land in Occacock Island and 10 acres on the Cape Island, within the said State, for the purpose of erecting light-houses thereon, together with the deed of the governor in pursuance thereof and the original conveyances made to the State by the individual proprietors, which original conveyances contain conditions that the light-house on Occacock shall be built before the 1st day of January, 1801, and that on the Cape Island before the 8th day of October, 1800. And I have caused these several papers to be deposited in the office of the Secretary of State. A statement of the returns of the enumeration of the inhabitants of the United States which have been received will at this time be laid before you. GO WASHINGTON. UNITED STATES, October 27, 1791. Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives: I have directed the Secretary of War to lay before you, for your information, the reports of Brigadier-General Scott and Lieutenant-Colonel Commandant Wilkinson, the officers who commanded the two expeditions against the Wabash Indians in the months of June and August last, together with the instructions by virtue of which the said expeditions were undertaken. When the operations now depending shall be terminated, the reports relative thereto shall also be laid before you. GO WASHINGTON. UNITED STATES, October 31, 1791. Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives: I send you herewith the arrangement which has been made by me, pursuant to the act entitled "An act repealing after the last day of June next the duties heretofore laid upon distilled spirits imported from abroad and laying others in their stead, and also upon spirits distilled within the United States, and for appropriating the same," in respect to the subdivision of the several districts created by the said act into surveys of inspection, the appointment of officers for the same, and the assignment of compensations. GO WASHINGTON. UNITED STATES, November 1, 1791. Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives: I received yesterday from the judge of the district of South Carolina a letter, inclosing the presentments of the grand jury to him, and stating the causes which have prevented the return of the census from that district, copies of which are now laid before you. GO WASHINGTON. UNITED STATES, November 10, 1791. Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives: The resolution passed at the last session of Congress, requesting the President of the United States to cause an estimate to be laid before Congress at their next session of the quantity and situation of the lands not claimed by the Indians nor granted to nor claimed by any of the citizens of the United States within the territory ceded to the United States by the State of North Carolina and within the territory of the United States northwest of the river Ohio, has been referred to the Secretary of State, a copy of whose report on that subject I now lay before you, together with the copy of a letter accompanying it. GO WASHINGTON. UNITED STATES, November 11, 1791. Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives: I have received from the governor of Virginia a resolution of the general assembly of that Commonwealth, ratifying the first article of the amendments proposed by Congress to the Constitution of the United States, a copy of which and of the letter accompanying it I now lay before you. Sundry papers relating to the purchase by Judge Symmes of the lands on the Great Miami having been communicated to me, I have thought it proper to lay the same before you for your information on that subject. GO WASHINGTON. UNITED STATES, December 12, 1791. Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives: It is with great concern that I communicate to you the information received from Major-General St. Clair of the misfortune which has befallen the troops under his command. Although the national loss is considerable according to the scale of the event, yet it may be repaired without great difficulty, excepting as to the brave men who have fallen on the occasion, and who are a subject of public as well as private regret. A further communication will shortly be made of all such matters as shall be necessary to enable the Legislature to judge of the future measures which it may be proper to pursue. GO WASHINGTON. UNITED STATES, December 13, 1791. Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives: I place before you the plan of a city that has been laid out within the district of 10 miles square, which was fixed upon for the permanent seat of the Government of the United States. GO WASHINGTON. UNITED STATES, December 20, 1791. Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives: I lay before you the copy of a letter which I have received from the governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and of sundry documents which accompanied it, relative to a contract for the purchase of a certain tract of land bounding on Lake Erie, together with a copy of a report of the Secretary of State on the same subject. GO WASHINGTON. UNITED STATES, December 30, 1791. Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives: I lay before you a copy of the ratification by the Commonwealth of Virginia of the articles of amendment proposed by Congress to the Constitution of the United States, and a copy of a letter which accompanied said ratification from the governor of Virginia. GO WASHINGTON. Gentlemen of the Senate: UNITED STATES, January 11, 1792. I lay before you the following report, which has been made to me by the Secretary of State: DECEMBER 22, 1791. The Secretary of State reports to the President of the United States that one of the commissioners of Spain, in the name of both, has lately communicated to him verbally, by order of his Court, that His Catholic Majesty, apprised of our solicitude to have some arrangements made respecting our free navigation of the river Mississippi and the use of a port thereon, is ready to enter into treaty thereon at Madrid. The Secretary of State is of opinion that this overture should be attended to without delay, and that the proposal of treating at Madrid, though not what might have been desired, should yet be accepted, and a commission plenipotentiary made out for the purpose. That Mr. Carmichael, the present chargé d'affaires of the United States at Madrid, from the local acquaintance which he must have acquired with persons and circumstances, would be an useful and proper member of the commission, but that it would be useful also to join with him some person more particularly acquainted with the circumstances of the navigation to be treated of, That the fund appropriated by the act providing the means of intercourse between the United States and foreign nations will insufficiently furnish the ordinary and regular demands on it, and is consequently inadequate to the mission of an additional commissioner express from hence. That therefore it will be advisable on this account, as well as for the sake of dispatch, to constitute some one of the ministers of the United States in Europe, jointly with Mr. Carmichael, commissioners plenipotentiary for the special purpose of negotiating and concluding with any person or persons duly authorized by His Catholic Majesty a convention or treaty for the free navigation of the river Mississippi by the citizens of the United States under such accommodations with respect to a port and other circumstances as may render the said navigation practicable. useful, and free from dispute, saving to the President and Senate their respective rights as to the ratification of the same, and that the said negotiation be at Madrid, or such other place in Spain as shall be desired by His Catholic Majesty. TH: JEFFERSON. In consequence of the communication from the Court of Spain, as stated in the preceding report, I nominate William Carmichael, present chargé d'affaires of the United States at Madrid, and William Short, present chargé d'affaires of the United States at Paris, to be commissioners plenipotentiary for negotiating and concluding with any person or persons who shall be duly authorized by His Catholic Majesty a convention or treaty concerning the navigation of the river Mississippi by the citizens of the United States, saving to the President and Senate their respective rights as to the ratification of the same. GO WASHINGTON. UNITED STATES, January 11, 1792. Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives: I lay before you, in confidence, two reports, made to me by the Secretary for the Department of War, relatively to the present state of affairs on the Western frontiers of the United States. In these reports the causes of the present war with the Indians, the measures taken by the Executive to terminate it amicably, and the military preparations for the late campaign are stated and explained, and also a plan suggested of such further measures on the occasion as appear just and expedient. I am persuaded, gentlemen, that you will take this important subject into your immediate and serious consideration, and that the result of your deliberations will be the adoption of such wise and efficient measures as will reflect honor on our national councils and promote the welfare of our country. GO WASHINGTON. UNITED STATES, January 18, 1792. Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives: I lay before you a copy of an exemplified copy of an act of the legislature of Vermont, ratifying on behalf of that State the articles of amendment proposed by Congress to the Constitution of the United States together with a copy of a letter which accompanied said ratification. GO WASHINGTON. Gentlemen of the Senate: UNITED STATES, January 18, 1792. I lay before you the communications of a deputation from the Cherokee Nation of Indians now in this city, and I request your advice whether an additional article shall be made to the Cherokee treaty to the following effect, to wit: That the sum to be paid annually by the United States to the Cherokee Nation of Indians in consideration of the relinquishment of lands as stated in the treaty made with them on the 2d day of July, 1791, shali be $1,500 instead of $1,000 mentioned in the said treaty. GO WASHINGTON. UNITED STATES, January 23, 1792. Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives: Having received from the governor of Virginia a letter, inclosing a resolution of the general assembly of that State and a report of a committee of the House of Delegates respecting certain lands located by the officers and soldiers of the Virginia line under the laws of that State, and since ceded to the Chickasaw Indians, I lay copies of the same before you, together with a report of the Secretary of State on this subject. GO WASHINGTON. UNITED STATES, February 8, 1792. Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives: An article of expense having occurred in the Department of Foreign Affairs for which no provision has been made by law, I lay before you a letter from the Secretary of State explaining the same, in order that you may do thereon what you shall find to be right. GO WASHINGTON. UNITED STATES, March 3, 1792. Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives: I lay before you a copy of a return of the number of inhabitants in the district of South Carolina as made to me by the marshal thereof, and a copy of a letter which accompanied said return. GO WASHINGTON. UNITED STATES, March 5, 1792. Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives: Knowing the friendly interest you take in whatever may promote the happiness and prosperity of the French nation, it is with pleasure that I lay before you the translation of a letter which I have received from His Most Christian Majesty, announcing to the United States of America his acceptance of the constitution presented to him by his nation. GO WASHINGTON. |