WASHINGTON, _December 6, 1852_.
_Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and of the House of Representatives_:
The brief space which has elapsed since the close of your last session
has been marked by no extraordinary political event. The quadrennial
election of Chief Magistrate has passed off with less than the usual
excitement. However individuals and parties may have been disappointed
in the result, it is, nevertheless, a subject of national congratulation
that the choice has been effected by the independent suffrages of a free
people, undisturbed by those influences which in other countries have
too often affected the purity of popular elections.
Our grateful thanks are due to an all-merciful Providence, not only
for staying the pestilence which in different forms has desolated some
of our cities, but for crowning the labors of the husbandman with an
abundant harvest and the nation generally with the blessings of peace
and prosperity.
Within a few weeks the public mind has been deeply affected by the
death of Daniel Webster, filling at his decease the office of Secretary
of State. His associates in the executive government have sincerely
sympathized with his family and the public generally on this mournful
occasion. His commanding talents, his great political and professional
eminence, his well-tried patriotism, and his long and faithful services
in the most important public trusts have caused his death to be lamented
throughout the country and have earned for him a lasting place in our
history.
In the course of the last summer considerable anxiety was caused for
a short time by an official intimation from the Government of Great
Britain that orders had been given for the protection of the fisheries
upon the coasts of the British Provinces in North America against the
alleged encroachments of the fishing vessels of the United States and
France. The shortness of this notice and the season of the year seemed
to make it a matter of urgent importance. It was at first apprehended
that an increased naval force had been ordered to the fishing grounds
to carry into effect the British interpretation of those provisions in
the convention of 1818 in reference to the true intent of which the two
Governments differ. It was soon discovered that such was not the design
of Great Britain, and satisfactory explanations of the real objects of
the measure have been given both here and in London.
The unadjusted difference, however, between the two Governments as to
the interpretation of the first article of the convention of 1818 is
still a matter of importance. American fishing vessels, within nine or
ten years, have been excluded from waters to which they had free access
for twenty-five years after the negotiation of the treaty. In 1845 this
exclusion was relaxed so far as concerns the Bay of Fundy, but the just
and liberal intention of the home Government, in compliance with what
we think the true construction of the convention, to open all the
other outer bays to our fishermen was abandoned in consequence of the
opposition of the colonies. Notwithstanding this, the United States
have, since the Bay of Fundy was reopened to our fishermen in 1845,
pursued the most liberal course toward the colonial fishing interests.
By the revenue law of 1846 the duties on colonial fish entering our
ports were very greatly reduced, and by the warehousing act it is
allowed to be entered in bond without payment of duty. In this way
colonial fish has acquired the monopoly of the export trade in our
market and is entering to some extent into the home consumption. These
facts were among those which increased the sensibility of our fishing
interest at the movement in question.
These circumstances and the incidents above alluded to have led me to
think the moment favorable for a reconsideration of the entire subject
of the fisheries on the coasts of the British Provinces, with a view to
place them upon a more liberal footing of reciprocal privilege. A
willingness to meet us in some arrangement of this kind is understood to
exist on the part of Great Britain, with a desire on her part to include
in one comprehensive settlement as well this subject as the commercial
intercourse between the United States and the British Provinces. I have
thought that, whatever arrangements may be made on these two subjects,
it is expedient that they should be embraced in separate conventions.
The illness and death of the late Secretary of State prevented the
commencement of the contemplated negotiation. Pains have been taken to
collect the information required for the details of such an arrangement.
The subject is attended with considerable difficulty. If it is found
practicable to come to an agreement mutually acceptable to the two
parties, conventions may be concluded in the course of the present
winter. The control of Congress over all the provisions of such an
arrangement affecting the revenue will of course be reserved.
The affairs of Cuba formed a prominent topic in my last annual message.
They remain in an uneasy condition, and a feeling of alarm and
irritation on the part of the Cuban authorities appears to exist. This
feeling has interfered with the regular commercial intercourse between
the United States and the island and led to some acts of which we have
a right to complain. But the Captain-General of Cuba is clothed with no
power to treat with foreign governments, nor is he in any degree under
the control of the Spanish minister at Washington. Any communication
which he may hold with an agent of a foreign power is informal and
matter of courtesy. Anxious to put an end to the existing inconveniences
(which seemed to rest on a misconception), I directed the newly
appointed minister to Mexico to visit Havana on his way to Vera Cruz.
He was respectfully received by the Captain-General, who conferred with
him freely on the recent occurrences, but no permanent arrangement was
effected.
In the meantime the refusal of the Captain-General to allow passengers
and the mail to be landed in certain cases, for a reason which does not
furnish, in the opinion of this Government, even a good presumptive
ground for such prohibition, has been made the subject of a serious
remonstrance at Madrid, and I have no reason to doubt that due respect
will be paid by the Government of Her Catholic Majesty to the
representations which our minister has been instructed to make on the
subject.
It is but justice to the Captain-General to add that his conduct toward
the steamers employed to carry the mails of the United States to Havana
has, with the exceptions above alluded to, been marked with kindness and
liberality, and indicates no general purpose of interfering with the
commercial correspondence and intercourse between the island and this
country.
Early in the present year official notes were received from the
ministers of France and England inviting the Government of the United
States to become a party with Great Britain and France to a tripartite
convention, in virtue of which the three powers should severally and
collectively disclaim now and for the future all intention to obtain
possession of the island of Cuba, and should bind themselves to
discountenance all attempts to that effect on the part of any power or
individual whatever. This invitation has been respectfully declined, for
reasons which it would occupy too much space in this communication to
state in detail, but which led me to think that the proposed measure
would be of doubtful constitutionality, impolitic, and unavailing. I
have, however, in common with several of my predecessors, directed the
ministers of France and England to be assured that the United States
entertain no designs against Cuba, but that, on the contrary, I should
regard its incorporation into the Union at the present time as fraught
with serious peril.
Were this island comparatively destitute of inhabitants or occupied by a
kindred race, I should regard it, if voluntarily ceded by Spain, as a
most desirable acquisition. But under existing circumstances I should
look upon its incorporation into our Union as a very hazardous measure.
It would bring into the Confederacy a population of a different national
stock, speaking a different language, and not likely to harmonize with
the other members. It would probably affect in a prejudicial manner the
industrial interests of the South, and it might revive those conflicts
of opinion between the different sections of the country which lately
shook the Union to its center, and which have been so happily
compromised.
The rejection by the Mexican Congress of the convention which had been
concluded between that Republic and the United States for the protection
of a transit way across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec and of the interests
of those citizens of the United States who had become proprietors of
the rights which Mexico had conferred on one of her own citizens in
regard to that transit has thrown a serious obstacle in the way of the
attainment of a very desirable national object. I am still willing to
hope that the differences on the subject which exist, or may hereafter
arise, between the Governments will be amicably adjusted. This subject,
however, has already engaged the attention of the Senate of the United
States, and requires no further comment in this communication.
The settlement of the question respecting the port of San Juan de
Nicaragua and of the controversy between the Republics of Costa Rica and
Nicaragua in regard to their boundaries was considered indispensable to
the commencement of the ship canal between the two oceans, which was the
subject of the convention between the United States and Great Britain
of the 19th of April, 1850. Accordingly, a proposition for the same
purposes, addressed to the two Governments in that quarter and to the
Mosquito Indians, was agreed to in April last by the Secretary of State
and the minister of Her Britannic Majesty. Besides the wish to aid in
reconciling the differences of the two Republics, I engaged in the
negotiation from a desire to place the great work of a ship canal
between the two oceans under one jurisdiction and to establish the
important port of San Juan de Nicaragua under the government of a
civilized power. The proposition in question was assented to by Costa
Rica and the Mosquito Indians. It has not proved equally acceptable
to Nicaragua, but it is to be hoped that the further negotiations on
the subject which are in train will be carried on in that spirit of
conciliation and compromise which ought always to prevail on such
occasions, and that they will lead to a satisfactory result.
I have the satisfaction to inform you that the executive government of
Venezuela has acknowledged some claims of citizens of the United States
which have for many years past been urged by our chargé d'affaires at
Caracas. It is hoped that the same sense of justice will actuate the
Congress of that Republic in providing the means for their payment.
The recent revolution in Buenos Ayres and the Confederated States having
opened the prospect of an improved state of things in that quarter, the
Governments of Great Britain and France determined to negotiate with the
chief of the new confederacy for the free access of their commerce to
the extensive countries watered by the tributaries of the La Plata; and
they gave a friendly notice of this purpose to the United States, that
we might, if we thought proper, pursue the same course. In compliance
with this invitation, our minister at Rio Janeiro and our chargé
d'affaires at Buenos Ayres have been fully authorized to conclude
treaties with the newly organized confederation or the States composing
it. The delays which have taken place in the formation of the new
government have as yet prevented the execution of those instructions,
but there is every reason to hope that these vast countries will be
eventually opened to our commerce.
A treaty of commerce has been concluded between the United States and
the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, which will be laid before the Senate.
Should this convention go into operation, it will open to the commercial
enterprise of our citizens a country of great extent and unsurpassed in
natural resources, but from which foreign nations have hitherto been
almost wholly excluded.
The correspondence of the late Secretary of State with the Peruvian
chargé d'affaires relative to the Lobos Islands was communicated to
Congress toward the close of the last session. Since that time, on
further investigation of the subject, the doubts which had been
entertained of the title of Peru to those islands have been removed,
and I have deemed it just that the temporary wrong which had been
unintentionally done her from want of information should be repaired
by an unreserved acknowledgment of her sovereignty.
I have the satisfaction to inform you that the course pursued by Peru
has been creditable to the liberality of her Government. Before it was
known by her that her title would be acknowledged at Washington, her
minister of foreign affairs had authorized our chargé d'affaires at Lima
to announce to the American vessels which had gone to the Lobos for
guano that the Peruvian Government was willing to freight them on its
own account. This intention has been carried into effect by the Peruvian
minister here by an arrangement which is believed to be advantageous to
the parties in interest.
Our settlements on the shores of the Pacific have already given a great
extension, and in some respects a new direction, to our commerce in that
ocean. A direct and rapidly increasing intercourse has sprung up with
eastern Asia. The waters of the Northern Pacific, even into the Arctic
Sea, have of late years been frequented by our whalemen. The application
of steam to the general purposes of navigation is becoming daily more
common, and makes it desirable to obtain fuel and other necessary
supplies at convenient points on the route between Asia and our Pacific
shores. Our unfortunate countrymen who from time to time suffer
shipwreck on the coasts of the eastern seas are entitled to protection.
Besides these specific objects, the general prosperity of our States on
the Pacific requires that an attempt should be made to open the opposite
regions of Asia to a mutually beneficial intercourse. It is obvious that
this attempt could be made by no power to so great advantage as by
the United States, whose constitutional system excludes every idea of
distant colonial dependencies. I have accordingly been led to order an
appropriate naval force to Japan, under the command of a discreet and
intelligent officer of the highest rank known to our service. He is
instructed to endeavor to obtain from the Government of that country
some relaxation of the inhospitable and antisocial system which it has
pursued for about two centuries. He has been directed particularly to
remonstrate in the strongest language against the cruel treatment to
which our shipwrecked mariners have often been subjected and to insist
that they shall be treated with humanity. He is instructed, however,
at the same time, to give that Government the amplest assurances that
the objects of the United States are such, and such only, as I have
indicated, and that the expedition is friendly and peaceful.
Notwithstanding the jealousy with which the Governments of eastern
Asia regard all overtures from foreigners, I am not without hopes of a
beneficial result of the expedition. Should it be crowned with success,
the advantages will not be confined to the United States, but, as in the
case of China, will be equally enjoyed by all the other maritime powers.
I have much satisfaction in stating that in all the steps preparatory to
this expedition the Government of the United States has been materially
aided by the good offices of the King of the Netherlands, the only
European power having any commercial relations with Japan.
In passing from this survey of our foreign relations, I invite the
attention of Congress to the condition of that Department of the
Government to which this branch of the public business is intrusted. Our
intercourse with foreign powers has of late years greatly increased,
both in consequence of our own growth and the introduction of many new
states into the family of nations. In this way the Department of State
has become overburdened. It has by the recent establishment of the
Department of the Interior been relieved of some portion of the domestic
business. If the residue of the business of that kind--such as the
distribution of Congressional documents, the keeping, publishing, and
distribution of the laws of the United States, the execution of the
copyright law, the subject of reprieves and pardons, and some other
subjects relating to interior administration--should be transferred from
the Department of State, it would unquestionably be for the benefit of
the public service. I would also suggest that the building appropriated
to the State Department is not fireproof; that there is reason to think
there are defects in its construction, and that the archives of the
Government in charge of the Department, with the precious collections of
the manuscript papers of Washington, Jefferson, Hamilton, Madison, and
Monroe, are exposed to destruction by fire. A similar remark may be made
of the buildings appropriated to the War and Navy Departments.
The condition of the Treasury is exhibited in the annual report from
that Department.
The cash receipts into the Treasury for the fiscal year ending the
30th June last, exclusive of trust funds, were $49,728,386.89, and
the expenditures for the same period, likewise exclusive of trust
funds, were $46,007,896.20, of which $9,455,815.83 was on account
of the principal and interest of the public debt, including the last
installment of the indemnity to Mexico under the treaty of Guadalupe
Hidalgo, leaving a balance of $14,632,136.37 in the Treasury on the
1st day of July last. Since this latter period further purchases
of the principal of the public debt have been made to the extent of
$2,456,547.49, and the surplus in the Treasury will continue to be
applied to that object whenever the stock can be procured within the
limits as to price authorized by law.
The value of foreign merchandise imported during the last fiscal year
was $207,240,101, and the value of domestic productions exported was
$149,861,911, besides $17,204,026 of foreign merchandise exported,
making the aggregate of the entire exports $167,065,937. Exclusive of
the above, there was exported $42,507,285 in specie, and imported from
foreign ports $5,262,643.
In my first annual message to Congress I called your attention to what
seemed to me some defects in the present tariff, and recommended such
modifications as in my judgment were best adapted to remedy its evils
and promote the prosperity of the country. Nothing has since occurred
to change my views on this important question.
Without repeating the arguments contained in my former message in favor
of discriminating protective duties, I deem it my duty to call your
attention to one or two other considerations affecting this subject.
The first is the effect of large importations of foreign goods upon
our currency. Most of the gold of California, as fast as it is coined,
finds its way directly to Europe in payment for goods purchased.
In the second place, as our manufacturing establishments are broken
down by competition with foreigners, the capital invested in them is
lost, thousands of honest and industrious citizens are thrown out of
employment, and the farmer, to that extent, is deprived of a home market
for the sale of his surplus produce. In the third place, the destruction
of our manufactures leaves the foreigner without competition in our
market, and he consequently raises the price of the article sent here
for sale, as is now seen in the increased cost of iron imported from
England. The prosperity and wealth of every nation must depend upon its
productive industry. The farmer is stimulated to exertion by finding a
ready market for his surplus products, and benefited by being able to
exchange them without loss of time or expense of transportation for the
manufactures which his comfort or convenience requires. This is always
done to the best advantage where a portion of the community in which
he lives is engaged in other pursuits. But most manufactures require
an amount of capital and a practical skill which can not be commanded
unless they be protected for a time from ruinous competition from
abroad. Hence the necessity of laying those duties upon imported goods
which the Constitution authorizes for revenue in such a manner as to
protect and encourage the labor of our own citizens. Duties, however,
should not be fixed at a rate so high as to exclude the foreign article,
but should be so graduated as to enable the domestic manufacturer
fairly to compete with the foreigner in our own markets, and by this
competition to reduce the price of the manufactured article to the
consumer to the lowest rate at which it can be produced. This policy
would place the mechanic by the side of the farmer, create a mutual
interchange of their respective commodities, and thus stimulate the
industry of the whole country and render us independent of foreign
nations for the supplies required by the habits or necessities of
the people.
Another question, wholly independent of protection, presents itself,
and that is, whether the duties levied should be upon the value of
the article at the place of shipment, or, where it is practicable,
a specific duty, graduated according to quantity, as ascertained by
weight or measure. All our duties are at present _ad valorem_. A
certain percentage is levied on the price of the goods at the port
of shipment in a foreign country. Most commercial nations have found it
indispensable, for the purpose of preventing fraud and perjury, to make
the duties specific whenever the article is of such a uniform value in
weight or measure as to justify such a duty. Legislation should never
encourage dishonesty or crime. It is impossible that the revenue
officers at the port where the goods are entered and the duties paid
should know with certainty what they cost in the foreign country. Yet
the law requires that they should levy the duty according to such cost.
They are therefore compelled to resort to very unsatisfactory evidence
to ascertain what that cost was. They take the invoice of the importer,
attested by his oath, as the best evidence of which the nature of the
case admits. But everyone must see that the invoice may be fabricated
and the oath by which it is supported false, by reason of which the
dishonest importer pays a part only of the duties which are paid by the
honest one, and thus indirectly receives from the Treasury of the United
States a reward for his fraud and perjury. The reports of the Secretary
of the Treasury heretofore made on this subject show conclusively that
these frauds have been practiced to a great extent. The tendency is to
destroy that high moral character for which our merchants have long been
distinguished, to defraud the Government of its revenue, to break down
the honest importer by a dishonest competition, and, finally, to
transfer the business of importation to foreign and irresponsible
agents, to the great detriment of our own citizens. I therefore again
most earnestly recommend the adoption of specific duties wherever it
is practicable, or a home valuation, to prevent these frauds.
I would also again call your attention to the fact that the present
tariff in some cases imposes a higher duty upon the raw material
imported than upon the article manufactured from it, the consequence of
which is that the duty operates to the encouragement of the foreigner
and the discouragement of our own citizens.
For full and detailed information in regard to the general condition
of our Indian affairs, I respectfully refer you to the report of the
Secretary of the Interior and the accompanying documents.
The Senate not having thought proper to ratify the treaties which have
been negotiated with the tribes of Indians in California and Oregon, our
relations with them have been left in a very unsatisfactory condition.
In other parts of our territory particular districts of country have
been set apart for the exclusive occupation of the Indians, and their
right to the lands within those limits has been acknowledged and
respected. But in California and Oregon there has been no recognition by
the Government of the exclusive right of the Indians to any part of the
country. They are therefore mere tenants at sufferance, and liable to be
driven from place to place at the pleasure of the whites.
The treaties which have been rejected proposed to remedy this evil
by allotting to the different tribes districts of country suitable
to their habits of life and sufficient for their support. This provision,
more than any other, it is believed, led to their rejection; and as
no substitute for it has been adopted by Congress, it has not been
deemed advisable to attempt to enter into new treaties of a permanent
character, although no effort has been spared by temporary arrangements
to preserve friendly relations with them.
If it be the desire of Congress to remove them from the country
altogether, or to assign to them particular districts more remote from
the settlements of the whites, it will be proper to set apart by law the
territory which they are to occupy and to provide the means necessary
for removing them to it. Justice alike to our own citizens and to the
Indians requires the prompt action of Congress on this subject.
The amendments proposed by the Senate to the treaties which were
negotiated with the Sioux Indians of Minnesota have been submitted to
the tribes who were parties to them, and have received their assent.
A large tract of valuable territory has thus been opened for settlement
and cultivation, and all danger of collision with these powerful and
warlike bands has been happily removed.
The removal of the remnant of the tribe of Seminole Indians from Florida
has long been a cherished object of the Government, and it is one to
which my attention has been steadily directed. Admonished by past
experience of the difficulty and cost of the attempt to remove them
by military force, resort has been had to conciliatory measures.
By the invitation of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, several of
the principal chiefs recently visited Washington, and whilst here
acknowledged in writing the obligation of their tribe to remove with
the least possible delay. Late advices from the special agent of the
Government represent that they adhere to their promise, and that a
council of their people has been called to make their preliminary
arrangements. A general emigration may therefore be confidently
expected at an early day.
The report from the General Land Office shows increased activity in
its operations. The survey of the northern boundary of Iowa has been
completed with unexampled dispatch. Within the last year 9,522,953
acres of public land have been surveyed and 8,032,463 acres brought
into market.
Acres.
In the last fiscal year there were sold.............. 1,553,071
Located with bounty-land warrants.................... 3,201,314
Located with other certificates...................... 115,682
---------
Making a total of.................................... 4,870,067
In addition there were--
Reported under swamp-land grants..................... 5,219,188
For internal improvements, railroads, etc............ 3,025,920
---------
Making an aggregate of............................... 13,115,175
Being an increase of the amount sold and located under land warrants of
569,220 acres over the previous year.
The whole amount thus sold, located under land warrants, reported under
swamp-land grants, and selected for internal improvements exceeds that
of the previous year by 3,342,372 acres; and the sales would without
doubt have been much larger but for the extensive reservations for
railroads in Missouri, Mississippi, and Alabama.
Acres.
For the quarter ending 30th September, 1852, there
were sold..... 243,255
Located with bounty-land warrants..................... 1,387,116
Located with other certificates....................... 15,649
Reported under swamp-land grants...................... 2,485,233
---------
Making an aggregate for the quarter of................ 4,131,253
Much the larger portion of the labor of arranging and classifying the
returns of the last census has been finished, and it will now devolve
upon Congress to make the necessary provision for the publication of
the results in such form as shall be deemed best. The apportionment
of representation on the basis of the new census has been made by the
Secretary of the Interior in conformity with the provisions of law
relating to that subject, and the recent elections have been made in
accordance with it.
I commend to your favorable regard the suggestion contained in the
report of the Secretary of the Interior that provision be made by law
for the publication and distribution, periodically, of an analytical
digest of all the patents which have been or may hereafter be granted
for useful inventions and discoveries, with such descriptions and
illustrations as may be necessary to present an intelligible view of
their nature and operation. The cost of such publication could easily
be defrayed out of the patent fund, and I am persuaded that it could be
applied to no object more acceptable to inventors and beneficial to the
public at large.
An appropriation of $100,000 having been made at the last session for
the purchase of a suitable site and for the erection, furnishing, and
fitting up of an asylum for the insane of the District of Columbia and
of the Army and Navy of the United States, the proper measures have been
adopted to carry this beneficent purpose into effect.
By the latest advices from the Mexican boundary commission it appears
that the survey of the river Gila from its confluence with the Colorado
to its supposed intersection with the western line of New Mexico has
been completed. The survey of the Rio Grande has also been finished from
the point agreed on by the commissioners as "the point where it strikes
the southern boundary of New Mexico" to a point 135 miles below Eagle
Pass, which is about two-thirds of the distance along the course of the
river to its mouth.
The appropriation which was made at the last session of Congress for the
continuation of the survey is subject to the following proviso:
_Provided_, That no part of this appropriation shall be used or
expended until it shall be made satisfactorily to appear to the
President of the United States that the southern boundary of New
Mexico is not established by the commissioner and surveyor of the
United States farther north of the town called "Paso" than the same
is laid down in Disturnell's map, which is added to the treaty.
My attention was drawn to this subject by a report from the Department
of the Interior, which reviewed all the facts of the case and submitted
for my decision the question whether under existing circumstances any
part, of the appropriation could be lawfully used or expended for the
further prosecution of the work. After a careful consideration of the
subject I came to the conclusion that it could not, and so informed
the head of that Department. Orders were immediately issued by him to
the commissioner and surveyor to make no further requisitions on the
Department, as they could not be paid, and to discontinue all operations
on the southern line of New Mexico. But as the Department had no exact
information as to the amount of provisions and money which remained
unexpended in the hands of the commissioner and surveyor, it was left
discretionary with them to continue the survey down the Rio Grande as
far as the means at their disposal would enable them or at once to
disband the commission. A special messenger has since arrived from the
officer in charge of the survey on the river with information that the
funds subject to his control were exhausted and that the officers and
others employed in the service were destitute alike of the means of
prosecuting the work and of returning to their homes.
The object of the proviso was doubtless to arrest the survey of the
southern and western lines of New Mexico, in regard to which different
opinions have been expressed; for it is hardly to be supposed that there
could be any objection to that part of the line which extends along the
channel of the Rio Grande. But the terms of the law are so broad as to
forbid the use of any part of the money for the prosecution of the work,
or even for the payment to the officers and agents of the arrearages of
pay which are justly due to them.
I earnestly invite your prompt attention to this subject, and recommend
a modification of the terms of the proviso, so as to enable the
Department to use as much of the appropriation as will be necessary
to discharge the existing obligations of the Government and to complete
the survey of the Rio Grande to its mouth.
It will also be proper to make further provision by law for the
fulfillment of our treaty with Mexico for running and marking the
residue of the boundary line between the two countries.
Permit me to invite your particular attention to the interests of the
District of Columbia, which are confided by the Constitution to your
peculiar care.
Among the measures which seem to me of the greatest importance to its
prosperity are the introduction of a copious supply of water into the
city of Washington and the construction of suitable bridges across the
Potomac to replace those which were destroyed by high water in the early
part of the present year.
At the last session of Congress an appropriation was made to defray
the cost of the surveys necessary for determining the best means of
affording an unfailing supply of good and wholesome water. Some progress
has been made in the survey, and as soon as it is completed the result
will be laid before you.
Further appropriations will also be necessary for grading and paving the
streets and avenues and inclosing and embellishing the public grounds
within the city of Washington.
I commend all these objects, together with the charitable institutions
of the District, to your favorable regard.
Every effort has been made to protect our frontier and that of the
adjoining Mexican States from the incursions of the Indian tribes.
Of about 11,000 men of which the Army is composed, nearly 8,000 are
employed in the defense of the newly acquired territory (including
Texas) and of emigrants proceeding thereto. I am gratified to say that
these efforts have been unusually successful. With the exception of some
partial outbreaks in California and Oregon and occasional depredations
on a portion of the Rio Grande, owing, it is believed, to the disturbed
state of that border region, the inroads of the Indians have been
effectually restrained.
Experience has shown, however, that whenever the two races are brought
into contact collisions will inevitably occur. To prevent these
collisions the United States have generally set apart portions of
their territory for the exclusive occupation of the Indian tribes. A
difficulty occurs, however, in the application of this policy to Texas.
By the terms of the compact by which that State was admitted into the
Union she retained the ownership of all the vacant lands within her
limits. The government of that State, it is understood, has assigned no
portion of her territory to the Indians, but as fast as her settlements
advance lays it off into counties and proceeds to survey and sell it.
This policy manifestly tends not only to alarm and irritate the Indians,
but to compel them to resort to plunder for subsistence. It also
deprives this Government of that influence and control over them without
which no durable peace can ever exist between them and the whites. I
trust, therefore, that a due regard for her own interests, apart from
considerations of humanity and justice, will induce that State to assign
a small portion of her vast domain for the provisional occupancy of the
small remnants of tribes within her borders, subject, of course, to her
ownership and eventual jurisdiction. If she should fail to do this, the
fulfillment of our treaty stipulations with Mexico and our duty to the
Indians themselves will, it is feared, become a subject of serious
embarrassment to the Government. It is hoped, however, that a timely
and just provision by Texas may avert this evil.
No appropriations for fortifications were made at the two last sessions
of Congress. The cause of this omission is probably to be found in a
growing belief that the system of fortifications adopted in 1816, and
heretofore acted on, requires revision.
The subject certainly deserves full and careful investigation, but
it should not be delayed longer than can be avoided. In the meantime
there are certain works which have been commenced, some of them nearly
completed, designed to protect our principal seaports from Boston to New
Orleans and a few other important points. In regard to the necessity for
these works, it is believed that little difference of opinion exists
among military men. I therefore recommend that the appropriations
necessary to prosecute them be made.
I invite your attention to the remarks on this subject and on others
connected with his Department contained in the accompanying report of
the Secretary of War.
Measures have been taken to carry into effect the law of the last
session making provision for the improvement of certain rivers and
harbors, and it is believed that the arrangements made for that purpose
will combine efficiency with economy. Owing chiefly to the advanced
season when the act was passed, little has yet been done in regard
to many of the works beyond making the necessary preparations. With
respect to a few of the improvements, the sums already appropriated
will suffice to complete them; but most of them will require additional
appropriations. I trust that these appropriations will be made, and
that this wise and beneficent policy, so auspiciously resumed, will be
continued. Great care should be taken, however, to commence no work
which is not of sufficient importance to the commerce of the country
to be viewed as national in its character. But works which have been
commenced should not be discontinued until completed, as otherwise the
sums expended will in most cases be lost.
The report from the Navy Department will inform you of the prosperous
condition of the branch of the public service committed to its charge.
It presents to your consideration many topics and suggestions of which
I ask your approval. It exhibits an unusual degree of activity in the
operations of the Department during the past year. The preparations for
the Japan expedition, to which I have already alluded; the arrangements
made for the exploration and survey of the China Seas, the Northern
Pacific, and Behrings Straits; the incipient measures taken toward a
reconnaissance of the continent of Africa eastward of Liberia; the
preparation for an early examination of the tributaries of the river La
Plata, which a recent decree of the provisional chief of the Argentine
Confederation has opened to navigation--all these enterprises and the
means by which they are proposed to be accomplished have commanded my
full approbation, and I have no doubt will be productive of most useful
results.
Two officers of the Navy were heretofore instructed to explore the whole
extent of the Amazon River from the confines of Peru to its mouth. The
return of one of them has placed in the possession of the Government an
interesting and valuable account of the character and resources of a
country abounding in the materials of commerce, and which if opened to
the industry of the world will prove an inexhaustible fund of wealth.
The report of this exploration will be communicated to you as soon as
it is completed.
Among other subjects offered to your notice by the Secretary of the
Navy, I select for special commendation, in view of its connection
with the interests of the Navy, the plan submitted by him for the
establishment of a permanent corps of seamen and the suggestions he
has presented for the reorganization of the Naval Academy.
In reference to the first of these, I take occasion to say that I think
it will greatly improve the efficiency of the service, and that I regard
it as still more entitled to favor for the salutary influence it must
exert upon the naval discipline, now greatly disturbed by the increasing
spirit of insubordination resulting from our present system. The plan
proposed for the organization of the seamen furnishes a judicious
substitute for the law of September, 1850, abolishing corporal
punishment, and satisfactorily sustains the policy of that act under
conditions well adapted to maintain the authority of command and the
order and security of our ships. It is believed that any change which
proposes permanently to dispense with this mode of punishment should be
preceded by a system of enlistment which shall supply the Navy with
seamen of the most meritorious class, whose good deportment and pride
of character may preclude all occasion for a resort to penalties of a
harsh or degrading nature. The safety of a ship and her crew is often
dependent upon immediate obedience to a command, and the authority to
enforce it must be equally ready. The arrest of a refractory seaman
in such moments not only deprives the ship of indispensable aid, but
imposes a necessity for double service on others, whose fidelity to
their duties may be relied upon in such an emergency. The exposure to
this increased and arduous labor since the passage of the act of 1850
has already had, to a most observable and injurious extent, the effect
of preventing the enlistment of the best seamen in the Navy. The plan
now suggested is designed to promote a condition of service in which
this objection will no longer exist. The details of this plan may be
established in great part, if not altogether, by the Executive under the
authority of existing laws, but I have thought it proper, in accordance
with the suggestion of the Secretary of the Navy, to submit it to your
approval.
The establishment of a corps of apprentices for the Navy, or boys to
be enlisted until they become of age, and to be employed under such
regulations as the Navy Department may devise, as proposed in the
report, I cordially approve and commend to your consideration; and
I also concur in the suggestion that this system for the early training
of seamen may be most usefully ingrafted upon the service of our merchant
marine.
The other proposition of the report to which I have referred--the
reorganization of the Naval Academy--I recommend to your attention as a
project worthy of your encouragement and support. The valuable services
already rendered by this institution entitle it to the continuance of
your fostering care.
Your attention is respectfully called to the report of the
Postmaster-General for the detailed operation of his Department during
the last fiscal year, from which it will be seen that the receipts from
postages for that time were less by $1,431,696 than for the preceding
fiscal year, being a decrease of about 23 per cent.
This diminution is attributable to the reduction in the rates of postage
made by the act of March 3, 1851, which reduction took effect at the
commencement of the last fiscal year.
Although in its operation during the last year the act referred to
has not fulfilled the predictions of its friends by increasing the
correspondence of the country in proportion to the reduction of postage,
I should, nevertheless, question the policy of returning to higher
rates. Experience warrants the expectation that as the community becomes
accustomed to cheap postage correspondence will increase. It is believed
that from this cause and from the rapid growth of the country in
population and business the receipts of the Department must ultimately
exceed its expenses, and that the country may safely rely upon the
continuance of the present cheap rate of postage.
In former messages I have, among other things, respectfully recommended
to the consideration of Congress the propriety and necessity of further
legislation for the protection and punishment of foreign consuls
residing in the United States; to revive, with certain modifications,
the act of 10th March, 1838, to restrain unlawful military expeditions
against the inhabitants of conterminous states or territories; for the
preservation and protection from mutilation or theft of the papers,
records, and archives of the nation; for authorizing the surplus revenue
to be applied to the payment of the public debt in advance of the time
when it will become due; for the establishment of land offices for the
sale of the public lands in California and the Territory of Oregon;
for the construction of a road from the Mississippi Valley to the
Pacific Ocean; for the establishment of a bureau of agriculture for the
promotion of that interest, perhaps the most important in the country;
for the prevention of frauds upon the Government in applications for
pensions and bounty lands; for the establishment of a uniform fee bill,
prescribing a specific compensation for every service required of
clerks, district attorneys, and marshals; for authorizing an additional
regiment of mounted men for the defense of our frontiers against the
Indians and for fulfilling our treaty stipulations with Mexico to defend
her citizens against the Indians "with equal diligence and energy as our
own;" for determining the relative rank between the naval and civil
officers in our public ships and between the officers of the Army
and Navy in the various grades of each; for reorganizing the naval
establishment by fixing the number of officers in each grade, and
providing for a retired list upon reduced pay of those unfit for active
duty; for prescribing and regulating punishments in the Navy; for the
appointment of a commission to revise the public statutes of the United
States by arranging them in order, supplying deficiencies, correcting
incongruities, simplifying their language, and reporting them to
Congress for its final action; and for the establishment of a commission
to adjudicate and settle private claims against the United States. I am
not aware, however, that any of these subjects have been finally acted
upon by Congress. Without repeating the reasons for legislation on these
subjects which have been assigned in former messages, I respectfully
recommend them again to your favorable consideration.
I think it due to the several Executive Departments of this Government
to bear testimony to the efficiency and integrity with which they are
conducted. With all the careful superintendence which it is possible for
the heads of those Departments to exercise, still the due administration
and guardianship of the public money must very much depend on the
vigilance, intelligence, and fidelity of the subordinate officers and
clerks, and especially on those intrusted with the settlement and
adjustment of claims and accounts. I am gratified to believe that they
have generally performed their duties faithfully and well. They are
appointed to guard the approaches to the public Treasury, and they
occupy positions that expose them to all the temptations and seductions
which the cupidity of peculators and fraudulent claimants can prompt
them to employ. It will be but a wise precaution to protect the
Government against that source of mischief and corruption, as far as it
can be done, by the enactment of all proper legal penalties. The laws
in this respect are supposed to be defective, and I therefore deem it
my duty to call your attention to the subject and to recommend that
provision be made by law for the punishment not only of those who shall
accept bribes, but also of those who shall either promise, give, or
offer to give to any of those officers or clerks a bribe or reward
touching or relating to any matter of their official action or duty.
It has been the uniform policy of this Government, from its foundation
to the present day, to abstain from all interference in the domestic
affairs of other nations. The consequence has been that while the
nations of Europe have been engaged in desolating wars our country has
pursued its peaceful course to unexampled prosperity and happiness. The
wars in which we have been compelled to engage in defense of the rights
and honor of the country have been, fortunately, of short duration.
During the terrific contest of nation against nation which succeeded
the French Revolution we were enabled by the wisdom and firmness of
President Washington to maintain our neutrality. While other nations
were drawn into this wide-sweeping whirlpool, we sat quiet and unmoved
upon our own shores. While the flower of their numerous armies was
wasted by disease or perished by hundreds of thousands upon the
battlefield, the youth of this favored land were permitted to enjoy the
blessings of peace beneath the paternal roof. While the States of Europe
incurred enormous debts, under the burden of which their subjects still
groan, and which must absorb no small part of the product of the honest
industry of those countries for generations to come, the United States
have once been enabled to exhibit the proud spectacle of a nation free
from public debt, and if permitted to pursue our prosperous way for a
few years longer in peace we may do the same again.
But it is now said by some that this policy must be changed. Europe is
no longer separated from us by a voyage of months, but steam navigation
has brought her within a few days' sail of our shores. We see more of
her movements and take a deeper interest in her controversies. Although
no one proposes that we should join the fraternity of potentates who
have for ages lavished the blood and treasure of their subjects in
maintaining "the balance of power," yet it is said that we ought to
interfere between contending sovereigns and their subjects for the
purpose of overthrowing the monarchies of Europe and establishing
in their place republican institutions. It is alleged that we have
heretofore pursued a different course from a sense of our weakness, but
that now our conscious strength dictates a change of policy, and that it
is consequently our duty to mingle in these contests and aid those who
are struggling for liberty.
This is a most seductive but dangerous appeal to the generous sympathies
of freemen. Enjoying, as we do, the blessings of a free Government,
there is no man who has an American heart that would not rejoice to see
these blessings extended to all other nations. We can not witness the
struggle between the oppressed and his oppressor anywhere without the
deepest sympathy for the former and the most anxious desire for his
triumph. Nevertheless, is it prudent or is it wise to involve ourselves
in these foreign wars? Is it indeed true that we have heretofore
refrained from doing so merely from the degrading motive of a conscious
weakness? For the honor of the patriots who have gone before us, I can
not admit it. Men of the Revolution, who drew the sword against the
oppressions of the mother country and pledged to Heaven "their lives,
their fortunes, and their sacred honor" to maintain their freedom, could
never have been actuated by so unworthy a motive. They knew no weakness
or fear where right or duty pointed the way, and it is a libel upon
their fair fame for us, while we enjoy the blessings for which they so
nobly fought and bled, to insinuate it. The truth is that the course
which they pursued was dictated by a stern sense of international
justice, by a statesmanlike prudence and a far-seeing wisdom, looking
not merely to the present necessities but to the permanent safety and
interest of the country. They knew that the world is governed less by
sympathy than by reason and force; that it was not possible for this
nation to become a "propagandist" of free principles without arraying
against it the combined powers of Europe, and that the result was
more likely to be the overthrow of republican liberty here than its
establishment there. History has been written in vain for those who
can doubt this. France had no sooner established a republican form of
government than she manifested a desire to force its blessings on all
the world. Her own historian informs us that, hearing of some petty
acts of tyranny in a neighboring principality, "the National Convention
declared that she would afford succor and fraternity to all nations
who wished to recover their liberty, and she gave it in charge to the
executive power to give orders to the generals of the French armies
to aid all citizens who might have been or should be oppressed in the
cause of liberty." Here was the false step which led to her subsequent
misfortunes. She soon found herself involved in war with all the rest
of Europe. In less than ten years her Government was changed from a
republic to an empire, and finally, after shedding rivers of blood,
foreign powers restored her exiled dynasty and exhausted Europe sought
peace and repose in the unquestioned ascendency of monarchical
principles. Let us learn wisdom from her example. Let us remember that
revolutions do not always establish freedom. Our own free institutions
were not the offspring of our Revolution. They existed before. They
were planted in the free charters of self-government under which the
English colonies grew up, and our Revolution only freed us from the
dominion of a foreign power whose government was at variance with
those institutions. But European nations have had no such training for
self-government, and every effort to establish it by bloody revolutions
has been, and must without that preparation continue to be, a failure.
Liberty unregulated by law degenerates into anarchy, which soon becomes
the most horrid of all despotisms. Our policy is wisely to govern
ourselves, and thereby to set such an example of national justice,
prosperity, and true glory as shall teach to all nations the blessings
of self-government and the unparalleled enterprise and success of a free
people.
We live in an age of progress, and ours is emphatically a country of
progress. Within the last half century the number of States in this
Union has nearly doubled, the population has almost quadrupled, and our
boundaries have been extended from the Mississippi to the Pacific. Our
territory is checkered over with railroads and furrowed with canals. The
inventive talent of our country is excited to the highest pitch, and the
numerous applications for patents for valuable improvements distinguish
this age and this people from all others. The genius of one American has
enabled our commerce to move against wind and tide and that of another
has annihilated distance in the transmission of intelligence. The
whole country is full of enterprise. Our common schools are diffusing
intelligence among the people and our industry is fast accumulating the
comforts and luxuries of life. This is in part owing to our peculiar
position, to our fertile soil and comparatively sparse population;
but much of it is also owing to the popular institutions under which
we live, to the freedom which every man feels to engage in any useful
pursuit according to his taste or inclination, and to the entire
confidence that his person and property will be protected by the laws.
But whatever may be the cause of this unparalleled growth in population,
intelligence, and wealth, one thing is clear--that the Government must
keep pace with the progress of the people. It must participate in their
spirit of enterprise, and while it exacts obedience to the laws and
restrains all unauthorized invasions of the rights of neighboring
states, it should foster and protect home industry and lend its powerful
strength to the improvement of such means of intercommunication as are
necessary to promote our internal commerce and strengthen the ties which
bind us together as a people.
It is not strange, however much it may be regretted, that such an
exuberance of enterprise should cause some individuals to mistake change
for progress and the invasion of the rights of others for national
prowess and glory. The former are constantly agitating for some change
in the organic law, or urging new and untried theories of human rights.
The latter are ever ready to engage in any wild crusade against a
neighboring people, regardless of the justice of the enterprise and
without looking at the fatal consequences to ourselves and to the cause
of popular government. Such expeditions, however, are often stimulated
by mercenary individuals, who expect to share the plunder or profit of
the enterprise without exposing themselves to danger, and are led on by
some irresponsible foreigner, who abuses the hospitality of our own
Government by, seducing the young and ignorant to join in his scheme of
personal ambition or revenge under the false and delusive pretense of
extending the area of freedom. These reprehensible aggressions but
retard the true progress of our nation and tarnish its fair fame. They
should therefore receive the indignant frowns of every good citizen who
sincerely loves his country and takes a pride in its prosperity and
honor.
Our Constitution, though not perfect, is doubtless the best that ever
was formed. Therefore let every proposition to change it be well weighed
and, if found beneficial, cautiously adopted. Every patriot will rejoice
to see its authority so exerted as to advance the prosperity and honor
of the nation, whilst he will watch with jealousy any attempt to
mutilate this charter of our liberties or pervert its powers to acts
of aggression or injustice. Thus shall conservatism and progress blend
their harmonious action in preserving the form and spirit of the
Constitution and at the same time carry forward the great improvements
of the country with a rapidity and energy which freemen only can
display.
In closing this my last annual communication, permit me,
fellow-citizens, to congratulate you on the prosperous condition of
our beloved country. Abroad its relations with all foreign powers are
friendly, its rights are respected, and its high place in the family of
nations cheerfully recognized. At home we enjoy an amount of happiness,
public and private, which has probably never fallen to the lot of
any other people. Besides affording to our own citizens a degree of
prosperity of which on so large a scale I know of no other instance,
our country is annually affording a refuge and a home to multitudes,
altogether without example, from the Old World.
We owe these blessings, under Heaven, to the happy Constitution and
Government which were bequeathed to us by our fathers, and which it is
our sacred duty to transmit in all their integrity to our children. We
must all consider it a great distinction and privilege to have been
chosen by the people to bear a part in the administration of such a
Government. Called by an unexpected dispensation to its highest trust at
a season of embarrassment and alarm, I entered upon its arduous duties
with extreme diffidence. I claim only to have discharged them to the
best of an humble ability, with a single eye to the public good, and
it is with devout gratitude in retiring from office that I leave the
country in a state of peace and prosperity.