in the residue of the territory ceded to us by Mexico, the people residing there will, at the time, of their incorporation into the Union as a state, settle all questions of domestic policy to suit themselves. No material inconvenience will result from the want, for a short period, of a government established by Congress over that part of the territory which lies eastward of the new state of California; and the reasons for my opinion that New Mexico will, at no very distant period, ask for admission into the Union, are founded on unofficial information, which, I suppose, is common to all who have cared to make inquiries on that subject.

Seeing, then, that the question which now excites such painful sensation in the country will, in the end, certainly be settled by the silent effect of causes independent of the action of Congress, I again submit to your wisdom the policy recommended in my annual message, of awaiting the salutary operation of those causes, believing that we shall thus avoid the creation of geographical parties, and secure the harmony of feeling so necessary to the beneficial action of our political system. Connected as the Union is with the remembrance of past happiness, the sense of present blessings, and the hope of future peace and prosperity, every dictate of wisdom, every feeling of duty, and every emotion of patriotism, tends to inspire fidelity and devotion to it, and admonish us cautiously to avoid any unnecessary controversy which can either endanger it or impair its strength, the chief element of which is to be found in the regard and affection of the people for each other.

SPECIAL MESSAGE.

JANUARY 23, 1850.

To the House of Representatives :

I TRANSMIT to the house of representatives a copy of the convention between the United States and his majesty the emperor of Brazil, providing for the satisfaction of claims of citizens of the United States against the Brazilian government, signed at Rio de Janeiro on the 27th of January last, and the ratifications of which were exchanged in this city on the 18th instant. It is desirable that Congress should prescribe the mode in which the claims referred to are to be adjusted, and the money stipulated to be paid by Brazil shall be distributed among the claimants. Extracts from despatches of the minister of the United States at Rio de Janeiro, and a copy of a letter from an agent of claimants there, are also here with communicated, to which your attention is invited. I have authorized our minister to demand, receive, and give acquittances for the amount payable by Brazil, and have caused him to be instructed to remit the same to the treasurer of the United States.

SPECIAL MESSAGE.

JANUARY 30, 1850.

To the Senate of the United States:

In reply to the resolution of the senate of the 7th instant, requesting of me all the official correspondence, since the 4th of March last, between this government and its military authorities at Santa Fe, or with the authorities of the state of Texas, relating to the boundary or occupation of Texas, and the reasons why the judicial authority of Texas has not been recognised by the military authority at Santa Fe, I herewith submit the accompanying reports, which contain the information called for by the resolution.

I have not been informed of any acts of interference by the military forces stationed at Santa Fe with the judicial authority of Texas, established or sought to be established there. I have received no communication from the governor of Texas on any of the matters referred to in the resolution; and I concur in the opinion expressed by my predecessor, in the letter addressed by the late secretary of state to the governor of Texas on the 12th day of February, 1847, that the boundary between the state of Texas and the territory of New Mexico " is a subject which more properly belongs to the legislative than to the executive branch of the government."

SPECIAL MESSAGE.

FEBRUARY 13, 1850.

To the House of Representatives of the United States:

I HAVE received a resolution of the house of representatives of the 24th ultimo, requesting the president of the United States "to communicate to that body (provided the publication thereof be not prejudicial to the public interest) all such information as may be within the knowledge of the executive department, relative to the alleged extraordinary proceedings of the English government in the forcible seizure and occupation of the island of Tigre, in the state of Nicaragua, Central America; also, all facts, circumstances, or communications, within the knowledge of the executive, relative to any seizure, occupation, or attempted seizure or occupation, by the English government, of any port, river, town, territory, or island belonging to or claimed by any of the states of Central America. Also, that he be requested to communicate to this house (if not incompatible with the public interest) all treaties not heretofore published, which may have been negotiated with any of the states of Central America, by any person acting by authority from the late administration, or under the auspices of the present executive." The information called for by this resolution will be cheerfully communicated to the house as soon as it shall be found compatible with the public interest.

SPECIAL MESSAGE.

FEBRUARY 13, 1850.

To the Senate of the United States :

I HAVE received a resolution of the senate of the 28th ult, requesting "the president of the United States to cause to be laid before the senate (in open session, if, in his opinion, consistent with the public interest, otherwise in executive session), copies of all instructions and communications of the late secretary of state to our late chargé d'affaires at Guatemala, and all despatches and communications from said chargé d'affaires to the department of state, including any conventions or treaties he may have concluded with either of the states composing the late republic of Central America; and also all correspondence between our said chargé d'affaires and the government or representatives of either of said states; and also all instructions and communications from the present secretary of state to our late chargé d'affaires or our present chargé d'affaires to either of said states; and of all despatches or communications from our chargé d'affaires to the department of state, including any conventions or treaties he may have concluded with either of said states; and also all correspondence between the department of state and either of said chargés des affaires touching the so-called kingdom of the Mosquitoes, and the right of way from the Atlantic to the Pacific, through Lake Nicaragua." The information called for by this resolution will be cheerfully communicated to the senate as soon as it shall be found to be compatible with the public interest.

SPECIAL MESSAGE.

MARCH 28, 1850.

To the Senate of the United States :

In compliance with a resolution of the senate of the 22d instant, requesting the president of the United States to communicate to that body, a copy of the instructions given to the agent of the United States, who was employed to visit Hungary during the recent war between that country and Austria, and of the correspondence by and with such agent, so far as the publication of the same may be consistent with the public interest, I herewith transmit to the senate a copy of the instructions to A. Dudley Mann, Esq., relating to Hungary, he having been appointed by me special agent to that country on the 18th day of June last, together with a copy of the correspondence with our late chargé d'affaires to Austria, referred to in those instructions and of other papers, disclosing the policy of this government in reference to Hungary and her people. I also transmit, in compliance with the resolution of the senate, but in a separate packet, a copy of the correspondence of Mr. Mann with the department of state. The latter I have caused to be marked " Executive," the information contained in it being such as will be found, on examination, most appropriately to belong to the senate in the exercise of its executive functions. The pub

lication of this correspondence of the agent, sent by me to Hungary, is a matter referred entirely to the judgment and discretion of the senate.

It will be seen, by the documents now transmitted, that no minister or agent was accredited by the government of Hungary to this government at any period since I came into office, nor was any communication ever received by this government from the minister of foreign affairs of Hungary, or any other executive officer authorized to act in her behalf.

My purpose, as freely avowed in this correspondence, was to have acknowledged the independence of Hungary, had she succeeded in establishing a government de facto, on a basis sufficiently permanent in its character to have justified me in doing so, according to the usages and settled principles of this government; and although she is now fallen, and many of her gallant patriots are in exiles or in chains, I am free still to declare, that had she been successful in the maintenance of such a government as we could have recognised, we should have been the first to welcome her into the family of nations.

SPECIAL MESSAGE.

MAY 7, 1850.

To the House of Representatives of the United States :

I HEREWITH transmit to the house of representatives copies of a correspondence between the department of state and the British legation in this city relative to the reciprocal admission of the natural products of the United States and Canada, free of duty, into the territories of both countries. It will be seen by the accompanying documents that the late secretary of the treasury recommended, in his correspondence with the committee on commerce in the house of representatives, reciprocal free trade in the natural products of the United States and Canada; that in March and June, 1849, a correspondence was opened between the British chargé d'affaires then residing in Washington and the secretary of state upon the subject of a commercial convention, or treaty, to carry out the views of her majesty's government in relation thereto, and that the proposition for such a convention or treaty was declined on the part of the American government, for reasons which are fully set forth in the note of the secretary of state to Mr.. Crampton of the 26th of June last. During the negotiations connected with this correspondence, not considering the markets of Canada as an equivalent for those of the United States, I directed the secretary of state to inquire what other benefits of trade and commerce would be yielded by the British authorities in connexion with such a measure, and particularly whether the free navigation of the St. Lawrence would be conceded to us. That subject has accordingly been presented to the British government, and the result was communicated by her majesty's minister in Washington on the 27th of March last, in reply to a note from the secretary of state of the 26th of that month. From these papers it will be perceived that the navigation of the St. Lawrence, and of the canals connecting it with the western lakes, will be opened to the citizens of the United States, in the event that the bill referred to in the correspondence, providing for the admission of their natural products, should become a law. The whole

subject is now submitted to the consideration of Congress, and especially whether the concession proposed by Great Britain is an equivalent for the reciprocity desired by her.

SPECIAL MESSAGE.

MAY 22, 1850.

To the Senate of the United States :

I HEREWITH transmit to the senate reports of the several heads of departments, to whom were referred the resolutions of the senate, of the 9th instant, "requesting the president of the United States to furnish to the senate copies of all correspondence between any of the executive departments and General Persifor F. Smith and Brigadier-General B. Riley, or either of them, relative to affairs in California, which had not been communicated to the senate; and also all information existing in any of the executive departments respecting the transactions of the convention in California, by which the project of a state government was prepared, and particularly a copy of the journals of said convention, and of such of the ordinances adopted by it as may in any way have been communicated to any of the said departments; and likewise to inform the senate if the surrender of General Riley to the jurisdiction and civil authority of the government, made by the aforesaid convention, was by order of the executive of the United States, and, if not, whether the proclamation of General Riley recognising the said state government, and submitting to its jurisdiction has received the sanction of the executive; and, also, that he furnish to the senate whatever intelligence may have been received in the executive department respecting the condition of civil affairs in the Oregon Territory. The reports, with the official correspondence accompanying them, it is believed, embrace all the information in the department called for by the resolution.

I TRANSMIT to the senate, herewith, reports from the several heads of departments, which contain all the information in possession of the executive relative to the subject of the resolution of the 23d instant.

No information has been received establishing the existence of any revolutionary movement in the island of Cuba among the inhabitants of that island. The correspondence submitted discloses, however, the fact that repeated attempts have been made, under the direction of foreigners enjoying the hospitality of this country, to get up armed expeditions in the United States for the purpose of invading Cuba. It will be seen by that correspondence that this government has been faithful in the discharge of its treaty obligations with Spain, and in the execution of the acts of Congress which have for their object the maintenance, in this regard, of the peace and honor of this country.