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President[ Andrew Johnson

         Date[ 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superseded the coercion of arms, and the people, by their voluntary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 Dart 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 Heat

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 dear 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

as 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 $2,552,310,006, 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.

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