WASHINGTON, _January 12, 1848_.
_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:
I have carefully considered the resolution of the House of
Representatives of the 4th instant, requesting the President to
communicate to that House "any instructions which may have been given to
any of the officers of the Army or Navy of the United States, or other
persons, in regard to the return of President General Lopez de Santa
Anna, or any other Mexican, to the Republic of Mexico prior or
subsequent to the order of the President or Secretary of War issued in
January, 1846, for the march of the Army from the Nueces River, across
the 'stupendous deserts' which intervene, to the Rio Grande; that the
date of all such instructions, orders, and correspondence be set forth,
together with the instructions and orders issued to Mr. Slidell at any
time prior or subsequent to his departure for Mexico as minister
plenipotentiary of the United States to that Republic;" and requesting
the President also to "communicate all the orders and correspondence of
the Government in relation to the return of General Paredes to Mexico."
I transmit herewith reports from the Secretary of State, the Secretary
of War, and the Secretary of the Navy, with the documents accompanying
the same, which contain all the information in the possession of the
Executive which it is deemed compatible with the public interests to
communicate.
For further information relating to the return of Santa Anna to Mexico I
refer you to my annual message of December 8, 1846. The facts and
considerations stated in that message induced the order of the Secretary
of the Navy to the commander of our squadron in the Gulf of Mexico a
copy of which is herewith communicated. This order was issued
simultaneously with the order to blockade the coasts of Mexico, both
bearing date the 13th of May, 1846, the day on which the existence of
the war with Mexico was recognized by Congress. It was issued solely
upon the views of policy presented in that message, and without any
understanding on the subject, direct or indirect, with Santa Anna or any
other person.
General Paredes evaded the vigilance of our combined forces by land and
sea, and made his way back to Mexico from the exile into which he had
been driven, landing at Vera Cruz after that city and the castle of San
Juan de Ulloa were in our military occupation, as will appear from the
accompanying reports and documents.
The resolution calls for the "instructions and orders issued to Mr.
Slidell at any time prior or subsequent to his departure for Mexico as
minister plenipotentiary of the United States to that Republic." The
customary and usual reservation contained in calls of either House of
Congress upon the Executive for information relating to our intercourse
with foreign nations has been omitted in the resolution before me. The
call of the House is unconditional. It is that the information requested
be communicated, and thereby be made public, whether in the opinion of
the Executive (who is charged by the Constitution with the duty of
conducting negotiations with foreign powers) such information, when
disclosed, would be prejudicial to the public interest or not. It has
been a subject of serious deliberation with me whether I could,
consistently with my constitutional duty and my sense of the public
interests involved and to be affected by it, violate an important
principle, always heretofore held sacred by my predecessors, as I should
do by a compliance with the request of the House. President Washington,
in a message to the House of Representatives of the 30th of March, 1796,
declined to comply with a request contained in a resolution of that
body, to lay before them "a copy of the instructions to the minister of
the United States who negotiated the treaty with the King of Great
Britain, together with the correspondence and other documents relative
to that treaty, excepting such of the said papers as any existing
negotiation may render improper to be disclosed." In assigning his
reasons for declining to comply with the call he declared that--
The nature of foreign negotiations requires caution, and their success
must often depend on secrecy; and even when brought to a conclusion a
full disclosure of all the measures, demands, or eventual concessions
which may have been proposed or contemplated would be extremely
impolitic; for this might have a pernicious influence on future
negotiations, or produce immediate inconveniences, perhaps danger and
mischief, in relation to other powers. The necessity of such caution and
secrecy was one cogent reason for vesting the power of making treaties
in the President, with the advice and consent of the Senate, the
principle on which that body was formed confining it to a small number
of members. To admit, then, a right in the House of Representatives to
demand and to have as a matter of course all the papers respecting a
negotiation with a foreign power would be to establish a dangerous
precedent.
In that case the instructions and documents called for related to a
treaty which had been concluded and ratified by the President and
Senate, and the negotiations in relation to it had been terminated.
There was an express reservation, too, "excepting" from the call all
such papers as related to "any existing negotiations" which it might be
improper to disclose. In that case President Washington deemed it to be
a violation of an important principle, the establishment of a "dangerous
precedent," and prejudicial to the public interests to comply with the
call of the House. Without deeming it to be necessary on the present
occasion to examine or decide upon the other reasons assigned by him for
his refusal to communicate the information requested by the House, the
one which is herein recited is in my judgment conclusive in the case
under consideration.
Indeed, the objections to complying with the request of the House
contained in the resolution before me are much stronger than those which
existed in the case of the resolution in 1796. This resolution calls for
the "instructions and orders" to the minister of the United States to
Mexico which relate to negotiations which have not been terminated, and
which may be resumed. The information called for respects negotiations
which the United States offered to open with Mexico immediately
preceding the commencement of the existing war. The instructions given
to the minister of the United States relate to the differences between
the two countries out of which the war grew and the terms of adjustment
which we were prepared to offer to Mexico in our anxiety to prevent the
war. These differences still remain unsettled, and to comply with the
call of the House would be to make public through that channel, and to
communicate to Mexico, now a public enemy engaged in war, information
which could not fail to produce serious embarrassment in any future
negotiation between the two countries. I have heretofore communicated to
Congress all the correspondence of the minister of the United States to
Mexico which in the existing state of our relations with that Republic
can, in my judgment, be at this time communicated without serious injury
to the public interest.
Entertaining this conviction, and with a sincere desire to furnish any
information which may be in possession of the executive department, and
which either House of Congress may at any time request, I regard it to
be my constitutional right and my solemn duty under the circumstances of
this case to decline a compliance with the request of the House
contained in their resolution.