SPECIAL MESSAGES.

WASHINGTON, December 7, 1841.

To the Senate of the United States:

I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of War, in compliance with a resolution of the Senate of the 3d of March last, calling for a comparative statement of the condition of the public defenses, of all the preparations and means of defense, and of the actual and authorized strength of the Army on the 1st of January, 1829, and the 1st of January, 1841.

JOHN TYLER.

WASHINGTON, December 7, 1841.

To the Senate of the United States:

I transmit herewith a report from the War Department, in compliance with so much of the resolution of the Senate of March 3, 1841, respecting the military and naval defenses of the country, as relates to the defenses under the superintendence of that Department.

JOHN TYLER.

WASHINGTON, December 8, 1841.

To the House of Representatives of the United States:

In answer to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 4th of September last, requesting information touching the relations between the United States and the Republic of Texas, I transmit a report from the Secretary of State, to whom the resolution was referred.

JOHN TYLER.

WASHINGTON, December 8, 1841.

To the House of Representatives of the United States:

I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of the Treasury, exhibiting certain transfers of appropriations which have been made in that Department in pursuance of the power vested in the President of the United States by the act of Congress of the 3d of March, 1809, entitled "An act further to amend the several acts for the establishment and regulation of the Treasury, War, and Navy Departments."

JOHN TYLER.

WASHINGTON, December 29, 1841.

To the Senate of the United States:

I herewith transmit to the Senate a report15 from the Secretary of State, in answer to their resolution of the 27th instant.

JOHN TYLER.

WASHINGTON, January 4, 1842.

To the House of Representatives of the United States:

I herewith communicate a report and statement from the Secretary of State, in answer to a resolution of the House of the 19th of June, 1841, requesting the aggregate amount of each description of persons within the several districts of the United States by counties and principal towns.

JOHN TYLER.

WASHINGTON, January 10, 1842.

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 Peru, signed at Lima on the 17th of March last, providing for the adjustment and satisfaction of certain claims of citizens of the United States against the Government of that Republic.

For the purpose of acquainting the Senate with the nature and amount of those demands and with the course of the negotiation, I also communicate a copy of such parts of the correspondence of the agents of the two Governments as relate thereto.

JOHN TYLER.

WASHINGTON, January 17, 1842.

To the Senate of the United States:

I transmit to the Senate a report from the Secretary of State, relative to the proceedings and final decision of the commissioners under the convention with the Republic of Texas upon the subject of the boundary between the United States and that Republic.

JOHN TYLER.

[The same message was sent to the House of Representatives.]

WASHINGTON, January 18, 1842.

To the House of Representatives:

I transmit to the House of Representatives, in answer to the resolution of the 14th instant, a report16 from the Secretary of State and the papers by which it was accompanied.

JOHN TYLER.

WASHINGTON, January 19, 1842.

To the Senate of the United States:

I transmit to the Senate herewith a report17 from the Secretary of State, with accompanying papers, in answer to their resolution of the 11th instant.

JOHN TYLER.

JANUARY 27, 1842.

To the House of Representatives:

I transmit herewith a report18 of the Secretary of War, in answer to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 9th August, 1841.

JOHN TYLER.

WASHINGTON, February 5, 1842.

To the Senate of the United States:

I transmit herewith to the Senate copies of a report and letter from the commissioners appointed by the President for the exploration and survey of the boundary line between the States of Maine and New Hampshire and the conterminous British Provinces, showing the progress made in that work during the past season, and submitting an estimate, to which I invite the attention of Congress, of the funds that will be requisite for completing the surveys yet to be made on the boundary, and the office work consequent thereon, and for completing the maps of surveys already made.

JOHN TYLER.

[The same message was sent to the House of Representatives.]

NEW YORK, January 4, 1842.

Hon. DANIEL WEBSTER,

Secretary of State:

The undersigned, commissioners appointed by the President of the United States for the purpose of exploring and surveying the boundary line between the States of Maine and New Hampshire and the British Provinces in North America, respectfully report—

That in pursuance of the duties of their appointment they have in the course of the late season performed the following surveys and explorations:

1. The meridian line of the monument at the source of the St. Croix has, under the direction of J.D. Graham, been carefully and accurately traced from the station in the vicinity of Houlton where the labors of the year 1840 terminated to a point 4 miles north of the St. John River in the vicinity of the Grand Falls, being a distance of 81 miles from the monument. The timber has been removed along this line to a width necessary for its accurate prolongation and for the requisite astronomical observations at various points upon it, and a correct profile, or vertical section, has also been obtained by means of the spirit level the whole of the distance above mentioned.

Besides the astronomical observations necessary to obtain and continue the due north direction upon this line, numerous magnetic observations have also been made at a number of points upon it, in order to show the physical causes which must operate to produce serious discrepancies between a meridian line properly traced and such a one as has actually separated the jurisdiction of the two Governments since the attempt in the years 1817 and 1818 to define and mark this portion of the boundary under the provisions of the treaty of Ghent, although no portion of that line was ever ratified or made binding upon the parties to the treaty.

Upon this portion of the survey there have been chained, including measured offsets to the old line and to other important points, 85 miles.

Four hundred and fifty-two transit observations of heavenly bodies have been made, aided by three excellent chronometers, for the determination of the true meridian direction, most of which also served for the computation of the correct time.

For the determination of the longitude of this meridian west of the Royal Observatory of Greenwich and the latitudes of four important points upon it there were made eighty-five complete sets of astronomical observations, including altitudes of the sun and stars and the meridian transits of the moon and moon-culminating stars.

The number of barometric observations made upon the line and in its vicinity is 5,767; besides which there were made at Calais, for comparison with the level of mean tide on the St. Croix, 1,336 similar observations.

There have been determined in altitude above or below the level of the monument, by means of the spirit level, 1,716 points, and the altitudes of 1,816 other points have been similarly observed in order to verify the altitude of the monument above the level of mean tide at Calais.

For the determination of the magnetic variation at a number of points on the meridian line, more than 200 observations have been made upon four different needles, and for the determination of the magnetic dip at four principal stations on the same meridian 300 observations have been made upon two different needles.

Under the directions of the same commissioner the line claimed by Great Britain from Mars Hill and that recently chosen by Messrs. Mudge and Featherstonhaugh have been surveyed westward from the meridian line to the highlands near the head waters of the Aroostook, and the necessary data obtained for the construction of a correct map of that portion of country.

Upon this survey, without reckoning the distances traveled for approaching many important points of observation, there have been actually measured with the chain and coursed with proper instruments 267 miles, including the Aroostook River from its mouth to the point where it receives the Lapawmpeag Stream, a profile of the country from the head waters of the Moluncus to the St. John at Fish River, and such other important lines as were necessary for obtaining the correct topography of the country, and the altitudes of many points upon the line claimed by Great Britain as the boundary, in the vicinity of the Aroostook, have been obtained.

Ten principal points have been determined in latitude and longitude by means of 115 sets of astronomical observations, aided by three good chronometers, and seventeen other points have been determined by triangulation with a portable theodolite. Two hundred and five points have been determined in altitude by means of 1,319 barometric observations, and seventeen by means of the theodolite and spirit level. One hundred and ninety-two observations have been made for determining the variation of the magnetic needle at three important points.

The field duties above mentioned are considered to furnish sufficient data for a correct map of the line reported upon by the late British commissioners, Colonel Mudge and Mr. Featherstonhaugh, between the St. John River and the head of the Aroostook, besides some lateral explorations of considerable extent that will have an important bearing upon this branch of the subject. The work accomplished is full as much as could have been properly done in a single season, marked, as the last was, by an unusual drought of long continuance, which rendered it impossible to ascend, even with light canoes, some of the smaller streams, especially those forming the northwesternmost sources of the Aroostook. These might be profitably explored another season.

2. The division under the direction of A. Talcott has, besides verifying a part of the line of 1840 and tracing the course of Indian Stream (a branch of the Connecticut) to its source, explored and surveyed the line of highlands which extends from the Kennebec road to the Temiscouata portage, and so much of the line claimed by Great Britain as extends from the Kennebec road to the eastward as far as the head of the Aroostook River.

In the course of this survey, without counting the lines of approach or ground traveled over more than once, 703 miles have been passed over and such notes taken as will form the basis of a map. Of these 703 miles, 335 are upon the lines respectively claimed as boundaries by the Governments of the United States and Great Britain. In the course of these surveys, in order to the geographical determination of the position of the line, the latitudes of 54 points have been determined by means of 114 sets of altitudes of heavenly bodies, and the sets of subsidiary observations for time and for the determination of longitude by chronometers amount to 245. The number of points at which observations have been made by barometers for the purpose of determining their altitudes is 930, of which 669 are upon the boundaries respectively claimed by the two countries. The number of separate sets of barometric readings made at these points amounts to 1,981, while those made at the fixed stations, with which the former are to be compared, amount to 1,671.

3. The division under the direction of J. Renwick has explored or surveyed the line of highlands from the southeastern extremity of Lake Matapediac to the vicinity of the river Du Loup, where the line of survey has been connected with that of A. Talcott. In this survey a gap is yet left of a few miles on the western side of the valley of the Rimouski near its source.

In the course of the operations of this division 586 miles have been passed over and such notes taken as will form the basis of a map. Of these 586 miles, 275 have been actually measured, 209 are upon the boundary claimed by the United States, and about 30 upon the line pointed out by the proclamation of the King of Great Britain of the 7th of October, 1763, as the southern boundary of the Province of Quebec, making in all 239 miles of the height of land.

In the course of these surveys, in order to the geographical determination of the position of the line, the latitudes of 47 points have been determined by means of 85 sets of altitudes of heavenly bodies, and the sets of subsidiary observations for time and for the determination of longitude by chronometers amount to 130. The number of points at which observations have been made by barometers for the purpose of determining their altitudes is 407, of which 267 are upon the boundary claimed by the United States. The number of separate sets of barometric readings made at these points amounts to 1,153, while those made at the fixed stations amount to 837.

The division of Major Graham not having returned from the field until within a few days, neither the reduction of the astronomical observations nor any of the office work preparatory to a general map has yet been commenced by his division.

The office work of the divisions of A. Talcott and J. Renwick has been steadily carried on since the return of those commissioners from the field in the month of October, and great progress has been made in the calculations and plotting preparatory to the construction of maps, and necessary as materials for a general report.

In this state of the work of the several divisions the undersigned find themselves under the necessity of communicating to the State Department that the further progress of their operations is about to be arrested by the exhaustion of the appropriation, and of stating that unless speedy provision be made for the supply of the necessary funds the report of their operations can not be made up in time to be laid before Congress at its present session.

The position of the finances of the commission may be seen by the following statement:

Of the appropriation of $75,000 there have been drawn—

By J. Renwick $21,000

By A. Talcott 24,200

By J.D. Graham 25,000

Total drawn 70,200

Leaving in the Treasury of the United States $4,800.

By a careful estimate it is found that to finish the office work of the several divisions there will be required over and above any balances in the hands of the several commissioners—

For the division of J. Renwick $3,000

For the division of A. Talcott 5,800

For the division of J.D. Graham, including some arrearages due for instruments and to assistant engineers attached to this division 6,500

Making in all $15,300, and leaving to be provided for the completion of the work of the late season $10,500.

The undersigned can not refrain from stating that the necessity of applying for further funds was unexpected by each of them individually, as it is painful to them collectively. There are, however, reasons that in their opinion are incontrovertible which have led to an expenditure thus exceeding their estimate submitted to the Secretary of State the 11th of January, 1841:

1. The estimate for the expenses of the division under the direction of Major Graham amounted to $22,500. This referred only, however, to the continuation of the survey of the meridian line; and as the country had been represented by the most authentic maps as generally rising from the monument to the north, it was inferred that the timber to be cut away in opening this line through a dense forest would be of the description generally found upon elevated and dry lands, and the labor supposed to be requisite was estimated accordingly. So far, however, from this being the case, 26 miles out of the 32 between the base of Parks Ridge, near Houlton, and the river Des Chutes (6 miles north of the latitude of Mars Hill) have actually been found to be below the level of the monument and intersected by swamps covered with a thick growth of cedar and other timber common to such land, extremely difficult to cut away. More than double the labor estimated had therefore to be performed in accomplishing this and all similar portions of the work, and a corresponding increase of expense was unavoidable.

In addition to this increased labor upon the meridian line, the division of Major Graham has executed the surveys between that line and the head waters of the Aroostook, already given in detail, the expenses for which were not estimated or included in the sum above mentioned.

The cost of this survey, including the instruments that were required for it, has amounted to $5,500, and while this sum should be added to the original estimate for this division, the expenses of the divisions of the other two commissioners have not in any manner been thereby diminished, for the actual quantity of work performed by them has exceeded what was supposed from the best maps extant to be necessary upon the whole of the lines claimed by the two Governments, respectively, exclusive of the meridian line, as will hereafter be shown.

There was another cause which tended in a great degree to augment the expenses of this division in proportion to the progress of the work, which it was not within the power of human agency to control, and which we should not omit to mention here.

The severe drought which prevailed throughout this region of country during the month of August and the greater part of September caused the fires which are annually set to the fallen timber upon newly cleared lands to spread far and wide into the growing forest, and so rapid was its progress and so serious its ravages as to compel the inhabitants in many cases to fly for the preservation of life. Some check was experienced in the duties along the meridian line from the flames that actually embraced it, but a far more serious one from the dense smoke which filled the atmosphere almost incessantly for six weeks, and so obstructed the view as to render it impossible to fix the stations in advance with the requisite precision.

While the party charged with the astronomical operations was thus deprived of the opportunity of making scarcely any progress for six weeks, the expense of maintaining it could not in any way be diminished, because there was a daily hope that such a change in the weather might occur as would have removed this difficulty.

In order to make amends as far as practicable for so much time unavoidably lost, this division continued to prosecute its field duties north of the forty-seventh degree of latitude until several weeks after the severities of winter had commenced, with no other protection than their tents, the commissioner in charge of it believing that the expectations of the Government and of the country generally would but be fulfilled by the investigations in relation to this important line being pushed to the utmost attainable point. But for this it would have been impossible to have reached the St. John River the late season.

There remains to be surveyed along this meridian line, in order to reach the northwest angle of Nova Scotia as claimed by the United States, about 64 miles, to accomplish which will require another season of active field duty.

2. In the estimate for the work of the divisions of A. Talcott and J. Renwick it was assumed that the length of the boundary remaining on the line claimed by the United States was 320 miles, and upon the lines claimed by Great Britain 170 miles.

Of the latter, about one-half was undertaken by Major Graham's division,19 leaving for the estimated distance to be surveyed by the divisions of A. Talcott and J. Renwick 450 miles.

It will appear by the statement hereinbefore given that the joint surveys of these two divisions upon the lines of highlands have actually amounted to 574 miles. Upon the principle of their estimate, the probable cost of this would have amounted to $49,746.37, and with the addition for instruments and for the additional cost of the more remote parts of the line to $57,079.70.

The actual cost, including the foregoing estimate for the completion of the work, is $54,000.

It will appear, therefore, that when the increased extent of the work performed over that made the basis of the estimate is considered, the cost of performing it, so far from having exceeded the estimate, has fallen short of it by $3,000.

The reason of the discrepancy between the real extent of the line, as actually measured, and that which formed the basis of the calculation is that the latter was made by reference to the best existing maps, which were considered to be entitled to a certain degree of credit. Upon the close examination which the operations of the late season have afforded, these maps have been ascertained to be exceedingly erroneous. Well-known streams have been found to extend in either direction many miles beyond the points at which their sources have been laid down on the maps, and great rivers and lakes have, as it were, been discovered, of which no delineation had ever been given by geographers. The extent of these errors in remote and difficultly accessible points may be inferred from what has been found to occur in the part of the region which is most accessible, best known, and most frequently traversed.

On the Temiscouata portage, a road traveled weekly by the mail of Her Britannic Majesty, continually passed by the officers of her various services, which had been carefully surveyed by civil engineers preparatory to its reconstruction, and which has been traveled by the surveyors of both countries under the joint commission, it had hitherto been believed, and it was so represented on all maps, both English and American, that the line dividing the waters crossed the road three times. The surveys of the late season show that the boundary claimed by the United States crosses this road five times, and it became necessary to explore the culminating points of the valleys of four streams, instead of two, as had been anticipated. Instances of the same sort, but which do not admit of verbal description, have occurred on every part of the lines of highlands.

The two commissioners whose operations are under consideration no doubt had it in their power to have suspended their operations and returned so soon as the portion of the appropriation placed at their disposal was so far exhausted as to leave no more than would be needed to complete their office work; but they feel satisfied that they would not have been justified in so doing so long as any portion of the line remained unsurveyed or the weather would permit a party to keep the field. Thus, although in the original plan for the partition of the work it was estimated that their lines would probably be connected in the parallel of the river Ouelle, about 30 miles south of Temiscouata portage, when it was found that, from unforeseen delays in the transportation of the party of J. Renwick by sea to their work, and on the river St. Lawrence from one station to another, it became doubtful whether he could pass the Temiscouata portage before the woods became impassable, his colleague continued his parties in the field until the junction was effected. In this way, while the expenses of the division of J. Renwick have not been materially diminished, those of the division of A. Talcott have been largely increased; but a portion of the general work has been accomplished which might otherwise have been left incomplete.

The undersigned, in conclusion, beg leave respectfully to urge the importance of a speedy appropriation to enable them to make up their report. A delay of any continuance will be productive of evil, either by enhancing the cost of office work or by rendering it difficult in consequence of the dispersion of the engineers and surveyors by whom the field notes have been taken. Upon the completion only of such a report will it be possible to render apparent how much of the whole task has been accomplished and how much remains to be performed; and the Department will then have it in its power to decide whether the part that has not been completed is of such importance to the question at issue as to require further operations upon it.

All which is respectfully submitted.

JAS. RENWICK, A. TALCOTT, J.D. GRAHAM, Commissioners.

WASHINGTON, January 25, 1842.

Hon. DANIEL WEBSTER, Secretary of State.

SIR: The undersigned, commissioners appointed by the President of the United States for the purpose of surveying and exploring the boundary line between the States of Maine and New Hampshire and the British Provinces, beg leave, in compliance with your directions, to submit an estimate for the operations of the commission for the ensuing year.

So much of your directions as regards the state of the survey and the amount required to complete the office work preparatory to a report has already been laid before you in their report of the 4th January, 1842, prepared in anticipation of your orders. By reference thereto it will appear that the delineation of the meridian of the source of St. Croix has not, in spite of every effort on the part of the commissioner to whom it was assigned, been pursued farther than 81 miles from the monument. Sixty-four miles, therefore, of the said meridian line remain to be surveyed before this part of their task is completed. The other two commissioners, while they would not have hesitated to join in a final report in case the state of the survey of the meridian line would have permitted it, are aware that the hasty manner in which their work was performed, in anticipation of completing the object of their appointment during the past year, leaves room for a more accurate examination of some parts of the lines they have surveyed. Some portions, also, of the lines intrusted to them, respectively, were not reached; and, in addition, a part of the survey which was contemplated in their original instructions from your predecessor was not included in their estimates for the past year, in consequence of its having only a collateral relation to the main object.

Thus the surveys respectively undertaken by Messrs. Talcott and Graham of the lines claimed on the part of Great Britain and by Messrs. Mudge and Featherstonhaugh, although brought near to each other, have not been united, and a part of the highlands claimed by the United States near the source of the Rimouski was not reached by the parties of Professor Renwick.

The height of a part of the line explored by Captain Talcott in 1840, lying at the source of Arnolds River, was not determined for the want of a barometer.

Two or three miles in length of the line of highlands near the source of the river Du Loup require to be reexamined.

The longitudes of Lake Megantic, Lake Etchemin, the source of the Metjarmette, upon the line of Captain Talcott, and of some one point on the line of Professor Renwick ought to be ascertained with greater precision than the time that could be allowed during the last season would permit.

The instructions of Mr. Forsyth contemplated an exploration of the highlands described in the proclamation of 1763 as beginning on the north shore of the Bay of Chaleurs. The existence of a continuous elevated region from the tide of that bay to the termination of the exploring meridian line has been ascertained in a manner satisfactory to the commission, but the heights have not been measured on that part of it which lies nearest to the Bay of Chaleurs.

Under these circumstances the undersigned are of opinion that as no delay in the presentation of a final report will arise from further explorations of the parts of the territory thus pointed out and the more accurate examination of the uncertain matters, it would add to the confidence which may be placed in their results that a party be employed under the direction of each of the above-named commissioners upon the said work. For this object it is estimated—

1. That $25,000 in all, say $12,500 to be expended under the direction of each of the two above-named commissioners, will suffice. A less sum than this will not keep two parties in the field during the working season; a larger sum could not advantageously be expended on this part of the work.

2. In estimating the amount necessary for completing the delineation of the meridian of the source of the river St. Croix, it will be borne in mind that numerous astronomical observations must be made in aid of the operations with the transit instrument, in order constantly to preserve the true north direction, a condition of the utmost consequence, not alone as affecting the extent of territory that will be embraced by it, but more particularly because the character and position of the highlands alluded to in the treaty of 1783 would be exhibited in a very different light as encountered by a line running due north, as is required by the treaty, and by one varying even in a slight degree from that direction. This principle has already been exhibited in a striking manner by the trace of the meridian line as far as it has now progressed, for instead of encountering highlands in the latitude of Mars Hill having a claim to be considered those described in the treaty as the intended boundary between the two countries, the line as recently traced actually passes that latitude at an elevation of less than 10 feet above the level of the monument, and the greatest elevation encountered by this line in passing over any spur connected with Mars Hill is 63 feet above the level of the monument. In advance of this spur the line becomes again depressed below the level of the monument at several points before it reaches the Aroostook.

These, however, are only a few of the many facts that might be adduced from the surveys already made to show how important it is to the question at issue that every necessary means to avail of the aids of science should be adopted in order to preserve scrupulously the direction specified in the treaty while tracing this line. It must also be remembered that in the further prosecution of this duty a wilderness has to be traversed, totally uninhabited and totally without roads. The only means of progressing through it and of transporting the necessary provisions and the instruments indispensable to accuracy will be by means of canoes, for supplying two or three depots at points where Grand River and the waters of the Restigouche intersect the line, leaving the whole transportation along the meridian to be performed by packmen, or men carrying burdens on their backs. That the usual avenue to give an unimpeded view along the line must be opened through a dense forest, which in the neighborhood of all streams crossing it will still be found to consist of that swampy growth described in the report from the undersigned of the 4th of January instant as requiring so much labor to cut through it.

With all these circumstances in view, the following estimate for the completion of the survey of the meridian line and for some further surveys between that line and the source of the Aroostook is submitted; and it is intended to embrace the expense of completing both the field and the office wort that will require to be done in order to a final accomplishment of the duties:

Estimate for the meridian line.

1. Pay of 4 assistant engineers from May 1, 1842, to March 31, 1843, being 304 days, at $4 per day each $4,864.00

2. Pay of 3 other assistant engineers from May 1, 1842, to December 31, 1842, being 275 days, at $3 per day each 2,475.00

3. Hire of 30 men as axmen, and for preparing, constructing, and erecting stations and signals in advance, from June 1 to November 30, 1842, being 183 days, at $1 each per day 5,490.00

4. Hire of 30 other men as instrument carriers, chain bearers, canoe men, and packmen for 183 days, as above, at $1 per day each 5,490.00

5. Hire of 1 carpenter and 2 cooks 183 days, as above, at $1.25 per day each 686.25

6. Subsistence of 1 commissioner, 7 assistant engineers, 1 carpenter, 2 cooks, and 60 men, as above, being in all 71 persons, while in the field, 183 days at 50 cents per day each, including transportation of provisions to Grand Falls of St. John, or first depot 5,496.50

7. Purchase of barometers and repairs of instruments heretofore used 800.00

8. Salary of commissioner 3,000.00

9. Contingencies, including Stationery, office rent, and fuel, and transportation of engineers and commissioner to and from the field 1,500.00

Total required for the meridian line 30,801.75

That is to say, $30,801.75, making the whole amount for the work yet to be performed in the field on all parts of the boundary and for the office work that will be consequent from the said field work $55,801.75

All which is respectfully submitted.

JAS. RENWICK, A. TALCOTT, J.D. GRAHAM, Commissioners.

RECAPITULATION.

1. Amount of estimate for completing the surveys yet required to be made on the boundary, as above stated $55,801.75

2. Amount of estimate rendered with report of January 4, 1842, for completing maps of surveys already made, etc. 10,500.00

Aggregate amount required 66,301.75

WASHINGTON, February 9, 1842.

To the House of Representatives:

In answer to a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 7th of February, 1842, in the following words—

Resolved, That the President of the United States inform this House under what authority the commission, consisting of George Poindexter and others, for the investigation of the concerns of the New York custom-house was raised; what were the purposes and objects of said commission; how many persons have in any way been connected with it, and the compensation received or to be received by each; and the aggregate amount of every description of said commission, and out of what fund the said expenditures have been or are to be paid—

I have to state that the authority for instituting the commission mentioned in said resolution is the authority vested in the President of the United States to "take care that the laws be faithfully executed, and to give to Congress from time to time information on the state of the Union, and to recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient."

The expediency, if not the necessity, of inquiries into the transactions of our custom-houses, especially in cases where abuses and malpractices are alleged, must be obvious to Congress, and that investigations of this kind were expected to be made appears from the provision in the twenty-first section of the act of 1799, "which enjoins collectors of the customs to submit their books, papers, and accounts to the inspection of such persons as shall be appointed for that purpose."

The purposes and objects of the commission will be explained by the commission itself, a copy of which, together with information on the other subjects mentioned in the resolution, will at the proper time be laid before Congress.

JOHN TYLER.

WASHINGTON, February 11, 1842.

To the Senate of the United States:

In compliance with the request of the governor of the Territory of Iowa, I have the honor to submit the accompanying memorials20 and joint resolutions20 of the council and house of representatives of that Territory to your consideration.

JOHN TYLER.

WASHINGTON, February 14, 1842.

To the House of Representatives of the United States:

In compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 3d instant, I transmit herewith a report21 from the Secretary of State, with copies of the papers requested by the resolution.

JOHN TYLER.

WASHINGTON, February 16, 1842.

To the House of Representatives:

I transmit herewith a communication addressed to me by the Secretary of War, in relation to certain contracts entered into by a board of medical officers appointed for that purpose for the purchase of sites on the western waters for the erection of marine hospitals; and concurring fully in his views of the subject, I recommend that either an appropriation of $44,721 be made for the purpose of satisfying the claims of the individuals with whom the contracts were made or that the Department of War be authorized to reconvey to them their lands and annul the contracts.

JOHN TYLER.

WASHINGTON, February 18, 1842.

To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States:

I have the honor to invite the attention of Congress to the accompanying letter, addressed to me by the Secretary of State. You will doubtless perceive the importance of furnishing a uniform rule for the guidance of the public officers in the matter referred to in the Secretary's letter.22

JOHN TYLER.

WASHINGTON, February 19, 1842.

To the House of Representatives:

In compliance with the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 8th instant, I have the honor to submit the accompanying communication23 from the Secretary of State and the correspondence on the subject referred to by the resolution of the House.

JOHN TYLER.

WASHINGTON, February 21, 1842.

To the Senate of the United States:

I transmit to the Senate herewith a report from the Secretary of State, with an accompanying paper,24 in answer to their resolution of the 18th instant.

JOHN TYLER.

WASHINGTON, February 26, 1842.

To the House of Representatives:

The resolution of the House of Representatives of the 21st instant, requesting the President of the United States to communicate to that body, "if not incompatible with the public interest, the state of the negotiation between the United States and the Government of Great Britain in relation to the northeastern boundary of the State of Maine, and also all correspondence on that subject between the two Governments not hitherto communicated," has been transmitted to me. Desirous always to lay before Congress and the public everything affecting the state of the country to the fullest extent consistent with propriety and prudence, I have to inform the House of Representatives that in my judgment no communication could be made by me at this time on the subject of its resolution without detriment or danger to the public interests.

JOHN TYLER.

WASHINGTON, February 28, 1842.

To the House of Representatives:

I have the honor to submit copies of the correspondence25 and other documents called for by the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 2d February.

I am not informed of the existence of any official opinion of the late Judge Johnson on the unconstitutionality of the act or acts of the State of South Carolina upon the subject referred to in the resolution.

JOHN TYLER.

WASHINGTON, March 8, 1842.

To the House of Representatives:

I feel it to be my duty to invite your attention to the accompanying communication from the Secretary of the Treasury, in relation to the probable demands which will be made upon the Treasury for the present quarter. It will be seen that, without arresting the requisitions which will be made by the War and Navy Departments for the months of March, April, and May, there will be an unprovided-for deficit of upward of three millions.

I can not bring myself, however, to believe that it will enter into the view of any department of the Government to arrest works of defense now in progress of completion or vessels under construction or preparation for sea. Having due regard to the unsettled condition of our foreign relations and the exposed situation of our inland and maritime frontier, I should feel myself wanting in my duty to the country if I could hesitate in urging upon Congress all necessary appropriations for placing it in an attitude of strength and security. Such recommendation, however, has heretofore been made in full reliance as well on Congress as on the well-known patriotism of the people, their high sense of national honor, and their determination to defend our soil from the possibility, however remote, of a hostile invasion.

The diminution in the revenue arising from the great diminution of duties under what is commonly called the compromise act necessarily involves the Treasury in embarrassments, which have been for some years palliated by the temporary expedient of issuing Treasury notes—an expedient which, affording no permanent relief, has imposed upon Congress from time to time the necessity of replacing the old by a new issue. The amount outstanding on the 4th of March, 1840, varies in no great degree from the amount which will be outstanding on the 1st of January next, while in the interim the new issues are rendered equivalent to the redemption of the old, and at the end of the fiscal year leave an augmented pressure on the finances by the accumulation of interest.

The contemplated revision of the tariff of duties may, and doubtless will, lead in the end to a relief of the Treasury from these constantly recurring embarrassments, but it must be obvious that time will be necessary to realize the full anticipations of financial benefit from any modification of the tariff laws. In the meantime I submit to Congress the suggestions made by the Secretary, and invite its prompt and speedy action.

JOHN TYLER.

WASHINGTON, March 8, 1842.

To the Senate and House of Representatives:

In my message of the 7th of December I suggested to Congress the propriety, and in some degree the necessity, of making proper provisions by law within the pale of the Constitution for the removal at their commencement and at the option of the party of all such cases as might arise in State courts involving national questions or questions touching the faithful observance and discharge of the international obligations of the United States from such State tribunal to the Federal judiciary. I am urged to repeat at this time this recommendation by the receipt of intelligence, upon which I can rely, that a subject of Great Britain residing in Upper Canada has been arrested upon a charge of connection with the expedition fitted out by the Canadian authorities by which the Caroline was destroyed, and will in all probability be subjected to trial in the State courts of New York. It is doubtful whether in this state of things, should his discharge be demanded by the British Government, this Government is invested with any control over the subject until the case shall have reached the court of final resort of the State of New York and been decided in that court; and although such delay ought not, in a national point of view to give cause of umbrage to Great Britain, yet the prompt and instant rendering of justice to foreign nations should be placed among our highest duties. I can not, therefore, in consideration of what properly becomes the United States, and in anticipation of any demand from a foreign government for the discharge of one of its subjects, forego the duty of repeating my recommendation to Congress for the immediate Adoption of some suitable legislative provision on this subject.

JOHN TYLER.

WASHINGTON, March 11, 1842.

To the House of Representatives:

In compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 23d ultimo, I communicate to that body a report from the Secretary of State, conveying copies of the correspondence26 which contains the information called for by said resolution.

JOHN TYLER.

WASHINGTON, March 12, 1842.

To the Senate of the United States:

I have reason to think that the rejection of Silas Reed as surveyor-general of Illinois and Missouri on the evening of the last day of the session of the Senate at the last session of Congress was founded in a misapprehension of facts, which, while it deprived the public of the services of a useful officer, left him to suffer a considerable degree of injustice in his reputation. After mature reflection upon all the circumstances of his case, and particularly of facts which have become known since his rejection, I have felt it my duty to submit his nomination for the same office anew to the Senate for its advice and consent.

I therefore nominate Silas Reed to be surveyor-general of Illinois and Missouri, in place of Joseph C. Brown, removed.

JOHN TYLER.

MARCH 15, 1842.

To the Senate of the United States:

I take the earliest moment to correct an error into which I inadvertently fell in my message of the 12th instant, nominating Silas Reed to be surveyor-general for Illinois and Missouri. In that message I represent the nominee as being rejected by the Senate on the evening of the last day of the last session of Congress, when upon a more accurate inquiry I find that he was rejected on the 14th of August, 1841, and his successor nominated on the 23d August and confirmed on the 13th September, which was the last day of the last session of Congress, and which fact had become identified in my memory, upon which I drew when I wrote the message, with the fact of his rejection.

I hasten to make the correction, not deeming it, however, of much moment in regard to the real merits of the nomination; for whether the rejection occurred on the last or any other day of the session, if done under a misapprehension or mistake of the facts, the Senate, I doubt not, will take equal pleasure in correcting the error.

JOHN TYLER.

WASHINGTON, March 17, 1842.

To the Senate of the United States:

In answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 2d ultimo, requesting information in regard to the demarcation of the boundary line between the United States and the Republic of Texas, I transmit a report from the Secretary of State and the papers by which it was accompanied.

JOHN TYLER.

WASHINGTON, March 17, 1842.

To the Senate of the United States:

I have the honor to submit the accompanying report and documents27 from the Postmaster-General, in compliance with the resolution of the Senate of the 16th February.

JOHN TYLER.

WASHINGTON, March 23, 1842.

To the House of Representatives of the United States:

A resolution adopted by the House of Representatives on the 16th instant, in the following words, viz, "Resolved, That the President of the United States and the heads of the several Departments be requested to communicate to the House of Representatives the names of such of the members (if any) of the Twenty-sixth and Twenty-seventh Congresses who have been applicants for office, and for what offices, distinguishing between those who have applied in person and those whose applications were made by friends, whether in person or by writing," has been transmitted to me for my consideration.

If it were consistent with the rights and duties of the executive department, it would afford me great pleasure to furnish in this, as in all cases in which proper information is demanded, a ready compliance with the wishes of the House of Representatives. But since, in my view, general considerations of policy and propriety, as well as a proper defense of the rights and safeguards of the executive department, require of me as the Chief Magistrate to refuse compliance with the terms of this resolution, it is incumbent on me to urge, for the consideration of the House of Representatives, my reasons for declining to give the desired information.

All appointments to office made by a President become from the date of their nomination to the Senate official acts, which are matter of record and are at the proper time made known to the House of Representatives and to the country. But applications for office, or letters respecting appointments, or conversations held with individuals on such subjects are not official proceedings, and can not by any means be made to partake of the character of official proceedings unless after the nomination of such person so writing or conversing the President shall think proper to lay such correspondence or such conversations before the Senate. Applications for office are in their very nature confidential, and if the reasons assigned for such applications or the names of the applicants were communicated, not only would such implied confidence be wantonly violated, but, in addition, it is quite obvious that a mass of vague, incoherent, and personal matter would be made public at a vast consumption of time, money, and trouble without accomplishing or tending in any manner to accomplish, as it appears to me, any useful object connected with a sound and constitutional administration of the Government in any of its branches.

But there is a consideration of a still more effective and lofty character which is with me entirely decisive of the correctness of the view that I have taken of this question. While I shall ever evince the greatest readiness to communicate to the House of Representatives all proper information which the House shall deem necessary to a due discharge of its constitutional obligations and functions, yet it becomes me, in defense of the Constitution and laws of the United States, to protect the executive department from all encroachment on its powers, rights, and duties. In my judgment a compliance with the resolution which has been transmitted to me would be a surrender of duties and powers which the Constitution has conferred exclusively on the Executive, and therefore such compliance can not be made by me nor by the heads of Departments by my direction. The appointing power, so far as it is bestowed on the President by the Constitution, is conferred without reserve or qualification. The reason for the appointment and the responsibility of the appointment rest with him alone. I can not perceive anywhere in the Constitution of the United States any right conferred on the House of Representatives to hear the reasons which an applicant may urge for an appointment to office under the executive department, or any duty resting upon the House of Representatives by which it may become responsible for any such appointment.

Any assumption or misapprehension on the part of the House of Representatives of its duties and powers in respect to appointments by which it encroaches on the rights and duties of the executive department is to the extent to which it reaches dangerous, impolitic, and unconstitutional.

For these reasons, so perfectly convincing to my mind, I beg leave respectfully to repeat, in conclusion, that I can not comply with the request contained in the above resolution.

JOHN TYLER.

WASHINGTON, March 25, 1842.

To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States:

Notwithstanding the urgency with which I have on more than one occasion felt it my duty to press upon Congress the necessity of providing the Government with the means of discharging its debts and maintaining inviolate the public faith, the increasing embarrassments of the Treasury impose upon me the indispensable obligation of again inviting your most serious attention to the condition of the finances. Fortunately for myself in thus bringing this important subject to your view for a deliberate and comprehensive examination in all its bearings, and I trust I may add for a final adjustment of it to the common advantage of the whole Union, I am permitted to approach it with perfect freedom and candor. As few of the burdens for which provision is now required to be made have been brought upon the country during my short administration of its affairs, I have neither motive nor wish to make them a matter of crimination against any of my predecessors. I am disposed to regard, as I am bound to treat, them as facts which can not now be undone, and as deeply interesting to us all, and equally imposing upon all the most solemn duties; and the only use I would make of the errors of the past is by a careful examination of their causes and character to avoid if possible the repetition of them in future. The condition of the country, indeed, is such as may well arrest the conflict of parties.

The conviction seems at length to have made its way to the minds of all that the disproportion between the public responsibilities and the means provided for meeting them is no casual nor transient evil. It is, on the contrary, one which for some years to come, notwithstanding a resort to all reasonable retrenchments and the constant progress of the country in population and productive power, must continue to increase under existing laws, unless we consent to give up or impair all our defenses in war and peace. But this is a thought which I am persuaded no patriotic mind would for a moment entertain. Without affecting an alarm, which I do not feel, in regard to our foreign relations, it may safely be affirmed that they are in a state too critical and involve too many momentous issues to permit us to neglect in the least, much less to abandon entirely, those means of asserting our rights without which negotiation is without dignity and peace without security.

In the report of the Secretary of the Treasury submitted to Congress at the commencement of the present session it is estimated that after exhausting all the probable resources of the year there will remain a deficit of about $14,000,000. With a view partly to a permanent system of revenue and partly to immediate relief from actual embarrassment, that officer recommended, together with a plan for establishing a Government exchequer, some expedients of a more temporary character, viz, the issuing of Treasury notes and the extension of the time for which the loan authorized to be negotiated by the act of the last session should be taken. Congress accordingly provided for an issue of Treasury notes to the amount of $5,000,000, but subject to the condition that they should not be paid away below par.

No measure connected with the last of the two objects above mentioned was introduced until recently into the House of Representatives. Should the loan bill now pending before that body pass into a law for its present amount, there would still remain a deficit of $2,500,000. It requires no argument to show that such a condition of the Treasury is incompatible not only with a high state of public credit, but with anything approaching to efficiency in the conduct of public affairs. It must be obvious even to the most inexperienced minds that, to say nothing of any particular exigency, actual or imminent, there should be at all times in the Treasury of a great nation, with a view to contingencies of ordinary occurrence, a surplus at least equal in amount to the above deficiency. But that deficiency, serious as it would be in itself, will, I am compelled to say, rather be increased than diminished without the adoption of measures adequate to correct the evil at once. The stagnation of trade and business, in some degree incident to the derangement of the national finances and the state of the revenue laws, holds out but little prospect of relief, in the ordinary course of things, for some time to come.

Under such circumstances I am deeply impressed with the necessity of meeting the crisis with a vigor and decision which it imperatively demands at the hands of all intrusted with the conduct of public affairs. The gravity of the evil calls for a remedy proportioned to it. No slight palliatives or occasional expedients will give the country the relief it needs. Such measures, on the contrary, will in the end, as is now manifest to all, too surely multiply its embarrassments. Relying, as I am bound to do, on the representatives of a people rendered illustrious among nations by having paid off its whole public debt, I shall not shrink from the responsibility imposed upon me by the Constitution of pointing out such measures as will in my opinion insure adequate relief. I am the more encouraged to recommend the course which necessity exacts by the confidence which I have in its complete success. The resources of the country in everything that constitutes the wealth and strength of nations are so abundant, the spirit of a most industrious, enterprising, and intelligent people is so energetic and elastic, that the Government will be without the shadow of excuse for its delinquency if the difficulties which now embarrass it be not speedily and effectually removed.

From present indications it is hardly doubtful that Congress will find it necessary to lay additional duties on imports in order to meet the ordinary current expenses of the Government. In the exercise of a sound discrimination having reference to revenue, but at the same time necessarily affording incidental protection to manufacturing industry, it seems equally probable that duties on some articles of importation will have to be advanced above 20 per cent. In performing this important work of revising the tariff of duties, which in the present emergency would seem to be indispensable, I can not too strongly recommend the cultivation of a spirit of mutual harmony and concession, to which the Government itself owes its origin, and without the continued exercise of which jarring and discord would universally prevail.

An additional reason for the increase of duties in some instances beyond the rate of 20 per cent will exist in fulfilling the recommendations already made, and now repeated, of making adequate appropriations for the defenses of the country.

By the express provision of the act distributing the proceeds of the sales of the public lands among the States its operation is ipso facto to cease so soon as the rate of the duties shall exceed the limits prescribed in the act.

In recommending the adoption of measures for distributing the proceeds of the public lands among the States at the commencement of the last session of Congress such distribution was urged by arguments and considerations which appeared to me then and appear to me now of great weight, and was placed on the condition that it should not render necessary any departure from the act of 1833. It is with sincere regret that I now perceive the necessity of departing from that act, because I am well aware that expectations justly entertained by some of the States will be disappointed by any occasion which shall withhold from them the proceeds of the lands. But the condition was plainly expressed in the message and was inserted in terms equally plain in the law itself, and amidst the embarrassments which surround the country on all sides and beset both the General and the State Governments it appears to me that the object first and highest in importance is to establish the credit of this Government and to place it on durable foundations, and thus afford the most effectual support to the credit of the States, equal at least to what it would receive from a direct distribution of the proceeds of the sales of the public lands.

When the distribution law was passed there was reason to anticipate that there soon would be a real surplus to distribute. On that assumption it was in my opinion a wise, a just, and a beneficent measure. But to continue it in force while there is no such surplus to distribute and when it is manifestly necessary not only to increase the duties, but at the same time to borrow money in order to liquidate the public debt and disembarrass the public Treasury, would cause it to be regarded as an unwise alienation of the best security of the public creditor, which would with difficulty be excused and could not be justified.

Causes of no ordinary character have recently depressed American credit in the stock market of the world to a degree quite unprecedented. I need scarcely mention the condition of the banking institutions of some of the States, the vast amount of foreign debt contracted during a period of wild speculation by corporations and individuals, and, above all, the Doctrine of repudiation of contracts solemnly entered into by States, which, although as yet applied only under circumstances of a peculiar character and generally rebuked with severity by the moral sense of the community, is yet so very licentious and, in a Government depending wholly on opinion, so very alarming that the impression made by it to our disadvantage as a people is anything but surprising. Under such circumstances it is imperatively due from us to the people whom we represent that when we go into the money market to contract a loan we should tender such securities as to cause the money lender, as well at home as abroad, to feel that the most propitious opportunity is afforded him of investing profitably and judiciously his capital. A government which has paid off the debts of two wars, waged with the most powerful nation of modern times, should not be brought to the necessity of chaffering for terms in the money market. Under such circumstances as I have adverted to our object should be to produce with the capitalist a feeling of entire confidence, by a tender of that sort of security which in all times past has been esteemed sufficient, and which for the small amount of our proposed indebtedness will unhesitatingly be regarded as amply adequate. While a pledge of all the revenues amounts to no more than is implied in every instance when the Government contracts a debt, and although it ought in ordinary circumstances to be entirely satisfactory, yet in times like these the capitalist would feel better satisfied with the pledge of a specific fund, ample in magnitude to the payment of his interest and ultimate reimbursement of his principal. Such is the character of the land fund. The most vigilant money dealer will readily perceive that not only will his interest be secure on such a pledge, but that a debt of $18,000,000 or $20,000,000 would by the surplus of sales over and above the payment of the interest be extinguished within any reasonable time fixed for its redemption. To relieve the Treasury from its embarrassments and to aid in meeting its requisitions until time is allowed for any new tariff of duties to become available, it would seem to be necessary to fund a debt approaching to $15,000,000; and in order to place the negotiation of the loan beyond a reasonable doubt I submit to Congress whether the proceeds of the sales of the public lands should not be pledged for the payment of the interest, and the Secretary of the Treasury be authorized out of the surplus of the proceeds of such sales to purchase the stock, when it can be procured on such terms as will render it beneficial in that way, to extinguish the debt and prevent the accumulation of such surplus while its distribution is suspended.

No one can doubt that were the Federal Treasury now as prosperous as it was ten years ago and its fiscal operations conducted by an efficient agency of its own, coextensive with the Union, the embarrassments of the States and corporations in them would produce, even if they continued as they are (were that possible), effects far less disastrous than those now experienced. It is the disorder here, at the heart and center of the system, that paralyzes and deranges every part of it. Who does not know the permanent importance, not to the Federal Government alone, but to every State and every individual within its jurisdiction, even in their most independent and isolated individual pursuits, of the preservation of a sound state of public opinion and a judicious administration here? The sympathy is instantaneous and universal. To attempt to remedy the evil of the deranged credit and currency of the States while the disease is allowed to rage in the vitals of this Government would be a hopeless undertaking.

It is the full conviction of this truth which emboldens me most earnestly to recommend to your early and serious consideration the measures now submitted to your better judgment, as well as those to which your attention has been already invited. The first great want of the country, that without answering which all attempts at bettering the present condition of things will prove fruitless, is a complete restoration of the credit and finances of the Federal Government. The source and foundation of all credit is in the confidence which the Government inspires, and just in proportion as that confidence shall be shaken or diminished will be the distrust among all classes of the community and the derangement and demoralization in every branch of business and all the interests of the country. Keep up the standard of good faith and punctuality in the operations of the General Government, and all partial irregularities and disorders will be rectified by the influence of its example; but suffer that standard to be debased or disturbed, and it is impossible to foresee to what a degree of degradation and confusion all financial interests, public and private, may sink. In such a country as this the representatives of the people have only to will it, and the public credit will be as high as it ever was.

My own views of the measures calculated to effect this great and desirable object I have thus frankly expressed to Congress under circumstances which give to the entire subject a peculiar and solemn interest. The Executive can do no more. If the credit of the country be exposed to question, if the public defenses be broken down or weakened, if the whole administration of public affairs be embarrassed for want of the necessary means for conducting them with vigor and effect, I trust that this department of the Government will be found to have done all that was in its power to avert such evils, and will be acquitted of all just blame on account of them.

JOHN TYLER.

WASHINGTON, March 25, 1842.

To the Senate of the United States:

I have the honor herewith to submit a report28 from the Secretary of the Navy, in compliance with your resolution of the 18th February, 1842.

JOHN TYLER.

WASHINGTON, March 30, 1842.

To the House of Representatives of the United States:

I transmit to the House of Representatives two extracts from a note of the chargé d'affaires of the Republic of Texas accredited to this Government to the Department of State, one suggesting in behalf of his Government such modifications of the existing laws of the United States as will impart greater facility to the trade between the two countries, particularly to that which passes across their frontier, and the other expressing a desire for some regulation on the part of this Government by means of which the communication by post between the United States and Texas may be improved.

As the wishes of the Texan Government in relation to those subjects can only be gratified by means of laws to be passed by Congress, they are accordingly referred to the consideration of the two Houses.

JOHN TYLER.

[The same message was sent to the Senate.]

WASHINGTON, April 1, 1842.

To the Senate:

In part compliance with a resolution of the Senate of the 20th of July, 1841, I transmit herewith a report29 from the Department of War.

JOHN TYLER.

WASHINGTON, April 1, 1842.

To the House of Representatives of the United States:

In compliance with your resolution of the 21st of March, I have the honor to submit the accompanying communication30 from the Secretary of the Navy.

JOHN TYLER.

WASHINGTON, April 4, 1842.

To the House of Representatives of the United States.

In part compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 21st March, 1842, I herewith communicate a report31 from the Secretary of State.

JOHN TYLER.

WASHINGTON, April 7, 1842.

To the House of Representatives of the United States:

I herewith transmit to the House of Representatives copies of a letter addressed to the Secretary of State by the chairman of the board of commissioners appointed to explore and survey the boundary line between the States of Maine and New Hampshire and the adjoining British Provinces, together with the report of the operations of that commission to the 31st ultimo, and a profile of the meridian line from the source of the St. Croix River as far as surveyed, illustrative of the report.

JOHN TYLER.

[The same message was sent to the Senate.]

DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, March 31, 1842.

Hon. DANIEL WEBSTER, Secretary of State.

SIR: By directions of the board of commissioners for exploring and surveying the northeastern boundary, I have handed you the papers hereinafter specified, viz:

1. The report of the operations of the commission up to the present date.

2. A profile of the meridian line of the source of the St. Croix as far as surveyed, intended to illustrate the report.

3. A portfolio of drawings intended for the same purpose.

4. A roll marked Appendix No. 1, containing the narrative of the field operations of the division of Professor Renwick.

5. A tin case containing the detail of the surveys of the division of Professor Renwick.

In reply to your inquiry in relation to the disposition of the said papers, I am directed respectfully to suggest that all which it is absolutely necessary to lay before Congress are the items 1 and 2, which, with a general map now in preparation, will contain all that will be of any general public interest.

The portfolio (No. 3) and the box of maps and profiles (No. 5) should remain on file in the Department; and while a part of the drawings in the former may be useful for illustration, the latter will be superseded by the general map, in which will be embodied all that they contain of importance to the question at issue.

Appendix No. 1, specified as No. 4 in the above list, will probably be demanded hereafter to give authenticity to the conclusions of the report (No. 1). It ought not, however, to be communicated until the Appendices Nos. 2 and 3, containing the operations of the divisions of Messrs. Graham and Talcott, are handed in; and of the three no more than a limited number of copies will be useful.

I have the honor to be, with much respect, your most obedient servant,

JAS. RENWICK, Chairman.

Report of the commissioners appointed by the President of the United States for the purpose of surveying and exploring the boundary line between the States of Maine and New Hampshire and the British Provinces.

WASHINGTON, March 28,1842.

Hon. DANIEL WEBSTER, Secretary of State.

SIR: The duties assigned to the undersigned by the instructions of your predecessor were twofold:

First. To explore and survey the lines respectively claimed by the Governments of the United States and Great Britain.

Second. To examine and report upon the arguments contained in the report of Messrs. Featherstonhaugh and Mudge addressed to the secretary of state of Her Britannic Majesty for foreign affairs under date of 16th April, 1840.

I.

In order to the more exact and successful performance of the duties included under the first of the above heads, the boundary line was divided by their instructions into three separate portions, one of which was assigned to each of the commissioners; and while they were instructed to assemble in a board for the purpose of comparing their respective surveys, in view of the performance of the duties included in the second of the above divisions their explorations have been separately conducted. Each of the commissioners has employed the methods and course of action most appropriate in his opinion to the successful fulfillment of his appointed task, and the nature of the surveys assigned to one of them has been of a character widely different from those of his colleagues. The commissioners, therefore, while uniting in a general report of the progress made up to this time in the duties of their appointment, beg leave to submit, in the form of appendices, the narrative of their several operations, with so much of the records of their observations and calculations as they have severally judged necessary to authenticate the conclusions at which they have arrived.

The progress which has been made in the labors of the commissioners enables them at this time to lay before you—

1. A description of the physical features of the disputed territory.

2. A comparison of the heights of the line claimed by the United States with those of the line styled the "axis of maximum elevation" by Messrs. Featherstonhaugh and Mudge. In laying the latter before you they have, in order to avoid delay, made use in part of the published results obtained by those gentlemen, and although they have already detected errors in their inferences they do not consider that by accepting them for the moment as the basis of comparison they can be accused of exhibiting the line claimed by Great Britain in an unfavorable light.

I.—DESCRIPTION OF THE DISPUTED TERRITORY.

The seacoast of the State of Maine is rugged and hilly. The primitive rocks of which its geological structure is chiefly composed are broken into ridges which run parallel to the great streams, and therefore in a direction from north to south. These ridges terminate in an irregular line, which to the east of the Penobscot may be identified nearly with the military road to Houlton. From the northern summit of these ridges an extensive view of the disputed territory can in many places be obtained. This is the case at the military post at Houlton, whence a wide extent of country may be seen. A still more perfect view may be obtained from the summit of Parks Hill, at a point about 400 yards south of the road from Houlton to Woodstock and about half a mile east of the exploring meridian line. At the time when that line was run by the British and American surveyors, under the fifth article of the treaty of Ghent, the top of this hill was covered with wood, and they were obliged to content themselves with the view from Park's barn, which is at least 200 feet beneath the summit. At the present moment the latter is cleared, and the view from west-southwest to northeast is unimpeded except by a single clump of trees, which cuts off the view for a few degrees in the northwest direction; but by a change of position every part of the horizon between these points is to be seen. Toward the west are seen ridges parallel to the Penobscot, over which Katahdin towers to a great height, bearing by compass N. 85° W. In a direction N. 75° W. are seen two distant peaks, one of which was identified as the Traveller. All of these eminences lie south of the line claimed by Great Britain. In the north-northwest direction there appear two ridges of comparatively small elevation, which were pointed out as the Aroostook Mountains, but have since been ascertained to lie near the sources of the Meduxnikeag. These lie in the line claimed by Great Britain in 1817.

Between these and the other mountains there is evidently no connection, and the rest of the country, as seen from the hill, bears the aspect of a wooded plain. It will be sufficient to refer to this view to be satisfied that all the impressions which have been circulated of a continuous chain of elevations extending along the line claimed by Great Britain are utterly fallacious.

Toward the north the country exhibits the same general features. One vast and apparently unbroken plain extends to the utmost limits of the visible horizon. In the midst of this, and at a distance of nearly 30 miles, Mars Hill alone breaks the monotonous prospect, and from its isolated position assumes to the eye an importance to which its altitude of less than 1,800 feet would not otherwise entitle it. No other eminences are to be seen in this direction, except a round peak bearing a few degrees west of north and some distant ridges about an equal distance to the east. The first of these has been ascertained by the surveys of Major Graham to be an isolated hill near the peak known as Quaquajo. The eastern ridges are probably those measured between the Tobique and the Bay of Chaleurs by the British commissioners. A sketch of this view from Parks Hill is annexed to the report, and lest any doubt be entertained of its accuracy it is proper to state that the unassisted vision was not relied upon, but that the outlines were carefully delineated by means of the camera lucida.

From this view it might be inferred that the northern part of the admitted possessions of the United States to the east of the Penobscot and the disputed territory as far as visible constitute a vast table-land slightly inclined toward the southeast.

On descending into the valley of the St. John the appearances change. The tableland is cut to a great depth by that stream, and from its bed the broken edges of the great plain look like ridges whose height is exaggerated to the senses in consequence of their being densely clothed with wood. The same is the case with all the branches of this river, which also cut the table-land to greater or less depths according to their distance from the stream into which they discharge themselves.

The want of a true highland or mountainous character in this region is obvious from the aspect it presents in the two different points of view. Mountainous regions are most imposing when seen from a distance and from heights. On a nearer approach, and from the valleys which intersect them, the elevations, so important in the distant view, are hidden by their own slopes or lose the appearance of relative elevation in consequence of the absolute heights of the valleys themselves. In conformity with this character, the line claimed by the United States for the most part presents, when seen at a distance, the appearance of lofty and deeply serrated ridges, while to one who traverses it it is a labyrinth of lakes, morasses, and short but steep elevations which hide its peaks from the valleys and streams.

The line claimed by Great Britain, on the other hand, when seen from a distance is as level as the surface of the ocean, with no greater appearance of elevation and depression than would represent its billows; while, seen from its own valleys, the heights assume an importance which their elevation above the valleys when actually measured does not warrant. The characteristics of the region through which the line of Messrs. Mudge and Featherstonhaugh passes are therefore the opposite of those usually remarked in highland countries, while those of the line claimed by the United States are the same as are always observed in such regions.

This character of a table-land deeply cut by streams is well exhibited in the section of their "axis of maximum elevation" by the British commissioners. In that will be seen the mountains near the source of the Aroostook, Alleguash, and Penobscot on the one hand, and of the Tobique on the other, while the intervening space is occupied by a curve resembling an inverted arch, of which the St. John occupies the keystone. In a country of this character any line whatever would present the appearance of a succession of eminences, and might by as liberal a construction of the term as has been made by Messrs. Mudge and Featherstonhaugh be called highlands.

The sameness of this general character is broken only by a single chain of hills.32 This is a prolongation of Mars Hill toward the north, and, being both of less height and breadth than that mountain, is hidden by it from the view of a spectator on Parks Hill. Mars Hill is itself an isolated eminence, and is in fact nearly an island, for the Presque Isle and Gissiguit rivers, running the one to the north and the other to the south of it, have branches which take their rise in the same swamp on its northwestern side. To the north of the Des Chutes the ground again rises, and although cut by several streams, and particularly by the Aroostook, the chain is prolonged by isolated eminences as far as the White Rapids, below the Grand Falls of the St. John, where it crosses that river. It may thence be traced in a northern direction to the Sugar Loaf Mountain, on the Wagansis portage, where it terminates.

To this broken chain belongs the elevation of 918 feet given by Messrs. Mudge and Featherstonhaugh to an eminence in the neighborhood of the Aroostook Falls. An accurate profile of so many of these eminences as fall in the line of the connected meridian is herewith submitted. This chain of eminences is not prolonged to the westward, as it is entirely unconnected with any other height aspiring to the name of mountain in that direction.

It is not in any sense a dividing ridge, being cut by all the streams in the country, and in particular to a great depth by the St. John and the Aroostook.

A section of this line was given in a report to the British commissioner under the fifth article of the treaty of Ghent by Colonel Bouchette, the surveyor-general of the Province of Canada. His heights were determined by the barometer, and estimated from the assumed level of the monument at the source of the St. Croix.

It would now appear that the section of Colonel Bouchette is very inaccurate, and that the heights as reported by him are not only much beyond the truth, but that the continually ascending slope ascribed by him to the country from the monument at the source of the St. Croix to the point where the due north line crosses the St. John is entirely erroneous. He, however, adroitly availed himself of this inaccurate section to attempt to prove the existence of a continuous chain of mountains from Katahdin to the Great Falls of the St. John, and thence around the southwestern branches of the Restigouche until it met the heights rising from the north shore of the Bay of Chaleurs. For this reason his view taken from Park's barn and that made by Mr. Odell from the same point were urged for admission as evidence on oath by the British agent, and the map of Mr. Johnson, which contradicted this evidence, was carefully excluded. It can not be concealed that could Colonel Bouchette's idea founded on erroneous premises have been established by indisputable facts it would have been the most fatal argument that has ever been adduced against the American claim, for he would have argued that the meridian line of the St. Croix would at Mars Hill have first intersected highlands which, rising from the north shore of the Bay of Chaleurs, would have appeared to divide until within a few miles of the Grand Falls of the St. John waters which fall into the St. Lawrence from those which fall into the Atlantic, and would have been the south boundary of the Province of Quebec.

Mars Hill would then have appeared to be in truth as well as in claim the northwest angle of the Province of Nova Scotia; and although the rest of the line would not have fulfilled the conditions, the United States might by an arbitrator have been compelled to accept this point as the beginning of their boundary. Nor, in the unexplored state of the country, is it by any means certain that the American agent, who does not seem to have seen the drift of the proceedings of Colonel Bouchette, would have been prepared with the adverse facts, which are now known to be undeniable. It may therefore be considered fortunate for the claim of the United States that the survey was afterwards intrusted to a surveyor who, in pursuit of the double object of encroachment on the United States and the enlargement of his native Province at the expense of Canada, signally failed in the proof of either of his positions.

The knowledge now acquired shows that the idea of Colonel Bouchette is unsupported by the facts of the case, for the highlands which rise from the north shore of the Bay of Chaleurs do not meet those in which the most southerly branch of the Restigouche takes its rise.

The British commissioners, although they give a profile of this ridge, do not pretend to have examined it except at Mars Hill, near the Aroostook, and at the Grand Falls of the St. John. It must be remarked that these profiles (the original one of Colonel Bouchette and that exhibited by themselves) are contrasted—one British authority with another—for the purpose of invalidating the ground on which the American claim is founded.

It is not our business to reconcile these conflicting authorities, but it is our duty to recall the recollections of the fact that no part of the American argument laid before the King of the Netherlands was founded on this or any other estimate of heights. Many elevations, indeed, were measured with great pains on the part of the Americans as well as of Great Britain.

On behalf of the United States Captain Partridge made many barometric observations, while Mr. Johnson took an extensive series of vertical and horizontal angles. His operations were performed in the presence of Mr. Odell, the surveyor on behalf of Great Britain, who doubtless made similar ones, as he visited the same stations with a better instrument and for the same avowed purpose. Mr. Odell's observations were not presented by the British agent, and those of Mr. Johnson were objected to. If received, they would have set aside the pretensions that a continuous ridge of mountains existed between the Metjarmette portage and Mars Hill. They are, however, superseded by the operations of the undersigned, which have yielded satisfactory evidence that no chain of highlands in the sense of the British commissioners, or even an "axis of maximum elevation," exists where it is laid down on their map. Nor can it be doubted that the operations of Mr. Johnson had a decided advantage in point of probable accuracy over theirs. The exploring meridian line used as a base was measured with a tolerable degree of accuracy, and from the three heights chosen by him the whole country is visible.

On the other hand, the course of Messrs. Mudge and Featherstonhaugh being confined, except where they ascended Mars Hill, to the valleys of the streams, they were for the most part excluded from a prospect. In describing the view from Mars Hill, however, they have pictured in most accurate terms the true features of the country:

"The character of the country may be well discerned and understood from this insulated hill. It presents to the eye one mass of dark and gloomy forest to the utmost limits of sight, covering by its umbrageous mantle the principal rivers, minor streams, and scanty vestiges of the habitation of man."

This description can only agree with that of a vast table-land into which the streams cut so deep and form such narrow valleys as to be invisible.

But if a chain of highlands, or even an "axis of maximum elevation," had existed as they lay it down, within 20 miles, it would have been visible, and it need not be said that they would not have failed to describe it. The inconsistency between their map and this true and forcible description of the features of the country is apparent.

The same general character of table-land is found to the north of the St. John above the Grand Falls. Its first important northern tributary is the Grand River. In ascending this stream the level of the table-land is soon reached. The river runs between banks of very moderate elevation and on a regular slope, and although running with great rapidity upon a pebbly bed it is yet so tortuous that while its distance from its mouth to the Wagansis portage in a straight line is no more than 13 miles the meanders of its channel amount to 30.

On the Wagansis portage the table-land is terminated by a ridge whose summit is elevated 264 feet above the wagansis33 of Grand River. It was at first believed that this, although of small elevation, was a dividing ridge, and that it might correspond to one construction which has, although inaccurately, been put on the treaty of 1783. This belief was speedily removed, for the rivulet on its northern side was found to be cut off from the Restigouche by the Sugar Loaf Mountain, and is therefore a branch either of the Grand River or of the stream which falls into the St. John immediately above the Grand Falls. The height of land which divides this rivulet from the wagan of the Restigouche is not elevated above the former more than 117 feet. There is, in fact, at this place a gap 5 or 6 miles in breadth in the great system of mountains which extend from the Gulf of St. Lawrence at the Bay des Chaleurs to the river St. Lawrence near the Temiscouata portage. At the northern verge of the table-land which has been described, and near the mouth of Green River, rises to the height of about 1,600 feet a mountain known from the name of that stream. This is, like Mars Hill, isolated, and affords an extensive view. To the north and west the prospect is bounded by a continuous line of horizon, which, instead of being obviously below the level of the eye, as in the view of the disputed territory from Mars Hill, is evidently of even greater height than the Green River Mountain itself.

On entering into this region from the south by any of the navigable streams which traverse it, it presents a more decidedly mountainous character than the country to the south. The Grande Fourche of Restigouche is bordered by two continuous chains of mountains, rising when it first issues from them to the height of a thousand feet above its surface. The stream having a rapid fall, the relative elevation becomes less until, in the neighborhood of the lake in which its north branch first collects its waters, the relative elevation is not more than four or five hundred feet.

On traversing this elevated country it presents a different aspect from what is seen either from a distance or where it is entered from the rivers. Frequent ridges are crossed; the tops of these are often occupied by swamps filled with a thick growth of cedars. Deep and small basins occur, which are occupied by lakes that give rise to rivers flowing to the St. Lawrence or to the St. John. These are intermingled with thickets of dwarf spruce, and the streams are sometimes bordered by marshes covered by low alders, and sometimes cut deep into rocky channels. In this apparent labyrinth one positive circumstance marks the line of division, or the true height of land: The streams which run to the St. John are all of the first description—sluggish—while those which discharge themselves into the St. Lawrence are rapid, and have the character of torrents.

On the western side of the disputed territory are ridges of rocky hills running nearly north and south, and thus tending toward the St. Lawrence, which they in some places reach and shut out the view of the interior.

It thus becomes difficult to find a station whence the heights of land can be viewed and its character exhibited. It has therefore been hitherto possible for those who have argued in support of the claims of Great Britain to represent without meeting with contradiction that the streams which fall into the St. John had their rise in a country possessed of none of that mountainous character which they urged was essential to the epithet of highlands. There are, however, points where a different character is apparent, and some of these are easy of access. Thus, on the main mail road, along the Southeast Branch of the St. Lawrence a mile northeast of the church of L'Islette, a rocky eminence is passed, whence may be seen a bold group of mountains which have been identified with the sources of the Ouelle, the Kamouraska, and Black rivers. A view of this group is herewith presented.

From the height to the east of river Du Loup a view may be seen on a clear day extending round 137° of the horizon, beginning with the highlands of Bic, bearing N. 58° E., and terminating in a conical mountain bearing S. 15° W.

The nearest and more conspicuous of these highlands (named those of St. Andre) are on the river Fourche, a branch of the river Du Loup, whose waters they divide from those of the St. Francis. A view of these is also submitted herewith.

A similar view of the same panorama of highlands is obtained from Hare Island, in the St. Lawrence, an outline of which, taken with the camera lucida, is likewise submitted. About a quarter of a mile to the south of the point where the Temiscouata portage crosses Mount Biort the highlands may be seen at the head of Rimouski, bearing nearly east, thence extending round by the north to the mountains of St. Andre, bearing nearly west, forming about one-half of the entire horizon. The entire panorama from the latter point, taken with the camera lucida, along with copies of some daguerreotypes made at the same place, are herewith submitted. Of the part of the line which extends to the northeast from the source of the Etchemin for a distance of many miles, a view may be almost constantly seen from the citadel of Quebec and from the tops of the houses in that city. One still more satisfactory may be obtained from the road between Quebec and the Falls of Montmorency, in the neighborhood of the village of Belport. The latter views are in particular referred to, as they are within the reach of numerous civil and military officers of the British Government, who must assent to the evidence of their own senses, which will prove that this region, the position of the path pursued during the present year by Captain Talcott's parties, is to all intents a range of highlands.

The boundary presents from these positions the aspect of a continuous and deeply serrated ridge.

The geological character of the country can not be admitted as having any bearing upon the subject under consideration. It never entered into the views of the framers of the treaty of 1783, and therefore could afford no illustrations of their intentions.

Were it admissible, however, it might be cited as an additional argument that the dividing height which incloses the waters of the Connecticut continues unchanged in its features until it is cut off by the deep channel of the St. Lawrence.

Opportunities for observations of this character were most frequent on the Temiscouata portage and on the banks of the St. Lawrence itself. It was only on the former place that the relative geological heights of the rocks could be observed by means of their outcrop.