OF THE DEBATES OF CONGRESS, FROM 1789 TO 1856. FROM GALES AND SEATON'S ANNALS OF CONGRESS; FROM THEIR BY THE AUTHOR OF THE THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. C VOL. XVI. NEW YORK: D. APPLETON & COMPANY, 443 & 445 BROADWAY. 1863. 538616 (16) HARVARD COLLEGE ENTERED according to Act of Congress, in the year 1856, by D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Southern District of New York. On motion of Mr. BREESE, it was Resolved, That a committee be appointed, jointly with such committee as may be appointed by the House of Representatives, to wait on the Pressident of the United States, and inform him that quorums of the two Houses have assembled, and that Congress are ready to receive any communication he may be pleased to make. The VICE PRESIDENT appointed Messrs. BREESE, CRITTENDEN, and FAIRFIELD, & committee on the part of the Senate in accordance with the foregoing resolution. On motion of Mr. CAMERON, it was Resolved, That each Senator be supplied, during the present session, with newspapers as heretofore, not exceeding the cost of three daily papers. Messages from the House. A message was received from the House of Representatives by its Clerk, BENJAMIN B. FRENCH, Esq., informing the Senate that the House of Representatives had assembled, and was ready to proceed to business. Also, a message informing the Senate that the House of Representatives had passed a resolution that a coinmittee be appointed, on the part of the House, to join such committee as might be appointed on the part of the Senate, to wait upon the President of the United States, and inform him that a quorum of the two Houses was assembled, and that Congress was might be pleased to make, and that Mr. Hopnow ready to receive any communication he KINS and Mr. WINTHROP were appointed said committee on the part of the House. Report of Committee the part of the Senate, appointed to wait upon the President of the United States, reported that the committee had performed the duty assigned to them, and that the President had stated in reply that he would send a communication to both Houses of Congress on to-morrow at twelve o'clock. Mr. BREESE, on behalf of the committee on On motion, the Senate adjourned. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. MONDAY, December 7. At twelve o'clock the Hon. JOHN W. DAVIS, of Indiana, Speaker of the House of Representatives, took the chair, and called the House to order. The roll of the members was called over by B. B. FRENCH, Esq., Clerk of the House, when 186 members answered to their names. A message was received from the Senate by the hands of A. DICKINS, Esq., Secretary, informing the House that a quorum of the Senate had assembled, and that that body was ready to proceed to business. Mr. PAYNE, of Alabama, announced that his colleague, Mr. JAMES L. COTTRELL, elected to fill the vacancy occasioned by the resignation of WILLIAM L. YANCEY, and FRANKLIN W. BOWDEN, to fill the vacancy occasioned by the death of FELIX G. McCONNELL, were present. Mr. JULIUS ROCKWELL, of Massachusetts, an nounced that his colleague, Mr. ARTEMAS HALE, elected to represent the 9th district of that State, was present. Mr. CULVER, of New York, announced that his colleague, Mг. THOMAS P. RIPLEY, elected to fill the vacancy occasioned by the death of RICHARD P. HERRICK, was present. Mr PHELPS, of Missouri, announced that his colleague, Mr. WILLIAM MODANIEL, elected to fill the vacancy occasioned by the resignation of Mr. STERLING PRICE, was present. These several members elect were respectively qualified, and took their seats. Letter from the Secretary of the Treasury, IN SENATE. TUESDAY, December 8. [29TH CONG The following Senators appeared in their seats to-day: From Connecticut-Hon. JOHN M. NILES. 66 66 New Jersey-Hon. W. L. DAyton. The Journal having been read of the United States was received by the hands and of the House of Representatives: In resuming your labors in the service of the TREASURY DEPARTMENT, November 19, 1846. people, it is a subject of congratulation that there SIR: Agreeably to the joint resolution of Con- has been no period in our past history, when all gress of the 7th January, 1846, I have the honor the elements of national prosperity have been so to transmit, for the information of the House of fully developed. Since your last session no afflictRepresentatives, printed estimates of the appro- good health has prevailed; abundance has crowning dispensation has visited our country; general priations proposed to be made for the fiscal yeared the toil of the husbandman; and labor in all its ending the 30th June, 1848, amounting to $41,- branches is receiving an ample reward, while edu717,355 48, viz: cation, science, and the arts, are rapidly enlarging the means of social happiness. The progress of our country in her career of greatness, not only in the vast extension of our territorial limits and the rapid increase of our population, but in resources and wealth, and in the happy condition of our people, is without example in the history of nations. Civil list, Foreign intercourse, and miscellaneous, $4,477,813 49 6,046,598 25 17,932,331 00 1,720,571 00 Army proper, Volunteers, Fortifications, ordnance, &c., Indian department, 1,231,614 00 Pensions, . 1,303,700 00 9,004,727 74 Naval Establishment, As the wisdom, strength, and beneficence of our free institutions are unfolded, every day adds fresh motives to contentment, and fresh incentives to 3,340,144 72 patriotism. To the estimates are added statements showingI. The appropriations for the service of the fiscal year ending the 30th June, 1848, made by former acts of Congress, of a permanent character, amounting to VIZ: Civil list, foreign intercourse, Arming and equipping militia, Pensions,. Interest, &c., public debt,' $1,046,800 00 200,000 00 10,000 00 675,00 00 1,408,344 72 Our devout and sincere acknowledgments are due to the gracious Giver of all good, for the numberless blessings which our beloved country enjoys. It is a source of high satisfaction to know that the relations of the United States with all other nations, with a single exception, are of the most amicable character. Sincerely attached to the policy of peace, early adopted and steadily pursued by this Government, I have anxiously desired to cultivate and cherish friendship and commerce with every foreign power. The spirit and habits of the American people are favorable to the maintenance of such international harmony. In adhering to this wise policy, a preliminary and paramount duty obviously consists in the protec$45,781,784 51 tion of our national interests from encroachment or sacrifice, and our national honor from reproach. These must be maintained at any hazard. They admit of no compromise or neglect, and must be scrupulously and constantly guarded. In their vigilant vindication, collision and conflict with foreign powers may sometimes become unavoidable. Such has been our scrupulous adherence to the dictates of justice, in all our foreign intercourse, that, though steadily and rapidly advancing in prosperity and power, we have given no just cause of complaint to any nation, and have enjoyed the blessings of peace for more than thirty years. From a policy so sacred to humanity, and so salutary in its effects upon our political system, we should never be induced voluntarily to depart The existing war with Mexico was neither desired nor provoked by the United States. On the contrary, all honorable means were resorted to to avert it. After years of endurance of aggravated and unredressed wrongs on our part, Mexico, in violation of solemn treaty stipulations, and of every principle of justice recognized by civilized nations, commenced hostilities; and thus, by her own act, forced the war upon us. Long before the advance of our army to the left bank of the Rio Grande, we had ample cause of war against Mexico; and had the United States resorted to this extremity, we might have appealed to the whole civilized world for the justice of our cause. I deem it to be my duty to present to you, on the present occasion, a condensed review of the injuries we had sustained, of the causes which led to the war, and of its progress since its commencement. This is rendered the more necessary because of the misapprehensions which have, to some extent, prevailed as to its origin and true character. The war has been represented as unjust and unnecessary, and as one of aggression on our part upon a weak and injured enemy. Such erroneous views, though entertained by but few, have been widely and extensively circulated, not only at home, but have been spread throughout Mexico and the whole world. A more effectual means could not have been devised to encourage the enemy and protract the war than to advocate and adhere to their cause, and thus give them "aid and comfort." It is a source of national pride and exultation, that the great body of our people have thrown no such obstacles in the way of the Government in prosecuting the war successfully, but have shown themselves to be eminently patriotic, and ready to vindicate their country's honor and interest at any sacrifice. The alacrity and promptness with which our volunteer forces rushed to the field on their country's call, prove not only their patriotism, but their deep conviction that our cause is just. [DECEMBER, 1846. made repeated reclamations on behalf of its citizens, but these were answered by the perpetration of new outrages. Promises of redress made by Mexico in the most solemn forms, were postponed or evaded. The files and records of the Department of State contain conclusive proofs of numerous lawless acts perpetrated upon the property and persons of our citizens by Mexico, and of wanton insults to our national flag. The interposition of our Government to obtain redress was again and again invoked, under circumstances which no nation ought to disregard. It was hoped that these outrages would cease, and that Mexico would be restrained by the laws which regulate the conduct of civilized nations in their intercourse with each other, after the treaty of amity, commerce, and navigation, of the 5th of April, 1831, was concluded between the two republics; but this hope soon proved to be vain. The course of seizure and confiscation of the property of our citizens, the violation of their persons, and the insults to our flag, pursued by Mexico previous to that time, were scarcely suspended for even a brief period, although the treaty so clearly defines the rights and duties of the respective parties, that it is impossible to misunderstand or mistake them. In less than seven years after the conclusion of that treaty, our grievances had become so intolerable, that in the opinion of President Jackson, they should no longer be endured. In his message to Congress in February, 1837, he presented them to the consideration of that body, and declared that "the length of time since some of the injuries have been committed, the repeated and unavailing applications for redress, the wanton character of some of the outrages upon the property and persons of our citizens, upon the officers and flag of the United States, independent of recent insults to this Government and people by the late extraordinary Mexican Minister, would justify in the eyes of all nations immediate war." In a spirit of kindness and forbearance, however, he recommended reprisals as a milder mode of redress. He declared that war should not be The wrongs which we have suffered from Mexico almost ever since she became an independent power, and the patient endurance with which we have borne them, are without a parallel in the history of modern civilized nations. There is reason to believe that if these wrongs had been resented and resisted in the first instance, the present war might have been avoided. One outrage, however, permitted to pass with impunity, almost necessarily encouraged the perpetration of another, until at last Mexico seemed to attribute to weakness and indecision on our part a forbearance which was the offspring of magnanimity, and of a sincere desire to preserve friendly relations with a sister re-national character from reproach, this opportunity public. Scarcely had Mexico achieved her independence, which the United States were the first among the nations to acknowledge, when she commenced the system of insult and spoliation, which she has ever since pursued. Our citizens engaged in lawful commerce, were imprisoned, their vessels seized, and our flag insulted in her ports. If money was wanted, the lawless seizure and confiscation of our merchant vessels and their cargoes was a ready resource; and if, to accomplish their purposes, it became necessary to imprison the owners, captains, and crews, it was done. Rulers superseded rulers in Mexico in rapid succession, but still there was no change in this system of depredation. The Government of the United States used as a remedy "by just and generous nations, confiding in their strength, for injuries committed, if it can be honorably avoided," and added, "it has occurred to me that, considering the present embarrassed condition of that country, we should act with both wisdom and moderation, by giving to Mexico one more opportunity to atone for the past, before we take redress into our own hands. To avoid all misconception on the part of Mexico, as well as to protect our own should be given with the avowed design and full preparation to take immediate satisfaction, if it should not be obtained on a repetition of the demand for it. To this end I recommend that an act be passed authorizing reprisals, and the use of the naval force of the United States, by the Executive, against Mexico, to enforce them in the event of a refusal by the Mexican Government to come to an amicable adjustment of the matters in controversy between us, upon another demand thereof, made from on board one of our vessels of war on the coast of Mexico." Committees of both Houses of Congress, to which this message of the President was referred, fully sustained his views of the character of the wrongs which we had suffered from Mexico, and |