of our army on our southwestern frontier. In doing this, many of the regular military posts have been reduced to a small force, inadequate to their defence, should an emergency arise.

In view of these "circumstances," it is my "judgment" that "an increase of our naval and military force is at this time required," to place the country in a suitable state of defence. At the same time, it is my settled purpose to pursue such a course of policy as may be best calculated to preserve, both with Great Britain and Mexico, an honorable peace; which nothing will so effectually promote as unanimity in our councils and a firm maintenance of all our just rights.

SPECIAL MESSAGE.

APRIL 2, 1846.

To the Senate of the United States :—

In compliance with the request of a delegation of the Tonawanda band of the Seneca Indians, now in this city, I herewith transmit for your consideration a memorial addressed to the president and the senate, in relation to the treaty of January 15, 1838, with the "Six Nations of New York Indians;" and that of May 20, 1842, with the "Seneca nation of Indians."

SPECIAL MESSAGE.

APRIL 13, 1846.

To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States :In my annual message of the 2d of December last, it was stated that serious difficulties of long standing continued to distract the several parties into which the Cherokee tribe of Indians is unhappily divided; that all the efforts of the government to adjust these difficulties had proved to be unsuccessful, and would probably remain so, without the aid of further legislation by Congress. Subsequent events have confirmed this opinion. I communicate herewith, for the information of Congress, a report from the secretary of war, transmitting a report of the commissioner of Indian affairs, with accompanying documents; together with memorials which have been received from the several bands, or parties of the Cherokees themselves. It will be perceived that internal feuds still exist, which call for the prompt intervention of the government of the United States.

Since the meeting of Congress, several unprovoked murders have been committed by the stronger upon the weaker party of the tribe, which will probably remain unpunished by the Indian authorities, and there is reason to apprehend that similar outrages will continue to be perpetrated, unless restrained by the authorities of the United States.

Many of the weaker party have been compelled to seek refuge beyond the limits of the Indian country, and within the state of Arkansas, and are destitute of the means for their daily subsistence. The military forces of the United States stationed on the western frontier have been active in

their exertions to suppress these outrages, and to execute the treaty of 1835, by which it is stipulated that "the United States agree to protect the Cherokee nation from domestic strife and foreign enemies, and against intestine wars between the several tribes."

These exertions of the army have proved to a great extent unavailing, for the reasons stated in the accompanying documents, including communications from the officer commanding at Fort Gibson.

I submit for the consideration of Congress, the propriety of making such amendments of the laws regulating intercourse with the Indian tribes as will subject to trial and punishment, in the courts of the United States, all Indians guilty of murder, and such other felonies as may be designated, when committed on other Indians within the jurisdiction of the United States.

Such a modification of the existing laws is suggested, because, if offenders against the laws of humanity in the Indian country are left to be punished by the Indian laws, they will generally, if not always, be permitted to escape with impunity. This has been the case in repeated instances among the Cherokees. For years, unprovoked murders have been committed, and yet no effort has been made to bring the offenders to punishment. Should this state of things continue, it is not difficult to foresee that the weaker party will be finally destroyed. As the guardian of the Indian tribes, the government of the United States is bound, by every consideration of duty and humanity, to interpose to prevent such a disaster.

From the examination which I have made into the actual state of things in the Cherokee nation, I am satisfied that there is no probability that the different bands or parties into which it is divided can ever again live together in peace and harmony, and that the well-being of the whole requires that they should be separated and live under separate governments, as distinct tribes.

That portion who emigrated to the west of the Mississippi prior to the year 1819, commonly called the "old settlers," and that portion who made the treaty of 1835, known as the "treaty party," it is believed would willingly unite, and could live together in harmony. The number of these, as nearly as can be estimated, is about one third of the tribe. The whole number of all the bands or parties does not probably exceed twenty thousand. The country which they occupy embraces seven millions of acres of land, with the privilege of an outlet to the western limits of the United States. This country is susceptible of division, and is large enough for all.

I submit to Congress the propriety of either dividing the country which they at present occupy, or of providing by law a new home for the one or the other of the bands or parties now in hostile array against each other, as the most effectual, if not the only means of preserving the weaker party from massacre and total extermination. Should Congress favor the division of the country, as suggested, and the separation of the Cherokees into two distinct tribes, justice will require that the annuities and funds belonging to the whole, now held in trust for them, should be equitably distributed among the parties, according to their respective claims and numbers.

There is still a small number of the Cherokee tribe remaining within the state of North Carolina, who, according to the stipulations of the treaty of 1835, should have emigrated with their brethren to the west of the

Mississippi. It is desirable that they should be removed; and, in the event of a division of the country in the west, or of a new home being provided for a portion of the tribe, that they be permitted to join either party, as they may prefer, and be incorporated with them.

I submit the whole subject to Congress, that such legislative measures may be adopted as will be just to all the parties or bands of the tribe. Such measures, I am satisfied, are the only means of arresting the horrid and inhuman massacres which have marked the history of the Cherokees for the last few years, and especially for the last few months.

The Cherokees have been regarded as among the most enlightened of the Indian tribes; but experience has proved that they have not yet advanced to such a state of civilization as to dispense with the guardian care and control of the government of the United States.

SPECIAL MESSAGE.

APRIL 20, 1846.

To the House of Representatives of the United States:

I HAVE Considered the resolution of the house of representatives, of the 9th instant, by which I am requested "to cause to be furnished to that house an account of all payments made on president's certificates, from the fund appropriated by law, through the agency of the state department, for the contingent expenses of foreign intercourse, from the 4th of March, 1841, until the retirement of Daniel Webster from the department of state; with copies of all entries, receipts, letters, vouchers, memorandums, or other evidence of such payments; to whom paid, for what, and particularly all concerning the northeastern boundary dispute with Great Britain." With an anxious desire to furnish to the house any information requested by that body, which may be in the executive departments, I have felt bound by a sense of public duty to inquire how far I could, with propriety, or consistently with the existing laws, respond to their call.

The usual annual appropriation "for the contingent expenses of intercourse between the United States and foreign nations" has been disbursed since the date of the act of May 1, 1810, in pursuance of its provisions. By the third section of that act it is provided:

:

"That when any sum or sums of money shall be drawn from the treasury, under any law making appropriation for the contingent expenses of intercourse between the United States and foreign nations, the president shall be, and he is hereby authorized to cause the same to be duly settled, annually, with the accounting officers of the treasury, in the manner following, that is to say by causing the same to be accounted for, specially, in all instances wherein the expenditure thereof may, in his judgment, be made public, and by making a certificate of the amount of such expenditures as he may think it advisable not to specify; and every such certificate shall be deemed a sufficient voucher for the sum or sums therein expressed to have been expended."

Two distinct classes of expenditure are authorized by this law; the one of a public, and the other of a private and confidential character. The president in office at the time of the expenditure is made by the law the sole judge whether it shall be public or private. Such sums are to be

"accounted for specially, in all instances wherein the expenditure thereof may, in his judgment, be made public." All expenditures "accounted for specially" are settled at the treasury, upon vouchers, and not on "president's certificates," and, like all other public accounts, are subject. to be called for by Congress, and are open to public examination. Had information as respects this class of expenditures been called for by the resolution of the house, it would have been promptly communicated.

Congress, foreseeing that it might become necessary and proper to apply portions of this fund for objects, the original accounts and vouchers for which could not be "made public" without injury to the public interests, authorized the president, instead of such accounts and vouchers, to make a certificate of the amount "of such expenditures as he may think it advisable not to specify," and have provided that "every such certificate shall be deemed a sufficient voucher for the sum or sums therein expressed to have been expended."

The law making these provisions is in full force. It is binding upon all the departments of the government, and especially upon the executive, whose duty it is "to take care that the laws be faithfully executed." In the exercise of the discretion lodged by it in the executive, several of my predecessors have made "certificates" of the amount " of such expenditures as they have thought it advisable not to specify," and upon these certificates, as the only vouchers, settlements have been made at the treasury.

It appears that within the period specified in the resolution of the house, certificates were given by my immediate predecessor, upon which settlements have been made at the treasury, amounting to five thousand, four hundred and sixty dollars. He has solemnly determined that the objects and items of these expenditures should not be made public, and has given his certificates to that effect, which are placed upon the records of the country. Under the direct authority of an existing law, he has exercised the power of placing these expenditures under the seal of confidence, and the whole matter was terminated before I came into office. An important question arises, whether a subsequent president, either voluntarily, or at the request of one branch of Congress, can, without a violation of the spirit of the law, revise the acts of his predecessor, and expose to public view that which he had determined should not be "made public." If not a matter of strict duty, it would certainly be a safe general rule that this should not be done. Indeed, it may well happen, and probably would happen, that the president for the time being would not be in possession of the information upon which his predecessor acted, and could not, therefore, have the means of judging whether he had exercised his discretion wisely or not. The law requires no other voucher but the president's certificate, and there is nothing in its provisions which requires any "entries, receipts, letters, vouchers, memorandums, or other evidence of such payments," to be preserved in the executive department. The president who makes the "certificate," may, if he chooses, keep all the information and evidence upon which he acts, in his own possession. If, for the information of his successors, he shall leave the evidence on which he acts. and the items of the expenditures which make up the sum for which he has given his "certificate," on the confidential files of one of the executive departments, they do not, in any proper sense, become thereby public records. They are never seen or examined by the accounting officers of the treasury, when they settle an account on the "president's certifi

cate." The first Congress of the United States, on the 1st of July, 1790, passed an act" providing the means of intercourse between the United States and foreign nations," by which a similar provision to that which now exists, was made for the settlement of such expenditures as, in the judgment of the president, ought not to be made public. This act was limited in its duration. It was continued, for a limited term, in 1793, and between that time and the date of the act of May 1, 1810, which is now in force, the same provision was revived and continued. Expenditures were made and settled under presidential certificates, in pursuance of these laws.

If the president may answer the present call, he must answer similar calls for every such expenditure of a confidential character, made under every administration, in war and in peace, from the organization of the government to the present period. To break the seal of confidence imposed by the law, and heretofore uniformly preserved, would be subversive of the very purpose for which the law was enacted, and might be productive of the most disastrous consequences. The expenditures of this confidential character, it is believed, were never before sought to be made public, and I should greatly apprehend the consequences of establishing a precedent which would render such disclosures hereafter inevitable.

I am fully aware of the strong and correct public feeling which exists throughout the country, against secrecy of any kind, in the administration. of the government, and especially in reference to public expenditures, yet our foreign negotiations are wisely and properly confined to the knowledge of the executive, during their pendency. Our laws require the accounts of every particular expenditure to be rendered and publicly settled at the treasury department. The single exception which exists is, not that the amounts embraced under president's certificates shall be withheld from the public, but merely that the items of which these are composed shall not be divulged. To this extent, and no further, is secrecy observed.

The laudable vigilance of the people in regard to all the expenditures of the government, as well as a sense of duty on the part of the president, and a desire to retain the good opinion of his fellow-citizens, will prevent any sum expended from being accounted for by the president's certificate, unless in cases of urgent necessity. Such certificates have, therefore, been resorted to but seldom throughout our past history.

For my own part, I have not caused any account whatever to be settled on a presidential certificate. I have had no occasion rendering it necessary, in my judgment, to make such a certificate, and it would be an extreme case which would ever induce me to exercise this authority; yet, if such a case should arise, it would be my duty to assume the responsi bility devolved on me by the law.

During my administration, all expenditures for contingent expenses of foreign intercourse, in which the accounts have been closed, have been settled upon regular vouchers, as all other public accounts are settled at the treasury.

It may be alieged that the power of impeachment belongs to the house of representatives, and that, with a view to the exercise of this power, that house has the right to investigate the conduct of all public officers under the government. This is cheerfully admitted. In such a case, the safety of the republic would be the supreme law; and the power of the house, in the pursuit of this object, would penetrate into the most secret