WASHINGTON, _May 19, 1856_.
_To the House of Representatives_:
In compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives of the
7th ultimo, requesting the President "to communicate what information he
may possess in regard to citizens of the United States being engaged in
the slave trade, or in the transportation in American ships of coolies
from China to Cuba and other countries with the intention of placing or
continuing them in a state of slavery or servitude, and whether such
traffic is not, in his opinion, a violation of the spirit of existing
treaties, rendering those engaged in it liable to indictment for piracy;
and especially that he be requested to communicate to this House the
facts and circumstances attending the shipment from China of some 500
coolies in the ship _Sea Witch_, of the city of New York, lately wrecked
on the coast of Cuba," I transmit the accompanying report of the
Secretary of State.