32D CONG.....2D Sess.

deceased soldier a bounty for his military services. The policy of the law should be to assume, to some extent, the natural obligations of the deceased soldier to support his wife and minor children in the event of his death in the public service; but there can be no valid claim on the justice or bounty of the Government to go further and make provision for those whom he was under no obligation to support.

The enactment of more stringent laws to prevent the perpetration of frauds on the Government also demands the prompt and serious attention of Congress. Scarcely a month elapses without the detection and exposure of the basest attempts at imposition by fraud, perjury, and forgery.

In some parts of the country the business has been reduced to a system, and bodies of men have confederated for the purpose of carrying into effect their nefarious schemes, by means so artful as to render detection almost impossible.

No effort has been spared by the Department and the Pension Office to discover and frustrate the purposes of these miscreants, but in consequence of the defects in the law it is not always possible to bring them to justice.

REVOLUTIONARY PENSIONERS.

In my last report I stated that the whole number of persons who had been pensioned under the act of 18th March, 1818, was 20,485, of whom 1,383 remained on the rolls. Since that date no new pensioners have been added under that law, and the number now remaining on the list is 1,046, showing a reduction of 337 within the year, and of those whose names still continue on it only 339 have received pensions during the first and second quarters of the current fiscal year.

Under the act of 15th May, 1828, which was passed for the benefit of officers and soldiers of the Continental army who served to the end of the war, only 1,168 were pensioned; of that number 128 are still on the rolls, but 42 only have been paid during the first and second quarters of the present year.

The system of revolutionary pensions was greatly extended by the act of 7th June, 1832. At the date of my last report 32,986 persons had received the benefits of that act, of whom 4,813 then continued on the rolls.

Since that date 80 new pensioners have been added, making the aggregate number of persons who had been pensioned under that law 33,066. Of these 4,328 remain on the rolls, but only 1,495 have received payment in the first and second quarters of the year, from which it may be fairly inferred that a large number have died within the year.

WIDOWS OF REVOLUTIONARY SOldiers.

Under the law of 4th July, 1836, 5,163 persons have been pensioned, of whom 978 remain on the rolls. The act of 7th July, 1838, extended the pension laws to widows of revolutionay soldiers who were married prior to 1794. Under it 11,400 have from time to time been enrolled, but only 162 have been paid during the 1st and 2d quarters of the year.

The number pensioned under the act of 2d January, 1848, is 6,000; and under the act of 29th July, 1848, which extended the period of marriage to the year 1800, the number pensioned was 975. There are now on the rolls under both these acts 5,280 pensioners, of whom 4,209 were paid during the first and second quarters of the year.

Report of the Secretary of the Interior.

ceive $101,490, and 48 orphans, who receive. $6,138.

VIRGINIA HALF-PAY COMMUTATION CLAIMS.

The half-pay claims examined and allowed under the act of 5th July, 1832, since the date of the last report, amount to $15,964 73. It is supposed that few valid claims of this character are now outstanding. Some, however, have been presented, which, for various causes, have been suspended.

All claims for commutation pay continue suspended by my order until the further pleasure of Congress shall be made known on the subject, This order by its terms will remain in force until the close of the next session of Congress. If, in the mean time, no action shall be taken by Congress, it may become the duty of the Department to make such disposition of them as justice may seem to require.

MILITARY LAND BOUNTIES.

During the year ending 25th October, 1852, land warrants have issued on account of revolutionary claims, as follows:

3 for lieutenants, of 200 acres each.. 600 acres. 12 for non-commissioned officers and soldiers, of 100 acres each........ 1,200 acres. 135 warrants of 160 acres each, issued under the acts of Congress, of December 24th, 1811, and January, 1812......

.....21,600 acres.

And 7 warrants of 320 acres each, issued under act of Congress of December 10, 1814, equal to........ 2,240 acres. There have been issued in the same period 39 new certificates of right to locate land warrants of 160 acres each, which issued under acts of 24th December, 1811, and 11th January, 1812, but for which no patents have been granted, 6,240 acres.

Also, two new certificates of right to locate land warrants of 320 acres each, under act of December 10, 1814, upon which no patent had issued, 640

acres.

The aggregate of warrants thus issued for revolutionary service, and service in the war of 1812, is 32,520 acres.

MEXICAN WAR BOUNTY LAND ACT.

The claims under the act of 11th February, 1847, known as the Mexican land bounty law, which were filed prior to the 31st October last, .89,377, 4,347 93,724

amount to..

Filed for scrip in lieu of land bounty.

Number of land warrants issued...83,083
Issued for money and scrip....... 3,234

86,322 Leaving suspended, for various reasons.. 7,402 The operations during the year under the same act are as follows, viz: .3,485 90

SENATE & HO. OF REPS.

mum price of $1 25 per acre, would be wor $12,419,150.

Under the act of 224 March, 1852, there har been received and registered 7,655 cases, of aan | there have been admitted 2,341, leaving still to a acted on 5,314. To satisfy the claims issued unge this act, 143,600 acres of land will be required. The report of the Commissioner contains some im. portant suggestions in regard to proposed charge in the laws relating to pensions. In addition those already alluded to, I would invite your per ticular attention to the propriety of reenacting a provision requiring biennial examinations, by cer petent medical officers, of all invalid pensionen. The law of 1819 contained a provision of this ke and a report as to the condition of their heair which was found to work well in practice, bati was incautiously repealed by the act of 4th Jov 1832. Some such measure is indispensable to protect the Government against imposition.

No material reduction has been made in the clerical force of the Pension Office since the ca of my last report; but as the bounty land cases Į will soon be disposed of, the services of many c the clerks can be dispensed with at an early day.

INDIAN AFFAIRS.

For detailed information in regard to the cond tion of our Indian relations I respectfully refer t the report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs

In my last annual communication. I explains somewhat at large my views of the policy whit should regulate our intercourse with the In tribes. It was in substance that our efforts shoul be directed to their civilization, and the amen tion of their condition, rather than to measures of coercion. It is not only more just and humane. but more economical, to win them by kindness, and to encourage them to engage in pastorai an agricultural pursuits and relinquish their nomadz and predatory hife, than to subdue and restrain them by military force. I still adhere to the opinions, and respectfully refer to my last report for a more detailed exposition of them.

The amendments to the treaties with the Siour Indians in Minnesota, which were proposed by the Senate, have been submitted to the proper ar thorities of the tribes and acceded to by them, ard their title to a valuable district of country tas thereby been extinguished.

In consequence of the rejection of all the treaties which had been negotiated with the Indian tribes resident in California and Oregon, our relations with them are of a very unsettled and precarious character. It is believed that those treaties were rejected, not so much on account of objections o their details as to the leading principles embraced in them, which secured particular districts of cour try for the exclusive occupancy of the Indians. Until the Senate shall have announced some se of policy to be pursued on that subject, it would be worse than useless to attempt further negote ations. If the Indians are to be removed out of California and Oregon, it will be for Congress t 3,575 say so, and to provide for them some place of refuge. Or if any particular districts of country within their limits, more remote from the settle 2,368 ments of the whites, are to be set apart for them. it is proper that Congress, which is alone invested 1,207 with the power of disposing of the public domain, should make the necessary provisions on the subThe number of appropriations under the act of 11th February, 1847, has increased in consequence ject. of the repeal of the last proviso of the 9th section,

Applications for land... For scrip or money.

...

Warrants issued for land.... Warrants for scrip or money..

Suspended claims....

..2,307

61

......

MEXICAN WAR PENSIONS.

The whole number of pensions granted under the various acts for the benefit of the widows and orphans of soldiers who were killed in battle, or died from disease contracted in the Mexican war, is 1,890, and the number now on the rolls is 1,123, being 627 less than at the date of my last report.

NAVY PENSIONS.

A detailed statement of the Navy pensions accompanies the Commissioner's report, from which it will appear that there are now on the rolls 726 invalids, who receive annually $45,049 96.

There are also 514 widows, who annually re

BOUNTY LAND LAWS OF 28TH SEPTEMBER,

1850, AND 22D MARCH, 1852. The execution of these laws have been steadily progressing. Up to the present time the number !! of cases received and registered amounts to about 200,000

Of which there have been admitted....140,058
Now on the files for examination.. ..4,531
Suspended for future proof..... . . . . .55,] 11
199,700

The Department has endeavored assiduously to conciliate the Indians by kindness, and to prevent those hostilities which we had just cause to appre hend. So far these efforts have been in a great measure successful. There is reason to fear, howdeclare by taw what is to be the extent of the rights ever, that if measures are not speedily adopted to of the Indians, and to protect them from aggres sion, collisions and bloodshed will ensue.

The removal of the remnant of the tribe of the Seminole Indians has long been a cherished object of the Government, and the Department has spared no pains to accomplish it. Admonished by experience of the cost of blood and treasure which must attend the repetition of the attempt to expel them by military force, it was thought to be ! more consistent with humanity and sound policy The quantity of land required to satisfy the war- to try the effect of peaceful measures. A specia! rants issued up to the 1st of November, 1852, agent was therefore employed to go among them amounts to 9,935,320 acres, which, at the mini-and endeavor to induce them to emigrate volun

Warrants are issued daily for all admitted cases. The number of new applications amounts to about one hundred per day.

32D CONG.....2D SESS.

tarily. To give greater force to his representations of the benefits likely to ensue from such a measure, he took with him a delegation of Seminole Indians who had previously removed to the country west of the Mississippi. Their united persuasions have had the effect which was anticipated, and recently several of the principal chiefs of the Florida tribe visited Washington, and while here acknowledged, in writing, their obligation to remove. Late advices from the special agent assures that they still adhere to their engagement; that a meeting of the tribe has been called to make the necessary preparations; and that their removal may be confidently expected at an early day.

Such a result will be a matter of much interest to the people of Florida, as it will not only relieve them from apprehension of danger to their persons and property, but will open an extensive district of country for settlement and cultivation.

CENSUS.

The report of the Superintendent of the Census will show that the greater part of the labor of compiling and classifying the returns has been completed; and the publication can now be commenced, as the residue can be finished and placed in the hands of the publisher from time to time as he may require.

It is estimated that an additional appropriation of fifty thousand dollars will be necessary to prepare the entire work, consisting of two large volumes, for the press.

As some objections have been urged to that part of the plan which contemplates a condensed notice of the geographical features and history of each county, I beg leave to suggest one or two reasons which have led me to believe that it would be eminently useful. In the early settlement of our country, when the population was thinly scattered over a wide extent of territory, but few counties were established.

As population increased, and the public convenience rendered it necessary, these counties were divided and subdivided, until at the present day many of them do not embrace one twentieth part of their original territory. This process must continue to go on for many years to come. When, therefore, an attempt is made to ascertain the progress in wealth and population of any county thus situated, by reference to its condition at each successive decennial census, the inquirer is involved in confusion, and will naturally lose all confidence in the accuracy of the returns, unless he has the means of ascertaining the subdivisions which have taken place, and the counties or parts of counties which have been taken from those which were originally established, and the dates of the successive divisions.

Such a condensed history will also furnish great facilities in tracing the titles to lands. In the State of Virginia, for example, it would be easy to refer to counties, which have been recently formed," whose land titles are to be found scattered through the records of ten or more different counties, of which it has from time to time constituted a part.

The laws of most of the States require conveyances to be recorded in the county. in which, for the time being, the land lies. In the various changes which have taken place by the formation of new counties, a tract of land may have been embraced at different times by ten or more differ

ent counties.

Every successive conveyance of this land must consequently be recorded in the office of the county in which at that date the land was situated. In seeking, therefore, to investigate the title to a tract of land at the present day, it often becomes necessary not only to ascertain in what county the land was situated at the date of the patent, but to trace all its divisions and subdivisions through a long series of years, step by step, to the present time, in order to ascertain whether the intermediate conveyances have been properly executed and recorded. This information cannot readily be obtained, and the effort to procure it is sometimes attended with great labor and expense. The introductory notices of the counties which it is proposed to prefix to the census will furnish it at a glance; and I am persuaded that there is no portion of the work which will be more acceptable to the public at large.

It will certainly rescue from oblivion, and perpetuate in a convenient and useful form, much

Report of the Secretary of the Interior.

valuable information bearing on the history and progress of our country. Great pains have been taken to secure perfect accuracy in this branch of the work.

It is proposed that in every instance the notice of each county shall be transmitted not only to the clerk of the county, with a view to a comparison with his official records, but also that it shall be carefully revised by the proper executive officers of the State.

Objections have also been taken to the publication of the census on the plan proposed, on the score of the large expense which it would involve.

As great misapprehension seems to have prevailed on this subject, I have thought it expedient to institute inquiries to ascertain, first, what would be the actual cost of publishing the entire work in the comprehensive form proposed by the Superintendent, and in a style creditable to the Government; and, second, what would be its cost as compared with the publication in a greatly inferior style of the meager return of the sixth census.

By reference to the Treasury Department, it has been ascertained that the cost of the publication of the sixth census was as follows: To amount paid Blair & Rives for publishing 10,000 copies of statistical returns of the sixth cencus....

To amount paid Blair & Rives, and
Allen & Co. for 30,000 copies of
Compendium..
Cost of binding..

.....

$137,316 64

24,773 86 16,712 97

Aggregate cost of publication .....$178,803 47 || Lippincott & Co. now propose to publish 10,000 || copies of the statistics of the seventh census, in two folio volumes of 1,000 pages each, on fine type and paper, well bound with Russia backs, for the aggregate sum of $49,500, being less than one third of the amount paid for the publication of the sixth census. The objection, therefore, on the score of expense is proved to be unfounded.

THE PATENT OFFICE.

The report of the Commissioner of Patents, which is made directly to Congress, will contain full and detailed statements of the operations of that bureau.

The eastern wing of the noble structure, erected and ultimately to be used for purposes connected with the industrial pursuits of our country, will soon be completed and ready for occupation. Some progress has also been made upon the basement of the western wing, and a large quantity of material has been collected with a view to the vigorous prosecution of the work next spring. The basement of the principal building has been greatly improved by dressing the rough stone of which it was built, so as to make it conform in its general appearance to similar portions of the newly-erected building.

There is probably no bureau connected with the Government in whose operations the public at large feel a deeper interest than those of the Patent Office. It is inseparably associated with every interest of our country. The mechanic, the merchant, the manufacturer, and the farmer, are all concerned in everything which diminishes the labor of production in any of the departments of industry. Our people are eminently practical and ingenious. They are constantly employed in the discovery of new means of accomplishing important results at a diminished cost of time, labor, and money. The steam-engine, the cotton-gin, and the magnetic telegraph, are striking and imperishable memorials of the success which has attended their efforts. In the early period of our history, when population was sparse and the prices of agricultural productions high, the labor of the country was directed mainly to the cultivation of the soil. But, as population progressively increases, more attention is devoted to mechanical pursuits and the invention of machinery by which the work of many may be accomplished by a few. Not a day passes without furnishing some evidence of this fact in the form of applications for patents for important inventions and discoveries. The mechanical interest has therefore become one of great magnitude, and it is justly entitled to all the protection and assistance which can be bestowed by Congress consistently with the provisions of the Constitution.

The general principles of our patent system seem

66

SENATE & HO. OF REPS.

to have met with universal approbation, and to have been attended with beneficent results in practice. Since the organization of the office in 1836 it has advanced with rapid strides. At that date one examining clerk" was enabled to make all the preliminary investigations which were required to ascertain whether the applicant was entitled to a patent; but such has been the increase of the business that six principal examiners and as many assistants are not now able to keep pace with it. The number of inodels in the office on the 1st day of January, 1836, was 1,069. In the beginning of the year 1851 they had increased to 17,257, and at the close of the present year they will fall but little short of 23,000. If they should continue to increase in this proportion, making no allowance for the augmentation consequent on the increase of population, by the close of the present century they will amount to 150,000, and the whole of the present Patent Office edifice will not be sufficient for their convenient display. To provide against this contingency, as well as to accomplish other important results, I respectfully propose that the Commissioner of Patents be required to have prepared for publication a careful analytical and descriptive index of all discoveries and inventions which have been patented, accompanied by accurate descriptions and drawings which will fully explain the principles and practical operation of the subject of the patent. The advantages of such a publication would be almost incalculable. It would not only perpetuate the invention or discovery by avoiding the casualties by fire and other causes, but it would multiply and diffuse among the people at large the specifications and descriptions, and substantially bring home to every neighborhood to which a copy of the work might be sent the benefits of the Patent Office. In much the larger number of cases the necessity for preserving and displaying the models would be obviated. The pages of the published report would be a safer and more convenient depository for them than the cabinets of the Patent Office, and they would be accessible to everybody. Inventors in remote parts of the country would be placed on an equal footing with those residing near the seat of Government. When their thoughts were turned to a particular class of machinery, instead of being compelled to make a journey to Washington to see what had already been done in that department of the arts, they could at once turn to the analytical, index and ascertain what progress had been made by others.

Under the present system it not unfrequently happens that ingenious persons having conceived what they believe to be a new idea, which, when carried into practice, will be of great value, employ much of their time, labor, and money, in perfecting their invention, and when it is finished they come to Washington filled with the hope of those rewards which crown the labors of the successful inventor. Their application for a patent is presented, and submitted to an experienced and skillful examiner, who promptly refers the anxious applicant to a drawing or a model, which shows him that his ideas have been anticipated by another, and reduced to practice many years before. None but those who have taken pains to inquire into the subject can form an adequate idea of the amount of time, money, and labor, which is uselessly expended under circumstances like these, to say nothing of the anxiety of mind and heart, sickening disappointment, all of which might be saved if such a descriptive index as I propose were readily accessible to the public. The publication of it would also tend to stimulate the inventive genius of the country, and lead not only to the development of new agents and processes, but to valuable improvements upon those which have already been brought into practical operation. It is hardly necessary to add that such a work would be of great value in the investigation by courts of justice of legal controversies involving the rights of paten

tees.

When the index is completed up to the close of the present year, it will be easy, by an annual publication of an appendix to the ordinary report from the Patent Office, to furnish a complete record of the inventions and discoveries of each successive year.

To be of value, such an index should be prepared by a person fully competent to the task,

32D CONG.....2D SESS.

and illustrated and printed, and bound in a style worthy of the subject and of the nation. It would doubtless be attended with a large expense, but it could readily be paid out of the patent fund without encroaching on the national Treasury, and I can conceive of no purpose to which that fund could be applied which would be more acceptable to inventors, and in all respects so appropriate, as in perpetuating and diffusing the knowledge of their labors, and presenting to the public a full description of the existing condition of the mechanic arts and the kindred branches of science in our country.

The report of Mr. Stansbury on the London Industrial Exhibition of 1851, to which allusion was made in my last annual report, has been delayed by causes beyond his control. It will be ready to be laid before Congress in the course of a few weeks, and will doubtless be a valuable and interesting document.

MEXICAN BOUNDARY.

The latest advices from the Commissioner contain the gratifying intelligence that the survey of the river Gila, from its confluence with the Colorado to the point where it strikes the western boundary of New Mexico, has been completed. Much progress has also been made in the survey of the Rio Grande. When last heard from the parties under the immediate command of Major Emory had finished the work, from the point agreed on by the Commissioners as the beginning point on the river, to Eagle Pass; and it is presumed that by this time the survey has been completed at least two thirds of the distance down the course of the river.

Report of the Secretary of the Interior.

the United States and Mexico, under the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, one hundred and twenty thousand dollars: Provided, That no part of this appropriation shall be used or expended until it shall be made satisfactorily to appear to the President of the United States that the southern boundary of New Mexico is not established by the Commissioner and Surveyor of the United States further north of the town called Paso than the same is laid down in Disturnell's map, which is added to the treaty."

After mature deliberation, I came to the conclusion that, under the terms of the proviso to this appropriation, no part of the money appropriated could be used or expended; and on the 11th day of October, 1852, I made a report to you to that effect, in which conclusion you expressed your concurrence by an indorsement on the report, dated 13th October, 1852.

A copy of that report and indorsement are appended to this communication.

On the 15th October I addressed a letter to the Commissioner, inclosing a copy of the report and of your indorsement, and informing him that it would not be proper for him to make any further drafts upon the Department, as the available funds had been exhausted. But as I knew that large amounts of provisions had been sent to Presidio del Norte, Eagle Pass, and Fort Brown opposite Matamoros, for the use of the surveying parties along the course of the Rio Grande, and as the Commissioner and Major Emory were in possession of funds raised upon drafts previously drawn upon the Department, I left it to their discretion whether it would be best to disband the Commission at once, or to continue their operations on the river as long as the means at their disposal would enable them to maintain their respective parties in the field.

I am not aware that any further progress has "

been made in the survey of those portions of the line which lie between the Rio Grande and the Gila, and which constitute the southern and western boundaries of New Mexico. A party had been organized, however, for that purpose; and it is possible that it may have been employed in that service before the Commissioner was advised of the action of Congress on the subject at its last session, and ordered to discontinue his operations.

If such should prove to be the fact, I will avail myself of the earliest opportunity to communicate to you all that has been done, to enable you to lay it before Congress.

Before proceeding to present more in detail the views of the Department in reference to the various questions arising out of the survey of the boundary, I feel it to be due alike to myself and the public to correct an inaccuracy which accidentally occurred in my last report, in regard to the latitude of certain points referred to, which was occasioned by an error of the clerk who was requested to fill two blanks in the original draft of the report. But, although the error was too palpable to mislead any one, and susceptible of ready correction by reference to the map, I avail myself of the earliest opportunity to put the matter right upon the record.

The mistake occurs in the following paragraph: "Difficulties also existed in regard to the point where the Rio Grande strikes the southern line of New Mexico. By the map it appears to be at latitude 31° 45', whereas the true position is latitude 32° 22′,”

The facts of the case are as follows: The southern line of New Mexico is laid down on the map of Disturnell, as nearly as can be ascertained by measurement, in latitude north 320 22', and the town of El Paso appears, by similar measurement, to be in latitude north 320 15', and longitude 270 35' west of Washington. This would make the line, according to the map, about seven minutes (or seven geographical miles) north of El Paso, or a fraction of a minute north of 320 22', as agreed on by the Commissioners.

By actual observation, however, it was ascertained that El Paso is erroneously placed on the map, both in respect to latitude and longitude; its true position being in latitude north 310 45', or a fraction more than half a degree south of its position as marked by Disturnell, and in longitude 290 40', instead of 270 35' west of Washington, or two degrees and five minutes west of its position according to the map.

The law of the last session of Congress, making the appropriation for the continuation of the survey, is in the following words:

"For running and marking the boundary line between

On this point it was impossible for the Department to form at satisfactory opinion with the limited information in its possession. But, as there could be no controversy in relation to that part of the line, I considered it very desirable not to arrest the survey of it. Peremptory instructions were, however, given to the Commissioner to discontinue all further operations on the southern and western lines of New Mexico, which constitute the disputed portion of the boundary, until further action should be taken by Congress. A copy of that letter also accompanies this report.

As there has been some misunderstanding in regard to the course of the Department on the subject of the initial point on the Rio Grande, and the line thence, westward, which constitutes the southern boundary of New Mexico, I deem it proper to give a full history of all that has been done by the Department in regard to it, and an explanation of the reasons which have controlled The treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo,

its action. provides that

"The boundary line between the two Republics shall commence in the Gulf of Mexico, three leagues from land, opposite the mouth of the Río Grande, otherwise called the Rio Bravo del Norte, or opposite the mouth of its deepest branch, if it should have more than one branch, emptying

directly into the sea; from thence up the middle of that river, following the deepest channel, where it has more than one, to the point where it strikes the southern boundary of New Mexico; thence westwardly, along the whole southern boundary of New Mexico (which runs north of the town called Paso) to its western termination; thence northward along the western line of New Mexico, until it intersects the first branch of the river Gila; (or, if it should not intersect any branch of that river, then to the point on the said line nearest to such branch, and thence in a direct line to the same;) thence down the middle of the said branch and of the said river, until it empties into the Rio Colorado; thence across the Rio Colorado, following the division line between Upper and Lower California, to the Pacific ocean. "The southern and western limits of New Mexico mentioned in this article are those laid down in the map entitled "Map of the United Mexican States, as organized and defined 'by various acts of the Congress of said Republic, and constructed according to the best authorities, revised edition, 'published at New York in 1847, by J. Disturnell ;' of which map a copy is added to this treaty, bearing the signatures and seals of the undersigned plenipotentiaries; and, in order to preclude all difficulty in tracing upon the ground the limit separating Upper from Lower California, it is agreed that the said limit shall consist of a straight line drawn from the middle of the Rio Gila, where it unites with the Colorado, to a point on the coast of the Pacific ocean distant one ma rine league due south of the southernmost point of the port of San Diego, according to the plan of said port made in the year 1782, by Don Juan Pantoga, second sailing master of the Spanish fleet, and published at Madrid in the year 1802, in the atlas to the voyage of the schooners Sutil and Mexi cana, of which plan a copy is hereunto added, signed and sealed by the respective plenipotentiaries.

"In order to designate the boundary line with due precision upon authoritative maps, and to establish upon the ground land-marks which shall show the limits of both re. publics, as described in the present article, the two Govern.

SENATE & HO. OF REPS.

ments shall each appoint a Commissioner and a Surveyor, who, before the expiration of one year from the date of the exchange of ratifications of this treaty, shall meet at the port of San Diego, and proceed to run and mark the said boundary in its whole course to the mouth of the Rio Brave del Norte. They shall keep journals and make out plans of their operations, and the result agreed upon by them suali be deemed a part of this treaty, and shall have the same furre as if it were inserted therein. The two Governments will amicably agree regarding what may be necessary to these persons, and also as to their respective escorts, should such be necessary.

"The boundary line established by this article shall be religiously respected by each of the two Republics, and no chauge shall ever be made therein, except by the express and free consent of both naffons, lawfully given by the General Government of each, in conformity with its own Constitution."

In pursuance of these stipulations, after having completed the survey of the line from the Pacific rivers, the Joint Commission reassembled at El coast to the junction of the Gila and the Colorado Paso in December, 1850.

So far as this Department is advised, the southern boundary of New Mexico was, at the date of the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, a mere imaginary geographical line, which had never been surveyed or marked under the authority of the Mexi can Government. The point where this line strikes the Rio Grande had never been designated with precision, and it could therefore be ascertained only by determining its relative position to other points which were known and determined. Much prehensions were at one time entertained whether controversy arose on this subject, and serious apthe Commissioners could come to any satisfactory agreement.

Finally, however, they agreed that it should be established in latitude north 320 22', and on the 24th of April, 1851, the Commissioners, and other persons attached to the Commission, assembled on that should be the initial point of boundary on the ground, and it was publicly proclaimed that the Rio Grande, and a monument was erected to mark the spot.

A written convention to that effect was also drawn up and signed by the two Commissioners and by the Surveyor on the part of Mexico, and by Lieutenant A. W. Whipple, the Acting Surveyor on the part of the United States. At the date of this convention, Mr. A. B. Gray, who had been appointed Surveyor on behalf of the United States, had not arrived at El Paso, and, to avoid the delay and inconvenience that would ensue from awaiting his arrival, it was agreed by the two Conmissioners that Lieutenant Whipple, who was the Acting Surveyor, should officiate in his place. When Mr. Gray joined the Commissioners, about the 19th of July, 1851, he was requested by Commissioner Bartlett, out of abundant caution, to attach his signature to the convention, so as to remove all possible objection which might be raised to the agreement, on the ground that it had not been authenticated in exact conformity with the words of the treaty. Mr. Gray, however, refused to sign the agreement, and that fact was communicated to this Department by a dispatch from the Commissioner. As I foresaw that any difficulty which might arise on this point would necessarily affect our relations with Mexico, I felt it to be my duty to bring the subject to the attention of the late Secretary of State, (Mr. Webster,) and to ask his advice as to what course it was proper for me to pursue. We examined the provisions of the treaty together, and concurred in the opinion that the Commissioners alone were empowered to decide upon all disputes which might arise in regard to the boundary, and that the Surveyors were mere ministerial agents to carry into effect the decisions of the Commissioners, and to authenticate them by their signatures. We regarded the relative functions of the Commissioners and Surveyors as bear. ing a strong analogy to the duties of a commissioner and surveyor appointed under an order of court, to make partition of a tract of land between two joint owners. It is the province of the commissioner to decide where the dividing line shall run, and of the surveyor to run and mark it in conformity with his decision.

The signatures of both, however, are very properly required to authenticate the report, and to show that it correctly sets forth the action of both. In conformity with this view of the subject, the Secretary of State advised me to request Mr. Gray to sign the agreement fixing the initial

32D CONG.....2D SESS.

point, and a letter to that effect was accordingly addressed by me to Mr. Gray, on the 31st day of October, 1851.

As the object of this letter seems to have been misunderstood by many persons whose opinions are entitled to respect, I deem the present a suitf able occasion to remove all doubts on the subject. In my judgment, neither the Department of the Interior, nor the Executive, nor Congress, have any power to regulate or control the action of the officers designated by the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo to perform the duty of ascertaining and marking on the surface of the earth the line between the two countries.

These officers derive their authority from the treaty itself, which is the joint act of the two contracting parties, and not from their respective Governments. Their functions are those of arbitrators, and their decision is in the nature of an award, which neither party can set aside; and accordingly by the terms of the treaty, it is expressly stipulated that "the result agreed on by them shall be deemed a part of this treaty, and shall have the same force as if it were inserted therein."

In view of this clear and distinct provision, for the observance of which the national faith has been solemnly pledged, the Department of the Interior has not claimed or exercised any right to interfere with the action of the Commissioners. It has expressed no official opinion as to the correctness or incorrectness of the point agreed upon by the Commissioners as to the beginning point on the Rio Grande of the southern line of New Mexico; and if I had been satisfied that their decision was clearly erroneous, I did not conceive that it was competent for me to alter or modify, in any particular, what had been done by them. With the distinct declaration of the treaty before me, that "the result agreed upon by them shall be deemed a part of this treaty, and shall have the same force as if it were inserted therein," it would have been strange if I had asserted any such right.

But it has been contended that the letter to Mr. Gray necessarily involves such a pretension. I certainly had no such purpose in writing that letter; on the contrary, my object was clearly to intimate to Mr. Gray that he had neither coequal powers with the Commissioners, nor supervisory control over their action, and that, although his signature might be necessary for the formal authentication of the convention between the two Commissioners, it was not essential to its validity, in like manner as the signature of the clerk of the Supreme Court of the United States may be necessary to a formal certificate of a judgment of the court to an inferior tribunal; and yet the absence of that signature does not in any wise affect the validity of the judgment itself.

The objection to the action of the Department proceeds upon the idea that the Commission contemplated by the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo consisted of four members, viz: two Commissioners and two Surveyors, all possessing equal powers. If such be the true construction of the treaty, then I acknowledge I have, in common with the late Secretary of State and his predecessor, (Mr. Buchanan,) misunderstood its provisions.

It will be recollected that the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which was proclaimed on the 4th day of July, 1848, was negotiated and concluded under instructions issued by Mr. Buchanan. The Commission to run and mark the boundary line was organized under his immediate supervision, by the appointment of Mr. Weller as Commissioner, and Mr. Gray as Surveyor.

That Mr. Buchanan did not regard the Surveyor as possessing equal powers with the Commissioner, or as being an associate Commissioner, is obvious from the fact that all his instructions as to the mode of performing that duty were addressed to the Commissioner alone, and not to the Commissioner and Surveyor jointly. The language of the instructions tends also strongly to repel such a presumption. In his letter to the Commissioner, under date of February 13, 1849, he says:

"As you will be held responsible for the able and faithful execution of the important trust confided to you by this article of the treaty, the President deems it proper to leave to you the organization of the Commission."

Again he says, in the same letter:

“In organizing the Commission, you are referred for any

Report of the Secretary of the Interior.

information which you may deem necessary to Andrew B. Gray, Esq., who has been appointed Surveyor."

After the transfer of this service from the State Department to the Department of the Interior, my predecessor, Mr. Ewing, following the interpretation which had been given to the treaty by the Department of State, directed all his instructions to the Commissioner alone, and not to the Commissioner and Surveyor jointly; and I have continued to pursue the same course..

SENATE & HO. OF REPS.

From these quotations, it is obvious that the treaty of 1838 was construed by Mr. Forsyth, precisely as its counterpart has been by Mr. Buchanan, Mr. Ewing, and myself.

That the Mexican Government has also under stood it in the same way, is manifest from the fact that it has devolved the duties of Commissioner and Surveyor upon the same individual, General Salazar. If Mexico had regarded the Surveyor as an associate Commissioner, it is hardly to be supposed that she would have been willing to dispense with his services, and to confide her interests to a single Commissioner, while the United States had two on the ground.

The Surveyors did not even attend the sessions of the Commission, except when their presence was required to give information to the Commissioners, or to authenticate the necessary records, as required by the treaty.

In confirmation of this view of the relative duties of the Commissioner and Surveyor, it is proper to remark that the clause in the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo which provides for a Commission to run and mark the dividing line between the two countries is a literal transcript, except as to names, of the convention for marking the boundary between the United States and Texas, concluded on the 25th of April, 1838. The provisions of that treaty are as follows:

"Art. 1. Each of the contracting parties shall appoint a Commissioner and Surveyor, who shall meet before the termination of twelve months from the exchange of the ratifications of this convention at New Orleans, and proceed to run and mark that portion of the said boundary which ex tends from the mouth of the Sabine, where that river enters the Gulf of Mexico, to the Red river. They shall make out plans and keep journals of their proceedings, and the result agreed upon by them shall be considered as part of this convention, and shall have the same force as if it were inserted therein.

"The two Governments will amicably agree respecting

the necessary articles to be furnished to those persons, and also as to their respective escorts, should such be deemed necessary,"

Under this convention John H. Overton was

appointed Commissioner, and John K. Conway Surveyor on the part of the United States; and Memucan Hunt Commissioner, and G. W. Smyth (and subsequently Andrew B. Gray) Surveyor on the part of Texas.

The following extracts from the instructions given by Mr. Forsyth, then Secretary of State of the United States, to "John H. Overton, Esq., Commissioner for marking the boundary line between Texas and the United States," will show what the Department then understood to be the nature and extent of the powers of the Commissioner and Surveyor:

"Upon yourself, jointly with the Texan Commissioner, will devolve the duties of conducting the proceedings of the Commission, of instructing the Surveyors on both sides as to their actual operations in the field, and of assigning to the clerks the duties properly appertaining to their offices. If any question should arise from conflicting views between yourself and the Texan Commissioner, the duty will be yours carefully to investigate the grounds of your own opinions, and when fully convinced of their correctness, and of the fairness of the claims which they will induce you to set up on the part of the United States, to advocate their

adoption by every proper argument, drawn from the letter and spirit of the provisions of the treaties. As it would not be consistent with the established principles of the Govern ment to advance any pretensions on the part of the United States not founded in strict fairness and justice, it will be equally essential not to admit on the part of Texas any claim not founded in the same principle."

Again:

"The President confidently relies upon your prudence and judgment, as upon the hearty cooperation of the United States Surveyor, whom in turn you are expected personally to attend, direct, and assist in the performance of his duties, for the proper advocacy of the rights and interests of your to confide in your discretion, scrutiny, and patriotic zeal, from the impossibility of foreseeing whether any, and if any, what questions may arise, and from the consequent necessity of leaving you, in a great degree, to exercise your judgment in the discussion and solution of them."

Understanding the claim set up by Mr. Gray to invalidate the action of the Commissioner by withholding his signature from the agreement entered into between them, as necessarily involving a right on his part to exercise a supervisory and controlduty, in conformity with what appeared to be the true interpretation of the treaty and the unbroken chain of precedents under various Administrations, to express my dissent from his pretensions,

With regard to the question, whether the point at which the Rio Grande "strikes the southern boundary of New Mexico" has been correctly established or not, I have not felt myself called on to express an opinion. The treaty has conferred upon me no jurisdiction over the subject. If an error has been committed, I have no power to correct it; or if, on the other hand, it has been correctly ascertained, no expression of opinion by me to that effect could add anything to its validity Having done all that I conceived I had the power to do, officially, on the subject, it must be referred to other departments of the Government to devise and adopt such further measures in regard to it as the interests of the country may require.

1 deem it my duty, however, to request you to recommend to Congress a modification of the proviso to the last appropriation at an early day, so as to relieve the persons attached to the Commission from the embarrassment to which they have been subjected by the want of money to pay them, and also to relieve the Government from the discredit which has been brought upon it by the protest of the drafts of its accredited agents, Five months have elapsed since the close of the last fiscal year, during all which time the officers and employés of the Commission have been diligently engaged in the discharge of their respective duties, in the full confidence that Congress would make the necessary appropriations to defray their expenses and compensate them for their services. This just expectation has been disappointed. No. part of the appropriation for the current fiscal year can be applied to their payment.

They are left in the wilderness, many of them two thousand miles from home, without any provision having been made by law for their support where they are now stationed, and with no means furnished to enable them to return to their families. They are now subsisting on funds borrowed on their individual credit, or raised on drafts drawn by the Commissioner and Surveyor before notice of the proviso to the appropriation, several of which have been presented to the Department and protested for non-payment. This is a case which calls for prompt action on the part of Congress, and I cannot permit myself to doubt that your recommendation to that effect will be responded to without delay.

It will also be necessary to make further provision by law for running and marking the residue of the line between the two countries, in accordance with the terms of the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.

THE EXTENSION OF THE CAPITOL AND RECONSTRUCTION OF THE LIBRARY.

The work upon the extension of the Capitol has advanced with as much rapidity as was consistent with its proper execution. The massive foundations have been completed; the arches between the inside walls of the sub-basement have all been turned and the spandrels filled with cement and brick, and the whole overlaid by a pavement upon which the tiling will rest. A large part of the granite work has also been done, and portions of the walls of the principal basement have been built of the beautiful marble which was selected