Chapter 23 1806

JANUARY 10, 1806.

 To the Senate of the United States :

In compliance with the request of the Senate expressed in their
resolution of December 27, I now lay before them such documents and
papers (there being no other information in my possession) as relate to
complaints by the Government of France against the commerce carried on
by the citizens of the United States to the French island of Saint
Domingo.

TH. JEFFERSON.

JANUARY 13, 1806.

 To the Senate of the United States :

According to the request of the Senate of December 30, I now lay before
them the correspondence of the naval commanders Barron and Rodgers and
of Mr. Eaton, late consul at Tunis, respecting the progress of the
war with Tripoli, antecedent to the treaty with the Bey and Regency
of Tripoli, and respecting the negotiations for the same, and the
commission and instructions of Mr. Eaton, with such other correspondence
in possession of the offices as I suppose may be useful to the Senate in
their deliberations upon the said treaty.

The instructions which were given to Mr. Lear, the consul-general at
Algiers, respecting the negotiations for the said treaty accompanied
the treaty and the message concerning the same, and are now with them
in possession of the Senate.

So much of these papers has been extracted and communicated to the House
of Representatives as relates to the principles of the cooperation
between the United States and Hamet Caramalli, which is the subject
of a joint message to both Houses of Congress bearing equal date with
the present, and as those now communicated to the Senate comprehend
the whole of that matter, I request that they may be considered as
comprising the documents stated in that message as accompanying it.
Being mostly originals or sole copies, a return of them is requested
at the convenience of the Senate.

We have no letter from Mr. Lear respecting Tripoline affairs of later
date than that of July 5, which was transmitted to the Senate with the
treaty, nor, consequently, any later information what steps have been
taken to carry into effect the stipulation for the delivery of the wife
and children of the brother of the reigning Bashaw of Tripoli.

TH. JEFFERSON.

JANUARY 13, 1806.

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

I lay before Congress the application of Hamet Caramalli, elder brother
of the reigning Bashaw of Tripoli, soliciting from the United States
attention to his services and sufferings in the late war against
that State; and in order to possess them of the ground on which that
application stands, the facts shall be stated according to the views
and information of the Executive.

During the war with Tripoli it was suggested that Hamet Caramalli, elder
brother of the reigning Bashaw, and driven by him from his throne,
meditated the recovery of his inheritance, and that a concert in action
with us was desirable to him. We considered that concerted operations
by those who have a common enemy were entirely justifiable, and might
produce effects favorable to both without binding either to guarantee
the objects of the other. But the distance of the scene, the
difficulties of communication, and the uncertainty of our information
inducing the less confidence in the measure, it was committed to our
agents as one which might be resorted to if it promised to promote our
success.

Mr. Eaton, however (our late consul), on his return from the
Mediterranean, possessing personal knowledge of the scene and having
confidence in the effect of a joint operation, we authorized Commodore
Barron, then proceeding with his squadron, to enter into an
understanding with Hamet if he should deem it useful; and as it was
represented that he would need some aids of arms and ammunition, and
even of money, he was authorized to furnish them to a moderate extent,
according to the prospect of utility to be expected from it. In order to
avail him of the advantages of Mr. Eaton's knowledge of circumstances,
an occasional employment was provided for the latter as an agent for the
Navy in that sea. Our expectation was that an intercourse should be kept
up between the ex-Bashaw and the commodore; that while the former moved
on by land our squadron should proceed with equal pace, so as to arrive
at their destination together and to attack the common enemy by land and
sea at the same time. The instructions of June 6 to Commodore Barron
shew that a cooperation only was intended, and by no means an union
of our object with the fortune of the ex-Bashaw, and the commodore's
letters of March 22 and May 19 prove that he had the most correct idea
of our intentions. His verbal instructions, indeed, to Mr. Eaton and
Captain Hull, if the expressions are accurately committed to writing
by those gentlemen, do not limit the extent of his cooperation as
rigorously as he probably intended; but it is certain from the
ex-Bashaw's letter of January 3, written when he was proceeding to join
Mr. Eaton, and in which he says, "Your operations should be carried on
by sea, mine by land," that he left the position in which he was with a
proper idea of the nature of the cooperation. If Mr. Eaton's subsequent
convention should appear to bring forward other objects, his letter of
April 29 and May 1 views this convention but as provisional, the second
article, as he expressly states, guarding it against any ill effect; and
his letter of June 30 confirms this construction.

In the event it was found that after placing the ex-Bashaw in possession
of Derne, one of the most important cities and provinces of the country,
where he had resided himself as governor, lie was totally unable to
command any resources or to bear any part in cooperation with us. This
hope was then at an end, and we certainly had never contemplated, nor
were we prepared, to land an army of our own, or to raise, pay, or
subsist an army of Arabs to march from Derne to Tripoli and to carry
on a land war at such a distance from our resources. Our means and our
authority were merely naval, and that such were the expectations of
Hamet his letter of June 29 is an unequivocal acknowledgment. While,
therefore, an impression from the capture of Derne might still operate
at Tripoli, and an attack on that place from our squadron was daily
expected. Colonel Lear thought it the best moment to listen to overtures
of peace then made by the Bashaw. He did so, and while urging provisions
for the United States he paid attention also to the interests of Hamet,
but was able to effect nothing more than to engage the restitution of
his family, and even the persevering in this demand suspended for some
time the conclusion of the treaty.

In operations at such a distance it becomes necessary to leave much to
the discretion of the agents employed, but events may still turn up
beyond the limits of that discretion. Unable in such a case to consult
his Government, a zealous citizen will act as he believes that would
direct him were it apprised of the circumstances, and will take on
himself the responsibility. In all these cases the purity and patriotism
of the motives should shield the agent from blame, and even secure a
sanction where the error is not too injurious. Should it be thought by
any that the verbal instructions said to have been given by Commodore
Barron to Mr. Eaton amount to a stipulation that the United States
should place Hamet Caramalli on the throne of Tripoli  a stipulation so
entirely unauthorized, so far beyond our views, and so onerous could not
be sanctioned by our Government  or should Hamet Caramalli, contrary
to the evidence of his letters of January 3 and June 29, be thought to
have left the position which he now seems to regret, under a mistaken
expectation that we were at all events to place him on his throne, on
an appeal to the liberality of the nation something equivalent to the
replacing him in his former situation might be worthy its consideration.

A nation by establishing a character of liberality and magnanimity gains
in the friendship and respect of others more than the worth of mere
money. This appeal is now made by Hamet Caramalli to the United States.
The ground he has taken being different not only from our views but from
those expressed by himself on former occasions, Mr. Eaton was desired to
state whether any verbal communications passed from him to Hamet which
had varied what we saw in writing. His answer of December 5 is herewith
transmitted, and has rendered it still more necessary that in presenting
to the Legislature the application of Hamet I should present them at
the same time an exact statement of the views and proceedings of the
Executive through this whole business, that they may clearly understand
the ground on which we are placed. It is accompanied by all the papers
which bear any relation to the principles of the cooperation, and which
can inform their judgment in deciding on the application of Hamet
Caramalli.

TH. JEFFERSON.

JANUARY 15, 1806.

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

I now render to Congress an account of the grant of $20,000 for the
contingent charges of Government by an act making appropriations for the
support of Government for the year 1805. Of that sum $1,987.50 have been
necessarily applied to the support of the Territorial governments of
Michigan and Louisiana until an opportunity could occur of making a
specific appropriation for that purpose. The balance of $18,012.50
remains in the Treasury.

TH. JEFFERSON.

JANUARY 17, 1806.

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

In my message to both Houses of Congress at the opening of their present
session I submitted to their attention, among other subjects, the
oppression of our commerce and navigation by the irregular practices
of armed vessels, public and private, and by the introduction of new
principles derogatory of the rights of neutrals and unacknowledged by
the usage of nations.

The memorials of several bodies of merchants of the United States are
now communicated, and will develop these principles and practices which
are producing the most ruinous effects on our lawful commerce and
navigation.

The rights of a neutral to carry on commercial intercourse with every
part of the dominions of a belligerent permitted by the laws of the
country (with the exception of blockaded ports and contraband of war)
was believed to have been decided between Great Britain and the United
States by the sentence of their commissioners mutually appointed
to decide on that and other questions of difference between the two
nations, and by the actual payment of the damages awarded by them
against Great Britain for the infractions of that right. When,
therefore, it was perceived that the same principle was revived with
others more novel and extending the injury, instructions were given
to the minister plenipotentiary of the United States at the Court of
London, and remonstrances duly made by him on this subject, as will
appear by documents transmitted herewith. These were followed by a
partial and temporary suspension only, without any disavowal of the
principle. He has therefore been instructed to urge this subject anew,
to bring it more fully to the bar of reason, and to insist on rights too
evident and too important to be surrendered. In the meantime the evil is
proceeding under adjudications founded on the principle which is denied.
Under these circumstances the subject presents itself for the
consideration of Congress.

On the impressment of our seamen our remonstrances have never been
intermitted. A hope existed at one moment of an arrangement which might
have been submitted to, but it soon passed away, and the practice,
though relaxed at times in the distant seas, has been constantly pursued
in those in our neighborhood. The grounds on which the reclamations on
this subject have been urged will appear in an extract from instructions
to our minister at London now communicated.

TH. JEFFERSON.

JANUARY 17, 1806

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

The inclosed letter from the minister plenipotentiary of the United
States at the Court of London contains interesting information on
the subjects of my other message of this date. It is sent separately
and confidentially because its publication may discourage frank
communications between our ministers generally and the Governments
with which they reside, and especially between the same ministers.

TH. JEFFERSON.

JANUARY 24, 1806.

 To the Senate of the United States :

A convention has been entered into between the United States and the
Cherokee Nation for the extinguishment of the rights of the latter, and
of some unsettled claims in the country north of the river Tennessee,
therein described. This convention is now laid before the Senate for
their advice and consent as to its ratification.

TH. JEFFERSON.

JANUARY 27, 1806.

 To the Senate of the United States :

According to the desire of the Senate expressed in their resolution of
the 10th instant, I now communicate to them a report of the Secretary of
State, with its documents, stating certain new principles attempted to
be introduced on the subject of neutral rights, injurious to the rights
and interests of the United States. These, with my message to both
Houses of the 17th instant and the documents accompanying it, fulfill
the desires of the Senate as far as it can be done by any information
in my possession which is authentic and not publicly known.

TH. JEFFERSON.

JANUARY 29, 1806.

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

Having received from sundry merchants at Baltimore a memorial on the
same subject with those I communicated to Congress with my message of
the 17th instant, I now communicate this also as a proper sequel to the
former, and as making a part of the mass of evidence of the violations
of our rights on the ocean.

TH. JEFFERSON.

FEBRUARY 3, 1806.

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

A letter has been received from the governor of South Carolina covering
an act of the legislature of that State ceding to the United States
various forts and fortifications and sites for the erection of forts in
that State on the conditions therein expressed. This letter and the act
it covered are now communicated to Congress.

I am not informed whether the positions ceded are the best which
can be taken for securing their respective objects. No doubt is
entertained that the legislature deemed them such. The river of Beaufort,
particularly, said to be accessible to ships of very large size and
capable of yielding them a protection which they can not find elsewhere
but very far to the north, is from these circumstances so interesting to
the Union in general as to merit particular attention and inquiry as to
the positions on it best calculated for health as well as safety.

TH. JEFFERSON.

FEBRUARY 3, 1806.

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

In the course of the last year the following treaties and conventions
for the extinguishment of Indian title to lands within our limits were
entered into on behalf of the United States:

A treaty between the United States and the Wyandot, Ottawa, Chippeway,
Munsee and Delaware, Shawanee and Pottawatamy nations of Indians.

A treaty between the United States and the agents of the Connecticut
Land Company on one part and the Wyandot and Ottawa, Chippeway, Munsey
and Delaware, Shawanee and Pottawatamy nations of Indians.

A treaty between the United States and the Delawares, Pottawatamies,
Miamis, Eel-rivers, and Weas.

A treaty between the United States and the Chickasaw Nation of Indians.

Two treaties between the United States and the Cherokee Indians.

A convention between the United States and the Creek Nation of Indians.

The Senate having advised and consented to the ratification of these
several treaties and conventions, I now lay them before both Houses of
Congress for the exercise of their constitutional powers as to the means
of fulfilling them.

TH. JEFFERSON.

FEBRUARY 6, 1806.

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

Since the date of my message of January 17 a letter of the 26th of
November has been received from the minister plenipotentiary of the
United States at London, covering one from the secretary for foreign
affairs of that Government, which, being on the subject of that message,
is now transmitted for the information of Congress. Although nothing
forbids the substance of these letters from being communicated without
reserve, yet so many ill effects proceed from the publications of
correspondences between ministers remaining still in office that I can
not but recommend that these letters be not permitted to be formally
published.

TH; JEFFERSON.

FEBRUARY 19, 1806.

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

In pursuance of a measure proposed to Congress by a message of January
18, 1803, and sanctioned by their approbation for carrying it into
execution, Captain Meriwether Lewis, of the First Regiment of infantry,
was appointed, with a party of men, to explore the river Missouri from
its mouth to its source, and, crossing the highlands by the shortest
portage, to seek the best water communication thence to the Pacific
Ocean; and Lieutenant Clarke was appointed second in command. They were
to enter into conference with the Indian nations on their route with
a view to the establishment of commerce with them. They entered the
Missouri May 14, 1804, and on the 1st of November took up their winter
quarters near the Mandan towns, 1,609 miles above the mouth of the
river, in latitude 47 deg. 21' 47" north and longitude 99 deg. 24' 45" west from
Greenwich. On the 8th of April, 1805, they proceeded up the river in
pursuance of the objects prescribed to them. A letter of the preceding
day, April 7th, from Captain Lewis is herewith communicated. During
his stay among the Mandans he had been able to lay down the Missouri
according to courses and distances taken on his passage up it, corrected
by frequent observations of longitude and latitude, and to add to the
actual survey of this portion of the river a general map of the country
between the Mississippi and Pacific from the thirty-fourth to the
fifty-fourth degree of latitude. These additions are from information
collected from Indians with whom he had opportunities of communicating
during his journey and residence with them. Copies of this map are now
presented to both Houses of Congress. With these I communicate also a
statistical view, procured and forwarded by him, of the Indian nations
inhabiting the Territory of Louisiana and the countries adjacent to
its northern and western borders, of their commerce, and of other
interesting circumstances respecting them.

In order to render the statement as complete as may be of the Indians
inhabiting the country west of the Mississippi, I add Dr. Sibley's
account of those residing in and adjacent to the Territory of Orleans.

I communicate also, from the same person, an account of the Red River,
according to the best information he had been able to collect.

Having been disappointed, after considerable preparation, in the purpose
of sending an exploring party up that river in the summer of 1804, it
was thought best to employ the autumn of that year in procuring a
knowledge of an interesting branch of the river called the Washita.

This was undertaken under the direction of Mr. Dunbar, of Natchez, a
citizen of distinguished science, who had aided and continues to aid
us with his disinterested and valuable services in the prosecution of
these enterprises. He ascended the river to the remarkable hot springs
near it, in latitude 34 deg. 31' 4.16", longitude 92 deg. 50' 45" west from
Greenwich, taking its courses and distances, and correcting them by
frequent celestial observations. Extracts from his observations and
copies of his map of the river from its mouth to the hot springs make
part of the present communications. The examination of the Red River
itself is but now commencing.

TH. JEFFERSON.

MARCH 5, 1806.

 To the Senate of the United States :

According to the request of the Senate expressed in their resolution of
3d instant, I now transmit the extract of a letter from the Secretary of
State to the minister plenipotentiary of the United States at Paris, the
answer to that letter, and two letters from Henry Waddell, a citizen of
the United States, relative to the interference of the said minister
in the case of the ship  New Jersey  and to the principles alleged to
have been laid down on that occasion.

There are in the office of the Department of State several printed
documents in this case by the agent of those interested in the ship,
which are voluminous and in French. If these be within the scope of the
request of the Senate, the printed copies can be sent in immediately,
but if translations be necessary some considerable time will be
requisite for their execution. On this subject any further desire which
the Senate shall think proper to express shall be complied with.

TH. JEFFERSON.

MARCH 7, 1806.

 To the Senate of the United States :

According to the request of the Senate of yesterday, I now transmit
the five printed memorials of the agent for the ship  New Jersey , in
the one of which marked B, at the ninth page, will be found the letter
relative to it from the minister plenipotentiary of the United States
at Paris to the French minister of the treasury, supposed to be the one
designated in the resolution. We have no information of this letter but
through the channel of the party interested in the ship, nor any proof
of it more authentic than that now communicated.

TH. JEFFERSON.

MARCH 19, 1806.

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

It was reasonably expected that while the limits between the territories
of the United States and of Spain were unsettled neither party would
have innovated on the existing state of their respective positions.
Some time since, however, we learnt that the Spanish authorities were
advancing into the disputed country to occupy new posts and make new
settlements. Unwilling to take any measures which might preclude a
peaceable accommodation of differences, the officers of the United
States were ordered to confine themselves within the country on this
side of the Sabine River which, by delivery of its principal post,
Natchitoches, was understood to have been itself delivered up by Spain,
and at the same time to permit no adverse post to be taken nor armed
men to remain within it. In consequence of these orders the commanding
officer of Natchitoches, learning that a party of Spanish troops had
crossed the Sabine River and were posting themselves on this side the
Adais, sent a detachment of his force to require them to withdraw to
the other side of the Sabine, which they accordingly did.

I have thought it proper to communicate to Congress the letter detailing
this incident, that they may fully understand the state of things in
that quarter and be enabled to make such provision for its security as,
in their wisdom, they shall deem sufficient.

TH. JEFFERSON.

APRIL 11, 1806.

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

I now lay before Congress a statement of the militia of the United
States according to the returns last received from the several States
and Territories. It will be perceived that some of these are not of
recent dates, and that from the States of Maryland and Delaware no
returns are stated. As far as appears from our records, none were ever
rendered from either of these States. From the Territories of Orleans,
Louisiana, and Michigan complete returns have not yet been received.

TH. JEFFERSON.

APRIL 14, 1806.

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

During the blockade of Tripoli by the squadron of the United States
a small cruiser, under the flag of Tunis, with two prizes, all of
trifling value, attempted to enter Tripoli; was turned back, warned,
and, attempting again to enter, was taken and detained as prize by the
squadron. Her restitution was claimed by the Bey of Tunis with a threat
of war in terms so serious that on withdrawing from the blockade of
Tripoli the commanding officer of the squadron thought it his duty
to repair to Tunis with his squadron and to require a categorical
declaration whether peace or war was intended. The Bey preferred
explaining himself by an ambassador to the United States, who on his
arrival renewed the request that the vessel and her prizes should be
restored. It was deemed proper to give this proof of friendship to the
Bey, and the ambassador was informed the vessels would be restored.
Afterwards he made a requisition of naval stores to be sent to the Bey,
in order to secure a peace for the term of three years, with a threat
of war if refused. It has been refused, and the ambassador is about to
depart without receding from his threat or demand.

Under these circumstances, and considering that the several provisions
of the act of March 25, 1804, will cease in consequence of the
ratification of the treaty of peace with Tripoli, now advised and
consented to by the Senate, I have thought it my duty to communicate
these facts, in order that Congress may consider the expediency of
continuing the same provisions for a limited time or making others
equivalent.

TH. JEFFERSON.

APRIL 15, 1806.

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

The Senate having advised and consented to the ratification of a treaty
concluded with the Piankeshaw Indians for extinguishing their claim to
the country between the Wabash and Kaskaskia cessions, it is now laid
before both Houses for the exercise of their constitutional powers as
to the means of fulfilling it on our part.

TH. JEFFERSON.

APRIL 17, 1806.

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

The Senate having advised and consented to the ratification of a
convention between the United States and the Cherokee Indians, concluded
at Washington on the 7th day of January last, for the cession of their
right to the tract of country therein described, it is now laid before
both Houses of Congress for the exercise of their constitutional powers
toward the fulfillment thereof.

TH. JEFFERSON.

APRIL 18, 1806.

 To the Senate of the United States :

In compliance with the request of the Senate of yesterday's date, I now
communicate the entire correspondence between the ambassador of Tunis
and the Secretary of State, from which the Senate will see that the
first application by the ambassador for restitution of the vessels taken
in violation of blockade having been yielded to, the only remaining
cause of difference brought forward by him is the requisition of a
present of naval stores to secure a peace for three years, after which
the inference is obvious that a renewal of the presents is to be
expected to renew the prolongation of peace for another term. But this
demand has been pressed in verbal conferences much more explicitly and
pertinaciously than appears in the written correspondence. To save the
delay of copying, some originals are inclosed, with a request that they
be returned.

TH. JEFFERSON.

APRIL 19, 1806.

 To the Senate of the United States :

I nominate James Monroe, now minister plenipotentiary of the United
States at the Court of London, and William Pinkney, of Maryland, to be
commissioners plenipotentiary and extraordinary for settling all matters
of difference between the United States and the United Kingdoms of Great
Britain and Ireland relative to wrongs committed between the parties on
the high seas or other waters, and for establishing the principles of
navigation and commerce between them.

James Houston, of Maryland, to be judge of the court of the United
States for the district of Maryland.

Willis W. Parker, of Virginia, to be collector of the district and
inspector of the revenue for the port of South Quay.

TH. JEFFERSON.

PROCLAMATIONS.

 (From Annals of Congress, Ninth Congress, second session, 685.)

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas satisfactory information has been received that Henry Whitby,
commanding a British armed vessel called the  Leander , did on the
25th day of the month of April last, within the waters and jurisdiction
of the United States, and near to the entrance of the harbor of New
York, by a cannon shot fired from the said vessel  Leander , commit
a murder on the body of John Pierce, a citizen of the United States,
then pursuing his lawful vocation within the same waters and
jurisdiction of the United States and near to their shores; and that
the said Henry Whitby can not at this time be brought to justice by
the ordinary process of law; and

Whereas it does further appear that both before and after the said day
sundry trespasses, wrongs, and unlawful interruptions and vexations on
trading vessels coming to the United States, and within their waters and
vicinity, were committed by the said armed vessel the  Leander , her
officers and people; by one other armed vessel called the  Cambrian ,
commanded by John Nairne, her officers and people; and by one other
armed vessel called the  Driver , commanded by Slingsby Simpson, her
officers and people; which vessels, being all of the same nation, were
aiding and assisting each other in the trespasses, interruptions, and
vexations aforesaid:

Now, therefore, to the end that the said Henry Whitby may be brought to
justice and due punishment inflicted for the said murder, I do hereby
especially enjoin and require all officers having authority, civil or
military, and all other persons within the limits or jurisdiction of the
United States, wheresoever the said Henry Whitby may be found, now or
hereafter, to apprehend and secure the said Henry Whitby, and him safely
and diligently to deliver to the civil authority of the place, to be
proceeded against according to law.

And I do hereby further require that the said armed vessel the
 Leander , with her officers and people, and the said armed vessels the
 Cambrian  and  Driver , their officers and people, immediately and
without any delay depart from the harbors and wraters of the United
States. And I do forever interdict the entrance of all other vessels
which shall be commanded by the said Henry Whitby, John Nairne, and
Slingsby Simpson, or either of them.

And if the said vessels, or any of them, shall fail to depart as
aforesaid, or shall reenter the harbors or waters aforesaid, I do
in that case forbid all intercourse with the said armed vessels the
 Leander , the  Cambrian , and the  Driver , or with any of them, and
the officers and crews thereof, and do prohibit all supplies and aid
from being furnished them, or any of them. And I do declare and make
known that if any person from or within the jurisdictional limits of the
United States shall afford any aid to either of the said armed vessels
contrary to the prohibition contained in this proclamation, either in
repairing such vessel or in furnishing her, her officers or crew, with
supplies of any kind or in any manner whatever; or if any pilot shall
assist in navigating any of the said armed vessels, unless it be for
the purpose of carrying them in the first instance beyond the limits
and jurisdiction of the United States, such person or persons shall on
conviction suffer all the pains and penalties by the laws provided for
such offenses. And I do hereby enjoin and require all persons bearing
office, civil or military, within the United States, and all others
citizens or inhabitants thereof, or being within the same, with
vigilance and promptitude to exert their respective authorities and
to be aiding and assisting to the carrying this proclamation and every
part thereof into full effect.

 (SEAL.)

In testimony whereof I have caused the seal of the United States to be
affixed to these presents, and signed the same with my hand.

Given at the city of Washington, the 3d day of May, A.D. 1806, and of
the Sovereignty and Independence of the United States the thirtieth.

TH. JEFFERSON.

By the President:
  JAMES MADISON,
     Secretary of State .

 (From Annals of Congress, Ninth Congress, second session, 686.)

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas information has been received that sundry persons, citizens of
the United States or residents within the same, are conspiring and
confederating together to begin and set on foot, provide, and prepare
the means for a military expedition or enterprise against the dominions
of Spain; that for this purpose they are fitting out and arming vessels
in the western waters of the United States, collecting provisions,
arms, military stores, and means; are deceiving and seducing honest
and well-meaning citizens, under various pretenses, to engage in their
criminal enterprises; are organizing, officering, and arming themselves
for the same, contrary to the laws in such cases made and provided:

I have therefore thought proper to issue this my proclamation, warning
and enjoining all faithful citizens who have been led without due
knowledge or consideration to participate in the said unlawful
enterprises to withdraw from the same without delay, and commanding all
persons whatsoever engaged or concerned in the same to cease all further
proceedings therein, as they will answer the contrary at their peril and
incur prosecution with all the rigors of the law. And I hereby enjoin
and require all officers, civil and military, of the United States, or
of any of the States or Territories, and especially all governors and
other executive authorities, all judges, justices, and other officers
of the peace, all military officers of the Army or Navy of the United
States, or officers of the militia, to be vigilant, each within his
respective department and according to his functions, in searching out
and bringing to condign punishment all persons engaged or concerned in
such enterprise, in seizing and detaining, subject to the disposition of
the law, all vessels, arms, military stores, or other means provided or
providing for the same, and, in general, in preventing the carrying on
such expedition or enterprise by all lawful means within their power;
and I require all good and faithful citizens and others within the
United States to be aiding and assisting herein, and especially in the
discovery, apprehension, and bringing to justice of all such offenders,
in preventing the execution of their unlawful designs, and in giving
information against them to the proper authorities.

In testimony whereof I have caused the seal of the United States to
be affixed to these presents, and have signed the same with my hand.

 (SEAL.)

Given at the city of Washington on the 27th day of November, 1806, and
in the year of the Sovereignty of the United States the thirty-first.

TH. JEFFERSON.

By the President:
  JAMES MADISON,
     Secretary of State .

SIXTH ANNUAL MESSAGE.

DECEMBER 2, 1806.

 To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of
America in Congress assembled :

It would have given me, fellow-citizens, great satisfaction to announce
in the moment of your meeting that the difficulties in our foreign
relations existing at the time of your last separation had been amicably
and justly terminated. I lost no time in taking those measures which
were most likely to bring them to such a termination  by special
missions charged with such powers and instructions as in the event
of failure could leave no imputation on either our moderation or
forbearance. The delays which have since taken place in our negotiations
with the British Government appear to have proceeded from causes which
do not forbid the expectation that during the course of the session I
may be enabled to lay before you their final issue. What will be that of
the negotiations for settling our differences with Spain nothing which
had taken place at the date of the last dispatches enables us to
pronounce. On the western side of the Mississippi she advanced in
considerable force, and took post at the settlement of Bayou Pierre, on
the Red River. This village was originally settled by France, was held
by her as long as she held Louisiana, and was delivered to Spain only
as a part of Louisiana. Being small, insulated, and distant, it was not
observed at the moment of redelivery to France and the United States
that she continued a guard of half a dozen men which had been stationed
there. A proposition, however, having been lately made by our commander
in chief to assume the Sabine River as a temporary line of separation
between the troops of the two nations until the issue of our
negotiations shall be known, this has been referred by the Spanish
commandant to his superior, and in the meantime he has withdrawn his
force to the western side of the Sabine River. The correspondence on
this subject now communicated will exhibit more particularly the present
state of things in that quarter.

The nature of that country requires indispensably that an unusual
proportion of the force employed there should be cavalry or mounted
infantry. In order, therefore, that the commanding officer might be
enabled to act with effect, I had authorized him to call on the
governors of Orleans and Mississippi for a corps of 500 volunteer
cavalry. The temporary arrangement he has proposed may perhaps render
this unnecessary; but I inform you with great pleasure of the
promptitude with which the inhabitants of those Territories have
tendered their services in defense of their country. It has done honor
to themselves, entitled them to the confidence of their fellow-citizens
in every part of the Union, and must strengthen the general
determination to protect them efficaciously under all circumstances
which may occur.

Having received information that in another part of the United States
a great number of private individuals were combining together, arming
and organizing themselves contrary to law, to carry on a military
expedition against the territories of Spain, I thought it necessary,
by proclamation as well as by special orders, to take measures for
preventing and suppressing this enterprise, for seizing the vessels,
arms, and other means provided for it, and for arresting and bringing
to justice its authors and abettors. It was due to that good faith
which ought ever to be the rule of action in public as well as in
private transactions, it was due to good order and regular government,
that while the public force was acting strictly on the defensive and
merely to protect our citizens from aggression the criminal attempts
of private individuals to decide for their country the question of
peace or war by commencing active and unauthorized hostilities should
be promptly and efficaciously suppressed.

Whether it will be necessary to enlarge our regular force will depend on
the result of our negotiations with Spain; but as it is uncertain when
that result will be known, the provisional measures requisite for that,
and to meet any pressure intervening in that quarter, will be a subject
for your early consideration.

The possession of both banks of the Mississippi reducing to a single
point the defense of that river, its waters, and the country adjacent,
it becomes highly necessary to provide for that point a more adequate
security. Some position above its mouth, commanding the passage of the
river, should be rendered sufficiently strong to cover the armed vessels
which may be stationed there for defense, and in conjunction with them
to present an insuperable obstacle to any force attempting to pass. The
approaches to the city of New Orleans from the eastern quarter also will
require to be examined and more effectually guarded. For the internal
support of the country the encouragement of a strong settlement on the
western side of the Mississippi, within reach of New Orleans, will be
worthy the consideration of the Legislature.

The gunboats authorized by an act of the last session are so advanced
that they will be ready for service in the ensuing spring. Circumstances
permitted us to allow the time necessary for their more solid
construction. As a much larger number will still be wanting to place
our seaport towns and waters in that state of defense to which we are
competent and they entitled, a similar appropriation for a further
provision for them is recommended for the ensuing year.

A further appropriation will also be necessary for repairing
fortifications already established and the erection of such other works
as may have real effect in obstructing the approach of an enemy to our
seaport towns, or their remaining before them.

In a country whose constitution is derived from the will of the people,
directly expressed by their free suffrages; where the principal
executive functionaries and those of the legislature are renewed by them
at short periods; where under the character of jurors they exercise in
person the greatest portion of the judiciary powers; where the laws are
consequently so formed and administered as to bear with equal weight and
favor on all, restraining no man in the pursuits of honest industry and
securing to everyone the property which that acquires, it would not be
supposed that any safeguards could be needed against insurrection or
enterprise on the public peace or authority. The lawrs, however, aware
that these should not be trusted to moral restraints only, have wisely
provided punishment for these crimes when committed. But would it not be
salutary to give also the means of preventing their commission? Where an
enterprise is meditated by private individuals against a foreign nation
in amity with the United States, powers of prevention to a certain
extent are given by the laws. Would they not be as reasonable and useful
where the enterprise preparing is against the United States? While
adverting to this branch of law it is proper to observe that in
enterprises meditated against foreign nations the ordinary process of
binding to the observance of the peace and good behavior, could it
be extended to acts to be done out of the jurisdiction of the United
States, would be effectual in some cases where the offender is able to
keep out of sight every indication of his purpose which could draw on
him the exercise of the powers now given by law.

The States on the coast of Barbary seem generally disposed at present
to respect our peace and friendship; with Tunis alone some uncertainty
remains. Persuaded that it is our interest to maintain our peace with
them on equal terms or not at all, I propose to send in due time a
reen-forcement into the Mediterranean unless previous information shall
shew it to be unnecessary.

We continue to receive proofs of the growing attachment of our Indian
neighbors and of their disposition to place all their interests under
the patronage of the United States. These dispositions are inspired by
their confidence in our justice and in the sincere concern we feel for
their welfare; and as long as we discharge these high and honorable
functions with the integrity and good faith which alone can entitle us
to their continuance we may expect to reap the just reward in their
peace and friendship.

The expedition of Messrs. Lewis and Clarke for exploring the river
Missouri and the best communication from that to the Pacific Ocean has
had all the success which could have been expected. They have traced the
Missouri nearly to its source, descended the Columbia to the Pacific
Ocean; ascertained with accuracy the geography of that interesting
communication across our continent, learnt the character of the country,
of its commerce and inhabitants; and it is but justice to say that
Messrs. Lewis and Clarke and their brave companions have by this arduous
service deserved well of their country.

The attempt to explore the Red River, under the direction of Mr.
Freeman, though conducted with a zeal and prudence meriting entire
approbation, has not been equally successful. After proceeding up it
about 600 miles, nearly as far as the French settlements had extended
while the country was in their possession, our geographers were obliged
to return without completing their work.

Very useful additions have also been made to our knowledge of the
Mississippi by Lieutenant Pike, who has ascended it to its source, and
whose journal and map, giving the details of his journey, will shortly
be ready for communication to both Houses of Congress. Those of Messrs.
Lewis, Clarke, and Freeman will require further time to be digested
and prepared. These important surveys, in addition to those before
possessed, furnish materials for commencing an accurate map of the
Mississippi and its western waters. Some principal rivers, however,
remain still to be explored, toward which the authorization of Congress
by moderate appropriations will be requisite.

I congratulate you, fellow-citizens, on the approach of the period at
which you may interpose your authority constitutionally to withdraw
the citizens of the United States from all further participation in
those violations of human rights which have been so long continued on
the unoffending inhabitants of Africa, and which the morality, the
reputation, and the best interests of our country have long been eager
to proscribe. Although no law you may pass can take prohibitory effect
till the first day of the year 1808, yet the intervening period is
not too long to prevent by timely notice expeditions which can not
be completed before that day.

The receipts at the Treasury during the year ending on the 30th day of
September last have amounted to near $15,000,000, which have enabled us,
after meeting the current demands, to pay $2,700,000 of the American
claims in part of the price of Louisiana; to pay of the funded debt
upward of three millions of principal and nearly four of interest, and,
in addition, to reimburse in the course of the present month near two
millions of 5-1/2 per cent stock. These payments and reimbursements of
the funded debt, with those which had been made in the four years and a
half preceding, will at the close of the present year have extinguished
upward of twenty-three millions of principal.

The duties composing the Mediterranean fund will cease by law at the
end of the present session. Considering, however, that they are levied
chiefly on luxuries and that we have an impost on salt, a necessary
of life, the free use of which otherwise is so important, I recommend
to your consideration the suppression of the duties on salt and the
continuation of the Mediterranean fund instead thereof for a short time,
after which that also will become unnecessary for any purpose now within
contemplation.

When both of these branches of revenue shall in this way be relinquished
there will still ere long be an accumulation of moneys in the Treasury
beyond the installments of public debt which we are permitted by
contract to pay. They can not then, without a modification assented to
by the public creditors, be applied to the extinguishment of this debt
and the complete liberation of our revenues, the most desirable of all
objects. Nor, if our peace continues, will they be wanting for any other
existing purpose. The question therefore now comes forward, To what
other objects shall these surpluses be appropriated, and the whole
surplus of impost, after the entire discharge of the public debt, and
during those intervals when the purposes of war shall not call for them?
Shall we suppress the impost and give that advantage to foreign over
domestic manufactures? On a few articles of more general and necessary
use the suppression in due season will doubtless be right, but the great
mass of the articles on which impost is paid are foreign luxuries,
purchased by those only who are rich enough to afford themselves the
use of them. Their patriotism would certainly prefer its continuance
and application to the great purposes of the public education, roads,
rivers, canals, and such other objects of public improvement as it may
be thought proper to add to the constitutional enumeration of Federal
powers. By these operations new channels of communication will be opened
between the States, the lines of separation will disappear, their
interests will be identified, and their union cemented by new and
indissoluble ties. Education is here placed among the articles of public
care, not that it would be proposed to take its ordinary branches out
of the hands of private enterprise, which manages so much better all
the concerns to which it is equal, but a public institution can alone
supply those sciences which though rarely called for are yet necessary
to complete the circle, all the parts of which contribute to the
improvement of the country and some of them to its preservation. The
subject is now proposed for the consideration of Congress, because if
approved by the time the State legislatures shall have deliberated on
this extension of the Federal trusts, and the laws shall be passed and
other arrangements made for their execution, the necessary funds will
be on hand and without employment. I suppose an amendment to the
Constitution, by consent of the States, necessary, because the objects
now recommended are not among those enumerated in the Constitution, and
to which it permits the public moneys to be applied.

The present consideration of a national establishment for education
particularly is rendered proper by this circumstance also, that if
Congress, approving the proposition, shall yet think it more eligible
to found it on a donation of lands, they have it now in their power to
endow it with those which will be among the earliest to produce the
necessary income. This foundation would have the advantage of being
independent of war, which may suspend other improvements by requiring
for its own purposes the resources destined for them.

This, fellow-citizens, is the state of the public interests at the
present moment and according to the information now possessed. But such
is the situation of the nations of Europe and such, too, the predicament
in which we stand with some of them that we can not rely with certainty
on the present aspect of our affairs, that may change from moment
to moment during the course of your session or after you shall have
separated. Our duty is, therefore, to act upon things as they are and
to make a reasonable provision for whatever they may be. Were armies to
be raised whenever a speck of war is visible in our horizon, we never
should have been without them. Our resources would have been exhausted
on dangers which have never happened, instead of being reserved for
what is really to take place. A steady, perhaps a quickened, pace in
preparations for the defense of our seaport towns and waters; an early
settlement of the most exposed and vulnerable parts of our country; a
militia so organized that its effective portions can be called to any
point in the Union, or volunteers instead of them to serve a sufficient
time, are means which may always be ready, yet never preying on our
resources until actually called into use. They will maintain the
public interests while a more permanent force shall be in course of
preparation. But much will depend on the promptitude with which these
means can be brought into activity. If war be forced upon us, in spite
of our long and vain appeals to the justice of nations, rapid and
vigorous movements in its outset will go far toward securing us in its
course and issue, and toward throwing its burthens on those who render
necessary the resort from reason to force.

The result of our negotiations, or such incidents in their course as may
enable us to infer their probable issue; such further movements also
on our western frontiers as may shew whether war is to be pressed there
while negotiation is protracted elsewhere, shall be communicated to
you from time to time as they become known to me, with whatever other
information I possess or may receive, which may aid your deliberations
on the great national interests committed to your charge.

TH. JEFFERSON.

SPECIAL MESSAGES.

DECEMBER 3, 1806.

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

I have the satisfaction to inform you that the negotiation depending
between the United States and the Government of Great Britain is
proceeding in a spirit of friendship and accommodation which promises a
result of mutual advantage. Delays, indeed, have taken place, occasioned
by the long illness and subsequent death of the British minister charged
with that duty. But the commissioners appointed by that Government
to resume the negotiation have shewn every disposition to hasten its
progress. It is, however, a work of time, as many arrangements are
necessary to place our future harmony on stable grounds. In the meantime
we find by the communications of our plenipotentiaries that a temporary
suspension of the act of the last session prohibiting certain
importations would, as a mark of candid disposition on our part and of
confidence in the temper and views with which they have been met, have
a happy effect on its course. A step so friendly will afford further
evidence that all our proceedings have flowed from views of justice and
conciliation, and that we give them willingly that form which may best
meet corresponding dispositions.

Add to this that the same motives which produced the postponement of
the act till the 15th of November last are in favor of its further
suspension, and as we have reason to hope that it may soon yield to
arrangements of mutual consent and convenience, justice seems to require
that the same measure may be dealt out to the few cases which may fall
within its short course as to all others preceding and following it.
I can not, therefore, but recommend the suspension of this act for a
reasonable time, on considerations of justice, amity, and the public
interests.

TH. JEFFERSON.

DECEMBER 15, 1806,

 To the House of Representatives of the United States :

I lay before Congress a report of the surveyor of the public buildings,
stating the progress made on them during the last season and what is
proposed for the ensuing one.

I took every measure within my power for carrying into effect the
request of the House of Representatives of the 17th of April last
to cause the south wing of the Capitol to be prepared for their
accommodation by the commencement of the present session. With great
regret I found it was not to be accomplished. The quantity of freestone
necessary, with the size and quality of many of the blocks, was
represented as beyond what could be obtained from the quarries by any
exertions which could be commanded. The other parts of the work, which
might all have been completed in time, were necessarily retarded by the
insufficient progress of the stonework.

TH. JEFFERSON.