conspicuous part in the conquest of California; that his services have been very valuable in that country, and doubtless will continue to be so should he remain there.

Impressed, as all engaged in the public service must be, with the great importance of harmony and cordial co-operation in carrying on military operations in a country so distant from the seat of authority, the President is persuaded that when his definite instructions were received, alk questions of difficulty were settled, and all feelings which had been elicited by the agitation of them had subsided. Should Lieutenant Colonel Fremont, who has the option to return or remain, adopt the latter alternative, the President does not doubt you will employ him in such a manner as will render his services most available to the public interest, having reference to his extensive acquaintance with the inhabitants of California, and his knowledge of their language-qualifications, independent of all others, which it is supposed may be very useful in the present and prospective state of our affairs in that country.

It is probable that, before this communication is delivered to you, my despatch of the 10th of May last, with the accompanying documents, in relation to the collection of duties as contributions at the Mexican port in our military possession, will have been received. Some modifications in the scale of duties, &c., have since been made. The copy of an order of the President of this date, and a copy of a letter of the Secretary of the Treasury of the 10th instant, which are herewith furnished, will inform you of the character and extent of these modifications, and of the President's approval thereof, which you will cause to be observed and carried into effect.

I transmit herewith a copy of a communication addressed to you on the 10th of May, and sent by Mr. Toler, who proceeded to California by the route across the isthmus of Panama.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

Brig. Gen. S. W. KEARNY,

W. L. MARCY, Secretary of War.

or officer of the U. S. Army highest

in rank in California, Mexico.

WAR DEPARTMENT, Washington, June 12, 1847.

SIR: Herewith I enclose a triplicate of the orders of the Secretary of the Navy to the commanding officer of the naval forces in the Pacific ocean, dated June 11, 1847.

I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

W. L. MARCY, Secretary of War.

Brigadier General S. W. KEARNY,

WAR DEPARTMENT, Washington, October 13, 1847.

SIR: In instructions dated 10th May last, sent to General Kearny, then in California, it was stated that vessels engaged in the trade with Cali

fornia, which left home in the United States before the commercial regula tions of April last issued, would be required to pay duties at each port on only so much of their respective cargoes as might be landed at such port. It has been determined that this permission should extend to vessels,' American or foreign, without regard to the time when they sailed. You will, therefore, direct those who are employed by the authority of the commanding officer of the land forces in California to conform to the above modification.

I herewith send you an extract of a letter from the Secretary of the Treasury to the United States collector at Boston, directing the manner of executing the regulation in regard to this subject:

Extract of a letter from the Secretary of the Treasury to the United States Collector at Boston, dated May 10, 1847.

"In respect to the coasting trade between the ports in California, it is to be remarked that the regulations confine the privilege to American vessels only. This coastwise trade is to be understood as authorizing American vessels only to take in at one or more ports foreign merchandise on which duty under the regulations has been paid, as also articles of the growth or production of California or Mexico, and carry the same to be landed at any other port in our possession in said country.

"Any vessel, American or foreign, arriving at a port in California, that may not be able to dispose of her entire cargo at said port, may enter and pay duty and charges on any part of the same landed thereat, and may then proceed to one or more ports in said country in the actual possession of the United States forces, and land the residue of her cargo, on due entry and payment of duties thereon. In all such cases, the military officers in command at the ports where portions of the cargo may be landed, and the duties paid, should certify on the manifest the quantity, character, and description of goods landed at their respective ports, and the amount of duties collected thereon.

"All export duties being abolished under the regulations, it follows that any vessel making up a cargo for exportation from California to the United States ports, or the ports of any foreign country in amity with the same, may proceed from one or more ports within said country to collect and take in her cargo free of duty or charges."

I am, with great respect, your obedient servant,

Colonel R. B. MASON,

Commanding U. S. Army in California.

W. L. MARCY,

Secretary of War.

WAR DEPARTMENT, Washington, October 27, 1847.

SIR: You will receive herewith a copy of a letter from the Secretary of State to this department, dated July 23, with a copy of the papers therein referred to; also, a copy of the correspondence between this department and Lieutenant Colonel Frémont, on the subject of the complaints set forth in the letter of the French minister. They are sent to you in order

that an investigation may be made into the transaction referred to.

will, therefore, institute a board, to consist of one or more officers, not exceeding three, to examine into the facts, and report the same to this department at the earliest practicable day. Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

Colonel R. B. MASON,

W. L. MARCY,

Secretary of War.

Commanding U. S. Army in California,

Monterey, California.

[Memorandum.]

WAR DEPARTMENT, October 28, 1847.

Sent him six copies of pages 19 and 20, addition to regulations relative to contributions, and twenty copies of page 21 of the same, relating more particularly to California.

COL. R. B. MASON, California.

WAR DEPARTMENT,
December 24, 1847.

SIR: I have just learned that a messenger will leave here this afternoon, via New York, for California, with despatches from the Navy Department. I avail myself of the occasion to send you a copy of the Presi dent's message, and the report of this department. Should the messenger be detained in New York for a day or two, which it is hoped he may be, there will be time to send you a further communication.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

Colonel R. B. MASON,

Commanding U. S. troops in California.

W. L. MARCY,
Secretary of War.

WAR DEPARTMENT, January 20, 1848.

SIR: Your communication of the 18th of June has been received. By a reference to the annual report of the department herewith, you will learn its views in respect to an augmentation of the force under your command. A bill to raise additional troops for the war is now before Congress, and, should it become a law, a portion of the force therein provided for will be sent to California. But in order to increase the force there as soon as practicable, part of the troops now in Santa Fe will be sent into that country. Accordingly instructions have been given to the commanding officer in that quarter to detach from his command such of the volunteers as may be safely spared for this service, with directions to proceed by the route taken by General Kearny or Major Cook in 1846. This increase, with the two hundred recruits sent by sea some months since, and such

volunteers as may be raised in the country, and which you are authorized to receive, to the extent you may deem necessary, under the act of the 13th of May, 1846, will, it is hoped, be sufficient for present exigencies. Should the state of the country render it hazardous to keep the troops too much dispersed, it may be advisable to concentrate them in larger bodies, by reducing the number of military stations, and maintaining such only as may be deemed essential.

The officers requested in your letter will be ordered to report to you as soon as they can be spared from other duties; and the proper cavalry equipments for the mounted men, as recommended by you, have been ordered, and will be sent by the first opportunity.

The department indulges the hope that its recommendation in respect to the unsettled claims in California, reported in your communication, will receive the favorable action of Congress at an early day, in order that arrangements may be made for their prompt payment. Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

Col. RICHARD B. MASON,

W. L. MARCY,
Secretary of War.

1st Reg't of Dragoons, comd'g U. S. A. in California.

WAR DEPARTMENT, Washington, March 15, 1848.

SIR: This despatch is committed to Major General Butler, commanderin-chief of our armies in Mexico, and will be transmitted to you in case the pending negotiations for peace are successfully concluded.

By the treaty now pending, Upper California is ceded to the United States. The limits between the United States and the republic of Mexico will be communicated to you by General Butler, with the despatch. You will, therefore, immediately on receiving this communication, and a notification from Major General Butler that peace is definitively settled between the two nations, withdraw your troops to that part of the country which falls within the limits of the United States as defined by the treaty, and take proper measures with a view to its permanent occupation. Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

Colonel R. B. MASON,

Commanding U. S. forces, California.

W. L. MARCY,

Secretary of War.

SIR: Although the regiment of volunteers in California under the command of Colonel J. D. Stevenson entered the service under an agreement to receive their discharge at the end of the war in that country, if it should then be a part of the United States, and that they should not have a claim to be brought home at the expense of the government, yet it is understood

that many are anxious to return. The President has deemed it proper to offer facilities for returning to those who cannot be prevailed on to remain in California.

You will, on the receipt of this communication, discharge such of the volunteers in California as are willing to be there discharged, and retain in service such as are unwilling to take their discharge, until they can be conveniently sent to the United States. The authority to retain them is conferred by a joint resolution of Congress passed the 16th day of June last, with a copy of which you are herewith furnished. The Quartermaster General will be directed to furnish such of the volunteers as insist on returning to their homes with the means of doing so. If the navy now in the Pacific shall have the means of bringing them home, directions will be given for that purpose.

Under a late law of Congress, the men, when discharged, will be entitled to three months' extra pay. Herewith instructions will be sent out to the paymaster to make such payments to them. The soldiers who have been employed in California will also be entitled to a bounty in land. Congress will undoubtedly make provision that the lands may be located in California, should the soldiers desire it; but this cannot be done immediately, because our land system has not yet been put in operation in that Territory. It will be necessary that the certificates or warrants for lands should be issued here. The soldiers will be informed what is necessary to be done in order to procure their certificates for land by the papers herewith enclosed from the Pension office. You are desired to have the information communicated to them.

Orders have been issued from the Adjutant General's office for your guidance in military matters. The general duties of the officer in chief command of the United States military force in California are, to protect and defend this Territory, now a part of the United States, from foreign invasion, and to secure its internal tranquillity.

The views of the President in relation to the civil government of California are clearly presented in a letter from Mr. Buchanan, Secretary of State, to Mr. Voorhies, the agent of the Post Office Department, dated the 7th instant, who is charged with making these views known to the people of that Territory. You are herewith furnished with a copy of that letter, and will, in case Mr. Voorhies shall not have arrived in California and made its contents known to the people, cause it to be published and extensively circulated throughout the Territory. The general positions therein maintained are, that at the conclusion of the treaty of peace between the United States and Mexico, the military government which was established in California under the laws of war ceased to derive its authority from this source of power; but the termination of the war left an existing government-a government de facto-in full operation; and this will continue, with the presumed consent of the people, until Congress, which has full and exclusive power under the constitution to organize governments for Territories, shall provide a government for them. The consent of the people is irresistibly inferred from the fact that no civilized community could possibly desire to abrogate an existing government, when the alternative presented would be to place them in a state of anarchy, beyond the protection of all law, and reduce them to the unhappy necessity of submitting to the dominion of the strongest. But the gov ernment de facto can of course exercise no powers inconsistent with the