sioner arrived at Assumption, the capital of the republic, on the 25th of January, 1859, and left it on the 17th of February, having in three weeks ably and successfully accomplished all the objects of his mission. The treaties which he has concluded will be immediately submitted to the Senate.

In the view that the employment of other than peaceful means might become necessary to obtain "just satisfaction" from Paraguay, a strong naval force was concentrated in the waters of the La Plata to await contingencies whilst our commissioner ascended the rivers to Assumption. The Navy Department is entitled to great credit for the promptness, efficiency, and economy with which this expedition was fitted out and conducted. It consisted of nineteen armed vessels, great and small, carrying two hundred guns and twenty-five hundred men, all under the command of the veteran and gallant Shubrick. The entire expenses of the expedition have been defrayed out of the ordinary appropriations for the naval service, except the sum of $289,000 applied to the purchase of seven of the steamers constituting a part of it, under the authority of the naval appropriation act of the 3d March last. It is believed that these steamers are worth more than their cost, and they are all now usefully and actively employed in the naval service.

The appearance of so large a force, fitted out in such a prompt manner, in the far distant waters of the La Plata, and the admirable conduct of the officers and men employed in it, have had a happy effect in favor of our country throughout all that remote portion of the world.

Our relations with the great empires of France and Russia, as well as with all other governments on the continent of Europe, unless we may except that of Spain, happily continue to be of the most friendly character.

In my last annual message I presented a statement of the unsatisfactory condition of our relations with Spain; and I regret to say that this has not materially improved.

Without special reference to other claims, even the "Cuban claims," the payment of which has been ably urged by our ministers, and in which more than a hundred of our citizens are directly interested, remain unsatisfied, notwithstanding both their justice and their amount ($128,635 54) had been recognized and ascertained by the Spanish government itself.

I again recommend that an appropriation be made, "to be paid to the Spanish government, for the purpose of distribution among the claimants in the Amistad case." In common with two of my predecessors, I entertain no doubt that this is required by our treaty with Spain of the 27th October, 1795. The failure to discharge this obligation has been employed by the cabinet of Madrid as a reason against the settlement of our claims.

I need not repeat the arguments which I urged in my last annual message in favor of the acquisition of Cuba by fair purchase. My opinions on that measure remain unchanged. I therefore again invite the serious attention of Congress to this important subject. Without a recognition of this policy on their part, it will be almost impossible. to institute negotiations with any reasonable prospect of success.

Until a recent period there was good reason to believe that I should be able to announce to you on the present occasion that our difficulties with Great Britain, arising out of the Clayton and Bulwer treaty, had been finally adjusted in a manner alike honorable and satisfactory to both parties. From causes, however, which the British government had not anticipated, they have not yet completed treaty arrangements with the republics of Honduras and Nicaragua, in pursuance of the understanding between the two governments. It is nevertheless confidently expected that this good work will ere long be accomplished. Whilst indulging the hope that no other subject remained which could disturb the good understanding between the two countries, the question arising out of the adverse claims of the parties to the island of San Juan, under the Oregon treaty of the 15th June, 1846, suddenly assumed a threatening prominence. In order to prevent unfortunate collisions on that remote frontier, the late Secretary of State, on the 17th July, 1855, addressed a note to Mr. Crampton, then British minister at Washington, communicating to him a copy of the instructions which he (Mr. Marcy) had given on the 14th July, to Gov. Stevens, of Washington Territory, having a special reference to an "apprehended conflict between our citizens and the British subjects on the island of San Juan." To prevent this, the governor was instructed that the officers of the Territory should abstain from all acts on the disputed grounds which are calculated to provoke any conflicts, so far as it can be done without implying the concession to the authorities of Great Britain of an exclusive right over the premises. The title ought to be settled before either party should attempt to exclude the other by force, or exercise complete and exclusive sovereign rights within the fairly disputed limits.

In acknowledging the receipt, on the next day, of Mr. Marcy's note, the British minister expressed his entire concurrence "in the propriety of the course recommended to the governor of Washington Territory by your [Mr. Marcy's] instructions to that officer," and stating that he had lost no time in transmitting a copy of that document to the governor general of British North America," and had "earnestly recommended to his excellency to take such measures as to him may appear best calculated to secure, on the part of the British local authorities and the inhabitants of the neighborhood of the line in question, the exercise of the same spirit of forbearance which is inculcated by you [Mr. Marcy] on the authorities and citizens of the United States."

Thus matters remained upon the faith of this arrangement until the 9th July last, when General Harney paid a visit to the island. He found upon it twenty-five American residents, with their families, and also an establishment of the Hudson's Bay Company, for the purpose of raising sheep. A short time before his arrival, one of these residents had shot an animal belonging to the company, whilst trespassing upon his premises, for which, however, he offered to pay twice its value, but that was refused. Soon after, "the chief factor of the company at Victoria, Mr. Dalles, son-in-law of Governor Douglas, came to the island in the British sloop-of-war Satellite, and threatened to take this American (Mr. Cutler) by force to Victoria, to answer for

the trespass he had committed. The American seized his rifle and told Mr. Dalles if any such attempt was made he would kill him upon the spot. The affair then ended.

Under these circumstances, the American settlers presented a petition to the general, "through the United States inspector of customs, Mr. Hubbs, to place a force upon the island to protect them from the Indians as well as the oppressive interference of the authorities of the Hudson Bay Company at Victoria, with their rights as American citizens." The general immediately responded to this petition, and ordered Captain George E. Pickett, 9th infantry, "to establish his company on Bellevue, or San Juan island, on some suitable position near the harbor at the southeastern extremity." This order was promptly obeyed, and a military post was established at the place designated. The force was afterwards increased, so that by the last return the whole number of troops then on the island amounted in the aggregate to six hundred and ninety-one men.

Whilst I do not deem it proper, on the present occasion, to go further into the subject, and discuss the weight which ought to be attached to the statements of the British colonial authorities, contesting the accuracy of the information on which the gallant general acted, it was due to him that I should thus present his own reasons for issuing the order to Captain Pickett. From these it is quite clear his object was to prevent the British authorities on Vancouver's island from exercising jurisdiction over American residents on the island of San Juan, as well as to protect them against the incursions of the Indians. Much excitement prevailed for some time throughout that region, and serious. danger of collision between the parties was apprehended. The British had a large naval force in the vicinity; and it is but an act of simple justice to the admiral on that station to state that he wisely and discreetly forbore to commit any hostile act, but determined to refer the whole affair to his government and await their instructions.

This aspect of the matter, in my opinion, demanded serious attention. It would have been a great calamity for both nations had they been precipitated into acts of hostility, not on the question of title to the island, but merely concerning what should be its condition during the intervening period whilst the two governments might be employed in settling the question to which of them it belongs. For this reason Lieutenant General Scott was dispatched, on the 17th of September last, to Washington Territory, to take immediate command of the United States forces on the Pacific coast, should he deem this necessary. The main object of his mission was to carry out the spirit of the precautionary arrangement between the late Secretary of State and the British minister, and thus to preserve the peace and prevent collision between the British and American authorities pending the negotiations between the two governments. Entertaining no doubt of the validity of our title, I need scarcely add, that in any event, American citizens were to be placed on a footing at least as favorable as that of British subjects, it being understood that Captain Pickett's company should remain on the island. It is proper to observe that, considering the distance from the scene of action, and in ignorance of what might have transpired on the spot before the general's arrival, it was necessary to

leave much to his discretion; and I am happy to state the event has proven that this discretion could not have been intrusted to more competent hands. General Scott has recently returned from his mission, having successfully accomplished its objects, and there is no longer any good reason to apprehend a collision between the forces of the two countries during the pendency of the existing negotiations.

I regret to inform you that there has been no improvement in the affairs of Mexico since my last annual message, and I am again obliged to ask the earnest attention of Congress to the unhappy condition of that republic.

The constituent congress of Mexico, which adjourned on the 17th of February, 1857, adopted a constitution and provided for a popular election. This took place in the following July, (1857,) and General Comonfort was chosen president almost without opposition. At the same election a new congress was chosen, whose first session commenced on the 16th of September, (1857.) By the constitution of 1857 the presidential term was to begin on the 1st of December, (1857,) and continue for four years. On that day General Comonfort appeared before the assembled congress in the city of Mexico, took the oath to support the new constitution, and was duly inaugurated as president. Within a month afterwards he had been driven from the capital, and a military rebellion had assigned the supreme power of the republic to General Zuloaga. The constitution provided that, in the absence of the president, his office should devolve upon the chief justice of the supreme court; and General Comonfort having left the country, this functionary, General Juarez, proceeded to form, at Guanajuato, a constitutional government. Before this was officially known, however, at the capital, the government of Zuloaga had been recognized by the entire diplomatic corps, including the minister of the United States, as the de facto government of Mexico. The constitutional president nevertheless maintained his position with firmness, and was soon established, with his cabinet, at Vera Cruz. Meanwhile, the government of Zuloaga was earnestly resisted in many parts of the republic; and even in the capital, a portion of the army hr ving pronounced against it, its functions were declared terminated, and an assembly of citizens was invited for the choice of a new president. This assembly elected General Miramon; but that officer repudiated the plan under which he was chosen, and Zuloaga was thus restored to his previous position. He assumed it, however, only to withdraw from it; and Miramon, having become, by his appointment, "president substitute," continues, with that title, at the head of the insurgent party.

In my last annual message I communicated to Congress the circumstances under which the late minister of the United States suspended his official relations with the central government, and withdrew from the country. It was impossible to maintain friendly intercourse with a government like that at the capital, under whose usurped authority wrongs were constantly committed, but never redressed. Had this been an established government, with its power extending, by the consent of the people, over the whole of Mexico, a resort to hostilities against it would have been quite justifiable, and, indeed, necessary. But the country was a prey to civil war, and it was hoped that the

success of the constitutional president might lead to a condition of things less injurious to the United States. This success became so probable that, in January last, I employed a reliable agent to visit Mexico and report to me the actual condition and prospects of the contending parties. In consequence of his report, and from information which reached me from other sources, favorable to the prospects of the constitutional cause, I felt justified in appointing a new minister to Mexico, who might embrace the earliest suitable opportunity of restoring our diplomatic relations with that republic. For this purpose a distinguished citizen of Maryland was selected, who proceeded on his mission on the 8th of March last, with discretionary authority to recognize the government of President Juarez, if, on his arrival in Mexico, he should find it entitled to such recognition, according to the established practice of the United States.

On the 7th of April following Mr. McLane presented his credentials. to President Juarez, having no hesitation "in pronouncing the gov ernment of Juarez to be the only existing government of the republic. He was cordially received by the authorities at Vera Cruz, and they have ever since manifested the most friendly disposition towards the United States.

Unhappily, however, the constitutional government has not been able to establish its power over the whole republic.

It is supported by a large majority of the people and the states, but there are important parts of the country where it can enforce no obedience.

General Miramon maintains himself at the capital; and in some of the distant provinces there are military governors who pay little respect to the decrees of either government. In the meantime the excesses which always attend upon civil war, especially in Mexico, are constantly recurring. Outrages of the worst description are committed both upon persons and property. There is scarcely any form of injury which has not been suffered by our citizens in Mexico during the last few years. We have been nominally at peace with that republic, but "so far as the interests of our commerce, or of our citizens who have visited the country as merchants, shipmasters, or in other capacities, are concerned, we might as well have been at war. Life has been insecure, property unprotected, and trade impossible, except at a risk of loss which prudent men cannot be expected to incur. Important contracts, involving large expenditures, entered into by the central government, have been set at defiance by the local governments. Peaceful American residents, occupying their rightful possessions, have been suddenly expelled the country, in defiance of treaties, and by the mere force of arbitrary power. Even the course of justice has not been safe from control, and a recent decree of Miramon permits the intervention of government in all suits where either party is a foreigner. Vessels of the United States have been seized without law, and a consular officer who protested against such seizure has been fined and imprisoned for disrespect to the authorities. Military contributions have been levied, in violation of every principle of right, and the American who resisted the lawless demand has had his property forcibly taken away, and has been himself banished. From a conflict of authority in different parts