My mind is not clear of doubt as to the power of the Executive to act in the matter, but being opposed to the assumption of any doubtful power, I have considered it best to submit the agreement to your consideration.

JOHN TYLER.



WASHINGTON, February 12, 1844.

To the Senate of the United States:

I transmit herewith a letter from the governor of Iowa, accompanied by a memorial from the legislative assembly of that Territory, asking admission as an independent State into the Union.

JOHN TYLER.



WASHINGTON, February 12, 1844.

To the Senate of the United States:

I transmit herewith the copy of a report made by Captain R.F. Stockton, of the United States Navy, relative to the vessel of war the Princeton, which has been constructed under his supervision and direction, and recommend the same to the attentive consideration of Congress.

JOHN TYLER.



FEBRUARY 15, 1844.

To the Senate of the United States:

I communicate herewith a letter from the Secretary of the Treasury, submitting a report from the Commissioner of the General Land Office and accompanying papers, in answer to a resolution adopted by the Senate on the 6th instant, requesting certain information respecting the receipt by local land officers of fees not authorized by law and the measures which have been adopted in reference thereto.

JOHN TYLER.



WASHINGTON, D.C., February 15, 1844.

To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States:

In compliance with the request contained in the accompanying letter from the governor of the State of Kentucky, I herewith transmit certain resolutions[101] adopted by the legislature of that State, in relation to a digest of the decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States.

JOHN TYLER.

[Footnote 101: Asking the publication and distribution of a digest of the decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States.]



WASHINGTON, February 20, 1844.

To the House of Representatives of the United States:

I transmit herewith a report[102] from the Secretary of War, containing the information requested in the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 29th ultimo.

In order to a full understanding of the matter I have deemed it proper to transmit with the information requested a copy of the reply of the Adjutant-General to Brevet Major-General Gaines, with the documents to which it refers.

JOHN TYLER.

[Footnote 102: Relating to the settlement of the accounts of Major-General Gaines, etc.]



WASHINGTON, February 20, 1844.

To the Senate of the United States:

I transmit to the Senate a report[103] from the Secretary of State, with accompanying documents, in answer to their resolution of the 31st of January last.

JOHN TYLER.

[Footnote 103: Relating to slaves committing crimes and escaping from the United States to the British dominions since the ratification of the treaty of 1842, and the refusal of the British authorities to give them up, and to the construction which the British Government puts upon the article of said treaty relative to slaves committing crimes in the United States and taking refuge in the British dominions.]



WASHINGTON, February 21, 1844.

To the House of Representatives of the United States:

I herewith transmit to the House of Representatives, in answer to their resolution of the 16th instant, a report[104] from the Secretary of State, with the correspondence therein referred to.

JOHN TYLER.

[Footnote 104: Relating to a demand upon the British Government for the surrender of certain fugitive criminals from Florida under the provisions of the tenth article of the treaty of Washington.]



WASHINGTON, February 23, 1844.

To the House of Representatives:

I transmit herewith a communication from the Secretary of the Navy, to which I invite the particular attention of Congress. The act entitled "An act to authorize the President of the United States to direct transfers of appropriation in the naval service under certain circumstances" has this day met with my approval, under no expectation that it can be rendered available to the present wants of the service, but as containing an exposition of the views of Congress as to the entire policy of transfers from one head of appropriation to any other in the naval service and as a guide to the Executive in the administration of the duties of that Department. The restrictions laid upon the power to transfer by the latter clauses of the act have rendered its passage of no avail at the present moment.

It will, however, be perceived by the document accompanying the report of the Secretary that there has been realized by recent sales of old iron, copper, and other materials the sum of $116,922.79. These sales were ordered for the express purpose of enabling the Executive to complete certain ships now on the stocks, the completion of which is called for by the economical wants of the service; and the doubt existing as to the power of the Government to apply this sum to the objects contemplated proceeds from the fact that the late Secretary of the Navy directed them to be placed in the Treasury, although in doing so he had no intention of diverting them from their intended head of expenditure. The Secretary of the Treasury, however, has brought himself to the opinion that they could only be entered under the head of miscellaneous receipts, and therefore can only be withdrawn by authority of an express act of Congress. I would suggest the propriety of the passage of such an act without delay.

As intimately associated with the means of public defense, I can not forbear urging upon you the importance of constructing, upon the principles which have been brought into use in the construction of the Princeton, several ships of war of a larger class, better fitted than that ship to the heavy armament which should be placed on board of them. The success which has so eminently crowned this first experiment should encourage Congress to lose no time in availing the country of all the important benefits so obviously destined to flow from it. Other nations will speedily give their attention to the subject, and it would be criminal in the United States, the first to apply to practical purposes the great power which has been brought into use, to permit others to avail themselves of our improvements while we stood listlessly and supinely by. In the number of steam vessels of war we are greatly surpassed by other nations, and yet to Americans is the world indebted for that great discovery of the means of successfully applying steam power which has in the last quarter century so materially changed the condition of the world. We have now taken another and even bolder step, the results of which upon the affairs of nations remain still to be determined, and I can not but flatter myself that it will be followed up without loss of time to the full extent of the public demands. The Secretary of the Navy will be instructed to lay before you suitable estimates of the cost of constructing so many ships of such size and dimensions as you may think proper to order to be built.

The application of steam power to ships of war no longer confines us to the seaboard in their construction. The urgent demands of the service for the Gulf of Mexico and the substitution of iron for wood in the construction of ships plainly point to the establishment of a navy-yard at some suitable place on the Mississippi. The coal fields and iron mines of the extensive region watered by that noble river recommend such an establishment, while high considerations of public policy would lead to the same conclusion.

One of the complaints of the Western States against the actual operation of our system of government is that while large and increasing expenditures of public money are made on the Atlantic frontier the expenditures in the interior are comparatively small. The time has now arrived when this cause of complaint may be in a great measure removed by adopting the legitimate and necessary policy which I have indicated, thereby throwing around the States another bond of union.

I could not forego the favorable opportunity which has presented itself, growing out of the communication from the Secretary of the Navy, to urge upon you the foregoing recommendations.

JOHN TYLER.



WASHINGTON, February 29, 1844.

To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States:

I have to perform the melancholy duty of announcing to the two Houses of Congress the death of the Hon. Abel P. Upshur, late Secretary of State, and the Hon. Thomas W. Gilmer, late Secretary of the Navy.

This most lamentable occurrence transpired on board the United States ship of war the Princeton on yesterday at about half past 4 o'clock in the evening, and proceeded from the explosion of one of the large guns of that ship.

The loss which the Government and the country have sustained by this deplorable event is heightened by the death at the same time and by the same cause of several distinguished persons and valuable citizens.

I shall be permitted to express my great grief at an occurrence which has thus suddenly stricken from my side two gentlemen upon whose advice I so confidently relied in the discharge of my arduous task of administering the office of the executive department, and whose services at this interesting period were of such vast importance.

In some relief of the public sorrow which must necessarily accompany this most painful event, it affords me much satisfaction to say that it was produced by no carelessness or inattention on the part of the officers and crew of the Princeton, but must be set down as one of those casualties which to a greater or less degree attend upon every service, and which are invariably incident to the temporal affairs of mankind. I will also add that it in no measure detracts from the value of the improvement contemplated in the construction of the Princeton or from the merits of her brave and distinguished commander and projector.

JOHN TYLER.



WASHINGTON, March 7, 1844.

To the House of Representatives of the United States:

I transmit to the House of Representatives a report[105] from the Secretary of State, with documents, containing the information requested by their resolution of the 26th ultimo.

JOHN TYLER.

[Footnote 105: Relating to the colony of Liberia, in Africa.]



WASHINGTON, March 8, 1844.

To the House of Representatives:

In compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 10th of January last, I communicate to that body a report[106] from the Secretary of State ad interim, which embraces the information called for by said resolution.

JOHN TYLER.

[Footnote 106: Relating to the production, growth, and trade in tobacco.]



WASHINGTON, March 8, 1844.

To the Senate of the United States:

I communicate to the Senate a report,[107] with the documents accompanying it, from the Secretary of State, in answer to a resolution of that body of the 25th of January, 1844.

JOHN TYLER.

[Footnote 107: Transmitting names, returns, etc., of consuls and commercial agents of the United States.]



WASHINGTON, March 9, 1844.

To the Senate of the United States:

I transmit to the Senate, in answer to their resolution of the 21st ultimo, a report[108] from the Secretary of State, with accompanying papers.

JOHN TYLER.

[Footnote 108: Relating to the abuse of the United States flag in subservience to the African slave trade, and to the taking away of slaves the property of Portuguese subjects in vessels owned or employed by citizens of the United States.]



WASHINGTON, March 11, 1844.

To the House of Representatives:

In compliance with your resolution of the 26th ultimo, I herewith transmit a report[109] from the Secretary of the Navy.

JOHN TYLER.

[Footnote 109: Transmitting list of officers appointed in the Navy since June 1, 1843.]



WASHINGTON, March 12, 1844.

To the House of Representatives:

I transmit herewith a report[110] of the Secretary of War, prepared in compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 26th ultimo.

JOHN TYLER.

[Footnote 110: Transmitting list of officers appointed in the Army since June 1, 1843.]



WASHINGTON, D.C., March 18, 1844.

To the House of Representatives:

I transmit herewith a report[111] from the Secretary of State, in answer to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 18th of January last.

JOHN TYLER.

[Footnote 111: Transmitting list of persons employed by the Department of State without express authority of law, etc., from March 4, 1837, to December 31, 1843, inclusive.]



WASHINGTON, March 19, 1844.

To the Senate of the United States:

I transmit herewith a letter[112] from the Secretary of State and certain documents accompanying the same, in answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 8th instant.

JOHN TYLER.

[Footnote 112: Transmitting the commission appointing Caleb Cushing a representative of the Government of the United States in China; papers, etc., concerning the payment of $40,000, appropriated for sending a commissioner, etc., to China.]



WASHINGTON, March 20, 1844.

To the Senate of the United States:

I transmit to the Senate a report from the Secretary of State, with documents, containing the information[113] requested by their resolution of the 23d ultimo.

JOHN TYLER.

[Footnote 113: Relating to the interpretation of the tenth article of the treaty of August 9, 1842, between the United States and Great Britain.]



WASHINGTON, March 20, 1844.

To the House of Representatives:

I transmit herewith to the House of Representatives a copy of the convention concluded on the 17th day of March, 1841, between the United States and the Republic of Peru, which has been duly ratified and of which the ratifications have been exchanged.

The communication of this treaty is now made to the end that suitable measures may be adopted to give effect to the first article thereof, which provides for the distribution among the claimants of the sum of $300,000, thereby stipulated to be paid.

JOHN TYLER.

[The same message was sent to the Senate.]



WASHINGTON CITY, March 26, 1844.

To the Senate of the United States:

I transmit herewith copies of the report and papers[114] referred to in a resolution of the Senate of the 20th of February last.

JOHN TYLER.

[Footnote 114: Relating to the survey of the harbor of St. Louis.]



WASHINGTON, March 26, 1844.

To the House of Representatives of the United States:

I submit for the consideration of Congress the accompanying communication from A. Pageot, minister plenipotentiary ad interim of the King of the French, upon the subject of the tonnage duties levied on French vessels coming into the ports of the United States from the islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon, and proposing to place our commercial intercourse with those islands upon the same footing as now exists with the islands of Martinique and Guadaloupe, as regulated by the acts of the 9th of May, 1828, and of the 13th of July, 1832. No reason is perceived for the discrimination recognized by the existing law, and none why the provisions of the acts of Congress referred to should not be extended to the commerce of the islands in question.

JOHN TYLER.



WASHINGTON, March 27, 1844.

To the Senate:

I transmit herewith a communication from the Secretary of the Treasury, to whom I had referred the resolution of the Senate of the 27th December last, showing that the information[115] called for by that resolution can not be furnished from authentic data.

JOHN TYLER.

[Footnote 115: Statement of the expenditures of the Government each year from its organization up to the present period, and when and for what purpose these expenditures were made.]



WASHINGTON, D.C., April 9, 1844.

To the House of Representatives:

In compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 23d of March last, requesting the President to lay before the House "the authority and the true copies of all requests and applications upon which he deemed it his duty to interfere with the naval and military forces of the United States on the occasion of the recent attempt of the people of Rhode Island to establish a free constitution in the place of the old charter government of that State; also copies of the instructions to and statements of the charter commissioners sent to him by the then existing authorities of the State of Rhode Island; also copies of the correspondence between the Executive of the United States and the charter government of the State of Rhode Island, and all the papers and documents connected with the same; also copies of the correspondence, if any, between the heads of Departments and said charter government or any person or persons connected with the said government, and of any accompanying papers and documents; also copies of all orders issued by the Executive of the United States, or any of the Departments, to military officers for the movement or employment of troops to or in Rhode Island; also copies of all orders to naval officers to prepare steam or other vessels of the United States for service in the waters of Rhode Island; also copies of all orders to the officers of revenue cutters for the same service; also copies of any instructions borne by the Secretary of War to Rhode Island on his visit in 1842 to review the troops of the charter government; also copies of any order or orders to any officer or officers of the Army or Navy to report themselves to the charter government; and that he be requested to lay before this House copies of any other papers or documents in the possession of the Executive connected with this subject not above specifically enumerated," I have to inform the House that the Executive did not deem it his "duty to interfere with the naval and military forces of the United States" in the late disturbances in Rhode Island; that no orders were issued by the Executive or any of the Departments to military officers for the movement or employment of troops to or in Rhode Island other than those which accompany this message and which contemplated the strengthening of the garrison at Fort Adams, which, considering the extent of the agitation in Rhode Island, was esteemed necessary and judicious; that no orders were issued to naval officers to prepare steam or other vessels of the United States for service in the waters of Rhode Island; that no orders were issued "to the officers of the revenue cutters for said service;" that no instructions were borne by "the Secretary of War to Rhode Island on his visit in 1842 to review the troops of the charter government;" that no orders were given to any officer or officers of the Army or Navy to report themselves to the charter government; that "requests and applications" were made to the Executive to fulfill the guaranties of the Constitution which impose on the Federal Government the obligation to protect and defend each State of the Union against "domestic violence and foreign invasion," but the Executive was at no time convinced that the casus foederis had arisen which required the interposition of the military or naval power in the controversy which unhappily existed between the people of Rhode Island. I was in no manner prevented from so interfering by the inquiry whether Rhode Island existed as an independent State of the Union under a charter granted at an early period by the Crown of Great Britain or not. It was enough for the Executive to know that she was recognized as a sovereign State by Great Britain by the treaty of 1783; that at a later day she had in common with her sister States poured out her blood and freely expended her treasure in the War of the Revolution; that she was a party to the Articles of Confederation; that at an after period she adopted the Constitution of the United States as a free, independent, and republican State; and that in this character she has always possessed her full quota of representation in the Senate and House of Representatives; and that up to a recent day she has conducted all her domestic affairs and fulfilled all her obligations as a member of the Union, in peace and war, under her charter government, as it is denominated by the resolution of the House of the 23d March. I must be permitted to disclaim entirely and unqualifiedly the right on the part of the Executive to make any real or supposed defects existing in any State constitution or form of government the pretext for a failure to enforce the laws or the guaranties of the Constitution of the United States in reference to any such State. I utterly repudiate the idea, in terms as emphatic as I can employ, that those laws are not to be enforced or those guaranties complied with because the President may believe that the right of suffrage or any other great popular right is either too restricted or too broadly enlarged. I also with equal strength resist the idea that it falls within the Executive competency to decide in controversies of the nature of that which existed in Rhode Island on which side is the majority of the people or as to the extent of the rights of a mere numerical majority. For the Executive to assume such a power would be to assume a power of the most dangerous character. Under such assumptions the States of this Union would have no security for peace or tranquillity, but might be converted into the mere instruments of Executive will. Actuated by selfish purposes, he might become the great agitator, fomenting assaults upon the State constitutions and declaring the majority of to-day to be the minority of to-morrow, and the minority, in its turn, the majority, before whose decrees the established order of things in the State should be subverted. Revolution, civil commotion, and bloodshed would be the inevitable consequences. The provision in the Constitution intended for the security of the States would thus be turned into the instrument of their destruction. The President would become, in fact, the great constitution maker for the States, and all power would be vested in his hands.

When, therefore, the governor of Rhode Island, by his letter of the 4th of April, 1842, made a requisition upon the Executive for aid to put down the late disturbances, I had no hesitation in recognizing the obligations of the Executive to furnish such aid upon the occurrence of the contingency provided for by the Constitution and laws. My letter of the 11th of April, in reply to the governor's letter of the 4th, is herewith communicated, together with all correspondence which passed at a subsequent day and the letters and documents mentioned in the schedule hereunto annexed. From the correspondence between the Executive of the United States and that of Rhode Island, it will not escape observation that while I regarded it as my duty to announce the principles by which I should govern myself in the contingency of an armed interposition on the part of this Government being necessary to uphold the rights of the State of Rhode Island and to preserve its domestic peace, yet that the strong hope was indulged and expressed that all the difficulties would disappear before an enlightened policy of conciliation and compromise. In that spirit I addressed to Governor King the letter of the 9th of May, 1842, marked "private and confidential," and received his reply of the 12th of May of the same year. The desire of the Executive was from the beginning to bring the dispute to a termination without the interposition of the military power of the United States, and it will continue to be a subject of self-congratulation that this leading object of policy was finally accomplished. The Executive resisted all entreaties, however urgent, to depart from this line of conduct. Information from private sources had led the Executive to conclude that little else was designed by Mr. Dorr and his adherents than mere menace with a view to intimidation; nor was this opinion in any degree shaken until the 22d of June, 1842, when it was strongly represented from reliable sources, as will be seen by reference to the documents herewith communicated, that preparations were making by Mr. Dorr, with a large force in arms, to invade the State, which force had been recruited in the neighboring States and had been already preceded by the collection of military stores in considerable quantities at one or two points. This was a state of things to which the Executive could not be indifferent. Mr. Dorr speedily afterwards took up his headquarters at Chepachet and assumed the command of what was reported to be a large force, drawn chiefly from voluntary enlistments made in neighboring States. The Executive could with difficulty bring itself to realize the fact that the citizens of other States should have forgotten their duty to themselves and the Constitution of the United States and have entered into the highly reprehensible and indefensible course of interfering so far in the concerns of a sister State as to have entered into plans of invasion, conquest, and revolution; but the Executive felt it to be its duty to look minutely into the matter, and therefore the Secretary of War was dispatched to Rhode Island with instructions (a copy of which is herewith transmitted), and was authorized, should a requisition be made upon the Executive by the government of Rhode Island in pursuance of law, and the invaders should not abandon their purposes, to call upon the governors of Massachusetts and Connecticut for a sufficient number of militia at once to arrest the invasion and to interpose such of the regular troops as could be spared from Fort Adams for the defense of the city of Providence in the event of its being attacked, as was strongly represented to be in contemplation. Happily there was no necessity for either issuing the proclamation or the requisition or for removing the troops from Fort Adams, where they had been properly stationed. Chepachet was evacuated and Mr. Dorr's troops dispersed without the necessity of the interposition of any military force by this Government, thus confirming me in my early impressions that nothing more had been designed from the first by those associated with Mr. Dorr than to excite fear and apprehension and thereby to obtain concessions from the constituted authorities which might be claimed as a triumph over the existing government.

With the dispersion of Mr. Dorr's troops ended all difficulties. A convention was shortly afterwards called, by due course of law, to amend the fundamental law, and a new constitution, based on more liberal principles than that abrogated, was proposed, and adopted by the people. Thus the great American experiment of a change in government under the influence of opinion and not of force has been again crowned with success, and the State and people of Rhode Island repose in safety under institutions of their own adoption, unterrified by any future prospect of necessary change and secure against domestic violence and invasion from abroad. I congratulate the country upon so happy a termination of a condition of things which seemed at one time seriously to threaten the public peace. It may justly be regarded as worthy of the age and of the country in which we live.

JOHN TYLER.



PROVIDENCE, April 4, 1842.

The PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

SIR: The State of Rhode Island is threatened with domestic violence. Apprehending that the legislature can not be convened in sufficient season to apply to the Government of the United States for effectual protection in this case, I hereby apply to you, as the executive of the State of Rhode Island, for the protection which is required by the Constitution of the United States. To communicate more fully with you on this subject, I have appointed John Whipple, John Brown Francis, and Elisha R. Potter, esqs., three of our most distinguished citizens, to proceed to Washington and to make known to you in behalf of this State the circumstances which call for the interposition of the Government of the United States for our protection.

I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

SAM. W. KING, Governor of Rhode Island.



PROVIDENCE, April 4, 1842.

The PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

SIR: For nearly a year last past the State of Rhode Island has been agitated by revolutionary movements, and is now threatened with domestic violence.

The report[116] of a joint committee of both branches of the legislature of this State, with an act[116] and resolutions[116] accompanying the same, herewith communicated, were passed unanimously by the senate, and by a vote of 60 to 6 in the house of representatives. The legislature adjourned to the first Tuesday of May next.

[Footnote 116: Omitted.]

It has become my duty by one of these resolutions to adopt such measures as in my opinion may be necessary in the recess of the legislature to execute the laws and preserve the State from domestic violence.

The provisions of the said act "in relation to offenses against the sovereign power of this State" have created much excitement among that portion of the people who have unequivocally declared their intention to set up another government in this State and to put down the existing government, and they threaten, individually and collectively, to resist the execution of this act. The numbers of this party are sufficiently formidable to threaten seriously our peace, and in some portions of the State, and in this city particularly, may constitute a majority of the physical force, though they are a minority of the people of the State.

Under the dangers which now threaten us, I have appointed John Whipple, John Brown Francis, and Elisha R. Potter, esqs., three of our most distinguished citizens, to proceed to Washington and consult with you in behalf of this State, with a view that such precautionary measures may be taken by the Government of the United States as may afford us that protection which the Constitution of the United States requires. There is but little doubt that a proclamation from the President of the United States and the presence here of a military officer to act under the authority of the United States would destroy the delusion which is now so prevalent, and convince the deluded that in a contest with the government of this State they would be involved in a contest with the Government of the United States, which could only eventuate in their destruction.

As no State can keep troops in time of peace without the consent of Congress, there is the more necessity that we should be protected by those who have the means of protection. We shall do all we can for ourselves. The Government of the United States has the power to prevent as well as to defend us from violence. The protection provided by the Constitution of the United States will not be effectual unless such precautionary measures may be taken as are necessary to prevent lawless men from breaking out into violence, as well as to protect the State from further violence after it has broken out. Preventive measures are the most prudent and safe, and also the most merciful.

The protective power would be lamentably deficient if "the beginning of strife," which "is like the letting out of waters," can not be prevented, and no protection can be afforded the State until to many it would be too late.

The above-named gentlemen are fully authorized to act in behalf of the State of Rhode Island in this emergency, and carry with them such documents and proof as will, no doubt, satisfy you that the interposition of the authority of the Government of the United States will be salutary and effectual.

I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

SAM. W. KING, Governor of Rhode Island.



APRIL 9, 1842.

MY DEAR SIR:[117] Will you do me the favor to see the committee from Rhode Island as soon after the meeting of the Cabinet as may suit your convenience?

[Footnote 117: Addressed to the President of the United States.]

I regret to learn from Mr. Francis that the leaning of your mind was decidedly against any expression of opinion upon the subject, upon the ground that free suffrage must prevail. Undoubtedly it will. That is not the question. The freeholders of Rhode Island have yielded that point, and the only question is between their constitution, providing for an extension of suffrage, and ours, containing substantially the same provision—whether their constitution shall be carried out by force of arms without a majority, or the present government be supported until a constitution can be agreed upon that will command a majority. Neither their constitution nor ours has as yet received a majority of the free white males over 21 years of age. There is no doubt upon that subject, and I very much regret that your mind should have been influenced (if it has) by the paper called the Express. Nearly all the leaders who are professional men have abandoned them, on the ground that a majority is not in favor of their constitution. I know this to be true. I do hope that you will reconsider this vital question and give us a full hearing before you decide.

With great respect, very truly and sincerely, yours,

JOHN WHIPPLE.



His Excellency JOHN TYLER,

President of the United States:

The undersigned, having been deputed by Samuel W. King, the governor of the State of Rhode Island, to lay before you the present alarming condition in which the people of that State are placed, and to request from you the adoption of such prudential measures as in your opinion may tend to prevent domestic violence, beg leave most respectfully to state the following among the leading facts, to which your attention is more particularly invited:

That the people of Rhode Island have no fundamental law except the charter of King Charles II, granted in 1663, and the usage of the legislature under it. Legislative usage under their charters has been decided by the Supreme Court of the United States to be the fundamental law both in Connecticut and Rhode Island.

That from the date of the Rhode Island charter down to the year 1841, a period of nearly two hundred years, no person has been allowed to vote for town or State offices unless possessed of competent estates and admitted free in the several towns in which they resided.

That since the statute of 1728 no person could be admitted a freeman of any town unless he owned a freehold estate of the value fixed by law (now $134) or was the eldest son of such a freeholder.

That until the past year no attempt has been made, to our knowledge, to establish any other fundamental law, by force, than the one under which the people have lived for so long a period.

That at the January session of the legislature in 1841 a petition signed by five or six hundred male inhabitants, praying for such an extension of suffrage as the legislature might in their wisdom deem expedient to propose, was presented.

That, influenced by that petition, as well as by other considerations, the legislature at that session requested the qualified voters, or freemen, as they are called with us, to choose delegates at their regular town meetings to be holden in August, 1841, for a convention to be holden in November, 1841, to frame a written constitution.

That the result of the last meeting of this legal convention in February, 1842, was the constitution[118] accompanying this statement, marked ——, which, in case of its adoption by the people, would have been the supreme law of the State.

[Footnote 118: Omitted.]

Most of the above facts are contained in the printed report of a numerous committee of the legislature at their session in March, 1842, which report was adopted by the legislature.

That in May, 1841, after said legal convention had been provided for by the legislature, and before the time appointed for the choice of delegates by the qualified voters (August, 1841), a mass meeting was held by the friends of an extension of suffrage at Newport, at which meeting a committee was appointed, called the State committee, who were authorized by said mass meeting to take measures for calling a convention to frame a constitution.

That this committee, thus authorized, issued a request for a meeting of the male citizens in the several towns to appoint delegates to the proposed convention.

That meetings (of unqualified voters principally, as we believe) were accordingly holden in the several towns, unauthorized by law, and contrary to the invariable custom and usage of the State from 1663 down to that period; that the aggregate votes appointing the delegates to that convention were, according to their own estimate, about 7,200, whereas the whole number of male citizens over 21 years of age, after making a deduction for foreigners, paupers, etc., was, according to their own estimate, over 22,000.

That this convention, thus constituted, convened in Providence in October, 1841, and the constitution called the "people's constitution" was the result of their deliberations.

That at subsequent meetings of portions of the people in December, 1841, by the authority of this convention alone (elected, as its delegates had been, by about one-third of the voters, according to their own standard of qualification), all males over 21 years of age were admitted to vote for the adoption of the people's constitution; that these meetings were not under any presiding officer whose legal right or duty it was to interpose any check or restraint as to age, residence, property, or color.

By the fourteenth article of this constitution it was provided that "this constitution shall be submitted to the people for their adoption or rejection on Monday, the 27th of December next, and on the two succeeding days;" "and every person entitled to vote as aforesaid who from sickness or other causes may be unable to attend and vote in the town or ward meetings assembled for voting upon said constitution on the days aforesaid is requested to write his name on a ticket, and to obtain the signature upon the back of the same of a person who has given in his vote, as a witness thereto, and the moderator or clerk of any town or ward meeting convened for the purpose aforesaid shall receive such vote on either of the three days next succeeding the three days before named for voting for said constitution."

During the first three days about 9,000 votes were received from the hands of the voters in the open meetings. By the privilege granted to any and all friends of the constitution of bringing into their meetings the names of voters during the three following days 5,000 votes more were obtained, making an aggregate of about 14,000 votes.

This constitution, thus originating and thus formed, was subsequently declared by this convention to be the supreme law of the land. By its provisions a government is to be organized under it, by the choice of a governor, lieutenant-governor, senators and representatives, on the Monday preceding the third Wednesday in April, 1842.

By the provisions of the "landholder's constitution," as the legal constitution is called, every white native citizen possessing the freehold qualification, and over 21 years of age, may vote upon a residence of one year, and without any freehold may vote upon a residence of two years, except in the case of votes for town taxes, in which case the voter must possess the freehold qualification or be taxed for other property of the value of $150.

By the "people's constitution" "every white male citizen of the United States of the age of 21 years who has resided in this State for one year and in the town where he votes for six months" shall be permitted to vote, with the same exception as to voting for town taxes as is contained in the other constitution.

The provision, therefore, in relation to the great subject in dispute—the elective franchise—is substantially the same in the two constitutions.

On the 21st, 22d, and 23d March last the legal constitution, by an act of the legislature, was submitted to all the persons who by its provisions would be entitled to vote under it after its adoption, for their ratification. It was rejected by a majority of 676 votes, the number of votes polled being over 16,000. It is believed that many freeholders voted against it because they were attached to the old form of government and were against any new constitution whatever. Both parties used uncommon exertions to bring all their voters to the polls, and the result of the vote was, under the scrutiny of opposing interests in legal town meetings, that the friends of the people's constitution brought to the polls probably not over 7,000 to 7,500 votes. The whole vote against the legal constitution was about 8,600. If we allow 1,000 as the number of freeholders who voted against the legal constitution because they are opposed to any constitution, it would leave the number of the friends of the people's constitution 7,600, or about one-third of the voters of the State under the new qualification proposed by either constitution.

It seems incredible that there can be 14,000 friends of the people's constitution in the State, animated as they are by a most extraordinary and enthusiastic feeling; and yet upon this trial, in the usual open and fair way of voting, they should have obtained not over 7,600 votes.

The unanimity of the subsequent action of the legislature, comprehending as it did both the great political parties—the house of representatives giving a vote of 60 in favor of maintaining the existing government of the State and only 6 on the other side, with a unaminimous vote in the senate—the unanimous and decided opinion of the supreme court declaring this extraordinary movement to be illegal in all its stages (see ——[119]), a majority of that court being of the Democratic party, with other facts of a similar character, have freed this question of a mere party character and enabled us to present it as a great constitutional question.

Without presuming to discuss the elementary and fundamental principles of government, we deem it our duty to remind you of the fact that the existing government of Rhode Island is the government that adopted the Constitution of the United States, became a member of this Confederacy, and has ever since been represented in the Senate and House of Representatives. It is at this moment the existing government of Rhode Island, both de facto and dejure, and is the only government in that State entitled to the protection of the Constitution of the United States.

It is that government which now calls upon the General Government for its interference; and even if the legal effect of there being an ascertained majority of unqualified voters against the existing government was as is contended for by the opposing party, yet, upon their own principle, ought not that majority in point of fact to be clearly ascertained, not by assertion, but by proof, in order to justify the General Government in withdrawing its legal and moral influence to prevent domestic violence?

That a domestic war of the most furious character will speedily ensue unless prevented by a prompt expression of opinion here can not be doubted. In relation to this, we refer to the numerous resolutions passed at meetings of the friends of the people's constitution, and more especially to the Cumberland resolutions[119] herewith presented, and the affidavits,[119] marked ——, and to repeated expressions of similar reliance upon the judgment of the Chief Magistrate of the nation.

[Footnote 119: Omitted.]

All which is respectfully submitted by—

JOHN WHIPPLE. JOHN BROWN FRANCIS. ELISHA R. POTTER.



WASHINGTON, April 11, 1842.

His Excellency the GOVERNOR OF RHODE ISLAND.

SIR: Your letter dated the 4th instant was handed me on Friday by Mr. Whipple, who, in company with Mr. Francis and Mr. Potter, called upon me on Saturday and placed me, both verbally and in writing, in possession of the prominent facts which have led to the present unhappy condition of things in Rhode Island—a state of things which every lover of peace and good order must deplore. I shall not adventure the expression of an opinion upon those questions of domestic policy which seem to have given rise to the unfortunate controversies between a portion of the citizens and the existing government of the State. They are questions of municipal regulation, the adjustment of which belongs exclusively to the people of Rhode Island, and with which this Government can have nothing to do. For the regulation of my conduct in any interposition which I may be called upon to make between the government of a State and any portion of its citizens who may assail it with domestic violence, or may be in actual insurrection against it, I can only look to the Constitution and laws of the United States, which plainly declare the obligations of the executive department and leave it no alternative as to the course it shall pursue.

By the fourth section of the fourth article of the Constitution of the United States it is provided that "the United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a republican form of government, and shall protect each of them against invasion, and, on application of the legislature or executive (when the legislature can not be convened), against domestic violence." And by the act of Congress approved on the 28th February, 1795, it is declared "that in case of an insurrection in any State against the government thereof it shall be lawful for the President of the United States, upon application of the legislature of such State or by the executive (when the legislature can not be convened), to call forth such numbers of the militia of any other State or States as may be applied for, as he may judge sufficient to suppress such insurrection." By the third section of the same act it is provided "that whenever it may be necessary, in the judgment of the President, to use the military force hereby directed to be called forth, the President shall forthwith, by proclamation, command such insurgents to disperse and retire peaceably to their respective abodes within a reasonable time." By the act of March 3, 1807, it is provided "that in all cases of insurrection or obstruction to the laws, either of the United States or of any individual State or Territory where it is lawful for the President of the United States to call forth the militia for the purpose of suppressing such insurrection or of causing the laws to be duly executed, it shall be lawful for him to employ for the same purposes such part of the land or naval force of the United States as shall be judged necessary, having first observed all the prerequisites of the law in that respect."

This is the first occasion, so far as the government of a State and its people are concerned, on which it has become necessary to consider of the propriety of exercising those high and most important of constitutional and legal functions.

By a careful consideration of the above-recited acts of Congress your excellency will not fail to see that no power is vested in the Executive of the United States to anticipate insurrectionary movements against the government of Rhode Island so as to sanction the interposition of the military authority, but that there must be an actual insurrection, manifested by lawless assemblages of the people or otherwise, to whom a proclamation may be addressed and who may be required to betake themselves to their respective abodes. I have, however, to assure your excellency that should the time arrive—and my fervent prayer is that it may never come—when an insurrection shall exist against the government of Rhode Island, and a requisition shall be made upon the Executive of the United States to furnish that protection which is guaranteed to each State by the Constitution and laws, I shall not be found to shrink from the performance of a duty which, while it would be the most painful, is at the same time the most imperative. I have also to say that in such a contingency the Executive could not look into real or supposed defects of the existing government in order to ascertain whether some other plan of government proposed for adoption was better suited to the wants and more in accordance with the wishes of any portion of her citizens. To throw the Executive power of this Government into any such controversy would be to make the President the armed arbitrator between the people of the different States and their constituted authorities, and might lead to a usurped power dangerous alike to the stability of the State governments and the liberties of the people. It will be my duty, on the contrary, to respect the requisitions of that government which has been recognized as the existing government of the State through all time past until I shall be advised in regular manner that it has been altered and abolished and another substituted in its place by legal and peaceable proceedings adopted and pursued by the authorities and people of the State. Nor can I readily bring myself to believe that any such contingency will arise as shall render the interference of this Government at all necessary. The people of the State of Rhode Island have been too long distinguished for their love of order and of regular government to rush into revolution in order to obtain a redress of grievances, real or supposed, which a government under which their fathers lived in peace would not in due season redress. No portion of her people will be willing to drench her fair fields with the blood of their own brethren in order to obtain a redress of grievances which their constituted authorities can not for any length of time resist if properly appealed to by the popular voice. None of them will be willing to set an example, in the bosom of this Union, of such frightful disorder, such needless convulsions of society, such danger to life, liberty, and property, and likely to bring so much discredit on the character of popular governments. My reliance on the virtue, intelligence, and patriotism of her citizens is great and abiding, and I will not doubt but that a spirit of conciliation will prevail over rash councils, that all actual grievances will be promptly redressed by the existing government, and that another bright example will be added to the many already prevailing among the North American Republics of change without revolution and a redress of grievances without force or violence.

I tender to your excellency assurances of my high respect and consideration.

JOHN TYLER.



NEWPORT, R.I., May 4, 1842.

His Excellency JOHN TYLER,

President of the United States.

SIR: I transmit herewith certain resolutions passed by the general assembly of this State at their session holden at Newport on the first Wednesday of May instant.

You are already acquainted with some of the circumstances which have rendered necessary the passage of these resolutions. Any further information that may be desired will be communicated by the bearers, the Hon. Richard K. Randolph, speaker of the house of representatives, and Elisha R. Potter, esq., a member of the senate of this State.

I can not allow myself to doubt but that the assistance to which this State is entitled under the Constitution of the United States, to protect itself against domestic violence, will be promptly rendered by the General Government of the Union.

With great respect, I am, Your Excellency's humble servant,

SAM. W. KING, Governor of Rhode Island.



STATE OF RHODE ISLAND AND PROVIDENCE PLANTATIONS, In General Assembly, May Session, 1842.

Whereas a portion of the people of this State, for the purpose of subverting the laws and existing government thereof, have framed a pretended constitution, and for the same unlawful purposes have met in lawless assemblages and elected officers for the future government of this State; and

Whereas the persons so elected in violation of law, but in conformity to the said pretended constitution, have, on the 3d day of May instant, organized themselves into executive and legislative departments of government, and under oath assumed the duties and exercise of said powers; and

Whereas in order to prevent the due execution of the laws a strong military force was called out and did array themselves to protect the said unlawful organization of government and to set at defiance the due enforcement of law: Therefore,

Resolved by the general assembly, That there now exists in this State an insurrection against the laws and constituted authorities thereof, and that, in pursuance of the Constitution and laws of the United States, a requisition be, and hereby is, made by this legislature upon the President of the United States forthwith to interpose the authority and power of the United States to suppress such insurrectionary and lawless assemblages, to support the existing government and laws, and protect the State from domestic violence.

Resolved, That his excellency the governor be requested immediately to transmit a copy of these resolutions to the President of the United States.

True copy.

Witness: HENRY BOWEN, Secretary of State.



WASHINGTON, May 7, 1842.

The GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.

SIR: Your letter of the 4th instant, transmitting resolutions of the legislature of Rhode Island, informing me that there existed in that State "certain lawless assemblages of a portion of the people" "for the purpose of subverting the laws and over-throwing the existing government," and calling upon the Executive "forthwith to interpose the authority and power of the United States to suppress such insurrectionary and lawless assemblages and to support the existing government and laws and protect the State from domestic violence," was handed me on yesterday by Messrs. Randolph and Potter.

I have to inform your excellency in reply that my opinions as to the duties of this Government to protect the State of Rhode Island against domestic violence remain unchanged. Yet, from information received by the Executive since your dispatches came to hand I am led to believe that the lawless assemblages to which reference is made have already dispersed and that the danger of domestic violence is hourly diminishing, if it has not wholly disappeared. I have with difficulty brought myself at any time to believe that violence would be resorted to or an exigency arise which the unaided power of the State could not meet, especially as I have from the first felt persuaded that your excellency and others associated with yourself in the administration of the government would exhibit a temper of conciliation as well as of energy and decision. To the insurgents themselves it ought to be obvious, when the excitement of the moment shall have passed away, that changes achieved by regular and, if necessary, repeated appeals to the constituted authorities, in a country so much under the influence of public opinion, and by recourse to argument and remonstrance, are more likely to insure lasting blessings than those accomplished by violence and bloodshed on one day, and liable to overthrow by similar agents on another.

I freely confess that I should experience great reluctance in employing the military power of this Government against any portion of the people; but however painful the duty, I have to assure your excellency that if resistance be made to the execution of the laws of Rhode Island by such force as the civil power shall be unable to overcome, it will be the duty of this Government to enforce the constitutional guaranty—a guaranty given and adopted mutually by all the original States, of which number Rhode Island was one, and which in the same way has been given and adopted by each of the States since admitted into the Union; and if an exigency of lawless violence shall actually arise the executive government of the United States, on the application of your excellency under the authority of the resolutions of the legislature already transmitted, will stand ready to succor the authorities of the State in their efforts to maintain a due respect for the laws. I sincerely hope, however, that no such exigency may occur, and that every citizen of Rhode Island will manifest his love of peace and good order by submitting to the laws and seeking a redress of grievances by other means than intestine commotions.

I tender to your excellency assurances of my distinguished consideration.

JOHN TYLER.



JOHN TYLER,

President of the United States.

SIR: As requested by the general assembly, I have the honor of transmitting to you, under the seal of the State, the accompanying resolutions.

And I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

THOMAS W. DORR, Governor of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.



STATE OF RHODE ISLAND AND PROVIDENCE PLANTATIONS, General Assembly, May Session, in the City of Providence, A.D. 1842.

Resolved, That the governor be requested to inform the President of the United States that the government of this State has been duly elected and organized under the constitution of the same, and that the general assembly are now in session and proceeding to discharge their duties according to the provisions of said constitution.

Resolved, That the governor be requested to make the same communication to the President of the Senate and to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to be laid before the two Houses of the Congress of the United States.

Resolved, That the governor be requested to make the same communication to the governors of the several States, to be laid before the respective legislatures.

A true copy.

Witness: [L.S.] WM. H. SMITH, Secretary of State.



MAY 9, 1842.

Governor KING, of Rhode Island.

SIR: Messrs. Randolph and Potter will hand you an official letter, but I think it important that you should be informed of my views and opinions as to the best mode of settling all difficulties. I deprecate the use of force except in the last resort, and I am persuaded that measures of conciliation will at once operate to produce quiet. I am well advised, if the general assembly would authorize you to announce a general amnesty and pardon for the past, without making any exception, upon the condition of a return to allegiance, and follow it up by a call for a new convention upon somewhat liberal principles, that all difficulty would at once cease. And why should not this be done? A government never loses anything by mildness and forbearance to its own citizens, more especially when the consequences of an opposite course may be the shedding of blood. In your case the one-half of your people are involved in the consequences of recent proceedings. Why urge matters to an extremity? If you succeed by the bayonet, you succeed against your own fellow-citizens and by the shedding of kindred blood, whereas by taking the opposite course you will have shown a paternal care for the lives of your people. My own opinion is that the adoption of the above measures will give you peace and insure you harmony. A resort to force, on the contrary, will engender for years to come feelings of animosity.

I have said that I speak advisedly. Try the experiment, and if it fail then your justification in using force becomes complete.

Excuse the freedom I take, and be assured of my respect.

JOHN TYLER.



PROVIDENCE, R.I., May 12, 1842.

His Excellency the PRESIDENT OF UNITED STATES.

MY DEAR SIR: I have had the honor to receive your communication of 9th instant by Mr. Randolph, and assure you it has given me much satisfaction to know that your views and opinions as to the course proper to be pursued by the government of this State in the present unhappy condition of our political affairs is so much in conformity with my own.

Our legislature will undoubtedly at their session in June next adopt such measures as will be necessary to organize a convention for the formation of a new constitution of government, by which all the evils now complained of may be removed.

It has already been announced as the opinion of the executive that such of our citizens as are or have been engaged in treasonable and revolutionary designs against the State will be pardoned for the past on the condition only that they withdraw themselves from such enterprise and signify their return to their allegiance to the government.

With high consideration and respect, your obedient and very humble servant,

SAM. W. KING.



KINGSTON, R.I. May 15, 1842.

His Excellency JOHN TYLER,

President of the United States.

DEAR SIR: We arrived at Newport on Wednesday morning in time to attend the meeting of our legislature.

The subject of calling a convention immediately, and upon a liberal basis as to the right of voting for the delegates, was seriously agitated amongst us. The only objection made was that they did not wish to concede while the people's party continued their threats. All allowed that the concession must be made, and the only difference of opinion was as to time.

For my own part, I fear we shall never see the time when concession could have been made with better grace or with better effect than now. If two or three noisy folks among the suffrage party could only have their mouths stopped for a week or two, a reconciliation could be brought about at any time, or if Mr. Dorr would allow himself to be arrested peaceably and give bail no one could then object. But the supporters of the government say it is wrong to give up so long as Mr. Dorr threatens actual resistance to the laws in case he is arrested. If this could be done, they would then consider that they had sufficiently shown their determination to support the laws, and the two measures which you proposed to us in conversation at Washington—a convention and then a general amnesty—would succeed beyond a doubt.

Allow me to suggest that if Mr. Wickliffe, or someone who you might think would have most influence, would address a letter to Governor Fenner on the subject of conciliation it might be of great service. Governor F. is the father-in-law of General Mallett and a member of our senate.

Our assembly adjourned to the third Monday of June, but it is in the power of the governor to call it sooner, which can be done in a day at any time. Unless, however, there is a little more prudence in the leaders on both sides, we shall then be farther from reconciliation than now. The great mass of both parties I believe to be sincerely anxious for a settlement.

I do not know whether a letter addressed to the President upon a subject of this nature would of course be considered as public and liable to inspection. Few would write freely if that were the case. If private, I will cheerfully communicate from time to time any information that may be in my power and which might be of any service.

I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

ELISHA R. POTTER.

Mr. Dorr returned to Providence this (Monday) morning with an armed escort.



WASHINGTON, May 20, 1842.

ELISHA R. POTTER, Esq.

DEAR SIR: You have my thanks for your favor of the 16th [15th] instant, and I have to request that you will write to me without reserve whenever anything of importance shall arise. My chief motives for desiring the adoption of the measures suggested to you, viz, a general amnesty and a call of a convention, were, first, because I felt convinced that peace and harmony would follow in their train, and, secondly, if in this I was disappointed the insurgents would have had no longer a pretense for an appeal to the public sympathies in their behalf. I saw nothing to degrade or to give rise to injurious reflections against the government of the State for resorting to every proper expedient in order to quiet the disaffection of any portion of her own people. Family quarrels are always the most difficult to appease, but everybody will admit that those of the family who do most to reconcile them are entitled to the greatest favor. Mr. Dorr's recent proceedings have been of so extravagant a character as almost to extinguish the last hope of a peaceable result, and yet I can not but believe that much is meant for effect and for purposes of intimidation merely. I certainly hope that such may be the case, though the recent proceedings in New York may have excited new feelings and new desires. This mustering of the clans may place Governor King in a different situation from that which he occupied when I had the pleasure of seeing you. Then he might have yielded with grace; whether he can do so now is certainly a question of much difficulty and one on which I can not venture to express an opinion at this distance from the scene of action.

I shall be always most happy to hear from you, and your letters will never be used to your prejudice.

Accept assurances of my high respect.

JOHN TYLER.



PROVIDENCE, May 16, 1842.

The PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

SIR: At the request of Governor King, I inclose to you an extra of the Providence Daily Express of this morning, containing the proclamation of Thomas W. Dorr to the people of this State.

It states definitely the position assumed by him and his faction against the government of this State and of the United States.

His excellency tenders to you the highest respect and consideration.

Respectfully, yours,

THOS. A. JENCKES, Private Secretary.



STATE OF RHODE ISLAND AND PROVIDENCE PLANTATIONS.

A PROCLAMATION.

BY THOMAS W. DORR, GOVERNOR AND COMMANDER IN CHIEF OF THE SAME.

FELLOW-CITIZENS: Shortly after the adjournment of the general assembly and the completion of indispensable executive business I was induced by the request of the most active friends of our cause to undertake the duty (which had been previously suggested) of representing in person the interests of the people of Rhode Island in other States and at the seat of the General Government. By virtue of a resolution of the general assembly, I appointed Messrs. Pearce and Anthony commissioners for the same purpose.

Of the proposed action of the Executive in the affairs of our State you have been already apprised. In case of the failure of the civil posse (which expression was intended by the President, as I have been informed, to embrace the military power) to execute any of the laws of the charter assembly, including their law of pains and penalties and of treason, as it has been for the first time defined, the President intimates an intention of resorting to the forces of the United States to check the movements of the people of this State in support of their republican constitution recently adopted.

From a decision which conflicts with the right of sovereignty inherent in the people of this State and with the principles which lie at the foundation of a democratic republic an appeal has been taken to the people of our country. They understand our cause; they sympathize in the injuries which have been inflicted upon us; they disapprove the course which the National Executive has adopted toward this State, and they assure us of their disposition and intention to interpose a barrier between the supporters of the people's constitution and the hired soldiery of the United States. The democracy of the country are slow to move in any matter which involves an issue so momentous as that which is presented by the controversy in Rhode Island, but when they have once put themselves in motion they are not to be easily diverted from their purposes. They believe that the people of Rhode Island are in the right; that they are contending for equal justice in their political system; that they have properly adopted a constitution of government for themselves, as they were entitled to do, and they can not and will not remain indifferent to any act, from whatever motive it may proceed, which they deem to be an invasion of the sacred right of self-government, of which the people of the respective States can not be divested.

As your representative I have been everywhere received with the utmost kindness and cordiality. To the people of the city of New York, who have extended to us the hand of a generous fraternity, it is impossible to overrate our obligation at this most important crisis.

It has become my duty to say that so soon as a soldier of the United States shall be set in motion, by whatever direction, to act against the people of this State in aid of the charter government I shall call for that aid to oppose all such force, which, I am fully authorized to say, will be immediately and most cheerfully tendered to the service of the people of Rhode Island from the city of New York and from other places. The contest will then become national, and our State the battle ground of American freedom.

As a Rhode Island man I regret that the constitutional question in this State can not be adjusted among our own citizens, but as the minority have asked that the sword of the National Executive may be thrown into the scale against the people, it is imperative upon them to make the same appeal to their brethren of the States—an appeal which they are well assured will not be made in vain. They who have been the first to ask assistance from abroad can have no reason to complain of any consequences which may ensue.

No further arrests under the law of pains and penalties, which was repealed by the general assembly of the people at their May session, will be permitted. I hereby direct the military, under their respective officers, promptly to prevent the same and to release all who may be arrested under said law.

As requested by the general assembly, I enjoin upon the militia forthwith to elect their company officers; and I call upon volunteers to organize themselves without delay. The military are directed to hold themselves in readiness for immediate service.

Given under my hand and the seal of the State, at the city of Providence, this 6th day of May, A.D. 1842.

[L.S.]

THOMAS W. DORR,

Governor and Commander in Chief of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations

By the governor's command: WILLIAM H. SMITH, Secretary of State.



PROVIDENCE, R.I., May 25, 1842.

The PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

SIR: Since my last communication the surface of things in this city and State has been more quiet. The complete dispersing of the insurgents and flight of their leader on Wednesday last, 18th instant, seem to have broken their strength and prevented them from making head openly in any quarter.

But another crisis now appears to be approaching. By the private advices received by myself and the council from our messengers in the neighboring States we learn that Dorr and his agents are enlisting men and collecting arms for the purpose of again attempting to subvert, by open war, the government of this State. Those who have assisted him at home in his extreme measures are again holding secret councils and making preparations to rally on his return. Companies of men pledged to support him have met and drilled in the north part of this State during the present week.

From the forces which he can collect among our own citizens we have nothing to fear. Our own military strength has once scattered them, and could as easily do so a second time. But if the bands which are now organizing in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New York should make the incursion which they threaten, with Dorr at their head, we have reason to apprehend a civil war of the most destructive and vindictive character. Our own forces might be sufficient to repel them, but having little discipline and no officer of military experience to lead them, they could not do it without the loss of many valuable lives.

For the evidence that such forces are organizing in other States, I refer Your Excellency to a letter from Governor Seward, of New York, and to a statement made by one of our messengers to the council, which will be handed you. Other messengers confirm to the fullest extent the same intelligence.

In this posture of affairs I deem it my duty to call upon Your Excellency for the support guaranteed by the Constitution and laws of the United States to this government. I would submit to Your Excellency whether a movement of a sufficient body of troops to this quarter, to be stationed at Fort Adams, and to be subject to the requisitions of the executive of this State whenever in his opinion the exigency should arise to require their assistance, would not be the best measure to insure peace and respect for the laws and to deter invasions.

You will see by the statement[120] of the secret agent of the government that the time set for this incursion is very near. The mustering of the insurgents and their movement upon the city will probably be with the greatest expedition when once commenced—in a time too short for a messenger to reach Washington and return with aid. I therefore make this application before any movement of magnitude on their part, in order that we may be prepared at the briefest notice to quell domestic insurrection and repel invasion.

SAM. W. KING Governor of Rhode Island.

[Footnote 120: Omitted.]



EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT,

Albany, May 22, 1842.

His Excellency SAMUEL WARD KING,

Governor of Rhode Island.

SIR: In compliance with your excellency's requisition, I have this day issued a warrant for the arrest of Thomas Wilson Dorr, esq., charged in Rhode Island with the crime of treason. The warrant will be delivered to a police officer of this city, who will attend Colonel Pitman and be advised by him in regard to the arrest of the fugitive should he be found in this State.

May I be allowed to suggest to your excellency that a detention of the accused in this State would be liable to misapprehension, and if it should be in a particular region of this State might, perhaps, result in an effort to rescue him. Therefore it seems to be quite important that your excellency should without delay designate, by a communication to me, an agent to receive the fugitive and convey him to Rhode Island.

I have the honor to be, with very high respect and consideration, your excellency's obedient servant,

WILLIAM H. SEWARD.



WASHINGTON CITY, May 28, 1842.

His Excellency Governor KING.

SIR: I have received your excellency's communication of the 25th instant, informing me of efforts making by Mr. Dorr and others to embody a force in the contiguous States for the invasion of the State of Rhode Island, and calling upon the Executive of the United States for military aid.

In answer I have to inform your excellency that means have been taken to ascertain the extent of the dangers of any armed invasion by the citizens of other States of the State of Rhode Island, either to put down her government or to disturb her peace. The apparent improbability of a violation so flagrant and unprecedented of all our laws and institutions makes me, I confess, slow to believe that any serious attempts will be made to execute the designs which some evil-minded persons may have formed.

But should the necessity of the case require the interposition of the authority of the United States it will be rendered in the manner prescribed by the laws.

In the meantime I indulge a confident expectation, founded upon the recent manifestations of public opinion in your State in favor of law and order, that your own resources and means will be abundantly adequate to preserve the public peace, and that the difficulties which have arisen will be soon amicably and permanently adjusted by the exercise of a spirit of liberality and forbearance.

JOHN TYLER.

The Secretary of War will issue a private order to Colonel Bankhead, commanding at Newport, to employ, if necessary, a private and confidential person or persons to go into all such places and among all such persons as he may have reason to believe to be likely to give any information touching Rhode Island affairs, and to report with the greatest dispatch, if necessary, to the President. He will also address a letter to General Wool conveying to him the fears entertained of a hostile invasion contemplated to place Dorr in the chair of state of Rhode Island by persons in the States of Connecticut and New York, and also to General Eustis, at Boston, of a similar character, with instructions to adopt such inquiries (to be secretly made) as they may deem necessary, and to report with the greatest dispatch all information which from time to time they may acquire.

(Indorsed: "President's instructions, May 28, 1842.")



WAR DEPARTMENT, May 28, 1842.

Colonel BANKHEAD,

Newport, R.I.

SIR: The governor of Rhode Island has represented to the President that preparations are making by Mr. Dorr and some of his adherents to recruit men in the neighboring States for the purpose of supporting his usurpation of the powers of government, and that he has provided arms and camp equipage for a large number of men. It is very important that we should have accurate information on this subject, and particularly in relation to the movements made in other States. I have therefore to desire you to employ proper persons to go to the places where it may be supposed such preparations are making to possess themselves fully of all that is doing and in contemplation, and report frequently to you. It is said that Mr. Dorr's principal headquarters are at the town of Thompson, in the State of Connecticut. It may be well for you to communicate personally with Governor King and ascertain from him the points and places at which any preparations for embodying men are supposed to be making, and to direct your inquiries accordingly.

It is important that you should select persons on whose integrity and accuracy the fullest reliance can be placed. They should not be partisans on either side, although to effect the object it will of course be necessary that some of them should obtain (if they do not already possess) the confidence of the friends of Mr. Dorr. You will please communicate directly to me all the information you obtain, and your own views of it.

It is scarcely necessary to say that this communication is of the most private and confidential character, and is not to be made known to anyone.

Respectfully, your obedient servant,

J.C. SPENCER.



WAR DEPARTMENT, May 29, 1842.

Brigadier-General EUSTIS,

Boston.

SIR: The governor of Rhode Island has represented to the President that preparations are making in other States (particularly in Massachusetts) for an armed invasion of that State to support the usurpations of Mr. Dorr and his friends and foment domestic insurrection. It is very important that we should have accurate information on this subject, and I have to desire you to take all necessary means to acquire it, and communicate directly to me as speedily and frequently as possible. It is said that 1,000 stand of arms have been procured in Boston, some pieces of artillery, and a large quantity of camp equipage for the use of the insurgents. Your attention to this is particularly desired to ascertain its truth or falsehood. It is also said that there are 200 men enrolled and embodied in a town upon the borders of Rhode Island, the name of which has escaped me. Please inquire into this. If it becomes necessary to employ confidential persons to discover what is doing, you will do so, being careful to select those only that are entirely trustworthy; and it will be desirable to avoid heated partisans on either side. Their inquiries should be conducted quietly and privately.

I desire you to communicate fully and freely what you may learn and your views concerning it for the information of the President and the Department.

It is scarcely necessary to say that this communication is strictly private and confidential.

Respectfully, your obedient servant,

[J.C. SPENCER.]



NEW YORK, June 3, 1842.

The PRESIDENT.

MY DEAR SIR: I came to this city yesterday, having taken a severe cold on the Sound, and am now just out of my bed. I transmit herewith a letter from ——, a friend appointed by me, as you requested, to look into the Rhode Island business. Mr. —— has had access to authentic sources in Governor Dorr's party, and I have no doubt his account of the whole matter is perfectly just. I supposed I should receive the foreign mail here, but I shall not wait for it if I should feel well enough to travel to-morrow.

Yours, truly,

DANL. WEBSTER.



NEW YORK, June 3, 1842.

Hon. DANIEL WEBSTER,

Secretary of State.

DEAR SIR: In pursuance of the arrangement made when you were in Boston, I have visited the State of Rhode Island, and, so far as could be done, possessed myself of a knowledge of the existing state of things there. I had a full and free interview with Governor King and his council, as well as with several other gentlemen upon each side of the matter in controversy. All agree that, so far as the people of Rhode Island are concerned, there is no danger of any further armed resistance to the legitimate authorities of the State. It was never intended, probably, by the majority of those called the suffrage party to proceed in any event to violence, and when they found themselves pushed to such an extremity by their leaders they deserted their leaders and are now every day enrolling themselves in the volunteer companies which are being organized in every part of the State for the suppression of any further insurrectionary movements that may be made. A large majority of those elected or appointed to office under the people's constitution (so called) have resigned their places and renounced all allegiance to that constitution and the party which supports it, so that the insurgents are now without any such organization as would enable them to carry out their original purposes if they otherwise had the power.

Governor King and his council alone, of all the intelligent persons with whom I consulted, fear an irruption upon them of an armed force to be collected in other States, and this is the only difficulty of which they now have any apprehension. This fear is excited by the boasts frequently made by the few who still avow their determination to adhere to the constitution that they have at their control large bodies of armed men, as well as camp equipage, provisions, money, and munitions of war, which have been provided for them in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New York. The supposition that Rhode Island is to be invaded by a foreign force, when that force would neither be led nor followed by any considerable number of the people of the State, does not seem, to say the least, to be a very reasonable one. If those who think they are suffering injustice are not disposed to make an effort to redress their supposed wrongs, they would hardly expect the work to be done by others.

The ostensible object of the insurgents now is not the real one. They meditate no further forcible proceedings. They bluster and threaten for several reasons:

First. Because they suppose they shall thus break their fall a little and render their retreat a little less inglorious than it would be if they should beat it at once.

Second. They believe that if they keep up a shew of opposition to the existing government they shall be more likely to revolutionize it by peaceable measures; and

Third. They think they can make their influence so far felt as to operate favorably upon those who are now under arrest for treason or who may be hereafter arrested for the same offense.

That these are the views and purposes of the insurgents I am confidentially assured by the notorious individual from whom I told you I could learn their plans and designs; and no one has better means of knowing than he, having been himself one of Mr. Dorr's confidential advisers from the beginning.

The meeting at Woonsocket on the 1st did not amount to much, being but thinly attended. The projected fortifications at that place have been abandoned. It is said they will be thrown up in some other spot to be designated hereafter, but this is not believed.

Mr. Dorr is now understood to be lurking in this city. Warrants have been issued for his arrest both by the governor of this State and the governor of Massachusetts, but he moves so privately and shifts his whereabouts so often that he eludes his pursuers.

Under all the circumstances I think you will come to the opinion entertained by seven-eighths of all the people of Providence (the scene of his operations thus far) that, deserted by his followers at home and disgraced in the estimation of those who sympathized with him abroad; Mr. Dorr has it not in his power to do any further serious mischief.

Yours, very truly,

—— ——.



PROVIDENCE, R.I., June 22, 1842.

Hon. J.C. SPENCER,

Secretary of War.

SIR: When I last had the honor to write to you I felt confident that there would be no further disturbance of the peace in this State. Governor King was of the same opinion. But I now fear, from strong indications, that Mr. Dorr and his party are determined to enter the State in force, and that in a few days serious difficulties will arise.

On my arrival here this morning from Newport, on my way to New York, I learnt from undoubted authority that several large boxes of muskets, supposed to contain about eighty, were received the evening before last at Woonsocket from New York; that several mounted cannon had been also received there and forwarded on to Chepachet; that a number of men, not citizens of the State, with arms, were in and about Woonsocket and Chepachet; that forty-eight kegs of powder were stolen on Sunday night last from a powder house in this neighborhood, and that Dorr, with about twenty men, landed last evening at Norwich.

An unsuccessful attempt was made two nights ago to steal the guns of the artillery company at Warren, and at several other places where guns had been deposited by the State, by some of Dorr's men, one of whom has been identified and arrested.

It has been observed for several days past that many of the suffrage party and residents of this city have been sending off their families and effects. The inhabitants of the city are seriously alarmed and in a state of much excitement. An express to convey the above intelligence to Governor King at Newport will be immediately sent down by the mayor of the city.

I shall be in New York early to-morrow morning ready to receive any instructions you may think proper to honor me with.

I have been compelled to write this in haste.

I am, sir, with great respect, your obedient servant,

JAS. BANKHEAD, Colonel Second Regiment Artillery.



CITY OF PROVIDENCE, MAYOR'S OFFICE,

June 23,1842.

SIR:[121] Governor King, having gone to Newport this afternoon, has requested me to forward his letter to Your Excellency, with such depositions as I could procure concerning the state of affairs in the north part of the State. These documents will be taken on by the Hon. William Sprague, our Senator, who intends leaving to-night for Washington. Should any accident prevent Mr. Sprague from going, I shall forward them to be put in the mail. I inclose the depositions[122] of Messrs. Samuel W. Peckham and Charles I. Harris. Messrs. Keep and Shelley, whom I sent out, have just returned. If I can get their depositions in time, I shall also forward them.

[Footnote 121: Addressed to the President of the United States.]

[Footnote 122: Omitted.]

About 11 a.m. this day a body marched from Woonsocket to Chepachet amounting to 90 men, and other small bodies are marching in that direction, so that I suppose that about 400 will be concentrated at Chepachet this evening.

In this city there is much excitement, but no symptoms as yet of men gathering with arms. There are many who I fear will be ready to join in any mischief should Dorr's forces approach us. Up to 8 o'clock this morning Mr. Dorr was in Connecticut, but a gentleman from Chepachet informs me his friends expect him this day.

I remain, with great respect, your obedient servant,

THOS. M. BURGESS, Mayor.



EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT,

Providence, June 23, 1842.

His Excellency JOHN TYLER,

President of the United States.

SIR: After my last communication the excitement and military operations of the insurgents against the government of this State appeared to subside, and I indulged hopes that no open violence would be attempted, but that they were disposed to await the action of the general assembly, now in session at Newport. I regret that I am obliged to inform Your Excellency that within a few days past appearances have become more alarming. Several iron cannon have been stolen from citizens of Providence, and during the night of the 19th a powder house, owned by a merchant of Providence, was broken open and about 1,200 pounds of powder stolen therefrom. Yesterday the military operations of the insurgents became more decided in their character. At Woonsocket and Chepachet there were gatherings of men in military array, pretending to act under the authority of Thomas W. Dorr. They established a kind of martial law in those villages, stopped peaceable citizens in the highways, and at Chepachet four citizens of Providence were seized by an armed force, pinioned, and compelled to march about 10 miles under a guard of about forty men to Woonsocket, where they were cruelly treated under pretense of being spies. The insurgents are provided with cannon, tents, ammunition, and stores.

It is ascertained that Thomas W. Dorr has returned from the city of New York to the State of Connecticut, and I have reason to believe he will be at Chepachet this day, where he will concentrate what forces he has already under arms with such others as he can collect. Those already assembled are composed of citizens of other States as well as of our own, and are variously estimated at 500 to 1,000 men.

I have this morning had an interview with Colonel Bankhead, who will communicate to the War Department such facts as have come to his knowledge. I would further state to Your Excellency that in those villages and their vicinity the civil authority is disregarded and paralyzed.

Under these circumstances I respectfully submit to Your Excellency that the crisis has arrived when the aid demanded by the legislature of the State from the Federal Government is imperatively required to furnish that protection to our citizens from domestic violence which is guaranteed by the Constitution and laws of the United States.