Page:The Presidents of the United States, 1789-1914, v. II.djvu/291

 JAMES BUCHANAN 233 onded by congress, and he was authorized to send a commissioner to that country accompanied by &quot;a naval force sufficient to exact justice should nego tiation fail.&quot; This was entirely successful; full in demnification was obtained without any resort to arms. Mr. Buchanan s negotiations with China, conducted through William B. Reed as minister, were also successful; a treaty was concluded in 1858, which established very satisfactory commer cial relations with that country and secured the. liquidation of all claims. June 22, 1860, Mr. Bu chanan vetoed a bill &quot;to secure homesteads to actual settlers in the public domain, and for other pur poses.&quot; The other purposes contemplated dona tions to the states. The ground of the veto was that the power &quot;to dispose of&quot; the territory of the United States did not authorize congress to donate public lands to the states for their domestic pur poses. In the senate the bill failed to receive the two thirds majority necessary to pass it over the veto. In internal affairs the preceding administration of President Pierce had left a legacy of trouble to his successor in the repeal of the Missouri compro mise, which was followed by a terrible period of lawlessness and bloodshed in Kansas, under what was called &quot;squatter sovereignty,&quot; the slavery and the anti-slavery parties among the settlers strug gling for supremacy. The pro-slavery party sus-