MONDAY, January 4, 1790.
The following members of the Senate assembled:
From New Hampshire, JOHN LANGDON and PAINE WINGATE.
From Massachusetts, CALEB STRONG and TRISTRAM DALTON.
From Connecticut, WILLIAM S. JOHNSON.
From New York, RUFUS KING and PHILIP SCHUYLER.
From South Carolina, RALPH IZARD and PIERCE BUTLER.
From Georgia, WILLIAM FEW.
A quorum of members not being present, they adjourned till to-morrow.
TUESDAY, January 5.
JOHN HENRY, from Maryland, in addition to the members assembled
yesterday, attended; but not being a quorum, they adjourned.
WEDNESDAY, January 6.
WILLIAM MACLAY, from Pennsylvania, attended; a quorum of the members of
the Senate were present, and the Secretary was directed to inform the
House of Representatives that a quorum of the Senate have assembled, and
are ready to proceed to business.
_Ordered_, That Messrs. STRONG and IZARD be a committee on the part of
the Senate, with such committee as the House of Representatives may
appoint on their part, to inform the President of the United States that
a quorum of the two Houses is assembled, and will be ready in the Senate
Chamber, at such time as the President may appoint, to receive any
communications he may be pleased to make.
THURSDAY, January 7.
OLIVER ELLSWORTH, of Connecticut, and WILLIAM PATERSON, from New Jersey,
attended.
A message from the House of Representatives informed the Senate that
they have resolved that two Chaplains, of different denominations, be
appointed to Congress for the present session, one by each House, who
shall interchange weekly.
Mr. STRONG, on behalf of the joint committee, reported to the Senate,
that they had waited on the President of the United States, agreeably to
the order of both Houses, and that he informed the committee that he
would meet the two Houses in the Senate Chamber to-morrow at 11 o'clock.
FRIDAY, January 8.
_Ordered_, That the House of Representatives be informed that the Senate
are ready to meet them in the Senate Chamber, to receive any
communication the President of the United States may be pleased to make
to the two Houses of Congress; and that the usual seats will be assigned
them.
The House of Representatives having accordingly taken their seats, the
President of the United States came into the Senate Chamber, and
addressed both Houses of Congress as followeth:
_Fellow-Citizens of the Senate, and House of
Representatives:_
I embrace with great satisfaction the opportunity which now
presents itself of congratulating you on the present
favorable prospects of our public affairs. The recent
accession of the important State of North Carolina to the
constitution of the United States, (of which official
information has been received;) the rising credit and
respectability of our country; the general and increasing
good-will towards the Government of the Union; and the
concord, peace, and plenty with which we are blessed, are
circumstances auspicious in an eminent degree to our
national prosperity.
In resuming your consultations for the general good, you
cannot but derive encouragement from the reflection that
the measures of the last session have been as satisfactory
to your constituents, as the novelty and difficulty of the
work allowed you to hope. Still further to realize their
expectations, and to secure the blessings which a gracious
Providence has placed within our reach, will, in the course
of the present important session, call for the cool and
deliberate exertion of your patriotism, firmness, and
wisdom.
Among the many interesting objects which will engage your
attention, that of providing for the common defence will
merit particular regard. To be prepared for war, is one of
the most effectual means of preserving peace.
A free people ought not only to be armed, but disciplined;
to which end, a uniform and well-digested plan is
requisite: and their safety and interest require that they
should promote such manufactures as tend to render them
independent of others for essential, particularly military
supplies.
The proper establishment of the troops which may be deemed
indispensable will be entitled to mature consideration. In
the arrangements which may be made respecting it, it will
be of importance to conciliate the comfortable support of
the officers and soldiers with a due regard to economy.
There was reason to hope that the pacific measures adopted
with regard to certain hostile tribes of Indians, would
have relieved the inhabitants of our Southern and Western
frontiers from their depredations; but you will perceive,
from the information contained in the papers which I shall
direct to be laid before you, (comprehending a
communication from the commonwealth of Virginia,) that we
ought to be prepared to afford protection to those parts of
the Union, and, if necessary, to punish aggressors.
The interests of the United States require that our
intercourse with other nations should be facilitated by
such provisions as will enable me to fulfil my duty, in
that respect, in the manner which circumstances may render
most conducive to the public good; and to this end, that
the compensations to be made to the persons who may be
employed, should, according to the nature of their
appointments, be defined by the law; and a competent fund
designated for defraying the expenses incident to the
conduct of our foreign affairs.
Various considerations also render it expedient that the
terms on which foreigners may be admitted to the rights of
citizens, should be speedily ascertained by a uniform rule
of naturalization.
Uniformity in the currency, weights and measures, of the
United States, is an object of great importance, and will,
I am persuaded, be duly attended to.
The advancement of agriculture, commerce, and manufactures,
by all proper means, will not, I trust, need
recommendation; but I cannot forbear intimating to you the
expediency of giving effectual encouragement, as well to
the introduction of new and useful inventions from abroad,
as to the exertions of skill and genius in producing them
at home; and of facilitating the intercourse between the
distant parts of our country by a due attention to the
Post-Office and post-roads.
Nor am I less persuaded that you will agree with me in
opinion, that there is nothing which can better deserve
your patronage than the promotion of science and
literature. Knowledge is in every country the surest basis
of public happiness. In one in which the measures of
Government receive their impression so immediately from the
sense of the community as in ours, it is proportionably
essential. To the security of a free constitution it
contributes in various ways. By convincing those who are
intrusted with the public administration, that every
valuable end of Government is best answered by the
enlightened confidence of the people, and by teaching the
people themselves to know and to value their own rights to
discern and provide against invasions of them; to
distinguish between oppression and the necessary exercise
of lawful authority; between burthens proceeding from a
disregard to their convenience, and those resulting from
the inevitable exigencies of society; to discriminate the
spirit of liberty from that of licentiousness, cherishing
the first, avoiding the last, and uniting a speedy but
temperate vigilance against encroachments, with an
inviolable respect to the laws.
Whether this desirable object will be best promoted by
affording aids to seminaries of learning already
established, by the institution of a national university,
or by any other expedients, will be well worthy of a place
in the deliberations of the Legislature.
_Gentlemen of the House of Representatives:_
I saw with peculiar pleasure, at the close of the last
session, the resolution entered into by you, expressive of
your opinion that an adequate provision for the support of
the public credit is a matter of high importance to the
national honor and prosperity. In this sentiment I entirely
concur. And, to a perfect confidence in your best endeavors
to devise such a provision as will be truly consistent with
the end, I add an equal reliance on the cheerful
co-operation of the other branch of the Legislature. It
would be superfluous to specify inducements to a measure in
which the character and permanent interests of the United
States are so obviously and so deeply concerned, and which
has received so explicit a sanction from your declaration.
_Gentlemen of the Senate and House of Representatives:_
I have directed the proper officers to lay before you,
respectively, such papers and estimates as regard the
affairs particularly recommended to your consideration, and
necessary to convey to you that information of the state of
the Union, which it is my duty to afford.
The welfare of our country is the great object to which our
cares and efforts ought to be directed. And I shall derive
great satisfaction from a co-operation with you, in the
pleasing though arduous task of insuring to our
fellow-citizens the blessings which they have a right to
expect from a free, efficient and equal Government.