity; it takes away +no right, it confers none. If it remains on the statute book unrepealed, +it remains there only as a monument of error and a beacon of warning to +the legislator and the statesman. To repeal it will be only to remove +imperfection from the statutes, without affecting, either in the sense +of permission or of prohibition, the action of the States or of their +citizens. + +Still, when the nominal restriction of this nature, already a dead +letter in law, was in terms repealed by the last Congress, in a clause +of the act organizing the Territories of Kansas and Nebraska, that +repeal was made the occasion of a widespread and dangerous agitation. + +It was alleged that the original enactment being a compact of perpetual +moral obligation, its repeal constituted an odious breach of faith. + +An act of Congress, while it remains unrepealed, more especially if it +be constitutionally valid in the judgment of those public functionaries +whose duty it is to pronounce on that point, is undoubtedly binding on +the conscience of each good citizen of the Republic. But in what sense +can it be asserted that the enactment in question was invested with +perpetuity and entitled to the respect of a solemn compact? Between whom +was the compact? No distinct contending powers of the Government, no +separate sections of the Union treating as such, entered into treaty +stipulations on the subject. It was a mere clause of an act of Congress, +and, like any other controverted matter of legislation, received its +final shape and was passed by compromise of the conflicting opinions or +sentiments of the members of Congress. But if it had moral authority +over men's consciences, to whom did this authority attach? Not to those +of the North, who had repeatedly refused to confirm it by extension +and who had zealously striven to establish other and incompatible +regulations upon the subject. And if, as it thus appears, the supposed +compact had no obligatory force as to the North, of course it could not +have had any as to the South, for all such compacts must be mutual and +of reciprocal obligation. + +It has not unfrequently happened that lawgivers, with undue estimation +of the value of the law they give or in the view of imparting to it +peculiar strength, make it perpetual in terms; but they can not thus +bind the conscience, the judgment, and the will of those who may succeed +them, invested with similar responsibilities and clothed with equal +authority. More careful investigation may prove the law to be unsound +in principle. Experience may show it to be imperfect in detail and +impracticable in execution. And then both reason and right combine +not merely to justify but to require its repeal. + +The Constitution, supreme, as it is, over all the departments of the +Government--legislative, executive, and judicial--is open to amendment +by its very terms; and Congress or the States may, in their discretion, +propose amendment to it, solemn compact though it in truth is between +the sovereign States of the Union. In the present instance a political +enactment which had ceased to have legal power or authority of any kind +was repealed. The position assumed that Congress had no moral right to +enact such repeal was strange enough, and singularly so in view of the +fact that the argument came from those who openly refused obedience +to existing laws of the land, having the same popular designation and +quality as compromise acts; nay, more, who unequivocally disregarded +and condemned the most positive and obligatory injunctions of the +Constitution itself, and sought by every means within their reach to +deprive a portion of their fellow-citizens of the equal enjoyment of +those rights and privileges guaranteed alike to all by the fundamental +compact of our Union. + +This argument against the repeal of the statute line in question was +accompanied by another of congenial character and equally with the +former destitute of foundation in reason and truth. It was imputed that +the measure originated in the conception of extending the limits of +slave labor beyond those previously assigned to it, and that such was +its natural as well as intended effect; and these baseless assumptions +were made, in the Northern States, the ground of unceasing assault upon +constitutional right. + +The repeal in terms of a statute, which was already obsolete and also +null for unconstitutionality, could have no influence to obstruct or +to promote the propagation of conflicting views of political or social +institution. When the act organizing the Territories of Kansas and +Nebraska was passed, the inherent effect upon that portion of the +public domain thus opened to legal settlement was to admit settlers +from all the States of the Union alike, each with his convictions of +public policy and private interest, there to found, in their discretion, +subject to such limitations as the Constitution and acts of Congress +might prescribe, new States, hereafter to be admitted into the Union. +It was a free field, open alike to all, whether the statute line of +assumed restriction were repealed or not. That repeal did not open to +free competition of the diverse opinions and domestic institutions a +field which without such repeal would have been closed against them; +it found that field of competition already opened, in fact and in law. +All the repeal did was to relieve the statute book of an objectionable +enactment, unconstitutional in effect and injurious in terms to a large +portion of the States. + +Is it the fact that in all the unsettled regions of the United States, +if emigration be left free to act in this respect for itself, without +legal prohibitions on either side, slave labor will spontaneously go +everywhere in preference to free labor? Is it the fact that the peculiar +domestic institutions of the Southern States possess relatively so much +of vigor that wheresoever an avenue is freely opened to all the world +they will penetrate to the exclusion of those of the Northern States? +Is it the fact that the former enjoy, compared with the latter, such +irresistibly superior vitality, independent of climate, soil, and all +other accidental circumstances, as to be able to produce the supposed +result in spite of the assumed moral and natural obstacles to its +accomplishment and of the more numerous population of the Northern +States? + +The argument of those who advocate the enactment of new laws of +restriction and condemn the repeal of old ones in effect avers that +their particular views of government have no self-extending or +self-sustaining power of their own, and will go nowhere unless forced by +act of Congress. And if Congress do but pause for a moment in the policy +of stern coercion; if it venture to try the experiment of leaving men to +judge for themselves what institutions will best suit them; if it be not +strained up to perpetual legislative exertion on this point--if Congress +proceed thus to act in the very spirit of liberty, it is at once charged +with aiming to extend slave labor into all the new Territories of the +United States. + +Of course these imputations on the intentions of Congress in this +respect, conceived, as they were, in prejudice and disseminated in +passion, are utterly destitute of any justification in the nature of +things and contrary to all the fundamental doctrines and principles of +civil liberty and self-government. + +While, therefore, in general, the people of the Northern States +have never at any time arrogated for the Federal Government the +power to interfere directly with the domestic condition of persons +in the Southern States, but, on the contrary, have disavowed all such +intentions and have shrunk from conspicuous affiliation with those few +who pursue their fanatical objects avowedly through the contemplated +means of revolutionary change of the Government and with acceptance of +the necessary consequences--a civil and servile war--yet many citizens +have suffered themselves to be drawn into one evanescent political issue +of agitation after another, appertaining to the same set of opinions, +and which subsided as rapidly as they arose when it came to be seen, as +it uniformly did, that they were incompatible with the compacts of the +Constitution and the existence of the Union. Thus when the acts of some +of the States to nullify the existing extradition law imposed upon +Congress the duty of passing a new one, the country was invited by +agitators to enter into party organization for its repeal; but that +agitation speedily ceased by reason of the impracticability of its +object. So when the statute restriction upon the institutions of new +States by a geographical line had been repealed, the country was urged +to demand its restoration, and that project also died almost with its +birth. Then followed the cry of alarm from the North against imputed +Southern encroachments, which cry sprang in reality from the spirit of +revolutionary attack on the domestic institutions of the South, and, +after a troubled existence of a few months, has been rebuked by the +voice of a patriotic people. + +Of this last agitation, one lamentable feature was that it was carried +on at the immediate expense of the peace and happiness of the people of +the Territory of Kansas. That was made the battlefield, not so much of +opposing factions or interests within itself as of the conflicting +passions of the whole people of the United States. Revolutionary +disorder in Kansas had its origin in projects of intervention +deliberately arranged by certain members of that Congress which enacted +the law for the organization of the Territory; and when propagandist +colonization of Kansas had thus been undertaken in one section of the +Union for the systematic promotion of its peculiar views of policy there +ensued as a matter of course a counteraction with opposite views in +other sections of the Union. + +In consequence of these and other incidents, many acts of disorder, +it is undeniable, have been perpetrated in Kansas, to the occasional +interruption rather than the permanent suspension of regular government. +Aggressive and most reprehensible incursions into the Territory were +undertaken both in the North and the South, and entered it on its +northern border by the way of Iowa, as well as on the eastern by way +of Missouri; and there has existed within it a state of insurrection +against the constituted authorities, not without countenance from +inconsiderate persons in each of the great sections of the Union. But +the difficulties in that Territory have been extravagantly exaggerated +for purposes of political agitation elsewhere. The number and gravity of +the acts of violence have been magnified partly by statements entirely +untrue and partly by reiterated accounts of the same rumors or facts. +Thus the Territory has been seemingly filled with extreme violence, +when the whole amount of such acts has not been greater than what +occasionally passes before us in single cities to the regret of all +good citizens, but without being regarded as of general or permanent +political consequence. + +Imputed irregularities in the elections had in Kansas, like occasional +irregularities of the same description in the States, were beyond the +sphere of action of the Executive. But incidents of actual violence or +of organized obstruction of law, pertinaciously renewed from time to +time, have been met as they occurred by such means as were available and +as the circumstances required, and nothing of this character now remains +to affect the general peace of the Union. The attempt of a part of the +inhabitants of the Territory to erect a revolutionary government, though +sedulously encouraged and supplied with pecuniary aid from active agents +of disorder in some of the States, has completely failed. Bodies of +armed men, foreign to the Territory, have been prevented from entering +or compelled to leave it; predatory bands, engaged in acts of rapine +under cover of the existing political disturbances, have been arrested +or dispersed, and every well-disposed person is now enabled once more to +devote himself in peace to the pursuits of prosperous industry, for the +prosecution of which he undertook to participate in the settlement of +the Territory. + +It affords me unmingled satisfaction thus to announce the peaceful +condition of things in Kansas, especially considering the means to which +it was necessary to have recourse for the attainment of the end, namely, +the employment of a part of the military force of the United States. The +withdrawal of that force from its proper duty of defending the country +against foreign foes or the savages of the frontier to employ it for +the suppression of domestic insurrection is, when the exigency occurs, +a matter of the most earnest solicitude. On this occasion of imperative +necessity it has been done with the best results, and my satisfaction +in the attainment of such results by such means is greatly enhanced by +the consideration that, through the wisdom and energy of the present +executive of Kansas and the prudence, firmness, and vigilance of the +military officers on duty there tranquillity has been restored without +one drop of blood having been shed in its accomplishment by the forces +of the United States. + +The restoration of comparative tranquillity in that Territory furnishes +the means of observing calmly and appreciating at their just value the +events which have occurred there and the discussions of which the +government of the Territory has been the subject. + +We perceive that controversy concerning its future domestic institutions +was inevitable; that no human prudence, no form of legislation, no +wisdom on the part of Congress, could have prevented it. + +It is idle to suppose that the particular provisions of their organic +law were the cause of agitation. Those provisions were but the occasion, +or the pretext, of an agitation which was inherent in the nature of +things. Congress legislated upon the subject in such terms as were most +consonant with the principle of popular sovereignty which underlies our +Government. It could not have legislated otherwise without doing +violence to another great principle of our institutions--the +imprescriptible right of equality of the several States. + +We perceive also that sectional interests and party passions have been +the great impediment to the salutary operation of the organic principles +adopted and the chief cause of the successive disturbances in Kansas, +The assumption that because in the organization of the Territories of +Nebraska and Kansas Congress abstained from imposing restraints upon +them to which certain other Territories had been subject, therefore +disorders occurred in the latter Territory, is emphatically contradicted +by the fact that none have occurred in the former. Those disorders were +not the consequence, in Kansas, of the freedom of self-government +conceded to that Territory by Congress, but of unjust interference on +the part of persons not inhabitants of the Territory. Such interference, +wherever it has exhibited itself by acts of insurrectionary character or +of obstruction to process of law, has been repelled or suppressed by all +the means which the Constitution and the laws place in the hands of the +Executive. + +In those parts of the United States where, by reason of the inflamed +state of the public mind, false rumors and misrepresentations have +the greatest currency it has been assumed that it was the duty of the +Executive not only to suppress insurrectionary movements in Kansas, +but also to see to the regularity of local elections. It needs little +argument to show that the President has no such power. All government in +the United States rests substantially upon popular election. The freedom +of elections is liable to be impaired by the intrusion of unlawful votes +or the exclusion of lawful ones, by improper influences, by violence, +or by fraud. But the people of the United States are themselves the +all-sufficient guardians of their own rights, and to suppose that they +will not remedy in due season any such incidents of civil freedom is +to suppose them to have ceased to be capable of self-government. The +President of the United States has not power to interpose in elections, +to see to their freedom, to canvass their votes, or to pass upon their +legality in the Territories any more than in the States. If he had such +power the Government might be republican in form, but it would be a +monarchy in fact; and if he had undertaken to exercise it in the case of +Kansas he would have been justly subject to the charge of usurpation and +of violation of the dearest rights of the people of the United States. + +Unwise laws, equally with irregularities at elections, are in periods +of great excitement the occasional incidents of even the freest and +best political institutions; but all experience demonstrates that in a +country like ours, where the right of self-constitution exists in the +completest form, the attempt to remedy unwise legislation by resort +to revolution is totally out of place, inasmuch as existing legal +institutions afford more prompt and efficacious means for the redress +of wrong. + +I confidently trust that now, when the peaceful condition of Kansas +affords opportunity for calm reflection and wise legislation, either +the legislative assembly of the Territory or Congress will see that +no act shall remain on its statute book violative of the provisions +of the Constitution or subversive of the great objects for which +that was ordained and established, and will take all other necessary +steps to assure to its inhabitants the enjoyment, without obstruction or +abridgment, of all the constitutional rights, privileges, and immunities +of citizens of the United States, as contemplated by the organic law of +the Territory. + +Full information in relation to recent events in this Territory will be +found in the documents communicated herewith from the Departments of +State and War. + +I refer you to the report of the Secretary of the Treasury for +particular information concerning the financial condition of the +Government and the various branches of the public service connected +with the Treasury Department. + +During the last fiscal year the receipts from customs were for the first +time more than $64,000,000, and from all sources $73,918,141, which, +with the balance on hand up to the 1st of July, 1855, made the total +resources of the year amount to $92,850,117. The expenditures, including +$3,000,000 in execution of the treaty with Mexico and excluding sums +paid on account of the public debt, amounted to $60,172,401, and +including the latter to $72,948,792, the payment on this account having +amounted to $12,776,390. + +On the 4th of March, 1853, the amount of the public debt was +$69,129,937. There was a subsequent increase of $2,750,000 for the debt +of Texas, making a total of $71,879,937. Of this the sum of $45,525,319, +including premium, has been discharged, reducing the debt to +$30,963,909, all which might be paid within a year without embarrassing +the public service, but being not yet due and only redeemable at the +option of the holder, can not be pressed to payment by the Government. + +On examining the expenditures of the last five years it will be seen +that the average, deducting payments on account of the public debt and +$10,000,000 paid by treaty to Mexico, has been but about $48,000,000. +It is believed that under an economical administration of the Government +the average expenditure for the ensuing five years will not exceed that +sum, unless extraordinary occasion for its increase should occur. The +acts granting bounty lands will soon have been executed, while the +extension of our frontier settlements will cause a continued demand +for lands and augmented receipts, probably, from that source. These +considerations will justify a reduction of the revenue from customs +so as not to exceed forty-eight or fifty million dollars. I think the +exigency for such reduction is imperative, and again urge it upon the +consideration of Congress. + +The amount of reduction, as well as the manner of effecting it, +are questions of great and general interest, it being essential to +industrial enterprise and the public prosperity, as well as the dictate +of obvious justice, that the burden of taxation be made to rest as +equally as possible upon all classes and all sections and interests +of the country. + +I have heretofore recommended to your consideration the revision of +the revenue laws, prepared under the direction of the Secretary of the +Treasury, and also legislation upon some special questions affecting the +business of that Department, more especially the enactment of a law to +punish the abstraction of official books or papers from the files of the +Government and requiring all such books and papers and all other public +property to be turned over by the outgoing officer to his successor; +of a law requiring disbursing officers to deposit all public money in +the vaults of the Treasury or in other legal depositories, where the +same are conveniently accessible, and a law to extend existing penal +provisions to all persons who may become possessed of public money by +deposit or otherwise and who shall refuse or neglect on due demand to +pay the same into the Treasury. I invite your attention anew to each +of these objects. + +The Army during the past year has been so constantly employed against +hostile Indians in various quarters that it can scarcely be said, with +propriety of language, to have been a peace establishment. Its duties +have been satisfactorily performed, and we have reason to expect as +a result of the year's operations greater security to the frontier +inhabitants than has been hitherto enjoyed. Extensive combinations among +the hostile Indians of the Territories of Washington and Oregon at one +time threatened the devastation of the newly formed settlements of that +remote portion of the country. From recent information we are permitted +to hope that the energetic and successful operations conducted there +will prevent such combinations in future and secure to those Territories +an opportunity to make steady progress in the development of their +agricultural and mineral resources. + +Legislation has been recommended by me on previous occasions to cure +defects in the existing organization and to increase the efficiency of +the Army, and further observation has but served to confirm me in the +views then expressed and to enforce on my mind the conviction that such +measures are not only proper, but necessary. + +I have, in addition, to invite the attention of Congress to a change of +policy in the distribution of troops and to the necessity of providing +a more rapid increase of the military armament. For details of these +and other subjects relating to the Army I refer to the report of the +Secretary of War. + +The condition of the Navy is not merely satisfactory, but exhibits the +most gratifying evidences of increased vigor. As it is comparatively +small, it is more important that it should be as complete as possible +in all the elements of strength; that it should be efficient in the +character of its officers, in the zeal and discipline of its men, in the +reliability of its ordnance, and in the capacity of its ships. In all +these various qualities the Navy has made great progress within the last +few years. The execution of the law of Congress of February 28, 1855, +"to promote the efficiency of the Navy," has been attended by the most +advantageous results. The law for promoting discipline among the men +is found convenient and salutary. The system of granting an honorable +discharge to faithful seamen on the expiration of the period of their +enlistment and permitting them to reenlist after a leave of absence +of a few months without cessation of pay is highly beneficial in its +influence. The apprentice system recently adopted is evidently destined +to incorporate into the service a large number of our countrymen, +hitherto so difficult to procure. Several hundred American boys are +now on a three years' cruise in our national vessels and will return +well-trained seamen. In the Ordnance Department there is a decided and +gratifying indication of progress, creditable to it and to the country. +The suggestions of the Secretary of the Navy in regard to further +improvement in that branch of the service I commend to your favorable +action. + +The new frigates ordered by Congress are now afloat and two of them in +active service. They are superior models of naval architecture, and with +their formidable battery add largely to public strength and security. +I concur in the views expressed by the Secretary of the Department in +favor of a still further increase of our naval force. + +The report of the Secretary of the Interior presents facts and views +in relation to internal affairs over which the supervision of his +Department extends of much interest and importance. + +The aggregate sales of the public lands during the last fiscal year +amount to 9,227,878 acres, for which has been received the sum of +$8,821,414. During the same period there have been located with military +scrip and land warrants and for other purposes 30,100,230 acres, thus +making a total aggregate of 39,328,108 acres. On the 30th of September +last surveys had been made of 16,873,699 acres, a large proportion of +which is ready for market. + +The suggestions in this report in regard to the complication and +progressive expansion of the business of the different bureaus of the +Department, to the pension system, to the colonization of Indian tribes, +and the recommendations in relation to various improvements in the +District of Columbia are especially commended to your consideration. + +The report of the Postmaster-General presents fully the condition of +that Department of the Government. Its expenditures for the last fiscal +year were $10,407,868 and its gross receipts $7,620,801, making an +excess of expenditure over receipts of $2,787,046. The deficiency +of this Department is thus $744,000 greater than for the year ending +June 30, 1853. Of this deficiency $330,000 is to be attributed to the +additional compensation allowed to postmasters by the act of Congress +of June 22, 1854. The mail facilities in every part of the country have +been very much increased in that period, and the large addition of +railroad service, amounting to 7,908 miles, has added largely to the +cost of transportation. + +The inconsiderable augmentation of the income of the Post-Office +Department under the reduced rates of postage and its increasing +expenditures must for the present make it dependent to some extent +upon the Treasury for support. The recommendations of the +Postmaster-General in relation to the abolition of the franking +privilege and his views on the establishment of mail steamship lines +deserve the consideration of Congress. I also call the special attention +of Congress to the statement of the Postmaster-General respecting the +sums now paid for the transportation of mails to the Panama Railroad +Company, and commend to their early and favorable consideration the +suggestions of that officer in relation to new contracts for mail +transportation upon that route, and also upon the Tehuantepec and +Nicaragua routes. + +The United States continue in the enjoyment of amicable relations with +all foreign powers. + +When my last annual message was transmitted to Congress two subjects of +controversy, one relating to the enlistment of soldiers in this country +for foreign service and the other to Central America, threatened to +disturb the good understanding between the United States and Great +Britain. Of the progress and termination of the former question you were +informed at the time, and the other is now in the way of satisfactory +adjustment. + +The object of the convention between the United States and Great Britain +of the 19th of April, 1850, was to secure for the benefit of all nations +the neutrality and the common use of any transit way or interoceanic +communication across the Isthmus of Panama which might be opened within +the limits of Central America. The pretensions subsequently asserted by +Great Britain to dominion or control over territories in or near two of +the routes, those of Nicaragua and Honduras, were deemed by the United +States not merely incompatible with the main object of the treaty, but +opposed even to its express stipulations. Occasion of controversy on +this point has been removed by an additional treaty, which our minister +at London has concluded, and which will be immediately submitted to +the Senate for its consideration. Should the proposed supplemental +arrangement be concurred in by all the parties to be affected by it, +the objects contemplated by the original convention will have been +fully attained. + +The treaty between the United States and Great Britain of the 5th of +June, 1854, which went into effective operation in 1855, put an end to +causes of irritation between the two countries, by securing to the +United States the right of fishery on the coast of the British North +American Provinces, with advantages equal to those enjoyed by British +subjects. Besides the signal benefits of this treaty to a large class of +our citizens engaged in a pursuit connected to no inconsiderable degree +with our national prosperity and strength, it has had a favorable effect +upon other interests in the provision it made for reciprocal freedom of +trade between the United States and the British Provinces in America. + +The exports of domestic articles to those Provinces during the last year +amounted to more than $22,000,000, exceeding those of the preceding year +by nearly $7,000,000; and the imports therefrom during the same period +amounted to more than twenty-one million, an increase of six million +upon those of the previous year. + +The improved condition of this branch of our commerce is mainly +attributable to the above-mentioned treaty. + +Provision was made in the first article of that treaty for a commission +to designate the mouths of rivers to which the common right of fishery +on the coast of the United States and the British Provinces was not to +extend. This commission has been employed a part of two seasons, but +without much progress in accomplishing the object for which it was +instituted, in consequence of a serious difference of opinion between +the commissioners, not only as to the precise point where the rivers +terminate, but in many instances as to what constitutes a river. These +difficulties, however, may be overcome by resort to the umpirage +provided for by the treaty. + +The efforts perseveringly prosecuted since the commencement of my +Administration to relieve our trade to the Baltic from the exaction of +Sound dues by Denmark have not yet been attended with success. Other +governments have also sought to obtain a like relief to their commerce, +and Denmark was thus induced to propose an arrangement to all the +European powers interested in the subject, and the manner in which her +proposition was received warranting her to believe that a satisfactory +arrangement with them could soon be concluded, she made a strong appeal +to this Government for temporary suspension of definite action on its +part, in consideration of the embarrassment which might result to her +European negotiations by an immediate adjustment of the question with +the United States. This request has been acceded to upon the condition +that the sums collected after the 16th of June last and until the 16th +of June next from vessels and cargoes belonging to our merchants are to +be considered as paid under protest and subject to future adjustment. +There is reason to believe that an arrangement between Denmark and the +maritime powers of Europe on the subject will be soon concluded, and +that the pending negotiation with the United States may then be resumed +and terminated in a satisfactory manner. + +With Spain no new difficulties have arisen, nor has much progress been +made in the adjustment of pending ones. + +Negotiations entered into for the purpose of relieving our commercial +intercourse with the island of Cuba of some of its burdens and providing +for the more speedy settlement of local disputes growing out of that +intercourse have not yet been attended with any results. + +Soon after the commencement of the late war in Europe this Government +submitted to the consideration of all maritime nations two principles +for the security of neutral commerce--one that the neutral flag should +cover enemies' goods, except articles contraband of war, and the other +that neutral property on board merchant vessels of belligerents should +be exempt from condemnation, with the exception of contraband articles. +These were not presented as new rules of international law, having +been generally claimed by neutrals, though not always admitted by +belligerents. One of the parties to the war (Russia), as well as several +neutral powers, promptly acceded to these propositions, and the two +other principal belligerents (Great Britain and France) having consented +to observe them for the present occasion, a favorable opportunity seemed +to be presented for obtaining a general recognition of them, both in +Europe and America. + +But Great Britain and France, in common with most of the States of +Europe, while forbearing to reject, did not affirmatively act upon the +overtures of the United States. + +While the question was in this position the representatives of Russia, +France, Great Britain, Austria, Prussia, Sardinia, and Turkey, assembled +at Paris, took into consideration the subject of maritime rights, +and put forth a declaration containing the two principles which this +Government had submitted nearly two years before to the consideration +of maritime powers, and adding thereto the following propositions: +"Privateering is and remains abolished," and "Blockades in order to +be binding must be effective; that is to say, maintained by a force +sufficient really to prevent access to the coast of the enemy;" and to +the declaration thus composed of four points, two of which had already +been proposed by the United States, this Government has been invited to +accede by all the powers represented at Paris except Great Britain and +Turkey. To the last of the two additional propositions--that in relation +to blockades--there can certainly be no objection. It is merely the +definition of what shall constitute the effectual investment of a +blockaded place, a definition for which this Government has always +contended, claiming indemnity for losses where a practical violation +of the rule thus defined has been injurious to our commerce. As to the +remaining, article of the declaration of the conference of Paris, that +"privateering is and remains abolished," I certainly can not ascribe to +the powers represented in the conference of Paris any but liberal and +philanthropic views in the attempt to change the unquestionable rule of +maritime law in regard to privateering. Their proposition was doubtless +intended to imply approval of the principle that private property upon +the ocean, although it might belong to the citizens of a belligerent +state, should be exempted from capture; and had that proposition been so +framed as to give full effect to the principle, it would have received +my ready assent on behalf of the United States. But the measure proposed +is inadequate to that purpose. It is true that if adopted private +property upon the ocean would be withdrawn from one mode of plunder, +but left exposed meanwhile to another mode, which could be used with +increased effectiveness. The aggressive capacity of great naval powers +would be thereby augmented, while the defensive ability of others would +be reduced. Though the surrender of the means of prosecuting hostilities +by employing privateers, as proposed by the conference of Paris, is +mutual in terms, yet in practical effect it would be the relinquishment +of a right of little value to one class of states, but of essential +importance to another and a far larger class. It ought not to have been +anticipated that a measure so inadequate to the accomplishment of the +proposed object and so unequal in its operation would receive the assent +of all maritime powers. Private property would be still left to the +depredations of the public armed cruisers. + +I have expressed a readiness on the part of this Government to accede +to all the principles contained in the declaration of the conference of +Paris provided that the one relating to the abandonment of privateering +can be so amended as to effect the object for which, as is presumed, it +was intended--the immunity of private property on the ocean from hostile +capture. To effect this object, it is proposed to add to the declaration +that "privateering is and remains abolished" the following amendment: + + + And that the private property of subjects and citizens of a belligerent + on the high seas shall be exempt from seizure by the public armed + vessels of the other belligerent, except it be contraband. + + +This amendment has been presented not only to the powers which have +asked our assent to the declaration to abolish privateering, but to all +other maritime states. Thus far it has not been rejected by any, and is +favorably entertained by all which have made any communication in reply. + +Several of the governments regarding with favor the proposition of +the United States have delayed definitive action upon it only for the +purpose of consulting with others, parties to the conference of Paris. +I have the satisfaction of stating, however, that the Emperor of Russia +has entirely and explicitly approved of that modification and will +cooperate in endeavoring to obtain the assent of other powers, and that +assurances of a similar purport have been received in relation to the +disposition of the Emperor of the French. + +The present aspect of this important subject allows us to cherish the +hope that a principle so humane in its character, so just and equal in +its operation, so essential to the prosperity of commercial nations, and +so consonant to the sentiments of this enlightened period of the world +will command the approbation of all maritime powers, and thus be +incorporated into the code of international law. + +My views on the subject are more fully set forth in the reply of the +Secretary of State, a copy of which is herewith transmitted, to the +communications on the subject made to this Government, especially to +the communication of France. + +The Government of the United States has at all times regarded with +friendly interest the other States of America, formerly, like this +country, European colonies, and now independent members of the great +family of nations. But the unsettled condition of some of them, +distracted by frequent revolutions, and thus incapable of regular and +firm internal administration, has tended to embarrass occasionally our +public intercourse by reason of wrongs which our citizens suffer at +their hands, and which they are slow to redress. + +Unfortunately, it is against the Republic of Mexico, with which it +is our special desire to maintain a good understanding, that such +complaints are most numerous; and although earnestly urged upon its +attention, they have not as yet received the consideration which this +Government had a right to expect. While reparation for past injuries has +been withheld, others have been added. The political condition of that +country, however, has been such as to demand forbearance on the part of +the United States. I shall continue my efforts to procure for the wrongs +of our citizens that redress which is indispensable to the continued +friendly association of the two Republics. + +The peculiar condition of affairs in Nicaragua in the early part of the +present year rendered it important that this Government should have +diplomatic relations with that State. Through its territory had been +opened one of the principal thoroughfares across the isthmus connecting +North and South America, on which a vast amount of property was +transported and to which our citizens resorted in great numbers in +passing between the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the United States. +The protection of both required that the existing power in that State +should be regarded as a responsible Government, and its minister was +accordingly received. But he remained here only a short time. Soon +thereafter the political affairs of Nicaragua underwent unfavorable +change and became involved in much uncertainty and confusion. Diplomatic +representatives from two contending parties have been recently sent to +this Government, but with the imperfect information possessed it was not +possible to decide which was the Government _de facto_, and, awaiting +further developments, I have refused to receive either. + +Questions of the most serious nature are pending between the United +States and the Republic of New Granada. The Government of that Republic +undertook a year since to impose tonnage duties on foreign vessels in +her ports, but the purpose was resisted by this Government as being +contrary to existing treaty stipulations with the United States and +to rights conferred by charter upon the Panama Railroad Company, and +was accordingly relinquished at that time, it being admitted that our +vessels were entitled to be exempt from tonnage duty in the free ports +of Panama and Aspinwall. But the purpose has been recently revived on +the part of New Granada by the enactment of a law to subject vessels +visiting her ports to the tonnage duty of 40 cents per ton, and although +the law has not been put in force, yet the right to enforce it is still +asserted and may at any time be acted on by the Government of that +Republic. + +The Congress of New Granada has also enacted a law during the last +year which levies a tax of more than $3 on every pound of mail matter +transported across the Isthmus. The sum thus required to be paid on +the mails of the United States would be nearly $2,000,000 annually in +addition to the large sum payable by contract to the Panama Railroad +Company. If the only objection to this exaction were the exorbitancy +of its amount, it could not be submitted to by the United States. + +The imposition of it, however, would obviously contravene our treaty +with New Granada and infringe the contract of that Republic with the +Panama Railroad Company. The law providing for this tax was by its terms +to take effect on the ist of September last, but the local authorities +on the Isthmus have been induced to suspend its execution and to await +further instructions on the subject from the Government of the Republic. +I am not yet advised of the determination of that Government. If a +measure so extraordinary in its character and so clearly contrary to +treaty stipulations and the contract rights of the Panama Railroad +Company, composed mostly of American citizens, should be persisted +in, it will be the duty of the United States to resist its execution. + +I regret exceedingly that occasion exists to invite your attention to +a subject of still graver import in our relations with the Republic of +New Granada. On the 15th day of April last a riotous assemblage of the +inhabitants of Panama committed a violent and outrageous attack on the +premises of the railroad company and the passengers and other persons +in or near the same, involving the death of several citizens of the +United States, the pillage of many others, and the destruction of a +large amount of property belonging to the railroad company. I caused +full investigation of that event to be made, and the result shows +satisfactorily that complete responsibility for what occurred attaches +to the Government of New Granada. I have therefore demanded of that +Government that the perpetrators of the wrongs in question should be +punished; that provision should be made for the families of citizens of +the United States who were killed, with full indemnity for the property +pillaged or destroyed. + +The present condition of the Isthmus of Panama, in so far as regards +the security of persons and property passing over it, requires serious +consideration. Recent incidents tend to show that the local authorities +can not be relied on to maintain the public peace of Panama, and there +is just ground for apprehension that a portion of the inhabitants are +meditating further outrages, without adequate measures for the security +and protection of persons or property having been taken, either by the +State of Panama or by the General Government of New Granada. + +Under the guaranties of treaty, citizens of the United States have, by +the outlay of several million dollars, constructed a railroad across +the Isthmus, and it has become the main route between our Atlantic +and Pacific possessions, over which multitudes of our citizens and a +vast amount of property are constantly passing; to the security and +protection of all which and the continuance of the public advantages +involved it is impossible for the Government of the United States to +be indifferent. + +I have deemed the danger of the recurrence of scenes of lawless violence +in this quarter so imminent as to make it my duty to station a part of +our naval force in the harbors of Panama and Aspinwall, in order to +protect the persons and property of the citizens of the United States +in those ports and to insure to them safe passage across the Isthmus. +And it would, in my judgment, be unwise to withdraw the naval force now +in those ports until, by the spontaneous action of the Republic of New +Granada or otherwise, some adequate arrangement shall have been made for +the protection and security of a line of interoceanic communication, so +important at this time not to the United States only, but to all other +maritime states, both of Europe and America. + +Meanwhile negotiations have been instituted, by means of a special +commission, to obtain from New Granada full indemnity for injuries +sustained by our citizens on the Isthmus and satisfactory security +for the general interests of the United States. + +In addressing to you my last annual message the occasion seems to me +an appropriate one to express my congratulations, in view of the peace, +greatness, and felicity which the United States now possess and enjoy. +To point you to the state of the various Departments of the Government +and of all the great branches of the public service, civil and military, +in order to speak of the intelligence and the integrity which pervades +the whole, would be to indicate but imperfectly the administrative +condition of the country and the beneficial effects of that on the +general welfare. Nor would it suffice to say that the nation is actually +at peace at home and abroad; that its industrial interests are +prosperous; that the canvas of its mariners whitens every sea, and the +plow of its husbandmen is marching steadily onward to the bloodless +conquest of the continent; that cities and populous States are springing +up, as if by enchantment, from the bosom of our Western wilds, and that +the courageous energy of our people is making of these United States +the great Republic of the world. These results have not been attained +without passing through trials and perils, by experience of which, +and thus only, nations can harden into manhood. Our forefathers were +trained to the wisdom which conceived and the courage which achieved +independence by the circumstances which surrounded them, and they were +thus made capable of the creation of the Republic. It devolved on the +next generation to consolidate the work of the Revolution, to deliver +the country entirely from the influences of conflicting transatlantic +partialities or antipathies which attached to our colonial and +Revolutionary history, and to organize the practical operation of +the constitutional and legal institutions of the Union. To us of +this generation remains the not less noble task of maintaining and +extending the national power. We have at length reached that stage +of our country's career in which the dangers to be encountered and +the exertions to be made are the incidents, not of weakness, but of +strength. In foreign relations we have to attemper our power to the less +happy condition of other Republics in America and to place ourselves in +the calmness and conscious dignity of right by the side of the greatest +and wealthiest of the Empires of Europe. In domestic relations we have +to guard against the shock of the discontents, the ambitions, the +interests, and the exuberant, and therefore sometimes irregular, +impulses of opinion or of action which are the natural product of the +present political elevation, the self-reliance, and the restless spirit +of enterprise of the people of the United States. + +I shall prepare to surrender the Executive trust to my successor and +retire to private life with sentiments of profound gratitude to the good +Providence which during the period of my Administration has vouchsafed +to carry the country through many difficulties, domestic and foreign, +and which enables me to contemplate the spectacle of amicable and +respectful relations between ours and all other governments and the +establishment of constitutional order and tranquillity throughout the +Union. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + + +SPECIAL MESSAGES. + + +WASHINGTON, _December 2, 1856_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a report[63] from the Secretary of State, in +compliance with the resolution of the House of Representatives of the +7th of August last. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + +[Footnote 63: Stating that the correspondence in the Departments of State +and of the Navy relative to Hamet Caramally had been transmitted to +Congress.] + + + +WASHINGTON, _December 8, 1856_. + +_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 Siam, concluded +at Bangkok on the 29th day of May last. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _December 10, 1856_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit to the Senate, for its consideration with a view to +ratification, a treaty for the settlement of the questions which have +come into discussion between the United States and Great Britain +relative to Central America, concluded and signed at London on the +17th day of October last between the United States and Great Britain. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _December 12, 1856_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit a copy of a letter of the 20th of May last from the +commissioner of the United States in China, and of the decree and +regulations[64] which accompanied it, for such revision thereof as +Congress may deem expedient, pursuant to the sixth section of the +act approved 11th August, 1848. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + +[Footnote 64: For judicial jurisdiction by acting consuls or vice-consuls +of the United States in China.] + + + +WASHINGTON, _December 15, 1856_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit to Congress an extract from a letter of the 22d ultimo from +the governor of the Territory of Kansas to the Secretary of State, with +a copy of the executive minutes[65] to which it refers. These documents +have been received since the date of my message at the opening of the +present session. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + +[Footnote 65: Containing a history of Kansas affairs.] + + + +WASHINGTON, _December 29, 1856_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +In compliance with, a resolution of the Senate of the 23d instant, +requesting the President "to communicate to the Senate, if not +incompatible with the public interest, such information as he may have +concerning the present condition and prospects of a proposed plan for +connecting by submarine wires the magnetic telegraph lines on this +continent and Europe," I transmit the accompanying report from the +Secretary of State. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _January 6, 1857_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit a report from the Secretary of State, with accompanying +papers,[66] in answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 2d instant. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + +[Footnote 66: Relating to the refusal of the minister to the United +States from the Netherlands to testify before the criminal court of +the District of Columbia.] + + + +WASHINGTON, _January 12, 1857_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +In compliance with the resolution of the Senate of the 4th August, 1856, +and 9th January instant, I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary +of State, together with the documents[67] therein referred to. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + +[Footnote 67: Relating to the claims of certain American citizens for +losses consequent upon their expulsion by Venezuelan authorities from +one of the Aves Islands, while collecting guano.] + + + +WASHINGTON, _January 12, 1857_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I again transmit to the Senate, for its advice and consent with a +view to ratification, the convention between the United States and +His Majesty the King of the Netherlands, for the mutual delivery +of criminals fugitives from justice in certain cases, and for +other purposes, which was concluded at The Hague on the 29th day +of May, 1856. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _January 12, 1857_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit a report from the Secretary of State, with accompanying +papers,[68] in answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 7th +instant. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + +[Footnote 68: Correspondence and documents connected with the treaty +concluded at London between the United States and Great Britain +October 17, 1856, relative to Central America.] + + + +WASHINGTON, _January 12, 1857_. + +The SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES: + +In compliance with the resolution of the House of Representatives of the +22d ultimo, in relation to information with regard to expenditures and +liabilities for persons called into the service of the United States +in the Territory of Kansas, I transmit the accompanying report of the +Secretary of War. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _January 13, 1857_. + +_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 Republic +of Peru relative to the rights of neutrals at sea, signed at Lima by +the plenipotentiaries of the parties on the 22d of July last. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _January 16, 1857_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I communicate to the Senate herewith, for its constitutional action +thereon, a treaty made and concluded at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas +Territory, on the 16th day of December, 1856, between Indian Agent +Benjamin F. Robinson, commissioner on the part of the United States, +the principal men of the Christian Indians, and Gottleib F. Oehler, on +behalf of the board of elders of the northern diocese of the Church of +the United Brethren in the United States of America. + +Among the papers which accompany the treaty is a communication from the +Commissioner of Indian Affairs, containing a recommendation, concurred +in by the Secretary of the Interior, that the treaty be ratified with +an amendment which is therein explained. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _January 19, 1857_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +Soon after the close of the last session of Congress I directed steps to +be taken to carry into effect the joint resolution of August 28, 1856 +relative to the restoration of the ship _Resolute_ to Her Britannic +Majesty's service. The ship was purchased of the salvors at the sum +appropriated for the purchase, and "after being fully repaired and +equipped" was sent to England under control of the Secretary of the +Navy, The letter from Her Majesty's minister for foreign affairs, now +communicated to Congress in conformity with his request, and copies of +correspondence from the files of the Departments of State and of the +Navy, also transmitted herewith, will apprise you of the manner in which +the joint resolution has been fully executed and show how agreeable the +proceeding has been to Her Majesty's Government. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + +WASHINGTON, _January, 1857_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit to Congress copies of a communication from His Excellency +Andrew Johnson, governor of the State of Tennessee, tendering to the +Government of the United States "500 acres of the late residence of +Andrew Jackson, deceased, including the mansion, tomb, and other +improvements, known as the Hermitage," upon the terms and conditions +of an act of the legislature of said State, a copy of which is also +herewith communicated. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _January 20, 1857_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +In response to a resolution of January 5, 1857, requesting the President +to inform the House of Representatives "by what authority a Government +architect is employed and paid for designing and erecting all public +buildings, and also for placing said buildings under the supervision +of military engineers," I submit the accompanying reports from the +Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of War. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _January 21, 1857_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +In further compliance with resolution of the House of Representatives of +the 22d ultimo, calling upon me for "statements of the amounts of money +paid and liabilities incurred for the pay, support, and other expenses +of persons called into the service of the United States in the Territory +of Kansas, either under the designation of the militia of Kansas or of +posses summoned by the civil officers in that Territory, since the date +of its establishment; also statements of the amounts paid to marshals, +sheriffs, and other deputies, and to witnesses and for other expenses in +the arrest, detention, and trial of persons charged in said Territory +with treason against the United States or with violations of the alleged +laws of said Territory," I transmit a report from the Secretary of the +Treasury, with accompanying documents. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _January 28, 1857_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I communicate to the Senate herewith, for its constitutional action +thereon, a treaty made and concluded at Grand Portage, in the Territory +of Minnesota, on the 16th day of September, 1856, between Henry C. +Gilbert, Indian agent, acting as commissioner on the part of the United +States, and the Bois Porte bands of Chippewa Indians, by their chiefs +and headmen. + +The treaty is accompanied by communications from the Secretary of the +Interior, transmitting a letter to him from the Commissioner of Indian +Affairs and a report from Agent Gilbert of the 24th December, 1856. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _January 30, 1857_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +In compliance with a resolution of the Senate passed December 23, 1856, +requesting "any information upon the files of the Department in relation +to pay and emoluments of Lieutenant-General Scott or his staff under the +resolution of February 15, 1855, which may not have been communicated in +Executive Document No. 56, first session Thirty-fourth Congress," and a +resolution passed December 30, requesting "a statement of all payments +and allowances which have been made, and of all claims which have been +disallowed, to Brevet Lieutenant-General Scott from the date when he +joined the army serving in Mexico up to December 1, 1856," and "also +copies of all correspondence on file in the Executive Departments +relating to said claims, payments, or allowances," I herewith transmit +a report of the Secretary of War, to whom the resolutions were referred +in order that the information, statements, and copies of correspondence +therein required might be prepared and furnished. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _February 4, 1857_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +In answer to the resolutions of the Senate of yesterday, adopted in +executive session, I transmit reports[69] from the Secretary of State, +to whom they were referred. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + +[Footnote 69: Relating to the convention between Great Britain and +Honduras respecting the island of Ruatan.] + + + +WASHINGTON, _February 4, 1857_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I transmit a report from the Secretary of State, with +accompanying documents,[70] in answer to the resolution of the +House of December 26, 1854. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + +[Footnote 70: Consular returns on shipping, shipbuilding, etc., in +foreign countries.] + + + +WASHINGTON, _February 9, 1857_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit a report from the Secretary of State, with accompanying +papers,[71] in answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 30th ultimo. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + +[Footnote 71: Relating to the proclamation of martial law in Washington +Territory, etc.] + + + +WASHINGTON, _February 11, 1857_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +In further compliance with a resolution of the Senate of the 5th +instant, requesting me to communicate transcripts of papers relative +to the proclamation of martial law by Governor Stevens, of Washington +Territory, I transmit the accompanying report from the Secretary of War. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _February 11, 1857_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit to the Senate, for its consideration with a view to +ratification, a treaty of friendship and commerce between the United +States and the Shah of Persia, signed by the plenipotentiaries of the +parties at Constantinople on the 13th of December last. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _February 11, 1857_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I communicate to the Senate herewith, for its constitutional action +thereon, articles of agreement and convention made and concluded at the +places and dates therein named by Joel Palmer, superintendent of Indian +affairs, on the part of the United States, and the chiefs and headmen +of the confederate tribes and bands of Indians residing along the coast +west of the summit of the Coast Range of mountains and between the +Columbia River on the north and the southern boundary of Oregon on the +south. A letter from the Secretary of the Interior, including one from +the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, accompanies the treaty. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _February 14, 1857_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +In compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives of the +19th ultimo, requesting me "to furnish to the House all correspondence +and documents, not incompatible with the public interest, relating to +Indian affairs in the Department of the Pacific, those of the Interior +as well as those of the War Department," I transmit the accompanying +report and documents from the Secretary of War. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _February, 1857_. + +_To the House of Representatives of the United States_: + +I communicate herewith a letter of the Secretary of War, recommending +an appropriation of $10,000 for the purpose of instituting a series of +researches for the discovery of a more efficient mode of manufacturing +niter. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _February 16, 1857_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +In compliance with the resolution of the Senate of the 4th of August +last, calling for information in relation to certain internal +improvements, I transmit reports[72] from the Secretary of the Treasury +and the Secretary of War. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + +[Footnote 72: Appropriations made by Congress within eleven years for +light-houses, beacons, buoys, etc, on Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, +St. Clair, Erie, Ontario, and Champlain; duties collected and expenses +of collection at each of the lake ports annually for eleven fiscal +years, ending June 30, 1856; tonnage of the lake ports, etc.] + + + +WASHINGTON, _February 19, 1857_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit for the consideration of the Senate with a view to +ratification a consular convention between the United States and the +Republic of Chili, signed by the plenipotentiaries of the parties at +the city of Santiago on the 1st day of December last. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _February 23, 1857_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I transmit a report from the Secretary of State, with accompanying +papers,[73] in answer to the resolution of the House of Representatives +of the 6th instant. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + +[Footnote 73: Relating to the claim of F. Dainese for salary, expenses, +etc., while acting consul at Constantinople.] + + + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit herewith a report from the Attorney-General, in reply to +the resolution[74] of the Senate in executive session of the 19th instant. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + +FEBRUARY 23, 1857. + +[Footnote 74: Asking whether Samuel D. Lecompte has been allowed to +perform the functions of chief justice of the Territory of Kansas +since the nomination of J.O. Harrison to that office.] + + + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I communicate herewith a report from the Attorney-General, in reply +to the resolution of the Senate of the 20th instant, asking for +correspondence of Samuel D. Lecompte, chief justice of the Territory +of Kansas.[75] + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + +FEBRUARY 23, 1857. + +[Footnote 75: Explanatory of his judicial conduct in the Territory of +Kansas.] + + + +WASHINGTON, _March 2, 1857_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I communicate herewith a letter[76] from the Secretary of the Navy, +in response to a resolution of the Senate of August 15, 1856. + +Concurring in the views presented in the documents to which the +Secretary of the Navy refers, I am not prepared at this time to +recommend any legislation on the subject. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + +[Footnote 76: Relating to the discontinuance or change of location of +any navy-yard or naval station on the Atlantic Seaboard.] + + + +WASHINGTON, _March 2, 1857_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +In compliance with a resolution of the Senate of the 20th ultimo, in +relation to correspondence between the Treasury and Interior Departments +and Edward F. Beale, late superintendent of Indian affairs in California, +and accounts of remittances, etc., I transmit the accompanying +report from the Secretary of the Treasury. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + +WASHINGTON, _March 3, 1857_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +As a further answer to resolutions of the House of Representatives +adopted on the 6th and 10th of February, I transmit a second report +from the Secretary of State, relating to the "accounts," "claims," and +"difficulties" at Constantinople, referred to in said resolutions. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + + + + +PROCLAMATION. + + +BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. + +A PROCLAMATION. + +Whereas objects of interest to the United States require that the Senate +should be convened at 12 o'clock on the 4th of March next to receive and +act upon such communications as may be made to it on the part of the +Executive: + +Now, therefore, I, Franklin Pierce, President of the United States, have +considered it to be my duty to issue this my proclamation, 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 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 16th day of February, A.D. 1857, and of the Independence of the +United States the eighty-first. + +FRANKLIN PIERCE. + +By the President: + W.L. MARCY, + _Secretary of State_. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A Compilation of the Messages and +Papers of the Presidents, by James D. Richardson + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FRANKLIN PIERCE *** + +***** This file should be named 11125.txt or 11125.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/1/1/2/11125/ + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, David Garcia and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team. + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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