WASHINGTON, _January 16, 1833_.
_Gentlemen of the Senate and House of Representatives_:
In my annual message at the commencement of your present session I
adverted to the opposition to the revenue laws in a particular quarter
of the United States, which threatened not merely to thwart their
execution, but to endanger the integrity of the Union; and although I
then expressed my reliance that it might be overcome by the prudence of
the officers of the United States and the patriotism of the people, I
stated that should the emergency arise rendering the execution of the
existing laws impracticable from any cause whatever prompt notice should
be given to Congress, with the suggestion of such views and measures as
might be necessary to meet it.
Events which have occurred in the quarter then alluded to, or which have
come to my knowledge subsequently, present this emergency.
Since the date of my last annual message I have had officially
transmitted to me by the governor of South Carolina, which I now
communicate to Congress, a copy of the ordinance passed by the
convention which assembled at Columbia, in the State of South Carolina,
in November last, declaring certain acts of Congress therein mentioned
within the limits of that State to be absolutely null and void, and
making it the duty of the legislature to pass such laws as would be
necessary to carry the same into effect from and after the 1st February
next.
The consequences to which this extraordinary defiance of the just
authority of the Government might too surely lead were clearly foreseen,
and it was impossible for me to hesitate as to my own duty in such an
emergency.
The ordinance had been passed, however, without any certain knowledge of
the recommendation which, from a view of the interests of the nation at
large, the Executive had determined to submit to Congress, and a hope
was indulged that by frankly explaining his sentiments and the nature of
those duties which the crisis would devolve upon him the authorities of
South Carolina might be induced to retrace their steps. In this hope I
determined to issue my proclamation of the 10th of December last, a copy
of which I now lay before Congress.
I regret to inform you that these reasonable expectations have not been
realized, and that the several acts of the legislature of South Carolina
which I now lay before you, and which have all and each of them finally
passed after a knowledge of the desire of the Administration to modify
the laws complained of, are too well calculated both in their positive
enactments and in the spirit of opposition which they obviously
encourage wholly to obstruct the collection of the revenue within the
limits of that State.
Up to this period neither the recommendation of the Executive in regard
to our financial policy and impost system, nor the disposition
manifested by Congress promptly to act upon that subject, nor the
unequivocal expression of the public will in all parts of the Union
appears to have produced any relaxation in the measures of opposition
adopted by the State of South Carolina; nor is there any reason to hope
that the ordinance and laws will be abandoned.
I have no knowledge that an attempt has been made, or that it is in
contemplation, to reassemble either the convention or the legislature,
and it will be perceived that the interval before the 1st of February is
too short to admit of the preliminary steps necessary for that purpose.
It appears, moreover, that the State authorities are actively organizing
their military resources, and providing the means and giving the most
solemn assurances of protection and support to all who shall enlist in
opposition to the revenue laws.
A recent proclamation of the present governor of South Carolina has
openly defied the authority of the Executive of the Union, and general
orders from the headquarters of the State announced his determination to
accept the services of volunteers and his belief that should their
country need their services they will be found at the post of honor and
duty, ready to lay down their lives in her defense. Under these orders
the forces referred to are directed to "hold themselves in readiness to
take the field at a moment's warning," and in the city of Charleston,
within a collection district, and a port of entry, a rendezvous has been
opened for the purpose of enlisting men for the magazine and municipal
guard. Thus South Carolina presents herself in the attitude of hostile
preparation, and ready even for military violence if need be to enforce
her laws for preventing the collection of the duties within her limits.
Proceedings thus announced and matured must be distinguished from
menaces of unlawful resistance by irregular bodies of people, who,
acting under temporary delusion, may be restrained by reflection and the
influence of public opinion from the commission of actual outrage. In
the present instance aggression may be regarded as committed when it is
officially authorized and the means of enforcing it fully provided.
Under these circumstances there can be no doubt that it is the
determination of the authorities of South Carolina fully to carry into
effect their ordinance and laws after the 1st of February. It therefore
becomes my duty to bring the subject to the serious consideration of
Congress, in order that such measures as they in their wisdom may deem
fit shall be seasonably provided, and that it may be thereby understood
that while the Government is disposed to remove all just cause of
complaint as far as may be practicable consistently with a proper regard
to the interests of the community at large, it is nevertheless
determined that the supremacy of the laws shall be maintained.
In making this communication it appears to me to be proper not only that
I should lay before you the acts and proceedings of South Carolina, but
that I should also fully acquaint you with those steps which I have
already caused to be taken for the due collection of the revenue, and
with my views of the subject generally, that the suggestions which the
Constitution requires me to make in regard to your future legislation
may be better understood.
This subject having early attracted the anxious attention of the
Executive, as soon as it was probable that the authorities of South
Carolina seriously meditated resistance to the faithful execution of the
revenue laws it was deemed advisable that the Secretary of the Treasury
should particularly instruct the officers of the United States in that
part of the Union as to the nature of the duties prescribed by the
existing laws.
Instructions were accordingly issued on the 6th of November to the
collectors in that State, pointing out their respective duties and
enjoining upon each a firm and vigilant but discreet performance of them
in the emergency then apprehended.
I herewith transmit copies of these instructions and of the letter
addressed to the district attorney, requesting his cooperation. These
instructions were dictated in the hope that as the opposition to the
laws by the anomalous proceeding of nullification was represented to be
of a pacific nature, to be pursued substantially according to the forms
of the Constitution and without resorting in any event to force or
violence, the measures of its advocates would be taken in conformity
with that profession, and on such supposition the means afforded by the
existing laws would have been adequate to meet any emergency likely to
arise.
It was, however, not possible altogether to suppress apprehension of the
excesses to which the excitement prevailing in that quarter might lead,
but it certainly was not foreseen that the meditated obstruction to the
laws would so soon openly assume its present character.
Subsequently to the date of those instructions, however, the ordinance
of the convention was passed, which, if complied with by the people of
the State, must effectually render inoperative the present revenue laws
within her limits.