Part 9

WASHINGTON, _April 5, 1862_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

In compliance with the resolution of the House of Representatives of yesterday, requesting any information which may have been received at the Department of State showing the system of revenue and finance now existing in any foreign country, I transmit a copy of a recent dispatch from Mr. Pike, the United States minister at The Hague. This is understood to be the only information on the subject of the resolution recently received which has not been made public.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

WASHINGTON, _April 10, 1862_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit to the Senate, for its consideration with a view to ratification, a treaty between the United States and Her Britannic Majesty for the suppression of the slave trade. A copy of the correspondence between the Secretary of State and Lord Lyons on the subject of the treaty is also herewith transmitted.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

WASHINGTON, _April 14, 1862_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

In compliance with the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 3d ultimo, requesting information in regard to the present condition of Mexico, I transmit a report from the Secretary of State and the documents by which it was accompanied.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

WASHINGTON, _April 15, 1862_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

On the 26th of June, 1860, the Senate approved of the treaty of friendship and commerce between the United States and Nicaragua, signed on the 16th of March, 1859, with certain amendments.

On the next day, namely, June 27, 1860, the Senate adopted a resolution extending the period for the exchange of the ratifications of the treaty for six months from that date; that is, until the 27th of December, 1860.

Although the amendments of the Senate were immediately transmitted to our minister in Nicaragua for submission to the Government of that Republic, he failed, notwithstanding earnest efforts, to induce that Government to call an extra session of Congress to take into consideration the amendments of the Senate of the United States within the supplementary time named in the resolution of June 27, 1860, for the exchange of ratifications.

It was not until the 25th of March, 1861, nearly three months after the expiration of the six months extended by the Senate resolution, that the Congress of Nicaragua acted favorably upon the amendments of the Senate of the United States.

A translation of the decree of the Nicaraguan Government approving the treaty as amended, with an additional amendment, is herewith inclosed.

It will be perceived that while the ratification of Nicaragua recites literally the second amendment of the Senate and accepts it with an additional clause, it does not in explicit terms accept the first amendment of the Senate, striking out the last clause of the sixteenth article.

That amendment is of so much importance that the adoption or rejection of it by the Government of Nicaragua should not be left to construction or inference.

The final amendment of that Government properly extended the time of exchanging ratifications for an additional twelve months. That time has expired. For obvious reasons connected with our internal affairs, the subject has not sooner been submitted to the Senate, but the treaty is now laid before that body, with this brief historical sketch and the decree of the Nicaraguan Government, for such further advice as may be deemed necessary and proper in regard to the acceptance or rejection of the amendments of Nicaragua.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

WASHINGTON, _April 15, 1862_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In consequence of the delay attending the approval by the Senate of the extradition treaty with Mexico signed on the 11th December last, it is impossible to effect the exchange of ratifications of that and the postal convention of the same date within the period assigned by those instruments.

I recommend, therefore, the passage of a resolution at the earliest practicable moment extending the time specified in the eighth article of the extradition treaty and in the twelfth article of the postal convention for the exchange of ratifications for sixty days from and after the 11th June next, the date of the expiration of the period named for that purpose in both instruments.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

WASHINGTON, D.C., _April 15, 1862_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit herewith, for the consideration and such constitutional action as the Senate may deem proper to take, a treaty negotiated on the 6th March, 1861, between late Agent Vanderslice, on the part of the United States, and certain delegates of the Sac and Fox of the Missouri and the Iowa tribes of Indians; also certain petitions of said tribes, praying that the treaty may be ratified with an amendment as set forth in said petitions. A letter of the Secretary of the Interior, with a report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs and letter of the present agent of the Indians, accompany the treaty and petitions.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

APRIL 16, 1862.

_Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives_:

The act entitled "An act for the release of certain persons held to service or labor in the District of Columbia" has this day been approved and signed.

I have never doubted the constitutional authority of Congress to abolish slavery in this District, and I have ever desired to see the national capital freed from the institution in some satisfactory way. Hence there has never been in my mind any question upon the subject except the one of expediency, arising in view of all the circumstances. If there be matters within and about this act which might have taken a course or shape more satisfactory to my judgment, I do not attempt to specify them. I am gratified that the two principles of compensation and colonization are both recognized and practically applied in the act.

In the matter of compensation, it is provided that claims may be presented within ninety days from the passage of the act, "but not thereafter;" and there is no saving for minors, femes covert, insane or absent persons. I presume this is an omission by mere oversight, and I recommend that it be supplied by an amendatory or supplemental act.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

WASHINGTON, _April 18, 1862_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I transmit to Congress a copy of a correspondence between the Secretary of State and Benjamin E. Brewster, of Philadelphia, relative to the arrest in that city of Simon Cameron, late Secretary of War, at the suit of Pierce Butler, for trespass _vi et armis_, assault and battery, and false imprisonment.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

EXECUTIVE MANSION,

_Washington, April 24, 1862_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In obedience to your resolution of the 17th instant, I herewith communicate the testimony and judgment of the recent naval court of inquiry in the case of Lieutenant Charles E. Fleming, of the United States Navy; also the testimony and finding of the naval retiring board in the case of the said Lieutenant Fleming.

I have the honor to state that the judgment and finding aforesaid have not been approved by me.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

WASHINGTON, _April 26, 1862_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

In compliance with the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 24th of February last, requesting information in regard to insurgent privateers in foreign ports, I transmit a report from the Secretary of State and the documents by which it was accompanied.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

EXECUTIVE MANSION,

_Washington, May 1, 1862_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In answer to the resolution of the Senate in relation to Brigadier-General Stone, I have the honor to state that he was arrested and imprisoned under my general authority, and upon evidence which, whether he be guilty or innocent, required, as appears to me, such proceedings to be had against him for the public safety. I deem it incompatible with the public interest, as also, perhaps, unjust to General Stone, to make a more particular statement of the evidence.

He has not been tried because in the state of military operations at the time of his arrest and since the officers to constitute a court-martial and for witnesses could not be withdrawn from duty without serious injury to the service. He will be allowed a trial without any unnecessary delay, the charges and specifications will be furnished him in due season, and every facility for his defense will be afforded him by the War Department.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

EXECUTIVE MANSION,

_Washington, May 1, 1862_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In accordance with the suggestion of the Secretary of the Treasury contained in the accompanying letter, I have the honor to transmit the inclosed petition and report thereon of the Third Auditor for the consideration of Congress.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

WASHINGTON, D.C., _May 14, 1862_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

The third section of the "Act further to promote the efficiency of the Navy," approved 21st of December, 1861, provides--

That the President of the United States, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall have the authority to detail from the retired list of the Navy for the command of squadrons and single ships such officers as he may believe that the good of the service requires to be thus placed in command; and such officers may, if upon the recommendation of the President of the United States they shall receive a vote of thanks of Congress for their services and gallantry in action against an enemy, be restored to the active list, and not otherwise.

In conformity with this law, Captain David G. Farragut was nominated to the Senate for continuance as the flag-officer in command of the squadron which recently rendered such important service to the Union by his successful operations on the Lower Mississippi and capture of New Orleans.

Believing that no occasion could arise which would more fully correspond with the intention of the law or be more pregnant with happy influence as an example, I cordially recommend that Captain D.G. Farragut receive a vote of thanks of Congress for his services and gallantry displayed in the capture since 21st December, 1861, of Forts Jackson and St. Philip, city of New Orleans, and the destruction of various rebel gunboats, rams, etc.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

WASHINGTON, D.C., _May 14, 1862_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I submit herewith a list of naval officers who commanded vessels engaged in the recent brilliant operations of the squadron commanded by Flag-Officer Farragut, which led to the capture of Forts Jackson and St. Philip, city of New Orleans, and the destruction of rebel gunboats, rams, etc., in April, 1862. For their services and gallantry on those occasions I cordially recommend that they should by name receive a vote of thanks of Congress.

LIST.

Captain Theodorus Bailey. Captain Henry W. Morris. Captain Thomas T. Craven. Commander Henry H. Bell. Commander Samuel Phillips Lee. Commander Samuel Swartwout. Commander Melancton Smith. Commander Charles Stewart Boggs. Commander John De Camp. Commander James Alden. Commander David D. Porter. Commander Richard Wainwright. Commander William B. Renshaw. Lieutenant Commanding Abram D. Harrell. Lieutenant Commanding Edward Donaldson. Lieutenant Commanding George H. Preble. Lieutenant Commanding Edward T. Nichols. Lieutenant Commanding Jonathan M. Wainwright. Lieutenant Commanding John Guest. Lieutenant Commanding Charles H.B. Caldwell. Lieutenant Commanding Napoleon B. Harrison. Lieutenant Commanding Albert N. Smith. Lieutenant Commanding Pierce Crosby. Lieutenant Commanding George M. Ransom. Lieutenant Commanding Watson Smith. Lieutenant Commanding John H. Russell. Lieutenant Commanding Walter W. Queen. Lieutenant Commanding K. Randolph Breese. Acting Lieutenant Commanding Selim E. Woodworth. Acting Lieutenant Commanding Charles H. Baldwin.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

EXECUTIVE OFFICE, _May, 1862_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit herewith, for the constitutional action of the Senate, a treaty negotiated on the 13th of March, 1862, between H.W. Farnsworth, a commissioner on the part of the United States, and the authorized representatives of the Kansas tribe of Indians.

A communication from the Secretary of the Interior, together with a letter of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, suggesting certain amendments to the treaty and inclosing papers relating thereto, are also transmitted.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

WASHINGTON, _May 21, 1862_.

_To the Senate_:

In answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 14th instant, requesting information in regard to arrests in the State of Kentucky, I transmit a report from the Secretary of War, to whom the resolution was referred.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

WASHINGTON, _May 22, 1862_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

In compliance with the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 20th instant, requesting information in regard to the indemnity obtained by the consul-general of the United States at Alexandria, Egypt, for the maltreatment of Faris-El-Hakim, an agent in the employ of the American missionaries in that country, I transmit a report from the Secretary of State and the documents by which it was accompanied.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

WASHINGTON, _May 23, 1862_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I transmit a report from the Secretary of State, in answer to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 22d instant, calling for further correspondence relative to Mexican affairs.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

[The same message was sent to the Senate, in answer to a resolution of that body.]

WASHINGTON, _May 26, 1862_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

The insurrection which is yet existing in the United States and aims at the overthrow of the Federal Constitution and the Union was clandestinely prepared during the winter of 1860 and 1861, and assumed an open organization in the form of a treasonable provisional government at Montgomery, in Alabama, on the 18th day of February, 1861. On the 12th day of April, 1861, the insurgents committed the flagrant act of civil war by the bombardment and capture of Fort Sumter, which cut off the hope of immediate conciliation. Immediately afterwards all the roads and avenues to this city were obstructed, and the capital was put into the condition of a siege. The mails in every direction were stopped, and the lines of telegraph cut off by the insurgents, and military and naval forces which had been called out by the Government for the defense of Washington were prevented from reaching the city by organized and combined treasonable resistance in the State of Maryland. There was no adequate and effective organization for the public defense. Congress had indefinitely adjourned. There was no time to convene them. It became necessary for me to choose whether, using only the existing means, agencies, and processes which Congress had provided, I should let the Government fall at once into ruin or whether, availing myself of the broader powers conferred by the Constitution in cases of insurrection, I would make an effort to save it, with all its blessings, for the present age and for posterity.

I thereupon summoned my constitutional advisers, the heads of all the Departments, to meet on Sunday, the 20th day of April, 1861, at the office of the Navy Department, and then and there, with their unanimous concurrence, I directed that an armed revenue cutter should proceed to sea to afford protection to the commercial marine, and especially the California treasure ships then on their way to this coast. I also directed the commandant of the navy-yard at Boston to purchase or charter and arm as quickly as possible five steamships for purposes of public defense. I directed the commandant of the navy-yard at Philadelphia to purchase or charter and arm an equal number for the same purpose. I directed the commandant at New York to purchase or charter and arm an equal number. I directed Commander Gillis to purchase or charter and arm and put to sea two other vessels. Similar directions were given to Commodore Du Pont, with a view to the opening of passages by water to and from the capital. I directed the several officers to take the advice and obtain the aid and efficient services in the matter of His Excellency Edwin D. Morgan, the governor of New York, or in his absence George D. Morgan, William M. Evarts, R.M. Blatchford, and Moses H. Grinnell, who were by my directions especially empowered by the Secretary of the Navy to act for his Department in that crisis in matters pertaining to the forwarding of troops and supplies for the public defense.

On the same occasion I directed that Governor Morgan and Alexander Cummings, of the city of New York, should be authorized by the Secretary of War, Simon Cameron, to make all necessary arrangements for the transportation of troops and munitions of war, in aid and assistance of the officers of the Army of the United States, until communication by mails and telegraph should be completely reestablished between the cities of Washington and New York. No security was required to be given by them, and either of them was authorized to act in case of inability to consult with the other.

On the same occasion I authorized and directed the Secretary of the Treasury to advance, without requiring security, $2,000,000 of public money to John A. Dix, George Opdyke, and Richard M. Blatchford, of New York, to be used by them in meeting such requisitions as should be directly consequent upon the military and naval measures necessary for the defense and support of the Government, requiring them only to act without compensation and to report their transactions when duly called upon. The several Departments of the Government at that time contained so large a number of disloyal persons that it would have been impossible to provide safely through official agents only for the performance of the duties thus confided to citizens favorably known for their ability, loyalty, and patriotism.

The several orders issued upon these occurrences were transmitted by private messengers, who pursued a circuitous way to the seaboard cities, inland across the States of Pennsylvania and Ohio and the northern lakes. I believe that by these and other similar measures taken in that crisis, some of which were without any authority of law, the Government was saved from overthrow. I am not aware that a dollar of the public funds thus confided without authority of law to unofficial persons was either lost or wasted, although apprehensions of such misdirection occurred to me as objections to those extraordinary proceedings, and were necessarily overruled.

I recall these transactions now because my attention has been directed to a resolution which was passed by the House of Representatives on the 30th day of last month, which is in these words:

_Resolved_, That Simon Cameron, late Secretary of War, by investing Alexander Cummings with the control of large sums of the public money and authority to purchase military supplies without restriction, without requiring from him any guaranty for the faithful performance of his duties, when the services of competent public officers were available, and by involving the Government in a vast number of contracts with persons not legitimately engaged in the business pertaining to the subject-matter of such contracts, especially in the purchase of arms for future delivery, has adopted a policy highly injurious to the public service, and deserves the censure of the House.

Congress will see that I should be wanting equally in candor and in justice if I should leave the censure expressed in this resolution to rest exclusively or chiefly upon Mr. Cameron. The same sentiment is unanimously entertained by the heads of Departments who participated in the proceedings which the House of Representatives has censured. It is due to Mr. Cameron to say that although he fully approved the proceedings they were not moved nor suggested by himself, and that not only the President, but all the other heads of Departments, were at least equally responsible with him for whatever error, wrong, or fault was committed in the premises.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

WASHINGTON, _May 30, 1862_.

_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, consular privileges, and extradition between the United States and the Republic of Salvador, signed in this city on the 29th instant. It is believed that though this instrument contains no stipulation which may not be found in some subsisting treaty between the United States and foreign powers, it will prove to be mutually advantageous. Several of the Republics of this hemisphere, among which is Salvador, are alarmed at a supposed sentiment tending to reactionary movements against republican institutions on this continent. It seems, therefore, to be proper that we should show to any of them who may apply for that purpose that, compatibly with our cardinal policy and with an enlightened view of our own interests, we are willing to encourage them by strengthening our ties of good will and good neighborhood with them.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

WASHINGTON, _June 4, 1862_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In compliance with the resolution of the Senate of the 29th ultimo, adopted in executive session, requesting information in regard to the claims of citizens of the United States on Paraguay and the correspondence relating thereto, I transmit a report from the Secretary of State and the documents by which it was accompanied.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

WASHINGTON, _June 4, 1862_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith a report of the Secretary of War, in answer to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 2d of June, in relation to the authority and action of the Hon. Edward Stanly, military governor of North Carolina.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

WASHINGTON, _June 10, 1862_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I transmit to Congress a copy of a treaty for the suppression of the African slave trade, between the United States and Her Britannic Majesty, signed in this city on the 7th of April last, and the ratifications of which were exchanged at London on the 20th ultimo.

A copy of the correspondence which preceded the conclusion of the instrument between the Secretary of State and Lord Lyons, Her Britannic Majesty's envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary, is also herewith transmitted.

It is desirable that such legislation as may be necessary to carry the treaty into effect should be enacted as soon as may comport with the convenience of Congress.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

EXECUTIVE MANSION,

_Washington, June 12, 1862_.

_To the Honorable House of Representatives_:

In obedience to the resolution of your honorable body of the 9th instant, requesting certain information in regard to the circuit court of the United States for the State of California, and the judge of said court, I have the honor to transmit a letter of the Attorney-General, with copies of two other letters and of an indorsement of my own upon one of them; all which, taken together, contain all the information within my power to give upon the subject.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

EXECUTIVE MANSION,

_Washington, June 13, 1862_.

_Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives_: