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President[ Millard Fillmore

         Date[ December 2, 1851

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

I congratulate you and our common constituency upon the favorable auspices

under which you meet for your first session. Our country is at peace with

all the world. The agitation which for a time threatened to disturb the

fraternal relations which make us one people is fast subsiding, and a year

of general prosperity and health has crowned the nation with unusual

blessings. None can look back to the dangers which are passed or forward to

the bright prospect before us without feeling a thrill of gratification, at

the same time that he must be impressed with a grateful sense of our

profound obligations to a beneficent Providence, whose paternal care is so

manifest in the happiness of this highly favored land.

Since the close of the last Congress certain Cubans and other foreigners

resident in the United States, who were more or less concerned in the

previous invasion of Cuba, instead of being discouraged by its failure have

again abused the hospitality of this country by making it the scene of the

equipment of another military expedition against that possession of Her

Catholic Majesty, in which they were countenanced, aided, and joined by

citizens of the United States. On receiving intelligence that such designs

were entertained, I lost no time in issuing such instructions to the proper

officers of the United States as seemed to be called for by the occasion.

By the proclamation a copy of which is herewith submitted I also warned

those who might be in danger of being inveigled into this scheme of its

unlawful character and of the penalties which they would incur. For some

time there was reason to hope that these measures had sufficed to prevent

any such attempt. This hope, however, proved to be delusive. Very early in

the morning of the 3d of August a steamer called the Pampero departed from

New Orleans for Cuba, having on board upward of 400 armed men with evident

intentions to make war upon the authorities of the island. This expedition

was set on foot in palpable violation of the laws of the United States. Its

leader was a Spaniard, and several of the chief officers and some others

engaged in it were foreigners. The persons composing it, however, were

mostly citizens of the United States.

Before the expedition set out, and probably before it was organized, a

slight insurrectionary movement, which appears to have been soon

suppressed, had taken place in the eastern quarter of Cuba. The importance

of this movement was, unfortunately, so much exaggerated in the accounts of

it published in this country that these adventurers seem to have been led

to believe that the Creole population of the island not only desired to

throw off the authority of the mother country, but had resolved upon that

step and had begun a well-concerted enterprise for effecting it. The

persons engaged in the expedition were generally young and ill informed.

The steamer in which they embarked left New Orleans stealthily and without

a clearance. After touching at Key West, she proceeded to the coast of

Cuba, and on the night between the 11th and 12th of August landed the

persons on board at Playtas, within about 20 leagues of Havana.

The main body of them proceeded to and took possession of an inland village

6 leagues distant, leaving others to follow in charge of the baggage as

soon as the means of transportation could be obtained. The latter, having

taken up their line of march to connect themselves with the main body, and

having proceeded about 4 leagues into the country, were attacked on the

morning of the 13th by a body of Spanish troops, and a bloody conflict

ensued, after which they retreated to the place of disembarkation, where

about 50 of them obtained boats and reembarked therein. They were, however,

intercepted among the keys near the shore by a Spanish steamer cruising on

the coast, captured and carried to Havana, and after being examined before

a military court were sentenced to be publicly executed, and the sentence

was carried into effect on the 16th of August.

On receiving information of what had occurred Commodore Foxhall A. Parker

was instructed to proceed in the steam frigate Saranac to Havana and

inquire into the charges against the persons executed, the circumstances

under which they were taken, and whatsoever referred to their trial and

sentence. Copies of the instructions from the Department of State to him

and of his letters to that Department are herewith submitted.

According to the record of the examination, the prisoners all admitted the

offenses charged against them, of being hostile invaders of the island. At

the time of their trial and execution the main body of the invaders was

still in the field making war upon the Spanish authorities and Spanish

subjects. After the lapse of some days, being overcome by the Spanish

troops, they dispersed on the 24th of August. Lopez, their leader, was

captured some days after, and executed on the 1st of September. Many of his

remaining followers were killed or died of hunger and fatigue, and the rest

were made prisoners. Of these none appear to have been tried or executed.

Several of them were pardoned upon application of their friends and others,

and the rest, about 160 in number, were sent to Spain. Of the final

disposition made of these we have no official information.

Such is the melancholy result of this illegal and ill-fated expedition.

Thus thoughtless young men have been induced by false and fraudulent

representations to violate the law of their country through rash and

unfounded expectations of assisting to accomplish political revolutions in

other states, and have lost their lives in the undertaking. Too severe a

judgment can hardly be passed by the indignant sense of the community upon

those who, being better informed themselves, have yet led away the ardor of

youth and an ill-directed love of political liberty. The correspondence

between this Government and that of Spain relating to this transaction is

herewith communicated.

Although these offenders against the laws have forfeited the protection of

their country, yet the Government may, so far as consistent with its

obligations to other countries and its fixed purpose to maintain and

enforce the laws, entertain sympathy for their unoffending families and

friends, as well as a feeling of compassion for themselves. Accordingly, no

proper effort has been spared and none will be spared to procure the

release of such citizens of the United States engaged in this unlawful

enterprise as are now in confinement in Spain; but it is to be hoped that

such interposition with the Government of that country may not be

considered as affording any ground of expectation that the Government of

the United States will hereafter feel itself under any obligation of duty

to intercede for the liberation or pardon of such persons as are flagrant

offenders against the law of nations and the laws of the United States.

These laws must be executed. If we desire to maintain our respectability

among the nations of the earth, it behooves us to enforce steadily and

sternly the neutrality acts passed by Congress and to follow as far as may

be the violation of those acts with condign punishment.

But what gives a peculiar criminality to this invasion of Cuba is that,

under the lead of Spanish subjects and with the aid of citizens of the

United States, it had its origin with many in motives of cupidity. Money

was advanced by individuals, probably in considerable amounts, to purchase

Cuban bonds, as they have been called, issued by Lopez, sold, doubtless, at

a very large discount, and for the payment of which the public lands and

public property of Cuba, of whatever kind, and the fiscal resources of the

people and government of that island, from whatever source to be derived,

were pledged, as well as the good faith of the government expected to be

established. All these means of payment, it is evident, were only to be

obtained by a process of bloodshed, war, and revolution. None will deny

that those who set on foot military expeditions against foreign states by

means like these are far more culpable than the ignorant and the

necessitous whom they induce to go forth as the ostensible parties in the

proceeding. These originators of the invasion of Cuba seem to have

determined with coolness and system upon an undertaking which should

disgrace their country, violate its laws, and put to hazard the lives of

ill-informed and deluded men. You will consider whether further legislation

be necessary to prevent the perpetration of such offenses in future.

No individuals have a right to hazard the peace of the country or to

violate its laws upon vague notions of altering or reforming governments in

other states. This principle is not only reasonable in itself and in

accordance with public law, but is ingrafted into the codes of other

nations as well as our own. But while such are the sentiments of this

Government, it may be added that every independent nation must be presumed

to be able to defend its possessions against unauthorized individuals

banded together to attack them. The Government of the United States at all

times since its establishment has abstained and has sought to restrain the

citizens of the country from entering into controversies between other

powers, and to observe all the duties of neutrality. At an early period of

the Government, in the Administration of Washington, several laws were

passed for this purpose. The main provisions of these laws were reenacted

by the act of April, 1818, by which, amongst other things, it was declared

that--

If any person shall, within the territory or jurisdiction of the United

States, begin, or set on foot, or provide or prepare the means for, any

military expedition or enterprise to be carried on from thence against the

territory or dominions of any foreign prince or state, or of any colony,

district, or people, with whom the United States are at peace, every person

so offending shall be deemed guilty of a high misdemeanor, and shall be

fined not exceeding $3,000 and imprisoned not more than three years.

And this law has been executed and enforced to the full extent of the power

of the Government from that day to this.

In proclaiming and adhering to the doctrine of neutrality and

nonintervention, the United States have not followed the lead of other

civilized nations; they have taken the lead themselves and have been

followed by others. This was admitted by one of the most eminent of modern

British statesmen, who said in Parliament, while a minister of the Crown,

"that if he wished for a guide in a system of neutrality he should take

that laid down by America in the days of Washington and the secretaryship

of Jefferson;" and we see, in fact, that the act of Congress of 1818 was

followed the succeeding year by an act of the Parliament of England

substantially the same in its general provisions. Up to that time there had

been no similar law in England, except certain highly penal statutes passed

in the reign of George II, prohibiting English subjects from enlisting in

foreign service, the avowed object of which statutes was that foreign

armies, raised for the purpose of restoring the house of Stuart to the

throne, should not be strengthened by recruits from England herself.

All must see that difficulties may arise in carrying the laws referred to

into execution in a country now having 3,000 or 4,000 miles of seacoast,

with an infinite number of ports and harbors and small inlets, from some of

which unlawful expeditious may suddenly set forth, without the knowledge of

Government, against the possessions of foreign states.

"Friendly relations with all, but entangling alliances with none," has long

been a maxim with us. Our true mission is not to propagate our opinions or

impose upon other countries our form of government by artifice or force,

but to teach by example and show by our success, moderation, and justice

the blessings of self-government and the advantages of free institutions.

Let every people choose for itself and make and alter its political

institutions to suit its own condition and convenience. But while we avow

and maintain this neutral policy ourselves, we are anxious to see the same

forbearance on the part of other nations whose forms of government are

different from our own. The deep interest which we feel in the spread of

liberal principles and the establishment of free governments and the

sympathy with which we witness every struggle against oppression forbid

that we should be indifferent to a case in which the strong arm of a

foreign power is invoked to stifle public sentiment and repress the spirit

of freedom in any country.

The Governments of Great Britain and France have issued orders to their

naval commanders on the West India station to prevent, by force if

necessary, the landing of adventurers from any nation on the island of Cuba

with hostile intent. The copy of a memorandum of a conversation on this

subject between the charge d'affaires of Her Britannic Majesty and the

Acting Secretary of State and of a subsequent note of the former to the

Department of State are herewith submitted, together with a copy of a note

of the Acting Secretary of State to the minister of the French Republic and

of the reply of the latter on the same subject. These papers will acquaint

you with the grounds of this interposition of two leading commercial powers

of Europe, and with the apprehensions, which this Government could not fail

to entertain, that such interposition, if carried into effect, might lead

to abuses in derogation of the maritime rights of the United States. The

maritime rights of the United States are founded on a firm, secure, and

well-defined basis; they stand upon the ground of national independence and

public law, and will be maintained in all their full and just extent. The

principle which this Government has heretofore solemnly announced it still

adheres to, and will maintain under all circumstances and at all hazards.

That principle is that in every regularly documented merchant vessel the

crew who navigate it and those on board of it will find their protection in

the flag which is over them. No American ship can be allowed to be visited

or searched for the purpose of ascertaining the character of individuals on

board, nor can there be allowed any watch by the vessels of any foreign

nation over American vessels on the coast of the United States or the seas

adjacent thereto. It will be seen by the last communication from the

British charge d'affaires to the Department of State that he is authorized

to assure the Secretary of State that every care will be taken that in

executing the preventive measures against the expeditions which the United

States Government itself has denounced as not being entitled to the

protection of any government no interference shall take place with the

lawful commerce of any nation.

In addition to the correspondence on this subject herewith submitted,

official information has been received at the Department of State of

assurances by the French Government that in the orders given to the French

naval forces they were expressly instructed, in any operations they might

engage in, to respect the flag of the United States wherever it might

appear, and to commit no act of hostility upon any vessel or armament under

its protection.

Ministers and consuls of foreign nations are the means and agents of

communication between us and those nations, and it is of the utmost

importance that while residing in the country they should feel a perfect

security so long as they faithfully discharge their respective duties and

are guilty of no violation of our laws. This is the admitted law of nations

and no country has a deeper interest in maintaining it than the United

States. Our commerce spreads over every sea and visits every clime, and our

ministers and consuls are appointed to protect the interests of that

commerce as well as to guard the peace of the country and maintain the

honor of its flag. But how can they discharge these duties unless they be

themselves protected? And if protected it must be by the laws of the

country in which they reside. And what is due to our own public

functionaries residing in foreign nations is exactly the measure of what is

due to the functionaries of other governments residing here. As in war the

bearers of flags of truce are sacred, or else wars would be interminable,

so in peace ambassadors, public ministers, and consuls, charged with

friendly national intercourse, are objects of especial respect and

protection, each according to the rights belonging to his rank and station.

In view of these important principles, it is with deep mortification and

regret I announce to you that during the excitement growing out of the

executions at Havana the office of Her Catholic Majesty's consul at New

Orleans was assailed by a mob, his property destroyed, the Spanish flag

found in the office carried off and torn in pieces, and he himself induced

to flee for his personal safety, which he supposed to be in danger. On

receiving intelligence of these events I forthwith directed the attorney of

the United States residing at New Orleans to inquire into the facts and the

extent of the pecuniary loss sustained by the consul, with the intention of

laying them before you, that you might make provision for such indemnity to

him as a just regard for the honor of the nation and the respect which is

due to a friendly power might, in your judgment, seem to require. The

correspondence upon this subject between the Secretary of State and Her

Catholic Majesty's minister plenipotentiary is herewith transmitted.

The occurrence at New Orleans has led me to give my attention to the state

of our laws in regard to foreign ambassadors, ministers, and consuls. I

think the legislation of the country is deficient in not providing

sufficiently either for the protection or the punishment of consuls. I

therefore recommend the subject to the consideration of Congress.

Your attention is again invited to the question of reciprocal trade between

the United States and Canada and other British possessions near our

frontier. Overtures for a convention upon this subject have been received

from Her Britannic Majesty's minister plenipotentiary, but it seems to be

in many respects preferable that the matter should be regulated by

reciprocal legislation. Documents are laid before you showing the terms

which the British Government is willing to offer and the measures which it

may adopt if some arrangement upon this subject shall not be made.

From the accompanying copy of a note from the British legation at

Washington and the reply of the Department of State thereto it will appear

that Her Britannic Majesty's Government is desirous that a part of the

boundary line between Oregon and the British possessions should be

authoritatively marked out, and that an intention was expressed to apply to

Congress for an appropriation to defray the expense thereof on the part of

the United States. Your attention to this subject is accordingly invited

and a proper appropriation recommended. A convention for the adjustment of

claims of citizens of the United States against Portugal has been concluded

and the ratifications have been exchanged. The first installment of the

amount to be paid by Portugal fell due on the 30th of September last and

has been paid. The President of the French Republic, according to the

provisions of the convention, has been selected as arbiter in the case of

the General Armstrong, and has signified that he accepts the trust and the

high satisfaction he feels in acting as the common friend of two nations

with which France is united by sentiments of sincere and lasting amity.

The Turkish Government has expressed its thanks for the kind reception

given to the Sultan's agent, Amin Bey, on the occasion of his recent visit

to the United States. On the 28th of February last a dispatch was addressed

by the Secretary of State to Mr. Marsh, the American minister at

Constantinople, instructing him to ask of the Turkish Government permission

for the Hungarians then imprisoned within the dominions of the Sublime

Porte to remove to this country. On the 3d of March last both Houses of

Congress passed a resolution requesting the President to authorize the

employment of a public vessel to convey to this country Louis Kossuth and

his associates in captivity. The instruction above referred to was complied

with, and the Turkish Government having released Governor Kossuth and his

companions from prison, on the 10th of September last they embarked on

board of the United States steam frigate Mississippi, which was selected to

carry into effect the resolution of Congress. Governor Kossuth left the

Mississippi at Gibraltar for the purpose of making a visit to England, and

may shortly be expected in New York. By communications to the Department of

State he has expressed his grateful acknowledgments for the interposition

of this Government in behalf of himself and his associates. This country

has been justly regarded as a safe asylum for those whom political events

have exiled from their own homes in Europe. and it is recommended to

Congress to consider in what manner Governor Kossuth and his companions,

brought hither by its authority, shall be received and treated.

It is earnestly to be hoped that the differences which have for some time

past been pending between the Government of the French Republic and that of

the Sandwich Islands may be peaceably and durably adjusted so as to secure

the independence of those islands. Long before the events which have of

late imparted so much importance to the possessions of the United States on

the Pacific we acknowledged the independence of the Hawaiian Government.

This Government was first in taking that step, and several of the leading

powers of Europe immediately followed. We were influenced in this measure

by the existing and prospective importance of the islands as a place of

refuge and refreshment for our vessels engaged in the whale fishery, and by

the consideration that they lie in the course of the great trade which must

at no distant day be carried on between the western coast of North America

and eastern Asia.

We were also influenced by a desire that those islands should not pass

under the control of any other great maritime state, but should remain in

an independent condition, and so be accessible and useful to the commerce

of all nations. I need not say that the importance of these considerations

has been greatly enhanced by the sudden and vast development which the

interests of the United States have attained in California and Oregon, and

the policy heretofore adopted in regard to those islands will be steadily

pursued.

It is gratifying, not only to those who consider the commercial interests

of nations, but also to all who favor the progress of knowledge and the

diffusion of religion, to see a community emerge from a savage state and

attain such a degree of civilization in those distant seas. It is much to

be deplored that the internal tranquillity of the Mexican Republic should

again be seriously disturbed, for since the peace between that Republic and

the United States it had enjoyed such comparative repose that the most

favorable anticipations for the future might with a degree of confidence

have been indulged. These, however, have been thwarted by the recent

outbreak in the State of Tamaulipas, on the right bank of the Rio Bravo.

Having received information that persons from the United States had taken

part in the insurrection, and apprehending that their example might be

followed by others, I caused orders to be issued for the purpose of

preventing any hostile expeditions against Mexico from being set on foot in

violation of the laws of the United States. I likewise issued a

proclamation upon the subject, a copy of which is herewith laid before you.

This appeared to be rendered imperative by the obligations of treaties and

the general duties of good neighborhood.

In my last annual message I informed Congress that citizens of the United

States had undertaken the connection of the two oceans by means of a

railroad across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, under a grant of the Mexican

Government to a citizen of that Republic, and that this enterprise would

probably be prosecuted with energy whenever Mexico should consent to such

stipulations with the Government of the United States as should impart a

feeling of security to those who should invest their property in the

enterprise. A convention between the two Governments for the accomplishment

of that end has been ratified by this Government, and only awaits the

decision of the Congress and the Executive of that Republic.

Some unexpected difficulties and delays have arisen in the ratification of

that convention by Mexico, but it is to be presumed that her decision will

be governed by just and enlightened views, as well of the general

importance of the object as of her own interests and obligations.

In negotiating upon this important subject this Government has had in view

one, and only one, object. That object has been, and is, the construction

or attainment of a passage from ocean to ocean, the shortest and the best

for travelers and merchandise, and equally open to all the world. It has

sought to obtain no territorial acquisition, nor any advantages peculiar to

itself; and it would see with the greatest regret that Mexico should oppose

any obstacle to the accomplishment of an enterprise which promises so much

convenience to the whole commercial world and such eminent advantages to

Mexico herself. Impressed with these sentiments and these convictions, the

Government will continue to exert all proper efforts to bring about the

necessary arrangement with the Republic of Mexico for the speedy completion

of the work. For some months past the Republic of Nicaragua has been the

theater of one of those civil convulsions from which the cause of free

institutions and the general prosperity and social progress of the States

of Central America have so often and so severely suffered. Until quiet

shall have been restored and a government apparently stable shall have been

organized, no advance can prudently be made in disposing of the questions

pending between the two countries.

I am happy to announce that an interoceanic communication from the mouth of

the St. John to the Pacific has been so far accomplished as that passengers

have actually traversed it and merchandise has been transported over it,

and when the canal shall have been completed according to the original plan

the means of communication will be further improved. It is understood that

a considerable part of the railroad across the Isthmus of Panama has been

completed, and that the mail and passengers will in future be conveyed

thereon. Whichever of the several routes between the two oceans may

ultimately prove most eligible for travelers to and from the different

States on the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico and our coast on the Pacific,

there is little reason to doubt that all of them will be useful to the

public, and will liberally reward that individual enterprise by which alone

they have been or are expected to be carried into effect. Peace has been

concluded between the contending parties in the island of St. Domingo, and,

it is hoped, upon a durable basis. Such is the extent of our commercial

relations with that island that the United States can not fail to feel a

strong interest in its tranquillity. The office of commissioner to China

remains unfilled. Several persons have been appointed, and the place has

been offered to others, all of whom have declined its acceptance on the

ground of the inadequacy of the compensation. The annual allowance by law

is $6,000, and there is no provision for any outfit. I earnestly recommend

the consideration of this subject to Congress. Our commerce with China is

highly important, and is becoming more and more so in consequence of the

increasing intercourse between our ports on the Pacific Coast and eastern

Asia. China is understood to be a country in which living is very

expensive, and I know of no reason why the American commissioner sent

thither should not be placed, in regard to compensation, on an equal

footing with ministers who represent this country at the Courts of Europe.

By reference to the report of the Secretary of the Treasury it will be seen

that the aggregate receipts for the last fiscal year amounted to

$52,312,979.87, which, with the balance in the Treasury on the 1st July,

1850, gave as the available means for the year the sum of $58,917,524.36.

The total expenditures for the same period were $48,005,878.68. The total

imports for the year ending June 30, 1851, were $215,725,995, of which

there were in specie $4,967,901. The exports for the same period were

$217,517,130, of which there were of domestic products $178,546,555;

foreign goods reexported, $9,738,695; specie, $29,231,880.

Since the 1st of December last the payments in cash on account of the

public debt, exclusive of interest, have amounted to $7,501,456.56, which,

however, includes the sum of $3,242,400, paid under the twelfth article of

the treaty with Mexico, and the further sum of $2,591,213.45, being the

amount of awards to American citizens under the late treaty with Mexico,

for which the issue of stock was authorized, but which was paid in cash

from the Treasury.

The public debt on the 20th ultimo, exclusive of the stock authorized to be

issued to Texas by the act of 9th September, 1850, was $62,560,395.26.

The receipts for the next fiscal year are estimated at $51,800,000, which,

with the probable unappropriated balance in the Treasury on the 30th June

next, will give as the probable available means for that year the sum of

$63,258,743.09.

It has been deemed proper, in view of the large expenditures consequent

upon the acquisition of territory from Mexico, that the estimates for the

next fiscal year should be laid before Congress in such manner as to

distinguish the expenditures so required from the otherwise ordinary

demands upon the Treasury.

The total expenditures for the next fiscal year are estimated at

$42,892,299.19, of which there is required for the ordinary purposes of the

Government, other than those consequent upon the acquisition of our new

territories, and deducting the payments on account of the public debt, the

sum of $33,343,198.08, and for the purposes connected, directly or

indirectly, with those territories and in the fulfillment of the

obligations of the Government contracted in consequence of their

acquisition the sum of $9,549,101.11.

If the views of the Secretary of the Treasury in reference to the

expenditures required for these territories shall be met by corresponding

action on the part of Congress, and appropriations made in accordance

therewith, there will be an estimated unappropriated balance in the

Treasury on the 30th June, 1853, of $20,366,443.90 wherewith to meet that

portion of the public debt due on the 1st of July following, amounting to

$6,237,931.35, as well as any appropriations which may be made beyond the

estimates.

In thus referring to the estimated expenditures on account of our newly

acquired territories, I may express the hope that Congress will concur with

me in the desire that a liberal course of policy may be pursued toward

them, and that every obligation, express or implied, entered into in

consequence of their acquisition shall be fulfilled by the most liberal

appropriations for that purpose.

The values of our domestic exports for the last fiscal year, as compared

with those of the previous year, exhibit an increase of $43,646,322. At

first view this condition of our trade with foreign nations would seem to

present the most flattering hopes of its future prosperity. An examination

of the details of our exports, however, will show that the increased value

of our exports for the last fiscal year is to be found in the high price of

cotton which prevailed during the first half of that year, which price has

since declined about one-half.

The value of our exports of breadstuffs and provisions, which it was

supposed the incentive of a low tariff and large importations from abroad

would have greatly augmented, has fallen from $68,701,921 in 1847 to

$26,051,373 in 1850 and to $21,948,653 in 1851, with a strong probability,

amounting almost to a certainty, of a still further reduction in the

current year.

The aggregate values of rice exported during the last fiscal year, as

compared with the previous year, also exhibit a decrease, amounting to

$460,917, which, with a decline in the values of the exports of tobacco for

the same period, make an aggregate decrease in these two articles of

$1,156,751.

The policy which dictated a low rate of duties on foreign merchandise, it

was thought by those who promoted and established it, would tend to benefit

the farming population of this country by increasing the demand and raising

the price of agricultural products in foreign markets.

The foregoing facts, however, seem to show incontestably that no such

result has followed the adoption of this policy. On the contrary,

notwithstanding the repeal of the restrictive corn laws in England, the

foreign demand for the products of the American farmer has steadily

declined, since the short crops and consequent famine in a portion of

Europe have been happily replaced by full crops and comparative abundance

of food.

It will be seen by recurring to the commercial statistics for the past year

that the value of our domestic exports has been increased in the single

item of raw cotton by $40,000,000 over the value of that export for the

year preceding. This is not due to any increased general demand for that

article, but to the short crop of the preceding year, which created an

increased demand and an augmented price for the crop of last year. Should

the cotton crop now going forward to market be only equal in quantity to

that of the year preceding and be sold at the present prices, then there

would be a falling off in the value of our exports for the present fiscal

year of at least $40,000,000 compared with the amount exported for the year

ending 30th June, 1851.

The production of gold in California for the past year seems to promise a

large supply of that metal from that quarter for some time to come. This

large annual increase of the currency of the world must be attended with

its usual results. These have been already partially disclosed in the

enhancement of prices and a rising spirit of speculation and adventure,

tending to overtrading, as well at home as abroad. Unless some salutary

check shall be given to these tendencies it is to be feared that

importations of foreign goods beyond a healthy demand in this country will

lead to a sudden drain of the precious metals from us, bringing with it, as

it has done in former times, the most disastrous consequences to the

business and capital of the American people.

The exports of specie to liquidate our foreign debt during the past fiscal

year have been $24,963,979 over the amount of specie imported. The exports

of specie during the first quarter of the present fiscal year have been

$14,651,827. Should specie continue to be exported at this rate for the

remaining three quarters of this year, it will drain from our metallic

currency during the year ending 30th June, 1852, the enormous amount of

$58,607,308.

In the present prosperous condition of the national finances it will become

the duty of Congress to consider the best mode of paying off the public

debt. If the present and anticipated surplus in the Treasury should not be

absorbed by appropriations of an extraordinary character, this surplus

should be employed in such way and under such restrictions as Congress may

enact in extinguishing the outstanding debt of the nation.

By reference to the act of Congress approved 9th September, 1850, it will

be seen that, in consideration of certain concessions by the State of

Texas, it is provided that--

The United States shall pay to the State of Texas the sum of $10,000,000 in

a stock bearing 5 per cent interest and redeemable at the end of fourteen

years, the interest payable half-yearly at the Treasury of the United

States.

In the same section of the law it is further provided--

That no more than five millions of said stock shall be issued until the

creditors of the State holding bonds and other certificates of stock of

Texas, for which duties on imports were specially pledged, shall first file

at the Treasury of the United States releases of all claims against the

United States for or on account of said bonds or certificates, in such form

as shall be prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury and approved by the

President of the United States.

The form of release thus provided for has been prescribed by the Secretary

of the Treasury and approved. It has been published in all the leading

newspapers in the commercial cities of the United States, and all persons

holding claims of the kind specified in the foregoing proviso were required

to file their releases (in the form thus prescribed) in the Treasury of the

United States on or before the 1st day of October, 1851. Although this

publication has been continued from the 25th day of March, 1851, yet up to

the 1st of October last comparatively few releases had been filed by the

creditors of Texas.

The authorities of the State of Texas, at the request of the Secretary of

the Treasury, have furnished a schedule of the public debt of that State

created prior to her admission into the Union, with a copy of the laws

under which each class was contracted. I have, from the documents furnished

by the State of Texas, determined the classes of claims which in my

judgment fall within the provisions of the act of Congress of the 9th of

September, 1850.

On being officially informed of the acceptance by Texas of the propositions

contained in the act referred to I caused the stock to be prepared, and the

five millions which are to be issued unconditionally, bearing an interest

of 5 per cent from the 1st day of January, 1851, have been for some time

ready to be delivered to the State of Texas. The authorities of Texas up to

the present time have not authorized anyone to receive this stock, and it

remains in the Treasury Department subject to the order of Texas. The

releases required by law to be deposited in the Treasury not having been

filed there, the remaining five millions have not been issued. This last

amount of the stock will be withheld from Texas until the conditions upon

which it is to be delivered shall be complied with by the creditors of that

State, unless Congress shall otherwise direct by a modification of the

law.

In my last annual message, to which I respectfully refer, I stated briefly

the reasons which induced me to recommend a modification of the present

tariff by converting the ad valorem into a specific duty wherever the

article imported was of such a character as to permit it, and that such a

discrimination should be made in favor of the industrial pursuits of our

own country as to encourage home production without excluding foreign

competition.

The numerous frauds which continue to be practiced upon the revenue by

false invoices and undervaluations constitute an unanswerable reason for

adopting specific instead of ad valorem duties in all cases where the

nature of the commodity does not forbid it. A striking illustration of

these frauds will be exhibited in the report of the Secretary of the

Treasury, showing the custom-house valuation of articles imported under a

former law, subject to specific duties, when there was no inducement to

undervaluation, and the custom-house valuations of the same articles under

the present system of ad valorem duties, so greatly reduced as to leave no

doubt of the existence of the most flagrant abuses under the existing laws.

This practical evasion of the present law, combined with the languishing

condition of some of the great interests of the country, caused by over

importations and consequent depressed prices, and with the failure in

obtaining a foreign market for our increasing surplus of breadstuffs and

provisions, has induced me again to recommend a modification of the

existing tariff. The report of the Secretary of the Interior, which

accompanies this communication, will present a condensed statement of the

operations of that important Department of the Government.

It will be seen that the cash sales of the public lands exceed those of the

preceding year, and that there is reason to anticipate a still further

increase, notwithstanding the large donations which have been made to many

of the States and the liberal grants to individuals as a reward for

military services. This fact furnishes very gratifying evidence of the

growing wealth and prosperity of our country.

Suitable measures have been adopted for commencing the survey of the public

lands in California and Oregon. Surveying parties have been organized and

some progress has been made in establishing the principal base and meridian

lines. But further legislation and additional appropriations will be

necessary before the proper subdivisions can be made and the general land

system extended over those remote parts of our territory.

On the 3d of March last an act was passed providing for the appointment of

three commissioners to settle private land claims in California. Three

persons were immediately appointed, all of whom, however, declined

accepting the office in consequence of the inadequacy of the compensation.

Others were promptly selected, who for the same reason also declined, and

it was not until late in the season that the services of suitable persons

could be secured. A majority of the commissioners convened in this city on

the 10th of September last, when detailed instructions were given to them

in regard to their duties. Their first meeting for the transaction of

business will be held in San Francisco on the 8th day of the present

month.

I have thought it proper to refer to these facts, not only to explain the

causes of the delay in filling the commission, but to call your attention

to the propriety of increasing the compensation of the commissioners. The

office is one of great labor and responsibility, and the compensation

should be such as to command men of a high order of talents and the most

unquestionable integrity.

The proper disposal of the mineral lands of California is a subject

surrounded by great difficulties. In my last annual message I recommended

the survey and sale of them in small parcels under such restrictions as

would effectually guard against monopoly and speculation; but upon further

information, and in deference to the opinions of persons familiar with the

subject, I am inclined to change that recommendation and to advise that

they be permitted to remain as at present, a common field, open to the

enterprise and industry of all our citizens, until further experience shall

have developed the best policy to be ultimately adopted in regard to them.

It is safer to suffer the inconveniences that now exist for a short period

than by premature legislation to fasten on the country a system founded in

error, which may place the whole subject beyond the future control of

Congress.

The agricultural lands should, however, be surveyed and brought into market

with as little delay as possible, that the titles may become settled and

the inhabitants stimulated to make permanent improvements and enter on the

ordinary pursuits of life. To effect these objects it is desirable that the

necessary provision be made by law for the establishment of land offices in

California and Oregon and for the efficient prosecution of the surveys at

an early day.

Some difficulties have occurred in organizing the Territorial governments

of New Mexico and Utah, and when more accurate information shall be

obtained of the causes a further communication will be made on that

subject.

In my last annual communication to Congress I recommended the establishment

of an agricultural bureau, and I take this occasion again to invoke your

favorable consideration of the subject.

Agriculture may justly be regarded as the great interest of our people.

Four-fifths of our active population are employed in the cultivation of the

soil, and the rapid expansion of our settlements over new territory is

daily adding to the number of those engaged in that vocation. Justice and

sound policy, therefore, alike require that the Government should use all

the means authorized by the Constitution to promote the interests and

welfare of that important class of our fellow-citizens. And yet it is a

singular fact that whilst the manufacturing and commercial interests have

engaged the attention of Congress during a large portion of every session

and our statutes abound in provisions for their protection and

encouragement, little has yet been done directly for the advancement of

agriculture. It is time that this reproach to our legislation should be

removed, and I sincerely hope that the present Congress will not close

their labors without adopting efficient means to supply the omissions of

those who have preceded them.

An agricultural bureau, charged with the duty of collecting and

disseminating correct information as to the best modes of cultivation and

of the most effectual means of preserving and restoring the fertility of

the soil and of procuring and distributing seeds and plants and other

vegetable productions, with instructions in regard to the soil, climate,

and treatment best adapted to their growth, could not fail to be, in the

language of Washington in his last annual message to Congress, a "very

cheap instrument of immense national benefit."

Regarding the act of Congress approved 28th September, 1850, granting

bounty lands to persons who had been engaged in the military service of the

country, as a great measure of national justice and munificence, an anxious

desire has been felt by the officers intrusted with its immediate execution

to give prompt effect to its provisions. All the means within their control

were therefore brought into requisition to expedite the adjudication of

claims, and I am gratified to be able to state that near 100,000

applications have been considered and about 70,000 warrants issued within

the short space of nine months. If adequate provision be made by law to

carry into effect the recommendations of the Department, it is confidently

expected that before the close of the next fiscal year all who are entitled

to the benefits of the act will have received their warrants.

The Secretary of the Interior has suggested in his report various

amendments of the laws relating to pensions and bounty lands for the

purpose of more effectually guarding against abuses and frauds on the

Government, to all of which I invite your particular attention. The large

accessions to our Indian population consequent upon the acquisition of New

Mexico and California and the extension of our settlements into Utah and

Oregon have given increased interest and importance to our relations with

the aboriginal race. No material change has taken place within the last

year in the condition and prospects of the Indian tribes who reside in the

Northwestern Territory and west of the Mississippi River. We are at peace

with all of them, and it will be a source of pleasure to you to learn that

they are gradually advancing in civilization and the pursuits of social

life.

Along the Mexican frontier and in California and Oregon there have been

occasional manifestations of unfriendly feeling and some depredations

committed. I am satisfied, however, that they resulted more from the

destitute and starving condition of the Indians than from any settled

hostility toward the whites. As the settlements of our citizens progress

toward them, the game, upon which they mainly rely for subsistence, is

driven off or destroyed, and the only alternative left to them is

starvation or plunder. It becomes us to consider, in view of this condition

of things, whether justice and humanity, as well as an enlightened economy,

do not require that instead of seeking to punish them for offenses which

are the result of our own policy toward them we should not provide for

their immediate wants and encourage them to engage in agriculture and to

rely on their labor instead of the chase for the means of support.

Various important treaties have been negotiated with different tribes

during the year, by which their title to large and valuable tracts of

country has been extinguished, all of which will at the proper time be

submitted to the Senate for ratification.

The joint commission under the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo has been

actively engaged in running and marking the boundary line between the

United States and Mexico. It was stated in the last annual report of the

Secretary of the Interior that the initial point on the Pacific and the

point of junction of the Gila with the Colorado River had been determined

and the intervening line, about 150 miles in length, run and marked by

temporary monuments. Since that time a monument of marble has been erected

at the initial point, and permanent landmarks of iron have been placed at

suitable distances along the line.

The initial point on the Rio Grande has also been fixed by the

commissioners, at latitude 32 degrees 22', and at the date of the last

communication the survey of the line had been made thence westward about

150 miles to the neighborhood of the copper mines. The commission on our

part was at first organized on a scale which experience proved to be

unwieldy and attended with unnecessary expense. Orders have therefore been

issued for the reduction of the number of persons employed within the

smallest limits consistent with the safety of those engaged in the service

and the prompt and efficient execution of their important duties.

Returns have been received from all the officers engaged in taking the

census in the States and Territories except California. The superintendent

employed to make the enumeration in that State has not yet made his full

report, from causes, as he alleges, beyond his control. This failure is

much to be regretted, as it has prevented the Secretary of the Interior

from making the decennial apportionment of Representatives among the

States, as required by the act approved May 23, 1850. It is hoped, however,

that the returns will soon be received, and no time will then be lost in

making the necessary apportionment and in transmitting the certificates

required by law.

The Superintendent of the Seventh Census is diligently employed, under the

direction of the Secretary of the Interior, in classifying and arranging in

tabular form all the statistical information derived from the returns of

the marshals, and it is believed that when the work shall be completed it

will exhibit a more perfect view of the population, wealth, occupations,

and social condition of a great country than has ever been presented to the

world. The value of such a work as the basis of enlightened legislation can

hardly be overestimated, and I earnestly hope that Congress will lose no

time in making the appropriations necessary to complete the classifications

and to publish the results in a style worthy of the subject and of our

national character.

The want of a uniform fee bill, prescribing the compensation to be allowed

district attorneys, clerks, marshals, and commissioners in civil and

criminal cases, is the cause of much vexation, injustice, and complaint. I

would recommend a thorough revision of the laws on the whole subject and

the adoption of a tariff of fees which, as far as practicable, should be

uniform, and prescribe a specific compensation for every service which the

officer may be required to perform. This subject will be fully presented in

the report of the Secretary of the Interior. In my last annual message I

gave briefly my reasons for believing that you possessed the constitutional

power to improve the harbors of our Great Lakes and seacoast and the

navigation of our principal rivers, and recommended that appropriations

should be made for completing such works as had already been commenced and

for commencing such others as might seem to the wisdom of Congress to be of

public and general importance. Without repeating the reasons then urged, I

deem it my duty again to call your attention to this important subject. The

works on many of the harbors were left in an unfinished state, and

consequently exposed to the action of the elements, which is fast

destroying them. Great numbers of lives and vast amounts of property are

annually lost for want of safe and convenient harbors on the Lakes. None

but those who have been exposed to that dangerous navigation can fully

appreciate the importance of this subject. The whole Northwest appeals to

you for relief, and I trust their appeal will receive due consideration at

your hands.

The same is in a measure true in regard to some of the harbors and inlets

on the seacoast.

The unobstructed navigation of our large rivers is of equal importance. Our

settlements are now extending to the sources of the great rivers which

empty into and form a part of the Mississippi, and the value of the public

lands in those regions would be greatly enhanced by freeing the navigation

of those waters from obstructions. In view, therefore, of this great

interest, I deem it my duty again to urge upon Congress to make such

appropriations for these improvements as they may deem necessary.

The surveys of the Delta of the Mississippi, with a view to the prevention

of the overflows that have proved so disastrous to that region of country,

have been nearly completed, and the reports thereof are now in course of

preparation and will shortly be laid before you.

The protection of our southwestern frontier and of the adjacent Mexican

States against the Indian tribes within our border has claimed my earnest

and constant attention. Congress having failed at the last session to adopt

my recommendation that an additional regiment of mounted men specially

adapted to that service should be raised, all that remained to be done was

to make the best use of the means at my disposal. Accordingly, all the

troops adapted to that service that could properly be spared from other

quarters have been concentrated on that frontier and officers of high

reputation selected to command them. A new arrangement of the military

posts has also been made, whereby the troops are brought nearer to the

Mexican frontier and to the tribes they are intended to overawe.

Sufficient time has not yet elapsed to realize all the benefits that are

expected to result from these arrangements, but I have every reason to hope

that they will effectually check their marauding expeditions. The nature of

the country, which furnishes little for the support of an army and abounds

in places of refuge and concealment, is remarkably well adapted to this

predatory warfare, and we can scarcely hope that any military force,

combined with the greatest vigilance, can entirely suppress it.

By the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo we are bound to protect the territory of

Mexico against the incursions of the savage tribes within our border "with

equal diligence and energy" as if the same were made within our territory

or against our citizens. I have endeavored to comply as far as possible

with this provision of the treaty. Orders have been given to the officers

commanding on that frontier to consider the Mexican territory and its

inhabitants as equally with our own entitled to their protection, and to

make all their plans and arrangements with a view to the attainment of this

object. Instructions have also been given to the Indian commissioners and

agents among these tribes in all treaties to make the clauses designed for

the protection of our own citizens apply also to those of Mexico. I have no

reason to doubt that these instructions have been fully carried into

effect; nevertheless, it is probable that in spite of all our efforts some

of the neighboring States of Mexico may have suffered, as our own have,

from depredations by the Indians.

To the difficulties of defending our own territory, as above mentioned, are

superadded, in defending that of Mexico, those that arise from its

remoteness, from the fact that we have no right to station our troops

within her limits and that there is no efficient military force on the

Mexican side to cooperate with our own.

So long as this shall continue to be the case the number and activity of

our troops will rather increase than diminish the evil, as the Indians will

naturally turn toward that country where they encounter the least

resistance. Yet these troops are necessary to subdue them and to compel

them to make and observe treaties. Until this shall have been done neither

country will enjoy any security from their attacks.

The Indians in California, who had previously appeared of a peaceable

character and disposed to cultivate the friendship of the whites, have

recently committed several acts of hostility. As a large portion of the

reenforcements sent to the Mexican frontier were drawn from the Pacific,

the military force now stationed there is considered entirely inadequate to

its defense. It can not be increased, however, without an increase of the

Army, and I again recommend that measure as indispensable to the protection

of the frontier.

I invite your attention to the suggestions on this subject and on others

connected with his Department in the report of the Secretary of War. The

appropriations for the support of the Army during the current fiscal year

ending 30th June next were reduced far below the estimate submitted by the

Department. The consequence of this reduction is a considerable deficiency,

to which I invite your early attention. The expenditures of that Department

for the year ending 30th June last were $9,060,268.58, The estimates for

the year commencing 1st July next and ending June 30, 1853, are

$7,898,775.83, showing a reductions of $1,161,492.75, The board of

commissioners to whom the management of the affairs of the military asylum

created by the act of 3d March last was intrusted have selected a site for

the establishment of an asylum in the vicinity of this city, which has been

approved by me subject to the production of a satisfactory title.

The report of the Secretary of the Navy will exhibit the condition of the

public service under the supervision of that Department. Our naval force

afloat during the present year has been actively and usefully employed in

giving protection to our widely extended and increasing commerce and

interests in the various quarters of the globe, and our flag has everywhere

afforded the security and received the respect inspired by the justice and

liberality of our intercourse and the dignity and power of the nation.

The expedition commanded by Lieutenant De Haven, dispatched in search of

the British commander Sir John Franklin and his companions in the Arctic

Seas, returned to New York in the month of October, after having undergone

great peril and suffering from an unknown and dangerous navigation and the

rigors of a northern climate, without any satisfactory information of the

objects of their search, but with new contributions to science and

navigation from the unfrequented polar regions. The officers and men of the

expedition having been all volunteers for this service and having so

conducted it as to meet the entire approbation of the Government, it is

suggested, as an act of grace and generosity, that the same allowance of

extra pay and emoluments be extended to them that were made to the officers

and men of like rating in the late exploring expedition to the South Seas.

I earnestly recommend to your attention the necessity of reorganizing the

naval establishment, apportioning and fixing the number of officers in each

grade, providing some mode of promotion to the higher grades of the Navy

having reference to merit and capacity rather than seniority or date of

entry into the service, and for retiring from the effective list upon

reduced pay those who may be incompetent to the performance of active duty.

As a measure of economy, as well as of efficiency, in this arm of the

service, the provision last mentioned is eminently worthy of your

consideration.

The determination of the questions of relative rank between the sea

officers and civil officers of the Navy, and between officers of the Army

and Navy, in the various grades of each, will also merit your attention.

The failure to provide any substitute when corporal punishment was

abolished for offenses in the Navy has occasioned the convening of numerous

courts-martial upon the arrival of vessels in port, and is believed to have

had an injurious effect upon the discipline and efficiency of the service.

To moderate punishment from one grade to another is among the humane

reforms of the age, but to abolish one of severity, which applied so

generally to offenses on shipboard, and provide nothing in its stead is to

suppose a progress of improvement in every individual among seamen which is

not assumed by the Legislature in respect to any other class of men. It is

hoped that Congress, in the ample opportunity afforded by the present

session, will thoroughly investigate this important subject, and establish

such modes of determining guilt and such gradations of punishment as are

consistent with humanity and the personal rights of individuals, and at the

same time shall insure the most energetic and efficient performance of duty

and the suppression of crime in our ships of war.

The stone dock in the navy-yard at New York, which was ten years in process

of construction, has been so far finished as to be surrendered up to the

authorities of the yard. The dry dock at Philadelphia is reported as

completed, and is expected soon to be tested and delivered over to the

agents of the Government. That at Portsmouth, N. H., is also nearly ready

for delivery; and a contract has been concluded, agreeably to the act of

Congress at its last session, for a floating sectional dock on the Bay of

San Francisco. I invite your attention to the recommendation of the

Department touching the establishment of a navy-yard in conjunction with

this dock on the Pacific. Such a station is highly necessary to the

convenience and effectiveness of our fleet in that ocean, which must be

expected to increase with the growth of commerce and the rapid extension of

our whale fisheries over its waters.

The Naval Academy at Annapolis, under a revised and improved system of

regulations, now affords opportunities of education and instruction to the

pupils quite equal, it is believed, for professional improvement, to those

enjoyed by the cadets in the Military Academy. A large class of acting

midshipmen was received at the commencement of the last academic term, and

a practice ship has been attached to the institution to afford the amplest

means for regular instruction in seamanship, as well as for cruises during

the vacations of three or four months in each year.

The advantages of science in nautical affairs have rarely been more

strikingly illustrated than in the fact, stated in the report of the Navy

Department, that by means of the wind and current charts projected and

prepared by Lieutenant Maury, the Superintendent of the Naval Observatory,

the passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific ports of our country has been

shortened by about forty days.

The estimates for the support of the Navy and Marine Corps the ensuing

fiscal year will be found to be $5,856,472.19, the estimates for the

current year being $5,900,621.

The estimates for special objects under the control of this Department

amount to $2,684,220.89, against $2,210,980 for the present year, the

increase being occasioned by the additional mail service on the Pacific

Coast and the construction of the dock in California, authorized at the

last session of Congress, and some slight additions under the head of

improvements and repairs in navy-yards, buildings, and machinery. I deem it

of much importance to a just economy and a correct understanding of naval

expenditures that there should be an entire separation of the

appropriations for the support of the naval service proper from those for

permanent improvements at navy-yards and stations and from ocean steam mail

service and other special objects assigned to the supervision of this

Department.

The report of the Postmaster-General, herewith communicated, presents an

interesting view of the progress, operations, and condition of his

Department.

At the close of the last fiscal year the length of mail routes within the

United States was 196,290 miles, the annual transportation thereon

53,272,252 miles, and the annual cost of such transportation $3,421,754.

The length of the foreign mail routes is estimated at 18,349 miles and the

annual transportation thereon at 615,206 miles. The annual cost of this

service is $1,472,187, of which $448,937 are paid by the Post-Office

Department and $1,023,250 are paid through the Navy Department.

The annual transportation within the United States, excluding the service

in California and Oregon, which is now for the first time reported and

embraced in the tabular statements of the Department, exceeds that of the

preceding year 6,162,855 miles, at an increased cost of $547,110.

The whole number of post-offices in the United States on the 30th day of

June last was 19,796. There were 1,698 post-offices established and 256

discontinued during the year.

The gross revenues of the Department for the fiscal year, including the

appropriations for the franked matter of Congress, of the Departments, and

officers of Government, and excluding the foreign postages collected for

and payable to the British post-office, amounted to $6,727,866.78.

The expenditures for the same period, excluding $20,599.49, paid under an

award of the Auditor, in pursuance of a resolution of the last Congress,

for mail service on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers in 1832 and 1833, and

the amount paid to the British post-office for foreign postages collected

for and payable to that office, amounted to $6,024,566.79, leaving a

balance of revenue over the proper expenditures of the year of

$703,299.99.

The receipts for postages during the year, excluding the foreign postages

collected for and payable to the British post-office, amounted to

$6,345,747.21, being an increase of $997,610.79, or 18.65 per cent, over

the like receipts for the preceding year.

The reduction of postage under the act of March last did not take effect

until the commencement of the present fiscal year. The accounts for the

first quarter under the operation of the reduced rates will not be settled

before January next, and no reliable estimate of the receipts for the

present year can yet be made. It is believed, however, that they will fall

far short of those of the last year. The surplus of the revenues now on

hand is, however, so large that no further appropriation from the Treasury

in aid of the revenues of the Department is required for the current fiscal

year, but an additional appropriation for the year ending June 30, 1853,

will probably be found necessary when the receipts of the first two

quarters of the fiscal year are fully ascertained.

In his last annual report the Postmaster-General recommended a reduction of

postage to rates which he deemed as low as could be prudently adopted

unless Congress was prepared to appropriate from the Treasury for the

support of the Department a sum more than equivalent to the mail services

performed by it for the Government. The recommendations of the

Postmaster-General in respect to letter postage, except on letters from and

to California and Oregon, were substantially adopted by the last Congress.

He now recommends adherence to the present letter rates and advises against

a further reduction until justified by the revenue of the Department.

He also recommends that the rates of postage on printed matter be so

revised as to render them more simple and more uniform in their operation

upon all classes of printed matter. I submit the recommendations of the

report to your favorable consideration.

The public statutes of the United States have now been accumulating for

more than sixty years, and, interspersed with private acts, are scattered

through numerous volumes, and, from the cost of the whole, have become

almost inaccessible to the great mass of the community. They also exhibit

much of the incongruity and imperfection of hasty legislation. As it seems

to be generally conceded that there is no "common law" of the United States

to supply the defects of their legislation, it is most important that that

legislation should be as perfect as possible, defining every power intended

to be conferred, every crime intended to be made punishable, and

prescribing the punishment to be inflicted. In addition to some particular

cases spoken of more at length, the whole criminal code is now lamentably

defective. Some offenses are imperfectly described and others are entirely

omitted, so that flagrant crimes may be committed with impunity. The scale

of punishment is not in all cases graduated according to the degree and

nature of the offense, and is often rendered more unequal by the different

modes of imprisonment or penitentiary confinement in the different States.

Many laws of a permanent character have been introduced into appropriation

bills, and it is often difficult to determine whether the particular clause

expires with the temporary act of which it is a part or continues in force.

It has also frequently happened that enactments and provisions of law have

been introduced into bills with the title or general subject of which they

have little or no connection or relation. In this mode of legislation so

many enactments have been heaped upon each other, and often with but little

consideration, that in many instances it is difficult to search out and

determine what is the law.

The Government of the United States is emphatically a government of written

laws. The statutes should therefore, as far as practicable, not only be

made accessible to all, but be expressed in language so plain and simple as

to be understood by all and arranged in such method as to give perspicuity

to every subject. Many of the States have revised their public acts with

great and manifest benefit, and I recommend that provision be made by law

for the appointment of a commission to revise the public statutes of the

United States, arranging them in order, supplying deficiencies, correcting

incongruities, simplifying their language, and reporting them to Congress

for its action.

An act of Congress approved 30th September, 1850, contained a provision for

the extension of the Capitol according to such plan as might be approved by

the President, and appropriated $100,000 to be expended under his direction

by such architect as he should appoint to execute the same. On examining

the various plans which had been submitted by different architects in

pursuance of an advertisement by a committee of the Senate no one was found

to be entirely satisfactory, and it was therefore deemed advisable to

combine and adopt the advantages of several.

The great object to be accomplished was to make such an addition as would

afford ample and convenient halls for the deliberations of the two Houses

of Congress, with sufficient accommodations for spectators and suitable

apartments for the committees and officers of the two branches of the

Legislature. It was also desirable not to mar the harmony and beauty of the

present structure, which, as a specimen of architecture, is so universally

admired. Keeping these objects in view, I concluded to make the addition by

wings, detached from the present building, yet connected with it by

corridors. This mode of enlargement will leave the present Capitol

uninjured and afford great advantages for ventilation and the admission of

light, and will enable the work to progress without interrupting the

deliberations of Congress. To carry this plan into effect I have appointed

an experienced and competent architect. The corner stone was laid on the

4th day of July last with suitable ceremonies, since which time the work

has advanced with commendable rapidity, and the foundations of both wings

are now nearly complete.

I again commend to your favorable regard the interests of the District of

Columbia, and deem it only necessary to remind you that although its

inhabitants have no voice in the choice of Representatives in Congress,

they are not the less entitled to a just and liberal consideration in your

legislation. My opinions on this subject were more fully expressed in my

last annual communication.

Other subjects were brought to the attention of Congress in my last annual

message, to which I would respectfully refer. But there was one of more

than ordinary interest, to which I again invite your special attention. I

allude to the recommendation for the appointment of a commission to settle

private claims against the United States. Justice to individuals, as well

as to the Government, imperatively demands that some more convenient and

expeditious mode than an appeal to Congress should be adopted.

It is deeply to be regretted that in several instances officers of the

Government, in attempting to execute the law for the return of fugitives

from labor, have been openly resisted and their efforts frustrated and

defeated by lawless and violent mobs; that in one case such resistance

resulted in the death of an estimable citizen, and in others serious injury

ensued to those officers and to individuals who were using their endeavors

to sustain the laws. Prosecutions have been instituted against the alleged

offenders so far as they could be identified, and are still pending. I have

regarded it as my duty in these cases to give all aid legally in my power

to the enforcement of the laws, and I shall continue to do so wherever and

whenever their execution may be resisted.

The act of Congress for the return of fugitives from labor is one required

and demanded by the express words of the Constitution. The Constitution

declares that--No person held to service or labor in one State, under the

laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in consequence of any law or

regulation therein, be discharged from such service or labor, but shall be

delivered up on claim of the party to whom such service or labor may be

due. This constitutional provision is equally obligatory upon the

legislative, the executive, and judicial departments of the Government, and

upon every citizen of the United States.

Congress, however, must from necessity first act upon the subject by

prescribing the proceedings necessary to ascertain that the person is a

fugitive and the means to be used for his restoration to the claimant. This

was done by an act passed during the first term of President Washington,

which was amended by that enacted by the last Congress, and it now remains

for the executive and judicial departments to take care that these laws be

faithfully executed. This injunction of the Constitution is as peremptory

and as binding as any other; it stands exactly on the same foundation as

that clause which provides for the return of fugitives from justice, or

that which declares that no bill of attainder or ex post facto law shall be

passed, or that which provides for an equality of taxation according to the

census, or the clause declaring that all duties shall be uniform throughout

the United States, or the important provision that the trial of all crimes

shall be by jury. These several articles and clauses of the Constitution,

all resting on the same authority, must stand or fall together. Some

objections have been urged against the details of the act for the return of

fugitives from labor, but it is worthy of remark that the main opposition

is aimed against the Constitution itself, and proceeds from persons and

classes of persons many of whom declare their wish to see that Constitution

overturned. They avow their hostility to any law which shall give full and

practical effect to this requirement of the Constitution. Fortunately, the

number of these persons is comparatively small, and is believed to be daily

diminishing; but the issue which they present is one which involves the

supremacy and even the existence of the Constitution.

Cases have heretofore arisen in which individuals have denied the binding

authority of acts of Congress, and even States have proposed to nullify

such acts upon the ground that the Constitution was the supreme law of the

land, and that those acts of Congress were repugnant to that instrument;

but nullification is now aimed not so much against particular laws as being

inconsistent with the Constitution as against the Constitution itself, and

it is not to be disguised that a spirit exists, and has been actively at

work, to rend asunder this Union, which is our cherished inheritance from

our Revolutionary fathers.

In my last annual message I stated that I considered the series of measures

which had been adopted at the previous session in reference to the

agitation growing out of the Territorial and slavery questions as a final

settlement in principle and substance of the dangerous and exciting

subjects which they embraced, and I recommended adherence to the adjustment

established by those measures until time and experience should demonstrate

the necessity of further legislation to guard against evasion or abuse. I

was not induced to make this recommendation because I thought those

measures perfect, for no human legislation can be perfect. Wide differences

and jarring opinions can only be reconciled by yielding something on all

sides, and this result had been reached after an angry conflict of many

months, in which one part of the country was arrayed against another, and

violent convulsion seemed to be imminent. Looking at the interests of the

whole country, I felt it to be my duty to seize upon this compromise as the

best that could be obtained amid conflicting interests and to insist upon

it as a final settlement, to be adhered to by all who value the peace and

welfare of the country. A year has now elapsed since that recommendation

was made. To that recommendation I still adhere, and I congratulate you and

the country upon the general acquiescence in these measures of peace which

has been exhibited in all parts of the Republic. And not only is there this

general acquiescence in these measures, but the spirit of conciliation

which has been manifested in regard to them in all parts of the country has

removed doubts and uncertainties in the minds of thousands of good men

concerning the durability of our popular institutions and given renewed

assurance that our liberty and our Union may subsist together for the

benefit of this and all succeeding generations.

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