Departments at the last session amounted to $38,406,581 and the
appropriations made to the sum of $58,116,958. Of this excess of
appropriations over estimates, however, more than twenty millions was
applicable to extraordinary objects, having no reference to the usual
annual expenditures. Among these objects was embraced ten millions to meet
the third article of the treaty between the United States and Mexico; so
that, in fact, for objects of ordinary expenditure the appropriations were
limited to considerably less than $40,000,000. I therefore renew my
recommendation for a reduction of the duties on imports. The report of the
Secretary of the Treasury presents a series of tables showing the operation
of the revenue system for several successive years; and as the general
principle of reduction of duties with a view to revenue, and not
protection, may now be regarded as the settled policy of the country, I
trust that little difficulty will be encountered in settling the details of
a measure to that effect.
In connection with this subject I recommend a change in the laws, which
recent experience has shown to be essential to the protection of the
Government. There is no express provision of law requiring the records and
papers of a public character of the several officers of the Government to
be left in their offices for the use of their successors, nor any provision
declaring it felony on their part to make false entries in the books or
return false accounts. In the absence of such express provision by law, the
outgoing officers in many instances have claimed and exercised the right to
take into their own possession important books and papers, on the ground
that these were their private property, and have placed them beyond the
reach of the Government. Conduct of this character, brought in several
instances to the notice of the present Secretary of the Treasury, naturally
awakened his suspicion, and resulted in the disclosure that at four
ports--namely, Oswego, Toledo, Sandusky, and Milwaukee--the Treasury had,
by false entries, been defrauded within the four years next preceding
March, 1853, of the sum of $198,000. The great difficulty with which the
detection of these frauds has been attended, in consequence of the
abstraction of books and papers by the retiring officers, and the facility
with which similar frauds in the public service may be perpetrated render
the necessity of new legal enactments in the respects above referred to
quite obvious. For other material modifications of the revenue laws which
seem to me desirable, I refer you to the report of the Secretary of the
Treasury. That report and the tables which accompany it furnish ample
proofs of the solid foundation on which the financial security of the
country rests and of the salutary influence of the independent-treasury
system upon commerce and all monetary operations.
The experience of the last year furnishes additional reasons, I regret to
say, of a painful character, for the recommendation heretofore made to
provide for increasing the military force employed in the Territory
inhabited by the Indians. The settlers-on the frontier have suffered much
from the incursions of predatory bands, and large parties of emigrants to
our Pacific possessions have been massacred with impunity. The recurrence
of such scenes can only be prevented by teaching these wild tribes the
power of and their responsibility to the United States. From the garrisons
of our frontier posts it is only possible to detach troops in small bodies;
and though these have on all occasions displayed a gallantry and a stern
devotion to duty which on a larger field would have commanded universal
admiration, they have usually suffered severely in these conflicts with
superior numbers, and have sometimes been entirely sacrificed. All the
disposable force of the Army is already employed on this service, and is
known to be wholly inadequate to the protection which should be afforded.
The public mind of the country has been recently shocked by savage
atrocities committed upon defenseless emigrants and border settlements, and
hardly less by the unnecessary destruction of valuable lives where
inadequate detachments of troops have undertaken to furnish the needed aid.
Without increase of the military force these scenes will be repeated, it is
to be feared, on a larger scale and with more disastrous consequences.
Congress, I am sure, will perceive that the plainest duties and
responsibilities of Government are involved in this question, and I doubt
not that prompt action may be confidently anticipated when delay must be
attended by such fearful hazards.
The bill of the last session providing for an increase of the pay of the
rank and file of the Army has had beneficial results, not only in
facilitating enlistments, but in obvious improvement in the class of men
who enter the service. I regret that corresponding consideration was not
bestowed on the officers, who, in view of their character and services and
the expenses to which they are necessarily subject, receive at present what
is, in my judgment, inadequate compensation.
The valuable services constantly rendered by the Army and its inestimable
importance as the nucleus around which the volunteer forces of the nation
can promptly gather in the hour of danger, sufficiently attest the wisdom
of maintaining a military peace establishment; but the theory of our system
and the wise practice under it require that any proposed augmentation in
time of peace be only commensurate with our extended limits and frontier
relations. While scrupulously adhering to this principle, I find in
existing circumstances a necessity for increase of our military force, and
it is believed that four new regiments, two of infantry and two of mounted
men, will be sufficient to meet the present exigency. If it were necessary
carefully to weigh the cost in a case of such urgency, it would be shown
that the additional expense would be comparatively light.
With the increase of the numerical force of the Army should, I think, be
combined certain measures of reform in its organic arrangement and
administration. The present organization is the result of partial
legislation often directed to special objects and interests; and the laws
regulating rank and command, having been adopted many years ago from the
British code, are not always applicable to our service. It is not
surprising, therefore, that the system should be deficient in the symmetry
and simplicity essential to the harmonious working of its several parts,
and require a careful revision.
The present organization, by maintaining large staff corps or departments,
separates many officers from that close connection with troops and those
active duties in the field which are deemed requisite to qualify them for
the varied responsibilities of high command. Were the duties of the Army
staff mainly discharged by officers detached from their regiments, it is
believed that the special service would be equally well performed and the
discipline and instruction of the Army be improved. While due regard to the
security of the rights of officers and to the nice sense of honor which
should be cultivated among them would seem to exact compliance with the
established rule of promotion in ordinary cases, still it can hardly be
doubted that the range of promotion by selection, which is now practically
confined to the grade of general officers, might be somewhat extended with
benefit to the public service. Observance of the rule of seniority
sometimes leads, especially in time of peace, to the promotion of officers
who, after meritorious and even distinguished service, may have been
rendered by age or infirmity incapable of performing active duty, and whose
advancement, therefore, would tend to impair the efficiency of the Army.
Suitable provision for this class of officers, by the creation of a retired
list, would remedy the evil without wounding the just pride of men who by
past services have established a claim to high consideration. In again
commending this measure to the favorable consideration of Congress I would
suggest that the power of placing officers on the retired list be limited
to one year. The practical operation of the measure would thus be tested,
and if after the lapse of years there should be occasion to renew the
provision it can be reproduced with any improvements which experience may
indicate. The present organization of the artillery into regiments is
liable to obvious objections. The service of artillery is that of
batteries, and an organization of batteries into a corps of artillery would
be more consistent with the nature of their duties. A large part of the
troops now called artillery are, and have been, on duty as infantry, the
distinction between the two arms being merely nominal. This nominal
artillery in our service is disproportionate to the whole force and greater
than the wants of the country demand. I therefore commend the
discontinuance of a distinction which has no foundation in either the arms
used or the character of the service expected to be performed.
In connection with the proposition for the increase of the Army, I have
presented these suggestions with regard to certain measures of reform as
the complement of a system which would produce the happiest results from a
given expenditure, and which, I hope, may attract the early attention and
be deemed worthy of the approval of Congress.
The recommendation of the Secretary of the Navy having reference to more
ample provisions for the discipline and general improvement in the
character of seamen and for the reorganization and gradual increase of the
Navy I deem eminently worthy of your favorable consideration. The
principles which have controlled our policy in relation to the permanent
military force by sea and land are sound, consistent with the theory of our
system, and should by no means be disregarded. But, limiting the force to
the objects particularly set forth in the preceding part of this message,
we should not overlook the present magnitude and prospective extension of
our commercial marine, nor fail to give due weight to the fact that besides
the 2,000 miles of Atlantic seaboard we have now a Pacific coast stretching
from Mexico to the British possessions in the north, teeming with wealth
and enterprise and demanding the constant presence of ships of war. The
augmentation of the Navy has not kept pace with the duties properly and
profitably assigned to it in time of peace, and it is inadequate for the
large field of its operations, not merely in the present, but still more in
the progressively increasing exigencies of the commerce of the United
States. I cordially approve of the proposed apprentice system for our
national vessels recommended by the Secretary of the Navy. The occurrence
during the last few months of marine disasters of the most tragic nature,
involving great loss of human life, has produced intense emotions of
sympathy and sorrow throughout the country. It may well be doubted whether
all these calamitous events are wholly attributable to the necessary and
inevitable dangers of the sea. The merchants, mariners, and shipbuilders of
the United States are, it is true, unsurpassed in far-reaching enterprise,
skill, intelligence, and courage by any others in the world. But with the
increasing amount of our commercial tonnage in the aggregate and the larger
size and improved equipment of the ships now constructed a deficiency in
the supply of reliable seamen begins to be very seriously felt. The
inconvenience may perhaps be met in part by due regulation for the
introduction into our merchant ships of indented apprentices, which, while
it would afford useful and eligible occupation to numerous young men, would
have a tendency to raise the character of seamen as a class. And it is
deserving of serious reflection whether it may not be desirable to revise
the existing laws for the maintenance of discipline at sea, upon which the
security of life and property on the ocean must to so great an extent
depend. Although much attention has already been given by Congress to the
proper construction and arrangement of steam vessels and all passenger
ships, still it is believed that the resources of science and mechanical
skill in this direction have not been exhausted. No good reason exists for
the marked distinction which appears upon our statutes between the laws for
protecting life and property at sea and those for protecting them on land.
In most of the States severe penalties are provided to punish conductors of
trains, engineers, and others employed in the transportation of persons by
railway or by steamboats on rivers. Why should not the same principle be
applied to acts of insubordination, cowardice, or other misconduct on the
part of masters and mariners producing injury or death to passengers on the
high seas, beyond the jurisdiction of any of the States, and where such
delinquencies can be reached only by the power of Congress? The whole
subject is earnestly commended to your consideration.
The report of the Postmaster-General, to which you are referred for many
interesting details in relation to this important and rapidly extending
branch of the public service, shows that the expenditure of the year ending
June 30, 1854, including $133,483 of balance due to foreign offices,
amounted to $8,710,907. The gross receipts during the same period amounted
to $6,955,586, exhibiting an expenditure over income of $1,755,321 and a
diminution of deficiency as compared with the last year of $361,756. The
increase of the revenue of the Department for the year ending June 30,
1854, over the preceding year was $970,399. No proportionate increase,
however, can be anticipated for the current year, in consequence of the act
of Congress of June 23, 1854, providing for increased compensation to all
postmasters. From these statements it is apparent that the Post-Office
Department, instead of defraying its expenses according to the design at
the time of its creation, is now, and under existing laws must continue to
be, to no small extent a charge upon the general Treasury. The cost of mail
transportation during the year ending June 30, 1854, exceeds the cost of
the preceding year by $495,074. I again call your attention to the subject
of mail transportation by ocean steamers, and commend the suggestions of
the Postmaster General to your early attention.
During the last fiscal year 11,070,935 acres of the public lands have been
surveyed and 8,190,017 acres brought into market. The number of acres sold
is 7,035,735 and the amount received therefor $9,285,533. The aggregate
amount of lands sold, located under military scrip and land warrants,
selected as swamp lands by States, and by locating under grants for roads
is upward of 23,000,000 acres. The increase of lands sold over the previous
year is about 6,000,000 acres, and the sales during the first two quarters
of the current year present the extraordinary result of five and a half
millions sold, exceeding by nearly 4,000,000 acres the sales of the
corresponding quarters of the last year.
The commendable policy of the Government in relation to setting apart
public domain for those who have served their country in time of war is
illustrated by the fact that since 1790 no less than 30,000,000 acres have
been applied to this object.
The suggestions which I submitted in my annual message of last year in
reference to grants of land in aid of the construction of railways were
less full and explicit than the magnitude of the subject and subsequent
developments would seem to render proper and desirable. Of the soundness of
the principle then asserted with regard to the limitation of the power of
Congress I entertain no doubt, but in its application it is not enough that
the value of lands in a particular locality may be enhanced; that, in fact,
a larger amount of money may probably be received in a given time for
alternate sections than could have been realized for all the sections
without the impulse and influence of the proposed improvements. A prudent
proprietor looks beyond limited sections of his domain, beyond present
results to the ultimate effect which a particular line of policy is likely
to produce upon all his possessions and interests. The Government, which is
trustee in this matter for the people of the States, is bound to take the
same wise and comprehensive view. Prior to and during the last session of
Congress upward of 30,000,000 acres of land were withdrawn from public sale
with a view to applications for grants of this character pending before
Congress. A careful review of the whole subject led me to direct that all
such orders be abrogated and the lands restored to market, and instructions
were immediately given to that effect. The applications at the last session
contemplated the construction of more than 5,000 miles of road and grants
to the amount of nearly 20,000,000 acres of the public domain. Even
admitting the right on the part of Congress to be unquestionable, is it
quite clear that the proposed grants would be productive of good, and not
evil? The different projects are confined for the present to eleven States
of this Union and one Territory. The reasons assigned for the grants show
that it is proposed to put the works speedily in process of construction.
When we reflect that since the commencement of the construction of railways
in the United States, stimulated, as they have been, by the large dividends
realized from the earlier works over the great thoroughfares and between
the most important points of commerce and population, encouraged by State
legislation, and pressed forward by the amazing energy of private
enterprise, only 17,000 miles have been completed in all the States in a
quarter of a century; when we see the crippled condition of many works
commenced and prosecuted upon what were deemed to be sound principles and
safe calculations; when we contemplate the enormous absorption of capital
withdrawn from the ordinary channels of business, the extravagant rates of
interest at this moment paid to continue operations, the bankruptcies, not
merely in money but in character, and the inevitable effect upon finances
generally, can it be doubted that the tendency is to run to excess in this
matter? Is it wise to augment this excess by encouraging hopes of sudden
wealth expected to flow from magnificent schemes dependent upon the action
of Congress? Does the spirit which has produced such results need to be
stimulated or checked? Is it not the better rule to leave all these works
to private enterprise, regulated and, when expedient, aided by the
cooperation of States? If constructed by private capital the stimulant and
the check go together and furnish a salutary restraint against speculative
schemes and extravagance. But it is manifest that with the most effective
guards there is danger of going too fast and too far. We may well pause
before a proposition contemplating a simultaneous movement for the
construction of railroads which in extent will equal, exclusive of the
great Pacific road and all its branches, nearly one-third of the entire
length of such works now completed in the United States, and which can not
cost with equipments less than $150,000,000. The dangers likely to result
from combinations of interests of this character can hardly be
overestimated. But independently of these considerations, where is the
accurate knowledge, the comprehensive intelligence, which shall
discriminate between the relative claims of these twenty eight proposed
roads in eleven States and one Territory? Where will you begin and where
end? If to enable these companies to execute their proposed works it is
necessary that the aid of the General Government be primarily given, the
policy will present a problem so comprehensive in its bearings and so
important to our political and social well-being as to claim in
anticipation the severest analysis. Entertaining these views, I recur with
satisfaction to the experience and action of the last session of Congress
as furnishing assurance that the subject will not fail to elicit a careful
reexamination and rigid scrutiny. It was my intention to present on this
occasion some suggestions regarding internal improvements by the General
Government, which want of time at the close of the last session prevented
my submitting on the return to the House of Representatives with objections
of the bill entitled "An act making appropriations for the repair,
preservation, and completion of certain public works heretofore commenced
under the authority of law;" but the space in this communication already
occupied with other matter of immediate public exigency constrains me to
reserve that subject for a special message, which will be transmitted to
the two Houses of Congress at an early day. The judicial establishment of
the United States requires modification, and certain reforms in the manner
of conducting the legal business of the Government are also much needed;
but as I have addressed you upon both of these subjects at length before, I
have only to call your attention to the suggestions then made.
My former recommendations in relation to suitable provision for various
objects of deep interest to the inhabitants of the District of Columbia are
renewed. Many of these objects partake largely of a national character, and
are important independently of their relation to the prosperity of the only
considerable organized community in the Union entirely unrepresented in
Congress.
I have thus presented suggestions on such subjects as appear to me to be of
particular interest or importance, and therefore most worthy of
consideration during the short remaining period allotted to the labors of
the present Congress.
Our forefathers of the thirteen united colonies, in acquiring their
independence and in rounding this Republic of the United States of America,
have devolved upon us, their descendants, the greatest and the most noble
trust ever committed to the hands of man, imposing upon all, and especially
such as the public will may have invested for the time being with political
functions, the most sacred obligations. We have to maintain inviolate the
great doctrine of the inherent right of popular self-government; to
reconcile the largest liberty of the individual citizen with complete
security of the public order; to render cheerful obedience to the laws of
the land, to unite in enforcing their execution, and to frown indignantly
on all combinations to resist them; to harmonize a sincere and ardent
devotion to the institutions of religions faith with the most universal
religious toleration; to preserve the rights of all by causing each to
respect those of the other; to carry forward every social improvement to
the uttermost limit of human perfectibility, by the free action of mind
upon mind, not by the obtrusive intervention of misapplied force; to uphold
the integrity and guard the limitations of our organic law; to preserve
sacred from all touch of usurpation, as the very palladium of our political
salvation, the reserved rights and powers of the several States and of the
people; to cherish with loyal fealty and devoted affection this Union, as
the only sure foundation on which the hopes of civil liberty rest; to
administer government with vigilant integrity and rigid economy; to
cultivate peace and friendship with foreign nations, and to demand and
exact equal justice from all, but to do wrong to none; to eschew
intermeddling with the national policy and the domestic repose of other
governments, and to repel it from our own; never to shrink from war when
the rights and the honor of the country call us to arms, but to cultivate
in preference the arts of peace, seek enlargement of the rights of
neutrality, and elevate and liberalize the intercourse of nations; and by
such just and honorable means, and such only, whilst exalting the condition
of the Republic, to assure to it the legitimate influence and the benign
authority of a great example amongst all the powers of Christendom.