Martin Van Buren 1584 to the American claim and demanding a suspension of all further movements in exe< cution of it. No answer has yet been received to this communication. From an informal conversation between the British minister at Washington and myself at the Department of State, the President is, however, firm in the conviction that the attempt to make the road in question will not be fugther prosecuted. I am, in conclusion, directed to inform you that however unbounded may be the confidence of the legislature and people of Maine in the justice of their claim to the boundary contended for by the United States, the President’s is not less so; and your excellency may rest assured that no exertions have been or shall be spared on his part to bring to a favorable and speedy termination a question involving interests so highly important to Maine and to the Union. T have the honor to be, with high consideration, your excellency’s obedient servant, JOHN FORSYTH. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, August 25, 1837. His Excellency RoBERT P. DUNLAP, e mst 251 137 Governor of Matne. Sm: I have the honor to transmit to your excellency, by direction of the Presi- dent, the copy of a note from the British minister at Washington, dated yesterday, stating that the Government of Her Britannic Majesty has been pleased to direct the immediate discontinuance by the colonial authorities of Lower Canada and New Brunswick, respectively, of all operations connected with the projected railroad between the cities of Quebec and St. Andrews. Mr. Fox took occasion on Wednesday last to inform me that Mr. Greely had been discharged from imprisonment at Frederickton, a fact of which doubtlessly your excellency has been some time since apprised. I have the honor to be, with high consideration, your excellency’s obedient servant, JOHN FORSYTH. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, March 23, 1837. Henry §S. Fox, Esq., etc.: The undersigned, Secretary of State of the United States, has the honor, by direc- tion of the President, to invite the attention of Mr. Fox, His Britannic Majesty’s envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary, to a subject which from its high impor- tance demands the prompt consideration of His Majesty’s Government. It appears from representations and documents recently received at the Depart- ment of State that a number of inhabitants of the town of St. Andrews, in New Bruns- wick, associated themselves together in the year 1835, by the name of the St. Andrews and Quebec Railroad Association, for the purpose of bringing into public notice the practicability of constructing a railway between those ports, and that sundry resolu- tions were passed in furtherance of this object; that the project was sanctioned and patronized by the governor in chief of British North America, the lieutenant-govern- ors of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, and the legislatures and people of the Prov- inces of Lower Canada and New Brunswick; that the route of the proposed railroad had been explored as far as the head waters of the St. John River by surveyors employed by the association; that an act has actually passed the legislature of New Brunswick incorporating this company, and that a similar act was expected to be passed in Lower Canada; that letters were addressed to the boards of trade of Quebec and Montreal requesting their cooperation; that these communications were favor- ably received, and that petitions had been forwarded to His Britannic Majesty, signed by committees of the association and by thabitants of the cities of Quebec and 52
1585 Messages and Papers of the Presidents Montreal, soliciting the construction of a railway between the ports above named, or the extension of royal aid and protection to the petitioners in the proposed under- taking. , Without allowing himself for a moment to believe that His Britannic Majesty’s Government will in any manner countenance the projected railroad from St. Andrews to Quebec when the slightest inspection of the map of the country which it crosses will show that its intended location would be for a great portion of the route an encroachment upon the territory in dispute between the United States and Great Britain, the President yet sees cause for painful surprise and deep regret in the fact that the civil authorities of His Majesty’s Provinces on our northeastern borders should have lent their encouragement to or should in any wise have promoted an undertaking which if persevered in will inevitably lead to the most disastrous con- sequences. The object of the association from its inception was objectionable, since it could only be effected by entering upon territory the title to which was contro- verted and unsettled—a proceeding which could not fail to be offensive to the Gov- ernment and people of the United States. Still more unjustifiable was the act of sovereignty giving to this company corporate powers over property known to be claimed by citizens of a friendly and neighboring State, and which constituted at the time the subject of an amicable negotiation between the Government of His Majesty and that of the United States. The President regrets to see in this step on the part of His Majesty’s provincial authorities and subjects a most exceptionable departure from the principle of continuing to abstain during the progreés of negotia- tion from any extension of the exercise of jurisdiction within the disputed territory on either side, the propriety of which has been hitherto so sedulously inculcated and so distinctly acquiesced in by both parties. An understanding that this principle should be observed by them was the natural result of the respective positions and pacific intentions of the two Governments, and could alone prevent the exercise of asserted rights by force. Without it the end of all negotiation on the subject would have been defeated. If, therefore, nothing had been said by either party relative to such an understanding, it would have been proper to infer that a tacit agreement to that effect existed between the two Governments. But the correspondence between them is sufficiently full and explicit to prevent all misconception. The views of both Governments in respect to it will be found in the letters of the Secretary of State to the minister of Great Britain dated the 18th of January, 1826, 9th of January, 11th of March, and 11th of May, 1829, and of the British minister to the Sec- retary of State dated 15th of November and 2d of December, 1825; 16th of January, 1827; 18th of February and 25th of March, 1828, and 14th of April, 1833, as well as in other communications, which it is deemed needless now to designate. The undersigned is directed by the President to inform Mr. Fox that the prosecu- tion of the enterprise above referred to will be regarded by this Government as a deliberate infringement of the rights of the United States to the territory in question and as an unwarrantable assumption of jurisdiction therein by the British Govern- ment, and the undersigned is instructed to urge the prompt adoption of such meas- ures as may be deemed most appropriate by His Majesty’s Government to suspend any further movements in execution of the proposed railroad from St. Andrews to Quebec during the continuance of the pending negotiations between the two Govern- ments relative to the northeastern boundary of the United States. The proceedings above alluded to, considered in connection with incidents on other parts of the disputed boundary line well known to His Majesty's ministers, would seem to render it indispensable to the maintenance of those liberal and friendly rela- tions between the two countries which both Governments are so sincerely anxious to preserve that they should come to a speedy adjustment of the subject. The recent resolutions of the State of Maine, to which the projected railroad from St. Andrews to Quebec gave rise, requesting the President of the United States to cause the line
HENRY CLAY. He was a man of large natural ability, but he lacked the training of a systematic education. He learned early to appreciate his heaven-born endow- ments and to rely upon them for success in his chosen career. Of: sanguine temperament, quick perception, irresistible energy and enthusiastic disposition, he was well fitted to be a party advocate, and was the greatest parliamentary leader in our history. He knew men well, but he had no knowledge of books. The gaming table had for him allurements that he could not find in the library. According to the manners of his time, he drank to excess. His warm heart made him a multitude of friends; his impulsive action and positive bearing raised up enemies; yet at his death he left not an enemy behind him. He was withal a man of inflexible integrity. Straitened in pecuniary circum- stances during a large part of his congressional career, he nevertheless held himself aloof from all corruption. Other Americans have been intellectually greater, others have been more painstaking, others still have been greater benefactors to their country; yet no man has been loved as the people of the United States loved Henry Clay. Ruopes. Born in backwoods poverty in 1777, he obtained a piecemeal schooling, studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1797, sent to the Kentucky legislature in 1803, to the United States Senate in 1808; afterwards served in the lower house, being elected Speaker five times; Secretary of State in 1825-29 under J. Q. Adams; U. S. Senator in 1831-1842; unsuccessful presidential candidate in 1832 and 1844; U. S. Senator from 1849 to 1852. When Calhoun and his South Carolina supporters found that Jackson meant to punish nullification with hanging, it was Clay who arranged a compromise. He was the guiding spirit in all those measures which averted civil war from 1820 to 1850. See the articles entitled “Compromises of the Constitution,” “Compromise of 1833,” “Compromise of 1850,” “Missouri Compromise,” in the Encyclo- pedic Index.
Martin Van Buren 1586 established by the treaty of 1783 to be ran and monuments to be established thereon, and the appropriation of $20,000 by Congress at their late session to enable the Exec- utive to carry that request into effect, with a subsequent earnest application from the Representatives of Maine for an immediate compliance with it, afford additional incentives to exertion to bring this controversy to a conclusion not to be disregarded by the President of the United States. The President therefore awaits with great anxiety the decision of His Majesty’s: Government on the proposition made by the undersigned to His Majesty’s chargé d'affaires at Washington in February, 1836, suggesting the river St. John, from its mouth to its source, as an eligible and convenient line of boundary. No small degree of disappointment has been felt that this decision, already long expected, has not been given, but the hope is entertained that the result of this protracted deliberation will prove favorable to the wishes of the President, and that even if that proposition be not acceded to by His Britannic Majesty some definitive offer looking to a prompt termination of the controversy will be made without further delay. The undersigned avails himself of this occasion to renew to Mr. Fox the assurance of his distinguished consideration. JOHN FORSYTH. Wasuincton, March 28, 1837. * Hon. JoHn Forsyv#, ett.: The undersigned, His Britannic Majesty’s envoy extraordinary and minister pleni- potentiary, has had the honor to receive the official note addressed to him under date of the 23d instant by Mr. Forsyth, Secretary of State of the United States, upon the subject of information received by the United States Government of a projected railroad between the cities of Quebec and St. Andrews, and upon certain other matters connected with the question of the boundary line between the United States and the British possessions in North America. The undersigned, in accordance with the wishes of the President signified in Mr. Forsyth’s official note, will not fail immediately to convey that note to the knowl- edge of his Government at home; and he entertains no doubt that His Majesty's Government will proceeg to the consideration of the several matters therein con- tained with the serious and ready attention that their importance deserves. ; The undersigned avails himself of this occasion to renew to Mr. Forsyth the assurance of his high esteem and consideration, . H. 8S. FOX. ° WasHINGTON, August 24, 1837. Hon. JoHN Forsyts, etc. Sir: With reference to the official note which, by direction of the President, you addressed to me on the 23d of March last, respecting a projected railroad between the cities of Quebec and St. Andrews, which it was apprehended would, if carried into effect, traverse a part of the territory at present in dispute between Great Britain and the United States, I am now enabled to inform you that, in consideration of the arguments and observations contained in your note, Her Majesty’s Government has been pleased to direct the colonial authorities of Lower Canada and New Brunswick, respectively, to cause all operations connected with the above-mentioned project within the limits of the disputed territory to be immediately discontinued. { I have the honor to be, sir, with high respect and consideration, your most obedi- ent and humble servant, 58 H. S FOX.
1587 Messages and Papers of the Presidents Mr. Stevenson to Lord Palmerston. (Extract.] 23 PORTLAND PLACE, August 10, 1837. * * * * * * * The undersigned will avail himself of the occasion to remind Lord Palmerston of .the urgency which exists for the immediate and final adjustment of this long-pend- ing controversy [respecting the northeastern boundary] and the increased obstacles which will be thrown in the way of its harmonious settlement by these repeated col- lisions of authority and the exercise of exclusive jurisdiction by either party within the disputed territory. He begs leave also to repeat to his lordship assurances of the earnest and unabated desire which the President feels that the controversy should be speedily and ami- cably settled, and to express the anxiety with which the Government of the United States is waiting the promised decision of Her Majesty's Government upon the proposition submitted to it as far back as July, 1836, and which the undersigned had been led to believe would long since have been given; and he has been further directed to say that should this proposition be disapproved the President entertains the hope that some new one, on the part of Her Majesty’s Government, will imme- diately be made for the final and favorable termination of this protracted and deeply exciting controversy. The undersigned begs Lord Palmerston to receive renewed assurances of his dis- tinguished consideration. A. STEVENSON. ‘ WASHINGTON, September 26, 1837. To the House of Representatives of the United States: In compliance with that part of the resolution of the House of Repre- sentatives of the 9th of January last which relates to the diplomatic correspondence of the late William Tudor while chargé d’affaires of the United States to Brazil, I transmit a report from the Secretary of State, together with the documents by which it was accompanied. M. VAN BUREN. WASHINGTON, September 30, 1837. To the House of Representatives of the United States: In compliance with the resolution of the House of Representatives of the United States of the 13th instant, respecting an annexation of Texas to the United States, I transmit a report from the Secretary of State and the documents by which it was accompanied. : M. VAN BUREN. WASHINGTON, September 30, 1837, To the House of Representatives of the United States: I transmit to the House of Representatives a report of the Secretary of State, containing the information requested by their resolution of the 19th instant, together with the documents by which the report was accompanied. — M. VAN BUREN
Martin Van Buren 1588 DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, September 29, 1837. The PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The Secretary of State, to whom was referred a resolution of the House of Repre- sentatives of the 19th instant, requesting the President to communicate to that House what measures have been adopted since the adjournment of the last Congress in relation to the tobacco trade between the United States and foreign countries, also such information as he may have received from our ministers or other agents abroad in relation to the same, has the honor to report that since the adjournment of the last Congress instructions have been given to the diplomatic representatives of this country at the Courts of Great Britain, France, Russia, Prussia, Sweden, Denmark, Holland, and Belgium directing them to endeavor to procure from the respective Governments to which they are accredited the abolition or modification of the exist- ing duties and restrictions upon tobacco imported from the United States, and that special agents have been appointed to collect information respecting the importa- tion, the cultivation, the manufacture, and consumption of tobacco in the various States of Germany to which the United States have not accredited representatives, and to prepare the way for negotiations for the promotion of the interests of the tobacco trade with those countries. A copy of the dispatches of the representatives of the United States received upon this subject is herewith communicated.* The special agents have proceeded to the execution of their duties, but no report has as yet been received from either of them. All which is respectfully submitted. JOHN FORSYTH. _ Wassrncton City, October 2, 1837. To the Senate of the United Siates: I transmit herewith, for the consideration ‘of the Senate, a treaty con- cluded with the Miami tribe of Indiahs by General Marshall in 1834, with explanatory documents from the Department of War, and ask its advice in regard to the ratification of the original treaty with the amendments proposed by the Secretary of War; the treaty, with the amendments, in the event of its ratification by the United States, to be again submitted to the chiefs and warriors of the Miami tribes for their sanction or rejection. M. VAN BUREN. “WASHINGTON, October 2, 1837. To the House of Representatives of the United States: In compliance with the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 13th ultimo, concerning the boundary between the United States and the Mexican Republic and a cession of territory belonging to the Mexican Confederation to the United States, I transmit a report from the Secretary of State and the documents by which it was accompanied. M. VAN BUREN. * Omitted.
1589 Messages and Papers of the Presidents WASHINGTON, October, 1837. Zo the House of Representatives of the United States: I have the honor, in compliance with the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 4th instant, to transmit the proceedings of the court of inquiry in the case of Brevet Brigadier-General Wool.* M. VAN BUREN. PROCLAMATION. By THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. A PROCLAMATION. ‘ Whereas by an act of Congress of the United States of the 25th of May, 1832, entitled ‘‘An act to exempt the vessels of Portugal from the pay- ment of duties of tonnage,’’ it was enacted as follows: ‘‘ No duties upon tonnage shall be hereafter levied or collected of the vessels of the King- dom of Portugal: Provided, always, That whenever the President of the United States shall be satisfied that the vessels of the United States are subjected in the ports of the Kingdom of Portugal to payment of any duties of tonnage, he shall by proclamation declare the fact, and the duties now payable by vessels of that Kingdom shall be levied and paid as if this act had not been passed;’’ and Whereas satisfactory evidence has been received by me not only that the vessels of the United States are subjected-in the ports of the said Kingdom of Portugal to payment of duties of tonnage, but that a dis- crimination exists in respect to those duties against the vessels of the United States: Now, therefore, I, Martin Van Buren, President of the United States of America, do hereby declare that fact and proclaim that the duties payable by vessels of the said Kingdom of Portugal on the 25th day'of May, 1832, shall henceforth be levied and paid as if the said act of the 25th of May, 1832, had not been passed. Given under my hand, at the city of Washington, the r1th day of October, 1837, and of the Independence of the United States the sixty- second. M. VAN BUREN. By the President: JoHN ForsyTa, Secretary of State. * Respecting transactions in the Cherokee country.
Martin Van Buren 1590 FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE. WasHINGTon, December 5, 1837. Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives: We have reason to renew the expression of our devout gratitude to the Giver of All Good for His benign protection. Our country presents on every side the evidences of that continued favor under whose auspices it has gradually risen from a few feeble and dependent colonies to a prose perous and powerful confederacy. We are blessed with domestic trane quillity and all the elements of national prosperity. The pestilence which, invading for a time some flourishing portions of the Union, interrupted the general prevalence of unusual health has happily been limited in extent and arrested in its fatal career. ‘The industry and prudence of our citizens are gradually relieving them from the pecuniary embarrassments under which portions of them have labored; judicious legislation and the natural and boundless resources of the country have afforded wise cnd timely aid to private enterprise, and the activity always characteristic of our people has already ina great degree resumed its usual and profitable channels. The condition of our foreign relations has not materially changed since the last annual message of my-predecessor. We remain at peace with all nations, and no efforts on my part consistent with the preservation of our rights and the honor of the country shall be spared to maintain a position so consonant toour institutions. We have faithfully sustained the foreign policy with which the United States, under the guidance of their first President, took their stand in the family of nations—that of regulating their intercourse with other powers by the approved principles of private life; asking and according equal rights and equal privileges; rendering and demanding justice in all cases; advancing their own and discussing the pretensions of others with candor, directness, and sincerity; appeal- ing at all times to reason, but never yielding to force nor seeking to acquire anything for themselves by its exercise. A rigid adherence to this policy has left this Government with scarcely a claim upon its justice for injuries arising from acts committed by its authority. ‘The most imposing and perplexing of those of the United States upon foreign governments for aggressions upon our citizens were disposed of by my predecessor, Independently of the benefits conferred upon our citizens by restoring to the mercantile community so many mil- - lions of which they had been wrongfully divested, a great service was also rendered to his country by the satisfactory adjustment of so many ancient and irritating subjects of contention; and it reflects no ordinary eredit on his successful administration of public affairs that this great object was accomplished without compromising on any occasion either the honor or the peace of the nation.
1591 Messages and Papers of the Presidents With European powers no new subjects of difficulty have arisen, and those which were under discussion, although not terminated, do not pre- sent a more unfavorable aspect for the future preservation of that good understanding which it has ever been our desire to cultivate. Of pending questions the most important is that which exists with the Government of Great Britain in respect to our northeastern boundary. It is with unfeigned regret that the people of the United States must look back upon the abortive efforts made by the Executive, for a period of more than half a century, to determine what no nation should suffer long to remain in dispute—the true line which divides its possessions from those of other powers. The nature of the settlements on the borders of the United States and of the neighboring territory was for a season such that this, perhaps, was not indispensable to a faithful performance of the . duties of the Federal Government. ‘Time has, however, changed this state of things, and has brought about a condition of affairs in which the true interests of both countries imperatively require that this question should be put at rest. It is not to be disguised that, with full confidence, often expressed, in the desire of the British Government to {erminate it, we are apparently as far from its adjustment as we were at the time of signing the treaty of peace in 1783. The sole result of long-pending negotiations and a perplexing arbitration appears to be a conviction on its part that a conventional line must be adopted, from the impossibility of ascertaining the true one according to the description contained in that treaty. Without coinciding in this opinion, which is not thought to be well founded, my predecessor gave the strongest proof of the ear- nest desire of the United States to terminate satisfactorily this dispute by proposing the substitution of a conventional liae if the consent of the States interested in the question could be obtained. To this proposition no answer has as yet been received. The attention of the British Gov- ernment has, however, been urgently invited to tLe subject, and its reply can not, I am confident, be much longer delayed. The general relations between Great Britain and the United States are of the most friendly character, and I am well satisfied of the sincere disposition of that Gov- ernment to maintain them upon their present footing. This disposition has also, I am persuaded, become more general with the people of Eng- land than at any previous period. It is scarcely necessary to say to you how cordially it is reciprocated by the Government and people of the United States. The conviction, which must be common to all, of the injurious consequences that result from keeping open this irritating question, and the certainty that its final settlement can not be much longer deferred, will, I trust, lead to an early and satisfactory adjust- ment. At your last session I laid before you the recent communications between the two Governnients and between this Government and that of the State of Maine, in whose solicitude concerning a subject in which she has so deep an interest every portion of the Union participates.
Martin Van Buren 1592 The feelings produced by a temporary interruption of those harmoni- ous relations between France and the United States which are due As well to the recollections of former times as to a correct appreciation of existing interests have been happily succeeded by a cordial disposition on both sides to cultivate an active friendship in their future intercourse. The opinion, undoubtedly correct, and steadily entertained by us, that the commercial relations at present existing between the two countries are susceptible of great and reciprocally beneficial improvements is obvi- ously gaining ground in France, and I am assured of the disposition of that Government to favor the accomplishment of such an object. This disposition shall be met in a proper spirit on our part. The few and comparatively unimportant questions that remain to be adjusted between us can, I have no doubt, be settled with entire satisfaction and without difficulty. Between Russia and the United States sentiments of good will con- tinue to be mutually cherished. Our minister recently accredited to that Court has been received with a frankness and cordiality and with evidences of respect for his country which leave us no room to doubt the preservation in future of those amicable and liberal relations which have so long and so uninterruptedly existed between the two countries. On' the few subjects under discussion between us an early and just. decision is confidently anticipated. A correspondence has been opened with the Government of Austria for the establishment of diplomatic relations, in conformity with the wishes of Congress as indicated by an appropriation act of the session of 1837, and arrangements made for the purpose, which will be duly carried into effect. With Austria and Prussia and with the States of the German Empire (now composing with the latter the Commercial League) our political relations are of the most friendly character, whilst our commercial inter- course is gradually extending, with benefit to all who are engaged in it. Civil war yet rages in Spain, producing intense suffering to its own people, and to other nations inconvenience and regret. Our citizens who have claims upon that country will be prejudiced for a time by the condition of its treasury, the inevitable consequence of long-continued and exhausting internal wars. The last installment of the interest of the debt due under the convention with the Queen of Spain has not been paid and similar failures may be expected to happen until a portion of the resources of her Kingdom can be devoted to the extinguishment of its foreign debt. Having received satisfactory evidence that discriminating tonnage duties were charged upon the vessels of the United States in the ports of Portugal, a proclamation was issued on the 11th day of October last, in compliance with the act of May 25, 1832, declaring that fact, and the duties on foreign tonnage which were levied upon Portuguese vessels in
\ 1593 Messages and Papers of the Presidents the United States previously to the passage of that act are accordingly revived. The act of July 4, 1836, suspending the discriminating duties upon the produce of Portugal imported into this country in Portuguese vessels, was passed, upon the application of that Government through its representa- tive here, under the belief that no similar discrimination existed in Por- tugal to the prejudice of the United States. I regret to state that such duties are now exacted in that country upon the cargoes of American ves- sels, and as the act referred to vests no discretion in the Executive, it is for Congress to determine upon the expediency of further legislation on the subject. Against these discriminations affecting the vessels of this country and their cargoes seasonable remonstrance was made, and notice was given to the Portuguese Government that unless they should be dis- continued the adoption of countervailing measures on the part of the United States would become necessary; but the reply of that Govern- ment, received at the Department of State through our chargé d’affaires at Lisbon in the month of September last, afforded no ground to hope for the abandonment of a system so little in harmony with the treatment shown to the vessels of Portugal and their cargoes in the ports of this country and so contrary to the expectations we had a right to entertain, With Holland, Sweden, Denmark, Naples, and Belgium a friendly intercourse has been uninterruptedly maintained. With the Government of the Ottoman Porte and its dependencies on the coast of the.Mediterranean peace and good will are carefully cultivated, and have been fostered by such good offices as the relative distance and the condition of those countries would permit. Our commerce with Greece is carried on under the laws of the two Governments, reciprocally beneficial to the navigating interests of both; and I have reason to look forward to the adoption of other measures which will be more extensively and permanently advantageous. Copies of the treaties concluded with the Governments of Siam and Muscat are transmitted for the information of Congress, the ratifications having been received and the treaties made public since the close of the last annual session. Already have we reason to congratulate ourselves on the prospect of considerable commercial benefit; and we have, besides, received from the Sultan of Muscat prompt evidence of his desire to cul- tivate the most friendly feelings, by liberal acts toward one of our vessels, bestowed in a manner so striking as to require on our part a grateful acknowledgment. Our commerce with the islands of Cuba and Porto Rico still labors under heavy restrictions, the continuance of which is a subject of regret. The only effect of an adherence to them will be to benefit the navigation of other countries at the expense of both the United States and Spain. The independent nations of this continent have ever since they emerged. from the colonial state experienced severe trials in their progress to the
Martin Van Buren 1594 permanent establishment of liberal political institutions. Their unsettled condition not only interrupts their own advances to prosperity, but has often seriously injured the other powers of the world. The claims of our citizens upon Peru, Chili, Brazil, the Argentine Republic, the Govern- ments formed out of the Republics of Colombia and Mexico, are still pending, although many of them have been presented for examination more than twenty years. New Granada, Venezuela, and Ecuador have recently formed a convention for the purpose of ascertaining and adjust- ing claims upon the Republic of Colombia, from which it is earnestly hoped our citizens will ere long receive full compensation for the injuries inflicted upon them and for the delay in affording it. An advantageous treaty of commerce has been concluded by the United States with the Peru-Bolivian Confederation, which wants only the ratifi- cation of that Government. The progress of a subsequent negotiation for the settlement of claims upon Peru has been unfavorably affected by the war between that power and Chili and the Argentine Republic, and the same event is also likely to produce delays in the settlement of our demands on those powers. The aggravating circumstances connected with our claims upon Mexico and a variety of events touching the honor and integrity of our Govern- ment led my predecessor to make at the second session of the last Con- gress a special recommendation of the course to be pursued to obtain a speedy and final satisfaction of the injuries complained of by this Governe ment and by our citizens. He recommended a final demand of redress, with a contingent authority to the Executive to make reprisals if that demand should be made in vain. From the proceedings of Congress on that recommendation it appeared that the opinion of both branches of the Legislature coincided with that of the Executive, that any mode of redress known to the law of nations might justifiably be used. It was obvious, too, that Congress believed with the President that another demand should be made, in order to give undeniable and satisfactory proof of our desire to avoid extremities with a neighboring power, but that there was an indisposition to vest a discretionary authority in the Executive to take redress should it unfortunately be either denied or unreasonably delayed by the Mexican Government. ; So soon as the necessary documents were prepared, after entering upon the duties of my office, a special messenger was sent to Mexico to make a final demand of redress, with the documents required by the provisions of our treaty. The demand was made on the 2oth of July last. The reply, which bears date the 29th of the same month, contains assurances of a desire on the part of that Government to give a prompt and explicit answer respecting each of the complaints, but that the examination of them would necessarily be deliberate; that in this examination it would be guided by the principles of public law and the obligation of treaties; that nothing should be left undone that might lead to the most speedy
1595 . Messages and Papers of the Presidents and equitable adjustment of our demands, and that its determination in respect to each case should be communicated through the Mexican minister here. Since that time an envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary has been accredited to this Government by that of the Mexican Republic. He brought with him assurances of a sincere desire that the pending differences between the two Governments should be terminated in a man- ner satisfactory to both. He was received with reciprocal assurances, and a hope was entertained that his mission would lead to a speedy, satisfactory, and final adjustment of all existing subjects of complaint. A sincere believer in the wisdom of the pacific policy by which the United States have always been governed in their intercourse with for- eign nations, it was my particular desire, from the proximity of the Mexican Republic and well-known occurrences on our frontier, to be instrumental in obviating all existing difficulties with that Government and in restoring to the intercourse between the two Republics that liberal and friendly character by which they should always be distinguished. I regret, therefore, the more deeply to have found in the recent commu- nications of that, Government so little reason to hope that any future efforts of mine for the accomplishment of those desirable objects would be successful. Although the larger number—and many of them aggravated cases of personal wrongs—have been now for years before the Mexican Govern- ment, and some of the causes of national complaint, and those of the most offensive character, admitted of immediate, simple, and satisfactory replies, it is only within a few days past that any specific communication in answer to our last demand, made five months ago, has been received from the Mexican minister. By the report of the Secretary of State herewith presented and the accompanying documents it will be seen that for not one of our public complaints has satisfaction been given or offered, that but one of the cases of personal wrong has been favorably considered, and that but four cases of both descriptions out of all those formally presented and earnestly pressed have as yet been decided upon by the Mexican Government. Not perceiving in what manner any of the powers given to the Execu- tive alone could be further usefully employed in bringing this unfortu- nate controversy to a satisfactory termination, the subject was by my predecessor referred to Congress as one calling for its interposition. In accordance with the clearly understood wishes of the Legislature, another and formal demand for satisfaction has been made upon the Mexican Government, with what success the documents now communicated will show. On a careful and deliberate examination of their contents, and considering the spirit manifested by the Mexican Government, it has become my painful duty to return the subject as it now stands to Con- gress, to whom it belongs to decide upon the time, the mode, and the
Martin Van Buren 1596 measure of redress. Whatever may be your decision, it shall be faith- fully executed, confident that it will be characterized by that moderation and justice which will, I trust, under all circumstances govern the coun- cils of our country. The balance in the Treasury on the 1st January, 1837, was $45,968,523. The receipts during the present year from all sources, including the amount of Treasury notes issued, are estimated at $23,499,981, consti- tuting an aggregate of $69,468,504. Of this amount about $35,281,361 will have been expended at the end of the year on appropriations made by Congress, and the residue, amounting to $34,187,143, will be the nominal balance in the Treasury on the rst of January next; but of - that sum only $1,085,498 is considered as immediately available for and applicable to public purposes. Those portions of it which will be for some time unavailable consist chiefly of sums deposited with the States and due from the former deposit banks. The details upon this subject will be found in the annual report of the Secretary of the Treasury. The amount of Treasury notes which it will be necessary to issue during the year on account of those funds being unavailable will, it is supposed, not exceed four and a half millions. It seemed proper, in the condition of the country, to have the estimates on all subjects made as low as prac- ticable without prejudice to any great public measures. The Depart- ments were therefore desired to prepare their estimates accordingly, and I am happy to find that they have been able to graduate them on so economical a scale. In the great and often unexpected fluctuations to which the revenue is subjected it is not possible to compute the receipts beforehand with great certainty, but should they not differ essentially from present anticipations, and should the appropriations not much exceed the estimates, no difficulty seems likely to happen in defraying the current expenses with promptitude and fidelity. Notwithstanding the great, embarrassments which have recently oc- curred in commercial affairs, and the liberal indulgence which in conse- quence of these embarrassments has been extended to both the merchants and the banks, it is gratifying to be able to anticipate that the Treasury notes which have been issued during the present year will be redeemed and that the resources of the Treasury, without any resort to loans or increased taxes, will prove ample for defraying all charges imposed on it during 1838. The report of the Secretary of the Treasury will afford you a more minute exposition of all matters connected with the administration of the finances during the current year—a period which for the amount of public moneys disbursed and deposited with the States, as well as the financial difficulties encountered and overcome, has few parallels in our history. Your attention was at the last session invited to the necessity of addi- tional legislative provisions in respect to the collection, safe-keeping, and
1597 Messages and Papers of the Presidents - transfer of the public money. No law having been then matured, and not understanding the proceedings of Congress as intended to be final, it becomes my duty again to bring the subject to your notice. On that occasion three modés of performing this branch of the public service were presented for consideration. ‘These were, the creation of a national bank; the revival, with modifications, of the deposit system established by the act of the 23d of June, 1836, permitting the use of the public moneys by the banks; and the discontinuance of the use of such institutions for the purposes referred to, with suitable provisions fer their accomplishment through the agency of public officers. Con- sidering the opinions of both {Houses of Congress on the first two prop- Ositions as expressed in the negative, in which I entirely concur, it is unnecessary for me again to recur to them. In respect to the last, you have had an opportunity since your adjournment not only to test still further the expediency of the measure by the continued practical opera- tion of such parts of it as are now in force, but also to discover what should ever be sought for and regarded with the utmost deference—the opinions and wishes of the people. The national will is the supreme law of the Republic, and on all sub- jects within the limits of his constitutional powers should be faithfully obeyed by the public servant. Since the measure in question was sub- mitted to your consideration most of you have enjoyed the advantage of personal communication with your constituents. For one State only has an election been held for the Federal Government; but the early day at which it took place deprived the measure under consideration of much of the support it might otherwise have derived from the result. Local elections for State officers have, however, been held in several of the States, at which the expediency of the plan proposed by the Executive has been more or less discussed. You will, I am confident, yield to their results the respect due to every expression of ‘the public voice. Desiring, however, to arrive at truth and a just view of the subject in all its bearings, you will at the same time remember that questions of far deeper and more immediate local interest than the fiscal plans of the National Treasury were involved.in those elections. Above all, we can not overlook the striking fact that there were at the time in those States more than one hundred and sixty millions of bank capital, of which large portions were subject to actual forfeiture, other large portions upheld onty by special and limited legislative indulgences, and most of it, if not all, to a greater or less extent dependent for a continuance ‘of its corporate existence upon the will of the State legislatures to be then chosen. Apprised of this circumstance, you will judge whether it is not most probable that the peculiar condition of that vast interest in these respects, the extent to which it has been spread through all the ramifications of society, its direct connection with the then pending elec- tions, and the feelings it was calculated to infuse into the canvass have
Martin Van Buren 1598 exercised a far greater influence over the result than any which could possibly have been produced by a conflict of opinion in respect to a question in the administration of the General Government more remote and far less important in its bearings upon that interest. I have found no reason to change my own opinion as to the expedi- ency of adopting the system proposed, being perfectly satisfied that there — - will be neither stability nor safety either in the fiscal affairs of the Gov- ernment or in the pecuniary transactions of individuals and corporations so long as a connection exists between them which, like the past, offers such strong inducements to make them the subjects of political agitation. Indeed, I am more than ever convinced of the dangers to which the free and unbiased exercise of political opinion—the only sure foundation and safeguard of republican government—would be exposed by any fur- ther increase of the already overgrown influence of corporate authorities, I can not, therefore, consistently with my views of duty, advise a renewal of a connection which circumstances have dissolved. The discontinuance of the use of State banks for fiscal purposes ought not to be regarded as a measure of hostility toward those institutions. Banks properly established and conducted are highly useful to the busi- ness of the country, and will doubtless continue to exist in the States so long as they conforth to their laws and are found to be safe and benefi- cial. How they should be created, what privileges they should enjoy, under what responsibilities they should act, and to what. restrictions they should be subject are questions which, as I observed on a previous occa- sion, belong to the States to decide. Upon their rights or the exercise of them the General Government can have no motive to encroach. Its duty toward them is well performed when it refrains from legislating for their special benefit, because such legislation would violate the spirit of the Constitution and be unjust to other interests; when it takes no steps to impair their usefulness, but so manages its own affairs as to make it the interest of those institutions to strengthen and improve their condi- tion for the security and welfare of the community at large. They have no right to insist on a connection with the Federal Government, nor on the use of the public money for their own benefit. The object of the meastire under consideration is to avoid for the future a compulsory con- nection of this kind. It proposes to place the General Government, in regard to the essential points of the collection, safe-keeping, and transfer of the public money, in a situation which shall relieve it from all depend- ence on the will of irresponsible individuals or corporations; to withdraw - those moneys from the uses of private trade and confide them to agents constitutionally selected and controlled by law; to abstain from improper interference with the industry of the people and withhold inducements to improvident dealings on the part of individuals; to give stability to the concerns of the Treasury; to preserve the measures of the Government from the unavoidable reproaches that flow from such a connection, and
1599 Messages and Papers of the Presidents the banks themselves from the injurious effects of a supposed participa- tion in the political conflicts of the day, from which they will otherwise find it difficult to escape. These are my views upon this important subject, formed after careful reflection and with no desire but to arrive at what is most likely to pro- mote the public interest. They are now, as they were before, submitted with unfeigned deference for the opinions of others. It was hardly to be hoped that changes so important on a subject so interesting could be made without producing a serious diversity of opinion; but so fong as those conflicting views are kept above the influence of individual or local interests, so long as they pursue only the general good and are discussed with moderation and candor, such diversity is a benefit, not an injury. If a majority of Congress see the public welfare in a different light, and more especially if they should be satisfied that the measure proposed would not be acceptable to the people, I shall look to their wisdom to substitute such as may be more conducive to the one and more satisfac- tory to the other. In any event, they may confidently rely on my hearty cooperation to the fullest extent to which my views of the Constitution and my sense of duty will permit. It is obviously important to this branch of the public service and to the business and quiet of the country that the whole subject should in _ some way be settled and regulated by law, and, if possible, at your present session. Besides the plans above referred to, I am not aware that any one has been suggested except that of keeping the public money in the State banks in special deposit. This plan is to some extent in accord- ance with the practice of the Government and with the present arrange- ments of the Treasury Department, which, except, perhaps, during the operation of the late deposit act, has always been allowed, even during the existence of a national bank, to make a temporary use of the State banks in particular places for the safe-keeping of portions of the revenue. This discretionary power might be continued if Congress deem it desir- able, whatever general system be adopted. So long as the connection is voluntary we need, perhaps, anticipate few of those difficulties and little of that dependence on the banks which must attend every such connec- tion-when compulsory in its nature and when so arranged as to make the banks a fixed part of the machinery of government. It is undoubtedly In the power of Congress so to regulate and guard it as to prevent the pub- lic money from being applied to the use or intermingled with the affairs of individuals. Thus arranged, although it would not give to the Gov- ernment that entire control over its own funds which I desire to secure to it by the plan I have proposed, it would, it must be admitted, in a great degree accomplish one of the objects which has recommended that plan to my judgment—the separation of the fiscal concerns of the Gov- ernment from those of individuals or corporations. With these observations I recommend the whole matter to your dis-
Martin Van Buren 1600 passionate reflection, confidently hoping that some conclusion may be reached by your, deliberations which on the one hand shall give safety and stability to the fiscal operations of the Government, and be consistent, on the other, with the genius of our institutions and with the interests and wishes of the great mass of our constituents. It was my hope that nothing would occur to make necessary on this occasion any allusion to the late national bank. ‘There are circum- stances, however, connected with the present state of its affairs that bear so directly on the character of the Governnient and the welfare of the citizen that I should not feel myself excused in neglecting to notice them. The charter which terminated its banking privileges on the 4th of March, 1836, continued its corporate power two years more for the sole purpose of closing its affairs, with authority ‘‘to use the corporate name, style, and capacity for the purpose of suits for a final settlement and liquidation of the affairs and acts of the corporation, and for the sale and disposi- tion of their estate—real, personal, and mixed—but for no other purpose or in any other manner whatsoever.’’ Just before the banking privileges ceased, its effects were transferred by the bank to a new State institution, then recently incorporated, in trust, for the discharge of its debts and the settlement of its affairs. With this trustee, by authority of Congress, an adjustment was subsequently made of the large interest which the Gov- ernment had in the stock of the institution. The manner in which a trust unexpectedly created upon the act granting the charter, and involv- ing such great public interests, has been executed would under any cir- cumstances be a fit subject of inquiry; but much more does it deserve your attention when it embraces the redemption of obligations to which the authority and credit of the United States have given value. The two years allowed are now nearly at an end. It is well understood that the trustee has not redeemed and canceled the outstanding notes of the bank, but has reissued and is actually reissuing, since the 3d of March, 1836, the notes which have been received by it toa vast amount. Accord- ing to its own official statement, so late as the 1st of October last, nineteen months after the banking privileges given by the charter had expired, it had under its control uncanceled notes of the late Bank of the United States to the amount of $27,561,866, of which $6,175,861 were in actual circulation, $1,468,627 at State bank agencies, and $3,002,390 2” fvansitu, thus showing that upward of ten millions and a half of the notes of the old bank were then still kept outstanding. The impropriety of this procedure is obvious, it being the duty of the trustee to cancel and not to put forth the notes of an institution whose concerns it had undertaken to wind up. If the trustee has a right to reissue these notes now, I can see no reason why it may not continue to do so after the expiration of the two years. As no one could have anticipated a course so extraordinary, the prohibitory clause of the char- ter above quoted was not accompanied by any penalty or other special
1601 _ Messages and Papers of the Presidents provision for enforcing it, nor have we any general law for the preven- tion of similar acts in future. But it is not in this view of the subject alone that your interposition is required. The United States in settling with ‘the trustee for their stock have withdrawn their funds from their former direct liability to the cred- itors of the old bank, yet notes of the institution continue to be sent forth in its name, and apparently upon the authority of the United States. The transactions connected with the employment of the bills of the old bank are of vast extent, and should they result unfortunately the interests of . individuals may be deeply compromised. Without undertaking to decide how far or in what form, if any, the trustee could be made liable for notes which contain no obligation on its part, or the old bank for such as are put in circulation after the expiration of its charter and without its authority, or the Government for indemnity in case of loss, the question still presses itself upon your consideration whether it is consistent with duty and good faith on the part of the Government to witness this pro- ceeding without a single effort to arrest it. The report of the Commissioner of the General Land Office, which will be laid before you by the Secretary of the Treasury, will show how the affairs of that office have been conducted for the past year. The dis- position of the public lands is one of the most important trusts confided to Congress. The practicability of retaining the title and control of such extensive domains in the General Government, and at the same time admitting the Territories embracing them into the Federal Union as coequals with the original States, was seriously doubted by many of our wisest statesmen. All feared that they would become a source of discord, and many carried their apprehensions so far as to see in them the seeds of a future dissolution of the Confederacy. But happily our experience has already been sufficient to quiet in a great degree all such apprehen- sions. The position at one time assumed, that the admission of new States into the Union on the same footing with the original States was incompatible with a right of soil in the United States and operated as a surrender thereof, notwithstanding the terms of the compacts by which their admission was designed to be regulated, has been wisely abandoned. Whether in the new or the old States, all now agree that the right of soil to the public lands remains in the Federal Government, and that these lands constitute a common property, to be disposed of for the common benefit of all the States, oldand new. Acquiescence in this just principle by the people of the new States has naturally promoted a disposition to adopt the most liberal policy in the sale of the public lands. A policy which should be limited to the mere object of selling the lands for the greatest possible sum of money, without regard to higher considerations, finds but few advocates. On the contrary, it is generally conceded that whilst the mode of disposition adopted by the Government should always be a prudent one, yet its leading object ought to be the early settlement
Martin Van Buren 1602 and cultivation of the lands sold, and that jt should discountenance, if it can not prevent, the accumulation of large tracts in the same hands, which must necessarily retard the growth of the new States or entail upon them a dependent tenantry and its attendant evils. , A question embracing such important interests and so well calculated to enlist the feelings of the people in every quarter of the Union has very naturally given rise to numerous plans for the improvement of the existing system. The distinctive features of the policy that has hitherto prevailed are to dispose of the public lands at moderate prices, thus enabling a greater number to enter into competition for their purchase and accomplishing a double object—of promoting their rapid settlement by the purchasers and at the same time increasing the receipts of the Treasury; to sell for cash, thereby preventing the disturbing influence of a large mass of private citizens indebted to the Government which they have a voice in controlling; to bring them into market no faster than good lands are supposed to be wanted for improvement, thereby preventing the accumulation of large tracts in few hands; and to apply the proceeds of the sales to the general purposes of the Government, thus diminishing the amount to be raised from the people of the States by taxation and giving each State its portion of the benefits to be derived from this common fund in a manner the most quiet, and at the same time, perhaps, the most equitable, that can be devised. These provisions, with occasional enactments in behalf of special interests deemed entitled to the favor of the Government, have in their execution produced results as beneficial upon the whole as could reasonably be expected in a matter so vast, so complicated, and so exciting. Upward of 70,000,000 acres have been sold, the greater part of which is believed to have been pur- chased for actual settlement. The population of the new States and Territories created out of the public domain increased between 1800 and 1830 from less than 60,000 to upward of 2,300,000 souls, constituting at the latter period about one-fifth of the whole people of the United States. The increase since can not be accurately known, but the whole may now be safely estimated at over three and a half millions of souls, composing nine States, the representatives of which constitute above one-third of the Senate and over one-sixth of the House of Representatives of the United States. Thus has been formed a body of free and independent landholders with a rapidity unequaled in the history of mankind; and this great result has been produced without leaving anything for future adjustment between the Government and its citizens. ‘The system under which so much has been accomplished can not be intrinsically bad, and with occasional modifications to correct abuses and adapt it to changes of circumstances may, I think, be safely trusted for the future. There is in the management of such extensive interests much virtue in stability; and although great and obvious improvements should not be declined,
, 1603 Messages and Papers of the Presidents changes should never be made without the fullest examination and the clearest demonstration of their practical utility. Inthe history of the past we have an assurance that this safe rule of action will not be departed from in relation to the public lands; nor is it believed that any necessity exists for interfering with the fundamental principles of the system, or that the public mind, even in the new States, is desirous of any radical alterations. On the contrary, the general disposition appears to be to make such modifications and additions only as will the more effectually carry out the original policy of filling our new States and Territories with ‘en industrious and independent population. The modification most perseveringly pressed upon Congress, which kas occupied so much of its time for years past, and will probably do so for a long time to come, if not sooner satisfactorily adjusted, is a reduction in the cost of such portions of the public lands as are ascertained to be unsalable at the rate now established by law, and a graduation accord- ing to their relative value of the prices at which they may hereafter be sold. It is worthy of consideration whether justice may not be done to every interest in this matter, and a vexed question set at rest, perhaps forever, by a reasonable compromise of conflicting opinions. Hitherto, after being offered at public sale, lands have been disposed of at one uniform price, whatever difference there might be in their intrinsic value. The leading considerations urged in favor of the measure referred to are that in almost all the land districts, and particularly in those in which the lands have been long surveyed and exposed to sale, there are still remaining numerous and large tracts of every gradation of value, from the Government price downward; that these lands will not be purchased at the Government price so long as better can be conveniently obtained for the same amount; that there are large tracts which even the improve- ments of the adjacent lands will never raise to that price, and that the present uniform price, combined with their irregular value, operates to prevent a desirable compactness of settlements in the new States and to retard the full development of that wise policy on which our land system is founded, to the injury not only of the several States where the lands lie, but of the United States as a whole. The remedy proposed has been a reduction of the prices according to the length of time the lands have been in market, without reference to any other circumstances. The certainty that the efflux of time would not always in such cases, and perhaps not even generally, furnish a true criterion of value, and the probability that persons residing in the vicinity, as the period for the reduction of prices approached, would postpone pur- chases they would otherwise make, for the purpose of availing themselves of the lower price, with other considerations of a similar character, have hitherto been successfully urged to defeat the graduation upon time. May not all reasonable desires upon this subject be satisfied without encountering any of these objections? All wil] concede the abstract
Martin Van Buren 1604 principle that the price of the public lands should be proportioned to their relative value, so far as can be accomplished without departing from the rule heretofore observed requiring fixed prices in cases of private entries. The difficulty of the subject seems to lie in the mode of ascer- taining what that value is. Would not the safest plan be that which has been adopted by many of the States as the basis of taxation—an actual valuation of lands and classification of them into different rates? Would it not be practicable and expedient to cause the relative value of the public lands in the old districts which have been for a certain length of time in market to be appraised and classed into two or more rates below the present minimum price by the officers now employed in ‘ this branch of the public service or in any other mode deemed preferable, and to make those prices permanent if upon the coming in of the report they shall prove satisfactory to Congress? Could not all the objects of graduation be accomplished in this way, and the objections which have hitherto been urged against it avoided? It would seem to me that s.ch a step, with a restriction of the sales to limited quantities and for actua‘ improvement, would be free from all just exception. By the full exposition of the value of the lands thus furnished and extensively promulgated persons living at a distance would be informed of their true condition and enabled to enter into competition with those residing in the vicinity; the means‘of acquiring an independent home would be brought within the reach of many who are unable to purchase at present prices; the population of the new States would be made more compact, and large tracts would be sold which would otherwise remain on hand. Not only would the land be brought within the means of a larger number of purchasers, but many persons possessed of greater means would be content to settle on a larger quantity of the poorer lands rather than emigrate farther west in pursuit of a smaller quantity of better lands. Such a measure would also seem to be more consistent with the policy of the existing laws—that of converting the public domain into cultivated farms owned by their occupants. That policy is not best promoted by sending emigration up the almost interminable streams of the West to occupy in groups the best spots of land, leaving immense wastes behind them and enlarging the frontier beyond the means of the Government to afford it adequate protection, but in encouraging it to occupy with: reasonable denseness the territory over which it advances, and find its best defense in the compact front which it presents to the Indian tribes. Many of you will bring to the consideration of the subject the advantages of local knowledge and greater experience, and all will be desirous of making an early and final disposition of every disturbing question in regard to this important interest. If these suggestions shall in any degree contribute to the accomplishment of so important a result, it will afford me sincere satisfaction. In some sections of the country most of the public lands have been
1605 Messages and Papers of the. Presidents sold, and the registers and receivers have very little todo. It isa subject worthy of inquiry whether in many cases two or more districts may not be consolidated and the number of persons employed in this business considerably reduced. Indeed, the time will come when it will be the true policy of the General Government, as to some of the States, to trans- fer to them for a reasonable equivalent all the refuse and unsold lands and to withdraw the machinery of the Federal'land offices altogether. All who take a comprehensive view of our federal system and believe that one of its greatest excellences consists in interfering as little as pos- sible with the internal concerns of the States look forward with great interest to this result. A modification of the existing laws in respect to the prices of the public - lands might also have a favorable influence on the legislation of Congress in relation to another branch of the subject. Many who have not the ability to buy at present prices settle on those lands with the hope of acquiring from their cultivation the means of purchasing under preemp- tion laws from time to time passed by Congress. For this encroachment on the rights of the United States they excuse themselves under the plea . of their own necessities; the fact that they dispossess nobody and only enter upon the waste domain: that they give additional value to the pub- lic lands in their vicinity, and their intention ultimately to pay the Gov- ernment price. So much weight has from time to time been attached to these considerations that Congress have passed laws giving actual settlers on the public lands a right of preemption to the tracts occupied by them at the minimum price. These laws have in all instances been retrospec- tive in their operation, but in a few years after their passage crowds of new settlers have been found on the public lands for similar reasons and under like expectations, who have been indulged with the same privilege. This course of legislation tends to impair public respect for the laws of the country. Either the laws to prevent intrusion upon the public lands should be executed, or, if that should be impracticable or inexpedient, they should be modified or repealed. If the public lands are to be con- sidered as open to be occupied by any, they should by law be thrown open to all. That which is intended in all instances to be legalized should at once be made legal, that those who are disposed to conform to the laws may enjoy at least equal privileges with those who are not. But it is not believed to be the disposition of Congress to open the public lands to occupancy without regular entry and payment of the Govern- ment price, as such a course must tend to worse evils than the credit system, which it was found necessary to abolish. ~ It would seem, therefore, to be the part of wisdom and sound policy to remove as far as practicable the causes which produce intrusions upon the public lands, and then take efficient steps to prevent them in future. Would any single measure be so effective in removing all plausible grounds for these intrusions as the graduation of price already sug-
Martin Van Buren 1606 gested? A short period of industry and economy in any part of our country would enable the poorest citizen to accumulate the means to buy him a home at the lower prices, and leave him without apology for settling on lands not his own. If he did not under such circumstances, he would-enlist no sympathy in his favor, and the laws would be readily executed without doing violence to public opinion. A large portion of our citizens have seated themselves on the public lands without authority since the passage of the last preemption law, and now ask the enactment of another to enable them to retain the lands occupied upon payment of the minimum Government price. They ask that which has been repeatedly granted before. If the future may be judged of by the past, little harm can be done to the interests of the Treasury by yielding to their request. Upon a critical examination it is found that the lands sold at the public sales since the introduction of cash payments, in 1820, have produced on an average the net revenue of only 6 cents an acre more than the minimum Government price. There is no reason to suppose that future sales will be more productive. The Government, therefore, has no adequate pecuniary interest to induce it to drive these people from the lands they occupy for the purpose of selling them to others. Entertaining these views, I recommend the passage of a preemption law for their benefit in connection with the preparatory steps toward the graduation of the price of the public lands, and further and more effec- tual provisions to prevent intrusions hereafter. Indulgence to those who have settled on these lands with expectations that past legislation would be made a rule for the future, and at the same time removing the most plausible ground on which intrusions are excused and adopting more efficient means to prevent them hereafter, appears to me the most judi- cious disposition which can be made of this difficult subject. The limi- tations and restrictions to guard against abuses in the =xecution of a preemption law will necessarily attract the careful attention of Congress, but under no circumstances is it considered expedient to authorize float- ing claims in any shape. They have been heretofore, and doubtless would be hereafter, most prolific sources of fraud and oppression, and instead of operating to confer the favor of the Government on industri- ous settlers are often used only to minister to a spirit of cupidity at the expense of the most meritorious of that class. ‘The accompanying report of the Secretary of War will bring to-your view the state of the Army and all the various subjects confided to the superintendence of that officer. The principal part of the Army has been concentrated in Florida, with a view and in the expectation of bringing the war in that Territory to a speedy close. The necessity of stripping the posts on the maritime and inland frontiers of their entire garrisons for the purpose of assembling in the field an army of less than 4,000 men would seem to indicate the
1607 Messages and Papers of the Presidents necessity of increasing our regular forces; and the superior efficiency, as well as greatly diminished expense of that description of troops, rec- ommend this measure as one of economy as well as of expediency. I refer to the report for the reasons which have induced the Secretary of War to urge the reorganization and enlargement of the staff of the Army. and of the Ordnance Corps, in which I fully concur. It is not, however, compatible with the interests of the people to main- tain in time of peace a regular force adequate to the defense of our extensive frontiers. In periods of danger and alarm we must rely prin- cipally upon a well-organized militia, and some general arrangement that will render this description of force more efficient has long been a subject of anxious solicitude. It was recommended to the First Congress by Genera! Washington, and has been since frequently brought to your notice, and recently its importance strongly urged by my immediate predecessor. The provision in the Constitution that renders it necessary to adopt a uniform system of organization for the militia throughout the United States presents an insurmountable obstacle to an efficient arrange- ment by the classification heretofore proposed, and I invite your atten- tion to the plan which will be submitted by the Secretary of War, for the organization of volunteer corps and the instruction of militia officers, as more simple and practicable, if not equally advantageous, as a general arrangement of the whole militia of the United States. A moderate increase of the corps both of military and topographical engineers has been more than once recommended by my predecessor, and my conviction of the propriety, not to say necessity, of the measure, in order to enable them to perform the various and important duties imposed upon them, induces me to repeat the recommendation. The Military Academy continues to answer all the purposes of its estab- lishment, and not only furnishes well-educated officers to the Army, but . serves to diffuse throughout the mass of our citizens individuals possessed of military knowledge and the scientific attainments of civil and military engineering. At present the cadet is bound, with consent of his parents or guardians, to remain in service five years from the period of his enlist- ment, unless sooner discharged, thus exacting only one year’s service in the Army after his education is completed. This does not appear to me sufficient. Government ought to command for a longer period the services of those who are educated at the public expense, and I recom- mend that the time of enlistment be extended to seven years, and the terms of the engagement strictly enforced. The creation of a national foundry for cannon, to be common to the service of the Army and Navy of the United States, has been heretofore recommended, and appears to be required in order to place our ordnance on an equal footing with that of other countries and to enable that branch of the service to control the prices of those articles and graduate the supplies to the wants of the Government, as well as to regulate their
Martin Van Buren 1608 quality and insure their uniformity. The same reasons induce me to recommend the erection of a manufactory of gunpowder, to be under the direction of the Ordnance Office. The establishment of a manufactory of small arms west of the Alleghany Mountains, upon the plan proposed by the Secretary of War, will contribute to extend throughout that country the improvements which exist in establishments of a similar description in the Atlantic States, and tend to a much more economical distribution of the armament required in the western portion of our Union. The system of removing the Indians west of the Mississippi, commenced by Mr. Jefferson in 1804, has been steadily persevered in by every suc- ceeding President, and may be considered the settled policy of the country. Unconnected at first with any well-defined system for their improvement, the inducements held out to the Indians were confined to the greater ab .n- dance of game to be found in the West; but when the beneficial effect: of their removal were made apparent a more philanthropic and enlightened policy was adopted in purchasing their lands east of the Mississippi. Lib- eral prices were given and provisions inserted in all the treaties with them for the application of the funds they received in exchange to such pur- poses as were best calculated to promote their present welfare and advance their future civilization. These measures have been attended thus far with the happiest results. It will be seen by referring to the report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs that the most sanguine expectations of the friends and promoters of this system have been realized. The Choctaws, Cherokees, and othe: tribes that first emigrated beyond the Mississippi have for the most part abandoned the hunter state and become cultivators of the soil. The improvement in their condition has been rapid, and it is believed that they are now fitted to enjoy the advantages of a simple form of govern- ment, which has been submitted to them and received their sanction; and I can not too strongly urge this subject upon the attention of Congress. Stipulations have been made with all the Indian tribes to remove them beyond the Mississippi, except with the bands of the Wyandots, the Six Nations in New York, the Menomonees, Munsees, and Stockbridges in Wisconsin, and Miamies in Indiana. With all but the Menomonees it is expected that arrangements for their emigration will be completed the present year. ‘The resistance which has been opposed to their removal by some of the tribes even after treaties had been made with them to that effect has arisen from various causes, operating differently on each of them. In most instances they have been instigated to resistance by per- sons to whom the trade with them and the acquisition of their annuities were important, and in some by the personul influence of interested chiefs. These obstacles must be overcome, for the Government can not relinquish the execution of this policy without sacrificing important inter- ests and abandoning the tribes remaining east of the Mississippi to certain destruction.
1609 Messages and Papers of the Presidents The decrease in numbers of the tribes within the limits of the States and Territories has been most rapid. If they be removed, they can be protected from those associations and evil practices which exert so per- nicious and destructive an influence over their destinjes. They can be induced to labor and to acquire property, and its acquisition will inspire them with a feeling of independence. Their minds can be cultivated, and they can be taught the value of salutary and uniform laws and be made sensible of the blessings of free government and capable of enjoying its advantages. In the possession of property, knowledge, and a good gov- ernment, free to give what direction they please to their labor, and sharers in the legislation by which their persons and the profits of their industry ar2 to be protected and secured, they will have an ever-present conviction of the importance of union and peace among themselves and of the preser- vation of amicable relations with us. The interests of the United States would also be greatly promoted by freeing the relations between the General and State Governments: from what has proved a most embar- rassing incumbrance by a satisfactory adjustment of conflicting titles to lands caused by the occupation of the Indians, and by causing the resources of the whole country to be developed by the power of the State and General Governments and improved by the enterprise of a white population. Intimately connected with this subject is the obligation of the Gov- ernment to fulfill its treaty stipulations and to protect the Indians thus assembled ‘‘at their new residences from all interruptions and disturb- ances from any other tribes or nations of Indians or from any other per- son or persons whatsoever,’’ and the equally solemn obligation to guard from Indian hostility its own border settlements, stretching along a line of more than 1,000 miles. To enable the Governinent to redeem this pledge to the Indians and to afford adequate protection to its own citi- zens will require the continual presence of a considerable regular force on the frontiers and the establishment of a chain of permanent posts. Examinations of the country are now making, with a view to decide on the most suitable points for the erection of fortresses and other works of defense, the results of which will be presented to you by the Secretary of War at an early day, together with a plan for the effectual protec- tion af the friendly Indians and the permanent defense of the frontier States. ‘ By the report of the Secretary of the Navy herewith communicated it appears that unremitted exertions have been made at the different navy-yards to carry into effect all authorized measures for the extension and employment of our naval force. The launching and preparation of the ship of the line Pennsylvania and the complete repairs of the ships of the line Ohio, Delaware, and Columbus may be noticed as forming a respectable addition to this important arm of our national defense. Our commerce and navigation have received increased aid and protection
Martin Van Buren 1610 during the present year. Our squadrons in the Pacific and on the Bra- zilian station have been much increased, and that in the Mediterranean, although small, is adequate to the present wants of our commerce in that sea. Additions have been made to our squadron on the West India station, where the large force under Commodore Dallas has been most actively and efficiently employed in protecting our commerce, in pre- venting the importation of slaves, and in cooperating with the officers of the Army in carrying on the war in Florida. The satisfactory condition of our naval force abroad leaves at our disposal the means of conveniently providing for a home squadron for _ the protection of commerce upon our extensive coast. The amount of appropriations required for such a squadron will be found in the general estimates for the naval service for the year 1838. The naval officers engaged upon our coast survey have rendered im- portant service to our navigation. The discovery of a new channel into the harbor of New York, through which our largest ships may pass with- out danger, must afford important commercial advantages to that harbor and add greatly to its value as a naval station. The accurate survey of Georges Shoals, off the coast of Massachusetts, lately completed, will render comparatively safe a navigation hitherto considered dangerous. Considerable additions have been made to the number of captains, commanders, lieutenants, surgeons, and assistant surgeons in the Navy. These additions were rendered necessary by the increased number of vessels put in commission to answer the exigencies of our growing commerce. Your attention is respectfully invited to the various suggestions of the Secretary for the improvement of the naval service. The report of the Postmaster-General exhibits the progress and condi- tion of the mail service. The operations of the Post-Office Department constitute one of the most active elements of our national prosperity, and it is gratifying to observe with what vigor they are conducted. The mail routes of the United States cover an extent of about 142,877 miles, hav- ing been increased about 37,103 miles within the last two years. The annual mail transportation on these routes is about 36,228,962 miles, having been increased about 10,359,476 miles within the same period. ‘The number of post-offices has also been increased from 10,770 to 12,099, very few of which receive the mails less than once a week, and a large portion of them daily. Contractors and postmasters in general are rep- resented as attending to their duties with most commendable zeal and fidelity. ‘The revenue of the Department within the year ending on the 30th of June last was $4,137,056.59, and its liabilities accruing within the same time were $3,380,847.75. The increase of revenue over that of the preceding year was $708,166.41. For many interesting details I refer you to the report of the Postmaster- General, with the accompanying papers. Your particular attention 1s .
1611 i Messages and Papers of the Presidents invited to the necessity of providing a more safe and convenient building for the accommodation of that Department. I lay before Congress copies of reports submitted in pursuance of a call made by me upon the heads of Departments for such suggestions as their experience might enable them’ to make as to what further legisla- tive provisions may be advantageously adopted to secure the faithful application of public moneys to the objects for which they are appropri- ated, to prevent their misapplication or embezzlement by those intrusted with the expenditure of them, and generally to increase the security of the Government against losses in their disbursement. It is needless to dilate on the importance of providing such new safeguards as are within the power of legislation to promote these ends, and I have little to add to the recomfinendations submitted in the accompanying papers. By law the terms of service of our most important collecting and dis- bursing officers in the civil departments are limited to four years, and when reappointed their bonds are required to be renewed. The safety of the public is much increased by this feature of the law, and there can be no doubt that its application to all officers intrusted with the collection or disbursement of the public money, whatever may be the tenure of their offices, would be equally beneficial. I therefore recommend, in addition to such of the suggestions presented by the heads of Departments as you may think useful, a general provision that all officers of the Army or Navy, or in the civil departments, intrusted with the receipt or payment of public money, and whose term of service is either unlimited or for a longer time than four years, be required to give new bonds, with good and sufficient sureties, at the expiration of every such period. A change in the period of terminating the fiscal year, from the rst of ‘October to the 1st of April, has been frequently recommended, and appears to be desirable. ; The distressing casualties in steamboats which have so frequently happened during the year seem to evince the necessity of attempting to prevent them by means of severe provisions connected with their custom- house papers. This subject was submitted to the attention of Congress by the Secretary of the Treasury in his last annual report, and will be again noticed at the present session, with additional details. It will doubtless receive that early and careful consideration which its pressing importance appears to require. Your attention has heretofore been frequently called to the affairs of the District of Columbia, and I should not again ask it did not their entire dependence on Congress give them a constant claim upon its notice. Separated by the Constitution from the rest of the Union, limited in extent, and aided by no legislature of its own, it would seem to be a spot where a wise and uniform system of local government might have been easily adopted. This district has, however, unfortunately been left to linger behind the rest of the Union. Its codes, civi) and
Martin Van Buren 1612 criminal, are not only very defective, but full of obsolete or inconvenient provisions. , Being formed of portions of two States, discrepancies in the laws prevail in different parts of the territory, small as it is; and although it was selected as the seat of the General Government, the site of its public edifices, the depository of its archives, and the residence of offcers intrusted with large amounts of public property and the manage: ment of public business, yet it has never been subjected to or receiverl that special and comprehensive legislation which these circumstances peculiarly demand. Iam well aware of the various subjects of greater magnitude and immediate interest that press themselves on the consid- eration of Congress, but I believe there is not one that appeals more directly to its justice than a liberal and even generous attention to the interests of the District of Columbia and a thorough and careful revision of its local government. M. VAN BUREN SPECIAL MESSAGES. WasuHincton, December 6, 1837. To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States: ‘I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of the Treasury, exhib- iting a transfer of appropriation that has been made in that Department in pursuance of the power vested in the President by the first section of the act of Congress of the 3d of March, 1809, entitled ‘‘An act further to amend the several acts for the establishment and regulation of the Treasury, War, and Navy Departments.”’ M. VAN BUREN. ‘Wasuineton, December, 1837. To the Senate: ; I transmit, for the action of the Senate, treaties negotiated with the following Indian tribes, viz: (1) The Chippewas of the Mississippi; (2) the Kioways, Ka-ta-kas, and Ta-wa-ka-ros; (3) the Sioux of the Mississippi; (4) the Sacs and Foxes of the Mississippi; (5) the Sioux of the Missouri; (6) the Sacs and Foxes of the Missouri; (7) the Winnebagoes; (8) the Ioways. M. VAN BUREN. WASHINGTON, December II, 1837. To the Senate of the United States: I herewith transmit to the Senate a report* irom the Secretary of State, with accompanying documents, in pursuance of their resolution of the 12th of October last. . ‘ M. VAN BUREN. * Relating to the capture and sequestration of the ship Mary, of Baltimore, and her cargo by the Dutch Government at the island of Curacoa in 1800,
1613 Messages and Papers of the Presidents To the Senate of the United States: In compliance with the resolution of the Senate of the 13th of October last, relative to claims of citizens of the United States on the Government of the Mexican Republic, I transmit a report from the Secretary of State and the documents by which it was accompanied. M. VAN BUREN. WASHINGTON, December, 1837. WASHINGTON, December 15, 1837. Zo the Senate and House of Representatives: I transmit herewith a communication from the Secretary of War ané@ the plans for marine hospitals on the Western waters, referred to by him, which are connected with the annual report from the War Department. M. VAN BUREN. WasHINGTON, December 18, 1837. To the Senate of the United States: I transmit herewith a report and accompanying documents* from the Secretary of War, which contain the information called for by a resolu- tion of the 13th of October last. M. VAN BUREN. WASHINGTON, December 21, 1837. To the House of Representatives of the United States: In compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives of the last session, I transmit a report made to me by the architect of the public buildings, with the accompanying documents, exhibiting a plan of the Treasury building now in process of erection, showing its location in reference to the adjacent streets and public square on which it is located, its elevation, the number and size of the rooms it will afford suitable for office business and the number and size of those suitable only for the deposit of records, with a statement of the sum expended on said build- ing and an estimate of the sum that will be required to complete the same. As the fifth section of the act of July 4, 1836, under the authority of which this building has been commenced, provides only for the erection of an edifice of such dimensions as may be required for the present and future accommodation of the Treasury Department, the size of the struc- ture has been adapted to that purpose; and it is not contemplated to. appropriate any part of the building to the use of any other Department. As it is understood, however, that the plan of the edifice admits of its * Relating to adjustment of claims to reservations of land under the fourteenth article of the treaty of 1830 with the Choctaw Indians
\ Martin Van Buren 1614 being completed either with or without wings, and that if Congress should think proper accommodation may be provided by means of wings con- sistently with the harmony of the original design for the Department of State and the General Post-Office, it is not thought that the public inter- est requires any change in the location or plan, although it is believed that the convenience of the public business would be promoted by includ- ing in the building the proposed accommodations for the two other Depart- ments just mentioned. The report of the architect shows the supposed difference of the expense that would be incurred in the event of the con- struction of the building with wings, in taking down the edifice now occupied by the Department of State, or repairing it so as to render it fireproof and make its outside conform to the other parts of the new building. I also transmit statements from the heads of the several Departments of the number and size of the rooms that are necessary for their respec- tive Departments for office business and for the deposit of records. M. VAN BUREN. WasHincton, December 22, 1837. To the Senate of the United States: I herewith transmit to the Senate a report from the Secretary of State, in answer to their resolution of the 16th of October last. M. VAN BUREN. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, December 22, 1837. The PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: bd The Secretary of State, to whom has been referred the resolution of the Senate of the 16th of October last, requesting the President of the United States to communi- cate to that body “at the next session of Congress (if not inconsistent with the public interest) any correspondence between the Government of the United States and any foreign government relative to the occupation of the territory of the United States west of the Rocky Mountains and bordering on the Pacific Ocean, and whether any, and, if so, what, portion of the said territory is in the possession of any foreign power,” ’ has the honor to report to the President that no correspondence between this and any foreign government on the subject referred to has passed since the negotiation of the existing convention of 1827 with Great Britain, by which the provisions of the third article of the convention of the 20th of October, 1818, with His Britannic Majesty, leaving the territory claimed by either power westward of the Rocky Mountains free and open to the citizens and subjects of both, were extended and continued in force indefinitely, but liable to be annulled at the will of either party, on due notice of twelve months, at any time after the 20th of October, 1828, and that the papers relating to the negotiation to which allusion has just bcen made were communicated to the Senate in confidence in the early part of the first session of the Twentieth Congress. With regard to the second clause of the resolution above cited, the Secretary has to state that the trading establishment called “ Astoria,’ at the mouth of the Columbia River, formerly belonging to John Jacob Astor, of New York, was sold to, and there- fore left in the possession of, the British Northwest Company, which subsequently united with the British Hudson Bay Company; that this company has now several
1 1615 Messages and Papers of the Presidents depots in the country, the principal of which is at Fort Vancouver, on the north bank of the Columbia River, and about 80 or 100 miles from its mouth. It appears that these posts have not been considered as being in contravention of the third article of the convention of 1818, before referred to; and if not, there is no portion of the territory claimed by the United States west of the Stony Mountains known to be in the exclusive possession of a foreign power. It is known, by information recently obtained, that the English company have a steamboat on the Columbia, and have ezected a sawmill and are cutting timber on the territory claimed by the United States, and shipping it in considerable quantities to the Sandwich Islands. Respectfully submitted. JOHN FORSYTH. . WasHINGTON, December 26, 1837. Zo the House of Representatives of the United States: I herewith transmit to the House of Representatives a report from the Secretary of State, in answer to their resolution of the 9th of October last. M. VAN BUREN. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, December 23, 1837. The PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED StTaTESs: The Secretary of State, to whom has been referred the resolution of the House of Representatives of the gth of October last, requesting the President to communicate to that House ‘‘at its next session, so far as in his judgment is consistent with the public interest, whether any foreign power, or the subjects of any foreign power, have possession of any portion of the territory of the United States on the Columbia _ River, or are in the occupancy of the same, and, if 90, in what way, by what authority, and how long such possession or occupancy has been kept by such persons,’’ has the honor to report to the President that a trading establishment called ‘‘ Astoria” was fonnded at the mouth of the Columbia River about the year 1811 by J. J. Astor, of New York; that his interest was sold to the British Northwest Company during the late war between the United States and Great Britain; that this company held it, and were left in possession at the time the country was formally delivered to the American commissioners, and that this company afterwards united with and became a part of the Hudson Bay Company under that name, which company, it is believed, have from the period of such union occupied the post in question, now commonly called ‘‘ Fort George.’? The Hudson Bay Company have also several depots situated on water courses in the interior of the country. The principal one is at Fort Van- couver, on the northern bank of the Columbia River, about 80 or 100 miles from its mouth. It is known by information recently obtained that the English company have a steamboat on this river, and that they have erected a sawmill and are cutting - timber on the territory claimed by the United States, and are shipping it in consid- erable quantities to the Sandwich Islands. ‘ The original occupation was under the authority of the purchase of J. J. Astor’s Interest, and it has been continued under the provisions of the conventions of 1818 and 1827 with Great Britain. By the third article of the first of these conventions it is stipulated that the territory claimed by either power westward of the Rocky Moun- tains shall be free and open for a term of years to the citizens and subjects of both. By the second convention this stipulation is extended and continued in force indefi- nitely, liable, however, to be annulled at any time after the 20th of October, 1828, at the will of either party, on due notice of twelve months. Respectfully submitted. JOHN FORSYTH.
Martin Van Buren 1616 WASHINGTON, January 5, 2838. To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States: Recent experience on the southern voundary of the United States and the events now daily occurring on our northern frontier have abundantly shown that the existing laws are insufficient to guard against hostile invasion from the United States of the territory of friendly and neigh- boring nations. ‘ The laws in force provide sufficient penalties for the punishment of such offenses after they have been committed, and provided the parties can be found, but the Executive is powerless in many cases to prevent the commission of them, even when in possession of ample evidence of an intention on the part of evil-disposed persons to violate our laws. Your attention is called to this defect in our legislation. It is appar- ent that the Executive ought to be clothed with adequate power effec- tually to restrain all persons within our jurisdiction from the commission of acts of this character. They tend to disturb the peace of the country and inevitably involve the Government in perplexing controversies with foreign powers. I recommend a careful revision of all the laws now in force and such additional enactments as may be necessary to vest in the Executive full power to prevent injuries being inflicted upon neighbor- ing nations by the unauthorized and unlawful acts of citizens of the United States or of other persons who may be within our jurisdiction and subject to our control. , In illustration of these views and to show the necessity of early action on the part of Congress, I submit herewith a copy of a letter received from the marshal of the northern district of New York,:who had been directed to repair to the frontier and take all authorized measures to secure the faithful execution of existing laws. M. VAN BUREN. Burralo, December 28, 1837. His Excellency M. VAN BUREN, , Srr: This frontier is in a state of commotion. I came to this city on the 22d instant, by direction of the United States attorney for the northern district of this State, for the purpose of serving process upon individuals suspected of violating the laws of the United States enacted with a view to maintain our neutrality. I learned on my arrival that some 200 or 300 men, mostly from the district of country adjoin- ing this frontier and from this side of the Niagara, had congregated upon Navy Island (Upper Canada), and were there in arms, with Rensselaer van Rensselaer, of Albany, at their head as commander in chief. From that time to the present they have received constant accessions of men, munitions of war, provisions, etc., from persons residing within the States. Their whole force is now about 1,000 strong, and, as is said, are well supplied with arms, etc. Warrants have been issued in some cases, but no arrests have as yet been effected. This expedition was got up in this city sevn after McKenzie’s arrival upon this side of the river, and the first company tha. 1auded upon the island were organized, par- tially at least, before they crossed f.om this side to the island.
1617 Messages and Papers of the Presidents From all that I can see and learn I am satisfied that if the Government deem it their duty to prevent supplies being furnished from this side to the army on the island, and also the augmentation of their forces from among the citizens of the States, that an armed force stationed along upon the line of the Niagara will be absolutely necessary to its accomplishment. I have just received a communication from Colonel McNab, commanding His Majesty's forces now at Chippewa, in which he strongly urges the public authori- ties here to prevent supplies being furnished to the armfy on the island, at the same time stating that if this can be effected the whole affair could be closed without any effusion of blood. McNab is about 2,500 strong and constantly increasing. I replied to him that should communicate with you immediately, as also with the governor of this State, and that everything which could would be done to maintain a strict neutrality. T learn that persons here are engaged i in dislodging one or more steamboats from the ice, and, as is supposed, with a view to aid in the patriot expedition. I am, sir, with great consideration, your obedient servant, N. GANON, United States Marshal, Northern District of New York. WASHINGTON, January 8, 1838. To the House of Representatives of the United States: In answer to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 5th instant, respecting the capture* and restoration of the Mexican brig of war the General Urvea, I transmit reports from the Secretaries of State and the Navy. M. VAN BUREN. Wasuincton, January 8, 1838. To the House of Representatives of the United States: I herewith transmit to the House of Representatives a report,t and accompanying documents, from the Secretary of State, in compliance with a resolution of that body dated the 5th instant. M. VAN BUREN. WASHINGTON, January 8, 1838. To the House of Representatives of the United States: I herewith transmit to the House of Representatives a report from the Secretary of State, in answer to a resolution { of that body dated the 5th instant. M. VAN BUREN. * By the United States sloop of war Natches off the coast of Texas. ¢ Transmitting instructions and correspondence concerning the preservation of the neutrality of the United States in the civil wars and insurrections in Mexico and in any of the British Provinces north of the United States since 1%29. ¢Calling for information of any acts endangering the amicable relations with Great Britain.
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UNITED STATES MILITARY ACADEMY In 1776 a Committee of the Continental Congress recommended the formation of a military academy. Washington forced it upon the attention of Congress in his message of December 3, 1793, after it had been discussed in the Cabinet, where Jefferson opposed it on the ground that it was uncon- Sstitutional. In 1794 Congress made a feeble start by authorizing a corps of artillerists and engineers to which 32 cadets were to be attached. In 1798 Congress made another effort and raised the number of cadets to 56. Pro- vision was made for books, instruments and four instructors, but no location was designated. Finally, March 16, 1801, the artillerists and engineers were made a district corps, with 50 cadets, and were settled permanently at West Point, N. Y. In April, 1812, the academy was reorganized, with a capacity of 260 cadets, and the curriculum was extended on the broad lines of a university. At the time when the engraving here reproduced was made, the military academy numbered among its gray-clad cadets the future generals of the Civil War, some destined to suffer and fall nobly in gray, and some to wear the blue through defeat to victory. In the Encyclopedic Index will be found a brief history of the institution.
Martin Van Buren 1618; Wasuincton, January 8, 1838. To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States: In the highly excited state of feeling on the northern frontier, occa- sioned by the disturbances in Canada, it was to be apprehended that causes of complaint might arise on the line dividing the United States from Her Britannic Majesty’s dominions. Every precaution was there- fore taken on our part authorized by the existing laws, and as the troops of the Provinces were embodied on the Canadian side it was hoped that no serious violation of the rights of the United States would be permitted to occur. I regret, however, to inform you that an out- rage of a most aggravated character has been committed, accompanied by a hostile though temporary invasion of our territory, producing the strongest feelings of resentment on the part of our citizens in the neigh- borhood and on the whole border line, and that the excitement previ- ously existing has been alarmingly increased. To guard against the possible recurrence of any similar act I have thought it indispensable to call out a portion of the militia, to be posted on that frontier. The docu- ments herewith presented to Congress show the character of the outrage committed, the measures taken in consequence of its occurrence, and the * necessity for resorting to them. It will also be seen that the subject was immediately brought to the notice of the British minister accredited to this country, and the proper steps taken on our part to obtain the fullest information of all the cir- cumstances leading to and attendant upon the transaction, preparatory to a demand for reparation. I ask such appropriations as the circum- stances in which our country is thus unexpectedly placed require. M. VAN BUREN. Mr. Rogers to the President. Burralo, December 30, 1837. His Excellency MARTIN VAN BUREN, President of the United States. Str: Inclosed are copies of affidavits which I have prepared in great haste, and which contain all that is material in relation to the gross and extraordinary transac- tion to which they relate. Our whole frontier is in commotion, and I fear it will be difficult to restrain our citizens from revenging by a resort to arms this flagrant invasion of our territory. Everything that can be done will be by the public author- ities to prevent so injudicious a movement. The respective sheriffs of Erie and Niagara have taken the responsibility of calling out the militia to guard the frontier and prevent any further depredations. I am, sir, with great consideration, your obedient servant, H. W. ROGERS, District Attorney for Erie County, and Acting for the United States. Srare oF NEw Yorx, Niagara County, ss: Gilman Appleby, of the city of Buffalo, being sworn, says that he left the port of Buffalo on the morning of the 29th instant in the steamboat Caroline, owned by William Walls, of Buffalo, and bound for Schlosser, upon the east side of the Niagara
1019 Messages and Papers of the Presidents River and within the United States; that this deponent commanded the said Caro- line, and that she was cleared from Buffalo with a view to run between said Buffalo and Schlosser, carrying passengers, freight, etc.; that this deponent caused the said Caroline to be lended at Black Rock on her way down, and that while at Black Rock this deponent caused the American flag to be run up, and that soon after leaving Black Rock Harbor a volley of musketry was discharged at the Caroline from the Canada shore, but without injury; that the said Caroline continued her course down the Niagara River unmolested and landed outside of certain scows or boats attached to Navy Island, where a number of passengers disembarked and, as this deponent supposes, certain articles of freight were landed; that from this point the Caroline ran to Schlosser, arriving there at 3 o’clock in the afternoon; that between this time and dark the Caroline made two trips to Navy Island, landing as before; that at about 6 o'clock in the evening this deponent caused the said Caroline to be landed ut Schlosser and made fast with chains to the dock at that place; that the crew and officers of the Caroline numbered ten, and that in the course of the evening twenty- three individuals, all of whom were citizens of the United States, came on board of the Caroline and requested this deponent and other officers of the boat to permit them to remain on board during the night, as they were unable to get lodgings at the tavern near by; these requests were acceded to, and the persons thus coming on board retired to rest, as did also the crew and officers of the Caroline, except such as were stationed to watch during the night; that about midnight this deponent was informed by one of the watch that several boats filled with men were making toward the Caroline from the river, and this deponent immediately gave the alarm, and before he was able to reach the dock the Cavoline.was boarded by some seventy or eighty - men, all of whom were armed; that they immediately commenced a warfare with muskets, swords, and cutlasses upon the defenseless crew and passengers of the Caroline under a fierce cry of ‘‘G—d d—n them, give them no quarters; kill every man. Fire! fire!’’; that the Cevoline was abandoned without resistance, and the only effort made by either the crew or passengers seemed to be to escape slaughter; that this deponent narrowly escaped, having received several wounds, none of which, however, are of a serious character; that immediately after the Caroline fell into the hands of the armed force who boarded her she was set on fire, cut loose from the dock, was towed into the current of the river, there abandoned, and soon after descended the Niagara Falls; that this deponent has made vigilant search after the individuals, thirty-three in number, who are known to have been on the Caroline at the time she was boarded, and twenty-one only are to be found, one of which, to wit, Amos Durfee, of Buffalo, was found dead upon the dock, having received a shot from a musket, the ball of which penetrated the back part of the head and came out at the forehead; James H. King and Captain C. F. Harding were seriously though not mortaily wounded; several others received slight wounds; the twelve individuals who are missing, this deponent has no doubt, were either murdered upon the steamboat or found a watery grave in the cataract of the Falls; and this deponent further says that immediately after the Caroline was got into the current of the stream and abandoned, as before stated, beacon lights were discovered upon the Canada shore near Chip- pewa, and after sufficient time had elapsed to enable the boats to reach that shore this deponent distinctly heard loud and vociferous cheering at that point; that this deponent has no doubt that the individuals who boarded the Cavo/ine were a part of the British forces now stationed at Chippewa. [Subscribed and sworn to before a commissioner, etc.] State oF NEw York, Miagara County, ss: Charles F. Harding, James H. King, Joshua H. Smith, William Seaman, William Kennedy, William Wells, John Leonard, Sylvanus Staring, and John Haggartv. being sworn, severally depose and say that they have heard the foregoing affidavix
Martin Van Buren 1620 of Gilman Appleby read; that they were on the Caroline at the time she was boarded as stated in said affidavit, and that all the facts sworn to by said Appleby as occurring after the said Caroline was so boarded as aforesaid are correct and true. {Subscribed and sworn to before a commissioner, etc. ] Mr. Poinsett to General Scott. DEPARTMENT OF WaR, January 5, 1838. Brevet Major-General WINFIELD Scort, Weshingion City. Srr: You will repair without delay to the Canada frontier of the United States and assume the military command there. Herewith you will receive duplicate letters to the governors of the States of New York and Vermont, requesting them to call into the service of the United States such a militia force as you may deem necessary for the defense of that frontier of the United States. ° This power has been confided to you in the full persuasion that you will use it discreetly and extend the call only so far as circumstances may seem to require. It is important that the troops called into the service should be, if possible, exempt from that state of excitement which the late violation of our territory has created, and you will therefore impress upon the governors of these border States the pro- priety of selecting troops from a portion of the State distant from the theater of action. The Executive possesses no legal authority to employ the military force to restrain persons within our jurisdiction and who ought to be under our control from violat- ing the laws by making incursions into the territory of neighboring and friendly nations with hostile intent. I can give you, therefore, no instructions on that sub- ject, but request that you will use your influence to prevent such excesses and to preserve the character of this Government for good faith and a proper regard for the rights of friendly powers. The militia will be called into the service for three months, unless sooner dis- charged, and in your requisitions you will designate the number of men and take care that the officers do not exceed a due proportion. It is deemed important that the administrative branch of the service should be conducted wherever practicable by officers of the Regular Army. The disposition of the force with regard to the points to be occupied is confided to your discretion, niilitary skill, and intimate knowledge of the country; and the amount of that force must depend upon the character and duration of the contest now going on in Canada and the disposition manifested by the people and the public authorities of that colony. The President indulges a hope that outrages similar to that which lately occurred at Schlosser will not be repeated, and that you will be able to maintain the peace of that frontier without being called upon to use the force which has been confided to you. Very respectfully, your most obedient servant, J. R. POINSETT. Mr. Poinsett to Governor Marcy. DEPARTMENT OF WAR, /Janua: 1838. His Excellency W. L. Marcy, » January 5, 1853 Governor of New York, Albany, N. Y. Sm: The territory of the United States having been violated by a party of armed men from the Canada shore, and apprehensions being entertained from the highly excited feelings of both parties that similar outrages may lead to an invasion of our
1621 Messages and Papers of the Presidents * soil, the President has thought proper to exercise the authority vested in him by law and call out such militia force as may be deemed necessary to protect the fron- tiers of the United States. I am, in consequence, instructed by the President to request you will call into the service of the United States and place under the command of Brevet Major-General Scott such militia force as he may require, to be employed on the Canada frontier for the purpose herein set forth. . Very respectfully, your most obedient servant, J. R. POINSETT. [Same to His Excellency Silas H. Jennison, governor of Vermont, Montpelier, Vt.] Mr. Forsyth to Mr, Fox. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, Janua 1838. Henry S. Fox, Esq., ete. . e J 1 5s 103 Sm: By the direction of the President of the United States I have the honor to com- municate to you a copy of the evidence furnished to this Department of an extraor- dinary outrage committed from Her Britannic Majesty’s Province of Upper Canada on the persons and property of citizens of the United States within the jurisdiction of the State of New York. The destruction of the property and assassination of citizens of the United States on the soil of New York at the moment when, as is well known to you, the President was anxiously endeavoring to allay the excitement and earnestly seeking to prevent any unfortunate occurrence on the frontier of Canada has produced upon his mind the most painful emotions of surprise and regret. It will necessarily form the subject of a demand for redress upon Her Majesty’s Gov- ernment. This communication is. made to you under the expectation that through your instrumentality an early explanation may be obtained from the authorities of Upper Canada of all the circumstances of the transaction, and that by your advice to those authorities such decisive precautions may be used as will render the perpe- tration of similar acts hereafter impossible. Not doubting the disposition of the government of Upper Canada to do its duty in punishing the aggressors and pre- venting future outrage, the President, notwithstanding, has deemed it necessary to order a sufficient force on the frontier to repel any attempt of a like character, and to make known to you that if it should occur he can not be answerable for the effects of the indignation of the neighboring people of the United States. I take this occasion to renew to you the assurance of my distinguished consid- eration. JOHN FORSYTH. WasHINGTON, January 12, 1838. To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States : I transmit to Congress copies of a representation from a late grand jury of the county of Washington, in this District, concurred in by two of the judges of the circuit court, of the necessity of the erection of a new jail and a lunatic asylum in this city. I also transmit copies of certain proceed- ings of the circuit court for the county of Alexandria at the last October term, and of a representation of the grand jury, made with the approba- tion of the court, showing the unsafe condition of the court-house of that county and the necessity for a new one. I recommend these objects to the favorable consideration of Congress. M. VAN BUREN.
Martin Van Buren 1622 WASHINGTON, January 12, 1838. The SPEAKER OF THE HovusE oF REPRESENTATIVES: , In answer to a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 24 instant, I transmit herewith a report* of the Secretary of War, explan- atory of the causes which have prevented a compliance with a resolution of that branch of Congress of February 24, 1837. M. VAN BUREN. To the Senate: WASHINGTON, January 13, 1838. I transmit to the Senate, for its constitutional action, a treaty made with the Chippewa Indians of Saganaw on the 2oth of December, 1837. M. VAN BUREN. WASHINGTON, January 26, 18378. To the House of Representatives of the United States: I herewith communicate to the House of Representatives a report from the Secretary of State, with accompanying documents, in answer to their resolution of the 9th instant. M. VAN BUREN. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, The PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Washington, January 25, 1838. The Secretary of State, to whom has been referred a resolution of the House of Representatives, dated the oth instant, requesting the President to communicate to that body ‘‘ what measures, if any, have been taken by the Executive for the release of Mr. Greely, a citizen of Maine, now imprisoned in the provincial jail of New Brunswick at Frederickton for an alleged violation of the jurisdiction of said Prov- ince over the territory claimed by the British Government; and also to communicate any correspondence which the executive department may have had with the British Government or the executive of Maine upon the subject of said Greely’s imprison- ment, so far as a communication of the same may be deemed by him not incom- patible with the public interest;’’ and likewise requesting the President, if not incompatible with the public interests, to communicate to that House ‘any corre- spondence or communication held between the Government of the United States and that of Great Britain at different times respecting the wardenship, occupation, or actual possession of that part of the territory of the State of Maine which is claimed by Great Britain,’’ has the honor to report to the President the accompanying docu- ments, which embrace the information and correspondence not heretofore published by Congress called for by the above-cited resolution. Respectfully submitted. JOHN FORSYTH. The governor of Maine to the President of the United States. ‘ STATE OF MAINE, EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT, His Excellency MARTIN VAN BUREN, September 18, 1837. President of the United States. Srr: I lose no time in advising Your Excellency that Ebenezer S. Greely, esq., a citizen of this State, while employed within its limits and under its authority in taking an enumeration of the inhabitants of the county of Penobscot residing north * Relating to alleged frauds upon the Creek Indians in the sale and purchase of their lands, etc.
1623 Messages and Papers of the Presidents of the surveyed and located townships, has been arrested a second time by the pro- vincial authorities of New Brunswick, and is now in confinement in the jail of Frederickton. It becomes my duty to request that prompt measures be adopted by the Goverrf. ment of the United States to effect the release of Mr. Greely. I have the honor to be, etc., ROBERT P. DUNLAP. Mr. Forsyth to Mr. Dunlap. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, His Excellency Ropert P, DUNLAP, Washington, September 26, 1837. Governor of Maine. Sir: I have the honor, by direction of the President, to acknowledge the receipt of the letter addressed to him by your excellericy on the 18th instant, advising him that Ebenezer S. Greely, esq., a citizen of Maine, while employed within its limits and under its authority in taking an enumeration of the inhabitants of the county of Penobscot, has been arrested a second time by the provincial authorities of New Brunswick, and is now in confinement in the jail at Frederickton; and requesting that prompt measures be adopted by the Government of the United States to effect the release of Mr. Greely. I hasten to assure you in reply that Mr. Stevenson, the minister of the United States at London, will be immediately instructed to renew his application to the British Government for the release of Mr. Greely, and that the result, when obtained and communicated to this Department, will be made known to your excellency without unnecessary delay. Information was given at an early day to the executive of Maine of the informal arrangement between the United States and Great Britain in regard to the exercise of jurisdiction within the disputed territory, and the President’s desire was then expressed that the government and people of that State would cooperate with the Federal Government in carrying it into effect. In the letter addressed to your excellency: from this Department on the 17th ultimo you were informed of the con- tinuance of that arrangement and of the reasons for it. I am now instructed by the President (who indulges the confident expectation that the executive of Maine will still see in the gravity of the interests involved a sufficient motive for his cordial concurrence in an arrangement which offers the best prospect of an amicable and satisfactory adjustment of the general question of boundary) to request your excel- lency’s cooperation in the conciliatory course adopted by the two Governments, an adherence to which seems the more important at this time from the considera- tion that an answer to the President’s last proposition is daily looked for, and to renew to you the assurance that no efforts shall be spared on his part to bring the negotiation to a speedy conclusion. I have the honor to be, etc., JOHN FORSYTH. Mr. Forsyth to Mr, Stevenson, (Rxtract.) DEPARTMENT OF STATE, ANDREW STEVENSON, Eaq,, etc, Washington, July 12, 1837. Sm: I inclose an extract* of a letter received at this Department from the governor of Maine, by which you will perceive that a citizen of that State, named Ebenezer S. Greely, while employed, in virtue of an appointment under one of its laws, in mak- ing an enumeration of the inhabitants upon a part of the territory claimed as being within the limits of the State, was seized by order of the authorities of the Prov- ince of New Brunswick on the 6th of June last and imprisoned in the public jail of * Omitted.
Martin Van Buren 1624 Frederickton, where he still remains. I also transmit a copy of sundry documents relating to his arrest and detention.* This outrage upon the personal liberty of one of its citizens has actually caused great excitement in Maine, and has produced an urgent appeal to the General Government for its intervention in procuring redress for what is considered an unprovoked and unjustifiable aggression. This arrest was made ona part of the territory in dispute between the United States and Great Britain, and could only have been justified in the existing state of that controversy by some plain infringement of the understanding which exists between the parties, that until the settlement of the question of right there shall be no extension of jurisdiction on either side within the disputed limits. It is not perceived how the simple enumera- tion of the inhabitants, about which Mr. Greely was employed, could be construed as a breach of that understanding, and it is expected that the Government of Great Britain will promptly mark its disapproval of this act of violence committed by the provincial authorities, so inconsistent with those amicable feelings under which the negotiation respecting the controverted ‘boundary has teen hitherto conducted, and so essential to bring it to a happy termination. You are directed immediately upon the receipt of this dispatch to bring the subject to the notice of His Majesty’s Government, and to demand as a matter of justice and right the prompt release of Mr. Greely and a suitable indemnity for his imprisonment. Mr, Stevenson to Mr. Forsyth. [Extract] LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, London, August 21, 1837. Sm: I received by the last packet to Liverpool your dispatch of the 12th of July (No. 21), transmitting copies of the documents and correspondence in relation to the arrest and imprisonment of Mr. Greely, a citizen of Maine, by the authorities of New Brunswick. ; In pursuance of your instructions, I lost no time in presenting the subject to the consideration of the Government, and herewith transmit to you a copy of my note to. Lord Palmerston, to which no answer has yet been received. You will see that I waived for the present the discussion of the question of right and jurisdiction, and contented myself with presenting the facts of the case and demanding the immediate release of Mr. Greely and indemnity for the injuries which he had sustained. Mr. Stevenson to Lord Palmerston. 23 PORTLAND PLACE, August 10, 1837. LORD PALMERSTON, etc.: The undersigned, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary from the United States, has the honor, in pursuance of instructions from his Government, to transmit to Lord Palmerston, Her Majesty's principal secretary of state for foreign affairs, copies of sundry official documents detailing the circumstances under which a most unwarrantable outrage has recently been committed by the authorities of the Province of New Brunswick upon the rights and liberty of a citizen of the United States. From these papers it appears that Ebenezer S. Greely, a citizen of the State of Maine, was duly appointed for the purpose of taking an enumeration of the inhab- . itants of that State by an act of its legislature; that on the 6th of June last, whilst Mr. Greely was engaged in performing this duty and taking down the names of the inhabitants residing in that part of the disputed territory claimed by the United States as lying within the limits of Maine, he was forcibly arrested by the authorities * Omitted.
1625 Messages and Papers of the Presidents of New Brunswick, immediately transported in custody to the town of Frederick- ton, and imprisoned in the public jail, where he still remains. ‘This proceeding by the authorities of New Brunswick, having produced, as might justly have been expected, very deep excitement in Maine, was followed by an Immediate appeal from the governor of that State to the Government of the United States for intervention and redress. This application on the part of Maine having received the special consideration of the President, the undersigned has been instructed to lose no time in presenting the subject to the early and earhest attention of Her Majesty’s Government, and demand- ing not only the immediate liberation of Mr. Greely from imprisonment, but indem- nity for the injuries that he has sustained. In fulfilling these instructions of his Government it is not the purpose of the undersigned to open the general discussion of the respective claims of Great Britain and the United States to the disputed territory (within which Mr. Greely was arrested), or the right of either Government to exercise jurisdiction within its limits. Whatever opinion the undersigned may entertain as to the rightful claim of the State of Maine to the territory in dispute, and however unanswerable he may regard the arguments by which the claim may be sustained, he deems it neither proper nor needful to urge them upon the consideration of Her Majesty’s Government in the decision of the present case; more especially as the whole subject is elsewhere, and in another form, matter of negotiation between the two Governments, where the discus- sion of the question of right more appropriately belongs. The undersigned, more- over, does not presume that pending the negotiation, and whilst efforts are making: for the peaceable and final adjustment of these delicate and exciting questions, Her Majesty’s Government can claim the right of exclusive jurisdiction and sovereignty over the disputed territory or the persons residing within its limits, In such a claim of power on the part of Great Britain or its provincial authorities, the undersigned need not repeat to Lord Palmerston (what he is already fully apprised of) the Gov- ernment of the United States can never consent to acquiesce in the existing state of the controversy. On the contrary, the mutual understanding which exists between the two Governments on the subject and the moderation which both Governments have heretofore manifested forbid the exercise by either of such high acts of sover- eign power as that which has been exerted in the present case by the authorities of Her Majesty’s provincial government. The undersigned must therefore suppose that this arrest and imprisonment of an American citizen under such circumstances and in the existing state of the contro- versy could only have been justified by some supposed infringement of the under- standing existing between the parties in relation to the question of jurisdiction within the disputed territory. Such, however, was not the case. The correspondence between the governor of Maine and the lieutenant-governor of New Brunswick shows that the only act done by Mr. Greely was the simple enumeration of the inhabitants, and it is not perceived how such an act could be construed into a breach of the under- Standing between the two Governments, It is proper also to remark that this was not the first time that the inhabitants within this particuldr settlement had been enumerated under the authority of the United States. It was done in the census of 1820 (as a portion of the State of Maine), and was at the time neither objected to nor remonstrated against by the British Government or that of New Brunswick. Wherever, then, the right of jurisdiction and sovereignty over this territory may dwell, the undersigned feels satisfied that Her Majesty’s Government can not fail to perceive that the arrest and imprisonment of Mr. Greely under the circumstances of the case was not only a violation of the rights of the United States, but was wholly irreconcilable with that moderation and forbearance which it is peculiarly the duty of both Governments to maintain until the question of right shall be definitively eettled.
Martin Van Buren 1626 It becomes the duty of the undersigned, therefore, in pursuance of special instruc- tions from his Government, to invite the early and favorable consideration of Her Majesty’s Government to the subject, and to demand, as a matter of justice and right, the immediate discharge of Mr. Greely from imprisonment, and a suitable indemnity for the wrongs he has sustained. Before closing this note the undersigned will avail himself of the occasion to remind Lord Palmerston of the urgency which exists for the immediate and final adjustment of this long-pending controversy, and the increased obstacles which will be thrown in the way of its harmonious settlement by these repeated collisions of authority and the exercise of exclusive jurisdiction by either party within the disputed territory. He begs leave also to repeat to his lordship assurances of the earnest and unabated desire which the President feels that the controversy should be speedily and ami- cably settled, and to express the anxiety with which the Government of the United States is waiting the promised decision of Her Majesty’s Government upon the proposition submitted to it as far back as July, 1836, and which the undersigned had been led to believe would long since have been given; and he has been further directed to say that should this proposition be disapproved the President entertains the hope that some new one on the part of Her Majesty’s Government will immedi- ately be made for the final and favorable termination of this protracted and deeply exciting controversy. The undersigned begs Lord Palmerston to receive renewed assurances of his dis- tinguished consideration. A. STEVENSON. Mr. Forsyth to Mr. Stevenson. DEPARTMENT OF STATH, Washington, September 28, 1837. ANDREW STEVENSON, Esq., etc. Srr: You will receive herewith the copy of a note, dated the 18th instant, recently received by the President from the governor of Maine, who alleges that Ebenezer S. Greely, esq., a citizen of that State, while employed within its limits and under its authority in enumerating the inhabitants of Penobscot County, has been again arrested and imprisoned by the provincial authorities of New Brunswick, and requests that speedy measures be adopted by the Government of the United States to procure the release of Mr. Greely. Governor Dunlap has been assured, by the President’s direction, that steps would be immediately taken to effect that object, and you are accordingly instructed, on the receipt of this dispatch, to bring the subject without delay to the attention of the British secretary of state for foreign affairs. You will remonstrate in a respectful but earnest manner against this second violation of the rights of Maine in the person of her agent, and demand the prompt release of Mr. Greely, with such additional indemnification as the nature of the outrage calls for. I am, etc., JOHN FORSYTH. — Mr. Stevenson to Mr. Forsyth. (Extracts.] L&GATION OF THE UNITED STATES, ° London, November 22, 1837. On my return to London, after an absence of a few weeks, I found your dispatches Nos. 26 and 27, under date of the 8th and 28th of September. In pursuance of your instructions I addressed an official note to Lord Palmerston on the subject of the
1627 Messages and Papers of the Presidents second arrest and imprisonment of Mr. Greely by the provincial authority of New Brunswick, a copy of which I have now the honor of transmitting to you. No answer has yet been received to my first note, but I presume a decision of the case may be soon expected. Mr. Stevenson to Lord Palmerston, 23 PoRTLAND PLack, November 8, 1837. The undersigned, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary from the United States, had the honor on the roth of August last of addressing to Lord Viscount Pal- merston, Her Majesty's principal secretary of state for foreign affairs, an official note complaining of the arrest and imprisonment of Ebenezer S. Greely, a citizen of the United States, by the provincial authorities of New Brunswick, and demanding, by order of his Government, the immediate release of Mr. Greely from imprisonment, with suitable indemnity for the wrongs he had sustained. To this communication a note was received from his lordship, under date of the 22d of the same month, in which an assurance was given that an early answer to the complaint might be expected. No answer, however, has yet been received, and it is with unfeigned regret that the undersigned finds himself constrained, in again inviting the attention of Her Majesty’s Government to the subject, to accompany it with another complaint of a second outrage committed by the authorities of New Brunswick upon the rights and liberty of this individual. From recent information received it appears that shortly after the first arrest and imprisonment of Mr. Greely he was, by the orders of the lieutenant-governor of New Brunswick, released from confinement, but was immediately thereafter again taken into custody by his authority and recommitted to the jail of Frederickton, where he is now detained. This fact having been communicated by the governor of Maine to the President of the United States (in an official communication setting forth the circumstances under which it was done, a copy of which is herewith transmitted), the undersigned has received the special instructions of his Government to bring the subject without delay to the notice of Her Majesty’s Government, in order that immediate steps may be taken for the liberation of Mr. Greely and indemnity made for the injuries he has suffered. Having in the first note which he had the honor of addressing to Lord Palmerston stated the grounds upon which the release of this individual was demanded and the expectations of his Government in relation to the subject, and having waived the dis- cussion of the questions of right and jurisdiction, which he still intends doing, it will not be needful to do more on this occasion than express to his lordship the painful surprise and regret with which the President has received information of this second outrage on the part of the authorities of New Brunswick, and to repeat the assur- ances heretofore given that such proceeding can be regarded in no other light than a violation of the rights and sovereignty of the United States, and entirely irrecon- cilable with that mutual forbearance which it was understood would be practiced by both Governments pending the negotiation. - The circumstances under which these recent attempts to enforce jurisdiction have been made show that in the most favorable aspect in which they can be regarded they were wholly indefensible. The act for which Greely was arrested and imprisoned, so far from having been - committed within the acknowledged dominions of the British Crown, and beyond the‘limits of the disputed territory, and therefore liable to be treated as a violation of territorial jurisdiction, took place, as appears by the statement of the governor of Maine, whilst he was employed within the limits of that State, and under its authority, in enumerating the inhabitants of the county of Penobscot. By what authority, then, the provincial government of New Brunswick felt itself
Martin Van Buren 1628 justified in exercising such acts of sovereign power the undersigned is at a loss to con- ceive, unless, indeed, upon the ground that the jurisdiction and sovereignty over the disputed territory pending the controversy rests exclusively with Great Britain. If such should turn out to be the fact, it can hardly be necessary again to repeat the assur- ances which have been heretofore given that in any such claim of power the Govern- ment of the United States can not acquiesce. Upon the consequences which would unavoidably result from attempting to exer- cise such jurisdiction it is needless to enlarge. It must now be apparent that all such attempts, if persevered in, can produce only feuds and collisions of the most painful character, and besides increasing the feelings of international discord which have already been excited between the contending parties, they will close every avenue to an amicable adjustment of a controversy which it is so much the desire and interest of both Governments to accomplish. Ought it not, then, to be the earnest endeavor of the two Governments to avoid doing anything which can have a tendency to lead to such mischievous consequences? It is under this view of the subject that the undersigned has been instructed again to remonstrate against these proceedings of the authorities of New Brunswick, as a violation of the rights of Maine in the person of her agent, and to protest in the most solemn manner against the ftture exercise of all such acts of jurisdiction and sovereignty over the disputed territory or the citizens of the United States residing within its limits until a final adjustment of the controversy takes place. - The undersigned, therefore, can not and ought not to close this note without again invoking the early and earnest attention of Lord Palmerston and that of Her Majesty’s Government to this painful subject. ; It is one of deep and mutual interest to the parties concerned, and the delicacy and embarrassments which surround it are justly appreciated by the Government of the United States. Deeply regretting, as that Government does, the collisions of author- ity to which both countries have been so repeatedly exposed by the delay that has taken place in the final settlement of the main question, it is sincerely desirous, as the undersigned has taken occasion repeatedly to assure Lord Palmerston, to have it brought to a speedy and amicable termination. This can only be done by measures of mutual forbearance and moderation on the part of both Governments. To this end the efforts of the American Government have been earnest, persevering, and constant. It has done, as it will continue to do, everything in its power to induce the State of Maine to pursue a course best calculated to avoid all excitement and collision between the citizens of that State and the inhabitants of New Brunswick, or which would tend in any manner to embarrass the mediatorial action of their two Governments on the subject; but it can not be expected, if the authorities of New Brunswick still persevere in attempting to exercise jurisdiction over the disputed territory by the arrest and imprisonment in foreign jails of citizens of Maine for per- forming their duty under the laws of their own State, and within what is believed to be her ferritorial limits, that measures of retaliation will not be resorted to by Maine, and great mischief ensue. Indeed, under existing circumstances and in the nature of human connections, it is not possible, should such a course of violence be continued, to avoid collisions of the most painful character, for which the Government of the United States can not be responsible, but which both Governments would equally deplore. It was doubtless with a view of guarding against these consequences that the under- standing took place that each Government should abstain from exercising jurisdic- tion within the limits of the disputed territory pending the settlement of the main question. The undersigned therefore persuades himself that these proceedings of the colonial government may have taken place without a careful examination of the important questions involved in them or the consequences to which they might lead, rather
1629 Messages and Papers of the Presidents than under instructions from Her Majesty’s Government or with a deliberate view of asserting and enforcing territorial and jurisdictional rights over the contested In looking back, as he does with satisfaction, to the conciliatory spirit in which the negotiation has heretofore been conducted and the moderation which both Govern- ments have observed, the undersigned can not permit himself to doubt but that upon a careful review of the whole subject Her Majesty’s Government will see fit not only to mark with its disapprobation this last proceeding of her colonial govern- ment, and direct the immediate liberation of Mr. Greely from imprisonment, with ample indemnity for the wrongs he may have sustained, but that it will see the pro- priety of giving suitable instructions to the authorities of New Brunswick to abstain for the future from all acts of that character, which can have no other tendency than to increase the excitement and jealousies which already prevail and retard the final and amicable adjustment of this painful controversy. The undersigned requests Lord Palmerston to accept assurances of his distin- guished consideration. A. STEVENSON. Mr. Clay to Mr. Vaughan. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, January 9, 1829. Right Hon. CHARLES R. VAUGHAN, etc. Srr: I have this day received a letter from the governor of the State of Massa- chusetts, transmitting an extract from a letter addressed by George W. Coffin, esq., land agent of Massachusetts, to his excellency, a copy of which is herewith commu- nicated, and to which I request your immediate and particular attention. It appears from this document that ‘‘ mills are now erecting on the grant formerly made to General Eaton, on the Aroostook River, for the avowed purpose of getting their supply of timber from our forests;’’ that the proprietor of these mills ‘‘says he has assurances from the authorities of New Brunswick that he may cut timber without hindrance from them, provided he will engage to pay them for it if they suc- ceed in obtaining their right to the territory;’’ ‘‘that mills are also erected at Fish River, and to supply them the growth in that section is fast diminishing, and that the inhabitants of St. John River obtain from the Province of New Brunswick per. mits to cut on the Crown lands. But it is evident that many having such permits do not confine themselves to Crown lands, for in my travels across the interior country logging roads and the chips where timber had been hewn were seen in every direc- tion, also many stumps of trees newly cut.’’ I need scarcely remark that the pro- ceedings thus described are in opposition to the understanding which has existed between the Governments of the United States and Great Britain that during the pendency of the arbitration which is to settle the question of boundary neither party should exercise any jurisdiction or perform any act on the disputed territory to strengthen his own claims or to affect the state of the property in issue. The governor of Massachusetts observes in his letter to me that, ‘‘in relation to the lands on Fish River, it must be recollected that the survey of a road by the joint commis- sioners of Massachusetts and Maine a short time since was made matter of complaint by the British minister resident at Washington on the express ground that the terri- tory was within the scope of the dispute. From courtesy to his Government and a respectful regard to a guggestion from the Department of State, the making of the road was suspended.”” The governor justly concludes: ‘‘ But it will be an ill requital for this voluntary forbearance on our part if the land is to be plundered of its tim- ber and the value of the property destroyed before it shall be determined that it does not belong to us.’’ ; . If the government of New Brunswick will authorize or countenance such tres-
Martin Van Buren 1630 > \ ‘passes as have been stated by Mr. Coffin on the disputed territory, it can not be expected that the State of Maine will abstain from the adoption of preventive meas- ures or from the performance of similar or other acts of jurisdiction and proprietor- ship. The consequence would be immediate and disagreeable collision. To prevent this state of things, I am directed by the President again to demand through you the effectual interposition of the British Government. Without that the friendly, if not the peaceful, relations between the two countries may be interrupted or endangered. I request your acceptance on this occasion of assurances of my distinguished con- sideration. : H. CLAY. Mr. Vaughan to Mr. Clay. Hon. Henry Cray, ete.: WasEINGTON, January 13, 1829. The undersigned, His Britannic Majesty’s envoy extraordinary and minister pleni- potentiary, has the honor to acknowledge the receipt of Mr. Clay’s note containing a representation which has been made by his excellency the governor of the State of Massachusetts respecting the cutting down of timber upon the disputed territory in the Province of New Brunswick. The undersigned will immediately transmit a copy of Mr. Clay’s note to His Majesty’s lieutenant-governor of New Brunswick, in order to obtain an explanation of the transaction which has given rise to the remonstrance made by the governor of Massachusetts, The undersigned takes this opportunity of renewing to the Secretary of State the assurances of his highest consideration. _ CHS. R. VAUGHAN. Mr. Vaughan to Mr. Hamilton. JamEs A. HAMILTon, Esq., etc.: WasHINGTON, March 7, 1829. The undersigned, His Britannic Majesty’s envoy extraordinary and minister pleni- potentiary, had the honor to receive from the Secretary of State of the United States a note, dated the 9th January last, containing a representation made by his excel-’ lency the governor of Massachusetts respecting some trespasses committed on the disputed territory in the Province of New Brunswick. A copy of the note of the Secretary of State having been transmitted to Sir Howard Douglas, His Majesty’s lieutenant-governor of that Province, the undersigned has lately received an answer, which he has the honor to communicate to Mr. Hamilton by inclosing an extract * of his excellency’s letter, which shews in the most satisfac- tory manner that, so far from the proceedings complained of by the governor of Massachusetts having been authorized or countenanced in any shape by the govern- ment of New Brunswick, every precaution has been taken to prevent and restrain depredations in the disputed territory. Mr. Hamilton will see by the inclosed letter that Sir Howard Douglas has sent a magistrate to report upon the mills which have been established without license or authority, to inspect minutely the stations of the cutters of lumber, and to seize any timber brought into the acknowledged boundaries of New Brunswick from the dis- puted territory, and to hold the proceeds of the sale of it for the benefit of the party to whom that territory may be ultimately awarded. ~ As the time is approaching when Sir Howard Douglas will be absent from his government, he will leave injunctions strictly to observe the understanding between the two governments during his absence. The undersigned has great satisfaction in being able to offer to the Government of the United States the unequivocal testimony * Omitted.
1631 Messages and Papers of the Presidents contained in the inclosed letter from Sir Howard Douglas of the conciliatory spirit in which the government of New Brunswick is administered, and trusting that a simi- lar spirit will animate the government of the American States which border on that Province, he confidently anticipates a cessation of that excitement which has unfor- tunately prevailed in the neighborhood of the disputed territory. The undersigned takes this occasion to offer to Mr, Hamilton the assurances of his high consideration. CHAS. R. VAUGHAN. Mr. Hamilton to Mr. Vaughan. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Right Hon. CHARLES RICHARD VAUGHAN, Washington, March 11, 1839. Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary from Great Britain. Str: I have received and laid before the President of the United States the note, with its inclosures, which you did me the honor to write to me on the 7th of this month in answer to a representation which was made to you by Mr. Clay on the 9th of January last, at the instance of the governor of Massachusetts, concerning dep- redations complained of by him against inhabitants of the Province of New Bruns- wick in cutting timber, preparing lumber for market, and erecting mills upon the soil of the territory in dispute between the United States and Great Britain, and I am directed by the President to state in reply, as I have much pleasure in doing, that he derives great satisfaction from the information contained in your communica- tion, as he especially perceives in the prompt and energetic measures adopted by Sir Howard Douglas, lieutenant-governor of the Province in question, and detailed in the inclosure referred to, a pledge of the same disposition on the part of the authori- ties of that Province which animates this Government—to enforce a strict observance of the understanding between the two Governments that the citizens or subjects of neither shall exercise any acts of ownership in the disputed territory whilst the title to it remains unsettled. I will lose no time in making known to the governors of Mas- sachusetts and Maine the measures which have been thus adopted by the lieutenant- governor of New Brunswick, to guard against all depredations upon the disputed territory, and will at the same time inform their excellencies of the just and confi- dent expectation entertained by the President that the conciliatory understanding or arrangement between the two Governments of the United States and Great Britain already referred to should not be disturbed by the citizens of these two States. I am directed likewise by the President expressly to use this first occasion of an official communication with you under his orders to request the favor of you to make known to your Government the sincere regret he feels at the existence of any differ- ence or misunderstanding between the United States and Great Britain upon the subject-matter of this letter, or any other whatever, and that in all the measures which may be adopted on his part toward their adjustment he will be entirely actu- ated and governed by a sincere desire to promote the kindest and best feelings on both sides and secure the mutual and lasting interests of the parties. I pray you, sir, to accept the renewed assurances of the high and distinguished consideration with which I have the honor to be, your obedient, humble servant, JAMES A. HAMILTON. Mr. Vaughan to Mr. Hamilton, Mr. J. A. HaMILton, etc.: WASHINGTON, March 12, 1829. It is with great satisfaction that the undersigned, His Britannic Majesty’s envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary, acknowledges the receipt of Mr. Hamil- ton’s note of the 11th instant, containing a prompt acknowledgment of the efficacious
Martin Van Buren 1632 measures adopted by the lientenant-governor of New Brunswick to investigate and to restrain the proceedings complained of in the disputed territory; and he bege leave to assure the President that he derives great satisfaction from being requested to communicate to His Majesty’s Government that in the adjustment of differences between Great Britain and the United States the President will be entirely actuated and governed by a sincere desire to promote the kindest and best feelings on both sides and secure the mutual and lasting interests of the parties. The undersigned begs Mr. Hamilton to accept the assurances of his highest con- sideration, CHS. R. VAUGHAN, Mr. Vaughan to Mr. Van Buren. WASHINGTON, April s0, 1829. Hon. MARTIN VAN BUREN, etc.: The undersigned, His Britannic Majesty's envoy extraordinary and minister pleni- potentiary, has the honor to inform the Secretary of State of the United States that he has received an intimation from His Majesty’s lieutenant-governor of New Bruns- wick that, apparently, it is the intention of the Government of the United States to carry the road now making through the State of Maine to Mars Hill over the point, and to occupy it as a military station. The undersigned begs leave to remind Mr. Van Buren that Mars Hill is situated upon the northeastern line of boundary which is in dispute between the two Gov- ernments; and he is called upon to protest against the occupation of it by American troops upon the ground that the line drawn by the commissioners of boundary under the treaty of Ghent due north from the monument which marks the sources of the river St. Croix was not considered by them as correctly laid down, and it yet remains to be determined whether Mars Hill lies eastward or westward of a line drawn upon scientific principles. Fora better explanation of the motives for this protest the undersigned has the honor to refer the Secretary of State to a copy of a letter, which is inclosed,* from Sir Howard Douglas. A joint resolution of both Houses of Congress passed during the last session tends to confirm the intentions of the Government of the United States as inferred by Sir Howard Douglas from the information which he has received. That resolution authorized the making of a road from and beyond Mars Hill to the mouth of the Madawaska River; but as the carrying into effect that resolution was left entirely to the discretion of the President, the undersigned can not entertain any apprehen- sion of a forcible seizure of a large portion of the disputed territory, which a com- pliance with the resolution of Congress would imply. ; The undersigned acknowledges with great satisfaction the assurances which he has received of the kind feelings which will actuate the President of the United States in the adjustment of any differences which may exist with Great Britain. He submits, therefore, the representation of the lieutenant-governor of New Brunswick respecting the occupation of Mars Hill, relying confidently on the manifest propriety of restraining the aggression which it is supposed is meditated from the frontier of the State of Maine, and of both parties mutually abstaining from any acts which can affect the disputed territory, as the question of possession is now in the course of arbitration. The undersigned reiterates to the Secretary of State the assurances of his highest consideration. CHAS. R. VAUGHAN, * Omitted. ~
1633 Messages and Papers of the Presidents Mr. Van Buren to Mr. Vaughan. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, May 11, 1829. Right Hon. CHARLES R. VAUGHAN, etc.: The undersigned, Secretary of State of tne United States, has the honor to acknowledge the receipt of the note which Mr. Vaughan, His Britannic Majesty’s envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary, addressed to him on the roth of April, stating upon the authority of a letter from the governor of New Brunswick, whereof a copy came inclosed in Mr. Vaughan’s note, that it was apparently the intention of the Government of the United States to carry the road now making through the State of Maine to Mars Hill over that point, and to occupy Mars Hill as a military station; and protesting against such occupation upon the ground that the line drawn by the commissioners of boundary under the treaty of Ghent due north from the monument which marks the source of the river St. Croix was not considered by them as correctly laid down, and that it yet remains to be determined whether Mars Hill is eastward or westward of the true line. The undersigned deems it unnecessary upon the present occasion to enter into an elaborate discussion of the point stated by Sir Howard Douglas, the lieutenant- governor of New Brunswick, concerning the line referred to by him, inasmuch as the relative position of Mars Hill to that line is already designated upon map A, and the line itself mutually agreed to and sufficiently understood for all, present purposes, though not definitively settled by the convention of London of the 29th September, 1827. . The undersigned will therefore merely state that he finds nothing in the record of the proceedings of the commissioners under the fifth article of the treaty of Ghent to warrant the doubt suggested by the lieutenant-governor of New Brunswick whether Mars Hill lies to the westward of the line to be drawn due north from the monument at the source of the St. Croix to the highlands which divide the waters that empty into the river St. Lawrence from those which empty into the Atlantic Ocean; that the joint surveys and explorations made under that commission place the hill about a mile due west of that line; and that the agent of His Britannic Majesty before the commissioners, so far from intimating any doubt on the point, made it one ground of argument that the true line, when correctly laid down, would necessarily, on account of the ascertained progressive westerly variation of the needle, fall still farther westward. The undersigned can not acquiesce in the supposition that, because the agent of His Britannic Majesty thought proper in the proceedings before the commissioners to lay claim to all that portion of the State of Maine which lies north of a line running westerly from Mars Hill, and designated as the limit or boundary of the British claim, thereby the United States or the State of Maine ceased to have jurisdiction in the ter- ritory thus claimed. In the view of this Government His Britannic Majesty’s agent might with equal justice have extended his claim to any other undisputed part of the State as to claim the portion of it which he has drawn in question, and in such case the lieutenant-governor of New Brunswick could surely not have considered a con- tinuance on the part of the United States and of the State of Maine to exercise their accustomed jurisdiction and authority to be an encroachment. If so, in what light are we to regard the continued acts of jurisdiction now exercised by him in the Mad- awaska settlement? More than twenty years ago large tracts of land lying westward of Mars Hill, and northward on the river Restook, were granted by the State of Massa- chusetts, which tracts are held and possessed under those grants to this day, and the United States and the States of Massachusetts and Maine, in succession, have never ceased to exercise that jurisdiction which the unsettled condition of the conntry in that region and other circumstances admitted and required. .
Martin Van Buren 1634 The undersigned, therefore, can not discover in the facts and circumstances of the case any just principles upon which Sir Howard Douglas could predicate his protest. He has, however, submitted the note which he had the honor to receive from Mr. ‘Vaughan to the President of the United States, and is by him directed to say in reply that although this Government could feel no difficulty in the exercise of what it deems an unquestionable right, and could not allow itself to be restrained by the pro- test of the lieutenant-governor of New Brunswick, yet, as a further proof of the spirit of amity, forbearance, and conciliation which the President is desirous of cultivating between the two Governments, he has decided to postpone for the present the exer- cise of the authority vested in him by the Congress of the United States to cause to be surveyed and laid out a military road to be continued from Mars Hill, or such other point on the military road laid out in the State of Maine as he may think proper, to the mouth of the river Madawaska, and to add that the lieutenant-governor of New Brunswick is under a misapprehension as to the design of this Government to occupy Mars Hill as a military station, no such intention being entertained by the President, nor have any measures been taken by this Government with an ulterior view to that object. The undersigned indulges the hope that Mr. Vaughan will perceive in the manner in which the President, discriminating between the rights of this Government and their present exercise, has used the discretion conferred upon him an additional evidence of the desire which he sincerely entertains, and which he has heretofore caused to be communicated to Mr, Vaughan, that both Governments should, as far as practicable, abstain from all acts of authority over the territory in dispute which are not of immediate and indispensable necessity, and which would serve to create or increase excitement whilst the matter is in course of arbitration; and he feels well persuaded that Mr. Vaughan will not fail to inculcate the same spirit and to recom- mend in the strongest terms the observance of the same course on the part of the provincial government of New Brunswick. The undersigned offers to Mr. Vaughan the renewed assurances of his high consid- eration. : . M. VAN BUREN. Mr. Vaughan to Mr. Van Buren. , WASHINGTON, May 14, 1829. Fon. MARTIN VAN BUREN, etc.: . The undersigned, His Britannic Majesty’s envoy extraordinary and minister pleni- potentiary, has the honor to acknowledge the receipt of Mr. Van Buren’s note dated the 11th instant, and he derives great satisfaction from being able to communicate to His Majesty’s Government the assurances which it contains that the Government of the United States has never entertained the design of occupying Mars Hill, and that the President, in the spirit of amity, forbearance, and conciliation which he is . desirous of cultivating between the two Governments, has decided to postpone for the present the exercise of the authority vested in him by the Congress of the United States to cause to be surveyed and laid out a military road to be continued from Mars Hill to the river Madawaska. The undersigned will transmit immediately a copy of Mr. Van Buren’s note to His Majesty’s Government, and he forbears, therefore, from taking notice of the observa- tions which it contains relative to the exact position of Mars Hill and to the exercise of jurisdiction in the district on the nortiwest of it. The undersigned begs leave to renew to Mr. Van Buren the assurances of his high- est consideration. CHAS. R. VAUGHAN.
1635 Messages and Papers of the Presidents Mr. Vaughan to Mr. Van Buren. . WASHINGTON, June 8, 1829, Hon. MARTIN VAN BUREN, etc.: The undersigned, His Britannic Majesty's envoy extraordinary and minister pleni- potentiary, had the honor on the 7th March last to lay before the Government of the United States a letter from Sir Howard Douglas, His Majesty's lieutenant- governor of New Brunswick, in explanation of trespasses alleged by the governor of the State of Massachusetts to have been committed by British subjects in the dis- puted territory within that Province. The lieutenant-governor announced his inten- tion in that letter of sending a magistrate into the district where the proceedings complained of had taken place to ascertain the nature and extent of the alleged trespasses and afterwards to make a report to his excellency. The report of the magistrate having been received by Mr. Black, who has been commissioned by His Majesty to administer the government of New Brunswick dur- ing the temporary absence of Sir Howard Douglas, a-copy of it has been transmitted to the undersigned, and he begs leave to submit it * to the consideration of the Secretary of State of the United States, together with an extract* of the letter of Mr. Black which accompanied it. As it appears by the report of Mr. Maclauchlan, the mag- istrate, that some American citizens settled in the disputed territory are implicated in the trespasses which have been committed, Mr. Black, the president and commie- sioner in chief of the government of New Brunswick, suggests the propriety of an officer being appointed by the Government of the United States to act in concert with the British magistrate in preventing further depredations. The undersigned has received from Mr. Black the most satisfactory assurances that it will be his earnest study to adhere scrupulously to the good feeling and con- ciliatory conduct toward the United States which has been observed by Sir Howard Douglas. The undersigned seizes this opportunity to renew to Mr. Van Buren the assurances of his distinguished consideration. CHAS. R. VAUGHAN. Mr. Bankhead to Mr, Livingston. WasHincTon, October 1, 1831. Hon. EpwarpD LIVINGSTON, etc.: The undersigned, His Britannic Majesty's chargé d’affaires, has the honor to acquaint Mr. Livingston, Secretary of State of the United States, that he has received a communication from His Majesty’s lieutenant-governor of New Bruns- wick, stating that the authorities of Maine have endeavored to exercise a jurisdic- tion over part of the territory at present in dispute between His Majesty and the United States, and, further, that an order has been issued by & justice of the peace for the county of Penobscot to the inhabitants of the town of Madawaska to assemble for the purpose of choosing municipal officers. . The undersigned regrets sincerely that these irregular proceedings should have been had recourse to during a period when the question of boundary is in a course of settlement, and in opposition to the desire expressed by the President that pend- ing the discussion of that question the State af Maine should refrain from commit- ting any act which could be construed into a violation of the neighboring territory. The undersigned begs leave to submit to the Secretary of State several documents * which he has received from Sir Archibald Campbell in support of his complaint of a violation of territory; and the undersigned entertains a confident hope that such measures will be adopted as shall prevent a recurrence of acts on the part of the authorities of the State of Maine which are productive of so much inconvenience * Omitted.
Martin Van Buren . 1636 and which tend to disturb that harmony and good will so necessary to be preserved between the two countries. The undersigned has the honor to renew to Mr. Livingston the assurances of his distinguished consideration. CHARLES BANKHEAD. Mr. Livingston to Mr. Bankhead. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, October 17, 1831. CHarrEs BANKHEAD, Eaq., etc. Srr: Immediately after’ receiving your note of the 1st instant I wrote to the governor of the State of Maine for information on the subject of it. I have just received his answer, of which I have the honor to inclose two extracts.* By the first you will perceive that the election of town officers in the settlement of Madawaska, of which complaint was made in the papers inclosed in your letter, was made under color of a general law, which was not intended by either the executive or legislative authority of that State to be executed in that settlement, and that the whole was the work of inconsiderate individuals. By the second extract it will appear that the individuals said to have been most prominent in setting up the authority of the State have been arrested by order of the lieutenant-governor of the Province of New Brunswick, and were on their way to be imprisoned at Frederickton. The innovation on the existing state of things in the disputed territory being dis- tinctly disavowed by the executive authority of the State, no act of authority or exercise of jurisdiction having followed the election, I would respectfully suggest the propriety of your recommending to the lieutenant-governor of New Brunswick the release of the prisoners who were arrested for exercising this act of authority in the territory mutually claimed by the two nations, contrary to the understanding between their Governments. It is their avowed object to avoid any collision until the intention of both parties in relation to the award shall be fully known. All subjects calculated to produce irritation, therefore, ought evidently to be avoided. The arrest of the persons concerned in the election must produce that feeling in a high degree. A conviction can not take place without eliciting a decision from the bench declaratory of and enforcing the jurisdiction over the territory in dispute, which it is the present policy of both powers to avoid, at least for the short time that must elapse before the question can be finally settled. If punishment should follow conviction, the passions that would be excited must inevitably be hostile to that spirit of conciliation so necessary where sacrifices of national feeling and individual interest are required for the common good. It would be absurd here to enter into the question of title. Both parties claim it. No act that either can do is necessary to assist its right while there is hope of an amicable arrangement; and it was with this view of the subject that a mutual understanding has been had to leave things in the state in which they are until the question of the award is settled. On the part of the Americans some individuals, in contravention of this understand- ing, have proceeded to do acts which if followed out would change the political state of part of the disputed land. But it has not been so followed out; it is disavowed by the power whose assent is necessary to carry it into execution. It is therefore of no avail, and can have no more effect than if the same number of men had met at Madawaska and declared themselves duly elected members of the British Parlia- ment. The act interferes with no right; it comes in actual collision with no estab- lished power. Notso the punishment of the individuals concerned. This is at once * Omitted.
1637 Messages and Papers of the Presidents a practical decision of the question, and may lead to retaliating legal measures; for if the lieutenant-governor of New Brunswick feels himself obliged, as he says he does, to impose the authority of the law within which he thinks the boundaries of his Prov- ince, will not the same feeling incite the governor of Maine, under the same sense of duty, to pursue the like measures? And thus the fruits of moderation and mutual forbearance during so long a period will be lost for the want of perseverance in them for the short time that is now wanting to bring the controversy to an amicable close. It is therefore, sir, that I invite your interposition with his excellency the lieutenant- governor of New Brunswick to induce him to set at liberty the persons arrested, on their engagement to make no change in the state of things until the business shall ‘be finally decided between the two Governments. On our part, the desire of the General Government to avoid atly measures tending to a change in the existing state of things on our northeast boundary has been fully and, it is believed, efficaciously expressed to the executive of the State of Maine, so that the actual relation of the State with the neighboring Province will not in future suffer any change. I have great pleasure, sir, in renewing on this occasion the assurance of my higb consideration. . EDWD. LIVINGSTON. Mr. Bankhead to Mr. Livingston. WasuHinctTon, October 20, 1831. Hon. EpwaRD LIVINGSTON, Esq., etc.: The undersigned, His Britannic Majesty’s chargé d’affaires, has the honor to acknowledge the receipt of Mr. Livingston’s note of the 17th instant, in answer to a representation which the undersigned thought it his duty to make to the Govern- ment of the United States upon a violation committed upon the territory at present . in dispute between the two countries. The friendly tone assumed by the Secretary of State in this communication, the discountenance on the part of the General Government of the proceedings which were complained of, and the determination of the President to cause the strictest for- bearance to be maintained until the question of boundary shall be settled have been received by the undersigned with great satisfaction, and it is in the same spirit of harmony that he has addressed a letter to His Majesty's lieutenant-governor of New Brunswick, inclosing a copy of Mr. Livingston’ s note, for his excellency’s serious consideration. The undersigned has the honor to renew to Mr. Livingston the assurance of his distinguished consideration. CHARLES BANKHEAD. Mr. Bankhead to Mr. Livingston. WASHINGTON, October 22, 1831. Hon. EpwarD LIVINGSTON, etc.: The undersigned, His Britannic Majesty’s chargé d’affaires, has the honor to transmit to the Secretary of State of the United States the copy of a letter* from His Majesty's lieutenant-governor of New Brunswick, inclosing a deposition * made before a justice of the peace of that Province in support of a charge against certain inhab- itants of Houlton, in the State of Maine, for having made a forcible inroad on the territory of His Majesty in search of an Irishman (an inhabitant of Woodstock, New Brunswick) who committed a most violent outrage against the constituted authori- ties at Houlton. * Omitted.
Martin Van Buren. - 1638 The lieutenant-governor deprecates in the strongest manner the infamous con- duct of the individual in question, and is perfectly ready to exert the utmost rigor of the laws against him; but his excellency at the same time protests against the con- duct of those persons who have thus attempted to interfere with the jurisdiction of the laws in His Majesty’s possessions. Under these circumstances the undersigned has to request that Mr. ‘Livingston will be good enough to cause the necessary inquiries to be instituted into this trans- action, and upon the charges being clearly proved that he will make such a repre- sentation to the authorities of the State of Maine as shall prevent the recurrence of a similar irregularity in future. The undersigned has the honor to renew to Mr. Livingston the assurances of his ished consideration. Gistinguish CHARLES BANKHEAD, Mr. Bankhead to Mr. Livingston. Wasuincron, November 25, 1831. Hon. EDWARD LIVINGSTON, etc.: The undersigned, His Britannic Majesty’s chargé d’ affaires, has the honor to refer the Secretary of State of the United States to the correspondence which took place in the month of October upon the subject of violations which had been committed upon the territory at present in dispute between Great Britain and the United States, and the measures which His Majesty’s lieutenant-governor of New Brunswick deemed it expedient to adopt thereupon. The trial of these persons took place at Frederickton, and they were sentenced by the supreme court of the Province to fine and imprisonment. At the time the undersigned communicated to the Government of the United States the decision which the authorities of New Brunswick had felt it necessary to adopt upon this occasion he expressed the deep regret of the governor of that Prov- ince that the conduct of these individuals was such as to compel his excellency to pursue a course so uncongenial to his own feelings and at variance with the harmony which subsists between the Governments of Great Britain and the United States. The Secretary of State upon receiving this communication expressed to the under- signed the earnest desire of the President, upon a total disavowal on the part of the General Government of the proceedings of the persons implicated in this transaction, that His Majesty’s lieutenant-governor might consider himself authorized to exercise a prerogative in their favor and to remit the sentence which had been pronounced against them. No time was lost in submitting Mr. Livingston’s note to the consideration of Sir Archibald Campbell, and the undersigned has the greatest satisfaction in acquaint- ing him that his excellency fully acquiesced in the desire manifested by the Presi- dent of the United States. The undersigned can not better fulfill the wishes of Sir Archibald Campbell, which are so much in accordance with that spirit of good will which happily subsists between the two countries and which characterizes their relations with each other, than by transmitting to the Secretary of State a copy of the dispatch which he yesterday received from that officer, and which he feels assured will be received by the President as an earnest of his uninterrnpted good feeling toward the Government and people of the United States. The undersigned has the honor to renew to Mr. Livingston the assurance of his highest consideration. CHARLES BANKHEAD.
1639 Messages and Papers of the Presidents Sir Archibald Campbell to Mr. Bankhead. GOVERNMENT HOUSE, Frederickton, November 8, 1831. Sm: I had this morning the honor to receive your letter of the 20th ultimo, which, with its inélosures, are in every respeci so satisfactory that I did not lose a moment’ in giving effect to the wishes therein expressed by exercising that prerogative so congenial to my own feelings, whether viewed in the extension of mercy or in the gratifying anticipation of such a measure being received as an earnest of my most anxious desire, as far as rests with me (consistent with my public duties), to pre- serve inviolate the harmony and good understanding so happily existing between the two Governments. The prisoners, Barnabas Hunnewell, Jesse Wheelock, and Daniel Savage, are released; and I have taken it upon myself, knowing that such a measure will be fully sanctioned by my Government, to remit the fines imposed by the supreme court of this Province, as already communicated to you by Lieutenant- Colonel Snodgrass—an act that I trust will not fail in being duly appreciated when tt is known that the above-mentioned individuals did, with several others, follow up their first proceedings by acts of much more serious aggression, for which they stood charged under another (untried) indictment. However, everything connected there- with is now corrected. ; You will see with what readiness and satisfaction I have received and adopted your kind advice, for which accept of my sincere thanks, and believe me to remain, sir, etc. : _— ARCHIBALD CAMPBELL, Lieutenant-Governor. Mr. Livingston to Mr. Bankhead. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, | Washington, November 28, 1831. CHARLES BANKHEAD, Esq,, etc.: The undersigned, Secretary of State, etc., has the honor to acknowledge the receipt of a note from Mr. Bankhead, His Britannic Majesty's chargé d'affaires, under date of the 25th instant, accompanied by a copy of a letter from Sir A. Camp- bell, the lieutenant-governor of the Province of New Brunswick, by both of whick the Secretary of State is informed that the citizens of the United States lately under prosecution at Frederickton for acts done in the territory now possessed by Great Britain within the country claimed both by that power and the United States, have been set at liberty, in accordance with the suggestions made in the former corre- spondence between Mr. Bankhead and the Secretary of State. Mr. Bankhead’s note, with its inclosure, has been laid before the President, who has instructed the undersigned to express his satisfaction at the prompt manner in which his suggestions have been complied with, and to say that he considers it as a proof of the disposition of His Britannic Majesty's officers to preserve the harmony that so happily subsists between the two Governments. The undersigned renews to Mr. Bankhead the assurance of his high consideration. EDWARD LIVINGSTON. Str Charles R. Vaughan to Mr. McLane. WASHINGTON, October 20, 1833. Hon. Lours McLANE, etc.: The undersigned, His Britannic Majesty's envoy extraordinary and minister pleni- potentiary, has the honor to lay before the Secretary of State of the United States
Martin Van Buren . 1640 a copy of a letter* which he has received from His Excellency Sir Archibald Campbell, His Majesty’s lientenant-governor of New Brunswick, and to call his attention to the conduct of certain land agents of the States of Maine and Massa- chusetts in the territory in dispute between Great Britain and the United States. It appears by the report contained in Sir Archibald Campbell’s letter that land agents of Maine and Massachusetts have been holding out inducements to persons of both countries to cut pine timber on the disputed territory on condition of pay- ing to them 2 shillings and 6 pence the ton, and that they have entered into con- tracts for opening two roads which will intersect the Roostook River. As it is the declared will and mutual interest of the Governments of Great Britain ~ and of the United States to preserve the disputed territory in its present state and to avoid all collision pending the settlement of the boundary question, the undersigned is convinced that it is sufficient to insure the prompt interference of the Government of the United States to put a stop to the proceedings of these land agents to state - the conduct complained of. . The undersigned has the honor to renew to Mr. McLane the assurance of his most Mr. McLane to Sir Charles R. Vaughan. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, . Washington, October 23, 1833. Right Hon. Srr CHariEs R. Vauenay, G. C. H., Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of His Britannic Majesty: The undersigned, Secretary of State of the United States, has the honor to acknowl- edge the receipt of the note of Sir Charles R. Vaughan, envoy extraordinary and tuinister plenipotentiary of His Britannic Majesty, of the 20th instant, accompanied by a copy of a letter from Sir Archibald Campbell, lieutenant-governor of New Brunswick, to Sir Charles R. Vaughan, and also a letter from J. A. Maclauchlan to the lieutenant-governor of New Brunswick, complaining of the ‘conduct of certain land agents of the States of Maine and Massachusetts in the territory in dispute between the United States and Great Britain.’’ The undersigned is instructed to state that it would be a source of regret to the President should this complaint prove to be well founded, and that he has caused a copy of Sir Charles’s note and of the accompanying papers promptly to be communi- cated to the governors of Maine and Massachusetts, in order that the necessary steps may be taken to enforce a due observance of the terms of the existing arrangement between the Government of the United States and that of Great Britain in regard to the disputed territory. The undersigned avails himself of the occasion to renew to Sir Charles R. Vaughan the assurance of his distinguished consideration. LOUIS McLANE. Sir Charles R. Vaughan to Mr. McLane. WasHincton, December 17, 1833. . Hon. Louis McLang, etc.: The undersigned, His Britannic Majesty's envoy extraordinary and minister pleni- potentiary, regrets that a letter received from His Majesty’s lieutenant-governor of New Brunswick should again require him to ask the intervention of the General Government of the United States to put a stop to certain proceedings of the State of Maine in the territory still in dispute between Great Britain and the United States. * Omitted.
1641 Messages and Papers of the Presidents The inclosed letter, with the report which accompanies it, * shows that the State of Maine has opened a road beyond theconventional frontier, with the avowed intention of carrying it to the bank of the river St. John. The undersigned is convinced that the Secretary of State of the United States will agree with him that the State of Maine must not be allowed to take upon herself the tight to define the meaning of the treaty of 1783, and, by aggressions such as those against which the undersigned is called upon to remonstrate, to take possession, with- out reference to the General Government of the United States, of territory which has been so long, in abeyance between the two Governments. Such conduct is calculated to lead to collisions of a distressing nature between the subjects of His Britannic Majesty and the citizens of the United States employed to assert a futile and hazard- ous possession which so entirely depends upon the arrangements in progress between the two Governments. The undersigned trusts that the representation made in this note will be received by the Secretary of State in the same spirit of good will and conciliation which has hitherto characterized the conduct of the Government of the United States in all occurrences of a similar nature. The undersigned has the honor to renew to Mr. McLane the assurance of his most distinguished consideration. CHAS. R. VAUGHAN Mr. McLane to Sir Charles R. Vaughan. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, December 21, 1833. Right Hon. SrR CHARLES R. VauGHan, G. C. H., Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of His Britannic Majesty: The undersigned, Secretary of State, has the honor to acknowledge the receipt of . the note addressed to him on the 17th instant by Sir Charles R. Vaughan, His Britan- nic Majesty’s envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary, requesting the inter- vention of the Government of the United States to put a stop to certain proceedings of the State of Maine in the territory still in dispute between Great Britain and the United States. The proceedings referred to appear, by the letter of the lieutenant-governor of New Brunswick and the report of the officer acting on the part of Great Britain as warden of the disputed territory (copies of which accompanied Sir Charlés R. Vaughan’s note), to be the construction of a road to the Restook River, passing, as is alleged, through 1§ miles of the disputed territory, and supposed by the warden to be intended to intersect the St. John River in the Madawaska settlement. The undersigned is happy to have it in his power to afford at once such explana~ tions upon this subject as he trusts may be satisfactory. By a communication received from the governor of Maine, in answer to a representation recently made by Sir Charles R. Vaughan concerning other alleged encroachments on the disputed territory, it will be seen that no part of the road now constructing by that State is believed to be within the territory of which the British Government has ever been in the actual possession since the treaty of 1783, and that it is not designed to extend the road beyond the Aroostook. The apprehensions entertained of its being extended to the St. John River in the Madawaska settlement appear, therefore, to be groundless, and, if the views of the governor of Maine as to the locality of the road be correct, it would seem that its construction can afford no just cause of complaint, as it is not supposed that such improvements made by either party within that part of the terri- tory which has been in its possession, or so considered, since the treaty of 1783 are * Omitted. _ . ce
Martin Van Buren 1642 contrary to the spirit of the existing understanding between the two Governments. It will be seen, moreover, as well by the communication from the governor of Maine as by one receivel from the governor of Massachusetts on the same occasion, that a conciliatory and forbearing disposition prevails on their part, and that no measures will be taken or any acts authorized by them which may justly be considered as a violation of the understanding in regard to the disputed territory. The undersigned has nevertheless been directed by the President to transmit copies of Sir Charles R. Vaughan’s note and its inclosures to the governors of Maine and Massachusetts, and to repeat to their excellencies his earnest desire that as fax as. depends on them no departure from the understanding between the two Governments may be permitted. In regard to the complaint heretofore made by Sir Charles R. Vaughan, upon the representations of the lieutenant-governor of New Brunswick and the warden of the disputed territory, as to the cutting and sale of timber under the authority of the land agents of Maine and Massachusetts, the undersigned begs leave to refer to the communications from the governors of those States already mentioned, copies of which are now transmitted, by which it appears that the conduct of those agents has furnished no just cause of dissatisfaction, but that, on the contrary, it is alleged that His Britannic Majesty’s officers of the Province of New Brunswick, by the sei- zure and sale of timber cut by trespassers on the Aroostook, and afterwards in the rightful custody of the agent of the State of Massachusetts, have been the first to violate the existing understanding upon this subject. These complaints on both sides, arising, as the undersigned believes, from acts which do not on either side indicate an intention to disregard the existing under- standing, but are attributable to the unsettled state of the boundary question, and which should therefore be viewed with mutual forbearance, furnish increased reason for a speedy adjustment of that interesting matter; and the President looks with great solicitude for the answer, which is daily expected, from the British Government to the proposition submitted on the part of the United States, in the hope that it may soon set all those difficulties at rest. The undersigned has the honor to renew to Sir Charles R. Vaughan the assurance of his distinguished consideration. ’ LOUIS McLANE. EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT OF MASSACHUSETTS, November 1, 1833. Hon. Louis McLANE, Secretary of State of the United States, Sm: I have to acknowledge the honor of the receipt of your letter of the 23d of October, covering a copy of a note addressed to you by Sir Charles R. Vaughan, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of His Britannic Majesty, accom- panied also by copies of certain documents conveying complaints on the part of the authorities of His Majesty’s Province of New Brunswick ‘‘of the conduct of certain land agents of the States of Maine and Massachusetts on the territory in dispute between the United States and Great Britain.” Permit me to assure you that I shall lose no time in making inquiry of the land agent of this Commonwealth into the supposed occasion of the complaints of His Majesty's provincial officers, and in transmitting to the Department of State such information as I may receive in reply. Prejudicial as the delay in the settlement of this long-vexed subject of boundary is to the rights of property which Massachusetts claims in the disputed territory, and impatient as both the government and the people have become at the unreason- ableness and pertinacity of the adversary pretensions and with the present state of the question, yet the executive of this Commonwealth will not cease to respect the