JOHN ADAMS, Vice President of the United States and President of the
Senate, attended.
ALEXANDER MARTIN, from the State of North Carolina, and JAMES JACKSON,
from the State of Georgia, severally attended.
The number assembled not being sufficient to constitute a quorum to do
business, the Senate adjourned to 11 o'clock to-morrow morning.
TUESDAY, November 11.
The Senate assembled: present as yesterday; and WILLIAM BRADFORD, from
the State of Rhode Island, attended.
MONDAY, November 17.
The Senate assembled: present as on Friday.
The number assembled not being sufficient to form a quorum, the VICE
PRESIDENT was requested by the Senators present, to write a letter to
each of the absent Senators, stating that a fortnight has already
elapsed without the formation of a Senate, and urging their immediate
attendance as necessary to enable Congress to commence the business of
the session.
The Senate adjourned to 11 o'clock to-morrow morning.
TUESDAY, November 18.
AARON BURR, from New York, appeared to-day, which formed a quorum, and
enabled the Senate to proceed to business.
Messages were accordingly exchanged between the two Houses, and a joint
committee was appointed to wait on the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES,
to inform him that a quorum of the two Houses is assembled, and are
ready to receive any communications that he may be pleased to make to
them.
Mr. IZARD, from the joint committee appointed for the purpose, reported
that the PRESIDENT would meet the two Houses in the Representatives'
Chamber at 12 o'clock to-morrow.
WEDNESDAY, November 19.
JOHN EDWARDS, from Kentucky, this day attended.
The Senate agreeably to appointment attended in the House of
Representatives, in order to receive the PRESIDENT's communications;
and, on their return, the PRESIDENT's Speech was read, as follows:
_Fellow-Citizens of the Senate, and of the House of Representatives:_
When we call to mind the gracious indulgence of Heaven, by
which the American people became a nation; when we survey
the general prosperity of our country, and look forward to
the riches, power, and happiness, to which it seems
destined; with the deepest regret do I announce to you,
that, during your recess, some of the citizens of the
United States have been found capable of an insurrection.
It is due, however, to the character of our Government, and
to its stability, which cannot be shaken by the enemies of
order, freely to unfold the course of this event.
During the session of the year one thousand seven hundred
and ninety, it was expedient to exercise the Legislative
power, granted by the Constitution of the United States,
"to lay and collect excises." In a majority of the States,
scarcely an objection was heard to this mode of taxation.
In some, indeed, alarms were at first conceived, until they
were banished by reason and patriotism. In the four western
counties of Pennsylvania, a prejudice, fostered and
embittered by the artifice of men, who labored for an
ascendency over the will of others, by the guidance of
their passions, produced symptoms of riot and violence. It
is well known, that Congress did not hesitate to examine
the complaints which were presented; and to relieve them,
as far as justice dictated, or general convenience would
permit. But the impression which this moderation made on
the discontented, did not correspond with what it deserved.
The arts of delusion were no longer confined to the efforts
of designing individuals. The very forbearance to press
prosecutions was misinterpreted into a fear of urging the
execution of the laws; and associations of men began to
denounce threats against the officers employed. From a
belief, that, by a more formal concert, their operation
might be defeated, certain self-created societies assumed
the tone of condemnation. Hence, while the greater part of
Pennsylvania itself were conforming themselves to the acts
of excise, a few counties were resolved to frustrate them.
It was now perceived, that every expectation from the
tenderness which had been hitherto pursued was unavailing,
and that further delay could only create an opinion of
impotency or irresolution in the Government. Legal process
was therefore delivered to the Marshal against the rioters
and delinquent distillers.
No sooner was he understood to be engaged in this duty,
than the vengeance of armed men was aimed at _his_ person,
and the person and property of the Inspector of the
Revenue. They fired upon the Marshal, arrested him, and
detained him, for some time as a prisoner. He was obliged,
by the jeopardy of his life, to renounce the service of
other process, on the west side of the Alleghany Mountain;
and a deputation was afterwards sent to him to demand a
surrender of that which he _had_ served. A numerous body
repeatedly attacked the house of the Inspector, seized his
papers of office, and finally destroyed by fire his
buildings and whatsoever they contained. Both of these
officers, from a just regard to their safety, fled to the
seat of Government; it being avowed, that the motives to
such outrages were to compel the resignation of the
Inspector; to withstand by force of arms the authority of
the United States; and thereby to extort a repeal of the
laws of excise, and an alteration in the conduct of
Government.
Upon the testimony of these facts, an Associate Justice of
the Supreme Court of the United States notified to me that
"in the counties of Washington and Alleghany, in
Pennsylvania, laws of the United States were opposed, and
the execution thereof obstructed, by combinations too
powerful to be suppressed by the ordinary course of
judicial proceedings, or by the powers vested in the
Marshal of that district." On this call, momentous in the
extreme, I sought and weighed what might best subdue the
crisis. On the one hand, the Judiciary was pronounced to be
stripped of its capacity to enforce the laws; crimes, which
reached the very existence of social order, were
perpetrated without control; the friends of government were
insulted, abused, and overawed into silence, or an
apparent acquiescence; and, to yield to the treasonable
fury of so small a portion of the United States would be to
violate the fundamental principle of our constitution,
which enjoins that the will of the majority shall prevail.
On the other, to array citizen against citizen, to publish
the dishonor of such excesses, to encounter the expense,
and other embarrassments, of so distant an expedition, were
steps too delicate, too closely interwoven with many
affecting considerations, to be lightly adopted. I
postponed, therefore, the summoning the militia immediately
into the field; but, I required them to be held in
readiness, that, if my anxious endeavors to reclaim the
deluded, and to convince the malignant of their danger,
should be fruitless, military force might be prepared to
act, before the season should be too far advanced.
My Proclamation of the 7th of August last was accordingly
issued, and accompanied by the appointment of
commissioners, who were charged to repair to the scene of
insurrection. They were authorized to confer with any
bodies of men or individuals. They were instructed to be
candid and explicit in stating the sensations which had
been excited in the Executive, and his earnest wish to
avoid a resort to coercion; to represent, however, that,
without submission, coercion _must_ be the resort; but to
invite them, at the same time, to return to the demeanor of
faithful citizens, by such accommodations as lay within the
sphere of Executive power. Pardon, too, was tendered to
them by the Government of the United States, and that of
Pennsylvania, upon no other condition than a satisfactory
assurance of obedience to the laws.
Although the report of the commissioners marks their
firmness and abilities, and must unite all virtuous men, by
showing that the means of conciliation have been exhausted,
all of those who had committed or abetted the tumults did
not subscribe the mild form which was proposed as the
atonement; and the indications of a peaceable temper were
neither sufficiently general nor conclusive to recommend or
warrant the further suspension of the march of the militia.
Thus, the painful alternative could not be discarded. I
ordered the militia to march--after once more admonishing
the insurgents, in my Proclamation of the 25th of September
last.
It was a task too difficult to ascertain with precision the
lowest degree of force competent to the quelling of the
insurrection. From a respect, indeed, to economy, and the
ease of my fellow-citizens belonging to the militia, it
would have gratified me to accomplish such an estimate. My
very reluctance to ascribe too much importance to the
opposition, had its extent been accurately seen, would have
been a decided inducement to the smallest efficient
numbers. In this uncertainty, therefore, I put into motion
fifteen thousand men, as being an army which, according to
all human calculation, would be prompt and adequate in
every view, and might, perhaps, by rendering resistance
desperate, prevent the effusion of blood. Quotas had been
assigned to the States of New Jersey, Pennsylvania,
Maryland, and Virginia; the Governor of Pennsylvania having
declared, on this occasion, an opinion which justified a
requisition to the other States.
Among the discussions which may arise from this aspect of
our affairs, and from the documents which will be submitted
to Congress, it will not escape their observation, that not
only the Inspector of the Revenue, but other officers of
the United States in Pennsylvania, have, from their
fidelity in the discharge of their functions, sustained
material injuries to their property. The obligation and
policy of indemnifying them are strong and obvious. It may
also merit attention, whether policy will not enlarge this
provision to the retribution of other citizens, who, though
not under the ties of office, may have suffered damage by
their generous exertions for upholding the constitution and
the laws. The amount, even if all the injured were
included, would not be great; and, on future emergencies,
the Government would be amply repaid by the influence of an
example, that he who incurs a loss in its defence, shall
find a recompense in its liberality.
While there is cause to lament that occurrences of this
nature should have disgraced the name, or interrupted the
tranquillity of any part of our community, or should have
diverted, to a new application, any portion of the public
resources, there are not wanting in real and substantial
consolations for the misfortune. It has demonstrated, that
our prosperity rests on solid foundations; by furnishing an
additional proof, that my fellow-citizens understand the
true principles of government and liberty; that they feel
their inseparable union; that notwithstanding all the
devices which have been used to sway them from their
interest and duty, they are now as ready to maintain the
authority of the laws against licentious invasions, as they
were to defend their rights against usurpation. It has been
a spectacle, displaying to the highest advantage the value
of Republican government, to behold the most and the least
wealthy of our citizens standing in the same ranks, as
private soldiers, pre-eminently distinguished by being the
army of the constitution; undeterred by a march of three
hundred miles over rugged mountains, by the approach of an
inclement season, or by any other discouragement. Nor ought
I to omit to acknowledge the efficacious and patriotic
co-operation which I have experienced from the Chief
Magistrates of the States to which my requisitions have
been addressed.
To every description of citizens, indeed, let praise be
given. But let them persevere in their affectionate
vigilance over that precious depository of American
happiness, the Constitution of the United States. Let them
cherish it, too, for the sake of those who, from every
clime are daily seeking a dwelling in our land. And when,
in the calm moments of reflection, they shall have retraced
the origin and progress of the insurrection, let them
determine whether it has not been fomented by combinations
of men, who, careless of consequences, and disregarding the
unerring truth that those who rouse cannot always appease a
civil convulsion, have disseminated, from an ignorance or
perversion of facts, suspicions, jealousies, and
accusations, of the whole Government.
The intelligence from the army under the command of General
Wayne is a happy presage to our military operations against
the hostile Indians north of the Ohio. From the advices
which have been forwarded, the advance which he has made
must have damped the ardor of the savages, and weakened
their obstinacy in waging war against the United States.
And yet, even at this late hour, when our power to punish
them cannot be questioned, we shall not be unwilling to
cement a lasting peace, upon terms of candor, equity, and
good neighborhood.
Towards none of the Indian tribes have overtures of
friendship been spared. The Creeks, in particular, are
covered from encroachment by the interposition of the
General Government, and that of Georgia. From a desire,
also, to remove the discontents of the Six Nations, a
settlement meditated at Presqu'isle, on Lake Erie, has been
suspended; and an agent is now endeavoring to rectify any
misconception into which they may have fallen. But I cannot
refrain from again pressing upon your deliberations the
plan which I recommended at the last session, for the
improvement of harmony with all the Indians within our
limits, by the fixing and conducting of trading houses upon
the principles then expressed.
_Gentlemen of the House of Representatives:_
The time which has elapsed since the commencement of our
fiscal measures has developed our pecuniary resources, so
as to open the way for a definitive plan for the redemption
of the public debt. It is believed that the result is such
as to encourage Congress to consummate this work without
delay. Nothing can more promote the permanent welfare of
the nation, and nothing would be more grateful to our
constituents. Indeed, whatsoever is unfinished of our
system of public credit, cannot be benefited by
procrastination; and, as far as may be practicable, we
ought to place that credit on grounds which cannot be
disturbed, and to prevent that progressive accumulation of
debt, which must ultimately endanger all governments.
An estimate of the necessary appropriations, including the
expenditures into which we have been driven by the
insurrection, will be submitted to Congress.