Chapter VIII: Part 8

Cases have heretofore arisen in which individuals have denied the binding authority of acts of Congress, and even States have proposed to nullify such acts upon the ground that the Constitution was the supreme law of the land, and that those acts of Congress were repugnant to that instrument; but nullification is now aimed not so much against particular laws as being inconsistent with the Constitution as against the Constitution itself, and it is not to be disguised that a spirit exists, and has been actively at work, to rend asunder this Union, which is our cherished inheritance from our Revolutionary fathers.

In my last annual message I stated that I considered the series of measures which had been adopted at the previous session in reference to the agitation growing out of the Territorial and slavery questions as a final settlement in principle and substance of the dangerous and exciting subjects which they embraced, and I recommended adherence to the adjustment established by those measures until time and experience should demonstrate the necessity of further legislation to guard against evasion or abuse. I was not induced to make this recommendation because I thought those measures perfect, for no human legislation can be perfect. Wide differences and jarring opinions can only be reconciled by yielding something on all sides, and this result had been reached after an angry conflict of many months, in which one part of the country was arrayed against another, and violent convulsion seemed to be imminent. Looking at the interests of the whole country, I felt it to be my duty to seize upon this compromise as the best that could be obtained amid conflicting interests and to insist upon it as a final settlement, to be adhered to by all who value the peace and welfare of the country. A year has now elapsed since that recommendation was made. To that recommendation I still adhere, and I congratulate you and the country upon the general acquiescence in these measures of peace which has been exhibited in all parts of the Republic. And not only is there this general acquiescence in these measures, but the spirit of conciliation which has been manifested in regard to them in all parts of the country has removed doubts and uncertainties in the minds of thousands of good men concerning the durability of our popular institutions and given renewed assurance that our liberty and our Union may subsist together for the benefit of this and all succeeding generations.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

SPECIAL MESSAGES.

WASHINGTON, _December 12, 1851_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit to the Senate, for its consideration with a view to ratification, a treaty of friendship, commerce, and navigation between the United States and the Republic of Costa Rica, signed in this city on the 10th day of July last.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

WASHINGTON, _December 15, 1851_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit to the Senate a report[13] of the Secretary of State, in answer to their resolution of the 8th of March last.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

[Footnote 13: Relating to the free navigation of the St. Lawrence, St. John, and other large rivers, and to the free enjoyment of the British North American fisheries by United States citizens.]

WASHINGTON, _December 15, 1851_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I have received a resolution of the Senate, adopted on the 12th instant, in the following terms:

_Resolved_, That the President of the United States be requested to
communicate to the Senate, if not inconsistent with the public interest,
any information the Executive may have received respecting the firing
into and seizure of the American steamship _Prometheus_ by a British
vessel of war in November last near Greytown, on the Mosquito Coast,
and also what measures have been taken by the Executive to ascertain
the state of the facts and to vindicate the honor of the country.

In answer to this request I submit to the Senate the accompanying extracts from a communication addressed to the Department of State by Mr. Joseph L. White, as counsel of the American, Atlantic and Pacific Ship Canal Company, dated 2d instant.

This communication is the principal source of the information received by the Executive in relation to the subject alluded to, and is presumed to be essentially correct in its statement of the facts. Upon receiving this communication instructions such as the occasion seemed to demand were immediately dispatched to the minister of the United States in London. Sufficient time has not elapsed for the return of any answer to this dispatch from him, and in my judgment it would at the present moment be inconsistent with the public interest to communicate those instructions. A communication, however, of all the correspondence will be made to the Senate at the earliest moment at which a proper regard to the public interest will permit.

At the same time instructions were given to Commodore Parker, commanding the Home Squadron, a copy of which, so far as they relate to the case of the _Prometheus_, is herewith transmitted to the Senate.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

WASHINGTON, _December 16, 1851_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 9th instant, requesting information in regard to the imprisonment of John S. Thrasher at Havana, I transmit a report from the Secretary of State and the documents which accompanied it.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

WASHINGTON, _December 16, 1851_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 8th instant, requesting the communication of a dispatch[14] addressed to the Department of State by Mr. Niles, late chargé d'affaires of the United States at Turin, I transmit a report from the Secretary of State, which is accompanied by a copy of the dispatch.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

[Footnote 14: On the subject of a ship canal between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.]

WASHINGTON, _December 23, 1851_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I transmit to the House of Representatives a report from the Secretary of State, in answer to the first part[15] of a resolution of the 15th December, 1851, and also a report from the Secretary of the Navy, in answer to the remaining part[16] of the same resolution.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

[Footnote 15: Relating to the conclusion of a treaty between Spain, France, and Great Britain in respect to the island of Cuba.]

[Footnote 16: Pertaining to the relative strength of the British, French, and United States squadrons in the West India seas, and whether additional appropriations are necessary to increase the United States force on that station.]

WASHINGTON, _December 23, 1851_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

In answer to a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 15th instant, requesting information in regard to the imprisonment, trial, and sentence of John S. Thrasher in the island of Cuba, I transmit a report from the Secretary of State and the documents which accompanied it.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

WASHINGTON, _December 29, 1851_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith a copy of a letter of the 26th instant, addressed to the Secretary of State by the contractors for paying the next installment due to Mexico pursuant to the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, representing the necessity of an immediate appropriation by Congress of the money necessary for that purpose.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

WASHINGTON, _January 2, 1852_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

As a further answer to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 15th ultimo, calling for information respecting the imprisonment, trial, and sentence of John S. Thrasher in the island of Cuba, I transmit another report from the Secretary of State.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

WASHINGTON, _January 2, 1852_.

_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:

I transmit to the House of Representatives a copy of the resolution adopted by the Legislative Council of Canada, together with the copy of the note by which the resolution was communicated to this Government, expressing the satisfaction of that Council at receiving intelligence of certain donations in aid of the reconstruction of the library of the Canadian Parliament.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

[The same message, dated January 6, 1852, was sent to the Senate.]

WASHINGTON, _January 3, 1852_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I nominate Elisha Whittlesey and Elias S. Terry to be commissioners under the seventeenth article of the treaty concluded with the Cherokee tribe of Indians at New Echota on the 29th day of December, 1835, to adjudicate the claim of David Taylor for 640 acres of land, which has been duly appraised in accordance with the terms of the ninth article of said treaty, but not paid for. The facts of the case will more fully appear in the accompanying papers from the Department of the Interior.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

WASHINGTON, _January 5, 1852_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I transmit to the House of Representatives a report of the Secretary of State, relative to the persons belonging to the expedition of Lopez who were taken prisoners in Cuba and afterwards sent to Spain, and who have now been pardoned and released by Her Catholic Majesty. The appropriation the expediency of which is suggested in the report I cordially commend to the consideration of Congress, with the single additional suggestion that to be available it should be promptly made.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

[The same message was sent to the Senate.]

WASHINGTON, _January 9, 1852_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

In answer to a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 15th ultimo, requesting information in regard to the Territory of Utah, I transmit a report from the Secretary of State, to whom the resolution was referred.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

WASHINGTON, _January 12, 1852_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

In answer to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 5th instant, I herewith transmit to it a report and accompanying papers[17] from the Secretary of State.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

[Footnote 17: Relating to a circular issued by the secretary of state for the British colonial department relative to the employment in the British West India colonies of free blacks and liberated slaves from the United States.]

WASHINGTON, _January 16, 1852_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I transmit a copy of a letter which has been addressed to me by the secretary of the Territory of Utah since my recent message to the House of Representatives in answer to its resolution requesting information in regard to the affairs of that Territory.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

WASHINGTON, _January 19, 1852_.

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

I transmit to Congress a report from the Secretary of State, accompanied by a letter to him from the contractors for paying the installment of Mexican indemnity due on the 31st May next, and respectfully invite attention to the subject.

MILLARD FILLMORE

WASHINGTON, _January 20, 1852_.

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

I communicate to both Houses of Congress a report from the Department of State, containing copies of the correspondence which has taken place between that Department and the minister of the United States in Paris respecting the political occurrences which have recently taken place in France.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

WASHINGTON, _January 22, 1852_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In compliance with a resolution of the Senate passed March 13, 1851, I herewith transmit a report of the Secretary of War, containing information in regard to the claims of citizens of California for services rendered and for money and for property furnished in 1846 and 1847 in the conquest of that country.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

WASHINGTON, _January 23, 1852_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I transmit a report from the Secretary of State and the documents which accompanied it, upon the subject of a resolution of the House of Representatives of yesterday, relative to the Mexican indemnity.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

WASHINGTON, _January 28, 1852_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

In answer to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 15th ultimo, requesting information respecting the seizure and confiscation of the bark _Georgiana_, of Maine, and brig _Susan Loud_, of Massachusetts,[18] I transmit a report from the Secretary of State and the documents which accompanied it.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

[Footnote 18: By the Spanish or Cuban authorities]

WASHINGTON, _January 28, 1852_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

In answer to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 7th August, 1850, and the 17th December, 1851, requesting information touching the claims of citizens of the United States on the Government of Portugal, I transmit a report from the Secretary of State and the documents which accompanied the same.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

WASHINGTON, _February 9, 1852_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit to the Senate, for its consideration with a view to ratification, a treaty of friendship, commerce, and navigation between the United States and the Republic of Peru, concluded and signed at Lima on the 26th day of July last.

A copy of a dispatch of Mr. J.R. Clay, the chargé d'affaires of the United States at Lima, to the Secretary of State, bearing date the 6th December last, is also transmitted for the information of the Senate.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

WASHINGTON, _February 10, 1852_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I transmit to Congress a copy of the instruction dispatched from the Department of State to the minister of the United States at London respecting the attack on the United States steamer _Prometheus_ in the harbor of San Juan de Nicaragua by the British brig of war _Express_, and also a copy of the dispatches of Mr. Lawrence to that Department and of his correspondence with Her Britannic Majesty's principal secretary of state for foreign affairs on the same subject.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

EXECUTIVE CHAMBER,

_Washington City, February 10, 1852_.

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

I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of the Interior, containing a report from Thomas U. Walter, architect for the extension of the Capitol.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

WASHINGTON, _February 12, 1852_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

In answer to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 26th of December last, requesting information in regard to the seizure of the brig _Arve_[19] at Jeremie, in the island of St. Domingo, I transmit a report from the Secretary of State and the documents by which it was accompanied.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

[Footnote 19: By Haytien authorities.]

WASHINGTON, _February 12, 1852_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In compliance with the resolution of the Senate of the 26th ultimo, requesting information upon the subject of the mission of Mr. Balistier, late consul at Singapore, to eastern Asia, I transmit a report from the Secretary of State and the documents which accompanied it.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

WASHINGTON, _February 13, 1852_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit herewith, for the constitutional action of the Senate, treaties recently concluded with certain Indian tribes at Traverse des Sioux, Mendota, Pembina, and Fort Laramie, together with communications from the Department of the Interior and other documents connected therewith.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

WASHINGTON, _February 14, 1852_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I communicate to the House of Representatives herewith a report to me, dated the 13th instant, from the Secretary of the Interior, respecting the delay and difficulty in making the apportionment among the several States of the Representatives in the Thirty-third Congress, as required by the act of 23d May, 1850, in consequence of the want of full returns of the population of the State of California, and suggesting the necessity for remedial legislation.

The subject is one of much importance, and I earnestly commend it to the early consideration of Congress.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

[The same message was sent to the Senate.]

WASHINGTON, _February 16, 1852_.

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

I transmit to Congress a letter addressed to the Secretary of State by the commissioner of the United States under the convention with Brazil, setting forth the obstacles which have impeded the conclusion of the business of that commission.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

WASHINGTON, _February 16, 1852_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I herewith communicate to the Senate, for its consideration with a view to ratification, a treaty of commerce and navigation concluded by the minister resident of the United States at Constantinople with the chargé d'affaires of the Shah of Persia at the same place. The treaty is in the Persian and French languages, but is accompanied by an English translation. A copy of the correspondence between the Department of State and the legation of the United States at Constantinople on the subject is also herewith communicated.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

WASHINGTON, _February 18, 1852_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

In answer to the resolution of the House of Representatives requesting the official correspondence respecting an alleged misunderstanding between Captain Long, of the Navy of the United States, and Louis Kossuth, I transmit reports from the Secretaries of State and of the Navy and the papers which accompanied them.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

WASHINGTON, _March 1, 1852_.

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

In compliance with the provisions of the act of Congress of the 11th August, 1848, I transmit to that body the copy of a dispatch from the commissioner _ad interim_ of the United States at Canton, together with the copy of certain rules and regulations for masters, officers, and seamen of vessels of the United States of America at the free ports of China, which accompanied said dispatch, and which are submitted for the revision of Congress.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

WASHINGTON, _March 4, 1852_.

_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:

In compliance with the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 17th ultimo, I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of the Navy and a report from the Solicitor of the Treasury Department in relation to the accounts of Prosper M. Wetmore, late navy agent in the city of New York.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

WASHINGTON, _March 4, 1852_.

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

I transmit to Congress a letter addressed to me by the governor of the Territory of Minnesota, with the statements to which it refers, of the disbursements up to the 1st of January last of the money appropriated by the act approved June 11, 1850, for the erection of public buildings in that Territory.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

WASHINGTON, _March 4, 1852_.

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

I transmit to Congress a dispatch addressed to the Secretary of State by the minister of the United States at Mexico, and the papers therein referred to, relative to the cemetery which has been constructed in the neighborhood of that city as a place of sepulture for the remains of the officers and soldiers of the United States who died or were killed in that vicinity during the late war, and for such citizens of the United States as may hereafter die there. A copy of the report of the agent who was sent for the purpose of superintending the work is also herewith transmitted. It will be seen that a sum of $2,500 or $3,000, in addition to the amount appropriated by the act of Congress approved September 28, 1850, is represented to be necessary to carry the objects of that appropriation into full effect. I accordingly recommend that provision therefor may be made.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

WASHINGTON, _March 25, 1852_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

As a further answer to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 5th of January last, requesting information in regard to a circular of Her Britannic Majesty's secretary of state for colonial affairs in respect to the encouragement of the emigration of colored laborers from the United States to the British West India islands, I transmit another dispatch addressed to the Department of State by the minister of the United States at London.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

WASHINGTON, _March 26, 1852_.

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

At the close of the commission to adjudicate upon the claims of citizens of the United States under the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo I directed a list to be made of papers which had been presented to that commission, and, pursuant to the act of Congress approved 3d March, 1849, the papers themselves to be carefully arranged and deposited for safe-keeping in the Department of State. I deemed all this necessary as well for the interest of the claimants as to secure the Government against fraudulent claims which might be preferred hereafter. A few days since I was surprised to learn that some of these papers had been fraudulently abstracted by one of the claimants, and upon the case being made known to me by the Secretary of State I referred it to the Attorney-General for the purpose of ascertaining what punishment could be inflicted upon the person who had been guilty of this offense.

I now communicate to you his opinion and that of the attorney of the United States for this District, by which you will perceive that it is doubtful whether there be any law for punishing the very grave offense of fraudulently abstracting or mutilating the papers and public documents in the several Departments of this Government. It appears to me that the protection of the public records and papers requires that such acts should be made penal and a suitable punishment inflicted upon the offender, and I therefore bring the subject to your consideration, to enable you to act upon it should you concur with me in this opinion.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

WASHINGTON, _March 26, 1852_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

In compliance with the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 18th instant, I transmit a copy of the correspondence with John P. Gaines, governor of the Territory of Oregon, relative to the seat of government of said Territory.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

WASHINGTON, _March 29, 1852_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In compliance with the resolution of the Senate of the 24th instant, relating to the extension of the Capitol, I have the honor to submit herewith a report from the Secretary of the Interior, which furnishes, it is believed, the required information.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

WASHINGTON CITY, _March 29, 1852_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I have the resolution of your honorable body adopted in executive session March 24, 1852, by which I am requested to return to the Senate the resolution advising and consenting to the appointment of George C. Laurason as collector of the customs for the district of New Orleans, provided a commission had not been issued to him, and in reply thereto I would respectfully state that prior to the receipt of said resolution I had signed the commission to Mr. Laurason and transmitted it to the Secretary of the Treasury, to whom your resolution was immediately referred; and I have the honor now to transmit his reply, by which it will be seen that the commission, after having been duly executed, was sent to the First Comptroller, where it still remains. I suppose, according to the doctrine laid down in the case of Marbury _v._ Madison (1 Cranch R., 137), the appointment must be deemed complete, and nothing short of the removal of Mr. Laurason can enable me again to submit his nomination to the consideration of the Senate; but as the commission has not been technically issued to Mr. Laurason, I deem it most respectful to comply with your request by returning the copy of the resolution which notified me that the Senate advised and consented to his appointment.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

WASHINGTON CITY, _April 6, 1852_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

In compliance with the resolution of the House of the 31st ultimo, I have the honor herewith to transmit a report from the Secretary of War, accompanied by the original manuscript report of Captain Thomas J. Crane, dated February 3, 1844, on the best mode of improving the navigation of the Ohio River at the Falls of Louisville, together with the original maps accompanying the same.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

WASHINGTON, _April 8, 1852_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I herewith transmit to the Senate, in reply to their resolution of the 4th ultimo, a report from the Secretary of State, with accompanying papers.[20]

MILLARD FILLMORE.

[Footnote 20: Relating to the relations between the United States and Japan.]

WASHINGTON, _April 19, 1852_.

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

I invite the attention of Congress to the state of affairs in the Territory of Oregon, growing out of a conflict of opinion among the authorities of that Territory in regard to a proper construction of the acts of Congress approved the 14th August, 1848, and 11th June, 1850, the former entitled "An act to establish a Territorial government of Oregon," and the latter entitled "An act to make further appropriations for public buildings in the Territories of Minnesota and Oregon." In order to enable Congress to understand the controversy and apply such remedy with a view to adjust it as may be deemed expedient, I transmit--

1. An act of the legislative assembly of that Territory, passed February 1, 1851, entitled "An act to provide for the selection of places for the location and erection of public buildings of the Territory of Oregon."

2. Governor Gaines's message to the legislative assembly of the 3d February, 1851.

3. The opinion of the Attorney-General of the United States of 23d April, in regard to the act of the legislative assembly of the 1st February, 1851.

4. The opinion of the supreme court of Oregon, pronounced on the 9th December, 1851.

5. A letter of Judge Pratt of the 15th December, 1851, dissenting from that opinion.

6. Governor Gaines's letter to the President of the 1st January, 1852.

7. Report of the Attorney-General of the United States on that letter, dated 22d March, 1852.

If it should be the sense of Congress that the seat of government of Oregon has not already been established by the local authorities pursuant to the law of the United States for the organization of that Territory, or, if so established, should be deemed objectionable, in order to appease the strife upon the subject which seems to have arisen in that Territory I recommend that the seat of government be either permanently or temporarily ordained by act of Congress, and that that body should in the same manner express its approval or disapproval of such laws as may have been enacted in the Territory at the place alleged to be its seat of government, and which may be so enacted until intelligence of the decision of Congress shall reach there.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

WASHINGTON, _May 1, 1852_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit to the Senate, for their consideration and advice with regard to its ratification, a convention between the United States and the Free and Hanseatic Republics of Hamburg, Bremen, and Lubeck, signed in this city by their respective plenipotentiaries on the 30th day of April, A.D. 1852, for the mutual extension of the jurisdiction of consuls. A copy of a note from the special plenipotentiary of Hamburg, Bremen, and Lubeck accompanies the convention.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

WASHINGTON, _May 5, 1852_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

On the 3d of March, 1849, a general convention of peace, amity, commerce, and navigation between the United States and the Republic of Guatemala, by Elijah Hise, the chargé d'affaires of the United States to that Republic, on the part of this Government, and by Señor Don Jose Mariano Rodriguez, minister for foreign affairs, on the part of the Government of Guatemala. This convention was approved by the Senate on the 24th of September, 1850, and by a resolution of the 27th of that month that body authorized the ratification of this Government to be exchanged for the ratification of the Government of Guatemala at any time prior to the 1st of April, 1851. I accordingly ratified the convention on the 14th of November, 1850, but there was then no person in this country authorized to effect the exchange of ratifications on the part of the Guatemalan Government, and the United States had no diplomatic representative there. When, however, in the summer of 1851, Mr. J. Bozman Kerr proceeded to Nicaragua as the chargé d'affaires of the United States, he was empowered and instructed, when he should have concluded the business, which it was presumed would not have detained him long, in Nicaragua, to repair to Guatemala and effect the exchange on the part of this Government. Circumstances, however, have hitherto prevented him from accomplishing this object. Meanwhile Señor Don Felipe Molina has been received as chargé d'affaires of Guatemala here, and has been empowered to effect the exchange on the part of that Government.

I accordingly recommend that the Senate authorize a further extension of the period for exchanging the ratifications, in order that the convention may go into operation. It is presumed that if this recommendation should be adopted a few weeks from the date of the decision of the Senate upon the subject would be necessary to complete the preparations for carrying it into effect.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

WASHINGTON, _May 29, 1852_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

The resolution of the Senate of the 6th instant, requesting the "papers and proofs on file in any of the Executive Departments touching the claim of Samuel A. Belden & Co., of Brownsville, Tex., against the Mexican Government for injuries inflicted upon said Belden & Co., as alleged by them in violation of the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo," was referred to the heads of those Departments, and the documents herewith transmitted have been reported to me from the Department of State as comprising all on the files of that Department called for by the resolution, with the exception of those of a diplomatic character. As the claim referred to is a subject of negotiation with the Mexican Government, it is not deemed expedient at this juncture to make public the documents which have been reserved. According to the reports of the Secretary of the Treasury, of the Secretary of the Interior, of the Secretary of War, of the Secretary of the Navy, and of the Postmaster-General, there are no papers in their respective Departments relative to the claim of Messrs. Belden & Co.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

WASHINGTON, _June 1, 1852_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I communicate to the Senate herewith, for its constitutional action thereon, eighteen treaties negotiated with Indian tribes in California, as described in the accompanying letter of the Secretary of the Interior, dated the 22d ultimo, with a copy of the report of the superintendent of Indian affairs for the State of California and other correspondence in relation thereto.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

WASHINGTON, _June 11, 1852_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit to the Senate, for its consideration with a view to ratification, a convention between the United States and the Sultan of Borneo, signed at Bruni on the 23d of June, 1850. A copy of two dispatches to this department from Mr. Balestier, who concluded the convention on the part of this Government, one dated the 22d of April and the other the 24th June, 1851, is also transmitted for the information of the Senate. As the period limited for the exchange of the ratifications, which is to be effected at Bruni, will expire on the 23d instant, I recommend that if the Senate should approve the convention authority may be given to perform that ceremony within a year from that date. The instrument would have been submitted to the Senate in season for the ratification to be exchanged within the stipulated time had not Mr. Balestier's arrival with it in the United States been unavoidably delayed.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

WASHINGTON, _June 11, 1852_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I transmit to Congress a report from the Secretary of State, on the subject of the disorders on the Rio Grande frontier, and recommend the legislation which it suggests, in order that the duties and obligations of this Government occasioned thereby may be more effectually discharged and the peace and security of the inhabitants of the United States in that quarter more efficiently maintained.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

WASHINGTON, _June 14, 1852_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith, for your consideration, a report from the Secretary of State, accompanied by a communication from His Excellency Señor Don A. Calderon de la Barca, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of Her Catholic Majesty, claiming indemnity for those Spanish subjects in New Orleans who sustained injury from the unlawful violence of the mob in that city consequent upon hearing the news of the execution of those persons who unlawfully invaded Cuba in August, 1851. My own views of the national liability upon this subject were expressed in the note of the Secretary of State to Mr. Calderon of the 13th November, 1851, and I do not understand that Her Catholic Majesty's minister controverts the correctness of the position there taken. He, however, insists that the thirteenth article of the treaty of 1795 promises indemnity for such injuries sustained within one year after the commencement of war between the two nations, and although he admits this is not within the letter of the treaty, yet he conceives that, as between two friendly nations, it is within the spirit of it.

This view of the case is at his request submitted for your consideration, but whether you may deem it correct or not, there is, perhaps, one ground upon which this indemnity, which can not be large in amount, may be granted without establishing a dangerous precedent, and the granting of which would commend itself to the generous feelings of the entire country, and that is this: The Queen of Spain, with a magnanimity worthy of all commendation, in a case where we had no legal right to solicit the favor, granted a free pardon to all the persons who had so unjustifiably invaded her dominions and murdered her subjects in Cuba, in violation of her own laws as well as those of the United States and the public law of nations. Such an act of mercy, which restored many misguided and unfortunate youth of this country to their parents and friends, seems to me to merit some corresponding act of magnanimity and generosity on the part of the Government of this country, and I think that there can be none more appropriate than to grant an indemnity to those Spanish subjects who were resident among us and who suffered by the violence of the mob, not on account of any fault which they themselves had committed, but because they were the subjects of the Queen of Spain. Such an act would tend to confirm that friendship which has so long existed between the two nations and to perpetuate it as a blessing to both, and I therefore recommend it to your favorable consideration.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

WASHINGTON, _June 22, 1852_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State, with the accompanying documents,[21] in compliance with the Senate's resolution of the 29th of April last.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

[Footnote 21: Correspondence of the American chargé at Vienna on the subject of the apprehension and imprisonment by the Austrian authorities of Rev. Charles L. Brace, an American citizen.]

WASHINGTON, _June 22, 1852_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit to the Senate, for its consideration with a view to ratification, a convention for the mutual delivery of criminals fugitives from justice in certain cases between the United States on the one part and Prussia and other States of the Germanic Confederation on the other part, signed in this city on the 16th instant.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

WASHINGTON, _June 23, 1852_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State, with the accompanying documents,[22] in compliance with the Senate's resolution of the 3d instant.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

[Footnote 22: Correspondence relative to the withdrawal of Mr. Hülsemann, chargé d'affaires from Austria to the United States.]

WASHINGTON, _June 26, 1852_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit and commend to the consideration of the Senate a report from the Secretary of State, touching the convention between the United States and the Mexican Republic for the mutual extradition of fugitives from justice in certain cases, which convention I submitted to the Senate soon after I entered upon the office of President of the United States.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

DEPARTMENT OF STATE,

_Washington, June 26, 1852_.

The PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES:

It was understood that at the close of the Administration of your predecessor an extradition treaty was concluded in this city between the United States and the Mexican Republic, which, however, was submitted to the Senate by yourself, but before I entered upon my present office.

It is presumed that as the treaty has not been returned to this Department the Senate has made no decision in regard to it.

The necessity for a compact upon that subject between the two Governments, whose territories, being conterminous, afford great facilities for wrongdoers in the one to screen themselves from punishment by seeking refuge in the other, would at all times be obvious, but at the present juncture may be considered as urgent.

I would consequently suggest that the attention of the Senate be respectfully invited to the matter, in order that if the treaty before them should be deemed objectionable another, embodying such amendments as may be supposed to be necessary, may be proposed to the Mexican Government.

Respectfully submitted,

DANL. WEBSTER.

WASHINGTON, _June 26, 1852_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I have received and taken into respectful consideration the resolution of the Senate of yesterday, adopted in executive session, requesting information in regard to supposed negotiations between the United States and Great Britain and between the United States and the Republics of Nicaragua and Costa Rica, respectively. Any information which may be in the possession of the Executive on these subjects shall in due time be laid before the Senate, but it is apprehended that it would not comport with the public interests to communicate it under existing circumstances.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

WASHINGTON, _June 26, 1852_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I have received the resolution of the Senate of the 11th instant, passed in executive session, making inquiry respecting supposed propositions of the King of the Sandwich Islands to convey the sovereignty of those islands to the United States and requesting all official information in my possession touching the subject.

This request has been taken into the most respectful consideration, but the conclusion at which I have arrived is that the public interest would not be promoted, but, on the contrary, might under circumstances of possible occurrence, be seriously endangered if it were now to be complied with.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

WASHINGTON CITY, _July 1, 1852_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

On the 26th ultimo I received a resolution of the Senate, passed in executive session, in the following words:

_Resolved,_ That the President of the United States be requested to
inform the Senate, if not in his opinion incompatible with the public
interest, whether any convention or compact has been entered into on the
part of the United States and the Government of Great Britain whereby
the two Governments jointly recommend or advise the Republics of Costa
Rica and Nicaragua, or either of those Republics, and the Mosquito
Indians, inhabiting the Mosquito Coast, in Central America, on matters
affecting their several and respective boundaries, or whereby any
recommendation or advice is given to either of said Republics or said
Indians respecting the territorial rights thereafter to be enjoyed or
observed by them respectively, or in any other manner affecting or
regulating the relations hereafter to be maintained between said
Republics themselves, or either of them, and the said Indians concerning
their territorial boundaries or other matters thereto appertaining. And
if there be any such convention or compact, then that the President be
requested to communicate the same, or a copy thereof, to the Senate, and
to inform the Senate whether the same was made at the request or
invitation of either of said Republics or of said Indians, or with their
privity, approbation, or consent. And that the President be further
requested to communicate to the Senate copies of all correspondence
between the Executive and Great Britain, or with either of said
Republics of Central America, touching said convention, and of all
documents connected therewith. And if such convention or compact has
been made, that the President be further requested to inform the Senate
whether the same has been formally communicated to the respective
Governments of Nicaragua and Costa Rica and the Mosquito Indians on the
part of the Governments of Great Britain and the United States, and in
what form such communications have been made to them, and that he lay
before the Senate copies of any instructions that have been given to the
representatives or agents of the United States at Nicaragua and Costa
Rica touching such convention and the matters therein contained, with
copies of like instructions to any naval officer of the United States
relating to or in any manner concerning the said convention or its
communication to said Republics or said Indians.

On the same day I returned the following answer to that resolution:

I have received and taken into respectful consideration the resolution
of the Senate of yesterday, adopted in executive session, requesting
information in regard to supposed negotiations between the United States
and Great Britain and between the United States and the Republics of
Nicaragua and Costa Rica, respectively. Any information which may be in
the possession of the Executive on these subjects shall in due time be
laid before the Senate, but it is apprehended that it would not comport
with the public interests to communicate it under existing
circumstances.

Great was my surprise to observe this morning in one of the public journals a statement of what purports to be a proposition, jointly signed by Her Britannic Majesty's minister here and the Secretary of State, for the adjustment of certain claims to territory between Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and the Mosquito Indians. I have caused immediate inquiry to be made into the origin of this highly improper publication, and shall omit no proper or legal means for bringing it to light. Whether it shall turn out to have been caused by unfaithfulness or breach of duty in any officer of this Government, high or low, or by a violation of diplomatic confidence, the appropriate remedy will be immediately applied, as being due not only to this Government, but to other governments. And I hold this communication to be especially proper to be made immediately by me to the Senate, after what has transpired on this subject, that the Senate may be perfectly assured that no information asked by it has been withheld and at the same time permitted to be published to the world.

This publication can not be considered otherwise than as a breach of official duty by some officer of the Government or a gross violation of the confidence necessary always to be reposed in the representatives of other nations. An occurrence of this kind can not but weaken the faith so desirable to be preserved between different governments and to injure the negotiations now pending, and it merits the severest reprobation.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

WASHINGTON CITY, _July 2, 1852_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I herewith transmit, for the advice and consent of the Senate, a treaty recently negotiated with the Chickasaw Nation of Indians.

The nature and objects of the treaty are fully explained by the report of Mr. Harper, who negotiated it in behalf of the United States.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

WASHINGTON, _July 2, 1852_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

By an act of Congress approved on the 10th day of February, 1852, an appropriation of $6,000 was made for the relief of _American citizens_ then lately imprisoned and pardoned by the Queen of Spain, intended to provide for the return of such of the Cuban prisoners as were citizens of the United States who had been transported to Spain and there pardoned by the Spanish Government. It will be observed that no provision was made for such foreigners or aliens as were engaged in the Cuban expedition, and who had shared the fate of American citizens, for whose relief the said act was intended to provide. I now transmit a report from the First Comptroller, with accompanying papers, from which it will be perceived that fifteen foreigners were connected with that expedition, who were also pardoned by the Queen of Spain, and have been transported to the United States under a contract made with our consul, at an expense of $1,013.34, for the payment of which no provision has been made by law. The consul having evidently acted with good intentions, the claim is submitted for the consideration of Congress.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

WASHINGTON, _July 13, 1852_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

In answer to the resolution of the House of Representatives requesting information relative to the policy of the Government in regard to the island of Cuba, I transmit a report from the Department of State and the documents by which it was accompanied.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

EXECUTIVE MANSION,

_Washington City, July 26, 1852_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In obedience to your resolution adopted in executive session June 11, 1852, I have the honor herewith to communicate a report[23] from the Secretary of the Interior, containing the information called for by that resolution.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

[Footnote 23: Relating to the boundary line between the United States and Mexico.]

WASHINGTON, _July 27, 1852_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 19th instant, requesting the correspondence between the Government of the United States and that of the Mexican Republic respecting a right of way across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, I transmit a report from the Department of State and the documents by which it was accompanied.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

WASHINGTON, _July 29, 1852_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In compliance with the resolution of the Senate of the 27th instant, I transmit the copy of the notes[24] of Mr. Luis de la Rosa and Mr. J.M. Gonzales de la Vega, which it requests.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

[Footnote 24: Upon the subject of the American and Mexican boundary commission.]

WASHINGTON, _July 31, 1852_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I communicate to the Senate herewith, for its constitutional action thereon, nineteen treaties negotiated by commissioners on the part of the United States with various tribes of Indians in the Territory of Oregon, accompanied by a letter to me from the Secretary of the Interior and certain documents having reference thereto.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

WASHINGTON, _August 2, 1852_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 23d ultimo, requesting information in regard to the fisheries on the coasts of the British possessions in North America, I transmit a report from the Acting Secretary of State and the documents by which it was accompanied. Commodore M.C. Perry, with the United States steam frigate _Mississippi_ under his command, has been dispatched to that quarter for the purpose of protecting the rights of American fishermen under the convention of 1818.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

WASHINGTON, _August 9, 1852_.

_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:

I transmit a report from the Acting Secretary of State and the documents by which it was accompanied, in answer to a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 22d ultimo, on the subject of the fisheries, and state for the information of that House that the United States steam frigate _Mississippi_ has been dispatched to the fishing grounds on the coasts of the British possessions in North America for the purpose of protecting the rights of American fishermen under the convention between the United States and Great Britain of the 20th of October, 1818.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

WASHINGTON, _August 10, 1852_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit a copy of the certificate of the exchange of the ratifications of the general convention of peace, amity, commerce, and navigation between the United States and the Republic of San Salvador, signed at Leon, in Nicaragua, on the 2d of January, 1850. It will be seen that the exchange was not effected until the 2d of June last, but that it was stipulated that the convention was not to be binding upon either of the parties thereto until the Senate of the United States should have duly sanctioned the exchange.

The Senate by its resolution of the 27th of September, 1850, authorized the exchange to take place at any time prior to the 1st of April, 1851.

Mr. Kerr, the chargé d'affaires of the United States to Nicaragua, however, who was authorized to make the exchange on the part of this Government, was unavoidably detained in that Republic, in consequence of which the exchange could not be effected within the period referred to.

The expediency of sanctioning the exchange which has been made by Mr. Kerr, and of authorizing the convention to go into effect, is accordingly submitted to the consideration of the Senate.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

WASHINGTON, _August 12, 1852_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In answer to the resolution of the Senate dated the 20th ultimo, requesting information in regard to controversies between the consul of the United States at Acapulco and the Mexican authorities, I transmit a report from the Secretary of State and the documents by which it was accompanied.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

WASHINGTON, _August 13, 1852_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit a report from the Secretary of State upon the subject of the relations between the United States and the Republics of Nicaragua and Costa Rica, in Central America, which has been delayed longer than I desired in consequence of the ill health of the Secretary of State.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

WASHINGTON, _August 14, 1852_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I have received a resolution from your honorable body of the 6th instant, appearing to have been adopted in open legislative session, requesting me "to inform the Senate, if not incompatible with the public interests, whether any propositions have been made by the King of the Sandwich Islands to transfer the sovereignty of these islands to the United States, and to communicate to the Senate all the official information on that subject in my possession;" in reply to which I have to state that on or about the 12th day of June last I received a similar resolution from the Senate adopted in executive or secret session, to which I returned an answer stating that in my opinion a communication of the information requested at that juncture would not comport with the public interest. Nothing has since transpired to change my views on that subject, and I therefore feel constrained again to decline giving the information asked.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

WASHINGTON, _August 21, 1852_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 9th instant, requesting information touching the Lobos Islands, I transmit a report from the Secretary of State and the documents by which it was accompanied. The instructions to the squadron of the United States called for by the resolution will be communicated on an early future occasion.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

WASHINGTON, _August 27, 1852_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 14th ultimo, requesting a copy of the correspondence of Mr. R.M. Walsh while he was employed as a special agent of this Government in the island of St. Domingo, I transmit a report from the Secretary of State and the documents by which it was accompanied.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

WASHINGTON, _August 27, 1852_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit a further report from the Secretary of State relative to the Lobos Islands. This report is accompanied by a copy of the orders of the Navy Department to Commodore McCauley, requested by the resolution of the Senate of the 9th instant.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

WASHINGTON, _August 27, 1852_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

As it is not deemed advisable that the instruction to Mr. R.M. Walsh,[25] a copy of which is herewith transmitted, should be published at this time, I communicate it confidentially to the Senate in executive session.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

[Footnote 25: Special agent of the United States in the island of St. Domingo.]

WASHINGTON, _August 27, 1852_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit to the Senate, for its consideration with a view to ratification, a supplementary convention relative to commerce and navigation between the United States and the Netherlands, signed in this city on the 26th instant.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

WASHINGTON, _August 27, 1852_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit to the Senate, for its consideration with a view to ratification, a convention between the United States and Belgium for regulating the right of inheriting and acquiring property, signed in this city on the 25th instant.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

WASHINGTON, _August 31, 1852_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 21st instant, requesting information in respect to foreign postal arrangements, and especially cheap ocean postage, I transmit a report of the Secretary of State and the documents by which it was accompanied.

MILLARD FILLMORE.

EXECUTIVE ORDERS.

WASHINGTON CITY,

_May 17, 1852_.

The SECRETARY OF WAR.