Chapter VI: Part 6

Since the accession of the Emperor Nicholas to the imperial throne of all the Russias the friendly dispositions toward the United States so constantly manifested by his predecessor have continued unabated, and have been recently testified by the appointment of a minister plenipotentiary to reside at this place. From the interest taken by this Sovereign in behalf of the suffering Greeks and from the spirit with which others of the great European powers are cooperating with him the friends of freedom and of humanity may indulge the hope that they will obtain relief from that most unequal of conflicts which they have so long and so gallantly sustained; that they will enjoy the blessing of self-government, which by their sufferings in the cause of liberty they have richly earned, and that their independence will be secured by those liberal institutions of which their country furnished the earliest examples in the history of mankind, and which have consecrated to immortal remembrance the very soil for which they are now again profusely pouring forth their blood. The sympathies which the people and Government of the United States have so warmly indulged with their cause have been acknowledged by their Government in a letter of thanks, which I have received from their illustrious President, a translation of which is now communicated to Congress, the representatives of that nation to whom this tribute of gratitude was intended to be paid, and to whom it was justly due.

In the American hemisphere the cause of freedom and independence has continued to prevail, and if signalized by none of those splendid triumphs which had crowned with glory some of the preceding years it has only been from the banishment of all external force against which the struggle had been maintained. The shout of victory has been superseded by the expulsion of the enemy over whom it could have been achieved. Our friendly wishes and cordial good will, which have constantly followed the southern nations of America in all the vicissitudes of their war of independence, are succeeded by a solicitude equally ardent and cordial that by the wisdom and purity of their institutions they may secure to themselves the choicest blessings of social order and the best rewards of virtuous liberty. Disclaiming alike all right and all intention of interfering in those concerns which it is the prerogative of their independence to regulate as to them shall seem fit, we hail with joy every indication of their prosperity, of their harmony, of their persevering and inflexible homage to those principles of freedom and of equal rights which are alone suited to the genius and temper of the American nations. It has been, therefore, with some concern that we have observed indications of intestine divisions in some of the Republics of the south, and appearances of less union with one another than we believe to be the interest of all. Among the results of this state of things has been that the treaties concluded at Panama do not appear to have been ratified by the contracting parties, and that the meeting of the congress at Tacubaya has been indefinitely postponed. In accepting the invitations to be represented at this congress, while a manifestation was intended on the part of the United States of the most friendly disposition toward the southern Republics by whom it had been proposed, it was hoped that it would furnish an opportunity for bringing all the nations of this hemisphere to the common acknowledgment and adoption of the principles in the regulation of their internal relations which would have secured a lasting peace and harmony between them and have promoted the cause of mutual benevolence throughout the globe. But as obstacles appear to have arisen to the reassembling of the congress, one of the two ministers commissioned on the part of the United States has returned to the bosom of his country, while the minister charged with the ordinary mission to Mexico remains authorized to attend at the conferences of the congress whenever they may be resumed.

A hope was for a short time entertained that a treaty of peace actually signed between the Governments of Buenos Ayres and of Brazil would supersede all further occasion for those collisions between belligerent pretensions and neutral rights which are so commonly the result of maritime war, and which have unfortunately disturbed the harmony of the relations between the United States and the Brazilian Governments. At their last session Congress were informed that some of the naval officers of that Empire had advanced and practiced upon principles in relation to blockades and to neutral navigation which we could not sanction, and which our commanders found it necessary to resist. It appears that they have not been sustained by the Government of Brazil itself. Some of the vessels captured under the assumed authority of these erroneous principles have been restored, and we trust that our just expectations will be realized that adequate indemnity will be made to all the citizens of the United States who have suffered by the unwarranted captures which the Brazilian tribunals themselves have pronounced unlawful.

In the diplomatic discussions at Rio de Janeiro of these wrongs sustained by citizens of the United States and of others which seemed as if emanating immediately from that Government itself the chargé d'affaires of the United States, under an impression that his representations in behalf of the rights and interests of his countrymen were totally disregarded and useless, deemed it his duty, without waiting for instructions, to terminate his official functions, to demand his passports, and return to the United States. This movement, dictated by an honest zeal for the honor and interests of his country--motives which operated exclusively on the mind of the officer who resorted to it--has not been disapproved by me. The Brazilian Government, however, complained of it as a measure for which no adequate intentional cause had been given by them, and upon an explicit assurance through their chargé d'affaires residing here that a successor to the late representative of the United States near that Government, the appointment of whom they desired, should be received and treated with the respect due to his character, and that indemnity should be promptly made for all injuries inflicted on citizens of the United States or their property contrary to the laws of nations, a temporary commission as charge d'affaires to that country has been issued, which it is hoped will entirety restore the ordinary diplomatic intercourse between the two Governments and the friendly relations between their respective nations.

Turning from the momentous concerns of our Union in its intercourse with foreign nations to those of the deepest interest in the administration of our internal affairs, we find the revenues of the present year corresponding as nearly as might be expected with the anticipations of the last, and presenting an aspect still more favorable in the promise of the next. The balance in the Treasury on January 1 last was $6,358,686.18. The receipts from that day to the 30th of September last, as near as the returns of them yet received can show, amount to $16,886,581.32. The receipts of the present quarter, estimated at $4,515,000, added to the above form an aggregate of $21,400,000 of receipts. The expenditures of the year may perhaps amount to $22,300,000, presenting a small excess over the receipts. But of these twenty-two millions, upward of six have been applied to the discharge of the principal of the public debt, the whole amount of which, approaching seventy-four millions on the 1st of January last, will on the first day of the next year fall short of sixty-seven millions and a half. The balance in the Treasury on the 1st of January next it is expected will exceed $5,450,000, a sum exceeding that of the 1st of January, 1825, though falling short of that exhibited on the 1st of January last.

It was foreseen that the revenue of the present year would not equal that of the last, which had itself been less than that of the next preceding year. But the hope has been realized which was entertained, that these deficiencies would in nowise interrupt the steady operation of the discharge of the public debt by the annual ten millions devoted to that object by the act of 3d March, 1817.

The amount of duties secured on merchandise imported from the commencement of the year until the 30th of September last is $21,226,000, and the probable amount of that which will be secured during the remainder of the year is $5,774,000, forming a sum total of $27,000,000. With the allowances for drawbacks and contingent deficiencies which may occur, though not specifically foreseen, we may safely estimate the receipts of the ensuing year at $22,300,000--a revenue for the next equal to the expenditure of the present year.

The deep solicitude felt by our citizens of all classes throughout the Union for the total discharge of the public debt will apologize for the earnestness with which I deem it my duty to urge this topic upon the consideration of Congress--of recommending to them again the observance of the strictest economy in the application of the public funds. The depression upon the receipts of the revenue which had commenced with the year 1826 continued with increased severity during the two first quarters of the present year. The returning tide began to flow with the third quarter, and, so far as we can judge from experience, may be expected to continue through the course of the ensuing year. In the meantime an alleviation from the burden of the public debt will in the three years have been effected to the amount of nearly sixteen millions, and the charge of annual interest will have been reduced upward of one million. But among the maxims of political economy which the stewards of the public moneys should never suffer without urgent necessity to be transcended is that of keeping the expenditures of the year within the limits of its receipts. The appropriations of the two last years, including the yearly ten millions of the sinking fund, have each equaled the promised revenue of the ensuing year. While we foresee with confidence that the public coffers will be replenished from the receipts as fast as they will be drained by the expenditures, equal in amount to those of the current year, it should not be forgotten that they could ill suffer the exhaustion of larger disbursements.

The condition of the Army and of all the branches of the public service under the superintendence of the Secretary of War will be seen by the report from that officer and the documents with which it is accompanied.

During the last summer a detachment of the Army has been usefully and successfully called to perform their appropriate duties. At the moment when the commissioners appointed for carrying into execution certain provisions of the treaty of August 19, 1825, with various tribes of the Northwestern Indians were about to arrive at the appointed place of meeting the unprovoked murder of several citizens and other acts of unequivocal hostility committed by a party of the Winnebago tribe, one of those associated in the treaty, followed by indications of a menacing character among other tribes of the same region, rendered necessary an immediate display of the defensive and protective force of the Union in that quarter. It was accordingly exhibited by the immediate and concerted movements of the governors of the State of Illinois and of the Territory of Michigan, and competent levies of militia, under their authority, with a corps of 700 men of United States troops, under the command of General Atkinson, who, at the call of Governor Cass, immediately repaired to the scene of danger from their station at St. Louis. Their presence dispelled the alarms of our fellow-citizens on those borders, and overawed the hostile purposes of the Indians. The perpetrators of the murders were surrendered to the authority and operation of our laws, and every appearance of purposed hostility from those Indian tribes has subsided.

Although the present organization of the Army and the administration of its various branches of service are, upon the whole, satisfactory, they are yet susceptible of much improvement in particulars, some of which have been heretofore submitted to the consideration of Congress, and others are now first presented in the report of the Secretary of War.

The expediency of providing for additional numbers of officers in the two corps of engineers will in some degree depend upon the number and extent of the objects of national importance upon which Congress may think it proper that surveys should be made conformably to the act of the 30th of April, 1824. 'Of the surveys which before the last session of Congress had been made under the authority of that act, reports were made--

1. Of the Board of Internal Improvement, on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal.

2. On the continuation of the national road from Cumberland to the tide waters within the district of Columbia.

3. On the continuation of the national road from Canton to Zanesville.

4. On the location of the national road from Zanesville to Columbus.

5. On the continuation of the same to the seat of government in Missouri.

6. On a post-road from Baltimore to Philadelphia.

7. Of a survey of Kennebec River (in part).

8. On a national road from Washington to Buffalo.

9. On the survey of Saugatuck Harbor and River.

10. On a canal from Lake Pontchartrain to the Mississippi River.

11. On surveys at Edgartown, Newburyport, and Hyannis Harbor.

12. On survey of La Plaisance Bay, in the Territory of Michigan.

And reports are now prepared and will be submitted to Congress--

On surveys of the peninsula of Florida, to ascertain the practicability of a canal to connect the waters of the Atlantic with the Gulf of Mexico across that peninsula; and also of the country between the bays of Mobile and of Pensacola, with the view of connecting them together by a canal.

On surveys of a route for a canal to connect the waters of James and Great Kenhawa rivers.

On the survey of the Swash, in Pamlico Sound, and that of Cape Fear, below the town of Wilmington, in North Carolina.

On the survey of the Muscle Shoals, in the Tennessee River, and for a route for a contemplated communication between the Hiwassee and Coosa rivers, in the State of Alabama.

Other reports of surveys upon objects pointed out by the several acts of Congress of the last and preceding sessions are in the progress of preparation, and most of them may be completed before the close of this session. All the officers of both corps of engineers, with several other persons duly qualified, have been constantly employed upon these services from the passage of the act of 30th April, 1824, to this time. Were no other advantage to accrue to the country from their labors than the fund of topographical knowledge which they have collected and communicated, that alone would have been a profit to the Union more than adequate to all the expenditures which have been devoted to the object; but the appropriations for the repair and continuation of the Cumberland road, for the construction of various other roads, for the removal of obstructions from the rivers and harbors, for the erection of light-houses, beacons, piers, and buoys, and for the completion of canals undertaken by individual associations, but heeding the assistance of means and resources more comprehensive than individual enterprise can command, may be considered rather as treasures laid up from the contributions of the present age for the benefit of posterity than as unrequited applications of the accruing revenues of the nation. To such objects of permanent improvement to the condition of the country, of real addition to the wealth as well as to the comfort of the people by whose authority and resources they have been effected, from three to four millions of the annual income of the nation have, by laws enacted at the three most recent sessions of Congress, been applied, without intrenching upon the necessities of the Treasury, without adding a dollar to the taxes or debts of the community, without suspending even the steady and regular discharge of the debts contracted in former days, which within the same three years have been diminished by the amount of nearly $16,000,000.

The same observations are in a great degree applicable to the appropriations made for fortifications upon the coasts and harbors of the United States, for the maintenance of the Military Academy at West Point, and for the various objects under the superintendence of the Department of the Navy. The report from the Secretary of the Navy and those from the subordinate branches of both the military departments exhibit to Congress in minute detail the present condition of the public establishments dependent upon them, the execution of the acts of Congress relating to them, and the views of the officers engaged in the several branches of the service concerning the improvements which may tend to their perfection. The fortification of the coasts and the gradual increase and improvement of the Navy are parts of a great system of national defense which has been upward of ten years in progress, and which for a series of years to come will continue to claim the constant and persevering protection and superintendence of the legislative authority. Among the measures which have emanated from these principles the act of the last session of Congress for the gradual improvement of the Navy holds a conspicuous place. The collection of timber for the future construction of vessels of war, the preservation and reproduction of the species of timber peculiarly adapted to that purpose, the construction of dry docks for the use of the Navy, the erection of a marine railway for the repair of the public ships, and the improvement of the navy-yards for the preservation of the public property deposited in them have all received from the Executive the attention required by that act, and will continue to receive it, steadily proceeding toward the execution of all its purposes. The establishment of a naval academy, furnishing the means of theoretic instruction to the youths who devote their lives to the service of their country upon the ocean, still solicits the sanction of the Legislature. Practical seamanship and the art of navigation may be acquired on the cruises of the squadrons which from time to time are dispatched to distant seas, but a competent knowledge even of the art of shipbuilding, the higher mathematics, and astronomy; the literature which can place our officers on a level of polished education with the officers of other maritime nations; the knowledge of the laws, municipal and national, which in their intercourse with foreign states and their governments are continually called into operation, and, above all, that acquaintance with the principles of honor and justice, with the higher obligations of morals and of general laws, human and divine, which constitutes the great distinction between the warrior-patriot and the licensed robber and pirate--these can be systematically taught and eminently acquired only in a permanent school, stationed upon the shore and provided with the teachers, the instruments, and the books conversant with and adapted to the communication of the principles of these respective sciences to the youthful and inquiring mind.

The report from the Postmaster-General exhibits the condition of that Department as highly satisfactory for the present and still more promising for the future. Its receipts for the year ending the 1st of July last amounted to $1,473,551, and exceeded its expenditures by upward of $100,000. It can not be an oversanguine estimate to predict that in less than ten years, of which one-half have elapsed, the receipts will have been more than doubled. In the meantime a reduced expenditure upon established routes has kept pace with increased facilities of public accommodation and additional services have been obtained at reduced rates of compensation. Within the last year the transportation of the mail in stages has been greatly augmented. The number of post-offices has been increased to 7,000, and it may be anticipated that while the facilities of intercourse between fellow-citizens in person or by correspondence will soon be carried to the door of every villager in the Union, a yearly surplus of revenue will accrue which may be applied as the wisdom of Congress under the exercise of their constitutional powers may devise for the further establishment and improvement of the public roads, or by adding still further to the facilities in the transportation of the mails. Of the indications of the prosperous condition of our country, none can be more pleasing than those presented by the multiplying relations of personal and intimate intercourse between the citizens of the Union dwelling at the remotest distances from each other.

Among the subjects which have heretofore occupied the earnest solicitude and attention of Congress is the management and disposal of that portion of the property of the nation which consists of the public lands. The acquisition of them, made at the expense of the whole Union, not only in treasure but in blood, marks a right of property in them equally extensive. By the report and statements from the General Land Office now communicated it appears that under the present Government of the United States a sum little short of $33,000,000 has been paid from the common Treasury for that portion of this property which has been purchased from France and Spain, and for the extinction of the aboriginal titles. The amount of lands acquired is near 260,000,000 acres, of which on the 1st of January, 1826, about 139,000,000 acres had been surveyed, and little more than 19,000,000 acres had been sold. The amount paid into the Treasury by the purchasers of the public lands sold is not yet equal to the sums paid for the whole, but leaves a small balance to be refunded. The proceeds of the sales of the lands have long been pledged to the creditors of the nation, a pledge from which we have reason to hope that they will in a very few years be redeemed.

The system upon which this great national interest has been managed was the result of long, anxious, and persevering deliberation. Matured and modified by the progress of our population and the lessons of experience, it has been hitherto eminently successful. More than nine-tenths of the lands still remain the common property of the Union, the appropriation and disposal of which are sacred trusts in the hands of Congress. Of the lands sold, a considerable part were conveyed under extended credits, which in the vicissitudes and fluctuations in the value of lands and of their produce became oppressively burdensome to the purchasers. It can never be the interest or the policy of the nation to wring from its own citizens the reasonable profits of their industry and enterprise by holding them to the rigorous import of disastrous engagements. In March, 1821, a debt of $22,000,000, due by purchasers of the public lands, had accumulated, which they were unable to pay. An act of Congress of the 2d March, 1821, came to their relief, and has been succeeded by others, the latest being the act of the 4th of May, 1826, the indulgent provisions of which expired on the 4th July last. The effect of these laws has been to reduce the debt from the purchasers to a remaining balance of about $4,300,000 due, more than three-fifths of which are for lands within the State of Alabama. I recommend to Congress the revival and continuance for a further term of the beneficent accommodations to the public debtors of that statute, and submit to their consideration, in the same spirit of equity, the remission, under proper discriminations, of the forfeitures of partial payments on account of purchases of the public lands, so far as to allow of their application to other payments.

There are various other subjects of deep interest to the whole Union which have heretofore been recommended to the consideration of Congress, as well by my predecessors as, under the impression of the duties devolving upon me, by myself. Among these are the debt, rather of justice than gratitude, to the surviving warriors of the Revolutionary war; the extension of the judicial administration of the Federal Government to those extensive and important members of the Union which, having risen into existence since the organization of the present judiciary establishment, now constitute at least one-third of its territory, power, and population; the formation of a more effective and uniform system for the government of the militia, and the amelioration in some form or modification of the diversified and often oppressive codes relating to insolvency. Amidst the multiplicity of topics of great national concernment which may recommend themselves to the calm and patriotic deliberations of the Legislature, it may suffice to say that on these and all other measures which may receive their sanction my hearty cooperation will be given, conformably to the duties enjoined upon me and under the sense of all the obligations prescribed by the Constitution.

John Quincy Adams.

* * * * *

SPECIAL MESSAGES.

Washington, _December 6, 1827_. _To the Senate of the United States_:

In compliance with a resolution of the Senate of the 19th of February last, requesting a statement of all the expenses annually incurred in carrying into effect the act of March 2, 1819, for prohibiting the slave trade, including the cost of keeping the ships of war on the coast of Africa and all the incidental expenses growing out of the operation of that act, I transmit a report from the Secretary of the Navy, with the statement, so far as it can be made, required by the resolution.

John Quincy Adams.

Washington, _December 11, 1827_. _To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit to the Senate--

1. A convention between the United States and Great Britain for the continuance in force of the convention of 3d July, 1815, after the 20th October, 1828, the term at which it would otherwise expire.

2. A convention between the same parties for continuing in force after the 20th October, 1828, the provisions of the third article of the convention of 20th October, 1818, in relation to the territories westward of the Rocky Mountains.

3. A convention between the same parties for the reference to a friendly sovereign of the points of difference between them relating to the northeastern boundary of the United States.

The first and second of these conventions were signed by the plenipotentiaries of the respective parties at London on the 6th day of August and the third on the 29th day of September last.

Copies of them are also communicated, together with the correspondence and documents illustrative of their negotiation.

I request the advice of the Senate with regard to the ratification of each of them.

John Quincy Adams.

Washington, _December 11, 1827_

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit to the Senate, for their advice with regard to its ratification, a treaty of commerce and navigation between the United States and the Kingdom of. Sweden and Norway, signed at Stockholm by the plenipotentiaries of the two Governments on the 4th day of July last.

A copy of the treaty, with a translation, and the instructions and correspondence relating to the negotiation are also communicated.

John Quincy Adams.

Washington, _December 12, 1827_

_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_:

I transmit herewith to Congress copies of a report of the surveyor-general of lands northwest of Ohio, with a plat of the northern boundary line of the State of Indiana, surveyed in conformity to the act of Congress to authorize the President of the United States to ascertain and designate the northern boundary of the State of Indiana, passed the 2d of March, 1827.

John Quincy Adams.

Washington, _December 24, 1827_

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In compliance with a resolution of the Senate of the 14th instant, requesting a communication of the instructions to the American minister at London for the negotiation of the convention of the 13th of November, 1826, with Great Britain, for indemnity to the claimants under the first article of the treaty of Ghent, together with the letters of the minister accompanying and explaining the said convention, I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State, together with the documents desired.

John Quincy Adams.

Washington, _January 4, 1828_

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In compliance with a resolution of the Senate of the 19th of last month, I communicate herewith a report from the Secretary of State, with copies of the correspondence with the British Government relating to the establishment of light-houses, light-vessels, buoys, and other improvements to the navigation within their jurisdiction, opposite to the coast of Florida, referred to in the resolution,

John Quincy Adams.

Washington, _January 7, 1828_.

_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:

In compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 17th of last month, I transmit to the House a report from the Secretary of State and the correspondence with the Government of Great Britain relative to the free navigation of the river St. Lawrence.

John Quincy Adams.

Washington, _January 9, 1828_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In compliance with a resolution of the Senate of the 7th instant, I transmit herewith Mitchell's map and the map marked A,[013] as requested by the resolution, desiring that when the Senate shall have no further use for them they may be returned.

John Quincy Adams.

Washington, _January 15, 1828_.

_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:

In compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 2d instant, requesting information respecting the recovery of debts and property in the Mexican States from persons absconding from the United States, and also respecting the boundary between the State of Louisiana and the Province of Texas, I now transmit a report from the Secretary of State on the subject-matter of the resolution.

John Quincy Adams.

Washington, _January 22, 1828_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit to the Senate, for their consideration and advice, articles of agreement signed at the Creek Agency on the 15th of November last by Thomas L. McKenney and John Crowell in behalf of the United States and by the Little Prince and other chiefs and headmen of the Creek Nation, with a supplementary article concluded by the said John Crowell with the chiefs and headmen of the nation in general council convened on the 3d instant, embracing a cession by the Creek Nation of all the remnant of their lands within the State of Georgia. Documents connected with the negotiation of the treaty and the instructions under which it was effected are also communicated to the Senate.

John Quincy Adams.

Washington, _January 22, 1828_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_:

By the report of the Secretary of War and the documents from that Department exhibited to Congress at the commencement of their present session they were advised of the measures taken for carrying into execution the act of 4th May, 1826, to authorize the President of the United States to run and mark a line dividing the Territory of Florida from the State of Georgia, and of their unsuccessful result. I now transmit to Congress copies of communications received from the governor of Georgia relating to that subject.

John Quincy Adams.

Washington, _January 23, 1828_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

A resolution of the Senate of the 9th instant requested information relative to the trade between the United States and the colonies of France. A report from the Secretary of State, with a translation of the ordinance of the King of France of the 5th of February, 1826, is herewith transmitted, containing the information desired by the resolution.

John Quincy Adams.

Washington, _January 28, 1828_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit to the Senate--

1. A treaty concluded at the Butte des Morts, on Fox River, in the Territory of Michigan, on 11th of August, 1827, between Lewis Cass and Thomas L. McKenney, commissioners of the United States, and the chiefs and headmen of the Chippewa, Menomonie, and Winnebago tribes of Indians.

2. A treaty concluded at St. Joseph, in the Territory of Michigan, on the 19th of September, 1827, between Lewis Cass, commissioner of the United States, and the chiefs and warriors of the Potawatamie tribe of Indians.

Upon which treaties I request the advice of the Senate. The instructions and other documents relating to the negotiation of them are here-with communicated.

John Quincy Adams.

Washington, _January 29_.

_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:

A report from the Secretary of State, with copies of a recent correspondence between the chargé d'affaires from Brazil and him on the subjects of discussion between this Government and that of Brazil,[014] is transmitted to the House of Representatives, in compliance with a resolution of the House of the 2d instant.

John Quincy Adams.

Washington, _February 6, 1828_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_:

I communicate herewith to Congress copies of a treaty of commerce and navigation between the United States and His Majesty the King of Sweden and Norway, concluded at Stockholm on the 4th of July, 1827, and the ratifications of which were exchanged on the 18th ultimo at this city.

John Quincy Adams.

Washington, _February 14, 1828_

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In compliance with a resolution of the Senate of the 11th instant, requesting copies of the instructions to Andrew Ellicott, commissioner for running the line between the United States and Spain, and of any journal or report of the commissioners, I communicate herewith a report from the Secretary of State, with the documents requested, so far as they are found in the files of that Department.

John Quincy Adams.

Washington, _February 21, 1828_

_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_:

In transmitting to Congress copies of a communication received from the governor of Pennsylvania, with certain resolutions of the legislature of that Commonwealth, relating to the Cumberland road, I deem it my duty to recommend to the consideration of Congress an adequate provision for the permanent preservation and repair of that great national work.

John Quincy Adams.

Washington, _March 3, 1828_.

_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:

I transmit to the House of Representatives a report from the Secretary of State, with documents, containing the instructions of the Government of the United States to Thomas Pinckney under which was negotiated the treaty of San Lorenzo el Real, and relating to the boundary line between the United States and the dominions, at that time, of Spain as requested by a resolution of the House of the 18th ultimo.

John Quincy Adams.

Washington, _March 3, 1828_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In compliance with a resolution of the Senate of the 3d of January last, requesting the communication of information in my possession relative to alleged aggression on the rights of citizens of the United States by persons claiming authority under the government of the Province of New Brunswick, I communicate a report from the Secretary of State, with a copy of that of the special agent mentioned in my message at the commencement of the present session of Congress as having been sent to visit the spot where the cause of complaint had occurred to ascertain the state of the facts, and the result of whose inquiries I then promised to communicate to Congress when it should be received.

The Senate are requested to receive this communication as the fulfillment of that engagement; and in making it I deem it proper to notice with just acknowledgment the liberality with which the minister of His Britannic Majesty residing here and the government of the Province of New Brunswick have furnished the agent of the United States with every facility for the attainment of the information which it was the object of his mission to procure.

Considering the exercise of exclusive territorial jurisdiction upon the grounds in controversy by the government of New Brunswick in the arrest and imprisonment of John Baker as incompatible with the mutual understanding existing between the Governments of the United States and of Great Britain on this subject, a demand has been addressed to the provincial authorities through the minister of Great Britain for the release of that individual from prison, and of indemnity to him for his detention'. In doing this it has not been intended to maintain the regularity of his own proceedings or of those with whom he was associated, to which they were not authorized by any sovereign authority of this country.

The documents appended to the report of the agent being original papers belonging to the files of the Department of State, a return of them is requested when the Senate shall have no further use for them.

John Quincy Adams.

Washington, _March 7, 1828_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

The resolution of the Senate of the 28th ultimo, requesting me to cause to be laid before the Senate all papers which might be in the Department of War relating to the treaty concluded at the Butte des Morts, on Fox River, between Lewis Cass and Thomas L. McKenney, commissioners on the part of the United States, and the Chippewa, Menomonie, and Winnebago tribes of Indians, having been referred to the Secretary of War, the report of that officer thereon is herewith inclosed. The papers therein referred to were all transmitted to the Senate with the treaty. Before that event, however, a petition and several other papers had been addressed directly to me, in behalf of certain Indians originally and in part still residing within the State of New York, objecting to the ratification of the treaty, as affecting injuriously their rights and interests. The treaty was itself withheld from the Senate until it was understood at the War Department and by me that by the consent of the persons representing the New York Indians their objections were withdrawn, as by one of them, the Reverend Eleazer Williams, I was personally assured. Those papers, however, addressed directly to me, and which have not been upon the files of the War Department, are now transmitted to the Senate.

John Quincy Adams.

Washington, _March 14, 1828_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit to the Senate, for their consideration and advice, a treaty concluded at the Wyandot village, near the Wabash, in the State of Indiana, between John Tipton, commissioner on the part of the United States, and the chiefs, headmen, and warriors of the Eel River or Thorntown party of Miami Indians, on the 11th day of February last.

A letter from the commissioner to the Secretary of War, with a copy of the journal of the proceedings which led to the conclusion of the treaty, are communicated with it to the Senate.

John Quincy Adams.

Washington, _March 15, 1828_.

_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:

In compliance with a resolution of the House of the 21st ultimo, requesting me to lay before the House correspondence not heretofore communicated between the Government of the United States and that of Great Britain on the subject of the claims of the two Governments to the territory westward of the Rocky Mountains, I transmit herewith a report of the Secretary of State, with the documents requested by the resolution.

John Quincy Adams.

Washington, _March 21, 1828_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_:

I transmit to Congress copies of a treaty concluded on the 15th day of November, 1827, by commissioners of the United States and the chiefs and headmen of the Creek Nation of Indians, which was duly ratified on the 4th instant.

John Quincy Adams.

Washington, _March 22, 1828_.

_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:

In compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 3d instant, touching the formation of a new government by the Cherokee tribe of Indians within the States of North Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, and Alabama, and requesting copies of certain correspondence relating thereto, I transmit to the House of Representatives a report from the Secretary of War, together with the documents desired by the resolution.

John Quincy Adams.

Washington, _March 25, 1828_.

_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:

I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State, prepared in compliance with the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 25th of February last, requesting copies of instructions and correspondence relating to the settlement of the boundary lines of the United States, or any one of them, under the Government of the Confederated States and by the definitive treaty of peace of 3d September, 1783, with Great Britain.

John Quincy Adams.

Washington, _April 8, 1828_

_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:

In compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 22d ultimo, on the subject of the treaty with the Creek Nation of Indians of the 15th November last, I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of War, with the documents, containing the information desired by the resolution.

John Quincy Adams.

Washington, _April 15, 1828_.

_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:

In compliance with the resolution of the House of the 9th instant, requesting copies of the charges preferred against the agent of the United States for the Creek tribe of Indians since the 1st of January, 1826, and of proceedings had thereon, I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of War, with documents, containing the information desired by the resolution.

John Quincy Adams.

Washington, _April 17, 1828_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_:

In conformity with the practice of all my predecessors, I have during my service in the office of President transmitted to the two Houses of Congress from time to time, by the same private secretary, such messages as a proper discharge of my constitutional duty appeared to me to require. On Tuesday last he was charged with the delivery of a message to each House. Having presented that which was intended for the House of Representatives, whilst he was passing, within the Capitol, from their Hall to the Chamber of the Senate, for the purpose of delivering the other message, he was waylaid and assaulted in the Rotunda by a person, in the presence of a member of the House, who interposed and separated the parties.

I have thought it my duty to communicate this occurrence to Congress, to whose wisdom it belongs to consider whether it is of a nature requiring from them any animadversion, and also whether any further laws or regulations are necessary to insure security in the official intercourse between the President and Congress, and to prevent disorders within the Capitol itself.

In the deliberations of Congress upon this subject it is neither expected nor desired that any consequence shall be attached to the private relation in which my secretary stands to me.

John Quincy Adams.

Washington, _April 21, 1828_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit to the Senate, for their consideration and advice, a treaty of limits between the United States of America and the United Mexican States, concluded by the plenipotentiaries of the two Governments on the 12th of January last. A copy of the treaty and the protocols of conference between the plenipotentiaries during the negotiation are inclosed with it.

John Quincy Adams.

Washington, _April 22,1828_.

_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:

A copy of the opinion of the Attorney-General, dated 17th May, 1826, upon the construction of the award of the Emperor of Russia under the treaty of Ghent and upon certain questions propounded to him in relation thereto, subjoined to a report from the Secretary of State, are herewith communicated to the House, in compliance with their resolution of the 17th instant.

John Quincy Adams.

Washington, _April 24, 1828_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit to the Senate, for the exercise of their constitutional authority thereon, a treaty of amity, commerce, and navigation between the United States of America and the United Mexican States, signed by their respective plenipotentiaries on the 14th of February last, with a copy of the treaty and the protocols of conference during and subsequent to the negotiation.

John Quincy Adams.

Washington, _April 28,1828_.

_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:

In compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 9th instant, requesting a communication of the correspondence between this Government and that of Great Britain on the subject of the trade between the United States and the British colonial possessions in the West Indies and North America, not heretofore communicated, I transmit to the House a report from the Secretary of State, with the correspondence desired.

John Quincy Adams.

Washington, _April 30, 1828_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_:

In the month of December last 121 African negroes were landed at Key West from a Spanish slave-trading vessel stranded within the jurisdiction of the United States while pursued by an armed schooner in His Britannic Majesty's service. The collector of the customs at Key West took possession of these persons, who were afterwards delivered over to the marshal of the Territory of East Florida, by whom they were conveyed to St. Augustine, where they still remain.

Believing that the circumstances under which they have been cast upon the compassion of the country are not embraced by the provisions of the act of Congress of 3d March, 1819, or of the other acts prohibiting the slave trade, I submit to the consideration of Congress the expediency of a supplementary act directing and authorizing such measures as may be necessary for removing them from the territory of the United States and for fulfilling toward them the obligations of humanity.

John Quincy Adams.

Washington, _May 1, 1828_. _To the Senate of the United States_:

In compliance with a resolution of the Senate of the 17th ultimo, relating to the removal of the Indian agency from Fort Wayne, in the State of Indiana, I transmit a report from the Secretary of War, with the documents and information requested by the resolution.

John Quincy Adams.

Washington, _May 5, 1828_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In compliance with a resolution of the Senate of the 30th ultimo, requesting information concerning any regulation of the Government of Brazil relative to the reduction of certain duties, I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State, exhibiting the information received at that Department on the subject.

John Quincy Adams.

Washington, _May 5,1828_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I communicate to the Senate, for their consideration and advice, a treaty of commerce and navigation between the United States and His Majesty the King of Prussia, signed on the 1st instant at this place by the Secretary of State and the chargé d'affaires of Prussia residing here. A copy of the treaty is also transmitted.

John Quincy Adams.

Washington, _May 9, 1828_.

_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:

The report of the Secretary of War herewith transmitted, with the documents annexed, contains the information requested by a resolution of the 3d of April last, relating to the payments made to the citizens of Georgia under the fourth article of the treaty with the Creek Nation of 8th February, 1821, and to the disallowances of certain claims exhibited under that treaty, and to the reasons for rejecting the same.

John Quincy Adams.

Washington, _May 12, 1828_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit to the Senate, for their consideration and advice, the articles of a convention concluded at this place on the 6th instant between the Secretary of War and the chiefs and headmen of the Cherokee Nation west of the Mississippi, duly authorized by their nation. A report from the Secretary of War, with certain documents, and a map illustrative of the convention are submitted with it to the Senate.

John Quincy Adams.

Washington, _May 16, 1828_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_:

By a communication received from the chargé d'affaires of Prussia, a translation of which is herewith transmitted, it appears that in the ports of that Kingdom all discriminating duties so far as they affected the vessels of the United States and their cargoes have been abolished since the 15th of April, 1826. I recommend to the consideration of Congress a legislative provision whereby the reciprocal application of the same principle may be extended to Prussian vessels and their cargoes which may have arrived in the ports of the United States from and after that day.

John Quincy Adams.

Washington, _May 19, 1828_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_:

I transmit to Congress copies of three conventions concluded between the United States of America and His Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the ratifications of which were exchanged at London on the 2d of last month:

1. A convention concluded 6th August, 1827, for continuing in force the provisions of the convention of 3d July, 1815.

2. A convention concluded 6th August, 1827, for continuing in force the provisions of the third article of the convention of 20th October, 1818.

3. A convention concluded 29th September, 1827, for carrying into effect the provisions of the fifth article of the treaty of Ghent in relation to the northeastern boundary of the United States.

John Quincy Adams.

Washington, _May 21, 1828_.

_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:

I transmit to the House a report[015] from the Secretary of State, with a copy of the note of the minister of the United States to Spain dated 20th January, 1826, requested by a resolution of the House of the 19th instant.

John Quincy Adams.

Washington, _May 22, 1828_.

_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:

The inclosed report from the Secretary of State is accompanied by copies of the correspondence between this Government and the minister of His Britannic Majesty residing here relating to the arrest and imprisonment of John Baker,[016] requested by a recent resolution of the House.

John Quincy Adams.

Washington, _May 22, 1828_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_:

I transmit to Congress copies of a treaty between the United States of America and the Eel River or Thornton party of Miami Indians, concluded on the 11th of February last at the Wyandot village, near the Wabash, and duly ratified on the 7th instant.

John Quincy Adams.

Washington, _May 23, 1828_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In compliance with a resolution of the Senate of the 8th instant, relating to the accounts and official conduct of Thomas A. Smith, receiver of public moneys at Franklin, Mo., I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of the Treasury, with documents, containing the information desired by the resolution.

John Quincy Adams.

Washington, _May 23, 1828_.

_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:

In compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 30th ultimo, I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State, with copies of the correspondence[017] with the Brazilian Government, and shewing the measures taken by the Government of the United States in relation to the several topics noticed in the resolution.

John Quincy Adams.

* * * * *

PROCLAMATION.

By the President of the United States of America.

A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas by an act of the Congress of the United States of the 7th of January, 1824, entitled "An act concerning discriminating duties of tonnage and impost," it is provided that upon satisfactory evidence being given to the President of the United States by the government of any foreign nation that no discriminating duties of tonnage or impost are imposed or levied within the ports of the said nation upon vessels belonging wholly to citizens of the United States or upon merchandise the produce or manufacture thereof imported in the same, the President is thereby authorized to issue his proclamation declaring that the foreign discriminating duties of tonnage and impost within the United States are and shall be suspended and discontinued so far as respects the vessels of the said nation and the merchandise of its produce or manufacture imported into the United States in the same, the said suspension to take effect from the time of such notification being given to the President of the United States, and to continue so long as the reciprocal exemption of vessels belonging to citizens of the United States and merchandise as aforesaid thereon laden shall be continued, and no longer; and

Whereas satisfactory evidence has been received by me from His Britannic Majesty, as King of Hanover, through the Right Honorable Charles Richard Vaughan, his envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary, that vessels wholly belonging to citizens of the United States or merchandise the produce or manufacture thereof imported in such vessels are not nor shall be on their entering any Hanoverian port subject to the payment of higher duties of tonnage or impost than are levied on Hanoverian ships or merchandise the produce or manufacture of the United States imported in such vessels: