A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents
by
James D. Richardson
Part 8 out of 9
Such was the origin of a national-bank currency, and such the beginning
of those difficulties which now appear in the excessive issues of the
banks incorporated by the various States.
Although it may not be possible by any legislative means within our
power to change at once the system which has thus been introduced, and
has received the acquiescence of all portions of the country, it is
certainly our duty to do all that is consistent with our constitutional
obligations in preventing the mischiefs which are threatened by its
undue extension. That the efforts of the fathers of our Government to
guard against it by a constitutional provision were founded on an
intimate knowledge of the subject has been frequently attested by the
bitter experience of the country. The same causes which led them to
refuse their sanction to a power authorizing the establishment of
incorporations for banking purposes now exist in a much stronger degree
to urge us to exert the utmost vigilance in calling into action the
means necessary to correct the evils resulting from the unfortunate
exercise of the power, and it is to be hoped that the opportunity for
effecting this great good will be improved before the country witnesses
new scenes of embarrassment and distress.
Variableness must ever be the characteristic of a currency of which the
precious metals are not the chief ingredient, or which can be expanded
or contracted without regard to the principles that regulate the value
of those metals as a standard in the general trade of the world. With us
bank issues constitute such a currency, and must ever do so until they
are made dependent on those just proportions of gold and silver as a
circulating medium which experience has proved to be necessary not only
in this but in all other commercial countries. Where those proportions
are not infused into the circulation and do not control it, it is
manifest that prices must vary according to the tide of bank issues,
and the value and stability of property must stand exposed to all the
uncertainty which attends the administration of institutions that are
constantly liable to the temptation of an interest distinct from that
of the community in which they are established.
The progress of an expansion, or rather a depreciation, of the currency
by excessive bank issues is always attended by a loss to the laboring
classes. This portion of the community have neither time nor opportunity
to watch the ebbs and flows of the money market. Engaged from day to day
in their useful toils, they do not perceive that although their wages
are nominally the same, or even somewhat higher, they are greatly
reduced in fact by the rapid increase of a spurious currency, which, as
it appears to make money abound, they are at first inclined to consider
a blessing. It is not so with the speculator, by whom this operation
is better understood, and is made to contribute to his advantage. It is
not until the prices of the necessaries of life become so dear that the
laboring classes can not supply their wants out of their wages that the
wages rise and gradually reach a justly proportioned rate to that of the
products of their labor. When thus, by the depreciation in consequence
of the quantity of paper in circulation, wages as well as prices become
exorbitant, it is soon found that the whole effect of the adulteration
is a tariff on our home industry for the benefit of the countries where
gold and silver circulate and maintain uniformity and moderation in
prices. It is then perceived that the enhancement of the price of land
and labor produces a corresponding increase in the price of products
until these products do not sustain a competition with similar ones in
other countries, and thus both manufactured and agricultural productions
cease to bear exportation from the country of the spurious currency,
because they can not be sold for cost. This is the process by which
specie is banished by the paper of the banks. Their vaults are soon
exhausted to pay for foreign commodities. The next step is a stoppage
of specie payment--a total degradation of paper as a currency--unusual
depression of prices, the ruin of debtors, and the accumulation of
property in the hands of creditors and cautious capitalists.
It was in view of these evils, together with the dangerous power wielded
by the Bank of the United States and its repugnance to our Constitution,
that I was induced to exert the power conferred upon me by the American
people to prevent the continuance of that institution. But although
various dangers to our republican institutions have been obviated by
the failure of that bank to extort from the Government a renewal of
its charter, it is obvious that little has been accomplished except a
salutary change of public opinion toward restoring to the country the
sound currency provided for in the Constitution. In the acts of several
of the States prohibiting the circulation of small notes, and the
auxiliary enactments of Congress at the last session forbidding their
reception or payment on public account, the true policy of the country
has been advanced and a larger portion of the precious metals infused
into our circulating medium. These measures will probably be followed
up in due time by the enactment of State laws banishing from
circulation bank notes of still higher denominations, and the object
may be materially promoted by further acts of Congress forbidding the
employment as fiscal agents of such banks as continue to issue notes of
low denominations and throw impediments in the way of the circulation
of gold and silver.
The effects of an extension of bank credits and overissues of bank
paper have been strikingly illustrated in the sales of the public lands.
From the returns made by the various registers and receivers in the
early part of last summer it was perceived that the receipts arising
from the sales of the public lands were increasing to an unprecedented
amount. In effect, however, these receipts amounted to nothing more
than credits in bank. The banks lent out their notes to speculators.
They were paid to the receivers and immediately returned to the banks,
to be lent out again and again, being mere instruments to transfer to
speculators the most valuable public land and pay the Government by a
credit on the books of the banks. Those credits on the books of some of
the Western banks, usually called deposits, were already greatly beyond
their immediate means of payment, and were rapidly increasing. Indeed,
each speculation furnished means for another; for no sooner had one
individual or company paid in the notes than they were immediately
lent to another for a like purpose, and the banks were extending their
business and their issues so largely as to alarm considerate men and
render it doubtful whether these bank credits if permitted to accumulate
would ultimately be of the least value to the Government. The spirit of
expansion and speculation was not confined to the deposit banks, but
pervaded the whole multitude of banks throughout the Union and was
giving rise to new institutions to aggravate the evil.
The safety of the public funds and the interest of the people generally
required that these operations should be checked; and it became the duty
of every branch of the General and State Governments to adopt all
legitimate and proper means to produce that salutary effect. Under this
view of my duty I directed the issuing of the order which will be laid
before you by the Secretary of the Treasury, requiring payment for the
public lands sold to be made in specie, with an exception until the
15th of the present month in favor of actual settlers. This measure
has produced many salutary consequences. It checked the career of the
Western banks and gave them additional strength in anticipation of the
pressure which has since pervaded our Eastern as well as the European
commercial cities. By preventing the extension of the credit system it
measurably cut off the means of speculation and retarded its progress
in monopolizing the most valuable of the public lands. It has tended
to save the new States from a nonresident proprietorship, one of
the greatest obstacles to the advancement of a new country and the
prosperity of an old one. It has tended to keep open the public lands
for entry by emigrants at Government prices instead of their being
compelled to purchase of speculators at double or triple prices. And
it is conveying into the interior large sums in silver and gold, there
to enter permanently into the currency of the country and place it on a
firmer foundation. It is confidently believed that the country will find
in the motives which induced that order and the happy consequences which
will have ensued much to commend and nothing to condemn.
It remains for Congress if they approve the policy which dictated
this order to follow it up in its various bearings. Much good, in my
judgment, would be produced by prohibiting sales of the public lands
except to actual settlers at a reasonable reduction of price, and to
limit the quantity which shall be sold to them. Although it is believed
the General Government never ought to receive anything but the
constitutional currency in exchange for the public lands, that point
would be of less importance if the lands were sold for immediate
settlement and cultivation. Indeed, there is scarcely a mischief arising
out of our present land system, including the accumulating surplus of
revenues, which would not be remedied at once by a restriction on land
sales to actual settlers; and it promises other advantages to the
country in general and to the new States in particular which can
not fail to receive the most profound consideration of Congress.
Experience continues to realize the expectations entertained as to the
capacity of the State banks to perform the duties of fiscal agents for
the Government at the time of the removal of the deposits. It was
alleged by the advocates of the Bank of the United States that the State
banks, whatever might be the regulations of the Treasury Department,
could not make the transfers required by the Government or negotiate the
domestic exchanges of the country. It is now well ascertained that the
real domestic exchanges performed through discounts by the United States
Bank and its twenty-five branches were at least one-third less than
those of the deposit banks for an equal period of time; and if a
comparison be instituted between the amounts of service rendered by
these institutions on the broader basis which has been used by the
advocates of the United States Bank in estimating what they consider
the domestic exchanges transacted by it, the result will be still more
favorable to the deposit banks.
The whole amount of public money transferred by the Bank of the United
States in 1832 was $16,000,000. The amount transferred and actually
paid by the deposit banks in the year ending the 1st of October last
was $39,319,899; the amount transferred and paid between that period
and the 6th of November was $5,399,000, and the amount of transfer
warrants outstanding on that day was $14,450,000, making an aggregate
of $59,168,894. These enormous sums of money first mentioned have been
transferred with the greatest promptitude and regularity, and the rates
at which the exchanges have been negotiated previously to the passage of
the deposit act were generally below those charged by the Bank of the
United States. Independently of these services, which are far greater
than those rendered by the United States Bank and its twenty-five
branches, a number of the deposit banks have, with a commendable zeal
to aid in the improvement of the currency, imported from abroad, at
their own expense, large sums of the precious metals for coinage and
circulation.
In the same manner have nearly all the predictions turned out in respect
to the effect of the removal of the deposits--a step unquestionably
necessary to prevent the evils which it was foreseen the bank itself
would endeavor to create in a final struggle to procure a renewal of
its charter. It may be thus, too, in some degree with the further steps
which may be taken to prevent the excessive issue of other bank paper,
but it is to be hoped that nothing will now deter the Federal and State
authorities from the firm and vigorous performance of their duties to
themselves and to the people in this respect.
In reducing the revenue to the wants of the Government your particular
attention is invited to those articles which constitute the necessaries
of life. The duty on salt was laid as a war tax, and was no doubt
continued to assist in providing for the payment of the war debt.
There is no article the release of which from taxation would be felt so
generally and so beneficially. To this may be added all kinds of fuel
and provisions. Justice and benevolence unite in favor of releasing the
poor of our cities from burdens which are not necessary to the support
of our Government and tend only to increase the wants of the destitute.
It will be seen by the report of the Secretary of the Treasury
and the accompanying documents that the Bank of the United States has
made no payment on account of the stock held by the Government in that
institution, although urged to pay any portion which might suit its
convenience, and that it has given no information when payment may be
expected. Nor, although repeatedly requested, has it furnished the
information in relation to its condition which Congress authorized the
Secretary to collect at their last session. Such measures as are within
the power of the Executive have been taken to ascertain the value of
the stock and procure the payment as early as possible.
The conduct and present condition of that bank and the great amount
of capital vested in it by the United States require your careful
attention. Its charter expired on the 3d day of March last, and it has
now no power but that given in the twenty-first section, "to use the
corporate name, style, and capacity for the purpose of suits for the
final settlement and liquidation of the affairs and accounts of the
corporation, and for the sale and disposition of their estate--real,
personal, and mixed--but not for any other purpose or in any other
manner whatsoever, nor for a period exceeding two years after the
expiration of the said term of incorporation." Before the expiration
of the charter the stockholders of the bank obtained an act of
incorporation from the legislature of Pennsylvania, excluding only the
United States. Instead of proceeding to wind up their concerns and pay
over to the United States the amount due on account of the stock held
by them, the president and directors of the old bank appear to have
transferred the books, papers, notes, obligations, and most or all of
its property to this new corporation, which entered upon business as
a continuation of the old concern. Amongst other acts of questionable
validity, the notes of the expired corporation are known to have been
used as its own and again put in circulation. That the old bank had no
right to issue or reissue its notes after the expiration of its charter
can not be denied, and that it could not confer any such right on its
substitute any more than exercise it itself is equally plain. In law and
honesty the notes of the bank in circulation at the expiration of its
charter should have been called in by public advertisement, paid up as
presented, and, together with those on hand, canceled and destroyed.
Their reissue is sanctioned by no law and warranted by no necessity.
If the United States be responsible in their stock for the payment of
these notes, their reissue by the new corporation for their own profit
is a fraud on the Government. If the United States is not responsible,
then there is no legal responsibility in any quarter, and it is a fraud
on the country. They are the redeemed notes of a dissolved partnership,
but, contrary to the wishes of the retiring partner and without his
consent, are again reissued and circulated.
It is the high and peculiar duty of Congress to decide whether any
further legislation be necessary for the security of the large amount of
public property now held and in use by the new bank, and for vindicating
the rights of the Government and compelling a speedy and honest
settlement with all the creditors of the old bank, public and private,
or whether the subject shall be left to the power now possessed by the
Executive and judiciary. It remains to be seen whether the persons
who as managers of the old bank undertook to control the Government,
retained the public dividends, shut their doors upon a committee of
the House of Representatives, and filled the country with panic to
accomplish their own sinister objects may now as managers of a new bank
continue with impunity to flood the country with a spurious currency,
use the seven millions of Government stock for their own profit, and
refuse to the United States all information as to the present condition
of their own property and the prospect of recovering it into their
own possession.
The lessons taught by the Bank of the United States can not well be lost
upon the American people. They will take care never again to place so
tremendous a power in irresponsible hands, and it will be fortunate if
they seriously consider the consequences which are likely to result on a
smaller scale from the facility with which corporate powers are granted
by their State governments.
It is believed that the law of the last session regulating the deposit
banks operates onerously and unjustly upon them in many respects, and
it is hoped that Congress, on proper representations, will adopt the
modifications which are necessary to prevent this consequence.
The report of the Secretary of War _ad interim_ and the accompanying
documents, all which are herewith laid before you, will give you a full
view of the diversified and important operations of that Department
during the past year.
The military movements rendered necessary by the aggressions of the
hostile portions of the Seminole and Creek tribes of Indians, and by
other circumstances, have required the active employment of nearly our
whole regular force, including the Marine Corps, and of large bodies of
militia and volunteers. With all these events so far as they were known
at the seat of Government before the termination of your last session
you are already acquainted, and it is therefore only needful in this
place to lay before you a brief summary of what has since occurred.
The war with the Seminoles during the summer was on our part chiefly
confined to the protection of our frontier settlements from the
incursions of the enemy, and, as a necessary and important means for the
accomplishment of that end, to the maintenance of the posts previously
established. In the course of this duty several actions took place,
in which the bravery and discipline of both officers and men were
conspicuously displayed, and which I have deemed it proper to notice
in respect to the former by the granting of brevet rank for gallant
services in the field. But as the force of the Indians was not so far
weakened by these partial successes as to lead them to submit, and
as their savage inroads were frequently repeated, early measures were
taken for placing at the disposal of Governor Call, who as commander in
chief of the Territorial militia had been temporarily invested with the
command, an ample force for the purpose of resuming offensive operations
in the most efficient manner so soon as the season should permit.
Major-General Jesup was also directed, on the conclusion of his duties
in the Creek country, to repair to Florida and assume the command.
The result of the first movement made by the forces under the direction
of Governor Call in October last, as detailed in the accompanying
papers, excited much surprise and disappointment. A full explanation has
been required of the causes which led to the failure of that movement,
but has not yet been received. In the meantime, as it was feared that
the health of Governor Call, who was understood to have suffered much
from sickness, might not be adequate to the crisis, and as Major-General
Jesup was known to have reached Florida, that officer was directed to
assume the command, and to prosecute all needful operations with the
utmost promptitude and vigor. From the force at his disposal and the
dispositions he has made and is instructed to make, and from the very
efficient measures which it is since ascertained have been taken by
Governor Call, there is reason to hope that they will soon be enabled to
reduce the enemy to subjection. In the meantime, as you will perceive
from the report of the Secretary, there is urgent necessity for further
appropriations to suppress these hostilities.
Happily for the interests of humanity, the hostilities with the Creeks
were brought to a close soon after your adjournment, without that
effusion of blood which at one time was apprehended as inevitable.
The unconditional submission of the hostile party was followed by their
speedy removal to the country assigned them west of the Mississippi.
The inquiry as to alleged frauds in the purchase of the reservations
of these Indians and the causes of their hostilities, requested by the
resolution of the House of Representatives of the 1st of July last
to be made by the President, is now going on through the agency of
commissioners appointed for that purpose. Their report may be expected
during your present session.
The difficulties apprehended in the Cherokee country have been
prevented, and the peace and safety of that region and its vicinity
effectually secured, by the timely measures taken by the War Department,
and still continued.
The discretionary authority given to General Gaines to cross the Sabine
and to occupy a position as far west as Nacogdoches, in case he should
deem such a step necessary to the protection of the frontier and to the
fulfillment of the stipulations contained in our treaty with Mexico, and
the movement subsequently made by that officer have been alluded to in a
former part of this message. At the date of the latest intelligence from
Nacogdoches our troops were yet at that station, but the officer who has
succeeded General Gaines has recently been advised that from the facts
known at the seat of Government there would seem to be no adequate
cause for any longer maintaining that position, and he was accordingly
instructed, in case the troops were not already withdrawn under the
discretionary powers before possessed by him, to give the requisite
orders for that purpose on the receipt of the instructions, unless he
shall then have in his possession such information as shall satisfy him
that the maintenance of the post is essential to the protection of our
frontiers and to the due execution of our treaty stipulations, as
previously explained to him.
Whilst the necessities existing during the present year for the service
of militia and volunteers have furnished new proofs of the patriotism of
our fellow-citizens, they have also strongly illustrated the importance
of an increase in the rank and file of the Regular Army. The views
of this subject submitted by the Secretary of War in his report meet
my entire concurrence, and are earnestly commended to the deliberate
attention of Congress. In this connection it is also proper to remind
you that the defects in our present militia system are every day
rendered more apparent. The duty of making further provision by law
for organizing, arming, and disciplining this arm of defense has been
so repeatedly presented to Congress by myself and my predecessors that
I deem it sufficient on this occasion to refer to the last annual
message and to former Executive communications in which the subject
has been discussed.
It appears from the reports of the officers charged with mustering into
service the volunteers called for under the act of Congress of the last
session that more presented themselves at the place of rendezvous in
Tennessee than were sufficient to meet the requisition which had been
made by the Secretary of War upon the governor of that State. This was
occasioned by the omission of the governor to apportion the requisition
to the different regiments of militia so as to obtain the proper number
of troops and no more. It seems but just to the patriotic citizens who
repaired to the general rendezvous under circumstances authorizing them
to believe that their services were needed and would be accepted that
the expenses incurred by them while absent from their homes should be
paid by the Government. I accordingly recommend that a law to this
effect be passed by Congress, giving them a compensation which will
cover their expenses on the march to and from the place of rendezvous
and while there; in connection with which it will also be proper to make
provision for such other equitable claims growing out of the service of
the militia as may not be embraced in the existing laws.
On the unexpected breaking out of hostilities in Florida, Alabama,
and Georgia it became necessary in some cases to take the property
of individuals for public use. Provision should be made by law for
indemnifying the owners; and I would also respectfully suggest whether
some provision may not be made, consistently with the principles of our
Government, for the relief of the sufferers by Indian depredations or
by the operations of our own troops.
No time was lost after the making of the requisite appropriations
in resuming the great national work of completing the unfinished
fortifications on our seaboard and of placing them in a proper state of
defense. In consequence, however, of the very late day at which those
bills were passed, but little progress could be made during the season
which has just closed. A very large amount of the moneys granted at your
last session accordingly remains unexpended; but as the work will be
again resumed at the earliest moment in the coming spring, the balance
of the existing appropriations, and in several cases which will be
laid before you, with the proper estimates, further sums for the like
objects, may be usefully expended during the next year.
The recommendations of an increase in the Engineer Corps and for a
reorganization of the Topographical Corps, submitted to you in my last
annual message, derive additional strength from the great embarrassments
experienced during the present year in those branches of the service,
and under which they are now suffering. Several of the most important
surveys and constructions directed by recent laws have been suspended
in consequence of the want of adequate force in these corps.
The like observations may be applied to the Ordnance Corps and to the
general staff, the operations of which as they are now organized must
either be frequently interrupted or performed by officers taken from
the line of the Army, to the great prejudice of the service.
For a general view of the condition of the Military Academy and of other
branches of the military service not already noticed, as well as for
fuller illustrations of those which have been mentioned, I refer you to
the accompanying documents, and among the various proposals contained
therein for legislative action I would particularly notice the
suggestion of the Secretary of War for the revision of the pay of the
Army as entitled to your favorable regard.
The national policy, founded alike in interest and in humanity, so long
and so steadily pursued by this Government for the removal of the Indian
tribes originally settled on this side of the Mississippi to the west of
that river, may be said to have been consummated by the conclusion of
the late treaty with the Cherokees. The measures taken in the execution
of that treaty and in relation to our Indian affairs generally will
fully appear by referring to the accompanying papers. Without dwelling
on the numerous and important topics embraced in them, I again invite
your attention to the importance of providing a well-digested and
comprehensive system for the protection, supervision, and improvement of
the various tribes now planted in the Indian country. The suggestions
submitted by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, and enforced by the
Secretary, on this subject, and also in regard to the establishment of
additional military posts in the Indian country, are entitled to your
profound consideration. Both measures are necessary, for the double
purpose of protecting the Indians from intestine war, and in other
respects complying with our engagements to them, and of securing our
western frontier against incursions which otherwise will assuredly be
made on it. The best hopes of humanity in regard to the aboriginal race,
the welfare of our rapidly extending settlements, and the honor of the
United States are all deeply involved in the relations existing between
this Government and the emigrating tribes. I trust, therefore, that the
various matters submitted in the accompanying documents in respect to
those relations will receive your early and mature deliberation, and
that it may issue in the adoption of legislative measures adapted to
the circumstances and duties of the present crisis.
You are referred to the report of the Secretary of the Navy for a
satisfactory view of the operations of the Department under his charge
during the present year. In the construction of vessels at the different
navy-yards and in the employment of our ships and squadrons at sea that
branch of the service has been actively and usefully employed. While
the situation of our commercial interests in the West Indies required a
greater number than usual of armed vessels to be kept on that station,
it is gratifying to perceive that the protection due to our commerce in
other quarters of the world has not proved insufficient. Every effort
has been made to facilitate the equipment of the exploring expedition
authorized by the act of the last session, but all the preparation
necessary to enable it to sail has not yet been completed. No means
will be spared by the Government to fit out the expedition on a scale
corresponding with the liberal appropriations for the purpose and with
the elevated character of the objects which are to be effected by it.
I beg leave to renew the recommendation made in my last annual message
respecting the enlistment of boys in our naval service, and to urge upon
your attention the necessity of further appropriations to increase the
number of ships afloat and to enlarge generally the capacity and force
of the Navy. The increase of our commerce and our position in regard
to the other powers of the world will always make it our policy and
interest to cherish the great naval resources of our country.
The report of the Postmaster-General presents a gratifying picture of
the condition of the Post-Office Department. Its revenues for the year
ending the 30th June last were $3,398,455.19, showing an increase of
revenue over that of the preceding year of $404,878.53, or more than
13 per cent. The expenditures for the same year were $2,755,623.76,
exhibiting a surplus of $642,831.43. The Department has been redeemed
from embarrassment and debt, has accumulated a surplus exceeding half a
million of dollars, has largely extended and is preparing still further
to extend the mail service, and recommends a reduction of postages equal
to about 20 per cent. It is practicing upon the great principle which
should control every branch of our Government of rendering to the
public the greatest good possible with the least possible taxation
to the people.
The scale of postages suggested by the Postmaster-General recommends
itself, not only by the reduction it proposes, but by the simplicity
of its arrangement, its conformity with the Federal currency, and the
improvement it will introduce into the accounts of the Department and
its agents.
Your particular attention is invited to the subject of mail contracts
with railroad companies. The present laws providing for the making of
contracts are based upon the presumption that competition among bidders
will secure the service at a fair price; but on most of the railroad
lines there is no competition in that kind of transportation, and
advertising is therefore useless. No contract can now be made with
them except such as shall be negotiated before the time of offering or
afterwards, and the power of the Postmaster-General to pay them high
prices is practically without limitation. It would be a relief to him
and no doubt would conduce to the public interest to prescribe by law
some equitable basis upon which such contracts shall rest, and restrict
him by a fixed rule of allowance. Under a liberal act of that sort he
would undoubtedly be able to secure the services of most of the railroad
companies, and the interest of the Department would be thus advanced.
The correspondence between the people of the United States and the
European nations, and particularly with the British Islands, has become
very extensive, and requires the interposition of Congress to give it
security. No obstacle is perceived to an interchange of mails between
New York and Liverpool or other foreign ports, as proposed by the
Postmaster-General. On the contrary, it promises, by the security it
will afford, to facilitate commercial transactions and give rise to an
enlarged intercourse among the people of different nations, which can
not but have a happy effect. Through the city of New York most of
the correspondence between the Canadas and Europe is now carried on,
and urgent representations have been received from the head of the
provincial post-office asking the interposition of the United States
to guard it from the accidents and losses to which it is now subjected.
Some legislation appears to be called for as well by our own interest
as by comity to the adjoining British provinces.
The expediency of providing a fireproof building for the important books
and papers of the Post-Office Department is worthy of consideration. In
the present condition of our Treasury it is neither necessary nor wise
to leave essential public interests exposed to so much danger when they
can so readily be made secure. There are weighty considerations in the
location of a new building for that Department in favor of placing it
near the other executive buildings.
The important subjects of a survey of the coast and the manufacture of
a standard of weights and measures for the different custom-houses have
been in progress for some years under the general direction of the
Executive and the immediate superintendence of a gentleman possessing
high scientific attainments. At the last session of Congress the making
of a set of weights and measures for each State in the Union was added
to the others by a joint resolution.
The care and correspondence as to all these subjects have been devolved
on the Treasury Department during the last year. A special report from
the Secretary of the Treasury will soon be communicated to Congress,
which will show what has been accomplished as to the whole, the number
and compensation of the persons now employed in these duties, and the
progress expected to be made during the ensuing year, with a copy of the
various correspondence deemed necessary to throw light on the subjects
which seem to require additional legislation. Claims have been made for
retrospective allowances in behalf of the superintendent and some of
his assistants, which I did not feel justified in granting. Other
claims have been made for large increases in compensation, which, under
all the circumstances of the several cases, I declined making without
the express sanction of Congress. In order to obtain that sanction
the subject was at the last session, on my suggestion and by request
of the immediate superintendent, submitted by the Treasury Department
to the Committee on Commerce of the House of Representatives. But no
legislative action having taken place, the early attention of Congress
is now invited to the enactment of some express and detailed provisions
in relation to the various claims made for the past, and to the
compensation and allowances deemed proper for the future.
It is further respectfully recommended that, such being the
inconvenience of attention to these duties by the Chief Magistrate,
and such the great pressure of business on the Treasury Department,
the general supervision of the coast survey and the completion of the
weights and measures, if the works are kept united, should be devolved
on a board of officers organized specially for that purpose, or on the
Navy Board attached to the Navy Department.
All my experience and reflection confirm the conviction I have so
often expressed to Congress in favor of an amendment of the Constitution
which will prevent in any event the election of the President and
Vice-President of the United States devolving on the House of
Representatives and the Senate, and I therefore beg leave again to
solicit your attention to the subject. There were various other
suggestions in my last annual message not acted upon, particularly
that relating to the want of uniformity in the laws of the District
of Columbia, that are deemed worthy of your favorable consideration.
Before concluding this paper I think it due to the various Executive
Departments to bear testimony to their prosperous condition and to the
ability and integrity with which they have been conducted. It has been
my aim to enforce in all of them a vigilant and faithful discharge of
the public business, and it is gratifying to me to believe that there
is no just cause of complaint from any quarter at the manner in which
they have fulfilled the objects of their creation.
Having now finished the observations deemed proper on this the last
occasion I shall have of communicating with the two Houses of Congress
at their meeting, I can not omit an expression of the gratitude which
is due to the great body of my fellow-citizens, in whose partiality and
indulgence I have found encouragement and support in the many difficult
and trying scenes through which it has been my lot to pass during my
public career. Though deeply sensible that my exertions have not been
crowned with a success corresponding to the degree of favor bestowed
upon me, I am sure that they will be considered as having been
directed by an earnest desire to promote the good of my country, and I
am consoled by the persuasion that whatever errors have been committed
will find a corrective in the intelligence and patriotism of those who
will succeed us. All that has occurred during my Administration is
calculated to inspire me with increased confidence in the stability of
our institutions; and should I be spared to enter upon that retirement
which is so suitable to my age and infirm health and so much desired
by me in other respects, I shall not cease to invoke that beneficent
Being to whose providence we are already so signally indebted for the
continuance of His blessings on our beloved country.
ANDREW JACKSON.
A.--_Statement of distribution of surplus revenue of $30,000,000 among
the several States, agreeably to the number of electoral votes for
President and according to the constitutional mode of direct taxation
by representative population, and the difference arising from those two
modes of distribution, as per census of 1830_.
S Representative Elect- Share Share Difference Difference
t population oral according according in favor in favor
a vote to system to of direct of
t of direct electoral tax electoral
e taxation vote mode vote mode
ME 399,454 10 $999,371 $1,020,408 $21,037
NH 269,327 7 673,813 714,286 40,473
MA 610,408 14 1,527,144 1,428,571 $98,573
RI 97,192 4 243,159 408,163 165,004
CT 297,665 8 744,711 816,327 71,616
VT 280,652 7 702,147 714,286 12,139
NY 1,918,578 42 4,799,978 4,285,714 514,264
NJ 319,921 8 800,392 816,427 15,935
PA 1,348,072 30 3,372,662 3,061,225 311,437
DE 75,431 3 188,716 306,122 117,406
MD 405,842 10 1,015,352 1,020,408 5,056
VA 1,023,502 23 2,560 640 2,346,939 213,701
NC 639,747 15 1,600,546 1,530,612 69,934
SC 455,025 11 1,138,400 1,122,449 15,951
GA 429,811 11 1,075,319 1,122,449 47,130
AL 262,307 7 656,751 714,286 57,535
MS 110,357 4 276,096 408,163 132,067
LA 171,904 5 430,076 510,204 80,128
TN 625,263 15 1,564,309 1,530,612 33,697
KY 621,832 15 1,555,725 1,530,612 25,113
OH 937,901 21 2,346,479 2,142,858 203,621
IN 343,030 9 858,206 918,368 60,162
IL 157,146 5 393,154 510,204 117,050
MO 130,419 4 326,288 408,163 81,875
AR 28,557 3 71,445 306,122 234,677
MI 31,625 3 79,121 306,102 227,001
Total
11,991,168 294 30,000,000 30,000,000 1,486,291 1,486,291
[Transcriber's Note: State names abbreviated to reduce column width.]
SPECIAL MESSAGES.
WASHINGTON, _December 6, 1836_.
_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:
I transmit herewith to Congress copies of my correspondence with Mrs.
Madison, produced by the resolution adopted at the last session by the
Senate and House of Representatives on the decease of her venerated
husband. The occasion seems to be appropriate to present a letter from
her on the subject of the publication of a work of great political
interest and ability, carefully prepared by Mr. Madison's own hand,
under circumstances that give it claims to be considered as little
less than official.
Congress has already, at considerable expense, published in a
variety of forms the naked journals of the Revolutionary Congress
and of the Convention that formed the Constitution of the United
States. I am persuaded that the work of Mr. Madison, considering the
author, the subject-matter of it, and the circumstances under which
it was prepared--long withheld from the public, as it has been,
by those motives of personal kindness and delicacy that gave tone
to his intercourse with his fellow-men, until he and all who had
been participators with him in the scenes he describes have passed
away--well deserves to become the property of the nation, and can not
fail, if published and disseminated at the public charge, to confer
the most important of all benefits on the present and all succeeding
generations--accurate knowledge of the principles of their Government
and the circumstances under which they were recommended and embodied
in the Constitution for adoption.
ANDREW JACKSON.
DEPARTMENT OF STATE,
_July 9, 1836_.
The Secretary of State has the honor to report to the President that
there is no resolution of Congress on the death of Mr. Madison on
file in the Department of State. By application at the offices of the
Secretary of the Senate and Clerk of the House of Representatives the
inclosed certified copy of a set of resolutions has been procured.
These resolutions, being joint, should have been enrolled, signed
by the presiding officers of the two Houses, and submitted for the
Executive approbation. By referring to the proceedings on the death
of General Washington such a course appears to have been thought
requisite, but in this case it has been deemed unnecessary or has
been omitted accidentally. The value of the public expression of
sympathy would be so much diminished by postponement to the next
session that the Secretary has thought it best to present the papers,
incomplete as they are, as the basis of such a letter as the President
may think proper to direct to Mrs. Madison.
JOHN FORSYTH,
_Secretary of State_.
WASHINGTON, _July 9, 1836_.
Mrs. D.P. MADISON,
_Montpelier, Va_.
MADAM: It appearing to have been the intention of Congress to make me
the organ of assuring you of the profound respect entertained by both
its branches for your person and character, and of their sincere
condolence in the late afflicting dispensation of Providence, which has
at once deprived you of a beloved companion and your country of one
of its most valued citizens, I perform that duty by transmitting the
documents herewith inclosed.
No expression of my own sensibility at the loss sustained by yourself
and the nation could add to the consolation to be derived from these
high evidences of the public sympathy. Be assured, madam, that there is
not one of your countrymen who feels more poignantly the stroke which
has fallen upon you or who will cherish with a more endearing constancy
the memory of the virtues, the services, and the purity of the
illustrious man whose glorious and patriotic life has been just
terminated by a tranquil death.
I have the honor to be, madam, your most obedient servant,
ANDREW JACKSON.
The President of the United States having communicated to the two
Houses of Congress the melancholy intelligence of the death of their
illustrious and beloved fellow-citizen, James Madison, of Virginia,
late President of the United States, and the two Houses sharing in
the general grief which this distressing event must produce:
_Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled_, That the chairs
of the President of the Senate and of the Speaker of the House of
Representatives be shrouded in black during the present session,
and that the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of
Representatives, and the members and officers of both Houses wear
the usual badge of mourning for thirty days.
_Resolved_, That it be recommended to the people of the United States
to wear crape on the left arm, as mourning, for thirty days.
_Resolved_, That the President of the United States be requested to
transmit a copy of these resolutions to Mrs. Madison, and to assure her
of the profound respect of the two Houses of Congress for her person and
character and of their sincere condolence on the late afflicting
dispensation of Providence.
MONTPELIER, _August 20, 1836_.
The PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES:
I received, sir, in due time, your letter conveying to me the
resolutions Congress were pleased to adopt on the occasion of the death
of my beloved husband--a communication made the more grateful by the
kind expression of your sympathy which it contained.
The high and just estimation of my husband by my countrymen and friends
and their generous participation in the sorrow occasioned by our
irretrievable loss, expressed through their supreme authorities and
otherwise, are the only solace of which my heart is susceptible on the
departure of him who had never lost sight of that consistency, symmetry,
and beauty of character in all its parts which secured to him the love
and admiration of his country, and which must ever be the subject of
peculiar and tender reverence to one whose happiness was derived from
their daily and constant exercise.
The best return I can make for the sympathy of my country is to fulfill
the sacred trust his confidence reposed in me, that of placing before
it and the world what his pen prepared for their use--a legacy the
importance of which is deeply impressed on my mind.
With great respect,
D.P. MADISON.
MONTPELIER, _November 15, 1836_.
The PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.
SIR: The will of my late husband, James Madison, contains the following
provision:
"Considering the peculiarity and magnitude of the occasion which
produced the Convention at Philadelphia in 1787, the characters who
composed it, the Constitution which resulted from their deliberations,
its effects during a trial of so many years on the prosperity of the
people living under it, and the interest it has inspired among the
friends of free government, it is not an unreasonable inference that a
careful and extended report of the proceedings and discussions of that
body, which were with closed doors, by a member who was constant in his
attendance, will be particularly gratifying to the people of the United
States and to all who take an interest in the progress of political
science and the cause of true liberty."
This provision bears evidence of the value he set on his report of the
debates in the Convention, and he has charged legacies on them alone to
the amount of $1,200 for the benefit of literary institutions and for
benevolent purposes, leaving the residuary net proceeds for the use of
his widow.
In a paper written by him, and which it is proposed to annex as a
preface to the Debates, he traces the formation of confederacies and of
the Articles of Confederation, its defects which caused and the steps
which led to the Convention, his reasons for taking the debates and the
manner in which he executed the task, and his opinion of the framers of
the Constitution. From this I extract his description of the manner in
which they were taken, as it guarantees their fullness and accuracy:
"In pursuance of the task I had assumed, I chose a seat in front of the
presiding member, with the other members on my right and left hands.
In this favorable position for hearing all that passed I noted down,
in terms legible and in abbreviations and marks intelligible to myself,
what was read from the chair or spoken by the members, and losing not
a moment unnecessarily between the adjournment and reassembling of
the Convention, I was enabled to write out my daily notes during the
session, or within a few finishing days after its close, in the extent
and form preserved in my own hand on my files.
"In the labor and correctness of this I was not a little aided by
practice and by a familiarity with the style and the train of
observation and reasoning which characterized the principal speakers.
It happened also that I was not absent a single day, nor more than the
casual fraction of an hour in any day, so that I could not have lost
a single speech, unless a very short one."
However prevailing the restraint which veiled during the life of Mr.
Madison this record of the creation of our Constitution, the grave,
which has closed over all those who participated in its formation, has
separated their acts from all that is personal to him or to them. His
anxiety for their early publicity after this was removed may be inferred
from his having them transcribed and revised by himself; and, it may be
added, the known wishes of his illustrious friend Thomas Jefferson and
other distinguished patriots, the important light they would shed for
present as well as future usefulness, besides my desire to fulfill
the pecuniary obligations imposed by his will, urged their appearance
without awaiting the preparation of his other works, and early measures
were accordingly adopted by me to ascertain from publishers in various
parts of the Union the terms on which their publication could be
effected.
It was also intended to publish with these debates those taken by him in
the Congress of the Confederation in 1782, 1783, and 1787, of which he
was then a member, and selections made by himself and prepared under
his eye from his letters narrating the proceedings of that body during
the periods of his service in it, prefixing the debates in 1776 on the
Declaration of Independence by Thomas Jefferson so as to embody all the
memorials in that shape known to exist. This expose of the situation of
the country under the Confederation and the defects of the old system of
government evidenced in the proceedings under it seem to convey such
preceding information as should accompany the debates on the formation
of the Constitution by which it was superseded.
The proposals which have been received, so far from corresponding with
the expectations of Mr. Madison when he charged the first of these works
with those legacies, have evidenced that their publication could not be
engaged in by me without advances of funds and involving of risks which
I am not in a situation to make or incur.
Under these circumstances, I have been induced to submit for your
consideration whether the publication of these debates be a matter of
sufficient interest to the people of the United States to deserve to be
brought to the notice of Congress; and should such be the estimation of
the utility of these works by the representatives of the nation as to
induce them to relieve me individually from the obstacles which impede
it, their general circulation will be insured and the people be
remunerated by its more economical distribution among them.
With high respect and consideration,
D.P. MADISON.
WASHINGTON, _December 6, 1836_.
_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_:
I transmit to Congress a report from the Commissioner of the Public
Buildings, showing the progress made in the construction of the public
buildings which by the act of the 4th of July last the President was
authorized to cause to be erected.
ANDREW JACKSON.
DECEMBER 20, 1836.
_To the Senate and House of Representatives_.
GENTLEMEN: Herewith I transmit a report of the Postmaster-General, and
recommend the passage of such laws and the making of such appropriations
as may be necessary to carry into effect the measures adopted by him for
resuming the business of the Department under his charge and securing
the public property in the old Post-Office building.
It is understood that the building procured for the temporary use of the
Department is far from being fireproof, and that the valuable books and
papers saved from the recent conflagration will there be exposed to
similar dangers. I therefore feel it my duty to recommend an immediate
appropriation for the construction of a fireproof General Post-Office,
that the materials may be obtained within the present winter and the
buildings erected as rapidly as practicable.
ANDREW JACKSON.
POST-OFFICE DEPARTMENT,
_December 20, 1836_.
The PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.
SIR: On the morning of the 15th instant I performed the painful duty
of reporting to you orally the destruction of the General Post-Office
building by fire, and received your instructions to inquire into the
cause and extent of the calamity, for the purpose of enabling you to
make a communication to Congress.
A few hours afterwards I received, through the chairman of the Committee
on the Post-Office and Post-Roads of the House of Representatives, an
official copy of a resolution adopted by that House, instructing the
committee to institute a similar inquiry, and the chairman asked for
such information as it was in my power to give. The investigation
directed by you was thus rendered unnecessary.
The corporation of the city of Washington with honorable promptitude
offered the Department the use of the west wing of the City Hall, now
occupied by the mayor and councils and their officers and the officers
of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company. The proprietors of the medical
college also tendered the use of their building on E street, and offers
were made of several other buildings in the central parts of the city.
An examination was made of such as promise by their magnitude to afford
sufficient room for the force employed in the Department, but none
were found equal in the commodiousness of their interior structure and
abundant room to Fuller's Hotel, opposite the buildings occupied by
the Treasury Department on Pennsylvania avenue. That building has been
obtained on terms which the accompanying papers (marked 1 and 2) will
fully exhibit. The business of the Department will be immediately
resumed in that building.
The agreement with Mr. Fuller will make necessary an immediate
appropriation by Congress, and upon that body will devolve also the duty
of providing for the payment of the rent, if they shall approve of the
arrangement.
In the meantime steps have been taken to secure all that is valuable in
the ruins of the Post-Office building, and to protect from the weather
the walls of so much of it as was occupied by the General Post-Office
which stand firm.
The Department has no fund at command out of which the services
necessary in the accomplishment of these objects can be paid for, nor
has it the means to replace the furniture which has been lost and must
be immediately obtained to enable the clerks to proceed with their
current business.
These facts I deem it my duty to report to you, that you may recommend
to Congress such measures thereupon as you may deem expedient.
With the highest respect, your obedient servant,
AMOS KENDALL.
WASHINGTON, _December 20, 1836_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I transmit herewith, for the consideration and action of the Senate,
treaties concluded with the Ioways and Sacs of Missouri, with the Sioux,
with the Sacs and Foxes, and with the Otoes and Missourias and Omahas,
by which they have relinquished their rights in the lands lying between
the State of Missouri and the Missouri River, ceded in the first article
of the treaty with them of July 15, 1830.
ANDREW JACKSON.
WASHINGTON, _December 20, 1836_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I transmit herewith to the Senate, for their consideration in reference
to its ratification, a treaty of peace and friendship between the United
States of America and the Emperor of Morocco, concluded at Meccanez on
the 16th of September, 1836, with a report of the Secretary of State and
the documents therein mentioned.
ANDREW JACKSON.
WASHINGTON, _December 21, 1836_.
_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_:
During the last session information was given to Congress by the
Executive that measures had been taken to ascertain "the political,
military, and civil condition of Texas." I now submit for your
consideration extracts from the report of the agent who had been
appointed to collect it relative to the condition of that country.
No steps have been taken by the Executive toward the acknowledgment of
the independence of Texas, and the whole subject would have been left
without further remark on the information now given to Congress were it
not that the two Houses at their last session, acting separately, passed
resolutions "that the independence of Texas ought to be acknowledged by
the United States whenever satisfactory information should be received
that it had in successful operation a civil government capable of
performing the duties and fulfilling the obligations of an independent
power." This mark of interest in the question of the independence of
Texas and indication of the views of Congress make it proper that I
should somewhat in detail present the considerations that have governed
the Executive in continuing to occupy the ground previously taken in
the contest between Mexico and Texas.
The acknowledgment of a new state as independent and entitled to a place
in the family of nations is at all times an act of great delicacy and
responsibility, but more especially so when such state has forcibly
separated itself from another of which it had formed an integral part
and which still claims dominion over it. A premature recognition under
these circumstances, if not looked upon as justifiable cause of war, is
always liable to be regarded as a proof of an unfriendly spirit to one
of the contending parties. All questions relative to the government of
foreign nations, whether of the Old or the New World, have been treated
by the United States as questions of fact only, and our predecessors
have cautiously abstained from deciding upon them until the clearest
evidence was in their possession to enable them not only to decide
correctly, but to shield their decisions from every unworthy imputation.
In all the contests that have arisen out of the revolutions of France,
out of the disputes relating to the crowns of Portugal and Spain, out of
the revolutionary movements of those Kingdoms, out of the separation of
the American possessions of both from the European Governments, and out
of the numerous and constantly occurring struggles for dominion in
Spanish America, so wisely consistent with our just principles has been
the action of our Government that we have under the most critical
circumstances avoided all censure and encountered no other evil than
that produced by a transient estrangement of good will in those against
whom we have been by force of evidence compelled to decide.
It has thus been made known to the world that the uniform policy and
practice of the United States is to avoid all interference in disputes
which merely relate to the internal government of other nations, and
eventually to recognize the authority of the prevailing party, without
reference to our particular interests and views or to the merits of the
original controversy. Public opinion here is so firmly established and
well understood in favor of this policy that no serious disagreement has
ever arisen among ourselves in relation to it, although brought under
review in a variety of forms and at periods when the minds of the people
were greatly excited by the agitation of topics purely domestic in
their character. Nor has any deliberate inquiry ever been instituted in
Congress or in any of our legislative bodies as to whom belonged the
power of originally recognizing a new State--a power the exercise of
which is equivalent under some circumstances to a declaration of war; a
power nowhere expressly delegated, and only granted in the Constitution
as it is necessarily involved in some of the great powers given to
Congress, in that given to the President and Senate to form treaties
with foreign powers and to appoint ambassadors and other public
ministers, and in that conferred upon the President to receive ministers
from foreign nations.
In the preamble to the resolution of the House of Representatives
it is distinctly intimated that the expediency of recognizing the
independence of Texas should be left to the decision of Congress.
In this view, on the ground of expediency, I am disposed to concur,
and do not, therefore, consider it necessary to express any opinion
as to the strict constitutional right of the Executive, either apart
from or in conjunction with the Senate, over the subject. It is to be
presumed that on no future occasion will a dispute arise, as none has
heretofore occurred, between the Executive and Legislature in the
exercise of the power of recognition. It will always be considered
consistent with the spirit of the Constitution, and most safe, that
it should be exercised, when probably leading to war, with a previous
understanding with that body by whom war can alone be declared, and by
whom all the provisions for sustaining its perils must be furnished.
Its submission to Congress, which represents in one of its branches
the States of this Union and in the other the people of the United
States, where there may be reasonable ground to apprehend so grave
a consequence, would certainly afford the fullest satisfaction to our
own country and a perfect guaranty to all other nations of the justice
and prudence of the measures which might be adopted.
In making these suggestions it is not my purpose to relieve myself from
the responsibility of expressing my own opinions of the course the
interests of our country prescribe and its honor permits us to follow.
It is scarcely to be imagined that a question of this character could be
presented in relation to which it would be more difficult for the United
States to avoid exciting the suspicion and jealousy of other powers, and
maintain their established character for fair and impartial dealing. But
on this, as on every trying occasion, safety is to be found in a rigid
adherence to principle.
In the contest between Spain and her revolted colonies we stood aloof
and waited, not only until the ability of the new States to protect
themselves was fully established, but until the danger of their being
again subjugated had entirely passed away. Then, and not till then,
were they recognized. Such was our course in regard to Mexico herself.
The same policy was observed in all the disputes growing out of the
separation into distinct governments of those Spanish American States
who began or carried on the contest with the parent country united under
one form of government. We acknowledged the separate independence of
New Granada, of Venezuela, and of Ecuador only after their independent
existence was no longer a subject of dispute or was actually acquiesced
in by those with whom they had been previously united. It is true that,
with regard to Texas, the civil authority of Mexico has been expelled,
its invading army defeated, the chief of the Republic himself captured,
and all present power to control the newly organized Government of Texas
annihilated within its confines. But, on the other hand, there is, in
appearance at least, an immense disparity of physical force on the side
of Mexico. The Mexican Republic under another executive is rallying its
forces under a new leader and menacing a fresh invasion to recover its
lost dominion.
Upon the issue of this threatened invasion the independence of Texas
may be considered as suspended, and were there nothing peculiar in the
relative situation of the United States and Texas our acknowledgment
of its independence at such a crisis could scarcely be regarded as
consistent with that prudent reserve with which we have heretofore
held ourselves bound to treat all similar questions. But there are
circumstances in the relations of the two countries which require us to
act on this occasion with even more than our wonted caution. Texas was
once claimed as a part of our property, and there are those among our
citizens who, always reluctant to abandon that claim, can not but regard
with solicitude the prospect of the reunion of the territory to this
country. A large proportion of its civilized inhabitants are emigrants
from the United States, speak the same language with ourselves, cherish
the same principles, political and religious, and are bound to many of
our citizens by ties of friendship and kindred blood; and, more than
all, it is known that the people of that country have instituted the
same form of government with our own, and have since the close of your
last session openly resolved, on the acknowledgment by us of their
independence, to seek admission into the Union as one of the Federal
States. This last circumstance is a matter of peculiar delicacy, and
forces upon us considerations of the gravest character. The title of
Texas to the territory she claims is identified with her independence.
She asks us to acknowledge that title to the territory, with an avowed
design to treat immediately of its transfer to the United States. It
becomes us to beware of a too early movement, as it might subject us,
however unjustly, to the imputation of seeking to establish the claim of
our neighbors to a territory with a view to its subsequent acquisition
by ourselves. Prudence, therefore, seems to dictate that we should
still stand aloof and maintain our present attitude, if not until
Mexico itself or one of the great foreign powers shall recognize the
independence of the new Government, at least until the lapse of time
or the course of events shall have proved beyond cavil or dispute
the ability of the people of that country to maintain their separate
sovereignty and to uphold the Government constituted by them. Neither
of the contending parties can justly complain of this course. By
pursuing it we are but carrying out the long-established policy of
our Government--a policy which has secured to us respect and influence
abroad and inspired confidence at home.
Having thus discharged my duty, by presenting with simplicity and
directness the views which after much reflection I have been led to
take of this important subject, I have only to add the expression of my
confidence that if Congress shall differ with me upon it their judgment
will be the result of dispassionate, prudent, and wise deliberation,
with the assurance that during the short time I shall continue connected
with the Government I shall promptly and cordially unite with you in
such measures as may be deemed best fitted to increase the prosperity
and perpetuate the peace of our favored country.
ANDREW JACKSON.
DECEMBER 26, 1836.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I herewith transmit to the Senate the report of the Secretary of the
Treasury, giving all the information required by their resolution of the
19th instant, calling for a list of the different appropriations which
will leave unexpended balances on the 1st day of January next.
ANDREW JACKSON.
WASHINGTON, _December 26, 1836_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I nominate William Gates, late major of the First Regiment of Artillery,
for reappointment in the Army, to be major in the Second Regiment of
Artillery, to take rank from the 30th May, 1832, the date of his former
commission. This officer was stricken from the rolls of the Army by my
order on the 7th of June last, upon a full consideration by me of the
proceedings of a court of inquiry held at his request for the purpose of
investigating his conduct during and subsequent to the attack on Fort
Barnwell, at Volusia, in Florida, in April last, which court, after
mature deliberation on the testimony before them, expressed the opinion
"that the effective force under the command of Major Gates was much
greater than the estimated force of the Indians who attacked him on the
morning of the 14th of April, 1836, and that therefore he was capable of
meeting the enemy in the field if necessary; also, that the bodies of
two volunteers killed were improperly left exposed, and ought to have
been brought in on the morning when they were killed, such exposure
necessarily operating injuriously on the garrison." He is now nominated
for a reappointment to the end that he may be brought to trial before
a court-martial, such a trial being solicited by him.
ANDREW JACKSON.
WASHINGTON, _December, 1836_.
_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_:
By the second section of the act "to establish the northern boundary
line of the State of Ohio, and to provide for the admission of the State
of Michigan into the Union upon the conditions therein expressed,"
approved June 15, 1836, the constitution and State government which the
people of Michigan had formed for themselves was ratified and confirmed
and the State of Michigan declared to be one of the United States of
America, and admitted into the Union upon an equal footing with the
original States, but on the express condition that the said State should
consist of and have jurisdiction over all the territory included within
certain boundaries described in the act, and over none other. It was
further enacted by the third section of the same law that, as a
compliance with the fundamental condition of admission, the boundaries
of the State of Michigan, as thus described, declared, and established,
should "receive the assent of a convention of delegates elected by the
people of said State for the sole purpose of giving the assent" therein
required; that as soon as such assent should be given the President of
the United States should announce the same by proclamation, and that
thereupon, and without any further proceeding on the part of Congress,
the admission of the State into the Union as one of the United States
of America should be considered as complete, and the Senators and
Representatives in the Congress of the United States entitled to
take their seats without further delay.
In the month of November last I received a communication inclosing
the official proceedings of a convention assembled at Ann Arbor, in
Michigan, on the 26th of September, 1836, all which (marked A) are
herewith laid before you. It will be seen by these papers that the
convention therein referred to was elected by the people of Michigan
pursuant to an act of the State legislature passed on the 25th of July
last in consequence of the above-mentioned act of Congress, and that it
declined giving its assent to the fundamental condition prescribed by
Congress, and rejected the same.
On the 24th instant the accompanying paper (marked B), with its
inclosure, containing the proceedings of a convention of delegates
subsequently elected and held in the State of Michigan, was presented
to me. By these papers, which are also herewith submitted for your
consideration, it appears that elections were held in all the counties
of the State, except two, on the 5th and 6th days of December instant,
for the purpose of electing a convention of delegates to give the
assent required by Congress; that the delegates then elected assembled
in convention on the 14th day of December instant, and that on the
following day the assent of the body to the fundamental condition
above stated was formally given.
This latter convention was not held or elected by virtue of any act of
the Territorial or State legislature; it originated from the people
themselves, and was chosen by them in pursuance of resolutions adopted
in primary assemblies held in the respective counties. The act of
Congress, however, does not prescribe by what authority the convention
shall be ordered, or the time when or the manner in which it shall be
chosen. Had these latter proceedings come to me during the recess of
Congress, I should therefore have felt it my duty, on being satisfied
that they emanated from a convention of delegates elected in point
of fact by the people of the State for the purpose required, to have
issued my proclamation thereon as provided by law; but as the authority
conferred on the President was evidently given to him under the
expectation that the assent of the convention might be laid before him
during the recess of Congress and to avoid the delay of a postponement
until the meeting of that body, and as the circumstances which now
attend the case are in other respects peculiar and such as could not
have been foreseen when the act of June 15, 1836, was passed, I deem
it most agreeable to the intent of that law, and proper for other
reasons, that the whole subject should be submitted to the decision of
Congress. The importance of your early action upon it is too obvious
to need remark.
ANDREW JACKSON.
WASHINGTON, _December 28, 1836_.
_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:
In compliance with the resolution of the House of Representatives of
the 23d instant, I herewith transmit a report[22] from the Secretary
of State, to whom the resolution was referred, containing all the
information upon the subject which he is now able to communicate.
ANDREW JACKSON.
[Footnote 22: Relating to the bequest of James Smithson.]
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I transmit to the Senate a report[23] of the Secretary of the Navy,
complying with their resolution of the 24th of May, 1836.
ANDREW JACKSON.
DECEMBER 29, 1836.
[Footnote 23: Relating to the survey of the harbors south of the
Chesapeake.]
WASHINGTON, _December 30, 1836_.
_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:
I transmit herewith a communication from the Secretary of War
_ad interim_, with certain accompanying papers[24] from the Engineer
Department, required to complete the annual report from that
Department.
ANDREW JACKSON.
[Footnote 24: Reports of the superintendents of the Cumberland road in
Indiana and Illinois and of the improvement of the Ohio River above the
Falls.]
WASHINGTON, _December 30, 1836_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I transmit herewith, for your consideration and action, four treaties
with bands of Potawatamie Indians in Indiana, accompanied by a report
from the War Department and sundry other papers.
ANDREW JACKSON.
WASHINGTON, _December 30, 1836_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I transmit herewith, for your consideration and action, a treaty with
the Menomonie tribe of Indians, accompanied by a report from the War
Department. I recommend the modifications proposed in the report.
ANDREW JACKSON.
WASHINGTON, _January 7, 1837_.
_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:
I herewith transmit to Congress a report of the Secretary of State, with
the accompanying letter, addressed to him by the commission appointed
under the act of Congress of the last session for carrying into effect
the convention between the United States and Spain.
ANDREW JACKSON.
WASHINGTON, _January 9, 1837_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
Immediately after the passage by the Senate, at a former session, of
the resolution requesting the President to consider the expediency
of opening negotiations with the governments of other nations, and
particularly with the Governments of Central America and New Granada,
for the purpose of effectually protecting, by equitable treaty
stipulations with them, such individuals or companies as might undertake
to open a communication between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans by the
construction of a ship canal across the isthmus which connects North and
South America, and of securing forever by such stipulations the free and
equal right of navigating such canal to all such nations on the payment
of such reasonable tolls as ought to be established to compensate the
capitalists who might engage in such undertaking and complete the work,
an agent was employed to obtain information in respect to the situation
and character of the country through which the line of communication,
if established, would necessarily pass, and the state of the projects
which were understood to be contemplated for opening such communication
by a canal or a railroad. The agent returned to the United States in
September last, and although the information collected by him is not as
full as could have been desired, yet it is sufficient to show that the
probability of an early execution of any of the projects which have been
set on foot for the construction of the communication alluded to is not
so great as to render it expedient to open a negotiation at present with
any foreign government upon the subject.
ANDREW JACKSON.
WASHINGTON, _January 17, 1837_.
_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:
I hereby submit to the House of Representatives certain communications
from the Secretary of the Treasury and the attorney of the United States
for the District of Columbia. They relate to the difficulties which have
been interposed under the existing laws in bringing to conviction and
punishment the supposed incendiaries of the Treasury buildings in the
year 1833.
The peculiar circumstances of this case, so long concealed, and of
the flagrant frauds by persons disconnected with the Government, which
were still longer concealed, and to screen some of which forever was
probably a principal inducement to the burning of the buildings, lead
me earnestly to recommend a revision of the laws on this subject.
I do this with a wish not only to render the punishment hereafter more
severe for the wanton destruction of the public property, but to repeal
entirely the statute of limitation in all criminal cases, except
small misdemeanors, and in no event to allow a party to avail himself
of its benefits during the period the commission of the crime was
kept concealed or the persons on trial were not suspected of having
perpetrated the offense.
It must be manifest to Congress that the exposed state of the public
records here, without fireproof buildings, imperatively requires the
most ample remedies for their protection, and the greatest vigilance and
fidelity in all officers, whether executive or judicial, in bringing to
condign punishment the real offenders.
Without these the public property is in that deplorable situation which
depends quite as much on accident and good fortune as the laws, for
safety.
ANDREW JACKSON.
[The same message was sent to the Senate.]
WASHINGTON, _January 17, 1837_.
_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_:
I transmit to Congress herewith the copy of an act of the State of
Missouri passed on the 16th ultimo, expressing the assent of that State
to the several provisions of the act of Congress entitled "An act to
extend the western boundary of the State of Missouri to the Missouri
River," approved June 7, 1836. A copy of the act, duly authenticated,
has been deposited in the Department of State.
ANDREW JACKSON.
JANUARY 18, 1837.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
In compliance with a resolution of the Senate at their last session,
I herewith transmit the inclosed documents, which contain all the
information on the subject of the claim of the heirs of George Galphin
within the power of the Executive.
ANDREW JACKSON.
WASHINGTON, _January 18, 1837_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
In compliance with the resolution of the Senate dated the 16th instant,
I transmit a copy and a translation of a letter addressed to me on the
4th of July last by the President of the Mexican Republic, and a copy of
my reply to the same on the 4th of September. No other communication on
the subject of the resolution referred to has been made to the Executive
by any other foreign government, or by any person claiming to act in
behalf of Mexico.
ANDREW JACKSON.
_The President of the Mexican Republic to the President of the United
States_.
COLUMBIA, IN TEXAS, _July 4, 1836_.
His Excellency General ANDREW JACKSON,
_President of the United States of America_.
MUCH ESTEEMED SIR: In fulfillment of the duties which patriotism and
honor impose upon a public man, I came to this country at the head of
6,000 Mexicans. The chances of war, made inevitable by circumstances,
reduced me to the condition of a prisoner, in which I still remain, as
you may have already learned. The disposition evinced by General Samuel
Houston, the commander in chief of the Texan army, and by his successor,
General Thomas J. Rusk, for the termination of the war; the decision
of the President and cabinet of Texas in favor of a proper compromise
between the contending parties, and my own conviction, produced the
conventions of which I send you copies inclosed, and the orders given
by me to General Filisola, my second in command, to retire from the
river Brasos, where he was posted, to the other side of the river
Bravo del Norte.
As there was no doubt that General Filisola would religiously comply, as
far as concerned himself, the President and cabinet agreed that I should
set off for Mexico, in order to fulfill the other engagements, and with
that intent I embarked on board the schooner _Invincible_, which was
to carry me to the port of Vera Cruz. Unfortunately, however, some
indiscreet persons raised a mob, which obliged the authorities to have
me landed by force and brought back into strict captivity. This incident
has prevented me from going to Mexico, where I should otherwise have
arrived early in last month; and in consequence of it the Government of
that country, doubtless ignorant of what has occurred, has withdrawn the
command of the army from General Filisola and has ordered his successor,
General Urrea, to continue its operations, in obedience to which order
that general is, according to the latest accounts, already at the river
Nueces. In vain have some reflecting and worthy men endeavored to
demonstrate the necessity of moderation and of my going to Mexico
according to the convention; but the excitement of the public mind has
increased with the return of the Mexican army to Texas. Such is the
state of things here at present. The continuation of the war and of its
disasters is therefore inevitable unless the voice of reason be heard in
proper time from the mouth of some powerful individual. It appears to
me that you, sir, have it in your power to perform this good office,
by interfering in favor of the execution of the said convention, which
shall be strictly fulfilled on my part. When I offered to treat with
this Government, I was convinced that it was useless for Mexico to
continue the war. I have acquired exact information respecting this
country which I did not possess four months ago. I have too much zeal
for the interests of my country to wish for anything which is not
compatible with them. Being always ready to sacrifice myself for its
glory and advantage, I never would have hesitated to subject myself to
torments or death rather than consent to any compromise if Mexico could
thereby have obtained the slightest benefit. I am firmly convinced that
it is proper to terminate this question by political negotiation. That
conviction alone determined me sincerely to agree to what has been
stipulated, and in the same spirit I make to you this frank declaration.
Be pleased, sir, to favor me by a like confidence on your part. Afford
me the satisfaction of avoiding approaching evils and of contributing
to that good which my heart advises. Let us enter into negotiations
by which the friendship between your nation and the Mexican may be
strengthened, both being amicably engaged in giving being and stability
to a people who are desirous of appearing in the political world, and
who, under the protection of the two nations, will attain its object
within a few years.
The Mexicans are magnanimous when treated with consideration. I will
clearly set before them the proper and humane reasons which require
noble and frank conduct on their part, and I doubt not that they will
act thus as soon as they have been convinced.
By what I have here submitted you will see the sentiments which animate
me, and with which I remain, your most humble and obedient servant,
ANTONIO LOPEZ DE SANTA ANNA.
_The President of the United States to the President of the Mexican
Republic_.
HERMITAGE, _September 4, 1836_.
General ANTONIO LOPEZ DE SANTA ANNA.
SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the
4th day of July last, which has been forwarded to me by General Samuel
Houston, under cover of one from him, transmitted by an express from
General Gaines, who is in command of the United States forces on the
Texan frontier. The great object of these communications appears to be
to put an end to the disasters which necessarily attend the civil war
now raging in Texas, and asking the interposition of the United States
in furthering so humane and desirable a purpose. That any well-intended
effort of yours in aid of this object should have been defeated is
calculated to excite the regret of all who justly appreciate the
blessings of peace, and who take an interest in the causes which
contribute to the prosperity of Mexico in her domestic as well as
her foreign relations.
The Government of the United States is ever anxious to cultivate peace
and friendship with all nations; but it proceeds on the principle that
all nations have the right to alter, amend, or change their own
government as the sovereign power--the people--may direct. In this
respect it never interferes with the policy of other powers, nor can it
permit any on the part of others with its internal policy. Consistently
with this principle, whatever we can do to restore peace between
contending nations or remove the causes of misunderstanding is
cheerfully at the service of those who are willing to rely upon
our good offices as a friend or mediator.
In reference, however, to the agreement which you, as the representative
of Mexico, have made with Texas, and which invites the interposition of
the United States, you will at once see that we are forbidden by the
character of the communications made to us through the Mexican minister
from considering it. That Government has notified us that as long as
you are a prisoner no act of yours will be regarded as binding by the
Mexican authorities. Under these circumstances it will be manifest to
you that good faith to Mexico, as well as the general principle to which
I have adverted as forming the basis of our intercourse with all foreign
powers, make it impossible for me to take any step like that you have
anticipated. If, however, Mexico should signify her willingness to avail
herself of our good offices in bringing about the desirable result you
have described, nothing could give me more pleasure than to devote my
best services to it. To be instrumental in terminating the evils of
civil war and in substituting in their stead the blessings of peace
is a divine privilege. Every government and the people of all countries
should feel it their highest happiness to enjoy an opportunity of thus
manifesting their love of each other and their interest in the general
principles which apply to them all as members of the common family
of man.
Your letter, and that of General Houston, commander in chief of
the Texan army, will be made the basis of an early interview with
the Mexican minister at Washington. They will hasten my return to
Washington, to which place I will set out in a few days, expecting
to reach it by the its of October. In the meantime I hope Mexico and
Texas, feeling that war is the greatest of calamities, will pause before
another campaign is undertaken and can add to the number of those scenes
of bloodshed which have already marked the progress of their contest and
have given so much pain to their Christian friends throughout the world.
This is sent under cover to General Houston, who will give it a safe
conveyance to you.
I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
ANDREW JACKSON.
JANUARY 19, 1837.
_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_:
I herewith transmit a copy of the annual report of the Director of the
Mint, showing the operations of the institution during the past year and
also the progress made toward completion of the branch mints in North
Carolina, Georgia, and Louisiana.
ANDREW JACKSON.
WASHINGTON, _January 20, 1837_.
_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:
In compliance with the act of Congress of the 3d of March, 1829, I
herewith transmit to Congress the report of the board of inspectors of
the penitentiary of Washington, and beg leave to draw their attention to
the fact presented with the report, "that the inspectors have received
no compensation for their services for two years, viz, 1829 and 1830,"
and request that an appropriation be made for the same.
ANDREW JACKSON.
WASHINGTON, _January 21, 1837_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I transmit, for your constitutional action, a report from the War
Department, accompanied by a treaty with the Stockbridge and Munsee
Indians.
ANDREW JACKSON.
WASHINGTON, _January 21, 1837_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I transmit, for your constitutional action, a report from the War
Department, accompanied by a treaty with a portion of the New York
Indians.
ANDREW JACKSON.
WASHINGTON, _January 25, 1837_.
_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:
In compliance with the resolution of the House of Representatives of
the 17th instant, I transmit a report[25] from the Secretary of State,
together with the documents by which it was accompanied.
ANDREW JACKSON.
[Footnote 25: Relating to the condition of the political relations
between the United States and Mexico, and to the condition of Texas.]
WASHINGTON, _January 27, 1837_.
_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:
I transmit herewith certain papers from the War Department, relative to
the improvement of Brunswick Harbor, Georgia.
ANDREW JACKSON.
WASHINGTON, _January 30, 1837_.
_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:
I herewith transmit to the House the copy of a letter addressed to
me by the governor of the State of Maine on the 30th of June last,
communicating sundry resolutions of the legislature of that State and
claiming the reimbursement of certain moneys paid to John and Phineas
R. Harford for losses and expenses incurred by them under circumstances
explained in the accompanying papers.
ANDREW JACKSON.
WASHINGTON, _February 6, 1837_.
The SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES:
In compliance with the resolution of the House of Representatives of the
3d instant, I herewith transmit the report[26] of the Secretary of the
Navy, which affords all the information required by said resolution. The
President begs leave to add that he trusts that all facilities will be
given to this exploring expedition that Congress can bestow and the
honor of the nation demands.
ANDREW JACKSON.
[Footnote 26: Relating to the South Sea exploring expedition.]
WASHINGTON, _February 6, 1837_.
_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_:
At the beginning of this session Congress was informed that our
claims upon Mexico had not been adjusted, but that notwithstanding the
irritating effect upon her councils of the movements in Texas, I hoped,
by great forbearance, to avoid the necessity of again bringing the
subject of them to your notice. That hope has been disappointed. Having
in vain urged upon that Government the justice of those claims and my
indispensable obligation to insist that there should be "no further
delay in the acknowledgment, if not in the redress, of the injuries
complained of," my duty requires that the whole subject should be
presented, as it now is, for the action of Congress, whose exclusive
right it is to decide on the further measures of redress to be employed.
The length of time since some of the injuries have been committed, the
repeated and unavailing applications for redress, the wanton character
of some of the outrages upon the property and persons of our citizens,
upon the officers and flag of the United States, independent of recent
insults to this Government and people by the late extraordinary Mexican
minister, would justify in the eyes of all nations immediate war.
That remedy, however, should not be used by just and generous nations,
confiding in their strength for injuries committed, if it can be
honorably avoided; and it has occurred to me that, considering the
present embarrassed condition of that country, we should act with both
wisdom and moderation by giving to Mexico one more opportunity to atone
for the past before we take redress into our own hands. To avoid all
misconception on the part of Mexico, as well as to protect our own
national character from reproach, this opportunity should be given with
the avowed design and full preparation to take immediate satisfaction if
it should not be obtained on a repetition of the demand for it. To this
end I recommend that an act be passed authorizing reprisals, and the use
of the naval force of the United States by the Executive against Mexico
to enforce them, in the event of a refusal by the Mexican Government to
come to an amicable adjustment of the matters in controversy between us
upon another demand thereof made from on board one of our vessels of
war on the coast of Mexico.
The documents herewith transmitted, with those accompanying my message
in answer to a call of the House of Representatives of the 17th ultimo,
will enable Congress to judge of the propriety of the course heretofore
pursued and to decide upon the necessity of that now recommended.
If these views should fail to meet the concurrence of Congress, and that
body be able to find in the condition of the affairs between the two
countries, as disclosed by the accompanying documents, with those
referred to, any well-grounded reasons to hope that an adjustment of
the controversy between them can be effected without a resort to the
measures I have felt it my duty to recommend, they may be assured of
my cooperation in any other course that shall be deemed honorable
and proper.
ANDREW JACKSON.
WASHINGTON, _February 7, 1837_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I transmit communications from the War Department relating to the treaty
with the Sacs and Foxes recently submitted to the Senate.
ANDREW JACKSON.
WASHINGTON, _February 7, 1837_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I transmit herewith, for the constitutional action of the Senate, a
report from the War Department, accompanied by a treaty with the Saganaw
tribe of Chippewa Indians.
ANDREW JACKSON.
WASHINGTON, _February, 1837_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I transmit, for your consideration and action, a treaty with certain
Potawatamie Indians, accompanied by a report from the War Department.
ANDREW JACKSON.
WASHINGTON, _February 9, 1837_.
_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_:
I communicate to Congress printed copies of the treaty of peace and
commerce between the United States and the Empire of Morocco, concluded
at Meccanez on the 16th day of September last, and duly ratified by the
respective Governments.
ANDREW JACKSON.
WASHINGTON, _February 11, 1837_.
_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:
I herewith transmit to the House of Representatives a letter addressed
to me on the 30th ultimo by the governor of the State of New Hampshire,
communicating several resolutions of the legislature of that
Commonwealth and claiming the reimbursement of certain expenses incurred
by that State in maintaining jurisdiction over that portion of its
territory north of the forty-fifth degree of north latitude, known
by the name of Indian Stream, under circumstances explained in his
excellency's letter.
ANDREW JACKSON.
WASHINGTON, _February 13, 1837_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I herewith transmit to the Senate a report[27] from the Secretary of
State, with accompanying papers, embracing a copy of the correspondence
requested by the resolution of the 7th instant, and such additional
documents as were deemed necessary to a correct understanding of the
whole subject.
ANDREW JACKSON.
[Footnote 27: Relating to the seizure of slaves on board the brigs
_Encomium_ and _Enterprise_ by the authorities of Bermuda and New
Providence.]
WASHINGTON CITY, _February 14, 1837_.
_To the House of Representatives_:
I transmit herewith a copy of the instructions, prepared under my
direction by the War Department, for the commissioners appointed by me,
in pursuance of the request contained in the resolution adopted by the
House of Representatives on the 1st of July last, to investigate the
causes of the hostilities then existing with the Creek Indians, and also
copies of the reports on that subject received from the commissioners.
ANDREW JACKSON.
FEBRUARY 15, 1837.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I herewith transmit to the Senate a report of the Postmaster-General,
on the subject of the claims of Messrs. Stockton and Stokes, with a
review of that report by the Solicitor of the Treasury, to whom, under
a law of the last session of Congress, all the suspended debts of those
contractors had been submitted; also a supplemental rejoinder by the
Postmaster-General since the report of the Solicitor of the Treasury
was made, with the papers accompanying the same, all of which are
respectfully submitted for the consideration of the Senate.
ANDREW JACKSON.
WASHINGTON, _February 15, 1837_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I transmit herewith, for your consideration and action, a treaty lately
made with the Sioux of the Mississippi, accompanied by a report from the
War Department.
ANDREW JACKSON.
WASHINGTON, _February, 1837_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I transmit herewith a convention between the Choctaws and Chickasaws,
which meets my approbation, and for which I ask your favorable
consideration and action.
ANDREW JACKSON.
WASHINGTON, _February 20, 1837_.
_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:
In compliance with the resolution of the House of Representatives of
the 9th ultimo, I transmit a report from the Secretary of State and
the documents[28] by which it was accompanied.
ANDREW JACKSON.
[Footnote 28: Correspondence of William Tudor, Jr., while consul, etc.,
of the United States to Peru and charge d'affaires at Rio de Janeiro.]
WASHINGTON, _February 24, 1837_.
_To the House of Representatives_:
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