Chapter 7

I trust it may not be deemed inappropriate to the occasion for me to dwell for a moment on the memory of the most eminent citizen of our country who during the summer that is gone by has descended to the tomb. The enjoyment of contemplating, at the advanced age of near fourscore years, the happy condition of his country cheered the last hours of Andrew Jackson, who departed this life in the tranquil hope of a blessed immortality. His death was happy, as his life had been eminently useful. He had an unfaltering confidence in the virtue and capacity of the people and in the permanence of that free Government which he had largely contributed to establish and defend. His great deeds had secured to him the affections of his fellow-citizens, and it was his happiness to witness the growth and glory of his country, which he loved so well. He departed amidst the benedictions of millions of freemen. The nation paid its tribute to his memory at his tomb. Coming generations will learn from his example the love of country and the rights of man. In his language on a similar occasion to the present, "I now commend you, fellow-citizens, to the guidance of Almighty God, with a full reliance on His merciful providence for the maintenance of our free institutions, and with an earnest supplication that whatever errors it may be my lot to commit in discharging the arduous duties which have devolved on me will find a remedy in the harmony and wisdom of your counsels."

JAMES K. POLK.

SPECIAL MESSAGES.

Washington, _December 9, 1845_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I communicate herewith a letter received from the President of the existing Government of the State of Texas, transmitting duplicate copies of the constitution formed by the deputies of the people of Texas in convention assembled, accompanied by official information that the said constitution had been ratified, confirmed, and adopted by the people of Texas themselves, in accordance with the joint resolution for annexing Texas to the United States, and in order that Texas might be admitted as one of the States of that Union.

JAMES K. POLK.

WASHINGTON, _December 10, 1845_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit herewith a report of the Secretary of War, in answer to a resolution of the Senate of the 4th instant, calling for information "with respect to the practicability and utility of a fort or forts on Ship Island, on the coast of Mississippi, with a view to the protection of said coast."

JAMES K. POLK.

WASHINGTON, _December 15, 1845_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I herewith communicate to the Senate, for its consideration, a convention signed on the 14th May of the present year by the minister of the United States at Berlin with the minister of Saxony at the same Court, for the mutual abolition of the _droit d'aubaine, droit de détraction_, and taxes on emigration between the United States and Saxony; and I communicate with the convention an explanatory dispatch of the minister of the United States, dated on the 14th May, 1845, and numbered 267.

JAMES K. POLK.

WASHINGTON, _December 16, 1845_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I herewith communicate to the Senate, for its consideration, a convention concluded and signed at Berlin on the 29th day of January, 1845, between the United States and Prussia, together with certain other German States, for the mutual extradition of fugitives from justice in certain cases; and I communicate with the convention the correspondence necessary to explain it.

In submitting this convention to the Senate I deem it proper to call their attention to the third article, by which it is stipulated that "none of the contracting parties shall be bound to deliver up its own citizens or subjects under the stipulations of this convention."

No such reservation is to be found in our treaties of extradition with Great Britain and France, the only two nations with whom we have concluded such treaties. These provide for the surrender of all persons who are fugitives from justice, without regard to the country to which they may belong. Under this article, if German subjects of any of the parties to the convention should commit crimes within the United States and fly back to their native country from justice, they would not be surrendered. This is clear in regard to all such Germans as shall not have been naturalized under our laws. But even after naturalization difficult and embarrassing questions might arise between the parties. These German powers, holding the doctrine of perpetual allegiance, might refuse to surrender German naturalized citizens, whilst we must ever maintain the principle that the rights and duties of such citizens are the same as if they had been born in the United States.

I would also observe that the fourth article of the treaty submitted contains a provision not to be found in our conventions with Great Britain and France.

JAMES K. POLK.

WASHINGTON, _December 16, 1845_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I herewith transmit a report from the Secretary of State, containing the information called for by the resolution of the Senate of the 8th of January last, in relation to the claim of the owners of the brig _General Armstrong_ against the Government of Portugal.[1]

JAMES K. POLK.

[Footnote 1: For failing to protect the American armed brig _General Armstrong_, while lying in the port of Fayal, Azores, from attack by British armed ships on September 26, 1814.]

WASHINGTON, _December 19, 1845_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I communicate to the House of Representatives, in reply to their resolution of the 25th of February last, a report from the Secretary of State, together with the correspondence of George W. Slacum, late consul of the United States at Rio de Janeiro, with the Department of State, relating to the African slave trade.

JAMES K. POLK.

WASHINGTON, _December 22, 1845_.

_To the Congress of the United States_:

I transmit to Congress a communication from the Secretary of State, with a statement of the expenditures from the appropriation made by the act entitled "An act providing the means of future intercourse between the United States and the Government of China," approved the 3d of March, 1843.

JAMES K. POLK.

WASHINGTON, _January 3, 1846_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit to the Senate a report of the Secretary of the Navy, communicating the information called for by their resolution of the 18th of December, 1845, in relation to the "number of agents now employed for the preservation of timber, their salaries, the authority of law under which they are paid, and the allowances of every description made within the last twenty years in the settlement of the accounts of said agents."

JAMES K. POLK.

WASHINGTON, _January 6, 1846_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I communicate to the Senate the information called for by their resolution of December 31, 1845, "requesting the President to cause to be communicated to the Senate copies of the correspondence between the Attorney-General and the Solicitor of the Treasury and the judicial officers of Florida in relation to the authority of the Territorial judges as Federal judges since the 3d of March, 1845."

JAMES K. POLK.

WASHINGTON, _January 12, 1846_.

_To the Senate of the United States:_

I nominate the persons named in the accompanying list[2] of promotions and appointments in the Army of the United States to the several grades annexed to their names, as proposed by the Secretary of War.

JAMES K. POLK.

[Footnote 2: Omitted.]

WAR DEPARTMENT, _January 8, 1846_.

_The PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES._

SIR: I have the honor respectfully to propose for your approbation the annexed list[3] of officers for promotion and persons for appointment in the Army of the United States.

I am, sir, with great respect, your obedient servant,

W.L. MARCY

[Footnote 3: Omitted.]

ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE,

_Washington, January 8, 1846_.

Hon. W.L. Marcy, _Secretary of War_,

SIR: I respectfully submit the accompanying list[4] of promotions and appointments to fill the vacancies in the Army which are known to have happened since the date of the last list, December 12, 1845. The promotions are all regular except that of Captain Martin Scott, Fifth Infantry, whose name, agreeably to the decision of the President and your instructions, is submitted to fill the vacancy of major in the First Regiment of Infantry (_vice_ Dearborn, promoted), over the two senior captains of Infantry, Captain John B. Clark, of the Third Regiment, and Brevet Major Thomas Noel, of the Sixth. The reasons for this departure from the ordinary course (as in other like cases of disability) are set forth in the Adjutant-General's report of the 27th ultimo and the General in Chief's indorsement thereon, of which copies are herewith respectfully annexed, marked A.

I am, sir, with great respect, your obedient servant,

R. JONES, _Adjutant-General._

[Footnote 4: Omitted.]

A.

ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE, _Washington, December 27, 1845_.

Major-General WINFIELD SCOTT, _Commanding the Army_.

SIR: The death of Lieutenant-Colonel Hoffman, Seventh Infantry, on the 26th ultimo, having caused a vacancy in the grade of major, to which, under the rule, Captain J.B. Clark, Third Infantry, would be entitled to succeed, I deem it proper to submit the following statement, extracted from the official returns of his regiment, touching his physical capacity for the performance of military duty.

In May, 1836, Captain Clark went on the recruiting service, where he remained till October 4, 1838, when he was granted a three months' leave. He joined his company at Fort Towson in May, 1839, and continued with it from that time till March, 1841, accompanying it meanwhile (October, 1840) to Florida. He obtained a three months' leave on surgeon's certificate of ill health March 23, 1841, but did not rejoin till February 16, 1842. In the interim he was placed on duty for a short time as a member of a general court-martial, which happened to be convened at St. Louis, where he was then staying. He remained with his company from February to November, 1842, when he again received a leave for the benefit of his health, and did not return to duty till April 26, 1843 (after his regiment had been ordered to Florida), when he rejoined it at Jefferson Barracks. He continued with it (with the exception of one short leave) from April, 1843, till June, 1845, but the returns show him to have been frequently on the sick report during that period. On the 2d of June, 1845, his company being then encamped near Fort Jessup in expectation of orders for Texas, he again procured a leave on account of his health, and has not since been able to rejoin, reporting monthly that his health unfitted him for the performance of duty. The signature of his last report (not written by himself), of November 30 (herewith[5]), would seem to indicate great physical derangement or decrepitude, approaching, perhaps, to paralysis.

From the foregoing it appears that during the last seven years (since October, 1838) Captain Clark has been off duty two years and four months, the greater part of the time on account of sickness, and that even when present with his company his health is so much impaired that very often he is unable to perform the ordinary garrison duties.

Under these circumstances it is respectfully submitted, for the consideration of the proper authority, whether the senior captain of infantry should not be passed over and (as Brevet Major Noel,[6] the next in rank, is utterly disqualified) Captain Martin Scott, of the Fifth Infantry, promoted to the vacant majority.

It is proper to state that Captain Clark has always been regarded as a perfect gentleman, and as such, as far as I know, is equal to any officer in the Army.

I am, sir, most respectfully, your obedient servant,

R. JONES, _Adjutant-General._

[Remarks indorsed on the foregoing report by the General in Chief.]

DECEMBER 30, 1845.

This report presents grave points for consideration. It is highly improbable that the Captain will ever be fit for the active duties of his profession. The question, therefore, seems to be whether he shall be a pensioner on full pay as captain or as major, for he has long been, not in name, but in fact, a pensioner on full pay. We have no half pay in the Army to relieve marching regiments of crippled and superannuated officers. We have many such--Colonel Maury, of the Third Infantry (superannuated), and Majors Cobb and McClintock, Fifth Infantry and Third Artillery (crippled). Many others are fast becoming superannuated. The three named are on indefinite leaves of absence, and so are Majors Searle and Noel, permanent cripples from wounds. General Cass's resolution of yesterday refers simply to age. A half pay or retired list with half pay would be much better. There are some twenty officers who ought at once to be placed on such list and their places filled by promotion.

Upon the whole, I think it best that Captain M. Scott should be promoted, _vice_ Dearborn, _vice_ Lieutenant-Colonel Hoffman.

Respectfully submitted to the Secretary of War.

WINFIELD SCOTT.

[Footnote 5: Omitted.]

[Footnote 6: In 1839 Brevet Major Noel, Sixth Infantry, was severely wounded (serving in the Florida War at the time) by the accidental discharge of his own pistol. He left his company February 16, 1839, and has ever since been absent from his regiment, the state of his wound and great suffering rendering him utterly incapable of performing any kind of duty whatever; nor is there any reason to hope he will ever be able to resume his duties.]

R. JONES, _Adjutant-General_.

JANUARY 8, 1846.

It appearing from the within statements of the Commanding General and the Adjutant-General that the two officers proposed to be passed over are physically unable to perform the duties of major, and their inability is not temporary, I recommend that Captain Martin Scott be promoted to the vacant majority 3d January, 1846.

W.L. MARCY.

WASHINGTON, _January 13, 1846_.

_To the Senate of the United States:_

I transmit to the Senate a report of the Secretary of War, with accompanying papers, showing the measures which have been adopted in relation to the transfer of certain stocks between the Chickasaw and Choctaw Indians under the treaty between those tribes of the 24th March, 1837. The claim presented by the Choctaw General Council, if deemed to be founded in equity, can not be adjusted without the previous advice and consent of the Senate.

JAMES K. POLK.

WASHINGTON, _January 20, 1846_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

On the 15th of January, 1846, I withdrew the nomination of James H. Tate, of Mississippi, as consul at Buenos Ayres. The withdrawal was made upon the receipt on that day of a letter addressed to me by the Senators from the State of Mississippi advising it. I transmit their letter herewith to the Senate. At that time I had not been furnished with a copy of the Executive Journal of the Senate, and had no knowledge of the pendency of the resolution before that body in executive session in relation to this nomination. Having since been furnished by the Secretary of the Senate with a copy of the Executive Journal containing the resolution referred to, I deem it proper and due to the Senate to reinstate the nomination in the condition in which it was before it was withdrawn. And with that view I nominate James H. Tate, of Mississippi, to be consul at Buenos Ayres.

JAMES K. POLK.

WASHINGTON, _January 28, 1846_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I herewith communicate to the Senate, for its consideration with regard to its ratification, a treaty of commerce and navigation between the United States and the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, concluded and signed on the 1st day of December last at Naples by the chargé d'affaires of the United States with the plenipotentiaries of His Majesty the King of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.

And I communicate at the same time portions of the correspondence (so far as it has been received) in explanation of the treaty.

JAMES K. POLK.

WASHINGTON, _February 3, 1846_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I herewith communicate to the Senate, for its consideration in reference to its ratification, a treaty of commerce and navigation between the United States and Belgium, concluded and signed on the 10th November last at Brussels by the chargé d'affaires of the United States with the minister of foreign affairs of His Majesty the King of the Belgians.

And I communicate at the same time the correspondence and other papers in explanation of the treaty,

JAMES K. POLK.

WASHINGTON, _February 5, 1846_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In pursuance with the request of the Senate in their resolution of the 4th instant, I "return" herewith, "for their further action, the resolution advising and consenting to the appointment of Isaac H. Wright as navy agent at Boston." It will be observed that the resolution of the Senate herewith returned contains the advice and consent of that body to the appointment of several other persons to other offices not embraced in their resolution of the 4th instant, and it being impossible to comply with the request of the Senate without communicating to them the whole resolution, I respectfully request that so far as it relates to the other cases than that of Mr. Wright it may be returned to me.

JAMES K. POLK.

WASHINGTON, _February 7, 1846_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In compliance with the request of the Senate in their resolution of the 29th January last, I herewith communicate a report from the Secretary of State, with the accompanying correspondence, which has taken place between the Secretary of State and the minister of the United States at London and between the Government of the United States and that of England on the "subject of Oregon" since my communication of the 2d of December last was made to Congress.

JAMES K. POLK.

WASHINGTON, _February 7, 1846_.

_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:

In compliance with the request of the House of Representatives in their resolution of the 3d instant, I herewith communicate a report from the Secretary of State, with the accompanying "correspondence, which has taken place" between the Secretary of State and the minister of the United States at London and "between the Government of Great Britain and this Government in relation to the country west of the Rocky Mountains since the last annual message of the President" to Congress.

JAMES K. POLK.

WASHINGTON, _February 9, 1846_.

_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:

I communicate herewith, in answer to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 19th of December last, the report of the Secretary of State inclosing "copies of correspondence between this Government and Great Britain within the last two years in relation to the Washington treaty, and particularly in relation to the free navigation of the river St. John, and in relation to the disputed-territory fund named in said treaty;" and also the accompanying copies of documents filed in the Department of State, which embrace the correspondence and information called for by the said resolution.

JAMES K. POLK.

WASHINGTON, _February 9, 1846_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In compliance with the request of the Senate in their resolution of the 5th instant, I herewith return "the resolution of the Senate advising and consenting to the appointment of F.G. Mayson to be a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps." As the same resolution which contains the advice and consent of the Senate to the appointment of Mr. Mayson contains also the advice and consent of that body to the appointment of several other persons to other offices, to whom commissions have been since issued, I respectfully request that the resolution, so far as it relates to the persons other than Mr. Mayson, may be returned to me.

JAMES K. POLK.

WASHINGTON, _February 12, 1846_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit herewith, for the consideration and advice of the Senate with regard to its ratification, a treaty concluded on the 14th day of January last by Thomas H. Harvey and Richard W. Cummins, commissioners on the part of the United States, and the chiefs and headmen of the Kansas tribe of Indians, together with a report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs and other papers explanatory of the same.

JAMES K. POLK.

WASHINGTON, _February 16, 1846_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I herewith transmit a communication from the Attorney-General relating to a contract entered into by him with Messrs. Little & Brown for certain copies of their proposed edition of the laws and treaties of the United States, in pursuance of the joint resolution of the 3d March, 1845.

JAMES K. POLK.

WASHINGTON, _February 16, 1846_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I herewith transmit a report from the Secretary of the Navy, communicating the correspondence called for by the resolution of the Senate of the 25th of February, 1845, between the commander of the East India Squadrons and foreign powers or United States agents abroad during the years 1842 and 1843, relating to the trade and other interests of this Government.

JAMES K. POLK.

WASHINGTON, _February 18, 1846_.

_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:

In compliance with the request of the House of Representatives in their resolution of the 12th instant, asking for information relative to the Mexican indemnity, I communicate herewith a report from the Secretary of State, with the paper accompanying it.

JAMES K. POLK.

[A similar message was sent to the Senate in compliance with a request of that body.]

WASHINGTON, _March 23, 1846_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_:

I transmit, for your consideration, a correspondence between the minister of Her Britannic Majesty in Washington and the Secretary of State, containing an arrangement for the adjustment and payment of the claims of the respective Governments upon each other arising from the collection of certain import duties in violation of the second article of the commercial convention of 3d of July, 1815, between the two countries, and I respectfully submit to Congress the propriety of making provision to carry this arrangement into effect.

The second article of this convention provides that "no higher or other duties shall be imposed on the importation into the United States of any articles the growth, produce, or manufacture of His Britannic Majesty's territories in Europe, and no higher or other duties shall be imposed on the importation into the territories of His Britannic Majesty in Europe of any articles the growth, produce, or manufacture of the United States, than are or shall be payable on the like articles being the growth, produce, or manufacture of any other foreign country."

Previous to the act of Parliament of the 13th of August, 1836, the duty on foreign rough rice imported into Great Britain was 2s. 6d. sterling per bushel. By this act the duty was reduced to 1 penny per quarter (of 8 bushels) on the rough rice "imported from the west coast of Africa."