Chapter IV: Part 4

A great man has fallen among us, and a whole country is called to an occasion of unexpected, deep, and general mourning.

I recommend to the two Houses of Congress to adopt such measures as in their discretion may seem proper to perform with due solemnities the funeral obsequies of Zachary Taylor, late President of the United States, and thereby to signify the great and affectionate regard of the American people for the memory of one whose life has been devoted to the public service, whose career in arms has not been surpassed in usefulness or brilliancy, who has been so recently raised by the unsolicited voice of the people to the highest civil authority in the Government, which he administered with so much honor and advantage to his country, and by whose sudden death so many hopes of future usefulness have been blighted forever.

To you, Senators and Representatives of a nation in tears, I can say nothing which can alleviate the sorrow with which you are oppressed. I appeal to you to aid me, under the trying circumstances which surround me, in the discharge of the duties from which, however much I may be oppressed by them, I dare not shrink; and I rely upon Him who holds in His hands the destinies of nations to endow me with the requisite strength for the task and to avert from our country the evils apprehended from the heavy calamity which has befallen us.

I shall most readily concur in whatever measures the wisdom of the two Houses may suggest as befitting this deeply melancholy occasion.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

WASHINGTON, _July 15, 1850_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit to the Senate, for its consideration with a view to ratification, a treaty between the United States and the Republic of Peru, signed in this city on the 13th instant by the plenipotentiaries of the parties. A report from the Secretary of State relative to the treaty, and the documents therein referred to, are also herewith transmitted.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

WASHINGTON, _July 17, 1850_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In further answer to a resolution of the Senate of the 27th ultimo, in reference to a proclamation issued by the military officer commanding in New Mexico and other matters, I herewith transmit a report from the Secretary of War, communicating information not received at the Department until after the date of his report of the 1st instant on this subject.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

WASHINGTON, _July 17, 1850_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In answer to a resolution of the Senate of the 1st instant, requesting the President to furnish the Senate with "the report and map of Lieutenant J.D. Webster, Corps of Topographical Engineers, of a survey of the Gulf coast at the mouth of the Rio Grande and its vicinity," and in compliance therewith, I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of War, accompanied by the report and map above referred to.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

WASHINGTON, _July 18, 1850_.

_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:

I herewith transmit to the House of Representatives, in compliance with the request contained in their resolution of the 24th day of January last, the information asked for by that resolution, relating to certain proceedings of the British Government in the forcible seizure and occupation of the island of Tigre; also all the "facts, circumstances, and communications within the knowledge of the Executive relative to any seizure or occupation, or attempted seizure or occupation, by the British Government of any port, river, town, territory, or island belonging to or claimed by any of the States of Central America."

The resolution of the House speaks of the island of Tigre, in the State of Nicaragua. I am not aware of the existence of any such island in that State, and presume that the resolution refers to the island of the same name in the Gulf of Fonseca, in the State of Honduras.

The concluding part of the resolution, requesting the President to communicate to the House all treaties not heretofore published which may have been negotiated with any of the States of Central America "by any person acting by authority of the late Administration or under the auspices of the present Administration," so far as it has reference to treaties negotiated with any of those States by instructions from this Government, can not be complied with, inasmuch as those treaties have not been acted upon by the Senate of the United States, and are now in the possession of that body, to whom by the Constitution they are directed to be transmitted for advice in regard to their ratification.

But as its communication is not liable to the same objection, I transmit for the information of the House a copy of a treaty in regard to a ship canal across the Isthmus, negotiated by Elijah Hise, our late chargé d'affaires in Guatemala, with the Government of Nicaragua on the 21st day of June, 1849, accompanied by copies of his instructions from and correspondence with the Department of State.

I shall cheerfully comply with the request of the House of Representatives to lay before them the treaties negotiated with the States of Central America, now before the Senate, whenever it shall be compatible with the public interest to make the communication. For the present I communicate herewith a copy of the treaty with Great Britain and of the correspondence between the American Secretary of State and the British plenipotentiary at the time it was concluded. The ratifications of it were exchanged at Washington on the 4th day of July instant.

I also transmit the report of the Secretary of State, to whom the resolution of the House was referred, and who conducted the negotiations relative to Central America, under the direction of my lamented predecessor.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

WASHINGTON, _July 20, 1850_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I herewith transmit to the Senate, with a view to its ratification, a convention between the United States and the Mexican Republic for the extradition of fugitives from justice. This convention was negotiated under the directions of my predecessor, and was signed this day by John M. Clayton, Secretary of State, on the part of the United States, and by Senor Don Luis de la Rosa, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of Mexico, on the part of that Republic. The length of the boundary line between the two countries, extending, as it does, from the Pacific to the Gulf, renders such a convention indispensable to the maintenance of good order and the amicable relations now so happily subsisting between the sister Republics.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

WASHINGTON, _July 23, 1850_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I lay before the Senate, for their consideration and advice as to its ratification, a treaty concluded in the city of Washington on the 1st day of April, 1850, by and between Ardavan S. Loughery, commissioner on the part of the United States, and delegates of the Wyandott tribe of Indians.

I also lay before the Senate a letter from the Secretary of the Interior and the papers therein referred to.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

WASHINGTON, _July 30, 1850_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I herewith transmit to the Senate, in answer to its resolution of the 5th instant, requesting the President to communicate to that body "any information, if any has been received by the Government, showing that an American vessel has been recently stopped upon the high seas and searched by a British ship of war," the accompanying copies of papers. The Government has no knowledge of any alleged stopping or searching on the high seas of American vessels by British ships of war except in the cases therein mentioned. The circumstances of these cases will appear by the inclosed correspondence, taken from the files of the Navy Department. No remonstrance or complaint by the owners of these vessels has been presented to the Government of the United States.

MILLARD FILLMORE

WASHINGTON, _August 2, 1850_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I have the honor to transmit herewith a report of the Secretary of War, in answer to a resolution of the Senate passed on the 8th of July last, calling for information in relation to the removal of Fort Polk, etc. The documents accompanying the report contain all the information required by the resolution.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

WASHINGTON, _August 6, 1850_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I herewith transmit to the two Houses of Congress a letter from his excellency the governor of Texas, dated on the 14th day of June last, addressed to the late President of the United States, which, not having been answered by him, came to my hands on his death; and I also transmit a copy of the answer which I have felt it to be my duty to cause to be made to that communication.

Congress will perceive that the governor of Texas officially states that by authority of the legislature of that State he dispatched a special commissioner with full power and instructions to extend the civil jurisdiction of the State over the unorganized counties of El Paso, Worth, Presidio, and Santa Fe, situated on its northwestern limits.

He proceeds to say that the commissioner had reported to him in an official form that the military officers employed in the service of the United States stationed at Santa Fe interposed adversely with the inhabitants to the fulfillment of his object in favor of the establishment of a separate State government east of the Rio Grande, and within the rightful limits of the State of Texas. These four counties, which Texas thus proposes to establish and organize as being within her own jurisdiction, extend over the whole of the territory east of the Rio Grande, which has heretofore been regarded as an essential and integral part of the department of New Mexico, and actually governed and possessed by her people until conquered and severed from the Republic of Mexico by the American arms.

The legislature of Texas has been called together by her governor for the purpose, as is understood, of maintaining her claim to the territory east of the Rio Grande and of establishing over it her own jurisdiction and her own laws by force.

These proceedings of Texas, may well arrest the attention of all branches of the Government of the United States, and I rejoice that they occur while the Congress is yet in session. It is, I fear, far from being impossible that, in consequence of these proceedings of Texas, a crisis may be brought on which shall summon the two Houses of Congress, and still more emphatically the executive government, to an immediate readiness for the performance of their respective duties.

By the Constitution of the United States the President is constituted Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy, and of the militia of the several States when called into the actual service of the United States. The Constitution declares also that he shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed and that he shall from time to time give to the Congress information of the state of the Union.

Congress has power by the Constitution to provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the Union, and suitable and appropriate acts of Congress have been passed as well for providing for calling forth the militia as for placing other suitable and efficient means in the hands of the President to enable him to discharge the constitutional functions of his office.

The second section of the act of the 28th of February, 1795, declares that whenever the laws of the United States shall be opposed or their execution obstructed in any State by combinations too powerful to be suppressed by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings or the power vested in the marshals, the President may call forth the militia, as far as may be necessary, to suppress such combinations and to cause the laws to be duly executed.

By the act of March 3, 1807, it is provided that in all cases of obstruction to the laws either of the United States or any individual State or Territory, where it is lawful for the President to call forth the militia for the purpose of causing the laws to be duly executed, it shall be lawful for him to employ for the same purposes such part of the land or naval force of the United States as shall be judged necessary.

These several enactments are now in full force, so that if the laws of the United States are opposed or obstructed in any State or Territory by combinations too powerful to be suppressed by the judicial or civil authorities it becomes a case in which it is the duty of the President either to call out the militia or to employ the military and naval force of the United States, or to do both if in his judgment the exigency of the occasion shall so require, for the purpose of suppressing such combinations. The constitutional duty of the President is plain and peremptory and the authority vested in him by law for its performance clear and ample.

Texas is a State, authorized to maintain her own laws so far as they are not repugnant to the Constitution, laws, and treaties of the United States; to suppress insurrections against her authority, and to punish those who may commit treason against the State according to the forms provided by her own constitution and her own laws.

But all this power is local and confined entirely within the limits of Texas herself. She can possibly confer no authority which can be lawfully exercised beyond her own boundaries.

All this is plain, and hardly needs argument or elucidation. If Texas militia, therefore, march into any one of the other States or into any Territory of the United States, there to execute or enforce any law of Texas, they become at that moment trespassers; they are no longer under the protection of any lawful authority, and are to be regarded merely as intruders; and if within such State or Territory they obstruct any law of the United States, either by power of arms or mere power of numbers, constituting such a combination as is too powerful to be suppressed by the civil authority, the President of the United States has no option left to him, but is bound to obey the solemn injunction of the Constitution and exercise the high powers vested in him by that instrument and by the acts of Congress.

Or if any civil posse, armed or unarmed, enter into any Territory of the United States, under the protection of the laws thereof, with intent to seize individuals, to be carried elsewhere for trial for alleged offenses, and this posse be too powerful to be resisted by the local civil authorities, such seizure or attempt to seize is to be prevented or resisted by the authority of the United States.

The grave and important question now arises whether there be in the Territory of New Mexico any existing law of the United States opposition to which or the obstruction of which would constitute a case calling for the interposition of the authority vested in the President.

The Constitution of the United States declares that--

This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be
made in pursuance thereof, and all treaties made, or which shall be
made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme
law of the land.

If, therefore, New Mexico be a Territory of the United States, and if any treaty stipulation be in force therein, such treaty stipulation is the supreme law of the land, and is to be maintained and upheld accordingly.

In the letter to the governor of Texas my reasons are given for believing that New Mexico is now a Territory of the United States, with the same extent and the same boundaries which belonged to it while in the actual possession of the Republic of Mexico, and before the late war. In the early part of that war both California and New Mexico were conquered by the arms of the United States, and were in the military possession of the United States at the date of the treaty of peace.

By that treaty the title by conquest was confirmed and these territories, provinces, or departments separated from Mexico forever, and by the same treaty certain important rights and securities were solemnly guaranteed to the inhabitants residing therein.

By the fifth article of the treaty it is declared that--

The boundary line between the two Republics shall commence in the Gulf
of Mexico 3 leagues from land, opposite the mouth of the Rio Grande,
otherwise called Rio Bravo del Norte, or opposite the mouth of its
deepest branch if it should have more than one branch emptying
directly into the sea; from thence up the middle of that river,
following the deepest channel where it has more than one, to the point
where it strikes the southern boundary of New Mexico; thence
westwardly, along the whole southern boundary of New Mexico (which
runs north of the town called Paso) to its western termination; thence
northward along the western line of New Mexico until it intersects the
first branch of the river Gila (or, if it should not intersect any
branch of that river, then to the point on the said line nearest to
such branch, and thence in a direct line to the same); thence down the
middle of the said branch and of the said river until it empties into
the Rio Colorado; thence across the Rio Colorado, following the
division line between Upper and Lower California, to the Pacific
Ocean.

The eighth article of the treaty is in the following terms:

Mexicans now established in territories previously belonging to
Mexico, and which remain for the future within the limits of the
United States as defined by the present treaty, shall be free to
continue where they now reside or to remove at any time to the Mexican
Republic, retaining the property which they possess in the said
territories, or disposing thereof and removing the proceeds wherever
they please without their being subjected on this account to any
contribution, tax, or charge whatever.

Those who shall prefer to remain in the said territories may either
retain the title, and rights of Mexican citizens or acquire those of
citizens of the United States; but they shall be under the obligation
to make their election within one year from the date of the exchange
of ratifications of this treaty; and those who shall remain in the
said territories after the expiration of that year without having
declared their intention to retain the character of Mexicans shall be
considered to have elected to become citizens of the United States.

In the said territories property of every kind now belonging to
Mexicans not established there shall be inviolably respected. The
present owners, the heirs of these, and all Mexicans who may hereafter
acquire said property by contract shall enjoy with respect to it
guaranties equally ample as if the same belonged to citizens of the
United States.

The ninth article of the treaty is in these words:

The Mexicans who, in the territories aforesaid, shall not preserve the
character of citizens of the Mexican Republic, conformably with what
is stipulated in the preceding article, shall be incorporated into the
Union of the United States and be admitted at the proper time (to be
judged of by the Congress of the United States) to the enjoyment of
all the rights of citizens of the United States according to the
principles of the Constitution, and in the meantime shall be
maintained and protected in the free enjoyment of their liberty and
property and secured in the free exercise of their religion without
restriction.

It is plain, therefore, on the face of these treaty stipulations that all Mexicans established in territories north or east of the line of demarcation already mentioned come within the protection of the ninth article, and that the treaty, being a part of the supreme law of the land, does extend over all such Mexicans, and assures to them perfect security in the free enjoyment of their liberty and property, as well as in the free exercise of their religion; and this supreme law of the land, being thus in actual force over this territory, is to be maintained until it shall be displaced or superseded by other legal provisions; and if it be obstructed or resisted by combinations too powerful to be suppressed by the civil authority the case is one which comes within the provisions of law and which obliges the President to enforce those provisions. Neither the Constitution nor the laws nor my duty nor my oath of office leave me any alternative or any choice in my mode of action.

The executive government of the United States has no power or authority to determine what was the true line of boundary between Mexico and the United States before the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, nor has it any such power now, since the question has become a question between the State of Texas and the United States. So far as this boundary is doubtful, that doubt can only be removed by some act of Congress, to which the assent of the State of Texas may be necessary, or by some appropriate mode of legal adjudication; but in the meantime, if disturbances or collisions arise or should be threatened, it is absolutely incumbent on the executive government, however painful the duty, to take care that the laws be faithfully maintained; and he can regard only the actual state of things as it existed at the date of the treaty, and is bound to protect all inhabitants who were then established and who now remain north and east of the line of demarcation in the full enjoyment of their liberty and property, according to the provisions of the ninth article of the treaty. In other words, all must be now regarded as New Mexico which was possessed and occupied as New Mexico by citizens of Mexico at the date of the treaty until a definite line of boundary shall be established by competent authority.

This assertion of duty to protect the people of New Mexico from threatened violence, or from seizure to be carried into Texas for trial for alleged offenses against Texan laws, does not at all include any claim of power on the part of the Executive to establish any civil or military government within that Territory. _That power_ belongs exclusively to the legislative department, and Congress is the sole judge of the time and manner of creating or authorizing any such government.

The duty of the Executive extends only to the execution of laws and the maintenance of treaties already in force and the protection of all the people of the United States in the enjoyment of the rights which those treaties and laws guarantee.

It is exceedingly desirable that no occasion should arise for the exercise of the powers thus vested in the President by the Constitution and the laws. With whatever mildness those powers might be executed, or however clear the case of necessity, yet consequences might, nevertheless, follow of which no human sagacity can foresee either the evils or the end.

Having thus laid before Congress the communication of his excellency the governor of Texas and the answer thereto, and having made such observations as I have thought the occasion called for respecting constitutional obligations which may arise in the further progress of things and may devolve on me to be performed, I hope I shall not be regarded as stepping aside from the line of my duty, notwithstanding that I am aware that the subject is now before both Houses, if I express my deep and earnest conviction of the importance of an immediate decision or arrangement or settlement of the question of boundary between Texas and the Territory of New Mexico. All considerations of justice, general expediency, and domestic tranquillity call for this. It seems to be in its character and by position the first, or one of the first, of the questions growing out of the acquisition of California and New Mexico, and now requiring decision.

No government can be established for New Mexico, either State or Territorial, until it shall be first ascertained what New Mexico is, and what are her limits and boundaries. These can not be fixed or known till the line of division between her and Texas shall be ascertained and established; and numerous and weighty reasons conspire, in my judgment, to show that this divisional line should be established by Congress with the assent of the government of Texas. In the first place, this seems by far the most prompt mode of proceeding by which the end can be accomplished. If judicial proceedings were resorted to, such proceedings would necessarily be slow, and years would pass by, in all probability, before the controversy could be ended. So great a delay in this case is to be avoided if possible. Such delay would be every way inconvenient, and might be the occasion of disturbances and collisions. For the same reason I would, with the utmost deference to the wisdom of Congress, express a doubt of the expediency of the appointment of commissioners, and of an examination, estimate, and an award of indemnity to be made by them. This would be but a species of arbitration, which might last as long as a suit at law.

So far as I am able to comprehend the case, the general facts are now all known, and Congress is as capable of deciding on it justly and properly now as it probably would be after the report of the commissioners. If the claim of title on the part of Texas appears to Congress to be well founded in whole or in part, it is in the competency of Congress to offer her an indemnity for the surrender of that claim. In a case like this, surrounded, as it is, by many cogent considerations, all calling for amicable adjustment and immediate settlement, the Government of the United States would be justified, in my opinion, in allowing an indemnity to Texas, not unreasonable or extravagant, but fair, liberal, and awarded in a just spirit of accommodation.

I think no event would be hailed with more gratification by the people of the United States than the amicable adjustment of questions of difficulty which have now for a long time agitated the country and occupied, to the exclusion of other subjects, the time and attention of Congress.

Having thus freely communicated the results of my own reflections on the most advisable mode of adjusting the boundary question, I shall nevertheless cheerfully acquiesce in any other mode which the wisdom of Congress may devise. And in conclusion I repeat my conviction that every consideration of the public interest manifests the necessity of a provision by Congress for the settlement of this boundary question before the present session be brought to a close. The settlement of other questions connected with the same subject within the same period is greatly to be desired, but the adjustment of this appears to me to be in the highest degree important. In the train of such an adjustment we may well hope that there will follow a return of harmony and good will, an increased attachment to the Union, and the general satisfaction of the country.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

WASHINGTON, _August 8, 1850_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

It has been suggested that the language in the first paragraph of my message to the two Houses of Congress of the 6th instant may convey the idea that Governor Bell's letter to my predecessor was received by him before his death. It was addressed to him, but appears, in point of fact, to have been sent to me from the post-office after his death.

I make this communication to accompany the message and prevent misapprehension.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

WASHINGTON, _August 10, 1850_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit herewith a communication from the Department of the Interior and the papers which accompanied it, being the first part of the results of investigations by Henry R. Schoolcraft, esq., under the provisions of an act of Congress approved March 3, 1847, requiring the Secretary of War "to collect and digest such statistics and materials as may illustrate the history, the present condition, and future prospects of the Indian tribes of the United States,"

MILLARD FILLMORE.

WASHINGTON, _August 24, 1850_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I have the honor to transmit herewith a report submitted by the Secretary of the Treasury, to whom was referred the resolution of the Senate of the 3ist July last, requesting to be furnished with certain information in relation to the commerce, etc., of the district of Brazos Santiago, in Texas.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

WASHINGTON, _August 26, 1850_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I have the honor to inclose herewith a letter just received from the Secretary of War, transmitting a communication from the Colonel of the Corps of Topographical Engineers, with accompanying papers, which he requests may be taken as a supplement to the "report and map of Lieutenant J.D. Webster, Corps of Topographical Engineers, of a survey of the Gulf coast at the mouth of the Rio Grande and its vicinity," called for by a resolution of the Senate of the 1st of July last.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

WASHINGTON, _September 2, 1850_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I have the honor herewith to transmit to your honorable body a report from the Secretary of the Navy, accompanied by copies of the correspondence relating to the resignation of Edward C. Anderson, a lieutenant in the Navy, in answer to a resolution of the Senate of August 28, 1850, adopted in executive session.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

WASHINGTON, _September 9, 1850_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In answer to a resolution of the Senate of the 5th instant, I have the honor herewith to transmit to the Senate a letter from the Secretary of State, accompanied by a copy of the report of the commissioner to China made in pursuance of the provisions of the act to carry into effect certain provisions of the treaties between the United States and China and the Ottoman Porte, giving certain judicial powers, etc.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

WASHINGTON, _September 9, 1850_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In compliance with the request of the Hon. Manuel Alvarez, acting governor, etc., I have the honor to transmit to the Senate herewith a copy of the constitution recently adopted by the inhabitants of New Mexico, together with a digest of the votes for and against it.

Congress having just passed a bill providing a Territorial government for New Mexico, I do not deem it advisable to submit any recommendation on the subject of a State government.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

WASHINGTON, _September 12, 1850_.

The SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

SIR: In answer to a resolution of the House of Representatives adopted September 2, 1850, calling upon me to communicate the full and exact cost of each of the lines of mail steamers now in service, etc., I have the honor to transmit herewith reports from the Secretary of the Navy and Postmaster-General, containing the desired information.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

WASHINGTON, _September 16, 1850_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In answer to a resolution of the Senate of the 9th instant, adopted in executive session, asking information in reference to the nomination of John Howard Payne as consul to Tunis, I have the honor to transmit a report from the Secretary of State, giving the desired information.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

WASHINGTON, _September 23, 1850_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

Having been informed that it is the wish of the family and relatives of the late lamented President of the United States that his remains should be removed to the State of Kentucky, and being desirous of manifesting the most sincere and profound respect for the character of the deceased, in which I doubt not Congress will fully concur, I have felt it to be my duty to make known to you the wishes of the family, that you might previous to your adjournment adopt such proceedings and take such order on the subject as in your wisdom may seem meet and proper on the occasion.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

[The remains of the late President of the United States were removed from Washington to Louisville, Ky., October 25, 1850.]

WASHINGTON, _September 27, 1850_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I herewith transmit to the Senate, in answer to their resolution of the 23d instant, a report from the Secretary of State, with the papers[1] therein referred to.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

[Footnote 1: Communications from the United States minister to Turkey relative to the Hungarian exiles.]

WASHINGTON, _September 28, 1850_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In answer to your resolution of the 24th instant, expressing an opinion adverse to the alleged resignation of Lieutenant Anderson, of the Navy, I have the honor herewith to transmit a report from the Secretary of the Navy, accompanied by the correspondence in reference to such resignation.

Regarding the opinion of the Senate in this matter with the most profound respect, I have given to the subject the most anxious consideration, and submitted the question to the deliberation of my Cabinet, and after a careful examination of the whole correspondence they are unanimously of opinion that Lieutenant Anderson tendered his resignation, which was duly accepted, and that he was therefore rightfully dropped from the Register. I concur fully in this opinion. With these convictions I feel compelled to adhere to the decision of my lamented predecessor, and can only regret that I have the misfortune in this instance to differ from those for whom, individually and collectively, I entertain the highest respect.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

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 24th of May, 1828, entitled "An act in addition to an act entitled 'An act concerning discriminating duties of tonnage and impost' and to equalize the duties on Prussian vessels and their cargoes," it is provided that upon satisfactory evidence being given to the President of the United States by the government of any foreign nation that no discriminating duties of tonnage or impost are imposed or levied in the ports of the said nation upon vessels wholly belonging to citizens of the United States, or upon the produce, manufactures, or merchandise imported in the same from the United States or from any foreign country, the President is thereby authorized to issue his proclamation declaring that the foreign discriminating duties of tonnage and impost within the United States are and shall be suspended and discontinued so far as respects the vessels of the said foreign nation and the produce, manufactures, or merchandise imported into the United States in the same from the said foreign nation or from any other foreign country, the said suspension to take effect from the time of such notification being given to the President of the United States and to continue so long as the reciprocal exemption of vessels belonging to citizens of the United States and their cargoes, as aforesaid, shall be continued, and no longer; and

Whereas satisfactory evidence has lately been received by me from the Government of the Republic of Chile, through an official communication of Señor Don Manuel Carvallo, accredited to this Government as envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of that Republic, under date of the 31st of October, 1850, that no other or higher duties of tonnage and impost are imposed or levied in the ports of Chile upon vessels wholly belonging to citizens of the United States and upon the produce, manufactures, or merchandise imported in the same from the United States and from any foreign country whatever than are levied on Chilean ships and their cargoes in the same ports and under like circumstances:

Now, therefore, I, Millard Fillmore, President of the United States of America, do hereby declare and proclaim that so much of the several acts imposing discriminating duties of tonnage and impost within the United States are and shall be suspended and discontinued so far as respects the vessels of Chile and the produce, manufactures, and merchandise imported into the United States in the same from Chile and from any other foreign country whatever, the said suspension to take effect from the day above mentioned and to continue thenceforward so long as the reciprocal exemption of the vessels of the United States and the produce, manufactures, and merchandise imported into Chile in the same, as aforesaid, shall be continued on the part of the Government of Chile.

Given under my hand, at the city of Washington, this 1st day of November, A.D. 1850, and the seventy-fifth of the Independence of the United States.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

By the President:
W.S. DERRICK,
_Acting Secretary of State_.

FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE.

WASHINGTON, _December 2, 1850_.

_Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and of the House of Representatives_:

Being suddenly called in the midst of the last session of Congress by a painful dispensation of Divine Providence to the responsible station which I now hold, I contented myself with such communications to the legislature as the exigency of the moment seemed to require. The country was shrouded in mourning for the loss of its venerable Chief Magistrate and all hearts were penetrated with grief. Neither the time nor the occasion appeared to require or to justify on my part any general expression of political opinions or any announcement of the principles which would govern me in the discharge of the duties to the performance of which I had been so unexpectedly called. I trust, therefore, that it may not be deemed inappropriate if I avail myself of this opportunity of the reassembling of Congress to make known my sentiments in a general manner in regard to the policy which ought to be pursued by the Government both in its intercourse with foreign nations and its management and administration of internal affairs.

Nations, like individuals in a state of nature, are equal and independent, possessing certain rights and owing certain duties to each other, arising from their necessary and unavoidable relations; which rights and duties there is no common human authority to protect and enforce. Still, they are rights and duties, binding in morals, in conscience, and in honor, although there is no tribunal to which an injured party can appeal but the disinterested judgment of mankind, and ultimately the arbitrament of the sword.

Among the acknowledged rights of nations is that which each possesses of establishing that form of government which it may deem most conducive to the happiness and prosperity of its own citizens, of changing that form as circumstances may require, and of managing its internal affairs according to its own will. The people of the United States claim this right for themselves, and they readily concede it to others. Hence it becomes an imperative duty not to interfere in the government or internal policy of other nations; and although we may sympathize with the unfortunate or the oppressed everywhere in their struggles for freedom, our principles forbid us from taking any part in such foreign contests. We make no wars to promote or to prevent successions to thrones, to maintain any theory of a balance of power, or to suppress the actual government which any country chooses to establish for itself. We instigate no revolutions, nor suffer any hostile military expeditions to be fitted out in the United States to invade the territory or provinces of a friendly nation. The great law of morality ought to have a national as well as a personal and individual application. We should act toward other nations as we wish them to act toward us, and justice and conscience should form the rule of conduct between governments, instead of mere power, self-interest, or the desire of aggrandizement. To maintain a strict neutrality in foreign wars, to cultivate friendly relations, to reciprocate every noble and generous act, and to perform punctually and scrupulously every treaty obligation--these are the duties which we owe to other states, and by the performance of which we best entitle ourselves to like treatment from them; or, if that, in any case, be refused, we can enforce our own rights with justice and a clear conscience.

In our domestic policy the Constitution will be my guide, and in questions of doubt I shall look for its interpretation to the judicial decisions of that tribunal which was established to expound it and to the usage of the Government, sanctioned by the acquiescence of the country. I regard all its provisions as equally binding. In all its parts it is the will of the people expressed in the most solemn form, and the constituted authorities are but agents to carry that will into effect. Every power which it has granted is to be exercised for the public good; but no pretense of utility, no honest conviction, even, of what might be expedient, can justify the assumption of any power not granted. The powers conferred upon the Government and their distribution to the several departments are as clearly expressed in that sacred instrument as the imperfection of human language will allow, and I deem it my first duty not to question its wisdom, add to its provisions, evade its requirements, or nullify its commands.

Upon you, fellow-citizens, as the representatives of the States and the people, is wisely devolved the legislative power. I shall comply with my duty in laying before you from time to time any information calculated to enable you to discharge your high and responsible trust for the benefit of our common constituents.

My opinions will be frankly expressed upon the leading subjects of legislation; and if--which I do not anticipate--any act should pass the two Houses of Congress which should appear to me unconstitutional, or an encroachment on the just powers of other departments, or with provisions hastily adopted and likely to produce consequences injurious and unforeseen, I should not shrink from the duty of returning it to you, with my reasons, for your further consideration. Beyond the due performance of these constitutional obligations, both my respect for the Legislature and my sense of propriety will restrain me from any attempt to control or influence your proceedings. With you is the power, the honor, and the responsibility of the legislation of the country.

The Government of the United States is a limited Government. It is confined to the exercise of powers expressly granted and such others as may be necessary for carrying those powers into effect; and it is at all times an especial duty to guard against any infringement on the just rights of the States. Over the objects and subjects intrusted to Congress its legislative authority is supreme. But here that authority ceases, and every citizen who truly loves the Constitution and desires the continuance of its existence and its blessings will resolutely and firmly resist any interference in those domestic affairs which the Constitution has clearly and unequivocally left to the exclusive authority of the States. And every such citizen will also deprecate useless irritation among the several members of the Union and all reproach and crimination tending to alienate one portion of the country from another. The beauty of our system of government consists, and its safety and durability must consist, in avoiding mutual collisions and encroachments and in the regular separate action of all, while each is revolving in its own distinct orbit.

The Constitution has made it the duty of the President to take care that the laws be faithfully executed. In a government like ours, in which all laws are passed by a majority of the representatives of the people, and these representatives are chosen for such short periods that any injurious or obnoxious law can very soon be repealed, it would appear unlikely that any great numbers should be found ready to resist the execution of the laws. But it must be borne in mind that the country is extensive; that there may be local interests or prejudices rendering a law odious in one part which is not so in another, and that the thoughtless and inconsiderate, misled by their passions or their imaginations, may be induced madly to resist such laws as they disapprove. Such persons should recollect that without law there can be no real practical liberty; that when law is trampled under foot tyranny rules, whether it appears in the form of a military despotism or of popular violence. The law is the only sure protection of the weak and the only efficient restraint upon the strong. When impartially and faithfully administered, none is beneath its protection and none above its control. You, gentlemen, and the country may be assured that to the utmost of my ability and to the extent of the power vested in me I shall at all times and in all places take care that the laws be faithfully executed. In the discharge of this duty, solemnly imposed upon me by the Constitution and by my oath of office, I shall shrink from no responsibility, and shall endeavor to meet events as they may arise with firmness, as well as with prudence and discretion.

The appointing power is one of the most delicate with which the Executive is invested. I regard it as a sacred trust, to be exercised with the sole view of advancing the prosperity and happiness of the people. It shall be my effort to elevate the standard of official employment by selecting for places of importance individuals fitted for the posts to which they are assigned by their known integrity, talents, and virtues. In so extensive a country, with so great a population, and where few persons appointed to office can be known to the appointing power, mistakes will sometimes unavoidably happen and unfortunate appointments be made notwithstanding the greatest care. In such cases the power of removal may be properly exercised; and neglect of duty or malfeasance in office will be no more tolerated in individuals appointed by myself than in those appointed by others.

I am happy in being able to say that no unfavorable change in our foreign relations has taken place since the message at the opening of the last session of Congress. We are at peace with all nations and we enjoy in an eminent degree the blessings of that peace in a prosperous and growing commerce and in all the forms of amicable national intercourse. The unexampled growth of the country, the present amount of its population, and its ample means of self-protection assure for it the respect of all nations, while it is trusted that its character for justice and a regard to the rights of other States will cause that respect to be readily and cheerfully paid.

A convention was negotiated between the United States and Great Britain in April last for facilitating and protecting the construction of a ship canal between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and for other purposes. The instrument has since been ratified by the contracting parties, the exchange of ratifications has been effected, and proclamation thereof has been duly made.

In addition to the stipulations contained in this convention, two other objects remain to be accomplished between the contracting powers:

First. The designation and establishment of a free port at each end of the canal.

Second. An agreement fixing the distance from the shore within which belligerent maritime operations shall not be carried on.

On these points there is little doubt that the two Governments will come to an understanding.

The company of citizens of the United States who have acquired from the State of Nicaragua the privilege of constructing a ship canal between the two oceans through the territory of that State have made progress in their preliminary arrangements. The treaty between the United States and Great Britain of the 19th of April last, above referred to, being now in operation, it is to be hoped that the guaranties which it offers will be sufficient to secure the completion of the work with all practicable expedition. It is obvious that this result would be indefinitely postponed if any other than peaceful measures for the purpose of harmonizing conflicting claims to territory in that quarter should be adopted. It will consequently be my endeavor to cause any further negotiations on the part of this Government which may be requisite for this purpose to be so conducted as to bring them to a speedy and successful close.

Some unavoidable delay has occurred, arising from distance and the difficulty of intercourse between this Government and that of Nicaragua, but as intelligence has just been received of the appointment of an envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of that Government to reside at Washington, whose arrival may soon be expected, it is hoped that no further impediments will be experienced in the prompt transaction of business between the two Governments.

Citizens of the United States have undertaken the connection of the two oceans by means of a railroad across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, under grants of the Mexican Government to a citizen of that Republic. It is understood that a thorough survey of the course of the communication is in preparation, and there is every reason to expect that it will be prosecuted with characteristic energy, especially when that Government shall have consented to such stipulations with the Government of the United States as may be necessary to impart a feeling of security to those who may embark their property in the enterprise. Negotiations are pending for the accomplishment of that object, and a hope is confidently entertained that when the Government of Mexico shall become duly sensible of the advantages which that country can not fail to derive from the work, and learn that the Government of the United States desires that the right of sovereignty of Mexico in the Isthmus shall remain unimpaired, the stipulations referred to will be agreed to with alacrity.

By the last advices from Mexico it would appear, however, that that Government entertains strong objections to some of the stipulations which the parties concerned in the project of the railroad deem necessary for their protection and security. Further consideration, it is to be hoped, or some modification of terms, may yet reconcile the differences existing between the two Governments in this respect.

Fresh instructions have recently been given to the minister of the United States in Mexico, who is prosecuting the subject with promptitude and ability.

Although the negotiations with Portugal for the payment of claims of citizens of the United States against that Government have not yet resulted in a formal treaty, yet a proposition, made by the Government of Portugal for the final adjustment and payment of those claims, has recently been accepted on the part of the United States. It gives me pleasure to say that Mr. Clay, to whom the negotiation on the part of the United States had been intrusted, discharged the duties of his appointment with ability and discretion, acting always within the instructions of his Government.

It is expected that a regular convention will be immediately negotiated for carrying the agreement between the two Governments into effect.

The commissioner appointed under the act of Congress for carrying into effect the convention with Brazil of the 27th of January, 1849, has entered upon the performance of the duties imposed upon him by that act. It is hoped that those duties may be completed within the time which it prescribes. The documents, however, which the Imperial Government, by the third article of the convention, stipulates to furnish to the Government of the United States have not yet been received. As it is presumed that those documents will be essential for the correct disposition of the claims, it may become necessary for Congress to extend the period limited for the duration of the commission. The sum stipulated by the fourth article of the convention to be paid to this Government has been received.

The collection in the ports of the United States of discriminating duties upon the vessels of Chili and their cargoes has been suspended, pursuant to the provisions of the act of Congress of the 24th of May, 1828. It is to be hoped that this measure will impart a fresh impulse to the commerce between the two countries, which of late, and especially since our acquisition of California, has, to the mutual advantage of the parties, been much augmented.

Peruvian guano has become so desirable an article to the agricultural interest of the United States that it is the duty of the Government to employ all the means properly in its power for the purpose of causing that article to be imported into the country at a reasonable price. Nothing will be omitted on my part toward accomplishing this desirable end. I am persuaded that in removing any restraints on this traffic the Peruvian Government will promote its own best interests, while it will afford a proof of a friendly disposition toward this country, which will be duly appreciated.

The treaty between the United States and His Majesty the King of the Hawaiian Islands, which has recently been made public, will, it is believed, have a beneficial effect upon the relations between the two countries.