might commit these outrages upon American citizens with absolute impunity. Thus wrote our minister in 1856, and expressed the opinion, that "nothing but a manifestation of the power of the government and of its purpose to punish these wrongs will avail."

Afterwards, in 1857, came the adoption of a new constitution for Mexico, the election of a president and congress under its provisions, and the inauguration of the president. Within one short month, however, this president was expelled from the capital by a rebellion in the army; and the supreme power of the republic was assigned to General Zuloaga. This usurper was, in his turn, soon compelled to retire, and give place to General Miramon.

Under the constitution which had thus been adopted, Senor Juarez, as chief justice of the supreme court, became the lawful president of the republic; and it was for the maintenance of the constitution and his authority derived from it, that the civil war commenced, and still continues to be prosecuted.

Throughout the year 1858, the constitutional party grew stronger and stronger. In the previous history of Mexico, a successful military revolution at the capital had almost universally been the signal for submission throughout the republic. Not so on the present occasion. A majority of the citizens persistently sustained the constitutional government. When this was recognized in April, 1859, by the government of the United States, its authority extended over a large majority of the Mexican States and people, including Vera Cruz, and all the other important sea-ports of the republic. From that period our commerce with Mexico began to revive, and the constitutional government has afforded it all the protection in its power.

Meanwhile, the government of Miramon still held sway at the capital and over the surrounding country, and continued its outrages against the few American citizens who still had the courage to remain within its power. To cap the climax, after the battle of Tacubaya, in April, 1859, General Marquez ordered three citizens of the United States, two of them physicians, to be seized in the hospital at that place, taken out and shot, without crime, and without trial. This was done, notwithstanding our unfortunate countrymen were at the moment engaged in the holy cause of affording relief to the soldiers of both parties who had been wounded in the battle, without making any distinction between them.

The time had arrived, in my opinion, when this government was bound to exert its power to avenge and redress the wrongs of our citizens, and to afford them protection in Mexico. The interposing obstacle was that the portion of the country under the sway of Miramon, could not be reached without passing over territory under the jurisdiction of the constitutional government. Under these circumstances, I deemed it my duty to recommend to Congress, in my last annual message, the employment of a sufficient military force to penetrate into the interior, where the government of Miramon was to be found, with, or if need be, without the consent of the Juarez government, though it was not doubted that this consent could be obtained. Never have I had a clearer conviction on any subject than of the justice, as well as wisdom, of such a policy. No other alternative

was left, except the entire abandonment of our fellow-citizens who had gone to Mexico under the faith of treaties to the systematic injustice, cruelty, and oppression of Miramon's government. Besides, it is almost certain that the simple authority to employ this force would of itself have accomplished all our objects, without striking a single blow. The constitutional government would, then, ere this have been established at the city of Mexico, and would have been ready and willing, to the extent of its ability, to do us justice.

In addition, and I deem this a most important consideration, European governments would have been deprived of all pretext to interfere in the territorial and domestic concerns of Mexico. We should thus have been relieved from the obligation of resisting, even by force, should this become necessary, any attempt by these governments to deprive our neighboring republic of portions of her territory, a duty from which we could not shrink without abandoning the traditional and established policy of the American people. I am happy to observe that, firmly relying upon the justice and good faith of these governments, there is no present danger that such a contingency will happen. Having discovered that my recommendations would not be sustained by Congress, the next alternative was to accomplish, in some degree, if possible, the same objects by treaty stipulations with the constitutional government. Such treaties were accordingly concluded by our late able and excellent minister to Mexico, and on the 4th of January last were submitted to the Senate for ratification. As these have not. yet received the final action of that body, it would be improper for me to present a detailed statement of their provisions. Still, I may be permitted to express the opinion in advance, that they are calculated to promote the agricultural, manufacturing, and commercial interests of the country, and to secure our just influence with an adjoining republic as to whose fortunes and fate we can never feel indifferent; whilst at the same time they provide for the payment of a considerable amount towards the satisfaction of the claims of our injured fellowcitizens.

At the period of my inauguration I was confronted in Kansas by a revolutionary government existing under what is called the " "Topeka constitution." Its avowed object was to subdue the territorial government by force, and to inaugurate what was called the "Topeka government" in its stead. To accomplish this object an extensive military organization was formed, and its command intrusted to the most violent revolutionary leaders. Under these circumstances it became my imperative duty to exert the whole constitutional power of the Executive to prevent the flames of civil war from again raging in Kansas; which, in the excited state of the public mind, both North and South, might have extended into the neighboring States. The hostile parties in Kansas had been inflamed against each other, by emissaries both from the North and the South, to a degree of malignity without parallel in our history. To prevent actual collision, and to assist the civil magistrates in enforcing the laws, a strong detachment. of the army was stationed in the Territory, ready to aid the marshal and his deputies when lawfully called upon as a posse comitatus in the execution of civil and criminal process. Still the troubles in Kansas.

could not have been permanently settled without an election by the people.

The ballot-box is the surest arbiter of disputes among freemen. Under this conviction every proper effort was employed to induce the hostile parties to vote at the election of delegates to frame a State constitution, and afterwards at the election to decide whether Kansas should be a slave or free State.

The insurgent party refused to vote at either, lest this might be considered a recognition on their part of the territorial government established by Congress. A better spirit, however, seemed soon after to prevail, and the two parties met face to face at the third election, held on the first Monday of January, 1858, for members of the legislature and State officers under the Lecompton constitution. The result was the triumph of the anti-slavery party at the polls. This decision of the ballot-box proved clearly that this party were in the majority, and removed the danger of civil war. From that time we have heard little or nothing of the Topeka government, and all serious danger of revolutionary troubles in Kansas was then at an end.

The Lecompton constitution which had been thus recognized at this State election, by the votes of both political parties in Kansas, was transmitted to me with the request that I should present it to Congress. This I could not have refused to do without violating my clearest and strongest convictions of duty. The constitution and all the proceedings which preceded and followed its formation, were fair and regular on their face. I then believed, and experience has proved, that the interests of the people of Kansas would have been best consulted by its admission as a State into the Union, especially as the majority, within a brief period, could have amended the constitution according to their will and pleasure. If fraud existed in all or any of these proceedings, it was not for the President but for Congress to investigate and determine the question of fraud, and what ought to be its consequences. If at the first two elections the majority refused to vote, it cannot be pretended that this refusal to exercise the elective franchise could invalidate an election fairly held under lawful authority, even if they had not subsequently voted at the third election. It is true that the whole constitution had not been submitted to the people as I always desired; but the precedents are numerous of the admission of States into the Union without such submission. It would not comport with my present purpose to review the proceedings of Congress upon the Lecompton constitution. It is sufficient to observe that their final action has removed the last vestige of serious revolutionary troubles. The desperate band recently assembled under a notorious outlaw in the southern portion of the Territory, to resist the execution of the laws, and to plunder peaceful citizens, will, I doubt not, be speedily subdued and brought to justice.

Had I treated the Lecompton constitution as a nullity and refused to transmit it to Congress, it is not difficult to imagine, whilst recalling the position of the country at that moment, what would have been the disastrous consequences, both in and out of the Territory, from such a dereliction of duty on the part of the Executive.

Peace has also been restored within the Territory of Utah, which at

the commencement of my administration was in a state of open rebellion. This was the more dangerous, as the people animated by a fanatical spirit and entrenched within their distant mountain fastnesses, might have made a long and formidable resistance. Cost what it might it was necessary to bring them into subjection to the Constitution and the laws. Sound policy, therefore, as well as humanity, required that this object should, if possible, be accomplished without the effusion of blood. This could only be effected by sending a military force into the Territory sufficiently strong to convince the people that resistance would be hopeless, and at the same time to offer them a pardon for past offenses on condition of immediate submission to the government. This policy was pursued with eminent success, and the only cause for regret is the heavy expenditure required to march a large detachment of the army to that remote region, and to furnish it subsistence.

Utah is now comparatively peaceful and quiet, and the military force has been withdrawn, except that portion of it necessary to keep the Indians in check, and to protect the emigrant trains on their way to our Pacific possessions.

In my first annual message I promised to employ my best exertions, in coöperation with Congress, to reduce the expenditures of the government within the limits of a wise and judicious economy. An overflowing treasury had produced habits of prodigality and extravagance which could only be gradually corrected. The work required both time and patience. I applied myself diligently to this task from the beginning, and was aided by the able and energetic efforts of the heads of the different executive departments. The result of our labors in this good cause did not appear in the sum total of our expenditures for the first two years, mainly in consequence of the extraordinary expenditure necessarily incurred in the Utah expedition, and the very large amount of the contingent expenses of Congress during this period. These greatly exceeded the pay and mileage of the members. For the year ending June 30, 1858, whilst the pay and mileage amounted to $1,490,214, the contingent expenses rose to $2,093,309 79, and for the year ending June 30, 1859, whilst the pay and mileage amounted to $859,093 66, the contingent expenses amounted $1,431,565 78. I am happy, however, to be able to inform you that during the last fiscal year ending June 30, 1860, the total expenditures of the government in all its branches, legislative, executive, and judicial, exclusive of the public debt, were reduced to the sum of $55,402,465 46. This conclusively appears from the books of the Treasury. In the year ending June 30, 1858, the total expenditure, exclusive of the public debt, amounted to $71,901,129 77, and that for the year ending June 30, 1859, to $66,346,226 13. Whilst the books of the Treasury show an actual expenditure of $59,848,474 72 for the year ending June 30, 1860, including $1,040,667 71 for the contingent expenses of Congress, there must be deducted from this amount the sum of $4,296,009 26, with the interest upon it of $150,000, appropriated by the act of February 15, 1860, for the purpose of supplying the deficiency in the revenues and defraying the expenses of the Post Office Department for the year ending June 30, 1859." This sum, therefore, justly

chargeable to the year 1859, must be deducted from the sum of $59,848,474 72 in order to ascertain the expenditure for the year ending June 30, 1860, which leaves a balance for the expenditures of that year of $55,402,465 46. The interest on the public debt, including treasury notes for the same fiscal year, ending June 30, 1860, amounted to $3,177,314 62, which, added to the above sum of $55,402,465 46, makes the aggregate of $58,579,780 08.

It ought, in justice to be observed, that several of the estimates from the departments for the year ending June 30, 1860, were reduced by Congress below what was and still is deemed compatible with the public interest. Allowing a liberal margin of $2,500,000 for this reduction and for other causes, it may be safely asserted that the sum of $61,000,000, or, at the most, $62,000,000, is amply sufficient to administer the government and to pay the interest on the public debt, unless contingent events should hereafter render extraordinary expenditures necessary.

This result has been attained in a considerable degree by the care exercised by the appropriate departments in entering into public contracts. I have myself never interfered with the award of any such contract, except in a single case, with the Colonization Society, deeming it advisable to cast the whole responsibility in each case on the proper head of the department, with the general instruction that these contracts should always be given to the lowest and best bidder. It has ever been my opinion that public contracts are not a legitimate source of patronage, to be conferred upon personal or political favorites; but that, in all such cases, a public officer is bound to act for the government as a prudent individual would act for himself.

It is with great satisfaction I communicate the fact that since the date of my last annual message not a single slave has been imported into the United States in violation of the laws prohibiting the African slave trade. This statement is founded upon a thorough examination and investigation of the subject. Indeed, the spirit which prevailed some time since among a portion of our fellow-citizens in favor of this trade seems to have entirely subsided.

I also congratulate you upon the public sentiment which now exists against the crime of setting on foot military expeditions within the limits of the United States, to proceed from thence and make war upon the people of unoffending States with whom we are at peace. In this respect a happy change has been effected since the commencement of my administration. It surely ought to be the prayer of every Christian and patriot that such expeditions may never again receive countenance in our country, or depart from our shores.

It would be a useless repetition to do more than refer with earnest commendation to my former recommendations in favor of the Pacific railroad; of the grant of power to the President to employ the naval force in the vicinity for the protection of the lives and property of our fellow-citizens passing in transit over the different Central American routes against sudden and lawless outbreaks and depredations; and also to protect American merchant vessels, their crews and cargoes, against violent and unlawful seizure and confiscation in the ports of Mexico and the South American republics, when these may be in a