Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 11.djvu/805

 APPENDIX. PROCLAMATIONS. Nos. 11, 12. 761 Provided, nevertheless, that if any such vessel shall be forced into the harbors Exception as 0;- waters of the Unifcfl States, by fliS¤‘CSS,by the danfrers of the sea or by the t° "°“°l‘* d"l"°¤ pursuit of an enemy, or shall enter them chareed with despatehes ior business in by dismss °" {mm their govermnent, or shall be a public paclzet for the eonvevance of letters by an cH6m,` and despair-hes, the t-ommandinrr officer, immediately reportinv his vessel to the collector of the district, stating me object or causes of entering the said harbors or waters, and conforming himself to the regulations in thact ease prescribed under the authority of the laws, shall be allowed the benefit of such reeulations respecting repairs, supplies, stay, intercourse, and departure, as shallabe permitted under the same authority. In testimony whereofi I have caused the seal of the United States to be affixed to these presents, and sinned the same. Given at the city of [L. s.] Washington the second day oi? July, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and seven, and of the sovereignty and independence of the United States the thirty—iirst. TH. JEFFERSON. BY Um PRESIDENT: JAMES MADISON', Secretary of Stale. N0. 12. Rcspecting taking Possession of Part of Louisiana. BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. Oct. 27, 1810. A PRO CLAMATION. Wnnnnns the territory south of the Mississip iTe1-ritory and eastward of Preamble goto the River Mississippi and extending to the River Iierdido, of which possession title of the Uniwas not delivered to the United States in pursuance of the treaty concluded at *°d.s*°*°* *° ih" Paris, on the 30th April, 1803, has at all times, as is well known, been considered §"{§fggS;°°§h and claimed by them, as being within the colony of Louisiana conveyed by the Te,};,},,-V, §,l)st_ said treaty, in the same extent that it had in the hands of Spain, and that it ward of Missishad when France originally possessed it. sippi River and And whereas, the acquieseenee of the United States in the temporary con- ;,’F;‘g‘_dI§';§dE% um tinuance of the said territory under the Spanish authority was not the result vi,1_Vm_P_ 2g6_ of any distrust of their title, as has been particularly evinced by the general tenor of their laws, and by the distinction made in the application of those laws between that territory and foreign countries, but was occasioned by their conciliatory views, and bye contidence in the justice of their cause; and in the success of candid discussion and amicable negotiation with a just and friendly ower. P And whereas a satisfactory adjustment, too long delayed, without the fault of the United States, has for some time been entirely suspended by events over which they had no control, and whereas a crisis has at length arrived subversive of the order of things under the Spanish authorities., whereby a. failure of the United States to take the said territory into its possession may lead to events ultimately contravcning the views of both parties, whilst in the mean time the tranquillity and security of our adjoining territories are endangered, and new facilities given to violations of our revenue and commercial laws, and of those prohibiting the introduction of slaves. _ Considering, moreover, that under these peculiar and imperative circumstances, a forbearance on the part of the United States to occupy the territory in question, and thereby guard against the confusions and contingencies which threaten it, might be construed into a dereliction of their title, or an insensibility to the im rtance of the state: considering that in the hands of the United States 11: willmnot cease to be a subject of fair and friendly negotiation and adjustment: considering finally that the acts of Congress tho’ contemplating a present possesion by a foreign authority, have contemplated also an eventual possession of the said territory by the United States, and are accordingly so framed, as in that case to extend in their o eration, to the same: Now be it known that I, J XMES MADISON, President of the United States Possession to of America, in pursuance of these weighty and ument considerations, have be taken ¤€ $87*** deemed it right and requisite, that possession should be taken of the said ter- t°"’i°"Y· v01,. xr. Arr.-99