esting information relative to the extradition of one Anderson, a
man of color, charged with the commission of murder in the State of
Missouri, I transmit a report from the Secretary of State and the
documents by which it was accompanied. The dispatch of Mr. Dallas being
in the original, its return to the Department of State is requested.

JAMES BUCHANAN.

WASHINGTON, _March 1, 1861_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

In answer to their resolution of the 11th instant [ultimo], "that the
President of the United States furnish to the House, if not incompatible
with the public service, the reasons that have induced him to assemble
so large a number of troops in this city, and why they are kept here;
and whether he has any information of a conspiracy upon the part of any
portion of the citizens of this country to seize upon the capital and
prevent the inauguration of the President elect," the President submits
that the number of troops assembled in this city is not large, as the
resolution presupposes, its total amount being 653 men exclusive of
the marines, who are, of course, at the navy-yard as their appropriate
station. These troops were ordered here to act as a _posse comitatus_,
in strict subordination to the civil authority, for the purpose of
preserving peace and order in the city of Washington should this be
necessary before or at the period of the inauguration of the President
elect.

Since the date of the resolution Hon. Mr. Howard, from the select
committee, has made a report to the House on this subject. It was
thoroughly investigated by the committee, and although they have
expressed the opinion that the evidence before them does not prove the
existence of a secret organization here or elsewhere hostile to the
Government that has for its object, upon its own responsibility, an
attack upon the capital or any of the public property here, or an
interruption of any of the functions of the Government, yet the House
laid upon the table by a very large majority a resolution expressing the
opinion "that the regular troops now in this city ought to be forthwith
removed therefrom." This of itself was a sufficient reason for not
withdrawing the troops.

But what was the duty of the President at the time the troops
were ordered to this city? Ought he to have waited before this
precautionary measure was adopted until he could obtain proof that
a secret organization existed to seize the capital? In the languag