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President[ James Polk

         Date[ December 7, 1847

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

The annual meeting of Congress is always an interesting event. The

representatives of the States and of the people come fresh from their

constituents to take counsel together for the common good.

After an existence of near three-fourths of a century as a free and

independent Republic, the problem no longer remains to be solved whether

man is capable of self-government. The success of our admirable system is a

conclusive refutation of the theories of those in other countries who

maintain that a "favored few" are born to rule and that the mass of mankind

must be governed by force. Subject to no arbitrary or hereditary authority,

the people are the only sovereigns recognized by our Constitution.

Numerous emigrants, of every lineage and language, attracted by the civil

and religious freedom we enjoy and by our happy condition, annually crowd

to our shores, and transfer their heart, not less than their allegiance, to

the country whose dominion belongs alone to the people. No country has been

so much favored, or should acknowledge with deeper reverence the

manifestations of the divine protection. An all wise Creator directed and

guarded us in our infant struggle for freedom and has constantly watched

over our surprising progress until we have become one of the great nations

of the earth.

It is in a country thus favored, and under a Government in which the

executive and legislative branches hold their authority for limited periods

alike from the people, and where all are responsible to their respective

constituencies, that it is again my duty to communicate with Congress upon

the state of the Union and the present condition of public affairs.

During the past year the most gratifying proofs are presented that our

country has been blessed with a widespread and universal prosperity. There

has been no period since the Government was founded when all the industrial

pursuits of our people have been more successful or when labor in all

branches of business has received a fairer or better reward. From our

abundance we have been enabled to perform the pleasing duty of furnishing

food for the starving millions of less favored countries.

In the enjoyment of the bounties of Providence at home such as have rarely

fallen to the lot of any people, it is cause of congratulation that our

intercourse with all the powers of the earth except Mexico continues to be

of an amicable character.

It has ever been our cherished policy to cultivate peace and good will with

all nations, and this policy has been steadily pursued by me. No change has

taken place in our relations with Mexico since the adjournment of the last

Congress. The war in which the United States were forced to engage with the

Government of that country still continues.

I deem it unnecessary, after the full exposition of them contained in my

message of the 11th of May, 1846, and in my annual message at the

commencement of the session of Congress in December last, to reiterate the

serious causes of complaint which we had against Mexico before she

commenced hostilities.

It is sufficient on the present occasion to say that the wanton violation

of the rights of person and property of our citizens committed by Mexico,

her repeated acts of bad faith through a long series of years, and her

disregard of solemn treaties stipulating for indemnity to our injured

citizens not only constituted ample cause of war on our part, but were of

such an aggravated character as would have justified us before the whole

world in resorting to this extreme remedy. With an anxious desire to avoid

a rupture between the two countries, we forbore for years to assert our

clear rights by force, and continued to seek redress for the wrongs we had

suffered by amicable negotiation in the hope that Mexico might yield to

pacific counsels and the demands of justice. In this hope we were

disappointed. Our minister of peace sent to Mexico was insultingly

rejected. The Mexican Government refused even to hear the terms of

adjustment which he was authorized to propose, and finally, under wholly

unjustifiable pretexts, involved the two countries in war by invading the

territory of the State of Texas, striking the first blow, and shedding the

blood of our citizens on our own soil.

Though the United States were the aggrieved nation, Mexico commenced the

war, and we were compelled in self-defense to repel the invader and to

vindicate the national honor and interests by prosecuting it with vigor

until we could obtain a just and honorable peace. On learning that

hostilities had been commenced by Mexico I promptly communicated that fact,

accompanied with a succinct statement of our other causes of complaint

against Mexico, to Congress, and that body, by the act of the 13th of May,

1846, declared that "by the act of the Republic of Mexico a state of war

exists between that Government and the United States." This act declaring

"the war to exist by the act of the Republic of Mexico," and making

provision for its prosecution "to a speedy and successful termination," was

passed with great unanimity by Congress, there being but two negative votes

in the Senate and but fourteen in the House of Representatives.

The existence of the war having thus been declared by Congress, it became

my duty under the Constitution and the laws to conduct and prosecute it.

This duty has been performed, and though at every stage of its progress I

have manifested a willingness to terminate it by a just peace, Mexico has

refused to accede to any terms which could be accepted by the United States

consistently with the national honor and interest.

The rapid and brilliant successes of our arms and the vast extent of the

enemy's territory which had been overrun and conquered before the close of

the last session of Congress were fully known to that body. Since that time

the war has been prosecuted with increased energy, and, I am gratified to

state, with a success which commands universal admiration.. History

presents no parallel of so many glorious victories achieved by any nation

within so short a period. Our Army, regulars and volunteers, have covered

themselves with imperishable honors. Whenever and wherever our forces have

encountered the enemy, though he was in vastly superior numbers and often

intrenched in fortified positions of his own selection and of great

strength, he has been defeated. Too much praise can not be bestowed upon

our officers and men, regulars and volunteers, for their gallantry,

discipline, indomitable courage, and perseverance, all seeking the post of

danger and vying with each other in deeds of noble daring.

While every patriot's heart must exult and a just national pride animate

every bosom in beholding the high proofs of courage, consummate military

skill, steady discipline, and humanity to the vanquished enemy exhibited by

our gallant Army, the nation is called to mourn over the loss of many brave

officers and soldiers, who have fallen in defense of their country's honor

and interests. The brave dead met their melancholy fate in a foreign land,

nobly discharging their duty, and with their country's flag waving

triumphantly in the face of the foe. Their patriotic deeds are justly

appreciated, and will long be remembered by their grateful countrymen. The

parental care of the Government they loved and served should be extended to

their surviving families.

Shortly after the adjournment of the last session of Congress the

gratifying intelligence was received of the signal victory of Buena Vista,

and of the fall of the city of Vera Cruz, and with it the strong castle of

San Juan de Ulloa, by which it was defended. Believing that after these and

other successes so honorable to our arms and so disastrous to Mexico the

period was propitious to afford her another opportunity, if she thought

proper to embrace it, to enter into negotiations for peace, a commissioner

was appointed to proceed to the headquarters of our Army with full powers

to enter upon negotiations and to conclude a just and honorable treaty of

peace. He was not directed to make any new overtures of peace, but was the

bearer of a dispatch from the Secretary of State of the United States to

the minister of foreign affairs of Mexico, in reply to one received from

the latter of the 22d of February, 1847, in which the Mexican Government

was informed of his appointment and of his presence at the headquarters of

our Army, and that he was invested with full powers to conclude a

definitive treaty of peace whenever the Mexican Government might signify a

desire to do so. While I was unwilling to subject the United States to

another indignant refusal, I was yet resolved that the evils of the war

should not be protracted a day longer than might be rendered absolutely

necessary by the Mexican Government.

Care was taken to give no instructions to the commissioner which could in

any way interfere with our military operations or relax our energies in the

prosecution of the war. He possessed no authority in any manner to control

these operations. He was authorized to exhibit his instructions to the

general in command of the Army, and in the event of a treaty being

concluded and ratified on the part of Mexico he was directed to give him

notice of that fact. On the happening of such contingency, and on receiving

notice thereof, the general in command was instructed by the Secretary of

War to suspend further active military operations until further orders.

These instructions were given with a view to intermit hostilities until the

treaty thus ratified by Mexico could be transmitted to Washington and

receive the action of the Government of the United States. The commissioner

was also directed on reaching the Army to deliver to the general in command

the dispatch which he bore from the Secretary of State to the minister of

foreign affairs of Mexico, and on receiving it the general was instructed

by the Secretary of War to cause it to be transmitted to the commander of

the Mexican forces, with a quest that it might be communicated to his

Government. The commissioner did not reach the headquarters of the Army

until after another brilliant victory had crowned our arms at Cerro Gordo.

The dispatch which he bore from the Secretary of War to the general in

command of the Army was received by that officer, then at Jalapa, on the

7th of May, 1847, together with the dispatch from the Secretary of State to

the minister of foreign affairs of Mexico, having been transmitted to him

from Vera Cruz. The commissioner arrived at the headquarters of the Army a

few days afterwards. His presence with the Army and his diplomatic

character were made known to the Mexican Government from Puebla on the 12th

of June, 1847, by the transmission of the dispatch from the Secretary of

State to the minister of foreign affairs of Mexico.

Many weeks elapsed after its receipt, and no overtures were made nor was

any desire expressed by the Mexican Government to enter into negotiations

for peace.

Our Army pursued its march upon the capital, and as it approached it was

met by formidable resistance. Our forces first encountered the enemy, and

achieved signal victories in the severely contested battles of Contreras

and Churubusco. It was not until after these actions had resulted in

decisive victories and the capital of the enemy was within our power that

the Mexican Government manifested any disposition to enter into

negotiations for peace, and even then, as events have proved, there is too

much reason to believe they were insincere, and that in agreeing to go

through the forms of negotiation the object was to gain time to strengthen

the defenses of their capital and to prepare for fresh resistance.

The general in command of the Army deemed it expedient to suspend

hostilities temporarily by entering into an armistice with a view to the

opening of negotiations. Commissioners were appointed on the part of Mexico

to meet the commissioner on the part of the United States. The result of

the conferences which took place between these functionaries of the two

Governments was a failure to conclude a treaty of peace. The commissioner

of the United States took with him the project of a treaty already

prepared, by the terms of which the indemnity required by the United States

was a cession of territory.

It is well known that the only indemnity which it is in the power of Mexico

to make in satisfaction of the just and long-deferred claims of our

citizens against her and the only means by which she can reimburse the

United States for the expenses of the war is a cession to the United States

of a portion of her territory. Mexico has no money to pay, and no other

means of making the required indemnity. If we refuse this, we can obtain

nothing else. To reject indemnity by refusing to accept a cession of

territory would be to abandon all our just demands, and to wage the war,

bearing all its expenses, without a purpose or definite object.

A state of war abrogates treaties previously existing between the

belligerents and a treaty of peace puts an end to all claims for indemnity

for tortious acts committed under the authority of one government against

the citizens or subjects of another unless they are provided for in its

stipulations. A treaty of peace which would terminate the existing war

without providing for indemnity would enable Mexico, the acknowledged

debtor and herself the aggressor in the war, to relieve herself from her

just liabilities. By such a treaty our citizens who hold just demands

against her would have no remedy either against Mexico or their own

Government. Our duty to these citizens must forever prevent such a peace,

and no treaty which does not provide ample means of discharging these

demands can receive my sanction.

A treaty of peace should settle all existing differences between the two

countries. If an adequate cession of territory should be made by such a

treaty, the United States should release Mexico from all her liabilities

and assume their payment to our own citizens. If instead of this the United

States were to consent to a treaty by which Mexico should again engage to

pay the heavy amount of indebtedness which a just indemnity to our

Government and our citizens would impose on her, it is notorious that she

does not possess the means to meet such an undertaking. From such a treaty

no result could be anticipated but the same irritating disappointments

which have heretofore attended the violations of similar treaty

stipulations on the part of Mexico. Such a treaty would be but a temporary

cessation of hostilities, without the restoration of the friendship and

good understanding which should characterize the future intercourse between

the two countries.

That Congress contemplated the acquisition of territorial indemnity when

that body made provision for the prosecution of the war is obvious.

Congress could not have meant when, in May, 1846, they appropriated

$10,000,000 and authorized the President to employ the militia and naval

and military forces of the United States and to accept the services of

50,000 volunteers to enable him to prosecute the war, and when, at their

last session, and after our Army had invaded Mexico, they made additional

appropriations and authorized the raising of additional troops for the same

purpose, that no indemnity was to be obtained from Mexico at the conclusion

of the war; and yet it was certain that if no Mexican territory was

acquired no indemnity could be obtained. It is further manifest that

Congress contemplated territorial indemnity from the fact that at their

last session an act was passed, upon the Executive recommendation,

appropriating $3,000,000 with that express object. This appropriation was

made "to enable the President to conclude a treaty of peace, limits, and

boundaries with the Republic of Mexico, to be used by him in the event that

said treaty, when signed by the authorized agents of the two Governments

and duly ratified by Mexico, shall call for the expenditure of the same or

any part thereof." The object of asking this appropriation was distinctly

stated in the several messages on the subject which I communicated to

Congress. Similar appropriations made in 1803 and 1806, which were referred

to, were intended to be applied in part consideration for the cession of

Louisiana and the Floridas. In like manner it was anticipated that in

settling the terms of a treaty of "limits and boundaries" with Mexico a

cession of territory estimated to be of greater value than the amount of

our demands against her might be obtained, and that the prompt payment of

this sum in part consideration for the territory ceded, on the conclusion

of a treaty and its ratification on her part, might be an inducement with

her to make such a cession of territory as would be satisfactory to the

United States; and although the failure to conclude such a treaty has

rendered it unnecessary to use any part of the $3,000,000 appropriated by

that act, and the entire sum remains in the Treasury, it is still

applicable to that object should the contingency occur making such

application proper.

The doctrine of no territory is the doctrine of no indemnity, and if

sanctioned would be a public acknowledgment that our country was wrong and

that the war declared by Congress with extraordinary unanimity was unjust

and should be abandoned--an admission unfounded in fact and degrading to

the national character.

The terms of the treaty proposed by the United States were not only just to

Mexico, but, considering the character and amount of our claims, the

unjustifiable and unprovoked commencement of hostilities by her, the

expenses of the war to which we have been subjected, and the success which

had attended our arms, were deemed to be of a most liberal character.

The commissioner of the United States was authorized to agree to the

establishment of the Rio Grande as the boundary from its entrance into the

Gulf to its intersection with the southern boundary of New Mexico, in north

latitude about 32 degree, and to obtain a cession to the United States of

the Provinces of New Mexico and the Californias and the privilege of the

right of way across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. The boundary of the Rio

Grande and the cession to the United States of New Mexico and Upper

California constituted an ultimatum which our commissioner was under no

circumstances to yield.

That it might be manifest, not only to Mexico, but to all other nations,

that the United States were not disposed to take advantage of a feeble

power by insisting upon wrestling from her all the other Provinces,

including many of her principal towns and cities, which we had conquered

and held in our military occupation but were willing to conclude a treaty

in a spirit of liberality, our commissioner was authorized to stipulate for

the restoration to Mexico of all our other conquests.

As the territory to be acquired by the boundary proposed might be estimated

to be of greater value than a fair equivalent for our just demands, our

commissioner was authorized to stipulate for the payment of such additional

pecuniary consideration as was deemed reasonable.

The terms of a treaty proposed by the Mexican commissioners were wholly

inadmissible. They negotiated as if Mexico were the victorious, and not the

vanquished, party. They must have known that their ultimatum could never be

accepted. It required the United States to dismember Texas by surrendering

to Mexico that part of the territory of that State lying between the Nueces

and the Rio Grande, included within her limits by her laws when she was an

independent republic, and when she was annexed to the United States and

admitted by Congress as one of the States of our Union. It contained no

provision for the payment by Mexico of the just claims of our citizens. It

required indemnity to Mexican citizens for injuries they may have sustained

by our troops in the prosecution of the war. It demanded the right for

Mexico to levy and collect the Mexican tariff of duties on goods imported

into her ports while in our military occupation during the war, and the

owners of which had paid to officers of the United States the military

contributions which had been levied upon them; and it offered to cede to

the United States, for a pecuniary consideration, that part of Upper

California lying north of latitude 37°. Such were the unreasonable

terms proposed by the Mexican commissioners.

The cession to the United States by Mexico of the Provinces of New Mexico

and the Californias, as proposed by the commissioner of the United States,

it was believed would be more in accordance with the convenience and

interests of both nations than any other cession of territory which it was

probable Mexico could be induced to make.

It is manifest to all who have observed the actual condition of the Mexican

Government for some years past and at present that if these Provinces

should be retained by her she could not long continue to hold and govern

them. Mexico is too feeble a power to govern these Provinces, lying as they

do at a distance of more than 1,000 miles from her capital, and if

attempted to be retained by her they would constitute but for a short time

even nominally a part of her dominions. This would be especially the case

with Upper California.

The sagacity of powerful European nations has long since directed their

attention to the commercial importance of that Province, and there can be

little doubt that the moment the United States shall relinquish their

present occupation of it and their claim to it as indemnity an effort would

be made by some foreign power to possess it, either by conquest or by

purchase. If no foreign government should acquire it in either of these

modes, an independent revolutionary government would probably be

established by the inhabitants and such foreigners as may remain in or

remove to the country as soon as it shall be known that the United States

have abandoned it. Such a government would be too feeble long to maintain

its separate independent existence, and would finally become annexed to or

be a dependent colony of some more powerful state. Should any foreign

government attempt to possess it as a colony, or otherwise to incorporate

it with itself, the principle avowed by President Monroe in 1824, and

reaffirmed in my first annual message, that no foreign power shall with our

consent be permitted to plant or establish any new colony or dominion on

any part of the North American continent must be maintained. In maintaining

this principle and in resisting its invasion by any foreign power we might

be involved in other wars more expensive and more difficult than that in

which we are now engaged. The Provinces of New Mexico and the Californias

are contiguous to the territories of the United States, and if brought

under the government of our laws their resources--mineral, agricultural,

manufacturing, and commercial--would soon be developed.

Upper California is bounded on the north by our Oregon possessions, and if

held by the United States would soon be settled by a hardy, enterprising,

and intelligent portion of our population. The Bay of San Francisco and

other harbors along the Californian coast would afford shelter for our

Navy, for our numerous whale ships, and other merchant vessels employed in

the Pacific Ocean, and would in a short period become the marts of an

extensive and profitable commerce with China and other countries of the

East.

These advantages, in which the whole commercial world would participate,

would at once be secured to the United States by the cession of this

territory; while it is certain that as long as it remains a part of the

Mexican dominions they can be enjoyed neither by Mexico herself nor by any

other nation.

New Mexico is a frontier Province, and has never been of any considerable

value to Mexico. From its locality it is naturally connected with our

Western settlements. The territorial limits of the State of Texas, too, as

defined by her laws before her admission into our Union, embrace all that

portion of New Mexico lying east of the Rio Grande, while Mexico still

claims to hold this territory as a part of her dominions. The adjustment of

this question of boundary is important.

There is another consideration which induced the belief that the Mexican

Government might even desire to place this Province under the protection of

the Government of the United States. Numerous bands of fierce and warlike

savages wander over it and upon its borders. Mexico has been and must

continue to be too feeble to restrain them from committing depredations,

robberies, and murders, not only upon the inhabitants of New Mexico itself,

but upon those of the other northern States of Mexico. It would be a

blessing to all these northern States to have their citizens protected

against them by the power of the United States. At this moment many

Mexicans, principally females and children, are in captivity among them. If

New Mexico were held and governed by the United States, we could

effectually prevent these tribes from committing such outrages, and compel

them to release these captives and restore them to their families and

friends.

In proposing to acquire New Mexico and the Californias, it was known that

but an inconsiderable portion of the Mexican people would be transferred

with them, the country embraced within these Provinces being chiefly an

uninhabited region.

These were the leading considerations which induced me to authorize the

terms of peace which were proposed to Mexico. They were rejected, and,

negotiations being at an end, hostilities were renewed. An assault was made

by our gallant Army upon the strongly fortified places near the gates of

the City of Mexico and upon the city itself, and after several days of

severe conflict the Mexican forces, vastly superior in number to our own,

were driven from the city, and it was occupied by our troops.

Immediately after information was received of the unfavorable result of the

negotiations, believing that his continued presence with the Army could be

productive of no good, I determined to recall our commissioner. A dispatch

to this effect was transmitted to him on the 6th of October last. The

Mexican Government will be informed of his recall, and that in the existing

state of things I shall not deem it proper to make any further overtures of

peace, but shall be at all times ready to receive and consider any

proposals which may be made by Mexico.

Since the liberal proposition of the United States was authorized to be

made, in April last, large expenditures have been incurred and the precious

blood of many of our patriotic fellow-citizens has been shed in the

prosecution of the war. This consideration and the obstinate perseverance

of Mexico in protracting the war must influence the terms of peace which it

may be deemed proper hereafter to accept. Our arms having been everywhere

victorious, having subjected to our military occupation a large portion of

the enemy's country, including his capital, and negotiations for peace

having failed, the important questions arise, in what manner the war ought

to be prosecuted and what should be our future policy. I can not doubt that

we should secure and render available the conquests which we have already

made, and that with this view we should hold and occupy by our naval and

military forces all the ports, towns, cities, and Provinces now in our

occupation or which may hereafter fall into our possession; that we should

press forward our military operations and levy such military contributions

on the enemy as may, as far as practicable, defray the future expenses of

the war.

Had the Government of Mexico acceded to the equitable and liberal terms

proposed, that mode of adjustment would have been preferred, Mexico having

declined to do this and failed to offer any other terms which could be

accepted by the United States, the national honor, no less than the public

interests, requires that the war should be prosecuted with increased energy

and power until a just and satisfactory peace can be obtained. In the

meantime, as Mexico refuses all indemnity, we should adopt measures to

indemnify ourselves by appropriating permanently a portion of her

territory. Early after the commencement of the war New Mexico and the

Californias were taken possession of by our forces. Our military and naval

commanders were ordered to conquer and hold them, subject to be disposed of

by a treaty of peace.

These Provinces are now in our undisputed occupation, and have been so for

many months, all resistance on the part of Mexico having ceased within

their limits. I am satisfied that they should never be surrendered to

Mexico. Should Congress concur with me in this opinion, and that they

should be retained by the United States as indemnity, I can perceive no

good reason why the civil jurisdiction and laws of the United States should

not at once be extended over them. To wait for a treaty of peace such as we

are willing to make, by which our relations toward them would not be

changed, can not be good policy; whilst our own interest and that of the

people inhabiting them require that a stable, responsible, and free

government under our authority should as soon as possible be established

over them. Should Congress, therefore, determine to hold these Provinces

permanently, and that they shall hereafter be considered as constituent

parts of our country, the early establishment of Territorial governments

over them will be important for the more perfect protection of persons and

property; and I recommend that such Territorial governments be established.

It will promote peace and tranquillity among the inhabitants, by allaying

all apprehension that they may still entertain of being again subjected to

the jurisdiction of Mexico. I invite the early and favorable consideration

of Congress to this important subject.

Besides New Mexico and the Californias, there are other Mexican Provinces

which have been reduced to our possession by conquest. These other Mexican

Provinces are now governed by our military and naval commanders under the

general authority which is conferred upon a conqueror by the laws of war.

They should continue to be held, as a means of coercing Mexico to accede to

just terms of peace. Civil as well as military officers are required to

conduct such a government. Adequate compensation, to be drawn from

contributions levied on the enemy, should be fixed by law for such officers

as may be thus employed. What further provision may become necessary and

what final disposition it may be proper to make of them must depend on the

future progress of the war and the course which Mexico may think proper

hereafter to pursue.

With the views I entertain I can not favor the policy which has been

suggested, either to withdraw our Army altogether or to retire to a

designated line and simply hold and defend it. To withdraw our Army

altogether from the conquests they have made by deeds of unparalleled

bravery, and at the expense of so much blood and treasure, in a just war on

our part, and one which, by the act of the enemy, we could not honorably

have avoided, would be to degrade the nation in its own estimation and in

that of the world. To retire to a line and simply hold and defend it would

not terminate the war. On the contrary, it would encourage Mexico to

persevere and tend to protract it indefinitely. It is not to be expected

that Mexico, after refusing to establish such a line as a permanent

boundary when our victorious Army are in possession of her capital and in

the heart of her country, would permit us to hold it without resistance.

That she would continue the war, and in the most harassing and annoying

forms, there can be no doubt. A border warfare of the most savage

character, extending over a long line, would be unceasingly waged. It would

require a large army to be kept constantly in the field, stationed at posts

and garrisons along such a line, to protect and defend it. The enemy,

relieved from the pressure of our arms on his coasts and in the populous

parts of the interior, would direct his attention to this line, and,

selecting an isolated post for attack, would concentrate his forces upon

it. This would be a condition of affairs which the Mexicans, pursuing their

favorite system of guerrilla warfare, would probably prefer to any other.

Were we to assume a defensive attitude on such a line, all the advantages

of such a state of war would be on the side of the enemy. We could levy no

contributions upon him, or in any other way make him feel the pressure of

the war, but must remain inactive and await his approach, being in constant

uncertainty at what point on the line or at what time he might make an

assault. He may assemble and organize an overwhelming force in the interior

on his own side of the line, and, concealing his purpose, make a sudden

assault upon some one of our posts so distant from any other as to prevent

the possibility of timely succor or reenforcements, and in this way our

gallant Army would be exposed to the danger of being cut off in detail; or

if by their unequaled bravery and prowess everywhere exhibited during this

war they should repulse the enemy, their numbers stationed at any one post

may be too small to pursue him. If the enemy be repulsed in one attack, he

would have nothing to do but to retreat to his own side of the line, and,

being in no fear of a pursuing army, may reenforce himself at leisure for

another attack on the same or some other post. He may, too, cross the line

between our posts, make rapid incursions into the country which we hold,

murder the inhabitants, commit depredations on them, and then retreat to

the interior before a sufficient force can be concentrated to pursue him.

Such would probably be the harassing character of a mere defensive war on

our part. If our forces when attacked, or threatened with attack, be

permitted to cross the line, drive back the enemy, and conquer him, this

would be again to invade the enemy's country after having lost all the

advantages of the conquests we have already made by having voluntarily

abandoned them. To hold such a line successfully and in security it is far

from being certain that it would not require as large an army as would be

necessary to hold all the conquests we have already made and to continue

the prosecution of the war in the heart of the enemy's country. It is also

far from being certain that the expenses of the war would be diminished by

such a policy. I am persuaded that the best means of vindicating the

national honor and interest and of bringing the war to an honorable close

will be to prosecute it with increased energy and power in the vital parts

of the enemy's country.

In my annual message to Congress of December last I declared that--

The war has not been waged with a view to conquest, but, having been

commenced by Mexico, it has been carried into the enemy's country and will

be vigorously prosecuted there with a view to obtain an honorable peace,

and thereby secure ample indemnity for the expenses of the war, as well as

to our much-injured citizens, who hold large pecuniary demands against

Mexico.

Such, in my judgment, continues to be our true policy; indeed, the only

policy which will probably secure a permanent peace.

It has never been contemplated by me, as an object of the war, to make a

permanent conquest of the Republic of Mexico or to annihilate her separate

existence as an independent nation. On the contrary, it has ever been my

desire that she should maintain her nationality, and under a good

government adapted to her condition be a free, independent, and prosperous

Republic. The United States were the first among the nations to recognize

her independence, and have always desired to be on terms of amity and good

neighborhood with her. This she would not suffer. By her own conduct we

have been compelled to engage in the present war. In its prosecution we

seek not her overthrow as a nation, but in vindicating our national honor

we seek to obtain redress for the wrongs she has done us and indemnity for

our just demands against her. We demand an honorable peace, and that peace

must bring with it indemnity for the past and security for the future.

Hitherto Mexico has refused all accommodation by which such a peace could

be obtained.

Whilst our armies have advanced from victory to victory from the

commencement of the war, it has always been with the olive branch of peace

in their hands, and it has been in the power of Mexico at every step to

arrest hostilities by accepting it.

One great obstacle to the attainment of peace has undoubtedly arisen from

the fact that Mexico has been so long held in subjection by one faction or

military usurper after another, and such has been the condition of

insecurity in which their successive governments have been placed that each

has been deterred from making peace lest for this very cause a rival

faction might expel it from power. Such was the fate of President Herrera's

administration in 1845 for being disposed even to listen to the overtures

of the United States to prevent the war, as is fully confirmed by an

official correspondence which took place in the month of August last

between him and his Government, a copy of which is herewith communicated.

"For this cause alone the revolution which displaced him from power was set

on foot" by General Paredes. Such may be the condition of insecurity of the

present Government.

There can be no doubt that the peaceable and well-disposed inhabitants of

Mexico are convinced that it is the true interest of their country to

conclude an honorable peace with the United States, but the apprehension of

becoming the victims of some military faction or usurper may have prevented

them from manifesting their feelings by any public act. The removal of any

such apprehension would probably cause them to speak their sentiments

freely and to adopt the measures necessary for the restoration of peace.

With a people distracted and divided by contending factions and a

Government subject to constant changes by successive revolutions, the

continued successes of our arms may fail to secure a satisfactory peace. In

such event it may become proper for our commanding generals in the field to

give encouragement and assurances of protection to the friends of peace in

Mexico in the establishment and maintenance of a free republican government

of their own choice, able and willing to conclude a peace which would be

just to them and secure to us the indemnity we demand. This may become the

only mode of obtaining such a peace. Should such be the result, the war

which Mexico has forced upon us would thus be converted into an enduring

blessing to herself. After finding her torn and distracted by factions, and

ruled by military usurpers, we should then leave her with a republican

government in the enjoyment of real independence and domestic peace and

prosperity, performing all her relative duties in the great family of

nations and promoting her own happiness by wise laws and their faithful

execution.

If, after affording this encouragement and protection, and after all the

persevering and sincere efforts we have made from the moment Mexico

commenced the war, and prior to that time, to adjust our differences with

her, we shall ultimately fail, then we shall have exhausted all honorable

means in pursuit of peace, and must continue to occupy her country with our

troops, taking the full measure of indemnity into our own hands, and must

enforce the terms which our honor demands.

To act otherwise in the existing state of things in Mexico, and to withdraw

our Army without a peace, would not only leave all the wrongs of which we

complain unredressed, but would be the signal for new and fierce civil

dissensions and new revolutions--all alike hostile to peaceful relations

with the United States. Besides, there is danger, if our troops were

withdrawn before a peace was conducted, that the Mexican people, wearied

with successive revolutions and deprived of protection for their persons

and property, might at length be inclined to yield to foreign influences

and to cast themselves into the arms of some European monarch for

protection from the anarchy and suffering which would ensue. This, for our

own safety and in pursuance of our established policy, we should be

compelled to resist. We could never consent that Mexico should be thus

converted into a monarchy governed by a foreign prince.

Mexico is our near neighbor, and her boundaries are coterminous with our

own through the whole extent across the North American continent, from

ocean to ocean. Both politically and commercially we have the deepest

interest in her regeneration and prosperity. Indeed, it is impossible that,

with any just regard to our own safety, we can ever become indifferent to

her fate.

It may be that the Mexican Government and people have misconstrued or

misunderstood our forbearance and our objects in desiring to conclude an

amicable adjustment of the existing differences between the two countries.

They may have supposed that we would submit to terms degrading to the

nation, or they may have drawn false inferences from the supposed division

of opinion in the United States on the subject of the war, and may have

calculated to gain much by protracting it, and, indeed, that we might

ultimately abandon it altogether without insisting on any indemnity,

territorial or otherwise. Whatever may be the false impressions under which

they have acted, the adoption and prosecution of the energetic policy

proposed must soon undeceive them.

In the future prosecution of the war the enemy must be made to feel its

pressure more than they have heretofore done. At its commencement it was

deemed proper to conduct it in a spirit of forbearance and liberality. With

this end in view, early measures were adopted to conciliate, as far as a

state of war would permit, the mass of the Mexican population; to convince

them that the war was waged, not against the peaceful inhabitants of

Mexico, but against their faithless Government, which had commenced

hostilities; to remove from their minds the false impressions which their

designing and interested rulers had artfully attempted to make, that the

war on our part was one of conquest, that it was a war against their

religion and their churches, which were to be desecrated and overthrown,

and that their rights of person and private property would be violated. To

remove these false impressions, our commanders in the field were directed

scrupulously to respect their religion, their churches, and their church

property, which were in no manner to be violated; they were directed also

to respect the rights of persons and property of all who should not take up

arms against us.

Assurances to this effect were given to the Mexican people by Major General

Taylor in a proclamation issued in pursuance of instructions from the

Secretary of War in the month of June, 1846, and again by Major-General

Scott, who acted upon his own convictions of the propriety of issuing it,

in a proclamation of the 11th of May, 1847. In this spirit of liberality

and conciliation, and with a view to prevent the body of the Mexican

population from taking up arms against us, was the war conducted on our

part. Provisions and other supplies furnished to our Army by Mexican

citizens were paid for at fair and liberal prices, agreed upon by the

parties. After the lapse of a few months it became apparent that these

assurances and this mild treatment had failed to produce the desired effect

upon the Mexican population. While the war had been conducted on our part

according to the most humane and liberal principles observed by civilized

nations, it was waged in a far different spirit on the part of Mexico. Not

appreciating our forbearance, the Mexican people generally became hostile

to the United States, and availed themselves of every opportunity to commit

the most savage excesses upon our troops. Large numbers of the population

took up arms, and, engaging in guerrilla warfare, robbed and murdered in

the most cruel manner individual soldiers or small parties whom accident or

other causes had separated from the main body of our Army; bands of

guerrilleros and robbers infested the roads, harassed our trains, and

whenever it was in their power cut off our supplies.

The Mexicans having thus shown themselves to be wholly incapable of

appreciating our forbearance and liberality, it was deemed proper to change

the manner of conducting the war, by making them feel its pressure

according to the usages observed under similar circumstances by all other

civilized nations.

Accordingly, as early as the 22d of September, 1846, instructions were

given by the Secretary of War to Major-General Taylor to "draw supplies"

for our Army "from the enemy without paying for them, and to require

contributions for its support, if in that way he was satisfied he could get

abundant supplies for his forces." In directing the execution of these

instructions much was necessarily left to the discretion of the commanding

officer, who was best acquainted with the circumstances by which he was

surrounded, the wants of the Army, and the practicability of enforcing the

measure. General Taylor, on the 26th of October, 1846, replied from

Monterey that "it would have been impossible hitherto, and is so now, to

sustain the Army to any extent by forced contributions of money or

supplies." For the reasons assigned by him, he did not adopt the policy of

his instructions, but declared his readiness to do so "should the Army in

its future operations reach a portion of the country which may be made to

supply the troops with advantage." He continued to pay for the articles of

supply which were drawn from the enemy's country.

Similar instructions were issued to Major-General Scott on the 3d of April,

1847, who replied from Jalapa on the 20th of May, 1847, that if it be

expected "that the Army is to support itself by forced contributions levied

upon the country we may ruin and exasperate the inhabitants and starve

ourselves." The same discretion was given to him that had been to General

Taylor in this respect. General Scott, for the reasons assigned by him,

also continued to pay for the articles of supply for the Army which were

drawn from the enemy.

After the Army had reached the heart of the most wealthy portion of Mexico

it was supposed that the obstacles which had before that time prevented it

would not be such as to render impracticable the levy of forced

contributions for its support, and on the 1st of September and again on the

6th of October, 1847, the order was repeated in dispatches addressed by the

Secretary of War to General Scott, and his attention was again called to

the importance of making the enemy bear the burdens of the war by requiring

them to furnish the means of supporting our Army, and he was directed to

adopt this policy unless by doing so there was danger of depriving the Army

of the necessary supplies. Copies of these dispatches were forwarded to

General Taylor for his government.

On the 31st of March last I caused an order to be issued to our military

and naval commanders to levy and collect a military contribution upon all

vessels and merchandise which might enter any of the ports of Mexico in our

military occupation, and to apply such contributions toward defraying the

expenses of the war. By virtue of the right of conquest and the laws of

war, the conqueror, consulting his own safety or convenience, may either

exclude foreign commerce altogether from all such ports or permit it upon

such terms and conditions as he may prescribe. Before the principal ports

of Mexico were blockaded by our Navy the revenue derived from import duties

under the laws of Mexico was paid into the Mexican treasury. After these

ports had fallen into our military possession the blockade was raised and

commerce with them permitted upon prescribed terms and conditions. They

were opened to the trade of all nations upon the payment of duties more

moderate in their amount than those which had been previously levied by

Mexico, and the revenue, which was formerly paid into the Mexican treasury,

was directed to be collected by our military and naval officers and applied

to the use of our Army and Navy. Care was taken that the officers,

soldiers, and sailors of our Army and Navy should be exempted from the

operations of the order, and, as the merchandise imported upon which the

order operated must be consumed by Mexican citizens, the contributions

exacted were in effect the seizure of the public revenues of Mexico and the

application of them to our own use. In directing this measure the object

was to compel the enemy to contribute as far as practicable toward the

expenses of the war.

For the amount of contributions which have been levied in this form I refer

you to the accompanying reports of the Secretary of War and of the

Secretary of the Navy, by which it appears that a sum exceeding half a

million of dollars has been collected. This amount would undoubtedly have

been much larger but for the difficulty of keeping open communications

between the coast and the interior, so as to enable the owners of the

merchandise imported to transport and vend it to the inhabitants of the

country. It is confidently expected that this difficulty will to a great

extent be soon removed by our increased forces which have been sent to the

field.

Measures have recently been adopted by which the internal as well as the

external revenues of Mexico in all places in our military occupation will

be seized and appropriated to the use of our Army and Navy.

The policy of levying upon the enemy contributions in every form

consistently with the laws of nations, which it may be practicable for our

military commanders to adopt, should, in my judgment, be rigidly enforced,

and orders to this effect have accordingly been given. By such a policy, at

the same time that our own Treasury will be relieved from a heavy drain,

the Mexican people will be made to feel the burdens of the war, and,

consulting their own interests, may be induced the more readily to require

their rulers to accede to a just peace.

After the adjournment of the last session of Congress events transpired in

the prosecution of the war which in my judgment required a greater number

of troops in the field than had been anticipated. The strength of the Army

was accordingly increased by "accepting" the services of all the volunteer

forces authorized by the act of the 13th of May, 1846, without putting a

construction on that act the correctness of which was seriously questioned.

The volunteer forces now in the field, with those which had been "accepted"

to "serve for twelve months" and were discharged at the end of their term

of service, exhaust the 50,000 men authorized by that act. Had it been

clear that a proper construction of the act warranted it, the services of

an additional number would have been called for and accepted; but doubts

existing upon this point, the power was not exercised. It is deemed

important that Congress should at an early period of their session confer

the authority to raise an additional regular force to serve during the war

with Mexico and to be discharged upon the conclusion and ratification of a

treaty of peace. I invite the attention of Congress to the views presented

by the Secretary of War in his report upon this subject.

I recommend also that authority be given by law to call for and accept the

services of an additional number of volunteers, to be exercised at such

time and to such extent as the emergencies of the service may require.

In prosecuting the war with Mexico, whilst the utmost care has been taken

to avoid every just cause of complaint on the part of neutral nations, and

none has been given, liberal privileges have been granted to their commerce

in the ports of the enemy in our military occupation. The difficulty with

the Brazilian Government, which at one time threatened to interrupt the

friendly relations between the two countries, will, I trust, be speedily

adjusted. I have received information that an envoy extraordinary and

minister plenipotentiary to the United States will shortly be appointed by

His Imperial Majesty, and it is hoped that he will come instructed and

prepared to adjust all remaining differences between the two Governments in

a manner acceptable and honorable to both. In the meantime, I have every

reason to believe that nothing will occur to interrupt our amicable

relations with Brazil.

It has been my constant effort to maintain and cultivate the most intimate

relations of friendship with all the independent powers of South America,

and this policy has been attended with the happiest results. It is true

that the settlement and payment of many just claims of American citizens

against these nations have been long delayed. The peculiar position in

which they have been placed and the desire on the part of my predecessors

as well as myself to grant them the utmost indulgence have hitherto

prevented these claims from being urged in a manner demanded by strict

justice. The time has arrived when they ought to be finally adjusted and

liquidated, and efforts are now making for that purpose.

It is proper to inform you that the Government of Peru has in good faith

paid the first two installments of the indemnity of $30,000 each, and the

greater portion of the interest due thereon, in execution of the convention

between that Government and the United States the ratifications of which

were exchanged at Lima on the 31st of October, 1846. The Attorney-General

of the United States early in August last completed the adjudication of the

claims under this convention, and made his report thereon in pursuance of

the act of the 8th of August, 1846. The sums to which the claimants are

respectively entitled will be paid on demand at the Treasury.

I invite the early attention of Congress to the present condition of our

citizens in China. Under our treaty with that power American citizens are

withdrawn from the jurisdiction, whether civil or criminal, of the Chinese

Government and placed under that of our public functionaries in that

country. By these alone can our citizens be tried and punished for the

commission of any crime; by these alone can questions be decided between

them involving the rights of persons and property, and by these alone can

contracts be enforced into which they may have entered with the citizens or

subjects of foreign powers. The merchant vessels of the United States lying

in the waters of the five ports of China open to foreign commerce are under

the exclusive jurisdiction of officers of their own Government. Until

Congress shall establish competent tribunals to try and punish crimes and

to exercise jurisdiction in civil cases in China, American citizens there

are subject to no law whatever. Crimes may be committed with impunity and

debts may be contracted without any means to enforce their payment.

Inconveniences have already resulted from the omission of Congress to

legislate upon the subject, and still greater are apprehended. The British

authorities in China have already complained that this Government has not

provided for the punishment of crimes or the enforcement of contracts

against American citizens in that country, whilst their Government has

established tribunals by which an American citizen can recover debts due

from British subjects. Accustomed, as the Chinese are, to summary justice,

they could not be made to comprehend why criminals who are citizens of the

United States should escape with impunity, in violation of treaty

obligations, whilst the punishment of a Chinese who had committed any crime

against an American citizen would be rigorously exacted. Indeed, the

consequences might be fatal to American citizens in China should a flagrant

crime be committed by any one of them upon a Chinese, and should trial and

punishment not follow according to the requisitions of the treaty. This

might disturb, if not destroy, our friendly relations with that Empire, and

cause an interruption of our valuable commerce. Our treaties with the

Sublime Porte, Tripoli, Tunis, Morocco, and Muscat also require the

legislation of Congress to carry them into execution, though the necessity

for immediate action may not be so urgent as in regard to China.

The Secretary of State has submitted an estimate to defray the expense of

opening diplomatic relations with the Papal States. The interesting

political events now in progress in these States, as well as a just regard

to our commercial interests, have, in my opinion, rendered such a measure

highly expedient.

Estimates have also been submitted for the outfits and salaries of charges'

d'affaires to the Republics of Bolivia, Guatemala, and Ecuador. The

manifest importance of cultivating the most friendly relations with all the

independent States upon this continent has induced me to recommend

appropriations necessary for the maintenance of these missions.

I recommend to Congress that an appropriation be made to be paid to the

Spanish Government for the purpose of distribution among the claimants in

the Amistad case. I entertain the conviction that this is due to Spain

under the treaty of the 20th of October, 1795, and, moreover, that from the

earnest manner in which the claim continues to be urged so long as it shall

remain unsettled it will be a source of irritation and discord between the

two countries, which may prove highly prejudicial to the interests of the

United States. Good policy, no less than a faithful compliance with our

treaty obligations, requires that the inconsiderable appropriation demanded

should be made.

A detailed statement of the condition of the finances will be presented in

the annual report of the Secretary of the Treasury. The imports for the

last fiscal year, ending on the 30th of June, 1847, were of the value of

$146,545,638, of which the amount exported was $8,011,158, leaving

$138,534,480 in the country for domestic use. The value of the exports for

the same period was $158,648,622, of which $150,637,464 consisted of

domestic productions and $8,011,158 of foreign articles.

The receipts into the Treasury for the same period amounted to

$26,346,790.37, of which there was derived from customs $23,747,864.66,

from sales of public lands $2,498,335.20, and from incidental and

miscellaneous sources $100,570.51. The last fiscal year, during which this

amount was received, embraced five months under the operation of the tariff

act of 1842 and seven months during which the tariff act of 1846 was in

force. During the five months under the act of 1842 the amount received

from customs was $7,842,306.90, and during the seven months under the act

of 1846 the amount received was $15,905,557.76.

The net revenue from customs during the year ending on the 1st of December,

1846, being the last year under the operation of the tariff act of 1842,

was $22,971,403.10, and the net revenue from customs during the year ending

on the 1st of December, 1847, being the first year under the operations of

the tariff act of 1846, was about $31,500,000, being an increase of revenue

for the first year under the tariff of 1846 of more than $8,500,000 over

that of the last year under the tariff of 1842.

The expenditures during the fiscal year ending on the 30th of June last

were $59,451,177.65, of which $3,522,082.37 was on account payment of

principal and interest of the public debt, including Treasury notes

redeemed and not funded. The expenditures exclusive of payment of public

debt were $55,929,095.28.

It is estimated that the receipts into the Treasury for the fiscal year

ending on the 30th of June, 1848, including the balance in the Treasury on

the 1st of July last, will amount to $42,886,545.80, of which $31,000,000,

it is estimated, will be derived from customs, $3,500,000 from the sale of

the public lands, $400,000 from incidental sources, eluding sales made by

the Solicitor of the Treasury, and $6,285,294.55 from loans already

authorized by law, which, together with the balance in the Treasury on the

1st of July last, make the sum estimated.

The expenditures for the same period, if peace with Mexico shall not be

concluded and the Army shall be increased as is proposed, will amount,

including the necessary payments on account of principal and interest of

the public debt and Treasury notes, to $58,615,660.07. On the 1st of the

present month the amount of the public debt actually incurred, including

Treasury notes, was $45,659,659.40. The public debt due on the 4th of

March, 1845, including Treasury notes, was $17,788,799.62, and consequently

the addition made to the public debt since that time is $27,870,859.78.

Of the loan of twenty-three millions authorized by the act of the 28th of

January, 1847, the sum of five millions was paid out to the public

creditors or exchanged at par for specie; the remaining eighteen millions

was offered for specie to the highest bidder not below par, by an

advertisement issued by the Secretary of the Treasury and published from

the 9th of February until the 10th of April, 1847, when it was awarded to

the several highest bidders at premiums varying from one-eighth of per cent

to 2 per cent above par. The premium has been paid into the Treasury and

the sums awarded deposited in specie in the Treasury as fast as it was

required by the wants of the Government.

To meet the expenditures for the remainder of the present and for the next

fiscal year, ending on the 30th of June, 1849, a further loan in aid of the

ordinary revenues of the Government will be necessary. Retaining a

sufficient surplus in the Treasury, the loan required for the remainder of

the present fiscal year will be about $18,500,000. If the duty on tea and

coffee be imposed and the graduation of the price of the public lands shall

be made at an early period of your session, as recommended, the loan for

the present fiscal year may be reduced to $17,000,000. The loan may be

further reduced by whatever amount of expenditures can be saved by military

contributions collected in Mexico. The most vigorous measures for the

augmentation of these contributions have been directed and a very

considerable sum is expected from that source. Its amount can not, however,

be calculated with any certainty. It is recommended that the loan to be

made be authorized upon the same terms and for the same time as that which

was authorized under the provisions of the act of the 28th of January,

1847.

Should the war with Mexico be continued until the 30th of June, 1849, it is

estimated that a further loan of $20,500,000 will be required for the

fiscal year ending on that day, in case no duty be imposed on tea and

coffee, and the public lands be not reduced and graduated in price, and no

military contributions shall be collected in Mexico. If the duty on tea and

coffee be imposed and the lands be reduced and graduated in price as

proposed, the loan may be reduced to $17,000,000, and will be subject to be

still further reduced by the amount of the military contributions which may

be collected in Mexico. It is not proposed, however, at present to ask

Congress for authority to negotiate this loan for the next fiscal year, as

it is hoped that the loan asked for the remainder of the present fiscal

year, aided by military contributions which may be collected in Mexico, may

be sufficient. If, contrary to my expectation, there should be a necessity

for it, the fact will be communicated to Congress in time for their action

during the present session. In no event will a sum exceeding $6,000,000 of

this amount be needed before the meeting of the session of Congress in

December, 1848.

The act of the 30th of July, 1846, "reducing the duties on imports," has

been in force since the 1st of December last, and I am gratified to state

that all the beneficial effects which were anticipated from its operation

have been fully realized. The public revenue derived from customs during

the year ending on the 1st of December, 1847, exceeds by more than

$8,000,000 the amount received in the preceding year under the operation of

the act of 1842, which was superseded and repealed by it. Its effects are

visible in the great and almost unexampled prosperity which prevails in

every branch of business.

While the repeal of the prohibitory and restrictive duties of the act of

1842 and the substitution in their place of reasonable revenue rates levied

on articles imported according to their actual value has increased the

revenue and augmented our foreign trade, all the great interests of the

country have been advanced and promoted.

The great and important interests of agriculture, which had been not only

too much neglected, but actually taxed under the protective policy for the

benefit of other interests, have been relieved of the burdens which that

policy imposed on them; and our farmers and planters, under a more just and

liberal commercial policy, are finding new and profitable markets abroad

for their augmented products. Our commerce is rapidly increasing, and is

extending more widely the circle of international exchanges. Great as has

been the increase of our imports during the past year, our exports of

domestic products sold in foreign markets have been still greater.

Our navigating interest is eminently prosperous. The number of vessels

built in the United States has been greater than during any preceding

period of equal length. Large profits have been derived by those who have

constructed as well as by those who have navigated them. Should the ratio

of increase in the number of our merchant vessels be progressive, and be as

great for the future as during the past year, the time is not distant when

our tonnage and commercial marine will be larger than that of any other

nation in the world.

Whilst the interests of agriculture, of commerce, and of navigation have

been enlarged and invigorated, it is highly gratifying to observe that our

manufactures are also in a prosperous condition. None of the ruinous

effects upon this interest which were apprehended by some as the result of

the operation of the revenue system established by the act of 1846 have

been experienced. On the contrary, the number of manufactories and the

amount of capital invested in them is steadily and rapidly increasing,

affording gratifying proofs that American enterprise and skill employed in

this branch of domestic industry, with no other advantages than those

fairly and incidentally accruing from a just System of revenue duties, are

abundantly able to meet successfully all competition from abroad and still

derive fair and remunerating profits. While capital invested in

manufactures is yielding adequate and fair profits under the new system,

the wages of labor, whether employed in manufactures, agriculture,

commerce, or navigation, have been augmented. The toiling millions whose

daily labor furnishes the supply of food and raiment and all the

necessaries and comforts of life are receiving higher wages and more steady

and permanent employment than in any other country or at any previous

period of our own history.

So successful have been all branches of our industry that a foreign war,

which generally diminishes the resources of a nation, has in no essential

degree retarded our onward progress or checked our general prosperity.

With such gratifying evidences of prosperity and of the successful

operation of the revenue act of 1846, every consideration of public policy

recommends that it shall remain unchanged. It is hoped that the system of

impost duties which it established may be regarded as the permanent policy

of the country, and that the great interests affected by it may not again

be subject to be injuriously disturbed, as they have heretofore been by

frequent and sometimes sudden changes.

For the purpose of increasing the revenue, and without changing or

modifying the rates imposed by the act of 1846 on the dutiable articles

embraced by its provisions, I again recommend to your favorable

consideration the expediency of levying a revenue duty on tea and coffee.

The policy which exempted these articles from duty during peace, and when

the revenue to be derived from them was not needed, ceases to exist when

the country is engaged in war and requires the use of all of its available

resources. It is a tax which would be so generally diffused among the

people that it would be felt oppressively by none and be complained of by

none. It is believed that there are not in the list of imported articles

any which are more properly the subject of war duties than tea and coffee.

It is estimated that $3,000,000 would be derived annually by a moderate

duty imposed on these articles.

Should Congress avail itself of this additional source of revenue, not only

would the amount of the public loan rendered necessary by the war with

Mexico be diminished to that extent, but the public credit and the public

confidence in the ability and determination of the Government to meet all

its engagements promptly would be more firmly established, and the reduced

amount of the loan which it may be necessary to negotiate could probably be

obtained at cheaper rates.

Congress is therefore called upon to determine whether it is wiser to

impose the war duties recommended or by omitting to do so increase the

public debt annually $3,000,000 so long as loans shall be required to

prosecute the war, and afterwards provide in some other form to pay the

semiannual interest upon it, and ultimately to extinguish the principal. If

in addition to these duties Congress should graduate and reduce the price

of such of the public lands as experience has proved will not command the

price placed upon them by the Government, an additional annual income to

the Treasury of between half a million and a million of dollars, it is

estimated, would be derived from this source. Should both measures receive

the sanction of Congress, the annual amount of public debt necessary to be

contracted during the continuance of the war would be reduced near

$4,000,000. The duties recommended to be levied on tea and coffee it is

proposed shall be limited in their duration to the end of the war, and

until the public debt rendered necessary to be contracted by it shall be

discharged. The amount of the public debt to be contracted should be

limited to the lowest practicable sum, and should be extinguished as early

after the conclusion of the war as the means of the Treasury will permit.

With this view, it is recommended that as soon as the war shall be over all

the surplus in the Treasury not needed for other indispensable objects

shall constitute a sinking fund and be applied to the purchase of the

funded debt, and that authority be conferred by laws for that purpose. The

act of the 6th of August, 1846, "to establish a warehousing system," has

been in operation more than a year, and has proved to be an important

auxiliary to the tariff act of 1846 in augmenting the revenue and extending

the commerce of the country. Whilst it has tended to enlarge commerce, it

has been beneficial to our manufactures by diminishing forced sales at

auction of foreign goods at low prices to raise the duties to be advanced

on them, and by checking fluctuations in the market. The system, although

sanctioned by the experience of other countries, was entirely new in the

United States, and is susceptible of improvement in some of its provisions.

The Secretary of the Treasury, upon whom was devolved large discretionary

powers in carrying this measure into effect, has collected and is now

collating the practical results of the system in other countries where it

has long been established, and will report at an early period of your

session such further regulations suggested by the investigation as may

render it still more effective and beneficial.

By the act to "provide for the better organization of the Treasury and for

the collection, safe-keeping, and disbursement of the public revenue" all

banks were discontinued as fiscal agents of the Government, and the paper

currency issued by them was no longer permitted to be received in payment

of public dues. The constitutional treasury created by this act went into

operation on the 1st of January last. Under the system established by it

the public moneys have been collected, safely kept, and disbursed by the

direct agency of officers of the Government in gold and silver, and

transfers of large amounts have been made from points of collection to

points of disbursement without loss to the Treasury or injury or

inconvenience to the trade of the country.

While the fiscal operations of the Government have been conducted with

regularity and ease under this system, it has had a salutary effect in

checking and preventing an undue inflation of the paper currency issued by

the banks which exist under State charters. Requiring, as it does, all dues

to the Government to be paid in gold and silver, its effect is to restrain

excessive issues of bank paper by the banks disproportioned to the specie

in their vaults, for the reason that they are at all times liable to be

called on by the holders of their notes for their redemption in order to

obtain specie for the payment of duties and other public dues. The banks,

therefore, must keep their business within prudent limits, and be always in

a condition to meet such calls, or run the hazard of being compelled to

suspend specie payments and be thereby discredited. The amount of specie

imported into the United States during the last fiscal year was

$24,121,289, of which there was retained in the country $22,276,170. Had

the former financial system prevailed and the public moneys been placed on

deposit in the banks, nearly the whole of this amount would have gone into

their vaults, not to be thrown into circulation by them, but to be withheld

from the hands of the people as a currency and made the basis of new and

enormous issues of bank paper. A large proportion of the specie imported

has been paid into the Treasury for public dues, and after having been to a

great extent recoined at the Mint has been paid out to the public creditors

and gone into circulation as a currency among the people. The amount of

gold and silver coin now in circulation in the country is larger than at

any former period.

The financial system established by the constitutional treasury has been

thus far eminently successful in its operations, and I recommend an

adherence to all its essential provisions, and especially to that vital

provision which wholly separates the Government from all connection with

banks and excludes bank paper from all revenue receipts.

In some of its details, not involving its general principles, the system is

defective and will require modification. These defects and such amendments

as are deemed important were set forth in the last annual report of the

Secretary of the Treasury. These amendments are again recommended to the

early and favorable consideration of Congress.

During the past year the coinage at the Mint and its branches has exceeded

$20,000,000. This has consisted chiefly in converting the coins of foreign

countries into American coin.

The largest amount of foreign coin imported has been received at New York,

and if a branch mint were established at that city all the foreign coin

received at that port could at once be converted into our own coin without

the expense, risk, and delay of transporting it to the Mint for that

purpose, and the amount recoined would be much larger.

Experience has proved that foreign coin, and especially foreign gold coin,

will not circulate extensively as a currency among the people. The

important measure of extending our specie circulation, both of gold and

silver, and of diffusing it among the people can only be effected by

converting such foreign coin into American coin. I repeat the

recommendation contained in my last annual message for the establishment of

a branch of the Mint of the United States at the city of New York.

All the public lands which had been surveyed and were ready for market have

been proclaimed for sale during the past year. The quantity offered and to

be offered for sale under proclamations issued since the 1st of January

last amounts to 9,138,531 acres. The prosperity of the Western States and

Territories in which these lands lie will be advanced by their speedy sale.

By withholding them from market their growth and increase of population

would be retarded, while thousands of our enterprising and meritorious

frontier population would be deprived of the opportunity of securing

freeholds for themselves and their families. But in addition to the general

considerations which rendered the early sale of these lands proper, it was

a leading object at this time to derive as large a sum as possible from

this source, and thus diminish by that amount the public loan rendered

necessary by the existence of a foreign war.

It is estimated that not less than 10,000,000 acres of the public lands

will be surveyed and be in a condition to be proclaimed for sale during the

year 1848.

In my last annual message I presented the reasons which in my judgment

rendered it proper to graduate and reduce the price of such of the public

lands as have remained unsold for long periods after they had been offered

for sale at public auction.

Many millions of acres of public lands lying within the limits of several

of the Western States have been offered in the market and been subject to

sale at private entry for more than twenty years and large quantities for

more than thirty years at the lowest price prescribed by the existing laws,

and it has been found that they will not command that price. They must

remain unsold and uncultivated for an indefinite period unless the price

demanded for them by the Government shall be reduced. No satisfactory

reason is perceived why they should be longer held at rates above their

real value. At the present period an additional reason exists for adopting

the measure recommended. When the country is engaged in a foreign war, and

we must necessarily resort to loans, it would seem to be the dictate of

wisdom that we should avail ourselves of all our resources and thus limit

the amount of the public indebtedness to the lowest possible sum.

I recommend that the existing laws on the subject of preemption rights be

amended and modified so as to operate prospectively and to embrace all who

may settle upon the public lands and make improvements upon them, before

they are surveyed as well as afterwards, in all cases where such

settlements may be made after the Indian title shall have been

extinguished.

If the right of preemption be thus extended, it will embrace a large and

meritorious class of our citizens. It will increase the number of small

freeholders upon our borders, who will be enabled thereby to educate their

children and otherwise improve their condition, while they will be found at

all times, as they have ever proved themselves to be in the hour of danger

to their country, among our hardiest and best volunteer soldiers, ever

ready to attend to their services in cases of emergencies and among the

last to leave the field as long as an enemy remains to be encountered. Such

a policy will also impress these patriotic pioneer emigrants with deeper

feelings of gratitude for the parental care of their Government, when they

find their dearest interests secured to them by the permanent laws of the

land and that they are no longer in danger of losing their homes and

hard-earned improvements by being brought into competition with a more

wealthy class of purchasers at the land sales. The attention of Congress

was invited at their last and the preceding session to the importance of

establishing a Territorial government over our possessions in Oregon, and

it is to be regretted that there was no legislation on the subject. Our

citizens who inhabit that distant region of country are still left without

the protection of our laws, or any regularly organized government. Before

the question of limits and boundaries of the Territory of Oregon was

definitely settled, from the necessity of their condition the inhabitants

had established a temporary government of their own. Besides the want of

legal authority for continuing such a government, it is wholly inadequate

to protect them in their rights of person and property, or to secure to

them the enjoyment of the privileges of other citizens, to which they are

entitled under the Constitution of the United States. They should have the

right of suffrage, be represented in a Territorial legislature and by a

Delegate in Congress, and possess all the rights and privileges which

citizens of other portions of the territories of the United States have

heretofore enjoyed or may now enjoy.

Our judicial system, revenue laws, laws regulating trade and intercourse

with the Indian tribes, and the protection of our laws generally should be

extended over them.

In addition to the inhabitants in that Territory who had previously

emigrated to it, large numbers of our citizens have followed them during

the present year, and it is not doubted that during the next and subsequent

years their numbers will be greatly increased.

Congress at its last session established post routes leading to Oregon, and

between different points within that Territory, and authorized the

establishment of post-offices at "Astoria and such other places on the

coasts of the Pacific within the territory of the United States as the

public interests may require." Post-offices have accordingly been

established, deputy postmasters appointed, and provision made for the

transportation of the mails.

The preservation of peace with the Indian tribes residing west of the Rocky

Mountains will render it proper that authority should be given by law for

the appointment of an adequate number of Indian agents to reside among

them.

I recommend that a surveyor-general's office be established in that

Territory, and that the public lands be surveyed and brought into market at

an early period.

I recommend also that grants, upon liberal terms, of limited quantities of

the public lands be made to all citizens of the United States who have

emigrated, or may hereafter within a prescribed period emigrate, to Oregon

and settle upon them. These hardy and adventurous citizens, who have

encountered the dangers and privations of a long and toilsome journey, and

have at length found an abiding place for themselves and their families

upon the utmost verge of our western limits, should be secured in the homes

which they have improved by their labor. I refer you to the accompanying

report of the Secretary of War for a detailed account of the operations of

the various branches of the public service connected with the Department

under his charge. The duties devolving on this Department have been

unusually onerous and responsible during the past year, and have been

discharged with ability and success.

Pacific relations continue to exist with the various Indian tribes, and

most of them manifest a strong friendship for the United States. Some

depredations were committed during the past year upon our trains

transporting supplies for the Army, on the road between the western border

of Missouri and Santa Fe. These depredations, which are supposed to have

been committed by bands from the region of New Mexico, have been arrested

by the presence of a military force ordered out for that purpose. Some

outrages have been perpetrated by a portion of the northwestern bands upon

the weaker and comparatively defenseless neighboring tribes. Prompt

measures were taken to prevent such occurrences in future.

Between 1,000 and 2,000 Indians, belonging to several tribes, have been

removed during the year from the east of the Mississippi to the country

allotted to them west of that river as their permanent home, and

arrangements have been made for others to follow.

Since the treaty of 1846 with the Cherokees the feuds among them appear to

have subsided, and they have become more united and contented than they

have been for many years past. The commissioners appointed in pursuance of

the act of June 27, 1846, to settle claims arising under the treaty of

1835-36 with that tribe have executed their duties, and after a patient

investigation and a full and fair examination of all the cases brought

before them closed their labors in the month of July last. This is the

fourth board of commissioners which has been organized under this treaty.

Ample opportunity has been afforded to all those interested to bring

forward their claims. No doubt is entertained that impartial justice has

been done by the late board, and that all valid claims embraced by the

treaty have been considered and allowed. This result and the final

settlement to be made with this tribe under the treaty of 1846, which will

be completed and laid before you during your session, will adjust all

questions of controversy between them and the United States and produce a

state of relations with them simple, well defined, and satisfactory. Under

the discretionary authority conferred by the act of the 3d of March last

the annuities due to the various tribes have been paid during the present

year to the heads of families instead of to their chiefs or such persons as

they might designate, as required by the law previously existing. This mode

of payment has given general satisfaction to the great body of the Indians.

Justice has been done to them, and they are grateful to the Government for

it. A few chiefs and interested persons may object to this mode of payment,

but it is believed to be the only mode of preventing fraud and imposition

from being practiced upon the great body of common Indians, constituting a

majority of all the tribes. It is gratifying to perceive that a number of

the tribes have recently manifested an increased interest in the

establishment of schools among them, and are making rapid advances in

agriculture, some of them producing a sufficient quantity of food for their

support and in some cases a surplus to dispose of to their neighbors. The

comforts by which those who have received even a very limited education and

have engaged in agriculture are surrounded tend gradually to draw off their

less civilized brethren from the precarious means of subsistence by the

chase to habits of labor and civilization.

The accompanying report of the Secretary of the Navy presents a

satisfactory and gratifying account of the condition and operations of the

naval service during the past year. Our commerce has been pursued with

increased activity and with safety and success in every quarter of the

globe under the protection of our flag, which the Navy has caused to be

respected in the most distant seas.

In the Gulf of Mexico and in the Pacific the officers and men of our

squadrons have displayed distinguished gallantry and performed valuable

services. In the early stages of the war with Mexico her ports on both

coasts were blockaded, and more recently many of them have been captured

and held by the Navy. When acting in cooperation with the land forces, the

naval officers and men have performed gallant and distinguished services on

land as well as on water, and deserve the high commendation of the

country.

While other maritime powers are adding to their navies large numbers of war

steamers, it was a wise policy on our part to make similar additions to our

Navy. The four war steamers authorized by the act of the 3d of March, 1847,

are in course of construction.

In addition to the four war steamers authorized by this act, the Secretary

of the Navy has, in pursuance of its provisions, entered into contracts for

the construction of five steamers to be employed in the transportation of

the United States mail "from New York to New Orleans, touching at

Charleston, Savannah, and Havana, and from Havana to Chagres;" for three

steamers to be employed in like manner from Panama to Oregon, "so as to

connect with the mail from Havana to Chagres across the Isthmus;" and for

five steamers to be employed in like manner from New York to Liverpool.

These steamers will be the property of the contractors, but are to be built

"under the superintendence and direction of a naval constructor in the

employ of the Navy Department, and to be so constructed as to render them

convertible at the least possible expense into war steamers of the first

class." A prescribed number of naval officers, as well as a post-office

agent, are to be on board of them, and authority is reserved to the Navy

Department at all times to "exercise control over said steamships" and "to

have the right to take them for the exclusive use and service of the United

States upon making proper compensation to the contractors therefor."

Whilst these steamships will be employed in transporting the mails of the

United States coastwise and to foreign countries upon an annual

compensation to be paid to the owners, they will be always ready, upon an

emergency requiring it, to be converted into war steamers; and the right

reserved to take them for public use will add greatly to the efficiency and

strength of this description of our naval force. To the steamers thus

authorized under contracts made by the Secretary of the Navy should be

added five other steamers authorized under contracts made in pursuance of

laws by the Postmaster-General, making an addition, in the whole, of

eighteen war steamers subject to be taken for public use. As further

contracts for the transportation of the mail to foreign countries may be

authorized by Congress, this number may be enlarged indefinitely.

The enlightened policy by which a rapid communication with the various

distant parts of the globe is established, by means of American built sea

steamers, would find an ample reward in the increase of our commerce and in

making our country and its resources more favorably known abroad; but the

national advantage is still greater--of having our naval officers made

familiar with steam navigation and of having the privilege of taking the

ships already equipped for immediate service at a moment's notice, and will

be cheaply purchased by the compensation to be paid for the transportation

of the mail in them over and above the postages received.

A just national pride, no less than our commercial interests, would Seem to

favor the policy of augmenting the number of this description of vessels.

They can be built in our country cheaper and in greater numbers than in any

other in the world.

I refer you to the accompanying report of the Postmaster-General for a

detailed and satisfactory account of the condition and operations of that

Department during the past year. It is gratifying to find that within so

short a period after the reduction in the rates of postage, and

notwithstanding the great increase of mail service, the revenue received

for the year will be sufficient to defray all the expenses, and that no

further aid will be required from the Treasury for that purpose.

The first of the American mail steamers authorized by the act of the 3d of

March, 1845, was completed and entered upon the service on the 1st of June

last, and is now on her third voyage to Bremen and other intermediate

ports. The other vessels authorized under the provisions of that act are in

course of construction, and will be put upon the line as soon as completed.

Contracts have also been made for the transportation of the mail in a

steamer from Charleston to Havana.

A reciprocal and satisfactory postal arrangement has been made by the

Postmaster-General with the authorities of Bremen, and no difficulty is

apprehended in making similar arrangements with all other powers with which

we may have communications by mail steamers, except with Great Britain.

On the arrival of the first of the American steamers bound to Bremen at

Southampton, in the month of June last, the British post-office directed

the collection of discriminating postages on all letters and other mailable

matter which she took out to Great Britain or which went into the British

post-office on their way to France and other parts of Europe. The effect of

the order of the British, post-office is to subject all letters and other

matter transported by American steamers to double postage, one postage

having been previously paid on them to the United States, while letters

transported in British steamers are subject to pay but a single postage.

This measure was adopted with the avowed object of protecting the British

line of mail steamers now running between Boston and Liverpool, and if

permitted to Continue must speedily put an end to the transportation of all

letters and other matter by American steamers and give to British steamers

a monopoly of the business. A just and fair reciprocity is all that we

desire, and on this we must insist. By our laws no such discrimination is

made against British steamers bringing letters into our ports, but all

letters arriving in the United States are subject to the same rate of

postage, whether brought in British or American vessels. I refer you to the

report of the Postmaster-General for a full statement of the facts of the

case and of the steps taken by him to correct this inequality. He has

exerted all the power conferred upon him by the existing laws.

The minister of the United States at London has brought the subject to the

attention of the British Government, and is now engaged in negotiations for

the purpose of adjusting reciprocal postal arrangements which shall be

equally just to both countries. Should he fail in concluding such

arrangements, and should Great Britain insist on enforcing the unequal and

unjust measure she has adopted, it will become necessary to confer

additional powers on the Postmaster-General in order to enable him to meet

the emergency and to put our own steamers on an equal footing with British

steamers engaged in transporting the mails between the two countries, and I

recommend that such powers be conferred. In view of the existing state of

our country, I trust it may not be inappropriate, in closing this

communication, to call to mind the words of wisdom and admonition of the

first and most illustrious of my predecessors in his Farewell Address to

his countrymen.

That greatest and best of men, who served his country so long and loved it

so much, foresaw with "serious concern" the danger to our Union of

"characterizing parties by geographical discriminations--Northern and

Southern, Atlantic and Western--whence designing men may endeavor to excite

a belief that there is a real difference of local interests and views," and

warned his countrymen against it.

So deep and solemn was his conviction of the importance of the Union and of

preserving harmony between its different parts, that he declared to his

countrymen in that address:

It is of infinite moment that you should properly estimate the immense

value of your national union to your collective and individual happiness;

that you should cherish a cordial, habitual, and immovable attachment to

it; accustoming yourselves to think and speak of it as of the palladium of

your political safety and prosperity; watching for its preservation with

jealous anxiety; discountenancing whatever may suggest even a suspicion

that it can in any event be abandoned, and indignantly frowning upon the

first dawning of every attempt to alienate any portion of our country from

the rest or to enfeeble the sacred ties which now link together the various

parts.

After the lapse of half a century these admonitions of Washington fall upon

us with all the force of truth. It is difficult to estimate the "immense

value" of our glorious Union of confederated States, to which we are so

much indebted for our growth in population and wealth and for all that

constitutes us a great and a happy nation. How unimportant are all our

differences of opinion upon minor questions of public policy compared with

its preservation, and how scrupulously should we avoid all agitating topics

which may tend to distract and divide us into contending parties, separated

by geographical lines, whereby it may be weakened or endangered.

Invoking the blessing of the Almighty Ruler of the Universe upon your

deliberations, it will be my highest duty, no less than my sincere

pleasure, to cooperate with you in all measures which may tend to promote

the honor and enduring welfare of our common country.

JAMES K. POLK

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