To the Senate of the United States: WASHINGTON, January 16, 1871. I transmit to the Senate, in answer to their resolution of 4th instant, report from the Secretary of State, with accompanying documents, relating to the proposed annexation of the Dominican portion of the island of San Domingo. U. S. GRANT. EXECUTIVE MANSION, January 17, 1871. To the Senate of the United States: In answer to their resolution of the 16th of December, 1870, I herewith transmit copies of certain reports received at the War Department relative to disloyal organizations in the State of North Carolina, intended to resist the laws or to deprive the citizens of the United States of the protection of law or the enjoyment of their rights under the Constitution of the United States. These reports are in addition to the abstracts of those sent to the Senate on the 13th instant. U. S. GRANT. EXECUTIVE MANSION, January 24, 1871. To the Senate of the United States: In answer to your resolution of the 21st December, 1870, requesting the President "to furnish the Senate with the amount of money expended by the United States for freight and passage to the Pacific Coast by the way of the Isthmus and Cape Horn during the twelve months now last past, I herewith transmit reports from the Secretary of the Treasury, of War, and of the Navy, to whom, respectively, the resolution was referred. U. S. GRANT. WASHINGTON, January 27, 1871. To the Senate and House of Representatives: I transmit herewith, for the consideration of Congress, a report of the Secretary of State and the papers which accompanied it, concerning regulations for the consular courts of the United States in Japan. To the Senate of the United States: U. S. GRANT. WASHINGTON, January 27, 1871. I transmit, for consideration with a view to its ratification, a treaty of friendship, commerce, and navigation between the United States and the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, which was signed at Montevideo, it is presumed, in the course of last month, though the precise date has inadvertently been omitted. THE KU KLUX KLAN. "The Ku Klux Klan was a secret organization in several of the Southern States soon after the Civil War. Its object was to suppress the negro as a factor in politics, by means of intimidation and terrorization, and for a time many of the most prominent and respectable citizens of the Southern States belonged to it; but later the more respectable element withdrew and the organization outran its original purpose. In many localities gross disorders and crimes were committed by persons in disguise, who were either members of the Klan or who were using the disguise and methods of the order for evil purposes." Quoted from the article entitled "Ku Klux Klan" in the encyclopedic index. The illustration reproduces a daguerreotype of three captured Ku Klux Klansmen in the disguises they wore when apprehended. A copy of the correspondence relating to the instrument is also herewith transmitted. From this it will be seen that the treaty is substantially the same as one between the same parties which has already been approved by the Senate and ratified by the President of the United States, but the ratifications of which have never been exchanged. If the Senate should approve the new treaty, it is suggested that their resolution to that effect should include authority to insert the precise date when that shall have been ascertained. U. S. GRANT. EXECUTIVE MANSION, January 30, 1871. To the Senate and House of Representatives: I transmit herewith an official copy of the proceedings of the council of Indian tribes held at Ocmulgee in December last, which resulted in the adoption of a declaration of rights and a constitution for their government, together with a copy of the report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs and the views of the Secretary of the Interior thereon. It would seem highly desirable that the civilized Indians of the country should be encouraged in establishing for themselves forms of Territorial government compatible with the Constitution of the United States and with the previous customs toward communities lying outside of State limits. I concur in the views expressed by the Secretary of the Interior, that it would not be advisable to receive the new Territory with the constitu tion precisely as it is now framed. As long as a Territorial form of gov. ernment is preserved, Congress should hold the power of approving of disapproving of all legislative action of the Territory, and the Executive should, with "the advice and consent of the Senate," have the power to appoint the governor and judicial officers (and possibly some others) of the Territory. This is the first indication of the aborigines desiring to adopt our form of government, and it is highly desirable that they become self-sustaining, self-relying, Christianized, and civilized. If successful in this their first attempt at Territorial government, we may hope for a gradual concentration of other Indians in the new Territory. I therefore recommend as close an adherence to their wishes as is consistent with safety. It might be well to limit the appointment of all Territorial officials appointed by the Executive to native citizens of the Territory. If any exception is made to this rule, I would recommend that it should be limited to the judiciary. It is confidently hoped that the policy now being pursued toward the Indian will fit him for self-government and make him desire to settle among people of his own race where he can enjoy the full privileges of civil and enlightened government. U. S. GRANT. EXECUTIVE MANSION, February 7, 1871. To the Senate and House of Representatives: The union of the States of Germany into a form of government similar in many respects to that of the American Union is an event that can not fail to touch deeply the sympathies of the people of the United States. This union has been brought about by the long-continued, persistent efforts of the people, with the deliberate approval of the governments and people of twenty-four of the German States, through their regularly constituted representatives. In it the American people see an attempt to reproduce in Europe some of the best features of our own Constitution, with such modifications as the history and condition of Germany seem to require. The local governments of the several members of the union are preserved, while the power conferred upon the chief imparts strength for the purposes of selfdefense, without authority to enter upon wars of conquest and ambition. The cherished aspiration for national unity which for ages has inspired the many millions of people speaking the same language, inhabiting a contiguous and compact territory, but unnaturally separated and divided by dynastic jealousies and the ambition of short-sighted rulers, has been attained, and Germany now contains a population of about 34,000,000, united, like our own, under one Government for its relations with other powers, but retaining in its several members the right and power of control of their local interests, habits, and institutions. The bringing of great masses of thoughtful and free people under a single government must tend to make governments what alone they should be the representatives of the will and the organization of the power of the people. The adoption in Europe of the American system of union under the control and direction of a free people, educated to self-restraint, can not fail to extend popular institutions and to enlarge the peaceful influence of American ideas. The relations of the United States with Germany are intimate and cordial. The commercial intercourse between the two countries is extensive and is increasing from year to year; and the large number of citizens and residents in the United States of German extraction and the continued flow of emigration thence to this country have produced an intimacy of personal and political intercourse approaching, if not equal to, that with the country from which the founders of our Government derived their origin. The extent of these interests and the greatness of the German Union seem to require that in the classification of the representatives of this Government to foreign powers there should no longer be an apparent undervaluation of the importance of the German mission, sueh as is made in the difference between the compensation allowed by law to the minister to |