State of the Union | Page 2

apprised that a war steamer belonging to the German Empire was
being fitted out in the harbor of New York with the aid of some of our
naval officers, rendered under the permission of the late Secretary of
the Navy. This permission was granted during an armistice between
that Empire and the Kingdom of Denmark, which had been engaged in
the Schleswig-Holstein war. Apprehensive that this act of intervention
on our part might be viewed as a violation of our neutral obligations
incurred by the treaty with Denmark and of the provisions of the act of
Congress of the 20th of April, 1818, I directed that no further aid
should be rendered by any agent or officer of the Navy; and I instructed

the Secretary of State to apprise the minister of the German Empire
accredited to this Government of my determination to execute the law
of the United States and to maintain the faith of treaties with all nations.
The correspondence which ensued between the Department of State
and the minister of the German Empire is herewith laid before you. The
execution of the law and the observance of the treaty were deemed by
me to be due to the honor of the country, as well as to the sacred
obligations of the Constitution. I shall not fail to pursue the same
course should a similar case arise with any other nation. Having
avowed the opinion on taking the oath of office that in disputes
between conflicting foreign governments it is our interest not less than
our duty to remain strictly neutral, I shall not abandon it. You will
perceive from the correspondence submitted to you in connection with
this subject that the course adopted in this case has been properly
regarded by the belligerent powers interested in the matter.
Although a minister of the United States to the German Empire was
appointed by my predecessor in August, 1848, and has for a long time
been in attendance at Frankfort-on-the-Main, and although a minister
appointed to represent that Empire was received and accredited here,
yet no such government as that of the German Empire has been
definitively constituted. Mr. Donelson, our representative at Frankfort,
remained there several months in the expectation that a union of the
German States under one constitution or form of government might at
length be organized. It is believed by those well acquainted with the
existing relations between Prussia and the States of Germany that no
such union can be permanently established without her cooperation. In
the event of the formation of such a union and the organization of a
central power in Germany of which she should form a part, it would
become necessary to withdraw our minister at Berlin; but while Prussia
exists as an independent kingdom and diplomatic relations are
maintained with her there can be no necessity for the continuance of the
mission to Frankfort. I have therefore recalled Mr. Donelson and
directed the archives of the legation at Frankfort to be transferred to the
American legation at Berlin.
Having been apprised that a considerable number of adventurers were
engaged in fitting out a, military expedition within the United States
against a foreign country, and believing from the best information I

could obtain that it was destined to invade the island of Cuba, I deemed
it due to the friendly relations existing between the United States and
Spain, to the treaty between the two nations, to the laws of the United
States, and, above all, to the American honor to exert the lawful
authority of this Government in suppressing the expedition and
preventing the invasion. To this end I issued a proclamation enjoining it
upon the officers of the United States, civil and military, to use all
lawful means within their power. A copy of that proclamation is
herewith submitted. The expedition has been suppressed. So long as the
act of Congress of the 20th of April, 1818, which owes its existence to
the law of nations and to the policy of Washington himself, shall
remain on our statute books, I hold it to be the duty of the Executive
faithfully to obey its injunctions.
While this expedition was in progress I was informed that a foreigner
who claimed our protection had been clandestinely and, as was
supposed, forcibly carried off in a vessel from New Orleans to the
island of Cuba. I immediately caused such steps to be taken as I
thought necessary, in case the information I had received should prove
correct, to vindicate the honor of the country and the right of every
person seeking an asylum on our soil to the protection of our laws. The
person alleged to have been abducted was promptly restored, and the
circumstances of the case are now about to undergo investigation
before a