A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents, Volume - James D. Richardson
The annexation of Texas and the acquisition of California and New
Mexico have given increased importance to our Indian relations. The
various tribes brought under our jurisdiction by these enlargements of
our boundaries are estimated to embrace a population of 124,000.
Texas and New Mexico are surrounded by powerful tribes of Indians,
who are a source of constant terror and annoyance to the inhabitants.
Separating into small predatory bands, and always mounted, they
overrun the country, devastating farms, destroying crops, driving off
whole herds of cattle, and occasionally murdering the inhabitants or
carrying them into captivity. The great roads leading into the country
are infested with them, whereby traveling is rendered extremely
dangerous and immigration is almost entirely arrested. The Mexican
frontier, which by the eleventh article of the treaty of Guadalupe
Hidalgo we are bound to protect against the Indians within our border,
is exposed to these incursions equally with our own. The military
force stationed in that country, although forming a large proportion
of the Army, is represented as entirely inadequate to our own
protection and the fulfillment of our treaty stipulations with Mexico.
The principal deficiency is in cavalry, and I recommend that Congress
should, at as early a period as practicable, provide for the raising
of one or more regiments of mounted men.
For further suggestions on this subject and others connected with our
domestic interests and the defense of our frontier, I refer you to the
reports of the Secretary of the Interior and of the Secretary of War.
I commend also to your favorable consideration the suggestion
contained in the last-mentioned report and in the letter of the
General in Chief relative to the establishment of an asylum for the
relief of disabled and destitute soldiers. This subject appeals so
strongly to your sympathies that it would be superfluous in me to say
anything more than barely to express my cordial approbation of the
proposed object.
The Navy continues to give protection to our commerce and other
national interests in the different quarters of the globe, and, with
the exception of a single steamer on the Northern lakes, the vessels
in commission are distributed in six different squadrons.
The report of the head of that Department will exhibit the services of
these squadrons and of the several vessels employed in each during the
past year. It is a source of gratification that, while they have been
constantly prepared for any hostile emergency, they have everywhere
met with the respect and courtesy due as well to the dignity as to the
peaceful dispositions and just purposes of the nation.
The two brigantines accepted by the Government from a generous citizen
of New York and placed under the command of an officer of the Navy to
proceed to the Arctic Seas in quest of the British commander Sir John
Franklin and his companions, in compliance with the act of Congress
approved in May last, had when last heard from penetrated into a high
northern latitude; but the success of this noble and humane enterprise
is yet uncertain.
I invite your attention to the view of our present naval establishment
and resources presented in the report of the Secretary of the Navy,
and the suggestions therein made for its improvement, together with
the naval policy recommended for the security of our Pacific Coast and
the protection and extension of our commerce with eastern Asia. Our
facilities for a larger participation in the trade of the East, by
means of our recent settlements on the shores of the Pacific, are too
obvious to be overlooked or disregarded.
The questions in relation to rank in the Army and Navy and relative
rank between officers of the two branches of the service, presented to
the Executive by certain resolutions of the House of Representatives
at the last session of Congress, have been submitted to a board of
officers in each branch of the service, and their report may be
expected at an early day.
I also earnestly recommend the enactment of a law authorizing officers
of the Army and Navy to be retired from the service when incompetent
for its vigorous and active duties, taking care to make suitable
provision for those who have faithfully served their country and
awarding distinctions by retaining in appropriate commands those who
have been particularly conspicuous for gallantry and good conduct.
While the obligation of the country to maintain and honor those who,
to the exclusion of other pursuits, have devoted themselves to its
arduous service is acknowledged, this obligation should not be
permitted to interfere with the efficiency of the service itself.
I am gratified in being able to state that the estimates of
expenditure for the Navy in the ensuing year are less by more than
$1,000,000 than those of the present, excepting the appropriation
which may become necessary for the construction of a dock on the coast
of the Pacific, propositions for which are now being considered and on
which a special report may be expected early in your present session.
There is an evident justness in the suggestion of the same report that
appropriations for the naval service proper should be separated from
those for fixed and permanent objects, such as building docks and
navy-yards and the fixtures attached, and from the extraordinary
objects under the care of the Department which, however important,
are not essentially naval.
A revision of the code for the government of the Navy seems to require
the immediate consideration of Congress. Its system of crimes and
punishments had undergone no change for half a century until the last
session, though its defects have been often and ably pointed out;
and the abolition of a particular species of corporal punishment,
which then took place, without providing any substitute, has left the
service in a state of defectiveness which calls for prompt correction.
I therefore recommend that the whole subject be revised without delay
and such a system established for the enforcement of discipline as
shall be at once humane and effectual.
The accompanying report of the Postmaster-General presents a
satisfactory view of the operations and condition of that Department.
At the close of the last fiscal year the length of the inland mail
routes in the United States (not embracing the service in Oregon and
California) was 178,672 miles, the annual transportation thereon
46,541,423 miles, and the annual cost of such transportation $2,724,426.
The increase of the annual transportation over that of the preceding
year was 3,997,354 miles and the increase in cost was $342,440.
The number of post-offices in the United States on the 1st day of July
last was 18,417, being an increase of I,670 during the preceding year.
The gross revenues of the Department for the fiscal year ending June 30,
1850, amounted to $5,552,971.48, including the annual appropriation of
$200,000 for the franked matter of the Departments and excluding the
foreign postages collected for and payable to the British Government.
The expenditures for the same period were $5,212,953.43, leaving a
balance of revenue over expenditures of $340,018.05.
I am happy to find that the fiscal condition of the Department is such
as to justify the Postmaster-General in recommending the reduction of
our inland letter postage to 3 cents the single letter when prepaid and
5 cents when not prepaid. He also recommends that the prepaid rate shall
be reduced to 2 cents whenever the revenues of the Department, after the
reduction, shall exceed its expenditures by more than 5 per cent for two
consecutive years; that the postage upon California and other letters
sent by our ocean steamers shall be much reduced, and that the rates of
postage on newspapers, pamphlets, periodicals, and other printed matter
shall be modified and some reduction thereon made.
It can not be doubted that the proposed reductions will for the present
diminish the revenues of the Department. It is believed that the
deficiency, after the surplus already accumulated shall be exhausted,
may be almost wholly met either by abolishing the existing privileges of
sending free matter through the mails or by paying out of the Treasury
to the Post-Office Department a sum equivalent to the postage of which
it is deprived by such privileges. The last is supposed to be the
preferable mode, and will, if not entirely, so nearly supply that
deficiency as to make any further appropriation that may be found
necessary so inconsiderable as to form no obstacle to the proposed
reductions.
I entertain no doubt of the authority of Congress to make appropriations
for leading objects in that class of public works comprising what are
usually called works of internal improvement. This authority I suppose
to be derived chiefly from the power of regulating commerce with foreign
nations and among the States and the power of laying and collecting
imposts. Where commerce is to be carried on and imposts collected there
must be ports and harbors as well as wharves and custom-houses. If ships
laden with valuable cargoes approach the shore or sail along the coast,
light-houses are necessary at suitable points for the protection of
life and property. Other facilities and securities for commerce and
navigation are hardly less important; and those clauses of the
Constitution, therefore, to which I have referred have received from the
origin of the Government a liberal and beneficial construction. Not only
have light-houses, buoys, and beacons been established and floating
lights maintained, but harbors have been cleared and improved, piers
constructed, and even breakwaters for the safety of shipping and sea
walls to protect harbors from being filled up and rendered useless by
the action of the ocean, have been erected at very great expense. And
this construction of the Constitution appears the more reasonable from
the consideration that if these works, of such evident importance
and utility, are not to be accomplished by Congress they can not be
accomplished at all. By the adoption of the Constitution the several
States voluntarily parted with the power of collecting duties of imposts
in their own ports, and it is not to be expected that they should raise
money by internal taxation, direct or indirect, for the benefit of that
commerce the revenues derived from which do not, either in whole or in
part, go into their own treasuries. Nor do I perceive any difference
between the power of Congress to make appropriations for objects of this
kind on the ocean and the power to make appropriations for similar
objects on lakes and rivers, wherever they are large enough to bear on
their waters an extensive traffic. The magnificent Mississippi and its
tributaries and the vast lakes of the North and Northwest appear to me
to fall within the exercise of the power as justly and as clearly as the
ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. It is a mistake to regard expenditures
judiciously made for these objects as expenditures for local purposes.
The position or sight of the work is necessarily local, but its utility
is general. A ship canal around the Falls of St. Mary of less than a
mile in length, though local in its construction, would yet be national
in its purpose and its benefits, as it would remove the only obstruction
to a navigation of more than 1,000 miles, affecting several States, as
well as our commercial relations with Canada. So, too, the breakwater at
the mouth of the Delaware is erected, not for the exclusive benefit of
the States bordering on the bay and river of that name, but for that
of the whole coastwise navigation of the United States and, to a
considerable extent, also of foreign commerce. If a ship be lost on the
bar at the entrance of a Southern port for want of sufficient depth of
water, it is very likely to be a Northern ship; and if a steamboat be
sunk in any part of the Mississippi on account of its channel not having
been properly cleared of obstructions, it may be a boat belonging to
either of eight or ten States. I may add, as somewhat remarkable, that
among all the thirty-one States there is none that is not to a greater
or less extent bounded on the ocean, or the Gulf of Mexico, or one of
the Great Lakes, or some navigable river.
In fulfilling our constitutional duties, fellow-citizens, on this
subject, as in carrying into effect all other powers conferred by the
Constitution, we should consider ourselves as deliberating and acting
for one and the same country, and bear constantly in mind that our
regard and our duty are due not to a particular part only, but to the
whole.
I therefore recommend that appropriations be made for completing such
works as have been already begun and for commencing such others as may
seem to the wisdom of Congress to be of public and general importance.
The difficulties and delays incident to the settlement of private claims
by Congress amount in many cases to a denial of justice. There is reason
to apprehend that many unfortunate creditors of the Government have
thereby been unavoidably ruined. Congress has so much business of a
public character that it is impossible it should give much attention to
mere private claims, and their accumulation is now so great that many
claimants must despair of ever being able to obtain a hearing. It may
well be doubted whether Congress, from the nature of its organization,
is properly constituted to decide upon such cases. It is impossible that
each member should examine the merits of every claim on which he is
compelled to vote, and it is preposterous to ask a judge to decide a
case which he has never heard. Such decisions may, and frequently must,
do injustice either to the claimant or the Government, and I perceive
no better remedy for this growing evil than the establishment of some
tribunal to adjudicate upon such claims. I beg leave, therefore,
most respectfully to recommend that provision be made by law for the
appointment of a commission to settle all private claims against the
United States; and as an _ex parte_ hearing must in all contested
cases be very unsatisfactory, I also recommend the appointment of a
solicitor, whose duty it shall be to represent the Government before
such commission and protect it against all illegal, fraudulent, or
unjust claims which may be presented for their adjudication.
This District, which has neither voice nor vote in your deliberations,
looks to you for protection and aid, and I commend all its wants to your
favorable consideration, with a full confidence that you will meet them
not only with justice, but with liberality. It should be borne in mind
that in this city, laid out by Washington and consecrated by his name,
is located the Capitol of our nation, the emblem of our Union and the
symbol of our greatness. Here also are situated all the public buildings
necessary for the use of the Government, and all these are exempt from
taxation. It should be the pride of Americans to render this place
attractive to the people of the whole Republic and convenient and safe
for the transaction of the public business and the preservation of
the public records. The Government should therefore bear a liberal
proportion of the burdens of all necessary and useful improvements. And
as nothing could contribute more to the health, comfort, and safety of
the city and the security of the public buildings and records than an
abundant supply of pure water, I respectfully recommend that you make
such provisions for obtaining the same as in your wisdom you may deem
proper.
The act, passed at your last session, making certain propositions to
Texas for settling the disputed boundary between that State and the
Territory of New Mexico was, immediately on its passage, transmitted by
express to the governor of Texas, to be laid by him before the general
assembly for its agreement thereto. Its receipt was duly acknowledged,
but no official information has yet been received of the action of the
general assembly thereon. It may, however, be very soon expected, as,
by the terms of the propositions submitted they were to have been acted
upon on or before the first day of the present month.
It was hardly to have been expected that the series of measures passed
at your last session with the view of healing the sectional differences
which had sprung from the slavery and territorial questions should at
once have realized their beneficent purpose. All mutual concession in
the nature of a compromise must necessarily be unwelcome to men of
extreme opinions. And though without such concessions our Constitution
could not have been formed, and can not be permanently sustained, yet we
have seen them made the subject of bitter controversy in both sections
of the Republic, It required many months of discussion and deliberation
to secure the concurrence of a majority of Congress in their favor. It
would be strange if they had been received with immediate approbation by
people and States prejudiced and heated by the exciting controversies of
their representatives. I believe those measures to have been required
by the circumstances and condition of the country. I believe they
were necessary to allay asperities and animosities that were rapidly
alienating one section of the country from another and destroying
those fraternal sentiments which are the strongest supports of the
Constitution. They were adopted in the spirit of conciliation and for
the purpose of conciliation. I believe that a great majority of our
fellow-citizens sympathize in that spirit and that purpose, and in
the main approve and are prepared in all respects to sustain these
enactments. I can not doubt that the American people, bound together by
kindred blood and common traditions, still cherish a paramount regard
for the Union of their fathers, and that they are ready to rebuke any
attempt to violate its integrity, to disturb the compromises on which
it is based, or to resist the laws which have been enacted under its
authority.
The series of measures to which I have alluded are regarded by me as
a settlement in principle and substance--a final settlement of the
dangerous and exciting subjects which they embraced. Most of these
subjects, indeed, are beyond your reach, as the legislation which
disposed of them was in its character final and irrevocable. It may
be presumed from the opposition which they all encountered that none
of those measures was free from imperfections, but in their mutual
dependence and connection they formed a system of compromise the most
conciliatory and best for the entire country that could be obtained
from conflicting sectional interests and opinions.
For this reason I recommend your adherence to the adjustment established
by those measures until time and experience shall demonstrate the
necessity of further legislation to guard against evasion or abuse.
By that adjustment we have been rescued from the wide and boundless
agitation that surrounded us, and have a firm, distinct, and legal
ground to rest upon. And the occasion, I trust, will justify me in
exhorting my countrymen to rally upon and maintain that ground as the
best, if not the only, means of restoring peace and quiet to the country
and maintaining inviolate the integrity of the Union.
And now, fellow-citizens, I can not bring this communication to a close
without invoking you to join me in humble and devout thanks to the Great
Ruler of Nations for the multiplied blessings which He has graciously
bestowed upon us. His hand, so often visible in our preservation, has
stayed the pestilence, saved us from foreign wars and domestic
disturbances, and scattered plenty throughout the land.
Our liberties, religious and civil, have been maintained, the fountains
of knowledge have all been kept open, and means of happiness widely
spread and generally enjoyed greater than have fallen to the lot of any
other nation. And while deeply penetrated with gratitude for the past,
let us hope that His all-wise providence will so guide our counsels as
that they shall result in giving satisfaction to our constituents,
securing the peace of the country, and adding new strength to the united
Government under which we live.
MILLARD FILLMORE.
SPECIAL MESSAGES.
WASHINGTON, _December 9, 1850_.
_To the House of Representatives_:
I communicate to the House of Representatives a translation of a note
of the 5th instant addressed to the Secretary of State by the minister
of the Mexican Republic accredited to this Government, relative to a
subject[2] to which the attention of Congress was invited in my message
at the opening of the present session.
MILLARD FILLMORE.
[The same message was sent to the Senate.]
[Footnote 2: Incursions of Indians of the United States upon the
population of the Mexican frontier.]
WASHINGTON, _December 12, 1850_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I herewith transmit a report of the Secretary of State, with accompanying
documents, relating to the African slave trade, in answer to the
resolution of the Senate of the 28th of August last.
MILLARD FILLMORE
WASHINGTON, _December 13, 1850_.
_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:
I have the pleasure of announcing to Congress the agreement on the part
of Texas to the propositions offered to that State by the act of
Congress approved on the 9th day of September last, entitled "An act
proposing to the State of Texas the establishment of her northern
and western boundaries, the relinquishment by the said State of all
territory claimed by her exterior to said boundaries and of all her
claims upon the United States, and to establish a Territorial government
for New Mexico."
By the terms of that act it was required that the agreement of Texas to
the propositions contained in it should be given on or before the 1st
day of December, 1850. An authenticated transcript of a law passed by
the legislature of Texas on the 25th day of November, agreeing to and
accepting the propositions contained in the act of Congress, has been
received. This law, after reciting the provisions of the act of Congress,
proceeds to enact and declare as follows, viz:
Therefore, first. _Be it enacted by the legislature of the State of
Texas_, That the State of Texas hereby agrees to and accepts said
propositions; and it is hereby declared that the said State shall be
bound by the terms thereof according to their true import and meaning.
Second. That the governor of this State be, and is hereby, requested to
cause a copy of this act, authenticated under the seal of the State, to
be furnished to the President of the United States by mail as early as
practicable, and also a copy thereof, certified in like manner, to be
transmitted to each of the Senators and Representatives of Texas in
Congress. And that this act take effect from and after its passage.
C. G. KEENAN,
_Speaker of the House of Representatives_.
JOHN A. GREER,
_President of the Senate_.
Approved, November 25, 1850.
P.H. BELL.
From the common sources of public information it would appear that
a very remarkable degree of unanimity prevailed, not only in the
legislature, but among the people of Texas, in respect to the agreement
of the State to that which had been proposed by Congress.
I can not refrain from congratulating Congress and the country on the
success of this great and leading measure of conciliation and peace. The
difficulties felt and the dangers apprehended from the vast acquisitions
of territory under the late treaty with Mexico seem now happily overcome
by the wisdom of Congress. Within that territory there already exists
one State, respectable for the amount of her population, distinguished
for singular activity and enterprise, and remarkable in many respects
from her condition and history. This new State has come into the Union
with manifestations not to be mistaken of her attachment to that
Constitution and that Government which now embrace her and her interests
within their protecting and beneficent control.
Over the residue of the acquired territories regular Territorial
governments are now established in the manner which has been most usual
in the history of this Government. Various other acts of Congress may
undoubtedly be requisite for the benefit as well as for the proper
government of these so distant parts of the country. But the same
legislative wisdom which has triumphed over the principal difficulties
and accomplished the main end may safely be relied on for whatever
measures may yet be found necessary to perfect its work, so that the
acquisition of these vast regions to the United States may rather
strengthen than weaken the Constitution, which is over us all, and the
Union, which affords such ample daily proofs of its inestimable value.
MILLARD FILLMORE.
WASHINGTON, _December 17, 1850_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I herewith transmit a letter from the Secretary of War, communicating a
report of a board of officers to which, in pursuance of a resolution of
the Senate passed on the 30th of September last, were submitted the
questions proposed therein, relative to the expediency and necessity of
creating additional grades of commissioned officers in the Army and of
enacting provisions authorizing officers of the Army to exercise civil
functions in emergencies to be enumerated and restraining them from
usurping the powers of civil functionaries.