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. To the Senate of the United States: ANDREW JOHNSON. WASHINGTON, December 13, 1865. 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. To the House of Representatives: ANDREW JOHNSON. WASHINGTON, December 14, 1865. 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. To the Senate of the United States: WASHINGTON, December 18, 1865. 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, postoffices 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. To the Senate of the United States: ANDREW JOHNSON. WASHINGTON, December 20, 1865. 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. To the Senate: ANDREW JOHNSON. WASHINGTON, December 21, 1865. 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. To the Senate of the United States: WASHINGTON, January 5, 1866. 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. To the Senate of the United States: ANDREW JOHNSON. WASHINGTON, January 5, 1866. 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. To the House of Representatives: ANDREW JOHNSON. WASHINGTON, January 5, 1866. 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. To the House of Representatives: ANDREW JOHNSON. WASHINGTON, January 10, 1866. 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. Chaffee 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* with the Indians of the Southwest referred to in the accompanying communication from the Secretary of the Interior. 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 with bands of the Sioux Nation of Indians which are referred to in the accompanying communication from the Secretary of the Interior. ANDREW JOHNSON. * 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. |