“And it came to pass after these things, that Naboth, the Jezreëlite, had a vineyard, which was in Jezreël, hard by the palace of Ahab, king of Samaria.
“And Ahab spake unto Naboth, saying, Give me thy vineyard, that I may have it for a garden of herbs, because it is near unto my house; and I will give thee for it a better vineyard than it: or, if it seem good to thee, I will give thee the worth of it in money.
“And Naboth said to Ahab, The Lord forbid it me, that I should give the inheritance of my fathers unto thee.”—1 Kings, xxi. 1-3.
In his Message at the opening of Congress, December 5, 1870, President Grant, adverting to the failure of the treaty for the annexion of San Domingo to the United States at the previous session, for want of the requisite two-thirds vote of the Senate, proceeded to remark:—
“I was thoroughly convinced then that the best interests of this country, commercially and materially, demanded its ratification. Time has only confirmed me in this view. I now firmly believe that the moment it is known that the United States have entirely abandoned the project of accepting as a part of its territory the island of San Domingo a free port will be negotiated for by European nations in the Bay of Samana. A large commercial city will spring up to which we will be tributary without receiving corresponding benefits, and then will be seen the folly of our rejecting so great a prize.”
After setting forth at much length the great value of this prize, the President concluded as follows:—
“In view of the importance of this question, I earnestly urge upon Congress early action, expressive of its views as to the best means of acquiring San Domingo. My suggestion is, that by joint resolution of the two Houses of Congress the Executive be authorized to appoint a commission to negotiate a treaty with the authorities of San Domingo for the acquisition of that island, and that an appropriation be made to defray the expenses of such commission. The question may then be determined, either by the action of the Senate upon the treaty, or the joint action of the two Houses of Congress upon a resolution of annexation, as in the case of the acquisition of Texas. So convinced am I of the advantages to flow from the acquisition of San Domingo, and of the great disadvantages, I might almost say calamities, to flow from non-acquisition, that I believe the subject has only to be investigated to be approved.”
As preliminary to action upon this recommendation of the President, Mr. Sumner, December 9th, offered the following resolution:—