finished the survey and demarcation of the line from the Pacific coast to the Colorado, (a very considerable portion of the work;) and has ascertained the latitude and longitude of each of the two extreme points. In short, I will refer you to the correspondence and documents in your department, received from him, for the amount and nature of the service he has performed; and then ask whether it is not altogether likely that, in order thereto, he has been compelled to incur liabilities greater in amount than the funds that have been directly furnished him.

I think it cannot be said, when all the facts are known, that he ought to have, or possibly can have, funds to any considerable amount remaining in his band's out of the advances heretofore made him.

The vouchers returned by him, and now in the Fifth Auditor's office, will show that all he has had advanced him has been expended for subsistence stores for his party for six mouths, and for the necessary expenses in getting his party out to the field of labor.

The department, with the ample data in its possession, is able to form a correct estimate of the probable cost of the work completed by Mr. Weller, and therefore, also, of the probable sum now actually needed by the commissioner. The department is also able, no doubt, to fix the probable time at which Mr. Weller will leave the service, and can, therefore, form a tolerably correct estimate of the amount of funds it will take to keep up the service to that time; and here the assumption that the department is unwilling to suffer the entire suspension of the service for any limited period, I hope, is correct, as it is natural and justifiable. And it is quite certain that, unless funds are furnished the commissioner soon, he will be compelled to suspend the work, let the consequences be what they maythe nature of which, I am glad to believe, the department can sufficiently estimate to induce it to avert them.

I sincerely hope, sir, you will see the necessity as well as the justice of furnishing Mr. Weller more funds, and that I shall have the pleasure of conveying the same to him, as I am fully authorized by him to do-the evidence of which I will exhibit to you, at any time you shall name.

I have now only to inform you that, being a subaltern of the commissioner, I have received orders to repair to San Diego, but am unable to do so for want of the necessary means; and unless you can and will furnish me the necessary amount of funds, on account of the commission, I shall remain totally unable to execute the orders of the commissioner.

I have received no payment upon my salary since I first entered the commission; and if you cannot furnish me funds, as just intimated, but will have the goodness to allow me to draw from the treasury (as I am authorized by the commissioner to do) a sufficient portion of my salary to enable me to obey the orders of the commissioner to repair to San Diego, I can and will execute a voucher which shall secure the accounting officer against any charge of wrong-doing, as well as secure the public treasury against any possible loss.

I shall feel greatly obliged to you for an early answer; and in the mean time,

I have the honor to be, your obedient servant,

C. L. WELLER, Disbursing officer U. S. & M. B. Commission, and agent and attorney for John B. Weller.

Hon. JOHN M. CLAYTON, Secretary of State.

WASHINGTON CITY, D. C.,
December 24, 1849.

SIR: Your favor of the 20th instant, in answer to mine of the 15th, has been received. It informs me that "the commissioner is charged with the disbursement of the appropriation made by Congress for the boundary service," and that "my application for pay on account of my salary as a subaltern in the commission should be made to him." And what I now wish to say in reply is, that all the commissioner desires is, that you will not intervene between him and the strict discharge of his duty, as set forth in your letter. He cannot disburse said appropriation so long as the department refuses to allow it to pass into his hands, or dishonors his requisitions upon the department, given in discharge of liabilities incurred on account of the service. I am the disbursing officer of the commission, as will be seen in the commissioner's report on the organization of the commission, now in the State Department, and as such hold a requisition of the commissioner upon the department for a portion of said appropriation, which I am to disburse, agreeably to directions, on account of the service. And, in the name and on behalf of the commissioner, I only ask that the discharge of his duty, as set forth in your letter, may be rendered possible, by having placed under his control the appropriation made by Congress.

Your reference of me back to the commissioner for my pay is useless, since he cannot be allowed to draw from the treasury funds for the purpose. The commissioner, in recognition and part payment of my claim, put into my hands a draft upon the department, which has not yet been honored. If the commissioner's requisitions are to be dishonored, and yet it be made his duty to defray the expenses of the service, how, I ask, with all due deference, is it proposed he shall accomplish his mission? Whilst so much time is being consumed in getting a successor to Mr. Weller installed, is it expected of him to keep up the service, or is a suspension desired? If the former, it cannot be done without funds; and if the latter, would it not be a saving to the government, and just and magnanimous towards Mr. Weller, to relieve him from the service unconditionally?

The commissioner asks you, through me, to be allowed to pay a portion of the salary of his disbursing officer, and for that purpose has drawn a draft for $500, which I will present at any time you may have the kindness to allow its payment.

With no desire to become importunate, but with a sincere belief that there has been some misconception of the facts of the case, my object in addressing you now is to give you a clear statement in regard to the draft I hold, hoping thereby to overcome your objections to its payment here.

With a respectful request to be informed, as soon as convenient, whether or not you still adhere to your former decision regarding the payment here, in part, of my salary, agreeably to the requisition of the commissioner, I have the honor to be your obedient servant,

Hon. THOMAS EWING,

S cretary of Interior Department.

C. L. WELLER.

DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington City, January 19, 1849.

GENTLEMEN: You will receive herewith the list of instruments belonging to this department, furnished by Major Graham on the 29th December last.

Major Graham and Major Emory will proceed immediately to New York, and, if they should deem it advisable, to the other cities where these instruments are deposited; and Major Graham, in whose custody they now are, will deliver such of them to Major Emory, the chief of the corps of topographical engineers designated to accompany the commissioner and surveyor under the 5th article of the late treaty with Mexico, as he may deem necessary for correctly running and marking the boundary line between the two republics, taking duplicate receipts for the same. Major Graham will deliver one of these receipts to the department, and preserve the other.

Major Emory will then proceed at once to cause any or all of the instruments so delivered to him to be repaired, if need be, and fitted for the survey of the Mexican boundary, and to be packed and placed in boxes for transportation on mules.

All the actual expenses incurred in executing these instructions, as well as the personal expenses of Majors Graham and Emory, will be paid out of the appropriation made on the 12th August last, not exceeding $50,000, for the expenses of running and marking the boundary line between the United States and Mexico, and paying the salaries of the officers of the commission." Accounts of these expenses, properly vouched, will be settled by the Fifth Auditor.

Major Emory, after having received and examined such instruments as he may require, will report immediately to this department what other instruments he may deem necessary for the survey, together with their probable cost, and where they may be obtained the most speedily and upon

the best terms.

I am, gentlemen, respectfully, your obedient servant,

JAMES BUCHANAN.

Maj. J. D. GRAHAM and Maj. WM. H. EMORY,

Of the Topographical Engineers of the U. S. Army.

DEPARTMENT OF STATE,
Washington, January 24, 1849.

SIR: The fifth article of the treaty requiring that the commissioner and surveyor of the United States and Mexico, respectively, should meet at San Diego before the 30th May, 1849, no time should be lost in organizing the commission on our part, preparatory to its departure for the place of destination.

As you will be held responsible for the able and faithful execution of the important public trust confided to you by this article of the treaty, the President deems it proper to leave to you the organization of the commission, enjoining it upon you, at the same time, to employ as few persons to assist you as may be compatible with the successful and efficient performance of your duties, and to study economy, as far as practicable, in al your expenditures.

The organization will be effected solely with a view to run and mark the boundary line between the two republics; although the selection of individuals for this purpose may be made with reference to the incidental collection of information relative to the construction of." a road, canal, or railway," along the river Gila, as provided for by the sixth article of the treaty.

In organizing the commission, you are referred, for any information which you may deem necessary, to Andrew B. Gray, esq., who has been appointed surveyor under the treaty, and Major William H. Emory, of the topographical engineers, whom the President has designated to be "chief astronomer and head of the topographical scientific eorps of the commission."

Congress, by the civil and diplomatic act of August 12, 1848, has appropriated, "for the expenses of running and marking the boundary line between the United States and Mexico, and paying the salaries of the officers of the commission, a sum not exceeding fifty thousand dollars," and the President considers that he will best effectuate the intentions of Congress by directing that the expenses of the commission for one year shall be so graduated as not to exceed this appropriation. You will be charged exclusively with the disbursements of the money thus appropriated, with the exception of the sum which may be necessary to execute my instructions of the 19th instant, to Majors Graham and Emory, relative to the delivery of astronomical instruments from the former to the latter, for the use of the commission.

Your salary as commissioner, as well as that of the surveyor, will commence from this date. In case Congress should not declare by law what these salaries shall be, they will be fixed by the President before the departure of the commission from the United States. Under the head of contingent expenses of the commission will be embraced your reasonable personal expenses while in service, and those of the surveyor, chief astronomer, and other officers of the topographical engineers who may be detailed to assist you in the field, the pay and subsistence of assistant surveyors, chain carriers, and laborers, and the incidental and necessary expenses of exploring parties, the purchase of stationery, of tents and camp equipage, and the purchase or hire of horses, mules, and vehicles for the transportation of the same. Of all these expenses you will keep a regular account, which, together with the necessary vouchers, you will render and transmit quarterly to the Fifth Auditor of the Treasury for settlement. And to meet the same, as likewise the payment of the salaries, you will from time to time, as occasion may require, draw upon the department, taking care not to exceed in the amount drawn at any one time the sum which will be required to meet the actual and necessary expenses of the commission.

After the commission on the part of the United States shall have been properly organized under your direction, and before your departure from the country, you will receive further instructions.

I am, sir, respectfully, your obedient servant,

TO JOHN B. WELLER, Esq.,

JAMES BUCHANAN.

"Commissioner for running the boundary line between the United States and the republic of Mexico, under the filth article of the treaty with that republic, concluded on the 2d February, 1848."

DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, February 13, 1849.

SIR: In my instructions of the 24th ultimo I promised to send you further instructions before your departure from the United States. I now proceed to perform this duty.

The fifth article of our treaty with Mexico of the 2d February, 1848, as amended by the Senate, (two copies of which are herewith transmitted,) clearly prescribes your duties. This article places you in a highly rosponsible position; because it declares that the boundary line between the two republics which shall be run and marked by the joint commission shall be deemed a part of the treaty, "and shall have the same force as if it were inserted therein." The action of the commission, therefore, will be final and conclusive; and the President has full confidence that in the discharge of your important duties your conduct will be characterized by prudence, firmness, and a conciliatory spirit.

Whilst he desires no advantage over the Mexican government, you will take care, in running the boundary, that all our just rights, under the treaty, shall be maintained.

Your first duty will be to run and mark that part of the boundary consisting of a straight line from a "point on the coast of the Pacific ocean distant one marine league due south of the southernmost point of the port of San Diego" to "the middle of the Rio Gila, where it unites with the Colorado."

It is not apprehended that you will encounter much difficulty in determining either of these points. This southernmost point of the port of San Diego is to be ascertained, by the treaty, "according to the plan of said port made in the year 1782 by Don Juan Pantoja, second sailing-master of the Spanish fleet, and published at Madrid, in the year 1802, on the atlas to the voyage of the schooners Sutil and Mexicana, of which plan a copy is hereunto added, signed and sealed by the respective plenipotentiaries." You are furnished with a certified copy of this plan, which appears to fix precisely what is the southern limit of the port of San Diego; and a point on the Pacific "one marine league due south of" this is the place of beginning.

The middle of the Rio Gila, where it unites with the Colorado, being a natural object, there can be but little difficulty in ascertaining this point. The duties of the surveyor are sufficiently indicated by the treaty itself; those of Major William H. Emory, the chief astronomer, will be to determine all astronomical points, and to direct the mode of running all astronomical lines on the boundary. Lieutenant J. W. Whipple and Brevet Captain E. L. F. Hardcastle, of the corps of topographical engineers, have been designated, under the authority of the President, to accompany Major Emory as his assistants.

6.

The remainder of the boundary runs along the middle of the Rio Gila and the Rio Grande, with the exception of that portion of it between the point where the Rio Grande strikes the southern boundary of New Mexico; thence westwardly along the whole southern boundary of New Mexico (which runs north of the town called Paso) to its western termination; thence northward, along the western line of New Mexico until it intersects the first branch of the river Gila, (or, if it should not intersect any branch of that river, then to the point on the said line nearest to such branch, and thence in a direct line to the same.")