President[ John Tyler
Date[ December 1843
To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States:
If any people ever had cause to render up thanks to the Supreme Being for
parental care and protection extended to them in all the trials and
difficulties to which they have been from time to time exposed, we
certainly are that people. From the first settlement of our forefathers on
this continent, through the dangers attendant upon the occupation of a
savage wilderness, through a long period of colonial dependence, through
the War of the Revolution, in the wisdom which led to the adoption of the
existing forms of republican government, in the hazards incident to a war
subsequently waged with one of the most powerful nations of the earth, in
the increase of our population, in the spread of the arts and sciences, and
in the strength and durability conferred on political institutions
emanating from the people and sustained by their will, the superintendence
of an overruling Providence has been plainly visible. As preparatory,
therefore, to entering once more upon the high duties of legislation, it
becomes us humbly to acknowledge our dependence upon Him as our guide and
protector and to implore a continuance of His parental watchfulness over
our beloved country. We have new cause for the expression of our gratitude
in the preservation of the health of our fellow-citizens, with some partial
and local exceptions, during the past season, for the abundance with which
the earth has yielded up its fruits to the labors of the husbandman, for
the renewed activity which has been imparted to commerce, for the revival
of trade in all its departments, for the increased rewards attendant on the
exercise of the mechanic arts, for the continued growth of our population
and the rapidly reviving prosperity of the whole country. I shall be
permitted to exchange congratulations with you, gentlemen of the two Houses
of Congress, on these auspicious circumstances, and to assure you in
advance of my ready disposition to concur with you in the adoption of all
such measures as shall be calculated to increase the happiness of our
constituents and to advance the glory of our common country.
Since the last adjournment of Congress the Executive has relaxed no effort
to render indestructible the relations of amity which so happily exist
between the United States and other countries. The treaty lately concluded
with Great Britain has tended greatly to increase the good understanding
which a reciprocity of interests is calculated to encourage, and it is most
ardently to be hoped that nothing may transpire to interrupt the relations
of amity which it is so obviously the policy of both nations to cultivate.
A question of much importance still remains to be adjusted between them.
The territorial limits of the two countries relation to what is commonly
known as the Oregon Territory still remain in dispute. The United States
would be at all times indisposed to aggrandize itself at the expense of any
other nation; but while they would be restrained by principles of honor,
which should govern the conduct of nations as well as that of individuals,
from setting up a demand for territory which does not belong to them, they
would as unwillingly sent to a surrender of their rights. After the most
rigid and, as far as practicable, unbiased examination of the subject, the
United States have always contended that their rights appertain to the
entire region of country lying on the Pacific and embraced within 42°
and 54° 40' of north latitude. This claim being controverted by Great
Britain, those who have preceded the present Executive--actuated, no doubt,
by an earnest desire to adjust the matter upon terms mutually satisfactory
to both countries--have caused to be submitted to the British Government
propositions for settlement and final adjustment, which, however, have not
proved heretofore acceptable to it. Our minister at London has, under
instructions, again brought the subject to the consideration of that
Government, and while nothing will be done to compromise the rights or
honor of the United States, every proper expedient will be resorted to in
order to bring the negotiation now in the progress of resumption to a
speedy and happy termination. In the meantime it is proper to remark that
many of our citizens are either already established in the Territory or are
on their way thither for the purpose of forming permanent settlements,
while others are preparing to follow; and in view of these facts I must
repeat the recommendation contained in previous messages for the
establishment of military posts at such places on the line of travel as
will furnish security and protection to our hardy adventurers against
hostile tribes of Indians inhabiting those extensive regions. Our laws
should also follow them, so modified as the circumstances of the case may
seem to require. Under the influence of our free system of government new
republics are destined to spring up at no distant day on the shores of the
Pacific similar in policy and in feeling to those existing on this side of
the Rocky Mountains, and giving a wider and more extensive spread to the
principles of civil and religious liberty.
I am happy to inform you that the cases which have from time to time arisen
of the detention of American vessels by British cruisers on the coast of
Africa under pretense of being engaged in the slave trade have been placed
in a fair train of adjustment. In the case of the William and Francis full
satisfaction will be allowed. In the cases of the Tygris and Seamew the
British Government admits that satisfaction is due. In the case of the
Jones the sum accruing from the sale of that vessel and cargo will be paid
to the owners, while I can not but flatter myself that full indemnification
will be allowed for all damages sustained by the detention of the vessel;
and in the case of the Douglas Her Majesty's Government has expressed its
determination to make indemnification. Strong hopes are therefore
entertained that most, if not all, of these cases will be speedily
adjusted. No new cases have arisen since the ratification of the treaty of
Washington, and it is confidently anticipated that the slave trade, under
the operation of the eighth article of that treaty, will be altogether
suppressed.
The occasional interruption experienced by our fellow-citizens engaged in
the fisheries on the neighboring coast of Nova Scotia has not failed to
claim the attention of the Executive. Representations upon this subject
have been made, but as yet no definitive answer to those representations
has been received from the British Government.
Two other subjects of comparatively minor importance, but nevertheless of
too much consequence to be neglected, remain still to be adjusted between
the two countries. By the treaty between the United States and Great
Britain of July, 1815, it is provided that no higher duties shall be levied
in either country on articles imported from the other than on the same
articles imported from any other place. In 1836 rough rice by act of
Parliament was admitted from the coast of Africa into Great Britain on the
payment of a duty of 1 penny a quarter, while the same article from all
other countries, including the United States, was subjected to the payment
of a duty of 20 shillings a quarter. Our minister at London has from time
to time brought this subject to the attention of the British Government,
but so far without success. He is instructed to renew his representations
upon it.
Some years since a claim was preferred against the British Government on
the part of certain American merchants for the return of export duties paid
by them on shipments of woolen goods to the United States after the duty on
similar articles exported to other countries had been repealed, and
consequently in contravention of the commercial convention between the two
nations securing to us equality in such cases. The principle on which the
claim rests has long since been virtually admitted by Great Britain, but
obstacles to a settlement have from time to time been interposed, so that a
large portion of the amount claimed has not yet been refunded. Our minister
is now engaged in the prosecution of the claim, and I can not but persuade
myself that the British Government will no longer delay its adjustment.
I am happy to be able to say that nothing has occurred to disturb in any
degree the relations of amity which exist between the United States and
France, Austria, and Russia, as well as with the other powers of Europe,
since the adjournment of Congress. Spain has been agitated with internal
convulsions for many years, from the effects of which, it is hoped, she is
destined speedily to recover, when, under a more liberal system of
commercial policy on her part, our trade with her may again fill its old
and, so far as her continental possessions are concerned, its almost
forsaken channels, thereby adding to the mutual prosperity of the two
countries.
The Germanic Association of Customs and Commerce, which since its
establishment in 1833 has been steadily growing in power and importance,
and consists at this time of more than twenty German States, and embraces a
population of 27,000,000 people united for all fire purposes of commercial
intercourse with each other and with foreign states, offers to the latter
the most valuable exchanges on principles more liberal than are offered in
the fiscal system of any other European power. From its origin the
importance of the German union has never been lost sight of by the United
States. The industry, morality, and other valuable qualities of the German
nation have always been well known and appreciated. On this subject I
invite the attention of Congress to the report of the Secretary of State,
from which it will be seen that while our cotton is admitted free of duty
and the duty on rice has been much reduced (which has already led to a
greatly increased consumption), a strong disposition has been recently
evinced by that great body to reduce, upon certain conditions, their
present duty upon tobacco. This being the first intimation of a concession
on this interesting subject ever made by any European power, I can not but
regard it as well calculated to remove the only impediment which has so far
existed to the most liberal commercial intercourse between us and them. In
this view our minister at Berlin, who has heretofore industriously pursued
the subject, has been instructed to enter upon the negotiation of a
commercial treaty, which, while it will open new advantages to the
agricultural interests of the United States and a more free and expanded
field for commercial operations, will affect injuriously no existing
interest of the Union. Should the negotiation be crowned with success, its
results will be communicated to both Houses of Congress.
I communicate herewith certain dispatches received from our minister at
Mexico, and also a correspondence which has recently occurred between the
envoy from that Republic and the Secretary of State. It must but be
regarded as not a little extraordinary that the Government of Mexico, in
anticipation of a public discussion (which it has been pleased to infer
from newspaper publications as likely to take place in Congress, relating
to the annexation of Texas to the United States), should have so far
anticipated the result of such discussion as to have announced its
determination to visit any such anticipated decision by a formal
declaration of war against the United States. If designed to prevent
Congress from introducing that question as a fit subject for its calm
deliberation and final judgment, the Executive has no reason to doubt that
it will entirely fail of its object. The representatives of a brave and
patriotic people will suffer no apprehension of future consequences to
embarrass them in the course of their proposed deliberations, nor will the
executive department of the Government fail for any such cause to discharge
its whole duty to the country.
The war which has existed for so long a time between Mexico and Texas has
since the battle of San Jacinto consisted for the most part of predatory
incursions, which, while they have been attended with much of suffering to
individuals and have kept the borders of the two countries in a state of
constant alarm, have failed to approach to any definitive result. Mexico
has fitted out no formidable armament by land or by sea for the subjugation
of Texas. Eight years have now elapsed since Texas declared her
independence of Mexico, and during that time she has been recognized as a
sovereign power by several of the principal civilized states. Mexico,
nevertheless, perseveres in her plans of reconquest, and refuses to
recognize her independence. The predatory incursions to which I have
alluded have been attended in one instance with the breaking up of the
courts of justice, by the seizing upon the persons of the judges, jury, and
officers of the court and dragging them along with unarmed, and therefore
noncombatant, citizens into a cruel and oppressive bondage, thus leaving
crime to go unpunished and immorality to pass unreproved. A border warfare
is evermore to be deprecated, and over such a war as has existed for so
many years between these two States humanity has had great cause to lament.
Nor is such a condition of things to be deplored only because of the
individual suffering attendant upon it. The effects are far more extensive.
The Creator of the Universe has given man the earth for his resting place
and its fruits for his subsistence. Whatever, therefore, shall make the
first or any part of it a scene of desolation affects injuriously his
heritage and may be regarded as a general calamity. Wars may sometimes be
necessary, but all nations have a common interest in bringing them speedily
to a close. The United States have an immediate interest in seeing an end
put to the state of hostilities existing between Mexico and Texas. They are
our neighbors, of the same continent, with whom we are not only desirous of
cultivating the relations of amity, but of the most extended commercial
intercourse, and to practice all the rites of a neighborhood hospitality.
Our own interests are involved in the matter, since, however neutral may be
our course of policy, we can not hope to escape the effects of a spirit of
jealousy on the part of both of the powers. Nor can this Government be
indifferent to the fact that a warfare such as is waged between those two
nations is calculated to weaken both powers and finally to render them--and
especially the weaker of the two--the subjects of interference on the part
of stronger and more powerful nations, who, intent only on advancing their
own peculiar views, may sooner or later attempt to bring about a compliance
with terms as the condition of their interposition alike derogatory to the
nation granting them and detrimental to the interests of the United States.
We could not be expected quietly to permit any such interference to our
disadvantage. Considering that Texas is separated from the United States by
a mere geographical line; that her territory, in the opinion of many, down
to a late period formed a portion of the territory of the United States;
that it is homogeneous in its population and pursuits with adjoining
States, makes contributions to the commerce of the world in the same
articles with them, and that most of her inhabitants have been citizens of
the United States, speak the same language, and live under similar
political institutions with ourselves, this Government is bound by every
consideration of interest as well as of sympathy to see that she shall be
left free to act, especially in regard to her domestic affairs, unawed by
force and unrestrained by the policy or views of other countries. In full
view of all these considerations, the Executive has not hesitated to
express to the Government of Mexico how deeply it deprecated a continuance
of the war and how anxiously it desired to witness its termination. I can
not but think that it becomes the United States, as the oldest of the
American Republics, to hold a language to Mexico upon this subject of an
unambiguous character. It is time that this war had ceased. There must be a
limit to all wars, and if the parent state after an eight years' struggle
has failed to reduce to submission a portion of its subjects standing out
in revolt against it, and who have not only proclaimed themselves to be
independent, but have been recognized as such by other powers, she ought
not to expect that other nations will quietly look on, to their obvious
injury, upon a protraction of hostilities. These United States threw off
their colonial dependence and established independent governments, and
Great Britain, after having wasted her energies in the attempt to subdue
them for a less period than Mexico has attempted to subjugate Texas, had
the wisdom and justice to acknowledge their independence, thereby
recognizing the obligation which rested on her as one of the family of
nations. An example thus set by one of the proudest as well as most
powerful nations of the earth it could in no way disparage Mexico to
imitate. While, therefore, the Executive would deplore any collision with
Mexico or any disturbance of the friendly relations which exist between the
two countries, it can not permit that Government to control its policy,
whatever it may be, toward Texas, but will treat her--as by the recognition
of her independence the United States have long since declared they would
do--as entirely independent of Mexico. The high obligations of public duty
may enforce from the constituted authorities of the United States a policy
which the course persevered in by Mexico will have mainly contributed to
produce, and the Executive in such a touting they will with confidence
throw itself upon the patriotism of the people to sustain the Government in
its course of action.
Measures of an unusual character have recently been adopted by the Mexican
Government, calculated in no small degree to affect the trade of other
nations with Mexico and to operate injuriously to the United States. All
foreigners, by a decree of the 23d day of September, and after six months
from the day of its promulgation, are forbidden to carry on the business of
selling by retail any goods within the confines of Mexico. Against this
decree our minister has not failed to remonstrate.
The trade heretofore carried on by our citizens with Santa Fe, in which
much capital was already invested and which was becoming of daily
increasing importance, has suddenly been arrested by a decree of virtual
prohibition on the part of the Mexican Government. Whatever may be the
right of Mexico to prohibit any particular course of trade to the citizens
or subjects of foreign powers, this late procedure, to say the least of it,
wears a harsh and unfriendly aspect.
The installments on the claims recently settled by the convention with
Mexico have been punctually paid as they have fallen due, and our minister
is engaged in urging the establishment of a new commission in pursuance of
the convention for the settlement of unadjusted claims.
With the other American States our relations of amity and good will have
remained uninterrupted. Our minister near the Republic of New Granada has
succeeded in effecting an adjustment of the claim upon that Government for
the schooner By Chance, which had been pending for many years. The claim
for the brig Morris, which had its origin during the existence of the
Republic of Colombia, and indemnification for which since the dissolution
of that Republic has devolved upon its several members, will be urged with
renewed zeal.
I have much pleasure in saying that the Government of Brazil has adjusted
the claim upon that Government in the case of the schooner John S. Bryan,
and that sanguine hopes are entertained that the same spirit of justice
will influence its councils in arriving at an early decision upon the
remaining claims, thereby removing all cause of dissension between two
powers whose interests are to some extent interwoven with each other.
Our minister at Chili has succeeded in inducing a recognition by that
Government of the adjustment effected by his predecessor of the first claim
in the case of the Macedonian. The first installment has been received by
the claimants in the United States.
Notice of the exchange of ratifications of the treaty with Peru, which will
take place at Lima, has not yet reached this country, but is shortly
expected to be received, when the claims upon that Republic will doubtless
be liquidated and paid.
In consequence of a misunderstanding between this Government and that of
Buenos Ayres, occurring several years ago, this Government has remained
unrepresented at that Court, while a minister from it has been constantly
resident here. The causes of irritation have in a great measure passed
away, and it is in contemplation, in view of important interests which have
grown up in that country, at some early period during the present session
of Congress, with the concurrence of the Senate, to restore diplomatic
relations between the two countries.
Under the provisions of an act of Congress of the last session a minister
was dispatched from the United States to China in August of the present
year, who, from the latest accounts we have from him, was at Suez, in
Egypt, on the 25th of September last, on his route to China.
In regard to the Indian tribes residing within our jurisdictional limits,
the greatest vigilance of the Government has been exerted to preserve them
at peace among themselves and to inspire them with feelings of confidence
in the justice of this Government and to cultivate friendship with the
border inhabitants. This has happily succeeded to a great extent, but it is
a subject of regret that they suffer themselves in some instances to be
imposed upon by artful and designing men and this notwithstanding all
efforts of the Government to prevent it.
The receipts into the Treasury for the calendar year 1843, exclusive of
loans, were little more than $ 18,000,000, and the expenditures, exclusive
of the payments on the public debt, will have been about $23,000,000. By
the act of 1842 a new arrangement of the fiscal year was made, so that it
should commence on the 1st day of July in each year. The accounts and
estimates for the current fiscal year will show that the loans and Treasury
notes made and issued before the close of the last Congress to meet the
anticipated deficiency have not been entirely adequate. Although on the 1st
of October last there was a balance in the Treasury, in consequence of the
provisions thus made, of $3,914,082.77, yet the appropriations already made
by Congress will absorb that balance and leave a probable deficiency of
$2,000,000 at the close of the present fiscal year. There are outstanding
Treasury notes to about the amount of $4,600,000, and should they be
returned upon the Treasury during the fiscal year they will require
provision for their redemption. I do not, however, regard this as probable,
since they have obviously entered into the currency of the country and will
continue to form a portion of it if the system now adopted be continued.
The loan of 1841, amounting to $5,672,976.88, falls due on the 1st day of
January, 1845, and must be provided for or postponed by a new loan; and
unless the resources of revenue should be materially increased by you there
will be a probable deficiency for the service of the fiscal year ending
June 30, 1845, of upward of $4,000,000.
The delusion incident to an enormously excessive paper circulation, which
gave a fictitious value to everything and stimulated adventure and
speculation to an extravagant extent, has been happily succeeded by the
substitution of the precious metals and paper promptly redeemable in
specie; and thus false values have disappeared and a sounder condition of
things has been introduced. This transition, although intimately connected
with the prosperity of the country, has nevertheless been attended with
much embarrassment to the Government in its financial concerns. So long as
the foreign importers could receive payment for their cargoes in a currency
of greatly less value than that in Europe, but fully available here in the
purchase of our agricultural productions (their profits being immeasurably
augmented by the operation), the shipments were large and the revenues of
the Government became superabundant. But the change in the character of the
circulation from a nominal and apparently real value in the first stage of
its existence to an obviously depreciated value in its second, so that it
no longer answered the purposes of exchange or barter, and its ultimate
substitution by a sound metallic and paper circulation combined, has been
attended by diminished importations and a consequent falling off in the
revenue. This has induced Congress, from 1837, to resort to the expedient
of issuing Treasury notes, and finally of funding them, in order to supply
deficiencies. I can not, however, withhold the remark that it is in no way
compatible with the dignity of the Government that a public debt should be
created in time of peace to meet the current expenses of the Government, or
that temporary expedients should be resorted to an hour longer than it is
possible to avoid them. The Executive can do no more than apply the means
which Congress places in its hands for the support of Government, and,
happily for the good of the country and for the preservation of its
liberties, it possesses no power to levy exactions on the people or to
force from them contributions to the public revenue in any form. It can
only recommend such measures as may in its opinion be called for by the
wants of the public service to Congress, with whom alone rests the power to
"lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises." This duty has upon
several occasions heretofore been performed. The present condition of
things gives flattering promise that trade and commerce are rapidly
reviving, and, fortunately for the country, the sources of revenue have
only to be opened in order to prove abundant.
While we can anticipate no considerable increase in the proceeds of the
sales of the public lands, for reasons perfectly obvious to all, for
several years to come, yet the public lands can not otherwise than be
regarded as the foundation of the public credit. With so large a body of
the most fertile lands in the world under the control and at the disposal
of this Government, no one can reasonably doubt the entire ability to meet
its engagements under every emergency. In seasons of trial and difficulty
similar to those through which we are passing the capitalist makes his
investments in the Government cut stocks with the most assured confidence
of ultimate reimbursement; and whatever may be said of a period of great
financial prosperity, such as existed for some years after 1833, I should
regard it as suicidal in a season of financial embarrassment either to
alienate the lands themselves or the proceeds arising from their sales. The
first and paramount duty of those to whom may be intrusted the
administration of public affairs is to guard the public credit. In
reestablishing the credit of this central Government the readiest and most
obvious mode is taken to restore the credit of the States. The extremities
can only be made sound by producing a healthy action in the central
Government, and the history of the present day fully establishes the fact
that an increase in the value of the stocks of this Government will in a
great majority of instances be attended by an increase in the value of the
stocks of the States. It should therefore be a matter of general
congratulation that amidst all the embarrassments arising from surrounding
circumstances the credit of the Government should have been so fully
restored that it has been enabled to effect a loan of $7,000,000 to redeem
that amount of Treasury notes on terms more favorable than any that have
been offered for many years. And the 6 per cent stock which was created in
1842 has advanced in the hands of the holders nearly 20 per cent above its
par value. The confidence of the people in the integrity of their
Government has thus been signally manifested. These opinions relative to
the public lands do not in any manner conflict with the observance of the
most liberal policy toward those of our fellow-citizens who press forward
into the wilderness and are the pioneers in the work of its reclamation. In
securing to all such their rights of preemption the Government performs but
an act of retributive justice for sufferings encountered and hardships
endured, and finds ample remuneration in the comforts which its policy
insures and the happiness which it imparts.
Should a revision of the tariff with a view to revenue become necessary in
the estimation of Congress, I doubt not you will approach the subject with
a just and enlightened regard to the interests of the whole Union. The
principles and views which I have heretofore had occasion to submit remain
unchanged. It can, however, never be too often repeated that the prominent
interest of every important pursuit of life requires for success permanency
and stability in legislation. These can only be attained by adopting as the
basis of action moderation in all things, which is as indispensably
necessary to secure the harmonious action of the political as of the animal
system. In our political organization no one section of the country should
desire to have its supposed interests advanced at the sacrifice of all
others, but union, being the great interest, equally precious to all,
should be fostered and sustained by mutual concessions and the cultivation
of that spirit of compromise from which the Constitution itself proceeded.
You will be informed by the report from the Treasury Department of the
measures taken under the act of the last session authorizing the reissue of
Treasury notes in lieu of those then outstanding. The system adopted in
pursuance of existing laws seems well calculated to save the country a
large amount of interest, while it affords conveniences and obviates
dangers and expense in the transmission of funds to disbursing agents. I
refer you also to that report for the means proposed by the Secretary to
increase the revenue, and particularly to that portion of it which relates
to the subject of the warehousing system, which I earnestly urged upon
Congress at its last session and as to the importance of which my opinion
has undergone no change.
In view of the disordered condition of the currency at the time and the
high rates of exchange between different parts of the country, I felt it to
be incumbent on me to present to the consideration of your predecessors a
proposition conflicting in no degree with the Constitution or with the
rights of the States and having the sanction (not in detail, but in
principle) of some of the eminent men who have preceded me in the Executive
office. That proposition contemplated the issuing of Treasury notes of
denominations of not less than $5 nor more than $100, to be employed in the
payment of the obligations of the Government in lieu of gold and silver at
the option of the public creditor, and to an amount not exceeding
$15,000,000. It was proposed to make them receivable everywhere and to
establish at various points depositories of gold and silver to be held in
trust for the redemption of such notes, so as to insure their
convertibility into specie. No doubt was entertained that such notes would
have maintained a par value with gold and silver, thus furnishing a paper
currency of equal value over the Union, thereby meeting the just
expectations of the people and fulfilling the duties of a parental
government. Whether the depositories should be permitted to sell or
purchase bills under very limited restrictions, together with all its other
details, was submitted to the wisdom of Congress and was regarded as of
secondary importance. I thought then and think now that such an arrangement
would have been attended with the happiest results. The whole matter of the
currency would have been placed where by the Constitution it was designed
to be placed--under the immediate supervision and control of Congress. The
action of the Government would have been independent of all corporations,
and the same eye which rests unceasingly on the specie currency and guards
it against adulteration would also have rested on the paper currency, to
control and regulate its issues and protect it against depreciation. The
same reasons which would forbid Congress from parting with the power over
the coinage would seem to operate with nearly equal force hi regard to any
substitution for the precious metals in the form of a circulating medium.
Paper when substituted for specie constitutes a standard of value by which
the operations of society are regulated, and whatsoever causes its
depreciation affects society to an extent nearly, if not quite, equal to
the adulteration of the coin. Nor can I withhold the remark that its
advantages contrasted with a bank of the United States, apart from the fact
that a bank was esteemed as obnoxious to the public sentiment as well on
the score of expediency as of constitutionality, appeared to me to be
striking and obvious. The relief which a bank would afford by an issue of
$15,000,000 of its notes, judging from the experience of the late United
States Bank, would not have occurred in less than fifteen years, whereas
under the proposed arrangement the relief arising from the issue of
$15,000,000 of Treasury notes would have been consummated in one year, thus
furnishing in one-fifteenth part of the time in which a bank could have
accomplished it a paper medium of exchange equal in amount to the real
wants of the country at par value with gold and silver. The saving to the
Government would have been equal to all the interest which it has had to
pay on Treasury notes of previous as well as subsequent issues, thereby
relieving the Government and at the same time affording relief to the
people. Under all the responsibilities attached to the station which I
occupy, and in redemption of a pledge given to the last Congress at the
close of its first session, I submitted the suggestion to its consideration
at two consecutive sessions. The recommendation, however, met with no favor
at its hands. While I am free to admit that the necessities of the times
have since become greatly ameliorated and that there is good reason to hope
that the country is safely and rapidly emerging from the difficulties and
embarrassments which everywhere surrounded it in 1841, yet I can not but
think that its restoration to a sound and healthy condition would be
greatly expedited by a resort to the expedient in a modified form.
The operations of the Treasury now rest upon the act of 1789 and the
resolution of 1816, and those laws have been so administered as to produce
as great a quantum of good to the country as their provisions are capable
of yielding. If there had been any distinct expression of opinion going to
show that public sentiment is averse to the plan, either as heretofore
recommended to Congress or in a modified form, while my own opinion in
regard to it would remain unchanged I should be very far from again
presenting it to your consideration. The Government has originated with the
States and the people, for their own benefit and advantage, and it would be
subversive of the foundation principles of the political edifice which they
have reared to persevere in a measure which in their mature judgments they
had either repudiated or condemned. The will of our constituents clearly
expressed should be regarded as the light to guide our footsteps, the true
difference between a monarchical or aristocratical government and a
republic being that in the first the will of the few prevails over the will
of the many, while in the last the will of the many should be alone
consulted.
The report of the Secretary of War will bring you acquainted with the
condition of that important branch of the public service. The Army may be
regarded, in consequence of the small number of the rank and file in each
company and regiment, as little more than a nucleus around which to rally
the military force of the country in case of war, and yet its services in
preserving the peace of the frontiers are of a most important nature. In
all cases of emergency the reliance of the country is properly placed in
the militia of the several States, and it may well deserve the
consideration of Congress whether a new and more perfect organization might
not be introduced, looking mainly to the volunteer companies of the Union
for the present and of easy application to the great body of the militia in
time of war.
The expenditures of the War Department have been considerably reduced in
the last two years. Contingencies, however, may arise which would call for
the filling up of the regiments with a full complement of men and make it
very desirable to remount the corps of dragoons, which by an act of the
last Congress was directed to be dissolved.
I refer you to the accompanying report of the Secretary for information in
relation to the Navy of the United States. While every effort has been and
will continue to be made to retrench all superfluities and lop off all
excrescences which from time to time may have grown up, yet it has not been
regarded as wise or prudent to recommend any material change in the annual
appropriations. The interests which are involved are of too important a
character to lead to the recommendation of any other than a liberal policy.
Adequate appropriations ought to be made to enable the Executive to fit out
all the ships that are now in a course of building or that require repairs
for active service in the shortest possible time should any emergency arise
which may require it. An efficient navy, while it is the cheapest means of
public defense, enlists in its support the feelings of pride and confidence
which brilliant deeds and heroic valor have heretofore served to strengthen
and confirm.
I refer you particularly to that part of the Secretary's report which has
reference to recent experiments in the application of steam and in the
construction of our war steamers, made under the superintendence of
distinguished officers of the Navy. In addition to other manifest
improvements in the construction of the steam engine and application of the
motive power which has rendered them more appropriate to the uses of ships
of war, one of those officers has brought into use a power which makes the
steamship most formidable either for attack or defense. I can not too
strongly recommend this subject to your consideration and do not hesitate
to express my entire conviction of its great importance.
I call your particular attention also to that portion of the Secretary's
report which has reference to the act of the late session of Congress which
prohibited the transfer of any balance of appropriation from other heads of
appropriation to that for building, equipment, and repair. The repeal of
that prohibition will enable the Department to give renewed employment to a
large class of workmen who have been necessarily discharged in consequence
of the want of means to pay them--a circumstance attended, especially at
this season of the year, with much privation and suffering.
It gives me great pain to announce to you the loss of the steamship the
Missouri by fire in the Bay of Gibraltar, where she had stopped to renew
her supplies of coal on her voyage to Alexandria, with Mr. Cushing, the
American minister to China, on board. There is ground for high commendation
of the officers and men for the coolness and intrepidity and perfect
submission to discipline evinced under the most trying circumstances.
Surrounded by a raging fire, which the utmost exertions could not subdue,
and which threatened momentarily the explosion of her well-supplied
magazines, the officers exhibited no signs of fear and the men obeyed every
order with alacrity. Nor was she abandoned until the last gleam of hope of
saving her had expired. It is well worthy of your consideration whether the
losses sustained by the officers and crew in this unfortunate affair should
not be reimbursed to them.
I can not take leave of this painful subject without adverting to the aid
rendered upon the occasion by the British authorities at Gibraltar and the
commander, officers, and crew of the British ship of the line the Malabar,
which was lying at the time in the bay. Everything that generosity or
humanity could dictate was promptly performed. It is by such acts of good
will by one to another of the family of nations that fraternal feelings are
nourished and the blessings of permanent peace secured.
The report of the Postmaster-General will bring you acquainted with the
operations of that Department during the past year, and will suggest to you
such modifications of the existing laws as in your opinion the exigencies
of the public service may require. The change which the country has
undergone of late years in the mode of travel and transportation has
afforded so many facilities for the transmission of mail matter out of the
regular mail as to require the greatest vigilance and circumspection in
order to enable the officer at the head of the Department to restrain the
expenditures within the income. There is also too much reason to fear that
the franking privilege has run into great abuse. The Department,
nevertheless, has been conducted with the greatest vigor, and has attained
at the least possible expense all the useful objects for which it was
established.
In regard to all the Departments, I am quite happy in the belief that
nothing has been left undone which was called for by a true spirit of
economy or by a system of accountability rigidly enforced. This is in some
degree apparent from the fact that the Government has sustained no loss by
the default of any of its agents. In the complex, but at the same time
beautiful, machinery of our system of government, it is not a matter of
surprise that some remote agency may have failed for an instant to fulfill
its desired office; but I feel confident in the assertion that nothing has
occurred to interrupt the harmonious action of the Government itself, and
that, while the laws have been executed with efficiency and vigor, the
rights neither of States nor individuals have been trampled on or
disregarded.
In the meantime the country has been steadily advancing in all that
contributes to national greatness. The tide of population continues
unbrokenly to flow into the new States and Territories, where a refuge is
found not only for our native-born fellow-citizens, but for emigrants from
all parts of the civilized world, who come among us to partake of the
blessings of our free institutions and to aid by their labor to swell the
current of our wealth and power.
It is due to every consideration of public policy that the lakes and rivers
of the West should receive all such attention at the hands of Congress as
the Constitution will enable it to bestow. Works in favorable and proper
situations on the Lakes would be found to be as indispensably necessary, in
case of war, to carry on safe and successful naval operations as
fortifications on the Atlantic seaboard. The appropriation made by the last
Congress for the improvement of the navigation of the Mississippi River has
been diligently and efficiently applied.
I can not close this communication, gentlemen, without recommending to your
most favorable consideration the interests of this District. Appointed by
the Constitution its exclusive legislators, and forming in this particular
the only anomaly in our system of government--of the legislative body being
elected by others than those for whose advantage they are to legislate--you
will feel a superadded obligation to look well into their condition and to
leave no cause for complaint or regret. The seat of Government of our
associated republics can not but be regarded as worthy of your parental
care.
In connection with its other interests, as well as those of the whole
country, I recommend that at your present session you adopt such measures
in order to carry into effect the Smithsonian bequest as in your judgment
will be best calculated to consummate the liberal intent of the testator.
When, under a dispensation of Divine Providence, I succeeded to the
presidential office, the state of public affairs was embarrassing and
critical. To add to the irritation consequent upon a long-standing
controversy with one of the most powerful nations of modern times,
involving not only questions of boundary (which under the most favorable
circumstances are always embarrassing), but at the same time important and
high principles of maritime law, border controversies between the citizens
and subjects of the two countries had engendered a state of feeling and of
conduct which threatened the most calamitous consequences. The hazards
incident to this state of things were greatly heightened by the arrest and
imprisonment of a subject of Great Britain, who, acting (as it was alleged)
as a part of a military force, had aided in the commission of an act
violative of the territorial jurisdiction of the United States and
involving the murder of a citizen, of the State of New York. A large amount
of claims against the Government of Mexico remained unadjusted and a war of
several years' continuance with the savage tribes of Florida still
prevailed, attended with the desolation of a large portion of that
beautiful Territory and with the sacrifice of many valuable lives. To
increase the embarrassments of the Government, individual and State credit
had been nearly stricken down and confidence in the General Government was
so much impaired that-loans of a small amount could only be negotiated at a
considerable sacrifice. As a necessary consequence of the blight which had
fallen on commerce and mechanical industry, the ships of the one were
thrown out of employment and the operations of the other had been greatly
diminished. Owing to the condition of the currency, exchanges between
different parts of the country had become ruinously high and trade had to
depend on a depreciated paper currency in conducting its transactions. I
shall be permitted to congratulate the country that under an overruling
Providence peace was preserved without a sacrifice of the national honor;
the war in Florida was brought to a speedy termination; a large portion of
the claims on Mexico have been fully adjudicated and are in a course of
payment, while justice has been rendered to us in other matters by other
nations; confidence between man and man is in a great measure restored and
the credit of this Government fully and perfectly reestablished; commerce
is becoming more and more extended in its operations and manufacturing and
mechanical industry once more reap the rewards of skill and labor honestly
applied; the operations of trade rest on a sound currency and the rates of
exchange are reduced to their lowest amount.
In this condition of things I have felt it to be my duty to bring to your
favorable consideration matters of great interest in their present and
ultimate results; and the only desire which I feel in connection with the
future is and will continue to be to leave the country prosperous and its
institutions unimpaired.
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