rvation of the conquest itself,
the safety of our Army, and the security of the conquered inhabitants.

The resolutions further request information whether any persons have
been tried and condemned for "treason against the United States in that
part of New Mexico lying east of the Rio Grande since the same has been
in the occupancy of our Army," and, if so, before "what tribunal" and
"by what authority of law such tribunal was established." It appears
that after the territory in question was "in the occupancy of our Army"
some of the conquered Mexican inhabitants, who had at first submitted to
our authority, broke out in open insurrection, murdering our soldiers
and citizens and committing other atrocious crimes. Some of the
principal offenders who were apprehended were tried and condemned by a
tribunal invested with civil and criminal jurisdiction, which had been
established in the conquered country by the military officer in command.
That the offenders deserved the punishment inflicted upon them there is
no reason to doubt, and the error in the proceedings against them
consisted in designating and describing their crimes as "treason against
the United States." This error was pointed out, and its recurrence
thereby prevented, by the Secretary of War in a dispatch to the officer
in command in New Mexico dated on the 26th of June, 1847, a copy of
which, together with copies of all communications relating to the
subject which have been received at the War Department, is herewith
transmitted.

The resolutions call for information in relation to the quantity of the
public lands acquired within the ceded territory, and "how much of the
same is within the boundaries of Texas as defined by the act of the
Congress of the Republic of Texas of the 19th day of December, 1836." No
means of making an accurate estimate on the subject is in the possession
of the executive department. The information which is possessed will be
found in the accompanying report of the Secretary of the Treasury.

The country ceded to the United States lying west of the Rio Grande, and
to which Texas has no title, is estimated by the commissioner of the
General Land Office to contain 526,078 square miles, or 336,689,920
acres.

The period since the exchange of ratifications of the treaty has been
too short to enable the Government to have access to or to procure
abstracts or copies of the land titles issued by Spain or by the
Republic of Mexico. Steps