Chapter 11

Entertaining no doubt that in the present case the resort to either of these modes of process, or to both, was within the discretion of the Executive authority, and penetrated with the duty of maintaining the rights of the Indians as secured both by the treaty and the law, I concluded, after full deliberation, to have recourse on this occasion, in the first instance, only to the civil process. Instructions have accordingly been given by the Secretary of War to the attorney and marshal of the United States in the district of Georgia to commence prosecutions against the surveyors complained of as having violated the law, while orders have at the same time been forwarded to the agent of the United States at once to assure the Indians that their rights founded upon the treaty and the law are recognized by this Government and will be faithfully protected, and earnestly to exhort them, by the forbearance of every act of hostility on their part, to preserve unimpaired that right to protection secured to them by the sacred pledge of the good faith of this nation. Copies of these instructions and orders are herewith transmitted to Congress.

In abstaining at this stage of the proceedings from the application of any military force I have been governed by considerations which will, I trust, meet the concurrence of the Legislature. Among them one of paramount importance has been that these surveys have been attempted, and partly effected, under color of legal authority from the State of Georgia; that the surveyors are, therefore, not to be viewed in the light of individual and solitary transgressors, but as the agents of a sovereign State, acting in obedience to authority which they believed to be binding upon them. Intimations had been given that should they meet with interruption they would at all hazards be sustained by the military force of the State, in which event, if the military force of the Union should have been employed to enforce its violated law, a conflict _must_ have ensued, which would itself have inflicted a wound upon the Union and have presented the aspect of one of these confederated States at war with the rest. Anxious, above all, to avert this state of things, yet at the same time impressed with the deepest conviction of my own duty to take care that the laws shall be executed and the faith of the nation preserved, I have used of the means intrusted to the Executive for that purpose only those which without resorting to military force may vindicate the sanctity of the law by the ordinary agency of the judicial tribunals.

It ought not, however, to be disguised that the act of the legislature of Georgia, under the construction given to it by the governor of that State, and the surveys made or attempted by his authority beyond the boundary secured by the treaty of Washington of April last to the Creek Indians, are in direct violation of the supreme law of this land, set forth in a treaty which has received all the sanctions provided by the Constitution which we have been sworn to support and maintain.

Happily distributed as the sovereign powers of the people of this Union have been between their General and State Governments, their history has already too often presented collisions between these divided authorities with regard to the extent of their respective powers. No instance, however, has hitherto occurred in which this collision has been urged into a conflict of actual force. No other case is known to have happened in which the application of military force by the Government of the Union has been prescribed for the enforcement of a law the violation of which has within any single State been prescribed by a legislative act of the State. In the present instance it is my duty to say that if the legislative and executive authorities of the State of Georgia should persevere in acts of encroachment upon the territories secured by a solemn treaty to the Indians, and the laws of the Union remain unaltered, a superadded obligation even higher than that of human authority will compel the Executive of the United States to enforce the laws and fulfill the duties of the nation by all the force committed for that purpose to his charge. That the arm of military force will be resorted to only in the event of the failure of all other expedients provided by the laws, a pledge has been given by the forbearance to employ it at this time. It is submitted to the wisdom of Congress to determine whether any further act of legislation may be necessary or expedient to meet the emergency which these transactions may produce.

John Quincy Adams.

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Washington, _February 8, 1827_

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit to the Senate, for their advice with regard to its ratification, a treaty between the United States and the Mexican Confederation, signed by the plenipotentiaries of the respective Governments on the 10th of July last. It will be seen by its terms that if ratified by both parties the ratifications are to be exchanged at this city on or before the 10th day of next month. The ratification on the part of the Government of Mexico has not yet been received, though it has probably before this been effected. To avoid all unnecessary delay the treaty is now communicated to the Senate, that it may receive all the deliberation which, in their wisdom, it may require, without pressing upon their time at a near approach to the close of their session. Should they advise and consent to its ratification, that measure will still be withheld until the ratification by the Mexican Government shall have been ascertained. A copy of the treaty is likewise transmitted, together with the documents appertaining to the negotiation.

John Quincy Adams.

Washington, _February 8, 1827_

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

I communicate to Congress copies of a letter from the governor of the State of Georgia, received since my message of the 5th instant, and of inclosures received with it, further confirmative of the facts stated in that message.[011]

John Quincy Adams.

Washington, _February 16, 1827_

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit to the Senate a report from the Secretary of the Treasury, with statements prepared at the Register's and General Land Office, in compliance with a resolution of the Senate of the 10th of May last, in relation to the purchase and sales of the public lands since the declaration of independence.

John Quincy Adams.

Washington, _February 19, 1827_

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

I transmit to both Houses of Congress copies of the following treaties, which have been ratified by and with the consent of the Senate:

1. A treaty with the Chippewa tribe of Indians, signed at the Fond du Lac of Lake Superior on the 5th of August, 1826.

2. A treaty with the Potawatamie tribe of Indians, signed on the 16th of October, 1826, near the mouth of the Mississinawa, upon the Wabash, in the State of Indiana.

3. A treaty with the Miami tribe of Indians, signed at the same place on the 23d of October, 1826.

John Quincy Adams.

Washington, _February 24, 1827_

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit to the Senate, for their consideration, a conveyance by treaty from the Seneca tribe of Indians to Robert Troup, Thomas L. Ogden, and Benjamin W. Rogers, in the presence of Oliver Forward, commissioner of the United States for holding the said treaty, and of Nathaniel Gorham, superintendent in behalf of the State of Massachusetts. A letter from the grantees of this conveyance and a report of the Superintendent of Indian Affairs to the Secretary of War, relating to this instrument, are also transmitted; and with regard to the approval or ratification of the treaty itself, it is submitted to the Senate for their advice and consent.

John Quincy Adams.

Washington, _February 28, 1827_

_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:

I transmit to the House of Representatives a report from the Secretary of War, with sundry documents, containing statements requested by a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 9th of January, relating to the Artillery School of Practice at Fortress Monroe.

John Quincy Adams.

Washington, _March 2, 1827_

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit to the Senate a report from the Secretary of the Treasury, with sundry documents, containing the information requested by a resolution of the Senate of the 20th of April last, relating to the security taken of the late survey or-general of Illinois, Missouri, and Arkansas, and of the late receiver of public moneys in the western district of Missouri, and to the sums for which they were respectively defaulters; also the sums due by each of the late directors of the Bank of Missouri to the United States, and to the measures taken for obtaining or enforcing payment of the same.

John Quincy Adams.

Washington, _March 2, 1827_

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

I transmit to both Houses of Congress copies of communications received yesterday by the Secretary of War from the governor of Georgia and from Lieutenant Vinton.[012]

John Quincy Adams.

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PROCLAMATIONS.

By the President of the United States.

A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas by the sixth section of an act of Congress entitled "An act to regulate the commercial intercourse between the United States and certain British colonial ports," which was approved on the 1st day of March, A. D. 1823, it is enacted "that this act, unless repealed, altered, or amended by Congress, shall be and continue in force so long as the above-enumerated British colonial ports shall be open to the admission of the vessels of the United States, conformably to the provisions of the British act of Parliament of the 24th of June last, being the forty-fourth chapter of the acts of the third year of George IV; but if at any time the trade and intercourse between the United States and all or any of the above enumerated British colonial ports authorized by the said act of Parliament should be prohibited by a British order in council or by act of Parliament, then, from the day of the date of such order in council or act of Parliament, or from the time that the same shall commence to be in force, proclamation to that effect having been made by the President of the United States, each and every provision of this act, so far as the same shall apply to the intercourse between the United States and the above-enumerated British colonial ports in British vessels, shall cease to operate in their favor, and each and every provision of the 'Act concerning navigation,' approved on the 18th of April, 1818, and of the act supplementary thereto, approved on the 15th of May, 1820, shall revive and be in full force;" and

Whereas by an act of the British Parliament which passed on the 5th day of July, A. D. 1825, entitled "An act to repeal the several laws relating to the customs," the said act of Parliament of the 24th of June, 1822, was repealed; and by another act of the British Parliament, passed on the 5th day of July, A. D. 1825, in the sixth year of the reign of George IV, entitled "An act to regulate the trade of the British possessions abroad;" and by an order of His Britannic Majesty in council, bearing date the 27th of July, 1826, the trade and intercourse authorized by the aforesaid act of Parliament of the 24th of June, 1822, between the United States and the greater part of the said British colonial ports therein enumerated, have been prohibited upon and from the 1st day of December last past, and the contingency has thereby arisen on which the President of the United States was authorized by the sixth section aforesaid of the act of Congress of the 1st March, 1823, to issue a proclamation to the effect therein mentioned:

Now, therefore, I, John Quincy Adams, President of the United States of America, do hereby declare and proclaim that the trade and intercourse authorized by the said act of Parliament of the 24th of June, 1822, between the United States and the British colonial ports enumerated in the aforesaid act of Congress of the 1st of March, 1823, have been and are, upon and from the 1st day of December, 1826, by the aforesaid two several acts of Parliament of the 5th of July, 1825, and by the aforesaid British order in council of the 27th day of July, 1826, prohibited.

Given under my hand, at the city of Washington, this 17th day of March, A. D. 1827, and the fifty-first year of the Independence of the United States.

John Quincy Adams.

By the President: H. Clay, _Secretary of State_.

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By the President of the United States.

A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas by an act of the Congress of the United States of the 7th of January, 1824, entitled "An act concerning discriminating duties of tonnage and impost," it is provided that upon satisfactory evidence being given to the President of the United States by the government of any foreign nation that no discriminating duties of tonnage or impost are imposed or levied within the ports of the said nation upon vessels wholly belonging to citizens of the United States or upon merchandise the produce or manufacture thereof imported in the same, the President is thereby authorized to issue his proclamation declaring that the foreign discriminating duties of tonnage and impost within the United States are and shall be suspended and discontinued so far as respects the vessels of the said nation and the merchandise of its produce or manufacture imported into the United States in the same, the said suspension to take effect from the time of such notification being given to the President of the United States and to continue so long as the reciprocal exemption of vessels belonging to citizens of the United States and merchandise as aforesaid therein laden shall be continued, and no longer; and

Whereas satisfactory evidence was given to the President of the United States on the 30th day of May last by Count Lucchesi, consul-general of His Holiness the Pope, that all foreign and discriminating duties of tonnage and impost within the dominions of His Holiness, so far as respected the vessels of the United States and the merchandise of their produce or manufacture imported in the same, were suspended and discontinued:

Now, therefore, I, John Quincy Adams, President of the United States, conformably to the fourth section of the act of Congress aforesaid, do hereby proclaim and declare that the foreign discriminating duties of tonnage and impost within the United States are and shall be suspended and discontinued so far as respects the vessels of the subjects of His Holiness the Pope and the merchandise of the produce or manufacture of his dominions imported into the United States' in the same, the said suspension to take effect from the 30th of May aforesaid and to continue so long as the reciprocal exemption of vessels belonging to citizens of the United States and merchandise as aforesaid therein laden shall be continued, and no longer.

Given under my hand, at the city of Washington, this 7th day of June, A. D. 1827, and of the Independence of the United States the fifty-first.

John Quincy Adams.

By the President: H. Clay, _Secretary of State_.

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By the President of the United States.

A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas Willis Anderson, of the County of Alexandria, in the district of Columbia, is charged with having recently murdered Gerrard Arnold, late of the said county; and

Whereas it is represented to me that the said Willis Anderson has absconded and secretes himself, so that he can not be apprehended and brought to justice for the offense of which he is so charged; and

Whereas the apprehension and trial of the said Willis Anderson is an example due to justice and humanity, and would be every way salutary in its influence:

Now, therefore, I have thought fit to issue this my proclamation, hereby exhorting the citizens of the United States, and particularly those of this district, and requiring all officers, according to their respective stations, to use their utmost endeavors to apprehend and bring the said Willis Anderson to justice for the atrocious crime with which he stands charged as aforesaid; and I do moreover offer a reward of $250 for the apprehension of the said Willis Anderson and his delivery to an officer or officers of justice in the county aforesaid, so that he may be brought to trial for the murder aforesaid and be otherwise dealt with according to law.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto signed my name and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed to these presents.

(SEAL.)

Done at Washington, this 10th day of September, A. D. 1827, and of the Independence of the United States the fifty-second.

J. Q. Adams.

By the President: H. Clay, _Secretary of State_.

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THIRD ANNUAL MESSAGE.

Washington, _December 4, 1827_

_Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and of the House of Representatives_:

A revolution of the seasons has nearly been completed since the representatives of the people and States of this Union were last assembled at this place to deliberate and to act upon the common important interests of their constituents. In that interval the never-slumbering eye of a wise and beneficent Providence has continued its guardian care over the welfare of our beloved country; the blessing of health has continued generally to prevail throughout the land; the blessing of peace with our brethren of the human race has been enjoyed without interruption; internal quiet has left our fellow-citizens in the full enjoyment of all their rights and in the free exercise of all their faculties, to pursue the impulse of their nature and the obligation of their duty in the improvement of their own condition; the productions of the soil, the exchanges of commerce, the vivifying labors of human industry, have combined to mingle in our cup a portion of enjoyment as large and liberal as the indulgence of Heaven has perhaps ever granted to the imperfect state of man upon earth; and as the purest of human felicity consists in its participation with others, it is no small addition to the sum of our national happiness at this time that peace and prosperity prevail to a degree seldom experienced over the whole habitable globe, presenting, though as yet with painful exceptions, a foretaste of that blessed period of promise when the lion shall lie down with the lamb and wars shall be no more. To preserve, to improve, and to perpetuate the sources and to direct in their most effective channels the streams which contribute to the public weal is the purpose for which Government was instituted. Objects of deep importance to the welfare of the Union are constantly recurring to demand the attention of the Federal Legislature, and they call with accumulated interest at the first meeting of the two Houses after their periodical renovation. To present to their consideration from time to time subjects in which the interests of the nation are most deeply involved, and for the regulation of which the legislative will is alone competent, is a duty prescribed by the Constitution, to the performance of which the first meeting of the new Congress is a period eminently appropriate, and which it is now my purpose to discharge.

Our relations of friendship with the other nations of the earth, political and commercial, have been preserved unimpaired, and the opportunities to improve them have been cultivated with anxious and unremitting attention. A negotiation upon subjects of high and delicate interest with the Government of Great Britain has terminated in the adjustment of some of the questions at issue upon satisfactory terms and the postponement of others for future discussion and agreement. The purposes of the convention concluded at St. Petersburg on the 12th day of July, 1822, under the mediation of the late Emperor Alexander, have been carried into effect by a subsequent convention, concluded at London on the 13th of November, 1826, the ratifications of which were exchanged at that place on the 6th day of February last. A copy of the proclamation issued on the 19th day of March last, publishing this convention, is herewith communicated to Congress. The sum of $1,204,960, therein stipulated to be paid to the claimants of indemnity under the first article of the treaty of Ghent, has been duly received, and the commission instituted, comformably to the act of Congress of the 2d of March last, for the distribution of the indemnity to the persons entitled to receive it are now in session and approaching the consummation of their labors. This final disposal of one of the most painful topics of collision between the United States and Great Britain not only affords an occasion of gratulation to ourselves, but has had the happiest effect in promoting a friendly disposition and in softening asperities upon other objects of discussion; nor ought it to pass without the tribute of a frank and cordial acknowledgment of the magnanimity with which an honorable nation, by the reparation of their own wrongs, achieves a triumph more glorious than any field of blood can ever bestow.