1. Resolved, That in obedience to correct principle, and that Republican Institutions may not suffer, the naval forces of the United States should be withdrawn from the coasts of San Domingo during the pendency of negotiations for the acquisition of any part of that island.
2. Resolved, That every sentiment of justice is disturbed by the employment of foreign force in the maintenance of a ruler engaged in selling his country, and this moral repugnance is increased when it is known that the attempted sale is in violation of the Constitution of the country to be sold; that, therefore, the employment of our Navy to maintain Baez in usurped power while attempting to sell his country to the United States, in open violation of the Dominican Constitution, is morally wrong, and any transaction founded upon it must be null and void.
3. Resolved, That since the Equality of All Nations, without regard to population, size, or power, is an axiom of International Law, as the Equality of All Men is an axiom of our Declaration of Independence, nothing can be done to a small or weak nation that would not be done to a large or powerful nation, or that we would not allow to be done to ourselves; and therefore any treatment of the Republic of Hayti by the Navy of the United States inconsistent with this principle is an infraction of International Law in one of its great safeguards, and should be disavowed by the Government of the United States.
4. Resolved, That since certain naval officers of the United States, commanding large war-ships, including the monitor Dictator and the frigate Severn, with powerful armaments, acting under instructions from the Executive, and without the authority of an Act of Congress, have entered one or more ports of the Republic of Hayti, a friendly nation, and under the menace of open and instant war have coerced and restrained that republic in its sovereignty and independence under International Law,—therefore, in justice to the Republic of Hayti, also in recognition of its equal rights in the Family of Nations, and in deference to the fundamental principles of our institutions, these hostile acts should be disavowed by the Government of the United States.
5. Resolved, That under the Constitution of the United States the power to declare war is placed under the safeguard of an Act of Congress; that the President alone cannot declare war; that this is a peculiar principle of our Government by which it is distinguished from monarchical Governments, where power to declare war, as also the treaty-making power, is in the Executive alone; that in pursuance of this principle the President cannot, by any act of his own, as by an unratified treaty, obtain any such power, and thus divest Congress of its control; and that therefore the employment of the Navy without the authority of Congress in acts of hostility against a friendly foreign nation, or in belligerent intervention in the affairs of a foreign nation, is an infraction of the Constitution of the United States, and a usurpation of power not conferred upon the President.
6. Resolved, That while the President, without any previous declaration of war by Act of Congress, may defend the country against invasion by foreign enemies, he is not justified in exercising the same power in an outlying foreign island, which has not yet become part of the United States; that a title under an unratified treaty is at most inchoate and contingent while it is created by the President alone, in which respect it differs from any such title created by Act of Congress; and since it is created by the President alone, without the support of law, whether in legislation or a ratified treaty, the employment of the Navy in the maintenance of the Government there is without any excuse of national defence, as also without any excuse of a previous declaration of war by Congress.
7. Resolved, That whatever may be the title to territory under an unratified treaty, it is positive that after the failure of the treaty in the Senate all pretext of title ceases, so that our Government is in all respects a stranger to the territory, without excuse or apology for any interference against its enemies, foreign or domestic; and therefore any belligerent intervention or act of war on the coasts of San Domingo after the failure of the Dominican treaty in the Senate is unauthorized violence, utterly without support in law or reason, and proceeding directly from that kingly prerogative which is disowned by the Constitution of the United States.
8. Resolved, That in any proceedings for the acquisition of part of the island of San Domingo, whatever may be its temptations of soil, climate, and productions, there must be no exercise of influence by superior force, nor any violation of Public Law, whether International or Constitutional; and therefore the present proceedings, which have been conducted at great cost of money, under the constant shadow of superior force, and through the belligerent intervention of our Navy, acting in violation of International Law, and initiating war without an Act of Congress, must be abandoned, to the end that justice may be maintained, and that proceedings so adverse to correct principles may not become an example for the future.
9. Resolved, That, instead of seeking to acquire part of the island of San Domingo by belligerent intervention without the authority of an Act of Congress, it would have been in better accord with the principles of our Republic and its mission of peace and beneficence, had our Government, in the spirit of good neighborhood and by friendly appeal, instead of belligerent intervention, striven for the establishment of tranquillity throughout the whole island, so that the internal dissensions of Dominica and its disturbed relations with Hayti might be brought to a close, thus obtaining that security which is the first condition of prosperity, all of which, being in the nature of good offices, would have been without any violation of International Law, and without any usurpation of War Powers under the Constitution of the United States.