Washington,
_December 14, 1825_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I transmit to the Senate, for their consideration and advice with regard
to their ratification, the following treaties:
1. A treaty between the United States and the Great and Little Osage
tribes of Indians, concluded at St. Louis, in the State of Missouri, on
the 2d day of June last, by William Clark, Superintendent of Indian
Affairs, commissioner on the part of the United States, and the chiefs,
headmen, and warriors of the same tribes, duly authorized and empowered
by their respective tribes or nations.
2. A treaty between the United States and the Kanzas Nation of Indians,
concluded at St. Louis, in the State of Missouri, on the 3d day of June
last, by William Clark, Superintendent of Indian Affairs, commissioner
on the part of the United States, and the chiefs, headmen, and warriors
of the said nation, duly authorized and empowered by the same.
3. A convention between the United States and the Shawnee Nation of
Indians residing within the State of Missouri, signed at St. Louis, in
the State of Missouri, on the 7th day of November last, by William
Clark, Superintendent of Indian Affairs, and the chiefs and headmen of
the said nation, duly authorized and empowered by the same.
John Quincy Adams.
Washington,
_December 15, 1825_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I transmit herewith to the Senate, for their consideration in reference
to its ratification, a general convention of peace, amity, commerce, and
navigation between the United States of America and the Federation of
the Centre of America, signed at this place on the 5th instant by the
Secretary of State and the minister plenipotentiary from the Republic of
Central America to the United States.
John Quincy Adams.
Washington,
_December 26, 1825_
_To the Senate of the United States_:
In the message to both Houses of Congress at the commencement of the
session it was mentioned that the Governments of the Republics of
Colombia, of Mexico, and of Central America had severally invited the
Government of the United States to be represented at the Congress of
American nations to be assembled at Panama to deliberate upon objects of
peculiar concernment to this hemisphere, and that this invitation had
been accepted.
Although this measure was deemed to be within the constitutional
competency of the Executive, I have not thought proper to take any step
in it before ascertaining that my opinion of its expediency will concur
with that of both branches of the Legislature, first, by the decision of
the Senate upon the nominations to be laid before them, and, secondly,
by the sanction of both Houses to the appropriations, without which it
can not be carried into effect.
A report from the Secretary of State and copies of the correspondence
with the South American Governments on this subject since the invitation
given by them are herewith transmitted to the Senate. They will disclose
the objects of importance which are expected to form a subject of
discussion at this meeting, in which interests of high importance to
this Union are involved. It will be seen that the United States neither
intend nor are expected to take part in any deliberations of a
belligerent character; that the motive of their attendance is neither to
contract alliances nor to engage in any undertaking or project importing
hostility to any other nation.
But the Southern American nations, in the infancy of their independence,
often find themselves in positions with reference to other countries
with the principles applicable to which, derivable from the state of
independence itself, they have not been familiarized by experience. The
result of this has been that sometimes in their intercourse with the
United States they have manifested dispositions to reserve a right of
granting special favors and privileges to the Spanish nation as the
price of their recognition. At others they have actually established
duties and impositions operating unfavorably to the United States to the
advantage of other European powers, and sometimes they have appeared to
consider that they might interchange among themselves mutual concessions
of exclusive favor, to which neither European powers nor the United
States should be admitted. In most of these cases their regulations
unfavorable to us have yielded to friendly expostulation and
remonstrance. But it is believed to be of infinite moment that the
principles of a liberal commercial intercourse should be exhibited to
them, and urged with disinterested and friendly persuasion upon them
when all assembled for the avowed purpose of consulting together upon
the establishment of such principles as may have an important bearing
upon their future welfare.
The consentaneous adoption of principles of maritime neutrality, and
favorable to the navigation of peace, and commerce in time of war, will
also form a subject of consideration to this Congress. The doctrine that
free ships make free goods and the restrictions of reason upon the
extent of blockades may be established by general agreement with far
more ease, and perhaps with less danger, by the general engagement to
adhere to them concerted at such a meeting, than by partial treaties or
conventions with each of the nations separately. An agreement between
all the parties represented at the meeting that each will guard by its
own means against the establishment of any future European colony within
its borders may be found advisable. This was more than two years since
announced by my predecessor to the world as a principle resulting from
the emancipation of both the American continents. It may be so developed
to the new southern nations that they will all feel it as an essential
appendage to their independence.
There is yet another subject upon which, without entering into any
treaty, the moral influence of the United States may perhaps be exerted
with beneficial consequences at such a meeting--the advancement of
religious liberty. Some of the southern nations are even yet so far
under the dominion of prejudice that they have incorporated with their
political constitutions an exclusive church, without toleration of any
other than the dominant sect. The abandonment of this last badge of
religious bigotry and oppression may be pressed more effectually by the
united exertions of those who concur in the principles of freedom of
conscience upon those who are yet to be convinced of their justice and
wisdom than by the solitary efforts of a minister to any one of the
separate Governments.
The indirect influence which the United States may exercise upon any
projects or purposes originating in the war in which the southern
Republics are still engaged, which might seriously affect the interests
of this Union, and the good offices by which the United States may
ultimately contribute to bring that war to a speedier termination,
though among the motives which have convinced me of the propriety of
complying with this invitation, are so far contingent and eventual that
it would be improper to dwell upon them more at large.
In fine, a decisive inducement with me for acceding to the measure is to
show by this token of respect to the southern Republics the interest
that we take in their welfare and our disposition to comply with their
wishes. Having been the first to recognize their independence, and
sympathized with them so far as was compatible with our neutral duties
in all their struggles and sufferings to acquire it, we have laid the
foundation of our future intercourse with them in the broadest
principles of reciprocity and the most cordial feelings of fraternal
friendship. To extend those principles to all our commercial relations
with them and to hand down that friendship to future ages is congenial
to the highest policy of the Union, as it will be to that of all those
nations and their posterity. In the confidence that these sentiments
will meet the approbation of the Senate, I nominate Richard C. Anderson,
of Kentucky, and John Sergeant, of Pennsylvania, to be envoys
extraordinary and ministers plenipotentiary to the assembly of American
nations at Panama, and William B. Rochester, of New York, to be
secretary to the mission.
John Quincy Adams.
Washington,
_December 27, 1825_
_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:
In compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives of the
20th instant, I now transmit a copy of the message of President
Jefferson to both Houses of Congress on the 18th of January, 1803,
recommending an exploring expedition across this continent.[001] It will
be perceived on the perusal of this message that it was confidential,
for which reason the copy of it is now communicated in the same manner,
leaving to the judgment of the House to determine whether any adequate
reason yet remains for withholding it from publication. I possess no
other document or information in relation to the same subject which I
consider as coming within the scope of the resolution of the House.
John Quincy Adams.
Washington,
_December 27, 1825_
_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:
In compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives of the
20th instant, I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State,
with copies of such portions of the correspondence between the United
States and Great Britain on the subject of the convention for
suppressing the slave trade as have not heretofore been, and which can
be communicated without detriment to the public interest.
John Quincy Adams.
Washington,
_December 27, 1825_
_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:
In compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives of the
23d instant, I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of War,
with the correspondence between the Department of War and Generals
Pinckney and Jackson, and all the instructions given to the said
Generals Pinckney and Jackson relating to the treaty with the Creek
Indians, afterwards made at Fort Jackson, so far as the same can be
communicated without prejudice to the public interest.
John Quincy Adams.
Washington,
_January 3, 1826_
_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:
In compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives of the
23d of last month, I communicate herewith a report from the Secretary of
War, with the documents touching the treaty with the Cherokee Indians,
ratified in 1819, by which the Cherokee title to a portion of lands
within the limits of North Carolina was extinguished.
John Quincy Adams.
Washington,
_January 9, 1826_
_To the Senate of the United States_:
In compliance with a resolution of the Senate of the 3d instant, I
communicate herewith, in confidence, a report[002] from the Secretary of
State, with translations of the conventions and documents, containing
information of the nature referred to in the said resolution.
John Quincy Adams.
Washington,
_January 9, 1826_
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I transmit to the Senate, for their consideration and advice with regard
to the ratification, the following treaties:
1. A treaty signed at the Poncar village at the mouth of White Point
Creek, the first below the Qui Carre River, on the 9th of June, 1825, by
Brigadier-General Henry Atkinson and Major Benjamin O'Fallon,
commissioners on the part of the United States, and certain chiefs,
headmen, and warriors of the Poncar tribe of Indians on the part of said
tribe.
2. A treaty signed at Fort Look-out, near the Three Rivers of the Sioux
Pass, on the 22d June, 1825, by the same commissioners on the part of
the United States and certain chiefs, headmen, and warriors of the
Teton, Yancton, and Yanctonies bands of the Sioux tribe of Indians on
the part of the said bands.
3. A treaty signed at the mouth of the Teton River on the 5th of July,
1825, by the same commissioners on the part of the United States and by
certain chiefs, headmen, and warriors of the Sione and Ogalla bands of
Sioux Indians, and on the 12th of July, 1825, at Camp Hidden Creek, by
chiefs and warriors of the Siounes of the Fireheart's band on the part
of their respective bands.
4. A treaty signed at the mouth of the Teton River on the 6th of July,
1825, by the same commissioners on the part of the United States and by
certain chiefs, headmen, and warriors of the Chayenne tribe of Indians
on the part of said tribe.
5. A treaty signed at the Auricara village on the 16th July, 1825, by
the same commissioners on the part of the United States and by certain
chiefs, headmen, and warriors of the Hunkpapas band of the Sioux tribe
of Indians on the part of said band.
6. A treaty signed at the Ricara village on the 18th July, 1825, by the
same commissioners on the part of the United States and by certain
chiefs, headmen, and warriors of the Ricara tribe of Indians on the part
of said tribe.
7. A treaty signed at the Mandan village on the 30th of July, 1825, by
the same commissioners on the part of the United States and by certain
chiefs and warriors of the Mandan tribe of Indians on the part of said
tribe.
8. A treaty signed at the lower Mandan village on the 30th of July,
1825, by the same commissioners on the part of the United States and by
certain chiefs and warriors of the Belantse Etea, or Minnetaree, tribe
of Indians on the part of said tribe.
9. A treaty signed at the Mandan village on the 4th of August, 1825, by
the same commissioners on the part of the United States and by certain
chiefs and warriors of the Crow tribe of Indians on the part of said
tribe.
10. A treaty signed at Fort Atkinson, Council Bluffs, on the 25th of
September, 1825, by the same commissioners on the part of the United
States and by certain chiefs, headmen, and warriors of the Ottoe and
Missouri tribe of Indians on the part of said tribe.
11. A treaty signed at Fort Atkinson, Council Bluffs, on the 30th of
September, 1825, by the same commissioners on the part of the United
States and by certain chiefs, headmen, and warriors of the Pawnee tribe
of Indians on the part of said tribe.
12. A treaty signed at Fort Atkinson, Council Bluffs, on the 6th of
October, 1825, by the same commissioners on the part of the United
States and by certain chiefs, headmen, and warriors of the Maha tribe of
Indians on the part of said tribe.
John Quincy Adams.
Washington,
_January 10, 1826_
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I transmit to the Senate a treaty signed at Prairie des Chiens, in the
Territory of Michigan, on the 19th of August, 1825, by William Clark and
Lewis Cass, commissioners on the part of the United States, and certain
chiefs and warriors of the Sioux, Chippeways, Socs, Foxes, Winnebagoes,
Menominies, Ottoways, Potawatamies, and Ioway tribes of Indians on the
part of said tribes, and I request the advice of the Senate with regard
to its ratification.
John Quincy Adams.
Washington,
_January 20, 1826_
_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:
In compliance with the resolution of the House of Representatives of the
23d ultimo, I transmit herewith reports[003] from the Secretary of War
and the Commissioner of the General Land Office, with the statements
desired by the resolution.
John Quincy Adams.
Washington,
_January 23, 1826_
_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:
In compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives of the
27th December last, requesting a statement of moneys paid out of the
public Treasury to the late President of the United States as
compensation for his services in various other offices which he has
filled under the Government of the United States, and on other accounts,
and also of claims for allowances made by him upon the Government which
have been disallowed, I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of
the Treasury, with documents, containing the information desired by the
resolution.
John Quincy Adams.
Washington,
_January 24, 1826_
_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:
In compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives of the
12th December last, I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of
the Navy, with the documents and proceedings of the naval courts-martial
in the cases of Captain Charles Stewart and of Lieutenants Joshua R.
Sands and William M. Hunter.
John Quincy Adams.
Washington,
_January 30, 1826_
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I transmit herewith to the Senate, for their consideration and advice
with regard to their ratification--
1. A treaty concluded on the 10th day of August, 1825, at Council Grove
by Benjamin H. Reeves, George C. Sibley, and Thomas Mather,
commissioners on the part of the United States, and certain chiefs and
headmen of the Great and Little Osage tribes of Indians on the part of
the said tribe.
2. A treaty concluded on the 16th day of August, 1825, at the Sora
Kanzas Creek by the same commissioners on the part of the United States
and certain chiefs and headmen of the Kanzas tribe or nation of Indians
on the part of said tribe.
John Quincy Adams.
Washington,
_January 31, 1826_
_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:
In compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives of the
18th instant, I transmit a report from the Secretary of State, with the
correspondence with the British Government, relating to the boundary of
the United States on the Pacific Ocean, desired by the resolution.
John Quincy Adams.
Washington,
_January 31, 1826_
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I transmit herewith to the Senate, for their consideration and advice
with regard to its ratification, a treaty concluded by the Secretary of
War, duly authorized thereto, with the chiefs and headmen of the Creek
Nation, deputed by them, and now in this city.
It has been agreed upon, and is presented to the consideration of the
Senate as a substitute for the treaty signed at the Indian Springs on
the 12th of February last. The circumstances under which this received
on the 3d of March last your advice and consent to its ratification are
known to you. It was transmitted to me from the Senate on the 5th of
March, and ratified in full confidence yielded to the advice and consent
of the Senate, under a firm belief, founded on the journal of the
commissioners of the United States and on the express statements in the
letter of one of them of the 16th of February to the then Secretary of
War, that it had been concluded with a large majority of the chiefs of
the Creek Nation and with a reasonable prospect of immediate
acquiescence by the remainder.
This expectation has not merely been disappointed. The first measures
for carrying the treaty into execution had scarcely been taken when the
two principal chiefs who had signed it fell victims to the exasperation
of the great mass of the nation, and their families and dependents, far
from being able to execute the engagements on their part, fled for life,
safety, and subsistence from the territories which they had assumed to
cede, to our own. Yet, in this fugitive condition, and while subsisting
on the bounty of the United States, they have been found advancing
pretensions to receive exclusively to themselves the whole of the sums
stipulated by the commissioners of the United States in payment _for
all_ the lands of the Creek Nation which were ceded by the terms of the
treaty. And they have claimed the stipulation of the eighth article,
that the United States would "_protect_ the emigrating party against the
encroachments, hostilities, and impositions of the whites and of all
others," as an engagement by which the United States were bound to
become the instruments of their vengeance and to inflict upon the
majority of the Creek Nation the punishment of Indian retribution to
gratify the vindictive fury of an impotent and helpless minority of
their own tribe.
In this state of things the question is not whether the treaty of the
12th of February last shall or shall not be executed. So far as the
United States were or could be bound by it I have been anxiously
desirous of carrying it into execution. But, like other treaties, its
fulfillment depends upon the will not of one but of both the parties to
it. The parties on the face of the treaty are the United States and the
Creek Nation, and however desirous one of them may be to give it effect,
this wish must prove abortive while the other party refuses to perform
its stipulations and disavows its obligations. By the refusal of the
Creek Nation to perform their part of the treaty the United States are
absolved from all its engagements on their part, and the alternative
left them is either to resort to measures of war to secure by force the
advantages stipulated to them in the treaty or to attempt the adjustment
of the interest by a new compact. In the preference dictated by the
nature of our institutions and by the sentiments of justice and humanity
which the occasion requires for measures of peace the treaty herewith
transmitted has been concluded, and is submitted to the decision of the
Senate. After exhausting every effort in our power to obtain the
acquiescence of the Creek Nation to the treaty of the 12th of February,
I entertained for some time the hope that their assent might at least
have been given to a new treaty, by which all their lands within the
State of Georgia should have been ceded. This has also proved
impracticable, and although the excepted portion is of comparatively
small amount and importance, I have assented to its exception so far as
to place it before the Senate only from a conviction that between it and
a resort to the forcible expulsion of the Creeks from their habitations
and lands within the State of Georgia there was no middle term.
The deputation with which this treaty has been concluded consists of the
principal chiefs of the nation--able not only to negotiate but to carry
into effect the stipulations to which they have agreed. There is a
deputation also here from the small party which undertook to contract
for the whole nation at the treaty of the 12th of February, but the
number of which, according to the information collected by General
Gaines, does not exceed 400. They represent themselves, indeed, to be
far more numerous, but whatever their number may be their interests have
been provided for in the treaty now submitted. Their subscriptions to it
would also have been received but for unreasonable pretensions raised by
them after all the arrangements of the treaty had been agreed upon and
it was actually signed. Whatever their merits may have been in the
facility with which they ceded all the lands of their nation within the
State of Georgia, their utter inability to perform the engagements which
they so readily contracted and the exorbitancy of their demands when
compared with the inefficiency of their own means of performance leave
them with no claims upon the United States other than of impartial and
rigorous justice.
In referring to the impressions under which I ratified the treaty of the
12th of February last, I do not deem it necessary to decide upon the
propriety of the manner in which it was negotiated. Deeply regretting
the recriminations and recriminations to which these events have given
rise, I believe the public interest will best be consulted by discarding
them altogether from the discussion of the subject. The great body of
the Creek Nation inflexibly refuse to acknowledge or to execute that
treaty. Upon this ground it will be set aside, should the Senate advise
and consent to the ratification of that now communicated, without
looking back to the means by which the other was effected. And in the
adjustment of the terms of the present treaty I have been peculiarly
anxious to dispense a measure of great liberality to both parties of the
Creek Nation, rather than to extort from them a bargain of which the
advantages on our part could only be purchased by hardship on theirs.
John Quincy Adams.
Washington,
_February 1, 1826_
_To the Senate of the United States_:
In compliance with a resolution of the Senate of the 50th ultimo, I
communicate herewith, in confidence, a report[004] from the Secretary of
State, with the documents, containing the information desired by the
resolution.
John Quincy Adams.
Washington,
_February 7, 1826_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
In compliance with a resolution of the Senate of the 15th of December
last, I communicate herewith reports from the Secretaries of the
Treasury and War and from the Commissioner of the General Land Office,
with documents, relating to the lead mines and salt springs, containing
the information desired by the resolution.
John Quincy Adams.
Washington,
_February 14, 1826_
_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:
In compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives of the
12th ultimo, I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of the
Navy, with the statements relating to naval courts of inquiry and
courts-martial since the 1st January, 1824, requested by the resolution.
John Quincy Adams.
Washington,
_February 15, 1826_
_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:
I transmit to the House of Representatives a report from the late
Secretary of War to the late President of the United States, with
documents, containing information requested by a resolution of the House
of April 10, 1824, relating to the purchases of real estate in behalf of
the United States within the territorial limits of any State since the
4th July, 1776.
These papers were prepared during the last session of Congress, but by
some accident were not then communicated to the House.
John Quincy Adams.
Washington,
_February 16, 1826_
_To the Senate of the United States_:
In answer to the two resolutions of the Senate of the 15th instant,
marked executive, and which I have received, I state respectfully that
all the communications from me to the Senate relating to the congress at
Panama have been made, like all other communications upon executive
business, _in confidence_ and most of them in compliance with a
resolution of the Senate requesting them confidentially. Believing that
the established usage of free confidential communication between the
Executive and the Senate ought for the public interest to be preserved
unimpaired, I deem it my indispensable duty to leave to the Senate
itself the decision of a question involving a departure hitherto, so far
as I am informed, without example from that usage, and upon the motives
for which, not being informed of them, I do not feel myself competent to
decide.
John Quincy Adams.
Washington,
_February 17, 1826_
_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:
I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of the Navy, with a
further document, prepared in compliance with a resolution of the House
of the 10th of April, 1824, and containing information relating to
purchasers of real estate in behalf of the United States within the
territorial limits of any State since the 4th of July, 1776.
John Quincy Adams.
Washington,
_February 17, 1826_
_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_:
I transmit herewith to both Houses of Congress a letter from the
Secretary of War, with a report from the Ordnance Department, relating
to the site of the arsenal of the United States at Augusta, in Georgia,
and with regard to which the interposition of the legislative authority
is submitted to your consideration as desirable.
John Quincy Adams.
Washington,
_March 1, 1826_
_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_:
I communicate to Congress a letter from the Secretary of War, together
with a representation from Colonel Brooke, relating to the present
condition of the Indians in Florida, and which I recommend to the
favorable consideration of Congress.
John Quincy Adams.
Washington,
_March 1, 1826_
_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:
A resolution of the House of Representatives adopted at the first
session of the Eighteenth Congress, and bearing date the 6th of May,
1824, requested the President of the United States to lay before the
House at their then next session a detailed report of the system and
plan of fortifications then contemplated and recommended by the Board of
Engineers, with various particulars specified in the resolution; and on
the 5th of January last a further resolution was adopted requesting
similar information. I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of
War, with a letter from the Chief Engineer, and documents, containing,
so far as it has been found practicable to obtain and compile it, the
information requested by these resolutions.
John Quincy Adams.
Washington,
_March 5, 1826_.
_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_:
I now submit to the consideration of Congress the propriety of making
the appropriation for carrying into effect the appointment of a mission
to the congress at Panama.
John Quincy Adams.
Washington,
_March 7, 1826_.
_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_:
I communicate to both Houses of Congress a letter from the Secretary of
War, together with copies of one to him from the Senators of the State
of Maryland, and several other documents, relating to a claim of that
State upon the Government of the United States for interest upon certain
expenditures during the late war, which I the more readily recommend to
the favorable and early consideration of Congress inasmuch as the
principle upon which the claim is advanced appears to have been settled
by the act of Congress of 3d March, 1825, authorizing the payment of
interest due to the State of Virginia.
John Quincy Adams.
Washington,
_March 8, 1826_.
_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:
I transmit to the House of Representatives a report from the Secretary
of State, with the proceedings of the court and marshal of the United
States for the district of Alabama, and other documents, in relation to
the cargoes of certain slave ships, the _Constitution, Louisa_. and
_Marino_. containing the information requested by a resolution of the
House of February 16, 1825.
John Quincy Adams.
Washington,
_March 8, 1826_.
_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:
In compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives of the
10th ultimo, requesting information relating to the proceedings of the
joint commission of indemnities due under the award of the Emperor of
Russia for slaves and other private property carried away by the British
forces in violation of the treaty of Ghent, I transmit herewith a report
from the Secretary of State and documents containing the information
desired by the resolution.
John Quincy Adams.
Washington,
_March 15, 1826_.
_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_:
I communicate to Congress a letter from the Secretary of War and copies
of a resolution of that legislature of the State of Georgia, with a
correspondence of the governor of that State, relating to the running
and establishing of the line between that State and Florida, which I
recommend to the favorable consideration of Congress.
John Quincy Adams.
Washington,
_March 15, 1826_.
_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:
In compliance with the resolution of the House of the 5th ultimo,
requesting me to cause to be laid before the House so much of the
correspondence between the Government of the United States and the new
States of America, or their ministers, respecting the proposed congress
or meeting of diplomatic agents at Panama, and such information
respecting the general character of that expected congress as may be in
my possession and as may, in my opinion, be communicated without
prejudice to the public interest, and also to inform the House, so far
as in my opinion the public interest may allow, in regard to what
objects the agents of the United States are expected to take part in the
deliberations of that congress, I now transmit to the House a report
from the Secretary of State, with the correspondence and information
requested by the resolution.
With regard to the objects in which the agents of the United States are
expected to take part in the deliberations of that congress, I deem it
proper to premise that these objects did not form the only, nor even the
principal, motive for my acceptance of the invitation. My first and
greatest inducement was to meet in the spirit of kindness and friendship
an overture made in that spirit by three sister Republics of this
hemisphere.
The great revolution in human affairs which has brought into existence,
nearly at the same time, eight sovereign and independent nations in our
own quarter of the globe has placed the United States in a situation not
less novel and scarcely less interesting than that in which they had
found themselves by their own transition from a cluster of colonies to a
nation of sovereign States. The deliverance of the Southern American
Republics from the oppression under which they had been so long
afflicted was hailed with great unanimity by the people of this Union as
among the most auspicious events of the age. On the 4th of May, 1822, an
act of Congress made an appropriation of $100,000 "for such missions to
the independent nations on the American continent as the President of
the United States might deem proper." In exercising the authority
recognized by this act my predecessor, by and with the advice and
consent of the Senate appointed successively ministers plenipotentiary
to the Republics of Colombia, Buenos Ayres, Chili, and Mexico. Unwilling
to raise among the fraternity of freedom questions of precedency and
etiquette, which even the European monarchs had of late found it
necessary in a great measure to discard, he dispatched these ministers
to Colombia, Buenos Ayres, and Chili without exacting from those
Republics, as by the ancient principles of political primogeniture he
might have done, that the compliment of a plenipotentiary mission should
have been paid _first_ by them to the United States. The instructions,
prepared under his direction, to Mr. Anderson, the first of our
ministers to the southern continent, contain at much length the general
principles upon which he thought it desirable that our relations,
political and commercial, with these our new neighbors should be
established for their benefit and ours and that of the future ages of
our posterity. A copy of so much of these instructions as relates to
these general subjects is among the papers now transmitted to the House.
Similar instructions were furnished to the ministers appointed to Buenos
Ayres, Chili, and Mexico, and the system of social intercourse which it
was the purpose of those missions to establish from the first opening of
our diplomatic relations with those rising nations is the most effective
exposition of the principles upon which the invitation to the congress
at Panama has been accepted by me, as well as of the objects of
negotiation at that meeting, in which, it was that our plenipotentiaries
should take part.
The House will perceive that even at the date of these instructions the
first treaties between some of the southern Republics had been
concluded, by which they had stipulated among themselves this diplomatic
assembly at Panama. And it will be seen with what caution, so far as it
might concern the policy of the United States, and at the same time with
what frankness and good will toward those nations, he gave countenance
to their design of inviting the United States to this high assembly for
consultation upon _American interests_. It was not considered a
conclusive reason for declining this invitation that the proposal for
assembling such a Congress had not first been made by ourselves. It had
sprung from the urgent, immediate, and momentous common interests of the
great communities struggling for independence, and, as it were,
quickening into life. From them the proposition to us appeared
respectful and friendly; from us to them it could scarcely have been
made without exposing ourselves to suspicions of purposes of ambition,
if not of domination, more suited to rouse resistance and excite
distrust than to conciliate favor and friendship. The first and
paramount principle upon which it was deemed wise and just to lay the
corner stone of all our future relations with them was
_disinterestedness_; the next was cordial good will to them; the third
was a claim of fair and equal reciprocity. Under these impressions when
the invitation was formally and earnestly given, had it even been
doubtful whether _any_ of the objects proposed for consideration and
discussion at the Congress were such as that immediate and important
interests of the United States would be affected by the issue, I should,
nevertheless, have determined so far as it depended upon me to have
accepted the invitation and to have appointed ministers to attend the
meeting. The proposal itself implied that the Republics by whom it was
made _believed_ that important interests of ours or of theirs rendered
our attendance there desirable. They had given us notice that in the
novelty of their situation and in the spirit of deference to our
experience they would be pleased to have the benefit of our friendly
counsel. To meet the temper with which this proposal was made with a
cold repulse was not thought congenial to that warm interest in their
welfare with which the people and Government of the Union had hitherto
gone hand in hand through the whole progress of their revolution. To
insult them by a refusal of their overture, and then invite them to a
similar assembly to be called by ourselves, was an expedient which never
presented itself to the mind. I would have sent ministers to the meeting
had it been merely to give them such advice as they might have desired,
even with reference to _their own_ interests, not involving ours. I
would have sent them had it been merely to explain and set forth to them
our reasons for _declining_ any proposal of specific measures to which
they might desire our concurrence, but which we might deem incompatible
with our interests or our duties. In the intercourse between nations
temper is a missionary perhaps more powerful than talent. Nothing was
ever lost by kind treatment. Nothing can be gained by sullen repulses
and aspiring pretensions.
But objects of the highest importance, not only to the future welfare of
the whole human race, but bearing directly upon the special interests of
this Union, _will_ engage the deliberations of the congress of Panama
whether we are represented there or not. Others, if we are represented,
may be offered by our plenipotentiaries for consideration having in view
both these great results--our own interests and the improvement of the
condition of man upon earth. It may be that in the lapse of many
centuries no other opportunity so favorable will be presented to the
Government of the United States to subserve the benevolent purposes of
Divine Providence; to dispense the promised blessings of the Redeemer of
Mankind; to promote the prevalence in future ages of peace on earth and
good will to man, as will now be placed in their power by participating
in the deliberations of this congress.
Among the topics enumerated in official papers published by the Republic
of Colombia, and adverted to in the correspondence now communicated to
the House, as intended to be presented for discussion at Panama, there
is scarcely one in which the _result_ of the meeting will not deeply
affect the interests of the United States. Even those in which the
belligerent States alone will take an active part will have a powerful
effect upon the state of our relations with the American, and probably
with the principal European, States. Were it merely that we might be
correctly and speedily informed of the proceedings of the congress and
of the progress and issue of their negotiations, I should hold it
advisable that we should have an accredited agency with them, placed in
such confidential relations with the other members as would insure the
authenticity and the safe and early transmission of its reports. Of the
same enumerated topics are the preparation of a manifesto setting forth
to the world the justice of their cause and the relations they desire to
hold with other Christian powers, and to form a convention of navigation
and commerce applicable both to the confederated States and to their
allies.
It will be within the recollection of the House that immediately after
the close of the war of our independence a measure closely analogous to
this congress of Panama was adopted by the Congress of our
Confederation, and for purposes of precisely the same character. Three
commissioners with plenipotentiary powers were appointed to negotiate
treaties of amity, navigation, and commerce with all the principal
powers of Europe. They met and resided for that purpose about one year
at Paris, and the only result of their negotiations at that time was the
first treaty between the United States and Prussia--memorable in the
diplomatic annals of the world, and precious as a monument of the
principles, in relation to commerce and maritime warfare, with which our
country entered upon her career as a member of the great family of
independent nations. This treaty, prepared in conformity with the
instructions of the American plenipotentiaries, consecrated three
fundamental principles of the foreign intercourse which the Congress of
that period were desirous of establishing: First, equal reciprocity and
the mutual stipulation of the privileges of the most favored nation in
the commercial exchanges of peace; secondly, the abolition of private
war upon the ocean, and thirdly, restrictions favorable to neutral
commerce upon belligerent practices with regard to contraband of war and
blockades. A painful, it may be said a calamitous, experience of more
than forty years has demonstrated the deep importance of these same
principles to the peace and prosperity of this nation and to the welfare
of all maritime States, and has illustrated the profound wisdom with
which they were assumed as cardinal points of the policy of the Union.
At that time in the infancy of their political existence, under the
influence of those principles of liberty and of right so congenial to
the cause in which they had just fought and triumphed, they were able
but to obtain the sanction of one great and philosophical, though
absolute, sovereign in Europe to their liberal and enlightened
principles. They could obtain no more. Since then a political hurricane
has gone over three-fourths of the civilized portions of the earth, the
desolation of which it may with confidence be expected is passing away,
leaving at least the American atmosphere purified and refreshed. And now
at this propitious moment the new-born nations of this hemisphere,
assembling by their representatives at the isthmus between its two
continents to settle the principles of their future international
intercourse with other nations and with us, ask in this great exigency
for our advice upon those very fundamental maxims which we from our
cradle at first proclaimed and partially succeeded to introduce into the
code of national law.
Without recurring to that total prostration of all neutral and
commercial rights which marked the progress of the late European wars,
and which finally involved the United States in them, and adverting only
to our political relations with these American nations, it is observable
that while in all other respects those relations have been uniformly and
without exception of the most friendly and mutually satisfactory
character, the only causes of difference and dissension between us and
them which ever have arisen originated in those never-failing fountains
of discord and irritation--discriminations of commercial favor to other
nations, licentious privateers, and paper blockades. I can not without
doing injustice to the Republics of Buenos Ayres and Colombia forbear to
acknowledge the candid and conciliatory spirit with which they have
repeatedly yielded to our friendly representations and remonstrances on
these subjects--in repealing discriminative laws which operated to our
disadvantage and in revoking the commissions of their privateers, to
which Colombia has added the magnanimity of making reparation for
unlawful captures by some of her cruisers and of assenting in the midst
of war to treaty stipulations favorable to neutral navigation. But the
recurrence of these occasions of complaint has rendered the renewal of
the discussions which result in the removal of them necessary, while in
the meantime injuries are sustained by merchants and other individuals
of the United States which can not be repaired, and the remedy lingers
in overtaking the pernicious operation of the mischief. The settlement
of general principles pervading with equal efficacy all the American
States can alone put an end to these evils, and can alone be
accomplished at the proposed assembly.
If it be true that the noblest treaty of peace ever mentioned in history
is that by which the Carthagenians were bound to abolish the practice of
sacrificing their own children _because it was stipulated in favor of
human nature_. I can not exaggerate to myself the unfading glory with
which these United States will go forth in the memory of future ages if
by their friendly counsel, by their moral influence, by the power of
argument and persuasion alone they can prevail upon the American nations
at Panama to stipulate by general agreement among themselves, and so far
as any of them may be concerned, the perpetual abolition of private war
upon the ocean. And if we can not yet flatter ourselves that this may be
accomplished, as advances toward it the establishment of the principle
that the friendly flag shall cover the cargo, the curtailment of
contraband of war, and the proscription of fictitious paper blockades--
engagements which we may reasonably hope will not prove impracticable--
will, if successfully inculcated, redound proportionally to our honor
and drain the fountain of many a future sanguinary war.
The late President of the United States, in his message to Congress of
the 2d December, 1823, while announcing the negotiation then pending
with Russia, relating to the northwest coast of this continent, observed
that the occasion of the discussions to which that incident had given
rise had been taken for asserting as a principle in which the rights and
interests of the United States were involved that the American
continents, by the free and independent condition which they had assumed
and maintained, were thenceforward not to be considered as subjects for
future colonization by any European power. The principle had first been
assumed in that negotiation with Russia. It rested upon a course of
reasoning equally simple and conclusive. With the exception of the
existing European colonies, which it was in nowise intended to disturb,
the two continents consisted of several sovereign and independent
nations, whose territories covered their whole surface. By this their
independent condition the United States enjoyed the right of commercial
intercourse with every part of their possessions. To attempt the
establishment of a colony in those possessions would be to usurp to the
exclusion of others a commercial intercourse which was the common
possession of all. It could not be done without encroaching upon
existing rights of the United States. The Government of Russia has never
disputed these positions nor manifested the slightest dissatisfaction at
their having been taken. Most of the new American Republics have
declared their entire assent to them, and they now propose, among the
subjects of consultation at Panama, to take into consideration the means
of making effectual the assertion of that principle, as well as the
means of resisting interference from abroad with the domestic concerns
of the American Governments.
In alluding to these means it would obviously be premature at this time
to anticipate that which is offered merely as matter for consultation,
or to pronounce upon those measures which have been or may be suggested.
The purpose of this Government is to concur in none which would import
hostility to Europe or justly excite resentment in any of her States.
Should it be deemed advisable to contract any conventional engagement on
this topic, our views would extend no further than to a mutual pledge of
the parties to the compact to maintain the principle in application to
its own territory, and to permit no colonial lodgments or establishment
of European jurisdiction upon its own soil; and with respect to the
obtrusive interference from abroad--if its future character may be
inferred from that which has been and perhaps still is exercised in more
than one of the new States--a joint declaration of its character and
exposure of it to the world may be probably all that the occasion would
require. Whether the United States should or should not be parties to
such a declaration may justly form a part of the deliberation. That
there is an evil to be remedied heeds little insight into the secret
history of late years to know, and that this remedy may best be
concerted at the Panama meeting deserves at least the experiment of
consideration. A concert of measures having reference to the more
effectual abolition of the African slave trade and the consideration of
the light in which the political condition of the island of Hayti is to
be regarded are also among the subjects mentioned by the minister from
the Republic of Colombia as believed to be suitable for deliberation at
the congress. The failure of the negotiations with that Republic
undertaken during the late administration, for the suppression of that
trade, in compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives,
indicates the expediency of listening with respectful attention to
propositions which may contribute to the accomplishment of the great end
which was the purpose of that resolution, while the result of those
negotiations will serve as admonition to abstain from pledging this
Government to any arrangement which might be expected to fail of
obtaining the advice and consent of the Senate by a constitutional
majority to its ratification.
Whether the political condition of the island of Hayti shall be brought
at all into discussion at the meeting may be a question for preliminary
advisement. There are in the political constitution of Government of
that people circumstances which have hitherto forbidden the
acknowledgment of them by the Government of the United States as
sovereign and independent. Additional reasons for withholding that
acknowledgment have recently been seen in their acceptance of a nominal
sovereignty by the _grant_ of a foreign prince under conditions
equivalent to the concession by them of exclusive commercial advantages
to one nation, adapted altogether to the state of colonial vassalage and
retaining little of independence but the name. Our plenipotentiaries
will be instructed to present these views to the assembly at Panama, and
should they not be concurred in to decline acceding to any arrangement
which may be proposed upon different principles.
The condition of the islands of Cuba and Porto Rico is of deeper import
and more immediate bearing upon the present interests and future
prospects of our Union. The correspondence herewith transmitted will
show how earnestly it has engaged the attention of this Government. The
invasion of both those islands by the united forces of Mexico and
Colombia is avowedly among the objects to be matured by the belligerent
States at Panama. The convulsions to which, from the peculiar
composition of their population, they would be liable in the event of
such an invasion, and the danger therefrom resulting of their falling
ultimately into the hands of some European power other than Spain, will
not admit of our looking at the consequences to which the congress at
Panama may lead with indifference. It is unnecessary to enlarge upon
this topic or to say more than that all our efforts in reference to this
interest will be to preserve the existing state of things, the
tranquillity of the islands, and the peace and security of their
inhabitants.
And lastly, the congress of Panama is believed to present a fair
occasion for urging upon all the new nations of the south the just and
liberal principles of religious liberty; not by any interference
whatever in their internal concerns, but by claiming for our citizens
whose occupations or interests may call them to occasional residence in
their territories the inestimable privilege of worshipping their Creator
according to the dictates of their own consciences. This privilege,
sanctioned by the customary law of nations and secured by treaty
stipulations in numerous national compacts, secured even to our own
citizens in the treaties with Colombia and with the Federation of
Central America, is yet to be obtained in the other South American
States and Mexico. Existing prejudices are still struggling against it,
which may, perhaps, be more successfully combated at this general
meeting than at the separate seats of Government of each Republic.
I can scarcely deem it otherwise than superfluous to observe that the
assembly will be in its nature diplomatic and not legislative; that
nothing can be transacted there obligatory upon any one of the States to
be represented at the meeting, unless with the express concurrence of
its own representatives, nor even then, but subject to the ratification
of its constitutional authority at home. The faith of the United States
to foreign powers can not otherwise be pledged. I shall, indeed, in the
first instance, consider the assembly as merely _consultative_; and
although the plenipotentiaries of the United States will be empowered to
receive and refer to the consideration of their Government any
proposition from the other parties to the meeting, they will be
authorized to conclude nothing unless subject to the definitive sanction
of this Government in all its constitutional forms. It has therefore
seemed to me unnecessary to insist that every object to be discussed at
the meeting should be specified with the precision of a judicial
sentence or enumerated with the exactness of a mathematical
demonstration. The purpose of the meeting itself is to deliberate upon
the great and common _interests_ of several new and neighbouring
nations. If the measure is new and without precedent, so is the
situation of the parties to it. That the purposes of the meeting are
somewhat indefinite, far from being an objection to it is among the
cogent reasons for its adoption. It is not the establishment of
principles of intercourse with one, but with seven or eight nations at
once. That before they have had the means of exchanging ideas and
communicating with one another in common upon these topics they should
have definitively settled and arranged them in concert is to require
that the effect should precede the cause; it is to exact as a
preliminary to the meeting that for the accomplishment of which the
meeting itself is designed.
Among the inquiries which were thought entitled to consideration before
the determination was taken to accept the invitation was that whether
the measure might not have a tendency to change the policy, hitherto
invariably pursued by the United States, of avoiding all entangling
alliances and all unnecessary foreign connections.
Mindful of the advice given by the father of our country in his Farewell
Address, that the great rule of conduct for us in regard to foreign
nations is, in extending our commercial relations, to have with them as
little political connection as possible, and faithfully adhering to the
spirit of that admonition, I can not overlook the reflection that the
counsel of Washington in that instance, like all the counsels of wisdom,
was founded upon the circumstances in which our country and the world
around us were situated at the time when it was given; that the reasons
assigned by him for his advice were that Europe had a set of primary
interests which to us had none or a very remote relation; that hence she
must be engaged in frequent controversies, the, causes of which were
essentially foreign to our concerns; that our _detached_ and _distant_
situation invited and enabled us to pursue a different course; that by
our union and rapid growth, with an efficient Government, the period was
not far distant when we might defy material injury from external
annoyance, when we might take such an attitude as would cause our
neutrality to be respected, and, with reference to belligerent nations,
might choose peace or war, as our interests, guided by justice, should
counsel.
Compare our situation and the circumstances of that time with those of
the present day, and what, from the very words of Washington then, would
be his counsels to his countrymen now? Europe has still her set of
primary interests, with which we have little or a remote relation. Our
distant and detached situation with reference to Europe remains the
same. But we were then the only independent nation of this hemisphere,
and we were surrounded by European colonies, with the greater part of
which we had no more intercourse than with the inhabitants of another
planet. Those colonies have now been transformed into eight independent
nations, extending to our very borders, seven of them Republics like
ourselves, with whom we have an immensely growing commercial, and _must_
have and have already important political, connections; with reference
to whom our situation is neither distant nor detached; whose political
principles and systems of government, congenial with our own, must and
will have an action and counteraction upon us and ours to which we can
not be indifferent if we would.
The rapidity of our growth, and the consequent increase of our strength,
has more than realized the anticipations of this admirable political
legacy. Thirty years have nearly elapsed since it was written, and in
the interval our population, our wealth, our territorial extension, our
power--physical and moral--have nearly trebled. Reasoning upon this
state of things from the sound and judicious principles of Washington,
must we not say that the period which he predicted as then not far off
has arrived; that _America_ has a set of primary interests which have
none or a remote relation to Europe; that the interference of Europe,
therefore, in those concerns should be spontaneously withheld by her
upon the same principles that we have never interfered with hers, and
that if she should interfere, as she may, by measures which may have a
great and dangerous recoil upon ourselves, we might be called in defense
of our own altars and firesides to take an attitude which would cause
our neutrality to be respected, and choose peace or war, as our
interest, guided by justice, should counsel.
The acceptance of this invitation, therefore, far from conflicting with
the counsel or the policy of Washington, is directly deducible from and
conformable to it. Nor is it less conformable to the views of my
immediate predecessor as declared in his annual message to Congress of
the 2d December, 1823, to which I have already adverted, and to an
important passage of which I invite the attention of the House:
The citizens of the United States (said he) cherish sentiments
the most friendly in favor of the liberty and happiness of their
fellow-men on that (the European) side of the Atlantic. In the
wars of the European powers in matters relating to themselves we
have never taken any part, nor does it comport with our policy so
to do. It is only when our rights are invaded or seriously
menaced that we resent injuries or make preparation for our
defense. With the movements in this hemisphere we are of
necessity more immediately connected, and by causes which must be
obvious to all enlightened and impartial observers. The political
system of the allied powers is essentially different in this
respect from that of America. This difference proceeds from that
which exists in their respective Governments. And to the defense
of our own, which has been achieved by the loss of so much blood
and treasure, and matured by the wisdom of their most enlightened
citizens, and under which we have enjoyed unexampled felicity,
this whole nation is devoted. We owe it, therefore, to candor and
to the amicable relations subsisting between the United States
and those powers to declare that we should consider any attempt
on their part to extend their system to any portion of this
hemisphere as dangerous to our peace and safety. With the
existing colonies or dependencies of any European power we have
not interfered and shall not interfere; but with the Governments
who have declared their independence and maintained it, and whose
independence we have on great consideration and on just
principles acknowledged, we could not view any interposition for
the purposes of oppressing them or controlling in any other
manner their destiny by any European power in any other light
than as the manifestation of an unfriendly disposition toward the
United States. In the war between those new Governments and Spain
we declared our neutrality at the time of their recognition, and
to this we have adhered and shall continue to adhere, provided no
change shall occur which in the judgment of the competent
authorities of this Government shall make a corresponding change
on the part of the United States indispensable to their security.
To the question which may be asked, whether this meeting and the
principles which may be adjusted and settled by it as rules of
intercourse between the American nations may not give umbrage to the
holy league of European powers or offense to Spain, it is deemed a
sufficient answer that our attendance at Panama can give _no just cause_
of umbrage or offense to either, and that the United States will
stipulate nothing there which can give such cause. Here the right of
inquiry into our purposes and measures must stop. The holy league of
Europe itself was formed without inquiring of the United States whether
it would or would not give umbrage to them. The fear of giving umbrage
to the holy league of Europe was urged as a motive for denying to the
American nations the acknowledgment of their independence. That it would
be viewed by Spain as hostility to her was not only urged, but directly
declared by herself. The Congress and administration of that day
consulted their rights and duties, and not their fears. Fully determined
to give no heedless displeasure to any foreign power, the United States
can estimate the probability of their giving it only by the right which
any foreign state could have to take it from their measures. Neither the
representation of the United States at Panama nor any measure to which
their assent may be yielded there will give to the holy league or any of
its members, nor to Spain, the right to take offense; for the rest the
United States must still, as heretofore, take counsel from their duties
rather than their fears.
Such are the objects in which it is expected that the plenipotentiaries
of the United States, when commissioned to attend the meeting at the
Isthmus, will take part, and such are the motives and purposes with
which the invitation of the three Republics was accepted. It was,
however, as the House will perceive from the correspondence, accepted
only upon condition that the nomination of commissioners for the mission
should receive the advice and consent of the Senate.
The concurrence of the House to the measure by the appropriations
necessary for carrying it into effect is alike subject to its free
determination and indispensable to the fulfillment of the intention.
That the congress at Panama will accomplish all, or even any, of the
transcendent benefits to the human race which warmed the conceptions of
its first proposer it were perhaps indulging too sanguine a forecast of
events to promise. It is in its nature a measure speculative and
experimental. The blessing of Heaven may turn it to the account of human
improvement; accidents unforeseen and mischances not to be anticipated
may baffle all its high purposes and disappoint its fairest
expectations. But the design is great, is benevolent, is humane.
It looks to the melioration of the condition of man. It is congenial
with that spirit which prompted the declaration of our independence,
which inspired the preamble of our first treaty with France, which
dictated our first treaty with Prussia and the instructions under which
it was negotiated, which filled the hearts and fired the souls of the
immortal founders of our Revolution.
With this unrestricted exposition of the motives by which I have been
governed in this transaction, as well as of the objects to be discussed
and of the ends, if possible, to be attained by our representation at
the proposed congress, I submit the propriety of an appropriation to the
candid consideration and enlightened patriotism of the Legislature.
John Quincy Adams.
Washington,
_March 16, 1826_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
Some additional documents having relation to the objects of the mission
to the congress at Panama, and received since the communication of those
heretofore sent, are now transmitted to the Senate.
John Quincy Adams.
_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:
In compliance with the resolution of the House of Representatives of the
10th instant, requesting information in possession of the Government
relating to certain resolves of the Congress of the Confederation of the
21st of October, 1780, and the 21st March, 1783, concerning allowances
to the officers of the Revolutionary army, and to the manner of carrying
into effect those resolves, and other particulars appertaining thereto,
I transmit reports from the Secretaries of State, of the Treasury, and
of War, with documents, comprising the information desired by the House.
John Quincy Adams.