WASHINGTON, _March 24, 1848_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
In answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 17th instant,
requesting the President to transmit to that body "a copy of a dispatch
to the United States consul at Monterey, T.O. Larkin, esq., forwarded in
November, 1845, by Captain Gillespie, of the Marine Corps, and which was
by him destroyed before entering the port of Vera Cruz, if a
communication of the same be not, in his opinion, incompatible with the
public interests," I communicate herewith a report of the Secretary of
State, with a copy of the dispatch referred to. The resolution of the
Senate appears to have been passed in legislative session. Entertaining
the opinion that the publication of this dispatch at this time will not
be "compatible with the public interests," but unwilling to withhold
from the Senate information deemed important by that body, I communicate
a copy of it to the Senate in executive session.