WASHINGTON, _December, 1843_.
_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_:
If any people ever had cause to render up thanks to the Supreme Being
for parental care and protection extended to them in all the trials
and difficulties to which they have been from time to time exposed, we
certainly are that people. From the first settlement of our forefathers
on this continent, through the dangers attendant upon the occupation
of a savage wilderness, through a long period of colonial dependence,
through the War of the Revolution, in the wisdom which led to the
adoption of the existing forms of republican government, in the hazards
incident to a war subsequently waged with one of the most powerful
nations of the earth, in the increase of our population, in the spread
of the arts and sciences, and in the strength and durability conferred
on political institutions emanating from the people and sustained by
their will, the superintendence of an overruling Providence has been
plainly visible. As preparatory, therefore, to entering once more upon
the high duties of legislation, it becomes us humbly to acknowledge
our dependence upon Him as our guide and protector and to implore a
continuance of His parental watchfulness over our beloved country. We
have new cause for the expression of our gratitude in the preservation
of the health of our fellow-citizens, with some partial and local
exceptions, during the past season, for the abundance with which the
earth has yielded up its fruits to the labors of the husbandman, for the
renewed activity which has been imparted to commerce, for the revival of
trade in all its departments, for the increased rewards attendant on
the exercise of the mechanic arts, for the continued growth of our
population and the rapidly reviving prosperity of the whole country.
I shall be permitted to exchange congratulations with you, gentlemen of
the two Houses of Congress, on these auspicious circumstances, and to
assure you in advance of my ready disposition to concur with you in the
adoption of all such measures as shall be calculated to increase the
happiness of our constituents and to advance the glory of our common
country.
Since the last adjournment of Congress the Executive has relaxed no
effort to render indestructible the relations of amity which so happily
exist between the United States and other countries. The treaty lately
concluded with Great Britain has tended greatly to increase the good
understanding which a reciprocity of interests is calculated to
encourage, and it is most ardently to be hoped that nothing may
transpire to interrupt the relations of amity which it is so obviously
the policy of both nations to cultivate. A question of much importance
still remains to be adjusted between them. The territorial limits of the
two countries in relation to what is commonly known as the Oregon
Territory still remain in dispute. The United States would be at all
times indisposed to aggrandize itself at the expense of any other
nation; but while they would be restrained by principles of honor, which
should govern the conduct of nations as well as that of individuals,
from setting up a demand for territory which does not belong to them,
they would as unwillingly consent to a surrender of their rights. After
the most rigid and, as far as practicable, unbiased examination of the
subject, the United States have always contended that their rights
appertain to the entire region of country lying on the Pacific and
embraced within 42° and 54° 40' of north latitude. This claim being
controverted by Great Britain, those who have preceded the present
Executive--actuated, no doubt, by an earnest desire to adjust the matter
upon terms mutually satisfactory to both countries--have caused to be
submitted to the British Government propositions for settlement and
final adjustment, which, however, have not proved heretofore acceptable
to it. Our minister at London has, under instructions, again brought the
subject to the consideration of that Government, and while nothing will
be done to compromit the rights or honor of the United States, every
proper expedient will be resorted to in order to bring the negotiation
now in the progress of resumption to a speedy and happy termination. In
the meantime it is proper to remark that many of our citizens are either
already established in the Territory or are on their way thither for the
purpose of forming permanent settlements, while others are preparing
to follow; and in view of these facts I must repeat the recommendation
contained in previous messages for the establishment of military posts
at such places on the line of travel as will furnish security and
protection to our hardy adventurers against hostile tribes of Indians
inhabiting those extensive regions. Our laws should also follow them, so
modified as the circumstances of the case may seem to require. Under the
influence of our free system of government new republics are destined
to spring up at no distant day on the shores of the Pacific similar
in policy and in feeling to those existing on this side of the Rocky
Mountains, and giving a wider and more extensive spread to the
principles of civil and religious liberty.
I am happy to inform you that the cases which have from time to time
arisen of the detention of American vessels by British cruisers on the
coast of Africa under pretense of being engaged in the slave trade have
been placed in a fair train of adjustment. In the case of the _William
and Francis_ full satisfaction will be allowed. In the cases of the
_Tygris_ and _Seamew_ the British Government admits that satisfaction
is due. In the case of the _Jones_ the sum accruing from the sale
of that vessel and cargo will be paid to the owners, while I can not
but flatter myself that full indemnification will be allowed for all
damages sustained by the detention of the vessel; and in the case of the
_Douglas_ Her Majesty's Government has expressed its determination to
make indemnification. Strong hopes are therefore entertained that most,
if not all, of these cases will be speedily adjusted. No new cases have
arisen since the ratification of the treaty of Washington, and it is
confidently anticipated that the slave trade, under the operation of
the eighth article of that treaty, will be altogether suppressed.
The occasional interruption experienced by our fellow-citizens engaged
in the fisheries on the neighboring coast of Nova Scotia has not failed
to claim the attention of the Executive. Representations upon this
subject have been made, but as yet no definitive answer to those
representations has been received from the British Government.
Two other subjects of comparatively minor importance, but nevertheless
of too much consequence to be neglected, remain still to be adjusted
between the two countries. By the treaty between the United States and
Great Britain of July, 1815, it is provided that no higher duties shall
be levied in either country on articles imported from the other than on
the same articles imported from any other place. In 1836 rough rice by
act of Parliament was admitted from the coast of Africa into Great
Britain on the payment of a duty of 1 penny a quarter, while the same
article from all other countries, including the United States, was
subjected to the payment of a duty of 20 shillings a quarter. Our
minister at London has from time to time brought this subject to the
attention of the British Government, but so far without success. He is
instructed to renew his representations upon it.
Some years since a claim was preferred against the British Government on
the part of certain American merchants for the return of export duties
paid by them on shipments of woolen goods to the United States after the
duty on similar articles exported to other countries had been repealed,
and consequently in contravention of the commercial convention between
the two nations securing to us equality in such cases. The principle on
which the claim rests has long since been virtually admitted by Great
Britain, but obstacles to a settlement have from time to time been
interposed, so that a large portion of the amount claimed has not yet
been refunded. Our minister is now engaged in the prosecution of the
claim, and I can not but persuade myself that the British Government
will no longer delay its adjustment.
I am happy to be able to say that nothing has occurred to disturb in any
degree the relations of amity which exist between the United States and
France, Austria, and Russia, as well as with the other powers of Europe,
since the adjournment of Congress. Spain has been agitated with internal
convulsions for many years, from the effects of which, it is hoped, she
is destined speedily to recover, when, under a more liberal system of
commercial policy on her part, our trade with her may again fill its old
and, so far as her continental possessions are concerned, its almost
forsaken channels, thereby adding to the mutual prosperity of the two
countries.
The Germanic Association of Customs and Commerce, which since its
establishment in 1833 has been steadily growing in power and importance,
and consists at this time of more than twenty German States, and
embraces a population of 27,000,000 people united for all the purposes
of commercial intercourse with each other and with foreign states,
offers to the latter the most valuable exchanges on principles more
liberal than are offered in the fiscal system of any other European
power. From its origin the importance of the German union has never been
lost sight of by the United States. The industry, morality, and other
valuable qualities of the German nation have always been well known and
appreciated. On this subject I invite the attention of Congress to the
report of the Secretary of State, from which it will be seen that while
our cotton is admitted free of duty and the duty on rice has been much
reduced (which has already led to a greatly increased consumption),
a strong disposition has been recently evinced by that great body to
reduce, upon certain conditions, their present duty upon tobacco. This
being the first intimation of a concession on this interesting subject
ever made by any European power, I can not but regard it as well
calculated to remove the only impediment which has so far existed to
the most liberal commercial intercourse between us and them. In this
view our minister at Berlin, who has heretofore industriously pursued
the subject, has been instructed to enter upon the negotiation of a
commercial treaty, which, while it will open new advantages to the
agricultural interests of the United States and a more free and expanded
field for commercial operations, will affect injuriously no existing
interest of the Union. Should the negotiation be crowned with success,
its results will be communicated to both Houses of Congress.
I communicate herewith certain dispatches received from our minister at
Mexico, and also a correspondence which has recently occurred between
the envoy from that Republic and the Secretary of State. It must but be
regarded as not a little extraordinary that the Government of Mexico,
in anticipation of a public discussion (which it has been pleased to
infer from newspaper publications as likely to take place in Congress,
relating to the annexation of Texas to the United States), should have
so far anticipated the result of such discussion as to have announced
its determination to visit any such anticipated decision by a formal
declaration of war against the United States. If designed to prevent
Congress from introducing that question as a fit subject for its calm
deliberation and final judgment, the Executive has no reason to doubt
that it will entirely fail of its object. The representatives of a brave
and patriotic people will suffer no apprehension of future consequences
to embarrass them in the course of their proposed deliberations, nor
will the executive department of the Government fail for any such cause
to discharge its whole duty to the country.
The war which has existed for so long a time between Mexico and Texas
has since the battle of San Jacinto consisted for the most part of
predatory incursions, which, while they have been attended with much of
suffering to individuals and have kept the borders of the two countries
in a state of constant alarm, have failed to approach to any definitive
result. Mexico has fitted out no formidable armament by land or by sea
for the subjugation of Texas. Eight years have now elapsed since Texas
declared her independence of Mexico, and during that time she has been
recognized as a sovereign power by several of the principal civilized
states. Mexico, nevertheless, perseveres in her plans of reconquest, and
refuses to recognize her independence. The predatory incursions to which
I have alluded have been attended in one instance with the breaking up
of the courts of justice, by the seizing upon the persons of the judges,
jury, and officers of the court and dragging them along with unarmed,
and therefore noncombatant, citizens into a cruel and oppressive
bondage, thus leaving crime to go unpunished and immorality to pass
unreproved. A border warfare is evermore to be deprecated, and over such
a war as has existed for so many years between these two States humanity
has had great cause to lament. Nor is such a condition of things to be
deplored only because of the individual suffering attendant upon it. The
effects are far more extensive. The Creator of the Universe has given
man the earth for his resting place and its fruits for his subsistence.
Whatever, therefore, shall make the first or any part of it a scene of
desolation affects injuriously his heritage and may be regarded as a
general calamity. Wars may sometimes be necessary, but all nations have
a common interest in bringing them speedily to a close. The United
States have an immediate interest in seeing an end put to the state of
hostilities existing between Mexico and Texas. They are our neighbors,
of the same continent, with whom we are not only desirous of cultivating
the relations of amity, but of the most extended commercial intercourse,
and to practice all the rites of a neighborhood hospitality. Our own
interests are involved in the matter, since, however neutral may be our
course of policy, we can not hope to escape the effects of a spirit of
jealousy on the part of both of the powers. Nor can this Government be
indifferent to the fact that a warfare such as is waged between those
two nations is calculated to weaken both powers and finally to render
them--and especially the weaker of the two--the subjects of interference
on the part of stronger and more powerful nations, who, intent only on
advancing their own peculiar views, may sooner or later attempt to bring
about a compliance with terms as the condition of their interposition
alike derogatory to the nation granting them and detrimental to the
interests of the United States. We could not be expected quietly to
permit any such interference to our disadvantage. Considering that Texas
is separated from the United States by a mere geographical line; that
her territory, in the opinion of many, down to a late period formed a
portion of the territory of the United States; that it is homogeneous
in its population and pursuits with the adjoining States, makes
contributions to the commerce of the world in the same articles with
them, and that most of her inhabitants have been citizens of the United
States, speak the same language, and live under similar political
institutions with ourselves, this Government is bound by every
consideration of interest as well as of sympathy to see that she shall
be left free to act, especially in regard to her domestic affairs,
unawed by force and unrestrained by the policy or views of other
countries. In full view of all these considerations, the Executive has
not hesitated to express to the Government of Mexico how deeply it
deprecated a continuance of the war and how anxiously it desired to
witness its termination. I can not but think that it becomes the United
States, as the oldest of the American Republics, to hold a language to
Mexico upon this subject of an unambiguous character. It is time that
this war had ceased. There must be a limit to all wars, and if the
parent state after an eight years' struggle has failed to reduce to
submission a portion of its subjects standing out in revolt against it,
and who have not only proclaimed themselves to be independent, but have
been recognized as such by other powers, she ought not to expect that
other nations will quietly look on, to their obvious injury, upon a
protraction of hostilities. These United States threw off their colonial
dependence and established independent governments, and Great Britain,
after having wasted her energies in the attempt to subdue them for a
less period than Mexico has attempted to subjugate Texas, had the wisdom
and justice to acknowledge their independence, thereby recognizing the
obligation which rested on her as one of the family of nations. An
example thus set by one of the proudest as well as most powerful nations
of the earth it could in no way disparage Mexico to imitate. While,
therefore, the Executive would deplore any collision with Mexico or
any disturbance of the friendly relations which exist between the two
countries, it can not permit that Government to control its policy,
whatever it may be, toward Texas, but will treat her--as by the
recognition of her independence the United States have long since
declared they would do--as entirely independent of Mexico. The high
obligations of public duty may enforce from the constituted authorities
of the United States a policy which the course persevered in by Mexico
will have mainly contributed to produce, and the Executive in such a
contingency will with confidence throw itself upon the patriotism of
the people to sustain the Government in its course of action.
Measures of an unusual character have recently been adopted by the
Mexican Government, calculated in no small degree to affect the trade
of other nations with Mexico and to operate injuriously to the United
States. All foreigners, by a decree of the 23d day of September, and
after six months from the day of its promulgation, are forbidden to
carry on the business of selling by retail any goods within the confines
of Mexico. Against this decree our minister has not failed to
remonstrate.
The trade heretofore carried on by our citizens with Santa Fe,
in which much capital was already invested and which was becoming of
daily increasing importance, has suddenly been arrested by a decree of
virtual prohibition on the part of the Mexican Government. Whatever may
be the right of Mexico to prohibit any particular course of trade to the
citizens or subjects of foreign powers, this late procedure, to say the
least of it, wears a harsh and unfriendly aspect.
The installments on the claims recently settled by the convention with
Mexico have been punctually paid as they have fallen due, and our
minister is engaged in urging the establishment of a new commission in
pursuance of the convention for the settlement of unadjusted claims.
With the other American States our relations of amity and good will have
remained uninterrupted. Our minister near the Republic of New Granada
has succeeded in effecting an adjustment of the claim upon that
Government for the schooner _By Chance_, which had been pending for many
years. The claim for the brig _Morris_, which had its origin during the
existence of the Republic of Colombia, and indemnification for which
since the dissolution of that Republic has devolved upon its several
members, will be urged with renewed zeal.
I have much pleasure in saying that the Government of Brazil has
adjusted the claim upon that Government in the case of the schooner
_John S. Bryan_, and that sanguine hopes are entertained that the same
spirit of justice will influence its councils in arriving at an early
decision upon the remaining claims, thereby removing all cause of
dissension between two powers whose interests are to some extent
interwoven with each other.
Our minister at Chili has succeeded in inducing a recognition by that
Government of the adjustment effected by his predecessor of the first
claim in the case of the _Macedonian_. The first installment has been
received by the claimants in the United States.
Notice of the exchange of ratifications of the treaty with Peru, which
will take place at Lima, has not yet reached this country, but is
shortly expected to be received, when the claims upon that Republic will
doubtless be liquidated and paid.
In consequence of a misunderstanding between this Government and that of
Buenos Ayres, occurring several years ago, this Government has remained
unrepresented at that Court, while a minister from it has been
constantly resident here. The causes of irritation have in a great
measure passed away, and it is in contemplation, in view of important
interests which have grown up in that country, at some early period
during the present session of Congress, with the concurrence of the
Senate, to restore diplomatic relations between the two countries.
Under the provisions of an act of Congress of the last session a
minister was dispatched from the United States to China in August of the
present year, who, from the latest accounts we have from him, was at
Suez, in Egypt, on the 25th of September last, on his route to China.
In regard to the Indian tribes residing within our jurisdictional
limits, the greatest vigilance of the Government has been exerted to
preserve them at peace among themselves and to inspire them with
feelings of confidence in the justice of this Government and to
cultivate friendship with the border inhabitants. This has happily
succeeded to a great extent, but it is a subject of regret that they
suffer themselves in some instances to be imposed upon by artful and
designing men, and this notwithstanding all efforts of the Government
to prevent it.
The receipts into the Treasury for the calendar year 1843, exclusive
of loans, were little more than $18,000,000, and the expenditures,
exclusive of the payments on the public debt, will have been about
$23,000,000. By the act of 1842 a new arrangement of the fiscal year was
made, so that it should commence on the 1st day of July in each year.
The accounts and estimates for the current fiscal year will show that
the loans and Treasury notes made and issued before the close of the
last Congress to meet the anticipated deficiency have not been entirely
adequate. Although on the 1st of October last there was a balance in the
Treasury, in consequence of the provisions thus made, of $3,914,082.77,
yet the appropriations already made by Congress will absorb that balance
and leave a probable deficiency of $2,000,000 at the close of the
present fiscal year. There are outstanding Treasury notes to about the
amount of $4,600,000, and should they be returned upon the Treasury
during the fiscal year they will require provision for their redemption.
I do not, however, regard this as probable, since they have obviously
entered into the currency of the country and will continue to form a
portion of it if the system now adopted be continued. The loan of 1841,
amounting to $5,672,976.88, falls due on the 1st day of January, 1845,
and must be provided for or postponed by a new loan; and unless the
resources of revenue should be materially increased by you there will be
a probable deficiency for the service of the fiscal year ending June 30,
1845, of upward of $4,000,000.
The delusion incident to an enormously excessive paper circulation,
which gave a fictitious value to everything and stimulated adventure and
speculation to an extravagant extent, has been happily succeeded by the
substitution of the precious metals and paper promptly redeemable in
specie; and thus false values have disappeared and a sounder condition
of things has been introduced. This transition, although intimately
connected with the prosperity of the country, has nevertheless been
attended with much embarrassment to the Government in its financial
concerns. So long as the foreign importers could receive payment for
their cargoes in a currency of greatly less value than that in Europe,
but fully available here in the purchase of our agricultural productions
(their profits being immeasurably augmented by the operation), the
shipments were large and the revenues of the Government became
superabundant. But the change in the character of the circulation from a
nominal and apparently real value in the first stage of its existence
to an obviously depreciated value in its second, so that it no longer
answered the purposes of exchange or barter, and its ultimate
substitution by a sound metallic and paper circulation combined, has
been attended by diminished importations and a consequent falling off
in the revenue. This has induced Congress, from 1837, to resort to the
expedient of issuing Treasury notes, and finally of funding them, in
order to supply deficiencies. I can not, however, withhold the remark
that it is in no way compatible with the dignity of the Government that
a public debt should be created in time of peace to meet the current
expenses of the Government, or that temporary expedients should be
resorted to an hour longer than it is possible to avoid them. The
Executive can do no more than apply the means which Congress places in
its hands for the support of Government, and, happily for the good of
the country and for the preservation of its liberties, it possesses
no power to levy exactions on the people or to force from them
contributions to the public revenue in any form. It can only recommend
such measures as may in its opinion be called for by the wants of the
public service to Congress, with whom alone rests the power to "lay and
collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises." This duty has upon several
occasions heretofore been performed. The present condition of things
gives flattering promise that trade and commerce are rapidly reviving,
and, fortunately for the country, the sources of revenue have only to
be opened in order to prove abundant.
While we can anticipate no considerable increase in the proceeds of the
sales of the public lands, for reasons perfectly obvious to all, for
several years to come, yet the public lands can not otherwise than be
regarded as the foundation of the public credit. With so large a body
of the most fertile lands in the world under the control and at the
disposal of this Government, no one can reasonably doubt the entire
ability to meet its engagements under every emergency. In seasons of
trial and difficulty similar to those through which we are passing the
capitalist makes his investments in the Government stocks with the most
assured confidence of ultimate reimbursement; and whatever may be said
of a period of great financial prosperity, such as existed for some
years after 1833, I should regard it as suicidal in a season of
financial embarrassment either to alienate the lands themselves or the
proceeds arising from their sales. The first and paramount duty of those
to whom may be intrusted the administration of public affairs is to
guard the public credit. In reestablishing the credit of this central
Government the readiest and most obvious mode is taken to restore
the credit of the States. The extremities can only be made sound by
producing a healthy action in the central Government, and the history of
the present day fully establishes the fact that an increase in the value
of the stocks of this Government will in a great majority of instances
be attended by an increase in the value of the stocks of the States. It
should therefore be a matter of general congratulation that amidst all
the embarrassments arising from surrounding circumstances the credit
of the Government should have been so fully restored that it has been
enabled to effect a loan of $7,000,000 to redeem that amount of Treasury
notes on terms more favorable than any that have been offered for many
years. And the 6 per cent stock which was created in 1842 has advanced
in the hands of the holders nearly 20 per cent above its par value. The
confidence of the people in the integrity of their Government has thus
been signally manifested. These opinions relative to the public lands
do not in any manner conflict with the observance of the most liberal
policy toward those of our fellow-citizens who press forward into the
wilderness and are the pioneers in the work of its reclamation. In
securing to all such their rights of preemption the Government performs
but an act of retributive justice for sufferings encountered and
hardships endured, and finds ample remuneration in the comforts which
its policy insures and the happiness which it imparts.
Should a revision of the tariff with a view to revenue become necessary
in the estimation of Congress, I doubt not you will approach the subject
with a just and enlightened regard to the interests of the whole Union.
The principles and views which I have heretofore had occasion to submit
remain unchanged. It can, however, never be too often repeated that the
prominent interest of every important pursuit of life requires for
success permanency and stability in legislation. These can only be
attained by adopting as the basis of action moderation in all things,
which is as indispensably necessary to secure the harmonious action of
the political as of the animal system. In our political organization no
one section of the country should desire to have its supposed interests
advanced at the sacrifice of all others, but union, being the great
interest, equally precious to all, should be fostered and sustained by
mutual concessions and the cultivation of that spirit of compromise from
which the Constitution itself proceeded.
You will be informed by the report from the Treasury Department of the
measures taken under the act of the last session authorizing the reissue
of Treasury notes in lieu of those then outstanding. The system adopted
in pursuance of existing laws seems well calculated to save the country
a large amount of interest, while it affords conveniences and obviates
dangers and expense in the transmission of funds to disbursing agents.
I refer you also to that report for the means proposed by the Secretary
to increase the revenue, and particularly to that portion of it which
relates to the subject of the warehousing system, which I earnestly
urged upon Congress at its last session and as to the importance of
which my opinion has undergone no change.
In view of the disordered condition of the currency at the time and
the high rates of exchange between different parts of the country,
I felt it to be incumbent on me to present to the consideration of
your predecessors a proposition conflicting in no degree with the
Constitution or with the rights of the States and having the sanction
(not in detail, but in principle) of some of the eminent men who have
preceded me in the Executive office. That proposition contemplated the
issuing of Treasury notes of denominations of not less than $5 nor more
than $100, to be employed in the payment of the obligations of the
Government in lieu of gold and silver at the option of the public
creditor, and to an amount not exceeding $15,000,000. It was proposed
to make them receivable everywhere and to establish at various points
depositories of gold and silver to be held in trust for the redemption
of such notes, so as to insure their convertibility into specie. No
doubt was entertained that such notes would have maintained a par value
with gold and silver, thus furnishing a paper currency of equal value
over the Union, thereby meeting the just expectations of the people and
fulfilling the duties of a parental government. Whether the depositories
should be permitted to sell or purchase bills under very limited
restrictions, together with all its other details, was submitted to
the wisdom of Congress and was regarded as of secondary importance.
I thought then and think now that such an arrangement would have been
attended with the happiest results. The whole matter of the currency
would have been placed where by the Constitution it was designed to be
placed--under the immediate supervision and control of Congress.
The action of the Government would have been independent of all
corporations, and the same eye which rests unceasingly on the specie
currency and guards it against adulteration would also have rested on
the paper currency, to control and regulate its issues and protect it
against depreciation. The same reasons which would forbid Congress from
parting with the power over the coinage would seem to operate with
nearly equal force in regard to any substitution for the precious metals
in the form of a circulating medium. Paper when substituted for specie
constitutes a standard of value by which the operations of society are
regulated, and whatsoever causes its depreciation affects society to an
extent nearly, if not quite, equal to the adulteration of the coin. Nor
can I withhold the remark that its advantages contrasted with a bank
of the United States, apart from the fact that a bank was esteemed as
obnoxious to the public sentiment as well on the score of expediency
as of constitutionalty, appeared to me to be striking and obvious.
The relief which a bank would afford by an issue of $15,000,000 of its
notes, judging from the experience of the late United States Bank, would
not have occurred in less than fifteen years, whereas under the proposed
arrangement the relief arising from the issue of $15,000,000 of Treasury
notes would have been consummated in one year, thus furnishing in
one-fifteenth part of the time in which a bank could have accomplished
it a paper medium of exchange equal in amount to the real wants of the
country at par value with gold and silver. The saving to the Government
would have been equal to all the interest which it has had to pay on
Treasury notes of previous as well as subsequent issues, thereby
relieving the Government and at the same time affording relief to the
people. Under all the responsibilities attached to the station which
I occupy, and in redemption of a pledge given to the last Congress
at the close of its first session, I submitted the suggestion to its
consideration at two consecutive sessions. The recommendation, however,
met with no favor at its hands. While I am free to admit that the
necessities of the times have since become greatly ameliorated and that
there is good reason to hope that the country is safely and rapidly
emerging from the difficulties and embarrassments which everywhere
surrounded it in 1841, yet I can not but think that its restoration to
a sound and healthy condition would be greatly expedited by a resort
to the expedient in a modified form.
The operations of the Treasury now rest upon the act of 1789 and the
resolution of 1816, and those laws have been so administered as to
produce as great a quantum of good to the country as their provisions
are capable of yielding. If there had been any distinct expression of
opinion going to show that public sentiment is averse to the plan,
either as heretofore recommended to Congress or in a modified form,
while my own opinion in regard to it would remain unchanged I should be
very far from again presenting it to your consideration. The Government
has originated with the States and the people, for their own benefit and
advantage, and it would be subversive of the foundation principles of
the political edifice which they have reared to persevere in a measure
which in their mature judgments they had either repudiated or condemned.
The will of our constituents clearly expressed should be regarded as the
light to guide our footsteps, the true difference between a monarchical
or aristocratical government and a republic being that in the first the
will of the few prevails over the will of the many, while in the last
the will of the many should be alone consulted.
The report of the Secretary of War will bring you acquainted with the
condition of that important branch of the public service. The Army may
be regarded, in consequence of the small number of the rank and file in
each company and regiment, as little more than a nucleus around which
to rally the military force of the country in case of war, and yet
its services in preserving the peace of the frontiers are of a most
important nature. In all cases of emergency the reliance of the country
is properly placed in the militia of the several States, and it may well
deserve the consideration of Congress whether a new and more perfect
organization might not be introduced, looking mainly to the volunteer
companies of the Union for the present and of easy application to the
great body of the militia in time of war.
The expenditures of the War Department have been considerably reduced in
the last two years. Contingencies, however, may arise which would call
for the filling up of the regiments with a full complement of men and
make it very desirable to remount the corps of dragoons, which by an act
of the last Congress was directed to be dissolved.
I refer you to the accompanying report of the Secretary for information
in relation to the Navy of the United States. While every effort has
been and will continue to be made to retrench all superfluities and lop
off all excrescences which from time to time may have grown up, yet it
has not been regarded as wise or prudent to recommend any material
change in the annual appropriations. The interests which are involved
are of too important a character to lead to the recommendation of any
other than a liberal policy. Adequate appropriations ought to be made to
enable the Executive to fit out all the ships that are now in a course
of building or that require repairs for active service in the shortest
possible time should any emergency arise which may require it. An
efficient navy, while it is the cheapest means of public defense,
enlists in its support the feelings of pride and confidence which
brilliant deeds and heroic valor have heretofore served to strengthen
and confirm.
I refer you particularly to that part of the Secretary's report which
has reference to recent experiments in the application of steam and in
the construction of our war steamers, made under the superintendence
of distinguished officers of the Navy. In addition to other manifest
improvements in the construction of the steam engine and application of
the motive power which has rendered them more appropriate to the uses of
ships of war, one of those officers has brought into use a power which
makes the steamship most formidable either for attack or defense. I can
not too strongly recommend this subject to your consideration and do not
hesitate to express my entire conviction of its great importance.
I call your particular attention also to that portion of the Secretary's
report which has reference to the act of the late session of Congress
which prohibited the transfer of any balance of appropriation from other
heads of appropriation to that for building, equipment, and repair.
The repeal of that prohibition will enable the Department to give
renewed employment to a large class of workmen who have been necessarily
discharged in consequence of the want of means to pay them--a
circumstance attended, especially at this season of the year, with much
privation and suffering.
It gives me great pain to announce to you the loss of the steamship
the _Missouri_ by fire in the Bay of Gibraltar, where she had stopped
to renew her supplies of coal on her voyage to Alexandria, with Mr.
Cushing, the American minister to China, on board. There is ground
for high commendation of the officers and men for the coolness and
intrepidity and perfect submission to discipline evinced under the most
trying circumstances. Surrounded by a raging fire, which the utmost
exertions could not subdue, and which threatened momentarily the
explosion of her well-supplied magazines, the officers exhibited no
signs of fear and the men obeyed every order with alacrity. Nor was she
abandoned until the last gleam of hope of saving her had expired. It is
well worthy of your consideration whether the losses sustained by the
officers and crew in this unfortunate affair should not be reimbursed
to them.
I can not take leave of this painful subject without adverting to the
aid rendered upon the occasion by the British authorities at Gibraltar
and the commander, officers, and crew of the British ship of the line
the _Malabar_, which was lying at the time in the bay. Everything that
generosity or humanity could dictate was promptly performed. It is by
such acts of good will by one to another of the family of nations that
fraternal feelings are nourished and the blessings of permanent peace
secured.
The report of the Postmaster-General will bring you acquainted with the
operations of that Department during the past year, and will suggest
to you such modifications of the existing laws as in your opinion
the exigencies of the public service may require. The change which
the country has undergone of late years in the mode of travel and
transportation has afforded so many facilities for the transmission of
mail matter out of the regular mail as to require the greatest vigilance
and circumspection in order to enable the officer at the head of the
Department to restrain the expenditures within the income. There is also
too much reason to fear that the franking privilege has run into great
abuse. The Department, nevertheless, has been conducted with the
greatest vigor, and has attained at the least possible expense all the
useful objects for which it was established.
In regard to all the Departments, I am quite happy in the belief that
nothing has been left undone which was called for by a true spirit of
economy or by a system of accountability rigidly enforced. This is in
some degree apparent from the fact that the Government has sustained no
loss by the default of any of its agents. In the complex, but at the
same time beautiful, machinery of our system of government, it is not
a matter of surprise that some remote agency may have failed for an
instant to fulfill its desired office; but I feel confident in the
assertion that nothing has occurred to interrupt the harmonious action
of the Government itself, and that, while the laws have been executed
with efficiency and vigor, the rights neither of States nor individuals
have been trampled on or disregarded.
In the meantime the country has been steadily advancing in all that
contributes to national greatness. The tide of population continues
unbrokenly to flow into the new States and Territories, where a refuge
is found not only for our native-born fellow-citizens, but for emigrants
from all parts of the civilized world, who come among us to partake of
the blessings of our free institutions and to aid by their labor to
swell the current of our wealth and power.
It is due to every consideration of public policy that the lakes and
rivers of the West should receive all such attention at the hands
of Congress as the Constitution will enable it to bestow. Works in
favorable and proper situations on the Lakes would be found to be as
indispensably necessary, in case of war, to carry on safe and successful
naval operations as fortifications on the Atlantic seaboard. The
appropriation made by the last Congress for the improvement of the
navigation of the Mississippi River has been diligently and efficiently
applied.
I can not close this communication, gentlemen, without recommending
to your most favorable consideration the interests of this District.
Appointed by the Constitution its exclusive legislators, and forming
in this particular the only anomaly in our system of government--of the
legislative body being elected by others than those for whose advantage
they are to legislate--you will feel a superadded obligation to look
well into their condition and to leave no cause for complaint or regret.
The seat of Government of our associated republics can not but be
regarded as worthy of your parental care.
In connection with its other interests, as well as those of the whole
country, I recommend that at your present session you adopt such
measures in order to carry into effect the Smithsonian bequest as in
your judgment will be best calculated to consummate the liberal intent
of the testator.
When, under a dispensation of Divine Providence, I succeeded to the
Presidential office, the state of public affairs was embarrassing and
critical. To add to the irritation consequent upon a long-standing
controversy with one of the most powerful nations of modern times,
involving not only questions of boundary (which under the most favorable
circumstances are always embarrassing), but at the same time important
and high principles of maritime law, border controversies between
the citizens and subjects of the two countries had engendered a
state of feeling and of conduct which threatened the most calamitous
consequences. The hazards incident to this state of things were greatly
heightened by the arrest and imprisonment of a subject of Great Britain,
who, acting (as it was alleged) as a part of a military force, had aided
in the commission of an act violative of the territorial jurisdiction of
the United States and involving the murder of a citizen of the State of
New York. A large amount of claims against the Government of Mexico
remained unadjusted and a war of several years' continuance with the
savage tribes of Florida still prevailed, attended with the desolation
of a large portion of that beautiful Territory and with the sacrifice of
many valuable lives. To increase the embarrassments of the Government,
individual and State credit had been nearly stricken down and confidence
in the General Government was so much impaired that loans of a small
amount could only be negotiated at a considerable sacrifice. As a
necessary consequence of the blight which had fallen on commerce and
mechanical industry, the ships of the one were thrown out of employment
and the operations of the other had been greatly diminished. Owing to
the condition of the currency, exchanges between different parts of
the country had become ruinously high and trade had to depend on a
depreciated paper currency in conducting its transactions. I shall
be permitted to congratulate the country that under an overruling
Providence peace was preserved without a sacrifice of the national
honor; the war in Florida was brought to a speedy termination; a large
portion of the claims on Mexico have been fully adjudicated and are in
a course of payment, while justice has been rendered to us in other
matters by other nations; confidence between man and man is in a great
measure restored and the credit of this Government fully and perfectly
reestablished; commerce is becoming more and more extended in its
operations and manufacturing and mechanical industry once more reap the
rewards of skill and labor honestly applied; the operations of trade
rest on a sound currency and the rates of exchange are reduced to their
lowest amount.
In this condition of things I have felt it to be my duty to bring to
your favorable consideration matters of great interest in their present
and ultimate results; and the only desire which I feel in connection
with the future is and will continue to be to leave the country
prosperous and its institutions unimpaired.