A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents. Volume 2, part 1: James Monroe

by Unknown

SPECIAL MESSAGES.

WASHINGTON CITY, December 7, 1823.

To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States:

By an act of the last session of Congress it was made the duty of the accounting officers of the Treasury to adjust and settle the accounts of Daniel D. Tompkins, late governor of the State of New York, on principles of equity and justice, subject to the revision and final decision of the President of the United States. The accounting officers have, in compliance with this act, reported to me a balance of $35,190 in favor of Governor Tompkins, which report I have had under consideration, together with his claim to an additional allowance, and should have decided on the same before the present time had I not delayed my decision at his request. From the view which I have taken of the subject I am satisfied, considering all the circumstances of the case, that a larger sum ought to be allowed him than that reported by the accounting officers of the Treasury. No appropriation, however, having been made by the act, and it appearing by recent information from him that the sum reported would afford him an essential accommodation at this time, the subject is submitted to the consideration of Congress with a view to that object.

JAMES MONROE.

To the Senate of the United States:

I transmit to the Senate, for its advice and consent as to the ratification, a treaty lately concluded with the Seminole Indians in Florida, whereby a cession of territory is made to the United States.

JAMES MONROE.

DECEMBER 15, 1823.

WASHINGTON, December 23, 1823.

To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States:

I herewith transmit to Congress a statement by William Lambert, explanatory of his astronomical calculations with a view to establish the longitude of the Capitol.

JAMES MONROE.

WASHINGTON, December 31, 1823.

To the House of Representatives of the United States:

I transmit to the House of Representatives a report from the Secretary of State, with accompanying documents, containing the information requested by the resolution of the House of the 19th instant, relating to the condition and future prospects of the Greeks.

JAMES MONROE.

WASHINGTON, January 5, 1824.

To the House of Representatives of the United States:

In compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 18th of December last, requesting copies of contracts for cannon, cannon shot, muskets, and other small arms which have been entered into since the 1st of January, 1820, and for other detailed information therein specified, I herewith transmit a report, with accompanying documents, from the Department of War,

JAMES MONROE.

WASHINGTON, January 9, 1824.

To the House of Representatives of the United States:

Agreeably to a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 18th of December, 1823, requesting copies of all contracts for cannon, cannon shot, muskets, and other small arms entered into since the 1st of January, 1820, I herewith transmit a report from the Department of the Navy, with other documents relating thereto.

JAMES MONROE.

WASHINGTON, January 12, 1824.

To the House of Representatives of the United States:

In answer to a resolution of the House of Representatives of December 24, requesting the President of the United States to lay before the House such information as he may possess, and which may be disclosed without injury to the public good, relative to the determination of any sovereign, or combination of sovereigns, to assist Spain in the subjugation of her late colonies on the American continent, and whether any Government of Europe is disposed or determined to oppose any aid or assistance which such sovereign or combination of sovereigns may afford to Spain for the subjugation of her late colonies above mentioned, I have to state that I possess no information on that subject not known to Congress which can be disclosed without injury to the public good.

JAMES MONROE.

WASHINGTON, January 30, 1824.

To the House of Representatives of the United States:

In compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 15th of December last, requesting the President of the United States "to communicate a plan for a peace establishment of the Navy of the United States," I herewith transmit a report from the Secretary of the Navy, which contains the plan required.

In presenting this plan to the consideration of Congress, I avail myself of the occasion to make some remarks on it which the importance of the subject requires and experience justifies.

If a system of universal and permanent peace could be established, or if in war the belligerent parties would respect the rights of neutral powers, we should have no occasion for a navy or an army. The expense and dangers of such establishments might be avoided. The history of all ages proves that this can not be presumed; on the contrary, that at least one-half of every century, in ancient as well as modern times, has been consumed in wars, and often of the most general and desolating character. Nor is there any cause to infer, if we examine the condition of the nations with which we have the most intercourse and strongest political relations, that we shall in future be exempt from that calamity within any period to which a rational calculation may be extended. And as to the rights of neutral powers, it is sufficient to appeal to our own experience to demonstrate how little regard will be paid to them whenever they come in conflict with the interests of the powers at war while we rely on the justice of our cause and on argument alone. The amount of the property of our fellow-citizens which was seized and confiscated or destroyed by the belligerent parties in the wars of the French Revolution, and of those which followed before we became a party to the war, is almost incalculable.

The whole movement of our Government from the establishment of our independence has been guided by a sacred regard for peace. Situated as we are in the new hemisphere, distant from Europe and unconnected with its affairs, blessed with the happiest Government on earth, and having no objects of ambition to gratify, the United States have steadily cultivated the relations of amity with every power; and if in any European wars a respect for our rights might be relied on, it was undoubtedly in those to which I have adverted. The conflict being vital, the force being nearly equally balanced, and the result uncertain, each party had the strongest motives of interest to cultivate our good will, lest we might be thrown into the opposite scale. Powerful as this consideration usually is, it was nevertheless utterly disregarded in almost every stage of and by every party to those wars. To these encroachments and injuries our regard for peace was finally forced to yield.

In the war to which at length we became a party our whole coast from St. Croix to the Mississippi was either invaded or menaced with invasion, and in many parts with a strong imposing force both land and naval. In those parts where the population was most dense the pressure was comparatively light, but there was scarcely an harbor or city on any of our great inlets which could be considered secure. New York and Philadelphia were eminently exposed, the then existing works not being sufficient for their protection. The same remark is applicable in a certain extent to the cities eastward of the former, and as to the condition of the whole country southward of the latter the events which mark the war are too recent to require detail. Our armies and Navy signalized themselves in every quarter where they had occasion to meet their gallant foe, and the militia voluntarily flew to their aid with a patriotism and fought with a bravery which exalted the reputation of their Government and country and which did them the highest honor. In whatever direction the enemy chose to move with their squadrons and to land their troops our fortifications, where any existed, presented but little obstacle to them. They passed those works without difficulty. Their squadrons, in fact, annoyed our whole coast, not of the sea only, but every bay and great river throughout its whole extent. In entering those inlets and sailing up them with a small force the effect was disastrous, since it never failed to draw out the whole population on each side and to keep it in the field while the squadron remained there. The expense attending this species of defense, with the exposure of the inhabitants and the waste of property, may readily be conceived.

The occurrences which preceded the war and those which attended it were alike replete with useful instruction as to our future policy. Those which marked the first epoch demonstrate clearly that in the wars of other powers we can rely only on force for the protection of our neutral rights. Those of the second demonstrate with equal certainty that in any war in which we may be engaged hereafter with a strong naval power the expense, waste, and other calamities attending it, considering the vast extent of our maritime frontier, can not fail, unless it be defended by adequate fortifications and a suitable naval force, to correspond with those which were experienced in the late war. Two great objects are therefore to be regarded in the establishment of an adequate naval force: The first, to prevent war so far as it may be practicable; the second, to diminish its calamities when it may be inevitable. Hence the subject of defense becomes intimately connected in all its parts in war and in peace, for the land and at sea. No government will be disposed in its wars with other powers to violate our rights if it knows we have the means, are prepared and resolved to defend them. The motive will also be diminished if it knows that our defenses by land are so well planned and executed that an invasion of our coast can not be productive of the evils to which we have heretofore been exposed.

It was under a thorough conviction of these truths, derived from the admonitions of the late war, that Congress, as early as the year 1816, during the term of my enlightened and virtuous predecessor, under whom the war had been declared, prosecuted, and terminated, digested and made provision for the defense of our country and support of its rights, in peace as well as in war, by acts which authorized and enjoined the augmentation of our Navy to a prescribed limit, and the construction of suitable fortifications throughout the whole extent of our maritime frontier and wherever else they might be deemed necessary. It is to the execution of these works, both land and naval, and under a thorough conviction that by hastening their completion I should render the best service to my country and give the most effectual support to our free republican system of government that my humble faculties would admit of, that I have devoted so much of my time and labor to this great system of national policy since I came into this office, and shall continue to do it until my retirement from it at the end of your next session.

The Navy is the arm from which our Government will always derive most aid in support of our neutral rights. Every power engaged in war will know the strength of our naval force, the number of our ships of each class, their condition, and the promptitude with which we may bring them into service, and will pay due consideration to that argument. Justice will always have great weight in the cabinets of Europe; but in long and destructive wars exigencies often occur which press so vitally on them that unless the argument of force is brought to its aid it will be disregarded. Our land forces will always perform their duty in the event of war, but they must perform it on the land. Our Navy is the arm which must be principally relied on for the annoyance of the commerce of the enemy and for the protection of our own, and also, by cooperation with the land forces, for the defense of the country. Capable of moving in any and every direction, it possesses the faculty, even when remote from our coast, of extending its aid to every interest on which the security and welfare of our Union depend. Annoying the commerce of the enemy and menacing in turn its coast, provided the force on each side is nearly equally balanced, it will draw its squadrons from our own; and in case of invasion by a powerful adversary by a land and naval force, which is always to be anticipated and ought to be provided against, our Navy may, by like cooperation with our land forces, render essential aid in protecting our interior from incursion and depredation.

The great object in the event of war is to stop the enemy at the coast. If this is done our cities and whole interior will be secure. For the accomplishment of this object our fortifications must be principally relied on. By placing strong works near the mouths of our great inlets in such positions as to command the entrances into them, as may be done in many instances, it will be difficult, if not impossible, for ships to pass them, especially if other precautions, and particularly that of steam batteries, are resorted to in their aid. In the wars between other powers into which we may be drawn in support of our neutral rights it can not be doubted that this defense would be adequate to the purpose intended by it, nor can it be doubted that the knowledge that such works existed would form a strong motive with any power not to invade our rights, and thereby contribute essentially to prevent war. There are, it is admitted, some entrances into our interior which are of such vast extent that it would be utterly impossible for any works, however extensive or well posted, to command them. Of this class the Chesapeake Bay, which is an arm of the sea, may be given as an example. But, in my judgment, even this bay may be defended against any power with whom we may be involved in war as a third party in the defense of our neutral rights. By erecting strong works at the mouth of James River, on both sides, near the capes, as we are now doing, and at Old Point Comfort and the Rip Raps, and connecting those works together by chains whenever the enemy's force appeared, placing in the rear some large ships and steam batteries, the passage up the river would be rendered impracticable. This guard would also tend to protect the whole country bordering on the bay and rivers emptying into it, as the hazard would be too great for the enemy, however strong his naval force, to ascend the bay and leave such a naval force behind; since, in the event of a storm, whereby his vessels might be separated, or of a calm, the ships and steam batteries behind the works might rush forth and destroy them. It could only be in the event of an invasion by a great power or a combination of several powers, and by land as well as by naval forces, that those works could be carried; and even then they could not fail to retard the movement of the enemy into the country and to give time for the collection of our regular troops, militia, and volunteers to that point, and thereby contribute essentially to his ultimate defeat and expulsion from our territory.

Under a strong impression that a peace establishment of our Navy is connected with the possible event of war, and that the naval force intended for either state, however small it may be, is connected with the general system of public defense, I have thought it proper in communicating this report to submit these remarks on the whole subject.

JAMES MONROE.

WASHINGTON, February 2, 1824.

To the House of Representatives of the United States:

In compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 11th of December last, requesting the President of the United States to communicate to the House all such parts of the correspondence with the Government of Spain relating to the Florida treaty to the period of its final ratification, not heretofore communicated, which, in his opinion, it might not be inconsistent with the public interest to communicate, I herewith transmit a report from the Secretary of State, with copies of the correspondence requested.

JAMES MONROE.

WASHINGTON, February 23, 1824.

To the House of Representatives of the United States:

The House of Representatives on the 12th instant having "resolved that the President of the United States be requested to inform this House whether the rules and regulations compiled by General Scott for the government of the Army are now in force in the Army, or any part thereof, and by what authority the same has been adopted and enforced," I herewith transmit a report from the Department of War, which contains the information required.

JAMES MONROE.

WASHINGTON, February 23, 1824.

To the House of Representatives of the United States:

Agreeably to a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 11th instant, requesting the President of the United States "to inform this House if the line intended to constitute the western boundary of the Territory of Arkansas has been run in conformity with the provisions of the third section of the act of Congress of the 3d of March, 1823, entitled 'An act making appropriation for the military service of the United States for the year 1823, and for other purposes,' and, if said line has not been run, that he inform this House what instructions have been given or measures adopted in relation to the execution of the provision of the law, and what causes have prevented said line from being run," I herewith transmit a report from the Secretary of War, which contains the information required.

JAMES MONROE.

WASHINGTON, February 23, 1824.

To the House of Representatives of the United States:

The House of Representatives on the 26th ultimo having "resolved that the President of the United States be requested to cause to be laid before the House an estimate of the expense which would be incurred by transporting 200 of the troops now at the Council Bluffs to the mouth of the Columbia or Oregon River," I herewith transmit a report of the Secretary of War, which contains the information required.

JAMES MONROE.

WASHINGTON, February 23, 1824.

To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States:

I herewith transmit to Congress certain documents relating to a claim of Massachusetts for services rendered by the militia of that State in the late war, and for which payment was made by the State. From the particular circumstances attending this claim I have thought it proper to submit the subject to the consideration of Congress.

In forming a just estimate of this claim it will be necessary to recur to the cause which prevented its admission, or the admission of any part thereof, at an earlier day. It will be recollected that when a call was made on the militia of that State for service in the late war, under an arrangement which was alike applicable to the militia of all the States and in conformity with the acts of Congress, the executive of Massachusetts refused to comply with the call, on the principle that the power vested in Congress by the Constitution to provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the Union, suppress insurrections, and repel invasions was not a complete power for those purposes, but conditional, and dependent on the consent of the executives of the several States, and, also, that when called into service, such consent being given, they could not be commanded by a regular officer of the United States, or other officer than of the militia, except by the President in person. That this decision of the executive of Massachusetts was repugnant to the Constitution of the United States, and of dangerous tendency, especially when it is considered that we were then engaged in a war with a powerful nation for the defense of our common rights, was the decided opinion of this Government; and when the period at which that decision was formed was considered, it being as early as the 5th of August, 1812, immediately after the war was declared, and that it was not relinquished during the war, it was inferred by the Executive of the United States that the decision of the executive of that State was alike applicable to all the services that were rendered by the militia of the State during the war.

In the correspondence with the governor of Massachusetts at that important epoch, and on that very interesting subject, it was announced to him by the Secretary of War that if the militia of the State were called into service by the executive of the State, and not put under the command of the Major-General of the United States, as the militia of the other States were, the expense attending their service would be chargeable to the State, and not to the United States. It was also stated to him at the same time that any claim which the State might have for the reimbursement of such expenses could not be allowed by the Executive of the United States, since it would involve principles on which that branch of the Government could not decide.

Under these circumstances a decision on the claim of the State of Massachusetts has hitherto been suspended, and it need not be remarked that the suspension has proceeded from a conviction that it would be improper to give any sanction by its admission, or by the admission of any part thereof, either to the construction of the Constitution contended for by the then executive of that State or to its conduct at that period toward the General Government and the Union.

In January, 1823, the Representatives in Congress from Massachusetts and Maine suggested, by memorial, that the constitutional objection could not apply to a portion of the claim, and requested that the accounting officer of the Government might be instructed to audit and admit such part as might be free from that objection. In all cases where claims are presented for militia service it is the duty and the practice of the accounting officer to submit them to the Department for instruction as to the legality of the claim; that is, whether the service had been rendered by order of the competent authority, or otherwise, under circumstances to justify the claim against the United States, admitting that the evidence in support of it should be satisfactory. To this request there appeared to be no well-founded objection, under the reservation as to the constitutional principle, and accordingly an order was given to the accounting officers of the Treasury to proceed in auditing the claim with that reservation.

In conformity with this arrangement, the executive of Massachusetts appointed two citizens of that State commissioners to attend to the settlement of its claim, and who, in execution of the trust reposed in them, have presented to the accounting officer of the Treasury that portion comprehending the services of the fifth division of the militia of the State, which has been audited and reported for consideration, subject to the objection above stated. I have examined this report, with the documents presented by the commissioners, and am of opinion that the services rendered by that division were spontaneous, patriotic, and proper, necessary for self-defense, to repel in some instances actual invasion and in others to meet by adequate preparation invasions that were menaced. The commissioners of the State having intimated that other portions of service stood on similar ground, the accounting officer has been instructed, in auditing the whole, to do it in such manner as to enable the Department to show distinctly under what circumstances each portion of service was rendered, whether voluntary, called out by invasion or the menace of invasion, or by public authority, and in such case whether the militia rendering such service was placed under the authority of the United States or retained under that of the State.

It affords me great pleasure to state that the present executive of Massachusetts has disclaimed the principle which was maintained by the former executive, and that in this disclaimer both branches of the legislature have concurred. By this renunciation the State is placed on the same ground in this respect with the other States, and this very distressing anomaly in our system is removed. It is well known that the great body of our fellow-citizens in Massachusetts are as firmly devoted to our Union and to the free republican principles of our Government as our fellow-citizens of the other States. Of this important truth their conduct in every stage of our Revolutionary struggle and in many other emergencies bears ample testimony; and I add with profound interest and a thorough conviction that, although the difficulty adverted to in the late war with their executive excited equal surprise and regret, it was not believed to extend to them. There never was a moment when the confidence of the Government in the great body of our fellow-citizens of that State was impaired, nor is a doubt entertained that they were at all times willing and ready to support their rights and repel an invasion by the enemy.

The commissioners of Massachusetts have urged, in compliance with their instructions, the payment of so much of their claim as applies to the services rendered by the fifth division, which have been audited, and I should have no hesitation in admitting it if I did not think, under all the circumstances of the case, that the claim in all its parts was cognizable by Congress alone. The period at which the constitutional difficulty was raised by the executive of the State was in the highest degree important, as was the tendency of the principle for which it contended, and which was adhered to during the war. The public mind throughout the Union was much excited by that occurrence, and great solicitude was felt as to its consequences. The Executive of the United States was bound to maintain, and did maintain, a just construction of the Constitution, in doing which it is gratifying to recollect that the most friendly feelings were cherished toward their brethren of that State. The executive of the State was warned, in the correspondence which then took place, of the light in which its conduct was viewed and of the effect it would have, so far as related to the right of the Executive of the United States, on any claim which might afterwards be presented by the State to compensation for such services. Under these circumstances the power of the Executive of the United States to settle any portion of this claim seems to be precluded. It seems proper, also, that this claim should be decided on full investigation before the public, that the principle on which it is decided may be thoroughly understood by our fellow-citizens of every State, which can be done by Congress alone, who alone, also, possess the power to pass laws which may be necessary to carry such decision into effect.

In submitting this subject to the calm and enlightened judgment of Congress, I do it with peculiar satisfaction, from a knowledge that you are now placed, by the course of events, in a situation which will enable you to adopt such measures as will not only comport with the sound principles of our Government, but likewise be conducive to other the highest interests of our Union. By the renunciation of the principle maintained by the then executive of Massachusetts, as has been done by its present executive and both branches of the legislature in the most formal manner and in accord with the sentiments of the great body of the people, the Constitution is restored in a very important feature (that connected with the public defense) and in the most important branch (that of the militia) to its native strength. It is very gratifying to know that this renunciation has been produced by the regular, orderly, and pacific operation of our republican system, whereby those who were in the right at the moment of difficulty and who sustained the Government with great firmness have daily gained strength until this result was accomplished. The points on which you will have to decide are, What is fairly due for the services which were actually rendered? By what means shall we contribute most to cement the Union and give the greatest support to our most excellent Constitution? In seeking each object separately we are led to the same result. All that can be claimed by our fellow-citizens of Massachusetts is that the constitutional objection be waived, and that they be placed on the same footing with their brethren in the other States; that regarding the services rendered by the militia of other States, for which compensation has been made, giving to the rule the most liberal construction, like compensation be made for similar services rendered by the militia of that State.

I have been led to conclude on great consideration that the principles of justice as well as a due regard for the great interests of our Union require that this claim in the extent proposed should be acceded to. Essential service was rendered in the late war by the militia of Massachusetts, and with the most patriotic motives. It seems just, therefore, that they should be compensated for such services in like manner with the militia of the other States. The constitutional difficulty did not originate with them, and has now been removed. It comports with our system to look to the service rendered and to the intention with which it was rendered, and to award the compensation accordingly, especially as it may now be done without the sacrifice of principle. The motive in this instance is the stronger because well satisfied I am that by so doing we shall give the most effectual support to our republican institutions. No latent cause of discontent will be left behind. The great body of the people will be gratified, and even those who now survive who were then in error can not fail to see with interest and satisfaction this distressing occurrence thus happily terminated. I therefore consider it my duty to recommend it to Congress to make provision for the settlement of the claim of Massachusetts for services rendered in the late war by the militia of the State, in conformity with the rules which have governed in the settlement of the claims for services rendered by the militia of the other States.

JAMES MONROE.

FEBRUARY 24, 1824.

To the House of Representatives of the United States:

I transmit herewith a report of the Secretary of War, containing the information called for by a resolution of the House of Representatives of the United States, passed on the 4th instant, respecting any suit or suits which have been or are now depending, in which the United States are interested, for the recovery of the Pea Patch.

JAMES MONROE.

WASHINGTON, February 25, 1824.

To the House of Representatives of the United States:

In conformity with the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 17th instant, I now transmit the report of the Secretary of the Navy, accompanied by statements marked A and B, shewing "the amount of money expended in conformity with the provisions of the act entitled 'An act for the gradual increase of the Navy of the United States,' approved April 29, 1816, and of the act to amend said act, approved 3d of March, 1821; also the number of vessels built or now on the stocks, with their rates, the value of the timber purchased, or for which contracts have been made, and whether sufficient timber has been purchased or contracted for to build the vessels contemplated by the provisions of said acts."

JAMES MONROE.

MARCH 3, 1824.

To the Senate of the United States:

I transmit to the Senate a report of the Secretary of the Treasury, containing copies of the contracts made by the Surveyor-General, and called for by a resolution of the Senate bearing date the 24th February, 1824.

JAMES MONROE.

MARCH 4, 1824.

To the House of Representatives of the United States:

I transmit a report of the Secretary of the Treasury, which communicates all the information in possession of the Department called for by a resolution of the House requesting a copy of the report of the register of the land office in the eastern district of Louisiana, bearing date the 6th of January, 1821, together with all the information from the said register to the Treasury Department.

JAMES MONROE.

WASHINGTON, March 4, 1824.

To the House of Representatives of the United States:

In compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 1st March, 1823, requesting information of the number and position of the permanent fortifications which have been and are now erecting for the defense of the coasts, harbors, and frontiers of the United States, with the classification and magnitude of each, with the amount expended on each, showing the work done and to be done, the number of guns of every caliber for each fortification, the total cost of a complete armament for each, the force required to garrison each in time of peace and of war, I transmit to the House a report from the Secretary of War containing the information required by the resolution.

JAMES MONROE.

WASHINGTON, March 8, 1824.

To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States:

On the 3d March, 1819, James Miller was first commissioned as governor of the Territory of Arkansas for the term of three years from that date.

Before the expiration of that time, and in the winter of 1821-22, a nomination of him for reappointment was intended, and believed by me to have been made to the Senate, and to have received the confirmation of that body.

By some accident, the cause of which is unknown, it appears that this impression was erroneous, and in December, 1822, it was discovered that Mr. Miller had not then been recommissioned, though in the confidence that he had been he had continued to act in that capacity. He was then renominated to the Senate, with the additional proposal that his commission should take effect from 3d March, 1822, when his first commission had expired.

The nomination was confirmed by the Senate so far as regarded the appointment, but without concurrence in the retrospective effect proposed to be given to the commission.

His second commission, therefore, bears date on the 3d January, 1823, and the interposition of the Legislature becomes necessary to legalize his official acts in the interval between 3d March, 1822, and that time, a subject which I recommend to the consideration of Congress.

JAMES MONROE.

MARCH 17, 1824.

To the House of Representatives of the United States:

In compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 17th of February last, requesting "information whether any measures had been taken for carrying into effect the resolution of Congress of June 17, 1777, directing a monument to be erected to the memory of David Wooster, a brigadier-general in the Army of the United States, who fell in defending the liberties of America and bravely repelling an inroad of the British forces to Danbury, in Connecticut," I have caused the necessary inquiries to be made, and find by the report of the Register of the Treasury that no monument has been erected to the memory of that patriotic and gallant officer, nor has any money been paid to the executive of Connecticut on that account.

JAMES MONROE.

WASHINGTON, March 25, 1824.

To the House of Representatives of the United States:

In compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 25th of February, requesting information whether the title of the United Brethren for Propagating the Gospel among the Heathen to certain sections of land in Ohio has been purchased for the United States, and, if so, to cause a copy of the contract and of the papers relating thereto to be laid before the House, I transmit herewith all the documents required.

JAMES MONROE.

WASHINGTON, March 25, 1824.

To the Senate of the United States:

Having seen with regret that occasional errors have been made in nominations to the Senate, sometimes by the omission of a letter in the name, proceeding from casualties in the Departments and in my own office, it would be satisfactory to me if an arrangement could be made whereby such errors might be corrected without the formality of a special message. Where there is an accord as to the person there seems to be no reason for resorting to a renomination for the correction of such trivial errors. Any mode which the Senate may adopt will be satisfactory to me.

JAMES MONROE.

MARCH 25, 1824.

To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States:

Having stated to Congress on the 7th of December last that Daniel D. Tompkins, late governor of New York, was entitled to a larger sum than that reported in his favor by the accounting officers of the Government, and that in the execution of the law of the last session I had the subject still under consideration, I now communicate to you the result.

On full consideration of the law by which this duty was enjoined on me and of the report of the committee on the basis of which the law was founded, I have thought that I was authorized to adopt the principles laid down in that report in deciding on the sum which should be allowed to him for his services. With this view and on a comparison of his services with those which were rendered by other disbursing officers, taking into consideration also his aid in obtaining loans, I had decided to allow him 5 per cent for all sums borrowed and disbursed by him, and of which decision I informed him. Mr. Tompkins has since stated to me that this allowance will not indemnify him for his advances, loans, expenditures, and losses in rendering those services, nor place him on the footing of those who loaned money to the Government at that interesting period. He has also expressed a desire that I would submit the subject to the final decision of Congress, which I now do. In adopting this measure I think proper to add that I concur fully in the sentiments expressed by the committee in favor of the very patriotic and valuable services which were rendered by Mr. Tompkins in the late war.

JAMES MONROE.

MARCH 28, 1824.

To the House of Representatives of the United States:

I herewith transmit a report of the Secretary of War, together with a report from the Commissioner of the General Land Office, accompanied by the necessary documents, communicating the information heretofore requested by a resolution of the House in relation to the salt springs, lead and copper mines, together with the probable value of each of them and of the reservations attached to each, the extent to which they have been worked, the advantages and proximity of each to navigable waters, and the origin, nature, and extent of any claim made to them by individuals or companies, which reports contain all the information at present possessed on the subjects of the said resolution.

JAMES MONROE.

MARCH 30, 1824.

To the House of Representatives of the United States:

In compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 14th instant, requesting information whether an advance of compensation had been made to any of the commissioners who had been appointed for the examination of titles and claims to land in Florida, and by what authority such advance, if any, had been made, I transmit a report of the Secretary of State, which contains the information desired.

JAMES MONROE.

WASHINGTON, March 30, 1824.

To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States:

I transmit to Congress certain papers enumerated in a report from the Secretary of War, relating to the compact between the United States and the State of Georgia entered into in 1802, whereby the latter ceded to the former a portion of the territory then within its limits on the conditions therein specified. By the fourth article of that compact it was stipulated that the United States should at their own expense extinguish for the use of Georgia the Indian title to all the lands within the State as soon as it might be done peaceably and on reasonable conditions. These papers show the measures adopted by the Executive of the United States in fulfillment of the several conditions of the compact from its date to the present time, and particularly the negotiations and treaties with the Indian tribes for the extinguishment of their title, with an estimate of the number of acres purchased and sums paid for lands they acquired. They show also the state in which this interesting concern now rests with the Cherokees, one of the tribes within the State, and the inability of the Executive to make any further movement with this tribe without the special sanction of Congress.

I have full confidence that my predecessors exerted their best endeavors to execute this compact in all its parts, of which, indeed, the sums paid and the lands acquired during their respective terms in fulfillment of its several stipulations are a full proof. I have also been animated since I came into this office with the same zeal, from an anxious desire to meet the wishes of the State, and in the hope that by the establishment of these tribes beyond the Mississippi their improvement in civilization, their security and happiness would be promoted. By the paper bearing date on the 30th of January last, which was communicated to the chiefs of the Cherokee Nation in this city, who came to protest against any further appropriations of money for holding treaties with them, the obligation imposed on the United States by the compact with Georgia to extinguish the Indian title to the right of soil within the State, and the incompatibility with our system of their existence as a distinct community within any State, were pressed with the utmost earnestness. It was proposed to them at the same time to procure and convey to them territory beyond the Mississippi in exchange for that which they hold within the limits of Georgia, or to pay them for it its value in money. To this proposal their answer, which bears date 11th of February following, gives an unqualified refusal. By this it is manifest that at the present time and in their present temper they can be removed only by force, to which, should it be deemed proper, the power of the Executive is incompetent.

I have no hesitation, however, to declare it as my opinion that the Indian title was not affected in the slightest circumstance by the compact with Georgia, and that there is no obligation on the United States to remove the Indians by force. The express stipulation of the compact that their title should be extinguished at the expense of the United States when it may be done peaceably and on reasonable conditions is a full proof that it was the clear and distinct understanding of both parties to it that the Indians had a right to the territory, in the disposal of which they were to be regarded as free agents. An attempt to remove them by force would, in my opinion, be unjust. In the future measures to be adopted in regard to the Indians within our limits, and, in consequence, within the limits of any State, the United States have duties to perform and a character to sustain to which they ought not to be indifferent. At an early period their improvement in the arts of civilized life was made an object with the Government, and that has since been persevered in. This policy was dictated by motives of humanity to the aborigines of the country, and under a firm conviction that the right to adopt and pursue it was equally applicable to all the tribes within our limits.

My impression is equally strong that it would promote essentially the security and happiness of the tribes within our limits if they could be prevailed on to retire west and north of our States and Territories on lands to be procured for them by the United States, in exchange for those on which they now reside. Surrounded as they are, and pressed as they will be, on every side by the white population, it will be difficult if not impossible for them, with their kind of government, to sustain order among them. Their interior will be exposed to frequent disturbances, to remedy which the interposition of the United States will be indispensable, and thus their government will gradually lose its authority until it is annihilated. In this process the moral character of the tribes will also be lost, since the change will be too rapid to admit their improvement in civilization to enable them to institute and sustain a government founded on our principles, if such a change were compatible either with the compact with Georgia or with our general system, or to become members of a State, should any State be willing to adopt them in such numbers, regarding the good order, peace, and tranquillity of such State. But all these evils may be avoided if these tribes will consent to remove beyond the limits of our present States and Territories. Lands equally good, and perhaps more fertile, may be procured for them in those quarters. The relations between the United States and such Indians would still be the same.

Considerations of humanity and benevolence, which have now great weight, would operate in that event with an augmented force, since we should feel sensibly the obligation imposed on us by the accommodation which they thereby afforded us. Placed at ease, as the United States would then be, the improvement of those tribes in civilization and in all the arts and usages of civilized life would become the part of a general system which might be adopted on great consideration, and in which every portion of our Union would then take an equal interest. These views have steadily been pursued by the Executive, and the moneys which have been placed at its disposal have been so applied in the manner best calculated, according to its judgment, to produce this desirable result, as will appear by the documents which accompany the report of the Secretary of War.

I submit this subject to the consideration of Congress under a high sense of its importance and of the propriety of an early decision on it. This compact gives a claim to the State which ought to be executed in all its conditions with perfect good faith. In doing this, however, it is the duty of the United States to regard its strict import, and to make no sacrifice of their interest not called for by the compact nor contemplated by either of the parties when it was entered into, nor to commit any breach of right or of humanity in regard to the Indians repugnant to the judgment and revolting to the feelings of the whole American people. I submit the subject to your consideration, in full confidence that you will duly weigh the obligations of the compact with Georgia, its import in all its parts, and the extent to which the United States are bound to go under it. I submit it with equal confidence that you will also weigh the nature of the Indian title to the territory within the limits of any State, with the stipulations in the several treaties with this tribe respecting territory held by it within the State of Georgia, and decide whether any measure on the part of Congress is called for at the present time, and what such measure shall be if any is deemed expedient.

JAMES MONROE.

APRIL 9, 1824.

To the House of Representatives of the United States:

I herewith transmit the report of the Secretary of War, with the accompanying documents, containing the information requested by a resolution of the House of the 10th ultimo, and which communicates the accounts of all the generals of the Army, likewise of the Inspector-General, the chiefs of the Engineer and Ordnance Corps, and Surgeon-General for the two years preceding the 30th of September last; also shewing the amount of money paid to each under the different heads of pay, fuel, straw, quarters, transportation, and all other extra and contingent allowances; which report, together with the statements herewith transmitted, furnishes all the information required.

JAMES MONROE.

To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States:

The executive of Virginia having requested payment of the amount of interest paid by the State for moneys borrowed and paid by it for services rendered by the militia in the late war, and such claim not being allowable according to the uniform decisions of the accounting officers of the Government, I submit the subject to your consideration, with a report from the Secretary of War and all the documents connected with it.

The following are the circumstances on which this claim is founded: From an early stage of the war the squadrons of the enemy entered occasionally the Chesapeake Bay, and, menacing its shores and those of the principal rivers emptying into it, subjected the neighboring militia to calls from the local authorities for the defense of the parts thus menaced. The pressure was most sensibly felt in 1814, after the attack on this city and its capture, when the invading force, retiring to its squadron, menaced alike Baltimore, Norfolk, and Richmond. The attack on this city had induced a call by the Department of War for large detachments of the militia of Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia, which, being collected in this quarter, and the enemy bearing, in the first instance, on Baltimore, were ordered to its defense. As early as the 31st of August notice was given by the Secretary of War to the governor of Virginia of the position of the enemy and of the danger to which Richmond as well as Norfolk and Baltimore were exposed, and he was also authorized and enjoined to be on his guard, prepared at every point and in every circumstance to meet and repel the invaders. This notice was repeated several times afterwards, until the enemy left the bay and moved to the south.

In the course of the war the State had augmented its taxes to meet the pressure, but the funds being still inadequate, it borrowed money to a considerable amount, which was applied to the payment of the militia for the services thus rendered. The calls which had been made, except for the brigades in this quarter and at Norfolk, being made by the State, the settlement with those corps and the payment for their services were made according to the rules and usage of the Department by the State and not by the United States. On the settlement by the State, after the peace, with the accounting officers of the Government the reimbursement of the interest which the State had paid on the sums thus borrowed and paid to the militia was claimed, but not allowed for the reason above stated. It is this claim which I now submit to the consideration of Congress.

It need scarcely be remarked that where a State advances money for the use of the General Government for a purpose authorized by it that the claim for the interest on the amount thus advanced, which has been paid by the State, is reasonable and just. The claim is the stronger under the circumstance which existed when those advances were made, it being at a period of great difficulty, when the United States were compelled to borrow very large sums for the prosecution of the war. Had the State not borrowed this money the militia, whose services have been recognized since by the nation, must have been disbanded and the State left without defense.

The claim is, in my opinion, equally well founded where a State advances money which it has in its treasury, or which it raises by taxes, to meet the current demand.

In submitting this claim to your consideration it is proper to observe that many other States have like claims with those of Virginia, and that all those similarly circumstanced should be placed on the same footing.

I invite your attention to a principle which is deemed just, and with a view that the provision which may be made respecting it may be extended alike to all the States.

JAMES MONROE.

APRIL, 12, 1824.

APRIL, 16, 1824.

To the House of Representatives of the United States:

In compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 8th of April, requesting information whether the fifth section of the act of the 3d March, 1803, relating to a township of land lying within John Cleves Symmes's patent, had been executed, and, if not, what reasons had prevented it, I transmit a report from the Secretary of the Treasury, which affords the information desired.

JAMES MONROE.

APRIL, 16, 1824.

To the House of Representatives of the United States:

I transmit to the House of Representatives a report of the Secretary of War, containing the information requested by a resolution of the House dated 25th ultimo, shewing the reason why the engineers appointed to examine the most suitable site for a national armory on the Western waters have not made their report.

JAMES MONROE.

APRIL, 16, 1824.

To the House of Representatives of the United States:

I herewith transmit to the House of Representatives a report from the Secretary of War, which contains the information requested by a resolution of the 8th instant, respecting the proposals that were made by certain Indians, therein described, of the Cherokee Nation for the cession of their lands to the United States.

JAMES MONROE.

WASHINGTON, April 18, 1824.

To the House of Representatives of the United States:

In compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 13th instant, requesting a detailed account of the disbursement of the sums appropriated by the acts of the 30th April, 1818, and of the 3d March, 1819, for making certain improvements in the grounds connected with the public offices and the President's house, I transmit a report from the Commissioner of the Public Buildings, which contains the information desired.

JAMES MONROE.

APRIL, 23, 1824.

To the House of Representatives of the United States:

In conformity with a resolution of the House of Representatives of yesterday, I have received a copy of the proceedings of the committee to whom was referred a communication from Ninian Edwards, lately appointed a minister plenipotentiary to Mexico, in which it is decided that his attendance in this city for the purpose of being examined by the committee on matters contained in the said communication was requisite. As soon as I was apprised that such a communication had been made to the House, anticipating that the attendance of Mr. Edwards might be desired for the purpose stated, I thought it proper that he should be informed thereof, and instructed him not to proceed on his mission, but to await such call as might be made on him either by the House or its committee, and in consequence a letter was addressed to him to that effect by the Secretary of State.

JAMES MONROE.

APRIL 27, 1824.

To the Senate of the United States:

In conformity with the resolution of the Senate of the 19th instant, requesting information whether the Executive, through the agency of the War Department, borrowed any money during the late war, under the condition of applying the same to the defense of the State wherein the said loans were made, to what amount, and whether interest was paid by the United States for such loans, etc., I herewith transmit a report from the Secretary of War containing all the information in that Department in relation to the resolution.

JAMES MONROE.

APRIL, 28, 1824.

To the House of Representatives:

The House of Representatives having referred back the accounts and claims of Daniel D. Tompkins, late governor of New York, to be settled on the principles established by the report of the committee and the law founded on it in the last session I have reconsidered the subject, and now communicate the result.

By the report of the committee, which it was understood was adopted by the House, it was decided that his accounts and claims should be settled on the four following principles:

First. That interest should be allowed him on all moneys advanced by him for the public from the time of the advance to that of his being reimbursed.

Second. That a reasonable commission should be allowed him on all moneys disbursed by him during the late war.

Third. That an indemnity should be allowed for all losses which he had sustained by the failure of the Government to fulfill its engagements to send him money or Treasury notes within the time specified to be deposited in certain banks as collateral security for loans procured by him at the request and on account of the Government.

Fourth. That he should not be held responsible for losses incurred by the frauds and failures of subagents to whom moneys were advanced through his hands.

On the first, that of interest on his advances for the public, I have allowed him $14,438.68. This allowance is made on advances admitted by the accounting department, and on the declaration of Mr. Tompkins that the remittances made to him, after his advances and previous to the 24th of December, 1814, when a very large sum was remitted to him, were applied to public purposes and not to the reimbursement of his advances.

On the second head, that of a reasonable commission for his disbursements during the late war, I have allowed him 5 per cent on the whole sum disbursed by him, amounting to $92,213.13. I have made him this extra allowance in consideration of the aid which he afforded to the Government at that important epoch in obtaining the loan of a considerable part of the sums thus disbursed.

On the third head, that of an indemnity for losses sustained by him in consequence of the failure of the Government to fulfill its engagements to send him money or Treasury notes within the time specified, I have allowed him $4,411.25, being the amount of the loss sustained on the sale of Treasury notes, for which he was responsible.

On the fourth head, that of losses sustained by him by any frauds or failures of subagents, none such having been shewn no allowance whatever has been made to him.

From the amount thus allowed to Mr. Tompkins after deducting the sum paid him under the act of the present session and the moneys charged to his account there will remain a balance due him of $60,238.46, as appears by the sketch herewith communicated.

In making a final decision on Mr. Tompkins's claims a question arises, Shall interest be allowed him on the amount of the commission on his disbursements? The law of the last session grants to the President a power to allow interest on moneys advanced by him to the public, but does not authorize it on the commission to be allowed on his disbursements. To make such allowance belongs exclusively to Congress. Had his claims been settled at the end of the last war on the principles established by the law of the last session a commission on disbursements would then have been allowed him. This consideration operates with great force in favor of the allowance of interest on that commission at this time, which I recommend to Congress.

I think proper to add that the official relation which I bore to Governor Tompkins at that very interesting epoch, under the highly distinguished and meritorious citizen under whom we both served, enabling me to feel very sensibly the value of his services, excites a strong interest in his favor, which I deem it not improper to express.

JAMES MONROE.

WASHINGTON, April 30, 1824.

To the Senate of the United States:

I transmit to the Senate, for their constitutional advice with regard to its ratification, a convention for the suppression of the African slave trade, signed at London on the 13th ultimo by the minister of the United States residing there on their part, with the plenipotentiaries of the British Government on the part of that nation, together with the correspondence relating thereto, a part of which is included in a communication made to the House of Representatives on the 19th ultimo, a printed copy of which is among the documents herewith sent.

Motives of accommodation to the wishes of the British Government render it desirable that the Senate should act definitively upon this convention as speedily as may be found convenient.

JAMES MONROE.

APRIL 30, 1824.

To the Senate of the United States:

I communicate to the Senate a treaty entered into with the Cherokee Nation as early as 1804, but which, owing to causes not now understood, has never been carried into effect. Of the authenticity of the transaction a report from the Secretary of War, with the documents accompanying it, furnishes the most unquestionable proof. I submit it to the Senate for its advice and consent as to the ratification.

JAMES MONROE.

WASHINGTON, May 7, 1824.

To the Senate of the United States:

I communicate herewith to the Senate a report from the Secretary of State, with the documents relating to the present state of the commercial intercourse between the United States and Portugal, requested by the resolution of the Senate of the 13th ultimo.

JAMES MONROE.

MAY 11, 1824.

To the House of Representatives of the United States:

I herewith transmit to the House of Representatives a report of the Secretary of War, containing the information called for by the resolution of the 10th of March, requesting the names of all the officers of the Army who have been brevetted, stating their lineal rank and brevet rank, when brevetted, and the amount of money paid to each and when paid, which report, with the accompanying documents, contains the information desired.

JAMES MONROE.

MAY 13, 1824.

To the House of Representatives of the United States:

In compliance with the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 15th of April, requesting the President to cause to be communicated to the House a statement of the supplies which have been sent from the United States to any ports of South America for the use of our squadron in the Pacific Ocean, of the amount paid for such supplies, with the names of the owners of the vessels, and other details therein specified, I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of the Navy, which, with the documents accompanying it, furnishes the information desired.

JAMES MONROE.

MAY 14, 1824.

To the House of Representatives of the United States:

I herewith transmit to the House of Representatives a report of the Secretary of the Navy, together with the proceedings of a court-martial lately held at Norfolk for the trial of Lieutenant Beverly Kennon, as requested by a resolution of the House bearing date the 25th of April, 1824.

JAMES MONROE.

WASHINGTON, May 18, 1824.

To the House of Representatives of the United States:

I communicate to the House a report, with accompanying documents, received from Alexander Hamilton, one of the commissioners of land titles in East Florida, deeming the statements therein contained to be worthy of the particular attention of the House, and of a nature which may, perhaps, require their interposition or that of both branches of the Legislature.

JAMES MONROE.

WASHINGTON, May 21, 1824.

To the Senate of the United States:

Apprehending from the delay in the decision that some difficulty exists with the Senate respecting the ratification of the convention lately concluded with the British Government for the suppression of the slave trade by making it piratical, I deem it proper to communicate for your consideration such views as appear to me to merit attention. Charged as the Executive is, and as I have long been, with maintaining the political relations between the United States and other nations, I consider it my duty, in submitting for your advice and consent as to the ratification any treaty or convention which has been agreed on with another power, to explain, when the occasion requires it, all the reasons which induced the measure. It is by such full and frank explanation only that the Senate can be enabled to discharge the high trust reposed in them with advantage to their country. Having the instrument before them, with the views which guided the Executive in forming it, the Senate will possess all the light necessary to a sound decision.

By an act of Congress of 15th May, 1820, the slave trade, as described by that act, was made piratical, and all such of our citizens as might be found engaged in that trade were subjected, on conviction thereof by the circuit courts of the United States, to capital punishment. To communicate more distinctly the import of that act, I refer to its fourth and fifth sections, which are in the following words:

SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That if any citizen of the United States, being of the crew or ship's company of any foreign ship or vessel engaged in the slave trade, or any person whatever, being of the crew or ship's company of any ship or vessel owned in the whole or part or navigated for or in behalf of any citizen or citizens of the United States, shall land from any such ship or vessel, and on any foreign shore seize any Negro or Mulatto not held to service or labor by the laws of either of the States or Territories of the United States, with intent to make such Negro or Mulatto a slave, or shall decoy or forcibly bring or carry, or shall receive, such Negro or Mulatto on board any such ship or vessel, with intent as aforesaid, such citizen or person shall be adjudged a pirate, and on conviction thereof before the circuit court of the United States for the district wherein he may be brought or found shall suffer death.

SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That if any citizen of the United States, being of the crew or ship's company of any foreign ship or vessel engaged in the slave trade, or any person whatever, being of the crew or ship's company of any ship or vessel owned wholly or in part, or navigated for or in behalf of, any citizen or citizens of the United States, shall forcibly confine or detain, or aid and abet in forcibly confining or detaining, on board such ship or vessel any Negro or Mulatto not held to service by the laws of either of the States or Territories of the United States, with intent to make such Negro or Mulatto a slave, or shall on board any such ship or vessel offer or attempt to sell as a slave any Negro or Mulatto not held to service as aforesaid, or shall on the high seas or anywhere on tide water transfer or deliver over to any other ship or vessel any Negro or Mulatto not held to service as aforesaid, with intent to make such Negro or mulatto a slave, or shall land or deliver on shore from on board any such ship or vessel any such Negro or mulatto, with intent to make sale of, or having previously sold such Negro or Mulatto as a slave, such citizen or person shall be adjudged a pirate, and on conviction thereof before the circuit court of the United States for the district wherein he may be brought or found shall suffer death.

And on the 28th February, 1823, the House of Representatives, by a majority of 131 to 9, passed a resolution to the following effect:

Resolved, That the President of the United States be requested to enter upon and prosecute from time to time such negotiations with the several maritime powers of Europe and America as he may deem expedient for the effectual abolition of the African slave trade and its ultimate denunciation as piracy under the law of nations, by the consent of the civilized world.

By the act of Congress above referred to, whereby the most effectual means that could be devised were adopted for the extirpation of the slave trade, the wish of the United States was explicitly declared, that all nations might concur in a similar policy. It could only be by such concurrence that the great object could be accomplished, and it was by negotiation and treaty alone that such concurrence could be obtained, commencing with one power and extending it to others. The course, therefore, which the Executive, who had concurred in the act, had to pursue was distinctly marked out for it. Had there, however, been any doubt respecting it, the resolution of the House of Representatives, the branch which might with strict propriety express its opinion, could not fail to have removed it.

By the tenth article of the treaty of peace between the United States and Great Britain, concluded at Ghent, it was stipulated that both parties should use their best endeavors to accomplish the abolition of the African slave trade. This object has been accordingly pursued by both Governments with great earnestness, by separate acts of legislation, and by negotiation almost uninterrupted, with the purpose of establishing a conceit between them in some measure which might secure its accomplishment.

Great Britain in her negotiations with other powers had concluded treaties with Spain, Portugal, and the Netherlands, in which, without constituting the crime as piracy or classing it with crimes of that denomination, the parties had conceded to the naval officers of each other the right of search and capture of the vessels of either that might be engaged in the slave trade, and had instituted courts consisting of judges, subjects of both parties, for the trial of the vessels so captured.

In the negotiations with the United States Great Britain had earnestly and repeatedly pressed on them the adoption of similar provisions. They had been resisted by the Executive on two grounds: One, that the constitution of mixed tribunals was incompatible with their Constitution; and the other, that the concession of the right of search in time of peace for an offense not piratical would be repugnant to the feelings of the nation and of dangerous tendency. The right of search is the right of war of the belligerent toward the neutral. To extend it in time of peace to any object whatever might establish a precedent which might lead to others with some powers, and which, even if confined to the instance specified, might be subject to great abuse.

Animated by an ardent desire to suppress this trade, the United States took stronger ground by making it, by the act above referred to, piratical, a measure more adequate to the end and free from many of the objections applicable to the plan which had been proposed to them. It is this alternative which the Executive, under the sanction and injunctions above stated, offered to the British Government, and which that Government has accepted. By making the crime piracy the right of search attaches to the crime, and which when adopted by all nations will be common to all; and that it will be so adopted may fairly be presumed if steadily persevered in by the parties to the present convention. In the meantime, and with a view to a fair experiment, the obvious course seems to be to carry into effect with every power such treaty as may be made with each in succession.

In presenting this alternative to the British Government it was made an indispensable condition that the trade should be made piratical by act of Parliament, as it had been by an act of Congress. This was provided for in the convention, and has since been complied with. In this respect, therefore, the nations rest on the same ground. Suitable provisions have also been adopted to protect each party from the abuse of the power granted to the public ships of the other. Instead of subjecting the persons detected in the slave trade to trial by the courts of the captors, as would be the case if such trade was piracy by the laws of nations, it is stipulated that until that event they shall be tried by the courts of their own country only. Hence there could be no motive for an abuse of the right of search, since such abuse could not fail to terminate to the injury of the captor.

Should this convention be adopted, there is every reason to believe that it will be the commencement of a system destined to accomplish the entire abolition of the slave trade. Great Britain, by making it her own, confessedly adopted at the suggestion of the United States, and being pledged to propose and urge its adoption by other nations in concert with the United States, will find it for her interest to abandon the less-effective system of her previous treaties with Spain, Portugal, and the Netherlands, and to urge on those and other powers their accession to this. The crime will then be universally proscribed as piracy, and the traffic be suppressed forever.

Other considerations of high importance urge the adoption of this convention. We have at this moment pending with Great Britain sundry other negotiations intimately connected with the welfare and even the peace of our Union. In one of them nearly a third part of the territory of the State of Maine is in contestation. In another the navigation of the St. Lawrence, the admission of consuls into the British islands, and a system of commercial intercourse between the United States and all the British possessions in this hemisphere are subjects of discussion. In a third our territorial and other rights upon the northwest coast are to be adjusted, while a negotiation on the same interest is opened with Russia. In a fourth all the most important controvertible points of maritime law in time of war are brought under consideration, and in the fifth the whole system of South American concerns, connected with a general recognition of South American independence, may again from hour to hour become, as it has already been, an object of concerted operations of the highest interest to both nations and to the peace of the world.

It can not be disguised that the rejection of this convention can not fail to have a very injurious influence on the good understanding between the two Governments on all these points. That it would place the Executive Administration under embarrassment, and subject it, the Congress, and the nation to the charge of insincerity respecting the great result of the final suppression of the slave trade, and that its first and indispensable consequence will be to constrain the Executive to suspend all further negotiation with every European and American power to which overtures have been made in compliance with the resolution of the House of Representatives of 28th February, 1823, must be obvious. To invite all nations, with the statute of piracy in our hands, to adopt its principles as the law of nations and yet to deny to all the common right of search for the pirate, whom it would be impossible to detect without entering and searching the vessel, would expose us not simply to the charge of inconsistency.

It must be obvious that the restriction of search for pirates to the African coast is incompatible with the idea of such a crime. It is not doubted also if the convention is adopted that no example of the commission of that crime by the citizens or subjects of either power will ever occur again. It is believed, therefore, that this right as applicable to piracy would not only extirpate the trade, but prove altogether innocent in its operation.

In further illustration of the views of Congress on this subject, I transmit to the Senate extracts from two resolutions of the House of Representatives, one of the 9th February, 1821, the other of 12th April, 1822. I transmit also a letter from the chargé d'affaires of the British Government, which shows the deep interest which that Government takes in the ratification of the treaty.

JAMES MONROE.

WASHINGTON CITY, May 22, 1824.

To the House of Representatives of the United States:

I transmit to the House of Representatives a report of the Secretary of the Navy, in compliance with their resolution of the 14th of April last, respecting prize agents, which report contains the information requested.

JAMES MONROE.

MAY 24, 1824.

To the House of Representatives of the United States:

In compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 13th instant, requesting the President to communicate any information he may possess in relation to the intercourse and trade now carried on between the people of the United States (and particularly the people of the State of Missouri) and the Mexican Provinces, how and by what route that trade or intercourse is carried on, in what it consists, the distances, etc., the nations of Indians through which it passes, their dispositions, whether pacific or otherwise, the advantages resulting or likely to result from that trade or intercourse, I herewith transmit a communication from the Department of State, which contains all the information which has yet been collected in relation to those subjects.

JAMES MONROE.

MAY 24, 1824.

To the House of Representatives of the United States:

In compliance with a resolution of the 20th instant, I transmit herewith to the House of Representatives a report of David Shriver, superintendent of the Cumberland road, stating the manner in which the appropriation made at the last session for the repair of that road has been expended, and also the present condition of the road.

JAMES MONROE.