In compliance with the resolution of the Senate of the 5th December, I herewith transmit copies of the proceedings in the case of the inquiry into the official conduct of Silas Reed, principal surveyor of Missouri and Illinois, together with all the complaints against him and all the evidence taken in relation thereto. I did not consider the irregularities into which the surveyor-general had fallen as of sufficient magnitude to induce his dismissal from office at the time that the papers reached me, having become convinced, upon inquiry of the Commissioner of the General Land Office, of the ability, efficiency, and fidelity of the surveyor-general in all things appertaining to his office; but since the passage of the resolution by the Senate I regarded the matter as so augmented in importance as to induce me to refer the subject to the Commissioner of the General Land Office for a minute and thorough examination. A copy of the report which he has made, and also the defense of Dr. Reed, accompanies the papers. It has seemed to me that the facts set forth by the report exhibit certain irregularities which are properly reprehensible, but from which neither the surveyor-general, in a pecuniary point of view, derived profit nor the Government sustained loss, and which the reproof contained in the Commissioner’s report will in all future cases restrain; while the high testimony borne by the Commissioner to the generally excellent deportment in office of the surveyor-general has seemed to me to mark the case more as one meriting disapproval and correction in future than the severe punishment of dismissal.
JOHN TYLER.
WASHINGTON, _February 5, 1845_.
_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:
I herewith transmit to the House of Representatives, in answer to its resolution of the 31st ultimo, a report from the Secretary of State, together with copies of documents[141] therein referred to.
JOHN TYLER.
[Footnote 141: Correspondence relative to the surrender by Great Britain of fugitive criminals from Florida under the treaty of Washington.]
WASHINGTON, _February 5, 1845_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
In compliance with the resolution of the Senate of the 10th of December last, requesting further correspondence touching the relations between the United States and the Mexican Republic, I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State and the documents which accompanied it.
JOHN TYLER.
WASHINGTON, _February 7, 1845_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I transmit herewith the report[142] requested by the resolution of the Senate of the 2d of January last.
JOHN TYLER.
[Footnote 142: Of Lieutenant H. Wager Halleck, of the Engineer Corps, on the means of national defense.]
WASHINGTON, _February 7, 1845_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
In answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 4th instant, requesting information relative to the employment of Mr. Duff Green in the service of this Government, I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State.
JOHN TYLER.
WASHINGTON, _February 12, 1845_.
_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:
I transmit herewith a copy of the correspondence relating to the claims of citizens of the United States upon the Mexican Republic, requested by the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 10th of January, 1844.
JOHN TYLER.
WASHINGTON, _February 12, 1845_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I transmit herewith a copy of the correspondence relative to claims of citizens of the United States on the Mexican Republic, requested by the resolution of the Senate of the 26th December, 1843.
JOHN TYLER.
WASHINGTON CITY, _February 13, 1845_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I transmit herewith, for the advice and approbation of the Senate, a treaty with the Creek and Seminole tribes of Indians, concluded on the 4th day of January last.
JOHN TYLER.
WASHINGTON, _February 14, 1845_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I herewith transmit certain documents connected with the case of Silas Reed,[143] and which were inadvertently omitted in the packet of papers which accompanied my message to the Senate on this subject.
JOHN TYLER.
[Footnote 143: Principal surveyor of Missouri and Illinois, official conduct of.]
WASHINGTON, _February 17, 1845_.
_To the House of Representatives_:
In compliance with the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 30th of December last, requesting information with reference to indemnities for claims of citizens of the United States upon the Mexican Government, I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State and the documents which accompanied it.
JOHN TYLER.
WASHINGTON, _February 19, 1845_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
In answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 11th December, 1844, requesting the President “to lay before the Senate, if in his judgment that may be done without prejudice to the public interests, a copy of any instructions which may have been given by the Executive to the American minister in England on the subject of the title to and occupation of the Territory of Oregon since the 4th day of March, 1841; also a copy of any correspondence which may have passed between this Government and that of Great Britain, or between either of the two Governments and the minister of the other, in relation to that subject since that time,” I have to say that in my opinion, as the negotiation is still pending, the information sought for cannot be communicated without prejudice to the public service.
I deem it, however, proper to add that considerable progress has been made in the discussion, which has been carried on in a very amicable spirit between the two Governments, and that there is reason to hope that it may be terminated and the negotiation brought to a close within a short period.
I have delayed answering the resolution under the expectation expressed in my annual message that the negotiation would have been terminated before the close of the present session of Congress, and that the information called for by the resolution of the Senate might be communicated.
JOHN TYLER.
WASHINGTON, _February 20, 1845_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I herewith communicate to the Senate a report[144] from the Secretary of State, in reply to the inquiries contained in their resolution of the 17th instant.
JOHN TYLER.
[Footnote 144: Relating to redress from the British Government for the illegal capture of the fishing schooner _Argus_ and other American vessels engaged in the fisheries, under a pretended infraction of the convention of October 20, 1818.]
WASHINGTON, _February 20, 1845_.
_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_:
I transmit herewith, for the information of Congress, copies of certain dispatches recently received from Mr. Wise, our envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary at the Court of Brazil, upon the subject of the slave trade, developing the means used and the devices resorted to in order to evade existing enactments upon that subject.
Anxiously desirous as are the United States to suppress a traffic so revolting to humanity, in the efforts to accomplish which they have been the pioneers of civilized states, it can not but be a subject of the most profound regret that any portion of our citizens should be found acting in cooperation with the subjects of other powers in opposition to the policy of their own Government, thereby subjecting to suspicion and to the hazard of disgrace the flag of their own country. It is true that this traffic is carried on altogether in foreign parts and that our own coasts are free from its pollution; but the crime remains the same wherever perpetrated, and there are many circumstances to warrant the belief that some of our citizens are deeply involved in its guilt. The mode and manner of carrying on this trade are clearly and fearlessly set forth in the accompanying documents, and it would seem that a regular system has been adopted for the purpose of thwarting the policy and evading the penalties of our laws. American vessels, with the knowledge, as there are good reasons to believe, of the owners and masters, are _chartered_, or rather purchased, by notorious slave dealers in Brazil, aided by English brokers and capitalists, with this intent. The vessel is only nominally chartered at so much per month, while in truth it is actually sold, to be delivered on the coast of Africa; the charter party binding the owners in the meantime to take on board _as passengers_ a new crew in Brazil, who, when delivered on the coast, are to navigate her back to the ports of Brazil with her cargo of slaves. Under this agreement the vessel clears from the United States for some port in Great Britain, where a cargo of merchandise known as “coast goods,” and designed especially for the African trade, is purchased, shipped, and consigned, together with the vessel, either directly to the slave dealer himself or to his agents or accomplices in Brazil. On her arrival a new crew is put on board _as passengers_ and the vessel and cargo consigned to an equally guilty factor or agent on the coast of Africa, where the unlawful purpose originally designed is finally consummated. The merchandise is exchanged for slaves, the vessel is delivered up, her name obliterated, her papers destroyed, her American crew discharged, to be provided for by the charterers, and the new or _passenger_ crew put in command to carry back its miserable freight to the first contrivers of the voyage, or their _employees_ in Brazil.
During the whole progress of this tortuous enterprise it is possible that neither the American crew originally enlisted nor the _passenger_ crew put on board in the Brazilian ports are aware of the nature of the voyage, and yet it is on these principally, ignorant if not innocent, that the penalties of the law are inflicted, while the guilty contrivers–the charterers, brokers, owners, and masters; in short, all who are most deeply concerned in the crime and its rewards–for the most part escape unpunished.
It will be seen from the examinations which have recently taken place at Rio that the subjects of Her Britannic Majesty as well as our own citizens are deeply implicated in this inhuman traffic. British factors and agents, while they supply Africa with British fabrics in exchange for slaves, are chiefly instrumental in the abuse of the American flag; and the suggestions contained in the letter of Mr. Wise (whose judicious and zealous efforts in the matter can not be too highly commended), addressed to Mr. Hamilton, the British envoy, as to the best mode of suppressing the evil, deserve your most deliberate consideration, as they will receive, I doubt not, that of the British Government.
It is also worthy of consideration whether any other measures than those now existing are necessary to give greater efficacy to the just and humane policy of our laws, which already provide for the restoration to Africa of slaves captured at sea by American cruisers. From time to time provision has been made by this Government for their comfortable support and maintenance during a limited period after their restoration, and it is much to be regretted that this liberal policy has not been adopted by Great Britain. As it is, it seems to me that the policy it has adopted is calculated rather to perpetuate than to suppress the trade by enlisting very large interests in its favor. Merchants and capitalists furnish the means of carrying it on; manufactures, for which the negroes are exchanged, are the products of her workshops; the slaves, when captured, instead of being returned back to their homes are transferred to her colonial possessions in the West Indies and made the means of swelling the amount of their products by a system of apprenticeship for a term of years; and the officers and crews who capture the vessels receive on the whole number of slaves so many pounds sterling _per capita_ by way of bounty.
It must be obvious that while these large interests are enlisted in favor of its continuance it will be difficult, if not impossible, to suppress the nefarious traffic, and that its results would be in effect but a continuance of the slave trade in another and more cruel form; for it can be but a matter of little difference to the African whether he is torn from his country and transported to the West Indies as a slave in the regular course of the trade, or captured by a cruiser, transferred to the same place, and made to perform the same labor under the name of an apprentice, which is at present the practical operation of the policy adopted.
It is to be hoped that Her Britannic Majesty’s Government will, upon a review of all the circumstances stated in these dispatches, adopt more efficient measures for the suppression of the trade, which she has so long attempted to put down, with, as yet, so little success, and more consonant with the original policy of restoring the captured African to his home.
JOHN TYLER.
WASHINGTON, _February 21, 1845_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I transmit to the Senate, for its consideration with a view to ratification, a treaty of peace, friendship, navigation, and commerce between the United States and the Republic of New Granada, signed at Bogota on the 20th of December last. A copy of the papers on file in the Department of State relating to the treaty is also herewith communicated, for the information of the Senate.
JOHN TYLER.
WASHINGTON, _February 21, 1845_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I herewith transmit to the Senate, in answer to their resolution of the 14th instant, a report of the Secretary of State, with the accompanying papers.[145]
JOHN TYLER.
[Footnote 145: Instructions to Hon. Caleb Cushing, commissioner to China and envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to the Court of China, etc.]
WASHINGTON, _February 21, 1845_.
_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:
In compliance with your resolution of the 23d January last, asking information “if any, and what, officers of the United States have been guilty of embezzlement of public money since the 19th August, 1841, and, further, whether such officers have been criminally prosecuted for such embezzlement, and, if not, that the reasons why they have not been so prosecuted be communicated,” I herewith transmit letters from the Secretaries of the Treasury, War, and Navy Departments and the Postmaster-General, and from various heads of bureaus, from which it will be seen that no case of embezzlement by any person holding office under the Government is known to have occurred since the 19th August, 1841, unless exceptions are to be found in the cases of the postmaster at Tompkinsville, Ky., who was instantly removed from office, and all papers necessary for his prosecution were transmitted to the United States district attorney, and John Flanagan, superintendent of lead mines of the Upper Mississippi, who was also removed, and whose place of residence, as will be seen by the letter of the head of the Ordnance Bureau, has been, and still is, unknown.
JOHN TYLER.
WASHINGTON, _February 24, 1845_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I herewith communicate to the Senate, for its consideration, a convention concluded by the minister of the United States at Berlin with the Kingdom of Bavaria, dated on the 21st day of January, 1845, for the mutual abolition of the _droit d’aubaine_ and taxes on emigration between that Government and the United States, and also a copy of a dispatch from the minister explanatory of the sixth article of the same.
JOHN TYLER.
WASHINGTON, _February 26, 1845_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I transmit herewith a communication from the Secretary of the Treasury, inclosing reports from the Commissioner of the General Land Office, dated the 25th instant, and accompanying papers, in compliance with your resolution of the 17th instant, asking for information relative to reservations of mineral lands in the State of Illinois south of the base line and west of the third principal meridian.
JOHN TYLER.
WASHINGTON, _February 26, 1845_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I herewith communicate a dispatch recently received, and an extract from one of a prior date, from our minister at Mexico, which I deem it important to lay confidentially before the Senate.
JOHN TYLER.
WASHINGTON, _February 26, 1845_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
In compliance with the resolution of the Senate of the 3d instant, I herewith transmit the information[146] called for.
JOHN TYLER.
[Footnote 146: Operations of the United States squadron on the west coast of Africa, the growth, condition, and influence of the American colonies there, and the nature, extent, and progress of the commerce of the United States with the same.]
WASHINGTON, _February 26, 1845_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I herewith transmit to the Senate, for its approval, an additional article to the treaty of extradition between the United States and France of the 9th of November, 1843. It will be found to contain the amendments suggested by the resolution of the Senate of the 15th of June last.
JOHN TYLER.
WASHINGTON, _February 28, 1845_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I transmit herewith to the Senate, in answer to its resolution of the 17th instant, a report[147] from the Secretary of State, together with the copies of papers therein referred to.
JOHN TYLER.
[Footnote 147: Relating to redress from the British Government for the illegal capture of the fishing schooner _Argus_ and other American vessels engaged in the fisheries, under a pretended infraction of the convention of October 20, 1818.]
VETO MESSAGE.
WASHINGTON, _February 20, 1845_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I herewith return the bill entitled “An act relating to revenue cutters and steamers,” with the following objections to its becoming a law:
The Executive has found it necessary and esteemed it important to the public interests to direct the building of two revenue boats, to be propelled by wind or steam, as occasion may require–the one for the coast of Georgia and the other for Mobile Bay, to be used as dispatch vessels if necessary. The models have been furnished by the Navy Department and side wheels have been ordered, as being best tested and least liable to failure. The one boat is directed to be built at Richmond, Va., the other at Pittsburg, Pa., and contracts have been regularly entered into for their construction. The contractors have made and are making all necessary arrangements in procuring materials and sites for building, etc., and have doubtless been at considerable expense in the necessary preparations for completing their engagements. It was no part of the intention of the Senate in originating the bill, I am well convinced, to violate the sanctity of contracts regularly entered into by the Government. The language of the act, nevertheless, is of a character to produce in all probability that effect. Its language is “that no revenue cutter or revenue steamer shall hereafter be built _(excepting such as are now in the course of building or equipment_) nor purchased unless an appropriation be first made by law therefor.” The _building_ of the two cutters under contract can not be said properly to have commenced, although preparations have been made for building; but even if the construction be ambiguous, it is better that all ambiguity should be removed and thus the hazard of violating the pledged faith of the country be removed along with it.
I am free to confess that, existing contracts being guarded and protected, the law to operate _in futuro_ would be regarded as both proper and wise.
With these objections, I return the bill to the House in which it originated for its final constitutional action.
JOHN TYLER.
PROCLAMATION.
[From Senate Journal, Twenty-eighth Congress, second session, p. 271.]
WASHINGTON, _January 8, 1845_.
_To the Senators of the United States, respectively_.
SIR: Objects interesting to the United States requiring that the Senate should be in session on Tuesday, the 4th of March next, to receive and act upon such communications as may be made to it on the part of the Executive, your attendance in the Senate Chamber, in this city, on that day at 10 o’clock in the forenoon is accordingly requested.
JOHN TYLER.