A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents Part 20

A treaty of commerce and navigation having been entered into between the United States and the Sublime Porte, it has been ratified with the advice and consent of the Senate; and my ratification having been exchanged in due form on the 5th October, 1831, by our charge d'affaires at Constantinople and that Government, it is now communicated to both Houses of Congress.

ANDREW JACKSON.

WASHINGTON, _February 8, 1832_.

_To the Senate_:

I transmit herewith, for the information of the Senate, a report from the Department of War, showing the situation of the country at Green Bay ceded for the benefit of the New York Indians, and also the proceedings of the commissioner, who has lately had a meeting with them.

ANDREW JACKSON.

WASHINGTON, _February 8, 1832_.

_To the Senate_:

I transmit herewith a report of the Secretary of War, made in compliance with a resolution of the Senate of March 2, 1831, requesting the President of the United States "to cause to be collected and reported to the Senate at the commencement of the next stated session of Congress the most authentic information which can be obtained of the number and names of the American citizens who have been killed or robbed while engaged in the fur trade or the inland trade to Mexico since the late war with Great Britain, the amount of the robberies committed, and at what places and by what tribes; also the number of persons who annually engage in the fur trade and inland trade to Mexico, the amount of capital employed, and the annual amount of the proceeds in furs, robes, peltries, money, etc.; also the disadvantages, if any, which these branches of trade labor under, and the means for their relief and protection."

ANDREW JACKSON.

WASHINGTON, _February 10, 1832_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

In compliance with the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 3d March, 1831, I herewith transmit a report of the Secretary of War "of the survey of the Savannah and Tennessee rivers made in 1828."

ANDREW JACKSON.

WASHINGTON, _February 13, 1832_.

_To the Senate_:

I herewith transmit a report from the Secretary of State, containing the information and doc.u.ments[13] called for by a resolution of the Senate of the 9th instant.

ANDREW JACKSON.

[Footnote 13: Dispatch of Mr. Gallatin transmitting the convention of September 29, 1827, and report of an exploring survey from the Sebois River to the head waters of the Pen.o.bscot River, made in 1829.]

WASHINGTON, _February 15, 1832_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

Being more and more convinced that the destiny of the Indians within the settled portion of the United States depends upon their entire and speedy migration to the country west of the Mississippi set apart for their permanent residence, I am anxious that all the arrangements necessary to the complete execution of the plan of removal and to the ultimate security and improvement of the Indians should be made without further delay. Those who have already removed and are removing are sufficiently numerous to engage the serious attention of the Government, and it is due not less to them than to the obligation which the nation has a.s.sumed that every reasonable step should be taken to fulfill the expectations that have been held out to them. Many of those who yet remain will no doubt within a short period become sensible that the course recommended is the only one which promises stability or improvement, and it is to be hoped that all of them will realize this truth and unite with their brethren beyond the Mississippi. Should they do so, there would then be no question of jurisdiction to prevent the Government from exercising such a general control over their affairs as may be essential to their interest and safety. Should any of them, however, repel the offer of removal, they are free to remain, but they must remain with such privileges and disabilities as the respective States within whose jurisdiction they live may prescribe.

I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of War, which presents a general outline of the progress that has already been made in this work and of all that remains to be done. It will be perceived that much information is yet necessary for the faithful performance of the duties of the Government, without which it will be impossible to provide for the execution of some of the existing stipulations, or make those prudential arrangements upon which the final success of the whole movement, so far as relates to the Indians themselves, must depend.

I recommend the subject to the attention of Congress in the hope that the suggestions in this report may be found useful and that provision may be made for the appointment of the commissioners therein referred to and for vesting them with such authority as may be necessary to the satisfactory performance of the important duties proposed to be intrusted to them.

ANDREW JACKSON.

WASHINGTON, _February 20, 1832_.

_To the Senate._

I nominate Charles Ellery to be a lieutenant in the Navy of the United States, to take rank as if appointed the 29th of April, 1826.

In explanation of the above nomination the President submits to the Senate the following facts:

Charles Ellery was originally appointed a lieutenant in the Navy the 13th of January, 1825, and was dismissed from the service the 24th of November, 1830. The dismissal was in pursuance of the sentence of the same court-martial which tried Master Commandant Clack in September, 1830; but it is thought no technical objections to the legality of the proceedings can be found so well sustained as they were in the case of Master Commandant Clack before the Senate at their last session, and it is supposed that Lieutenant Ellery has no claim for restoration to his former rank except on the ground of great severity in the sentence, founded on unfavorable impressions as to his conduct, which his prior and subsequent behavior, as manifested in the doc.u.ments hereto annexed, prove to have been in some degree erroneous. The charges were intemperance and sleeping on his post. His departures from strict temperance were only in a few instances, and seem to have arisen from domestic calamity and never to have grown into a habit; and the only instance testified to in support of the other charge seems now at least doubtful, and if sustained at all to be imputable to the same cause.

Under these views of the case, which a charitable consideration of the proceedings and of his character as fully developed in the annexed doc.u.ments appears fully to justify, his punishment ought, in my opinion, to be mitigated. He is therefore nominated so as to restore him to the service, with loss of pay and rank for about the time elapsed since his last dismission.

The proceedings of the court-martial and the testimonials referred to are inclosed, numbered from 1 to 10.

ANDREW JACKSON.

UNITED STATES, _February 24, 1832_.

_Gentlemen of the Senate_:

I lay before you, for your consideration and advice, a treaty of limits between the United States of America and the Republic of Mexico, concluded at Mexico on the 12th day of January, 1828, and a supplementary article relating thereto, signed also at Mexico on the 5th day of April, 1831.

ANDREW JACKSON.

UNITED STATES, _February 24, 1832_.

_Gentlemen of the Senate_:

I lay before you, for your consideration and advice, a treaty of amity and commerce between the United States of America and the Republic of Mexico, concluded at Mexico on the 5th day of April, in the year 1831.

ANDREW JACKSON.

WASHINGTON, _February 29, 1832_.

_To the Senate_:

In compliance with the resolution of the Senate of the 22d December, 1831, calling for certain information in relation to the trade between the United States and the British American colonies, I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of the Treasury.

ANDREW JACKSON.

WASHINGTON, _February 29, 1832_.

_To the Senate_:

In compliance with the resolution requesting the President of the United States to communicate to the Senate the considerations which in his opinion render it proper that the United States should be represented by a charge d affaires to the King of the Belgians at this time, I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State.

ANDREW JACKSON.