II. The department known as the Department of Louisiana will be

broken up; the State of Louisiana is hereby added to the Department of

Texas, and the State of Arkansas to the Department of the Missouri.

The commanding general Department of the Missouri will, as soon as

convenient, relieve the garrison at Little Rock by a detachment from the

Sixth Infantry, and the commanding officer of the troops now in Arkansas

will report to General J.J. Reynolds for orders, to take effect as soon

as replaced.

III. The new Department of Texas will form a part of the Military

Division of the South.

By command of General Sherman:

E.D. TOWNSEND,

_Adjutant-General_.

SECOND ANNUAL MESSAGE.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _December 5, 1870_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives:_

A year of peace and general prosperity to this nation has passed since

the last assembling of Congress. We have, through a kind Providence,

been blessed with abundant crops, and have been spared from

complications and war with foreign nations. In our midst comparative

harmony has been restored. It is to be regretted, however, that a free

exercise of the elective franchise has by violence and intimidation been

denied to citizens in exceptional cases in several of the States lately

in rebellion, and the verdict of the people has thereby been reversed.

The States of Virginia, Mississippi, and Texas have been restored to

representation in our national councils. Georgia, the only State now

without representation, may confidently be expected to take her place

there also at the beginning of the new year, and then, let us hope, will

be completed the work of reconstruction. With an acquiescence on the

part of the whole people in the national obligation to pay the public

debt created as the price of our Union, the pensions to our disabled

soldiers and sailors and their widows and orphans, and in the changes to

the Constitution which have been made necessary by a great rebellion,

there is no reason why we should not advance in material prosperity and

happiness as no other nation ever did after so protracted and

devastating a war.

Soon after the existing war broke out in Europe the protection of the

United States minister in Paris was invoked in favor of North Germans

domiciled in French territory. Instructions were issued to grant

the protection. This has been followed by an extension of American

protection to citizens of Saxony, Hesse and Saxe-Coburg, Gotha,

Colombia, Portugal, Uruguay, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Chile,

Paraguay, and Venezuela in Paris. The charge was an onerous one,

requiring constant and severe labor, as well as the exercise of

patience, prudence, and good judgment. It has been performed to the

entire satisfaction of this Government, and, as I am officially

informed, equally so to the satisfaction of the Government of North

Germany.

As soon as I learned that a republic had been proclaimed at Paris and

that the people of France had acquiesced in the change, the minister

of the United States was directed by telegraph to recognize it and to

tender my congratulations and those of the people of the United States.

The reestablishment in France of a system of government disconnected

with the dynastic traditions of Europe appeared to be a proper subject

for the felicitations of Americans. Should the present struggle

result in attaching the hearts of the French to our simpler forms

of representative government, it will be a subject of still further

satisfaction to our people. While we make no effort to impose our

institutions upon the inhabitants of other countries, and while we

adhere to our traditional neutrality in civil contests elsewhere, we can

not be indifferent to the spread of American political ideas in a great

and highly civilized country like France.

We were asked by the new Government to use our good offices, jointly

with those of European powers, in the interests of peace. Answer was

made that the established policy and the true interests of the United

States forbade them to interfere in European questions jointly with

European powers. I ascertained, informally and unofficially, that the

Government of North Germany was not then disposed to listen to such

representations from any power, and though earnestly wishing to see the

blessings of peace restored to the belligerents, with all of whom the

United States are on terms of friendship, I declined on the part of this

Government to take a step which could only result in injury to our true

interests, without advancing the object for which our intervention was

invoked. Should the time come when the action of the United States

can hasten the return of peace by a single hour, that action will be

heartily taken. I deemed it prudent, in view of the number of persons

of German and French birth living in the United States, to issue, soon

after official notice of a state of war had been received from both

belligerents, a proclamation[29] defining the duties of the United

States as a neutral and the obligations of persons residing within

their territory to observe their laws and the laws of nations. This

proclamation was followed by others,[30] as circumstances seemed to call

for them. The people, thus acquainted in advance of their duties and

obligations, have assisted in preventing violations of the neutrality

of the United States.

It is not understood that the condition of the insurrection in Cuba has

materially changed since the close of the last session of Congress. In

an early stage of the contest the authorities of Spain inaugurated a

system of arbitrary arrests, of close confinement, and of military trial

and execution of persons suspected of complicity with the insurgents,

and of summary embargo of their properties, and sequestration of their

revenues by executive warrant. Such proceedings, so far as they affected

the persons or property of citizens of the United States, were in

violation of the provisions of the treaty of 1795 between the United

States and Spain.

Representations of injuries resulting to several persons claiming to be

citizens of the United States by reason of such violations were made to

the Spanish Government. From April, 1869, to June last the Spanish

minister at Washington had been clothed with a limited power to aid in

redressing such wrongs. That power was found to be withdrawn, "in view,"

as it was said, "of the favorable situation in which the island of Cuba"

then "was," which, however, did not lead to a revocation or suspension

of the extraordinary and arbitrary functions exercised by the executive

power in Cuba, and we were obliged to make our complaints at Madrid. In

the negotiations thus opened, and still pending there, the United States

only claimed that for the future the rights secured to their citizens

by treaty should be respected in Cuba, and that as to the past a

joint tribunal should be established in the United States with full

jurisdiction over all such claims. Before such an impartial tribunal

each claimant would be required to prove his case. On the other hand,

Spain would be at liberty to traverse every material fact, and thus

complete equity would be done. A case which at one time threatened

seriously to affect the relations between the United States and Spain

has already been disposed of in this way. The claim of the owners of the

_Colonel Lloyd Aspinwall_ for the illegal seizure and detention of that

vessel was referred to arbitration by mutual consent, and has resulted

in an award to the United States, for the owners, of the sum of

$19,702.50 in gold. Another and long-pending claim of like nature, that

of the whaleship _Canada_, has been disposed of by friendly arbitrament

during the present year. It was referred, by the joint consent of Brazil

and the United States, to the decision of Sir Edward Thornton, Her

Britannic Majesty's minister at Washington, who kindly undertook the

laborious task of examining the voluminous mass of correspondence and

testimony submitted by the two Governments, and awarded to the United

States the sum of $100,740.09 in gold, which has since been paid by the

Imperial Government. These recent examples show that the mode which the

United States have proposed to Spain for adjusting the pending claims is

just and feasible, and that it may be agreed to by either nation without

dishonor. It is to be hoped that this moderate demand may be acceded

to by Spain without further delay. Should the pending negotiations,

unfortunately and unexpectedly, be without result, it will then become

my duty to communicate that fact to Congress and invite its action on

the subject.

The long-deferred peace conference between Spain and the allied South

American Republics has been inaugurated in Washington under the auspices

of the United States. Pursuant to the recommendation contained in the

resolution of the House of Representatives of the 17th of December,

1866, the executive department of the Government offered its friendly

offices for the promotion of peace and harmony between Spain and the

allied Republics. Hesitations and obstacles occurred to the acceptance

of the offer. Ultimately, however, a conference was arranged, and was

opened in this city on the 29th of October last, at which I authorized

the Secretary of State to preside. It was attended by the ministers of

Spain, Peru, Chile, and Ecuador. In consequence of the absence of a

representative from Bolivia, the conference was adjourned until the

attendance of a plenipotentiary from that Republic could be secured or

other measures could be adopted toward compassing its objects.

The allied and other Republics of Spanish origin on this continent may

see in this fact a new proof of our sincere interest in their welfare,

of our desire to see them blessed with good governments, capable of

maintaining order and of preserving their respective territorial

integrity, and of our sincere wish to extend our own commercial and

social relations with them. The time is not probably far distant when,

in the natural course of events, the European political connection with

this continent will cease. Our policy should be shaped, in view of this

probability, so as to ally the commercial interests of the Spanish

American States more closely to our own, and thus give the United States

all the preeminence and all the advantage which Mr. Monroe, Mr. Adams,

and Mr. Clay contemplated when they proposed to join in the congress of

Panama.

During the last session of Congress a treaty for the annexation of the

Republic of San Domingo to the United States failed to receive the

requisite two-thirds vote of the Senate. I was thoroughly convinced then

that the best interests of this country, commercially and materially,

demanded its ratification. Time has only confirmed me in this view.

I now firmly believe that the moment it is known that the United States

have entirely abandoned the project of accepting as a part of its

territory the island of San Domingo a free port will be negotiated for

by European nations in the Bay of Samana. A large commercial city will

spring up, to which we will be tributary without receiving corresponding

benefits, and then will be seen the folly of our rejecting so great

a prize. The Government of San Domingo has voluntarily sought this

annexation. It is a weak power, numbering probably less than 120,000

souls, and yet possessing one of the richest territories under the sun,

capable of supporting a population of 10,000,000 people in luxury. The

people of San Domingo are not capable of maintaining themselves in their

present condition, and must look for outside support. They yearn for

the protection of our free institutions and laws, our progress and

civilization. Shall we refuse them?

The acquisition of San Domingo is desirable because of its geographical

position. It commands the entrance to the Caribbean Sea and the Isthmus

transit of commerce. It possesses the richest soil, best and most

capacious harbors, most salubrious climate, and the most valuable

products of the forests, mine, and soil of any of the West India

Islands. Its possession by us will in a few years build up a coastwise

commerce of immense magnitude, which will go far toward restoring to us

our lost merchant marine. It will give to us those articles which we

consume so largely and do not produce, thus equalizing our exports and

imports. In case of foreign war it will give us command of all the

islands referred to, and thus prevent an enemy from ever again

possessing himself of rendezvous upon our very coast. At present our

coast trade between the States bordering on the Atlantic and those

bordering on the Gulf of Mexico is cut into by the Bahamas and the

Antilles, Twice we must, as it were, pass through foreign countries

to get by sea from Georgia to the west coast of Florida.

San Domingo, with a stable government, under which her immense resources

can be developed, will give remunerative wages to tens of thousands of

laborers not now upon the island. This labor will take advantage of

every available means of transportation to abandon the adjacent islands

and seek the blessings of freedom and its sequence--each inhabitant

receiving the reward of his own labor. Porto Rico and Cuba will have

to abolish slavery, as a measure of self-preservation, to retain their

laborers.

San Domingo will become a large consumer of the products of Northern

farms and manufactories. The cheap rate at which her citizens can be

furnished with food, tools, and machinery will make it necessary that

contiguous islands should have the same advantages in order to compete

in the production of sugar, coffee, tobacco, tropical fruits, etc. This

will open to us a still wider market for our products. The production

of our own supply of these articles will cut off more than one hundred

millions of our annual imports, besides largely increasing our exports.

With such a picture it is easy to see how our large debt abroad is

ultimately to be extinguished. With a balance of trade against us

(including interest on bonds held by foreigners and money spent by our

citizens traveling in foreign lands) equal to the entire yield of the

precious metals in this country, it is not so easy to see how this

result is to be otherwise accomplished.

The acquisition of San Domingo is an adherence to the "Monroe doctrine;"

it is a measure of national protection; it is asserting our just claim

to a controlling influence over the great commercial traffic soon to

flow from west to east by way of the Isthmus of Darien; it is to build

up our merchant marine; it is to furnish new markets for the products of

our farms, shops, and manufactories; it is to make slavery insupportable

in Cuba and Porto Rico at once, and ultimately so in Brazil; it is to

settle the unhappy condition of Cuba and end an exterminating conflict;

it is to provide honest means of paying our honest debts without

overtaxing the people; it is to furnish our citizens with the necessaries

of everyday life at cheaper rates than ever before; and it is, in fine,

a rapid stride toward that greatness which the intelligence, industry,

and enterprise of the citizens of the United States entitle this country

to assume among nations.

In view of the importance of this question, I earnestly urge upon

Congress early action expressive of its views as to the best means of

acquiring San Domingo. My suggestion is that by joint resolution of

the two Houses of Congress the Executive be authorized to appoint a

commission to negotiate a treaty with the authorities of San Domingo

for the acquisition of that island, and that an appropriation be made

to defray the expenses of such a commission. The question may then

be determined, either by the action of the Senate upon the treaty or

the joint action of the two Houses of Congress upon a resolution of

annexation, as in the case of the acquisition of Texas. So convinced am

I of the advantages to flow from the acquisition of San Domingo, and of

the great disadvantages--I might almost say calamities--to flow from

nonacquisition, that I believe the subject has only to be investigated

to be approved.

It is to be regretted that our representations in regard to the

injurious effects, especially upon the revenue of the United States,

of the policy of the Mexican Government in exempting from impost

duties a large tract of its territory on our borders have not only been

fruitless, but that it is even proposed in that country to extend the

limits within which the privilege adverted to has hitherto been enjoyed.

The expediency of taking into your serious consideration proper measures

for countervailing the policy referred to will, it is presumed, engage

your earnest attention.

It is the obvious interest, especially of neighboring nations, to

provide against impunity to those who may have committed high crimes

within their borders and who may have sought refuge abroad. For this

purpose extradition treaties have been concluded with several of the

Central American Republics, and others are in progress.

The sense of Congress is desired, as early as may be convenient, upon

the proceedings of the commission on claims against Venezuela, as

communicated in my messages of March 16, 1869, March 1, 1870, and March

31, 1870. It has not been deemed advisable to distribute any of the

money which has been received from that Government until Congress shall

have acted on the subject.

The massacres of French and Russian residents at Tien-Tsin, under

circumstances of great barbarity, was supposed by some to have been

premeditated, and to indicate a purpose among the populace to

exterminate foreigners in the Chinese Empire. The evidence fails to

establish such a supposition, but shows a complicity between the local

authorities and the mob. The Government at Peking, however, seems to

have been disposed to fulfill its treaty obligations so far as it was

able to do so. Unfortunately, the news of the war between the German

States and France reached China soon after the massacre. It would appear

that the popular mind became possessed with the idea that this contest,

extending to Chinese waters, would neutralize the Christian influence

and power, and that the time was coming when the superstitious masses

might expel all foreigners and restore mandarin influence. Anticipating

trouble from this cause, I invited France and North Germany to make

an authorized suspension of hostilities in the East (where they were

temporarily suspended by act of the commanders), and to act together for

the future protection in China of the lives and properties of Americans

and Europeans.

Since the adjournment of Congress the ratifications of the treaty with

Great Britain for abolishing the mixed courts for the suppression of the

slave trade have been exchanged. It is believed that the slave trade is

now confined to the eastern coast of Africa, whence the slaves are taken

to Arabian markets.

The ratifications of the naturalization convention between Great Britain

and the United States have also been exchanged during the recess, and

thus a long-standing dispute between the two Governments has been

settled in accordance with the principles always contended for by the

United States.

In April last, while engaged in locating a military reservation near

Pembina, a corps of engineers discovered that the commonly received

boundary line between the United States and the British possessions

at that place is about 4,700 feet south of the true position of the

forty-ninth parallel, and that the line, when run on what is now

supposed to be the true position of that parallel, would leave the fort

of the Hudsons Bay Company at Pembina within the territory of the United

States. This information being communicated to the British Government,

I was requested to consent, and did consent, that the British occupation

of the fort of the Hudsons Bay Company should continue for the present.

I deem it important, however, that this part of the boundary line should

be definitely fixed by a joint commission of the two Governments, and

I submit herewith estimates of the expense of such a commission on the

part of the United States and recommend that an appropriation be made

for that purpose. The land boundary has already been fixed and marked

from the summit of the Rocky Mountains to the Georgian Bay. It should

now be in like manner marked from the Lake of the Woods to the summit

of the Rocky Mountains.

I regret to say that no conclusion has been reached for the adjustment

of the claims against Great Britain growing out of the course adopted

by that Government during the rebellion. The cabinet of London, so far

as its views have been expressed, does not appear to be willing to

concede that Her Majesty's Government was guilty of any negligence,

or did or permitted any act during the war by which the United States

has just cause of complaint. Our firm and unalterable convictions are

directly the reverse. I therefore recommend to Congress to authorize

the appointment of a commission to take proof of the amount and the

ownership of these several claims, on notice to the representative

of Her Majesty at Washington, and that authority be given for the

settlement of these claims by the United States, so that the Government

shall have the ownership of the private claims, as well as the

responsible control of all the demands against Great Britain. It can

not be necessary to add that whenever Her Majesty's Government shall

entertain a desire for a full and friendly adjustment of these claims

the United States will enter upon their consideration with an earnest

desire for a conclusion consistent with the honor and dignity of both

nations.

The course pursued by the Canadian authorities toward the fishermen

of the United States during the past season has not been marked by a

friendly feeling. By the first article of the convention of 1818 between

Great Britain and the United States it was agreed that the inhabitants

of the United States should have forever, in common with British

subjects, the right of taking fish in certain waters therein defined.

In the waters not included in the limits named in the convention (within

3 miles of parts of the British coast) it has been the custom for many

years to give to intruding fishermen of the United States a reasonable

warning of their violation of the technical rights of Great Britain.

The Imperial Government is understood to have delegated the whole or a

share of its jurisdiction or control of these inshore fishing grounds

to the colonial authority known as the Dominion of Canada, and this

semi-independent but irresponsible agent has exercised its delegated

powers in an unfriendly way. Vessels have been seized without notice or

warning, in violation of the custom previously prevailing, and have been

taken into the colonial ports, their voyages broken up, and the vessels

condemned. There is reason to believe that this unfriendly and vexatious

treatment was designed to bear harshly upon the hardy fishermen of the

United States, with a view to political effect upon this Government.

The statutes of the Dominion of Canada assume a still broader and more

untenable jurisdiction over the vessels of the United States. They

authorize officers or persons to bring vessels hovering within 3 marine

miles of any of the coasts, bays, creeks, or harbors of Canada into

port, to search the cargo, to examine the master on oath touching the

cargo and voyage, and to inflict upon him a heavy pecuniary penalty if

true answers are not given; and if such a vessel is found "preparing

to fish" within 3 marine miles of any of such coasts, bays, creeks, or

harbors without a license, or after the expiration of the period named

in the last license granted to it, they provide that the vessel,

with her tackle, etc., shall be forfeited. It is not known that any

condemnations have been made under this statute. Should the authorities

of Canada attempt to enforce it, it will become my duty to take such

steps as may be necessary to protect the rights of the citizens of the

United States.

It has been claimed by Her Majesty's officers that the fishing vessels

of the United States have no right to enter the open ports of the

British possessions in North America, except for the purposes of shelter

and repairing damages, of purchasing wood and obtaining water; that they

have no right to enter at the British custom-houses or to trade there

except in the purchase of wood and water, and that they must depart

within twenty-four hours after notice to leave. It is not known that any

seizure of a fishing vessel carrying the flag of the United States has

been made under this claim. So far as the claim is founded on an alleged

construction of the convention of 1818, it can not be acquiesced in by

the United States. It is hoped that it will not be insisted on by Her

Majesty's Government.

During the conferences which preceded the negotiation of the convention

of 1818 the British commissioners proposed to expressly exclude the

fishermen of the United States from "the privilege of carrying on trade

with any of His Britannic Majesty's subjects residing within the limits

assigned for their use;" and also that it should not be "lawful for the

vessels of the United States engaged in said fishery to have on board

any goods, wares, or merchandise whatever, except such as may be

necessary for the prosecution of their voyages to and from the said

fishing grounds; and any vessel of the United States which shall

contravene this regulation may be seized, condemned, and confiscated,

with her cargo."

This proposition, which is identical with the construction now put

upon the language of the convention, was emphatically rejected by the

American commissioners, and thereupon was abandoned by the British

plenipotentiaries, and Article I, as it stands in the convention, was

substituted.

If, however, it be said that this claim is founded on provincial or

colonial statutes, and not upon the convention, this Government can not

but regard them as unfriendly, and in contravention of the spirit, if

not of the letter, of the treaty, for the faithful execution of which

the Imperial Government is alone responsible.

Anticipating that an attempt may possibly be made by the Canadian

authorities in the coming season to repeat their unneighborly acts

toward our fishermen, I recommend you to confer upon the Executive the

power to suspend by proclamation the operation of the laws authorizing

the transit of goods, wares, and merchandise in bond across the

territory of the United States to Canada, and, further, should such an

extreme measure become necessary, to suspend the operation of any laws

whereby the vessels of the Dominion of Canada are permitted to enter the

waters of the United States.

A like unfriendly disposition has been manifested on the part of Canada

in the maintenance of a claim of right to exclude the citizens of the

United States from the navigation of the St. Lawrence. This river

constitutes a natural outlet to the ocean for eight States, with an

aggregate population of about 17,600,000 inhabitants, and with an

aggregate tonnage of 661,367 tons upon the waters which discharge into

it. The foreign commerce of our ports on these waters is open to British

competition, and the major part of it is done in British bottoms.

If the American seamen be excluded from this natural avenue to the

ocean, the monopoly of the direct commerce of the lake ports with the

Atlantic would be in foreign hands, their vessels on transatlantic

voyages having an access to our lake ports which would be denied to

American vessels on similar voyages. To state such a proposition is

to refute its justice.

During the Administration of Mr. John Quincy Adams Mr. Clay unanswerably

demonstrated the natural right of the citizens of the United States to

the navigation of this river, claiming that the act of the congress of

Vienna in opening the Rhine and other rivers to all nations showed the

judgment of European jurists and statesmen that the inhabitants of a

country through which a navigable river passes have a natural right to

enjoy the navigation of that river to and into the sea, even though

passing through the territories of another power. This right does not

exclude the coequal right of the sovereign possessing the territory

through which the river debouches into the sea to make such regulations

relative to the police of the navigation as may be reasonably necessary;

but those regulations should be framed in a liberal spirit of comity,

and should not impose needless burdens upon the commerce which has the

right of transit. It has been found in practice more advantageous to

arrange these regulations by mutual agreement. The United States are

ready to make any reasonable arrangement as to the police of the St.

Lawrence which may be suggested by Great Britain.

If the claim made by Mr. Clay was just when the population of States

bordering on the shores of the Lakes was only 3,400,000, it now derives

greater force and equity from the increased population, wealth,

production, and tonnage of the States on the Canadian frontier. Since

Mr. Clay advanced his argument in behalf of our right the principle

for which he contended has been frequently, and by various nations,

recognized by law or by treaty, and has been extended to several other

great rivers. By the treaty concluded at Mayence in 1831 the Rhine was

declared free from the point where it is first navigable into the sea.

By the convention between Spain and Portugal concluded in 1835 the

navigation of the Douro throughout its whole extent was made free for

the subjects of both Crowns. In 1853 the Argentine Confederation by

treaty threw open the free navigation of the Parana and the Uruguay to

the merchant vessels of all nations. In 1856 the Crimean War was closed

by a treaty which provided for the free navigation of the Danube.

In 1858 Bolivia by treaty declared that it regarded the rivers Amazon

and La Plata, in accordance with fixed principles of national law, as

highways or channels opened by nature for the commerce of all nations.

In 1859 the Paraguay was made free by treaty, and in December, 1866,

the Emperor of Brazil by imperial decree declared the Amazon to be open

to the frontier of Brazil to the merchant ships of all nations. The

greatest living British authority on this subject, while asserting the

abstract right of the British claim, says:

It seems difficult to deny that Great Britain may ground her refusal

upon strict _law_, but it is equally difficult to deny, first, that in

so doing she exercises harshly an extreme and hard law; secondly, that

her conduct with respect to the navigation of the St. Lawrence is in

glaring and discreditable inconsistency with her conduct with respect

to the navigation of the Mississippi. On the ground that she possessed

a small domain in which the Mississippi took its rise, she insisted on

the right to navigate the entire volume of its waters. On the ground

that she possesses both banks of the St. Lawrence, where it disembogues

itself into the sea, she denies to the United States the right of

navigation, though about one-half of the waters of Lakes Ontario, Erie,

Huron, and Superior, and the whole of Lake Michigan, through which the

river flows, are the property of the United States.

The whole nation is interested in securing cheap transportation from

the agricultural States of the West to the Atlantic Seaboard. To the

citizens of those States it secures a greater return for their labor; to

the inhabitants of the seaboard it affords cheaper food; to the nation,

an increase in the annual surplus of wealth. It is hoped that the

Government of Great Britain will see the justice of abandoning the

narrow and inconsistent claim to which her Canadian Provinces have urged

her adherence.

Our depressed commerce is a subject to which I called your special

attention at the last session, and suggested that we will in the future

have to look more to the countries south of us, and to China and Japan,

for its revival. Our representatives to all these Governments have

exerted their influence to encourage trade between the United States and

the countries to which they are accredited. But the fact exists that the

carrying is done almost entirely in foreign bottoms, and while this

state of affairs exists we can not control our due share of the commerce

of the world; that between the Pacific States and China and Japan is

about all the carrying trade now conducted in American vessels. I would

recommend a liberal policy toward that line of American steamers--one

that will insure its success, and even increased usefulness.

The cost of building iron vessels, the only ones that can compete with

foreign ships in the carrying trade, is so much greater in the United

States than in foreign countries that without some assistance from the

Government they can not be successfully built here. There will be

several propositions laid before Congress in the course of the present

session looking to a remedy for this evil. Even if it should be at some

cost to the National Treasury, I hope such encouragement will be given

as will secure American shipping on the high seas and American

shipbuilding at home.

The condition of the archives at the Department of State calls for the

early action of Congress. The building now rented by that Department

is a frail structure, at an inconvenient distance from the Executive

Mansion and from the other Departments, is ill adapted to the purpose

for which it is used, has not capacity to accommodate the archives, and

is not fireproof. Its remote situation, its slender construction, and

the absence of a supply of water in the neighborhood leave but little

hope of safety for either the building or its contents in case of the

accident of a fire. Its destruction would involve the loss of the

rolls containing the original acts and resolutions of Congress, of the

historic records of the Revolution and of the Confederation, of the

whole series of diplomatic and consular archives since the adoption of

the Constitution, and of the many other valuable records and papers

left with that Department when it was the principal depository of the

governmental archives. I recommend an appropriation for the construction

of a building for the Department of State.

I recommend to your consideration the propriety of transferring to the

Department of the Interior, to which they seem more appropriately to

belong, all powers and duties in relation to the Territories with which

the Department of State is now charged by law or usage; and from the

Interior Department to the War Department the Pension Bureau, so far

as it regulates the payment of soldiers' pensions. I would further

recommend that the payment of naval pensions be transferred to one of

the bureaus of the Navy Department.

The estimates for the expenses of the Government for the next fiscal

year are $18,244,346.01 less than for the current one, but exceed the

appropriations for the present year for the same items $8,972,127.56.

In this estimate, however, is included $22,338,278.37 for public works

heretofore begun under Congressional provision, and of which only so

much is asked as Congress may choose to give. The appropriation for

the same works for the present fiscal year was $11,984,518.08.

The average value of gold, as compared with national currency, for the

whole of the year 1869 was about 134, and for eleven months of 1870 the

same relative value has been about 115. The approach to a specie basis

is very gratifying, but the fact can not be denied that the instability

of the value of our currency is prejudicial to our prosperity, and tends

to keep up prices, to the detriment of trade. The evils of a depreciated

and fluctuating currency are so great that now, when the premium on gold

has fallen so much, it would seem that the time has arrived when by wise

and prudent legislation Congress should look to a policy which would

place our currency at par with gold at no distant day.

The tax collected from the people has been reduced more than $80,000,000

per annum. By steadiness in our present course there is no reason why in

a few short years the national taxgatherer may not disappear from the

door of the citizen almost entirely. With the revenue stamp dispensed

by postmasters in every community, a tax upon liquors of all sorts and

tobacco in all its forms, and by a wise adjustment of the tariff, which

will put a duty only upon those articles which we could dispense with,

known as luxuries, and on those which we use more of than we produce,

revenue enough may be raised after a few years of peace and consequent

reduction of indebtedness to fulfill all our obligations. A further

reduction of expenses, in addition to a reduction of interest account,

may be relied on to make this practicable. Revenue reform, if it means

this, has my hearty support. If it implies a collection of all the

revenue for the support of the Government, for the payment of principal

and interest of the public debt, pensions, etc., by directly taxing the

people, then I am against revenue reform, and confidently believe the

people are with me. If it means failure to provide the necessary means

to defray all the expenses of Government, and thereby repudiation of

the public debt and pensions, then I am still more opposed to such kind

of revenue reform. Revenue reform has not been defined by any of its

advocates to my knowledge, but seems to be accepted as something which

is to supply every man's wants without any cost or effort on his part.

A true revenue reform can not be made in a day, but must be the work

of national legislation and of time. As soon as the revenue can be

dispensed with, all duty should be removed from coffee, tea, and other

articles of universal use not produced by ourselves. The necessities of

the country compel us to collect revenue from our imports. An army of

assessors and collectors is not a pleasant sight to the citizen, but

that or a tariff for revenue is necessary. Such a tariff, so far as it

acts as an encouragement to home production, affords employment to labor

at living wages, in contrast to the pauper labor of the Old World, and

also in the development of home resources.

Under the act of Congress of the 15th day of July, 1870, the Army has

gradually been reduced, so that on the 1st day of January, 1871, the

number of commissioned officers and men will not exceed the number

contemplated by that law.

The War Department building is an old structure, not fireproof, and

entirely inadequate in dimensions to our present wants. Many thousands

of dollars are now paid annually for rent of private buildings to

accommodate the various bureaus of the Department. I recommend an

appropriation for a new War Department building, suited to the present

and growing wants of the nation.

The report of the Secretary of War shows a very satisfactory reduction

in the expenses of the Army for the last fiscal year. For details you

are referred to his accompanying report.

The expenses of the Navy for the whole of the last year--i.e.,

from December 1, 1869, the date of the last report--are less than

$19,000,000, or about $1,000,000 less than they were the previous year.

The expenses since the commencement of this fiscal year--i.e., since

July 1--show for the five months a decrease of over $2,400,000 from

those of the corresponding months last year. The estimates for the

current year were $28,205,671.37. Those for next year are $20,683,317,

with $955,100 additional for necessary permanent improvements. These

estimates are made closely for the mere maintenance of the naval

establishment as it now is, without much in the nature of permanent

improvement. The appropriations made for the last and current years were

evidently intended by Congress, and are sufficient only, to keep the

Navy on its present footing by the repairing and refitting of our old

ships.

This policy must, of course, gradually but surely destroy the Navy, and

it is in itself far from economical, as each year that it is pursued

the necessity for mere repairs in ships and navy-yards becomes more

imperative and more costly, and our current expenses are annually

increased for the mere repair of ships, many of which must soon become

unsafe and useless. I hope during the present session of Congress to be

able to submit to it a plan by which naval vessels can be built and

repairs made with great saving upon the present cost.

It can hardly be wise statesmanship in a Government which represents a

country with over 5,000 miles of coast line on both oceans, exclusive

of Alaska, and containing 40,000,000 progressive people, with relations

of every nature with almost every foreign country, to rest with such

inadequate means of enforcing any foreign policy, either of protection

or redress. Separated by the ocean from the nations of the Eastern

Continent, our Navy is our only means of direct protection to our

citizens abroad or for the enforcement of any foreign policy.

The accompanying report of the Postmaster-General shows a most

satisfactory working of that Department. With the adoption of the

recommendations contained therein, particularly those relating to a

reform in the franking privilege and the adoption of the "correspondence

cards," a self-sustaining postal system may speedily be looked for, and

at no distant day a further reduction of the rate of postage be

attained.

I recommend authorization by Congress to the Postmaster-General and

Attorney-General to issue all commissions to officials appointed through

their respective Departments. At present these commissions, where

appointments are Presidential, are issued by the State Department.

The law in all the Departments of Government, except those of the

Post-Office and of Justice, authorizes each to issue its own

commissions.

Always favoring practical reforms, I respectfully call your attention to

one abuse of long standing which I would like to see remedied by this

Congress. It is a reform in the civil service of the country. I would

have it go beyond the mere fixing of the tenure of office of clerks

and employees who do not require "the advice and consent of the Senate"

to make their appointments complete. I would have it govern, not the

tenure, but the manner of making all appointments. There is no duty

which so much embarrasses the Executive and heads of Departments as

that of appointments, nor is there any such arduous and thankless labor

imposed on Senators and Representatives as that of finding places for

constituents. The present system does not secure the best men, and often

not even fit men, for public place. The elevation and purification of

the civil service of the Government will be hailed with approval by the

whole people of the United States.

Reform in the management of Indian affairs has received the special

attention of the Administration from its inauguration to the present

day. The experiment of making it a missionary work was tried with a few

agencies given to the denomination of Friends, and has been found to

work most advantageously. All agencies and superintendencies not so

disposed of were given to officers of the Army. The act of Congress

reducing the Army renders army officers ineligible for civil positions.

Indian agencies being civil offices, I determined to give all the

agencies to such religious denominations as had heretofore established

missionaries among the Indians, and perhaps to some other denominations

who would undertake the work on the same terms--i.e. as a missionary

work. The societies selected are allowed to name their own agents,

subject to the approval of the Executive, and are expected to watch over

them and aid them as missionaries, to Christianize and civilize the

Indian, and to train him in the arts of peace. The Government watches

over the official acts of these agents, and requires of them as strict

an accountability as if they were appointed in any other manner.

I entertain the confident hope that the policy now pursued will in a

few years bring all the Indians upon reservations, where they will live

in houses, and have schoolhouses and churches, and will be pursuing

peaceful and self-sustaining avocations, and where they may be visited

by the law-abiding white man with the same impunity that he now visits

the civilized white settlements. I call your special attention to the

report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs for full information on

this subject.

During the last fiscal year 8,095,413 acres of public land were disposed

of. Of this quantity 3,698,910.05 acres were taken under the homestead

law and 2,159,515.81 acres sold for cash. The remainder was located with

military warrants, college or Indian scrip, or applied in satisfaction

of grants to railroads or for other public uses. The entries under the

homestead law during the last year covered 961,545 acres more than those

during the preceding year. Surveys have been vigorously prosecuted to

the full extent of the means applicable to the purpose. The quantity of

land in market will amply supply the present demand. The claim of the

settler under the homestead or the preemption laws is not, however,

limited to lands subject to sale at private entry. Any unappropriated

surveyed public land may, to a limited amount, be acquired under the

former laws if the party entitled to enter under them will comply

with the requirements they prescribe in regard to the residence and

cultivation. The actual settler's preference right of purchase is even

broader, and extends to lands which were unsurveyed at the time of his

settlement. His right was formerly confined within much narrower limits,

and at one period of our history was conferred only by special statutes.

They were enacted from time to time to legalize what was then regarded

as an unauthorized intrusion upon the national domain. The opinion that

the public lands should be regarded chiefly as a source of revenue is no

longer maintained. The rapid settlement and successful cultivation of

them are now justly considered of more importance to our well-being than

is the fund which the sale of them would produce. The remarkable growth

and prosperity of our new States and Territories attest the wisdom

of the legislation which invites the tiller of the soil to secure a

permanent home on terms within the reach of all. The pioneer who incurs

the dangers and privations of a frontier life, and thus aids in laying

the foundation of new commonwealths, renders a signal service to his

country, and is entitled to its special favor and protection. These laws

secure that object and largely promote the general welfare. They should

therefore be cherished as a permanent feature of our land system.

Good faith requires us to give full effect to existing grants. The

time-honored and beneficent policy of setting apart certain sections

of public land for educational purposes in the new States should be

continued. When ample provision shall have been made for these objects,

I submit as a question worthy of serious consideration whether the

residue of our national domain should not be wholly disposed of under

the provisions of the homestead and preemption laws.

In addition to the swamp and overflowed lands granted to the States in

which they are situated, the lands taken under the agricultural-college

acts and for internal-improvement purposes under the act of September,

1841, and the acts supplemental thereto, there had been conveyed up to

the close of the last fiscal year, by patent or other equivalent title,

to States and corporations 27,836,257.63 acres for railways, canals, and

wagon roads. It is estimated that an additional quantity of 174,735,523

acres is still due under grants for like uses. The policy of thus aiding

the States in building works of internal improvement was inaugurated

more than forty years since in the grants to Indiana and Illinois, to

aid those States in opening canals to connect the waters of the Wabash

with those of Lake Erie and the waters of the Illinois with those of

Lake Michigan. It was followed, with some modifications, in the grant to

Illinois of alternate sections of public land within certain limits of

the Illinois Central Railway. Fourteen States and sundry corporations

have received similar subsidies in connection with railways completed

or in process of construction. As the reserved sections are rated

at the double minimum, the sale of them at the enhanced price has

thus in many instances indemnified the Treasury for the granted lands.

The construction of some of these thoroughfares has undoubtedly given a

vigorous impulse to the development of our resources and the settlement

of the more distant portions of the country. It may, however, be well

insisted that much of our legislation in this regard has been

characterized by indiscriminate and profuse liberality. The United

States should not loan their credit in aid of any enterprise undertaken

by States or corporations, nor grant lands in any instance, unless the

projected work is of acknowledged national importance. I am strongly

inclined to the opinion that it is inexpedient and unnecessary to bestow

subsidies of either description; but should Congress determine otherwise

I earnestly recommend that the right of settlers and of the public be

more effectually secured and protected by appropriate legislation.

During the year ending September 30, 1870, there were filed in the

Patent Office 19,411 applications for patents, 3,374 caveats, and 160

applications for the extension of patents. Thirteen thousand six hundred

and twenty-two patents, including reissues and designs, were issued,

1,010 extended, and 1,089 allowed, but not issued by reason of the

non-payment of the final fees. The receipts of the office during the

fiscal year were $136,304.29 in excess of its expenditures.

The work of the Census Bureau has been energetically prosecuted. The

preliminary report, containing much information of special value and

interest, will be ready for delivery during the present session. The

remaining volumes will be completed with all the dispatch consistent

with perfect accuracy in arranging and classifying the returns. We shall

thus at no distant day be furnished with an authentic record of our

condition and resources. It will, I doubt not, attest the growing

prosperity of the country, although during the decade which has just

closed it was so severely tried by the great war waged to maintain its

integrity and to secure and perpetuate our free institutions.

During the last fiscal year the sum paid to pensioners, including the

cost of disbursement, was $27,780,811.11, and 1,758 bounty-land warrants

were issued. At its close 198,686 names were on the pension rolls.

The labors of the Pension Office have been directed to the severe

scrutiny of the evidence submitted in favor of new claims and to the

discovery of fictitious claims which have been heretofore allowed. The

appropriation for the employment of special agents for the investigation

of frauds has been judiciously used, and the results obtained have been

of unquestionable benefit to the service.

The subjects of education and agriculture are of great interest to the

success of our republican institutions, happiness, and grandeur as a

nation. In the interest of one a bureau has been established in the

Interior Department--the Bureau of Education; and in the interest of

the other, a separate Department, that of Agriculture. I believe great

general good is to flow from the operations of both these Bureaus if

properly fostered. I can not commend to your careful consideration too

highly the reports of the Commissioners of Education and of Agriculture,

nor urge too strongly such liberal legislation as to secure their

efficiency.

In conclusion I would sum up the policy of the Administration to be a

thorough enforcement of every law; a faithful collection of every tax

provided for; economy in the disbursement of the same; a prompt payment

of every debt of the nation; a reduction of taxes as rapidly as the

requirements of the country will admit; reductions of taxation and

tariff, to be so arranged as to afford the greatest relief to the

greatest number; honest and fair dealings with all other peoples, to the

end that war, with all its blighting consequences, may be avoided, but

without surrendering any right or obligation due to us; a reform in the

treatment of Indians and in the whole civil service of the country;

and finally, in securing a pure, untrammeled ballot, where every man

entitled to cast a vote may do so, just once at each election, without

fear of molestation or proscription on account of his political faith,

nativity, or color.

U.S. GRANT.

[Footnote 29: See pp. 86-89.]

[Footnote 30: See pp. 89-92.]

SPECIAL MESSAGES.

DECEMBER 6, 1870.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives:_

In pursuance of the provisions of the second section of an act approved

June 20, 1864, entitled "An act making appropriations for the consular

and diplomatic expenses of the Government for the year ending June 30,

1865, and for other purposes," I inform Congress that Louis W. Viollier,

a consular clerk, was, on the 26th day of September last, removed from

office for the following causes, namely: For disobedience of orders and

continued absence from duty after orders to proceed to his post.

U.S. GRANT.

WASHINGTON, _December 6, 1870_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives:_

I herewith transmit to Congress a report, dated the 5th instant, with

the accompanying papers,[31] received from the Secretary of State, in

compliance with the requirements of the eighteenth section of the act

entitled "An act to regulate the diplomatic and consular systems of the

United States," approved August 18, 1856.

U.S. GRANT.

[Footnote 31: Report of fees collected, etc., by consular officers of

the United States for 1868, and tariff of consular fees prescribed by

the President October 1, 1870.]

WASHINGTON, _December 6, 1870_.

_To the Senate of the United States:_

I transmit to the Senate, for its consideration with a view to

ratification, a convention for the surrender of criminals between the

United States of America and the Republic of Guatemala, signed on the

11th day of October last, together with correspondence on the subject,

a list of which is given.

U.S. GRANT.

WASHINGTON, _December 6, 1870_.

_To the Senate of the United States:_

I transmit to the Senate, for its consideration with a view to

ratification, a convention for the extradition of criminals fugitives

from justice between the United States of America and the Republic of

Nicaragua, signed at the city of Nicaragua on the 5th day of June last,

together with correspondence upon the subject, of which a list is

annexed.

U.S. GRANT.

WASHINGTON, _December 6, 1870_.

_To the Senate of the United States:_

I transmit to the Senate, for its consideration with a view to

ratification, a treaty for the extradition of criminals fugitives from

justice between the United States and the Republic of Peru, signed at

Lima on the 12th day of September last. As this treaty contains some

stipulations of an unusual character, the special attention of the

Senate is called to them.

U.S. GRANT.

WASHINGTON, _December 6, 1870_.

_To the Senate of the United States:_

I transmit to the Senate, for its consideration with a view to

ratification, a treaty of friendship, commerce, and navigation between

the United States of America and the Republic of Peru, signed at the

city of Lima on the 6th day of September last, together with the

correspondence in relation thereto, a list of which is annexed.

U.S. GRANT.

WASHINGTON, _December 6, 1870_.

_To the Senate of the United States:_

Referring to my message of the 1st of February last, transmitting to

the Senate, for its consideration with a view to ratification, a treaty

between the United States and the United States of Colombia for the

construction of an interoceanic canal across the Isthmus of Panama or

Darien, signed at Bogota on the 26th of January last, I herewith submit

correspondence upon the subject between the Secretary of State and the

minister of the United States at Bogota, a list of which is hereto

appended.

U.S. GRANT.

WASHINGTON, _December 8, 1870_.

_To the House of Representatives of the United States:_

In answer to its resolution of the 1st of July, 1870, I transmit to the

House of Representatives a report[32] from the Secretary of State.

U.S. GRANT.

[Footnote 32: Stating that the correspondence relative to the arrest and

detention of American fishing vessels in the Straits of Canso by armed

vessels flying the British flag had been communicated to Congress with

the President's annual message on the 5th instant.]

WASHINGTON, _December 8, 1870_.

_To the Senate of the United States:_

In answer to a resolution of the 5th instant, I transmit to the Senate

a report[33] from the Secretary of State.

U.S. GRANT.

[Footnote 33: Stating that the correspondence with the United States

minister at Paris relative to the Franco-Prussian war had been

communicated with the President's annual message on the 5th instant.]

WASHINGTON, _December 12, 1870_.

_To the Senate of the United States:_

I submit to the Senate, for their consideration with a view to

ratification, a convention relating to naturalization between the United

States and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, signed at Vienna on the 20th of

September, 1870, which is accompanied by the papers mentioned in the

subjoined list.

U.S. GRANT.

WASHINGTON, _December 13, 1870_.

_To the Senate of the United States:_

I transmit, in answer to the resolution of the Senate of June 14, 1870,

a report from the Secretary of State and the papers[34] by which it was

accompanied.

U.S. GRANT.

[Footnote 34: Relating to charges for messages made by the International

Ocean Telegraph Company.]

WASHINGTON, _December 15, 1870_.

_To the House of Representatives:_

In answer to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 9th

of April, 1869, I herewith transmit a report[35] from the Secretary of

State.

U.S. GRANT.

[Footnote 35: Stating that all the correspondence relative to the

condition of affairs in Paraguay believed to be required by the public

interest had been made public.]

WASHINGTON, _December 15, 1870_.

_To the House of Representatives:_

In answer to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 20th

of January last, I herewith transmit a report[36] from the Secretary of

State, with accompanying documents.

U.S. GRANT.

[Footnote 36: Stating that the claim for indemnity in the case of the

ship _Canada_, wrecked on the coast of Brazil in 1865, had been referred

to the British minister as arbiter, and submitting a summary of the

case, correspondence connected with it, and a copy of the award of the

arbiter.]

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _December 19, 1870_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States:_

I transmit herewith a report[37] of the Secretary of the Treasury,

made in compliance with section 2 of the act approved July n, 1870,

"making appropriations for the consular and diplomatic expenses of the

Government for the year ending June 30, 1871, and for other purposes."

U.S. GRANT.

[Footnote 37: Transmitting reports of consular agents.]

WASHINGTON, _December 19, 1870_.

_To the House of Representatives:_

I transmit to the House of Representatives a report of the Secretary of

State and the papers[38] by which it was accompanied, in answer to its

resolution of the 7th instant.

U.S. GRANT.

[Footnote 38: Relating to the seizure at Port Hood, Nova Scotia, by a

Canadian revenue cutter, of the schooner _Granada_, of Provincetown,

Mass.]

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 4, 1871_.

_To the House of Representatives:_

I transmit to the House of Representatives, in answer to their

resolution of the 12th of December, 1870, a report from the Secretary of

State, with accompanying documents.[39]

U.S. GRANT.

[Footnote 39: Correspondence relative to public documents or libraries

in the care of legations of the United States.]

WASHINGTON, _January 9, 1871_.

_To the Senate of the United States:_

I transmit to the Senate, in answer to their resolution of the 5th

instant, a report from the Secretary of State, with accompanying

documents.[40]

U.S. GRANT.

[Footnote 40: The last correspondence with Mr. Motley, including

telegraphic dispatches, etc., relative to his recall as minister to the

Court of St. James.]

WASHINGTON, _January 9, 1871_.

_To the House of Representatives:_

I transmit to the House of Representatives, in answer to their

resolution of the 5th instant, a report from the Secretary of State,

with the accompanying documents.[41]

U.S. GRANT.

[Footnote 41: Correspondence, etc., in 1844 and 1845 relative to the

resources and condition of the Dominican Republic.]

WASHINGTON, D.C., _January 9, 1871_.

_To the Senate of the United States:_

I transmit, for consideration with a view to its ratification, a treaty

of amity, commerce, and consular privileges between the United States

and the Republic of Salvador, signed at the city of San Salvador on the

6th of December last.

A copy of the official correspondence relating to the instrument is also

herewith transmitted.

U.S. GRANT.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 11, 1871_.

_To the Senate of the United States:_

In view of a proclamation having been published in newspapers of the

United States purporting to emanate from Cabral, a chieftain who opposed

the constitutional authorities of the Republic of San Domingo, I deem it

but just to communicate to the Senate of the United States the views of

that chieftain and his followers, as voluntarily communicated by him

through the United States minister to the Republic of Hayti in June

last. It will be observed by the letter of Minister Bassett that Cabral

did not wish his views to be made public before the question of

annexation was disposed of, in a way to work prejudice to his interest.

But as the object which Cabral had already in view was to declare to

the treaty-making power of the United States his views and those of his

followers upon the subject of annexation of the Republic of San Domingo,

and as the Senate is a branch of that power, I deem it no breach of

confidence to communicate this letter to the Senate. I ask, however,

that it may be read in executive session and that the request of Cabral

be observed, so that in no case they shall be made public or used

against him until the question of annexation is disposed of.

U.S. GRANT.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 11, 1871_.

_To the House of Representatives:_

I transmit herewith, in reply to the resolution of the House of

Representatives of the 5th instant, copies of the reports of Captain

George B. McClellan upon the Dominican Republic, made in the year 1854.

U.S. GRANT.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 13, 1871_.

_To the Senate of the United States:_

In reply to the resolution of the Senate of the 16th of December, 1870,

requesting to be furnished with information relative to the organization

of disloyal persons in North Carolina having in view resistance of the

United States laws, denial of protection, and the enjoyment of the

rights and liberties secured under the United States, etc., I transmit

herewith abstracts of reports and other papers on file in the War

Department relative to outrages in North Carolina, and also, for the

information of the Senate, those relative to outrages in the other

Southern States. The original reports and papers are too voluminous to

be copied in season to be used by the present Congress, but are easily

accessible for reference, and copies of such papers can be furnished as

the Senate may deem necessary.

U.S. GRANT.

WASHINGTON, _January 16, 1871_.

_To the Senate of the United States:_

I transmit to the Senate, in answer to their resolution of 4th instant,

a report from the Secretary of State, with accompanying documents,

relating to the proposed annexation of the Dominican portion of the

island of San Domingo.

U.S. GRANT.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 17, 1871_.

_To the Senate of the United States:_

In answer to their resolution of the 16th of December, 1870, I herewith

transmit copies of certain reports received at the War Department

relative to disloyal organizations in the State of North Carolina,

intended to resist the laws or to deprive the citizens of the United

States of the protection of law or the enjoyment of their rights under

the Constitution of the United States. These reports are in addition to

the abstracts of those sent to the Senate on the 13th instant.

U.S. GRANT.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 24, 1871_.

_To the Senate of the United States:_

In answer to your resolution of the 21st December, 1870, requesting the

President "to furnish the Senate with the amount of money expended by

the United States for freight and passage to the Pacific Coast by the

way of the Isthmus and Cape Horn during the twelve months now last

past," I herewith transmit reports from the Secretary of the Treasury,

of War, and of the Navy, to whom, respectively, the resolution was

referred.

U.S. GRANT.

WASHINGTON, _January 27, 1871_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives:_

I transmit herewith, for the consideration of Congress, a report of the

Secretary of State and the papers which accompanied it, concerning

regulations for the consular courts of the United States in Japan.

U.S. GRANT.

WASHINGTON, _January 27, 1871_.

_To the Senate of the United States:_

I transmit, for consideration with a view to its ratification, a treaty

of friendship, commerce, and navigation between the United States and

the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, which was signed at Montevideo, it is

presumed, in the course of last month, though the precise date has

inadvertently been omitted.

A copy of the correspondence relating to the instrument is also herewith

transmitted. From this it will be seen that the treaty is substantially

the same as one between the same parties which has already been approved

by the Senate and ratified by the President of the United States, but

the ratifications of which have never been exchanged. If the Senate

should approve the new treaty, it is suggested that their resolution to

that effect should include authority to insert the precise date when

that shall have been ascertained.

U.S. GRANT.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 30, 1871_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives:_

I transmit herewith an official copy of the proceedings of the council

of Indian tribes held at Ocmulgee in December last, which resulted in

the adoption of a declaration of rights and a constitution for their

government, together with a copy of the report of the Commissioner of

Indian Affairs and the views of the Secretary of the Interior thereon.

It would seem highly desirable that the civilized Indians of the country

should be encouraged in establishing for themselves forms of Territorial

government compatible with the Constitution of the United States and

with the previous customs toward communities lying outside of State

limits.

I concur in the views expressed by the Secretary of the Interior,

that it would not be advisable to receive the new Territory with the

constitution precisely as it is now framed. As long as a Territorial

form of government is preserved, Congress should hold the power of

approving or disapproving of all legislative action of the Territory,

and the Executive should, with "the advice and consent of the Senate,"

have the power to appoint the governor and judicial officers (and

possibly some others) of the Territory.

This is the first indication of the aborigines desiring to adopt

our form of government, and it is highly desirable that they become

self-sustaining, self-relying, Christianized, and civilized. If

successful in this their first attempt at Territorial government, we may

hope for a gradual concentration of other Indians in the new Territory.

I therefore recommend as close an adherence to their wishes as is

consistent with safety.

It might be well to limit the appointment of all Territorial officials

appointed by the Executive to native citizens of the Territory. If any

exception is made to this rule, I would recommend that it should be

limited to the judiciary.

It is confidently hoped that the policy now being pursued toward the

Indian will fit him for self-government and make him desire to settle

among people of his own race where he can enjoy the full privileges of

civil and enlightened government.

U.S. GRANT.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 7, 1871_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives:_

The union of the States of Germany into a form of government similar in

many respects to that of the American Union is an event that can not

fail to touch deeply the sympathies of the people of the United States.

This union has been brought about by the long-continued, persistent

efforts of the people, with the deliberate approval of the governments

and people of twenty-four of the German States, through their regularly

constituted representatives.

In it the American people see an attempt to reproduce in Europe some

of the best features of our own Constitution, with such modifications

as the history and condition of Germany seem to require. The local

governments of the several members of the union are preserved, while

the power conferred upon the chief imparts strength for the purposes

of self-defense, without authority to enter upon wars of conquest and

ambition.

The cherished aspiration for national unity which for ages has

inspired the many millions of people speaking the same language,

inhabiting a contiguous and compact territory, but unnaturally separated

and divided by dynastic jealousies and the ambition of short-sighted

rulers, has been attained, and Germany now contains a population of

about 34,000,000, united, like our own, under one Government for its

relations with other powers, but retaining in its several members the

right and power of control of their local interests, habits, and

institutions.

The bringing of great masses of thoughtful and free people under a

single government must tend to make governments what alone they should

be--the representatives of the will and the organization of the power

of the people.

The adoption in Europe of the American system of union under the control

and direction of a free people, educated to self-restraint, can not fail

to extend popular institutions and to enlarge the peaceful influence of

American ideas.

The relations of the United States with Germany are intimate and

cordial. The commercial intercourse between the two countries is

extensive and is increasing from year to year; and the large number of

citizens and residents in the United States of German extraction and the

continued flow of emigration thence to this country have produced an

intimacy of personal and political intercourse approaching, if not equal

to, that with the country from which the founders of our Government

derived their origin.

The extent of these interests and the greatness of the German Union

seem to require that in the classification of the representatives of

this Government to foreign powers there should no longer be an apparent

undervaluation of the importance of the German mission, such as is

made in the difference between the compensation allowed by law to

the minister to Germany and those to Great Britain and France. There

would seem to be a great propriety in placing the representative

of this Government at Berlin on the same footing with that of its

representatives at London and Paris. The union of the several States of

Germany under one Government and the increasing commercial and personal

intercourse between the two countries will also add to the labors and

the responsibilities of the legation.

I therefore recommend that the salaries of the minister and of the

secretary of legation at Berlin be respectively increased to the same

amounts as are allowed to those at London and Paris.

U.S. GRANT.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 7, 1871_.

_To the Senate of the United States:_

In answer to that part of your resolution of the 4th of January last

requesting copies of "instructions to the commander of our naval

squadron in the waters of the island [of San Domingo] since the

commencement of the late negotiations, with the reports and

correspondence of such commander," I herewith transmit a report, with

accompanying papers, received from the Secretary of the Navy.

U.S. GRANT.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 8, 1871_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives:_

I transmit herewith an extract of a paper addressed to the President,

the Secretary of the Interior, and the Commissioner of Indian Affairs by

the committee of Friends on Indian affairs having charge of the northern

superintendency, in relation to a desire of certain Indian tribes to

sell a portion of the lands owned by them, with a view of locating on

other lands that they may be able to purchase, together with the report

of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs thereon and a letter of the

Secretary of the Interior Department approving the report of the

Commissioner.

I submit the draft of a bill which has been prepared, and which it is

believed will effect the object desired by the committee, and request

the consideration thereof by Congress.

U.S. GRANT.

WASHINGTON, _February 9, 1871_.

_To the Senate:_

The British minister accredited to this Government recently, in

compliance with instructions from his Government, submitted a proposal

for the appointment of a "joint high commission," to be composed of

members to be named by each Government, to hold its session at

Washington, and to treat and discuss the mode of settling the different

questions which have arisen out of the fisheries, as well as those which

affect the relations of the United States toward the British possessions

in North America.

I did not deem it expedient to agree to the proposal unless the

consideration of the questions growing out of the acts committed by

the vessels which have given rise to the claims known as the "Alabama

claims" were to be within the subject of discussion and settlement by

the commission. The British Government having assented to this, the

commission is expected shortly to meet. I therefore nominate as such

commissioners, jointly and separately, on the part of the United States:

Hamilton Fish, Secretary of State.

Robert C. Schenck, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to

Great Britain.

Samuel Nelson, an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United

States.

Ebenezer R. Hoar, of Massachusetts.

George H. Williams, of Oregon.

I communicate herewith the correspondence which has passed on this

subject between the Secretary of State and the British minister.

U.S. GRANT.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 10, 1871_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives:_

I submit herewith, for the information of Congress, the second annual

report of the Board of Indian Commissioners to the Secretary of the

Interior.

U.S. GRANT.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 13, 1871_.

_To the House of Representatives:_

I transmit herewith, in answer to the resolution of the House of the 6th

instant, copies of the correspondence between the governor of the State

of California and the President of the United States in the month of

October, 1868, relative to the use of the military forces of the

National Government in preserving the peace at the approaching State

election.

U.S. GRANT.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 15, 1871_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives:_

I have this day transmitted to the Senate the announcement that Senate

bill No. 218, "An act prescribing an oath of office to be taken by

persons who participated in the late rebellion, but who are not

disqualified from holding office by the fourteenth amendment to the

Constitution of the United States," has become a law in the manner

prescribed by the Constitution, without the signature of the President.

If this were a bill for the repeal of the "test oath" required of

persons "elected or appointed to offices of honor or trust," it would

meet my approval. The effect of the law, however, is to relieve from

taking a prescribed oath all those persons whom it was intended to

exclude from such offices and to require it from all others. By this

law the soldier who fought and bled for his country is to swear to

his loyalty before assuming official functions, while the general who

commanded hosts for the overthrow of his Government is admitted to place

without it. I can not affix my name to a law which discriminates against

the upholder of his Government.

I believe, however, that it is not wise policy to keep from office by an

oath those who are not disqualified by the Constitution, and who are the

choice of legal voters; but while relieving them from an oath which they

can not take, I recommend the release also of those to whom the oath has

no application.

U.S. GRANT.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 17, 1871_.

_To the Senate of the United States:_

In answer to your resolution of the 19th of December last, requesting

the President "to furnish the Senate with the entire cost of

transportation of mails and freights of every description to the Pacific

Coast, also to all intermediate points west of the Missouri River, from

the annexation of California to July 1, 1864; and also the expenses of

the War Department and Indian Bureau during the same period in guarding

the overland route from the Missouri River to California against Indians

and Mormons, and the cost of the Indian service on the same line,

including in all cases freights and all other expenditures," I transmit

herewith reports received from the Secretary of the Interior, the

Secretary of War, and the Postmaster-General.

U.S. GRANT.

WASHINGTON, _February 27, 1871_.

_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 Great Britain,

concluded at Washington on the 23d instant, supplemental to the

convention between the two countries concluded May 13, 1870, concerning

the citizenship of citizens or subjects of either country emigrating to

the other.

The conclusion of the supplemental convention now submitted was found to

be expedient in view of the stipulation contained in Article II of the

before-named convention of May 13, 1870, that the two Governments should

agree upon the manner in which the renunciation within the periods

specified, by naturalized citizens and subjects of either country, of

their naturalization should be effected.

U.S. GRANT.

WASHINGTON, _March 3, 1871_.

_To the Senate of the United States:_

I transmit to the Senate, in answer to their resolution of the 2d

instant, a report of the Secretary of State, with accompanying

documents.[42]

U.S. GRANT.

[Footnote 42: Correspondence from the United States legation at

Constantinople relative to restrictions on the passage of the straits of

the Dardanelles and the Bosphorus by the ships of other nations.]

WASHINGTON, _March 3, 1871_.

_To the Senate of the United States:_

I transmit to the Senate, in answer to their resolution of February

1, 1871, a report from the Secretary of State, with accompanying

documents.[43]

U.S. GRANT.

[Footnote 43: Dispatches, etc., from the United States minister to the

Court of Brazil relative to the Paraguayan war, the culture of cotton in

Brazil, trade with Brazil, etc.]

VETO MESSAGES.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 4, 1871_.

_To the House of Representatives:_

I herewith return without my approval House bill No. 1395, entitled "An

act for the relief of Charles Cooper, Goshorn A. Jones, Jerome Rowley,

William Hannegan, and John Hannegan," for the following reasons:

The act directs the discontinuance of an action at law said to be now

pending in the United States district court for the northern district

of Ohio for the enforcement of the bond executed by said parties to the

United States, whereas in fact no such suit is pending in the district

court, but such a suit is now pending in the circuit court of the United

States for the sixth circuit and northern district of Ohio.

Neither the body of said act nor the proviso requires the obligors in

said bond, who are released from all liability to the United States on

account thereof, to abandon or release their pretended claim against the

Government.

Since these parties have gone to Congress to ask relief from liability

for a large sum of money on account of the failure of the principals in

the bond to execute their contract, it is but just and proper that they

at the same time should abandon the claim heretofore asserted by them

against the Government growing out of the same transaction.

U.S. GRANT.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 7, 1871_.

_To the Senate of the United States:_

I hereby return without my approval Senate resolution No. 92, entitled

"A resolution for the relief of certain contractors for the construction

of vessels of war and steam machinery," for the following reasons:

The act of March 2, 1867 (14 U.S. Statutes at Large, p. 424), directs

the Secretary of the Navy--

to investigate the claims of all contractors for building vessels of

war and steam machinery for the same under contracts made after the 1st

day of May, 1861, and prior to the 1st day of January, 1864; and said

investigation to be made upon the following basis: He shall ascertain

the additional cost which was necessarily incurred by each contractor

in the completion of his work by reason of any changes or alterations

in the plans and specifications required, and delays in the prosecution

of the work occasioned by the Government, which were not provided for

in the original contract; but no allowance for any advance in the price

of labor or material shall be considered unless such advance occurred

during the prolonged time for completing the work rendered necessary by

the delay resulting from the action of the Government aforesaid, and

then only when such advance could not have been avoided by the exercise

of ordinary prudence and diligence on the part of the contractor. * * *

The present joint resolution transfers the investigation to the Court of

Claims, and repeals "so much of said act as provides against considering

any allowance in favor of any such parties for any advance in the price

of labor or material, unless such advance could have been avoided

by the exercise of ordinary diligence and prudence on the part of the

contractor." It seems to me that the provision thus repealed is a very

reasonable one. It prevents the contractor from receiving any allowance

for an advance in the price of labor and material when he could have

avoided that advance by the exercise of ordinary prudence and diligence.

The effect of the repeal will be to relieve contractors from the

consequences of their own imprudence and negligence. I see no good

reason for thus relieving contractors who have not exercised ordinary

prudence and diligence in their business transactions.

U.S. GRANT.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 28, 1871_.

_To the House of Representatives:_

I herewith return without my approval House bill No. 2566, entitled

"An act for the relief of Henry Willman, late a private in the Third

Regiment of Indiana Cavalry," for the following reasons:

The records of the War Department show that Henry Willman was mustered

into the military service April 4, 1862, and that he was mounted on a

private horse. It appears from evidence presented by himself that his

horse died May 18, 1862; that he remounted himself on June 8, 1862, and

so continued mounted till October 1, 1862, when his horse was killed by

the enemy, and that he was not afterwards mounted upon a private horse.

Upon presenting a claim against the United States for the legal value

of the two horses lost by him in the public service, the claim, after

investigation, was allowed; but it being discovered that he had

erroneously been paid for the use and risk of a private horse from May

18 to June 8, 1862, and from October 1, 1862, to April 30, 1864, during

which periods he had no horse in the public service, the amount so

overpaid was offset against his claim, leaving the latter fully

liquidated and the claimant indebted to the United States in an amount

not yet refunded.

The person named in the act is not, in law or equity, entitled to the

relief therein provided, and has no unsatisfied demands against the

United States.

U.S. GRANT.

PROCLAMATION.

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas satisfactory evidence was given to me on the 17th day of this

month by the Government of Portugal that the discriminating duties

heretofore levied in the ports of Portugal on merchandise imported in

vessels of the United States into said ports from other countries than

those of which said merchandise was the growth, production, or

manufacture have been abolished:

Now, therefore, I, Ulysses S. Grant, President of the United States of

America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by an act of Congress

of January 7, 1824, and by an act in addition thereto of May 24, 1828,

do hereby declare and proclaim that the discriminating duties heretofore

levied in ports of the United States upon merchandise imported in

Portuguese vessels from countries other than those of which such

merchandise is the growth, produce, or manufacture shall be, and are

hereby, suspended and discontinued, this suspension or discontinuance to

take effect on and after the said 17th day of this month and to continue

so long as the reciprocal exemption of merchandise belonging to citizens

of the United States from such discriminating duties shall be granted in

the ports of Portugal.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of

the United States to be affixed.

[SEAL.]

Done at the city of Washington, this 25th day of February, A.D. 1871,

and of the Independence of the United States of America the

ninety-fifth.

U.S. GRANT.

By the President:

HAMILTON FISH,

_Secretary of State_.

[NOTE.--The Forty-second Congress, first session, met March 4, 1871, in

accordance with the act of January 22, 1867.]

SPECIAL MESSAGES.

WASHINGTON, _March 17, 1871_.

_To the Senate of the United States:_

I transmit to the Senate, in compliance with its resolution of the

14th instant, a report from the Secretary of State, making known that

official notice has been received at the Department of State of the

ratification by the legislature of one, and only one, additional

State--to wit, that of New Jersey--of the fifteenth amendment to the

Constitution of the United States since the 30th of March, 1870, the

date of his certificate that three-fourths of the whole number of States

in the United States had ratified that amendment and that it had become

valid to all intents and purposes as part of the Constitution of the

United States.

U.S. GRANT.

WASHINGTON, D.C., _March 23, 1871_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives:_

A condition of affairs now exists in some of the States of the Union

rendering life and property insecure and the carrying of the mails and

the collection of the revenue dangerous. The proof that such a condition

of affairs exists in some localities is now before the Senate. That

the power to correct these evils is beyond the control of the State

authorities I do not doubt; that the power of the Executive of the

United States, acting within the limits of existing laws, is sufficient

for present emergencies is not clear.

Therefore I urgently recommend such legislation as in the judgment of

Congress shall effectually secure life, liberty, and property and the

enforcement of law in all parts of the United States.

It may be expedient to provide that such law as shall be passed in

pursuance of this recommendation shall expire at the end of the next

session of Congress.

There is no other subject upon which I would recommend legislation

during the present session.

U.S. GRANT.

WASHINGTON, _March 28, 1871_.

_To the Senate of the United States:_

In answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 16th instant, I

transmit a report from the Secretary of State and the papers[44] which

accompanied it.

U.S. GRANT.

[Footnote 44: Reports, communications, etc., relative to the

International Statistical Congress held at The Hague in 1869.]

WASHINGTON, _March 30, 1871_.

_To the Senate of the United States:_

I transmit, for consideration with a view to its ratification, a treaty

of commerce and navigation between the United States and the Kingdom of

Italy, signed at Florence on the 26th of last month.

U.S. GRANT.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _March 31, 1871_.

_To the Senate of the United States:_

In answer to your resolution of the 17th instant, requesting, "if not

incompatible with the public service, the report recently made by a

board of officers of the Engineer Department on the condition of the

Mississippi River near Vicksburg, Miss., with such remarks, suggestions,

or recommendations as may be made by the Chief Engineer of the Army,"

I herewith transmit a report, dated 28th instant, with accompanying

papers, received from the Secretary of War.

U.S. GRANT.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _April 5, 1871_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives:_

I have the honor to submit herewith to the two Houses of Congress the

report of the commissioners appointed in pursuance of joint resolution

approved January 12, 1871.

It will be observed that this report more than sustains all that I have

heretofore said in regard to the productiveness and healthfulness of the

Republic of San Domingo, of the unanimity of the people for annexation

to the United States, and of their peaceable character.

It is due to the public, as it certainly is to myself, that I should

here give all the circumstances which first led to the negotiation of a

treaty for the annexation of the Republic of San Domingo to the United

States.

When I accepted the arduous and responsible position which I now hold,

I did not dream of instituting any steps for the acquisition of insular

possessions. I believed, however, that our institutions were broad

enough to extend over the entire continent as rapidly as other peoples

might desire to bring themselves under our protection. I believed

further that we should not permit any independent government within the

limits of North America to pass from a condition of independence to one

of ownership or protection under a European power.

Soon after my inauguration as President I was waited upon by an agent of

President Baez with a proposition to annex the Republic of San Domingo

to the United States. This gentleman represented the capacity of

the island, the desire of the people, and their character and habits

about as they have been described by the commissioners whose report

accompanies this message. He stated further that, being weak in numbers

and poor in purse, they were not capable of developing their great

resources; that the people had no incentive to industry on account of

lack of protection for their accumulations, and that if not accepted by

the United States--with institutions which they loved above those of any

other nation--they would be compelled to seek protection elsewhere.

To these statements I made no reply and gave no indication of what I

thought of the proposition. In the course of time I was waited upon by

a second gentleman from San Domingo, who made the same representations,

and who was received in like manner.

In view of the facts which had been laid before me, and with an earnest

desire to maintain the "Monroe doctrine," I believed that I would be

derelict in my duty if I did not take measures to ascertain the exact

wish of the Government and inhabitants of the Republic of San Domingo in

regard to annexation and communicate the information to the people of

the United States. Under the attending circumstances I felt that if I

turned a deaf ear to this appeal I might in the future be justly charged

with a flagrant neglect of the public interests and an utter disregard

of the welfare of a downtrodden race praying for the blessings of a free

and strong government and for protection in the enjoyment of the fruits

of their own industry.

Those opponents of annexation who have heretofore professed to be

preeminently the friends of the rights of man I believed would be my

most violent assailants if I neglected so clear a duty. Accordingly,

after having appointed a commissioner to visit the island, who declined

on account of sickness, I selected a second gentleman, in whose

capacity, judgment, and integrity I had, and have yet, the most

unbounded confidence.

He visited San Domingo, not to secure or hasten annexation, but,

unprejudiced and unbiased, to learn all the facts about the Government,

the people, and the resources of that Republic. He went certainly as

well prepared to make an unfavorable report as a favorable one, if the

facts warranted it. His report fully corroborated the views of previous

commissioners, and upon its receipt I felt that a sense of duty and a

due regard for our great national interests required me to negotiate a

treaty for the acquisition of the Republic of San Domingo.

As soon as it became publicly known that such a treaty had been

negotiated, the attention of the country was occupied with allegations

calculated to prejudice the merits of the case and with aspersions upon

those whose duty had connected them with it. Amid the public excitement

thus created the treaty failed to receive the requisite two-thirds vote

of the Senate, and was rejected; but whether the action of that body was

based wholly upon the merits of the treaty, or might not have been in

some degree influenced by such unfounded allegations, could not be known

by the people, because the debates of the Senate in secret session are

not published.

Under these circumstances I deemed it due to the office which I hold

and due to the character of the agents who had been charged with the

investigation that such proceedings should be had as would enable the

people to know the truth. A commission was therefore constituted, under

authority of Congress, consisting of gentlemen selected with special

reference to their high character and capacity for the laborious work

intrusted to them, who were instructed to visit the spot and report

upon the facts. Other eminent citizens were requested to accompany the

commission, in order that the people might have the benefit of their

views. Students of science and correspondents of the press, without

regard to political opinions, were invited to join the expedition,

and their numbers were limited only by the capacity of the vessel.

The mere rejection by the Senate of a treaty negotiated by the

President only indicates a difference of opinion between two coordinate

departments of the Government, without touching the character or

wounding the pride of either. But when such rejection takes place

simultaneously with charges openly made of corruption on the part of the

President or those employed by him the case is different. Indeed, in

such case the honor of the nation demands investigation. This has been

accomplished by the report of the commissioners herewith transmitted,

and which fully vindicates the purity of the motives and action of those

who represented the United States in the negotiation.

And now my task is finished, and with it ends all personal solicitude

upon the subject. My duty being done, yours begins; and I gladly hand

over the whole matter to the judgment of the American people and of

their representatives in Congress assembled. The facts will now be

spread before the country, and a decision rendered by that tribunal

whose convictions so seldom err, and against whose will I have no policy

to enforce. My opinion remains unchanged; indeed, it is confirmed by the

report that the interests of our country and of San Domingo alike invite

the annexation of that Republic.

In view of the difference of opinion upon this subject, I suggest that

no action be taken at the present session beyond the printing and

general dissemination of the report. Before the next session of Congress

the people will have considered the subject and formed an intelligent

opinion concerning it, to which opinion, deliberately made up, it will

be the duty of every department of the Government to give heed; and no

one will more cheerfully conform to it than myself. It is not only the

theory of our Constitution that the will of the people, constitutionally

expressed, is the supreme law, but I have ever believed that "all men

are wiser than any one man;" and if the people, upon a full presentation

of the facts, shall decide that the annexation of the Republic is not

desirable, every department of the Government ought to acquiesce in that

decision.

In again submitting to Congress a subject upon which public sentiment

has been divided, and which has been made the occasion of acrimonious

debates in Congress, as well as of unjust aspersions elsewhere, I may,

I trust, be indulged in a single remark.

No man could hope to perform duties so delicate and responsible as

pertain to the Presidential office without sometimes incurring the

hostility of those who deem their opinions and wishes treated with

insufficient consideration; and he who undertakes to conduct the affairs

of a great government as a faithful public servant, if sustained by the

approval of his own conscience, may rely with confidence upon the candor

and intelligence of a free people whose best interests he has striven to

subserve, and can bear with patience the censure of disappointed men.

U.S. GRANT.

WASHINGTON, _April 5, 1871_.

_To the Senate of the United States:_

I transmit confidentially, for the information and consideration of the

Senate, a copy of a dispatch of the 25th of February last relative to

the annexation of the Hawaiian Islands, addressed to the Department of

State by Henry A. Pierce, minister resident of the United States at

Honolulu. Although I do not deem it advisable to express any opinion or

to make any recommendation in regard to the subject at this juncture,

the views of the Senate, if it should be deemed proper to express them,

would be very acceptable with reference to any future course which there

might be a disposition to adopt.

U.S. GRANT.

WASHINGTON, _April 11, 1871_.

_To the House of Representatives:_

I transmit to the House of Representatives, in answer to their resolution

of March 31, 1871, a report from the Secretary of State, with accompanying

documents.[45]

U.S. GRANT.

[Footnote 45: Dispatches from the United States minister at Florence

relative to the occupation of Rome by the King of Italy.]

[The following messages were sent to the special session of the Senate

convened by proclamation (see pp. 133-134) of April 20, 1871.]

WASHINGTON, _May 10, 1871_.

_To the Senate of the United States:_

I transmit to the Senate, for consideration with a view to ratification,

a treaty between the United States and Great Britain for the settlement

of pending questions between the two countries, signed at Washington on

the 8th instant by the commissioners of the United States and Great

Britain, respectively.

Copies of the powers and instructions to the commissioners on the part

of the United States and the protocols of the conferences are also

transmitted.

U.S. GRANT.

WASHINGTON, _May 15, 1871_.

_To the Senate of the United States:_

I transmit to the Senate, in answer to their resolution of the 10th

instant, a report[46] from the Secretary of State and the papers which

accompanied it.

U.S. GRANT.

[Footnote 46: Relating to claims of the subjects of foreign nations

growing out of the War of the Rebellion.]

WASHINGTON, _May 17, 1871_.

_To the Senate of the United States:_

In answer to a resolution of the Senate of the 15th instant, I transmit

herewith a report [47] from the Secretary of State.

U.S. GRANT.

[Footnote 47: Relating to claims under the treaty of Washington of May 8

1871.]

PROCLAMATIONS.

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas it is provided in the Constitution of the United States that the

United States shall protect every State in this Union, on application of

the legislature, or of the executive (when the legislature can not be

convened), against domestic violence; and

Whereas it is provided in the laws of the United States that in

all cases of insurrection in any State or of obstruction to the laws

thereof it shall be lawful for the President of the United States, on

application of the legislature of such State, or of the executive (when

the legislature can not be convened), to call forth the militia of any

other State or States, or to employ such part of the land and naval

force as shall be judged necessary for the purpose of suppressing such

insurrection or of causing the laws to be duly executed; and

Whereas I have received information that combinations of armed men,

unauthorized by law, are now disturbing the peace and safety of the

citizens of the State of South Carolina and committing acts of violence

in said State of a character and to an extent which render the power of

the State and its officers unequal to the task of protecting life and

property and securing public order therein; and

Whereas the legislature of said State is not now in session and can not

be convened in time to meet the present emergency, and the executive of

said State has therefore made application to me for such part of the

military force of the United States as may be necessary and adequate

to protect said State and the citizens thereof against the domestic

violence hereinbefore mentioned and to enforce the due execution of

the laws; and

Whereas the laws of the United States require that whenever it may be

necessary, in the judgment of the President, to use the military force

for the purpose aforesaid, he shall forthwith, by proclamation, command

such insurgents to disperse and retire peaceably to their respective

abodes within a limited time:

Now, therefore, I, Ulysses S. Grant, President of the United States, do

hereby command the persons composing the unlawful combinations aforesaid

to disperse and retire peaceably to their respective abodes within

twenty days from this date.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of

the United States to be affixed.

[SEAL.]

Done at the city of Washington, this 24th day of March, A.D. 1871, and

of the Independence of the United States the ninety-fifth.

U.S. GRANT.

By the President:

HAMILTON FISH,

_Secretary of State_.

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas objects of interest to the United States require that the Senate

should be convened at 12 o'clock on Wednesday, the 10th day of May next,

to receive and act upon such communications as may be made to it on the

part of the Executive:

Now, therefore, I, Ulysses S. Grant, President of the United States,

have considered it to be my duty to issue this my proclamation,

declaring that an extraordinary occasion requires the Senate of the

United States to convene for the transaction of business at the Capitol,

in the city of Washington, on Wednesday, the 10th day of May next, at 12

o'clock on that day, of which all who shall at that time be entitled to

act as members of that body are hereby required to take notice.

[SEAL.]

Given under my hand and the seal of the United States, at Washington,

the 20th day of April, A.D. 1871, and of the Independence of the United

States of America the ninety-fifth.

U.S. GRANT.

By the President:

HAMILTON FISH,

_Secretary of State_.

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION

The act of Congress entitled "An act to enforce the provisions of

the fourteenth amendment to the Constitution of the United States,

and for other purposes," approved April 20, A.D. 1871, being a law of

extraordinary public importance, I consider it my duty to issue this my

proclamation, calling the attention of the people of the United States

thereto enjoining upon all good citizens, and especially upon all public

officers, to be zealous in the enforcement thereof, and warning all

persons to abstain from committing any of the acts thereby prohibited.

This law of Congress applies to all parts of the United States and

will be enforced everywhere to the extent of the powers vested in the

Executive. But inasmuch as the necessity therefor is well known to have

been caused chiefly by persistent violations of the rights of citizens

of the United States by combinations of lawless and disaffected persons

in certain localities lately the theater of insurrection and military

conflict, I do particularly exhort the people of those parts of the

country to suppress all such combinations by their own voluntary efforts

through the agency of local laws and to maintain the rights of all

citizens of the United States and to secure to all such citizens the

equal protection of the laws.

Fully sensible of the responsibility imposed upon the Executive by the

act of Congress to which public attention is now called, and reluctant

to call into exercise any of the extraordinary powers thereby conferred

upon me except in cases of imperative necessity, I do, nevertheless,

deem it my duty to make known that I will not hesitate to exhaust the

powers thus vested in the Executive whenever and wherever it shall

become necessary to do so for the purpose of securing to all citizens

of the United States the peaceful enjoyment of the rights guaranteed

to them by the Constitution and laws.

It is my earnest wish that peace and cheerful obedience to law may

prevail throughout the land and that all traces of our late unhappy

civil strife may be speedily removed. These ends can be easily reached

by acquiescence in the results of the conflict, now written in our

Constitution, and by the due and proper enforcement of equal, just, and

impartial laws in every part of our country.

The failure of local communities to furnish such means for the

attainment of results so earnestly desired imposes upon the National

Government the duty of putting forth all its energies for the protection

of its citizens of every race and color and for the restoration of peace

and order throughout the entire country.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of

the United States to be affixed.

Done at the city of Washington, this 3d day of May, A.D. 1871, and of

the Independence of the United States the ninety-fifth.

[SEAL.]

U.S. GRANT.

By the President:

HAMILTON FISH,

_Secretary of State_.

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas unlawful combinations and conspiracies have long existed and do

still exist in the State of South Carolina for the purpose of depriving

certain portions and classes of the people of that State of the rights,

privileges, immunities, and protection named in the Constitution of the

United States and secured by the act of Congress approved April 20,

1871, entitled "An act to enforce the provisions of the fourteenth

amendment to the Constitution of the United States;" and

Whereas in certain parts of said State, to wit, in the counties of

Spartanburg, York, Marion, Chester, Laurens, Newberry, Fairfield,

Lancaster, and Chesterfield, such combinations and conspiracies do

so obstruct and hinder the execution of the laws of said State and of

the United States as to deprive the people aforesaid of the rights,

privileges, immunities, and protection aforesaid and do oppose and

obstruct the laws of the United States and their due execution and

impede and obstruct the due course of justice under the same; and

Whereas the constituted authorities of said State are unable to protect

the people aforesaid in such rights within the said counties; and

Whereas the combinations and conspiracies aforesaid, within the counties

aforesaid, are organized and armed and are so numerous and powerful as

to be able to defy the constituted authorities of said State and of the

United States within the said State, and by reason of said causes the

conviction of such offenders and the preservation of the public peace

and safety have become impracticable in said counties:

Now, therefore, I, Ulysses S. Grant, President of the United States

of America, do hereby command all persons composing the unlawful

combinations and conspiracies aforesaid to disperse and to retire

peaceably to their homes within five days of the date hereof, and to

deliver either to the marshal of the United States for the district of

South Carolina, or to any of his deputies, or to any military officer of

the United States within said counties, all arms, ammunition, uniforms,

disguises, and other means and implements used, kept, possessed, or

controlled by them for carrying out the unlawful purposes for which the

combinations and conspiracies are organized.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of

the United States to be affixed.

Done at the city of Washington, this 12th day of October, A.D. 1871, and

of the Independence of the United States of America the ninety-sixth.

[SEAL.]

U.S. GRANT.

By the President:

HAMILTON FISH,

_Secretary of State_.

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas by an act of Congress entitled "An act to enforce the provisions

of the fourteenth amendment to the Constitution of the United States,

and for other purposes," approved the 20th day of April, A.D. 1871,

power is given to the President of the United States, when in his

judgment the public safety shall require it, to suspend the privileges

of the writ of _habeas corpus_ in any State or part of a State whenever

combinations and conspiracies exist in such State or part of a State for

the purpose of depriving any portion or class of the people of such

State of the rights, privileges, immunities, and protection named in the

Constitution of the United States and secured by the act of Congress

aforesaid; and whenever such combinations and conspiracies do so

obstruct and hinder the execution of the laws of any such State and of

the United States as to deprive the people aforesaid of the rights,

privileges, immunities, and protection aforesaid, and do oppose and

obstruct the laws of the United States and their due execution, and

impede and obstruct the due course of justice under the same; and

whenever such combinations shall be organized and armed, and so numerous

and powerful as to be able by violence either to overthrow or to set at

defiance the constituted authorities of said State and of the United

States within such State; and whenever by reason of said causes the

conviction of such offenders and the preservation of the public peace

shall become in such State or part of a State impracticable; and

Whereas such unlawful combinations and conspiracies for the purposes

aforesaid are declared by the act of Congress aforesaid to be rebellion

against the Government of the United States; and

Whereas by said act of Congress it is provided that before the President

shall suspend the privileges of the writ of _habeas corpus_ he shall

first have made proclamation commanding such insurgents to disperse; and

Whereas on the 12th day of the present month of October the President of

the United States did issue his proclamation, reciting therein, among

other things, that such combinations and conspiracies did then exist in

the counties of Spartanburg, York, Marion, Chester, Laurens, Newberry,

Fairfield, Lancaster, and Chesterfield, in the State of South Carolina,

and commanding thereby all persons composing such unlawful combinations

and conspiracies to disperse and retire peaceably to their homes within

five days from the date thereof, and to deliver either to the marshal of

the United States for the district of South Carolina, or to any of his

deputies, or to any military officer of the United States within said

counties, all arms, ammunition, uniforms, disguises, and other means and

implements used, kept, possessed, or controlled by them for carrying out

the unlawful purposes for which the said combinations and conspiracies

are organized; and

Whereas the insurgents engaged in such unlawful combinations and

conspiracies within the counties aforesaid have not dispersed and

retired peaceably to their respective homes, and have not delivered to

the marshal of the United States, or to any of his deputies, or to any

military officer of the United States within said counties, all arms,

ammunition, uniforms, disguises, and other means and implements used,

kept, possessed, or controlled by them for carrying out the unlawful

purposes for which the combinations and conspiracies are organized, as

commanded by said proclamation, but do still persist in the unlawful

combinations and conspiracies aforesaid:

Now, therefore, I, Ulysses S. Grant, President of the United States of

America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution of

the United States and the act of Congress aforesaid, do hereby declare

that in my judgment the public safety especially requires that the

privileges of the writ of _habeas corpus_ be suspended, to the end that

such rebellion may be overthrown, and do hereby suspend the privileges

of the writ of _habeas corpus_ within the counties of Spartanburg,

York, Marion, Chester, Laurens, Newberry, Fairfield, Lancaster, and

Chesterfield, in said State of South Carolina, in respect to all persons

arrested by the marshal of the United States for the said district of

South Carolina, or by any of his deputies, or by any military officer of

the United States, or by any soldier or citizen acting under the orders

of said marshal, deputy, or such military officer within any one of said

counties, charged with any violation of the act of Congress aforesaid,

during the continuance of such rebellion.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of

the United States to be affixed.

Done at the city of Washington, this 17th day of October, A.D. 1871, and

of the Independence of the United States of America the ninety-sixth.

[SEAL.]

U.S. GRANT.

By the President:

J.C. BANCROFT DAVIS,

_Acting Secretary of State_.

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.