WASHINGTON, _December 7, 1824_.
_Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and of the House of Representatives_:
The view which I have now to present to you of our affairs, foreign and
domestic, realizes the most sanguine anticipations which have been
entertained of the public prosperity. If we look to the whole, our
growth as a nation continues to be rapid beyond example; if to the
States which compose it, the same gratifying spectacle is exhibited.
Our expansion over the vast territory within our limits has been
great, without indicating any decline in those sections from which the
emigration has been most conspicuous. We have daily gained strength by
a native population in every quarter--a population devoted to our happy
system of government and cherishing the bond of union with fraternal
affection. Experience has already shewn that the difference of climate
and of industry, proceeding from that cause, inseparable from such vast
domains, and which under other systems might have a repulsive tendency,
can not fail to produce with us under wise regulations the opposite
effect. What one portion wants the other may supply; and this will be
most sensibly felt by the parts most distant from each other, forming
thereby a domestic market and an active intercourse between the extremes
and throughout every portion of our Union. Thus by a happy distribution
of power between the National and State Governments, Governments which
rest exclusively on the sovereignty of the people and are fully adequate
to the great purposes for which they were respectively instituted,
causes which might otherwise lead to dismemberment operate powerfully
to draw us closer together. In every other circumstance a correct view
of the actual state of our Union must be equally gratifying to our
constituents. Our relations with foreign powers are of a friendly
character, although certain interesting differences remain unsettled
with some. Our revenue under the mild system of impost and tonnage
continues to be adequate to all the purposes of the Government Our
agriculture, commerce, manufactures, and navigation flourish. Our
fortifications are advancing in the degree authorized by existing
appropriations to maturity, and due progress is made in the augmentation
of the Navy to the limit prescribed for it by law. For these blessings
we owe to Almighty God, from whom we derive them, and with profound
reverence, our most grateful and unceasing acknowledgments.
In adverting to our relations with foreign powers, which are always
an object of the highest importance, I have to remark that of the
subjects which have been brought into discussion with them during the
present Administration some have been satisfactorily terminated, others
have been suspended, to be resumed hereafter under circumstances more
favorable to success, and others are still in negotiation, with the hope
that they may be adjusted with mutual accommodation to the interests
and to the satisfaction of the respective parties. It has been the
invariable object of this Government to cherish the most friendly
relations with every power, and on principles and conditions which might
make them permanent. A systematic effort has been made to place our
commerce with each power on a footing of perfect reciprocity, to settle
with each in a spirit of candor and liberality all existing differences,
and to anticipate and remove so far as it might be practicable all
causes of future variance.
It having been stipulated by the seventh article of the convention of
navigation and commerce which was concluded on the 24th of June, 1822,
between the United States and France, that the said convention should
continue in force for two years from the 1st of October of that year,
and for an indefinite term afterwards, unless one of the parties should
declare its intention to renounce it, in which event it should cease
to operate at the end of six months from such declaration, and no
such intention having been announced, the convention having been
found advantageous to both parties, it has since remained, and still
remains, in force. At the time when that convention was concluded many
interesting subjects were left unsettled, and particularly our claim to
indemnity for spoliations which were committed on our commerce in the
late wars. For these interests and claims it was in the contemplation
of the parties to make provision at a subsequent day by a more
comprehensive and definitive treaty. The object has been duly attended
to since by the Executive, but as yet it has not been accomplished. It
is hoped that a favorable opportunity will present itself for opening
a negotiation which may embrace and arrange all existing differences
and every other concern in which they have a common interest upon the
accession of the present King of France, an event which has occurred
since the close of the last session of Congress.
With Great Britain our commercial intercourse rests on the same footing
that it did at the last session. By the convention of 1815 the commerce
between the United States and the British dominions in Europe and the
East Indies was arranged on a principle of reciprocity. That convention
was confirmed and continued in force, with slight exceptions, by a
subsequent treaty for the term of ten years from the 20th of October,
1818, the date of the latter. The trade with the British colonies in the
West Indies has not as yet been arranged, by treaty or otherwise, to our
satisfaction. An approach to that result has been made by legislative
acts, whereby many serious impediments which had been raised by the
parties in defense of their respective claims were removed. An earnest
desire exists, and has been manifested on the part of this Government,
to place the commerce with the colonies, likewise, on a footing of
reciprocal advantage, and it is hoped that the British Government,
seeing the justice of the proposal and its importance to the colonies,
will ere long accede to it.
The commissioners who were appointed for the adjustment of the boundary
between the territories of the United States and those of Great Britain,
specified in the fifth article of the treaty of Ghent, having disagreed
in their decision, and both Governments having agreed to establish that
boundary by amicable negotiation between them, it is hoped that it may
be satisfactorily adjusted in that mode. The boundary specified by the
sixth article has been established by the decision of the commissioners.
From the progress made in that provided for by the seventh, according to
a report recently received, there is good cause to presume that it will
be settled in the course of the ensuing year.
It is a cause of serious regret that no arrangement has yet been finally
concluded between the two Governments to secure by joint cooperation
the suppression of the slave trade. It was the object of the British
Government in the early stages of the negotiation to adopt a plan for
the suppression which should include the concession of the mutual right
of search by the ships of war of each party of the vessels of the other
for suspected offenders. This was objected to by this Government on
the principle that as the right of search was a right of war of a
belligerent toward a neutral power it might have an ill effect to extend
it by treaty, to an offense which had been made comparatively mild, to
a time of peace. Anxious however, for the suppression of this trade,
it was thought advisable, in compliance with a resolution of the House
of Representatives, founded on an act of Congress, to propose to the
British Government an expedient which should be free from that objection
and more effectual for the object, by making it piratical. In that
mode the enormity of tho crime would place the offenders out of the
protection of their Government, and involve no question of search or
other question between the parties touching their respective rights.
It was believed, also, that it would completely suppress the trade
in the vessels of both parties, and by their respective citizens and
subjects in those of other powers, with whom it was hoped that the odium
which would thereby be attached to it would produce a corresponding
arrangement, and by means thereof its entire extirpation forever. A
convention to this effect was concluded and signed in London on the
13th day of March, 1824, by plenipotentiaries duly authorized by both
Governments, to the ratification of which certain obstacles have arisen
which are not yet entirely removed. The difference between the parties
still remaining has been reduced to a point not of sufficient magnitude,
as is presumed, to be permitted to defeat an object so near to the heart
of both nations and so desirable to the friends of humanity throughout
the world. As objections, however, to the principle recommended by the
House of Representatives, or at least to the consequences inseparable
from it, and which are understood to apply to the law, have been raised,
which may deserve a reconsideration of the whole subject, I have thought
it proper to suspend the conclusion of a new convention until the
definitive sentiments of Congress may be ascertained. These documents
relating to the negotiation are with that intent submitted to your
consideration.
Our commerce with Sweden has been placed on a footing of perfect
reciprocity by treaty, and with Russia, the Netherlands, Prussia,
the free Hanseatic cities, the Dukedom of Oldenburg, and Sardinia by
internal regulations on each side, founded on mutual agreement between
the respective Governments.
The principles upon which the commercial policy of the United States
is founded are to be traced to an early period. They are essentially
connected with those upon which their independence was declared, and
owe their origin to the enlightened men who took the lead in our
affairs at that important epoch. They are developed in their first
treaty of commerce with France of 6th February, 1778, and by a formal
commission which was instituted immediately after the conclusion of
their Revolutionary struggle, for the purpose of negotiating treaties
of commerce with every European power. The first treaty of the United
States with Prussia, which was negotiated by that commission, affords
a signal illustration of those principles. The act of Congress of the
3d March. 1815. adopted immediately after the return of a general peace,
was a new overture to foreign nations to establish our commercial
relations with them on the basis of free and equal reciprocity. That
principle has pervaded all the acts of Congress and all the negotiations
of the Executive on the subject since.
A convention for the settlement of important questions in relation
to the northwest coast of this continent and its adjoining seas was
concluded and signed at St. Petersburg on the 5th day of April last by
the minister plenipotentiary of the United States and plenipotentiaries
of the Imperial Government of Russia. It will immediately be laid before
the Senate for the exercise of the constitutional authority of that body
with reference to its ratification. It is proper to add that the manner
in which this negotiation was invited and conducted on the part of the
Emperor has been very satisfactory.
The great and extraordinary changes which have happened in the
Governments of Spain and Portugal within the last two years, without
seriously affecting the friendly relations which under all of them
have been maintained with those powers by the United States, have been
obstacles to the adjustment of the particular subjects of discussion
which have arisen with each. A resolution of the Senate adopted at their
last session called for information as to the effect produced upon our
relations with Spain by the recognition on the part of the United States
of the independent South American Governments. The papers containing
that information are now communicated to Congress.
A chargé d'affaires has been received from the independent Government of
Brazil. That country, heretofore a colonial possession of Portugal, had
some years since been proclaimed by the Sovereign of Portugal himself an
independent Kingdom. Since his return to Lisbon a revolution in Brazil
has established a new Government there with an imperial title, at the
head of which is placed a prince, in whom the regency had been vested by
the King at the time of his departure. There is reason to expect that by
amicable negotiation the independence of Brazil will ere long be
recognized by Portugal herself.
With the remaining powers of Europe, with those on the coast of Barbary,
and with all the new South American States our relations are of a
friendly character. We have ministers plenipotentiary residing with the
Republics of Colombia and Chile, and have received ministers of the same
rank from Colombia, Guatemala, Buenos Ayres, and Mexico. Our commercial
relations with all those States are mutually beneficial and increasing.
With the Republic of Colombia a treaty of commerce has been formed, of
which a copy is received and the original daily expected. A negotiation
for a like treaty would have been commenced with Buenos Ayres had it not
been prevented by the indisposition and lamented decease of Mr. Rodney,
our minister there, and to whose memory the most respectful attention
has been shewn by the Government of that Republic. An advantageous
alteration in our treaty with Tunis has been obtained by our consular
agent residing there, the official document of which when received will
be laid before the Senate.
The attention of the Government has been drawn with great solicitude
to other subjects, and particularly to that relating to a state of
maritime war, involving the relative rights of neutral and belligerent
in such wars. Most of the difficulties which we have experienced and of
the losses which we have sustained since the establishment of our
independence have proceeded from the unsettled state of those rights and
the extent to which the belligerent claim has been carried against the
neutral party. It is impossible to look back on the occurrences of the
late wars in Europe, and to behold the disregard which was paid to our
rights as a neutral power, and the waste which was made of our commerce
by the parties to those wars by various acts of their respective
Governments, and under the pretext by each that the other had set the
example, without great mortification and a fixed purpose never to submit
to the like in future. An attempt to remove those causes of possible
variance by friendly negotiation and on just principles which should
be applicable to all parties could, it was presumed, be viewed by none
other than as a proof of an earnest desire to preserve those relations
with every power. In the late war between France and Spain a crisis
occurred in which it seemed probable that all the controvertible
principles involved in such wars might be brought into discussion and
settled to the satisfaction of all parties. Propositions having this
object in view have been made to the Governments of Great Britain,
France, Russia, and of other powers, which have been received in a
friendly manner by all, but as yet no treaty has been formed with either
for its accomplishment. The policy will, it is presumed, be persevered
in, and in the hope that it may be successful.
It will always be recollected that with one of the parties to those
wars, and from whom we received those injuries, we sought redress by
war. From the other, by whose then reigning Government our vessels
were seized in port as well as at sea and their cargoes confiscated,
indemnity has been expected, but has not yet been tendered. It was under
the influence of the latter that our vessels were likewise seized by
the Governments of Spain, Holland, Denmark, Sweden, and Naples, and
from whom indemnity has been claimed and is still expected, with the
exception of Spain, by whom it has been rendered. With both parties we
had abundant cause of war, but we had no alternative but to resist that
which was most powerful at sea and pressed us nearest at home. With this
all differences were settled by a treaty, founded on conditions fair and
honorable to both, and which has been so far executed with perfect good
faith. It has been earnestly hoped that the other would of its own
accord, and from a sentiment of justice and conciliation, make to our
citizens the indemnity to which they are entitled, and thereby remove
from our relations any just cause of discontent on our side.
It is estimated that the receipts into the Treasury during the current
year, exclusive of loans, will exceed $18,500,000, which, with the sum
remaining in the Treasury at the end of the last year, amounting to
$9.463,922.81, will, after discharging the current disbursements of the
year, the interest on the public debt, and upward of $11,633,011.52 of
the principal, leave a balance of more than $3,000,000 in the Treasury
on the 1st day of January next.
A larger amount of the debt contracted during the late war, bearing an
interest of 6 per cent, becoming redeemable in the course of the ensuing
year than could be discharged by the ordinary revenue, the act of the
26th of May authorized a loan of $5,000,000 at 4-1/2 per cent to meet
the same. By this arrangement an annual saving will accrue to the public
of $75,000.
Under the act of the 24th of May last a loan of $5,000,000 was
authorized, in order to meet the awards under the Florida treaty,
which was negotiated at par with the Bank of the United States at 4-1/2
percent, the limit of interest fixed by the act. By this provision the
claims of our citizens who had sustained so great a loss by spoliations,
and from whom indemnity had been so long withheld, were promptly paid.
For these advances the public will be amply repaid at no distant day by
the sale of the lands in Florida. Of the great advantages resulting from
the acquisition of the Territory in other respects too high an estimate
can not be formed.
It is estimated that the receipts into the Treasury during the year
1825 will be sufficient to meet the disbursements of the year,
including the sum of $10,000,000, which is annually appropriated by
the act constituting the sinking fund to the payment of the principal
and interest of the public debt.
The whole amount of the public debt on the 1st of January next may be
estimated at $86,000,000, inclusive of $2,500,000 of the loan authorized
by the act of the 26th of May last. In this estimate is included a stock
of $7,000,000, issued for the purchase of that amount of the capital
stock of the Bank of the United States, and which, as the stock of the
bank still held by the Government will at least be fully equal to its
reimbursement, ought not to be considered as constituting a part of the
public debt. Estimating, then, the whole amount of the public debt at
$79,000,000 and regarding the annual receipts and expenditures of the
Government, a well-founded hope may be entertained that, should no
unexpected event occur, the whole of the public debt may be discharged
in the course of ten years, and the Government be left at liberty
thereafter to apply such portion of the revenue as may not be necessary
for current expenses to such other objects as may be most conducive
to the public security and welfare. That the sums applicable to these
objects will be very considerable may be fairly concluded when it is
recollected that a large amount of the public revenue has been applied
since the late war to the construction of the public buildings in this
city; to the erection of fortifications along the coast and of arsenals
in different parts of the Union; to the augmentation of the Navy; to the
extinguishment of the Indian title to large tracts of fertile territory;
to the acquisition of Florida; to pensions to Revolutionary officers and
soldiers, and to invalids of the late war. On many of these objects the
expense will annually be diminished and cease at no distant period on
most of them. On the 1st of January, 1817, the public debt amounted
to $123,491,965.16, and, notwithstanding the large sums which have
been applied to these objects, it has been reduced since that period
$37,446,961.78. The last portion of the public debt will be redeemable
on the 1st of January, 1835, and while there is the best reason to
believe that the resources of the Government will be continually
adequate to such portions of it as may become due in the interval, it
is recommended to Congress to seize every opportunity which may present
itself to reduce the rate of interest on every part thereof. The high
state of the public credit and the great abundance of money are at this
time very favorable to such a result. It must be very gratifying to our
fellow-citizens to witness this flourishing state of the public finances
when it is recollected that no burthen whatever has been imposed upon
them.
The military establishment in all its branches, in the performance of
the various duties assigned to each, justifies the favorable view which
was presented of the efficiency of its organization at the last session.
All the appropriations have been regularly applied to the objects
intended by Congress, and so far as the disbursements have been made the
accounts have been rendered and settled without loss to the public.
The condition of the Army itself, as relates to the officers and men,
in science and discipline is highly respectable. The Military Academy,
on which the Army essentially rests, and to which it is much indebted
for this state of improvement, has attained, in comparison with any
other institution of a like kind, a high degree of perfection.
Experience, however, has shewn that the dispersed condition of the corps
of artillery is unfavorable to the discipline of that important branch
of the military establishment. To remedy this inconvenience, eleven
companies have been assembled at the fortification erected at Old Point
Comfort as a school for artillery instruction, with intention as they
shall be perfected in the various duties of that service to order them
to other posts, and to supply their places with other companies for
instruction in like manner. In this mode a complete knowledge of the
science and duties of this arm will be extended throughout the whole
corps of artillery.-But to carry this object fully into effect will
require the aid of Congress, to obtain which the subject is now
submitted to your consideration.
Of the progress which has been made in the construction of
fortifications for the permanent defense of our maritime frontier,
according to the plan decided on and to the extent of the existing
appropriations, the report of the Secretary of War, which is herewith
communicated, will give a detailed account. Their final completion can
not fail to give great additional security to that frontier, and to
diminish proportionably the expense of defending it in the event of war.
The provisions in the several acts of Congress of the last session for
the improvement of the navigation of the Mississippi and the Ohio, of
the harbor of Presqu'isle, on Lake Erie, and the repair of the Plymouth
beach are in a course of regular execution; and there is reason to
believe that the appropriation in each instance will be adequate
to the object. To carry these improvements fully into effect, the
superintendence of them has been assigned to officers of the Corps
of Engineers.
Under the act of 30th April last, authorizing the President to cause a
survey to be made, with the necessary plans and estimates, of such roads
and canals as he might deem of national importance in a commercial or
military point of view, or for the transportation of the mail, a board
has been instituted, consisting of two distinguished officers of the
Corps of Engineers and a distinguished civil engineer, with assistants,
who have been actively employed in carrying into effect the object of
the act. They have carefully examined the route between the Potomac and
the Ohio rivers; between the latter and Lake Erie; between the Alleghany
and the Susquehannah; and the routes between the Delaware and the
Raritan, Barnstable and Buzzards Bay, and between Boston Harbor and
Narraganset Bay. Such portion of the Corps of Topographical Engineers
as could be spared from the survey of the coast has been employed in
surveying the very important route between the Potomac and the Ohio.
Considerable progress has been made in it, but the survey can not be
completed until the next season. It is gratifying to add, from the view
already taken, that there is good cause to believe that this great
national object may be fully accomplished.
It is contemplated to commence early in the next season the execution of
the other branch of the act--that which relates to roads--and with the
survey of a route from this city, through the Southern States, to New
Orleans, the importance of which can not be too highly estimated. All
the officers of both the corps of engineers who could be spared from
other services have been employed in exploring and surveying the routes
for canals. To digest a plan for both objects for the great purposes
specified will require a thorough knowledge of every part of our Union
and of the relation of each part to the others and of all to the seat of
the General Government. For such a digest it will be necessary that the
information be full, minute, and precise. With a view to these important
objects, I submit to the consideration of the Congress the propriety of
enlarging both the corps of engineers--the military and topographical.
It need scarcely be remarked that the more extensively these corps are
engaged in the improvement of their country, in the execution of the
powers of Congress, and in aid of the States in such improvements as lie
beyond that limit, when such aid is desired, the happier the effect will
be in many views of which the subject is susceptible. By profiting of
their science the works will always be well executed, and by giving to
the officers such employment our Union will derive all the advantage, in
peace as well as in war, from their talents and services which they can
afford. In this mode, also, the military will be incorporated with the
civil, and unfounded and injurious distinctions and prejudices of every
kind be done away. To the corps themselves this service can not fail to
be equally useful, since by the knowledge they would thus acquire they
would be eminently better qualified in the event of war for the great
purposes for which they were instituted.
Our relations with the Indian tribes within our limits have not been
materially changed during the year. The hostile disposition evinced by
certain tribes on the Missouri during the last year still continues,
and has extended in some degree to those on the Upper Mississippi and
the Upper Lakes. Several parties of our citizens have been plundered
and murdered by those tribes. In order to establish relations of
friendship with them, Congress at the last session made an appropriation
for treaties with them and for the employment of a suitable military
escort to accompany and attend the commissioners at the places appointed
for the negotiations. This object has not been effected. The season
was too far advanced when the appropriation was made and the distance
too great to permit it, but measures have been taken, and all the
preparations will be completed to accomplish it at an early period
in the next season.
Believing that the hostility of the tribes, particularly on the Upper
Mississippi and the Lakes, is in no small degree owing to the wars which
are carried on between the tribes residing in that quarter, measures
have been taken to bring about a general peace among them, which, if
successful, will not only tend to the security of our citizens, but
be of great advantage to the Indians themselves.
With the exception of the tribes referred to, our relations with all
the others are on the same friendly footing, and it affords me great
satisfaction to add that they are making steady advances in civilization
and the improvement of their condition. Many of the tribes have already
made great progress in the arts of civilized life. This desirable result
has been brought about by the humane and persevering policy of the
Government, and particularly by means of the appropriation for the
civilization of the Indians. There have been established under the
provisions of this act 32 schools, containing 916 scholars, who are
well instructed in several branches of literature, and likewise in
agriculture and the ordinary arts of life.
Under the appropriation to authorize treaties with the Creeks and
Quaupaw Indians commissioners have been appointed and negotiations
are now pending, but the result is not yet known.
For more full information respecting the principle which has been
adopted for carrying into effect the act of Congress authorizing
surveys, with plans and estimates for canals and roads, and on every
other branch of duty incident to the Department of War. I refer you
to the report of the Secretary.
The squadron in the Mediterranean has been maintained in the extent
which was proposed in the report of the Secretary of the Navy of the
last year, and has afforded to our commerce the necessary protection
in that sea. Apprehending, however, that the unfriendly relations which
have existed between Algiers and some of the powers of Europe might
be extended to us, it has been thought expedient to augment the force
there, and in consequence the _North Carolina_, a ship of the line,
has been prepared, and will sail in a few days to join it.
The force employed in the Gulf of Mexico and in the neighboring seas
for the suppression of piracy has likewise been preserved essentially in
the state in which it was during the last year. A persevering effort has
been made for the accomplishment of that object, and much protection has
thereby been afforded to our commerce, but still the practice is far
from being suppressed. From every view which has been taken of the
subject it is thought that it will be necessary rather to augment than
to diminish our force in that quarter. There is reason to believe that
the piracies now complained of are committed by bands of robbers who
inhabit the land, and who, by preserving good intelligence with the
towns and seizing favorable opportunities, rush forth and fall on
unprotected merchant vessels, of which they make an easy prey. The
pillage thus taken they carry to their lurking places, and dispose of
afterwards at prices tending to seduce the neighboring population. This
combination is understood to be of great extent, and is the more to be
deprecated because the crime of piracy is often attended with the murder
of the crews, these robbers knowing if any survived their lurking places
would be exposed and they be caught and punished. That this atrocious
practice should be carried to such extent is cause of equal surprise and
regret. It is presumed that it must be attributed to the relaxed and
feeble state of the local governments, since it is not doubted, from
the high character of the governor of Cuba, who is well known and much
respected here, that if he had the power he would promptly suppress
it. Whether those robbers should be pursued on the land, the local
authorities be made responsible for these atrocities, or any other
measure be resorted to to suppress them, is submitted to the
consideration of Congress.
In execution of the laws for the suppression of the slave trade a vessel
has been occasionally sent from that squadron to the coast of Africa
with orders to return thence by the usual track of the slave ships, and
to seize any of our vessels which might be engaged in that trade. None
have been found, and it is believed that none are thus employed. It is
well known, however, that the trade still exists under other flags.
The health of our squadron while at Thompsons Island has been much
better during the present than it was the last season. Some improvements
have been made and others are contemplated there which, it is believed,
will have a very salutary effect.
On the Pacific our commerce has much increased, and on that coast, as
well as on that seas the United States have many important interests
which require attention and protection. It is thought that all the
considerations which suggested the expediency of placing a squadron
on that sea operate with augmented force for maintaining it there, at
least in equal extent.
For detailed information respecting the state of our maritime force
on each sea, the improvement necessary to be made on either in the
organization of the naval establishment generally, and of the laws for
its better government I refer you to the report of the Secretary of the
Navy, which is herewith communicated.
The revenue of the Post-Office Department has received a considerable
augmentation in the present year. The current receipts will exceed the
expenditures, although the transportation of the mail within the year
has been much increased. A report of the Postmaster-General, which is
transmitted, will furnish in detail the necessary information respecting
the administration and present state of this Department.
In conformity with a resolution of Congress of the last session, an
invitation was given to General Lafayette to visit the United States,
with an assurance that a ship of war should attend at any port of France
which he might designate, to receive and convey him across the Atlantic,
whenever it might be convenient for him to sail. He declined the offer
of the public ship from motives of delicacy, but assured me that he
had long intended and would certainly visit our Union in the course of
the present year. In August last he arrived at New York, where he was
received with the warmth of affection and gratitude to which his very
important and disinterested services and sacrifices in our Revolutionary
struggle so eminently entitled him. A corresponding sentiment has since
been manifested in his favor throughout every portion of our Union, and
affectionate invitations have been given him to extend his visits to
them. To these he has yielded all the accommodation in his power.
At every designated point of rendezvous the whole population of the
neighboring country has been assembled to greet him, among whom it
has excited in a peculiar manner the sensibility of all to behold the
surviving members of our Revolutionary contest, civil and military, who
had shared with him in the toils and dangers of the war, many of them
in a decrepit state. A more interesting spectacle, it is believed, was
never witnessed, because none could be founded on purer principles, none
proceed from higher or more disinterested motives. That the feelings
of those who had fought and bled with him in a common cause should
have been much excited was natural. There are, however, circumstances
attending these interviews which pervaded the whole community and
touched the breasts of every age, even the youngest among us. There
was not an individual present who had not some relative who had not
partaken in those scenes, nor an infant who had not heard the relation
of them. But the circumstance which was most sensibly felt, and which
his presence brought forcibly to the recollection of all, was the great
cause in which we were engaged and the blessings which we have derived
from our success in it. The struggle was for independence and liberty,
public and personal, and in this we succeeded. The meeting with one who
had borne so distinguished a part in that great struggle, and from such
lofty and disinterested motives, could not fail to affect profoundly
every individual and of every age. It is natural that we should all take
a deep interest in his future welfare, as we do. His high claims on our
Union are felt, and the sentiment universal that they should be met in
a generous spirit. Under these impressions I invite your attention to
the subject, with a view that, regarding his very important services,
losses, and sacrifices, a provision may be made and tendered to him
which shall correspond with the sentiments and be worthy the character
of the American people.
In turning our attention to the condition of the civilized world,
in which the United States have always taken a deep interest, it is
gratifying to see how large a portion of it is blessed with peace.
The only wars which now exist within that limit are those between
Turkey and Greece, in Europe, and between Spain and the new Governments,
our neighbors, in this hemisphere. In both these wars the cause of
independence, of liberty and humanity, continues to prevail. The success
of Greece, when the relative population of the contending parties is
considered, commands our admiration and applause, and that it has had a
similar effect with the neighboring powers is obvious. The feeling of
the whole civilized world is excited in a high degree in their favor.
May we not hope that these sentiments, winning on the hearts of their
respective Governments, may lead to a more decisive result; that they
may produce an accord among them to replace Greece on the ground which
she formerly held, and to which her heroic exertions at this day so
eminently entitle her?
With respect to the contest to which our neighbors are a party, it is
evident that Spain as a power is scarcely felt in it. These new States
had completely achieved their independence before it was acknowledged by
the United States, and they have since maintained it with little foreign
pressure. The disturbances which have appeared in certain portions of
that vast territory have proceeded from internal causes, which had their
origin in their former Governments and have not yet been thoroughly
removed. It is manifest that these causes are daily losing their effect,
and that these new States are settling down under Governments elective
and representative in every branch, similar to our own. In this course
we ardently wish them to persevere, under a firm conviction that it will
promote their happiness. In this, their career, however, we have not
interfered, believing that every people have a right to institute for
themselves the government which, in their judgment, may suit them best.
Our example is before them, of the good effect of which, being our
neighbors, they are competent judges, and to their judgment we leave
it, in the expectation that other powers will pursue the same policy.
The deep interest which we take in their independence, which we have
acknowledged, and in their enjoyment of all the rights incident
thereto, especially in the very important one of instituting their own
Governments, has been declared, and is known to the world. Separated as
we are from Europe by the great Atlantic Ocean, we can have no concern
in the wars of the European Governments nor in the causes which produce
them. The balance of power between them, into whichever scale it may
turn in its various vibrations, can not affect us. It is the interest
of the United States to preserve the most friendly relations with every
power and on conditions fair, equal, arid applicable to all. But in
regard to our neighbors our situation is different. It is impossible
for the European Governments to interfere in their concerns, especially
in those alluded to, which are vital, without affecting us; indeed, the
motive which might induce such interference in the present state of the
war between the parties, if a war it may be called, would appear to be
equally applicable to us. It is gratifying to know that some of the
powers with whom we enjoy a very friendly intercourse, and to whom
these views have been communicated, have appeared to acquiesce in them.
The augmentation of our population with the expansion of our Union and
increased number of States have produced effects in certain branches
of our system which merit the attention of Congress. Some of our
arrangements, and particularly the judiciary establishment, were made
with a view to the original thirteen States only. Since then the United
States have acquired a vast extent of territory; eleven new States have
been admitted into the Union, and Territories have been laid off for
three others, which will likewise be admitted at no distant day. An
organization of the Supreme Court which assigns to the judges any
portion of the duties which belong to the inferior, requiring their
passage over so vast a space under any distribution of the States that
may now be made, if not impracticable in the execution, must render
it impossible for them to discharge the duties of either branch with
advantage to the Union. The duties of the Supreme Court would be of
great importance if its decisions were confined to the ordinary limits
of other tribunals, but when it is considered that this court decides,
and in the last resort, on all the great questions which arise under our
Constitution, involving those between the United States individually,
between the States and the United States, and between the latter and
foreign powers, too high an estimate of their importance can not be
formed. The great interests of the nation seem to require that the
judges of the Supreme Court should be exempted from every other duty
than those which are incident to that high trust. The organization of
the inferior courts would of course be adapted to circumstances. It is
presumed that such an one might be formed as would secure an able and
faithful discharge of their duties, and without any material
augmentation of expense.
The condition of the aborigines within our limits, and especially
those who are within the limits of any of the States, merits likewise
particular attention. Experience has shown that unless the tribes be
civilized they can never be incorporated into our system in any form
whatever. It has likewise shown that in the regular augmentation of
our population with the extension of our settlements their situation
will become deplorable, if their extinction is not menaced. Some
well-digested plan which will rescue them from such calamities is due
to their rights, to the rights of humanity, and to the honor of the
nation. Their civilization is indispensable to their safety, and this
can be accomplished only by degrees. The process must commence with the
infant state, through whom some effect may be wrought on the parental.
Difficulties of the most serious character present themselves to the
attainment of this very desirable result on the territory on which they
now reside. To remove them from it by force, even with a view to their
own security and happiness, would be revolting to humanity and utterly
unjustifiable. Between the limits of our present States and Territories
and the Rocky Mountains and Mexico there is a vast territory to which
they might be invited with inducements which might be successful. It is
thought if that territory should be divided into districts by previous
agreement with the tribes now residing there and civil governments be
established in each, with schools for every branch of instruction in
literature and the arts of civilized life, that all the tribes now
within our limits might gradually be drawn there. The execution of
this plan would necessarily be attended with expense, and that not
inconsiderable, but it is doubted whether any other can be devised
which would be less liable to that objection or more likely to succeed.
In looking to the interests which the United States have on the
Pacific Ocean and on the western coast of this continent, the propriety
of establishing a military post at the mouth of Columbia River, or at
some other point in that quarter within our acknowledged limits, is
submitted to the consideration of Congress. Our commerce and fisheries
on that sea and along the coast have much increased and are increasing.
It is thought that a military post, to which our ships of war might
resort, would afford protection to every interest, and have a tendency
to conciliate the tribes to the northwest, with whom our trade is
extensive. It is thought also that by the establishment of such a post
the intercourse between our Western States and Territories and the
Pacific and our trade with the tribes residing in the interior on each
side of the Rocky Mountains would be essentially promoted. To carry this
object into effect the appropriation of an adequate sum to authorize the
employment of a frigate, with an officer of the Corps of Engineers,
to explore the mouth of the Columbia River and the coast contiguous
thereto, to enable the Executive to make such establishment at the most
suitable point, is recommended to Congress.
It is thought that attention is also due to the improvement of this
city. The communication between the public buildings and in various
other parts and the grounds around those buildings require it. It is
presumed also that the completion of the canal from the Tiber to the
Eastern Branch would have a very salutary effect. Great exertions have
been made and expenses incurred by the citizens in improvements of
various kinds; but those which are suggested belong exclusively to the
Government, or are of a nature to require expenditures beyond their
resources. The public lots which are still for sale would, it is not
doubted, be more than adequate to these purposes.
From the view above presented it is manifest that the situation of the
United States is in the highest degree prosperous and happy. There is no
object which as a people we can desire which we do not possess or which
is not within our reach. Blessed with governments the happiest which the
world ever knew, with no distinct orders in society or divided interests
in any portion of the vast territory over which their dominion extends,
we have every motive to cling together which can animate a virtuous and
enlightened people. The great object is to preserve these blessings,
and to hand them down to the latest posterity. Our experience ought to
satisfy us that our progress under the most correct and provident policy
will not be exempt from danger. Our institutions form an important epoch
in the history of the civilized world. On their preservation and in
their utmost purity everything will depend. Extending as our interests
do to every part of the inhabited globe and to every sea to which our
citizens are carried by their industry and enterprise, to which they are
invited by the wants of others, and have a right to go, we must either
protect them in the enjoyment of their rights or abandon them in certain
events to waste and desolation. Our attitude is highly interesting as
relates to other powers, and particularly to our southern neighbors. We
have duties to perform with respect to all to which we must be faithful.
To every kind of danger we should pay the most vigilant and unceasing
attention, remove the cause where it may be practicable, and be prepared
to meet it when inevitable.
Against foreign danger the policy of the Government seems to be already
settled. The events of the late war admonished us to make our maritime
frontier impregnable by a well-digested chain of fortifications, and
to give efficient protection to our commerce by augmenting our Navy
to a certain extent, which has been steadily pursued, and which it is
incumbent upon us to complete as soon as circumstances will permit.
In the event of war it is on the maritime frontier that we shall be
assailed. It is in that quarter, therefore, that we should be prepared
to meet the attack. It is there that our whole force will be called
into action to prevent the destruction of our towns and the desolation
and pillage of the interior. To give full effect to this policy great
improvements will be indispensable. Access to those works by every
practicable communication should be made easy and in every direction.
The intercourse between every part of our Union should also be promoted
and facilitated by the exercise of those powers which may comport with
a faithful regard to the great principles of our Constitution. With
respect to internal causes, those great principles point out with
equal certainty the policy to be pursued. Resting on the people as
our Governments do, State and National, with well-defined powers,
it is of the highest importance that they severally keep within the
limits prescribed to them. Fulfilling that sacred duty, it is of equal
importance that the movement between them be harmonious, and in case
of any disagreement, should any such occur, a calm appeal be made to
the people, and that their voice be heard and promptly obeyed. Both
Governments being instituted for the common good, we can not fail to
prosper while those who made them are attentive to the conduct of their
representatives and control their measures. In the pursuit of these
great objects let a generous spirit and national views and feelings be
indulged, and let every part recollect that by cherishing that spirit
and improving the condition of the others in what relates to their
welfare the general interest will not only be promoted, but the local
advantage be reciprocated by all.
I can not conclude this communication, the last of the kind which I
shall have to make, without recollecting with great sensibility and
heartfelt gratitude the many instances of the public confidence and the
generous support which I have received from my fellow-citizens in the
various trusts with which I have been honored. Having commenced my
service in early youth, and continued it since with few and short
intervals, I have witnessed the great difficulties to which our Union
has been exposed, and admired the virtue and intelligence with which
they have been surmounted. From the present prosperous and happy state
I derive a gratification which I can not express. That these blessings
may be preserved and perpetuated will be the object of my fervent and
unceasing prayers to the Supreme Ruler of the Universe.