PUBLIC DOCUMENTS. 



655 



ter of the agents who had been charged with the in- 

 vestigation, that such proceedings should be had as 

 would enable the people to know the truth. A com- 

 mission was, therefore, constituted, under authority 

 of Congress, consisting of gentlemen selected with 

 special reference to their high character and capacity 

 for the laborious work intrusted to them, who were 

 instructed to visit the spot and report upon the facts. 

 Other eminent citizens were requested to accompany 

 the Commission in order that the people might have 

 the benefit of their views. Students of science and 

 correspondents of the press, without regard to politi- 

 cal opinions, were invited to join the expedition, and 

 their numbers were limited only by the capacity of 

 the vessel. 



The mere rejection by the Senate of a treaty nego- 

 tiated by the President only indicates a difference of 

 opinion of the government, without touching the 

 character or wounding the pride of either. But when 

 such rejection takes place simultaneously with 

 charges, openly made, of corruption on the part of 

 the President, or of those employed by him, the case 

 is different. Indeed, in such case, the honor of the 

 nation demands investigation. This has been accom- 

 plished by the report of the commissioners herewith 

 transmitted, and which fully vindicates the purity of 

 motives and action of those who represented the 

 United States in the negotiation. And now my task 

 is finished, and with it ends all personal solicitude 

 upon the subject. My duty being done, yours begins, 

 and I gladly hand over the whole matter to the judg- 

 ment of the American people and of their represent- 

 atives in Congress assembled. 



The facts will now be spread before the country, 

 and a decision rendered by that tribunal whose con- 

 victions so seldom err, and against whose will I have 

 no policy to enforce. My opinion remains unchanged ; 

 indeed, it is confirmed by the report that the inter- 

 ests of our country and of St. Domingo alike invite 

 the annexation of the republic. In view of the dif- 

 ference of opinion upon this subject, I suggest that 

 no action be taken at the present session, beyond 

 the printing and general dissemination of the report. 

 Before the next session of Congress, the people will 

 have considered the subject and formed an intelli- 

 gent opinion concerning it, to which opinion, delib- 

 erately made up, it will be the duty of every depart- 

 ment of the Government to give heed, and no one 

 will more cheerfully conform to it than myself. It is 

 not only the theory of our Constitution that the will 

 of the people constitutionally ^ expressed is the su- 

 preme law, but I have ever believed that all men are 

 wiser than any one man, and, if the people, upon a 

 full presentation of the facts, shall decide that the 

 annexation of the republic is not desirable, every de- 

 partment of the Government ought to acquiesce in 

 that decision. 



In again submitting to Congress a subject upon 

 which public sentiment has been divided, and which 

 has been made the occasion of acrimonious debates 

 in Congress, as well as unjust aspersions elsewhere, 

 I may, I trust, be indulged in a single remark : No 

 man can hope to perform duties so delicate and re- 

 sponsible as pertain to the presidential office without 

 sometimes incurring the hostility of those who deem 

 their opinions and wishes treated with insufficient 

 consideration, and he who undertakes to conduct the 

 affairs of a great government as a faithful public ser- 

 vant, if sustained by the approval of his own con- 

 science, may rely with confidence upon the candor 

 and intelligence of afree people, whose best interests 

 he has striven to subserve, and can bear with pa- 

 tience the censure of disappointed men. 



U. S. GKzYNT. 



EXECUTIVE MANSION", April 5, 1871. 



REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONERS. 



The following is the report of the Commis- 

 sion of Inquiry relative to St. Domingo : 



SIB : The commissioners appointed pursuant to 

 resolution of Congress, approved January 12, 1871, 

 to inquire into the condition of the Dominican Ee- 

 public, have the honor to submit the following re- 

 port, answering, in a summary way, the successive 

 inquiries propounded in the resolution, referring to 

 the accompanying testimony and documents and to 

 the series of scientific reports for fuller information 

 on special subjects of inquiry : 



The resolution is as follows : 



Resolved, by the Senate and House of Eeprcsentatrvts 

 of the United States of America, in Congress asstmlled, 

 That the President of the United States be author- 

 ized to appoint three commissioners and also a secre- 

 tarythe latter to bo versed in the English and 

 Spanish languages to proceed to the Island of St. 

 Domingo, and such other places, if any, as such 

 commissioners may deem necessary, and there to in- 

 quire intOj ascertain, and report the political state 

 and condition of the Kepublic of Dominica ; the prob- 

 able number of inhabitants, and the desire and dis- 

 position of the people of the said republic to become 

 annexed to and to form part of the people of the United 

 States ; the physical, mental, and moral condition of 

 the said people, and the general condition as to ma- 

 terial wealth and industrial capacity ; the resources 

 of the country, its mineral and agricultural products, 

 the products of its waters and forests ; the general 

 character of the soil, and the extent and proportion 

 thereof capable of cultivation ; the climate and 

 health of the country ; its bays, harbors, and rivers ; 

 its general meteorological character, and the exist- 

 ence and frequency of remarkable meteorological 

 phenomena; the debt of the government and its 

 obligations, whether funded and ascertained and 

 admitted, or unadjusted and under discussion ; 

 treaties or engagements with other powers ; the ex- 

 tent of boundaries and territory, and what propor- 

 tion is covered by foreign claimants, or by grants 

 and concessions, and, generally, what concessions 

 or franchises have been granted, with the names of 

 the respective grantees ; the terms and conditions on 

 which the Dominican government may desire to be 

 annexed to and to become a part of the United States, 

 as one of the Territories thereof, and such other in- 

 formation with respect to the said government or its 

 territories as to the said commissioners shall seem 

 desirable or important, with reference to the future 

 incorporation of the said Dominican Kepublic into the 

 United States as one of its Territories. 



SEO. 2. And be it further resolved, That the said 

 commissioners shall serve without compensation, 

 except the payment of expenses and the compensa- 

 tion of a secretary, which shall be determined by the 

 Secretary of State, with the approval of the Presi- 

 dent: Provided, That nothing in these resolutions 

 contained shall be held, understood, or construed as 

 committing Congress to the policy of annexing the 

 territory of the said Eepublic of Dominica. 



In accordance with said resolution, the com- 

 missioners proceeded to the Island of St. Do- 

 mingo, leaving New York on the 17th, and 

 arriving at Sarnana Bay on the 24ih of Janu- 

 ary, 1871, and forthwith began their inquiries. 

 They were aided in their researches by a corps 

 of scientific observers. They traversed tho 

 Dominican Republic from end to end in several 

 directions, either by their agents or in person, 

 one of the commissioners crossing it from south 

 to north, and another from east to west. They 

 spent several weeks at the capital, in daily con- 

 ference with the President and chief officers 

 of the government, in examining the official 

 records, and, as at all other places, in constant 

 intercourse with the people, and taking testi- 



