Original
Fellow citizens
of the Senate and House of Representatives:
It gives me
pleasure to congratulate you upon your return to the seat of government for the
purpose of discharging your duties to the people of the United States. Although
the pestilence which had traversed the Old World has entered our limits and
extended its ravages over much of our land, it has pleased Almighty God to
mitigate its severity and lessen the number of its victims compared with those
who have fallen in most other countries over which it has spread its terrors.
Not with standing this visitation, our country presents on every side marks of
prosperity and happiness unequaled, perhaps, in any other portion of the world.
If we fully appreciate our comparative condition, existing causes of discontent
will appear unworthy of attention, and, with hearts of thankfulness to that
divine Being who has filled our cup of prosperity, we shall feel our resolution
strengthened to preserve and hand down to our posterity that liberty and that
union which we have received from our fathers, and which constitute the sources
and the shield of all our blessings.
The relations of
our country continue to present the same picture of amicable intercourse that I
had the satisfaction to hold up to your view at the opening of your last
session. The same friendly professions, the same desire to participate in our
flourishing commerce, the same dispositions, evinced by all nations with whom
we have any intercourse. This desirable state of things may be mainly ascribed
to our undeviating practice of the rule which has long guided our national
policy, to require no exclusive privileges in commerce and to grant none. It is
daily producing its beneficial effect in the respect shown to our flag, the
protection of our citizens and their property abroad, and in the increase of
our navigation and the extension of our mercantile operations. The returns
which have been made out since we last met will show an increase during the
last preceding year of more than 80,000 tons in our shipping and of near
$40,000,000 in the aggregate of our imports and exports.
Nor have we less
reason to felicitate ourselves on the position of our political than of our
commercial concerns. They remain in the state in which they were when I last
addressed you—a state of prosperity and peace, the effect of a wise attention
to the parting advice of the revered Father of his Country on this subject,
condensed into a maxim for the use of posterity by one of his most
distinguished successors—to cultivate free commerce and honest friendship with
all nations, but to make entangling alliances with none. A strict adherence to
this policy has kept us aloof from the perplexing questions that now agitate the
European world and have more than once deluged those countries with blood.
Should those scenes unfortunately recur, the parties to the contest may count
on a faithful performance of the duties incumbent on us as a neutral nation,
and our own citizens may equally rely on the firm assertion of their neutral
rights.
With the nation
that was our earliest friend and ally in the infancy of our political existence
the most friendly relations have subsisted through the late revolutions of its
government, and, from the events of the last, promise a permanent duration. It
has made an approximation in some of its political institutions to our own, and
raised a monarch to the throne who preserves, it is said, a friendly
recollection of the period during which he acquired among our citizens the high
consideration that could then have been produced by his personal qualifications
alone.
Our commerce
with that nation is gradually assuming a mutually beneficial character, and the
adjustment of the claims of our citizens has removed the only obstacle there
was to an intercourse not only lucrative, but productive of literary and
scientific improvement.
From Great
Britain I have the satisfaction to inform you that I continue to receive
assurances of the most amicable disposition, which have on my part on all
proper occasions been promptly and sincerely reciprocated. The attention of
that government has latterly been so much engrossed by matters of a deeply
interesting domestic character that we could not press upon it the renewal of
negotiations which had been unfortunately broken off by the unexpected recall
of our minister, who had commenced them with some hopes of success. My great
object was the settlement of questions which, though now dormant, might
here-after be revived under circumstances that would endanger the good
understanding which it is the interest of both parties to preserve inviolate,
cemented as it is by a community of language, manners, and social habits, and
by the high obligations we owe to our British ancestors for many of our most
valuable institutions and for that system of representative government which
has enabled us to preserve and improve them.
The question of
our Northeast boundary still remains unsettled. In my last annual message I
explained to you the situation in which I found that business on my coming into
office, and the measures I thought it my duty to pursue for asserting the
rights of the United States before the sovereign who had been chosen by my
predecessor to determine the question, and also the manner in which he had
disposed of it. A special message to the Senate in their executive capacity
afterwards brought before them to the question whether they would advise a
submission to the opinion of the sovereign arbiter. That body having considered
the award as not obligatory and advised me to open a further negotiation, the
proposition was immediately made to the British government, but the
circumstances to which I have alluded have hitherto prevented any answer being
given to the overture. Early attention, however, has been promised to the
subject, and every effort on my part will be made for a satisfactory settlement
of this question, interesting to the union generally, and particularly so to
one of its members.
The claims of
our citizens on Spain are not yet acknowledged. On a closer investigation of
them than appears to have heretofore taken place it was discovered that some of
these demands, however strong they might be upon the equity of that government,
were not such as could be made the subject of national interference; and
faithful to the principle of asking nothing but what was clearly right,
additional instructions have been sent to modify our demands so as to embrace
those only on which, according to the laws of nations, we had a strict right to
insist. An inevitable delay in procuring the documents necessary for this
review of the merits of these claims retarded this operation until an
unfortunate malady which has afflicted His Catholic Majesty prevented an
examination of them. Being now for the first time presented in an
unexceptionable form, it is confidently hoped that the application will be
successful.
I have the
satisfaction to inform you that the application I directed to be made for the
delivery of a part of the archives of Florida, which had been carried to The
Havannah, has produced a royal order for their delivery, and that measures have
been taken to procure its execution.
By the report of
the Secretary of State communicated to you on [1832-06-25] you were informed of
the conditional reduction obtained by the minister of the United States at
Madrid of the duties on tonnage levied on American shipping in the ports of
Spain. The condition of that reduction having been complied with on our part by
the act passed [1832-07-13], I have the satisfaction to inform you that our
ships now pay no higher nor other duties in the continental ports of Spain than
are levied on their national vessels.
The demands
against Portugal for illegal captures in the blockade of Terceira have been allowed
to the full amount of the accounts presented by the claimants, and payment was
promised to be made in three installments. The first of these has been paid;
the second, although due, had not at the date of our last advices been
received, owing, it was alleged, to embarrassments in the finances consequent
on the civil war in which that nation is engaged.
The payments
stipulated by the convention with Denmark have been punctually made, and the
amount is ready for distribution among the claimants as soon as the board, now
sitting, shall have performed their functions.
I regret that by
the last advices from our charge d'affaires at Naples that government had still
delayed the satisfaction due to our citizens, but at that date the effect of
the last instructions was not known. Dispatches from thence are hourly
expected, and the result will be communicated to you without delay.
With the rest of
Europe our relations, political and commercial, remain unchanged. Negotiations
are going on to put on a permanent basis the liberal system of commerce now
carried on between us and the Empire of Russia. The treaty concluded with
Austria is executed by His Imperial Majesty with the most perfect good faith,
and as we have no diplomatic agent at his Court he personally inquired into and
corrected a proceeding of some of his subaltern officers to the injury of our
consul in one of his ports.
Our treaty with
the Sublime Porte is producing its expected effects on our commerce. New
markets are opening for our commodities and a more extensive range for the
employment of our ships. A slight augmentation of the duties on our commerce,
inconsistent with the spirit of the treaty, had been imposed, but on the
representation of our charge d'affaires it has been promptly withdrawn, and we
now enjoy the trade and navigation of the Black Sea and of all the ports
belonging to the Turkish Empire and Asia on the most perfect equality with all
foreign nations.
I wish earnestly
that in announcing to you the continuance of friendship and the increase of a
profitable commercial intercourse with Mexico, with Central America, and the
states of the South I could accompany it with the assurance that they all are
blessed with that internal tranquillity and foreign peace which their heroic
devotion to the cause of their independence merits. In Mexico a sanguinary
struggle is now carried on, which has caused some embarrassment to our
commerce, but both parties profess the most friendly disposition toward us. To
the termination of this contest we look for the establishment of that secure
intercourse so necessary to nations whose territories are contiguous. How
important it will be to us we may calculate from the fact that even in this
unfavorable state of things our maritime commerce has increased, and an
internal trade by caravans from St. Louis to Santa Fe, under the protection of
escorts furnished by the government, is carried on to great advantage and is
daily increasing. The agents provided for by the treaty, with this power to
designate the boundaries which it established, have been named on our part, but
one of the evils of the civil war now raging there has been that the
appointment of those with whom they were to cooperate has not yet been
announced to us.
The government
of Central America has expelled from its territory the party which some time
since disturbed its peace. Desirous of fostering a favorable disposition toward
us, which has on more than one occasion been evinced by this interesting
country, I made a second attempt in this year to establish a diplomatic
intercourse with them; but the death of the distinguished citizen whom I had
appointed for that purpose has retarded the execution of measures from which I
hoped much advantage to our commerce. The union of the three states which
formed the republic of Colombia has been dissolved, but they all, it is
believed, consider themselves as separately bound by the treaty which was made
in their federal capacity. The minister accredited to the federation continues
in that character near the government of New Grenada, and hopes were
entertained that a new union would be formed between the separate States, at
least for the purposes of foreign intercourse. Our minister has been instructed
to use his good offices, when ever they shall be desired, to produce the
reunion so much to be wished for, the domestic tranquillity of the parties, and
the security and facility of foreign commerce.
Some agitations
naturally attendant on an infant reign have prevailed in the Empire of Brazil,
which have had the usual effect upon commercial operations, and while they
suspended the consideration of claims created on similar occasions, they have
given rise to new complaints on the part of our citizens. A proper
consideration for calamities and difficulties of this nature has made us less
urgent and peremptory in our demands for justice than duty to our fellow
citizens would under other circumstances have required. But their claims are
not neglected, and will on all proper occasions be urged, and it is hoped with
effect.
I refrain from
making any communication on the subject of our affairs with Buenos Aires,
because the negotiation communicated to you in my last annual message was at
the date of our last advices still pending and in a state that would render a
publication of the details inexpedient.
A treaty of
amity and commerce has been formed with the republic of Chile, which, if
approved by the Senate, will be laid before you. That government seems to be
established, and at peace with its neighbors; and its ports being the resorts
of our ships which are employed in the highly important trade of the fisheries,
this commercial convention can not but be of great advantage to our fellow
citizens engaged in that perilous but profitable business.
Our commerce
with the neighboring state of Peru, owing to the onerous duties levied on our
principal articles of export, has been on the decline, and all endeavors to
procure an alteration have hitherto proved fruitless. With Bolivia we have yet
no diplomatic intercourse, and the continual contests carried on between it and
Peru have made me defer until a more favorable period the appointment of any
agent for that purpose.
An act of
atrocious piracy having been committed on one of our trading ships by the
inhabitants of a settlement on the west coast of Sumatra, a frigate was
dispatched with orders to demand satisfaction for the injury if those who
committed it should be found to be members of a regular government, capable of
maintaining the usual relations with foreign nations; but if, as it was
supposed and as they proved to be, they were a band of lawless pirates, to
inflict such a chastisement as would deter them and others from like
aggressions. This last was done, and the effect has been an increased respect
for our flag in those distant seas and additional security for our commerce.
In the view I
have given of our connection with foreign powers allusions have been made to
their domestic disturbances or foreign wars, to their revolutions or
dissensions. It may be proper to observe that this is done solely in cases
where those events affect our political relations with them, or to show their
operation on our commerce. Further than this it is neither our policy nor our
right to interfere. Our best wishes on all occasions, our good offices when
required, will be afforded to promote the domestic tranquillity and foreign
peace of all nations with whom we have any intercourse. Any intervention in
their affairs further than this, even by the expression of an official opinion,
is contrary to our principles of international policy, and will always be
avoided.
The report which
the Secretary of the Treasury will in due time lay before you will exhibit the
national finances in a highly prosperous state. Owing to the continued success
of our commercial enterprise, which has enabled the merchants to fulfill their
engagements with the government, the receipts from customs during the year will
exceed the estimate presented at the last session, and with the other means of
the Treasury will prove fully adequate not only to meet the increased
expenditures resulting from the large appropriations made by Congress, but to
provide for the payment of all the public debt which is at present redeemable.
It is now
estimated that the customs will yield to the Treasury during the present year
upward of $28,000,000. The public lands, however, have proved less productive
than was anticipated, and according to present information will not much exceed
$2,000,000. The expenditures for all objects other than the public debt are
estimated to amount during the year to about $16,500,000, while a still larger
sum, viz, $18,000,000, will have been applied to the principal and interest of
the public debt.
It is expected,
however, that in consequence of the reduced rates of duty which will take
effect after [1833-03-03] there will be a considerable falling off in the
revenue from customs in the year 1833. It will never the less be amply
sufficient to provide for all the wants of the public service, estimated even
upon a liberal scale, and for the redemption and purchase of the remainder of
the public debt. On [1833-01-01] the entire public debt of the United States,
funded and unfunded, will be reduced to within a fraction of $7,000,000, of
which $2,227,363 are not of right redeemable until [1834-01-01] and $4,735,296
not until [1835-01-02]. The commissioners of the sinking funds, however, being
invested with full authority to purchase the debt at the market price, and the
means of the Treasury being ample, it may be hoped that the whole will be
extinguished within the year 1833.
I can not too
cordially congratulate Congress and my fellow citizens on the near approach of
that memorable and happy event—the extinction of the public debt of this great
and free nation.
Faithful to the
wise and patriotic policy marked out by the legislation of the country for this
object, the present administration has devoted to it all the means which a
flourishing commerce has supplied and a prudent economy preserved for the
public Treasury. Within the four years for which the people have confided the
executive power to my charge $58,000,000 will have been applied to the payment
of the public debt. That this has been accomplished without stinting the
expenditures for all other proper objects will be seen by referring to the
liberal provision made during the same period for the support and increase of
our means of maritime and military defense, for internal improvements of a
national character, for the removal and preservation of the Indians, and,
lastly, for the gallant veterans of the Revolution.
The final
removal of this great burthen from our resources affords the means of further
provision for all the objects of general welfare and public defense which the
Constitution authorizes, and presents the occasion for such further reductions
in the revenue as may not be required for them. From the report of the
Secretary of the Treasury it will be seen that after the present year such a
reduction may be made to a considerable extent, and the subject is earnestly
recommended to the consideration of Congress in the hope that the combined
wisdom of the representatives of the people will devise such means of effecting
that salutary object as may remove those burthens which shall be found to fall
unequally upon any and as may promote all the great interests of the community.
Long and patient
reflection has strengthened the opinions I have heretofore expressed to
Congress on this subject, and I deem it my duty on the present occasion again
to urge them upon the attention of the Legislature. The soundest maxims of
public policy and the principals upon which our republican institutions are founded
recommend a proper adaptation of the revenue to the expenditure, and they also
require that the expenditure shall be limited to what, by an economical
administration, shall be consistent with the simplicity of the government and
necessary to an efficient public service.
In effecting
this adjustment it is due, in justice to the interests of the different states,
and even to the preservation of the union itself, that the protection afforded
by existing laws to any branches of the national industry should not exceed
what may be necessary to counteract the regulations of foreign nations and to
secure a supply of those articles of manufacture essential to the national
independence and safety in time of war. If upon investigation it shall be
found, as it is believed it will be, that the legislative protection granted to
any particular interest is greater than is indispensably requisite for these
objects, I recommend that it be gradually diminished, and that as far as may be
consistent with these objects the whole scheme of duties be reduced to the
revenue standard as soon as a just regard to the faith of the government and to
the preservation of the large capital invested in establishments of domestic
industry will permit.
That
manufactures adequate to the supply of our domestic consumption would in the
abstract be beneficial to our country there is no reason to doubt, and to
effect their establishment there is perhaps no American citizen who would not
for a while be willing to pay a higher price for them. But for this purpose it
is presumed that a tariff of high duties, designed for perpetual protection,
which they maintain has the effect to reduce the price by domestic competition
below that of the foreign article. Experience, however, our best guide on this
as on other subjects, makes it doubtful whether the advantages of this system
are not counter-balanced by many evils, and whether it does not tend to beget
in the minds of a large portion of our countrymen a spirit of discontent and
jealousy dangerous to the stability of the union.
What, then,
shall be done? Large interests have grown up under the implied pledge of our
national legislation, which it would seem a violation of public faith suddenly
to abandon. Nothing could justify it but the public safety, which is the
supreme law. But those who have vested their capital in manufacturing
establishments can not expect that the people will continue permanently to pay
high taxes for their benefit, when the money is not required for any legitimate
purpose in the administration of the government. Is it not enough that the high
duties have been paid as long as the money arising from them could be applied
to the common benefit in the extinguishment of the public debt?
Those who take
an enlarged view of the condition of our country must be satisfied that the
policy of protection must be ultimately limited to those articles of domestic
manufacture which are indispensable to our safety in time of war. Within this
scope, on a reasonable scale, it is recommended by every consideration of
patriotism and duty, which will doubtless always secure to it a liberal and
efficient support. But beyond this object we have already seen the operation of
the system productive of discontent. In some sections of the republic its
influence is deprecated as tending to concentrate wealth into a few hands, and
as creating those germs of dependence and vice which in other countries have
characterized the existence of monopolies and proved so destructive of liberty
and the general good. A large portion of the people in one section of the
republic declares it not only inexpedient on these grounds, but as disturbing
the equal relations of property by legislation, and therefore unconstitutional
and unjust.
Doubtless these
effects are in a great degree exaggerated, and may be ascribed to a mistaken
view of the considerations which led to the adoption of the tariff system; but
they are never the less important in enabling us to review the subject with a
more thorough knowledge of all its bearings upon the great interests of the
Republic, and with a determination to dispose of it so that none can with
justice complain.
It is my painful
duty to state that in one quarter of the United States opposition to the
revenue laws has arisen to a height which threatens to thwart their execution,
if not to endanger the integrity of the union. What ever obstructions may be
thrown in the way of the judicial authorities of the general government, it is
hoped they will be able peaceably to overcome them by the prudence of their own
officers and the patriotism of the people. But should this reasonable reliance
on the moderation and good sense of all portions of our fellow citizens be
disappointed, it is believed that the laws themselves are fully adequate to the
suppression of such attempts as may be immediately made. Should the exigency
arise rendering the execution of the existing laws impracticable from any cause
what ever, prompt notice of it will be given to Congress, with a suggestion of
such views and measures as may be deemed necessary to meet it.
In conformity
with principles heretofore explained, and with the hope of reducing the general
government to that simple machine which the Constitution created and of
withdrawing from the States all other influence than that of its universal
beneficence in preserving peace, affording an uniform currency, maintaining the
inviolability of contracts, diffusing intelligence, and discharging unfelt its
other super-intending functions, I recommend that provision be made to dispose
of all stocks now held by it in corporations, whether created by the general or
state governments, and placing the proceeds in the Treasury. As a source of
profit these stocks are of little or no value; as a means of influence among
the states they are adverse to the purity of our institutions. The whole
principle on which they are based is deemed by many unconstitutional, and to
persist in the policy which they indicate is considered wholly inexpedient.
It is my duty to
acquaint you with an arrangement made by the Bank of the United States with a
portion of the holders of the 3 percent stock, by which the government will be
deprived of the use of the public funds longer than was anticipated. By this
arrangement, which will be particularly explained by the Secretary of the
Treasury, a surrender of the certificates of this stock may be postponed until
[1833 October], and thus may be continued by the failure of the bank to perform
its duties.
Such measures as
are within the reach of the Secretary of the Treasury have been taken to enable
him to judge whether the public deposits in that institution may be regarded as
entirely safe; but as his limited power may prove inadequate to this object, I
recommend the subject to the attention of Congress, under the firm belief that
it is worthy of their serious investigation. An inquiry into the transactions
of the institution, embracing the branches as well as the principal bank, seems
called for by the credit which is given throughout the country to many serious
charges impeaching its character, and which if true may justly excite the
apprehension that it is no longer a safe depository of the money of the people.
Among the
interests which merit the consideration of Congress after the payment of the
public debt, one of the most important, in my view, is that of the public
lands. Previous to the formation of our present Constitution it was recommended
by Congress that a portion of the waste lands owned by the states should be
ceded to the United States for the purposes of general harmony and as a fund to
meet the expenses of the war. The recommendation was adopted, and at different
periods of time the states of Massachusetts, New York, Virginia, North and
South Carolina, and Georgia granted their vacant soil for the uses for which
they had been asked. As the lands may now be considered as relieved from this
pledge, it is in the discretion of Congress to dispose of them in such way as
best to conduce to the quiet, harmony, and general interest of the American
people. In examining this question all local and sectional feelings should be
discarded and the whole United States regarded as one people, interested alike
in the prosperity of their common country.
It can not be
doubted that the speedy settlement of these lands constitutes the true interest
of the republic. The wealth and strength of a country are its population, and
the best part of that population are cultivators of the soil. Independent
farmers are every where the basis of society and true friends of liberty.
In addition to
these considerations questions have already arisen, and may be expected
hereafter to grow out of the public lands, which involve the rights of the new
states and the powers of the general government, and unless a liberal policy be
now adopted there is danger that these questions may speedily assume an
importance not now generally anticipated. The influence of a great sectional
interest, when brought into full action, will be found more dangerous to the
harmony and union of the states than any other cause of discontent, and it is
the part of wisdom and sound policy to foresee its approaches and endeavor if
possible to counteract them.
Of the various
schemes which have been hitherto proposed in regard to the disposal of the
public lands, none has yet received the entire approbation of the national
legislature. Deeply impressed with the importance of a speedy and satisfactory
arrangement of the subject, I deem it my duty on this occasion to urge it upon
your consideration, and to the propositions which have been heretofore
suggested by others to contribute those reflections which have occurred to me,
in the hope that they may assist you in your future deliberations.
It seems to me
to be our policy that the public lands shall cease as soon as practicable to be
a source of revenue, and that they be sold to settlers in limited parcels at a
price barely sufficient to reimburse to the United States the expense of the
present system and the cost arising under our Indian compacts. The advantages
of accurate surveys and undoubted titles now secured to purchasers seem to
forbid the abolition of the present system, because none can be substituted which
will more perfectly accomplish these important ends. It is desirable, however,
that in convenient time this machinery be withdrawn from the states, and that
the right of soil and the future disposition of it be surrendered to the states
respectively in which it lies.
The adventurous
and hardy population of the West, besides contributing their equal share of
taxation under our impost system, have in the progress of our government, for
the lands they occupy, paid into the Treasury a large proportion of $40,000,000,
and of the revenue received therefrom but a small part has been expended among
them. When to the disadvantage of their situation in this respect we add the
consideration that it is their labor alone which gives real value to the lands,
and that the proceeds arising from their sale are distributed chiefly among
states which had not originally any claim to them, and which have enjoyed the
undivided emolument arising from the sale of their own lands, it can not be
expected that the new states will remain longer contented with the present
policy after the payment of the public debt. To avert the consequences which
may be apprehended from this cause, to pub an end for ever to all partial and
interested legislation on the subject, and to afford to every American citizen
of enterprise the opportunity of securing an independent freehold, it seems to
me, therefore, best to abandon the idea of raising a future revenue out of the
public lands.
In former
messages I have expressed my conviction that the Constitution does not warrant
the application of the funds of the general government to objects of internal
improvement which are not national in their character, and, both as a means of
doing justice to all interests and putting an end to a course of legislation calculated
to destroy the purity of the government, have urged the necessity of reducing
the whole subject to some fixed and certain rule. As there never will occur a
period, perhaps, more propitious than the present to the accomplishment of this
object, I beg leave to press the subject again upon your attention.
Without some
general and well-defined principles ascertaining those objects of internal
improvement to which the means of the nation may be constitutionally applied,
it is obvious that the exercise of the power can never be satisfactory. Besides
the danger to which it exposes Congress of making hasty appropriations to works
of the character of which they may be frequently ignorant, it promotes a
mischievous and corrupting influence upon elections by holding out to the
people the fallacious hope that the success of a certain candidate will make
navigable their neighboring creek or river, bring commerce to their doors, and
increase the value of their property. It thus favors combinations to squander the
treasure of the country upon a multitude of local objects, as fatal to just
legislation as to the purity of public men.
If a system
compatible with the Constitution can not be devised which is free from such
tendencies, we should recollect that that instrument provides within itself the
mode of its amendment, and that there is, therefore, no excuse for the
assumption of doubtful powers by the general government. If those which are
clearly granted shall be found incompetent to the ends of its creation, it can
at any time apply for their enlargement; and there is no probability that such
an application, if founded on the public interest, will ever be refused. If the
propriety of the proposed grant be not sufficiently apparent to command the
assent of three-fourths of the states, the best possible reason why the power
should not be assumed on doubtful authority is afforded; for if more than one
quarter of the states are unwilling to make the grant its exercise will be
productive of discontents which will far over-balance any advantages that could
be derived from it. All must admit that there is nothing so worthy of the
constant solicitude of this government as the harmony and union of the people.
Being solemnly
impressed with the conviction that the extension of the power to make internal
improvements beyond the limit I have suggested, even if it be deemed
constitutional, is subversive of the best interests of our country, I earnestly
recommend to Congress to refrain from its exercise in doubtful cases, except in
relation to improvements already begun, unless they shall first procure from
the states such an amendment of the Constitution as will define its character
and prescribe its bounds. If the states feel themselves competent to these
objects, why should this government wish to assume the power? If they do not,
then they will not hesitate to make the grant. Both governments are the
governments of the people; improvements must be made with the money of the
people, and if the money can be collected and applied by those more simple and
economical political machines, the state governments, it will unquestionably be
safer and better for the people than to add to the splendor, the patronage, and
the power of the general government. But if the people of the several states
think otherwise they will amend the Constitution, and in their decision all
ought cheerfully to acquiesce.
For a detailed
and highly satisfactory view of the operations of the War Department I refer
you to the accompanying report of the Secretary of War.
The hostile
incursions of the Sac and Fox Indians necessarily led to the interposition of
the government. A portion of the troops, under Generals Scott and Atkinson, and
of the militia of the state of Illinois were called into the field. After a
harassing warfare, prolonged by the nature of the country and by the difficulty
of procuring subsistence, the Indians were entirely defeated, and the
disaffected band dispersed or destroyed. The result has been creditable to the
troops engaged in the service. Severe as is the lesson to the Indians, it was
rendered necessary by their unprovoked aggressions, and it is to be hoped that
its impression will be permanent and salutary.
This campaign
has evinced the efficient organization of the Army and its capacity for prompt
and active service. Its several departments have performed their functions with
energy and dispatch, and the general movement was satisfactory.
Our fellow
citizens upon the frontiers were ready, as they always are, in the tender of
their services in the hour of danger. But a more efficient organization of our
militia system is essential to that security which is one of the principal
objects of all governments. Neither our situation nor our institutions require
or permit the maintenance of a large regular force. History offers too many
lessons of the fatal result of such a measure not to warn us against its
adoption here. The expense which attends it, the obvious tendency to employ it
because it exists and thus to engage in unnecessary wars, and its ultimate
danger to public liberty will lead us, I trust, to place our principal
dependence for protection upon the great body of the citizens of the republic.
If in asserting rights or in repelling wrongs war should come upon us, our
regular force should be increased to an extent proportional to the emergency,
and our present small Army is a nucleus around which such force could be formed
and embodied. But for the purposes of defense under ordinary circumstances we
must rely upon the electors of the country. Those by whom and for whom the
government was instituted and is supported will constitute its protection in
the hour of danger as they do its check in the hour of safety.
But it is
obvious that the militia system is imperfect. Much time is lost, much unnecessary
expense incurred, and much public property wasted under the present
arrangement. Little useful knowledge is gained by the musters and drills as now
established, and the whole subject evidently requires a thorough examination.
Whether a plan of classification remedying these defects and providing for a
system of instruction might not be adopted is submitted to the consideration of
Congress. The Constitution has vested in the general government an independent
authority upon the subject of the militia which renders its action essential to
the establishment or improvement of the system, and I recommend the matter to
your consideration in the conviction that the state of this important arm of
the public defense requires your attention.
I am happy to
inform you that the wise and humane policy of transferring from the eastern to
the western side of the Mississippi the remnants of our aboriginal tribes, with
their own consent and upon just terms, has been steadily pursued, and is
approaching, I trust, its consummation. By reference to the report of the
Secretary of War and to the documents submitted with it you will see the
progress which has been made since your last session in the arrangement of the
various matters connected with our Indian relations. With one exception every
subject involving any question of conflicting jurisdiction or of peculiar
difficulty has been happily disposed of, and the conviction evidently gains
ground among the Indians that their removal to the country assigned by the
United States for their permanent residence furnishes the only hope of their
ultimate prosperity.
With that
portion of the Cherokees, however, living within the state of Georgia it has
been found impracticable as yet to make a satisfactory adjustment. Such was my
anxiety to remove all the grounds of complaint and to bring to a termination
the difficulties in which they are involved that I directed the very liberal
propositions to be made to them which accompany the documents herewith
submitted. They can not but have seen in these offers the evidence of the
strongest disposition on the part of the government to deal justly and
liberally with them. An ample indemnity was offered for their present
possessions, a liberal provision for their future support and improvement, and
full security for their private and political rights. What ever difference of
opinion may have prevailed respecting the just claims of these people, there
will probably be none respecting the liberality of the propositions, and very
little respecting the expediency of their immediate acceptance. They were,
however, rejected, and thus the position of these Indians remains unchanged, as
do the views communicated in my message to the Senate of [1831-02-22].
I refer you to
the annual report of the Secretary of the Navy, which accompanies this message,
for a detail of the operations of that branch of the service during the present
year.
Besides the
general remarks on some of the transactions of our Navy presented in the view
which has been taken of our foreign relations, I seize this occasion to invite
to your notice the increased protection which it has afforded to our commerce
and citizens on distant seas without any augmentation of the force in
commission. In the gradual improvement of its pecuniary concerns, in the
constant progress in the collection of materials suitable for use during future
emergencies, and in the construction of vessels and the buildings necessary to
their preservation and repair, the present state of this branch of the service
exhibits the fruits of that vigilance and care which are so indispensable to
its efficiency. Various new suggestions, contained in the annexed report, as
well as others heretofore to Congress, are worthy of your attention, but none
more so than that urging the renewal for another term of six years of the
general appropriation for the gradual improvement of the Navy.
From the
accompanying report of the Postmaster General you will also perceive that that
Department continues to extend its usefulness without impairing its resources
or lessening the accommodations which it affords in the secure and rapid
transportation of the mail.
I beg leave to
call the attention of Congress to the views heretofore expressed in relation to
the mode of choosing the President and Vice President of the United States, and
to those respecting the tenure of office generally. Still impressed with the
justness of those views and with the belief that the modifications suggested on
those subjects if adopted will contribute to the prosperity and harmony of the
country, I earnestly recommend them to your consideration at this time.
I have
heretofore pointed out defects in the law for punishing official frauds,
especially within the District of Columbia. It has been found almost impossible
to bring notorious culprits to punishment, and, according to a decision of the
court for this District, a prosecution is barred by a lapse of two years after
the fraud has been committed. It may happen again, as it has already happened,
that during the whole two years all the evidences of the fraud may be in the
possession of the culprit himself. However proper the limitation may be in
relation to private citizens, it would seem that it ought not to commence
running in favor of public officers until they go out of office.
The judiciary
system of the United States remains imperfect. Of the nine Western and
Southwestern states, three only enjoy the benefits of a circuit court. Ohio,
Kentucky, and Tennessee are embraced in the general system, but Indiana,
Illinois, Missouri, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana have only district
courts. If the existing system be a good one, why should it not be extended? If
it be a bad one, why is it suffered to exist? The new states were promised
equal rights and privileges when they came into the Union, and such are the
guaranties of the Constitution. Nothing can be more obvious than the obligation
of the general government to place all the states on the same footing in
relation to the administration of justice, and I trust this duty will be
neglected no longer.
On many of the
subjects to which your attention is invited in this communication it is a
source of gratification to reflect that the steps to be now adopted are
uninfluenced by the embarrassments entailed upon the country by the wars
through which it has passed. In regard to most of our great interests we may
consider ourselves as just starting in our career, and after a salutary
experience about to fix upon a permanent basis the policy best calculated to
promote the happiness of the people and facilitate their progress toward the
most complete enjoyment of civil liberty. On an occasion so interesting and
important in our history, and of such anxious concern to the friends of freedom
throughout the world, it is our imperious duty to lay aside all selfish and
local considerations and be guided by a lofty spirit of devotion to the great
principles on which our institutions are founded.
That this
government may be so administered as to preserve its efficiency in promoting
and securing these general objects should be the only aim of our ambition, and
we can not, therefore, too carefully examine its structure, in order that we
may not mistake its powers or assume those which the people have reserved to
themselves or have preferred to assign to other agents. We should bear
constantly in mind the fact that the considerations which induced the framers
of the Constitution to withhold from the general government the power to
regulate the great mass of the business and concerns of the people have been
fully justified by experience, and that it can not now be doubted that the
genius of all our institutions prescribes simplicity and economy as the
characteristics of the reform which is yet to be effected in the present and
future execution of the functions bestowed upon us by the Constitution.
Limited to a
general superintending power to maintain peace at home and abroad, and to
prescribe laws on a few subjects of general interest not calculated to restrict
human liberty, but to enforce human rights, this government will find its
strength and its glory in the faithful discharge of these plain and simple
duties. Relieved by its protecting shield from the fear of war and the
apprehension of oppression, the free enterprise of our citizens, aided by the state
sovereignties, will work out improvements and ameliorations which can not fail
to demonstrate that the great truth that the people can govern themselves is
not only realized in our example, but that it is done by a machinery in
government so simple and economical as scarcely to be felt. That the Almighty
Ruler of the Universe may so direct our deliberations and overrule our acts as
to make us instrumental in securing a result so dear to mankind is my most
earnest and sincere prayer.
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