Chapter IX: Part 9

I can not forego the hope that France will reconsider the subject and adopt some resolution in regard to the evacuation of Mexico which will conform as nearly as practicable with the existing engagement, and thus meet the just expectations of the United States. The papers relating to the subject will be laid before you. It is believed that with the evacuation of Mexico by the expeditionary forces no subject for serious differences between France and the United States would remain. The expressions of the Emperor and people of France warrant a hope that the traditionary friendship between the two countries might in that case be renewed and permanently restored.

A claim of a citizen of the United States for indemnity for spoliations committed on the high seas by the French authorities in the exercise of a belligerent power against Mexico has been met by the Government of France with a proposition to defer settlement until a mutual convention for the adjustment of all claims of citizens and subjects of both countries arising out of the recent wars on this continent shall be agreed upon by the two countries. The suggestion is not deemed unreasonable, but it belongs to Congress to direct the manner in which claims for indemnity by foreigners as well as by citizens of the United States arising out of the late civil war shall be adjudicated and determined. I have no doubt that the subject of all such claims will engage your attention at a convenient and proper time.

It is a matter of regret that no considerable advance has been made toward an adjustment of the differences between the United States and Great Britain arising out of the depredations upon our national commerce and other trespasses committed during our civil war by British subjects, in violation of international law and treaty obligations. The delay, however, may be believed to have resulted in no small degree from the domestic situation of Great Britain. An entire change of ministry occurred in that country during the last session of Parliament. The attention of the new ministry was called to the subject at an early day, and there is some reason to expect that it will now be considered in a becoming and friendly spirit. The importance of an early disposition of the question can not be exaggerated. Whatever might be the wishes of the two Governments, it is manifest that good will and friendship between the two countries can not be established until a reciprocity in the practice of good faith and neutrality shall be restored between the respective nations.

On the 6th of June last, in violation of our neutrality laws, a military expedition and enterprise against the British North American colonies was projected and attempted to be carried on within the territory and jurisdiction of the United States. In obedience to the obligation imposed upon the Executive by the Constitution to see that the laws are faithfully executed, all citizens were warned by proclamation against taking part in or aiding such unlawful proceedings, and the proper civil, military, and naval officers were directed to take all necessary measures for the enforcement of the laws. The expedition failed, but it has not been without its painful consequences. Some of our citizens who, it was alleged, were engaged in the expedition were captured, and have been brought to trial as for a capital offense in the Province of Canada. Judgment and sentence of death have been pronounced against some, while others have been acquitted. Fully believing in the maxim of government that severity of civil punishment for misguided persons who have engaged in revolutionary attempts which have disastrously failed is unsound and unwise, such representations have been made to the British Government in behalf of the convicted persons as, being sustained by an enlightened and humane judgment, will, it is hoped, induce in their cases an exercise of clemency and a judicious amnesty to all who were engaged in the movement. Counsel has been employed by the Government to defend citizens of the United States on trial for capital offenses in Canada, and a discontinuance of the prosecutions which were instituted in the courts of the United States against those who took part in the expedition has been directed.

I have regarded the expedition as not only political in its nature, but as also in a great measure foreign from the United States in its causes, character, and objects. The attempt was understood to be made in sympathy with an insurgent party in Ireland, and by striking at a British Province on this continent was designed to aid in obtaining redress for political grievances which, it was assumed, the people of Ireland had suffered at the hands of the British Government during a period of several centuries. The persons engaged in it were chiefly natives of that country, some of whom had, while others had not, become citizens of the United States under our general laws of naturalization. Complaints of misgovernment in Ireland continually engage the attention of the British nation, and so great an agitation is now prevailing in Ireland that the British Government have deemed it necessary to suspend the writ of _habeas corpus_ in that country. These circumstances must necessarily modify the opinion which we might otherwise have entertained in regard to an expedition expressly prohibited by our neutrality laws. So long as those laws remain upon our statute books they should be faithfully executed, and if they operate harshly, unjustly, or oppressively Congress alone can apply the remedy by their modification or repeal.

Political and commercial interests of the United States are not unlikely to be affected in some degree by events which are transpiring in the eastern regions of Europe, and the time seems to have come when our Government ought to have a proper diplomatic representation in Greece.

This Government has claimed for all persons not convicted or accused or suspected of crime an absolute political right of self-expatriation and a choice of new national allegiance. Most of the European States have dissented from this principle, and have claimed a right to hold such of their subjects as have emigrated to and been naturalized in the United States and afterwards returned on transient visits to their native countries to the performance of military service in like manner as resident subjects. Complaints arising from the claim in this respect made by foreign states have heretofore been matters of controversy between the United States and some of the European powers, and the irritation consequent upon the failure to settle this question increased during the war in which Prussia, Italy, and Austria were recently engaged. While Great Britain has never acknowledged the right of expatriation, she has not for some years past practically insisted upon the opposite doctrine. France has been equally forbearing, and Prussia has proposed a compromise, which, although evincing increased liberality, has not been accepted by the United States. Peace is now prevailing everywhere in Europe, and the present seems to be a favorable time for an assertion by Congress of the principle so long maintained by the executive department that naturalization by one state fully exempts the native-born subject of any other state from the performance of military service under any foreign government, so long as he does not voluntarily renounce its rights and benefits.

In the performance of a duty imposed upon me by the Constitution I have thus submitted to the representatives of the States and of the people such information of our domestic and foreign affairs as the public interests seem to require. Our Government is now undergoing its most trying ordeal, and my earnest prayer is that the peril may be successfully and finally passed without impairing its original strength and symmetry. The interests of the nation are best to be promoted by the revival of fraternal relations, the complete obliteration of our past differences, and the reinauguration of all the pursuits of peace. Directing our efforts to the early accomplishment of these great ends, let us endeavor to preserve harmony between the coordinate departments of the Government, that each in its proper sphere may cordially cooperate with the other in securing the maintenance of the Constitution, the preservation of the Union, and the perpetuity of our free institutions.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

SPECIAL MESSAGES.

WASHINGTON, _December 8, 1866_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

In reply to a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 5th instant, inquiring if any portion of Mexican territory has been occupied by United States troops, I transmit the accompanying report upon the subject from the Secretary of War.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

WASHINGTON, _December 8, 1866_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I have the honor to communicate a report of the Secretary of State relating to the discovery and arrest of John H. Surratt.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

WASHINGTON, D.C., _December 11, 1866_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith reports from the Secretary of War and the Attorney-General, in compliance with a resolution of the 3d instant, requesting the President to communicate to the House, "if not in his opinion incompatible with the public interests, the information asked for in a resolution of this House dated the 23d June last, and which resolution he has up to this time failed to answer, as to whether any application has been made to him for the pardon of G.E. Pickett, who acted as a major-general of the rebel forces in the late war for the suppression of insurrection, and, if so, what has been the action thereon; and also to communicate copies of all papers, entries, indorsements, and other documentary evidence in relation to any proceeding in connection with such application; and that he also inform this House whether, since the adjournment at Raleigh, N.C., on the 30th of March last, of the last board or court of inquiry convened to investigate the facts attending the hanging of a number of United States soldiers for alleged desertion from the rebel army, any further measures have been taken to bring the said Pickett or other perpetrators of that crime to punishment."

In transmitting the accompanying papers containing the information requested by the House of Representatives it is proper to state that, instead of bearing date the 23d of June last, the first resolution was dated the 23d of July, and was received by the Executive only four days before the termination of the session.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

WASHINGTON, _December 14, 1866_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I communicate a translation of a letter of the 17th of August last addressed to me by His Majesty Alexander, Emperor of Russia, in reply to the joint resolution of Congress approved on the 16th day of May, 1866, relating to the attempted assassination of the Emperor, a certified copy of which was, in compliance with the request of Congress, forwarded to His Majesty by the hands of Gustavus V. Fox, late Assistant Secretary of the Navy of the United States.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

WASHINGTON, _December 15, 1866_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of the Interior, in answer to a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 10th instant, in relation to the Atchison and Pikes Peak Railroad Company.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

WASHINGTON, _December 20, 1866_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

In compliance with the resolution of the House of Representatives of December 4 last, requesting information "relating to the attempt of Santa Anna and Ortega to organize armed expeditions within the United States for the purpose of overthrowing the National Government of the Republic of Mexico," I transmit a report from the Secretary of State and the papers accompanying it.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

WASHINGTON, _December 21, 1866_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

In answer to a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 19th instant, calling for a copy of certain correspondence relating to the joint occupancy of the island of San Juan, in Washington Territory, I transmit a report from the Secretary of State on the subject.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

WASHINGTON, _January 3, 1867_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I have the honor to communicate an additional report of the Secretary of State relating to the discovery and arrest of John H. Surratt.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

WASHINGTON, _January 8, 1867_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of War and the accompanying papers, in reply to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 13th ultimo, requesting copies of all official documents, orders, letters, and papers of every description relative to the trial by a military commission and conviction of Crawford Keys and others for the murder of Emory Smith and others, and to the respite of the sentence in the case of said Crawford Keys or either of his associates, their transfer to Fort Delaware, and subsequent release upon a writ of _habeas corpus_.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

WASHINGTON, _January 8, 1867_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I transmit the accompanying report from the Attorney-General as a partial reply to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 10th ultimo, requesting a "list of names of all persons engaged in the late rebellion against the United States Government who have been pardoned by the President from April 15, 1865, to this date; that said list shall also state the rank of each person who has been so pardoned, if he has been engaged in the military service of the so-called Confederate government, and the position if he shall have held any civil office under said so-called Confederate government; and shall also further state whether such person has at any time prior to April 14, 1861, held any office under the United States Government, and, if so, what office, together with the reasons for granting such pardons and also the names of the person or persons at whose solicitation such pardon was granted."

ANDREW JOHNSON.

WASHINGTON, _January 9, 1867_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith a communication from the Secretary of the Navy, in answer to a resolution of the House of the 19th ultimo, requesting a statement of the amounts charged to the State Department since May 1, 1865, for services rendered by naval vessels.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

WASHINGTON, _January 9, 1867_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit herewith a communication from the Secretary of the Navy, with the accompanying documents, in answer to a resolution of the Senate of the 5th ultimo, calling for copies of orders, instructions, and directions issued from that Department in relation to the employment of officers and others in the navy-yards of the United States, and all communications received in relation to employment at the Norfolk Navy-Yard.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

WASHINGTON, _January 10, 1867_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I transmit to the House of Representatives, in answer to a resolution of the 17th ultimo, calling for information relative to the revolution in Candia, a report of the Secretary of State, with accompanying documents.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

EXECUTIVE MANSION,

_Washington, January 14, 1867_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

In compliance with the resolution of the House of the 19th ultimo, requesting information regarding the occupation of Mexican territory by the troops of the United States, I transmit a report of the Secretary of State and one of the Secretary of War, and the documents by which they were accompanied.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

WASHINGTON, _January 18, 1867_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In compliance with a resolution of the 19th ultimo, requesting certain information in regard to the Universal Exposition to be held at Paris during the present year, I transmit a report from the Secretary of State and the documents to which it refers.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

WASHINGTON, D.C., _January 19, 1867_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I herewith communicate a report from the Secretary of the Interior, in answer to a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 16th instant, in relation to the clerks of the Federal courts and the marshal of the United States for the district of North Carolina.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of War and the accompanying papers, in compliance with the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 19th ultimo, requesting copies of all papers in possession of the President touching the case of George St. Leger Grenfel.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

JANUARY 21, 1867.

WASHINGTON, _January 23, 1867_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit to the Senate, in answer to their resolution of the 21st instant, a report from the Secretary of State, with accompanying papers.[8]

ANDREW JOHNSON.

[Footnote 8: Correspondence with Mr. Motley, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary at Vienna, relative to his reported resignation.]

WASHINGTON, _January 28, 1867_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit herewith a report[9] from the Secretary of State, with accompanying papers, in answer to the Senate's resolution of the 7th instant.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

[Footnote 9: Relating to an alleged emigration of citizens of the United States to the dominions of the Sublime Porte for the purpose of settling and acquiring landed property there.]

WASHINGTON, _January 28, 1867_.

_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:

In compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 7th instant, in relation to the attempted compromise of certain suits instituted in the English courts in behalf of the United States against Fraser, Trenholm & Co., alleged agents of the so-called Confederate government, I transmit a report from the Secretary of State and the documents by which it was accompanied.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

WASHINGTON, _January 29, 1867_.

_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:

I transmit herewith a report[10] from the Secretary of State, in answer to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 24th instant.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

[Footnote 10: Stating that the Department of State has received no information concerning the removal of the Protestant Church or religious assembly meeting at the American embassy from the city of Rome by an order of that Government.]

WASHINGTON, _January 29, 1867_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

In compliance with the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 12th ultimo and its request of the 28th instant for all correspondence, reports, and information in my possession in relation to the riot which occurred in the city of New Orleans on the 30th day of July last, I transmit herewith copies of telegraphic dispatches upon the subject, and reports from the Secretary of War, with the papers accompanying the same.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

WASHINGTON, _January 29, 1867_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

In compliance with the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 4th of December last, requesting information upon the present condition of affairs in the Republic of Mexico, and of one of the 18th of the same month, desiring me to communicate to the House of Representatives copies of all correspondence on the subject of the evacuation of Mexico by the French troops not before officially published, I transmit a report from the Secretary of State and the papers accompanying it.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

WASHINGTON, _January 31, 1867_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith reports from the heads of the several Executive Departments, containing the information in reference to appointments to office requested in the resolution adopted by the House of Representatives on the 6th of December last.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 31, 1867_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith a report by the Secretary of War of January 30, containing the information asked for in a resolution of the House of Representatives of January 25, 1867, hereto annexed, respecting the execution of "An act providing for the appointment of a commissioner to examine and report upon certain claims of the State of Iowa," approved July 25, 1866.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

WASHINGTON, _January 31, 1867_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

The accompanying reports from the heads of the several Executive Departments of the Government are submitted in compliance with a resolution of the Senate dated the 12th ultimo, inquiring whether any person appointed to an office required by law to be filled by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and who was commissioned during the recess of the Senate, previous to the assembling of the present Congress, to fill a vacancy, has been continued in such office and permitted to discharge its functions, either by the granting of a new commission or otherwise, since the end of the session of the Senate on the 28th day of July last, without the submission of the name of such person to the Senate for its confirmation; and particularly whether a surveyor or naval officer of the port of Philadelphia has thus been continued in office without the consent of the Senate, and, if any such officer has performed the duties of that office, whether he has received any salary or compensation therefor.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

WASHINGTON, _February 7, 1867_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I herewith lay before the Senate, for its constitutional action thereon, a treaty concluded the 29th day of August, 1866, between Alexander Cummings, governor of Colorado Territory and _ex officio_ superintendent of Indian affairs, Hon. A.C. Hunt, and D.C. Oakes, United States Indian agent, duly authorized and appointed as commissioners for the purpose, and the chiefs and warriors of the Uintah Jampa, or Grand River, bands of Utah Indians.

A letter of the Secretary of the Interior of the 31st of January, with copy of letter from the Commissioner of Indian Affairs of the 28th of January, 1867, together with a map showing the tract of country claimed by said Indians, accompany the treaty.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

WASHINGTON, _February 4, 1867_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 2d instant, requesting the Secretary of State to report what steps have been taken him to secure to the United States the right to make the necessary surveys for an interoceanic ship canal through the territory of Colombia, I transmit herewith the report of the Secretary of State.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

WASHINGTON, _February 4, 1867_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I herewith communicate a report from the Secretary of the Interior of this date, in answer to a resolution of the Senate of the 31st ultimo, in relation to the deputy marshals, bailiffs, and criers in the District of Columbia who have received compensation for the year 1866.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

WASHINGTON, _February 4, 1867_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit a report of the Secretary of the Treasury, in answer to a resolution of the Senate of the 31st ultimo, on the subject of a treaty of reciprocity with the Hawaiian Islands.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

WASHINGTON, _February 5, 1867_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit herewith, in answer to the Senate's resolution of the 2d instant, a report from the Secretary of State, with an accompanying document.[11]

ANDREW JOHNSON.

[Footnote 11: Copy of the letter on which the Secretary of State founded his inquiries addressed to Mr. Motley, United States minister at Vienna, with regard to his reported conversation and opinions.]

WASHINGTON, _February 5, 1867_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I transmit a report from the Secretary of State, in answer to a resolution of the House of Representatives of yesterday, making inquiry as to the States which have ratified the amendment to the Constitution proposed by the Thirty-ninth Congress.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

WASHINGTON, _February 7, 1867_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

In answer to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 4th instant, requesting me to communicate to that body any official correspondence which may have taken place with regard to the visit of Professor Agassiz to Brazil, I transmit herewith the report of the Secretary of State and the papers accompanying it.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

WASHINGTON, _February 7, 1867_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I herewith communicate a report of the Secretary of the Interior, in answer to a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 22d ultimo, requesting information relative to the condition, occupancy, and area of the Hot Springs Reservation, in the State of Arkansas.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

WASHINGTON, _February 9, 1867_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit herewith, in answer to the Senate's resolution of the 7th instant, a report[12] from the Secretary of State, with an accompanying document.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

[Footnote 12: Relating to the reported transfer of the United States minister from Stockholm to Bogota.]

WASHINGTON, _February 11, 1867_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In compliance with the resolution of the Senate of the 6th of February, 1867, requesting me to transmit copies of all correspondence not heretofore communicated on the subject of grants to American citizens for railroad and telegraph lines across the territory of the Republic of Mexico, I submit herewith the report of the Secretary of State and the papers accompanying it.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

WASHINGTON, _February 16, 1867_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I transmit a report from the Secretary of State, in answer to a resolution of the House of Representatives of yesterday, making further inquiry as to the States which have ratified the amendment to the Constitution proposed by the Thirty-ninth Congress.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

WASHINGTON, _February 16, 1867_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 27th of July last, relative to the practicability of establishing equal reciprocal relations between the United States and the British North American Provinces and to the actual condition of the question of the fisheries, I transmit a report on the subject from the Secretary of State, with the papers to which it refers.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

WASHINGTON, _February 18, 1867_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I have received a resolution of the Senate dated the 8th day of January last, requesting the President to inform the Senate if any violations of the act entitled "An act to protect all persons in the United States in their civil rights and furnish the means of their vindication" have come to his knowledge, and, if so, what steps, if any, have been taken by him to enforce the law and punish the offenders.

Not being cognizant of any cases which came within the purview of the resolution, in order that the inquiry might have the fullest range I referred it to the heads of the several Executive Departments, whose reports are herewith communicated for the information of the Senate.

With the exception of the cases mentioned in the reports of the Secretary of War and the Attorney-General, no violations, real or supposed, of the act to which the resolution refers have at any time come to the knowledge of the Executive. The steps taken in these cases to enforce the law appear in these reports.

The Secretary of War, under date of the 15th instant, submitted a series of reports from the General Commanding the armies of the United States and other military officers as to supposed violations of the act alluded to in the resolution, with the request that they should be referred to the Attorney-General "for his investigation and report, to the end that the cases may be designated which are cognizant by the civil authorities and such as are cognizant by military tribunals." I have directed the reference so to be made.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

WASHINGTON, _February 18, 1867_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I transmit a letter of the 26th ultimo, addressed to me by W.F.M. Arny, secretary and acting governor of the Territory of New Mexico, with the memorials to Congress by which it was accompanied, requesting certain appropriations for that Territory. The attention of the House of Representatives is invited to the subject.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

WASHINGTON, _February 19, 1867_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I transmit the accompanying reports from the Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of War, in answer to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 28th May last, requesting certain information in regard to captured and forfeited cotton.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

WASHINGTON, _February 20, 1867_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I transmit a report from the Secretary of State, giving information of States which have ratified the amendment to the Constitution proposed by the Thirty-ninth Congress in addition to those named in his report which was communicated in my message of the 16th instant, in answer to a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 15th instant.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

WASHINGTON, _February 21, 1867_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit to the Senate, in answer to their resolution of the 11th instant, a report from the Secretary of State, with accompanying documents.[13]

ANDREW JOHNSON.

[Footnote 13: Correspondence relative to the refusal of the United States consul at Cadiz, Spain, to certify invoices of wines shipped from that port, etc.]

WASHINGTON, _February 21, 1867_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit to the Senate, in answer to their resolution of the 31st ultimo, a report from the Secretary of State, with accompanying documents.[14]

ANDREW JOHNSON.

[Footnote 14: Correspondence with foreign ministers of the United States relative to the policy of the President toward the States lately in rebellion.]

WASHINGTON, _February 21, 1867_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit to the Senate, in answer to their resolution of the 19th instant, a report from the Secretary of State, with accompanying documents.[15]

ANDREW JOHNSON.

[Footnote 15: Correspondence relative to the salary of the United States minister to Portugal.]

WASHINGTON, _February 21, 1867_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I transmit to the House of Representatives, in answer to their resolution of the 14th instant, a report[16] from the Secretary of State of this date.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

[Footnote 16: Stating that the correspondence relative to the refusal of the United States consul at Cadiz, Spain, to certify invoices of wines shipped from that port had been sent to the Senate.]

WASHINGTON, _February 21, 1867_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

For the reasons stated[16] in the accompanying communication from the Secretary of the Interior, I withdraw the treaty concluded with the New York Indians in Kansas and submitted to the Senate in the month of December, 1863, but upon which I am informed no action has yet been taken.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

[Footnote 16: For the purpose of concluding a new treaty.]

WASHINGTON CITY, D.C., _February 23, 1867_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I herewith lay before the Senate, for its constitutional action thereon, a treaty concluded in the city of Washington on the 19th of February, 1867, between the United States and the Sac and Fox tribes of Indians of Missouri.

A letter of the Secretary of the Interior of the 23d and copy of a letter of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs of the 19th of February, 1867, accompany the treaty.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

WASHINGTON CITY, D.C., _February 23, 1867_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I herewith lay before the Senate, for its constitutional action thereon, a treaty concluded in the city of Washington on the 18th February, 1867, between the United States and the Sac and Fox tribes of Indians of the Mississippi.

A letter of the Secretary of the Interior of the 23d and a copy of a letter of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs of the 19th February, 1867, accompany the treaty.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

WASHINGTON CITY, D.C., _February 23, 1867_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I herewith lay before the Senate, for its constitutional action thereon, a treaty concluded on the 19th February, 1867, between the United States and the Sisseton and Wahpeton bands of Indians.

A letter of the Secretary of the Interior of the 23d instant and accompanying copies of letters of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs and Major T.R. Brown, in relation to said treaty, are also herewith transmitted.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

WASHINGTON, _February 23, 1867_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I transmit a copy of a letter of the 12th instant addressed to me by His Excellency Lucius Fairchild, governor of the State of Wisconsin, and of the memorial to Congress concerning the Paris Exposition adopted by the legislature of that State during its present session.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 25, 1867_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of the Interior, in reply to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 11th instant, calling for certain information relative to removals and appointments in his Department since the adjournment of the first session of the Thirty-ninth Congress.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

WASHINGTON, D.C., _February 26, 1867_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I transmit to Congress a copy of a correspondence between the Secretary of State and G.V. Fox, esq., relative to the presentation by the latter to the Emperor of Russia of the resolution of Congress expressive of the feelings of the people of the United States in reference to the providential escape of that sovereign from an attempted assassination.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

WASHINGTON, _February 26, 1867_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit to the Senate, with a view to ratification, a general convention of amity, commerce, and navigation and for the surrender of fugitive criminals between the United States and the Dominican Republic, signed by the plenipotentiaries of the parties at the city of St. Domingo on the 8th of this month.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

WASHINGTON, D.C., _February 27, 1867_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith a communication from the Secretary of the Navy, in answer to a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 21st instant, calling for a copy of a letter addressed by Richard M. Boynton and Harriet M. Fisher to the Secretary of the Navy in the month of February, 1863, together with the indorsement made thereon by the Chief of the Bureau of Ordnance.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

WASHINGTON, _March 2, 1867_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith a report of the Attorney-General, additional to the one submitted by him December 13, 1866, in reply to the resolution of the House of Representatives of December 10, 1866, requesting "a list of names of all persons who have been engaged in the late rebellion against the United States Government who have been pardoned by the President from April 15, 1865, to this date; that said list shall also state the rank of each person who has been so pardoned, if he has been engaged in the military service of the so-called Confederate States, and the position if he shall have held any civil office under said so-called Confederate government; and shall also further state whether such person has at any time prior to April 14, 1861, held any office under the United States Government, and, if so, what office, together with the reasons for granting such pardons, and also the names of the person or persons at whose solicitation such pardon was granted."

ANDREW JOHNSON.

MARCH 2, 1867.

_To the House of Representatives_:

The act entitled "An act making appropriations for the support of the Army for the year ending June 30, 1868, and for other purposes" contains provisions to which I must call attention. Those provisions are contained in the second section, which in certain cases virtually deprives the President of his constitutional functions as Commander in Chief of the Army, and in the sixth section, which denies to ten States of this Union their constitutional right to protect themselves in any emergency by means of their own militia. Those provisions are out of place in an appropriation act. I am compelled to defeat these necessary appropriations if I withhold my signature to the act. Pressed by these considerations, I feel constrained to return the bill with my signature, but to accompany it with my protest against the sections which I have indicated.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

VETO MESSAGES.

WASHINGTON, _January 5, 1867_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I have received and considered a bill entitled "An act to regulate the elective franchise in the District of Columbia," passed by the Senate on the 13th of December and by the House of Representatives on the succeeding day. It was presented for my approval on the 26th ultimo--six days after the adjournment of Congress--and is now returned with my objections to the Senate, in which House it originated.

Measures having been introduced at the commencement of the first session of the present Congress for the extension of the elective franchise to persons of color in the District of Columbia, steps were taken by the corporate authorities of Washington and Georgetown to ascertain and make known the opinion of the people of the two cities upon a subject so immediately affecting their welfare as a community. The question was submitted to the people at special elections held in the month of December, 1865, when the qualified voters of Washington and Georgetown, with great unanimity of sentiment, expressed themselves opposed to the contemplated legislation. In Washington, in a vote of 6,556--the largest, with but two exceptions, ever polled in that city--only thirty-five ballots were cast for negro suffrage, while in Georgetown, in an aggregate of 813 votes--a number considerably in excess of the average vote at the four preceding annual elections--but one was given in favor of the proposed extension of the elective franchise. As these elections seem to have been conducted with entire fairness, the result must be accepted as a truthful expression of the opinion of the people of the District upon the question which evoked it. Possessing, as an organized community, the same popular right as the inhabitants of a State or Territory to make known their will upon matters which affect their social and political condition, they could have selected no more appropriate mode of memorializing Congress upon the subject of this bill than through the suffrages of their qualified voters.

Entirely disregarding the wishes of the people of the District of Columbia, Congress has deemed it right and expedient to pass the measure now submitted for my signature. It therefore becomes the duty of the Executive, standing between the legislation of the one and the will of the other, fairly expressed, to determine whether he should approve the bill, and thus aid in placing upon the statute books of the nation a law against which the people to whom it is to apply have solemnly and with such unanimity protested, or whether he should return it with his objections in the hope that upon reconsideration Congress, acting as the representatives of the inhabitants of the seat of Government, will permit them to regulate a purely local question as to them may seem best suited to their interests and condition.

The District of Columbia was ceded to the United States by Maryland and Virginia in order that it might become the permanent seat of Government of the United States. Accepted by Congress, it at once became subject to the "exclusive legislation" for which provision is made in the Federal Constitution. It should be borne in mind, however, that in exercising its functions as the lawmaking power of the District of Columbia the authority of the National Legislature is not without limit, but that Congress is bound to observe the letter and spirit of the Constitution as well in the enactment of local laws for the seat of Government as in legislation common to the entire Union. Were it to be admitted that the right "to exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever" conferred upon Congress unlimited power within the District of Columbia, titles of nobility might be granted within its boundaries; laws might be made "respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." Despotism would thus reign at the seat of government of a free republic, and as a place of permanent residence it would be avoided by all who prefer the blessings of liberty to the mere emoluments of official position.

It should also be remembered that in legislating for the District of Columbia under the Federal Constitution the relation of Congress to its inhabitants is analogous to that of a legislature to the people of a State under their own local constitution. It does not, therefore, seem to be asking too much that in matters pertaining to the District Congress should have a like respect for the will and interest of its inhabitants as is entertained by a State legislature for the wishes and prosperity of those for whom they legislate. The spirit of our Constitution and the genius of our Government require that in regard to any law which is to affect and have a permanent bearing upon a people their will should exert at least a reasonable influence upon those who are acting in the capacity of their legislators. Would, for instance, the legislature of the State of New York, or of Pennsylvania, or of Indiana, or of any State in the Union, in opposition to the expressed will of a large majority of the people whom they were chosen to represent, arbitrarily force upon them as voters all persons of the African or negro race and make them eligible for office without any other qualification than a certain term of residence within the State? In neither of the States named would the colored population, when acting together, be able to produce any great social or political result. Yet in New York, before he can vote, the man of color must fulfill conditions that are not required of the white citizen; in Pennsylvania the elective franchise is restricted to white freemen, while in Indiana negroes and mulattoes are expressly excluded from the right of suffrage. It hardly seems consistent with the principles of right and justice that representatives of States where suffrage is either denied the colored man or granted to him on qualifications requiring intelligence or property should compel the people of the District of Columbia to try an experiment which their own constituents have thus far shown an unwillingness to test for themselves. Nor does it accord with our republican ideas that the principle of self-government should lose its force when applied to the residents of the District merely because their legislators are not, like those of the States, responsible through the ballot to the people for whom they are the lawmaking power.

The great object of placing the seat of Government under the exclusive legislation of Congress was to secure the entire independence of the General Government from undue State influence and to enable it to discharge without danger of interruption or infringement of its authority the high functions for which it was created by the people. For this important purpose it was ceded to the United States by Maryland and Virginia, and it certainly never could have been contemplated as one of the objects to be attained by placing it under the exclusive jurisdiction of Congress that it would afford to propagandists or political parties a place for an experimental test of their principles and theories. While, indeed, the residents of the seat of Government are not citizens of any State and are not, therefore, allowed a voice in the electoral college or representation in the councils of the nation, they are, nevertheless, American citizens, entitled as such to every guaranty of the Constitution, to every benefit of the laws, and to every right which pertains to citizens of our common country. In all matters, then, affecting their domestic affairs, the spirit of our democratic form of government demands that their wishes should be consulted and respected and they taught to feel that although not permitted practically to participate in national concerns, they are, nevertheless, under a paternal government regardful of their rights, mindful of their wants, and solicitous for their prosperity. It was evidently contemplated that all local questions would be left to their decision, at least to an extent that would not be incompatible with the object for which Congress was granted exclusive legislation over the seat of Government. When the Constitution was yet under consideration, it was assumed by Mr. Madison that its inhabitants would be allowed "a municipal legislature for local purposes, derived from their own suffrages." When for the first time Congress, in the year 1800, assembled at Washington, President Adams, in his speech at its opening, reminded the two Houses that it was for them to consider whether the local powers over the District of Columbia, vested by the Constitution in the Congress of the United States, should be immediately exercised, and he asked them to "consider it as the capital of a great nation, advancing with unexampled rapidity in arts, in commerce, in wealth, and in population, and possessing within itself those resources which, if not thrown away or lamentably misdirected, would secure to it a long course of prosperity and self-government." Three years had not elapsed when Congress was called upon to determine the propriety of retroceding to Maryland and Virginia the jurisdiction of the territory which they had respectively relinquished to the Government of the United States. It was urged on the one hand that exclusive jurisdiction was not necessary or useful to the Government; that it deprived the inhabitants of the District of their political rights; that much of the time of Congress was consumed in legislation pertaining to it; that its government was expensive; that Congress was not competent to legislate for the District, because the members were strangers to its local concerns; and that it was an example of a government without representation--an experiment dangerous to the liberties of the States. On the other hand it was held, among other reasons, and successfully, that the Constitution, the acts of cession of Virginia and Maryland, and the act of Congress accepting the grant all contemplated the exercise of exclusive legislation by Congress, and that its usefulness, if not its necessity, was inferred from the inconvenience which was felt for want of it by the Congress of the Confederation; that the people themselves, who, it was said, had been deprived of their political rights, had not complained and did not desire a retrocession; that the evil might be remedied by giving them a representation in Congress when the District should become sufficiently populous, and in the meantime a local legislature; that if the inhabitants had not political rights they had great political influence; that the trouble and expense of legislating for the District would not be great, but would diminish, and might in a great measure be avoided by a local legislature; and that Congress could not retrocede the inhabitants without their consent. Continuing to live substantially under the laws that existed at the time of the cession, and such changes only having been made as were suggested by themselves, the people of the District have not sought by a local legislature that which has generally been willingly conceded by the Congress of the nation.

As a general rule sound policy requires that the legislature should yield to the wishes of a people, when not inconsistent with the constitution and the laws. The measures suited to one community might not be well adapted to the condition of another; and the persons best qualified to determine such questions are those whose interests are to be directly affected by any proposed law. In Massachusetts, for instance, male persons are allowed to vote without regard to color, provided they possess a certain degree of intelligence. In a population in that State of 1,231,066 there were, by the census of 1860, only 9,602 persons of color, and of the males over 20 years of age there were 339,086 white to 2,602 colored. By the same official enumeration there were in the District of Columbia 60,764 whites to 14,316 persons of the colored race. Since then, however, the population of the District has largely increased, and it is estimated that at the present time there are nearly 100,000 whites to 30,000 negroes. The cause of the augmented numbers of the latter class needs no explanation. Contiguous to Maryland and Virginia, the District during the war became a place of refuge for those who escaped from servitude, and it is yet the abiding place of a considerable proportion of those who sought within its limits a shelter from bondage. Until then held in slavery and denied all opportunities for mental culture, their first knowledge of the Government was acquired when, by conferring upon them freedom, it became the benefactor of their race. The test of their capability for improvement began when for the first time the career of free industry and the avenues to intelligence were opened to them. Possessing these advantages but a limited time--the greater number perhaps having entered the District of Columbia during the later years of the war, or since its termination--we may well pause to inquire whether, after so brief a probation, they are as a class capable of an intelligent exercise of the right of suffrage and qualified to discharge the duties of official position. The people who are daily witnesses of their mode of living, and who have become familiar with their habits of thought, have expressed the conviction that they are not yet competent to serve as electors, and thus become eligible for office in the local governments under which they live. Clothed with the elective franchise, their numbers, already largely in excess of the demand for labor, would be soon increased by an influx from the adjoining States. Drawn from fields where employment is abundant, they would in vain seek it here, and so add to the embarrassments already experienced from the large class of idle persons congregated in the District. Hardly yet capable of forming correct judgments upon the important questions that often make the issues of a political contest, they could readily be made subservient to the purposes of designing persons. While in Massachusetts, under the census of 1860, the proportion of white to colored males over 20 years of age was 130 to 1, here the black race constitutes nearly one-third of the entire population, whilst the same class surrounds the District on all sides, ready to change their residence at a moment's notice, and with all the facility of a nomadic people, in order to enjoy here, after a short residence, a privilege they find nowhere else. It is within their power in one year to come into the District in such numbers as to have the supreme control of the white race, and to govern them by their own officers and by the exercise of all the municipal authority--among the rest, of the power of taxation over property in which they have no interest. In Massachusetts, where they have enjoyed the benefits of a thorough educational system, a qualification of intelligence is required, while here suffrage is extended to all without discrimination--as well to the most incapable who can prove a residence in the District of one year as to those persons of color who, comparatively few in number, are permanent inhabitants, and, having given evidence of merit and qualification, are recognized as useful and responsible members of the community. Imposed upon an unwilling people placed by the Constitution under the exclusive legislation of Congress, it would be viewed as an arbitrary exercise of power and as an indication by the country of the purpose of Congress to compel the acceptance of negro suffrage by the States. It would engender a feeling of opposition and hatred between the two races, which, becoming deep rooted and ineradicable, would prevent them from living together in a state of mutual friendliness. Carefully avoiding every measure that might tend to produce such a result, and following the clear and well-ascertained popular will, we should assiduously endeavor to promote kindly relations between them, and thus, when that popular will leads the way, prepare for the gradual and harmonious introduction of this new element into the political power of the country.

It can not be urged that the proposed extension of suffrage in the District of Columbia is necessary to enable persons of color to protect either their interests or their rights. They stand here precisely as they stand in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana. Here as elsewhere, in all that pertains to civil rights, there is nothing to distinguish this class of persons from citizens of the United States, for they possess the "full and equal benefit of all laws and proceedings for the security of person and property as is enjoyed by white citizens," and are made "subject to like punishment, pains, and penalties, and to none other, any law, statute, ordinance, regulation, or custom to the contrary notwithstanding." Nor, as has been assumed, are their suffrages necessary to aid a loyal sentiment here, for local governments already exist of undoubted fealty to the Government, and are sustained by communities which were among the first to testify their devotion to the Union, and which during the struggle furnished their full quotas of men to the military service of the country.