frequently called to the affairs of
the District of Columbia, and I should not again ask it did not their
entire dependence on Congress give them a constant claim upon its
notice. Separated by the Constitution from the rest of the Union,
limited in extent, and aided by no legislature of its own, it would seem
to be a spot where a wise and uniform system of local government might
have been easily adopted. This District has, however, unfortunately
been left to linger behind the rest of the Union. Its codes, civil
and criminal, are not only very defective, but full of obsolete or
inconvenient provisions. Being formed of portions of two States,
discrepancies in the laws prevail in different parts of the territory,
small as it is; and although it was selected as the seat of the General
Government, the site of its public edifices, the depository of its
archives, and the residence of officers intrusted with large amounts of
public property and the management of public business, yet it has never
been subjected to or received that special and comprehensive legislation
which these circumstances peculiarly demand. I am well aware of the
various subjects of greater magnitude and immediate interest that press
themselves on the consideration of Congress, but I believe there is not
one that appeals more directly to its justice than a liberal and even
generous attention to the interests of the District of Columbia and
a thorough and careful revision of its local government.

M. VAN BUREN

SPECIAL MESSAGES.

WASHINGTON, _December 6, 1837_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_:

I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of the Treasury,
exhibiting a transfer of appropriation that has been made in that
Department in pursuance of the power vested in the President by the
first section of the act of Congress of the 3d of March, 1809, entitled
"An act further to amend the several acts for the establishment and
regulation of the Treasury, War, and Navy Departments."

M. VAN BUREN

WASHINGTON, _December, 1837_.

_To the Senate_:

I transmit, for the action of the Senate, treaties negotiated with the
following Indian tribes, viz:

(1) The Chippewas of the Mississippi; (2) the Kioways, Ka-ta-kas, and
Ta-wa-ka-ros; (3) the Sioux of the Mississippi; (4) the Sacs and Foxes
of the Mississippi; (5) the Sioux of the Missouri; (6) the Sacs and
Foxes of the Missouri; (7) the Winnebagoes; (8) t