letter just recieved: in his diary entry for 24 Jan., John Quincy Adams recorded that the Senate received and read a “letter from Governor Claiborne to the Secretary of State.” This was Claiborne’s letter to Madison of 2 Jan. 1804, which reported in detail on the difficulties he faced in establishing a temporary government in Louisiana. Chief among the impediments were the overwhelming inefficiency and corruption of the late Spanish government, which Claiborne believed to be too far gone to continue or reform. “The original principles of that system have been long lost sight of,” he wrote in his 2 Jan. letter. “It had scarcely a nerve not wounded by corruption.” The ignorance of the general population and the decadence of the territory’s planters and merchants added to the problems, leaving Claiborne to declare that “the principles of a popular government are illy suited to the present state of Society in this province.” In his brief tenure, Claiborne had undertaken a few tangible reforms, such as sanctioning Pierre Clément Laussat’s replacement of the Spanish cabildo with a new municipal government and establishing a temporary court system, but he nevertheless emphasized the need for “the early establishment of some permanent government for this Province.” Claiborne’s quandary, as well as the general difficulty the Republicans experienced in creating a government for Louisiana, amused Federalist representative Manasseh Cutler of Massachusetts. “By letters from the new Governor, Claiborne, it seems that a republican government will not do there,” he wrote to his son-in-law on 26 Jan. “It seems a little odd for red-hot democrats to become advocates of one that is perfectly despotic” (Adams, diary 27 [1 Jan. 1803 to 4 Aug. 1809], 65, in MHi: Adams Family Papers; Madison, Papers description begins William T. Hutchinson, Robert A. Rutland, J. C. A. Stagg, and others, eds., The Papers of James Madison, Chicago and Charlottesville, 1962- , 37 vols.: Sec. of State Ser., 1986- , 10 vols.; Pres. Ser., 1984- , 8 vols.; Ret. Ser., 2009- , 2 vols. description ends , Sec. of State Ser., 6:274-8; William P. Cutler and Julia P. Cutler, Life, Journals, and Correspondence of Rev. Manasseh Cutler, LL.D., 2 vols. [Cincinnati, 1888; repr. Athens, Ohio, 1987], 2:160-1).

Lewis Harvie delivered TJ’s message to each chamber on 24 Jan. The Senate and the House of Representatives each read TJ’s message and its enclosed letter on that day. The Senate ordered the message to lie for consideration, while the House directed that Claiborne’s letter be returned to the president (JS description begins Journal of the Senate of the United States, Washington, D.C., 1820-21, 5 vols. description ends , 3:344; JHR description begins Journal of the House of Representatives of the United States, Washington, D.C., 1826, 9 vols. description ends , 4:550).