A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents, Volume - James D. Richardson
The Constitution of the United States declares that--
This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be
made in pursuance thereof, and all treaties made, or which shall be
made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme
law of the land.
If, therefore, New Mexico be a Territory of the United States, and if
any treaty stipulation be in force therein, such treaty stipulation
is the supreme law of the land, and is to be maintained and upheld
accordingly.
In the letter to the governor of Texas my reasons are given for
believing that New Mexico is now a Territory of the United States,
with the same extent and the same boundaries which belonged to it
while in the actual possession of the Republic of Mexico, and before
the late war. In the early part of that war both California and New
Mexico were conquered by the arms of the United States, and were
in the military possession of the United States at the date of the
treaty of peace.
By that treaty the title by conquest was confirmed and these
territories, provinces, or departments separated from Mexico forever,
and by the same treaty certain important rights and securities were
solemnly guaranteed to the inhabitants residing therein.
By the fifth article of the treaty it is declared that--
The boundary line between the two Republics shall commence in the Gulf
of Mexico 3 leagues from land, opposite the mouth of the Rio Grande,
otherwise called Rio Bravo del Norte, or opposite the mouth of its
deepest branch if it should have more than one branch emptying
directly into the sea; from thence up the middle of that river,
following the deepest channel where it has more than one, to the point
where it strikes the southern boundary of New Mexico; thence
westwardly, along the whole southern boundary of New Mexico (which
runs north of the town called Paso) to its western termination; thence
northward along the western line of New Mexico until it intersects the
first branch of the river Gila (or, if it should not intersect any
branch of that river, then to the point on the said line nearest to
such branch, and thence in a direct line to the same); thence down the
middle of the said branch and of the said river until it empties into
the Rio Colorado; thence across the Rio Colorado, following the
division line between Upper and Lower California, to the Pacific
Ocean.
The eighth article of the treaty is in the following terms:
Mexicans now established in territories previously belonging to
Mexico, and which remain for the future within the limits of the
United States as defined by the present treaty, shall be free to
continue where they now reside or to remove at any time to the Mexican
Republic, retaining the property which they possess in the said
territories, or disposing thereof and removing the proceeds wherever
they please without their being subjected on this account to any
contribution, tax, or charge whatever.
Those who shall prefer to remain in the said territories may either
retain the title, and rights of Mexican citizens or acquire those of
citizens of the United States; but they shall be under the obligation
to make their election within one year from the date of the exchange
of ratifications of this treaty; and those who shall remain in the
said territories after the expiration of that year without having
declared their intention to retain the character of Mexicans shall be
considered to have elected to become citizens of the United States.
In the said territories property of every kind now belonging to
Mexicans not established there shall be inviolably respected. The
present owners, the heirs of these, and all Mexicans who may hereafter
acquire said property by contract shall enjoy with respect to it
guaranties equally ample as if the same belonged to citizens of the
United States.
The ninth article of the treaty is in these words:
The Mexicans who, in the territories aforesaid, shall not preserve the
character of citizens of the Mexican Republic, conformably with what
is stipulated in the preceding article, shall be incorporated into the
Union of the United States and be admitted at the proper time (to be
judged of by the Congress of the United States) to the enjoyment of
all the rights of citizens of the United States according to the
principles of the Constitution, and in the meantime shall be
maintained and protected in the free enjoyment of their liberty and
property and secured in the free exercise of their religion without
restriction.
It is plain, therefore, on the face of these treaty stipulations that
all Mexicans established in territories north or east of the line of
demarcation already mentioned come within the protection of the ninth
article, and that the treaty, being a part of the supreme law of the
land, does extend over all such Mexicans, and assures to them perfect
security in the free enjoyment of their liberty and property, as well
as in the free exercise of their religion; and this supreme law of
the land, being thus in actual force over this territory, is to be
maintained until it shall be displaced or superseded by other legal
provisions; and if it be obstructed or resisted by combinations too
powerful to be suppressed by the civil authority the case is one which
comes within the provisions of law and which obliges the President to
enforce those provisions. Neither the Constitution nor the laws nor my
duty nor my oath of office leave me any alternative or any choice in
my mode of action.
The executive government of the United States has no power or
authority to determine what was the true line of boundary between
Mexico and the United States before the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo,
nor has it any such power now, since the question has become a
question between the State of Texas and the United States. So far as
this boundary is doubtful, that doubt can only be removed by some
act of Congress, to which the assent of the State of Texas may be
necessary, or by some appropriate mode of legal adjudication; but
in the meantime, if disturbances or collisions arise or should be
threatened, it is absolutely incumbent on the executive government,
however painful the duty, to take care that the laws be faithfully
maintained; and he can regard only the actual state of things as
it existed at the date of the treaty, and is bound to protect all
inhabitants who were then established and who now remain north and
east of the line of demarcation in the full enjoyment of their liberty
and property, according to the provisions of the ninth article of the
treaty. In other words, all must be now regarded as New Mexico which
was possessed and occupied as New Mexico by citizens of Mexico at the
date of the treaty until a definite line of boundary shall be
established by competent authority.
This assertion of duty to protect the people of New Mexico from
threatened violence, or from seizure to be carried into Texas for
trial for alleged offenses against Texan laws, does not at all include
any claim of power on the part of the Executive to establish any civil
or military government within that Territory. _That power_ belongs
exclusively to the legislative department, and Congress is the sole
judge of the time and manner of creating or authorizing any such
government.
The duty of the Executive extends only to the execution of laws and
the maintenance of treaties already in force and the protection of all
the people of the United States in the enjoyment of the rights which
those treaties and laws guarantee.
It is exceedingly desirable that no occasion should arise for
the exercise of the powers thus vested in the President by the
Constitution and the laws. With whatever mildness those powers might
be executed, or however clear the case of necessity, yet consequences
might, nevertheless, follow of which no human sagacity can foresee
either the evils or the end.
Having thus laid before Congress the communication of his excellency
the governor of Texas and the answer thereto, and having made such
observations as I have thought the occasion called for respecting
constitutional obligations which may arise in the further progress of
things and may devolve on me to be performed, I hope I shall not be
regarded as stepping aside from the line of my duty, notwithstanding
that I am aware that the subject is now before both Houses, if I
express my deep and earnest conviction of the importance of an immediate
decision or arrangement or settlement of the question of boundary
between Texas and the Territory of New Mexico. All considerations of
justice, general expediency, and domestic tranquillity call for this.
It seems to be in its character and by position the first, or one of
the first, of the questions growing out of the acquisition of California
and New Mexico, and now requiring decision.
No government can be established for New Mexico, either State or
Territorial, until it shall be first ascertained what New Mexico
is, and what are her limits and boundaries. These can not be fixed
or known till the line of division between her and Texas shall be
ascertained and established; and numerous and weighty reasons
conspire, in my judgment, to show that this divisional line should be
established by Congress with the assent of the government of Texas. In
the first place, this seems by far the most prompt mode of proceeding
by which the end can be accomplished. If judicial proceedings were
resorted to, such proceedings would necessarily be slow, and years
would pass by, in all probability, before the controversy could be
ended. So great a delay in this case is to be avoided if possible.
Such delay would be every way inconvenient, and might be the occasion
of disturbances and collisions. For the same reason I would, with the
utmost deference to the wisdom of Congress, express a doubt of the
expediency of the appointment of commissioners, and of an examination,
estimate, and an award of indemnity to be made by them. This would be
but a species of arbitration, which might last as long as a suit at
law.
So far as I am able to comprehend the case, the general facts are
now all known, and Congress is as capable of deciding on it justly
and properly now as it probably would be after the report of the
commissioners. If the claim of title on the part of Texas appears
to Congress to be well founded in whole or in part, it is in the
competency of Congress to offer her an indemnity for the surrender of
that claim. In a case like this, surrounded, as it is, by many cogent
considerations, all calling for amicable adjustment and immediate
settlement, the Government of the United States would be justified,
in my opinion, in allowing an indemnity to Texas, not unreasonable
or extravagant, but fair, liberal, and awarded in a just spirit of
accommodation.
I think no event would be hailed with more gratification by the people
of the United States than the amicable adjustment of questions of
difficulty which have now for a long time agitated the country and
occupied, to the exclusion of other subjects, the time and attention
of Congress.
Having thus freely communicated the results of my own reflections on
the most advisable mode of adjusting the boundary question, I shall
nevertheless cheerfully acquiesce in any other mode which the wisdom
of Congress may devise. And in conclusion I repeat my conviction that
every consideration of the public interest manifests the necessity of
a provision by Congress for the settlement of this boundary question
before the present session be brought to a close. The settlement of
other questions connected with the same subject within the same period
is greatly to be desired, but the adjustment of this appears to me to
be in the highest degree important. In the train of such an adjustment
we may well hope that there will follow a return of harmony and good
will, an increased attachment to the Union, and the general
satisfaction of the country.
MILLARD FILLMORE.
WASHINGTON, _August 8, 1850_.
_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:
It has been suggested that the language in the first paragraph of my
message to the two Houses of Congress of the 6th instant may convey
the idea that Governor Bell's letter to my predecessor was received by
him before his death. It was addressed to him, but appears, in point
of fact, to have been sent to me from the post-office after his death.
I make this communication to accompany the message and prevent
misapprehension.
MILLARD FILLMORE.
WASHINGTON, _August 10, 1850_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I transmit herewith a communication from the Department of the
Interior and the papers which accompanied it, being the first part of
the results of investigations by Henry R. Schoolcraft, esq., under the
provisions of an act of Congress approved March 3, 1847, requiring the
Secretary of War "to collect and digest such statistics and materials
as may illustrate the history, the present condition, and future
prospects of the Indian tribes of the United States,"
MILLARD FILLMORE.
WASHINGTON, _August 24, 1850_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I have the honor to transmit herewith a report submitted by the
Secretary of the Treasury, to whom was referred the resolution of the
Senate of the 3ist July last, requesting to be furnished with certain
information in relation to the commerce, etc., of the district of
Brazos Santiago, in Texas.
MILLARD FILLMORE.
WASHINGTON, _August 26, 1850_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I have the honor to inclose herewith a letter just received from the
Secretary of War, transmitting a communication from the Colonel of
the Corps of Topographical Engineers, with accompanying papers, which
he requests may be taken as a supplement to the "report and map of
Lieutenant J.D. Webster, Corps of Topographical Engineers, of a survey
of the Gulf coast at the mouth of the Rio Grande and its vicinity,"
called for by a resolution of the Senate of the 1st of July last.
MILLARD FILLMORE.
WASHINGTON, _September 2, 1850_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I have the honor herewith to transmit to your honorable body a
report from the Secretary of the Navy, accompanied by copies of the
correspondence relating to the resignation of Edward C. Anderson, a
lieutenant in the Navy, in answer to a resolution of the Senate of
August 28, 1850, adopted in executive session.
MILLARD FILLMORE.
WASHINGTON, _September 9, 1850_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
In answer to a resolution of the Senate of the 5th instant, I have the
honor herewith to transmit to the Senate a letter from the Secretary
of State, accompanied by a copy of the report of the commissioner to
China made in pursuance of the provisions of the act to carry into
effect certain provisions of the treaties between the United States
and China and the Ottoman Porte, giving certain judicial powers, etc.
MILLARD FILLMORE.
WASHINGTON, _September 9, 1850_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
In compliance with the request of the Hon. Manuel Alvarez, acting
governor, etc., I have the honor to transmit to the Senate herewith a
copy of the constitution recently adopted by the inhabitants of New
Mexico, together with a digest of the votes for and against it.
Congress having just passed a bill providing a Territorial government
for New Mexico, I do not deem it advisable to submit any recommendation
on the subject of a State government.
MILLARD FILLMORE.
WASHINGTON, _September 12, 1850_.
The SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
SIR: In answer to a resolution of the House of Representatives adopted
September 2, 1850, calling upon me to communicate the full and exact
cost of each of the lines of mail steamers now in service, etc., I
have the honor to transmit herewith reports from the Secretary of
the Navy and Postmaster-General, containing the desired information.
MILLARD FILLMORE.
WASHINGTON, _September 16, 1850_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
In answer to a resolution of the Senate of the 9th instant, adopted in
executive session, asking information in reference to the nomination
of John Howard Payne as consul to Tunis, I have the honor to transmit
a report from the Secretary of State, giving the desired information.
MILLARD FILLMORE.
WASHINGTON, _September 23, 1850_.
_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:
Having been informed that it is the wish of the family and relatives
of the late lamented President of the United States that his remains
should be removed to the State of Kentucky, and being desirous of
manifesting the most sincere and profound respect for the character of
the deceased, in which I doubt not Congress will fully concur, I have
felt it to be my duty to make known to you the wishes of the family,
that you might previous to your adjournment adopt such proceedings and
take such order on the subject as in your wisdom may seem meet and
proper on the occasion.
MILLARD FILLMORE.
[The remains of the late President of the United States were removed
from Washington to Louisville, Ky., October 25, 1850.]
WASHINGTON, _September 27, 1850_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I herewith transmit to the Senate, in answer to their resolution of
the 23d instant, a report from the Secretary of State, with the
papers[1] therein referred to.
MILLARD FILLMORE.
[Footnote 1: Communications from the United States minister to Turkey
relative to the Hungarian exiles.]
WASHINGTON, _September 28, 1850_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
In answer to your resolution of the 24th instant, expressing an
opinion adverse to the alleged resignation of Lieutenant Anderson,
of the Navy, I have the honor herewith to transmit a report from the
Secretary of the Navy, accompanied by the correspondence in reference
to such resignation.
Regarding the opinion of the Senate in this matter with the most
profound respect, I have given to the subject the most anxious
consideration, and submitted the question to the deliberation of my
Cabinet, and after a careful examination of the whole correspondence
they are unanimously of opinion that Lieutenant Anderson tendered
his resignation, which was duly accepted, and that he was therefore
rightfully dropped from the Register. I concur fully in this opinion.
With these convictions I feel compelled to adhere to the decision
of my lamented predecessor, and can only regret that I have the
misfortune in this instance to differ from those for whom,
individually and collectively, I entertain the highest respect.
MILLARD FILLMORE.
PROCLAMATION.
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
A PROCLAMATION.
Whereas by an act of the Congress of the United States of the 24th
of May, 1828, entitled "An act in addition to an act entitled 'An
act concerning discriminating duties of tonnage and impost' and to
equalize the duties on Prussian vessels and their cargoes," it is
provided that upon satisfactory evidence being given to the President
of the United States by the government of any foreign nation that no
discriminating duties of tonnage or impost are imposed or levied
in the ports of the said nation upon vessels wholly belonging to
citizens of the United States, or upon the produce, manufactures, or
merchandise imported in the same from the United States or from any
foreign country, the President is thereby authorized to issue his
proclamation declaring that the foreign discriminating duties of
tonnage and impost within the United States are and shall be suspended
and discontinued so far as respects the vessels of the said foreign
nation and the produce, manufactures, or merchandise imported into the
United States in the same from the said foreign nation or from any
other foreign country, the said suspension to take effect from the
time of such notification being given to the President of the United
States and to continue so long as the reciprocal exemption of vessels
belonging to citizens of the United States and their cargoes, as
aforesaid, shall be continued, and no longer; and
Whereas satisfactory evidence has lately been received by me from the
Government of the Republic of Chile, through an official communication
of Senor Don Manuel Carvallo, accredited to this Government as envoy
extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of that Republic, under
date of the 31st of October, 1850, that no other or higher duties of
tonnage and impost are imposed or levied in the ports of Chile upon
vessels wholly belonging to citizens of the United States and upon the
produce, manufactures, or merchandise imported in the same from the
United States and from any foreign country whatever than are levied on
Chilean ships and their cargoes in the same ports and under like
circumstances:
Now, therefore, I, Millard Fillmore, President of the United States of
America, do hereby declare and proclaim that so much of the several
acts imposing discriminating duties of tonnage and impost within the
United States are and shall be suspended and discontinued so far as
respects the vessels of Chile and the produce, manufactures, and
merchandise imported into the United States in the same from Chile and
from any other foreign country whatever, the said suspension to take
effect from the day above mentioned and to continue thenceforward so
long as the reciprocal exemption of the vessels of the United States
and the produce, manufactures, and merchandise imported into Chile in
the same, as aforesaid, shall be continued on the part of the
Government of Chile.
Given under my hand, at the city of Washington, this 1st day of
November, A.D. 1850, and the seventy-fifth of the Independence of the
United States.
MILLARD FILLMORE.
By the President:
W.S. DERRICK,
_Acting Secretary of State_.
FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE.
WASHINGTON, _December 2, 1850_.
_Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and of the House of Representatives_:
Being suddenly called in the midst of the last session of Congress by
a painful dispensation of Divine Providence to the responsible station
which I now hold, I contented myself with such communications to the
legislature as the exigency of the moment seemed to require. The
country was shrouded in mourning for the loss of its venerable Chief
Magistrate and all hearts were penetrated with grief. Neither the time
nor the occasion appeared to require or to justify on my part any
general expression of political opinions or any announcement of the
principles which would govern me in the discharge of the duties to the
performance of which I had been so unexpectedly called. I trust,
therefore, that it may not be deemed inappropriate if I avail myself
of this opportunity of the reassembling of Congress to make known my
sentiments in a general manner in regard to the policy which ought to
be pursued by the Government both in its intercourse with foreign
nations and its management and administration of internal affairs.
Nations, like individuals in a state of nature, are equal and
independent, possessing certain rights and owing certain duties to
each other, arising from their necessary and unavoidable relations;
which rights and duties there is no common human authority to protect
and enforce. Still, they are rights and duties, binding in morals, in
conscience, and in honor, although there is no tribunal to which an
injured party can appeal but the disinterested judgment of mankind,
and ultimately the arbitrament of the sword.
Among the acknowledged rights of nations is that which each possesses
of establishing that form of government which it may deem most
conducive to the happiness and prosperity of its own citizens, of
changing that form as circumstances may require, and of managing its
internal affairs according to its own will. The people of the United
States claim this right for themselves, and they readily concede it to
others. Hence it becomes an imperative duty not to interfere in the
government or internal policy of other nations; and although we may
sympathize with the unfortunate or the oppressed everywhere in their
struggles for freedom, our principles forbid us from taking any part
in such foreign contests. We make no wars to promote or to prevent
successions to thrones, to maintain any theory of a balance of power,
or to suppress the actual government which any country chooses to
establish for itself. We instigate no revolutions, nor suffer any
hostile military expeditions to be fitted out in the United States
to invade the territory or provinces of a friendly nation. The great
law of morality ought to have a national as well as a personal and
individual application. We should act toward other nations as we wish
them to act toward us, and justice and conscience should form the rule
of conduct between governments, instead of mere power, self-interest,
or the desire of aggrandizement. To maintain a strict neutrality in
foreign wars, to cultivate friendly relations, to reciprocate every
noble and generous act, and to perform punctually and scrupulously
every treaty obligation--these are the duties which we owe to other
states, and by the performance of which we best entitle ourselves to
like treatment from them; or, if that, in any case, be refused, we can
enforce our own rights with justice and a clear conscience.