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President[ Andrew Jackson

         Date[ December 6, 1830

Fellow Citizens of the Senate and of the House of Representatives:

The pleasure I have in congratulating you upon your return to your

constitutional duties is much heightened by the satisfaction which the

condition of our beloved country at this period justly inspires. The

beneficent Author of All Good has granted to us during the present year

health, peace, and plenty, and numerous causes for joy in the wonderful

success which attends the progress of our free institutions.

With a population unparalleled in its increase, and possessing a

character which combines the hardihood of enterprise with the

considerateness of wisdom, we see in every section of our happy country

a steady improvement in the means of social intercourse, and

correspondent effects upon the genius and laws of our extended

Republic.

The apparent exceptions to the harmony of the prospect are to be

referred rather to inevitable diversities in the various interests

which enter into the composition of so extensive a whole than any want

of attachment to the Union--interests whose collisions serve only in

the end to foster the spirit of conciliation and patriotism so

essential to the preservation of that Union which I most devoutly hope

is destined to prove imperishable.

In the midst of these blessings we have recently witnessed changes in

the conditions of other nations which may in their consequences call

for the utmost vigilance, wisdom, and unanimity in our councils, and

the exercise of all the moderation and patriotism of our people.

The important modifications of their Government, effected with so much

courage and wisdom by the people of France, afford a happy presage of

their future course, and have naturally elicited from the kindred

feelings of this nation that spontaneous and universal burst of

applause in which you have participated. In congratulating you, my

fellow citizens, upon an event so auspicious to the dearest interests

of man-kind I do no more than respond to the voice of my country,

without transcending in the slightest degree that salutary maxim of the

illustrious Washington which enjoins an abstinence from all

interference with the internal affairs of other nations. From a people

exercising in the most unlimited degree the right of self-government,

and enjoying, as derived from this proud characteristic, under the

favor of Heaven, much of the happiness with which they are blessed; a

people who can point in triumph to their free institutions and

challenge comparison with the fruits they bear, as well as with the

moderation, intelligence, and energy with which they are administered--

from such a people the deepest sympathy was to be expected in a

struggle for the sacred principles of liberty, conducted in a spirit

every way worthy of the cause, and crowned by a heroic moderation which

has disarmed revolution of its terrors. Not withstanding the strong

assurances which the man whom we so sincerely love and justly admire

has given to the world of the high character of the present King of the

French, and which if sustained to the end will secure to him the proud

appellation of Patriot King, it is not in his success, but in that of

the great principle which has borne him to the throne--the paramount

authority of the public will--that the American people rejoice.

I am happy to inform you that the anticipations which were indulged at

the date of my last communication on the subject of our foreign affairs

have been fully realized in several important particulars.

An arrangement has been effected with Great Britain in relation to the

trade between the United States and her West India and North American

colonies which has settled a question that has for years afforded

matter for contention and almost uninterrupted discussion, and has been

the subject of no less than six negotiations, in a manner which

promises results highly favorable to the parties.

The abstract right of Great Britain to monopolize the trade with her

colonies or to exclude us from a participation therein has never been

denied by the United States. But we have contended, and with reason,

that if at any time Great Britain may desire the productions of this

country as necessary to her colonies they must be received upon

principles of just reciprocity, and, further, that it is making an

invidious and unfriendly distinction to open her colonial ports to the

vessels of other nations and close them against those of the United

States.

Antecedently to 1794 a portion of our productions was admitted into the

colonial islands of Great Britain by particular concessions, limited to

the term of one year, but renewed from year to year. In the

transportation of these productions, however, our vessels were not

allowed to engage, this being a privilege reserved to British shipping,

by which alone our produce could be taken to the islands and theirs

brought to us in return. From Newfoundland and her continental

possessions all our productions, as well as our vessels, were excluded,

with occasional relaxations, by which, in seasons of distress, the

former were admitted in British bottoms.

By the treaty of 1794 she offered to concede to us for a limited time

the right of carrying to her West India possessions in our vessels not

exceeding 70 tons burthen, and upon the same terms as British vessels,

any productions of the United States which British vessels might import

therefrom. But this privilege was coupled with conditions which are

supposed to have led to its rejection by the Senate; that is, that

American vessels should land their return cargoes in the United States

only, and, moreover, that they should during the continuance of the

privilege be precluded from carrying molasses, sugar, coffee, cocoa, or

cotton either from those islands or from the United States to any other

part of the world. Great Britain readily consented to expunge this

article from the treaty, and subsequent attempts to arrange the terms

of the trade either by treaty stipulations or concerted legislation

have failed, it has been successively suspended and allowed according

to the varying legislation of the parties.

The following are the prominent points which have in later years

separated the two Governments: Besides a restriction whereby all

importations into her colonies in American vessels are confined to our

own products carried hence, a restriction to which it does not appear

that we have ever objected, a leading object on the part of Great

Britain has been to prevent us from becoming the carriers of British

West India commodities to any other country than our own. On the part

of the United States it has been contended, first, that the subject

should be regulated by treaty stipulation in preference to separate

legislation; second, that our productions, when imported into the

colonies in question, should not be subject to higher duties than the

productions of the mother country or of her other colonial possessions,

and, 3rd, that our vessels should be allowed to participate in the

circuitous trade between the United States and different parts of the

British dominions.

The first point, after having been for a long time strenuously insisted

upon by Great Britain, was given up by the act of Parliament of July,

1825, all vessels suffered to trade with the colonies being permitted

to clear from thence with any articles which British vessels might

export and proceed to any part of the world, Great Britain and her

dependencies alone excepted. On our part each of the above points had

in succession been explicitly abandoned in negotiations preceding that

of which the result is now announced.

This arrangement secures to the United States every advantage asked by

them, and which the state of the negotiation allowed us to insist upon.

The trade will be placed upon a footing decidedly more favorable to

this country than any on which it ever stood, and our commerce and

navigation will enjoy in the colonial ports of Great Britain every

privilege allowed to other nations.

That the prosperity of the country so far as it depends on this trade

will be greatly promoted by the new arrangement there can be no doubt.

Independently of the more obvious advantages of an open and direct

intercourse, its establishment will be attended with other consequences

of a higher value. That which has been carried on since the mutual

interdict under all the expense and inconvenience unavoidably incident

to it would have been insupportably onerous had it not been in a great

degree lightened by concerted evasions in the mode of making the

transshipments at what are called the neutral ports. These indirections

are inconsistent with the dignity of nations that have so many motives

not only to cherish feelings of mutual friendship, but to maintain such

relations as will stimulate their respective citizens and subjects to

efforts of direct, open, and honorable competition only, and preserve

them from the influence of seductive and vitiating circumstances.

When your preliminary interposition was asked at the close of the last

session, a copy of the instructions under which Mr. McLane has acted,

together with the communications which had at that time passed between

him and the British Government, was laid before you. Although there has

not been any thing in the acts of the two Governments which requires

secrecy, it was thought most proper in the then state of the

negotiation to make that communication a confidential one. So soon,

however, as the evidence of execution on the part of Great Britain is

received the whole matter shall be laid before you, when it will be

seen that the apprehension which appears to have suggested one of the

provisions of the act passed at your last session, that the restoration

of the trade in question might be connected with other subjects and was

sought to be obtained at the sacrifice of the public interest in other

particulars, was wholly unfounded, and that the change which has taken

place in the views of the British Government has been induced by

considerations as honorable to both parties as I trust the result will

prove beneficial.

This desirable result was, it will be seen, greatly promoted by the

liberal and confiding provisions of the act of Congress of the last

session, by which our ports were upon the reception and annunciation by

the President of the required assurance on the part of Great Britain

forthwith opened to her vessels before the arrangement could be carried

into effect on her part, pursuing in this act of prospective

legislation a similar course to that adopted by Great Britain in

abolishing, by her act of Parliament in 1825, a restriction then

existing and permitting our vessels to clear from the colonies on their

return voyages for any foreign country whatever before British vessels

had been relieved from the restriction imposed by our law of returning

directly from the United States to the colonies, a restriction which

she required and expected that we should abolish. Upon each occasion a

limited and temporary advantage has been given to the opposite party,

but an advantage of no importance in comparison with the restoration of

mutual confidence and good feeling, and the ultimate establishment of

the trade upon fair principles.

It gives me unfeigned pleasure to assure you that this negotiation has

been throughout characterized by the most frank and friendly spirit on

the part of Great Britain, and concluded in a manner strongly

indicative of a sincere desire to cultivate the best relations with the

United States. To reciprocate this disposition to the fullest extent of

my ability is a duty which I shall deem it a privilege to discharge.

Although the result is itself the best commentary on the services

rendered to his country by our minister at the Court of St. James, it

would be doing violence to my feelings were I to dismiss the subject

without expressing the very high sense I entertain of the talent and

exertion which have been displayed by him on the occasion.

The injury to the commerce of the United States resulting from the

exclusion of our vessels from the Black Sea and the previous footing of

mere sufferance upon which even the limited trade enjoyed by us with

Turkey has hitherto been placed have for a long time been a source of

much solicitude to this Government, and several endeavors have been

made to obtain a better state of things. Sensible of the importance of

the object, I felt it my duty to leave no proper means unemployed to

acquire for our flag the same privileges that are enjoyed by the

principal powers of Europe. Commissioners were consequently appointed

to open a negotiation with the Sublime Porte. Not long after the member

of the commission who went directly from the United States had sailed,

the account of the treaty of Adrianople, by which one of the objects in

view was supposed to be secured, reached this country. The Black Sea

was understood to be opened to us. Under the supposition that this was

the case, the additional facilities to be derived from the

establishment of commercial regulations with the Porte were deemed of

sufficient importance to require a prosecution of the negotiation as

originally contemplated. It was therefore persevered in, and resulted

in a treaty, which will be forthwith laid before the Senate.

By its provisions a free passage is secured, without limitations of

time, to the vessels of the United States to and from the Black Sea,

including the navigation thereof, and our trade with Turkey is placed

on the footing of the most favored nation. The latter is an arrangement

wholly independent of the treaty of Adrianople, and the former derives

much value, not only from the increased security which under any

circumstances it would give to the right in question, but from the

fact, ascertained in the course of the negotiation, that by the

construction put upon that treaty by Turkey the article relating to the

passage of the Bosphorus is confined to nations having treaties with

the Porte. The most friendly feelings appear to be entertained by the

Sultan, and an enlightened disposition is evinced by him to foster the

intercourse between the two countries by the most liberal arrangements.

This disposition it will be our duty and interest to cherish.

Our relations with Russia are of the most stable character. Respect for

that Empire and confidence in its friendship toward the United States

have been so long entertained on our part and so carefully cherished by

the present Emperor and his illustrious predecessor as to have become

incorporated with the public sentiment of the United States. No means

will be left unemployed on my part to promote these salutary feelings

and those improvements of which the commercial intercourse between the

two countries is susceptible, and which have derived increased

importance from our treaty with the Sublime Porte.

I sincerely regret to inform you that our minister lately commissioned

to that Court, on whose distinguished talents and great experience in

public affairs I place great reliance, has been compelled by extreme

indisposition to exercise a privilege which, in consideration of the

extent to which his constitution had been impaired in the public

service, was committed to his discretion--of leaving temporarily his

post for the advantage of a more genial climate.

If, as it is to be hoped, the improvement of his health should be such

as to justify him in doing so, he will repair to St. Petersburg and

resume the discharge of his official duties. I have received the most

satisfactory assurances that in the mean time the public interest in

that quarter will be preserved from prejudice by the intercourse which

he will continue through the secretary of legation with the Russian

cabinet.

You are apprised, although the fact has not yet been officially

announced to the House of Representatives, that a treaty was in the

month of March last concluded between the United States, and Denmark,

by which $650 thousand are secured to our citizens as an indemnity for

spoliations upon their commerce in the years 1808, 1809, 1810, and

1811. This treaty was sanctioned by the Senate at the close of its last

session, and it now becomes the duty of Congress to pass the necessary

laws for the organization of the board of commissioners to distribute

the indemnity among the claimants. It is an agreeable circumstance in

this adjustment that the terms are in conformity with the previously

ascertained views of the claimants themselves, thus removing all

pretense for a future agitation of the subject in any form.

The negotiations in regard to such points in our foreign relations as

remain to be adjusted have been actively prosecuted during the recess.

Material advances have been made, which are of a character to promise

favorable results. Our country, by the blessing of God, is not in a

situation to invite aggression, and it will be our fault if she ever

becomes so. Sincerely desirous to cultivate the most liberal and

friendly relations with all; ever ready to fulfill our engagements with

scrupulous fidelity; limiting our demands upon others to mere justice;

holding ourselves ever ready to do unto them as we would wish to be

done by, and avoiding even the appearance of undue partiality to any

nation, it appears to me impossible that a simple and sincere

application of our principles to our foreign relations can fail to

place them ultimately upon the footing on which it is our wish they

should rest.

Of the points referred to, the most prominent are our claims upon

France for spoliations upon our commerce; similar claims upon Spain,

together with embarrassments in the commercial intercourse between the

two countries which ought to be removed; the conclusion of the treaty

of commerce and navigation with Mexico, which has been so long in

suspense, as well as the final settlement of limits between ourselves

and that Republic, and, finally, the arbitrament of the question

between the United States and Great Britain in regard to the

north-eastern boundary.

The negotiation with France has been conducted by our minister with

zeal and ability, and in all respects to my entire satisfaction.

Although the prospect of a favorable termination was occasionally

dimmed by counter pretensions to which the United States could not

assent, he yet had strong hopes of being able to arrive at a

satisfactory settlement with the late Government. The negotiation has

been renewed with the present authorities, and, sensible of the general

and lively confidence of our citizens in the justice and magnanimity of

regenerated France, I regret the more not to have it in my power yet to

announce the result so confidently anticipated. No ground, however,

inconsistent with this expectation has yet been taken, and I do not

allow myself to doubt that justice will soon be done us. The amount of

the claims, the length of time they have remained unsatisfied, and

their incontrovertible justice make an earnest prosecution of them by

this Government an urgent duty. The illegality of the seizures and

confiscations out of which they have arisen is not disputed, and what

ever distinctions may have heretofore been set up in regard to the

liability of the existing Government it is quite clear that such

considerations can not now be interposed.

The commercial intercourse between the two countries is susceptible of

highly advantageous improvements, but the sense of this injury has had,

and must continue to have, a very unfavorable influence upon them. From

its satisfactory adjustment not only a firm and cordial friendship, but

a progressive development of all their relations, may be expected. It

is, therefore, my earnest hope that this old and vexatious subject of

difference may be speedily removed.

I feel that my confidence in our appeal to the motives which should

govern a just and magnanimous nation is alike warranted by the

character of the French people and by the high voucher we possess for

the enlarged views and pure integrity of the Monarch who now presides

over their councils, and nothing shall be wanting on my part to meet

any manifestation of the spirit we anticipate in one of corresponding

frankness and liberality.

The subjects of difference with Spain have been brought to the view of

that Government by our minister there with much force and propriety,

and the strongest assurances have been received of their early and

favorable consideration.

The steps which remained to place the matter in controversy between

Great Britain and the United States fairly before the arbitrator have

all been taken in the same liberal and friendly spirit which

characterized those before announced. Recent events have doubtless

served to delay the decision, but our minister at the Court of the

distinguished arbitrator has been assured that it will be made within

the time contemplated by the treaty.

I am particularly gratified in being able to state that a decidedly

favorable, and, as I hope, lasting, change has been effected in our

relations with the neighboring Republic of Mexico. The unfortunate and

unfounded suspicions in regard to our disposition which it became my

painful duty to advert to on a former occasion have been, I believe,

entirely removed, and the Government of Mexico has been made to

understand the real character of the wishes and views of this in regard

to that country. The consequences is the establishment of friendship

and mutual confidence. Such are the assurances I have received, and I

see no cause to doubt their sincerity.

I had reason to expect the conclusion of a commercial treaty with

Mexico in season for communication on the present occasion.

Circumstances which are not explained, but which I am persuaded are not

the result of an indisposition on her part to enter into it, have

produced the delay.

There was reason to fear in the course of the last summer that the

harmony of our relations might be disturbed by the acts of certain

claimants, under Mexican grants, of territory which had hitherto been

under our jurisdiction. The cooperation of the representative of Mexico

near this Government was asked on the occasion and was readily

afforded. Instructions and advice have been given to the governor of

Arkansas and the officers in command in the adjoining Mexican State by

which it is hoped the quiet of that frontier will be preserved until a

final settlement of the dividing line shall have removed all ground of

controversy.

The exchange of ratifications of the treaty concluded last year with

Austria has not yet taken place. The delay has been occasioned by the

non-arrival of the ratification of that Government within the time

prescribed by the treaty. Renewed authority has been asked for by the

representative of Austria, and in the mean time the rapidly increasing

trade and navigation between the two countries have been placed upon

the most liberal footing of our navigation acts.

Several alleged depredations have been recently committed on our

commerce by the national vessels of Portugal. They have been made the

subject of immediate remonstrance and reclamation. I am not yet

possessed of sufficient information to express a definitive opinion of

their character, but expect soon to receive it. No proper means shall

be omitted to obtain for our citizens all the redress to which they may

appear to be entitled.

Almost at the moment of the adjournment of your last session two

bills--the one entitled "An act for making appropriations for building

light houses, light boats, beacons, and monuments, placing buoys, and

for improving harbors and directing surveys", and the other "An act to

authorize a subscription for stock in the Louisville and Portland Canal

Company"--were submitted for my approval. It was not possible within

the time allowed for me before the close of the session to give to

these bills the consideration which was due to their character and

importance, and I was compelled to retain them for that purpose. I now

avail myself of this early opportunity to return them to the Houses in

which they respectively originated with the reasons which, after mature

deliberation, compel me to withhold my approval.

The practice of defraying out of the Treasury of the United States the

expenses incurred by the establishment and support of light houses,

beacons, buoys, and public piers within the bays, inlets, harbors, and

ports of the United States, to render the navigation thereof safe and

easy, is coeval with the adoption of the Constitution, and has been

continued without interruption or dispute.

As our foreign commerce increased and was extended into the interior of

the country by the establishment of ports of entry and delivery upon

our navigable rivers the sphere of those expenditures received a

corresponding enlargement. Light houses, beacons, buoys, public piers,

and the removal of sand bars, sawyers, and other partial or temporary

impediments in the navigable rivers and harbors which were embraced in

the revenue districts from time to time established by law were

authorized upon the same principle and the expense defrayed in the same

manner. That these expenses have at times been extravagant and

disproportionate is very probable. The circumstances under which they

are incurred are well calculated to lead to such a result unless their

application is subjected to the closest scrutiny. The local advantages

arising from the disbursement of public money too frequently, it is to

be feared, invite appropriations for objects of this character that are

neither necessary nor useful.

The number of light house keepers is already very large, and the bill

before me proposes to add to it 51 more of various descriptions. From

representations upon the subject which are understood to be entitled to

respect I am induced to believe that there has not only been great

improvidence in the past expenditures of the Government upon these

objects, but that the security of navigation has in some instances been

diminished by the multiplication of light houses and consequent change

of lights upon the coast. It is in this as in other respects our duty

to avoid all unnecessary expense, as well as every increase of

patronage not called for by the public service.

But in the discharge of that duty in this particular it must not be

forgotten that in relation to our foreign commerce the burden and

benefit of protecting and accommodating it necessarily go together, and

must do so as long as the public revenue is drawn from the people

through the custom house. It is indisputable that whatever gives

facility and security to navigation cheapens imports and all who

consume them are alike interested in what ever produces this effect. If

they consume, they ought, as they now do, to pay; otherwise they do not

pay. The consumer in the most inland State derives the same advantage

from every necessary and prudent expenditure for the facility and

security of our foreign commerce and navigation that he does who

resides in a maritime State. Local expenditures have not of themselves

a corresponding operation.

From a bill making direct appropriations for such objects I should

not have withheld my assent. The one now returned does so in several

particulars, but it also contains appropriations for surveys of local

character, which I can not approve. It gives me satisfaction to find

that no serious inconvenience has arisen from withholding my approval

from this bill; nor will it, I trust, be cause of regret that an

opportunity will be thereby afforded for Congress to review its

provisions under circumstances better calculated for full investigation

than those under which it was passed.

In speaking of direct appropriations I mean not to include a practice

which has obtained to some extent, and to which I have in one instance,

in a different capacity, given my assent--that of subscribing to the

stock of private associations. Positive experience and a more thorough

consideration of the subject have convinced me of the impropriety as

well as inexpediency of such investments. All improvements effected by

the funds of the nation for general use should be open to the enjoyment

of all our fellow citizens, exempt from the payment of tolls or any

imposition of that character. The practice of thus mingling the

concerns of the Government with those of the States or of individuals

is inconsistent with the object of its institution and highly impolite.

The successful operation of the federal system can only be preserved by

confining it to the few and simple, but yet important, objects for

which it was designed.

A different practice, if allowed to progress, would ultimately change

the character of this Government by consolidating into one the General

and State Governments, which were intended to be kept for ever

distinct. I can not perceive how bills authorizing such subscriptions

can be otherwise regarded than as bills for revenue, and consequently

subject to the rule in that respect prescribed by the Constitution. If

the interest of the Government in private companies is subordinate to

that of individuals, the management and control of a portion of the

public funds is delegated to an authority unknown to the Constitution

and beyond the supervision of our constituents; if superior, its

officers and agents will be constantly exposed to imputations of

favoritism and oppression. Direct prejudice the public interest or an

alienation of the affections and respect of portions of the people may,

therefore, in addition to the general discredit resulting to the

Government from embarking with its constituents in pecuniary

stipulations, be looked for as the probable fruit of such associations.

It is no answer to this objection to say that the extent of

consequences like these can not be great from a limited and small

number of investments, because experience in other matters teaches

us--and we are not at liberty to disregard its admonitions--that unless

an entire stop be put to them it will soon be impossible to prevent

their accumulation until they are spread over the whole country and

made to embrace many of the private and appropriate concerns of

individuals.

The power which the General Government would acquire within the several

States by becoming the principal stock-holder in corporations,

controlling every canal and each 60 or 100 miles of every important

road, and giving a proportionate vote in all their elections, is almost

inconceivable, and in my view dangerous to the liberties of the people.

This mode of aiding such works is also in its nature deceptive, and in

many cases conducive to improvidence in the administration of the

national funds. Appropriations will be obtained with much greater

facility and granted with less security to the public interest when the

measure is thus disguised than when definite and direct expenditures of

money are asked for. The interests of the nation would doubtless be

better served by avoiding all such indirect modes of aiding particular

objects. In a government like ours more especially should all public

acts be, as far as practicable, simple, undisguised, and intelligible,

that they may become fit subjects for the approbation to animadversion

of the people.

The bill authorizing a subscription to the Louisville and Portland

Canal affords a striking illustration of the difficulty of withholding

additional appropriations for the same object when the first erroneous

step has been taken by instituting a partnership between the Government

and private companies. It proposes a third subscription on the part of

the United States, when each preceding one was at the time regarded as

the extent of the aid which Government was to render to that work; and

the accompanying bill for light houses, etc., contains an appropriation

for a survey of the bed of the river, with a view to its improvement by

removing the obstruction which the canal is designed to avoid. This

improvement, if successful, would afford a free passage of the river

and render the canal entirely useless. To such improvidence is the

course of legislation subject in relation to internal improvements on

local matters, even with the best intentions on the part of Congress.

Although the motives which have influenced me in this matter may be

already sufficiently stated, I am, never the less, induced by its

importance to add a few observations of a general character.

In my objections to the bills authorizing subscriptions to the

Maysville and Rockville road companies I expressed my views fully in

regard to the power of Congress to construct roads and canals within a

State of to appropriate money for improvements of a local character. I

at the same time intimated me belief that the right to make

appropriations for such as were of a national character had been so

generally acted upon and so long acquiesced in by the Federal and State

Governments and the constituents of each as to justify its exercise on

the ground of continued and uninterrupted usage, but that it was, never

the less, highly expedient that appropriations even of that character

should, with the exception made at the time, be deferred until the

national debt is paid, and that in the mean while some general rule for

the action of the Government in that respect ought to be established.

These suggestions were not necessary to the decision of the question

then before me, and were, I readily admit, intended to awake the

attention and draw forth the opinion and observations of our

constituents upon a subject of the highest importance to their

interests, and one destined to exert a powerful influence upon the

future operations of our political system. I know of no tribunal to

which a public man in this country, in a case of doubt and difficulty,

can appeal with greater advantage or more propriety than the judgment

of the people; and although I must necessarily in the discharge of my

official duties be governed by the dictates of my own judgment, I have

no desire to conceal my anxious wish to conform as far as I can to the

views of those for whom I act.

All irregular expressions of public opinion are of necessity attended

with some doubt as to their accuracy, but making full allowances on

that account I can not, I think, deceive myself in believing that the

acts referred to, as well as the suggestions which I allowed myself to

make in relation to their bearing upon the future operations of the

Government, have been approved by the great body of the people. That

those whose immediate pecuniary interests are to be affected by

proposed expenditures should shrink from the application of a rule

which prefers their more general and remote interests to those which

are personal and immediate is to be expected. But even such objections

must from the nature of our population be but temporary in their

duration, and if it were otherwise our course should be the same, for

the time is yet, I hope, far distant when those intrusted with power to

be exercised for the good of the whole will consider it either honest

or wise to purchase local favors at the sacrifice of principle and

general good.

So understanding public sentiment, and thoroughly satisfied that the

best interests of our common country imperiously require that the

course which I have recommended in this regard should be adopted, I

have, upon the most mature consideration, determined to pursue it.

It is due to candor, as well as to my own feelings, that I should

express the reluctance and anxiety which I must at all times experience

in exercising the undoubted right of the Executive to withhold his

assent from bills on other grounds than their constitutionality. That

this right should not be exercised on slight occasions all will admit.

It is only in matters of deep interest, when the principle involved may

be justly regarded as next in importance to infractions of the

Constitution itself, that such a step can be expected to meet with the

approbation of the people. Such an occasion do I conscientiously

believe the present to be.

In the discharge of this delicate and highly responsible duty I am

sustained by the reflection that the exercise of this power has been

deemed consistent with the obligation of official duty by several of my

predecessors, and by the persuasion, too, that what ever liberal

institutions may have to fear from the encroachments of Executive

power, which has been every where the cause of so much strife and

bloody contention, but little danger is to be apprehended from a

precedent by which that authority denies to itself the exercise of

powers that bring in their train influence and patronage of great

extent, and thus excludes the operation of personal interests, every

where the bane of official trust.

I derive, too, no small degree of satisfaction from the reflection that

if I have mistaken the interests and wishes of the people the

Constitution affords the means of soon redressing the error by

selecting for the place their favor has bestowed upon me a citizen

whose opinions may accord with their own. I trust, in the mean time,

the interests of the nation will be saved from prejudice by a rigid

application of that portion of the public funds which might otherwise

be applied to different objects to that highest of all our obligations,

the payment of the public debt, and an opportunity be afforded for the

adoption of some better rule for the operations of the Government in

this matter than any which has hitherto been acted upon.

Profoundly impressed with the importance of the subject, not merely as

relates to the general prosperity of the country, but to the safety of

the federal system, I can not avoid repeating my earnest hope that all

good citizens who take a proper interest in the success and harmony of

our admirable political institutions, and who are incapable of desiring

to convert an opposite state of things into means for the gratification

of personal ambition, will, laying aside minor considerations and

discarding local prejudices, unite their honest exertions to establish

some fixed general principle which shall be calculated to effect the

greatest extent of public good in regard to the subject of internal

improvement, and afford the least ground for sectional discontent.

The general grounds of my objection to local appropriations have been

heretofore expressed, and I shall endeavor to avoid a repetition of

what has been already urged--the importance of sustaining the State

sovereignties as far as is consistent with the rightful action of the

Federal Government, and of preserving the greatest attainable harmony

between them. I will now only add an expression of my conviction--a

conviction which every day's experience serves to confirm--that the

political creed which inculcates the pursuit of those great objects as

a paramount duty is the true faith, and one to which we are mainly

indebted for the present success of the entire system, and to which we

must alone look for its future stability.

That there are diversities in the interests of the different States

which compose this extensive Confederacy must be admitted. Those

diversities arising from situation, climate, population, and pursuits

are doubtless, as it is natural they should be, greatly exaggerated by

jealousies and that spirit of rivalry so inseparable from neighboring

communities. These circumstances make it the duty of those who are

intrusted with the management of its affairs to neutralize their

effects as far as practicable by making the beneficial operation of the

Federal Government as equal and equitable among the several States as

can be done consistently with the great ends of its institution.

It is only necessary to refer to undoubted facts to see how far the

past acts of the Government upon the subject under consideration have

fallen short of this object. The expenditures heretofore made for

internal improvements amount to upward of $5 millions, and have been

distributed in very unequal proportions amongst the States. The

estimated expense of works of which surveys have been made, together

with that of others projected and partially surveyed, amounts to more

than $96 millions.

That such improvements, on account of particular circumstances, may be

more advantageously and beneficially made in some States than in others

is doubtless true, but that they are of a character which should

prevent an equitable distribution of the funds amongst the several

States is not to be conceded. The want of this equitable distribution

can not fail to prove a prolific source of irritation among the States.

We have it constantly before our eyes that professions of superior zeal

in the cause of internal improvement and a disposition to lavish the

public funds upon objects of this character are daily and earnestly put

forth by aspirants to power as constituting the highest claims to the

confidence of the people. Would it be strange, under such

circumstances, and in times of great excitement, that grants of this

description should find their motives in objects which may not accord

with the public good? Those who have not had occasion to see and regret

the indication of a sinister influence in these matters in past times

have been more fortunate than myself in their observation of the course

of public affairs. If to these evils be added the combinations and

angry contentions to which such a course of things gives rise, with

their baleful influences upon the legislation of Congress touching the

leading and appropriate duties of the Federal Government, it was but

doing justice to the character of our people to expect the severe

condemnation of the past which the recent exhibitions of public

sentiment has evinced.

Nothing short of a radical change in the action of the Government upon

the subject can, in my opinion, remedy the evil. If, as it would be

natural to expect, the States which have been least favored in past

appropriations should insist on being redressed in those here after to

be made, at the expense of the States which have so largely and

disproportionately participated, we have, as matters now stand, but

little security that the attempt would do more than change the

inequality from one quarter to another.

Thus viewing the subject, I have heretofore felt it my duty to

recommend the adoption of some plan for the distribution of the surplus

funds, which may at any time remain in the Treasury after the national

debt shall have been paid, among the States, in proportion to the

number of their Representatives, to be applied by them to objects of

internal improvement.

Although this plan has met with favor in some portions of the Union, it

has also elicited objections which merit deliberate consideration. A

brief notice of these objections here will not, therefore, I trust, be

regarded as out of place.

They rest, as far as they have come to my knowledge, on the following

grounds: first, an objection to the ration of distribution; second, an

apprehension that the existence of such a regulation would produce

improvident and oppressive taxation to raise the funds for

distribution; 3rd, that the mode proposed would lead to the

construction of works of a local nature, to the exclusion of such as

are general and as would consequently be of a more useful character;

and, last, that it would create a discreditable and injurious

dependence on the part of the State governments upon the Federal power.

Of those who object to the ration of representatives as the basis of

distribution, some insist that the importations of the respective

States would constitute one that would be more equitable; and others

again, that the extent of their respective territories would furnish a

standard which would be more expedient and sufficiently equitable. The

ration of representation presented itself to my mind, and it still

does, as one of obvious equity, because of its being the ratio of

contribution, whether the funds to be distributed be derived from the

customs or from direct taxation. It does not follow, however, that its

adoption is indispensable to the establishment of the system proposed.

There may be considerations appertaining to the subject which would

render a departure, to some extent, from the rule of contribution

proper. Nor is it absolutely necessary that the basis of distribution

be confined to one ground. It may, if in the judgment of those whose

right it is to fix it it be deemed politic and just to give it that

character, have regard to several.

In my first message I stated it to be my opinion that "it is not

probably that any adjustment of the tariff upon principles satisfactory

to the people of the Union will until a remote period, if ever, leave

the Government without a considerable surplus in the Treasury beyond

what may be required for its current surplus". I have had no cause to

change that opinion, but much to confirm it. Should these expectations

be realized, a suitable fund would thus be produced for the plan under

consideration to operate upon, and if there be no such fund its

adoption will, in my opinion, work no injury to any interest; for I can

not assent to the justness of the apprehension that the establishment

of the proposed system would tend to the encouragement of improvident

legislation of the character supposed. What ever the proper authority

in the exercise of constitutional power shall at any time here after

decide to be for the general good will in that as in other respects

deserve and receive the acquiescence and support of the whole country,

and we have ample security that every abuse of power in that regard by

agents of the people will receive a speedy and effectual corrective at

their hands. The views which I take of the future, founded on the

obvious and increasing improvement of all classes of our fellow

citizens in intelligence and in public and private virtue, leave me

without much apprehension on that head.

I do not doubt that those who come after us will be as much alive as we

are to the obligation upon all the trustees of political power to

exempt those for whom they act from all unnecessary burthens, and as

sensible of the great truth that the resources of the nation beyond

those required for immediate and necessary purposes of Government can

no where be so well deposited as in the pockets of the people.

It may some times happen that the interests of particular States would

not be deemed to coincide with the general interest in relation to

improvements within such States. But if the danger to be apprehended

from this source is sufficient to require it, a discretion might be

reserved to Congress to direct to such improvements of a general

character as the States concerned might not be disposed to unite in,

the application of the quotas of those States, under the restriction of

confining to each State the expenditure of its appropriate quota. It

may, however, be assumed as a safe general rule that such improvements

as serve to increase the prosperity of the respective States in which

they are made, by giving new facilities to trade, and thereby

augmenting the wealth and comfort of their inhabitants, constitute the

surest mode of conferring permanent and substantial advantages upon the

whole. The strength as well as the true glory of the Confederacy is

founded on the prosperity and power of the several independent

sovereignties of which it is composed and the certainty with which they

can be brought into successful active cooperation through the agency of

the Federal Government.

It is, more over, within the knowledge of such as are at all conversant

with public affairs that schemes of internal improvement have from time

to time been proposed which, from their extent and seeming

magnificence, were readily regarded as of national concernment, but

which upon fuller consideration and further experience would now be

rejected with great unanimity.

That the plan under consideration would derive important advantages

from its certainty, and that the moneys set apart for these purposes

would be more judiciously applied and economically expended under the

direction of the State legislatures, in which every part of each State

is immediately represented, can not, I think, be doubted. In the new

States particularly, where a comparatively small population is

scattered over an extensive surface, and the representation in Congress

consequently very limited, it is natural to expect that the

appropriations made by the Federal Government would be more likely to

be expended in the vicinity of those numbers through whose immediate

agency they were obtained than if the funds were placed under the

control of the legislature, in which every county of the State has its

own representative. This supposition does not necessarily impugn the

motives of such Congressional representatives, nor is it so intended.

We are all sensible of the bias to which the strongest minds and purest

hearts are, under such circumstances, liable. In respect to the last

objection--its probable effect upon the dignity and independence of

State governments--it appears to me only necessary to state the case as

it is, and as it would be if the measure proposed were adopted, to show

that the operation is most likely to be the very reverse of that which

the objection supposes.

In the one case the State would receive its quota of the national

revenue for domestic use upon a fixed principle as a matter of right,

and from a fund to the creation of which it had itself contributed its

fair proportion. Surely there could be nothing derogatory in that. As

matters now stand the States themselves, in their sovereign character,

are not unfrequently petitioners at the bar of the Federal Legislature

for such allowances out of the National Treasury as it may comport with

their pleasure or sense of duty to bestow upon them. It can not require

argument to prove which of the two courses is most compatible with the

efficiency or respectability of the State governments.

But all these are matters for discussion and dispassionate

consideration. That the desired adjustment would be attended with

difficulty affords no reason why it should not be attempted. The

effective operation of such motives would have prevented the adoption

of the Constitution under which we have so long lived and under the

benign influence of which our beloved country has so signally

prospered. The framers of that sacred instrument had greater

difficulties to overcome, and they did overcome them. The patriotism of

the people, directed by a deep conviction of the importance of the

Union, produced mutual concession and reciprocal forbearance. Strict

right was merged in a spirit of compromise, and the result has

consecrated their disinterested devotion to the general weal. Unless

the American people have degenerated, the same result can be again

effected when ever experience points out the necessity of a resort to

the same means to uphold the fabric which their fathers have reared.

It is beyond the power of man to make a system of government like ours

or any other operate with precise equality upon States situated like

those which compose this Confederacy; nor is inequality always

injustice. Every State can not expect to shape the measures of the

General Government to suit its own particular interests. The causes

which prevent it are seated in the nature of things, and can not be

entirely counteracted by human means. Mutual forbearance becomes,

therefore, a duty obligatory upon all, and we may, I am confident,

count upon a cheerful compliance with this high injunction on the part

of our constituents. It is not to be supposed that they will object to

make such comparatively inconsiderable sacrifices for the preservation

of rights and privileges which other less favored portions of the world

have in vain waded through seas of blood to acquire.

Our course is a safe one if it be but faithfully adhered to.

Acquiescence in the constitutionally expressed will of the majority,

and the exercise of that will in a spirit of moderation, justice, and

brotherly kindness, will constitute a cement which would for ever

preserve our Union. Those who cherish and inculcate sentiments like

these render a most essential service to their country, while those who

seek to weaken their influence are, how ever conscientious and praise

worthy their intentions, in effect its worst enemies.

If the intelligence and influence of the country, instead of laboring

to foment sectional prejudices, to be made subservient to party

warfare, were in good faith applied to the eradication of causes of

local discontent, by the improvement of our institutions and by

facilitating their adaptation to the condition of the times, this task

would prove one of less difficulty. May we not hope that the obvious

interests of our common country and the dictates of an enlightened

patriotism will in the end lead the public mind in that direction?

After all, the nature of the subject does not admit of a plan wholly

free from objection. That which has for some time been in operation is,

perhaps, the worst that could exist, and every advance that can be made

in its improvement is a matter eminently worthy of your most deliberate

attention.

It is very possible that one better calculated to effect the objects in

view may yet be devised. If so, it is to be hoped that those who

disapprove the past and dissent from what is proposed for the future

will feel it their duty to direct their attention to it, as they must

be sensible that unless some fixed rule for the action of the Federal

Government in this respect is established the course now attempted to

be arrested will be again resorted to. Any mode which is calculated to

give the greatest degree of effect and harmony to our legislation upon

the subject, which shall best serve to keep the movements of the

Federal Government within the sphere intended by those who modeled and

those who adopted it, which shall lead to the extinguishment of the

national debt in the shortest period and impose the lightest burthens

upon our constituents, shall receive from me a cordial and firm

support.

Among the objects of great national concern I can not omit to press

again upon your attention that part of the Constitution which regulates

the election of President and Vice-President. The necessity for its

amendment is made so clear to my mind by observation of its evils and

by the many able discussions which they have elicited on the floor of

Congress and elsewhere that I should be wanting to my duty were I to

withhold another expression of my deep solicitude on the subject. Our

system fortunately contemplates a recurrence to first principles,

differing in this respect from all that have preceded it, and securing

it, I trust, equally against the decay and the commotions which have

marked the progress of other governments.

Our fellow citizens, too, who in proportion to their love of liberty

keep a steady eye upon the means of sustaining it, do not require to be

reminded of the duty they owe to themselves to remedy all essential

defects in so vital a part of their system. While they are sensible

that every evil attendant upon its operation is not necessarily

indicative of a bad organization, but may proceed from temporary

causes, yet the habitual presence, or even a single instance, of evils

which can be clearly traced to an organic defect will not, I trust, be

over-looked through a too scrupulous veneration for the work of their

ancestors.

The Constitution was an experiment committed to the virtue and

intelligence of the great mass of our country-men, in whose ranks the

framers of it themselves were to perform the part of patriotic

observation and scrutiny, and if they have passed from the stage of

existence with an increased confidence in its general adaptation to our

condition we should learn from authority so high the duty of fortifying

the points in it which time proves to be exposed rather than be

deterred from approaching them by the suggestions of fear or the

dictates of misplaced reverence.

A provision which does not secure to the people a direct choice of

their Chief Magistrate, but has a tendency to defeat their will,

presented to my mind such an inconsistence with the general spirit of

our institutions that I was indeed to suggest for your consideration

the substitute which appeared to me at the same time the most likely to

correct the evil and to meet the views of our constituents. The most

mature reflection since has added strength to the belief that the best

interests of our country require the speedy adoption of some plan

calculated to effect this end. A contingency which some times places it

in the power of a single member of the House of Representatives to

decide an election of so high and solemn a character is unjust to the

people, and becomes when it occurs a source of embarrassment to the

individuals thus brought into power and a cause of distrust of the

representative body.

Liable as the Confederacy is, from its great extent, to parties founded

upon sectional interests, and to a corresponding multiplication of

candidates for the Presidency, the tendency of the constitutional

reference to the House of Representatives is to devolve the election

upon that body in almost every instance, and, what ever choice may then

be made among the candidates thus presented to them, to swell the

influence of particular interests to a degree inconsistent with the

general good. The consequences of this feature of the Constitution

appear far more threatening to the peace and integrity of the Union

than any which I can conceive as likely to result from the simple

legislative action of the Federal Government.

It was a leading object with the framers of the Constitution to keep as

separate as possible the action of the legislative and executive

branches of the Government. To secure this object nothing is more

essential than to preserve the former from all temptations of private

interest, and therefore so to direct the patronage of the latter as not

to permit such temptations to be offered. Experience abundantly

demonstrates that every precaution in this respect is a valuable

safe-guard of liberty, and one which my reflections upon the tendencies

of our system incline me to think should be made still stronger.

It was for this reason that, in connection with an amendment of the

Constitution removing all intermediate agency in the choice of the

President, I recommended some restrictions upon the re-eligibility of

that officer and upon the tenure of offices generally. The reason still

exists, and I renew the recommendation with an increased confidence

that its adoption will strengthen those checks by which the

Constitution designed to secure the independence of each department of

the Government and promote the healthful and equitable administration

of all the trusts which it has created.

The agent most likely to contravene this design of the Constitution is

the Chief Magistrate. In order, particularly, that his appointment may

as far as possible be placed beyond the reach of any improper

influences; in order that he may approach the solemn responsibilities

of the highest office in the gift of a free people uncommitted to any

other course than the strict line of constitutional duty, and that the

securities for this independence may be rendered as strong as the

nature of power and the weakness of its possessor will admit, I can not

too earnestly invite your attention to the propriety of promoting such

an amendment of the Constitution as will render him ineligible after

one term of service.

It gives me pleasure to announce to Congress that the benevolent policy

of the Government, steadily pursued for nearly 30 years, in relation to

the removal of the Indians beyond the white settlements is approaching

to a happy consummation. Two important tribes have accepted the

provision made for their removal at the last session of Congress, and

it is believed that their example will induce the remaining tribes also

to seek the same obvious advantages.

The consequences of a speedy removal will be important to the United

States, to individual States, and to the Indians themselves. The

pecuniary advantages which it promises to the Government are the least

of its recommendations. It puts an end to all possible danger of

collision between the authorities of the General and State Governments

on account of the Indians. It will place a dense and civilized

population in large tracts of country now occupied by a few savage

hunters. By opening the whole territory between Tennessee on the north

and Louisiana on the south to the settlement of the whites it will

incalculably strengthen the south west frontier and render the adjacent

States strong enough to repel future invasions without remote aid. It

will relieve the whole State of Mississippi and the western part of

Alabama of Indian occupancy, and enable those States to advance rapidly

in population, wealth, and power. It will separate the Indians from

immediate contact with settlements of whites; free them from the power

of the States; enable them to pursue happiness in their own way and

under their own rude institutions; will retard the progress of decay,

which is lessening their numbers, and perhaps cause them gradually,

under the protection of the Government and through the influence of

good counsels, to cast off their savage habits and become an

interesting, civilized, and Christian community. These consequences,

some of them so certain and the rest so probable, make the complete

execution of the plan sanctioned by Congress at their last session an

object of much solicitude.

Toward the aborigines of the country no one can indulge a more friendly

feeling than myself, or would go further in attempting to reclaim them

from their wandering habits and make them a happy, prosperous people. I

have endeavored to impress upon them my own solemn convictions of the

duties and powers of the General Government in relation to the State

authorities. For the justice of the laws passed by the States within

the scope of their reserved powers they are not responsible to this

Government. As individuals we may entertain and express our opinions of

their acts, but as a Government we have as little right to control them

as we have to prescribe laws for other nations.

With a full understanding of the subject, the Choctaw and the Chickasaw

tribes have with great unanimity determined to avail themselves of the

liberal offers presented by the act of Congress, and have agreed to

remove beyond the Mississippi River. Treaties have been made with them,

which in due season will be submitted for consideration. In negotiating

these treaties they were made to understand their true condition, and

they have preferred maintaining their independence in the Western

forests to submitting to the laws of the States in which they now

reside. These treaties, being probably the last which will ever be made

with them, are characterized by great liberality on the part of the

Government. They give the Indians a liberal sum in consideration of

their removal, and comfortable subsistence on their arrival at their

new homes. If it be their real interest to maintain a separate

existence, they will there be at liberty to do so without the

inconveniences and vexations to which they would unavoidably have been

subject in Alabama and Mississippi.

Humanity has often wept over the fate of the aborigines of this

country, and Philanthropy has been long busily employed in devising

means to avert it, but its progress has never for a moment been

arrested, and one by one have many powerful tribes disappeared from the

earth. To follow to the tomb the last of his race and to tread on the

graves of extinct nations excite melancholy reflections. But true

philanthropy reconciles the mind to these vicissitudes as it does to

the extinction of one generation to make room for another. In the

monuments and fortifications of an unknown people, spread over the

extensive regions of the West, we behold the memorials of a once

powerful race, which was exterminated of has disappeared to make room

for the existing savage tribes. Nor is there any thing in this which,

upon a comprehensive view of the general interests of the human race,

is to be regretted. Philanthropy could not wish to see this continent

restored to the condition in which it was found by our forefathers.

What good man would prefer a country covered with forests and ranged by

a few thousand savages to our extensive Republic, studded with cities,

towns, and prosperous farms, embellished with all the improvements

which art can devise or industry execute, occupied by more than

12,000,000 happy people, and filled with all the blessings of liberty,

civilization, and religion?

The present policy of the Government is but a continuation of the same

progressive change by a milder process. The tribes which occupied the

countries now constituting the Eastern States were annihilated or have

melted away to make room for the whites. The waves of population and

civilization are rolling to the westward, and we now propose to acquire

the countries occupied by the red men of the South and West by a fair

exchange, and, at the expense of the United States, to send them to a

land where their existence may be prolonged and perhaps made perpetual.

Doubtless it will be painful to leave the graves of their fathers; but

what do they more than our ancestors did or than our children are now

doing? To better their condition in an unknown land our forefathers

left all that was dear in earthly objects. Our children by thousands

yearly leave the land of their birth to seek new homes in distant

regions. Does Humanity weep at these painful separations from every

thing, animate and inanimate, with which the young heart has become

entwined? Far from it. It is rather a source of joy that our country

affords scope where our young population may range unconstrained in

body or in mind, developing the power and faculties of man in their

highest perfection.

These remove hundreds and almost thousands of miles at their own

expense, purchase the lands they occupy, and support themselves at

their new homes from the moment of their arrival. Can it be cruel in

this Government when, by events which it can not control, the Indian is

made discontented in his ancient home to purchase his lands, to give

him a new and extensive territory, to pay the expense of his removal,

and support him a year in his new abode? How many thousands of our own

people would gladly embrace the opportunity of removing to the West on

such conditions! If the offers made to the Indians were extended to

them, they would be hailed with gratitude and joy.

And is it supposed that the wandering savage has a stronger attachment

to his home than the settled, civilized Christian? Is it more

afflicting to him to leave the graves of his fathers than it is to our

brothers and children? Rightly considered, the policy of the General

Government toward the red man is not only liberal, but generous. He is

unwilling to submit to the laws of the States and mingle with their

population. To save him from this alternative, or perhaps utter

annihilation, the General Government kindly offers him a new home, and

proposes to pay the whole expense of his removal and settlement.

In the consummation of a policy originating at an early period, and

steadily pursued by every Administration within the present century--so

just to the States and so generous to the Indians--the Executive feels

it has a right to expect the cooperation of Congress and of all good

and disinterested men. The States, moreover, have a right to demand it.

It was substantially a part of the compact which made them members of

our Confederacy. With Georgia there is an express contract; with the

new States an implied one of equal obligation. Why, in authorizing

Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Mississippi, and Alabama to form

constitutions and become separate States, did Congress include within

their limits extensive tracts of Indian lands, and, in some instances,

powerful Indian tribes? Was it not understood by both parties that the

power of the States was to be coextensive with their limits, and that

with all convenient dispatch the General Government should extinguish

the Indian title and remove every obstruction to the complete

jurisdiction of the State governments over the soil? Probably not one

of those States would have accepted a separate existence--certainly it

would never have been granted by Congress--had it been understood that

they were to be confined for ever to those small portions of their

nominal territory the Indian title to which had at the time been

extinguished.

It is, therefore, a duty which this Government owes to the new States

to extinguish as soon as possible the Indian title to all lands which

Congress themselves have included within their limits. When this is

done the duties of the General Government in relation to the States and

the Indians within their limits are at an end. The Indians may leave

the State or not, as they choose. The purchase of their lands does not

alter in the least their personal relations with the State government.

No act of the General Government has ever been deemed necessary to give

the States jurisdiction over the persons of the Indians. That they

possess by virtue of their sovereign power within their own limits in

as full a manner before as after the purchase of the Indian lands; nor

can this Government add to or diminish it.

May we not hope, therefore, that all good citizens, and none more

zealously than those who think the Indians oppressed by subjection to

the laws of the States, will unite in attempting to open the eyes of

those children of the forest to their true condition, and by a speedy

removal to relieve them from all the evils, real or imaginary, present

or prospective, with which they may be supposed to be threatened.

Among the numerous causes of congratulation the condition of our impost

revenue deserves special mention, in as much as it promises the means

of extinguishing the public debt sooner than was anticipated, and

furnishes a strong illustration of the practical effects of the present

tariff upon our commercial interests.

The object of the tariff is objected to by some as unconstitutional,

and it is considered by almost all as defective in many of its parts.

The power to impose duties on imports originally belonged to the

several States. The right to adjust those duties with a view to the

encouragement of domestic branches of industry is so completely

incidental to that power that it is difficult to suppose the existence

of the one without the other. The States have delegated their whole

authority over imports to the General Government without limitation or

restriction, saving the very inconsiderable reservation relating to

their inspection laws. This authority having thus entirely passed from

the States, the right to exercise it for the purpose of protection does

not exist in them, and consequently if it be not possessed by the

General Government it must be extinct. Our political system would thus

present the anomaly of a people stripped of the right to foster their

own industry and to counteract the most selfish and destructive policy

which might be adopted by foreign nations. This sure can not be the

case. This indispensable power thus surrendered by the States must be

within the scope of the authority on the subject expressly delegated to

Congress.

In this conclusion I am confirmed as well by the opinions of Presidents

Washington, Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe, who have each repeatedly

recommended the exercise of this right under the Constitution, as by

the uniform practice of Congress, the continued acquiescence of the

States, and the general understanding of the people.

The difficulties of a more expedient adjustment of the present tariff,

although great, are far from being insurmountable. Some are unwilling

to improve any of its parts because they would destroy the whole;

others fear to touch the objectionable parts lest those they approve

should be jeoparded. I am persuaded that the advocates of these

conflicting views do injustice to the American people and to their

representatives. The general interest is the interest of each, and my

confidence is entire that to insure the adoption of such modifications

of the tariff as the general interest requires it is only necessary

that that interest should be understood.

It is an infirmity of our nature to mingle our interests and prejudices

with the operation of our reasoning powers, and attribute to the

objects of our likes and dislikes qualities they do not possess and

effects they can not produce. The effects of the present tariff are

doubtless over-rated, both in its evils and in its advantages. By one

class of reasoners the reduced price of cotton and other agricultural

products is ascribed wholly to its influence, and by another the

reduced price of manufactured articles.

The probability is that neither opinion approaches the truth, and that

both are induced by that influence of interests and prejudices to which

I have referred. The decrease of prices extends throughout the

commercial world, embracing not only the raw material and the

manufactured article, but provisions and lands. The cause must

therefore be deeper and more pervading than the tariff of the United

States. It may in a measure be attributable to the increased value of

the precious metals, produced by a diminution of the supply and an

increase in the demand, while commerce has rapidly extended itself and

population has augmented. The supply of gold and silver, the general

medium of exchange, has been greatly interrupted by civil convulsions

in the countries from which they are principally drawn. A part of the

effect, too, is doubtless owing to an increase of operatives and

improvements in machinery. But on the whole it is questionable whether

the reduction in the price of lands, produce, and manufactures has been

greater than the appreciation of the standard of value.

While the chief object of duties should be revenue, they may be so

adjusted as to encourage manufactures. In this adjustment, however, it

is the duty of the Government to be guided by the general good. Objects

of national importance alone ought to be protected. Of these the

productions of our soil, our mines, and our work shops, essential to

national defense, occupy the first rank. What ever other species of

domestic industry, having the importance to which I have referred, may

be expected, after temporary protection, to compete with foreign labor

on equal terms merit the same attention in a subordinate degree.

The present tariff taxes some of the comforts of life unnecessarily

high; it undertakes to protect interests too local and minute to

justify a general exaction, and it also attempts to force some kinds of

manufactures for which the country is not ripe. Much relief will be

derived in some of these respects from the measures of your last

session.

The best as well as fairest mode of determining whether from any just

considerations a particular interest ought to receive protection would

be to submit the question singly for deliberation. If after

due examination of its merits, unconnected with extraneous

considerations--such as a desire to sustain a general system or to

purchase support for a different interest--it should enlist in its

favor a majority of the representatives of the people, there can be

little danger of wrong or injury in adjusting the tariff with reference

to its protective effect. If this obviously just principle were

honestly adhered to, the branches of industry which deserve protection

would be saved from the prejudice excited against them when that

protection forms part of a system by which portions of the country feel

or conceive themselves to be oppressed. What is incalculably more

important, the vital principle of our system--that principle which

requires acquiescence in the will of the majority--would be secure from

the discredit and danger to which it is exposed by the acts of

majorities founded not on identity of conviction, but on combinations

of small minorities entered into for the purpose of mutual assistance

in measures which, resting solely on their own merits, could never be

carried.

I am well aware that this is a subject of so much delicacy, on account

of the extended interests in involves, as to require that it should be

touched with the utmost caution, and that while an abandonment of the

policy in which it originated--a policy coeval with our Government, and

pursued through successive Administrations--is neither to be expected

or desired, the people have a right to demand, and have demanded, that

it be so modified as to correct abuses and obviate injustice.

That our deliberations on this interesting subject should be

uninfluenced by those partisan conflicts that are incident to free

institutions is the fervent wish of my heart. To make this great

question, which unhappily so much divides and excites the public mind,

subservient to the short-sighted views of faction, must destroy all

hope of settling it satisfactorily to the great body of the people and

for the general interest. I can not, therefore, in taking leave of the

subject, too earnestly for my own feelings or the common good warn you

against the blighting consequences of such a course.

According to the estimates at the Treasury Department, the receipts in

the Treasury during the present year will amount to $24,161,018, which

will exceed by about $300,000 the estimate presented in the last annual

report of the Secretary of the Treasury. The total expenditure during

the year, exclusive of public debt, is estimated at $13,742,311, and

the payment on account of public debt for the same period will have

been $11,354,630, leaving a balance in the Treasury on January 1st,

1831 of $4,819,781.

In connection with the condition of our finances, it affords me

pleasure to remark that judicious and efficient arrangements have been

made by the Treasury Department for securing the pecuniary

responsibility of the public officers and the more punctual payment of

the public dues. The Revenue Cutter Service has been organized and

placed on a good footing, and aided by an increase of inspectors at

exposed points, and regulations adopted under the act of May, 1830, for

the inspection and appraisement of merchandise, has produced much

improvement in the execution of the laws and more security against the

commission of frauds upon the revenue. Abuses in the allowances for

fishing bounties have also been corrected, and a material saving in

that branch of the service thereby effected. In addition to these

improvements the system of expenditure for sick sea men belonging to

the merchant service has been revised, and being rendered uniform and

economical the benefits of the fund applicable to this object have been

usefully extended.

The prosperity of our country is also further evinced by the increased

revenue arising from the sale of public lands, as will appear from the

report of the Commissioner of the General Land Office and the documents

accompanying it, which are herewith transmitted. I beg leave to draw

your attention to this report, and to the propriety of making early

appropriations for the objects which it specifies.

Your attention is again invited to the subjects connected with that

portion of the public interests intrusted to the War Department. Some

of them were referred to in my former message, and they are presented

in detail in the report of the Secretary of War herewith submitted. I

refer you also to the report of that officer for a knowledge of the

state of the Army, fortifications, arsenals, and Indian affairs, all of

which it will be perceived have been guarded with zealous attention and

care. It is worthy of your consideration whether the armaments

necessary for the fortifications on our maritime frontier which are now

or shortly will be completed should not be in readiness sooner than the

customary appropriations will enable the Department to provide them.

This precaution seems to be due to the general system of fortification

which has been sanctioned by Congress, and is recommended by that maxim

of wisdom which tells us in peace to prepare for war.

I refer you to the report of the Secretary of the Navy for a highly

satisfactory account of the manner in which the concerns of that

Department have been conducted during the present year. Our position in

relation to the most powerful nations of the earth, and the present

condition of Europe, admonish us to cherish this arm of our national

defense with peculiar care. Separated by wide seas from all those

Governments whose power we might have reason to dread, we have nothing

to apprehend from attempts at conquest. It is chiefly attacks upon our

commerce and harrassing in-roads upon our coast against which we have

to guard. A naval force adequate to the protection of our commerce,

always afloat, with an accumulation of the means to give it a rapid

extension in case of need, furnishes the power by which all such

aggressions may be prevented or repelled. The attention of the

Government has therefore been recently directed more to preserving the

public vessels already built and providing materials to be placed in

depot for future use than to increasing their number. With the aid of

Congress, in a few years the Government will be prepared in case of

emergency to put afloat a powerful navy of new ships almost as soon as

old ones could be repaired.

The modifications in this part of the service suggested in my last

annual message, which are noticed more in detail in the report of the

Secretary of the Navy, are again recommended to your serious attention.

The report of the Post Master General in like manner exhibits a

satisfactory view of the important branch of the Government under his

charge. In addition to the benefits already secured by the operations

of the Post Office Department, considerable improvements within the

present year have been made by an increase in the accommodation

afforded by stage coaches, and in the frequency and celerity of the

mail between some of the most important points of the Union.

Under the late contracts improvements have been provided for the

southern section of the country, and at the same time an annual saving

made of upward of $72,000. Not with standing the excess of expenditure

beyond the current receipts for a few years past, necessarily incurred

in the fulfillment of existing contracts and in the additional expenses

between the periods of contracting to meet the demands created by the

rapid growth and extension of our flourishing country, yet the

satisfactory assurance is given that the future revenue of the

Department will be sufficient to meets its extensive engagements. The

system recently introduced that subjects its receipts and disbursements

to strict regulation has entirely fulfilled its designs. It gives full

assurance of the punctual transmission, as well as the security of the

funds of the Department. The efficiency and industry of its officers

and the ability and energy of contractors justify an increased

confidence in its continued prosperity.

The attention of Congress was called on a former occasion to the

necessity of such a modification in the office of Attorney General of

the United States as would render it more adequate to the wants of the

public service. This resulted in the establishment of the office of

Solicitor of the Treasury, and the earliest measures were taken to give

effect to the provisions of the law which authorized the appointment of

that officer and defined his duties. But it is not believed that this

provision, however useful in itself, is calculated to supersede the

necessity of extending the duties and powers of the Attorney General's

Office. On the contrary, I am convinced that the public interest would

be greatly promoted by giving to that officer the general

superintendence of the various law agents of the Government, and of all

law proceedings, whether civil or criminal, in which the United States

may be interested, allowing him at the same time such compensation as

would enable him to devote his undivided attention to the public

business. I think such a provision is alike due to the public and to

the officer.

Occasions of reference from the different Executive Departments to the

Attorney General are of frequent occurrence, and the prompt decision of

the questions so referred tends much to facilitate the dispatch of

business in those Departments. The report of the Secretary of the

Treasury hereto appended shows also a branch of the public service not

specifically intrusted to any officer which might be advantageously

committed to the Attorney General. But independently of those

considerations this office is now one of daily duty. It was originally

organized and its compensation fixed with a view to occasional service,

leaving to the incumbent time for the exercise of his profession in

private practice. The state of things which warranted such an

organization no longer exists. The frequent claims upon the services of

this officer would render his absence from the seat of Government in

professional attendance upon the courts injurious to the public

service, and the interests of the Government could not fail to be

promoted by charging him with the general superintendence of all its

legal concerns.

Under a strong conviction of the justness of these suggestions, I

recommend it to Congress to make the necessary provisions for giving

effect to them, and to place the Attorney General in regard to

compensation on the same footing with the heads of the several

Executive Departments. To this officer might also be intrusted a

cognizance of the cases of insolvency in public debtors, especially if

the views which I submitted on this subject last year should meet the

approbation of Congress--to which I again solicit your attention.

Your attention is respectfully invited to the situation of the District

of Columbia. Placed by the Constitution under the exclusive

jurisdiction and control of Congress, this District is certainly

entitled to a much greater share of its consideration than it has yet

received. There is a want of uniformity in its laws, particularly in

those of a penal character, which increases the expense of their

administration and subjects the people to all the inconveniences which

result from the operation of different codes in so small a territory.

On different sides of the Potomac the same offense is punishable in

unequal degrees, and the peculiarities of many of the early laws of

Maryland and Virginia remain in force, not with standing their

repugnance in some cases to the improvements which have superseded them

in those States.

Besides a remedy for these evils, which is loudly called for, it is

respectfully submitted whether a provision authorizing the election of

a delegate to represent the wants of the citizens of this District on

the floor of Congress is not due to them and to the character of our

Government. No principles of freedom, and there is none more important

than that which cultivates a proper relation between the governors and

the governed. Imperfect as this must be in this case, yet it is

believed that it would be greatly improved by a representation in

Congress with the same privileges that are allowed to the other

Territories of the United States.

The penitentiary is ready for the reception of convicts, and only

awaits the necessary legislation to put it into operation, as one

object of which I beg leave to recall your attention to the propriety

of providing suitable compensation for the officers charged with its

inspection.

The importance of the principles involved in the inquiry whether it

will be proper to recharter the Bank of the United States requires that

I should again call the attention of Congress to the subject. Nothing

has occurred to lessen in any degree the dangers which many of our

citizens apprehend from that institution as at present organized. In

the spirit of improvement and compromise which distinguishes our

country and its institutions it becomes us to inquire whether it be not

possible to secure the advantages afforded by the present bank through

the agency of a Bank of the United States so modified in its principles

and structures as to obviate constitutional and other objections.

It is thought practicable to organize such a bank with the necessary

officers as a branch of the Treasury Department, based on the public

and individual deposits, without power to make loans or purchase

property, which shall remit the funds of the Government, and the

expense of which may be paid, if thought advisable, by allowing its

officers to sell bills of exchange to private individuals at a moderate

premium. Not being a corporate body, having no stock holders, debtors,

or property, and but few officers, it would not be obnoxious to the

constitutional objections which are urged against the present bank; and

having no means to operate on the hopes, fears, or interests of large

masses of the community, it would be shorn of the influence which makes

that bank formidable. The States would be strengthened by having in

their hands the means of furnishing the local paper currency through

their own banks, while the Bank of the United States, though issuing no

paper, would check the issues of the State banks by taking their notes

in deposit and for exchange only so long as they continue to be

redeemed with specie. In times of public emergency the capacities of

such an institution might be enlarged by legislative provisions.

These suggestions are made not so much as a recommendation as with a

view of calling the attention of Congress to the possible modifications

of a system which can not continue to exist in its present form without

occasional collisions with the local authorities and perpetual

apprehensions and discontent on the part of the States and the people.

In conclusion, fellow citizens, allow me to invoke in behalf of your

deliberations that spirit of conciliation and disinterestedness which

is the gift of patriotism. Under an over-ruling and merciful Providence

the agency of this spirit has thus far been signalized in the

prosperity and glory of our beloved country. May its influence be

eternal.

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