such tribes within our territory as dwell beyond them; and that a suitable number of Indian agents should be appointed for the purpose of carrying these laws into execution.

It is likewise important that mail facilities, so indispensable for the diffusion of information, and for binding together the different portions of our extended confederacy, should be afforded to our citizens west of the Rocky

mountains.

There is another subject to which I desire to call your special attention. It is of great importance to our country generally and especially to our navigating and whaling interests, that the pacific coast, and indeed, the whole of our territory west of the Rocky mountains, should speedily be filled up by a hardy and patriotic population. Emigrants to that territory have many difficulties to encounter and privations to endure, in their long and perilous journey; and, by the time they reach their place of destina tion, their pecuniary means are generally much reduced, if not altogether exhausted. Under these circumstances, it is deemed but an act of justice that these emigrants, while most effectually advancing the interests and policy of the government, should be aided by liberal grants of land. 1 would, therefore, recommend that such grants be made to actual settlers, upon the terms and under the restrictions and limitations which Congress may think advisable

SPECIAL MESSAGE.

AUGUST 7, 1846.*

To the Senate of the United States:

I TRANSMIT, herewith, for the consideration and constitutional action of the senate, articles of a treaty which has been concluded by commissioners appointed for that purpose, with the different parties into which the Cherokee tribe of Indians has been divided, through their delegates now in Washington. The same commissioners had previously been appointed to investigate the subject of the difficulties which have, for years, existed among the Cherokees, and which have kept them in a state of constant excitement, and almost entirely interrupted all progress, on their part, in civilization and improvement in agriculture and the mechanic arts, and have led to many unfortunate acts of domestic strife, against which the government is, bound, by the treaty of 1835, to protect them. Their unfortunate internal dissensions had attracted the notice, and excited the sympathies of the whole country, and it became evident that if something was not done to heal them, they would terminate in a sanguinary war, in which other tribes of Indians might become involved, and the lives and property of our own citizens on the frontier endangered. I recommended, in my message to Congress on the 13th of April last [1846], such measures as I then thought it expedient should be adopted to restore peace and good order among the Cherokees, one of which was a division of the country which they occupy, and separation of the tribe. This recommendation was made under the belief that the different factions could not be reconciled, and live together in harmony- —a belief based, in a great degree, upon the representations of the delegates of two of the divisions of the tribe. Since then, however, there appears to have been a change of opinion on this subject on the part of these divisions of the tribe; and, on representations being made to

me, that, by the appointment of commissioners to hear and investigate the causes of grievance of the parties against each other, and to examine into their claims agains the government, it would probably be found that an arrangement could be made which would once more harmonize the tribe, and adjust, in a satisfactory manner, their claims upon, and relations with, the United States, I did not hesitate to appoint three persons for the purpose. The commissioners entered into an able and laborious investigation; and, on their making known to me the probability of their being able to conclude a new treaty with the delegates of all the divisions of the tribe, who were fully prepared to make any new arrangement which would heal all dissensions among the Cherokees, and restore them to their ancient condition of peace and good brotherhood, I authorized and appointed them to enter into negotiations with these delegates for the accomplishment of that object. The treaty now transmitted is the result of their labors, and it is hoped that it will meet the approbation of Congress; and, if carried out in good faith by all parties to it, it is believed it will effect the great and desirable ends had in view.

Accompanying the treaty is the report of the commissioners, and also a communication to them from John Ross and others, who represent what is termed the government party of Cherokees, and which is transmitted, at their request, for the consideration of the senate.

SPECIAL MESSAGE.

AUGUST 8, 1846.

To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States:I INVITE your attention to the propriety of making an appropriation to provide for any expenditure which it may be necessary to make in advance for the purpose of settling all our difficulties with the Mexican republic. It is my sincere desire to terminate, as it was originally to avoid, the existing war with Mexico, by a peace just and honorable to both parties. It is probable that the chief obstacle to be surmounted in accomplishing this desirable object will be the adjustment of a boundary between the two republics, which shall prove satisfactory and convenient to both, and such as neither will hereafter be inclined to disturb. In the adjustment of this boundary, we ought to pay a fair equivalent for any concessions which may be made by Mexico.

Under these circumstances, and considering the other complicated questions to be settled by negotiations with the Mexican republic, I deem it important that a sum of money should be placed under the control of the executive, to be advanced, if need be, to the government of that republic, immediately after their ratification of a treaty. It might be inconvenient for the Mexican government to wait for the whole sum, the payment of which may be stipulated by this treaty, until it could be ratified by our senate, and an appropriation to carry it into effect made by Congress. Indeed, the necessity for this delay might defeat the object altogether. The disbursement of this money would of course be accounted for, not as secret service money, but like other expenditures.

Two precedents for such a proceeding exist in our past history during the administration of Mr. Jefferson, to which I would call your attention

On the 26th February, 1803, an act was passed appropriating two millions of dollars," for the purpose of defraying any extraordinary expenses which may be incurred in the intercourse between the United States and foreign nations," "to be applied under the direction of the president of the United States, who shall cause an account of the expenditure thereof to be laid before Congress as soon as may be ;" and on the 13th of February, 1806, an appropriation was made of the same amount, and in the same terms. In neither case was the money actually drawn from the treasury; and I should hope that the result in this respect might be similar on the present occasion, although the appropriation may prove to be indispensable in accomplishing the object. I would, therefore, recommend the passage of a law appropriating $2,000,000, to be placed at the disposal of the executive, for the purpose which I have indicated.

In order to prevent all misapprehension, it is my duty to state that, anxlous as I am to terminate the existing war with the least possible delay, it will continue to be prosecuted with the utmost vigor until a treaty of peace shall be signed by the parties, and ratified by the Mexican republic.

FRENCH CLAIMS VETO.

AUGUST 8, 1846.

To the Senate of the United States :

I return to the senate, in which it originated, the bill entitled "An act to provide for the ascertainment and satisfaction of claims of American citizens for spoliations committed by the French prior to the 31st day of July, one thousand eight hundred and one," which was presented to me on the 6th instant, with my objections to its becoming a law.

In attempting to give to the bill the careful examination it requires, difficulties presented themselves in the outset, from the remoteness of the period to which the claims belong, the complicated nature of the transactions in which they originated, and the protracted negotiations to which they led between France and the United States.

The short time intervening between the passage of the bill by Congress and the approaching close of their session, as well as the pressure of other official duties, have not permitted me to extend my examination of the subject into its minute details. But in the consideration which I have been able to give to it, I find objections of a grave character to its provisions. For the satisfaction of the claims provided for by the bill, it is proposed to appropriate five millions of dollars. I can perceive no legal or equitable ground upon which this large appropriation can rest. A portion of the claims have been more than half a century before the government, in its executive or legislative departments; and all of them had their origin in events which occurred prior to the year 1800. Since 1802 they have been from time to time before Congress. No greater necessity or propriety exists for providing for these claims at this time than has existed for near half a century, during all which period this questionable measure has never until now received the favorable consideration of Congress. It is scarcely probable, if the claim had been regarded as obligatory upon the government, or constituting an equitable demand upon the treasury, that those who were contemporaneous with the events which gave rise to it should not long

since have done justice to the claimants. The treasury has often been in a condition to enable the government to do so without inconvenience, if these claims had been considered just. Mr. Jefferson, who was fully cognizant of the early dissensions between the governments of the United States and France out of which the claims arose, in his annual message in 1808 adverted to the large surplus then in the treasury, and its " "probable accumulation," and inquired whether it should "lie unproductive in the public vaults;" and yet these claims, though then before Congress, were not recognised or paid. Since that time the public debt of the revolution and of the war of 1812 has been extinguished; and at several periods since, the treasury has been in possession of large surpluses over the demands upon it. In 1836 the surplus amounted to many millions of dollars; and for want of proper objects to which to apply it, it was directed by Congress to be deposited with the states.

During this extended course of time, embracing periods eminently favorable for satisfying all just demands upon the government, the claims embraced in this bill met with no favor in Congress beyond reports of committees in one or the other branch. These circumstances alone are calculated to raise strong doubts in respect to these claims; more especially as all the information necessary to a correct judgment concerning them has been long before the public. These doubts are strengthened in my mind by the examination I have been enabled to give to the transactions in which they originated.

The bill assumes that the United States have become liable, in these ancient transactions, to make reparation to the claimants for injuries committed by France. Nothing was obtained for the claimants by negotiation; and the bill assumes that the government has become responsible to them for the aggressions of France. I have not been able to satisfy myself of the correctness of this assumption, or that the government has become in any way responsible for these claims. The limited time alotted me before your adjournment precludes the possibility of reiterating the facts and arguments by which, in preceding congresses, these claims have been successfully resisted.

The present is a period peculiarly unfavorable for the satisfaction of claims of so large an amount, and, to say the least of them, of so doubtful a character. There is no surplus in the treasury. A public debt of several nillions of dollars has been created within the last few years. We are engaged in a foreign war, uncertain in its duration and involving heavy expenditures, to prosecute which, Congress has at its present session authorized a further loan; so that in effect the government, should this bill become a law, borrows money and increases the public debt to pay these claims.

be the same.

It is true, that by the provisions of the bill payment is directed to be made in land scrip instead of money; but the effect upon the treasury will The public lands constitute one of the sources of public revenue; and if these claims be paid in land scrip, it will from the date of its issue, to a great extent, cut off from the treasury the annual income from the sales of the public lands, because payments for lands sold by the government may be expected to be made in scrip until it is all redeemed. If these claims be just, they ought to be paid in money, and not in any thing less valuable. The bill provides that they shall be paid in land scrip, whereby they are made in effect to be a mortgage upon the public lands in the new states; a mortgage, too, held in great part, if not wholly, by non

residents of the states in which the lands lie, who may secure these lands to the amount of several millions of acres, and then demand for them exorbitant prices from the citizens of the states who may desire to purchase them for settlement; or they may keep them out of the market, and thus retard the prosperity and growth of the states in which they are situated. Why this unusual mode of satisfying demands on the treasury has been resorted to, does not appear. It is not consistent with a sound public policy. If it be done in this case, it may be done in all others. It would form a precedent for the satisfaction of all other stale and questionable claims in the same manner, and would undoubtedly be resorted to by all claimants, who, after successive trials, shall fail to have their claims recognised and paid in money by Congress.

This bill proposes to appropriate five millions of dollars to be paid in land scrip, and provides that "no claim or memorial shall be received by the commissioners" authorized by the act, "unless accompanied by a release or discharge of the United States from all other and further compensation" than the claimant "may be entitled to receive under the provisions of this act." These claims are estimated to amount to a much larger sum than five millions of dollars, and yet the claimant is required to release to the government all other compensation, and to accept his share of a fund which is known to be inadequate. If the claims be well founded, it would be unjust to the claimants to repudiate any portion of them, and the payment of the remaining sum could not be hereafter resisted. This bill proposes to pay these claims, not in the currency known to the constitution, and not to their full amount.

Passed, as this bill has been, near the close of the session, and when many measures of importance necessarily claim the attention of Congress, and possibly without that full and deliberate consideration which the large sum it appropriates and the existing condition of the treasury and of the country demand, I deem it to be my duty to withhold my approval, that it may hereafter undergo the revision of Congress. I have come to this conclusion with regret. In interposing my objections to its becoming a law, I am fully sensible that it should be an extreme case which would make it the duty of the executive to withhold his approval of any bill passed by Congress upon the ground of its inexpediency alone. Such a case I consider this to be.

SECOND ANNUAL MESSAGE.

DECEMBER 8, 1846.

Fellew-Citizens of the Senate and of the House of Representatives :In resuming your labors in the service of the people, it is a subject of congratulation that there has been no period in our past history, when all the elements of national prosperity have been so fully developed. Since your last session, no afflicting dispensation has visited our country: general good health has prevailed; abundance has crowned the toil of the husbandman; and labor in all its branches is receiving an ample reward, while education, science, and the arts, are rapidly enlarging the means of social happiness. The progress of our country in her career of greatness,