A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents, Volume - James D. Richardson
Congress, not probably adverting to the difference between the militia
and the Regular Army, by the act of March 3, 1807, authorized the
President to use the land and naval forces of the United States for the
same purposes for which he might call forth the militia, and subject
to the same proclamation. But the power of the President under the
Constitution, as Commander of the Army and Navy, is general, and his
duty to see the laws faithfully executed is general and positive; and
the act of 1807 ought not to be construed as evincing any disposition in
Congress to limit or restrain this constitutional authority. For greater
certainty, however, it may be well that Congress should modify or
explain this act in regard to its provisions for the employment of the
Army and Navy of the United States, as well as that in regard to calling
forth the militia. It is supposed not to be doubtful that all citizens,
whether enrolled in the militia or not, may be summoned as members of
the _posse comitatus_, either by the marshal or a commissioner
according to law, and that it is their duty to obey such summons. But
perhaps it may be doubted whether the marshal or a commissioner can
summon as the _posse comitatus_ an organized militia force, acting
under its own appropriate officers, without the consent of such
officers. This point may deserve the consideration of Congress.
I use this occasion to repeat the assurance that so far as depends on me
the laws shall be faithfully executed and all forcible opposition to
them suppressed; and to this end I am prepared to exercise, whenever
it may become necessary, the power constitutionally vested in me to
the fullest extent. I am fully persuaded that the great majority of
the people of this country are warmly and strongly attached to the
Constitution, the preservation of the Union, the just support of the
Government, and the maintenance of the authority of law. I am persuaded
that their earnest wishes and the line of my constitutional duty
entirely concur, and I doubt not firmness, moderation, and prudence,
strengthened and animated by the general opinion of the people, will
prevent the repetition of occurrences disturbing the public peace and
reprobated by all good men.
MILLARD FILLMORE
WASHINGTON, _February 25, 1851_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I transmit to the Senate, for its consideration with a view to
ratification, a convention between the United States and the Mexican
Republic for the protection of a transit way across the Isthmus of
Tehuantepec, signed in the City of Mexico on the 25th ultimo.
Accompanying the treaty is a letter from Mr. P.A. Hargous, the present
proprietor and holder of the privileges granted by Mexico, signifying
his assent to and acceptance of the terms of its provisions. There is
also an abstract of title to him from the original grantee and copies
of the several powers and conveyances by which that title is derived to
him. It may be well that these papers should be returned to be deposited
among the archives of the Department of State.
The additional article of the treaty makes an unnecessary reference to
the eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth articles of the treaty of the 22d
of June last, because the eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth articles
of the present treaty contain exactly the same provisions as those
contained in the same articles of that treaty, as will appear from the
copy of the treaty of the 22d of June last, herewith communicated.
MILLARD FILLMORE.
WASHINGTON, _February 26, 1851_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I herewith communicate to the Senate, for its consideration, a
convention for the adjustment of certain claims of citizens of the
United States against Her Most Faithful Majesty's Government,[10]
concluded and signed this day in the city of Washington by the
respective plenipotentiaries.
MILLARD FILLMORE.
[Footnote 10: Portugal.]
WASHINGTON, _February 27, 1851_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I transmit herewith a report of the Secretary of State, with
accompanying documents,[11] in compliance with the resolution of the
Senate of the 17th ultimo.
MILLARD FILLMORE.
[Footnote 11: Correspondence relative to prisoners captured by Spanish
authorities at or near the island of Contoy, and to projected
expeditions to Cuba.]
WASHINGTON, _February 28, 1851_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
In answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 16th ultimo, requesting
information touching the difficulties between the British authorities
and San Salvador, I transmit a report from the Secretary of State and
the documents which accompanied it.
MILLARD FILLMORE.
WASHINGTON, _March 1, 1851_.
Hon. Howell Cobb,
_Speaker of the House of Representatives_:
I have the honor herewith to transmit to the House of Representatives
manuscript No. 2 of the opinions of the Attorneys-General, prepared in
pursuance of its resolution.
MILLARD FILLMORE.
WASHINGTON, _March 3, 1851_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
In answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 26th ultimo, calling
for information respecting a forcible abduction of any citizen of the
United States from the Territory of New Mexico and his conveyance within
the limits of the Mexican Republic, I transmit a report from the
Secretary of State and the documents which accompanied it.
MILLARD FILLMORE.
PROCLAMATIONS.
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
A PROCLAMATION.
Whereas by an act of the Congress of the United States of the 9th of
September, 1850, 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," it was provided that
the following propositions should be, and the same were thereby, offered
to the State of Texas, which, when agreed to by the said State in an act
passed by the general assembly, should be binding and obligatory upon
the United States and upon the said State of Texas, provided the said
agreement by the said general assembly should be given on or before the
1st day of December, 1850, namely:
"First. The State of Texas will agree that her boundary on the north
shall commence at the point at which the meridian of 100 deg. west from
Greenwich is intersected by the parallel of 36 deg. 30' north latitude, and
shall run from said point due west to the meridian of 103 deg. west from
Greenwich; thence her boundary shall run due south to the thirty-second
degree of north latitude; thence on the said parallel of 32 deg. of north
latitude to the Rio Bravo del Norte, and thence with the channel of said
river to the Gulf of Mexico.
"Second. The State of Texas cedes to the United States all her claim to
territory exterior to the limits and boundaries which she agrees to
establish by the first article of this agreement.
"Third. The State of Texas relinquishes all claim upon the United States
for liability of the debts of Texas and for compensation or indemnity
for the surrender to the United States of her ships, forts, arsenals,
custom-houses, custom-house revenue, arms and munitions of war, and
public buildings with their sites, which became the property of the
United States at the time of the annexation.
"Fourth. The United States, in consideration of said establishment of
boundaries, cession of claim to territory, and relinquishment of claims,
will pay to the State of Texas the sum of $10,000,000 in a stock bearing
5 per cent interest, and redeemable at the end of fourteen years, the
interest payable half-yearly at the Treasury of the United States.
"Fifth. Immediately after the President of the United States shall have
been furnished with an authentic copy of the act of the general assembly
of Texas accepting these propositions, he shall cause the stock to be
issued in favor of the State of Texas, as provided for in the fourth
article of this agreement: _Provided also_, That no more than $5,000,000
of said stock shall be issued until the creditors of the State holding
bonds and other certificates of stock of Texas for which duties on
imports were specially pledged shall first file at the Treasury of
the United States releases of all claim against the United States
for or on account of said bonds or certificates in such form as
shall be prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury and approved by
the President of the United States: _Provided_, That nothing herein
contained shall be construed to impair or qualify anything contained in
the third article of the second section of the 'Joint resolution for
annexing Texas to the United States,' approved March 1, 1845, either as
regards the number of States that may hereafter be formed out of the
State of Texas or otherwise;" and
Whereas it was further provided by the eighteenth section of the same
act of Congress "that the provisions of this act be, and they are
hereby, suspended until the boundary between the United States and the
State of Texas shall be adjusted, and when such adjustment shall have
been effected the President of the United States shall issue his
proclamation declaring this act to be in full force and operation;" and
Whereas the legislature of the State of Texas, by an act approved the
25th of November last, entitled "An act accepting the propositions made
by the United States to the State of Texas in an act of the Congress of
the United States approved the 9th day of September, A.D. 1850, and
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,'" of which act a copy, authenticated under
the seal of the State, has been furnished to the President, enacts "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."
Now, therefore, I, Millard Fillmore, President of the United States
of America, do hereby declare and proclaim that the said act of the
Congress of the United States of the 9th of September last is in full
force and operation.
[SEAL.]
Given under my hand, at the city of Washington, this 13th day of
December, A.D. 1850, and the seventy-fifth of the Independence of these
United States.
MILLARD FILLMORE.
By the President:
DANL. WEBSTER,
_Secretary of State_.
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.
A PROCLAMATION.
Whereas information has been received that sundry lawless persons,
principally persons of color, combined and confederated together for the
purpose of opposing by force the execution of the laws of the United
States, did, at Boston, in Massachusetts, on the 15th of this month,
make a violent assault on the marshal or deputy marshals of the United
States for the district of Massachusetts, in the court-house, and did
overcome the said officers, and did by force rescue from their custody
a person arrested as a fugitive slave, and then and there a prisoner
lawfully holden by the said marshal or deputy marshals of the United
States, and other scandalous outrages did commit in violation of law:
Now, therefore, to the end that the authority of the laws may be
maintained and those concerned in violating them brought to immediate
and condign punishment, I have issued this my proclamation, calling on
all well-disposed citizens to rally to the support of the laws of their
country, and requiring and commanding all officers, civil and military,
and all other persons, civil or military, who shall be found within the
vicinity of this outrage, to be aiding and assisting by all means in
their power in quelling this and other such combinations and assisting
the marshal and his deputies in recapturing the above-mentioned
prisoner; and I do especially direct that prosecutions be commenced
against all persons who shall have made themselves aiders or abettors
in or to this flagitious offense; and I do further command that the
district attorney of the United States and all other persons concerned
in the administration or execution of the laws of the United States
cause the foregoing offenders and all such as aided, abetted, or
assisted them or shall be found to have harbored or concealed such
fugitive contrary to law to be immediately arrested and proceeded with
according to law.
Given under my hand and the seal of the United States this 18th day of
February, 1851.
[SEAL.]
MILLARD FILLMORE.
DANL. WEBSTER,
_Secretary of State_.
[From Executive Journal of the Senate, Vol. VIII, p. 299.]
WASHINGTON, _March 3, 1851_.
_To the Senators of the United States, respectively_.
SIR: Whereas divers and weighty causes connected with executive business
necessary to be transacted create an extraordinary occasion requiring
that the Senate be convened, you are therefore requested, as a member of
that body, to attend a meeting thereof to be holden at the Capitol, in
the city of Washington, on the 4th day of March instant.
MILLARD FILLMORE.
SPECIAL MESSAGES.
WASHINGTON, _March 4, 1851_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
Sundry nominations having been made during the last session of the
Senate which were not finally disposed of, I hereby nominate anew each
person so nominated at the last session whose nomination was not finally
acted on before the termination of that session to the same office for
which he was nominated as aforesaid.
MILLARD FILLMORE.
WASHINGTON, _March 10, 1851_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I transmit herewith a report of the Secretary of State, with the
accompanying documents,[12] in compliance with the resolution of the
Senate of the 8th instant.
MILLARD FILLMORE.
[Footnote 12: Correspondence with the United States minister at
Constantinople respecting the liberation of Kossuth and his companions.]
PROCLAMATIONS.
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.
A PROCLAMATION.
Whereas there is reason to believe that a military expedition is about
to be fitted out in the United States with intention to invade the
island of Cuba, a colony of Spain, with which this country is at
peace; and
Whereas it is believed that this expedition is instigated and set on
foot chiefly by foreigners who dare to make our shores the scene of
their guilty and hostile preparations against a friendly power and
seek by falsehood and misrepresentation to seduce our own citizens,
especially the young and inconsiderate, into their wicked schemes--an
ungrateful return for the benefits conferred upon them by this people
in permitting them to make our country an asylum from oppression and
in flagrant abuse of the hospitality thus extended to them; and
Whereas such expeditions can only be regarded as adventures for plunder
and robbery, and must meet the condemnation of the civilized world,
whilst they are derogatory to the character of our country, in violation
of the laws of nations, and expressly prohibited by our own. Our
statutes declare "that if any person shall, within the territory or
jurisdiction of the United States, begin or set on foot or provide or
prepare the means for any military expedition or enterprise to be
carried on from thence against the territory or dominions of any foreign
prince or state or of any colony, district, or people with whom the
United States are at peace, every person so offending shall be deemed
guilty of a high misdemeanor and shall be fined not exceeding $3,000 and
imprisoned not more than three years:"
Now, therefore, I have issued this my proclamation, warning all persons
who shall connect themselves with any such enterprise or expedition in
violation of our laws and national obligations that they will thereby
subject themselves to the heavy penalties denounced against such
offenses and will forfeit their claim to the protection of this
Government or any interference on their behalf, no matter to what
extremities they may be reduced in consequence of their illegal conduct.
And therefore I exhort all good citizens, as they regard our national
reputation, as they respect their own laws and the laws of nations, as
they value the blessings of peace and the welfare of their country, to
discountenance and by all lawful means prevent any such enterprise; and
I call upon every officer of this Government, civil or military, to use
all efforts in his power to arrest for trial and punishment every such
offender against the laws of the country.
Given under my hand the 25th day of April, A.D. 1851, and the
seventy-fifth of the Independence of the United States.
[SEAL.]
MILLARD FILLMORE.
By the President:
W.S. DERRICK,
_Acting Secretary of State_.
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.
A PROCLAMATION.
Whereas there is reason to believe that a military expedition is about
to be fitted out in the United States for the purpose of invading the
Mexican Republic, with which this country is at peace; and
Whereas there is reason to apprehend that a portion of the people of
this country, regardless of their duties as good citizens, are concerned
in or may be seduced to take part in the same; and
Whereas such enterprises tend to degrade the character of the United
States in the opinion of the civilized world and are expressly
prohibited by law:
Now, therefore, I have issued this my proclamation, warning all persons
who shall connect themselves with any such enterprise in violation of
the laws and national obligations of the United States that they will
thereby subject themselves to the heavy penalties denounced against such
offenses; that if they should be captured within the jurisdiction of the
Mexican authorities they must expect to be tried and punished according
to the laws of Mexico and will have no right to claim the interposition
of this Government in their behalf.
I therefore exhort all well-disposed citizens who have at heart the
reputation of their country and are animated with a just regard for its
laws, its peace, and its welfare to discountenance and by all lawful
means prevent any such enterprise; and I call upon every officer of this
Government, civil or military, to be vigilant in arresting for trial and
punishment every such offender.
Given under my hand the 22d day of October, A.D. 1851, and the
seventy-sixth of the Independence of the United States.
[SEAL.]
MILLARD FILLMORE.
By the President:
J.J. CRITTENDEN,
_Acting Secretary of State_.
SECOND ANNUAL MESSAGE.
WASHINGTON, _December 2, 1851_.
_Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and of the House of Representatives_:
I congratulate you and our common constituency upon the favorable
auspices under which you meet for your first session. Our country is
at peace with all the world. The agitation which for a time threatened
to disturb the fraternal relations which make us one people is fast
subsiding, and a year of general prosperity and health has crowned the
nation with unusual blessings. None can look back to the dangers which
are passed or forward to the bright prospect before us without feeling a
thrill of gratification, at the same time that he must be impressed with
a grateful sense of our profound obligations to a beneficent Providence,
whose paternal care is so manifest in the happiness of this highly
favored land.
Since the close of the last Congress certain Cubans and other foreigners
resident in the United States, who were more or less concerned in the
previous invasion of Cuba, instead of being discouraged by its failure
have again abused the hospitality of this country by making it the scene
of the equipment of another military expedition against that possession
of Her Catholic Majesty, in which they were countenanced, aided, and
joined by citizens of the United States. On receiving intelligence
that such designs were entertained, I lost no time in issuing such
instructions to the proper officers of the United States as seemed to
be called for by the occasion. By the proclamation a copy of which
is herewith submitted I also warned those who might be in danger of
being inveigled into this scheme of its unlawful character and of the
penalties which they would incur. For some time there was reason to hope
that these measures had sufficed to prevent any such attempt. This hope,
however, proved to be delusive. Very early in the morning of the 3d of
August a steamer called the _Pampero_ departed from New Orleans for
Cuba, having on board upward of 400 armed men with evident intentions
to make war upon the authorities of the island. This expedition was
set on foot in palpable violation of the laws of the United States.
Its leader was a Spaniard, and several of the chief officers and some
others engaged in it were foreigners. The persons composing it, however,
were mostly citizens of the United States.
Before the expedition set out, and probably before it was organized,
a slight insurrectionary movement, which appears to have been soon
suppressed, had taken place in the eastern quarter of Cuba. The
importance of this movement was, unfortunately, so much exaggerated in
the accounts of it published in this country that these adventurers seem
to have been led to believe that the Creole population of the island not
only desired to throw off the authority of the mother country, but had
resolved upon that step and had begun a well-concerted enterprise for
effecting it. The persons engaged in the expedition were generally young
and ill informed. The steamer in which they embarked left New Orleans
Stealthily and without a clearance. After touching at Key West, she
proceeded to the coast of Cuba, and on the night between the 11th and
12th of August landed the persons on board at Playtas, within about 20
leagues of Havana.
The main body of them proceeded to and took possession of an inland
village 6 leagues distant, leaving others to follow in charge of the
baggage as soon as the means of transportation could be obtained. The
latter, having taken up their line of march to connect themselves with
the main body, and having proceeded about 4 leagues into the country,
were attacked on the morning of the 13th by a body of Spanish troops,
and a bloody conflict ensued, after which they retreated to the place of
disembarkation, where about 50 of them obtained boats and reembarked
therein. They were, however, intercepted among the keys near the shore
by a Spanish steamer cruising on the coast, captured and carried to
Havana, and after being examined before a military court were sentenced
to be publicly executed, and the sentence was carried into effect on the
16th of August.
On receiving information of what had occurred Commodore Foxhall A.
Parker was instructed to proceed in the steam frigate _Saranac_ to
Havana and inquire into the charges against the persons executed, the
circumstances under which they were taken, and whatsoever referred to
their trial and sentence. Copies of the instructions from the Department
of State to him and of his letters to that Department are herewith
submitted.
According to the record of the examination, the prisoners all admitted
the offenses charged against them, of being hostile invaders of the
island. At the time of their trial and execution the main body of the
invaders was still in the field making war upon the Spanish authorities
and Spanish subjects. After the lapse of some days, being overcome by
the Spanish troops, they dispersed on the 24th of August. Lopez, their
leader, was captured some days after, and executed on the 1st of
September. Many of his remaining followers were killed or died of hunger
and fatigue, and the rest were made prisoners. Of these none appear
to have been tried or executed. Several of them were pardoned upon
application of their friends and others, and the rest, about 160 in
number, were sent to Spain. Of the final disposition made of these we
have no official information.
Such is the melancholy result of this illegal and ill-fated expedition.
Thus thoughtless young men have been induced by false and fraudulent
representations to violate the law of their country through rash and
unfounded expectations of assisting to accomplish political revolutions
in other states, and have lost their lives in the undertaking. Too
severe a judgment can hardly be passed by the indignant sense of the
community upon those who, being better informed themselves, have yet led
away the ardor of youth and an ill-directed love of political liberty.
The correspondence between this Government and that of Spain relating
to this transaction is herewith communicated.
Although these offenders against the laws have forfeited the protection
of their country, yet the Government may, so far as consistent with its
obligations to other countries and its fixed purpose to maintain and
enforce the laws, entertain sympathy for their unoffending families and
friends, as well as a feeling of compassion for themselves. Accordingly,
no proper effort has been spared and none will be spared to procure the
release of such citizens of the United States engaged in this unlawful
enterprise as are now in confinement in Spain; but it is to be hoped
that such interposition with the Government of that country may not be
considered as affording any ground of expectation that the Government of
the United States will hereafter feel itself under any obligation of
duty to intercede for the liberation or pardon of such persons as are
flagrant offenders against the law of nations and the laws of the United
States. These laws must be executed. If we desire to maintain our
respectability among the nations of the earth, it behooves us to enforce
steadily and sternly the neutrality acts passed by Congress and to
follow as far as may be the violation of those acts with condign
punishment.