Part 31

ANDREW JOHNSON.

WASHINGTON, April 23, 1866.

To the House of Representatives:

In answer to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 16th instant, requesting information relative to the proposed evacuation of Mexico by French military forces, I transmit a report from the Secretary of State and the documents by which it was accompanied.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

EXECUTIVE MANSION,

Washington, D.C., April 24, 1866.

To the Senate and House of Representatives:

I submit herewith, for the consideration of Congress, the accompanying communication from the Secretary of the Interior, in relation to the Union Pacific Railroad Company, eastern division.

It appears that the company were required to complete 100 miles of their road within three years after their acceptance of the conditions of the original act of Congress. This period expired December 22, 1865. Sixty-two miles had been previously accepted by the Government. Since that date an additional section of 23 miles has been completed. Commissioners appointed for that purpose have examined and reported upon it, and an application has been made for its acceptance.

The failure to complete 100 miles of road within the period prescribed renders it questionable whether the executive officers of the Government are authorized to issue the bonds and patents to which the company would be entitled if this as well as the other requirements of the act had been faithfully observed.

This failure may to some extent be ascribed to the financial condition of the country incident to the recent civil war. As the company appear to be engaged in the energetic prosecution of their work and manifest a disposition to comply with the conditions of the grant, I recommend that the time for the completion of this part of the road be extended and that authority be given for the issue of bonds and patents on account of the section now offered for acceptance notwithstanding such failure, should the company in other respects be thereunto entitled.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

WASHINGTON, D.C., April 28, 1866.

To the Senate of the United States:

I transmit herewith, for the constitutional action of the Senate, a treaty this day concluded with the Choctaw and Chickasaw nations of Indians.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

WASHINGTON, April 30, 1866.

To the House of Representatives:

In answer to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 25th instant, requesting information in regard to the rebel debt known as the cotton loan, I transmit a report from the Secretary of State, to whom the resolution was referred.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

WASHINGTON, D.C., May 2, 1866.

To the House of Representatives:

In reply to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 23d ultimo, I transmit a report from the Secretary of War, from which it will be perceived that it is not deemed compatible with the public interests to communicate to the House the report made by General Smith and the Hon. James T. Brady of their investigations at New Orleans, La.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

WASHINGTON, D.C., May 4, 1866.

To the House of Representatives:

In answer to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 5th of March, 1866, requesting the names of persons worth more than $20,000 to whom special pardons have been issued, and a statement of the amount of property which has been seized as belonging to the enemies of the Government, or as abandoned property, and returned to those who claimed to be the original owners, I transmit herewith reports from the Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of War, and the Attorney-General, together with a copy of the amnesty proclamation of the 29th of May, 1865, and a copy of the warrants issued in cases in which special pardons are granted. The second, third, and fourth conditions of the warrant prescribe the terms, so far as property is concerned, upon which all such pardons are granted and accepted.