A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents
by
James D. Richardson
Part 12 out of 14
five millions; California was acquired from Mexico for fifteen millions,
and the territory of New Mexico was obtained from Texas for the sum of
ten millions. Early in 1861 the War of the Rebellion commenced; and
from the 1st of July of that year to the 30th of June, 1865, the public
expenditures reached the enormous aggregate of thirty-three hundred
millions. Three years of peace have intervened, and during that time the
disbursements of the Government have successively been five hundred and
twenty millions, three hundred and forty-six millions, and three hundred
and ninety-three millions. Adding to these amounts three hundred and
seventy-two millions, estimated as necessary for the fiscal year ending
the 30th of June, 1869, we obtain a total expenditure of $1,600,000,000
during the four years immediately succeeding the war, or nearly as much
as was expended during the seventy-two years that preceded the rebellion
and embraced the extraordinary expenditures already named.
These startling facts clearly illustrate the necessity of
retrenchment in all branches of the public service. Abuses which were
tolerated during the war for the preservation of the nation will not be
endured by the people, now that profound peace prevails. The receipts
from internal revenues and customs have during the past three years
gradually diminished, and the continuance of useless and extravagant
expenditures will involve us in national bankruptcy, or else make
inevitable an increase of taxes, already too onerous and in many
respects obnoxious on account of their inquisitorial character. One
hundred millions annually are expended for the military force, a large
portion of which is employed in the execution of laws both unnecessary
and unconstitutional; one hundred and fifty millions are required each
year to pay the interest on the public debt; an army of taxgatherers
impoverishes the nation, and public agents, placed by Congress beyond
the control of the Executive, divert from their legitimate purposes
large sums of money which they collect from the people in the name of
the Government. Judicious legislation and prudent economy can alone
remedy defects and avert evils which, if suffered to exist, can not fail
to diminish confidence in the public councils and weaken the attachment
and respect of the people toward their political institutions. Without
proper care the small balance which it is estimated will remain in the
Treasury at the close of the present fiscal year will not be realized,
and additional millions be added to a debt which is now enumerated by
billions.
It is shown by the able and comprehensive report of the Secretary of
the Treasury that the receipts for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1868,
were $405,638,083, and that the expenditures for the same period were
$377,340,284, leaving in the Treasury a surplus of $28,297,798. It is
estimated that the receipts during the present fiscal year, ending June
30, 1869, will be $341,392,868 and the expenditures $336,152,470,
showing a small balance of $5,240,398 in favor of the Government. For
the fiscal year ending June 30, 1870, it is estimated that the receipts
will amount to $327,000,000 and the expenditures to $303,000,000,
leaving an estimated surplus of $24,000,000.
It becomes proper in this connection to make a brief reference to our
public indebtedness, which has accumulated with such alarming rapidity
and assumed such colossal proportions.
In 1789, when the Government commenced operations under the Federal
Constitution, it was burdened with an indebtedness of $75,000,000,
created during the War of the Revolution. This amount had been reduced
to $45,000,000 when, in 1812, war was declared against Great Britain.
The three years' struggle that followed largely increased the national
obligations, and in 1816 they had attained the sum of $127,000,000. Wise
and economical legislation, however, enabled the Government to pay the
entire amount within a period of twenty years, and the extinguishment
of the national debt filled the land with rejoicing and was one of the
great events of President Jackson's Administration. After its redemption
a large fund remained in the Treasury, which was deposited for
safe-keeping with the several States, on condition that it should be
returned when required by the public wants. In 1849--the year after the
termination of an expensive war with Mexico--we found ourselves involved
in a debt of $64,000,000; and this was the amount owed by the Government
in 1860, just prior to the outbreak of the rebellion. In the spring of
1861 our civil war commenced. Each year of its continuance made an
enormous addition to the debt; and when, in the spring of 1865, the
nation successfully emerged from the conflict, the obligations of the
Government had reached the immense sum of $2,873,992,909. The Secretary
of the Treasury shows that on the 1st day of November, 1867, this amount
had been reduced to $2,491,504,450; but at the same time his report
exhibits an increase during the past year of $35,625,102, for the debt
on the 1st day of November last is stated to have been $2,527,129,552.
It is estimated by the Secretary that the returns for the past month
will add to our liabilities the further sum of $11,000,000, making a
total increase during thirteen months of $46,500,000.
In my message to Congress December 4, 1865, it was suggested that a
policy should be devised which, without being oppressive to the people,
would at once begin to effect a reduction of the debt, and, if persisted
in, discharge it fully within a definite number of years. The Secretary
of the Treasury forcibly recommends legislation of this character,
and justly urges that the longer it is deferred the more difficult
must become its accomplishment. We should follow the wise precedents
established in 1789 and 1816, and without further delay make provision
for the payment of our obligations at as early a period as may be
practicable. The fruits of their labors should be enjoyed by our
citizens rather than used to build up and sustain moneyed monopolies in
our own and other lands. Our foreign debt is already computed by the
Secretary of the Treasury at $850,000,000; citizens of foreign countries
receive interest upon a large portion of our securities, and American
taxpayers are made to contribute large sums for their support. The idea
that such a debt is to become permanent should be at all times discarded
as involving taxation too heavy to be borne, and payment once in every
sixteen years, at the present rate of interest, of an amount equal to
the original sum. This vast debt, if permitted to become permanent and
increasing, must eventually be gathered into the hands of a few, and
enable them to exert a dangerous and controlling power in the affairs of
the Government. The borrowers would become servants to the lenders, the
lenders the masters of the people. We now pride ourselves upon having
given freedom to 4,000,000 of the colored race; it will then be our
shame that 40,000,000 of people, by their own toleration of usurpation
and profligacy, have suffered themselves to become enslaved, and merely
exchanged slave owners for new taskmasters in the shape of bondholders
and taxgatherers. Besides, permanent debts pertain to monarchical
governments, and, tending to monopolies, perpetuities, and class
legislation, are totally irreconcilable with free institutions.
Introduced into our republican system, they would gradually but surely
sap its foundations, eventually subvert our governmental fabric, and
erect upon its ruins a moneyed aristocracy. It is our sacred duty to
transmit unimpaired to our posterity the blessings of liberty which were
bequeathed to us by the founders of the Republic, and by our example
teach those who are to follow us carefully to avoid the dangers which
threaten a free and independent people.
Various plans have been proposed for the payment of the public debt.
However they may have varied as to the time and mode in which it should
be redeemed, there seems to be a general concurrence as to the propriety
and justness of a reduction in the present rate of interest. The
Secretary of the Treasury in his report recommends 5 per cent; Congress,
in a bill passed prior to adjournment on the 27th of July last, agreed
upon 4 and 4-1/2 per cent; while by many 3 per cent has been held to be
an amply sufficient return for the investment. The general impression as
to the exorbitancy of the existing rate of interest has led to an
inquiry in the public mind respecting the consideration which the
Government has actually received for its bonds, and the conclusion is
becoming prevalent that the amount which it obtained was in real money
three or four hundred per cent less than the obligations which it issued
in return. It can not be denied that we are paying an extravagant
percentage for the use of the money borrowed, which was paper currency,
greatly depreciated below the value of coin. This fact is made apparent
when we consider that bondholders receive from the Treasury upon each
dollar they own in Government securities 6 per cent in gold, which is
nearly or quite equal to 9 per cent in currency; that the bonds are
then converted into capital for the national banks, upon which those
institutions issue their circulation, bearing 6 per cent interest; and
that they are exempt from taxation by the Government and the States, and
thereby enhanced 2 per cent in the hands of the holders. We thus have an
aggregate of 17 per cent which may be received upon each dollar by the
owners of Government securities. A system that produces such results is
justly regarded as favoring a few at the expense of the many, and has
led to the further inquiry whether our bondholders, in view of the
large profits which they have enjoyed, would themselves be averse to
a settlement of our indebtedness upon a plan which would yield them a
fair remuneration and at the same time be just to the taxpayers of the
nation. Our national credit should be sacredly observed, but in making
provision for our creditors we should not forget what is due to the
masses of the people. It may be assumed that the holders of our
securities have already received upon their bonds a larger amount than
their original investment, measured by a gold standard. Upon this
statement of facts it would seem but just and equitable that the 6 per
cent interest now paid by the Government should be applied to the
reduction of the principal in semiannual installments, which in sixteen
years and eight months would liquidate the entire national debt. Six per
cent in gold would at present rates be equal to 9 per cent in currency,
and equivalent to the payment of the debt one and a half times in a
fraction less than seventeen years. This, in connection with all the
other advantages derived from their investment, would afford to the
public creditors a fair and liberal compensation for the use of their
capital, and with this they should be satisfied. The lessons of the past
admonish the lender that it is not well to be overanxious in exacting
from the borrower rigid compliance with the letter of the bond.
If provision be made for the payment of the indebtedness of the
Government in the manner suggested, our nation will rapidly recover its
wonted prosperity. Its interests require that some measure should be
taken to release the large amount of capital invested in the securities
of the Government. It is not now merely unproductive, but in taxation
annually consumes $150,000,000, which would otherwise be used by our
enterprising people in adding to the wealth of the nation. Our commerce,
which at one time successfully rivaled that of the great maritime
powers, has, rapidly diminished, and our industrial interests are
in a depressed and languishing condition. The development of our
inexhaustible resources is checked, and the fertile fields of the South
are becoming waste for want of means to till them. With the release of
capital, new life would be infused into the paralyzed energies of our
people and activity and vigor imparted to every branch of industry. Our
people need encouragement in their efforts to recover from the effects
of the rebellion and of injudicious legislation, and it should be the
aim of the Government to stimulate them by the prospect of an early
release from the burdens which impede their prosperity. If we can not
take the burdens from their shoulders, we should at least manifest
a willingness to help to bear them.
In referring to the condition of the circulating medium, I shall merely
reiterate substantially that portion of my last annual message which
relates to that subject.
The proportion which the currency of any country should bear to
the whole value of the annual produce circulated by its means is a
question upon which political economists have not agreed. Nor can it
be controlled by legislation, but must be left to the irrevocable laws
which everywhere regulate commerce and trade. The circulating medium
will ever irresistibly flow to those points where it is in greatest
demand. The law of demand and supply is as unerring as that which
regulates the tides of the ocean; and, indeed, currency, like the tides,
has its ebbs and flows throughout the commercial world.
At the beginning of the rebellion the bank-note circulation of the
country amounted to not much more than $200,000,000; now the circulation
of national-bank notes and those known as "legal-tenders" is nearly
seven hundred millions. While it is urged by some that this amount
should be increased, others contend that a decided reduction is
absolutely essential to the best interests of the country. In view of
these diverse opinions, it may be well to ascertain the real value of
our paper issues when compared with a metallic or convertible currency.
For this purpose let us inquire how much gold and silver could be
purchased by the seven hundred millions of paper money now in
circulation. Probably not more than half the amount of the latter;
showing that when our paper currency is compared with gold and silver
its commercial value is compressed into three hundred and fifty
millions. This striking fact makes it the obvious duty of the
Government, as early as may be consistent with the principles of sound
political economy, to take such measures as will enable the holders of
its notes and those of the national banks to convert them, without loss,
into specie or its equivalent. A reduction of our paper circulating
medium need not necessarily follow. This, however, would depend upon the
law of demand and supply, though it should be borne in mind that by
making legal-tender and bank notes convertible into coin or its
equivalent their present specie value in the hands of their holders
would be enhanced 100 per cent.
Legislation for the accomplishment of a result so desirable is demanded
by the highest public considerations. The Constitution contemplates that
the circulating medium of the country shall be uniform in quality and
value. At the time of the formation of that instrument the country had
just emerged from the War of the Revolution, and was suffering from the
effects of a redundant and worthless paper currency. The sages of that
period were anxious to protect their posterity from the evils which they
themselves had experienced. Hence in providing a circulating medium they
conferred upon Congress the power to coin money and regulate the value
thereof, at the same time prohibiting the States from making anything
but gold and silver a tender in payment of debts.
The anomalous condition of our currency is in striking contrast with
that which was originally designed. Our circulation now embraces, first,
notes of the national banks, which are made receivable for all dues to
the Government, excluding imposts, and by all its creditors, excepting
in payment of interest upon its bonds and the securities themselves;
second, legal tender, issued by the United States, and which the law
requires shall be received as well in payment of all debts between
citizens as of all Government dues, excepting imposts; and, third, gold
and silver coin. By the operation of our present system of finance,
however, the metallic currency, when collected, is reserved only for one
class of Government creditors, who, holding its bonds, semiannually
receive their interest in coin from the National Treasury. There is no
reason which will be accepted as satisfactory by the people why those
who defend us on the land and protect us on the sea; the pensioner upon
the gratitude of the nation, bearing the scars and wounds received while
in its service; the public servants in the various departments of the
Government; the farmer who supplies the soldiers of the Army and the
sailors of the Navy; the artisan who toils in the nation's workshops,
or the mechanics and laborers who build its edifices and construct
its forts and vessels of war, should, in payment of their just and
hard-earned dues, receive depreciated paper, while another class of
their countrymen, no more deserving, are paid in coin of gold and
silver. Equal and exact justice requires that all the creditors of the
Government should be paid in a currency possessing a uniform value.
This can only be accomplished by the restoration of the currency to the
standard established by the Constitution, and by this means we would
remove a discrimination which may, if it has not already done so, create
a prejudice that may become deep-rooted and widespread and imperil the
national credit.
The feasibility of making our currency correspond with the
constitutional standard may be seen by reference to a few facts derived
from our commercial statistics.
The aggregate product of precious metals in the United States from 1849
to 1867 amounted to $1,174,000,000, while for the same period the net
exports of specie were $741,000,000. This shows an excess of product
over net exports of $433,000,000. There are in the Treasury $103,407,985
in coin; in circulation in the States on the Pacific Coast about
$40,000,000, and a few millions in the national and other banks--in all
less than $160,000,000. Taking into consideration the specie in the
country prior to 1849 and that produced since 1867, and we have more
than $300,000,000 not accounted for by exportation or by returns of the
Treasury, and therefore most probably remaining in the country.
These are important facts, and show how completely the inferior
currency will supersede the better, forcing it from circulation among
the masses and causing it to be exported as a mere article of trade, to
add to the money capital of foreign lands. They show the necessity of
retiring our paper money, that the return of gold and silver to the
avenues of trade may be invited and a demand created which will cause
the retention at home of at least so much of the productions of our
rich and inexhaustible gold-bearing fields as may be sufficient for
purposes of circulation. It is unreasonable to expect a return to a
sound currency so long as the Government and banks, by continuing to
issue irredeemable notes, fill the channels of circulation with
depreciated paper. Notwithstanding a coinage by our mints since 1849 of
$874,000,000, the people are now strangers to the currency which was
designed for their use and benefit, and specimens of the precious metals
bearing the national device are seldom seen, except when produced to
gratify the interest excited by their novelty. If depreciated paper is
to be continued as the permanent currency of the country, and all our
coin is to become a mere article of traffic and speculation, to the
enhancement in price of all that is indispensable to the comfort of the
people, it would be wise economy to abolish our mints, thus saving the
nation the care and expense incident to such establishments, and let our
precious metals be exported in bullion. The time has come, however, when
the Government and national banks should be required to take the most
efficient steps and make all necessary arrangements for a resumption of
specie payments. Let specie payments once be earnestly inaugurated by
the Government and banks, and the value of the paper circulation would
directly approximate a specie standard.
Specie payments having been resumed by the Government and banks, all
notes or bills of paper issued by either of a less denomination than $20
should by law be excluded from circulation, so that the people may have
the benefit and convenience of a gold and silver currency which in all
their business transactions will be uniform in value at home and abroad.
Every man of property or industry, every man who desires to preserve
what he honestly possesses or to obtain what he can honestly earn, has a
direct interest in maintaining a safe circulating medium--such a medium
as shall be real and substantial, not liable to vibrate with opinions,
not subject to be blown up or blown down by the breath of speculation,
but to be made stable and secure. A disordered currency is one of the
greatest political evils. It undermines the virtues necessary for the
support of the social system and encourages propensities destructive of
its happiness; it wars against industry, frugality, and economy, and it
fosters the evil spirits of extravagance and speculation.
It has been asserted by one of our profound and most gifted statesmen
that--
Of all the contrivances for cheating the laboring classes of mankind,
none has been more effectual than that which deludes them with paper
money. This is the most effectual of inventions to fertilize the rich
man's fields by the sweat of the poor man's brow. Ordinary tyranny,
oppression, excessive taxation--these bear lightly on the happiness of
the mass of the community compared with a fraudulent currency and the
robberies committed by depreciated paper. Our own history has recorded
for our instruction enough, and more than enough, of the demoralizing
tendency, the injustice, and the intolerable oppression on the virtuous
and well-disposed of a degraded paper currency authorized by law or in
any way countenanced by government.
It is one of the most successful devices, in times of peace or war,
of expansions or revulsions, to accomplish the transfer of all the
precious metals from the great mass of the people into the hands of the
few, where they are hoarded in secret places or deposited under bolts
and bars, while the people are left to endure all the inconvenience,
sacrifice, and demoralization resulting from the use of depreciated and
worthless paper.
The Secretary of the Interior in his report gives valuable information
in reference to the interests confided to the supervision of his
Department, and reviews the operations of the Land Office, Pension
Office, Patent Office, and Indian Bureau.
During the fiscal year ending June 30, 1868, 6,655,700 acres of public
land were disposed of. The entire cash receipts of the General Land
Office for the same period were $1,632,745, being greater by $284,883
than the amount realized from the same sources during the previous year.
The entries under the homestead law cover 2,328,923 acres, nearly
one-fourth of which was taken under the act of June 21, 1866, which
applies only to the States of Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas,
and Florida.
On the 30th of June, 1868, 169,643 names were borne on the pension
rolls, and during the year ending on that day the total amount paid for
pensions, including the expenses of disbursement, was $24,010,982, being
$5,391,025 greater than that expended for like purposes during the
preceding year.
During the year ending the 30th of September last the expenses of the
Patent Office exceeded the receipts by $171, and, including reissues
and designs, 14,153 patents were issued.
Treaties with various Indian tribes have been concluded, and will be
submitted to the Senate for its constitutional action. I cordially
sanction the stipulations which provide for reserving lands for the
various tribes, where they may be encouraged to abandon their nomadic
habits and engage in agricultural and industrial pursuits. This policy,
inaugurated many years since, has met with signal success whenever it
has been pursued in good faith and with becoming liberality by the
United States. The necessity for extending it as far as practicable in
our relations with the aboriginal population is greater now than at any
preceding period. Whilst we furnish subsistence and instruction to the
Indians and guarantee the undisturbed enjoyment of their treaty rights,
we should habitually insist upon the faithful observance of their
agreement to remain within their respective reservations. This is the
only mode by which collisions with other tribes and with the whites can
be avoided and the safety of our frontier settlements secured.
The companies constructing the railway from Omaha to Sacramento have
been most energetically engaged in prosecuting the work, and it is
believed that the line will be completed before the expiration of
the next fiscal year. The 6 per cent bonds issued to these companies
amounted on the 5th instant to $44,337,000, and additional work had
been performed to the extent of $3,200,000.
The Secretary of the Interior in August last invited my attention
to the report of a Government director of the Union Pacific Railroad
Company who had been specially instructed to examine the location,
construction, and equipment of their road. I submitted for the opinion
of the Attorney-General certain questions in regard to the authority of
the Executive which arose upon this report and those which had from time
to time been presented by the commissioners appointed to inspect each
successive section of the work. After carefully considering the law of
the case, he affirmed the right of the Executive to order, if necessary,
a thorough revision of the entire road. Commissioners were thereupon
appointed to examine this and other lines, and have recently submitted a
statement of their investigations, of which the report of the Secretary
of the Interior furnishes specific information.
The report of the Secretary of War contains information of interest and
importance respecting the several bureaus of the War Department and the
operations of the Army. The strength of our military force on the 30th
of September last was 48,000 men, and it is computed that by the 1st of
January next this number will be decreased to 43,000. It is the opinion
of the Secretary of War that within the next year a considerable
diminution of the infantry force may be made without detriment to the
interests of the country; and in view of the great expense attending the
military peace establishment and the absolute necessity of retrenchment
wherever it can be applied, it is hoped that Congress will sanction the
reduction which his report recommends. While in 1860 sixteen thousand
three hundred men cost the nation $16,472,000, the sum of $65,682,000
is estimated as necessary for the support of the Army during the fiscal
year ending June 30, 1870. The estimates of the War Department for
the last two fiscal years were, for 1867, $33,814,461, and for 1868
$25,205,669. The actual expenditures during the same periods were,
respectively, $95,224,415 and $123,246,648. The estimate submitted in
December last for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1869, was $77,124,707;
the expenditures for the first quarter, ending the 30th of September
last, were $27,219,117, and the Secretary of the Treasury gives
$66,000,000 as the amount which will probably be required during the
remaining three quarters, if there should be no reduction of the
Army--making its aggregate cost for the year considerably in excess
of ninety-three millions. The difference between the estimates and
expenditures for the three fiscal years which have been named is thus
shown to be $175,545,343 for this single branch of the public service.
The report of the Secretary of the Navy exhibits the operations of that
Department and of the Navy during the year. A considerable reduction of
the force has been effected. There are 42 vessels, carrying 411 guns, in
the six squadrons which are established in different parts of the world.
Three of these vessels are returning to the United States and 4 are used
as storeslips, leaving the actual cruising force 35 vessels, carrying
356 guns. The total number of vessels in the Navy is 206, mounting 1,743
guns. Eighty-one vessels of every description are in use, armed with 696
guns. The number of enlisted men in the service, including apprentices,
has been reduced to 8,500. An increase of navy-yard facilities is
recommended as a measure which will in the event of war be promotive
of economy and security. A more thorough and systematic survey of the
North Pacific Ocean is advised in view of our recent acquisitions, our
expanding commerce, and the increasing intercourse between the Pacific
States and Asia. The naval pension fund, which consists of a moiety of
the avails of prizes captured during the war, amounts to $14,000,000.
Exception is taken to the act of 23d July last, which reduces the
interest on the fund loaned to the Government by the Secretary, as
trustee, to 3 per cent instead of 6 per cent, which was originally
stipulated when the investment was made. An amendment of the pension
laws is suggested to remedy omissions and defects in existing
enactments. The expenditures of the Department during the last fiscal
year were $20,120,394, and the estimates for the coming year amount
to $20,993,414.
The Postmaster-General's report furnishes a full and clear exhibit of
the operations and condition of the postal service. The ordinary postal
revenue for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1868, was $16,292,600,
the total expenditures, embracing all the service for which special
appropriations have been made by Congress, amounted to $22,730,592,
showing an excess of expenditures of $6,437,991. Deducting from the
expenditures the sum of $1,896,525, the amount of appropriations for
ocean-steamship and other special service, the excess of expenditures
was $4,541,466. By using an unexpended balance in the Treasury of
$3,800,000 the actual sum for which a special appropriation is required
to meet the deficiency is $741,466. The causes which produced this large
excess of expenditure over revenue were the restoration of service in
the late insurgent States and the putting into operation of new service
established by acts of Congress, which amounted within the last two
years and a half to about 48,700 miles--equal to more than one-third
of the whole amount of the service at the close of the war. New postal
conventions with Great Britain, North Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands,
Switzerland, and Italy, respectively, have been carried into effect.
Under their provisions important improvements have resulted in reduced
rates of international postage and enlarged mail facilities with
European countries. The cost of the United States transatlantic ocean
mail service since January 1, 1868, has been largely lessened under the
operation of these new conventions, a reduction of over one-half having
been effected under the new arrangements for ocean mail steamship
service which went into effect on that date. The attention of Congress
is invited to the practical suggestions and recommendations made in his
report by the Postmaster-General.
No important question has occurred during the last year in our
accustomed cordial and friendly intercourse with Costa Rica, Guatemala,
Honduras, San Salvador, France, Austria, Belgium, Switzerland, Portugal,
the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden and Norway, Rome, Greece, Turkey,
Persia, Egypt, Liberia, Morocco, Tripoli, Tunis, Muscat, Siam, Borneo,
and Madagascar.
Cordial relations have also been maintained with the Argentine and the
Oriental Republics. The expressed wish of Congress that our national
good offices might be tendered to those Republics, and also to Brazil
and Paraguay, for bringing to an end the calamitous war which has so
long been raging in the valley of the La Plata, has been assiduously
complied with and kindly acknowledged by all the belligerents. That
important negotiation, however, has thus far been without result.
Charles A. Washburn, late United States minister to Paraguay, having
resigned, and being desirous to return to the United States, the
rear-admiral commanding the South Atlantic Squadron was early directed
to send a ship of war to Asuncion, the capital of Paraguay, to receive
Mr. Washburn and his family and remove them from a situation which was
represented to be endangered by faction and foreign war. The Brazilian
commander of the allied invading forces refused permission to the _Wasp_
to pass through the blockading forces, and that vessel returned to
its accustomed anchorage. Remonstrance having been made against this
refusal, it was promptly overruled, and the _Wasp_ therefore resumed
her errand, received Mr. Washburn and his family, and conveyed them to
a safe and convenient seaport. In the meantime an excited controversy
had arisen between the President of Paraguay and the late United States
minister, which, it is understood, grew out of his proceedings in
giving asylum in the United States legation to alleged enemies of
that Republic. The question of the right to give asylum is one always
difficult and often productive of great embarrassment. In states well
organized and established, foreign powers refuse either to concede or
exercise that right, except as to persons actually belonging to the
diplomatic service. On the other hand, all such powers insist upon
exercising the right of asylum in states where the law of nations is
not fully acknowledged, respected, and obeyed.
The President of Paraguay is understood to have opposed to Mr.
Washburn's proceedings the injurious and very improbable charge of
personal complicity in insurrection and treason. The correspondence,
however, has not yet reached the United States.
Mr. Washburn, in connection with this controversy, represents that two
United States citizens attached to the legation were arbitrarily seized
at his Side, when leaving the capital of Paraguay, committed to prison,
and there subjected to torture for the purpose of procuring confessions
of their own criminality and testimony to support the President's
allegations against the United States minister. Mr. McMahon, the newly
appointed minister to Paraguay, having reached the La Plata, has been
instructed to proceed without delay to Asuncion, there to investigate
the whole subject. The rear-admiral commanding the United States South
Atlantic Squadron has been directed to attend the new minister with a
proper naval force to sustain such just demands as the occasion may
require, and to vindicate the rights of the United States citizens
referred to and of any others who may be exposed to danger in the
theater of war. With these exceptions, friendly relations have been
maintained between the United States and Brazil and Paraguay.
Our relations during the past year with Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru,
and Chile have become especially friendly and cordial. Spain and the
Republics of Peru, Bolivia, and Ecuador have expressed their willingness
to accept the mediation of the United States for terminating the war
upon the South Pacific coast. Chile has not finally declared upon the
question. In the meantime the conflict has practically exhausted itself,
since no belligerent or hostile movement has been made by either party
during the last two years, and there are no indications of a present
purpose to resume hostilities on either side. Great Britain and France
have cordially seconded our proposition of mediation, and I do not
forego the hope that it may soon be accepted by all the belligerents and
lead to a secure establishment of peace and friendly relations between
the Spanish American Republics of the Pacific and Spain--a result
which would be attended with common benefits to the belligerents
and much advantage to all commercial nations. I communicate, for
the consideration of Congress, a correspondence which shows that the
Bolivian Republic has established the extremely liberal principle of
receiving into its citizenship any citizen of the United States, or
of any other of the American Republics, upon the simple condition of
voluntary registry.
The correspondence herewith submitted wall be found painfully
replete with accounts of the ruin and wretchedness produced by recent
earthquakes, of unparalleled severity, in the Republics of Peru,
Ecuador, and Bolivia. The diplomatic agents and naval officers of the
United States who were present in those countries at the time of those
disasters furnished all the relief in their power to the sufferers, and
were promptly rewarded with grateful and touching acknowledgments by
the Congress of Peru. An appeal to the charity of our fellow-citizens
has been answered by much liberality. In this connection I submit an
appeal which has been made by the Swiss Republic, whose Government and
institutions are kindred to our own, in behalf of its inhabitants, who
are suffering extreme destitution, produced by recent devastating
inundations.
Our relations with Mexico during the year have been marked by an
increasing growth of mutual confidence. The Mexican Government has
not yet acted upon the three treaties celebrated here last summer for
establishing the rights of naturalized citizens upon a liberal and just
basis, for regulating consular powers, and for the adjustment of mutual
claims.
All commercial nations, as well as all friends of republican
institutions, have occasion to regret the frequent local disturbances
which occur in some of the constituent States of Colombia. Nothing has
occurred, however, to affect the harmony and cordial friendship which
have for several years existed between that youthful and vigorous
Republic and our own.
Negotiations are pending with a view to the survey and construction
of a ship canal across the Isthmus of Darien, under the auspices of
the United States. I hope to be able to submit the results of that
negotiation to the Senate during its present session.
The very liberal treaty which was entered into last year by the United
States and Nicaragua has been ratified by the latter Republic.
Costa Rica, with the earnestness of a sincerely friendly neighbor,
solicits a reciprocity of trade, which I commend to the consideration
of Congress.
The convention created by treaty between the United States and Venezuela
in July, 1865, for the mutual adjustment of claims, has been held,
and its decisions have been received at the Department of State. The
heretofore-recognized Government of the United States of Venezuela has
been subverted. A provisional government having been instituted under
circumstances which promise durability, it has been formally recognized.
I have been reluctantly obliged to ask explanation and satisfaction
for national injuries committed by the President of Hayti. The political
and social condition of the Republics of Hayti and St. Domingo is very
unsatisfactory and painful. The abolition of slavery, which has been
carried into effect throughout the island of St. Domingo and the entire
West Indies, except the Spanish islands of Cuba and Porto Rico, has
been followed by a profound popular conviction of the rightfulness
of republican institutions and an intense desire to secure them.
The attempt, however, to establish republics there encounters many
obstacles, most of which may be supposed to result from long-indulged
habits of colonial supineness and dependence upon European monarchical
powers. While the United States have on all occasions professed a
decided unwillingness that any part of this continent or of its adjacent
islands shall be made a theater for a new establishment of monarchical
power, too little has been done by us, on the other hand, to attach the
communities by which we are surrounded to our own country, or to lend
even a moral support to the efforts they are so resolutely and so
constantly making to secure republican institutions for themselves.
It is indeed a question of grave consideration whether our recent and
present example is not calculated to check the growth and expansion of
free principles, and make those communities distrust, if not dread,
a government which at will consigns to military domination States that
are integral parts of our Federal Union, and, while ready to resist any
attempts by other nations to extend to this hemisphere the monarchical
institutions of Europe, assumes to establish over a large portion of
its people a rule more absolute, harsh, and tyrannical than any known
to civilized powers.
The acquisition of Alaska was made with the view of extending national
jurisdiction and republican principles in the American hemisphere.
Believing that a further step could be taken in the same direction,
I last year entered into a treaty with the King of Denmark for the
purchase of the islands of St. Thomas and St. John, on the best terms
then attainable, and with the express consent of the people of those
islands. This treaty still remains under consideration in the Senate.
A new convention has been entered into with Denmark, enlarging the time
fixed for final ratification of the original treaty.
Comprehensive national policy would seem to sanction the acquisition and
incorporation into our Federal Union of the several adjacent continental
and insular communities as speedily as it can be done peacefully,
lawfully, and without any violation of national justice, faith, or
honor. Foreign possession or control of those communities has hitherto
hindered the growth and impaired the influence of the United States.
Chronic revolution and anarchy there would be equally injurious. Each
one of them, when firmly established as an independent republic, or when
incorporated into the United States, would be a new source of strength
and power. Conforming my Administration to these principles, I have on
no occasion lent support or toleration to unlawful expeditions set on
foot upon the plea of republican propagandism or of national extension
or aggrandizement. The necessity, however, of repressing such unlawful
movements clearly indicates the duty which rests upon us of adapting our
legislative action to the new circumstances of a decline of European
monarchical power and influence and the increase of American republican
ideas, interests, and sympathies.
It can not be long before it will become necessary for this Government
to lend some effective aid to the solution of the political and social
problems which are continually kept before the world by the two
Republics of the island of St. Domingo, and which are now disclosing
themselves more distinctly than heretofore in the island of Cuba. The
subject is commended to your consideration with all the more earnestness
because I am satisfied that the time has arrived when even so direct a
proceeding as a proposition for an annexation of the two Republics of
the island of St. Domingo would not only receive the consent of the
people interested, but would also give satisfaction to all other foreign
nations.
I am aware that upon the question of further extending our
possessions it is apprehended by some that our political system can not
successfully be applied to an area more extended than our continent; but
the conviction is rapidly gaining ground in the American mind that with
the increased facilities for intercommunication between all portions
of the earth the principles of free government, as embraced in our
Constitution, if faithfully maintained and carried out, would prove of
sufficient strength and breadth to comprehend within their sphere and
influence the civilized nations of the world.
The attention of the Senate and of Congress is again respectfully
invited to the treaty for the establishment of commercial reciprocity
with the Hawaiian Kingdom entered into last year, and already ratified
by that Government. The attitude of the United States toward these
islands is not very different from that in which they stand toward the
West Indies. It is known and felt by the Hawaiian Government and people
that their Government and institutions are feeble and precarious; that
the United States, being so near a neighbor, would be unwilling to see
the islands pass under foreign control. Their prosperity is continually
disturbed by expectations and alarms of unfriendly political
proceedings, as well from the United States as from other foreign
powers. A reciprocity treaty, while it could not materially diminish
the revenues of the United States, would be a guaranty of the good will
and forbearance of all nations until the people of the islands shall of
themselves, at no distant day, voluntarily apply for admission into the
Union.
The Emperor of Russia has acceded to the treaty negotiated here
in January last for the security of trade-marks in the interest
of manufacturers and commerce. I have invited his attention to the
importance of establishing, now while it seems easy and practicable,
a fair and equal regulation of the vast fisheries belonging to the
two nations in the waters of the North Pacific Ocean.
The two treaties between the United States and Italy for the regulation
of consular powers and the extradition of criminals, negotiated and
ratified here during the last session of Congress, have been accepted
and confirmed by the Italian Government. A liberal consular convention
which has been negotiated with Belgium will be submitted to the Senate.
The very important treaties which were negotiated between the United
States and North Germany and Bavaria for the regulation of the rights of
naturalized citizens have been duly ratified and exchanged, and similar
treaties have been entered into with the Kingdoms of Belgium and
Wurtemberg and with the Grand Duchies of Baden and Hesse-Darmstadt.
I hope soon to be able to submit equally satisfactory conventions of
the same character now in the course of negotiation with the respective
Governments of Spain, Italy, and the Ottoman Empire.
Examination of claims against the United States by the Hudsons Bay
Company and the Puget Sound Agricultural Company, on account of certain
possessory rights in the State of Oregon and Territory of Washington,
alleged by those companies in virtue of provisions of the treaty
between the United States and Great Britain of June 15, 1846, has been
diligently prosecuted, under the direction of the joint international
commission to which they were submitted for adjudication by treaty
between the two Governments of July 1, 1863, and will, it is expected,
be concluded at an early day.
No practical regulation concerning colonial trade and the fisheries can
be accomplished by treaty between the United States and Great Britain
until Congress shall have expressed their judgment concerning the
principles involved. Three other questions, however, between the United
States and Great Britain remain open for adjustment. These are the
mutual rights of naturalized citizens, the boundary question involving
the title to the island of San Juan, on the Pacific coast, and mutual
claims arising since the year 1853 of the citizens and subjects of the
two countries for injuries and depredations committed under the
authority of their respective Governments. Negotiations upon these
subjects are pending, and I am not without hope of being able to lay
before the Senate, for its consideration during the present session,
protocols calculated to bring to an end these justly exciting and
long-existing controversies.
We are not advised of the action of the Chinese Government upon the
liberal and auspicious treaty which was recently celebrated with its
plenipotentiaries at this capital.
Japan remains a theater of civil war, marked by religious incidents
and political severities peculiar to that long-isolated Empire. The
Executive has hitherto maintained strict neutrality among the
belligerents, and acknowledges with pleasure that it has been frankly
and fully sustained in that course by the enlightened concurrence and
cooperation of the other treaty powers, namely, Great Britain, France,
the Netherlands, North Germany, and Italy.
Spain having recently undergone a revolution marked by extraordinary
unanimity and preservation of order, the provisional government
established at Madrid has been recognized, and the friendly intercourse
which has so long happily existed between the two countries remains
unchanged.
I renew the recommendation contained in my communication to Congress
dated the 18th July last--a copy of which accompanies this message--that
the judgment of the people should be taken on the propriety of so
amending the Federal Constitution that it shall provide--
First. For an election of President and Vice-President by a direct vote
of the people, instead of through the agency of electors, and making
them ineligible for reelection to a second term.
Second. For a distinct designation of the person who shall discharge
the duties of President in the event of a vacancy in that office by the
death, resignation, or removal of both the President and Vice-President.
Third. For the election of Senators of the United States directly by
the people of the several States, instead of by the legislatures; and
Fourth. For the limitation to a period of years of the terms of Federal
judges.
Profoundly impressed with the propriety of making these important
modifications in the Constitution, I respectfully submit them for
the early and mature consideration of Congress. We should, as far
as possible, remove all pretext for violations of the organic law,
by remedying such imperfections as time and experience may develop,
ever remembering that "the constitution which at any time exists until
changed by an explicit and authentic act of the whole people is sacredly
obligatory upon all."
In the performance of a duty imposed upon me by the Constitution, I have
thus communicated to Congress information of the state of the Union and
recommended for their consideration such measures as have seemed to me
necessary and expedient. If carried into effect, they will hasten the
accomplishment of the great and beneficent purposes for which the
Constitution was ordained, and which it comprehensively states were
"to form a more perfect Union, establish justice, insure domestic
tranquillity, provide for the common defense, promote the general
welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our
posterity." In Congress are vested all legislative powers, and upon them
devolves the responsibility as well for framing unwise and excessive
laws as for neglecting to devise and adopt measures absolutely demanded
by the wants of the country. Let us earnestly hope that before the
expiration of our respective terms of service, now rapidly drawing
to a close, an all-wise Providence will so guide our counsels as to
strengthen and preserve the Federal Union, inspire reverence for the
Constitution, restore prosperity and happiness to our whole people,
and promote "on earth peace, good will toward men."
ANDREW JOHNSON.
SPECIAL MESSAGES.
WASHINGTON, _December 8, 1868_.
_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:
I transmit a copy of a note of the 24th of November last addressed to
the Secretary of State by the minister of Great Britain, communicating
a decree of the district court of the United States for the southern
district of New York ordering the payment of certain sums to the
defendants in a suit against the English schooner _Sibyl_, libeled as a
prize of war. It is requisite for the fulfillment of the decree that an
appropriation of the sums specified therein should be made by Congress.
The appropriation is recommended accordingly.
ANDREW JOHNSON.
WASHINGTON, _December 11, 1868_.
_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:
In answer to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 7th
instant, relating to the correspondence with the American minister at
London concerning the so-called _Alabama_ claims, I transmit a report
on the subject from the Secretary of State.
ANDREW JOHNSON.
WASHINGTON, _December 16, 1868_.
_To the House of Representatives_:
In answer to a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 14th
December instant, I transmit the accompanying report[70] of the Secretary
of State.
ANDREW JOHNSON.
[Footnote 70: Relating to the sending of a commissioner from the United
States to Spain.]
WASHINGTON, _December 16, 1868_.
_To the House of Representatives_:
In answer to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 14th
instant, requesting the correspondence which has taken place between the
United States minister at Brazil and Rear-Admiral Davis touching the
disposition of the American squadron at Rio Janeiro and the Paraguay
difficulties, I transmit a report of the Secretary of State upon that
subject.
ANDREW JOHNSON.
WASHINGTON, _December 16, 1868_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
In answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 8th instant, concerning
recent transactions in the region of the La Plata affecting the
political relations of the United States with Paraguay, the Argentine
Republic, Uruguay, and Brazil, I transmit a report of the Secretary of
State, which is accompanied by a copy of the papers called for by the
resolution.
ANDREW JOHNSON.
WASHINGTON, _December 18, 1868_.
_To the House of Representatives_:
I herewith communicate a report of the Secretary of the Interior, in
answer to a resolution adopted by the House of Representatives on the
16th instant, making inquiries in reference to the Union Pacific
Railroad and requesting the transmission of the report of the special
commissioners appointed to examine the construction and equipment of
the road.
ANDREW JOHNSON.
WASHINGTON, _January 4, 1869_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I transmit to the Senate, in compliance with the request contained
in its resolution of the 15th ultimo, a report from the Secretary of
State, communicating information in regard to the action of the mixed
commission for the adjustment of claims by citizens of the United
States against the Government of Venezuela.
ANDREW JOHNSON.
WASHINGTON, _January 4, 1869_.
_To the House of Representatives_:
I transmit to the House of Representatives a report from the Secretary
of State, with accompanying papers, in relation to the resolution of
Congress approved July 20, 1867, "declaring sympathy with the suffering
people of Crete."
ANDREW JOHNSON.
[The same message was sent to the Senate.]
WASHINGTON, _January 4, 1869_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I transmit to the Senate, for its consideration with a view to
ratification, an additional article to the convention of the 24th of
October, 1867, between the United States and His Majesty the King of
Denmark.
ANDREW JOHNSON.
WASHINGTON, _January 5, 1869_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I transmit to the Senate, for its consideration with a view to
ratification, a convention between the United States and His Hawaiian
Majesty, signed in this city on the 28th day of July last, stipulating
for an extension of the period for the exchange of the ratifications of
the convention between the same parties on the subject of commercial
reciprocity.
ANDREW JOHNSON.
WASHINGTON, _January 7, 1869_.
_To the House of Representatives_:
I transmit herewith, in answer to a resolution of the House of
Representatives of the 16th of December last, a report[71] from the
Secretary of State of the 6th instant.
ANDREW JOHNSON.
[Footnote 71: Giving reasons why reductions in the number of officers
and employees and in the salaries and expenses of the Department of
State should not be made.]
WASHINGTON, D.C., _January 8, 1869_.
_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:
In conformity with the requirements of the sixth section of the act of
the 22d of June, 1860, to carry into effect provisions of the treaty
with China and certain other Oriental nations, I transmit to Congress a
copy of eight rules agreed upon between the Chinese Imperial Government
and the minister of the United States and those of other foreign powers
accredited to that Government, for conducting the proceedings of the
joint tribunal in cases of confiscation and fines for breaches of the
revenue laws of that Empire. These rules, which are accompanied by
correspondence between our minister and Secretary of State on the
subject, are commended to the consideration of Congress with a view
to their approval.
ANDREW JOHNSON.
WASHINGTON, _January 8, 1869_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I transmit to the Senate, in answer to their resolution of the 17th
ultimo, a report[72] from the Secretary of State, with an accompanying
paper.
ANDREW JOHNSON.
[Footnote 72: Relating to the exercise or claim by United States consuls
in Japan of judicial powers in cases arising between American citizens
and citizens or subjects of any foreign nation ether than Japan, etc.]
WASHINGTON, _January 11, 1869_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I transmit to the Senate, for its consideration with a view to
ratification, a convention between the United States and Belgium upon
the subject of naturalization, which was signed at Brussels on the 16th
of November last.
ANDREW JOHNSON.
WASHINGTON, _January 11, 1869_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I transmit to the Senate, for its consideration with a view to
ratification, a convention between the United States and Belgium
concerning the rights, privileges, and immunities of consuls in the
two countries, signed at Brussels on the 5th ultimo.
ANDREW JOHNSON.
WASHINGTON, _January 11, 1869_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I transmit to the Senate, for its consideration with a view to
ratification, an additional article of the treaty of commerce and
navigation between the United States and Belgium of the 17th of July,
1858, which was signed at Brussels on the 20th ultimo.
ANDREW JOHNSON.
WASHINGTON, _January 12, 1869_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I transmit a copy of a convention between the United States and Peru,
signed at Lima on the 4th of last month, stipulating for a mixed
commission for the adjustment of claims of citizens of the two
countries. An extract from that part of the dispatch of the minister of
the United States at Lima which accompanied the copy referred to, and
which relates to it, is also transmitted. It will be seen from this
extract that it is desirable that the decision of the Senate upon
the instrument should be given as early as may be convenient. It is
consequently recommended for consideration with a view to ratification.
ANDREW JOHNSON.
WASHINGTON, D.C., _January 13, 1869_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I herewith lay before the Senate, for its constitutional action thereon,
a treaty concluded at Washington, D.C., August 13, 1868, between the
United States and the Nez Perce tribe of Indians, which treaty is
supplemental to and amendatory of the treaty concluded with said tribe
June 9, 1863. A communication from the Secretary of the Interior of the
12th instant, inclosing a copy of a report of the Commissioner of Indian
Affairs of the 11th instant, is also herewith transmitted.[73]
ANDREW JOHNSON.
[Footnote 73: Note by the Executive Clerk of the Senate.--"The
communication from the Secretary of the Interior and this report of the
Commissioner of Indian Affairs did not accompany the above communication
from the president."]
WASHINGTON, _January 14, 1869_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of War, together with
the original papers accompanying the same, submitted in compliance
with the resolution of the Senate of the 5th instant, requesting such
information as is furnished by the files of the War Department in
relation to the erection of fortifications at Lawrence, Kans., in 1864
and 1865.
ANDREW JOHNSON.
WASHINGTON, _January 15, 1869_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I transmit, for the opinion of the Senate as to the expediency of
concluding a convention based thereupon, a protocol, signed at London on
the 9th of October last, for regulating the citizenship of citizens of
the United States who have emigrated or who may emigrate from the United
States to the British dominions, and of British subjects who have
emigrated or who may emigrate from the British dominions to the United
States of America.
ANDREW JOHNSON.
WASHINGTON, _January 15, 1869_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I transmit to the Senate, for consideration with a view to its
ratification, a copy of a treaty between the United States and Great
Britain, signed yesterday at London, providing for the reference to an
arbiter of the question of difference between the United States and
Great Britain concerning the northwest line of water boundary between
the United States and the British possessions in North America. It is
expected that the original of the convention will be forwarded by the
steamer which leaves Liverpool to-morrow. Circumstances, however, to
which it is unnecessary to advert, in my judgment make it advisable to
communicate to the Senate the copy referred to in advance of the arrival
of the original instrument.
ANDREW JOHNSON.
WASHINGTON, _January 15, 1869_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I transmit to the Senate, for consideration with a view of its
ratification, a copy of a convention between the United States and
Great Britain, signed yesterday at London, providing for the adjustment
of all outstanding claims of the citizens and subjects of the parties,
respectively. It is expected that the original of the convention
will be forwarded by the steamer which leaves Liverpool to-morrow.
Circumstances, however, to which it is unnecessary to advert, in my
judgment make it advisable to communicate to the Senate the copy
referred to in advance of the arrival of the original instrument.
ANDREW JOHNSON.
WASHINGTON, D.C., _January 18, 1869_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
The resolution adopted on the 5th instant, requesting the President "to
transmit to the Senate a copy of any proclamation of amnesty made by him
since the last adjournment of Congress, and also to communicate to the
Senate by what authority of law the same was made," has been received.
I accordingly transmit herewith a copy of a proclamation dated the 25th
day of December last. The authority of law by which it was made is set
forth in the proclamation itself, which expressly affirms that it was
issued "by virtue of the power and authority in me vested by the
Constitution, and in the name of the sovereign people of the United
States," and proclaims and declares "unconditionally and without
reservation, to all and to every person who, directly or indirectly,
participated in the late insurrection or rebellion, a full pardon and
amnesty for the offense of treason against the United States, or of
adhering to their enemies during the late civil war, with restoration of
all rights, privileges, and immunities under the Constitution and the
laws which have been made in pursuance thereof."
The Federal Constitution is understood to be and is regarded by the
Executive as the supreme law of the land. The second section of article
second of that instrument provides that the President "shall have power
to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States,
except in cases of impeachment." The proclamation of the 25th ultimo is
in strict accordance with the judicial expositions of the authority thus
conferred upon the Executive, and, as will be seen by reference to the
accompanying papers, is in conformity with the precedent established by
Washington in 1795, and followed by President Adams in 1800, Madison in
1815, and Lincoln in 1863, and by the present Executive in 1865, 1867,
and 1868.
ANDREW JOHNSON.
WASHINGTON, _January 20, 1869_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of War, made in
compliance with the resolution of the Senate of the 19th ultimo,
requesting information in reference to the payment of rent for the use
of the building known as the Libby Prison, in the city of Richmond, Va.
ANDREW JOHNSON.
WASHINGTON, _January 22, 1869_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I transmit to the Senate, for its consideration with a view to
ratification, an additional article to the convention between the United
States and His Majesty the King of Italy for regulating the jurisdiction
of consuls.
ANDREW JOHNSON.
WASHINGTON, _January 22, 1869_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I transmit to the Senate, for its consideration with a view to
ratification, an additional article to the convention between the United
States and His Majesty the King of Italy for the mutual extradition of
criminals fugitives from justice.
ANDREW JOHNSON.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 23, 1869_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I herewith lay before the Senate, for the constitutional action of
that body, a treaty concluded at the council house on the Cattaraugus
Reservation, in Erie County, N.Y., on the 4th day of December, 1868,
by Walter R. Irwin, commissioner on the part of the United States, and
the duly authorized representatives of the several tribes and bands of
Indians residing in the State of New York, A copy of a letter from the
Secretary of the Interior, dated the 22d instant, and the papers therein
referred to, in relation to the treaty, are also herewith transmitted.
ANDREW JOHNSON.
WASHINGTON, _January 26, 1869_.
_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:
I transmit for the consideration of Congress, in conformity with the
requirements of the sixth section of the act of the 22d of June, 1860,
a copy of certain regulations for the consular courts in China,
prohibiting steamers sailing under the flag of the United States from
using or passing through the Straw Shoe Channel on the river Yangtse,
decreed by S. Wells Williams, charge d'affaires, on the 1st of June, and
promulgated by George F. Seward, consul-general at Shanghai, on the 25th
of July, 1868, with the assent of five of the United States consuls in
China, G.H. Colton Salter dissenting. His objections to the regulations
are set forth in the accompanying copy of a communication of the 10th of
October last, inclosed in Consul-General Seward's dispatch of the 14th
of the game month to the Secretary of State, a copy of which is also
transmitted.
ANDREW JOHNSON.
WASHINGTON, D.C., _January 26, 1869_.
_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:
I transmit to Congress a report from the Secretary of State, with
accompanying documents, in relation to the gold medal presented to Mr.
George Peabody pursuant to the resolution of Congress of March 16, 1867.
ANDREW JOHNSON.
WASHINGTON, _January 27, 1860_.
_To the House of Representatives_:
I transmit to the House of Representatives, in answer to their
resolution of the 23d instant, the accompanying report[74] from
the Secretary of State.
ANDREW JOHNSON.
[Footnote 74: Relating to buildings occupied in Washington by
Departments of the Government.]
WASHINGTON, _January 27, 1869_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I transmit herewith a communication from the Secretary of War, upon the
subject of the resolution of the Senate of the 21st instant, requesting
a copy of the report of Brevet Major-General William S. Harney upon the
Sioux and other Indians congregated under treaties made with them by the
special peace commission.
ANDREW JOHNSON.
WASHINGTON, _January 29, 1869_.
_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:
I transmit to the House of Representatives, in answer to a resolution
of the House of Representatives without date, received at the Executive
Mansion on the 10th of December, calling for correspondence in relation
to the cases of Messrs. Costello and Warren, naturalized citizens of the
United States imprisoned in Great Britain, a report from the Secretary
of State and the papers to which it refers.
ANDREW JOHNSON.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 29, 1869_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I herewith lay before the Senate, for its consideration in connection
with the treaty with the New York Indians concluded November 4, 1868,
which is now before that body for its constitutional action, an
additional article of said treaty as an amendment.
A communication, dated the 28th instant, from the Secretary of the
Interior, and a copy of a report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs,
explaining the object of the amendment, are also herewith transmitted.
ANDREW JOHNSON.
WASHINGTON, _February 1, 1869_.
_To the House of Representatives_:
In answer to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 16th
of December last, in relation to the arrest of American citizens in
Paraguay, I transmit a report of the Secretary of State.
ANDREW JOHNSON.
WASHINGTON, _February 1, 1869_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
In further answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 8th of December
last, concerning recent transactions in the region of the La Plata
affecting the political relations of the United States with Paraguay,
the Argentine Republic, Uruguay, and Brazil, I transmit a report from
the Secretary of State.
ANDREW JOHNSON.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 2, 1869_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I herewith lay before the Senate, for its constitutional action thereon,
two treaties made by the commissioners appointed under the act of
Congress of 20th July, 1867, to establish peace with certain hostile
tribes, viz:
A treaty concluded at Fort Laramie, Dakota Territory, on the 2Qth April,
1868, with various bands of the Sioux or Dakota Nation of Indians.
A treaty concluded at Fort Bridger, Utah Territory, on the 3d day of
July, 1868, with the Shoshone (eastern band) and Bannock Indians.
A communication from the Secretary of the Interior, dated the 2d
instant, inclosing a copy of a letter to him from the Commissioner of
Indian Affairs of the 28th ultimo, together with the correspondence
therein referred to, relating to said treaties, are also herewith
transmitted.
ANDREW JOHNSON.
WASHINGTON, _February 3, 1869_.
_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:
I transmit, for the consideration of Congress, a report from the
Secretary of State, and the papers which accompany it, in relation to
the encroachments of agents of the Hudsons Bay Company upon the trade
and territory of Alaska.
ANDREW JOHNSON.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 4, 1869_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I herewith lay before the Senate, for the constitutional action of that
body thereon, the following treaties, concluded with various bands and
tribes of Indians by William I. Cullen, special agent for Indians in
Montana, viz:
Treaty concluded at Fort Hawley on the 13th July, 1868, with the Gros
Ventres.
Treaty concluded at Fort Hawley on the 15th July, 1868, with the River
Crow Indians.
Treaty concluded at Fort Benton September 1, 1868, with the Blackfeet
Nation (composed of the tribe of that name and the Blood and Piegan
tribes).
Treaty with the mixed bands of Shoshones, Bannocks, and Sheepeaters,
concluded at Virginia City September 24, 1868.
A letter of the Secretary of the Interior, dated the 3d instant, and
the report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, dated the 2d instant,
explaining the provisions of the several treaties and suggesting an
amendment of some of them, and submitting maps and papers connected with
said treaties, are also herewith transmitted.
ANDREW JOHNSON.
WASHINGTON, _February 4, 1869_.
_To the House of Representatives_:
In answer to a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 23d
January ultimo, I transmit a report[75] of the Secretary of State, which is
accompanied by a copy of the correspondence called for by the resolution.
ANDREW JOHNSON.
[Footnote 75: Relating to the claim of William T. Harris, a United
States citizen, to property withheld by the Brazilian Government.]
WASHINGTON, _February 8, 1869_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
Referring to my communications of the 16th of December, 1868, and of
the 1st of February instant, addressed to the Senate in answer to the
resolution of that body of the 8th of December last, concerning recent
transactions in the region of the La Plata, I transmit a report of the
Secretary of State and the papers which accompany it.
ANDREW JOHNSON.
WASHINGTON, _February 9, 1869_.
_To the House of Representatives_:
In answer to a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 13th
ultimo, requesting information as to expenditures by the northwestern
boundary commission, I transmit a report from the Secretary of State on
the subject, and the papers which accompanied it.
ANDREW JOHNSON.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 9, 1869_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I herewith lay before the Senate, for the constitutional action of that
body thereon, a treaty concluded on the 2d day of September, 1868,
between the United States and the Creek Nation of Indians by their duly
authorized delegates.
A letter from the Secretary of the Interior, dated the 8th instant, and
a report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, dated the 6th instant,
in relation to said treaty, are also herewith transmitted.
ANDREW JOHNSON.
WASHINGTON, _February 11, 1869_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I transmit to the Senate, in answer to their resolution of the 21st
ultimo, a report from the Secretary of State, with accompanying papers,
in relation to the establishment of the Robert College at
Constantinople.
ANDREW JOHNSON.
WASHINGTON, D.C., _February 13, 1869_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I herewith lay before the Senate, for their action thereon, a mutual
relinquishment of the agreement between the Ottawa and Chippewa Indians
of Kansas, which agreement is appended to a treaty now before the Senate
between the United States and the Swan Creek and Black River Chippewas
and the Munsee or Christian Indians, concluded on the 1st of June, 1868.
A letter of the Secretary of the Interior of the 11th instant, together
with the papers therein referred to, is also herewith transmitted.
ANDREW JOHNSON.
WASHINGTON, _February 15, 1869_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I transmit, for the consideration of the Senate with a view to
ratification, a convention between the United States of America arid the
United States of Colombia for facilitating and securing the construction
of a ship canal between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through the
continental isthmus lying without the jurisdiction of the United States
of Colombia, which instrument was signed at Bogota on the 14th instant.
ANDREW JOHNSON.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 17, 1869_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I herewith lay before the Senate, for its constitutional action thereon,
a treaty concluded on the 11th instant, in the city of Washington,
between the United States and the Sac and Fox Indians of the Missouri
and the Iowa tribe of Indians. A letter of the Secretary of the Interior
of the 16th instant, together with the letters therein referred to,
accompany the treaty. For reasons stated in the accompanying
communications, I request to withdraw from the Senate a treaty with the
Sac and Fox Indians of the Missouri, concluded February 19, 1867, now
pending before that body.
ANDREW JOHNSON.
WASHINGTON, _February 17, 1869_.
_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:
I transmit to Congress a report from the Secretary of State, with
accompanying documents, in relation to the gold medal presented to Mr.
Cyrus W. Field pursuant to the resolution of Congress of March 2, 1867.
ANDREW JOHNSON.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 17, 1869_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I herewith present, for the consideration of the Senate in connection
with the treaty with the Brule and other bands of Sioux Indians now
pending before that body, a communication from the Secretary of the
Interior, dated the 16th instant, and accompanying letters from the
Commissioner of Indian Affairs and P. H. Conger, United States Indian
agent for the Yankton Sioux, requesting that the benefits of said treaty
may be extended to the Yankton Sioux and all the bands and individuals
of the Dakota Sioux.
ANDREW JOHNSON.
WASHINGTON, _February 17, 1869_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I transmit to the Senate, in answer to their resolution of the 19th
ultimo, relating to fisheries, a report from the Secretary of State and
the documents which accompanied it.
ANDREW JOHNSON.
WASHINGTON, D.C., _February 18, 1869_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I transmit to the Senate, for its constitutional action, a treaty
concluded on the 13th instant between the United States and the Otoe and
Missouria tribe of Indians, together with the accompanying papers.
ANDREW JOHNSON.
WASHINGTON, _February 19, 1869_.
_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:
I transmit to Congress a copy of a correspondence which has taken place
between the Secretary of State and the minister of the United States at
Paris, in relation to the use of passports by citizens of the United
States in France.
ANDREW JOHNSON.
WASHINGTON, _February 20, 1869_.
_To the House of Representatives_:
I transmit an additional report from the Secretary of State,
representing that Messrs. Costello and Warren, citizens of the United
States imprisoned in Ireland, have been released.
ANDREW JOHNSON.
WASHINGTON, D.C., _February 23, 1869_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of the Treasury, on
the subject of the resolution of the Senate of the 13th January last,
requesting "that the President direct the Secretary of the Treasury to
detail an officer to select from the public lands such permanent points
upon the coast of Oregon, Washington Territory, and Alaska as in his
judgment may be necessary for light-house purposes, in view of the
future commercial necessity of the Pacific Coast, and to reserve the
same for exclusive use of the United States."
ANDREW JOHNSON.
WASHINGTON, _February 23, 1869_.
_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:
Referring to my communication to Congress of the 26th ultimo, concerning
a decree made by the United States charge d'affaires in China, on 1st
of June last, prohibiting steamers sailing under the flag of the United
States from using or passing through the Straw Shoe Channel on the
Yangtse River, I now transmit a copy of a dispatch of the 22d of August
last, No. 25, from S. Wells Williams, esq., and of such of the papers
accompanying it as were not contained in my former communication. I also
transmit a copy of the reply of the 6th instant made by the Secretary of
State to the above-named dispatch.
ANDREW JOHNSON.
WASHINGTON, _February 24, 1869_.
_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:
I transmit to Congress a copy of a convention between the United States
and the Mexican Republic, providing for the adjustment of the claims of
citizens of either country against the other, signed on the 4th day of
July last, and the ratifications of which were exchanged on the 1st
instant.
It is recommended that such legislation as may be necessary to carry
this convention into effect shall receive early consideration.
ANDREW JOHNSON.
WASHINGTON, _March 1, 1869_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
In compliance with the request of the Senate of the 27th ultimo,
I return herewith their resolution of the 26th February, calling for a
statement of internal-revenue stamps issued by the Government since the
passage of the act approved July 1, 1862.
ANDREW JOHNSON.
VETO MESSAGES.
WASHINGTON, D.C., _February 13, 1869_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
The bill entitled "An act transferring the duties of trustees of colored
schools of Washington and Georgetown" is herewith returned to the
Senate, in which House it originated, without my approval.
The accompanying paper exhibits the fact that the legislation which the
bill proposes is contrary to the wishes of the colored residents of
Washington and Georgetown, and that they prefer that the schools for
their children should be under the management of trustees selected by
the Secretary of the Interior, whose term of office is for four years,
rather than subject to the control of bodies whose tenure of office,
depending merely upon political considerations, may be annually affected
by the elections which take place in the two cities.
The colored people of Washington and Georgetown are at present not
represented by a person of their own race in either of the boards of
trustees of public schools appointed by the municipal authorities.
Of the three trustees, however, who, under the act of July 11, 1862,
compose the board of trustees of the schools for colored children, two
are persons of color. The resolutions transmitted herewith show that
they have performed their trust in a manner entirely satisfactory to
the colored people of the two cities, and no good reason is known to
the Executive why the duties which now devolve upon them should be
transferred as proposed in the bill.
With these brief suggestions the bill is respectfully returned, and the
consideration of Congress invited to the accompanying preamble and
resolutions.
ANDREW JOHNSON.
WASHINGTON, D.C., _February 22, 1869_.
_To the House of Representatives_:
The accompanying bill, entitled "An act regulating the duties on
imported copper and copper ores," is, for the following reasons,
returned, without my approval, to the House of Representatives, in which
branch of Congress it originated.
Its immediate effect will be to diminish the public receipts, for the
object of the bill can not be accomplished without seriously affecting
the importation of copper and copper ores, from which a considerable
revenue is at present derived. While thus impairing the resources of the
Government, it imposes an additional tax upon an already overburdened
people, who should not be further impoverished that monopolies may be
fostered and corporations enriched.
It is represented--and the declaration seems to be sustained by
evidence--that the duties for which this bill provides are nearly or
quite sufficient to prohibit the importation of certain foreign ores of
copper. Its enactment, therefore, will prove detrimental to the shipping
interests of the nation, and at the same time destroy the business, for
many years successfully established, of smelting home ores in connection
with a smaller amount of the imported articles. This business, it is
credibly asserted, has heretofore yielded the larger share of the copper
production of the country, and thus the industry which this legislation
is designed to encourage is actually less than that which will be
destroyed by the passage of this bill.
It seems also to be evident that the effect of this measure will be to
enhance by 70 per cent the cost of blue vitriol--an article extensively
used in dyeing and in the manufacture of printed and colored cloths. To
produce such an augmentation in the price of this commodity will be to
discriminate against other great branches of domestic industry, and by
increasing their cost to expose them most unfairly to the effects of
foreign competition. Legislation can neither be wise nor just which
seeks the welfare of a single interest at the expense and to the injury
of many and varied interests at least equally important and equally
deserving the consideration of Congress. Indeed, it is difficult to find
any reason which will justify the interference of Government with any
legitimate industry, except so far as may be rendered necessary by the
requirements of the revenue. As has already been stated, however, the
legislative intervention proposed in the present instance will diminish,
not increase, the public receipts.
The enactment of such a law is urged as necessary for the relief of
certain mining interests upon Lake Superior, which, it is alleged,
are in a greatly depressed condition, and can only be sustained by an
enhancement of the price of copper. If this result should follow the
passage of the bill, a tax for the exclusive benefit of a single class
would be imposed upon the consumers of copper throughout the entire
country, not warranted by any need of the Government, and the avails of
which would not in any degree find their way into the Treasury of the
nation. If the miners of Lake Superior are in a condition of want, it
can not be justly affirmed that the Government should extend charity to
them in preference to those of its citizens who in other portions of the
country suffer in like manner from destitution. Least of all should the
endeavor to aid them be based upon a method so uncertain and indirect as
that contemplated by the bill, and which, moreover, proposes to continue
the exercise of its benefaction through an indefinite period of years.
It is, besides, reasonable to hope that positive suffering from want,
if it really exists, will prove but temporary in a region where
agricultural labor is so much in demand and so well compensated. A
careful examination of the subject appears to show that the present
low price of copper, which alone has induced any depression the mining
interests of Lake Superior may have recently experienced, is due to
causes which it is wholly impolitic, if not impracticable, to contravene
by legislation. These causes are, in the main, an increase in the
general supply of copper, owing to the discovery and working of
remarkably productive mines and to a coincident restriction in the
consumption and use of copper by the substitution of other and cheaper
metals for industrial purposes. It is now sought to resist by artificial
means the action of natural laws; to place the people of the United
States, in respect to the enjoyment and use of an essential commodity,
upon a different basis from other nations, and especially to compensate
certain private and sectional interests for the changes and losses which
are always incident to industrial progress.
Although providing for an increase of duties, the proposed law does not
even come within the range of protection, in the fair acceptation of the
term. It does not look to the fostering of a young and feeble interest
with a view to the ultimate attainment of strength and the capacity
of self-support. It appears to assume that the present inability for
successful production is inherent and permanent, and is more likely
to increase than to be gradually overcome; yet in spite of this it
proposes, by the exercise of the lawmaking power, to sustain that
interest and to impose it in hopeless perpetuity as a tax upon the
competent and beneficent industries of the country.
The true method for the mining interests of Lake Superior to
obtain relief, if relief is needed, is to endeavor to make their great
natural resources fully available by reducing the cost of production.
Special or class legislation can not remedy the evils which this bill
is designed to meet. They can only be overcome by laws which will effect
a wise, honest, and economical administration of the Government, a
reestablishment of the specie standard of value, and an early adjustment
of our system of State, municipal, and national taxation (especially the
latter) upon the fundamental principle that all taxes, whether collected
under the internal revenue or under a tariff, shall interfere as little
as possible with the productive energies of the people.
The bill is therefore returned, in the belief that the true interests
of the Government and of the people require that it should not become
a law.
ANDREW JOHNSON.
PROCLAMATION.
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
A PROCLAMATION.
Whereas the President of the United States has heretofore set forth
several proclamations offering amnesty and pardon to persons who
had been or were concerned in the late rebellion against the lawful
authority of the Government of the United States, which proclamations
were severally issued on the 8th day of December, 1863, on the 26th
day of March, 1864, on the 29th day of May, 1865, on the 7th day of
September, 1867, and on the 4th day of July, in the present year; and
Whereas the authority of the Federal Government having been
reestablished in all the States and Territories within the jurisdiction
of the United States, it is believed that such prudential reservations
and exceptions as at the dates of said several proclamations were deemed
necessary and proper may now be wisely and justly relinquished, and that
an universal amnesty and pardon for participation in said rebellion
extended to all who have borne any part therein will tend to secure
permanent peace, order, and prosperity throughout the land, and to renew
and fully restore confidence and fraternal feeling among the whole
people, and their respect for and attachment to the National Government,
designed by its patriotic founders for the general good:
Now, therefore, be it known that I, Andrew Johnson, President of the
United States, by virtue of the power and authority in me vested by the
Constitution and in the name of the sovereign people of the United
States, do hereby proclaim and declare, unconditionally and without
reservation, to all and to every person who, directly or indirectly,
participated in the late insurrection or rebellion a full pardon and
amnesty for the offense of treason against the United States or of
adhering to their enemies during the late civil war, with restoration
of all rights, privileges, and immunities under the Constitution and
the laws which have been made in pursuance thereof.
In testimony whereof I have signed these presents with my hand and have
caused the seal of the United States to be hereunto affixed.
[SEAL.]
Done at the city of Washington, the 25th day of December, A.D. 1868, and
of the Independence of the United States of America the ninety-third.
ANDREW JOHNSON.
By the President:
F.W. SEWARD,
_Acting Secretary of State_.
IMPEACHMENT OF ANDREW JOHNSON, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.
On the 24th of February, 1868, the House of Representatives of the
Congress of the United States resolved to impeach Andrew Johnson,
President of the United States, of high crimes and misdemeanors, of
which the Senate was apprised, and arrangements were made for the trial.
On the 2d and 3d of March articles of impeachment were agreed upon by
the House of Representatives, and on the 4th they were presented to the
Senate by the managers on the part of the House, Mr. John A. Bingham,
Mr. George S. Boutwell, Mr. James F. Wilson, Mr. Benjamin F. Butler, Mr.
Thomas Williams, Mr. John A. Logan, and Mr. Thaddeus Stevens, who were
accompanied by the House as a Committee of the Whole. The articles are
as follows:
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, UNITED STATES, _March 2, 1868_.
ARTICLES EXHIBITED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES,
IN THE NAME OF THEMSELVES AND ALL THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES,
AGAINST ANDREW JOHNSON, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, IN MAINTENANCE
AND SUPPORT OF THEIR IMPEACHMENT AGAINST HIM FOR HIGH CRIMES AND
MISDEMEANORS IN OFFICE.
ARTICLE I. That said Andrew Johnson, President of the United States,
on the 21st day of February, A.D. 1868, at Washington, in the District
of Columbia, unmindful of the high duties of his office, of his oath
of office, and of the requirement of the Constitution that he should
take care that the laws be faithfully executed, did unlawfully and in
violation of the Constitution and laws of the United States issue an
order in writing for the removal of Edwin M. Stanton from the office
of Secretary for the Department of War, said Edwin M. Stanton having
been theretofore duly appointed and commissioned, by and with the advice
and consent of the Senate of the United States, as such Secretary;
and said Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, on the 12th
day of August, A.D. 1867, and during the recess of said Senate, having
suspended by his order Edwin M. Stanton from said office, and within
twenty days after the first day of the next meeting of said Senate--that
is to say, on the 12th day of December, in the year last aforesaid--having
reported to said Senate such suspension, with the evidence and reasons
for his action in the case and the name of the person designated to
perform the duties of such office temporarily until the next meeting of
the Senate; and said Senate thereafterwards, on the 13th day of January,
A.D. 1868, having duly considered the evidence and reasons reported by
said Andrew Johnson for said suspension, and having refused to concur
in said suspension, whereby and by force of the provisions of an act
entitled "An act regulating the tenure of certain civil offices," passed
March 2, 1867, said Edwin M. Stanton did forthwith resume the functions
of his office, whereof the said Andrew Johnson had then and there due
notice; and said Edwin M. Stanton, by reason of the premises, on said
21st day of February, being lawfully entitled to hold said office of
Secretary for the Department of War; which said order for the removal
of said Edwin M. Stanton is in substance as follows; that is to say:
EXECUTIVE MANSION,
_Washington, D.C., February 21, 1868_.
Hon. EDWIN M. STANTON,
_Washington, D.C._
SIR: By virtue of the power and authority vested in me as President by
the Constitution and laws of the United States, you are hereby removed
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