William Henry Harrison 1884 CIVIC PROCESSION. United States marshal for the District of Columbia and clerk of the Supreme Conrt. The mayors of Washington, Georgetown, and Alexandria. _ Clergy of the District of Columbia and elsewhere. Physicians to the President. Funeral car with the corpse. . Pallbearers.—R. Cutts, esq., for Maine; Hon. J. B. Moore, for New Hampshire; Hon. C. Cushing, Massachusetts; M. St. C. Clarke, esq., Rhode Island; W. B. Lloyd, esq., Connecticut; Hon. Hiland Hall, Vermont; General John Granger, New York; Hon. G. C. Washington, New Jersey; M. Willing, esq., Pennsylvania; Hon. A. Naudain, Delaware; David Hoffman, esq., Maryland; Major Camp, Vir- ginia; Hon. E. D. White, North Carolina; John Carter, esq., South Carolina; General D. L. Clinch, Georgia; Th. Crittenden, esq., Kentucky; Colonel Rogers, Tennessee; Mr. Graham, Ohio; M. Durald, esq., Louisiana; General Robert Hanna, Indiana; Anderson Miller, esq., Mississippi; D. G. Garnsey, esq., Illinois; Dr. Perrine, Alabama; Major Russell, Missouri; A. W. Lyon, esq., Arkansas; General Howard, Michjgan; Hon. J. D. Doty, Wisconsin; Hon, C. Downing, Florida; Hon. W. B. Carter, Iowa; R. Smith, esq., District of Columbi&. Family and relatives of the late President. The President of the United States and heads of Departments. Ex-President Adams. The Chief Justice and associate justices of the Supreme Court and district judges of the United States, The President of the Senate pro tempore and Secretary. Senators and officers of the Senate. Foreign ministers and suites. United States and Mexican commissioners for the adjustment of claims under the convention with Mexico. Members of the House of Representatives, and officers. Governors of States and Territories and members of State legislatures. Judges of the circuit and criminal courts of the District of Columbia, with the members of the bar and officers of the courts. The judges of the several States. The Comptrollers of the Treasury, Auditors, Treasurer, Register, Solicitor, and Commissioners of Land Office, Pensions, Indian Affairs, Patents, and Public Buildings. The clerks, etc., of the several Departments, preceded by their respective chief clerks, and all other civil officers of the Government. Officers of the Revolution. Officers and soldiers of the late war who served under the command of the late President. Corporate authorities of Washington. Corporate authorities of Georgetown. Corporate authorities of Alexandria. Such societies and fraternities as may wish to join the procession, to report to the marshal of the District, who will assign them their respective positions. Citizens and strangers. The troops designated to form the escort will assemble in the avenue north of the President’s house, and form line precisely at 11 o'clock a.m. on Wednesday, the 7th instant, with its right (Captain Ringgold’s troop of light artillery) resting opposite the western gate. ‘The procession will move precisely at 12 o’clock m., when minute guns will be fired by detachments of artillery stationed near St. John’s church and the City Hall, and by the Columbian Artillery at the Capitol. At
1885, Messages and Papers of the Presidents the same hour the bells of the several churches in Washington, George- town, and Alexandria will be tolled. At sunrise to-morrow, the 7th instant, a Federal salute will be fired from the military stations in the vicinity of Washington, minute guns between the hours of 12 and 3, and a national salute at the setting of the sun. The usual badge of mourning will be worn on the left arm and on the hilt of the sword. The Adjutant-General of the Army is charged with the military arrangements of the day, aided by the Assistant Adjutants-General on duty at the Headquarters of the Army. The United States marshal of the District has the direction of the civic procession, assisted by the mayors of the cities of the District and the clerk of the Supreme Court of the United States. By order: : ROGER JONES, Adjutant-General United States Army. CERTIFICATE OF THE DEATH OF PRESIDENT HARRISON. [From official records, written on parchment, in the State Department.] Wasuincton, April 4, A. D. 1842. William Henry Harrison, President of the United States, departed this life at the President’s house, in this city, this morning, being Sunday, the 4th day of April, A. D. 1841, at thirty minutes before 1 o’clock in the morning; we whose names are hereunto subscribed being in the house, and some of us in his immediate presence, at the time of his decease. W. W. SEATON, Mayor of Washington. THOMAS MILLER, M. D., Attending Physician, ASHTON ALEXANDER, M. D., Consulting Physician. WM. HAWLEY, Rector of St. John’s Church. A. HUNTER, Marshal of the District of Columbia. WM. THOS. CARROLL, Clerk of Supreme Court U. S. FLETCHER WEBSTER, Chief Clerk in the State Dept. DANL. WEBSTER, Secretary of State. THOMAS EWING, Secretary of the Treasury. JNO. BELL, Secretary of War. J. J. CRITTENDEN, Attorney-General. FR. GRANGER, Postmaster-General. JOHN CHAMBERS, Cc. S. TODD, DAVID O. COUPLAND, Of the Presidents Family. Let this be duly recorded and placed among the rolls. Recorded in Domestic Letter Book by— DANL. WEBSTER, Secretary of State. A. T. McCORMICK.
Wiliam Henry Harrison 1886 REPORT OF THE PHYSICIANS. [From the Daily National Intelligencer, April s, 1841.) Hon. D. WEBSTER, WasHIncTon, April 4, 1842. Secretary of State. Dear Srr: In compliance with the request made to us by yourself and the other gentlemen of the Cabinet, the attending and consulting physicians have drawn up the abstract of a report on the President’s case, which I herewith transmit to you. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, THO. MILLER, Attending Physician, On Saturday, March 27, 1841, President Harrison, after several days’ previous, indisposition, was seized with a chill and other symptoms of fever. The next day pneumonia, with congestion of the liver and derangement ef the stomach and bowels, was ascertained to exist. The age and debility of the patient, with the immediate prostration, forbade a resort to general blood letting. Topical depletion, blistering, and appropriate internal remedies subdued in a great measure the disease of the lungs and liver, but the stomach and intestines did not regain a healthy condition. Finally, on the 3d of April, at 3 o’clock p. m., profuse diarrhea came on, under which he sank at thirty minutes to 1 o’clock on the morning of the 4th. The last words uttered by the President, as heard by Dr. Worthington, were these: ‘*Sir, I wish you to understand the true principles of the Government. I wish them carried out, I ask nothing more.” THO. MILLER, M. D., Attending Physician. FRED. MAY, M. D., N. W. WORTHINGTON, M. D., J. C. HALL, M. D., ASHTON ALEXANDER, M. D., Consulting Physicians. OATH OF OFFICE ADMINISTERED TO PRESIDENT JOHN TYLER IN THE PRESENCE OF THE CABINET.* [From the Daily National Intelligencer, April 7, 1841.) I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of Presi- dent of the United States, and will to the best of my ability preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States. APRIL, 6, 1841. | JOHN TYLER. Districr oF COLUMBIA, City and County of Washington, ss: I, William Cranch, chief judge of the circuit court of the District of Columbia, certify that the above-named John Tyler personally appeared before me this day, and although he deems himself qualified to perform the duties and exercise the *The Secretary of the Navy was absent from the city.
1887 Messages and Papers of the Presidents powers and office of President on the death of William Henry Harrison, late Presi- dent of the United States, withont any other oath than that which he has taken as . Vice-President, yet as doubts may @7se, and for greater caution, took and subscribed the foregoing oath before me. W. CRANCH. APRII, 6, 1841. PROCLAMATION. \To THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES. A RECOMMENDATION. Wasurincton, April 13, 1842. When a Christian people feel themselves to be overtaken by a great public calamity, it becomes them to humble themselves under the dis- pensation of Divine Providence, to recognize His righteous government over the children of men, to acknowledge His goodness in time past, as well as their own unworthiness, and to supplicate His merciful protection for the future. ° The death of William Henry Harrison, late President of the United States, so soon after his elevation to that high office, is a bereavement peculiarly éalculated to be regarded as a heavy affliction and to impress all minds with a sense of the uncertainty of human things and of the dependence of nations, as well as individuals, upon our Heavenly Parent. I have thought, therefore, that I should be acting in conformity with the general expectation and feelings of the community in recommend- ing, as I now do, to the people of the United States of every religious denomination that, according to their several modes and forms of worship, they observe a day of fasting and prayer by such religious services as may be suitable on the occasion; and I recommend Friday, the 14th day of May next, for that purpose, to the end that on that day we may all with one accord join in humble and reverential approach to Him in whose hands we are, invoking Him to inspire us with a proper spirit and temper of heart and mind under these frowns of His providence and still to bestow His gracious benedictions upon our Government and our country. JOHN TYLER. [For ‘‘A resolution manifesting the sensibility of Congress upon the event of the death of William Henry Harrison, late President of the United States,’’ see p. 1908.]
QUESTION. 1. What three unsatisfactory schemes of finance have been tried by the United States? Page 1808. - | SUGGESTIONS. The untumely death of President William Henry Harrison four months after his inauguration prevented the making of much history during his administration; but his able inaugural address is an excellent summary of the history of the country at the time. Pages 1860 to 1876. Read Harrison’s Foreign Policy. Page 1873. NOTE. For further suggestions on Harrison’s administration, see Har- rison, William Henry, Encyclopedic Index. By reading the Foreign Policy of each President, and by scan- ning the messages as to:the state of the nation, a thorough knowl- edge of the history of the United States will be acquired from the most authentic sources; because, as has been said, “Each Presi- dent reviews the past, depicts the present and forecasts the future of the nation.” 1887-A
John Tyler April 4, 1841, to March 4, 1848 SEE ENC 'CLOPEDIC INDEX. The Encyclopedic Index is not only an index to the other volumes, not only a key that unlocks the treasures of the entire publi -ation, but it is in itself an alphabeti ly arranged brief history or story of the great contro ling events constituting the History of the United tates. . Under its proper alphabetical classification the story is told of every great subject referred to by any of the Presidents in their official Messages, and at the end of each article the official utterances of the Presidents themselves are cited upon the subject, so that you may readily turn to the page in the body of the work itself for this original information. Next to the possession of knowledge is the ability to turn at will to where knowledge is to be found.
John Tyler April 4, 1841, to March 4, 1848 SEE ENC 'CLOPEDIC INDEX. The Encyclopedic Index is not only an index to the other volumes, not only a key that unlocks the treasures of the entire publi ation, but it is in itself an alphabeti ly arranged brief history or story of the great contro ling events constituting the History of the United tates. : Under its proper alphabetical classification the story is told of every great subject referred to by any of the Presidents in their official Messages, and at the end of each article the official utterances of the Presidents themselves are cited upon the subject, so that you may readily turn to the page in the body of the work itself for this original information. Next to the possession of knowledge is the ability to turn at will to where knowledge is to be found. :
HOME AT SHERWOOD FOREST, GREENWAY, VIRGINIA, OF JOHN TYLER With reproduction of official portrait. by Healy, from the White House Collection
LetiT1A CHRISTIAN, of Virginia, President Tyler’s first wife, was extremely delicate, and lived scarcely two years after his inauguration. She was lovely and gentle, highly accomplished and beautiful, greatly beloved by her husband and family, but seldom seen in public. Therefore dur- ing his administration the White House had several mistresses. The duties of hostess some- times devolved upon his married daughter, but were generally assumed by his daughter-in-law, Mrs. Robert Tyler, to whom were relegated the duties of permanent hostess until, in 1844, the President married Miss Julia Gardiner. The ceremony took place at the Church of the Ascen- sion in New York City, and was the first instance of the marriage of a President, which fact excited intense interest throughout the United States. Mrs. Julia Tyler, for the remain- ing eight months of the term, filled her position creditably and gracefully. She died in 1889, having long outlived her husband.
TYLER No president of the Republic has created greater extremes of opinion respecting his merits than. John Tyler; and perhaps another generation must pass before his administration can be justly or impartially weighed. _ He came of an old English family, which settled in Virginia, in the early days of that colony, and he was the fifth John Tyler in the line of descent in his section of the State. Some have traced the family origin to Watt Tyler, the celebrated English agitator, who became famous by his rebellion near the close of the 14th Century. John Tyler seems to have foréseen even in his early manhood the inevitable clash to come between the slaveholding and non-slaveholding States. As a pro-slavery man he accepted and followed the lead of John C. Calhoun in the nulli- fication branch of the Democratic party; and he soon became a power to be reckoned with in the politics of the country. His prominence was such that he was put on the ticket with General W. H. Harrison in 1840, when, the “Tippecanoe and Tyler” campaign developed into one of the most exciting episodes of American politics. This campaign produced a singular combination, the Whigs, the “National Republicans” and the “Democratic Republicans,” uniting on a ticket incongruous in its candi- dates, but claimed with frantic enthusiasm, to represent the cherished views of both the North and the South. Tyler was expected to uphold and conserve the tenets of the State- rights party, and to see that the Constitution was strictly construed in all matters affecting the institution of slavery. , In one month after the inauguration, General Harrison died, and Tyler became President. Instead of reorganizing the Cabinet on lines of his own, he adopted the policy of retaining the existing Cabinet, although many, and possibly all, of them felt more or less distrust of Mr. Tyler’s fidelity to the platform on which the party had come into power. The truth is, that the combination ticket of Harrison and Tyler was the usual party trick, intended to unite discordant elements, and having the sole object of obtaining votes enough to insure success. Slavery agitation had already then become exciting if not violent. Har- rison was recognized as an anti-slavery man, while Tyler was notoriously allied in sentiment with the extreme section of the pro-slavery party of the South. His nomination, therefore, in 1840, dn the Whig ticket, was to reap the fruits of disaffection in the Democratic party rather than to make sure of fealty to Whig principles or to reward Mr. Tyler for any services rendered to that party. When Tyler vetoed the National Bank Bill in 1841, his party aban- doned him with curses and maledictions accompanied with unpardonable vehemence and violence. 1687-C
In all other respects his administration proved to be eminently suc- cessful. A bankruptcy law, admittedly necessary to relieve the failures following the panic of 1837, was passed, and a tariff law looking to both revenue and protection was approved in-1842. Just before the expiration of his term in 1845, Texas was admitted into the Union with the mutual consent of the parties in interest, and on the true principles of peaceable and healthful expansion, under which the inhabitants of the new territory became at once clothed with-every constitutional right, and the State itself took its place as an equal member of the federal union. The Northeastern boundary question which had long threatened the public peace was honorably and satisfactorily settled during his administration. President Tyler’s critics of that day aspersed his name with immoder- ate abuse and seem to have delighted in calumniating his character, but - in the clearer light of subsequent history, it is admitted that much of this detraction may be fairly attributed to the smarting anguish of party disappointments, stimulated and aggravated by the fierce and unreason- able passions which disgraced the politics of that period. It is now perfectly clear that the advantages of the independent treasury system, then recently adopted under the administration of Mr. Van Buren, are far better for both government and people than any benefits to be derived from the fiscal agencies of a national bank. Time, indeed, sets all things even. And Tyler’s friends may now, with some justification, claim that his treason to party proved to be a blessing to his country. When the great war of the Rebellion began in 1861, he came as a delegate from Virginia to a “Peace Convention” at Washington, with the vain hope of averting the horrors which he had already seen in the prophetic visions of his youth, but it was too late. He returned home from his fruitless mission to join the fortunes of his State just then being hurried on with frantic zeal into a war more fruitless still. John Tyler was not without-faults, but he was better than many who, with shameless contumely, have aspersed his name. He disregarded the behests of his party; and no man can survive this act of disobedience, however justified he may be in the eyes of God or of sensible men. The more ignorant or corrupt his party, the more swift and certain in his ruin. ae 1887-D
} John Tyler Joun TyLEr, second son of Judge John Tyler, governor of Virginia from 1808 to 1811, and Mary Armistead, was born at Greenway, Charles City County, Va., March 29, 1790. He was graduated at William and Mary College in 1807. At college he showed a strong interest in ancient history; was also fond of poetry and music, and was a skillful performer on the violin. In 1809 he was admitted to the bar, and had already begun to obtain a good practice when he was elected to the legislature. Took his seat in that body in December, 1811. Was here a firm sup- porter of Mr. Madison’s Administration; and the war with Great Britain, which soon followed, afforded him an opportunity to become conspicu- ous as a forcible and persuasive orator. March 29, 1813, he married Letitia, daughter of Robert Christian, and g few weeks afterwards was called into the field at the head of a company of militia to take part in the defense of Richmond, threatened by the British. This military service lasted but a month. He was reelected to the legislature annually until, in November, 1816, he was chosen to fill a vacancy in the United States House of Representatives. Was reelected to the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Congresses. In 1821, his héalth being seriously impaired, he declined a reelection and retired to private life. In 1823 he was again elected .o the Virginia legislature. Here he was a friend to the candi- dacy of William H. Crawford for the Presidency. In 1824 he was a candidate to fill a vacancy in the United States Senate, but was defeated. He opposed in 1825 the attempt to remove William and Mary College to Richmond, and was afterwards made successively rector and chancellor of the college, which prospered signally under his management. In December, 1825, he was chosen by the legislature to the governorship of Virginia, and in the following year was reelected by a unanimous vote. In December, 1826, the friends of Clay and Adams combined with the Democrats opposed to John Randolph and elected Mr. Tyler to the United States Senate. In February, 1830, after taking part in the Virginia convention for revising the State constitution, he returned to his seat in the Senate, and found himself first drawn toward Jackson by the veto message (May 27) upon the Maysville turnpike bill; supported Jackson in the Presidential election of 1832, but broke with the Admin- istration on the question of the removal of the deposits from the United 1888
1889 Messages and Papers of the Presidents States Bank, and voted for Mr. Clay’s resolution to censure the Presi- dent. He was nominated by the State-rights Whigs for Vice-President in 1835, and at the election on November 8, 1836, received 47 electoral votes; but no candidate having a majority of electoral votes, the Senate elected Richard M. Johnson, of Kentucky. The legislature of Virginia having instructed the Senators from that State to vote for expunging the resolutions of censure upon President Jackson, Mr. Tyler refused to obey the instructions, resigned his seat, and returned home February 29, 1836. On January 10, 1838, he was chosen president of the Virginia Coloni- zation Society. In the spring of 1838 he was returned to the Virginia legislature. In January, 1839, he was a candidate for reelection to the United States Senate; the result was a deadlock, and the question was indefinitely postponed before any choice had been made. December 4, 1839, the Whig national convention, at Harrisburg, Pa., nominated him for Vice-President on the ticket with William Henry Harrison, and at the election on November 10, 1840, he was elected, receiving 234 elect- oral votes to 48 for Richard M. Johnson, of Kentucky. By the death of President Harrison April 4, 1841, Mr. Tyler became President of the United States. He took the oath of office on April 6. Among the more important events of his Administration were the ‘‘Ashburton treaty’ with Great Britain, the termination of the Indian war in Florida, the passage of the resolutions by Congress providing for the annexation of Texas, and the treaty with China. On May 27, 1844, he was nominated for President at a convention in Baltimore, but although at first he accepted the nomination, he subsequently withdrew his name. On June 26, 1844, Mr. Tyler married Miss Julia Gardiner, of New York, his first wife having died September 9, 1842. After leaving the White House he took up his residence on his estate, Sherwood Forest, near Greenway, Va., on the bank of the James Rjver. Was president of the Peace Con- vention held at Washington February 4, 1861. Afterwards, as a delegate to the Virginia State convention, he advocated the passage of an ordi- nance of secession. In May, 1861, he was unanimously elected a member of the provisional congress of the Confederate States. In the following autumn he was elected to the permanent congress, but died at Richmond January 18, 1862, before taking his seat, and was buried in Hollywood Cemetery, in that city. INAUGURAL ADDRESS. To the People of the United States. Wasuincton, April 9, 1641. FeLLow-CirizEns: Before my arrival at the seat of Government the painful communication was made to you by the officers presiding over the several Departments of the deeply regretted death of William Henry Harrison, late President of the United States. Upon him you had
John Tyler 1890 conferred your suffrages for the first office in your gift, and had selected him as your chosen instrument to correct and reform all such errors and abuses as had manifested themselves from time to time in the practical operation of the Government. While standing at the threshold of this great work he has by the dispensation of an all-wise Providence been removed from amongst us, and by the provisions of the Constitution the efforts to be directed to the accomplishing of this vitally important task have devolved upon myself. This same occurrence has subjected the wisdom and sufficiency of our institutions to a new test. For the first time in our history the person elected to the Vice-Presidency of the United States, by the happening of a contingency provided for in the Constitu- tion, has had devolved upon him the Presidential office. The spirit of faction, which is directly opposed to the spirit of a lofty patriotism, may find in this occasion for assaults upon my Administration; and | in succeeding, under circumstances so sudden and unexpected and to responsibilities so greatly augmented, to the administration of public affairs I shall place in the intelligence and patriotism of the people’ my only sure reliance. My earnest prayer shall be constantly addressed to the all-wise and all-powerful Being who made me, and by whose dispen- sation I am called to the high office of President of this Confederacy, understandingly to carry out the principles of that Constitution which I have sworn ‘‘to protect, preserve, and defend.’’ The usual opportunity which is afforded to a Chief Magistrate upon his induction to office of presenting to his countrymen an exposition of the policy which would guide his Administration, in the form of an inaugural address, not having, under the peculiar circumstances which have brought me to the discharge of the high duties of President of the United States, been afforded to me, a brief exposition of the principles which will govern me in the general course of my administration of public affairs would seem to be due as well to myself as to you. In regard to foreign nations, the groundwork of my policy will be jus- tice on our part to all, submitting to injustice from none. While I shall sedulously cultivate the relations of peace and amity with one and all, it will be my most imperative duty to see that the honor of the coun- try shall sustain no blemish. With a view to this, the condition of our military defenses will become a matter of anxious solicitude. The Army, which has in other days covered itself with renown, and the Navy, ‘not inappropriately termed the right arm of the public defense, which has spread a light of glory over the American standard in all the waters of the earth, should be rendered replete with efficiency. In view of the fact, well avouched by history, that the tendency of all human institutions is to concentrate power in the hands of a single man, and that their ultimate downfall has proceeded from this cause, I deem it of the most essential importance that a complete separation should take place between the sword and the purse. No matter where or how the public moneys shall be deposited, so long as the President can exert the power of appointing and removing at his pleasure the agents selected
1891 Messages and Papers of the Presidents for their custody the Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy is in fact the treasurer. A permanent and radical change should therefore be decreed. The patronage incident to the Presidential office, already great, is constantly increasing. Such increase is destined to keep pace with the growth of our population, until, without a figure of speech, an army of officeholders may be spread over the land. The unrestrained power exerted by a selfishly ambitious man in order either to -perpetuate his authority or to hand it over to some favorite as his successor may lead to the employment of all the means within -his control to accomplish his object. The right to remove from office, while subjected to no just restraint, is inevitably destined to produce a spirit of crouching servility with the official corps, which, in order to uphold the hand which feeds them, would lead to direct and active interference in the elections, both State and Federal, thereby subjecting the course of State legislation to the dictation of the chief executive officer and making the will of that officer absolute and supreme. I will at a proper time invoke the action of Congress upon this subject, and shall readily acquiesce in the adoption of all proper measures which are calculated to arrest these evils, so full of danger in their tendency. I will remove no incumbent from office who has faithfully and honestly acquitted himself of the duties of his office, except in such cases where such officer has been guilty of an active parti- sanship or by secret means—the less manly, and therefore the more objec- tionable—has given his official influence to the purposes of party, thereby bringing the patronage of the Government in conflict with the freedom of elections. Numerous removals may become necessary under this rule. These will be made by me through no acerbity of feeling—I have had no cause to cherish or indulge unkind feelings toward any—but my con- duct will be regulated by a profound sense of what is due to the country and its institutions; nor shall I neglect to apply the same unbending rule to those of my own appointment. Freedom of opinion will be toler- ated, the full enjoyment of the right of suffrage will be maintained as the birthright of every American citizen; but I say emphatically to the official corps, ‘‘Thus far and no farther.’’ I have dwelt the longer upon this subject because removals from office are likely often to arise, and I would have my countrymen to understand the principle of the Executive action. In all public expenditures the most rigid economy should be resorted to, and, as one of its results, a public debt in time of peace be sedulously avoided. A wise and patriotic constituency will never object to the imposition of necessary burdens for useful ends, and true wisdom dic- tates the resort to suclr means in order to supply deficiencies in the revenue, rather than to those doubtful expedients which, ultimating in a public debt, serve to embarrass the resources of the country and to lessen its ability to meet any great emergency which may arise. All sinecures should be abolished. The appropriations should be direct and explicit, so as to leave as limited a share of discretion to the disbursing agents as may be found compatible with the public service. A strict
John Tyler 1892 responsibility on the part of all the agents of the Government should be maintained and peculation or defalcation visited with immediate expul- sion from office and the most condign punishment. The public interest also demands that if any war has existed between the Government and the currency it shall cease. Measures of a financial character now having the sanction of legal enactment shall be faithfully enforced until repealed by the legislative authority. But I owe it to myself to declare that I regard existing enactments as unwise and impoli- tic and in a high degree oppressive. I shall promptly give my sanction to any constitutional measure which, originating in Congress, shall have for its object the restoration of a sound circulating medium, so essentially necessary to give confidence in all the transactions of life, to secure to industry its just and adequate rewards, and to reestablish the public prosperity. In deciding upon the adaptation of any such measure to the end proposed, as well as its conformity to the Constitution, I shall resort to the fathers of the great republican school for advice and instruc- tion, to be drawn from their sage views of our system of government and the light of their ever-glorious example. The institutions under which we live, my countrymen, secure each person in the perfect enjoyment of all his rights. The spectacle is exhib- ited to the world of a government deriving its powers from the consent of the governed and having imparted to it only so much power as is neces- sary for its successful operation. Those who are charged with its admin- istration should carefully abstain from all attempts to enlarge the range of powers thus granted to the several departments of the Government other than by an appeal to the people for additional grants, lest by so doing they disturb that balance which the patriots and statesmen who framed the Constitution designed to establish between the Federal Gov- ernment and the States composing the Union. ‘The observance of these rules is enjoined upon us by that feeling of reverence and affection which finds a place in the heart of every patriot for the preservation of union and the blessings of union—for the good of our children and our children’s children through countless generations. An opposite course could not fail to generate factions intent upon the gratification of their selfish ends, to give birth to local and sectional jealousies, and to ultimate either in breaking asunder the bonds of union or in building up a central system which would inevitably end in a bloody scepter and an iron crown. In conclusion I beg you to be assured that I shall exert myself to carry the foregoing principles into practice during my administration of the Government, and, confiding in the protecting care of an everwatch- ful and overruling Providence, it shall be my first and highest duty to preserve unimpaired the free institutions under which we live and trans- mit them to those who shall succeed me in their full force and vigor. JOHN TYLER. [For proclamation of President Tyler recommending, in consequence of the death of President Harrison, a day of fasting and prayer, see p. 1887.]
1893 Messages and Papers of the Presidents SPECIAL SESSION MESSAGE. WASHINGTON, /une 1, 1842. To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States. FgLLow-CrrizEns: You have been assembled in your respective halls of legislation under a proclamation bearing the signature of the illustri- ous citizen who was so lately called by the direct suffrages of the people to the discharge of the important functions of their chief executive office. Upon the expiration of a single month from the day of his installation he has paid the great debt of nature, leaving behind him a name associated with the recollection of numerous benefits conferréd upon the country during a long life of patriotic devotion... With this public bereavement are connected other considerations which will not escape the attention of Congress. ‘The pfeparations necessary for his removal to the seat of Government in view of a residence of four years must have devolved upon the late President heavy expenditures, which, if permitted to bur- then the limited resources of his private fortune, may tend seriously to the embarrassment of his surviving family; and it is therefore respect- fully submitted to Congress whether the ordinary principles of justice would not dictate the propriety of its legislative interposition.. By the provisions of the fundamental law the powers and duties of the high station to which he was elected have devolved upon me, and in the dispositions of the representatives of the States and of the people will be found, to a great extent, a solution of the problem to which our institutions are for the first time subjected. In entering upon the duties of this office I did not feel that it would be becoming in me to disturb what had been ordered by my lamented prede- cessor. Whatever, therefore, may have been my epinion originally as to the propriety of convening Congress at so early a day from that of its late adjournment, I found a new and controlling inducement not to inter- fere with the patriotic desires of the late President in the novelty of the situation in which I was so unexpectedly placed. My first wish under such circumstances would necessarily have been to have called to my aid in the administration of public affairs the combined wisdom of the two Houses of Congress; in order to take their counsel and advice as to the best mode of extricating the Government and the country from the embarrassments weighing heavily on both. I am, then, most. happy in finding myself so soon after my accession to the Presidency gurrounded by the immediate representatives of the States and people. No important changes having taken place in our foreign relations since the last session of Congress, it is not deemed necessary on this occasion to go into a detailed statement in regard to them. I am happy to say that I see nothing to destroy the hope of being able to preserve peace.
THE FIRST JAPANESE TREATY. Japan’s ports were closed to foreigners as late as the beginning of the second half of the nineteenth century, and mariners wrecked on her shores got short shrift. The natives refused to enter into commercial relations with any save their fellows. In 1832, 1845, and 1849, vessels were sent to establish commercial relations with Japan, but without avail. Finally, Commodore M. C. Perry, bearing instructions prepared by Secretary of State Daniel Webster, set sail in November, 1852, with a respectable naval force, prepared to secure a treaty by persuasion, if possible, by force if necessary. He succeeded; two Japanese ports were opened to our trade. The preceding picture shows Perry, attended by his marines and sailors, forcing an audience upon the authorities. See the articles entitled “Japan” and “Japan, Treaties with,” in the Encyclopedic Index for a full statement of the history of that nation and of our relations with her.
John Tyler 1894 The ratification of the treaty with Portugal has been duly exchanged between the two Governments. This Government has not been inatten- tive to the interests of those of our citizens who have claims on the Gov- ernment of Spain founded on express treaty stipulations, and a hope is indulged that the representations which have been made to that Govern- ment on this subject may lead ere long to beneficial results. A correspondence has taken place between the Secretary of State and the minister of Her Britannic Majesty accredited to this Government on the subject of Alexander McLeod’s indictment and imprisonment, copies of which are herewith communicated to Congress. In addition to what appears from these papers, it may be proper to state that Alexander Mcleod has been heard by the supreme court of the State of New York on his motion to be discharged from imprisonment, _ and that the decision of that court has not as yet been pronounced. The Secretary of State has addressed to me a paper upon two subjects interesting to the commerce of the country, which will receive my con- sideration, and which I have the honor to communicate to Congress. So far as it depends on the course of this Government, our relations of good will and friendship will be sedulously cultivated with all nations. The true American policy will be found to consist in the exercise of a spirit of justice, to be manifested in the discharge of all our international obligations to the weakest of the family of nations as well as to the most powerful. Occasional conflicts of opinion may arise, but when the dis- cussions incident to them are conducted in the language of truth and with a strict regard to justice the scourge of war will for the most part be avoided. The time ought to be regarded as having gone by when a resort to arms is to be esteemed as the only proper arbiter of national differences. The census recently taken shows a regularly progressive increase in our population. Upon the breaking out of the War of the Revolution our num- bers scarcely equaled 3,000,000 souls; they already exceed 17,000,000, and will continue to progress in a ratio which duplicates in a period of about twenty-three years. The old States contain a territory sufficient in itself to maintain a population of additional millions, and the most populous of the new States may even yet be regarded as but partially settled, while of the new lands on this side of the Rocky Mountains, to say nothing of the immense region which stretches from the base of those mountains to the mouth of the Columbia River, about 770,000,000 acres, ceded and unceded, still remain to be brought into market. We hold out to the people of other countries an invitation to come and settle among us as members of our rapidly growing family, and for the blessings which we offer them we require of them to look upon our country as their coun- try and to unite with us in the great task of preserving our institutions and thereby perpetuating our liberties. No motive exists for foreign conquest, we desire but to reciaim our almost illimitable wildernesses
- 1895 Messages and lapers of the Presidents and to introduce into their depths the lights of civilization. While we shall at all times be prepared to vindicate the national honor, our most earnest desire will be to maintain an unbroken peace. In presenting the foregoing views I can not withhold the expression of the opinion that there exists nothing in the extension of our Empire over our acknowledged possessions to excite the alarm of the patriot for the safety of our institutions. The federative system, leaving to each State the care of its domestic concerns and devolving on the Federal Government those of general import, admits in safety of the greatest expansion; but at the same time I deem it proper to add that there will be found to exist at all times an imperious necessity for restraining all the functionaries of this Government within the range of their respective powers, thereby preserving a just balance between the powers granted to this Government and those reserved to the States and to the people. From the report of the Secretary of the Treasury you will perceive that the fiscal means, present and accruing, are insufficient to supply the wants of the Government for the current year. The balance in the ‘Treasury on the 4th day of March last not covered by outstanding drafts, and exclusive of trust funds, is estimated at $860,000. This includes the sum of $215,000 deposited in the Mint and its branches to procure metal for coining and in process of coinage, and which could not be withdrawn without inconvenience, thus leaving subject to draft in the various depositories the sum of $645,000. By virtue of two several acts of Congress the Secretary of the Treasury was authorized to issue on and after the 4th day of March last Treasury notes to the amount of $5,413,000, making an aggregate available fund of $6,058,000 on hand. But this fund was chargeable, with outstanding Treasury notes re- deemable in the current year and interest thereon, to the estimated amount of $5,280,000. ‘There is also thrown upon the Treasury the p2yment of a large amount of demands accrued in whole or in part in former years, which will exhaust the available means of the Treasury and leave the accruing revenue, reduced as it is in amount, burthened with debt and charged with the current expenses of the Government. The aggregate amount of outstanding appropriations on the 4th day of March last was $33,429,616.50, of which $24,210,000 will be re- quired during the current year; and there will also be required for the use of the War Department additional appropriations to the amount of $2,511,132.98, the special objects of which will be seen by reference to the report of the Secretary of War. The anticipated means of the ‘Treasury are greatly inadequate to this demand. The receipts from customs for the last three quarters of the last year and first quarter of the present year amounted to $12,100,000; the receipts for lands for the same time to $2,742,450, shewing an average revenue from both sources of $1,236,870 per month. A. gradual expansion of trade, growing out of a restoration of confi- dence, together with areduction in the expenses of collecting and punc- tuality on the part of collecting officers, may cause an addition to the
John Tyler 1896 monthly receipts from the customs. They are estimated for the residue of the year from the 4th of March at $12,000,000. The receipts from the public lands for the same time are estimated at $2,500,000, and from miscellaneous sources at $170,000, making an aggregate of avail- able fund within the year of $15,315,000, which will leave a probable - deficit of $11,406,132.98. To meet this some temporary provision is necessary until the amount can be absorbed by the excess of revenues which are anticipated to accrue at no distant day. There will fall due within the next three months Treasury notes of the issues of 1840, including interest, about $2,850,000. There is charge- able in the same period for arrearages for taking the Sixth Census $294,000, and the estimated expenditures for the current service are about $8,100,000, making the aggregate demand upon the Treasury prior to the 1st of September next about $11,340,000. The ways and means in the Treasury and estimated to accrue within the above-named period consist of about $694,000 of funds available on the 28th ultimo, an unissued balarice of Treasury notes authorized by the act of 1841 amounting to $1,955,000, and estimated receipts from all sources of $3,800,000, making an aggregate of about $6, 450,000, and leav- ing a probable deficit on the rst of September next of $4,845,000. In order to supply the wants of the Government, an intelligent con- stituency, in view of their best interests, will without hesitation submit to all necessary burthens. But it is nevertheless important so to impose them as to avoid defeating the just expectations of the country growing out of preexisting laws. The act of the 2d of March, 1833, commonly called the ‘‘compromise act,’’ should not be altered except under urgent necessities, which are not believed at this time to exist. One year only remains to complete the series of reductions provided for by that law, at which time provisions made by the same law, and which then will be brought actively in aid of the manufacturing interests of the Union,’ will not fail to produce the most beneficial results. Under a system of discriminating duties imposed for purposes of revenue, in unison with the provisions of existing laws, it is to be hoped that our policy will in the future be fixed and permanent, so as to avoid those constant fluctuations which defeat the very objects they have in view. We shall thus best maintain a position which, while it will enable us the mare readily to meet the advances of other countries calculated to promote our trade and commerce, will at the same time leave in our own hands the means of retaliating with greater effect unjust regulations. In intimate connection with the question of revenue is that which makes provision for a suitable fiscal agent, capable of adding increased facilities in the collection and disbursement of the public revenues, ren- dering more secure their custody, and consulting a true economy in the great, multiplied, and delicate operations of the Treasury Department. Upon such an agent depends in an eminent degree the establishment of a currency of uniform value, which is of so great importance to all the essential interests of society, and on the wisdom te he manifested in its
1897 Messages and Papers of the Prestdents creation much depends. So intimately interwoven are its operations, not only with the interests of individuals, but of States, that it may be regarded to a great degree as controlling both. If paper be used as the chief medium of circulation, and the power be vested in the Government of issuing it at pleasure, either in the form of Treasury drafts or any- other, or if banks be used as the public depositories, with liberty to regard all surpluses from day to day as so much added to their active capital, prices are‘exposed to constant fluctuations and industry to severe suffering. In the one case political considerations directed to party pur- poses may control, while excessive cupidity may prevail in the other. The public is thus constantly liable to imposition. Expansions and contractions may follow each other in rapid succession—the one engen- dering a reckless spirit of adventure and speculation, which embraces States as well as individuals, the other causing a fall in prices and accomplishing an entire change in the aspect of affairs. Stocks of all sorts rapidly decline, individuals are ruined, and States embarrassed even in their efforts to meet with punctuality the interest on their debts. Such, unhappily, is the condition of things now existing in the United States. These effects may readily be traced to the causes above referred to. The public revenues, being removed from the then Bank of the United States, under an order of a late President, were placed in selected State banks, which, actuated by the double motive of conciliating the Government and augmenting their profits to the greatest possible extent, enlarged extravagantly their discounts, thus enabling all other existing banks to do the same; large dividends were declared, which, stimulating the cupidity of capitalists, caused a rush to be made to the legislatures of the respective States for similar acts of incorporation, which by many of the States, under a temporary infatuation, were readily granted, and thus the augmentation of the circulating medium, consisting almost exclusively of paper, produced a most fatal delusion. An illustration derived from the land sales of the period alluded to will serve best to show the effect of the whole system. The average sales of the public lands for a period of ten years prior to 1834 had not much exceeded $2,000,000 per annum. In 1834 they attained in round numbers to the amount of $6,000,000; in the succeeding year of 1835 they reached $16,000,000, and the next year of 1836 they amounted to the enor- mous sum of $25,000,000, thus crowding into the short space of three years upward of twenty-three years’ purchase of the public domain. So apparent had become the necessity of arresting this course of things that the executive department assumed the highly questionable power of discriminating in the funds to be used in payment by different classes of public debtors—a discrimination which was doubtless designed to correct this most ruinous state of things by the exaction of specie in all payments for the pubfic lands, but which could not at once arrest the tide which had sostrongly setin. ence the demands for specie became
John Tyler ' 1898 unceasing, and corresponding prostration rapidly ensued under the necessities created with the banks to curtail their discounts and thereby to reduce their circulation. I recur to these things with no disposi- tion to censure preexisting Administrations of the Government, but simply in exemplification. of the truth of the position which I have assumed, "If, then, any fiscal agent which may be created shall be placed, without due restrictions, either in the hands of the administra- tors of the Government or those of private individuals, the temptation to abuse will prove to be resistless. Objects of political aggrandize- ment may seduce the first, and the prompting3 of a boundless cupidity will assail the last. Aided by the experience of the past, it will be the pleasure of Congress so to guard and fortify the public interests in the creation of any new agent as to place them, so far as human wis- dom can accomplish it, on a footing of perfect security. Within a few years past three different schemes have been before the country. The charter of the Bank of the United Statés expired by its own limitations in 1836. An effort was made to renew it, which received the sanction of the two Houses of Congress, but the then President of the United States exercised his vefo power and the measure was defeated. A regard to truth requires me to say that the President was fully sustained 1. the course he had taken by the popular voice. His successor to the chair of state unqualifiedly pronounced his opposition to any new char- ter of a similar institution, and not only the popular election which brought him into power, but the elections through much of his term, seemed clearly to indicate a concurrence with him in sentiment on the - part of the people. After the public moneys were withdrawn from the United States Bank they were placed in deposit with the State banks, and the result of that policy has been before the country. To say noth- ing as to the question whether that experiment was made under pro- pitious or adverse circumstances, it may safely be asserted that it did receive the unqualified condemnation of most of its early advocates, and, it is believed, was also condemned by the popular sentiment. The existing subtreasury system does not seem to stand in higher favor with the peo- ple, but has recently been condemned in a manner too plainly indicated to admit of a doubt. Thus in the short period of eight years the popu: lar voice may be regarded as having successively condemned each of the three schemes of finance to which I have adverted. As to the first, it was introduced at a time (1816) when the State banks, then compara- tively few in number, had been forced to suspend specie payments by reason of the war which had previously prevailed with Great Britain. Whether if the United States Bank charter, which expired in 1811, had been renewed in due season it would have been enabled to continue specie payments during the war and the disastrous period to the com- merce of the country which immediately succeeded is, to say the least, problematical, and whether the United States Bank of 1816 produced a
1899 Messages and Papers of the Presidents restoration of specie payments or the same was accomplished through the instrumentality of other means was a matter of some difficulty at that time to determine. Certain it is that for the first years of the operation of that bank its course was as disastrous as for the greater part of its subsequent career it became eminently successful. As to the second, the experiment was tried with a redundant Treasury, which continued to increase until it seemed to be the part of wisdom to distribute the sur- plus revenue among the States, which, operating at the same time with the specie circular and the causes before adverted to, caused them to suspend specie payments and involved the country in the greatest embar- rassment. And as to the third, if carried through all the stages of its transmutation from paper and specie to nothing but the precious metals, to say nothing of the insecurity of the public moneys, its injurious effects have been anticipated by the country in its unqualified condemnation. What is now to be regarded as the judgment of the American people on this whole subject I have no accurate means of determining but by appeal- ing to their more immediate representatives. The late contest, which terminated in the election of General Harrison to the Presidency, was decided on principles well known and openly declared, and while the subtreasury received in the result the most decided condemnation, yet no other scheme of finance seemed to have been concurred in. To you, then, who have come more directly from the body of our common con- stituents, I submit the entire question, as best qualified to give a full exposition of their wishes and opinions. I shall be ready to concur with you in the adoption of such system as you may propose, reserving to myself the ultimate power of rejecting any measure which may, in my view of it, conflict with the Constitution or otherwise jeopardize the prosperity of the country—a power which I could not part with even if I would, but which I will not believe any act of yours will call into requisition. I can not avoid recurring, in connection with this subject, to the neces- sity which exists for adopting some suitable measure whereby the unlim- ited creation of banks by the States may be corrected in future. Such result can be most readily achieved by the consent of the States, to be expressed in the form of a compact among themselves, which they can only enter into with the consent and approbation of this Government—a consent which might in the present emergency of the public demands justifiably be given by Congress in advance of any action by the States, as an inducement to such action, upon terms well defined by the act of tender. Such a measure, addressing itself to the calm reflection of the States, would find in the experience of the past and the condition of the present much to sustain it; and it is greatly to be doubted whether any scheme of finance can prove for any length of time successful while the States shall continue in the unrestrained exercise of the power of creating banking corporations. This power can only be limited by their consent.
John Tyler 1900 With the adoption of a financial agency of a satisfactory character the hbdpe may be indulged that the country may once more return to a state of prosperity. Measures auxiliary thereto, and in some measure insepa- yably connected with its success, will doubtless claim the attention of Congress. Among such, a distribution of the proceeds of the sales of the public lands, provided such distribution does not force upon Congress the necessity of imposing upon commerce heavier burthens than thore contemplated by the act of 1833, would act as an efficient remedial meas- tre by being brought directly in aid of the States. As one sincerely devoted to the task of preserving a just balance in our system of Govern- ment by the maintenance of the States in a condition the most free and respectable and in the full possession of all their power, I can no other- wise than feel desirous for their emancipation from the situation to which the pressure on their finances now subjects them. And while I must repudiate, as a measure founded in error and wanting constitutional sanction, the slightest approach to an assumption by this Government of the debts of the States, yet I can see in the distribution adverted to much to recommend it. The compacts between the proprietor States and this Government expressly guarantee to the States all the benefits which may arise from the sales. The mode by which this is to be effected addresses itself to the discretion of Congress as the trustee for the States, and its exercise after the most beneficial manner is restrained by nothing in the grants or in the Constitution so long as Congress shall consult that equal- ity in the distribution which the compacts require. In the present con- dition of some of the States the question of distribution may be regarded as substantially a question between direct and indirect taxation. If the distribution be not made in some form or other, the necessity will daily become more urgent with the debtor States for a resort to an oppressive system of direct taxation, or their credit, and necessarily their power and influence, will be greatly diminished. The payment of taxes after the most inconvenient and oppressive mode will be exacted in place of con- tributions for the most part voluntarily made, and therefore compara- tively unoppressive. ‘The States are emphatically the constituents of this Government, and we should be entirely regardless of the objects held in view by them in the creation of this Government if we could be indiffer- ent to their good. The happy effects of such a measure upon all the States would immediately be manifested. With the debtor States it would effect the relief to a great extent of the citizens from a heavy burthen of direct taxation, which presses with severity on the laboring classes, and eminently assist in restoring the general prosperity. An immediate advance would take place in the price of the State securities, and the attitude of the States would become once more, as it should ever be, lofty and erect. With States laboring under no extreme pressure from debt, the fund which they would derive from this source would enable them to improve their condition in an eminent degree. So far
IQOI Messages and Papers of the Presidents as this Government is concerned, appropriations to domestic objects approaching in amount the revenue derived from the land sales might be abandoned, and thus a system of unequal, and therefore unjust, legislation would be substituted by one dispensing equality to all the members of this Confederacy. Whether such distribution should be made directly to the States in the proceeds of the sales or in the form of profits by virtue of the operations of any fiscal agency having those ‘proceeds as its basis, should such measure be contemplated by Congress, would well deserve its consideration. Nor would such disposition of the proceeds of the sales in any manner prevent Congress from time to time from passing all necessary preemption laws for the benefit of actual settlers, or from making any new arrangement as to the price of the public lands which might in future be esteemed desirable. I beg leave particularly to call your attention to the accompanying report from the Secretary of War. Besides the present state of the war which has so long afflicted the Territory of Florida, and the various other matters of interest therein referred to, you will learn from it that the Secretary has instituted an inquiry into abuses, which promises to develop gross enormities in connection with Indian treaties which have been negotiated, as well as in the expenditures for the removal and sub- sistence of the Indians. He represents also other irregularities of a serious nature that have grown up in the practice of the Indian Depart- ment, which will require the appropriation of upward of $200,000 to correct, and which claim the immediate attention of Congress. In reflecting on the proper means of defending the country we can not shut our eyes to the consequences which the introduction and use of the power of steam upon the ocean are likely to produce in wars between maritime states. We can not yet see the extent to which this power may be applied in belligerent operations, connecting itself as it does with recent improvements in the science of gunnery and projectiles; but we need have no fear of being left, in regard to these things, behind the most active and skillful of other nations if the genius and enterprise of our fellow-citizens receive proper encouragement and direction from Government. ~ ‘True wisdom would nevertheless seem to dictate the necessity of placing in perfect condition those fortifications which are designed for the pro- tection of our principal cities and roadsteads. For the defense of our extended maritime coast our chief reliance should be placed on our Navy, aided by those inventions which are destined to recommend themselves to public adoption, but no time should be lost in placing our principal cities on the seaboard and the Lakes in a state of entire security from for- eign assault. Separated as we are from the countries of the Old World, and in much unaffected by their policy, we are happily relieved from the - necessity of maintaining large standing armies in times of peace. The policy which was adopted by Mr. Monroe shortly after the conclusion of,
John Tyler 1902 the late war with Great Britain of preserving a regularly organized staff sufficient for the command of a large military force should a necessity for one arise is founded as well in economy as in true wisdom. Provi- sion is thus made, upon filling up the rank and file, which can readily be done on any emergency, for the introduction of a system of discipline both promptly and efficiently. All that is required in time of peace is tu maintain a sufficient number of men to guard our fortifications, to meet any sudden contingency, and to encounter the first shock of war. Our chief reliance must be placed on the militia; they constitute the great body of national guards, and, inspired by an ardent love of country, will be found ready at all times and at all seasons to repair with alacrity to its defense. It will be regarded by Congress, I doubt not, at a suitable time as one of its highest duties to attend to their complete organization and discipline. . The state of the navy pension fund requires the immediate attention of Congress. By the operation of the act of the 3d of March, 1837, entitled ‘‘An act for the more equitable administration of the navy pension fund,’’ that fund has been exhausted. It will be seen from the accompanying report of the Commissioner of Pensions that there will be required for the payment of navy pensions on the 1st of July next $88,706.06%, and on the st of January, 1842, the sum of $69,000. In addition to these sums, about $6,000 will be required to pay arrears of pensions which will probably be allowed between the 1st of July and the 1st of January, 1842, making in the whole $163,706.06%. ‘To meet these payments there is within the control of the Department the sum of $28,040, leaving a deficiency of $139,666.06%4. The public faith requires that immediate provision should be made for the payment of these sums. In order to introduce into the Navy a desirable efficiency, a new sys- tem of accountability may be found to be indispensably necessary. To mature a plan having for its object the accomplishment of an end so important and to meet the just expectations of the country require more time than has yet been allowed to the Secretary at the head of the Department. The hope is indulged that by the time of your next regu- lar session measures of importance in connection with this branch of the public service may be matured for your consideration. Although the laws regulating the Post-Office Department only require from the officer charged with its direction to report at the usual annual session of Congress, the Postmaster-General has presented to me some facts connected with the financial condition of the Department which are deemed worthy the attention of Congress. By the accompanying report of that officer it appears the existing liabilities of that Depart- ment beyond the means of payment at its command can not be less than $500,000. As the laws organizing that branch of the public service confine the expenditure to its own revenues, deficiencies therein can not be presented under the usual estimates for the expenses of Government.
1903 Messages and Papers of the Presidents It must therefore be left to Congress to determine whether the moneys now due the contractors shall be paid from the public Treasury or whether that Department shall continue under its present embarrass- ments. It will be seen by the report of the Postmaster-General that the recent lettings of contracts in several of the States have been made at such reduced rates of compensation as to encourage the bélief that if the Department was relieved from existing difficulties its future opera- tions might be conducted without any further call upon the general ‘Treasury. , The power of appointing to office is one of a character the most deli- cate and responsible. The appointing power is evermore exposed to be led into error. With anxious solicitude to select the most trustworthy for official station, I can not be supposed to possess a personal knowledge of the qualifications of every applicant. I deem it, therefore, proper in this most public manner to invite on the part of the Senate a just scru- tiny into the character and pretensions of every person I may bring to their notice in the regular form of a nomination for office. Unless persons every way trustworthy are employed in the public service, cor- ruption and irregularity will inevitably follow. I shall with the greatest cheerfulness acquiesce in the decision of that body, and, regarding it as wisely constituted to aid the executive department in the performance of this delicate duty, I shall look to its ‘‘consent and advice’’ as given only in furtherance of the best interests of the country. I shall also at the earliest proper occasion Invite the attention of Congress to such measures as in my judgment will be best calculated to regulate and con- trol the Executive power in reference to this vitally important subject. I shall also at the proper season invite your attention to the statutory enactments for the suppression of the slave trade, which may require to be rendered more efficient in their provisions. There is reason to believe that the traffic is on the increase. Whether such increase is to be ascribed to the abolition of slave labor in the British possessions in our vicinity and an attendant diminution in the supply of those arti- cles which enter into the general consumption of the world, thereby augmenting the demand from other quarters, and thus calling for addi- tional labor, it were needless to inquire. The highest considerations of public honor as well as the strongest promptings of humanity require a resort to the most vigorous efforts to suppress the trade. In conclusion I beg to invite your particular attention to the interests of this District ; nor do I doubt but that in a liberal spirit of legislation you will seek to advance its commercial as well as its local interests. Should Congress deem it to be its duty to repeal the existing subtreasury law, the necessity of providing a suitable place of deposit of the public moneys which may be required within the District must be apparent to all. . I have felt it due to the country to present the foregoing topics to
your consideration and reflection. Others with which it might not seem proper to trouble you at an extraordinary session will be laid before you at a future day. I am happy in committing the important affairs of the country into your hands. The tendency of public sentiment, I am pleased to believe, is toward the adoption, in a spirit of union and har- mony, of such measures as will fortify the public interests. T'o cherish such a tendency of public opinion is the task of an elevated patriotism. That differences of opinion as to the means of accomplishing these desir- able objects should exist is reasonably to be expected. Nor can all be made satisfied with any system of measures; but I flatter myself with the hope that the great body of the people will readily unite in support of those whose efforts spring from a disinterested desire to promote their happiness, to preserve the Federal and State Governments within their respective orbits; to cultivate peace with all the. nations of the earth on just and honorable grounds; to exact obedience to the laws; to intrench liberty and property in full security; and, consulting the most rigid economy, to abolish all useless expenses. JOHN TYLER. SPECIAL MESSAGES. Crty oF WASHINGTON, June 2, 1841. To the Senate and House of Representatives: I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of the Treasury, exhibiting certain transfers of appropriations that have been made in that Department in pursuance of the power vested in the President of the United States by the act of Congress of the 3d of March, 1809, enti- tled ‘‘An act further to amend the several acts for the establishment and regulation of the Treasury, War, and Navy Departments.’’ JOHN TYLER. To the Senate of the United States: WASHINGTON, june 17, 1841. I transmit to the Senate the inclosed communication* from the Secre- tary of State, in answer to a resolution of the Senate of the 12th instant. JOHN TYLER. WASHINGTON, June 17, 1842. To the Senate of the United States: I transmit to the Senate the inclosed communication from the Secre- tary of State, in answer to a resolution of the Senate of the 12th instant. JOHN TYLER. * Relating to the commissioners appointed to investigate the condition of the public works in Washington, D. C., and transmitting copy of the letter of instructions issued to them. ~
1905 Messages and Papers of the Prestdents DEPARTMENT OF State, June 15, 184!. The PRESIDENT. Srr: In answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 12th instant, calling for ‘‘any orders which may have been issued to the officers of the Army and Navy in relation to political offenses in elections,’’ etc., I inclose a copy of the circular letter addressed, under the direction of the President, by this Departn.:nt to the heads of the other Departments, and know of no other order to which the resolution can ,be supposed to have reference. I have the honor to be, your obedient servant, . ; DANIEL WEBSTER. CIRCULAR. DEPARTMENT oF STate, March 20, 1841. Sm: The President is of opinion that it is a great abuse to bring the patronage of the General Government into conflict with the freedom of elections, and that this abuse ought to be corrected wherever it may have been permitted to exist, and to be prevented for the future. ' He therefore directs that information be given to all officers and agents in your department of the public service that partisan interference in popular elections, whether of State officers or officers of this Government, and for whomsoever or against whomsoever it may be exercised, or the payment of any contribution or assessment on salaries, or official compensation for party or election purposes, will be regarded by him as cause of removal. It is not intended that any officer shall be restrained in the free and proper expres- sion and maintenance of his opinions respecting public men or public measures, or in the exercise to the fullest degree of the constitutional right of suffrage. But persons employed under the Government and paid for their services out of the public Treas- ury are not expected to take an active or officious part in attempts to influence the minds or votes of others, such conduct being deemed inconsistent with the spirit of the Constitution and the duties of public agents acting under it; and the President is resolved, so far as depends upon him, that while the exercise of the elective franchise by the people shall be free from undue influences of official station and authority, opinion shall also be free among the officers and agents of the Government. The President wishes it further to be announced and distinctly understood that from all collecting and disbursing officers promptitude in rendering accounts and entire punctuality in paying balances will be rigorously exacted. In his opinion it is time to return in this respect to the early practice of the Government, and to hold any degree of delinquency on the part of those intrusted with the public money just cause of immediate removal. He deems the severe observance of this rule to be essential to the public service, as every dollar lost to the Treasury by unfaithfulnese in office creates a necessity for a new charge upon the people. I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant, DANIEL WEBSTER. Wasuincton, D. C., June 18, 2842. To the Senate of the United States: I transmit to the Senate a report from the Secretary of the Navy, with accompanying documents,* in answer to their resolution of the 12th instant. JOHN TYLER. * Correspondence of the minister in England with the officers of the Mediterranean Squadron, im consequence of which the squadron left that station, and the dispatches of Captain Bolton to the tary of the Navy connected with that movement.
| John Tyler , 31906 To the Senate of the United States: WASHINGTON, June, 7841. I have the honor to transmit to the Senate the accompanying letter * from the Secretary of the Treasury, in pursuance of its resolution of the WASHINGTON, June 22, 1842. To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States: I have the honor to submit the accompanying correspondence between myself and the Hon. J. Burpet, J. C. Wright, and others, who arrived some days ago in this city as a committee on behalf of the people of Cincinnati for the purpose, with the assent of the family, of removing the remains of the late President of the United States to North Bend for interment. I have thought it to be my duty thus to apprise Congress of the contemplated proceedings. JOHN TYLER. WASHINGTON City, June 16, 1841. The PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. DEAR Sir: The undersigned were appointed by the citizens and the city council of Cincinnati and by many of the surviving soldiers of the late war to apply to the widow and family of our distinguished fellow-citizen, the late President of the United States, for permission to remove his remains from the city of Washington to the State of Ohio for interment. They have made the application directed, and have received permission to perform that sacred trust. ‘They have now the honor of reporting to you their arrival in this city, and of asking your approbation of the measure contemplated and your cooperation in carrying it into effect. We are fully aware of the high estimate you placed on the talents and virtues of our lamented friend and fellow-citizen, the late Chief Magistrate of the Union, whose friendship and confidence you possessed many years. We saw the tear fall from your eye and mingle with the tears of the nation when the inscrutable will of Heaven removed him from us. Knowing these things, we approach you with confidence, well assured that you will justly appreciate our motive for undertaking the mournful duty we have been deputed to perform, and that the same kind feeling which has marked your course through life will prompt you on this occasion to afford us your countenance, and, if necessary, your cooperation. If it meet your approbation, the committee will do themselves the honor of wait- ing upon you at the President’s house at any hour you may please to designate. With high respect, we are, yovr friends and fellow-citizens, J. BURNET. J. C. WRIGHT. [AND Io OTHERS. ] WASHINGTON, June 17, 18¢1. J. Burnet, J. C. WRIGHT, AND OTHERS OF THE COMMITTEE. GENTLEMEN: Your letter of the 16th was duly handed me, and I lose no time in responding to the feelings and sentiments which you have expressed for yourselves and those you represent, and which you have correctly ascribed to me in regard to * Relating to allowances since March 4, 1841, of claims arising under the invasion of Kast Florida in 1812.
1907 Messages and Papers of the Presidents the lamented death of the late President. As a citizen I respected him; as a patriot I honored him; as a friend he was near and dear to me. That the people of Cincin- nati should desire to keep watch over his remains by entombing them near their city is both natural and becoming; that the entire West, where so many evidences of his public usefulness are to be found, should unite in the same wish was to have been expected; and that the surviving soldiers of his many battles, led on by him to victory and to glory, should sigh to perform the last melancholy duties to the remains of their old commander is fully in consonance with the promptings of a noble and generous sympathy. I could not, if I was authorized to do so, oppose myself to their wishes. I might find something to urge on behalf of his native State in my knowledge of his continued attachment to her through the whole period of his useful life; in the claims of his relatives there, whose desire it would be that the mortal remains of the illustrious son should sleep under the same turf with those of his distinguished father, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence; in the wish of the citizens of his native county to claim all that is now left of him for whom they so lately cast their almost unanimous suffrage; to say nothing of my own feelings, allied as I am by blood to many of his near relatives, and with our names so closely associated in much connected with the late exciting political con- test. These considerations might present some reasonable ground for opposing your wishes; but the assent which has been given by his respected widow and nearest relatives to the request of the people of Cincinnati admits of no opposition on my part, neither in my individual nor official character. I shall feel it to be my duty, however, to submit our correspondence to the two Houses of Congress, now in session, but anticipating no effort from that quarter to thwart the wishes expressed by yourselves in consonance with those of the widow and nearest relatives of the late President. I readily promise you my cooperation toward enabling you to fulfill the sacred trust which brought you to this city. I tender to each of you, gentlemen, my cordial salutations. JOHN TYLER. [Norzg.—The remains of the late President of the United States were removed from Washington to North Bend, Ohio, June 26, 1841.] To the Senate of the United States: WASHINGTON, June 29, 1841. In compliance with the resolution of the Senate of the 14th instant, I have the honor to submit the accompanying reports from the Secretary of State and Secretary of the Treasury, which embrace all the informa- tion possessed by the executive department upon that subject. * JOHN TYLER. WASHINGTON, June 30, 18gr. Zo the House of Representatives of the United States: The accompanying memorial in favor of the passage of a bankrupt law, signed by nearly 3,000 of the inhabitants of the city of New York, has been forwarded to me, attended by a request that I would submit it to the consideration of Congress. I can not waive a compliance with a request urged upon me by so large and respectable a number of my fellow-citizens. That a bankrupt law, carefully guarded against fraudu- lent practices and embracing as far as practicable all classes of society— the failure to do which has heretofore constituted a prominent objection * Payment or assumption of State stocks by the General Government.
John Tyler 1908 to the measure—would afford extensive relief I do not doubt. - The dis- tress incident to the derangements of some years past has visited large numbers of our fellow-citizens with hopeless insolvency, whose energies, both mental and physical, by reason of the load of debt pressing upon them, are lost to the country. Whether Congress shall deem it proper to enter upon the consideration of this subject at its present extraordi- nary session it will doubtless wisely determine. I have fulfilled my duty to the memorialists in submitting their petition to your consideration. JOHN TYLER. WasHINGTON, July 7, 18427. To the Senate of the United States: I have the honor herewith to submit to the Senate the copy of a letter addressed by myself to Mrs. Harrison in compliance with the resolutions of Congress, and her reply thereto. JOHN TYLER. [The same message was sent to the House of Representatives. ] Mrs, ANNA HARRISON, WASHINGTON, June 13, 1841. My Drear Mapam: The accompanying resolutions, adopted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States, will convey to you an expression of the deep sympathy felt by the representatives of the States and of the people in the sad bereavement which yourself and the country have sustained in the death of your illustrious husband. It may now be justly considered that the public archives constitute his enduring monument, on which are inscribed in characters not to be effaced the proudest evidences of public gratitude for services rendered and of sorrow for hisdeath. A great and united people shed their tears over the bier of a devoted patriot and distinguished public benefactor. In conveying to you, my dear madam, the profound respect of the two Houses of Congress for your person and character, and their sincere condolence on the late afflicting dispensation of Providence, permit me to mingle my feelings with theirs and tc tender you my fervent wishes for your health, happiness, and long life. JOHN TYLER. ARESOLUTION manifesting the sensibility of Congress upon the event of the death of William Henry Harrison, late President of the United States. The melancholy event of the death of William Henry Harrison, the late President of the United States, having occurred during the recess of Congress, and the two Houses sharing in the general grief and desiring to manifest their sensibility upon the occasion of that public bereavement: Therefore, Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives ofthe United States of America in Congress assembled, That the chairs of the President of the Sendte and of the Speaker of the House of Representatives be shrouded in black during the residue of the session, and that the President pro tempore of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the members and officers of both Houses wear the usual badge of mourning for thirty days. Resolved, That the President of the United States be requested to transmit a copy of these resolutions to Mrs, Harrison, and to assure her of the profound respect of the two Houses of Congress for her person and character, and of their sincere con- dolence on the late afflicting dispensation of Providence.
1909 Messages and Papers of the Presidents His Excellency Jon TYLER, NortH BEND, June 24, 184. President United States, Washington City, D. C. DEAR Sir: I have received with sentiments of deep emotion the resolutions of the Senate and House of Representatives which you have done me the honor of for- warding, relative to the decease of my lamented husband. I can not sufficiently express the thanks I owe to the nation and its assembled representatives for their condolence, so feelingly expressed, of my individual calamity and the national bereavement; but, mingling my tears with the sighs of the many patriots of the land, pray to Heaven for the enduring happiness and prosperity of our beloved country. ANNA HARRISON To the Senate of the United States: WasHincton, july 3, 1841. In compliance with a resolution of the Senate of the 9th instant [ul- timo], I communicate to that body a report from the Secretary of State, conveying copies of the correspondence,* which contains all the infor- mation called for by said resolution. JOHN TYLER. To the Senate of the United States: Wasuineton, July 9, 1847. I transmit a report from the Secretary of State, in answer to the reso- lution of the Senate of the 2d instant, calling for information as to the progress and actual condition of the commission} under the convention with the Mexican Republic. ; JOHN TYLER. ; WASHINGTON, July 14, 1841. To the Speaker and Members of the House of Representatives: — Tn compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 21st ultimo, I have the honor to submit the accompanying communica- tion t from the Secretary of State. JOHN TYLER To the House of Representatives: WASHINGTON, /uly 16, 1841. I herewith transmit to the House of Representatives, in reply to their resolution of the 21st ultimo, a report§ from the Secretary of State, with accompanying papers. JOHN TYLER. *Relating to the duties levied on American tobacco imported into the States composing the Ger- man Commercial and Custom-House Union. . ft Appointed under the convention of April 11, 1839, for adjusting the claims of citizens of the United States upon the Republic of Mexico. , {Transmitting correspondence with Great Britain rclative to the seizure of American vessels by British armed cruisers under the pretense that they were engaged in the slave trade; also corre- spondence with N. P. Trist, United States consul at Habana, upon the subject of the slave trade, etc. 2 Stating that there is no correspondence in his office showing that any American citizens are British prisoners of state in Van Diemens Land; transmitting correspondence with the British minister on the subject of the detention or imprisonment of citizens of the United States on account of occurrences in Canada, instructions issued to the special agent appointed to inquire vo such detention or imprisonment, and report of said special agent.
John Tyler 1910 WASHINGTON, July ro, 2841. To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States: The act of Congress of the roth of March, 1838, entitled ‘‘An act sup- plementary to an act entitled ‘An act in addition to the act for the pun- ishment of certain crimes against the United States and to repeal the acts therein mentioned,’ approved 2oth of April, 1818,’’ expired by its own limitation on the roth of March, 1840. The object of this act was to make further provision for preventing military expeditions or enterprises against the territory or dominions of any prince or state’or of any colony, district, or people conterminous with the United States and with whom they are at peace, contrary to the act of April 20, 1818, entitled ‘‘An act in addition to the act for the punishment of certain crimes against the United States and to repeal the acts therein mentioned.’’ The act of Congress of March 10, 1838, appears to have had a very salutary effect, and it is respectfully recommended to Congress that it be now revived or its provisions be reenacted. JOHN TYLER. WASHINGTON, July 27, 1841. ‘To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States: I transmit herewith to Congress a communication from the Secretary of State, on the subject of appropriations required for outfits and salaries of diplomatic agents of the United States. JOHN TYLER WASHINGTON, August 2, 1847. To the House of Representatives of the United States: On the 18th of February, 1832, the House of Representatives adopted a resolution in the following words: Resolved, That the President of the United States be authorized to employ Horatio Greenough, of Massachusetts, to execute in marble a full-length pedestrian statue of Washington, to be placed in the center of the Rotunda of the Capitol; the head to be a copy of Houdon’s Washington, and the accessories to be left to the judgment of the artist. . On the 23d of the same month the Secretary of State, by direction of the President, addressed to Mr. Greenough a letter of instructions for carrying into effect the resolution of the House. On the 14th of July, 1832, an appropriation of the sum of $5,000 was made ‘‘to enable the President of the United States to contract with a skillful artist to execute in marble a pedestrian statue of George Wash- ington, to be placed in the center of the Rotunda of the Capitol,’’ and several appropriations were made at the succeeding sessions in further- ance of the same object. Mr. Greenough, having been employed upon the work for several years at Florence, completed it some months ago.
TQII Messages and Papers of the Presidents By a resolution of Congress of the 27th of May, 1840, it was directed ‘that the Secretary of the Navy be authorized and instructed to take measures for the importation and erection of the statue of Washington by Greenough.’’ In pursuance of this authority the Navy Department held a correspondence with Commodore Hull, commanding on the Medi- terranean station, who entered into an agreement with the owners or master of the ship Sea for the transportation of the statue to the United States. This ship, with the statue on board, arrived in this city on the 31st ultimo, and now lies at the navy-yard. As appropriations have become necessary for the payment of the freight and other expenses, I communicate to Congress such papers as may enable it to judge of the amount required. JOHN TYLER. Hon. Joun WuHIrs, AucusT 3, 1841. Speaker of the House of Representatives. _ rr: I herewith transmit a communication* received from the Post- master-General, to which I would invite the attention of Congress. JOHN TYLER. To the House of Representatives: AucusT 3, 1841. I herewith transmit a report from the Secretary of the Treasury, to whom I referred the resolution of the House calling for a communica- tion} addressed to him by the French minister. JOHN TYLER. To the House of Representatives: WASHINGTON, August 6, 184z. In compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 16th of July, 1841, I communicate reports ¢ from the several Executive Departments, containing the information requested by said resolution. JOHN TYLER. WASHINGTON, August 25, 1841. Zo the Senate of the United States: I herewith transmit to the Senate, in pursuance of their resolution of the 22d ultimo, copies of the several reports of the commissioners appointed in March last to examine into certain matters connected with the public buildings in this city and the conduct of those employed in their erection. JOHN TYLER. * Asking for a further appropriation for completing the new General Post-Office building. ¢ Relating to the commerce and navigation between France and the United States. {Transmitting list of officers deriving their appointments from the nomination of the President and the concurrence of the Senate who were removed from office since March 4, 1841, and also those who were removed from March 4, 1829, to March 4, 1841. :
John Tyler 1912 WASHINGTON, August 27, 1841. To the House of Representatives of the United States: I transmit herewith a letter from the Secretary of the Treasury, bear- ing date this day, with the accompanying papers, in answer to the reso- lution of the House of Representatives of the 16th ultimo, relative to removals from office, etc. ’ These statements should have accompanied those from the other Departments on the same subject transmitted in my message to the House on the 7th ultimo,* but which have been delayed for reasons stated in the letter of the Secretary of the Treasury above referred to. JOHN TYLER. _ Wasuincron, D. C., September 1, 1841. To the Senate of the United States: I submit to the Senate, for its consideration and constitutional action, a treaty concluded at Oeyoowasha, on Minneesota (or St. Peters) River, in the Territory of Iowa, on the 31st day of July last, between James Duane Doty, commissioner on the part of the United States, and the Seeseeahto, Wofpato, and Wofpakoota bands of the Dakota (or Sioux) Nation of Indians. The accompanying communication from the Secretary of War fully sets forth the considerations which have called for the negotiation of this treaty, and which ‘have induced me to recommend its confirmation, with such exceptions and modifications as the Senate may advise. JOHN TYLER. DEPARTMENT OF Wark, August 31, 1841. The PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. Sir: I transmit herewith a treaty concluded with certain bands of the Dahcota Na- tion of Indians, commonly called Sioux, which has been received at this Department from His Excellency James D. Doty, governor of Wisconsin, who was appointed a commissioner on the part of the United States for the purpose of negotiating the treaty; and I desire to submit the following facts and opinions inducing me to request its favorable consideration: It was known on my entering upon the duties of the Department of Wer that some provision must speedily be made for the Winnebago Indians, in the Northwest. By the treaty with those Indians in 1837 it was provided that they should move tempo- rarily upon a narrow strip of country west of the Mississippi River, called the neu- tral ground, from the object of its purchase in 1830. That strip of country is only 40 miles in width, 20 miles of it having been purchased from the Sac and Fox Indians and 20 miles from the Sioux, the object of the purchase having been to place a barrier between those tribes, which had been for many years at war and par- ties of which were continually meeting and destroying each other upon or adjacent to the country purchased. When the delegation of Winnebago chiefs was in Washington negotiating a sale of all their lands east of the Mississippi River, in 1837,a permanent location for those Indians was not fixed upon, and a temporary expedient was adopted, and acceded to *Not found. Evidently refers to message of August 6, 1841, on preceding page.
1913 Messages and Papers of the Presidents by the Indians, by which they agreed, within eight months from the ratification of the treaty, to move upon and occupy a portion of the neutral ground until they should select a permanent home. Owing to the small extent of country thus temporarily assigned to the Winneba- goes, utterly destitute of all preparation for the reception of them, slenderly sup- plied with game, and, above all, the circumistance that the Sac and Fox Indians were continually at war with the Sioux, the object ofthe purchase having utterly failed, the neutral ground, so called, proving literally the fighting ground of the hostile tribes—owing to all these circumstances the Winnebagoes were extremely reluctant to comply with the treaty. It was in part a dictate of humanity to give them more time for removal than that allotted in the treaty, in the hope of effecting their permanent removal beyond the Missouri or elsewhere; but as no steps were taken to select their future home, and as the white settlers in Wisconsin were fast crowding upon the Indians, overrunning the country, as usual, in search of town sites, water privileges, and farming districts, it became absolutely necessary to make some efforts toward carrying the treaty into effect. Owing to the excited state of the Indians and the apprehension of disturbance, the Eighth Regiment of Infantry, in 1840, more than two years, instead of eight months, after the ratification of the treaty, was ordered upon the Winnebago frontier, the greater part of the Fifth Regi- ment being already there, and in the presence of that force the Indians were required to comply with the treaty. They reluctantly removed from the banks of the Wis- consin River and crossed the Mississippi, but did not go to that portion of the neutral ground agreed upon, which commenced 20 miles from the river, but instead of it they spread themselves along the bank of the Mississippi, some of them recross- ing that river and ascending the Chippewa and Black rivers. Only a small portion of the tribe has yet removed to the portion of the neutral ground assigned to them, and it is perhaps fortunate that local attachments have not been formed, since, from the position of the country, it was not and never could have been intended as their permanent home. After a careful examination of the country in the Northwest the importance of providing for the Winnebago Indians, though immediate, became secondary in a more national and wider prospect of benefits in future years by arrangements which presented themselves to my mind as not only practicable, but of easy accom- plishment. A glance at the map and at-the efforts hitherto made in emigration will show an extensive body of Indians accumulated upon the Southwestern frontier, and, looking to the numbers yet to be emigrated from within the circle of territory soon to become States of the American Union, it will appear upon very many considerations to be of the utmost importance to separate the Indians and to interpose a barrier between the masses which are destined to be placed upon the western frontier, instead of accumulating them within limits enabling them to unite and in concert spread desolation over the States of Missouri and Arkansas to, perhaps, the banks of the Mississippi. Entertaining these views, it was determined to open negotiations with the Sioux Indians north and northwest of the purchase of 1830, the neutral ground, so called, with the purpose of purchasing sufficient territory beyond the reasonable limits of Towa to provide a resting place for the Winnebagoes, intending to treat also with the Sac and Fox Indians and with the Potawatamies north of the State of Missouri, and thus enable our citizensto expand west of the Missouri River north of the State. It is difficult to state in a condensed report all the reasons now imperatively urg- ing the adoption of these measures, Besides the absolute necessity of providing a home for the Winnebagoes, the citizens of Iowa and of Missouri are crowding upon the territory of the Sac and Fox Indians and already producing those irritations which in former times have led to bloody wars. It is not to-be for a moment
John Tyler IQI4 concealed that our enterprising and hardy population must and will occupy the terri- tory adjacent to that purchased in 1837 from the Sacs and Foxes, and the only possible mode of its being done in peace is by another purchase from those Indians. But the position of the Potawatamies will then become relatively what that of the Sac and Fox Indians now is, with the difference that access to their country by the Mis- souri River will hasten its occupancy by our people. The only mode of guarding against future collision, near at hand if not provided against, is by emigrating not only the Sac and Fox Indians, but also the Potawatamies. Great efforts have been made to induce those Indians, as also the Winnebagoes, to move south of tne Missouri, but without effect, their opposition to it being appar- ently insurmountable, the Potawatamies expressing the most decided aversion to it on being urged to join other bands of Potawatamies on thre Marais de Cygne, declar- ing that they would rather at once go to California, being determined not to unite with those bands, but to maintain an independence of them. By the purchase from the Sioux no doubt is entertained that their prejudices may be advantageously accom- modated, for among the objects in contemplation before adverted to it is to my mind of primary importance so to dispose of those Indians as to enable this Govern- ment to interpose a State between the Northern and Southern Indians along the Missouri River, and thus, by dividing the Indians on the frontier and separating the divisions, prevent a combination and concert of action which future progress in civilization might otherwise enable them to effect in the prosecution of revenge for real or imagined grievances. Great importance is attached to this view of the subject, but scarcely less to the means provided by the treaty for inducing the remnants of other Northern tribes to remove to a climate congenial to their habits and disposition. From the earliest efforts at emigration certain Northern Indians have strenuously objected to a removal south of the Missouri on account of the climate; and where tribes have been induced to dispose of all right to live east of the Mississippi within the United States, many individuals, dreading their southern destination, have wan- dered to the north and are now living in Canada, annually in the receipt of presents from the British Government, and will be ready without doubt to side with that power in any future conflict with this Government. In this manner considerable numbers of the Delawares and Shawnees and other Indians have disappeared from our settlements—a fact of great importance, and which I apprehend has not been heretofore sufficiently considered. There are many Potawatamies and Ottawas, as also Winnebagoes and Menomonees, who may be easily induced to move into Can- ada by seductive bribes, in the use of which the British Government has always displayed a remarkable foresight. Of the Chippewas and Ottawas now in the northern part of Michigan it is believed there are over 5,000 under treaty obligations to remove to the Southwest, the greater portion of whom openly declared their determination to cross the line into Canada and put themselves under the protection of the British Government in preference to a removal to that country. These Indians may be accommodated by the arrange- ments in contemplation, not only to their own satisfaction, but under circumstances promising the greatest permanent advantages to the United States, and separating them from all inducements and even the possibility of entering the British service. I am not without hope, also, that through this treaty some suitable and acceptable arrangement may be made with the New York Indians by which they may be removed with safety to themselves and benefit to the people of that State. The very peculiar situation of these Indians is well known; that while they are under treaty obligation to remove, the treaty being by the Constitution the supreme law of the land and perfecting in this instance the title of the land they occupy in a private land company, there is yet every reason to sympathize with them and the highest moral inducements for extending every possible relief to them within the legitimate
1915 Messages and Papers of the Presidents powers of the Government. I have been assured from sources entitled to my fullest confidence that although these Indians have hitherto expressed the most decided aversion to a removal south of the Missouri, there will probably be no difficulty in uading them to occupy a more northern region in the West. I have every rea- son for believing that a benevolent interest in their behalf among a portion of our own people, which, it is supposed, has heretofore presented an obstacle to their emi- gration, will be exerted to effect their removal if a portion of the Sioux country can be appropriated to them. ; It will be perceived, therefore, that a multitude of objects thus rest upon the success of this one treaty, now submitted for examination and approbation. Of the Sioux Indians I will but remark that they occupy an immense country spreading from the Mississippi north of the neutral ground west and northwest, crossing the Missouri River more than 1,200 miles above the city of St. Louis. They are divided into bands, which have various names, the generic name for the whole being the Dahcota Nation. These bands, though speaking a common language, are independent in their occupancy of portions of country, and separate treaties may be made with them. Treaties are already subsisting with some of the bands both on the Mississippi and Missouri. The treaty now submitted is believed to be advan- tageous, and from its provisions contemplates the reduction of those wandering Indians from their nomadic habits to those of an agricultural people. If some of the provisions seem not such as might be desired, it will be recollected that many interests have to be accommodated in framing an Indian treaty which can only be fully known to the commissioner, who derives his information directly from the Indians in the country which is the object of the purchase. It is proper to add that I had instructed the commissioner expressly not to take into consideration what are called traders’ claims, in the hope of correcting a prac- tice which, it is believed, has been attended with mischievous consequences; but the commissioner has by a letter of explanations fully satisfied me that in this instance it was absolutely necessary to accommodate those claims as an indispensable means of obtaining the assent of the Indians to the treaty. This results, doubtless, from their dependence upon the traders for articles, in a measure necessaries, which are for the most part furnished without competition, and of the proper value of which the Indians are ignorant. To compensate in some degree for the article in this treaty providing for the pay- ment of traders’ claims, very judicious guards are introduced into the treaty, calcu- lated effectually to exclude that source of interest adverse to the Government in all future time within the purchase under this treaty. There are other articles in the treaty which I have not been able fully to realize as judicious or necessary, but for reasons already stated they deserve respectful consideration. Notwithstanding the article stipulating that a rejection of any of the provisions of the treaty should render the whole null and void, I would respectfully recommend such modified acceptance of the treaty as in the wisdom of the Senate may seem just and proper, conditioned upon the assent of the Indians subseauently .o be obtained, the Senate making provision for its reference back to the Indians if necessary. It will be seen that the treaty provides for a power of regulation in the Indian Territory by the United States Government under circumstances not hitherto attempted, presenting an opportunity for an experiment well worthy of mature consideration. I ought not to dismiss this subject without adverting to one other important consideration connected with the integrity of our Northwest Indians and Territory. The Sioux treaty will effectually withdraw from British influence all those who are a party to it by making them stipendiaries of the United States and by operating
John Tyler . 1916 a change in their wandering habits and establishing them at known and fixed points under the observation of Government agents, and as the British can only have access to that region by the way of Fond du Lac, one or two small military posts in a direction west and south from that point, it is believed, will completely control all intercourse with the Indians in that section of country. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, JNO. BELL. WASHINGTON, September 8, 1841. To the Senate of the United States : I have the honor, in compliance with the resolution of the Senate of the 8th June, to communicate a letter * from the Secretary of the Treasury and the correspondence accompanying it. JOHN TYLER. - WASHINGTON, September 13, 1841. To the Senate of the United States: In compliance with a resolution of the Senate of the 14th July last, I comimunicate to the Senate a report from the Secretary of State, accom- panied by copies of the correspondence f called for by said resolution. JOHN TYLER. N VETO MESSAGES. WASHINGTON, August 16, 1847. To the Senate of the United States: The bill entitled ‘‘ An act to incorporate the subscribers to the Fiscal Bank of the United States,’’ which originated in the Senate, has been considered by me with a sincere desire to conform my action in regard to it to that of the two Houses of Congress, By the Constitution it is made my duty either to approve the bill by signing it or to return it with my objections to the House in which it originated. I can not conscientiously give it my approval, and I proceed to discharge the duty required of me by the Constitution—to give my reasons for disapproving. ‘The power of Congress to create a national bank to operate fer se over the Union has been a question of dispute from the origin of the Govern- ment, Men most justly and deservedly esteemed for their high intellec- tual endowments, their virtue, and their patriotism have in regard to it entertained different and conflicting opinions ; Congresses have differed ; the approval of one President has been followed by the disapproval of another; the people at different times have acquiesced in decisions both for and against. The country has been and still is deeply agitated * Relating to the deposits of public moneys in banks by disburaing offices and agents. t Relating to the origin, progress, and conclusion of the treaty of November 26, 1838, between Sardinia and the United States,
1917 Messages and Papers of the Presidents by this unsettled question. It will suffice for me to say that my own opinion has been uniformly proclaimed to be against the exercise of any such power by this Government. On all suitable occasions during a period of twenty-five years the opinion thus entertained has been unre- servedly expressed. I declared it in the legislature of my native State; in the House of Representatives of the United States it has been openly vindicated by me; in the Senate Chamber, in the presence and hearing of many who are at this time members of that body, it has been affirmed and reafirmed in speeches and reports there made and by votes there recorded; in popular assemblies I have unhesitatingly announced it, and the last public declaration which I made—and that but a short time be- - fore the late Presidential election—I referred to my previously expressed opinions as being those then entertained by me. With a full knowledge of the opinions thus entertained and never concealed, I was elected by the people Vice-President of the United States. By the occurrence of a contingency provided for in the Constitution and arising under an ‘ impressive dispensation of Providence I succeeded to the Presidential office. Before entering upon the duties of that office I took an oath that I would ‘‘preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.’’ Entertaining the opinions alluded to and having taken this oath, the Senate and the country will see that I could not give my sanction to a measure of the character described without surrendering all claim to the respect of honorable men, all confidence on the part of the people, all self-respect, all regard for moral and religious obligations, without an observance of which no government can be prosperous and no people can be happy. It would be to commit a crime which I would ‘ not willfully commit to gain any earthly reward, and whith would justly subject me to the ridicule and scorn of all virtuous men. I deem it entirely unnecessary at this time to enter upon the reasons which have brought my mind to the convictions I feel and entertain on this subject. They have been over and over again repeated. If some of those who have preceded me in this high office have entertained and avowed different opinions, I yield all confidence that their convic- tions were sincere. I claim only to have the same measure meted out to myself. Without going further into the argument, I will say that in looking to the powers of this Government to collect, safely keep, and dis- burse the public revenue, and incidentally to regulate the commerce and exchanges, I have not been able to satisfy myself that the establishment by this Government of a bank of discount in the ordinary acceptation of that term was a necessary means or one demanded by propriety to execute those powers. What can the local discounts of the bank have to do with the collecting, safe-keeping, and disbursing of the revenue? So far as the mere discounting of paper is concerned, it is quite imma- terial to this question whether the discount is obtained at a State bank or a United States bank. They are both equally local, both beginning
Tohn Tyler 1918 and both ending in a local accommodation. What influence have local discounts granted by any form of bank in the regulating of the currency and the exchanges? Let the history of the late United States Bank aid us in answering this inquiry. For several years after the establishment of that institution it dealt almost exclusively in local discounts, and during that perfod the country was for the most part disappointed in the consequences anticipated from its incorporation. A uniform currency was not provided, exchanges were not regulated, and little or nothing was added to the general cir- culation, and in 1820 its embarrassments had become so great that the directors petitioned Congress to repeal that article of the charter which made its notes receivable everywhere in payment of the public dues. It had up to that period dealt to but a very small extent in exchanges, either foreign or domestic, and as late as 1823.its operations in that line amounted to a little more than $7,000,000 per annum. A very rapid aug- mentation soon after occurred, and in 1833 its dealings in the exchanges amounted to upward of $100,000,000, including the sales of its own drafts; and all these immense transactions were effected without the employment of extraordinary means. The currency of the country became sound, and the negotiations in the exchanges were carried on at the lowest possible rates. The circulation was increased to more than $22,000,000 and the notes of the bank were regarded as equal to specie all over the country, thus showing almost conclusively that it was the capacity to deal in exchanges, and not in local discounts, which fur- nished these facilities and advantages. It may be remarked, too, that notwithstanding the immense transactions of the bank in the purchase of exchange, the losses sustained were merely nominal, while in the line of discounts the suspended debt was enormous and proved most disas- trous to the bank and the country. Its power of local discount has in fact proved to be a fruitful source of favoritism and corruption, alike destructive to the public morals and to the general weal. The capital invested in banks of discount in the United States, created by the States, at this time exceeds $350,000,000, and if the discounting of local paper could have produced any beneficial effects the United States ought to possess the soundest currency in the world; but the reverse is lamentably the fact. Is the measure now under consideration of the objectionable character to which I have alluded? It is clearly so unless by the sixteenth funda- mental article of the eleventh section it is made otherwise. ‘That article is in the following words: The directors of the said corporation shall establish one competent office of dis- count and deposit in any State in which two thousand shares shall have been sub- scribed or may be held, whenever, upon application of the legislature of such State, Congress may by law require the same. And the said directors may also establish one or more competent offices of discount and deposit in any Territory or Dis- trict of the United States, and in any State with the assent of such State, and when
1919 Messages and Papers of the Presidents established the said office or offices shall be only withdrawn or removed by the said directors prior to the expiration of this charter with the previous assent of Con- gress: Provided, In respect to any State which shall not, at the first session of the legislature thereof held after the passage of this act, by resolution or other usual legis~ lative proceeding, unconditionally assent or dissent to the establishment of such office or offices within it, such assent of the said State shall be thereafter presumed: And provided, nevertheless, That whenever it shall become necessary and proper for car- rying into execution any of the powers granted by the Constitution to establish an office or offices in arly of the States whatever, and the establishment thereof shall be directed by law, it shall be the duty of the said directors to establish such office or offices accordingly. It will be seen that by this clause the directors are invested with the fullest power to establish a branch in any State which has yielded its assent; and having once established such branch, it shall not afterwards be withdrawn except by order of Congress. Such assent is to be zmplied and to have the force and sanction of an actually expressed assent, ‘‘pro- vided, in respect to any State which shall not, at the first session of the legislature thereof held after the passage of this act, by resolution or other usual legislative proceeding, unconditionally assent or dissent to the estab- lishment of such office or offices within it, such assent of said State shalJ be thereafter presumed.’’ The assent or dissent i is to be expressed uncon- ditionally at the first session of the legislatute, by some formal legislative act; and if not so expressed its assent is to be ¢zmpied, and the directors are thereupon invested with power, at such time thereafter as they may please, to establish branches, which can not afterwards be withdrawn except by resolve of Congress. No matter what may be the cause which may operate with the legislature, which either prevents it from speak- ing or addresses itself to its wisdom, to induce delay, its assent is to be implied. This iron rule is to give way to no circumstances; it is unbending and inflexible. It is the language of the master to the vas- sal; an unconditional answer is claimed forthwith, and delay, postpone- ment, or incapacity to answer produces an implied assent which is ever after irrevocable. Many of the State elections have already taken place without any knowledge on the part of the people that such a question was to come up. The representatives may desire a submission of the question to their constituents preparatory to final action upon it, but this high privilege is denied; whatever may be the motives and views enter- tained by the representatives of the people to induce delay, their assent is to be presumed, and is ever afterwards binding unless their dissent shall be unconditionally expressed at their first session after the passage of this bill into a law. They may by formal resolution declare the question of assent or dissent to be undecided and postponed, and yet, in opposition to their express declaration to the contrary, their assent is to be implied. Cases innumerable might be cited to manifest the irrationality of such an inference. Let one or two in addition suffice. The popular branch of the legislature may express its dissent by an unanimous vote, and its resolution may be defeated by a tie vote of the senate, and yet the assent
John Tyler _ 1920 ts to be implied. Both branches of the legislature may concur in a reso- lution of decided dissent, and yet the governor may exert the veto power conferred on him by the State constitution, and their legislative action be defeated, and yet the assent of the legislative authority is implied, and the directors of this contemplated institution are authorized to establish a branch or branches in such State whenever they may find it conducive to the interest of the stockholders to do so; and having once established it they can under no circumstances withdraw it except by act of Con- gress. The State may afterwards protest against such unjust inference, but itsauthority is gone. Its assent is implied by its failure or inability to act at its first session, and its voice can never afterwards be heard. To inferences so violent and, as they seem to me, irrational I can not yield my consent. No court of justice would or could sanction them without reversing all that is established in judicial proceeding by intro- ducing presumptions at variance with fact and inferences at the expense of reason. A State in acondition of duress would be presumed to speak as an individual manacled and in prison might be presumed to be in the enjoyment of freedom. Far better to say to the States boldly and frankly, Congress wills and submission is demanded. It may be said that the directors may not establish branches unde1 such circumstances; but this is a question of power, and this bill invests them with full authority to doso. If the legislature of New York or Pennsylvania or any other State should be found to be in such condition as I have supposed, could there be any security furnished against such a step on the part of the directors? Nay, is it not fairly to be presumed that this proviso was introduced for the sole purpose of meeting the con- tingency referred to? Why else should it have been introduced? And I submit to the Senate whether it can be believed that any State would be likely to sit quietly down under such a state of things. Ina great measure of public interest their patriotism may be successfully appealed to, but to infer their assent from circumstances at war with such inference I can not but regard as calculated to excite a feeling at fatal enmity with the peace and harmony of the country. I must therefore regard this clause as asserting the power to be in Congress to establish offices of discount in a State not only without itsassent, but against its dissent, and so tegarding it Ican not sanction it. On general principles the right in Congress to prescribe terms to any State implies a superiority of power - and control, deprives the transaction of all pretense to compact between them, and terminates, as we have seen, in the total abrogation of freedom of action on the part of the States. But, further, the State may express, after the most solemn form of Segislation, its dissent, which may from time to time thereafter be repeated in full view of its own interest, which can never be separated from the wise and beneficent operation of this Government, and yet Congress may by virtue of the last proviso overrule its law, and upon grounds which to such State will appear to rest on a
‘ 1921 Messages and Papers of the Presidents constructive necessity and propriety and nothing more. I regard the bill as asserting for Congress the right to incorporate a United States bank with power and right to establish offices of discount and deposit in the several States of this Union with or without their consent—a principle to which I have always heretofore been opposed and which can never obtain my sanction; and waiving all other considerations growing out of its other provisions, I return it to the House in which it originated witb these my objections to its approval. JOHN TYLER. WASHINGTON, September 9, 1841. To the House of Representatives of the United States: It is with extreme regret that I feel myself constrained by the duty faithfully to execute the office of President of the United States and to the best of my ability to ‘‘preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States’’ to return to the House in which it originated the bill ‘‘to provide for the better collection, safe-keeping, and disbursement of the public revenue by means of a corporation to be styled the Fiscal Corporation of the United States,’’ with my written objections. In my message sent to the Senate on the 16th day of August last, returning the bill ‘‘to incorporate the subscribers to the Fiscal Bank of the United States,’’ I distinctly declared that my own opinion had been uniformly proclaimed to be against the exercise ‘‘of the power of Con- gress to create a national bank to operate fer se over the Union,’’ and, entertaining that opinion, my main objection to that bill was based upon the highest moral and religious obligations of conscience and the Consti- tution. I readily admit that whilst the qualified veto with which the Chief Magistrate is invested should be regarded and was intended by the wise men who made it a part of the Constitution as a great conservea- tive principle of our system, without the exercise of which on important occasions a mere representative majority might urge the Government in its legislation beyond the limits fixed by its framers or might exert its just powers too hastily or oppressively, yet it is a power which ought to be most cautiously exerted, and perhaps never except in a case eminently involving the public interest or one in which the oath of the President, acting under his convictions, both mental and moral, imperiously requires its exercise. In such a case he has noalternative. He must either exert the negative power intrusted to him by the Constitution chiefly for its own preservation, protection, and defense or commit an act of gross moral turpitude. Mere regard to the will of a majority must not ina constitutional republic like ours control this sacred and solemn duty of a sworn officer. The Constitution itself I regard and cherish as the embodied and written will of the whole people of the United States. It is their fixed and fundamental law, which they unanimously prescribe to the public functionaries, their mere trustees and servants. This their
John. Tyler 1922 will and the law which ¢hey have given us as the rule of our action have no guard, no guaranty of preservation, protection, and defense, but the oaths which it prescribes to the public officers, the sanctity with which they shall religiously observe those oaths, and the patriotism with which the people shall shield it by their own sovereign will, which has made the Constitution supreme. It must be exerted against the will of a mere representative majority or not at all. It is alone in pursuance of that will that any measure can reach the President, and to say that because a majority in Congress have passed a bill he should therefore sanction it is to abrogate the power altogether and to render its insertion in the Constjtution a work of absolute supererogation. The duty is to guard the fundamental will of the people themselves from (in this case, I admit, unintentional) change or infraction by a majority in Congress; and in that light alone do I regard the constitutional duty which I now most reluctantly discharge. Is this bill now presented for my approval or disapproval such a bill as I have already declared could not receive my sanction? Is it such a bill as calls for the exercise of the negative power under the Constitution? Does it violate the Constitution by cre- ating a national bank to operate fer se over the Union? Its title, in the first place, describes its general character. It is ‘‘an act to provide for the better collection, safe-keeping, and disbursement of the public reve- nue by means of a corporation to be styled the Fiscgl Corporation of the United States.’’ Instyle, then, it is plainly national in its character. Its powers, functions, and duties are those which pertain to the collecting, keeping, and disbursing the public revenue. ‘The means by which these are to be exerted is a corporation to be styled the Fiscal Corporation of the United States. It is a corporation created by the Congress of the United States, in its character of a national legislature for the whole Union, to perform the fiscal purposes, meet the /isca/ wants and exigen- cies, supply the fiscal uses, and‘ exert the fiscal agencies of the Treasury of the United States. Such is its own description of itself. Do its pro- visions contradict its title? ‘They do not. It is true that by its first section it provides that it shall be established in the District of Colum- bia; but the amount of its capital, the manner in which its stock is to be subscribed for and held, the persons and bodies, corporate and politic, by whom its stock may be held, the appointment of its directors and their powers and duties, its fundamental articles, especially that to estab- lish agencies in any part of the Union, the corporate powers and busi- ness of such agencies, the prohibition of Congress to establish any other corporation with similar powers for twenty years, with express reserva- tion in the same clause to modify or create any bank for the District of Columbia, so that the aggregate capital shall not exceed five millions, without enumerating other features which are equally distinctive and characteristic, clearly show that it can not be regarded as other than a bank of the United States, with powers seemingly more limited than
1923 Messages and Papers of the Presidents have heretofore been granted to such an institution. It operates per se over the Union by virtue of the unaided and, in my view, assumed author- ity of Congress as a national legislature, as distinguishable from a bank created by Congress for the District of Columpia as the local legislature of the District. Every United States bank heretofore created has had power to deal in bills of exchange as well as local discounts. Both were trading privileges conferred, and both were exercised by virtue of the aforesaid power of Congress over the whole Union. The question of power remains unchanged without reference to the extent of privilege granted. If this proposed corporation is to be regarded as a local bank of the District of Columbia, invested by Congress with general powers to operate over the Union, it is obnoxious to still stronger objections. It assumes that Congress may invest a local institution with general or national powers. With the same propriety that it may do this in regard to a bank of the District of Colunibia it may as to a State bank. Yet who can indulge the idea that this Government can rightfully, by mak- ing a State bank its fiscal agent, invest it with the absolute and unquali- fied powers conferred by this bill? When I come to look at the details of the bill, they do not recommend it strongly to my adoption. A brief notice of some of its provisions will suffice. First. It may justify substantially a system of discounts of the most objectionable character. It is to deal’ in bills of exchange drawn in one State and payable in another without any restraint. The bill of exchange may have an unlimited time to run, and its renewability is nowhere guarded against. It may, in fact, assume the most objection- able form of accommodation paper. It is not required to rest on any actual, real, or substantial exchange basis. A drawer in one place becomes the accepter in another, and so in turn the accepter may become the drawer upon a mutual understanding. It may at the same time indulge in mere local discounts under the name of bills of exchange. A bill drawn at Philadelphia on Camden, N. J., at New York on a border town in New Jersey, at Cincinnati on Newport, in Kentucky, not to multiply other examples, might, for anything in this bill to restrain it, become a mere matter of local accommodation. Cities thus relatively situated would possess advantages over cities otherwise situated of so decided a character as most justly to excite dissatisfaction. Second. There is no limit prescribed to the premium in the purchase of bills of exchange, thereby correcting none of the evils under which the community now labors, and operating most injuriously upon the agricultural States, in which the irregularities in the rates of exchange are most severely felt. Nor are these the only consequences. A resump- tion of specie payments by the banks of those States would be liable to indefinite postponement; for as the operation of the agencies of the interior would chiefly consist in selling bills of exchange, and the pur- chases could only be made in specie or the notes of banks paying specie,
John Tyler 1924 the State banks would either have to continue with their doors closed or exist at the mercy of this national monopoly of brokerage. Nor can it be passed over without remark that whilst the District of Columbia is made the seat of the principal bank, its citizens are excluded from all participation in any benefit it might afford by a positive prohibition on the bank from all discounting within the District. These are some of the objections which prominently exist against the details of the bill, Others might be urged of much force, but it would be unprofitable to dwell upon them. Suffice it to add that this charter is designed to continue for twenty years without a competitor; that the defects to which I have alluded, being founded on the fundamental law of the corporation, are irrevocable, and that if the objections be well founded it would be overhazardous to pass the bill into a law. In conclusion I take leave most respectfully to say that I have felt the most anxious solicitude to meet the wishes of Congress in the adop- tion of a fiscal agent which, avoiding all constitutional objections, should harmonize conflicting opinions. Actuated by this feeling, I have been ready to yield much in a spirit of conciliation to the opinions of others; and it is with great pain that I now feel compelled to differ from Con- gress a second time in the same session. At the commencement of this session, inclined from choice to defer to the legislative will, I sub- mitted to Congress the propriety of adopting a fiscal agent which, with- out violating the Constitution, would separate the public money from the Executive control and perform the operations of the Treasury with- out being burdensome to the people or inconvenient or expensive to the Government. It is deeply to be regretted that this department of the Government can not upon constitutional and other grounds concur with the legislative department in this last measure proposed to attain these desirable objects. Owing to the brief space between the period of the death of my lamented predecessor and my own installation into office, I was, in fact, not left time to prepare and submit a definitive recommen- dation of my own in my regular message, and since my mind has been wholly occupied in a most anxious attempt to conform my action to the legislative will. In this communication I am confined by the Constitu- tion to my objections simply to this bill, but the period of the regular session will soon arrive, when it will be my duty, under another clause of the Constitution, ‘‘to give to Congress information of the state of the Union and recommend to their :onsideration such measures as’’ I “shall judge necessary and expedient.’’ And I most respectfully sub- mit, in a spirit of harmony, whether the present differences of opinion. . should be pressed further at this time, and whether the peculiarity of my situation does not entitle me to a postponement of this subject to a more suspicious period for deliberation. The two Houses of Congress have distinguished themselves at this extraordinary session by the per- formance of an immense mass of labor at a season very unfavorable
1925 Messages and Papers of the Presidents both to health and action, and have passed many laws which I trust will prove highly beneficial to the interests of the country and fully answer its just expectations. It has been my good fortune and pleasure to concur with them in all measures except this. And why should our difference on this alone be pushed to extremes? It is my anxious desire that it should not be. I too have been burdened with extraordinary labors of late, and I sincerely desire time for deep and deliberate refiec- tion on this the greatest difficulty of my Administration.; May we not now pause until a more favorable time, when, with the most anxious hope that the Executive and Congress may cordially unite, some meas- ure of finance may be deliberately adopted promotive of the good of our common country? I will take this occasion to declare that the conclusions to which I have brought myself are those of a settled conviction, founded, in my opinion, on a just view of the Constitution; that in arriving at it I have been actuated by no other motive or desire than to uphold the institu- tions of the country as they have come down to us from the hands of our godlike ancestors, and that I shall esteem my efforts to sustain them, even though I perish, more honorable than to win the applause of men by a sacrifice of my duty and my conscience. JOHN TYLER. PROCLAMATION. [From Statutes at Large (Little, Brown & Co.), Vol. XI, p. 786.] By THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. , A PROCLAMATION. Whereas it has come to the knowledge of the Government of the United States that sundry secret lodges, clubs, or associations exist on the northern frontier; that the members of these lodges are bound together by secret, oaths; that they have collected firearms and other military materials and secreted them in sundry places; and that it is their purpose to violate the laws of their country by making military and lawless incursions, when opportunity shall offer, into the territories of a power with which the United C.ates are at peace; and Whereas it is known that traveling agitators, from both sides of the line, visit these lodges and harangue the members in secret meeting, stimulating them to illegal acts; and Whereas the same persons are known to levy contributions on the ignorant and credulous for their own benefit, thus supporting and enrich- ing themselves by the basest means ; and Whereas the unlawful intentions of the members of these lodges have
John Tyler 1926 already been manifested in an attempt to destroy the lives and property of the inhabitants of Chippewa, in Canada, and the public Property of the British Government there being : Now, therefore, I, John Tyler, President of the United States, do issue this my proclamation, admonishing all such evil-minded persons of the condign punishment which is certain to overtake them; assuring them that the laws of the United States will be rigorously executed against their illegal acts, and that if in any lawless incursion into Canada they fall into the hands of the British authorities they will not be reclaimed as American citizens nor any interference made by this Government in their behalf. And I exhort all well-meaning but deluded persons who may have joined these lodges immediately to abandon them and to have nothing more to do with their secret meetings or unlawful oaths, as they would avoid serious consequences to themselves, And I expect the intelligent and well-disposed members of the community to frown on all these unlawful combinations and illegal proceedings, and to assist the Government in maintaining the peace of the country against the mischievous consequences of the acts of these violators of the law. Given under my hand, at the city of Washington, the 25th day of Sep- [seat] tember, A. D. 1841, and of the Independence of the United "“ States the sixty-sixth. JOHN TYLER. By the President: DANIEL WEBSTER, ° Secretary of State. EXECUTIVE ORDER. GENERAL ORDERS. WAR DEPARTMENT, ADJUTANT-GENERAL’S OFFICE, Washington, July 5, 1841. Brevet Majo.-General Winfield Scott having been appointed by the President, by and with the consent and advice of the Senate, the Major- General of the Army of the United States, he is directed to assume the command and enter upon his duties accordingly. By command of the President of the United States: R. JONES, Adjutant-Ceneral
1927 Messages and Papers of the Presidents FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE. WASHINGTON, December 7, 1841. To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States: In coming together, fellow-citizens, to enter again upon the discharge of the duties with which the people have charged us severally, we find great occasion to rejoice in the general prosperity of the country. We are in the enjoyment of all the blessings of civil and religious liberty, with unexampled means of education, knowledge, and improvement. Through the year which is now drawing to a close peace has been in our borders and plenty in our habitations, and although disease has visited some few portions of the land with distress and mortality, yet in general the health of the people has been preserved, and we are all called upon by the highest obligations of duty to renew our thanks and our devotion to our Heavenly Parent, who has continued to vouchsafe to us the eminent blessings which surround us and who has so signally crowned the year with His goodness. If we find ourselves increasing beyond example in numbers, in strength, in wealth, in knowledge, in everything which promotes human and social happiness, let us ever remember our depend- ence for all these on the protection and merciful dispensations of Divine Providence. Since your last adjournment Alexander Mcleod, a British subject who was indicted for the murder of an American citizen, and whose case has been the subject of a correspondence heretofore communicated to you, has been acquitted by the verdict of an impartial and intelligent jury, and has under the judgment of the court been regularly discharged. Great Britain having made known to this Government that the expe- dition which was fitted out from Canada for the destruction of the steam- ’ boat Caroline in the winter of 1837, and which resulted in the destruction of said boat and in the death of an American citizen, was undertaken by orders emanating from the authorities of the British Government in Canada, and demanding the discharge of McLeod upon the ground that if engaged in that expedition he did but fulfill the orders of his Govern- ment, has thus been answered in the only way in which she could be answered by a government the powers of which are distributed among its several departments by the fundamental law. Happily for the people of Great Britain, as well as those of the United States, the only mode by which an individual arraigned for a criminal offense before the courts of either can obtain his discharge is by the independent action of the judi- ciary and by proceedings equally familiar to the courts of both countries. If in Great Britain a power exists in the Crown to cause to be entered a nolle prosequi, which is not the case with the Executive power of the United States upon a prosecution pending in a State court, yet here no
John Tyler 1928 more than here can the chief executive power rescue a prisoner from custody without an order of the proper tribunal directing his discharge. The precise stage of the proceedings at which such order may be made is a matter of municipal regulation exclusively, and not to be complained of by any other government. In cases of this kind a government becomes politically responsible only when its tribunals of last resort are shown to have rendered unjust and injurious judgments in matters not doubtful. To the establishment and elucidation of this principle no nation has lent its authority more efficiently than Great Britain. Alexander McLeod, having his option either to prosecute a writ of error from the decision of the supreme court of New York, which had been rendered upon his application for a discharge, to the Supreme Court of the United States, or to submit his case to the decision of a jury, preferred the latter, deem-. ing it the readiest mode of obtaining his liberation; and the result has fully sustained the wisdom of his choice. The manner in which the issue submitted was tried will satisfy the English Government that the prin- ciples of justice will never fail to govern the enlightened decision of an American tribunal. I can not fail, however, to suggest to Congress the propriety, and in some degree the necessity, of making such pro- visions by law, so far as they may constitutionally do so, for the removal at their commencement and at the option of the party of all such cases as may hereafter arise, and which may involve the faithful observance and execution of our international obligations, from the State to the Fed- eral judiciary. ‘This Government, by our institutions, is charged with the maintenance of peace and the preservation of amicable relations ‘ with the nations of the earth, and ought to possess without question all the reasonable and proper means of maintaining the one and preserv- ing the other. While just confidence is felt in the judiciary of the States, yet this‘'Government ought to be competent in itself for the ful- fillment of the high duties which have been devolved upon it under the organic law by the States themselves. In the month of September a party of armed men from Upper Canada invaded the territory of the United States and forcibly seized upon the person of one Grogan, and under circumstances of great harshness hurriedly carried him beyond the limits of the United States and deliv- ered him up to the authorities of Upper Canada. His immediate dis- charge was ordered by those authorities upon the facts of the case being brought to their knowledge—a course of procedure which was to have been expected from a nation with whom we are at peace, and which was not more due to the rights of the United States than to its own regard for justice. ‘The correspondence which passed between the Department of State and the British envoy, Mr. Fox, and with the governor of Ver- mont, as soon as the facts had been made known to this department, are herewith communicated. I regret that it is not in my power to make known to you an eqrially
1929 Messages and Papers of the Presidents satisfactory conclusion in the case of the Cavoline steamer, with the cir- cumstances connected with the destruction of which, in December, 1837, by an armed force fitted out in the Province of Upper Canada, you are already made acquainted. No such atonement as was due for the public wrong done to the United States by this invasion of her territory, so wholly irreconcilable with her rights as an independent power, has yet been made. In the view taken by this Government the inquiry whether the vessel was in the employment of those who were prosecuting an unauthorized war against that Province or was engaged by the owner in the business of transporting passengers to and from Navy Island in hopes of private gain, which was most probably the case, in no degree alters the real question at issue between the two Governments. This Govern- _ment can never concede to any foreign government the power, except in a case of the most urgent and extreme necessity, of invading its terri- tory, either to arrest the persons or destroy the property of those who may have violated the municipal laws of such foreign government or ‘have disregarded their obligations arising under the law of nations. The territory of the United States must be regarded as sacredly secure against all such invasions until they shall voluntarily acknowledge their inability to acquit themselves of their duties to others. And in announcing this sentiment I do but affirm a principle which no nation on earth would be more ready to vindicate at all hazards than the people and Government of Great Britain. If upon a full investigation of all the facts it shall appear that the owner of the Caroline was governed by a hostile intent or had made common cause with those who were in the occupancy of Navy Island, then so far as he is concerned there can be no claim to indemnity for the destruction of his boat which this Government would feel itseli bound to prosecute, since he would have acted not only in derogation of the rights of Great Britain, but in clear violation ofthe laws of the United States; but that is a question which, however settled, in no man- ner involves the higher consideration of the violation of territorial sov- ereignty and jurisdiction. ‘To recognize it as an admissible practice that each Government in its turn, upon any sudden and unauthorized out- break which, on a frontier the extent of which renders it impossible for either to have an efficient force on every mile of it, and which outbreak, therefore, neither may be able to suppress in a day, may take vengeance into its own hands, and without even a remonstrance, and in the absence of any pressing or overruling necessity may invade the territory of the other, would inevitably lead to results equally to be deplored by both. When border collisions come to receive the sanction or to be made or the authority of either Government general war must be the inevitable result. While it is the ardent desire of the United States to cultivate the relations of peace with all nations and to fulfill all the duties of good neighborhood toward those who possess territories adjoining their own, that very desire would lead them to deny the right of any foreign power
John Tyler 1930 to invade their boundary with an armed force. The correspondence between the two Governments on this subject will at a future day of your session be submitted to your consideration; and in the meantime I can not but indulge the hope that the British Government will see the propriety of renouncing as a rule of future action the precedent which has been set in the affair at Schlosser. I herewith submit the correspondence which has recently taken place between the American minister at the Court of St. James, Mr. Steven- son, and the minister of foreign affairs of that Government on the right claimed by that Government to visit and detain vessels sailing under the American flag and engaged in prosecuting lawful commerce in the Afri- can seas. Our commercial interests in ‘that region have experienced con- siderable increase and have become an object of much importance, and it is the duty of this Government to protect them against all improper and vexatious interruption. However desirous the United States may be for the suppression.of the slave trade, they can not consent to interpola- tions into the maritime code at the mere will and pleasure of other gov- ernments. We deny the right of any such interpolation to any one or all the nations of the earth without our consent. We claim to have a voice in all amendments or alterations of that code, and when we are given to understand, as in this instance, by a foreign government that its treaties with other nations can not be executed without the establishment and enforcement of new principles of maritime police, to be applied without our consent, we must employ a language neither of equivocal import or susceptible of misconstruction. American citizens prosecuting a lawful commerce in the African seas under the flag of their country are not responsible for the abuse or unlawful use of that flag by others; nor can they rightfully on account of any such alleged abuses be interrupted, molested, or detained while on the ocean, and if thus molested and detained while pursuing honest voyages in the usual way and violating no law themselves they are unquestionably entitled to indemnity. This Government has manifested its repugnance to the slave trade in a man- ner which can not be misunderstood. By its fundamental law it pre- scribed limits in point of time to its continuance, and against its own citizens who might so far forget the rights of humanity as to engage in that wicked traffic it has long since by its municipal laws denounced the most condig¢n punishment. Many of the States composing this Union had made appeals to the civilized world for its suppression long before the moral sense of other nations had become shocked by the iniquities of the traffic. Whether this Government should now enter into treaties con- taining mutual stipulations upon this subject is a question for its mature deliberation. Certain it is that if the right to detain American ships on the high seas can be justified on the plea of a necessity for such detention arising out of the existence of treaties between other nations, the same plea may be extended and enlarged by the new stipulations of new treaties
1931 Messages and Papers of the Presidents to which the United States may not be a party. This Government will not cease to urge upon that of Great Britain full and ample remuneration for all losses, whether arising from detention or otherwise, to which American citizens have heretofore been or may hereafter be subjected by the exercise of rights which this Government can not recognize as legitimate and proper. Nor will I indulge a doubt but that the sense of justice of Great Britain will constrain her to make retribution for any wrong or loss which any American citizen engaged in the prosecution of lawful commerce may have experienced at the hands of her cruisers or other public authorities. ‘This Government, at the same time, will relax no effort to prevent its citizens, if there be any so disposed, from prose- cuting a traffic so revolting to the feelings of humanity. It seeks to do no more than to protect the fair and honest trader from molestation and injury; but while the enterprising mariner engaged in the pursuit of an_ honorable trade is entitled to its protection, it will visit with condign punishment others of an opposite character. I invite your attention to existing laws for the suppression of the African slave trade, and recommend all such alterations as may give to them greater force and efficacy. That the American flag is grossly abused by the abandoned and profligate of other nations is but too prob- able. Congress has not long since had this subject under its considera- tion, and its importance well justifies renewed and anxious attention. I also communicate herewith the copy ef a correspondence between Mr. Stevenson and Lord Palmerston upon the subject, so interesting to several of the Southern States, of the rice duties, which resulted hon- orably to the justice of Great Britain and advantageously to the United States. At the opening of the last annual session the President informed Con- gress of the progress which had then been made in negotiating a conven- tion between this Government and that of England with a view to the final settlement of the question of the boundary between the territorial limits of the two countries. I regret to say that little further advance- ment of the object has been accomplished since last year, but this is owing to circumstances no way indicative of any abatement of the desire of both parties to hasten the negotiation to its conclusion and to settle the question in dispute as early as possible. In the course of the session it is my hope to be able to announce some further degree of progress toward the accomplishment of this highly desirable end. The commission appointed by this Government for the exploration and survey of the line of boundary separating the States of Maine and New Hampshire from the conterminous British Provinces is, it is believed, about to clcs2 its field labors and is expected soon to report the results of its examinations to the Department of State. The report, when seceived, will be laid before Congress. The failure on the part of Spain to pay with punctuality the interest
\ John Tyler 1932 due under the convention of 1834 for the settlement of claims between the two countries has made it the duty of the Executive to call the par- ticular attention of that Government to the subject. A disposition has been manifested by it, which is believed to be entirely sincere, to fulfill its obligations in this respect so soon as its internal condition and the state of its finances will permit. An arrangement is in progress from the result of which it is trusted that those of our citizens who have claims under the convention will at no distant day receive the stipulated payments. A treaty of. commerce and navigation with Belgium was concluded and signed at Washington on the 29th of March, 1840, and was duly sanctioned by the Senate of the United States. The treaty was ratified by His Belgian Majesty, but did not receive the approbation of the Bel- gian Chambers within the time limited by its terms, and has therefore become void. This occurrence assumes the graver aspect from the consideration that in 1833 a treaty negotiated between the two Governments and ratified on the part of the United States failed to be ratified on the part of Bel- -gium. The representative of that Government at Washington informs the Department of State that he has been instructed to give explana- tions of the causes which occasioned delay in the approval of the late treaty by the legislature, and to express the regret of the King at the occurrence. The joint commission under the convention with Texas to ascertain the true boundary between the two countries has concluded its labors, but the fzal report of the cominissioner of the United States has not been received. It is understood, however, that the meridian line as traced by the commission lies somewhat farther east than the position hitherto generally assigned to it, and consequently includes in Texas some part of the territory which had been considered as belonging to the States of Louisiana and Arkansas. The United States can not but take a deep interest in whatever relates to this young but growing Republic. Settled principally by emigrants from the United States, we have the happiness to know that the great principles of civil liberty are there destined to flourish under wise insti- tutions and wholesome laws, and that through its example another evi- dence is to be afforded of the capacity of popular institutions to advance the prosperity, happiness, and permanent glory of the human race. The great truth that government was made for the people and not the peo- ple for government has already been established in the practice and by the example of these United States, and we can do no other than contemplate its further exemplification by a sister republic with the deepest interest. Our relations with the independent States of this hemisphere, formerly under the dominion of Spain, have not undergone any material change
1933 Messages and Papers of the Presidents within the past year. The incessant sanguinary conflicts in or between those countries are to be greatly deplored as necessarily tending to dis- able them from performing their duty as members of the community of nations and rising to the destiny which the position and natural resources of many of them might lead them justly to anticipate, as con- stantly giving occasion also, directly or indirectly, for complaints on the part of our citizens who resort thither for purposes of commercial inter- course, and as retarding reparation for wrongs already committed, some of which are by no means of recent date. The failure of the Congress of Ecuador to hold a session at the time appointed for that purpose, in January last, will probably render abor- tive a treaty of commerce with that Republic, which was signed at Quito on the 13th of June, 1839, and had been duly ratified on our part, but which required the approbation of that body prior to its ratification by the Ecuadorian Executive. A convention which has been concluded with the Republic of Peru, providing for the settlement of certain claims of citizens of the United States upon the Government of that Republic, will be duly submitted to the Senate. The claims of our citizens against the Brazilian Government origi- nating from captures and other causes are still unsatisfied. The United States have, however, so uniformly shown a disposition to cultivate relations of amity with that Empire that it is hoped the uw quivocal tokens of the same spirit toward us which an adjustment of the affairs referred to would afford will be given without further avoidable delay. The war with the Indian tribes on the peninsula of Florida has during the last summer and fall been prosecuted with untiring activity and zeal. ' A summer campaign was resolved upon as the best mode of bringing it toaclose. Our brave officers and men who have been engaged in that service have suffered toils and privations and exhibited an energy which in any other war would have won for them unfading laurels. In despite of the sickness incident to the climate, they have penetrated the fast- nesses of the Indians, broken up their encampments, and harassed them unceasingly. Numbers have been captured, and still greater numbers have surrendered and have been transported to join their brethren on the lands elsewhere allotted to them by the Government, and a strong hope is entertained that under the conduct of the gallant officer at the head of the troops in Florida that troublesome and expensive war is des- tined to a speedy termination. With all the other Indian tribes we are enjoying the blessings of peace. Our duty as well as our best interests prompts us to observe in all our intercourse with them fidelity in fulfill- ing our engagements, the practice of strict justice, as well as the con- stant exercise of acts of benevolence and kindness. ‘These are the great instruments of civilization, and through the use of them alone can the untutored child of the forest be induced to listen to its teachings.
John Tyler 1934 The Secretary of State, on whom the acts of Congress have devolved the duty of directing the proceedings for the taking of the sixth census or enumeration of the inhabitants of the United States, will report to the two Houses the progress of that work. The enumeration of persons has been completed, and exhibits a grand total of 17,069,453, making an increase over the census of 1830 of 4,202,646 inhabitants, and showing a gain in a ratio exceeding 3214 per cent for the last ten years. From the report of the Secretary of the Treasury you will be informed of the condition of the finances. The. balance in the Treasury on the Ist of January last, as stated in the report of the Secretary of the Treas- ury submitted to Congress at the extra session, was $987,345.03. The receipts into the Treasury during the first three quarters of this year from all sources amount to $23,467,072.52; the estimated receipts for the fourth quarter amount to $6,943,095.25, amounting to $30,410,167.77, and making with the balance in the Treasury on the Ist of January last $31,397,512.80. The expenditures for the first three quarters of this year amount to $24,734,346.97. The expenditures for the fourth quarter as estimated will amount to $7,290,723.73, thus making a total of $32,025,070.70, and leaving a deficit to be provided for on the 1st of January next of about $627,557.90. Of the loan of $12,000,000 which was authorized by Congress at its late session only $5,432,726.88 have been negotiated. The shortness of time which it had to run has presented no inconsiderable impediment in the way of its being taken by capitalists at home, while the same tause would have operated with much greater force in the foreign market. For that reason the foreign market has not been resorted to; and it is now submitted whether it would not be advisable to amend the law by making what remains undisposed of payable at a more distant day. Should it be necessary, in any view that Comgress may take of the subject, to revise the existing tariff of duties, I beg leave to say that in the perfotmance of that most delicate operation moderate counsels would seem to be the wisest. Thc Government under which it is our happi- ness to live owes its existence to the spirit of compromise which pre- vailed among its framers; jarring and discordant opinions could only have been reconciled by that noble spirit of patriotism which prompted conciliation and resulted in harmony. In the same spirit the compromise , bill, as it is commonly called, was adopted at the session of 1833. While the people of no portion of the Union will ever hesitate to pay all neces- sary taxes for the support of Government, yet an innate repugnance exists to the imposition of burthens not really necessary for that object. In imposing duties, however, for the purposes of revenue a right to dis- criminate as to the articles on which the duty shall be laid, as well as the amount, necessarily and most properly exists; otherwise the Gov- erment would be placed in the condition of having to levy the same duties upon all articles, the productive as well as the unproductive. The
1935 Messages and Papers of the Presidents slightest duty upon some might have the effect of causing their importa- tion to cease, whereas others, entering extensively into the consumption of the country, might bear the heaviest without any sensible diminution in the amount imported. So also the Government may be justified in so discriminating by reference to other considerations of domestic policy connected with our manufactures. So long as the duties shall be laid with distinct reference to the wants of the Treasury no well-founded objection can exist against them. It might be esteemed desirable that no such augmentation of the taxes should take place as would have the effect of annulling the land-proceeds distribution act of the last ses- sion, which act is declared to be inoperative the moment the duties are increased beyond 20 per cent, the maximum rate established by the compromise act. Some of the provisions of the compromise act, which will go into effect on the 30th day of June next, may, however, be found exceedingly inconvenient in practice under any regulations that Con- gress may adopt. I refer more particularly to that relating to the home valuation. A difference in value of the same articles to some extent will necessarily exist at different ports, but that is altogether insignifi- cant when compared with the conflicts in valuation which are likely to arise from the differences of opinion among the numerous appraisers of merchandise. In many instances the estimates of value must be con- jectural, and thus as many different rates of value may be established as there are appraisers. These differences in valuation may also be increased by the inclination which, without the slightest imputation on their honesty, may arise on the part of the appraisers in favor of their respective ports of entry. I recommend this whole subject to the con- sideration of Congress with a single additional remark. Certainty and permanency in any system of governmental policy are in all respects emi- nently desirable, but more particularly is this true in all that affects trade and commerce, the operations of which depend much more on the certainty of their returns and calculations which embrace distant periods of time than on high bounties or duties, which are liable to constant fluctuations. At your late session I invited your attention to the condition of the currency and exchanges and urged the necessity of adopting such meas- ures as were consistent with the constitutional competency of the Gov- ernment in order to correct the unsoundness of the one and, as far as practicable, the inequalities of the other. No country can be in the enjoyment of its full measure of prosperity without the presence of a medium of exchange approximating to uniformity of value. What is necessary as between the different nations of the earth is also important as between the inhabitants of different parts of the same country. With the first the precious metals constitute the chief medium of circulation, and such also would be the case as to the last but for inventions com- paratively modern, which have furnished in place of gold and silver a
John Tyler 1936 paper circulation. I do not propose to enter into a comparative analysis of the merits of the two systems. Such belonged more properly to the period of the introduction of the paper system. ‘The speculative philoso- pher might find inducements to prosecute the inquiry, but his researches could only lead him to conclude that the paper system had probably better never have been introduced and that society might have been much, happier without it. The practical statesman has a very different task to perform. He has to look at things as they are, to take them as he finds them, to supply deficiencies and to prune excesses as far as in him lies. The task of furnishing a corrective for derangements of the paper medium with us is almost inexpressibly great. ‘The power exerted by the States to charter banking corporations, and which, having been carried to a great excess, has filled the country with, in most of the States, an irredeemable paper medium, is an evil which in some way or other requires a corrective. The rates at which bills of exchange are negotiated between different parts of the country furnish an index of the value of the local substitute for gold and silver, which is in many parts so far depreciated as not to be received except at a large discount in payment of debts or in the purchase of produce. It could earnestly be desired that every bank not possessing the means of resumption should follow the example of the late United States Bank of Pennsylvania and go into liquidation rather than by refusing to do so to continue embar- rassments in the way of solvent institutions, thereby augmenting the difficulties incident to the. present condition of things. Whether this Government, with due regard to the rights of the States, has any power to constrain the banks either to resume specie payments or to force them into liquidation, is an inquiry which will not fail to claim your considera- tion. In view of the great advantages which are allowed the corpora- tors, not among the least of which is the authority contained in most of their charters to make loans to three times the amount of their capital, thereby often deriving three times as much interest on the same amount of money as any individual is permitted by law to receive, no sufficient apology can be urged for a long-continued suspension of specie payments. Such suspension is productive of the greatest detriment to the public by expelling from circulation the precious metals and seriously hazarding the success of any effort that this Government can make to increase commercial facilities and to advance the public interests. This is the more to be regretted and the indispensable necessity for a sound currency becomes the more manifest when we reflect on the vast amount of the internal commerce of the country. Of this we have no statistics nor just data for forming adequate opinions. But there can be no doubt but that the amount of transportation coastwise by sea, and the transportation inland by railroads and canals, and by steamboats and other modes of conveyance over the surface of our vast rivers and immense lakes, and the value of property carried and interchanged by
1937 Messages and Papers of the Presidents these means form a general aggregate to which the foreign commerce of the country, large as it is, makes but a distant approach. In the absence of any controlling power over this subject, which, by forcing a general resumption of specie payments, would at once have the effect of restoring a sound medium of exchange and would leave to the country but little to desire, what measure of relief falling within the limits of our constitutional competency does it becbme this Goverpment to adopt? It was my painful duty at your last session, under the weight of most solemn obligations, to differ with Congress on the measures which it proposed for my approval, and which it doubtless regarded as corrective of existing evils. Stbsequent reflection and events since occurring have only served to confirm me in, the opinions then entertained and frankly expressed. I must be permitted to add that no scheme of governmental ' policy unaided by individual exertions can be available for ameliorating the present condition of things. Commercial modes of exchange and a good currency are but the necessary means of commerce and intercourse, not the direct productive sources of wealth. Wealth can only be accumu- lated by the earnings of industry and the savings of frugality, and noth- ing can be more ill judged than to look to facilities in borrowing or to a redundant circulation for the power of discharging pecuniary obligations. The country is full of resources ahd the people full of energy, and the great and permanent remedy for present embarrassments must be sought in industry, economy, the observance of good faith, and the favorable influence of time. In pursuance of a pledge given to you in my last message to Congress, which pledge I urge as an apology for adventuring to pregent you the details of any plan, the Secretary of the Treasury will be ready to submit to you, should you require it, a plan of finance which, while it throws around the public treasure reasonable guards for its protection and rests on powers acknowledged in practice to exist from the origin of the Government, will at the same time furnish to the country a sound paper medium and afford all reasonable facilities for regu- lating the exchanges. When submitted, you’ will perceive in it a plan amendatory of the existing laws in relation to the Treasury Department, subordinate in all respects to the will of Congress directly and the will of the people indirectly, self-sustaining should it be found in practice to realize its promises in theory, and repealable at the pleasure of Congress. It proposes by effectual restraints and by invoking the true spirit of our institutions to separate the purse from the sword, or, more properly to speak, denies any other control to the President over the agents who may be selected to carry it into execution but what may be indispensably necessary to secure the fidelity of such agents, and by wise regulations keeps plainly apart from each other private and public funds. It contem- plates the establishment of a board of control at the seat of government, with agencies at prominent commercial points or wherever else Congress shall direct, for the safe-keeping and disbursement of the public moneys
John Tyler 1938 and a substitution at the option of the public creditor of Treasury notes in lieu of gold and silver. It proposes to limit the issues to an amount not to exceed $15,000,000 without the express sanction of the legisla- tive power. It also authorizes the receipt of individual deposits of gold and silver to a limited amount, and the granting certificates of deposit divided into such sums as may be called for by the depositors. It pro- ceeds a step further and authorizes the purchase and sale of domestic bills and drafts resting on a real and substantial basis, payable at sight or having but a short time to run, and drawn on places not léss than 100 miles apart, which authority, except in-so far as may be necessary for Government purposes exclusively, is only to be exerted upon the express condition that its exercise shall not be prohibited by the State in which the agency is situated. In order to cover the expenses incident to the plan, it will be authorized to receive moderate premiums for certificates issued on deposits and on bills bought and sold, and thus, as far as its dealings extend, to furnish facilities to commercial intercourse at the lowest possible rates and to subduct from the earnings of industry the least possible sum. It uses the State banks at a distance from the agencies as auxiliaries without imparting any power to trade in its name. It is subjected to such guards and restraints as have appeared to be nec- essary. It is the creature of law and exists only at the pleasure of the Legislature. It is made to rest on an actual specie basis in order to redeem the notes at tie places of issue, produces no dangerous redun- dancy of circulation, affords no temptation to speculation, is attended by no inflation of prices, is equable in its operation, makes the Treasury noves (which it may use along with the certificates of deposit and the notes of specie-paying banks) convertible at the place where collected, receiv- able in payment of Government dues, and without violating any principle of the Constitution affords the Government and the people such facilities as are called for by the wants of both. Such, it has appeared to me, are its recommendations, and in view of them it will be submitted, whenever you may require it, to your consideration. I am not able to perceive that any fair and candid objection can be urged against the plan, the principal outlines of which I have thus pre- sented. I can not doubt but that the notes which it proposes to furnish at the voluntary option of the public creditor, issued in lieu of the reve- nue and its certificates of deposit, will be maintained at an equality with gold and silver everywhere. They are redeemable in gold and silver on demand at the places of issue. They are receivable everywhere in pay- ment of Government dues. The Treasury notes are limited to an amount of one-fourth less than the estimated annual receipts of the Treasury, and in addition they rest upon the faith of the Government for their redemp- tion. If all these assurances are not sufficient to make them available, then the idea, as it seems to me, of furnishing a sound paper medium of exchange may be entirely abandoned.
1939 Messages and Papers of the Presidents If a fear be indulged that the Government may be tempted to run into excess in its issues at any future day, it seems to me that no such appre- hension can reasonably be entertained until all confidence in the repre- sentatives of the States and of the people, as well as of the people them- selves, shall be lost. The weightiest considerations of policy require that the restraints now proposed to be thrown around the measure should not for light causes be removed. To argue against any proposed plan its liability to possible abuse is to reject every expedient, since every- thing dependent on human action is liable to abuse. Fifteen millions of Treasury notes may be issued as the maximum, but a discretionary power is to be given to the board of control under that sum, and every consideration will unite in leading them to feel their way with caution. For the first eight years of the existence of the late Bank of the United States its circulation barely exceeded $4,000,000, and for five of its most prosperous years it was about equal to $16,000,000; furthermore, the authority given to receive private deposits to a limited amount and to issue certificates in such sums as may be called for by the depositors may so fas fill up the channels of circulation as greatly to diminish the necessity of any considerable issue of Treasury notes. A restraint upon the amount of private deposits has seemed to be indispensably necessary from an apprehension, thought to be well founded, that in any emergency of trade confidence might be so far shaken in the banks as to induce a withdrawal from them of private deposits with a view to insure their unquestionable safety when deposited with the Government, which might prove eminently disastrous to the State banks. Is it objected that it is proposed to authorize the agencies to deal in bills of exchange? It is answered that such dealings are to be carried on at the lowest pos- sible premium, are made to rest on an unquestionably sound basis, are designed to reimburse merely the expenses which would otherwise devolve upon the Treasury, and are in strict subordination to the decision of the Supreme Court in the case of the Bank of Augusta against Earle, and other reported cases, and thereby avoids all conflict with State jurisdic- tion, which I hold to be indispensably requisite. It leaves the banking privileges of the States without interference, looks to the Treasury and the Union, and while furnishing every facility to the first is careful of the interests of the last. But above all, it is created by law, is amendable by saw, and is repealable by law, and, wedded as I am to no theory, but look- ing solely to the advancement of the public good, I shall be among the very first to urge its repeal if it be found not to subserve the purposes and objects for which it may be created. Nor will the plan be submitted in any overweening confidence in the sufficiency of my own judgment, but with much greater reliance on the wisdom and patriotism of Congress. I can not abandon this subject without urging upon you in the most emphatic manner, whatever may be your action on the suggestions which I have felt it to be my duty to submit, to relieve the Chief Executive
John Tyler 1940 Magistrate, by any and all constitutional means, from a controlling power over the public Treasury. If in the plan proposed, should you deem it worthy of your consideration, that separation is not as complete as you may desire, you will doubtless amend it in that particular. For myself, I disclaim all desire to have any control over the public moneys other than what is indispensably necessary to execute the laws which you may pass. Nor can I fail to advert in this connection to’ the debts which many of the States of the Union have contracted abroad and under which they continue to labor. That indebtedness amounts to a sum not less than $200,000,000, and which has been retributed to them for the most part in works of iaternal improvement which are destined to prove of vast importance in ultimately advancing their prosperity and wealth. For the debts thus contracted the States are alone responsible. I can do no more than express the belief that each State will feel itself bound by every consideration of honor as well as of interest to meet its engage- ments with punctuality. The failure, however, of any one State to do so should in no degree affect the credit of the rest, and the foreign capi- talist will have no just cause to experience alarm as to all other State stocks because any one or more of the States may neglect to provide with punctuality the means of redeeming their engagements. Even such States, should there be any, considering the great rapidity with which their resources are developing themselves, will not fail to have the means at no very distant day to redeem their obligations to the uttermost far- thing; nor will I doubt but that, in view of that honorable conduct which has evermore governed the States and the people of the Union, they will each and all'resort to every legitimate expedient before they will forego a faithful compliance with their obligations. From the report of the Secretary of War and other reports accom- panying it you will be informed of the progress which has been made in the fortifications designed for the protection of our principal cities, road- steads, and inland frontier during the present year, together with their true state and condition. They will be prosecuted to completion with all the expedition which the means placed by Congress at the disposal of the Executive will allow. I recommend particularly to your consideration that portion of the Sec- retary’s report which proposes the establishment of a chain of military posts from Council Bluffs to some point on the Pacific Ocean within our limits. ‘The bertefit thereby destined to accrue to our citizens engaged in the fur trade over that wilderness region, added to the importance of cultivating friendly relations with savage tribes inhabiting it, and at the same time of giving protection to our frontier settlements and of estab- lishing the means of safe intercourse between the American settlements at the mouth of the Columbia River and those on this side of the Rocky Mountains, would seem to suggest the importance of carrying into effect
1941 Messages and Papers of the Presidents the recommendations upon this head with as little delay as may be practicable. ‘ The report of the Secretary of the Navy will place you in possession of the present condition of that important arm of the national defense. Every effort will be made to add to its efficiency, and I can not too strongly urge upon you liberal appropriations to that branch of the public service. Inducements of the weightiest character exist for the adoption of this course of policy. Our extended and otherwise exposed maritime frontier calls for protection, to the furnishing of which an efficient naval force is indispensable. We look to no foreign conquests, nor do we pro- pose to enter into competition with any other nation for supremacy on the ocean; but it is due not only to the honor but to the security of the people of the United States that no nation should be permitted to invade our waters at pleasure and subject our towns and villages to conflagra- tion or pillage. Economy in all branches of the public service is due from all the public agents to the people, but parsimony alone would suggest the withholding of the necessary means for the protection of our domestic firesides from invasion and our national honor from disgrace. I would most earnestly recommend to Congress to abstain from al) appro- priations for objects not absolutely necessary; but I take upon myself, without a moment of hesitancy, all thé responsibility of recommending the increase and prompt equipment of that gallant Navy which has lighted up every sea with its victories and spread an ‘imperishable glory over the country. The report of the Postmaster-General will claim your particular atten- tion, not only because of the valuable suggestions which it contains, but because of the great importance which at all times attaches to that inter- esting branch of the public service. The increased expense.of transport- ing the mail along the principal routes necessarily claims the public attention, and has awakened a corresponding solicitude on the part of the Government. The transmission of the mail must keep pace with those facilities of intercommunication which are every day becoming greater through the building of railroads and the application of steam power, but it can not be disguised that in order to do so the Post-Office Department is subjected to heavy exactions. The lines of communica- tion between distant parts of the Union are to a great extent occupied by railroads, which, in the nature of things, possess a complete monopoly, and the Department is therefore liable to heavy and unreasonable charges. This evil is destined to great increase in future, and some timely measure may become necessary to guard against it. ({ feel it my duty to bring under your consideration a practice which has grown up in the administration of the Government, and which, I am deeply convinced, ought to be corrected. I allude to the exercise of the power which usage rather than reason has vested in the Presidents of cemoving incumbents from office in order to substitute others more in favor with the dominant party? My own conduct in this respect has been governed by a conscientious purpose to exercise the removing power
John Tyler 1942 only in cases of unfaithfulness or inability, or in those in which its exercise appeared necessary in order to discountenance and suppress that spirit of active partisanship on the part of holders of office which not only with- draws them from the steady and impartial discharge of their official duties, but exerts an undue and injurious influence over elections and degrades the character of the Government itself, inasmuch as it exhibits the Chief Magistrate as being a party through his agents in the secret plots or open workings of political parties. ({ In respect to the exercise of this power nothing should be left to dis- cretion which may safely be regulated by law, and it is of high impor- tance to restrain as far as possible the stimulus of personal interests in public elections.’/ Considering the great increase which has been made in public offices in the last quarter of a century and the probability of further increase, we incur the hazard of witnessing violent political con- tests, directed too often to the single object of retaining office by those who are in or obtaining it by those who are out. Under the influence of these convictions I shall cordially concur in any constitutional measure for regulating and, by regulating, restraining the power of removal. I suggest for your consideration the propriety of making without further delay some specific application of the funds derived under the will of Mr. Smithson, of England, for the diffusion of knowledge, and which have heretofore been vested in public stocks until such time as Congress should think proper to give them a specific direction. Nor will you, I feel con- fident, permit any abatement of the principal of the legacy to be made should it turn out that the stocks in which the investments have been made have undergone a depreciation. In conclusion I commend to your care the interests of this District, for which you are the exclusive legislators. Considering that this city is the residence of the Government and for a large part of the year of Con- gress, and considering also the great cost of the public buildings and the propriety of affording them at all times careful protection, it seems not unreasonable that Congress should contribute toward the expense of an efficient police. JOHN TYLER. SPECIAL MESSAGES. Wasaincton, December 7, 1841. To the Senate of the United States: . I transmit lierewith a report from the Secretary of War, in compliance with a resolution of the Senate of the 3d of March last, calling for a comparative statement of the condition of the public defenses, of all the preparations and means of defense, and of the actual and authorized strength of the Army on the Ist of January, 1829, and the 1st of January 1841. JOHN TYLER.
1943 Messages and Papers of the Presidents WASHINGTON, December 7, r84?. To the Senate of the United States: I transmit herewith a report from the War Department, in compliance with so much of the resolution of the Senate of March 3, 1841, respect- ing the military and naval defenses of the country, as relates to the defenses under the superintendence of that Department JOHN TYLER. Wasumeton, December 8, 1841. To the House of Representatives of the United States: In answer to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 4th of September last, requesting information touching the relations between the United States and the Republic of Texas, I transmit a report | from the Secretary of State, to whom the resolution was referred. JOHN TYLER. Wasuincton, December 8, r84r. To the House of Representatives of the United States: I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of the Treasury, exhibiting certain transfers of appropriations which have been made in that Department in pursuance of the power vested in the President of the United States by 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. ”’ JOHN TYLER. WasHINGTON, December 29, 1841. 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 27th instant. JOHN TYLER. WASHINGTON, January ¢, 1842. To the House of Representatives of the United States: I herewith communicate a report and statement from the Secretary of State, in answer to a resolution of the House of the r9th of June, 1841, requesting the aggregate amount of each description of persons within the several districts of the United States by counties and principal towns. . JOHN TYLER. *Stating that no proposition has been made by either the United States or Great Britain relative to the mutual right of search.
John Tyler 1944 WASHINGTON, January ro, 1842. To the Senate of the United States: I transmit to the Senate, for its consideration with a view to ratifica- tion, a convention between the United States and the Republic of Peru, signed at Lima on the 17th of March last, providing for the adjustment and satisfaction of certain claims of citizens of the United States against the Government of that Republic. For the purpose of acquainting the Senate with the nature and amount of those demands and with the course of the negotiation, I also commu- nicate a copy of such parts of the correspondence of the agents of the two Governments as relate thereto. JOHN TYLER. WASHINGTON, January 17, 1842. To the Senate of the United States: I transmit to the Senate a report from the Secretary of State, relative to the proceedings and final decision of the commissioners under the convention with the Republic of Texas upon the subject of the boundary between the United States and that Republic. JOHN TYLER. [The same message was sent to the House of Representatives. ] WasHINGTon, January 18, 1842. To the House of Representatives: I transmit to the House of Representatives, in answer to the resolution of the 14th instant, a report* from the Secretary of State and the papers by which it was accompanied. JOHN TYLER WasHINnGcTon, January +9, 1842. To the Senate of the United States: I transmit to the Senate herewith a reportt from the Secretary of State, with accompanying papers, in answer to their resolution of the 11th instant. JOHN TYLER. To the House of Representatives: JANUARY 27, 1842. I transmit herewith a report{ of the Secretary of War, in answer to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 9th August, 1841. JOHN TYLER. *Relating to American citizens captured near Santa Fe, Mexico, by the Mexican army. {Transmitting correspondence relative to the action of the authorities of Nassau, New Provi- dence, in the imprisonment of slaves charged with mutiny and murder, the refusal to surrender them to the United States consul for trial in the United States, and the liberation of slaves, all of said slaves being a part of the cargo of the United States brig Creole. t Relating to the origin of the Seminole war, slaves captured during said war by United States troops, etc,
1945. Messages and Papers of the Presidents WASHINGTON, February 5, 1842. To the Senate of the United States: I transmit herewith to the Senate copies of a report and letter from the commissioners appointed by the President for the exploration and survey of the boundary line between the States of Maine and New Hampshire and the conterminous British Provinces, showing the progress made in that work during the past season, and submitting an estimate, to which I invite the attention of Congress, of the funds that will be requisite for completing the surveys yet to be made on the boundary, and the office work consequent thereon, and for completing the maps of surveys already made. JOHN TYLER. [The same message was sent to the House of Representatives. ] Hon. DANIEL WEBSTER, NEw York, January 4, 1842. Secretary of State: The undersigned, commissioners appointed by the President of the United States for the purpose of exploring and surveying the boundary line between the States of Maine and New Hampshire and the British Provinces in North America, respectfully report— That in pursuance of the duties of their appointment they have in the course of the late season performed the following surveys and explorations: 1. The meridian line of the monument at thee source of the St. Croix has, under the direction of J. D. Graham, been carefully and accurately traced from the station in the vicinity of Houlton where the labors of the year 1840 terminated to a point 4 miles north of the St. John River in-the vicinity of the Grand Falls, being a dis- tance of 81 miles from the monument. The timber has been removed along this line to a width necessary for its accurate prolongation and for the requisite astronom- ical observations at various points upon it, and a correct profile, or vertical section, has also been obtained by means of the spirit level the whole of the distance above mentioned. Besides the astronomical observations necessary to obtain and continue the due north direction upon this line, numerous magnetic observations have also been made at a number of points upon it, in order to show the physical causes which must operate to produce serious discrepancies between a meridian line properly traced and such a one as has actually separated the jurisdiction of the two Governments since the attempt in the years 1817 and 1818 to define and mark this portion of the boundary under the provisions of the treaty of Ghent, although no portion of that line was ever ratified or made binding upon the parties to the treaty. Upon this portion of the survey there have been chained, including measured offsets to the old line and to other important points, 85 miles. Four hundred and fifty-two transit observations of heavenly bodies have been made, aided by three excellent chronometers, for the determination of the true meridian direction, most of which also served for the computation of the correct time. For the determination of the longitude of this meridian west of the Royal Observa- tory of Greenwich and the latitudes of four important points upon it there were made eighty-five complete sets of astronomical observations, including altitudes of the sun and stars and the meridian transits of the moon and moon-culminating stars. ‘The number of barometric observations made upon the line and in its vicinity is 5,767; besides which there were made at Calais, for comparison with the level of mean tide on the St. Croix, 1,336 similar observations.