Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1859-02-23
Message from The President

Message to Congress as follows:
To The Senate and House Of Representatives.:
The brief period which remains of
vour present session, and the great ur-
geucy and importance of legislative
action. before it, termination, for the
protection of Anne icsu clriz MS and their
property whilst IL transit across the 18th
mus between our Atlantic and Pariic
possessions, render it my duly to recall
this subject to your notice. lhsve here
rofore presented it in nv annual mes
sages of Dec. 1857 and 1853. TO which
| beg leave TO refer. In the latter |
stated that the executive government
of thi, country in its intercourse with
foreign nations is limited TO diplomacy
alone: where this fails it can proceed
no farther. Il cannot legiiimaiely resort
TO force without the direct au horIty Of
Congress except in resisting AMI repel
ling hostile attacks. 1t would have no
authority to enter the territories o. Me
aragus even 10 prevent the destruction
If the transit and protect the lives Ind
property of our own citizens on their pas
Sages.
IL is true that on a sudden emergency
of this character the President would
direct any armed force in he vicinity tn
march 10 their relief, but IN doing Thu
he would act upon his own responsibility
Under these circumstances | earnestly
recommend 70 Congress the passage of
an net authorizing the President. under
such restrictions as they NAV drrm
proper, { employ the land and naval
force of the .. S. in preventing the TRAN
sit from bring obStrueled or closed by
lawless violence. and in protecting the
lives and property of American c~iIiz-n-
travelling thereupOn. requiring at the
same time that these forces be Withdrawn
the moment the danger snail have ps,srd
away. Without such n provision our
citizens will be constantly expos d TO
interference in their progress and le
ltwlssS violence
A similar necessity exists for the pas
sage of such an act fnr the protection oi
The Panama and T~-husntrp,c routes
Another subject equally important
demands the. attention Of the Senate
Since the last session the republics south
of the U. S have unfortunately been in
a state of evolution and civil wa Eve
since they achieved their Independence
as one or another party has prevailed
and Obtlired possession ef their ports
open to foreign commerce. they have
seized AMI conf Gated Am .rlc an vessels
and their csrgOes IN an arbitrary and
lawless manner and exacttd from our
c~iuzens by forced loans and other viulrn
proceedings. fuGds 10 enable them To-
carry on hos!ilties.
The Executive Governments of Great
| Britain. France and other countries pos
se>sing The war making powr can prump,
~ employ the necessary mans TO enforce
immediate redress for similar ouiragr-
upon their su -cts No, 80 the Ex-cu
live Government Of the U. S Ii the
Pres't ordered a vessel OF war 10 any OF
these ports 10 demand prmpt redress
tor outrages commIttei j., the offend By
parties are well aware that the comman
der could do no more than demonstrate
He can resort &c NJ hos lie act; tn queS
lion must then be referred to diplomacy
and in many cases adequate redress can
never be obtained. Thus American eli
liens are deprived of the same pro &C ion
under the flag of their own country
which the subj cs of other NJ in,
enjoy.
The remedy for this stare Of thing
can only be supplied by Congress since
the ConsiIlu,iO: has coufi'ed to tina,
body alone the power 10 make war
Without the authoriy of Consess the
President canuot direct any force. how
ever near il may be to The scene of d iii
Guilty, enter the territory Of Mexico. Nc
aragua, or New Grenada, Tor the purpose
of defending the persons md property o.
American ciIiz-n<. even though they
m Y be violently assailed. while passing
in peaceful lran,it uver the TebGanIepec.
Nicaraguan or Panama rours. he cannot.
without transcend ny his Con>ii,u i NIL
power direct a gun 10 BE- fired into a por',
or land a seaman or shore, or to obtain
redress for a recent outrage on their prop
eriy. The handful which iufyst our
neighbour ing Republic Of NJ xico al
ways Ginning TO belong TO one or the
other of the hostile parties which nigh
make a sudden descent upon Vera Cruz
or the TehuantePec route. and he would
have no power To emplny II force on ship
board in the vicinity for their r lief. nri
Their to prevent The plumber of their mer
chants or the distraction of the lr nsiu
In reference to countries where the 10
cal authorities are strong enough 10 en-
lorce avs the difficulties here Indicated
can seldom happen, hut where Thu Is nCr
the case. and the local authorizes d. not
possess The physical power, ven if they
possess the will to project our ciiz-us
within their limi's. Recent experi,n nee
has shown that the executive should it
self be~Eauthorized to render this pro,ec
tion, such a grant Of authority thus united
in its just sense be regarded as a t,anS-
fer of The wal making power To the Elk
e~cutive, bat only as an appropriate ex
ercise of that power by the body to whom
it exclusively belongs.
The riot in Panama in 1856. in which
a great number of our ciuzens lost their
lives, furnishes a pointed illustration OF
the necessity witch may arise for the ex
ercise Of this authority. | therefore
earnestly recommend TO Congress, on
whom responsibility exclusively rests. to
pass a law before their adjournment con
feiring on The President The power to pro-
tect the lives and property of American
citizens in the cases which l have indi
Gated under such restrictions and condi
tons as they may de m advisable.
The knowledge that such a law exists
would Of itself 60 far to prevent tie out
RACES which it is intended to redress. and
render the employment of force unne
cessary. Without this. the President of
the U. 5. ray be placed in a painful sit
uaiion before The meeting of the next
Congress.
In the present disturbed condition Of
Mexico, and one or more of the Repub-