Chapter III (2)

The report of the Postmaster-General will bring you acquainted with the operations of that Department during the past year, and will suggest to you such modifications of the existing laws as in your opinion the exigencies of the public service may require. The change which the country has undergone of late years in the mode of travel and transportation has afforded so many facilities for the transmission of mail matter out of the regular mail as to require the greatest vigilance and circumspection in order to enable the officer at the head of the Department to restrain the expenditures within the income. There is also too much reason to fear that the franking privilege has run into great abuse. The Department, nevertheless, has been conducted with the greatest vigor, and has attained at the least possible expense all the useful objects for which it was established.

In regard to all the Departments, I am quite happy in the belief that nothing has been left undone which was called for by a true spirit of economy or by a system of accountability rigidly enforced. This is in some degree apparent from the fact that the Government has sustained no loss by the default of any of its agents. In the complex, but at the same time beautiful, machinery of our system of government, it is not a matter of surprise that some remote agency may have failed for an instant to fulfill its desired office; but I feel confident in the assertion that nothing has occurred to interrupt the harmonious action of the Government itself, and that, while the laws have been executed with efficiency and vigor, the rights neither of States nor individuals have been trampled on or disregarded.

In the meantime the country has been steadily advancing in all that contributes to national greatness. The tide of population continues unbrokenly to flow into the new States and Territories, where a refuge is found not only for our native-born fellow-citizens, but for emigrants from all parts of the civilized world, who come among us to partake of the blessings of our free institutions and to aid by their labor to swell the current of our wealth and power.

It is due to every consideration of public policy that the lakes and rivers of the West should receive all such attention at the hands of Congress as the Constitution will enable it to bestow. Works in favorable and proper situations on the Lakes would be found to be as indispensably necessary, in case of war, to carry on safe and successful naval operations as fortifications on the Atlantic seaboard. The appropriation made by the last Congress for the improvement of the navigation of the Mississippi River has been diligently and efficiently applied.

I can not close this communication, gentlemen, without recommending to your most favorable consideration the interests of this District. Appointed by the Constitution its exclusive legislators, and forming in this particular the only anomaly in our system of government--of the legislative body being elected by others than those for whose advantage they are to legislate--you will feel a superadded obligation to look well into their condition and to leave no cause for complaint or regret. The seat of Government of our associated republics can not but be regarded as worthy of your parental care.

In connection with its other interests, as well as those of the whole country, I recommend that at your present session you adopt such measures in order to carry into effect the Smithsonian bequest as in your judgment will be best calculated to consummate the liberal intent of the testator.

When, under a dispensation of Divine Providence, I succeeded to the Presidential office, the state of public affairs was embarrassing and critical. To add to the irritation consequent upon a long-standing controversy with one of the most powerful nations of modern times, involving not only questions of boundary (which under the most favorable circumstances are always embarrassing), but at the same time important and high principles of maritime law, border controversies between the citizens and subjects of the two countries had engendered a state of feeling and of conduct which threatened the most calamitous consequences. The hazards incident to this state of things were greatly heightened by the arrest and imprisonment of a subject of Great Britain, who, acting (as it was alleged) as a part of a military force, had aided in the commission of an act violative of the territorial jurisdiction of the United States and involving the murder of a citizen of the State of New York. A large amount of claims against the Government of Mexico remained unadjusted and a war of several years' continuance with the savage tribes of Florida still prevailed, attended with the desolation of a large portion of that beautiful Territory and with the sacrifice of many valuable lives. To increase the embarrassments of the Government, individual and State credit had been nearly stricken down and confidence in the General Government was so much impaired that loans of a small amount could only be negotiated at a considerable sacrifice. As a necessary consequence of the blight which had fallen on commerce and mechanical industry, the ships of the one were thrown out of employment and the operations of the other had been greatly diminished. Owing to the condition of the currency, exchanges between different parts of the country had become ruinously high and trade had to depend on a depreciated paper currency in conducting its transactions. I shall be permitted to congratulate the country that under an overruling Providence peace was preserved without a sacrifice of the national honor; the war in Florida was brought to a speedy termination; a large portion of the claims on Mexico have been fully adjudicated and are in a course of payment, while justice has been rendered to us in other matters by other nations; confidence between man and man is in a great measure restored and the credit of this Government fully and perfectly reestablished; commerce is becoming more and more extended in its operations and manufacturing and mechanical industry once more reap the rewards of skill and labor honestly applied; the operations of trade rest on a sound currency and the rates of exchange are reduced to their lowest amount.

In this condition of things I have felt it to be my duty to bring to your favorable consideration matters of great interest in their present and ultimate results; and the only desire which I feel in connection with the future is and will continue to be to leave the country prosperous and its institutions unimpaired.

JOHN TYLER.

SPECIAL MESSAGES.

CITY OF WASHINGTON, _December 8, 1843_.

_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:

I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of the Treasury, exhibiting certain transfers of appropriations which have been made in that Department in pursuance of the power vested in the President of the United States by the act of Congress of the 3d March, 1809, entitled "An act further to amend the several acts for the establishment and regulation of the Treasury, War, and Navy Departments."

JOHN TYLER.

WASHINGTON, _December 12, 1843_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit herewith to the Senate, for their consideration in reference to its ratification, a convention for the surrender of criminals between the United States of America and His Majesty the King of the French, signed at this place on the 9th day of November last by the Secretary of State and the minister plenipotentiary _ad interim_ from the French Government to the United States.

JOHN TYLER.

WASHINGTON, _December 16, 1843_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

The two Houses of Congress at their last session passed a joint resolution, which originated in the House of Representatives, "presenting the thanks of Congress to Samuel T. Washington for the service sword of George Washington and the staff of Benjamin Franklin, presented by him to Congress." This resolution (in consequence, doubtless, of a merely accidental omission) did not reach me until after the adjournment of Congress, and therefore did not receive my approval and signature, which it would otherwise promptly have received. I nevertheless felt myself at liberty and deemed it entirely proper to communicate a copy of the resolution to Mr. Washington, as is manifested by the accompanying copy of the letter which I addressed to him. The joint resolution, together with a copy of the letter, is deposited in the Department of State, and can be withdrawn and communicated to the House if it see cause to require them.

JOHN TYLER.

[From Miscellaneous Letters, Department of State.]

SAMUEL T. WASHINGTON, Esq.

WASHINGTON, _April 27_.

DEAR SIR: I send you a copy of a joint resolution of the two Houses of Congress expressive of the estimate which they place upon the presents which you recently made to the United States of the sword used by your illustrious relative, George Washington, in the military career of his early youth in the Seven Years' War, and throughout the War of our National Independence, and of the staff bequeathed by the patriot, statesman, and sage Benjamin Franklin to the same leader of the armies of freedom in the Revolutionary War, George Washington.

These precious relics have been accepted in the name of the nation, and have been deposited among its archives.

I avail myself of the opportunity afforded in the performance of this pleasing task to tender you assurances of my high respect and esteem.

JOHN TYLER.

[From Pocketed Laws, Department of State.]

JOINT RESOLUTION presenting the thanks of Congress to Samuel T. Washington for the service sword of George Washington and the staff of Benjamin Franklin, presented by him to Congress.

_Resolved unanimously by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled_, That the thanks of this Congress be presented to Samuel T. Washington, of Kanawha County, Va., for the present of the sword used by his illustrious relative, George Washington, in the military career of his early youth in the Seven Years' War, and throughout the War of our National Independence, and of the staff bequeathed by the patriot, statesman, and sage Benjamin Franklin to the same leader of the armies of freedom in the Revolutionary War, George Washington.

That these precious relics are hereby accepted in the name of the nation; that they be deposited for safe-keeping in the Department of State of the United States; and that a copy of this resolution, signed by the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, be transmitted to the said Samuel T. Washington.

JOHN WHITE,
_Speaker of the House of Representatives_.

WILLIE P. MANGUM,
_President of the Senate pro tempore_.

WASHINGTON, _December 26, 1843_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit herewith a communication from the War Department, containing all the information and correspondence in that Department "on the subject of the 'mountain howitzer' taken by Lieutenant Fremont on the expedition to the Oregon" [Territory], as requested by the resolution of the Senate of the 18th instant.

JOHN TYLER.

WASHINGTON, D.C., _December 27, 1843_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I lay before the Senate a convention for the settlement of the claims of the citizens and Government of the Mexican Republic against the Government of the United States and of the citizens and Government of the United States against the Government of the Mexican Republic, signed in the City of Mexico on the 20th of last month.

I am happy to believe that this convention provides as fully as is practicable for the adjustment of all claims of our citizens on the Government of Mexico. That Government has thus afforded a gratifying proof of its promptness and good faith in observing the stipulation of the sixth article of the convention of the 30th of January last.

JOHN TYLER.

WASHINGTON, _January 8, 1844_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I herewith transmit a report[94] made by the Secretary of the Navy in pursuance of the provisions of the act of the 3d March, 1843.

JOHN TYLER.

[Footnote 94: Transmitting abstracts of proposals made to the Navy Department and its several bureaus.]

WASHINGTON, _January 10, 1844_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I transmit the accompanying letter[95] from the Secretary of State, and copy of a correspondence between that officer and the minister from Portugal near this Government, to which I invite the attention of Congress.

JOHN TYLER.

[Footnote 95: Relating to the duties levied on the wines of Portugal and its possessions by tariff acts of the United States in violation of the treaty of August 26, 1840.]

WASHINGTON, _January 16, 1844_.

_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:

In answer to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 10th instant, requesting the President to communicate to that body "copies of all correspondence with any foreign government relative to the title, boundary, discovery, and settlement of the Territory of Oregon," I have to state that the information called for by the House has been already from time to time transmitted to Congress, with the exception of such correspondence as has been held within the last few months between the Department of State and our minister at London; that there is a prospect of opening a negotiation on the subject of the northwestern boundary of the United States immediately after the arrival at Washington of the newly appointed British minister, now daily expected; and that under existing circumstances it is deemed inexpedient, with a view to the public interest, to furnish a copy of the correspondence above mentioned.

JOHN TYLER.

WASHINGTON CITY, _January 17, 1844_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In compliance with the resolution of the Senate of the 26th ultimo, I transmit herewith a report of the Secretary of War, with a copy of the proceedings of the court-martial in the case of Second Lieutenant D.C. Buell, Third Infantry, and of all orders and papers in relation thereto.

It will be perceived that at the date of the resolution the final action of the Executive was not had upon the case. That action having since taken place, it is communicated with the papers.

JOHN TYLER.

WASHINGTON, D.C., _January 19, 1844_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

In compliance with your resolution of the 15th December, 1843, requesting "such information as may be on file in any of the Departments relative to the formation of a junction between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans," I transmit herewith a letter from the Secretary of State, with accompanying documents, in relation thereto.

JOHN TYLER.

WASHINGTON, _January 24, 1844_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I communicate to the House of Representatives a report from the Secretary of State, under date of the 7th ultimo, accompanied by a copy of a note from the Chevalier de Argaïz, on the subject of the schooner _Amistad_.

JOHN TYLER.

WASHINGTON, _January 26, 1844_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith a report of the Secretary of War and accompanying papers, containing the information respecting the Indians remaining at present in Florida, requested by a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 10th instant.

JOHN TYLER.

WASHINGTON, _January 30, 1844_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit a report[96] of the War Department, prepared under a resolution of the Senate of the 4th instant.

JOHN TYLER.

[Footnote 96: Relating to the proceedings and conduct of the Choctaw commission, sitting in the State of Mississippi, under the Dancing Rabbit Creek treaty.]

WASHINGTON, _February 6, 1844_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

In compliance with the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 22d January, I herewith transmit a letter[97] from the Secretary of the Navy, containing all the information in the possession of that Department on the subject to which the resolution refers.

JOHN TYLER.

[Footnote 97: Relating to appointments of masters' mates and the postponement of the sailing of the frigate _Raritan_.]

WASHINGTON, _February 7, 1844_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit to the Senate of the United States, in answer to their resolution of the 9th of January last, a report[98] from the Secretary of State and a report[99] from the Secretary of War.

JOHN TYLER.

[Footnote 98: Stating that there has been no correspondence with the British Government relative to presents, etc., by that Government to Indians in the United States.]

[Footnote 99: Transmitting a letter from the Commissioner of Indian Affairs relative to presents, etc., to Indians in the United States by the British Government.]

WASHINGTON, _February 9, 1844_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In compliance with the resolution of the Senate of the 31st January, I herewith transmit the accompanying letter[100] from the Secretary of the Navy.

JOHN TYLER.

[Footnote 100: Relating to a proposed extension of the duties of the Home Squadron.]

WASHINGTON, _February 12, 1844_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I herewith transmit to the Senate articles of agreement between the Delawares and Wyandots, by which the Delawares propose to convey to the Wyandots certain lands therein mentioned, for the ratification and approval of the Senate, together with the accompanying documents, marked A and B.

My mind is not clear of doubt as to the power of the Executive to act in the matter, but being opposed to the assumption of any doubtful power, I have considered it best to submit the agreement to your consideration.

JOHN TYLER.

WASHINGTON, _February 12, 1844_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit herewith a letter from the governor of Iowa, accompanied by a memorial from the legislative assembly of that Territory, asking admission as an independent State into the Union.

JOHN TYLER.

WASHINGTON, _February 12, 1844_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit herewith the copy of a report made by Captain R.F. Stockton, of the United States Navy, relative to the vessel of war the _Princeton_, which has been constructed under his supervision and direction, and recommend the same to the attentive consideration of Congress.

JOHN TYLER.

FEBRUARY 15, 1844.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I communicate herewith a letter from the Secretary of the Treasury, submitting a report from the Commissioner of the General Land Office and accompanying papers, in answer to a resolution adopted by the Senate on the 6th instant, requesting certain information respecting the receipt by local land officers of fees not authorized by law and the measures which have been adopted in reference thereto.

JOHN TYLER.

WASHINGTON, D.C., _February 15, 1844_.

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

In compliance with the request contained in the accompanying letter from the governor of the State of Kentucky, I herewith transmit certain resolutions[101] adopted by the legislature of that State, in relation to a digest of the decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States.

JOHN TYLER.

[Footnote 101: Asking the publication and distribution of a digest of the decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States.]

WASHINGTON, _February 20, 1844_.

_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:

I transmit herewith a report[102] from the Secretary of War, containing the information requested in the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 29th ultimo.

In order to a full understanding of the matter I have deemed it proper to transmit with the information requested a copy of the reply of the Adjutant-General to Brevet Major-General Gaines, with the documents to which it refers.

JOHN TYLER.

[Footnote 102: Relating to the settlement of the accounts of Major-General Gaines, etc.]

WASHINGTON, _February 20, 1844_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit to the Senate a report[103] from the Secretary of State, with accompanying documents, in answer to their resolution of the 31st of January last.

JOHN TYLER.

[Footnote 103: Relating to slaves committing crimes and escaping from the United States to the British dominions since the ratification of the treaty of 1842, and the refusal of the British authorities to give them up, and to the construction which the British Government puts upon the article of said treaty relative to slaves committing crimes in the United States and taking refuge in the British dominions.]

WASHINGTON, _February 21, 1844_.

_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:

I herewith transmit to the House of Representatives, in answer to their resolution of the 16th instant, a report[104] from the Secretary of State, with the correspondence therein referred to.

JOHN TYLER.

[Footnote 104: Relating to a demand upon the British Government for the surrender of certain fugitive criminals from Florida under the provisions of the tenth article of the treaty of Washington.]

WASHINGTON, _February 23, 1844_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith a communication from the Secretary of the Navy, to which I invite the particular attention of Congress. The act entitled "An act to authorize the President of the United States to direct transfers of appropriation in the naval service under certain circumstances" has this day met with my approval, under no expectation that it can be rendered available to the present wants of the service, but as containing an exposition of the views of Congress as to the entire policy of transfers from one head of appropriation to any other in the naval service and as a guide to the Executive in the administration of the duties of that Department. The restrictions laid upon the power to transfer by the latter clauses of the act have rendered its passage of no avail at the present moment.

It will, however, be perceived by the document accompanying the report of the Secretary that there has been realized by recent sales of old iron, copper, and other materials the sum of $116,922.79. These sales were ordered for the express purpose of enabling the Executive to complete certain ships now on the stocks, the completion of which is called for by the economical wants of the service; and the doubt existing as to the power of the Government to apply this sum to the objects contemplated proceeds from the fact that the late Secretary of the Navy directed them to be placed in the Treasury, although in doing so he had no intention of diverting them from their intended head of expenditure. The Secretary of the Treasury, however, has brought himself to the opinion that they could only be entered under the head of miscellaneous receipts, and therefore can only be withdrawn by authority of an express act of Congress. I would suggest the propriety of the passage of such an act without delay.

As intimately associated with the means of public defense, I can not forbear urging upon you the importance of constructing, upon the principles which have been brought into use in the construction of the _Princeton_, several ships of war of a larger class, better fitted than that ship to the heavy armament which should be placed on board of them. The success which has so eminently crowned this first experiment should encourage Congress to lose no time in availing the country of all the important benefits so obviously destined to flow from it. Other nations will speedily give their attention to the subject, and it would be criminal in the United States, the first to apply to practical purposes the great power which has been brought into use, to permit others to avail themselves of our improvements while we stood listlessly and supinely by. In the number of steam vessels of war we are greatly surpassed by other nations, and yet to Americans is the world indebted for that great discovery of the means of successfully applying steam power which has in the last quarter century so materially changed the condition of the world. We have now taken another and even bolder step, the results of which upon the affairs of nations remain still to be determined, and I can not but flatter myself that it will be followed up without loss of time to the full extent of the public demands. The Secretary of the Navy will be instructed to lay before you suitable estimates of the cost of constructing so many ships of such size and dimensions as you may think proper to order to be built.

The application of steam power to ships of war no longer confines us to the seaboard in their construction. The urgent demands of the service for the Gulf of Mexico and the substitution of iron for wood in the construction of ships plainly point to the establishment of a navy-yard at some suitable place on the Mississippi. The coal fields and iron mines of the extensive region watered by that noble river recommend such an establishment, while high considerations of public policy would lead to the same conclusion.

One of the complaints of the Western States against the actual operation of our system of government is that while large and increasing expenditures of public money are made on the Atlantic frontier the expenditures in the interior are comparatively small. The time has now arrived when this cause of complaint may be in a great measure removed by adopting the legitimate and necessary policy which I have indicated, thereby throwing around the States another bond of union.

I could not forego the favorable opportunity which has presented itself, growing out of the communication from the Secretary of the Navy, to urge upon you the foregoing recommendations.

JOHN TYLER.

WASHINGTON, _February 29, 1844_.

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

I have to perform the melancholy duty of announcing to the two Houses of Congress the death of the Hon. Abel P. Upshur, late Secretary of State, and the Hon. Thomas W. Gilmer, late Secretary of the Navy.

This most lamentable occurrence transpired on board the United States ship of war the _Princeton_ on yesterday at about half past 4 o'clock in the evening, and proceeded from the explosion of one of the large guns of that ship.

The loss which the Government and the country have sustained by this deplorable event is heightened by the death at the same time and by the same cause of several distinguished persons and valuable citizens.

I shall be permitted to express my great grief at an occurrence which has thus suddenly stricken from my side two gentlemen upon whose advice I so confidently relied in the discharge of my arduous task of administering the office of the executive department, and whose services at this interesting period were of such vast importance.

In some relief of the public sorrow which must necessarily accompany this most painful event, it affords me much satisfaction to say that it was produced by no carelessness or inattention on the part of the officers and crew of the _Princeton_, but must be set down as one of those casualties which to a greater or less degree attend upon every service, and which are invariably incident to the temporal affairs of mankind. I will also add that it in no measure detracts from the value of the improvement contemplated in the construction of the _Princeton_ or from the merits of her brave and distinguished commander and projector.

JOHN TYLER.

WASHINGTON, _March 7, 1844_.

_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:

I transmit to the House of Representatives a report[105] from the Secretary of State, with documents, containing the information requested by their resolution of the 26th ultimo.

JOHN TYLER.

[Footnote 105: Relating to the colony of Liberia, in Africa.]

WASHINGTON, _March 8, 1844_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

In compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 10th of January last, I communicate to that body a report[106] from the Secretary of State _ad interim_, which embraces the information called for by said resolution.

JOHN TYLER.

[Footnote 106: Relating to the production, growth, and trade in tobacco.]

WASHINGTON, _March 8, 1844_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I communicate to the Senate a report,[107] with the documents accompanying it, from the Secretary of State, in answer to a resolution of that body of the 25th of January, 1844.

JOHN TYLER.

[Footnote 107: Transmitting names, returns, etc., of consuls and commercial agents of the United States.]

WASHINGTON, _March 9, 1844_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit to the Senate, in answer to their resolution of the 21st ultimo, a report[108] from the Secretary of State, with accompanying papers.

JOHN TYLER.

[Footnote 108: Relating to the abuse of the United States flag in subservience to the African slave trade, and to the taking away of slaves the property of Portuguese subjects in vessels owned or employed by citizens of the United States.]

WASHINGTON, _March 11, 1844_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

In compliance with your resolution of the 26th ultimo, I herewith transmit a report[109] from the Secretary of the Navy.

JOHN TYLER.

[Footnote 109: Transmitting list of officers appointed in the Navy since June 1, 1843.]

WASHINGTON, _March 12, 1844_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith a report[110] of the Secretary of War, prepared in compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 26th ultimo.

JOHN TYLER.

[Footnote 110: Transmitting list of officers appointed in the Army since June 1, 1843.]

WASHINGTON, D.C., _March 18, 1844_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith a report[111] from the Secretary of State, in answer to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 18th of January last.

JOHN TYLER.

[Footnote 111: Transmitting list of persons employed by the Department of State without express authority of law, etc., from March 4, 1837, to December 31, 1843, inclusive.]

WASHINGTON, _March 19, 1844_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit herewith a letter[112] from the Secretary of State and certain documents accompanying the same, in answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 8th instant.

JOHN TYLER.

[Footnote 112: Transmitting the commission appointing Caleb Cushing a representative of the Government of the United States in China; papers, etc., concerning the payment of $40,000, appropriated for sending a commissioner, etc., to China.]

WASHINGTON, _March 20, 1844_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit to the Senate a report from the Secretary of State, with documents, containing the information[113] requested by their resolution of the 23d ultimo.

JOHN TYLER.

[Footnote 113: Relating to the interpretation of the tenth article of the treaty of August 9, 1842, between the United States and Great Britain.]

WASHINGTON, _March 20, 1844_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith to the House of Representatives a copy of the convention concluded on the 17th day of March, 1841, between the United States and the Republic of Peru, which has been duly ratified and of which the ratifications have been exchanged.

The communication of this treaty is now made to the end that suitable measures may be adopted to give effect to the first article thereof, which provides for the distribution among the claimants of the sum of $300,000, thereby stipulated to be paid.

JOHN TYLER.

[The same message was sent to the Senate.]

WASHINGTON CITY, _March 26, 1844_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit herewith copies of the report and papers[114] referred to in a resolution of the Senate of the 20th of February last.

JOHN TYLER.

[Footnote 114: Relating to the survey of the harbor of St. Louis.]

WASHINGTON, _March 26, 1844_.

_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:

I submit for the consideration of Congress the accompanying communication from A. Pageot, minister plenipotentiary _ad interim_ of the King of the French, upon the subject of the tonnage duties levied on French vessels coming into the ports of the United States from the islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon, and proposing to place our commercial intercourse with those islands upon the same footing as now exists with the islands of Martinique and Guadaloupe, as regulated by the acts of the 9th of May, 1828, and of the 13th of July, 1832. No reason is perceived for the discrimination recognized by the existing law, and none why the provisions of the acts of Congress referred to should not be extended to the commerce of the islands in question.

JOHN TYLER.

WASHINGTON, _March 27, 1844_.

_To the Senate_:

I transmit herewith a communication from the Secretary of the Treasury, to whom I had referred the resolution of the Senate of the 27th December last, showing that the information[115] called for by that resolution can not be furnished from authentic data.

JOHN TYLER.

[Footnote 115: Statement of the expenditures of the Government each year from its organization up to the present period, and when and for what purpose these expenditures were made.]

WASHINGTON, D.C., _April 9, 1844_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

In compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 23d of March last, requesting the President to lay before the House "the authority and the true copies of all requests and applications upon which he deemed it his duty to interfere with the naval and military forces of the United States on the occasion of the recent attempt of the people of Rhode Island to establish a free constitution in the place of the old charter government of that State; also copies of the instructions to and statements of the charter commissioners sent to him by the then existing authorities of the State of Rhode Island; also copies of the correspondence between the Executive of the United States and the charter government of the State of Rhode Island, and all the papers and documents connected with the same; also copies of the correspondence, if any, between the heads of Departments and said charter government or any person or persons connected with the said government, and of any accompanying papers and documents; also copies of all orders issued by the Executive of the United States, or any of the Departments, to military officers for the movement or employment of troops to or in Rhode Island; also copies of all orders to naval officers to prepare steam or other vessels of the United States for service in the waters of Rhode Island; also copies of all orders to the officers of revenue cutters for the same service; also copies of any instructions borne by the Secretary of War to Rhode Island on his visit in 1842 to review the troops of the charter government; also copies of any order or orders to any officer or officers of the Army or Navy to report themselves to the charter government; and that he be requested to lay before this House copies of any other papers or documents in the possession of the Executive connected with this subject not above specifically enumerated," I have to inform the House that the Executive did not deem it his "duty to interfere with the naval and military forces of the United States" in the late disturbances in Rhode Island; that no orders were issued by the Executive or any of the Departments to military officers for the movement or employment of troops to or in Rhode Island other than those which accompany this message and which contemplated the strengthening of the garrison at Fort Adams, which, considering the extent of the agitation in Rhode Island, was esteemed necessary and judicious; that no orders were issued to naval officers to prepare steam or other vessels of the United States for service in the waters of Rhode Island; that no orders were issued "to the officers of the revenue cutters for said service;" that no instructions were borne by "the Secretary of War to Rhode Island on his visit in 1842 _to review the troops of the charter government_;" that no orders were given to any officer or officers of the Army or Navy to report themselves to the charter government; that "requests and applications" were made to the Executive to fulfill the guaranties of the Constitution which impose on the Federal Government the obligation to protect and defend each State of the Union against "domestic violence and foreign invasion," but the Executive was at no time convinced that the _casus foederis_ had arisen which required the interposition of the military or naval power in the controversy which unhappily existed between the people of Rhode Island. I was in no manner prevented from so interfering by the inquiry whether Rhode Island existed as an independent State of the Union under a charter granted at an early period by the Crown of Great Britain or not. It was enough for the Executive to know that she was recognized as a sovereign State by Great Britain by the treaty of 1783; that at a later day she had in common with her sister States poured out her blood and freely expended her treasure in the War of the Revolution; that she was a party to the Articles of Confederation; that at an after period she adopted the Constitution of the United States as a free, independent, and republican State; and that in this character she has always possessed her full quota of representation in the Senate and House of Representatives; and that up to a recent day she has conducted all her domestic affairs and fulfilled all her obligations as a member of the Union, in peace and war, under her _charter government_, as it is denominated by the resolution of the House of the 23d March. I must be permitted to disclaim entirely and unqualifiedly the right on the part of the Executive to make any real or supposed defects existing in any State constitution or form of government the pretext for a failure to enforce the laws or the guaranties of the Constitution of the United States in reference to any such State. I utterly repudiate the idea, in terms as emphatic as I can employ, that those laws are not to be enforced or those guaranties complied with because _the President_ may believe that the right of suffrage or any other great popular right is either too restricted or too broadly enlarged. I also with equal strength resist the idea that it falls within the Executive competency to decide in controversies of the nature of that which existed in Rhode Island on which side is the majority of the people or as to the extent of the rights of a mere numerical majority. For the Executive to assume such a power would be to assume a power of the most dangerous character. Under such assumptions the States of this Union would have no security for peace or tranquillity, but might be converted into the mere instruments of Executive will. Actuated by selfish purposes, he might become the great agitator, fomenting assaults upon the State constitutions and declaring the majority of to-day to be the minority of to-morrow, and the minority, in its turn, the majority, before whose decrees the established order of things in the State should be subverted. Revolution, civil commotion, and bloodshed would be the inevitable consequences. The provision in the Constitution intended for the security of the States would thus be turned into the instrument of their destruction. The President would become, in fact, the great _constitution maker_ for the States, and all power would be vested in his hands.

When, therefore, the governor of Rhode Island, by his letter of the 4th of April, 1842, made a requisition upon the Executive for aid to put down the late disturbances, I had no hesitation in recognizing the obligations of the Executive to furnish such aid upon the occurrence of the contingency provided for by the Constitution and laws. My letter of the 11th of April, in reply to the governor's letter of the 4th, is herewith communicated, together with all correspondence which passed at a subsequent day and the letters and documents mentioned in the schedule hereunto annexed. From the correspondence between the Executive of the United States and that of Rhode Island, it will not escape observation that while I regarded it as my duty to announce the principles by which I should govern myself in the contingency of an armed interposition on the part of this Government being necessary to uphold the rights of the State of Rhode Island and to preserve its domestic peace, yet that the strong hope was indulged and expressed that all the difficulties would disappear before an enlightened policy of conciliation and compromise. In that spirit I addressed to Governor King the letter of the 9th of May, 1842, marked "private and confidential," and received his reply of the 12th of May of the same year. The desire of the Executive was from the beginning to bring the dispute to a termination without the interposition of the military power of the United States, and it will continue to be a subject of self-congratulation that this leading object of policy was finally accomplished. The Executive resisted all entreaties, however urgent, to depart from this line of conduct. Information from private sources had led the Executive to conclude that little else was designed by Mr. Dorr and his adherents than mere menace with a view to intimidation; nor was this opinion in any degree shaken until the 22d of June, 1842, when it was strongly represented from reliable sources, as will be seen by reference to the documents herewith communicated, that preparations were making by Mr. Dorr, with a large force in arms, to invade the State, which force had been recruited in the neighboring States and had been already preceded by the collection of military stores in considerable quantities at one or two points. This was a state of things to which the Executive could not be indifferent. Mr. Dorr speedily afterwards took up his headquarters at Chepachet and assumed the command of what was reported to be a large force, drawn chiefly from voluntary enlistments made in neighboring States. The Executive could with difficulty bring itself to realize the fact that the citizens of other States should have forgotten their duty to themselves and the Constitution of the United States and have entered into the highly reprehensible and indefensible course of interfering so far in the concerns of a sister State as to have entered into plans of invasion, conquest, and revolution; but the Executive felt it to be its duty to look minutely into the matter, and therefore the Secretary of War was dispatched to Rhode Island with instructions (a copy of which is herewith transmitted), and was authorized, should a requisition be made upon the Executive by the government of Rhode Island in pursuance of law, and the invaders should not abandon their purposes, to call upon the governors of Massachusetts and Connecticut for a sufficient number of militia at once to arrest the invasion and to interpose such of the regular troops as could be spared from Fort Adams for the defense of the city of Providence in the event of its being attacked, as was strongly represented to be in contemplation. Happily there was no necessity for either issuing the proclamation or the requisition or for removing the troops from Fort Adams, where they had been properly stationed. Chepachet was evacuated and Mr. Dorr's troops dispersed without the necessity of the interposition of any military force by this Government, thus confirming me in my early impressions that nothing more had been designed from the first by those associated with Mr. Dorr than to excite fear and apprehension and thereby to obtain concessions from the constituted authorities which might be claimed as a triumph over the existing government.

With the dispersion of Mr. Dorr's troops ended all difficulties. A convention was shortly afterwards called, by due course of law, to amend the fundamental law, and a new constitution, based on more liberal principles than that abrogated, was proposed, and adopted by the people. Thus the great American experiment of a change in government under the influence of opinion and not of force has been again crowned with success, and the State and people of Rhode Island repose in safety under institutions of their own adoption, unterrified by any future prospect of necessary change and secure against domestic violence and invasion from abroad. I congratulate the country upon so happy a termination of a condition of things which seemed at one time seriously to threaten the public peace. It may justly be regarded as worthy of the age and of the country in which we live.

JOHN TYLER.

PROVIDENCE, _April 4, 1842_.

The PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

SIR: The State of Rhode Island is threatened with domestic violence. Apprehending that the legislature can not be convened in sufficient season to apply to the Government of the United States for effectual protection in this case, I hereby apply to you, as the executive of the State of Rhode Island, for the protection which is required by the Constitution of the United States. To communicate more fully with you on this subject, I have appointed John Whipple, John Brown Francis, and Elisha R. Potter, esqs., three of our most distinguished citizens, to proceed to Washington and to make known to you in behalf of this State the circumstances which call for the interposition of the Government of the United States for our protection.

I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

SAM. W. KING,
_Governor of Rhode Island_.

PROVIDENCE, _April 4, 1842_.

The PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

SIR: For nearly a year last past the State of Rhode Island has been agitated by revolutionary movements, and is now threatened with domestic violence.

The report[116] of a joint committee of both branches of the legislature of this State, with an act[116] and resolutions[116] accompanying the same, herewith communicated, were passed unanimously by the senate, and by a vote of 60 to 6 in the house of representatives. The legislature adjourned to the first Tuesday of May next.

[Footnote 116: Omitted.]

It has become my duty by one of these resolutions to adopt such measures as in my opinion may be necessary in the recess of the legislature to execute the laws and preserve the State from domestic violence.

The provisions of the said act "in relation to offenses against the sovereign power of this State" have created much excitement among that portion of the people who have unequivocally declared their intention to set up another government in this State and to put down the existing government, and they threaten, individually and collectively, to resist the execution of this act. The numbers of this party are sufficiently formidable to threaten seriously our peace, and in some portions of the State, and in this city particularly, may constitute a majority of the physical force, though they are a minority of the people of the State.

Under the dangers which now threaten us, I have appointed John Whipple, John Brown Francis, and Elisha R. Potter, esqs., three of our most distinguished citizens, to proceed to Washington and consult with you in behalf of this State, with a view that such precautionary measures may be taken by the Government of the United States as may afford us that protection which the Constitution of the United States requires. There is but little doubt that a proclamation from the President of the United States and the presence here of a military officer to act under the authority of the United States would destroy the delusion which is now so prevalent, and convince the deluded that in a contest with the government of this State they would be involved in a contest with the Government of the United States, which could only eventuate in their destruction.

As no State can keep troops in time of peace without the consent of Congress, there is the more necessity that we should be protected by those who have the means of protection. We shall do all we can for ourselves. The Government of the United States has the power to _prevent_ as well as to defend us from violence. The protection provided by the Constitution of the United States will not be effectual unless such precautionary measures may be taken as are necessary to prevent lawless men from breaking out into violence, as well as to protect the State from further violence after it has broken out. Preventive measures are the most prudent and safe, and also the most merciful.

The protective power would be lamentably deficient if "the beginning of strife," which "is like the letting out of waters," can not be prevented, and no protection can be afforded the State until to many it would be too late.

The above-named gentlemen are fully authorized to act in behalf of the State of Rhode Island in this emergency, and carry with them such documents and proof as will, no doubt, satisfy you that the interposition of the authority of the Government of the United States will be salutary and effectual.

I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

SAM. W. KING,
_Governor of Rhode Island_.

APRIL 9, 1842.

MY DEAR SIR:[117] Will you do me the favor to see the committee from Rhode Island as soon after the meeting of the Cabinet as may suit your convenience?

[Footnote 117: Addressed to the President of the United States.]

I regret to learn from Mr. Francis that the leaning of your mind was decidedly against any expression of opinion upon the subject, upon the ground that _free suffrage_ must _prevail_. Undoubtedly it will. That is not the question. The freeholders of Rhode Island have yielded that point, and the _only_ question is between their constitution, providing for an extension of suffrage, and ours, containing _substantially_ the _same_ provision--whether their constitution shall be carried out by _force of arms without_ a majority, or the present government be supported _until_ a constitution can be agreed upon that will command a majority. Neither their constitution nor ours has as yet received a majority of the free white males over 21 years of age. _There is no doubt upon that subject_, and I very much regret that your mind should have been influenced (if it has) by the paper called the Express. Nearly all the leaders who are professional men have abandoned them, on the ground that a majority is not in favor of their constitution. I _know_ this to be true. I do hope that you will reconsider this vital question and give us a full hearing before you decide.

With great respect, very truly and sincerely, yours,

JOHN WHIPPLE.

His Excellency JOHN TYLER,

_President of the United States_:

The undersigned, having been deputed by Samuel W. King, the governor of the State of Rhode Island, to lay before you the present alarming condition in which the people of that State are placed, and to request from you the adoption of such prudential measures as in your opinion may tend to prevent domestic violence, beg leave most respectfully to state the following among the leading facts, to which your attention is more particularly invited:

That the people of Rhode Island have no fundamental law except the charter of King Charles II, granted in 1663, and the usage of the legislature under it. Legislative usage under their charters has been decided by the Supreme Court of the United States to be the fundamental law both in Connecticut and Rhode Island.

That from the date of the Rhode Island charter down to the year 1841, a period of nearly two hundred years, no person has been allowed to vote for town or State offices unless possessed of competent estates and admitted free in the several towns in which they resided.

That since the statute of 1728 no person could be admitted a freeman of any town unless he owned a freehold estate of the value fixed by law (now $134) or was the eldest son of such a freeholder.

That until the past year no attempt has been made, to our knowledge, to establish any other fundamental law, by force, than the one under which the people have lived for so long a period.

That at the January session of the legislature in 1841 a petition signed by five or six hundred male inhabitants, praying for such an extension of suffrage as the legislature might in their wisdom deem expedient to propose, was presented.

That, influenced by that petition, as well as by other considerations, the legislature at that session requested the qualified voters, or freemen, as they are called with us, to choose delegates at their regular town meetings to be holden in August, 1841, for a convention to be holden in November, 1841, to frame a written constitution.

That the result of the last meeting of this legal convention in February, 1842, was the constitution[118] accompanying this statement, marked ----, which, in case of its adoption by the people, would have been the supreme law of the State.

[Footnote 118: Omitted.]

Most of the above facts are contained in the printed report of a numerous committee of the legislature at their session in March, 1842, which report was adopted by the legislature.

That in May, 1841, after said legal convention had been provided for by the legislature, and before the time appointed for the choice of delegates by the qualified voters (August, 1841), a mass meeting was held by the friends of an extension of suffrage at Newport, at which meeting a committee was appointed, called the State committee, who were authorized by said mass meeting to take measures for calling a convention to frame a constitution.

That this committee, thus authorized, issued a request for a meeting of the male citizens in the several towns to appoint delegates to the proposed convention.