important objects submitted to you by the Constitution, and if it can be
derived from a standard at once invariable and universal, must be no
less honorable to the public councils than conducive to the public
convenience.
A provision for the sale of the vacant lands of the United States is
particularly urged, among other reasons, by the important considerations
that they are pledged as a fund for reimbursing the public debt;
that if timely and judiciously applied they may save the necessity of
burthening our citizens with new taxes for the extinguishment of the
principal; and that being free to discharge the principal but in a
limited proportion, no opportunity ought to be lost for availing the
public of its right.
GEORGE WASHINGTON.
ADDRESS OF THE SENATE TO GEORGE WASHINGTON, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED
STATES.
THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.
SIR: The Senate of the United States have received with the highest
satisfaction the assurances of public prosperity contained in your
speech to both Houses. The multiplied blessings of Providence have not
escaped our notice or failed to excite our gratitude.
The benefits which flow from the restoration of public and private
confidence are conspicuous and important, and the pleasure with which
we contemplate them is heightened by your assurance of those further
communications which shall confirm their existence and indicate their
source.
While we rejoice in the success of those military operations which have
been directed against the hostile Indians, we lament with you the
necessity that has produced them, and we participate the hope that the
present prospect of a general peace on terms of moderation and justice
may be wrought into complete and permanent effect, and that the measures
of Government may equally embrace the security of our frontiers and
the general interests of humanity, our solicitude to obtain which will
insure our zealous attention to an object so warmly espoused by the
principles of benevolence and so highly interesting to the honor and
welfare of the nation.
The several subjects which you have particularly recommended and those
which remain of former sessions will engage our early consideration.
We are encouraged to prosecute them with alacrity and steadiness by
the belief that they will interest no passion but that for the general
welfare, by the assurance of concert, and by a view of those arduous
and important arrangements which have been already accomplished.
We observe, sir, the constancy and activity of your zeal for the public
good. The example will animate our efforts to promote the happiness of
our country.
OCTOBER 28, 1791.
REPLY OF THE PRESIDENT.
GENTLEMEN: This manifestation of your zeal for the honor and the
happiness of our country derives its full value from the share which
your deliberations have already had in promoting both.
I thank you for the favorable sentiments with which you view the part I
have borne in the arduous trust committed to the Government of the
United States, and desire you to be assured that all my zeal will
continue to second those further efforts for the public good which are
insured by the spirit in which you are entering on the present session.
GEORGE WASHINGTON.
OCTOBER 31, 1791.
ADDRESS OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TO GEORGE WASHINGTON, PRESIDENT
OF THE UNITED STATES.
SIR: In receiving your address at the opening of the present session
the House of Representatives have taken an ample share in the feelings
inspired by the actual prosperity and flattering prospects of our
country, and whilst with becoming gratitude to Heaven we ascribe this
happiness to the true source from which it flows, we behold with an
animating pleasure the degree in which the Constitution and laws of
the United States have been instrumental in dispensing it.
It yields us particular satisfaction to learn the success with which the
different important measures of the Government have proceeded, as well
those specially provided for at the last session as those of preceding
date. The safety of our Western frontier, in which the lives and repose
of so many of our fellow-citizens are involved, being peculiarly
interesting, your communications on that subject are proportionally
grateful to us. The gallantry and good conduct of the militia, whose
services were called for, is an honorable confirmation of the efficacy
of that precious resource of a free state, and we anxiously wish that
the consequences of their successful enterprises and of the other
proceedings to which you have referred may leave the United States free
to pursue the most benevolent policy toward the unhappy and deluded race
of people in our neighborhood.
The amount of the population of the United States, determined
by the returns of the census, is a source of the most pleasing
reflections whether it be viewed in relation to our national safety
and respectability or as a proof of that felicity in the situation of
our country which favors so unexampled a rapidity in its growth. Nor
ought any to be insensible to the additional motive suggested by this
important fact to perpetuate the free Government established, with a
wise administration of it, to a portion of the earth which promises such
an increase of the number which is to enjoy those blessings within the
limits of the United States.
We shall proceed with all the respect due to your patriotic
recommendations and with a deep sense of the trust committed to us by
our fellow-citizens to take into consideration the various and important
matters falling within the present session; and in discussing and
deciding each we shall feel every disposition whilst we are pursuing
the public welfare, which must be the supreme object with all our
constituents, to accommodate as far as possible the means of attaining
it to the sentiments and wishes of every part of them.
OCTOBER 27, 1791.
REPLY OF THE PRESIDENT.
GENTLEMEN: The pleasure I derive from an assurance of your attention to
the objects I have recommended to you is doubled by your concurrence in
the testimony I have borne to the prosperous condition of our public
affairs.
Relying on the sanctions of your enlightened judgment and on your
patriotic aid, I shall be the more encouraged in all my endeavors for
the public weal, and particularly in those which may be required on my
part for executing the salutary measures I anticipate from your present
deliberations.
GEORGE WASHINGTON.
OCTOBER 28, 1791.
SPECIAL MESSAGES.
UNITED STATES, _October 26, 1791_.
_Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives_:
I lay before you copies of the following acts, which have been
transmitted to me during the recess of Congress, viz:
An act passed by the legislature of New Hampshire for ceding to the
United States the fort and light-house belonging to the said State.
An act of the legislature of Pennsylvania ratifying on behalf of said
State the first article of amendment to the Constitution of the United
States as proposed by Congress; and
An act of the legislature of North Carolina granting the use of the
jails within that State to the United States.
GEORGE WASHINGTON.
UNITED STATES, _October 26, 1791_.
_Gentlemen of the Senate_:
I have directed the Secretary of War to lay before you for your
consideration all the papers relative to the late negotiations with
the Cherokee Indians, and the treaty concluded with that tribe on the
2d day of July last by the superintendent of the southern district,
and I request your advice whether I shall ratify the same.
I also lay before you the instructions to Colonel Pickering and his
conferences with the Six Nations of Indians. These conferences were for
the purpose of conciliation, and at a critical period, to withdraw those
Indians to a greater distance from the theater of war, in order to
prevent their being involved therein.
It might not have been necessary to have requested your opinion on
this business had not the commissioner, with good intentions, but
incautiously, made certain ratifications of lands unauthorized by
his instructions and unsupported by the Constitution.
It therefore became necessary to disavow the transaction explicitly in a
letter written by my orders to the governor of New York on the 17th of
August last.
The speeches to the Complanter and other Seneca chiefs, the instructions
to Colonel Proctor, and his report, and other messages and directions
are laid before you for your information and as evidences that all
proper lenient measures preceded the exercise of coercion.
The letters to the chief of the Creeks are also laid before you, to
evince that the requisite steps have been taken to produce a full
compliance with the treaty made with that nation on the 7th of
August, 1790.
GEORGE WASHINGTON.
UNITED STATES, _October 27, 1791_.
_Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives_:
I lay before you a copy of a letter and of sundry documents which I have
received from the governor of Pennsylvania, respecting certain persons
who are said to have fled from justice out of the State of Pennsylvania
into that of Virginia, together with a report of the Attorney-General of
the United States upon the same subject.
I have received from the governor of North Carolina a copy of an act of
the general assembly of that State, authorizing him to convey to the
United States the right and jurisdiction of the said State over 1 acre
of land in Occacock Island and 10 acres on the Cape Island, within the
said State, for the purpose of erecting light-houses thereon, together
with the deed of the governor in pursuance thereof and the original
conveyances made to the State by the individual proprietors, which
original conveyances contain conditions that the light-house on Occacock
shall be built before the 1st day of January, 1801, and that on the Cape
Island before the 8th day of October, 1800. And I have caused these
several papers to be deposited in the office of the Secretary of State.
A statement of the returns of the enumeration of the inhabitants of
the United States which have been received will at this time be laid
before you.
GEORGE WASHINGTON.
UNITED STATES, _October 27, 1791_.
_Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives_:
I have directed the Secretary of War to lay before you, for your
information, the reports of Brigadier-General Scott and
Lieutenant-Colonel Commandant Wilkinson, the officers who commanded the
two expeditions against the Wabash Indians in the months of June and
August last, together with the instructions by virtue of which the said
expeditions were undertaken. When the operations now depending shall be
terminated, the reports relative thereto shall also be laid before you.
GEORGE WASHINGTON.
UNITED STATES, _October 31, 1791_.
_Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives_:
I send you herewith the arrangement which has been made by me, pursuant
to the act entitled "An act repealing after the last day of June next
the duties heretofore laid upon distilled spirits imported from abroad
and laying others in their stead, and also upon spirits distilled within
the United States, and for appropriating the same," in respect to the
subdivision of the several districts created by the said act into
surveys of inspection, the appointment of officers for the same, and
the assignment of compensations.
GEORGE WASHINGTON.
UNITED STATES, _November 1, 1791_.
_Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives_:
I received yesterday from the judge of the district of South Carolina a
letter, inclosing the presentments of the grand jury to him, and stating
the causes which have prevented the return of the census from that
district, copies of which are now laid before you.
GEORGE WASHINGTON.
UNITED STATES, _November 10, 1791_.
_Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives_:
The resolution passed at the last session of Congress, requesting the
President of the United States to cause an estimate to be laid before
Congress at their next session of the quantity and situation of the
lands not claimed by the Indians nor granted to nor claimed by any of
the citizens of the United States within the territory ceded to the
United States by the State of North Carolina and within the territory of
the United States northwest of the river Ohio, has been referred to the
Secretary of State, a copy of whose report on that subject I now lay
before you, together with the copy of a letter accompanying it.
GEORGE WASHINGTON.
UNITED STATES, _November 11, 1791_.
_Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives_:
I have received from the governor of Virginia a resolution of the
general assembly of that Commonwealth, ratifying the first article of
the amendments proposed by Congress to the Constitution of the United
States, a copy of which and of the letter accompanying it I now lay
before you.
Sundry papers relating to the purchase by Judge Symmes of the lands on
the Great Miami having been communicated to me, I have thought it proper
to lay the same before you for your information on that subject.
GEORGE WASHINGTON.
UNITED STATES, _December 12, 1791_.
_Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives_:
It is with great concern that I communicate to you the information
received from Major-General St. Clair of the misfortune which has
befallen the troops under his command.
Although the national loss is considerable according to the scale of the
event, yet it may be repaired without great difficulty, excepting as to
the brave men who have fallen on the occasion, and who are a subject of
public as well as private regret.
A further communication will shortly be made of all such matters as
shall be necessary to enable the Legislature to judge of the future
measures which it may be proper to pursue.
GEORGE WASHINGTON.
UNITED STATES, _December 13, 1791_.
_Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives_:
I place before you the plan of a city that has been laid out within the
district of 10 miles square, which was fixed upon for the permanent seat
of the Government of the United States.
GEORGE WASHINGTON.
UNITED STATES, _December 20, 1791_.
_Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives_:
I lay before you the copy of a letter which I have received from the
governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and of sundry documents
which accompanied it, relative to a contract for the purchase of a
certain tract of land bounding on Lake Erie, together with a copy of
a report of the Secretary of State on the same subject.
GEORGE WASHINGTON.
UNITED STATES, _December 30, 1791_.
_Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives_:
I lay before you a copy of the ratification by the Commonwealth of
Virginia of the articles of amendment proposed by Congress to the
Constitution of the United States, and a copy of a letter which
accompanied said ratification from the governor of Virginia.
GEORGE WASHINGTON.
UNITED STATES, _January 11, 1792_.
_Gentlemen of the Senate_:
I lay before you the following report, which has been made to me by the
Secretary of State:
DECEMBER 22, 1791.
The Secretary of State reports to the President of the United States
that one of the commissioners of Spain, in the name of both, has lately
communicated to him verbally, by order of his Court, that His Catholic
Majesty, apprised of our solicitude to have some arrangements made
respecting our free navigation of the river Mississippi and the use
of a port thereon, is ready to enter into treaty thereon at Madrid.
The Secretary of State is of opinion that this overture should be
attended to without delay, and that the proposal of treating at Madrid,
though not what might have been desired, should yet be accepted, and a
commission plenipotentiary made out for the purpose.
That Mr. Carmichael, the present chargé d'affaires of the United States
at Madrid, from the local acquaintance which he must have acquired with
persons and circumstances, would be an useful and proper member of the
commission, but that it would be useful also to join with him some
person more particularly acquainted with the circumstances of the
navigation to be treated of.
That the fund appropriated by the act providing the means of
intercourse between the United States and foreign nations will
insufficiently furnish the ordinary and regular demands on it, and is
consequently inadequate to the mission of an additional commissioner
express from hence.
That therefore it will be advisable on this account, as well as for
the sake of dispatch, to constitute some one of the ministers of the
United States in Europe, jointly with Mr. Carmichael, commissioners
plenipotentiary for the special purpose of negotiating and concluding
with any person or persons duly authorized by His Catholic Majesty a
convention or treaty for the free navigation of the river Mississippi
by the citizens of the United States under such accommodations with
respect to a port and other circumstances as may render the said
navigation practicable, useful, and free from dispute, saving to the
President and Senate their respective rights as to the ratification
of the same, and that the said negotiation be at Madrid, or such
other place in Spain as shall be desired by His Catholic Majesty.
TH. JEFFERSON.
In consequence of the communication from the Court of Spain, as stated
in the preceding report, I nominate William Carmichael, present chargé
d'affaires of the United States at Madrid, and William Short, present
chargé d'affaires of the United States at Paris, to be commissioners
plenipotentiary for negotiating and concluding with any person or
persons who shall be duly authorized by His Catholic Majesty a
convention or treaty concerning the navigation of the river Mississippi
by the citizens of the United States, saving to the President and
Senate their respective rights as to the ratification of the same.
GEORGE WASHINGTON.
UNITED STATES, _January 11, 1792_.
_Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives_:
I lay before you, in confidence, two reports, made to me by the
Secretary for the Department of War, relatively to the present state
of affairs on the Western frontiers of the United States.
In these reports the causes of the present war with the Indians, the
measures taken by the Executive to terminate it amicably, and the
military preparations for the late campaign are stated and explained,
and also a plan suggested of such further measures on the occasion as
appear just and expedient.
I am persuaded, gentlemen, that you will take this important subject
into your immediate and serious consideration, and that the result of
your deliberations will be the adoption of such wise and efficient
measures as will reflect honor on our national councils and promote
the welfare of our country.
GEORGE WASHINGTON.
UNITED STATES, _January 18, 1792_.
_Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives_:
I lay before you a copy of an exemplified copy of an act of the
legislature of Vermont, ratifying on behalf of that State the articles
of amendment proposed by Congress to the Constitution of the United
States together with a copy of a letter which accompanied said
ratification.
GEORGE WASHINGTON.
UNITED STATES, _January 18, 1792_.
_Gentlemen of the Senate_:
I lay before you the communications of a deputation from the Cherokee
Nation of Indians now in this city, and I request your advice whether an
additional article shall be made to the Cherokee treaty to the following
effect, to wit:
That the sum to be paid annually by the United States to the Cherokee
Nation of Indians in consideration of the relinquishment of lands as
stated in the treaty made with them on the 2d day of July, 1791, shall
be $1,500 instead of $1,000 mentioned in the said treaty.
GEORGE WASHINGTON.
UNITED STATES, _January 23, 1792_.
_Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives_:
Having received from the governor of Virginia a letter, inclosing a
resolution of the general assembly of that State and a report of a
committee of the House of Delegates respecting certain lands located by
the officers and soldiers of the Virginia line under the laws of that
State, and since ceded to the Chickasaw Indians, I lay copies of the
same before you, together with a report of the Secretary of State on
this subject.
GEORGE WASHINGTON.
UNITED STATES, _February 8, 1792_.
_Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives_:
An article of expense having occurred in the Department of Foreign
Affairs for which no provision has been made by law, I lay before you a
letter from the Secretary of State explaining the same, in order that
you may do thereon what you shall find to be right.
GEORGE WASHINGTON.
UNITED STATES, _March 3, 1792_.
_Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives_:
I lay before you a copy of a return of the number of inhabitants in the
district of South Carolina as made to me by the marshal thereof, and a
copy of a letter which accompanied said return.
GEORGE WASHINGTON.
UNITED STATES, _March 5, 1792_.
_Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives_:
Knowing the friendly interest you take in whatever may promote the
happiness and prosperity of the French nation, it is with pleasure that
I lay before you the translation of a letter which I have received from
His Most Christian Majesty, announcing to the United States of America
his acceptance of the constitution presented to him by his nation.
GEORGE WASHINGTON.
_Very Dear Great Friends and Allies_:
We make it our duty to inform you that we have accepted the constitution
which has been presented to us in the name of the nation, and according
to which France will be henceforth governed.
We do not doubt that you take an interest in an event so important
to our Kingdom and to us, and it is with real pleasure we take this
occasion to renew to you assurances of the sincere friendship we bear
you. Whereupon we pray God to have you, very dear great friends and
allies, in His just and holy keeping.
Written at Paris the 19th of September, 1791.
Your good friend and ally,
LOUIS.
MONTMORIN.
The UNITED STATES OF NORTH AMERICA.
UNITED STATES, _March 6, 1792_.
_Gentlemen of the Senate_:
I lay before you the following report, which has been submitted to me by
the Secretary of State:
JANUARY 10, 1792.
The Secretary of State having received information that the merchants
and merchandise of the United States are subject in Copenhagen and other
ports of Denmark to considerable extra duties, from which they might
probably be relieved by the presence of a consul there--
Reports to the President of the United States that it would be expedient
to name a consul to be resident in the port of Copenhagen; that he has
not been able to find that there is any citizen of the United States
residing there; that there is a certain Hans Rudolph Saaby, a Danish
subject and merchant of that place, of good character, of wealth and
distinction, and well qualified and disposed to act there for the United
States, who would probably accept the commission of consul; but that
that of vice-consul, hitherto given by the President to foreigners in
ports where there was no proper American citizen, would probably not be
accepted because in this, as in some other ports of Europe, usage has
established it as a subordinate grade.
And that he is therefore of the opinion that the said Hans Rudolph Saaby
should be nominated consul of the United States of America for the port
of Copenhagen and such other places within the allegiance of His Danish
Majesty as shall be nearer to the said port than to the residence of
any other consul or vice-consul of the United States within the same
allegiance.
THOMAS JEFFERSON.
With a view to relieve the merchants and merchandise of the United
States from the extra duties to which they are or may be subjected in
the ports of Denmark, I have thought it for the interest of the United
States that a consul be appointed to reside at Copenhagen. I therefore
nominate Hans Rudolph Saaby, a Danish subject and merchant of
Copenhagen, to be consul for the United States of America at the port
of Copenhagen and for such other places within the allegiance of His
Danish Majesty as shall be nearer to the said port than to the residence
of any other consul or vice-consul of the United States within the same
allegiance.
GEORGE WASHINGTON.
UNITED STATES, _March 7, 1792_.
_Gentlemen of the Senate_:
I submit to your consideration the report of the Secretary of State,
which accompanies this, stating the reasons for extending the
negotiation proposed at Madrid to the subject of commerce, and
explaining, under the form of instructions to the commissioners lately
appointed to that Court, the principles on which commercial arrangements
with Spain might, if desired on her part, be acceded to on ours; and
I have to request your decision whether you will advise and consent to
the extension of the powers of the commissioners as proposed, and to
the ratification of a treaty which shall conform to those instructions
should they enter into such a one with that Court.
GEORGE WASHINGTON.
MARCH 7, 1792.
The Secretary of State having understood from communications with the
commissioners of His Catholic Majesty, subsequent to that which he
reported to the President on the 22d of December last, that though they
considered the navigation of the Mississippi as the principal object
of negotiation between the two countries, yet it was expected by their
Court that the conferences would extend to all the matters which were
under negotiation on the former occasion with Mr. Gardoqui, and
particularly to some arrangements of commerce, is of opinion that to
renew the conferences on this subject also, since they desire it, will
be but friendly and respectful, and can lead to nothing without our
own consent, and that to refuse it might obstruct the settlement of
the questions of navigation and boundary; and therefore reports to
the President of the United States the following observations and
instructions to the commissioners of the United States appointed to
negotiate with the Court of Spain a treaty or convention relative to
the navigation of the Mississippi, which observations and instructions
he is of opinion should be laid before the Senate of the United States,
and their decision be desired whether they will advise and consent that
a treaty be entered into by the commissioners of the United States with
Spain conformably thereto.
After stating to our commissioners the foundation of our rights to
navigate the Mississippi and to hold our southern boundary at the
thirty-first degree of latitude, and that each of these is to be a
sine qua non, it is proposed to add as follows:
On the former conferences on the navigation of the Mississippi, Spain
chose to blend with it the subject of commerce, and accordingly
specific propositions thereon passed between the negotiators. Her
object then was to obtain our renunciation of the navigation and to
hold out commercial arrangements perhaps as a lure to us. Perhaps,
however, she might then, and may now, really set a value on commercial
arrangements with us, and may receive them as a consideration for
accommodating us in the navigation, or may wish for them to have the
appearance of receiving a consideration. Commercial arrangements, if
acceptable in themselves, will not be the less so if coupled with
those relating to navigation and boundary. We have only to take care
that they be acceptable in themselves.
There are two principles which may be proposed as the basis of a
commercial treaty: First, that of exchanging the privileges of native
citizens, or, second, those of the most favored nation.
First. With the nations holding important possessions in America we
are ready to exchange the rights of native citizens, provided they
be extended through the whole possessions of both parties; but the
propositions of Spain made on the former occasion (a copy of which
accompanies this) were that we should give their merchants, vessels,
and productions the privileges of native merchants, vessels, and
productions through the whole of our possessions, and they give the
same to ours only in Spain and the Canaries. This is inadmissible,
because unequal; and as we believe that Spain is not ripe for an
equal exchange on this basis, we avoid proposing it.
Second. Though treaties which merely exchange the rights of the most
favored nations are not without all inconvenience, yet they have their
conveniences also. It is an important one that they leave each party
free to make what internal regulations they please, and to give what
preferences they find expedient to native merchants, vessels, and
productions; and as we already have treaties on this basis with
France, Holland, Sweden, and Prussia, the two former of which are
perpetual, it will be but small additional embarrassment to extend it
to Spain. On the contrary, we are sensible it is right to place that
nation on the most favored footing, whether we have a treaty with them
or not, and it can do us no harm to secure by treaty a reciprocation
of the right.
Of the four treaties before mentioned, either the French or the
Prussian might be taken as a model; but it would be useless to
propose the Prussian, because we have already supposed that Spain
would never consent to those articles which give to each party
access to all the dominions of the other; and without this equivalent
we would not agree to tie our own hands so materially in war as would
be done by the twenty-third article, which renounces the right of
fitting out privateers or of capturing merchant vessels. The French
treaty, therefore, is proposed as the model. In this, however, the
following changes are to be made:
We should be admitted to all the dominions of Spain to which any
other foreign nation is or may be admitted.
Article 5, being an exemption from a particular duty in France,
will of course be omitted as inapplicable to Spain.
Article 8 to be omitted as unnecessary with Morocco, and
inefficacious and little honorable with any of the Barbary powers;
but it may furnish occasion to sound Spain on the project of a
convention of the powers at war with the Barbary States to keep
up by rotation a constant cruise of a given force on their coasts
till they shall be compelled to renounce forever and against all
nations their predatory practices. Perhaps the infidelities of the
Algerines to their treaty of peace with Spain, though the latter
does not choose to break openly, may induce her to subsidize _us_
to cruise against them with a given force.
Articles 9 and 10, concerning fisheries, to be omitted as
inapplicable.
Article 11. The first paragraph of this article respecting the
droit d'aubaine to be omitted, that law being supposed peculiar
to France.
Article 17, giving asylum in the ports of either to the armed vessels
of the other with the prizes taken from the enemies of that other,
must be qualified as it is in the nineteenth article of the Prussian
treaty, as the stipulation in the latter part of the article that
"no shelter or refuge shall be given in the ports of the one to such
as shall have made prize on the subjects of the other of the parties"
would forbid us, in case of a war between France and Spain, to give
shelter in our ports to prizes made by the latter on the former,
while the first part of the article would oblige us to shelter those
made by the former on the latter--a very dangerous covenant, and which
ought never to be repeated in any other instance.
Article 29. Consuls should be received at all the ports at which the
vessels of either party may be received.
Article 30, concerning free ports in Europe and America, free ports in
the Spanish possessions in America, and particularly at The Havannah,
are more to be desired than expected. It can therefore only be
recommended to the best endeavors of the commissioners to obtain them.
It will be something to obtain for our vessels, flour, etc., admission
to those ports during their pleasure. In like manner, if they could be
prevailed on to reestablish our right of cutting logwood in the Bay of
Campeachy on the footing on which it stood before the treaty of 1763,
it would be desirable and not endanger to us any contest with the
English, who by the revolution treaty are restrained to the
southeastern parts of Yucatan.
Article 31. The _act_ of ratification on our part may require a
twelvemonth from the date of the treaty, as the Senate meets regularly
but once a year; and to return it to Madrid for _exchange_ may require
four months more.
The treaty must not exceed ---- years' duration, except the clauses
relating to boundary and the navigation of the Mississippi, which must
be perpetual and final. Indeed, these two subjects had better be in a
separate instrument.
There might have been mentioned a third species of arrangement--that
of making special agreements on every special subject of commerce,
and of settling a tariff of duty to be paid on each side on every
particular article; but this would require in our commissioners a
very minute knowledge of our commerce, as it is impossible to foresee
every proposition of this kind which might be brought into discussion
and to prepare them for it by information and instruction from hence.
Our commerce, too, is as yet rather in a course of experiment, and
the channels in which it will ultimately flow are not sufficiently
known to enable us to provide for it by special agreement; nor
have the exigencies of our new Government as yet so far developed
themselves as that we can know to what degree we may or must have
recourse to commerce for the purposes of revenue. No common
consideration, therefore, ought to induce us as yet to arrangements
of this kind. Perhaps nothing should do it with any nation short
of the privileges of natives in all their possessions, foreign and
domestic.
It were to be wished, indeed, that some positively favorable
stipulations respecting our grain, flour, and fish could be obtained,
even on our giving reciprocal advantages to some of the commodities
of Spain, say her wines and brandies; but,
First. If we quit the ground of the _most favored nation_ as to
certain articles for our convenience, Spain may insist on doing
the same for other articles for her convenience, and thus our
commissioners will get themselves on the ground of _a treaty of
detail_, for which they will not be prepared.
Second. If we grant favor to the wines and brandies of Spain, then
Portugal and France will demand the same; and in order to create an
equivalent Portugal may lay a duty on our fish and grain, and France
a prohibition on our whale oils, the removal of which will be proposed
as an equivalent.
Thus much, however, as to grain and flour may be attempted. There has
not long since been a considerable duty laid on them in Spain. This
was while a treaty on the subject of commerce was pending between us
and Spain, as that Court considers the matter. It is not generally
thought right to change the state of things pending a treaty
concerning them. On this consideration and on the motive of
cultivating our friendship, perhaps the commissioners may induce them
to restore this commodity to the footing on which it was on opening
the conferences with Mr. Gardoqui, on the 26th day of July, 1785. If
Spain says, "Do the same by your tonnage on our vessels," the answer
may be that "Our foreign tonnage affects Spain very little and other
nations very much; whereas the duty on flour in Spain affects us very
much and other nations very little; consequently there would be no
equality in reciprocal relinquishment, as there had been none in the
reciprocal innovation; and Spain, by insisting on this, would in fact
only be aiding the interests of her rival nations, to whom we should
be forced to extend the same indulgence." At the time of opening the
conferences, too, we had as yet not erected any system, our Government
itself being not yet erected. Innovation then was unavoidable on our
part, if it be innovation to establish a system. We did it on fair and
general ground, on ground favorable to Spain; but they had a system,
and therefore innovation was avoidable on their part.
THOMAS JEFFERSON.
ARTICLES PROPOSED BY DON DIEGO GARDOQUI TO BE INSERTED IN THE TREATY
WITH THE UNITED STATES.
First. That all commercial regulations affecting each other shall be
founded in perfect reciprocity. Spanish merchants shall enjoy all the
commercial privileges of native merchants in the United States, and
American merchants shall enjoy all the commercial privileges of native
merchants in the Kingdom of Spain and in the Canaries and other islands
belonging to and adjacent thereto. The same privileges shall extend to
their respective vessels and merchandise consisting of the manufactures
and products of their respective countries.
Second. Each party may establish consuls in the countries of the other
(excepting such provinces in Spain into which none have heretofore been
admitted, viz, Bilboa and Guipusca), with such powers and privileges as
shall be ascertained by a particular convention.
Third. That the bona fide manufactures and productions of the United
States (tobacco only excepted, which shall continue under its present
regulation) may be imported in American or Spanish vessels into any
parts of His Majesty's European dominions and islands aforesaid in like
manner as if they were the productions of Spain, and, on the other hand,
that the bona fide manufactures and productions of His Majesty's
dominions may be imported into the United States in Spanish or American
vessels in like manner as if they were the manufactures and productions
of the said States. And further, that all such duties and imposts as may
mutually be thought necessary to lay on them by either party shall be
ascertained and regulated on principles of exact reciprocity by a
tariff, to be formed by a convention for that purpose, to be negotiated
and made within _one_ year after the exchange of the ratification of
this treaty; and in the meantime that no other duties or imposts shall
be exacted from each other's merchants and ships than such as may be
payable by natives in like cases.
Fourth. That inasmuch as the United States, from not having mines of
gold and silver, may often want supplies of specie for a circulating
medium, His Catholic Majesty, as a proof of his good will, agrees to
order the masts and timber which may from time to time be wanted for his
royal navy to be purchased and paid for in specie in the United States,
provided the said masts and timber shall be of equal quality and when
brought to Spain shall not cost more than the like may there be had for
from other countries.
Fifth. It is agreed that the articles commonly inserted in other
treaties of commerce for mutual and reciprocal convenience shall be
inserted in this, and that this treaty and every article and stipulation
therein shall continue in full force for ----- years, to be computed
from the day of the date hereof.
UNITED STATES, _March 9, 1792_.
_Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives_:
I now lay before you a general account rendered by the bankers of the
United States at Amsterdam of the payments they had made between the
1st of July, 1790 and 1791, from the fund deposited in their hands for
the purposes of the act providing the means of intercourse between the
United States and foreign nations, and of the balance remaining in their
hands, together with a letter from the Secretary of State on the
subject.
GEORGE WASHINGTON.
UNITED STATES, _March 20, 1792_.
_Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives_:
The several acts which have been passed relatively to the military
establishment of the United States and the protection of the
frontiers do not appear to have made provision for more than one
brigadier-general. It is incumbent upon me to observe that, with a view
merely to the organization of the troops designated by those acts,
a greater number of officers of that grade would, in my opinion, be
conducive to the good of the public service. But an increase of the
number becomes still more desirable in reference to a different
organization which is contemplated, pursuant to the authority vested
in me for that purpose, and which, besides other advantages expected
from it, is recommended by considerations of economy. I therefore
request that you will be pleased to take this subject into your early
consideration and to adopt such measures thereon as you shall judge
proper.
GEORGE WASHINGTON.
UNITED STATES, _March 23, 1792_.
_Gentlemen of the Senate_:
At the conferences which Colonel Pickering had with the Five Nations at
the Painted Post the last year ideas were then held out of introducing
among them some of the primary principles of civilization, in
consequence of which, as well as more firmly to attach them to the
interests of the United States, they have been invited to the seat of
the General Government.
As the representation now here is respectable for its character and
influence, it is of some importance that the chiefs should be well
satisfied of the entire good faith and liberality of the United States.
In managing the affairs of the Indian tribes generally it appears proper
to teach them to expect annual presents, conditioned on the evidence of
their attachment to the interests of the United States. The situation of
the Five Nations and the present crisis of affairs would seem to render
the extension of this measure to them highly judicious. I therefore
request the advice of the Senate whether an article shall be stipulated
with the Five Nations to the following purport, to wit:
The United States, in order to promote the happiness of the Five Nations
of Indians, will cause to be expended annually the amount of $1,500 in
purchasing for them clothing, domestic animals, and implements of
husbandry, and for encouraging useful artificers to reside in their
villages,
GEORGE WASHINGTON.
APRIL 13, 1792.
_Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives_:
I have thought it proper to lay before you a communication of the 11th
instant from the minister plenipotentiary of Great Britain to the
Secretary of State, relative to the commerce of the two countries,
together with their explanatory correspondence and the Secretary of
State's letter to me on the subject,
GEORGE WASHINGTON.
UNITED STATES, _April 16, 1792_.
_Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives_:
I lay before you a copy of a letter from the judges of the circuit court
of the United States held for the New York district, and of their
opinion and agreement respecting the "Act to provide for the settlement
of the claims of widows and orphans barred by the limitations heretofore
established, and to regulate the claims to invalid pensions."
GEORGE WASHINGTON.
UNITED STATES, _April 21, 1792_.
_Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives_:
I lay before you the copy of a letter which I have received from
the judges of the circuit court of the United States held for the
Pennsylvania district relatively to the "Act to provide for the
settlement of the claims of widows and orphans barred by the limitations
heretofore established, and to regulate the claims to invalid pensions."
GEORGE WASHINGTON.
UNITED STATES, _May 8, 1792_.
_Gentlemen of the Senate_:
If the President of the United States should conclude a convention or
treaty with the Government of Algiers for the ransom of the thirteen
Americans in captivity there for a sum not exceeding $40,000, all
expenses included, will the Senate approve the same? Or is there any,
and what, greater or lesser sum which they would fix on as the limit
beyond which they would not approve the ransom?
If the President of the United States should conclude a treaty with the
Government of Algiers for the establishment of peace with them, at an
expense not exceeding $25,000, paid at the signature, and a like sum to
be paid annually afterwards during the continuance of the treaty, would
the Senate approve the same? Or are there any greater or lesser sums
which they would fix on as the limits beyond which they would not
approve of such treaty?
GEORGE WASHINGTON.
VETO MESSAGE.
UNITED STATES, _April 5, 1792_.
_Gentlemen of the House of Representatives_:
I have maturely considered the act passed by the two Houses entitled
"An act for an apportionment of Representatives among the several States
according to the first enumeration," and I return it to your House,
wherein it originated, with the following objections:
First. The Constitution has prescribed that Representatives shall be
apportioned among the several States according to their respective
numbers, and there is no one proportion or divisor which, applied to the
respective numbers of the States, will yield the number and allotment of
Representatives proposed by the bill.
Second. The Constitution has also provided that the number of
Representatives shall not exceed 1 for every 30,000, which restriction
is by the context and by fair and obvious construction to be applied to
the separate and respective numbers of the States; and the bill has
allotted to eight of the States more than 1 for every 30,000.
GEORGE WASHINGTON.
PROCLAMATION.
[From Sparks's Washington, Vol. X, p. 532.]
Whereas certain violent and unwarrantable proceedings have lately taken
place tending to obstruct the operation of the laws of the United States
for raising a revenue upon spirits distilled within the same, enacted
pursuant to express authority delegated in the Constitution of the
United States, which proceedings are subversive of good order, contrary
to the duty that every citizen owes to his country and to the laws, and
of a nature dangerous to the very being of a government; and
Whereas such proceedings are the more unwarrantable by reason of the
moderation which has been heretofore shown on the part of the Government
and of the disposition which has been manifested by the Legislature (who
alone have authority to suspend the operation of laws) to obviate causes
of objection and to render the laws as acceptable as possible; and
Whereas it is the particular duty of the Executive "to take care that
the laws be faithfully executed," and not only that duty but the
permanent interests and happiness of the people require that every legal
and necessary step should be pursued as well to prevent such violent and
unwarrantable proceedings as to bring to justice the infractors of the
laws and secure obedience thereto:
Now, therefore, I, George Washington, President of the United States, do
by these presents most earnestly admonish and exhort all persons whom it
may concern to refrain and desist from all unlawful combinations and
proceedings whatsoever having for object or tending to obstruct the
operation of the laws aforesaid, inasmuch as all lawful ways and means
will be strictly put in execution for bringing to justice the infractors
thereof and securing obedience thereto.
And I do moreover charge and require all courts, magistrates, and
officers whom it may concern, according to the duties of their several
offices, to exert the powers in them respectively vested by law for the
purposes aforesaid, hereby also enjoining and requiring all persons
whomsoever, as they tender the welfare of their country, the just and
due authority of Government, and the preservation of the public peace,
to be aiding and assisting therein according to law.
In testimony whereof I have caused the seal of the United States to be
affixed to these presents, and signed the same with my hand.
[SEAL.]
Done this 15th of September, A.D. 1792, and of the Independence of the
United States the seventeenth.
GEORGE WASHINGTON.
FOURTH ANNUAL ADDRESS.
UNITED STATES, _November 6, 1792_.
_Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and of the House of Representatives_:
It is some abatement of the satisfaction with which I meet you on the
present occasion that, in felicitating you on a continuance of the
national prosperity generally, I am not able to add to it information
that the Indian hostilities which have for some time past distressed our
Northwestern frontier have terminated.
You will, I am persuaded, learn with no less concern than I
communicate it that reiterated endeavors toward effecting a pacification
have hitherto issued only in new and outrageous proofs of persevering
hostility on the part of the tribes with whom we are in contest.
An earnest desire to procure tranquillity to the frontier, to stop the
further effusion of blood, to arrest the progress of expense, to forward
the prevalent wish of the nation for peace has led to strenuous efforts
through various channels to accomplish these desirable purposes; in
making which efforts I consulted less my own anticipations of the event,
or the scruples which some considerations were calculated to inspire,
than the wish to find the object attainable, or if not attainable,
to ascertain unequivocally that such is the case.
A detail of the measures which have been pursued and of their
consequences, which will be laid before you, while it will confirm to
you the want of success thus far, will, I trust, evince that means as
proper and as efficacious as could have been devised have been employed.
The issue of some of them, indeed, is still depending, but a favorable
one, though not to be despaired of, is not promised by anything that has
yet happened.
In the course of the attempts which have been made some valuable
citizens have fallen victims to their zeal for the public service. A
sanction commonly respected even among savages has been found in this
instance insufficient to protect from massacre the emissaries of peace.
It will, I presume, be duly considered whether the occasion does not
call for an exercise of liberality toward the families of the deceased.
It must add to your concern to be informed that, besides the
continuation of hostile appearances among the tribes north of the Ohio,
some threatening symptoms have of late been revived among some of those
south of it.
A part of the Cherokees, known by the name of Chickamaugas, inhabiting
five villages on the Tennessee River, have long been in the practice of
committing depredations on the neighboring settlements.
It was hoped that the treaty of Holston, made with the Cherokee Nation
in July, 1791, would have prevented a repetition of such depredations;
but the event has not answered this hope. The Chickamaugas, aided
by some banditti of another tribe in their vicinity, have recently
perpetrated wanton and unprovoked hostilities upon the citizens of the
United States in that quarter. The information which has been received
on this subject will be laid before you. Hitherto defensive precautions
only have been strictly enjoined and observed.
It is not understood that any breach of treaty or aggression whatsoever
on the part of the United States or their citizens is even alleged as a
pretext for the spirit of hostility in this quarter.
I have reason to believe that every practicable exertion has been made
(pursuant to the provision by law for that purpose) to be prepared for
the alternative of a prosecution of the war in the event of a failure of
pacific overtures. A large proportion of the troops authorized to be
raised have been recruited, though the number is still incomplete, and
pains have been taken to discipline and put them in condition for the
particular kind of service to be performed. A delay of operations
(besides being dictated by the measures which were pursuing toward a
pacific termination of the war) has been in itself deemed preferable to
immature efforts. A statement from the proper department with regard
to the number of troops raised, and some other points which have been
suggested, will afford more precise information as a guide to the
legislative consultations, and among other things will enable Congress
to judge whether some additional stimulus to the recruiting service may
not be advisable.
In looking forward to the future expense of the operations which may be
found inevitable I derive consolation from the information I receive
that the product of the revenues for the present year is likely to
supersede the necessity of additional burthens on the community for the
service of the ensuing year. This, however, will be better ascertained
in the course of the session, and it is proper to add that the
information alluded to proceeds upon the supposition of no material
extension of the spirit of hostility.
I can not dismiss the subject of Indian affairs without again
recommending to your consideration the expediency of more adequate
provision for giving energy to the laws throughout our interior frontier
and for restraining the commission of outrages upon the Indians, without
which all pacific plans must prove nugatory. To enable, by competent
rewards, the employment of qualified and trusty persons to reside among
them as agents would also contribute to the preservation of peace and
good neighborhood. If in addition to these expedients an eligible plan
could be devised for promoting civilization among the friendly tribes
and for carrying on trade with them upon a scale equal to their wants
and under regulations calculated to protect them from imposition and
extortion, its influence in cementing their interest with ours could
not but be considerable.
The prosperous state of our revenue has been intimated. This would be
still more the case were it not for the impediments which in some places
continue to embarrass the collection of the duties on spirits distilled
within the United States. These impediments have lessened and are
lessening in local extent, and, as applied to the community at large,
the contentment with the law appears to be progressive.
But symptoms of increased opposition having lately manifested themselves
in certain quarters, I judged a special interposition on my part proper
and advisable, and under this impression have issued a proclamation
warning against all unlawful combinations and proceedings having for
their object or tending to obstruct the operation of the law in
question, and announcing that all lawful ways and means would be
strictly put in execution for bringing to justice the infractors
thereof and securing obedience thereto.
Measures have also been taken for the prosecution of offenders, and
Congress may be assured that nothing within constitutional and legal
limits which may depend upon me shall be wanting to assert and maintain
the just authority of the laws. In fulfilling this trust I shall count
entirely upon the full cooperation of the other departments of the
Government and upon the zealous support of all good citizens.
I can not forbear to bring again into the view of the Legislature the
subject of a revision of the judiciary system. A representation from the
judges of the Supreme Court, which will be laid before you, points out
some of the inconveniences that are experienced. In the course of the
execution of the laws considerations arise out of the structure of that
system which in some cases tend to relax their efficacy. As connected
with this subject, provisions to facilitate the taking of bail upon
processes out of the courts of the United States and a supplementary
definition of offenses against the Constitution and laws of the Union
and of the punishment for such offenses will, it is presumed, be found
worthy of particular attention.
Observations on the value of peace with other nations are unnecessary.
It would be wise, however, by timely provisions to guard against those
acts of our own citizens which might tend to disturb it, and to put
ourselves in a condition to give that satisfaction to foreign nations
which we may sometimes have occasion to require from them. I
particularly recommend to your consideration the means of preventing
those aggressions by our citizens on the territory of other nations, and
other infractions of the law of nations, which, furnishing just subject
of complaint, might endanger our peace with them; and, in general, the
maintenance of a friendly intercourse with foreign powers will be
presented to your attention by the expiration of the law for that
purpose, which takes place, if not renewed, at the close of the present
session.
In execution of the authority given by the Legislature measures have
been taken for engaging some artists from abroad to aid in the
establishment of our mint. Others have been employed at home. Provision
has been made of the requisite buildings, and these are now putting into
proper condition for the purposes of the establishment. There has also
been a small beginning in the coinage of half dimes, the want of small
coins in circulation calling the first attention to them.
The regulation of foreign coins in correspondency with the principles
of our national coinage, as being essential to their due operation
and to order in our money concerns, will, I doubt not, be resumed and
completed.
It is represented that some provisions in the law which establishes
the post-office operate, in experiment, against the transmission of
newspapers to distant parts of the country. Should this, upon due
inquiry, be found to be the fact, a full conviction of the importance of
facilitating the circulation of political intelligence and information
will, I doubt not, lead to the application of a remedy.
The adoption of a constitution for the State of Kentucky has been
notified to me. The Legislature will share with me in the satisfaction
which arises from an event interesting to the happiness of the part of
the nation to which it relates and conducive to the general order.
It is proper likewise to inform you that since my last communication
on the subject, and in further execution of the acts severally making
provision for the public debt and for the reduction thereof, three new
loans have been effected, each for 3,000,000 florins--one at Antwerp, at
the annual interest of 4-1/2 per cent, with an allowance of 4 per cent
in lieu of all charges, and the other two at Amsterdam, at the annual
interest of 4 per cent, with an allowance of 5-1/2 per cent in one case
and of 5 per cent in the other in lieu of all charges. The rates of
these loans and the circumstances under which they have been made are
confirmations of the high state of our credit abroad.
Among the objects to which these funds have been directed to be applied,
the payment of the debts due to certain foreign officers, according to
the provision made during the last session, has been embraced.
_Gentlemen of the House of Representatives_:
I entertain a strong hope that the state of the national finances is
now sufficiently matured to enable you to enter upon a systematic and
effectual arrangement for the regular redemption and discharge of the
public debt, according to the right which has been reserved to the
Government. No measure can be more desirable, whet her viewed with an
eye to its intrinsic importance or to the general sentiment and wish
of the nation.
Provision is likewise requisite for the reimbursement of the loan which
has been made of the Bank of the United States, pursuant to the eleventh
section of the act by which it is incorporated. In fulfilling the public
stipulations in this particular it is expected a valuable saving will
be made.
Appropriations for the current service of the ensuing year and for such
extraordinaries as may require provision will demand, and I doubt not
will engage, your early attention.
_Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives_:
I content myself with recalling your attention generally to such
objects, not particularized in my present, as have been suggested
in my former communications to you.
Various temporary laws will expire during the present session. Among
these, that which regulates trade and intercourse with the Indian tribes
will merit particular notice.
The results of your common deliberations hitherto will, I trust, be
productive of solid and durable advantages to our constituents, such
as, by conciliating more and more their ultimate suffrage, will tend
to strengthen and confirm their attachment to that Constitution of
Government upon which, under Divine Providence, materially depend their
union, their safety, and their happiness.
Still further to promote and secure these inestimable ends there is
nothing which can have a more powerful tendency than the careful
cultivation of harmony, combined with a due regard to stability,
in the public councils.
GEORGE WASHINGTON.
ADDRESS OF THE SENATE TO GEORGE WASHINGTON, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED
STATES.
The PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES:
Accept, sir, our grateful acknowledgments for your address at the
opening of the present session. We participate with you in the
satisfaction arising from the continuance of the general prosperity of
the nation, but it is not without the most sincere concern that we are
informed that the reiterated efforts which have been made to establish
peace with the hostile Indians have hitherto failed to accomplish that
desired object. Hoping that the measures still depending may prove more
successful than those which have preceded them, we shall nevertheless
concur in every necessary preparation for the alternative, and should
the Indians on either side of the Ohio persist in their hostilities,
fidelity to the Union, as well as affection for our fellow-citizens on
the frontiers, will insure our decided cooperation in every measure
which shall be deemed requisite for their protection and safety.
At the same time that we avow the obligation of the Government to afford
its protection to every part of the Union, we can not refrain from
expressing our regret that even a small portion of our fellow-citizens
in any quarter of it should have combined to oppose the operation of the
law for the collection of duties on spirits distilled within the United
States, a law repeatedly sanctioned by the authority of the nation, and
at this juncture materially connected with the safety and protection of
those who oppose it. Should the means already adopted fail in securing
obedience to this law, such further measures as may be thought necessary
to carry the same into complete operation can not fail to receive the
approbation of the Legislature and the support of every patriotic
citizen.
It yields us particular pleasure to learn that the productiveness of the
revenue of the present year will probably supersede the necessity of any
additional tax for the service of the next.
The organization of the government of the State of Kentucky being an
event peculiarly interesting to a part of our fellow-citizens and
conducive to the general order, affords us particular satisfaction.
We are happy to learn that the high state of our credit abroad has been
evinced by the terms on which the new loans have been negotiated.
In the course of the session we shall proceed to take into consideration
the several objects which you have been pleased to recommend to our
attention, and keeping in view the importance of union and stability in
the public councils, we shall labor to render our decisions conducive to
the safety and happiness of our country.
We repeat with pleasure our assurances of confidence in your
Administration and our ardent wish that your unabated zeal for the
public good may be rewarded by the durable prosperity of the nation,
and every ingredient of personal happiness.
JOHN LANGDON,
_President pro tempore_.
NOVEMBER 9, 1792.
REPLY OF THE PRESIDENT.
I derive much pleasure, gentlemen, from your very satisfactory address.
The renewed assurances of your confidence in my Administration and the
expression of your wish for my personal happiness claim and receive
my particular acknowledgments. In my future endeavor for the public
welfare, to which my duty may call me, I shall not cease to count
upon the firm, enlightened, and patriotic support of the Senate.
GEORGE WASHINGTON.
NOVEMBER 9, 1792.
ADDRESS OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TO GEORGE WASHINGTON, PRESIDENT
OF THE UNITED STATES.
SIR: The House of Representatives, who always feel a satisfaction
in meeting you, are much concerned that the occasion for mutual
felicitation afforded by the circumstances favorable to the national
prosperity should be abated by a continuance of the hostile spirit of
many of the Indian tribes, and particularly that the reiterated efforts
for effecting a general pacification with them should have issued in
new proofs of their persevering enmity and the barbarous sacrifice of
citizens who, as the messengers of peace, were distinguishing themselves
by their zeal for the public service. In our deliberations on this
important department of our affairs we shall be disposed to pursue every
measure that may be dictated by the sincerest desire, on one hand, of
cultivating peace and manifesting by every practicable regulation our
benevolent regard for the welfare of those misguided people, and by the
duty we feel, on the other, to provide effectually for the safety and
protection of our fellow-citizens.
While with regret we learn that symptoms of opposition to the law
imposing duties on spirits distilled within the United States have
manifested themselves, we reflect with consolation that they are
confined to a small portion of our fellow-citizens. It is not more
essential to the preservation of true liberty that a government should
be always ready to listen to the representations of its constituents and
to accommodate its measures to the sentiments and wishes of every part
of them, as far as will consist with the good of the whole, than it is
that the just authority of the laws should be steadfastly maintained.
Under this impression every department of the Government and all good
citizens must approve the measures you have taken and the purpose you
have formed to execute this part of your trust with firmness and energy;
and be assured, sir, of every constitutional aid and cooperation which
may become requisite on our part. And we hope that, while the progress
of contentment under the law in question is as obvious as it is
rational, no particular part of the community may be permitted to
withdraw from the general burthens of the country by a conduct as
irreconcilable to national justice as it is inconsistent with public
decency.
The productive state of the public revenue and the confirmation of the
credit of the United States abroad, evinced by the loans at Antwerp
and Amsterdam, are communications the more gratifying as they enforce
the obligation to enter on systematic and effectual arrangements for
discharging the public debt as fast as the conditions of it will permit,
and we take pleasure in the opportunity to assure you of our entire
concurrence in the opinion that no measure can be more desirable,
whether viewed with an eye to the urgent wish of the community or the
intrinsic importance of promoting so happy a change in our situation.
The adoption of a constitution for the State of Kentucky is an event
on which we join in all the satisfaction you have expressed. It may be
considered as particularly interesting since, besides the immediate
benefits resulting from it, it is another auspicious demonstration of
the facility and success with which an enlightened people is capable of
providing, by free and deliberate plans of government, for their own
safety and happiness.
The operation of the law establishing the post-office, as it relates
to the transmission of newspapers, will merit our particular inquiry
and attention, the circulation of political intelligence through these
vehicles being justly reckoned among the surest means of preventing
the degeneracy of a free government, as well as of recommending every
salutary public measure to the confidence and cooperation of all
virtuous citizens.
The several other matters which you have communicated and
recommended will in their order receive the attention due to them,
and our discussions will in all cases, we trust, be guided by a proper
respect for harmony and stability in the public councils and a desire
to conciliate more and more the attachment of our constituents to the
Constitution, by measures accommodated to the true ends for which it
was established.
NOVEMBER 10, 1792.
REPLY OF THE PRESIDENT.
GENTLEMEN: It gives me pleasure to express to you the satisfaction
which your address affords me. I feel, as I ought, the approbation you
manifest of the measures I have taken and the purpose I have formed to
maintain, pursuant to the trust reposed in me by the Constitution, the
respect which is due to the laws, and the assurance which you at the
same time give me of every constitutional aid and cooperation that may
become requisite on your part.
This is a new proof of that enlightened solicitude for the establishment
and confirmation of public order which, embracing a zealous regard for
the principles of true liberty, has guided the deliberations of the
House of Representatives, a perseverance in which can alone secure,
under the divine blessing, the real and permanent felicity of our
common country.
GEORGE WASHINGTON.
NOVEMBER 12, 1792.
SPECIAL MESSAGES.
UNITED STATES, _November 7, 1792_.
_Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives_:
In pursuance of the law, I now lay before you a statement of the
administration of the funds appropriated to certain foreign purposes,
together with a letter from the Secretary of State explaining the same.
I also lay before you a copy of a letter and representation from the
Chief Justice and associate judges of the Supreme Court of the United
States, stating the difficulties and inconveniences which attend the
discharge of their duties according to the present judiciary system.
A copy of a letter from the judges attending the circuit court of the
United States for the North Carolina district in June last, containing
their observations on an act, passed during the last session of
Congress, entitled "An act to provide for the settlement of the claims
of widows and orphans barred by the limitations heretofore established,
and to regulate the claims to invalid pensions;" and
A copy of the constitution formed for the State of Kentucky.
GEORGE WASHINGTON.
UNITED STATES, _November 9, 1792_.
_Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives_:
I now lay before you a letter from the Secretary of State, covering
the copy of one from the governor of Virginia, with the several papers
therein referred to, on the subject of the boundary between that State
and the territory of the United States south of the Ohio. It will remain
with the Legislature to take such measures as it shall think best for
settling the said boundary with that State, and at the same time, if it
thinks proper, for extending the settlement to the State of Kentucky,
between which and the same territory the boundary is as yet
undetermined.
GEORGE WASHINGTON.
UNITED STATES, _November 22, 1792_.
_Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives_:
I send you herewith the abstract of a supplementary arrangement which
has been made by me, pursuant to the acts of the 3d day of March, 1791,
and the 8th day of May, 1792, for raising a revenue upon foreign and
domestic distilled spirits, in respect to the subdivisions and officers
which have appeared to me necessary and to the allowances for their
respective services to the supervisors, inspectors, and other officers
of inspection, together with the estimates of the amount of
compensations and charges.
GEORGE WASHINGTON.
UNITED STATES, _December 6, 1792_.
_Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives_:
The several measures which have been pursued to induce the hostile
Indian tribes north of the Ohio to enter into a conference or treaty
with the United States at which all causes of difference might be fully
understood and justly and amicably arranged have already been submitted
to both Houses of Congress.
The papers herewith sent will inform you of the result.
GEORGE WASHINGTON.
UNITED STATES, _December 7, 1792_.
_Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives_:
I lay before you two letters, with their inclosures, from the governor
of the Southwestern territory, and an extract of a letter to him from
the Department of War.
These and a letter of the 9th of October last, which has been already
communicated to you, from the same Department to the governor, will shew
in what manner the first section of the act of the last session which
provides for calling out the militia for the repelling of Indian
invasions has been executed. It remains to be considered by Congress
whether in the present situation of the United States it be advisable or
not to pursue any further or other measures than those which have been
already adopted. The nature of the subject does of itself call for your
immediate attention to it, and I must add that upon the result of your
deliberations the future conduct of the Executive will on this occasion
materially depend.
GEORGE WASHINGTON.
UNITED STATES, _January 23, 1793_.
_Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives_:
Since my last communication to you on the subject of the revenue on
distilled spirits it has been found necessary, on experience, to revise
and amend the arrangements relative thereto in regard to certain surveys
and the officers thereof in the district of North Carolina, which I have
done accordingly in the manner following:
First. The several counties of the said district originally and
heretofore contained within the first, second, and third surveys have
been allotted into and are now contained in two surveys, one of which
(to be hereafter denominated the first) comprehends the town of
Wilmington and the counties of Onslow, New Hanover, Brunswick,
Robertson, Sampson, Craven, Jones, Lenox, Glascow, Johnston, and Wayne,
and the other of which (to be hereafter denominated the second)
comprehends the counties of Kurrituck, Camden, Pasquotank, Perquimans,
Chowan, Gates, Hartford, Tyrrel, Bertie, Carteret, Hyde, Beaufort,
and Pitt.
Secondly. The several counties of the said district originally and
heretofore contained within the fifth survey of the district aforesaid
has been allotted into and is contained in two surveys, one of which
(to be hereafter denominated the third) comprehends the counties of
Mecklenburg, Rowan, Iredell, Montgomery, Guilford, Rockingham, Stokes,
and Surrey, and the other of which (to be hereafter denominated the
fifth) comprehends the counties of Lincoln, Rutherford, Burke, Buncombe,
and Wilkes.
Thirdly. The duties of the inspector of the revenue in and for the
third survey as constituted above is to be performed for the present
by the supervisor.
Fourthly. The compensations of the inspector of the revenue for the
first survey as above constituted are to be a salary of $250 per annum
and commissions and other emoluments similar to those heretofore allowed
to the inspector of the late first survey as it was originally
constituted.
Fifthly. The compensations of the inspector of the revenue for the
second survey as above constituted are to be a salary of $100 per annum
and the commissions and other emoluments heretofore allowed to the
inspector of the late third survey as it was originally constituted.
Sixthly. The compensations of the inspector of the revenue for the fifth
survey as above constituted are to be a salary of $120 per annum and the
commissions and other emoluments similar to those heretofore allowed to
the inspector of the late fifth survey as it was originally constituted.
GEORGE WASHINGTON.
UNITED STATES, _January 25, 1793_.
_Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives_:
I lay before you an official statement of the expenditure to the year
1792 from the sum of $10,000, granted to defray the contingent expenses
of Government by an act passed on the 26th of March, 1790.
Also an abstract of a supplementary arrangement made in the district of
North Carolina in regard to certain surveys to facilitate the execution
of the law laying a duty on distilled spirits.
GEORGE WASHINGTON.
UNITED STATES, _February 13, 1793_.
_Gentlemen of the Senate_:
I lay before you for your consideration and advice a treaty of peace
and friendship made and concluded on the 27th day of September, 1792,
by Brigadier-General Rufus Putnam, in behalf of the United States, with
the Wabash and Illinois tribes of Indians, and also the proceedings
attending the said treaty, the explanation of the fourth article
thereof, and a map explanatory of the reservation to the French
inhabitants and the general claim of the said Indians.
In connection with this subject I also lay before the Senate the copy of
a paper which has been delivered by a man by the name of John Baptiste
Mayeé, who has accompanied the Wabash Indians at present in this city.
It will appear by the certificate of Brigadier-General Putnam that the
Wabash Indians disclaimed the validity of the said paper, excepting a
certain tract upon the Wabash, as mentioned in the proceedings.
The instructions to Brigadier-General Putnam of the 22d of May, together
with a letter to him of the 7th of August, 1792, were laid before the
Senate on the 7th of November, 1792.
After the Senate shall have considered this treaty, I request that they
would give me their advice whether the same shall be ratified and
confirmed; and if to be ratified and confirmed, whether it would not be
proper, in order to prevent any misconception hereafter of the fourth
article, to guard in the ratification the exclusive preemption of the
United States to the lands of the said Indians.
GEORGE WASHINGTON.
UNITED STATES, _February 18, 1793_.
_Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives_:
I now lay before you a report and plat of the territory of the United
States on the Potomac as given in by the commissioners of that
territory, together with a letter from the Secretary of State which
accompanied them. These papers, being original, are to be again
deposited with the records of the Department of State after having
answered the purpose of your information.
GEORGE WASHINGTON.
UNITED STATES, _February 19, 1793_.
_Gentlemen of the House of Representatives_:
It has been agreed on the part of the United States that a treaty or
conference shall be held at the ensuing season with the hostile Indians
northwest of the Ohio, in order to remove, if possible, all causes of
difference and to establish a solid peace with them.
As the estimates heretofore presented to the House for the current year
did not contemplate this object, it will be proper that an express
provision be made by law as well for the general expenses of the treaty
as to establish the compensation to be allowed the commissioners who
shall be appointed for the purpose.
I shall therefore direct the Secretary of War to lay before you an
estimate of the expenses which may probably attend this measure.
GEORGE WASHINGTON.
UNITED STATES, _February 27, 1793_.
_Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives_:
I lay before you a copy of an exemplification of an act of the
legislature of New York ceding to the United States the jurisdiction of
certain lands on Montauk Point for the purpose mentioned in said act,
and the copy of a letter from the governor of New York to the Secretary
of State, which accompanied said exemplification.
GEORGE WASHINGTON.
UNITED STATES, _February 28, 1793_.
_Gentlemen of the Senate_:
I was led by a consideration of the qualifications of William Patterson,
of New Jersey, to nominate him an associate justice of the Supreme Court
of the United States. It has since occurred that he was a member of the
Senate when the law creating that office was passed, and that the time
for which he was elected is not yet expired. I think it my duty,
therefore, to declare that I deem the nomination to have been null
by the Constitution.
GEORGE WASHINGTON.
PROCLAMATIONS.
[From Freneau's National Gazette of December 15, 1792.]
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.
Whereas I have received authentic information that certain lawless and
wicked persons of the western frontier in the State of Georgia did
lately invade, burn, and destroy a town belonging to the Cherokee
Nation, although in amity with the United States, and put to death
several Indians of that nation; and
Whereas such outrageous conduct not only violates the rights of
humanity, but also endangers the public peace, and it highly becomes the
honor and good faith of the United States to pursue all legal means for
the punishment of those atrocious offenders:
I have therefore thought fit to issue this my proclamation, hereby
exhorting all the citizens of the United States and requiring all the
officers thereof, according to their respective stations, to use their
utmost endeavors to apprehend and bring those offenders to justice.
And I do moreover offer a reward of $500 for each and every of the
above-named persons who shall be so apprehended and brought to justice
and shall be proved to have assumed or exercised any command or
authority among the perpetrators of the crimes aforesaid at the time
of committing the same.
In testimony whereof I have caused the seal of the United States to be
affixed to these presents, and signed the same with my hand.
[SEAL.]
Done at the city of Philadelphia, the 12th day of December, A.D. 1792,
and of the Independence of the United States the seventeenth.
GEORGE WASHINGTON.
By the President:
THOMAS JEFFERSON.
[From Annuals of Congress, Second Congress, 666.]
MARCH 1, 1793.
_The President of the United States to the President of the Senate_:
Certain matters touching the public good requiring that the Senate
shall be convened on Monday, the 4th instant, I have desired their
attendance, as I do yours, by these presents, at the Senate Chamber, in
Philadelphia, on that day, then and there to receive and deliberate
on such communications as shall be made to you on my part.
GEORGE WASHINGTON.
SECOND INAUGURAL ADDRESS.
IN THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, PA.
Fellow-citizens: I am again called upon by the voice of my country to
execute the functions of its Chief Magistrate. When the occasion proper
for it shall arrive, I shall endeavor to express the high sense I
entertain of this distinguished honor, and of the confidence which has
been reposed in me by the people of united America.
Previous to the execution of any official act of the President the
Constitution requires an oath of office. This oath I am now about
to take, and in your presence: That if it shall be found during my
administration of the Government I have in any instance violated
willingly or knowingly the injunctions thereof, I may (besides incurring
constitutional punishment) be subject to the upbraidings of all who are
now witnesses of the present solemn ceremony.
MARCH 4, 1793.
FIFTH ANNUAL ADDRESS.
PHILADELPHIA, _December 3, 1793_.
_Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and of the House of Representatives_:
Since the commencement of the term for which I have been again
called into office no fit occasion has arisen for expressing to my
fellow-citizens at large the deep and respectful sense which I feel of
the renewed testimony of public approbation. While on the one hand it
awakened my gratitude for all those instances of affectionate partiality
with which I have been honored by my country, on the other it could
not prevent an earnest wish for that retirement from which no private
consideration should ever have torn me. But influenced by the belief
that my conduct would be estimated according to its real motives, and
that the people, and the authorities derived from them, would support
exertions having nothing personal for their object, I have obeyed the
suffrage which commanded me to resume the Executive power; and I humbly
implore that Being on whose will the fate of nations depends to crown
with success our mutual endeavors for the general happiness.
As soon as the war in Europe had embraced those powers with whom the
United States have the most extensive relations there was reason to
apprehend that our intercourse with them might be interrupted and our
disposition for peace drawn into question by the suspicions too often
entertained by belligerent nations. It seemed, therefore, to be my duty
to admonish our citizens of the consequences of a contraband trade and
of hostile acts to any of the parties, and to obtain by a declaration of
the existing legal state of things an easier admission of our right to
the immunities belonging to our situation. Under these impressions the
proclamation which will be laid before you was issued.
In this posture of affairs, both new and delicate, I resolved to adopt
general rules which should conform to the treaties and assert the
privileges of the United States. These were reduced into a system, which
will be communicated to you. Although I have not thought myself at
liberty to forbid the sale of the prizes permitted by our treaty of
commerce with France to be brought into our ports, I have not refused to
cause them to be restored when they were taken within the protection of
our territory, or by vessels commissioned or equipped in a warlike form
within the limits of the United States.
It rests with the wisdom of Congress to correct, improve, or enforce
this plan of procedure; and it will probably be found expedient to
extend the legal code and the jurisdiction of the courts of the United
States to many cases which, though dependent on principles already
recognized, demand some further provisions.
Where individuals shall, within the United States, array themselves
in hostility against any of the powers at war, or enter upon military
expeditions or enterprises within the jurisdiction of the United States,
or usurp and exercise judicial authority within the United States, or
where the penalties on violations of the law of nations may have been
indistinctly marked, or are inadequate--these offenses can not receive
too early and close an attention, and require prompt and decisive
remedies.
Whatsoever those remedies may be, they will be well administered by
the judiciary, who possess a long-established course of investigation,
effectual process, and officers in the habit of executing it.
In like manner, as several of the courts have doubted, under particular
circumstances, their power to liberate the vessels of a nation at peace,
and even of a citizen of the United States, although seized under a
false color of being hostile property, and have denied their power to
liberate certain captures within the protection of our territory, it
would seem proper to regulate their jurisdiction in these points. But if
the Executive is to be the resort in either of the two last-mentioned
cases, it is hoped that he will be authorized by law to have facts
ascertained by the courts when for his own information he shall
request it.
I can not recommend to your notice measures for the fulfillment of our
duties to the rest of the world without again pressing upon you the
necessity of placing ourselves in a condition of complete defense and of
exacting from them the fulfillment of their duties toward us. The United
States ought not to indulge a persuasion that, contrary to the order of
human events, they will forever keep at a distance those painful appeals
to arms with which the history of every other nation abounds. There is
a rank due to the United States among nations which will be withheld,
if not absolutely lost, by the reputation of weakness. If we desire to
avoid insult, we must be able to repel it; if we desire to secure peace,
one of the most powerful instruments of our rising prosperity, it must
be known that we are at all times ready for war. The documents which
will be presented to you will shew the amount and kinds of arms and
military stores now in our magazines and arsenals; and yet an addition
even to these supplies can not with prudence be neglected, as it would
leave nothing to the uncertainty of procuring of warlike apparatus in
the moment of public danger.
Nor can such arrangements, with such objects, be exposed to the censure
or jealousy of the warmest friends of republican government. They are
incapable of abuse in the hands of the militia, who ought to possess
a pride in being the depository of the force of the Republic, and may
be trained to a degree of energy equal to every military exigency of
the United States. But it is an inquiry which can not be too solemnly
pursued, whether the act "more effectually to provide for the national
defense by establishing an uniform militia throughout the United States"
has organized them so as to produce their full effect; whether your own
experience in the several States has not detected some imperfections in
the scheme, and whether a material feature in an improvement of it ought
not to be to afford an opportunity for the study of those branches of
the military art which can scarcely ever be attained by practice alone.
The connection of the United States with Europe has become extremely
interesting. The occurrences which relate to it and have passed under
the knowledge of the Executive will be exhibited to Congress in a
subsequent communication.
When we contemplate the war on our frontiers, it may be truly affirmed
that every reasonable effort has been made to adjust the causes of
dissension with the Indians north of the Ohio. The instructions given
to the commissioners evince a moderation and equity proceeding from a
sincere love of peace, and a liberality having no restriction but the
essential interests and dignity of the United States. The attempt,
however, of an amicable negotiation having been frustrated, the troops
have marched to act offensively. Although the proposed treaty did not
arrest the progress of military preparation, it is doubtful how far the
advance of the season, before good faith justified active movements,
may retard them during the remainder of the year. From the papers and
intelligence which relate to this important subject you will determine
whether the deficiency in the number of troops granted by law shall be
compensated by succors of militia, or additional encouragements shall
be proposed to recruits.
An anxiety has been also demonstrated by the Executive for peace with
the Creeks and the Cherokees. The former have been relieved with corn
and with clothing, and offensive measures against them prohibited
during the recess of Congress. To satisfy the complaints of the latter,
prosecutions have been instituted for the violences committed upon them.
But the papers which will be delivered to you disclose the critical
footing on which we stand in regard to both those tribes, and it is
with Congress to pronounce what shall be done.
After they shall have provided for the present emergency, it will merit
their most serious labors to render tranquillity with the savages
permanent by creating ties of interest. Next to a rigorous execution of
justice on the violators of peace, the establishment of commerce with
the Indian nations in behalf of the United States is most likely to
conciliate their attachment. But it ought to be conducted without fraud,
without extortion, with constant and plentiful supplies, with a ready
market for the commodities of the Indians and a stated price for what
they give in payment and receive in exchange. Individuals will not
pursue such a traffic unless they be allured by the hope of profit; but
it will be enough for the United States to be reimbursed only. Should
this recommendation accord with the opinion of Congress, they will
recollect that it can not be accomplished by any means yet in the hands
of the Executive.
_Gentlemen of the House of Representatives_:
The commissioners charged with the settlement of accounts between the
United States and individual States concluded their important functions
within the time limited by law, and the balances struck in their report,
which will be laid before Congress, have been placed on the books of
the Treasury.
On the 1st day of June last an installment of 1,000,000 florins became
payable on the loans of the United States in Holland. This was adjusted
by a prolongation of the period of reimbursement in nature of a new loan
at an interest of 5 per cent for the term of ten years, and the expenses
of this operation were a commission of 3 per cent.
The first installment of the loan of $2,000,000 from the Bank of the
United States has been paid, as was directed by law. For the second it
is necessary that provision should be made.
No pecuniary consideration is more urgent than the regular redemption
and discharge of the public debt. On none can delay be more injurious
or an economy of time more valuable.
The productiveness of the public revenues hitherto has continued to
equal the anticipations which were formed of it, but it is not expected
to prove commensurate with all the objects which have been suggested.
Some auxiliary provisions will therefore, it is presumed, be requisite,
and it is hoped that these may be made consistently with a due regard to
the convenience of our citizens, who can not but be sensible of the true
wisdom of encountering a small present addition to their contributions
to obviate a future accumulation of burthens.
But here I can not forbear to recommend a repeal of the tax on the
transportation of public prints. There is no resource so firm for the
Government of the United States as the affections of the people, guided
by an enlightened policy; and to this primary good nothing can conduce
more than a faithful representation of public proceedings, diffused
without restraint throughout the United States.
An estimate of the appropriations necessary for the current service of
the ensuing year and a statement of a purchase of arms and military
stores made during the recess will be presented to Congress.
_Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives_:
The several subjects to which I have now referred open a wide range to
your deliberations and involve some of the choicest interests of our
common country. Permit me to bring to your remembrance the magnitude
of your task. Without an unprejudiced coolness the welfare of the
Government may be hazarded; without harmony as far as consists with
freedom of sentiment its dignity may be lost. But as the legislative
proceedings of the United States will never, I trust, be reproached
for the want of temper or of candor, so shall not the public happiness
languish from the want of my strenuous and warmest cooperation.
GEORGE WASHINGTON.
ADDRESS OF THE SENATE TO GEORGE WASHINGTON, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED
STATES.
The PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES:
Accept, sir, the thanks of the Senate for your speech delivered to both
Houses of Congress at the opening of the session. Your reelection to
the Chief Magistracy of the United States gives us sincere pleasure.
We consider it as an event every way propitious to the happiness of
our country, and your compliance with the call as a fresh instance of
the patriotism which has so repeatedly led you to sacrifice private
inclination to the public good. In the unanimity which a second time
marks this important national act we trace with particular satisfaction,
besides the distinguished tribute paid to the virtues and abilities
which it recognizes, another proof of that just discernment and
constancy of sentiments and views which have hitherto characterized
the citizens of the United States.
As the European powers with whom the United States have the most
extensive relations were involved in war, in which we had taken no part,
it seemed necessary that the disposition of the nation for peace should
be promulgated to the world, as well for the purpose of admonishing our
citizens of the consequences of a contraband trade and of acts hostile
to any of the belligerent parties as to obtain by a declaration of the
existing legal state of things an easier admission of our right to the
immunities of our situation. We therefore contemplate with pleasure the
proclamation by you issued, and give it our hearty approbation. We deem
it a measure well timed and wise, manifesting a watchful solicitude for
the welfare of the nation and calculated to promote it.
The several important matters presented to our consideration will, in
the course of the session, engage all the attention to which they are
respectively entitled, and as the public happiness will be the sole
guide of our deliberations, we are perfectly assured of receiving your
strenuous and most zealous cooperation.
JOHN ADAMS,
_Vice-President of the United States and President of the Senate_.
DECEMBER 9, 1793.
REPLY OF THE PRESIDENT.
GENTLEMEN: The pleasure expressed by the Senate on my reelection to the
station which I fill commands my sincere and warmest acknowledgments. If
this be an event which promises the smallest addition to the happiness
of our country, as it is my duty so shall it be my study to realize the
expectation.
The decided approbation which the proclamation now receives from your
House, by completing the proofs that this measure is considered as
manifesting a vigilant attention to the welfare of the United States,
brings with it a peculiar gratification to my mind.
The other important subjects which have been communicated to you will,
I am confident, receive a due discussion, and the result will, I trust,
prove fortunate to the United States.
GEORGE WASHINGTON.
DECEMBER 10, 1793.
ADDRESS OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TO GEORGE WASHINGTON, PRESIDENT
OF THE UNITED STATES.
SIR: The Representatives of the people of the United States, in meeting
you for the first time since you have been again called by an unanimous
suffrage to your present station, find an occasion which they embrace
with no less sincerity than promptitude for expressing to you their
congratulations on so distinguished a testimony of public approbation,
and their entire confidence in the purity and patriotism of the motives
which have produced this obedience to the voice of your country. It
is to virtues which have commanded long and universal reverence and
services from which have flowed great and lasting benefits that the
tribute of praise may be paid without the reproach of flattery, and it
is from the same sources that the fairest anticipations may be derived
in favor of the public happiness.
The United States having taken no part in the war which had embraced
in Europe the powers with whom they have the most extensive relations,
the maintenance of peace was justly to be regarded as one of the most
important duties of the Magistrate charged with the faithful execution
of the laws. We accordingly witness with approbation and pleasure
the vigilance with which you have guarded against an interruption of
that blessing by your proclamation admonishing our citizens of the
consequences of illicit or hostile acts toward the belligerent parties,
and promoting by a declaration of the existing legal state of things
an easier admission of our right to the immunities belonging to our
situation.