Chapter 23

In reply to a resolution of the Senate of May 23, requesting a "detailed statement of the sums which have been paid to newspapers published in Washington for advertisements or other printing published or executed under the orders or by authority of the several Departments since the 4th day of March, 1853," I communicate herewith reports from the several Departments.

FRANKLIN PIERCE.

WASHINGTON, _July 15, 1856_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I transmit a copy of a letter of November 27, 1854, from the commissioner of the United States in China, and of the regulations, orders, and decrees which accompanied it, for such revision thereof as Congress may deem expedient, pursuant to the sixth section of the act approved August 11, 1848.

FRANKLIN PIERCE.

EXECUTIVE OFFICE,

_Washington, July 21, 1856_.

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

I communicate to Congress herewith a letter from the Postmaster-General and a copy of a conditional contract entered into under instructions from me for the purchase of a lot and building thereon for a post-office in the city of Philadelphia, together with a copy of a report of Edward Clark, architect of the Patent Office building, in relation to the site and building selected, and recommend that an appropriation of $250,000 be made to complete the purchase, and also an appropriation of $50,000 to make the required alterations and furnish the necessary cases, boxes, etc., to fit it up for a city post-office.

FRANKLIN PIERCE.

WASHINGTON, _July 22, 1856_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit to the Senate, for its consideration with a view to ratification, a treaty of friendship, commerce, navigation, and extradition between the United States and the Republic of Chili, signed at Santiago, in that Republic, on the 27th of May last.

FRANKLIN PIERCE.

WASHINGTON, _July 24, 1856_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I herewith present to Congress a copy of "minutes of a council held at Fort Pierre, Nebraska Territory, on the 1st day of March, 1856, by Brevet Brigadier-General William S. Harney, United States Army, commanding the Sioux expedition, with the delegations from nine of the bands of the Sioux;" also copies of sundry papers upon the same subject.

Regarding the stipulations between General Harney and the nine bands of the Sioux as just and desirable, both for the United States and for the Indians, I respectfully recommend an appropriation by Congress of the sum of $100,000 to enable the Government to execute the stipulations entered into by General Harney.

FRANKLIN PIERCE.

WASHINGTON, _July 29, 1856_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I herewith lay before the Senate, for its constitutional action thereon, a treaty made and concluded at Múckl-te-oh, or Point Elliott, by Isaac I. Stevens, governor and superintendent of Indian affairs of Washington Territory, on the part of the United States, and chiefs, headmen, and delegates of the Dwámish, Suquámish, Sk-táhl-mish, Sam-áhmish, Smalh-kamish, Skope-áhmish, St-káh-mish, Snoquálmoo, Skai-wha-mish, N'Quentl-má-mish, Sk-táh-le-jum, Stoluck-whá-mish, Sno-ho-mish, Ská-git, Kik-i-állus, Swin-á-mish, Squin-ah-mish, Sah-ku-méhu, Noo-whá-há, Nook-wa-cháh-mish, Mee-sée-qua-guilch, Cho-bah-áh-bish, and other allied and subordinate tribes and bands of Indians in said Territory.

Also a treaty made and concluded at Hahd Skus, or Point no Point, on the 26th day of January, 1855, by and between the same commissioner on the part of the United States and the chiefs, headmen, and delegates of the different villages of the S'Klallams Indians in said Territory.

Also a treaty made and concluded at Neah Bay on the 31st day of January, 1855, by and between the same commissioner on the part of the United States and the chiefs, headmen, and delegates of the same villages of the Makah tribe of Indians in the said Territory.

FRANKLIN PIERCE.

WASHINGTON, _July 29, 1856_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I herewith lay before the Senate, for its constitutional action thereon, a treaty made and concluded by and between Isaac I. Stevens, governor and superintendent of Indian affairs of the Territory of Washington, on the part of the United States, and the chiefs, headmen, and delegates of the different tribes and bands of the Qui-nai-elt and Quil-leh-ute Indians in Washington Territory.

Said treaty was made on the 1st of July, 1855, and 25th January, 1856.

FRANKLIN PIERCE.

WASHINGTON, _July 29, 1856_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I herewith lay before the Senate, for its constitutional action thereon, a treaty made and concluded at the treaty ground at Hell Gate, in the Bitter Root Valley, on the 16th day of July, 1855, by and between Isaac I. Stevens, governor and superintendent of Indian affairs for the Territory of Washington, on the part of the United States, and the chiefs, headmen, and delegates of the confederate tribes of the Flathead, Koo-tenay, and Upper Pend d'Oreilles Indians, who by the treaty are constituted a nation, under the name of the Flat Head Nation.

FRANKLIN PIERCE.

WASHINGTON, _July 29, 1856_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I herewith lay before the Senate, for its constitutional action thereon, a treaty made and concluded at Wasco, near the Dalles of the Columbia River, in Oregon Territory, by and between Joel Palmer, superintendent of Indian affairs, on the part of the United States, and the chiefs and headmen of the confederated tribes and bands of Walla-Wallas and Was-coes Indians residing in middle Oregon. Said treaty was made on the 25th day of June, 1855.

FRANKLIN PIERCE.

WASHINGTON, _July 29, 1856_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I herewith lay before the Senate, for its constitutional action thereon, a treaty made and concluded on the 21st day of December, 1855, by and between Joel Palmer, superintendent of Indian affairs, on the part of the United States, and the chiefs and headmen of the Mo-lal-la-las, or Molel, tribe of Indians in Oregon Territory.

FRANKLIN PIERCE.

WASHINGTON, _July 29, 1856_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I herewith lay before the Senate, for its constitutional action thereon, a treaty made on the 9th of June, 1855, by and between Isaac I. Stevens, governor and superintendent of Indian affairs of the Territory of Washington, and Joel Palmer, superintendent of Indian affairs of the Territory of Oregon, on the part of the United States, and the chiefs, headmen, and delegates of the Walla-Wallas, Cayuses, and Umatilla tribes and bands of Indians, who for the purposes of the treaty are to be regarded as one nation. Also a treaty made on the 11th of June, 1855, by and between the same commissioners on the part of the United States and the chiefs, headmen, and delegates of the Nez Percé tribe of Indians.

The lands ceded by the treaties herewith lie partly in Washington and partly in Oregon Territories.

FRANKLIN PIERCE.

WASHINGTON, _July 29, 1856_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I herewith lay before the Senate, for its constitutional action thereon, a treaty made and concluded at Camp Stevens, Walla Walla Valley, on the 9th day of June, 1855, by and between Isaac I. Stevens, governor of and superintendent of Indian affairs for Washington Territory, on the part of the United States, and the head chiefs, chiefs, headmen, and delegates of the Yakama, Palouse, Pisquouse, Wenatshapam, Klikatat, Klin-quit, Kow-was-say-ee, Li-ay-was, Skin-pah, Wish-ham, Shyiks, Oche-chotes, Kah-milt-pah, and Se-ap-cat tribes and bands of Indians, who for the purposes of the treaty are to be known as the "Yakama" Nation of Indians.

FRANKLIN PIERCE.

WASHINGTON, _July 30, 1856_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

By the sixteenth article of the treaty of 4th March, 1853, between the United States and the Republic of Paraguay, as amended by a resolution of the Senate of the 1st May, 1854, it was provided that the exchange of the ratifications of that instrument should be effected within twenty-four months of its date; that is, on or before the 4th March, 1855.

From circumstances, however, over which the Government of the United States had no control, but which are not supposed to indicate any indisposition on the part of the Paraguayan Government to consummate the final formalities necessary to give full force and validity to the treaty, the exchange of ratifications has not yet been effected.

A similar condition exists in regard to the treaty between the United States and the Oriental Republic of Uruguay of the 28th August, 1852. The Senate, by a resolution of 13th June, 1854, extended the time within which the ratifications of that treaty might be exchanged to thirty months from its date. That limit, however, has expired, and the exchange has not been effected.

I deem it expedient to direct a renewal of negotiations with the Governments referred to, with a view to secure the exchange of the ratifications of these important conventions. But as the limit prescribed by the Senate in both cases has passed by, it is necessary that authority be conferred on the Executive for that purpose.

I consequently recommend that the Senate sanction an exchange of the ratifications of the treaties above mentioned at any time which may be deemed expedient by the President within three years from the date of the resolution to that effect.

FRANKLIN PIERCE.

WASHINGTON, _August 1, 1856_.

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

I communicate to Congress herewith the report of Major W.H. Emory, United States commissioner, on the survey of the boundary between the United States and the Republic of Mexico, referred to in the accompanying letter of this date from the Secretary of the Interior.

FRANKLIN PIERCE.

EXECUTIVE OFFICE,

_Washington, August 4, 1856_.

_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:

I herewith lay before the House of Representatives a report of the Secretary of War, in reply to a resolution of the House requesting "information in regard to the construction of the Capitol and Post-Office extensions."

FRANKLIN PIERCE.

EXECUTIVE OFFICE,

_August 4, 1856_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I communicate herewith a report of the Secretary of War, in response to a resolution of the Senate calling for information in relation to instructions "issued to any military officer in command in Kansas to disperse any unarmed meeting of the people of that Territory, or to prevent by military power any assemblage of the people of that Territory."

FRANKLIN PIERCE.

WASHINGTON, _August 4, 1856_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 1st instant, requesting a copy of papers touching recent events in the Territory of Washington, I transmit a report from the Secretary of State and the documents by which it was accompanied.

FRANKLIN PIERCE.

EXECUTIVE OFFICE,

_Washington, August 6, 1856_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In compliance with a resolution of the Senate of the 28th ultimo, requesting the President to inform the Senate in relation to any application "by the governor of the State of California to maintain the laws and peace of the said State against the usurped authority of an organization calling itself the committee of vigilance in the city and county of San Francisco," and also "to lay before the Senate whatever information he may have in respect to the proceedings of the said committee of vigilance," I transmit the accompanying reports from the Secretary of State and the Secretary of the Navy.

FRANKLIN PIERCE.

WASHINGTON, _August 8, 1856_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I herewith submit to the Senate, for its constitutional action thereon, a treaty negotiated with the Creek and Seminole Indians, together with the accompanying papers.

FRANKLIN PIERCE.

WASHINGTON, _August 9, 1856_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

With a message of the 23d of June last I transmitted, for the consideration of the Senate, a convention for the mutual delivery of criminals fugitives from justice in certain cases, and for other purposes, concluded at The Hague on the 29th of May last between the United States and His Majesty the King of the Netherlands. Deeming it advisable to withdraw that instrument from the consideration of the Senate, I request that it may be returned to me.

FRANKLIN PIERCE.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit to the Senate, for its consideration with a view to ratification, a treaty of amity, commerce, and navigation, and for the surrender of fugitive criminals, between the United States and the Republic of Venezuela, signed at Caracas on the 10th of July last.

FRANKLIN PIERCE.

AUGUST 9, 1856.

WASHINGTON, _August 11, 1856_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In compliance with the resolution of the Senate of the 3d March, 1855, requesting information relative to the proceedings of the commissioners for the adjustment of claims under the convention with Great Britain of the 8th of February, 1853, I transmit a report from the Secretary of State, to whom the resolution was referred.

FRANKLIN PIERCE.

WASHINGTON, _August 11, 1856_.

_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:

I transmit herewith a report of the Secretary of War, in reply to a resolution of the House of Representatives of May 26, 1856, in relation to the Capitol and Post-Office extensions.

FRANKLIN PIERCE.

WASHINGTON, _August 12, 1856_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit a report from the Secretary of State, with accompanying papers,[61] in answer to the resolution of the Senate of yesterday.

FRANKLIN PIERCE.

[Footnote 61: Relating to "The declaration concerning maritime law," adopted by the plenipotentiaries of Great Britain, Austria, France, Prussia, Russia, Sardinia, and Turkey at Paris April 16, 1856.]

WASHINGTON, _August 12, 1856_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In compliance with the resolution of the Senate of the 7th instant, in relation to the refusal of the Government of Honduras to receive a commercial agent from this country, I transmit a report from the Secretary of State and the documents which accompanied it.

FRANKLIN PIERCE.

WASHINGTON, _August 13, 1856_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith a communication from the Secretary of War, inclosing a report of Captain M.C. Meigs, stating that the sum of $750,000 will be necessary for the prosecution of the Capitol extension until the close of the next session of Congress, and recommend that that amount may be appropriated.

FRANKLIN PIERCE.

WASHINGTON, _August 15, 1856_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

In answer to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 4th instant, requesting a copy of letters and papers touching the pardons or remission of the imprisonment of Daniel Drayton and Edward Sayres in August, 1852, I transmit a report from the Secretary of State, to whom the resolution was referred.

FRANKLIN PIERCE.

WASHINGTON, _August 15, 1856_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of War, in relation to an error in a communication[62] of Captain Meigs.

FRANKLIN PIERCE.

[Footnote 62: Relating to the Capitol extension.]

WASHINGTON, _August 16, 1856_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In compliance with a resolution of the Senate of the 11th instant, in relation to the public accounts of John C. Fremont, I transmit the accompanying report from the Secretary of the Treasury, to whom the resolution was referred.

FRANKLIN PIERCE.

WASHINGTON, _August 16, 1856_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

In compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 17th April, 1856, requesting me to have prepared and presented to the House of Representatives "a statement showing the appropriations made by the Thirty-first, Thirty-second, and Thirty-third Congresses, distinguishing the appropriations made at each session of each Congress, distinguishing also the appropriations made on the recommendations of the President, heads of Departments, or heads of bureaus from those that were made without such recommendation, and showing what expenditures have been made by the Government in each fiscal year, commencing with the 1st day of July, 1850, and ending on the 30th day of June, 1855; and also what, if any, defalcations have occurred from the 30th day of June, 1850, to the 1st day of July, 1855, and the amount of such defalcations severally, and such other information as may be in his power bearing upon the matters above mentioned," I submit the following reports from the Secretaries of the Treasury, War, Navy, and Interior Departments and the Postmaster-General.

FRANKLIN PIERCE.

VETO MESSAGES.

WASHINGTON, _May 19, 1856_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I return herewith to the Senate, in which it originated, the bill entitled "An act to remove obstructions to navigation in the mouth of the Mississippi River at the Southwest Pass and Pass à l'Outre," which proposes to appropriate a sum of money, to be expended under the superintendence of the Secretary of War, "for the opening and keeping open ship channels of sufficient capacity to accommodate the wants of commerce through the Southwest Pass and Pass à l'Outre, leading from the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico."

In a communication addressed by me to the two Houses of Congress on the 30th of December, 1854, my views were exhibited in full on the subject of the relation of the General Government to internal improvements. I set forth on that occasion the constitutional impediments, which in my mind are insuperable, to the prosecution of a system of internal improvements by means of appropriations from the Treasury of the United States, more especially the consideration that the Constitution does not confer on the General Government any express power to make such appropriations, that they are not a necessary and proper incident of any of the express powers, and that the assumption of authority on the part of the Federal Government to commence and carry on a general system of internal improvements, while exceptionable for the want of constitutional power, is in other respects prejudicial to the several interests and inconsistent with the true relation to one another of the Union and of the individual States.

These objections apply to the whole system of internal improvements, whether such improvements consist of works on land or in navigable waters, either of the seacoast or of the interior lakes or rivers.

I have not been able, after the most careful reflection, to regard the bill before me in any other light than as part of a general system of internal improvements, and therefore feel constrained to submit it, with these objections, to the reconsideration of Congress.

FRANKLIN PIERCE.

WASHINGTON, _May 19, 1856_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I return herewith to the Senate, in which it originated, a bill entitled "An act making an appropriation for deepening the channel over the St. Clair flats, in the State of Michigan," and submit it for reconsideration, because it is, in my judgment, liable to the objections to the prosecution of internal improvements by the General Government which have already been presented by me in previous communications to Congress.

In considering this bill under the restriction that the power of Congress to construct a work of internal improvement is limited to cases in which the work is manifestly needful and proper for the execution of some one or more of the powers expressly delegated to the General Government, I have not been able to find for the proposed expenditure any such relation, unless it be to the power to provide for the common defense and to maintain an army and navy. But a careful examination of the subject, with the aid of information officially received since my last annual message was communicated to Congress, has convinced me that the expenditure of the sum proposed would serve no valuable purpose as contributing to the common defense, because all which could be effected by it would be to afford a channel of 12 feet depth and of so temporary a character that unless the work was done immediately before the necessity for its use should arise it could not be relied on for the vessels of even the small draft the passage of which it would permit.

Under existing circumstances, therefore, it can not be considered as a necessary means for the common defense, and is subject to those objections which apply to other works designed to facilitate commerce and contribute to the convenience and local prosperity of those more immediately concerned--an object not to be constitutionally and justly attained by the taxation of the people of the whole country.

FRANKLIN PIERCE.

WASHINGTON, _May 22, 1856_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

Having considered the bill, which originated in the Senate, entitled "An act making an appropriation for deepening the channel over the flats of the St. Marys River, in the State of Michigan," it is herewith returned without my approval.

The appropriation proposed by this bill is not, in my judgment, a necessary means for the execution of any of the expressly granted powers of the Federal Government. The work contemplated belongs to a general class of improvements, embracing roads, rivers, and canals, designed to afford additional facilities for intercourse and for the transit of commerce, and no reason has been suggested to my mind for excepting it from the objections which apply to appropriations by the General Government for deepening the channels of rivers wherever shoals or other obstacles impede their navigation, and thus obstruct communication and impose restraints upon commerce within the States or between the States or Territories of the Union. I therefore submit it to the reconsideration of Congress, on account of the same objections which have been presented in my previous communications on the subject of internal improvements.

FRANKLIN PIERCE.

WASHINGTON, _August 11, 1856_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I return herewith to the House of Representatives, in which it originated, a bill entitled "An act for continuing the improvement of the Des Moines Rapids, in the Mississippi River," and submit it for reconsideration, because it is, in my judgment, liable to the objections to the prosecution of internal improvements by the General Government set forth at length in a communication addressed by me to the two Houses of Congress on the 30th day of December, 1854, and in other subsequent messages upon the same subject, to which on this occasion I respectfully refer.

FRANKLIN PIERCE.

WASHINGTON, _August 14, 1856_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I return herewith to the Senate, in which it originated, a bill entitled "An act for the improvement of the navigation of the Patapsco River and to render the port of Baltimore accessible to the war steamers of the United States," and submit it for reconsideration, because it is, in my judgment, liable to the objections to the prosecution of internal improvements by the General Government set forth at length in a communication addressed by me to the two Houses of Congress on the 30th day of December, 1854, and other subsequent messages upon the same subject, to which on this occasion I respectfully refer.

FRANKLIN PIERCE.

PROCLAMATIONS.

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas information has been received by me that sundry persons, citizens of the United States and others resident therein, are preparing, within the jurisdiction of the same, to enlist, or enter themselves, or to hire or retain others to participate in military operations within the State of Nicaragua: