SPECIAL MESSAGES.
Washington, December 6, 1831.
To the Senate of the United States:
I transmit to the Senate, for their advice with regard to its ratification, a treaty between the United States and France, signed at Paris by the plenipotentiaries of the two Governments on the 4th of July, 1831.
With the treaty are also transmitted the dispatch which accompanied it, and two others on the same subject received since.
ANDREW JACKSON.
December 7, 1831.
Gentlemen of the Senate:
In my public message to both Houses of Congress I communicated the state in which I had found the controverted claims of Great Britain and the United States in relation to our northern and eastern boundary, and the measures which since my coming into office I had pursued to bring it to a close, together with the fact that on the 10th day of January last the sovereign arbiter had delivered his opinion to the plenipotentiaries of the United States and Great Britain.
I now transmit to you that opinion for your consideration, that you may determine whether you will advise submission to the opinion delivered by the sovereign arbiter and consent to its execution.
That you may the better be enabled to judge of the obligation as well as the expediency of submitting to or rejecting the decision of the arbiter, I herewith transmit—
1. A protest made by the minister plenipotentiary of the United States after receiving the opinion of the King of the Netherlands, on which paper it may be necessary to remark that I had always determined, whatever might have been the result of the examination by the sovereign arbiter, to have submitted the same to the Senate for their advice before I executed or rejected it. Therefore no instructions were given to the ministers to do any act that should commit the Government as to the course it might deem proper to pursue on a full consideration of all the circumstances of the case.
2. The dispatches from our minister at The Hague accompanying the protest, as well as those previous and subsequent thereto, in relation to the subject of the submission.
3. Communications between the Department of State and the governor of the State of Maine in relation to this subject.
4. Correspondence between the chargé d'affaires of His Britannic Majesty and the Department of State in relation to the arrest of certain persons at Madawasca under the authority of the British Government at New Brunswick.
It is proper to add that in addition to the evidence derived from Mr. Treble's dispatches of the inclination of the British Government to abide by the award, assurances to the same effect have been uniformly made to our minister at London, and that an official communication on that subject may very soon be expected.
ANDREW JACKSON.
Washington City, December 7, 1831.
To the Congress of the United States:
I transmit herewith, for the information of Congress, two letters from the Secretary of State, accompanied by statements from that Department showing the progress which has been made in taking the Fifth Census of the inhabitants of the United States, and also by a printed copy of the revision of the statements heretofore transmitted to Congress of all former enumerations of the population of the United States and their Territories.
ANDREW JACKSON.
Washington, December 13, 1831.
To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States:
The accompanying papers show the situation of extreme peril from which more than sixty of our fellow-citizens have been rescued by the courage and humanity of the master and crew of a Spanish brig. As no property was saved, there were no means of making pecuniary satisfaction for the risk and loss incurred in performing this humane and meritorious service. Believing, therefore, that the obligation devolved upon the nation, but having no funds at my disposal which I could think constitutionally applicable to the case, I have thought honor as well as justice required that the facts should be submitted to the consideration of Congress, in order that they might provide not only a just indemnity for the losses incurred, but some compensation adequate to the merits of the service.
ANDREW JACKSON.
WASHINGTON, December 13, 1831.
To the Senate of the United States:
I transmit herewith, in obedience to a resolution of the Senate of the 8th December, 1831, all the information in the possession of the Executive relative to the capture, abduction, and imprisonment of American citizens by the provincial authorities of New Brunswick, and the measures which, in consequence thereof, have been adopted by the Executive of the United States.
ANDREW JACKSON.
WASHINGTON CITY, December 21, 1831.
To the Congress of the United States:
I transmit herewith, for the information of Congress, a report of the Secretary of State, respecting tonnage duties levied at Martinique and Guadaloupe on American vessels and on French vessels from those islands to the United States.
ANDREW JACKSON.
WASHINGTON CITY, December 21, 1831.
Gentlemen of the Senate:
Since my message of the 7th instant, transmitting the award of the King of the Netherlands, I have received the official communication, then expected, of the determination of the British Government to abide by the award. This communication is now respectfully laid before you for the purpose of aiding your deliberations on the same subject.
ANDREW JACKSON.
WASHINGTON, December 29, 1831.
To the House of Representatives:
In compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 19th instant, requesting the President of the United States to communicate to it "the correspondence between the governor of Georgia and any Department of this Government, in the years 1830 and 1831, in relation to the boundary line between the State of Georgia and the Territory of Florida," I transmit herewith a communication from the Secretary of State, with copies of the papers referred to. It is proper to add, as the resolutions on this subject from the governor and legislature of Georgia were received after the adjournment of the last Congress, and as that body, after having the same subject under consideration, had failed to authorize the President to take any steps in relation to it, that it was my intention to present it in due time to the attention of the present Congress by special message. This determination has been hastened by the call of the House for the information now communicated, and it only remains for me to await the action of Congress upon the subject.
ANDREW JACKSON.
WASHINGTON, January 5, 1832.
To the Senate:
I herewith lay before the Senate, for their advice and consent as to the ratification of the same, a treaty between the United States and the principal chiefs and warriors of the mixed band of Seneca and Shawnee Indians living on the waters of the Great Miami and within the territorial limits of the county of Logan, in the State of Ohio, entered into on the 30th day of July, 1831; and also a treaty between the United States and the chiefs, headmen, and warriors of the band of Ottaway Indians residing within the State of Ohio, entered into on the 30th of August, 1831.
ANDREW JACKSON.
WASHINGTON, January 10, 1832.
To the Senate and House of Representatives:
I herewith transmit a report made by the Secretary of State on the subject of a commercial arrangement with the Republic of Colombia, which requires legislative action to carry it into effect.
ANDREW JACKSON.
WASHINGTON, January 12, 1832.
To the Senate of the United States:
I herewith lay before the Senate, for their advice and consent as to the ratification of the same, a treaty made on the 8th of August last with the Shawnee Indians.
ANDREW JACKSON.
WASHINGTON, January 18, 1832.
To the Senate:
I transmit herewith a report of the Secretary of State, in answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 3d instant, and accompanied by copies of the instructions and correspondence relative to the late treaty with France, called for by that resolution.
ANDREW JACKSON.
WASHINGTON, January 20, 1832.
To the Congress of the United States:
I respectfully invite the attention of Congress to the propriety of compromising the title of the islands on which Fort Delaware stands in the manner pointed out by the accompanying report from the War Department. This subject was presented to Congress during the last session, but for want of time, it is believed, did not receive its action.
ANDREW JACKSON.
WASHINGTON, January 23, 1832.
To the House of Representatives:
I herewith transmit to the House of Representatives a copy of a correspondence between the late minister of Great Britain and the late Secretary of State of the United States on the subject of a claim of Cyrenius Hall, a British subject and an inhabitant of Upper Canada, for the loss which he alleges to have sustained in consequence of the imputed seizure of a schooner (his property) by the collector of the customs at Venice, in Sandusky Bay, in the year 1821, and the subsequent neglect of that officer in relation to the said schooner, together with copies of the documents adduced in support of the claim, that such legislative provision may be made in behalf of the claimant as shall appear just and proper in the case.
ANDREW JACKSON.
WASHINGTON, January 24, 1832.
To the House of Representatives:
In compliance with the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 20th instant, I herewith transmit a report from the Secretary of War, containing all the information in possession of the Executive required by that resolution.
For the reason assigned by the Secretary in his report I have to request that the abstracts of the Choctaw reservations may be returned to the War Department when the House shall no longer require them.
ANDREW JACKSON.
WASHINGTON, January 26, 1832.
To the House of Representatives:
I transmit herewith reports from the Secretaries of the War and Navy Departments, containing the information required by the resolution of the House of the 5th instant, in regard to the expenditures on breakwaters since 1815.
ANDREW JACKSON.
WASHINGTON, January 27, 1832.
To the Senate of the United States:
In compliance with the resolution of the Senate of the 18th instant, I herewith transmit a report[[12]] of the Secretary of State, which, together with the letter of His Britannic Majesty's chargé d'affaires heretofore communicated, demanding the execution of the opinion delivered by the sovereign arbiter, contains all the information requested by the said resolution, omitting nothing that may enable the Senate to give the advice requested by my message of the 7th of December last, on the question of carrying into effect the opinion of the King of the Netherlands.
ANDREW JACKSON.
[ [!-- Note Anchor 12 --][Footnote 12: Relating to the northeastern boundary of the United States.]
WASHINGTON CITY, January 27, 1832.
To the Senate of the United States:
Since the dismission of Lieutenant Hampton Westcott for participating as second in a duel in March, A.D. 1830, a more particular investigation of the circumstances has resulted in exonerating him from having instigated the fatal meeting, and the said Westcott, on a trial by a jury, has been acquitted of all legal guilt in the transaction.
I therefore nominate the said Hampton Westcott to be a lieutenant in the Navy of the United States from the 17th of May, 1828, his former date, and to take rank next after Richard R. McMullin.
ANDREW JACKSON.
WASHINGTON, February 3, 1832.
To the Senate:
In addition to the documents relating to the settlement of the northeastern boundary of the United States now in possession of the Senate, I have just received certain proceedings and resolutions of the legislature of the State of Maine on the subject, which are herewith transmitted.
ANDREW JACKSON.
WASHINGTON, February 6, 1832.
To the House of Representatives:
In compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 3d March, 1831, I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State on the subject of the regulations of England, France, and the Netherlands respecting their fisheries.
ANDREW JACKSON.
WASHINGTON; February 7, 1832.
To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States:
A convention having been entered into between the United States and the King of the French, it has been ratified with the advice and consent of the Senate; and my ratification having been exchanged in due form on the 2d of February, 1832, by the Secretary of State and the envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of the King of the French, it is now communicated to you for consideration in your legislative capacity.
You will observe that some important conditions can not be carried into execution but with the aid of the Legislature, and that the proper provisions for that purpose seem to be required without delay.
ANDREW JACKSON.
WASHINGTON, February 7, 1832.
To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States:
A treaty of commerce and navigation having been entered into between the United States and the Sublime Porte, it has been ratified with the advice and consent of the Senate; and my ratification having been exchanged in due form on the 5th October, 1831, by our chargé d'affaires at Constantinople and that Government, it is now communicated to both Houses of Congress.
ANDREW JACKSON.
WASHINGTON, February 8, 1832.
To the Senate:
I transmit herewith, for the information of the Senate, a report from the Department of War, showing the situation of the country at Green Bay ceded for the benefit of the New York Indians, and also the proceedings of the commissioner, who has lately had a meeting with them.
ANDREW JACKSON.
WASHINGTON, February 8, 1832.
To the Senate:
I transmit herewith a report of the Secretary of War, made in compliance with a resolution of the Senate of March 2, 1831, requesting the President of the United States "to cause to be collected and reported to the Senate at the commencement of the next stated session of Congress the most authentic information which can be obtained of the number and names of the American citizens who have been killed or robbed while engaged in the fur trade or the inland trade to Mexico since the late war with Great Britain, the amount of the robberies committed, and at what places and by what tribes; also the number of persons who annually engage in the fur trade and inland trade to Mexico, the amount of capital employed, and the annual amount of the proceeds in furs, robes, peltries, money, etc.; also the disadvantages, if any, which these branches of trade labor under, and the means for their relief and protection."
ANDREW JACKSON.
WASHINGTON, February 10, 1832.
To the House of Representatives:
In compliance with the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 3d March, 1831, I herewith transmit a report of the Secretary of War "of the survey of the Savannah and Tennessee rivers made in 1828."
ANDREW JACKSON.
WASHINGTON, February 13, 1832.
To the Senate:
I herewith transmit a report from the Secretary of State, containing the information and documents[[13]] called for by a resolution of the Senate of the 9th instant.
ANDREW JACKSON.
[ [!-- Note Anchor 13 --][Footnote 13: Dispatch of Mr. Gallatin transmitting the convention of September 29, 1827, and report of an exploring survey from the Sebois River to the head waters of the Penobscot River, made in 1829.]
WASHINGTON, February 15, 1832.
To the Senate and House of Representatives:
Being more and more convinced that the destiny of the Indians within the settled portion of the United States depends upon their entire and speedy migration to the country west of the Mississippi set apart for their permanent residence, I am anxious that all the arrangements necessary to the complete execution of the plan of removal and to the ultimate security and improvement of the Indians should be made without further delay. Those who have already removed and are removing are sufficiently numerous to engage the serious attention of the Government, and it is due not less to them than to the obligation which the nation has assumed that every reasonable step should be taken to fulfill the expectations that have been held out to them. Many of those who yet remain will no doubt within a short period become sensible that the course recommended is the only one which promises stability or improvement, and it is to be hoped that all of them will realize this truth and unite with their brethren beyond the Mississippi. Should they do so, there would then be no question of jurisdiction to prevent the Government from exercising such a general control over their affairs as may be essential to their interest and safety. Should any of them, however, repel the offer of removal, they are free to remain, but they must remain with such privileges and disabilities as the respective States within whose jurisdiction they live may prescribe.
I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of War, which presents a general outline of the progress that has already been made in this work and of all that remains to be done. It will be perceived that much information is yet necessary for the faithful performance of the duties of the Government, without which it will be impossible to provide for the execution of some of the existing stipulations, or make those prudential arrangements upon which the final success of the whole movement, so far as relates to the Indians themselves, must depend.
I recommend the subject to the attention of Congress in the hope that the suggestions in this report may be found useful and that provision may be made for the appointment of the commissioners therein referred to and for vesting them with such authority as may be necessary to the satisfactory performance of the important duties proposed to be intrusted to them.
ANDREW JACKSON.
WASHINGTON, February 20, 1832.
To the Senate.
I nominate Charles Ellery to be a lieutenant in the Navy of the United States, to take rank as if appointed the 29th of April, 1826.
In explanation of the above nomination the President submits to the Senate the following facts:
Charles Ellery was originally appointed a lieutenant in the Navy the 13th of January, 1825, and was dismissed from the service the 24th of November, 1830. The dismissal was in pursuance of the sentence of the same court-martial which tried Master Commandant Clack in September, 1830; but it is thought no technical objections to the legality of the proceedings can be found so well sustained as they were in the case of Master Commandant Clack before the Senate at their last session, and it is supposed that Lieutenant Ellery has no claim for restoration to his former rank except on the ground of great severity in the sentence, founded on unfavorable impressions as to his conduct, which his prior and subsequent behavior, as manifested in the documents hereto annexed, prove to have been in some degree erroneous. The charges were intemperance and sleeping on his post. His departures from strict temperance were only in a few instances, and seem to have arisen from domestic calamity and never to have grown into a habit; and the only instance testified to in support of the other charge seems now at least doubtful, and if sustained at all to be imputable to the same cause.
Under these views of the case, which a charitable consideration of the proceedings and of his character as fully developed in the annexed documents appears fully to justify, his punishment ought, in my opinion, to be mitigated. He is therefore nominated so as to restore him to the service, with loss of pay and rank for about the time elapsed since his last dismission.
The proceedings of the court-martial and the testimonials referred to are inclosed, numbered from 1 to 10.
ANDREW JACKSON.
UNITED STATES, February 24, 1832.
Gentlemen of the Senate:
I lay before you, for your consideration and advice, a treaty of limits between the United States of America and the Republic of Mexico, concluded at Mexico on the 12th day of January, 1828, and a supplementary article relating thereto, signed also at Mexico on the 5th day of April, 1831.
ANDREW JACKSON.
UNITED STATES, February 24, 1832.
Gentlemen of the Senate:
I lay before you, for your consideration and advice, a treaty of amity and commerce between the United States of America and the Republic of Mexico, concluded at Mexico on the 5th day of April, in the year 1831.
ANDREW JACKSON.
WASHINGTON, February 29, 1832.
To the Senate:
In compliance with the resolution of the Senate of the 22d December, 1831, calling for certain information in relation to the trade between the United States and the British American colonies, I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of the Treasury.
ANDREW JACKSON.
WASHINGTON, February 29, 1832.
To the Senate:
In compliance with the resolution requesting the President of the United States to communicate to the Senate the considerations which in his opinion render it proper that the United States should be represented by a chargé d àffaires to the King of the Belgians at this time, I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State.
ANDREW JACKSON.
WASHINGTON, March 1, 1832.
To the House of Representatives:
I submit to the consideration of Congress the accompanying report from the Secretary of State, showing the propriety of making some change by law in the duty on the red wines imported into the United States from Austria.
ANDREW JACKSON.
WASHINGTON, March 1, 1832.
To the Senate:
Since my message yesterday in answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 22d December, 1831, calling for certain information in possession of the Executive relating to the trade between the United States and the British American colonies, I have received a report from the Secretary of State on the subject, which is also respectfully submitted to the Senate.
ANDREW JACKSON.
WASHINGTON, March 2, 1832.
To the Senate:
In compliance with the resolution of the Senate of February 9, 1832, I have received the accompanying report from the Commissioner of the General Land Office, "on the extent and amount of business of the surveyor-general's district for Missouri, Illinois, and Arkansas, and the expediency of dividing the said district," which is respectfully submitted to the Senate.
ANDREW JACKSON.
WASHINGTON, March 12, 1832.
To the House of Representatives:
In compliance with the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 7th instant, requesting the President of the United States to inform the House "whether any, and, if any, what, Indian tribes or nations who joined the enemy in the late war with Great Britain continue to receive annuities from the United States under treaties made prior to the war and not renewed since the peace," I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of War.
ANDREW JACKSON.
WASHINGTON, March 12, 1832.
To the House of Representatives:
I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of War, containing the information called for by the resolution of the House of the 26th January last, in relation to the expenditures incurred by the execution of the act approved May 28, 1830, entitled "An act to provide for an exchange of lands with the Indians residing in any of the States or Territories, and for their removal west of the river Mississippi."
ANDREW JACKSON.
WASHINGTON, March 12, 1832.
To the Senate:
I transmit herewith to the Senate a report from the Secretary of War, containing the information called for by the resolution of the Senate of the 12th of January last, in relation to the employment of agents among the Indians since the passage of the "act to provide for an exchange of lands with the Indians residing within any of the States or Territories, and for their removal west of the Mississippi," approved 28th May, 1830.
ANDREW JACKSON.
WASHINGTON, March 14, 1832.
To the Senate:
I submit herewith, for the consideration of the Senate as to their advice and consent to the same, an agreement or convention lately made with a band of the Wyandot Indians residing within the limits of Ohio.
ANDREW JACKSON.
WASHINGTON, March 16, 1832.
To the House of Representatives:
I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State, containing the information called for by the House of Representatives of the 24th February last, in relation to the situation of the Government of the Republic of Colombia and the state of our diplomatic relations with it.
ANDREW JACKSON.
WASHINGTON, March 26, 1832.
To the Senate of the United States:
I transmit to the Senate, for their advice and consent as to the ratification of the same, a treaty concluded at this city on the 24th instant between the United States and the Creek tribe of Indians.
ANDREW JACKSON.
WASHINGTON, March 29, 1832.
To the Senate:
In compliance with the resolution requesting the "President to inform the Senate whether any, and, if any, what, communications have passed between the executive department of the United States and the executive or legislative department of the State of Maine relative to the northeastern boundary, and whether any proposition has been made by either that the boundary designated by the King of the Netherlands shall be established for a consideration to be paid to Maine, and, if so, what consideration was proposed, so far as the same may not be inconsistent with the public interest," I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State.
ANDREW JACKSON.
WASHINGTON, April 2, 1832.
To the House of Representatives:
In compliance with the resolution of the House of the 17th of the last month, requesting the President to obtain and communicate to it as soon as may be practicable information "whether possession has been taken of any part of the territory of the United States on the Pacific Ocean by the subjects of any foreign power, with any other information relative to the condition and character of the said territory," I transmit herewith reports from the Secretaries of the State and Navy Departments, from which it will appear that there is no satisfactory information on the subject now in possession of the Executive, and that none is likely to be obtained but at an expense which can not be incurred without the authority of Congress.
ANDREW JACKSON.
WASHINGTON, April 4, 1832.
To the Congress of the United States:
I transmit herewith to Congress a report from the Secretary of State, showing the circumstances under which refuge was given on board the United States ship St. Louis, Captain Sloat, to the vice-president of the Republic of Peru and to General Miller, and the expense thereby incurred by Captain Sloat, for the payment of which there is no fund applicable to the case.
I recommend to Congress that provision be made for this and similar cases that may occur in future.
ANDREW JACKSON.
WASHINGTON, April 4, 1832.
To the Congress of the United States:
I submit herewith to the consideration of Congress a report from the Secretary of State, showing the necessity of providing additional accommodations for the Patent Office, and proposing the purchase of a suitable building, which has been offered to the Government for the purpose.
ANDREW JACKSON.
WASHINGTON, April 4, 1832.
To the Senate:
I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State, made in compliance with the resolution of the Senate which requests the President to communicate to the Senate, if not incompatible with the public interest, that portion of the correspondence between Mr. McLane, while minister at London, and the Secretary of State, and also between our said minister and the British Government, respecting the colonial trade, which may not have been communicated with his message to Congress of the 3d January, 1831.
ANDREW JACKSON.
WASHINGTON, April 6, 1832.
To the Senate:
I nominate William P. Zantzinger, of Pennsylvania, to be a purser in the Navy of the United States.
In submitting the above nomination it is deemed proper to give some detail of the peculiar circumstances of the case. Mr. Zantzinger was formerly a purser, and after a trial by a court-martial in January, 1830, was dismissed from the naval service. The record is inclosed, marked A. In July, 1830, verbally, afterwards in writing early in 1831, he applied for restoration to his former situation and date on the assumed ground that the proceedings in his trial were illegal and void, and he fortified himself by the many numerous certificates and opinions herewith forwarded, marked B.
These have been carefully examined, and though failing to convince me of the correctness of his position in respect to the nullity of those proceedings, I am satisfied that under all the circumstances of the case a mitigation of his sentence can be justified on both public and personal grounds.
With the loss of his former date and of his pay since his dismission, I have therefore submitted his nomination to take effect like an original entry into the service, only from its confirmation by the Senate. There is now one vacancy in the corps of pursers.
ANDREW JACKSON.
WASHINGTON, April 9, 1832.
To the Senate:
In compliance with the resolution requesting the President to transmit to the Senate "Lord Aberdeen's letter in answer to Mr. Barbour's of the 27th November, 1828, and also so much of a letter of the 22d April, 1831, from Mr. McLane to Mr. Van Buren as relates to the proposed duty on cotton," I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State, communicating copies of the letters referred to.
ANDREW JACKSON.
WASHINGTON, April 13, 1832.
To the Congress of the United States:
Approving the suggestions expressed by the Secretary of State in regard to the propriety of exempting Portuguese vessels entering the ports of the United States from the payment of the duties on tonnage, in consequence of a like exemption being extended to those of the United States, I transmit herewith, for the consideration of Congress, his letter on the subject.
ANDREW JACKSON.
WASHINGTON, April 18, 1832.
To the Senate:
I transmit herewith a report[[14]] from the Secretary of the Treasury, containing the information called for by the resolution of the Senate of the 3d instant.
ANDREW JACKSON.
[ [!-- Note Anchor 14 --][Footnote 14: Relating to trade with the European possessions of Great Britain for the year ending September 30, 1831.]
WASHINGTON, April 19, 1832.
To the Senate and House of Representatives:
I transmit herewith printed copies of each of the treaties between the United States and the Indian tribes that have been ratified during the present session of Congress.
ANDREW JACKSON.
WASHINGTON, April 20, 1832.
To the Senate:
In compliance with the resolution of the Senate of the 9th instant, requesting the President "to communicate to the Senate all the instructions given by this Government to our ministers to Great Britain and all the correspondence of our ministers on the subject of the colonial and West India trade since the 3d of March, 1825, not heretofore communicated, so far as the public interest will, in his judgment, permit," I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State, containing the information required.
ANDREW JACKSON.
WASHINGTON, April 23, 1832.
To the Senate and House of Representatives:
I transmit herewith, for the consideration of Congress, a report from the Secretary of State, suggesting the propriety of passing a law making it criminal within the limits of the United States to counterfeit the current coin of any foreign nation.
ANDREW JACKSON.
WASHINGTON, April 23, 1832.
To the Senate:
I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of the Treasury, containing the information called for by the resolution of the 26th of March last, in which the President is requested to communicate to the Senate—
First. The total amount of public lands belonging to the United States which remain unsold, whether the Indian title thereon has been extinguished or not, as far as that amount can be ascertained from surveys actually made or by estimate, and distinguishing the States and Territories respectively in which it is situated, and the quantity in each.
Second. The amount on which, the Indian title has been extinguished and the sums paid for the extinction thereof, and the amount on which the Indian title remains to be extinguished.
Third. The amount which has been granted by Congress from time to time in the several States and Territories, distinguishing between them and stating the purposes for which the grants were respectively made, and the amount of lands granted or money paid in satisfaction of Virginia land claims.
Fourth. The amount which has been heretofore sold by the United States, distinguishing between the States and Territories in which it is situated.
Fifth. The amount which has been paid to France, Spain, and Georgia for the public lands acquired from them respectively, including the amount which has been paid to purchasers from Georgia to quiet or in satisfaction of their claims, and the amount paid to the Indians to extinguish their title within the limits of Georgia.
Sixth. The total expense of administering the public domain since the declaration of independence, including all charges for surveying, for land offices, and other disbursements, and exhibiting the net amount which has been realized in the Treasury from that source.
ANDREW JACKSON.
WASHINGTON, May 1, 1832.
To the House of Representatives:
I transmit herewith, for the use of the House, a printed copy of two treaties lately ratified between the United States of America and the United Mexican States.
ANDREW JACKSON.
(The same message was sent to the Senate.)
WASHINGTON, May 2,1832.
To the House of Representatives:
In compliance with a resolution of the House of the 1st instant, in relation to the imprisonment[[15]] of Samuel G. Howe, I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State, by which it appears that no information on the subject has yet reached the Department of State but what is contained in the public newspapers.
ANDREW JACKSON.
[ [!-- Note Anchor 15 --][Footnote 15: In Berlin, Prussia.]
WASHINGTON, May 29, 1832.
To the House of Representatives:
In compliance with the resolution of the House of the 18th instant, I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State, with copies of the several instructions under which the recent treaty of indemnity with Denmark was negotiated, and also of the other papers relating to the negotiation required by the resolution.
ANDREW JACKSON.
WASHINGTON, May 29, 1832.
To the House of Representatives:
In compliance with the resolution of the House of the 27th of February last, requesting copies of the instructions and correspondence relating to the negotiation of the treaty with the Sublime Porte, together with those of the negotiations preceding the treaty from the year 1819, I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State, with the papers required.
ANDREW JACKSON.
WASHINGTON, June 11, 1832.
To the Senate:
I renominate Samuel Gwin to be register of the land office at Clinton, in the State of Mississippi.
In nominating Mr. Gwin to this office again it is proper to state to the Senate that I do so in compliance with the request of a number of the most respectable citizens of the State of Mississippi and with that of one of the Senators from the same State. The letters expressing this request are herewith respectfully inclosed for the consideration of the Senate. It will be perceived that they bear the fullest testimony to the fitness of Mr. Gwin for the office, and evince a strong desire that he should be continued in it.
Under these circumstances, and possessing myself a personal knowledge of his integrity and fitness and of the claims which his faithful and patriotic services give him upon the Government, I deem it an act of justice to nominate him again, not doubting that the Senate will embrace with cheerfulness an opportunity, with fuller information, to reconsider their former vote upon his nomination.
ANDREW JACKSON.
WASHINGTON, June 25, 1832.
To the Senate of the United States:
I herewith transmit to the Senate a report from the Secretary of State, on the subject of the abolition of discriminating duties on the tonnage of Spanish vessels. As it requires legislative enactment, I recommend it to the early attention of Congress.
ANDREW JACKSON.
(The same message was sent to the House of Representatives.)
WASHINGTON CITY, July 12, 1832.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives.
SIR: In compliance with the resolution of the House of Representatives passed this day, requesting the President of the United States "to lay before the House copies of the instructions given to the commander of the frigate Potomac previous to and since the departure of that ship from the island of Sumatra, and copies of such letters as may have been received from said commander after his arrival at Quallah Battoo, except such parts as may in his judgment require secrecy," I forward copies of the two letters of instructions to Captain Downes in relation to the piratical plunder and murder of our citizens at Quallah Battoo, on the coast of Sumatra, detailing his proceedings.
The instructions, with the papers annexed, are all that have been given bearing on this subject, and although parts of them do not relate materially to the supposed object of the resolution, yet it has been deemed expedient to omit nothing contained in the originals.
The letter and report from Captain Downes which are herewith furnished are all yet received from him bearing upon his proceedings at Quallah Battoo; but as further intelligence may hereafter be communicated by him, I send them for the information of the House, submitting, however, in justice to that officer, that their contents should not be published until he can enjoy a further opportunity of giving more full explanations of all the circumstances under which he conducted.
ANDREW JACKSON.
WASHINGTON, July 14, 1832. To the House of Representatives of the United States:
In compliance with the resolution of the House of the 17th of February last, requesting copies of the instructions and correspondence relative to the treaty with the Sublime Porte, together with those of the negotiations preceding that treaty, from the year 1829, I transmit herewith a supplemental report from the Secretary of State, with the papers accompanying the same.
ANDREW JACKSON.