President[ Andrew Jackson
Date[ December 4, 1832
Fellow Citizens of the Senate and of the House of Representatives:
It gives me pleasure to congratulate you upon your return to the seat
of Government for the purpose of discharging your duties to the people
of the United States. Although the pestilence which had traversed the
Old World has entered our limits and extended its ravages over much of
our land, it has pleased Almighty God to mitigate its severity and
lessen the number of its victims compared with those who have fallen in
most other countries over which it has spread its terrors. Not with
standing this visitation, our country presents on every side marks of
prosperity and happiness unequaled, perhaps, in any other portion of
the world. If we fully appreciate our comparative condition, existing
causes of discontent will appear unworthy of attention, and, with
hearts of thankfulness to that divine Being who has filled our cup of
prosperity, we shall feel our resolution strengthened to preserve and
hand down to our posterity that liberty and that union which we have
received from our fathers, and which constitute the sources and the
shield of all our blessings.
The relations of our country continue to present the same picture of
amicable intercourse that I had the satisfaction to hold up to your
view at the opening of your last session. The same friendly
professions, the same desire to participate in our flourishing
commerce, the same dispositions, evinced by all nations with whom we
have any intercourse. This desirable state of things may be mainly
ascribed to our undeviating practice of the rule which has long guided
our national policy, to require no exclusive privileges in commerce and
to grant none. It is daily producing its beneficial effect in the
respect shown to our flag, the protection of our citizens and their
property abroad, and in the increase of our navigation and the
extension of our mercantile operations. The returns which have been
made out since we last met will show an increase during the last
preceding year of more than 80 thousand tons in our shipping and of
near $40,000,000 in the aggregate of our imports and exports.
Nor have we less reason to felicitate ourselves on the position of our
political than of our commercial concerns. They remain in the state in
which they were when I last addressed you--a state of prosperity and
peace, the effect of a wise attention to the parting advice of the
revered Father of his Country on this subject, condensed into a maxim
for the use of posterity by one of his most distinguished
successors--to cultivate free commerce and honest friendship with all
nations, but to make entangling alliances with none. A strict adherence
to this policy has kept us aloof from the perplexing questions that now
agitate the European world and have more than once deluged those
countries with blood. Should those scenes unfortunately recur, the
parties to the contest may count on a faithful performance of the
duties incumbent on us as a neutral nation, and our own citizens may
equally rely on the firm assertion of their neutral rights.
With the nation that was our earliest friend and ally in the infancy of
our political existence the most friendly relations have subsisted
through the late revolutions of its Government, and, from the events of
the last, promise a permanent duration. It has made an approximation in
some of its political institutions to our own, and raised a monarch to
the throne who preserves, it is said, a friendly recollection of the
period during which he acquired among our citizens the high
consideration that could then have been produced by his personal
qualifications alone.
Our commerce with that nation is gradually assuming a mutually
beneficial character, and the adjustment of the claims of our citizens
has removed the only obstacle there was to an intercourse not only
lucrative, but productive of literary and scientific improvement.
From Great Britain I have the satisfaction to inform you that I
continue to receive assurances of the most amicable disposition, which
have on my part on all proper occasions been promptly and sincerely
reciprocated. The attention of that Government has latterly been so
much engrossed by matters of a deeply interesting domestic character
that we could not press upon it the renewal of negotiations which had
been unfortunately broken off by the unexpected recall of our minister,
who had commenced them with some hopes of success. My great object was
the settlement of questions which, though now dormant, might here-after
be revived under circumstances that would endanger the good
understanding which it is the interest of both parties to preserve
inviolate, cemented as it is by a community of language, manners, and
social habits, and by the high obligations we owe to our British
ancestors for many of our most valuable institutions and for that
system of representative government which has enabled us to preserve
and improve them. The question of our North-East boundary still
remains unsettled. In my last annual message I explained to you the
situation in which I found that business on my coming into office, and
the measures I thought it my duty to pursue for asserting the rights of
the United States before the sovereign who had been chosen by my
predecessor to determine the question, and also the manner in which he
had disposed of it. A special message to the Senate in their executive
capacity afterwards brought before them to the question whether they
would advise a submission to the opinion of the sovereign arbiter. That
body having considered the award as not obligatory and advised me to
open a further negotiation, the proposition was immediately made to the
British Government, but the circumstances to which I have alluded have
hitherto prevented any answer being given to the overture. Early
attention, however, has been promised to the subject, and every effort
on my part will be made for a satisfactory settlement of this question,
interesting to the Union generally, and particularly so to one of its
members.
The claims of our citizens on Spain are not yet acknowledged. On a
closer investigation of them than appears to have heretofore taken
place it was discovered that some of these demands, however strong they
might be upon the equity of that Government, were not such as could be
made the subject of national interference; and faithful to the
principle of asking nothing but what was clearly right, additional
instructions have been sent to modify our demands so as to embrace
those only on which, according to the laws of nations, we had a strict
right to insist. An inevitable delay in procuring the documents
necessary for this review of the merits of these claims retarded this
operation until an unfortunate malady which has afflicted His Catholic
Majesty prevented an examination of them. Being now for the first time
presented in an unexceptionable form, it is confidently hoped that the
application will be successful.
I have the satisfaction to inform you that the application I directed
to be made for the delivery of a part of the archives of Florida, which
had been carried to The Havannah, has produced a royal order for their
delivery, and that measures have been taken to procure its execution.
By the report of the Secretary of State communicated to you on June
25th, 1832 you were informed of the conditional reduction obtained by
the minister of the United States at Madrid of the duties on tonnage
levied on American shipping in the ports of Spain. The condition of
that reduction having been complied with on our part by the act passed
July 13th, 1832, I have the satisfaction to inform you that our ships
now pay no higher nor other duties in the continental ports of Spain
than are levied on their national vessels.
The demands against Portugal for illegal captures in the blockade of
Terceira have been allowed to the full amount of the accounts presented
by the claimants, and payment was promised to be made in three
installments. The first of these has been paid; the second, although
due, had not at the date of our last advices been received, owing, it
was alleged, to embarrassments in the finances consequent on the civil
war in which that nation is engaged.
The payments stipulated by the convention with Denmark have been
punctually made, and the amount is ready for distribution among the
claimants as soon as the board, now sitting, shall have performed their
functions.
I regret that by the last advices from our charge d'affaires at Naples
that Government had still delayed the satisfaction due to our citizens,
but at that date the effect of the last instructions was not known.
Dispatches from thence are hourly expected, and the result will be
communicated to you without delay.
With the rest of Europe our relations, political and commercial, remain
unchanged. Negotiations are going on to put on a permanent basis the
liberal system of commerce now carried on between us and the Empire of
Russia. The treaty concluded with Austria is executed by His Imperial
Majesty with the most perfect good faith, and as we have no diplomatic
agent at his Court he personally inquired into and corrected a
proceeding of some of his subaltern officers to the injury of our
consul in one of his ports.
Our treaty with the Sublime Porte is producing its expected effects on
our commerce. New markets are opening for our commodities and a more
extensive range for the employment of our ships. A slight augmentation
of the duties on our commerce, inconsistent with the spirit of the
treaty, had been imposed, but on the representation of our charge
d'affaires it has been promptly withdrawn, and we now enjoy the trade
and navigation of the Black Sea and of all the ports belonging to the
Turkish Empire and Asia on the most perfect equality with all foreign
nations.
I wish earnestly that in announcing to you the continuance of
friendship and the increase of a profitable commercial intercourse with
Mexico, with Central America, and the States of the South I could
accompany it with the assurance that they all are blessed with that
internal tranquillity and foreign peace which their heroic devotion to
the cause of their independence merits. In Mexico a sanguinary struggle
is now carried on, which has caused some embarrassment to our commerce,
but both parties profess the most friendly disposition toward us. To
the termination of this contest we look for the establishment of that
secure intercourse so necessary to nations whose territories are
contiguous. How important it will be to us we may calculate from the
fact that even in this unfavorable state of things our maritime
commerce has increased, and an internal trade by caravans from St.
Louis to Santa Fe, under the protection of escorts furnished by the
Government, is carried on to great advantage and is daily increasing.
The agents provided for by the treaty, with this power to designate the
boundaries which it established, have been named on our part, but one
of the evils of the civil war now raging there has been that the
appointment of those with whom they were to cooperate has not yet been
announced to us.
The Government of Central America has expelled from its territory the
party which some time since disturbed its peace. Desirous of fostering
a favorable disposition toward us, which has on more than one occasion
been evinced by this interesting country, I made a second attempt in
this year to establish a diplomatic intercourse with them; but the
death of the distinguished citizen whom I had appointed for that
purpose has retarded the execution of measures from which I hoped much
advantage to our commerce. The union of the three States which formed
the Republic of Colombia has been dissolved, but they all, it is
believed, consider themselves as separately bound by the treaty which
was made in their federal capacity. The minister accredited to the
federation continues in that character near the Government of New
Grenada, and hopes were entertained that a new union would be formed
between the separate States, at least for the purposes of foreign
intercourse. Our minister has been instructed to use his good offices,
when ever they shall be desired, to produce the reunion so much to be
wished for, the domestic tranquillity of the parties, and the security
and facility of foreign commerce.
Some agitations naturally attendant on an infant reign have prevailed
in the Empire of Brazil, which have had the usual effect upon
commercial operations, and while they suspended the consideration of
claims created on similar occasions, they have given rise to new
complaints on the part of our citizens. A proper consideration for
calamities and difficulties of this nature has made us less urgent and
peremptory in our demands for justice than duty to our fellow citizens
would under other circumstances have required. But their claims are not
neglected, and will on all proper occasions be urged, and it is hoped
with effect.
I refrain from making any communication on the subject of our affairs
with Buenos Ayres, because the negotiation communicated to you in my
last annual message was at the date of our last advices still pending
and in a state that would render a publication of the details
inexpedient.
A treaty of amity and commerce has been formed with the Republic of
Chili, which, if approved by the Senate, will be laid before you. That
Government seems to be established, and at peace with its neighbors;
and its ports being the resorts of our ships which are employed in the
highly important trade of the fisheries, this commercial convention can
not but be of great advantage to our fellow citizens engaged in that
perilous but profitable business.
Our commerce with the neighboring State of Peru, owing to the onerous
duties levied on our principal articles of export, has been on the
decline, and all endeavors to procure an alteration have hitherto
proved fruitless. With Bolivia we have yet no diplomatic intercourse,
and the continual contests carried on between it and Peru have made me
defer until a more favorable period the appointment of any agent for
that purpose.
An act of atrocious piracy having been committed on one of our trading
ships by the inhabitants of a settlement on the west coast of Sumatra,
a frigate was dispatched with orders to demand satisfaction for the
injury if those who committed it should be found to be members of a
regular government, capable of maintaining the usual relations with
foreign nations; but if, as it was supposed and as they proved to be,
they were a band of lawless pirates, to inflict such a chastisement as
would deter them and others from like aggressions. This last was done,
and the effect has been an increased respect for our flag in those
distant seas and additional security for our commerce.
In the view I have given of our connection with foreign powers
allusions have been made to their domestic disturbances or foreign
wars, to their revolutions or dissensions. It may be proper to observe
that this is done solely in cases where those events affect our
political relations with them, or to show their operation on our
commerce. Further than this it is neither our policy nor our right to
interfere. Our best wishes on all occasions, our good offices when
required, will be afforded to promote the domestic tranquillity and
foreign peace of all nations with whom we have any intercourse. Any
intervention in their affairs further than this, even by the expression
of an official opinion, is contrary to our principles of international
policy, and will always be avoided.
The report which the Secretary of the Treasury will in due time lay
before you will exhibit the national finances in a highly prosperous
state. Owing to the continued success of our commercial enterprise,
which has enabled the merchants to fulfill their engagements with the
Government, the receipts from customs during the year will exceed the
estimate presented at the last session, and with the other means of the
Treasury will prove fully adequate not only to meet the increased
expenditures resulting from the large appropriations made by Congress,
but to provide for the payment of all the public debt which is at
present redeemable.
It is now estimated that the customs will yield to the Treasury during
the present year upward of $28,000,000. The public lands, however, have
proved less productive than was anticipated, and according to present
information will not much exceed $2,000,000. The expenditures for all
objects other than the public debt are estimated to amount during the
year to about $16,500,000, while a still larger sum, viz, $18,000,000,
will have been applied to the principal and interest of the public
debt. It is expected, however, that in consequence of the reduced
rates of duty which will take effect after March 3d, 1833 there will be
a considerable falling off in the revenue from customs in the year
1833. It will never the less be amply sufficient to provide for all the
wants of the public service, estimated even upon a liberal scale, and
for the redemption and purchase of the remainder of the public debt. On
January 1st, 1833 the entire public debt of the United States, funded
and unfunded, will be reduced to within a fraction of $7,000,000, of
which $2,227,363 are not of right redeemable until January 1st, 1834
and $4,735,296 not until January 2d, 1835. The commissioners of the
sinking funds, however, being invested with full authority to purchase
the debt at the market price, and the means of the Treasury being
ample, it may be hoped that the whole will be extinguished within the
year 1833.
I can not too cordially congratulate Congress and my fellow citizens on
the near approach of that memorable and happy event--the extinction of
the public debt of this great and free nation.
Faithful to the wise and patriotic policy marked out by the legislation
of the country for this object, the present Administration has devoted
to it all the means which a flourishing commerce has supplied and a
prudent economy preserved for the public Treasury. Within the four
years for which the people have confided the Executive power to my
charge $58,000,000 will have been applied to the payment of the public
debt. That this has been accomplished without stinting the expenditures
for all other proper objects will be seen by referring to the liberal
provision made during the same period for the support and increase of
our means of maritime and military defense, for internal improvements
of a national character, for the removal and preservation of the
Indians, and, lastly, for the gallant veterans of the Revolution.
The final removal of this great burthen from our resources affords the
means of further provision for all the objects of general welfare and
public defense which the Constitution authorizes, and presents the
occasion for such further reductions in the revenue as may not be
required for them. From the report of the Secretary of the Treasury it
will be seen that after the present year such a reduction may be made
to a considerable extent, and the subject is earnestly recommended to
the consideration of Congress in the hope that the combined wisdom of
the representatives of the people will devise such means of effecting
that salutary object as may remove those burthens which shall be found
to fall unequally upon any and as may promote all the great interests
of the community.
Long and patient reflection has strengthened the opinions I have
heretofore expressed to Congress on this subject, and I deem it my duty
on the present occasion again to urge them upon the attention of the
Legislature. The soundest maxims of public policy and the principals
upon which our republican institutions are founded recommend a proper
adaptation of the revenue to the expenditure, and they also require
that the expenditure shall be limited to what, by an economical
administration, shall be consistent with the simplicity of the
Government and necessary to an efficient public service.
In effecting this adjustment it is due, in justice to the interests of
the different States, and even to the preservation of the Union itself,
that the protection afforded by existing laws to any branches of the
national industry should not exceed what may be necessary to counteract
the regulations of foreign nations and to secure a supply of those
articles of manufacture essential to the national independence and
safety in time of war. If upon investigation it shall be found, as it
is believed it will be, that the legislative protection granted to any
particular interest is greater than is indispensably requisite for
these objects, I recommend that it be gradually diminished, and that as
far as may be consistent with these objects the whole scheme of duties
be reduced to the revenue standard as soon as a just regard to the
faith of the Government and to the preservation of the large capital
invested in establishments of domestic industry will permit.
That manufactures adequate to the supply of our domestic consumption
would in the abstract be beneficial to our country there is no reason
to doubt, and to effect their establishment there is perhaps no
American citizen who would not for a while be willing to pay a higher
price for them. But for this purpose it is presumed that a tariff of
high duties, designed for perpetual protection, which they maintain has
the effect to reduce the price by domestic competition below that of
the foreign article. Experience, however, our best guide on this as on
other subjects, makes it doubtful whether the advantages of this system
are not counter-balanced by many evils, and whether it does not tend to
beget in the minds of a large portion of our country-men a spirit of
discontent and jealousy dangerous to the stability of the Union.
What, then, shall be done? Large interests have grown up under the
implied pledge of our national legislation, which it would seem a
violation of public faith suddenly to abandon. Nothing could justify it
but the public safety, which is the supreme law. But those who have
vested their capital in manufacturing establishments can not expect
that the people will continue permanently to pay high taxes for their
benefit, when the money is not required for any legitimate purpose in
the administration of the Government. Is it not enough that the high
duties have been paid as long as the money arising from them could be
applied to the common benefit in the extinguishment of the public debt?
Those who take an enlarged view of the condition of our country must be
satisfied that the policy of protection must be ultimately limited to
those articles of domestic manufacture which are indispensable to our
safety in time of war. Within this scope, on a reasonable scale, it is
recommended by every consideration of patriotism and duty, which will
doubtless always secure to it a liberal and efficient support. But
beyond this object we have already seen the operation of the system
productive of discontent. In some sections of the Republic its
influence is deprecated as tending to concentrate wealth into a few
hands, and as creating those germs of dependence and vice which in
other countries have characterized the existence of monopolies and
proved so destructive of liberty and the general good. A large portion
of the people in one section of the Republic declares it not only
inexpedient on these grounds, but as disturbing the equal relations of
property by legislation, and therefore unconstitutional and unjust.
Doubtless these effects are in a great degree exaggerated, and may be
ascribed to a mistaken view of the considerations which led to the
adoption of the tariff system; but they are never the less important in
enabling us to review the subject with a more thorough knowledge of all
its bearings upon the great interests of the Republic, and with a
determination to dispose of it so that none can with justice complain.
It is my painful duty to state that in one quarter of the United States
opposition to the revenue laws has arisen to a height which threatens
to thwart their execution, if not to endanger the integrity of the
Union. What ever obstructions may be thrown in the way of the judicial
authorities of the General Government, it is hoped they will be able
peaceably to overcome them by the prudence of their own officers and
the patriotism of the people. But should this reasonable reliance on
the moderation and good sense of all portions of our fellow citizens be
disappointed, it is believed that the laws themselves are fully
adequate to the suppression of such attempts as may be immediately
made. Should the exigency arise rendering the execution of the existing
laws impracticable from any cause what ever, prompt notice of it will
be given to Congress, with a suggestion of such views and measures as
may be deemed necessary to meet it.
In conformity with principles heretofore explained, and with the hope
of reducing the General Government to that simple machine which the
Constitution created and of withdrawing from the States all other
influence than that of its universal beneficence in preserving peace,
affording an uniform currency, maintaining the inviolability of
contracts, diffusing intelligence, and discharging unfelt its other
super-intending functions, I recommend that provision be made to
dispose of all stocks now held by it in corporations, whether created
by the General or State Governments, and placing the proceeds in the
Treasury. As a source of profit these stocks are of little or no value;
as a means of influence among the States they are adverse to the purity
of our institutions. The whole principle on which they are based is
deemed by many unconstitutional, and to persist in the policy which
they indicate is considered wholly inexpedient.
It is my duty to acquaint you with an arrangement made by the Bank of
the United States with a portion of the holders of the 3% stock, by
which the Government will be deprived of the use of the public funds
longer than was anticipated. By this arrangement, which will be
particularly explained by the Secretary of the Treasury, a surrender of
the certificates of this stock may be postponed until October, 1833,
and thus may be continued by the failure of the bank to perform its
duties.
Such measures as are within the reach of the Secretary of the Treasury
have been taken to enable him to judge whether the public deposits in
that institution may be regarded as entirely safe; but as his limited
power may prove inadequate to this object, I recommend the subject to
the attention of Congress, under the firm belief that it is worthy of
their serious investigation. An inquiry into the transactions of the
institution, embracing the branches as well as the principal bank,
seems called for by the credit which is given throughout the country to
many serious charges impeaching its character, and which if true may
justly excite the apprehension that it is no longer a safe depository
of the money of the people.
Among the interests which merit the consideration of Congress after the
payment of the public debt, one of the most important, in my view, is
that of the public lands. Previous to the formation of our present
Constitution it was recommended by Congress that a portion of the waste
lands owned by the States should be ceded to the United States for the
purposes of general harmony and as a fund to meet the expenses of the
war. The recommendation was adopted, and at different periods of time
the States of Massachusetts, New York, Virginia, North and South
Carolina, and Georgia granted their vacant soil for the uses for which
they had been asked. As the lands may now be considered as relieved
from this pledge, it is in the discretion of Congress to dispose of
them in such way as best to conduce to the quiet, harmony, and general
interest of the American people. In examining this question all local
and sectional feelings should be discarded and the whole United States
regarded as one people, interested alike in the prosperity of their
common country.
It can not be doubted that the speedy settlement of these lands
constitutes the true interest of the Republic. The wealth and strength
of a country are its population, and the best part of that population
are cultivators of the soil. Independent farmers are every where the
basis of society and true friends of liberty.
In addition to these considerations questions have already arisen, and
may be expected hereafter to grow out of the public lands, which
involve the rights of the new States and the powers of the General
Government, and unless a liberal policy be now adopted there is danger
that these questions may speedily assume an importance not now
generally anticipated. The influence of a great sectional interest,
when brought into full action, will be found more dangerous to the
harmony and union of the States than any other cause of discontent, and
it is the part of wisdom and sound policy to foresee its approaches and
endeavor if possible to counteract them.
Of the various schemes which have been hitherto proposed in regard to
the disposal of the public lands, none has yet received the entire
approbation of the National Legislature. Deeply impressed with the
importance of a speedy and satisfactory arrangement of the subject, I
deem it my duty on this occasion to urge it upon your consideration,
and to the propositions which have been heretofore suggested by others
to contribute those reflections which have occurred to me, in the hope
that they may assist you in your future deliberations.
It seems to me to be our policy that the public lands shall cease as
soon as practicable to be a source of revenue, and that they be sold to
settlers in limited parcels at a price barely sufficient to reimburse
to the United States the expense of the present system and the cost
arising under our Indian compacts. The advantages of accurate surveys
and undoubted titles now secured to purchasers seem to forbid the
abolition of the present system, because none can be substituted which
will more perfectly accomplish these important ends. It is desirable,
however, that in convenient time this machinery be withdrawn from the
States, and that the right of soil and the future disposition of it be
surrendered to the States respectively in which it lies.
The adventurous and hardy population of the West, besides contributing
their equal share of taxation under our impost system, have in the
progress of our Government, for the lands they occupy, paid into the
Treasury a large proportion of $40,000,000, and of the revenue received
therefrom but a small part has been expended among them. When to the
disadvantage of their situation in this respect we add the
consideration that it is their labor alone which gives real value to
the lands, and that the proceeds arising from their sale are
distributed chiefly among States which had not originally any claim to
them, and which have enjoyed the undivided emolument arising from the
sale of their own lands, it can not be expected that the new States
will remain longer contented with the present policy after the payment
of the public debt. To avert the consequences which may be apprehended
from this cause, to pub an end for ever to all partial and interested
legislation on the subject, and to afford to every American citizen of
enterprise the opportunity of securing an independent freehold, it
seems to me, therefore, best to abandon the idea of raising a future
revenue out of the public lands.
In former messages I have expressed my conviction that the Constitution
does not warrant the application of the funds of the General Government
to objects of internal improvement which are not national in their
character, and, both as a means of doing justice to all interests and
putting an end to a course of legislation calculated to destroy the
purity of the Government, have urged the necessity of reducing the
whole subject to some fixed and certain rule. As there never will occur
a period, perhaps, more propitious than the present to the
accomplishment of this object, I beg leave to press the subject again
upon your attention.
Without some general and well-defined principles ascertaining those
objects of internal improvement to which the means of the nation may be
constitutionally applied, it is obvious that the exercise of the power
can never be satisfactory. Besides the danger to which it exposes
Congress of making hasty appropriations to works of the character of
which they may be frequently ignorant, it promotes a mischievous and
corrupting influence upon elections by holding out to the people the
fallacious hope that the success of a certain candidate will make
navigable their neighboring creek or river, bring commerce to their
doors, and increase the value of their property. It thus favors
combinations to squander the treasure of the country upon a multitude
of local objects, as fatal to just legislation as to the purity of
public men.
If a system compatible with the Constitution can not be devised which
is free from such tendencies, we should recollect that that instrument
provides within itself the mode of its amendment, and that there is,
therefore, no excuse for the assumption of doubtful powers by the
General Government. If those which are clearly granted shall be found
incompetent to the ends of its creation, it can at any time apply for
their enlargement; and there is no probability that such an
application, if founded on the public interest, will ever be refused.
If the propriety of the proposed grant be not sufficiently apparent to
command the assent of 3/4 of the States, the best possible reason why
the power should not be assumed on doubtful authority is afforded; for
if more than one quarter of the States are unwilling to make the grant
its exercise will be productive of discontents which will far
over-balance any advantages that could be derived from it. All must
admit that there is nothing so worthy of the constant solicitude of
this Government as the harmony and union of the people.
Being solemnly impressed with the conviction that the extension of the
power to make internal improvements beyond the limit I have suggested,
even if it be deemed constitutional, is subversive of the best
interests of our country, I earnestly recommend to Congress to refrain
from its exercise in doubtful cases, except in relation to improvements
already begun, unless they shall first procure from the States such an
amendment of the Constitution as will define its character and
prescribe its bounds. If the States feel themselves competent to these
objects, why should this Government wish to assume the power? If they
do not, then they will not hesitate to make the grant. Both Governments
are the Governments of the people; improvements must be made with the
money of the people, and if the money can be collected and applied by
those more simple and economical political machines, the State
governments, it will unquestionably be safer and better for the people
than to add to the splendor, the patronage, and the power of the
General Government. But if the people of the several States think
otherwise they will amend the Constitution, and in their decision all
ought cheerfully to acquiesce.
For a detailed and highly satisfactory view of the operations of the
War Department I refer you to the accompanying report of the Secretary
of War.
The hostile incursions of the Sac and Fox Indians necessarily led to
the interposition of the Government. A portion of the troops, under
Generals Scott and Atkinson, and of the militia of the State of
Illinois were called into the field. After a harassing warfare,
prolonged by the nature of the country and by the difficulty of
procuring subsistence, the Indians were entirely defeated, and the
disaffected band dispersed or destroyed. The result has been creditable
to the troops engaged in the service. Severe as is the lesson to the
Indians, it was rendered necessary by their unprovoked aggressions, and
it is to be hoped that its impression will be permanent and salutary.
This campaign has evinced the efficient organization of the Army and
its capacity for prompt and active service. Its several departments
have performed their functions with energy and dispatch, and the
general movement was satisfactory.
Our fellow citizens upon the frontiers were ready, as they always are,
in the tender of their services in the hour of danger. But a more
efficient organization of our militia system is essential to that
security which is one of the principal objects of all governments.
Neither our situation nor our institutions require or permit the
maintenance of a large regular force. History offers too many lessons
of the fatal result of such a measure not to warn us against its
adoption here. The expense which attends it, the obvious tendency to
employ it because it exists and thus to engage in unnecessary wars, and
its ultimate danger to public liberty will lead us, I trust, to place
our principal dependence for protection upon the great body of the
citizens of the Republic. If in asserting rights or in repelling wrongs
war should come upon us, our regular force should be increased to an
extent proportional to the emergency, and our present small Army is a
nucleus around which such force could be formed and embodied. But for
the purposes of defense under ordinary circumstances we must rely upon
the electors of the country. Those by whom and for whom the Government
was instituted and is supported will constitute its protection in the
hour of danger as they do its check in the hour of safety.
But it is obvious that the militia system is imperfect. Much time is
lost, much unnecessary expense incurred, and much public property
wasted under the present arrangement. Little useful knowledge is gained
by the musters and drills as now established, and the whole subject
evidently requires a thorough examination. Whether a plan of
classification remedying these defects and providing for a system of
instruction might not be adopted is submitted to the consideration of
Congress. The Constitution has vested in the General Government an
independent authority upon the subject of the militia which renders its
action essential to the establishment or improvement of the system, and
I recommend the matter to your consideration in the conviction that the
state of this important arm of the public defense requires your
attention.
I am happy to inform you that the wise and humane policy of
transferring from the eastern to the western side of the Mississippi
the remnants of our aboriginal tribes, with their own consent and upon
just terms, has been steadily pursued, and is approaching, I trust, its
consummation. By reference to the report of the Secretary of War and to
the documents submitted with it you will see the progress which has
been made since your last session in the arrangement of the various
matters connected with our Indian relations. With one exception every
subject involving any question of conflicting jurisdiction or of
peculiar difficulty has been happily disposed of, and the conviction
evidently gains ground among the Indians that their removal to the
country assigned by the United States for their permanent residence
furnishes the only hope of their ultimate prosperity.
With that portion of the Cherokees, however, living within the State of
Georgia it has been found impracticable as yet to make a satisfactory
adjustment. Such was my anxiety to remove all the grounds of complaint
and to bring to a termination the difficulties in which they are
involved that I directed the very liberal propositions to be made to
them which accompany the documents herewith submitted. They can not but
have seen in these offers the evidence of the strongest disposition on
the part of the Government to deal justly and liberally with them. An
ample indemnity was offered for their present possessions, a liberal
provision for their future support and improvement, and full security
for their private and political rights. What ever difference of opinion
may have prevailed respecting the just claims of these people, there
will probably be none respecting the liberality of the propositions,
and very little respecting the expediency of their immediate
acceptance. They were, however, rejected, and thus the position of
these Indians remains unchanged, as do the views communicated in my
message to the Senate of February 22d, 1831.
I refer you to the annual report of the Secretary of the Navy, which
accompanies this message, for a detail of the operations of that branch
of the service during the present year.
Besides the general remarks on some of the transactions of our Navy
presented in the view which has been taken of our foreign relations, I
seize this occasion to invite to your notice the increased protection
which it has afforded to our commerce and citizens on distant seas
without any augmentation of the force in commission. In the gradual
improvement of its pecuniary concerns, in the constant progress in the
collection of materials suitable for use during future emergencies, and
in the construction of vessels and the buildings necessary to their
preservation and repair, the present state of this branch of the
service exhibits the fruits of that vigilance and care which are so
indispensable to its efficiency. Various new suggestions, contained in
the annexed report, as well as others heretofore to Congress, are
worthy of your attention, but none more so than that urging the renewal
for another term of six years of the general appropriation for the
gradual improvement of the Navy.
From the accompanying report of the Post Master General you will also
perceive that that Department continues to extend its usefulness
without impairing its resources or lessening the accommodations which
it affords in the secure and rapid transportation of the mail.
I beg leave to call the attention of Congress to the views heretofore
expressed in relation to the mode of choosing the President and Vice-
President of the United States, and to those respecting the tenure of
office generally. Still impressed with the justness of those views and
with the belief that the modifications suggested on those subjects if
adopted will contribute to the prosperity and harmony of the country, I
earnestly recommend them to your consideration at this time.
I have heretofore pointed out defects in the law for punishing official
frauds, especially within the District of Columbia. It has been found
almost impossible to bring notorious culprits to punishment, and,
according to a decision of the court for this District, a prosecution
is barred by a lapse of two years after the fraud has been committed.
It may happen again, as it has already happened, that during the whole
two years all the evidences of the fraud may be in the possession of
the culprit himself. However proper the limitation may be in relation
to private citizens, it would seem that it ought not to commence
running in favor of public officers until they go out of office.
The judiciary system of the United States remains imperfect. Of the 9
Western and South Western States, three only enjoy the benefits of a
circuit court. Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee are embraced in the
general system, but Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Alabama, Mississippi,
and Louisiana have only district courts. If the existing system be a
good one, why should it not be extended? If it be a bad one, why is it
suffered to exist? The new States were promised equal rights and
privileges when they came into the Union, and such are the guaranties
of the Constitution. Nothing can be more obvious than the obligation of
the General Government to place all the States on the same footing in
relation to the administration of justice, and I trust this duty will
be neglected no longer.
On many of the subjects to which your attention is invited in this
communication it is a source of gratification to reflect that the steps
to be now adopted are uninfluenced by the embarrassments entailed upon
the country by the wars through which it has passed. In regard to most
of our great interests we may consider ourselves as just starting in
our career, and after a salutary experience about to fix upon a
permanent basis the policy best calculated to promote the happiness of
the people and facilitate their progress toward the most complete
enjoyment of civil liberty. On an occasion so interesting and important
in our history, and of such anxious concern to the friends of freedom
throughout the world, it is our imperious duty to lay aside all selfish
and local considerations and be guided by a lofty spirit of devotion to
the great principles on which our institutions are founded.
That this Government may be so administered as to preserve its
efficiency in promoting and securing these general objects should be
the only aim of our ambition, and we can not, therefore, too carefully
examine its structure, in order that we may not mistake its powers or
assume those which the people have reserved to themselves or have
preferred to assign to other agents. We should bear constantly in mind
the fact that the considerations which induced the framers of the
Constitution to withhold from the General Government the power to
regulate the great mass of the business and concerns of the people have
been fully justified by experience, and that it can not now be doubted
that the genius of all our institutions prescribes simplicity and
economy as the characteristics of the reform which is yet to be
effected in the present and future execution of the functions bestowed
upon us by the Constitution.
Limited to a general superintending power to maintain peace at home and
abroad, and to prescribe laws on a few subjects of general interest not
calculated to restrict human liberty, but to enforce human rights, this
Government will find its strength and its glory in the faithful
discharge of these plain and simple duties. Relieved by its protecting
shield from the fear of war and the apprehension of oppression, the
free enterprise of our citizens, aided by the State sovereignties, will
work out improvements and ameliorations which can not fail to
demonstrate that the great truth that the people can govern themselves
is not only realized in our example, but that it is done by a machinery
in government so simple and economical as scarcely to be felt. That the
Almighty Ruler of the Universe may so direct our deliberations and
over-rule our acts as to make us instrumental in securing a result so
dear to mankind is my most earnest and sincere prayer.
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