A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents - James D. Richardson
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The situation of this District, it is thought, requires the attention of
Congress. By the Constitution the power of legislation is exclusively
vested in the Congress of the United States. In the exercise of this
power, in which the people have no participation, Congress legislate in
all cases directly on the local concerns of the District. As this is a
departure, for a special purpose, from the general principles of our
system, it may merit consideration whether an arrangement better adapted
to the principles of our Government and to the particular interests
of the people may not be devised which will neither infringe the
Constitution nor affect the object which the provision in question
was intended to secure. The growing population, already considerable,
and the increasing business of the District, which it is believed
already interferes with the deliberations of Congress on great national
concerns, furnish additional motives for recommending this subject to
your consideration.
When we view the great blessings with which our country has been
favored, those which we now enjoy, and the means which we possess of
handing them down unimpaired to our latest posterity, our attention is
irresistibly drawn to the source from whence they flow. Let us, then,
unite in offering our most grateful acknowledgments for these blessings
to the Divine Author of All Good.
JAMES MONROE.
SPECIAL MESSAGES.
NOVEMBER 30, 1818.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I lay before the Senate, for their advice and consent, the several
treaties which have recently been made with the Chickasaws, the Quapaws,
the Wyandot, Seneca, Delaware, Shawnese, Potawatamies, Ottawas, and
Chippewas, the Peoria, Kaskaskias, Mitchigamia, Cahokia, and Tamarois,
the Great and Little Osages, the Weas, Potawatamies, Delaware and Miami,
the Wyandot, and the four Pawnees tribes of Indians.
By reference to the journal of the commissioners it appears that George
and Levi Colbert have bargained and sold to the United States the
reservations made to them by the treaty of September, 1816, and that
a deed of trust of the same has been made by them to James Jackson,
of Nashville. I would therefore suggest, in case the Chickasaw treaty
be approved by the Senate, the propriety of providing by law for
the payment of the sum stipulated to be given to them for their
reservations.
JAMES MONROE.
DECEMBER 2, 1818.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I transmit to the Senate copies of such of the documents referred to in
the message of the 17th of last month as have been prepared since that
period. They contain a copy of the reports of Mr. Rodney and Mr. Graham,
two of the commissioners to South America, who returned first from the
mission, and of the papers connected with those reports. They also
present a full view of the operations of our troops employed in the
Seminole war in Florida.
It would have been gratifying to me to have communicated with the
message all the documents referred to in it, but as two of our
commissioners from South America made their reports a few days only
before the meeting of Congress and the third on the day of its meeting,
it was impossible to transmit at that time more than one copy of the
two reports first made.
The residue of the documents will be communicated as soon as they are
prepared.
JAMES MONROE.
WASHINGTON, _December 2, 1818_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
In compliance with a resolution of the Senate of 25th of last month,
requesting to be furnished with such information as may be possessed by
the Executive touching the execution of so much of the first article of
the late treaty of peace and amity between His Britannic Majesty and the
United States as relates to the restitution of slaves, and which has not
heretofore been communicated, I lay before the Senate a report made by
the Secretary of State on the 1st instant in relation to that subject.
JAMES MONROE.
DECEMBER 2, 1818.
_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:
I transmit to the House of Representatives copies of such documents
referred to in the message of the 17th ultimo as have been prepared
since that period. They present a full view of the operations of our
troops employed in the Seminole war who entered Florida.
The residue of the documents, which are very voluminous, will be
transmitted as soon as they can be prepared.
JAMES MONROE.
DECEMBER 12, 1818.
_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:
In compliance with the resolution of the House of Representatives of the
10th instant, I transmit a report of the Secretary of War, with copies
of the correspondence between the governor of Georgia and Major-General
Andrew Jackson on the subject of the arrest of Captain Obed Wright.
JAMES MONROE.
DECEMBER 29, 1818.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I lay before the Senate, for their consideration, a convention, signed
at London on the 20th of October last, between the United States and
Great Britain, together with the documents showing the course and
progress of the negotiation. I have to request that these documents,
which are original, may be returned when the Senate shall have acted on
the convention.
JAMES MONROE.
DECEMBER 31, 1818.
_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:
In compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives
of the 24th instant, requesting me to lay before it "copies of the
correspondence, if any, between the Department of War and the governor
of Georgia, in answer to the letter of the latter to the former dated
on the 1st of June of the present year, communicated to the House on
the 12th instant; and also the correspondence, if any, between the
Department of War and General Andrew Jackson, in answer to the letter of
the latter of the date 7th May, 1818, also communicated to the House on
the 12th instant," I transmit a report from the Secretary of War, with a
copy of an extract of a letter from Major Van De Venter, chief clerk in
the Department of War, in reply to General Jackson's letter of the 7th
of May, 1818.
JAMES MONROE.
DECEMBER 31, 1818.
_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:
In compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives of the
7th instant, requesting me to lay before it "the proceedings which have
been had under the act entitled 'An act for the gradual increase of the
Navy of the United States,' specifying the number of ships which have
been put on the stocks, and of what class, and the quantity and kind of
materials which have been procured in compliance with the provisions of
said act; and also the sums of money which have been paid out of the
fund created by the said act, and for what objects; and likewise the
contracts which have been entered into in execution of said act on which
moneys may not yet have been advanced," I transmit a report from the
Acting Secretary of the Navy, together with a communication from the
Board of Navy Commissioners, which, with the documents accompanying it,
comprehends all the information required by the House of
Representatives.
JAMES MONROE.
WASHINGTON, _January 4, 1819_.
_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_:
I transmit to Congress a proclamation, dated the 22d of last
month, of the convention made and concluded at Madrid between the
plenipotentiaries of the United States and His Catholic Majesty on the
11th of August, 1802, the ratifications of which were not exchanged
until the 21st ultimo, together with the translation of a letter from
the minister of Spain to the Secretary of State.
JAMES MONROE.
JANUARY 4, 1819.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I transmit to the Senate, in pursuance of their resolution of the
30th of last month, requesting to be furnished with the instructions,
including that of the 28th of July, 1818, to the plenipotentiaries of
the United States who negotiated the convention with His Britannic
Majesty signed on the 20th day of October in the same year, copies
of all these instructions, including that particularly referred to.
JAMES MONROE.
JANUARY 11, 1819.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
In compliance with a resolution of the Senate of the 5th instant,
requesting me "to cause to be laid before it a statement of the
effective force composing the military establishment of the United
States; also a statement of the different posts and garrisons at and
within which troops are stationed, and the actual number of officers,
noncommissioned officers, and privates at each post and garrison,
respectively; also to designate in such statement the number of
artillerists and the number and caliber of ordnance at each of the said
posts and garrisons," I transmit a report from the Secretary of War,
which, with the documents accompanying it, contains all the information
required.
JAMES MONROE.
JANUARY 29, 1819.
_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:
I transmit to the House of Representatives, in compliance with their
resolution of the 4th of this month, a report from the Secretary of
State concerning the applications which have been made by any of
the independent Governments of South America to have a minister or
consul-general accredited by the Government of the United States, with
the answers of this Government to the applications addressed to it.
JAMES MONROE.
JANUARY 30, 1819.
_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:
In compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives of
the 18th instant, requesting me to cause any information not already
communicated to be laid before the House whether Amelia Island, St.
Marks, and Pensacola yet remain in the possession of the United States,
and, if so, by what laws the inhabitants are governed; whether articles
imported therein from foreign countries are subject to any, and what,
duties, and by what laws, and whether the said duties are collected and
how; whether vessels arriving in the United States from Pensacola and
Amelia Island, and in Pensacola and Amelia Island from the United
States, respectively, are considered and treated as vessels arriving
from foreign countries, I transmit a report from the Secretary of the
Treasury, and likewise one from the Secretary of War, which will afford
all the information requested by the House of Representatives.
JAMES MONROE.
FEBRUARY 2, 1819.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I nominate John Overton, Newton Cannon, and Robert Weakly, of Tennessee,
as commissioners to negotiate with the Chickasaw tribe of Indians for
the cession of a tract of land 4 miles square, including a salt spring,
reserved to the said tribe by the fourth article of a treaty concluded
with the said Indians on the 19th day of October, 1818.
JAMES MONROE.
FEBRUARY 2, 1819.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
In compliance with a resolution of the Senate of the 13th of last month,
requesting me "to cause to be laid before it a statement showing the
measures that have been taken to collect the balances stated to be due
from the several supervisors and collectors of the old direct tax of two
millions; also a similar statement of the balances due from the officers
of the old internal revenue, and to designate in such statement the
persons who have been interested in the collection of the said debts and
the sums by them respectively collected, and the time when the same were
collected," I transmit a report of the Secretary of the Treasury, which,
with the documents accompanying it, contains all the information
required.
JAMES MONROE.
WASHINGTON, _February 3, 1819_.
_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_:
I communicate to Congress copies of applications received from the
minister of Great Britain in behalf of certain British subjects who have
suffered in their property by proceedings to which the United States by
their military and judicial officers have been parties. These injuries
have been sustained under circumstances which appear to recommend
strongly to the attention of Congress the claim to indemnity for the
losses occasioned by them, which the legislative authority is alone
competent to provide.
JAMES MONROE.
FEBRUARY 5, 1819.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
In compliance with a resolution of the Senate of the 25th of last month,
requesting me "to cause to be laid before it a copy of the rules and
regulations adopted for the government of the Military Academy at West
Point; also how many cadets have been admitted into the Academy, the
time of the residence of each cadet at that institution, and how many
of them have been appointed officers in the Army and Navy of the United
States," I transmit a report from the Secretary of War, which, with the
accompanying documents, will afford all the information required by the
said resolution.
JAMES MONROE.
WASHINGTON, _February 6, 1819_.
_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_:
I transmit to Congress a copy of a letter from Governor Bibb to
Major-General Jackson, connected with the late military operations
in Florida. This letter has been mislaid, or it would have been
communicated with the other documents at the commencement of the
session.
JAMES MONROE.
FEBRUARY 6, 1819.
_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_:
I transmit to Congress, for their consideration, applications which have
been received from the minister resident of Prussia and from the senates
of the free and Hanseatic cities of Hamburg and Bremen, the object of
which is that the advantages secured by the act of Congress of 20th of
April last to the vessels and merchandise of the Netherlands should
be extended to those of Prussia, Hamburg, and Bremen. It will appear
from these documents that the vessels of the United States and the
merchandise laden in them are in the ports of those Governments,
respectively, entitled to the same advantages in respect to imposts and
duties as those of the native subjects of the countries themselves.
The principle of reciprocity appears to entitle them to the return of
the same favor on the part of the United States, and I recommend it to
Congress that provision to that effect may be made.
JAMES MONROE.
FEBRUARY 22, 1819.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I transmit to the Senate a treaty of amity, settlement, and limits
between the United States of America and His Catholic Majesty,
concluded and signed this day, for the decision of the Senate as to
its ratification. Copies of the correspondence between the Secretary
of State and the minister from Spain connected with this subject since
the renewal of the negotiation are likewise inclosed.
JAMES MONROE.
WASHINGTON, _February 26, 1819_.
_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_:
The treaty of amity, settlement, and limits between the United States
and His Catholic Majesty having been on the part of the United States
ratified, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, copies of
it are now transmitted to Congress. As the ratification on the part
of Spain may be expected to take place during the recess of Congress,
I recommend to their consideration the adoption of such legislative
measures contingent upon the event of the exchange of the ratifications
as may be necessary or expedient for carrying the treaty into effect
in the interval between the sessions, and until Congress at their next
session may see fit to make further provision on the subject.
JAMES MONROE.
MARCH 2, 1819.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
A convention having been concluded between John C. Calhoun, Secretary of
War, especially authorized therefor by me, and the chiefs and headmen of
the Cherokee Nation of Indians, likewise duly authorized and empowered
by said nation, I now lay the original instrument before the Senate for
the exercise of its constitutional power respecting the ratification
thereof.
JAMES MONROE.
THIRD ANNUAL MESSAGE.
WASHINGTON, _December 7, 1819_.
_Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and of the House of Representatives_:
The public buildings being advanced to a stage to afford accommodation
for Congress, I offer you my sincere congratulations on the
recommencement of your duties in the Capitol.
In bringing to view the incidents most deserving attention which have
occurred since your last session, I regret to have to state that several
of our principal cities have suffered by sickness, that an unusual
drought has prevailed in the Middle and Western States, and that a
derangement has been felt in some of our moneyed institutions which has
proportionably affected their credit. I am happy, however, to have it in
my power to assure you that the health of our cities is now completely
restored; that the produce of the year, though less abundant than usual,
will not only be amply sufficient for home consumption, but afford a
large surplus for the supply of the wants of other nations, and that the
derangement in the circulating paper medium, by being left to those
remedies which its obvious causes suggested and the good sense and
virtue of our fellow-citizens supplied, has diminished.
Having informed Congress, on the 27th of February last, that a treaty of
amity, settlement, and limits had been concluded in this city between
the United States and Spain, and ratified by the competent authorities
of the former, full confidence was entertained that it would have been
ratified by His Catholic Majesty with equal promptitude and a like
earnest desire to terminate on the conditions of that treaty the
differences which had so long existed between the two countries. Every
view which the subject admitted of was thought to have justified this
conclusion. Great losses had been sustained by citizens of the United
States from Spanish cruisers more than twenty years before, which had
not been redressed. These losses had been acknowledged and provided for
by a treaty as far back as the year 1802, which, although concluded at
Madrid, was not then ratified by the Government of Spain, nor since,
until the last year, when it was suspended by the late treaty, a more
satisfactory provision to both parties, as was presumed, having been
made for them. Other differences had arisen in this long interval,
affecting their highest interests, which were likewise provided for by
this last treaty. The treaty itself was formed on great consideration
and a thorough knowledge of all circumstances, the subject-matter of
every article having been for years under discussion and repeated
references having been made by the minister of Spain to his Government
on the points respecting which the greatest difference of opinion
prevailed. It was formed by a minister duly authorized for the purpose,
who had represented his Government in the United States and been
employed in this long-protracted negotiation several years, and who, it
is not denied, kept strictly within the letter of his instructions. The
faith of Spain was therefore pledged, under circumstances of peculiar
force and solemnity, for its ratification. On the part of the United
States this treaty was evidently acceded to in a spirit of conciliation
and concession. The indemnity for injuries and losses so long before
sustained, and now again acknowledged and provided for, was to be
paid by them without becoming a charge on the treasury of Spain. For
territory ceded by Spain other territory of great value, to which our
claim was believed to be well founded, was ceded by the United States,
and in a quarter more interesting to her. This cession was nevertheless
received as the means of indemnifying our citizens in a considerable
sum, the presumed amount of their losses. Other considerations of great
weight urged the cession of this territory by Spain. It was surrounded
by the Territories of the United States on every side except on that of
the ocean. Spain had lost her authority over it, and, falling into the
hands of adventurers connected with the savages, it was made the means
of unceasing annoyance and injury to our Union in many of its most
essential interests. By this cession, then, Spain ceded a territory
in reality of no value to her and obtained concessions of the highest
importance by the settlement of long-standing differences with the
United States affecting their respective claims and limits, and likewise
relieved herself from the obligation of a treaty relating to it which
she had failed to fulfill, and also from the responsibility incident to
the most flagrant and pernicious abuses of her rights where she could
not support her authority.
It being known that the treaty was formed under these circumstances, not
a doubt was entertained that His Catholic Majesty would have ratified
it without delay. I regret to have to state that this reasonable
expectation has been disappointed; that the treaty was not ratified
within the time stipulated and has not since been ratified. As it is
important that the nature and character of this unexpected occurrence
should be distinctly understood, I think it my duty to communicate to
you all the facts and circumstances in my possession relating to it.
Anxious to prevent all future disagreement with Spain by giving the
most prompt effect to the treaty which had been thus concluded, and
particularly by the establishment of a government in Florida which
should preserve order there, the minister of the United States who
had been recently appointed to His Catholic Majesty, and to whom the
ratification by his Government had been committed to be exchanged for
that of Spain, was instructed to transmit the latter to the Department
of State as soon as obtained, by a public ship subjected to his order
for the purpose. Unexpected delay occurring in the ratification by
Spain, he requested to be informed of the cause. It was stated in
reply that the great importance of the subject, and a desire to obtain
explanations on certain points which were not specified, had produced
the delay, and that an envoy would be dispatched to the United States to
obtain such explanations of this Government. The minister of the United
States offered to give full explanation on any point on which it might
be desired, which proposal was declined. Having communicated this
result to the Department of State in August last, he was instructed,
notwithstanding the disappointment and surprise which it produced, to
inform the Government of Spain that if the treaty should be ratified and
transmitted here at any time before the meeting of Congress it would
be received and have the same effect as if it had been ratified in due
time. This order was executed, the authorized communication was made
to the Government of Spain, and by its answer, which has just been
received, we are officially made acquainted for the first time with
the causes which have prevented the ratification of the treaty by His
Catholic Majesty. It is alleged by the minister of Spain that this
Government had attempted to alter one of the principal articles of the
treaty by a declaration which the minister of the United States had
been ordered to present when he should deliver the ratification by his
Government in exchange for that of Spain, and of which he gave notice,
explanatory of the sense in which that article was understood. It is
further alleged that this Government had recently tolerated or protected
an expedition from the United States against the Province of Texas,
These two imputed acts are stated as the reasons which have induced His
Catholic Majesty to withhold his ratification from the treaty, to obtain
explanations respecting which it is repeated that an envoy would be
forthwith dispatched to the United States. How far these allegations
will justify the conduct of the Government of Spain will appear on
a view of the following facts and the evidence which supports them:
It will be seen by the documents transmitted herewith that the
declaration mentioned relates to a clause in the eighth article
concerning certain grants of land recently made by His Catholic Majesty
in Florida, which it was understood had conveyed all the lands which
till then had been ungranted; it was the intention of the parties to
annul these latter grants, and that clause was drawn for that express
purpose and for none other. The date of these grants was unknown, but it
was understood to be posterior to that inserted in the article; indeed,
it must be obvious to all that if that provision in the treaty had not
the effect of annulling these grants, it would be altogether nugatory.
Immediately after the treaty was concluded and ratified by this
Government an intimation was received that these grants were of anterior
date to that fixed on by the treaty and that they would not, of course,
be affected by it. The mere possibility of such a case, so inconsistent
with the intention of the parties and the meaning of the article,
induced this Government to demand an explanation on the subject, which
was immediately granted, and which corresponds with this statement. With
respect to the other act alleged, that this Government had tolerated or
protected an expedition against Texas, it is utterly without foundation.
Every discountenance has invariably been given to any such attempt from
within the limits of the United States, as is fully evinced by the acts
of the Government and the proceedings of the courts. There being cause,
however, to apprehend, in the course of the last summer, that some
adventurers entertained views of the kind suggested, the attention of
the constituted authorities in that quarter was immediately drawn to
them, and it is known that the project, whatever it might be, has
utterly failed.