_President of the United States_.
SIR: The House of Representatives have received with great respect the
communication which you have been pleased to make to the two Houses of
Congress at the commencement of the present session.
The final establishment of the seat of National Government, which has
now taken place, within the District of Columbia is an event of no small
importance in the political transactions of our country, and we
cordially unite our wishes with yours that this Territory may be the
residence of happiness and virtue.
Nor can we on this occasion omit to express a hope that the spirit
which animated the great founder of this city may descend to future
generations, and that the wisdom, magnanimity, and steadiness which
marked the events of his public life may be imitated in all succeeding
ages.
A consideration of those powers which have been vested in Congress over
the District of Columbia will not escape our attention, nor shall we
forget that in exercising these powers a regard must be had to those
events which will necessarily attend the capital of America.
The cheerfulness and regularity with which the officers and soldiers of
the temporary army have returned to the condition of private citizens is
a testimony clear and conclusive of the purity of those motives which
induced them to engage in the public service, and will remain a proof on
all future occasions that an army of soldiers drawn from the citizens of
our country deserve our confidence and respect.
No subject can be more important than that of the judiciary, which you
have again recommended to our consideration, and it shall receive our
early and deliberate attention.
The Constitution of the United States having confided the management
of our foreign negotiations to the control of the Executive power, we
cheerfully submit to its decisions on this important subject; and in
respect to the negotiations now pending with France, we sincerely hope
that the final result may prove as fortunate to our country as the most
ardent mind can wish.
So long as a predatory war is carried on against our commerce we
should sacrifice the interests and disappoint the expectations of our
constituents should we for a moment relax that system of maritime
defense which has resulted in such beneficial effects. At this period it
is confidently believed that few persons can be found within the United
States who do not admit that a navy, well organized, must constitute the
natural and efficient defense of this country against all foreign
hostility.
The progress which has been made in the manufacture of arms leaves
no doubt that the public patronage has already placed this country
beyond all necessary dependence on foreign markets for an article so
indispensable for defense, and gives us assurances that, under the
encouragement which Government will continue to extend to this important
object, we shall soon rival foreign countries not only in the number but
in the quality of arms completed from our own manufactories.
Few events could have been more pleasing to our constituents than that
great and rapid increase of revenue which has arisen from permanent
taxes. Whilst this event explains the great and increasing resources of
our country, it carries along with it a proof which can not be resisted
that those measures of maritime defense which were calculated to meet
our enemy upon the ocean, and which have produced such extensive
protection to our commerce, were founded in wisdom and policy. The mind
must, in our opinion, be insensible to the plainest truths which can not
discern the elevated ground on which this policy has placed our country.
That national spirit which alone could vindicate our common rights has
been roused, and those latent energies which had not been fully known
were unfolded and brought into view, and our fellow-citizens were
prepared to meet every event which national honor or national security
could render necessary. Nor have its effects been much less important in
other respects.
Whilst many of the nations of the earth have been impoverished and
depopulated by internal commotions and national contests, our internal
peace has not been materially impaired; our commerce has extended, under
the protection of our infant Navy, to every part of the globe; wealth
has flowed without intermission into our seaports, and the labors of the
husbandman have been rewarded by a ready market for the productions of
the soil.
Be assured, sir, that the various and important subjects recommended to
our consideration shall receive our early and deliberate attention; and,
confident of your cooperation in every measure which may be calculated
to promote the general interest, we shall endeavor on our part to
testify by our industry and dispatch the zeal and sincerity with which
we regard the public good