and His Britannic Majesty was signed at Ghent on the 24th day of
December, 1814, by the plenipotentiaries respectively appointed for that
purpose; and the said treaty having been, by and with the advice and
consent of the Senate of the United States, duly accepted, ratified, and
confirmed on the 17th day of February, 1815, and ratified copies thereof
having been exchanged agreeably to the tenor of the said treaty, which
is in the words following, to wit:
[Here follows the treaty.]
Now, therefore, to the end that the said treaty of peace and amity may
be observed with good faith on the part of the United States, I, James
Madison, President as aforesaid, have caused the premises to be made
public; and I do hereby enjoin all persons bearing office, civil or
military, within the United States and all others citizens or
inhabitants thereof or being within the same faithfully to observe and
fulfill the said treaty and every clause and article thereof.
[SEAL.]
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.
Done at the city of Washington, this 18th day of February, A.D. 1815,
and of the Sovereignty and Independence of the United States the
thirty-ninth.
JAMES MADISON.
By the President:
JAMES MONROE,
_Acting Secretary of State_.
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
A PROCLAMATION.
The Senate and House of Representatives of the United States have by a
joint resolution signified their desire that a day may be recommended to
be observed by the people of the United States with religious solemnity
as a day of thanksgiving and of devout acknowledgments to Almighty God
for His great goodness manifested in restoring to them the blessing of
peace.
No people ought to feel greater obligations to celebrate the goodness of
the Great Disposer of Events and of the Destiny of Nations than the
people of the United States. His kind providence originally conducted
them to one of the best portions of the dwelling place allotted for the
great family of the human race. He protected and cherished them under
all the difficulties and trials to which they were exposed in their
early days. Under His fostering care their habits, their sentiments, and
their pursuits prepared them for a transition in due time to a state of
independence and self-government. In the arduous struggle by which it
was attained they were distinguished by multiplied tokens of His benign
interposition. During the interval which succeeded He reared them into
the strength and endowed them with the resources which have enabled them
to assert their national rights and to enhance their national character
in another arduous conflict, which is now so happily terminated by a
peace and reconciliation with those who have been our enemies. And to
the same Divine Author of Every Good and Perfect Gift we are indebted
for all those privileges and advantages, religious as well as civil,
which are so richly enjoyed in this favored land.
It is for blessings such as these, and more especially for the
restoration of the blessing of peace, that I now recommend that the
second Thursday in April next be set apart as a day on which the people
of every religious denomination may in their solemn assemblies unite
their hearts and their voices in a freewill offering to their Heavenly
Benefactor of their homage of thanksgiving and of their songs of praise.
[SEAL.]
Given at the city of Washington on the 4th day of March, A.D. 1815, and
of the Independence of the United States the thirty-ninth.
JAMES MADISON.
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
A PROCLAMATION.
Whereas information has been received that sundry persons citizens of
the United States or residents within the same, and especially within
the State of Louisiana, are conspiring together to begin and set on
foot, provide, and prepare the means for a military expedition or
enterprise against the dominions of Spain, with which the United States
are happily at peace; that for this purpose they are collecting arms,
military stores, provisions, vessels, and other means; are deceiving and
seducing honest and well-meaning citizens to engage in their unlawful
enterprises; are organizing, officering, and arming themselves for the
same contrary to the laws in such cases made and provided:
I have therefore thought fit to issue this my proclamation, warning and
enjoining all faithful citizens who have been led without due knowledge
or consideration to participate in the said unlawful enterprises to
withdraw from the same without delay, and commanding all persons
whatsoever engaged or concerned in the same to cease all further
proceedings therein, as they will answer the contrary at their peril.
And I hereby enjoin and require all officers, civil and military, of the
United States or of any of the States or Territories, all judges,
justices, and other officers of the peace, all military officers of the
Army or Navy of the United States, and officers of the militia, to be
vigilant, each within his respective department and according to his
functions, in searching out and bringing to punishment all persons
engaged or concerned in such enterprises, in seizing and detaining,
subject to the disposition of the law, all arms, military stores,
vessels, or other means provided or providing for the same, and, in
general, in preventing the carrying on such expedition or enterprise by
all the lawful means within their power. And I require all good and
faithful citizens and others within the United States to be aiding and
assisting herein, and especially in the discovery, apprehension, and
bringing to justice of all such offenders, in preventing the execution
of their unlawful combinations or designs, and in giving information
against them to the proper authorities.
In testimony whereof I have caused the seal of the United States of
America to be affixed to these presents, and signed the same with my
hand.
[SEAL.]
Done at the city of Washington, the 1st day of September, A.D. 1815, and
of the Independence of the said United States of America the fortieth.
JAMES MADISON.
SEVENTH ANNUAL MESSAGE.
WASHINGTON, _December 5, 1815_.
_Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and of the House of Representatives_:
I have the satisfaction on our present meeting of being able to
communicate to you the successful termination of the war which had been
commenced against the United States by the Regency of Algiers. The
squadron in advance on that service, under Commodore Decatur, lost not a
moment after its arrival in the Mediterranean in seeking the naval force
of the enemy then cruising in that sea, and succeeded in capturing two
of his ships, one of them the principal ship, commanded by the Algerine
admiral. The high character of the American commander was brilliantly
sustained on the occasion which brought his own ship into close action
with that of his adversary, as was the accustomed gallantry of all the
officers and men actually engaged. Having prepared the way by this
demonstration of American skill and prowess, he hastened to the port of
Algiers, where peace was promptly yielded to his victorious force. In
the terms stipulated the rights and honor of the United States were
particularly consulted by a perpetual relinquishment on the part of
the Dey of all pretensions to tribute from them. The impressions which
have thus been made, strengthened as they will have been by subsequent
transactions with the Regencies of Tunis and of Tripoli by the
appearance of the larger force which followed under Commodore
Bainbridge, the chief in command of the expedition, and by the judicious
precautionary arrangements left by him in that quarter, afford a
reasonable prospect of future security for the valuable portion of our
commerce which passes within reach of the Barbary cruisers.
It is another source of satisfaction that the treaty of peace with Great
Britain has been succeeded by a convention on the subject of commerce
concluded by the plenipotentiaries of the two countries. In this result
a disposition is manifested on the part of that nation corresponding
with the disposition of the United States, which it may be hoped will
be improved into liberal arrangements on other subjects on which the
parties have mutual interests, or which might endanger their future
harmony. Congress will decide on the expediency of promoting such a
sequel by giving effect to the measure of confining the American
navigation to American seamen--a measure which, at the same time that it
might have that conciliatory tendency, would have the further advantage
of increasing the independence of our navigation and the resources for
our maritime defense.
In conformity with the articles in the treaty of Ghent relating to the
Indians, as well as with a view to the tranquillity of our western and
northwestern frontiers, measures were taken to establish an immediate
peace with the several tribes who had been engaged in hostilities
against the United States. Such of them as were invited to Detroit
acceded readily to a renewal of the former treaties of friendship.
Of the other tribes who were invited to a station on the Mississippi
the greater number have also accepted the peace offered to them. The
residue, consisting of the more distant tribes or parts of tribes,
remain to be brought over by further explanations, or by such other
means as may be adapted to the dispositions they may finally disclose.
The Indian tribes within and bordering on the southern frontier, whom a
cruel war on their part had compelled us to chastise into peace, have
latterly shown a restlessness which has called for preparatory measures
for repressing it, and for protecting the commissioners engaged in
carrying the terms of the peace into execution.
The execution of the act for fixing the military peace establishment has
been attended with difficulties which even now can only be overcome by
legislative aid. The selection of officers, the payment and discharge of
the troops enlisted for the war, the payment of the retained troops and
their reunion from detached and distant stations, the collection and
security of the public property in the Quartermaster, Commissary, and
Ordnance departments, and the constant medical assistance required
in hospitals and garrisons rendered a complete execution of the
act impracticable on the 1st of May, the period more immediately
contemplated. As soon, however, as circumstances would permit, and as
far as it has been practicable consistently with the public interests,
the reduction of the Army has been accomplished; but the appropriations
for its pay and for other branches of the military service having proved
inadequate, the earliest attention to that subject will be necessary;
and the expediency of continuing upon the peace establishment the staff
officers who have hitherto been provisionally retained is also
recommended to the consideration of Congress.
In the performance of the Executive duty upon this occasion there has
not been wanting a just sensibility to the merits of the American Army
during the late war; but the obvious policy and design in fixing an
efficient military peace establishment did not afford an opportunity to
distinguish the aged and infirm on account of their past services nor
the wounded and disabled on account of their present sufferings. The
extent of the reduction, indeed, unavoidably involved the exclusion
of many meritorious officers of every rank from the service of their
country; and so equal as well as so numerous were the claims to
attention that a decision by the standard of comparative merit could
seldom be attained. Judged, however, in candor by a general standard of
positive merit, the Army Register will, it is believed, do honor to the
establishment, while the case of those officers whose names are not
included in it devolves with the strongest interest upon the legislative
authority for such provision as shall be deemed the best calculated to
give support and solace to the veteran and the invalid, to display the
beneficence as well as the justice of the Government, and to inspire a
martial zeal for the public service upon every future emergency.
Although the embarrassments arising from the want of an uniform national
currency have not been diminished since the adjournment of Congress,
great satisfaction has been derived in contemplating the revival of the
public credit and the efficiency of the public resources. The receipts
into the Treasury from the various branches of revenue during the nine
months ending on the 30th of September last have been estimated at
$12,500,000; the issues of Treasury notes of every denomination during
the same period amounted to the sum of $14,000,000, and there was also
obtained upon loan during the same period a sum of $9,000,000 of which
the sum of $6,000,000 was subscribed in cash and the sum of $3,000,000
in Treasury notes. With these means, added to the sum of $1,500,000,
being the balance of money in the Treasury on the 1st day of January,
there has been paid between the 1st of January and the 1st of October on
account of the appropriations of the preceding and of the present year
(exclusively of the amount of the Treasury notes subscribed to the loan
and of the amount redeemed in the payment of duties and taxes) the
aggregate sum of $33,500,000, leaving a balance then in the Treasury
estimated at the sum of $3,000,000. Independent, however, of the
arrearages due for military services and supplies, it is presumed that
a further sum of $5,000,000, including the interest on the public debt
payable on the 1st of January next, will be demanded at the Treasury
to complete the expenditures of the present year, and for which the
existing ways and means will sufficiently provide.
The national debt, as it was ascertained on the 1st of October last,
amounted in the whole to the sum of $120,000,000, consisting of
the unredeemed balance of the debt contracted before the late war
($39,000,000), the amount of the funded debt contracted in consequence
of the war ($64,000,000), and the amount of the unfunded and floating
debt, including the various issues of Treasury notes, $17,000,000, which
is in a gradual course of payment. There will probably be some addition
to the public debt upon the liquidation of various claims which are
depending, and a conciliatory disposition on the part of Congress may
lead honorably and advantageously to an equitable arrangement of the
militia expenses incurred by the several States without the previous
sanction or authority of the Government of the United States; but when
it is considered that the new as well as the old portion of the debt
has been contracted in the assertion of the national rights and
independence, and when it is recollected that the public expenditures,
not being exclusively bestowed upon subjects of a transient nature, will
long be visible in the number and equipments of the American Navy, in
the military works for the defense of our harbors and our frontiers, and
in the supplies of our arsenals and magazines the amount will bear a
gratifying comparison with the objects which have been attained, as well
as with the resources of the country.
The arrangements of the finances with a view to the receipts and
expenditures of a permanent peace establishment will necessarily enter
into the deliberations of Congress during the present session. It is
true that the improved condition of the public revenue will not only
afford the means of maintaining the faith of the Government with its
creditors inviolate, and of prosecuting successfully the measures of
the most liberal policy, but will also justify an immediate alleviation
of the burdens imposed by the necessities of the war. It is, however,
essential to every modification of the finances that the benefits of
an uniform national currency should be restored to the community. The
absence of the precious metals will, it is believed, be a temporary
evil, but until they can again be rendered the general medium of
exchange it devolves on the wisdom of Congress to provide a substitute
which shall equally engage the confidence and accommodate the wants of
the citizens throughout the Union. If the operation of the State banks
can not produce this result, the probable operation of a national bank
will merit consideration; and if neither of these expedients be deemed
effectual it may become necessary to ascertain the terms upon which the
notes of the Government (no longer required as an instrument of credit)
shall be issued upon motives of general policy as a common medium of
circulation.
Notwithstanding the security for future repose which the United States
ought to find in their love of peace and their constant respect for
the rights of other nations, the character of the times particularly
inculcates the lesson that, whether to prevent or repel danger, we ought
not to be unprepared for it. This consideration will sufficiently
recommend to Congress a liberal provision for the immediate extension
and gradual completion of the works of defense, both fixed and floating,
on our maritime frontier, and an adequate provision for guarding our
inland frontier against dangers to which certain portions of it may
continue to be exposed.
As an improvement in our military establishment, it will deserve the
consideration of Congress whether a corps of invalids might not be so
organized and employed as at once to aid in the support of meritorious
individuals excluded by age or infirmities from the existing
establishment, and to procure to the public the benefit of their
stationary services and of their exemplary discipline. I recommend also
an enlargement of the Military Academy already established, and the
establishment of others in other sections of the Union; and I can not
press too much on the attention of Congress such a classification and
organization of the militia as will most effectually render it the
safeguard of a free state. If experience has shewn in the recent
splendid achievements of militia the value of this resource for the
public defense, it has shewn also the importance of that skill in the
use of arms and that familiarity with the essential rules of discipline
which can not be expected from the regulations now in force. With this
subject is intimately connected the necessity of accommodating the laws
in every respect to the great object of enabling the political authority
of the Union to employ promptly and effectually the physical power of
the Union in the cases designated by the Constitution.
The signal services which have been rendered by our Navy and the
capacities it has developed for successful cooperation in the national
defense will give to that portion of the public force its full value in
the eyes of Congress, at an epoch which calls for the constant vigilance
of all governments. To preserve the ships now in a sound state, to
complete those already contemplated, to provide amply the imperishable
materials for prompt augmentations, and to improve the existing
arrangements into more advantageous establishments for the construction,
the repairs, and the security of vessels of war is dictated by the
soundest policy.
In adjusting the duties on imports to the object of revenue the
influence of the tariff on manufactures will necessarily present itself
for consideration. However wise the theory may be which leaves to the
sagacity and interest of individuals the application of their industry
and resources, there are in this as in other cases exceptions to the
general rule. Besides the condition which the theory itself implies of
a reciprocal adoption by other nations, experience teaches that so many
circumstances must concur in introducing and maturing manufacturing
establishments, especially of the more complicated kinds, that a country
may remain long without them, although sufficiently advanced and in some
respects even peculiarly fitted for carrying them on with success. Under
circumstances giving a powerful impulse to manufacturing industry it has
made among us a progress and exhibited an efficiency which justify the
belief that with a protection not more than is due to the enterprising
citizens whose interests are now at stake it will become at an early day
not only safe against occasional competitions from abroad, but a source
of domestic wealth and even of external commerce. In selecting the
branches more especially entitled to the public patronage a preference
is obviously claimed by such as will relieve the United States from a
dependence on foreign supplies, ever subject to casual failures, for
articles necessary for the public defense or connected with the primary
wants of individuals. It will be an additional recommendation of
particular manufactures where the materials for them are extensively
drawn from our agriculture, and consequently impart and insure to that
great fund of national prosperity and independence an encouragement
which can not fail to be rewarded.
Among the means of advancing the public interest the occasion is
a proper one for recalling the attention of Congress to the great
importance of establishing throughout our country the roads and canals
which can best be executed under the national authority. No objects
within the circle of political economy so richly repay the expense
bestowed on them; there are none the utility of which is more
universally ascertained and acknowledged; none that do more honor to the
governments whose wise and enlarged patriotism duly appreciates them.
Nor is there any country which presents a field where nature invites
more the art of man to complete her own work for his accommodation and
benefit. These considerations are strengthened, moreover, by the
political effect of these facilities for intercommunication in bringing
and binding more closely together the various parts of our extended
confederacy. Whilst the States individually, with a laudable enterprise
and emulation, avail themselves of their local advantages by new
roads, by navigable canals, and by improving the streams susceptible
of navigation, the General Government is the more urged to similar
undertakings, requiring a national jurisdiction and national means, by
the prospect of thus systematically completing so inestimable a work;
and it is a happy reflection that any defect of constitutional authority
which may be encountered can be supplied in a mode which the
Constitution itself has providently pointed out.
The present is a favorable season also for bringing again into view the
establishment of a national seminary of learning within the District of
Columbia, and with means drawn from the property therein, subject to
the authority of the General Government. Such an institution claims
the patronage of Congress as a monument of their solicitude for the
advancement of knowledge, without which the blessings of liberty can
not be fully enjoyed or long preserved; as a model instructive in the
formation of other seminaries; as a nursery of enlightened preceptors,
and as a central resort of youth and genius from every part of their
country, diffusing on their return examples of those national feelings,
those liberal sentiments, and those congenial manners which contribute
cement to our Union and strength to the great political fabric of which
that is the foundation.