A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents: Tyler by Compiled by James D. Richardson

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7. As respects climate, the country would be considered unfit for
habitation by those accustomed to the climates even of the southern
parts of Maine and of New Hampshire. Frosts continue on the St. John
until late in May, and set in early in September. In 1840 ice was found
on the Grand River on the 12th of that month, and snow fell in the first
week of October on Lake Temiscouata. In the highland region during the
last week of July, although the thermometer rose above 80 deg., and was once
above 90 deg., white frost was formed every clear night. Upon the whole,
therefore, it may be concluded that there is little in this country
calculated to attract either settlers or speculators in lumber. The
former were driven to it under circumstances of peculiar hardship and
of almost paramount necessity. Their industry and perseverance under
adverse circumstances is remarkable, but they would have been hardly
able to overcome them had not the very question of the disputed boundary
led to an expenditure of considerable money among them.

VETO MESSAGE.[93]

[Footnote 93: Pocket veto.]

WASHINGTON, _December 14, 1842_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

Two bills were presented to me at the last session of Congress, which
originated in the House of Representatives, neither of which was signed
by me; and both having been presented within ten days of the close of
the session, neither has become a law.

The first of these was a bill entitled "An act to repeal the proviso of
the sixth section of the act entitled 'An act to appropriate the
proceeds of the sales of the public lands and to grant preemption
rights,' approved September 4, 1841."

This bill was presented to me on Tuesday, the 30th August, at
twenty-four minutes after 4 o'clock in the afternoon. For my opinions
relative to the provisions contained in this bill it is only necessary
that I should refer to previous communications made by me to the House
of Representatives.

The other bill was entitled "An act regulating the taking of testimony
in cases of contested elections, and for other purposes." This bill was
presented to me at a quarter past 1 o'clock on Wednesday, the 31st day
of August. The two Houses, by concurrent vote, had already agreed to
terminate the session by adjournment at 2 o'clock on that day--that is
to say, within three-quarters of an hour from the time the bill was
placed in my hands. It was a bill containing twenty-seven sections, and,
I need not say, of an important nature.

On its presentment to me its reading was immediately commenced, but was
interrupted by so many communications from the Senate and so many other
causes operating at the last hour of the session that it was impossible
to read the bill understandingly and with proper deliberation before the
hour fixed for the adjournment of the two Houses; and this, I presume,
is a sufficient reason for neither signing the bill nor returning it
with my objections.

The seventeenth joint rule of the two Houses of Congress declares
that "no bill or resolution that shall have passed the House of
Representatives and the Senate shall be presented to the President of
the United States for his approbation on the last day of the session."

This rule was evidently designed to give to the President a reasonable
opportunity of perusing important acts of Congress and giving them some
degree of consideration before signing or returning the same.

It is true that the two Houses have been in the habit of suspending this
rule toward the close of the session in relation to particular bills,
and it appears by the printed Journal that by concurrent votes of the
two Houses passed on the last day of the session the rule was agreed to
be suspended so far as the same should relate to all such bills as
should have been passed by the two Houses at 1 o'clock on that day. It
is exceedingly to be regretted that a necessity should ever exist for
such suspension in the case of bills of great importance, and therefore
demanding careful consideration.

As the bill has failed under the provisions of the Constitution to
become a law, I abstain from expressing any opinions upon its several
provisions, keeping myself wholly uncommitted as to my ultimate action
on any similar measure should the House think proper to originate it
_de novo_, except so far as my opinion of the unqualified power of
each House to decide for itself upon the elections, returns, and
qualifications of its own members has been expressed by me in a paper
lodged in the Department of State at the time of signing an act entitled
"An act for the apportionment of Representatives among the several
States according to the Sixth Census," approved June 22, 1842, a copy
of which is in possession of the House.

JOHN TYLER.

THIRD ANNUAL MESSAGE.

WASHINGTON, _December, 1843_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_:

If any people ever had cause to render up thanks to the Supreme Being
for parental care and protection extended to them in all the trials
and difficulties to which they have been from time to time exposed, we
certainly are that people. From the first settlement of our forefathers
on this continent, through the dangers attendant upon the occupation
of a savage wilderness, through a long period of colonial dependence,
through the War of the Revolution, in the wisdom which led to the
adoption of the existing forms of republican government, in the hazards
incident to a war subsequently waged with one of the most powerful
nations of the earth, in the increase of our population, in the spread
of the arts and sciences, and in the strength and durability conferred
on political institutions emanating from the people and sustained by
their will, the superintendence of an overruling Providence has been
plainly visible. As preparatory, therefore, to entering once more upon
the high duties of legislation, it becomes us humbly to acknowledge
our dependence upon Him as our guide and protector and to implore a
continuance of His parental watchfulness over our beloved country. We
have new cause for the expression of our gratitude in the preservation
of the health of our fellow-citizens, with some partial and local
exceptions, during the past season, for the abundance with which the
earth has yielded up its fruits to the labors of the husbandman, for the
renewed activity which has been imparted to commerce, for the revival of
trade in all its departments, for the increased rewards attendant on
the exercise of the mechanic arts, for the continued growth of our
population and the rapidly reviving prosperity of the whole country.
I shall be permitted to exchange congratulations with you, gentlemen of
the two Houses of Congress, on these auspicious circumstances, and to
assure you in advance of my ready disposition to concur with you in the
adoption of all such measures as shall be calculated to increase the
happiness of our constituents and to advance the glory of our common
country.

Since the last adjournment of Congress the Executive has relaxed no
effort to render indestructible the relations of amity which so happily
exist between the United States and other countries. The treaty lately
concluded with Great Britain has tended greatly to increase the good
understanding which a reciprocity of interests is calculated to
encourage, and it is most ardently to be hoped that nothing may
transpire to interrupt the relations of amity which it is so obviously
the policy of both nations to cultivate. A question of much importance
still remains to be adjusted between them. The territorial limits of the
two countries in relation to what is commonly known as the Oregon
Territory still remain in dispute. The United States would be at all
times indisposed to aggrandize itself at the expense of any other
nation; but while they would be restrained by principles of honor, which
should govern the conduct of nations as well as that of individuals,
from setting up a demand for territory which does not belong to them,
they would as unwillingly consent to a surrender of their rights. After
the most rigid and, as far as practicable, unbiased examination of the
subject, the United States have always contended that their rights
appertain to the entire region of country lying on the Pacific and
embraced within 42 deg. and 54 deg. 40' of north latitude. This claim being
controverted by Great Britain, those who have preceded the present
Executive--actuated, no doubt, by an earnest desire to adjust the matter
upon terms mutually satisfactory to both countries--have caused to be
submitted to the British Government propositions for settlement and
final adjustment, which, however, have not proved heretofore acceptable
to it. Our minister at London has, under instructions, again brought the
subject to the consideration of that Government, and while nothing will
be done to compromit the rights or honor of the United States, every
proper expedient will be resorted to in order to bring the negotiation
now in the progress of resumption to a speedy and happy termination. In
the meantime it is proper to remark that many of our citizens are either
already established in the Territory or are on their way thither for the
purpose of forming permanent settlements, while others are preparing
to follow; and in view of these facts I must repeat the recommendation
contained in previous messages for the establishment of military posts
at such places on the line of travel as will furnish security and
protection to our hardy adventurers against hostile tribes of Indians
inhabiting those extensive regions. Our laws should also follow them, so
modified as the circumstances of the case may seem to require. Under the
influence of our free system of government new republics are destined
to spring up at no distant day on the shores of the Pacific similar
in policy and in feeling to those existing on this side of the Rocky
Mountains, and giving a wider and more extensive spread to the
principles of civil and religious liberty.

I am happy to inform you that the cases which have from time to time
arisen of the detention of American vessels by British cruisers on the
coast of Africa under pretense of being engaged in the slave trade have
been placed in a fair train of adjustment. In the case of the _William
and Francis_ full satisfaction will be allowed. In the cases of the
_Tygris_ and _Seamew_ the British Government admits that satisfaction
is due. In the case of the _Jones_ the sum accruing from the sale
of that vessel and cargo will be paid to the owners, while I can not
but flatter myself that full indemnification will be allowed for all
damages sustained by the detention of the vessel; and in the case of the
_Douglas_ Her Majesty's Government has expressed its determination to
make indemnification. Strong hopes are therefore entertained that most,
if not all, of these cases will be speedily adjusted. No new cases have
arisen since the ratification of the treaty of Washington, and it is
confidently anticipated that the slave trade, under the operation of
the eighth article of that treaty, will be altogether suppressed.

The occasional interruption experienced by our fellow-citizens engaged
in the fisheries on the neighboring coast of Nova Scotia has not failed
to claim the attention of the Executive. Representations upon this
subject have been made, but as yet no definitive answer to those
representations has been received from the British Government.

Two other subjects of comparatively minor importance, but nevertheless
of too much consequence to be neglected, remain still to be adjusted
between the two countries. By the treaty between the United States and
Great Britain of July, 1815, it is provided that no higher duties shall
be levied in either country on articles imported from the other than on
the same articles imported from any other place. In 1836 rough rice by
act of Parliament was admitted from the coast of Africa into Great
Britain on the payment of a duty of 1 penny a quarter, while the same
article from all other countries, including the United States, was
subjected to the payment of a duty of 20 shillings a quarter. Our
minister at London has from time to time brought this subject to the
attention of the British Government, but so far without success. He is
instructed to renew his representations upon it.

Some years since a claim was preferred against the British Government on
the part of certain American merchants for the return of export duties
paid by them on shipments of woolen goods to the United States after the
duty on similar articles exported to other countries had been repealed,
and consequently in contravention of the commercial convention between
the two nations securing to us equality in such cases. The principle on
which the claim rests has long since been virtually admitted by Great
Britain, but obstacles to a settlement have from time to time been
interposed, so that a large portion of the amount claimed has not yet
been refunded. Our minister is now engaged in the prosecution of the
claim, and I can not but persuade myself that the British Government
will no longer delay its adjustment.

I am happy to be able to say that nothing has occurred to disturb in any
degree the relations of amity which exist between the United States and
France, Austria, and Russia, as well as with the other powers of Europe,
since the adjournment of Congress. Spain has been agitated with internal
convulsions for many years, from the effects of which, it is hoped, she
is destined speedily to recover, when, under a more liberal system of
commercial policy on her part, our trade with her may again fill its old
and, so far as her continental possessions are concerned, its almost
forsaken channels, thereby adding to the mutual prosperity of the two
countries.

The Germanic Association of Customs and Commerce, which since its
establishment in 1833 has been steadily growing in power and importance,
and consists at this time of more than twenty German States, and
embraces a population of 27,000,000 people united for all the purposes
of commercial intercourse with each other and with foreign states,
offers to the latter the most valuable exchanges on principles more
liberal than are offered in the fiscal system of any other European
power. From its origin the importance of the German union has never been
lost sight of by the United States. The industry, morality, and other
valuable qualities of the German nation have always been well known and
appreciated. On this subject I invite the attention of Congress to the
report of the Secretary of State, from which it will be seen that while
our cotton is admitted free of duty and the duty on rice has been much
reduced (which has already led to a greatly increased consumption),
a strong disposition has been recently evinced by that great body to
reduce, upon certain conditions, their present duty upon tobacco. This
being the first intimation of a concession on this interesting subject
ever made by any European power, I can not but regard it as well
calculated to remove the only impediment which has so far existed to
the most liberal commercial intercourse between us and them. In this
view our minister at Berlin, who has heretofore industriously pursued
the subject, has been instructed to enter upon the negotiation of a
commercial treaty, which, while it will open new advantages to the
agricultural interests of the United States and a more free and expanded
field for commercial operations, will affect injuriously no existing
interest of the Union. Should the negotiation be crowned with success,
its results will be communicated to both Houses of Congress.

I communicate herewith certain dispatches received from our minister at
Mexico, and also a correspondence which has recently occurred between
the envoy from that Republic and the Secretary of State. It must but be
regarded as not a little extraordinary that the Government of Mexico,
in anticipation of a public discussion (which it has been pleased to
infer from newspaper publications as likely to take place in Congress,
relating to the annexation of Texas to the United States), should have
so far anticipated the result of such discussion as to have announced
its determination to visit any such anticipated decision by a formal
declaration of war against the United States. If designed to prevent
Congress from introducing that question as a fit subject for its calm
deliberation and final judgment, the Executive has no reason to doubt
that it will entirely fail of its object. The representatives of a brave
and patriotic people will suffer no apprehension of future consequences
to embarrass them in the course of their proposed deliberations, nor
will the executive department of the Government fail for any such cause
to discharge its whole duty to the country.

The war which has existed for so long a time between Mexico and Texas
has since the battle of San Jacinto consisted for the most part of
predatory incursions, which, while they have been attended with much of
suffering to individuals and have kept the borders of the two countries
in a state of constant alarm, have failed to approach to any definitive
result. Mexico has fitted out no formidable armament by land or by sea
for the subjugation of Texas. Eight years have now elapsed since Texas
declared her independence of Mexico, and during that time she has been
recognized as a sovereign power by several of the principal civilized
states. Mexico, nevertheless, perseveres in her plans of reconquest, and
refuses to recognize her independence. The predatory incursions to which
I have alluded have been attended in one instance with the breaking up
of the courts of justice, by the seizing upon the persons of the judges,
jury, and officers of the court and dragging them along with unarmed,
and therefore noncombatant, citizens into a cruel and oppressive
bondage, thus leaving crime to go unpunished and immorality to pass
unreproved. A border warfare is evermore to be deprecated, and over such
a war as has existed for so many years between these two States humanity
has had great cause to lament. Nor is such a condition of things to be
deplored only because of the individual suffering attendant upon it. The
effects are far more extensive. The Creator of the Universe has given
man the earth for his resting place and its fruits for his subsistence.
Whatever, therefore, shall make the first or any part of it a scene of
desolation affects injuriously his heritage and may be regarded as a
general calamity. Wars may sometimes be necessary, but all nations have
a common interest in bringing them speedily to a close. The United
States have an immediate interest in seeing an end put to the state of
hostilities existing between Mexico and Texas. They are our neighbors,
of the same continent, with whom we are not only desirous of cultivating
the relations of amity, but of the most extended commercial intercourse,
and to practice all the rites of a neighborhood hospitality. Our own
interests are involved in the matter, since, however neutral may be our
course of policy, we can not hope to escape the effects of a spirit of
jealousy on the part of both of the powers. Nor can this Government be
indifferent to the fact that a warfare such as is waged between those
two nations is calculated to weaken both powers and finally to render
them--and especially the weaker of the two--the subjects of interference
on the part of stronger and more powerful nations, who, intent only on
advancing their own peculiar views, may sooner or later attempt to bring
about a compliance with terms as the condition of their interposition
alike derogatory to the nation granting them and detrimental to the
interests of the United States. We could not be expected quietly to
permit any such interference to our disadvantage. Considering that Texas
is separated from the United States by a mere geographical line; that
her territory, in the opinion of many, down to a late period formed a
portion of the territory of the United States; that it is homogeneous
in its population and pursuits with the adjoining States, makes
contributions to the commerce of the world in the same articles with
them, and that most of her inhabitants have been citizens of the United
States, speak the same language, and live under similar political
institutions with ourselves, this Government is bound by every
consideration of interest as well as of sympathy to see that she shall
be left free to act, especially in regard to her domestic affairs,
unawed by force and unrestrained by the policy or views of other
countries. In full view of all these considerations, the Executive has
not hesitated to express to the Government of Mexico how deeply it
deprecated a continuance of the war and how anxiously it desired to
witness its termination. I can not but think that it becomes the United
States, as the oldest of the American Republics, to hold a language to
Mexico upon this subject of an unambiguous character. It is time that
this war had ceased. There must be a limit to all wars, and if the
parent state after an eight years' struggle has failed to reduce to
submission a portion of its subjects standing out in revolt against it,
and who have not only proclaimed themselves to be independent, but have
been recognized as such by other powers, she ought not to expect that
other nations will quietly look on, to their obvious injury, upon a
protraction of hostilities. These United States threw off their colonial
dependence and established independent governments, and Great Britain,
after having wasted her energies in the attempt to subdue them for a
less period than Mexico has attempted to subjugate Texas, had the wisdom
and justice to acknowledge their independence, thereby recognizing the
obligation which rested on her as one of the family of nations. An
example thus set by one of the proudest as well as most powerful nations
of the earth it could in no way disparage Mexico to imitate. While,
therefore, the Executive would deplore any collision with Mexico or
any disturbance of the friendly relations which exist between the two
countries, it can not permit that Government to control its policy,
whatever it may be, toward Texas, but will treat her--as by the
recognition of her independence the United States have long since
declared they would do--as entirely independent of Mexico. The high
obligations of public duty may enforce from the constituted authorities
of the United States a policy which the course persevered in by Mexico
will have mainly contributed to produce, and the Executive in such a
contingency will with confidence throw itself upon the patriotism of
the people to sustain the Government in its course of action.

Measures of an unusual character have recently been adopted by the
Mexican Government, calculated in no small degree to affect the trade
of other nations with Mexico and to operate injuriously to the United
States. All foreigners, by a decree of the 23d day of September, and
after six months from the day of its promulgation, are forbidden to
carry on the business of selling by retail any goods within the confines
of Mexico. Against this decree our minister has not failed to
remonstrate.

The trade heretofore carried on by our citizens with Santa Fe,
in which much capital was already invested and which was becoming of
daily increasing importance, has suddenly been arrested by a decree of
virtual prohibition on the part of the Mexican Government. Whatever may
be the right of Mexico to prohibit any particular course of trade to the
citizens or subjects of foreign powers, this late procedure, to say the
least of it, wears a harsh and unfriendly aspect.

The installments on the claims recently settled by the convention with
Mexico have been punctually paid as they have fallen due, and our
minister is engaged in urging the establishment of a new commission in
pursuance of the convention for the settlement of unadjusted claims.

With the other American States our relations of amity and good will have
remained uninterrupted. Our minister near the Republic of New Granada
has succeeded in effecting an adjustment of the claim upon that
Government for the schooner _By Chance_, which had been pending for many
years. The claim for the brig _Morris_, which had its origin during the
existence of the Republic of Colombia, and indemnification for which
since the dissolution of that Republic has devolved upon its several
members, will be urged with renewed zeal.

I have much pleasure in saying that the Government of Brazil has
adjusted the claim upon that Government in the case of the schooner
_John S. Bryan_, and that sanguine hopes are entertained that the same
spirit of justice will influence its councils in arriving at an early
decision upon the remaining claims, thereby removing all cause of
dissension between two powers whose interests are to some extent
interwoven with each other.