[Footnote 41: In aid of the construction of the Wabash and Erie Canal.]
WASHINGTON, _December 26, 1838_.
_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_:
I transmit for your consideration the inclosed communication and
accompanying documents from the Secretary of War, relative to the
present state of the Pea Patch Island, in the Delaware River, and of
the operations going on there for the erection of defenses for that
important channel of commerce.
It will be seen from these documents that a complete stop has been put
to those operations in consequence of the island having been taken
possession of by the individual claimant under the decision, in his
favor, of the United States district court for the district of New
Jersey, and that unless early measures are taken to bring the island
within the jurisdiction of the Government great loss and injury will
result to the future operations for carrying on the works. The
importance of the subject would seem to render it worthy of the early
attention of Congress.