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Title: A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents
       Section 2 (of 2) of Volume 6: Andrew Johnson

Author: James D. Richardson

Release Date: June 28, 2004 [EBook #12755]

Language: English

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A COMPILATION OF THE MESSAGES AND PAPERS OF THE PRESIDENTS

BY JAMES D. RICHARDSON




Andrew Johnson

April 15, 1865, to March 4, 1869




Andrew Johnson

Andrew Johnson was born in Raleigh, N.C., December 29, 1808. His parents
were very poor. When he was 4 years old his father died of injuries
received in rescuing a person from drowning. At the age of 10 years
Andrew was apprenticed to a tailor. His early education was almost
entirely neglected, and, notwithstanding his natural craving to learn,
he never spent a day in school. Was taught the alphabet by a
fellow-workman, borrowed a book, and learned to read. In 1824 removed to
Laurens Court-House, S.C., where he worked as a journeyman tailor. In
May, 1826, returned to Raleigh, and in September, with his mother and
stepfather, set out for Greeneville, Tenn., in a two-wheeled cart drawn
by a blind pony. Here he married Eliza McCardle, a woman of refinement,
who taught him to write, and read to him while he was at work during the
day. It was not until he had been in Congress that he learned to write
with ease. From Greeneville went to the West, but returned after the
lapse of a year. In 1828 was elected alderman; was reelected in 1829 and
1830, and in 1830 was advanced to the mayoralty, which office he held
for three years. In 1831 was appointed by the county court a trustee
of Rhea Academy, and about this time participated in the debates of a
society at Greeneville College. In 1834 advocated the adoption of a new
State constitution, by which the influence of the large landholders was
abridged. In 1835 represented Greene and Washington counties in the
legislature. Was defeated for the legislature in 1837, but in 1839 was
reelected. In 1836 supported Hugh L. White for the Presidency, and in
the political altercations between John Bell and James K. Polk, which
distracted Tennessee at the time, supported the former. Mr. Johnson was
the only ardent follower of Bell that failed to go over to the Whig
party. Was an elector for the State at large on the Van Buren ticket in
1840, and made a State reputation by the force of his oratory. In 1841
was elected to the State senate from Greene and Hawkins counties, and
while in that body was one of the "immortal thirteen" Democrats who,
having it in their power to prevent the election of a Whig Senator, did
so by refusing to meet the house in joint convention; also proposed that
the basis of representation should rest upon white votes, without regard
to the ownership of slaves. Was elected to Congress in 1843 over John A.
Asken, a United States Bank Democrat, who was supported by the Whigs.
His first speech was in support of the resolution to restore to General
Jackson the fine imposed upon him at New Orleans; also supported the
annexation of Texas. In 1845 was reelected, and supported Polk's
Administration. Was regularly reelected to Congress until 1853. During
this period opposed all expenditures for internal improvements that were
not general; resisted and defeated the proposed contingent tax of 10 per
cent on tea and coffee; made his celebrated defense of the veto power;
urged the adoption of the homestead law, which was obnoxious to the
extreme Southern element of his party; supported the compromise measures
of 1850 as a matter of expediency, but opposed compromises in general
as a sacrifice of principle. Was elected governor of Tennessee in 1853
over Gustavus A. Henry, the "Eagle Orator" of the State. In his message
to the legislature he dwelt upon the homestead law and other measures
for the benefit of the working classes, and earned the title of
the "Mechanic Governor." Opposed the Know-nothing movement with
characteristic vehemence. Was reelected governor in 1855, defeating
Meredith P. Gentry, the Whig-American candidate, after a most remarkable
canvass. The Kansas-Nebraska bill received his earnest support. In 1857
was elected to the United States Senate, where he urged the passage of
the homestead bill, and on May 20, 1858, made his greatest speech on
this subject. Opposed the grant of aid for the construction of a Pacific
railroad. Was prominent in debate, and frequently clashed with Southern
supporters of the Administration. His pronounced Unionism estranged him
from the extremists on the Southern side, while his acceptance of
slavery as an institution guaranteed by the Constitution caused him
to hold aloof from the Republicans on the other. At the Democratic
convention at Charleston, S.C., in 1860 was a candidate for the
Presidential nomination, but received only the vote of Tennessee, and
when the convention reassembled in Baltimore withdrew his name. In the
canvass that followed supported John C. Breckinridge. At the session
of Congress beginning in December, 1860, took decided and unequivocal
grounds in opposition to secession, and on December 13 introduced a
joint resolution proposing to amend the Constitution so as to elect the
President and Vice-President by district votes, Senators by a direct
popular vote, and to limit the terms of Federal judges to twelve
years, the judges to be equally divided between slaveholding and
non-slaveholding States. In his speech on this resolution, December 18
and 19, declared his unyielding opposition to secession and announced
his intention to stand by and act under the Constitution. Retained
his seat in the Senate until appointed by President Lincoln military
governor of Tennessee, March 4, 1862. March 12 reached Nashville, and
organized a provisional government for the State; March 18 issued a
proclamation in which he appealed to the people to return to their
allegiance, to uphold the law, and to accept "a full and complete
amnesty for all past acts and declarations;" April 5 removed the mayor
and other officials of Nashville for refusing to take the oath of
allegiance to the United States, and appointed others; urged the holding
of Union meetings throughout the State, and frequently attended them in
person; completed the railroad from Nashville to the Tennessee River;
raised twenty-five regiments for service in the State; December 8, 1862,
issued a proclamation ordering Congressional elections, and on the 15th
levied an assessment upon the richer Southern sympathizers "in behalf of
the many helpless widows, wives, and children in the city of Nashville
who have been reduced to poverty and wretchedness in consequence of
their husbands, sons, and fathers having been forced into the armies of
this unholy and nefarious rebellion." Was nominated for Vice-President
of the United States at the national Republican convention at Baltimore
June 8, 1864, and was elected on November 8. In his letter of acceptance
of the nomination Mr. Johnson virtually disclaimed any departure from
his principles as a Democrat, but placed his acceptance upon the ground
of "the higher duty of first preserving the Government." On the night of
the 14th of April, 1865, President Lincoln was shot by an assassin and
died the next morning. At 11 o'clock a.m. April 15 Mr. Johnson was sworn
in as President, at his rooms in the Kirkwood House, Washington, by
Chief Justice Chase, in the presence of nearly all the Cabinet officers
and others. April 29, 1865, issued a proclamation for the removal of
trade restrictions in most of the insurrectionary States, which, being
in contravention of an act of Congress, was subsequently modified.
May 9 issued an Executive order restoring Virginia to the Union. May 22
proclaimed all ports, except four in Texas, opened to foreign commerce
on July 1, 1865. May 29 issued a general amnesty proclamation, after
which the fundamental and irreconcilable differences between President
Johnson and the party that had elevated him to power became more
apparent. He exercised the veto power to a very great extent, but it was
generally nullified by the two-thirds votes of both Houses. From May 29
to July 13, 1865, proclaimed provisional governors for North Carolina,
Mississippi, Georgia, Texas, Alabama, South Carolina, and Florida, whose
duties were to reorganize the State governments. The State governments
were reorganized, but the Republicans claimed that the laws passed were
so stringent in reference to the negroes that it was a worse form of
slavery than the old. The thirteenth amendment to the Constitution
became a law December 18, 1865, with Mr. Johnson's concurrence. The first
breach between the President and the party in power was the veto of the
Freedmen's Bureau bill, in February, 1866, which was designed to protect
the negroes. March 27 vetoed the civil-rights bill, but it was passed
over his veto. In a message of June 22, 1866, opposed the joint
resolution proposing the fourteenth amendment to the Constitution. In
June, 1866, the Republicans in Congress brought forward their plan of
reconstruction, called the "Congressional plan," in contradistinction
to that of the President. The chief features of the Congressional plan
were to give the negroes the right to vote, to protect them in this
right, and to prevent Confederate leaders from voting. January 5, 1867,
vetoed the act giving negroes the right of suffrage in the District
of Columbia, but it was passed over his veto. An attempt was made to
impeach the President, but it failed. In January, 1867, a bill was
passed to deprive the President of the power to proclaim general
amnesty, which he disregarded. Measures were adopted looking to the
meeting of the Fortieth and all subsequent Congresses immediately after
the adjournment of the preceding. The President was deprived of the
command of the Army by a rider to the army appropriation bill, which
provided that his orders should only be given through the General, who
was not to be removed without the previous consent of the Senate. The
bill admitting Nebraska, providing that no law should ever be passed in
that State denying the right of suffrage to any person because of his
color or race, was vetoed by the President, but passed over his veto.
March 2, 1867, vetoed the act to provide for the more efficient
government of the rebel States, but it was passed over his veto.
It embodied the Congressional plan of reconstruction, and divided the
Southern States into five military districts, each under an officer of
the Army not under the rank of brigadier-general, who was to exercise
all the functions of government until the citizens had "formed a
constitution of government in conformity with the Constitution
of the United States in all respects." On the same day vetoed the
tenure-of-office act, which was also passed over his veto. It provided
that civil officers should remain in office until the confirmation of
their successors; that the members of the Cabinet should be removed
only with the consent of the Senate, and that when Congress was not in
session the President could suspend but not remove any official, and in
case the Senate at the next session should not ratify the suspension the
suspended official should be reinducted into his office. August 5, 1867,
requested Edwin M. Stanton to resign his office as Secretary of War.
Mr. Stanton refused, was suspended, and General Grant was appointed
Secretary of War _ad interim_. When Congress met, the Senate
refused to ratify the suspension. General Grant then resigned, and Mr.
Stanton resumed the duties of his office. The President removed him and
appointed Lorenzo Thomas, Adjutant-General of the Army, Secretary of War
_ad interim_. The Senate declared this act illegal, and Mr. Stanton
refused to comply, and notified the Speaker of the House. On February
24, 1868, the House of Representatives resolved to impeach the
President, and on March 2 and 3 articles of impeachment were agreed upon
by the House of Representatives, and on the 4th were presented to the
Senate. The trial began on March 30. May 16 the test vote was had;
thirty-five Senators voted for conviction and nineteen for acquittal. A
change of one vote would have carried conviction. A verdict of acquittal
was entered, and the Senate sitting as a court of impeachment adjourned
_sine die_. After the expiration of his term the ex-President
returned to Tennessee. Was a candidate for the United States Senate, but
was defeated. In 1872 was an unsuccessful candidate for Congressman from
the State at large. In January, 1875, was elected to the United States
Senate, and took his seat at the extra session of that year. Shortly
after the session began made a speech which was a skillful but bitter
attack upon President Grant. While visiting his daughter near
Elizabethton, in Carter County, Tenn., was stricken with paralysis July
30, 1875, and died the following day. He was buried at Greeneville, Tenn.




INAUGURAL ADDRESS.

[From the Sunday Morning Chronicle, Washington, April 16, 1865, and
The Sun, Baltimore, April 17, 1865.]

GENTLEMEN: I must be permitted to say that I have been almost
overwhelmed by the announcement of the sad event which has so recently
occurred. I feel incompetent to perform duties so important and
responsible as those which have been so unexpectedly thrown upon me.
As to an indication of any policy which may be pursued by me in the
administration of the Government, I have to say that that must be left
for development as the Administration progresses. The message or
declaration must be made by the acts as they transpire. The only
assurance that I can now give of the future is reference to the past.
The course which I have taken in the past in connection with this
rebellion must be regarded as a guaranty of the future. My past public
life, which has been long and laborious, has been founded, as I in good
conscience believe, upon a great principle of right, which lies at the
basis of all things. The best energies of my life have been spent in
endeavoring to establish and perpetuate the principles of free
government, and I believe that the Government in passing through its
present perils will settle down upon principles consonant with popular
rights more permanent and enduring than heretofore. I must be permitted
to say, if I understand the feelings of my own heart, that I have long
labored to ameliorate and elevate the condition of the great mass of the
American people. Toil and an honest advocacy of the great principles of
free government have been my lot. Duties have been mine; consequences
are God's. This has been the foundation of my political creed, and I
feel that in the end the Government will triumph and that these great
principles will be permanently established.

In conclusion, gentlemen, let me say that I want your encouragement and
countenance. I shall ask and rely upon you and others in carrying the
Government through its present perils. I feel in making this request
that it will be heartily responded to by you and all other patriots
and lovers of the rights and interests of a free people.

APRIL 15, 1865.




PROCLAMATIONS.


BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas, by my direction, the Acting Secretary of State, in a notice to
the public of the 17th, requested the various religious denominations
to assemble on the 19th instant, on the occasion of the obsequies of
Abraham Lincoln, late President of the United States, and to observe the
same with appropriate ceremonies; but

Whereas our country has become one great house of mourning, where the
head of the family has been taken away, and believing that a special
period should be assigned for again humbling ourselves before Almighty
God, in order that the bereavement may be sanctified to the nation:

Now, therefore, in order to mitigate that grief on earth which can
only be assuaged by communion with the Father in heaven, and in
compliance with the wishes of Senators and Representatives in Congress,
communicated to me by resolutions adopted at the National Capitol,
I, Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, do hereby appoint
Thursday, the 25th day of May next, to be observed, wherever in the
United States the flag of the country may be respected, as a day of
humiliation and mourning, and I recommend my fellow citizens then to
assemble in their respective places of worship, there to unite in solemn
service to Almighty God in memory of the good man who has been removed,
so that all shall be occupied at the same time in contemplation of his
virtues and in sorrow for his sudden and violent end.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of
the United States to be affixed.

[SEAL.]

Done at the city of Washington, the 25th day of April, A.D. 1865, and
of the Independence of the United States of America the eighty-ninth.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

By the President:
  W. HUNTER,
    _Acting Secretary of State_.



BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas by my proclamation of the 25th instant Thursday, the 25th day of
next month, was recommended as a day for special humiliation and prayer
in consequence of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, late President
of the United States; but

Whereas my attention has since been called to the fact that the day
aforesaid is sacred to large numbers of Christians as one of rejoicing
for the ascension of the Savior:

Now, therefore, be it known that I, Andrew Johnson, President of the
United States, do hereby suggest that the religious services recommended
as aforesaid should be postponed until Thursday, the 1st day of June
next.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of
the United States to be affixed.

[SEAL.]

Done at the city of Washington, this 29th day of April, A.D. 1865, and
of the Independence of the United States of America the eighty-ninth.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

By the President:
  W. HUNTER,
    _Acting Secretary of State_.



BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas it appears from evidence in the Bureau of Military Justice that
the atrocious murder of the late President, Abraham Lincoln, and the
attempted assassination of the Hon. William H. Seward, Secretary of
State, were incited, concerted, and procured by and between Jefferson
Davis, late of Richmond, Va., and Jacob Thompson, Clement C. Clay,
Beverley Tucker, George N. Sanders, William C. Cleary, and other rebels
and traitors against the Government of the United States harbored in
Canada:

Now, therefore, to the end that justice may be done, I, Andrew Johnson,
President of the United States, do offer and promise for the arrest of
said persons, or either of them, within the limits of the United States,
so that they can be brought to trial, the following rewards:

One hundred thousand dollars for the arrest of Jefferson Davis.

Twenty-five thousand dollars for the arrest of Clement C. Clay.

Twenty-five thousand dollars for the arrest of Jacob Thompson, late of
Mississippi.

Twenty-five thousand dollars for the arrest of George N. Sanders.

Twenty-five thousand dollars for the arrest of Beverley Tucker.

Ten thousand dollars for the arrest of William C. Cleary, late clerk of
Clement C. Clay.

The Provost-Marshal-General of the United States is directed to cause
a description of said persons, with notice of the above rewards, to be
published.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of
the United States to be affixed.

[SEAL.]

Done at the city of Washington, this 2d day of May, A.D. 1865, and of
the Independence of the United States of America the eighty-ninth.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

By the President:
  W. HUNTER,
    _Acting Secretary of State_.



BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas the President of the United States, by his proclamation of the
19th day of April, 1861, did declare certain States therein mentioned in
insurrection against the Government of the United States; and

Whereas armed resistance to the authority of this Government in the said
insurrectionary States may be regarded as virtually at an end, and the
persons by whom that resistance, as well as the operations of insurgent
cruisers, was directed are fugitives or captives; and

Whereas it is understood that some of those cruisers are still infesting
the high seas and others are preparing to capture, burn, and destroy
vessels of the United States:

Now, therefore, be it known that I, Andrew Johnson, President of the
United States, hereby enjoin all naval, military, and civil officers of
the United States diligently to endeavor, by all lawful means, to arrest
the said cruisers and to bring them into a port of the United States, in
order that they may be prevented from committing further depredations on
commerce and that the persons on board of them may no longer enjoy
impunity for their crimes.

And I do further proclaim and declare that if, after a reasonable time
shall have elapsed for this proclamation to become known in the ports of
nations claiming to have been neutrals, the said insurgent cruisers and
the persons on board of them shall continue to receive hospitality in
the said ports, this Government will deem itself justified in refusing
hospitality to the public vessels of such nations in ports of the United
States and in adopting such other measures as may be deemed advisable
toward vindicating the national sovereignty.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of
the United States to be affixed.

[SEAL.]

Done at the city of Washington, this 10th day of May, A.D. 1865, and
of the Independence of the United States of America the eighty-ninth.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

By the President:
  W. HUNTER,
    _Acting Secretary of State_.



BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas by the proclamation of the President of the 11th day of April
last certain ports of the United States therein specified, which had
previously been subject to blockade, were, for objects of public safety,
declared, in conformity with previous special legislation of Congress,
to be closed against foreign commerce during the national will, to be
thereafter expressed and made known by the President; and

Whereas events and circumstances have since occurred which, in my
judgment, render it expedient to remove that restriction, except as to
the ports of Galveston, La Salle, Brazos de Santiago (Point Isabel), and
Brownsville, in the State of Texas:

Now, therefore, be it known that I, Andrew Johnson, President of the
United States, do hereby declare that the ports aforesaid, not excepted
as above, shall be open to foreign commerce from and after the 1st day
of July next; that commercial intercourse with the said ports may from
that time be carried on, subject to the laws of the United States and in
pursuance of such regulations as may be prescribed by the Secretary of
the Treasury. If, however, any vessel from a foreign port shall enter
any of the before-named excepted ports in the State of Texas, she will
continue to be held liable to the penalties prescribed by the act of
Congress approved on the 13th day of July, 1861, and the persons on
board of her to such penalties as may be incurred, pursuant to the laws
of war, for trading or attempting to trade with an enemy.

And I, Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, do hereby declare
and make known that the United States of America do henceforth disallow
to all persons trading or attempting to trade in any ports of the United
States in violation of the laws thereof all pretense of belligerent
rights and privileges; and I give notice that from the date of this
proclamation all such offenders will be held and dealt with as pirates.

It is also ordered that all restrictions upon trade heretofore imposed
in the territory of the United States east of the Mississippi River,
save those relating to contraband of war, to the reservation of the
rights of the United States to property purchased in the territory of an
enemy, and to the 25 per cent upon purchases of cotton be removed. All
provisions of the internal-revenue law will be carried into effect under
the proper officers.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of
the United States to be affixed.

[SEAL.]

Done at the city of Washington, this 22d day of May, A.D. 1865, and of
the Independence of the United States of America the eighty-ninth.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

By the President:
  W. HUNTER,
    _Acting Secretary of State_.




BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas the President of the United States, on the 8th day of December,
A.D. 1863, and on the 26th day of March, A.D. 1864, did, with the object
to suppress the existing rebellion, to induce all persons to return to
their loyalty, and to restore the authority of the United States, issue
proclamations offering amnesty and pardon to certain persons who had,
directly or by implication, participated in the said rebellion; and

Whereas many persons who had so engaged in said rebellion have, since
the issuance of said proclamations, failed or neglected to take the
benefits offered thereby; and

Whereas many persons who have been justly deprived of all claim to
amnesty and pardon thereunder by reason of their participation, directly
or by implication, in said rebellion and continued hostility to the
Government of the United States since the date of said proclamations now
desire to apply for and obtain amnesty and pardon.

To the end, therefore, that the authority of the Government of the
United States may be restored and that peace, order, and freedom may
be established, I, Andrew Johnson, President of the United States,
do proclaim and declare that I hereby grant to all persons who have,
directly or indirectly, participated in the existing rebellion, except
as hereinafter excepted, amnesty and pardon, with restoration of all
rights of property, except as to slaves and except in cases where legal
proceedings under the laws of the United States providing for the
confiscation of property of persons engaged in rebellion have been
instituted; but upon the condition, nevertheless, that every such person
shall take and subscribe the following oath (or affirmation) and
thenceforward keep and maintain said oath inviolate, and which oath
shall be registered for permanent preservation and shall be of the tenor
and effect following, to wit:

  I ---- ---- do solemnly swear (or affirm), in presence of Almighty
  God, that I will henceforth faithfully support, protect, and defend
  the Constitution of the United States and the Union of the States
  thereunder, and that I will in like manner abide by and faithfully
  support all laws and proclamations which have been made during the
  existing rebellion with reference to the emancipation of slaves.
  So help me God.


The following classes of persons are excepted from the benefits of this
proclamation:

First. All who are or shall have been pretended civil or diplomatic
officers or otherwise domestic or foreign agents of the pretended
Confederate government.

Second. All who left judicial stations under the United States to aid
the rebellion.

Third. All who shall have been military or naval officers of said
pretended Confederate government above the rank of colonel in the army
or lieutenant in the navy.

Fourth. All who left seats in the Congress of the United States to aid
the rebellion.

Fifth. All who resigned or tendered resignations of their commissions in
the Army or Navy of the United States to evade duty in resisting the
rebellion.

Sixth. All who have engaged in any way in treating otherwise than
lawfully as prisoners of war persons found in the United States service
as officers, soldiers, seamen, or in other capacities.

Seventh. All persons who have been or are absentees from the United
States for the purpose of aiding the rebellion.

Eighth. All military and naval officers in the rebel service who were
educated by the Government in the Military Academy at West Point or the
United States Naval Academy.

Ninth. All persons who held the pretended offices of governors of States
in insurrection against the United States.

Tenth. All persons who left their homes within the jurisdiction and
protection of the United States and passed beyond the Federal military
lines into the pretended Confederate States for the purpose of aiding
the rebellion.

Eleventh. All persons who have been engaged in the destruction of the
commerce of the United States upon the high seas and all persons who
have made raids into the United States from Canada or been engaged in
destroying the commerce of the United States upon the lakes and rivers
that separate the British Provinces from the United States.

Twelfth. All persons who, at the time when they seek to obtain the
benefits hereof by taking the oath herein prescribed, are in military,
naval, or civil confinement or custody, or under bonds of the civil,
military, or naval authorities or agents of the United States as
prisoners of war, or persons detained for offenses of any kind, either
before or after conviction.

Thirteenth. All persons who have voluntarily participated in said
rebellion and the estimated value of whose taxable property is over
$20,000.

Fourteenth. All persons who have taken the oath of amnesty as prescribed
in the President's proclamation of December 8, A.D. 1863, or an oath of
allegiance to the Government of the United States since the date of said
proclamation and who have not thenceforward kept and maintained the same
inviolate.

_Provided_, That special application may be made to the President
for pardon by any person belonging to the excepted classes, and such
clemency will be liberally extended as may be consistent with the facts
of the case and the peace and dignity of the United States.

The Secretary of State will establish rules and regulations for
administering and recording the said amnesty oath, so as to insure its
benefit to the people and guard the Government against fraud.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal
of the United States to be affixed.

[SEAL.]

Done at the city of Washington, the 29th day of May, A.D. 1865, and
of the Independence of the United States the eighty-ninth.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

By the President:
  WILLIAM H. SEWARD,
    _Secretary of State_.



BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas the fourth section of the fourth article of the Constitution of
the United States declares that the United States shall guarantee to
every State in the Union a republican form of government and shall
protect each of them against invasion and domestic violence; and

Whereas the President of the United States is by the Constitution made
Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy, as well as chief civil
executive officer of the United States, and is bound by solemn oath
faithfully to execute the office of President of the United States and
to take care that the laws be faithfully executed; and

Whereas the rebellion which has been waged by a portion of the people of
the United States against the properly constituted authorities of the
Government thereof in the most violent and revolting form, but whose
organized and armed forces have now been almost entirely overcome, has
in its revolutionary progress deprived the people of the State of North
Carolina of all civil government; and

Whereas it becomes necessary and proper to carry out and enforce the
obligations of the United States to the people of North Carolina in
securing them in the enjoyment of a republican form of government:

Now, therefore, in obedience to the high and solemn duties imposed upon
me by the Constitution of the United States and for the purpose of
enabling the loyal people of said State to organize a State government
whereby justice may be established, domestic tranquillity insured, and
loyal citizens protected in all their rights of life, liberty, and
property, I, Andrew Johnson, President of the United States and
Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, do hereby
appoint William W. Holden provisional governor of the State of North
Carolina, whose duty it shall be, at the earliest practicable period, to
prescribe such rules and regulations as may be necessary and proper for
convening a convention composed of delegates to be chosen by that
portion of the people of said State who are loyal to the United States,
and no others, for the purpose of altering or amending the constitution
thereof, and with authority to exercise within the limits of said State
all the powers necessary and proper to enable such loyal people of the
State of North Carolina to restore said State to its constitutional
relations to the Federal Government and to present such a republican
form of State government as will entitle the State to the guaranty of
the United States therefor and its people to protection by the United
States against invasion, insurrection, and domestic violence:
_Provided_, That in any election that may be hereafter held for
choosing delegates to any State convention as aforesaid no person shall
be qualified as an elector or shall be eligible as a member of such
convention unless he shall have previously taken and subscribed the oath
of amnesty as set forth in the President's proclamation of May 29, A.D.
1865, and is a voter qualified as prescribed by the constitution and
laws of the State of North Carolina in force immediately before the 20th
day of May, A.D. 1861, the date of the so-called ordinance of secession;
and the said convention, when convened, or the legislature that may be
thereafter assembled, will prescribe the qualification of electors and
the eligibility of persons to hold office under the constitution and
laws of the State--a power the people of the several States composing
the Federal Union have rightfully exercised from the origin of the
Government to the present time.

And I do hereby direct--

First. That the military commander of the department and all officers
and persons in the military and naval service aid and assist the said
provisional governor in carrying into effect this proclamation; and they
are enjoined to abstain from in any way hindering, impeding, or
discouraging the loyal people from the organization of a State
government as herein authorized.

Second. That the Secretary of State proceed to put in force all laws
of the United States the administration whereof belongs to the State
Department applicable to the geographical limits aforesaid.

Third. That the Secretary of the Treasury proceed to nominate for
appointment assessors of taxes and collectors of customs and internal
revenue and such other officers of the Treasury Department as are
authorized by law and put in execution the revenue laws of the United
States within the geographical limits aforesaid. In making appointments
the preference shall be given to qualified loyal persons residing within
the districts where their respective duties are to be performed; but if
suitable residents of the districts shall not be found, then persons
residing in other States or districts shall be appointed.

Fourth. That the Postmaster-General proceed to establish post-offices
and post routes and put into execution the postal laws of the United
States within the said State, giving to loyal residents the preference
of appointment; but if suitable residents are not found, then to appoint
agents, etc., from other States.

Fifth. That the district judge for the judicial district in which North
Carolina is included proceed to hold courts within said State in
accordance with the provisions of the act of Congress. The
Attorney-General will instruct the proper officers to libel and bring to
judgment, confiscation, and sale property subject to confiscation and
enforce the administration of justice within said State in all matters
within the cognizance and jurisdiction of the Federal courts.

Sixth. That the Secretary of the Navy take possession of all public
property belonging to the Navy Department within said geographical
limits and put in operation all acts of Congress in relation to naval
affairs having application to the said State.

Seventh. That the Secretary of the Interior put in force the laws
relating to the Interior Department applicable to the geographical
limits aforesaid.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of
the United States to be affixed.

[SEAL.]

Done at the city of Washington, this 29th day of May, A.D. 1865, and
of the Independence of the United States the eighty-ninth.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

By the President:
  WILLIAM H. SEWARD,
    _Secretary of State_.



BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas the fourth section of the fourth article of the Constitution of
the United States declares that the United States shall guarantee to
every State in the Union a republican form of government and shall
protect each of them against invasion and domestic violence; and

Whereas the President of the United States is by the Constitution made
Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy, as well as chief civil
executive officer of the United States, and is bound by solemn oath
faithfully to execute the office of President of the United States and
to take care that the laws be faithfully executed; and

Whereas the rebellion which has been waged by a portion of the people of
the United States against the properly constituted authorities of the
Government thereof in the most violent and revolting form, but whose
organized and armed forces have now been almost entirely overcome, has
in its revolutionary progress deprived the people of the State of
Mississippi of all civil government; and

Whereas it becomes necessary and proper to carry out and enforce the
obligations of the United States to the people of Mississippi in
securing them in the enjoyment of a republican form of government:

Now, therefore, in obedience to the high and solemn duties imposed upon
me by the Constitution of the United States and for the purpose of
enabling the loyal people of said State to organize a State government
whereby justice may be established, domestic tranquillity insured, and
loyal citizens protected in all their rights of life, liberty, and
property, I, Andrew Johnson, President of the United States and
Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, do
hereby appoint William L. Sharkey, of Mississippi, provisional governor
of the State of Mississippi, whose duty it shall be, at the earliest
practicable period, to prescribe such rules and regulations as may be
necessary and proper for convening a convention composed of delegates
to be chosen by that portion of the people of said State who are loyal
to the United States, and no others, for the purpose of altering or
amending the constitution thereof, and with authority to exercise within
the limits of said State all the powers necessary and proper to enable
such loyal people of the State of Mississippi to restore said State to
its constitutional relations to the Federal Government and to present
such a republican form of State government as will entitle the State to
the guaranty of the United States therefor and its people to protection
by the United States against invasion, insurrection, and domestic
violence: _Provided_, That in any election that may be hereafter
held for choosing delegates to any State convention as aforesaid no
person shall be qualified as an elector or shall be eligible as a member
of such convention unless he shall have previously taken and subscribed
the oath of amnesty as set forth in the President's proclamation of
May 29, A.D. 1865, and is a voter qualified as prescribed by the
constitution and laws of the State of Mississippi in force immediately
before the 9th of January, A.D. 1861, the date of the so-called
ordinance of secession; and the said convention, when convened, or
the legislature that may be thereafter assembled, will prescribe the
qualification of electors and the eligibility of persons to hold office
under the constitution and laws of the State--a power the people of the
several States composing the Federal Union have rightfully exercised
from the origin of the Government to the present time.

And I do hereby direct--

First. That the military commander of the department and all officers
and persons in the military and naval service aid and assist the said
provisional governor in carrying into effect this proclamation; and they
are enjoined to abstain from in any way hindering, impeding, or
discouraging the loyal people from the organization of a State
government as herein authorized.

Second. That the Secretary of State proceed to put in force all laws
of the United States the administration whereof belongs to the State
Department applicable to the geographical limits aforesaid.

Third. That the Secretary of the Treasury proceed to nominate for
appointment assessors of taxes and collectors of customs and internal
revenue and such other officers of the Treasury Department as are
authorized by law and put in execution the revenue laws of the United
States within the geographical limits aforesaid. In making appointments
the preference shall be given to qualified loyal persons residing within
the districts where their respective duties are to be performed; but if
suitable residents of the districts shall not be found, then persons
residing in other States or districts shall be appointed.

Fourth. That the Postmaster-General proceed to establish post-offices
and post routes and put into execution the postal laws of the United
States within the said State, giving to loyal residents the preference
of appointment; but if suitable residents are not found, then to appoint
agents, etc., from other States.

Fifth. That the district judge for the judicial district in which
Mississippi is included proceed to hold courts within said State
in accordance with the provisions of the act of Congress. The
Attorney-General will instruct the proper officers to libel and bring to
judgment, confiscation, and sale property subject to confiscation and
enforce the administration of justice within said State in all matters
within the cognizance and jurisdiction of the Federal courts.

Sixth. That the Secretary of the Navy take possession of all public
property belonging to the Navy Department within said geographical
limits and put in operation all acts of Congress in relation to naval
affairs having application to the said State.

Seventh. That the Secretary of the Interior put in force the laws
relating to the Interior Department applicable to the geographical
limits aforesaid.

[SEAL.]

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal
of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the city of Washington, this 13th day of June, A.D. 1865, and
of the Independence of the United States the eighty-ninth.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

By the President:
  WILLIAM H. SEWARD,
    _Secretary of State_.



BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas by my proclamation[1] of the 29th of April, 1865, all
restrictions upon internal, domestic, and commercial intercourse,
with certain exceptions therein specified and set forth, were removed
"in such parts of the States of Tennessee, Virginia, North Carolina,
South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and so much of
Louisiana as lies east of the Mississippi River as shall be embraced
within the lines of national military occupation;" and

[Footnote 1: Executive order.]

Whereas by my proclamation of the 22d of May, 1865, for reasons therein
given, it was declared that certain ports of the United States which had
been previously closed against foreign commerce should, with certain
specified exceptions, be reopened to such commerce on and after the
1st day of July next, subject to the laws of the United States, and in
pursuance of such regulations as might be prescribed by the Secretary
of the Treasury; and

Whereas I am satisfactorily informed that dangerous combinations against
the laws of the United States no longer exist within the State of
Tennessee; that the insurrection heretofore existing within said State
has been suppressed; that within the boundaries thereof the authority of
the United States is undisputed, and that such officers of the United
States as have been duly commissioned are in the undisturbed exercise of
their official functions:

Now, therefore, be it known that I, Andrew Johnson, President of the
United States, do hereby declare that all restrictions upon internal,
domestic, and coastwise intercourse and trade and upon the removal of
products of States heretofore declared in insurrection, reserving and
excepting only those relating to contraband of war, as hereinafter
recited, and also those which relate to the reservation of the rights
of the United States to property purchased in the territory of an enemy
heretofore imposed in the territory of the United States east of the
Mississippi River, are annulled, and I do hereby direct that they be
forthwith removed; and that on and after the 1st day of July next all
restrictions upon foreign commerce with said ports, with the exception
and reservation aforesaid, be likewise removed; and that the commerce of
said States shall be conducted under the supervision of the regularly
appointed officers of the customs provided by law, and such officers of
the customs shall receive any captured and abandoned property that may
be turned over to them under the law by the military or naval forces of
the United States and dispose of such property as shall be directed by
the Secretary of the Treasury. The following articles, contraband of
war, are excepted from the effect of this proclamation: Arms,
ammunition, all articles from which ammunition is made, and gray
uniforms and cloth.

And I hereby also proclaim and declare that the insurrection, so far as
it relates to and within the State of Tennessee and the inhabitants of
the said State of Tennessee as reorganized and constituted under their
recently adopted constitution and reorganization and accepted by them,
is suppressed, and therefore, also, that all the disabilities and
disqualifications attaching to said State and the inhabitants thereof
consequent upon any proclamation issued by virtue of the fifth section
of the act entitled "An act further to provide for the collection of
duties on imports and for other purposes," approved the 13th day of
July, 1861, are removed.

But nothing herein contained shall be considered or construed as in any
wise changing or impairing any of the penalties and forfeitures for
treason heretofore incurred under the laws of the United States or any
of the provisions, restrictions, or disabilities set forth in my
proclamation bearing date the 29th day of May, 1865, or as impairing
existing regulations for the suspension of the _habeas corpus_ and
the exercise of military law in cases where it shall be necessary for
the general public safety and welfare during the existing insurrection;
nor shall this proclamation affect or in any way impair any laws
heretofore passed by Congress and duly approved by the President or any
proclamations or orders issued by him during the aforesaid insurrection
abolishing slavery or in any way affecting the relations of slavery,
whether of persons or property; but, on the contrary, all such laws and
proclamations heretofore made or issued are expressly saved and declared
to be in full force and virtue.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal
of the United States to be affixed.

[SEAL.]

Done at the city of Washington, this 13th day of June, A.D. 1865, and
of the Independence of the United States of America the eighty-ninth.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

By the President:
  WILLIAM H. SEWARD,
    _Secretary of State_.



BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas the fourth section of the fourth article of the Constitution of
the United States declares that the United States shall guarantee to
every State in the Union a republican form of government and shall
protect each of them against invasion and domestic violence; and

Whereas the President of the United States is by the Constitution made
Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy, as well as chief civil
executive officer of the United States, and is bound by solemn oath
faithfully to execute the office of President of the United States and
to take care that the laws be faithfully executed; and

Whereas the rebellion which has been waged by a portion of the people of
the United States against the properly constituted authorities of the
Government thereof in the most violent and revolting form, but whose
organized and armed forces have now been almost entirely overcome, has
in its revolutionary progress deprived the people of the State of
Georgia of all civil government; and

Whereas it becomes necessary and proper to carry out and enforce the
obligations of the United States to the people of Georgia in securing
them in the enjoyment of a republican form of government:

Now, therefore, in obedience to the high and solemn duties imposed upon
me by the Constitution of the United States and for the purpose of
enabling the loyal people of said State to organize a State government
whereby justice may be established, domestic tranquillity insured, and
loyal citizens protected in all their rights of life, liberty, and
property, I, Andrew Johnson, President of the United States and
Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, do hereby
appoint James Johnson, of Georgia, provisional governor of the State of
Georgia, whose duty it shall be, at the earliest practicable period,
to prescribe such rules and regulations as may be necessary and proper
for convening a convention composed of delegates to be chosen by that
portion of the people of said State who are loyal to the United States,
and no others, for the purpose of altering or amending the constitution
thereof, and with authority to exercise within the limits of said State
all the powers necessary and proper to enable such loyal people of the
State of Georgia to restore said State to its constitutional relations
to the Federal Government and to present such a republican form of State
government as will entitle the State to the guaranty of the United
States therefor and its people to protection by the United States
against invasion, insurrection, and domestic violence: _Provided_,
That in any election that may be hereafter held for choosing delegates
to any State convention as aforesaid no person shall be qualified as an
elector or shall be eligible as a member of such convention unless he
shall have previously taken and subscribed the oath of amnesty as set
forth in the President's proclamation of May 29, A.D. 1865, and is a
voter qualified as prescribed by the constitution and laws of the State
of Georgia in force immediately before the 19th of January, A.D. 1861,
the date of the so-called ordinance of secession; and the said
convention, when convened, or the legislature that may be thereafter
assembled, will prescribe the qualification of electors and the
eligibility of persons to hold office under the constitution and laws
of the State--a power the people of the several States composing the
Federal Union have rightfully exercised from the origin of the
Government to the present time.

And I do hereby direct--

First. That the military commander of the department and all officers
and persons in the military and naval service aid and assist the said
provisional governor in carrying into effect this proclamation; and they
are enjoined to abstain from in any way hindering, impeding, or
discouraging the loyal people from the organization of a State
government as herein authorized.

Second. That the Secretary of State proceed to put in force all laws
of the United States the administration whereof belongs to the State
Department applicable to the geographical limits aforesaid.

Third. That the Secretary of the Treasury proceed to nominate for
appointment assessors of taxes and collectors of customs and internal
revenue and such other officers of the Treasury Department as are
authorized by law and put in execution the revenue laws of the United
States within the geographical limits aforesaid. In making appointments
the preference shall be given to qualified loyal persons residing within
the districts where their respective duties are to be performed; but if
suitable residents of the districts shall not be found, then persons
residing in other States or districts shall be appointed.

Fourth. That the Postmaster-General proceed to establish post-offices
and post routes and put into execution the postal laws of the United
States within the said State, giving to loyal residents the preference
of appointment; but if suitable residents are not found, then to appoint
agents, etc., from other States.

Fifth. That the district judge for the judicial district in which
Georgia is included proceed to hold courts within said State in
accordance with the provisions of the act of Congress. The
Attorney-General will instruct the proper officers to libel and bring to
judgment, confiscation, and sale property subject to confiscation and
enforce the administration of justice within said State in all matters
within the cognizance and jurisdiction of the Federal courts.

Sixth. That the Secretary of the Navy take possession of all public
property belonging to the Navy Department within said geographical
limits and put in operation all acts of Congress in relation to naval
affairs having application to the said State.

Seventh. That the Secretary of the Interior put in force the laws
relating to the Interior Department applicable to the geographical
limits aforesaid.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal
of the United States to be affixed.

[SEAL.]

Done at the city of Washington, this 17th day of June, A.D. 1865, and
of the Independence of the United States the eighty-ninth.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

By the President:
  WILLIAM H. SEWARD,
    _Secretary of State_.



BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas the fourth section of the fourth article of the Constitution of
the United States declares that the United States shall guarantee to
every State in the Union a republican form of government and shall
protect each of them against invasion and domestic violence; and

Whereas the President of the United States is by the Constitution
made Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy, as well as chief civil
executive officer of the United States, and is bound by solemn oath
faithfully to execute the office of President of the United States and
to take care that the laws be faithfully executed; and

Whereas the rebellion which has been waged by a portion of the people of
the United States against the properly constituted authorities of the
Government thereof in the most violent and revolting form, but whose
organized and armed forces have now been almost entirely overcome, has
in its revolutionary progress deprived the people of the State of Texas
of all civil government; and

Whereas it becomes necessary and proper to carry out and enforce the
obligations of the United States to the people of the State of Texas in
securing them in the enjoyment of a republican form of government:

Now, therefore, in obedience to the high and solemn duties imposed upon
me by the Constitution of the United States and for the purpose of
enabling the loyal people of said State to organize a State government
whereby justice may be established, domestic tranquillity insured, and
loyal citizens protected in all their rights of life, liberty, and
property, I, Andrew Johnson, President of the United States and
Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, do hereby
appoint Andrew J. Hamilton, of Texas, provisional governor of the State
of Texas, whose duty it shall be, at the earliest practicable period, to
prescribe such rules and regulations as may be necessary and proper for
convening a convention composed of delegates to be chosen by that
portion of the people of said State who are loyal to the United States,
and no others, for the purpose of altering or amending the constitution
thereof, and with authority to exercise within the limits of said State
all the powers necessary and proper to enable such loyal people of the
State of Texas to restore said State to its constitutional relations to
the Federal Government and to present such a republican form of State
government as will entitle the State to the guaranty of the United
States therefor and its people to protection by the United States
against invasion, insurrection, and domestic violence: _Provided_,
That in any election that may be hereafter held for choosing delegates
to any State convention as aforesaid no person shall be qualified as an
elector or shall be eligible as a member of such convention unless he
shall have previously taken and subscribed the oath of amnesty as set
forth in the President's proclamation of May 29, A.D. 1865, and is a
voter qualified as prescribed by the constitution and laws of the State
of Texas in force immediately before the 1st day of February, A.D. 1861,
the date of the so-called ordinance of secession; and the said
convention, when convened, or the legislature that may be thereafter
assembled, will prescribe the qualification of electors and the
eligibility of persons to hold office under the constitution and laws of
the State--a power the people of the several States composing the
Federal Union have rightfully exercised from the origin of the
Government to the present time.

And I do hereby direct--

First. That the military commander of the department and all officers
and persons in the military and naval service aid and assist the said
provisional governor in carrying into effect this proclamation; and they
are enjoined to abstain from in any way hindering, impeding, or
discouraging the loyal people from the organization of a State
government as herein authorized.

Second. That the Secretary of State proceed to put in force all laws
of the United States the administration whereof belongs to the State
Department applicable to the geographical limits aforesaid.

Third. That the Secretary of the Treasury proceed to nominate for
appointment assessors of taxes and collectors of customs and internal
revenue and such other officers of the Treasury Department as are
authorized by law and put in execution the revenue laws of the United
States within the geographical limits aforesaid. In making appointments
the preference shall be given to qualified loyal persons residing within
the districts where their respective duties are to be performed; but if
suitable residents of the districts shall not be found, then persons
residing in other States or districts shall be appointed.

Fourth. That the Postmaster-General proceed to establish post-offices
and post routes and put into execution the postal laws of the United
States within the said State, giving to loyal residents the preference
of appointment; but if suitable residents are not found, then to appoint
agents, etc., from other States.

Fifth. That the district judge for the judicial district in which Texas
is included proceed to hold courts within said State in accordance with
the provisions of the act of Congress. The Attorney-General will
instruct the proper officers to libel and bring to judgment,
confiscation, and sale property subject to confiscation and enforce the
administration of justice within said State in all matters within the
cognizance and jurisdiction of the Federal courts.

Sixth. That the Secretary of the Navy take possession of all public
property belonging to the Navy Department within said geographical
limits and put in operation all acts of Congress in relation to naval
affairs having application to the said State.

Seventh. That the Secretary of the Interior put in force the laws
relating to the Interior Department applicable to the geographical
limits aforesaid.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of
the United States to be affixed.

[SEAL.]

Done at the city of Washington, this 17th day of June, A.D. 1865, and of
the Independence of the United States the eighty-ninth.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

By the President:
  WILLIAM H. SEWARD,
    _Secretary of State_.



BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas the fourth section of the fourth article of the Constitution of
the United States declares that the United States shall guarantee to
every State in the Union a republican form of government and shall
protect each of them against invasion and domestic violence; and

Whereas the President of the United States is by the Constitution made
Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy, as well as chief civil
executive officer of the United States, and is bound by solemn oath
faithfully to execute the office of President of the United States and
to take care that the laws be faithfully executed; and

Whereas the rebellion which has been waged by a portion of the people of
the United States against the properly constituted authorities of the
Government thereof in the most violent and revolting form, but whose
organized and armed forces have now been almost entirely overcome, has
in its revolutionary progress deprived the people of the State of
Alabama of all civil government; and

Whereas it becomes necessary and proper to carry out and enforce the
obligations of the United States to the people of Alabama in securing
them in the enjoyment of a republican form of government:

Now, therefore, in obedience to the high and solemn duties imposed upon
me by the Constitution of the United States and for the purpose of
enabling the loyal people of said State to organize a State government
whereby justice may be established, domestic tranquillity insured, and
loyal citizens protected in all their rights of life, liberty, and
property, I, Andrew Johnson, President of the United States and
Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, do hereby
appoint Lewis E. Parsons, of Alabama, provisional governor of the State
of Alabama, whose duty it shall be, at the earliest practicable period,
to prescribe such rules and regulations as may be necessary and proper
for convening a convention composed of delegates to be chosen by that
portion of the people of said State who are loyal to the United States,
and no others, for the purpose of altering or amending the constitution
thereof, and with authority to exercise within the limits of said State
all the powers necessary and proper to enable such loyal people of the
State of Alabama to restore said State to its constitutional relations
to the Federal Government and to present such a republican form of State
government as will entitle the State to the guaranty of the United
States therefor and its people to protection by the United States
against invasion, insurrection, and domestic violence: _Provided_,
That in any election that may be hereafter held for choosing delegates
to any State convention as aforesaid no person shall be qualified as an
elector or shall be eligible as a member of such convention unless he
shall have previously taken and subscribed the oath of amnesty as set
forth in the President's proclamation of May 29, A.D. 1865, and is a
voter qualified as prescribed by the constitution and laws of the State
of Alabama in force immediately before the 11th day of January, A.D.
1861, the date of the so-called ordinance of secession; and the said
convention, when convened, or the legislature that may be thereafter
assembled, will prescribe the qualification of electors and the
eligibility of persons to hold office under the constitution and laws of
the State, a power the people of the several States composing the
Federal Union have rightfully exercised from the origin of the
Government to the present time.

And I do hereby direct--

First. That the military commander of the department and all officers
and persons in the military and naval service aid and assist the said
provisional governor in carrying into effect this proclamation; and they
are enjoined to abstain from in any way hindering, impeding, or
discouraging the loyal people from the organization of a State
government as herein authorized.

Second. That the Secretary of State proceed to put in force all laws
of the United States the administration whereof belongs to the State
Department applicable to the geographical limits aforesaid.

Third. That the Secretary of the Treasury proceed to nominate for
appointment assessors of taxes and collectors of customs and internal
revenue and such other officers of the Treasury Department as are
authorized by law and put in execution the revenue laws of the United
States within the geographical limits aforesaid. In making appointments
the preference shall be given to qualified loyal persons residing within
the districts where their respective duties are to be performed; but if
suitable residents of the districts shall not be found, then persons
residing in other States or districts shall be appointed.

Fourth. That the Postmaster-General proceed to establish post-offices
and post routes and put into execution the postal laws of the United
States within the said State, giving to loyal residents the preference
of appointment; but if suitable residents are not found, then to appoint
agents, etc., from other States.

Fifth. That the district judge for the judicial district in which
Alabama is included proceed to hold courts within said State in
accordance with the provisions of the act of Congress. The
Attorney-General will instruct the proper officers to libel and bring to
judgment, confiscation, and sale property subject to confiscation and
enforce the administration of justice within said State in all matters
within the cognizance and jurisdiction of the Federal courts.

Sixth. That the Secretary of the Navy take possession of all public
property belonging to the Navy Department within said geographical
limits and put in operation all acts of Congress in relation to naval
affairs having application to the said State.

Seventh. That the Secretary of the Interior put in force the laws
relating to the Interior Department applicable to the geographical
limits aforesaid.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal
of the United States to be affixed.

[SEAL.]

Done at the city of Washington, this 21st day of June, A.D. 1865, and
of the Independence of the United States the eighty-ninth.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

By the President:
  WILLIAM H. SEWARD,
    _Secretary of State_.



BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas by the proclamations of the President of the 19th and 27th of
April, 1861, a blockade of certain ports of the United States was set on
foot; but

Whereas the reasons for that measure have ceased to exist:

Now, therefore, be it known that I, Andrew Johnson, President of the
United States, do hereby declare and proclaim the blockade aforesaid to
be rescinded as to all the ports aforesaid, including that of Galveston
and other ports west of the Mississippi River, which ports will be open
to foreign commerce on the 1st of July next on the terms and conditions
set forth in my proclamation of the 22d of May last.

It is to be understood, however, that the blockade thus rescinded was an
international measure for the purpose of protecting the sovereign rights
of the United States. The greater or less subversion of civil authority
in the region to which it applied and the impracticability of at once
restoring that in due efficiency may for a season make it advisable to
employ the Army and Navy of the United States toward carrying the laws
into effect wherever such employment may be necessary.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of
the United States to be affixed.

[SEAL.]

Done at the city of Washington, this 23d day of June, A.D. 1865, and of
the Independence of the United States of America the eighty-ninth.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

By the President:
  W. HUNTER,
    _Acting Secretary of State_.



BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas it has been the desire of the General Government of the United
States to restore unrestricted commercial intercourse between and in the
several States as soon as the same could be safely done in view of
resistance to the authority of the United States by combinations of
armed insurgents; and

Whereas that desire has been shown in my proclamations of the 29th of
April, 1865, the 13th of June, 1865, and the 23d of June, 1865; and

Whereas it now seems expedient and proper to remove restrictions upon
internal, domestic, and coastwise trade and commercial intercourse
between and within the States and Territories west of the Mississippi
River:

Now, therefore, be it known that I, Andrew Johnson, President of the
United States, do hereby declare that all restrictions upon internal,
domestic, and coastwise intercourse and trade and upon the purchase and
removal of products of States and parts of States and Territories
heretofore declared in insurrection, lying west of the Mississippi River
(excepting only those relating to property heretofore purchased by the
agents or captured by or surrendered to the forces of the United States
and to the transportation thereto or therein on private account of arms,
ammunition, all articles from which ammunition is made, gray uniforms,
and gray cloth), are annulled; and I do hereby direct that they be
forthwith removed, and also that the commerce of such States and parts
of States shall be conducted under the supervision of the regularly
appointed officers of the customs, [who] shall receive any captured and
abandoned property that may be turned over to them under the law by the
military or naval forces of the United States and dispose of the same in
accordance with instructions on the subject issued by the Secretary of
the Treasury.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of
the United States to be affixed.

Done at the city of Washington, this 24th day of June, A.D. 1865, and of
the Independence of the United States of America the eighty-ninth.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

By the President:
  W. HUNTER,
    _Acting Secretary of State_.



BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas the fourth section of the fourth article of the Constitution of
the United States declares that the United States shall guarantee to
every State in the Union a republican form of government and shall
protect each of them against invasion and domestic violence; and

Whereas the President of the United States is by the Constitution made
Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy, as well as chief civil
executive officer of the United States, and is bound by solemn oath
faithfully to execute the office of President of the United States and
to take care that the laws be faithfully executed; and

Whereas the rebellion which has been waged by a portion of the people of
the United States against the properly constituted authorities of the
Government thereof in the most violent and revolting form, but whose
organized and armed forces have now been almost entirely overcome, has
in its revolutionary progress deprived the people of the State of South
Carolina of all civil government; and

Whereas it becomes necessary and proper to carry out and enforce the
obligations of the United States to the people of South Carolina in
securing them in the enjoyment of a republican form of government:

Now, therefore, in obedience to the high and solemn duties imposed upon
me by the Constitution of the United States and for the purpose of
enabling the loyal people of said State to organize a State government
whereby justice may be established, domestic tranquillity insured, and
loyal citizens protected in all their rights of life, liberty, and
property, I, Andrew Johnson, President of the United States and
Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, do hereby
appoint Benjamin F. Perry, of South Carolina, provisional governor of
the State of South Carolina, whose duty it shall be, at the earliest
practicable period, to prescribe such rules and regulations as may be
necessary and proper for convening a convention composed of delegates
to be chosen by that portion of the people of said State who are loyal
to the United States, and no others, for the purpose of altering or
amending the constitution thereof, and with authority to exercise within
the limits of said State all the powers necessary and proper to enable
such loyal people of the State of South Carolina to restore said State
to its constitutional relations to the Federal Government and to present
such a republican form of State government as will entitle the State to
the guaranty of the United States therefor and its people to protection
by the United States against invasion, insurrection, and domestic
violence: _Provided_, That in any election that may be hereafter
held for choosing delegates to any State convention as aforesaid no
person shall be qualified as an elector or shall be eligible as a member
of such convention unless he shall have previously taken and subscribed
the oath of amnesty as set forth in the President's proclamation
of May 29, A.D. 1865, and is a voter qualified as prescribed by
the constitution and laws of the State of South Carolina in force
immediately before the 17th day of November, A.D. 1860, the date of
the so-called ordinance of secession; and the said convention, when
convened, or the legislature that may be thereafter assembled, will
prescribe the qualification of electors and the eligibility of persons
to hold office under the constitution and laws of the State--a power the
people of the several States composing the Federal Union have rightfully
exercised from the origin of the Government to the present time.

And I do hereby direct--

First. That the military commander of the department and all officers
and persons in the military and naval service aid and assist the said
provisional governor in carrying into effect this proclamation; and they
are enjoined to abstain from in any way hindering, impeding, or
discouraging the loyal people from the organization of a State
government as herein authorized.

Second. That the Secretary of State proceed to put in force all laws
of the United States the administration whereof belongs to the State
Department applicable to the geographical limits aforesaid.

Third. That the Secretary of the Treasury proceed to nominate for
appointment assessors of taxes and collectors of customs and internal
revenue and such other officers of the Treasury Department as are
authorized by law and put in execution the revenue laws of the United
States within the geographical limits aforesaid. In making appointments
the preference shall be given to qualified loyal persons residing within
the districts where their respective duties are to be performed; but if
suitable residents of the districts shall not be found, then persons
residing in other States or districts shall be appointed.

Fourth. That the Postmaster-General proceed to establish post-offices
and post routes and put into execution the postal laws of the United
States within the said State, giving to loyal residents the preference
of appointment; but if suitable residents are not found, then to appoint
agents, etc., from other States.

Fifth. That the district judge for the judicial district in which
South Carolina is included proceed to hold courts within said
State in accordance with the provisions of the act of Congress. The
Attorney-General will instruct the proper officers to libel and bring to
judgment, confiscation, and sale property subject to confiscation and
enforce the administration of justice within said State in all matters
within the cognizance and jurisdiction of the Federal courts.

Sixth. That the Secretary of the Navy take possession of all public
property belonging to the Navy Department within said geographical
limits and put in operation all acts of Congress in relation to naval
affairs having application to the said State.

Seventh. That the Secretary of the Interior put in force the laws
relating to the Interior Department applicable to the geographical
limits aforesaid.

[SEAL.]

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal
of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the city of Washington, this 30th day of June, A.D. 1865, and
of the Independence of the United States the eighty-ninth.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

By the President:
  WILLIAM H. SEWARD,
    _Secretary of State_.



BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas the fourth section of the fourth article of the Constitution of
the United States declares that the United Stales shall guarantee to
every State in the Union a republican form of government and shall
protect each of them against invasion and domestic violence; and

Whereas the President of the United States is by the Constitution made
Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy, as well as chief civil
executive officer of the United States, and is bound by solemn oath
faithfully to execute the office of President of the United States and
to take care that the laws be faithfully executed; and

Whereas the rebellion which has been waged by a portion of the people of
the United States against the properly constituted authorities of the
Government thereof in the most violent and revolting form, but whose
organized and armed forces have now been almost entirely overcome, has
in its revolutionary progress deprived the people of the State of
Florida of all civil government; and

Whereas it becomes necessary and proper to carry out and enforce the
obligations of the United States to the people of Florida in securing
them in the enjoyment of a republican form of government:

Now, therefore, in obedience to the high and solemn duties imposed upon
me by the Constitution of the United States and for the purpose of
enabling the loyal people of said State to organize a State government
whereby justice may be established, domestic tranquillity insured, and
loyal citizens protected in all their rights of life, liberty, and
property, I, Andrew Johnson, President of the United States and
Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, do hereby
appoint William Marvin provisional governor of the State of Florida,
whose duty it shall be, at the earliest practicable period, to prescribe
such rules and regulations as may be necessary and proper for convening
a convention composed of delegates to be chosen by that portion of the
people of said State who are loyal to the United States, and no others,
for the purpose of altering or amending the constitution thereof, and
with authority to exercise within the limits of said State all the
powers necessary and proper to enable such loyal people of the State of
Florida to restore said State to its constitutional relations to the
Federal Government and to present such a republican form of State
government as will entitle the State to the guaranty of the United
States therefor and its people to protection by the United States
against invasion, insurrection, and domestic violence: _Provided_,
That in any election that may be hereafter held for choosing delegates
to any State convention as aforesaid no person shall be qualified as an
elector or shall be eligible as a member of such convention unless he
shall have previously taken and subscribed the oath of amnesty as set
forth in the President's proclamation of May 29, A.D. 1865, and is a
voter qualified as prescribed by the constitution and laws of the State
of Florida in force immediately before the 10th day of January, A.D.
1861, the date of the so-called ordinance of secession; and the said
convention, when convened, or the legislature that may be thereafter
assembled, will prescribe the qualification of electors and the
eligibility of persons to hold office under the constitution and laws of
the State--a power the people of the several States composing the
Federal Union have rightfully exercised from the origin of the
Government to the present time.

And I do hereby direct--

First. That the military commander of the department and all officers
and persons in the military and naval service aid and assist the said
provisional governor in carrying into effect this proclamation; and they
are enjoined to abstain from in any way hindering, impeding, or
discouraging the loyal people from the organization of a State
government as herein authorized.

Second. That the Secretary of State proceed to put in force all laws of
the United States the administration whereof belongs to the State
Department applicable to the geographical limits aforesaid.

Third. That the Secretary of the Treasury proceed to nominate for
appointment assessors of taxes and collectors of customs and internal
revenue and such other officers of the Treasury Department as are
authorized by law and put in execution the revenue laws of the United
States within the geographical limits aforesaid. In making appointments
the preference shall be given to qualified loyal persons residing within
the districts where their respective duties are to be performed; but if
suitable residents of the districts shall not be found, then persons
residing in other States or districts shall be appointed.

Fourth. That the Postmaster-General proceed to establish post-offices
and post routes and put into execution the postal laws of the United
States within the said State, giving to loyal residents the preference
of appointment; but if suitable residents are not found, then to appoint
agents, etc., from other States.

Fifth. That the district judge for the judicial district in which
Florida is included proceed to hold courts within said State in
accordance with the provisions of the act of Congress. The
Attorney-General will instruct the proper officers to libel and bring to
judgment, confiscation, and sale property subject to confiscation and
enforce the administration of justice within said State in all matters
within the cognizance and jurisdiction of the Federal courts.

Sixth. That the Secretary of the Navy take possession of all public
property belonging to the Navy Department within said geographical
limits and put in operation all acts of Congress in relation to naval
affairs having application to the said State.

Seventh. That the Secretary of the Interior put in force the laws
relating to the Interior Department applicable to the geographical
limits aforesaid.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of
the United States to be affixed.

[SEAL.]

Done at the city of Washington, this 13th day of July, A.D. 1865, and of
the Independence of the United States the ninetieth.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

By the President:
  WILLIAM H. SEWARD,
    _Secretary of State_.



BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas by my proclamations of the 13th and 24th of June, 1865, removing
restrictions, in part, upon internal, domestic, and coastwise
intercourse and trade with those States recently declared in
insurrection, certain articles were excepted from the effect of said
proclamations as contraband of war; and

Whereas the necessity for restricting trade in said articles has now in
a great measure ceased:

It is hereby ordered that on and after the 1st day of September, 1865.
all restrictions aforesaid be removed, so that the articles declared by
the said proclamations to be contraband of war may be imported into and
sold in said States, subject only to such regulations as the Secretary
of the Treasury may prescribe.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of
the United States to be affixed.

[SEAL.]

Done at the city of Washington, this 20th day of August, A.D. 1865, and
of the Independence of the United States of America the ninetieth.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

By the President:
  WILLIAM H. SEWARD,
    _Secretary of State_.



BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas by a proclamation of the 5th day of July, 1864, the President of
the United States, when the civil war was flagrant and when combinations
were in progress in Kentucky for the purpose of inciting insurgent raids
into that State, directed that the proclamation suspending the privilege
of the writ of _habeas corpus_ should be made effectual in Kentucky
and that martial law should be established there and continue until said
proclamation should be revoked or modified; and

Whereas since then the danger from insurgent raids into Kentucky has
substantially passed away:

Now, therefore, be it known that I, Andrew Johnson, President of the
United States, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the
Constitution, do hereby declare that the said proclamation of the 5th
day of July, 1864, shall be, and is hereby, modified in so far that
martial law shall be no longer in force in Kentucky from and after the
date hereof.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of
the United States to be affixed.

[SEAL.]

Done at the city of Washington, this 12th day of October, A.D. 1865, and
of the Independence of the United States of America the ninetieth.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

By the President:
  W. HUNTER,
    _Acting Secretary of State_.



BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas it has pleased Almighty God during the year which is now coming
to an end to relieve our beloved country from the fearful scourge of
civil war and to permit us to secure the blessings of peace, unity, and
harmony, with a great enlargement of civil liberty; and

Whereas our Heavenly Father has also during the year graciously averted
from us the calamities of foreign war, pestilence, and famine, while our
granaries are full of the fruits of an abundant season; and

Whereas righteousness exalteth a nation, while sin is a reproach to any
people:

Now, therefore, be it known that I, Andrew Johnson, President of the
United States, do hereby recommend to the people thereof that they do
set apart and observe the first Thursday of December next as a day of
national thanksgiving to the Creator of the Universe for these great
deliverances and blessings.

And I do further recommend that on that occasion the whole people make
confession of our national sins against His infinite goodness, and with
one heart and one mind implore the divine guidance in the ways of
national virtue and holiness.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of
the United States to be affixed.

[SEAL.]

Done at the city of Washington, this 28th day of October, A.D. 1865, and
of the Independence of the United States of America the ninetieth.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

By the President:
  WILLIAM H. SEWARD,
    _Secretary of State_.



BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas by the proclamation of the President of the United States of the
15th day of September, 1863, the privilege of the writ of _habeas
corpus_ was, in certain cases therein set forth, suspended throughout
the United States; and

Whereas the reasons for that suspension may be regarded as having ceased
in some of the States and Territories:

Now, therefore, be it known that I, Andrew Johnson, President of the
United States, do hereby proclaim and declare that the suspension
aforesaid and all other proclamations and orders suspending the
privilege of the writ of _habeas corpus_ in the States and
Territories of the United States are revoked and annulled, excepting as
to the States of Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, South
Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas,
and Texas, the District of Columbia, and the Territories of New Mexico
and Arizona.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of
the United States to be affixed.

[SEAL.]

Done at the city of Washington, this 1st day of December, A.D. 1865, and
of the Independence of the United States of America the ninetieth.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

By the President:
  WILLIAM H. SEWARD,
    _Secretary of State_.




EXECUTIVE ORDERS.


EXECUTIVE CHAMBER,

_Washington, April 29, 1865_.

Being desirous to relieve all loyal citizens and well-disposed persons
residing in insurrectionary States from unnecessary commercial
restrictions and to encourage them to return to peaceful pursuits--

_It is hereby ordered_, I. That all restrictions upon internal,
domestic, and coastwise commercial intercourse be discontinued in such
parts of the States of Tennessee, Virginia, North Carolina, South
Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and so much of
Louisiana as lies east of the Mississippi River as shall be embraced
within the lines of national military occupation, excepting only such
restrictions as are imposed by acts of Congress and regulations in
pursuance thereof prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury and
approved by the President, and excepting also from the effect of this
order the following articles contraband of war, to wit: Arms,
ammunition, all articles from which ammunition is manufactured, gray
uniforms and cloth, locomotives, cars, railroad iron, and machinery for
operating railroads, telegraph wires, insulators, and instruments for
operating telegraphic lines.

II. That all existing military and naval orders in any manner
restricting internal, domestic, and coastwise commercial intercourse and
trade with or in the localities above named be, and the same are hereby,
revoked, and that no military or naval officer in any manner interrupt
or interfere with the same, or with any boats or other vessels engaged
therein under proper authority, pursuant to the regulations of the
Secretary of the Treasury.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WAR DEPARTMENT,

_Washington City, April 29, 1865_.

The Executive order of January 20, 1865, prohibiting the exportation of
hay, is rescinded from and after the 1st day of May, 1865.

By order of the President:

EDWIN M STANTON.

_Secretary of War_.



EXECUTIVE CHAMBER,

_Washington City, May 1, 1865_.

Whereas the Attorney-General of the United States hath given his opinion
that the persons implicated in the murder of the late President, Abraham
Lincoln, and the attempted assassination of the Hon. William H. Seward,
Secretary of State, and in an alleged conspiracy to assassinate other
officers of the Federal Government at Washington City, and their aiders
and abettors, are subject to the jurisdiction of and lawfully triable
before a military commission--

_It is ordered_:

First. That the assistant adjutant-general detail nine competent
military officers to serve as a commission for the trial of said
parties, and that the Judge-Advocate-General proceed to prefer charges
against said parties for their alleged offenses and bring them to trial
before said military commission; that said trial or trials be conducted
by the said Judge-Advocate-General, and as recorder thereof, in person,
aided by such assistant or special judge-advocate as he may designate,
and that said trials be conducted with all diligence consistent with the
ends of justice; the said commission to sit without regard to hours.

Second. That Brevet Major-General Hartranft be assigned to duty as
special provost-marshal-general for the purpose of said trial, and
attendance upon said commission, and the execution of its mandates.

Third. That the said commission establish such order or rules of
proceeding as may avoid unnecessary delay and conduce to the ends of
public justice.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

Official copy:

W.A. NICHOLS,

_Assistant Adjutant-General_.



WAR DEPARTMENT,

_Washington, D.C., May 3, 1865_.

Order Rescinding Regulations Prohibiting the Exportation of Arms,
Ammunition, Horses, Mules, and Live Stock.

The Executive order of November 21, 1862, prohibiting the exportation of
arms and ammunition from the United States, and the Executive order of
May 13, 1863,[2] prohibiting the exportation of horses, mules, and live
stock, being no longer required by public necessities, the aforesaid
orders are hereby rescinded and annulled.

By order of the President of the United States:

EDWIN M. STANTON,

_Secretary of War_.

[Footnote 2: Order of Secretary of War.]



EXECUTIVE MANSION,

_Washington, May 4, 1865_.

This being the day of the funeral of the late President, Abraham
Lincoln, at Springfield, Ill., the Executive Office and the various
Departments will be closed at 12 m. to-day.

ANDREW JOHNSON,

_President of the United States_.



SPECIAL ORDERS, No. 211.


WAR DEPARTMENT,

ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE,

_Washington, May 6, 1865_.

       *       *       *       *       *

4. A military commission is hereby appointed to meet at Washington,
D.C., on Monday, the 8th day of May, 1865, at 9 o'clock a.m., or as soon
thereafter as practicable, for the trial of David E. Herold, George A.
Atzerodt, Lewis Payne, Michael O'Laughlin, Edward Spangler, Samuel
Arnold, Mary E. Surratt, Samuel A. Mudd, and such other prisoners as may
be brought before it, implicated in the murder of the late President,
Abraham Lincoln, and the attempted assassination of the Hon. William H.
Seward, Secretary of State, and in an alleged conspiracy to assassinate
other officers of the Federal Government at Washington City, and their
aiders and abettors.

_Detail for the court_.

  Major-General David Hunter, United States Volunteers.
  Major-General Lewis Wallace, United States Volunteers.
  Brevet Major-General August V. Kautz, United States Volunteers.
  Brigadier-General Albion P. Howe, United States Volunteers.
  Brigadier-General Robert S. Foster, United States Volunteers.
  Brevet Brigadier-General Cyrus B. Comstock,[A] United States Volunteers.
  Brigadier-General T.M. Harris, United States Volunteers.
  Brevet Colonel Horace Porter,[B] aid-de-camp.
  Lieutenant-Colonel David R. Clendenin, Eighth Illinois Cavalry.
  Brigadier-General Joseph Holt, Judge-Advocate-General, United States
    Army, is appointed the judge-advocate and recorder of the commission,
    to be aided by such assistant or special judge-advocate as he may
    designate.


The commission will sit without regard to hours.

By order of the President of the United States:

E.D. TOWNSEND,

_Assistant Adjutant-General_.

[Footnote 3: Brevet Brigadier-General James A. Ekin substituted; see
Special Orders, No. 216.]

[Footnote 4: Brevet Colonel C. H. Tompkins substituted; see Special
Orders, No. 216.]



WAR DEPARTMENT, _Washington City, May 7, 1865_.

Brigadier-General Holt, Judge-Advocate-General, having designated the
Hon. John A. Bingham as a special judge-advocate, whose aid he requires
in the prosecution of Herold and others before the military commission
of which Major-General Hunter is presiding officer:

_It is ordered_, That the said John A. Bingham be, and he is hereby,
appointed special judge-advocate for the purpose aforesaid, to aid the
Judge-Advocate-General, pursuant to the order of the President in
respect to said military commission.

By order of the President:

EDWIN M. STANTON,

_Secretary of War_.



SPECIAL ORDERS. No. 216.

WAR DEPARTMENT,
  ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE,
    _Washington, May 9, 1865_.

       *       *       *      *       *

91. Brevet Brigadier-General Cyrus B. Comstock, United States
Volunteers, and Brevet Colonel Horace Porter, aid-de-camp, are hereby
relieved from duty as members of the military commission appointed in
Special Orders, No. 211, paragraph 4, dated "War Department,
Adjutant-General's Office, Washington, May 6, 1865," and Brevet
Brigadier-General James A. Ekin, United States Volunteers, and Brevet
Colonel C.H. Tompkins, United States Army, are detailed in their
places, respectively.

The commission will be composed as follows:

  Major-General David Hunter, United States Volunteers.
  Major-General Lewis Wallace, United States Volunteers.
  Brevet Major-General August V. Kautz, United States Volunteers.
  Brigadier-General Albion P. Howe, United States Volunteers.
  Brigadier-General Robert S. Poster, United States Volunteers.
  Brevet Brigadier-General James A. Ekin, United States Volunteers.
  Brigadier-General T.M. Harris, United States Volunteers.
  Brevet Colonel C.H. Tompkins, United States Army.
  Lieutenant-Colonel David R. Clendenin, Eighth Illinois Cavalry.
  Brigadier-General Joseph Holt, judge-advocate and recorder.


By order of the President of the United States:

E.D. TOWNSEND,

_Assistant Adjutant-General_.



EXECUTIVE CHAMBER,

_Washington City, May 9, 1865_.

Executive Order to Reestablish the Authority of the United States and
Execute the Laws within the Geographical Limits Known as the State of
Virginia.

_Ordered_, first. That all acts and proceedings of the political,
military, and civil organizations which have been in a state of
insurrection and rebellion within the State of Virginia against the
authority and laws of the United States, and of which Jefferson Davis,
John Letcher, and William Smith were late the respective chiefs, are
declared null and void. All persons who shall exercise, claim, pretend,
or attempt to exercise any political, military, or civil power,
authority, jurisdiction, or right by, through, or under Jefferson Davis,
late of the city of Richmond, and his confederates, or under John
Letcher or William Smith and their confederates, or under any pretended
political, military, or civil commission or authority issued by them or
either of them since the 17th day of April, 1861, shall be deemed and
taken as in rebellion against the United States, and shall be dealt with
accordingly.

Second. That the Secretary of State proceed to put in force all laws of
the United States the administration whereof belongs to the Department
of State applicable to the geographical limits aforesaid.

Third. That the Secretary of the Treasury proceed without delay to
nominate for appointment assessors of taxes and collectors of customs
and internal revenue and such other officers of the Treasury Department
as are authorized by law, and shall put in execution the revenue laws of
the United States within the geographical limits aforesaid. In making
appointments the preference shall be given to qualified loyal persons
residing within the districts where their respective duties are to be
performed; but if suitable persons shall not be found residents of the
districts, then persons residing in other States or districts shall be
appointed.

Fourth. That the Postmaster-General shall proceed to establish
post-offices and post routes and put into execution the postal laws of
the United States within the said State, giving to loyal residents the
preference of appointment; but if suitable persons are not found, then
to appoint agents, etc., from other States.

Fifth. That the district judge of said district proceed to hold courts
within said State in accordance with the provisions of the act of
Congress. The Attorney-General will instruct the proper officers to
libel and bring to judgment, confiscation, and sale property subject to
confiscation, and enforce the administration of justice within said
State in all matters, civil and criminal, within the cognizance and
jurisdiction of the Federal courts.

Sixth. That the Secretary of War assign such assistant
provost-marshal-general and such provost-marshals in each district of
said State as he may deem necessary.

Seventh. The Secretary of the Navy will take possession of all public
property belonging to the Navy Department within said geographical
limits and put in operation all acts of Congress in relation to naval
affairs having application to the said State.

Eighth. The Secretary of the Interior will also put in force the laws
relating to the Department of the Interior.

Ninth. That to carry into effect the guaranty by the Federal
Constitution of a republican form of State government and afford the
advantage and security of domestic laws, as well as to complete the
reestablishment of the authority and laws of the United States and the
full and complete restoration of peace within the limits aforesaid,
Francis H. Peirpoint, governor of the State of Virginia, will be aided
by the Federal Government so far as may be necessary in the lawful
measures which he may take for the extension and administration of the
State government throughout the geographical limits of said State.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal
of the United States to be affixed.

[SEAL.]

ANDREW JOHNSON.

By the President:
  W. HUNTER,
    _Acting Secretary of State_.



WAR DEPARTMENT,

_Washington City, May 27, 1865_.

_Ordered_, That in all cases of sentences by military tribunals of
imprisonment during the war the sentence be remitted and that the
prisoners be discharged. The Adjutant-General will issue immediately the
necessary instructions to carry this order into effect.

By order of the President of the United States:

EDWIN M. STANTON,

_Secretary of War_.



EXECUTIVE OFFICE,

_Washington, D.C., May 31, 1865_.

To-morrow, the 1st of June, being the day appointed for special
humiliation and prayer in consequence of the assassination of Abraham
Lincoln, late President of the United States, the Executive Office and
the various Departments will be closed during the day.

ANDREW JOHNSON,

_President of the United States_.



GENERAL ORDERS, No. 107.

WAR DEPARTMENT,
  ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE,
    _Washington, June 2, 1865_.

_Ordered_, That all military restrictions upon trade in any of the
States or Territories of the United States, except in articles
contraband of war--to wit, arms, ammunition, gray cloth, and all
articles from which ammunition is manufactured; locomotives, cars,
railroad iron, and machinery for operating railroads; telegraph wires,
insulators, and instruments for operating telegraphic lines--shall cease
from and after the present date.

By order of the President of the United States:

E.D. TOWNSEND,

_Assistant Adjutant-General_.



DEPARTMENT OF STATE,

_Washington, June 2, 1865_.

Whereas, pursuant to the order of the President and as a means required
by the public safety, directions were issued from this Department, under
date of the 17th of December, 1864, requiring passports from all
travelers entering the United States, except immigrant passengers
directly entering an American port from a foreign country; and

Whereas the necessities which required the adoption of that measure are
believed no longer to exist:

Now, therefore, the President directs that from and after this date the
order above referred to shall be, and the same is hereby, rescinded.

Nothing in this regulation, however, will be construed to relieve from
due accountability any enemies of the United States or offenders against
their peace and dignity who may hereafter seek to enter the country or
at any time be found within its lawful jurisdiction.

WILLIAM H. SEWARD.



EXECUTIVE MANSION,

_Washington, D.C., June 2, 1865_.

Whereas by an act of Congress approved March 3, 1865, there was
established in the War Department a Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and
Abandoned Lands, and to which, in accordance with the said act of
Congress, is committed the supervision and management of all abandoned
lands and the control of all subjects relating to refugees and freedmen
from rebel States, or from any district of country within the territory
embraced in the operations of the Army, under such rules and regulations
as may be prescribed by the head of the Bureau and approved by the
President; and

Whereas it appears that the management of abandoned lands and subjects
relating to refugees and freedmen, as aforesaid, have been and still
are, by orders based on military exigencies or legislation based on
previous statutes, partly in the hands of military officers disconnected
with said Bureau and partly in charge of officers of the Treasury
Department: It is therefore

_Ordered_, That all officers of the Treasury Department, all military
officers, and all others in the service of the United States turn over
to the authorized officers of said Bureau all abandoned lands and
property contemplated in said act of Congress approved March 3, 1865,
establishing the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, that
may now be under or within their control. They will also turn over to
such officers all funds collected by tax or otherwise for the benefit of
refugees or freedmen or accruing from abandoned lands or property set
apart for their use, and will transfer to them all official records
connected with the administration of affairs which pertain to said
Bureau.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



GENERAL ORDERS, No. 109.


WAR DEPARTMENT,
  ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE,
    _Washington, June 6, 1865_.

ORDER FOR THE DISCHARGE OF CERTAIN PRISONERS OF WAR.

The prisoners of war at the several depots in the North will be
discharged under the following regulations and restrictions:

I. All enlisted men of the rebel army and petty officers and seamen of
the rebel navy will be discharged upon taking the oath of allegiance.

II. Officers of the rebel army not above the grade of captain and of
the rebel navy not above the grade of lieutenant, except such as have
graduated at the United States Military or Naval academies and such
as held a commission in either the United States Army or Navy at the
beginning of the rebellion, may be discharged upon taking the oath
of allegiance.

III. When the discharges hereby ordered are completed, regulations will
be issued in respect to the discharge of officers having higher rank
than captain in the army or lieutenant in the navy.

IV. The several commanders of prison stations will discharge each day as
many of the prisoners hereby authorized to be discharged as proper rolls
can be prepared for, beginning with those who have been longest in
prison and from the most remote points of the country; and certified
rolls will be forwarded daily to the Commissary-General of Prisoners of
those so discharged. The oath of allegiance only will be administered,
but notice will be given that all who desire will be permitted to take
the oath of amnesty after their release, in accordance with the
regulations of the Department of State respecting the amnesty.

V. The Quartermaster's Department will furnish transportation to all
released prisoners to the nearest accessible point to their homes, by
rail or by steamboat.

By order of the President of the United States:

E.D. TOWNSEND,

_Assistant Adjutant-General_.



EXECUTIVE MANSION,

_Washington, June 6, 1865_.

Whereas circumstances of recent occurrence have made it no longer
necessary to continue the prohibition of the departure for her
destination of the gunboat _Fusyama_, built at New York for the Japanese
Government, it is consequently ordered that that prohibition be removed.
The Secretary of the Treasury will therefore cause a clearance to be
issued to the _Fusyama_, and the Secretary of the Navy will not allow
any obstacle thereto.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



[From the Daily National Intelligencer, June 13, 1865.]

CIRCULAR.

ATTORNEY-GENERAL'S OFFICE,

_Washington, June 7, 1865_.

By direction of the President, all persons belonging to the excepted
classes enumerated in the President's amnesty proclamation of May 29,
1865, who may make special applications to the President for pardon are
hereby notified that before their respective applications will be
considered it must be shown that they have respectively taken and
subscribed the oath (or affirmation) in said proclamation prescribed.
Every such person desiring a special pardon should make personal
application in writing therefor, and should transmit with such
application the original oath (or affirmation) as taken and subscribed
before an officer authorized under the rules and regulations promulgated
by the Secretary of State to administer the amnesty oath prescribed in
the said proclamation of the President.

JAMES SPEED,

_Attorney-General_.



EXECUTIVE OFFICE,

_Washington, D.C., June 9, 1865_.

It is represented to me in a communication from the Secretary of the
Interior that Indians in New Mexico have been seized and reduced into
slavery, and it is recommended that the authority of the executive
branch of the Government should be exercised for the effectual
suppression of a practice which is alike in violation of the rights
of the Indians and of the provisions of the organic law of the said
Territory.

Concurring in this recommendation, I do hereby order that the heads
of the several Executive Departments do enjoin upon the subordinates,
agents, and employees under their respective orders or supervision in
that Territory to discountenance the practice aforesaid and to take all
lawful means to suppress the same.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



GENERAL COURT-MARTIAL ORDERS, No. 356.

WAR DEPARTMENT,
  ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE,
    _Washington, July 5, 1865_.

I. Before a military commission which convened at Washington, D.C.,
May 9, 1865, pursuant to paragraph 4 of Special Orders, No. 211,
dated May 6, 1865, and paragraph 91 of Special Orders, No. 216, dated
May 9, 1865, War Department, Adjutant-General's Office, Washington,
and of which Major-General David Hunter, United States Volunteers, is
president, were arraigned and tried David E. Herold, G.A. Atzerodt,
Lewis Payne, Mary E. Surratt, Michael O'Laughlin, Edward Spangler,
Samuel Arnold, and Samuel A. Mudd.


CHARGE I.

For maliciously, unlawfully, and traitorously, and in aid of the
existing armed rebellion against the United States of America, on or
before the 6th day of March, A.D. 1865, and on divers other days between
that day and the 15th day of April, A.D. 1865, combining, confederating,
and conspiring together with one John H. Surratt, John Wilkes Booth,
Jefferson Davis, George N. Sanders, Beverley Tucker, Jacob Thompson,
William C. Cleary, Clement C. Clay, George Harper, George Young, and
others unknown to kill and murder, within the Military Department of
Washington, and within the fortified and intrenched lines thereof,
Abraham Lincoln, late, and at the time of said combining, confederating,
and conspiring, President of the United States of America and Commander
in Chief of the Army and Navy thereof; Andrew Johnson, now
Vice-President of the United States aforesaid; William H. Seward,
Secretary of State of the United States aforesaid; and Ulysses S. Grant,
Lieutenant-General of the Army of the United States aforesaid, then in
command of the armies of the United States, under the direction of the
said Abraham Lincoln; and in pursuance of and in prosecuting said
malicious, unlawful, and traitorous conspiracy aforesaid, and in aid of
said rebellion, afterwards, to wit, on the 14th day of April, A.D. 1865,
within the Military Department of Washington aforesaid, and within the
fortified and intrenched lines of said military department, together
with said John Wilkes Booth and John H. Surratt, maliciously,
unlawfully, and traitorously murdering the said Abraham Lincoln, then
President of the United States and Commander in Chief of the Army and
Navy of the United States as aforesaid; and maliciously, unlawfully, and
traitorously assaulting, with intent to kill and murder, the said
William H. Seward, then Secretary of State of the United States as
aforesaid; and lying in wait, with intent maliciously, unlawfully, and
traitorously to kill and murder the said Andrew Johnson, then being
Vice-President of the United States, and the said Ulysses S. Grant, then
being Lieutenant-General and in command of the armies of the United
States as aforesaid.


SPECIFICATION FIRST.

In this, that they, the said David E. Herold, Edward Spangler, Lewis
Payne, Michael O'Laughlin, Samuel Arnold, Mary E. Surratt, George A.
Atzerodt, and Samuel A. Mudd, together with the said John H. Surratt and
John Wilkes Booth, incited and encouraged thereunto by Jefferson Davis,
George N. Sanders, Beverley Tucker, Jacob Thompson, William C. Cleary,
Clement C. Clay, George Harper, George Young, and, others unknown,
citizens of the United States aforesaid, and who were then engaged In
armed rebellion against the United States of America, within the limits
thereof, did, in aid of said armed rebellion, on or before the 6th day
of March, A.D. 1865, and on divers other days and times between that day
and the 15th day of April, A.D. 1865, combine, confederate, and conspire
together at Washington City, within the Military Department of
Washington, and within the intrenched fortifications and military lines
of the said United States there being, unlawfully, maliciously, and
traitorously to kill and murder Abraham Lincoln, then President of the
United States aforesaid and Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy
thereof; and unlawfully, maliciously, and traitorously to kill and
murder Andrew Johnson, now Vice-President of the said United States,
upon whom, on the death of said Abraham Lincoln, after the 4th day of
March, A.D. 1865, the office of President of the said United States and
Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy thereof would devolve; and to
unlawfully, maliciously, and traitorously kill and murder Ulysses S.
Grant, then Lieutenant-General, and, under the direction of the said
Abraham Lincoln, in command of the armies of the United States
aforesaid; and unlawfully, maliciously, and traitorously to kill and
murder William H. Seward, then Secretary of State of the United States
aforesaid, whose duty it was by law, upon the death of said President
and Vice-President of the United States aforesaid, to cause an election
to be held for electors of President of the United States--the
conspirators aforesaid designing and intending by the killing and murder
of the said Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Johnson, Ulysses S. Grant, and
William H. Seward, as aforesaid, to deprive the Army and Navy of the
said United States of a constitutional Commander in Chief, and to
deprive the armies of the United States of their lawful commander, and
to prevent a lawful election of President and Vice-President of the
United States aforesaid, and by the means aforesaid to aid and comfort
the insurgents engaged in armed rebellion against the said United States
as aforesaid, and thereby to aid in the subversion and overthrow of the
Constitution and laws of the said United States.

And being so combined, confederated, and conspiring together in the
prosecution of said unlawful and traitorous conspiracy, on the night of
the 14th day of April, A.D. 1865, at the hour of about 10 o'clock and 15
minutes p.m., at Ford's Theater, on Tenth street, in the city of
Washington, and within the military department and military lines
aforesaid, John Wilkes Booth, one of the conspirators aforesaid, in
pursuance of said unlawful and traitorous conspiracy, did then and there
unlawfully, maliciously, and traitorously, and with intent to kill and
murder the said Abraham Lincoln, discharge a pistol then held in the
hands of him, the said Booth, the same being then loaded with powder and
a leaden ball, against and upon the left and posterior side of the head
of the said Abraham Lincoln, and did thereby then and there inflict upon
him, the said Abraham Lincoln, then President of the said United States
and Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy thereof, a mortal wound,
whereof afterwards, to wit, on the 15th day of April, A.D. 1865, at
Washington City aforesaid, the said Abraham Lincoln died; and thereby
then and there, and in pursuance of said conspiracy, the said defendants
and the said John Wilkes Booth and John H. Surratt did unlawfully,
traitorously, and maliciously, and with the intent to aid the rebellion
as aforesaid, kill and murder the said Abraham Lincoln, President of the
United States as aforesaid.

And in further prosecution of the unlawful and traitorous conspiracy
aforesaid and of the murderous and traitorous intent of said conspiracy,
the said Edward Spangler, on said 14th day of April, A.D. 1865, at about
the same hour of that day as aforesaid, within said military department
and the military lines aforesaid, did aid and assist the said John
Wilkes Booth to obtain entrance to the box in said theater in which said
Abraham Lincoln was sitting at the time he was assaulted and shot, as
aforesaid, by John Wilkes Booth; and also did then and there aid said
Booth in barring and obstructing the door of the box of said theater, so
as to hinder and prevent any assistance to or rescue of the said Abraham
Lincoln against the murderous assault of the said John Wilkes Booth, and
did aid and abet him in making his escape after the said Abraham Lincoln
had been murdered in manner aforesaid.

And in further prosecution of said unlawful, murderous, and traitorous
conspiracy, and in pursuance thereof, and with the intent as aforesaid,
the said David B. Herold did, on the night of the 14th of April, A.D.
1865, within the military department and military lines aforesaid, aid,
abet, and assist the said John Wilkes Booth in the killing and murder of
the said Abraham Lincoln, and did then and there aid and abet and assist
him, the said John Wilkes Booth, in attempting to escape through the
military lines aforesaid, and did accompany and assist the said John
Wilkes Booth in attempting to conceal himself and escape from justice
after killing and murdering said Abraham Lincoln, as aforesaid.

And in further prosecution of said unlawful and traitorous conspiracy
and of the intent thereof as aforesaid, the said Lewis Payne did, on the
same night of the 14th day of April, A.D. 1865, about the same hour of
10 o'clock and 15 minutes p.m., at the city of Washington, and within
the military department and the military lines aforesaid, unlawfully and
maliciously make an assault upon the said William H. Seward, Secretary
of State, as aforesaid, in the dwelling house and bedchamber of him, the
said William H. Seward, and the said Payne did then and there, with a
large knife held in his hand, unlawfully, traitorously, and in pursuance
of said conspiracy, strike, stab, cut, and attempt to kill and murder
the said William H. Seward, and did thereby then and there, and with the
intent aforesaid, with said knife, inflict upon the face and throat of
the said William H. Seward divers grievous wounds; and the said Lewis
Payne, in further prosecution of said conspiracy, at the same time and
place last aforesaid, did attempt, with the knife aforesaid and a pistol
held in his hand, to kill and murder Frederick W. Seward, Augustus H.
Seward, Emrick W. Hansell, and George F. Robinson, who were then
striving to protect and rescue the said William H. Seward from murder by
the said Lewis Payne, and did then and there, with said knife and pistol
held in his hands, inflict upon the head of said Frederick W. Seward and
upon the persons of said Augustus H. Seward, Emrick W. Hansell, and
George F. Robinson divers grievous and dangerous wounds, with intent
then and there to kill and murder the said Frederick W. Seward, Augustus
H. Seward, Emrick W. Hansell, and George F. Robinson.

And in further prosecution of said conspiracy and its traitorous and
murderous designs, the said George A. Atzerodt did, on the night of the
14th of April, A.D. 1865, and about the same hour of the night
aforesaid, within the military department and the military lines
aforesaid, lie in wait for Andrew Johnson, then Vice-President of the
United States aforesaid, with the intent unlawfully and maliciously to
kill and murder him, the said Andrew Johnson.

And in the further prosecution of the conspiracy aforesaid and of its
murderous and treasonable purposes aforesaid, on the nights of the 13th
and 14th of April, A.D. 1865, at Washington City, and within the
military department and military lines aforesaid, the said Michael
O'Laughlin did then and there lie in wait for Ulysses S. Grant, then
Lieutenant-General and commander of the armies of the United States as
aforesaid, with intent then and there to kill and murder the said
Ulysses S. Grant.

And in further prosecution of said conspiracy, the said Samuel Arnold
did, within the military department and military lines aforesaid, on or
before the 6th day of March, A.D. 1865, and on divers other days and
times between that day and the 15th day of April, A.D. 1865, combine,
conspire with, and aid, counsel, abet, comfort, and support the said
John Wilkes Booth, Lewis Payne, George A. Atzerodt, Michael O'Laughlin,
and their confederates in said unlawful, murderous, and traitorous
conspiracy and in the execution thereof, as aforesaid.

And in further prosecution of the said conspiracy, Mary B. Surratt did,
at Washington City, and within the military department and military
lines aforesaid, on or before the 6th day of March, A.D. 1865, and on
divers other days and times between that day and the 20th day of April,
A.D. 1865, receive, entertain, harbor and conceal, aid and assist, the
said John Wilkes Booth, David B. Herold, Lewis Payne, John H. Surratt,
Michael O'Laughlin, George A. Atzerodt, Samuel Arnold, and their
confederates, with knowledge of the murderous and traitorous conspiracy
aforesaid, and with intent to aid, abet, and assist them in the
execution thereof and in escaping from justice after the murder of the
said Abraham Lincoln, as aforesaid.

And in further prosecution of said conspiracy, the said Samuel A. Mudd
did, at Washington City, and within the military department and military
lines aforesaid, on or before the 6th day of March, A.D. 1865, and on
divers other days and times between that day and the 20th day of April,
A.D. 1865, advise, encourage, receive, entertain, harbor and conceal,
aid and assist, the said John Wilkes Booth, David B. Herold, Lewis
Payne, John H. Surratt, Michael O'Laughlin, George A. Atzerodt, Mary B.
Surratt, and Samuel Arnold, and their confederates, with knowledge of
the murderous and traitorous conspiracy aforesaid, and with intent to
aid, abet, and assist them in the execution thereof and in escaping from
justice after the murder of the said Abraham Lincoln, in pursuance of
said conspiracy, in manner aforesaid.

To which charge and specification the accused, David B. Herold, G.A.
Atzerodt, Lewis Payne, Mary B. Surratt, Michael O'Laughlin, Edward
Spangler, Samuel Arnold, and Samuel A. Mudd, pleaded "not guilty."


FINDINGS AND SENTENCES.

1. In the case of David B. Herold, the commission, having maturely
considered the evidence adduced, finds the accused as follows:

Of the specification, "Guilty, except combining, confederating, and
conspiring with Edward Spangler; as to which part thereof, not guilty."

Of the charge, "Guilty, except the words of the charge that he combined,
confederated, and conspired with Edward Spangler; as to which part of
said charge, not guilty."

And the commission does therefore sentence him, the said David B.
Herold, "To be hanged by the neck until he be dead, at such time and
place as the President of the United States shall direct; two-thirds of
the members of the commission concurring therein."

2. In the case of George A. Atzerodt, the commission, having maturely
considered the evidence adduced, finds the accused as follows:

Of the specification, "Guilty, except combining, confederating, and
conspiring with Edward Spangler; of this, not guilty."

Of the charge, "Guilty, except combining, confederating, and conspiring
with Edward Spangler; of this, not guilty."

And the commission does therefore sentence him, the said George A.
Atzerodt, "To be hung by the neck until he be dead, at such time and
place as the President of the United States shall direct; two-thirds of
the members of the commission concurring therein."

3. In the case of Lewis Payne, the commission, having maturely
considered the evidence adduced, finds the accused as follows:

Of the specification, "Guilty, except combining, confederating, and
conspiring with Edward Spangler; of this, not guilty."

Of the charge, "Guilty, except combining, confederating, and conspiring
with Edward Spangler; of this, not guilty."

And the commission does therefore sentence him, the said Lewis Payne,
"To be hung by the neck until he be dead, at such time and place as the
President of the United States shall direct; two-thirds of the members
of the commission concurring therein."

4. In the case of Mary B. Surratt, the commission, having maturely
considered the evidence adduced, finds the accused as follows:

Of the specification, "Guilty, except as to receiving, entertaining,
harboring, and concealing Samuel Arnold and Michael O'Laughlin, and
except as to combining, confederating, and conspiring with Edward
Spangler; of this, not guilty."

Of the charge, "Guilty, except as to combining, confederating, and
conspiring with Edward Spangler; of this, not guilty."

And the commission does therefore sentence her, the said Mary B.
Surratt, "To be hung by the neck until she be dead, at such time and
place as the President of the United States shall direct; two-thirds of
the members of the commission concurring therein."

5. In the case of Michael O'Laughlin, the commission, having maturely
considered the evidence adduced, finds the accused as follows:

Of the specification, "Guilty, except the words thereof as follows: 'And
in the further prosecution of the conspiracy aforesaid and of its
murderous and treasonable purposes aforesaid, on the nights of the 13th
and 14th of April, A.D. 1865, at Washington City, and within the
military department and military lines aforesaid, the said Michael
O'Laughlin did then and there lie in wait for Ulysses S. Grant, then
Lieutenant-General and commander of the armies of the United States,
with intent then and there to kill and murder the said Ulysses S.
Grant;' of said words, not guilty; and except combining, confederating,
and conspiring with Edward Spangler; of this, not guilty."

Of the charge, "Guilty, except combining, confederating, and conspiring
with Edward Spangler; of this, not guilty."

And the commission does therefore sentence him, the said Michael
O'Laughlin, "To be imprisoned at hard labor for life at such
penitentiary as the President of the United States shall designate."

6. In the case of Edward Spangler, the commission, having maturely
considered the evidence adduced, finds the accused as follows:

Of the specification, "Not guilty, except as to the words, 'The said
Edward Spangler, on said 14th day of April, A.D. 1865, at about the same
hour of that day as aforesaid, within said military department and the
military lines aforesaid, did aid and abet him (meaning John Wilkes
Booth) in making his escape after the said Abraham Lincoln had been
murdered in manner aforesaid;' and of these words, guilty."

Of the charge, "Not guilty, but guilty of having feloniously and
traitorously aided and abetted John Wilkes Booth in making his escape
after having killed and murdered Abraham Lincoln, President of the
United States, he the said Edward Spangler, at the time of aiding and
abetting as aforesaid, well knowing that the said Abraham Lincoln,
President as aforesaid, had been murdered by the said John Wilkes Booth,
as aforesaid."

And the commission does therefore sentence him, the said Edward
Spangler, "To be confined at hard labor for the period of six years at
such penitentiary as the President of the United States shall
designate."

7. In the case of Samuel Arnold, the commission, having maturely
considered the evidence adduced, finds the accused as follows:

Of the specification, "Guilty, except combining, confederating, and
conspiring with Edward Spangler; of this, not guilty."

Of the charge, "Guilty, except combining, confederating, and conspiring
with Edward Spangler; of this, not guilty."

And the commission does therefore sentence him, the said Samuel Arnold,
"To be imprisoned at hard labor for life at such penitentiary as the
President of the United States shall designate."

8. In the case of Samuel A. Mudd, the commission, having maturely
considered the evidence adduced, finds the accused as follows:

Of the specification, "Guilty, except combining, confederating, and
conspiring with Edward Spangler; of this, not guilty; and except
receiving, entertaining, harboring, and concealing Lewis Payne, John H.
Surratt, Michael O'Laughlin, George A. Atzerodt, Mary E. Surratt, and
Samuel Arnold; of this, not guilty."

Of the charge, "Guilty, except combining, confederating, and conspiring
with Edward Spangler; of this, not guilty."

And the commission does therefore sentence him, the said Samuel A. Mudd,
"To be imprisoned at hard labor for life at such penitentiary as the
President of the United States shall designate."


II. The proceedings, findings, and sentences in the foregoing cases
having been submitted to the President of the United States, the
following are his orders:


EXECUTIVE MANSION, _July 5, 1865_.

The foregoing sentences in the cases of David E. Herold, George A.
Atzerodt, Lewis Payne, Michael O'Laughlin, Edward Spangler, Samuel
Arnold, Mary E. Surratt, and Samuel A. Mudd are hereby approved, and it
is ordered that the sentences in the cases of David E. Herold, G.A.
Atzerodt, Lewis Payne, and Mary E. Surratt be carried into execution by
the proper military authority, under the direction of the Secretary of
War, on the 7th day of July, 1865, between the hours of 10 o'clock a.m.
and 2 o'clock p.m. of that day. It is further ordered that the prisoners
Samuel Arnold, Samuel A. Mudd, Edward Spangler, and Michael O'Laughlin
be confined at hard labor in the penitentiary at Albany, N.Y., during
the period designated in their respective sentences.

ANDREW JOHNSON, _President_.


III. Major-General W.S. Hancock, United States Volunteers, commanding
Middle Military Division, is commanded to cause the foregoing sentences
in the cases of David E. Herold, G.A. Atzerodt, Lewis Payne, and Mary E.
Surratt to be duly executed in accordance with the President's order.


EXECUTIVE MANSION, _July 15, 1865_.

IV. The Executive order dated July 5, 1865, approving the sentences in
the cases of Samuel Arnold, Samuel A. Mudd, Edward Spangler, and Michael
O'Laughlin, is hereby modified so as to direct that the said Arnold,
Mudd, Spangler, and O'Laughlin be confined at hard labor in the military
prison at Dry Tortugas, Florida, during the period designated in their
respective sentences.

The Adjutant-General of the Army is directed to issue orders for the
said prisoners to be transported to the Dry Tortugas, and to be confined
there accordingly.

ANDREW JOHNSON, _President_.


V. Major-General W.S. Hancock, United States Volunteers, commanding
Middle Military Division, is commanded to send the prisoners Samuel
Arnold, Samuel A. Mudd, Edward Spangler, and Michael O'Laughlin, under
charge of a commissioned officer, with a sufficient guard, to the Dry
Tortugas, Florida, where they will be delivered to the commanding
officer of the post, who is hereby ordered to confine the said Arnold,
Mudd, Spangler, and O'Laughlin at hard labor during the periods
designated in their respective sentences.

VI. The military commission of which Major-General David Hunter is
president is hereby dissolved.

By command of the President of the United States:

E.D. TOWNSEND, _Assistant Adjutant-General_.



WASHINGTON, _August 7, 1865_.

An impression seems to prevail that the interests of persons having
business with the executive government require that they should have
personal interviews with the President or heads of Departments. As this
impression is believed to be entirely unfounded, it is expected that
applications relating to such business will hereafter be made in writing
to the head of that Department to which the business may have been
assigned by law. Those applications will in their order be considered
and disposed of by heads of Departments, subject to the approval of the
President. This order is made necessary by the unusual numbers of
persons visiting the seat of Government. It is impracticable to grant
personal interviews to all of them, and desirable that there should be
no invidious distinction in this respect. Similar business of persons
who can not conveniently leave their homes must be neglected if the time
of the executive officers here is engrossed by personal interviews with
others.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



[From the Daily National Intelligencer, August 26, 1865.]

DEPARTMENT OF STATE,

_Washington, August 25, 1865_.

Paroled prisoners asking passports as citizens of the United States, and
against whom no special charges may be pending, will be furnished with
passports upon application therefor to the Department of State in the
usual form. Such passports will, however, be issued upon the condition
that the applicants do not return to the United States without leave of
the President. Other persons implicated in the rebellion who may wish to
go abroad will apply to the Department of State for passports, and the
applications will be disposed of according to the merits of the several
cases.

By the President of the United States:

WILLIAM H. SEWARD.



EXECUTIVE OFFICE, _September 7, 1865_.

_It is hereby ordered_, That so much of the Executive order bearing date
the 7th [2d] day of June, 1865, as made it the duty of all officers
of the Treasury Department, military officers, and all others in the
service of the United States to turn over to the authorized officers
of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands all funds
collected by tax or otherwise for the benefit of refugees or freedmen,
or accruing from abandoned lands or property set apart for their use,
be, and the same is hereby, suspended.

ANDREW JOHNSON,

_President_.



GENERAL ORDERS, No. 138.

WAR DEPARTMENT,
  ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE,
    _Washington, September 16, 1865_.

To provide for the transportation required by the Bureau of Refugees,
Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands--

_It is ordered_, That upon the requisition of the Commissioner or the
assistant commissioners of the Bureau transportation be furnished such
destitute refugees and freedmen as are dependent upon the Government for
support to points where they can procure employment and subsistence and
support themselves, and thus relieve the Government, provided such
transportation be confined by assistant commissioners within the limits
of their jurisdiction.

Second. Free transportation on Government transports and United States
military railroads will be furnished to such teachers only of refugees
and freedmen, and persons laboring voluntarily in behalf of refugees and
freedmen, as may be duly accredited by the Commissioner or assistant
commissioners of the Bureau.

All stores and schoolbooks necessary to the subsistence, comfort, and
instruction of dependent refugees and freedmen may be transported at
Government expense, when such stores and books shall be turned over to
the officers of the Quartermaster's Department, with the approval of the
assistant commissioners, Commissioner, or department commander, the same
to be transported as public stores, consigned to the quartermaster of
the post to which they are destined, who, after inspection, will turn
them over to the assistant commissioners or Bureau agent for whom they
are intended for distribution.

All army officers traveling on public duty, under the orders of the
commissioners, within the limits of their respective jurisdictions, will
be entitled to mileage or actual cost of transportation, according to
the revised Army Regulations, when transportation has not been furnished
them by the Quartermaster's Department.

By order of the President of the United States:

E.D. TOWNSEND,

_Assistant Adjutant-General_



SPECIAL ORDERS, NO. 503.


WAR DEPARTMENT,
  ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE,
    _Washington, September 19, 1865_.

       *       *       *       *       *

It has been represented to the Department that commanders of
military posts and districts in Georgia, and particularly Brevet
Brigadier-General C.H. Grosvenor, provost-marshal-general, and Brevet
Major-General King, commanding in the district of Augusta, have assumed
to decide questions of contracts and conflicting claims of property
between individuals, and to order the delivery, surrender, or transfer
of property and documents of title as between private persons, in which
the Government is not concerned.

All such acts and proceedings on the part of military authorities in
said State are declared by the President to be without authority and
null and void.

All military commanders and authorities within said State are strictly
ordered to abstain from any such acts, and not in any way to interfere
with or assume to adjudicate any right, title, or claim of property
between private individuals, and to suspend all action upon any orders
heretofore made in respect to the ownership or delivery of property and
the validity of contracts between private persons.

They are also forbidden from being directly or indirectly interested in
any sales or contracts for cotton or other products of said State, and
from using or suffering to be used any Government transportation for the
transporting of cotton or other products of said State for or in behalf
of private persons on any pretense whatever.

Military officers have no authority to interfere in any way in questions
of sale or contracts of any kind between individuals or to decide any
question of property between them without special instructions from this
Department authorizing their action, and the usurpation of such power
will be treated as a grave military offense.

Major-General Steedman, commanding the Department of Georgia,
is specially charged with the enforcement of this order, and
directed to make report as to any acts, proceedings, or orders
of Brevet Major-General King and Brevet Brigadier-General Grosvenor,
provost-marshal-general, in regard to contracts or conflicting claims
of individuals in relation to cotton or other products, and to suspend
all action upon any such orders until further instructions.

By order of the President of the United States.

E.D. TOWNSEND,

_Assistant Adjutant-General_.



GENERAL ORDERS, No. 145.

WAR DEPARTMENT,
  ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE,
    _Washington, October 9, 1865_.

Whereas certain tracts of land, situated on the coast of South Carolina,
Georgia, and Florida, at the time for the most part vacant, were set
apart by Major-General W. T. Sherman's special field order No. 15 for
the benefit of refugees and freedmen that had been congregated by the
operations of war or had been left to take care of themselves by their
former owners; and

Whereas an expectation was thereby created that they would be able to
retain possession of said lands; and

Whereas a large number of the former owners are earnestly soliciting the
restoration of the same and promising to absorb the labor and care for
the freedmen:

_It is ordered_, That Major-General Howard, Commissioner of the
Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, proceed to the
several above-named States and endeavor to effect an arrangement
mutually satisfactory to the freedmen and the landowners, and make
report. And in case a mutually satisfactory arrangement can be effected,
he is duly empowered and directed to issue such orders as may become
necessary, after a full and careful investigation of the interests of
the parties concerned.

By order of the President of the United States:

E.D. TOWNSEND,

_Assistant Adjutant-General_.



EXECUTIVE OFFICE, _October 11, 1865_.

Whereas the following-named persons, to wit, John A. Campbell, of
Alabama; John H. Reagan, of Texas; Alexander H. Stephens, of Georgia;
George A. Trenholm, of South Carolina, and Charles Clark, of
Mississippi, lately engaged in rebellion against the United States
Government, who are now in close custody, have made their submission to
the authority of the United States and applied to the President for
pardon under his proclamation; and

Whereas the authority of the Federal Government is sufficiently restored
in the aforesaid States to admit of the enlargement of said persons from
close custody:

_It is ordered_, That they be released on giving their respective
paroles to appear at such time and place as the President may designate
to answer any charge that he may direct to be preferred against them,
and also that they will respectively abide until further orders in the
places herein designated, and not depart therefrom, to wit:

John A. Campbell, in the State of Alabama; John H. Reagan, in the State
of Texas; Alexander H. Stephens, in the State of Georgia; George A.
Trenholm, in the State of South Carolina; and Charles Clark, in the
State of Mississippi. And if the President should grant his pardon to
any of said persons, such person's parole will be thereby discharged.

ANDREW JOHNSON,

_President_.



EXECUTIVE OFFICE,

_Washington City, November 11, 1865_.

_Ordered_, That the civil and military agents of the Government transfer
to the assistant commissioner of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and
Abandoned Lands for Alabama the use and custody of all real estate,
buildings, or other property, except cotton, seized or held by them in
that State as belonging to the late rebel government, together with
all such funds as may arise or have arisen from the rent, sale, or
disposition of such property which have not been finally paid into
the Treasury of the United States.

ANDREW JOHNSON,

_President_.



GENERAL ORDERS, N0. 164.

WAR DEPARTMENT,
  ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE,
    _Washington, November 24, 1865_.

_Ordered_, That--

I. All persons claiming reward for the apprehension of John Wilkes
Booth, Lewis Payne, G.A. Atzerodt, and David E. Herold, and Jefferson
Davis, or either of them, are notified to file their claims and their
proofs with the Adjutant-General for final adjudication by the special
commission appointed to award and determine upon the validity of such
claims before the 1st day of January next, after which time no claims
will be received.

II. The rewards offered for the arrest of Jacob Thompson, Beverley
Tucker, George N. Sanders, William G. Cleary, and John H. Surratt are
revoked.

By order of the President of the United States:

E.D. TOWNSEND,

_Assistant Adjutant-General_.




FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE.

WASHINGTON, _December 4, 1865_.

_Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives_:

To express gratitude to God in the name of the people for the
preservation of the United States is my first duty in addressing you.
Our thoughts next revert to the death of the late President by an act
of parricidal treason. The grief of the nation is still fresh. It finds
some solace in the consideration that he lived to enjoy the highest
proof of its confidence by entering on the renewed term of the Chief
Magistracy to which he had been elected; that he brought the civil war
substantially to a close; that his loss was deplored in all parts of the
Union, and that foreign nations have rendered justice to his memory.
His removal cast upon me a heavier weight of cares than ever devolved
upon any one of his predecessors. To fulfill my trust I need the support
and confidence of all who are associated with me in the various
departments of Government and the support and confidence of the people.
There is but one way in which I can hope to gain their necessary aid.
It is to state with frankness the principles which guide my conduct, and
their application to the present state of affairs, well aware that the
efficiency of my labors will in a great measure depend on your and their
undivided approbation.

The Union of the United States of America was intended by its authors to
last as long as the States themselves shall last. "The Union shall be
perpetual" are the words of the Confederation. "To form a more perfect
Union," by an ordinance of the people of the United States, is the
declared purpose of the Constitution. The hand of Divine Providence was
never more plainly visible in the affairs of men than in the framing and
the adopting of that instrument. It is beyond comparison the greatest
event in American history, and, indeed, is it not of all events in
modern times the most pregnant with consequences for every people of the
earth? The members of the Convention which prepared it brought to their
work the experience of the Confederation, of their several States, and
of other republican governments, old and new; but they needed and they
obtained a wisdom superior to experience. And when for its validity it
required the approval of a people that occupied a large part of a
continent and acted separately in many distinct conventions, what is
more wonderful than that, after earnest contention and long discussion,
all feelings and all opinions were ultimately drawn in one way to its
support? The Constitution to which life was thus imparted contains
within itself ample resources for its own preservation. It has power
to enforce the laws, punish treason, and insure domestic tranquillity.
In case of the usurpation of the government of a State by one man or
an oligarchy, it becomes a duty of the United States to make good the
guaranty to that State of a republican form of government, and so to
maintain the homogeneousness of all. Does the lapse of time reveal
defects? A simple mode of amendment is provided in the Constitution
itself, so that its conditions can always be made to conform to the
requirements of advancing civilization. No room is allowed even for the
thought of a possibility of its coming to an end. And these powers of
self-preservation have always been asserted in their complete integrity
by every patriotic Chief Magistrate--by Jefferson and Jackson not less
than by Washington and Madison. The parting advice of the Father of his
Country, while yet President, to the people of the United States was
that the free Constitution, which was the work of their hands, might be
sacredly maintained; and the inaugural words of President Jefferson
held up "the preservation of the General Government in its whole
constitutional vigor as the sheet anchor of our peace at home and safety
abroad." The Constitution is the work of "the people of the United
States," and it should be as indestructible as the people.

It is not strange that the framers of the Constitution, which had no
model in the past, should not have fully comprehended the excellence of
their own work. Fresh from a struggle against arbitrary power, many
patriots suffered from harassing fears of an absorption of the State
governments by the General Government, and many from a dread that the
States would break away from their orbits. But the very greatness
of our country should allay the apprehension of encroachments by the
General Government, The subjects that come unquestionably within its
jurisdiction are so numerous that it must ever naturally refuse to be
embarrassed by questions that lie beyond it. Were it otherwise the
Executive would sink beneath the burden, the channels of justice would
be choked, legislation would be obstructed by excess, so that there is
a greater temptation to exercise some of the functions of the General
Government through the States than to trespass on their rightful sphere.
The "absolute acquiescence in the decisions of the majority" was at the
beginning of the century enforced by Jefferson as "the vital principle
of republics;" and the events of the last four years have established,
we will hope forever, that there lies no appeal to force.

The maintenance of the Union brings with it "the support of the State
governments in all their rights," but it is not one of the rights of any
State government to renounce its own place in the Union or to nullify
the laws of the Union. The largest liberty is to be maintained in the
discussion of the acts of the Federal Government, but there is no appeal
from its laws except to the various branches of that Government itself,
or to the people, who grant to the members of the legislative and of the
executive departments no tenure but a limited one, and in that manner
always retain the powers of redress.

"The sovereignty of the States" is the language of the Confederacy, and
not the language of the Constitution. The latter contains the emphatic
words--

  This Constitution and the laws of the United States which shall be made
  in pursuance thereof, and all treaties made or which shall be made under
  the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the
  land, and the judges in every State shall be bound thereby, anything in
  the constitution or laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding.


Certainly the Government of the United States is a limited government,
and so is every State government a limited government. With us this idea
of limitation spreads through every form of administration--general,
State, and municipal--and rests on the great distinguishing principle of
the recognition of the rights of man. The ancient republics absorbed
the individual in the state--prescribed his religion and controlled
his activity. The American system rests on the assertion of the equal
right of every man to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, to
freedom of conscience, to the culture and exercise of all his faculties.
As a consequence the State government is limited--as to the General
Government in the interest of union, as to the individual citizen in the
interest of freedom.

States, with proper limitations of power, are essential to the existence
of the Constitution of the United States. At the very commencement, when
we assumed a place among the powers of the earth, the Declaration of
Independence was adopted by States; so also were the Articles of
Confederation; and when "the people of the United States" ordained and
established the Constitution it was the assent of the States, one by
one, which gave it vitality. In the event, too, of any amendment to the
Constitution, the proposition of Congress needs the confirmation of
States. Without States one great branch of the legislative government
would be wanting. And if we look beyond the letter of the Constitution
to the character of our country, its capacity for comprehending within
its jurisdiction a vast continental empire is due to the system of
States. The best security for the perpetual existence of the States is
the "supreme authority" of the Constitution of the United States. The
perpetuity of the Constitution brings with it the perpetuity of the
States; their mutual relation makes us what we are, and in our political
system their connection is indissoluble. The whole can not exist without
the parts, nor the parts without the whole. So long as the Constitution
of the United States endures, the States will endure. The destruction of
the one is the destruction of the other; the preservation of the one is
the preservation of the other.

I have thus explained my views of the mutual relations of the
Constitution and the States, because they unfold the principles on
which I have sought to solve the momentous questions and overcome the
appalling difficulties that met me at the very commencement of my
Administration. It has been my steadfast object to escape from the
sway of momentary passions and to derive a healing policy from the
fundamental and unchanging principles of the Constitution.

I found the States suffering from the effects of a civil war. Resistance
to the General Government appeared to have exhausted itself. The United
States had recovered possession of their forts and arsenals, and their
armies were in the occupation of every State which had attempted to
secede. Whether the territory within the limits of those States should
be held as conquered territory, under military authority emanating from
the President as the head of the Army, was the first question that
presented itself for decision.

Now military governments, established for an indefinite period, would
have offered no security for the early suppression of discontent, would
have divided the people into the vanquishers and the vanquished, and
would have envenomed hatred rather than have restored affection. Once
established, no precise limit to their continuance was conceivable. They
would have occasioned an incalculable and exhausting expense. Peaceful
emigration to and from that portion of the country is one of the best
means that can be thought of for the restoration of harmony, and that
emigration would have been prevented; for what emigrant from abroad,
what industrious citizen at home, would place himself willingly under
military rule? The chief persons who would have followed in the train of
the Army would have been dependents on the General Government or men who
expected profit from the miseries of their erring fellow-citizens. The
powers of patronage and rule which would have been exercised, under the
President, over a vast and populous and naturally wealthy region are
greater than, unless under extreme necessity, I should be willing to
intrust to any one man. They are such as, for myself, I could never,
unless on occasions of great emergency, consent to exercise. The willful
use of such powers, if continued through a period of years, would have
endangered the purity of the general administration and the liberties of
the States which remained loyal.

Besides, the policy of military rule over a conquered territory would
have implied that the States whose inhabitants may have taken part in
the rebellion had by the act of those inhabitants ceased to exist. But
the true theory is that all pretended acts of secession were from the
beginning null and void. The States can not commit treason nor screen
the individual citizens who may have committed treason any more than
they can make valid treaties or engage in lawful commerce with any
foreign power. The States attempting to secede placed themselves in a
condition where their vitality was impaired, but not extinguished; their
functions suspended, but not destroyed.

But if any State neglects or refuses to perform its offices there is the
more need that the General Government should maintain all its authority
and as soon as practicable resume the exercise of all its functions.
On this principle I have acted, and have gradually and quietly, and by
almost imperceptible steps, sought to restore the rightful energy of the
General Government and of the States. To that end provisional governors
have been appointed for the States, conventions called, governors
elected, legislatures assembled, and Senators and Representatives chosen
to the Congress of the United States. At the same time the courts of the
United States, as far as could be done, have been reopened, so that the
laws of the United States may be enforced through their agency. The
blockade has been removed and the custom-houses reestablished in ports
of entry, so that the revenue of the United States may be collected. The
Post-Office Department renews its ceaseless activity, and the General
Government is thereby enabled to communicate promptly with its officers
and agents. The courts bring security to persons and property; the
opening of the ports invites the restoration of industry and commerce;
the post-office renews the facilities of social intercourse and of
business. And is it not happy for us all that the restoration of each
one of these functions of the General Government brings with it a
blessing to the States over which they are extended? Is it not a sure
promise of harmony and renewed attachment to the Union that after all
that has happened the return of the General Government is known only as
a beneficence?

I know very well that this policy is attended with some risk; that for
its success it requires at least the acquiescence of the States which it
concerns; that it implies an invitation to those States, by renewing
their allegiance to the United States, to resume their functions as
States of the Union. But it is a risk that must be taken. In the choice
of difficulties it is the smallest risk; and to diminish and if possible
to remove all danger, I have felt it incumbent on me to assert one other
power of the General Government--the power of pardon. As no State can
throw a defense over the crime of treason, the power of pardon is
exclusively vested in the executive government of the United States. In
exercising that power I have taken every precaution to connect it with
the clearest recognition of the binding force of the laws of the United
States and an unqualified acknowledgment of the great social change of
condition in regard to slavery which has grown out of the war.

The next step which I have taken to restore the constitutional relations
of the States has been an invitation to them to participate in the high
office of amending the Constitution. Every patriot must wish for a
general amnesty at the earliest epoch consistent with public safety. For
this great end there is need of a concurrence of all opinions and the
spirit of mutual conciliation. All parties in the late terrible conflict
must work together in harmony. It is not too much to ask, in the name of
the whole people, that on the one side the plan of restoration shall
proceed in conformity with a willingness to cast the disorders of the
past into oblivion, and that on the other the evidence of sincerity in
the future maintenance of the Union shall be put beyond any doubt by the
ratification of the proposed amendment to the Constitution, which
provides for the abolition of slavery forever within the limits of our
country. So long as the adoption of this amendment is delayed, so long
will doubt and jealousy and uncertainty prevail. This is the measure
which will efface the sad memory of the past: this is the measure which
will most certainly call population and capital and security to those
parts of the Union that need them most. Indeed, it is not too much to
ask of the States which are now resuming their places in the family of
the Union to give this pledge of perpetual loyalty and peace. Until it
is done the past, however much we may desire it, will not be forgotten.
The adoption of the amendment reunites us beyond all power of
disruption; it heals the wound that is still imperfectly closed; it
removes slavery, the element which has so long perplexed and divided the
country; it makes of us once more a united people, renewed and
strengthened, bound more than ever to mutual affection and support.

The amendment to the Constitution being adopted, it would remain for the
States whose powers have been so long in abeyance to resume their places
in the two branches of the National Legislature, and thereby complete
the work of restoration. Here it is for you, fellow-citizens of the
Senate, and for you, fellow-citizens of the House of Representatives,
to judge, each of you for yourselves, of the elections, returns, and
qualifications of your own members.

The full assertion of the powers of the General Government requires the
holding of circuit courts of the United States within the districts
where their authority has been interrupted. In the present posture of
our public affairs strong objections have been urged to holding those
courts in any of the States where the rebellion has existed; and it was
ascertained by inquiry that the circuit court of the United States would
not be held within the district of Virginia during the autumn or early
winter, nor until Congress should have "an opportunity to consider and
act on the whole subject." To your deliberations the restoration of
this branch of the civil authority of the United States is therefore
necessarily referred, with the hope that early provision will be made
for the resumption of all its functions. It is manifest that treason,
most flagrant in character, has been committed. Persons who are charged
with its commission should have fair and impartial trials in the highest
civil tribunals of the country, in order that the Constitution and the
laws may be fully vindicated, the truth clearly established and affirmed
that treason is a crime, that traitors should be punished and the
offense made infamous, and, at the same time, that the question may be
judicially settled, finally and forever, that no State of its own will
has the right to renounce its place in the Union.

The relations of the General Government toward the 4,000,000 inhabitants
whom the war has called into freedom have engaged my most serious
consideration. On the propriety of attempting to make the freed-men
electors by the proclamation of the Executive I took for my counsel the
Constitution itself, the interpretations of that instrument by its
authors and their contemporaries, and recent legislation by Congress.
When at the first movement toward independence, the Congress of the
United States instructed the several States to institute governments of
their own, they left each State to decide for itself the conditions for
the enjoyment of the elective franchise. During the period of the
Confederacy there continued to exist a very great diversity in the
qualifications of electors in the several States, and even within a
State a distinction of qualifications prevailed with regard to the
officers who were to be chosen. The Constitution of the United States
recognizes these diversities when it enjoins that in the choice of
members of the House of Representatives of the United States "the
electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for
electors of the most numerous branch of the State legislature." After
the formation of the Constitution it remained, as before, the uniform
usage for each State to enlarge the body of its electors according to
its own judgment, and under this system one State after another has
proceeded to increase the number of its electors, until now universal
suffrage, or something very near it, is the general rule. So fixed was
this reservation of power in the habits of the people and so
unquestioned has been the interpretation of the Constitution that during
the civil war the late President never harbored the purpose--certainly
never avowed the purpose--of disregarding it; and in the acts of
Congress during that period nothing can be found which, during the
continuance of hostilities, much less after their close, would have
sanctioned any departure by the Executive from a policy which has so
uniformly obtained. Moreover, a concession of the elective franchise to
the freedmen by act of the President of the United States must have been
extended to all colored men, wherever found, and so must have
established a change of suffrage in the Northern, Middle, and Western
States, not less than in the Southern and Southwestern. Such an act
would have created a new class of voters, and would have been an
assumption of power by the President which nothing in the Constitution
or laws of the United States would have warranted.

On the other hand, every danger of conflict is avoided when the
settlement of the question is referred to the several States. They can,
each for itself, decide on the measure, and whether it is to be adopted
at once and absolutely or introduced gradually and with conditions. In
my judgment the freedmen, if they show patience and manly virtues, will
sooner obtain a participation in the elective franchise through the
States than through the General Government, even if it had power to
intervene. When the tumult of emotions that have been raised by the
suddenness of the social change shall have subsided, it may prove that
they will receive the kindest usage from some of those on whom they have
heretofore most closely depended.

But while I have no doubt that now, after the close of the war, it
is not competent for the General Government to extend the elective
franchise in the several States, it is equally clear that good faith
requires the security of the freedmen in their liberty and their
property, their right to labor, and their right to claim the just return
of their labor. I can not too strongly urge a dispassionate treatment
of this subject, which should be carefully kept aloof from all party
strife. We must equally avoid hasty assumptions of any natural
impossibility for the two races to live side by side in a state of
mutual benefit and good will. The experiment involves us in no
inconsistency; let us, then, go on and make that experiment in good
faith, and not be too easily disheartened. The country is in need of
labor, and the freedmen are in need of employment, culture, and
protection. While their right of voluntary migration and expatriation
is not to be questioned, I would not advise their forced removal and
colonization. Let us rather encourage them to honorable and useful
industry, where it may be beneficial to themselves and to the country;
and, instead of hasty anticipations of the certainty of failure,
let there be nothing wanting to the fair trial of the experiment.
The change in their condition is the substitution of labor by contract
for the status of slavery. The freedman can not fairly be accused of
unwillingness to work so long as a doubt remains about his freedom
of choice in his pursuits and the certainty of his recovering his
stipulated wages. In this the interests of the employer and the employed
coincide. The employer desires in his workmen spirit and alacrity, and
these can be permanently secured in no other way. And if the one ought
to be able to enforce the contract, so ought the other. The public
interest will be best promoted if the several States will provide
adequate protection and remedies for the freedmen. Until this is in some
way accomplished there is no chance for the advantageous use of their
labor, and the blame of ill success will not rest on them.

I know that sincere philanthropy is earnest for the immediate
realization of its remotest aims; but time is always an element in
reform. It is one of the greatest acts on record to have brought
4,000,000 people into freedom. The career of free industry must be
fairly opened to them, and then their future prosperity and condition
must, after all, rest mainly on themselves. If they fail, and so perish
away, let us be careful that the failure shall not be attributable to
any denial of justice. In all that relates to the destiny of the
freedmen we need not be too anxious to read the future; many incidents
which, from a speculative point of view, might raise alarm will quietly
settle themselves. Now that slavery is at an end, or near its end, the
greatness of its evil in the point of view of public economy becomes
more and more apparent. Slavery was essentially a monopoly of labor, and
as such locked the States where it prevailed against the incoming of
free industry. Where labor was the property of the capitalist, the white
man was excluded from employment, or had but the second best chance of
finding it; and the foreign emigrant turned away from the region where
his condition would be so precarious. With the destruction of the
monopoly free labor will hasten from all parts of the civilized world to
assist in developing various and immeasurable resources which have
hitherto lain dormant. The eight or nine States nearest the Gulf of
Mexico have a soil of exuberant fertility, a climate friendly to long
life, and can sustain a denser population than is found as yet in any
part of our country. And the future influx of population to them will
be mainly from the North or from the most cultivated nations in Europe.
From the sufferings that have attended them during our late struggle let
us look away to the future, which is sure to be laden for them with
greater prosperity than has ever before been known. The removal of the
monopoly of slave labor is a pledge that those regions will be peopled
by a numerous and enterprising population, which will vie with any in
the Union in compactness, inventive genius, wealth, and industry.

Our Government springs from and was made for the people--not the people
for the Government. To them it owes allegiance; from them it must derive
its courage, strength, and wisdom. But while the Government is thus
bound to defer to the people, from whom it derives its existence, it
should, from the very consideration of its origin, be strong in its
power of resistance to the establishment of inequalities. Monopolies,
perpetuities, and class legislation are contrary to the genius of free
government, and ought not to be allowed. Here there is no room for
favored classes or monopolies; the principle of our Government is that
of equal laws and freedom of industry. Wherever monopoly attains a
foothold, it is sure to be a source of danger, discord, and trouble. We
shall but fulfill our duties as legislators by according "equal and
exact justice to all men," special privileges to none. The Government is
subordinate to the people; but, as the agent and representative of the
people, it must be held superior to monopolies, which in themselves
ought never to be granted, and which, where they exist, must be
subordinate and yield to the Government.

The Constitution confers on Congress the right to regulate commerce
among the several States. It is of the first necessity, for the
maintenance of the Union, that that commerce should be free and
unobstructed. No State can be justified in any device to tax the transit
of travel and commerce between States. The position of many States is
such that if they were allowed to take advantage of it for purposes of
local revenue the commerce between States might be injuriously burdened,
or even virtually prohibited. It is best, while the country is still
young and while the tendency to dangerous monopolies of this kind is
still feeble, to use the power of Congress so as to prevent any selfish
impediment to the free circulation of men and merchandise. A tax on
travel and merchandise in their transit constitutes one of the worst
forms of monopoly, and the evil is increased if coupled with a denial of
the choice of route. When the vast extent of our country is considered,
it is plain that every obstacle to the free circulation of commerce
between the States ought to be sternly guarded against by appropriate
legislation within the limits of the Constitution.

The report of the Secretary of the Interior explains the condition of
the public lands, the transactions of the Patent Office and the Pension
Bureau, the management of our Indian affairs, the progress made in the
construction of the Pacific Railroad, and furnishes information in
reference to matters of local interest in the District of Columbia. It
also presents evidence of the successful operation of the homestead act,
under the provisions of which 1,160,533 acres of the public lands were
entered during the last fiscal year--more than one-fourth of the whole
number of acres sold or otherwise disposed of during that period. It is
estimated that the receipts derived from this source are sufficient to
cover the expenses incident to the survey and disposal of the lands
entered under this act, and that payments in cash to the extent of from
40 to 50 per cent will be made by settlers who may thus at any time
acquire title before the expiration of the period at which it would
otherwise vest. The homestead policy was established only after long and
earnest resistance; experience proves its wisdom. The lands in the hands
of industrious settlers, whose labor creates wealth and contributes to
the public resources, are worth more to the United States than if they
had been reserved as a solitude for future purchasers.

The lamentable events of the last four years and the sacrifices made by
the gallant men of our Army and Navy have swelled the records of the
Pension Bureau to an unprecedented extent. On the 30th day of June last
the total number of pensioners was 85,986, requiring for their annual
pay, exclusive of expenses, the sum of $8,023,445. The number of
applications that have been allowed since that date will require a large
increase of this amount for the next fiscal year, The means for the
payment of the stipends due under existing laws to our disabled soldiers
and sailors and to the families of such as have perished in the service
of the country will no doubt be cheerfully and promptly granted.
A grateful people will not hesitate to sanction any measures having
for their object the relief of soldiers mutilated and families made
fatherless in the efforts to preserve our national existence.

The report of the Postmaster-General presents an encouraging exhibit
of the operations of the Post-Office Department during the year. The
revenues of the past year, from the loyal States alone, exceeded the
maximum annual receipts from all the States previous to the rebellion
in the sum of $6,038,091; and the annual average increase of revenue
during the last four years, compared with the revenues of the four
years immediately preceding the rebellion, was $3,533,845. The revenues
of the last fiscal year amounted to $14,556,158 and the expenditures
to $13,694,728, leaving a surplus of receipts over expenditures of
$861,430. Progress has been made in restoring the postal service in the
Southern States. The views presented by the Postmaster-General against
the policy of granting subsidies to the ocean mail steamship lines upon
established routes and in favor of continuing the present system, which
limits the compensation for ocean service to the postage earnings, are
recommended to the careful consideration of Congress.

It appears from the report of the Secretary of the Navy that while at
the commencement of the present year there were in commission 530
vessels of all classes and descriptions, armed with 3,000 guns and
manned by 51,000 men, the number of vessels at present in commission is
117, with 830 guns and 12,128 men. By this prompt reduction of the naval
forces the expenses of the Government have been largely diminished, and
a number of vessels purchased for naval purposes from the merchant
marine have been returned to the peaceful pursuits of commerce. Since
the suppression of active hostilities our foreign squadrons have been
reestablished, and consist of vessels much more efficient than those
employed on similar service previous to the rebellion. The suggestion
for the enlargement of the navy-yards, and especially for the
establishment of one in fresh water for ironclad vessels, is deserving
of consideration, as is also the recommendation for a different location
and more ample grounds for the Naval Academy.

In the report of the Secretary of War a general summary is given of the
military campaigns of 1864 and 1865, ending in the suppression of armed
resistance to the national authority in the insurgent States. The
operations of the general administrative bureaus of the War Department
during the past year are detailed and an estimate made of the
appropriations that will be required for military purposes in the fiscal
year commencing the 1st day of July, 1866. The national military force
on the 1st of May, 1865, numbered 1,000,516 men. It is proposed to
reduce the military establishment to a peace footing, comprehending
50,000 troops of all arms, organized so as to admit of an enlargement
by filling up the ranks to 82,600 if the circumstances of the country
should require an augmentation of the Army. The volunteer force has
already been reduced by the discharge from service of over 800,000
troops, and the Department is proceeding rapidly in the work of further
reduction. The war estimates are reduced from $516,240,131 to
$33,814,461, which amount, in the opinion of the Department, is adequate
for a peace establishment. The measures of retrenchment in each bureau
and branch of the service exhibit a diligent economy worthy of
commendation. Reference is also made in the report to the necessity of
providing for a uniform militia system and to the propriety of making
suitable provision for wounded and disabled officers and soldiers.

The revenue system of the country is a subject of vital interest to its
honor and prosperity, and should command the earnest consideration of
Congress. The Secretary of the Treasury will lay before you a full and
detailed report of the receipts and disbursements of the last fiscal
year, of the first quarter of the present fiscal year, of the probable
receipts and expenditures for the other three quarters, and the
estimates for the year following the 30th of June, 1866. I might content
myself with a reference to that report, in which you will find all the
information required for your deliberations and decision, but the
paramount importance of the subject so presses itself on my own mind
that I can not but lay before you my views of the measures which are
required for the good character, and I might almost say for the
existence, of this people. The life of a republic lies certainly in the
energy, virtue, and intelligence of its citizens; but it is equally true
that a good revenue system is the life of an organized government. I
meet you at a time when the nation has voluntarily burdened itself with
a debt unprecedented in our annals. Vast as is its amount, it fades away
into nothing when compared with the countless blessings that will be
conferred upon our country and upon man by the preservation of the
nation's life. Now, on the first occasion of the meeting of Congress
since the return of peace, it is of the utmost importance to inaugurate
a just policy, which shall at once be put in motion, and which shall
commend itself to those who come after us for its continuance. We must
aim at nothing less than the complete effacement of the financial evils
that necessarily followed a state of civil war. We must endeavor to
apply the earliest remedy to the deranged state of the currency, and not
shrink from devising a policy which, without being oppressive to the
people, shall immediately begin to effect a reduction of the debt, and,
if persisted in, discharge it fully within a definitely fixed number of
years.

It is our first duty to prepare in earnest for our recovery from the
ever-increasing evils of an irredeemable currency without a sudden
revulsion, and yet without untimely procrastination. For that end we
must each, in our respective positions, prepare the way. I hold it the
duty of the Executive to insist upon frugality in the expenditures, and
a sparing economy is itself a great national resource. Of the banks to
which authority has been given to issue notes secured by bonds of the
United States we may require the greatest moderation and prudence, and
the law must be rigidly enforced when its limits are exceeded. We may
each one of us counsel our active and enterprising countrymen to be
constantly on their guard, to liquidate debts contracted in a paper
currency, and by conducting business as nearly as possible on a system
of cash payments or short credits to hold themselves prepared to return
to the standard of gold and silver. To aid our fellow-citizens in the
prudent management of their monetary affairs, the duty devolves on us to
diminish by law the amount of paper money now in circulation. Five years
ago the bank-note circulation of the country amounted to not much more
than two hundred millions; now the circulation, bank and national,
exceeds seven hundred millions. The simple statement of the fact
recommends more strongly than any words of mine could do the necessity
of our restraining this expansion. The gradual reduction of the currency
is the only measure that can save the business of the country from
disastrous calamities, and this can be almost imperceptibly accomplished
by gradually funding the national circulation in securities that may be
made redeemable at the pleasure of the Government.

Our debt is doubly secure--first in the actual wealth and still greater
undeveloped resources of the country, and next in the character of our
institutions. The most intelligent observers among political economists
have not failed to remark that the public debt of a country is safe in
proportion as its people are free; that the debt of a republic is the
safest of all. Our history confirms and establishes the theory, and is,
I firmly believe, destined to give it a still more signal illustration.
The secret of this superiority springs not merely from the fact that in
a republic the national obligations are distributed more widely through
countless numbers in all classes of society; it has its root in the
character of our laws. Here all men contribute to the public welfare and
bear their fair share of the public burdens. During the war, under the
impulses of patriotism, the men of the great body of the people, without
regard to their own comparative want of wealth, thronged to our armies
and filled our fleets of war, and held themselves ready to offer their
lives for the public good. Now, in their turn, the property and income
of the country should bear their just proportion of the burden of
taxation, while in our impost system, through means of which increased
vitality is incidentally imparted to all the industrial interests of
the nation, the duties should be so adjusted as to fall most heavily
on articles of luxury, leaving the necessaries of life as free from
taxation as the absolute wants of the Government economically
administered will justify. No favored class should demand freedom from
assessment, and the taxes should be so distributed as not to fall unduly
on the poor, but rather on the accumulated wealth of the country. We
should look at the national debt just as it is--not as a national
blessing, but as a heavy burden on the industry of the country, to be
discharged without unnecessary delay.

It is estimated by the Secretary of the Treasury that the expenditures
for the fiscal year ending the 30th of June, 1866, will exceed the
receipts $112,194,947. It is gratifying, however, to state that it is
also estimated that the revenue for the year ending the 30th of June,
1867, will exceed the expenditures in the sum of $111,682,818. This
amount, or so much as may be deemed sufficient for the purpose, may be
applied to the reduction of the public debt, which on the 31st day of
October, 1865, was $2,740,854,750. Every reduction will diminish the
total amount of interest to be paid, and so enlarge the means of still
further reductions, until the whole shall be liquidated; and this, as
will be seen from the estimates of the Secretary of the Treasury, may be
accomplished by annual payments even within a period not exceeding
thirty years. I have faith that we shall do all this within a reasonable
time; that as we have amazed the world by the suppression of a civil war
which was thought to be beyond the control of any government, so we
shall equally show the superiority of our institutions by the prompt and
faithful discharge of our national obligations.

The Department of Agriculture under its present direction is
accomplishing much in developing and utilizing the vast agricultural
capabilities of the country, and for information respecting the details
of its management reference is made to the annual report of the
Commissioner.

I have dwelt thus fully on our domestic affairs because of their
transcendent importance. Under any circumstances our great extent of
territory and variety of climate, producing almost everything that is
necessary for the wants and even the comforts of man, make us singularly
independent of the varying policy of foreign powers and protect us
against every temptation to "entangling alliances," while at the present
moment the reestablishment of harmony and the strength that comes from
harmony will be our best security against "nations who feel power and
forget right." For myself, it has been and it will be my constant aim to
promote peace and amity with all foreign nations and powers, and I have
every reason to believe that they all, without exception, are animated
by the same disposition. Our relations with the Emperor of China, so
recent in their origin, are most friendly. Our commerce with his
dominions is receiving new developments, and it is very pleasing to find
that the Government of that great Empire manifests satisfaction with our
policy and reposes just confidence in the fairness which marks our
intercourse. The unbroken harmony between the United States and the
Emperor of Russia is receiving a new support from an enterprise designed
to carry telegraphic lines across the continent of Asia, through his
dominions, and so to connect us with all Europe by a new channel of
intercourse. Our commerce with South America is about to receive
encouragement by a direct line of mail steamships to the rising Empire
of Brazil. The distinguished party of men of science who have recently
left our country to make a scientific exploration of the natural history
and rivers and mountain ranges of that region have received from the
Emperor that generous welcome which was to have been expected from his
constant friendship for the United States and his well-known zeal in
promoting the advancement of knowledge. A hope is entertained that our
commerce with the rich and populous countries that border the
Mediterranean Sea may be largely increased. Nothing will be wanting on
the part of this Government to extend the protection of our flag over
the enterprise of our fellow-citizens. We receive from the powers in
that region assurances of good will; and it is worthy of note that a
special envoy has brought us messages of condolence on the death of our
late Chief Magistrate from the Bey of Tunis, whose rule includes the old
dominions of Carthage, on the African coast.

Our domestic contest, now happily ended, has left some traces in our
relations with one at least of the great maritime powers. The formal
accordance of belligerent rights to the insurgent States was
unprecedented, and has not been justified by the issue. But in the
systems of neutrality pursued by the powers which made that concession
there was a marked difference. The materials of war for the insurgent
States were furnished, in a great measure, from the workshops of Great
Britain, and British ships, manned by British subjects and prepared for
receiving British armaments, sallied from the ports of Great Britain to
make war on American commerce under the shelter of a commission from the
insurgent States. These ships, having once escaped from British ports,
ever afterwards entered them in every part of the world to refit, and so
to renew their depredations. The consequences of this conduct were most
disastrous to the States then in rebellion, increasing their desolation
and misery by the prolongation of our civil contest. It had, moreover,
the effect, to a great extent, to drive the American flag from the sea,
and to transfer much of our shipping and our commerce to the very power
whose subjects had created the necessity for such a change. These events
took place before I was called to the administration of the Government.
The sincere desire for peace by which I am animated led me to approve
the proposal, already made, to submit the question which had thus arisen
between the countries to arbitration. These questions are of such moment
that they must have commanded the attention of the great powers, and are
so interwoven with the peace and interests of every one of them as to
have insured an impartial decision. I regret to inform you that Great
Britain declined the arbitrament, but, on the other hand, invited us to
the formation of a joint commission to settle mutual claims between the
two countries, from which those for the depredations before mentioned
should be excluded. The proposition, in that very unsatisfactory form,
has been declined.

The United States did not present the subject as an impeachment of the
good faith of a power which was professing the most friendly
dispositions, but as involving questions of public law of which the
settlement is essential to the peace of nations; and though pecuniary
reparation to their injured citizens would have followed incidentally
on a decision against Great Britain, such compensation was not their
primary object. They had a higher motive, and it was in the interests of
peace and justice to establish important principles of international
law. The correspondence will be placed before you. The ground on which
the British minister rests his justification is, substantially, that the
municipal law of a nation and the domestic interpretations of that law
are the measure of its duty as a neutral, and I feel bound to declare my
opinion before you and before the world that that justification can not
be sustained before the tribunal of nations. At the same time, I do not
advise to any present attempt at redress by acts of legislation. For the
future, friendship between the two countries must rest on the basis of
mutual justice.

From the moment of the establishment of our free Constitution the
civilized world has been convulsed by revolutions in the interests of
democracy or of monarchy, but through all those revolutions the United
States have wisely and firmly refused to become propagandists of
republicanism. It is the only government suited to our condition; but
we have never sought to impose it on others, and we have consistently
followed the advice of Washington to recommend it only by the careful
preservation and prudent use of the blessing. During all the intervening
period the policy of European powers and of the United States has, on
the whole, been harmonious. Twice, indeed, rumors of the invasion of
some parts of America in the interest of monarchy have prevailed; twice
my predecessors have had occasion to announce the views of this nation
in respect to such interference. On both occasions the remonstrance of
the United States was respected from a deep conviction on the part of
European Governments that the system of noninterference and mutual
abstinence from propagandism was the true rule for the two hemispheres.
Since those times we have advanced in wealth and power, but we retain
the same purpose to leave the nations of Europe to choose their own
dynasties and form their own systems of government. This consistent
moderation may justly demand a corresponding moderation. We should
regard it as a great calamity to ourselves, to the cause of good
government, and to the peace of the world should any European power
challenge the American people, as it were, to the defense of
republicanism against foreign interference. We can not foresee and are
unwilling to consider what opportunities might present themselves, what
combinations might offer to protect ourselves against designs inimical
to our form of government. The United States desire to act in the
future as they have ever acted heretofore; they never will be driven
from that course but by the aggression of European powers, and we
rely on the wisdom and justice of those powers to respect the system of
noninterference which has so long been sanctioned by time, and which by
its good results has approved itself to both continents.

The correspondence between the United States and France in reference to
questions which have become subjects of discussion between the two
Governments will at a proper time be laid before Congress.

When, on the organization of our Government under the Constitution, the
President of the United States delivered his inaugural address to the
two Houses of Congress, he said to them, and through them to the country
and to mankind, that--

  The preservation of the sacred fire of liberty and the destiny of the
  republican model of government are justly considered, perhaps, as
  _deeply_, as _finally_, staked on the experiment intrusted to the hands
  of the American people.


And the House of Representatives answered Washington by the voice of
Madison:

  We adore the Invisible Hand which has led the American people, through
  so many difficulties, to cherish a conscious responsibility for the
  destiny of republican liberty.


More than seventy-six years have glided away since these words were
spoken; the United States have passed through severer trials than were
foreseen; and now, at this new epoch in our existence as one nation,
with our Union purified by sorrows and strengthened by conflict and
established by the virtue of the people, the greatness of the occasion
invites us once more to repeat with solemnity the pledges of our fathers
to hold ourselves answerable before our fellow-men for the success of
the republican form of government. Experience has proved its sufficiency
in peace and in war; it has vindicated its authority through dangers and
afflictions, and sudden and terrible emergencies, which would have
crushed any system that had been less firmly fixed in the hearts of the
people. At the inauguration of Washington the foreign relations of the
country were few and its trade was repressed by hostile regulations; now
all the civilized nations of the globe welcome our commerce, and their
governments profess toward us amity. Then our country felt its way
hesitatingly along an untried path, with States so little bound together
by rapid means of communication as to be hardly known to one another,
and with historic traditions extending over very few years; now
intercourse between the States is swift and intimate; the experience of
centuries has been crowded into a few generations, and has created an
intense, indestructible nationality. Then our jurisdiction did not reach
beyond the inconvenient boundaries of the territory which had achieved
independence; now, through cessions of lands, first colonized by Spain
and France, the country has acquired a more complex character, and has
for its natural limits the chain of lakes, the Gulf of Mexico, and on
the east and the west the two great oceans. Other nations were wasted by
civil wars for ages before they could establish for themselves the
necessary degree of unity; the latent conviction that our form of
government is the best ever known to the world has enabled us to emerge
from civil war within four years with a complete vindication of the
constitutional authority of the General Government and with our local
liberties and State institutions unimpaired.

The throngs of emigrants that crowd to our shores are witnesses of the
confidence of all peoples in our permanence. Here is the great land of
free labor, where industry is blessed with unexampled rewards and the
bread of the workingman is sweetened by the consciousness that the cause
of the country "is his own cause, his own safety, his own dignity." Here
everyone enjoys the free use of his faculties and the choice of activity
as a natural right. Here, under the combined influence of a fruitful
soil, genial climes, and happy institutions, population has increased
fifteen-fold within a century. Here, through the easy development of
boundless resources, wealth has increased with twofold greater rapidity
than numbers, so that we have become secure against the financial
vicissitudes of other countries and, alike in business and in opinion,
are self-centered and truly independent. Here more and more care is
given to provide education for everyone born on our soil. Here religion,
released from political connection with the civil government, refuses to
subserve the craft of statesmen, and becomes in its independence the
spiritual life of the people. Here toleration is extended to every
opinion, in the quiet certainty that truth needs only a fair field to
secure the victory. Here the human mind goes forth unshackled in the
pursuit of science, to collect stores of knowledge and acquire an
ever-increasing mastery over the forces of nature. Here the national
domain is offered and held in millions of separate freeholds, so that
our fellow-citizens, beyond the occupants of any other part of the
earth, constitute in reality a people. Here exists the democratic form
of government; and that form of government, by the confession of
European statesmen, "gives a power of which no other form is capable,
because it incorporates every man with the state and arouses everything
that belongs to the soul."

Where in past history does a parallel exist to the public happiness
which is within the reach of the people of the United States? Where in
any part of the globe can institutions be found so suited to their
habits or so entitled to their love as their own free Constitution?
Every one of them, then, in whatever part of the land he has his home,
must wish its perpetuity. Who of them will not now acknowledge, in the
words of Washington, that "every step by which the people of the United
States have advanced to the character of an independent nation seems to
have been distinguished by some token of providential agency"? Who will
not join with me in the prayer that the Invisible Hand which has led us
through the clouds that gloomed around our path will so guide us onward
to a perfect restoration of fraternal affection that we of this day may
be able to transmit our great inheritance of State governments in all
their rights, of the General Government in its whole constitutional
vigor, to our posterity, and they to theirs through countless
generations?

ANDREW JOHNSON.




SPECIAL MESSAGES.


WASHINGTON, _December 11, 1865_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_:

I transmit a report of this date from the Secretary of State, and the
papers referred to therein, concerning the Universal Exposition to be
held at Paris in the year 1867, in which the United States have been
invited by the Government of France to take part. I commend the subject
to your early and favorable consideration.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _December 13, 1865_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 11th instant,
requesting information on the subject of a decree of the so-called
Emperor of Mexico of the 3d of October last, I transmit a report from
the Secretary of State and the documents by which it was accompanied.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _December 14, 1865_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

In answer to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the
11th instant, requesting information relative to a so-called decree
concerning the reestablishment of slavery or peonage in the Republic
of Mexico, I transmit a report from the Secretary of State and the
documents by which it was accompanied.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, D.C., _December 18, 1865_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_:

In compliance with the requirements of the third section of the act
approved March 3, 1865, I transmit herewith a communication from the
Secretary of War, with the accompanying report and estimates of the
Commissioner of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _December 18, 1865_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In reply to the resolution adopted by the Senate on the 12th instant,
I have the honor to state that the rebellion waged by a portion of the
people against the properly constituted authority of the Government of
the United States has been suppressed; that the United States are in
possession of every State in which the insurrection existed, and that,
as far as it could be done, the courts of the United States have been
restored, post-offices reestablished, and steps taken to put into
effective operation the revenue laws of the country.

As the result of the measures instituted by the Executive with the view
of inducing a resumption of the functions of the States comprehended in
the inquiry of the Senate, the people of North Carolina, South Carolina,
Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Tennessee have
reorganized their respective State governments, and "are yielding
obedience to the laws and Government of the United States" with more
willingness and greater promptitude than under the circumstances could
reasonably have been anticipated. The proposed amendment to the
Constitution, providing for the abolition of slavery forever within the
limits of the country, has been ratified by each one of those States,
with the exception of Mississippi, from which no official information
has been received, and in nearly all of them measures have been adopted
or are now pending to confer upon freedmen the privileges which are
essential to their comfort, protection, and security. In Florida and
Texas the people are making commendable progress in restoring their
State governments, and no doubt is entertained that they will at an
early period be in a condition to resume all of their practical
relations with the General Government.

In "that portion of the Union lately in rebellion" the aspect of affairs
is more promising than, in view of all the circumstances, could well
have been expected. The people throughout the entire South evince a
laudable desire to renew their allegiance to the Government and to
repair the devastations of war by a prompt and cheerful return to
peaceful pursuits, and abiding faith is entertained that their actions
will conform to their professions, and that in acknowledging the
supremacy of the Constitution and laws of the United States their
loyalty will be unreservedly given to the Government, whose leniency
they can not fail to appreciate and whose fostering care will soon
restore them to a condition of prosperity. It is true that in some of
the States the demoralizing effects of the war are to be seen in
occasional disorders; but these are local in character, not frequent in
occurrence, and are rapidly disappearing as the authority of civil law
is extended and sustained. Perplexing questions are naturally to be
expected from the great and sudden change in the relations between the
two races; but systems are gradually developing themselves under which
the freedman will receive the protection to which he is justly entitled,
and, by means of his labor, make himself a useful and independent member
in the community in which he has a home.

From all the information in my possession and from that which I have
recently derived from the most reliable authority I am induced to
cherish the belief that sectional animosity is surely and rapidly
merging itself into a spirit of nationality, and that representation,
connected with a properly adjusted system of taxation, will result in
a harmonious restoration of the relation of the States to the National
Union.

The report of Carl Schurz is herewith transmitted, as requested by the
Senate. No reports from the Hon. John Covode have been received by the
President. The attention of the Senate is invited to the accompanying
report from Lieutenant-General Grant, who recently made a tour of
inspection through several of the States whose inhabitants participated
in the rebellion.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _December 20, 1865_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In reply to the resolution of the Senate of the 19th instant, requesting
that the President, if not inconsistent with the public service,
communicate to the Senate the "report of General Howard of his
observations of the condition of the seceded States and the operation of
the Freedmen's Bureau therein," I have to state that the report of the
Commissioner of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands
was yesterday transmitted to both Houses of Congress, as required by the
third section of the act approved March 3, 1865.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _December 21, 1865_.

_To the Senate_:

In compliance with the resolution of the Senate of the 11th instant,
respecting the occupation by the French troops of the Republic of Mexico
and the establishment of a monarchy there, I transmit a report from the
Secretary of State and the documents by which it was accompanied.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _January 5, 1866_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In compliance with the resolution of the Senate of the 19th ultimo,
requesting information in regard to any plans to induce the immigration
of dissatisfied citizens of the United States into Mexico, their
organization there with the view to create disturbances in the United
States, and especially in regard to the plans of Dr. William M. Gwin and
M.F. Maury, and to the action taken by the Government of the United
States to prevent the success of such schemes, I transmit a report from
the Acting Secretary of State and the papers by which it was
accompanied.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _January 5, 1866_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I have received the following preamble and resolution, adopted by the
Senate on the 21st ultimo:

  Whereas the Constitution declares that "in all criminal prosecutions
  the accused shall enjoy the right of a speedy and public trial by an
  impartial jury of the State or district wherein the crime shall have
  been committed;" and

  Whereas several months have elapsed since Jefferson Davis, late
  president of the so-called Confederate States, was captured and confined
  for acts notoriously done by him as such, which acts, if duly proved,
  render him guilty of treason against the United States and liable to the
  penalties thereof; and

  Whereas hostilities between the Government of the United States and the
  insurgents have ceased, and not one of the latter, so far as is known to
  the Senate, is now held in confinement for the part he may have acted in
  the rebellion except said Jefferson Davis: Therefore,

  _Resolved_, That the President be respectfully requested, if compatible
  with the public safety, to inform the Senate upon what charges or for
  what reasons said Jefferson Davis is still held in confinement, and why
  he has not been put upon his trial.


In reply to the resolution I transmit the accompanying reports from the
Secretary of War and the Attorney-General, and at the same time invite
the attention of the Senate to that portion of my message dated the 4th
day of December last which refers to Congress the questions connected
with the holding of circuit courts of the United States within the
districts where their authority has been interrupted.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _January 5, 1866_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

In compliance with the resolution of the House of Representatives of
the 18th ultimo, requesting information in regard to steps taken by the
so-called Emperor of Mexico or by any European power to obtain from the
United States a recognition of the so-called Empire of Mexico, and what
action has been taken in the premises by the Government of the United
States, I transmit a report from the Acting Secretary of State and the
papers by which it was accompanied.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _January 10, 1866_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

In answer to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 8th
instant, asking for information in regard to the alleged kidnaping in
Mexico of the child of an American lady, I transmit a report from the
Acting Secretary of State, to whom the resolution was referred.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, D.C., _January 12, 1866_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith a communication addressed to me by Messrs. John
Evans and J.B. Chaifee as "United States Senators elect from the State
of Colorado," together with the accompanying documents.

Under authority of the act of Congress approved the 21st day of
March, 1864, the people of Colorado, through a convention, formed a
constitution making provision for a State government, which, when
submitted to the qualified voters of the Territory, was rejected.

In the summer of 1865 a second convention was called by the executive
committees of the several political parties in the Territory, which
assembled at Denver on the 8th of August, 1865. On the 12th of that
month this convention adopted a State constitution, which was submitted
to the people on the 5th of September, 1865, and ratified by a majority
of 155 of the qualified voters. The proceedings in the second instance
for the formation of a State government having differed in time and mode
from those specified in the act of March 21, 1864, I have declined to
issue the proclamation for which provision is made in the fifth section
of the law, and therefore submit the question for the consideration and
further action of Congress.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



EXECUTIVE OFFICE, _January 20, 1866_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I communicate to the Senate herewith, for its constitutional action
thereon, the several treaties[5] with the Indians of the Southwest
referred to in the accompanying communication from the Secretary of
the Interior.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

[Footnote 5: With the confederated tribes of the Arapahoe and Cheyenne
Indians, concluded October 14, 1865; with the Apache, Cheyenne, and
Arapahoe tribes, respectively, concluded October 17, 1865; with the
several bands of the Comanche tribe, concluded October 18, 1865.]



EXECUTIVE OFFICE, _January 20, 1866_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I communicate to the Senate herewith, for its constitutional action
thereon, the several treaties with bands of the Sioux Nation of Indians
which are referred to in the accompanying communication from the
Secretary of the Interior.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 20, 1866_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I communicate to the Senate herewith, for its constitutional action
thereon, the treaties with the Omaha and Winnebago Indians referred to
in the accompanying communication from the Secretary of the Interior.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _January 26, 1866_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In compliance with the resolution of the Senate of the 11th instant,
requesting information in regard to a negotiation for the transit of
United States troops in 1861 through Mexican territory, I transmit a
report from the Acting Secretary of State and the papers by which it
was accompanied.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _January 26, 1866_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit to the Senate, for its consideration with a view to
ratification, a convention between the United States and the Empire of
Japan for the reduction of import duties, which was signed at Yedo the
28th of January, 1864.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _January 26, 1866_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit to the Senate, for its consideration with a view to
ratification, a convention between the Empire of Japan and the
Governments of the United States, Great Britain, France, and Holland,
providing for the payment to said Governments of the sum of $3,000,000
for indemnities and expenses, which was signed by the respective parties
at Yokohama on the 22d of October, 1864.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _January 26, 1866_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 17th instant,
requesting the President "to communicate to the Senate, if in his
opinion not inconsistent with the public interest, any letters from
Major-General Sheridan, commanding the Military Division of the Gulf,
or from any other officer of the Department of Texas, in regard to the
present condition of affairs on the southeastern frontier of the United
States, and especially in regard to any violation of neutrality on the
part of the army now occupying the right bank of the Rio Grande,"
I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of War, bearing date
the 24th instant.

Concurring in his opinion that the publication of the correspondence
at this time is not consistent with the public interest, the papers
referred to in the accompanying report are for the present withheld.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _January 26, 1866_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

In compliance with the resolution of the House of Representatives of the
22d instant, requesting the communication of any correspondence or other
information in regard to a demonstration by the Congress of the United
States of Colombia, or any other country, in honor of President Juarez,
of the Republic of Mexico, I transmit herewith a report from the Acting
Secretary of State, with the papers by which it was accompanied.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _January 26, 1866_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

In answer to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 8th
instant, asking for information in regard to the reported surrender of
the rebel pirate vessel called the _Shenandoah_, I transmit a report
from the Acting Secretary of State, to whom the resolution was referred.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _January 30, 1866_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

Believing that the commercial interests of our country would be promoted
by a formal recognition of the independence of the Dominican Republic,
while such a recognition would be in entire conformity with the settled
policy of the United States, I have with that view nominated to the
Senate an officer of the same grade with the one now accredited to the
Republic of Hayti; and I recommend that an appropriation be made by
Congress toward providing for his compensation.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _February 1, 1866_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

In compliance with the resolution of the House of Representatives of the
10th ultimo, requesting information in regard to the organization in the
city of New York of the "Imperial Mexican Express Company" under a grant
from the so-called Emperor of Mexico, I transmit a report from the
Secretary of State and the papers by which it was accompanied.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _February 2, 1866_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

The accompanying correspondence is transmitted to the Senate in
compliance with its resolution of the 16th ultimo, requesting the
President, "if not inconsistent with the public interest, to communicate
to the Senate any correspondence which may have taken place between
himself and any of the judges of the Supreme Court touching the holding
of the civil courts of the United States in the insurrectionary States
for the trial of crimes against the United States."

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _February 2, 1866_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 30th ultimo, requesting
the President, "if not incompatible with the public interests, to
communicate to the Senate a copy of the late report of Major-General
Sherman upon the condition of the States in his department, in which he
has lately made a tour of inspection," I transmit herewith a copy of a
communication, dated December 22, 1865, addressed to the Headquarters of
the Army by Major-General Sherman, commanding the Military Division of
the Mississippi.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _February 9, 1866_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

In reply to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the
10th ultimo, requesting the President of the United States, "if not
incompatible with the public interest, to communicate to the House
any report or reports made by the Judge-Advocate-General or any other
officer of the Government as to the grounds, facts, or accusations upon
which Jefferson Davis, Clement C. Clay, jr., Stephen R. Mallory, and
David L. Yulee, or either of them, are held in confinement," I transmit
herewith reports from the Secretary of War and the Attorney-General,
and concur in the opinion therein expressed that the publication of
the papers called for by the resolution is not at the present time
compatible with the public interest.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _February 10, 1866_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I transmit, for the consideration of Congress, a correspondence between
the Secretary of State and the minister of France accredited to this
Government, and also other papers, relative to a proposed international
conference at Constantinople upon the subject of cholera.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _March 5, 1866_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I transmit the accompanying report from the Secretary of War, in answer
to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 27th ultimo,
requesting information in regard to the distribution of the rewards
offered by the Government for the arrest of the assassins of the late
President Lincoln.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _March 5, 1866_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In compliance with the resolution of the Senate of the 27th ultimo, I
transmit, herewith a communication from the Secretary of War, together
with the reports of the assistant commissioners of the Freedmen's Bureau
made since December 1, 1865.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _March 6, 1866_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In answer to the resolutions of the Senate of the 5th of January and
27th of February last, requesting information in regard to provisional
governors of States, I transmit reports from the Secretary of State and
the Secretary of War, to whom the resolutions were referred.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, D.C., _March 6, 1866_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit to the Senate, for its constitutional action thereon, a
treaty with the Utah, Yampah-Ute, Pah-Vant, San-Pete-Ute, Tim-p-nogs,
and Cum-um-bah bands of the Utah Indians, referred to in the
accompanying papers from the Secretary of the Interior.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _March 6, 1866_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

In answer to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the
12th of January last, requesting information in regard to provisional
governments of certain States, I transmit a report from the Secretary
of State, to whom the resolution was referred.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _March 6, 1866_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

In answer to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 27th
ultimo, requesting certain information in relation to President Benito
Juarez, of Mexico, I transmit a report from the Secretary of State.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _March 8, 1866_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit, for the consideration of the Senate, a copy of a letter of
the 21st ultimo from the governor of the Territory of Colorado to the
Secretary of State, with the memorial to which it refers, relative to
the location of the Pacific Railroad.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _March 12, 1866_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I transmit, for your consideration, a copy of two communications from
the minister of the United States at Paris, in regard to a proposed
exhibition of fishery and water culture, to be held at Arcachon, near
Bordeaux, in France, in July next.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _March 15, 1866_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 5th instant, upon the
subject of the supposed kidnaping of colored persons in the Southern
States for the purpose of selling them as slaves in Cuba, I transmit a
report from the Secretary of State, to whom the resolution was referred.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, D.C., _March 19, 1866_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

In answer to the resolution of the House of Representatives dated
January 5, 1866, requesting information as to the number of men and
officers in the regular and volunteer service of the United States,
I transmit a report from the Secretary of War, with the papers by which
it was accompanied.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _March 20, 1866_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

In compliance with the resolution of the House of Representatives of the
11th of December last, requesting information upon the present condition
of affairs in the Republic of Mexico, I transmit a report from the
Secretary of State and the papers by which it was accompanied.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _March 21, 1866_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit to the Senate, for its constitutional action thereon,
a treaty made with the Great and Little Osage Indians on the 29th
September, 1865, together with the accompanying papers.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _March 21, 1866_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit to the Senate, for its constitutional action thereon, a
treaty made with the Woll-pah-pe tribe of Snake Indians on the 12th of
August, 1865, together with the accompanying papers.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, D.C., _March 26, 1866_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit to the Senate a memorial of the legislature of Alabama,
asking an extension of time for the completion of certain railroads in
said State.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _March 30, 1866_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit herewith, for the constitutional action of the Senate,
a treaty negotiated with the Shawnee Indians, dated March 1, 1866,
with supplemental article, dated March 14, 1866, with accompanying
communications from the honorable Secretary of the Interior and
Commissioner of Indian Affairs.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _April 3, 1866_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit herewith a report by the Secretary of War, in compliance with
the Senate resolution of the 7th March, 1866, respecting the improvement
of the Washington City Canal, to promote the health of the metropolis.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, D.C., _April 3, 1866_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I transmit a communication from the Secretary of the Treasury, dated the
22d ultimo, together with a letter addressed to him by the governor of
Alabama, asking that the State of Alabama may be allowed to assume and
pay in State bonds the direct tax now due from that State to the United
States, or that delay of payment may be authorized until the State can
by the sale of its bonds or by taxation make provision for the
liquidation of the indebtedness.

I concur in the opinion of the Secretary of the Treasury "that it is
desirable that the State of Alabama and the other Southern States should
be allowed to assume and pay their proportion of the direct taxes now
due," and therefore recommend the necessary legislation by Congress.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _April 4, 1866_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I transmit to Congress a report from the Secretary of State, with the
accompanying papers, relative to the claim on this Government of the
owners of the British vessel _Magicienne_, and recommend an
appropriation for the satisfaction of the claim, pursuant to the award
of the arbitrators.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _April 5, 1866_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I herewith transmit communications from the Secretary of the Treasury
and the Postmaster-General, suggesting a modification of the oath of
office prescribed by the act of Congress approved July 2, 1862. I fully
concur in their recommendation, and as the subject pertains to the
efficient administration of the revenue and postal laws in the Southern
States I earnestly commend it to the early consideration of Congress.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _April 6, 1866_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit, for the constitutional action of the Senate, a supplemental
article to the Pottawatomie treaty of November 15, 1861, concluded on
the 29th ultimo, together with the accompanying communications from the
Secretary of the Interior and Commissioner of Indian Affairs.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, D.C., _April 7, 1866_.

_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:

I transmit a communication from the Secretary of the Interior, with the
accompanying papers, in reference to grants of land made by acts of
Congress passed in the years 1850, 1853, and 1856 to the States of
Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, and Louisiana, to aid in
the construction of certain railroads. As these acts will expire by
limitation on the 11th day of August, 1866, leaving the roads for
whose benefit they were conferred in an unfinished condition, it is
recommended that the time within which they may be completed be extended
for a period of five years.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _April 11, 1866_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In compliance with the resolution of the Senate of the 27th ultimo,
in relation to the seizure and detention at New York of the steamship
_Meteor_, I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State and
the papers by which it was accompanied.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _April 13, 1866_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit herewith, for the constitutional action of the Senate, a
treaty concluded with the Bois Forte band of Chippewa Indians on the
7th instant, together with the accompanying communications from the
Secretary of the Interior and Commissioner of Indian Affairs.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _April 13, 1866_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

In answer to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 10th
instant, requesting information in regard to the rights and interests
of American citizens in the fishing grounds adjacent to the British
Provinces, I transmit a report from the Secretary of State, to whom the
resolution was referred.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _April 20, 1866_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In compliance with the Senate's resolution of the 8th January, 1866, I
transmit herewith a communication from the Secretary of War of the 19th
instant, covering copies of the correspondence respecting General
Orders, No. 17,[6] issued by the commander of the Department of
California, and also the Attorney-General's opinion as to the question
whether the order involves a breach of neutrality toward Mexico.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

[Footnote 6: Instructing commanders on the southern frontiers within the
Department of California "to take the necessary measures to preserve the
neutrality of the United States with respect to the parties engaged in
the existing war in Mexico, and to suffer no armed parties to pass the
frontier from the United States, nor suffer any arms or munitions of war
to be sent over the frontier to either belligerent," etc.]



WASHINGTON, D.C., _April 20, 1866_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

In reply to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 2d
instant, requesting information respecting the collection of the remains
of officers and soldiers killed and buried on the various battlefields
about Atlanta, I transmit herewith a report on the subject from the
Secretary of War.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _April 21, 1866_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit herewith a communication of this date from the Secretary
of War, covering a copy of the proceedings of a board of officers in
relation to brevet appointments in the Regular Army, requested in the
Senate's resolution of the 18th April, 1866.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _April 23, 1866_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit to the Senate, for its consideration with a view to
ratification, a convention which was signed at Tangier on the 31st of
May last between the United States and other powers on the one part and
the Sultan of Morocco on the other part, concerning the administration
and maintenance of a light-house on Cape Spartel.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _April 23, 1866_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

In answer to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 16th
instant, requesting information relative to the proposed evacuation of
Mexico by French military forces, I transmit a report from the Secretary
of State and the documents by which it was accompanied.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



EXECUTIVE MANSION,

_Washington, D.C., April 24, 1866_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I submit herewith, for the consideration of Congress, the accompanying
communication from the Secretary of the Interior, in relation to the
Union Pacific Railroad Company, eastern division.

It appears that the company were required to complete 100 miles of
their road within three years after their acceptance of the conditions
of the original act of Congress. This period expired December 22, 1865.
Sixty-two miles had been previously accepted by the Government. Since
that date an additional section of 23 miles has been completed.
Commissioners appointed for that purpose have examined and reported
upon it, and an application has been made for its acceptance.

The failure to complete 100 miles of road within the period prescribed
renders it questionable whether the executive officers of the Government
are authorized to issue the bonds and patents to which the company would
be entitled if this as well as the other requirements of the act had
been faithfully observed.

This failure may to some extent be ascribed to the financial condition
of the country incident to the recent civil war. As the company appear
to be engaged in the energetic prosecution of their work and manifest a
disposition to comply with the conditions of the grant, I recommend that
the time for the completion of this part of the road be extended and
that authority be given for the issue of bonds and patents on account of
the section now offered for acceptance notwithstanding such failure,
should the company in other respects be thereunto entitled.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, D.C., _April 28, 1866_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit herewith, for the constitutional action of the Senate, a
treaty this day concluded with the Choctaw and Chickasaw nations of
Indians.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _April 30, 1866_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

In answer to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 25th
instant, requesting information in regard to the rebel debt known as the
cotton loan, I transmit a report from the Secretary of State, to whom
the resolution was referred.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, D.C., _May 2, 1866_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

In reply to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 23d
ultimo, I transmit a report from the Secretary of War, from which it
will be perceived that it is not deemed compatible with the public
interests to communicate to the House the report made by General Smith
and the Hon. James T. Brady of their investigations at New Orleans, La.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, D.C., _May 4, 1866_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

In answer to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 5th
of March, 1866, requesting the names of persons worth more than $20,000
to whom special pardons have been issued, and a statement of the amount
of property which has been seized as belonging to the enemies of the
Government, or as abandoned property, and returned to those who claimed
to be the original owners, I transmit herewith reports from the
Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of
War, and the Attorney-General, together with a copy of the amnesty
proclamation of the 29th of May, 1865, and a copy of the warrants issued
in cases in which special pardons are granted. The second, third, and
fourth conditions of the warrant prescribe the terms, so far as property
is concerned, upon which all such pardons are granted and accepted.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _May 4, 1866_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

Referring to my message of the 12th of March last, communicating
information in regard to a proposed exposition of fishery and water
culture at Arcachon, in France, I communicate a copy of another dispatch
from the minister of the United States in Paris to the Secretary of
State, and again invite the attention of Congress to the subject.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _May 7, 1866_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In compliance with the resolution of the Senate of the 19th ultimo,
I transmit herewith a report from Benjamin C. Truman, relative to the
condition of the Southern people and the States in which the rebellion
existed.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _May 9, 1866_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I transmit to Congress a copy of a correspondence between the Secretary
of State and the acting charge d'affaires of the United States at
Guayaquil, in the Republic of Ecuador, from which it appears that the
Government of that Republic has failed to pay the first installment of
the award of the commissioners under the convention between the United
States and Ecuador of the 25th November, 1862, which installment was due
on the 17th of February last.

As debts of this character from one government to another are justly
regarded as of a peculiarly sacred character, and as further diplomatic
measures are not in this instance likely to be successful, the
expediency of authorizing other proceedings in case they should
ultimately prove to be indispensable is submitted to your consideration.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, D.C., _May 10, 1866_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of the Treasury, in
answer to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 3d
instant, requesting information concerning discriminations made by the
so-called Maximilian Government of Mexico against American commerce,
or against commerce from particular American ports.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _May 11, 1866_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I transmit a report from the Secretary of State, in answer to that part
of the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 7th instant
which calls for information in regard to the clerks employed in the
Department of State.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _May 16, 1866_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I transmit to Congress a copy of the correspondence between the
Secretary of State and Cornelius Vanderbilt, of New York, relative to
the joint resolution of the 28th of January, 1864, upon the subject of
the gift of the steamer _Vanderbilt_ to the United States.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



EXECUTIVE MANSION,

_Washington, May 7, 1866_.

Hon. SCHUYLER COLFAX,

_Speaker of the House of Representatives_.

SIR: I have the honor to submit herewith a communication of the
Secretary of War, inclosing one from the Lieutenant-General, relative
to the necessity for legislation upon the subject of the Army.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, D.C., _May 17, 1866_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

In further response to the resolution of the House of Representatives of
the 7th instant, calling for information in regard to clerks employed in
the several Executive Departments, I transmit herewith reports from the
Secretary of the Navy and the Secretary of the Interior and the
Postmaster-General.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, D.C., _May 22, 1866_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of the Treasury, made in
compliance with the resolution of the House of Representatives of the
7th instant, calling for information in respect to clerks employed in
the several Executive Departments of the Government.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, D.C., _May 22, 1866_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

In answer to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 27th
ultimo, requesting a collation of the provisions in reference to
freedmen contained in the amended constitutions of the Southern States
and in the laws of those States passed since the suppression of the
rebellion, I transmit a report from the Secretary of State, to whom the
resolution was referred.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, D.C., _May 24, 1866_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith a report from the Postmaster-General, made in answer
to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 14th instant,
calling for information relative to the proposed mail steamship service
between the United States and Brazil.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, D.C., _May 25, 1866_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

In compliance with the resolution of the House of Representatives of the
21st instant, I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of War,
with the accompanying papers, in reference to the operations of the
Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _May 30, 1866_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

With sincere regret I announce to Congress that Winfield Scott, late
Lieutenant-General in the Army of the United States, departed this life
at West Point, in the State of New York, on the 29th day of May instant,
at 11 o'clock in the forenoon. I feel well assured that Congress will
share in the grief of the nation which must result from its bereavement
of a citizen whose high fame is identified with the military history of
the Republic.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, D.C., _May 30, 1866_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I transmit a communication from the Secretary of War, covering a
supplemental report to that already made to the House of
Representatives, in answer to its resolution of the 21st instant,
requesting the reports of General Steedman and others in reference to
the operations of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _June 5, 1866_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit to the Senate, for its consideration with a view to
ratification, a convention between the United States and the Republic of
Venezuela on the subject of the claims of citizens of the United States
upon the Government of that Republic, which convention was signed by the
plenipotentiaries of the parties at the city of Caracas on the 25th of
April last.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _June 9, 1866_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith a report from the Acting Secretary of the Interior,
communicating the information requested by a resolution of the House of
Representatives of the 21st ultimo, in relation to the removal of the
Sioux Indians of Minnesota and the provisions made for their
accommodation in the Territory of Nebraska.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _June 9, 1866_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In compliance with a call of the Senate, as expressed in a resolution
adopted on the 6th instant, I transmit a copy of the report of the Board
of Visitors to the United States Naval Academy for the year 1866.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _June 11, 1866_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

In answer to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 10th
ultimo, calling for information relative to the claims of citizens of
the United States against the Republic of Venezuela, I transmit a report
from the Secretary of State.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _June 11, 1866_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

It is proper that I should inform Congress that a copy of an act of the
legislature of Georgia of the 10th of March last has been officially
communicated to me, by which that State accepts the donation of lands
for the benefit of colleges for agriculture and the mechanic arts, which
donation was provided for by the acts of Congress of the 2d of July,
1862, and 14th of April, 1864.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _June 11, 1866_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I communicate and invite the attention of Congress to a copy of joint
resolutions of the senate and house of representatives of the State
of Georgia, requesting a suspension of the collection of the
internal-revenue tax due from that State pursuant to the act of Congress
of the 5th of August, 1861.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _June 13, 1866_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

In answer to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 11th
instant, requesting information concerning the provisions of the laws
and ordinances of the late insurgent States on the subject of the rebel
debt, so called, I transmit a report from the Secretary of State and the
document by which it was accompanied.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _June 14, 1866_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

In answer to a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 28th
of May, requesting information as to what progress has been made in
completing the maps connected with the boundary survey under the treaty
of Washington, with copies of any correspondence on this subject not
heretofore printed, I transmit a report from the Secretary of State
and the documents which accompanied it.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _June 15, 1866_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In compliance with a resolution of the Senate of the 13th instant,
calling for information in regard to the departure of troops from
Austria to Mexico, I transmit a report from the Secretary of State and
the documents by which it was accompanied.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _June 16, 1866_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I communicate herewith a report from the Acting Secretary of the
Interior, furnishing, as requested by a resolution of the Senate of the
25th ultimo, information touching the transactions of the executive
branch of the Government respecting the transportation, settlement,
and colonization of persons of the African race.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _June 18, 1866_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

In reply to a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 11th
instant, requesting information in regard to the dispatch of military
forces from Austria for service in Mexico, I transmit a report from the
Secretary of State on the subject.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, D.C., _June 20, 1866_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

In compliance with the resolution of the House of Representatives of the
21st ultimo, requesting information as to the collection of the direct
tax in the States whose inhabitants participated in the rebellion, I
transmit a communication from the Secretary of the Treasury, accompanied
by a report from the Deputy Commissioner of Internal Revenue.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, D.C., _June 22, 1866_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I submit to Congress a report of the Secretary of State, to whom was
referred the concurrent resolution of the 18th instant, respecting a
submission to the legislatures of the States of an additional article to
the Constitution of the United States. It will be seen from this report
that the Secretary of State had, on the 16th instant, transmitted to the
governors of the several States certified copies of the joint resolution
passed on the 13th instant, proposing an amendment to the Constitution.

Even in ordinary times any question of amending the Constitution must be
justly regarded as of paramount importance. This importance is at the
present time enhanced by the fact that the joint resolution was not
submitted by the two Houses for the approval of the President and that
of the thirty-six States which constitute the Union eleven are excluded
from representation in either House of Congress, although, with the
single exception of Texas, they have been entirely restored to all their
functions as States in conformity with the organic law of the land, and
have appeared at the national capital by Senators and Representatives,
who have applied for and have been refused admission to the vacant
seats. Nor have the sovereign people of the nation been afforded an
opportunity of expressing their views upon the important questions which
the amendment involves. Grave doubts, therefore, may naturally and
justly arise as to whether the action of Congress is in harmony with
the sentiments of the people, and whether State legislatures, elected
without reference to such an issue, should be called upon by Congress
to decide respecting the ratification of the proposed amendment.

Waiving the question as to the constitutional validity of the
proceedings of Congress upon the joint resolution proposing the
amendment or as to the merits of the article which it submits through
the executive department to the legislatures of the States, I deem it
proper to observe that the steps taken by the Secretary of State, as
detailed in the accompanying report, are to be considered as purely
ministerial, and in no sense whatever committing the Executive to an
approval or a recommendation of the amendment to the State legislatures
or to the people. On the contrary, a proper appreciation of the letter
and spirit of the Constitution, as well as of the interests of national
order, harmony, and union, and a due deference for an enlightened public
judgment may at this time well suggest a doubt whether any amendment to
the Constitution ought to be proposed by Congress and pressed upon the
legislatures of the several States for final decision until after the
admission of such loyal Senators and Representatives of the now
unrepresented States as have been or as may hereafter be chosen in
conformity with the Constitution and laws of the United States.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _June 22, 1866_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

In further answer to recent resolutions of the Senate and House of
Representatives, requesting information in regard to the employment of
European troops in Mexico, I transmit to Congress a copy of a dispatch
of the 4th of this month addressed to the Secretary of State by the
minister of the United States at Paris.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _June 22, 1866_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

In answer to a resolution of the House of Representatives of the
18th instant, calling for information in regard to the arrest and
imprisonment in Ireland of American citizens, I transmit herewith
a report from the Secretary of State on the subject.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON CITY, _June 23, 1866_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of the Interior,
communicating in part the information requested by a resolution of the
House of Representatives of the 23d of April last, in relation to
appropriations and expenditures connected with the Indian service.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, D.C., _June 28, 1866_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I transmit a communication from the Secretary of the Navy and the
accompanying copy of a report and maps prepared by a board of examiners
appointed under authority of the joint resolution approved June 1, 1866,
"to examine a site for a fresh-water basin for ironclad vessels of the
United States Navy."

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, D.C., _June 28, 1866_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith reports from the heads of the several Executive
Departments, made in answer to the resolution of the House of
Representatives of the 4th instant, requesting information as to whether
any of the civil or military employees of the Government have assisted
in the rendition of public honors to the rebel living or dead.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _July 7, 1866_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

The accompanying report of the Secretary of the Treasury is transmitted
to the Senate in compliance with its resolution of the 20th ultimo,
calling for a statement of the expenditures of the United States for the
various public works of the Government in each State and Territory of
the Union and in the District of Columbia from the year 1860 to the
close of the year 1865.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, D.C., _July 7, 1866_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit herewith, for the constitutional action of the Senate, a
treaty concluded with the Seminole Nation of Indians on the 21st day of
March, 1866, together with the accompanying communications from the
Secretary of the Interior and the Commissioner of Indian Affairs.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, D.C., _July 7, 1866_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit herewith, for the constitutional action of the Senate, a
treaty concluded with the Creek Nation of Indians on the 14th day of
June, 1866, together with the accompanying communications from the
Secretary of the Interior and the Commissioner of Indian Affairs.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _July 17, 1866_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

In answer to a resolution of the House of Representatives of yesterday,
requesting information relative to proposed international movements in
connection with the Paris Universal Exposition for the reform of systems
of coinage, weights, and measures, I transmit a report from the
Secretary of State and the documents by which it was accompanied.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _July 17, 1866_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I herewith transmit to Congress a report, dated 12th instant, with the
accompanying papers, received from the Secretary of State, in compliance
with the requirements of the eighteenth section of the act entitled "An
act to regulate the diplomatic and consular systems of the United
States," approved August 18, 1856.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _July 20, 1866_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit, for the constitutional action of the Senate, certain
articles of agreement made at the Delaware Agency, Kans., on the 4th
instant between the United States and the Delaware Indians.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _July 20, 1866_.

_To the Senate_:

I herewith submit, for the constitutional action of the Senate, a treaty
negotiated at the city of Washington, D.C., on the 19th instant, between
the United States, represented by Dennis N. Cooley, Commissioner of
Indian Affairs, and Elijah Sells, superintendent of Indian affairs for
the southern superintendency, and the Cherokee Nation of Indians;
represented by its delegates, James McDaniel, Smith Christie, White
Catcher, L.H. Benge, J.B. Jones, and Daniel H. Ross.

The distracted condition of the Cherokee Nation and the peculiar
relation of many of its members to this Government during the rebellion
presented almost insuperable difficulties to treating with them. The
treaty now submitted is a result of protracted negotiations. Its
stipulations are, it is believed, as satisfactory to the contracting
parties and furnish as just provisions for the welfare of the Indians
and as strong guaranties for the maintenance of peaceful relations with
them as under the circumstances could be expected.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, D.C., _July 24, 1866_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I hereby transmit, for the constitutional action of the Senate, a treaty
concluded on the 15th of November, 1865, between the United States and
the confederate tribes and bands of Indians of middle Oregon, the same
being amendatory and supplemental to the treaty with said Indians of the
25th of June, 1855.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, D.C., _July 24, 1866_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

The following "Joint resolution, restoring Tennessee to her relations in
the Union," was last evening presented for my approval:

Whereas in the year 1861 the government of the State of Tennessee was
seized upon and taken possession of by persons in hostility to the
United States, and the inhabitants of said State, in pursuance of an act
of Congress, were declared to be in a state of insurrection against the
United States; and

Whereas said State government can only be restored to its former
political relations in the Union by the consent of the lawmaking power
of the United States; and

Whereas the people of said State did, on the 22d day of February, 1865,
by a large popular vote, adopt and ratify a constitution of government
whereby slavery was abolished and all ordinances and laws of secession
and debts contracted under the same were declared void; and

Whereas a State government has been organized under said constitution
which has ratified the amendment to the Constitution of the United
States abolishing slavery, also the amendment proposed by the
Thirty-ninth Congress, and has done other acts proclaiming and denoting
loyalty: Therefore,

_Be it resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
States in Congress assembled_, That the State of Tennessee is hereby
restored to her former proper practical relations to the Union, and is
again entitled to be represented by Senators and Representatives in
Congress.

The preamble simply consists of statements, some of which are assumed,
while the resolution is merely a declaration of opinion. It comprises no
legislation, nor does it confer any power which is binding upon the
respective Houses, the Executive, or the States. It does not admit to
their seats in Congress the Senators and Representatives from the State
of Tennessee, for, notwithstanding the passage of the resolution, each
House, in the exercise of the constitutional right to judge for itself
of the elections, returns, and qualifications of its members, may, at
its discretion, admit them or continue to exclude them. If a joint
resolution of this kind were necessary and binding as a condition
precedent to the admission of members of Congress, it would happen, in
the event of a veto by the Executive, that Senators and Representatives
could only be admitted to the halls of legislation by a two-thirds vote
of each of the Houses.

Among other reasons recited in the preamble for the declaration
contained in the resolution is the ratification by the State government
of Tennessee of "the amendment to the Constitution of the United States
abolishing slavery, also the amendment proposed by the Thirty-ninth
Congress." If, as is also declared in the preamble, "said State
government can only be restored to its former political relations in the
Union by the consent of the lawmaking power of the United States," it
would really seem to follow that the joint resolution which at this late
day has received the sanction of Congress should have been passed,
approved, and placed on the statute books before any amendment to the
Constitution was submitted to the legislature of Tennessee for
ratification. Otherwise the inference is plainly deducible that while,
in the opinion of Congress, the people of a State may be too strongly
disloyal to be entitled to representation, they may nevertheless, during
the suspension of their "former proper practical relations to the
Union," have an equally potent voice with other and loyal States in
propositions to amend the Constitution, upon which so essentially depend
the stability, prosperity, and very existence of the nation.

A brief reference to my annual message of the 4th of December last will
show the steps taken by the Executive for the restoration to their
constitutional relations to the Union of the States that had been
affected by the rebellion. Upon the cessation of active hostilities
provisional governors were appointed, conventions called, governors
elected by the people, legislatures assembled, and Senators and
Representatives chosen to the Congress of the United States. At the same
time the courts of the United States were reopened, the blockade
removed, the custom-houses reestablished, and postal operations resumed.
The amendment to the Constitution abolishing slavery forever within the
limits of the country was also submitted to the States, and they were
thus invited to and did participate in its ratification, thus exercising
the highest functions pertaining to a State. In addition nearly all of
these States, through their conventions and legislatures, had adopted
and ratified constitutions "of government whereby slavery was abolished
and all ordinances and laws of secession and debts contracted under the
same were declared void." So far, then, the political existence of the
States and their relations to the Federal Government had been fully and
completely recognized and acknowledged by the executive department of
the Government; and the completion of the work of restoration, which had
progressed so favorably, was submitted to Congress, upon which devolved
all questions pertaining to the admission to their seats of the Senators
and Representatives chosen from the States whose people had engaged in
the rebellion.

All these steps had been taken when, on the 4th day of December, 1865,
the Thirty-ninth Congress assembled. Nearly eight months have elapsed
since that time; and no other plan of restoration having been proposed
by Congress for the measures instituted by the Executive, it is now
declared, in the joint resolution submitted for my approval, "that the
State of Tennessee is hereby restored to her former proper practical
relations to the Union, and is again entitled to be represented by
Senators and Representatives in Congress." Thus, after the lapse of
nearly eight months, Congress proposes to pave the way to the admission
to representation of one of the eleven States whose people arrayed
themselves in rebellion against the constitutional authority of the
Federal Government.

Earnestly desiring to remove every cause of further delay, whether real
or imaginary, on the part of Congress to the admission to seats of loyal
Senators and Representatives from the State of Tennessee, I have,
notwithstanding the anomalous character of this proceeding, affixed
my signature to the resolution. My approval, however, is not to be
construed as an acknowledgment of the right of Congress to pass laws
preliminary to the admission of duly qualified Representatives from any
of the States. Neither is it to be considered as committing me to all
the statements made in the preamble, some of which are, in my opinion,
without foundation in fact, especially the assertion that the State of
Tennessee has ratified the amendment to the Constitution of the United
States proposed by the Thirty-ninth Congress. No official notice of such
ratification has been received by the Executive or filed in the
Department of State; on the contrary, unofficial information from the
most reliable sources induces the belief that the amendment has not yet
been constitutionally sanctioned by the legislature of Tennessee. The
right of each House under the Constitution to judge of the elections,
returns, and qualifications of its own members is undoubted, and my
approval or disapproval of the resolution could not in the slightest
degree increase or diminish the authority in this respect conferred
upon the two branches of Congress.

In conclusion I can not too earnestly repeat my recommendation for the
admission of Tennessee, and all other States, to a fair and equal
participation in national legislation when they present themselves in
the persons of loyal Senators and Representatives who can comply with
all the requirements of the Constitution and the laws. By this means
harmony and reconciliation will be effected, the practical relations of
all the States to the Federal Government reestablished, and the work of
restoration, inaugurated upon the termination of the war, successfully
completed.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _July 25, 1866_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I nominate Lieutenant-General Ulysses S. Grant to be General of the Army
of the United States.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _July 26, 1866_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

In answer to two resolutions of the House of Representatives of the 23d
instant, in the following words, respectively--

  _Resolved_, That the House of Representatives respectfully request the
  President of the United States to urge upon the Canadian authorities,
  and also the British Government, the release of the Fenian prisoners
  recently captured in Canada;

  _Resolved_, That this House respectfully request the President to cause
  the prosecutions instituted in the United States courts against the
  Fenians to be discontinued, if compatible with the public interest--


I transmit a report on the subject from the Secretary of State, together
with the documents which accompany it.

ANDREW JOHNSON.




VETO MESSAGES.


WASHINGTON, _February 19, 1866_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I have examined with care the bill, which originated in the Senate and
has been passed by the two Houses of Congress, to amend an act entitled
"An act to establish a bureau for the relief of freedmen and refugees,"
and for other purposes. Having with much regret come to the conclusion
that it would not be consistent with the public welfare to give my
approval to the measure, I return the bill to the Senate with my
objections to its becoming a law.

I might call to mind in advance of these objections that there is no
immediate necessity for the proposed measure. The act to establish a
bureau for the relief of freedmen and refugees, which was approved in
the month of March last, has not yet expired. It was thought stringent
and extensive enough for the purpose in view in time of war. Before it
ceases to have effect further experience may assist to guide us to a
wise conclusion as to the policy to be adopted in time of peace.

I share with Congress the strongest desire to secure to the freedmen
the full enjoyment of their freedom and property and their entire
independence and equality in making contracts for their labor, but the
bill before me contains provisions which in my opinion are not warranted
by the Constitution and are not well suited to accomplish the end in
view.

The bill proposes to establish by authority of Congress military
jurisdiction over all parts of the United States containing refugees and
freedmen. It would by its very nature apply with most force to those
parts of the United States in which the freedmen most abound, and it
expressly extends the existing temporary jurisdiction of the Freedmen's
Bureau, with greatly enlarged powers, over those States "in which the
ordinary course of judicial proceedings has been interrupted by the
rebellion." The source from which this military jurisdiction is to
emanate is none other than the President of the United States, acting
through the War Department and the Commissioner of the Freedmen's
Bureau. The agents to carry out this military jurisdiction are to be
selected either from the Army or from civil life; the country is to be
divided into districts and subdistricts, and the number of salaried
agents to be employed may be equal to the number of counties or parishes
in all the United States where freedmen and refugees are to be found.

The subjects over which this military jurisdiction is to extend in every
part of the United States include protection to "all employees, agents,
and officers of this bureau in the exercise of the duties imposed" upon
them by the bill. In eleven States it is further to extend over all
cases affecting freedmen and refugees discriminated against "by local
law, custom, or prejudice." In those eleven States the bill subjects any
white person who may be charged with depriving a freedman of "any civil
rights or immunities belonging to white persons" to imprisonment or
fine, or both, without, however, defining the "civil rights and
immunities" which are thus to be secured to the freedmen by military
law. This military jurisdiction also extends to all questions that may
arise respecting contracts. The agent who is thus to exercise the office
of a military judge may be a stranger, entirely ignorant of the laws of
the place, and exposed to the errors of judgment to which all men are
liable. The exercise of power over which there is no legal supervision
by so vast a number of agents as is contemplated by the bill must, by
the very nature of man, be attended by acts of caprice, injustice, and
passion.

The trials having their origin under this bill are to take place without
the intervention of a jury and without any fixed rules of law or
evidence. The rules on which offenses are to be "heard and determined"
by the numerous agents are such rules and regulations as the President,
through the War Department, shall prescribe. No previous presentment is
required nor any indictment charging the commission of a crime against
the laws; but the trial must proceed on charges and specifications. The
punishment will be, not what the law declares, but such as a
court-martial may think proper; and from these arbitrary tribunals there
lies no appeal, no writ of error to any of the courts in which the
Constitution of the United States vests exclusively the judicial power
of the country.

While the territory and the classes of actions and offenses that are
made subject to this measure are so extensive, the bill itself, should
it become a law, will have no limitation in point of time, but will form
a part of the permanent legislation of the country. I can not reconcile
a system of military jurisdiction of this kind with the words of the
Constitution which declare that "no person shall be held to answer
for a capital or otherwise infamous crime unless on a presentment or
indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval
forces, or in the militia when in actual service in time of war or
public danger," and that "in all criminal prosecutions the accused shall
enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury of the
State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed." The
safeguards which the experience and wisdom of ages taught our fathers
to establish as securities for the protection of the innocent, the
punishment of the guilty, and the equal administration of justice are
to be set aside, and for the sake of a more vigorous interposition in
behalf of justice we are to take the risks of the many acts of injustice
that would necessarily follow from an almost countless number of agents
established in every parish or county in nearly a third of the States of
the Union, over whose decisions there is to be no supervision or control
by the Federal courts. The power that would be thus placed in the hands
of the President is such as in time of peace certainly ought never to be
intrusted to any one man.

If it be asked whether the creation of such a tribunal within a State is
warranted as a measure of war, the question immediately presents itself
whether we are still engaged in war. Let us not unnecessarily disturb
the commerce and credit and industry of the country by declaring to the
American people and to the world that the United States are still in a
condition of civil war. At present there is no part of our country in
which the authority of the United States is disputed. Offenses that may
be committed by individuals should not work a forfeiture of the rights
of whole communities. The country has returned, or is returning, to a
state of peace and industry, and the rebellion is in fact at an end.
The measure, therefore, seems to be as inconsistent with the actual
condition of the country as it is at variance with the Constitution of
the United States.

If, passing from general considerations, we examine the bill in detail,
it is open to weighty objections.

In time of war it was eminently proper that we should provide for
those who were passing suddenly from a condition of bondage to a state
of freedom. But this bill proposes to make the Freedmen's Bureau,
established by the act of 1865 as one of many great and extraordinary
military measures to suppress a formidable rebellion, a permanent branch
of the public administration, with its powers greatly enlarged. I have
no reason to suppose, and I do not understand it to be alleged, that
the act of March, 1865, has proved deficient for the purpose for which
it was passed, although at that time and for a considerable period
thereafter the Government of the United States remained unacknowledged
in most of the States whose inhabitants had been involved in the
rebellion. The institution of slavery, for the military destruction of
which the Freedmen's Bureau was called into existence as an auxiliary,
has been already effectually and finally abrogated throughout the whole
country by an amendment of the Constitution of the United States, and
practically its eradication has received the assent and concurrence of
most of those States in which it at any time had an existence. I am not,
therefore, able to discern in the condition of the country anything to
justify an apprehension that the powers and agencies of the Freedmen's
Bureau, which were effective for the protection of freedmen and refugees
during the actual continuance of hostilities and of African servitude,
will now, in a time of peace and after the abolition of slavery, prove
inadequate to the same proper ends. If I am correct in these views,
there can be no necessity for the enlargement of the powers of the
Bureau, for which provision is made in the bill.

The third section of the bill authorizes a general and unlimited grant
of support to the destitute and suffering refugees and freedmen, their
wives and children. Succeeding sections make provision for the rent or
purchase of landed estates for freedmen, and for the erection for their
benefit of suitable buildings for asylums and schools, the expenses to
be defrayed from the Treasury of the whole people. The Congress of the
United States has never heretofore thought itself empowered to establish
asylums beyond the limits of the District of Columbia, except for the
benefit of our disabled soldiers and sailors. It has never founded
schools for any class of our own people, not even for the orphans of
those who have fallen in the defense of the Union, but has left the care
of education to the much more competent and efficient control of the
States, of communities, of private associations, and of individuals.
It has never deemed itself authorized to expend the public money for
the rent or purchase of homes for the thousands, not to say millions,
of the white race who are honestly toiling from day to day for their
subsistence. A system for the support of indigent persons in the United
States was never contemplated by the authors of the Constitution; nor
can any good reason be advanced why, as a permanent establishment,
it should be founded for one class or color of our people more than
another. Pending the war many refugees and freedmen received support
from the Government, but it was never intended that they should
thenceforth be fed, clothed, educated, and sheltered by the United
States. The idea on which the slaves were assisted to freedom was that
on becoming free they would be a self-sustaining population. Any
legislation that shall imply that they are not expected to attain a
self-sustaining condition must have a tendency injurious alike to their
character and their prospects.

The appointment of an agent for every county and parish will create an
immense patronage, and the expense of the numerous officers and their
clerks, to be appointed by the President, will be great in the
beginning, with a tendency steadily to increase. The appropriations
asked by the Freedmen's Bureau as now established, for the year 1866,
amount to $11,745,000. It may be safely estimated that the cost to be
incurred under the pending bill will require double that amount--more
than the entire sum expended in any one year under the Administration of
the second Adams. If the presence of agents in every parish and county
is to be considered as a war measure, opposition, or even resistance,
might be provoked; so that to give effect to their jurisdiction troops
would have to be stationed within reach of every one of them, and thus a
large standing force be rendered necessary. Large appropriations would
therefore be required to sustain and enforce military jurisdiction in
every county or parish from the Potomac to the Rio Grande. The condition
of our fiscal affairs is encouraging, but in order to sustain the
present measure of public confidence it is necessary that we practice
not merely customary economy, but, as far as possible, severe
retrenchment.

In addition to the objections already stated, the fifth section of the
bill proposes to take away land from its former owners without any
legal proceedings being first had, contrary to that provision of the
Constitution which declares that no person shall "be deprived of life,
liberty, or property without due process of law." It does not appear
that a part of the lands to which this section refers may not be owned
by minors or persons of unsound mind, or by those who have been faithful
to all their obligations as citizens of the United States. If any
portion of the land is held by such persons, it is not competent for
any authority to deprive them of it. If, on the other hand, it be found
that the property is liable to confiscation, even then it can not be
appropriated to public purposes until by due process of law it shall
have been declared forfeited to the Government.

There is still further objection to the bill, on grounds seriously
affecting the class of persons to whom it is designed to bring relief.
It will tend to keep the mind of the freedman in a state of uncertain
expectation and restlessness, while to those among whom he lives it will
be a source of constant and vague apprehension.

Undoubtedly the freedman should be protected, but he should be protected
by the civil authorities, especially by the exercise of all the
constitutional powers of the courts of the United States and of the
States. His condition is not so exposed as may at first be imagined.
He is in a portion of the country where his labor can not well be
spared. Competition for his services from planters, from those who
are constructing or repairing railroads, and from capitalists in his
vicinage or from other States will enable him to command almost his own
terms. He also possesses a perfect right to change his place of abode,
and if, therefore, he does not find in one community or State a mode of
life suited to his desires or proper remuneration for his labor, he can
move to another where that labor is more esteemed and better rewarded.
In truth, however, each State, induced by its own wants and interests,
will do what is necessary and proper to retain within its borders all
the labor that is needed for the development of its resources. The laws
that regulate supply and demand will maintain their force, and the wages
of the laborer will be regulated thereby. There is no danger that the
exceedingly great demand for labor will not operate in favor of the
laborer.

Neither is sufficient consideration given to the ability of the freedmen
to protect and take care of themselves. It is no more than justice to
them to believe that as they have received their freedom with moderation
and forbearance, so they will distinguish themselves by their industry
and thrift, and soon show the world that in a condition of freedom they
are self-sustaining, capable of selecting their own employment and
their own places of abode, of insisting for themselves on a proper
remuneration, and of establishing and maintaining their own asylums and
schools. It is earnestly hoped that instead of wasting away they will by
their own efforts establish for themselves a condition of respectability
and prosperity. It is certain that they can attain to that condition
only through their own merits and exertions.

In this connection the query presents itself whether the system proposed
by the bill will not, when put into complete operation, practically
transfer the entire care, support, and control of 4,000,000 emancipated
slaves to agents, overseers, or taskmasters, who, appointed at
Washington, are to be located in every county and parish throughout the
United States containing freedmen and refugees. Such a system would
inevitably tend to a concentration of power in the Executive which would
enable him, if so disposed, to control the action of this numerous class
and use them for the attainment of his own political ends.

I can not but add another very grave objection to this bill. The
Constitution imperatively declares, in connection with taxation, that
each State _shall_ have at least one Representative, and fixes the rule
for the number to which, in future times, each State shall be entitled.
It also provides that the Senate of the United States _shall_ be
composed of two Senators from each State, and adds with peculiar force
"that no State, without its consent, shall be deprived of its equal
suffrage in the Senate." The original act was necessarily passed in the
absence of the States chiefly to be affected, because their people were
then contumaciously engaged in the rebellion. Now the case is changed,
and some, at least, of those States are attending Congress by loyal
representatives, soliciting the allowance of the constitutional right
for representation. At the time, however, of the consideration and the
passing of this bill there was no Senator or Representative in Congress
from the eleven States which are to be mainly affected by its
provisions. The very fact that reports were and are made against the
good disposition of the people of that portion of the country is an
additional reason why they need and should have representatives of their
own in Congress to explain their condition, reply to accusations,
and assist by their local knowledge in the perfecting of measures
immediately affecting themselves. While the liberty of deliberation
would then be free and Congress would have full power to decide
according to its judgment, there could be no objection urged that the
States most interested had not been permitted to be heard. The principle
is firmly fixed in the minds of the American people that there should be
no taxation without representation. Great burdens have now to be borne
by all the country, and we may best demand that they shall be borne
without murmur when they are voted by a majority of the representatives
of all the people. I would not interfere with the unquestionable right
of Congress to judge, each House for itself, "of the elections, returns,
and qualifications of its own members;" but that authority can not be
construed as including the right to shut out in time of peace any State
from the representation to which it is entitled by the Constitution.
At present all the people of eleven States are excluded--those who
were most faithful during the war not less than others. The State of
Tennessee, for instance, whose authorities engaged in rebellion, was
restored to all her constitutional relations to the Union by the
patriotism and energy of her injured and betrayed people. Before the war
was brought to a termination they had placed themselves in relations
with the General Government, had established a State government of their
own, and, as they were not included in the emancipation proclamation,
they by their own act had amended their constitution so as to abolish
slavery within the limits of their State. I know no reason why the State
of Tennessee, for example, should not fully enjoy "all her
constitutional relations to the United States."

The President of the United States stands toward the country in
a somewhat different attitude from that of any member of Congress.
Each member of Congress is chosen from a single district or State;
the President is chosen by the people of all the States. As eleven
States are not at this time represented in either branch of Congress, it
would seem to be his duty on all proper occasions to present their just
claims to Congress. There always will be differences of opinion in the
community, and individuals may be guilty of transgressions of the law,
but these do not constitute valid objections against the right of a
State to representation. I would in no wise interfere with the
discretion of Congress with regard to the qualifications of members; but
I hold it my duty to recommend to you, in the interests of peace and the
interests of union, the admission of every State to its share in public
legislation when, however insubordinate, insurgent, or rebellious its
people may have been, it presents itself, not only in an attitude of
loyalty and harmony, but in the persons of representatives whose loyalty
can not be questioned under any existing constitutional or legal test.
It is plain that an indefinite or permanent exclusion of any part of the
country from representation must be attended by a spirit of disquiet and
complaint. It is unwise and dangerous to pursue a course of measures
which will unite a very large section of the country against another
section of the country, however much the latter may preponderate. The
course of emigration, the development of industry and business, and
natural causes will raise up at the South men as devoted to the Union as
those of any other part of the land; but if they are all excluded from
Congress, if in a permanent statute they are declared not to be in full
constitutional relations to the country, they may think they have cause
to become a unit in feeling and sentiment against the Government. Under
the political education of the American people the idea is inherent and
ineradicable that the consent of the majority of the whole people is
necessary to secure a willing acquiescence in legislation.

The bill under consideration refers to certain of the States as though
they had not "been fully restored in all their constitutional relations
to the United States." If they have not, let us at once act together to
secure that desirable end at the earliest possible moment. It is hardly
necessary for me to inform Congress that in my own judgment most of
those States, so far, at least, as depends upon their own action, have
already been fully restored, and are to be deemed as entitled to enjoy
their constitutional rights as members of the Union. Reasoning from the
Constitution itself and from the actual situation of the country, I feel
not only entitled but bound to assume that with the Federal courts
restored and those of the several States in the full exercise of their
functions the rights and interests of all classes of people will,
with the aid of the military in cases of resistance to the laws,
be essentially protected against unconstitutional infringement or
violation. Should this expectation unhappily fail, which I do not
anticipate, then the Executive is already fully armed with the powers
conferred by the act of March, 1865, establishing the Freedmen's Bureau,
and hereafter, as heretofore, he can employ the land and naval forces of
the country to suppress insurrection or to overcome obstructions to the
laws.

In accordance with the Constitution, I return the bill to the Senate,
in the earnest hope that a measure involving questions and interests so
important to the country will not become a law, unless upon deliberate
consideration by the people it shall receive the sanction of an
enlightened public judgment.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, D.C., _March 27, 1866_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I regret that the bill, which has passed both Houses of Congress,
entitled "An act to protect all persons in the United States in their
civil rights and furnish the means of their vindication," contains
provisions which I can not approve consistently with my sense of duty to
the whole people and my obligations to the Constitution of the United
States. I am therefore constrained to return it to the Senate, the House
in which it originated, with my objections to its becoming a law.

By the first section of the bill all persons born in the United States
and not subject to any foreign power, excluding Indians not taxed, are
declared to be citizens of the United States. This provision comprehends
the Chinese of the Pacific States, Indians subject to taxation, the
people called gypsies, as well as the entire race designated as blacks,
people of color, negroes, mulattoes, and persons of African blood. Every
individual of these races born in the United States is by the bill made
a citizen of the United States. It does not purport to declare or confer
any other right of citizenship than Federal citizenship. It does not
purport to give these classes of persons any status as citizens of
States, except that which may result from their status as citizens of
the United States. The power to confer the right of State citizenship is
just as exclusively with the several States as the power to confer the
right of Federal citizenship is with Congress.

The right of Federal citizenship thus to be conferred on the several
excepted races before mentioned is now for the first time proposed to be
given by law. If, as is claimed by many, all persons who are native born
already are, by virtue of the Constitution, citizens of the United
States, the passage of the pending bill can not be necessary to make
them such. If, on the other hand, such persons are not citizens, as may
be assumed from the proposed legislation to make them such, the grave
question presents itself whether, when eleven of the thirty-six States
are unrepresented in Congress at the present time, it is sound policy
to make our entire colored population and all other excepted classes
citizens of the United States. Four millions of them have just emerged
from slavery into freedom. Can it be reasonably supposed that they
possess the requisite qualifications to entitle them to all the
privileges and immunities of citizens of the United States? Have the
people of the several States expressed such a conviction? It may also be
asked whether it is necessary that they should be declared citizens in
order that they may be secured in the enjoyment of the civil rights
proposed to be conferred by the bill. Those rights are, by Federal as
well as State laws, secured to all domiciled aliens and foreigners, even
before the completion of the process of naturalization; and it may
safely be assumed that the same enactments are sufficient to give like
protection and benefits to those for whom this bill provides special
legislation. Besides, the policy of the Government from its origin to
the present time seems to have been that persons who are strangers to
and unfamiliar with our institutions and our laws should pass through
a certain probation, at the end of which, before attaining the coveted
prize, they must give evidence of their fitness to receive and to
exercise the rights of citizens as contemplated by the Constitution of
the United States. The bill in effect proposes a discrimination against
large numbers of intelligent, worthy, and patriotic foreigners, and in
favor of the negro, to whom, after long years of bondage, the avenues to
freedom and intelligence have just now been suddenly opened. He must of
necessity, from his previous unfortunate condition of servitude, be less
informed as to the nature and character of our institutions than he who,
coming from abroad, has, to some extent at least, familiarized himself
with the principles of a Government to which he voluntarily intrusts
"life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Yet it is now proposed,
by a single legislative enactment, to confer the rights of citizens upon
all persons of African descent born within the extended limits of the
United States, while persons of foreign birth who make our land their
home must undergo a probation of five years, and can only then become
citizens upon proof that they are "of good moral character, attached to
the principles of the Constitution of the United States, and well
disposed to the good order and happiness of the same."

The first section of the bill also contains an enumeration of the rights
to be enjoyed by these classes so made citizens "in every State and
Territory in the United States." These rights are "to make and enforce
contracts; to sue, be parties, and give evidence; to inherit, purchase,
lease, sell, hold, and convey real and personal property," and to have
"full and equal benefit of all laws and proceedings for the security of
person and property as is enjoyed by white citizens." So, too, they are
made subject to the same punishment, pains, and penalties in common with
white citizens, and to none other. Thus a perfect equality of the white
and colored races is attempted to be fixed by Federal law in every State
of the Union over the vast field of State jurisdiction covered by these
enumerated rights. In no one of these can any State ever exercise any
power of discrimination between the different races. In the exercise of
State policy over matters exclusively affecting the people of each State
it has frequently been thought expedient to discriminate between the
two races. By the statutes of some of the States, Northern as well
as Southern, it is enacted, for instance, that no white person shall
intermarry with a negro or mulatto. Chancellor Kent says, speaking of
the blacks, that--

  Marriages between them and the whites are forbidden in some of the
  States where slavery does not exist, and they are prohibited in all the
  slaveholding States; and when not absolutely contrary to law, they are
  revolting, and regarded as an offense against public decorum.

I do not say that this bill repeals State laws on the subject of
marriage between the two races, for as the whites are forbidden to
intermarry with the blacks, the blacks can only make such contracts as
the whites themselves are allowed to make, and therefore can not under
this bill enter into the marriage contract with the whites. I cite this
discrimination, however, as an instance of the State policy as to
discrimination, and to inquire whether if Congress can abrogate all
State laws of discrimination between the two races in the matter of real
estate, of suits, and of contracts generally Congress may not also
repeal the State laws as to the contract of marriage between the two
races. Hitherto every subject embraced in the enumeration of rights
contained in this bill has been considered as exclusively belonging to
the States. They all relate to the internal police and economy of the
respective States. They are matters which in each State concern the
domestic condition of its people, varying in each according to its own
peculiar circumstances and the safety and well-being of its own
citizens. I do not mean to say that upon all these subjects there are
not Federal restraints--as, for instance, in the State power of
legislation over contracts there is a Federal limitation that no State
shall pass a law impairing the obligations of contracts; and, as to
crimes, that no State shall pass an _ex post facto_ law; and, as to
money, that no State shall make anything but gold and silver a legal
tender; but where can we find a Federal prohibition against the power
of any State to discriminate, as do most of them, between aliens and
citizens, between artificial persons, called corporations, and natural
persons, in the right to hold real estate? If it be granted that
Congress can repeal all State laws discriminating between whites and
blacks in the subjects covered by this bill, why, it may be asked, may
not Congress repeal in the same way all State laws discriminating
between the two races on the subjects of suffrage and office? If
Congress can declare by law who shall hold lands, who shall testify, who
shall have capacity to make a contract in a State, then Congress can by
law also declare who, without regard to color or race, shall have the
right to sit as a juror or as a judge, to hold any office, and, finally,
to vote "in every State and Territory of the United States." As respects
the Territories, they come within the power of Congress, for as to them
the lawmaking power is the Federal power; but as to the States no
similar provision exists vesting in Congress the power "to make rules
and regulations" for them.

The object of the second section of the bill is to afford discriminating
protection to colored persons in the full enjoyment of all the rights
secured to them by the preceding section. It declares--

  That any person who, under color of any law, statute, ordinance,
  regulation, or custom, shall subject, or cause to be subjected, any
  inhabitant of any State or Territory to the deprivation of any right
  secured or protected by this act, or to different punishment, pains, or
  penalties on account of such person having at any time been held in a
  condition of slavery or involuntary servitude, except as a punishment
  for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, or by reason
  of his color or race, than is prescribed for the punishment of white
  persons, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction
  shall be punished by fine not exceeding $1,000, or imprisonment not
  exceeding one year, or both, in the discretion of the court.


This section seems to be designed to apply to some existing or future
law of a State or Territory which may conflict with the provisions of
the bill now under consideration. It provides for counteracting such
forbidden legislation by imposing fine and imprisonment upon the
legislators who may pass such conflicting laws, or upon the officers or
agents who shall put or attempt to put them into execution. It means an
official offense, not a common crime committed against law upon the
persons or property of the black race. Such an act may deprive the black
man of his property, but not of the _right_ to hold property. It means
a deprivation of the right itself, either by the State judiciary or
the State legislature. It is therefore assumed that under this section
members of State legislatures who should vote for laws conflicting with
the provisions of the bill, that judges of the State courts who should
render judgments in antagonism with its terms, and that marshals and
sheriffs who should, as ministerial officers, execute processes
sanctioned by State laws and issued by State judges in execution of
their judgments could be brought before other tribunals and there
subjected to fine and imprisonment for the performance of the duties
which such State laws might impose. The legislation thus proposed
invades the judicial power of the State. It says to every State court or
judge, If you decide that this act is unconstitutional; if you refuse,
under the prohibition of a State law, to allow a negro to testify; if
you hold that over such a subject-matter the State law is paramount, and
"under color" of a State law refuse the exercise of the right to the
negro, your error of judgment, however conscientious, shall subject
you to fine and imprisonment. I do not apprehend that the conflicting
legislation which the bill seems to contemplate is so likely to occur as
to render it necessary at this time to adopt a measure of such doubtful
constitutionality.

In the next place, this provision of the bill seems to be unnecessary,
as adequate judicial remedies could be adopted to secure the desired end
without invading the immunities of legislators, always important to be
preserved in the interest of public liberty; without assailing the
independence of the judiciary, always essential to the preservation of
individual rights; and without impairing the efficiency of ministerial
officers, always necessary for the maintenance of public peace and
order. The remedy proposed by this section seems to be in this respect
not only anomalous, but unconstitutional; for the Constitution
guarantees nothing with certainty if it does not insure to the several
States the right of making and executing laws in regard to all matters
arising within their jurisdiction, subject only to the restriction that
in cases of conflict with the Constitution and constitutional laws of
the United States the latter should be held to be the supreme law of the
land.

The third section gives the district courts of the United States
exclusive "cognizance of all crimes and offenses committed against the
provisions of this act," and concurrent jurisdiction with the circuit
courts of the United States of all civil and criminal cases "affecting
persons who are denied or can not enforce in the courts or judicial
tribunals of the State or locality where they may be any of the rights
secured to them by the first section." The construction which I have
given to the second section is strengthened by this third section, for
it makes clear what kind of denial or deprivation of the rights secured
by the first section was in contemplation. It is a denial or deprivation
of such rights "in the courts or judicial tribunals of the State." It
stands, therefore, clear of doubt that the offense and the penalties
provided in the second section are intended for the State judge who, in
the clear exercise of his functions as a judge, not acting ministerially
but judicially, shall decide contrary to this Federal law. In other
words, when a State judge, acting upon a question involving a conflict
between a State law and a Federal law, and bound, according to his own
judgment and responsibility, to give an impartial decision between the
two, comes to the conclusion that the State law is valid and the Federal
law is invalid, he must not follow the dictates of his own judgment, at
the peril of fine and imprisonment. The legislative department of the
Government of the United States thus takes from the judicial department
of the States the sacred and exclusive duty of judicial decision, and
converts the State judge into a mere ministerial officer, bound to
decide according to the will of Congress.

It is clear that in States which deny to persons whose rights are
secured by the first section of the bill any one of those rights all
criminal and civil cases affecting them will, by the provisions of the
third section, come under the exclusive cognizance of the Federal
tribunals. It follows that if, in any State which denies to a colored
person any one of all those rights, that person should commit a crime
against the laws of a State--murder, arson, rape, or any other
crime--all protection and punishment through the courts of the State are
taken away, and he can only be tried and punished in the Federal courts.
How is the criminal to be tried? If the offense is provided for and
punished by Federal law, that law, and not the State law, is to govern.
It is only when the offense does not happen to be within the purview of
Federal law that the Federal courts are to try and punish him under any
other law. Then resort is to be had to "the common law, as modified and
changed" by State legislation, "so far as the same is not inconsistent
with the Constitution and laws of the United States." So that over this
vast domain of criminal jurisprudence provided by each State for the
protection of its own citizens and for the punishment of all persons who
violate its criminal laws, Federal law, whenever it can be made to
apply, displaces State law. The question here naturally arises, from
what source Congress derives the power to transfer to Federal tribunals
certain classes of cases embraced in this section. The Constitution
expressly declares that the judicial power of the United States "shall
extend to all cases, in law and equity, arising under this Constitution,
the laws of the United States, and treaties made or which shall be made
under their authority; to all cases affecting ambassadors, other public
ministers, and consuls; to all cases of admiralty and maritime
jurisdiction; to controversies to which the United States shall be a
party; to controversies between two or more States, between a State and
citizens of another State, between citizens of different States, between
citizens of the same State claiming lands under grants of different
States, and between a State, or the citizens thereof, and foreign
states, citizens, or subjects." Here the judicial power of the United
States is expressly set forth and defined; and the act of September 24,
1789, establishing the judicial courts of the United States, in
conferring upon the Federal courts jurisdiction over cases originating
in State tribunals, is careful to confine them to the classes enumerated
in the above-recited clause of the Constitution. This section of the
bill undoubtedly comprehends cases and authorizes the exercise of powers
that are not, by the Constitution, within the jurisdiction of the courts
of the United States. To transfer them to those courts would be an
exercise of authority well calculated to excite distrust and alarm on
the part of all the States, for the bill applies alike to all of
them--as well to those that have as to those that have not been engaged
in rebellion.

It may be assumed that this authority is incident to the power granted
to Congress by the Constitution, as recently amended, to enforce, by
appropriate legislation, the article declaring that--

  Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for
  crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist
  within the United States or any place subject to their jurisdiction.


It can not, however, be justly claimed that, with a view to the
enforcement of this article of the Constitution, there is at present any
necessity for the exercise of all the powers which this bill confers.
Slavery has been abolished, and at present nowhere exists within the
jurisdiction of the United States; nor has there been, nor is it likely
there will be, any attempt to revive it by the people or the States.
If, however, any such attempt shall be made, it will then become the
duty of the General Government to exercise any and all incidental powers
necessary and proper to maintain inviolate this great constitutional law
of freedom.

The fourth section of the bill provides that officers and agents of the
Freedmen's Bureau shall be empowered to make arrests, and also that
other officers may be specially commissioned for that purpose by the
President of the United States. It also authorizes circuit courts of the
United States and the superior courts of the Territories to appoint,
without limitation, commissioners, who are to be charged with the
performance of _quasi_ judicial duties. The fifth section empowers the
commissioners so to be selected by the courts to appoint in writing,
under their hands, one or more suitable persons from time to time to
execute warrants and other processes described by the bill. These
numerous official agents are made to constitute a sort of police,
in addition to the military, and are authorized to summon a _posse
comitatus_, and even to call to their aid such portion of the land
and naval forces of the United States, or of the militia, "as may be
necessary to the performance of the duty with which they are charged."
This extraordinary power is to be conferred upon agents irresponsible to
the Government and to the people, to whose number the discretion of the
commissioners is the only limit, and in whose hands such authority might
be made a terrible engine of wrong, oppression, and fraud. The general
statutes regulating the land and naval forces of the United States, the
militia, and the execution of the laws are believed to be adequate for
every emergency which can occur in time of peace. If it should prove
otherwise, Congress can at any time amend those laws in such manner as,
while subserving the public welfare, not to jeopard the rights,
interests, and liberties of the people.

The seventh section provides that a fee of $10 shall be paid to each
commissioner in every case brought before him, and a fee of $5 to his
deputy or deputies "for each person he or they may arrest and take
before any such commissioner," "with such other fees as may be deemed
reasonable by such commissioner," "in general for performing such other
duties as may be required in the premises." All these fees are to be
"paid out of the Treasury of the United States," whether there is a
conviction or not; but in case of conviction they are to be recoverable
from the defendant. It seems to me that under the influence of such
temptations bad men might convert any law, however beneficent, into an
instrument of persecution and fraud.

By the eighth section of the bill the United States courts, which sit
only in one place for white citizens, must migrate with the marshal and
district attorney (and necessarily with the clerk, although he is not
mentioned) to any part of the district upon the order of the President,
and there hold a court, "for the purpose of the more speedy arrest and
trial of persons charged with a violation of this act;" and there the
judge and officers of the court must remain, upon the order of the
President, "for the time therein designated."

The ninth section authorizes the President, or such person as he may
empower for that purpose, "to employ such part of the land or naval
forces of the United States, or of the militia, as shall be necessary
to prevent the violation and enforce the due execution of this act."
This language seems to imply a permanent military force, that is to be
always at hand, and whose only business is to be the enforcement of this
measure over the vast region where it is intended to operate.

I do not propose to consider the policy of this bill. To me the details
of the bill seem fraught with evil. The white race and the black race of
the South have hitherto lived together under the relation of master and
slave--capital owning labor. Now, suddenly, that relation is changed,
and as to ownership capital and labor are divorced. They stand now each
master of itself. In this new relation, one being necessary to the
other, there will be a new adjustment, which both are deeply interested
in making harmonious. Each has equal power in settling the terms, and
if left to the laws that regulate capital and labor it is confidently
believed that they will satisfactorily work out the problem. Capital, it
is true, has more intelligence, but labor is never so ignorant as not to
understand its own interests, not to know its own value, and not to see
that capital must pay that value.

This bill frustrates this adjustment. It intervenes between capital and
labor and attempts to settle questions of political economy through the
agency of numerous officials whose interest it will be to foment discord
between the two races, for as the breach widens their employment will
continue, and when it is closed their occupation will terminate.

In all our history, in all our experience as a people living under
Federal and State law, no such system as that contemplated by the
details of this bill has ever before been proposed or adopted. They
establish for the security of the colored race safeguards which go
infinitely beyond any that the General Government has ever provided for
the white race. In fact, the distinction of race and color is by the
bill made to operate in favor of the colored and against the white race.
They interfere with the municipal legislation of the States, with the
relations existing exclusively between a State and its citizens, or
between inhabitants of the same State--an absorption and assumption of
power by the General Government which, if acquiesced in, must sap and
destroy our federative system of limited powers and break down the
barriers which preserve the rights of the States. It is another step,
or rather stride, toward centralization and the concentration of all
legislative powers in the National Government. The tendency of the
bill must be to resuscitate the spirit of rebellion and to arrest the
progress of those influences which are more closely drawing around the
States the bonds of union and peace.

My lamented predecessor, in his proclamation of the 1st of January,
1863, ordered and declared that all persons held as slaves within
certain States and parts of States therein designated were and
thenceforward should be free; and further, that the executive government
of the United States, including the military and naval authorities
thereof, would recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons.
This guaranty has been rendered especially obligatory and sacred by the
amendment of the Constitution abolishing slavery throughout the United
States. I therefore fully recognize the obligation to protect and
defend that class of our people whenever and wherever it shall become
necessary, and to the full extent compatible with the Constitution of
the United States.

Entertaining these sentiments, it only remains for me to say that I will
cheerfully cooperate with Congress in any measure that may be necessary
for the protection of the civil rights of the freedmen, as well as those
of all other classes of persons throughout the United States, by
judicial process, under equal and impartial laws, in conformity with the
provisions of the Federal Constitution.

I now return the bill to the Senate, and regret that in considering the
bills and joint resolutions--forty-two in number--which have been thus
far submitted for my approval I am compelled to withhold my assent from
a second measure that has received the sanction of both Houses of
Congress.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, D.C., _May 15, 1866_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I return to the Senate, in which House it originated, the bill, which
has passed both Houses of Congress, entitled "An act for the admission
of the State of Colorado into the Union," with my objections to its
becoming a law at this time.

First. From the best information which I have been able to obtain
I do not consider the establishment of a State government at present
necessary for the welfare of the people of Colorado. Under the existing
Territorial government all the rights, privileges, and interests of the
citizens are protected and secured. The qualified voters choose their
own legislators and their own local officers, and are represented in
Congress by a Delegate of their own selection. They make and execute
their own municipal laws, subject only to revision by Congress--an
authority not likely to be exercised unless in extreme or extraordinary
cases. The population is small, some estimating it so low as 25,000,
while advocates of the bill reckon the number at from 35,000 to 40,000
souls. The people are principally recent settlers, many of whom are
understood to be ready for removal to other mining districts beyond
the limits of the Territory if circumstances shall render them more
inviting. Such a population can not but find relief from excessive
taxation if the Territorial system, which devolves the expenses of the
executive, legislative, and judicial departments upon the United States,
is for the present continued. They can not but find the security of
person and property increased by their reliance upon the national
executive power for the maintenance of law and order against the
disturbances necessarily incident to all newly organized communities.

Second. It is not satisfactorily established that a majority of the
citizens of Colorado desire or are prepared for an exchange of a
Territorial for a State government. In September, 1864, under the
authority of Congress, an election was lawfully appointed and held for
the purpose of ascertaining the views of the people upon this particular
question. Six thousand one hundred and ninety-two votes were cast, and
of this number a majority of 3,152 was given against the proposed
change. In September, 1865, without any legal authority, the question
was again presented to the people of the Territory, with the view of
obtaining a reconsideration of the result of the election held in
compliance with the act of Congress approved March 21, 1864. At this
second election 5,905 votes were polled, and a majority of 155 was given
in favor of a State organization. It does not seem to me entirely safe
to receive this, the last-mentioned, result, so irregularly obtained, as
sufficient to outweigh the one which had been legally obtained in the
first election. Regularity and conformity to law are essential to the
preservation of order and stable government, and should, as far as
practicable, always be observed in the formation of new States.

Third. The admission of Colorado at this time as a State into the
Federal Union appears to me to be incompatible with the public interests
of the country. While it is desirable that Territories, when
sufficiently matured, should be organized as States, yet the spirit of
the Constitution seems to require that there should be an approximation
toward equality among the several States composing the Union. No State
can have less or more than two Senators in Congress. The largest State
has a population of 4,000,000; several of the States have a population
exceeding 2,000,000, and many others have a population exceeding
1,000,000. A population of 127,000 is the ratio of apportionment of
Representatives among the several States.

If this bill should become a law, the people of Colorado, 30,000 in
number, would have in the House of Representatives one member, while New
York, with a population of 4,000,000, has but thirty-one; Colorado would
have in the electoral college three votes, while New York has only
thirty-three; Colorado would have in the Senate two votes, while New
York has no more.

Inequalities of this character have already occurred, but it is believed
that none have happened where the inequality was so great. When such
inequality has been allowed, Congress is supposed to have permitted it
on the ground of some high public necessity and under circumstances
which promised that it would rapidly disappear through the growth and
development of the newly admitted State. Thus, in regard to the several
States in what was formerly called the "Northwest Territory," lying east
of the Mississippi, their rapid advancement in population rendered it
certain that States admitted with only one or two Representatives in
Congress would in a very short period be entitled to a great increase
of representation. So, when California was admitted, on the ground of
commercial and political exigencies, it was well foreseen that that
State was destined rapidly to become a great, prosperous, and important
mining and commercial community. In the case of Colorado, I am not aware
that any national exigency, either of a political or commercial nature,
requires a departure from the law of equality which has been so
generally adhered to in our history.

If information submitted in connection with this bill is reliable,
Colorado, instead of increasing, has declined in population. At an
election for members of a Territorial legislature held in 1861, 10,580
votes were cast; at the election before mentioned, in 1864, the number
of votes cast was 6,192; while at the irregular election held in 1865,
which is assumed as a basis for legislative action at this time, the
aggregate of votes was 5,905. Sincerely anxious for the welfare and
prosperity of every Territory and State, as well as for the prosperity
and welfare of the whole Union, I regret this apparent decline of
population in Colorado; but it is manifest that it is due to emigration
which is going on from that Territory into other regions within the
United States, which either are in fact or are believed by the
inhabitants of Colorado to be richer in mineral wealth and agricultural
resources. If, however, Colorado has not really declined in population,
another census or another election under the authority of Congress would
place the question beyond doubt, and cause but little delay in the
ultimate admission of the Territory as a State if desired by the people.

The tenor of these objections furnishes the reply which may be expected
to an argument in favor of the measure derived from the enabling act
which was passed by Congress on the 21st day of March, 1864. Although
Congress then supposed that the condition of the Territory was such as
to warrant its admission as a State, the result of two years' experience
shows that every reason which existed for the institution of a
Territorial instead of a State government in Colorado at its first
organization still continues in force.

The condition of the Union at the present moment is calculated to
inspire caution in regard to the admission of new States. Eleven of the
old States have been for some time, and still remain, unrepresented
in Congress. It is a common interest of all the States, as well those
represented as those unrepresented, that the integrity and harmony of
the Union should be restored as completely as possible, so that all
those who are expected to bear the burdens of the Federal Government
shall be consulted concerning the admission of new States; and that
in the meantime no new State shall be prematurely and unnecessarily
admitted to a participation in the political power which the Federal
Government wields, not for the benefit of any individual State or
section, but for the common safety, welfare, and happiness of the whole
country.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, D.C., _June 15, 1866_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

The bill entitled "An act to enable the New York and Montana Iron Mining
and Manufacturing Company to purchase a certain amount of the public
lands not now in market" is herewith returned to the Senate, in which it
originated, with the objections which induce me to withhold my approval.

By the terms of this bill the New York and Montana Iron Mining and
Manufacturing Company are authorized, at any time within one year after
the date of approval, to _preempt_ two tracts of land in the Territory
of Montana, not exceeding in the aggregate twenty sections, and not
included in any Indian reservation or in any Government reservation for
military or other purposes. Three of these sections may be selected from
lands containing _iron ore and coal_, and the remainder from _timber_
lands lying near thereto. These selections are to be made under
regulations from the Secretary of the Interior and be subject to his
approval. The company, on the selection of the lands, may acquire
immediate possession by permanently marking their boundaries and
publishing description thereof in any two newspapers of general
circulation in the Territory of Montana. Patents are to be issued on
the performance, within two years, of the following conditions:

First. The lands to be surveyed at the expense of the company, and each
tract to be "as nearly in a square form as may be practicable."

Second. The company to furnish evidence satisfactory to the Secretary of
the Interior that they have erected and have in operation in one or more
places on said lands iron works capable of manufacturing at least 1,500
tons of iron per annum.

Third. The company to have paid for said lands the minimum price of
$1.25 per acre.

It is also provided that the "patents shall convey no title to any
mineral lands except iron and coal, or to any lands held by right of
possession, or by any other title, _except Indian title_, valid at
the time of the selection of the said lands." The company are to have
the privileges of _ordinary preemptors_ and be subject to the same
restrictions as such preemptors with reference to wood and timber on the
lands, with the exception of so much as may be necessarily used in the
erection of buildings and in the legitimate business of manufacturing
iron.

The parties upon whom these privileges are conferred are designated in
the bill as "The New York and Montana Iron Mining and Manufacturing
Company." Their names and residence not being disclosed, it must be
inferred that this company is a corporation, which, under color of
corporate powers derived from some State or Territorial legislative
authority, proposes to carry on the business of mining and manufacturing
iron, and to accomplish these ends seeks this grant of public land in
Montana. Two questions thus arise, viz, whether the privileges the bill
would confer should be granted to any person or persons, and, secondly,
whether, if unobjectionable in other respects, they should be conferred
upon a corporation.

The public domain is a national trust, set apart and held for the
general welfare upon principles of equal justice, and not to be bestowed
as a special privilege upon a favored class. The proper rules for the
disposal of public land have from the earliest period been the subject
of earnest inquiry, grave discussion, and deliberate judgment. The
purpose of _direct_ revenue was the first object, and this was attained
by public sale to the highest bidder, and subsequently by the right of
private purchase at a fixed minimum. It was soon discovered that the
surest and most speedy means of promoting the wealth and prosperity of
the country was by encouraging actual settlement and occupation, and
hence a system of preemption rights, resulting most beneficially, in all
the Western Territories. By progressive steps it has advanced to the
homestead principle, securing to every head of a family, widow, and
single man 21 years of age and to every soldier who has borne arms for
his country a landed estate sufficient, with industry, for the purpose
of independent support.

Without tracing the system of preemption laws through the several
stages, it is sufficient to observe that it rests upon certain just
and plain principles, firmly established in all our legislation. The
object of these laws is to encourage the expansion of population and
the development of agricultural interests, and hence they have been
invariably restricted to settlers. Actual residence and cultivation are
made indispensable conditions; and, to guard the privilege from abuses
of speculation or monopoly, the law is rigid as to the mode of
establishing claims by adequate testimony, with penalties for perjury.
Mining, trading, or any pursuit other than culture of the soil is
interdicted, mineral lands being expressly excluded from preemption
privileges, excepting those containing coal, which, in quantities not
exceeding 160 acres, are restricted to individuals in actual possession
and commerce, with an enhanced minimum of $20 per acre.

For a quarter of a century the quantity of land subject to agricultural
preemption has been limited so as not to exceed a quarter section, or
160 acres; and, still further to guard against monopoly, the privilege
of preemption is not allowed to any person who owns 320 acres of land in
any State or Territory of the United States, nor is any person entitled
to more than one preemptive right, nor is it extended to lands to which
the Indian usufruct has not been extinguished. To restrict the
privilege within reasonable limits, credit to the ordinary preemptor on
_offered_ land is not extended beyond twelve months, within which time
the minimum price must be paid. Where the settlement is upon _unoffered_
territory, the time for payment is limited to the day of public offering
designated by proclamation of the President; while, to prevent
depreciation of the land by waste or destruction of what may constitute
its value, penal enactments have been made for the punishment of persons
depredating upon public timber.

Now, supposing the New York and Montana Iron Mining and Manufacturing
Company to be entitled to all the preemption rights which it has been
found just and expedient to bestow upon natural persons, it will be seen
that the privileges conferred by the bill in question are in direct
conflict with every principle heretofore observed in respect to the
disposal of the public lands.

The bill confers preemption right to _mineral lands_, which, excepting
coal lands, at an enhanced minimum, have heretofore, as a general
principle, been carefully excluded from preemption. The object of the
company is not to cultivate the soil or to promote agriculture, but is
for the sole purpose of mining and manufacturing iron. The company is
not limited, like ordinary preemptors, to one preemptive claim of a
quarter section, but may preempt two bodies of land, amounting in
the aggregate to twenty sections, containing 12,800 acres, or eighty
ordinary individual preemption rights. The timber is not protected, but,
on the contrary, is devoted to speedy destruction; for even before the
consummation of title the company are allowed to consume whatever may be
necessary in the erection of buildings and the business of manufacturing
iron. For these special privileges, in contravention of the land policy
of so many years, the company are required to pay only the minimum price
of $1.25 per acre, or one-sixteenth of the established minimum, and are
granted a credit of two years, or twice the time allowed ordinary
preemptors on offered lands.

Nor is this all. The preemption right in question covers three sections
of land containing iron ore and _coal_. The act passed on the 1st of
July, 1864, made it lawful for the President to cause tracts embracing
coal beds or coal fields to be offered at public sale in suitable legal
subdivisions to the highest bidder, after public notice of not less than
three months, at a minimum price of $20 per acre, and any lands not thus
disposed of were thereafter to be liable to private entry at said
minimum. By the act of March 3, 1865, the right of preemption to coal
lands is granted to any citizen of the United States who at that date
was engaged in the business of coal mining on the public domain for
purposes of commerce; and he is authorized to enter, according to legal
subdivisions, at the minimum price of $20 per acre, a quantity of land
not exceeding 160 acres, to embrace his improvements and mining
premises. Under these acts the minimum price of three sections of coal
lands would be thirty-eight thousand four hundred dollars ($38,400).

By the bill now in question these sections containing _coal and iron_
are bestowed on this company at the nominal price of $1.25 per acre, or
two thousand four hundred dollars ($2,400), thus making a gratuity or
gift to the New York and Montana Iron Mining and Manufacturing Company
of thirty-six thousand dollars ($36,000).

On what ground can such a gratuity to this company be justified,
especially at a time when the burdens of taxation bear so heavily upon
all classes of the people?

Less than two years ago it appears to have been the deliberate judgment
of Congress that tracts of land containing coal beds or coal fields
should be sold, after three months' notice, to the bidder at public
auction who would give the highest price over $20 per acre, and that
a citizen engaged in the business of actual coal mining on the public
domain should only secure a tract of 160 acres, at private entry, upon
payment of $20 per acre and formal and satisfactory proof that he in all
respects came within the requirements of the statute. It can not be that
the coal fields of Montana have depreciated nearly twenty fold in value
since July, 1864. So complete a revolution in the land policy as is
manifested by this act can only be ascribed, therefore, to an
inadvertence, which Congress will, I trust, promptly correct.

Believing that the preemption policy--so deliberately adopted, so long
practiced, so carefully guarded with a view to the disposal of the
public lands in a manner that would promote the population and
prosperity of the country--should not be perverted to the purposes
contemplated by this bill, I would be constrained to withhold my
sanction even if this company were, as natural persons, entitled to the
privileges of ordinary preemptors; for if a corporation, as the name and
the absence of any designation of individuals would denote, the measure
before me is liable to another fatal objection.

Why should incorporated companies have the privileges of individual
preemptors? What principle of justice requires such a policy? What
motive of public welfare can fail to condemn it? Lands held by
corporations were regarded by ancient laws as held in mortmain, or by
"dead hand," and from the time of Magna Charta corporations required
the royal license to hold land, because such holding was regarded as in
derogation of public policy and common right. Preemption is itself a
special privilege, only authorized by its supposed public benefit in
promoting the settlement and cultivation of vacant territory and in
rewarding the enterprise of the persons upon whom the privilege is
bestowed. "Preemption rights," as declared by the Supreme Court of the
United States, "are founded in an enlightened public policy, rendered
necessary by the enterprise of our citizens. The adventurous pioneer,
who is found in advance of our settlements, encounters many hardships,
and not unfrequently dangers from savage incursions. He is generally
poor, and it is fit that his enterprise should be rewarded by the
privilege of purchasing the spot selected by him, not to exceed 160
acres."

It may be said that this company, before they obtain a patent, must
prove that within two years they "have erected and have in operation
in one or more places on the said lands iron works with a capacity for
manufacturing at least 1,500 tons of iron per annum." On the other hand,
they are to have possession for two years of more than 12,000 acres of
the choice land of the Territory, of which nearly 2,000 acres are to
contain _iron ore and coal_ and over 10,000 acres to be of _timber_
land selected by themselves. They will thus have the first and exclusive
choice. In fact, they are the only parties who at this time would have
any privilege whatever in the way of obtaining titles in that Territory.
Inasmuch as Montana has not yet been organized into a land district, the
general preemption laws for the benefit of individual settlers have not
yet been extended to that country, nor has a single acre of public
land in the Territory yet been surveyed. With such exclusive and
extraordinary privileges, how many companies would be willing to
undertake furnaces that would produce 5 tons per day in much less time
than two years?

It is plain the pretended consideration on which the patent is to issue
bears no just proportion to that of the ordinary preemptor, and that
this bill is but the precursor of a system of land distribution to a
privileged class, unequal, unjust, and which ought not to receive the
sanction of the General Government. Many thousand pioneers have turned
their steps to the Western Territories, seeking, with their wives and
children, homesteads to be acquired by sturdy industry under the
preemption laws. On their arrival they should not find the timbered
lands and the tracts containing iron ore and coal already surveyed and
claimed by corporate companies, favored by the special legislation of
Congress, and with boundaries fixed even in advance of the public
surveys--a departure from the salutary provision requiring a settler
upon unsurveyed lands to limit the boundaries of his claim to the lines
of the public survey after they shall have been established. He receives
a title only to a legal subdivision, including his residence and
improvements. The survey of the company may not accord with that which
will hereafter be made by the Government, while the patent that issues
will be descriptive of and confer a title to the tract as surveyed by
the company.

I am aware of no precedent for granting such exclusive rights to a
manufacturing company for a nominal consideration. Congress have made
concessions to railway companies of alternate sections within given
limits of the lines of their roads. This policy originated in the belief
that the facilities afforded by reaching the parts of the country remote
from the great centers of population would expedite the settlement and
sale of the public domain. These incidental advantages were secured
without pecuniary loss to the Government, by reason of the enhanced
value of the reserved sections, which are held at the double minimum.
Mining and manufacturing companies, however, have always been
distinguished from public-improvement corporations. The former are, in
law and in fact, only private associations for trade and business on
individual account and for personal benefit. Admitting the proposition
that railroad grants can stand on sound principle, it is plain that such
can not be the case with concessions to companies like that contemplated
by this measure. In view of the strong temptation to monopolize the
public lands, with the pernicious results, it would seem at least of
doubtful expediency to lift corporations above all competition with
actual settlers by authorizing them to become purchasers of public lands
in the Territories for any purpose, and particularly when clothed with
the special benefits of this bill. For myself, I am convinced that the
privileges of ordinary preemptors ought not to be extended to
incorporated companies.

A third objection may be mentioned, as it exemplifies the spirit in
which special privileges are sought by incorporated companies.

Land subject to Indian occupancy has always been scrupulously guarded by
law from preemption settlement or encroachment under any pretext until
the Indian title should be extinguished. In the fourth section of this
act, however, lands held by "Indian title" are excepted from prohibition
against the patent to be issued to the New York and Montana Iron Mining
and Manufacturing Company.

The bill provides that the patent "shall convey no title to any mineral
lands _except iron and coal_, or to any lands held by right of
possession, or by any other title, _except Indian title_, valid at
the time of the selection of the said lands." It will be seen that by
the first section lands in "Indian reservations" are excluded from
individual preemption right, but by the fourth section the patent may
cover any Indian title except a _reservation_; so that no matter what
may be the nature of the Indian title, unless it be in a reservation,
it is unprotected from the privilege conceded by this bill.

Without further pursuing the subject, I return the bill to the Senate
without my signature, and with the following as prominent objections to
its becoming a law:

First. That it gives to the New York and Montana Iron Mining and
Manufacturing Company preemption privileges to iron and coal lands on a
large scale and at the ordinary minimum--a privilege denied to ordinary
preemptors. It bestows upon the company large tracts of _coal_ lands at
one-sixteenth of the minimum price required from ordinary preemptors.
It also relieves the company from restrictions imposed upon ordinary
preemptors in respect to _timber lands_; allows double the time for
payment granted to preemptors on offered lands; and these privileges are
for purposes not heretofore authorized by the preemption laws, but for
trade and manufacturing.

Second. Preemption rights on such a scale to private corporations are
unequal and hostile to the policy and principles which sanction
preemption laws.

Third. The bill allows this company to take possession of land, use it,
and acquire a patent thereto before the Indian title is extinguished,
and thus violates the good faith of the Government toward the aboriginal
tribes.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, D.C., _July 16, 1866_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

A careful examination of the bill passed by the two Houses of Congress
entitled "An act to continue in force and to amend 'An act to establish
a bureau for the relief of freedmen and refugees, and for other
purposes'" has convinced me that the legislation which it proposes would
not be consistent with the welfare of the country, and that it falls
clearly within the reasons assigned in my message of the 19th of
February last, returning, without my signature, a similar measure which
originated in the Senate. It is not my purpose to repeat the objections
which I then urged. They are yet fresh in your recollection, and can be
readily examined as a part of the records of one branch of the National
Legislature. Adhering to the principles set forth in that message, I now
reaffirm them and the line of policy therein indicated.

The only ground upon which this kind of legislation can be justified is
that of the war-making power. The act of which this bill is intended
as amendatory was passed during the existence of the war. By its own
provisions it is to terminate within one year from the cessation of
hostilities and the declaration of peace. It is therefore yet in
existence, and it is likely that it will continue in force as long
as the freedmen may require the benefit of its provisions. It will
certainly remain in operation as a law until some months subsequent to
the meeting of the next session of Congress, when, if experience shall
make evident the necessity of additional legislation, the two Houses
will have ample time to mature and pass the requisite measures. In the
meantime the questions arise, Why should this war measure be continued
beyond the period designated in the original act, and why in time of
peace should military tribunals be created to continue until each
"State shall be fully restored in its constitutional relations to the
Government and shall be duly represented in the Congress of the United
States"?

It was manifest, with respect to the act approved March 3, 1865, that
prudence and wisdom alike required that jurisdiction over all cases
concerning the free enjoyment of the immunities and rights of
citizenship, as well as the protection of person and property, should
be conferred upon some tribunal in every State or district where the
ordinary course of judicial proceedings was interrupted by the
rebellion, and until the same should be fully restored. At that time,
therefore, an urgent necessity existed for the passage of some such
law. Now, however, war has substantially ceased; the ordinary course of
judicial proceedings is no longer interrupted; the courts, both State
and Federal, are in full, complete, and successful operation, and
through them every person, regardless of race and color, is entitled to
and can be heard. The protection granted to the white citizen is already
conferred by law upon the freedman; strong and stringent guards, by way
of penalties and punishments, are thrown around his person and property,
and it is believed that ample protection will be afforded him by due
process of law, without resort to the dangerous expedient of "military
tribunals," now that the war has been brought to a close. The necessity
no longer existing for such tribunals, which had their origin in the
war, grave objections to their continuance must present themselves to
the minds of all reflecting and dispassionate men. Independently of the
danger, in representative republics, of conferring upon the military,
in time of peace, extraordinary powers--so carefully guarded against
by the patriots and statesmen of the earlier days of the Republic,
so frequently the ruin of governments founded upon the same free
principles, and subversive of the rights and liberties of the
citizen--the question of practical economy earnestly commends itself to
the consideration of the lawmaking power. With an immense debt already
burdening the incomes of the industrial and laboring classes, a due
regard for their interests, so inseparably connected with the welfare of
the country, should prompt us to rigid economy and retrenchment, and
influence us to abstain from all legislation that would unnecessarily
increase the public indebtedness. Tested by this rule of sound political
wisdom, I can see no reason for the establishment of the "military
jurisdiction" conferred upon the officials of the Bureau by the
fourteenth section of the bill.

By the laws of the United States and of the different States competent
courts, Federal and State, have been established and are now in full
practical operation. By means of these civil tribunals ample redress is
afforded for all private wrongs, whether to the person or the property
of the citizen, without denial or unnecessary delay. They are open to
all, without regard to color or race. I feel well assured that it will
be better to trust the rights, privileges, and immunities of the citizen
to tribunals thus established, and presided over by competent and
impartial judges, bound by fixed rules of law and evidence, and where
the right of trial by jury is guaranteed and secured, than to the
caprice or judgment of an officer of the Bureau, who it is possible
may be entirely ignorant of the principles that underlie the just
administration of the law. There is danger, too, that conflict of
jurisdiction will frequently arise between the civil courts and these
military tribunals, each having concurrent jurisdiction over the person
and the cause of action--the one judicature administered and controlled
by civil law, the other by the military. How is the conflict to be
settled, and who is to determine between the two tribunals when it
arises? In my opinion, it is wise to guard against such conflict by
leaving to the courts and juries the protection of all civil rights
and the redress of all civil grievances.

The fact can not be denied that since the actual cessation of
hostilities many acts of violence, such, perhaps, as had never been
witnessed in their previous history, have occurred in the States
involved in the recent rebellion. I believe, however, that public
sentiment will sustain me in the assertion that such deeds of wrong are
not confined to any particular State or section, but are manifested over
the entire country, demonstrating that the cause that produced them
does not depend upon any particular locality, but is the result of
the agitation and derangement incident to a long and bloody civil war.
While the prevalence of such disorders must be greatly deplored, their
occasional and temporary occurrence would seem to furnish no necessity
for the extension of the Bureau beyond the period fixed in the original
act.

Besides the objections which I have thus briefly stated, I may urge upon
your consideration the additional reason that recent developments in
regard to the practical operations of the Bureau in many of the States
show that in numerous instances it is used by its agents as a means of
promoting their individual advantage, and that the freedmen are employed
for the advancement of the personal ends of the officers instead of
their own improvement and welfare, thus confirming the fears originally
entertained by many that the continuation of such a Bureau for any
unnecessary length of time would inevitably result in fraud, corruption,
and oppression. It is proper to state that in cases of this character
investigations have been promptly ordered, and the offender punished
whenever his guilt has been satisfactorily established.

As another reason against the necessity of the legislation contemplated
by this measure, reference may be had to the "civil-rights bill," now a
law of the land, and which will be faithfully executed so long as it
shall remain unrepealed and may not be declared unconstitutional by
courts of competent jurisdiction. By that act it is enacted--

  That all persons born in the United States and not subject to any
  foreign power, excluding Indians not taxed, are hereby declared to
  be citizens of the United States; and such citizens, of every race
  and color, without regard to any previous condition of slavery or
  involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the
  party shall have been duly convicted, shall have the same right in every
  State and Territory in the United States to make and enforce contracts;
  to sue, be parties, and give evidence; to inherit, purchase, lease,
  sell, hold, and convey real and personal property, and to full and equal
  benefit of all laws and proceedings for the security of person and
  property, as is enjoyed by white citizens, and shall be subject to like
  punishment, pains, and penalties, and to none other, any law, statute,
  ordinance, regulation, or custom to the contrary notwithstanding.


By the provisions of the act full protection is afforded through the
district courts of the United States to all persons injured, and whose
privileges, as thus declared, are in any way impaired; and heavy
penalties are denounced against the person who willfully violates the
law. I need not state that that law did not receive my approval; yet its
remedies are far more preferable than those proposed in the present
bill--the one being civil and the other military.

By the sixth section of the bill herewith returned certain proceedings
by which the lands in the "parishes of St. Helena and St. Luke, South
Carolina," were sold and bid in, and afterwards disposed of by the tax
commissioners, are ratified and confirmed. By the seventh, eighth,
ninth, tenth, and eleventh sections provisions by law are made for the
disposal of the lands thus acquired to a particular class of citizens.
While the quieting of titles is deemed very important and desirable, the
discrimination made in the bill seems objectionable, as does also the
attempt to confer upon the commissioners judicial powers by which
citizens of the United States are to be deprived of their property in a
mode contrary to that provision of the Constitution which declares that
no person shall "be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due
process of law." As a general principle, such legislation is unsafe,
unwise, partial, and unconstitutional. It may deprive persons of their
property who are equally deserving objects of the nation's bounty as
those whom by this legislation Congress seeks to benefit. The title to
the land thus to be portioned out to a favored class of citizens must
depend upon the regularity of the tax sales under the law as it existed
at the time of the sale, and no subsequent legislation can give
validity to the right thus acquired as against the original claimants.
The attention of Congress is therefore invited to a more mature
consideration of the measures proposed in these sections of the bill.

In conclusion I again urge upon Congress the danger of class
legislation, so well calculated to keep the public mind in a state of
uncertain expectation, disquiet, and restlessness and to encourage
interested hopes and fears that the National Government will continue to
furnish to classes of citizens in the several States means for support
and maintenance regardless of whether they pursue a life of indolence or
of labor, and regardless also of the constitutional limitations of the
national authority in times of peace and tranquillity.

The bill is herewith returned to the House of Representatives, in which
it originated, for its final action.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, D.C., _July 28, 1866_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I herewith return, without my approval, the bill entitled "An act
erecting the Territory of Montana into a surveying district, and for
other purposes."

The bill contains four sections, the first of which erects the Territory
into a surveying district and authorizes the appointment of a
surveyor-general; the second constitutes the Territory a land district;
the third authorizes the appointment of a register and receiver for said
district; and the fourth requires the surveyor-general to--

  select and survey eighteen alternate odd sections of nonmineral timber
  lands within said district for the New York and Montana Iron Mining and
  Manufacturing Company, incorporated under the laws of the State of New
  York, which lands the said company shall have immediate possession of on
  the payment of _$1.25_ per acre, and shall have a patent for the same
  whenever, within two years after their selection, they shall have
  furnished evidence satisfactory to the Secretary of the Interior that
  they have erected and have in operation on the said lands iron works
  with a capacity for manufacturing 1,500 tons of iron per annum:
  _Provided_, That the said lands shall revert to the United States in
  case the above-mentioned iron works be not erected within the specified
  time: _And provided_, That until the title to the said lands shall have
  been perfected the timber shall not be cut off from more than one
  section of the said lands.

To confer the special privileges specified in this fourth section
appears to be the chief object of the bill, the provisions of which are
subject to some of the most important objections that induced me to
return to the Senate with my disapproval the bill entitled "An act to
enable the New York and Montana Iron Mining and Manufacturing Company
to purchase a certain amount of the public lands not now in market."
That bill authorized the same corporation to select and survey in the
Territory of Montana, in square form, twenty-one sections of land, three
of which might contain coal and iron ore, for which the minimum rate of
$1.25 per acre was to be paid. The present bill omits these sections of
mineral lands, and directs the surveyor-general to select and survey the
timber lands; but it contains the objectionable feature of granting
to a private mining and manufacturing corporation exclusive rights and
privileges in the public domain which are by law denied to individuals.
The first choice of timber land in the Territory is bestowed upon a
corporation foreign to the Territory and over which Congress has no
control. The surveyor-general of the district, a public officer who
should have no connection with any purchase of public land, is made the
agent of the corporation to select the land, the selections to be made
in the absence of all competition; and over 11,000 acres are bestowed
at the lowest price of public lands. It is by no means certain that
the substitution of alternate sections for the compact body of lands
contemplated by the other bill is any less injurious to the public
interest, for alternate sections stripped of timber are not likely
to enhance the value of those reserved by the Government. Be this as
it may, this bill bestows a large monopoly of public lands without
adequate consideration; confers a right and privilege in quantity
equivalent to seventy-two preemption rights; introduces a dangerous
system of privileges to private trading corporations; and is an unjust
discrimination in favor of traders and speculators against individual
settlers and pioneers who are seeking homes and improving our Western
Territories. Such a departure from the long-established, wise, and just
policy which has heretofore governed the disposition of the public funds
[lands] can not receive my sanction. The objections enumerated apply to
the fourth section of the bill. The first, second, and third sections,
providing for the appointment of a surveyor-general, register, and
receiver, are unobjectionable if any necessity requires the creation
of these offices and the additional expenses of a new surveying land
district. But they appear in this instance to be only needed as a part
of the machinery to enable the "New York and Montana Iron Mining and
Manufacturing Company" to secure these privileges; for I am informed by
the proper Department, in a communication hereto annexed, that there is
no public necessity for a surveyor-general, register, or receiver in
Montana Territory, since it forms part of an existing surveying and land
district, wherein the public business is, under present laws, transacted
with adequate facility, so that the provisions of the first, second, and
third sections would occasion needless expense to the General
Government.

ANDREW JOHNSON.




PROCLAMATIONS.

ANDREW JOHNSON, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

_To all whom it may concern_:

An exequatur, bearing date the 13th day of October, 1864, having been
issued to Esteban Rogers, recognizing him as consul _ad interim_ of the
Republic of Chile for the port of New York and its dependencies and
declaring him free to exercise and enjoy such functions, powers, and
privileges as are allowed to consuls by the law of nations or by the
laws of the United States and existing treaty stipulations between the
Government of Chile and the United States; but as it is deemed advisable
that the said Esteban Rogers should no longer be permitted to continue
in the exercise of said functions, powers, and privileges:

These are therefore to declare that I no longer recognize the said
Esteban Rogers as consul _ad interim_ of the Republic of Chile for
the port of New York and its dependencies and will not permit him to
exercise or enjoy any of the functions, powers, or privileges allowed to
a consular officer of that nation; and that I do hereby wholly revoke
and annul the said exequatur heretofore given and do declare the same
to be absolutely null and void from this day forward.

In testimony whereof I have caused these letters to be made patent and
the seal of the United States of America to be hereunto affixed.

[SEAL.]

Given under my hand, at Washington, this 12th day of February, A.D.
1866, and of the Independence of the United States of America the
ninetieth.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

By the President:
  WILLIAM H. SEWARD,
    _Secretary of State_.



ANDREW JOHNSON, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

_To all whom it may concern_:

An exequatur, bearing date the 7th day of October, 1864, having been
issued to Claudius Edward Habicht, recognizing him as consul of Sweden
and Norway at New York and declaring him free to exercise and enjoy such
functions, powers, and privileges as are allowed to consuls by the law
of nations or by the laws of the United States and existing treaty
stipulations between the Government of Sweden and Norway and the United
States; but as it is deemed advisable that the said Claudius Edward
Habicht should no longer be permitted to continue in the exercise of
said functions, powers, and privileges:

These are therefore to declare that I no longer recognize the said
Claudius Edward Habicht as consul of Sweden and Norway at New York and
will not permit him to exercise or enjoy any of the functions, powers,
or privileges allowed to a consular officer of that nation; and that I
do hereby wholly revoke and annul the said exequatur heretofore given
and do declare the same to be absolutely null and void from this day
forward.

In testimony whereof I have caused these letters to be made patent and
the seal of the United States of America to be hereunto affixed.

[SEAL.]

Given under my hand, at Washington, the 26th day of March, A.D. 1866,
and of the Independence of the United States of America the ninetieth.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

By the President:
  WILLIAM H. SEWARD,
    _Secretary of State_.



ANDREW JOHNSON, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

_To all whom it may concern_:

An exequatur, bearing date the 1st day of July, 1865, having been issued
to S.M. Svenson, recognizing him as vice-consul of Sweden and Norway at
New Orleans and declaring him free to exercise and enjoy such functions,
powers, and privileges as are allowed to vice-consuls by the law of
nations or by the laws of the United States and existing treaty
stipulations between the Government of Sweden and Norway and the United
States; but as it is deemed advisable that the said S.M. Svenson should
no longer be permitted to continue in the exercise of said functions,
powers, and privileges:

These are therefore to declare that I no longer recognize the said S.M.
Svenson as vice-consul of Sweden and Norway at New Orleans and will
not permit him to exercise or enjoy any of the functions, powers, or
privileges allowed to a consular officer of that nation; and that I do
hereby wholly revoke and annul the said exequatur heretofore given and
do declare the same to be absolutely null and void from this day
forward.

In testimony whereof I have caused these letters to be made patent and
the seal of the United States of America to be hereunto affixed.

[SEAL.]

Given under my hand, at Washington, the 26th day of March, A.D. 1866,
and of the Independence of the United States of America the ninetieth.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

By the President:
  WILLIAM H. SEWARD,
    _Secretary of State_.



BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas by proclamations of the 15th and 19th of April, 1861, the
President of the United States, in virtue of the power vested in him by
the Constitution and the laws, declared that the laws of the United
States were opposed and the execution thereof obstructed in the States
of South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana,
and Texas by combinations too powerful to be suppressed by the ordinary
course of judicial proceedings or by the powers vested in the marshals
by law; and

Whereas by another proclamation, made on the 16th day of August, in the
same year, in pursuance of an act of Congress approved July 13, 1861,
the inhabitants of the States of Georgia, South Carolina, Virginia,
North Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas,
Mississippi, and Florida (except the inhabitants of that part of the
State of Virginia lying west of the Alleghany Mountains and of such
other parts of that State and the other States before named as might
maintain a loyal adhesion to the Union and the Constitution or might be
from time to time occupied and controlled by forces of the United States
engaged in the dispersion of insurgents) were declared to be in a state
of insurrection against the United States; and

Whereas by another proclamation, of the 1st day of July, 1862, issued in
pursuance of an act of Congress approved June 7, in the same year, the
insurrection was declared to be still existing in the States aforesaid,
with the exception of certain specified counties in the State of
Virginia; and

Whereas by another proclamation, made on the 2d day of April, 1863, in
pursuance of the act of Congress of July 13, 1861, the exceptions named
in the proclamation of August 16, 1861, were revoked and the inhabitants
of the States of Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee,
Alabama, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi, Florida, and Virginia
(except the forty-eight counties of Virginia designated as West Virginia
and the ports of New Orleans, Key West, Port Royal, and Beaufort, in
North Carolina) were declared to be still in a state of insurrection
against the United States; and

Whereas the House of Representatives, on the 22d day of July, 1861,
adopted a resolution in the words following, namely:

  _Resolved by the House of Representatives of the Congress of the United
  States_, That the present deplorable civil war has been forced upon the
  country by the disunionists of the Southern States now in revolt against
  the constitutional Government and in arms around the capital; that in
  this national emergency Congress, banishing all feelings of mere passion
  or resentment, will recollect only its duty to the whole country; that
  this war is not waged upon our part in any spirit of oppression, nor for
  any purpose of conquest or subjugation, nor purpose of overthrowing or
  interfering with the rights or established institutions of those States,
  but to defend and maintain the supremacy of the Constitution and to
  preserve the Union, with all the dignity, equality, and rights of the
  several States unimpaired; and that as soon as these objects are
  accomplished the war ought to cease.


And whereas the Senate of the United States, on the 25th day of July,
1861, adopted a resolution in the words following, to wit:

  _Resolved_, That the present deplorable civil war has been forced upon
  the country by the disunionists of the Southern States now in revolt
  against the constitutional Government and in arms around the capital;
  that in this national emergency Congress, banishing all feeling of
  mere passion or resentment, will recollect only its duty to the whole
  country; that this war is not prosecuted upon our part in any spirit
  of oppression, nor for any purpose of conquest or subjugation, nor
  purpose of overthrowing or interfering with the rights or established
  institutions of those States, but to defend and maintain the supremacy
  of the Constitution and all laws made in pursuance thereof and to
  preserve the Union, with all the dignity, equality, and rights of
  the several States unimpaired; that as soon as these objects are
  accomplished the war ought to cease.


And whereas these resolutions, though not joint or concurrent in form,
are substantially identical, and as such may be regarded as having
expressed the sense of Congress upon the subject to which they relate;
and

Whereas by my proclamation of the 13th day of June last the insurrection
in the State of Tennessee was declared to have been suppressed, the
authority of the United States therein to be undisputed, and such United
States officers as had been duly commissioned to be in the undisturbed
exercise of their official functions; and

Whereas there now exists no organized armed resistance of misguided
citizens or others to the authority of the United States in the States
of Georgia, South Carolina, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee,
Alabama, Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Florida, and the laws can
be sustained and enforced therein by the proper civil authority, State
or Federal, and the people of said States are well and loyally disposed
and have conformed or will conform in their legislation to the condition
of affairs growing out of the amendment to the Constitution of the
United States prohibiting slavery within the limits and jurisdiction of
the United States; and

Whereas, in view of the before-recited premises, it is the manifest
determination of the American people that no State of its own will has
the right or the power to go out of, or separate itself from, or be
separated from, the American Union, and that therefore each State ought
to remain and constitute an integral part of the United States; and

Whereas the people of the several before-mentioned States have, in the
manner aforesaid, given satisfactory evidence that they acquiesce in
this sovereign and important resolution of national unity; and

Whereas it is believed to be a fundamental principle of government that
people who have revolted and who have been overcome and subdued must
either be dealt with so as to induce them voluntarily to become friends
or else they must be held by absolute military power or devastated so as
to prevent them from ever again doing harm as enemies, which last-named
policy is abhorrent to humanity and to freedom; and

Whereas the Constitution of the United States provides for constituent
communities only as States, and not as Territories, dependencies,
provinces, or protectorates; and

Whereas such constituent States must necessarily be, and by the
Constitution and laws of the United States are, made equals and placed
upon a like footing as to political rights, immunities, dignity, and
power with the several States with which they are united; and

Whereas the observance of political equality, as a principle of right
and justice, is well calculated to encourage the people of the aforesaid
States to be and become more and more constant and persevering in their
renewed allegiance; and

Whereas standing armies, military occupation, martial law, military
tribunals, and the suspension of the privilege of the writ of _habeas
corpus_ are in time of peace dangerous to public liberty, incompatible
with the individual rights of the citizen, contrary to the genius and
spirit of our free institutions, and exhaustive of the national
resources, and ought not, therefore, to be sanctioned or allowed except
in cases of actual necessity for repelling invasion or suppressing
insurrection or rebellion; and

Whereas the policy of the Government of the United States from the
beginning of the insurrection to its overthrow and final suppression has
been in conformity with the principles herein set forth and enumerated:

Now, therefore, I, Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, do
hereby proclaim and declare that the insurrection which heretofore
existed in the States of Georgia, South Carolina, Virginia, North
Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, and
Florida is at an end and is henceforth to be so regarded.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of
the United States to be affixed.

[SEAL.]

Done at the city of Washington, this 2d day of April, A.D. 1866, and of
the Independence of the United States of America the ninetieth.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

By the President:
  WILLIAM H. SEWARD,
    _Secretary of State_.



ANDREW JOHNSON, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

_To all whom it may concern_:

Whereas the exequatur of Claudius Edward Habicht, recognizing him as
consul of Sweden and Norway at New York, and that of S.M. Svenson as
vice-consul of Sweden and Norway at New Orleans were formally revoked on
the 26th day of March last; and

Whereas representations have been made to me since that date which have
effectually relieved those gentlemen from the charges of unlawful and
unfriendly conduct heretofore entertained against them:

Now, therefore, be it known that I, Andrew Johnson, President of
the United States of America, do hereby annul the revocation of the
exequaturs of the said Claudius Edward Habicht and S.M. Svenson and
restore to them the right to exercise the functions and privileges
heretofore granted as consular officers of the Government of Sweden
and Norway.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto signed my name and caused the seal
of the United States to be affixed.

[SEAL.]

Done at the city of Washington, this 30th day of May, A.D. 1866, and of
the Independence of the United States the ninetieth.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

By the President:
  WILLIAM H. SEWARD,
    _Secretary of State_.



BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas it has become known to me that certain evil-disposed persons
have, within the territory and jurisdiction of the United States, begun
and set on foot and have provided and prepared, and are still engaged in
providing and preparing, means for a military expedition and enterprise,
which expedition and enterprise is to be carried on from the territory
and jurisdiction of the United States against colonies, districts, and
people of British North America, within the dominions of the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, with which said colonies,
districts, and people and Kingdom the United States are at peace; and

Whereas the proceedings aforesaid constitute a high misdemeanor,
forbidden by the laws of the United States as well as by the law of
nations:

Now, therefore, for the purpose of preventing the carrying on of the
unlawful expedition and enterprise aforesaid from the territory and
jurisdiction of the United States and to maintain the public peace as
well as the national honor and enforce obedience and respect to the laws
of the United States, I, Andrew Johnson, President of the United States,
do admonish and warn all good citizens of the United States against
taking part in or in any wise aiding, countenancing, or abetting said
unlawful proceedings; and I do exhort all judges, magistrates, marshals,
and officers in the service of the United States to employ all their
lawful authority and power to prevent and defeat the aforesaid unlawful
proceedings and to arrest and bring to justice all persons who may be
engaged therein.

And, pursuant to the act of Congress in such case made and provided,
I do furthermore authorize and empower Major-General George G. Meade,
commander of the Military Division of the Atlantic, to employ the land
and naval forces of the United States and the militia thereof to arrest
and prevent the setting on foot and carrying on the expedition and
enterprise aforesaid.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of
the United States to be affixed.

[SEAL.]

Done at the city of Washington, this 6th day of June, A.D. 1866, and of
the Independence of the United States the ninetieth.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

By the President:
  WILLIAM H. SEWARD,
    _Secretary of State_.



BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas a war is existing in the Republic of Mexico, aggravated by
foreign military intervention; and

Whereas the United States, in accordance with their settled habits and
policy, are a neutral power in regard to the war which thus afflicts the
Republic of Mexico; and

Whereas it has become known that one of the belligerents in the said
war, namely, the Prince Maximilian, who asserts himself to be Emperor in
Mexico, has issued a decree in regard to the port of Matamoras and other
Mexican ports which are in the occupation and possession of another of
the said belligerents, namely, the United States of Mexico, which decree
is in the following words:

  The port of Matamoras and all those of the northern frontier which have
  withdrawn from their obedience to the Government are closed to foreign
  and coasting traffic during such time as the empire of the law shall not
  be therein reinstated.

  ART. 2. Merchandise proceeding from the said ports, on arriving at any
  other where the excise of the Empire is collected, shall pay the duties
  on importation, introduction, and consumption, and, on satisfactory
  proof of contravention, shall be irremissibly confiscated. Our minister
  of the treasury is charged with the punctual execution of this decree.

  Given at Mexico, the 9th of July, 1866.


And whereas the decree thus recited, by declaring a belligerent blockade
unsupported by competent military or naval force, is in violation of the
neutral rights of the United States as defined by the law of nations as
well as of the treaties existing between the United States of America
and the aforesaid United States of Mexico:

Now, therefore, I, Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, do
hereby proclaim and declare that the aforesaid decree is held and will
be held by the United States to be absolutely null and void as against
the Government and citizens of the United States, and that any attempt
which shall be made to enforce the same against the Government or the
citizens of the United States will be disallowed.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of
the United States to be affixed.

[SEAL.]

Done at the city of Washington, the 17th day of August, A.D. 1866, and
of the Independence of the United States of America the ninety-first.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

By the President:
  WILLIAM H. SEWARD,
    _Secretary of State_.



BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas by proclamations of the 15th and 19th of April, 1861, the
President of the United States, in virtue of the power vested in him
by the Constitution and the laws, declared that the laws of the United
States were opposed and the execution thereof obstructed in the States
of South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana,
and Texas by combinations too powerful to be suppressed by the ordinary
course of judicial proceedings, or by the powers vested in the marshals
by law; and

Whereas by another proclamation, made on the 16th day of August, in the
same year, in pursuance of an act of Congress approved July 13, 1861,
the inhabitants of the States of Georgia, South Carolina, Virginia,
North Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas,
Mississippi, and Florida (except the inhabitants of that part of the
State of Virginia lying west of the Alleghany Mountains, and except also
the inhabitants of such other parts of that State and the other States
before named as might maintain a loyal adhesion to the Union and the
Constitution or might be from time to time occupied and controlled by
forces of the United States engaged in the dispersion of insurgents)
were declared to be in a state of insurrection against the United
States; and

Whereas by another proclamation, of the 1st day of July, 1862, issued in
pursuance of an act of Congress approved June 7, in the same year, the
insurrection was declared to be still existing in the States aforesaid,
with the exception of certain specified counties in the State of
Virginia; and

Whereas by another proclamation, made on the 2d day of April, 1863, in
pursuance of the act of Congress of July 13, 1861, the exceptions named
in the proclamation of August 16, 1861, were revoked and the inhabitants
of the States of Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee,
Alabama, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi, Florida, and Virginia
(except the forty-eight counties of Virginia designated as West Virginia
and the ports of New Orleans, Key West, Port Royal, and Beaufort, in
North Carolina) were declared to be still in a state of insurrection
against the United States; and

Whereas by another proclamation, of the 15th day of September, 1863,
made in pursuance of the act of Congress approved March 3, 1863, the
rebellion was declared to be still existing and the privilege of the
writ of _habeas corpus_ was in certain specified cases suspended
throughout the United States, said suspension to continue throughout
the duration of the rebellion or until said proclamation should, by
a subsequent one to be issued by the President of the United States,
be modified or revoked; and

Whereas the House of Representatives, on the 22d day of July, 1861,
adopted a resolution in the words following, namely:

  _Resolved by the House of Representatives of the Congress of the United
  States_, That the present deplorable civil war has been forced upon
  the country by the dis-unionists of the Southern States now in revolt
  against the constitutional Government and in arms around the capital;
  that in this national emergency Congress, banishing all feelings of
  mere passion or resentment, will recollect only its duty to the whole
  country; that this war is not waged upon our part in any spirit of
  oppression, nor for any purpose of conquest or subjugation, nor
  purpose of overthrowing or interfering with the rights or established
  institutions of those States, but to defend and maintain the supremacy
  of the Constitution and to preserve the Union, with all the dignity,
  equality, and rights of the several States unimpaired; and that as
  soon as these objects are accomplished the war ought to cease.


And whereas the Senate of the United States, on the 25th day of July,
1861, adopted a resolution in the words following, to wit:

  _Resolved_, That the present deplorable civil war has been forced upon
  the country by the disunionists of the Southern States now in revolt
  against the constitutional Government and in arms around the capital;
  that in this national emergency Congress, banishing all feeling of
  mere passion or resentment, will recollect only its duty to the whole
  country; that this war is not prosecuted upon our part in any spirit
  of oppression, nor for any purpose of conquest or subjugation, nor
  purpose of overthrowing or interfering with the rights or established
  institutions of those States, but to defend and maintain the supremacy
  of the Constitution and all laws made in pursuance thereof and to
  preserve the Union, with all the dignity, equality, and rights of
  the several States unimpaired; that as soon as these objects are
  accomplished the war ought to cease.


And whereas these resolutions, though not joint or concurrent in form,
are substantially identical, and as such have hitherto been and yet are
regarded as having expressed the sense of Congress upon the subject to
which they relate; and

Whereas the President of the United States, by proclamation of the 13th
of June, 1865, declared that the insurrection in the State of Tennessee
had been suppressed, and that the authority of the United States therein
was undisputed, and that such United States officers as had been duly
commissioned were in the undisturbed exercise of their official
functions; and

Whereas the President of the United States, by further proclamation,
issued on the 2d day of April, 1866, did promulgate and declare that
there no longer existed any armed resistance of misguided citizens or
others to the authority of the United States in any or in all the States
before mentioned, excepting only the State of Texas, and did further
promulgate and declare that the laws could be sustained and enforced in
the several States before mentioned, except Texas, by the proper civil
authorities, State or Federal, and that the people of the said States,
except Texas, are well and loyally disposed and have conformed or will
conform in their legislation to the condition of affairs growing out of
the amendment to the Constitution of the United States prohibiting
slavery within the limits and jurisdiction of the United States;

And did further declare in the same proclamation that it is the manifest
determination of the American people that no State, of its own will, has
a right or power to go out of, or separate itself from, or be separated
from, the American Union; and that, therefore, each State ought to
remain and constitute an integral part of the United States;

And did further declare in the same last-mentioned proclamation that
the several aforementioned States, excepting Texas, had in the manner
aforesaid given satisfactory evidence that they acquiesce in this
sovereign and important resolution of national unity; and

Whereas the President of the United States in the same proclamation did
further declare that it is believed to be a fundamental principle of
government that the people who have revolted and who have been overcome
and subdued must either be dealt with so as to induce them voluntarily
to become friends or else they must be held by absolute military power
or devastated so as to prevent them from ever again doing harm as
enemies, which last-named policy is abhorrent to humanity and to
freedom; and

Whereas the President did in the same proclamation further declare
that the Constitution of the United States provides for constituent
communities only as States, and not as Territories, dependencies,
provinces, or protectorates;

And further, that such constituent States must necessarily be, and by
the Constitution and laws of the United States are, made equals and
placed upon a like footing as to political rights, immunities, dignity,
and power with the several States with which they are united;

And did further declare that the observance of political equality, as
a principle of right and justice, is well calculated to encourage the
people of the before named States, except Texas, to be and to become
more and more constant and persevering in their renewed allegiance; and

Whereas the President did further declare that standing armies,
military occupation, martial law, military tribunals, and the suspension
of the writ of _habeas corpus_ are in time of peace dangerous to public
liberty, incompatible with the individual rights of the citizen,
contrary to the genius and spirit of our free institutions, and
exhaustive of the national resources, and ought not, therefore, to be
sanctioned or allowed except in cases of actual necessity for repelling
invasion or suppressing insurrection or rebellion;

And the President did further, in the same proclamation, declare that
the policy of the Government of the United States from the beginning
of the insurrection to its overthrow and final suppression had been
conducted in conformity with the principles in the last-named
proclamation recited; and

Whereas the President, in the said proclamation of the 13th of June,
1865, upon the grounds therein stated and hereinbefore recited, did then
and thereby proclaim and declare that the insurrection which heretofore
existed in the several States before named, except in Texas, was at an
end and was henceforth to be so regarded; and

Whereas subsequently to the said 2d day of April, 1866, the insurrection
in the State of Texas has been completely and everywhere suppressed and
ended and the authority of the United States has been successfully and
completely established in the said State of Texas and now remains
therein unresisted and undisputed, and such of the proper United States
officers as have been duly commissioned within the limits of the said
State are now in the undisturbed exercise of their official functions;
and

Whereas the laws can now be sustained and enforced in the said State of
Texas by the proper civil authority, State or Federal, and the people
of the said State of Texas, like the people of the other States before
named, are well and loyally disposed and have conformed or will conform
in their legislation to the condition of affairs growing out of the
amendment of the Constitution of the United States prohibiting slavery
within the limits and jurisdiction of the United States; and

Whereas all the reasons and conclusions set forth in regard to the
several States therein specially named now apply equally and in all
respects to the State of Texas, as well as to the other States which
had been involved in insurrection; and

Whereas adequate provision has been made by military orders to enforce
the execution of the acts of Congress, aid the civil authorities, and
secure obedience to the Constitution and laws of the United States
within the State of Texas if a resort to military force for such purpose
should at any time become necessary:

Now, therefore, I, Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, do
hereby proclaim and declare that the insurrection which heretofore
existed in the State of Texas is at an end and is to be henceforth so
regarded in that State as in the other States before named in which the
said insurrection was proclaimed to be at an end by the aforesaid
proclamation of the 2d day of April, 1866.

And I do further proclaim that the said insurrection is at an end and
that peace, order, tranquillity, and civil authority now exist in and
throughout the whole of the United States of America.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of
the United States to be affixed.

[SEAL.]

Done at the city of Washington, this 20th day of August, A.D. 1866, and
of the Independence of the United States of America the ninety-first.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

By the President:
  WILLIAM H. SEWARD,
    _Secretary of State_.



BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

A PROCLAMATION.

Almighty God, our Heavenly Father, has been pleased to vouchsafe to us
as a people another year of that national life which is an indispensable
condition of peace, security, and progress. That year has, moreover,
been crowned with many peculiar blessings.

The civil war that so recently closed among us has not been anywhere
reopened; foreign intervention has ceased to excite alarm or
apprehension; intrusive pestilence has been benignly mitigated; domestic
tranquillity has improved, sentiments of conciliation have largely
prevailed, and affections of loyalty and patriotism have been widely
renewed; our fields have yielded quite abundantly, our mining industry
has been richly rewarded, and we have been allowed to extend our
railroad system far into the interior recesses of the country, while
our commerce has resumed its customary activity in foreign seas.

These great national blessings demand a national acknowledgment.

Now, therefore, I, Andrew Johnson. President of the United States, do
hereby recommend that Thursday, the 29th day of November next, be set
apart and be observed everywhere in the several States and Territories
of the United States by the people thereof as a day of thanksgiving and
praise to Almighty God, with due remembrance that "in His temple doth
every man speak of His honor." I recommend also that on the same solemn
occasion they do humbly and devoutly implore Him to grant to our
national councils and to our whole people that divine wisdom which
alone can lead any nation into the ways of all good.

In offering these national thanksgivings, praises, and supplications we
have the divine assurance that "the Lord remaineth a king forever; them
that are meek shall He guide in judgment and such as are gentle shall He
learn His way; the Lord shall give strength to His people, and the Lord
shall give to His people the blessing of peace."

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of
the United States to be affixed.

[SEAL.]

Done at the city of Washington, this 8th day of October, A.D. 1866, and
of the Independence of the United States the ninety-first.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

By the President:
  WILLIAM H. SEWARD,
    _Secretary of State_.




EXECUTIVE ORDERS.


[From the Daily National Intelligencer, April 9, 1866.]

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _April 7, 1866_.

It is eminently right and proper that the Government of the United
States should give earnest and substantial evidence of its just
appreciation of the services of the patriotic men who when the life of
the nation was imperiled entered the Army and Navy to preserve the
integrity of the Union, defend the Government, and maintain and
perpetuate unimpaired its free institutions.

_It is therefore directed_--

First. That in appointments to office in the several Executive
Departments of the General Government and the various branches of
the public service connected with said Departments preference shall
be given to such meritorious and honorably discharged soldiers and
sailors--particularly those who have been disabled by wounds received
or diseases contracted in the line of duty--as may possess the proper
qualifications.

Second. That in all promotions in said Departments and the several
branches of the public service connected therewith such persons shall
have preference, when equally eligible and qualified, over those who
have not faithfully and honorably served in the land or naval forces
of the United States.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



DEPARTMENT OF STATE,

_Washington, April 13, 1866_.

On the 14th of April, 1865, great affliction was brought upon the
American people by the assassination of the lamented Abraham Lincoln,
then President of the United States. The undersigned is therefore
directed by the President to announce that in commemoration of that
event the public offices will be closed to-morrow, the 14th instant.

WILLIAM H. SEWARD.



GENERAL ORDERS, No. 26.


WAR DEPARTMENT,
  ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE.
    _Washington, May 1, 1866_.

ORDER IN RELATION TO TRIALS BY MILITARY COURTS AND COMMISSIONS.

Whereas some military commanders are embarrassed by doubts as to the
operation of the proclamation of the President dated the 2d day of
April, 1866, upon trials by military courts-martial and military
officers; to remove such doubts--

_It is ordered by the President_, That hereafter, whenever offenses
committed by civilians are to be tried where civil tribunals are in
existence which can try them, their cases are not authorized to be, and
will not be, brought before military courts-martial or commissions, but
will be committed to the proper civil authorities. This order is not
applicable to camp followers, as provided for under the sixtieth article
of war, or to contractors and others specified in section 16, act of
July 17, 1862, and sections 1 and 2, act of March 2, 1863. Persons and
offenses cognizable by the Rules and Articles of War and by the acts of
Congress above cited will continue to be tried and punished by military
tribunals as prescribed by the Rules and Articles of War and acts of
Congress hereinafter cited, to wit:

  [Sixtieth of the Rules and Articles of War.]

  60. All sutlers and retainers to the camp, and all persons whatsoever
  serving with the armies of the United States in the field, though not
  enlisted soldiers, are to be subject to orders, according to the rules
  and discipline of war.


  [Extract from "An act to define the pay and emoluments of certain
  officers of the Army, and for other purposes," approved July 17, 1862.]

  SEC. 16. _And be it further enacted_, That whenever any contractor for
  subsistence, clothing, arms, ammunition, munitions of war, and for every
  description of supplies for the Army or Navy of the United States, shall
  be found guilty by a court-martial of fraud or willful neglect of duty,
  he shall be punished by fine, imprisonment, or such other punishment as
  the court-martial shall adjudge; and any person who shall contract to
  furnish supplies of any kind or description for the Army or Navy, _he_
  shall be deemed and taken as a part of the land or naval forces of the
  United States for which he shall contract to furnish said supplies, and
  be subject to the rules and regulations for the government of the land
  and naval forces of the United States.


  [Extract from "An act to prevent and punish frauds upon the Government
  of the United States," approved March 2, 1863.]

  _Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
  States of America in Congress assembled_, That any person in the land or
  naval forces of the United States, or in the militia in actual service
  of the United States in time of war, who shall make or cause to be made,
  or present or cause to be presented for payment or approval to or by any
  person or officer in the civil or military service of the United States,
  any claim upon or against the Government of the United States, or
  any department or officer thereof, knowing such claim to be false,
  fictitious, or fraudulent; any person in such forces or service who
  shall, for the purpose of obtaining or aiding in obtaining the approval
  or payment of such claim, make, use, or cause to be made or used, any
  false bill, receipt, voucher, entry, roll, account, claim, statement,
  certificate, affidavit, or deposition, knowing the same to contain any
  false or fraudulent statement or entry; any person in said forces or
  service who shall make or procure to be made, or knowingly advise the
  making of, any false oath to any fact, statement, or certificate,
  voucher or entry, for the purpose of obtaining or of aiding to obtain
  any approval or payment of any claim against the United States, or any
  department or officer thereof; any person in said forces or service who,
  for the purpose of obtaining or enabling any other person to obtain
  from the Government of the United States, or any department or officer
  thereof, any payment or allowance, or the approval or signature of any
  person in the military, naval, or civil service of the United States
  of or to any false, fraudulent, or fictitious claim, shall forge or
  counterfeit, or cause or procure to be forged or counterfeited, any
  signature upon any bill, receipt, voucher, account, claim, roll,
  statement, affidavit, or deposition; and any person in said forces or
  service who shall utter or use the same as true or genuine, knowing the
  same to have been forged or counterfeited; any person in said forces or
  service who shall enter into any agreement, combination, or conspiracy
  to cheat or defraud the Government of the United States, or any
  department or officer thereof, by obtaining or aiding and assisting to
  obtain the payment or allowance of any false or fraudulent claim; any
  person in said forces or service who shall steal, embezzle, or knowingly
  and willfully misappropriate or apply to his own use or benefit, or who
  shall wrongfully and knowingly sell, convey, or dispose of any ordnance,
  arms, ammunition, clothing, subsistence stores, money, or other property
  of the United States, furnished or to be used for the military or naval
  service of the United States; any contractor, agent, paymaster,
  quartermaster, or other person whatsoever in said forces or service
  having charge, possession, custody, or control of any money or other
  public property used or to be used in the military or naval service of
  the United States, who shall, with intent to defraud the United States,
  or willfully to conceal such money or other property, deliver or cause
  to be delivered to any other person having authority to receive the same
  any amount of such money or other public property less than that for
  which he shall receive a certificate or receipt; any person in said
  forces or service who is or shall be authorized to make or deliver any
  certificate, voucher, or receipt, or other paper certifying the receipt
  of arms, ammunition, provisions, clothing, or other public property so
  used or to be used, who shall make or deliver the same to any person
  without having full knowledge of the truth of the facts stated therein,
  and with intent to cheat, defraud, or injure the United States; any
  person in said forces or service who shall knowingly purchase or
  receive, in pledge for any obligation or indebtedness, from any soldier,
  officer, or other person called into or employed in said forces or
  service, any arms, equipments, ammunition, clothes, or military stores,
  or other public property, such soldier, officer, or other person not
  having the lawful right to pledge or sell the same, shall be deemed
  guilty of a criminal offense, and shall be subject to the rules and
  regulations made for the government of the military and naval forces of
  the United States, and of the militia when called into and employed in
  the actual service of the United States in time of war, and to the
  provisions of this act. And every person so offending may be arrested
  and held for trial by a court-martial, and if found guilty shall be
  punished by fine and imprisonment, or such other punishment as the
  court-martial may adjudge, save the punishment of death.

  SEC. 2. _And be it further enacted_, That any person heretofore called
  or hereafter to be called into or employed in such forces or service who
  shall commit any violation of this act, and shall afterwards receive his
  discharge or be dismissed from the service, shall, notwithstanding such
  discharge or dismissal, continue to be liable to be arrested and held
  for trial and sentence by a court-martial in the same manner and to the
  same extent as if he had not received such discharge or been dismissed.

       *       *       *       *       *

By order of the Secretary of War:

E.D. TOWNSEND,

_Assistant Adjutant-General_.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 29, 1866_.

The President with profound sorrow announces to the people of the United
States the death of Winfield Scott, the late Lieutenant-General of the
Army. On the day which may be appointed for his funeral the several
Executive Departments of the Government will be closed.

The heads of the War and Navy Departments will respectively give orders
for paying appropriate honors to the memory of the deceased.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



[From the Daily National Intelligencer, June 6, 1866.]

ATTORNEY-GENERAL'S OFFICE,

_Washington, D.C., June 5, 1866_.

By direction of the President, you[7] are hereby instructed to cause
the arrest of all prominent, leading, or conspicuous persons called
"Fenians" who you may have probable cause to believe have been or may
be guilty of violations of the neutrality laws of the United States.

JAMES SPEED,

_Attorney-General_.

[Footnote 7: Addressed to district attorneys and marshals of the United
States.]



DEPARTMENT OF STATE,

_Washington, June 18, 1866_.

The President directs the undersigned to perform the painful duty
of announcing to the people of the United States that Lewis Cass,
distinguished not more by faithful service in varied public trusts than
by exalted patriotism at a recent period of political disorder, departed
this life at 4 o'clock yesterday morning. The several Executive
Departments of the Government will cause appropriate honors to be
rendered to the memory of the deceased at home and abroad wherever the
national name and authority are acknowledged.

WILLIAM H. SEWARD.



EXECUTIVE MANSION,

_Washington, D.C., October 26, 1866_.

Hon. EDWIN M. STANTON,

_Secretary of War_.

SIR: Recent advices indicate an early evacuation of Mexico by the French
expeditionary forces and that the time has arrived when our minister to
Mexico should place himself in communication with that Republic.

In furtherance of the objects of his mission and as evidence of the
earnest desire felt by the United States for the proper adjustment of
the questions involved, I deem it of great importance that General Grant
should by his presence and advice cooperate with our minister.

I have therefore to ask that you will request General Grant to proceed
to some point on our Mexican frontier most suitable and convenient for
communication with our minister, or (if General Grant deems it best) to
accompany him to his destination in Mexico, and to give him the aid of
his advice in carrying out the instructions of the Secretary of State,
a copy of which is herewith sent for the General's information.

General Grant will make report to the Secretary of War of such matters
as, in his discretion, ought to be communicated to the Department.

Very respectfully, yours,

ANDREW JOHNSON.



EXECUTIVE MANSION,

_Washington, D.C., October 30, 1866_.

Hon. EDWIN M. STANTON,

_Secretary of War_.

SIR: General Ulysses S. Grant having found it inconvenient to assume
the duties specified in my letter to you of the 26th instant, you will
please relieve him from the same and assign them in all respects to
William T. Sherman, Lieutenant-General of the Army of the United States.
By way of guiding General Sherman in the performance of his duties, you
will furnish him with a copy of your special orders to General Grant,
made in compliance with my letter of the 26th instant, together with a
copy of the instructions of the Secretary of State to Lewis D. Campbell,
esq., therein mentioned. The Lieutenant-General will proceed to the
execution of his duties without delay.

Very respectfully, yours,

ANDREW JOHNSON.



EXECUTIVE MANSION,

_Washington, D.C., November 1, 1866_.

Hon. EDWIN M. STANTON,

_Secretary of War_.

SIR: In the report of General Grant of the 27th ultimo, inclosed in your
communication of that date, reference is made to the force at present
stationed in the Military Department of Washington (which embraces the
District of Columbia, the counties of Alexander and Fairfax, Va., and
the States of Maryland and Delaware), and it is stated that the entire
number of troops comprised in the command is 2,224, of which only 1,550
are enumerated as "effective." In view of the prevalence in various
portions of the country of a revolutionary and turbulent disposition,
which might at any moment assume insurrectionary proportions and lead to
serious disorders, and of the duty of the Government to be at all times
prepared to act with decision and effect, this force is not deemed
adequate for the protection and security of the seat of Government.

I therefore request that you will at once take such measures as will
insure its safety, and thus discourage any attempt for its possession
by insurgent or other illegal combinations.

Very respectfully, yours,

ANDREW JOHNSON.



EXECUTIVE MANSION,

_Washington, D.C., November 2, 1866_.

Hon. EDWIN M. STANTON,

_Secretary of War_.

SIR: There is ground to apprehend danger of an insurrection in Baltimore
against the constituted authorities of the State of Maryland on or about
the day of the election soon to be held in that city, and that in such
contingency the aid of the United States might be invoked under the acts
of Congress which pertain to that subject. While I am averse to any
military demonstration that would have a tendency to interfere with the
free exercise of the elective franchise in Baltimore or be construed
into any interference in local questions, I feel great solicitude that
should an insurrection take place the Government should be prepared to
meet and promptly put it down. I accordingly desire you to call General
Grant's attention to the subject, leaving to his own discretion and
judgment the measures of preparation and precaution that should be
adopted.

Very respectfully, yours,

ANDREW JOHNSON.




SECOND ANNUAL MESSAGE.


WASHINGTON, _December 3, 1866_.

_Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives_:

After a brief interval the Congress of the United States resumes its
annual legislative labors. An all-wise and merciful Providence has
abated the pestilence which visited our shores, leaving its calamitous
traces upon some portions of our country. Peace, order, tranquillity,
and civil authority have been formally declared to exist throughout the
whole of the United States. In all of the States civil authority has
superseded the coercion of arms, and the people, by their voluntary
action, are maintaining their governments in full activity and complete
operation. The enforcement of the laws is no longer "obstructed in any
State by combinations too powerful to be suppressed by the ordinary
course of judicial proceedings," and the animosities engendered by the
war are rapidly yielding to the beneficent influences of our free
institutions and to the kindly effects of unrestricted social and
commercial intercourse. An entire restoration of fraternal feeling
must be the earnest wish of every patriotic heart; and we will have
accomplished our grandest national achievement when, forgetting the sad
events of the past and remembering only their instructive lessons, we
resume our onward career as a free, prosperous, and united people.

In my message of the 4th of December, 1865, Congress was informed of the
measures which had been instituted by the Executive with a view to the
gradual restoration of the States in which the insurrection occurred to
their relations with the General Government. Provisional governors had
been appointed, conventions called, governors elected, legislatures
assembled, and Senators and Representatives chosen to the Congress
of the United States. Courts had been opened for the enforcement of
laws long in abeyance. The blockade had been removed, custom-houses
reestablished, and the internal-revenue laws put in force, in order that
the people might contribute to the national income. Postal operations
had been renewed, and efforts were being made to restore them to their
former condition of efficiency. The States themselves had been asked to
take part in the high function of amending the Constitution, and of thus
sanctioning the extinction of African slavery as one of the legitimate
results of our internecine struggle.

Having progressed thus far, the executive department found that it had
accomplished nearly all that was within the scope of its constitutional
authority. One thing, however, yet remained to be done before the work
of restoration could be completed, and that was the admission to
Congress of loyal Senators and Representatives from the States whose
people had rebelled against the lawful authority of the General
Government. This question devolved upon the respective Houses, which
by the Constitution are made the judges of the elections, returns, and
qualifications of their own members, and its consideration at once
engaged the attention of Congress.

In the meantime the executive department--no other plan having been
proposed by Congress--continued its efforts to perfect, as far as was
practicable, the restoration of the proper relations between the
citizens of the respective States, the States, and the Federal
Government, extending from time to time, as the public interests seemed
to require, the judicial, revenue, and postal systems of the country.
With the advice and consent of the Senate, the necessary officers were
appointed and appropriations made by Congress for the payment of their
salaries. The proposition to amend the Federal Constitution, so as to
prevent the existence of slavery within the United States or any place
subject to their jurisdiction, was ratified by the requisite number
of States, and on the 18th day of December, 1865, it was officially
declared to have become valid as a part of the Constitution of the
United States. All of the States in which the insurrection had existed
promptly amended their constitutions so as to make them conform to the
great change thus effected in the organic law of the land; declared null
and void all ordinances and laws of secession; repudiated all pretended
debts and obligations created for the revolutionary purposes of the
insurrection, and proceeded in good faith to the enactment of measures
for the protection and amelioration of the condition of the colored
race. Congress, however, yet hesitated to admit any of these States to
representation, and it was not until toward the close of the eighth
month of the session that an exception was made in favor of Tennessee
by the admission of her Senators and Representatives.

I deem it a subject of profound regret that Congress has thus far
failed to admit to seats loyal Senators and Representatives from the
other States whose inhabitants, with those of Tennessee, had engaged
in the rebellion. Ten States--more than one-fourth of the whole
number--remain without representation; the seats of fifty members in the
House of Representatives and of twenty members in the Senate are yet
vacant, not by their own consent, not by a failure of election, but by
the refusal of Congress to accept their credentials. Their admission,
it is believed, would have accomplished much toward the renewal and
strengthening of our relations as one people and removed serious cause
for discontent on the part of the inhabitants of those States. It would
have accorded with the great principle enunciated in the Declaration
of American Independence that no people ought to bear the burden of
taxation and yet be denied the right of representation. It would have
been in consonance with the express provisions of the Constitution that
"each State shall have at least one Representative" and "that no State,
without its consent, shall be deprived of its equal suffrage in the
Senate." These provisions were intended to secure to every State and
to the people of every State the right of representation in each House
of Congress; and so important was it deemed by the framers of the
Constitution that the equality of the States in the Senate should be
preserved that not even by an amendment of the Constitution can any
State, without its consent, be denied a voice in that branch of the
National Legislature.

It is true it has been assumed that the existence of the States was
terminated by the rebellious acts of their inhabitants, and that, the
insurrection having been suppressed, they were thenceforward to be
considered merely as conquered territories. The legislative, executive,
and judicial departments of the Government have, however, with great
distinctness and uniform consistency, refused to sanction an assumption
so incompatible with the nature of our republican system and with the
professed objects of the war. Throughout the recent legislation of
Congress the undeniable fact makes itself apparent that these ten
political communities are nothing less than States of this Union. At the
very commencement of the rebellion each House declared, with a unanimity
as remarkable as it was significant, that the war was not "waged upon
our part in any spirit of oppression, nor for any purpose of conquest or
subjugation, nor purpose of overthrowing or interfering with the rights
or established institutions of those States, but to defend and maintain
the supremacy of the Constitution and all laws made in pursuance
thereof, and to preserve the Union, with all the dignity, equality,
and rights of the several States unimpaired; and that as soon as these
objects" were "accomplished the war ought to cease." In some instances
Senators were permitted to continue their legislative functions, while
in other instances Representatives were elected and admitted to seats
after their States had formally declared their right to withdraw from
the Union and were endeavoring to maintain that right by force of arms.
All of the States whose people were in insurrection, as States, were
included in the apportionment of the direct tax of $20,000,000 annually
laid upon the United States by the act approved 5th August, 1861.
Congress, by the act of March 4, 1862, and by the apportionment of
representation thereunder also recognized their presence as States in
the Union; and they have, for judicial purposes, been divided into
districts, as States alone can be divided. The same recognition appears
in the recent legislation in reference to Tennessee, which evidently
rests upon the fact that the functions of the State were not destroyed
by the rebellion, but merely suspended; and that principle is of course
applicable to those States which, like Tennessee, attempted to renounce
their places in the Union.

The action of the executive department of the Government upon this
subject has been equally definite and uniform, and the purpose of the
war was specifically stated in the proclamation issued by my predecessor
on the 22d day of September, 1862. It was then solemnly proclaimed and
declared "that hereafter, as heretofore, the war will be prosecuted for
the object of practically restoring the constitutional relation between
the United States and each of the States and the people thereof in which
States that relation is or may be suspended or disturbed."

The recognition of the States by the judicial department of the
Government has also been clear and conclusive in all proceedings
affecting them as States had in the Supreme, circuit, and district
courts.

In the admission of Senators and Representatives from any and all of the
States there can be no just ground of apprehension that persons who are
disloyal will be clothed with the powers of legislation, for this could
not happen when the Constitution and the laws are enforced by a vigilant
and faithful Congress. Each House is made the "judge of the elections,
returns, and qualifications of its own members," and may, "with the
concurrence of two-thirds, expel a member." When a Senator or
Representative presents his certificate of election, he may at once
be admitted or rejected; or, should there be any question as to his
eligibility, his credentials may be referred for investigation to the
appropriate committee. If admitted to a seat, it must be upon evidence
satisfactory to the House of which he thus becomes a member that
he possesses the requisite constitutional and legal qualifications.
If refused admission as a member for want of due allegiance to the
Government and returned to his constituents, they are admonished that
none but persons loyal to the United States will be allowed a voice
in the legislative councils of the nation, and the political power
and moral influence of Congress are thus effectively exerted in the
interests of loyalty to the Government and fidelity to the Union. Upon
this question, so vitally affecting the restoration of the Union and the
permanency of our present form of government, my convictions, heretofore
expressed, have undergone no change, but, on the contrary, their
correctness has been confirmed by reflection and time. If the admission
of loyal members to seats in the respective Houses of Congress was wise
and expedient a year ago, it is no less wise and expedient now. If this
anomalous condition is right now--if in the exact condition of these
States at the present time it is lawful to exclude them from
representation--I do not see that the question will be changed by the
efflux of time. Ten years hence, if these States remain as they are, the
right of representation will be no stronger, the right of exclusion will
be no weaker.

The Constitution of the United States makes it the duty of the President
to recommend to the consideration of Congress "such measures as he shall
judge necessary and expedient." I know of no measure more imperatively
demanded by every consideration of national interest, sound policy,
and equal justice than the admission of loyal members from the now
unrepresented States. This would consummate the work of restoration
and exert a most salutary influence in the reestablishment of peace,
harmony, and fraternal feeling. It would tend greatly to renew the
confidence of the American people in the vigor and stability of their
institutions. It would bind us more closely together as a nation and
enable us to show to the world the inherent and recuperative power of a
government founded upon the will of the people and established upon the
principles of liberty, justice, and intelligence. Our increased strength
and enhanced prosperity would irrefragably demonstrate the fallacy of
the arguments against free institutions drawn from our recent national
disorders by the enemies of republican government. The admission of
loyal members from the States now excluded from Congress, by allaying
doubt and apprehension, would turn capital now awaiting an opportunity
for investment into the channels of trade and industry. It would
alleviate the present troubled condition of those States, and by
inducing emigration aid in the settlement of fertile regions now
uncultivated and lead to an increased production of those staples which
have added so greatly to the wealth of the nation and commerce of the
world. New fields of enterprise would be opened to our progressive
people, and soon the devastations of war would be repaired and all
traces of our domestic differences effaced from the minds of our
countrymen.

In our efforts to preserve "the unity of government which constitutes
us one people" by restoring the States to the condition which they held
prior to the rebellion, we should be cautious, lest, having rescued
our nation from perils of threatened disintegration, we resort to
consolidation, and in the end absolute despotism, as a remedy for the
recurrence of similar troubles. The war having terminated, and with it
all occasion for the exercise of powers of doubtful constitutionality,
we should hasten to bring legislation within the boundaries prescribed
by the Constitution and to return to the ancient landmarks established
by our fathers for the guidance of succeeding generations.

  The constitution which at any time exists till changed by an explicit
  and authentic act of the whole people is sacredly obligatory upon all.
  * * * If in the opinion of the people the distribution or modification
  of the constitutional powers be in any particular wrong, let it be
  corrected by an amendment in the way which the Constitution designates;
  but let there be no change by usurpation, for * * * it is the customary
  weapon by which free governments are destroyed.


Washington spoke these words to his countrymen when, followed by their
love and gratitude, he voluntarily retired from the cares of public
life. "To keep in all things within the pale of our constitutional
powers and cherish the Federal Union as the only rock of safety" were
prescribed by Jefferson as rules of action to endear to his "countrymen
the true principles of their Constitution and promote a union of
sentiment and action, equally auspicious to their happiness and safety."
Jackson held that the action of the General Government should always be
strictly confined to the sphere of its appropriate duties, and justly
and forcibly urged that our Government is not to be maintained nor our
Union preserved "by invasions of the rights and powers of the several
States. In thus attempting to make our General Government strong we make
it weak. Its true strength consists in leaving individuals and States as
much as possible to themselves; in making itself felt, not in its power,
but in its beneficence; not in its control, but in its protection; not
in binding the States more closely to the center, but leaving each to
move unobstructed in its proper constitutional orbit." These are the
teachings of men whose deeds and services have made them illustrious,
and who, long since withdrawn from the scenes of life, have left to
their country the rich legacy of their example, their wisdom, and their
patriotism. Drawing fresh inspiration from their lessons, let us emulate
them in love of country and respect for the Constitution and the laws.

The report of the Secretary of the Treasury affords much information
respecting the revenue and commerce of the country. His views upon
the currency and with reference to a proper adjustment of our revenue
system, internal as well as impost, are commended to the careful
consideration of Congress. In my last annual message I expressed my
general views upon these subjects. I need now only call attention to the
necessity of carrying into every department of the Government a system
of rigid accountability, thorough retrenchment, and wise economy.
With no exceptional nor unusual expenditures, the oppressive burdens of
taxation can be lessened by such a modification of our revenue laws as
will be consistent with the public faith and the legitimate and
necessary wants of the Government.

The report presents a much more satisfactory condition of our finances
than one year ago the most sanguine could have anticipated. During the
fiscal year ending the 30th June, 1865 (the last year of the war), the
public debt was increased $941,902,537, and on the 31st of October,
1865, it amounted to $2,740,854,750. On the 31st day of October, 1866,
it had been reduced to $2,551,310,006, the diminution during a period of
fourteen months, commencing September 1, 1865, and ending October 31,
1866, having been $206,379,565. In the last annual report on the state
of the finances it was estimated that during the three quarters of the
fiscal year ending the 30th of June last the debt would be increased
$112,194,947. During that period, however, it was reduced $31,196,387,
the receipts of the year having been $89,905,905 more and the
expenditures $200,529,235 less than the estimates. Nothing could more
clearly indicate than these statements the extent and availability of
the national resources and the rapidity and safety with which, under
our form of government, great military and naval establishments can be
disbanded and expenses reduced from a war to a peace footing.

During the fiscal year ending June 30, 1866, the receipts were
$558,032,620 and the expenditures $520,750,940, leaving an available
surplus of $37,281,680. It is estimated that the receipts for the fiscal
year ending the 30th June, 1867, will be $475,061,386, and that the
expenditures will reach the sum of $316,428,078, leaving in the Treasury
a surplus of $158,633,308. For the fiscal year ending June 30, 1886, it
is estimated that the receipts will amount to $436,000,000 and that the
expenditures will be $350,247,641, showing an excess of $85,752,359 in
favor of the Government. These estimated receipts may be diminished
by a reduction of excise and import duties, but after all necessary
reductions shall have been made the revenue of the present and of
following years will doubtless be sufficient to cover all legitimate
charges upon the Treasury and leave a large annual surplus to be applied
to the payment of the principal of the debt. There seems now to be no
good reason why taxes may not be reduced as the country advances in
population and wealth, and yet the debt be extinguished within the
next quarter of a century.

The report of the Secretary of War furnishes valuable and important
information in reference to the operations of his Department during the
past year. Few volunteers now remain in the service, and they are being
discharged as rapidly as they can be replaced by regular troops. The
Army has been promptly paid, carefully provided with medical treatment,
well sheltered and subsisted, and is to be furnished with breech-loading
small arms. The military strength of the nation has been unimpaired
by the discharge of volunteers, the disposition of unserviceable or
perishable stores, and the retrenchment of expenditure. Sufficient war
material to meet any emergency has been retained, and from the disbanded
volunteers standing ready to respond to the national call large armies
can be rapidly organized, equipped, and concentrated. Fortifications on
the coast and frontier have received or are being prepared for more
powerful armaments; lake surveys and harbor and river improvements are
in course of energetic prosecution. Preparations have been made for the
payment of the additional bounties authorized during the recent session
of Congress, under such regulations as will protect the Government from
fraud and secure to the honorably discharged soldier the well-earned
reward of his faithfulness and gallantry. More than 6,000 maimed
soldiers have received artificial limbs or other surgical apparatus,
and 41 national cemeteries, containing the remains of 104,526 Union
soldiers, have already been established. The total estimate of military
appropriations is $25,205,669.

It is stated in the report of the Secretary of the Navy that the naval
force at this time consists of 278 vessels, armed with 2,351 guns. Of
these, 115 vessels, carrying 1,029 guns, are in commission, distributed
chiefly among seven squadrons. The number of men in the service is
13,600. Great activity and vigilance have been displayed by all the
squadrons, and their movements have been judiciously and efficiently
arranged in such manner as would best promote American commerce and
protect the rights and interests of our countrymen abroad. The vessels
unemployed are undergoing repairs or are laid up until their services
may be required. Most of the ironclad fleet is at League Island, in the
vicinity of Philadelphia, a place which, until decisive action should be
taken by Congress, was selected by the Secretary of the Navy as the most
eligible location for that class of vessels. It is important that a
suitable public station should be provided for the ironclad fleet.
It is intended that these vessels shall be in proper condition for any
emergency, and it is desirable that the bill accepting League Island for
naval purposes, which passed the House of Representatives at its last
session, should receive final action at an early period, in order that
there may be a suitable public station for this class of vessels, as
well as a navy-yard of area sufficient for the wants of the service
on the Delaware River. The naval pension fund amounts to $11,750,000,
having been increased $2,750,000 during the year. The expenditures
of the Department for the fiscal year ending 30th June last were
$43,324,526, and the estimates for the coming year amount to
$23,568,436. Attention is invited to the condition of our seamen and the
importance of legislative measures for their relief and improvement. The
suggestions in behalf of this deserving class of our fellow-citizens are
earnestly recommended to the favorable attention of Congress.

The report of the Postmaster-General presents a most satisfactory
condition of the postal service and submits recommendations which
deserve the consideration of Congress. The revenues of the Department
for the year ending June 30, 1866, were $14,386,986 and the expenditures
$15,352,079, showing an excess of the latter of $965,093. In
anticipation of this deficiency, however, a special appropriation was
made by Congress in the act approved July 28, 1866. Including the
standing appropriation of $700,000 for free mail matter as a legitimate
portion of the revenues, yet remaining unexpended, the actual deficiency
for the past year is only $265,093--a sum within $51,141 of the amount
estimated in the annual report of 1864. The decrease of revenue compared
with the previous year was 1-1/5 per cent, and the increase of
expenditures, owing principally to the enlargement of the mail service
in the South, was 12 per cent. On the 30th of June last there were in
operation 6,930 mail routes, with an aggregate length of 180,921 miles,
an aggregate annual transportation of 71,837,914 miles, and an aggregate
annual cost, including all expenditures, of $8,410,184. The length of
railroad routes is 32,092 miles and the annual transportation 30,609,467
miles. The length of steamboat routes is 14,346 miles and the annual
transportation 3,411,962 miles. The mail service is rapidly increasing
throughout the whole country, and its steady extension in the Southern
States indicates their constantly improving condition. The growing
importance of the foreign service also merits attention. The post-office
department of Great Britain and our own have agreed upon a preliminary
basis for a new postal convention, which it is believed will prove
eminently beneficial to the commercial interests of the United States,
inasmuch as it contemplates a reduction of the international letter
postage to one-half the existing rates; a reduction of postage with
all other countries to and from which correspondence is transmitted
in the British mail, or in closed mails through the United Kingdom;
the establishment of uniform and reasonable charges for the sea
and territorial transit of correspondence in closed mails; and an
allowance to each post-office department of the right to use all mail
communications established under the authority of the other for the
dispatch of correspondence, either in open or closed mails, on the same
terms as those applicable to the inhabitants of the country providing
the means of transmission.

The report of the Secretary of the Interior exhibits the condition
of those branches of the public service which are committed to his
supervision. During the last fiscal year 4,629,312 acres of public
land were disposed of, 1,892,516 acres of which were entered under the
homestead act. The policy originally adopted relative to the public
lands has undergone essential modifications. Immediate revenue, and not
their rapid settlement, was the cardinal feature of our land system.
Long experience and earnest discussion have resulted in the conviction
that the early development of our agricultural resources and the
diffusion of an energetic population over our vast territory are objects
of far greater importance to the national growth and prosperity than the
proceeds of the sale of the land to the highest bidder in open market.
The preemption laws confer upon the pioneer who complies with the terms
they impose the privilege of purchasing a limited portion of "unoffered
lands" at the minimum price. The homestead enactments relieve the
settler from the payment of purchase money, and secure him a permanent
home upon the condition of residence for a term of years. This liberal
policy invites emigration from the Old and from the more crowded
portions of the New World. Its propitious results are undoubted, and
will be more signally manifested when time shall have given to it a
wider development.

Congress has made liberal grants of public land to corporations in
aid of the construction of railroads and other internal improvements.
Should this policy hereafter prevail, more stringent provisions will
be required to secure a faithful application of the fund. The title to
the lands should not pass, by patent or otherwise, but remain in the
Government and subject to its control until some portion of the road has
been actually built. Portions of them might then from time to time be
conveyed to the corporation, but never in a greater ratio to the whole
quantity embraced by the grant than the completed parts bear to the
entire length of the projected improvement. This restriction would not
operate to the prejudice of any undertaking conceived in good faith
and executed with reasonable energy, as it is the settled practice to
withdraw from market the lands falling within the operation of such
grants, and thus to exclude the inception of a subsequent adverse right.
A breach of the conditions which Congress may deem proper to impose
should work a forfeiture of claim to the lands so withdrawn but
unconveyed, and of title to the lands conveyed which remain unsold.

Operations on the several lines of the Pacific Railroad have been
prosecuted with unexampled vigor and success. Should no unforeseen
causes of delay occur, it is confidently anticipated that this great
thoroughfare will be completed before the expiration of the period
designated by Congress.

During the last fiscal year the amount paid to pensioners, including the
expenses of disbursement, was $13,459,996, and 50,177 names were added
to the pension rolls. The entire number of pensioners June 30, 1866,
was 126,722. This fact furnishes melancholy and striking proof of
the sacrifices made to vindicate the constitutional authority of the
Federal Government and to maintain inviolate the integrity of the Union.
They impose upon us corresponding obligations. It is estimated that
$33,000,000 will be required to meet the exigencies of this branch of
the service during the next fiscal year.

Treaties have been concluded with the Indians, who, enticed into armed
opposition to our Government at the outbreak of the rebellion, have
unconditionally submitted to our authority and manifested an earnest
desire for a renewal of friendly relations.

During the year ending September 30, 1866, 8,716 patents for useful
inventions and designs were issued, and at that date the balance in
the Treasury to the credit of the patent fund was $228,297.

As a subject upon which depends an immense amount of the production and
commerce of the country, I recommend to Congress such legislation as
may be necessary for the preservation of the levees of the Mississippi
River. It is a matter of national importance that early steps should
be taken, not only to add to the efficiency of these barriers against
destructive inundations, but for the removal of all obstructions to the
free and safe navigation of that great channel of trade and commerce.

The District of Columbia under existing laws is not entitled to that
representation in the national councils which from our earliest history
has been uniformly accorded to each Territory established from time to
time within our limits. It maintains peculiar relations to Congress, to
whom the Constitution has granted the power of exercising exclusive
legislation over the seat of Government. Our fellow-citizens residing
in the District, whose interests are thus confided to the special
guardianship of Congress, exceed in number the population of several of
our Territories, and no just reason is perceived why a Delegate of their
choice should not be admitted to a seat in the House of Representatives.
No mode seems so appropriate and effectual of enabling them to make
known their peculiar condition and wants and of securing the local
legislation adapted to them. I therefore recommend the passage of a
law authorizing the electors of the District of Columbia to choose a
Delegate, to be allowed the same rights and privileges as a Delegate
representing a Territory. The increasing enterprise and rapid progress
of improvement in the District are highly gratifying, and I trust that
the efforts of the municipal authorities to promote the prosperity of
the national metropolis will receive the efficient and generous
cooperation of Congress.

The report of the Commissioner of Agriculture reviews the operations of
his Department during the past year, and asks the aid of Congress in
its efforts to encourage those States which, scourged by war, are now
earnestly engaged in the reorganization of domestic industry.

It is a subject of congratulation that no foreign combinations
against our domestic peace and safety or our legitimate influence
among the nations have been formed or attempted. While sentiments of
reconciliation, loyalty, and patriotism have increased at home, a more
just consideration of our national character and rights has been
manifested by foreign nations.

The entire success of the Atlantic telegraph between the coast of
Ireland and the Province of Newfoundland is an achievement which has
been justly celebrated in both hemispheres as the opening of an era in
the progress of civilization. There is reason to expect that equal
success will attend and even greater results follow the enterprise for
connecting the two continents through the Pacific Ocean by the projected
line of telegraph between Kamchatka and the Russian possessions in
America.

The resolution of Congress protesting against pardons by foreign
governments of persons convicted of infamous offenses on condition of
emigration to our country has been communicated to the states with which
we maintain intercourse, and the practice, so justly the subject of
complaint on our part, has not been renewed.

The congratulations of Congress to the Emperor of Russia upon his escape
from attempted assassination have been presented to that humane and
enlightened ruler and received by him with expressions of grateful
appreciation.

The Executive, warned of an attempt by Spanish American adventurers to
induce the emigration of freedmen of the United States to a foreign
country, protested against the project as one which, if consummated,
would reduce them to a bondage even more oppressive than that from
which they have just been relieved. Assurance has been received from
the Government of the State in which the plan was matured that the
proceeding will meet neither its encouragement nor approval. It is
a question worthy of your consideration whether our laws upon this
subject are adequate to the prevention or punishment of the crime
thus meditated.

In the month of April last, as Congress is aware, a friendly
arrangement was made between the Emperor of France and the President
of the United States for the withdrawal from Mexico of the French
expeditionary military forces. This withdrawal was to be effected in
three detachments, the first of which, it was understood, would leave
Mexico in November, now past, the second in March next, and the third
and last in November, 1867. Immediately upon the completion of the
evacuation the French Government was to assume the same attitude of
nonintervention in regard to Mexico as is held by the Government of the
United States. Repeated assurances have been given by the Emperor since
that agreement that he would complete the promised evacuation within
the period mentioned, or sooner.

It was reasonably expected that the proceedings thus contemplated would
produce a crisis of great political interest in the Republic of Mexico.
The newly appointed minister of the United States, Mr. Campbell, was
therefore sent forward on the 9th day of November last to assume his
proper functions as minister plenipotentiary of the United States to
that Republic. It was also thought expedient that he should be attended
in the vicinity of Mexico by the Lieutenant-General of the Army of the
United States, with the view of obtaining such information as might be
important to determine the course to be pursued by the United States in
reestablishing and maintaining necessary and proper intercourse with the
Republic of Mexico. Deeply interested in the cause of liberty and
humanity, it seemed an obvious duty on our part to exercise whatever
influence we possessed for the restoration and permanent establishment
in that country of a domestic and republican form of government.

Such was the condition of our affairs in regard to Mexico when, on the
22d of November last, official information was received from Paris that
the Emperor of France had some time before decided not to withdraw a
detachment of his forces in the month of November past, according to
engagement, but that this decision was made with the purpose of
withdrawing the whole of those forces in the ensuing spring. Of this
determination, however, the United States had not received any notice
or intimation, and so soon as the information was received by the
Government care was taken to make known its dissent to the Emperor of
France.

I can not forego the hope that France will reconsider the subject and
adopt some resolution in regard to the evacuation of Mexico which will
conform as nearly as practicable with the existing engagement, and thus
meet the just expectations of the United States. The papers relating
to the subject will be laid before you. It is believed that with the
evacuation of Mexico by the expeditionary forces no subject for serious
differences between France and the United States would remain. The
expressions of the Emperor and people of France warrant a hope that the
traditionary friendship between the two countries might in that case be
renewed and permanently restored.

A claim of a citizen of the United States for indemnity for spoliations
committed on the high seas by the French authorities in the exercise of
a belligerent power against Mexico has been met by the Government of
France with a proposition to defer settlement until a mutual convention
for the adjustment of all claims of citizens and subjects of both
countries arising out of the recent wars on this continent shall
be agreed upon by the two countries. The suggestion is not deemed
unreasonable, but it belongs to Congress to direct the manner in which
claims for indemnity by foreigners as well as by citizens of the United
States arising out of the late civil war shall be adjudicated and
determined. I have no doubt that the subject of all such claims will
engage your attention at a convenient and proper time.

It is a matter of regret that no considerable advance has been made
toward an adjustment of the differences between the United States and
Great Britain arising out of the depredations upon our national commerce
and other trespasses committed during our civil war by British subjects,
in violation of international law and treaty obligations. The delay,
however, may be believed to have resulted in no small degree from the
domestic situation of Great Britain. An entire change of ministry
occurred in that country during the last session of Parliament. The
attention of the new ministry was called to the subject at an early day,
and there is some reason to expect that it will now be considered in a
becoming and friendly spirit. The importance of an early disposition of
the question can not be exaggerated. Whatever might be the wishes of the
two Governments, it is manifest that good will and friendship between
the two countries can not be established until a reciprocity in the
practice of good faith and neutrality shall be restored between the
respective nations.

On the 6th of June last, in violation of our neutrality laws, a military
expedition and enterprise against the British North American colonies
was projected and attempted to be carried on within the territory and
jurisdiction of the United States. In obedience to the obligation
imposed upon the Executive by the Constitution to see that the laws are
faithfully executed, all citizens were warned by proclamation against
taking part in or aiding such unlawful proceedings, and the proper
civil, military, and naval officers were directed to take all necessary
measures for the enforcement of the laws. The expedition failed, but it
has not been without its painful consequences. Some of our citizens who,
it was alleged, were engaged in the expedition were captured, and have
been brought to trial as for a capital offense in the Province of
Canada. Judgment and sentence of death have been pronounced against
some, while others have been acquitted. Fully believing in the maxim of
government that severity of civil punishment for misguided persons who
have engaged in revolutionary attempts which have disastrously failed is
unsound and unwise, such representations have been made to the British
Government in behalf of the convicted persons as, being sustained by
an enlightened and humane judgment, will, it is hoped, induce in their
cases an exercise of clemency and a judicious amnesty to all who were
engaged in the movement. Counsel has been employed by the Government to
defend citizens of the United States on trial for capital offenses in
Canada, and a discontinuance of the prosecutions which were instituted
in the courts of the United States against those who took part in the
expedition has been directed.

I have regarded the expedition as not only political in its nature, but
as also in a great measure foreign from the United States in its causes,
character, and objects. The attempt was understood to be made in
sympathy with an insurgent party in Ireland, and by striking at a
British Province on this continent was designed to aid in obtaining
redress for political grievances which, it was assumed, the people of
Ireland had suffered at the hands of the British Government during a
period of several centuries. The persons engaged in it were chiefly
natives of that country, some of whom had, while others had not, become
citizens of the United States under our general laws of naturalization.
Complaints of misgovernment in Ireland continually engage the attention
of the British nation, and so great an agitation is now prevailing in
Ireland that the British Government have deemed it necessary to suspend
the writ of _habeas corpus_ in that country. These circumstances must
necessarily modify the opinion which we might otherwise have entertained
in regard to an expedition expressly prohibited by our neutrality laws.
So long as those laws remain upon our statute books they should be
faithfully executed, and if they operate harshly, unjustly, or
oppressively Congress alone can apply the remedy by their modification
or repeal.

Political and commercial interests of the United States are not unlikely
to be affected in some degree by events which are transpiring in the
eastern regions of Europe, and the time seems to have come when our
Government ought to have a proper diplomatic representation in Greece.

This Government has claimed for all persons not convicted or accused or
suspected of crime an absolute political right of self-expatriation and
a choice of new national allegiance. Most of the European States have
dissented from this principle, and have claimed a right to hold such of
their subjects as have emigrated to and been naturalized in the United
States and afterwards returned on transient visits to their native
countries to the performance of military service in like manner as
resident subjects. Complaints arising from the claim in this respect
made by foreign states have heretofore been matters of controversy
between the United States and some of the European powers, and the
irritation consequent upon the failure to settle this question increased
during the war in which Prussia, Italy, and Austria were recently
engaged. While Great Britain has never acknowledged the right of
expatriation, she has not for some years past practically insisted
upon the opposite doctrine. France has been equally forbearing, and
Prussia has proposed a compromise, which, although evincing increased
liberality, has not been accepted by the United States. Peace is now
prevailing everywhere in Europe, and the present seems to be a favorable
time for an assertion by Congress of the principle so long maintained by
the executive department that naturalization by one state fully exempts
the native-born subject of any other state from the performance of
military service under any foreign government, so long as he does not
voluntarily renounce its rights and benefits.

In the performance of a duty imposed upon me by the Constitution
I have thus submitted to the representatives of the States and of the
people such information of our domestic and foreign affairs as the
public interests seem to require. Our Government is now undergoing its
most trying ordeal, and my earnest prayer is that the peril may be
successfully and finally passed without impairing its original strength
and symmetry. The interests of the nation are best to be promoted by the
revival of fraternal relations, the complete obliteration of our past
differences, and the reinauguration of all the pursuits of peace.
Directing our efforts to the early accomplishment of these great
ends, let us endeavor to preserve harmony between the coordinate
departments of the Government, that each in its proper sphere may
cordially cooperate with the other in securing the maintenance of
the Constitution, the preservation of the Union, and the perpetuity
of our free institutions.

ANDREW JOHNSON.




SPECIAL MESSAGES.


WASHINGTON, _December 8, 1866_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

In reply to a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 5th
instant, inquiring if any portion of Mexican territory has been occupied
by United States troops, I transmit the accompanying report upon the
subject from the Secretary of War.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _December 8, 1866_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I have the honor to communicate a report of the Secretary of State
relating to the discovery and arrest of John H. Surratt.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, D.C., _December 11, 1866_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith reports from the Secretary of War and the
Attorney-General, in compliance with a resolution of the 3d instant,
requesting the President to communicate to the House, "if not in his
opinion incompatible with the public interests, the information asked
for in a resolution of this House dated the 23d June last, and which
resolution he has up to this time failed to answer, as to whether any
application has been made to him for the pardon of G.E. Pickett, who
acted as a major-general of the rebel forces in the late war for the
suppression of insurrection, and, if so, what has been the action
thereon; and also to communicate copies of all papers, entries,
indorsements, and other documentary evidence in relation to any
proceeding in connection with such application; and that he also inform
this House whether, since the adjournment at Raleigh, N.C., on the
30th of March last, of the last board or court of inquiry convened to
investigate the facts attending the hanging of a number of United States
soldiers for alleged desertion from the rebel army, any further measures
have been taken to bring the said Pickett or other perpetrators of that
crime to punishment."

In transmitting the accompanying papers containing the information
requested by the House of Representatives it is proper to state that,
instead of bearing date the 23d of June last, the first resolution was
dated the 23d of July, and was received by the Executive only four days
before the termination of the session.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _December 14, 1866_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I communicate a translation of a letter of the 17th of August last
addressed to me by His Majesty Alexander, Emperor of Russia, in reply to
the joint resolution of Congress approved on the 16th day of May, 1866,
relating to the attempted assassination of the Emperor, a certified copy
of which was, in compliance with the request of Congress, forwarded to
His Majesty by the hands of Gustavus V. Fox, late Assistant Secretary of
the Navy of the United States.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _December 15, 1866_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of the Interior, in
answer to a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 10th
instant, in relation to the Atchison and Pikes Peak Railroad Company.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _December 20, 1866_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

In compliance with the resolution of the House of Representatives of
December 4 last, requesting information "relating to the attempt of
Santa Anna and Ortega to organize armed expeditions within the United
States for the purpose of overthrowing the National Government of the
Republic of Mexico," I transmit a report from the Secretary of State
and the papers accompanying it.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _December 21, 1866_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

In answer to a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 19th
instant, calling for a copy of certain correspondence relating to the
joint occupancy of the island of San Juan, in Washington Territory,
I transmit a report from the Secretary of State on the subject.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _January 3, 1867_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I have the honor to communicate an additional report of the Secretary of
State relating to the discovery and arrest of John H. Surratt.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _January 8, 1867_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of War and the
accompanying papers, in reply to the resolution of the House of
Representatives of the 13th ultimo, requesting copies of all official
documents, orders, letters, and papers of every description relative to
the trial by a military commission and conviction of Crawford Keys and
others for the murder of Emory Smith and others, and to the respite
of the sentence in the case of said Crawford Keys or either of his
associates, their transfer to Fort Delaware, and subsequent release
upon a writ of _habeas corpus_.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _January 8, 1867_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I transmit the accompanying report from the Attorney-General as a
partial reply to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the
10th ultimo, requesting a "list of names of all persons engaged in the
late rebellion against the United States Government who have been
pardoned by the President from April 15, 1865, to this date; that said
list shall also state the rank of each person who has been so pardoned,
if he has been engaged in the military service of the so-called
Confederate government, and the position if he shall have held any civil
office under said so-called Confederate government; and shall also
further state whether such person has at any time prior to April 14,
1861, held any office under the United States Government, and, if so,
what office, together with the reasons for granting such pardons and
also the names of the person or persons at whose solicitation such
pardon was granted."

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _January 9, 1867_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith a communication from the Secretary of the Navy, in
answer to a resolution of the House of the 19th ultimo, requesting a
statement of the amounts charged to the State Department since May 1,
1865, for services rendered by naval vessels.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _January 9, 1867_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit herewith a communication from the Secretary of the Navy,
with the accompanying documents, in answer to a resolution of the Senate
of the 5th ultimo, calling for copies of orders, instructions, and
directions issued from that Department in relation to the employment of
officers and others in the navy-yards of the United States, and all
communications received in relation to employment at the Norfolk
Navy-Yard.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _January 10, 1867_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I transmit to the House of Representatives, in answer to a resolution of
the 17th ultimo, calling for information relative to the revolution in
Candia, a report of the Secretary of State, with accompanying documents.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



EXECUTIVE MANSION,

_Washington, January 14, 1867_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

In compliance with the resolution of the House of the 19th ultimo,
requesting information regarding the occupation of Mexican territory by
the troops of the United States, I transmit a report of the Secretary of
State and one of the Secretary of War, and the documents by which they
were accompanied.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _January 18, 1867_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In compliance with a resolution of the 19th ultimo, requesting certain
information in regard to the Universal Exposition to be held at Paris
during the present year, I transmit a report from the Secretary of State
and the documents to which it refers.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, D.C., _January 19, 1867_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I herewith communicate a report from the Secretary of the Interior,
in answer to a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 16th
instant, in relation to the clerks of the Federal courts and the marshal
of the United States for the district of North Carolina.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



_To the House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of War and the
accompanying papers, in compliance with the resolution of the House of
Representatives of the 19th ultimo, requesting copies of all papers in
possession of the President touching the case of George St. Leger
Grenfel.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

JANUARY 21, 1867.



WASHINGTON, _January 23, 1867_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit to the Senate, in answer to their resolution of the 21st
instant, a report from the Secretary of State, with accompanying
papers.[8]

ANDREW JOHNSON.

[Footnote 8: Correspondence with Mr. Motley, envoy extraordinary
and minister plenipotentiary at Vienna, relative to his reported
resignation.]



WASHINGTON, _January 28, 1867_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit herewith a report[9] from the Secretary of State, with
accompanying papers, in answer to the Senate's resolution of the
7th instant.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

[Footnote 9: Relating to an alleged emigration of citizens of the United
States to the dominions of the Sublime Porte for the purpose of settling
and acquiring landed property there.]



WASHINGTON, _January 28, 1867_.

_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:

In compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives of the
7th instant, in relation to the attempted compromise of certain suits
instituted in the English courts in behalf of the United States against
Fraser, Trenholm & Co., alleged agents of the so-called Confederate
government, I transmit a report from the Secretary of State and the
documents by which it was accompanied.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _January 29, 1867_.

_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:

I transmit herewith a report[10] from the Secretary of State, in answer
to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 24th instant.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

[Footnote 10: Stating that the Department of State has received no
information concerning the removal of the Protestant Church or religious
assembly meeting at the American embassy from the city of Rome by an
order of that Government.]



WASHINGTON, _January 29, 1867_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

In compliance with the resolution of the House of Representatives of the
12th ultimo and its request of the 28th instant for all correspondence,
reports, and information in my possession in relation to the riot which
occurred in the city of New Orleans on the 30th day of July last, I
transmit herewith copies of telegraphic dispatches upon the subject,
and reports from the Secretary of War, with the papers accompanying
the same.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _January 29, 1867_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

In compliance with the resolution of the House of Representatives of the
4th of December last, requesting information upon the present condition
of affairs in the Republic of Mexico, and of one of the 18th of the same
month, desiring me to communicate to the House of Representatives copies
of all correspondence on the subject of the evacuation of Mexico by the
French troops not before officially published, I transmit a report from
the Secretary of State and the papers accompanying it.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _January 31, 1867_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith reports from the heads of the several Executive
Departments, containing the information in reference to appointments
to office requested in the resolution adopted by the House of
Representatives on the 6th of December last.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 31, 1867_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith a report by the Secretary of War of January 30,
containing the information asked for in a resolution of the House of
Representatives of January 25, 1867, hereto annexed, respecting the
execution of "An act providing for the appointment of a commissioner to
examine and report upon certain claims of the State of Iowa," approved
July 25, 1866.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _January 31, 1867_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

The accompanying reports from the heads of the several Executive
Departments of the Government are submitted in compliance with a
resolution of the Senate dated the 12th ultimo, inquiring whether any
person appointed to an office required by law to be filled by and with
the advice and consent of the Senate, and who was commissioned during
the recess of the Senate, previous to the assembling of the present
Congress, to fill a vacancy, has been continued in such office and
permitted to discharge its functions, either by the granting of a new
commission or otherwise, since the end of the session of the Senate on
the 28th day of July last, without the submission of the name of such
person to the Senate for its confirmation; and particularly whether a
surveyor or naval officer of the port of Philadelphia has thus been
continued in office without the consent of the Senate, and, if any such
officer has performed the duties of that office, whether he has received
any salary or compensation therefor.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _February 7, 1867_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I herewith lay before the Senate, for its constitutional action thereon,
a treaty concluded the 29th day of August, 1866, between Alexander
Cummings, governor of Colorado Territory and _ex officio_ superintendent
of Indian affairs, Hon. A.C. Hunt, and D.C. Oakes, United States Indian
agent, duly authorized and appointed as commissioners for the purpose,
and the chiefs and warriors of the Uintah Jampa, or Grand River, bands
of Utah Indians.

A letter of the Secretary of the Interior of the 31st of January, with
copy of letter from the Commissioner of Indian Affairs of the 28th of
January, 1867, together with a map showing the tract of country claimed
by said Indians, accompany the treaty.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _February 4, 1867_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 2d instant, requesting
the Secretary of State to report what steps have been taken him to
secure to the United States the right to make the necessary surveys for
an interoceanic ship canal through the territory of Colombia, I transmit
herewith the report of the Secretary of State.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _February 4, 1867_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I herewith communicate a report from the Secretary of the Interior of
this date, in answer to a resolution of the Senate of the 31st ultimo,
in relation to the deputy marshals, bailiffs, and criers in the District
of Columbia who have received compensation for the year 1866.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _February 4, 1867_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit a report of the Secretary of the Treasury, in answer to a
resolution of the Senate of the 31st ultimo, on the subject of a treaty
of reciprocity with the Hawaiian Islands.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _February 5, 1867_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit herewith, in answer to the Senate's resolution of the 2d
instant, a report from the Secretary of State, with an accompanying
document.[11]

ANDREW JOHNSON.

[Footnote 11: Copy of the letter on which the Secretary of State founded
his inquiries addressed to Mr. Motley, United States minister at Vienna,
with regard to his reported conversation and opinions.]



WASHINGTON, _February 5, 1867_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I transmit a report from the Secretary of State, in answer to a
resolution of the House of Representatives of yesterday, making inquiry
as to the States which have ratified the amendment to the Constitution
proposed by the Thirty-ninth Congress.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _February 7, 1867_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

In answer to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the
4th instant, requesting me to communicate to that body any official
correspondence which may have taken place with regard to the visit of
Professor Agassiz to Brazil, I transmit herewith the report of the
Secretary of State and the papers accompanying it.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _February 7, 1867_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I herewith communicate a report of the Secretary of the Interior,
in answer to a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 22d
ultimo, requesting information relative to the condition, occupancy,
and area of the Hot Springs Reservation, in the State of Arkansas.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _February 9, 1867_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit herewith, in answer to the Senate's resolution of the 7th
instant, a report[12] from the Secretary of State, with an accompanying
document.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

[Footnote 12: Relating to the reported transfer of the United States
minister from Stockholm to Bogota.]



WASHINGTON, _February 11, 1867_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In compliance with the resolution of the Senate of the 6th of February,
1867, requesting me to transmit copies of all correspondence not
heretofore communicated on the subject of grants to American citizens
for railroad and telegraph lines across the territory of the Republic of
Mexico, I submit herewith the report of the Secretary of State and the
papers accompanying it.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _February 16, 1867_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I transmit a report from the Secretary of State, in answer to a
resolution of the House of Representatives of yesterday, making further
inquiry as to the States which have ratified the amendment to the
Constitution proposed by the Thirty-ninth Congress.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _February 16, 1867_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

In answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 27th of July last,
relative to the practicability of establishing equal reciprocal
relations between the United States and the British North American
Provinces and to the actual condition of the question of the fisheries,
I transmit a report on the subject from the Secretary of State, with
the papers to which it refers.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _February 18, 1867_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I have received a resolution of the Senate dated the 8th day of January
last, requesting the President to inform the Senate if any violations of
the act entitled "An act to protect all persons in the United States in
their civil rights and furnish the means of their vindication" have come
to his knowledge, and, if so, what steps, if any, have been taken by him
to enforce the law and punish the offenders.

Not being cognizant of any cases which came within the purview of the
resolution, in order that the inquiry might have the fullest range I
referred it to the heads of the several Executive Departments, whose
reports are herewith communicated for the information of the Senate.

With the exception of the cases mentioned in the reports of the
Secretary of War and the Attorney-General, no violations, real or
supposed, of the act to which the resolution refers have at any time
come to the knowledge of the Executive. The steps taken in these cases
to enforce the law appear in these reports.

The Secretary of War, under date of the 15th instant, submitted a series
of reports from the General Commanding the armies of the United States
and other military officers as to supposed violations of the act alluded
to in the resolution, with the request that they should be referred to
the Attorney-General "for his investigation and report, to the end that
the cases may be designated which are cognizant by the civil authorities
and such as are cognizant by military tribunals." I have directed the
reference so to be made.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _February 18, 1867_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I transmit a letter of the 26th ultimo, addressed to me by W.F.M. Arny,
secretary and acting governor of the Territory of New Mexico, with the
memorials to Congress by which it was accompanied, requesting certain
appropriations for that Territory. The attention of the House of
Representatives is invited to the subject.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _February 19, 1867_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I transmit the accompanying reports from the Secretary of the Treasury
and the Secretary of War, in answer to the resolution of the House of
Representatives of the 28th May last, requesting certain information in
regard to captured and forfeited cotton.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _February 20, 1867_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I transmit a report from the Secretary of State, giving information of
States which have ratified the amendment to the Constitution proposed by
the Thirty-ninth Congress in addition to those named in his report which
was communicated in my message of the 16th instant, in answer to a
resolution of the House of Representatives of the 15th instant.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _February 21, 1867_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit to the Senate, in answer to their resolution of the 11th
instant, a report from the Secretary of State, with accompanying
documents.[13]

ANDREW JOHNSON.

[Footnote 13: Correspondence relative to the refusal of the United
States consul at Cadiz, Spain, to certify invoices of wines shipped
from that port, etc.]



WASHINGTON, _February 21, 1867_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit to the Senate, in answer to their resolution of the 31st ultimo,
a report from the Secretary of State, with accompanying documents.[14]

ANDREW JOHNSON.

[Footnote 14: Correspondence with foreign ministers of the United States
relative to the policy of the President toward the States lately in
rebellion.]



WASHINGTON, _February 21, 1867_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit to the Senate, in answer to their resolution of the 19th
instant, a report from the Secretary of State, with accompanying
documents.[15]

ANDREW JOHNSON.

[Footnote 15: Correspondence relative to the salary of the United States
minister to Portugal.]



WASHINGTON, _February 21, 1867_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I transmit to the House of Representatives, in answer to their
resolution of the 14th instant, a report[16] from the Secretary of
State of this date.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

[Footnote 16: Stating that the correspondence relative to the refusal of
the United States consul at Cadiz, Spain, to certify invoices of wines
shipped from that port had been sent to the Senate.]



WASHINGTON, _February 21, 1867_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

For the reasons stated[16] in the accompanying communication from the
Secretary of the Interior, I withdraw the treaty concluded with the
New York Indians in Kansas and submitted to the Senate in the month of
December, 1863, but upon which I am informed no action has yet been
taken.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

[Footnote 16: For the purpose of concluding a new treaty.]



WASHINGTON CITY, D.C., _February 23, 1867_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I herewith lay before the Senate, for its constitutional action thereon,
a treaty concluded in the city of Washington on the 19th of February,
1867, between the United States and the Sac and Fox tribes of Indians
of Missouri.

A letter of the Secretary of the Interior of the 23d and copy of a
letter of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs of the 19th of February,
1867, accompany the treaty.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON CITY, D.C., _February 23, 1867_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I herewith lay before the Senate, for its constitutional action thereon,
a treaty concluded in the city of Washington on the 18th February, 1867,
between the United States and the Sac and Fox tribes of Indians of the
Mississippi.

A letter of the Secretary of the Interior of the 23d and a copy of a
letter of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs of the 19th February, 1867,
accompany the treaty.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON CITY, D.C., _February 23, 1867_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I herewith lay before the Senate, for its constitutional action thereon,
a treaty concluded on the 19th February, 1867, between the United States
and the Sisseton and Wahpeton bands of Indians.

A letter of the Secretary of the Interior of the 23d instant and
accompanying copies of letters of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs
and Major T.R. Brown, in relation to said treaty, are also herewith
transmitted.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _February 23, 1867_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I transmit a copy of a letter of the 12th instant addressed to me by His
Excellency Lucius Fairchild, governor of the State of Wisconsin, and of
the memorial to Congress concerning the Paris Exposition adopted by the
legislature of that State during its present session.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 25, 1867_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of the Interior, in
reply to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 11th
instant, calling for certain information relative to removals and
appointments in his Department since the adjournment of the first
session of the Thirty-ninth Congress.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, D.C., _February 26, 1867_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I transmit to Congress a copy of a correspondence between the Secretary
of State and G.V. Fox, esq., relative to the presentation by the latter
to the Emperor of Russia of the resolution of Congress expressive of
the feelings of the people of the United States in reference to the
providential escape of that sovereign from an attempted assassination.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _February 26, 1867_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit to the Senate, with a view to ratification, a general
convention of amity, commerce, and navigation and for the surrender of
fugitive criminals between the United States and the Dominican Republic,
signed by the plenipotentiaries of the parties at the city of St.
Domingo on the 8th of this month.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, D.C., _February 27, 1867_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith a communication from the Secretary of the Navy,
in answer to a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 21st
instant, calling for a copy of a letter addressed by Richard M. Boynton
and Harriet M. Fisher to the Secretary of the Navy in the month of
February, 1863, together with the indorsement made thereon by the Chief
of the Bureau of Ordnance.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _March 2, 1867_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I transmit herewith a report of the Attorney-General, additional to the
one submitted by him December 13, 1866, in reply to the resolution of
the House of Representatives of December 10, 1866, requesting "a list of
names of all persons who have been engaged in the late rebellion against
the United States Government who have been pardoned by the President
from April 15, 1865, to this date; that said list shall also state the
rank of each person who has been so pardoned, if he has been engaged
in the military service of the so-called Confederate States, and the
position if he shall have held any civil office under said so-called
Confederate government; and shall also further state whether such person
has at any time prior to April 14, 1861, held any office under the
United States Government, and, if so, what office, together with the
reasons for granting such pardons, and also the names of the person or
persons at whose solicitation such pardon was granted."

ANDREW JOHNSON.



MARCH 2, 1867.

_To the House of Representatives_:

The act entitled "An act making appropriations for the support of the
Army for the year ending June 30, 1868, and for other purposes" contains
provisions to which I must call attention. Those provisions are
contained in the second section, which in certain cases virtually
deprives the President of his constitutional functions as Commander in
Chief of the Army, and in the sixth section, which denies to ten States
of this Union their constitutional right to protect themselves in any
emergency by means of their own militia. Those provisions are out of
place in an appropriation act. I am compelled to defeat these necessary
appropriations if I withhold my signature to the act. Pressed by these
considerations, I feel constrained to return the bill with my signature,
but to accompany it with my protest against the sections which I have
indicated.

ANDREW JOHNSON.




VETO MESSAGES.


WASHINGTON, _January 5, 1867_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I have received and considered a bill entitled "An act to regulate the
elective franchise in the District of Columbia," passed by the Senate
on the 13th of December and by the House of Representatives on the
succeeding day. It was presented for my approval on the 26th ultimo--six
days after the adjournment of Congress--and is now returned with my
objections to the Senate, in which House it originated.

Measures having been introduced at the commencement of the first session
of the present Congress for the extension of the elective franchise to
persons of color in the District of Columbia, steps were taken by the
corporate authorities of Washington and Georgetown to ascertain and make
known the opinion of the people of the two cities upon a subject so
immediately affecting their welfare as a community. The question was
submitted to the people at special elections held in the month of
December, 1865, when the qualified voters of Washington and Georgetown,
with great unanimity of sentiment, expressed themselves opposed to
the contemplated legislation. In Washington, in a vote of 6,556--the
largest, with but two exceptions, ever polled in that city--only
thirty-five ballots were cast for negro suffrage, while in Georgetown,
in an aggregate of 813 votes--a number considerably in excess of the
average vote at the four preceding annual elections--but one was given
in favor of the proposed extension of the elective franchise. As these
elections seem to have been conducted with entire fairness, the result
must be accepted as a truthful expression of the opinion of the people
of the District upon the question which evoked it. Possessing, as an
organized community, the same popular right as the inhabitants of a
State or Territory to make known their will upon matters which affect
their social and political condition, they could have selected no more
appropriate mode of memorializing Congress upon the subject of this
bill than through the suffrages of their qualified voters.

Entirely disregarding the wishes of the people of the District of
Columbia, Congress has deemed it right and expedient to pass the measure
now submitted for my signature. It therefore becomes the duty of the
Executive, standing between the legislation of the one and the will of
the other, fairly expressed, to determine whether he should approve the
bill, and thus aid in placing upon the statute books of the nation a law
against which the people to whom it is to apply have solemnly and with
such unanimity protested, or whether he should return it with his
objections in the hope that upon reconsideration Congress, acting as
the representatives of the inhabitants of the seat of Government, will
permit them to regulate a purely local question as to them may seem best
suited to their interests and condition.

The District of Columbia was ceded to the United States by Maryland and
Virginia in order that it might become the permanent seat of Government
of the United States. Accepted by Congress, it at once became subject to
the "exclusive legislation" for which provision is made in the Federal
Constitution. It should be borne in mind, however, that in exercising
its functions as the lawmaking power of the District of Columbia the
authority of the National Legislature is not without limit, but that
Congress is bound to observe the letter and spirit of the Constitution
as well in the enactment of local laws for the seat of Government as
in legislation common to the entire Union. Were it to be admitted that
the right "to exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever"
conferred upon Congress unlimited power within the District of Columbia,
titles of nobility might be granted within its boundaries; laws might be
made "respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free
exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech or of the press,
or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and to petition the
Government for a redress of grievances." Despotism would thus reign at
the seat of government of a free republic, and as a place of permanent
residence it would be avoided by all who prefer the blessings of liberty
to the mere emoluments of official position.

It should also be remembered that in legislating for the District of
Columbia under the Federal Constitution the relation of Congress to
its inhabitants is analogous to that of a legislature to the people
of a State under their own local constitution. It does not, therefore,
seem to be asking too much that in matters pertaining to the District
Congress should have a like respect for the will and interest of its
inhabitants as is entertained by a State legislature for the wishes
and prosperity of those for whom they legislate. The spirit of our
Constitution and the genius of our Government require that in regard to
any law which is to affect and have a permanent bearing upon a people
their will should exert at least a reasonable influence upon those who
are acting in the capacity of their legislators. Would, for instance,
the legislature of the State of New York, or of Pennsylvania, or of
Indiana, or of any State in the Union, in opposition to the expressed
will of a large majority of the people whom they were chosen to
represent, arbitrarily force upon them as voters all persons of the
African or negro race and make them eligible for office without any
other qualification than a certain term of residence within the State?
In neither of the States named would the colored population, when acting
together, be able to produce any great social or political result.
Yet in New York, before he can vote, the man of color must fulfill
conditions that are not required of the white citizen; in Pennsylvania
the elective franchise is restricted to white freemen, while in Indiana
negroes and mulattoes are expressly excluded from the right of suffrage.
It hardly seems consistent with the principles of right and justice that
representatives of States where suffrage is either denied the colored
man or granted to him on qualifications requiring intelligence or
property should compel the people of the District of Columbia to
try an experiment which their own constituents have thus far shown
an unwillingness to test for themselves. Nor does it accord with our
republican ideas that the principle of self-government should lose its
force when applied to the residents of the District merely because their
legislators are not, like those of the States, responsible through the
ballot to the people for whom they are the lawmaking power.

The great object of placing the seat of Government under the exclusive
legislation of Congress was to secure the entire independence of the
General Government from undue State influence and to enable it to
discharge without danger of interruption or infringement of its
authority the high functions for which it was created by the people.
For this important purpose it was ceded to the United States by Maryland
and Virginia, and it certainly never could have been contemplated
as one of the objects to be attained by placing it under the exclusive
jurisdiction of Congress that it would afford to propagandists or
political parties a place for an experimental test of their principles
and theories. While, indeed, the residents of the seat of Government are
not citizens of any State and are not, therefore, allowed a voice in the
electoral college or representation in the councils of the nation, they
are, nevertheless, American citizens, entitled as such to every guaranty
of the Constitution, to every benefit of the laws, and to every right
which pertains to citizens of our common country. In all matters, then,
affecting their domestic affairs, the spirit of our democratic form of
government demands that their wishes should be consulted and respected
and they taught to feel that although not permitted practically to
participate in national concerns, they are, nevertheless, under a
paternal government regardful of their rights, mindful of their wants,
and solicitous for their prosperity. It was evidently contemplated that
all local questions would be left to their decision, at least to an
extent that would not be incompatible with the object for which Congress
was granted exclusive legislation over the seat of Government. When the
Constitution was yet under consideration, it was assumed by Mr. Madison
that its inhabitants would be allowed "a municipal legislature for local
purposes, derived from their own suffrages." When for the first time
Congress, in the year 1800, assembled at Washington, President Adams, in
his speech at its opening, reminded the two Houses that it was for them
to consider whether the local powers over the District of Columbia,
vested by the Constitution in the Congress of the United States, should
be immediately exercised, and he asked them to "consider it as the
capital of a great nation, advancing with unexampled rapidity in arts,
in commerce, in wealth, and in population, and possessing within itself
those resources which, if not thrown away or lamentably misdirected,
would secure to it a long course of prosperity and self-government."
Three years had not elapsed when Congress was called upon to determine
the propriety of retroceding to Maryland and Virginia the jurisdiction
of the territory which they had respectively relinquished to the
Government of the United States. It was urged on the one hand that
exclusive jurisdiction was not necessary or useful to the Government;
that it deprived the inhabitants of the District of their political
rights; that much of the time of Congress was consumed in legislation
pertaining to it; that its government was expensive; that Congress was
not competent to legislate for the District, because the members were
strangers to its local concerns; and that it was an example of a
government without representation--an experiment dangerous to the
liberties of the States. On the other hand it was held, among other
reasons, and successfully, that the Constitution, the acts of cession
of Virginia and Maryland, and the act of Congress accepting the grant
all contemplated the exercise of exclusive legislation by Congress,
and that its usefulness, if not its necessity, was inferred from the
inconvenience which was felt for want of it by the Congress of the
Confederation; that the people themselves, who, it was said, had been
deprived of their political rights, had not complained and did not
desire a retrocession; that the evil might be remedied by giving them a
representation in Congress when the District should become sufficiently
populous, and in the meantime a local legislature; that if the
inhabitants had not political rights they had great political influence;
that the trouble and expense of legislating for the District would not
be great, but would diminish, and might in a great measure be avoided
by a local legislature; and that Congress could not retrocede the
inhabitants without their consent. Continuing to live substantially
under the laws that existed at the time of the cession, and such changes
only having been made as were suggested by themselves, the people of the
District have not sought by a local legislature that which has generally
been willingly conceded by the Congress of the nation.

As a general rule sound policy requires that the legislature should
yield to the wishes of a people, when not inconsistent with the
constitution and the laws. The measures suited to one community might
not be well adapted to the condition of another; and the persons best
qualified to determine such questions are those whose interests are
to be directly affected by any proposed law. In Massachusetts, for
instance, male persons are allowed to vote without regard to color,
provided they possess a certain degree of intelligence. In a population
in that State of 1,231,066 there were, by the census of 1860, only 9,602
persons of color, and of the males over 20 years of age there were
339,086 white to 2,602 colored. By the same official enumeration there
were in the District of Columbia 60,764 whites to 14,316 persons of the
colored race. Since then, however, the population of the District has
largely increased, and it is estimated that at the present time there
are nearly 100,000 whites to 30,000 negroes. The cause of the augmented
numbers of the latter class needs no explanation. Contiguous to Maryland
and Virginia, the District during the war became a place of refuge for
those who escaped from servitude, and it is yet the abiding place of a
considerable proportion of those who sought within its limits a shelter
from bondage. Until then held in slavery and denied all opportunities
for mental culture, their first knowledge of the Government was acquired
when, by conferring upon them freedom, it became the benefactor of their
race. The test of their capability for improvement began when for the
first time the career of free industry and the avenues to intelligence
were opened to them. Possessing these advantages but a limited time--the
greater number perhaps having entered the District of Columbia during
the later years of the war, or since its termination--we may well
pause to inquire whether, after so brief a probation, they are as a
class capable of an intelligent exercise of the right of suffrage and
qualified to discharge the duties of official position. The people
who are daily witnesses of their mode of living, and who have become
familiar with their habits of thought, have expressed the conviction
that they are not yet competent to serve as electors, and thus become
eligible for office in the local governments under which they live.
Clothed with the elective franchise, their numbers, already largely in
excess of the demand for labor, would be soon increased by an influx
from the adjoining States. Drawn from fields where employment is
abundant, they would in vain seek it here, and so add to the
embarrassments already experienced from the large class of idle persons
congregated in the District. Hardly yet capable of forming correct
judgments upon the important questions that often make the issues
of a political contest, they could readily be made subservient to the
purposes of designing persons. While in Massachusetts, under the census
of 1860, the proportion of white to colored males over 20 years of age
was 130 to 1, here the black race constitutes nearly one-third of the
entire population, whilst the same class surrounds the District on all
sides, ready to change their residence at a moment's notice, and with
all the facility of a nomadic people, in order to enjoy here, after a
short residence, a privilege they find nowhere else. It is within their
power in one year to come into the District in such numbers as to have
the supreme control of the white race, and to govern them by their own
officers and by the exercise of all the municipal authority--among
the rest, of the power of taxation over property in which they have
no interest. In Massachusetts, where they have enjoyed the benefits
of a thorough educational system, a qualification of intelligence
is required, while here suffrage is extended to all without
discrimination--as well to the most incapable who can prove a
residence in the District of one year as to those persons of color who,
comparatively few in number, are permanent inhabitants, and, having
given evidence of merit and qualification, are recognized as useful and
responsible members of the community. Imposed upon an unwilling people
placed by the Constitution under the exclusive legislation of Congress,
it would be viewed as an arbitrary exercise of power and as an
indication by the country of the purpose of Congress to compel the
acceptance of negro suffrage by the States. It would engender a feeling
of opposition and hatred between the two races, which, becoming deep
rooted and ineradicable, would prevent them from living together in
a state of mutual friendliness. Carefully avoiding every measure that
might tend to produce such a result, and following the clear and
well-ascertained popular will, we should assiduously endeavor to promote
kindly relations between them, and thus, when that popular will leads
the way, prepare for the gradual and harmonious introduction of this
new element into the political power of the country.

It can not be urged that the proposed extension of suffrage in the
District of Columbia is necessary to enable persons of color to protect
either their interests or their rights. They stand here precisely as
they stand in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana. Here as elsewhere, in all
that pertains to civil rights, there is nothing to distinguish this
class of persons from citizens of the United States, for they possess
the "full and equal benefit of all laws and proceedings for the security
of person and property as is enjoyed by white citizens," and are made
"subject to like punishment, pains, and penalties, and to none other,
any law, statute, ordinance, regulation, or custom to the contrary
notwithstanding." Nor, as has been assumed, are their suffrages
necessary to aid a loyal sentiment here, for local governments already
exist of undoubted fealty to the Government, and are sustained by
communities which were among the first to testify their devotion to the
Union, and which during the struggle furnished their full quotas of men
to the military service of the country.

The exercise of the elective franchise is the highest attribute of an
American citizen, and when guided by virtue, intelligence, patriotism,
and a proper appreciation of our institutions constitutes the true basis
of a democratic form of government, in which the sovereign power is
lodged in the body of the people. Its influence for good necessarily
depends upon the elevated character and patriotism of the elector, for
if exercised by persons who do not justly estimate its value and who are
indifferent as to its results it will only serve as a means of placing
power in the hands of the unprincipled and ambitious, and must eventuate
in the complete destruction of that liberty of which it should be the
most powerful conservator. Great danger is therefore to be apprehended
from an untimely extension of the elective franchise to any new class
in our country, especially when the large majority of that class, in
wielding the power thus placed in their hands, can not be expected
correctly to comprehend the duties and responsibilities which pertain
to suffrage. Yesterday, as it were, 4,000,000 persons were held in a
condition of slavery that had existed for generations; to-day they are
freemen and are assumed by law to be citizens. It can not be presumed,
from their previous condition of servitude, that as a class they are as
well informed as to the nature of our Government as the intelligent
foreigner who makes our land the home of his choice. In the case of
the latter neither a residence of five years and the knowledge of our
institutions which it gives nor attachment to the principles of the
Constitution are the only conditions upon which he can be admitted to
citizenship; he must prove in addition a good moral character, and thus
give reasonable ground for the belief that he will be faithful to the
obligations which he assumes as a citizen of the Republic. Where a
people--the source of all political power--speak by their suffrages
through the instrumentality of the ballot box, it must be carefully
guarded against the control of those who are corrupt in principle and
enemies of free institutions, for it can only become to our political
and social system a safe conductor of healthy popular sentiment when
kept free from demoralizing influences. Controlled through fraud and
usurpation by the designing, anarchy and despotism must inevitably
follow.

In the hands of the patriotic and worthy our Government will be
preserved upon the principles of the Constitution inherited from our
fathers. It follows, therefore, that in admitting to the ballot box
a new class of voters not qualified for the exercise of the elective
franchise we weaken our system of government instead of adding to its
strength and durability.

In returning this bill to the Senate I deeply regret that there should
be any conflict of opinion between the legislative and executive
departments of the Government in regard to measures that vitally affect
the prosperity and peace of the country. Sincerely desiring to reconcile
the States with one another and the whole people to the Government of
the United States, it has been my earnest wish to cooperate with
Congress in all measures having for their object a proper and complete
adjustment of the questions resulting from our late civil war. Harmony
between the coordinate branches of the Government, always necessary for
the public welfare, was never more demanded than at the present time,
and it will therefore be my constant aim to promote as far as possible
concert of action between them. The differences of opinion that have
already occurred have rendered me only the more cautious, lest the
Executive should encroach upon any of the prerogatives of Congress,
or by exceeding in any manner the constitutional limit of his duties
destroy the equilibrium which should exist between the several
coordinate departments, and which is so essential to the harmonious
working of the Government. I know it has been urged that the executive
department is more likely to enlarge the sphere of its action than
either of the other two branches of the Government, and especially in
the exercise of the veto power conferred upon it by the Constitution. It
should be remembered, however, that this power is wholly negative and
conservative in its character, and was intended to operate as a check
upon unconstitutional, hasty, and improvident legislation and as a means
of protection against invasions of the just powers of the executive and
judicial departments. It is remarked by Chancellor Kent that--

  To enact laws is a transcendent power, and if the body that possesses
  it be a full and equal representation of the people there is danger of
  its pressing with destructive weight upon all the other parts of the
  machinery of Government. It has therefore been thought necessary by the
  most skillful and most experienced artists in the science of civil
  polity that strong barriers should be erected for the protection and
  security of the other necessary powers of the Government. Nothing has
  been deemed more fit and expedient for the purpose than the provision
  that the head of the executive department should be so constituted as
  to secure a requisite share of independence and that he should have a
  negative upon the passing of laws; and that the judiciary power, resting
  on a still more permanent basis, should have the right of determining
  upon the validity of laws by the standard of the Constitution.


The necessity of some such check in the hands of the Executive is shown
by reference to the most eminent writers upon our system of government,
who seem to concur in the opinion that encroachments are most to be
apprehended from the department in which all legislative powers are
vested by the Constitution. Mr. Madison, in referring to the difficulty
of providing some practical security for each against the invasion of
the others, remarks that "the legislative department is everywhere
extending the sphere of its activity and drawing all power into its
impetuous vortex." "The founders of our Republic * * * seem never to
have recollected the danger from legislative usurpations, which by
assembling all power in the same hands must lead to the same tyranny as
is threatened by Executive usurpations." "In a representative republic,
where the executive magistracy is carefully limited both in the extent
and the duration of its power, and where the legislative power is
exercised by an assembly which is inspired, by a supposed influence over
the people, with an intrepid confidence in its own strength, which
is sufficiently numerous to feel all the passions which actuate a
multitude, yet not so numerous as to be incapable of pursuing the
objects of its passions by means which reason prescribes, it is against
the enterprising ambition of this department that the people ought to
indulge all their jealousy and exhaust all their precautions." "The
legislative department derives a superiority in our governments from
other circumstances. Its constitutional powers being at once more
extensive and less susceptible of precise limits, it can with the
greater facility mask, under complicated and indirect measures, the
encroachments which it makes on the coordinate departments." "On the
other side, the Executive power being restrained within a narrower
compass and being more simple in its nature, and the judiciary being
described by landmarks still less uncertain, projects of usurpation
by either of these departments would immediately betray and defeat
themselves. Nor is this all. As the legislative department alone has
access to the pockets of the people and has in some constitutions full
discretion and in all a prevailing influence over the pecuniary rewards
of those who fill the other departments, a dependence is thus created in
the latter which gives still greater facility to encroachments of the
former." "We have seen that the tendency of republican governments is
to an aggrandizement of the legislative at the expense of the other
departments."

Mr. Jefferson, in referring to the early constitution of
Virginia, objected that by its provisions all the powers of
government--legislative, executive, and judicial--resulted to the
legislative body, holding that "the concentrating these in the same
hands is precisely the definition of despotic government. It will be no
alleviation that these powers will be exercised by a plurality of hands,
and not by a single one. One hundred and seventy-three despots would
surely be as oppressive as one." "As little will it avail us that they
are chosen by ourselves. An elective despotism was not the government we
fought for, but one which should not only be founded on free principles,
but in which the powers of government should be so divided and balanced
among several bodies of magistracy as that no one could transcend their
legal limits without being effectually checked and restrained by the
others. For this reason that convention which passed the ordinance of
government laid its foundation on this basis, that the legislative,
executive, and judicial departments should be separate and distinct,
so that no person should exercise the powers of more than one of them
at the same time. But no barrier was provided between these several
powers. The judiciary and executive members were left dependent on the
legislative for their subsistence in office, and some of them for their
continuance in it. If, therefore, the legislature assumes executive and
judiciary powers, no opposition is likely to be made, nor, if made, can
be effectual, because in that case they may put their proceedings into
the form of an act of assembly, which will render them obligatory on the
other branches. They have accordingly in many instances decided rights
which should have been left to judiciary controversy; and the direction
of the executive, during the whole time of their session, is becoming
habitual and familiar."

Mr. Justice Story, in his Commentaries on the Constitution, reviews the
same subject, and says:

  The truth is that the legislative power is the great and overruling
  power in every free government. * * * The representatives of the people
  will watch with jealousy every encroachment of the executive magistrate,
  for it trenches upon their own authority. But who shall watch the
  encroachment of these representatives themselves? Will they be as
  jealous of the exercise of power by themselves as by others? * * *

  There are many reasons which may be assigned for the engrossing
  influence of the legislative department. In the first place, its
  constitutional powers are more extensive, and less capable of being
  brought within precise limits than those of either the other
  departments. The bounds of the executive authority are easily marked
  out and defined. It reaches few objects, and those are known. It can
  not transcend them without being brought in contact with the other
  departments. Laws may check and restrain and bound its exercise. The
  same remarks apply with still greater force to the judiciary. The
  jurisdiction is, or may be, bounded to a few objects or persons; or,
  however general and unlimited, its operations are necessarily confined
  to the mere administration of private and public justice. It can not
  punish without law. It can not create controversies to act upon. It can
  decide only upon rights and cases as they are brought by others before
  it. It can do nothing for itself. It must do everything for others. It
  must obey the laws, and if it corruptly administers them it is subjected
  to the power of impeachment. On the other hand, the legislative power
  except in the few cases of constitutional prohibition, is unlimited. It
  is forever varying its means and its ends. It governs the institutions
  and laws and public policy of the country. It regulates all its vast
  interests. It disposes of all its property. Look but at the exercise
  of two or three branches of its ordinary powers. It levies all taxes;
  it directs and appropriates all supplies; it gives the rules for the
  descent, distribution, and devises of all property held by individuals;
  it controls the sources and the resources of wealth; it changes at its
  will the whole fabric of the laws; it molds at its pleasure almost all
  the institutions which give strength and comfort and dignity to society.

  In the next place, it is the direct visible representative of the will
  of the people in all the changes of times and circumstances. It has the
  pride as well as the power of numbers. It is easily moved and steadily
  moved by the strong impulses of popular feeling and popular odium. It
  obeys without reluctance the wishes and the will of the majority for the
  time being. The path to public favor lies open by such obedience, and it
  finds not only support but impunity in whatever measures the majority
  advises, even though they transcend the constitutional limits. It has no
  motive, therefore, to be jealous or scrupulous in its own use of power;
  and it finds its ambition stimulated and its arm strengthened by the
  countenance and the courage of numbers. These views are not alone those
  of men who look with apprehension upon the fate of republics, but they
  are also freely admitted by some of the strongest advocates for popular
  rights and the permanency of republican institutions. * * *

         *       *       *       *       *

  * * * Each department should have a will of its own. * * * Each should
  have its own independence secured beyond the power of being taken away
  by either or both of the others. But at the same time the relations of
  each to the other should be so strong that there should be a mutual
  interest to sustain and protect each other. There should not only be
  constitutional means, but personal motives to resist encroachments of
  one or either of the others. Thus ambition would be made to counteract
  ambition, the desire of power to check power, and the pressure of
  interest to balance an opposing interest.

         *       *       *       *       *

  * * * The judiciary is naturally and almost necessarily, as has been
  already said, the weakest department. It can have no means of influence
  by patronage. Its powers can never be wielded for itself. It has no
  command over the purse or the sword of the nation. It can neither lay
  taxes, nor appropriate money, nor command armies, nor appoint to office.
  It is never brought into contact with the people by constant appeals and
  solicitations and private intercourse, which belong to all the other
  departments of Government. It is seen only in controversies or in trials
  and punishments. Its rigid justice and impartiality give it no claims to
  favor, however they may to respect. It stands solitary and unsupported,
  except by that portion of public opinion which is interested only in the
  strict administration of justice. It can rarely secure the sympathy or
  zealous support either of the Executive or the Legislature. If they
  are not, as is not unfrequently the case, jealous of its prerogatives,
  the constant necessity of scrutinizing the acts of each, upon the
  application of any private person, and the painful duty of pronouncing
  judgment that these acts are a departure from the law or Constitution
  can have no tendency to conciliate kindness or nourish influence. It
  would seem, therefore, that some additional guards would, under the
  circumstances, be necessary to protect this department from the absolute
  dominion of the others. Yet rarely have any such guards been applied,
  and every attempt to introduce them has been resisted with a pertinacity
  which demonstrates how slow popular leaders are to introduce checks upon
  their own power and how slow the people are to believe that the
  judiciary is the real bulwark of their liberties. * * *

         *       *       *       *       *

  * * * If any department of the Government has undue influence or
  absorbing power, it certainly has not been the executive or judiciary.


In addition to what has been said by these distinguished writers,
it may also be urged that the dominant party in each House may, by the
expulsion of a sufficient number of members or by the exclusion from
representation of a requisite number of States, reduce the minority to
less than one-third. Congress by these means might be enabled to pass a
law, the objections of the President to the contrary notwithstanding,
which would render impotent the other two departments of the Government
and make inoperative the wholesome and restraining power which it was
intended by the framers of the Constitution should be exerted by them.
This would be a practical concentration of all power in the Congress
of the United States; this, in the language of the author of the
Declaration of Independence, would be "precisely the definition of
despotic government."

I have preferred to reproduce these teachings of the great statesmen
and constitutional lawyers of the early and later days of the Republic
rather than to rely simply upon an expression of my own opinions.
We can not too often recur to them, especially at a conjuncture like
the present. Their application to our actual condition is so apparent
that they now come to us a living voice, to be listened to with more
attention than at any previous period of our history. We have been and
are yet in the midst of popular commotion. The passions aroused by a
great civil war are still dominant. It is not a time favorable to that
calm and deliberate judgment which is the only safe guide when radical
changes in our institutions are to be made. The measure now before me is
one of those changes. It initiates an untried experiment for a people
who have said, with one voice, that it is not for their good. This alone
should make us pause, but it is not all. The experiment has not been
tried, or so much as demanded, by the people of the several States for
themselves. In but few of the States has such an innovation been allowed
as giving the ballot to the colored population without any other
qualification than a residence of one year, and in most of them the
denial of the ballot to this race is absolute and by fundamental law
placed beyond the domain of ordinary legislation. In most of those
States the evil of such suffrage would be partial, but, small as it
would be, it is guarded by constitutional barriers. Here the innovation
assumes formidable proportions, which may easily grow to such an extent
as to make the white population a subordinate element in the body
politic.

After full deliberation upon this measure, I can not bring myself to
approve it, even upon local considerations, nor yet as the beginning of
an experiment on a larger scale. I yield to no one in attachment to that
rule of general suffrage which distinguishes our policy as a nation.
But there is a limit, wisely observed hitherto, which makes the ballot
a privilege and a trust, and which requires of some classes a time
suitable for probation and preparation. To give it indiscriminately to
a new class, wholly unprepared by previous habits and opportunities to
perform the trust which it demands, is to degrade it, and finally to
destroy its power, for it may be safely assumed that no political truth
is better established than that such indiscriminate and all-embracing
extension of popular suffrage must end at last in its destruction.

ANDREW JOHNSON.



WASHINGTON, _January 28, 1867_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I return to the Senate, in which House it originated, a bill entitled
"An act to admit the State of Colorado into the Union," to which I can
not, consistently with my sense of duty, give my approval. With the
exception of an additional section, containing new provisions, it is
substantially the same as the bill of a similar title passed by Congress
during the last session, submitted to the President for his approval,
returned with the objections contained in a message bearing date the
15th of May last, and yet awaiting the reconsideration of the Senate.

A second bill, having in view the same purpose, has now passed both
Houses of Congress and been presented for my signature. Having again
carefully considered the subject, I have been unable to perceive any
reason for changing the opinions which have already been communicated to
Congress. I find, on the contrary, that there are many objections to the
proposed legislation of which I was not at that time aware, and that
while several of those which I then assigned have in the interval gained
in strength, yet others have been created by the altered character of
the measures now submitted.

The constitution under which the State government is proposed to be
formed very properly contains a provision that all laws in force at the
time of its adoption and the admission of the State into the Union shall
continue as if the constitution had not been adopted. Among those laws
is one absolutely prohibiting negroes and mulattoes from voting. At the
recent session of the Territorial legislature a bill for the repeal of
this law, introduced into the council, was almost unanimously rejected;
and at the very time when Congress was engaged in enacting the bill now
under consideration the legislature passed an act excluding negroes and
mulattoes from the right to sit as jurors. This bill was vetoed by the
governor of the Territory, who held that by the laws of the United
States negroes and mulattoes are citizens, and subject to the duties, as
well as entitled to the rights, of citizenship. The bill, however, was
passed, the objections of the governor to the contrary notwithstanding,
and is now a law of the Territory. Yet in the bill now before me, by
which it is proposed to admit the Territory as a State, it is provided
that "there shall be no denial of the elective franchise or any other
rights to any person by reason of race or color, excepting Indians not
taxed."

The incongruity thus exhibited between the legislation of Congress and
that of the Territory, taken in connection with the protest against the
admission of the State hereinafter referred to, would seem clearly to
indicate the impolicy and injustice of the proposed enactment.

It might, indeed, be a subject of grave inquiry, and doubtless will
result in such inquiry if this bill becomes a law, whether it does not
attempt to exercise a power not conferred upon Congress by the Federal
Constitution. That instrument simply declares that Congress may admit
new States into the Union. It nowhere says that Congress may make new
States for the purpose of admitting them i