To the Senate and House of Representatives:
I transmit to Congress a copy of a correspondence between the Secretary of State and the acting charge' d'affaires of the United States at Guayaquil, in the Republic of Ecuador, from which it appears that the Government of that Republic has failed to pay the first installment of the award of the commissioners under the convention between the United States and Ecuador of the 25th November, 1862, which installment was due on the 17th of February last.
As debts of this character from one government to another are justly regarded as of a peculiarly sacred character, and as further diplomatic measures are not in this instance likely to be successful. the expediency of authorizing other proceedings in case they should ultimately prove to be indispensable is submitted to your consideration.
ANDREW JOHNSON.
Andrew Johnson, Special Message Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/202138