A letter of the Secretary of the Interior of the 25th instant (ultimo) and a copy of a communication from the Commissioner of Indian Affairs of the 19th instant (ultimo), explanatory of the said treaty, are also herewith transmitted.

I herewith lay before the Senate, for its constitutional action thereon, a treaty concluded in this city on the 23d instant (ultimo) between the United States and the following tribes of Indians, viz: The Senecas, the confederated Senecas…

A letter of the Secretary of the Interior of the 26th instant (ultimo) and a copy of a letter of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs of the 25th instant (ultimo), explanatory of said treaty, are also herewith transmitted.

A letter of the Secretary of the Interior of the 6th instant and a copy of a communication from the Commissioner of Indian Affairs of the 2d instant, explanatory of the said treaty, are also herewith transmitted.

I herewith lay before the Senate, for its constitutional action thereon, a treaty concluded this day between the United States and the chiefs and headmen of the Kickapoo tribe of Indians.

I herewith lay before the Senate, for its constitutional action thereon, a treaty concluded in this city on the 15th instant (ultimo) between the United States and the Stockbridge and Munsee tribes of Indians.

The powers of departmental commanders are hereby delegated to the above-named district commanders.

I have carefully examined the bill 'to regulate the tenure of certain civil offices.'

I know no other way in which they can be preserved and maintained except by a constant adherence to them through the various vicissitudes of national existence, with such adaptations as may become necessary, always to be effected, however…

This is a bill passed by Congress in time of peace.

While a just, proper, and watchful jealousy of executive power constantly prevails, as it ought ever to prevail, yet it is equally true that an efficient Executive is an indispensable security for tranquillity at home and peace, honor, and…

For these reasons I return the bill to the Senate, in which House it originated, for the further consideration of Congress which the Constitution prescribes.

I am unable to give it my assent, for reasons so grave that I hope a statement of them may have some influence on the minds of the patriotic and enlightened men with whom the decision must ultimately rest.

It reduces the whole population of the ten States--all persons, of every color, sex, and condition, and every stranger within their limits--to the most abject and degrading slavery.

The bill, however, would seem to show upon its face that the establishment of peace and good order is not its real object.

All the information I have on the subject convinces me that the masses of the Southern people and those who control their public acts [...] are completely united in the effort to reorganize their society on the basis of peace and to…

As the nature of government requires the power of removal, it was maintained that it should be exercised in this way by the hand capable of exerting itself with effect.

The history of the world has been written in vain if it does not teach us that unrestrained authority can never be safely trusted in human hands.

It places at his free disposal all the lands and goods in his district, and he may distribute them without let or hindrance to whom he pleases.

The power of removal was incident to that duty, and might often be requisite to fulfill it.

The subject was long and earnestly debated in the Senate, and the early construction of the Constitution was, nevertheless, freely accepted as binding and conclusive upon Congress.

It should induce us to pause in a course of legislation which, looking solely to the attainment of political ends, fails to consider the rights it transgresses, the law which it violates, or the institutions which it imperils.

To pronounce the supreme lawmaking power of an established state illegal is to say that law itself is unlawful.

Under these circumstances, as a depositary of the executive authority of the nation, I do not feel at liberty to unite with Congress in reversing it by giving my approval to the bill.

I submit to Congress whether this measure is not in its whole character, scope, and object without precedent and without authority.