The information called for by this resolution will be cheerfully communicated to the Senate as soon as it shall be found to be compatible with the public interest. Z. TAYLOR. WASHINGTON, February 13, 1850. To the House of Representatives of the United States: I have received a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 24th ultimo, requesting the President of the United States "to communicate to that body (provided the publication thereof be not prejudicial to the public interest) all such information as may be within the knowledge of the executive department relative to the alleged extraordinary proceedings of the English Government in the forcible seizure and occupation of the island of Tigre, in the State of Nicaragua, Central America; also all facts, circumstances, or communications within the knowledge of the Executive relative to any seizure, occupation, or attempted seizure or occupation, by the English Government of any port, river, town, territory, or island belonging to or claimed by any of the States of Central America; also that he be requested to communicate to this House, if not incompatible with the public interest, all treaties not heretofore published which may have been negotiated with any of the States of Central America by any person acting by authority from the late Administration or under the auspices of the present Executive." The information called for by this resolution will be cheerfully communicated to the House as soon as it shall be found compatible with the public interest. Z. TAYLOR. WASHINGTON, February 13, 1850. To the House of Representatives of the United States: I transmit herewith to the House of Representatives, for the information of that body, an authenticated copy of the constitution of the State of California, received by me from General Riley. To the Senate of the United States: Z. TAYLOR. WASHINGTON, February 13, 1850. I transmit herewith to the Senate, for the information of that body, an authenticated copy of the constitution of California, received by me from the Hon. William M. Gwyn. To the Senate of the United States: Z. TAYLOR. WASHINGTON, March 1, 1850. In reply to the resolution of the Senate of the 12th ultimo, requesting the President of the United States "to inform the Senate of the amount of prize money paid into the Treasury in conformity with the eighteenth section of the act of March 3, 1849," etc., I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of the Navy, with accompanying documents. Z. TAYLOR. WASHINGTON, March 4, 1850. To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States: I herewith transmit to Congress copies of a recent correspondence between the Department of State and the British minister at Washington, relating to subjects* which seem to require the consideration of the legislative rather than the executive branch of the Government. To the Senate of the United States: Z. TAYLOR. WASHINGTON, March 6, 1850. In answer to the inquiries contained in the resolution of the Senate of the 4th instant, in relation to the appointment of postmasters by the Postmaster-General, I send to the Senate herewith the letter of the Postmaster-General furnishing the desired information. Z. TAYLOR. To the Senate of the United States: MARCH 8, 1850. The Postmaster-General has this day communicated to me the letter herewith transmitted, in addition to his communication by me sent to the Senate on the 6th instant, in relation to the inquiries contained in the resolution of the Senate as to the appointment of postmasters. To the Senate of the United States: Z. TAYLOR. WASHINGTON, March 19, 1850. I transmit herewith, for the consideration and constitutional action of the Senate, a communication from the Secretary of the Interior, covering two treaties with Indians of New Mexico, one negotiated with the Navajo tribe on the 9th of September last by Colonel John Washington, of the Army, and J. S. Calhoun, United States Indian agent at Santa Fe, and the other with the Utah tribe, negotiated by J. S. Calhoun on the 13th of December last. Z. TAYLOR. To the Senate of the United States: WASHINGTON, March 19, 1850. I herewith transmit to the Senate, for their advice in regard to its rati. fication. "a general treaty of amity, navigation, and commerce" between Navigation laws and tariff on British productions. the United States of America and the State of Nicaragua, concluded at Leon by E. George Squier, chargé d'affaires of the United States, on their part, and Señor Zepeda, on the part of the Republic of Nicaragua. I also transmit, for the advice of the Senate in regard to its ratification, "a general treaty of amity, navigation, and commerce" negotiated by Mr. Squier with the Republic of San Salvador. I also transmit to the Senate a copy of the instructions to and correspondence with the said chargé d'affaires relating to those treaties. I also transmit, for the advice of the Senate in regard to its ratification, "a general treaty of peace, amity, commerce, and navigation" negotiated by Elijah Hise, our late chargé d'affaires, with the State of Guatemala. I also transmit, for the information of the Senate, a copy of a treaty negotiated by Mr. Hise with the Government of Nicaragua on the 21st of June last, accompanied by copies of his instructions from and correspondence with the Department of State. On the 12th day of November, 1847, Señor Buétrago, secretary of state and of the affairs of war and foreign relations and domestic administration of the Supreme Government of the State of Nicaragua, addressed a letter from the Government House at Leon to Mr. Buchanan, then Secretary of State of the United States, asking the friendly offices of this Government to prevent an attack upon the town of San Juan de Nicaragua, then contemplated by the British authorities as the allies of the Mosquito King. That letter, a translation of which is herewith sent, distinctly charges that The object of the British in taking this key of the continent is not to protect the small tribe of the Mosquitos, but to establish their own empire over the Atlantic extremity of the line, by which a canal connecting the two oceans is most practicable, insuring to them the preponderance on the American continent, as well as their direct relations with Asia, the East Indies, and other important countries in the world. No answer appears to have been returned to this letter. A communication was received by my predecessor from Don José Guerrero, President and Supreme Director of the State of Nicaragua, dated the 15th day of December, 1847, expressing his desire to establish relations of amity and commerce with the United States, a translation of which is herewith inclosed. In this the President of Nicaragua says: My desire was carried to the utmost on seeing in your message at the opening of the Twenty-ninth Congress of your Republic a sincere profession of political faith in all respects conformable with the principles professed by these States, determined, as they are, to sustain with firmness the continental cause, the rights of Americans in general, and the noninterference of European powers in their concerns. This letter announces the critical situation in which Nicaragua was placed and charges upon the Court of St. James a "well-known design to establish colonies on the coast of Nicaragua and to render itself master of the interoceanic canal, for which so many facilities are presented by the isthmus in that State." No reply was made to this letter. The British ships of war Alarm and Vixen arrived at San Juan de Nicaragua on the 8th day of February, 1848, and on the 12th of that month the British forces, consisting of 260 officers and men, attacked and captured the post of Serapaqui, garrisoned, according to the British statements, by about 200 soldiers, after a sharp action of one hour and forty minutes. On the 7th day of March, 1848, articles of agreement were concluded by Captain Locke, on the part of Great Britain, with the commissioners of the State of Nicaragua in the island of Cuba, in the Lake of Nicaragua, a copy of which will be found in the correspondence relating to the Mosquito Territory presented to and published by the House of Commons of Great Britain on the 3d day of July, 1848, herewith submitted. A copy of the same document will also be found accompanying the note of the minister for foreign affairs of Nicaragua to the Secretary of State of the United States under date the 17th March, 1848. By the third article of the agreement it is provided that Nicaragua shall not disturb the inhabitants of San Juan, understanding that any such act will be considered by Great Britain as a declaration of open hostilities." By the sixth article it is provided that these articles of agreement will not "hinder Nicaragua from soliciting by means of a commissioner to Her Britannic Majesty a final arrangement of these affairs." The communication from Señor Sebastian Salinas, the secretary of foreign affairs of the State of Nicaragua, to Mr. Buchanan, the Secretary of State of the United States, dated 17th March, 1848, a translation of which is herewith submitted, recites the aggressions of Great Britain and the seizure of a part of the Nicaraguan territory in the name of the Mosquito King. No answer appears to have been given to this letter. On the 28th day of October, 1847, Joseph W. Livingston was appointed by this Government consul of the United States for the port of San Juan de Nicaragua. On the 16th day of December, 1847, after having received his exequatur from the Nicaraguan Government, he addressed a letter to Mr. Buchanan, Secretary of State, a copy of which is herewith submitted, representing that he had been informed that the English Government would take possession of San Juan de Nicaragua in January, 1848. In another letter, dated the 8th of April, 1848, Mr. Livingston states that "at the request of the minister for foreign affairs of Nicaragua he transmits a package of papers containing the correspondence relative to the occupation of the port of San Juan by British forces in the name of the Mosquito nation." On the 3d day of June, 1848, Elijah Hise, being appointed chargé d'affaires of the United States to Guatemala, received his instructions, a copy of which is herewith submitted. In these instructions the following passages occur: The independence as well as the interests of the nations on this continent require that they should maintain the American system of policy entirely distinct from that which prevails in Europe. To suffer any interference on the part of the European Governments with the domestic concerns of the American Republics and to permit them to establish new colonies upon this continent would be to jeopard their independence and to ruin their interests. These truths ought everywhere throughout this continent to be impressed on the public mind. But what can the United States do to resist such European interference whilst the Spanish American Republics continue to weaken themselves by division and civil war and deprive themselves of the ability of doing anything for their own protection? This last significant inquiry seems plainly to intimate that the United States could do nothing to arrest British aggression while the Spanish American Republics continue to weaken themselves by division and civil war and deprive themselves of the ability of doing anything for their protection. These instructions, which also state the dissolution of the Central American Republic, formerly composed of the five States of Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Honduras, San Salvador, and Guatemala, and their continued separation, authorize Mr. Hise to conclude treaties of commerce with the Republics of Guatemala and San Salvador, but conclude with saying that it was not deemed advisable to empower Mr. Hise to conclude a treaty with either Nicaragua, Honduras, or Costa Rica until more full and statistical information should have been communicated by him to the Department in regard to those States than that which it possesses. The States of Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Honduras are the only Central American States whose consent or cooperation would in any event be necessary for the construction of the ship canal contemplated between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans by the way of Lake Nicaragua. In pursuance of the sixth article of the agreement of the 7th of March, 1848, between the forces of Great Britain and the authorities of Nicaragua, Señor Francisco Castillon was appointed commissioner from Nicaragua to Great Britain, and on the 5th day of November, 1848, while at Washington on his way to London, addressed a letter to the Secretary of State, a translation of which is herewith submitted, asking this Government to instruct its minister plenipotentiary residing in London to sustain the right of Nicaragua to her territory claimed by Mosquito, and especially to the port of San Juan, expressing the hope of Nicaragua "that the Government of the Union, firmly adhering to its principle of resisting all foreign intervention in America, would not hesitate to order such steps to be taken as might be effective before things reached a point in which the intervention of the United States would prove of no avail." To this letter also no answer appears to have been returned, and no instructions were given to our minister in London in pursuance of the request contained in it. On the 3d day of March, 1847, Christopher Hempstead was appointed consul at Belize, and an application was then made for his exequatur through our minister in London, Mr. Bancroft. Lord Palmerston referred Mr. Bancroft's application for an exequatur for Mr. Hempstead to the |