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diff --git a/old/12463-8.txt b/old/12463-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..58edef2 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/12463-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,17670 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of +the Presidents: Polk, by Compiled 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: Polk + Section 3 (of 3) of Volume 4: James Knox Polk + +Author: Compiled by James D. Richardson + +Release Date: May 28, 2004 [EBook #12463] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PAPERS OF THE PRESIDENTS: POLK *** + + + + +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 + + +James K. Polk + +March 4, 1845, to March 4, 1849 + + + + +James K. Polk + + +JAMES KNOX POLK was born in Mecklenburg County, N.C., November 2, 1795. +He was a son of Samuel Polk, a farmer, whose father, Ezekiel, and his +brother, Colonel Thomas Polk, one of the signers of the Mecklenburg +Declaration of Independence, were sons of Robert Polk (or Pollock), who +was born in Ireland and emigrated to America. His mother was Jane, +daughter of James Knox, a resident of Iredell County, N.C., and a +captain in the War of the Revolution. His father removed to Tennessee in +the autumn of 1806, and settled in the valley of Duck River, a tributary +of the Tennessee, in a section that was erected the following year into +the county of Maury; he died in 1827. James was brought up on the farm; +was inclined to study, and was fond of reading. He was sent to school, +and had succeeded in mastering the English branches when ill health +compelled his removal. Was then placed with a merchant, but, having a +strong dislike to commercial pursuits, soon returned home, and in July, +1813, was given in charge of a private tutor. In 1815 entered the +sophomore class at the University of North Carolina. As a student he was +correct, punctual, and industrious. At his graduation in 1818 he was +officially acknowledged to be the best scholar in both the classics and +mathematics, and delivered the Latin salutatory. In 1847 the university +conferred upon him the degree of LL.D. In 1819 he entered the law office +of Felix Grundy, then at the head of the Tennessee bar. While pursuing +his legal studies he attracted the attention of Andrew Jackson, and an +intimacy was thus begun between the two men. In 1820 Mr. Polk was +admitted to the bar, and established himself at Columbia, the county +seat of Maury County. He attained immediate success, his career at the +bar only ending with his election to the governorship of Tennessee in +1839. Brought up as a Jeffersonian and early taking an interest in +politics, he was frequently heard in public as an exponent of the views +of his party. His style of oratory was so popular that his services soon +came to be in great demand, and he was not long in earning the title of +the "Napoleon of the Stump." His first public employment was that of +principal clerk of the senate of the State of Tennessee. In 1823 was +elected a member of that body. In January, 1824, he married Sarah, +daughter of Joel Childress, a merchant of Rutherford County, Tenn. In +August, 1825, he was elected to Congress from the Duck River district, +and reelected at every succeeding election till 1839, when he withdrew +from the contest to become a candidate for governor. With one or two +exceptions, he was the youngest member of the Nineteenth Congress. He +was prominently connected with every leading question, and upon all he +struck what proved to be the keynote for the action of his party. His +maiden speech was in defense of the proposed amendment to the +Constitution giving the choice of the President and Vice-President +directly to the people. It at once placed him in the front rank of +Congressional debaters. He opposed the appropriation for the Panama +mission, asked for by President Adams, contending that such action would +tend to involve the United States in a war with Spain and establish an +unfortunate precedent. In December, 1827, he was placed on the Committee +on Foreign Affairs, and afterwards was also appointed chairman of the +select committee to which was referred that portion of President Adams's +message calling attention to the probable accumulation of a surplus in +the Treasury after the anticipated extinguishment of the national debt. +As the head of the latter committee he made a report denying the +constitutional power of Congress to collect from the people for +distribution a surplus beyond the wants of the Government, and +maintaining that the revenue should be reduced to the requirements of +the public service. During the whole period of President Jackson's +Administration he was one of its leading supporters, and at times its +chief reliance. Early in 1833, as a member of the Ways and Means +Committee, he made a minority report unfavorable to the Bank of the +United States. During the entire contest between the bank and President +Jackson, caused by the removal of the deposits in October, 1833, Mr. +Polk, as chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, supported the +Executive. He was elected Speaker of the House of Representatives in +December, 1835, and held that office till 1839. It was his fortune to +preside over the House at a period when party feelings were excited to +an unusual degree, and notwithstanding the fact that during the first +session more appeals were taken from his decisions than were ever known +before, he was uniformly sustained by the House, and frequently by +leading members of the Whig party. He gave to the Administration of +Martin Van Buren the same unhesitating support he had accorded to that +of President Jackson. On leaving Congress he became the candidate of the +Democrats of Tennessee for governor, and was elected by over 2,500 +majority. He was an unsuccessful candidate for governor again in 1841 +and 1843. In 1839 he was nominated by the legislatures of Tennessee and +other States for Vice-President of the United States, but Richard M. +Johnson, of Kentucky, was the choice of the great body of the Democratic +party, and was accordingly nominated. On May 27, 1844, Mr. Polk was +nominated for President of the United States by the national Democratic +convention at Baltimore, and on November 12 was elected, receiving about +40,000 majority on the popular vote, and 170 electoral votes to 105 that +were cast for Henry Clay. He was inaugurated March 4, 1845. Among the +important events of his Administration were the establishment of the +United States Naval Academy; the consummation of the annexation of +Texas; the admission of Texas, Iowa, and Wisconsin as States; the war +with Mexico, resulting in a treaty of peace, by which the United States +acquired New Mexico and Upper California; the treaty with Great Britain +settling the Oregon boundary; the establishment of the "warehouse +system;" the reenactment of the independent-treasury system; the passage +of the act establishing the Smithsonian Institution; the treaty with New +Granada, the thirty-fifth article of which secured for citizens of the +United States the right of way across the Isthmus of Panama; and the +creation of the Department of the Interior. He declined to become a +candidate for reelection, and at the conclusion of his term retired to +his home in Nashville. He died June 15, 1849, and was buried at Polk +Place, in Nashville. September 19, 1893, the remains were removed by the +State to Capitol Square. + + + + +INAUGURAL ADDRESS. + +FELLOW-CITIZENS: Without solicitation on my part, I have been chosen by +the free and voluntary suffrages of my countrymen to the most honorable +and most responsible office on earth. I am deeply impressed with +gratitude for the confidence reposed in me. Honored with this +distinguished consideration at an earlier period of life than any of my +fxpredecessors, I can not disguise the diffidence with which I am about +to enter on the discharge of my official duties. + +If the more aged and experienced men who have filled the office of +President of the United States even in the infancy of the Republic +distrusted their ability to discharge the duties of that exalted +station, what ought not to be the apprehensions of one so much younger +and less endowed now that our domain extends from ocean to ocean, that +our people have so greatly increased in numbers, and at a time when so +great diversity of opinion prevails in regard to the principles and +policy which should characterize the administration of our Government? +Well may the boldest fear and the wisest tremble when incurring +responsibilities on which may depend our country's peace and prosperity, +and in some degree the hopes and happiness of the whole human family. + +In assuming responsibilities so vast I fervently invoke the aid of that +Almighty Ruler of the Universe in whose hands are the destinies of +nations and of men to guard this Heaven-favored land against the +mischiefs which without His guidance might arise from an unwise public +policy. With a firm reliance upon the wisdom of Omnipotence to sustain +and direct me in the path of duty which I am appointed to pursue, I +stand in the presence of this assembled multitude of my countrymen to +take upon myself the solemn obligation "to the best of my ability to +preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States." + +A concise enumeration of the principles which will guide me in the +administrative policy of the Government is not only in accordance with +the examples set me by all my predecessors, but is eminently befitting +the occasion. + +The Constitution itself, plainly written as it is, the safeguard of our +federative compact, the offspring of concession and compromise, binding +together in the bonds of peace and union this great and increasing +family of free and independent States, will be the chart by which I +shall be directed. + +It will be my first care to administer the Government in the true spirit +of that instrument, and to assume no powers not expressly granted or +clearly implied in its terms. The Government of the United States is one +of delegated and limited powers, and it is by a strict adherence to the +clearly granted powers and by abstaining from the exercise of doubtful +or unauthorized implied powers that we have the only sure guaranty +against the recurrence of those unfortunate collisions between the +Federal and State authorities which have occasionally so much disturbed +the harmony of our system and even threatened the perpetuity of our +glorious Union. + +"To the States, respectively, or to the people" have been reserved "the +powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution nor +prohibited by it to the States." Each State is a complete sovereignty +within the sphere of its reserved powers. The Government of the Union, +acting within the sphere of its delegated authority, is also a complete +sovereignty. While the General Government should abstain from the +exercise of authority not clearly delegated to it, the States should be +equally careful that in the maintenance of their rights they do not +overstep the limits of powers reserved to them. One of the most +distinguished of my predecessors attached deserved importance to "the +support of the State governments in all their rights, as the most +competent administration for our domestic concerns and the surest +bulwark against antirepublican tendencies," and to the "preservation of +the General Government in its whole constitutional vigor, as the sheet +anchor of our peace at home and safety abroad." + +To the Government of the United States has been intrusted the exclusive +management of our foreign affairs. Beyond that it wields a few general +enumerated powers. It does not force reform on the States. It leaves +individuals, over whom it casts its protecting influence, entirely free +to improve their own condition by the legitimate exercise of all their +mental and physical powers. It is a common protector of each and all the +States; of every man who lives upon our soil, whether of native or +foreign birth; of every religious sect, in their worship of the Almighty +according to the dictates of their own conscience; of every shade of +opinion, and the most free inquiry; of every art, trade, and occupation +consistent with the laws of the States. And we rejoice in the general +happiness, prosperity, and advancement of our country, which have been +the offspring of freedom, and not of power. + +This most admirable and wisest system of well-regulated self-government +among men ever devised by human minds has been tested by its successful +operation for more than half a century, and if preserved from the +usurpations of the Federal Government on the one hand and the exercise +by the States of powers not reserved to them on the other, will, I +fervently hope and believe, endure for ages to come and dispense the +blessings of civil and religious liberty to distant generations. To +effect objects so dear to every patriot I shall devote myself with +anxious solicitude. It will be my desire to guard against that most +fruitful source of danger to the harmonious action of our system which +consists in substituting the mere discretion and caprice of the +Executive or of majorities in the legislative department of the +Government for powers which have been withheld from the Federal +Government by the Constitution. By the theory of our Government +majorities rule, but this right is not an arbitrary or unlimited one. It +is a right to be exercised in subordination to the Constitution and in +conformity to it. One great object of the Constitution was to restrain +majorities from oppressing minorities or encroaching upon their just +rights. Minorities have a right to appeal to the Constitution as a +shield against such oppression. + +That the blessings of liberty which our Constitution secures may be +enjoyed alike by minorities and majorities, the Executive has been +wisely invested with a qualified veto upon the acts of the Legislature. +It is a negative power, and is conservative in its character. It arrests +for the time hasty, inconsiderate, or unconstitutional legislation, +invites reconsideration, and transfers questions at issue between the +legislative and executive departments to the tribunal of the people. +Like all other powers, it is subject to be abused. When judiciously and +properly exercised, the Constitution itself may be saved from infraction +and the rights of all preserved and protected. + +The inestimable value of our Federal Union is felt and acknowledged by +all. By this system of united and confederated States our people are +permitted collectively and individually to seek their own happiness in +their own way, and the consequences have been most auspicious. Since the +Union was formed the number of the States has increased from thirteen to +twenty-eight; two of these have taken their position as members of the +Confederacy within the last week. Our population has increased from +three to twenty millions. New communities and States are seeking +protection under its ęgis, and multitudes from the Old World are +flocking to our shores to participate in its blessings. Beneath its +benign sway peace and prosperity prevail. Freed from the burdens and +miseries of war, our trade and intercourse have extended throughout the +world. Mind, no longer tasked in devising means to accomplish or resist +schemes of ambition, usurpation, or conquest, is devoting itself to +man's true interests in developing his faculties and powers and the +capacity of nature to minister to his enjoyments. Genius is free to +announce its inventions and discoveries, and the hand is free to +accomplish whatever the head conceives not incompatible with the rights +of a fellow-being. All distinctions of birth or of rank have been +abolished. All citizens, whether native or adopted, are placed upon +terms of precise equality. All are entitled to equal rights and equal +protection. No union exists between church and state, and perfect +freedom of opinion is guaranteed to all sects and creeds. + +These are some of the blessings secured to our happy land by our Federal +Union. To perpetuate them it is our sacred duty to preserve it. Who +shall assign limits to the achievements of free minds and free hands +under the protection of this glorious Union? No treason to mankind since +the organization of society would be equal in atrocity to that of him +who would lift his hand to destroy it. He would overthrow the noblest +structure of human wisdom, which protects himself and his fellow-man. He +would stop the progress of free government and involve his country +either in anarchy or despotism. He would extinguish the fire of liberty, +which warms and animates the hearts of happy millions and invites all +the nations of the earth to imitate our example. If he say that error +and wrong are committed in the administration of the Government, let him +remember that nothing human can be perfect, and that under no other +system of government revealed by Heaven or devised by man has reason +been allowed so free and broad a scope to combat error. Has the sword of +despots proved to be a safer or surer instrument of reform in government +than enlightened reason? Does he expect to find among the ruins of this +Union a happier abode for our swarming millions than they now have under +it? Every lover of his country must shudder at the thought of the +possibility of its dissolution, and will be ready to adopt the patriotic +sentiment, "Our Federal Union--it must be preserved." To preserve it the +compromises which alone enabled our fathers to form a common +constitution for the government and protection of so many States and +distinct communities, of such diversified habits, interests, and +domestic institutions, must be sacredly and religiously observed. Any +attempt to disturb or destroy these compromises, being terms of the +compact of union, can lead to none other than the most ruinous and +disastrous consequences. + +It is a source of deep regret that in some sections of our country +misguided persons have occasionally indulged in schemes and agitations +whose object is the destruction of domestic institutions existing in +other sections--institutions which existed at the adoption of the +Constitution and were recognized and protected by it. All must see that +if it were possible for them to be successful in attaining their object +the dissolution of the Union and the consequent destruction of our happy +form of government must speedily follow. + +I am happy to believe that at every period of our existence as a nation +there has existed, and continues to exist, among the great mass of our +people a devotion to the Union of the States which will shield and +protect it against the moral treason of any who would seriously +contemplate its destruction. To secure a continuance of that devotion +the compromises of the Constitution must not only be preserved, but +sectional jealousies and heartburnings must be discountenanced, and all +should remember that they are members of the same political family, +having a common destiny. To increase the attachment of our people to the +Union, our laws should be just. Any policy which shall tend to favor +monopolies or the peculiar interests of sections or classes must operate +to the prejudice of the interests of their fellow-citizens, and should +be avoided. If the compromises of the Constitution be preserved, if +sectional jealousies and heartburnings be discountenanced, if our laws +be just and the Government be practically administered strictly within +the limits of power prescribed to it, we may discard all apprehensions +for the safety of the Union. + +With these views of the nature, character, and objects of the Government +and the value of the Union, I shall steadily oppose the creation of +those institutions and systems which in their nature tend to pervert it +from its legitimate purposes and make it the instrument of sections, +classes, and individuals. We need no national banks or other extraneous +institutions planted around the Government to control or strengthen it +in opposition to the will of its authors. Experience has taught us how +unnecessary they are as auxiliaries of the public authorities--how +impotent for good and how powerful for mischief. + +Ours was intended to be a plain and frugal government, and I shall +regard it to be my duty to recommend to Congress and, as far as the +Executive is concerned, to enforce by all the means within my power the +strictest economy in the expenditure of the public money which may be +compatible with the public interests. + +A national debt has become almost an institution of European monarchies. +It is viewed in some of them as an essential prop to existing +governments. Melancholy is the condition of that people whose government +can be sustained only by a system which periodically transfers large +amounts from the labor of the many to the coffers of the few. Such a +system is incompatible with the ends for which our republican Government +was instituted. Under a wise policy the debts contracted in our +Revolution and during the War of 1812 have been happily extinguished. By +a judicious application of the revenues not required for other necessary +purposes, it is not doubted that the debt which has grown out of the +circumstances of the last few years may be speedily paid off. + +I congratulate my fellow-citizens on the entire restoration of the +credit of the General Government of the Union and that of many of the +States. Happy would it be for the indebted States if they were freed +from their liabilities, many of which were incautiously contracted. +Although the Government of the Union is neither in a legal nor a moral +sense bound for the debts of the States, and it would be a violation of +our compact of union to assume them, yet we can not but feel a deep +interest in seeing all the States meet their public liabilities and pay +off their just debts at the earliest practicable period. That they will +do so as soon as it can be done without imposing too heavy burdens on +their citizens there is no reason to doubt. The sound moral and +honorable feeling of the people of the indebted States can not be +questioned, and we are happy to perceive a settled disposition on their +part, as their ability returns after a season of unexampled pecuniary +embarrassment, to pay off all just demands and to acquiesce in any +reasonable measures to accomplish that object. + +One of the difficulties which we have had to encounter in the practical +administration of the Government consists in the adjustment of our +revenue laws and the levy of the taxes necessary for the support of +Government. In the general proposition that no more money shall be +collected than the necessities of an economical administration shall +require all parties seem to acquiesce. Nor does there seem to be any +material difference of opinion as to the absence of right in the +Government to tax one section of country, or one class of citizens, or +one occupation, for the mere profit of another. "Justice and sound +policy forbid the Federal Government to foster one branch of industry to +the detriment of another, or to cherish the interests of one portion to +the injury of another portion of our common country." I have heretofore +declared to my fellow-citizens that "in my judgment it is the duty of +the Government to extend, as far as it may be practicable to do so, by +its revenue laws and all other means within its power, fair and just +protection to all the great interests of the whole Union, embracing +agriculture, manufactures, the mechanic arts, commerce, and navigation." +I have also declared my opinion to be "in favor of a tariff for +revenue," and that "in adjusting the details of such a tariff I have +sanctioned such moderate discriminating duties as would produce the +amount of revenue needed and at the same time afford reasonable +incidental protection to our home industry," and that I was "opposed to +a tariff for protection merely, and not for revenue." + +The power "to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises" was +an indispensable one to be conferred on the Federal Government, which +without it would possess no means of providing for its own support. +In executing this power by levying a tariff of duties for the support +of Government, the raising of _revenue_ should be the _object_ and +_protection_ the _incident_. To reverse this principle and make +_protection_ the _object_ and _revenue_ the _incident_ would be to +inflict manifest injustice upon all other than the protected interests. +In levying duties for revenue it is doubtless proper to make such +discriminations within the _revenue principle_ as will afford incidental +protection to our home interests. Within the revenue limit there is a +discretion to discriminate; beyond that limit the rightful exercise +of the power is not conceded. The incidental protection afforded to +our home interests by discriminations within the revenue range it is +believed will be ample. In making discriminations all our home interests +should as far as practicable be equally protected. The largest portion +of our people are agriculturists. Others are employed in manufactures, +commerce, navigation, and the mechanic arts. They are all engaged +in their respective pursuits, and their joint labors constitute the +national or home industry. To tax one branch of this home industry for +the benefit of another would be unjust. No one of these interests can +rightfully claim an advantage over the others, or to be enriched by +impoverishing the others. All are equally entitled to the fostering care +and protection of the Government. In exercising a sound discretion in +levying discriminating duties within the limit prescribed, care should +be taken that it be done in a manner not to benefit the wealthy few at +the expense of the toiling millions by taxing _lowest_ the luxuries of +life, or articles of superior quality and high price, which can only be +consumed by the wealthy, and _highest_ the necessaries of life, or +articles of coarse quality and low price, which the poor and great mass +of our people must consume. The burdens of government should as far as +practicable be distributed justly and equally among all classes of our +population. These general views, long entertained on this subject, +I have deemed it proper to reiterate. It is a subject upon which +conflicting interests of sections and occupations are supposed to exist, +and a spirit of mutual concession and compromise in adjusting its +details should be cherished by every part of our widespread country as +the only means of preserving harmony and a cheerful acquiescence of all +in the operation of our revenue laws. Our patriotic citizens in every +part of the Union will readily submit to the payment of such taxes as +shall be needed for the support of their Government, whether in peace or +in war, if they are so levied as to distribute the burdens as equally as +possible among them. + +The Republic of Texas has made known her desire to come into our Union, +to form a part of our Confederacy and enjoy with us the blessings of +liberty secured and guaranteed by our Constitution. Texas was once a +part of our country--was unwisely ceded away to a foreign power--is now +independent, and possesses an undoubted right to dispose of a part or +the whole of her territory and to merge her sovereignty as a separate +and independent state in ours. I congratulate my country that by an act +of the late Congress of the United States the assent of this Government +has been given to the reunion, and it only remains for the two countries +to agree upon the terms to consummate an object so important to both. + +I regard the question of annexation as belonging exclusively to the +United States and Texas. They are independent powers competent to +contract, and foreign nations have no right to interfere with them or +to take exceptions to their reunion. Foreign powers do not seem to +appreciate the true character of our Government. Our Union is a +confederation of independent States, whose policy is peace with each +other and all the world. To enlarge its limits is to extend the +dominions of peace over additional territories and increasing millions. +The world has nothing to fear from military ambition in our Government. +While the Chief Magistrate and the popular branch of Congress are +elected for short terms by the suffrages of those millions who must +in their own persons bear all the burdens and miseries of war, our +Government can not be otherwise than pacific. Foreign powers should +therefore look on the annexation of Texas to the United States not as +the conquest of a nation seeking to extend her dominions by arms and +violence, but as the peaceful acquisition of a territory once her own, +by adding another member to our confederation, with the consent of that +member, thereby diminishing the chances of war and opening to them new +and ever-increasing markets for their products. + +To Texas the reunion is important, because the strong protecting arm of +our Government would be extended over her, and the vast resources of her +fertile soil and genial climate would be speedily developed, while the +safety of New Orleans and of our whole southwestern frontier against +hostile aggression, as well as the interests of the whole Union, would +be promoted by it. + +In the earlier stages of our national existence the opinion prevailed +with some that our system of confederated States could not operate +successfully over an extended territory, and serious objections have at +different times been made to the enlargement of our boundaries. These +objections were earnestly urged when we acquired Louisiana. Experience +has shown that they were not well founded. The title of numerous Indian +tribes to vast tracts of country has been extinguished; new States have +been admitted into the Union; new Territories have been created and +our jurisdiction and laws extended over them. As our population has +expanded, the Union has been cemented and strengthened. As our +boundaries have been enlarged and our agricultural population has +been spread over a large surface, our federative system has acquired +additional strength and security. It may well be doubted whether it +would not be in greater danger of overthrow if our present population +were confined to the comparatively narrow limits of the original +thirteen States than it is now that they are sparsely settled over a +more expanded territory. It is confidently believed that our system may +be safely extended to the utmost bounds of our territorial limits, and +that as it shall be extended the bonds of our Union, so far from being +weakened, will become stronger. + +None can fail to see the danger to our safety and future peace if Texas +remains an independent state or becomes an ally or dependency of some +foreign nation more powerful than herself. Is there one among our +citizens who would not prefer perpetual peace with Texas to occasional +wars, which so often occur between bordering independent nations? Is +there one who would not prefer free intercourse with her to high duties +on all our products and manufactures which enter her ports or cross +her frontiers? Is there one who would not prefer an unrestricted +communication with her citizens to the frontier obstructions which must +occur if she remains out of the Union? Whatever is good or evil in the +local institutions of Texas will remain her own whether annexed to the +United States or not. None of the present States will be responsible for +them any more than they are for the local institutions of each other. +They have confederated together for certain specified objects. Upon the +same principle that they would refuse to form a perpetual union with +Texas because of her local institutions our forefathers would have been +prevented from forming our present Union. Perceiving no valid objection +to the measure and many reasons for its adoption vitally affecting the +peace, the safety, and the prosperity of both countries, I shall on the +broad principle which formed the basis and produced the adoption of our +Constitution, and not in any narrow spirit of sectional policy, endeavor +by all constitutional, honorable, and appropriate means to consummate +the expressed will of the people and Government of the United States by +the reannexation of Texas to our Union at the earliest practicable +period. + +Nor will it become in a less degree my duty to assert and maintain by +all constitutional means the right of the United States to that portion +of our territory which lies beyond the Rocky Mountains. Our title to the +country of the Oregon is "clear and unquestionable," and already are our +people preparing to perfect that title by occupying it with their wives +and children. But eighty years ago our population was confined on the +west by the ridge of the Alleghanies. Within that period--within the +lifetime, I might say, of some of my hearers--our people, increasing to +many millions, have filled the eastern valley of the Mississippi, +adventurously ascended the Missouri to its headsprings, and are already +engaged in establishing the blessings of self-government in valleys of +which the rivers flow to the Pacific. The world beholds the peaceful +triumphs of the industry of our emigrants. To us belongs the duty of +protecting them adequately wherever they may be upon our soil. The +jurisdiction of our laws and the benefits of our republican institutions +should be extended over them in the distant regions which they have +selected for their homes. The increasing facilities of intercourse will +easily bring the States, of which the formation in that part of our +territory can not be long delayed, within the sphere of our federative +Union. In the meantime every obligation imposed by treaty or +conventional stipulations should be sacredly respected. + +In the management of our foreign relations it will be my aim to observe +a careful respect for the rights of other nations, while our own will be +the subject of constant watchfulness. Equal and exact justice should +characterize all our intercourse with foreign countries. All alliances +having a tendency to jeopard the welfare and honor of our country or +sacrifice any one of the national interests will be studiously avoided, +and yet no opportunity will be lost to cultivate a favorable +understanding with foreign governments by which our navigation and +commerce may be extended and the ample products of our fertile soil, as +well as the manufactures of our skillful artisans, find a ready market +and remunerating prices in foreign countries. + +In taking "care that the laws be faithfully executed," a strict +performance of duty will be exacted from all public officers. From +those officers, especially, who are charged with the collection and +disbursement of the public revenue will prompt and rigid accountability +be required. Any culpable failure or delay on their part to account for +the moneys intrusted to them at the times and in the manner required by +law will in every instance terminate the official connection of such +defaulting officer with the Government. + +Although in our country the Chief Magistrate must almost of necessity be +chosen by a party and stand pledged to its principles and measures, yet +in his official action he should not be the President of a part only, +but of the whole people of the United States. While he executes the laws +with an impartial hand, shrinks from no proper responsibility, and +faithfully carries out in the executive department of the Government the +principles and policy of those who have chosen him, he should not be +unmindful that our fellow-citizens who have differed with him in opinion +are entitled to the full and free exercise of their opinions and +judgments, and that the rights of all are entitled to respect and +regard. + +Confidently relying upon the aid and assistance of the coordinate +departments of the Government in conducting our public affairs, I enter +upon the discharge of the high duties which have been assigned me by the +people, again humbly supplicating that Divine Being who has watched over +and protected our beloved country from its infancy to the present hour +to continue His gracious benedictions upon us, that we may continue to +be a prosperous and happy people. + +MARCH 4, 1845. + + + + +SPECIAL MESSAGE. + + +WASHINGTON, _March 15, _1845. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + + +I have received and maturely considered the two resolutions adopted by +the Senate in executive session on the 12th instant, the first +requesting the President to communicate information to the Senate (in +confidence) of any steps which have been taken, if any were taken, by +the late President in execution of the resolution of Congress entitled +"A joint resolution for the annexation of Texas to the United States," +and if any such steps have been taken, then to inform the Senate whether +anything has been done by him to counteract, suspend, or reverse the +action of the late President in the premises; and the second requesting +the President "to inform the Senate what communications have been made +by the Mexican minister in consequence of the proceedings of Congress +and the Executive in relation to Texas." + +With the highest respect for the Senate and a sincere desire to furnish +all the information requested by the first resolution, I yet entertain +strong apprehensions lest such a communication might delay and +ultimately endanger the success of the great measure which Congress so +earnestly sought to accomplish by the passage of the "joint resolution +for the annexation of Texas to the United States." The initiatory +proceedings which have been adopted by the Executive to give effect to +this resolution can not, therefore, in my judgment, at this time and +under existing circumstances, be communicated without injury to the +public interest. + +In conformity with the second resolution, I herewith transmit to the +Senate the copy of a note, dated on the 6th instant, addressed by +General Almonte, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of the +Mexican Republic, to the Hon. John C. Calhoun, late Secretary of State, +which is the only communication that has been made by the Mexican +minister to the Department of State since the passage of the joint +resolution of Congress for the annexation of Texas; and I also transmit +a copy of the answer of the Secretary of State to this note of the +Mexican minister. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + + +EXECUTIVE ORDERS. + + +WASHINGTON CITY, _June 16, 1845_. + +Andrew Jackson is no more. He departed this life on Sunday, the 8th +instant, full of days and full of honors. His country deplores his loss, +and will ever cherish his memory. Whilst a nation mourns it is proper +that business should be suspended, at least for one day, in the +Executive Departments, as a tribute of respect to the illustrious dead. + +I accordingly direct that the Departments of State, the Treasury, War, +the Navy, the Post-Office, the office of the Attorney-General, and the +Executive Mansion be instantly put into mourning, and that they be +closed during the whole day to-morrow. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +GENERAL ORDERS, NO. 27. + +WAR DEPARTMENT, + +ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE, + +_Washington, June 16, 1845_. + +The following general order of the President, received through the War +Department, announces to the Army the death of the illustrious +ex-President, General Andrew Jackson: + + + +GENERAL ORDER. + +WASHINGTON, _June 16, 1845_. + +The President of the United States with heartfelt sorrow announces to +the Army, the Navy, and the Marine Corps the death of Andrew Jackson. On +the evening of Sunday, the 8th day of June, about 6 o'clock, he resigned +his spirit to his Heavenly Father. The nation, while it learns with +grief the death of its most illustrious citizen, finds solace in +contemplating his venerable character and services. The Valley of the +Mississippi beheld in him the bravest and wisest and most fortunate of +its defenders; the country raised him to the highest trusts in military +and in civil life with a confidence that never abated and an affection +that followed him in undiminished vigor to retirement, watched over his +latest hours, and pays its tribute at his grave. Wherever his lot was +cast he appeared among those around him first in natural endowments and +resources, not less than first in authority and station. The power of +his mind impressed itself on the policy of his country, and still lives, +and will live forever in the memory of its people. Child of a forest +region and a settler of the wilderness, his was a genius which, as it +came to the guidance of affairs, instinctively attached itself to +general principles, and inspired by the truth which his own heart +revealed to him in singleness and simplicity, he found always a response +in the breast of his countrymen. Crowned with glory in war, in his whole +career as a statesman he showed himself the friend and lover of peace. +With an American heart, whose throbs were all for republican freedom and +his native land, he yet longed to promote the widest intercourse and +most intimate commerce between the many nations of mankind. He was the +servant of humanity. Of a vehement will, he was patient in council, +deliberating long, hearing all things, yet in the moment of action +deciding with rapidity. Of a noble nature and incapable of disguise, his +thoughts lay open to all around him and won their confidence by his +ingenuous frankness. His judgment was of that solidity that he ever +tempered vigor with prudence. The flushings of anger could never cloud +his faculties, but rather kindled and lighted them up, quickening their +energy without disturbing their balance. In war his eye at a glance +discerned his plans with unerring sagacity; in peace he proposed +measures with an instinctive wisdom of which the inspirations were +prophecy. In discipline stern, in a just resolution inflexible, he was +full of the gentlest affections, ever ready to solace the distressed and +to relieve the needy, faithful to his friends, fervid for his country. +Indifferent to other rewards, he aspired throughout life to an honorable +fame, and so loved his fellow-men that he longed to dwell in their +affectionate remembrance. Heaven gave him length of days and he filled +them with deeds of greatness. He was always happy--happy in his youth, +which shared the achievement of our national independence; happy in his +after years, which beheld the Valley of the West cover itself with the +glory of free and ever-increasing States; happy in his age, which saw +the people multiply from two to twenty millions and freedom and union +make their pathway from the Atlantic to the Pacific; thrice happy in +death, for while he believed the liberties of his country imperishable +and was cheered by visions of its constant advancement, he departed from +this life in a full hope of a blessed immortality through the merits and +atonement of the Redeemer. + +Officers of the Army, the Navy, and the Marine Corps will wear crape on +the left arm and on their swords and the colors of the several regiments +will be put in mourning for the period of six months. At the naval +stations and the public vessels in commission the flags will be worn at +half-mast for one week, and on the day after this order is received +twenty-one minute guns will be fired, beginning at 12 o'clock. + +At each military station the day after the reception of this order the +national flag will be displayed at half-staff from sunrise to sunset, +thirteen guns will be fired at daybreak, half-hour guns during the day, +and at the close of the day a general salute. The troops will be paraded +at 10 o'clock and this order read to them, on which the labors of the +day will cease. + +Let the virtues of the illustrious dead retain their influence, and when +energy and courage are called to trial emulate his example. + +GEORGE BANCROFT, + _Acting Secretary of War, and Secretary of the Navy_. + +By order: + R. JONES, + _Adjutant-General_. + + + + +FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE. + + +WASHINGTON, _December 2, 1845_. + +_Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +It is to me a source of unaffected satisfaction to meet the +representatives of the States and the people in Congress assembled, as +it will be to receive the aid of their combined wisdom in the +administration of public affairs. In performing for the first time the +duty imposed on me by the Constitution of giving to you information of +the state of the Union and recommending to your consideration such +measures as in my judgment are necessary and expedient, I am happy that +I can congratulate you on the continued prosperity of our country. Under +the blessings of Divine Providence and the benign influence of our free +institutions, it stands before the world a spectacle of national +happiness. + +With our unexampled advancement in all the elements of national +greatness, the affection of the people is confirmed for the Union of the +States and for the doctrines of popular liberty which lie at the +foundation of our Government. + +It becomes us in humility to make our devout acknowledgments to the +Supreme Ruler of the Universe for the inestimable civil and religious +blessings with which we are favored. + +In calling the attention of Congress to our relations with foreign +powers, I am gratified to be able to state that though with some of them +there have existed since your last session serious causes of irritation +and misunderstanding, yet no actual hostilities have taken place. +Adopting the maxim in the conduct of our foreign affairs "to ask nothing +that is not right and submit to nothing that is wrong," it has been my +anxious desire to preserve peace with all nations, but at the same time +to be prepared to resist aggression and maintain all our just rights. + +In pursuance of the joint resolution of Congress "for annexing Texas to +the United States," my predecessor, on the 3d day of March, 1845, +elected to submit the first and second sections of that resolution to +the Republic of Texas as an overture on the part of the United States +for her admission as a State into our Union. This election I approved, +and accordingly the chargé d'affaires of the United States in Texas, +under instructions of the 10th of March, 1845, presented these sections +of the resolution for the acceptance of that Republic. The executive +government, the Congress, and the people of Texas in convention have +successively complied with all the terms and conditions of the joint +resolution. A constitution for the government of the State of Texas, +formed by a convention of deputies, is herewith laid before Congress. It +is well known, also, that the people of Texas at the polls have accepted +the terms of annexation and ratified the constitution. I communicate to +Congress the correspondence between the Secretary of State and our +chargé d'affaires in Texas, and also the correspondence of the latter +with the authorities of Texas, together with the official documents +transmitted by him to his own Government. The terms of annexation which +were offered by the United States having been accepted by Texas, the +public faith of both parties is solemnly pledged to the compact of their +union. Nothing remains to consummate the event but the passage of an act +by Congress to admit the State of Texas into the Union upon an equal +footing with the original States. Strong reasons exist why this should +be done at an early period of the session. It will be observed that by +the constitution of Texas the existing government is only continued +temporarily till Congress can act, and that the third Monday of the +present month is the day appointed for holding the first general +election. On that day a governor, a lieutenant-governor, and both +branches of the legislature will be chosen by the people. The President +of Texas is required, immediately after the receipt of official +information that the new State has been admitted into our Union by +Congress, to convene the legislature, and upon its meeting the existing +government will be superseded and the State government organized. +Questions deeply interesting to Texas, in common with the other States, +the extension of our revenue laws and judicial system over her people +and territory, as well as measures of a local character, will claim the +early attention of Congress, and therefore upon every principle of +republican government she ought to be represented in that body without +unnecessary delay. I can not too earnestly recommend prompt action on +this important subject. As soon as the act to admit Texas as a State +shall be passed the union of the two Republics will be consummated by +their own voluntary consent. + +This accession to our territory has been a bloodless achievement. No arm +of force has been raised to produce the result. The sword has had no +part in the victory. We have not sought to extend our territorial +possessions by conquest, or our republican institutions over a reluctant +people. It was the deliberate homage of each people to the great +principle of our federative union. If we consider the extent of +territory involved in the annexation, its prospective influence on +America, the means by which it has been accomplished, springing purely +from the choice of the people themselves to share the blessings of our +union, the history of the world may be challenged to furnish a parallel. +The jurisdiction of the United States, which at the formation of the +Federal Constitution was bounded by the St. Marys on the Atlantic, has +passed the capes of Florida and been peacefully extended to the Del +Norte. In contemplating the grandeur of this event it is not to be +forgotten that the result was achieved in despite of the diplomatic +interference of European monarchies. Even France, the country which had +been our ancient ally, the country which has a common interest with us +in maintaining the freedom of the seas, the country which, by the +cession of Louisiana, first opened to us access to the Gulf of Mexico, +the country with which we have been every year drawing more and more +closely the bonds of successful commerce, most unexpectedly, and to our +unfeigned regret, took part in an effort to prevent annexation and to +impose on Texas, as a condition of the recognition of her independence +by Mexico, that she would never join herself to the United States. We +may rejoice that the tranquil and pervading influence of the American +principle of self-government was sufficient to defeat the purposes of +British and French interference, and that the almost unanimous voice of +the people of Texas has given to that interference a peaceful and +effective rebuke. From this example European Governments may learn how +vain diplomatic arts and intrigues must ever prove upon this continent +against that system of self-government which seems natural to our soil, +and which will ever resist foreign interference. + +Toward Texas I do not doubt that a liberal and generous spirit will +actuate Congress in all that concerns her interests and prosperity, and +that she will never have cause to regret that she has united her "lone +star" to our glorious constellation. + +I regret to inform you that our relations with Mexico since your last +session have not been of the amicable character which it is our desire +to cultivate with all foreign nations. On the 6th day of March last the +Mexican envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to the United +States made a formal protest in the name of his Government against the +joint resolution passed by Congress "for the annexation of Texas to the +United States," which he chose to regard as a violation of the rights of +Mexico, and in consequence of it he demanded his passports. He was +informed that the Government of the United States did not consider this +joint resolution as a violation of any of the rights of Mexico, or that +it afforded any just cause of offense to his Government; that the +Republic of Texas was an independent power, owing no allegiance to +Mexico and constituting no part of her territory or rightful sovereignty +and jurisdiction. He was also assured that it was the sincere desire of +this Government to maintain with that of Mexico relations of peace and +good understanding. That functionary, however, notwithstanding these +representations and assurances, abruptly terminated his mission and +shortly afterwards left the country. Our envoy extraordinary and +minister plenipotentiary to Mexico was refused all official intercourse +with that Government, and, after remaining several months, by the +permission of his own Government he returned to the United States. Thus, +by the acts of Mexico, all diplomatic intercourse between the two +countries was suspended. + +Since that time Mexico has until recently occupied an attitude of +hostility toward the United States--has been marshaling and organizing +armies, issuing proclamations, and avowing the intention to make war on +the United States, either by an open declaration or by invading Texas. +Both the Congress and convention of the people of Texas invited this +Government to send an army into that territory to protect and defend +them against the menaced attack. The moment the terms of annexation +offered by the United States were accepted by Texas the latter became so +far a part of our own country as to make it our duty to afford such +protection and defense. I therefore deemed it proper, as a precautionary +measure, to order a strong squadron to the coasts of Mexico and to +concentrate an efficient military force on the western frontier of +Texas. Our Army was ordered to take position in the country between the +Nueces and the Del Norte, and to repel any invasion of the Texan +territory which might be attempted by the Mexican forces. Our squadron +in the Gulf was ordered to cooperate with the Army. But though our Army +and Navy were placed in a position to defend our own and the rights of +Texas, they were ordered to commit no act of hostility against Mexico +unless she declared war or was herself the aggressor by striking the +first blow. The result has been that Mexico has made no aggressive +movement, and our military and naval commanders have executed their +orders with such discretion that the peace of the two Republics has not +been disturbed. Texas had declared her independence and maintained it by +her arms for more than nine years. She has had an organized government +in successful operation during that period. Her separate existence as an +independent state had been recognized by the United States and the +principal powers of Europe. Treaties of commerce and navigation had been +concluded with her by different nations, and it had become manifest to +the whole world that any further attempt on the part of Mexico to +conquer her or overthrow her Government would be vain. Even Mexico +herself had become satisfied of this fact, and whilst the question of +annexation was pending before the people of Texas during the past summer +the Government of Mexico, by a formal act, agreed to recognize the +independence of Texas on condition that she would not annex herself to +any other power. The agreement to acknowledge the independence of Texas, +whether with or without this condition, is conclusive against Mexico. +The independence of Texas is a fact conceded by Mexico herself, and she +had no right or authority to prescribe restrictions as to the form of +government which Texas might afterwards choose to assume. But though +Mexico can not complain of the United States on account of the +annexation of Texas, it is to be regretted that serious causes of +misunderstanding between the two countries continue to exist, growing +out of unredressed injuries inflicted by the Mexican authorities and +people on the persons and property of citizens of the United States +through a long series of years. Mexico has admitted these injuries, but +has neglected and refused to repair them. Such was the character of the +wrongs and such the insults repeatedly offered to American citizens and +the American flag by Mexico, in palpable violation of the laws of +nations and the treaty between the two countries of the 5th of April, +1831, that they have been repeatedly brought to the notice of Congress +by my predecessors. As early as the 6th of February, 1837, the President +of the United States declared in a message to Congress that-- + + + The length of time since some of the injuries have been committed, the + repeated and unavailing applications for redress, the wanton character + of some of the outrages upon the property and persons of our citizens, + upon the officers and flag of the United States, independent of recent + insults to this Government and people by the late extraordinary Mexican + minister, would justify in the eyes of all nations immediate war. + + +He did not, however, recommend an immediate resort to this extreme +measure, which, he declared, "should not be used by just and generous +nations, confiding in their strength for injuries committed, if it can +be honorably avoided," but, in a spirit of forbearance, proposed that +another demand be made on Mexico for that redress which had been so long +and unjustly withheld. In these views committees of the two Houses of +Congress, in reports made to their respective bodies, concurred. Since +these proceedings more than eight years have elapsed, during which, in +addition to the wrongs then complained of, others of an aggravated +character have been committed on the persons and property of our +citizens. A special agent was sent to Mexico in the summer of 1838 with +full authority to make another and final demand for redress. The demand +was made; the Mexican Government promised to repair the wrongs of which +we complained, and after much delay a treaty of indemnity with that view +was concluded between the two powers on the 11th of April, 1839, and was +duly ratified by both Governments. By this treaty a joint commission was +created to adjudicate and decide on the claims of American citizens on +the Government of Mexico. The commission was organized at Washington on +the 25th day of August, 1840. Their time was limited to eighteen months, +at the expiration of which they had adjudicated and decided claims +amounting to $2,026,139.68 in favor of citizens of the United States +against the Mexican Government, leaving a large amount of claims +undecided. Of the latter the American commissioners had decided in favor +of our citizens claims amounting to $928,627.88, which were left unacted +on by the umpire authorized by the treaty. Still further claims, +amounting to between three and four millions of dollars, were submitted +to the board too late to be considered, and were left undisposed of. The +sum of $2,026,139.68, decided by the board, was a liquidated and +ascertained debt due by Mexico to the claimants, and there was no +justifiable reason for delaying its payment according to the terms of +the treaty. It was not, however, paid. Mexico applied for further +indulgence, and, in that spirit of liberality and forbearance which has +ever marked the policy of the United States toward that Republic, the +request was granted, and on the 30th of January, 1843, a new treaty was +concluded. By this treaty it was provided that the interest due on the +awards in favor of claimants under the convention of the 11th of April, +1839, should be paid on the 30th of April, 1843, and that-- + + + The principal of the said awards and the interest accruing thereon + shall be paid in five years, in equal installments every three months, + the said term of five years to commence on the 30th day of April, 1843, + aforesaid. + + +The interest due on the 30th day of April, 1843, and the three first of +the twenty installments have been paid. Seventeen of these installments +remain unpaid, seven of which are now due. + +The claims which were left undecided by the joint commission, amounting +to more than $3,000,000, together with other claims for spoliations on +the property of our citizens, were subsequently presented to the Mexican +Government for payment, and were so far recognized that a treaty +providing for their examination and settlement by a joint commission was +concluded and signed at Mexico on the 20th day of November, 1843. This +treaty was ratified by the United States with certain amendments to +which no just exception could have been taken, but it has not yet +received the ratification of the Mexican Government. In the meantime our +citizens, who suffered great losses--and some of whom have been reduced +from affluence to bankruptcy--are without remedy unless their rights be +enforced by their Government. Such a continued and unprovoked series of +wrongs could never have been tolerated by the United States had they +been committed by one of the principal nations of Europe. Mexico was, +however, a neighboring sister republic, which, following our example, +had achieved her independence, and for whose success and prosperity all +our sympathies were early enlisted. The United States were the first to +recognize her independence and to receive her into the family of +nations, and have ever been desirous of cultivating with her a good +understanding. We have therefore borne the repeated wrongs she has +committed with great patience, in the hope that a returning sense of +justice would ultimately guide her councils and that we might, if +possible, honorably avoid any hostile collision with her. Without the +previous authority of Congress the Executive possessed no power to adopt +or enforce adequate remedies for the injuries we had suffered, or to do +more than to be prepared to repel the threatened aggression on the part +of Mexico. After our Army and Navy had remained on the frontier and +coasts of Mexico for many weeks without any hostile movement on her +part, though her menaces were continued, I deemed it important to put an +end, if possible, to this state of things. With this view I caused steps +to be taken in the month of September last to ascertain distinctly and +in an authentic form what the designs of the Mexican Government +were--whether it was their intention to declare war, or invade Texas, or +whether they were disposed to adjust and settle in an amicable manner +the pending differences between the two countries. On the 9th of +November an official answer was received that the Mexican Government +consented to renew the diplomatic relations which had been suspended in +March last, and for that purpose were willing to accredit a minister +from the United States. With a sincere desire to preserve peace and +restore relations of good understanding between the two Republics, I +waived all ceremony as to the manner of renewing diplomatic intercourse +between them, and, assuming the initiative, on the 10th of November a +distinguished citizen of Louisiana was appointed envoy extraordinary and +minister plenipotentiary to Mexico, clothed with full powers to adjust +and definitively settle all pending differences between the two +countries, including those of boundary between Mexico and the State of +Texas. The minister appointed has set out on his mission and is probably +by this time near the Mexican capital. He has been instructed to bring +the negotiation with which he is charged to a conclusion at the earliest +practicable period, which it is expected will be in time to enable me to +communicate the result to Congress during the present session. Until +that result is known I forbear to recommend to Congress such ulterior +measures of redress for the wrongs and injuries we have so long borne as +it would have been proper to make had no such negotiation been +instituted. + +Congress appropriated at the last session the sum of $275,000 for the +payment of the April and July installments of the Mexican indemnities +for the year 1844: + + + Provided it shall be ascertained to the satisfaction of the American + Government that said installments have been paid by the Mexican + Government to the agent appointed by the United States to receive the + same in such manner as to discharge all claim on the Mexican Government, + and said agent to be delinquent in remitting the money to the United + States. + + +The unsettled state of our relations with Mexico has involved this +subject in much mystery. The first information in an authentic form from +the agent of the United States, appointed under the Administration of my +predecessor, was received at the State Department on the 9th of November +last. This is contained in a letter, dated the 17th of October, +addressed by him to one of our citizens then in Mexico with a view of +having it communicated to that Department. From this it appears that the +agent on the 20th of September, 1844, gave a receipt to the treasury of +Mexico for the amount of the April and July installments of the +indemnity. In the same communication, however, he asserts that he had +not received a single dollar in cash, but that he holds such securities +as warranted him at the time in giving the receipt, and entertains no +doubt but that he will eventually obtain the money. As these +installments appear never to have been actually paid by the Government +of Mexico to the agent, and as that Government has not, therefore, been +released so as to discharge the claim, I do not feel myself warranted in +directing payment to be made to the claimants out of the Treasury +without further legislation. Their case is undoubtedly one of much +hardship, and it remains for Congress to decide whether any, and what, +relief ought to be granted to them. Our minister to Mexico has been +instructed to ascertain the facts of the case from the Mexican +Government in an authentic and official form and report the result with +as little delay as possible. + +My attention was early directed to the negotiation which on the 4th +of March last I found pending at Washington between the United States +and Great Britain on the subject of the Oregon Territory. Three several +attempts had been previously made to settle the questions in dispute +between the two countries by negotiation upon the principle of compromise, +but each had proved unsuccessful. These negotiations took place +at London in the years 1818, 1824, and 1826--the two first under the +Administration of Mr. Monroe and the last under that of Mr. Adams. + +The negotiation of 1818, having failed to accomplish its object, +resulted in the convention of the 20th of October of that year. By the +third article of that convention it was-- + + Agreed that any country that may be claimed by either party on the + northwest coast of America westward of the Stony Mountains shall, + together with its harbors, bays, and creeks, and the navigation of all + rivers within the same, be free and open for the term of ten years from + the date of the signature of the present convention to the vessels, + citizens, and subjects of the two powers; it being well understood that + this agreement is not to be construed to the prejudice of any claim + which either of the two high contracting parties may have to any part of + the said country, nor shall it be taken to affect the claims of any + other power or state to any part of the said country, the only object of + the high contracting parties in that respect being to prevent disputes + and differences amongst themselves. + + +The negotiation of 1824 was productive of no result, and the convention +of 1818 was left unchanged. + +The negotiation of 1826, having also failed to effect an adjustment by +compromise, resulted in the convention of August 6, 1827, by which it +was agreed to continue in force for an indefinite period the provisions +of the third article of the convention of the 20th of October, 1818; and +it was further provided that-- + + It shall be competent, however, to either of the contracting parties, + in case either should think fit, at any time after the 20th of October, + 1828, on giving due notice of twelve months to the other contracting + party, to annul and abrogate this convention; and it shall in such case + be accordingly entirely annulled and abrogated after the expiration of + the said term of notice. + + +In these attempts to adjust the controversy the parallel of the +forty-ninth degree of north latitude had been offered by the United +States to Great Britain, and in those of 1818 and 1826, with a further +concession of the free navigation of the Columbia River south of that +latitude. The parallel of the forty-ninth degree from the Rocky +Mountains to its intersection with the northeasternmost branch of the +Columbia, and thence down the channel of that river to the sea, had been +offered by Great Britain, with an addition of a small detached territory +north of the Columbia. Each of these propositions had been rejected by +the parties respectively. In October, 1843, the envoy extraordinary and +minister plenipotentiary of the United States in London was authorized +to make a similar offer to those made in 1818 and 1826. Thus stood the +question when the negotiation was shortly afterwards transferred to +Washington, and on the 23d of August, 1844, was formally opened under +the direction of my immediate predecessor. Like all the previous +negotiations, it was based upon principles of "compromise," and the +avowed purpose of the parties was "to treat of the respective claims of +the two countries to the Oregon Territory with the view to establish a +permanent boundary between them westward of the Rocky Mountains to the +Pacific Ocean." + +Accordingly, on the 26th of August, 1844, the British plenipotentiary +offered to divide the Oregon Territory by the forty-ninth parallel of +north latitude from the Rocky Mountains to the point of its intersection +with the northeasternmost branch of the Columbia River, and thence down +that river to the sea, leaving the free navigation of the river to be +enjoyed in common by both parties, the country south of this line to +belong to the United States and that north of it to Great Britain. At +the same time he proposed in addition to yield to the United States a +detached territory north of the Columbia extending along the Pacific and +the Straits of Fuca from Bulfinchs Harbor, inclusive, to Hoods Canal, +and to make free to the United States any port or ports south of +latitude 49° which they might desire, either on the mainland or on +Quadra and Vancouvers Island. With the exception of the free ports, this +was the same offer which had been made by the British and rejected by +the American Government in the negotiation of 1826. This proposition was +properly rejected by the American plenipotentiary on the day it was +submitted. This was the only proposition of compromise offered by the +British plenipotentiary. The proposition on the part of Great Britain +having been rejected, the British plenipotentiary requested that a +proposal should be made by the United States for "an equitable +adjustment of the question." When I came into office I found this to be +the state of the negotiation. Though entertaining the settled conviction +that the British pretensions of title could not be maintained to any +portion of the Oregon Territory upon any principle of public law +recognized by nations, yet in deference to what had been done by my +predecessors, and especially in consideration that propositions of +compromise had been thrice made by two preceding Administrations to +adjust the question on the parallel of 49°, and in two of them yielding +to Great Britain the free navigation of the Columbia, and that the +pending negotiation had been commenced on the basis of compromise, I +deemed it to be my duty not abruptly to break it off. In consideration, +too, that under the conventions of 1818 and 1827 the citizens and +subjects of the two powers held a joint occupancy of the country, I was +induced to make another effort to settle this long-pending controversy +in the spirit of moderation which had given birth to the renewed +discussion. A proposition was accordingly made, which was rejected by +the British plenipotentiary, who, without submitting any other +proposition, suffered the negotiation on his part to drop, expressing +his trust that the United States would offer what he saw fit to call +"some further proposal for the settlement of the Oregon question more +consistent with fairness and equity and with the reasonable expectations +of the British Government." The proposition thus offered and rejected +repeated the offer of the parallel of 49° of north latitude, which had +been made by two preceding Administrations, but without proposing to +surrender to Great Britain, as they had done, the free navigation of the +Columbia River. The right of any foreign power to the free navigation of +any of our rivers through the heart of our country was which I was +unwilling to concede. I also embraced a provision to make free to Great +Britain any port or ports on the cap of Quadra and Vancouvers Island +south of this parallel. Had this been a new question, coming under +discussion for the first time, this proposition would not have been +made. The extraordinary and wholly inadmissible demands of the British +Government and the rejection of the proposition made in deference alone +to what had been done by my predecessors and the implied obligation +which their acts seemed to impose afford satisfactory evidence that no +compromise which the United States ought to accept can be effected. With +this conviction the proposition of compromise which had been made and +rejected was by my direction subsequently withdrawn and our title to the +whole Oregon Territory asserted, and, as is believed, maintained by +irrefragable facts and arguments. + +The civilized world will see in these proceedings a spirit of liberal +concession on the part of the United States, and this Government will be +relieved from all responsibility which may follow the failure to settle +the controversy. + +All attempts at compromise having failed, it becomes the duty of +Congress to consider what measures it may be proper to adopt for the +security and protection of our citizens now inhabiting or who may +hereafter inhabit Oregon, and for the maintenance of our just title to +that Territory. In adopting measures for this purpose care should be +taken that nothing be done to violate the stipulations of the convention +of 1827, which is still in force. The faith of treaties, in their letter +and spirit, has ever been, and, I trust, will ever be, scrupulously +observed by the United States. Under that convention a year's notice is +required to be given by either party to the other before the joint +occupancy shall terminate and before either can rightfully assert or +exercise exclusive jurisdiction over any portion of the territory. This +notice it would, in my judgment, be proper to give, and I recommend that +provision be made by law for giving it accordingly, and terminating in +this manner the convention of the 6th of August, 1827. + +It will become proper for Congress to determine what legislation they +can in the meantime adopt without violating this convention. Beyond all +question the protection of our laws and our jurisdiction, civil and +criminal, ought to be immediately extended over our citizens in Oregon. +They have had just cause to complain of our long neglect in this +particular, and have in consequence been compelled for their own +security and protection to establish a provisional government for +themselves. Strong in their allegiance and ardent in their attachment to +the United States, they have been thus cast upon their own resources. +They are anxious that our laws should be extended over them, and I +recommend that this be done by Congress with as little delay as possible +in the full extent to which the British Parliament have proceeded in +regard to British subjects in that Territory by their act of July 2, +1821, "for regulating the fur trade and establishing a criminal and +civil jurisdiction within certain parts of North America." By this act +Great Britain extended her laws and jurisdiction, civil and criminal, +over her subjects engaged in the fur trade in that Territory. By it the +courts of the Province of Upper Canada were empowered to take cognizance +of causes civil and criminal. Justices of the peace and other judicial +officers were authorized to be appointed in Oregon with power to execute +all process issuing from the courts of that Province, and to "sit and +hold courts of record for the trial of criminal offenses and +misdemeanors" not made the subject of capital punishment, and also of +civil cases where the cause of action shall not "exceed in value the +amount or sum of £200." + +Subsequent to the date of this act of Parliament a grant was made from +the "British Crown" to the Hudsons Bay Company of the exclusive trade +with the Indian tribes in the Oregon Territory, subject to a reservation +that it shall not operate to the exclusion "of the subjects of any +foreign states who, under or by force of any convention for the time +being between us and such foreign states, respectively, may be entitled +to and shall be engaged in the said trade." It is much to be regretted +that while under this act British subjects have enjoyed the protection +of British laws and British judicial tribunals throughout the whole of +Oregon, American citizens in the same Territory have enjoyed no such +protection from their Government. At the same time, the result +illustrates the character of our people and their institutions. In spite +of this neglect they have multiplied, and their number is rapidly +increasing in that Territory. They have made no appeal to arms, but have +peacefully fortified themselves in their new homes by the adoption of +republican institutions for themselves, furnishing another example of +the truth that self-government is inherent in the American breast and +must prevail. It is due to them that they should be embraced and +protected by our laws. It is deemed important that our laws regulating +trade and intercourse with the Indian tribes east of the Rocky Mountains +should be extended to such tribes as dwell beyond them. The increasing +emigration to Oregon and the care and protection which is due from the +Government to its citizens in that distant region make it our duty, as +it is our interest, to cultivate amicable relations with the Indian +tribes of that Territory. For this purpose I recommend that provision be +made for establishing an Indian agency and such subagencies as may be +deemed necessary beyond the Rocky Mountains. + +For the protection of emigrants whilst on their way to Oregon against +the attacks of the Indian tribes occupying the country through which +they pass, I recommend that a suitable number of stockades and +blockhouse forts be erected along the usual route between our frontier +settlements on the Missouri and the Rocky Mountains, and that an +adequate force of mounted riflemen be raised to guard and protect them +on their journey. The immediate adoption of these recommendations by +Congress will not violate the provisions of the existing treaty. It will +be doing nothing more for American citizens than British laws have long +since done for British subjects in the same territory. + +It requires several months to perform the voyage by sea from the +Atlantic States to Oregon, and although we have a large number of whale +ships in the Pacific, but few of them afford an opportunity of +interchanging intelligence without great delay between our settlements +in that distant region and the United States. An overland mail is +believed to be entirely practicable, and the importance of establishing +such a mail at least once a month is submitted to the favorable +consideration of Congress. + +It is submitted to the wisdom of Congress to determine whether at their +present session, and until after the expiration of the year's notice, +any other measures may be adopted consistently with the convention of +1827 for the security of our rights and the government and protection of +our citizens in Oregon. That it will ultimately be wise and proper to +make liberal grants of land to the patriotic pioneers who amidst +privations and dangers lead the way through savage tribes inhabiting the +vast wilderness intervening between our frontier settlements and Oregon, +and who cultivate and are ever ready to defend the soil, I am fully +satisfied. To doubt whether they will obtain such grants as soon as the +convention between the United States and Great Britain shall have ceased +to exist would be to doubt the justice of Congress; but, pending the +year's notice, it is worthy of consideration whether a stipulation to +this effect may be made consistently with the spirit of that convention. + +The recommendations which I have made as to the best manner of securing +our rights in Oregon are submitted to Congress with great deference. +Should they in their wisdom devise any other mode better calculated to +accomplish the same object, it shall meet with my hearty concurrence. + +At the end of the year's notice, should Congress think it proper to make +provision for giving that notice, we shall have reached a period when +the national rights in Oregon must either be abandoned or firmly +maintained. That they can not be abandoned without a sacrifice of both +national honor and interest is too clear to admit of doubt. + +Oregon is a part of the North American continent, to which, it is +confidently affirmed, the title of the United States is the best now in +existence. For the grounds on which that title rests I refer you to the +correspondence of the late and present Secretary of State with the +British plenipotentiary during the negotiation. The British proposition +of compromise, which would make the Columbia the line south of 49°, with +a trifling addition of detached territory to the United States north of +that river, and would leave on the British side two-thirds of the whole +Oregon Territory, including the free navigation of the Columbia and all +the valuable harbors on the Pacific, can never for a moment be +entertained by the United States without an abandonment of their just +and clear territorial rights, their own self-respect, and the national +honor. For the information of Congress, I communicate herewith the +correspondence which took place between the two Governments during the +late negotiation. + +The rapid extension of our settlements over our territories heretofore +unoccupied, the addition of new States to our Confederacy, the expansion +of free principles, and our rising greatness as a nation are attracting +the attention of the powers of Europe, and lately the doctrine has been +broached in some of them of a "balance of power" on this continent to +check our advancement. The United States, sincerely desirous of +preserving relations of good understanding with all nations, can not in +silence permit any European interference on the North American +continent, and should any such interference be attempted will be ready +to resist it at any and all hazards. + +It is well known to the American people and to all nations that this +Government has never interfered with the relations subsisting between +other governments. We have never made ourselves parties to their wars or +their alliances; we have not sought their territories by conquest; we +have not mingled with parties in their domestic struggles; and believing +our own form of government to be the best, we have never attempted to +propagate it by intrigues, by diplomacy, or by force. We may claim on +this continent a like exemption from European interference. The nations +of America are equally sovereign and independent with those of Europe. +They possess the same rights, independent of all foreign interposition, +to make war, to conclude peace, and to regulate their internal affairs. +The people of the United States can not, therefore, view with +indifference attempts of European powers to interfere with the +independent action of the nations on this continent. The American system +of government is entirely different from that of Europe. Jealousy among +the different sovereigns of Europe, lest any one of them might become +too powerful for the rest, has caused them anxiously to desire the +establishment of what they term the "balance of power." It can not be +permitted to have any application on the North American continent, and +especially to the United States. We must ever maintain the principle +that the people of this continent alone have the right to decide their +own destiny. Should any portion of them, constituting an independent +state, propose to unite themselves with our Confederacy, this will be a +question for them and us to determine without any foreign interposition. +We can never consent that European powers shall interfere to prevent +such a union because it might disturb the "balance of power" which they +may desire to maintain upon this continent. Near a quarter of a century +ago the principle was distinctly announced to the world, in the annual +message of one of my predecessors, that-- + + The American continents, by the free and independent condition which + they have assumed and maintain, are henceforth not to be considered + as subjects for future colonization by any European powers. + + +This principle will apply with greatly increased force should any +European power attempt to establish any new colony in North America. In +the existing circumstances of the world the present is deemed a proper +occasion to reiterate and reaffirm the principle avowed by Mr. Monroe +and to state my cordial concurrence in its wisdom and sound policy. The +reassertion of this principle, especially in reference to North America, +is at this day but the promulgation of a policy which no European power +should cherish the disposition to resist. Existing rights of every +European nation should be respected, but it is due alike to our safety +and our interests that the efficient protection of our laws should be +extended over our whole territorial limits, and that it should be +distinctly announced to the world as our settled policy that no future +European colony or dominion shall with our consent be planted or +established on any part of the North American continent. + +A question has recently arisen under the tenth article of the subsisting +treaty between the United States and Prussia. By this article the +consuls of the two countries have the right to sit as judges and +arbitrators "in such differences as may arise between the captains and +crews of the vessels belonging to the nation whose interests are +committed to their charge without the interference of the local +authorities, unless the conduct of the crews or of the captain should +disturb the order or tranquillity of the country, or the said consuls +should require their assistance to cause their decisions to be carried +into effect or supported." + +The Prussian consul at New Bedford in June, 1844, applied to Mr. Justice +Story to carry into effect a decision made by him between the captain +and crew of the Prussian ship _Borussia_, but the request was refused on +the ground that without previous legislation by Congress the judiciary +did not possess the power to give effect to this article of the treaty. +The Prussian Government, through their minister here, have complained of +this violation of the treaty, and have asked the Government of the +United States to adopt the necessary measures to prevent similar +violations hereafter. Good faith to Prussia, as well as to other nations +with whom we have similar treaty stipulations, requires that these +should be faithfully observed. I have deemed it proper, therefore, to +lay the subject before Congress and to recommend such legislation as may +be necessary to give effect to these treaty obligations. + +By virtue of an arrangement made between the Spanish Government and that +of the United States in December, 1831, American vessels, since the 20th +of April, 1832, have been admitted to entry in the ports of Spain, +including those of the Balearic and Canary islands, on payment of the +same tonnage duty of 5 cents per ton, as though they had been Spanish +vessels; and this whether our vessels arrive in Spain directly from the +United States or indirectly from any other country. When Congress, by +the act of 13th July, 1832, gave effect to this arrangement between the +two Governments, they confined the reduction of tonnage duty merely to +Spanish vessels "coming from a port in Spain," leaving the former +discriminating duty to remain against such vessels coming from a port in +any other country. It is manifestly unjust that whilst American vessels +arriving in the ports of Spain from other countries pay no more duty +than Spanish vessels, Spanish vessels arriving in the ports of the +United States from other countries should be subjected to heavy +discriminating tonnage duties. This is neither equality nor reciprocity, +and is in violation of the arrangement concluded in December, 1831, +between the two countries. The Spanish Government have made repeated and +earnest remonstrances against this inequality, and the favorable +attention of Congress has been several times invoked to the subject by +my predecessors. I recommend, as an act of justice to Spain, that this +inequality be removed by Congress and that the discriminating duties +which have been levied under the act of the 13th of July, 1832, on +Spanish vessels coming to the United States from any other foreign +country be refunded. This recommendation does not embrace Spanish +vessels arriving in the United States from Cuba and Porto Rico, which +will still remain subject to the provisions of the act of June 30, 1834, +concerning tonnage duty on such vessels. By the act of the 14th of July, +1832, coffee was exempted from duty altogether. This exemption was +universal, without reference to the country where it was produced or the +national character of the vessel in which it was imported. By the tariff +act of the 30th of August, 1842, this exemption from duty was restricted +to coffee imported in American vessels from the place of its production, +whilst coffee imported under all other circumstances was subjected to a +duty of 20 per cent _ad valorem_. Under this act and our existing treaty +with the King of the Netherlands Java coffee imported from the European +ports of that Kingdom into the United States, whether in Dutch or +American vessels, now pays this rate of duty. The Government of the +Netherlands complains that such a discriminating duty should have been +imposed on coffee the production of one of its colonies, and which is +chiefly brought from Java to the ports of that Kingdom and exported from +thence to foreign countries. Our trade with the Netherlands is highly +beneficial to both countries and our relations with them have ever been +of the most friendly character. Under all the circumstances of the case, +I recommend that this discrimination should be abolished and that the +coffee of Java imported from the Netherlands be placed upon the same +footing with that imported directly from Brazil and other countries +where it is produced. + +Under the eighth section of the tariff act of the 30th of August, 1842, +a duty of 15 cents per gallon was imposed on port wine in casks, while +on the red wines of several other countries, when imported in casks, a +duty of only 6 cents per gallon was imposed. This discrimination, so far +as regarded the port wine of Portugal, was deemed a violation of our +treaty with that power, which provides that-- + + No higher or other duties shall be imposed on the importation into + the United States of America of any article the growth, produce, or + manufacture of the Kingdom and possessions of Portugal than such as + are or shall be payable on the like article being the growth, produce, + or manufacture of any other foreign country. + + +Accordingly, to give effect to the treaty as well as to the intention of +Congress, expressed in a proviso to the tariff act itself, that nothing +therein contained should be so construed as to interfere with subsisting +treaties with foreign nations, a Treasury circular was issued on the +16th of July, 1844, which, among other things, declared the duty on the +port wine of Portugal, in casks, under the existing laws and treaty to +be 6 cents per gallon, and directed that the excess of duties which had +been collected on such wine should be refunded. By virtue of another +clause in the same section of the act it is provided that all imitations +of port or any other wines "shall be subject to the duty provided for +the genuine article." Imitations of port wine, the production of France, +are imported to some extent into the United States, and the Government +of that country now claims that under a correct construction of the act +these imitations ought not to pay a higher duty than that imposed upon +the original port wine of Portugal. It appears to me to be unequal and +unjust that French imitations of port wine should be subjected to a duty +of 15 cents, while the more valuable article from Portugal should pay a +duty of 6 cents only per gallon. I therefore recommend to Congress such +legislation as may be necessary to correct the inequality. + +The late President, in his annual message of December last, recommended +an appropriation to satisfy the claims of the Texan Government against +the United States, which had been previously adjusted so far as the +powers of the Executive extend. These claims arose out of the act of +disarming a body of Texan troops under the command of Major Snively by +an officer in the service of the United States, acting under the orders +of our Government, and the forcible entry into the custom-house at +Bryarlys Landing, on Red River, by certain citizens of the United States +and taking away therefrom the goods seized by the collector of the +customs as forfeited under the laws of Texas. This was a liquidated debt +ascertained to be due to Texas when an independent state. Her acceptance +of the terms of annexation proposed by the United States does not +discharge or invalidate the claim. I recommend that provision be made +for its payment. + +The commissioner appointed to China during the special session of the +Senate in March last shortly afterwards set out on his mission in the +United States ship _Columbus_. On arriving at Rio de Janeiro on his +passage the state of his health had become so critical that by the +advice of his medical attendants he returned to the United States early +in the month of October last. Commodore Biddle, commanding the East +India Squadron, proceeded on his voyage in the _Columbus_, and was +charged by the commissioner with the duty of exchanging with the proper +authorities the ratifications of the treaty lately concluded with the +Emperor of China. Since the return of the commissioner to the United +States his health has been much improved, and he entertains the +confident belief that he will soon be able to proceed on his mission. + +Unfortunately, differences continue to exist among some of the nations +of South America which, following our example, have established their +independence, while in others internal dissensions prevail. It is +natural that our sympathies should be warmly enlisted for their welfare; +that we should desire that all controversies between them should be +amicably adjusted and their Governments administered in a manner to +protect the rights and promote the prosperity of their people. It is +contrary, however, to our settled policy to interfere in their +controversies, whether external or internal. + +I have thus adverted to all the subjects connected with our foreign +relations to which I deem it necessary to call your attention. Our +policy is not only peace with all, but good will toward all the powers +of the earth. While we are just to all, we require that all shall be +just to us. Excepting the differences with Mexico and Great Britain, our +relations with all civilized nations are of the most satisfactory +character. It is hoped that in this enlightened age these differences +may be amicably adjusted. + +The Secretary of the Treasury in his annual report to Congress will +communicate a full statement of the condition of our finances. The +imports for the fiscal year ending on the 30th of June last were of the +value of $117,254,564, of which the amount exported was $15,346,830, +leaving a balance of $101,907,734 for domestic consumption. The exports +for the same year were of the value of $114,646,606, of which the amount +of domestic articles was $99,299,776. The receipts into the Treasury +during the same year were $29,769,133.56, of which there were derived +from customs $27,528,112.70, from sales of public lands $2,077,022.30, +and from incidental and miscellaneous sources $163,998.56. The +expenditures for the same period were $29,968,206.98, of which +$8,588,157.62 were applied to the payment of the public debt. The +balance in the Treasury on the 1st of July last was $7,658,306.22. The +amount of the public debt remaining unpaid on the 1st of October last +was $17,075,445.52. Further payments of the public debt would have been +made, in anticipation of the period of its reimbursement under the +authority conferred upon the Secretary of the Treasury by the acts of +July 21, 1841, and of April 15, 1842, and March 3, 1843, had not the +unsettled state of our relations with Mexico menaced hostile collision +with that power. In view of such a contingency it was deemed prudent to +retain in the Treasury an amount unusually large for ordinary purposes. + +A few years ago our whole national debt growing out of the Revolution +and the War of 1812 with Great Britain was extinguished, and we +presented to the world the rare and noble spectacle of a great and +growing people who had fully discharged every obligation. Since that +time the existing debt has been contracted, and, small as it is in +comparison with the similar burdens of most other nations, it should be +extinguished at the earliest practicable period. Should the state of the +country permit, and especially if our foreign relations interpose no +obstacle, it is contemplated to apply all the moneys in the Treasury as +they accrue, beyond what is required for the appropriations by Congress, +to its liquidation. I cherish the hope of soon being able to +congratulate the country on its recovering once more the lofty position +which it so recently occupied. Our country, which exhibits to the world +the benefits of self-government, in developing all the sources of +national prosperity owes to mankind the permanent example of a nation +free from the blighting influence of a public debt. + +The attention of Congress is invited to the importance of making +suitable modifications and reductions of the rates of duty imposed by +our present tariff laws. The object of imposing duties on imports should +be to raise revenue to pay the necessary expenses of Government. +Congress may undoubtedly, in the exercise of a sound discretion, +discriminate in arranging the rates of duty on different articles, but +the discriminations should be within the revenue standard and be made +with the view to raise money for the support of Government. + +It becomes important to understand distinctly what is meant by a revenue +standard the maximum of which should not be exceeded in the rates of +duty imposed. It is conceded, and experience proves, that duties may be +laid so high as to diminish or prohibit altogether the importation of +any given article, and thereby lessen or destroy the revenue which at +lower rates would be derived from its importation. Such duties exceed +the revenue rates and are not imposed to raise money for the support of +Government. If Congress levy a duty for revenue of 1 per cent on a given +article, it will produce a given amount of money to the Treasury and +will incidentally and necessarily afford protection or advantage to the +amount of 1 per cent to the home manufacturer of a similar or like +article over the importer. If the duty be raised to 10 per cent, it will +produce a greater amount of money and afford greater protection. If it +be still raised to 20, 25, or 30 per cent, and if as it is raised the +revenue derived from it is found to be increased, the protection or +advantage will also be increased; but if it be raised to 31 per cent, +and it is found that the revenue produced at that rate is less than at +30 per cent, it ceases to be a revenue duty. The precise point in the +ascending scale of duties at which it is ascertained from experience +that the revenue is greatest is the maximum rate of duty which can be +laid for the _bona fide_ purpose of collecting money for the support of +Government. To raise the duties higher than that point, and thereby +diminish the amount collected, is to levy them for protection merely, +and not for revenue. As long, then, as Congress may gradually increase +the rate of duty on a given article, and the revenue is increased by +such increase of duty, they are within the revenue standard. When they +go beyond that point, and as they increase the duties, the revenue is +diminished or destroyed; the act ceases to have for its object the +raising of money to support Government, but is for protection merely. It +does not follow that Congress should levy the highest duty on all +articles of import which they will bear within the revenue standard, for +such rates would probably produce a much larger amount than the +economical administration of the Government would require. Nor does it +follow that the duties on all articles should be at the same or a +horizontal rate. Some articles will bear a much higher revenue duty than +others. Below the maximum of the revenue standard Congress may and ought +to discriminate in the rates imposed, taking care so to adjust them on +different articles as to produce in the aggregate the amount which, when +added to the proceeds of the sales of public lands, may be needed to pay +the economical expenses of the Government. + +In levying a tariff of duties Congress exercise the taxing power, and +for purposes of revenue may select the objects of taxation. They may +exempt certain articles altogether and permit their importation free of +duty. On others they may impose low duties. In these classes should be +embraced such articles of necessity as are in general use, and +especially such as are consumed by the laborer and poor as well as by +the wealthy citizen. Care should be taken that all the great interests +of the country, including manufactures, agriculture, commerce, +navigation, and the mechanic arts, should, as far as may be practicable, +derive equal advantages from the incidental protection which a just +system of revenue duties may afford. Taxation, direct or indirect, is a +burden, and it should be so imposed as to operate as equally as may be +on all classes in the proportion of their ability to bear it. To make +the taxing power an actual benefit to one class necessarily increases +the burden of the others beyond their proportion, and would be +manifestly unjust. The terms "protection to domestic industry" are of +popular import, but they should apply under a just system to all the +various branches of industry in our country. The farmer or planter who +toils yearly in his fields is engaged in "domestic industry," and is as +much entitled to have his labor "protected" as the manufacturer, the man +of commerce, the navigator, or the mechanic, who are engaged also in +"domestic industry" in their different pursuits. The joint labors of all +these classes constitute the aggregate of the "domestic industry" of the +nation, and they are equally entitled to the nation's "protection." No +one of them can justly claim to be the exclusive recipient of +"protection," which can only be afforded by increasing burdens on the +"domestic industry" of the others. + +If these views be correct, it remains to inquire how far the tariff act +of 1842 is consistent with them. That many of the provisions of that act +are in violation of the cardinal principles here laid down all must +concede. The rates of duty imposed by it on some articles are +prohibitory and on others so high as greatly to diminish importations +and to produce a less amount of revenue than would be derived from lower +rates. They operate as "protection merely" to one branch of "domestic +industry" by taxing other branches. + +By the introduction of minimums, or assumed and false values, and by the +imposition of specific duties the injustice and inequality of the act of +1842 in its practical operations on different classes and pursuits are +seen and felt. Many of the oppressive duties imposed by it under the +operation of these principles range from 1 per cent to more than 200 per +cent. They are prohibitory on some articles and partially so on others, +and bear most heavily on articles of common necessity and but lightly on +articles of luxury. It is so framed that much the greatest burden which +it imposes is thrown on labor and the poorer classes, who are least able +to bear it, while it protects capital and exempts the rich from paying +their just proportion of the taxation required for the support of +Government. While it protects the capital of the wealthy manufacturer +and increases his profits, it does not benefit the operatives or +laborers in his employment, whose wages have not been increased by it. +Articles of prime necessity or of coarse quality and low price, used by +the masses of the people, are in many instances subjected by it to heavy +taxes, while articles of finer quality and higher price, or of luxury, +which can be used only by the opulent, are lightly taxed. It imposes +heavy and unjust burdens on the farmer, the planter, the commercial man, +and those of all other pursuits except the capitalist who has made his +investments in manufactures. All the great interests of the country are +not as nearly as may be practicable equally protected by it. + +The Government in theory knows no distinction of persons or classes, and +should not bestow upon some favors and privileges which all others may +not enjoy. It was the purpose of its illustrious founders to base the +institutions which they reared upon the great and unchanging principles +of justice and equity, conscious that if administered in the spirit in +which they were conceived they would be felt only by the benefits which +they diffused, and would secure for themselves a defense in the hearts +of the people more powerful than standing armies and all the means and +appliances invented to sustain governments founded in injustice and +oppression. + +The well-known fact that the tariff act of 1842 was passed by a majority +of one vote in the Senate and two in the House of Representatives, and +that some of those who felt themselves constrained, under the peculiar +circumstances existing at the time, to vote in its favor, proclaimed its +defects and expressed their determination to aid in its modification on +the first opportunity, affords strong and conclusive evidence that it +was not intended to be permanent, and of the expediency and necessity of +its thorough revision. + +In recommending to Congress a reduction of the present rates of duty and +a revision and modification of the act of 1842, I am far from +entertaining opinions unfriendly to the manufacturers. On the contrary, +I desire to see them prosperous as far as they can be so without +imposing unequal burdens on other interests. The advantage under any +system of indirect taxation, even within the revenue standard, must be +in favor of the manufacturing interest, and of this no other interest +will complain. + +I recommend to Congress the abolition of the minimum principle, or +assumed, arbitrary, and false values, and of specific duties, and the +substitution in their place of _ad valorem_ duties as the fairest and +most equitable indirect tax which can be imposed. By the _ad valorem_ +principle all articles are taxed according to their cost or value, and +those which are of inferior quality or of small cost bear only the just +proportion of the tax with those which are of superior quality or +greater cost. The articles consumed by all are taxed at the same rate. A +system of _ad valorem_ revenue duties, with proper discriminations and +proper guards against frauds in collecting them, it is not doubted will +afford ample incidental advantages to the manufacturers and enable them +to derive as great profits as can be derived from any other regular +business. It is believed that such a system strictly within the revenue +standard will place the manufacturing interests on a stable footing and +inure to their permanent advantage, while it will as nearly as may be +practicable extend to all the great interests of the country the +incidental protection which can be afforded by our revenue laws. Such a +system, when once firmly established, would be permanent, and not be +subject to the constant complaints, agitations, and changes which must +ever occur when duties are not laid for revenue, but for the "protection +merely" of a favored interest. + +In the deliberations of Congress on this subject it is hoped that a +spirit of mutual concession and compromise between conflicting interests +may prevail, and that the result of their labors may be crowned with the +happiest consequences. + +By the Constitution of the United States it is provided that "no money +shall be drawn from the Treasury but in consequence of appropriations +made by law." A public treasury was undoubtedly contemplated and +intended to be created, in which the public money should be kept from +the period of collection until needed for public uses. In the collection +and disbursement of the public money no agencies have ever been employed +by law except such as were appointed by the Government, directly +responsible to it and under its control. The safe-keeping of the public +money should be confided to a public treasury created by law and under +like responsibility and control. It is not to be imagined that the +framers of the Constitution could have intended that a treasury should +be created as a place of deposit and safe-keeping of the public money +which was irresponsible to the Government. The first Congress under the +Constitution, by the act of the 2d of September, 1789, "to establish the +Treasury Department," provided for the appointment of a Treasurer, and +made it his duty "to receive and keep the moneys of the United States" +and "at all times to submit to the Secretary of the Treasury and the +Comptroller, or either of them, the inspection of the moneys in his +hands." + +That banks, national or State, could not have been intended to be used +as a substitute for the Treasury spoken of in the Constitution as +keepers of the public money is manifest from the fact that at that time +there was no national bank, and but three or four State banks, of +limited capital, existed in the country. Their employment as +depositories was at first resorted to to a limited extent, but with no +avowed intention of continuing them permanently in place of the Treasury +of the Constitution. When they were afterwards from time to time +employed, it was from motives of supposed convenience. Our experience +has shown that when banking corporations have been the keepers of the +public money, and been thereby made in effect the Treasury, the +Government can have no guaranty that it can command the use of its own +money for public purposes. The late Bank of the United States proved to +be faithless. The State banks which were afterwards employed were +faithless. But a few years ago, with millions of public money in their +keeping, the Government was brought almost to bankruptcy and the public +credit seriously impaired because of their inability or indisposition to +pay on demand to the public creditors in the only currency recognized by +the Constitution. Their failure occurred in a period of peace, and great +inconvenience and loss were suffered by the public from it. Had the +country been involved in a foreign war, that inconvenience and loss +would have been much greater, and might have resulted in extreme public +calamity. The public money should not be mingled with the private funds +of banks or individuals or be used for private purposes. When it is +placed in banks for safe-keeping, it is in effect loaned to them without +interest, and is loaned by them upon interest to the borrowers from +them. The public money is converted into banking capital, and is used +and loaned out for the private profit of bank stockholders, and when +called for, as was the case in 1837, it may be in the pockets of the +borrowers from the banks instead of being in the public Treasury +contemplated by the Constitution. The framers of the Constitution could +never have intended that the money paid into the Treasury should be thus +converted to private use and placed beyond the control of the +Government. + +Banks which hold the public money are often tempted by a desire of gain +to extend their loans, increase their circulation, and thus stimulate, +if not produce, a spirit of speculation and extravagance which sooner or +later must result in ruin to thousands. If the public money be not +permitted to be thus used, but be kept in the Treasury and paid out to +the public creditors in gold and silver, the temptation afforded by its +deposit with banks to an undue expansion of their business would be +checked, while the amount of the constitutional currency left in +circulation would be enlarged by its employment in the public +collections and disbursements, and the banks themselves would in +consequence be found in a safer and sounder condition. At present State +banks are employed as depositories, but without adequate regulation of +law whereby the public money can be secured against the casualties and +excesses, revulsions, suspensions, and defalcations to which from +overissues, overtrading, an inordinate desire for gain, or other causes +they are constantly exposed. The Secretary of the Treasury has in all +cases when it was practicable taken collateral security for the amount +which they hold, by the pledge of stocks of the United States or such of +the States as were in good credit. Some of the deposit banks have given +this description of security and others have declined to do so. + +Entertaining the opinion that "the separation of the moneys of the +Government from banking institutions is indispensable for the safety of +the funds of the Government and the rights of the people," I recommend +to Congress that provision be made by law for such separation, and that +a constitutional treasury be created for the safe-keeping of the public +money. The constitutional treasury recommended is designed as a secure +depository for the public money, without any power to make loans or +discounts or to issue any paper whatever as a currency or circulation. +I can not doubt that such a treasury as was contemplated by the +Constitution should be independent of all banking corporations. +The money of the people should be kept in the Treasury of the people +created by law, and be in the custody of agents of the people chosen by +themselves according to the forms of the Constitution--agents who are +directly responsible to the Government, who are under adequate bonds and +oaths, and who are subject to severe punishments for any embezzlement, +private use, or misapplication of the public funds, and for any failure +in other respects to perform their duties. To say that the people or +their Government are incompetent or not to be trusted with the custody +of their own money in their own Treasury, provided by themselves, but +must rely on the presidents, cashiers, and stockholders of banking +corporations, not appointed by them nor responsible to them, would be +to concede that they are incompetent for self-government. + +In recommending the establishment of a constitutional treasury in which +the public money shall be kept, I desire that adequate provision be made +by law for its safety and that all Executive discretion or control over +it shall be removed, except such as may be necessary in directing its +disbursement in pursuance of appropriations made by law. + +Under our present land system, limiting the minimum price at which the +public lands can be entered to $1.25 per acre, large quantities of lands +of inferior quality remain unsold because they will not command that +price. From the records of the General Land Office it appears that of +the public lands remaining unsold in the several States and Territories +in which they are situated, 39,105,577 acres have been in the market +subject to entry more than twenty years, 49,638,644 acres for more than +fifteen years, 73,074,600 acres for more than ten years, and 106,176,961 +acres for more than five years. Much the largest portion of these lands +will continue to be unsalable at the minimum price at which they are +permitted to be sold so long as large territories of lands from which +the more valuable portions have not been selected are annually brought +into market by the Government. With the view to the sale and settlement +of these inferior lands, I recommend that the price be graduated and +reduced below the present minimum rate, confining the sales at the +reduced prices to settlers and cultivators, in limited quantities. If +graduated and reduced in price for a limited term to $1 per acre, and +after the expiration of that period for a second and third term to lower +rates, a large portion of these lands would be purchased, and many +worthy citizens who are unable to pay higher rates could purchase homes +for themselves and their families. By adopting the policy of graduation +and reduction of price these inferior lands will be sold for their real +value, while the States in which they lie will be freed from the +inconvenience, if not injustice, to which they are subjected in +consequence of the United States continuing to own large quantities of +the public lands within their borders not liable to taxation for the +support of their local governments. + +I recommend the continuance of the policy of granting preemptions in its +most liberal extent to all those who have settled or may hereafter +settle on the public lands, whether surveyed or unsurveyed, to which the +Indian title may have been extinguished at the time of settlement. It +has been found by experience that in consequence of combinations of +purchasers and other causes a very small quantity of the public lands, +when sold at public auction, commands a higher price than the minimum +rates established by law. The settlers on the public lands are, however, +but rarely able to secure their homes and improvements at the public +sales at that rate, because these combinations, by means of the capital +they command and their superior ability to purchase, render it +impossible for the settler to compete with them in the market. By +putting down all competition these combinations of capitalists and +speculators are usually enabled to purchase the lands, including the +improvements of the settlers, at the minimum price of the Government, +and either turn them out of their homes or extort from them, according +to their ability to pay, double or quadruple the amount paid for them to +the Government. It is to the enterprise and perseverance of the hardy +pioneers of the West, who penetrate the wilderness with their families, +suffer the dangers, the privations, and hardships attending the +settlement of a new country, and prepare the way for the body of +emigrants who in the course of a few years usually follow them, that we +are in a great degree indebted for the rapid extension and +aggrandizement of our country. + +Experience has proved that no portion of our population are more +patriotic than the hardy and brave men of the frontier, or more ready to +obey the call of their country and to defend her rights and her honor +whenever and by whatever enemy assailed. They should be protected from +the grasping speculator and secured, at the minimum price of the public +lands, in the humble homes which they have improved by their labor. With +this end in view, all vexatious or unnecessary restrictions imposed upon +them by the existing preemption laws should be repealed or modified. It +is the true policy of the Government to afford facilities to its +citizens to become the owners of small portions of our vast public +domain at low and moderate rates. + +The present system of managing the mineral lands of the United States is +believed to be radically defective. More than 1,000,000 acres of the +public lands, supposed to contain lead and other minerals, have been +reserved from sale, and numerous leases upon them have been granted to +individuals upon a stipulated rent. The system of granting leases has +proved to be not only unprofitable to the Government, but unsatisfactory +to the citizens who have gone upon the lands, and must, if continued, +lay the foundation of much future difficulty between the Government and +the lessees. According to the official records, the amount of rents +received by the Government for the years 1841, 1842, 1843, and 1844 was +$6,354.74, while the expenses of the system during the same period, +including salaries of superintendents, agents, clerks, and incidental +expenses, were $26,111.11, the income being less than one-fourth of the +expenses. To this pecuniary loss may be added the injury sustained by +the public in consequence of the destruction of timber and the careless +and wasteful manner of working the mines. The system has given rise to +much litigation between the United States and individual citizens, +producing irritation and excitement in the mineral region, and involving +the Government in heavy additional expenditures. It is believed that +similar losses and embarrassments will continue to occur while the +present system of leasing these lands remains unchanged. These lands are +now under the superintendence and care of the War Department, with the +ordinary duties of which they have no proper or natural connection. I +recommend the repeal of the present system, and that these lands be +placed under the superintendence and management of the General Land +Office, as other public lands, and be brought into market and sold upon +such terms as Congress in their wisdom may prescribe, reserving to the +Government an equitable percentage of the gross amount of mineral +product, and that the preemption principle be extended to resident +miners and settlers upon them at the minimum price which may be +established by Congress. + +I refer you to the accompanying report of the Secretary of War for +information respecting the present situation of the Army and its +operations during the past year, the state of our defenses, the +condition of the public works, and our relations with the various Indian +tribes within our limits or upon our borders. I invite your attention to +the suggestions contained in that report in relation to these prominent +objects of national interest. When orders were given during the past +summer for concentrating a military force on the western frontier of +Texas, our troops were widely dispersed and in small detachments, +occupying posts remote from each other. The prompt and expeditious +manner in which an army embracing more than half our peace establishment +was drawn together on an emergency so sudden reflects great credit on +the officers who were intrusted with the execution of these orders, as +well as upon the discipline of the Army itself. To be in strength to +protect and defend the people and territory of Texas in the event Mexico +should commence hostilities or invade her territories with a large army, +which she threatened, I authorized the general assigned to the command +of the army of occupation to make requisitions for additional forces +from several of the States nearest the Texan territory, and which could +most expeditiously furnish them, if in his opinion a larger force than +that under his command and the auxiliary aid which under like +circumstances he was authorized to receive from Texas should be +required. The contingency upon which the exercise of this authority +depended has not occurred. The circumstances under which two companies +of State artillery from the city of New Orleans were sent into Texas and +mustered into the service of the United States are fully stated in the +report of the Secretary of War. I recommend to Congress that provision +be made for the payment of these troops, as well as a small number of +Texan volunteers whom the commanding general thought it necessary to +receive or muster into our service. + +During the last summer the First Regiment of Dragoons made extensive +excursions through the Indian country on our borders, a part of them +advancing nearly to the possessions of the Hudsons Bay Company in the +north, and a part as far as the South Pass of the Rocky Mountains and +the head waters of the tributary streams of the Colorado of the West. +The exhibition of this military force among the Indian tribes in those +distant regions and the councils held with them by the commanders of the +expeditions, it is believed, will have a salutary influence in +restraining them from hostilities among themselves and maintaining +friendly relations between them and the United States. An interesting +account of one of these excursions accompanies the report of the +Secretary of War. Under the directions of the War Department Brevet +Captain Frémont, of the Corps of Topographical Engineers, has been +employed since 1842 in exploring the country west of the Mississippi and +beyond the Rocky Mountains. Two expeditions have already been brought to +a close, and the reports of that scientific and enterprising officer +have furnished much interesting and valuable information. He is now +engaged in a third expedition, but it is not expected that this arduous +service will be completed in season to enable me to communicate the +result to Congress at the present session. + +Our relations with the Indian tribes are of a favorable character. +The policy of removing them to a country designed for their permanent +residence west of the Mississippi, and without the limits of the +organized States and Territories, is better appreciated by them than it +was a few years ago, while education is now attended to and the habits +of civilized life are gaining ground among them. + +Serious difficulties of long standing continue to distract the several +parties into which the Cherokees are unhappily divided. The efforts of +the Government to adjust the difficulties between them have heretofore +proved unsuccessful, and there remains no probability that this +desirable object can be accomplished without the aid of further +legislation by Congress. I will at an early period of your session +present the subject for your consideration, accompanied with an +exposition of the complaints and claims of the several parties into +which the nation is divided, with a view to the adoption of such +measures by Congress as may enable the Executive to do justice to them, +respectively, and to put an end, if possible, to the dissensions which +have long prevailed and still prevail among them. + +I refer you to the report of the Secretary of the Navy for the present +condition of that branch of the national defense and for grave +suggestions having for their object the increase of its efficiency and a +greater economy in its management. During the past year the officers and +men have performed their duty in a satisfactory manner. The orders which +have been given have been executed with promptness and fidelity. A +larger force than has often formed one squadron under our flag was +readily concentrated in the Gulf of Mexico, and apparently without +unusual effort. It is especially to be observed that notwithstanding the +union of so considerable a force, no act was committed that even the +jealousy of an irritated power could construe as an act of aggression, +and that the commander of the squadron and his officers, in strict +conformity with their instructions, holding themselves ever ready +for the most active duty, have achieved the still purer glory of +contributing to the preservation of peace. It is believed that at all +our foreign stations the honor of our flag has been maintained and that +generally our ships of war have been distinguished for their good +discipline and order. I am happy to add that the display of maritime +force which was required by the events of the summer has been made +wholly within the usual appropriations for the service of the year, so +that no additional appropriations are required. + +The commerce of the United States, and with it the navigating interests, +have steadily and rapidly increased since the organization of our +Government, until, it is believed, we are now second to but one power in +the world, and at no distant day we shall probably be inferior to none. +Exposed as they must be, it has been a wise policy to afford to these +important interests protection with our ships of war distributed in the +great highways of trade throughout the world. For more than thirty years +appropriations have been made and annually expended for the gradual +increase of our naval forces. In peace our Navy performs the important +duty of protecting our commerce, and in the event of war will be, as it +has been, a most efficient means of defense. + +The successful use of steam navigation on the ocean has been followed by +the introduction of war steamers in great and increasing numbers into +the navies of the principal maritime powers of the world. A due regard +to our own safety and to an efficient protection to our large and +increasing commerce demands a corresponding increase on our part. No +country has greater facilities for the construction of vessels of this +description than ours, or can promise itself greater advantages from +their employment. They are admirably adapted to the protection of our +commerce, to the rapid transmission of intelligence, and to the coast +defense. In pursuance of the wise policy of a gradual increase of our +Navy, large supplies of live-oak timber and other materials for +shipbuilding have been collected and are now under shelter and in a +state of good preservation, while iron steamers can be built with great +facility in various parts of the Union. The use of iron as a material, +especially in the construction of steamers which can enter with safety +many of the harbors along our coast now inaccessible to vessels of +greater draft, and the practicability of constructing them in the +interior, strongly recommend that liberal appropriations should be made +for this important object. Whatever may have been our policy in the +earlier stages of the Government, when the nation was in its infancy, +our shipping interests and commerce comparatively small, our resources +limited, our population sparse and scarcely extending beyond the limits +of the original thirteen States, that policy must be essentially +different now that we have grown from three to more than twenty millions +of people, that our commerce, carried in our own ships, is found in +every sea, and that our territorial boundaries and settlements have been +so greatly expanded. Neither our commerce nor our long line of coast on +the ocean and on the Lakes can be successfully defended against foreign +aggression by means of fortifications alone. These are essential at +important commercial and military points, but our chief reliance for +this object must be on a well-organized, efficient navy. The benefits +resulting from such a navy are not confined to the Atlantic States. The +productions of the interior which seek a market abroad are directly +dependent on the safety and freedom of our commerce. The occupation of +the Balize below New Orleans by a hostile force would embarrass, if not +stagnate, the whole export trade of the Mississippi and affect the value +of the agricultural products of the entire valley of that mighty river +and its tributaries. + +It has never been our policy to maintain large standing armies in time +of peace. They are contrary to the genius of our free institutions, +would impose heavy burdens on the people and be dangerous to public +liberty. Our reliance for protection and defense on the land must be +mainly on our citizen soldiers, who will be ever ready, as they ever +have been ready in times past, to rush with alacrity, at the call of +their country, to her defense. This description of force, however, can +not defend our coast, harbors, and inland seas, nor protect our commerce +on the ocean or the Lakes. These must be protected by our Navy. + +Considering an increased naval force, and especially of steam vessels, +corresponding with our growth and importance as a nation, and +proportioned to the increased and increasing naval power of other +nations, of vast importance as regards our safety, and the great and +growing interests to be protected by it, I recommend the subject to the +favorable consideration of Congress. + +The report of the Postmaster-General herewith communicated contains a +detailed statement of the operations of his Department during the past +year. It will be seen that the income from postages will fall short of +the expenditures for the year between $1,000,000 and $2,000,000. This +deficiency has been caused by the reduction of the rates of postage, +which was made by the act of the 3d of March last. No principle has been +more generally acquiesced in by the people than that this Department +should sustain itself by limiting its expenditures to its income. +Congress has never sought to make it a source of revenue for general +purposes except for a short period during the last war with Great +Britain, nor should it ever become a charge on the general Treasury. If +Congress shall adhere to this principle, as I think they ought, it will +be necessary either to curtail the present mail service so as to reduce +the expenditures, or so to modify the act of the 3d of March last as to +improve its revenues. The extension of the mail service and the +additional facilities which will be demanded by the rapid extension and +increase of population on our western frontier will not admit of such +curtailment as will materially reduce the present expenditures. In the +adjustment of the tariff of postages the interests of the people demand +that the lowest rates be adopted which will produce the necessary +revenue to meet the expenditures of the Department. I invite the +attention of Congress to the suggestions of the Postmaster-General on +this subject, under the belief that such a modification of the late law +may be made as will yield sufficient revenue without further calls on +the Treasury, and with very little change in the present rates of +postage. Proper measures have been taken in pursuance of the act of the +3d of March last for the establishment of lines of mail steamers between +this and foreign countries. The importance of this service commends +itself strongly to favorable consideration. + +With the growth of our country the public business which devolves on the +heads of the several Executive Departments has greatly increased. In +some respects the distribution of duties among them seems to be +incongruous, and many of these might be transferred from one to another +with advantage to the public interests. A more auspicious time for the +consideration of this subject by Congress, with a view to system in the +organization of the several Departments and a more appropriate division +of the public business, will not probably occur. + +The most important duties of the State Department relate to our foreign +affairs. By the great enlargement of the family of nations, the increase +of our commerce, and the corresponding extension of our consular system +the business of this Department has been greatly increased. + +In its present organization many duties of a domestic nature and +consisting of details are devolved on the Secretary of State, which do +not appropriately belong to the foreign department of the Government and +may properly be transferred to some other Department. One of these grows +out of the present state of the law concerning the Patent Office, which +a few years since was a subordinate clerkship, but has become a distinct +bureau of great importance. With an excellent internal organization, it +is still connected with the State Department. In the transaction of its +business questions of much importance to inventors and to the community +frequently arise, which by existing laws are referred for decision to a +board of which the Secretary of State is a member. These questions are +legal, and the connection which now exists between the State Department +and the Patent Office may with great propriety and advantage be +transferred to the Attorney-General. + +In his last annual message to Congress Mr. Madison invited attention to +a proper provision for the Attorney-General as "an important improvement +in the executive establishment," This recommendation was repeated by +some of his successors. The official duties of the Attorney-General have +been much increased within a few years,' and his office has become one +of great importance. His duties may be still further increased with +advantage to the public interests. As an executive officer his residence +and constant attention at the seat of Government are required. Legal +questions involving important principles and large amounts of public +money are constantly referred to him by the President and Executive +Departments for his examination and decision. The public business under +his official management before the judiciary has been so augmented by +the extension of our territory and the acts of Congress authorizing +suits against the United States for large bodies of valuable public +lands as greatly to increase his labors and responsibilities. I +therefore recommend that the Attorney-General be placed on the same +footing with the heads of the other Executive Departments, with such +subordinate officers provided by law for his Department as may be +required to discharge the additional duties which have been or may be +devolved upon him. + +Congress possess the power of exclusive legislation over the District of +Columbia, and I commend the interests of its inhabitants to your +favorable consideration. The people of this District have no legislative +body of their own, and must confide their local as well as their general +interests to representatives in whose election they have no voice and +over whose official conduct they have no control. Each member of the +National Legislature should consider himself as their immediate +representative, and should be the more ready to give attention to their +interests and wants because he is not responsible to them. I recommend +that a liberal and generous spirit may characterize your measures in +relation to them. I shall be ever disposed to show a proper regard for +their wishes and, within constitutional limits, shall at all times +cheerfully cooperate with you for the advancement of their welfare. + +I trust it may not be deemed inappropriate to the occasion for me to +dwell for a moment on the memory of the most eminent citizen of our +country who during the summer that is gone by has descended to the tomb. +The enjoyment of contemplating, at the advanced age of near fourscore +years, the happy condition of his country cheered the last hours of +Andrew Jackson, who departed this life in the tranquil hope of a blessed +immortality. His death was happy, as his life had been eminently useful. +He had an unfaltering confidence in the virtue and capacity of the +people and in the permanence of that free Government which he had +largely contributed to establish and defend. His great deeds had secured +to him the affections of his fellow-citizens, and it was his happiness +to witness the growth and glory of his country, which he loved so well. +He departed amidst the benedictions of millions of freemen. The nation +paid its tribute to his memory at his tomb. Coming generations will +learn from his example the love of country and the rights of man. In his +language on a similar occasion to the present, "I now commend you, +fellow-citizens, to the guidance of Almighty God, with a full reliance +on His merciful providence for the maintenance of our free institutions, +and with an earnest supplication that whatever errors it may be my lot +to commit in discharging the arduous duties which have devolved on me +will find a remedy in the harmony and wisdom of your counsels." + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + + +SPECIAL MESSAGES. + + +Washington, _December 9, 1845_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + + +I communicate herewith a letter received from the President of the +existing Government of the State of Texas, transmitting duplicate copies +of the constitution formed by the deputies of the people of Texas in +convention assembled, accompanied by official information that the said +constitution had been ratified, confirmed, and adopted by the people of +Texas themselves, in accordance with the joint resolution for annexing +Texas to the United States, and in order that Texas might be admitted as +one of the States of that Union. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + +WASHINGTON, _December 10, 1845_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + + +I transmit herewith a report of the Secretary of War, in answer to a +resolution of the Senate of the 4th instant, calling for information +"with respect to the practicability and utility of a fort or forts on +Ship Island, on the coast of Mississippi, with a view to the protection +of said coast." + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _December 15, 1845_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I herewith communicate to the Senate, for its consideration, a +convention signed on the 14th May of the present year by the minister +of the United States at Berlin with the minister of Saxony at the same +Court, for the mutual abolition of the _droit d'aubaine, droit de +détraction_, and taxes on emigration between the United States and +Saxony; and I communicate with the convention an explanatory dispatch +of the minister of the United States, dated on the 14th May, 1845, and +numbered 267. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _December 16, 1845_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I herewith communicate to the Senate, for its consideration, a +convention concluded and signed at Berlin on the 29th day of January, +1845, between the United States and Prussia, together with certain other +German States, for the mutual extradition of fugitives from justice in +certain cases; and I communicate with the convention the correspondence +necessary to explain it. + +In submitting this convention to the Senate I deem it proper to call +their attention to the third article, by which it is stipulated that +"none of the contracting parties shall be bound to deliver up its own +citizens or subjects under the stipulations of this convention." + +No such reservation is to be found in our treaties of extradition with +Great Britain and France, the only two nations with whom we have +concluded such treaties. These provide for the surrender of all persons +who are fugitives from justice, without regard to the country to which +they may belong. Under this article, if German subjects of any of the +parties to the convention should commit crimes within the United States +and fly back to their native country from justice, they would not be +surrendered. This is clear in regard to all such Germans as shall not +have been naturalized under our laws. But even after naturalization +difficult and embarrassing questions might arise between the parties. +These German powers, holding the doctrine of perpetual allegiance, might +refuse to surrender German naturalized citizens, whilst we must ever +maintain the principle that the rights and duties of such citizens are +the same as if they had been born in the United States. + +I would also observe that the fourth article of the treaty submitted +contains a provision not to be found in our conventions with Great +Britain and France. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _December 16, 1845_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I herewith transmit a report from the Secretary of State, containing the +information called for by the resolution of the Senate of the 8th of +January last, in relation to the claim of the owners of the brig +_General Armstrong_ against the Government of Portugal.[1] + +JAMES K. POLK. + +[Footnote 1: For failing to protect the American armed brig _General +Armstrong_, while lying in the port of Fayal, Azores, from attack by +British armed ships on September 26, 1814.] + + + +WASHINGTON, _December 19, 1845_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I communicate to the House of Representatives, in reply to their +resolution of the 25th of February last, a report from the Secretary of +State, together with the correspondence of George W. Slacum, late consul +of the United States at Rio de Janeiro, with the Department of State, +relating to the African slave trade. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _December 22, 1845_. + +_To the Congress of the United States_: + +I transmit to Congress a communication from the Secretary of State, with +a statement of the expenditures from the appropriation made by the act +entitled "An act providing the means of future intercourse between the +United States and the Government of China," approved the 3d of March, +1843. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _January 3, 1846_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit to the Senate a report of the Secretary of the Navy, +communicating the information called for by their resolution of the 18th +of December, 1845, in relation to the "number of agents now employed for +the preservation of timber, their salaries, the authority of law under +which they are paid, and the allowances of every description made within +the last twenty years in the settlement of the accounts of said agents." + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _January 6, 1846_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I communicate to the Senate the information called for by their +resolution of December 31, 1845, "requesting the President to cause to +be communicated to the Senate copies of the correspondence between the +Attorney-General and the Solicitor of the Treasury and the judicial +officers of Florida in relation to the authority of the Territorial +judges as Federal judges since the 3d of March, 1845." + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _January 12, 1846_. + +_To the Senate of the United States:_ + +I nominate the persons named in the accompanying list[2] of promotions +and appointments in the Army of the United States to the several grades +annexed to their names, as proposed by the Secretary of War. + +JAMES K. POLK. + +[Footnote 2: Omitted.] + + + +WAR DEPARTMENT, _January 8, 1846_. + +_The PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES._ + +SIR: I have the honor respectfully to propose for your approbation the +annexed list[3] of officers for promotion and persons for appointment +in the Army of the United States. + +I am, sir, with great respect, your obedient servant, + +W.L. MARCY + +[Footnote 3: Omitted.] + + + +ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE, + +_Washington, January 8, 1846_. + +Hon. W.L. Marcy, + _Secretary of War_, + +SIR: I respectfully submit the accompanying list[4] of promotions and +appointments to fill the vacancies in the Army which are known to have +happened since the date of the last list, December 12, 1845. The +promotions are all regular except that of Captain Martin Scott, Fifth +Infantry, whose name, agreeably to the decision of the President and +your instructions, is submitted to fill the vacancy of major in the +First Regiment of Infantry (_vice_ Dearborn, promoted), over the two +senior captains of Infantry, Captain John B. Clark, of the Third +Regiment, and Brevet Major Thomas Noel, of the Sixth. The reasons for +this departure from the ordinary course (as in other like cases of +disability) are set forth in the Adjutant-General's report of the 27th +ultimo and the General in Chief's indorsement thereon, of which copies +are herewith respectfully annexed, marked A. + +I am, sir, with great respect, your obedient servant, + +R. JONES, + _Adjutant-General._ + +[Footnote 4: Omitted.] + + + +A. + +ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE, + _Washington, December 27, 1845_. + + +Major-General WINFIELD SCOTT, + _Commanding the Army_. + +SIR: The death of Lieutenant-Colonel Hoffman, Seventh Infantry, on the +26th ultimo, having caused a vacancy in the grade of major, to which, +under the rule, Captain J.B. Clark, Third Infantry, would be entitled to +succeed, I deem it proper to submit the following statement, extracted +from the official returns of his regiment, touching his physical +capacity for the performance of military duty. + +In May, 1836, Captain Clark went on the recruiting service, where he +remained till October 4, 1838, when he was granted a three months' +leave. He joined his company at Fort Towson in May, 1839, and continued +with it from that time till March, 1841, accompanying it meanwhile +(October, 1840) to Florida. He obtained a three months' leave on +surgeon's certificate of ill health March 23, 1841, but did not rejoin +till February 16, 1842. In the interim he was placed on duty for a +short time as a member of a general court-martial, which happened to be +convened at St. Louis, where he was then staying. He remained with his +company from February to November, 1842, when he again received a leave +for the benefit of his health, and did not return to duty till April 26, +1843 (after his regiment had been ordered to Florida), when he rejoined +it at Jefferson Barracks. He continued with it (with the exception of +one short leave) from April, 1843, till June, 1845, but the returns show +him to have been frequently on the sick report during that period. On +the 2d of June, 1845, his company being then encamped near Fort Jessup +in expectation of orders for Texas, he again procured a leave on account +of his health, and has not since been able to rejoin, reporting monthly +that his health unfitted him for the performance of duty. The signature +of his last report (not written by himself), of November 30 +(herewith[5]), would seem to indicate great physical derangement or +decrepitude, approaching, perhaps, to paralysis. + +From the foregoing it appears that during the last seven years (since +October, 1838) Captain Clark has been off duty two years and four +months, the greater part of the time on account of sickness, and that +even when present with his company his health is so much impaired that +very often he is unable to perform the ordinary garrison duties. + +Under these circumstances it is respectfully submitted, for the +consideration of the proper authority, whether the senior captain of +infantry should not be passed over and (as Brevet Major Noel,[6] the +next in rank, is utterly disqualified) Captain Martin Scott, of the +Fifth Infantry, promoted to the vacant majority. + +It is proper to state that Captain Clark has always been regarded as a +perfect gentleman, and as such, as far as I know, is equal to any +officer in the Army. + +I am, sir, most respectfully, your obedient servant, + +R. JONES, + _Adjutant-General._ + +[Remarks indorsed on the foregoing report by the General in Chief.] + + +DECEMBER 30, 1845. + +This report presents grave points for consideration. It is highly +improbable that the Captain will ever be fit for the active duties of +his profession. The question, therefore, seems to be whether he shall be +a pensioner on full pay as captain or as major, for he has long been, +not in name, but in fact, a pensioner on full pay. We have no half pay +in the Army to relieve marching regiments of crippled and superannuated +officers. We have many such--Colonel Maury, of the Third Infantry +(superannuated), and Majors Cobb and McClintock, Fifth Infantry and +Third Artillery (crippled). Many others are fast becoming superannuated. +The three named are on indefinite leaves of absence, and so are Majors +Searle and Noel, permanent cripples from wounds. General Cass's +resolution of yesterday refers simply to age. A half pay or retired list +with half pay would be much better. There are some twenty officers who +ought at once to be placed on such list and their places filled by +promotion. + +Upon the whole, I think it best that Captain M. Scott should be +promoted, _vice_ Dearborn, _vice_ Lieutenant-Colonel Hoffman. + +Respectfully submitted to the Secretary of War. + +WINFIELD SCOTT. + +[Footnote 5: Omitted.] + +[Footnote 6: In 1839 Brevet Major Noel, Sixth Infantry, was severely +wounded (serving in the Florida War at the time) by the accidental +discharge of his own pistol. He left his company February 16, 1839, and +has ever since been absent from his regiment, the state of his wound and +great suffering rendering him utterly incapable of performing any kind +of duty whatever; nor is there any reason to hope he will ever be able +to resume his duties.] + +R. JONES, + _Adjutant-General_. + + +JANUARY 8, 1846. + +It appearing from the within statements of the Commanding General and +the Adjutant-General that the two officers proposed to be passed over +are physically unable to perform the duties of major, and their +inability is not temporary, I recommend that Captain Martin Scott be +promoted to the vacant majority 3d January, 1846. + +W.L. MARCY. + + + +WASHINGTON, _January 13, 1846_. + +_To the Senate of the United States:_ + +I transmit to the Senate a report of the Secretary of War, with +accompanying papers, showing the measures which have been adopted in +relation to the transfer of certain stocks between the Chickasaw and +Choctaw Indians under the treaty between those tribes of the 24th March, +1837. The claim presented by the Choctaw General Council, if deemed to +be founded in equity, can not be adjusted without the previous advice +and consent of the Senate. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _January 20, 1846_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +On the 15th of January, 1846, I withdrew the nomination of James H. +Tate, of Mississippi, as consul at Buenos Ayres. The withdrawal was made +upon the receipt on that day of a letter addressed to me by the Senators +from the State of Mississippi advising it. I transmit their letter +herewith to the Senate. At that time I had not been furnished with a +copy of the Executive Journal of the Senate, and had no knowledge of +the pendency of the resolution before that body in executive session +in relation to this nomination. Having since been furnished by the +Secretary of the Senate with a copy of the Executive Journal containing +the resolution referred to, I deem it proper and due to the Senate to +reinstate the nomination in the condition in which it was before it was +withdrawn. And with that view I nominate James H. Tate, of Mississippi, +to be consul at Buenos Ayres. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _January 28, 1846_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I herewith communicate to the Senate, for its consideration with regard +to its ratification, a treaty of commerce and navigation between the +United States and the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, concluded and signed +on the 1st day of December last at Naples by the chargé d'affaires of +the United States with the plenipotentiaries of His Majesty the King of +the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. + +And I communicate at the same time portions of the correspondence (so +far as it has been received) in explanation of the treaty. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _February 3, 1846_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I herewith communicate to the Senate, for its consideration in reference +to its ratification, a treaty of commerce and navigation between the +United States and Belgium, concluded and signed on the 10th November +last at Brussels by the chargé d'affaires of the United States with the +minister of foreign affairs of His Majesty the King of the Belgians. + +And I communicate at the same time the correspondence and other papers +in explanation of the treaty, + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _February 5, 1846_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +In pursuance with the request of the Senate in their resolution of the +4th instant, I "return" herewith, "for their further action, the +resolution advising and consenting to the appointment of Isaac H. Wright +as navy agent at Boston." It will be observed that the resolution of the +Senate herewith returned contains the advice and consent of that body to +the appointment of several other persons to other offices not embraced +in their resolution of the 4th instant, and it being impossible to +comply with the request of the Senate without communicating to them the +whole resolution, I respectfully request that so far as it relates to +the other cases than that of Mr. Wright it may be returned to me. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + +WASHINGTON, _February 7, 1846_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +In compliance with the request of the Senate in their resolution of the +29th January last, I herewith communicate a report from the Secretary of +State, with the accompanying correspondence, which has taken place +between the Secretary of State and the minister of the United States at +London and between the Government of the United States and that of +England on the "subject of Oregon" since my communication of the 2d of +December last was made to Congress. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _February 7, 1846_. + +_To the House of Representatives of the United States_: + +In compliance with the request of the House of Representatives in their +resolution of the 3d instant, I herewith communicate a report from the +Secretary of State, with the accompanying "correspondence, which has +taken place" between the Secretary of State and the minister of the +United States at London and "between the Government of Great Britain and +this Government in relation to the country west of the Rocky Mountains +since the last annual message of the President" to Congress. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _February 9, 1846_. + +_To the House of Representatives of the United States_: + +I communicate herewith, in answer to the resolution of the House of +Representatives of the 19th of December last, the report of the +Secretary of State inclosing "copies of correspondence between this +Government and Great Britain within the last two years in relation to +the Washington treaty, and particularly in relation to the free +navigation of the river St. John, and in relation to the +disputed-territory fund named in said treaty;" and also the accompanying +copies of documents filed in the Department of State, which embrace the +correspondence and information called for by the said resolution. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _February 9, 1846_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +In compliance with the request of the Senate in their resolution of the +5th instant, I herewith return "the resolution of the Senate advising +and consenting to the appointment of F.G. Mayson to be a second +lieutenant in the Marine Corps." As the same resolution which contains +the advice and consent of the Senate to the appointment of Mr. Mayson +contains also the advice and consent of that body to the appointment of +several other persons to other offices, to whom commissions have been +since issued, I respectfully request that the resolution, so far as it +relates to the persons other than Mr. Mayson, may be returned to me. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _February 12, 1846_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit herewith, for the consideration and advice of the Senate with +regard to its ratification, a treaty concluded on the 14th day of +January last by Thomas H. Harvey and Richard W. Cummins, commissioners +on the part of the United States, and the chiefs and headmen of the +Kansas tribe of Indians, together with a report of the Commissioner of +Indian Affairs and other papers explanatory of the same. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _February 16, 1846_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I herewith transmit a communication from the Attorney-General relating +to a contract entered into by him with Messrs. Little & Brown for +certain copies of their proposed edition of the laws and treaties of the +United States, in pursuance of the joint resolution of the 3d March, +1845. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _February 16, 1846_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I herewith transmit a report from the Secretary of the Navy, +communicating the correspondence called for by the resolution of the +Senate of the 25th of February, 1845, between the commander of the East +India Squadrons and foreign powers or United States agents abroad during +the years 1842 and 1843, relating to the trade and other interests of +this Government. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _February 18, 1846_. + +_To the House of Representatives of the United States_: + +In compliance with the request of the House of Representatives in their +resolution of the 12th instant, asking for information relative to the +Mexican indemnity, I communicate herewith a report from the Secretary of +State, with the paper accompanying it. + +JAMES K. POLK. + +[A similar message was sent to the Senate in compliance with a request +of that body.] + + + +WASHINGTON, _March 23, 1846_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_: + +I transmit, for your consideration, a correspondence between the +minister of Her Britannic Majesty in Washington and the Secretary of +State, containing an arrangement for the adjustment and payment of the +claims of the respective Governments upon each other arising from the +collection of certain import duties in violation of the second article +of the commercial convention of 3d of July, 1815, between the two +countries, and I respectfully submit to Congress the propriety of making +provision to carry this arrangement into effect. + +The second article of this convention provides that "no higher or other +duties shall be imposed on the importation into the United States of any +articles the growth, produce, or manufacture of His Britannic Majesty's +territories in Europe, and no higher or other duties shall be imposed on +the importation into the territories of His Britannic Majesty in Europe +of any articles the growth, produce, or manufacture of the United +States, than are or shall be payable on the like articles being the +growth, produce, or manufacture of any other foreign country." + +Previous to the act of Parliament of the 13th of August, 1836, the duty +on foreign rough rice imported into Great Britain was 2s. 6d. sterling +per bushel. By this act the duty was reduced to 1 penny per quarter (of +8 bushels) on the rough rice "imported from the west coast of Africa." + +Upon the earnest and repeated remonstrances of our ministers at London +in opposition to this discrimination against American and in favor of +African rice, as a violation of the subsisting convention, Parliament, +by the act of 9th July, 1842, again equalized the duty on all foreign +rough rice by fixing it at 7s. per quarter., In the intervening period, +however, of nearly six years large importations had been made into Great +Britain of American rough rice, which was subjected to a duty of 2s. 6d. +per bushel; but the importers, knowing their rights under the +convention, claimed that it should be admitted at the rate of 1 penny +per quarter, the duty imposed on African rice. This claim was resisted +by the British Government, and the excess of duty was paid, at the first +under protest, and afterwards, in consequence of an arrangement with the +board of customs, by the deposit of exchequer bills. + +It seems to have been a clear violation both of the letter and spirit of +the convention to admit rough rice "the growth" of Africa at 1 penny per +quarter, whilst the very same article "the growth" of the United States +was charged with a duty of 2s. 6d. per bushel. + +The claim of Great Britain, under the same article of the convention, is +founded on the tariff act of 30th August, 1842. Its twenty-fifth section +provides "that nothing in this act contained shall apply to goods +shipped in a vessel bound to any port of the United States, actually +having left her last port of lading eastward of the Cape of Good Hope or +beyond Cape Horn prior to the 1st day of September, 1842; and all legal +provisions and regulations existing immediately before the 30th day of +June, 1842, shall be applied to importations which may be made in +vessels which have left such last port of lading eastward of the Cape of +Good Hope or beyond Cape Horn prior to said 1st day of September, 1842." + +The British Government contends that it was a violation of the second +article of the convention for this act to require that "articles the +growth, produce, or manufacture" of Great Britain, when imported into +the United States in vessels which had left their last port of lading in +Great Britain prior to the 1st day of September, 1842, should pay any +"higher or other duties" than were imposed on "like articles" "the +growth, produce, or manufacture" of countries beyond the Cape of Good +Hope and Cape Horn. + +Upon a careful consideration of the subject I arrived at the conclusion +that this claim on the part of the British Government was well founded. +I deem it unnecessary to state my reasons at length for adopting this +opinion, the whole subject being fully explained in the letter of the +Secretary of the Treasury and the accompanying papers. + +The amount necessary to satisfy the British claim can not at present be +ascertained with any degree of accuracy, no individual having yet +presented his case to the Government of the United States. It is not +apprehended that the amount will be large. After such examination of the +subject as it has been in his power to make, the Secretary of the +Treasury believes that it will not exceed $100,000. + +On the other hand, the claims of the importers of rough rice into Great +Britain have been already ascertained, as the duties were paid either +under protest or in exchequer bills. Their amount is stated by Mr. +Everett, our late minister at London, in a dispatch dated June 1, 1843, +to be £88,886 16s. 10d. sterling, of which £60,006 4d. belong to +citizens of the United States. + +As it may be long before the amount of the British claim can be +ascertained, and it would be unreasonable to postpone payment to the +American claimants until this can be adjusted, it has been proposed to +the British Government immediately to refund the excess of duties +collected by it on American rough rice. I should entertain a confident +hope that this proposal would be accepted should the arrangement +concluded be sanctioned by an act of Congress making provision for the +return of the duties in question. The claimants might then be paid as +they present their demands, properly authenticated, to the Secretary of +the Treasury. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _March 24, 1846_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +In answer to the inquiry of the Senate contained in their resolution of +the 17th instant, whether in my "judgment any circumstances connected +with or growing out of the foreign relations of this country require at +this time an increase of our naval or military force," and, if so, "what +those circumstances are," I have to express the opinion that a wise +precaution demands such increase. + +In my annual message of the 2d of December last I recommended to the +favorable consideration of Congress an increase of our naval force, +especially of our steam navy, and the raising of an adequate military +force to guard and protect such of our citizens as might think proper to +emigrate to Oregon. Since that period I have seen no cause to recall or +modify these recommendations. On the contrary, reasons exist which, in +my judgment, render it proper not only that they should be promptly +carried into effect, but that additional provision should be made for +the public defense. + +The consideration of such additional provision was brought before +appropriate committees of the two Houses of Congress, in answer to calls +made by them, in reports prepared, with my sanction, by the Secretary of +War and the Secretary of the Navy on the 29th of December and the 8th of +January last--a mode of communication with Congress not unusual, and +under existing circumstances believed to be most eligible. Subsequent +events have confirmed me in the opinion that these recommendations were +proper as precautionary measures. + +It was a wise maxim of the Father of his Country that "to be prepared +for war is one of the most efficient means of preserving peace," and +that, "avoiding occasions of expense by cultivating peace," we should +"remember also that timely disbursements to prepare for danger +frequently prevent much greater disbursements to repel it." The general +obligation to perform this duty is greatly strengthened by facts known +to the whole world. A controversy respecting the Oregon Territory now +exists between the United States and Great Britain, and while, as far +as we know, the relations of the latter with all European nations are +of the most pacific character, she is making unusual and extraordinary +armaments and warlike preparations, naval and military, both at home and +in her North American possessions. + +It can not be disguised that, however sincere may be the desire of +peace, in the event of a rupture these armaments and preparations would +be used against our country. Whatever may have been the original purpose +of these preparations, the fact is undoubted that they are now +proceeding, in part at least, with a view to the contingent possibility +of a war with the United States. The general policy of making additional +warlike preparations was distinctly announced in the speech from the +throne as late as January last, and has since been reiterated by the +ministers of the Crown in both houses of Parliament. Under this aspect +of our relations with Great Britain, I can not doubt the propriety of +increasing our means of defense both by land and sea. This can give +Great Britain no cause of offense nor increase the danger of a rupture. +If, on the contrary, we should fold our arms in security and at last be +suddenly involved in hostilities for the maintenance of our just rights +without any adequate preparation, our responsibility to the country +would be of the gravest character. Should collision between the two +countries be avoided, as I sincerely trust it may be, the additional +charge upon the Treasury in making the necessary preparations will +not be lost, while in the event of such a collision they would be +indispensable for the maintenance of our national rights and national +honor. + +I have seen no reason to change or modify the recommendations of my +annual message in regard to the Oregon question. The notice to abrogate +the treaty of the 6th of August, 1827, is authorized by the treaty +itself and can not be regarded as a warlike measure, and I can not +withhold my strong conviction that it should be promptly given. The +other recommendations are in conformity with the existing treaty, and +would afford to American citizens in Oregon no more than the same +measure of protection which has long since been extended to British +subjects in that Territory. + +The state of our relations with Mexico is still in an unsettled +condition. Since the meeting of Congress another revolution has taken +place in that country, by which the Government has passed into the hands +of new rulers. This event has procrastinated, and may possibly defeat, +the settlement of the differences between the United States and that +country. The minister of the United States to Mexico at the date of +the last advices had not been received by the existing authorities. +Demonstrations of a character hostile to the United States continue to +be made in Mexico, which has rendered it proper, in my judgment, to keep +nearly two-thirds of our Army on our southwestern frontier. In doing +this many of the regular military posts have been reduced to a small +force inadequate to their defense should an emergency arise. + +In view of these "circumstances," it is my "judgment" that "an increase +of our naval and military force is at this time required" to place the +country in a suitable state of defense. At the same time, it is my +settled purpose to pursue such a course of policy as may be best +calculated to preserve both with Great Britain and Mexico an honorable +peace, which nothing will so effectually promote as unanimity in our +councils and a firm maintenance of all our just rights. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _April 1, 1846_. + +_To the House of Representatives of the United States_: + +I transmit herewith a letter received from the governor of the State of +Ohio in answer to a communication addressed to him in compliance with +a resolution of the House of Representatives of January 30, 1846, +"requesting the President of the United States to apply to the governor +of the State of Ohio for information in regard to the present condition +of the Columbus and Sandusky turnpike road; whether the said road is +kept in such a state of repair as will enable the Federal Government +to realize in case of need the advantages contemplated by the act of +Congress approved March 3, 1827." + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _April 1, 1846_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +In compliance with the request of a delegation of the Tonawanda band of +the Seneca Indians now in this city, I herewith transmit, for your +consideration, a memorial addressed to the President and the Senate in +relation to the treaty of January 15, 1838, with the "Six Nations of New +York Indians," and that of May 20, 1842, with the "Seneca Nation of +Indians'" + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _April 3, 1846_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit herewith a report from the Acting Secretary of State, with +accompanying papers, in answer to the resolution of the Senate of the +23d ultimo, requesting the President to communicate to that body, "if +not incompatible with public interests, any correspondence which took +place between the Government of the United States and that of Great +Britain on the subject of the northeastern boundary between the 20th of +June, 1840, and the 4th of March, 1841." + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _April 13, 1846_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +In answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 11th instant, calling +for "copies of any correspondence that may have taken place between the +authorities of the United States and those of Great Britain since the +last documents transmitted to Congress in relation to the subject +of the Oregon Territory, or so much thereof as may be communicated +without detriment to the public interest," I have to state that no +correspondence in relation to the Oregon Territory has taken place +between the authorities of the United States and those of Great Britain +since the date of the last documents on the subject transmitted by me +to Congress. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _April 13, 1846_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +In my annual message of the 2d of December last it was stated that +serious difficulties of long standing continued to distract the several +parties into which the Cherokee tribe of Indians is unhappily divided; +that all the efforts of the Government to adjust these difficulties had +proved to be unsuccessful, and would probably remain so without the aid +of further legislation by Congress. Subsequent events have confirmed +this opinion. + +I communicate herewith, for the information of Congress, a report of the +Secretary of War, transmitting a report of the Commissioner of Indian +Affairs, with accompanying documents, together with memorials which have +been received from the several bands or parties of the Cherokees +themselves. It will be perceived that internal feuds still exist which +call for the prompt intervention of the Government of the United States. + +Since the meeting of Congress several unprovoked murders have been +committed by the stronger upon the weaker party of the tribe, which will +probably remain unpunished by the Indian authorities; and there is +reason to apprehend that similar outrages will continue to be +perpetrated unless restrained by the authorities of the United States. + +Many of the weaker party have been compelled to seek refuge beyond the +limits of the Indian country and within the State of Arkansas, and are +destitute of the means for their daily subsistence. The military forces +of the United States stationed on the western frontier have been active +in their exertions to suppress these outrages and to execute the treaty +of 1835, by which it is stipulated that "the United States agree to +protect the Cherokee Nation from domestic strife and foreign enemies, +and against intestine wars between the several tribes." + +These exertions of the Army have proved to a great extent unavailing, +for the reasons stated in the accompanying documents, including +communications from the officer commanding at Fort Gibson. + +I submit, for the consideration of Congress, the propriety of making +such amendments of the laws regulating intercourse with the Indian +tribes as will subject to trial and punishment in the courts of the +United States all Indians guilty of murder and such other felonies as +may be designated, when committed on other Indians within the +jurisdiction of the United States. + +Such a modification of the existing laws is suggested because if +offenders against the laws of humanity in the Indian country are left +to be punished by Indian laws they will generally, if not always, be +permitted to escape with impunity. This has been the case in repeated +instances among the Cherokees. For years unprovoked murders have been +committed, and yet no effort has been made to bring the offenders to +punishment. Should this state of things continue, it is not difficult to +foresee that the weaker party will be finally destroyed. As the guardian +of the Indian tribes, the Government of the United States is bound by +every consideration of duty and humanity to interpose to prevent such +a disaster. + +From the examination which I have made into the actual state of things +in the Cherokee Nation I am satisfied that there is no probability that +the different bands or parties into which it is divided can ever again +live together in peace and harmony, and that the well-being of the whole +requires that they should be separated and live under separate +governments as distinct tribes. + +That portion who emigrated to the west of the Mississippi prior to the +year 1819, commonly called the "Old Settlers," and that portion who made +the treaty of 1835, known as the "treaty party," it is believed would +willingly unite, and could live together in harmony. The number of +these, as nearly as can be estimated, is about one-third of the tribe. +The whole number of all the bands or parties does not probably exceed +20,000. The country which they occupy embraces 7,000,000 acres of land, +with the privilege of an outlet to the western limits of the United +States. This country is susceptible of division, and is large enough for +all. + +I submit to Congress the propriety of either dividing the country which +they at present occupy or of providing by law a new home for the one or +the other of the bands or parties now in hostile array against each +other, as the most effectual, if not the only, means of preserving the +weaker party from massacre and total extermination. Should Congress +favor the division of the country as suggested, and the separation of +the Cherokees into two distinct tribes, justice will require that the +annuities and funds belonging to the whole, now held in trust for them +by the United States, should be equitably distributed among the parties, +according to their respective claims and numbers. + +There is still a small number of the Cherokee tribe remaining within the +State of North Carolina, who, according to the stipulations of the +treaty of 1835, should have emigrated with their brethren to the west of +the Mississippi. It is desirable that they should be removed, and in the +event of a division of the country in the West, or of a new home being +provided for a portion of the tribe, that they be permitted to join +either party, as they may prefer, and be incorporated with them. + +I submit the whole subject to Congress, that such legislative measures +may be adopted as will be just to all the parties or bands of the tribe. +Such measures, I am satisfied, are the only means of arresting the +horrid and inhuman massacres which have marked the history of the +Cherokees for the last few years, and especially for the last few +months. + +The Cherokees have been regarded as among the most enlightened of the +Indian tribes, but experience has proved that they have not yet advanced +to such a state of civilization as to dispense with the guardian care +and control of the Government of the United States. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _April 14, 1846_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +In compliance with the act of the 3d of March, 1845, I communicate +herewith to Congress a report of the Secretaries of War and the Navy on +the subject of a fireproof building for the War and Navy Departments, +together with documents explaining the plans to which it refers and +containing an estimate of the cost of erecting the buildings proposed. + +Congress having made no appropriation for the employment of an architect +to prepare and submit the necessary plans, none was appointed. Several +skillful architects were invited to submit plans and estimates, and from +those that were voluntarily furnished a selection has been made of such +as would furnish the requisite building for the accommodation of the War +and Navy Departments at the least expense. + +All the plans and estimates which have been received are herewith +communicated, for the information of Congress. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _April 20, 1846_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I have considered the resolution of the House of Representatives of the +9th instant, by which I am requested "to cause to be furnished to that +House an account of all payments made on President's certificates +from the fund appropriated by law, through the agency of the State +Department, for the contingent expenses of foreign intercourse from the +4th of March, 1841, until the retirement of Daniel Webster from the +Department of State, with copies of all entries, receipts, letters, +vouchers, memorandums, or other evidence of such payments, to whom paid, +for what, and particularly all concerning the northeastern-boundary +dispute with Great Britain." + +With an anxious desire to furnish to the House any information requested +by that body which may be in the Executive Departments, I have felt +bound by a sense of public duty to inquire how far I could with +propriety, or consistently with the existing laws, respond to their +call. + +The usual annual appropriation "for the contingent expenses of +intercourse between the United States and foreign nations" has been +disbursed since the date of the act of May 1, 1810, in pursuance of +its provisions. By the third section of that act it is provided-- + + That when any sum or sums of money shall be drawn from the Treasury + under any law making appropriation for the contingent expenses of + intercourse between the United States and foreign nations the President + shall be, and he is hereby, authorized to cause the same to be duly + settled annually with the accounting officers of the Treasury in the + manner following; that is to say, by causing the same to be accounted + for specially in all instances wherein the expenditure thereof may in + his judgment be made public, and by making a certificate of the amount + of such expenditures as he may think it advisable not to specify; and + every such certificate shall be deemed a sufficient voucher for the sum + or sums therein expressed to have been expended. + +Two distinct classes of expenditure are authorized by this law--the one +of a public and the other of a private and confidential character. The +President in office at the time of the expenditure is made by the law +the sole judge whether it shall be public or private. Such sums are to +be "accounted for specially in all instances wherein the expenditure +thereof may in his judgment be made public." All expenditures "accounted +for specially" are settled at the Treasury upon vouchers, and not on +"President's certificates," and, like all other public accounts, are +subject to be called for by Congress, and are open to public +examination. Had information as respects this class of expenditures been +called for by the resolution of the House, it would have been promptly +communicated. + +Congress, foreseeing that it might become necessary and proper to apply +portions of this fund for objects the original accounts and vouchers for +which could not be "made public" without injury to the public interests, +authorized the President, instead of such accounts and vouchers, to make +a certificate of the amount "of such expenditures as he may think it +advisable not to specify," and have provided that "every such +certificate shall be deemed a sufficient voucher for the sum or sums +therein expressed to have been expended." + +The law making these provisions is in full force. It is binding upon all +the departments of the Government, and especially upon the Executive, +whose duty it is "to take care that the laws be faithfully executed." In +the exercise of the discretion lodged by it in the Executive several of +my predecessors have made "certificates" of the amount "of such +expenditures as they have thought it advisable not to specify," and upon +these certificates as the only vouchers settlements have been made at +the Treasury. + +It appears that within the period specified in the resolution of the +House certificates were given by my immediate predecessor, upon which +settlements have been made at the Treasury, amounting to $5,460. He has +solemnly determined that the objects and items of these expenditures +should not be made public, and has given his certificates to that +effect, which are placed upon the records of the country. Under the +direct authority of an existing law, he has exercised the power of +placing these expenditures under the seal of confidence, and the whole +matter was terminated before I came into office. An important question +arises, whether a subsequent President, either voluntarily or at the +request of one branch of Congress, can without a violation of the spirit +of the law revise the acts of his predecessor and expose to public view +that which he had determined should not be "made public." If not a +matter of strict duty, it would certainly be a safe general rule that +this should not be done. Indeed, it may well happen, and probably would +happen, that the President for the time being would not be in possession +of the information upon which his predecessor acted, and could not, +therefore, have the means of judging whether he had exercised his +discretion wisely or not. The law requires no other voucher but the +President's certificate, and there is nothing in its provisions which +requires any "entries, receipts, letters, vouchers, memorandums, or +other evidence of such payments" to be preserved in the executive +department. The President who makes the "certificate" may, if he +chooses, keep all the information and evidence upon which he acts in his +own possession. If, for the information of his successors, he shall +leave the evidence on which he acts and the items of the expenditures +which make up the sum for which he has given his "certificate" on the +confidential files of one of the Executive Departments, they do not in +any proper sense become thereby public records. They are never seen or +examined by the accounting officers of the Treasury when they settle an +account on the "President's certificate." The First Congress of the +United States on the 1st of July, 1790, passed an act "providing the +means of intercourse between the United States and foreign nations," by +which a similar provision to that which now exists was made for the +settlement of such expenditures as in the judgment of the President +ought not to be made public. This act was limited in its duration. It +was continued for a limited term in 1793, and between that time and the +date of the act of May 1, 1810, which is now in force, the same +provision was revived and continued. Expenditures were made and settled +under Presidential certificates in pursuance of these laws. + +If the President may answer the present call, he must answer similar +calls for every such expenditure of a confidential character, made under +every Administration, in war and in peace, from the organization of the +Government to the present period. To break the seal of confidence +imposed by the law, and heretofore uniformly preserved, would be +subversive of the very purpose for which the law was enacted, and might +be productive of the most disastrous consequences. The expenditures of +this confidential character, it is believed, were never before sought to +be made public, and I should greatly apprehend the consequences of +establishing a precedent which would render such disclosures hereafter +inevitable. + +I am fully aware of the strong and correct public feeling which exists +throughout the country against secrecy of any kind in the administration +of the Government, and especially in reference to public expenditures; +yet our foreign negotiations are wisely and properly confined to the +knowledge of the Executive during their pendency. Our laws require the +accounts of every particular expenditure to be rendered and publicly +settled at the Treasury Department. The single exception which exists is +not that the amounts embraced under President's certificates shall be +withheld from the public, but merely that the items of which these are +composed shall not be divulged. To this extent, and no further, is +secrecy observed. + +The laudable vigilance of the people in regard to all the expenditures +of the Government, as well as a sense of duty on the part of the +President and a desire to retain the good opinion of his +fellow-citizens, will prevent any sum expended from being accounted for +by the President's certificate unless in cases of urgent necessity. Such +certificates have therefore been resorted to but seldom throughout our +past history. + +For my own part, I have not caused any account whatever to be settled on +a Presidential certificate. I have had no occasion rendering it +necessary in my judgment to make such a certificate, and it would be an +extreme case which would ever induce me to exercise this authority; yet +if such a case should arise it would be my duty to assume the +responsibility devolved on me by the law. + +During my Administration all expenditures for contingent expenses of +foreign intercourse in which the accounts have been closed have been +settled upon regular vouchers, as all other public accounts are settled +at the Treasury. + +It may be alleged that the power of impeachment belongs to the House of +Representatives, and that, with a view to the exercise of this power, +that House has the right to investigate the conduct of all public +officers under the Government. This is cheerfully admitted. In such a +case the safety of the Republic would be the supreme law, and the power +of the House in the pursuit of this object would penetrate into the most +secret recesses of the Executive Departments. It could command the +attendance of any and every agent of the Government, and compel them to +produce all papers, public or private, official or unofficial, and to +testify on oath to all facts within their knowledge. But even in a case +of that kind they would adopt all wise precautions to prevent the +exposure of all such matters the publication of which might injuriously +affect the public interest, except so far as this might be necessary to +accomplish the great ends of public justice. If the House of +Representatives, as the grand inquest of the nation, should at any time +have reason to believe that there has been malversation in office by an +improper use or application of the public money by a public officer, and +should think proper to institute an inquiry into the matter, all the +archives and papers of the Executive Departments, public or private, +would be subject to the inspection and control of a committee of their +body and every facility in the power of the Executive be afforded to +enable them to prosecute the investigation. + +The experience of every nation on earth has demonstrated that +emergencies may arise in which it becomes absolutely necessary for the +public safety or the public good to make expenditures the very object of +which would be defeated by publicity. Some governments have very large +amounts at their disposal, and have made vastly greater expenditures +than the small amounts which have from time to time been accounted for +on President's certificates. In no nation is the application of such +sums ever made public. In time of war or impending danger the situation +of the country may make it necessary to employ individuals for the +purpose of obtaining information or rendering other important services +who could never be prevailed upon to act if they entertained the least +apprehension that their names or their agency would in any contingency +be divulged. So it may often become necessary to incur an expenditure +for an object highly useful to the country; for example, the conclusion +of a treaty with a barbarian power whose customs require on such +occasions the use of presents. But this object might be altogether +defeated by the intrigues of other powers if our purposes were to be +made known by the exhibition of the original papers and vouchers to the +accounting officers of the Treasury. It would be easy to specify other +cases which may occur in the history of a great nation, in its +intercourse with other nations, wherein it might become absolutely +necessary to incur expenditures for objects which could never be +accomplished if it were suspected in advance that the items of +expenditure and the agencies employed would be made public. + +Actuated undoubtedly by considerations of this kind, Congress provided +such a fund, coeval with the organization of the Government, and +subsequently enacted the law of 1810 as the permanent law of the land. +While this law exists in full force I feel bound by a high sense of +public policy and duty to observe its provisions and the uniform +practice of my predecessors under it. + +With great respect for the House of Representatives and an anxious +desire to conform to their wishes, I am constrained to come to this +conclusion. + +If Congress disapprove the policy of the law, they may repeal its +provisions. + +In reply to that portion of the resolution of the House which calls for +"copies of whatever communications were made from the Secretary of State +during the last session of the Twenty-seventh Congress, particularly +February, 1843, to Mr. Cushing and Mr. Adams, members of the Committee +of this House on Foreign Affairs, of the wish of the President of the +United States to institute a special mission to Great Britain," I have +to state that no such communications or copies of them are found in the +Department of State. + +"Copies of all letters on the books of the Department of State to any +officer of the United States or any person in New York concerning +Alexander McLeod," which are also called for by the resolution, are +herewith communicated. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _April 20, 1846_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I herewith transmit to the Senate, in answer to their resolution of the +8th instant, a report from the Secretary of State, with accompanying +papers, containing the information and correspondence referred to in +that resolution, relative to the search of American vessels by British +cruisers subsequent to the date of the treaty of Washington. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _April 27, 1846_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit herewith the information called for by a resolution of the +Senate of the 3d December last, relating to "claims arising under the +fourteenth article of the treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek" with the +Choctaw tribe of Indians, concluded in September, 1830. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _April 27, 1846_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a report of the Secretary of War and accompanying +papers, containing the information called for by the resolution of the +House of Representatives of December 19, 1845, relating to certain +claims of the Chickasaw tribe of Indians. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _April 27, 1846_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a report and accompanying papers from the Secretary +of War, in reply to the resolution of the House of Representatives of +the 31st of December last, in relation to claims arising under the +Choctaw treaty of 1830 which have been presented to and allowed or +rejected by commissioners appointed in pursuance of the acts of 3d of +March, 1837, and 23d of August, 1842. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _May 6, 1846_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith reports from the Secretary of War and the Secretary +of the Treasury, with additional papers, relative to the claims of +certain Chickasaw Indians, which, with those heretofore communicated to +Congress, contain all the information called for by the resolution of +the House of Representatives of the 19th of December last. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _May 6, 1846_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State, with +accompanying papers, in answer to a resolution of the House of +Representatives of the 8th ultimo, requesting the President to +communicate to that body, "if not incompatible with the public interest, +copies of the correspondence of George William Gordon, late consul of +the United States at Rio de Janeiro, with the Department of State, +relating to the slave trade in vessels and by citizens of the United +States between the coast of Africa and Brazil." + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _May 6, 1846_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a report of the Secretary of War, in answer to the +resolution of the House of Representatives of the 4th instant, calling +for information "whether any soldier or soldiers of the Army of the +United States have been shot for desertion, or in the act of deserting, +and, if so, by whose order and under what authority." + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _May 11, 1846_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +The existing state of the relations between the United States and Mexico +renders it proper that I should bring the subject to the consideration +of Congress. In my message at the commencement of your present session +the state of these relations, the causes which led to the suspension of +diplomatic intercourse between the two countries in March, 1845, and the +long-continued and unredressed wrongs and injuries committed by the +Mexican Government on citizens of the United States in their persons and +property were briefly set forth. + +As the facts and opinions which were then laid before you were carefully +considered, I can not better express my present convictions of the +condition of affairs up to that time than by referring you to that +communication. + +The strong desire to establish peace with Mexico on liberal and +honorable terms, and the readiness of this Government to regulate and +adjust our boundary and other causes of difference with that power on +such fair and equitable principles as would lead to permanent relations +of the most friendly nature, induced me in September last to seek the +reopening of diplomatic relations between the two countries. Every +measure adopted on our part had for its object the furtherance of these +desired results. In communicating to Congress a succinct statement of +the injuries which we had suffered from Mexico, and which have been +accumulating during a period of more than twenty years, every expression +that could tend to inflame the people of Mexico or defeat or delay a +pacific result was carefully avoided. An envoy of the United States +repaired to Mexico with full powers to adjust every existing difference. +But though present on the Mexican soil by agreement between the two +Governments, invested with full powers, and bearing evidence of the most +friendly dispositions, his mission has been unavailing. The Mexican +Government not only refused to receive him or listen to his +propositions, but after a long-continued series of menaces have at last +invaded our territory and shed the blood of our fellow-citizens on our +own soil. + +It now becomes my duty to state more in detail the origin, progress, and +failure of that mission. In pursuance of the instructions given in +September last, an inquiry was made on the 13th of October, 1845, in the +most friendly terms, through our consul in Mexico, of the minister for +foreign affairs, whether the Mexican Government "would receive an envoy +from the United States intrusted with full powers to adjust all the +questions in dispute between the two Governments," with the assurance +that "should the answer be in the affirmative such an envoy would be +immediately dispatched to Mexico." The Mexican minister on the 15th of +October gave an affirmative answer to this inquiry, requesting at the +same time that our naval force at Vera Cruz might be withdrawn, lest its +continued presence might assume the appearance of menace and coercion +pending the negotiations. This force was immediately withdrawn. On the +10th of November, 1845, Mr. John Slidell, of Louisiana, was commissioned +by me as envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of the United +States to Mexico, and was intrusted with full powers to adjust both the +questions of the Texas boundary and of indemnification to our citizens. +The redress of the wrongs of our citizens naturally and inseparably +blended itself with the question of boundary. The settlement of the one +question in any correct view of the subject involves that of the other. +I could not for a moment entertain the idea that the claims of our +much-injured and long-suffering citizens, many of which had existed for +more than twenty years, should be postponed or separated from the +settlement of the boundary question. + +Mr. Slidell arrived at Vera Cruz on the 30th of November, and was +courteously received by the authorities of that city. But the Government +of General Herrera was then tottering to its fall. The revolutionary +party had seized upon the Texas question to effect or hasten its +overthrow. Its determination to restore friendly relations with the +United States, and to receive our minister to negotiate for the +settlement of this question, was violently assailed, and was made the +great theme of denunciation against it. The Government of General +Herrera, there is good reason to believe, was sincerely desirous to +receive our minister; but it yielded to the storm raised by its enemies, +and on the 21st of December refused to accredit Mr. Slidell upon the +most frivolous pretexts. These are so fully and ably exposed in the note +of Mr. Slidell of the 24th of December last to the Mexican minister of +foreign relations, herewith transmitted, that I deem it unnecessary to +enter into further detail on this portion of the subject. + +Five days after the date of Mr. Slidell's note General Herrera yielded +the Government to General Paredes without a struggle, and on the 30th of +December resigned the Presidency. This revolution was accomplished +solely by the army, the people having taken little part in the contest; +and thus the supreme power in Mexico passed into the hands of a military +leader. + +Determined to leave no effort untried to effect an amicable adjustment +with Mexico, I directed Mr. Slidell to present his credentials to the +Government of General Paredes and ask to be officially received by him. +There would have been less ground for taking this step had General +Paredes come into power by a regular constitutional succession. In that +event his administration would have been considered but a mere +constitutional continuance of the Government of General Herrera, and the +refusal of the latter to receive our minister would have been deemed +conclusive unless an intimation had been given by General Paredes of his +desire to reverse the decision of his predecessor. But the Government of +General Paredes owes its existence to a military revolution, by which +the subsisting constitutional authorities had been subverted. The form +of government was entirely changed, as well as all the high +functionaries by whom it was administered. + +Under these circumstances, Mr. Slidell, in obedience to my direction, +addressed a note to the Mexican minister of foreign relations, under +date of the 1st of March last, asking to be received by that Government +in the diplomatic character to which he had been appointed. This +minister in his reply, under date of the 12th of March, reiterated the +arguments of his predecessor, and in terms that may be considered as +giving just grounds of offense to the Government and people of the +United States denied the application of Mr. Slidell. Nothing therefore +remained for our envoy but to demand his passports and return to his own +country. + +Thus the Government of Mexico, though solemnly pledged by official acts +in October last to receive and accredit an American envoy, violated +their plighted faith and refused the offer of a peaceful adjustment of +our difficulties. Not only was the offer rejected, but the indignity of +its rejection was enhanced by the manifest breach of faith in refusing +to admit the envoy who came because they had bound themselves to receive +him. Nor can it be said that the offer was fruitless from the want of +opportunity of discussing it; our envoy was present on their own soil. +Nor can it be ascribed to a want of sufficient powers; our envoy had +full powers to adjust every question of difference. Nor was there room +for complaint that our propositions for settlement were unreasonable; +permission was not even given our envoy to make any proposition +whatever. Nor can it be objected that we, on our part, would not listen +to any reasonable terms of their suggestion; the Mexican Government +refused all negotiation, and have made no proposition of any kind. + +In my message at the commencement of the present session I informed you +that upon the earnest appeal both of the Congress and convention of +Texas I had ordered an efficient military force to take a position +"between the Nueces and the Del Norte." This had become necessary to +meet a threatened invasion of Texas by the Mexican forces, for which +extensive military preparations had been made. The invasion was +threatened solely because Texas had determined, in accordance with a +solemn resolution of the Congress of the United States, to annex herself +to our Union, and under these circumstances it was plainly our duty to +extend our protection over her citizens and soil. + +This force was concentrated at Corpus Christi, and remained there until +after I had received such information from Mexico as rendered it +probable, if not certain, that the Mexican Government would refuse to +receive our envoy. + +Meantime Texas, by the final action of our Congress, had become an +integral part of our Union. The Congress of Texas, by its act of +December 19, 1836, had declared the Rio del Norte to be the boundary of +that Republic. Its jurisdiction had been extended and exercised beyond +the Nueces. The country between that river and the Del Norte had been +represented in the Congress and in the convention of Texas, had thus +taken part in the act of annexation itself, and is now included within +one of our Congressional districts. Our own Congress had, moreover, with +great unanimity, by the act approved December 31, 1845, recognized the +country beyond the Nueces as a part of our territory by including it +within our own revenue system, and a revenue officer to reside within +that district has been appointed by and with the advice and consent of +the Senate. It became, therefore, of urgent necessity to provide for the +defense of that portion of our country. Accordingly, on the 13th of +January last instructions were issued to the general in command of these +troops to occupy the left bank of the Del Norte. This river, which is +the southwestern boundary of the State of Texas, is an exposed frontier. +From this quarter invasion was threatened; upon it and in its immediate +vicinity, in the judgment of high military experience, are the proper +stations for the protecting forces of the Government. In addition to +this important consideration, several others occurred to induce this +movement. Among these are the facilities afforded by the ports at Brazos +Santiago and the mouth of the Del Norte for the reception of supplies by +sea, the stronger and more healthful military positions, the convenience +for obtaining a ready and a more abundant supply of provisions, water, +fuel, and forage, and the advantages which are afforded by the Del Norte +in forwarding supplies to such posts as may be established in the +interior and upon the Indian frontier. + +The movement of the troops to the Del Norte was made by the commanding +general under positive instructions to abstain from all aggressive acts +toward Mexico or Mexican citizens and to regard the relations between +that Republic and the United States as peaceful unless she should +declare war or commit acts of hostility indicative of a state of war. He +was specially directed to protect private property and respect personal +rights. + +The Army moved from Corpus Christi on the 11th of March, and on the 28th +of that month arrived on the left bank of the Del Norte opposite to +Matamoras, where it encamped on a commanding position, which has since +been strengthened by the erection of fieldworks. A depot has also been +established at Point Isabel, near the Brazos Santiago, 30 miles in rear +of the encampment. The selection of his position was necessarily +confided to the judgment of the general in command. + +The Mexican forces at Matamoras assumed a belligerent attitude, and on +the 12th of April General Ampudia, then in command, notified General +Taylor to break up his camp within twenty-four hours and to retire +beyond the Nueces River, and in the event of his failure to comply with +these demands announced that arms, and arms alone, must decide the +question. But no open act of hostility was committed until the 24th of +April. On that day General Arista, who had succeeded to the command of +the Mexican forces, communicated to General Taylor that "he considered +hostilities commenced and should prosecute them." A party of dragoons of +63 men and officers were on the same day dispatched from the American +camp up the Rio del Norte, on its left bank, to ascertain whether the +Mexican troops had crossed or were preparing to cross the river, "became +engaged with a large body of these troops, and after a short affair, in +which some 16 were killed and wounded, appear to have been surrounded +and compelled to surrender." + +The grievous wrongs perpetrated by Mexico upon our citizens throughout a +long period of years remain unredressed, and solemn treaties pledging +her public faith for this redress have been disregarded. A government +either unable or unwilling to enforce the execution of such treaties +fails to perform one of its plainest duties. + +Our commerce with Mexico has been almost annihilated. It was formerly +highly beneficial to both nations, but our merchants have been deterred +from prosecuting it by the system of outrage and extortion which the +Mexican authorities have pursued against them, whilst their appeals +through their own Government for indemnity have been made in vain. Our +forbearance has gone to such an extreme as to be mistaken in its +character. Had we acted with vigor in repelling the insults and +redressing the injuries inflicted by Mexico at the commencement, we +should doubtless have escaped all the difficulties in which we are now +involved. + +Instead of this, however, we have been exerting our best efforts to +propitiate her good will. Upon the pretext that Texas, a nation as +independent as herself, thought proper to unite its destinies with our +own, she has affected to believe that we have severed her rightful +territory, and in official proclamations and manifestoes has repeatedly +threatened to make war upon us for the purpose of reconquering Texas. In +the meantime we have tried every effort at reconciliation. The cup of +forbearance had been exhausted even before the recent information from +the frontier of the Del Norte. But now, after reiterated menaces, Mexico +has passed the boundary of the United States, has invaded our territory +and shed American blood upon the American soil. She has proclaimed that +hostilities have commenced, and that the two nations are now at war. + +As war exists, and, notwithstanding all our efforts to avoid it, exists +by the act of Mexico herself, we are called upon by every consideration +of duty and patriotism to vindicate with decision the honor, the rights, +and the interests of our country. + +Anticipating the possibility of a crisis like that which has arrived, +instructions were given in August last, "as a precautionary measure" +against invasion or threatened invasion, authorizing General Taylor, if +the emergency required, to accept volunteers, not from Texas only, but +from the States of Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, and +Kentucky, and corresponding letters were addressed to the respective +governors of those States. These instructions were repeated, and in +January last, soon after the incorporation of "Texas into our Union of +States," General Taylor was further "authorized by the President to make +a requisition upon the executive of that State for such of its militia +force as may be needed to repel invasion or to secure the country +against apprehended invasion." On the 2d day of March he was again +reminded, "in the event of the approach of any considerable Mexican +force, promptly and efficiently to use the authority with which he was +clothed to call to him such auxiliary force as he might need." War +actually existing and our territory having been invaded, General Taylor, +pursuant to authority vested in him by my direction, has called on the +governor of Texas for four regiments of State troops, two to be mounted +and two to serve on foot, and on the governor of Louisiana for four +regiments of infantry to be sent to him as soon as practicable. + +In further vindication of our rights and defense of our territory, I +invoke the prompt action of Congress to recognize the existence of the +war, and to place at the disposition of the Executive the means of +prosecuting the war with vigor, and thus hastening the restoration of +peace. To this end I recommend that authority should be given to call +into the public service a large body of volunteers to serve for not less +than six or twelve months unless sooner discharged. A volunteer force is +beyond question more efficient than any other description of citizen +soldiers, and it is not to be doubted that a number far beyond that +required would readily rush to the field upon the call of their country. +I further recommend that a liberal provision be made for sustaining our +entire military force and furnishing it with supplies and munitions of +war. + +The most energetic and prompt measures and the immediate appearance in +arms of a large and overpowering force are recommended to Congress as +the most certain and efficient means of bringing the existing collision +with Mexico to a speedy and successful termination. + +In making these recommendations I deem it proper to declare that it is +my anxious desire not only to terminate hostilities speedily, but to +bring all matters in dispute between this Government and Mexico to an +early and amicable adjustment; and in this view I shall be prepared to +renew negotiations whenever Mexico shall be ready to receive +propositions or to make propositions of her own. + +I transmit herewith a copy of the correspondence between our envoy to +Mexico and the Mexican minister for foreign affairs, and so much of the +correspondence between that envoy and the Secretary of State and between +the Secretary of War and the general in command on the Del Norte as is +necessary to a full understanding of the subject. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _May 12, 1846_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I herewith transmit to Congress a copy of a communication[7] from the +officer commanding the Army in Texas, with the papers which accompanied +it. They were received by the Southern mail of yesterday, some hours +after my message of that date had been transmitted, and are of a prior +date to one of the communications from the same officer which +accompanied that message. + +JAMES K. POLK. + +[Footnote 7: Relating to the operations of the Army near Matamoras, +Mexico.] + + + +WASHINGTON, _May 19, 1846_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of War, in answer to a +resolution of the Senate of the 4th of December last, which contains the +information called for "with respect to the practicability and utility +of a fort or forts on Ship Island, on the coast of Mississippi, with a +view to the protection of said coast." + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _May 26, 1846_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +A convention was concluded at Lima on 17th March, 1841, between the +United States and the Republic of Peru, for the adjustment of claims +of our citizens upon that Republic. It was stipulated by the seventh +article of this convention that "it shall be ratified by the contracting +parties, and the ratifications shall be exchanged within two years from +its date, or sooner if possible, after having been approved by the +President and Senate of the United States and by the Congress of Peru." + +This convention was transmitted by the President to the Senate for their +consideration during the extra session of 1841, but it did not receive +their approbation until the 5th January, 1843. This delay rendered it +impracticable that the convention should reach Lima before the 17th +March, 1843, the last day when the ratifications could be exchanged +under the terms of its seventh article. The Senate therefore extended +the time for this purpose until the 20th December, 1843. + +In the meantime, previous to the 17th March, 1843, General Menendez, +the constitutional President of Peru, had ratified the convention, +declaring, however, in the act of ratification itself (which is without +date), that "the present convention and ratification are to be submitted +within the time stipulated in the seventh article for the final +approbation of the National Congress." This was, however, rendered +impossible from the fact that no Peruvian Congress assembled from the +date of the convention until the year 1845. + +When the convention arrived at Lima General Menendez had been deposed +by a revolution, and General Vivanco had placed himself at the head of +the Government. On the 16th July, 1843, the convention was ratified +by him in absolute terms without the reference to Congress which the +constitution of Peru requires, because, as the ratification states, +"under existing circumstances the Government exercises the legislative +powers demanded by the necessities of the State." The ratifications were +accordingly exchanged at Lima on the 22d July, 1843, and the convention +itself was proclaimed at Washington by the President on the 21st day of +February, 1844. + +In the meantime General Vivanco was deposed, and on the 12th October, +1843, the Government then in existence published a decree declaring all +his administrative acts to be null and void, and notwithstanding the +earnest and able remonstrances of Mr. Pickett, our chargé d'affaires at +Lima, the Peruvian Government have still persisted in declaring that the +ratification of the convention by Vivanco was invalid. + +After the meeting of the Peruvian Congress in 1845 the convention was +submitted to that body, by which it was approved on the 21st of October +last, "with the condition, however, that the first installment of +$30,000 on account of the principal of the debt thereby recognized, and +to which the second article relates, should begin from the 1st day of +January, 1846, and the interest on this annual sum, according to article +3, should be calculated and paid from the 1st day of January, 1842, +following in all other respects besides this modification the terms of +the convention." + +I am not in possession of the act of the Congress of Peru containing +this provision, but the information is communicated through a note under +date of the 15th of November, 1845, from the minister of foreign affairs +of Peru to the chargé d'affaires of the United States at Lima. A copy of +this note has been transmitted to the Department of State both by our +chargé d'affaires at Lima and by the Peruvian minister of foreign +affairs, and a copy of the same is herewith transmitted. + +Under these circumstances I submit to the Senate, for their +consideration, the amendment to the convention thus proposed by the +Congress of Peru, with a view to its ratification. It would have been +more satisfactory to have submitted the act itself of the Peruvian +Congress, but, on account of the great distance, if I should wait until +its arrival another year might be consumed, whilst the American +claimants have already been too long delayed in receiving the money +justly due to them. Several of the largest of these claimants would, +I am informed, be satisfied with the modification of the convention +adopted by the Peruvian Congress. + +A difficulty may arise in regard to the form of any proceeding which the +Senate might think proper to adopt, from the fact that the original +convention approved by them was sent to Peru and was exchanged for the +other original, ratified by General Vivanco, which is now in the +Department of State. In order to obviate this difficulty as far as may +be in my power, I transmit a copy of the convention, under the seal of +the United States, on which the Senate might found any action they may +deem advisable. + +I would suggest that should the Senate advise the adoption of the +amendment proposed by the Peruvian Congress the time for exchanging the +ratifications of the amended convention ought to be extended for a +considerable period, so as to provide against all accidents in its +transmission to Lima. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _May 27, 1846_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +In compliance with the request contained in the resolution of the House +of Representatives of this date, I transmit copies of all the official +dispatches which have been received from General Taylor, commanding the +army of occupation on the Rio Grande, relating to the battles[8] of the +8th and 9th instant. + +JAMES K. POLK. + +[Footnote 8: Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma.] + + + +WASHINGTON, _May 28, 1846_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit a copy of a note, under date the 26th instant, from the envoy +extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of Her Britannic Majesty to +the Secretary of State, communicating a dispatch, under date of the 4th +instant, received by him from Her Majesty's principal secretary of state +for foreign affairs. + +From these it will be seen that the claims of the two Governments upon +each other for a return of duties which had been levied in violation of +the commercial convention of 1815 have been finally and satisfactorily +adjusted. In making this communication I deem it proper to express my +satisfaction at the prompt manner in which the British Government has +acceded to the suggestion of the Secretary of State for the speedy +termination of this affair. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _June 1, 1846_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I propose, for the reason stated in the accompanying communication of +the Secretary of War, that the confirmation of Brevet Second Lieutenant +L.B. Wood by the Senate on the 5th of February, as a second lieutenant +in the Fifth Regiment of Infantry, be canceled; and I nominate the +officers named in the same communication for regular promotion in the +Army. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WAR DEPARTMENT, _May 15, 1846_. + +The PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. + +SIR: On the 12th of December last a list of promotions and appointments +of officers of the Army was submitted to the Senate for confirmation, in +which list Brevet Second Lieutenant L.B. Wood, of the Eighth Infantry, +was nominated to the grade of second lieutenant in the Fifth Regiment of +Infantry, _vice_ Second Lieutenant Deas, promoted. He was entitled to +this vacancy by _seniority_, but in a letter dated November 30, 1845, +and received at the Adjutant-General's Office December 30, 1845 +(eighteen days _after_ the list referred to above had been sent to the +Senate), he says: "I respectfully beg leave to be permitted to decline +promotion in any other regiment, and to fill the first vacancy which may +happen in the Eighth." This request was acceded to, and accordingly, on +the first subsequent list submitted to the Senate, dated January 8, +1846, Brevet Second Lieutenant Charles S. Hamilton, of the Second +Infantry (the next below Lieutenant Wood), was nominated to fill the +vacancy in the _Fifth_ Regiment and Lieutenant Wood to a vacancy which +has occurred meanwhile (December 31) in the _Eighth_. + +The foregoing circumstances were explained in a note to the nomination +list of January 8, but it is probable the explanation escaped +observation in the Senate, as on the 5th of February Lieutenant Wood was +confirmed in the Fifth Infantry, agreeably to the first nomination, +while no action appears to have been taken on his nomination or that of +Lieutenant Hamilton on the subsequent list of January 8, 1846. + +As no commissions have yet been issued to these officers, and as +Lieutenant Wood has renewed his application to be continued in the +Eighth Infantry, I respectfully suggest that the Senate be requested to +cancel their confirmation, on the 5th of February, of his promotion as a +second lieutenant in the Fifth Regiment of Infantry; and I have the +honor to propose the renomination of the lieutenants whose names are +annexed for regular promotion, to wit: + +_Fifth Regiment of Infantry._ + +Brevet Second Lieutenant Charles S. Hamilton, of the Second Regiment +of Infantry, to be second lieutenant, November 17, 1846, _vice_ Deas, +promoted. + +_Eighth Regiment of Infantry._ + +Brevet Second Lieutenant Lafayette B. Wood to be second lieutenant, +December 31, 1846, _vice_ Maclay, promoted. + +I am, sir, with great respect, your obedient servant, + +W.L. MARCY. + + + +WASHINGTON, _June 5, 1846_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +In answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 22d ultimo, calling for +information upon the subject of the treaties which were concluded +between the late Republic of Texas and England and France, respectively, +I transmit a report from the Secretary of State and the documents by +which it was accompanied. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _June 6, 1846_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +In answer to the resolutions of the Senate of the 10th, 11th, and 22d of +April last, I communicate herewith a report from the Secretary of State, +accompanied with the correspondence between the Government of the United +States and that of Great Britain in the years 1840, 1841, 1842, and 1843 +respecting the right or practice of visiting or searching merchant +vessels in time of peace, and also the protest addressed by the minister +of the United States at Paris in the year 1842 against the concurrence +of France in the quintuple treaty, together with all correspondence +relating thereto. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _June 6, 1846_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I herewith communicate to the Senate, for its consideration, a +convention signed on the 2d day of May, 1846, by the minister of the +United States at Berlin with the plenipotentiary of Hesse-Cassel, for +the mutual abolition of the _droit d'aubaine_ and duties on emigration +between that German State and the United States; and I communicate with +the convention an explanatory dispatch of the minister of the United +States dated on the same day of the present year and numbered 284. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _June 8, 1846_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I communicate herewith a report from the Secretary of War, transmitting +the correspondence called for by the resolution of the Senate of the 5th +instant with General Edmund P. Gaines and General Winfield Scott, of the +Army of the United States. + +The report of the Secretary of War and the accompanying correspondence +with General Gaines contain all the information in my possession in +relation to calls for "volunteers or militia into the service of the +United States" "by any officer of the Army" without legal "authority +therefor," and of the "measures which have been adopted" "in relation +to such officer or troops so called into service." + +In addition to the information contained in the report of the Secretary +of War and the accompanying correspondence with "Major-General Scott, of +the United States Army, upon the subject of his taking the command of +the army of occupation on the frontier of Texas," I state that on the +same day on which I approved and signed the act of the 13th of May, +1846, entitled "An act providing for the prosecution of the existing war +between the United States and the Republic of Mexico," I communicated to +General Scott, through the Secretary of War, and also in a personal +interview with that officer, my desire that he should take command of +the Army on the Rio Grande and of the volunteer forces which I informed +him it was my intention forthwith to call out to march to that frontier +to be employed in the prosecution of the war against Mexico. The tender +of the command to General Scott was voluntary on my part, and was made +without any request or intimation on the subject from him. It was made +in consideration of his rank as Commander in Chief of the Army. My +communications with General Scott assigning him the command were verbal, +first through the Secretary of War and afterwards in person. No written +order was deemed to be necessary. General Scott assented to assume the +command, and on the following day I had another interview with him and +the Secretary of War, in relation to the number and apportionment among +the several States of the volunteer forces to be called out for +immediate service, the forces which were to be organized and held in +readiness subject to a future call should it become necessary, and other +military preparations and movements to be made with a view to the +vigorous prosecution of the war. It was distinctly settled, and was well +understood by General Scott, that he was to command the Army in the war +against Mexico, and so continued to be settled and understood without +any other intention on my part until the Secretary of War submitted to +me the letter of General Scott addressed to him under date of the 21st +of May, 1846, a copy of which is herewith communicated. The character of +that letter made it proper, in my judgment, to change my determination +in regard to the command of the Army, and the Secretary of War, by my +direction, in his letter of the 25th of May, 1846, a copy of which is +also herewith communicated, for the reasons therein assigned, informed +General Scott that he was relieved from the command of the Army destined +to prosecute the war against Mexico, and that he would remain in the +discharge of his duties at Washington. The command of the Army on the +frontier of Mexico has since been assigned to General Taylor, with his +brevet rank of major-general recently conferred upon him. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _June 10, 1846_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I lay before the Senate a proposal, in the form of a convention, +presented to the Secretary of State on the 6th instant by the envoy +extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of Her Britannic Majesty, for +the adjustment of the Oregon question, together with a protocol of this +proceeding. I submit this proposal to the consideration of the Senate, +and request their advice as to the action which in their judgment it may +be proper to take in reference to it. + +In the early periods of the Government the opinion and advice of the +Senate were often taken in advance upon important questions of our +foreign policy. General Washington repeatedly consulted the Senate and +asked their previous advice upon pending negotiations with foreign +powers, and the Senate in every instance responded to his call by giving +their advice, to which he always conformed his action. This practice, +though rarely resorted to in later times, was, in my judgment, eminently +wise, and may on occasions of great importance be properly revived. The +Senate are a branch of the treaty-making power, and by consulting them +in advance of his own action upon important measures of foreign policy +which may ultimately come before them for their consideration the +President secures harmony of action between that body and himself. The +Senate are, moreover, a branch of the war-making power, and it may be +eminently proper for the Executive to take the opinion and advice of +that body in advance upon any great question which may involve in its +decision the issue of peace or war. On the present occasion the +magnitude of the subject would induce me under any circumstances to +desire the previous advice of the Senate, and that desire is increased +by the recent debates and proceedings in Congress, which render it, in +my judgment, not only respectful to the Senate, but necessary and +proper, if not indispensable to insure harmonious action between that +body and the Executive. In conferring on the Executive the authority to +give the notice for the abrogation of the convention of 1827 the Senate +acted publicly so large a part that a decision on the proposal now made +by the British Government, without a definite knowledge of the views of +that body in reference to it, might render the question still more +complicated and difficult of adjustment. For these reasons I invite the +consideration of the Senate to the proposal of the British Government +for the settlement of the Oregon question, and ask their advice on the +subject. + +My opinions and my action on the Oregon question were fully made known +to Congress in my annual message of the 2d of December last, and the +opinions therein expressed remain unchanged. + +Should the Senate, by the constitutional majority required for the +ratification of treaties, advise the acceptance of this proposition, or +advise it with such modifications as they may upon full deliberation +deem proper, I shall conform my action to their advice. Should the +Senate, however, decline by such constitutional majority to give such +advice or to express an opinion on the subject, I shall consider it my +duty to reject the offer. + +I also communicate herewith an extract from a dispatch of the Secretary +of State to the minister of the United States at London under date of +the 28th of April last, directing him, in accordance with the joint +resolution of Congress "concerning the Oregon Territory," to deliver the +notice to the British Government for the abrogation of the convention of +the 6th of August, 1827, and also a copy of the notice transmitted to +him for that purpose, together with extracts from a dispatch of that +minister to the Secretary of State bearing date on the 18th day of May +last. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _June 11, 1846_. + +_To the Senate of the United States:_ + +I transmit herewith a communication from the Secretary of War, which is +accompanied by documents relating to General Gaines's calls for +volunteers, received since the answer was made to the resolution of the +Senate of the 5th instant on that subject, and which I deem it proper to +submit for the further information of the Senate. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _June 12, 1846_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives:_ + +I transmit herewith for the information of Congress, official reports +received at the War Department from the officer commanding the Army on +the Mexican frontier, giving a detailed report of the operations of the +Army in that quarter, and particularly of the recent engagements[9] +between the American and Mexican forces. + +JAMES K. POLK. + +[Footnote 9: Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma.] + + + +WASHINGTON, _June 15, 1846_. + +_To the Senate of the United States:_ + +I transmit herewith a communication from the Secretary of War, +accompanied by a report of an expedition led by Lieutenant Abert on the +Upper Arkansas and through the country of the Camanche Indians in the +fall of the year 1845, as requested by the resolution of the Senate of +the 9th instant. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _June 16, 1846_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +In answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 3d instant, I +communicate herewith estimates prepared by the War and Navy Departments +of the probable expenses of conducting the existing war with Mexico +during the remainder of the present and the whole of the next fiscal +year. I communicate also a report of the Secretary of the Treasury, +based upon these estimates, containing recommendations of measures for +raising the additional means required. It is probable that the actual +expenses incurred during the period specified may fall considerably +below the estimates submitted, which are for a larger number of troops +than have yet been called to the field. As a precautionary measure, +however, against any possible deficiency, the estimates have been made +at the largest amount which any state of the service may require. + +It will be perceived from the report of the Secretary of the Treasury +that a considerable portion of the additional amount required may be +raised by a modification of the rates of duty imposed by the existing +tariff laws. The high duties at present levied on many articles totally +exclude them from importation, whilst the quantity and amount of others +which are imported are greatly diminished. By reducing these duties to a +revenue standard, it is not doubted that a large amount of the articles +on which they are imposed would be imported, and a corresponding amount +of revenue be received at the Treasury from this source. By imposing +revenue duties on many articles now permitted to be imported free of +duty, and by regulating the rates within the revenue standard upon +others, a large additional revenue will be collected. Independently of +the high considerations which induced me in my annual message to +recommend a modification and reduction of the rates of duty imposed by +the act of 1842 as being not only proper in reference to a state of +peace, but just to all the great interests of the country, the necessity +of such modification and reduction as a war measure must now be +manifest. The country requires additional revenue for the prosecution of +the war. It may be obtained to a great extent by reducing the +prohibitory and highly protective duties imposed by the existing laws to +revenue rates, by imposing revenue duties on the free list, and by +modifying the rates of duty on other articles. + +The modifications recommended by the Secretary of the Treasury in his +annual report in December last were adapted to a state of peace, and the +additional duties now suggested by him are with a view strictly to raise +revenue as a war measure. At the conclusion of the war these duties may +and should be abolished and reduced to lower rates. + +It is not apprehended that the existing war with Mexico will materially +affect our trade and commerce with the rest of the world. On the +contrary, the reductions proposed would increase that trade and augment +the revenue derived from it. + +When the country is in a state of war no contingency should be permitted +to occur in which there would be a deficiency in the Treasury for the +vigorous prosecution of the war, and to guard against such an event it +is recommended that contingent authority be given to issue Treasury +notes or to contract a loan for a limited amount, reimbursable at an +early day. Should no occasion arise to exercise the power, still it may +be important that the authority should exist should there be a necessity +for it. + +It is not deemed necessary to resort to direct taxes or excises, the +measures recommended being deemed preferable as a means of increasing +the revenue. It is hoped that the war with Mexico, if vigorously +prosecuted, as is contemplated, may be of short duration. I shall be at +all times ready to conclude an honorable peace whenever the Mexican +Government shall manifest a like disposition. The existing war has been +rendered necessary by the acts of Mexico, and whenever that power shall +be ready to do us justice we shall be prepared to sheath the sword and +tender to her the olive branch of peace. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _June 16, 1846_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +In accordance with the resolution of the Senate of the 12th instant, +that "the President of the United States be, and he is hereby, advised +to accept the proposal of the British Government accompanying his +message to the Senate dated 10th June, 1846, for a convention to settle +boundaries, etc., between the United States and Great Britain west of +the Rocky or Stony Mountains," a convention was concluded and signed on +the 15th instant by the Secretary of State, on the part of the United +States, and the envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of Her +Britannic Majesty, on the part of Great Britain. + +This convention I now lay before the Senate, for their consideration +with a view to its ratification. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + +WASHINGTON, _June 17, 1846_. + +_To the House of Representatives of the United States_: + +I communicate herewith a report from the Secretary of the Navy, +accompanied with the correspondence called for by the resolution of the +House of Representatives of the 4th of May last, between Commander G.J. +Pendergrast and the Governments on the Rio de la Plata, and the foreign +naval commanders and the United States minister at Buenos Ayres and the +Navy Department, whilst or since said Pendergrast was in command of the +United States ship _Boston_ in the Rio de la Plata, touching said +service. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _June 23, 1846_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I herewith communicate to the Senate, for its consideration, a +convention concluded by the minister of the United States at Berlin with +the Duchy of Nassau, dated on the 27th May, 1846, for the mutual +abolition of the _droit d'aubaine_ and taxes on emigration between that +State of the Germanic Confederation and the United States of America, +and also a dispatch from the minister explanatory of the convention. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _June 24, 1846_. + +_To the Senate_: + +I transmit herewith a communication from the Secretary of War, +accompanied by a report from the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, in +reply to the resolution of the Senate of the 9th instant, requiring +information on the subject of the removal of the Chippewa Indians from +the mineral lands on Lake Superior. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _July 2, 1846_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State, together with +copies of the correspondence in the year 1841 between the President of +the United States and the governor of New York relative to the +appearance of Joshua A. Spencer, esq., district attorney of the United +States for the western district of New York in the courts of the State +of New York as counsel for Alexander McLeod, called for by the +resolution of the House of Representatives of the 10th of April, 1846. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _July 7, 1846_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I herewith communicate to the Senate, for its consideration, a treaty of +commerce and navigation between the United States and the Kingdom of +Hanover, concluded and signed at Hanover on the 10th ultimo by the +respective plenipotentiaries. + +And I communicate at the same time extracts of a dispatch from the agent +of the United States explanatory of the treaty. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _July 9, 1846_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit herewith, for the consideration and advice of the Senate with +regard to its ratification, a treaty concluded on the 5th and 17th days +of June last by T.P. Andrews, Thomas A. Harvey, and Gideon C. Matlock, +commissioners on the part of the United States, and the various bands of +the Pottawatomies, Chippewa, and Ottawa Indians, together with a report +of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs and other papers explanatory of +the same. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _July 9, 1846_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I communicate herewith a report from the Secretary of the Treasury, +transmitting a report from the Commissioner of Public Lands in reply to +the resolution of the Senate of the 22d of June, 1846, calling for +information of the "progress which has been made in the surveys of the +mineral region upon Lake Superior, and within what time such surveys may +probably be prepared for the sales of the lands in that country." In +answer to that portion of the resolution which calls for the "views" of +the Executive "respecting the proper mode of disposing of said lands, +keeping in view the interest of the United States and the equitable +claims of individuals who, under the authority of the War Department, +have made improvements thereon or acquired rights of possession," I +recommend that these lands be brought into market and sold at such price +and under such regulations as Congress may prescribe, and that the right +of preemption be secured to such persons as have, under the authority of +the War Department, made improvements or acquired rights of possession +thereon. Should Congress deem it proper to authorize the sale of these +lands, it will be necessary to attach them to suitable land districts, +and that they be placed under the management and control of the General +Land Office, as other public lands. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _July 11, 1846_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_. + +I communicate herewith a report from the Secretary of War, together with +copies of the reports of the board of engineers heretofore employed in +an examination of the coast of Texas with a view to its defense and +improvement, called for by the resolution of the 29th June, 1846. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _July 15, 1846_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit herewith, for the consideration of the Senate, a treaty +concluded on the 15th day of May last with the Comanche and other tribes +or bands of Indians of Texas and the Southwestern prairies. I also +inclose a communication from the Secretary of War and a report from the +Commissioner of Indian Affairs, with accompanying documents, which +contain full explanations of the considerations which led to the +negotiation of the treaty and the general objects sought to be +accomplished by it. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _July 21, 1846_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I herewith transmit, in compliance with the request of the Senate in +their resolution of the 17th of June, 1846, a report of the Secretary of +State, together with a copy of all "the dispatches and instructions" +"relative to the Oregon treaty" "forwarded to our minister, Mr. McLane," +"not heretofore communicated to the Senate," including a statement of +the propositions for the adjustment of the Oregon question previously +made and rejected by the respective Governments. This statement was +furnished to Mr. McLane before his departure from the country, and is +dated on the 12th July, 1845, the day on which the note was addressed by +the Secretary of State to Mr. Pakenham offering to settle the +controversy by the forty-ninth parallel of latitude, which was rejected +by that minister on the 29th July following. + +The Senate will perceive that extracts from but two of Mr. McLane's +"dispatches and communications to this Government" are transmitted, and +these only because they were necessary to explain the answers given to +them by the Secretary of State. + +These dispatches are both numerous and voluminous, and, from their +confidential character, their publication, it is believed, would be +highly prejudicial to the public interests. + +Public considerations alone have induced me to withhold the dispatches +of Mr. McLane addressed to the Secretary of State. I concur with the +Secretary of State in the views presented in his report herewith +transmitted, against the publication of these dispatches. + +Mr. McLane has performed his whole duty to his country, and I am not +only willing, but anxious, that every Senator who may desire it shall +have an opportunity of perusing these dispatches at the Department of +State. The Secretary of State has been instructed to afford every +facility for this purpose. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _July 21, 1846_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I communicate herewith a report from the Secretary of State, in answer +to the resolution of the Senate of the 18th of June, 1846, calling for +certain information in relation to the Oregon Territory. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _August 4, 1846_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I herewith communicate to the Senate the copy of a letter, under date of +the 27th ultimo, from the Secretary of State of the United States to the +minister of foreign relations of the Mexican Republic, again proposing +to open negotiations and conclude a treaty of peace which shall adjust +all the questions in dispute between the two Republics. Considering the +relative power of the two countries, the glorious events which have +already signalized our arms, and the distracted condition of Mexico, +I did not conceive that any point of national honor could exist which +ought to prevent me from making this overture. Equally anxious to +terminate by a peace honorable for both parties as I was originally to +avoid the existing war, I have deemed it my duty again to extend the +olive branch to Mexico. Should the Government of that Republic accept +the offer in the same friendly spirit by which it was dictated, +negotiations will speedily commence for the conclusion of a treaty. + +The chief difficulty to be anticipated in the negotiation is the +adjustment of the boundary between the parties by a line which shall at +once be satisfactory to both, and such as neither will hereafter be +inclined to disturb. This is the best mode of securing perpetual peace +and good neighborhood between the two Republics. Should the Mexican +Government, in order to accomplish these objects, be willing to cede any +portion of their territory to the United States, we ought to pay them a +fair equivalent--a just and honorable peace, and not conquest, being our +purpose in the prosecution of the war. + +Under these circumstances, and considering the exhausted and distracted +condition of the Mexican Republic, it might become necessary in order to +restore peace that I should have it in my power to advance a portion of +the consideration money for any cession of territory which may be made. +The Mexican Government might not be willing to wait for the payment of +the whole until the treaty could be ratified by the Senate and an +appropriation to carry it into effect be made by Congress, and the +necessity for such a delay might defeat the object altogether. I would +therefore suggest whether it might not be wise for Congress to +appropriate a sum such as they might consider adequate for this purpose, +to be paid, if necessary, immediately upon the ratification of the +treaty by Mexico. This disbursement would of course be accounted for at +the Treasury, not as secret-service money, but like other expenditures. + +Two precedents for such a proceeding exist in our past history, during +the Administration of Mr. Jefferson, to which I would call your +attention. On the 26th February, 1803, Congress passed an act +appropriating $2,000,000 for the purpose of defraying any extraordinary +expenses which may be incurred in the intercourse "between the United +States and foreign nations," "to be applied under the direction of the +President of the United States, who shall cause an account of the +expenditure thereof to be laid before Congress as soon as may be;" and +on the 13th February, 1806, an appropriation was made of the same amount +and in the same terms. The object in the first case was to enable the +President to obtain the cession of Louisiana, and in the second that of +the Florida. In neither case was the money actually drawn from the +Treasury, and I should hope that the result might be similar in this +respect on the present occasion, though the appropriation is deemed +expedient as a precautionary measure. + +I refer the whole subject to the Senate in executive session. If they +should concur in opinion with me, then I recommend the passage of a law +appropriating such a sum as Congress may deem adequate, to be used by +the Executive, if necessary, for the purpose which I have indicated. + +In the two cases to which I have referred the special purpose of the +appropriation did not appear on the face of the law, as this might have +defeated the object; neither, for the same reason, in my opinion, ought +it now to be stated. + +I also communicate to the Senate the copy of a letter from the Secretary +of State to Commodore Conner of the 29th ultimo, which was transmitted +to him on the day it bears date. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _August 5, 1846._ + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_: + +I communicate herewith a copy of a convention for the settlement and +adjustment of the Oregon question, which was concluded in this city on +the 15th day of June last between the United States and Her Britannic +Majesty. This convention has since been duly ratified by the respective +parties, and the ratifications were exchanged at London on the 17th day +of July, 1846. + +It now becomes important that provision should be made by law at the +earliest practicable period for the organization of a Territorial +government in Oregon. + +It is also deemed proper that our laws regulating trade and intercourse +with the Indian tribes east of the Rocky Mountains should be extended to +such tribes within our territory as dwell beyond them, and that a +suitable number of Indian agents should be appointed for the purpose of +carrying these laws into execution. + +It is likewise important that mail facilities, so indispensable for the +diffusion of information and for binding together the different portions +of our extended Confederacy, should be afforded to our citizens west of +the Rocky Mountains. + +There is another subject to which I desire to call your special +attention. It is of great importance to our country generally, and +especially to our navigating and whaling interests, that the Pacific +Coast, and, indeed, the whole of our territory west of the Rocky +Mountains, should speedily be filled up by a hardy and patriotic +population. Emigrants to that territory have many difficulties to +encounter and privations to endure in their long and perilous journey, +and by the time they reach their place of destination their pecuniary +means are generally much reduced, if not altogether exhausted. Under +these circumstances it is deemed but an act of justice that these +emigrants, whilst most effectually advancing the interests and policy of +the Government, should be aided by liberal grants of land. I would +therefore recommend that such grants be made to actual settlers upon the +terms and under the restrictions and limitations which Congress may +think advisable. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _August 7, 1846_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I communicate herewith a report from the Secretary of the Navy, with the +accompanying documents, in answer to the resolution of the Senate of +August 6, 1846, calling for the report of the board of naval officers, +recently in session in this city, including the orders under which it +was convened and the evidence which may have been laid before it. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _August 7, 1846_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit herewith, for the consideration and constitutional action of +the Senate, articles of a treaty which has been concluded by the +commissioners appointed for the purpose with the different parties into +which the Cherokee tribe of Indians has been divided, through their +delegates now in Washington. The same commissioners had previously been +appointed to investigate the subject of the difficulties which have for +years existed among the Cherokees, and which have kept them in a state +of constant excitement and almost entirely interrupted all progress on +their part in civilization and improvement in agriculture and the +mechanic arts, and have led to many unfortunate acts of domestic strife, +against which the Government is bound by the treaty of 1835 to protect +them. Their unfortunate internal dissensions had attracted the notice +and excited the sympathies of the whole country, and it became evident +that if something was not done to heal them they would terminate in a +sanguinary war, in which other tribes of Indians might become involved +and the lives and property of our own citizens on the frontier +endangered. I recommended in my message to Congress on the 13th of April +last such measures as I then thought it expedient should be adopted to +restore peace and good order among the Cherokees, one of which was a +division of the country which they occupy and separation of the tribe. +This recommendation was made under the belief that the different +factions could not be reconciled and live together in harmony--a belief +based in a great degree upon the representations of the delegates of the +two divisions of the tribe. Since then, however, there appears to have +been a change of opinion on this subject on the part of these divisions +of the tribe, and on representations being made to me that by the +appointment of commissioners to hear and investigate the causes of +grievance of the parties against each other and to examine into their +claims against the Government it would probably be found that an +arrangement could be made which would once more harmonize the tribe and +adjust in a satisfactory manner their claims upon and relations with the +United States, I did not hesitate to appoint three persons for the +purpose. The commissioners entered into an able and laborious +investigation, and on their making known to me the probability of their +being able to conclude a new treaty with the delegates of all the +divisions of the tribe, who were fully empowered to make any new +arrangement which would heal all dissensions among the Cherokees and +restore them to their ancient condition of peace and good brotherhood, +I authorized and appointed them to enter into negotiations with these +delegates for the accomplishment of that object. The treaty now +transmitted is the result of their labors, and it is hoped that it will +meet the approbation of Congress, and, if carried out in good faith by +all parties to it, it is believed it will effect the great and desirable +ends had in view. + +Accompanying the treaty is the report of the commissioners, and also a +communication to them from John Ross and others, who represent what is +termed the government party of the Cherokees, and which is transmitted +at their request for the consideration of the Senate. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _August 8, 1846_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_: + +I invite your attention to the propriety of making an appropriation to +provide for any expenditure which it may be necessary to make in advance +for the purpose of settling all our difficulties with the Mexican +Republic. It is my sincere desire to terminate, as it was originally to +avoid, the existing war with Mexico by a peace just and honorable to +both parties. It is probable that the chief obstacle to be surmounted in +accomplishing this desirable object will be the adjustment of a boundary +between the two Republics which shall prove satisfactory and convenient +to both, and such as neither will hereafter be inclined to disturb. In +the adjustment of this boundary we ought to pay a fair equivalent for +any concessions which may be made by Mexico. + +Under these circumstances, and considering the other complicated +questions to be settled by negotiation with the Mexican Republic, I deem +it important that a sum of money should be placed under the control of +the Executive to be advanced, if need be, to the Government of that +Republic immediately after their ratification of a treaty. It might be +inconvenient for the Mexican Government to wait for the whole sum the +payment of which may be stipulated by this treaty until it could be +ratified by our Senate and an appropriation to carry it into effect made +by Congress. Indeed, the necessity for this delay might defeat the +object altogether. The disbursement of this money would of course be +accounted for, not as secret-service money, but like other expenditures. + +Two precedents for such a proceeding exist in our past history, during +the Administration of Mr. Jefferson, to which I would call your +attention: On the 26th February, 1803, an act was passed appropriating +$2,000,000 "for the purpose of defraying any extraordinary expenses +which may be incurred in the intercourse between the United States and +foreign nations," "to be applied under the direction of the President of +the United States, who shall cause an account of the expenditure thereof +to be laid before Congress as soon as may be;" and on the 13th of +February, 1806, an appropriation was made of the same amount and in the +same terms. In neither case was the money actually drawn from the +Treasury, and I should hope that the result in this respect might be +similar on the present occasion, although the appropriation may prove +to be indispensable in accomplishing the object. I would therefore +recommend the passage of a law appropriating $2,000,000 to be placed at +the disposal of the Executive for the purpose which I have indicated. + +In order to prevent all misapprehension, it is my duty to state that, +anxious as I am to terminate the existing war with the least possible +delay, it will continue to be prosecuted with the utmost vigor until +a treaty of peace shall be signed by the parties and ratified by the +Mexican Republic. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + + +VETO MESSAGES. + + +WASHINGTON, _August 3, 1846_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I have considered the bill entitled "An act making appropriations for +the improvement of certain harbors and rivers" with the care which +its importance demands, and now return the same to the House of +Representatives, in which it originated, with my objections to its +becoming a law. The bill proposes to appropriate $1,378,450 to be +applied to more than forty distinct and separate objects of improvement. +On examining its provisions and the variety of objects of improvement +which it embraces, many of them of a local character, it is difficult to +conceive, if it shall be sanctioned and become a law, what practical +constitutional restraint can hereafter be imposed upon the most extended +system of internal improvements by the Federal Government in all parts +of the Union. The Constitution has not, in my judgment, conferred upon +the Federal Government the power to construct works of internal +improvement within the States, or to appropriate money from the Treasury +for that purpose. That this bill assumes for the Federal Government the +right to exercise this power can not, I think, be doubted. The approved +course of the Government and the deliberately expressed judgment of the +people have denied the existence of such a power under the Constitution. +Several of my predecessors have denied its existence in the most solemn +forms. + +The general proposition that the Federal Government does not possess +this power is so well settled and has for a considerable period been so +generally acquiesced in that it is not deemed necessary to reiterate the +arguments by which it is sustained. Nor do I deem it necessary, after +the full and elaborate discussions which have taken place before the +country on this subject, to do more than to state the general +considerations which have satisfied me of the unconstitutionality and +inexpediency of the exercise of such a power. + +It is not questioned that the Federal Government is one of limited +powers. Its powers are such, and such only, as are expressly granted in +the Constitution or are properly incident to the expressly granted +powers and necessary to their execution. In determining whether a given +power has been granted a sound rule of construction has been laid down +by Mr. Madison. That rule is that-- + + Whenever a question arises concerning a particular power, the first + question is whether the power be expressed in the Constitution. If it + be, the question is decided. If it be not expressed, the next inquiry + must be whether it is properly an incident to an expressed power and + necessary to its execution. If it be, it may be exercised by Congress. + If it be not, Congress can not exercise it. + + +It is not pretended that there is any express grant in the Constitution +conferring on Congress the power in question. Is it, then, an incidental +power necessary and proper for the execution of any of the granted +powers? All the granted powers, it is confidently affirmed, may be +effectually executed without the aid of such an incident. "A power, to +be incidental, must not be exercised for ends which make it a principal +or substantive power, independent of the principal power to which it is +an incident." It is not enough that it may be regarded by Congress as +_convenient_ or that its exercise would advance the public weal. It must +be _necessary and proper_ to the execution of the principal expressed +power to which it is an incident, and without which such principal power +can not be carried into effect. The whole frame of the Federal +Constitution proves that the Government which it creates was intended +to be one of limited and specified powers. A construction of the +Constitution so broad as that by which the power in question is defended +tends imperceptibly to a consolidation of power in a Government intended +by its framers to be thus limited in its authority. "The obvious +tendency and inevitable result of a consolidation of the States into one +sovereignty would be to transform the republican system of the United +States into a monarchy." To guard against the assumption of all powers +which encroach upon the reserved sovereignty of the States, and which +consequently tend to consolidation, is the duty of all the true friends +of our political system. That the power in question is not properly an +incident to any of the granted powers I am fully satisfied; but if there +were doubts on this subject, experience has demonstrated the wisdom of +the rule that all the functionaries of the Federal Government should +abstain from the exercise of all questionable or doubtful powers. If an +enlargement of the powers of the Federal Government should be deemed +proper, it is safer and wiser to appeal to the States and the people +in the mode prescribed by the Constitution for the grant desired than +to assume its exercise without an amendment of the Constitution. +If Congress does not possess the general power to construct works of +internal improvement within the States, or to appropriate money from the +Treasury for that purpose, what is there to exempt some, at least, of +the objects of appropriation included in this bill from the operation of +the general rule? This bill assumes the existence of the power, and in +some of its provisions asserts the principle that Congress may exercise +it as fully as though the appropriations which it proposes were +applicable to the construction of roads and canals. If there be a +distinction in principle, it is not perceived, and should be clearly +defined. Some of the objects of appropriation contained in this bill are +local in their character, and lie within the limits of a single State; +and though in the language of the bill they are called _harbors_, they +are not connected with foreign commerce, nor are they places of refuge +or shelter for our Navy or commercial marine on the ocean or lake +shores. To call the mouth of a creek or a shallow inlet on our coast +a harbor can not confer the authority to expend the public money in +its improvement. Congress have exercised the power coeval with the +Constitution of establishing light-houses, beacons, buoys, and piers on +our ocean and lake shores for the purpose of rendering navigation safe +and easy and of affording protection and shelter for our Navy and +other shipping. These are safeguards placed in existing channels of +navigation. After the long acquiescence of the Government through all +preceding Administrations, I am not disposed to question or disturb the +authority to make appropriations for such purposes. + +When we advance a step beyond this point, and, in addition to the +establishment and support, by appropriations from the Treasury, of +lighthouses, beacons, buoys, piers, and other improvements within the +bays, inlets, and harbors on our ocean and lake coasts immediately +connected with our foreign commerce, attempt to make improvements in the +interior at points unconnected with foreign commerce, and where they are +not needed for the protection and security of our Navy and commercial +marine, the difficulty arises in drawing a line beyond which +appropriations may not be made by the Federal Government. + +One of my predecessors, who saw the evil consequences of the system +proposed to be revived by this bill, attempted to define this line by +declaring that "expenditures of this character" should be "confined +_below_ the ports of entry or delivery established by law." Acting on +this restriction, he withheld his sanction from a bill which had passed +Congress "to improve the navigation of the Wabash River." He was at the +same time "sensible that this restriction was not as satisfactory as +could be desired, and that much embarrassment may be caused to the +executive department in its execution, by appropriations for remote and +not well-understood objects." This restriction, it was soon found, was +subject to be evaded and rendered comparatively useless in checking the +system of improvements which it was designed to arrest, in consequence +of the facility with which ports of entry and delivery may be +established by law upon the upper waters, and in some instances almost +at the head springs of some of the most unimportant of our rivers, and +at points on our coast possessing no commercial importance and not used +as places of refuge and safety by our Navy and other shipping. Many of +the ports of entry and delivery now authorized by law, so far as foreign +commerce is concerned, exist only in the statute books. No entry of +foreign goods is ever made and no duties are ever collected at them. No +exports of American products bound for foreign countries ever clear from +them. To assume that their existence in the statute book as ports of +entry or delivery warrants expenditures on the waters leading to them, +which would be otherwise unauthorized, would be to assert the +proposition that the lawmaking power may ingraft new provisions on the +Constitution. If the restriction is a sound one, it can only apply to +the bays, inlets, and rivers connected with or leading to such, ports as +actually have foreign commerce--ports at which foreign importations +arrive in bulk, paying the duties charged by law, and from which exports +are made to foreign countries. It will be found by applying the +restriction thus understood to the bill under consideration that it +contains appropriations for more than twenty objects of internal +improvement, called in the bill _harbors_, at places which have never +been declared by law either ports of entry or delivery, and at which, +as appears from the records of the Treasury, there has never been an +arrival of foreign merchandise, and from which there has never been a +vessel cleared for a foreign country. It will be found that many of +these works are new, and at places for the improvement of which +appropriations are now for the first time proposed. It will be found +also that the bill contains appropriations for rivers upon which there +not only exists no foreign commerce, but upon which there has not been +established even a paper port of entry, and for the mouths of creeks, +denominated harbors, which if improved can benefit only the particular +neighborhood in which they are situated. It will be found, too, to +contain appropriations the expenditure of which will only have the +effect of improving one place at the expense of the local natural +advantages of another in its vicinity. Should this bill become a law, +the same _principle_ which authorizes the appropriations which it +proposes to make would also authorize similar appropriations for the +improvement of all the other bays, inlets, and creeks, which may with +equal propriety be called harbors, and of all the rivers, important or +unimportant, in every part of the Union. To sanction the bill with such +provisions would be to concede the _principle_ that the Federal +Government possesses the power to expend the public money in a general +system of internal improvements, limited in its extent only by the +ever-varying discretion of successive Congresses and successive +Executives. It would be to efface and remove the limitations and +restrictions of power which the Constitution has wisely provided to +limit the authority and action of the Federal Government to a few +well-defined and specified objects. Besides these objections, the +practical evils which must flow from the exercise on the part of the +Federal Government of the powers asserted in this bill impress my mind +with a grave sense of my duty to avert them from the country as far as +my constitutional action may enable me to do so. + +It not only leads to a consolidation of power in the Federal Government +at the expense of the rightful authority of the States, but its +inevitable tendency is to embrace objects for the expenditure of the +public money which are local in their character, benefiting but few at +the expense of the common Treasury of the whole. It will engender +sectional feelings and prejudices calculated to disturb the harmony of +the Union. It will destroy the harmony which should prevail in our +legislative councils. + +It will produce combinations of local and sectional interests, strong +enough when united to carry propositions for appropriations of public +money which could not of themselves, and standing alone, succeed, and +can not fail to lead to wasteful and extravagant expenditures. + +It must produce a disreputable scramble for the public money, by the +conflict which is inseparable from such a system between local and +individual interests and the general interest of the whole. It is unjust +to those States which have with their own means constructed their own +internal improvements to make from the common Treasury appropriations +for similar improvements in other States. + +In its operation it will be oppressive and unjust toward those States +whose representatives and people either deny or doubt the existence of +the power or think its exercise inexpedient, and who, while they equally +contribute to the Treasury, can not consistently with their opinions +engage in a general competition for a share of the public money. Thus +a large portion of the Union, in numbers and in geographical extent, +contributing its equal proportion of taxes to the support of the +Government, would under the operation of such a system be compelled to +see the national treasure--the common stock of all--unequally disbursed, +and often improvidently wasted for the advantage of small sections, +instead of being applied to the great national purposes in which all +have a common interest, and for which alone the power to collect the +revenue was given. Should the system of internal improvements proposed +prevail, all these evils will multiply and increase with the increase of +the number of the States and the extension of the geographical limits of +the settled portions of our country. With the increase of our numbers +and the extension of our settlements the local objects demanding +appropriations of the public money for their improvement will be +proportionately increased. In each case the expenditure of the public +money would confer benefits, direct or indirect, only on a section, +while these sections would become daily less in comparison with the +whole. + +The wisdom of the framers of the Constitution in withholding power over +such objects from the Federal Government and leaving them to the local +governments of the States becomes more and more manifest with every +year's experience of the operations of our system. + +In a country of limited extent, with but few such objects of expenditure +(if the form of government permitted it), a common treasury might be +used for their improvement with much less inequality and injustice than +in one of the vast extent which ours now presents in population and +territory. The treasure of the world would hardly be equal to the +improvement of every bay, inlet, creek, and river in our country which +might be supposed to promote the agricultural, manufacturing, or +commercial interests of a neighborhood. + +The Federal Constitution was wisely adapted in its provisions to any +expansion of our limits and population, and with the advance of the +confederacy of the States in the career of national greatness it becomes +the more apparent that the harmony of the Union and the equal justice to +which all its parts are entitled require that the Federal Government +should confine its action within the limits prescribed by the +Constitution to its power and authority. Some of the provisions of this +bill are not subject to the objections stated, and did they stand alone +I should not feel it to be my duty to withhold my approval. + +If no constitutional objections existed to the bill, there are others of +a serious nature which deserve some consideration. It appropriates +between $1,000,000 and $2,000,000 for objects which are of no pressing +necessity, and this is proposed at a time when the country is engaged in +a foreign war, and when Congress at its present session has authorized a +loan or the issue of Treasury notes to defray the expenses of the war, +to be resorted to if the "exigencies of the Government shall require +it." It would seem to be the dictate of wisdom under such circumstances +to husband our means, and not to waste them on comparatively unimportant +objects, so that we may reduce the loan or issue of Treasury notes which +may become necessary to the smallest practicable sum. It would seem to +be wise, too, to abstain from such expenditures with a view to avoid the +accumulation of a large public debt, the existence of which would be +opposed to the interests of our people as well as to the genius of our +free institutions. + +Should this bill become a law, the principle which it establishes will +inevitably lead to large and annually increasing appropriations and +drains upon the Treasury, for it is not to be doubted that numerous +other localities not embraced in its provisions, but quite as much +entitled to the favor of the Government as those which are embraced, +will demand, through their representatives in Congress, to be placed on +an equal footing with them. With such an increase of expenditure must +necessarily follow either an increased public debt or increased burdens +upon the people by taxation to supply the Treasury with the means of +meeting the accumulated demands upon it. + +With profound respect for the opinions of Congress, and ever anxious, as +far as I can consistently with my responsibility to our common +constituents, to cooperate with them in the discharge of our respective +duties, it is with unfeigned regret that I find myself constrained, for +the reasons which I have assigned, to withhold my approval from this +bill. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _August 8, 1846_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I return to the Senate, in which it originated, the bill entitled "An +act to provide for the ascertainment and satisfaction of claims of +American citizens for spoliations committed by the French prior to the +31st day of July, 1801," which was presented to me on the 6th instant, +with my objections to its becoming a law. + +In attempting to give to the bill the careful examination it requires, +difficulties presented themselves in the outset from the remoteness of +the period to which the claims belong, the complicated nature of the +transactions in which they originated, and the protracted negotiations +to which they led between France and the United States. + +The short time intervening between the passage of the bill by Congress +and the approaching close of their session, as well as the pressure of +other official duties, have not permitted me to extend my examination of +the subject into its minute details; but in the consideration which I +have been able to give to it I find objections of a grave character to +its provisions. + +For the satisfaction of the claims provided for by the bill it is +proposed to appropriate $5,000,000. I can perceive no legal or equitable +ground upon which this large appropriation can rest. A portion of the +claims have been more than half a century before the Government in its +executive or legislative departments, and all of them had their origin +in events which occurred prior to the year 1800. Since 1802 they have +been from time to time before Congress. No greater necessity or +propriety exists for providing for these claims at this time than has +existed for near half a century, during all which period this +questionable measure has never until now received the favorable +consideration of Congress. It is scarcely probable, if the claim had +been regarded as obligatory upon the Government or constituting an +equitable demand upon the Treasury, that those who were contemporaneous +with the events which gave rise to it should not long since have done +justice to the claimants. The Treasury has often been in a condition to +enable the Government to do so without inconvenience if these claims had +been considered just. Mr. Jefferson, who was fully cognizant of the +early dissensions between the Governments of the United States and +France, out of which the claims arose, in his annual message in 1808 +adverted to the large surplus then in the Treasury and its "probable +accumulation," and inquired whether it should "lie unproductive in the +public vaults;" and yet these claims, though then before Congress, were +not recognized or paid. Since that time the public debt of the +Revolution and of the War of 1812 has been extinguished, and at several +periods since the Treasury has been in possession of large surpluses +over the demands upon it. In 1836 the surplus amounted to many millions +of dollars, and, for want of proper objects to which to apply it, it was +directed by Congress to be deposited with the States. + +During this extended course of time, embracing periods eminently +favorable for satisfying all just demands upon the Government, the +claims embraced in this bill met with no favor in Congress beyond +reports of committees in one or the other branch. These circumstances +alone are calculated to raise strong doubts in respect to these claims, +more especially as all the information necessary to a correct judgment +concerning them has been long before the public. These doubts are +strengthened in my mind by the examination I have been enabled to give +to the transactions in which they originated. + +The bill assumes that the United States have become liable in these +ancient transactions to make reparation to the claimants for injuries +committed by France. Nothing was obtained for the claimants by +negotiation; and the bill assumes that the Government has become +responsible to them for the aggressions of France. I have not been able +to satisfy myself of the correctness of this assumption, or that the +Government has become in any way responsible for these claims. The +limited time allotted me before your adjournment precludes the +possibility of reiterating the facts and arguments by which in preceding +Congresses these claims have been successfully resisted. + +The present is a period peculiarly unfavorable for the satisfaction of +claims of so large an amount and, to say the least of them, of so +doubtful a character. There is no surplus in the Treasury. A public debt +of several millions of dollars has been created within the last few +years. + +We are engaged in a foreign war, uncertain in its duration and involving +heavy expenditures, to prosecute which Congress has at its present +session authorized a further loan; so that in effect the Government, +should this bill become a law, borrows money and increases the public +debt to pay these claims. + +It is true that by the provisions of the bill payment is directed to be +made in land scrip instead of money, but the effect upon the Treasury +will be the same. The public lands constitute one of the sources of +public revenue, and if these claims be paid in land scrip it will from +the date of its issue to a great extent cut off from the Treasury the +annual income from the sales of the public lands, because payments for +lands sold by the Government may be expected to be made in scrip until +it is all redeemed. If these claims be just, they ought to be paid in +money, and not in anything less valuable. The bill provides that they +shall be paid in land scrip, whereby they are made in effect to be a +mortgage upon the public lands in the new States; a mortgage, too, held +in great part, if not wholly, by nonresidents of the States in which the +lands lie, who may secure these lands to the amount of several millions +of acres, and then demand for them exorbitant prices from the citizens +of the States who may desire to purchase them for settlement, or they +may keep them out of the market, and thus retard the prosperity and +growth of the States in which they are situated. Why this unusual mode +of satisfying demands on the Treasury has been resorted to does not +appear. It is not consistent with a sound public policy. If it be done +in this case, it may be done in all others. It would form a precedent +for the satisfaction of all other stale and questionable claims in the +same manner, and would undoubtedly be resorted to by all claimants who +after successive trials shall fail to have their claims recognized and +paid in money by Congress. + +This bill proposes to appropriate $5,000,000, to be paid in land scrip, +and provides that "no claim or memorial shall be received by the +commissioners" authorized by the act "unless accompanied by a release or +discharge of the United States from all other and further compensation" +than the claimant "may be entitled to receive under the provisions of +this act." These claims are estimated to amount to a much larger sum +than $5,000,000, and yet the claimant is required to release to the +Government all other compensation, and to accept his share of a fund +which is known to be inadequate. If the claims be well founded, it would +be unjust to the claimants to repudiate any portion of them, and the +payment of the remaining sum could not be hereafter resisted. This bill +proposes to pay these claims not in the currency known to the +Constitution, and not to their full amount. + +Passed, as this bill has been, near the close of the session, and when +many measures of importance necessarily claim the attention of Congress, +and possibly without that full and deliberate consideration which the +large sum it appropriates and the existing condition of the Treasury and +of the country demand, I deem it to be my duty to withhold my approval, +that it may hereafter undergo the revision of Congress. I have come to +this conclusion with regret. In interposing my objections to its +becoming a law I am fully sensible that it should be an extreme case +which would make it the duty of the Executive to withhold his approval +of any bill passed by Congress upon the ground of its inexpediency +alone. Such a case I consider this to be. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + + +PROCLAMATIONS. + + +[From Statutes at Large (Little & Brown), Vol. IX, p. 999.] + + +BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. + +A PROCLAMATION. + +Whereas by an act of the Congress of the United States of the 3d of +March, 1845, entitled "An act allowing drawback upon foreign merchandise +exported in the original packages to Chihuahua and Santa Fe, in Mexico, +and to the British North American Provinces adjoining the United States," +certain privileges are extended in reference to drawback to ports +therein specially enumerated in the seventh section of said act, which +also 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;" and + +Whereas the Secretary of the Treasury has duly recommended to me the +extension of the privileges of the law aforesaid to the port of +Lewiston, in the collection district of Niagara, in the State of New +York: + +Now, therefore, I, James K. Polk, President of the United States of +America, do hereby declare and proclaim that the port of Lewiston, in +the collection district of Niagara, in the State of New York, is and +shall be entitled to all the privileges extended to the other ports +enumerated in the seventh section of the act 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. + +[SEAL.] + +Done at the city of Washington, this 17th day of January, A.D. 1846, and +of the Independence of the United States of America the seventieth. + +JAMES K. POLK. + +By the President: + JAMES BUCHANAN, + _Secretary of State_. + + + +BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. + +A PROCLAMATION. + +Whereas the Congress of the United States, by virtue of the +constitutional authority vested in them, have declared by their act +bearing date this day that "by the act of the Republic of Mexico a state +of war exists between that Government and the United States:" + +Now, therefore, I, James K. Polk, President of the United States of +America, do hereby proclaim the same to all whom it may concern; and I +do specially enjoin on all persons holding offices, civil or military, +under the authority of the United States that they be vigilant and +zealous in discharging the duties respectively incident thereto; and I +do, moreover, exhort all the good people of the United States, as they +love their country, as they feel the wrongs which have forced on them +the last resort of injured nations, and as they consult the best means, +under the blessing of Divine Providence, of abridging its calamities, +that they exert themselves in preserving order, in promoting concord, +in maintaining the authority and the efficacy of the laws, and in +supporting and invigorating all the measures which may be adopted by the +constituted authorities for obtaining a speedy, a just, and an honorable +peace. + +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 13th day of May, A.D. 1846, of the +Independence of the United States the seventieth. + +JAMES K. POLK. + +By the President: + JAMES BUCHANAN, + _Secretary of State_. + + + +BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. + +A PROCLAMATION. + +Whereas by the act of Congress approved July 9, 1846, entitled "An act +to retrocede the county of Alexandria, in the District of Columbia, to +the State of Virginia," it is enacted that, with the assent of the +people of the county and town of Alexandria, to be ascertained in the +manner therein prescribed, all that portion of the District of Columbia +ceded to the United States by the State of Virginia and all the rights +and jurisdiction therewith ceded over the same shall be ceded and +forever relinquished to the State of Virginia in full and absolute right +and jurisdiction, as well of soil as of persons residing or to reside +thereon; and + +Whereas it is further provided that the said act "shall not be in force +until after the assent of the people of the county and town of +Alexandria shall be given to it in the mode therein provided," and, if a +majority of the votes should be in favor of accepting the provisions of +the said act, it shall be the duty of the President to make proclamation +of the fact; and + +Whereas on the 17th day of August, 1846, after the close of the late +session of the Congress of the United States, I duly appointed five +citizens of the county or town of Alexandria, being freeholders within +the same, as commissioners, who, being duly sworn to perform the duties +imposed on them as prescribed in the said act, did proceed within ten +days after they were notified to fix upon the 1st and 2d days of +September, 1846, as the time, the court-house of the county of +Alexandria as the place, and _viva voce_ as the manner of voting, and +gave due notice of the same; and at the time and at the place, in +conformity with the said notice, the said commissioners presiding and +deciding all questions arising in relation to the right of voting under +the said act, the votes of the citizens qualified to vote were taken +_viva voce_ and recorded in poll books duly kept, and on the 3d day of +September instant, after the said polls were closed, the said +commissioners did make out and on the next day did transmit to me a +statement of the polls so held, upon oath and under their seals; and of +the votes so cast and polled there were in favor of accepting the +provisions of the said act 763 votes, and against accepting the same +222, showing a majority of 541 votes for the acceptance of the same: + +Now, therefore, be it known that I, James K. Polk, President of the +United States of America, in fulfillment of the duty imposed upon me by +the said act of Congress, do hereby make proclamation of the "result" of +said "poll" as above stated, and do call upon all and singular the +persons whom it doth or may concern to take notice that the act +aforesaid "is in full force and effect." + +In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of +the United States to be affixed. + +[SEAL.] + +Done at the city of Washington, this 7th day of September, A.D. 1846, +and of the Independence of the United States the seventy-first. + +JAMES K. POLK. + +By the President: + N.P. TRIST, + _Acting Secretary of State_. + + + + +SECOND ANNUAL MESSAGE. + + +WASHINGTON, _December 8, 1846_. + +_Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and of the House of Representatives:_ + +In resuming your labors in the service of the people it is a subject of +congratulation that there has been no period in our past history when +all the elements of national prosperity have been so fully developed. +Since your last session no afflicting dispensation has visited our +country. General good health has prevailed, abundance has crowned the +toil of the husbandman, and labor in all its branches is receiving +an ample reward, while education, science, and the arts are rapidly +enlarging the means of social happiness. The progress of our country +in her career of greatness, not only in the vast extension of our +territorial limits and the rapid increase of our population, but in +resources and wealth and in the happy condition of our people, is +without an example in the history of nations. + +As the wisdom, strength, and beneficence of our free institutions are +unfolded, every day adds fresh motives to contentment and fresh +incentives to patriotism. + +Our devout and sincere acknowledgments are due to the gracious Giver of +All Good for the numberless blessings which our beloved country enjoys. + +It is a source of high satisfaction to know that the relations of the +United States with all other nations, with a single exception, are of +the most amicable character. Sincerely attached to the policy of peace +early adopted and steadily pursued by this Government, I have anxiously +desired to cultivate and cherish friendship and commerce with every +foreign power. The spirit and habits of the American people are +favorable to the maintenance of such international harmony. In adhering +to this wise policy, a preliminary and paramount duty obviously consists +in the protection of our national interests from encroachment or +sacrifice and our national honor from reproach. These must be maintained +at any hazard. They admit of no compromise or neglect, and must be +scrupulously and constantly guarded. In their vigilant vindication +collision and conflict with foreign powers may sometimes become +unavoidable. Such has been our scrupulous adherence to the dictates of +justice in all our foreign intercourse that, though steadily and rapidly +advancing in prosperity and power, we have given no just cause of +complaint to any nation and have enjoyed the blessings of peace for more +than thirty years. From a policy so sacred to humanity and so salutary +in its effects upon our political system we should never be induced +voluntarily to depart. + +The existing war with Mexico was neither desired nor provoked by the +United States. On the contrary, all honorable means were resorted to to +avert it. After years of endurance of aggravated and unredressed wrongs +on our part, Mexico, in violation of solemn treaty stipulations and of +every principle of justice recognized by civilized nations, commenced +hostilities, and thus by her own act forced the war upon us. Long before +the advance of our Army to the left bank of the Rio Grande we had ample +cause of war against Mexico, and had the United States resorted to this +extremity we might have appealed to the whole civilized world for the +justice of our cause. I deem it to be my duty to present to you on the +present occasion a condensed review of the injuries we had sustained, +of the causes which led to the war, and of its progress since its +commencement. This is rendered the more necessary because of the +misapprehensions which have to some extent prevailed as to its origin +and true character. The war has been represented as unjust and +unnecessary and as one of aggression on our part upon a weak and injured +enemy. Such erroneous views, though entertained by but few, have been +widely and extensively circulated, not only at home, but have been +spread throughout Mexico and the whole world. A more effectual means +could not have been devised to encourage the enemy and protract the war +than to advocate and adhere to their cause, and thus give them "aid and +comfort." It is a source of national pride and exultation that the great +body of our people have thrown no such obstacles in the way of the +Government in prosecuting the war successfully, but have shown +themselves to be eminently patriotic and ready to vindicate their +country's honor and interests at any sacrifice. The alacrity and +promptness with which our volunteer forces rushed to the field on their +country's call prove not only their patriotism, but their deep +conviction that our cause is just. + +The wrongs which we have suffered from Mexico almost ever since she +became an independent power and the patient endurance with which we have +borne them are without a parallel in the history of modern civilized +nations. There is reason to believe that if these wrongs had been +resented and resisted in the first instance the present war might have +been avoided. One outrage, however, permitted to pass with impunity +almost necessarily encouraged the perpetration of another, until at last +Mexico seemed to attribute to weakness and indecision on our part a +forbearance which was the offspring of magnanimity and of a sincere +desire to preserve friendly relations with a sister republic. + +Scarcely had Mexico achieved her independence, which the United States +were the first among the nations to acknowledge, when she commenced the +system of insult and spoliation which she has ever since pursued. Our +citizens engaged in lawful commerce were imprisoned, their vessels +seized, and our flag insulted in her ports. If money was wanted, the +lawless seizure and confiscation of our merchant vessels and their +cargoes was a ready resource, and if to accomplish their purposes it +became necessary to imprison the owners, captains, and crews, it was +done. Rulers superseded rulers in Mexico in rapid succession, but still +there was no change in this system of depredation. The Government of the +United States made repeated reclamations on behalf of its citizens, but +these were answered by the perpetration of new outrages. Promises of +redress made by Mexico in the most solemn forms were postponed or +evaded. The files and records of the Department of State contain +conclusive proofs of numerous lawless acts perpetrated upon the property +and persons of our citizens by Mexico, and of wanton insults to our +national flag. The interposition of our Government to obtain redress was +again and again invoked under circumstances which no nation ought to +disregard. It was hoped that these outrages would cease and that Mexico +would be restrained by the laws which regulate the conduct of civilized +nations in their intercourse with each other after the treaty of amity, +commerce, and navigation of the 5th of April, 1831, was concluded +between the two Republics; but this hope soon proved to be vain. The +course of seizure and confiscation of the property of our citizens, the +violation of their persons, and the insults to our flag pursued by +Mexico previous to that time were scarcely suspended for even a brief +period, although the treaty so clearly defines the rights and duties of +the respective parties that it is impossible to misunderstand or mistake +them. In less than seven years after the conclusion of that treaty our +grievances had become so intolerable that in the opinion of President +Jackson they should no longer be endured. In his message to Congress in +February, 1837, he presented them to the consideration of that body, and +declared that-- + + The length of time since some of the injuries have been committed, the + repeated and unavailing applications for redress, the wanton character + of some of the outrages upon the property and persons of our citizens, + upon the officers and flag of the United States, independent of recent + insults to this Government and people by the late extraordinary Mexican + minister, would justify in the eyes of all nations immediate war. + + +In a spirit of kindness and forbearance, however, he recommended +reprisals as a milder mode of redress. He declared that war should not +be used as a remedy "by just and generous nations, confiding in their +strength for injuries committed, if it can be honorably avoided," and +added: + + It has occurred to me that, considering the present embarrassed + condition of that country, we should act with both wisdom and moderation + by giving to Mexico one more opportunity to atone for the past before + we take redress into our own hands. To avoid all misconception on the + part of Mexico, as well as to protect our own national character from + reproach, this opportunity should be given with the avowed design and + full preparation to take immediate satisfaction if it should not be + obtained on a repetition of the demand for it. To this end I recommend + that an act be passed authorizing reprisals, and the use of the naval + force of the United States by the Executive against Mexico to enforce + them, in the event of a refusal by the Mexican Government to come to + an amicable adjustment of the matters in controversy between us upon + another demand thereof made from on board one of our vessels of war on + the coast of Mexico. + + +Committees of both Houses of Congress, to which this message of the +President was referred, fully sustained his views of the character of +the wrongs which we had suffered from Mexico, and recommended that +another demand for redress should be made before authorizing war or +reprisals. The Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate, in their +report, say: + + After such a demand, should prompt justice be refused by the Mexican + Government, we may appeal to all nations, not only for the equity and + moderation with which we shall have acted toward a sister republic, but + for the necessity which will then compel us to seek redress for our + wrongs, either by actual war or by reprisals. The subject will then be + presented before Congress, at the commencement of the next session, in a + clear and distinct form, and the committee can not doubt but that such + measures will be immediately adopted as may be necessary to vindicate + the honor of the country and insure ample reparation to our injured + fellow-citizens. + + +The Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives made a +similar recommendation. In their report they say that-- + + They fully concur with the President that ample cause exists for taking + redress into our own hands, and believe that we should be justified in + the opinion of other nations for taking such a step. But they are + willing to try the experiment of another demand, made in the most solemn + form, upon the justice of the Mexican Government before any further + proceedings are adopted. + + +No difference of opinion upon the subject is believed to have existed in +Congress at that time; the executive and legislative departments +concurred; and yet such has been our forbearance and desire to preserve +peace with Mexico that the wrongs of which we then complained, and which +gave rise to these solemn proceedings, not only remain unredressed to +this day, but additional causes of complaint of an aggravated character +have ever since been accumulating. Shortly after these proceedings a +special messenger was dispatched to Mexico to make a final demand for +redress, and on the 20th of July, 1837, the demand was made. The reply +of the Mexican Government bears date on the 29th of the same month, and +contains assurances of the "anxious wish" of the Mexican Government "not +to delay the moment of that final and equitable adjustment which is to +terminate the existing difficulties between the two Governments;" that +"nothing should be left undone which may contribute to the most speedy +and equitable determination of the subjects which have so seriously +engaged the attention of the American Government;" that the "Mexican +Government would adopt as the only guides for its conduct the plainest +principles of public right, the sacred obligations imposed by +international law, and the religious faith of treaties," and that +"whatever reason and justice may dictate respecting each case will be +done." The assurance was further given that the decision of the Mexican +Government upon each cause of complaint for which redress had been +demanded should be communicated to the Government of the United States +by the Mexican minister at Washington. + +These solemn assurances in answer to our demand for redress were +disregarded. By making them, however, Mexico obtained further delay. +President Van Buren, in his annual message to Congress of the 5th of +December, 1837, states that "although the larger number" of our demands +for redress, "and many of them aggravated cases of personal wrongs, have +been now for years before the Mexican Government, and some of the causes +of national complaint, and those of the most offensive character, +admitted of immediate, simple, and satisfactory replies, it is only +within a few days past that any specific communication in answer to our +last demand, made five months ago, has been received from the Mexican +minister;" and that "for not one of our public complaints has +satisfaction been given or offered, that but one of the cases of +personal wrong has been favorably considered, and that but four cases of +both descriptions out of all those formally presented and earnestly +pressed have as yet been decided upon by the Mexican Government." +President Van Buren, believing that it would be vain to make any further +attempt to obtain redress by the ordinary means within the power of the +Executive, communicated this opinion to Congress in the message referred +to, in which he said: + + On a careful and deliberate examination of their contents [of the + correspondence with the Mexican Government], and considering the spirit + manifested by the Mexican Government, it has become my painful duty to + return the subject as it now stands to Congress, to whom it belongs to + decide upon the time, the mode, and the measure of redress. + + +Had the United States at that time adopted compulsory measures and taken +redress into their own hands, all our difficulties with Mexico would +probably have been long since adjusted and the existing war have been +averted. Magnanimity and moderation on our part only had the effect to +complicate these difficulties and render an amicable settlement of them +the more embarrassing. That such measures of redress under similar +provocations committed by any of the powerful nations of Europe would +have been promptly resorted to by the United States can not be doubted. +The national honor and the preservation of the national character +throughout the world, as well as our own self-respect and the protection +due to our own citizens, would have rendered such a resort +indispensable. The history of no civilized nation in modern times has +presented within so brief a period so many wanton attacks upon the honor +of its flag and upon the property and persons of its citizens as had at +that time been borne by the United States from the Mexican authorities +and people. But Mexico was a sister republic on the North American +continent, occupying a territory contiguous to our own, and was in a +feeble and distracted condition, and these considerations, it is +presumed, induced Congress to forbear still longer. + +Instead of taking redress into our own hands, a new negotiation was +entered upon with fair promises on the part of Mexico, but with the +real purpose, as the event has proved, of indefinitely postponing +the reparation which we demanded, and which was so justly due. This +negotiation, after more than a year's delay, resulted in the convention +of the 11th of April, 1839, "for the adjustment of claims of citizens +of the United States of America upon the Government of the Mexican +Republic." The joint board of commissioners created by this convention +to examine and decide upon these claims was not organized until the +month of August, 1840, and under the terms of the convention they were +to terminate their duties within eighteen months from that time. Four +of the eighteen months were consumed in preliminary discussions on +frivolous and dilatory points raised by the Mexican commissioners, and +it was not until the month of December, 1840, that they commenced the +examination of the claims of our citizens upon Mexico. Fourteen months +only remained to examine and decide upon these numerous and complicated +cases. In the month of February, 1842, the term of the commission +expired, leaving many claims undisposed of for want of time. The claims +which were allowed by the board and by the umpire authorized by the +convention to decide in case of disagreement between the Mexican and +American commissioners amounted to $2,026,139.68. There were pending +before the umpire when the commission expired additional claims, which +had been examined and awarded by the American commissioners and had not +been allowed by the Mexican commissioners, amounting to $928,627.88, +upon which he did not decide, alleging that his authority had ceased +with the termination of the joint commission. Besides these claims, +there were others of American citizens amounting to $3,336,837.05, which +had been submitted to the board, and upon which they had not time to +decide before their final adjournment. + +The sum of $2,026,139.68, which had been awarded to the claimants, was a +liquidated and ascertained debt due by Mexico, about which there could +be no dispute, and which she was bound to pay according to the terms of +the convention. Soon after the final awards for this amount had been +made the Mexican Government asked for a postponement of the time of +making payment, alleging that it would be inconvenient to make the +payment at the time stipulated. In the spirit of forbearing kindness +toward a sister republic, which Mexico has so long abused, the United +States promptly complied with her request. A second convention was +accordingly concluded between the two Governments on the 30th of +January, 1843, which upon its face declares that "this new arrangement +is entered into for the accommodation of Mexico." By the terms of this +convention all the interest due on the awards which had been made in +favor of the claimants under the convention of the 11th of April, 1839, +was to be paid to them on the 30th of April, 1843, and "the principal of +the said awards and the interest accruing thereon" was stipulated to +"be paid in five years, in equal installments every three months." +Notwithstanding this new convention was entered into at the request of +Mexico and for the purpose of relieving her from embarrassment, the +claimants have only received the interest due on the 30th of April, +1843, and three of the twenty installments. Although the payment of the +sum thus liquidated and confessedly due by Mexico to our citizens as +indemnity for acknowledged acts of outrage and wrong was secured by +treaty, the obligations of which are ever held sacred by all just +nations, yet Mexico has violated this solemn engagement by failing and +refusing to make the payment. The two installments due in April and +July, 1844, under the peculiar circumstances connected with them, have +been assumed by the United States and discharged to the claimants, but +they are still due by Mexico. But this is not all of which we have just +cause of complaint. To provide a remedy for the claimants whose cases +were not decided by the joint commission under the convention of April +11, 1839, it was expressly stipulated by the sixth article of the +convention of the 30th of January, 1843, that-- + + A new convention shall be entered into for the settlement of all claims + of the Government and citizens of the United States against the Republic + of Mexico which were not finally decided by the late commission which + met in the city of Washington, and of all claims of the Government and + citizens of Mexico against the United States. + + +In conformity with this stipulation, a third convention was concluded +and signed at the city of Mexico on the 20th of November, 1843, by the +plenipotentiaries of the two Governments, by which provision was made +for ascertaining and paying these claims. In January, 1844, this +convention was ratified by the Senate of the United States with two +amendments, which were manifestly reasonable in their character. Upon a +reference of the amendments proposed to the Government of Mexico, the +same evasions, difficulties, and delays were interposed which have so +long marked the policy of that Government toward the United States. It +has not even yet decided whether it would or would not accede to them, +although the subject has been repeatedly pressed upon its consideration. +Mexico has thus violated a second time the faith of treaties by failing +or refusing to carry into effect the sixth article of the convention of +January, 1843. + +Such is the history of the wrongs which we have suffered and patiently +endured from Mexico through a long series of years. So far from +affording reasonable satisfaction for the injuries and insults we had +borne, a great aggravation of them consists in the fact that while the +United States, anxious to preserve a good understanding with Mexico, +have been constantly but vainly employed in seeking redress for past +wrongs, new outrages were constantly occurring, which have continued to +increase our causes of complaint and to swell the amount of our demands. +While the citizens of the United States were conducting a lawful +commerce with Mexico under the guaranty of a treaty of "amity, commerce, +and navigation," many of them have suffered all the injuries which would +have resulted from open war. This treaty, instead of affording +protection to our citizens, has been the means of inviting them into the +ports of Mexico that they might be, as they have been in numerous +instances, plundered of their property and deprived of their personal +liberty if they dared insist on their rights. Had the unlawful seizures +of American property and the violation of the personal liberty of our +citizens, to say nothing of the insults to our flag, which have occurred +in the ports of Mexico taken place on the high seas, they would +themselves long since have constituted a state of actual war between the +two countries. In so long suffering Mexico to violate her most solemn +treaty obligations, plunder our citizens of their property, and imprison +their persons without affording them any redress we have failed to +perform one of the first and highest duties which every government owes +to its citizens, and the consequence has been that many of them have +been reduced from a state of affluence to bankruptcy. The proud name of +American citizen, which ought to protect all who bear it from insult and +injury throughout the world, has afforded no such protection to our +citizens in Mexico. We had ample cause of war against Mexico long before +the breaking out of hostilities; but even then we forbore to take +redress into our own hands until Mexico herself became the aggressor by +invading our soil in hostile array and shedding the blood of our +citizens. + +Such are the grave causes of complaint on the part of the United States +against Mexico--causes which existed long before the annexation of Texas +to the American Union; and yet, animated by the love of peace and a +magnanimous moderation, we did not adopt those measures of redress which +under such circumstances are the justified resort of injured nations. + +The annexation of Texas to the United States constituted no just cause +of offense to Mexico. The pretext that it did so is wholly inconsistent +and irreconcilable with well-authenticated facts connected with the +revolution by which Texas became independent of Mexico. That this may be +the more manifest, it may be proper to advert to the causes and to the +history of the principal events of that revolution. + +Texas constituted a portion of the ancient Province of Louisiana, ceded +to the United States by France in the year 1803. In the year 1819 the +United States, by the Florida treaty, ceded to Spain all that part of +Louisiana within the present limits of Texas, and Mexico, by the +revolution which separated her from Spain and rendered her an +independent nation, succeeded to the rights of the mother country over +this territory. In the year 1824 Mexico established a federal +constitution, under which the Mexican Republic was composed of a number +of sovereign States confederated together in a federal union similar to +our own. Each of these States had its own executive, legislature, and +judiciary, and for all except federal purposes was as independent of the +General Government and that of the other States as is Pennsylvania or +Virginia under our Constitution. Texas and Coahuila united and formed +one of these Mexican States. The State constitution which they adopted, +and which was approved by the Mexican Confederacy, asserted that they +were "free and independent of the other Mexican United States and of +every other power and dominion whatsoever," and proclaimed the great +principle of human liberty that "the sovereignty of the state resides +originally and essentially in the general mass of the individuals who +compose it." To the Government under this constitution, as well as to +that under the federal constitution, the people of Texas owed +allegiance. + +Emigrants from foreign countries, including the United States, were +invited by the colonization laws of the State and of the Federal +Government to settle in Texas. Advantageous terms were offered to induce +them to leave their own country and become Mexican citizens. This +invitation was accepted by many of our citizens in the full faith that +in their new home they would be governed by laws enacted by +representatives elected by themselves, and that their lives, liberty, +and property would be protected by constitutional guaranties similar to +those which existed in the Republic they had left. Under a Government +thus organized they continued until the year 1835, when a military +revolution broke out in the City of Mexico which entirely subverted the +federal and State constitutions and placed a military dictator at the +head of the Government. By a sweeping decree of a Congress subservient +to the will of the Dictator the several State constitutions were +abolished and the States themselves converted into mere departments of +the central Government. The people of Texas were unwilling to submit to +this usurpation. Resistance to such tyranny became a high duty. Texas +was fully absolved from all allegiance to the central Government of +Mexico from the moment that Government had abolished her State +constitution and in its place substituted an arbitrary and despotic +central government. Such were the principal causes of the Texan +revolution. The people of Texas at once determined upon resistance and +flew to arms. In the midst of these important and exciting events, +however, they did not omit to place their liberties upon a secure and +permanent foundation. They elected members to a convention, who in the +month of March, 1836, issued a formal declaration that their "political +connection with the Mexican nation has forever ended, and that the +people of Texas do now constitute a _free, sovereign, and independent +Republic_, and are fully invested with all the rights and attributes +which properly belong to independent nations." They also adopted for +their government a liberal republican constitution. About the same time +Santa Anna, then the Dictator of Mexico, invaded Texas with a numerous +army for the purpose of subduing her people and enforcing obedience to +his arbitrary and despotic Government. On the 21st of April, 1836, he +was met by the Texan citizen soldiers, and on that day was achieved by +them the memorable victory of San Jacinto, by which they conquered their +independence. Considering the numbers engaged on the respective sides, +history does not record a more brilliant achievement. Santa Anna himself +was among the captives. + +In the month of May, 1836, Santa Anna acknowledged by a treaty with the +Texan authorities in the most solemn form "the full, entire, and perfect +independence of the Republic of Texas." It is true he was then a +prisoner of war, but it is equally true that he had failed to reconquer +Texas, and had met with signal defeat; that his authority had not been +revoked, and that by virtue of this treaty he obtained his personal +release. By it hostilities were suspended, and the army which had +invaded Texas under his command returned in pursuance of this +arrangement unmolested to Mexico. + +From the day that the battle of San Jacinto was fought until the present +hour Mexico has never possessed the power to reconquer Texas. In the +language of the Secretary of State of the United States in a dispatch to +our minister in Mexico under date of the 8th of July, 1842-- + + Mexico may have chosen to consider, and may still choose to consider, + Texas as having been at all times since 1835, and as still continuing, + a rebellious province; but the world has been obliged to take a very + different view of the matter. From the time of the battle of San + Jacinto, in April, 1836, to the present moment, Texas has exhibited the + same external signs of national independence as Mexico herself, and with + quite as much stability of government. Practically free and independent, + acknowledged as a political sovereignty by the principal powers of the + world, no hostile foot finding rest within her territory for six or + seven years, and Mexico herself refraining for all that period from any + further attempt to reestablish her own authority over that territory, + it can not but be surprising to find Mr. De Bocanegra [the secretary + of foreign affairs of Mexico] complaining that for that whole period + citizens of the United States or its Government have been favoring the + rebels of Texas and supplying them with vessels, ammunition, and money, + as if the war for the reduction of the Province of Texas had been + constantly prosecuted by Mexico, and her success prevented by these + influences from abroad. + + +In the same dispatch the Secretary of State affirms that-- + + Since 1837 the United States have regarded Texas as an independent + sovereignty as much as Mexico, and that trade and commerce with citizens + of a government at war with Mexico can not on that account be regarded + as an intercourse by which assistance and succor are given to Mexican + rebels. The whole current of Mr. De Bocanegra's remarks runs in the same + direction, as if the independence of Texas had not been acknowledged. + It has been acknowledged; it was acknowledged in 1837 against the + remonstrance and protest of Mexico, and most of the acts of any + importance of which Mr. De Bocanegra complains flow necessarily from + that recognition. He speaks of Texas as still being "an integral part of + the territory of the Mexican Republic," but he can not but understand + that the United States do not so regard it. The real complaint of + Mexico, therefore, is in substance neither more nor less than a + complaint against the recognition of Texan independence. It may be + thought rather late to repeat that complaint, and not quite just to + confine it to the United States to the exemption of England, France, and + Belgium, unless the United States, having been the first to acknowledge + the independence of Mexico herself, are to be blamed for setting an + example for the recognition of that of Texas. + + +And he added that-- + + The Constitution, public treaties, and the laws oblige the President to + regard Texas as an independent state, and its territory as no part of + the territory of Mexico. + + +Texas had been an independent state, with an organized government, +defying the power of Mexico to overthrow or reconquer her, for more than +ten years before Mexico commenced the present war against the United +States. Texas had given such evidence to the world of her ability to +maintain her separate existence as an independent nation that she had +been formally recognized as such not only by the United States, but by +several of the principal powers of Europe. These powers had entered into +treaties of amity, commerce, and navigation with her. They had received +and accredited her ministers and other diplomatic agents at their +respective courts, and they had commissioned ministers and diplomatic +agents on their part to the Government of Texas. If Mexico, +notwithstanding all this and her utter inability to subdue or reconquer +Texas, still stubbornly refused to recognize her as an independent +nation, she was none the less so on that account. Mexico herself had +been recognized as an independent nation by the United States and by +other powers many years before Spain, of which before her revolution she +had been a colony, would agree to recognize her as such; and yet Mexico +was at that time in the estimation of the civilized world, and in fact, +none the less an independent power because Spain still claimed her as a +colony. If Spain had continued until the present period to assert that +Mexico was one of her colonies in rebellion against her, this would not +have made her so or changed the fact of her independent existence. Texas +at the period of her annexation to the United States bore the same +relation to Mexico that Mexico had borne to Spain for many years before +Spain acknowledged her independence, with this important difference, +that before the annexation of Texas to the United States was consummated +Mexico herself, by a formal act of her Government, had acknowledged the +independence of Texas as a nation. It is true that in the act of +recognition she prescribed a condition which she had no power or +authority to impose--that Texas should not annex herself to any other +power--but this could not detract in any degree from the recognition +which Mexico then made of her actual independence. Upon this plain +statement of facts, it is absurd for Mexico to allege as a pretext for +commencing hostilities against the United States that Texas is still a +part of her territory. + +But there are those who, conceding all this to be true, assume the +ground that the true western boundary of Texas is the Nueces instead of +the Rio Grande, and that therefore in marching our Army to the east bank +of the latter river we passed the Texan line and invaded the territory +of Mexico. A simple statement of facts known to exist will conclusively +refute such an assumption. Texas, as ceded to the United States by +France in 1803, has been always claimed as extending west to the Rio +Grande or Rio Bravo. This fact is established by the authority of our +most eminent statesmen at a period when the question was as well, if not +better, understood than it is at present. During Mr. Jefferson's +Administration Messrs. Monroe and Pinckney, who had been sent on a +special mission to Madrid, charged among other things with the +adjustment of boundary between the two countries, in a note addressed to +the Spanish minister of foreign affairs under date of the 28th of +January, 1805, assert that the boundaries of Louisiana, as ceded to the +United States by France, "are the river Perdido on the east and the +river Bravo on the west," and they add that "the facts and principles +which justify this conclusion are so satisfactory to our Government as +to convince it that the United States have not a better right to the +island of New Orleans under the cession referred to than they have to +the whole district of territory which is above described." Down to the +conclusion of the Florida treaty, in February, 1819, by which this +territory was ceded to Spain, the United States asserted and maintained +their territorial rights to this extent. In the month of June, 1818, +during Mr. Monroe's Administration, information having been received +that a number of foreign adventurers had landed at Galveston with the +avowed purpose of forming a settlement in that vicinity, a special +messenger was dispatched by the Government of the United States with +instructions from the Secretary of State to warn them to desist, should +they be found there, "or any other place north of the Rio Bravo, and +within the territory claimed by the United States." He was instructed, +should they be found in the country north of that river, to make known +to them "the surprise with which the President has seen possession thus +taken, without authority from the United States, of a place within their +territorial limits, and upon which no lawful settlement can be made +without their sanction." He was instructed to call upon them to "avow +under what national authority they profess to act," and to give them due +warning "that the place is within the United States, who will suffer no +permanent settlement to be made there under any authority other than +their own." As late as the 8th of July, 1842, the Secretary of State of +the United States, in a note addressed to our minister in Mexico, +maintains that by the Florida treaty of 1819 the territory as far west +as the Rio Grande was confirmed to Spain. In that note he states that-- + + By the treaty of the 22d of February, 1819, between the United States + and Spain, the Sabine was adopted as the line of boundary between the + two powers. Up to that period no considerable colonization had been + effected in Texas; but the territory between the Sabine and the Rio + Grande being confirmed to Spain by the treaty, applications were made + to that power for grants of land, and such grants or permissions of + settlement were in fact made by the Spanish authorities in favor of + citizens of the United States proposing to emigrate to _Texas_ in + numerous families before the declaration of independence by Mexico. + + +The Texas which was ceded to Spain by the Florida treaty of 1819 +embraced all the country now claimed by the State of Texas between the +Nueces and the Rio Grande. The Republic of Texas always claimed this +river as her western boundary, and in her treaty made with Santa Anna in +May, 1836, he recognized it as such. By the constitution which Texas +adopted in March, 1836, senatorial and representative districts were +organized extending west of the Nueces. The Congress of Texas on the +19th of December, 1836, passed "An act to define the boundaries of the +Republic of Texas," in which they declared the Rio Grande from its mouth +to its source to be their boundary, and by the said act they extended +their "civil and political jurisdiction" over the country up to that +boundary. During a period of more than nine years which intervened +between the adoption of her constitution and her annexation as one of +the States of our Union Texas asserted and exercised many acts of +sovereignty and jurisdiction over the territory and inhabitants west of +the Nueces. She organized and defined the limits of counties extending +to the Rio Grande; she established courts of justice and extended her +judicial system over the territory; she established a custom-house and +collected duties, and also post-offices and post-roads, in it; she +established a land office and issued numerous grants for land within its +limits; a senator and a representative residing in it were elected to +the Congress of the Republic and served as such before the act of +annexation took place. In both the Congress and convention of Texas +which gave their assent to the terms of annexation to the United States +proposed by our Congress were representatives residing west of the +Nueces, who took part in the act of annexation itself. This was the +Texas which by the act of our Congress of the 29th of December, 1845, +was admitted as one of the States of our Union. That the Congress of the +United States understood the State of Texas which they admitted into the +Union to extend beyond the Nueces is apparent from the fact that on the +31st of December, 1845, only two days after the act of admission, they +passed a law "to establish a collection district in the State of Texas," +by which they created a port of delivery at Corpus Christi, situated +west of the Nueces, and being the same point at which the Texas +custom-house under the laws of that Republic had been located, and +directed that a surveyor to collect the revenue should be appointed for +that port by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the +Senate. A surveyor was accordingly nominated, and confirmed by the +Senate, and has been ever since in the performance of his duties. All +these acts of the Republic of Texas and of our Congress preceded the +orders for the advance of our Army to the east bank of the Rio Grande. +Subsequently Congress passed an act "establishing certain post routes" +extending west of the Nueces. The country west of that river now +constitutes a part of one of the Congressional districts of Texas and is +represented in the House of Representatives. The Senators from that +State were chosen by a legislature in which the country west of that +river was represented. In view of all these facts it is difficult to +conceive upon what ground it can be maintained that in occupying the +country west of the Nueces with our Army, with a view solely to its +security and defense, we invaded the territory of Mexico. But it would +have been still more difficult to justify the Executive, whose duty it +is to see that the laws be faithfully executed, if in the face of all +these proceedings, both of the Congress of Texas and of the United +States, he had assumed the responsibility of yielding up the territory +west of the Nueces to Mexico or of refusing to protect and defend this +territory and its inhabitants, including Corpus Christi as well as the +remainder of Texas, against the threatened Mexican invasion. + +But Mexico herself has never placed the war which she has waged upon the +ground that our Army occupied the intermediate territory between the +Nueces and the Rio Grande. Her refuted pretension that Texas was not in +fact an independent state, but a rebellious province, was obstinately +persevered in, and her avowed purpose in commencing a war with the +United States was to reconquer Texas and to restore Mexican authority +over the whole territory--not to the Nueces only, but to the Sabine. In +view of the proclaimed menaces of Mexico to this effect, I deemed it my +duty, as a measure of precaution and defense, to order our Army to +occupy a position on our frontier as a military post, from which our +troops could best resist and repel any attempted invasion which Mexico +might make. Our Army had occupied a position at Corpus Christi, west of +the Nueces, as early as August, 1845, without complaint from any +quarter. Had the Nueces been regarded as the true western boundary of +Texas, that boundary had been passed by our Army many months before it +advanced to the eastern bank of the Rio Grande. In my annual message of +December last I informed Congress that upon the invitation of both the +Congress and convention of Texas I had deemed it proper to order a +strong squadron to the coasts of Mexico and to concentrate an efficient +military force on the western frontier of Texas to protect and defend +the inhabitants against the menaced invasion of Mexico. In that message +I informed Congress that the moment the terms of annexation offered by +the United States were accepted by Texas the latter became so far a part +of our own country as to make it our duty to afford such protection and +defense, and that for that purpose our squadron had been ordered to the +Gulf and our Army to take a "position between the Nueces and the Del +Norte" or Rio Grande and to "repel any invasion of the Texan territory +which might be attempted by the Mexican forces." + +It was deemed proper to issue this order, because soon after the +President of Texas, in April, 1845, had issued his proclamation +convening the Congress of that Republic for the purpose of submitting to +that body the terms of annexation proposed by the United States the +Government of Mexico made serious threats of invading the Texan +territory. These threats became more imposing as it became more apparent +in the progress of the question that the people of Texas would decide in +favor of accepting the terms of annexation, and finally they had assumed +such a formidable character as induced both the Congress and convention +of Texas to request that a military force should be sent by the United +States into her territory for the purpose of protecting and defending +her against the threatened invasion. It would have been a violation of +good faith toward the people of Texas to have refused to afford the aid +which they desired against a threatened invasion to which they had been +exposed by their free determination to annex themselves to our Union in +compliance with the overture made to them by the joint resolution of our +Congress. Accordingly, a portion of the Army was ordered to advance into +Texas. Corpus Christi was the position selected by General Taylor. He +encamped at that place in August, 1845, and the Army remained in that +position until the 11th of March, 1846, when it moved westward, and on +the 28th of that month reached the east bank of the Rio Grande opposite +to Matamoras. This movement was made in pursuance of orders from the War +Department, issued on the 13th of January, 1846. Before these orders +were issued the dispatch of our minister in Mexico transmitting the +decision of the council of government of Mexico advising that he should +not be received, and also the dispatch of our consul residing in the +City of Mexico, the former bearing date on the 17th and the latter on +the 18th of December, 1845, copies of both of which accompanied my +message to Congress of the 11th of May last, were received at the +Department of State. These communications rendered it highly probable, +if not absolutely certain, that our minister would not be received by +the Government of General Herrera. It was also well known that but +little hope could be entertained of a different result from General +Paredes in case the revolutionary movement which he was prosecuting +should prove successful, as was highly probable. The partisans of +Paredes, as our minister in the dispatch referred to states, breathed +the fiercest hostility against the United States, denounced the proposed +negotiation as treason, and openly called upon the troops and the people +to put down the Government of Herrera by force. The reconquest of Texas +and war with the United States were openly threatened. These were the +circumstances existing when it was deemed proper to order the Army under +the command of General Taylor to advance to the western frontier of +Texas and occupy a position on or near the Rio Grande. + +The apprehensions of a contemplated Mexican invasion have been since +fully justified by the event. The determination of Mexico to rush into +hostilities with the United States was afterwards manifested from the +whole tenor of the note of the Mexican minister of foreign affairs to +our minister bearing date on the 12th of March, 1846. Paredes had then +revolutionized the Government, and his minister, after referring to the +resolution for the annexation of Texas which had been adopted by our +Congress in March, 1845, proceeds to declare that-- + + A fact such as this, or, to speak with greater exactness, so notable an + act of usurpation, created an imperious necessity that Mexico, for her + own honor, should repel it with proper firmness and dignity. The supreme + Government had beforehand declared that it would look upon such an act + as a _casus belli_, and as a consequence of this declaration negotiation + was by its very nature at an end, and war was the only recourse of the + Mexican Government. + + +It appears also that on the 4th of April following General Paredes, +through his minister of war, issued orders to the Mexican general in +command on the Texan frontier to "attack" our Army "by every means which +war permits." To this General Paredes had been pledged to the army and +people of Mexico during the military revolution which had brought him +into power. On the 18th of April, 1846, General Paredes addressed a +letter to the commander on that frontier in which he stated to him: "At +the present date I suppose you, at the head of that valiant army, either +fighting already or preparing for the operations of a campaign;" and, +"Supposing you already on the theater of operations and with all the +forces assembled, it is indispensable that hostilities be commenced, +yourself taking the initiative against the enemy." + +The movement of our Army to the Rio Grande was made by the commanding +general under positive orders to abstain from all aggressive acts toward +Mexico or Mexican citizens, and to regard the relations between the two +countries as peaceful unless Mexico should declare war or commit acts of +hostility indicative of a state of war, and these orders he faithfully +executed. Whilst occupying his position on the east bank of the Rio +Grande, within the limits of Texas, then recently admitted as one of the +States of our Union, the commanding general of the Mexican forces, who, +in pursuance of the orders of his Government, had collected a large army +on the opposite shore of the Rio Grande, crossed the river, invaded our +territory, and commenced hostilities by attacking our forces. Thus, +after all the injuries which we had received and borne from Mexico, and +after she had insultingly rejected a minister sent to her on a mission +of peace, and whom she had solemnly agreed to receive, she consummated +her long course of outrage against our country by commencing an +offensive war and shedding the blood of our citizens on our own soil. + +The United States never attempted to acquire Texas by conquest. On the +contrary, at an early period after the people of Texas had achieved +their independence they sought to be annexed to the United States. At a +general election in September, 1836, they decided with great unanimity +in favor of "annexation," and in November following the Congress of the +Republic authorized the appointment of a minister to bear their request +to this Government. This Government, however, having remained neutral +between Texas and Mexico during the war between them, and considering it +due to the honor of our country and our fair fame among the nations of +the earth that we should not at this early period consent to annexation, +nor until it should be manifest to the whole world that the reconquest +of Texas by Mexico was impossible, refused to accede to the overtures +made by Texas. On the 12th of April, 1844, after more than seven years +had elapsed since Texas had established her independence, a treaty was +concluded for the annexation of that Republic to the United States, +which was rejected by the Senate. Finally, on the 1st of March, 1845, +Congress passed a joint resolution for annexing her to the United States +upon certain preliminary conditions to which her assent was required. +The solemnities which characterized the deliberations and conduct of the +Government and people of Texas on the deeply interesting questions +presented by these resolutions are known to the world. The Congress, the +Executive, and the people of Texas, in a convention elected for that +purpose, accepted with great unanimity the proposed terms of annexation, +and thus consummated on her part the great act of restoring to our +Federal Union a vast territory which had been ceded to Spain by the +Florida treaty more than a quarter of a century before. + +After the joint resolution for the annexation of Texas to the United +States had been passed by our Congress the Mexican minister at +Washington addressed a note to the Secretary of State, bearing date on +the 6th of March, 1845, protesting against it as "an act of aggression +the most unjust which can be found recorded in the annals of modern +history, namely, that of despoiling a friendly nation like Mexico of a +considerable portion of her territory," and protesting against the +resolution of annexation as being an act "whereby the Province of Texas, +an integral portion of the Mexican territory, is agreed and admitted +into the American Union;" and he announced that as a consequence his +mission to the United States had terminated, and demanded his passports, +which were granted. It was upon the absurd pretext, made by Mexico +(herself indebted for her independence to a successful revolution), that +the Republic of Texas still continued to be, notwithstanding all that +had passed, a Province of Mexico that this step was taken by the Mexican +minister. + +Every honorable effort has been used by me to avoid the war which +followed, but all have proved vain. All our attempts to preserve peace +have been met by insult and resistance on the part of Mexico. My efforts +to this end commenced in the note of the Secretary of State of the 10th +of March, 1845, in answer to that of the Mexican minister. Whilst +declining to reopen a discussion which had already been exhausted, and +proving again what was known to the whole world, that Texas had long +since achieved her independence, the Secretary of State expressed the +regret of this Government that Mexico should have taken offense at the +resolution of annexation passed by Congress, and gave assurance that our +"most strenuous efforts shall be devoted to the amicable adjustment of +every cause of complaint between the two Governments and to the +cultivation of the kindest and most friendly relations between the +sister Republics." That I have acted in the spirit of this assurance +will appear from the events which have since occurred. Notwithstanding +Mexico had abruptly terminated all diplomatic intercourse with the +United States, and ought, therefore, to have been the first to ask for +its resumption, yet, waiving all ceremony, I embraced the earliest +favorable opportunity "to ascertain from the Mexican Government whether +they would receive an envoy from the United States intrusted With full +power to adjust all the questions in dispute between the two +Governments." In September, 1845, I believed the propitious moment for +such an overture had arrived. Texas, by the enthusiastic and almost +unanimous will of her people, had pronounced in favor of annexation. +Mexico herself had agreed to acknowledge the independence of Texas, +subject to a condition, it is true, which she had no right to impose and +no power to enforce. The last lingering hope of Mexico, if she still +could have retained any, that Texas would ever again become one of her +Provinces, must have been abandoned. + +The consul of the United States at the City of Mexico was therefore +instructed by the Secretary of State on the 15th of September, 1845, to +make the inquiry of the Mexican Government. The inquiry was made, and +on the 15th of October, 1845, the minister of foreign affairs of the +Mexican Government, in a note addressed to our consul, gave a favorable +response, requesting at the same time that our naval force might be +withdrawn from Vera Cruz while negotiations should be pending. Upon the +receipt of this note our naval force was promptly withdrawn from Vera +Cruz. A minister was immediately appointed, and departed to Mexico. +Everything bore a promising aspect for a speedy and peaceful adjustment +of all our difficulties. At the date of my annual message to Congress in +December last no doubt was entertained but that he would be received by +the Mexican Government, and the hope was cherished that all cause of +misunderstanding between the two countries would be speedily removed. +In the confident hope that such would be the result of his mission, +I informed Congress that I forbore at that time to "recommend such +ulterior measures of redress for the wrongs and injuries we had so long +borne as it would have been proper to make had no such negotiation been +instituted." To my surprise and regret the Mexican Government, though +solemnly pledged to do so, upon the arrival of our minister in Mexico +refused to receive and accredit him. When he reached Vera Cruz, on +the 30th of November, 1845, he found that the aspect of affairs had +undergone an unhappy change. The Government of General Herrera, who was +at that time President of the Republic, was tottering to its fall. +General Paredes, a military leader, had manifested his determination to +overthrow the Government of Herrera by a military revolution, and one of +the principal means which he employed to effect his purpose and render +the Government of Herrera odious to the army and people of Mexico was by +loudly condemning its determination to receive a minister of peace from +the United States, alleging that it was the intention of Herrera, by a +treaty with the United States, to dismember the territory of Mexico by +ceding away the department of Texas. The Government of Herrera is +believed to have been well disposed to a pacific adjustment of existing +difficulties, but probably alarmed for its own security, and in order +to ward off the danger of the revolution led by Paredes, violated its +solemn agreement and refused to receive or accredit our minister; and +this although informed that he had been invested with full power to +adjust all questions in dispute between the two Governments. Among the +frivolous pretexts for this refusal, the principal one was that our +minister had not gone upon a special mission confined to the question of +Texas alone, leaving all the outrages upon our flag and our citizens +unredressed. The Mexican Government well knew that both our national +honor and the protection due to our citizens imperatively required that +the two questions of boundary and indemnity should be treated of +together, as naturally and inseparably blended, and they ought to have +seen that this course was best calculated to enable the United States to +extend to them the most liberal justice. On the 30th of December, 1845, +General Herrera resigned the Presidency and yielded up the Government to +General Paredes without a struggle. Thus a revolution was accomplished +solely by the army commanded by Paredes, and the supreme power in Mexico +passed into the hands of a military usurper who was known to be bitterly +hostile to the United States. + +Although the prospect of a pacific adjustment with the new Government +was unpromising from the known hostility of its head to the United +States, yet, determined that nothing should be left undone on our part +to restore friendly relations between the two countries, our minister +was instructed to present his credentials to the new Government and ask +to be accredited by it in the diplomatic character in which he had been +commissioned. These instructions he executed by his note of the 1st of +March, 1846, addressed to the Mexican minister of foreign affairs, but +his request was insultingly refused by that minister in his answer of +the 12th of the same month. No alternative remained for our minister but +to demand his passports and return to the United States. + +Thus was the extraordinary spectacle presented to the civilized world of +a Government, in violation of its own express agreement, having twice +rejected a minister of peace invested with full powers to adjust all +the existing differences between the two countries in a manner just +and honorable to both. I am not aware that modern history presents a +parallel case in which in time of peace one nation has refused even to +hear propositions from another for terminating existing difficulties +between them. Scarcely a hope of adjusting our difficulties, even at a +remote day, or of preserving peace with Mexico, could be cherished while +Paredes remained at the head of the Government. He had acquired the +supreme power by a military revolution and upon the most solemn pledges +to wage war against the United States and to reconquer Texas, which he +claimed as a revolted province of Mexico. He had denounced as guilty +of treason all those Mexicans who considered Texas as no longer +constituting a part of the territory of Mexico and who were friendly to +the cause of peace. The duration of the war which he waged against the +United States was indefinite, because the end which he proposed of the +reconquest of Texas was hopeless. Besides, there was good reason to +believe from all his conduct that it was his intention to convert the +Republic of Mexico into a monarchy and to call a foreign European prince +to the throne. Preparatory to this end, he had during his short rule +destroyed the liberty of the press, tolerating that portion of it only +which openly advocated the establishment of a monarchy. The better to +secure the success of his ultimate designs, he had by an arbitrary +decree convoked a Congress, not to be elected by the free voice of the +people, but to be chosen in a manner to make them subservient to his +will and to give him absolute control over their deliberations. + +Under all these circumstances it was believed that any revolution in +Mexico founded upon opposition to the ambitious projects of Paredes +would tend to promote the cause of peace as well as prevent any +attempted European interference in the affairs of the North American +continent, both objects of deep interest to the United States. Any such +foreign interference, if attempted, must have been resisted by the +United States. My views upon that subject were fully communicated to +Congress in my last annual message. In any event, it was certain that no +change whatever in the Government of Mexico which would deprive Paredes +of power could be for the worse so far as the United States were +concerned, while it was highly probable that any change must be for the +better. This was the state of affairs existing when Congress, on the +13th of May last, recognized the existence of the war which had been +commenced by the Government of Paredes; and it became an object of much +importance, with a view to a speedy settlement of our difficulties and +the restoration of an honorable peace, that Paredes should not retain +power in Mexico. + +Before that time there were symptoms of a revolution in Mexico, favored, +as it was understood to be, by the more liberal party, and especially by +those who were opposed to foreign interference and to the monarchical +form of government. Santa Anna was then in exile in Havana, having been +expelled from power and banished from his country by a revolution which +occurred in December, 1844; but it was known that he had still a +considerable party in his favor in Mexico. It was also equally well +known that no vigilance which could be exerted by our squadron would in +all probability have prevented him from effecting a landing somewhere +on the extensive Gulf coast of Mexico if he desired to return to his +country. He had openly professed an entire change of policy, had +expressed his regret that he had subverted the federal constitution of +1824, and avowed that he was now in favor of its restoration. He had +publicly declared his hostility, in strongest terms, to the +establishment of a monarchy and to European interference in the affairs +of his country. Information to this effect had been received, from +sources believed to be reliable, at the date of the recognition of the +existence of the war by Congress, and was afterwards fully confirmed by +the receipt of the dispatch of our consul in the City of Mexico, with +the accompanying documents, which are herewith transmitted. Besides, it +was reasonable to suppose that he must see the ruinous consequences to +Mexico of a war with the United States, and that it would be his +interest to favor peace. + +It was under these circumstances and upon these considerations that it +was deemed expedient not to obstruct his return to Mexico should he +attempt to do so. Our object was the restoration of peace, and, with +that view, no reason was perceived why we should take part with Paredes +and aid him by means of our blockade in preventing the return of his +rival to Mexico. On the contrary, it was believed that the intestine +divisions which ordinary sagacity could not but anticipate as the fruit +of Santa Anna's return to Mexico, and his contest with Paredes, might +strongly tend to produce a disposition with both parties to restore and +preserve peace with the United States. Paredes was a soldier by +profession and a monarchist in principle. He had but recently before +been successful in a military revolution, by which he had obtained +power. He was the sworn enemy of the United States, with which he had +involved his country in the existing war. Santa Anna had been expelled +from power by the army, was known to be in open hostility to Paredes, +and publicly pledged against foreign intervention and the restoration of +monarchy in Mexico. In view of these facts and circumstances it was that +when orders were issued to the commander of our naval forces in the +Gulf, on the 13th day of May last, the same day on which the existence +of the war was recognized by Congress, to place the coasts of Mexico +under blockade, he was directed not to obstruct the passage of Santa +Anna to Mexico should he attempt to return. + +A revolution took place in Mexico in the early part of August following, +by which the power of Paredes was overthrown, and he has since been +banished from the country, and is now in exile. Shortly afterwards Santa +Anna returned. It remains to be seen whether his return may not yet +prove to be favorable to a pacific adjustment of the existing +difficulties, it being manifestly his interest not to persevere in the +prosecution of a war commenced by Paredes to accomplish a purpose so +absurd as the reconquest of Texas to the Sabine. Had Paredes remained in +power, it is morally certain that any pacific adjustment would have been +hopeless. + +Upon the commencement of hostilities by Mexico against the United States +the indignant spirit of the nation was at once aroused. Congress +promptly responded to the expectations of the country, and by the act of +the 13th of May last recognized the fact that war existed, by the act of +Mexico, between the United States and that Republic, and granted the +means necessary for its vigorous prosecution. Being involved in a war +thus commenced by Mexico, and for the justice of which on our part we +may confidently appeal to the whole world, I resolved to prosecute it +with the utmost vigor. Accordingly the ports of Mexico on the Gulf and +on the Pacific have been placed under blockade and her territory invaded +at several important points. The reports from the Departments of War and +of the Navy will inform you more in detail of the measures adopted in +the emergency in which our country was placed and of the gratifying +results which have been accomplished. + +The various columns of the Army have performed their duty under great +disadvantages with the most distinguished skill and courage. The +victories of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma and of Monterey, won +against greatly superior numbers and against most decided advantages in +other respects on the part of the enemy, were brilliant in their +execution, and entitle our brave officers and soldiers to the grateful +thanks of their country. The nation deplores the loss of the brave +officers and men who have gallantly fallen while vindicating and +defending their country's rights and honor. + +It is a subject of pride and satisfaction that our volunteer citizen +soldiers, who so promptly responded to their country's call, with an +experience of the discipline of a camp of only a few weeks, have borne +their part in the hard-fought battle of Monterey with a constancy and +courage equal to that of veteran troops and worthy of the highest +admiration. The privations of long marches through the enemy's country +and through a wilderness have been borne without a murmur. By rapid +movements the Province of New Mexico, with Santa Fe, its capital, has +been captured without bloodshed. The Navy has cooperated with the Army +and rendered important services; if not so brilliant, it is because the +enemy had no force to meet them on their own element and because of the +defenses which nature has interposed in the difficulties of the +navigation on the Mexican coast. Our squadron in the Pacific, with the +cooperation of a gallant officer of the Army and a small force hastily +collected in that distant country, has acquired bloodless possession of +the Californias, and the American flag has been raised at every +important point in that Province. + +I congratulate you on the success which has thus attended our military +and naval operations. In less than seven months after Mexico commenced +hostilities, at a time selected by herself, we have taken possession of +many of her principal ports, driven back and pursued her invading army, +and acquired military possession of the Mexican Provinces of New Mexico, +New Leon, Coahuila, Tamaulipas, and the Californias, a territory larger +in extent than that embraced in the original thirteen States of the +Union, inhabited by a considerable population, and much of it more than +1,000 miles from the points at which we had to collect our forces and +commence our movements. By the blockade the import and export trade of +the enemy has been cut off. Well may the American people be proud of the +energy and gallantry of our regular and volunteer officers and soldiers. +The events of these few months afford a gratifying proof that our +country can under any emergency confidently rely for the maintenance of +her honor and the defense of her rights on an effective force, ready at +all times voluntarily to relinquish the comforts of home for the perils +and privations of the camp. And though such a force may be for the time +expensive, it is in the end economical, as the ability to command it +removes the necessity of employing a large standing army in time of +peace, and proves that our people love their institutions and are ever +ready to defend and protect them. + +While the war was in a course of vigorous and successful prosecution, +being still anxious to arrest its evils, and considering that after the +brilliant victories of our arms on the 8th and 9th of May last the +national honor could not be compromitted by it, another overture was +made to Mexico, by my direction, on the 27th of July last to terminate +hostilities by a peace just and honorable to both countries. On the 31st +of August following the Mexican Government declined to accept this +friendly overture, but referred it to the decision of a Mexican Congress +to be assembled in the early part of the present month. I communicate to +you herewith a copy of the letter of the Secretary of State proposing to +reopen negotiations, of the answer of the Mexican Government, and of the +reply thereto of the Secretary of State. + +The war will continue to be prosecuted with vigor as the best means of +securing peace. It is hoped that the decision of the Mexican Congress, +to which our last overture has been referred, may result in a speedy and +honorable peace. With our experience, however, of the unreasonable +course of the Mexican authorities, it is the part of wisdom not to relax +in the energy of our military operations until the result is made known. +In this view it is deemed important to hold military possession of all +the Provinces which have been taken until a definitive treaty of peace +shall have been concluded and ratified by the two countries. + +The war has not been waged with a view to conquest, but, having been +commenced by Mexico, it has been carried into the enemy's country and +will be vigorously prosecuted there with a view to obtain an honorable +peace, and thereby secure ample indemnity for the expenses of the war, +as well as to our much-injured citizens, who hold large pecuniary +demands against Mexico. + +By the laws of nations a conquered country is subject to be governed by +the conqueror during his military possession and until there is either a +treaty of peace or he shall voluntarily withdraw from it. The old civil +government being necessarily superseded, it is the right and duty of the +conqueror to secure his conquest and to provide for the maintenance of +civil order and the rights of the inhabitants. This right has been +exercised and this duty performed by our military and naval commanders +by the establishment of temporary governments in some of the conquered +Provinces of Mexico, assimilating them as far as practicable to the free +institutions of our own country. In the Provinces of New Mexico and of +the Californias little, if any, further resistance is apprehended from +the inhabitants to the temporary governments which have thus, from the +necessity of the case and according to the laws of war, been +established. It may be proper to provide for the security of these +important conquests by making an adequate appropriation for the purpose +of erecting fortifications and defraying the expenses necessarily +incident to the maintenance of our possession and authority over them. + +Near the close of your last session, for reasons communicated to +Congress, I deemed it important as a measure for securing a speedy peace +with Mexico, that a sum of money should be appropriated and placed in +the power of the Executive, similar to that which had been made upon two +former occasions during the Administration of President Jefferson. + +On the 26th of February, 1803, an appropriation of $2,000,000 was made +and placed at the disposal of the President. Its object is well known. +It was at that time in contemplation to acquire Louisiana from France, +and it was intended to be applied as a part of the consideration which +might be paid for that territory. On the 13th of February, 1806, the +same sum was in like manner appropriated, with a view to the purchase of +the Floridas from Spain. These appropriations were made to facilitate +negotiations and as a means to enable the President to accomplish the +important objects in view. Though it did not become necessary for the +President to use these appropriations, yet a state of things might have +arisen in which it would have been highly important for him to do so, +and the wisdom of making them can not be doubted. It is believed that +the measure recommended at your last session met with the approbation of +decided majorities in both Houses of Congress. Indeed, in different +forms, a bill making an appropriation of $2,000,000 passed each House, +and it is much to be regretted that it did not become a law. The reasons +which induced me to recommend the measure at that time still exist, and +I again submit the subject for your consideration and suggest the +importance of early action upon it. Should the appropriation be made and +be not needed, it will remain in the Treasury; should it be deemed +proper to apply it in whole or in part, it will be accounted for as +other public expenditures. + +Immediately after Congress had recognized the existence of the war with +Mexico my attention was directed to the danger that privateers might be +fitted out in the ports of Cuba and Porto Rico to prey upon the commerce +of the United States, and I invited the special attention of the Spanish +Government to the fourteenth article of our treaty with that power of +the 27th of October, 1795, under which the citizens and subjects of +either nation who shall take commissions or letters of marque to act as +privateers against the other "shall be punished as pirates." + +It affords me pleasure to inform you that I have received assurances +from the Spanish Government that this article of the treaty shall be +faithfully observed on its part. Orders for this purpose were +immediately transmitted from that Government to the authorities of Cuba +and Porto Rico to exert their utmost vigilance in preventing any +attempts to fit out privateers in those islands against the United +States. From the good faith of Spain I am fully satisfied that this +treaty will be executed in its spirit as well as its letter, whilst the +United States will on their part faithfully perform all the obligations +which it imposes on them. + +Information has been recently received at the Department of State that +the Mexican Government has sent to Havana blank commissions to +privateers and blank certificates of naturalization signed by General +Salas, the present head of the Mexican Government. There is also reason +to apprehend that similar documents have been transmitted to other parts +of the world. Copies of these papers, in translation, are herewith +transmitted. + +As the preliminaries required by the practice of civilized nations for +commissioning privateers and regulating their conduct appear not to have +been observed, and as these commissions are in blank, to be filled up +with the names of citizens and subjects of all nations who may be +willing to purchase them, the whole proceeding can only be construed as +an invitation to all the freebooters upon earth who are willing to pay +for the privilege to cruise against American commerce. It will be for +our courts of justice to decide whether under such circumstances these +Mexican letters of marque and reprisal shall protect those who accept +them, and commit robberies upon the high seas under their authority, +from the pains and penalties of piracy. + +If the certificates of naturalization thus granted be intended by Mexico +to shield Spanish subjects from the guilt and punishment of pirates +under our treaty with Spain, they will certainly prove unavailing. Such +a subterfuge would be but a weak device to defeat the provisions of a +solemn treaty. + +I recommend that Congress should immediately provide by law for the +trial and punishment as pirates of Spanish subjects who, escaping the +vigilance of their Government, shall be found guilty of privateering +against the United States. I do not apprehend serious danger from these +privateers. Our Navy will be constantly on the alert to protect our +commerce. Besides, in case prizes should be made of American vessels, +the utmost vigilance will be exerted by our blockading squadron to +prevent the captors from taking them into Mexican ports, and it is not +apprehended that any nation will violate its neutrality by suffering +such prizes to be condemned and sold within its jurisdiction. + +I recommend that Congress should immediately provide by law for granting +letters of marque and reprisal against vessels under the Mexican flag. +It is true that there are but few, if any, commercial vessels of Mexico +upon the high seas, and it is therefore not probable that many American +privateers would be fitted out in case a law should pass authorizing +this mode of warfare. It is, notwithstanding, certain that such +privateers may render good service to the commercial interests of the +country by recapturing our merchant ships should any be taken by armed +vessels under the Mexican flag, as well as by capturing these vessels +themselves. Every means within our power should be rendered available +for the protection of our commerce. + +The annual report of the Secretary of the Treasury will exhibit a +detailed statement of the condition of the finances. The imports for the +fiscal year ending on the 30th of June last were of the value of +$121,691,797, of which the amount exported was $11,346,623, leaving the +amount retained in the country for domestic consumption $110,345,174. +The value of the exports for the same period was $113,488,516, of which +$102,141,893 consisted of domestic productions and $11,346,623 of +foreign articles. + +The receipts into the Treasury for the same year were $29,499,247.06, of +which there was derived from customs $26,712,667.87, from the sales of +public lands $2,694,452.48, and from incidental and miscellaneous +sources $92,126.71. The expenditures for the same period were +$28,031,114.20, and the balance in the Treasury on the 1st day of July +last was $9,126,439.08. + +The amount of the public debt, including Treasury notes, on the 1st of +the present month was $24,256,494.60, of which the sum of $17,788,799.62 +was outstanding on the 4th of March, 1845, leaving the amount incurred +since that time $6,467,694.98. + +In order to prosecute the war with Mexico with vigor and energy, as the +best means of bringing it to a speedy and honorable termination, a +further loan will be necessary to meet the expenditures for the present +and the next fiscal year. If the war should be continued until the 30th +of June, 1848, being the end of the next fiscal year, it is estimated +that an additional loan of $23,000,000 will be required. This estimate +is made upon the assumption that it will be necessary to retain +constantly in the Treasury $4,000,000 to guard against contingencies. +If such surplus were not required to be retained, then a loan of +$19,000,000 would be sufficient. If, however, Congress should at the +present session impose a revenue duty on the principal articles now +embraced in the free list, it is estimated that an additional annual +revenue of about two millions and a half, amounting, it is estimated, +on the 30th of June, 1848, to $4,000,000, would be derived from that +source, and the loan required would be reduced by that amount. It is +estimated also that should Congress graduate and reduce the price of +such of the public lands as have been long in the market the additional +revenue derived from that source would be annually, for several years +to come, between half a million and a million dollars; and the loan +required may be reduced by that amount also. Should these measures be +adopted, the loan required would not probably exceed $18,000,000 or +$19,000,000, leaving in the Treasury a constant surplus of $4,000,000. +The loan proposed, it is estimated, will be sufficient to cover the +necessary expenditures both for the war and for all other purposes up +to the 30th of June, 1848, and an amount of this loan not exceeding +one-half may be required during the present fiscal year, and the greater +part of the remainder during the first half of the fiscal year +succeeding. + +In order that timely notice may be given and proper measures taken to +effect the loan, or such portion of it as may be required, it is +important that the authority of Congress to make it be given at an early +period of your present session. It is suggested that the loan should be +contracted for a period of twenty years, with authority to purchase the +stock and pay it off at an earlier period at its market value out of any +surplus which may at any time be in the Treasury applicable to that +purpose. After the establishment of peace with Mexico, it is supposed +that a considerable surplus will exist, and that the debt may be +extinguished in a much shorter period than that for which it may be +contracted. The period of twenty years, as that for which the proposed +loan may be contracted, in preference to a shorter period, is suggested, +because all experience, both at home and abroad, has shown that loans +are effected upon much better terms upon long time than when they are +reimbursable at short dates. + +Necessary as this measure is to sustain the honor and the interests of +the country engaged in a foreign war, it is not doubted but that +Congress will promptly authorize it. + +The balance in the Treasury on the 1st July last exceeded $9,000,000, +notwithstanding considerable expenditures had been made for the war +during the months of May and June preceding. But for the war the whole +public debt could and would have been extinguished within a short +period; and it was a part of my settled policy to do so, and thus +relieve the people from its burden and place the Government in a +position which would enable it to reduce the public expenditures to that +economical standard which is most consistent with the general welfare +and the pure and wholesome progress of our institutions. + +Among our just causes of complaint against Mexico arising out of her +refusal to treat for peace, as well before as since the war so unjustly +commenced on her part, are the extraordinary expenditures in which we +have been involved. Justice to our own people will make it proper that +Mexico should be held responsible for these expenditures. + +Economy in the public expenditures is at all times a high duty which all +public functionaries of the Government owe to the people. This duty +becomes the more imperative in a period of war, when large and +extraordinary expenditures become unavoidable. During the existence of +the war with Mexico all our resources should be husbanded, and no +appropriations made except such as are absolutely necessary for its +vigorous prosecution and the due administration of the Government. +Objects of appropriation which in peace may be deemed useful or proper, +but which are not indispensable for the public service, may when the +country is engaged in a foreign war be well postponed to a future +period. By the observance of this policy at your present session large +amounts may be saved to the Treasury and be applied to objects of +pressing and urgent necessity, and thus the creation of a corresponding +amount of public debt may be avoided. + +It is not meant to recommend that the ordinary and necessary +appropriations for the support of Government should be withheld; but it +is well known that at every session of Congress appropriations are +proposed for numerous objects which may or may not be made without +materially affecting the public interests, and these it is recommended +should not be granted. + +The act passed at your last session "reducing the duties on imports" not +having gone into operation until the 1st of the present month, there has +not been time for its practical effect upon the revenue and the business +of the country to be developed. It is not doubted, however, that the +just policy which it adopts will add largely to our foreign trade and +promote the general prosperity. Although it can not be certainly +foreseen what amount of revenue it will yield, it is estimated that it +will exceed that produced by the act of 1842, which it superseded. The +leading principles established by it are to levy the taxes with a view +to raise revenue and to impose them upon the articles imported according +to their actual value. + +The act of 1842, by the excessive rates of duty which it imposed on many +articles, either totally excluded them from importation or greatly +reduced the amount imported, and thus diminished instead of producing +revenue. By it the taxes were imposed not for the legitimate purpose of +raising revenue, but to afford advantages to favored classes at the +expense of a large majority of their fellow-citizens. Those employed in +agriculture, mechanical pursuits, commerce, and navigation were +compelled to contribute from their substance to swell the profits and +overgrown wealth of the comparatively few who had invested their capital +in manufactures. The taxes were not levied in proportion to the value of +the articles upon which they were imposed, but, widely departing from +this just rule, the lighter taxes were in many cases levied upon +articles of luxury and high price and the heavier taxes on those of +necessity and low price, consumed by the great mass of the people. It +was a system the inevitable effect of which was to relieve favored +classes and the wealthy few from contributing their just proportion for +the support of Government, and to lay the burden on the labor of the +many engaged in other pursuits than manufactures. + +A system so unequal and unjust has been superseded by the existing +law, which imposes duties not for the benefit or injury of classes or +pursuits, but distributes and, as far as practicable, equalizes the +public burdens among all classes and occupations. The favored classes +who under the unequal and unjust system which has been repealed have +heretofore realized large profits, and many of them amassed large +fortunes at the expense of the many who have been made tributary to +them, will have no reason to complain if they shall be required to +bear their just proportion of the taxes necessary for the support of +Government. So far from it, it will be perceived by an examination of +the existing law that discriminations in the rates of duty imposed +within the revenue principle have been retained in their favor. The +incidental aid against foreign competition which they still enjoy gives +them an advantage which no other pursuits possess, but of this none +others will complain, because the duties levied are necessary for +revenue. These revenue duties, including freights and charges, which +the importer must pay before he can come in competition with the home +manufacturer in our markets, amount on nearly all our leading branches +of manufacture to more than one-third of the value of the imported +article, and in some cases to almost one-half its value. With such +advantages it is not doubted that our domestic manufacturers will +continue to prosper, realizing in well-conducted establishments even +greater profits than can be derived from any other regular business. +Indeed, so far from requiring the protection of even incidental revenue +duties, our manufacturers in several leading branches are extending +their business, giving evidence of great ingenuity and skill and of +their ability to compete, with increased prospect of success, for the +open market of the world. Domestic manufactures to the value of several +millions of dollars, which can not find a market at home, are annually +exported to foreign countries. With such rates of duty as those +established by the existing law the system will probably be permanent, +and capitalists who are made or shall hereafter make their investments +in manufactures will know upon what to rely. The country will be +satisfied with these rates, because the advantages which the +manufacturers still enjoy result necessarily from the collection of +revenue for the support of Government. High protective duties, from +their unjust operation upon the masses of the people, can not fail to +give rise to extensive dissatisfaction and complaint and to constant +efforts to change or repeal them, rendering all investments in +manufactures uncertain and precarious. Lower and more permanent rates of +duty, at the same time that they will yield to the manufacturer fair and +remunerating profits, will secure him against the danger of frequent +changes in the system, which can not fail to ruinously affect his +interests. + +Simultaneously with the relaxation of the restrictive policy by the +United States, Great Britain, from whose example we derived the system, +has relaxed hers. She has modified her corn laws and reduced many other +duties to moderate revenue rates. After ages of experience the statesmen +of that country have been constrained by a stern necessity and by a +public opinion having its deep foundation in the sufferings and wants of +impoverished millions to abandon a system the effect of which was to +build up immense fortunes in the hands of the few and to reduce the +laboring millions to pauperism and misery. Nearly in the same ratio that +labor was depressed capital was increased and concentrated by the +British protective policy. + +The evils of the system in Great Britain were at length rendered +intolerable, and it has been abandoned, but not without a severe +struggle on the part of the protected and favored classes to retain the +unjust advantages which they have so long enjoyed. It was to be expected +that a similar struggle would be made by the same classes in the United +States whenever an attempt was made to modify or abolish the same unjust +system here. The protective policy had been in operation in the United +States for a much shorter period, and its pernicious effects were not, +therefore, so clearly perceived and felt. Enough, however, was known of +these effects to induce its repeal. + +It would be strange if in the face of the example of _Great Britain_, +our principal foreign customer, and of the evils of a system rendered +manifest in that country by long and painful experience, and in the face +of the immense advantages which under a more liberal commercial policy +we are already deriving, and must continue to derive, by supplying her +starving population with food, the United States should restore a policy +which she has been compelled to abandon, and thus diminish her ability +to purchase from us the food and other articles which she so much needs +and we so much desire to sell. By the simultaneous abandonment of the +protective policy by Great Britain and the United States new and +important markets have already been opened for our agricultural and +other products, commerce and navigation have received a new impulse, +labor and trade have been released from the artificial trammels which +have so long fettered them, and to a great extent reciprocity in the +exchange of commodities has been introduced at the same time by both +countries, and greatly for the benefit of both. Great Britain has been +forced by the pressure of circumstances at home to abandon a policy +which has been upheld for ages, and to open her markets for our immense +surplus of breadstuffs, and it is confidently believed that other powers +of Europe will ultimately see the wisdom, if they be not compelled by +the pauperism and sufferings of their crowded population, to pursue a +similar policy. + +Our farmers are more deeply interested in maintaining the just and +liberal policy of the existing law than any other class of our citizens. +They constitute a large majority of our population, and it is well known +that when they prosper all other pursuits prosper also. They have +heretofore not only received none of the bounties or favors of +Government, but by the unequal operations of the protective policy have +been made by the burdens of taxation which it imposed to contribute to +the bounties which have enriched others. + +When a foreign as well as a home market is opened to them, they must +receive, as they are now receiving, increased prices for their products. +They will find a readier sale, and at better prices, for their wheat, +flour, rice, Indian corn, beef, pork, lard, butter, cheese, and other +articles which they produce. The home market alone is inadequate to +enable them to dispose of the immense surplus of food and other articles +which they are capable of producing, even at the most reduced prices, +for the manifest reason that they can not be consumed in the country. +The United States can from their immense surplus supply not only the +home demand, but the deficiencies of food required by the whole world. + +That the reduced production of some of the chief articles of food in +Great Britain and other parts of Europe may have contributed to increase +the demand for our breadstuffs and provisions is not doubted, but that +the great and efficient cause of this increased demand and of increased +prices consists in the removal of artificial restrictions heretofore +imposed is deemed to be equally certain. That our exports of food, +already increased and increasing beyond former example under the more +liberal policy which has been adopted, will be still vastly enlarged +unless they be checked or prevented by a restoration of the protective +policy can not be doubted. That our commercial and navigating interests +will be enlarged in a corresponding ratio with the increase of our trade +is equally certain, while our manufacturing interests will still be the +favored interests of the country and receive the incidental protection +afforded them by revenue duties; and more than this they can not justly +demand. + +In my annual message of December last a tariff of revenue duties based +upon the principles of the existing law was recommended, and I have seen +no reason to change the opinions then expressed. In view of the probable +beneficial effects of that law, I recommend that the policy established +by it be maintained. It has but just commenced to operate, and to +abandon or modify it without giving it a fair trial would be inexpedient +and unwise. Should defects in any of its details be ascertained by +actual experience to exist, these may be hereafter corrected; but until +such defects shall become manifest the act should be fairly tested. + +It is submitted for your consideration whether it may not be proper, as +a war measure, to impose revenue duties on some of the articles now +embraced in the free list. Should it be deemed proper to impose such +duties with a view to raise revenue to meet the expenses of the war with +Mexico or to avoid to that extent the creation of a public debt, they +may be repealed when the emergency which gave rise to them shall cease +to exist, and constitute no part of the permanent policy of the country. + +The act of the 6th of August last, "to provide for the better +organization of the Treasury and for the collection, safe-keeping, +transfer, and disbursement of the public revenue," has been carried into +execution as rapidly as the delay necessarily arising out of the +appointment of new officers, taking and approving their bonds, and +preparing and securing proper places for the safe-keeping of the public +money would permit. It is not proposed to depart in any respect from the +principles or policy on which this great measure is founded. There are, +however, defects in the details of the measure, developed by its +practical operation, which are fully set forth in the report of the +Secretary of the Treasury, to which the attention of Congress is +invited. These defects would impair to some extent the successful +operation of the law at all times, but are especially embarrassing when +the country is engaged in a war, when the expenditures are greatly +increased, when loans are to be effected and the disbursements are to be +made at points many hundred miles distant, in some cases, from any +depository, and a large portion of them in a foreign country. The +modifications suggested in the report of the Secretary of the Treasury +are recommended to your favorable consideration. + +In connection with this subject I invite your attention to the +importance of establishing a branch of the Mint of the United States at +New York. Two-thirds of the revenue derived from customs being collected +at that point, the demand for specie to pay the duties will be large, +and a branch mint where foreign coin and bullion could be immediately +converted into American coin would greatly facilitate the transaction of +the public business, enlarge the circulation of gold and silver, and be +at the same time a safe depository of the public money. + +The importance of graduating and reducing the price of such of the +public lands as have been long offered in the market at the minimum rate +authorized by existing laws, and remain unsold, induces me again to +recommend the subject to your favorable consideration. Many millions of +acres of these lands have been offered in the market for more than +thirty years and larger quantities for more than ten or twenty years, +and, being of an inferior quality, they must remain unsalable for an +indefinite period unless the price at which they may be purchased shall +be reduced. To place a price upon them above their real value is not +only to prevent their sale, and thereby deprive the Treasury of any +income from that source, but is unjust to the States in which they lie, +because it retards their growth and increase of population, and because +they have no power to levy a tax upon them as upon other lands within +their limits, held by other proprietors than the United States, for the +support of their local governments. + +The beneficial effects of the graduation principle have been realized by +some of the States owning the lands within their limits in which it has +been adopted. They have been demonstrated also by the United States +acting as the trustee of the Chickasaw tribe of Indians in the sale of +their lands lying within the States of Mississippi and Alabama. The +Chickasaw lands, which would not command in the market the minimum price +established by the laws of the United States for the sale of their +lands, were, in pursuance of the treaty of 1834 with that tribe, +subsequently offered for sale at graduated and reduced rates for limited +periods. The result was that large quantities of these lands were +purchased which would otherwise have remained unsold. The lands were +disposed of at their real value, and many persons of limited means were +enabled to purchase small tracts, upon which they have settled with +their families. That similar results would be produced by the adoption +of the graduation policy by the United States in all the States in which +they are the owners of large bodies of lands which have been long in the +market can not be doubted. It can not be a sound policy to withhold +large quantities of the public lands from the use and occupation of our +citizens by fixing upon them prices which experience has shown they will +not command. On the contrary, it is a wise policy to afford facilities +to our citizens to become the owners at low and moderate rates of +freeholds of their own instead of being the tenants and dependents of +others. If it be apprehended that these lands if reduced in price would +be secured in large quantities by speculators or capitalists, the sales +may be restricted in limited quantities to actual settlers or persons +purchasing for purposes of cultivation. + +In my last annual message I submitted for the consideration of Congress +the present system of managing the mineral lands of the United States, +and recommended that they should be brought into market and sold upon +such terms and under such restrictions as Congress might prescribe. By +the act of the 11th of July last "the reserved lead mines and contiguous +lands in the States of Illinois and Arkansas and Territories of +Wisconsin and Iowa" were authorized to be sold. The act is confined in +its operation to "lead mines and contiguous lands." A large portion of +the public lands, containing copper and other ores, is represented to be +very valuable, and I recommend that provision be made authorizing the +sale of these lands upon such terms and conditions as from their +supposed value may in the judgment of Congress be deemed advisable, +having due regard to the interests of such of our citizens as may be +located upon them. + +It will be important during your present session to establish a +Territorial government and to extend the jurisdiction and laws of the +United States over the Territory of Oregon. Our laws regulating trade +and intercourse with the Indian tribes east of the Rocky Mountains +should be extended to the Pacific Ocean; and for the purpose of +executing them and preserving friendly relations with the Indian tribes +within our limits, an additional number of Indian agencies will be +required, and should be authorized by law. The establishment of +custom-houses and of post-offices and post-roads and provision for the +transportation of the mail on such routes as the public convenience will +suggest require legislative authority. It will be proper also to +establish a surveyor-general's office in that Territory and to make the +necessary provision for surveying the public lands and bringing them +into market. As our citizens who now reside in that distant region have +been subjected to many hardships, privations, and sacrifices in their +emigration, and by their improvements have enhanced the value of the +public lands in the neighborhood of their settlements, it is recommended +that liberal grants be made to them of such portions of these lands as +they may occupy, and that similar grants or rights of preemption be made +to all who may emigrate thither within a limited period, prescribed by +law. + +The report of the Secretary of War contains detailed information +relative to the several branches of the public service connected with +that Department. The operations of the Army have been of a satisfactory +and highly gratifying character. I recommend to your early and favorable +consideration the measures proposed by the Secretary of War for speedily +filling up the rank and file of the Regular Army, for its greater +efficiency in the field, and for raising an additional force to serve +during the war with Mexico. + +Embarrassment is likely to arise for want of legal provision authorizing +compensation to be made to the agents employed in the several States and +Territories to pay the Revolutionary and other pensioners the amounts +allowed them by law. Your attention is invited to the recommendations +of the Secretary of War on this subject. These agents incur heavy +responsibilities and perform important duties, and no reason exists why +they should not be placed on the same footing as to compensation with +other disbursing officers. + +Our relations with the various Indian tribes continue to be of a pacific +character. The unhappy dissensions which have existed among the +Cherokees for many years past have been healed. Since my last annual +message important treaties have been negotiated with some of the tribes, +by which the Indian title to large tracts of valuable land within the +limits of the States and Territories has been extinguished and +arrangements made for removing them to the country west of the +Mississippi. Between 3,000 and 4,000 of different tribes have been +removed to the country provided for them by treaty stipulations, and +arrangements have been made for others to follow. + +In our intercourse with the several tribes particular attention has been +given to the important subject of education. The number of schools +established among them has been increased, and additional means provided +not only for teaching them the rudiments of education, but of +instructing them in agriculture and the mechanic arts. + +I refer you to the report of the Secretary of the Navy for a +satisfactory view of the operations of the Department under his charge +during the past year. It is gratifying to perceive that while the war +with Mexico has rendered it necessary to employ an unusual number of our +armed vessels on her coasts, the protection due to our commerce in other +quarters of the world has not proved insufficient. No means will be +spared to give efficiency to the naval service in the prosecution of the +war; and I am happy to know that the officers and men anxiously desire +to devote themselves to the service of their country in any enterprise, +however difficult of execution. + +I recommend to your favorable consideration the proposition to add to +each of our foreign squadrons an efficient sea steamer, and, as +especially demanding attention, the establishment at Pensacola of the +necessary means of repairing and refitting the vessels of the Navy +employed in the Gulf of Mexico. + +There are other suggestions in the report which deserve and I doubt not +will receive your consideration. + +The progress and condition of the mail service for the past year are +fully presented in the report of the Postmaster-General. The revenue for +the year ending on the 30th of June last amounted to $3,487,199, which +is $802,642.45 less than that of the preceding year. The payments for +that Department during the same time amounted to $4,084,297.22. Of this +sum $597,097.80 have been drawn from the Treasury. The disbursements for +the year were $236,434.77 less than those of the preceding year. While +the disbursements have been thus diminished, the mail facilities have +been enlarged by new mail routes of 5,739 miles, an increase of +transportation of 1,764,145 miles, and the establishment of 418 new +post-offices. Contractors, postmasters, and others engaged in this +branch of the service have performed their duties with energy and +faithfulness deserving commendation. For many interesting details +connected with the operations of this establishment you are referred to +the report of the Postmaster-General, and his suggestions for improving +its revenues are recommended to your favorable consideration. I repeat +the opinion expressed in my last annual message that the business of +this Department should be so regulated chat the revenues derived from it +should be made to equal the expenditures, and it is believed that this +may be done by proper modifications of the present laws, as suggested in +the report of the Postmaster-General, without changing the present rates +of postage. + +With full reliance upon the wisdom and patriotism of your deliberations, +it, will be my duty, as it will be my anxious desire, to cooperate with +you in every constitutional effort to promote the welfare and maintain +the honor of our common country. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + + +SPECIAL MESSAGES. + + +WASHINGTON, _December 14, 1846_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit to the Senate, for their consideration and advice with regard +to its ratification, a convention for the mutual surrender of criminals +between the United States and the Swiss Confederation, signed by their +respective plenipotentiaries on the 15th of September last at Paris. + +I transmit also a copy of a dispatch from the plenipotentiary of the +United States, with the accompanying documents. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _December 22, 1846_. + +_To the House of Representatives of the United States_: + +In compliance with the request contained in the resolution of the House +of Representatives of the 15th instant, I communicate herewith reports +from the Secretary of War and the Secretary of the Navy, with the +documents which accompany them. + +These documents contain all the "orders or instructions" to any +military, naval, or other officer of the Government "in relation to the +establishment or organization of civil government in any portion of the +territory of Mexico which has or might be taken possession of by the +Army or Navy of the United States." + +These orders and instructions were given to regulate the exercise of the +rights of a belligerent engaged in actual war over such portions of the +territory of our enemy as by military conquest might be "taken +possession of" and be occupied by our armed forces--rights necessarily +resulting from a state of war and clearly recognized by the laws of +nations. This was all the authority which could be delegated to our +military and naval commanders, and its exercise was indispensable to the +secure occupation and possession of territory of the enemy which might +be conquered. The regulations authorized were temporary, and dependent +on the rights acquired by conquest. They were authorized as belligerent +rights, and were to be carried into effect by military or naval +officers. They were but the amelioration of martial law, which modern +civilization requires, and were due as well to the security of the +conquest as to the inhabitants of the conquered territory. + +The documents communicated also contain the reports of several highly +meritorious officers of our Army and Navy who have conquered and taken +possession of portions of the enemy's territory. + +Among the documents accompanying the report of the Secretary of War will +be found a "form of government" "established and organized" by the +military commander who conquered and occupied with his forces the +Territory of New Mexico. This document was received at the War +Department in the latter part of the last month, and, as will be +perceived by the report of the Secretary of War, was not, for the +reasons stated by that officer, brought to my notice until after my +annual message of the 8th instant was communicated to Congress. + +It is declared on its face to be a "temporary government of the said +Territory," but there are portions of it which purport to "establish and +organize" a permanent Territorial government of the United States over +the Territory and to impart to its inhabitants political rights which +under the Constitution of the United States can be enjoyed permanently +only by citizens of the United States. These have not been "approved and +recognized" by me. Such organized regulations as have been established +in any of the conquered territories for the security of our conquest, +for the preservation of order, for the protection of the rights of the +inhabitants, and for depriving the enemy of the advantages of these +territories while the military possession of them by the forces of the +United States continues will be recognized and approved. + +It will be apparent from the reports of the officers who have been +required by the success which has crowned their arms to exercise the +powers of temporary government over the conquered territories that if +any excess of power has been exercised the departure has been the +offspring of a patriotic desire to give to the inhabitants the +privileges and immunities so cherished by the people of our own country, +and which they believed calculated to improve their condition and +promote their prosperity. Any such excess has resulted in no practical +injury, but can and will be early corrected in a manner to alienate as +little as possible the good feelings of the inhabitants of the conquered +territory. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _December 29, 1846_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_: + +In order to prosecute the war against Mexico with vigor and success, +it is necessary that authority should be promptly given by Congress +to increase the Regular Army and to remedy existing defects in its +organization. With this view your favorable attention is invited to the +annual report of the Secretary of War, which accompanied my message of +the 8th instant, in which he recommends that ten additional regiments +of regular troops shall be raised, to serve during the war. + +Of the additional regiments of volunteers which have been called for +from several of the States, some have been promptly raised; but this +has not been the case in regard to all. The existing law, requiring +that they should be organized by the independent action of the State +governments, has in some instances occasioned considerable delay, and it +is yet uncertain when the troops required can be ready for service in +the field. + +It is our settled policy to maintain in time of peace as small a Regular +Army as the exigencies of the public service will permit. In a state of +war, notwithstanding the great advantage with which our volunteer +citizen soldiers can be brought into the field, this small Regular Army +must be increased in its numbers in order to render the whole force more +efficient. + +Additional officers as well as men then become indispensable. Under the +circumstances of our service a peculiar propriety exists for increasing +the officers, especially in the higher grades. The number of such +officers who from age and other causes are rendered incapable of active +service in the field has seriously impaired the efficiency of the Army. + +From the report of the Secretary of War it appears that about two-thirds +of the whole number of regimental field officers are either permanently +disabled or are necessarily detached from their commands on other +duties. The long enjoyment of peace has prevented us from experiencing +much embarrassment from this cause, but now, in a state of war, +conducted in a foreign country, it has produced serious injury to the +public service. + +An efficient organization of the Army, composed of regulars and +volunteers, whilst prosecuting the war in Mexico, it is believed would +require the appointment of a general officer to take the command of all +our military forces in the field. Upon the conclusion of the war the +services of such an officer would no longer be necessary, and should be +dispensed with upon the reduction of the Army to a peace establishment. + +I recommend that provision be made by law for the appointment of such a +general officer to serve during the war. + +It is respectfully recommended that early action should be had by +Congress upon the suggestions submitted for their consideration, as +necessary to insure active and efficient service in prosecuting the war, +before the present favorable season for military operations in the +enemy's country shall have passed away. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _January 4, 1847_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I communicate herewith a report of the Postmaster-General, which +contains the information called for by the resolution of the Senate of +the 16th instant, in relation to the means which have been taken for the +transmission of letters and papers to and from the officers and soldiers +now in the service of the United States in Mexico. In answer to the +inquiry whether any legislation is necessary to secure the speedy +transmission and delivery of such letters and papers, I refer you to the +suggestions of the Postmaster-General, which are recommended to your +favorable consideration. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _January 11, 1847_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +In answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 22d ultimo, calling for +information relative to the negotiation of the treaty of commerce with +the Republic of New Granada signed on the 20th of December, 1844, I +transmit a report from the Secretary of State and the documents by which +it was accompanied. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _January 19, 1847_. + +_To the House of Representatives of the United States_: + +I transmit herewith a report of the Secretary of War, with the +accompanying report from the Adjutant-General of the Army, made in +compliance with the resolution of the House of Representatives of the +5th instant, requesting the President to communicate to the House "the +whole number of volunteers which have been mustered into the service of +the United States since the 1st day of May last, designating the number +mustered for three months, six months, and twelve months; the number of +those who have been discharged before they served two months, number +discharged after two months' service, and the number of volunteer +officers who have resigned, and the dates of their resignations." + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _January 20, 1847_. + +_To the House of Representatives of the United States_: + +I communicate herewith a letter received from the president of the +convention of delegates of the people of Wisconsin, transmitting a +certified copy of the constitution adopted by the delegates of the +people of Wisconsin in convention assembled, also a copy of the act of +the legislature of the Territory of Wisconsin providing for the calling +of said convention, and also a copy of the last census, showing the +number of inhabitants in said Territory, requesting the President to +"lay the same before the Congress of the United States with the request +that Congress act upon the same at its present session." + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _January 25, 1847_. + +_To the House of Representatives of the United States_: + +I communicate herewith a report of the Secretary of the Treasury, +accompanied by a statement of the Register of the Treasury prepared in +compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 7th +instant, requesting the President "to furnish the House with a statement +showing the whole amount allowed and paid at the Treasury during the +year ending 30th June, 1846, for postages of the Executive Departments +of the Government and for the several officers and persons authorized by +the act approved 3d March, 1846, to send or receive matter through the +mails free, including the amount allowed or allowable, if charged in the +postages of any officers or agents, military, naval, or civil, employed +in or by any of said Departments." It will be perceived that said +statement is as full and accurate as can be made during the present +session of Congress. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _January 29, 1847_. + +_To the House of Representatives of the United States_: + +I communicate herewith a report of the Secretary of War, together with +reports of the Adjutant-General and Paymaster-General of the Army, in +answer to a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 20th +instant, requesting the President to communicate to the House "whether +any, and, if any, which, of the Representatives named in the list +annexed have held any office or offices under the United States since +the commencement of the Twenty-ninth Congress, designating the office or +offices held by each, and whether the same are now so held, and +including in said information the names of all who are now serving in +the Army of the United States as officers and receiving pay as such, and +when and by whom they were commissioned." + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _February 3, 1847_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I communicate herewith reports of the Secretary of War and the Secretary +of the Treasury, with accompanying documents, in answer to a resolution +of the Senate "requesting the President to inform the Senate whether any +funds of the Government, and, if any, what amount, have been remitted +from the Atlantic States to New Orleans or to the disbursing officers of +the American Army in Mexico since the 1st of September last, and, if any +remitted, in what funds remitted, whether in gold or silver coin, +Treasury notes, bank notes, or bank checks, and, if in whole or in part +remitted in gold and silver, what has been the expense to the Government +of each of said remittances." + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _February 10, 1847_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit to the Senate, for their advice with regard to its +ratification, "a general treaty of peace, amity, navigation, and +commerce between the United States of America and the Republic of New +Granada," concluded at Bogota on the 12th December last by Benjamin A. +Bidlack, chargé d'affaires of the United States, on their part, and by +Manuel Maria Mallarino, secretary of state and foreign relations, on the +part of that Republic. + +It will be perceived by the thirty-fifth article of this treaty that New +Granada proposes to guarantee to the Government and citizens of the +United States the right of passage across the Isthmus of Panama over the +natural roads and over any canal or railroad which may be constructed to +unite the two seas, on condition that the United States shall make a +similar guaranty to New Granada of the neutrality of this portion of her +territory and her sovereignty over the same. + +The reasons which caused the insertion of this important stipulation in +the treaty will be fully made known to the Senate by the accompanying +documents. From these it will appear that our chargé d'affaires acted in +this particular upon his own responsibility and without instructions. +Under such circumstances it became my duty to decide whether I would +submit the treaty to the Senate, and after mature consideration I have +determined to adopt this course. + +The importance of this concession to the commercial and political +interests of the United States can not easily be overrated. The route by +the Isthmus of Panama is the shortest between the two oceans, and from +the information herewith communicated it would seem to be the most +practicable for a railroad or canal. + +The vast advantages to our commerce which would result from such a +communication, not only with the west coast of America, but with Asia +and the islands of the Pacific, are too obvious to require any detail. +Such a passage would relieve us from a long and dangerous navigation of +more than 9,000 miles around Cape Horn and render our communication with +our possessions on the northwest coast of America comparatively easy and +speedy. + +The communication across the Isthmus has attracted the attention of the +Government of the United States ever since the independence of the South +American Republics. On the 3d of March, 1835, a resolution passed the +Senate in the following words: + + _Resolved_, That the President of the United States be respectfully + requested to consider the expediency of opening negotiations with the + governments of other nations, and particularly with the Governments + of Central America and New Granada, for the purpose of effectually + protecting, by suitable treaty stipulations with them, such individuals + or companies as may undertake to open a communication between the + Atlantic and Pacific oceans by the construction of a ship canal across + the isthmus which connects North and South America, and of securing + forever by such stipulations the free and equal right of navigating such + canal to all nations on the payment of such reasonable tolls as may be + established to compensate the capitalists who may engage in such + undertaking and complete the work. + + +No person can be more deeply sensible than myself of the danger of +entangling alliances with any foreign nation. That we should avoid such +alliances has become a maxim of our policy consecrated by the most +venerated names which adorn our history and sanctioned by the unanimous +voice of the American people. Our own experience has taught us the +wisdom of this maxim in the only instance, that of the guaranty to +France of her American possessions, in which we have ever entered into +such an alliance. If, therefore, the very peculiar circumstances of the +present case do not greatly impair, if not altogether destroy, the force +of this objection, then we ought not to enter into the stipulation, +whatever may be its advantages. The general considerations which have +induced me to transmit the treaty to the Senate for their advice may be +summed up in the following particulars: + +1. The treaty does not propose to guarantee a territory to a foreign +nation in which the United States will have no common interest with that +nation. On the contrary, we are more deeply and directly interested in +the subject of this guaranty than New Granada herself or any other +country. + +2. The guaranty does not extend to the territories of New Granada +generally, but is confined to the single Province of the Isthmus of +Panama, where we shall acquire by the treaty a common and coextensive +right of passage with herself. + +3. It will constitute no alliance for any political object, but for a +purely commercial purpose, in which all the navigating nations of the +world have a common interest. + +4. In entering into the mutual guaranties proposed by the thirty-fifth +article of the treaty neither the Government of New Granada nor that of +the United States has any narrow or exclusive views. The ultimate +object, as presented by the Senate of the United States in their +resolution to which I have already referred, is to secure to all nations +the free and equal right of passage over the Isthmus. If the United +States, as the chief of the American nations, should first become a +party to this guaranty, it can not be doubted--indeed, it is confidently +expected by the Government of New Granada--that similar guaranties will +be given to that Republic by Great Britain and France. Should the +proposition thus tendered be rejected we may deprive the United States +of the just influence which its acceptance might secure to them and +confer the glory and benefits of being the first among the nations in +concluding such an arrangement upon the Government either of Great +Britain or France. That either of these Governments would embrace the +offer can not be doubted, because there does not appear to be any other +effectual means of securing to all nations the advantages of this +important passage but the guaranty of great commercial powers that the +Isthmus shall be neutral territory. The interests of the world at stake +are so important that the security of this passage between the two +oceans can not be suffered to depend upon the wars and revolutions which +may arise among different nations. + +Besides, such a guaranty is almost indispensable to the construction of +a railroad or canal across the territory. Neither sovereign states nor +individuals would expend their capital in the construction of these +expensive works without some such security for their investments. + +The guaranty of the sovereignty of New Granada over the Isthmus is a +natural consequence of the guaranty of its neutrality, and there does +not seem to be any other practicable mode of securing the neutrality of +this territory. New Granada would not consent to yield up this Province +in order that it might become a neutral state, and if she should it is +not sufficiently populous or wealthy to establish and maintain an +independent sovereignty. But a civil government must exist there in +order to protect the works which shall be constructed. New Granada is +a power which will not excite the jealousy of any nation. If Great +Britain, France, or the United States held the sovereignty over the +Isthmus, other nations might apprehend that in case of war the +Government would close up the passage against the enemy, but no such +fears can ever be entertained in regard to New Granada. + +This treaty removes the heavy discriminating duties against us in the +ports of New Granada, which have nearly destroyed our commerce and +navigation with that Republic, and which we have been in vain +endeavoring to abolish for the last twenty years. + +It may be proper also to call the attention of the Senate to the +twenty-fifth article of the treaty, which prohibits privateering in case +of war between the two Republics, and also to the additional article, +which nationalizes all vessels of the parties which "shall be provided +by the respective Governments with a patent issued according to its +laws," and in this particular goes further than any of our former +treaties. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _February 13, 1847_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_: + +Congress, by the act of the 13th of May last, declared that "by the act +of the Republic of Mexico a state of war exists between that Government +and the United States" and "for the purpose of enabling the Government +of the United States to prosecute said war to a speedy and successful +termination" authority was vested in the President to employ the "naval +and military forces of the United States." + +It has been my unalterable purpose since the commencement of hostilities +by Mexico and the declaration of the existence of war by Congress to +prosecute the war in which the country was unavoidably involved with the +utmost energy, with a view to its "speedy and successful termination" by +an honorable peace. + +Accordingly all the operations of our naval and military forces have +been directed with this view. While the sword has been held in one hand +and our military movements pressed forward into the enemy's country and +its coasts invested by our Navy, the tender of an honorable peace has +been constantly presented to Mexico in the other. + +Hitherto the overtures of peace which have been made by this Government +have not been accepted by Mexico. With a view to avoid a protracted war, +which hesitancy and delay on our part would be so well calculated to +produce, I informed you in my annual message of the 8th December last +that the war would "continue to be prosecuted with vigor, as the best +means of securing peace," and recommended to your early and favorable +consideration the measures proposed by the Secretary of War in his +report accompanying that message. + +In my message of the 4th January last these and other measures deemed to +be essential to the "speedy and successful termination" of the war and +the attainment of a just and honorable peace were recommended to your +early and favorable consideration. + +The worst state of things which could exist in a war with such a power +as Mexico would be a course of indecision and inactivity on our part. +Being charged by the Constitution and the laws with the conduct of the +war, I have availed myself of all the means at my command to prosecute +it with energy and vigor. + +The act "to raise for a limited time an additional military force, and +for other purposes," and which authorizes the raising of ten additional +regiments to the Regular Army, to serve during the war and to be +disbanded at its termination, which was presented to me on the 11th +instant and approved on that day, will constitute an important part of +our military force. These regiments will be raised and moved to the seat +of war with the least practicable delay. + +It will be perceived that this act makes no provision for the +organization into brigades and divisions of the increased force which it +authorizes, nor for the appointment of general officers to command it. +It will be proper that authority be given by law to make such +organization, and to appoint, by and with the advice and consent of the +Senate, such number of major-generals and brigadier-generals as the +efficiency of the service may demand. The number of officers of these +grades now in service are not more than are required for their +respective commands; but further legislative action during your present +session will, in my judgment, be required, and to which it is my duty +respectfully to invite your attention. + +Should the war, contrary to my earnest desire, be protracted to the +close of the term of service of the volunteers now in Mexico, who +engaged for twelve months, an additional volunteer force will probably +become necessary to supply their place. Many of the volunteers now +serving in Mexico, it is not doubted, will cheerfully engage at the +conclusion of their present term to serve during the war. They would +constitute a more efficient force than could be speedily obtained by +accepting the services of any new corps who might offer their services. +They would have the advantage of the experience and discipline of a +year's service, and will have become accustomed to the climate and be +in less danger than new levies of suffering from the diseases of the +country. I recommend, therefore, that authority be given to accept the +services of such of the volunteers now in Mexico as the state of the +public service may require, and who may at the termination of their +present term voluntarily engage to serve during the war with Mexico, +and that provision be made for commissioning the officers. Should +this measure receive the favorable consideration of Congress, it is +recommended that a bounty be granted to them upon their voluntarily +extending their term of service. This would not only be due to these +gallant men, but it would be economy to the Government, because if +discharged at the end of the twelve months the Government would be bound +to incur a heavy expense in bringing them back to their homes and in +sending to the seat of war new corps of fresh troops to supply their +place. + +By the act of the 13th of May last the President was authorized to +accept the services of volunteers "in companies, battalions, squadrons, +and regiments," but no provision was made for filling up vacancies which +might occur by death or discharges from the service on account of +sickness or other casualties. In consequence of this omission many of +the corps now in service have been much reduced in numbers. Nor was any +provision made for filling vacancies of regimental or company officers +who might die or resign. Information has been received at the War +Department of the resignation of more than 100 of these officers. They +were appointed by the State authorities, and no information has been +received except in a few instances that their places have been filled; +and the efficiency of the service has been impaired from this cause. To +remedy these defects, I recommend that authority be given to accept the +services of individual volunteers to fill up the places of such as may +die or become unfit for the service and be discharged, and that +provision be also made for filling the places of regimental and company +officers who may die or resign. By such provisions the volunteer corps +may be constantly kept full or may approximate the maximum number +authorized and called into service in the first instance. + +While it is deemed to be our true policy to prosecute the war in the +manner indicated, and thus make the enemy feel its pressure and its +evils, I shall be at all times ready, with the authority conferred on +me by the Constitution and with all the means which may be placed at +my command by Congress, to conclude a just and honorable peace. + +Of equal importance with an energetic and vigorous prosecution of the +war are the means required to defray its expenses and to uphold and +maintain the public credit. + +In my annual message of the 8th December last I submitted for the +consideration of Congress the propriety of imposing, as a war measure, +revenue duties on some of the articles now embraced in the free list. +The principal articles now exempt from duty from which any considerable +revenue could be derived are tea and coffee. A moderate revenue duty on +these articles it is estimated would produce annually an amount +exceeding $2,500,000. Though in a period of peace, when ample means +could be derived from duties on other articles for the support of the +Government, it may have been deemed proper not to resort to a duty on +these articles, yet when the country is engaged in a foreign war and all +our resources are demanded to meet the unavoidable increased expenditure +in maintaining our armies in the field no sound reason is perceived why +we should not avail ourselves of the revenues which may be derived from +this source. The objections which have heretofore existed to the +imposition of these duties were applicable to a state of peace, when +they were not needed. We are now, however, engaged in a foreign war. We +need money to prosecute it and to maintain the public honor and credit. +It can not be doubted that the patriotic people of the United States +would cheerfully and without complaint submit to the payment of this +additional duty or any other that may be necessary to maintain the honor +of the country, provide for the unavoidable expenses of the Government, +and to uphold the public credit. It is recommended that any duties which +may be imposed on these articles be limited in their duration to the +period of the war. + +An additional annual revenue, it is estimated, of between half a million +and a million of dollars would be derived from the graduation and +reduction of the price of such of the public lands as have been long +offered in the market at the minimum price established by the existing +laws and have remained unsold. And in addition to other reasons +commending the measure to favorable consideration, it is recommended as +a financial measure. The duty suggested on tea and coffee and the +graduation and reduction of the price of the public lands would secure +an additional annual revenue to the Treasury of not less than +$3,000,000, and would thereby prevent the necessity of incurring a +public debt annually to that amount, the interest on which must be paid +semiannually, and ultimately the debt itself by a tax on the people. + +It is a sound policy and one which has long been approved by the +Government and people of the United States never to resort to loans +unless in cases of great public emergency, and then only for the +smallest amount which the public necessities will permit. + +The increased revenues which the measures now recommended would produce +would, moreover, enable the Government to negotiate a loan for any +additional sum which may be found to be needed with more facility and at +cheaper rates than can be done without them. + +Under the injunction of the Constitution which makes it my duty "from +time to time to give to Congress information of the state of the Union +and to recommend to their consideration such measures" as shall be +judged "necessary and expedient," I respectfully and earnestly invite +the action of Congress on the measures herein presented for their +consideration. The public good, as well as a sense of my responsibility +to our common constituents, in my judgment imperiously demands that I +should present them for your enlightened consideration and invoke +favorable action upon them before the close of your present session. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _February 13, 1847_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I nominate the officers named in the accompanying communication for +regular promotion in the Army of the United States, as proposed by the +Secretary of War. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WAR DEPARTMENT, + +_Washington, February 13, 1847_. + +The PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. + +SIR: I have the honor respectfully to propose for your approbation the +following-named captains[10] for promotion to the rank of major in the +existing regiments of the Army, in conformity with the third section of +the act approved February 11, 1847, which authorizes one additional +major to each of the regiments of dragoons, artillery, infantry, and +riflemen. + +The promotions are all regular with one exception, that of Captain +Washington Seawell, of the Seventh Infantry, instead of Captain Edgar +Hawkins, of the same regiment, who stands at the head of the list of his +grade in the infantry arm. Captain Hawkins, who distinguished himself in +the defense of Fort Brown, is passed over on the ground of mental +alienation, it being officially reported that he is "insane," on which +account he was recently sent from the Army in Mexico. He is now in New +York, and is reported to be "unable to perform any duty." An officer +just returned from the Army in Mexico, and who had recently served with +Captain Hawkins, informed the Adjutant-General that he was quite +deranged, but that he had hopes of his recovery, as the malady was +probably caused by sickness. Should these hopes be realized at some +future day, Captain Hawkins will then of course be promoted without loss +of rank; meanwhile I respectfully recommend that he be passed over, as +the declared object of these additional majors (as set forth in the +Adjutant-General's report to this Department of the 30th of July last) +was to insure the presence of an adequate number of _efficient_ field +officers for duty with the marching regiments, which object would be +neutralized in part should Captain Hawkins now receive the appointment. + +I am, sir, with great respect, your obedient servant, + +W.L. MARCY + +[Footnote 10: List omitted.] + + + +WASHINGTON, _February 20, 1847_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I communicate herewith a report of the Secretary of State, with the +accompanying documents, in answer to a resolution of the Senate of the +2d instant, requesting the President to communicate such information in +possession of the Executive Departments in relation to the importation +of foreign criminals and paupers as he may deem consistent with the +public interests to communicate. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _February 26, 1847_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I nominate the persons named in the accompanying list[11] of promotions +and appointments in the Army of the United States to the several grades +annexed to their names, as proposed by the Secretary of War. + +JAMES K. POLK. + +[Footnote 11: Omitted.] + + + +WAR DEPARTMENT, + _February 26, 1847_. + +The PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. + +SIR: I have the honor respectfully to propose for your approbation the +annexed list[12] of officers for regular promotion and persons for +appointment in the Army of the United States. + +It having been decided to be just and proper to restore Grafton D. +Hanson, late a lieutenant in the Eighth Infantry, to his former regiment +and rank, whose resignation was accepted in June, 1845, contrary to his +wish, he having in due time recalled the same, it will be seen that he +is reappointed accordingly. I deem it proper to state that the vacancy +of first lieutenant in the Eighth Infantry, now proposed to be filled by +Mr. Hanson's restoration and reappointment, has been occasioned by the +appointment of the senior captain of the regiment to be major under the +recent act authorizing an additional major to each regiment, being an +original vacancy, and therefore the less reason for any objection in +respect to the general principles and usages of the service, which +guarantee regular promotions to fill vacancies which occur by accident, +etc. + +I am, sir, with great respect, your obedient servant, + +W.L. MARCY. + +[Footnote 12: Omitted.] + + + +WASHINGTON, _February 26, 1847_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I nominate the officers named in the accompanying list[13] for brevet +promotion in the Army of the United States, for gallant conduct in the +actions at Monterey. + +JAMES K. POLK. + +[Footnote 13: Omitted.] + + + +WAR DEPARTMENT, + _February 19, 1847_. + +The PRESIDENT. + +SIR: I present to you the following list[14] of officers engaged in the +actions at Monterey, whose distinguished conduct therein entitles them, +in my judgment, to the promotion by brevet. This list has been prepared +after a particular and careful examination of all the documents in this +Department in relation to the military operations at that place. + +Lieutenant-Colonel Garland and Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel Childs (then a +captain of the line) also behaved in the actions of Monterey in a manner +deserving of particular notice, but as their names are now before the +Senate for colonelcies by brevet, I have not presented them for further +promotion. I am not aware that any officer below the lineal rank of +colonel has ever been made a brigadier-general by brevet. + +I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant, + +W.L. MARCY. + +[Footnote 14: Omitted.] + + +WASHINGTON, _February 27, 1847_. + +_To the House of Representatives of the United States_: + +I communicate herewith a report of the Secretary of War, with the +accompanying documents, in answer to the resolution of the House of +Representatives of the 1st instant, requesting the President "to +communicate to the House of Representatives all the correspondence with +General Taylor since the commencement of hostilities with Mexico which +has not yet been published, and the publication of which may not be +deemed detrimental to the public service; also the correspondence of the +Quartermaster-General in relation to transportation for General Taylor's +Army; also the reports of Brigadier-Generals Hamer and Quitman of the +operations of their respective brigades on the 21st of September last." + +As some of these documents relate to military operations of our forces +which may not have been fully executed, I might have deemed it proper to +withhold parts of them under the apprehension that their publication at +this time would be detrimental to the public service; but I am satisfied +that these operations are now so far advanced and that the enemy has +already received so much information from other sources in relation to +the intended movements of our Army as to render this precaution +unnecessary. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _March 2, 1847_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I communicate herewith a report of the Secretary of War, with the +accompanying documents, in answer to the resolution of the Senate of the +27th ultimo, requesting to be informed "why the name of Captain +Theophilus H. Holmes was not sent in for brevet promotion amongst the +other officers who distinguished themselves at the military operations +at Monterey." + +The report of the Secretary of War discloses the reasons for the +omission of the name of Captain Holmes in the list of brevet promotions +in my message of the ____ ultimo. Upon the additional testimony in +Captain Holmes's case which has been received at the War Department, and +to which the Secretary of War refers in his report, I deem it proper to +nominate him for brevet promotion. + +I therefore nominate Captain Theophilus H. Holmes, of the Seventh +Regiment of Infantry, to be major by brevet from the 23d September, +1846, in the Army of the United States. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WAR DEPARTMENT, + _March,1 1847_. + +The PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. + +SIR: With a special reference to the resolution of the Senate of the +27th ultimo, requesting to be informed "why the name of Captain +Theophilus H. Holmes was not sent in for brevet promotion amongst the +other officers who distinguished themselves at the military operations +at Monterey," I have again examined the official reports of those +operations. I do not find that Captain Holmes is mentioned in General +Taylor's report, nor in that of any other officer except the report of +Brigadier-General Worth. The following extract from the latter contains +all that is said having relation to the conduct of Captain Holmes: + +"My thanks are also especially due to Lieutenant-Colonel Stanford, +Eighth, commanding First Brigade; Major Munroe, chief of artillery, +general staff; Brevet Major Brown and Captain J.R. Vinton, artillery +battalion; Captain J.B. Scott, artillery battalion, light troops; Major +Scott (commanding) and Captain Merrill, Fifth; Captain Miles +(commanding), Holmes, and Ross, Seventh Infantry, and Captain Screven, +commanding Eighth Infantry; to Lieutenant-Colonel Walker, captain of +rifles; Major Chevalier and Captain McCulloch, of the Texan, and Captain +Blanchard, of the Louisiana, Volunteers; to Lieutenant Mackall, +commanding battery; Roland, Martin, Hays, Irons, Clark, and Curd, horse +artillery; Lieutenant Longstreet, commanding light company, Eighth; +Lieutenant Ayers, artillery battalion, who was among the first in the +assault upon the place and who secured the colors. Each of the officers +named either headed special detachments, columns of attack, storming +parties, or detached guns, and all were conspicuous for conduct and +courage." + +It will be perceived that in this list there are twenty-one officers +(besides the medical staff and officers of volunteers) who are highly +commended by General Worth for gallant conduct. That they were justly +entitled to the praise bestowed on them is not doubted; but if I had +recommended all of them to be brevetted, together with all those in the +reports of other generals also in like manner highly commended, the +number of officers in my list submitted for your consideration would +have been probably trebled. Indeed, the whole Army behaved most +gallantly on that occasion. It was deemed proper to discriminate and +select from among the well deserving those who had peculiar claims to +distinction. In making this selection I exercised my best judgment, +regarding the official reports as the authentic source of information. +Six or seven only of the officers named in the foregoing extract from +General Worth's report were placed on the list. A close examination of +the reports will, I think, disclose the ground for the discrimination, +and I hope justify the distinction which I felt it my duty to make. +Without disparagement to Captain Holmes, whose conduct was highly +creditable, it appears to me that a rule of selection which would have +brought him upon the list for promotion by brevet would also have placed +on the same list nearly everyone named with him in General Worth's +report, and many of the reports of other generals not presented in my +report to you of the 19th ultimo. There is not time before the +adjournment of the Senate to make the thorough examination which a due +regard to the relative claims of the gallant officers engaged in the +actions of Monterey would require if the list of brevet promotions is to +be enlarged to this extent. Such enlargement would not accord with my +own views on the subject of bestowing brevet rewards. + +There are on file other papers relative to Captain Holmes. They were not +written with reference to his brevet promotion, but for an appointment +in the new regiments. Copies of those are herewith transmitted. The +letter of the Hon. W.P. Mangum inclosing the statement from Generals +Twiggs and Smith is dated the 26th, and my report the 19th ultimo, and +was not, consequently, received at this Department until some days after +the list for brevets was made out and presented to you. + +From the facts and recommendations of the official reports of the +actions at Monterey I should not feel warranted in presenting Captain +Holmes for brevet promotion without at the same time including on the +same list many others not recommended in my report of the 19th ultimo; +but as his conduct fell under the immediate observation of General Smith +(General Twiggs commanded in a different part of the town), it may be +proper to regard their statement, received since my former report was +prepared and handed to you, as additional evidence of his gallantry and +of claims to your particular notice. I therefore recommend him to be +promoted major by brevet. + +I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant, + +W.L. MARCY, + _Secretary of War_. + + + + +PROCLAMATIONS. + + +[From Statutes at Large (Little & Brown), Vol. IX, p. 1001.] + + +BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA + +A PROCLAMATION. + +Whereas by an act of the Congress of the United States approved the 3d +day of March, 1845, entitled "An act regulating commercial intercourse +within the islands of Miquelon and St. Pierre," it is provided that all +French vessels coming directly from those islands, either in ballast or +laden with articles the growth or manufacture of either of said islands, +and which are permitted to be exported therefrom in American vessels, +may be admitted into the ports of the United States on payment of no +higher duties of tonnage or on their cargoes aforesaid than are imposed +on American vessels and on like cargoes imported in American vessels, +provided that this act shall not take effect until the President of the +United States shall have received satisfactory information that similar +privileges have been allowed to American vessels and their cargoes at +said islands by the Government of France and shall have made +proclamation accordingly; and + +Whereas satisfactory information has been received by me that similar +privileges have been allowed to American vessels and their cargoes at +said islands by the Government of France: + +Now, therefore, I, James K. Polk, President of the United States of +America, do hereby declare and proclaim that all French vessels coming +directly from the islands of Miquelon and St. Pierre, either in ballast +or laden with articles the growth or manufacture of either of said +islands, and which are permitted to be exported therefrom in American +vessels, shall from this date be admitted into the ports of the United +States on payment of no higher duties on tonnage or on their cargoes +aforesaid than are imposed on American vessels and on like cargoes +imported in American vessels. + +Given under my hand, at the city of Washington, the 20th day of April, +A.D. 1847, and of the Independence of the United States the +seventy-first. + +JAMES K. POLK. + +By the President: + JAMES BUCHANAN, + _Secretary of State_. + + + +BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. + +A PROCLAMATION. + +Whereas by an act of the Congress of the United States of the 24th of +May, 1828, entitled "An act in addition to an act entitled 'An act +concerning discriminating duties of tonnage and impost' and to equalize +the duties on Prussian vessels and their cargoes," it is provided that +upon satisfactory evidence being given to the President of the United +States by the government of any foreign nation that no discriminating +duties of tonnage or impost are imposed or levied in the ports of the +said nation upon vessels wholly belonging to citizens of the United +States, or upon the produce, manufactures, or merchandise imported in +the same from the United States or from any foreign country, the +President is thereby authorized to issue his proclamation declaring that +the foreign discriminating duties of tonnage and impost within the +United States are and shall be suspended and discontinued so far as +respects the vessels of the said foreign nation and the produce, +manufactures, or merchandise imported into the United States in the same +from the said foreign nation or from any other foreign country, the said +suspension to take effect from the time of such notification being given +to the President of the United States and to continue so long as the +reciprocal exemption of vessels belonging to citizens of the United +States and their cargoes as aforesaid shall be continued, and no longer; +and + +Whereas satisfactory evidence has lately been received by me from His +Majesty the Emperor of Brazil, through an official communication of Mr. +Felippe José Pereira Leal, his chargé d'affaires in the United States, +under date of the 25th of October, 1847, that no other or higher duties +of tonnage and impost are imposed or levied in the ports of Brazil upon +vessels wholly belonging to citizens of the United States and upon the +produce, manufactures, or merchandise imported in the same from the +United States and from any foreign country whatever than are levied on +Brazilian ships and their cargoes in the same ports under like +circumstances: + +Now, therefore, I, James K. Polk, President of the United States of +America, do hereby declare and proclaim that so much of the several acts +imposing discriminating duties of tonnage and impost within the United +States are and shall be suspended and discontinued so far as respects +the vessels of Brazil and the produce, manufactures, and merchandise +imported into the United States in the same from Brazil and from any +other foreign country whatever, the said suspension to take effect from +the day above mentioned and to continue thenceforward so long as the +reciprocal exemption of the vessels of the United States and the +produce, manufactures, and merchandise imported into Brazil in the same +as aforesaid shall be continued on the part of the Government of Brazil. + +Given under my hand, at the city of Washington, this 4th day of +November, A.D. 1847, and the seventy-second of the Independence of the +United States. + +JAMES K. POLK. + +By the President: + JAMES BUCHANAN, + _Secretary of State_. + + + + +EXECUTIVE ORDERS. + + +WASHINGTON, _March 23, 1847_. + +The SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY. + +SIR: The Government of Mexico having repeatedly rejected the friendly +overtures of the United States to open negotiations with a view to the +restoration of peace, sound policy and a just regard to the interests of +our own country require that the enemy should be made, as far as +practicable, to bear the expenses of a war of which they are the +authors, and which they obstinately persist in protracting. + +It is the right of the conqueror to levy contribution upon the enemy in +their seaports, towns, or provinces which may be in his military +possession by conquest and to apply the same to defray the expenses of +the war. The conqueror possesses the right also to establish a temporary +military government over such seaports, towns, or provinces and to +prescribe the conditions and restrictions upon which commerce with such +places may be permitted. He may, in his discretion, exclude all trade, +or admit it with limitation or restriction, or impose terms the +observance of which will be the condition of carrying it on. One of +these conditions may be the payment of a prescribed rate of duties on +tonnage and imports. + +In the exercise of these unquestioned rights of war, I have, on full +consideration, determined to order that all the ports or places in +Mexico which now are or hereafter may be in the actual possession of our +land and naval forces by conquest shall be opened while our military +occupation may continue to the commerce of all neutral nations, as well +as our own, in articles not contraband of war, upon the payment of +prescribed rates of duties, which will be made known and enforced by our +military and naval commanders. + +While the adoption of this policy will be to impose a burden on the +enemy, and at the same time to deprive them of the revenue to be derived +from trade at such ports or places, as well as to secure it to +ourselves, whereby the expenses of the war maybe diminished, a just +regard to the general interests of commerce and the obvious advantages +of uniformity in the exercise of these belligerent rights require that +well-considered regulations and restrictions should be prepared for the +guidance of those who may be charged with carrying it into effect. + +You are therefore instructed to examine the existing Mexican tariff of +duties and report to me a schedule of articles of trade to be admitted +at such ports or places as may be at any time in our military +possession, with such rates of duty on them and also on tonnage as will +be likely to produce the greatest amount of revenue. You will also +communicate the considerations which may recommend the scale of duties +which you may propose, and will submit such regulations as you may deem +advisable in order to enforce their collection. + +As the levy of the contribution proposed is a military right, derived +from the laws of nations, the collection and disbursement of the duties +will be made, under the orders of the Secretary of War and the Secretary +of the Navy, by the military and naval commanders at the ports or places +in Mexico which may be in possession of our arms. The report requested +is therefore necessary in order to enable me to give the proper +directions to the War and Navy Departments. + +JAMES K POLK. + + + +TREASURY DEPARTMENT, _March 30, 1847_. + +The PRESIDENT. + +SIR: Your instructions of the 23d instant have been received by this +Department, and in conformity thereto I present you herewith, for your +consideration, a scale of duties proposed to be collected as a military +contribution during the war in the ports of Mexico in possession of our +Army or Navy by conquest, with regulations for the ascertainment and +collection of such duties, together with the reasons which appear to me +to recommend their adoption. + +It is clear that we must either adopt our own tariff or that of Mexico, +or establish a new system of duties. Our own tariff could not be +adopted, because the Mexican exports and imports are so different from +our own that different rates of duties are indispensable in order to +collect the largest revenue. Thus upon many articles produced in great +abundance here duties must be imposed at the lowest rate in order to +collect any revenue, whereas many of the same articles are not produced +in Mexico, or to a very inconsiderable extent, and would therefore bear +there a much higher duty for revenue. A great change is also rendered +necessary by the proposed exaction of duties on all imports to any +Mexican port in our possession from any other Mexican port occupied by +us in the same manner. This measure would largely increase the revenue +which we might collect. It is recommended, however, for reasons of +obvious safety, that this Mexican coastwise trade should be confined to +our own vessels, as well as the interior trade above any port of entry +in our possession, but that in all other respects the ports of Mexico +held by us should be freely opened at the rate of duties herein +recommended to the vessels and commerce of all the world. The _ad +valorem_ system of duties adopted by us, although by far the most just +and equitable, yet requires an appraisement to ascertain the actual +value of every article. This demands great mercantile skill, knowledge, +and experience, and therefore, for the want of skillful appraisers (a +class of officers wholly unknown in Mexico), could not at once be put +into successful operation there. If also, as proposed, these duties are +to be ascertained and collected as a military contribution through the +officers of our Army and Navy, those brave men would more easily perform +almost any other duty than that of estimating the value of every +description of goods, wares, and merchandise. + +The system of specific duties already prevails in Mexico, and may be put +by us into immediate operation; and if, as conceded, specific duties +should be more burdensome upon the people of Mexico, the more onerous +the operation of these duties upon them the sooner it is likely that +they will force their military rulers to agree to a peace. It is certain +that a mild and forbearing system of warfare, collecting no duties in +their ports in our possession on the Gulf and levying no contributions, +whilst our armies purchase supplies from them at high prices, by +rendering the war a benefit to the people of Mexico rather than an +injury has not hastened the conclusion of a peace. It may be, however, +that specific duties, onerous as they are, and heavy contributions, +accompanied by a vigorous prosecution of the war, may more speedily +insure that peace which we have failed to obtain from magnanimous +forbearance, from brilliant victories, or from proffered negotiation. +The duties, however, whilst they may be specific, and therefore more +onerous than _ad valorem_ duties, should not be so high as to defeat +revenue. + +It is impossible to adopt as a basis the tariff of Mexico, because the +duties are extravagantly high, defeating importation, commerce, and +revenue and producing innumerable frauds and smuggling. There are also +sixty articles the importation of which into Mexico is strictly +prohibited by their tariff, embracing most of the necessaries of life +and far the greater portion of our products and fabrics. + +Among the sixty prohibited articles are sugar, rice, cotton, boots and +half-boots, coffee, nails of all kinds, leather of most kinds, flour, +cotton yarn and thread, soap of all kinds, common earthenware, lard, +molasses, timber of all kinds, saddles of all kinds, coarse woolen +cloth, cloths for cloaks, ready-made clothing of all kinds, salt, +tobacco of all kinds, cotton goods or textures, chiefly such as are made +by ourselves; pork, fresh or salted, smoked or corned; woolen or cotton +blankets or counterpanes, shoes and slippers, wheat and grain of all +kinds. Such is a list of but part of the articles whose importation is +prohibited by the Mexican tariff. These prohibitions should not be +permitted to continue, because they exclude most of our products and +fabrics and prevent the collection of revenue. We turn from the +prohibitions to the actual duties imposed by Mexico. The duties are +specific throughout, and almost universally by weight, irrespective of +value; are generally protective or exorbitant, and without any +discrimination for revenue. The duties proposed to be substituted are +moderate when compared with those imposed by Mexico, being generally +reduced to a standard more than one-half below the Mexican duties. The +duties are also based upon a discrimination throughout for revenue, and, +keeping in view the customs and habits of the people of Mexico, so +different from our own, are fixed in each case at that rate which it is +believed will produce in the Mexican ports the largest amount of +revenue. + +In order to realize from this system the largest amount of revenue, it +would be necessary that our Army and Navy should seize every important +port or place upon the Gulf of Mexico or California, or on the Pacific, +and open the way through the interior for the free transit of exports +and imports, and especially that the interior passage through the +Mexican isthmus should be secured from ocean to ocean, for the benefit +of our commerce and that of all the world. This measure, whilst it would +greatly increase our revenue from these duties and facilitate +communication between our forces upon the eastern and western coasts of +Mexico, would probably lead at the conclusion of a peace to results of +incalculable importance to our own commerce and to that of all the +world. + +In the meantime the Mexican Government monopoly in tobacco, from which a +considerable revenue is realized by Mexico, together with the culture +there which yields that revenue, should be abolished, so as to diminish +the resources of that Government and augment our own by collecting the +duty upon all the imported tobacco. The Mexican interior transit duties +should also be abolished, and also their internal Government duty on +coin and bullion. The prohibition of exports and the duties upon exports +should be annulled, and especially the heavy export duty on coin and +bullion, so as to cheapen and facilitate the purchase of imports and +permit the precious metals, untaxed, to flow out freely from Mexico into +general circulation. Quicksilver and machinery for working the mines of +precious metals in Mexico, for the same reasons, should also be admitted +duty free, which, with the measures above indicated, would largely +increase the production and circulation of the precious metals, improve +our own commerce and industry and that of all neutral powers. + +In thus opening the ports of Mexico to the commerce of the world you +will present to all nations with whom we are at peace the best evidence +of your desire to maintain with them our friendly relations, to render +the war to them productive of as little injury as possible, and even to +advance their interests, so far as it safely can be done, by affording +to them in common with ourselves the advantages of a liberal commerce +with Mexico. To extend this commerce, you will have unsealed the ports +of Mexico, repealed their interior transit duties, which obstruct the +passage of merchandise to and from the coast; you will have annulled the +Government duty on coin and bullion and abolished the heavy export +duties on the precious metals, so as to permit them to flow out freely +for the benefit of mankind; you will have expunged the long list of +their prohibited articles and reduced more than one-half their duties on +imports, whilst the freest scope would be left for the mining of the +precious metals. These are great advantages which would be secured to +friendly nations, especially when compared with the exclusion of their +commerce by rigorous blockades. It is true, the duties collected from +these imports would be for the benefit of our own Government, but it is +equally true that the expenses of the war, which Mexico insists upon +prosecuting, are borne exclusively by ourselves, and not by foreign +nations. It can not be doubted but that all neutral nations will see in +the adoption of such a course by you a manifestation of your good will +toward them and a strong desire to advance those just and humane +principles which make it the duty of belligerents, as we have always +contended, to render the war in which they are engaged as little +injurious as practicable to neutral powers. + +These duties would not be imposed upon any imports into our own country, +but only upon imports into Mexico, and the tax would fall upon the +people of Mexico in the enhancement to them of the prices of these +imports. Nearly all our own products are excluded by the Mexican tariff +even in time of peace; they are excluded also during the war so far as +we continue the system of blockading any of the ports of Mexico; and +they are also excluded even from the ports not blockaded in possession +of Mexico; whereas the new system would soon open to our commerce all +the ports of Mexico as they shall fall into our military possession. +Neither our own nor foreign merchants are required to send any goods to +Mexico, and if they do so voluntarily it will be because they can make a +profit upon the importation there, and therefore they will have no right +to complain of the duties levied in the ports of Mexico upon the +consumers of those goods--the people of Mexico. The whole money +collected would inure to the benefit of our own Government and people, +to sustain the war and to prevent to that extent new loans and increased +taxation. Indeed, in view of the fact that the Government is thrown upon +the ordinary revenues for peace, with no other additional resources but +loans to carry on the war, the income to be derived from the new system, +which it is believed will be large if these suggestions are adopted, +would be highly important to sustain the credit of the Government, to +prevent the embarrassment of the Treasury, and to save the country from +such ruinous sacrifices as occurred during the last war, including the +inevitable legacy to posterity of a large public debt and onerous +taxation. The new system would not only arrest the expensive transfer +and ruinous drain of specie to Mexico, but would cause it, in duties and +in return for our exports, to reflow into our country to an amount, +perhaps, soon exceeding the $9,000,000 which it had reached in 1835 even +under the restrictive laws of Mexico, thus relieving our own people from +a grievous tax and imposing it where it should fall, upon our enemies, +the people of Mexico, as a contribution levied upon them to conquer a +peace as well as to defray the expenses of the war; whereas by admitting +our exports freely, without duty, into the Mexican ports which we may +occupy from time to time, and affording those goods, including the +necessaries of life, at less than one-half the prices which they had +heretofore paid for them, the war might in time become a benefit instead +of a burden to the people of Mexico, and they would therefore be +unwilling to terminate the contest. It is hoped also that Mexico, after +a peace, will never renew her present prohibitory and protective system, +so nearly resembling that of ancient China or Japan, but that, +liberalized, enlightened, and regenerated by the contact and intercourse +with our people and those of other civilized nations, she will continue +the far more moderate system of duties resembling that prescribed by +these regulations. + +In the meantime it is not just that Mexico, by her obstinate persistence +in this contest, should compel us to overthrow our own financial policy +and arrest this great nation in her high and prosperous career. To +reimpose high duties would be alike injurious to ourselves and to all +neutral powers, and, unless demanded by a stern necessity, ungenerous to +those enlightened nations which have adopted cotemporaneously with us a +more liberal commercial policy. The system you now propose of imposing +the burden as far as practicable upon our enemies, the people of Mexico, +and not upon ourselves or upon friendly nations, appears to be most just +in itself, and is further recommended as the only policy which is likely +to hasten the conclusion of a just and honorable peace. + +A tonnage duty on all vessels, whether our own or of neutral powers, of +$1 per ton, which is greatly less than that imposed by Mexico, is +recommended in lieu of all port duties and charges. Appended to these +regulations are tables of the rates at which foreign money is fixed by +law, as also a separate table of currencies by usage, in which a +certificate of value is required to be attached to the invoice. There is +also annexed a table of foreign weights and measures reduced to the +standard of the United States, together with blank forms to facilitate +the transaction of business. + +It is recommended that the duties herein suggested shall be collected +exclusively in gold or silver coin. These duties can only be collected +as a military contribution through the agency of our brave officers of +the Army and Navy, who will no doubt cheerfully and faithfully collect +and keep these moneys and account for them, not to the Treasury, but to +the Secretaries of War or of the Navy, respectively. + +It is recommended that these duties be performed by the commandant of +the port, whether naval or military, aided by the paymaster or purser or +other officer, the accounts of each being countersigned by the other, as +a check upon mistakes or error, in the same manner as is now the case +with the collector and naval officer of our several principal ports, +which has introduced so much order and accuracy in our system. It is +suggested that as in some cases the attention of the commandant of the +port might be necessary for the performance of other duties that he be +permitted to substitute some other officer, making known the fact to the +Secretaries of War or of the Navy, and subject to their direction. + +I have the honor to be, with great respect, your obedient servant, + +R.J. WALKER, + _Secretary of the Treasury_. + + + +WASHINGTON, _March 31, 1847_. + +SIR:[15] Being charged by the Constitution with the prosecution of the +existing war with Mexico, I deem it proper, in the exercise of an +undoubted belligerent right, to order that military contributions be +levied upon the enemy in such of their ports or other places as now are +or may be hereafter in the possession of our land and naval forces by +conquest, and that the same be collected and applied toward defraying +the expenses of the war. As one means of effecting this object, the +blockade at such conquered ports will be raised, and they will be opened +to our own commerce and that of all neutral nations in articles not +contraband of war during our military occupation of them, and duties on +tonnage and imports will be levied and collected through the agency of +our military and naval officers in command at such ports, acting under +orders from the War and Navy Departments. + +I transmit to you herewith, for your information and guidance, a copy of +a communication addressed by me to the Secretary of the Treasury on the +23d instant, instructing him to examine the existing Mexican tariff and +to report to me, for my consideration, a scale of duties which he would +recommend to be levied on tonnage and imports in such conquered ports, +together with such regulations as he would propose as necessary and +proper in order to carry this policy into effect; and also a copy of the +report of the Secretary of the Treasury made on the 30th instant in +answer to my communication to him. The scale of duties and the +regulations for their collection as military contributions exacted from +the enemy, recommended by the Secretary of the Treasury in this report, +have been approved by me. + +You will, after consulting with the Secretary of the Navy, so as to +secure concert of action between the War and Navy Departments, issue +the necessary orders to carry the measure proposed into immediate effect. + +JAMES K. POLK. + +[Footnote 15: Addressed to the Secretaries of War and of the Navy.] + + + +TREASURY DEPARTMENT, _June 10, 1847_. + +The PRESIDENT. + +SIR: In compliance with your directions, I have examined the questions +presented by the Secretary of War in regard to the military +contributions proposed to be levied in Mexico under the tariff and +regulations sanctioned by you on the 31st of March last, and +respectfully recommend the following modifications, namely: + +First. On all manufactures of cotton, or of cotton mixed with any other +material except wool, worsted, and silk, in the piece or in any other +form, a duty, as a military contribution, of 30 per cent _ad valorem_. + +Second. When goods on which the duties are levied by weight are imported +into said ports in the package, the duties shall be collected on the net +weight only; and in all cases an allowance shall be made for all +deficiencies, leakage, breakage, or damage proved to have actually +occurred during the voyage of importation, and made known before the +goods are warehoused. + +Third. The period named in the eighth of said regulations during which +the goods may remain in warehouse before the payment of duties is +extended from thirty to ninety days, and within said period of ninety +days any portion of the said goods on which the duties, as a military +contribution, have been paid may be taken, after such payment, from the +warehouse and entered free of any further duty at any other port or +ports of Mexico in our military possession, the facts of the case, with +a particular description of said goods and a statement that the duties +thereon have been paid, being certified by the proper officer of the +port or ports of reshipment. + +Fourth. It is intended to provide by the treaty of peace that all goods +imported during the war into any of the Mexican ports in our military +possession shall be exempt from any new import duty or confiscation by +Mexico in the same manner as if said goods had been imported and paid +the import duties prescribed by the Government of Mexico. + +Most respectfully, your obedient servant, + +R.J. WALKER, + _Secretary of the Treasury_. + + + +JUNE 11, 1847. + +The modifications as above recommended by the Secretary of the Treasury +are approved by me, and the Secretary of War and the Secretary of the +Navy will give the proper orders to carry them into effect. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +TREASURY DEPARTMENT, _November 5, 1847_. + +The PRESIDENT. + +SIR: The military contributions in the form of duties upon imports into +Mexican ports have been levied by the Departments of War and of the Navy +during the last six months under your order of the 31st of March last, +and in view of the experience of the practical operation of the system +I respectfully recommend the following modifications in some of its +details, which will largely augment the revenue: + +That the duty on silk, flax, hemp or grass, cotton, wool, worsted or any +manufactures of the same, or of either or mixtures thereof; coffee, +teas, sugar, molasses, tobacco and all manufactures thereof, including +cigars and cigarritos; glass, china, and stoneware, iron and steel and +all manufactures of either not prohibited, be 30 per cent _ad valorem_; +on copper and all manufactures thereof, tallow, tallow candles, soap, +fish, beef, pork, hams, bacon, tongues, butter, lard, cheese, rice, +Indian corn and meal, potatoes, wheat, rye, oats, and all other grain, +rye meal and oat meal, flour, whale and sperm oil, clocks, boots and +shoes, pumps, bootees and slippers, bonnets, hats, caps, beer, ale, +porter, cider, timber, boards, planks, scantling, shingles, laths, +pitch, tar, rosin, turpentine, spirits of turpentine, vinegar, apples, +ship bread, hides, leather and manufactures thereof, and paper of all +kinds, 20 per cent _ad valorem;_ and these reduced rates shall also +apply to all goods on which the duties are not paid remaining not +exceeding ninety days in deposit in the Mexican ports, introduced under +previous regulations enforcing military contributions. + +Yours, most respectfully, + +R.J. WALKER, + _Secretary of the Treasury_. + + + +NOVEMBER 6, 1847. + +The modifications as above recommended by the Secretary of the Treasury +are approved by me, and the Secretary of War and the Secretary of the +Navy will give the proper orders to carry them into effect. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +TREASURY DEPARTMENT, _November 16, 1847_. + +The PRESIDENT. + +SIR: With a view to augment the military contributions now collected by +the Departments of War and of the Navy under your order of the 31st of +March last, I recommend that the export duty exacted before the war by +the Government of Mexico be now collected at the port of exportation by +the same officers of the Army or Navy of the United States in the +Mexican ports in our possession who are authorized to collect the import +duties, abolishing, however, the prohibition of export established in +certain cases by the Mexican Government, as also all interior transit +duties; dispensing also with the necessity of any certificate of having +paid any duty to the Mexican Government. + +The export duty would then be as follows: + + _____________________________________________________________ + Per cent. + Gold, coined or wrought 3 + Silver, coined 6 + Silver, wrought, with or without certificate + of having paid any duty to the Mexican Government 7 + Silver, refined or pure, wrought in ingots, + with or without certificate of having paid + the Mexican Government duty 7 + Gold, unwrought or in a state of ore or dust 3 + Silver, unwrought or in a state of ore 7 + _____________________________________________________________ + +Where gold or silver in any form is taken from any interior Mexican city +in our military possession, the export duty must be paid there to the +officer of the United States commanding, and his certificate of such +prepayment must be produced at the Mexican port of exportation; +otherwise a double duty will be collected upon the arrival of such gold +or silver at the Mexican port of exportation. Whenever it is +practicable, all internal taxes of every description, whether upon +persons or property, exacted by the Government of Mexico, or by any +department, town, or city thereof, should be collected by our military +officers in possession and appropriated as a military contribution +toward defraying the expenses of the war, excluding however, all duties +on the transit of goods from one department to another, which duties, +being prejudicial to revenue and restrictive of the exchange of imports +for exports, were abolished by your order of the 31st of March last. + +Yours, most respectfully, + +R.J. WALKER + _Secretary of the Treasury_. + + + +NOVEMBER 16, 1847. + +The modifications and military contributions as above recommended by the +Secretary of the Treasury are approved by me, and the Secretary of War +and the Secretary of the Navy will give the proper orders to carry them +into effect. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + + +THIRD ANNUAL MESSAGE. + + +WASHINGTON, _December 7, 1847_. + +_Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and of the House of Representatives_: + +The annual meeting of Congress is always an interesting event. The +representatives of the States and of the people come fresh from their +constituents to take counsel together for the common good. + +After an existence of near three-fourths of a century as a free and +independent Republic, the problem no longer remains to be solved whether +man is capable of self-government. The success of our admirable system +is a conclusive refutation of the theories of those in other countries +who maintain that a "favored few" are born to rule and that the mass of +mankind must be governed by force. Subject to no arbitrary or hereditary +authority, the people are the only sovereigns recognized by our +Constitution. + +Numerous emigrants, of every lineage and language, attracted by the +civil and religious freedom we enjoy and by our happy condition, +annually crowd to our shores, and transfer their heart, not less than +their allegiance, to the country whose dominion belongs alone to the +people. + +No country has been so much favored, or should acknowledge with deeper +reverence the manifestations of the divine protection. An all-wise +Creator directed and guarded us in our infant struggle for freedom and +has constantly watched over our surprising progress until we have become +one of the great nations of the earth. + +It is in a country thus favored, and under a Government in which the +executive and legislative branches hold their authority for limited +periods alike from the people, and where all are responsible to their +respective constituencies, that it is again my duty to communicate with +Congress upon the state of the Union and the present condition of public +affairs. + +During the past year the most gratifying proofs are presented that our +country has been blessed with a widespread and universal prosperity. +There has been no period since the Government was founded when all the +industrial pursuits of our people have been more successful or when +labor in all branches of business has received a fairer or better +reward. From our abundance we have been enabled to perform the pleasing +duty of furnishing food for the starving millions of less favored +countries. + +In the enjoyment of the bounties of Providence at home such as have +rarely fallen to the lot of any people, it is cause of congratulation +that our intercourse with all the powers of the earth except Mexico +continues to be of an amicable character. + +It has ever been our cherished policy to cultivate peace and good will +with all nations, and this policy has been steadily pursued by me. + +No change has taken place in our relations with Mexico since the +adjournment of the last Congress. The war in which the United States +were forced to engage with the Government of that country still +continues. + +I deem it unnecessary, after the full exposition of them contained in my +message of the 11th of May, 1846, and in my annual message at the +commencement of the session of Congress in December last, to reiterate +the serious causes of complaint which we had against Mexico before she +commenced hostilities. + +It is sufficient on the present occasion to say that the wanton +violation of the rights of person and property of our citizens committed +by Mexico, her repeated acts of bad faith through a long series of +years, and her disregard of solemn treaties stipulating for indemnity to +our injured citizens not only constituted ample cause of war on our +part, but were of such an aggravated character as would have justified +us before the whole world in resorting to this extreme remedy. With an +anxious desire to avoid a rupture between the two countries, we forbore +for years to assert our clear rights by force, and continued to seek +redress for the wrongs we had suffered by amicable negotiation in the +hope that Mexico might yield to pacific counsels and the demands of +justice. In this hope we were disappointed. Our minister of peace sent +to Mexico was insultingly rejected. The Mexican Government refused even +to hear the terms of adjustment which he was authorized to propose, and +finally, under wholly unjustifiable pretexts, involved the two countries +in war by invading the territory of the State of Texas, striking the +first blow, and shedding the blood of our citizens on our own soil. + +Though the United States were the aggrieved nation, Mexico commenced the +war, and we were compelled in self-defense to repel the invader and to +vindicate the national honor and interests by prosecuting it with vigor +until we could obtain a just and honorable peace. + +On learning that hostilities had been commenced by Mexico I promptly +communicated that fact, accompanied with a succinct statement of our +other causes of complaint against Mexico, to Congress, and that body, by +the act of the 13th of May, 1846, declared that "by the act of the +Republic of Mexico a state of war exists between that Government and the +United States." This act declaring "the war to exist by the act of the +Republic of Mexico," and making provision for its prosecution "to a +speedy and successful termination," was passed with great unanimity by +Congress, there being but two negative votes in the Senate and but +fourteen in the House of Representatives. + +The existence of the war having thus been declared by Congress, it +became my duty under the Constitution and the laws to conduct and +prosecute it. This duty has been performed, and though at every stage of +its progress I have manifested a willingness to terminate it by a just +peace, Mexico has refused to accede to any terms which could be accepted +by the United States consistently with the national honor and interest. + +The rapid and brilliant successes of our arms and the vast extent of the +enemy's territory which had been overrun and conquered before the close +of the last session of Congress were fully known to that body. Since +that time the war has been prosecuted with increased energy, and, I am +gratified to state, with a success which commands universal admiration. +History presents no parallel of so many glorious victories achieved by +any nation within so short a period. Our Army, regulars and volunteers, +have covered themselves with imperishable honors. Whenever and wherever +our forces have encountered the enemy, though he was in vastly superior +numbers and often intrenched in fortified positions of his own selection +and of great strength, he has been defeated. Too much praise can not be +bestowed upon our officers and men, regulars and volunteers, for their +gallantry, discipline, indomitable courage, and perseverance, all +seeking the post of danger and vying with each other in deeds of noble +daring. + +While every patriot's heart must exult and a just national pride animate +every bosom in beholding the high proofs of courage, consummate military +skill, steady discipline, and humanity to the vanquished enemy exhibited +by our gallant Army, the nation is called to mourn over the loss of many +brave officers and soldiers, who have fallen in defense of their +country's honor and interests. The brave dead met their melancholy fate +in a foreign land, nobly discharging their duty, and with their +country's flag waving triumphantly in the face of the foe. Their +patriotic deeds are justly appreciated, and will long be remembered by +their grateful countrymen. The parental care of the Government they +loved and served should be extended to their surviving families. + +Shortly after the adjournment of the last session of Congress the +gratifying intelligence was received of the signal victory of Buena +Vista, and of the fall of the city of Vera Cruz, and with it the strong +castle of San Juan de Ulloa, by which it was defended. Believing that +after these and other successes so honorable to our arms and so +disastrous to Mexico the period was propitious to afford her another +opportunity, if she thought proper to embrace it, to enter into +negotiations for peace, a commissioner was appointed to proceed to the +headquarters of our Army with full powers to enter upon negotiations and +to conclude a just and honorable treaty of peace. He was not directed to +make any new overtures of peace, but was the bearer of a dispatch from +the Secretary of State of the United States to the minister of foreign +affairs of Mexico, in reply to one received from the latter of the 22d +of February, 1847, in which the Mexican Government was informed of his +appointment and of his presence at the headquarters of our Army, and +that he was invested with full powers to conclude a definitive treaty of +peace whenever the Mexican Government might signify a desire to do so. +While I was unwilling to subject the United States to another indignant +refusal, I was yet resolved that the evils of the war should not be +protracted a day longer than might be rendered absolutely necessary by +the Mexican Government. + +Care was taken to give no instructions to the commissioner which could +in any way interfere with our military operations or relax our energies +in the prosecution of the war. He possessed no authority in any manner +to control these operations. He was authorized to exhibit his +instructions to the general in command of the Army, and in the event of +a treaty being concluded and ratified on the part of Mexico he was +directed to give him notice of that fact. On the happening of such +contingency, and on receiving notice thereof, the general in command was +instructed by the Secretary of War to suspend further active military +operations until further orders. These instructions were given with a +view to intermit hostilities until the treaty thus ratified by Mexico +could be transmitted to Washington and receive the action of the +Government of the United States. The commissioner was also directed on +reaching the Army to deliver to the general in command the dispatch +which he bore from the Secretary of State to the minister of foreign +affairs of Mexico, and on receiving it the general was instructed by the +Secretary of War to cause it to be transmitted to the commander of the +Mexican forces, with a request that it might be communicated to his +Government. + +The commissioner did not reach the headquarters of the Army until after +another brilliant victory had crowned our arms at Cerro Gordo. + +The dispatch which he bore from the Secretary of War to the general in +command of the Army was received by that officer, then at Jalapa, on the +7th of May, 1847, together with the dispatch from the Secretary of State +to the minister of foreign affairs of Mexico, having been transmitted to +him from Vera Cruz. The commissioner arrived at the headquarters of the +Army a few days afterwards. His presence with the Army and his +diplomatic character were made known to the Mexican Government from +Puebla on the 12th of June, 1847, by the transmission of the dispatch +from the Secretary of State to the minister of foreign affairs of +Mexico. + +Many weeks elapsed after its receipt, and no overtures were made nor was +any desire expressed by the Mexican Government to enter into +negotiations for peace. + +Our Army pursued its march upon the capital, and as it approached it was +met by formidable resistance. Our forces first encountered the enemy, +and achieved signal victories in the severely contested battles of +Contreras and Churubusco. It was not until after these actions had +resulted in decisive victories and the capital of the enemy was within +our power that the Mexican Government manifested any disposition to +enter into negotiations for peace, and even then, as events have proved, +there is too much reason to believe they were insincere, and that in +agreeing to go through the forms of negotiation the object was to gain +time to strengthen the defenses of their capital and to prepare for +fresh resistance. + +The general in command of the Army deemed it expedient to suspend +hostilities temporarily by entering into an armistice with a view to the +opening of negotiations. Commissioners were appointed on the part of +Mexico to meet the commissioner on the part of the United States. The +result of the conferences which took place between these functionaries +of the two Governments was a failure to conclude a treaty of peace. + +The commissioner of the United States took with him the project of a +treaty already prepared, by the terms of which the indemnity required by +the United States was a cession of territory. + +It is well known that the only indemnity which it is in the power of +Mexico to make in satisfaction of the just and long-deferred claims of +our citizens against her and the only means by which she can reimburse +the United States for the expenses of the war is a cession to the United +States of a portion of her territory. Mexico has no money to pay, and no +other means of making the required indemnity. If we refuse this, we can +obtain nothing else. To reject indemnity by refusing to accept a cession +of territory would be to abandon all our just demands, and to wage the +war, bearing all its expenses, without a purpose or definite object. + +A state of war abrogates treaties previously existing between the +belligerents and a treaty of peace puts an end to all claims for +indemnity for tortious acts committed under the authority of one +government against the citizens or subjects of another unless they are +provided for in its stipulations. A treaty of peace which would +terminate the existing war without providing for indemnity would enable +Mexico, the acknowledged debtor and herself the aggressor in the war, to +relieve herself from her just liabilities. By such a treaty our citizens +who hold just demands against her would have no remedy either against +Mexico or their own Government. Our duty to these citizens must forever +prevent such a peace, and no treaty which does not provide ample means +of discharging these demands can receive my sanction. + +A treaty of peace should settle all existing differences between the two +countries. If an adequate cession of territory should be made by such a +treaty, the United States should release Mexico from all her liabilities +and assume their payment to our own citizens. If instead of this the +United States were to consent to a treaty by which Mexico should again +engage to pay the heavy amount of indebtedness which a just indemnity to +our Government and our citizens would impose on her, it is notorious +that she does not possess the means to meet such an undertaking. From +such a treaty no result could be anticipated but the same irritating +disappointments which have heretofore attended the violations of similar +treaty stipulations on the part of Mexico. Such a treaty would be but a +temporary cessation of hostilities, without the restoration of the +friendship and good understanding which should characterize the future +intercourse between the two countries. + +That Congress contemplated the acquisition of territorial indemnity when +that body made provision for the prosecution of the war is obvious. +Congress could not have meant when, in May, 1846, they appropriated +$10,000,000 and authorized the President to employ the militia and naval +and military forces of the United States and to accept the services of +50,000 volunteers to enable him to prosecute the war, and when, at their +last session, and after our Army had invaded Mexico, they made +additional appropriations and authorized the raising of additional +troops for the same purpose, that no indemnity was to be obtained from +Mexico at the conclusion of the war; and yet it was certain that if no +Mexican territory was acquired no indemnity could be obtained. It is +further manifest that Congress contemplated territorial indemnity from +the fact that at their last session an act was passed, upon the +Executive recommendation, appropriating $3,000,000 with that express +object. This appropriation was made "to enable the President to conclude +a treaty of peace, limits, and boundaries with the Republic of Mexico, +to be used by him in the event that said treaty, when signed by the +authorized agents of the two Governments and duly ratified by Mexico, +shall call for the expenditure of the same or any part thereof." The +object of asking this appropriation was distinctly stated in the several +messages on the subject which I communicated to Congress. Similar +appropriations made in 1803 and 1806, which were referred to, were +intended to be applied in part consideration for the cession of +Louisiana and the Floridas. In like manner it was anticipated that in +settling the terms of a treaty of "limits and boundaries" with Mexico a +cession of territory estimated to be of greater value than the amount of +our demands against her might be obtained, and that the prompt payment +of this sum in part consideration for the territory ceded, on the +conclusion of a treaty and its ratification on her part, might be an +inducement with her to make such a cession of territory as would be +satisfactory to the United States; and although the failure to conclude +such a treaty has rendered it unnecessary to use any part of the +$3,000,000 appropriated by that act, and the entire sum remains in the +Treasury, it is still applicable to that object should the contingency +occur making such application proper. + +The doctrine of no territory is the doctrine of no indemnity, and if +sanctioned would be a public acknowledgment that our country was wrong +and that the war declared by Congress with extraordinary unanimity was +unjust and should be abandoned--an admission unfounded in fact and +degrading to the national character. + +The terms of the treaty proposed by the United States were not only just +to Mexico, but, considering the character and amount of our claims, the +unjustifiable and unprovoked commencement of hostilities by her, the +expenses of the war to which we have been subjected, and the success +which had attended our arms, were deemed to be of a most liberal +character. + +The commissioner of the United States was authorized to agree to the +establishment of the Rio Grande as the boundary from its entrance into +the Gulf to its intersection with the southern boundary of New Mexico, +in north latitude about 32°, and to obtain a cession to the United +States of the Provinces of New Mexico and the Californias and the +privilege of the right of way across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. The +boundary of the Rio Grande and the cession to the United States of New +Mexico and Upper California constituted an ultimatum which our +commissioner was under no circumstances to yield. + +That it might be manifest, not only to Mexico, but to all other nations, +that the United States were not disposed to take advantage of a feeble +power by insisting upon wresting from her all the other Provinces, +including many of her principal towns and cities, which we had conquered +and held in our military occupation, but were willing to conclude a +treaty in a spirit of liberality, our commissioner was authorized to +stipulate for the restoration to Mexico of all our other conquests. + +As the territory to be acquired by the boundary proposed might be +estimated to be of greater value than a fair equivalent for our just +demands, our commissioner was authorized to stipulate for the payment of +such additional pecuniary consideration as was deemed reasonable. + +The terms of a treaty proposed by the Mexican commissioners were wholly +inadmissible. They negotiated as if Mexico were the victorious, and not +the vanquished, party. They must have known that their ultimatum could +never be accepted. It required the United States to dismember Texas by +surrendering to Mexico that part of the territory of that State lying +between the Nueces and the Rio Grande, included within her limits by her +laws when she was an independent republic, and when she was annexed to +the United States and admitted by Congress as one of the States of our +Union. It contained no provision for the payment by Mexico of the just +claims of our citizens. It required indemnity to Mexican citizens for +injuries they may have sustained by our troops in the prosecution of the +war. It demanded the right for Mexico to levy and collect the Mexican +tariff of duties on goods imported into her ports while in our military +occupation during the war, and the owners of which had paid to officers +of the United States the military contributions which had been levied +upon them; and it offered to cede to the United States, for a pecuniary +consideration, that part of Upper California lying north of latitude +37°. Such were the unreasonable terms proposed by the Mexican +commissioners. + +The cession to the United States by Mexico of the Provinces of New +Mexico and the Californias, as proposed by the commissioner of the +United States, it was believed would be more in accordance with the +convenience and interests of both nations than any other cession of +territory which it was probable Mexico could be induced to make. + +It is manifest to all who have observed the actual condition of the +Mexican Government for some years past and at present that if these +Provinces should be retained by her she could not long continue to hold +and govern them. Mexico is too feeble a power to govern these Provinces, +lying as they do at a distance of more than 1,000 miles from her +capital, and if attempted to be retained by her they would constitute +but for a short time even nominally a part of her dominions. This would +be especially the case with Upper California. + +The sagacity of powerful European nations has long since directed their +attention to the commercial importance of that Province, and there can +be little doubt that the moment the United States shall relinquish their +present occupation of it and their claim to it as indemnity an effort +would be made by some foreign power to possess it, either by conquest or +by purchase. If no foreign government should acquire it in either of +these modes, an independent revolutionary government would probably be +established by the inhabitants and such foreigners as may remain in or +remove to the country as soon as it shall be known that the United +States have abandoned it. Such a government would be too feeble long to +maintain its separate independent existence, and would finally become +annexed to or be a dependent colony of some more powerful state. + +Should any foreign government attempt to possess it as a colony, or +otherwise to incorporate it with itself, the principle avowed by +President Monroe in 1824, and reaffirmed in my first annual message, +that no foreign power shall with our consent be permitted to plant or +establish any new colony or dominion on any part of the North American +continent must be maintained. In maintaining this principle and in +resisting its invasion by any foreign power we might be involved in +other wars more expensive and more difficult than that in which we are +now engaged. + +The Provinces of New Mexico and the Californias are contiguous to the +territories of the United States, and if brought under the government of +our laws their resources--mineral, agricultural, manufacturing, and +commercial--would soon be developed. + +Upper California is bounded on the north by our Oregon possessions, and +if held by the United States would soon be settled by a hardy, +enterprising, and intelligent portion of our population. The Bay of San +Francisco and other harbors along the Californian coast would afford +shelter for our Navy, for our numerous whale ships, and other merchant +vessels employed in the Pacific Ocean, and would in a short period +become the marts of an extensive and profitable commerce with China and +other countries of the East. + +These advantages, in which the whole commercial world would participate, +would at once be secured to the United States by the cession of this +territory; while it is certain that as long as it remains a part of the +Mexican dominions they can be enjoyed neither by Mexico herself nor by +any other nation. + +New Mexico is a frontier Province, and has never been of any +considerable value to Mexico. From its locality it is naturally +connected with our Western settlements. The territorial limits of the +State of Texas, too, as defined by her laws before her admission into +our Union, embrace all that portion of New Mexico lying east of the Rio +Grande, while Mexico still claims to hold this territory as a part of +her dominions. The adjustment of this question of boundary is important. + +There is another consideration which induced the belief that the Mexican +Government might even desire to place this Province under the protection +of the Government of the United States. Numerous bands of fierce and +warlike savages wander over it and upon its borders. Mexico has been and +must continue to be too feeble to restrain them from committing +depredations, robberies, and murders, not only upon the inhabitants of +New Mexico itself, but upon those of the other northern States of +Mexico. It would be a blessing to all these northern States to have +their citizens protected against them by the power of the United States. +At this moment many Mexicans, principally females and children, are in +captivity among them. If New Mexico were held and governed by the United +States, we could effectually prevent these tribes from committing such +outrages, and compel them to release these captives and restore them to +their families and friends. + +In proposing to acquire New Mexico and the Californias, it was known +that but an inconsiderable portion of the Mexican people would be +transferred with them, the country embraced within these Provinces being +chiefly an uninhabited region. + +These were the leading considerations which induced me to authorize the +terms of peace which were proposed to Mexico. They were rejected, and, +negotiations being at an end, hostilities were renewed. An assault was +made by our gallant Army upon the strongly fortified places near the +gates of the City of Mexico and upon the city itself, and after several +days of severe conflict the Mexican forces, vastly superior in number to +our own, were driven from the city, and it was occupied by our troops. + +Immediately after information was received of the unfavorable result of +the negotiations, believing that his continued presence with the Army +could be productive of no good, I determined to recall our commissioner. +A dispatch to this effect was transmitted to him on the 6th of October +last. The Mexican Government will be informed of his recall, and that in +the existing state of things I shall not deem it proper to make any +further overtures of peace, but shall be at all times ready to receive +and consider any proposals which may be made by Mexico. + +Since the liberal proposition of the United States was authorized to be +made, in April last, large expenditures have been incurred and the +precious blood of many of our patriotic fellow-citizens has been shed in +the prosecution of the war. This consideration and the obstinate +perseverance of Mexico in protracting the war must influence the terms +of peace which it may be deemed proper hereafter to accept. + +Our arms having been everywhere victorious, having subjected to our +military occupation a large portion of the enemy's country, including +his capital, and negotiations for peace having failed, the important +questions arise, in what manner the war ought to be prosecuted and what +should be our future policy. I can not doubt that we should secure and +render available the conquests which we have already made, and that with +this view we should hold and occupy by our naval and military forces all +the ports, towns, cities, and Provinces now in our occupation or which +may hereafter fall into our possession; that we should press forward our +military operations and levy such military contributions on the enemy as +may, as far as practicable, defray the future expenses of the war. + +Had the Government of Mexico acceded to the equitable and liberal terms +proposed, that mode of adjustment would have been preferred. Mexico +having declined to do this and failed to offer any other terms which +could be accepted by the United States, the national honor, no less than +the public interests, requires that the war should be prosecuted with +increased energy and power until a just and satisfactory peace can be +obtained. In the meantime, as Mexico refuses all indemnity, we should +adopt measures to indemnify ourselves by appropriating permanently a +portion of her territory. Early after the commencement of the war New +Mexico and the Californias were taken possession of by our forces. Our +military and naval commanders were ordered to conquer and hold them, +subject to be disposed of by a treaty of peace. + +These Provinces are now in our undisputed occupation, and have been so +for many months, all resistance on the part of Mexico having ceased +within their limits. I am satisfied that they should never be +surrendered to Mexico. Should Congress concur with me in this opinion, +and that they should be retained by the United States as indemnity, I +can perceive no good reason why the civil jurisdiction and laws of the +United States should not at once be extended over them. To wait for a +treaty of peace such as we are willing to make, by which our relations +toward them would not be changed, can not be good policy; whilst our own +interest and that of the people inhabiting them require that a stable, +responsible, and free government under our authority should as soon as +possible be established over them. Should Congress, therefore, determine +to hold these Provinces permanently, and that they shall hereafter be +considered as constituent parts of our country, the early establishment +of Territorial governments over them will be important for the more +perfect protection of persons and property; and I recommend that such +Territorial governments be established. It will promote peace and +tranquillity among the inhabitants, by allaying all apprehension that +they may still entertain of being again subjected to the jurisdiction of +Mexico. I invite the early and favorable consideration of Congress to +this important subject. + +Besides New Mexico and the Californias, there are other Mexican +Provinces which have been reduced to our possession by conquest. These +other Mexican Provinces are now governed by our military and naval +commanders under the general authority which is conferred upon a +conqueror by the laws of war. They should continue to be held, as a +means of coercing Mexico to accede to just terms of peace. Civil as well +as military officers are required to conduct such a government. Adequate +compensation, to be drawn from contributions levied on the enemy, should +be fixed by law for such officers as may be thus employed. What further +provision may become necessary and what final disposition it may be +proper to make of them must depend on the future progress of the war and +the course which Mexico may think proper hereafter to pursue. + +With the views I entertain I can not favor the policy which has been +suggested, either to withdraw our Army altogether or to retire to a +designated line and simply hold and defend it. To withdraw our Army +altogether from the conquests they have made by deeds of unparalleled +bravery, and at the expense of so much blood and treasure, in a just war +on our part, and one which, by the act of the enemy, we could not +honorably have avoided, would be to degrade the nation in its own +estimation and in that of the world. To retire to a line and simply hold +and defend it would not terminate the war. On the contrary, it would +encourage Mexico to persevere and tend to protract it indefinitely. It +is not to be expected that Mexico, after refusing to establish such a +line as a permanent boundary when our victorious Army are in possession +of her capital and in the heart of her country, would permit us to hold +it without resistance. That she would continue the war, and in the most +harassing and annoying forms, there can be no doubt. A border warfare of +the most savage character, extending over a long line, would be +unceasingly waged. It would require a large army to be kept constantly +in the field, stationed at posts and garrisons along such a line, to +protect and defend it. The enemy, relieved from the pressure of our arms +on his coasts and in the populous parts of the interior, would direct +his attention to this line, and, selecting an isolated post for attack, +would concentrate his forces upon it. This would be a condition of +affairs which the Mexicans, pursuing their favorite system of guerrilla +warfare, would probably prefer to any other. Were we to assume a +defensive attitude on such a line, all the advantages of such a state of +war would be on the side of the enemy. We could levy no contributions +upon him, or in any other way make him feel the pressure of the war, but +must remain inactive and await his approach, being in constant +uncertainty at what point on the line or at what time he might make an +assault. He may assemble and organize an overwhelming force in the +interior on his own side of the line, and, concealing his purpose, make +a sudden assault upon some one of our posts so distant from any other as +to prevent the possibility of timely succor or reenforcements, and in +this way our gallant Army would be exposed to the danger of being cut +off in detail; or if by their unequaled bravery and prowess everywhere +exhibited during this war they should repulse the enemy, their numbers +stationed at any one post may be too small to pursue him. If the enemy +be repulsed in one attack, he would have nothing to do but to retreat to +his own side of the line, and, being in no fear of a pursuing army, may +reenforce himself at leisure for another attack on the same or some +other post. He may, too, cross the line between our posts, make rapid +incursions into the country which we hold, murder the inhabitants, +commit depredations on them, and then retreat to the interior before a +sufficient force can be concentrated to pursue him. Such would probably +be the harassing character of a mere defensive war on our part. If our +forces when attacked, or threatened with attack, be permitted to cross +the line, drive back the enemy, and conquer him, this would be again to +invade the enemy's country after having lost all the advantages of the +conquests we have already made by having voluntarily abandoned them. + +To hold such a line successfully and in security it is far from being +certain that it would not require as large an army as would be necessary +to hold all the conquests we have already made and to continue the +prosecution of the war in the heart of the enemy's country. It is also +far from being certain that the expenses of the war would be diminished +by such a policy. + +I am persuaded that the best means of vindicating the national honor and +interest and of bringing the war to an honorable close will be to +prosecute it with increased energy and power in the vital parts of the +enemy's country. + +In my annual message to Congress of December last I declared that-- + + The war has not been waged with a view to conquest, but, having been + commenced by Mexico, it has been carried into the enemy's country and + will be vigorously prosecuted there with a view to obtain an honorable + peace, and thereby secure ample indemnity for the expenses of the war, + as well as to our much-injured citizens, who hold large pecuniary + demands against Mexico. + + +Such, in my judgment, continues to be our true policy; indeed, the only +policy which will probably secure a permanent peace. + +It has never been contemplated by me, as an object of the war, to make a +permanent conquest of the Republic of Mexico or to annihilate her +separate existence as an independent nation. On the contrary, it has +ever been my desire that she should maintain her nationality, and under +a good government adapted to her condition be a free, independent, and +prosperous Republic. The United States were the first among the nations +to recognize her independence, and have always desired to be on terms of +amity and good neighborhood with her. This she would not suffer. By her +own conduct we have been compelled to engage in the present war. In its +prosecution we seek not her overthrow as a nation, but in vindicating +our national honor we seek to obtain redress for the wrongs she has done +us and indemnity for our just demands against her. We demand an +honorable peace, and that peace must bring with it indemnity for the +past and security for the future. Hitherto Mexico has refused all +accommodation by which such a peace could be obtained. + +Whilst our armies have advanced from victory to victory from the +commencement of the war, it has always been with the olive branch of +peace in their hands, and it has been in the power of Mexico at every +step to arrest hostilities by accepting it. + +One great obstacle to the attainment of peace has undoubtedly arisen +from the fact that Mexico has been so long held in subjection by one +faction or military usurper after another, and such has been the +condition of insecurity in which their successive governments have been +placed that each has been deterred from making peace lest for this very +cause a rival faction might expel it from power. Such was the fate of +President Herrera's administration in 1845 for being disposed even to +listen to the overtures of the United States to prevent the war, as is +fully confirmed by an official correspondence which took place in the +month of August last between him and his Government, a copy of which is +herewith communicated. "For this cause alone the revolution which +displaced him from power was set on foot" by General Paredes. Such may +be the condition of insecurity of the present Government. + +There can be no doubt that the peaceable and well-disposed inhabitants +of Mexico are convinced that it is the true interest of their country to +conclude an honorable peace with the United States, but the apprehension +of becoming the victims of some military faction or usurper may have +prevented them from manifesting their feelings by any public act. The +removal of any such apprehension would probably cause them to speak +their sentiments freely and to adopt the measures necessary for the +restoration of peace. With a people distracted and divided by contending +factions and a Government subject to constant changes by successive +revolutions, the continued successes of our arms may fail to secure a +satisfactory peace. In such event it may become proper for our +commanding generals in the field to give encouragement and assurances of +protection to the friends of peace in Mexico in the establishment and +maintenance of a free republican government of their own choice, able +and willing to conclude a peace which would be just to them and secure +to us the indemnity we demand. This may become the only mode of +obtaining such a peace. Should such be the result, the war which Mexico +has forced upon us would thus be converted into an enduring blessing to +herself. After finding her torn and distracted by factions, and ruled by +military usurpers, we should then leave her with a republican government +in the enjoyment of real independence and domestic peace and prosperity, +performing all her relative duties in the great family of nations and +promoting her own happiness by wise laws and their faithful execution. + +If, after affording this encouragement and protection, and after all the +persevering and sincere efforts we have made from the moment Mexico +commenced the war, and prior to that time, to adjust our differences +with her, we shall ultimately fail, then we shall have exhausted all +honorable means in pursuit of peace, and must continue to occupy her +country with our troops, taking the full measure of indemnity into our +own hands, and must enforce the terms which our honor demands. + +To act otherwise in the existing state of things in Mexico, and to +withdraw our Army without a peace, would not only leave all the wrongs +of which we complain unredressed, but would be the signal for new and +fierce civil dissensions and new revolutions--all alike hostile to +peaceful relations with the United States. Besides, there is danger, if +our troops were withdrawn before a peace was concluded, that the Mexican +people, wearied with successive revolutions and deprived of protection +for their persons and property, might at length be inclined to yield to +foreign influences and to cast themselves into the arms of some European +monarch for protection from the anarchy and suffering which would ensue. +This, for our own safety and in pursuance of our established policy, we +should be compelled to resist. We could never consent that Mexico should +be thus converted into a monarchy governed by a foreign prince. + +Mexico is our near neighbor, and her boundaries are coterminous with our +own through the whole extent across the North American continent, from +ocean to ocean. Both politically and commercially we have the deepest +interest in her regeneration and prosperity. Indeed, it is impossible +that, with any just regard to our own safety, we can ever become +indifferent to her fate. + +It may be that the Mexican Government and people have misconstrued or +misunderstood our forbearance and our objects in desiring to conclude an +amicable adjustment of the existing differences between the two +countries. They may have supposed that we would submit to terms +degrading to the nation, or they may have drawn false inferences from +the supposed division of opinion in the United States on the subject of +the war, and may have calculated to gain much by protracting it, and, +indeed, that we might ultimately abandon it altogether without insisting +on any indemnity, territorial or otherwise. Whatever may be the false +impressions under which they have acted, the adoption and prosecution of +the energetic policy proposed must soon undeceive them. + +In the future prosecution of the war the enemy must be made to feel its +pressure more than they have heretofore done. At its commencement it was +deemed proper to conduct it in a spirit of forbearance and liberality. +With this end in view, early measures were adopted to conciliate, as far +as a state of war would permit, the mass of the Mexican population; to +convince them that the war was waged, not against the peaceful +inhabitants of Mexico, but against their faithless Government, which had +commenced hostilities; to remove from their minds the false impressions +which their designing and interested rulers had artfully attempted to +make, that the war on our part was one of conquest, that it was a war +against their religion and their churches, which were to be desecrated +and overthrown, and that their rights of person and private property +would be violated. To remove these false impressions, our commanders in +the field were directed scrupulously to respect their religion, their +churches, and their church property, which were in no manner to be +violated; fhey were directed also to respect the rights of persons and +property of all who should not take up arms against us. + +Assurances to this effect were given to the Mexican people by +Major-General Taylor in a proclamation issued in pursuance of +instructions from the Secretary of War in the month of June, 1846, and +again by Major-General Scott, who acted upon his own convictions of the +propriety of issuing it, in a proclamation of the 11th of May, 1847. In +this spirit of liberality and conciliation, and with a view to prevent +the body of the Mexican population from taking up arms against us, was +the war conducted on our part. Provisions and other supplies furnished +to our Army by Mexican citizens were paid for at fair and liberal +prices, agreed upon by the parties. After the lapse of a few months it +became apparent that these assurances and this mild treatment had failed +to produce the desired effect upon the Mexican population. While the war +had been conducted on our part according to the most humane and liberal +principles observed by civilized nations, it was waged in a far +different spirit on the part of Mexico. Not appreciating our +forbearance, the Mexican people generally became hostile to the United +States, and availed themselves of every opportunity to commit the most +savage excesses upon our troops. Large numbers of the population took up +arms, and, engaging in guerrilla warfare, robbed and murdered in the +most cruel manner individual soldiers or small parties whom accident or +other causes had separated from the main body of our Army; bands of +guerrilleros and robbers infested the roads, harassed our trains, and +whenever it was in their power cut off our supplies. + +The Mexicans having thus shown themselves to be wholly incapable of +appreciating our forbearance and liberality, it was deemed proper to +change the manner of conducting the war, by making them feel its +pressure according to the usages observed under similar circumstances by +all other civilized nations. + +Accordingly, as early as the 22d of September, 1846, instructions were +given by the Secretary of War to Major-General Taylor to "draw supplies" +for our Army "from the enemy without paying for them, and to require +contributions for its support, if in that way he was satisfied he could +get abundant supplies for his forces." In directing the execution of +these instructions much was necessarily left to the discretion of the +commanding officer, who was best acquainted with the circumstances by +which he was surrounded, the wants of the Army, and the practicability +of enforcing the measure. General Taylor, on the 26th of October, 1846, +replied from Monterey that "it would have been impossible hitherto, and +is so now, to sustain the Army to any extent by forced contributions of +money or supplies." For the reasons assigned by him, he did not adopt +the policy of his instructions, but declared his readiness to do so +"should the Army in its future operations reach a portion of the country +which may be made to supply the troops with advantage." He continued to +pay for the articles of supply which were drawn from the enemy's +country. + +Similar instructions were issued to Major-General Scott on the 3d of +April, 1847, who replied from Jalapa on the 20th of May, 1847, that if +it be expected "that the Army is to support itself by forced +contributions levied upon the country we may ruin and exasperate the +inhabitants and starve ourselves." The same discretion was given to him +that had been to General Taylor in this respect. General Scott, for the +reasons assigned by him, also continued to pay for the articles of +supply for the Army which were drawn from the enemy. + +After the Army had reached the heart of the most wealthy portion of +Mexico it was supposed that the obstacles which had before that time +prevented it would not be such as to render impracticable the levy of +forced contributions for its support, and on the 1st of September and +again on the 6th of October, 1847, the order was repeated in dispatches +addressed by the Secretary of War to General Scott, and his attention +was again called to the importance of making the enemy bear the burdens +of the war by requiring them to furnish the means of supporting our +Army, and he was directed to adopt this policy unless by doing so there +was danger of depriving the Army of the necessary supplies. Copies of +these dispatches were forwarded to General Taylor for his government. + +On the 31st of March last I caused an order to be issued to our military +and naval commanders to levy and collect a military contribution upon +all vessels and merchandise which might enter any of the ports of Mexico +in our military occupation, and to apply such contributions toward +defraying the expenses of the war. By virtue of the right of conquest +and the laws of war, the conqueror, consulting his own safety or +convenience, may either exclude foreign commerce altogether from all +such ports or permit it upon such terms and conditions as he may +prescribe. Before the principal ports of Mexico were blockaded by our +Navy the revenue derived from import duties under the laws of Mexico was +paid into the Mexican treasury. After these ports had fallen into our +military possession the blockade was raised and commerce with them +permitted upon prescribed terms and conditions. They were opened to the +trade of all nations upon the payment of duties more moderate in their +amount than those which had been previously levied by Mexico, and the +revenue, which was formerly paid into the Mexican treasury, was directed +to be collected by our military and naval officers and applied co the +use of our Army and Navy. Care was taken that the officers, soldiers, +and sailors of our Army and Navy should be exempted from the operations +of the order, and, as the merchandise imported upon which the order +operated must be consumed by Mexican citizens, the contributions exacted +were in effect the seizure of the public revenues of Mexico and the +application of them to our own use. In directing this measure the object +was to compel the enemy to contribute as far as practicable toward the +expenses of the war. + +For the amount of contributions which have been levied in this form I +refer you to the accompanying reports of the Secretary of War and of the +Secretary of the Navy, by which it appears that a sum exceeding half a +million of dollars has been collected. This amount would undoubtedly +have been much larger but for the difficulty of keeping open +communications between the coast and the interior, so as to enable the +owners of the merchandise imported to transport and vend it to the +inhabitants of the country. It is confidently expected that this +difficulty will to a great extent be soon removed by our increased +forces which have been sent to the field. + +Measures have recently been adopted by which the internal as well as the +external revenues of Mexico in all places in our military occupation +will be seized and appropriated to the use of our Army and Navy. + +The policy of levying upon the enemy contributions in every form +consistently with the laws of nations, which it may be practicable for +our military commanders to adopt, should, in my judgment, be rigidly +enforced, and orders to this effect have accordingly been given. By such +a policy, at the same time that our own Treasury will be relieved from a +heavy drain, the Mexican people will be made to feel the burdens of the +war, and, consulting their own interests, may be induced the more +readily to require their rulers to accede to a just peace. + +After the adjournment of the last session of Congress events transpired +in the prosecution of the war which in my judgment required a greater +number of troops in the field than had been anticipated. The strength of +the Army was accordingly increased by "accepting" the services of all +the volunteer forces authorized by the act of the 13th of May, 1846, +without putting a construction on that act the correctness of which was +seriously questioned. The volunteer forces now in the field, with those +which had been "accepted" to "serve for twelve months" and were +discharged at the end of their term of service, exhaust the 50,000 men +authorized by that act. Had it been clear that a proper construction of +the act warranted it, the services of an additional number would have +been called for and accepted; but doubts existing upon this point, the +power was not exercised. It is deemed important that Congress should at +an early period of their session confer the authority to raise an +additional regular force to serve during the war with Mexico and to be +discharged upon the conclusion and ratification of a treaty of peace. I +invite the attention of Congress to the views presented by the Secretary +of War in his report upon this subject. + +I recommend also that authority be given by law to call for and accept +the services of an additional number of volunteers, to be exercised at +such time and to such extent as the emergencies of the service may +require. + +In prosecuting the war with Mexico, whilst the utmost care has been +taken to avoid every just cause of complaint on the part of neutral +nations, and none has been given, liberal privileges have been granted +to their commerce in the ports of the enemy in our military occupation. + +The difficulty with the Brazilian Government, which at one time +threatened to interrupt the friendly relations between the two +countries, will, I trust, be speedily adjusted. I have received +information that an envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to +the United States will shortly be appointed by His Imperial Majesty, and +it is hoped that he will come instructed and prepared to adjust all +remaining differences between the two Governments in a manner acceptable +and honorable to both. In the meantime, I have every reason to believe +that nothing will occur to interrupt our amicable relations with Brazil. + +It has been my constant effort to maintain and cultivate the most +intimate relations of friendship with all the independent powers of +South America, and this policy has been attended with the happiest +results. It is true that the settlement and payment of many just claims +of American citizens against these nations have been long delayed. The +peculiar position in which they have been placed and the desire on the +part of my predecessors as well as myself to grant them the utmost +indulgence have hitherto prevented these claims from being urged in a +manner demanded by strict justice. The time has arrived when they ought +to be finally adjusted and liquidated, and efforts are now making for +that purpose. + +It is proper to inform you that the Government of Peru has in good faith +paid the first two installments of the indemnity of $30,000 each, and +the greater portion of the interest due thereon, in execution of the +convention between that Government and the United States the +ratifications of which were exchanged at Lima on the 31st of October, +1846. The Attorney-General of the United States early in August last +completed the adjudication of the claims under this convention, and made +his report thereon in pursuance of the act of the 8th of August, 1846. +The sums to which the claimants are respectively entitled will be paid +on demand at the Treasury. + +I invite the early attention of Congress to the present condition of our +citizens in China. Under our treaty with that power American citizens +are withdrawn from the jurisdiction, whether civil or criminal, of the +Chinese Government and placed under that of our public functionaries in +that country. By these alone can our citizens be tried and punished for +the commission of any crime; by these alone can questions be decided +between them involving the rights of persons and property, and by these +alone can contracts be enforced into which they may have entered with +the citizens or subjects of foreign powers. The merchant vessels of the +United States lying in the waters of the five ports of China open to +foreign commerce are under the exclusive jurisdiction of officers of +their own Government. Until Congress shall establish competent tribunals +to try and punish crimes and to exercise jurisdiction in civil cases in +China, American citizens there are subject to no law whatever. Crimes +may be committed with impunity and debts may be contracted without any +means to enforce their payment. Inconveniences have already resulted +from the omission of Congress to legislate upon the subject, and still +greater are apprehended. The British authorities in China have already +complained that this Government has not provided for the punishment of +crimes or the enforcement of contracts against American citizens in that +country, whilst their Government has established tribunals by which an +American citizen can recover debts due from British subjects. + +Accustomed, as the Chinese are, to summary justice, they could not be +made to comprehend why criminals who are citizens of the United States +should escape with impunity, in violation of treaty obligations, whilst +the punishment of a Chinese who had committed any crime against an +American citizen would be rigorously exacted. Indeed, the consequences +might be fatal to American citizens in China should a flagrant crime be +committed by any one of them upon a Chinese, and should trial and +punishment not follow according to the requisitions of the treaty. This +might disturb, if not destroy, our friendly relations with that Empire +and cause an interruption of our valuable commerce. + +Our treaties with the Sublime Porte, Tripoli, Tunis, Morocco, and Muscat +also require the legislation of Congress to carry them into execution, +though the necessity for immediate action may not be so urgent as in +regard to China. + +The Secretary of State has submitted an estimate to defray the expense +of opening diplomatic relations with the Papal States. The interesting +political events now in progress in these States, as well as a just +regard to our commercial interests, have, in my opinion, rendered such a +measure highly expedient. + +Estimates have also been submitted for the outfits and salaries of +chargés d'affaires to the Republics of Bolivia, Guatemala, and Ecuador. +The manifest importance of cultivating the most friendly relations with +all the independent States upon this continent has induced me to +recommend appropriations necessary for the maintenance of these +missions. + +I recommend to Congress that an appropriation be made to be paid to the +Spanish Government for the purpose of distribution among the claimants +in the _Amistad_ case. I entertain the conviction that this is due to +Spain under the treaty of the 20th of October, 1795, and, moreover, that +from the earnest manner in which the claim continues to be urged so long +as it shall remain unsettled it will be a source of irritation and +discord between the two countries, which may prove highly prejudicial to +the interests of the United States. Good policy, no less than a faithful +compliance with our treaty obligations, requires that the inconsiderable +appropriation demanded should be made. + +A detailed statement of the condition of the finances will be presented +in the annual report of the Secretary of the Treasury. The imports for +the last fiscal year, ending on the 30th of June, 1847, were of the +value of $146,545,638, of which the amount exported was $8,011,158, +leaving $138,534,480 in the country for domestic use. The value of the +exports for the same period was $158,648,622, of which $150,637,464 +consisted of domestic productions and $8,011,158 of foreign articles. + +The receipts into the Treasury for the same period amounted to +$26,346,790.37, of which there was derived from customs $23,747,864.66, +from sales of public lands $2,498,335.20, and from incidental and +miscellaneous sources $100,570.51. The last fiscal year, during which +this amount was received, embraced five months under the operation of +the tariff act of 1842 and seven months during which the tariff act of +1846 was in force. During the five months under the act of 1842 the +amount received from customs was $7,842,306.90, and during the seven +months under the act of 1846 the amount received was $15,905,557.76. + +The net revenue from customs during the year ending on the 1st of +December, 1846, being the last year under the operation of the tariff +act of 1842, was $22,971,403.10, and the net revenue from customs during +the year ending on the 1st of December, 1847, being the first year under +the operations of the tariff act of 1846, was about $31,500,000, being +an increase of revenue for the first year under the tariff of 1846 of +more than $8,500,000 over that of the last year under the tariff of +1842. + +The expenditures during the fiscal year ending on the 30th of June last +were $59,451,177.65, of which $3,522,082.37 was on account of payment of +principal and interest of the public debt, including Treasury notes +redeemed and not funded. The expenditures exclusive of payment of public +debt were $55,929,095.28. + +It is estimated that the receipts into the Treasury for the fiscal year +ending on the 30th of June, 1848, including the balance in the Treasury +on the 1st of July last, will amount to $42,886,545.80, of which +$31,000,000, it is estimated, will be derived from customs, $3,500,000 +from the sale of the public lands, $400,000 from incidental sources, +including sales made by the Solicitor of the Treasury, and $6,285,294.55 +from loans already authorized by law, which, together with the balance +in the Treasury on the 1st of July last, make the sum estimated. + +The expenditures for the same period, if peace with Mexico shall not be +concluded and the Army shall be increased as is proposed, will amount, +including the necessary payments on account of principal and interest of +the public debt and Treasury notes, to $58,615,660.07. + +On the 1st of the present month the amount of the public debt actually +incurred, including Treasury notes, was $45,659,659.40. The public debt +due on the 4th of March, 1845, including Treasury notes, was +$17,788,799.62, and consequently the addition made to the public debt +since that time is $27,870,859.78. + +Of the loan of twenty-three millions authorized by the act of the 28th +of January, 1847, the sum of five millions was paid out to the public +creditors or exchanged at par for specie; the remaining eighteen +millions was offered for specie to the highest bidder not below par, by +an advertisement issued by the Secretary of the Treasury and published +from the 9th of February until the 10th of April, 1847, when it was +awarded to the several highest bidders at premiums varying from +one-eighth of 1 per cent to 2 per cent above par. The premium has been +paid into the Treasury and the sums awarded deposited in specie in the +Treasury as fast as it was required by the wants of the Government. + +To meet the expenditures for the remainder of the present and for the +next fiscal year, ending on the 30th of June, 1849, a further loan in +aid of the ordinary revenues of the Government will be necessary. +Retaining a sufficient surplus in the Treasury, the loan required for +the remainder of the present fiscal year will be about $18,500,000. If +the duty on tea and coffee be imposed and the graduation of the price of +the public lands shall be made at an early period of your session, as +recommended, the loan for the present fiscal year may be reduced to +$17,000,000. The loan may be further reduced by whatever amount of +expenditures can be saved by military contributions collected in Mexico. +The most vigorous measures for the augmentation of these contributions +have been directed and a very considerable sum is expected from that +source. Its amount can not, however, be calculated with any certainty. +It is recommended that the loan to be made be authorized upon the same +terms and for the same time as that which was authorized under the +provisions of the act of the 28th of January, 1847. + +Should the war with Mexico be continued until the 30th of June, 1849, it +is estimated that a further loan of $20,500,000 will be required for the +fiscal year ending on that day, in case no duty be imposed on tea and +coffee, and the public lands be not reduced and graduated in price, and +no military contributions shall be collected in Mexico. If the duty on +tea and coffee be imposed and the lands be reduced and graduated in +price as proposed, the loan may be reduced to $17,000,000, and will be +subject to be still further reduced by the amount of the military +contributions which may be collected in Mexico. It is not proposed, +however, at present to ask Congress for authority to negotiate this loan +for the next fiscal year, as it is hoped that the loan asked for the +remainder of the present fiscal year, aided by military contributions +which may be collected in Mexico, may be sufficient. If, contrary to +my expectation, there should be a necessity for it, the fact will be +communicated to Congress in time for their action during the present +session. In no event will a sum exceeding $6,000,000 of this amount be +needed before the meeting of the session of Congress in December, 1848. + +The act of the 30th of July, 1846, "reducing the duties on imports," has +been in force since the 1st of December last, and I am gratified to +state that all the beneficial effects which were anticipated from its +operation have been fully realized. The public revenue derived from +customs during the year ending on the 1st of December, 1847, exceeds by +more than $8,000,000 the amount received in the preceding year under the +operation of the act of 1842, which was superseded and repealed by it. +Its effects are visible in the great and almost unexampled prosperity +which prevails in every branch of business. + +While the repeal of the prohibitory and restrictive duties of the act of +1842 and the substitution in their place of reasonable revenue rates +levied on articles imported according to their actual value has +increased the revenue and augmented our foreign trade, all the great +interests of the country have been advanced and promoted. + +The great and important interests of agriculture, which had been not +only too much neglected, but actually taxed under the protective policy +for the benefit of other interests, have been relieved of the burdens +which that policy imposed on them; and our farmers and planters, under a +more just and liberal commercial policy, are finding new and profitable +markets abroad for their augmented products. Our commerce is rapidly +increasing, and is extending more widely the circle of international +exchanges. Great as has been the increase of our imports during the past +year, our exports of domestic products sold in foreign markets have been +still greater. + +Our navigating interest is eminently prosperous. The number of vessels +built in the United States has been greater than during any preceding +period of equal length. Large profits have been derived by those who +have constructed as well as by those who have navigated them. Should the +ratio of increase in the number of our merchant vessels be progressive, +and be as great for the future as during the past year, the time is not +distant when our tonnage and commercial marine will be larger than that +of any other nation in the world. + +Whilst the interests of agriculture, of commerce, and of navigation have +been enlarged and invigorated, it is highly gratifying to observe that +our manufactures are also in a prosperous condition. None of the ruinous +effects upon this interest which were apprehended by some as the result +of the operation of the revenue system established by the act of 1846 +have been experienced. On the contrary, the number of manufactories and +the amount of capital invested in them is steadily and rapidly +increasing, affording gratifying proofs that American enterprise and +skill employed in this branch of domestic industry, with no other +advantages than those fairly and incidentally accruing from a just +system of revenue duties, are abundantly able to meet successfully all +competition from abroad and still derive fair and remunerating profits. +While capital invested in manufactures is yielding adequate and fair +profits under the new system, the wages of labor, whether employed in +manufactures, agriculture, commerce, or navigation, have been augmented. +The toiling millions whose daily labor furnishes the supply of food and +raiment and all the necessaries and comforts of life are receiving +higher wages and more steady and permanent employment than in any other +country or at any previous period of our own history. + +So successful have been all branches of our industry that a foreign war, +which generally diminishes the resources of a nation, has in no +essential degree retarded our onward progress or checked our general +prosperity. + +With such gratifying evidences of prosperity and of the successful +operation of the revenue act of 1846, every consideration of public +policy recommends that it shall remain unchanged. It is hoped that the +system of impost duties which it established may be regarded as the +permanent policy of the country, and that the great interests affected +by it may not again be subject to be injuriously disturbed, as they have +heretofore been, by frequent and sometimes sudden changes. + +For the purpose of increasing the revenue, and without changing or +modifying the rates imposed by the act of 1846 on the dutiable articles +embraced by its provisions, I again recommend to your favorable +consideration the expediency of levying a revenue duty on tea and +coffee. The policy which exempted these articles from duty during peace, +and when the revenue to be derived from them was not needed, ceases to +exist when the country is engaged in war and requires the use of all +of its available resources. It is a tax which would be so generally +diffused among the people that it would be felt oppressively by none and +be complained of by none. It is believed that there are not in the list +of imported articles any which are more properly the subject of war +duties than tea and coffee. + +It is estimated that $3,000,000 would be derived annually by a moderate +duty imposed on these articles. + +Should Congress avail itself of this additional source of revenue, not +only would the amount of the public loan rendered necessary by the war +with Mexico be diminished to that extent, but the public credit and the +public confidence in the ability and determination of the Government to +meet all its engagements promptly would be more firmly established, and +the reduced amount of the loan which it may be necessary to negotiate +could probably be obtained at cheaper rates. + +Congress is therefore called upon to determine whether it is wiser to +impose the war duties recommended or by omitting to do so increase the +public debt annually $3,000,000 so long as loans shall be required to +prosecute the war, and afterwards provide in some other form to pay the +semiannual interest upon it, and ultimately to extinguish the principal. +If in addition to these duties Congress should graduate and reduce the +price of such of the public lands as experience has proved will not +command the price placed upon them by the Government, an additional +annual income to the Treasury of between half a million and a million of +dollars, it is estimated, would be derived from this source. Should both +measures receive the sanction of Congress, the annual amount of public +debt necessary to be contracted during the continuance of the war would +be reduced near $4,000,000. The duties recommended to be levied on tea +and coffee it is proposed shall be limited in their duration to the end +of the war, and until the public debt rendered necessary to be +contracted by it shall be discharged. The amount of the public debt to +be contracted should be limited to the lowest practicable sum, and +should be extinguished as early after the conclusion of the war as the +means of the Treasury will permit. + +With this view, it is recommended that as soon as the war shall be over +all the surplus in the Treasury not needed for other indispensable +objects shall constitute a sinking fund and be applied to the purchase +of the funded debt, and that authority be conferred by laws for that +purpose. + +The act of the 6th of August, 1846, "to establish a warehousing system," +has been in operation more than a year, and has proved to be an +important auxiliary to the tariff act of 1846 in augmenting the revenue +and extending the commerce of the country. Whilst it has tended to +enlarge commerce, it has been beneficial to our manufactures by +diminishing forced sales at auction of foreign goods at low prices to +raise the duties to be advanced on them, and by checking fluctuations in +the market. The system, although sanctioned by the experience of other +countries, was entirely new in the United States, and is susceptible of +improvement in some of its provisions. The Secretary of the Treasury, +upon whom was devolved large discretionary powers in carrying this +measure into effect, has collected and is now collating the practical +results of the system in other countries where it has long been +established, and will report at an early period of your session such +further regulations suggested by the investigation as may render it +still more effective and beneficial. + +By the act to "provide for the better organization of the Treasury and +for the collection, safe-keeping, and disbursement of the public +revenue" all banks were discontinued as fiscal agents of the Government, +and the paper currency issued by them was no longer permitted to be +received in payment of public dues. The constitutional treasury created +by this act went into operation on the 1st of January last. Under the +system established by it the public moneys have been collected, safely +kept, and disbursed by the direct agency of officers of the Government +in gold and silver, and transfers of large amounts have been made from +points of collection to points of disbursement without loss to the +Treasury or injury or inconvenience to the trade of the country. + +While the fiscal operations of the Government have been conducted with +regularity and ease under this system, it has had a salutary effect in +checking and preventing an undue inflation of the paper currency issued +by the banks which exist under State charters. Requiring, as it does, +all dues to the Government to be paid in gold and silver, its effect is +to restrain excessive issues of bank paper by the banks disproportioned +to the specie in their vaults, for the reason that they are at all times +liable to be called on by the holders of their notes for their +redemption in order to obtain specie for the payment of duties and other +public dues. The banks, therefore, must keep their business within +prudent limits, and be always in a condition to meet such calls, or run +the hazard of being compelled to suspend specie payments and be thereby +discredited. The amount of specie imported into the United States during +the last fiscal year was $24,121,289, of which there was retained in the +country $22,276,170. Had the former financial system prevailed and the +public moneys been placed on deposit in the banks, nearly the whole of +this amount would have gone into their vaults, not to be thrown into +circulation by them, but to be withheld from the hands of the people as +a currency and made the basis of new and enormous issues of bank paper. +A large proportion of the specie imported has been paid into the +Treasury for public dues, and after having been to a great extent +recoined at the Mint has been paid out to the public creditors and gone +into circulation as a currency among the people. The amount of gold and +silver coin now in circulation in the country is larger than at any +former period. + +The financial system established by the constitutional treasury has been +thus far eminently successful in its operations, and I recommend an +adherence to all its essential provisions, and especially to that vital +provision which wholly separates the Government from all connection with +banks and excludes bank paper from all revenue receipts. + +In some of its details, not involving its general principles, the system +is defective and will require modification. These defects and such +amendments as are deemed important were set forth in the last annual +report of the Secretary of the Treasury. These amendments are again +recommended to the early and favorable consideration of Congress. + +During the past year the coinage at the Mint and its branches has +exceeded $20,000,000. This has consisted chiefly in converting the coins +of foreign countries into American coin. + +The largest amount of foreign coin imported has been received at New +York, and if a branch mint were established at that city all the foreign +coin received at that port could at once be converted into our own coin +without the expense, risk, and delay of transporting it to the Mint for +that purpose, and the amount recoined would be much larger. + +Experience has proved that foreign coin, and especially foreign gold +coin, will not circulate extensively as a currency among the people. The +important measure of extending our specie circulation, both of gold and +silver, and of diffusing it among the people can only be effected by +converting such foreign coin into American coin. I repeat the +recommendation contained in my last annual message for the establishment +of a branch of the Mint of the United States at the city of New York. + +All the public lands which had been surveyed and were ready for market +have been proclaimed for sale during the past year. The quantity offered +and to be offered for sale under proclamations issued since the 1st of +January last amounts to 9,138,531 acres. The prosperity of the Western +States and Territories in which these lands lie will be advanced by +their speedy sale. By withholding them from market their growth and +increase of population would be retarded, while thousands of our +enterprising and meritorious frontier population would be deprived of +the opportunity of securing freeholds for themselves and their families. +But in addition to the general considerations which rendered the early +sale of these lands proper, it was a leading object at this time to +derive as large a sum as possible from this source, and thus diminish by +that amount the public loan rendered necessary by the existence of a +foreign war. + +It is estimated that not less than 10,000,000 acres of the public lands +will be surveyed and be in a condition to be proclaimed for sale during +the year 1848. + +In my last annual message I presented the reasons which in my judgment +rendered it proper to graduate and reduce the price of such of the +public lands as have remained unsold for long periods after they had +been offered for sale at public auction. + +Many millions of acres of public lands lying within the limits of +several of the Western States have been offered in the market and been +subject to sale at private entry for more than twenty years and large +quantities for more than thirty years at the lowest price prescribed by +the existing laws, and it has been found that they will not command that +price. They must remain unsold and uncultivated for an indefinite period +unless the price demanded for them by the Government shall be reduced. +No satisfactory reason is perceived why they should be longer held at +rates above their real value. At the present period an additional reason +exists for adopting the measure recommended. When the country is engaged +in a foreign war, and we must necessarily resort to loans, it would seem +to be the dictate of wisdom that we should avail ourselves of all our +resources and thus limit the amount of the public indebtedness to the +lowest possible sum. + +I recommend that the existing laws on the subject of preemption rights +be amended and modified so as to operate prospectively and to embrace +all who may settle upon the public lands and make improvements upon +them, before they are surveyed as well as afterwards, in all cases where +such settlements may be made after the Indian title shall have been +extinguished. + +If the right of preemption be thus extended, it will embrace a large and +meritorious class of our citizens. It will increase the number of small +freeholders upon our borders, who will be enabled thereby to educate +their children and otherwise improve their condition, while they will be +found at all times, as they have ever proved themselves to be in the +hour of danger to their country, among our hardiest and best volunteer +soldiers, ever ready to attend to their services in cases of emergencies +and among the last to leave the field as long as an enemy remains to be +encountered. Such a policy will also impress these patriotic pioneer +emigrants with deeper feelings of gratitude for the parental care of +their Government, when they find their dearest interests secured to them +by the permanent laws of the land and that they are no longer in danger +of losing their homes and hard-earned improvements by being brought into +competition with a more wealthy class of purchasers at the land sales. + +The attention of Congress was invited at their last and the preceding +session to the importance of establishing a Territorial government over +our possessions in Oregon, and it is to be regretted that there was no +legislation on the subject. Our citizens who inhabit that distant region +of country are still left without the protection of our laws, or any +regularly organized government. Before the question of limits and +boundaries of the Territory of Oregon was definitely settled, from the +necessity of their condition the inhabitants had established a temporary +government of their own. Besides the want of legal authority for +continuing such a government, it is wholly inadequate to protect them in +their rights of person and property, or to secure to them the enjoyment +of the privileges of other citizens, to which they are entitled under +the Constitution of the United States. They should have the right of +suffrage, be represented in a Territorial legislature and by a Delegate +in Congress, and possess all the rights and privileges which citizens of +other portions of the territories of the United States have heretofore +enjoyed or may now enjoy. + +Our judicial system, revenue laws, laws regulating trade and intercourse +with the Indian tribes, and the protection of our laws generally should +be extended over them. + +In addition to the inhabitants in that Territory who had previously +emigrated to it, large numbers of our citizens have followed them during +the present year, and it is not doubted that during the next and +subsequent years their numbers will be greatly increased. + +Congress at its last session established post routes leading to Oregon, +and between different points within that Territory, and authorized the +establishment of post-offices at "Astoria and such other places on the +coasts of the Pacific within the territory of the United States as the +public interests may require." Post-offices have accordingly been +established, deputy postmasters appointed, and provision made for the +transportation of the mails. + +The preservation of peace with the Indian tribes residing west of the +Rocky Mountains will render it proper that authority should be given by +law for the appointment of an adequate number of Indian agents to reside +among them. + +I recommend that a surveyor-general's office be established in that +Territory, and that the public lands be surveyed and brought into market +at an early period. + +I recommend also that grants, upon liberal terms, of limited quantities +of the public lands be made to all citizens of the United States who +have emigrated, or may hereafter within a prescribed period emigrate, to +Oregon and settle upon them. These hardy and adventurous citizens, who +have encountered the dangers and privations of a long and toilsome +journey, and have at length found an abiding place for themselves and +their families upon the utmost verge of our western limits, should be +secured in the homes which they have improved by their labor. + +I refer you to the accompanying report of the Secretary of War for a +detailed account of the operations of the various branches of the public +service connected with the Department under his charge. The duties +devolving on this Department have been unusually onerous and responsible +during the past year, and have been discharged with ability and success. + +Pacific relations continue to exist with the various Indian tribes, and +most of them manifest a strong friendship for the United States. Some +depredations were committed during the past year upon our trains +transporting supplies for the Army, on the road between the western +border of Missouri and Santa Fe. These depredations, which are supposed +to have been committed by bands from the region of New Mexico, have been +arrested by the presence of a military force ordered out for that +purpose. Some outrages have been perpetrated by a portion of the +northwestern bands upon the weaker and comparatively defenseless +neighboring tribes. Prompt measures were taken to prevent such +occurrences in future. + +Between 1,000 and 2,000 Indians, belonging to several tribes, have been +removed during the year from the east of the Mississippi to the country +allotted to them west of that river as their permanent home, and +arrangements have been made for others to follow. + +Since the treaty of 1846 with the Cherokees the feuds among them appear +to have subsided, and they have become more united and contented than +they have been for many years past. The commissioners appointed in +pursuance of the act of June 27, 1846, to settle claims arising under +the treaty of 1835-36 with that tribe have executed their duties, and +after a patient investigation and a full and fair examination of all the +cases brought before them closed their labors in the month of July last. +This is the fourth board of commissioners which has been organized under +this treaty. Ample opportunity has been afforded to all those interested +to bring forward their claims. No doubt is entertained that impartial +justice has been done by the late board, and that all valid claims +embraced by the treaty have been considered and allowed. This result and +the final settlement to be made with this tribe under the treaty of +1846, which will be completed and laid before you during your session, +will adjust all questions of controversy between them and the United +States and produce a state of relations with them simple, well defined, +and satisfactory. + +Under the discretionary authority conferred by the act of the 3d of +March last the annuities due to the various tribes have been paid during +the present year to the heads of families instead of to their chiefs or +such persons as they might designate, as required by the law previously +existing. This mode of payment has given general satisfaction to the +great body of the Indians. Justice has been done to them, and they are +grateful to the Government for it. A few chiefs and interested persons +may object to this mode of payment, but it is believed to be the only +mode of preventing fraud and imposition from being practiced upon the +great body of common Indians, constituting a majority of all the tribes. + +It is gratifying to perceive that a number of the tribes have recently +manifested an increased interest in the establishment of schools among +them, and are making rapid advances in agriculture, some of them +producing a sufficient quantity of food for their support and in some +cases a surplus to dispose of to their neighbors. The comforts by which +those who have received even a very limited education and have engaged +in agriculture are surrounded tend gradually to draw off their less +civilized brethren from the precarious means of subsistence by the chase +to habits of labor and civilization. + +The accompanying report of the Secretary of the Navy presents a +satisfactory and gratifying account of the condition and operations of +the naval service during the past year. Our commerce has been pursued +with increased activity and with safety and success in every quarter of +the globe under the protection of our flag, which the Navy has caused to +be respected in the most distant seas. + +In the Gulf of Mexico and in the Pacific the officers and men of our +squadrons have displayed distinguished gallantry and performed valuable +services. In the early stages of the war with Mexico her ports on both +coasts were blockaded, and more recently many of them have been captured +and held by the Navy. When acting in cooperation with the land forces, +the naval officers and men have performed gallant and distinguished +services on land as well as on water, and deserve the high commendation +of the country. + +While other maritime powers are adding to their navies large numbers of +war steamers, it was a wise policy on our part to make similar additions +to our Navy. The four war steamers authorized by the act of the 3d of +March, 1847, are in course of construction. + +In addition to the four war steamers authorized by this act, the +Secretary of the Navy has, in pursuance of its provisions, entered into +contracts for the construction of five steamers to be employed in the +transportation of the United States mail "from New York to New Orleans, +touching at Charleston, Savannah, and Havana, and from Havana to +Chagres;" for three steamers to be employed in like manner from Panama +to Oregon, "so as to connect with the mail from Havana to Chagres across +the Isthmus;" and for five steamers to be employed in like manner from +New York to Liverpool. These steamers will be the property of the +contractors, but are to be built "under the superintendence and +direction of a naval constructor in the employ of the Navy Department, +and to be so constructed as to render them convertible at the least +possible expense into war steamers of the first class." A prescribed +number of naval officers, as well as a post-office agent, are to be on +board of them, and authority is reserved to the Navy Department at all +times to "exercise control over said steamships" and "to have the right +to take them for the exclusive use and service of the United States upon +making proper compensation to the contractors therefor." + +Whilst these steamships will be employed in transporting the mails of +the United States coastwise and to foreign countries upon an annual +compensation to be paid to the owners, they will be always ready, upon +an emergency requiring it, to be converted into war steamers; and the +right reserved to take them for public use will add greatly to the +efficiency and strength of this description of our naval force. To the +steamers authorized under contracts made by the Secretary of the Navy +should be added five other steamers authorized under contracts made in +pursuance of laws by the Postmaster-General, making an addition, in the +whole, of eighteen war steamers subject to be taken for public use. As +further contracts for the transportation of the mail to foreign +countries may be authorized by Congress, this number may be enlarged +indefinitely. + +The enlightened policy by which a rapid communication with the various +distant parts of the globe is established, by means of American-built +sea steamers, would find an ample reward in the increase of our commerce +and in making our country and its resources more favorably known abroad; +but the national advantage is still greater--of having our naval +officers made familiar with steam navigation and of having the privilege +of taking the ships already equipped for immediate service at a moment's +notice, and will be cheaply purchased by the compensation to be paid for +the transportation of the mail in them over and above the postages +received. + +A just national pride, no less than our commercial interests, would Seem +to favor the policy of augmenting the number of this description of +vessels. They can be built in our country cheaper and in greater numbers +than in any other in the world. + +I refer you to the accompanying report of the Postmaster-General for a +detailed and satisfactory account of the condition and operations of +that Department during the past year. It is gratifying to find that +within so short a period after the reduction in the rates of postage, +and notwithstanding the great increase of mail service, the revenue +received for the year will be sufficient to defray all the expenses, and +that no further aid will be required from the Treasury for that purpose. + +The first of the American mail steamers authorized by the act of the 3d +of March, 1845, was completed and entered upon the service on the 1st of +June last, and is now on her third voyage to Bremen and other +intermediate ports. The other vessels authorized under the provisions of +that act are in course of construction, and will be put upon the line as +soon as completed. Contracts have also been made for the transportation +of the mail in a steamer from Charleston to Havana. + +A reciprocal and satisfactory postal arrangement has been made by the +Postmaster-General with the authorities of Bremen, and no difficulty is +apprehended in making similar arrangements with all other powers with +which we may have communications by mail steamers, except with Great +Britain. + +On the arrival of the first of the American steamers bound to Bremen at +Southampton, in the month of June last, the British post-office directed +the collection of discriminating postages on all letters and other +mailable matter which she took out to Great Britain or which went into +the British post-office on their way to France and other parts of +Europe. The effect of the order of the British post-office is to subject +all letters and other matter transported by American steamers to double +postage, one postage having been previously paid on them to the United +States, while letters transported in British steamers are subject to pay +but a single postage. This measure was adopted with the avowed object of +protecting the British line of mail steamers now running between Boston +and Liverpool, and if permitted to continue must speedily put an end to +the transportation of all letters and other matter by American steamers +and give to British steamers a monopoly of the business. A just and fair +reciprocity is all that we desire, and on this we must insist. By our +laws no such discrimination is made against British steamers bringing +letters into our ports, but all letters arriving in the United States +are subject to the same rate of postage, whether brought in British or +American vessels. I refer you to the report of the Postmaster-General +for a full statement of the facts of the case and of the steps taken by +him to correct this inequality. He has exerted all the power conferred +upon him by the existing laws. + +The minister of the United States at London has brought the subject to +the attention of the British Government, and is now engaged in +negotiations for the purpose of adjusting reciprocal postal arrangements +which shall be equally just to both countries. Should he fail in +concluding such arrangements, and should Great Britain insist on +enforcing the unequal and unjust measure she has adopted, it will become +necessary to confer additional powers on the Postmaster-General in order +to enable him to meet the emergency and to put our own steamers on an +equal footing with British steamers engaged in transporting the mails +between the two countries, and I recommend that such powers be +conferred. + +In view of the existing state of our country, I trust it may not be +inappropriate, in closing this communication, to call to mind the words +of wisdom and admonition of the first and most illustrious of my +predecessors in his Farewell Address to his countrymen. + +That greatest and best of men, who served his country so long and loved +it so much, foresaw with "serious concern" the danger to our Union of +"characterizing parties by _geographical_ discriminations--_Northern_ +and _Southern_, _Atlantic_ and _Western_--whence designing men may +endeavor to excite a belief that there is a real difference of local +interests and views," and warned his countrymen against it. + +So deep and solemn was his conviction of the importance of the Union and +of preserving harmony between its different parts, that he declared to +his countrymen in that address: + + It is of infinite moment that you should properly estimate the immense + value of your national union to your collective and individual + happiness; that you should cherish a cordial, habitual, and immovable + attachment to it; accustoming yourselves to think and speak of it as of + the palladium of your political safety and prosperity; watching for its + preservation with jealous anxiety; discountenancing whatever may suggest + even a suspicion that it can in any event be abandoned, and indignantly + frowning upon the first dawning of every attempt to alienate any portion + of our country from the rest or to enfeeble the sacred ties which now + link together the various parts. + + +After the lapse of half a century these admonitions of Washington fall +upon us with all the force of truth. It _is_ difficult to estimate the +"immense value" of our glorious Union of confederated States, to which +we are so much indebted for our growth in population and wealth and for +all that constitutes us a great and a happy nation. How unimportant are +all our differences of opinion upon minor questions of public policy +compared with its preservation, and how scrupulously should we avoid all +agitating topics which may tend to distract and divide us into +contending parties, separated by geographical lines, whereby it may be +weakened or endangered. + +Invoking the blessing of the Almighty Ruler of the Universe upon your +deliberations, it will be my highest duty, no less than my sincere +pleasure, to cooperate with you in all measures which may tend to +promote the honor and enduring welfare of our common country. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + + +SPECIAL MESSAGES. + + +WASHINGTON, _December 20, 1847_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I herewith communicate to the Senate, for their consideration and advice +with regard to its ratification, a convention between the United States +and the Swiss Confederation, signed in this city by their respective +plenipotentiaries on the 18th day of May last, for the mutual abolition +of the _droit d'aubaine_ and of taxes on emigration. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _December 21, 1847_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I submit herewith, for the consideration and constitutional action of +the Senate, two treaties with the Chippewa Indians of Lake Superior and +the Upper Mississippi, for a portion of the lands possessed by those +Indians west of the Mississippi River. The treaties are accompanied by +communications from the Secretary of War and Commissioner of Indian +Affairs, which fully explain their nature and objects. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _December 22, 1847_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I communicate herewith a report of the Secretary of the Navy, containing +a statement of the measures which have been taken in execution of the +act of 3d March last, relating to the construction of floating dry docks +at Pensacola, Philadelphia, and Kittery. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _January 4, 1848_. + +_To the House of Representatives of the United States_: + +I communicate herewith a report of the Secretary of War, with +accompanying documents, being in addition to a report made on the 27th +of February, 1847, in answer to a resolution of the House of +Representatives of the 1st of that month, requesting the President "to +communicate to the House of Representatives all the correspondence with +General Taylor since the commencement of hostilities with Mexico which +has not yet been published, and the publication of which may not be +deemed detrimental to the public service; also the correspondence of the +Quartermaster-General in relation to transportation for General Taylor's +Army; also the reports of Brigadier-Generals Hamer and Quitman of the +operations of their respective brigades on the 21st of September last" +(1846). + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _January 12, 1848_. + +_To the House of Representatives of the United States_: + +I have carefully considered the resolution of the House of +Representatives of the 4th instant, requesting the President to +communicate to that House "any instructions which may have been given to +any of the officers of the Army or Navy of the United States, or other +persons, in regard to the return of President General Lopez de Santa +Anna, or any other Mexican, to the Republic of Mexico prior or +subsequent to the order of the President or Secretary of War issued in +January, 1846, for the march of the Army from the Nueces River, across +the 'stupendous deserts' which intervene, to the Rio Grande; that the +date of all such instructions, orders, and correspondence be set forth, +together with the instructions and orders issued to Mr. Slidell at any +time prior or subsequent to his departure for Mexico as minister +plenipotentiary of the United States to that Republic;" and requesting +the President also to "communicate all the orders and correspondence of +the Government in relation to the return of General Paredes to Mexico." + +I transmit herewith reports from the Secretary of State, the Secretary +of War, and the Secretary of the Navy, with the documents accompanying +the same, which contain all the information in the possession of the +Executive which it is deemed compatible with the public interests to +communicate. + +For further information relating to the return of Santa Anna to Mexico I +refer you to my annual message of December 8, 1846. The facts and +considerations stated in that message induced the order of the Secretary +of the Navy to the commander of our squadron in the Gulf of Mexico a +copy of which is herewith communicated. This order was issued +simultaneously with the order to blockade the coasts of Mexico, both +bearing date the 13th of May, 1846, the day on which the existence of +the war with Mexico was recognized by Congress. It was issued solely +upon the views of policy presented in that message, and without any +understanding on the subject, direct or indirect, with Santa Anna or any +other person. + +General Paredes evaded the vigilance of our combined forces by land and +sea, and made his way back to Mexico from the exile into which he had +been driven, landing at Vera Cruz after that city and the castle of San +Juan de Ulloa were in our military occupation, as will appear from the +accompanying reports and documents. + +The resolution calls for the "instructions and orders issued to Mr. +Slidell at any time prior or subsequent to his departure for Mexico as +minister plenipotentiary of the United States to that Republic." The +customary and usual reservation contained in calls of either House of +Congress upon the Executive for information relating to our intercourse +with foreign nations has been omitted in the resolution before me. The +call of the House is unconditional. It is that the information requested +be communicated, and thereby be made public, whether in the opinion of +the Executive (who is charged by the Constitution with the duty of +conducting negotiations with foreign powers) such information, when +disclosed, would be prejudicial to the public interest or not. It has +been a subject of serious deliberation with me whether I could, +consistently with my constitutional duty and my sense of the public +interests involved and to be affected by it, violate an important +principle, always heretofore held sacred by my predecessors, as I should +do by a compliance with the request of the House. President Washington, +in a message to the House of Representatives of the 30th of March, 1796, +declined to comply with a request contained in a resolution of that +body, to lay before them "a copy of the instructions to the minister of +the United States who negotiated the treaty with the King of Great +Britain, together with the correspondence and other documents relative +to that treaty, excepting such of the said papers as any existing +negotiation may render improper to be disclosed." In assigning his +reasons for declining to comply with the call he declared that-- + + The nature of foreign negotiations requires caution, and their success + must often depend on secrecy; and even when brought to a conclusion a + full disclosure of all the measures, demands, or eventual concessions + which may have been proposed or contemplated would be extremely + impolitic; for this might have a pernicious influence on future + negotiations, or produce immediate inconveniences, perhaps danger and + mischief, in relation to other powers. The necessity of such caution and + secrecy was one cogent reason for vesting the power of making treaties + in the President, with the advice and consent of the Senate, the + principle on which that body was formed confining it to a small number + of members. To admit, then, a right in the House of Representatives to + demand and to have as a matter of course all the papers respecting a + negotiation with a foreign power would be to establish a dangerous + precedent. + + +In that case the instructions and documents called for related to a +treaty which had been concluded and ratified by the President and +Senate, and the negotiations in relation to it had been terminated. +There was an express reservation, too, "excepting" from the call all +such papers as related to "any existing negotiations" which it might be +improper to disclose. In that case President Washington deemed it to be +a violation of an important principle, the establishment of a "dangerous +precedent," and prejudicial to the public interests to comply with the +call of the House. Without deeming it to be necessary on the present +occasion to examine or decide upon the other reasons assigned by him for +his refusal to communicate the information requested by the House, the +one which is herein recited is in my judgment conclusive in the case +under consideration. + +Indeed, the objections to complying with the request of the House +contained in the resolution before me are much stronger than those which +existed in the case of the resolution in 1796. This resolution calls for +the "instructions and orders" to the minister of the United States to +Mexico which relate to negotiations which have not been terminated, and +which may be resumed. The information called for respects negotiations +which the United States offered to open with Mexico immediately +preceding the commencement of the existing war. The instructions given +to the minister of the United States relate to the differences between +the two countries out of which the war grew and the terms of adjustment +which we were prepared to offer to Mexico in our anxiety to prevent the +war. These differences still remain unsettled, and to comply with the +call of the House would be to make public through that channel, and to +communicate to Mexico, now a public enemy engaged in war, information +which could not fail to produce serious embarrassment in any future +negotiation between the two countries. I have heretofore communicated to +Congress all the correspondence of the minister of the United States to +Mexico which in the existing state of our relations with that Republic +can, in my judgment, be at this time communicated without serious injury +to the public interest. + +Entertaining this conviction, and with a sincere desire to furnish any +information which may be in possession of the executive department, and +which either House of Congress may at any time request, I regard it to +be my constitutional right and my solemn duty under the circumstances of +this case to decline a compliance with the request of the House +contained in their resolution. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _January 21, 1848_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I herewith communicate to the Senate, for its consideration, a declaration +of the Government of the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, bearing +date at the city of Schwerin on the 9th December, 1847, acceding +substantially to the stipulations of our treaty of commerce and +navigation with Hanover of the 10th June, 1846. + +Under the twelfth article of this treaty-- + + The United States agree to extend all the advantages and privileges + contained in the stipulations of the present treaty to one or more of + the other States of the Germanic Confederation which may wish to accede + to them, by means of an official exchange of declarations, provided that + such State or States shall confer similar favors upon the said United + States to those conferred by the Kingdom of Hanover, and observe and be + subject to the same conditions, stipulations, and obligations. + + +This declaration of the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin is submitted +to the Senate, because in its eighth and eleventh articles it is not the +same in terms with the corresponding articles of our treaty with +Hanover. The variations, however, are deemed unimportant, while the +admission of our "paddy," or rice in the husk, into Mecklenburg-Schwerin +free of import duty is an important concession not contained in the +Hanoverian treaty. Others might be mentioned, which will appear upon +inspection. Still, as the stipulations in the two articles just +mentioned in the declaration are not the same as those contained in the +corresponding articles of our treaty with Hanover, I deem it proper to +submit this declaration to the Senate for their consideration before +issuing a proclamation to give it effect. + +I also communicate a dispatch from the special agent on the part of the +United States, which accompanied the declaration. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _January 24, 1848_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +In compliance with the request of the Senate in their resolution of the +13th instant, I herewith communicate a report from the Secretary of War, +with the accompanying correspondence, containing the information called +for, in relation to forced contributions in Mexico. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _January 31, 1848_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of War, containing the +information called for in the resolution of the Senate of the 20th +instant, in relation to General Orders, No. 376,[16] issued by General +Scott at headquarters, Mexico, bearing date the 15th December last. + +JAMES K. POLK. + +[Footnote 16: Relating to the levying of taxes and duties upon Mexican +products, etc., for the support of the United States Army in Mexico.] + + + +WASHINGTON, _January 31, 1848_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I communicate herewith a report of the Secretary of War, with the +accompanying documents, in answer to the resolution of the Senate of the +24th instant, requesting to be furnished with "copies of the letters, +reports, or other communications which are referred to in the letter +of General Zachary Taylor dated at New Orleans, 20th July, 1845, and +addressed to the Secretary of War, and which are so referred to as +containing the views of General Taylor, previously communicated, in +regard to the line proper to be occupied at that time by the troops of +the United States; and any similar communication from any officer of the +Army on the same subject." + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _February 2, 1848_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +In answer to a resolution of the Senate of the 13th January, 1848, +calling for information on the subject of the negotiation between the +commissioner of the United States and the commissioners of Mexico during +the suspension of hostilities after the battles of Contreras and +Churubusco, I transmit a report from the Secretary of State and the +documents which accompany it. + +I deem it proper to add that the invitation from the commissioner of the +United States to submit the proposition of boundary referred to in his +dispatch (No. 15) of the 4th of September, 1847, herewith communicated, +was unauthorized by me, and was promptly disapproved; and this +disapproval was communicated to the commissioner of the United States +with the least possible delay. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _February 3, 1848_. + +_To the House of Representatives of the United States_: + +In compliance with the request of the House of Representatives contained +in their resolution of the 31st of January, 1848, I communicate herewith +a report of the Secretary of War, transmitting "a copy of General +Taylor's answer[17] to the letter dated January 27, 1847," addressed to +him by the Secretary of War. + +JAMES K. POLK. + +[Footnote 17: Relating to the publication of a letter from General Taylor +to General Gaines concerning the operations of the United States forces +in Mexico.] + + + +WASHINGTON, _February 8, 1848_. + +_To the House of Representatives of the United States_: + +In compliance with the resolution of the House of Representatives of the +31st January last, I communicate herewith the report of the Secretary of +State, accompanied by "the documents and correspondence not already +published relating to the final adjustment of the difficulties between +Great Britain and the United States concerning rough rice and paddy." + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _February 10, 1848_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +In answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 1st instant, requesting +to be informed whether "any taxes, duties, or imposts" have been "laid +and collected upon goods and merchandise belonging to citizens of the +United States exported by such citizens from the United States to +Mexico, and, if so, what is the rate of such duties, and what amount has +been collected, and also by what authority of law the same have been +laid and collected," I refer the Senate to my annual message of the 7th +of December last, in which I informed Congress that orders had been +given to our military and naval commanders in Mexico to adopt the +policy, as far as practicable, of levying military contributions upon +the enemy for the support of our Army. + +As one of the modes adopted for levying such contributions, it was +stated in that message that-- + + On the 31st of March last I caused an order to be issued to our military + and naval commanders to levy and collect a military contribution upon + all vessels and merchandise which might enter any of the ports of Mexico + in our military occupation, and to apply such contributions toward + defraying the expenses of the war. By virtue of the right of conquest + and the laws of war, the conqueror, consulting his own safety or + convenience, may either exclude foreign commerce altogether from all + such ports or permit it upon such terms and conditions as he may + prescribe. Before the principal ports of Mexico were blockaded by our + Navy the revenue derived from import duties under the laws of Mexico was + paid into the Mexican treasury. After these ports had fallen into our + military possession the blockade was raised and commerce with them + permitted upon prescribed terms and conditions. They were opened to the + trade of all nations upon the payment of duties more moderate in their + amount than those which had been previously levied by Mexico, and the + revenue, which was formerly paid into the Mexican treasury, was directed + to be collected by our military and naval officers and applied to the + use of our Army and Navy. Care was taken that the officers, soldiers, + and sailors of our Army and Navy should be exempted from the operations + of the order, and, as the merchandise imported upon which the order + operated must be consumed by Mexican citizens, the contributions exacted + were in effect the seizure of the public revenues of Mexico and the + application of them to our own use. In directing this measure the object + was to compel the enemy to contribute as far as practicable toward the + expenses of the war. + + +A copy of the order referred to, with the documents accompanying it, has +been communicated to Congress. + +The order operated upon the vessels and merchandise of all nations, +whether belonging to citizens of the United States or to foreigners, +arriving in any of the ports in Mexico in our military occupation. The +contributions levied were a tax upon Mexican citizens, who were the +consumers of the merchandise imported. But for the permit or license +granted by the order all vessels and merchandise belonging to citizens +of the United States were necessarily excluded from all commerce with +Mexico from the commencement of the war. The coasts and ports of Mexico +were ordered to be placed under blockade on the day Congress declared +the war to exist, and by the laws of nations the blockade applied to the +vessels of the United States as well as to the vessels of all other +nations. Had no blockade been declared, or had any of our merchant +vessels entered any of the ports of Mexico not blockaded, they would +have been liable to be seized and condemned as lawful prize by the +Mexican authorities. When the order was issued, it operated as a +privilege to the vessels of the United States as well as to those of +foreign countries to enter the ports held by our arms upon prescribed +terms and conditions. It was altogether optional with citizens of the +United States and foreigners to avail themselves of the privileges +granted upon the terms prescribed. + +Citizens of the United States and foreigners have availed themselves of +these privileges. + +No principle is better established than that a nation at war has the +right of shifting the burden off itself and imposing it on the enemy by +exacting military contributions. The mode of making such exactions must +be left to the discretion of the conqueror, but it should be exercised +in a manner conformable to the rules of civilized warfare. + +The right to levy these contributions is essential to the successful +prosecution of war in an enemy's country, and the practice of nations +has been in accordance with this principle. It is as clearly necessary +as the right to fight battles, and its exercise is often essential to +the subsistence of the army. + +Entertaining no doubt that the military right to exclude commerce +altogether from the ports of the enemy in our military occupation +included the minor right of admitting it under prescribed conditions, +it became an important question at the date of the order whether there +should be a discrimination between vessels and cargoes belonging to +citizens of the United States and vessels and cargoes belonging to +neutral nations. + +Had the vessels and cargoes belonging to citizens of the United States +been admitted without the payment of any duty, while a duty was levied +on foreign vessels and cargoes, the object of the order would have been +defeated. The whole commerce would have been conducted in American +vessels, no contributions could have been collected, and the enemy would +have been furnished with goods without the exaction from him of any +contribution whatever, and would have been thus benefited by our +military occupation, instead of being made to feel the evils of the war. +In order to levy these contributions and to make them available for the +support of the Army, it became, therefore, absolutely necessary that +they should be collected upon imports into Mexican ports, whether in +vessels belonging to citizens of the United States or to foreigners. + +It was deemed proper to extend the privilege to vessels and their +cargoes belonging to neutral nations. It has been my policy since the +commencement of the war with Mexico to act justly and liberally toward +all neutral nations, and to afford to them no just cause of complaint; +and we have seen the good consequences of this policy by the general +satisfaction which it has given. + +In answer to the inquiry contained in the resolution as to the rates of +duties imposed, I refer you to the documents which accompanied my annual +message of the 7th of December last, which contain the information. + +From the accompanying reports of the Secretary of War and the Secretary +of the Navy it will be seen that the contributions have been collected +on all vessels and cargoes, whether American or foreign; but the returns +to the Departments do not show with exactness the amounts collected on +American as distinguishable from foreign vessels and merchandise. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _February 10, 1848_. + +_To the House of Representatives of the United States_: + +In answer to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 7th +instant, I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State. + +No communication has been received from Mexico "containing propositions +from the Mexican authorities or commissioners for a treaty of peace," +except the "counter projet" presented by the Mexican commissioners to +the commissioners of the United States on the 6th of September last, +a copy of which, with the documents accompanying it, I communicated +to the Senate of the United States on the 2d instant. A copy of my +communication to the Senate embracing this "projet" is herewith +communicated. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _February 14, 1848_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit, for the consideration of the Senate with a view to +ratification, a treaty of peace, friendship, commerce, and navigation +between the United States and the Republic of Peru, concluded and signed +in this city on the 9th instant by the Secretary of State and the +minister plenipotentiary of Peru, in behalf of their respective +Governments. I also transmit a copy of the correspondence between them +which led to the treaty. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _February 15, 1848_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I communicate herewith a report of the Secretary of War, together with +the accompanying report of the Adjutant-General, in answer to the +resolution of the Senate of the 7th instant, calling for information in +regard to the order or law by virtue of which certain words "in relation +to the promotion of cadets have been inserted in the Army Register of +the United States, page 45, in the year 1847." + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _February 22, 1848_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I lay before the Senate, for their consideration and advice as to its +ratification, a treaty of peace, friendship, limits, and settlement, +signed at the city of Guadalupe Hidalgo on the 2d day of February, 1848, +by N.P. Trist on the part of the United States, and by plenipotentiaries +appointed for that purpose on the part of the Mexican Government. + +I deem it to be my duty to state that the recall of Mr. Trist as +commissioner of the United States, of which Congress was informed in my +annual message, was dictated by a belief that his continued presence +with the Army could be productive of no good, but might do much harm by +encouraging the delusive hopes and false impressions of the Mexicans, +and that his recall would satisfy Mexico that the United States had no +terms of peace more favorable to offer. Directions were given that any +propositions for peace which Mexico might make should be received and +transmitted by the commanding general of our forces to the United +States. + +It was not expected that Mr. Trist would remain in Mexico or continue in +the exercise of the functions of the office of commissioner after he +received his letter of recall. He has, however, done so, and the +plenipotentiaries of the Government of Mexico, with a knowledge of the +fact, have concluded with him this treaty. I have examined it with a +full sense of the extraneous circumstances attending its conclusion and +signature, which might be objected to, but conforming as it does +substantially on the main questions of boundary and indemnity to the +terms which our commissioner, when he left the United States in April +last, was authorized to offer, and animated as I am by the spirit which +has governed all my official conduct toward Mexico, I have felt it to be +my duty to submit it to the Senate for their consideration with a view +to its ratification. + +To the tenth article of the treaty there are serious objections, and no +instructions given to Mr. Trist contemplated or authorized its +insertion. The public lands within the limits of Texas belong to that +State, and this Government has no power to dispose of them or to change +the conditions of grants already made. All valid titles to lands within +the other territories ceded to the United States will remain unaffected +by the change of sovereignty; and I therefore submit that this article +should not be ratified as a part of the treaty. + +There may be reason to apprehend that the ratification of the +"additional and secret article" might unreasonably delay and embarrass +the final action on the treaty by Mexico. I therefore submit whether +that article should not be rejected by the Senate. + +If the treaty shall be ratified as proposed to be amended, the cessions +of territory made by it to the United States as indemnity, the provision +for the satisfaction of the claims of our injured citizens, and the +permanent establishment of the boundary of one of the States of the +Union are objects gained of great national importance, while the +magnanimous forbearance exhibited toward Mexico, it is hoped, may insure +a lasting peace and good neighborhood between the two countries. + +I communicate herewith a copy of the instructions given to Mr. Slidell +in November, 1845, as envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary +to Mexico; a copy of the instructions given to Mr. Trist in April last, +and such of the correspondence of the latter with the Department of +State, not heretofore communicated to Congress, as will enable the +Senate to understand the action which has been had with a view to the +adjustment of our difficulties with Mexico. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _February 28, 1848_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +In answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 24th instant, +requesting to be informed whether the active operations of the Army of +the United States in Mexico have been, and now are, suspended, and, if +so, by whose agency and in virtue of what authority such armistice has +been effected, I have to state that I have received no information +relating to the subject other than that communicated to the Senate with +my executive message of the 22d instant. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _February 29, 1848_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +In compliance with the resolution of the Senate passed in "executive +session" on yesterday, requesting the President "to communicate to the +Senate, _in confidence_, the entire correspondence between Mr. Trist and +the Mexican commissioners from the time of his arrival in Mexico until +the time of the negotiation of the treaty submitted to the Senate; and +also the entire correspondence between Mr. Trist and the Secretary of +State in relation to his negotiations with the Mexican commissioners; +also all the correspondence between General Scott and the Government and +between General Scott and Mr. Trist since the arrival of Mr. Trist in +Mexico which may be in the possession of the Government," I transmit +herewith the correspondence called for. These documents are very +voluminous, and presuming that the Senate desired them in reference to +early action on the treaty with Mexico submitted to the consideration of +that body by my message of the 22d instant, the originals of several of +the letters of Mr. Trist are herewith, communicated, in order to save +the time which would necessarily be required to make copies of them. +These original letters, it is requested, may be returned when the Senate +shall have no further use for them. + +The letters of Mr. Trist to the Secretary of State, and especially such +of them as bear date subsequent to the receipt by him of his letter of +recall as commissioner, it will be perceived, contain much matter that +is impertinent, irrelevant, and highly exceptionable. Four of these +letters, bearing date, respectively, the 29th December, 1847, January +12, January 22, and January 25, 1848, have been received since the +treaty was submitted to the Senate. In the latter it is stated that the +Mexican commissioners who signed the treaty derived "their full powers, +bearing date on the 30th December, 1847, from the President _ad interim_ +of the Republic (General Anaya), constitutionally elected to that office +in November by the Sovereign Constituent Congress" of Mexico. It is +impossible that I can approve the conduct of Mr. Trist in disobeying the +positive orders of his Government contained in the letter recalling him, +or do otherwise than condemn much of the matter with which he has chosen +to encumber his voluminous correspondence. Though all of his acts since +his recall might have been disavowed by his Government, yet Mexico can +take no such exception. The treaty which the Mexican commissioners have +negotiated with him, with a full knowledge on their part that he had +been recalled from his mission, _is_ binding on Mexico. + +Looking at the actual condition of Mexico, and believing that if the +present treaty be rejected the war will probably be continued at great +expense of life and treasure for an indefinite period, and considering +that the terms, with the exceptions mentioned in my message of the 22d +instant, conform substantially, so far as relates to the main question +of boundary, to those authorized by me in April last, I considered it to +be my solemn duty to the country, uninfluenced by the exceptionable +conduct of Mr. Trist, to submit the treaty to the Senate with a +recommendation that it be ratified, with the modifications suggested. + +Nothing contained in the letters received from Mr. Trist since it was +submitted to the Senate has changed my opinion on the subject. + +The resolution also calls for "all the correspondence between General +Scott and the Government since the arrival of Mr. Trist in Mexico." A +portion of that correspondence, relating to Mr. Trist and his mission, +accompanies this communication. The remainder of the "correspondence +between General Scott and the Government" relates mainly, if not +exclusively, to military operations. A part of it was communicated to +Congress with my annual message, and the whole of it will be sent to the +Senate if it shall be desired by that body. As coming within the purview +of the resolution, I also communicate copies of the letters of the +Secretary of War to Major-General Butler in reference to Mr. Trist's +remaining at the headquarters of the Army in the assumed exercise of his +powers of commissioner. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _March 2, 1848_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +In answer to a resolution of the Senate of the 3d of January, 1848, I +communicate herewith a report from the Secretary of State, with the +accompanying documents, containing the correspondence of Mr. Wise, late +minister of the United States at the Court of Brazil, relating to the +subject of the slave trade. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _March 2, 1848_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I communicate herewith a report of the Secretary of War, with the +accompanying documents, in answer to the resolution of the Senate of the +28th February, 1848, requesting the President to communicate "any +information he may at any time have received of the desire of any +considerable portion of the people of any of the States of Mexico to be +incorporated within the limits of any territory to be acquired from the +Republic of Mexico, and particularly that he communicate any late +proposition which has been made to that effect through General Wool or +any other military officer in Mexico." + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _March 7, 1848_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I lay before the Senate a letter of the 12th February, 1848, from N.P. +Trist, together with the authenticated map of the United Mexican States +and of the plan of the port of San Diego, referred to in the fifth +article of the treaty "of peace, friendship, limits, and settlement +between the United States of America and the Mexican Republic," which +treaty was transmitted to the Senate with my message of the 22d ultimo. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _March 8, 1848_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +In answer to the resolution of the Senate of this date, requesting the +President "to inform the Senate of the terms of the authority given to +Mr. Trist to draw for the $3,000,000 authorized by the act of the 2d of +March, 1847," I communicate herewith a report from the Secretary of +State, with the accompanying documents, which contain the information +called for. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _March 8, 1848_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +In answer to the resolution of the Senate of this date, requesting the +President to communicate to that body, "confidentially, any additional +dispatches which may have been received from Mr. Trist, and especially +those which are promised by him in his letter to Mr. Buchanan of the 2d +of February last, if the same have been received," I have to state that +all the dispatches which have been received from Mr. Trist have been +heretofore communicated to the Senate. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _March 10, 1848_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith reports from the Secretary of State and the +Secretary of War, with the accompanying documents, in compliance with +the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 7th February, +1848, requesting the President to communicate to that House "copies of +all correspondence between the Secretary of War and Major-General Scott, +and between the Secretary of War and Major-General Taylor, and between +Major-General Scott and N.P. Trist, late commissioner of the United +States to Mexico, and between the latter and Secretary of State, which +has not heretofore been published, and the publication of which may not +be incompatible with the public interest." + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I communicate herewith a copy of the constitution of State government +formed by a convention of the people of the Territory of Wisconsin in +pursuance of the act of Congress of August 6, 1846, entitled "An act to +enable the people of Wisconsin Territory to form a constitution and +State government, and for the admission of such State into the Union." + +I communicate also the documents accompanying the constitution, which +have been transmitted to me by the president of the convention. + +JAMES K. POLK. + +MARCH 16, 1848. + + + +WASHINGTON, _March 18, 1848_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +Sudden and severe indisposition has prevented, and may for an indefinite +period continue to prevent, Ambrose H. Sevier, recently appointed +commissioner to Mexico, from departing on his mission. The public +interest requires that a diplomatic functionary should proceed without +delay to Mexico, bearing with him the treaty between the United States +and the Mexican Republic, lately ratified, with amendments, by and with +the advice and consent of the Senate of the United States. It is deemed +proper, with this view, to appoint an associate commissioner, with full +powers to act separately or jointly with Mr. Sevier. + +I therefore nominate Nathan Clifford, of the State of Maine, to be a +commissioner, with the rank of envoy extraordinary and minister +plenipotentiary, of the United States to the Mexican Republic. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _March 22, 1848_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State, with the +accompanying documents, in compliance with the resolution of the Senate +of the 24th January, 1848, requesting the President to communicate to +the Senate, if not inconsistent with the public interest, the +correspondence of Mr. Wise, late minister of the United States at the +Court of Brazil, with the Department of State of the United States. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _March 24, 1848_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +In answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 17th instant, +requesting the President to transmit to that body "a copy of a dispatch +to the United States consul at Monterey, T.O. Larkin, esq., forwarded in +November, 1845, by Captain Gillespie, of the Marine Corps, and which was +by him destroyed before entering the port of Vera Cruz, if a +communication of the same be not, in his opinion, incompatible with the +public interests," I communicate herewith a report of the Secretary of +State, with a copy of the dispatch referred to. The resolution of the +Senate appears to have been passed in legislative session. Entertaining +the opinion that the publication of this dispatch at this time will not +be "compatible with the public interests," but unwilling to withhold +from the Senate information deemed important by that body, I communicate +a copy of it to the Senate in executive session. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +_To the House of Representatives of the United States_: + +I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State, with the +accompanying documents, in compliance with the resolution of the House +of Representatives of the 8th instant, calling for "any correspondence +which may have recently taken place with the British Government relative +to the adoption of principles of reciprocity in the trade and shipping +of the two countries." + +JAMES K. POLK. + +MARCH 24, 1848. + + + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit herewith a report of the Secretary of State, with +accompanying documents, in compliance with the resolution of the Senate +of the 17th instant, requesting the President to communicate to that +body "copies of the correspondence between the minister of the United +States at London and any authorities of the British Government in +relation to a postal arrangement between the two countries." + +JAMES K. POLK. + +MARCH 27, 1848. + + + +WASHINGTON, _April 3, 1848_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_: + +I communicate to Congress, for their information, a copy of a dispatch, +with the accompanying documents, received at the Department of State +from the envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of the United +States at Paris, giving official information of the overthrow of the +French Monarchy, and the establishment in its stead of a "provisional +government based on republican principles." + +This great event occurred suddenly, and was accomplished almost without +bloodshed. The world has seldom witnessed a more interesting or sublime +spectacle than the peaceful rising of the French people, resolved to +secure for themselves enlarged liberty, and to assert, in the majesty of +their strength, the great truth that in this enlightened age man is +capable of governing himself. + +The prompt recognition of the new Government by the representative of +the United States at the French Court meets my full and unqualified +approbation, and he has been authorized in a suitable manner to make +known this fact to the constituted authorities of the French Republic. + +Called upon to act upon a sudden emergency, which could not have been +anticipated by his instructions, he judged rightly of the feelings and +sentiments of his Government and of his countrymen, when, in advance of +the diplomatic representatives of other countries, he was the first to +recognize, so far as it was in his power, the free Government +established by the French people. + +The policy of the United States has ever been that of nonintervention in +the domestic affairs of other countries, leaving to each to establish +the form of government of its own choice. While this wise policy will be +maintained toward France, now suddenly transformed from a monarchy into +a republic, all our sympathies are naturally enlisted on the side of a +great people who, imitating our example, have resolved to be free. That +such sympathy should exist on the part of the people of the United +States with the friends of free government in every part of the world, +and especially in France, is not remarkable. We can never forget that +France was our early friend in our eventful Revolution, and generously +aided us in shaking off a foreign yoke and becoming a free and +independent people. + +We have enjoyed the blessings of our system of well-regulated +self-government for near three-fourths of a century, and can properly +appreciate its value. Our ardent and sincere congratulations are +extended to the patriotic people of France upon their noble and thus far +successful efforts to found for their future government liberal +institutions similar to our own. + +It is not doubted that under the benign influence of free institutions +the enlightened statesmen of republican France will find it to be for +her true interests and permanent glory to cultivate with the United +States the most liberal principles of international intercourse and +commercial reciprocity, whereby the happiness and prosperity of both +nations will be promoted. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _April 7, 1848_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +In answer to a resolution of the Senate of the 29th of March, 1848, +I transmit herewith a report of the Secretary of War, with the +accompanying documents, containing the information called for, relative +to the services of Captain McClellan's company of Florida volunteers in +the year 1840. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _April 7, 1848_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I communicate herewith a report of the Secretary of War, transmitting a +copy of the proceedings of the general court-martial in the case of +Lieutenant-Colonel Frémont, called for by a resolution of the Senate of +the 29th February, 1848. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _April 10, 1848_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I communicate herewith a report of the Secretary of State, together with +a copy of the correspondence between the Secretary of State and "the +Brazilian chargé d'affaires at Washington," called for by the resolution +of the Senate of the 28th of March, 1848. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _April 13, 1848_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +In answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 28th of March, 1848, I +communicate herewith a report of the Secretary of War, transmitting a +report of the head of the Ordnance Bureau, with the accompanying papers, +relative to "the repeating firearms invented by Samuel Colt." + +Such is the favorable opinion entertained of the value of this arm, +particularly for a mounted corps, that the Secretary of War, as will be +seen by his report, has contracted with Mr. Colt for 2,000 of his +pistols. He has offered to contract for an additional number at liberal +prices, but the inventor is unwilling to furnish them at the prices +offered. + +The invention for the construction of these arms being patented, the +United States can not manufacture them at the Government armories +without a previous purchase of the right so to do. The right to use his +patent by the United States the inventor is unwilling to dispose of at a +price deemed reasonable. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _April 25, 1848_. + +_To the House of Representatives of the United States_: + +I communicate herewith a report of the Secretary of War, with +accompanying documents, submitted by him as embracing the papers and the +correspondence[18] between the Secretary of War and Major-General Scott, +called for by the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 17th +instant. + +JAMES K. POLK. + +[Footnote 18: Relating to the conduct of the war in Mexico and the +recall of General Scott from the command of the Army.] + + + +WASHINGTON, _April 29, 1848_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_: + +I submit for the consideration of Congress several communications +received at the Department of State from Mr. Justo Sierra, commissioner +of Yucatan, and also a communication from the Governor of that State, +representing the condition of extreme suffering to which their country +has been reduced by an insurrection of the Indians within its limits, +and asking the aid of the United States. + +These communications present a case of human suffering and misery which +can not fail to excite the sympathies of all civilized nations. From +these and other sources of information it appears that the Indians of +Yucatan are waging a war of extermination against the white race. In +this civil war they spare neither age nor sex, but put to death, +indiscriminately, all who fall within their power. The inhabitants, +panic stricken and destitute of arms, are flying before their savage +pursuers toward the coast, and their expulsion from their country or +their extermination would seem to be inevitable unless they can obtain +assistance from abroad. + +In this condition they have, through their constituted authorities, +implored the aid of this Government to save them from destruction, +offering in case this should be granted to transfer the "dominion and +sovereignty of the peninsula" to the United States. Similar appeals for +aid and protection have been made to the Spanish and the English +Governments. + +Whilst it is not my purpose to recommend the adoption of any measure +with a view to the acquisition of the "dominion and sovereignty" over +Yucatan, yet, according to our established policy, we could not consent +to a transfer of this "dominion and sovereignty" either to Spain, Great +Britain, or any other European power. In the language of President +Monroe in his message of December, 1823-- + + We should consider any attempt on their part to extend their system to + any portion of this hemisphere as dangerous to our peace and safety. + + +In my annual message of December, 1845, I declared that-- + + Near a quarter of a century ago the principle was distinctly announced + to the world, in the annual message of one of my predecessors, that "the + American continents, by the free and independent condition which they + have assumed and maintain, are henceforth not to be considered as + subjects for future colonization by any European powers." This principle + will apply with greatly increased force should any European power + attempt to establish any new colony in North America. In the existing + circumstances of the world, the present is deemed a proper occasion to + reiterate and reaffirm the principle avowed by Mr. Monroe, and to state + my cordial concurrence in its wisdom and sound policy. The reassertion + of this principle, especially in reference to North America, is at this + day but the promulgation of a policy which no European power should + cherish the disposition to resist. Existing rights of every European + nation should be respected, but it is due alike to our safety and our + interests that the efficient protection of our laws should be extended + over our whole territorial limits, and that it should be distinctly + announced to the world as our settled policy that no future European + colony or dominion shall with our consent be planted or established on + any part of the North American continent. + + +Our own security requires that the established policy thus announced +should guide our conduct, and this applies with great force to the +peninsula of Yucatan. It is situate in the Gulf of Mexico, on the North +American continent, and, from its vicinity to Cuba, to the capes of +Florida, to New Orleans, and, indeed, to our whole southwestern coast, +it would be dangerous to our peace and security if it should become a +colony of any European nation. + +We have now authentic information that if the aid asked from the United +States be not granted such aid will probably be obtained from some +European power, which may hereafter assert a claim to "dominion and +sovereignty" over Yucatan. + +Our existing relations with Yucatan are of a peculiar character, as will +be perceived from the note of the Secretary of State to their +commissioner dated on the 24th of December last, a copy of which is +herewith transmitted. Yucatan has never declared her independence, and +we treated her as a State of the Mexican Republic. For this reason we +have never officially received her commissioner; but whilst this is the +case, we have to a considerable extent recognized her as a neutral in +our war with Mexico. Whilst still considering Yucatan as a portion of +Mexico, if we had troops to spare for this purpose I would deem it +proper, during the continuance of the war with Mexico, to occupy and +hold military possession of her territory and to defend the white +inhabitants against the incursions of the Indians, in the same way that +we have employed our troops in other States of the Mexican Republic in +our possession in repelling the attacks of savages upon the inhabitants +who have maintained their neutrality in the war. But, unfortunately, we +can not at the present time, without serious danger, withdraw our forces +from other portions of the Mexican territory now in our occupation and +send them to Yucatan. All that can be done under existing circumstances +is to employ our naval forces in the Gulf not required at other points +to afford them relief; but it is not to be expected that any adequate +protection can thus be afforded, as the operations of such naval forces +must of necessity be confined to the coast. + +I have considered it proper to communicate the information contained in +the accompanying correspondence, and I submit to the wisdom of Congress +to adopt such measures as in their judgment may be expedient to prevent +Yucatan from becoming a colony of any European power, which in no event +could be permitted by the United States, and at the same time to rescue +the white race from extermination or expulsion from their country. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _May 5, 1848_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I communicate herewith a report from the Secretary of State, together +with the correspondence "between the Secretary of State and Don Justo +Sierra, the representative of Yucatan," called for by the resolution of +the Senate of the 4th instant. + +I communicate also additional documents relating to the same subject. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _May 8, 1848_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I communicate herewith a report of the Secretary of War, together with +the accompanying documents, in compliance with the resolution of the +Senate of the 25th April, requesting the President to cause to be sent +to the Senate a copy of the opinion of the Attorney-General, with copies +of the accompanying papers, on the claim made by the Choctaw Indians for +$5,000, with interest thereon from the date of the transfer, being the +difference between the cost of the stock and the par value thereof +transferred to them by the Chickasaws under the convention of the 17th +of January, 1837. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _May 9, 1848_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +In answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 8th instant, requesting +further information in relation to the condition of Yucatan, I transmit +herewith a report of the Secretary of the Navy, with the accompanying +copies of communications from officers of the Navy on the subject. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _May 9, 1848_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I herewith communicate to the Senate, for their consideration with a +view to its ratification, a convention for the extension of certain +stipulations[19] contained in the treaty of commerce and navigation of +August 27, 1829, between the United States and Austria, concluded and +signed in this city on the 8th instant by the respective +plenipotentiaries. + +JAMES K. POLK. + +[Footnote 19: Relating to disposal of property, etc.] + + + +WASHINGTON, _May 15, 1848_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I communicate herewith a report from the Secretary of the Navy, together +with the accompanying documents, in compliance with the resolution of +the Senate of the 13th instant, requesting information as to the +measures taken for the protection of the white population of Yucatan by +the naval forces of the United States. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _May 19, 1848_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_: + +I transmit for the information of Congress a communication from the +Secretary of War and a report from the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, +showing the result of the settlement required by the treaty of August, +1846, with the Cherokees, and the appropriations requisite to carry the +provisions of that treaty into effect. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _May 29, 1848_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_: + +I lay before Congress the accompanying memorial and papers, which have +been transmitted to me, by a special messenger employed for that +purpose, by the governor and legislative assembly of Oregon Territory, +who constitute the temporary government which the inhabitants of that +distant region of our country have, from the necessity of their +condition, organized for themselves. The memorialists are citizens of +the United States. They express ardent attachment to their native land, +and in their present perilous and distressed situation they earnestly +invoke the aid and protection of their Government. + +They represent that "the proud and powerful tribes of Indians" residing +in their vicinity have recently raised "the war whoop and crimsoned +their tomahawks in the blood of their citizens;" that they apprehend +that "many of the powerful tribes inhabiting the upper valley of the +Columbia have formed an alliance for the purpose of carrying on +hostilities against their settlements;" that the number of the white +population is far inferior to that of the savages; that they are +deficient in arms and money, and fear that they do not possess strength +to repel the "attack of so formidable a foe and protect their families +and property from violence and rapine." They conclude their appeal to +the Government of the United States for relief by declaring: + + If it be at all the intention of our honored parent to spread her + guardian wing over her sons and daughters in Oregon, she surely will not + refuse to do it now, when they are struggling with all the ills of a + weak and temporary government, and when perils are daily thickening + around them and preparing to burst upon their heads. When the ensuing + summer's sun shall have dispelled the snow from the mountains, we shall + look with glowing hope and restless anxiety for the coming of your laws + and your arms. + + +In my message of the 5th of August, 1846, communicating "a copy of the +convention for the settlement and adjustment of the Oregon boundary," +I recommended to Congress that "provision should be made by law, at +the earliest practicable period, for the organization of a Territorial +government in Oregon." In my annual message of December, 1846, and again +in December, 1847, this recommendation was repeated. + +The population of Oregon is believed to exceed 12,000 souls, and it is +known that it will be increased by a large number of emigrants during +the present season. The facts set forth in the accompanying memorial and +papers show that the dangers to which our fellow-citizens are exposed +are so imminent that I deem it to be my duty again to impress on +Congress the strong claim which the inhabitants of that distant country +have to the benefit of our laws and to the protection of our Government. + +I therefore again invite the attention of Congress to the subject, and +recommend that laws be promptly passed establishing a Territorial +government and granting authority to raise an adequate volunteer force +for the defense and protection of its inhabitants. It is believed that a +regiment of mounted men, with such additional force as may be raised in +Oregon, will be sufficient to afford the required protection. It is +recommended that the forces raised for this purpose should engage to +serve for twelve months, unless sooner discharged. No doubt is +entertained that, with proper inducements in land bounties, such a force +can be raised in a short time. Upon the expiration of their service many +of them will doubtless desire to remain in the country and settle upon +the land which they may receive as bounty. It is deemed important that +provision be made for the appointment of a suitable number of Indian +agents to reside among the various tribes in Oregon, and that +appropriations be made to enable them to treat with these tribes with a +view to restore and preserve peace between them and the white +inhabitants. + +Should the laws recommended be promptly passed, the measures for their +execution may be completed during the present season, and before the +severity of winter will interpose obstacles in crossing the Rocky +Mountains. If not promptly passed, a delay of another year will be the +consequence, and may prove destructive to the white settlements in +Oregon. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _May 31, 1848_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit herewith reports from the Secretary of State and the +Secretary of the Navy, with the accompanying correspondence, which +contains the information called for by the Senate in their resolution of +the 30th instant, relating to the existing condition of affairs in +Yucatan. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _June 12, 1848_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I communicate herewith a report of the Secretary of State, together with +the accompanying documents, in compliance with the resolution of the +Senate of the 31st ultimo, "requesting the President to communicate the +correspondence not heretofore communicated between the Secretary of +State and the minister of the United States at Paris since the recent +change in the Government of France." + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _June 23, 1848_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I communicate herewith a report of the Secretary of War, with the +accompanying documents, in answer to a resolution of the Senate of the +21st instant, requesting the President to communicate to the Senate, in +executive session, as early as practicable, the papers heretofore in the +possession of the Senate and returned to the War Department, together +with a statement from the Adjutant-General of the Army as to the merits +or demerits of the claim of James W. Schaumburg to be restored to rank +in the Army. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _July 5, 1848_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I submit herewith, for such action as the Senate shall deem proper, a +report of the Secretary of War, suggesting a discrepancy between the +resolutions of the Senate of the 15th and the 27th ultimo, advising and +consenting to certain appointments and promotions in the Army of the +United States. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WAR DEPARTMENT, + +_Washington, July 1, 1848_. + +The PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. + +SIR: I have the honor to submit herewith a report from the +Adjutant-General of the Army, inviting attention to a difficulty arising +from the terms of certain confirmations made by the resolutions of the +Senate of the 15th and 27th ultimo, the former advising and consenting +to the reappointment of Captain Edward Deas, Fourth Artillery, who had +been dismissed the service, and the latter advising and consenting to +the promotion of First Lieutenant Joseph Roberts to be captain, _vice_ +Deas, dismissed, and Second Lieutenant John A. Brown to be first +lieutenant, _vice_ Roberts, promoted. + +Very respectfully, your obedient servant, + +W.L. MARCY, + _Secretary of War_. + + + +ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE, + _Washington, June 29, 1848_. + +Hon. W.L. MARCY, + _Secretary of War_. + +SIR: In a list of confirmations of regular promotions just received from +the Senate, dated the 27th instant, it is observed, under the heading +"Fourth Regiment of Artillery," that First Lieutenant Joseph Roberts is +confirmed as a captain, _vice_ Deas, dismissed, and Second Lieutenant +John A. Brown as first lieutenant, _vice_ Roberts, promoted. + +The President, having decided to reinstate Captain Deas, nominated him +for restoration to the Senate the 12th instant, withdrawing, as the +records show, at the same time the names of Lieutenants Roberts and +Brown. This nomination of Captain Deas was confirmed the 15th of June, +and he has been commissioned accordingly. I respectfully bring this +matter to your notice under the impression that as the resolutions of +June 15 and June 27 conflict with each other it may be the wish of the +Senate to reconcile them by rescinding that portion of the latter which +advises and consents to the promotions of Lieutenants Roberts and Brown. + +Respectfully submitted. + +R. JONES, + _Adjutant-General_. + + + +WASHINGTON, _July 6, 1848_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_: + +I lay before Congress copies of a treaty of peace, friendship, limits, +and settlement between the United States and the Mexican Republic, the +ratifications of which were duly exchanged at the city of Queretaro, in +Mexico, on the 30th day of May, 1848. + +The war in which our country was reluctantly involved, in the necessary +vindication of the national rights and honor, has been thus terminated, +and I congratulate Congress and our common constituents upon the +restoration of an honorable peace. + +The extensive and valuable territories ceded by Mexico to the United +States constitute indemnity for the past, and the brilliant achievements +and signal successes of our arms will be a guaranty of security for the +future, by convincing all nations that our rights must be respected. The +results of the war with Mexico have given to the United States a +national character abroad which our country never before enjoyed. Our +power and our resources have become known and are respected throughout +the world, and we shall probably be saved from the necessity of engaging +in another foreign war for a long series of years. It is a subject of +congratulation that we have passed through a war of more than two years' +duration with the business of the country uninterrupted, with our +resources unexhausted, and the public credit unimpaired. + +I communicate for the information of Congress the accompanying documents +and correspondence, relating to the negotiation and ratification of the +treaty. + +Before the treaty can be fully executed on the part of the United States +legislation will be required. + +It will be proper to make the necessary appropriations for the payment +of the $12,000,000 stipulated by the twelfth article to be paid to +Mexico in four equal annual installments. Three million dollars were +appropriated by the act of March 3, 1847, and that sum was paid to the +Mexican Government after the exchange of the ratifications of the +treaty. + +The fifth article of the treaty provides that-- + + In order to designate the boundary line with due precision upon + authoritative maps, and to establish upon the ground landmarks which + shall show the limits of both Republics as described in the present + article, the two Governments shall each appoint a commissioner and a + surveyor, who, before the expiration of one year from the date of the + exchange of ratifications of this treaty, shall meet at the port of San + Diego and proceed to run and mark the said boundary in its whole course + to the mouth of the Rio Bravo del Norte. + + +It will be necessary that provision should be made by law for the +appointment of a commissioner and surveyor on the part of the United +States to act in conjunction with a commissioner and surveyor appointed +by Mexico in executing the stipulations of this article. + +It will be proper also to provide by law for the appointment of a "board +of commissioners" to adjudicate and decide upon all claims of our +citizens against the Mexican Government, which by the treaty have been +assumed by the United States. + +New Mexico and Upper California have been ceded by Mexico to the United +States, and now constitute a part of our country. Embracing nearly ten +degrees of latitude, lying adjacent to the Oregon Territory, and +extending from the Pacific Ocean to the Rio Grande, a mean distance of +nearly 1,000 miles, it would be difficult to estimate the value of these +possessions to the United States. They constitute of themselves a +country large enough for a great empire, and their acquisition is second +only in importance to that of Louisiana in 1803. Rich in mineral and +agricultural resources, with a climate of great salubrity, they embrace +the most important ports on the whole Pacific coast of the continent of +North America. The possession of the ports of San Diego and Monterey and +the Bay of San Francisco will enable the United States to command the +already valuable and rapidly increasing commerce of the Pacific. The +number of our whale ships alone now employed in that sea exceeds 700, +requiring more than 20,000 seamen to navigate them, while the capital +invested in this particular branch of commerce is estimated at not less +than $40,000,000. The excellent harbors of Upper California will under +our flag afford security and repose to our commercial marine, and +American mechanics will soon furnish ready means of shipbuilding and +repair, which are now so much wanted in that distant sea. + +By the acquisition of these possessions we are brought into immediate +proximity with the west coast of America, from Cape Horn to the Russian +possessions north of Oregon, with the islands of the Pacific Ocean, and +by a direct voyage in steamers we will be in less than thirty days of +Canton and other ports of China. + +In this vast region, whose rich resources are soon to be developed by +American energy and enterprise, great must be the augmentation of our +commerce, and with it new and profitable demands for mechanic labor in +all its branches and new and valuable markets for our manufactures and +agricultural products. + +While the war has been conducted with great humanity and forbearance and +with complete success on our part, the peace has been concluded on terms +the most liberal and magnanimous to Mexico. In her hands the territories +now ceded had remained, and, it is believed, would have continued to +remain, almost unoccupied, and of little value to her or to any other +nation, whilst as a part of our Union they will be productive of vast +benefits to the United States, to the commercial world, and the general +interests of mankind. + +The immediate establishment of Territorial governments and the extension +of our laws over these valuable possessions are deemed to be not only +important, but indispensable to preserve order and the due +administration of justice within their limits, to afford protection to +the inhabitants, and to facilitate the development of the vast resources +and wealth which their acquisition has added to our country. + +The war with Mexico having terminated, the power of the Executive to +establish or to continue temporary civil governments over these +territories, which existed under the laws of nations whilst they were +regarded as conquered provinces in our military occupation, has ceased. +By their cession to the United States Mexico has no longer any power +over them, and until Congress shall act the inhabitants will be without +any organized government. Should they be left in this condition, +confusion and anarchy will be likely to prevail. + +Foreign commerce to a considerable amount is now carried on in the ports +of Upper California, which will require to be regulated by our laws. As +soon as our system shall be extended over this commerce, a revenue of +considerable amount will be at once collected, and it is not doubted +that it will be annually increased. For these and other obvious reasons +I deem it to be my duty earnestly to recommend the action of Congress on +the subject at the present session. + +In organizing governments over these territories, fraught with such vast +advantages to every portion of our Union, I invoke that spirit of +concession, conciliation, and compromise in your deliberations in which +the Constitution was framed, in which it should be administered, and +which is so indispensable to preserve and perpetuate the harmony and +union of the States. We should never forget that this Union of +confederated States was established and cemented by kindred blood and by +the common toils, sufferings, dangers, and triumphs of all its parts, +and has been the ever-augmenting source of our national greatness and of +all our blessings. + +There has, perhaps, been no period since the warning so impressively +given to his countrymen by Washington to guard against geographical +divisions and sectional parties which appeals with greater force than +the present to the patriotic, sober-minded, and reflecting of all +parties and of all sections of our country. Who can calculate the value +of our glorious Union? It is a model and example of free government to +all the world, and is the star of hope and haven of rest to the +oppressed of every clime. By its preservation we have been rapidly +advanced as a nation to a height of strength, power, and happiness +without a parallel in the history of the world. As we extend its +blessings over new regions, shall we be so unwise as to endanger its +existence by geographical divisions and dissensions? + +With a view to encourage the early settlement of these distant +possessions, I recommend that liberal grants of the public lands be +secured to all our citizens who have settled or may in a limited period +settle within their limits. + +In execution of the provisions of the treaty, orders have been issued to +our military and naval forces to evacuate without delay the Mexican +Provinces, cities, towns, and fortified places in our military +occupation, and which are not embraced in the territories ceded to the +United States. The Army is already on its way to the United States. That +portion of it, as well regulars as volunteers, who engaged to serve +during the war with Mexico will be discharged as soon as they can be +transported or marched to convenient points in the vicinity of their +homes. A part of the Regular Army will be employed in New Mexico and +Upper California to afford protection to the inhabitants and to guard +our interests in these territories. + +The old Army, as it existed before the commencement of the war with +Mexico, especially if authority be given to fill up the rank and file of +the several corps to the maximum number authorized during the war, it is +believed, will be a sufficient force to be retained in service during a +period of peace. A few additional officers in the line and staff of the +Army have been authorized, and these, it is believed, will be necessary +in the peace establishment, and should be retained in the service. + +The number of the general officers may be reduced, as vacancies occur by +the casualties of the service, to what it was before the war. + +While the people of other countries who live under forms of government +less free than our own have been for ages oppressed by taxation to +support large standing armies in periods of peace, our experience has +shown that such establishments are unnecessary in a republic. Our +standing army is to be found in the bosom of society. It is composed of +free citizens, who are ever ready to take up arms in the service of +their country when an emergency requires it. Our experience in the war +just closed fully confirms the opinion that such an army may be raised +upon a few weeks' notice, and that our citizen soldiers are equal to any +troops in the world. No reason, therefore, is perceived why we should +enlarge our land forces and thereby subject the Treasury to an annual +increased charge. Sound policy requires that we should avoid the +creation of a large standing army in a period of peace. No public +exigency requires it. Such armies are not only expensive and +unnecessary, but may become dangerous to liberty. + +Besides making the necessary legislative provisions for the execution of +the treaty and the establishment of Territorial governments in the ceded +country, we have, upon the restoration of peace, other important duties +to perform. Among these I regard none as more important than the +adoption of proper measures for the speedy extinguishment of the +national debt. It is against sound policy and the genius of our +institutions that a public debt should be permitted to exist a day +longer than the means of the Treasury will enable the Government to pay +it off. We should adhere to the wise policy laid down by President +Washington, of "avoiding likewise the accumulation of debt, not only by +shunning occasions of expense, but by vigorous exertions in time of +peace to discharge the debts which unavoidable wars have occasioned, not +ungenerously throwing upon posterity the burthen which we ourselves +ought to bear." + +At the commencement of the present Administration the public debt +amounted to $17,788,799.62. In consequence of the war with Mexico, it +has been necessarily increased, and now amounts to $65,778,450.41, +including the stock and Treasury notes which may yet be issued under the +act of January 28, 1847, and the $16,000,000 loan recently negotiated +under the act of March 31, 1848. + +In addition to the amount of the debt, the treaty stipulates that +$12,000,000 shall be paid to Mexico, in four equal annual installments +of $3,000,000 each, the first of which will fall due on the 30th day of +May, 1849. The treaty also stipulates that the United States shall +"assume and pay" to our own citizens "the claims already liquidated and +decided against the Mexican Republic," and "all claims not heretofore +decided against the Mexican Government," "to an amount not exceeding +three and a quarter millions of dollars." The "liquidated" claims of +citizens of the United States against Mexico, as decided by the joint +board of commissioners under the convention between the United States +and Mexico of the 11th of April, 1839, amounted to $2,026,139.68. This +sum was payable in twenty equal annual installments. Three of them have +been paid to the claimants by the Mexican Government and two by the +United States, leaving to be paid of the principal of the liquidated +amount assumed by the United States the sum of $1,519,604.76, together +with the interest thereon. These several amounts of "liquidated" and +unliquidated claims assumed by the United States, it is believed, may be +paid as they fall due out of the accruing revenue, without the issue of +stock or the creation of any additional public debt. + +I can not too strongly recommend to Congress the importance of +husbanding all our national resources, of limiting the public +expenditures to necessary objects, and of applying all the surplus at +any time in the Treasury to the redemption of the debt. I recommend that +authority be vested in the Executive by law to anticipate the period of +reimbursement of such portion of the debt as may not be now redeemable, +and to purchase it at par, or at the premium which it may command in the +market, in all cases in which that authority has not already been +granted. A premium has been obtained by the Government on much the +larger portion of the loans, and if when the Government becomes a +purchaser of its own stock it shall command a premium in the market, +it will be sound policy to pay it rather than to pay the semiannual +interest upon it. The interest upon the debt, if the outstanding +Treasury notes shall be funded, from the end of the last fiscal year +until it shall fall due and be redeemable will be very nearly equal to +the principal, which must itself be ultimately paid. + +Without changing or modifying the present tariff of duties, so great has +been the increase of our commerce under its benign operation that the +revenue derived from that source and from the sales of the public lands +will, it is confidently believed, enable the Government to discharge +annually several millions of the debt and at the same time possess the +means of meeting necessary appropriations for all other proper objects. +Unless Congress shall authorize largely increased expenditures for +objects not of absolute necessity, the whole public debt existing before +the Mexican war and that created during its continuance may be paid off +without any increase of taxation on the people long before it falls due. + +Upon the restoration of peace we should adopt the policy suited to a +state of peace. In doing this the earliest practicable payment of the +public debt should be a cardinal principle of action. Profiting by the +experience of the past, we should avoid the errors into which the +country was betrayed shortly after the close of the war with Great +Britain in 1815. In a few years after that period a broad and +latitudinous construction of the powers of the Federal Government +unfortunately received but too much countenance. Though the country was +burdened with a heavy public debt, large, and in some instances +unnecessary and extravagant, expenditures were authorized by Congress. +The consequence was that the payment of the debt was postponed for more +than twenty years, and even then it was only accomplished by the stern +will and unbending policy of President Jackson, who made its payment a +leading measure of his Administration. He resisted the attempts which +were made to divert the public money from that great object and apply it +in wasteful and extravagant expenditures for other objects, some of them +of more than doubtful constitutional authority and expediency. + +If the Government of the United States shall observe a proper economy in +its expenditures, and be confined in its action to the conduct of our +foreign relations and to the few general objects of its care enumerated +in the Constitution, leaving all municipal and local legislation to the +States, our greatness as a nation, in moral and physical power and in +wealth and resources, can not be calculated. + +By pursuing this policy oppressive measures, operating unequally and +unjustly upon sections and classes, will be avoided, and the people, +having no cause of complaint, will pursue their own interests under the +blessings of equal laws and the protection of a just and paternal +Government. By abstaining from the exercise of all powers not clearly +conferred, the current of our glorious Union, now numbering thirty +States, will be strengthened as we grow in age and increase in +population, and our future destiny will be without a parallel or example +in the history of nations. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _July 7, 1848_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +For the reasons mentioned in the accompanying letter of the Secretary of +War, I ask that the date in the promotion of Captain W.J. Hardee, Second +Dragoons, to be major by brevet for gallant and meritorious conduct in +the affair at Madellin, Mexico, be changed to the 25th of March, 1847, +the day on which the action occurred. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WAR DEPARTMENT, + +_Washington, July 7, 1848_. + +The PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. + +SIR: Captain W.J. Hardee, Second Dragoons, has been promoted to be major +by brevet for gallant and meritorious conduct in the affair at Madellin, +Mexico, to date from the 26th of March, 1847. As this affair took place +on the 25th of that month, I respectfully recommend that the Senate be +asked to change the date of Captain Hardee's brevet rank so as to +correspond with the date of the action, to wit, the 25th of March, 1847. +Brevets which have been conferred upon other officers in the same affair +take the latter date. + +Very respectfully, your obedient servant, + +W.L. MARCY, + _Secretary of War_. + + + +WASHINGTON, _July 12, 1848_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +In compliance with a resolution of the Senate, of the 21st June, 1848, I +herewith communicate to the Senate a report of the Secretary of War, +with the accompanying documents, containing the proceedings of a court +of inquiry which convened at Saltillo, Mexico, January 12, 1848, and +which was instituted for the purpose of obtaining full information +relative to an alleged mutiny in the camp of Buena Vista, Mexico, on or +about the 15th of August, 1847. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _July 14, 1848_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +In compliance with the resolution of the Senate of July 13, 1848, I +transmit herewith a report of the Secretary of War and accompanying +documents, containing all the proceedings of the two courts of inquiry +in the case of Major-General Pillow, the one commenced and terminated in +Mexico, the other commenced in Mexico and terminated in the United +States. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _July 24, 1848_. + +_To the House of Representatives of the United States_: + +In answer to the resolutions of the House of Representatives of the 10th +instant, requesting information in relation to New Mexico and +California, I communicate herewith reports from the Secretary of State, +the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of War, and the Secretary +of the Navy, with the documents which accompany the same. These reports +and documents contain information upon the several points of inquiry +embraced by the resolutions. "The proper limits and boundaries of New +Mexico and California" are delineated on the map referred to in the late +treaty with Mexico, an authentic copy of which is herewith transmitted; +and all the additional information upon that subject, and also the most +reliable information in respect to the population of these respective +Provinces, which is in the possession of the Executive will be found in +the accompanying report of the Secretary of State. + +The resolutions request information in regard to the existence of civil +governments in New Mexico and California, their "form and character," by +"whom instituted," by "what authority," and how they are "maintained and +supported." + +In my message of December 22, 1846, in answer to a resolution of the +House of Representatives calling for information "in relation to the +establishment or organization of civil government in any portion of the +territory of Mexico which has or might be taken possession of by the +Army or Navy of the United States," I communicated the orders which had +been given to the officers of our Army and Navy, and stated the general +authority upon which temporary military governments had been established +over the conquered portion of Mexico then in our military occupation. + +The temporary governments authorized were instituted by virtue of the +rights of war. The power to declare war against a foreign country, and +to prosecute it according to the general laws of war, as sanctioned by +civilized nations, it will not be questioned, exists under our +Constitution. When Congress has declared that war exists with a foreign +nation, "the general laws of war apply to our situation," and it becomes +the duty of the President, as the constitutional "Commander in Chief of +the Army and Navy of the United States," to prosecute it. + +In prosecuting a foreign war thus duly declared by Congress, we have the +right, by "conquest and military occupation," to acquire possession of +the territories of the enemy, and, during the war, to "exercise the +fullest rights of sovereignty over it." The sovereignty of the enemy is +in such case "suspended," and his laws can "no longer be rightfully +enforced" over the conquered territory "or be obligatory upon the +inhabitants who remain and submit to the conqueror. By the surrender the +inhabitants pass under a temporary allegiance" to the conqueror, and are +"bound by such laws, and such only, as" he may choose to recognize and +impose. "From the nature of the case, no other laws could be obligatory +upon them, for where there is no protection or allegiance or sovereignty +there can be no claim to obedience." These are well-established +principles of the laws of war, as recognized and practiced by civilized +nations, and they have been sanctioned by the highest judicial tribunal +of our own country. + +The orders and instructions issued to the officers of our Army and Navy, +applicable to such portions of the Mexican territory as had been or +might be conquered by our arms, were in strict conformity to these +principles. They were, indeed, ameliorations of the rigors of war upon +which we might have insisted. They substituted for the harshness of +military rule something of the mildness of civil government, and were +not only the exercise of no excess of power, but were a relaxation in +favor of the peaceable inhabitants of the conquered territory who had +submitted to our authority, and were alike politic and humane. + +It is from the same source of authority that we derive the unquestioned +right, after the war has been declared by Congress, to blockade the +ports and coasts of the enemy, to capture his towns, cities, and +provinces, and to levy contributions upon him for the support of our +Army. Of the same character with these is the right to subject to our +temporary military government the conquered territories of our enemy. +They are all belligerent rights, and their exercise is as essential to +the successful prosecution of a foreign war as the right to fight +battles. + +New Mexico and Upper California were among the territories conquered and +occupied by our forces, and such temporary governments were established +over them. They were established by the officers of our Army and Navy in +command, in pursuance of the orders and instructions accompanying my +message to the House of Representatives of December 22, 1846. In their +form and detail, as at first established, they exceeded in some +respects, as was stated in that message, the authority which had been +given, and instructions for the correction of the error were issued in +dispatches from the War and Navy Departments of the 11th of January, +1847, copies of which are herewith transmitted. They have been +maintained and supported out of the military exactions and contributions +levied upon the enemy, and no part of the expense has been paid out of +the Treasury of the United States. + +In the routine of duty some of the officers of the Army and Navy who +first established temporary governments in California and New Mexico +have been succeeded in command by other officers, upon whom light duties +devolved; and the agents employed or designated by them to conduct the +temporary governments have also, in some instances, been superseded by +others. Such appointments for temporary civil duty during our military +occupation were made by the officers in command in the conquered +territories, respectively. + +On the conclusion and exchange of ratifications of a treaty of peace +with Mexico, which was proclaimed on the 4th instant, these temporary +governments necessarily ceased to exist. In the instructions to +establish a temporary government over New Mexico, no distinction was +made between that and the other Provinces of Mexico which might be +conquered and held in our military occupation. + +The Province of New Mexico, according to its ancient boundaries, as +claimed by Mexico, lies on both sides of the Rio Grande. That part of it +on the east of that river was in dispute when the war between the United +States and Mexico commenced. Texas, by a successful revolution in April, +1836, achieved, and subsequently maintained, her independence. By an act +of the Congress of Texas passed in December, 1836, her western boundary +was declared to be the Rio Grande from its mouth to its source, and +thence due north to the forty-second degree of north latitude. Though +the Republic of Texas, by many acts of sovereignty which she asserted +and exercised, some of which were stated in my annual message of +December, 1846, had established her clear title to the country west of +the Nueces, and bordering upon that part of the Rio Grande which lies +below the Province of New Mexico, she had never conquered or reduced to +actual possession and brought under her Government and laws that part of +New Mexico lying east of the Rio Grande, which she claimed to be within +her limits. On the breaking out of the war we found Mexico in possession +of this disputed territory. As our Army approached Sante Fe (the capital +of New Mexico) it was found to be held by a governor under Mexican +authority, with an armed force collected to resist our advance. The +inhabitants were Mexicans, acknowledging allegiance to Mexico. The +boundary in dispute was the line between the two countries engaged in +actual war, and the settlement of it of necessity depended on a treaty +of peace. Finding the Mexican authorities and people in possession, our +forces conquered them, and extended military rule over them and the +territory which they actually occupied, in lieu of the sovereignty which +was displaced. It was not possible to disturb or change the practical +boundary line in the midst of the war, when no negotiation for its +adjustment could be opened, and when Texas was not present, by her +constituted authorities, to establish and maintain government over a +hostile Mexican population who acknowledged no allegiance to her. There +was, therefore, no alternative left but to establish and maintain +military rule during the war over the conquered people in the disputed +territory who had submitted to our arms, or to forbear the exercise of +our belligerent rights and leave them in a state of anarchy and without +control. + +Whether the country in dispute rightfully belonged to Mexico or to +Texas, it was our right in the first case, and our duty as well as our +right in the latter, to conquer and hold it. Whilst this territory was +in our possession as conquerors, with a population hostile to the United +States, which more than once broke out in open insurrection, it was our +unquestionable duty to continue our military occupation of it until the +conclusion of the war, and to establish over it a military government, +necessary for our own security as well as for the protection of the +conquered people. + +By the joint resolution of Congress of March 1, 1845, "for annexing +Texas to the United States," the "adjustment of all questions of +boundary which may arise with other governments" was reserved to this +Government. When the conquest of New Mexico was consummated by our arms, +the question of boundary remained still unadjusted. Until the exchange +of the ratifications of the late treaty, New Mexico never became an +undisputed portion of the United States, and it would therefore have +been premature to deliver over to Texas that portion of it on the east +side of the Rio Grande, to which she asserted a claim. However just the +right of Texas may have been to it, that right had never been reduced +into her possession, and it was contested by Mexico. + +By the cession of the whole of New Mexico, on both sides of the Rio +Grande, to the United States, the question of disputed boundary, so far +as Mexico is concerned, has been settled, leaving the question as to the +true limits of Texas in New Mexico to be adjusted between that State and +the United States. + +Under the circumstances existing during the pendency of the war, and +while the whole of New Mexico, as claimed by our enemy, was in our +military occupation, I was not unmindful of the rights of Texas to that +portion of it which she claimed to be within her limits. In answer to a +letter from the governor of Texas dated on the 4th of January, 1847, the +Secretary of State, by my direction, informed him in a letter of the +12th of February, 1847, that in the President's annual message of +December, 1846-- + + You have already perceived that New Mexico is at present in the + temporary occupation of the troops of the United States, and the + government over it is military in its character. It is merely such a + government as must exist under the laws of nations and of war to + preserve order and protect the rights of the inhabitants, and will cease + on the conclusion of a treaty of peace with Mexico. Nothing, therefore, + can be more certain than that this temporary government, resulting from + necessity, can never injuriously affect the right which the President + believes to be justly asserted by Texas to the whole territory on this + side of the Rio Grande whenever the Mexican claim to it shall have been + extinguished by treaty. But this is a subject which more properly + belongs to the legislative than the executive branch of the Government. + + +The result of the whole is that Texas had asserted a right to that part +of New Mexico east of the Rio Grande, which is believed, under the acts +of Congress for the annexation and admission of Texas into the Union as +a State, and under the constitution and laws of Texas, to be well +founded; but this right had never been reduced to her actual possession +and occupancy. The General Government, possessing exclusively the +war-making power, had the right to take military possession of this +disputed territory, and until the title to it was perfected by a treaty +of peace it was their duty to hold it and to establish a temporary +military government over it for the preservation of the conquest itself, +the safety of our Army, and the security of the conquered inhabitants. + +The resolutions further request information whether any persons have +been tried and condemned for "treason against the United States in that +part of New Mexico lying east of the Rio Grande since the same has been +in the occupancy of our Army," and, if so, before "what tribunal" and +"by what authority of law such tribunal was established." It appears +that after the territory in question was "in the occupancy of our Army" +some of the conquered Mexican inhabitants, who had at first submitted to +our authority, broke out in open insurrection, murdering our soldiers +and citizens and committing other atrocious crimes. Some of the +principal offenders who were apprehended were tried and condemned by a +tribunal invested with civil and criminal jurisdiction, which had been +established in the conquered country by the military officer in command. +That the offenders deserved the punishment inflicted upon them there is +no reason to doubt, and the error in the proceedings against them +consisted in designating and describing their crimes as "treason against +the United States." This error was pointed out, and its recurrence +thereby prevented, by the Secretary of War in a dispatch to the officer +in command in New Mexico dated on the 26th of June, 1847, a copy of +which, together with copies of all communications relating to the +subject which have been received at the War Department, is herewith +transmitted. + +The resolutions call for information in relation to the quantity of the +public lands acquired within the ceded territory, and "how much of the +same is within the boundaries of Texas as defined by the act of the +Congress of the Republic of Texas of the 19th day of December, 1836." No +means of making an accurate estimate on the subject is in the possession +of the executive department. The information which is possessed will be +found in the accompanying report of the Secretary of the Treasury. + +The country ceded to the United States lying west of the Rio Grande, and +to which Texas has no title, is estimated by the commissioner of the +General Land Office to contain 526,078 square miles, or 336,689,920 +acres. + +The period since the exchange of ratifications of the treaty has been +too short to enable the Government to have access to or to procure +abstracts or copies of the land titles issued by Spain or by the +Republic of Mexico. Steps will be taken to procure this information at +the earliest practicable period. It is estimated, as appears from the +accompanying report of the Secretary of the Treasury, that much the +larger portion of the land within the territories ceded remains vacant +and unappropriated, and will be subject to be disposed of by the United +States. Indeed, a very inconsiderable portion of the land embraced in +the cession, it is believed, has been disposed of or granted either by +Spain or Mexico. + +What amount of money the United States may be able to realize from the +sales of these vacant lands must be uncertain, but it is confidently +believed that with prudent management, after making liberal grants to +emigrants and settlers, it will exceed the cost of the war and all the +expenses to which we have been subjected in acquiring it. + +The resolutions also call for "the evidence, or any part thereof, that +the 'extensive and valuable territories ceded by Mexico to the United +States constitute indemnity for the past.'" + +The immense value of the ceded country does not consist alone in the +amount of money for which the public lands may be sold. If not a dollar +could be realized from the sale of these lands, the cession of the +jurisdiction over the country and the fact that it has become a part of +our Union and call not be made subject to any European power constitute +ample "indemnity for the past" in the immense value and advantages which +its acquisition must give to the commercial, navigating, manufacturing, +and agricultural interests of our country. + +The value of the public lands embraced within the limits of the ceded +territory, great as that value may be, is far less important to the +people of the United States than the sovereignty over the country. Most +of our States contain no public lands owned by the United States, and +yet the sovereignty and jurisdiction over them is of incalculable +importance to the nation. In the State of New York the United States is +the owner of no public lands, and yet two-thirds of our whole revenue is +collected at the great port of that State, and within her limits is +found about one-seventh of our entire population. Although none of the +future cities on our coast of California may ever rival the city of New +York in wealth, population, and business, yet that important cities will +grow up on the magnificent harbors of that coast, with a rapidly +increasing commerce and population, and yielding a large revenue, would +seem to be certain. By the possession of the safe and capacious harbors +on the Californian coast we shall have great advantages in securing the +rich commerce of the East, and shall thus obtain for our products new +and increased markets and greatly enlarge our coasting and foreign +trade, as well as augment our tonnage and revenue. + +These great advantages, far more than the simple value of the public +lands in the ceded territory, "constitute our indemnity for the past." + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _July 28, 1848_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I have received from the Senate the "convention for the mutual delivery +of criminals, fugitives from justice, in certain cases, concluded on the +29th of January, 1845, between the United States on the one part and +Prussia and other States of the German Confederation on the other part," +with a copy of their resolution of the 21st of June last, advising and +consenting to its ratification, with an amendment extending the period +for the exchange of ratifications until the 28th of September, 1848. + +I have taken this subject into serious and deliberate consideration, and +regret that I can not ratify this convention, in conformity with the +advice of the Senate, without violating my convictions of duty. Having +arrived at this conclusion, I deem it proper and respectful, considering +the peculiar circumstances of the present case and the intimate +relations which the Constitution has established between the President +and Senate, to make known to you the reasons which influence me to come +to this determination. + +On the 16th of December, 1845, I communicated this convention to the +Senate for its consideration, at the same time stating my objections to +the third article. I deemed this to be a more proper and respectful +course toward the Senate, as well as toward Prussia and the other +parties to it, than if I had withheld it and disapproved it altogether. +Had the Senate concurred with me in opinion and rejected the third +article, then the convention thus amended would have conformed to our +treaties of extradition with Great Britain and France. + +But the Senate did not act upon it within the period limited for the +exchange of ratifications. From this I concluded that they had concurred +with me in opinion in regard to the third article, and had for this and +other reasons deemed it proper to take no proceedings upon the +convention. After this date, therefore, I considered the affair as +terminated. + +Upon the presumption that this was the fact, new negotiations upon the +subject were commenced, and several conferences were held between the +Secretary of State and the Prussian minister. These resulted in a +protocol signed at the Department of State on the 27th of April, 1847, +in which the Secretary proposed either that the two Governments might +agree to extend the time for the exchange of ratifications, and thus +revive the convention, provided the Prussian Government would previously +intimate its consent to the omission of the third article, or he +"expressed his willingness immediately to conclude with Mr. Gerolt a new +convention, if he possessed the requisite powers from his Government, +embracing all the provisions contained in that of the 29th January, +1845, with the exception of the third article. To this Mr. Gerolt +observed that he had no powers to conclude such a convention, but would +submit the propositions of Mr. Buchanan to the Prussian Government for +further instructions." + +Mr. Gerolt has never yet communicated in writing to the Department of +State the answer of his Government to these propositions, but the +Secretary of State, a few months after the date of the protocol, learned +from him in conversation that they insisted upon the third article of +the convention as a _sine qua non_. Thus the second negotiation had +finally terminated by a disagreement between the parties, when, more +than a year afterwards, on the 21st June, 1848, the Senate took the +original convention into consideration and ratified it, retaining the +third article. + +After the second negotiation with the Prussian Government, in which the +objections to the third article were stated, as they had been previously +in my message of the 16th December, 1845, a strong additional difficulty +was interposed to the ratification of the convention; but I might +overcome this difficulty if my objections to the third article had not +grown stronger by further reflection. For a statement of them in detail +I refer you to the accompanying memorandum, prepared by the Secretary of +State by my direction. + +I can not believe that the sovereign States of this Union, whose +administration of justice would be almost exclusively affected by such a +convention, will ever be satisfied with a treaty of extradition under +which if a German subject should commit murder or any other high crime +in New York or New Orleans, and could succeed in escaping to his own +country, he would thereby be protected from trial and punishment under +the jurisdiction of our State laws which he had violated. It is true, as +has been stated, that the German States, acting upon a principle +springing from the doctrine of perpetual allegiance, still assert the +jurisdiction of trying and punishing their subjects for crimes committed +in the United States or any other portion of the world. It must, +however, be manifest that individuals throughout our extended country +would rarely, if ever, follow criminals to Germany with the necessary +testimony for the purpose of prosecuting them to conviction before +German courts for crimes committed in the United States. + +On the other hand, the Constitution and laws of the United States, as +well as of the several States, would render it impossible that crimes +committed by our citizens in Germany could be tried and punished in any +portion of this Union. + +But if no other reason existed for withholding my ratification from this +treaty, the great change which has recently occurred in the organization +of the Government of the German States would be sufficient. By the last +advices we learn that the German Parliament, at Frankfort, have already +established a federal provisional Executive for all the States of +Germany, and have elected the Archduke John of Austria to be +"Administrator of the Empire." One of the attributes of this Executive +is "to represent the Confederation in its relations with foreign nations +and to appoint diplomatic agents, ministers, and consuls." Indeed, our +minister at Berlin has already suggested the propriety of his transfer +to Frankfort. In case this convention with nineteen of the thirty-nine +German States should be ratified, this could amount to nothing more than +a proposition on the part of the Senate and President to these nineteen +States who were originally parties to the convention to negotiate anew +on the subject of extradition. In the meantime a central German +Government has been provisionally established, which extinguishes the +right of these separate parties to enter into negotiations with foreign +Governments on subjects of several interest to the whole. + +Admitting such a treaty as that which has been ratified by the Senate to +be desirable, the obvious course would now be to negotiate with the +General Government of Germany. A treaty concluded with it would embrace +all the thirty-nine States of Germany, and its authority, being +coextensive with the Empire, fugitives from justice found in any of +these States would be surrendered up on the requisition of our minister +at Frankfort. This would be more convenient and effectual than to +address such separate requisitions to each of the nineteen German States +with which the convention was concluded. + +I communicate herewith, for the information of the Senate, copies of a +dispatch from our minister at Berlin and a communication from our consul +at Darmstadt. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _July 29, 1848_. + +_To the House of Representatives of the United States_: + +In answer to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 17th +instant, requesting the President "to communicate, if not inconsistent +with the public interests, copies of all instructions given to the Hon. +Ambrose H. Sevier and Nathan Clifford, commissioners appointed to +conduct negotiations for the ratification of the treaty lately concluded +between the United States and the Republic of Mexico," I have to state +that in my opinion it would be "inconsistent with the public interests" +to give publicity to these instructions at the present time. + +I avail myself of this occasion to observe that, as a general rule +applicable to all our important negotiations with foreign powers, it +could not fail to be prejudicial to the public interest to publish the +instructions to our ministers until some time had elapsed after the +conclusion of such negotiations. + +In the present case the object of the mission of our commissioners to +Mexico has been accomplished. The treaty, as amended by the Senate of +the United States, has been ratified. The ratifications have been +exchanged and the treaty has been proclaimed as the supreme law of the +land. No contingency occurred which made it either necessary or proper +for our commissioners to enter upon any negotiations with the Mexican +Government further than to urge upon that Government the ratification of +the treaty in its amended form. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _July 31, 1848_ + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I communicate herewith a report from the Secretary of State, containing +the information called for by the resolution of the Senate of the 24th +of April, 1848, in relation "to the claim of the owners of the ship +_Miles_, of Warren, in the State of Rhode Island, upon the Government of +Portugal for the payment of a cargo of oil taken by the officers and +applied to the uses of that Government." + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _July 31, 1848_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +In compliance with the resolution of the Senate of the 28th instant, +requesting the President to communicate to that body, "in confidence, if +not inconsistent with the public interest, what steps, if any, have been +taken by the Executive to extinguish the rights of the Hudsons Bay and +Puget Sound Land Company within the Territory of Oregon, and such +communications, if any, which may have been received from the British +Government in relation to this subject," I communicate herewith a report +from the Secretary of State, with the accompanying documents. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _August 1, 1848_. + +_To the House of Representatives of the United States_: + +I communicate herewith a report from the Secretary of War, containing +the information called for by the resolution of the House of +Representatives of the 17th July, 1848, in relation to the number of +Indians in Oregon, California, and New Mexico, the number of military +posts, the number of troops which will be required in each, and "the +whole military force which should constitute the peace establishment." + +I have seen no rfeason to change the opinion expressed in my message to +Congress of the 6th July, 1848, transmitting the treaty of peace with +Mexico, that "the old Army, as it existed before the commencement of the +war with Mexico, especially if authority be given to fill up the rank +and file of the several corps to the maximum number authorized during +the war, will be a sufficient force to be retained in service during a +period of peace." + +The old Army consists of fifteen regiments. By the act of the 13th of +May, 1846, the President was authorized, by "voluntary enlistments, to +increase the number of privates in each or any of the companies of the +existing regiments of dragoons, artillery, and infantry to any number +not exceeding 100," and to "reduce the same to 64 when the exigencies +requiring the present increase shall cease." Should this act remain in +force, the maximum number of the rank and file of the Army authorized by +it would be over 16,000 men, exclusive of officers. Should the authority +conferred by this act be continued, it would depend on the exigencies of +the service whether the number of the rank and file should be increased, +and, if so, to what amount beyond the minimum number of 64 privates to a +company. + +Allowing 64 privates to a company, the Army would be over 10,000 men, +exclusive of commissioned and noncommissioned officers, a number which, +it is believed, will be sufficient; but, as a precautionary measure, it +is deemed expedient that the Executive should possess the power of +increasing the strength of the respective corps should the exigencies of +the service be such as to require it. Should these exigencies not call +for such increase, the discretionary power given by the act to the +President will not be exercised. + +It will be seen from the report of the Secretary of War that a portion +of the forces will be employed in Oregon, New Mexico, and Upper +California; a portion for the protection of the Texas frontier adjoining +the Mexican possessions, and bordering on the territory occupied by the +Indian tribes within her limits. After detailing the force necessary for +these objects, it is believed a sufficient number of troops will remain +to afford security and protection to our Indian frontiers in the West +and Northwest and to occupy with sufficient garrisons the posts on our +northern and Atlantic borders. + +I have no reason at present to believe that any increase of the number +of regiments or corps will be required during a period of peace. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _August 3, 1848_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I communicate herewith a report from the Secretary of War, together with +the accompanying documents, in compliance with the resolution of the +Senate of the 24th July, 1848, requesting the President "to transmit to +the Senate the proceedings of the two courts of inquiry in the case of +Major-General Pillow, the one commenced and terminated in Mexico, and +the other commenced in Mexico and terminated in the United States." + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _August 5, 1848_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I nominate Andrew J. Donelson, of Tennessee, to be envoy extraordinary +and minister plenipotentiary of the United States to the Federal +Government of Germany. + +In submitting this nomination I transmit, for the information of the +Senate, an official dispatch received from the consul of the United +States at Darmstadt, dated July 10, 1848. I deem it proper also to state +that no such diplomatic agent as that referred to by the consul has been +appointed by me. Mr. Deverre, the person alluded to, is unknown to me +and has no authority to represent this Government in any capacity +whatever. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _August 5, 1848_. + +_To the House of Representatives of the United States_: + +I communicate herewith a report from the Secretary of War, together with +the accompanying documents, in compliance with a resolution of the House +of Representatives of the 17th of July, 1848, requesting the President +to communicate to the House of Representatives "a copy of the +proceedings of the court of inquiry in Mexico touching the matter which +led to the dismissal from the public service of Lieutenants Joseph S. +Pendee and George E.B. Singletary, of the North Carolina regiment of +volunteers, and all the correspondence between the War Department and +Generals Taylor and Wool in relation to the same." + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _August 8, 1848_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +In reply to the resolution of the Senate of the 7th instant, requesting +the President to inform that body "whether he has any information that +any citizen or citizens of the United States is or are now preparing or +intending to prepare within the United States an expedition to +revolutionize by force any part of the Republic of Mexico, or to assist +in so doing, and, if he has, what is the extent of such preparation, and +whether he has or is about to take any steps to arrest the same," I have +to state that the Executive is not in possession of any information of +the character called for by the resolution. + +The late treaty of peace with Mexico has been and will be faithfully +observed on our part. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _August 8, 1848_. + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_: + +It affords me satisfaction to communicate herewith, for the information +of Congress, copies of a decree adopted by the National Assembly of +France in response to the resolution of the Congress of the United +States passed on the 13th of April last, "tendering the congratulations +of the American to the French people upon the success of their recent +efforts to consolidate the principles of liberty in a republican form of +government." + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _August 10, 1848_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I communicate herewith a report of the Secretary of the Navy, together +with the accompanying documents, in answer to a resolution of the Senate +of the 18th July, 1848, requesting the President to communicate to that +body "any information which may be in the possession of the Executive +relating to the seizure or capture of the American ship _Admittance_ on +the coast of California by a vessel of war of the United States, and +whether any, and what, proceedings have occurred in regard to said +vessel or her cargo, and to furnish the Senate with copies of all +documents, papers, and communications in the possession of the Executive +relating to the same." + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _August 10, 1848_. + +_To the House of Representatives of the United States_: + +I communicate herewith reports from the Secretary of the Treasury and +the Secretary of War, together with the accompanying documents, in +answer to a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 17th of +July, 1848, requesting the President to inform that body what amount of +public moneys had been respectively paid to Lewis Cass and Zachary +Taylor from the time of their first entrance into the public service up +to this time, distinguishing between regular and extra compensation; +that he also state what amount of extra compensation has been claimed by +either; the items composing the same; when filed; when and by whom +allowed; if disallowed, when and by whom; the reasons for such +disallowance; and whether or not any items so disallowed were +subsequently presented for payment, and, if allowed, when and by whom. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _August 14, 1848_. + +_To the House of Representatives of the United States_: + +When the President has given his official sanction to a bill which has +passed Congress, usage requires that he shall notify the House in which +it originated of that fact. The mode of giving this notification has +been by an oral message delivered by his private secretary. + +Having this day approved and signed an act entitled "An act to establish +the Territorial government of Oregon," I deem it proper, under the +existing circumstances, to communicate the fact in a more solemn form. +The deeply interesting and protracted discussions which have taken place +in both Houses of Congress and the absorbing interest which the subject +has excited throughout the country justify, in my judgment, this +departure from the form of notice observed in other cases. In this +communication with a coordinate branch of the Government, made proper by +the considerations referred to, I shall frankly and without reserve +express the reasons which have constrained me not to withhold my +signature from the bill to establish a government over Oregon, even +though the two territories of New Mexico and California are to be left +for the present without governments. None doubt that it is proper to +establish a government in Oregon. Indeed, it has been too long delayed. +I have made repeated recommendations to Congress to this effect. The +petitions of the people of that distant region have been presented to +the Government, and ought not to be disregarded. To give to them a +regularly organized government and the protection of our laws, which, as +citizens of the United States, they claim, is a high duty on our part, +and one which we are bound to perform, unless there be controlling +reasons to prevent it. + +In the progress of all governments questions of such transcendent +importance occasionally arise as to cast in the shade all those of a +mere party character. But one such question can now be agitated in this +country, and this may endanger our glorious Union, the source of our +greatness and all our political blessings. This question is slavery. +With the slaveholding States this does not embrace merely the rights of +property, however valuable, but it ascends far higher, and involves the +domestic peace and security of every family. + +The fathers of the Constitution, the wise and patriotic men who laid the +foundation of our institutions, foreseeing the danger from this quarter, +acted in a spirit of compromise and mutual concession on this dangerous +and delicate subject, and their wisdom ought to be the guide of their +successors. Whilst they left to the States exclusively the question of +domestic slavery within their respective limits, they provided that +slaves who might escape into other States not recognizing the +institution of slavery shall be "delivered up on the claim of the party +to whom such service or labor may be due." + +Upon this foundation the matter rested until the Missouri question +arose. + +In December, 1819, application was made to Congress by the people of the +Missouri Territory for admission into the Union as a State. The +discussion upon the subject in Congress involved the question of +slavery, and was prosecuted with such violence as to produce excitements +alarming to every patriot in the Union. But the good genius of +conciliation, which presided at the birth of our institutions, finally +prevailed, and the Missouri compromise was adopted. The eighth section +of the act of Congress of the 6th of March, 1820, "to authorize the +people of the Missouri Territory to form a constitution and State +government," etc., provides: + + That in all that territory ceded by France to the United States under + the name of Louisiana which lies north of 36 degrees 30 minutes north + latitude, not included within the limits of the State contemplated by + this act, slavery and involuntary servitude, otherwise than in the + punishment of crimes, whereof the parties shall have been duly + convicted, shall be, and is hereby, forever prohibited: _Provided + always_, That any person escaping into the same from whom labor or + service is lawfully claimed in any State or Territory of the United + States, such fugitive may be lawfully reclaimed and conveyed to the + person claiming his or her labor or service as aforesaid. + + +This compromise had the effect of calming the troubled waves and +restoring peace and good will throughout the States of the Union. + +The Missouri question had excited intense agitation of the public mind, +and threatened to divide the country into geographical parties, +alienating the feelings of attachment which each portion of our Union +should bear to every other. The compromise allayed the excitement, +tranquilized the popular mind, and restored confidence and fraternal +feelings. Its authors were hailed as public benefactors. + +I do not doubt that a similar adjustment of the questions which now +agitate the public mind would produce the same happy results. If the +legislation of Congress on the subject of the other Territories shall +not be adopted in a spirit of conciliation and compromise, it is +impossible that the country can be satisfied or that the most disastrous +consequences shall fail to ensue. + +When Texas was admitted into the Union, the same spirit of compromise +which guided our predecessors in the admission of Missouri a quarter of +a century before prevailed without any serious opposition. The joint +resolution for annexing Texas to the United States, approved March 1, +1845, provides that-- + + Such States as may be formed out of that portion of said territory lying + south of 36 degrees 30 minutes north latitude, commonly known as the + Missouri compromise line, shall be admitted into the Union with or + without slavery, as the people of each State asking admission may + desire; and in such State or States as shall be formed out of said + territory north of the Missouri compromise line slavery or involuntary + servitude (except for crime) shall be prohibited. + + +The Territory of Oregon lies far north of 36 degrees 30 minutes, the +Missouri and Texas compromise line. Its southern boundary is the +parallel of 42 degrees, leaving the intermediate distance to be 330 +geographical miles. And it is because the provisions of this bill are +not inconsistent with the laws of the Missouri compromise, if extended +from the Rio Grande to the Pacific Ocean, that I have not felt at +liberty to withhold my sanction. Had it embraced territories south of +that compromise, the question presented for my consideration would have +been of a far different character, and my action upon it must have +corresponded with my convictions. + +Ought we now to disturb the Missouri and Texas compromises? Ought we at +this late day, in attempting to annul what has been so long established +and acquiesced in, to excite sectional divisions and jealousies, to +alienate the people of different portions of the Union from each other, +and to endanger the existence of the Union itself? + +From the adoption of the Federal Constitution, during a period of sixty +years, our progress as a nation has been without example in the annals +of history. Under the protection of a bountiful Providence, we have +advanced with giant strides in the career of wealth and prosperity. We +have enjoyed the blessings of freedom to a greater extent than any other +people, ancient or modern, under a Government which has preserved order +and secured to every citizen life, liberty, and property. We have now +become an example for imitation to the whole world. The friends of +freedom in every clime point with admiration to our institutions. Shall +we, then, at the moment when the people of Europe are devoting all their +energies in the attempt to assimilate their institutions to our own, +peril all our blessings by despising the lessons of experience and +refusing to tread in the footsteps which our fathers have trodden? And +for what cause would we endanger our glorious Union? The Missouri +compromise contains a prohibition of slavery throughout all that vast +region extending twelve and a half degrees along the Pacific, from the +parallel of 36 degrees 30 minutes to that of 49 degrees, and east from +that ocean to and beyond the summit of the Rocky Mountains. Why, then, +should our institutions be endangered because it is proposed to submit +to the people of the remainder of our newly acquired territory lying +south of 36 degrees 30 minutes, embracing less than four degrees of +latitude, the question whether, in the language of the Texas compromise, +they "shall be admitted [as a State] into the Union with or without +slavery." Is this a question to be pushed to such extremities by excited +partisans on the one side or the other, in regard to our newly acquired +distant possessions on the Pacific, as to endanger the Union of thirty +glorious States, which constitute our Confederacy? I have an abiding +confidence that the sober reflection and sound patriotism of the people +of all the States will bring them to the conclusion that the dictate of +wisdom is to follow the example of those who have gone before us, and +settle this dangerous question on the Missouri compromise, or some other +equitable compromise which would respect the rights of all and prove +satisfactory to the different portions of the Union. + +Holding as a sacred trust the Executive authority for the whole Union, +and bound to guard the rights of all, I should be constrained by a sense +of duty to withhold my official sanction from any measure which would +conflict with these important objects. + +I can not more appropriately close this message than by quoting from the +Farewell Address of the Father of his Country. His warning voice can +never be heard in vain by the American people. If the spirit of prophecy +had distinctly presented to his view more than a half century ago the +present distracted condition of his country, the language which he then +employed could not have been more appropriate than it is to the present +occasion. He declared: + + The unity of government which constitutes you one people is also now + dear to you. It is justly so, for it is a main pillar in the edifice of + your real independence, the support of your tranquillity at home, your + peace abroad, of your safety, of your prosperity, of that very liberty + which you so highly prize. But as it is easy to foresee that from + different causes and from different quarters much pains will be taken, + many artifices employed, to weaken in your minds the conviction of this + truth, as this is the point in your political fortress against which the + batteries of internal and external enemies will be most constantly and + actively (though often covertly and insidiously) directed, it is of + infinite moment that you should properly estimate the immense value of + your national union to your collective and individual happiness; that + you should cherish a cordial, habitual, and immovable attachment to it; + accustoming yourselves to think and speak of it as of the palladium of + your political safety and prosperity; watching for its preservation with + jealous anxiety; discountenancing whatever may suggest even a suspicion + that it can in any event be abandoned, and indignantly frowning upon the + first dawning of every attempt to alienate any portion of our country + from the rest or to enfeeble the sacred ties which now link together the + various parts. + + For this you have every inducement of sympathy and interest. Citizens + by birth or choice of a common country, that country has a right to + concentrate your affections. The name of American, which belongs to + you in your national capacity, must always exalt the just pride of + patriotism more than any appellation derived from local discriminations. + With slight shades of difference, you have the same religion, manners, + habits, and political principles. You have in a common cause fought and + triumphed together. The independence and liberty you possess are the + work of joint councils and joint efforts, of common dangers, sufferings, + and successes. + + * * * * * + + With such powerful and obvious motives to union affecting all parts + of our country, while experience shall not have demonstrated its + impracticability, there will always be reason to distrust the + patriotism of those who in any quarter may endeavor to weaken its + bands. + + In contemplating the causes which may disturb our union it occurs as + matter of serious concern that any ground should have been furnished for + characterizing parties by _geographical_ discriminations--_Northern_ and + _Southern_, _Atlantic_ and _Western_--whence designing men may endeavor + to excite a belief that there is a real difference of local interests + and views. One of the expedients of party to acquire influence within + particular districts is to misrepresent the opinions and aims of other + districts. You can not shield yourselves too much against the jealousies + and heartburnings which spring from these misrepresentations; they tend + to render alien to each other those who ought to be bound together by + fraternal affection. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + + +VETO MESSAGE.[20] + +[Footnote 20: Pocket veto.] + + +WASHINGTON, _December 15, 1847_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +On the last day of the last session of Congress a bill entitled "An act +to provide for continuing certain works in the Territory of Wisconsin, +and for other purposes," which had passed both Houses, was presented to +me for my approval. I entertained insuperable objections to its becoming +a law, but the short period of the session which remained afforded me no +sufficient opportunity to prepare my objections and communicate them +with the bill to the House of Representatives, in which it originated. +For this reason the bill was retained, and I deem it proper now to state +my objections to it. + +Although from the title of the bill it would seem that its main object +was to make provision for continuing certain works already commenced in +the Territory of Wisconsin, it appears on examination of its provisions +that it contains only a single appropriation of $6,000 to be applied +within that Territory, while it appropriates more than half a million of +dollars for the improvement of numerous harbors and rivers lying within, +the limits and jurisdiction of several of the States of the Union. + +At the preceding session of Congress it became my duty to return with my +objections to the House in which it originated a bill making similar +appropriations and involving like principles, and the views then +expressed remain unchanged. + +The circumstances under which this heavy expenditure of public money was +proposed were of imposing weight in determining upon its expediency. +Congress had recognized the existence of war with Mexico, and to +prosecute it to "a speedy and successful termination" had made +appropriations exceeding our ordinary revenues. To meet the emergency +and provide for the expenses of the Government, a loan of $23,000,000 +was authorized at the same session, which has since been negotiated. The +practical effect of this bill, had it become a law, would have been to +add the whole amount appropriated by it to the national debt. It would, +in fact, have made necessary an additional loan to that amount as +effectually as if in terms it had required the Secretary of the Treasury +to borrow the money therein appropriated. The main question in that +aspect is whether it is wise, while all the means and credit of the +Government are needed to bring the existing war to an honorable close, +to impair the one and endanger the other by borrowing money to be +expended in a system of internal improvements capable of an expansion +sufficient to swallow up the revenues not only of our own country, but +of the civilized world? It is to be apprehended that by entering upon +such a career at this moment confidence at home and abroad in the wisdom +and prudence of the Government would be so far impaired as to make it +difficult, without an immediate resort to heavy taxation, to maintain +the public credit and to preserve the honor of the nation and the glory +of our arms in prosecuting the existing war to a successful conclusion. +Had this bill become a law, it is easy to foresee that largely increased +demands upon the Treasury would have been made at each succeeding +session of Congress for the improvements of numerous other harbors, +bays, inlets, and rivers of equal importance with those embraced by its +provisions. Many millions would probably have been added to the +necessary amount of the war debt, the annual interest on which must also +have been borrowed, and finally a permanent national debt been fastened +on the country and entailed on posterity. + +The policy of embarking the Federal Government in a general system of +internal improvements had its origin but little more than twenty years +ago. In a very few years the applications to Congress for appropriations +in furtherance of such objects exceeded $200,000,000. In this alarming +crisis President Jackson refused to approve and sign the Maysville road +bill, the Wabash River bill, and other bills of similar character. His +interposition put a check upon the new policy of throwing the cost of +local improvements upon the National Treasury, preserved the revenues of +the nation for their legitimate objects, by which he was enabled to +extinguish the then existing public debt and to present to an admiring +world the unprecedented spectacle in modern times of a nation free from +debt and advancing to greatness with unequaled strides under a +Government which was content to act within its appropriate sphere in +protecting the States and individuals in their own chosen career of +improvement and of enterprise. Although the bill under consideration +proposes no appropriation ior a road or canal, it is not easy to +perceive the difference in principle or mischievous tendency between +appropriations for making roads and digging canals and appropriations to +deepen rivers and improve harbors. All are alike within the limits and +jurisdiction of the States, and rivers and harbors alone open an abyss +of expenditure sufficient to swallow up the wealth of the nation and +load it with a debt which may fetter its energies and tax its industry +for ages to come. + +The experience of several of the States, as well as that of the United +States, during the period that Congress exercised the power of +appropriating the public money for internal improvements is full of +eloquent warnings. It seems impossible, in the nature of the subject, as +connected with local representation, that the several objects presented +for improvement shall be weighed according to their respective merits +and appropriations confined to those whose importance would justify a +tax on the whole community to effect their accomplishment. + +In some of the States systems of internal improvements have been +projected, consisting of roads and canals, many of which, taken +separately, were not of sufficient public importance to justify a tax on +the entire population of the State to effect their construction, and yet +by a combination of local interests, operating on a majority of the +legislature, the whole have been authorized and the States plunged into +heavy debts. To an extent so ruinous has this system of legislation been +carried in some portions of the Union that the people have found it +necessary to their own safety and prosperity to forbid their +legislatures, by constitutional restrictions, to contract public debts +for such purposes without their immediate consent. + +If the abuse of power has been so fatal in the States, where the systems +of taxation are direct and the representatives responsible at short +periods to small masses of constituents, how much greater danger of +abuse is to be apprehended in the General Government, whose revenues are +raised by indirect taxation and whose functionaries are responsible to +the people in larger masses and for longer terms. + +Regarding only objects of improvement of the nature of those embraced in +this bill, how inexhaustible we shall find them. Let the imagination run +along our coast from the river St. Croix to the Rio Grande and trace +every river emptying into the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico to its source; +let it coast along our lakes and ascend all their tributaries; let it +pass to Oregon and explore all its bays, inlets, and streams; and then +let it raise the curtain of the future and contemplate the extent of +this Republic and the objects of improvement it will embrace as it +advances to its high destiny, and the mind will be startled at the +immensity and danger of the power which the principle of this bill +involves. + +Already our Confederacy consists of twenty-nine States. Other States may +at no distant period be expected to be formed on the west of our present +settlements. We own an extensive country in Oregon, stretching many +hundreds of miles from east to west and seven degrees of latitude from +south to north. By the admission of Texas into the Union we have +recently added many hundreds of miles to our seacoast. In all this vast +country, bordering on the Atlantic and Pacific, there are many thousands +of bays, inlets, and rivers equally entitled to appropriations for their +improvement with the objects embraced in this bill. + +We have seen in our States that the interests of individuals or +neighborhoods, combining against the general interest, have involved +their governments in debts and bankruptcy; and when the system prevailed +in the General Government, and was checked by President Jackson, it had +begun to be considered the highest merit in a member of Congress to be +able to procure appropriations of public money to be expended within his +district or State, whatever might be the object. We should be blind to +the experience of the past if we did not see abundant evidences that if +this system of expenditure is to be indulged in combinations of +individual and local interests will be found strong enough to control +legislation, absorb the revenues of the country, and plunge the +Government into a hopeless indebtedness. + +What is denominated a harbor by this system does not necessarily mean a +bay, inlet, or arm of the sea on the ocean or on our lake shores, on the +margin of which may exist a commercial city or town engaged in foreign +or domestic trade, but is made to embrace waters, where there is not +only no such city or town, but no commerce of any kind. By it a bay or +sheet of shoal water is called a _harbor_, and appropriations demanded +from Congress to deepen it with a View to draw commerce to it or to +enable individuals to build up a town or city on its margin upon +speculation and for their own private advantage. + +What is denominated a river which may be improved in the system is +equally undefined in its meaning. It may be the Mississippi or it may be +the smallest and most obscure and unimportant stream bearing the name of +river which is to be found in any State in the Union. + +Such a system is subject, moreover, to be perverted to the +accomplishment of the worst of political purposes. During the few years +it was in full operation, and which immediately preceded the veto of +President Jackson of the Maysville road bill, instances were numerous of +public men seeking to gain popular favor by holding out to the people +interested in particular localities the promise of large disbursements +of public money. Numerous reconnoissances and surveys were made during +that period for roads and canals through many parts of the Union, and +the people in the vicinity of each were led to believe that their +property would be enhanced in value and they themselves be enriched by +the large expenditures which they were promised by the advocates of the +system should be made from the Federal Treasury in their neighborhood. +Whole sections of the country were thus sought to be influenced, and the +system was fast becoming one not only of profuse and wasteful +expenditure, but a potent political engine. + +If the power to improve a harbor be admitted, it is not easy to perceive +how the power to deepen every inlet on the ocean or the lakes and make +harbors where there are none can be denied. If the power to clear out or +deepen the channel of rivers near their mouths be admitted, it is not +easy to perceive how the power to improve them to their fountain head +and make them navigable to their sources can be denied. Where shall the +exercise of the power, if it be assumed, stop? Has Congress the power +when an inlet is deep enough to admit a schooner to deepen it still +more, so that it will admit ships of heavy burden, and has it not the +power when an inlet will admit a boat to make it deep enough to admit a +schooner? May it improve rivers deep enough already to float ships and +steamboats, and has it no power to improve those which are navigable +only for flatboats and barges? May the General Government exercise power +and jurisdiction over the soil of a State consisting of rocks and sand +bars in the beds of its rivers, and may it not excavate a canal around +its waterfalls or across its lands for precisely the same object? + +Giving to the subject the most serious and candid consideration of which +my mind is capable, I can not perceive any intermediate grounds. The +power to improve harbors and rivers for purposes of navigation, by +deepening or clearing out, by dams and sluices, by locking or canalling, +must be admitted without any other limitation than the discretion of +Congress, or it must be denied altogether. If it be admitted, how broad +and how susceptible of enormous abuses is the power thus vested in the +General Government! There is not an inlet of the ocean or the Lakes, not +a river, creek, or streamlet within the States, which is not brought for +this purpose within the power and jurisdiction of the General +Government. + +Speculation, disguised under the cloak of public good, will call on +Congress to deepen shallow inlets, that it may build up new cities on +their shores, or to make streams navigable which nature has closed by +bars and rapids, that it may sell at a profit its lands upon their +banks. To enrich neighborhoods by spending within them the moneys of the +nation will be the aim and boast of those who prize their local +interests above the good of the nation, and millions upon millions will +be abstracted by tariffs and taxes from the earnings of the whole people +to foster speculation and subserve the objects of private ambition. + +Such a system could not be administered with any approach to equality +among the several States and sections of the Union. There is no equality +among them in the objects of expenditure, and if the funds were +distributed according to the merits of those objects some would be +enriched at the expense of their neighbors. But a greater practical evil +would be found in the art and industry by which appropriations would be +sought and obtained. The most artful and industrious would be the most +successful. The true interests of the country would be lost sight of in +an annual scramble for the contents of the Treasury, and the Member of +Congress who could procure the largest appropriations to be expended in +his district would claim the reward of victory from his enriched +constituents. The necessary consequence would be sectional discontents +and heartburnings, increased taxation, and a national debt never to be +extinguished. + +In view of these portentous consequences, I can not but think that this +course of legislation should be arrested, even were there nothing to +forbid it in the fundamental laws of our Union. This conclusion is +fortified by the fact that the Constitution itself indicates a process +by which harbors and rivers within the States may be improved--a process +not susceptible of the abuses necessarily to flow from the assumption of +the power to improve them by the General Government, just in its +operation, and actually practiced upon, without complaint or +interruption, during more than thirty years from the organization of the +present Government. + +The Constitution provides that "no State shall, without the consent of +Congress, lay any duty of tonnage." With the "consent" of Congress, such +duties may be levied, collected, and expended by the States. We are not +left in the dark as to the objects of this reservation of power to the +States. The subject was fully considered by the Convention that framed +the Constitution. It appears in Mr. Madison's report of the proceedings +of that body that one object of the reservation was that the States +should not be restrained from laying duties of tonnage for the purpose +of clearing harbors. Other objects were named in the debates, and among +them the support of seamen. Mr. Madison, treating on this subject in the +Federalist, declares that-- + + The restraint on the power of the States over imports and exports is + enforced by all the arguments which prove the necessity of submitting + the regulation of trade to the Federal councils. It is needless, + therefore, to remark further on this head than that the manner in which + the restraint is qualified seems well calculated at once to secure to + the States a reasonable discretion in providing for the conveniency of + their imports and exports, and to the United States a reasonable check + against the abuse of this discretion. + + +The States may lay tonnage duties for clearing harbors, improving +rivers, or for other purposes, but are restrained from abusing the +power, because before such duties can take effect the "consent" of +Congress must be obtained. Here is a safe provision for the improvement +of harbors and rivers in the reserved powers of the States and in the +aid they may derive from duties of tonnage levied with the consent of +Congress. Its safeguards are, that both the State legislatures and +Congress have to concur in the act of raising the funds; that they are +in every instance to be levied upon the commerce of those ports which +are to profit by the proposed improvement; that no question of +conflicting power or jurisdiction is involved; that the expenditure, +being in the hands of those who are to pay the money and be immediately +benefited, will be more carefully managed and more productive of good +than if the funds were drawn from the National Treasury and disbursed by +the officers of the General Government; that such a system will carry +with it no enlargement of Federal power and patronage, and leave the +States to be the sole judges of their own wants and interests, with only +a conservative negative in Congress upon any abuse of the power which +the States may attempt. + +Under this wise system the improvement of harbors and rivers was +commenced, or rather continued, from the organization of the Government +under the present Constitution. Many acts were passed by the several +States levying duties of tonnage, and many were passed by Congress +giving their consent to those acts. Such acts have been passed by +Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, North +Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, and have been sanctioned by the +consent of Congress. Without enumerating them all, it may be instructive +to refer to some of them, as illustrative of the mode of improving +harbors and rivers in the early periods of our Government, as to the +constitutionality of which there can be no doubt. + +In January, 1790, the State of Rhode Island passed a law levying a +tonnage duty on vessels arriving in the port of Providence, "for the +purpose of clearing and deepening the channel of Providence River and +making the same more navigable." + +On the 2d of February, 1798, the State of Massachusetts passed a law +levying a tonnage duty on all vessels, whether employed in the foreign +or coasting trade, which might enter into the Kennebunk River, for the +improvement of the same by "rendering the passage in and out of said +river less difficult and dangerous." + +On the 1st of April, 1805, the State of Pennsylvania passed a law +levying a tonnage duty on vessels, "to remove the obstructions to the +navigation of the river Delaware below the city of Philadelphia." + +On the 23d of January, 1804, the State of Virginia passed a law levying +a tonnage duty on vessels, "for improving the navigation of James +River." + +On the 22d of February, 1826, the State of Virginia passed a law levying +a tonnage duty on vessels, "for improving the navigation of James River +from Warwick to Rocketts landing." + +On the 8th of December, 1824, the State of Virginia passed a law levying +a tonnage duty on vessels, "for improving the navigation of Appomattox +River from Pocahontas Bridge to Broadway." + +In November, 1821, the State of North Carolina passed a law levying a +tonnage duty on vessels, "for the purpose of opening an inlet at the +lower end of Albemarle Sound, near a place called Nags Head, and +improving the navigation of said sound, with its branches;" and in +November, 1828, an amendatory law was passed. + +On the 21st of December, 1804, the State of South Carolina passed a law +levying a tonnage duty, for the purpose of "building a marine hospital +in the vicinity of Charleston," and on the 17th of December, 1816, +another law was passed by the legislature of that State for the +"maintenance of a marine hospital." + +On the 10th of February, 1787, the State of Georgia passed a law levying +a tonnage duty on all vessels entering into the port of Savannah, for +the purpose of "clearing" the Savannah River of "wrecks and other +obstructions" to the navigation. + +On the 12th of December, 1804, the State of Georgia passed a law levying +a tonnage duty on vessels, "to be applied to the payment of the fees of +the harbor master and health officer of the ports of Savannah and St. +Marys." + +In April, 1783, the State of Maryland passed a law laying a tonnage duty +on vessels, for the improvement of the "basin" and "harbor" of Baltimore +and the "river Patapsco." + +On the 26th of December, 1791, the State of Maryland passed a law +levying a tonnage duty on vessels, for the improvement of the "harbor +and port of Baltimore." + +On the 28th of December, 1793, the State of Maryland passed a law +authorizing the appointment of a health officer for the port of +Baltimore, and laying a tonnage duty on vessels to defray the expenses. + +Congress has passed many acts giving its "consent" to these and other +State laws, the first of which is dated in 1790 and the last in 1843. By +the latter act the "consent" of Congress was given to the law of the +legislature of the State of Maryland laying a tonnage duty on vessels +for the improvement of the harbor of Baltimore, and continuing it in +force until the 1st day of June, 1850. I transmit herewith copies of +such of the acts of the legislatures of the States on the subject, and +also the acts of Congress giving its "consent" thereto, as have been +collated. + +That the power was constitutionally and rightfully exercised in these +cases does not admit of a doubt. + +The injustice and inequality resulting from conceding the power to both +Governments is illustrated by several of the acts enumerated. Take that +for the improvement of the harbor of Baltimore. That improvement is paid +for exclusively by a tax on the commerce of that city, but if an +appropriation be made from the National Treasury for the improvement of +the harbor of Boston it must be paid in part out of taxes levied on the +commerce of Baltimore. The result is that the commerce of Baltimore pays +the full cost of the harbor improvement designed for its own benefit, +and in addition contributes to the cost of all other harbor and river +improvements in the Union. The facts need but be stated to prove the +inequality and injustice which can not but flow from the practice +embodied in this bill. Either the subject should be left as it was +during the first third of a century, or the practice of levying tonnage +duties by the States should be abandoned altogether and all harbor and +river improvements made under the authority of the United States, and by +means of direct appropriations. In view not only of the constitutional +difficulty, but as a question of policy, I am clearly of opinion that +the whole subject should be left to the States, aided by such tonnage +duties on vessels navigating their waters as their respective +legislatures may think proper to propose and Congress see fit to +sanction. This "consent" of Congress would never be refused in any case +where the duty proposed to be levied by the State was reasonable and +where the object of improvement was one of importance. The funds +required for the improvement of harbors and rivers may be raised in this +mode, as was done in the earlier periods of the Government, and thus +avoid a resort to a strained construction of the Constitution not +warranted by its letter. If direct appropriations be made of the money +in the Federal Treasury for such purposes, the expenditures will be +unequal and unjust. The money in the Federal Treasury is paid by a tax +on the whole people of the United States, and if applied to the purposes +of improving harbors and rivers it will be partially distributed and be +expended for the advantage of particular States, sections, or localities +at the expense of others. + +By returning to the early and approved construction of the Constitution +and to the practice under it this inequality and injustice will be +avoided and at the same time all the really important improvements be +made, and, as our experience has proved, be better made and at less cost +than they would be by the agency of officers of the United States. The +interests benefited by these improvements, too, would bear the cost +of making them, upon the same principle that the expenses of the +Post-Office establishment have always been defrayed by those who derive +benefits from it. The power of appropriating money from the Treasury for +such improvements was not claimed or exercised for more than thirty +years after the organization of the Government in 1789, when a more +latitudinous construction was indicated, though it was not broadly +asserted and exercised until 1825. Small appropriations were first made +in 1820 and 1821 for surveys. An act was passed on the 3d of March, +1823, authorizing the President to "cause an examination and survey to +be made of the obstructions between the harbor of Gloucester and the +harbor of Squam, in the State of Massachusetts," and of "the entrance of +the harbor of the port of Presque Isle, in Pennsylvania," with a view to +their removal, and a small appropriation was made to pay the necessary +expenses. This appears to have been the commencement of harbor +improvements by Congress, thirty-four years after the Government went +into operation under the present Constitution. On the 30th of April, +1824, an act was passed making an appropriation of $30,000, and +directing "surveys and estimates to be made of the routes of such roads +and canals" as the President "may deem of national importance in a +commercial or military point of view or necessary for the transportation +of the mails." This act evidently looked to the adoption of a general +system of internal improvements, to embrace roads and canals as well +as harbors and rivers. On the 26th May, 1824, an act was passed making +appropriations for "deepening the channel leading into the harbor of +Presque Isle, in the State of Pennsylvania," and to "repair Plymouth +Beach, in the State of Massachusetts, and thereby prevent the harbor +at that place from being destroyed." + +President Monroe yielded his approval to these measures, though he +entertained, and had, in a message to the House of Representatives on +the 4th of May, 1822, expressed, the opinion that the Constitution had +not conferred upon Congress the power to "adopt and execute a system of +internal improvements." He placed his approval upon the ground, not that +Congress possessed the power to "adopt and execute" such a system by +virtue of any or all of the enumerated grants of power in the +Constitution, but upon the assumption that the power to make +appropriations of the public money was limited and restrained only by +the discretion of Congress. In coming to this conclusion he avowed that +"in the more early stage of the Government" he had entertained a +different opinion. He avowed that his first opinion had been that "as +the National Government is a Government of limited powers, it has no +right to expend money except in the performance of acts authorized by +the other specific grants, according to a strict construction of their +powers," and that the power to make appropriations gave to Congress no +discretionary authority to apply the public money to any other purposes +or objects except to "carry into effect the powers contained in the +other grants." These sound views, which Mr. Monroe entertained "in the +early stage of the Government," he gave up in 1822, and declared that-- + + The right of appropriation is nothing more than a right to apply the + public money to this or that purpose. It has no incidental power, nor + does it draw after it any consequences of that kind. All that Congress + could do under it in the case of internal improvements would be to + appropriate the money necessary to make them. For every act requiring + legislative sanction or support the State authority must be relied on. + The condemnation of the land, if the proprietors should refuse to sell + it, the establishment of tumpikes and tolls, and the protection of the + work when finished must be done by the State. To these purposes the + powers of the General Government are believed to be utterly incompetent. + + +But it is impossible to conceive on what principle the power of +appropriating public money when in the Treasury can be construed to +extend to objects for which the Constitution does not authorize Congress +to levy taxes or imposts to raise money. The power of appropriation is +but the consequence of the power to raise money; and the true inquiry is +whether Congress has the right to levy taxes for the object over which +power is claimed. + +During the four succeeding years embraced by the Administration of +President Adams the power not only to appropriate money, but to apply +it, under the direction and authority of the General Government, as well +to the construction of roads as to the improvement of harbors and +rivers, was fully asserted and exercised. + +Among other acts assuming the power was one passed on the 20th of May, +1826, entitled "An act for improving certain harbors and the navigation +of certain rivers and creeks, and for authorizing surveys to be made of +certain bays, sounds, and rivers therein mentioned." By that act large +appropriations were made, which were to be "applied, under the direction +of the President of the United States," to numerous improvements +in ten of the States. This act, passed thirty-seven years after +the organisation of the present Government, contained the first +appropriation ever made for the improvement of a navigable river, +unless it be small appropriations for examinations and surveys in 1820. +During the residue of that Administration many other appropriations of +a similar character were made, embracing roads, rivers, harbors, and +canals, and objects claiming the aid of Congress multiplied without +number. + +This was the first breach effected in the barrier which the universal +opinion of the framers of the Constitution had for more than thirty +years thrown in the way of the assumption of this power by Congress. +The general mind of Congress and the country did not appreciate the +distinction taken by President Monroe between the right to appropriate +money for an object and the right to apply and expend it without the +embarrassment and delay of applications to the State governments. +Probably no instance occurred in which such an application was made, and +the flood gates being thus hoisted the principle laid down by him was +disregarded, and applications for aid from the Treasury, virtually to +make harbors as well as improve them, clear out rivers, cut canals, and +construct roads, poured into Congress in torrents until arrested by the +veto of President Jackson. His veto of the Maysville road bill was +followed up by his refusal to sign the "Act making appropriations for +building light-houses, light-boats, beacons, and monuments, placing +buoys, improving harbors, and directing surveys;" "An act authorizing +subscriptions for stock in the Louisville and Portland Canal Company;" +"An act for the improvement of certain harbors and the navigation of +certain rivers;" and, finally, "An act to improve the navigation of +the Wabash River." In his objections to the act last named he says: + + The desire to embark the Federal Government in works of internal + improvement prevailed in the highest degree during the first session of + the first Congress that I had the honor to meet in my present situation. + When the bill authorizing a subscription on the part of the United + States for stock in the Maysville and Lexington Tumpike Company passed + the two Houses, there had been reported by the Committees of Internal + Improvements bills containing appropriations for such objects, inclusive + of those for the Cumberland road and for harbors and light-houses, to + the amount of $106,000,000. In this amount was included authority to + the Secretary of the Treasury to subscribe for the stock of different + companies to a great extent, and the residue was principally for the + direct construction of roads by this Government, in addition to these + projects, which had been presented to the two Houses under the sanction + and recommendation of their respective Committees on Internal + Improvements, there were then still pending before the committees and in + memorials to Congress presented but not referred different projects for + works of a similar character, the expense of which can not be estimated + with certainty, but must have exceeded $100,000,000. + + +Thus, within the brief period of less than ten years after the +commencement of internal improvements by the General Government the sum +asked for from the Treasury for various projects amounted to more than +$200,000,000. President Jackson's powerful and disinterested appeals to +his country appear to have put down forever the assumption of power to +make roads and cut canals, and to have checked the prevalent disposition +to bring all rivers in any degree navigable within the control of the +General Government. But an immense field for expending the public money +and increasing the power and patronage of this Government was left open +in the concession of even a limited power of Congress to improve harbors +and rivers--a field which millions will not fertilize to the +satisfaction of those local and speculating interests by which these +projects are in general gotten up. There can not be a just and equal +distribution of public burdens and benefits under such a system, nor can +the States be relieved from the danger of fatal encroachment, nor the +United States from the equal danger of consolidation, otherwise than by +an arrest of the system and a return to the doctrines and practices +which prevailed during the first thirty years of the Government. + +How forcibly does the history of this subject illustrate the tendency of +power to concentration in the hands of the General Government. The power +to improve their own harbors and rivers was clearly reserved to the +States, who were to be aided by tonnage duties levied and collected by +themselves, with the consent of Congress. For thirty-four years +improvements were carried on under that system, and so careful was +Congress not to interfere, under any implied power, with the soil or +jurisdiction of the States that they did not even assume the power to +erect lighthouses or build piers without first purchasing the ground, +with the consent of the States, and obtaining jurisdiction over it. +At length, after the lapse of thirty-three years, an act is passed +providing for the examination of certain obstructions at the mouth of +one or two harbors almost unknown. It is followed by acts making small +appropriations for the removal of those obstructions. The obstacles +interposed by President Monroe, after conceding the power to +appropriate, were soon swept away. Congress virtually assumed +jurisdiction of the soil and waters of the States, without their +consent, for the purposes of internal improvement, and the eyes of eager +millions were turned from the State governments to Congress as the +fountain whose golden streams were to deepen their harbors and rivers, +level their mountains, and fill their valleys with canals. To what +consequences this assumption of power was rapidly leading is shown by +the veto messages of President Jackson, and to what end it is again +tending is witnessed by the provisions of this bill and bills of similar +character. + +In the proceedings and debates of the General Convention which formed +the Constitution and of the State conventions which adopted it nothing +is found to countenance the idea that the one intended to propose or the +others to concede such a grant of power to the General Government as the +building up and maintaining of a system of internal improvements within +the States necessarily implies. Whatever the General Government may +constitutionally create, it may lawfully protect. If it may make a road +upon the soil of the States, it may protect it from destruction or +injury by penal laws. So of canals, rivers, and harbors. If it may put +a dam in a river, it may protect that dam from removal or injury, in +direct opposition to the laws, authorities, and people of the State in +which it is situated. If it may deepen a harbor, it may by its own laws +protect its agents, and contractors from being driven from their work +even by the laws and authorities of the State. The power to make a road +or canal or to dig up the bottom of a harbor or river implies a right in +the soil of the State and a jurisdiction over it, for which it would be +impossible to find any warrant. + +The States were particularly jealous of conceding to the General +Government any right of jurisdiction over their soil, and in the +Constitution restricted the exclusive legislation of Congress to such +places as might be "purchased with the consent of the States in which +the same shall be, for the erection of forts, magazines, dockyards, and +other needful buildings." That the United States should be prohibited +from purchasing lands within the States without their consent, even for +the most essential purposes of national defense, while left at liberty +to purchase or seize them for roads, canals, and other improvements of +immeasurably less importance, is not to be conceived. + +A proposition was made in the Convention to provide for the appointment +of a "Secretary of Domestic Affairs," and make it his duty, among other +things, "to attend to the opening of roads and navigation and the +facilitating communications through the United States." It was referred +to a committee, and that appears to have been the last of it. On a +subsequent occasion a proposition was made to confer on Congress the +power to "provide for the cutting of canals when deemed necessary," +which was rejected by the strong majority of eight States to three. +Among the reasons given for the rejection of this proposition, it was +urged that "the expense in such cases will fall on the United States +and the benefits accrue to the places where the canals may be cut." + +During the consideration of this proposition a motion was made to +enlarge the proposed power for "cutting canals" into a power "to grant +charters of incorporation when the interest of the United States might +require and the legislative provisions of the individual States may be +incompetent;" and the reason assigned by Mr. Madison for the proposed +enlargement of the power was that it would "secure an easy communication +between the States, which the free intercourse now to be opened seemed +to call for. The political obstacles being removed, a removal of the +natural ones, as far as possible, ought to follow." + +The original proposition and all the amendments were rejected, after +deliberate discussion, not on the ground, as so much of that discussion +as has been preserved indicates, that no direct grant was necessary, +but because it was deemed inexpedient to grant it at all. When it is +considered that some of the members of the Convention, who afterwards +participated in the organization and administration of the Government, +advocated and practiced upon a very liberal construction of the +Constitution, grasping at many high powers as implied in its various +provisions, not one of them, it is believed, at that day claimed the +power to make roads and canals, or improve rivers and harbors, or +appropriate money for that purpose. Among our early statesmen of the +strict-construction class the opinion was universal, when the subject +was first broached, that Congress did not possess the power, although +some of them thought it desirable. + +President Jefferson, in his message to Congress in 1806, recommended an +amendment of the Constitution, with a view to apply an anticipated +surplus in the Treasury "to the great purposes of the public education, +roads, rivers, canals, and such other objects of public improvement as +it may be thought proper to add to the constitutional enumeration of +Federal powers." And he adds: + + I suppose an amendment to the Constitution, by consent of the States, + necessary, because the objects now recommended are not among those + enumerated in the Constitution, and to which it permits the public + moneys to be applied. + + +In 1825 he repeated, in his published letters, the opinion that no such +power has been conferred upon Congress. + +President Madison, in a message to the House of Representatives of the +3d of March, 1817, assigning his objections to a bill entitled "An act +to set apart and pledge certain funds for internal improvements," +declares that-- + + "The power to regulate commerce among the several States" can not + include a power to construct roads and canals and to _improve the + navigation of water courses_ in order to facilitate, promote, and + secure such a commerce without a latitude of construction departing + from the ordinary import of the terms, strengthened by the known + inconveniences which doubtless led to the grant of this remedial + power to Congress. + + +President Monroe, in a message to the House of Representatives of the +4th of May, 1822, containing his objections to a bill entitled "An act +for the preservation and repair of the Cumberland road," declares: + + Commerce between independent powers or communities is universally + regulated by duties and imposts. It was so regulated by the States + before the adoption of this Constitution, equally in respect to each + other and to foreign powers. The goods and vessels employed in the trade + are the only subjects of regulation. It can act on none other. A power, + then, to impose such duties and imposts in regard to foreign nations + and to prevent any on the trade between the States was the only power + granted. + + If we recur to the causes which produced the adoption of this + Constitution, we shall find that injuries resulting from the regulation + of trade by the States respectively and the advantages anticipated from + the transfer of the power to Congress were among those which had the + most weight. Instead of acting as a nation in regard to foreign powers, + the States individually had commenced a system of restraint on each + other whereby the interests of foreign powers were promoted at their + expense. If one State imposed high duties on the goods or vessels of a + foreign power to countervail the regulations of such power, the next + adjoining States imposed lighter duties to invite those articles into + their ports, that they might be transferred thence into the other + States, securing the duties to themselves. This contracted policy in + some of the States was soon counteracted by others. Restraints were + immediately laid on such commerce by the suffering States; and thus had + grown up a state of affairs disorderly and unnatural, the tendency of + which was to destroy the Union itself and with it all hope of realizing + those blessings which we had anticipated from the glorious Revolution + which had been so recently achieved. From this deplorable dilemma, or, + rather, certain ruin, we were happily rescued by the adoption of the + Constitution. + + Among the first and most important effects of this great Revolution + was the complete abolition of this pernicious policy. The States + were brought together by the Constitution, as to commerce, into one + community, equally in regard to foreign nations and each other. The + regulations that were adopted regarded us in both respects as one + people. The duties and imposts that were laid on the vessels and + merchandise of foreign nations were all uniform throughout the United + States, and in the intercourse between the States themselves no duties + of any kind were imposed other than between different ports and + counties within the same State. + + This view is supported by a series of measures, all of a marked + character, preceding the adoption of the Constitution. As early as the + year 1781 Congress recommended it to the States to vest in the United + States a power to levy a duty of 5 per cent on all goods imported from + foreign countries into the United States for the term of fifteen years. + In 1783 this recommendation, with alterations as to the kind of duties + and an extension of this term to twenty-five years, was repeated and + more earnestly urged. In 1784 it was recommended to the States to + authorize Congress to prohibit, under certain modifications, the + importation of goods from foreign powers into the United States for + fifteen years. In 1785 the consideration of the subject was resumed, + and a proposition presented in a new form, with an address to the + States explaining fully the principles on which a grant of the power to + regulate trade was deemed indispensable. In 1786 a meeting took place + at Annapolis of delegates from several of the States on this subject, + and on their report a convention was formed at Philadelphia the ensuing + year from all the States, to whose deliberations we are indebted for + the present Constitution. + + In none of these measures was the subject of internal improvement + mentioned or even glanced at. Those of 1784, 1785, 1786, and 1787, + leading step by step to the adoption of the Constitution, had in view + only the obtaining of a power to enable Congress to regulate trade with + foreign powers. It is manifest that the regulation of trade with the + several States was altogether a secondary object, suggested by and + adopted in connection with the other. If the power necessary to this + system of improvement is included under either branch of this grant, + I should suppose that it was the first rather than the second. The + pretension to it, however, under that branch has never been set up. + In support of the claim under the second no reason has been assigned + which appears to have the least weight. + + +Such is a brief history of the origin, progress, and consequences of +a system which for more than thirty years after the adoption of the +Constitution was unknown. The greatest embarrassment upon the subject +consists in the departure which has taken place from the early +construction of the Constitution and the precedents which are found in +the legislation of Congress in later years. President Jackson, in his +veto of the Wabash River bill, declares that "to inherent embarrassments +have been added others resulting from the course of our legislation +concerning it." In his vetoes on the Maysville road bill, the Rockville +road bill, the Wabash River bill, and other bills of like character he +reversed the precedents which existed prior to that time on the subject +of internal improvements. When our experience, observation, and +reflection have convinced us that a legislative precedent is either +unwise or unconstitutional, it should not be followed. + +No express grant of this power is found in the Constitution. Its +advocates have differed among themselves as to the source from which it +is derived as an incident. In the progress of the discussions upon this +subject the power to regulate commerce seems now to be chiefly relied +upon, especially in reference to the improvement of harbors and rivers. + +In relation to the regulation of commerce, the language of the grant in +the Constitution is: + + Congress shall have power to regulate commerce with foreign nations, + and among the several States, and with the Indian tribes. + + +That to "regulate commerce" does not mean to make a road, or dig a +canal, or clear out a river, or deepen a harbor would seem to be obvious +to the common understanding. To "regulate" admits or affirms the +preexistence of the thing to be regulated. In this case it presupposes +the existence of commerce, and, of course, the means by which and the +channels through which commerce is carried on. It confers no creative +power; it only assumes control over that which may have been brought +into existence through other agencies, such as State legislation and the +industry and enterprise of individuals. If the definition of the word +"regulate" is to include the provision of means to carry on commerce, +then have Congress not only power to deepen harbors, clear out rivers, +dig canals, and make roads, but also to build ships, railroad cars, and +other vehicles, all of which are necessary to commerce. There is no +middle ground. If the power to regulate can be legitimately construed +into a power to create or facilitate, then not only the bays and +harbors, but the roads and canals and all the means of transporting +merchandise among the several States, are put at the disposition of +Congress. This power to regulate commerce was construed and exercised +immediately after the adoption of the Constitution, and has been +exercised to the present day, by prescribing general rules by which +commerce should be conducted. With foreign nations it has been regulated +by treaties defining the rights of citizens and subjects, as well as by +acts of Congress imposing duties and restrictions embracing vessels, +seamen, cargoes, and passengers. It has been regulated among the States +by acts of Congress relating to the coasting trade and the vessels +employed therein, and for the better security of passengers in vessels +propelled by steam, and by the removal of all restrictions upon internal +trade. It has been regulated, with the Indian tribes by our intercourse +laws, prescribing the manner in which it shall be carried on. Thus each +branch of this grant of power was exercised soon after the adoption of +the Constitution, and has continued to be exercised to the present day. +If a more extended construction be adopted, it is impossible for the +human mind to fix on a limit to the exercise of the power other than the +will and discretion of Congress. It sweeps into the vortex of national +power and jurisdiction not only harbors and inlets, rivers and little +streams, but canals, turnpikes, and railroads--every species of +improvement which can facilitate or create trade and intercourse "with +foreign nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian +tribes." + +Should any great object of improvement exist in our widely extended +country which can not be effected by means of tonnage duties levied by +the States with the concurrence of Congress, it is safer and wiser to +apply to the States in the mode prescribed by the Constitution for an +amendment of that instrument whereby the powers of the General +Government may be enlarged, with such limitations and restrictions as +experience has shown to be proper, than to assume and exercise a power +which has not been granted, or which may be regarded as doubtful in the +opinion of a large portion of our constituents. This course has been +recommended successively by Presidents Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, and +Jackson, and I fully concur with them in opinion. If an enlargement of +power should be deemed proper, it will unquestionably be granted by the +States; if otherwise, it will be withheld; and in either case their +decision should be final. In the meantime I deem it proper to add that +the investigation of this subject has impressed me more strongly than +ever with the solemn conviction that the usefulness and permanency of +this Government and the happiness of the millions over whom it spreads +its protection will be best promoted by carefully abstaining from the +exercise of all powers not clearly granted by the Constitution. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + + +PROCLAMATION. + + +BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. + +A PROCLAMATION. + +Whereas a treaty of peace, friendship, limits, and settlement between +the United States of America and the Mexican Republic was concluded and +signed at the city of Guadalupe Hidalgo on the 2d day of February, 1848, +which treaty, as amended by the Senate of the United States, and being +in the English and Spanish languages, is word for word as follows: + +[Here follows the treaty.] + +And whereas the said treaty, as amended, has been duly ratified on both +parts, and the respective ratifications of the same were exchanged at +Queretaro on the 30th day of May last by Ambrose H. Sevier and Nathan +Clifford, commissioners on the part of the Government of the United +States, and by Seńor Don Luis de la Rosa, minister of relations of the +Mexican Republic, on the part of that Government: + +Now, therefore, be it known that I, James K. Polk, President of the +United States of America, have caused the said treaty to be made public, +to the end that the same and every clause and article thereof may be +observed and fulfilled with good faith by the United States and the +citizens thereof. + +In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of +the United States to be affixed. + +[SEAL.] + +Done at the city of Washington, this 4th day of July, 1848, and of the +Independence of the United States the seventy-third. + +JAMES K. POLK. + +By the President: + JAMES BUCHANAN, + _Secretary of State_. + + + + +EXECUTIVE ORDER. + +GENERAL ORDERS, No. 9. + +WAR DEPARTMENT, Adjutant-General's Office, + +_Washington, February 24, 1848_. + +I. The following orders of the President of the United States and +Secretary of War announce to the Army the death of the illustrious +ex-President John Quincy Adams: + +BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. + +WASHINGTON, _February 24, 1848_. + +It has pleased Divine Providence to call hence a great and patriotic +citizen. John Quincy Adams is no more. At the advanced age of more than +fourscore years, he was suddenly stricken from his seat in the House of +Representatives by the hand of disease on the 21st, and expired in the +Capitol a few minutes after 7 o'clock on the evening of the 23d of +February, 1848. + +He had for more than half a century filled the most important public +stations, and among them that of President of the United States. The +two Houses of Congress, of one of which he was a venerable and most +distinguished member, will doubtless prescribe appropriate ceremonies to +be observed as a mark of respect for the memory of this eminent citizen. + +The nation mourns his loss; and as a further testimony of respect for +his memory I direct that all the executive offices at Washington be +placed in mourning and that all business be suspended during this day +and to-morrow. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + +WAR DEPARTMENT, _February 24, 1848_. + +The President of the United States with deep regret announces to the +Army the death of John Quincy Adams, our eminent and venerated +fellow-citizen. + +While occupying his seat as a member of the House of Representatives, on +the 21st instant he was suddenly prostrated by disease, and on the 23d +expired, without having been removed from the Capitol. He had filled +many honorable and responsible stations in the service of his country, +and among them that of President of the United States; and he closed his +long and eventful life in the actual discharge of his duties as one of +the Representatives of the people. + +From sympathy with his relatives and the American people for his loss +and from respect for his distinguished public services, the President +orders that funeral honors shall be paid to his memory at each of the +military stations. + +The Adjutant-General will give the necessary instructions for carrying +into effect the foregoing orders. + +W.L. MARCY, + _Secretary of War_. + + +II. On the day succeeding the arrival of this general order at each +military post the troops will be paraded at 10 o'clock a.m. and the +order read to them, after which all labors for the day will cease. + +The national flag will be displayed at half-staff. + +At dawn of day thirteen guns will be fired, and afterwards, at intervals +of thirty minutes between the rising and setting sun, a single gun, and +at the close of the day a national salute of twenty-nine guns. + +The officers of the Army will wear crape on the left arm and on their +swords and the colors of the several regiments will be put in mourning +for the period of six months. + +By order: + +R. JONES, + _Adjutant-General._ + + + + +FOURTH ANNUAL MESSAGE. + + +WASHINGTON, _December 5, 1848_. + +_Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and of the House of Representatives_: + +Under the benignant providence of Almighty God the representatives of +the States and of the people are again brought together to deliberate +for the public good. The gratitude of the nation to the Sovereign +Arbiter of All Human Events should be commensurate with the boundless +blessings which we enjoy. + +Peace, plenty, and contentment reign throughout our borders, and our +beloved country presents a sublime moral spectacle to the world. + +The troubled and unsettled condition of some of the principal European +powers has had a necessary tendency to check and embarrass trade and to +depress prices throughout all commercial nations, but notwithstanding +these causes, the United States, with their abundant products, have felt +their effects less severely than any other country, and all our great +interests are still prosperous and successful. + +In reviewing the great events of the past year and contrasting the +agitated and disturbed state of other countries with our own tranquil +and happy condition, we may congratulate ourselves that we are the most +favored people on the face of the earth. While the people of other +countries are struggling to establish free institutions, under which man +may govern himself, we are in the actual enjoyment of them--a rich +inheritance from our fathers. While enlightened nations of Europe are +convulsed and distracted by civil war or intestine strife, we settle all +our political controversies by the peaceful exercise of the rights of +freemen at the ballot box. + +The great republican maxim, so deeply engraven on the hearts of our +people, that the will of the majority, constitutionally expressed, shall +prevail, is our sure safeguard against force and violence. It is a +subject of just pride that our fame and character as a nation continue +rapidly to advance in the estimation of the civilized world. + +To our wise and free institutions it is to be attributed that while +other nations have achieved glory at the price of the suffering, +distress, and impoverishment of their people, we have won our honorable +position in the midst of an uninterrupted prosperity and of an +increasing individual comfort and happiness. + +I am happy to inform you that our relations with all nations are +friendly and pacific. Advantageous treaties of commerce have been +concluded within the last four years with New Granada, Peru, the Two +Sicilies, Belgium, Hanover, Oldenburg, and Mecklenburg-Schwerin. +Pursuing our example, the restrictive system of Great Britain, our +principal foreign customer, has been relaxed, a more liberal commercial +policy has been adopted by other enlightened nations, and our trade has +been greatly enlarged and extended. Our country stands higher in the +respect of the world than at any former period. To continue to occupy +this proud position, it is only necessary to preserve peace and +faithfully adhere to the great and fundamental principle of our foreign +policy of noninterference in the domestic concerns of other nations. We +recognize in all nations the right which we enjoy ourselves, to change +and reform their political institutions according to their own will and +pleasure. Hence we do not look behind existing governments capable of +maintaining their own authority. We recognize all such actual +governments, not only from the dictates of true policy, but from a +sacred regard for the independence of nations. While this is our settled +policy, it does not follow that we can ever be indifferent spectators of +the progress of liberal principles. The Government and people of the +United States hailed with enthusiasm and delight the establishment of +the French Republic, as we now hail the efforts in progress to unite the +States of Germany in a confederation similar in many respects to our own +Federal Union. If the great and enlightened German States, occupying, as +they do, a central and commanding position in Europe, shall succeed in +establishing such a confederated government, securing at the same time +to the citizens of each State local governments adapted to the peculiar +condition of each, with unrestricted trade and intercourse with each +other, it will be an important era in the history of human events. +Whilst it will consolidate and strengthen the power of Germany, it must +essentially promote the cause of peace, commerce, civilization, and +constitutional liberty throughout the world. + +With all the Governments on this continent our relations, it is +believed, are now on a more friendly and satisfactory footing than they +have ever been at any former period. + +Since the exchange of ratifications of the treaty of peace with Mexico +our intercourse with the Government of that Republic has been of the +most friendly character. The envoy extraordinary and minister +plenipotentiary of the United States to Mexico has been received and +accredited, and a diplomatic representative from Mexico of similar rank +has been received and accredited by this Government. The amicable +relations between the two countries, which had been suspended, have been +happily restored, and are destined, I trust, to be long preserved. The +two Republics, both situated on this continent, and with coterminous +territories, have every motive of sympathy and of interest to bind them +together in perpetual amity. + +This gratifying condition of our foreign relations renders it +unnecessary for me to call your attention more specifically to them. + +It has been my constant aim and desire to cultivate peace and commerce +with all nations. Tranquillity at home and peaceful relations abroad +constitute the true permanent policy of our country. War, the scourge of +nations, sometimes becomes inevitable, but is always to be avoided when +it can be done consistently with the rights and honor of a nation. + +One of the most important results of the war into which we were recently +forced with a neighboring nation is the demonstration it has afforded of +the military strength of our country. Before the late war with Mexico +European and other foreign powers entertained imperfect and erroneous +views of our physical strength as a nation and of our ability to +prosecute war, and especially a war waged out of our own country. They +saw that our standing Army on the peace establishment did not exceed +10,000 men. Accustomed themselves to maintain in peace large standing +armies for the protection of thrones against their own subjects, as well +as against foreign enemies, they had not conceived that it was possible +for a nation without such an army, well disciplined and of long service, +to wage war successfully. They held in low repute our militia, and were +far from regarding them as an effective force, unless it might be for +temporary defensive operations when invaded on our own soil. The events +of the late war with Mexico have not only undeceived them, but have +removed erroneous impressions which prevailed to some extent even among +a portion of our own countrymen. That war has demonstrated that upon the +breaking out of hostilities not anticipated, and for which no previous +preparation had been made, a volunteer army of citizen soldiers equal to +veteran troops, and in numbers equal to any emergency, can in a short +period be brought into the field. Unlike what would have occurred in any +other country, we were under no necessity of resorting to drafts or +conscriptions. On the contrary, such was the number of volunteers who +patriotically tendered their services that the chief difficulty was +in making selections and determining who should be disappointed and +compelled to remain at home. Our citizen soldiers are unlike those +drawn from the population of any other country. They are composed +indiscriminately of all professions and pursuits--of farmers, lawyers, +physicians, merchants, manufacturers, mechanics, and laborers--and this +not only among the officers, but the private soldiers in the ranks. +Our citizen soldiers are unlike those of any other country in other +respects. They are armed, and have been accustomed from their youth up +to handle and use firearms, and a large proportion of them, especially +in the Western and more newly settled States, are expert marksmen. They +are men who have a reputation to maintain at home by their good conduct +in the field. They are intelligent, and there is an individuality of +character which is found in the ranks of no other army. In battle each +private man, as well as every officer, fights not only for his country, +but for glory and distinction among his fellow-citizens when he shall +return to civil life. + +The war with Mexico has demonstrated not only the ability of the +Government to organize a numerous army upon a sudden call, but also to +provide it with all the munitions and necessary supplies with dispatch, +convenience, and ease, and to direct its operations with efficiency. The +strength of our institutions has not only been displayed in the valor +and skill of our troops engaged in active service in the field, but in +the organization of those executive branches which were charged with the +general direction and conduct of the war. While too great praise can not +be bestowed upon the officers and men who fought our battles, it would +be unjust to withhold from those officers necessarily stationed at home, +who were charged with the duty of furnishing the Army in proper time and +at proper places with all the munitions of war and other supplies so +necessary to make it efficient, the commendation to which they are +entitled. The credit due to this class of our officers is the greater +when it is considered that no army in ancient or modern times was ever +better appointed or provided than our Army in Mexico. Operating in an +enemy's country, removed 2,000 miles from the seat of the Federal +Government, its different corps spread over a vast extent of territory, +hundreds and even thousands of miles apart from each other, nothing +short of the untiring vigilance and extraordinary energy of these +officers could have enabled them to provide the Army at all points and +in proper season with all that was required for the most efficient +service. + +It is but an act of justice to declare that the officers in charge of +the several executive bureaus, all under the immediate eye and +supervision of the Secretary of War, performed their respective duties +with ability, energy, and efficiency. They have reaped less of the glory +of the war, not having been personally exposed to its perils in battle, +than their companions in arms; but without their forecast, efficient +aid, and cooperation those in the field would not have been provided +with the ample means they possessed of achieving for themselves and +their country the unfading honors which they have won for both. + +When all these facts are considered, it may cease to be a matter of so +much amazement abroad how it happened that our noble Army in Mexico, +regulars and volunteers, were victorious upon every battlefield, however +fearful the odds against them. + +The war with Mexico has thus fully developed the capacity of republican +governments to prosecute successfully a just and necessary foreign war +with all the vigor usually attributed to more arbitrary forms of +government. It has been usual for writers on public law to impute to +republics a want of that unity, concentration of purpose, and vigor of +execution which are generally admitted to belong to the monarchical and +aristocratic forms; and this feature of popular government has been +supposed to display itself more particularly in the conduct of a war +carried on in an enemy's territory. The war with Great Britain in 1812 +was to a great extent confined within our own limits, and shed but +little light on this subject; but the war which we have just closed by +an honorable peace evinces beyond all doubt that a popular +representative government is equal to any emergency which is likely to +arise in the affairs of a nation. + +The war with Mexico has developed most strikingly and conspicuously +another feature in our institutions. It is that without cost to the +Government or danger to our liberties we have in the bosom of our +society of freemen, available in a just and necessary war, virtually a +standing army of 2,000,000 armed citizen soldiers, such as fought the +battles of Mexico. But our military strength does not consist alone in +our capacity for extended and successful operations on land. The Navy is +an important arm of the national defense. If the services of the Navy +were not so brilliant as those of the Army in the late war with Mexico, +it was because they had no enemy to meet on their own element. While the +Army had opportunity of performing more conspicuous service, the Navy +largely participated in the conduct of the war. Both branches of the +service performed their whole duty to the country. For the able and +gallant services of the officers and men of the Navy, acting +independently as well as in cooperation with our troops, in the conquest +of the Californias, the capture of Vera Cruz, and the seizure and +occupation of other important positions on the Gulf and Pacific coasts, +the highest praise is due. Their vigilance, energy, and skill rendered +the most effective service in excluding munitions of war and other +supplies from the enemy, while they secured a safe entrance for abundant +supplies for our own Army. Our extended commerce was nowhere +interrupted, and for this immunity from the evils of war the country is +indebted to the Navy. + +High praise is due to the officers of the several executive bureaus, +navy-yards, and stations connected with the service, all under the +immediate direction of the Secretary of the Navy, for the industry, +foresight, and energy with which everything was directed and furnished +to give efficiency to that branch of the service. The same vigilance +existed in directing the operations of the Navy as of the Army. There +was concert of action and of purpose between the heads of the two arms +of the service. By the orders which were from time to time issued, our +vessels of war on the Pacific and the Gulf of Mexico were stationed in +proper time and in proper positions to cooperate efficiently with the +Army. By this means their combined power was brought to bear +successfully on the enemy. + +The great results which have been developed and brought to light by +this war will be of immeasurable importance in the future progress of +our country. They will tend powerfully to preserve us from foreign +collisions, and to enable us to pursue uninterruptedly our cherished +policy of "peace with all nations, entangling alliances with none." + +Occupying, as we do, a more commanding position among nations than at +any former period, our duties and our responsibilities to ourselves +and to posterity are correspondingly increased. This will be the more +obvious when we consider the vast additions which have been recently +made to our territorial possessions and their great importance and +value. + +Within less than four years the annexation of Texas to the Union has +been consummated; all conflicting title to the Oregon Territory south of +the forty-ninth degree of north latitude, being all that was insisted on +by any of my predecessors, has been adjusted, and New Mexico and Upper +California have been acquired by treaty. The area of these several +Territories, according to a report carefully prepared by the +Commissioner of the General Land Office from the most authentic +information in his possession, and which is herewith transmitted, +contains 1,193,061 square miles, or 763,559,040 acres; while the area of +the remaining twenty-nine States and the territory not yet organized +into States east of the Rocky Mountains contains 2,059,513 square miles, +or 1,318,126,058 acres. These estimates show that the territories +recently acquired, and over which our exclusive jurisdiction and +dominion have been extended, constitute a country more than half as +large as all that which was held by the United States before their +acquisition. If Oregon be excluded from the estimate, there will still +remain within the limits of Texas, New Mexico, and California 851,598 +square miles, or 545,012,720 acres, being an addition equal to more than +one-third of all the territory owned by the United States before their +acquisition, and, including Oregon, nearly as great an extent of +territory as the whole of Europe, Russia only excepted. The Mississippi, +so lately the frontier of our country, is now only its center. With the +addition of the late acquisitions, the United States are now estimated +to be nearly as large as the whole of Europe. It is estimated by the +Superintendent of the Coast Survey in the accompanying report that the +extent of the seacoast of Texas on the Gulf of Mexico is upward of 400 +miles; of the coast of Upper California on the Pacific, of 970 miles, +and of Oregon, including the Straits of Fuca, of 650 miles, making the +whole extent of seacoast on the Pacific 1,620 miles and the whole extent +on both the Pacific and the Gulf of Mexico 2,020 miles. The length of +the coast on the Atlantic from the northern limits of the United States +around the capes of Florida to the Sabine, on the eastern boundary of +Texas, is estimated to be 3,100 miles; so that the addition of seacoast, +including Oregon, is very nearly two-thirds as great as all we possessed +before, and, excluding Oregon, is an addition of 1,370 miles, being +nearly equal to one-half of the extent of coast which we possessed +before these acquisitions. We have now three great maritime fronts--on +the Atlantic, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Pacific--making in the whole +an extent of seacoast exceeding 5,000 miles. This is the extent of the +seacoast of the United States, not including bays, sounds, and small +irregularities of the main shore and of the sea islands. If these be +included, the length of the shore line of coast, as estimated by the +Superintendent of the Coast Survey in his report, would be 33,063 miles. + +It would be difficult to calculate the value of these immense additions +to our territorial possessions. Texas, lying contiguous to the western +boundary of Louisiana, embracing within its limits a part of the +navigable tributary waters of the Mississippi and an extensive seacoast, +could not long have remained in the hands of a foreign power without +endangering the peace of our southwestern frontier. Her products in the +vicinity of the tributaries of the Mississippi must have sought a market +through these streams, running into and through our territory, and the +danger of irritation and collision of interests between Texas as a +foreign state and ourselves would have been imminent, while the +embarrassments in the commercial intercourse between them must have been +constant and unavoidable. Had Texas fallen into the hands or under the +influence and control of a strong maritime or military foreign power, as +she might have done, these dangers would have been still greater. They +have been avoided by her voluntary and peaceful annexation to the United +States. Texas, from her position, was a natural and almost indispensable +part of our territories. Fortunately, she has been restored to our +country, and now constitutes one of the States of our Confederacy, "upon +an equal footing with the original States." The salubrity of climate, +the fertility of soil, peculiarly adapted to the production of some of +our most valuable staple commodities, and her commercial advantages must +soon make her one of our most populous States. + +New Mexico, though situated in the interior and without a seacoast, is +known to contain much fertile land, to abound in rich mines of the +precious metals, and to be capable of sustaining a large population. +From its position it is the intermediate and connecting territory +between our settlements and our possessions in Texas and those on the +Pacific Coast. + +Upper California, irrespective of the vast mineral wealth recently +developed there, holds at this day, in point of value and importance, +to the rest of the Union the same relation that Louisiana did when that +fine territory was acquired from France forty-five years ago. Extending +nearly ten degrees of latitude along the Pacific, and embracing the only +safe and commodious harbors on that coast for many hundred miles, with +a temperate climate and an extensive interior of fertile lands, it is +scarcely possible to estimate its wealth until it shall be brought under +the government of our laws and its resources fully developed. From its +position it must command the rich commerce of China, of Asia, of the +islands of the Pacific, of western Mexico, of Central America, the South +American States, and of the Russian possessions bordering on that ocean. +A great emporium will doubtless speedily arise on the Californian coast +which may be destined to rival in importance New Orleans itself. The +depot of the vast commerce which must exist on the Pacific will probably +be at some point on the Bay of San Francisco, and will occupy the same +relation to the whole western coast of that ocean as New Orleans does to +the valley of the Mississippi and the Gulf of Mexico. To this depot our +numerous whale ships will resort with their cargoes to trade, refit, +and obtain supplies. This of itself will largely contribute to build +up a city, which would soon become the center of a great and rapidly +increasing commerce. Situated on a safe harbor, sufficiently capacious +for all the navies as well as the marine of the world, and convenient to +excellent timber for shipbuilding, owned by the United States, it must +become our great Western naval depot. + +It was known that mines of the precious metals existed to a considerable +extent in California at the time of its acquisition. Recent discoveries +render it probable that these mines are more extensive and valuable than +was anticipated. The accounts of the abundance of gold in that territory +are of such an extraordinary character as would scarcely command belief +were they not corroborated by the authentic reports of officers in the +public service who have visited the mineral district and derived the +facts which they detail from personal observation. Reluctant to credit +the reports in general circulation as to the quantity of gold, the +officer commanding our forces in California visited the mineral district +in July last for the purpose of obtaining accurate information on the +subject. His report to the War Department of the result of his +examination and the facts obtained on the spot is herewith laid before +Congress. When he visited the country there were about 4,000 persons +engaged in collecting gold. There is every reason to believe that the +number of persons so employed has since been augmented. The explorations +already made warrant the belief that the supply is very large and that +gold is found at various places in an extensive district of country. + +Information received from officers of the Navy and other sources, though +not so full and minute, confirms the accounts of the commander of our +military force in California. It appears also from these reports that +mines of quicksilver are found in the vicinity of the gold region. One +of them is now being worked, and is believed to be among the most +productive in the world. + +The effects produced by the discovery of these rich mineral deposits and +the success which has attended the labors of those who have resorted to +them have produced a surprising change in the state of affairs in +California. Labor commands a most exorbitant price, and all other +pursuits but that of searching for the precious metals are abandoned. +Nearly the whole of the male population of the country have gone to the +gold districts. Ships arriving on the coast are deserted by their crews +and their voyages suspended for want of sailors. Our commanding officer +there entertains apprehensions that soldiers can not be kept in the +public service without a large increase of pay. Desertions in his +command have become frequent, and he recommends that those who shall +withstand the strong temptation and remain faithful should be rewarded. + +This abundance of gold and the all-engrossing pursuit of it have already +caused in California an unprecedented rise in the price of all the +necessaries of life. + +That we may the more speedily and fully avail ourselves of the +undeveloped wealth of these mines, it is deemed of vast importance +that a branch of the Mint of the United States be authorized to be +established at your present session in California. Among other signal +advantages which would result from such an establishment would be that +of raising the gold to its par value in that territory. A branch mint of +the United States at the great commercial depot on the west coast would +convert into our own coin not only the gold derived from our own rich +mines, but also the bullion and specie which our commerce may bring from +the whole west coast of Central and South America. The west coast of +America and the adjacent interior embrace the richest and best mines of +Mexico, New Granada, Central America, Chili, and Peru. The bullion and +specie drawn from these countries, and especially from those of western +Mexico and Peru, to an amount in value of many millions of dollars, are +now annually diverted and carried by the ships of Great Britain to her +own ports, to be recoined or used to sustain her national bank, and thus +contribute to increase her ability to command so much of the commerce of +the world. If a branch mint be established at the great commercial point +upon that coast, a vast amount of bullion and specie would flow thither +to be recoined, and pass thence to New Orleans, New York, and other +Atlantic cities. The amount of our constitutional currency at home would +be greatly increased, while its circulation abroad would be promoted. It +is well known to our merchants trading to China and the west coast of +America that great inconvenience and loss are experienced from the fact +that our coins are not current at their par value in those countries. + +The powers of Europe, far removed from the west coast of America by +the Atlantic Ocean, which intervenes, and by a tedious and dangerous +navigation around the southern cape of the continent of America, can +never successfully compete with the United States in the rich and +extensive commerce which is opened to us at so much less cost by the +acquisition of California. + +The vast importance and commercial advantages of California have +heretofore remained undeveloped by the Government of the country of +which it constituted a part. Now that this fine province is a part of +our country, all the States of the Union, some more immediately and +directly than others, are deeply interested in the speedy development of +its wealth and resources. No section of our country is more interested +or will be more benefited than the commercial, navigating, and +manufacturing interests of the Eastern States. Our planting and farming +interests in every part of the Union will be greatly benefited by it. +As our commerce and navigation are enlarged and extended, our exports of +agricultural products and of manufactures will be increased, and in the +new markets thus opened they can not fail to command remunerating and +profitable prices. + +The acquisition of California and New Mexico, the settlement of the +Oregon boundary, and the annexation of Texas, extending to the Rio +Grande, are results which, combined, are of greater consequence and will +add more to the strength and wealth of the nation than any which have +preceded them since the adoption of the Constitution. + +But to effect these great results not only California, but New Mexico, +must be brought under the control of regularly organized governments. +The existing condition of California and of that part of New Mexico +lying west of the Rio Grande and without the limits of Texas imperiously +demands that Congress should at its present session organize Territorial +governments over them. + +Upon the exchange of ratifications of the treaty of peace with Mexico, +on the 30th of May last, the temporary governments which had been +established over New Mexico and California by our military and naval +commanders by virtue of the rights of war ceased to derive any +obligatory force from that source of authority, and having been ceded +to the United States, all government and control over them under the +authority of Mexico had ceased to exist. Impressed with the necessity +of establishing Territorial governments over them, I recommended the +subject to the favorable consideration of Congress in my message +communicating the ratified treaty of peace, on the 6th of July last, and +invoked their action at that session. Congress adjourned without making +any provision for their government. The inhabitants by the transfer +of their country had become entitled to the benefit of our laws and +Constitution, and yet were left without any regularly organized +government. Since that time the very limited power possessed by the +Executive has been exercised to preserve and protect them from the +inevitable consequences of a state of anarchy. The only government which +remained was that established by the military authority during the war. +Regarding this to be a _de facto_ government, and that by the presumed +consent of the inhabitants it might be continued temporarily, they were +advised to conform and submit to it for the short intervening period +before Congress would again assemble and could legislate on the subject. +The views entertained by the Executive on this point are contained in a +communication of the Secretary of State dated the 7th of October last, +which was forwarded for publication to California and New Mexico, +a copy of which is herewith transmitted. The small military force of +the Regular Army which was serving within the limits of the acquired +territories at the close of the war was retained in them, and additional +forces have been ordered there for the protection of the inhabitants and +to preserve and secure the rights and interests of the United States. + +No revenue has been or could be collected at the ports in California, +because Congress failed to authorize the establishment of custom-houses +or the appointment of officers for that purpose. + +The Secretary of the Treasury, by a circular letter addressed to +collectors of the customs on the 7th day of October last, a copy of +which is herewith transmitted, exercised all the power with which he +was invested by law. + +In pursuance of the act of the 14th of August last, extending the +benefit of our post-office laws to the people of California, the +Postmaster-General has appointed two agents, who have proceeded, the +one to California and the other to Oregon, with authority to make the +necessary arrangements for carrying its provisions into effect. + +The monthly line of mail steamers from Panama to Astoria has been +required to "stop and deliver and take mails at San Diego, Monterey, and +San Francisco." These mail steamers, connected by the Isthmus of Panama +with the line of mail steamers on the Atlantic between New York and +Chagres, will establish a regular mail communication with California. + +It is our solemn duty to provide with the least practicable delay for +New Mexico and California regularly organized Territorial governments. +The causes of the failure to do this at the last session of Congress are +well known and deeply to be regretted. With the opening prospects of +increased prosperity and national greatness which the acquisition of +these rich and extensive territorial possessions affords, how irrational +it would be to forego or to reject these advantages by the agitation of +a domestic question which is coeval with the existence of our Government +itself, and to endanger by internal strifes, geographical divisions, and +heated contests for political power, or for any other cause, the harmony +of the glorious Union of our confederated States--that Union which binds +us together as one people, and which for sixty years has been our shield +and protection against every danger. In the eyes of the world and of +posterity how trivial and insignificant will be all our internal +divisions and struggles compared with the preservation of this Union +of the States in all its vigor and with all its countless blessings! +No patriot would foment and excite geographical and sectional divisions. +No lover of his country would deliberately calculate the value of the +Union. Future generations would look in amazement upon the folly of such +a course. Other nations at the present day would look upon it with +astonishment, and such of them as desire to maintain and perpetuate +thrones and monarchical or aristocratical principles will view it with +exultation and delight, because in it they will see the elements of +faction, which they hope must ultimately overturn our system. Ours is +the great example of a prosperous and free self-governed republic, +commanding the admiration and the imitation of all the lovers of freedom +throughout the world. How solemn, therefore, is the duty, how impressive +the call upon us and upon all parts of our country, to cultivate a +patriotic spirit of harmony, of good-fellowship, of compromise and +mutual concession, in the administration of the incomparable system of +government formed by our fathers in the midst of almost insuperable +difficulties, and transmitted to us with the injunction that we should +enjoy its blessings and hand it down unimpaired to those who may come +after us. + +In view of the high and responsible duties which we owe to ourselves and +to mankind, I trust you may be able at your present session to approach +the adjustment of the only domestic question which seriously threatens, +or probably ever can threaten, to disturb the harmony and successful +operations of our system. + +The immensely valuable possessions of New Mexico and California are +already inhabited by a considerable population. Attracted by their great +fertility, their mineral wealth, their commercial advantages, and the +salubrity of the climate, emigrants from the older States in great +numbers are already preparing to seek new homes in these inviting +regions. Shall the dissimilarity of the domestic institutions in the +different States prevent us from providing for them suitable +governments? These institutions existed at the adoption of the +Constitution, but the obstacles which they interposed were overcome +by that spirit of compromise which is now invoked. In a conflict of +opinions or of interests, real or imaginary, between different sections +of our country, neither can justly demand all which it might desire to +obtain. Each, in the true spirit of our institutions, should concede +something to the other. + +Our gallant forces in the Mexican war, by whose patriotism and +unparalleled deeds of arms we obtained these possessions as an indemnity +for our just demands against Mexico, were composed of citizens who +belonged to no one State or section of our Union. They were men from +slave-holding and nonslaveholding States, from the North and the South, +from the East and the West. They were all companions in arms and +fellow-citizens of the same common country, engaged in the same common +cause. When prosecuting that war they were brethren and friends, and +shared alike with each other common toils, dangers, and sufferings. Now, +when their work is ended, when peace is restored, and they return again +to their homes, put off the habiliments of war, take their places in +society, and resume their pursuits in civil life, surely a spirit of +harmony and concession and of equal regard for the rights of all and of +all sections of the Union ought to prevail in providing governments for +the acquired territories--the fruits of their common service. The whole +people of the United States, and of every State, contributed to defray +the expenses of that war, and it would not be just for any one section +to exclude another from all participation in the acquired territory. +This would not be in consonance with the just system of government which +the framers of the Constitution adopted. + +The question is believed to be rather abstract than practical, whether +slavery ever can or would exist in any portion of the acquired territory +even if it were left to the option of the slaveholding States +themselves. From the nature of the climate and productions in much the +larger portion of it it is certain it could never exist, and in the +remainder the probabilities are it would not. But however this may be, +the question, involving, as it does, a principle of equality of rights +of the separate and several States as equal copartners in the +Confederacy, should not be disregarded. + +In organizing governments over these territories no duty imposed on +Congress by the Constitution requires that they should legislate on the +subject of slavery, while their power to do so is not only seriously +questioned, but denied by many of the soundest expounders of that +instrument. Whether Congress shall legislate or not, the people of +the acquired territories, when assembled in convention to form State +constitutions, will possess the sole and exclusive power to determine +for themselves whether slavery shall or shall not exist within their +limits. If Congress shall abstain from interfering with the question, +the people of these territories will be left free to adjust it as they +may think proper when they apply for admission as States into the Union. +No enactment of Congress could restrain the people of any of the +sovereign States of the Union, old or new, North or South, slaveholding +or nonslaveholding, from determining the character of their own domestic +institutions as they may deem wise and proper. Any and all the States +possess this right, and Congress can not deprive them of it. The people +of Georgia might if they chose so alter their constitution as to abolish +slavery within its limits, and the people of Vermont might so alter +their constitution as to admit slavery within its limits. Both States +would possess the right, though, as all know, it is not probable that +either would exert it. + +It is fortunate for the peace and harmony of the Union that this +question is in its nature temporary and can only continue for the brief +period which will intervene before California and New Mexico may be +admitted as States into the Union. From the tide of population now +flowing into them it is highly probable that this will soon occur. + +Considering the several States and the citizens of the several States as +equals and entitled to equal rights under the Constitution, if this were +an original question it might well be insisted on that the principle of +noninterference is the true doctrine and that Congress could not, in the +absence of any express grant of power, interfere with their relative +rights. Upon a great emergency, however, and under menacing dangers +to the Union, the Missouri compromise line in respect to slavery was +adopted. The same line was extended farther west in the acquisition of +Texas. After an acquiescence of nearly thirty years in the principle of +compromise recognized and established by these acts, and to avoid the +danger to the Union which might follow if it were now disregarded, +I have heretofore expressed the opinion that that line of compromise +should be extended on the parallel of 36° 30' from the western boundary +of Texas, where it now terminates, to the Pacific Ocean. This is the +middle ground of compromise, upon which the different sections of the +Union may meet, as they have heretofore met. If this be done, it is +confidently believed a large majority of the people of every section of +the country, however widely their abstract opinions on the subject of +slavery may differ, would cheerfully and patriotically acquiesce in it, +and peace and harmony would again fill our borders. + +The restriction north of the line was only yielded to in the case of +Missouri and Texas upon a principle of compromise, made necessary for +the sake of preserving the harmony and possibly the existence of the +Union. + +It was upon these considerations that at the close of your last session +I gave my sanction to the principle of the Missouri compromise line by +approving and signing the bill to establish "the Territorial government +of Oregon." From a sincere desire to preserve the harmony of the Union, +and in deference for the acts of my predecessors, I felt constrained +to yield my acquiescence to the extent to which they had gone in +compromising this delicate and dangerous question. But if Congress shall +now reverse the decision by which the Missouri compromise was effected, +and shall propose to extend the restriction over the whole territory, +south as well as north of the parallel of 36° 30', it will cease to be +a compromise, and must be regarded as an original question. + +If Congress, instead of observing the course of noninterference, leaving +the adoption of their own domestic institutions to the people who may +inhabit these territories, or if, instead of extending the Missouri +compromise line to the Pacific, shall prefer to submit the legal and +constitutional questions which may arise to the decision of the judicial +tribunals, as was proposed in a bill which passed the Senate at your +last session, an adjustment may be effected in this mode. If the whole +subject be referred to the judiciary, all parts of the Union should +cheerfully acquiesce in the final decision of the tribunal created by +the Constitution for the settlement of all questions which may arise +under the Constitution, treaties, and laws of the United States. + +Congress is earnestly invoked, for the sake of the Union, its harmony, +and our continued prosperity as a nation, to adjust at its present +session this, the only dangerous question which lies in our path, if +not in some one of the modes suggested, in some other which may be +satisfactory. + +In anticipation of the establishment of regular governments over the +acquired territories, a joint commission of officers of the Army and +Navy has been ordered to proceed to the coast of California and Oregon +for the purpose of making reconnoissances and a report as to the proper +sites for the erection of fortifications or other defensive works on +land and of suitable situations for naval stations. The information +which may be expected from a scientific and skillful examination of the +whole face of the coast will be eminently useful to Congress when they +come to consider the propriety of making appropriations for these great +national objects. Proper defenses on land will be necessary for the +security and protection of our possessions, and the establishment of +navy-yards and a dock for the repair and construction of vessels will +be important alike to our Navy and commercial marine. Without such +establishments every vessel, whether of the Navy or of the merchant +service, requiring repair must at great expense come round Cape Horn to +one of our Atlantic yards for that purpose. With such establishments +vessels, it is believed, may be built or repaired as cheaply in +California as upon the Atlantic coast. They would give employment +to many of our enterprising shipbuilders and mechanics and greatly +facilitate and enlarge our commerce in the Pacific. + +As it is ascertained that mines of gold, silver, copper, and quicksilver +exist in New Mexico and California, and that nearly all the lands where +they are found belong to the United States, it is deemed important to +the public interest that provision be made for a geological and +mineralogical examination of these regions. Measures should be adopted +to preserve the mineral lands, especially such as contain the precious +metals, for the use of the United States, or, if brought into market, to +separate them from the farming lands and dispose of them in such manner +as to secure a large return of money to the Treasury and at the same +time to lead to the development of their wealth by individual +proprietors and purchasers. To do this it will be necessary to provide +for an immediate survey and location of the lots. If Congress should +deem it proper to dispose of the mineral lands, they should be sold in +small quantities and at a fixed minimum price. + +I recommend that surveyors-general's offices be authorized to be +established in New Mexico and California and provision made for +surveying and bringing the public lands into market at the earliest +practicable period. In disposing of these lands, I recommend that the +right of preemption be secured and liberal grants made to the early +emigrants who have settled or may settle upon them. + +It will be important to extend our revenue laws over these territories, +and especially over California, at an early period. There is already a +considerable commerce with California, and until ports of entry shall be +established and collectors appointed no revenue can be received. + +If these and other necessary and proper measures be adopted for the +development of the wealth and resources of New Mexico and California and +regular Territorial governments be established over them, such will +probably be the rapid enlargement of our commerce and navigation and +such the addition to the national wealth that the present generation may +live to witness the controlling commercial and monetary power of the +world transferred from London and other European emporiums to the city +of New York. + +The apprehensions which were entertained by some of our statesmen in the +earlier periods of the Government that our system was incapable of +operating with sufficient energy and success over largely extended +territorial limits, and that if this were attempted it would fall to +pieces by its own weakness, have been dissipated by our experience. By +the division of power between the States and Federal Government the +latter is found to operate with as much energy in the extremes as in the +center. It is as efficient in the remotest of the thirty States which +now compose the Union as it was in the thirteen States which formed our +Constitution. Indeed, it may well be doubted whether if our present +population had been confined within the limits of the original thirteen +States the tendencies to centralization and consolidation would not have +been such as to have encroached upon the essential reserved rights of +the States, and thus to have made the Federal Government a widely +different one, practically, from what it is in theory and was intended +to be by its framers. So far from entertaining apprehensions of the +safety of our system by the extension of our territory, the belief is +confidently entertained that each new State gives strength and an +additional guaranty for the preservation of the Union itself. + +In pursuance of the provisions of the thirteenth article of the treaty +of peace, friendship, limits, and settlement with the Republic of +Mexico, and of the act of July 29, 1848, claims of our citizens, which +had been "already liquidated and decided, against the Mexican Republic" +amounting, with the interest thereon, to $2,023,832.51 have been +liquidated and paid. There remain to be paid of these claims $74,192.26. + +Congress at its last session having made no provision for executing the +fifteenth article of the treaty, by which the United States assume to +make satisfaction for the "unliquidated claims" of our citizens against +Mexico to "an amount not exceeding three and a quarter millions of +dollars," the subject is again recommended to your favorable +consideration. + +The exchange of ratifications of the treaty with Mexico took place on +the 30th of May, 1848. Within one year after that time the commissioner +and surveyor which each Government stipulates to appoint are required +to meet "at the port of San Diego and proceed to run and mark the said +boundary in its whole course to the mouth of the Rio Bravo del Norte." +It will be seen from this provision that the period within which a +commissioner and surveyor of the respective Governments are to meet at +San Diego will expire on the 30th of May, 1849. Congress at the close of +its last session made an appropriation for "the expenses of running and +marking the boundary line" between the two countries, but did not fix +the amount of salary which should be paid to the commissioner and +surveyor to be appointed on the part of the United States. It is +desirable that the amount of compensation which they shall receive +should be prescribed by law, and not left, as at present, to Executive +discretion. + +Measures were adopted at the earliest practicable period to organize the +"Territorial government of Oregon," as authorized by the act of the 14th +of August last. The governor and marshal of the Territory, accompanied +by a small military escort, left the frontier of Missouri in September +last, and took the southern route, by the way of Santa Fe and the river +Gila, to California, with the intention of proceeding thence in one of +our vessels of war to their destination. The governor was fully advised +of the great importance of his early arrival in the country, and it is +confidently believed he may reach Oregon in the latter part of the +present month or early in the next. The other officers for the Territory +have proceeded by sea. + +In the month of May last I communicated information to Congress that +an Indian war had broken out in Oregon, and recommended that authority +be given to raise an adequate number of volunteers to proceed without +delay to the assistance of our fellow-citizens in that Territory. The +authority to raise such a force not having been granted by Congress, +as soon as their services could be dispensed with in Mexico orders were +issued to the regiment of mounted riflemen to proceed to Jefferson +Barracks, in Missouri, and to prepare to march to Oregon as soon as +the necessary provision could be made. Shortly before it was ready to +march it was arrested by the provision of the act passed by Congress +on the last day of the last session, which directed that all the +noncommissioned officers, musicians, and privates of that regiment who +had been in service in Mexico should, upon their application, be +entitled to be discharged. The effect of this provision was to disband +the rank and file of the regiment, and before their places could be +filled by recruits the season had so far advanced that it was +impracticable for it to proceed until the opening of the next spring. + +In the month of October last the accompanying communication was received +from the governor of the temporary government of Oregon, giving +information of the continuance of the Indian disturbances and of the +destitution and defenseless condition of the inhabitants. Orders were +immediately transmitted to the commander of our squadron in the Pacific +to dispatch to their assistance a part of the naval forces on that +station, to furnish them with arms and ammunition, and to continue to +give them such aid and protection as the Navy could afford until the +Army could reach the country. + +It is the policy of humanity, and one which has always been pursued by +the United States, to cultivate the good will of the aboriginal tribes +of this continent and to restrain them from making war and indulging in +excesses by mild means rather than by force. That this could have been +done with the tribes in Oregon had that Territory been brought under the +government of our laws at an earlier period, and had other suitable +measures been adopted by Congress, such as now exist in our intercourse +with the other Indian tribes within our limits, can not be doubted. +Indeed, the immediate and only cause of the existing hostility of the +Indians of Oregon is represented to have been the long delay of the +United States in making to them some trifling compensation, in such +articles as they wanted, for the country now occupied by our emigrants, +which the Indians claimed and over which they formerly roamed. This +compensation had been promised to them by the temporary government +established in Oregon, but its fulfillment had been postponed from time +to time for nearly two years, whilst those who made it had been +anxiously waiting for Congress to establish a Territorial government +over the country. The Indians became at length distrustful of their good +faith and sought redress by plunder and massacre, which finally led to +the present difficulties. A few thousand dollars in suitable presents, +as a compensation for the country which had been taken possession of by +our citizens, would have satisfied the Indians and have prevented the +war. A small amount properly distributed, it is confidently believed, +would soon restore quiet. In this Indian war our fellow-citizens of +Oregon have been compelled to take the field in their own defense, have +performed valuable military services, and been subjected to expenses +which have fallen heavily upon them. Justice demands that provision +should be made by Congress to compensate them for their services and to +refund to them the necessary expenses which they have incurred. + +I repeat the recommendation heretofore made to Congress, that provision +be made for the appointment of a suitable number of Indian agents to +reside among the tribes of Oregon, and that a small sum be appropriated +to enable these agents to cultivate friendly relations with them. If +this be done, the presence of a small military force will be all that is +necessary to keep them in check and preserve peace. I recommend that +similar provisions be made as regards the tribes inhabiting northern +Texas, New Mexico, California, and the extensive region lying between +our settlements in Missouri and these possessions, as the most effective +means of preserving peace upon our borders and within the recently +acquired territories. + +The Secretary of the Treasury will present in his annual report a highly +satisfactory statement of the condition of the finances. + +The imports for the fiscal year ending on the 30th of June last were of +the value of $154,977,876, of which the amount exported was $21,128,010, +leaving $133,849,866 in the country for domestic use. The value of the +exports for the same period was $154,032,131, consisting of domestic +productions amounting to $132,904,121 and $21,128,010 of foreign +articles. The receipts into the Treasury for the same period, exclusive +of loans, amounted to $35,436,750.59, of which there was derived from +customs $31,757,070.96, from sales of public lands $3,328,642.56, and +from miscellaneous and incidental sources $351,037.07. + +It will be perceived that the revenue from customs for the last fiscal +year exceeded by $757,070.96 the estimate of the Secretary of the +Treasury in his last annual report, and that the aggregate receipts +during the same period from customs, lands, and miscellaneous sources +also exceeded the estimate by the sum of $536,750.59, indicating, +however, a very near approach in the estimate to the actual result. + +The expenditures during the fiscal year ending on the 30th of June last, +including those for the war and exclusive of payments of principal and +interest for the public debt, were $42,811,970.03. + +It is estimated that the receipts into the Treasury for the fiscal year +ending on the 30th of June, 1849, including the balance in the Treasury +on the 1st of July last, will amount to the sum of $57,048,969.90, of +which $32,000,000, it is estimated, will be derived from customs, +$3,000,000 from the sales of the public lands, and $1,200,000 from +miscellaneous and incidental sources, including the premium upon the +loan, and the amount paid and to be paid into the Treasury on account of +military contributions in Mexico, and the sales of arms and vessels and +other public property rendered unnecessary for the use of the Government +by the termination of the war, and $20,695,435.30 from loans already +negotiated, including Treasury notes funded, which, together with the +balance in the Treasury on the 1st of July last, make the sum estimated. + +The expenditures for the same period, including the necessary payment on +account of the principal and interest of the public debt, and the +principal and interest of the first installment due to Mexico on the +30th of May next, and other expenditures growing out of the war to be +paid during the present year, will amount, including the reimbursement +of Treasury notes, to the sum of $54,195,275.06, leaving an estimated +balance in the Treasury on the 1st of July, 1849, of $2,853,694.84. + +The Secretary of the Treasury will present, as required by law, the +estimate of the receipts and expenditures for the next fiscal year. The +expenditures as estimated for that year are $33,213,152.73, including +$3,799,102.18 for the interest on the public debt and $3,540,000 for the +principal and interest due to Mexico on the 30th of May, 1850, leaving +the sum of $25,874,050.35, which, it is believed, will be ample for the +ordinary peace expenditures. + +The operations of the tariff act of 1846 have been such during the past +year as fully to meet the public expectation and to confirm the opinion +heretofore expressed of the wisdom of the change in our revenue system +which was effected by it. The receipts under it into the Treasury for +the first fiscal year after its enactment exceeded by the sum of +$5,044,403.09 the amount collected during the last fiscal year under the +tariff act of 1842, ending the 30th of June, 1846. The total revenue +realized from the commencement of its operation, on the 1st of December, +1846, until the close of the last quarter, on the 30th of September +last, being twenty-two months, was $56,654,563.79, being a much larger +sum than was ever before received from duties during any equal period +under the tariff acts of 1824, 1828, 1832, and 1842. Whilst by the +repeal of highly protective and prohibitory duties the revenue has been +increased, the taxes on the people have been diminished. They have been +relieved from the heavy amounts with which they were burthened under +former laws in the form of increased prices or bounties paid to favored +classes and pursuits. + +The predictions which were made that the tariff act of 1846 would reduce +the amount of revenue below that collected under the act of 1842, and +would prostrate the business and destroy the prosperity of the country, +have not been verified. With an increased and increasing revenue, the +finances are in a highly flourishing condition. Agriculture, commerce, +and navigation are prosperous; the prices of manufactured fabrics and of +other products are much less injuriously affected than was to have been +anticipated from the unprecedented revulsions which during the last and +the present year have overwhelmed the industry and paralyzed the credit +and commerce of so many great and enlightened nations of Europe. + +Severe commercial revulsions abroad have always heretofore operated to +depress and often to affect disastrously almost every branch of American +industry. The temporary depression of a portion of our manufacturing +interests is the effect of foreign causes, and is far less severe than +has prevailed on all former similar occasions. + +It is believed that, looking to the great aggregate of all our +interests, the whole country was never more prosperous than at the +present period, and never more rapidly advancing in wealth and +population. Neither the foreign war in which we have been involved, nor +the loans which have absorbed so large a portion of our capital, nor the +commercial revulsion in Great Britain in 1847, nor the paralysis of +credit and commerce throughout Europe in 1848, have affected injuriously +to any considerable extent any of the great interests of the country or +arrested our onward march to greatness, wealth, and power. + +Had the disturbances in Europe not occurred, our commerce would +undoubtedly have been still more extended, and would have added still +more to the national wealth and public prosperity. But notwithstanding +these disturbances, the operations of the revenue system established +by the tariff act of 1846 have been so generally beneficial to the +Government and the business of the country that no change in its +provisions is demanded by a wise public policy, and none is recommended. + +The operations of the constitutional treasury established by the act of +the 6th of August, 1846, in the receipt, custody, and disbursement of +the public money have continued to be successful. Under this system the +public finances have been carried through a foreign war, involving the +necessity of loans and extraordinary expenditures and requiring distant +transfers and disbursements, without embarrassment, and no loss has +occurred of any of the public money deposited under its provisions. +Whilst it has proved to be safe and useful to the Government, its +effects have been most beneficial upon the business of the country. It +has tended powerfully to secure an exemption from that inflation and +fluctuation of the paper currency so injurious to domestic industry +and rendering so uncertain the rewards of labor, and, it is believed, +has largely contributed to preserve the whole country from a serious +commercial revulsion, such as often occurred under the bank deposit +system. In the year 1847 there was a revulsion in the business of Great +Britain of great extent and intensity, which was followed by failures +in that Kingdom unprecedented in number and amount of losses. This is +believed to be the first instance when such disastrous bankruptcies, +occurring in a country with which we have such extensive commerce, +produced little or no injurious effect upon our trade or currency. +We remained but little affected in our money market, and our business +and industry were still prosperous and progressive. + +During the present year nearly the whole continent of Europe has been +convulsed by civil war and revolutions, attended by numerous +bankruptcies, by an unprecedented fall in their public securities, and +an almost universal paralysis of commerce and industry; and yet, +although our trade and the prices of our products must have been +somewhat unfavorably affected by these causes, we have escaped a +revulsion, our money market is comparatively easy, and public and +private credit have advanced and improved. + +It is confidently believed that we have been saved from their effect by +the salutary operation of the constitutional treasury. It is certain +that if the twenty-four millions of specie imported into the country +during the fiscal year ending on the 30th of June, 1847, had gone into +the banks, as to a great extent it must have done, it would in the +absence of this system have been made the basis of augmented bank paper +issues, probably to an amount not less than $60,000,000 or $70,000,000, +producing, as an inevitable consequence of an inflated currency, +extravagant prices for a time and wild speculation, which must have been +followed, on the reflux to Europe the succeeding year of so much of that +specie, by the prostration of the business of the country, the +suspension of the banks, and most extensive bankruptcies. Occurring, as +this would have done, at a period when the country was engaged in a +foreign war, when considerable loans of specie were required for distant +disbursements, and when the banks, the fiscal agents of the Government +and the depositories of its money, were suspended, the public credit +must have sunk, and many millions of dollars, as was the case during the +War of 1812, must have been sacrificed in discounts upon loans and upon +the depreciated paper currency which the Government would have been +compelled to use. + +Under the operations of the constitutional treasury not a dollar has +been lost by the depreciation of the currency. The loans required to +prosecute the war with Mexico were negotiated by the Secretary of the +Treasury above par, realizing a large premium to the Government. The +restraining effect of the system upon the tendencies to excessive paper +issues by banks has saved the Government from heavy losses and thousands +of our business men from bankruptcy and ruin. The wisdom of the system +has been tested by the experience of the last two years, and it is +the dictate of sound policy that it should remain undisturbed. The +modifications in some of the details of this measure, involving none of +its essential principles, heretofore recommended, are again presented +for your favorable consideration. + +In my message of the 6th of July last, transmitting to Congress the +ratified treaty of peace with Mexico, I recommended the adoption of +measures for the speedy payment of the public debt. In reiterating that +recommendation I refer you to the considerations presented in that +message in its support. The public debt, including that authorized to be +negotiated in pursuance of existing laws, and including Treasury notes, +amounted at that time to $65,778,450.41. + +Funded stock of the United States amounting to about half a million of +dollars has been purchased, as authorized by law, since that period, and +the public debt has thus been reduced, the details of which will be +presented in the annual report of the Secretary of the Treasury. + +The estimates of expenditures for the next fiscal year, submitted by +the Secretary of the Treasury, it is believed will be ample for all +necessary purposes. If the appropriations made by Congress shall not +exceed the amount estimated, the means in the Treasury will be +sufficient to defray all the expenses of the Government, to pay off the +next installment of $3,000,000 to Mexico, which will fall due on the +30th of May next, and still a considerable surplus will remain, which +should be applied to the further purchase of the public stock and +reduction of the debt. Should enlarged appropriations be made, the +necessary consequence will be to postpone the payment of the debt. +Though our debt, as compared with that of most other nations, is small, +it is our true policy, and in harmony with the genius of our +institutions, that we should present to the world the rare spectacle of +a great Republic, possessing vast resources and wealth, wholly exempt +from public indebtedness. This would add still more to our strength, +and give to us a still more commanding position among the nations of +the earth. + +The public expenditures should be economical, and be confined to such +necessary objects as are clearly within the powers of Congress. All such +as are not absolutely demanded should be postponed, and the payment of +the public debt at the earliest practicable period should be a cardinal +principle of our public policy. + +For the reason assigned in my last annual message, I repeat the +recommendation that a branch of the Mint of the United States be +established at the city of New York. The importance of this measure is +greatly increased by the acquisition of the rich mines of the precious +metals in New Mexico and California, and especially in the latter. + +I repeat the recommendation heretofore made in favor of the graduation +and reduction of the price of such of the public lands as have been long +offered in the market and have remained unsold, and in favor of +extending the rights of preemption to actual settlers on the unsurveyed +as well as the surveyed lands. + +The condition and operations of the Army and the state of other branches +of the public service under the supervision of the War Department are +satisfactorily presented in the accompanying report of the Secretary of +War. + +On the return of peace our forces were withdrawn from Mexico, and the +volunteers and that portion of the Regular Army engaged for the war were +disbanded. Orders have been issued for stationing the forces of our +permanent establishment at various positions in our extended country +where troops may be required. Owing to the remoteness of some of these +positions, the detachments have not yet reached their destination. +Notwithstanding the extension of the limits of our country and the +forces required in the new territories, it is confidently believed that +our present military establishment is sufficient for all exigencies so +long as our peaceful relations remain undisturbed. + +Of the amount of military contributions collected in Mexico, the sum of +$769,650 was applied toward the payment of the first installment due +under the treaty with Mexico. The further sum of $346,369.30 has been +paid into the Treasury, and unexpended balances still remain in the +hands of disbursing officers and those who were engaged in the +collection of these moneys. After the proclamation of peace no further +disbursements were made of any unexpended moneys arising from this +source. The balances on hand were directed to be paid into the Treasury, +and individual claims on the fund will remain unadjusted until Congress +shall authorize their settlement and payment. These claims are not +considerable in number or amount. + +I recommend to your favorable consideration the suggestions of the +Secretary of War and the Secretary of the Navy in regard to legislation +on this subject. + +Our Indian relations are presented in a most favorable view in the +report from the War Department. The wisdom of our policy in regard to +the tribes within our limits is clearly manifested by their improved and +rapidly improving condition. + +A most important treaty with the Menomonies has been recently negotiated +by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs in person, by which all their land +in the State of Wisconsin--being about 4,000,000 acres--has been ceded +to the United States. This treaty will be submitted to the Senate for +ratification at an early period of your present session. + +Within the last four years eight important treaties have been negotiated +with different Indian tribes, and at a cost of $1,842,000; Indian lands +to the amount of more than 18,500,000 acres have been ceded to the +United States, and provision has been made for settling in the country +west of the Mississippi the tribes which occupied this large extent of +the public domain. The title to all the Indian lands within the several +States of our Union, with the exception of a few small reservations, is +now extinguished, and a vast region opened for settlement and +cultivation. + +The accompanying report of the Secretary of the Navy gives a +satisfactory exhibit of the operations and condition of that branch of +the public service. + +A number of small vessels, suitable for entering the mouths of rivers, +were judiciously purchased during the war, and gave great efficiency to +the squadron in the Gulf of Mexico. On the return of peace, when no +longer valuable for naval purposes, and liable to constant +deterioration, they were sold and the money placed in the Treasury. + +The number of men in the naval service authorized by law during the war +has been reduced by discharges below the maximum fixed for the peace +establishment. Adequate squadrons are maintained in the several quarters +of the globe where experience has shown their services may be most +usefully employed, and the naval service was never in a condition of +higher discipline or greater efficiency. + +I invite attention to the recommendation of the Secretary of the Navy +on the subject of the Marine Corps. The reduction of the Corps at the +end of the war required that four officers of each of the three lower +grades should be dropped from the rolls. A board of officers made the +selection, and those designated were necessarily dismissed, but without +any alleged fault. I concur in opinion with the Secretary that the +service would be improved by reducing the number of landsmen and +increasing the marines. Such a measure would justify an increase of +the number of officers to the extent of the reduction by dismissal, +and still the Corps would have fewer officers than a corresponding +number of men in the Army. + +The contracts for the transportation of the mail in steamships, +convertible into war steamers, promise to realize all the benefits to +our commerce and to the Navy which were anticipated. The first steamer +thus secured to the Government was launched in January, 1847. There are +now seven, and in another year there will probably be not less than +seventeen afloat. While this great national advantage is secured, our +social and commercial intercourse is increased and promoted with +Germany, Great Britain, and other parts of Europe, with all the +countries on the west coast of our continent, especially with Oregon and +California, and between the northern and southern sections of the United +States. Considerable revenue may be expected from postages, but the +connected line from New York to Chagres, and thence across the Isthmus +to Oregon, can not fail to exert a beneficial influence, not now to be +estimated, on the interests of the manufactures, commerce, navigation, +and currency of the United States. As an important part of the system, +I recommend to your favorable consideration the establishment of the +proposed line of steamers between New Orleans and Vera Cruz. It promises +the most happy results in cementing friendship between the two Republics +and extending reciprocal benefits to the trade and manufactures of both. + +The report of the Postmaster-General will make known to you the +operations of that Department for the past year. + +It is gratifying to find the revenues of the Department, under the rates +of postage now established by law, so rapidly increasing. The gross +amount of postages during the last fiscal year amounted to $4,371,077, +exceeding the annual average received for the nine years immediately +preceding the passage of the act of the 3d of March, 1845, by the sum of +$6,453, and exceeding the amount received for the year ending the 30th +of June, 1847, by the sum of $425,184. + +The expenditures for the year, excluding the sum of $94,672, allowed by +Congress at its last session to individual claimants, and including the +sum of $100,500, paid for the services of the line of steamers between +Bremen and New York, amounted to $4,198,845, which is less than the +annual average for the nine years previous to the act of 1845 by +$300,748. + +The mail routes on the 30th day of June last were 163,208 miles in +extent, being an increase during the last year of 9,390 miles. The mails +were transported over them during the same time 41,012,579 miles, making +an increase of transportation for the year of 2,124,680 miles, whilst +the expense was less than that of the previous year by $4,235. + +The increase in the mail transportation within the last three years has +been 5,378,310 miles, whilst the expenses were reduced $456,738, making +an increase of service at the rate of 15 per cent and a reduction in the +expenses of more than 15 per cent. + +During the past year there have been employed, under contracts with the +Post-Office Department, two ocean steamers in conveying the mails +monthly between New York and Bremen, and one, since October last, +performing semimonthly service between Charleston and Havana; and a +contract has been made for the transportation of the Pacific mails +across the Isthmus from Chagres to Panama. + +Under the authority given to the Secretary of the Navy, three ocean +steamers have been constructed and sent to the Pacific, and are expected +to enter upon the mail service between Panama and Oregon and the +intermediate ports on the 1st of January next; and a fourth has been +engaged by him for the service between Havana and Chagres, so that a +regular monthly mail line will be kept up after that time between the +United States and our territories on the Pacific. + +Notwithstanding this great increase in the mail service, should the +revenue continue to increase the present year as it did in the last, +there will be received near $450,000 more than the expenditures. + +These considerations have satisfied the Postmaster-General that, with +certain modifications of the act of 1845, the revenue may be still +further increased and a reduction of postages made to a uniform rate of +5 cents, without an interference with the principle, which has been +constantly and properly enforced, of making that Department sustain +itself. + +A well-digested cheap-postage system is the best means of diffusing +intelligence among the people, and is of so much importance in a country +so extensive as that of the United States that I recommend to your +favorable consideration the suggestions of the Postmaster-General for +its improvement. + +Nothing can retard the onward progress of our country and prevent us +from assuming and maintaining the first rank among nations but a +disregard of the experience of the past and a recurrence to an unwise +public policy. We have just closed a foreign war by an honorable +peace--a war rendered necessary and unavoidable in vindication of the +national rights and honor. The present condition of the country is +similar in some respects to that which existed immediately after the +close of the war with Great Britain in 1815, and the occasion is deemed +to be a proper one to take a retrospect of the measures of public policy +which followed that war. There was at that period of our history a +departure from our earlier policy. The enlargement of the powers of the +Federal Government by _construction_, which obtained, was not warranted +by any just interpretation of the Constitution. A few years after the +close of that war a series of measures was adopted which, united and +combined, constituted what was termed by their authors and advocates the +"American system." + +The introduction of the new policy was for a time favored by the +condition of the country, by the heavy debt which had been contracted +during the war, by the depression of the public credit, by the deranged +state of the finances and the currency, and by the commercial and +pecuniary embarrassment which extensively prevailed. These were not the +only causes which led to its establishment. The events of the war with +Great Britain and the embarrassments which had attended its prosecution +had left on the minds of many of our statesmen the impression that our +Government was not strong enough, and that to wield its resources +successfully in great emergencies, and especially in war, more power +should be concentrated in its hands. This increased power they did not +seek to obtain by the legitimate and prescribed mode--an amendment of +the Constitution--but by _construction_. They saw Governments in the Old +World based upon different orders of society, and so constituted as to +throw the whole power of nations into the hands of a few, who taxed and +controlled the many without responsibility or restraint. In that +arrangement they conceived the strength of nations in war consisted. +There was also something fascinating in the ease, luxury, and display of +the higher orders, who drew their wealth from the toil of the laboring +millions. The authors of the system drew their ideas of political +economy from what they had witnessed in Europe, and particularly in +Great Britain. They had viewed the enormous wealth concentrated in few +hands and had seen the splendor of the overgrown establishments of an +aristocracy which was upheld by the restrictive policy. They forgot to +look down upon the poorer classes of the English population, upon whose +daily and yearly labor the great establishments they so much admired +were sustained and supported. They failed to perceive that the scantily +fed and half-clad operatives were not only in abject poverty, but were +bound in chains of oppressive servitude for the benefit of favored +classes, who were the exclusive objects of the care of the Government. + +It was not possible to reconstruct society in the United States upon the +European plan. Here there was a written Constitution, by which orders +and titles were not recognized or tolerated. A system of measures was +therefore devised, calculated, if not intended, to withdraw power +gradually and silently from the States and the mass of the people, and +by _construction_ to approximate our Government to the European models, +substituting an aristocracy of wealth for that of orders and titles. + +Without reflecting upon the dissimilarity of our institutions and of the +condition of our people and those of Europe, they conceived the vain +idea of building up in the United States a system similar to that which +they admired abroad. Great Britain had a national bank of large capital, +in whose hands was concentrated the controlling monetary and financial +power of the nation--an institution wielding almost kingly power, and +exerting vast influence upon all the operations of trade and upon the +policy of the Government itself. Great Britain had an enormous public +debt, and it had become a part of her public policy to regard this +as a "public blessing." Great Britain had also a restrictive policy, +which placed fetters and burdens on trade and trammeled the productive +industry of the mass of the nation. By her combined system of policy the +landlords and other property holders were protected and enriched by the +enormous taxes which were levied upon the labor of the country for their +advantage. Imitating this foreign policy, the first step in establishing +the new system in the United States was the creation of a national bank. +Not foreseeing the dangerous power and countless evils which such an +institution might entail on the country, nor perceiving the connection +which it was designed to form between the bank and the other branches of +the miscalled "American system," but feeling the embarrassments of the +Treasury and of the business of the country consequent upon the war, +some of our statesmen who had held different and sounder views were +induced to yield their scruples and, indeed, settled convictions of its +unconstitutionality, and to give it their sanction as an expedient which +they vainly hoped might produce relief. It was a most unfortunate error, +as the subsequent history and final catastrophe of that dangerous and +corrupt institution have abundantly proved. The bank, with its numerous +branches ramified into the States, soon brought many of the active +political and commercial men in different sections of the country into +the relation of debtors to it and dependents upon it for pecuniary +favors, thus diffusing throughout the mass of society a great number of +individuals of power and influence to give tone to public opinion and +to act in concert in cases of emergency. The corrupt power of such a +political engine is no longer a matter of speculation, having been +displayed in numerous instances, but most signally in the political +struggles of 1832, 1833, and 1834 in opposition to the public will +represented by a fearless and patriotic President. + +But the bank was but one branch of the new system. A public debt of more +than $120,000,000 existed, and it is not to be disguised that many of +the authors of the new system did not regard its speedy payment as +essential to the public prosperity, but looked upon its continuance as +no national evil. Whilst the debt existed it furnished aliment to the +national bank and rendered increased taxation necessary to the amount of +the interest, exceeding $7,000,000 annually. + +This operated in harmony with the next branch of the new system, which +was a high protective tariff. This was to afford bounties to favored +classes and particular pursuits at the expense of all others. A +proposition to tax the whole people for the purpose of enriching a few +was too monstrous to be openly made. The scheme was therefore veiled +under the plausible but delusive pretext of a measure to protect "home +industry," and many of our people were for a time led to believe that a +tax which in the main fell upon labor was for the benefit of the laborer +who paid it. This branch of the system involved a partnership between +the Government and the favored classes, the former receiving the +proceeds of the tax imposed on articles imported and the latter the +increased price of similar articles produced at home, caused by such +tax. It is obvious that the portion to be received by the favored +classes would, as a general rule, be increased in proportion to the +increase of the rates of tax imposed and diminished as those rates were +reduced to the revenue standard required by the wants of the Government. +The rates required to produce a sufficient revenue for the ordinary +expenditures of Government for necessary purposes were not likely to +give to the private partners in this scheme profits sufficient to +satisfy their cupidity, and hence a variety of expedients and pretexts +were resorted to for the purpose of enlarging the expenditures and +thereby creating a necessity for keeping up a high protective tariff. +The effect of this policy was to interpose artificial restrictions upon +the natural course of the business and trade of the country, and to +advance the interests of large capitalists and monopolists at the +expense of the great mass of the people, who were taxed to increase +their wealth. + +Another branch of this system was a comprehensive scheme of internal +improvements, capable of indefinite enlargement and sufficient to +swallow up as many millions annually as could be exacted from the +foreign commerce of the country. This was a convenient and necessary +adjunct of the protective tariff. It was to be the great absorbent of +any surplus which might at any time accumulate in the Treasury and of +the taxes levied on the people, not for necessary revenue purposes, but +for the avowed object of affording protection to the favored classes. + +Auxiliary to the same end, if it was not an essential part of the system +itself, was the scheme, which at a later period obtained, for distributing +the proceeds of the sales of the public lands among the States. Other +expedients were devised to take money out of the Treasury and prevent +its coming in from any other source than the protective tariff. The +authors and supporters of the system were the advocates of the largest +expenditures, whether for necessary or useful purposes or not, because +the larger the expenditures the greater was the pretext for high taxes +in the form of protective duties. + +These several measures were sustained by popular names and plausible +arguments, by which thousands were deluded. The bank was represented to +be an indispensable fiscal agent for the Government; was to equalize +exchanges and to regulate and furnish a sound currency, always and +everywhere of uniform value. The protective tariff was to give +employment to "American labor" at advanced prices; was to protect +"home industry" and furnish a steady market for the farmer. Internal +improvements were to bring trade into every neighborhood and enhance the +value of every man's property. The distribution of the land money was to +enrich the States, finish their public works, plant schools throughout +their borders, and relieve them from taxation. But the fact that for +every dollar taken out of the Treasury for these objects a much larger +sum was transferred from the pockets of the people to the favored +classes was carefully concealed, as was also the tendency, if not the +ultimate design, of the system to build up an aristocracy of wealth, to +control the masses of society, and monopolize the political power of the +country. + +The several branches of this system were so intimately blended +together that in their operation each sustained and strengthened the +others. Their joint operation was to add new burthens of taxation and to +encourage a largely increased and wasteful expenditure of public money. +It was the interest of the bank that the revenue collected and the +disbursements made by the Government should be large, because, being the +depository of the public money, the larger the amount the greater would +be the bank profits by its use. It was the interest of the favored +classes, who were enriched by the protective tariff, to have the rates +of that protection as high as possible, for the higher those rates the +greater would be their advantage. It was the interest of the people +of all those sections and localities who expected to be benefited by +expenditures for internal improvements that the amount collected should +be as large as possible, to the end that the sum disbursed might also be +the larger. The States, being the beneficiaries in the distribution of +the land money, had an interest in having the rates of tax imposed by +the protective tariff large enough to yield a sufficient revenue from +that source to meet the wants of the Government without disturbing +or taking from them the land fund; so that each of the branches +constituting the system had a common interest in swelling the public +expenditures. They had a direct interest in maintaining the public debt +unpaid and increasing its amount, because this would produce an annual +increased drain upon the Treasury to the amount of the interest and +render augmented taxes necessary. The operation and necessary effect of +the whole system were to encourage large and extravagant expenditures, +and thereby to increase the public patronage, and maintain a rich and +splendid government at the expense of a taxed and impoverished people. + +It is manifest that this scheme of enlarged taxation and expenditures, +had it continued to prevail, must soon have converted the Government of +the Union, intended by its framers to be a plain, cheap, and simple +confederation of States, united together for common protection and +charged with a few specific duties, relating chiefly to our foreign +affairs, into a consolidated empire, depriving the States of their +reserved rights and the people of their just power and control in the +administration of their Government. In this manner the whole form and +character of the Government would be changed, not by an amendment of the +Constitution, but by resorting to an unwarrantable and unauthorized +construction of that instrument. + +The indirect mode of levying the taxes by a duty on imports prevents +the mass of the people from readily perceiving the amount they pay, and +has enabled the few who are thus enriched, and who seek to wield the +political power of the country, to deceive and delude them. Were the +taxes collected by a direct levy upon the people, as is the case in the +States, this could not occur. + +The whole system was resisted from its inception by many of our +ablest statesmen, some of whom doubted its constitutionality and its +expediency, while others believed it was in all its branches a flagrant +and dangerous infraction of the Constitution. + +That a national bank, a protective tariff--levied not to raise the +revenue needed, but for protection merely--internal improvements, and +the distribution of the proceeds of the sale of the public lands are +measures without the warrant of the Constitution would, upon the +maturest consideration, seem to be clear. It is remarkable that no one +of these measures, involving such momentous consequences, is authorized +by any express grant of power in the Constitution. No one of them is +"incident to, as being necessary and proper for the execution of, the +specific powers" granted by the Constitution. The authority under which +it has been attempted to justify each of them is derived from inferences +and constructions of the Constitution which its letter and its whole +object and design do not warrant. Is it to be conceived that such +immense powers would have been left by the framers of the Constitution +to mere inferences and doubtful constructions? Had it been intended to +confer them on the Federal Government, it is but reasonable to conclude +that it would have been done by plain and unequivocal grants. This was +not done; but the whole structure of which the "American system" +consisted was reared on no other or better foundation than forced +implications and inferences of power, which its authors assumed might +be deduced by construction from the Constitution. + +But it has been urged that the national bank, which constituted so +essential a branch of this combined system of measures, was not a new +measure, and that its constitutionality had been previously sanctioned, +because a bank had been chartered in 1791 and had received the official +signature of President Washington. A few facts will show the just weight +to which this precedent should be entitled as bearing upon the question +of constitutionality. + +Great division of opinion upon the subject existed in Congress. It is +well known that President Washington entertained serious doubts both as +to the constitutionality and expediency of the measure, and while the +bill was before him for his official approval or disapproval so great +were these doubts that he required "the opinion in writing" of the +members of his Cabinet to aid him in arriving at a decision. His Cabinet +gave their opinions and were divided upon the subject, _General +Hamilton_ being in favor of and _Mr. Jefferson_ and _Mr. Randolph_ being +opposed to the constitutionality and expediency of the bank. It is well +known also that President Washington retained the bill from Monday, the +14th, when it was presented to him, until Friday, the 25th of February, +being the last moment permitted him by the Constitution to deliberate, +when he finally yielded to it his reluctant assent and gave it his +signature. It is certain that as late as the 23d of February, being the +ninth day after the bill was presented to him, he had arrived at no +satisfactory conclusion, for on that day he addressed a note to General +Hamilton in which he informs him that "this bill was presented to me by +the joint committee of Congress at 12 o'clock on Monday, the 14th +instant," and he requested his opinion "to what precise period, by legal +interpretation of the Constitution, can the President retain it in his +possession before it becomes a law by the lapse of ten days." If the +proper construction was that the day on which the bill was presented to +the President and the day on which his action was had upon it were both +to be counted inclusive, then the time allowed him within which it would +be competent for him to return it to the House in which it originated +with his objections would expire on Thursday, the 24th of February. +General Hamilton on the same day returned an answer, in which he states: + + I give it as my opinion that you have ten days exclusive of that on + which the bill was delivered to you and Sundays; hence, in the present + case if it is returned on Friday it will be in time. + + +By this construction, which the President adopted, he gained another day +for deliberation, and it was not until the 25th of February that he +signed the bill, thus affording conclusive proof that he had at last +obtained his own consent to sign it not without great and almost +insuperable difficulty. Additional light has been recently shed upon the +serious doubts which he had on the subject, amounting at one time to a +conviction that it was his duty to withhold his approval from the bill. +This is found among the manuscript papers of _Mr. Madison_, authorized +to be purchased for the use of the Government by an act of the last +session of Congress, and now for the first time accessible to the +public. From these papers it appears that President Washington, while he +yet held the bank bill in his hands, actually requested _Mr. Madison_, +at that time a member of the House of Representatives, to prepare the +draft of a veto message for him. _Mr. Madison_, at his request, did +prepare the draft of such a message, and sent it to him on the 21st of +February, 1791. A copy of this original draft, in Mr. Madison's own +handwriting, was carefully preserved by him, and is among the papers +lately purchased by Congress. It is preceded by a note, written on the +same sheet, which is also in Mr. Madison's handwriting, and is as +follows: + + _February 21, 1791_.--Copy of a paper made out and sent to the + President, _at his request,_ to be ready in case his judgment should + finally decide against the bill for incorporating a national bank, + the bill being then before him. + + +Among the objections assigned in this paper to the bill, and which were +submitted for the consideration of the President, are the following: + + I object to the bill, because it is an essential principle of the + Government that powers not delegated by the Constitution can not be + rightfully exercised; because the power proposed by the bill to be + exercised is not expressly delegated, and because I can not satisfy + myself that it results from any express power by fair and safe rules + of interpretation. + + +The weight of the precedent of the bank of 1791 and the sanction of +the great name of Washington, which has been so often invoked in its +support, are greatly weakened by the development of these facts. + +The experiment of that bank satisfied the country that it ought not to +be continued, and at the end of twenty years Congress refused to +recharter it. It would have been fortunate for the country, and saved +thousands from bankruptcy and ruin, had our public men of 1816 resisted +the temporary pressure of the times upon our financial and pecuniary +interests and refused to charter the second bank. Of this the country +became abundantly satisfied, and at the close of its twenty years' +duration, as in the case of the first bank, it also ceased to exist. +Under the repeated blows of _President Jackson_ it reeled and fell, and +a subsequent attempt to charter a similar institution was arrested by +the _veto_ of President Tyler. + +_Mr. Madison_, in yielding his signature to the charter of 1816, did so +upon the ground of the respect due to precedents; and, as he +subsequently declared-- + + The Bank of the United States, though on the original question held + to be unconstitutional, received the Executive signature. + + +It is probable that neither the bank of 1791 nor that of 1816 would have +been chartered but for the embarrassments of the Government in its +finances, the derangement of the currency, and the pecuniary pressure +which existed, the first the consequence of the War of the Revolution +and the second the consequence of the War of 1812. Both were resorted to +in the delusive hope that they would restore public credit and afford +relief to the Government and to the business of the country. + +Those of our public men who opposed the whole "American system" +at its commencement and throughout its progress foresaw and predicted +that it was fraught with incalculable mischiefs and must result in +serious injury to the best interests of the country. For a series of +years their wise counsels were unheeded, and the system was established. +It was soon apparent that its practical operation was unequal and unjust +upon different portions of the country and upon the people engaged +in different pursuits. All were equally entitled to the favor and +protection of the Government. It fostered and elevated the money power +and enriched the favored few by taxing labor, and at the expense of the +many. Its effect was to "make the rich richer and the poor poorer." Its +tendency was to create distinctions in society based on wealth and to +give to the favored classes undue control and sway in our Government. It +was an organized money power, which resisted the popular will and sought +to shape and control the public policy. + +Under the pernicious workings of this combined system of measures the +country witnessed alternate seasons of temporary apparent prosperity, +of sudden and disastrous commercial revulsions, of unprecedented +fluctuation of prices and depression of the great interests of +agriculture, navigation, and commerce, of general pecuniary suffering, +and of final bankruptcy of thousands. After a severe struggle of more +than a quarter of a century, the system was overthrown. + +The bank has been succeeded by a practical system of finance, conducted +and controlled solely by the Government. The constitutional currency has +been restored, the public credit maintained unimpaired even in a period +of a foreign war, and the whole country has become satisfied that banks, +national or State, are not necessary as fiscal agents of the Government. +Revenue duties have taken the place of the protective tariff. The +distribution of the money derived from the sale of the public lands has +been abandoned and the corrupting system of internal improvements, it is +hoped, has been effectually checked. + +It is not doubted that if this whole train of measures, designed to take +wealth from the many and bestow it upon the few, were to prevail the +effect would be to change the entire character of the Government. One +only danger remains. It is the seductions of that branch of the system +which consists in internal improvements, holding out, as it does, +inducements to the people of particular sections and localities to +embark the Government in them without stopping to calculate the +inevitable consequences. This branch of the system is so intimately +combined and linked with the others that as surely as an effect is +produced by an adequate cause, if it be resuscitated and revived and +firmly established it requires no sagacity to foresee that it will +necessarily and speedily draw after it the reestablishment of a national +bank, the revival of a protective tariff, the distribution of the land +money, and not only the postponement to the distant future of the +payment of the present national debt, but its annual increase. + +I entertain the solemn conviction that if the internal-improvement +branch of the "American system" be not firmly resisted at this time the +whole series of measures composing it will be speedily reestablished and +the country be thrown back from its present high state of prosperity, +which the existing policy has produced, and be destined again to witness +all the evils, commercial revulsions, depression of prices, and +pecuniary embarrassments through which we have passed during the last +twenty-five years. + +To guard against consequences so ruinous is an object of high national +importance, involving, in my judgment, the continued prosperity of the +country. + +I have felt it to be an imperative obligation to withhold my +constitutional sanction from two bills which had passed the two Houses +of Congress, involving the principle of the internal-improvement branch +of the "American system" and conflicting in their provisions with the +views here expressed. + +This power, conferred upon the President by the Constitution, I have on +three occasions during my administration of the executive department of +the Government deemed it my duty to exercise, and on this last occasion +of making to Congress an annual communication "of the state of the +Union" it is not deemed inappropriate to review the principles and +considerations which have governed my action. I deem this the more +necessary because, after the lapse of nearly sixty years since the +adoption of the Constitution, the propriety of the exercise of this +undoubted constitutional power by the President has for the first time +been drawn seriously in question by a portion of my fellow-citizens. + +The Constitution provides that-- + + Every bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the + Senate shall, before it become a law, be presented to the President of + the United States. If he approve he _shall_ sign it, but if not he + _shall_ return it with his objections to that House in which it shall + have originated, who shall enter the objections at large on their + Journal and proceed to reconsider it. + + +The preservation of the Constitution from infraction is the President's +highest duty. He is bound to discharge that duty at whatever hazard of +incurring the displeasure of those who may differ with him in opinion. +He is bound to discharge it as well by his obligations to the people who +have clothed him with his exalted trust as by his oath of office, which +he may not disregard. Nor are the obligations of the President in any +degree lessened by the prevalence of views different from his own in one +or both Houses of Congress. It is not alone hasty and inconsiderate +legislation that he is required to check; but if at any time Congress +shall, after apparently full deliberation, resolve on measures which he +deems subversive of the Constitution or of the vital interests of the +country, it is his solemn duty to stand in the breach and resist them. +The President is bound to approve or disapprove every bill which passes +Congress and is presented to him for his signature. The Constitution +makes this his duty, and he can not escape it if he would. He has no +election. In deciding upon any bill presented to him he must exercise +his own best judgment. If he can not approve, the Constitution commands +him to return the bill to the House in which it originated with his +objections, and if he fail to do this within ten days (Sundays excepted) +it shall become a law without his signature. Right or wrong, he may be +overruled by a vote of two-thirds of each House, and in that event the +bill becomes a law without his sanction. If his objections be not thus +overruled, the subject is only postponed, and is referred to the States +and the people for their consideration and decision. The President's +power is negative merely, and not affirmative. He can enact no law. The +only effect, therefore, of his withholding his approval of a bill passed +by Congress is to suffer the existing laws to remain unchanged, and the +delay occasioned is only that required to enable the States and the +people to consider and act upon the subject in the election of public +agents who will carry out their wishes and instructions. Any attempt to +coerce the President to yield his sanction to measures which he can not +approve would be a violation of the spirit of the Constitution, palpable +and flagrant, and if successful would break down the independence of the +executive department and make the President, elected by the people and +clothed by the Constitution with power to defend their rights, the mere +instrument of a majority of Congress. A surrender on his part of the +powers with which the Constitution has invested his office would effect +a practical alteration of that instrument without resorting to the +prescribed process of amendment. + +With the motives or considerations which may induce Congress to pass any +bill the President can have nothing to do. He must presume them to be as +pure as his own, and look only to the practical effect of their measures +when compared with the Constitution or the public good. + +But it has been urged by those who object to the exercise of this +undoubted constitutional power that it assails the representative +principle and the capacity of the people to govern themselves; that +there is greater safety in a numerous representative body than in the +single Executive created by the Constitution, and that the Executive +veto is a "one-man power," despotic in its character. To expose the +fallacy of this objection it is only necessary to consider the frame and +true character of our system. Ours is not a consolidated empire, but a +confederated union. The States before the adoption of the Constitution +were coordinate, coequal, and separate independent sovereignties, and by +its adoption they did not lose that character. They clothed the Federal +Government with certain powers and reserved all others, including their +own sovereignty, to themselves. They guarded their own rights as States +and the rights of the people by the very limitations which they +incorporated into the Federal Constitution, whereby the different +departments of the General Government were checks upon each other. That +the majority should govern is a general principle controverted by none, +but they must govern according to the Constitution, and not according to +an undefined and unrestrained discretion, whereby they may oppress the +minority. + +The people of the United States are not blind to the fact that they may +be temporarily misled, and that their representatives, legislative and +executive, may be mistaken or influenced in their action by improper +motives. They have therefore interposed between themselves and the laws +which may be passed by their public agents various representations, such +as assemblies, senates, and governors in their several States, a House +of Representatives, a Senate, and a President of the United States. The +people can by their own direct agency make no law, nor can the House of +Representatives, immediately elected by them, nor can the Senate, nor +can both together without the concurrence of the President or a vote of +two-thirds of both Houses. + +Happily for themselves, the people in framing our admirable system of +government were conscious of the infirmities of their representatives, +and in delegating to them the power of legislation they have fenced them +around with checks to guard against the effects of hasty action, of +error, of combination, and of possible corruption. Error, selfishness, +and faction have often sought to rend asunder this web of checks and +subject the Government to the control of fanatic and sinister +influences, but these efforts have only satisfied the people of the +wisdom of the checks which they have imposed and of the necessity of +preserving them unimpaired. + +The true theory of our system is not to govern by the acts or decrees +of any one set of representatives. The Constitution interposes checks +upon all branches of the Government, in order to give time for error to +be corrected and delusion to pass away; but if the people settle down +into a firm conviction different from that of their representatives they +give effect to their opinions by changing their public servants. The +checks which the people imposed on their public servants in the adoption +of the Constitution are the best evidence of their capacity for +self-government. They know that the men whom they elect to public +stations are of like infirmities and passions with themselves, and not +to be trusted without being restricted by coordinate authorities and +constitutional limitations. Who that has witnessed the legislation of +Congress for the last thirty years will say that he knows of no instance +in which measures not demanded by the public good have been carried? Who +will deny that in the State governments, by combinations of individuals +and sections, in derogation of the general interest, banks have been +chartered, systems of internal improvements adopted, and debts entailed +upon the people repressing their growth and impairing their energies for +years to come? + +After so much experience it can not be said that absolute unchecked +power is safe in the hands of any one set of representatives, or that +the capacity of the people for self-government, which is admitted in its +broadest extent, is a conclusive argument to prove the prudence, wisdom, +and integrity of their representatives. + +The people, by the Constitution, have commanded the President, as +much as they have commanded the legislative branch of the Government, +to execute their will. They have said to him in the Constitution, which +they require he shall take a solemn oath to support, that if Congress +pass any bill which he can not approve "he shall return it to the House +in which it originated with his objections." In withholding from it +his approval and signature he is executing the will of the people, +constitutionally expressed, as much as the Congress that passed it. +No bill is presumed to be in accordance with the popular will until it +shall have passed through all the branches of the Government required +by the Constitution to make it a law. A bill which passes the House of +Representatives may be rejected by the Senate, and so a bill passed by +the Senate may be rejected by the House. In each case the respective +Houses exercise the veto power on the other. + +Congress, and each House of Congress, hold under the Constitution a +check upon the President, and he, by the power of the qualified veto, a +check upon Congress. When the President recommends measures to Congress, +he avows in the most solemn form his opinions, gives his voice in their +favor, and pledges himself in advance to approve them if passed by +Congress. If he acts without due consideration, or has been influenced +by improper or corrupt motives, or if from any other cause Congress, +or either House of Congress, shall differ with him in opinion, they +exercise their _veto_ upon his recommendations and reject them; and +there is no appeal from their decision but to the people at the ballot +box. These are proper checks upon the Executive, wisely interposed by +the Constitution. None will be found to object to them or to wish them +removed. It is equally important that the constitutional checks of the +Executive upon the legislative branch should be preserved. + +If it be said that the Representatives in the popular branch of Congress +are chosen directly by the people, it is answered, the people elect the +President. If both Houses represent the States and the people, so does +the President. The President represents in the executive department the +whole people of the United States, as each member of the legislative +department represents portions of them. + +The doctrine of restriction upon legislative and executive power, while +a well-settled public opinion is enabled within a reasonable time to +accomplish its ends, has made our country what it is, and has opened to +us a career of glory and happiness to which all other nations have been +strangers. + +In the exercise of the power of the veto the President is responsible +not only to an enlightened public opinion, but to the people of the +whole Union, who elected him, as the representatives in the legislative +branches who differ with him in opinion are responsible to the people +of particular States or districts, who compose their respective +constituencies. To deny to the President the exercise of this power +would be to repeal that provision of the Constitution which confers it +upon him. To charge that its exercise unduly controls the legislative +will is to complain of the Constitution itself. + +If the Presidential veto be objected to upon the ground that it checks +and thwarts the popular will, upon the same principle the equality of +representation of the States in the Senate should be stricken out of +the Constitution. The vote of a Senator from Delaware has equal weight +in deciding upon the most important measures with the vote of a Senator +from New York, and yet the one represents a State containing, according +to the existing apportionment of Representatives in the House of +Representatives, but one thirty-fourth part of the population of the +other. By the constitutional composition of the Senate a majority of +that body from the smaller States represent less than one-fourth of the +people of the Union. There are thirty States, and under the existing +apportionment of Representatives there are 230 Members in the House +of Representatives. Sixteen of the smaller States are represented in +that House by but 50 Members, and yet the Senators from these States +constitute a majority of the Senate. So that the President may recommend +a measure to Congress, and it may receive the sanction and approval of +more than three-fourths of the House of Representatives and of all the +Senators from the large States, containing more than three-fourths of +the whole population of the United States, and yet the measure may be +defeated by the votes of the Senators from the smaller States. None, it +is presumed, can be found ready to change the organization of the Senate +on this account, or to strike that body practically out of existence by +requiring that its action shall be conformed to the will of the more +numerous branch. + +Upon the same principle that the _veto_ of the President should be +practically abolished the power of the Vice-President to give the +casting vote upon an equal division of the Senate should be abolished +also. The Vice-President exercises the _veto_ power as effectually by +rejecting a bill by his casting vote as the President does by refusing +to approve and sign it. This power has been exercised by the +Vice-President in a few instances, the most important of which was the +rejection of the bill to recharter the Bank of the United States in +1811. It may happen that a bill may be passed by a large majority of the +House of Representatives, and may be supported by the Senators from the +larger States, and the Vice-President may reject it by giving his vote +with the Senators from the smaller States; and yet none, it is presumed, +are prepared to deny to him the exercise of this power under the +Constitution. + +But it is, in point of fact, untrue that an act passed by Congress +is conclusive evidence that it is an emanation of the popular will. +A majority of the whole number elected to each House of Congress +constitutes a quorum, and a majority of that quorum is competent to pass +laws. It might happen that a quorum of the House of Representatives, +consisting of a single member more than half of the whole number elected +to that House, might pass a bill by a majority of a single vote, and in +that case a fraction more than one-fourth of the people of the United +States would be represented by those who voted for it. It might happen +that the same bill might be passed by a majority of one of a quorum of +the Senate, composed of Senators from the fifteen smaller States and a +single Senator from a sixteenth State; and if the Senators voting for it +happened to be from the eight of the smallest of these States, it would +be passed by the votes of Senators from States having but fourteen +Representatives in the House of Representatives, and containing less +than one-sixteenth of the whole population of the United States. This +extreme case is stated to illustrate the fact that the mere passage of +a bill by Congress is no conclusive evidence that those who passed it +represent the majority of the people of the United States or truly +reflect their will. If such an extreme case is not likely to happen, +cases that approximate it are of constant occurrence. It is believed +that not a single law has been passed since the adoption of the +Constitution upon which all the members elected to both Houses have been +present and voted. Many of the most important acts which have passed +Congress have been carried by a close vote in thin Houses. Many +instances of this might be given. Indeed, our experience proves that +many of the most important acts of Congress are postponed to the last +days, and often the last hours, of a session, when they are disposed of +in haste, and by Houses but little exceeding the number necessary to +form a quorum. + +Besides, in most of the States the members of the House of +Representatives are chosen by pluralities, and not by majorities of all +the voters in their respective districts, and it may happen that a +majority of that House may be returned by a less aggregate vote of the +people than that received by the minority. + +If the principle insisted on be sound, then the Constitution should be +so changed that no bill shall become a law unless it is voted for by +members representing in each House a majority of the whole people of the +United States. We must remodel our whole system, strike down and abolish +not only the salutary checks lodged in the executive branch, But must +strike out and abolish those lodged in the Senate also, and thus +practically invest the whole power of the Government in a majority of +a single assembly--a majority uncontrolled and absolute, and which may +become despotic. To conform to this doctrine of the right of majorities +to rule, independent of the checks and limitations of the Constitution, +we must revolutionize our whole system; we must destroy the +constitutional compact by which the several States agreed to form a +Federal Union and rush into consolidation, which must end in monarchy or +despotism. No one advocates such a proposition, and yet the doctrine +maintained, if carried out, must lead to this result. + +One great object of the Constitution in conferring upon the President +a qualified negative upon the legislation of Congress was to protect +minorities from injustice and oppression by majorities. The equality of +their representation in the Senate and the veto power of the President +are the constitutional guaranties which the smaller States have that +their rights will be respected. Without these guaranties all their +interests would be at the mercy of majorities in Congress representing +the larger States. To the smaller and weaker States, therefore, the +preservation of this power and its exercise upon proper occasions +demanding it is of vital importance. They ratified the Constitution and +entered into the Union, securing to themselves an equal representation +with the larger States in the Senate; and they agreed to be bound by all +laws passed by Congress upon the express condition, and none other, that +they should be approved by the President or passed, his objections to +the contrary notwithstanding, by a vote of two-thirds of both Houses. +Upon this condition they have a right to insist as a part of the compact +to which they gave their assent. + +A bill might be passed by Congress against the will of the whole people +of a particular State and against the votes of its Senators and all its +Representatives. However prejudicial it might be to the interests of +such State, it would be bound by it if the President shall approve it or +it shall be passed by a vote of two-thirds of both Houses; but it has +a right to demand that the President shall exercise his constitutional +power and arrest it if his judgment is against it. If he surrender this +power, or fail to exercise it in a case where he can not approve, it +would make his formal approval a mere mockery, and would be itself a +violation of the Constitution, and the dissenting State would become +bound by a law which had not been passed according to the sanctions of +the Constitution. + +The objection to the exercise of the _veto_ power is founded upon an +idea respecting the popular will, which, if carried out, would +annihilate State sovereignty and substitute for the present Federal +Government a consolidation directed by a supposed numerical majority. +A revolution of the Government would be silently effected and the +States would be subjected to laws to which they had never given their +constitutional consent. + +The Supreme Court of the United States is invested with the power to +declare, and has declared, acts of Congress passed with the concurrence +of the Senate, the House of Representatives, and the approval of the +President to be unconstitutional and void, and yet none, it is presumed, +can be found who will be disposed to strip this highest judicial +tribunal under the Constitution of this acknowledged power--a power +necessary alike to its independence and the rights of individuals. + +For the same reason that the Executive veto should, according to the +doctrine maintained, be rendered nugatory, and be practically expunged +from the Constitution, this power of the court should also be rendered +nugatory and be expunged, because it restrains the legislative and +Executive will, and because the exercise of such a power by the court +may be regarded as being in conflict with the capacity of the people to +govern themselves. Indeed, there is more reason for striking this power +of the court from the Constitution than there is that of the qualified +veto of the President, because the decision of the court is final, and +can never be reversed even though both Houses of Congress and the +President should be unanimous in opposition to it, whereas the veto of +the President may be overruled by a vote of two-thirds of both Houses +of Congress or by the people at the polls. + +It is obvious that to preserve the system established by the +Constitution each of the coordinate branches of the Government--the +executive, legislative, and judicial--must be left in the exercise of +its appropriate powers. If the executive or the judicial branch be +deprived of powers conferred upon either as checks on the legislative, +the preponderance of the latter will become disproportionate and +absorbing and the others impotent for the accomplishment of the great +objects for which they were established. Organized, as they are, by the +Constitution, they work together harmoniously for the public good. If +the Executive and the judiciary shall be deprived of the constitutional +powers invested in them, and of their due proportions, the equilibrium +of the system must be destroyed, and consolidation, with the most +pernicious results, must ensue--a consolidation of unchecked, despotic +power, exercised by majorities of the legislative branch. + +The executive, legislative, and judicial each constitutes a separate +coordinate department of the Government, and each is independent of +the others. In the performance of their respective duties under the +Constitution neither can in its legitimate action control the others. +They each act upon their several responsibilities in their respective +spheres. But if the doctrines now maintained be correct, the executive +must become practically subordinate to the legislative, and the +judiciary must become subordinate to both the legislative and the +executive; and thus the whole power of the Government would be merged in +a single department. Whenever, if ever, this shall occur, our glorious +system of well-regulated self-government will crumble into ruins, to be +succeeded, first by anarchy, and finally by monarchy or despotism. I am +far from believing that this doctrine is the sentiment of the American +people; and during the short period which remains in which it will +be my duty to administer the executive department it will be my aim to +maintain its independence and discharge its duties without infringing +upon the powers or duties of either of the other departments of the +Government. + +The power of the Executive veto was exercised by the first and most +illustrious of my predecessors and by four of his successors who +preceded me in the administration of the Government, and it is believed +in no instance prejudicially to the public interests. It has never been +and there is but little danger that it ever can be abused. No President +will ever desire unnecessarily to place his opinion in opposition to +that of Congress. He must always exercise the power reluctantly, and +only in cases where his convictions make it a matter of stern duty, +which he can not escape. Indeed, there is more danger that the +President, from the repugnance he must always feel to come in collision +with Congress, may fail to exercise it in cases where the preservation +of the Constitution from infraction, or the public good, may demand it +than that he will ever exercise it unnecessarily or wantonly. + +During the period I have administered the executive department of +the Government great and important questions of public policy, foreign +and domestic, have arisen, upon which it was my duty to act. It may, +indeed, be truly said that my Administration has fallen upon eventful +times. I have felt most sensibly the weight of the high responsibilities +devolved upon me. With no other object than the public good, the +enduring fame, and permanent prosperity of my country, I have pursued +the convictions of my own best judgment. The impartial arbitrament of +enlightened public opinion, present and future, will determine how far +the public policy I have maintained and the measures I have from time +to time recommended may have tended to advance or retard the public +prosperity at home and to elevate or depress the estimate of our +national character abroad. + +Invoking the blessings of the Almighty upon your deliberations at your +present important session, my ardent hope is that in a spirit of harmony +and concord you may be guided to wise results, and such as may redound +to the happiness, the honor, and the glory of our beloved country. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + + +SPECIAL MESSAGES. + + +WASHINGTON, _December 12, 1848_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I nominate Second Lieutenant Ulysses S. Grant (since promoted first +lieutenant), of the Fourth Regiment of Infantry, to be first lieutenant +by brevet for gallant and meritorious services in the battle of +Chapultepec, September 13, 1847, as proposed in the accompanying +communication from the Secretary of War. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WAR DEPARTMENT, _December_ 11, _1848_. + +The PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. + +SIR: The brevet of captain conferred on Second Lieutenant Ulysses S. +Grant (since promoted first lieutenant), of the Fourth Regiment of +Infantry, and confirmed by the Senate on the 13th of July, 1848, "for +gallant and meritorious conduct in the battle of Chapultepec, September +13, 1847," being the result of a misapprehension as to the grade held by +that officer on the 13th of September, 1847 (he being then a second +lieutenant), I have to propose that the brevet of captain be canceled +and that the brevet of first lieutenant "for gallant and meritorious +services in the battle of Chapultepec, September 13, 1847," be conferred +in lieu thereof. + +I am, sir, with great respect, your obedient servant, + +W.L. MARCY. + + + +WASHINGTON, _December 12, 1848_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit herewith, for the consideration and advice of the Senate with +regard to its ratification, a treaty concluded on the 6th of August, +1848, by L.E. Powell, on the part of the United States, and the chiefs +and headmen of the confederated bands of the Pawnee Indians, together +with a report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs and other papers +explanatory of the same. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _December 12, 1848_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit herewith, for the consideration and advice of the Senate with +regard to its ratification, a treaty concluded on the 18th of October, +1848, by William Medill, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, on the part of +the United States, and the chiefs and headmen of the Menomonee Indians, +together with a report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs and other +papers explanatory of the same. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _December 27, 1848_. + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +In compliance with the resolution of the House of the 11th instant, +requesting the President to inform that body "whether he has received +any information that American citizens have been imprisoned or arrested +by British authorities in Ireland, and, if so, what have been the causes +thereof and what steps have been taken for their release, and if not, in +his opinion, inconsistent with public interest to furnish this House +with copies of all correspondence in relation thereto," I communicate +herewith a report of the Secretary of State, together with the +accompanying correspondence upon the subject. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _December 27, 1848_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I communicate herewith, in compliance with the request contained in the +resolution of the Senate of the 19th instant, a report of the Secretary +of the Treasury, with the accompanying statement, prepared by the +Register of the Treasury, which exhibits the annual amount appropriated +on account of the Coast Survey from the commencement of said Survey. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _January 2, 1849_. + +_To the House of Representatives of the United States_: + +In answer to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 18th +of December, 1848, requesting information "under what law or provision +of the Constitution, or by what other authority," the Secretary of the +Treasury, with the "sanction and approval" of the President, established +"a tariff of duties in the ports of the Mexican Republic during the war +with Mexico," and "by what legal, constitutional, or other authority" +the "revenue thus derived" was appropriated to "the support of the Army +in Mexico," I refer the House to my annual message of the 7th of +December, 1847, to my message to the Senate of the 10th of February, +1848, responding to a call of that body, a copy of which is herewith +communicated, and to my message to the House of Representatives of the +24th of July, 1848, responding to a call of that House. The resolution +assumes that the Secretary of the Treasury "established a tariff of +duties in the ports of the Mexican Republic." The contributions +collected in this mode were not established by the Secretary of the +Treasury, but by a military order issued by the President through the +War and Navy Departments. For his information the President directed the +Secretary of the Treasury to prepare and report to him a scale of +duties. That report was made, and the President's military order of the +31st of March, 1847, was based upon it. The documents communicated to +Congress with my annual message of December, 1847, show the true +character of that order. + +The authority under which military contributions were exacted and +collected from the enemy and applied to the support of our Army during +the war with Mexico was stated in the several messages referred to. In +the first of these messages I informed Congress that-- + + On the 31st of March last I caused an order to be issued to our military + and naval commanders to levy and collect a military contribution upon + all vessels and merchandise which might enter any of the ports of Mexico + in our military occupation, and to apply such contributions toward + defraying the expenses of the war. By virtue of the right of conquest + and the laws of war, the conqueror, consulting his own safety or + convenience, may either exclude foreign commerce altogether from all + such ports or permit it upon such terms and conditions as he may + prescribe. Before the principal ports of Mexico were blockaded by our + Navy the revenue derived from import duties under the laws of Mexico was + paid into the Mexican treasury. After these ports had fallen into our + military possession the blockade was raised and commerce with them + permitted upon prescribed terms and conditions. They were opened to the + trade of all nations upon the payment of duties more moderate in their + amount than those which had been previously levied by Mexico, and the + revenue, which was formerly paid into the Mexican treasury, was directed + to be collected by our military and naval officers and applied to the + use of our Army and Navy. Care was taken that the officers, soldiers, + and sailors of our Army and Navy should be exempted from the operations + of the order, and, as the merchandise imported upon which the order + operated must be consumed by Mexican citizens, the contributions exacted + were in effect the seizure of the public revenues of Mexico and the + application of them to our own use. In directing this measure the object + was to compel the enemy to contribute as far as practicable toward the + expenses of the war. + + +It was also stated in that message that-- + + Measures have recently been adopted by which the internal as well as the + external revenues of Mexico in all places in our military occupation + will be seized and appropriated to the use of our Army and Navy. + + The policy of levying upon the enemy contributions in every form + consistently with the laws of nations, which it may be practicable for + our military commanders to adopt, should, in my judgment, be rigidly + enforced, and orders to this effect have accordingly been given. By such + a policy, at the same time that our own Treasury will be relieved from a + heavy drain, the Mexican people will be made to feel the burdens of the + war, and, consulting their own interests, may be induced the more + readily to requite their rulers to accede to a just peace. + + +In the same message I informed Congress that the amount of the "loan" +which would be required for the further prosecution of the war might be +"reduced by whatever amount of expenditures can be saved by military +contributions collected in Mexico," and that "the most rigorous measures +for the augmentation of these contributions have been directed, and a +very considerable sum is expected from that source." The Secretary of +the Treasury, in his annual report of that year, in making his estimate +of the amount of loan which would probably be required, reduced the sum +in consideration of the amount which would probably be derived from +these contributions, and Congress authorized the loan upon this reduced +estimate. + +In the message of the 10th of February, 1848, to the Senate, it was +stated that-- + + No principle is better established than that a nation at war has the + right of shifting the burden off itself and imposing it on the enemy by + exacting military contributions. The mode of making such exactions must + be left to the discretion of the conqueror, but it should be exercised + in a manner conformable to the rules of civilized warfare. + + The right to levy these contributions is essential to the successful + prosecution of war in an enemy's country, and the practice of nations + has been in accordance with this principle. It is as clearly necessary + as the right to fight battles, and its exercise is often essential to + the subsistence of the army. + + Entertaining no doubt that the military right to exclude commerce + altogether from the ports of the enemy in our military occupation + included the minor right of admitting it under prescribed conditions, it + became an important question at the date of the order whether there + should be a discrimination between vessels and cargoes belonging to + citizens of the United States and vessels and cargoes belonging to + neutral nations. + + +In the message to the House of Representatives of the 24th of July, +1848, it was stated that-- + + It is from the same source of authority that we derive the unquestioned + right, after the war has been declared by Congress, to blockade the + ports and coasts of the enemy, to capture his towns, cities, and + provinces, and to levy contributions upon him for the support of our + Army. Of the same character with these is the right to subject to our + temporary military government the conquered territories of our enemy. + They are all belligerent rights, and their exercise is as essential to + the successful prosecution of a foreign war as the right to fight + battles. + + +By the Constitution the power to "declare war" is vested in Congress, +and by the same instrument it is provided that "the President shall be +Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States" and that +"he shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed." + +When Congress have exerted their power by declaring war against a +foreign nation, it is the duty of the President to prosecute it. The +Constitution has prescribed no particular mode in which he shall perform +this duty. The manner of conducting the war is not defined by the +Constitution. The term _war_ used in that instrument has a +well-understood meaning among nations. That meaning is derived from the +laws of nations, a code which is recognized by all civilized powers as +being obligatory in a state of war. The power is derived from the +Constitution and the manner of exercising it is regulated by the laws of +nations. When Congress have declared war, they in effect make it the +duty of the President in prosecuting it, by land and sea, to resort to +all the modes and to exercise all the powers and rights which other +nations at war possess. He is invested with the same power in this +respect as if he were personally present commanding our fleets by sea or +our armies by land. He may conduct the war by issuing orders for +fighting battles, besieging and capturing cities, conquering and holding +the provinces of the enemy, or by capturing his vessels and other +property on the high seas. But these are not the only modes of +prosecuting war which are recognized by the laws of nations and to which +he is authorized to resort. The levy of contributions on the enemy is a +right of war well established and universally acknowledged among +nations, and one which every belligerent possessing the ability may +properly exercise. The most approved writers on public law admit and +vindicate this right as consonant with reason, justice, and humanity. + +No principle is better established than that-- + + We have a right to deprive our enemy of his possessions, of everything + which may augment his strength and enable him to make war. This everyone + endeavors to accomplish in the manner most suitable to him. Whenever we + have an opportunity we seize on the enemy's property and convert it to + our own use, and thus, besides diminishing the enemy's power, we augment + our own and obtain at least a partial indemnification or equivalent, + either for what constitutes the subject of the war or for the expenses + and losses incurred in its prosecution. In a word, we do ourselves + justice. + + "Instead of the custom of pillaging the open country and defenseless + places," the levy of contributions has been "substituted." + + Whoever carries on a just war has a right to make the enemy's country + contribute to the support of his army and toward defraying all the + charges of the war. Thus he obtains a part of what is due to him, and + the enemy's subjects, by consenting to pay the sum demanded, have their + property secured from pillage and the country is preserved. + + +These principles, it is believed, are uncontroverted by any civilized +nation in modern times. The public law of nations, by which they are +recognized, has been held by our highest judicial tribunal as a code +which is applicable to our "situation" in a state of war and binding on +the United States, while in admiralty and maritime cases it is often the +governing rule. It is in a just war that a nation has the "right to make +the enemy's country contribute to the support of his army." Not doubting +that our late war with Mexico was just on the part of the United States, +I did not hesitate when charged by the Constitution with its prosecution +to exercise a power common to all other nations, and Congress was duly +informed of the mode and extent to which that power had been and would +be exercised at the commencement of their first session thereafter. + +Upon the declaration of war against Mexico by Congress the United States +were entitled to all the rights which any other nation at war would have +possessed. These rights could only be demanded and enforced by the +President, whose duty it was, as "Commander in Chief of the Army and +Navy of the United States," to execute the law of Congress which +declared the war. In the act declaring war Congress provided for raising +men and money to enable the President "to prosecute it to a speedy and +successful termination." Congress prescribed no mode of conducting it, +but left the President to prosecute it according to the laws of nations +as his guide. Indeed, it would have been impracticable for Congress to +have provided for all the details of a campaign. + +The mode of levying contributions must necessarily be left to the +discretion of the conqueror, subject to be exercised, however, in +conformity with the laws of nations. It may be exercised by requiring +a given sum or a given amount of provisions to be furnished by the +authorities of a captured city or province; it may be exercised by +imposing an internal tax or a tax on the enemy's commerce, whereby he +may be deprived of his revenues, and these may be appropriated to the +use of the conqueror. The latter mode was adopted by the collection of +duties in the ports of Mexico in our military occupation during the late +war with that Republic. + +So well established is the military right to do this under the laws of +nations that our military and naval officers commanding our forces on +the theater of war adopted the same mode of levying contributions from +the enemy before the order of the President of the 31st of March, 1847, +was issued. The general in command of the Army at Vera Cruz, upon his +own view of his powers and duties, and without specific instructions to +that effect, immediately after the capture of that city adopted this +mode. By his order of the 28th of March, 1847, heretofore communicated +to the House of Representatives, he directed a "temporary and moderate +tariff of duties to be established." Such a tariff was established, and +contributions were collected under it and applied to the uses of our +Army. At a still earlier period the same power was exercised by the +naval officers in command of our squadron on the Pacific coast. ... +Not doubting the authority to resort to this mode, the order of the 31st +of March, 1847, was issued, and was in effect but a modification of the +previous orders of these officers, by making the rates of contribution +uniform and directing their collection in all the ports of the enemy in +our military occupation and under our temporary military government. + +The right to levy contributions upon the enemy in the form of import and +export duties in his ports was sanctioned by the treaty of peace with +Mexico. By that treaty both Governments recognized ... and confirmed +the exercise of that right. By its provisions "the customhouses at all +the ports occupied by the forces of the United States" were, upon the +exchange of ratifications, to be delivered up to the Mexican +authorities, "together with all bonds and evidences of debt for duties +on importations and exportations _not yet fallen due_;" and "all duties +on imports and on exports collected at such custom-houses or elsewhere +in Mexico by authority of the United States" before the ratification of +the treaty by the Mexican Government were to be retained by the United +States, and only the net amount of the duties collected after this +period was to be "delivered to the Mexican Government." By its +provisions also all merchandise "imported previously to the restoration +of the custom-houses to the Mexican authorities" or "exported from any +Mexican port whilst in the occupation of the forces of the United +States" was protected from confiscation and from the payment of any +import or export duties to the Mexican Government, even although the +importation of such merchandise "be prohibited by the Mexican tariff." +The treaty also provides that should the custom-houses be surrendered to +the Mexican authorities in less than sixty days from the date of its +signature, the rates of duty on merchandise imposed by the United States +were in that event to survive the war until the end of this period; and +in the meantime Mexican custom-house officers were bound to levy no +other duties thereon "than the duties established by the tariff found in +force at such custom-houses at the time of the restoration of the same." +The "tariff found in force at such custom-houses," which is recognized +and sustained by this stipulation, was that established by the military +order of the 31st of March, 1847, as a mode of levying and collecting +military contributions from the enemy. + +The right to blockade the ports and coasts of the enemy in war is no +more provided for or prescribed by the Constitution than the right +to levy and collect contributions from him in the form of duties or +otherwise, and yet it has not been questioned that the President had the +power after war had been declared by Congress to order our Navy to +blockade the ports and coasts of Mexico. The right in both cases exists +under the laws of nations. If the President can not order military +contributions to be collected without an act of Congress, for the same +reason he can not order a blockade; nor can he direct the enemy's +vessels to be captured on the high seas; nor can he order our military +and naval officers to invade the enemy's country, conquer, hold, and +subject to our military government his cities and provinces; nor can he +give to our military and naval commanders orders to perform many other +acts essential to success in war. + +If when the City of Mexico was captured the commander of our forces had +found in the Mexican treasury public money which the enemy had provided +to support his army, can it be doubted that he possessed the right to +seize and appropriate it for the use of our own Army? If the money +captured from the enemy could have been thus lawfully seized and +appropriated, it would have been by virtue of the laws of war, +recognized by all civilized nations; and by the same authority the +sources of revenue and of supply of the enemy may be cut off from him, +whereby he may be weakened and crippled in his means of continuing or +waging the war. If the commanders of our forces, while acting under the +orders of the President, in the heart of the enemy's country and +surrounded by a hostile population, possess none of these essential and +indispensable powers of war, but must halt the Army at every step of its +progress and wait for an act of Congress to be passed to authorize them +to do that which every other nation has the right to do by virtue of the +laws of nations, then, indeed, is the Government of the United States in +a condition of imbecility and weakness, which must in all future time +render it impossible to prosecute a foreign war in an enemy's country +successfully or to vindicate the national rights and the national honor +by war. + +The contributions levied were collected in the enemy's country, and were +ordered to be "applied" in the enemy's country "toward defraying the +expenses of the war," and the appropriations made by Congress for that +purpose were thus relieved, and considerable balances remained undrawn +from the Treasury. The amount of contributions remaining unexpended at +the close of the war, as far as the accounts of collecting and +disbursing officers have been settled, have been paid into the Treasury +in pursuance of an order for that purpose, except the sum "applied +toward the payment of the first installment due under the treaty with +Mexico," as stated in my last annual message, for which an appropriation +had been made by Congress. The accounts of some of these officers, as +stated in the report of the Secretary of War accompanying that message, +will require legislation before they can be finally settled. + +In the late war with Mexico it is confidently believed that the levy of +contributions and the seizure of the sources of public revenue upon +which the enemy relied to enable him to continue the war essentially +contributed to hasten peace. By those means the Government and people of +Mexico were made to feel the pressure of the war and to realize that if +it were protracted its burdens and inconveniences must be borne by +themselves. Notwithstanding the great success of our arms, it may well +be doubted whether an honorable peace would yet have been obtained but +for the very contributions which were exacted. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _January 4, 1849_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit to the Senate, for their consideration and advice with regard +to its ratification, a convention between the United States of America +and the Government of Her Britannic Majesty, for the improvement of the +communication by post between their respective territories, concluded +and signed at London on the 15th December last, together with an +explanatory dispatch from our minister at that Court. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _January 29, 1849_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I communicate herewith a report of the Secretary of State, with the +accompanying documents, in answer to a resolution of the Senate of the +21st December, 1848, requesting the President "to communicate to the +Senate (if, in his opinion, not incompatible with the public service) a +copy of the dispatches transmitted to the Secretary of State in August +last by the resident minister at Rio de Janeiro in reference to the +service and general conduct of Commodore G.W. Storer, commander in chief +of the United States naval forces on the coast of Brazil." + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _January 29, 1849_. + +_To the House of Representatives of the United States_: + +I communicate herewith reports from the Secretary of War and the +Secretary of the Navy, together with the accompanying documents, in +answer to a resolution of the House of Representatives of December 20, +1848, requesting the President "to communicate to the House the amount +of moneys and property received during the late war with the Republic of +Mexico at the different ports of entry, or in any other way within her +limits, and in what manner the same has been expended or appropriated." + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _February 1, 1849_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I communicate herewith reports from the Secretary of State, the +Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of War, and the Secretary of +the Navy, together with the accompanying documents, in answer to a +resolution of the Senate of the 15th January, 1849, "that the petition +and papers of John B. Emerson be referred to the President of the United +States, and that he be requested to cause a report thereon to be made to +the Senate, wherein the public officer making such report shall state +in what cases, if any, the United States have used or employed the +invention of said Emerson contrary to law, and, further, whether any +compensation therefor is justly due to said Emerson, and, if so, to what +amount in each case." + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _February 5, 1849_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit herewith, for the consideration and advice of the Senate with +regard to its ratification, a treaty concluded on the 24th day of +November, 1848, by Morgan L. Martin and Albert G. Ellis, commissioners +on the part of the United States, and the sachem, councilors, and +headmen of the Stockbridge tribe of Indians, together with a report of +the Commissioner of Indian Affairs and other papers explanatory of the +same. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _February 8, 1849_. + +_To the House of Representatives of the United States_: + +In reply to the resolutions of the House of Representatives of the 5th +instant, I communicate herewith a report from the Secretary of State, +accompanied with all the documents and correspondence relating to the +treaty of peace concluded between the United States and Mexico at +Guadalupe Hidalgo on the 2d February, 1848, and to the amendments of the +Senate thereto, as requested by the House in the said resolutions. + +Amongst the documents transmitted will be found a copy of the +instructions given to the commissioners of the United States who took to +Mexico the treaty as amended by the Senate and ratified by the President +of the United States. In my message to the House of Representatives of +the 29th of July, 1848, I gave as my reason for declining to furnish +these instructions in compliance with a resolution of the House that "in +my opinion it would be inconsistent with the public interests to give +publicity to them at the present time." Although it may still be doubted +whether giving them publicity in our own country, and, as a necessary +consequence, in Mexico, may not have a prejudicial influence on our +public interests, yet, as they have been again called for by the House, +and called for in connection with other documents, to the correct +understanding of which they are indispensable, I have deemed it my duty +to transmit them. + +I still entertain the opinion expressed in the message referred to, +that-- + + As a general rule applicable to all our important negotiations with + foreign powers, it could not fail to be prejudicial to the public + interests to publish the instructions to our ministers until some time + had elapsed after the conclusion of such negotiations. + + +In these instructions of the 18th of March, 1848, it will be perceived +that-- + + The task was assigned to the commissioners of the United States of + consummating the treaty of peace, which was signed at Guadalupe Hidalgo + on the 2d day of February last, between the United States and the + Mexican Republic, and which on the 10th of March last was ratified by + the Senate with amendments. + + +They were informed that-- + + This brief statement will indicate to you clearly the line of your duty. + You are not sent to Mexico for the purpose of negotiating any new + treaty, or of changing in any particular the ratified treaty which you + will bear with you. None of the amendments adopted by the Senate can be + rejected or modified except by the authority of that body. Your whole + duty will, then, consist in using every honorable effort to obtain from + the Mexican Government a ratification of the treaty in the form in which + it has been ratified by the Senate, and this with the least practicable + delay. ... For this purpose it may, and most probably will, become + necessary that you should explain to the Mexican minister for foreign + affairs, or to the authorized agents of the Mexican Government, the + reasons which have influenced the Senate in adopting these several + amendments to the treaty. This duty you will perform as much as possible + by personal conferences. Diplomatic notes are to be avoided unless in + case of necessity. These might lead to endless discussions and + indefinite delay. Besides, they could not have any practical result, as + your mission is confined to procuring a ratification from the Mexican + Government of the treaty as it came from the Senate, and does not extend + to the slightest modification in any of its provisions. + + +The commissioners were sent to Mexico to procure the ratification of +the treaty _as amended by the Senate_. Their instructions confined them +to this point. It was proper that the amendments to the treaty adopted +by the United States should be explained to the Mexican Government, and +explanations were made by the Secretary of State in his letter of the +18th of March, 1848, to the Mexican minister for foreign affairs, +under my direction. This dispatch was communicated to Congress with my +message of the 6th of July last, communicating the treaty of peace, +and published by their order. This dispatch was transmitted by our +commissioners from the City of Mexico to the Mexican Government, then at +Queretaro, on the 17th of April, 1848, and its receipt acknowledged on +the 19th of the same month. During the whole time that the treaty, as +amended, was before the Congress of Mexico these explanations of the +Secretary of State, and these alone, were before them. + +The President of Mexico, on these explanations, on the 8th day of May, +1848, submitted the amended treaty to the Mexican Congress, and on the +25th of May that Congress approved the treaty as amended, without +modification or alteration. The final action of the Mexican Congress +had taken place before the commissioners of the United States had been +officially received by the Mexican authorities, or held any conference +with them, or had any other communication on the subject of the treaty +except to transmit the letter of the Secretary of State. + +In their dispatch transmitted to Congress with my message of the 6th of +July last, communicating the treaty of peace, dated "City of Queretaro, +May 25, 1848, 9 o'clock p.m.," the commissioners say: + + We have the satisfaction to inform you that we reached this city this + afternoon at about 5 o'clock, and that the treaty, as amended by the + Senate of the United States, passed the Mexican Senate about the hour of + our arrival by a vote of 33 to 5. It having previously passed the House + of Deputies, nothing now remains but to exchange the ratifications of + the treaty. + + +On the next day (the 26th of May) the commissioners were for the first +time presented to the President of the Republic and their credentials +placed in his hands. On this occasion the commissioners delivered an +address to the President of Mexico, and he replied. In their dispatch of +the 30th of May the commissioners say: + + We inclose a copy of our address to the President, and also a copy of + his reply. Several conferences afterwards took place between Messrs. + Rosa, Cuevas, Conto, and ourselves, which it is not thought necessary to + recapitulate, as we inclose a copy of the protocol, which contains the + substance of the conversations. We have now the satisfaction to announce + that the exchange of ratifications was effected to-day. + + +This dispatch was communicated with my message of the 6th of July last, +and published by order of Congress. + +The treaty, as amended by the Senate of the United States, with the +accompanying papers and the evidence that in that form it had been +ratified by Mexico, was received at Washington on the 4th day of July, +1848, and immediately proclaimed as the supreme law of the land. On the +6th of July I communicated to Congress the ratified treaty, with such +accompanying documents as were deemed material to a full understanding +of the subject, to the end that Congress might adopt the legislation +necessary and proper to carry the treaty into effect. Neither the +address of the commissioners, nor the reply of the President of +Mexico on the occasion of their presentation, nor the memorandum of +conversations embraced in the paper called a protocol, nor the +correspondence now sent, were communicated, because they were not +regarded as in any way material; and in this I conformed to the +practice of our Government. It rarely, if ever, happens that all the +correspondence, and especially the instructions to our ministers, is +communicated. Copies of these papers are now transmitted, as being +within the resolutions of the House calling for all such "correspondence +as appertains to said treaty." + +When these papers were received at Washington, peace had been restored, +the first installment of three millions paid to Mexico, the blockades +were raised, the City of Mexico evacuated, and our troops on their +return home. The war was at an end, and the treaty, as ratified by the +United States, was binding on both parties, and already executed in a +great degree. In this condition of things it was not competent for the +President alone, or for the President and Senate, or for the President, +Senate, and House of Representatives combined, to abrogate the treaty, +to annul the peace and restore a state of war, except by a solemn +declaration of war. + +Had the protocol varied the treaty as amended by the Senate of the +United States, it would have had no binding effect. + +It was obvious that the commissioners of the United States did not +regard the protocol as in any degree a part of the treaty, nor as +modifying or altering the treaty as amended by the Senate. They +communicated it as the substance of conversations held after the Mexican +Congress had ratified the treaty, and they knew that the approval of the +Mexican Congress was as essential to the validity of a treaty in all its +parts as the advice and consent of the Senate of the United States. They +knew, too, that they had no authority to alter or modify the treaty in +the form in which it had been ratified by the United States, but that, +if failing to procure the ratification of the Mexican Government +otherwise than with amendments, their duty, imposed by express +instructions, was to ask of Mexico to send without delay a commissioner +to Washington to exchange ratifications here if the amendments of the +treaty proposed by Mexico, on being submitted, should be adopted by the +Senate of the United States. + +I was equally well satisfied that the Government of Mexico had agreed to +the treaty as amended by the Senate of the United States, and did not +regard the protocol as modifying, enlarging, or diminishing its terms or +effect. The President of that Republic, in submitting the amended treaty +to the Mexican Congress, in his message on the 8th day of May, 1848, +said: + + If the treaty could have been submitted to your deliberation precisely + as it came from the hands of the plenipotentiaries, my satisfaction at + seeing the war at last brought to an end would not have been lessened as + it this day is in consequence of the modifications introduced into it by + the Senate of the United States, and which have received the sanction of + the President. ... At present it is sufficient for us to say to you + that if in the opinion of the Government justice had not been evinced + on the part of the Senate and Government of the United States in + introducing such modifications, it is presumed, on the other hand, that + they are not of such importance that they should set aside the treaty. + I believe, on the contrary, that it ought to be ratified upon the same + terms in which it has already received the sanction of the American + Government. My opinion is also greatly strengthened by the fact that a + new negotiation is neither expected nor considered, possible. Much less + could another be brought forward upon a basis more favorable for the + Republic. + + +The deliberations of the Mexican Congress, with no explanation before +that body from the United States except the letter of the Secretary of +State, resulted in the ratification of the treaty, as recommended by the +President of that Republic, in the form in which it had been amended and +ratified by the United States. The conversations embodied in the paper +called a protocol took place after the action of the Mexican Congress +was complete, and there is no reason to suppose that the Government of +Mexico ever submitted the protocol to the Congress, or ever treated or +regarded it as in any sense a new negotiation, or as operating any +modification or change of the amended treaty. If such had been its +effect, it was a nullity until approved by the Mexican Congress; and +such approval was never made or intimated to the United States. In the +final consummation of the ratification of the treaty by the President of +Mexico no reference is made to it. On the contrary, this ratification, +which was delivered to the commissioners of the United States, and is +now in the State Department, contains a full and explicit recognition of +the amendments of the Senate just as they had been communicated to that +Government by the Secretary of State and been afterwards approved by the +Mexican Congress. It declares that-- + + Having seen and examined the said treaty and the modifications made by + the Senate of the United States of America, and having given an account + thereof to the General Congress, conformably to the requirement in the + fourteenth paragraph of the one hundred and tenth article of the federal + constitution of these United States, that body has thought proper to + approve of the said treaty, with the modifications thereto, in all their + parts; and in consequence thereof, exerting the power granted to me by + the constitution, I accept, ratify, and confirm the said treaty with its + modifications, and promise, in the name of the Mexican Republic, to + fulfill and observe it, and to cause it to be fulfilled and observed. + + +Upon an examination of this protocol, when it was received with the +ratified treaty, I did not regard it as material or as in any way +attempting to modify or change the treaty as it had been amended by the +Senate of the United States. + +The first explanation which it contains is: + + That the American Government, by suppressing the ninth article of the + treaty of Guadalupe and substituting the third article of the treaty of + Louisiana, did not intend to diminish in any way what was agreed upon + by the aforesaid article (ninth) in favor of the inhabitants of the + territories ceded by Mexico. Its understanding is that all of that + agreement is contained in the third article of the treaty of Louisiana. + In consequence, all the privileges and guaranties--civil, political, + and religious--which would have been possessed by the inhabitants of + the ceded territories if the ninth article of the treaty had been + retained will be enjoyed by them without any difference under the + article which has been substituted. + + +The ninth article of the original treaty stipulated for the +incorporation of the Mexican inhabitants of the ceded territories and +their admission into the Union "as soon as possible, according to the +principles of the Federal Constitution, to the enjoyment of all the +rights of citizens of the United States." It provided also that in the +meantime they should be maintained in the enjoyment of their liberty, +their property, and their civil rights now vested in them according to +the Mexican laws. It secured to them similar political rights with the +inhabitants of the other Territories of the United States, and at least +equal to the inhabitants of Louisiana and Florida when they were in a +Territorial condition. It then proceeded to guarantee that ecclesiastics +and religious corporations should be protected in the discharge of the +offices of their ministry and the enjoyment of their property of every +kind, whether individual or corporate, and, finally, that there should +be a free communication between the Catholics of the ceded territories +and their ecclesiastical authorities "even although such authority +should reside within the limits of the Mexican Republic as defined by +this treaty." + +The ninth article of the treaty, as adopted by the Senate, is much more +comprehensive in its terms and explicit in its meaning, and it clearly +embraces in comparatively few words all the guaranties inserted in the +original article. It is as follows: + + Mexicans who, in the territories aforesaid, shall not preserve the + character of citizens of the Mexican Republic, conformably with what + is stipulated in the preceding article, shall be incorporated into the + Union of the United States and be admitted at the proper time (to be + judged of by the Congress of the United States) to the enjoyment of all + the rights of citizens of the United States, according to the principles + of the Constitution, and in the meantime shall be maintained and + protected in the free enjoyment of their liberty and property and + secured in the free exercise of their religion without restriction. + + +This article, which was substantially copied from the Louisiana treaty, +provides equally with the original article for the admission of these +inhabitants into the Union, and in the meantime, whilst they shall +remain in a Territorial state, by one sweeping provision declares that +they "shall be maintained and protected in the free enjoyment of their +liberty and property and secured in the free exercise of their religion +without restriction." + +This guaranty embraces every kind of property, whether held by +ecclesiastics or laymen, whether belonging to corporations or +individuals. It secures to these inhabitants the free exercise of their +religion without restriction, whether they choose to place themselves +under the spiritual authority of pastors resident within the Mexican +Republic or the ceded territories. It was, it is presumed, to place this +construction beyond all question that the Senate superadded the words +"without restriction" to the religious guaranty contained in the +corresponding article of the Louisiana treaty. Congress itself does not +possess the power under the Constitution to make any law prohibiting the +free exercise of religion. + +If the ninth article of the treaty, whether in its original or amended +form, had been entirely omitted in the treaty, all the rights and +privileges which either of them confers would have been secured to the +inhabitants of the ceded territories by the Constitution and laws of the +United States. + +The protocol asserts that "the American Government, by suppressing the +tenth article of the treaty of Guadalupe, did not in any way intend to +annul the grants of lands made by Mexico in the ceded territories;" that +"these grants, notwithstanding the suppression of the article of the +treaty, preserve the legal value which they may possess; and the +grantees may cause their legitimate titles to be acknowledged before the +American tribunals;" and then proceeds to state that, "conformably to +the law of the United States, legitimate titles to every description of +property, personal and real, existing in the ceded territories are those +which were legitimate titles under the Mexican law in California and New +Mexico up to the 13th of May, 1846, and in Texas up to the 2d of March, +1836." The former was the date of the declaration of war against Mexico +and the latter that of the declaration of independence by Texas. + +The objection to the tenth article of the original treaty was not that +it protected legitimate titles, which our laws would have equally +protected without it, but that it most unjustly attempted to resuscitate +grants which had become a mere nullity by allowing the grantees the same +period after the exchange of the ratifications of the treaty to which +they had been originally entitled after the date of their grants for the +purpose of performing the conditions on which they had been made. In +submitting the treaty to the Senate I had recommended the rejection of +this article. That portion of it in regard to lands in Texas did not +receive a single vote in the Senate. This information was communicated +by the letter of the Secretary of State to the minister for foreign +affairs of Mexico, and was in possession of the Mexican Government +during the whole period the treaty was before the Mexican Congress; and +the article itself was reprobated in that letter in the strongest terms. +Besides, our commissioners to Mexico had been instructed that-- + + Neither the President nor the Senate of the United States can ever + consent to ratify any treaty containing the tenth article of the treaty + of Guadalupe Hidalgo, in favor of grantees of land in Texas or + elsewhere. + + +And again: + + Should the Mexican Government persist in retaining this article, then + all prospect of immediate peace is ended; and of this you may give + them an absolute assurance. + + +On this point the language of the protocol is free from ambiguity, but +if it were otherwise is there any individual American or Mexican who +would place such a construction upon it as to convert it into a vain +attempt to revive this article, which had been so often and so solemnly +condemned? Surely no person could for one moment suppose that either the +commissioners of the United States or the Mexican minister for foreign +affairs ever entertained the purpose of thus setting at naught the +deliberate decision of the President and Senate, which had been +communicated to the Mexican Government with the assurance that their +abandonment of this obnoxious article was essential to the restoration +of peace. + +But the meaning of the protocol is plain. It is simply that the +nullification of this article was not intended to destroy valid, +legitimate titles to land which existed and were in full force +independently of the provisions and without the aid of this article. +Notwithstanding it has been expunged from the treaty, these grants were +to "preserve the legal value which they may possess." The refusal to +revive grants which had become extinct was not to invalidate those which +were in full force and vigor. That such was the clear understanding of +the Senate of the United States, and this in perfect accordance with the +protocol, is manifest from the fact that whilst they struck from the +treaty this unjust article, they at the same time sanctioned and +ratified the last paragraph of the eighth article of the treaty, which +declares that-- + + In the said territories property of every kind now belonging to Mexicans + not established there shall be inviolably respected. The present owners, + the heirs of these, and all Mexicans who may hereafter acquire said + property by contract shall enjoy with respect to it guaranties equally + ample as if the same belonged to citizens of the United States. + + +Without any stipulation in the treaty to this effect, all such valid +titles under the Mexican Government would have been protected under the +Constitution and laws of the United States. + +The third and last explanation contained in the protocol is that-- + + The Government of the United States, by suppressing the concluding + paragraph of article 12 of the treaty, did not intend to deprive the + Mexican Republic of the free and unrestrained faculty of ceding, + conveying, or transferring at any time (as it may judge best) the sum of + the $12,000,000 which the same Government of the United States is to + deliver in the places designated by the amended article. + + +The concluding paragraph of the original twelfth article, thus +suppressed by the Senate, is in the following language: + + Certificates in proper form for the said installments, respectively, + in such sums as shall be desired by the Mexican Government, and + transferable by it, shall be delivered to the said Government by that + of the United States. + + +From this bare statement, of facts the meaning of the protocol is +obvious. Although the Senate had declined to create a Government stock +for the $12,000,000, and issue transferable certificates for the amount +in such sums as the Mexican Government might desire, yet they could not +have intended thereby to deprive that Government of the faculty which +every creditor possesses of transferring for his own benefit the +obligation of his debtor, whatever this may be worth, according to his +will and pleasure. + +It can not be doubted that the twelfth article of the treaty as it +now stands contains a positive obligation, "in consideration of the +extension acquired by the boundaries of the United States," to pay to +the Mexican Republic $12,000,000 in four equal annual installments of +three millions each. This obligation may be assigned by the Mexican +Government to any person whatever, but the assignee in such case would +stand in no better condition than the Government. The amendment of the +Senate prohibiting the issue of a Government transferable stock for the +amount produces this effect and no more. + +The protocol contains nothing from which it can be inferred that the +assignee could rightfully demand the payment of the money in case the +consideration should fail which is stated on the face of the obligation. + +With this view of the whole protocol, and considering that the +explanations which it contained were in accordance with the treaty, I +did not deem it necessary to take any action upon the subject. Had it +varied from the terms of the treaty as amended by the Senate, although +it would even then have been a nullity in itself, yet duty might have +required that I should make this fact known to the Mexican Government, +This not being the case, I treated it in the same manner I would have +done had these explanations been made verbally by the commissioners to +the Mexican minister for foreign affairs and communicated in a dispatch +to the State Department. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _February 9, 1849_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +In compliance with the resolution of the Senate of the 6th instant, +requesting the President to cause to be laid before that body, in +"executive or open session, in his discretion, any instructions given to +Ambrose H. Sevier and Nathan Clifford, commissioned as ministers +plenipotentiary on the part of the United States to the Government of +Mexico, or to either of said ministers, prior to the ratification by the +Government of Mexico of the treaty of peace between the United States +and that Republic," and certain correspondence and other papers +specified in the said resolution, I communicate herewith a report from +the Secretary of State, together with copies of the documents called +for. + +Having on the 8th instant, in compliance with a resolution of the House +of Representatives in its terms more comprehensive than that of the +Senate, communicated these and all other papers appertaining to the same +subject, with a message to that House, this communication is made to the +Senate in "open" and not in "executive" session. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _February 12, 1849_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I communicate herewith a report from the Secretary of the Treasury, with +the accompanying documents, in answer to the resolution of the Senate of +December 28, 1848, requesting "to be informed of the number of vessels +annually employed in the Coast Survey, and the annual cost thereof, and +out of what fund they were paid; also the number of persons annually +employed in said Survey who were not of the Army and Navy of the United +States; also the amount of money received by the United States for maps +and charts made under such Survey and sold under the act of 1844." + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _February 14, 1849_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of War, together with +the accompanying papers, in compliance with a resolution of the Senate +of the 12th instant, requesting the President to communicate to that +body the proceedings under the act of Congress of the last session to +compensate R.M. Johnson for the erection of certain buildings for the +use of the Choctaw academy; also the evidence of the cost of said +buildings. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _February 23, 1849_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I communicate herewith a report of the Secretary of State, together +with the accompanying documents, in compliance with a resolution of +the Senate of the 23d ultimo, requesting the President "to transmit +to the Senate, so far as is consistent with the public service, any +correspondence between the Department of State and the Spanish +authorities in the island of Cuba relating to the imprisonment in +said island of William Henry Rush, a citizen of the United States." + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _February 27, 1849_. + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I communicate herewith a report from the Secretary of State, in +compliance with a resolution of the Senate of the 3d ultimo, requesting +the President to communicate to the Senate a list of all the treaties of +commerce and navigation between the United States and foreign nations +conferring upon the vessels of such nations the right of trading between +the United States and the rest of the world in the productions of every +country upon the same terms with American vessels, with the date of +the proclamation of such treaties; also a list of the proclamations +conferring similar rights upon the vessels of foreign nations issued by +the President of the United States under the provisions of the first +section of the act entitled "An act in addition to an act entitled +'An act concerning discriminating duties on tonnage and impost and to +equalize the duties on Prussian vessels and their cargoes,'" approved +May 24, 1828. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _March 2, 1849_. + +_To the House of Representatives of the United States_: + +I communicate herewith a report of the Secretary of State, together +with the accompanying papers, in compliance with the resolution of the +House of Representatives of the 23d of December, 1848, requesting the +President "to cause to be transmitted to the House, if compatible with +the public interest, the correspondence of George W. Gordon, late, and +Gorham Parks, the present, consul of the United States at Rio de +Janeiro, with the Department of State on the subject of the African +slave trade; also any unpublished correspondence on the same subject +by the Hon. Henry A. Wise, our late minister to Brazil." + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _March 2, 1849_. + +_To the House of Representatives of the United States:_ + +I communicate herewith a report of the Secretary of State, together with +the accompanying papers, in compliance with the resolution of the House +of Representatives of the 20th ultimo, requesting the President to +communicate to that House a list of all consuls, vice-consuls, and +commercial agents now in the service of the United States, their +residence, distinguishing such as are citizens of the United States from +such as are not, and to inform the said House whether regular returns +of their fees and perquisites and the tonnage and commerce of the +United States within their respective consulates or agencies have been +regularly made by each, and to communicate the amount of such fees and +perquisites for certain years therein specified, together with the +number of vessels and amount of tonnage which entered and cleared within +each of the consulates and agencies for the same period; also the number +of seamen of the United States who have been provided for and sent home +from each of the said consulates for the time aforesaid. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +WASHINGTON, _March 2, 1849_. + +_To the Senate of the United States:_ + +I herewith transmit a communication from the Secretary of the Treasury, +accompanying a report from the Solicitor of the Treasury presenting a +view of the operations of that office since its organization. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + + +PROCLAMATIONS. + + +[From Senate Journal, Thirtieth Congress, second session, p. 349.] + + +WASHINGTON, _January 2, 1849_. + +_To the Senators of the United States, respectively_. + +SIR: Objects interesting to the United States requiring that the Senate +should be in session on Monday, the 5th of March next, to receive and +act upon such communications as may be made to it on the part of the +Executive, your attention in the Senate Chamber, in this city, on that +day at 10 o'clock in the forenoon is accordingly requested. + +JAMES K. POLK. + + + +BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. + +A PROCLAMATION. + +Whereas by an act of the Congress of the United States of the 10th +January, 1849, entitled "An act to extend certain privileges to the town +of Whitehall, in the State of New York," the President of the United +States, on the recommendation of the Secretary of the Treasury, is +authorized to extend to the town of Whitehall the same privileges as are +conferred on certain ports named in the seventh section of an act +entitled "An act allowing drawback upon foreign merchandise exported in +the original packages to Chihuahua and Santa Fe, in Mexico, and to the +British North American Provinces adjoining the United States," passed 3d +March, 1845, in the manner prescribed by the proviso contained in said +section; and + +Whereas the Secretary of the Treasury has duly recommended to me the +extension of the privileges of the law aforesaid to the port of +Whitehall, in the collection district of Champlain, in the State of New +York: + +Now, therefore, I, James K. Polk, President of the United States of +America, do hereby declare and proclaim that the port of Whitehall, in +the collection district of Champlain, in the State of New York, is and +shall be entitled to all the privileges extended to the other ports +enumerated in the seventh section of the act 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. + +[SEAL.] + +Done at the city of Washington, this 2d day of March, A.D. 1849, and of +the Independence of the United States of America the seventy-third. + +JAMES K. POLK. + +By the President: + JAMES BUCHANAN, + _Secretary of State_. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A Compilation of the Messages and +Papers of the Presidents: Polk, by Compiled by James D. 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