_December 4, 1832_.
_Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives_:
It gives me pleasure to congratulate you upon your return to the seat of
Government for the purpose of discharging your duties to the people of
the United States. Although the pestilence which had traversed the Old
World has entered our limits and extended its ravages over much of our
land, it has pleased Almighty God to mitigate its severity and lessen
the number of its victims compared with those who have fallen in most
other countries over which it has spread its terrors. Notwithstanding
this visitation, our country presents on every side marks of prosperity
and happiness unequaled, perhaps, in any other portion of the world. If
we fully appreciate our comparative condition, existing causes of
discontent will appear unworthy of attention, and, with hearts of
thankfulness to that divine Being who has filled our cup of prosperity,
we shall feel our resolution strengthened to preserve and hand down to
posterity that liberty and that union which we have received from our
fathers, and which constitute the sources and the shield of all our
blessings.
The relations of our country continue to present the same picture of
amicable intercourse that I had the satisfaction to hold up to your view
at the opening of your last session. The same friendly professions, the
same desire to participate in our flourishing commerce, the same
disposition to refrain from injuries unintentionally offered, are, with
few exceptions, evinced by all nations with whom we have any
intercourse. This desirable state of things may be mainly ascribed to
our undeviating practice of the rule which has long guided our national
policy, to require no exclusive privileges in commerce and to grant
none. It is daily producing its beneficial effect in the respect shown
to our flag, the protection of our citizens and their property abroad,
and in the increase of our navigation and the extension of our
mercantile operations. The returns which have been made out since we
last met will show an increase during the last preceding year of more
than 80,000 tons in our shipping and of near $40,000,000 in the
aggregate of our imports and exports.
Nor have we less reason to felicitate ourselves on the position of our
political than of our commercial concerns. They remain in the state in
which they were when I last addressed you--a state of prosperity and
peace, the effect of a wise attention to the parting advice of the
revered Father of his Country on this subject, condensed into a maxim
for the use of posterity by one of his most distinguished successors--to
cultivate free commerce and honest friendship with all nations, but to
make entangling alliances with none. A strict adherence to this policy
has kept us aloof from the perplexing questions that now agitate the
European world and have more than once deluged those countries with
blood. Should those scenes unfortunately recur, the parties to the
contest may count on a faithful performance of the duties incumbent on
us as a neutral nation, and our own citizens may equally rely on the
firm assertion of their neutral rights.
With the nation that was our earliest friend and ally in the infancy of
our political existence the most friendly relations have subsisted
through the late revolutions of its Government, and, from the events of
the last, promise a permanent duration. It has made an approximation in
some of its political institutions to our own, and raised a monarch to
the throne who preserves, it is said, a friendly recollection of the
period during which he acquired among our citizens the high
consideration that could then have been produced by his personal
qualifications alone.
Our commerce with that nation is gradually assuming a mutually
beneficial character, and the adjustment of the claims of our citizens
has removed the only obstacle there was to an intercourse not only
lucrative, but productive of literary and scientific improvement.
From Great Britain I have the satisfaction to inform you that I continue
to receive assurances of the most amicable disposition, which have on my
part on all proper occasions been promptly and sincerely reciprocated.
The attention of that Government has latterly been so much engrossed by
matters of a deeply interesting domestic character that we could not
press upon it the renewal of negotiations which had been unfortunately
broken off by the unexpected recall of our minister, who had commenced
them with some hopes of success. My great object was the settlement of
questions which, though now dormant, might hereafter be revived under
circumstances that would endanger the good understanding which it is the
interest of both parties to preserve inviolate, cemented as it is by a
community of language, manners, and social habits, and by the high
obligations we owe to our British ancestors for many of our most
valuable institutions and for that system of representative government
which has enabled us to preserve and improve them.
The question of our northeastern boundary still remains unsettled. In my
last annual message I explained to you the situation in which I found
that business on my coming into office, and the measures I thought it my
duty to pursue for asserting the rights of the United States before the
sovereign who had been chosen by my predecessor to determine the
question, and also the manner in which he had disposed of it. A special
message to the Senate in their executive capacity afterwards brought
before them the question whether they would advise a submission to the
opinion of the sovereign arbiter. That body having considered the award
as not obligatory and advised me to open a further negotiation, the
proposition was immediately made to the British Government, but the
circumstances to which I have alluded have hitherto prevented any answer
being given to the overture. Early attention, however, has been promised
to the subject, and every effort on my part will be made for a
satisfactory settlement of this question, interesting to the Union
generally, and particularly so to one of its members.
The claims of our citizens on Spain are not yet acknowledged. On a
closer investigation of them than appears to have heretofore taken place
it was discovered that some of these demands, however strong they might
be upon the equity of that Government, were not such as could be made
the subject of national interference; and faithful to the principle of
asking nothing but what was clearly right, additional instructions have
been sent to modify our demands so as to embrace those only on which,
according to the laws of nations, we had a strict right to insist. An
inevitable delay in procuring the documents necessary for this review of
the merits of these claims retarded this operation until an unfortunate
malady which has afflicted His Catholic Majesty prevented an examination
of them. Being now for the first time presented in an unexceptionable
form, it is confidently hoped that the application will be successful.
I have the satisfaction to inform you that the application I directed to
be made for the delivery of a part of the archives of Florida, which had
been carried to The Havannah, has produced a royal order for their
delivery, and that measures have been taken to procure its execution.
By the report of the Secretary of State communicated to you on the 25th
June last you were informed of the conditional reduction obtained by the
minister of the United States at Madrid of the duties on tonnage levied
on American shipping in the ports of Spain. The condition of that
reduction having been complied with on our part by the act passed the
13th of July last, I have the satisfaction to inform you that our ships
now pay no higher nor other duties in the continental ports of Spain
than are levied on their national vessels.
The demands against Portugal for illegal captures in the blockade of
Terceira have been allowed to the full amount of the accounts presented
by the claimants, and payment was promised to be made in three
installments. The first of these has been paid; the second, although
due, had not at the date of our last advices been received, owing, it
was alleged, to embarrassments in the finances consequent on the civil
war in which that nation is engaged.
The payments stipulated by the convention with Denmark have been
punctually made, and the amount is ready for distribution among the
claimants as soon as the board, now sitting, shall have performed their
functions.
I regret that by the last advices from our chargé d'affaires at Naples
that Government had still delayed the satisfaction due to our citizens,
but at that date the effect of the last instructions was not known.
Dispatches from thence are hourly expected, and the result will be
communicated to you without delay.
With the rest of Europe our relations, political and commercial, remain
unchanged. Negotiations are going on to put on a permanent basis the
liberal system of commerce now carried on between us and the Empire of
Russia. The treaty concluded with Austria is executed by His Imperial
Majesty with the most perfect good faith, and as we have no diplomatic
agent at his Court he personally inquired into and corrected a
proceeding of some of his subaltern officers to the injury of our consul
in one of his ports.
Our treaty with the Sublime Porte is producing its expected effects on
our commerce. New markets are opening for our commodities and a more
extensive range for the employment of our ships. A slight augmentation
of the duties on our commerce, inconsistent with the spirit of the
treaty, had been imposed, but on the representation of our charge
d'affaires it has been promptly withdrawn, and we now enjoy the trade
and navigation of the Black Sea and of all the ports belonging to the
Turkish Empire and Asia on the most perfect equality with all foreign
nations.
I wish earnestly that in announcing to you the continuance of friendship
and the increase of a profitable commercial intercourse with Mexico,
with Central America, and the States of the South I could accompany it
with the assurance that they all are blessed with that internal
tranquillity and foreign peace which their heroic devotion to the cause
of their independence merits. In Mexico a sanguinary struggle is now
carried on, which has caused some embarrassment to our commerce, but
both parties profess the most friendly disposition toward us. To the
termination of this contest we look for the establishment of that secure
intercourse so necessary to nations whose territories are contiguous.
How important it will be to us we may calculate from the fact that even
in this unfavorable state of things our maritime commerce has increased,
and an internal trade by caravans from St. Louis to Santa Fe, under the
protection of escorts furnished by the Government, is carried on to
great advantage and is daily increasing. The agents provided for by the
treaty, with this power to designate the boundaries which it
established, have been named on our part, but one of the evils of the
civil war now raging there has been that the appointment of those with
whom they were to cooperate has not yet been announced to us.
The Government of Central America has expelled from its territory the
party which some time since disturbed its peace. Desirous of fostering a
favorable disposition toward us, which has on more than one occasion
been evinced by this interesting country, I made a second attempt in
this year to establish a diplomatic intercourse with them; but the death
of the distinguished citizen whom I had appointed for that purpose has
retarded the execution of measures from which I hoped much advantage to
our commerce. The union of the three States which formed the Republic of
Colombia has been dissolved, but they all, it is believed, consider
themselves as separately bound by the treaty which was made in their
federal capacity. The minister accredited to the federation continues in
that character near the Government of New Granada, and hopes were
entertained that a new union would be formed between the separate
States, at least for the purposes of foreign intercourse. Our minister
has been instructed to use his good offices, whenever they shall be
desired, to produce the reunion so much to be wished for, the domestic
tranquillity of the parties, and the security and facility of foreign
commerce.
Some agitations naturally attendant on an infant reign have prevailed in
the Empire of Brazil, which have had the usual effect upon commercial
operations, and while they suspended the consideration of claims created
on similar occasions, they have given rise to new complaints on the part
of our citizens. A proper consideration for calamities and difficulties
of this nature has made us less urgent and peremptory in our demands for
justice than duty to our fellow-citizens would under other circumstances
have required. But their claims are not neglected, and will on all
proper occasions be urged, and it is hoped with effect.
I refrain from making any communication on the subject of our affairs
with Buenos Ayres, because the negotiation communicated to you in my
last annual message was at the date of our last advices still pending
and in a state that would render a publication of the details
inexpedient.
A treaty of amity and commerce has been formed with the Republic of
Chili, which, if approved by the Senate, will be laid before you. That
Government seems to be established, and at peace with its neighbors; and
its ports being the resorts of our ships which are employed in the
highly important trade of the fisheries, this commercial convention can
not but be of great advantage to our fellow-citizens engaged in that
perilous but profitable business.
Our commerce with the neighboring State of Peru, owing to the onerous
duties levied on our principal articles of export, has been on the
decline, and all endeavors to procure an alteration have hitherto proved
fruitless. With Bolivia we have yet no diplomatic intercourse, and the
continual contests carried on between it and Peru have made me defer
until a more favorable period the appointment of any agent for that
purpose.
An act of atrocious piracy having been committed on one of our trading
ships by the inhabitants of a settlement on the west coast of Sumatra, a
frigate was dispatched with orders to demand satisfaction for the injury
if those who committed it should be found to be members of a regular
government, capable of maintaining the usual relations with foreign
nations; but if, as it was supposed and as they proved to be, they were
a band of lawless pirates, to inflict such a chastisement as would deter
them and others from like aggressions. This last was done, and the
effect has been an increased respect for our flag in those distant seas
and additional security for our commerce.
In the view I have given of our connection with foreign powers allusions
have been made to their domestic disturbances or foreign wars, to their
revolutions or dissensions. It may be proper to observe that this is
done solely in cases where those events affect our political relations
with them, or to show their operation on our commerce. Further than this
it is neither our policy nor our right to interfere. Our best wishes on
all occasions, our good offices when required, will be afforded to
promote the domestic tranquillity and foreign peace of all nations with
whom we have any intercourse. Any intervention in their affairs further
than this, even by the expression of an official opinion, is contrary to
our principles of international policy, and will always be avoided.
The report which the Secretary of the Treasury will in due time lay
before you will exhibit the national finances in a highly prosperous
state. Owing to the continued success of our commercial enterprise,
which has enabled the merchants to fulfill their engagements with the
Government, the receipts from customs during the year will exceed the
estimate presented at the last session, and with the other means of the
Treasury will prove fully adequate not only to meet the increased
expenditures resulting from the large appropriations made by Congress,
but to provide for the payment of all the public debt which is at
present redeemable. It is now estimated that the customs will yield to
the Treasury during the present year upward of $28,000,000. The public
lands, however, have proved less productive than was anticipated, and
according to present information will not much exceed two millions. The
expenditures for all objects other than the public debt are estimated to
amount during the year to about sixteen millions and a half, while a
still larger sum, viz, $18,000,000, will have been applied to the
principal and interest of the public debt.
It is expected, however, that in consequence of the reduced rates of
duty which will take effect after the 3d of March next there will be a
considerable falling off in the revenue from customs in the year 1833.
It will nevertheless be amply sufficient to provide for all the wants of
the public service, estimated even upon a liberal scale, and for the
redemption and purchase of the remainder of the public debt. On the 1st
of January next the entire public debt of the United States, funded and
unfunded, will be reduced to within a fraction of $7,000,000, of which
$2,227,363 are not of right redeemable until the 1st of January, 1834,
and $4,735,296 not until the 2d of January, 1835. The commissioners of
the sinking funds, however, being invested with full authority to
purchase the debt at the market price, and the means of the Treasury
being ample, it may be hoped that the whole will be extinguished within
the year 1833.
I can not too cordially congratulate Congress and my fellow-citizens on
the near approach of that memorable and happy event--the extinction of
the public debt of this great and free nation. Faithful to the wise and
patriotic policy marked out by the legislation of the country for this
object, the present Administration has devoted to it all the means which
a flourishing commerce has supplied and a prudent economy preserved for
the public Treasury. Within the four years for which the people have
confided the Executive power to my charge $58,000,000 will have been
applied to the payment of the public debt. That this has been
accomplished without stinting the expenditures for all other proper
objects will be seen by referring to the liberal provision made during
the same period for the support and increase of our means of maritime
and military defense, for internal improvements of a national character,
for the removal and preservation of the Indians, and, lastly, for the
gallant veterans of the Revolution.
The final removal of this great burthen from our resources affords the
means of further provision for all the objects of general welfare and
public defense which the Constitution authorizes, and presents the
occasion for such further reduction in the revenue as may not be
required for them. From the report of the Secretary of the Treasury it
will be seen that after the present year such a reduction may be made to
a considerable extent, and the subject is earnestly recommended to the
consideration of Congress in the hope that the combined wisdom of the
representatives of the people will devise such means of effecting that
salutary object as may remove those burthens which shall be found to
fall unequally upon any and as may promote all the great interests of
the community.
Long and patient reflection has strengthened the opinions I have
heretofore expressed to Congress on this subject, and I deem it my duty
on the present occasion again to urge them upon the attention of the
Legislature. The soundest maxims of public policy and the principles
upon which our republican institutions are founded recommend a proper
adaptation of the revenue to the expenditure, and they also require that
the expenditure shall be limited to what, by an economical
administration, shall be consistent with the simplicity of the
Government and necessary to an efficient public service. In effecting
this adjustment it is due, in justice to the interests of the different
States, and even to the preservation of the Union itself, that the
protection afforded by existing laws to any branches of the national
industry should not exceed what may be necessary to counteract the
regulations of foreign nations and to secure a supply of those articles
of manufacture essential to the national independence and safety in time
of war. If upon investigation it shall be found, as it is believed it
will be, that the legislative protection granted to any particular
interest is greater than is indispensably requisite for these objects, I
recommend that it be gradually diminished, and that as far as may be
consistent with these objects the whole scheme of duties be reduced to
the revenue standard as soon as a just regard to the faith of the
Government and to the preservation of the large capital invested in
establishments of domestic industry will permit.
That manufactures adequate to the supply of our domestic consumption
would in the abstract be beneficial to our country there is no reason to
doubt, and to effect their establishment there is perhaps no American
citizen who would not for awhile be willing to pay a higher price for
them. But for this purpose it is presumed that a tariff of high duties,
designed for perpetual protection, has entered into the minds of but few
of our statesmen. The most they have anticipated is a temporary and,
generally, incidental protection, which they maintain has the effect to
reduce the price by domestic competition below that of the foreign
article. Experience, however, our best guide on this as on other
subjects, makes it doubtful whether the advantages of this system are
not counterbalanced by many evils, and whether it does not tend to beget
in the minds of a large portion of our countrymen a spirit of discontent
and jealousy dangerous to the stability of the Union.
What, then, shall be done? Large interests have grown up under the
implied pledge of our national legislation, which it would seem a
violation of public faith suddenly to abandon. Nothing could justify it
but the public safety, which is the supreme law. But those who have
vested their capital in manufacturing establishments can not expect that
the people will continue permanently to pay high taxes for their
benefit, when the money is not required for any legitimate purpose in
the administration of the Government. Is it not enough that the high
duties have been paid as long as the money arising from them could be
applied to the common benefit in the extinguishment of the public debt?
Those who take an enlarged view of the condition of our country must be
satisfied that the policy of protection must be ultimately limited to
those articles of domestic manufacture which are indispensable to our
safety in time of war. Within this scope, on a reasonable scale, it is
recommended by every consideration of patriotism and duty, which will
doubtless always secure to it a liberal and efficient support. But
beyond this object we have already seen the operation of the system
productive of discontent. In some sections of the Republic its influence
is deprecated as tending to concentrate wealth into a few hands, and as
creating those germs of dependence and vice which in other countries
have characterized the existence of monopolies and proved so destructive
of liberty and the general good. A large portion of the people in one
section of the Republic declares it not only inexpedient on these
grounds, but as disturbing the equal relations of property by
legislation, and therefore unconstitutional and unjust.
Doubtless these effects are in a great degree exaggerated, and may be
ascribed to a mistaken view of the considerations which led to the
adoption of the tariff system; but they are nevertheless important in
enabling us to review the subject with a more thorough knowledge of all
its bearings upon the great interests of the Republic, and with a
determination to dispose of it so that none can with justice complain.
It is my painful duty to state that in one quarter of the United States
opposition to the revenue laws has arisen to a height which threatens to
thwart their execution, if not to endanger the integrity of the Union.
Whatever obstructions may be thrown in the way of the judicial
authorities of the General Government, it is hoped they will be able
peaceably to overcome them by the prudence of their own officers and the
patriotism of the people. But should this reasonable reliance on the
moderation and good sense of all portions of our fellow-citizens be
disappointed, it is believed that the laws themselves are fully adequate
to the suppression of such attempts as may be immediately made. Should
the exigency arise rendering the execution of the existing laws
impracticable from any cause whatever, prompt notice of it will be given
to Congress, with a suggestion of such views and measures as may be
deemed necessary to meet it.
In conformity with principles heretofore explained, and with the hope of
reducing the General Government to that simple machine which the
Constitution created and of withdrawing from the States all other
influence than that of its universal beneficence in preserving peace,
affording an uniform currency, maintaining the inviolability of
contracts, diffusing intelligence, and discharging unfelt its other
superintending functions, I recommend that provision be made to dispose
of all stocks now held by it in corporations, whether created by the
General or State Governments, and placing the proceeds in the Treasury.
As a source of profit these stocks are of little or no value; as a means
of influence among the States they are adverse to the purity of our
institutions. The whole principle on which they are based is deemed by
many unconstitutional, and to persist in the policy which they indicate
is considered wholly inexpedient.
It is my duty to acquaint you with an arrangement made by the Bank of
the United States with a portion of the holders of the 3 per cent stock,
by which the Government will be deprived of the use of the public funds
longer than was anticipated. By this arrangement, which will be
particularly explained by the Secretary of the Treasury, a surrender of
the certificates of this stock may be postponed until October, 1833, and
thus the liability of the Government, after its ability to discharge the
debt, may be continued by the failure of the bank to perform its duties.
Such measures as are within the reach of the Secretary of the Treasury
have been taken to enable him to judge whether the public deposits in
that institution may be regarded as entirely safe; but as his limited
power may prove inadequate to this object, I recommend the subject to
the attention of Congress, under the firm belief that it is worthy of
their serious investigation. An inquiry into the transactions of the
institution, embracing the branches as well as the principal bank, seems
called for by the credit which is given throughout the country to many
serious charges impeaching its character, and which if true may justly
excite the apprehension that it is no longer a safe depository of the
money of the people.
Among the interests which merit the consideration of Congress after the
payment of the public debt, one of the most important, in my view, is
that of the public lands. Previous to the formation of our present
Constitution it was recommended by Congress that a portion of the waste
lands owned by the States should be ceded to the United States for the
purposes of general harmony and as a fund to meet the expenses of the
war. The recommendation was adopted, and at different periods of time
the States of Massachusetts, New York, Virginia, North and South
Carolina, and Georgia granted their vacant soil for the uses for which
they had been asked. As the lands may now be considered as relieved from
this pledge, the object for which they were ceded having been
accomplished, it is in the discretion of Congress to dispose of them in
such way as best to conduce to the quiet, harmony, and general interest
of the American people. In examining this question all local and
sectional feelings should be discarded and the whole United States
regarded as one people, interested alike in the prosperity of their
common country.
It can not be doubted that the speedy settlement of these lands
constitutes the true interest of the Republic. The wealth and strength
of a country are its population, and the best part of that population
are the cultivators of the soil. Independent farmers are everywhere the
basis of society and true friends of liberty.
In addition to these considerations questions have already arisen, and
may be expected hereafter to grow out of the public lands, which involve
the rights of the new States and the powers of the General Government,
and unless a liberal policy be now adopted there is danger that these
questions may speedily assume an importance not now generally
anticipated. The influence of a great sectional interest, when brought
into full action, will be found more dangerous to the harmony and union
of the States than any other cause of discontent, and it is the part of
wisdom and sound policy to foresee its approaches and endeavor if
possible to counteract them.
Of the various schemes which have been hitherto proposed in regard to
the disposal of the public lands, none has yet received the entire
approbation of the National Legislature. Deeply impressed with the
importance of a speedy and satisfactory arrangement of the subject, I
deem it my duty on this occasion to urge it upon your consideration, and
to the propositions which have been heretofore suggested by others to
contribute those reflections which have occurred to me, in the hope that
they may assist you in your future deliberations.
It seems to me to be our true policy that the public lands shall cease
as soon as practicable to be a source of revenue, and that they be sold
to settlers in limited parcels at a price barely sufficient to reimburse
to the United States the expense of the present system and the cost
arising under our Indian compacts. The advantages of accurate surveys
and undoubted titles now secured to purchasers seem to forbid the
abolition of the present system, because none can be substituted which
will more perfectly accomplish these important ends. It is desirable,
however, that in convenient time this machinery be withdrawn from the
States, and that the right of soil and the future disposition of it be
surrendered to the States respectively in which it lies.
The adventurous and hardy population of the West, besides contributing
their equal share of taxation under our impost system, have in the
progress of our Government, for the lands they occupy, paid into the
Treasury a large proportion of $40,000,000, and of the revenue received
therefrom but a small part has been expended amongst them. When to the
disadvantage of their situation in this respect we add the consideration
that it is their labor alone which gives real value to the lands, and
that the proceeds arising from their sale are distributed chiefly among
States which had not originally any claim to them, and which have
enjoyed the undivided emolument arising from the sale of their own
lands, it can not be expected that the new States will remain longer
contented with the present policy after the payment of the public debt.
To avert the consequences which may be apprehended from this cause, to
put an end forever to all partial and interested legislation on the
subject, and to afford to every American citizen of enterprise the
opportunity of securing an independent freehold, it seems to me,
therefore, best to abandon the idea of raising a future revenue out of
the public lands.
In former messages I have expressed my conviction that the Constitution
does not warrant the application of the funds of the General Government
to objects of internal improvement which are not national in their
character, and, both as a means of doing justice to all interests and
putting an end to a course of legislation calculated to destroy the
purity of the Government, have urged the necessity of reducing the whole
subject to some fixed and certain rule. As there never will occur a
period, perhaps, more propitious than the present to the accomplishment
of this object, I beg leave to press the subject again upon your
attention.
Without some general and well-defined principles ascertaining those
objects of internal improvement to which the means of the nation may be
constitutionally applied, it is obvious that the exercise of the power
can never be satisfactory. Besides the danger to which it exposes
Congress of making hasty appropriations to works of the character of
which they may be frequently ignorant, it promotes a mischievous and
corrupting influence upon elections by holding out to the people the
fallacious hope that the success of a certain candidate will make
navigable their neighboring creek or river, bring commerce to their
doors, and increase the value of their property. It thus favors
combinations to squander the treasure of the country upon a multitude of
local objects, as fatal to just legislation as to the purity of public
men.
If a system compatible with the Constitution can not be devised which is
free from such tendencies, we should recollect that that instrument
provides within itself the mode of its amendment, and that there is,
therefore, no excuse for the assumption of doubtful powers by the
General Government. If those which are clearly granted shall be found
incompetent to the ends of its creation, it can at any time apply for
their enlargement; and there is no probability that such an application,
if founded on the public interest, will ever be refused. If the
propriety of the proposed grant be not sufficiently apparent to command
the assent of three-fourths of the States, the best possible reason why
the power should not be assumed on doubtful authority is afforded; for
if more than one-fourth of the States are unwilling to make the grant
its exercise will be productive of discontents which will far
overbalance any advantages that could be derived from it. All must admit
that there is nothing so worthy of the constant solicitude of this
Government as the harmony and union of the people.
Being solemnly impressed with the conviction that the extension of the
power to make internal improvements beyond the limit I have suggested,
even if it be deemed constitutional, is subversive of the best interests
of our country, I earnestly recommend to Congress to refrain from its
exercise in doubtful cases, except in relation to improvements already
begun, unless they shall first procure from the States such an amendment
of the Constitution as will define its character and prescribe its
bounds. If the States feel themselves competent to these objects, why
should this Government wish to assume the power? If they do not, then
they will not hesitate to make the grant. Both Governments are the
Governments of the people; improvements must be made with the money of
the people, and if the money can be collected and applied by those more
simple and economical political machines, the State governments, it will
unquestionably be safer and better for the people than to add to the
splendor, the patronage, and the power of the General Government. But if
the people of the several States think otherwise they will amend the
Constitution, and in their decision all ought cheerfully to acquiesce.
For a detailed and highly satisfactory view of the operations of the War
Department I refer you to the accompanying report of the Secretary of
War.
The hostile incursions of the Sac and Fox Indians necessarily led to the
interposition of the Government. A portion of the troops, under Generals
Scott and Atkinson, and of the militia of the State of Illinois were
called into the field. After a harassing warfare, prolonged by the
nature of the country and by the difficulty of procuring subsistence,
the Indians were entirely defeated, and the disaffected band dispersed
or destroyed. The result has been creditable to the troops engaged in
the service. Severe as is the lesson to the Indians, it was rendered
necessary by their unprovoked aggressions, and it is to be hoped that
its impression will be permanent and salutary.
This campaign has evinced the efficient organization of the Army and its
capacity for prompt and active service. Its several departments have
performed their functions with energy and dispatch, and the general
movement was satisfactory.
Our fellow-citizens upon the frontiers were ready, as they always are,
in the tender of their services in the hour of danger. But a more
efficient organization of our militia system is essential to that
security which is one of the principal objects of all governments.
Neither our situation nor our institutions require or permit the
maintenance of a large regular force. History offers too many lessons of
the fatal result of such a measure not to warn us against its adoption
here. The expense which attends it, the obvious tendency to employ it
because it exists and thus to engage in unnecessary wars, and its
ultimate danger to public liberty will lead us, I trust, to place our
principal dependence for protection upon the great body of the citizens
of the Republic. If in asserting rights or in repelling wrongs war
should come upon us, our regular force should be increased to an extent
proportioned to the emergency, and our present small Army is a nucleus
around which such force could be formed and embodied. But for the
purposes of defense under ordinary circumstances we must rely upon the
electors of the country. Those by whom and for whom the Government was
instituted and is supported will constitute its protection in the hour
of danger as they do its check in the hour of safety.
But it is obvious that the militia system is imperfect. Much time is
lost, much unnecessary expense incurred, and much public property wasted
under the present arrangement. Little useful knowledge is gained by the
musters and drills as now established, and the whole subject evidently
requires a thorough examination. Whether a plan of classification
remedying these defects and providing for a system of instruction might
not be adopted is submitted to the consideration of Congress. The
Constitution has vested in the General Government an independent
authority upon the subject of the militia which renders its action
essential to the establishment or improvement of the system, and I
recommend the matter to your consideration in the conviction that the
state of this important arm of the public defense requires your
attention. I am happy to inform you that the wise and humane policy of
transferring from the eastern to the western side of the Mississippi the
remnants of our aboriginal tribes, with their own consent and upon just
terms, has been steadily pursued, and is approaching, I trust, its
consummation. By reference to the report of the Secretary of War and to
the documents submitted with it you will see the progress which has been
made since your last session in the arrangement of the various matters
connected with our Indian relations. With one exception every subject
involving any question of conflicting jurisdiction or of peculiar
difficulty has been happily disposed of, and the conviction evidently
gains ground among the Indians that their removal to the country
assigned by the United States for their permanent residence furnishes
the only hope of their ultimate prosperity.
With that portion of the Cherokees, however, living within the State of
Georgia it has been found impracticable as yet to make a satisfactory
adjustment. Such was my anxiety to remove all the grounds of complaint
and to bring to a termination the difficulties in which they are
involved that I directed the very liberal propositions to be made to
them which accompany the documents herewith submitted. They can not but
have seen in these offers the evidence of the strongest disposition on
the part of the Government to deal justly and liberally with them. An
ample indemnity was offered for their present possessions, a liberal
provision for their future support and improvement, and full security
for their private and political rights. Whatever difference of opinion
may have prevailed respecting the just claims of these people, there
will probably be none respecting the liberality of the propositions, and
very little respecting the expediency of their immediate acceptance.
They were, however, rejected, and thus the position of these Indians
remains unchanged, as do the views communicated in my message to the
Senate of February 22, 1831.
I refer you to the annual report of the Secretary of the Navy, which
accompanies this message, for a detail of the operations of that branch
of the service during the present year.
Besides the general remarks on some of the transactions of our Navy
presented in the view which has been taken of our foreign relations, I
seize this occasion to invite to your notice the increased protection
which it has afforded to our commerce and citizens on distant seas
without any augmentation of the force in commission. In the gradual
improvement of its pecuniary concerns, in the constant progress in the
collection of materials suitable for use during future emergencies, and
in the construction of vessels and the buildings necessary to their
preservation and repair, the present state of this branch of the service
exhibits the fruits of that vigilance and care which are so
indispensable to its efficiency. Various new suggestions, contained in
the annexed report, as well as others heretofore submitted to Congress,
are worthy of your attention, but none more so than that urging the
renewal for another term of six years of the general appropriation for
the gradual improvement of the Navy.
From the accompanying report of the Postmaster-General you will also
perceive that that Department continues to extend its usefulness without
impairing its resources or lessening the accommodations which it affords
in the secure and rapid transportation of the mail.
I beg leave to call the attention of Congress to the views heretofore
expressed in relation to the mode of choosing the President and
Vice-President of the United States, and to those respecting the tenure
of office generally. Still impressed with the justness of those views
and with the belief that the modifications suggested on those subjects
if adopted will contribute to the prosperity and harmony of the country,
I earnestly recommend them to your consideration at this time.
I have heretofore pointed out defects in the law for punishing official
frauds, especially within the District of Columbia. It has been found
almost impossible to bring notorious culprits to punishment, and,
according to a decision of the court for this District, a prosecution is
barred by a lapse of two years after the fraud has been committed. It
may happen again, as it has already happened, that during the whole two
years all the evidences of the fraud may be in the possession of the
culprit himself. However proper the limitation may be in relation to
private citizens, it would seem that it ought not to commence running in
favor of public officers until they go out of office.
The judiciary system of the United States remains imperfect. Of the nine
Western and Southwestern States three only enjoy the benefits of a
circuit court. Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee are embraced in the general
system, but Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Alabama, Mississippi, and
Louisiana have only district courts. If the existing system be a good
one, why should it not be extended? If it be a bad one, why is it
suffered to exist? The new States were promised equal rights and
privileges when they came into the Union, and such are the guaranties of
the Constitution. Nothing can be more obvious than the obligation of the
General Government to place all the States on the same footing in
relation to the administration of justice, and I trust this duty will be
neglected no longer.
On many of the subjects to which your attention is invited in this
communication it is a source of gratification to reflect that the steps
to be now adopted are uninfluenced by the embarrassments entailed upon
the country by the wars through which it has passed. In regard to most
of our great interests we may consider ourselves as just starting in our
career, and after a salutary experience about to fix upon a permanent
basis the policy best calculated to promote the happiness of the people
and facilitate their progress toward the most complete enjoyment of
civil liberty. On an occasion so interesting and important in our
history, and of such anxious concern to the friends of freedom
throughout the world, it is our imperious duty to lay aside all selfish
and local considerations and be guided by a lofty spirit of devotion to
the great principles on which our institutions are founded.
That this Government may be so administered as to preserve its
efficiency in promoting and securing these general objects should be the
only aim of our ambition, and we can not, therefore, too carefully
examine its structure, in order that we may not mistake its powers or
assume those which the people have reserved to themselves or have
preferred to assign to other agents. We should bear constantly in mind
the fact that the considerations which induced the framers of the
Constitution to withhold from the General Government the power to
regulate the great mass of the business and concerns of the people have
been fully justified by experience, and that it can not now be doubted
that the genius of all our institutions prescribes simplicity and
economy as the characteristics of the reform which is yet to be effected
in the present and future execution of the functions bestowed upon us by
the Constitution.
Limited to a general superintending power to maintain peace at home and
abroad, and to prescribe laws on a few subjects of general interest not
calculated to restrict human liberty, but to enforce human rights, this
Government will find its strength and its glory in the faithful
discharge of these plain and simple duties. Relieved by its protecting
shield from the fear of war and the apprehension of oppression, the free
enterprise of our citizens, aided by the State sovereignties, will work
out improvements and ameliorations which can not fail to demonstrate
that the great truth that the people can govern themselves is not only
realized in our example, but that it is done by a machinery in
government so simple and economical as scarcely to be felt. That the
Almighty Ruler of the Universe may so direct our deliberations and
overrule our acts as to make us instrumental in securing a result so
dear to mankind is my most earnest and sincere prayer.