Show GRESSIONAL congressional ON on the of february the president Presta ent transmitted to con congress 0 ress the follo following wing message 2 received by the mail which arri vedon the uit but we had not room por for fon for it in the last number of the new yew to the senate and house howse of the brief period bich bibb remains of present session and the great urgency and nd importance of legislative t action before its termination for the protection of american citizens and their property hilst whilst in transit across the isthmus routes between our alantic and pacific possessions possess iotis render it my duty again to recall the subject to your noce I 1 have heretofore in iii thy lay ani rii inual ineal messages both of december 57 67 ai at aid d 8 to which I 1 beg leave to refer in the latter I 1 stated that the execl executive ti ive lve government of the coi cot country ienir Y in its intercourse with foreign nations is I 1 limited I 1 i t ed to the employment of diplomacy alone where this fails it can proceed no further urther f it cannot legitimately resort to force without tiie the direct authority of congress except in resisting and repelling hostile attacks it would have no authority to enter tiie the territories of nicaragua even to prevent the destruction of the transit and protect the lives and property of our own citizens on their passages it is true that on a sudden emergency of this character the president would direct any armed force in the vicinity to march marc h to their thel r relief but in doing ibis he would act upon his own responsibility under these ces I 1 earnestly recommend to congress Congre oi the passage of an act authorizing the president under such restriction as they may deem proper to employ the land and naval f forces of tb the e united states in preventing the transit from being obstructed or closed by lawless violence a and nd in protecting the lives and property of american citizens citizens traveling thereupon requiring at the same time that these forces shall be withdrawn the moment the danger shall have passed away without such a provision our citizen citizens li will be constantly exposed to interference in t their heir progress and arid to 0 o lawless violence A similar necessity exists for the passage of such an act for the protection of the panama and ani tepee routes I 1 another subject equally important which commanded the attention of the senate during the last session of congress the republics south bouth a of the united states on this continent contin erit have unfortunately been frequently in a state of revolution and civil war ever since they achieved their independence as one or the other party has prevailed and obtained possession of the file ports open to foreign forein n commerce they have seized and confiscate American v vessels Cs and their cargoes in an arbitrary and law less mann erand exacted money from american citizens by forced loans and arid other violent proceedings ce to enable them to carry on hostilities the executive government of great britain france and other countries possessing the war making power can promptly employ the necessary means to enforce immediate redress fur similar outrages upon their subjects not so with ith the executive government of the united states if the president orders a vessel to any of those ports to demand prompt redress for outrages committed the offending parties are well aware that in case of refusal the commander could do no more knore than remonstrate he can resort to no hostile ostile li act the question must then be referred to diplomacy at ard aid d in many cases adequate redress can never be obtained bained the remedy for this state of things can only be supplied by congress Con gress eress since the constitution Cona titi has confided to that body alone the power to make war without the authority of congress the executive cannot lawf lawfully ully direct any force however near it may be to the scene of difficulty to enter the territory of mexico nicaragua or new gra granada lada jada for the purpose of defending the persons an ant property of ameri amerl can citizens even thou though 9 b they may be violently assailed whilst passing in peaceful transit over the tehuantepec nicaragua and panama routes ile he cannot without transcending his constitutional power direct a gun to be fired into a port or land a seaman or marine to protect the lives of our countrymen on shore or to obtain redress from a recent outrage 0 on their property the which infests our neighboring republic of mexico always claiming to belor belot belong to one or the otheron the hostile parties might make a sudden descent on vera cruz or the tehuantepec route and be would have no power to t employ the force on shipboard ship board in the vicinity for the relief either to prevent the plunder of our merchants or the obstruction of the transit in reference to countries where the local authorities are strong stron enough to enforce the aws jaws awe the difficulty here indicated seldom ia lapens pens but where this is not the case and the he local authorities do not possess the physical power even if they possess the will to protect our citizens within their limits recent experience haa baa shown the american executive should itself be authorize to render this protection tec tion sach a grant of authority thus limited in its ta extent could in no just sense be regarded as a transfer of the war making power to the present executive but only as an appropriate ex exercise arcise of that power by the body to whom it exclusively belongs the riot at pana panama ma in 1856 in which a great auml er enof of 0 ir catl zeng zelg lost beir belr lars a por d illustration of tle v ix a nn iv anbe anse fin fir the i n if f flab dul aul dub auth arx r 1 I ear testy y r amend to congress on whom the responsibility exclusively rests to pass a law before their theli adjournment conferring on the president the power to protect we lives and property of american citizens in the he cases which I 1 have indicated under such restrictions and conditions as they may deem ad visible the knowledge that such a law exists would of itself go far to prevent the outrages which it is intended to redress and render the employment of force wi necessary unnecessary but bat without this the president of the ibe united united states may be placed tn in a painful position before the meeting of the next congress in the present disturbed condition of mexico and one or more of the other Ro republics publics south of us u no person can forsee what occurrences may take place before that period arld and in incase case cabe of emergency our citizens seeing that they do net not enjoy e the same protection with the subjects of european governments will wll have ajust just cause to complain on the other band I 1 should the executive interpose and especially should the result prove disastrous and valuable lives be lost he might subject himself to severe censure for having assumed a power not confided to him by the constitution and arid it is to guard against a alnut this contingency that I 1 now appeal to congress having thus recommended to congress a measure which I 1 deem necessary and expedient for the interests and honor of the country I 1 leave the whole subject to their wisdom arld and discretion JAMES BUCHANAN A motion was made in the senate to refer the message to the committee on foreign ait ALT affairs AIrs upon which a short abort debate was had bad clingman benjamin and douglas favoring and seward and fessenden opposing the views of the president the same day the house went into committee on the army appropriation bill during the discussion mr air staunton of ohto ohio offered an amendment to strikeout strike out tout the appropriation pria tion of recruiting in bibb hleb which be he proposed to test the sense of members as to whether they were in favor of a reduction of the army mr lovejoy of ill iii said that he be wanted to put the army between the horns borns so as to have hare merely a skeleton hung up for the study of practical anatomy he fie was credibly informed and abd believed that the army was used to wet get get up ludian indian wars and establish garrisons zo to advance the price of town lots some come months ago ther ewas a cry against the cormons mormons Mor mons anti and it was urged that they should be exterminated merely because they ered white to black J the amendment was rejected by an ovar overwhelming w wh majority buting f mr faulkner offered an amendment cutting off the brevet pay ile he said that there exists throughout hout the country a strong impression impresa ion lon that the brevet rank is demoralizing and arid leads to and favoritism this hir his amendment was also rejected |