Demoine courier., 1855-03-01
Congressional
PRESIDENTS VETO MESSAGE.
WASHINGTON, Feb.



HOUSE.
The Speaker laid before the House a
message from the President, Informing
them Of the veto of the French Spolia.
ton Bill, which occupied three quarters
of an hour in reading. l, created some
sensation. The following 10 . brisf sy-
nopsis:
The President. in returning, The French
Spoliation bill, Teferred 70 his duties I'm.
der the Constitution. II il not iacum.
ben, upon him 10 sign . bill as q matter
Of course, and this merely to authenti.
cate the action Of Congress-, for no mus,
exercise an intelIigen. judgmsnt Or BE-
failhless to The trust re 2osed in him. In
his execution Of his official duties 40 70
signing bills. he is not 10 perform . mers
mechanical part, but is TO act and beside
according TO the righteous convictions Of
the fighsfulness or wrongfulness of the
proposed law. The Presidents respsn.
siblli,y is to the people of the whole u
ni'ed States as that Oft Senator 10 . par
'icular Stase-of a representative to The
people Of a State or district. and ii NAV
be assumed that he will not resor. to the
clearly defined an6 unlimited power Of
arresting legislation. and calling for tho
reconsideration of a measure excep, in
obedience to the requirements Of duty,
When. however, he enter,ains a decided
and fixed conclusion, not merely of the
unconstiiulionality but Of the inpropri.
ETY. or injustice in other respects. or oS
any measure, il lie declares that he sd.
proves it he is false 20 his oath and he
deliberately %disregards his obligations.
The President. feels called upon At the
threshold to notice an ssserlisa est 70.
peated. tina. the refusal Of the United
States 10 satisfy these claims in the man
ner proposed by the present bill. 10 .
stain upon the justice Of our country
II 1t be 90. The public slain upon the
public honor 10 aggrav s.ed By The con.
slderation hat the claims are coe val with
the present century. and il has been a
persistent wrong during that whole PEI
Rod oil time.
This the Presidrn, denies; and IL uew
facts not known or no, accessible durius
the administration Of Jefferson, Madison
or Monroe. has since been brought to
light. Or new sossces Of information die.
covered. this would greatly relieve The
subject Of embarrassment. But nothing
Of this nature has oecurred-,hey never
recognized The alleged obligations on the
part OF this government, to pay the elaine.
Indeed il siands not az a matter OF cor.
trolling authority. bu, as. a f,c, of his.
tory. Blu, these claims have never sinee
our existence a. . nation been deemed
by those Presidents as worthy of recon.
mendaiion to Congress. Alter review.
ing the entire history Of tho case, hs
conc;udes his message az follows:
This review Of successive treaties
between France and the United Statss
has brough, my mind to the ~undoub,de
conviction that while the United S,a,es
have in the eompleiest manner done their
whole duty toward such Of their c,,ixsus
as may, a, any time, have been sggrisved
by the scss Of the French Government:
so also has France az honorably die.
charged herself Of all obligations in the
premises towards the Uni'et Stalss.-
10 concede what this bill assumes would
be TO impuie undeserved rsproach both
10 The Uniied States and France. am
aware that the bill proposes TO provide
indemnification for such valid claims Of
citizens Of the United States and France
as shall nothave been stipulated for, and
embraced in any of the treaties snumer
ated; but including such claims it excludes
all in fact for which, during the nsgo,ia.
lions; France would DO persuaded 10
agree that she was in my way liable 10
the United States or TO our eiti1ens-
What remains and for wha, 10 the eS..
100000 appropriated Ia view Of via,
has been said, there would seem 10 Be- no
GROUND on which 10 raise . liability Of
the United States. unless il be the a.
sumption that the United States arc 70
be considered the insurers nj oil claim,
of whatever nature which any individual
citizen may have agains, a foreign M.
tion."
Mr.. Bayly said that, 40 little a. he was
impressed with the reasoning Of the mes.
sage, but no a friend OF the Administra.
lion and still greater friend Of the veto
power, no moved that the consideration
Of the subjec, bs postponed ill Wsdnss.
day in order. IN the meantime 10 afford
an opportunity Of studying the docu.
men.. and in respect 10 tho President.
Mr. James said but twelve legislative
days are remaining; he therefore moved
the previous question with 4 view Of act,
ing upon the message forthwith. The
motion was voted down-62 70 so.
Several amendments were offered 10
MI. Bayiey's motion. and The Hogss "a.
ioursed without taking = OF.
Mr.. Orr proposed that the message BE-
printed and considered on Monday Al
o'clock. 7
Mr.. Bayley succested Tnaad.v ,.v,