Original
Fellow citizens
of the Senate and of the House of Representatives:
In taking a
general survey of the concerns of our beloved country, with reference to
subjects interesting to the common welfare, the first sentiment which impresses
itself upon the mind is of gratitude to the Omnipotent Disposer of All Good for
the continuance of the signal blessings of His providence, and especially for
that health which to an unusual extent has prevailed within our borders, and
for that abundance which in the vicissitudes of the seasons has been scattered
with profusion over our land. Nor ought we less to ascribe to Him the glory
that we are permitted to enjoy the bounties of His hand in peace and
tranquillity—in peace with all the other nations of the earth, in tranquillity
among our selves. There has, indeed, rarely been a period in the history of
civilized man in which the general condition of the Christian nations has been
marked so extensively by peace and prosperity.
Europe, with a
few partial and unhappy exceptions, has enjoyed 10 years of peace, during which
all her governments, what ever the theory of their constitutions may have been,
are successively taught to feel that the end of their institution is the
happiness of the people, and that the exercise of power among men can be
justified only by the blessings it confers upon those over whom it is extended.
During the same
period our intercourse with all those nations has been pacific and friendly; it
so continues. Since the close of your last session no material variation has
occurred in our relations with any one of them. In the commercial and
navigation system of Great Britain important changes of municipal regulation
have recently been sanctioned by acts of Parliament, the effect of which upon
the interests of other nations, and particularly upon ours, has not yet been
fully developed. In the recent renewal of the diplomatic missions on both sides
between the two governments assurances have been given and received of the
continuance and increase of the mutual confidence and cordiality by which the
adjustment of many points of difference had already been effected, and which
affords the surest pledge for the ultimate satisfactory adjustment of those
which still remain open or may hereafter arise.
The policy of
the United States in their commercial intercourse with other nations has always
been of the most liberal character. In the mutual exchange of their respective
productions they have abstained altogether from prohibitions; they have
interdicted themselves the power of laying taxes upon exports, and when ever
they have favored their own shipping by special preferences or exclusive
privileges in their own ports it has been only with a view to countervail
similar favors and exclusions granted by the nations with whom we have been
engaged in traffic to their own people or shipping, and to the disadvantage of
ours. Immediately after the close of the last war a proposal was fairly made by
the act of Congress of 1815-03-03, to all the maritime nations to lay aside the
system of retaliating restrictions and exclusions, and to place the shipping of
both parties to the common trade on a footing of equality in respect to the
duties of tonnage and impost. This offer was partially and successively
accepted by Great Britain, Sweden, the Netherlands, the Hanseatic cities,
Prussia, Sardinia, the Duke of Oldenburg, and Russia. It was also adopted,
under certain modifications, in our late commercial convention with France, and
by the act of Congress of 1824-01-08, it has received a new confirmation with
all the nations who had acceded to it, and has been offered again to all those
who are or may here after be willing to abide in reciprocity by it. But all
these regulations, whether established by treaty or by municipal enactments,
are still subject to one important restriction.
The removal of
discriminating duties of tonnage and of impost is limited to articles of the
growth, produce, or manufacture of the country to which the vessel belongs or
to such articles as are most usually first shipped from her ports. It will
deserve the serious consideration of Congress whether even this remnant of
restriction may not be safely abandoned, and whether the general tender of
equal competition made in the act of 1824-01-08, may not be extended to include
all articles of merchandise not prohibited, of what country so ever they may be
the produce or manufacture. Propositions of this effect have already been made
to us by more than one European government, and it is probable that if once
established by legislation or compact with any distinguished maritime state it
would recommend itself by the experience of its advantages to the general
accession of all.
The convention
of commerce and navigation between the United States and France, concluded on
1822-06-24, was, in the understanding and intent of both parties, as appears
upon its face, only a temporary arrangement of the points of difference between
them of the most immediate and pressing urgency. It was limited in the first
instance to two years from 1822-10-01, but with a proviso that it should
further continue in force 'til the conclusion of a general and definitive
treaty of commerce, unless terminated by a notice, six months in advance, of
either of the parties to the other. Its operation so far as it extended has
been mutually advantageous, and it still continues in force by common consent.
But it left unadjusted several objects of great interest to the citizens and
subjects of both countries, and particularly a mass of claims to considerable
amount of citizens of the United States upon the government of France of indemnity
for property taken or destroyed under circumstances of the most aggravated and
outrageous character. In the long period during which continual and earnest
appeals have been made to the equity and magnanimity of France in behalf of
these claims their justice has not been, as it could not be, denied.
It was hoped
that the accession of a new Sovereign to the throne would have afforded a
favorable opportunity for presenting them to the consideration of his
government. They have been presented and urged hither to without effect. The
repeated and earnest representations of our minister at the Court of France
remain as yet even without an answer. Were the demands of nations upon the
justice of each other susceptible of adjudication by the sentence of an impartial
tribunal, those to which I now refer would long since have been settled and
adequate indemnity would have been obtained.
There are large
amounts of similar claims upon the Netherlands, Naples, and Denmark. For those
upon Spain prior to 1819 indemnity was, after many years of patient
forbearance, obtained; and those upon Sweden have been lately compromised by a
private settlement, in which the claimants themselves have acquiesced. The
governments of Denmark and of Naples have been recently reminded of those yet
existing against them, nor will any of them be forgotten while a hope may be
indulged of obtaining justice by the means within the constitutional power of
the executive, and without resorting to those means of self-redress which, as
well as the time, circumstances, and occasion which may require them, are
within the exclusive competency of the legislature.
It is with great
satisfaction that I am enabled to bear witness to the liberal spirit with which
the Republic of Colombia has made satisfaction for well-established claims of a
similar character, and among the documents now communicated to Congress will be
distinguished a treaty of commerce and navigation with that Republic, the
ratifications of which have been exchanged since the last recess of the
legislature. The negotiation of similar treaties with all of the independent
South American states has been contemplated and may yet be accomplished. The
basis of them all, as proposed by the United States, has been laid in two
principles—the one of entire and unqualified reciprocity, the other the mutual
obligation of the parties to place each other permanently upon the footing of
the most favored nation. These principles are, indeed, indispensable to the
effectual emancipation of the American hemisphere from the thralldom of
colonizing monopolies and exclusions, an event rapidly realizing in the
progress of human affairs, and which the resistance still opposed in certain
parts of Europe to the acknowledgment of the Southern American republics as
independent states will, it is believed, contribute more effectually to
accomplish. The time has been, and that not remote, when some of those states
might, in their anxious desire to obtain a nominal recognition, have accepted
of a nominal independence, clogged with burdensome conditions, and exclusive
commercial privileges granted to the nation from which they have separated to
the disadvantage of all others. They are all now aware that such concessions to
any European nation would be incompatible with that independence which they
have declared and maintained
Among the
measures which have been suggested to them by the new relations with one
another, resulting from the recent changes in their condition, is that of
assembling at the Isthmus of Panama a congress, at which each of them should be
represented, to deliberate upon objects important to the welfare of all. The
republics of Colombia, of Mexico, and of Central America have already deputed
plenipotentiaries to such a meeting, and they have invited the United States to
be also represented there by their ministers. The invitation has been accepted,
and ministers on the part of the United States will be commissioned to attend
at those deliberations, and to take part in them so far as may be compatible
with that neutrality from which it is neither our intention nor the desire of
the other American states that we should depart.
The
commissioners under the seventh article of the Treaty of Ghent have so nearly
completed their arduous labors that, by the report recently received from the
agent on the part of the United States, there is reason to expect that the
commission will be closed at their next session, appointed for May 22 of the
ensuing year.
The other
commission, appointed to ascertain the indemnities due for slaves carried away
from the United States after the close of the late war, have met with some
difficulty, which has delayed their progress in the inquiry. A reference has
been made to the British government on the subject, which, it may be hoped,
will tend to hasten the decision of the commissioners, or serve as a substitute
for it.
Among the powers
specifically granted to Congress by the Constitution are those of establishing
uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies throughout the United States and of
providing for organizing, arming, and disciplining the militia and for
governing such part of them as may be employed in the services of the United
States. The magnitude and complexity of the interests affected by legislation
upon these subjects may account for the fact that, long and often as both of
them have occupied the attention and animated the debates of Congress, no
systems have yet been devised for fulfilling to the satisfaction of the
community the duties prescribed by these grants of power.
To conciliate
the claim of the individual citizen to the enjoyment of personal liberty, with
the effective obligation of private contracts, is the difficult problem to be
solved by a law of bankruptcy. These are objects of the deepest interest to
society, affecting all that is precious in the existence of multitudes of
persons, many of them in the classes essentially dependent and helpless, of the
age requiring nurture, and of the sex entitled to protection from the free
agency of the parent and the husband. The organization of the militia is yet
more indispensable to the liberties of the country. It is only by an effective
militia that we can at once enjoy the repose of peace and bid defiance to
foreign aggression; it is by the militia that we are constituted an armed
nation, standing in perpetual panoply of defense in the presence of all the
other nations of the earth. To this end it would be necessary, if possible, so
to shape its organization as to give it a more united and active energy. There
are laws establishing an uniform militia throughout the United States and for
arming and equipping its whole body. But it is a body of dislocated members,
without the vigor of unity and having little of uniformity but the name. To
infuse into this most important institution the power of which it is
susceptible and to make it available for the defense of the Union at the
shortest notice and at the smallest expense possible of time, of life, and of
treasure are among the benefits to be expected from the persevering deliberations
of Congress.
Among the
unequivocal indications of our national prosperity is the flourishing state of
our finances. The revenues of the present year, from all their principal
sources, will exceed the anticipations of the last. The balance in the Treasury
on the first of January last was a little short of $2,000,000, exclusive of
$2,500,000, being the moiety of the loan of $5,000,000 authorized by the act of
1824-05-26. The receipts into the Treasury from the 1st of January to the 30th
of September, exclusive of the other moiety of the same loan, are estimated at
$16,500,000, and it is expected that those of the current quarter will exceed
$5,000,000, forming an aggregate of receipts of nearly $22,000,000, independent
of the loan. The expenditures of the year will not exceed that sum more than
$2,000,000. By those expenditures nearly $8,000,000 of the principal of the
public debt that have been discharged.
More than
$1,500,000 has been devoted to the debt of gratitude to the warriors of the
Revolution; a nearly equal sum to the construction of fortifications and the
acquisition of ordnance and other permanent preparations of national defense;
$500,000 to the gradual increase of the Navy; an equal sum for purchases of
territory from the Indians and payment of annuities to them; and upward of
$1,000,000 for objects of internal improvement authorized by special acts of
the last Congress. If we add to these $4,000,000 for payment of interest upon
the public debt, there remains a sum of $7,000,000, which have defrayed the
whole expense of the administration of government in its legislative,
executive, and judiciary departments, including the support of the military and
naval establishments and all the occasional contingencies of a government
coextensive with the Union.
The amount of
duties secured on merchandise imported since the commencement of the year is
about $25,500,000, and that which will accrue during the current quarter is
estimated at $5,500,000; from these $31,000,000, deducting the drawbacks,
estimated at less than $7,000,000, a sum exceeding $24,000,000 will constitute
the revenue of the year, and will exceed the whole expenditures of the year.
The entire amount of the public debt remaining due on the first of January next
will be short of $81,000,000.
By an act of
Congress of the 3rd of March last a loan of $12,000,000 was authorized at 4.5
percent, or an exchange of stock to that amount of 4.5 percent for a stock of 6
percent, to create a fund for extinguishing an equal amount of the public debt,
bearing an interest of 6 percent, redeemable in 1826. An account of the
measures taken to give effect to this act will be laid before you by the
Secretary of the Treasury. As the object which it had in view has been but
partially accomplished, it will be for the consideration of Congress whether
the power with which it clothed the executive should not be renewed at an early
day of the present session, and under what modifications.
The act of
Congress of the 3rd of March last, directing the Secretary of the Treasury to
subscribe, in the name and for the use of the United States, for 1,500 shares
of the capital stock of the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal Company, has been
executed by the actual subscription for the amount specified; and such other
measures have been adopted by that officer, under the act, as the fulfillment
of its intentions requires. The latest accounts received of this important
undertaking authorize the belief that it is in successful progress.
The payments
into the Treasury from the proceeds of the sales of the public lands during the
present year were estimated at $1,000,000. The actual receipts of the first two
quarters have fallen very little short of that sum; it is not expected that the
second half of the year will be equally productive, but the income of the year
from that source may now be safely estimated at $1,500,000. The act of Congress
of 1824-05-18, to provide for the extinguishment of the debt due to the United
States by the purchasers of public lands, was limited in its operation of
relief to the purchaser to the 10th of April last. Its effect at the end of the
quarter during which it expired was to reduce that debt from $10,000,000 to
$7,000,000 By the operation of similar prior laws of relief, from and since
that of 1821-03-02, the debt had been reduced from upward of $22,000,000 to
$10,000,000.
It is
exceedingly desirable that it should be extinguished altogether; and to
facilitate that consummation I recommend to Congress the revival for one year
more of the act of 1824-05-18, with such provisional modification as may be
necessary to guard the public interests against fraudulent practices in the
resale of the relinquished land.
The purchasers
of public lands are among the most useful of our fellow citizens, and since the
system of sales for cash alone has been introduced great indulgence has been
justly extended to those who had previously purchased upon credit. The debt
which had been contracted under the credit sales had become unwieldy, and its
extinction was alike advantageous to the purchaser and to the public. Under the
system of sales, matured as it has been by experience, and adapted to the
exigencies of the times, the lands will continue as they have become, an
abundant source of revenue; and when the pledge of them to the public creditor
shall have been redeemed by the entire discharge of the national debt, the
swelling tide of wealth with which they replenish the common Treasury may be
made to reflow in unfailing streams of improvement from the Atlantic to the
Pacific Ocean.
The condition of
the various branches of the public service resorting from the Department of
War, and their administration during the current year, will be exhibited in the
report of the Secretary of War and the accompanying documents herewith
communicated. The organization and discipline of the Army are effective and
satisfactory. To counteract the prevalence of desertion among the troops it has
been suggested to withhold from the men a small portion of their monthly pay
until the period of their discharge; and some expedient appears to be necessary
to preserve and maintain among the officers so much of the art of horsemanship
as could scarcely fail to be found wanting on the possible sudden eruption of a
war, which should take us unprovided with a single corps of cavalry.
The Military
Academy at West Point, under the restrictions of a severe but paternal
superintendence, recommends itself more and more to the patronage of the
nation, and the numbers of meritorious officers which it forms and introduces to
the public service furnishes the means of multiplying the undertakings of the
public improvements to which their acquirements at that institution are
peculiarly adapted. The school of artillery practice established at Fortress
Monroe Hampton, Virginia is well suited to the same purpose, and may need the
aid of further legislative provision to the same end. The reports of the
various officers at the head of the administrative branches of the military
service, connected with the quartering, clothing, subsistence, health, and pay
of the Army, exhibit the assiduous vigilance of those officers in the
performance of their respective duties, and the faithful accountability which
has pervaded every part of the system.
Our relations
with the numerous tribes of aboriginal natives of this country, scattered over
its extensive surface and so dependent even for their existence upon our power,
have been during the present year highly interesting. An act of Congress of
1824-05-25, made an appropriation to defray the expenses of making treaties of
trade and friendship with the Indian tribes beyond the Mississippi. An act of
1825-03-03, authorized treaties to be made with the Indians for their consent
to the making of a road from the frontier of Missouri to that of New Mexico,
and another act of the same date provided for defraying the expenses of holding
treaties with the Sioux, Chippeways, Menomenees, Sauks, Foxes, etc., for the
purpose of establishing boundaries and promoting peace between said tribes.
The first and
last objects of these acts have been accomplished, and the second is yet in a
process of execution. The treaties which since the last session of Congress
have been concluded with the several tribes will be laid before the Senate for
their consideration conformably to the Constitution. They comprise large and
valuable acquisitions of territory, and they secure an adjustment of boundaries
and give pledges of permanent peace between several tribes which had been long
waging bloody wars against each other.
On the 12th of
February last a treaty was signed at the Indian Springs between commissioners
appointed on the part of the United States and certain chiefs and individuals
of the Creek Nation of Indians, which was received at the seat of government
only a very few days before the close of the last session of Congress and of
the late administration. The advice and consent of the Senate was given to it
on the 3rd of March, too late for it to receive the ratification of the then
President of the United States; it was ratified on the 7th of March, under the
unsuspecting impression that it had been negotiated in good faith and in the
confidence inspired by the recommendation of the Senate. The subsequent
transactions in relation to this treaty will form the subject of a separate
communication.
The
appropriations made by Congress for public works, as well in the construction
of fortifications as for purposes of internal improvement, so far as they have
been expended, have been faithfuly applied. Their progress has been delayed by
the want of suitable officers for superintending them. An increase of both the
corps of engineers, military and topographical, was recommended by my
predecessor at the last session of Congress. The reasons upon which that
recommendation was founded subsist in all their force and have acquired
additional urgency since that time. The Military Academy at West Point will
furnish from the cadets there officers well qualified for carrying this measure
into effect.
The Board of
Engineers for Internal Improvement, appointed for carrying into execution the
act of Congress of 1824-04-30, "to procure the necessary surveys, plans,
and estimates on the subject of roads and canals," have been actively
engaged in that service from the close of the last session of Congress. They
have completed the surveys necessary for ascertaining the practicability of a
canal from the Chesapeake Bay to the Ohio River, and are preparing a full
report on that subject, which, when completed, will be laid before you. The
same observation is to be made with regard to the two other objects of national
importance upon which the Board have been occupied, namely, the accomplishment
of a national road from this city to New Orleans, and the practicability of
uniting the waters of Lake Memphramagog with Connecticut River and the
improvement of the navigation of that river. The surveys have been made and are
nearly completed. The report may be expected at an early period during the
present session of Congress.
The acts of
Congress of the last session relative to the surveying, marking, or laying out
roads in the Territories of Florida, Arkansas, and Michigan, from Missouri to
Mexico, and for the continuation of the Cumberland road, are, some of them,
fully executed, and others in the process of execution. Those for completing or
commencing fortifications have been delayed only so far as the Corps of
Engineers has been inadequate to furnish officers for the necessary
superintendence of the works. Under the act confirming the statutes of Virginia
and Maryland incorporating the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company, three
commissioners on the part of the United States have been appointed for opening
books and receiving subscriptions, in concert with a like number of commissioners
appointed on the part of each of those states. A meeting of the commissioners
has been post-poned, to await the definitive report of the board of engineers.
The light-houses
and monuments for the safety of our commerce and mariners, the works for the
security of Plymouth Beach and for the preservation of the islands in Boston
Harbor, have received the attention required by the laws relating to those
objects respectively. The continuation of the Cumberland road, the most
important of them all, after surmounting no inconsiderable difficulty in fixing
upon the direction of the road, has commenced under the most promising of
auspices, with the improvements of recent invention in the mode of
construction, and with advantage of a great reduction in the comparative cost
of the work.
The operation of
the laws relating to the Revolutionary pensioners may deserve the renewed
consideration of Congress. The act of 1818-03-18, while it made provision for
many meritorious and indigent citizens who had served in the War of
Independence, opened a door to numerous abuses and impositions. To remedy this
the act of 1820-05-01, exacted proofs of absolute indigence, which many really
in want were unable and all susceptible of that delicacy which is allied to
many virtues must be deeply reluctant to give. The result has been that some
among the least deserving have been retained, and some in whom the requisites
both of worth and want were combined have been stricken from the list. As the
numbers of these venerable relics of an age gone by diminish; as the decays of
body, mind, and estate of those that survive must in the common course of
nature increase, should not a more liberal portion of indulgence be dealt out
to them? May not the want in most instances be inferred from the demand when
the service can be proved, and may not the last days of human infirmity be
spared the mortification of purchasing a pittance of relief only by the
exposure of its own necessities? I submit to Congress the expediency of
providing for individual cases of this description by special enactment, or of
revising the act of 1820-05-01, with a view to mitigate the rigor of its
exclusions in favor of persons to whom charity now bestowed can scarcely
discharge the debt of justice.
The portion of
the naval force of the Union in actual service has been chiefly employed on
three stations—the Mediterranean, the coasts of South America bordering on the
Pacific Ocean, and the West Indies. An occasional cruiser has been sent to
range along the African shores most polluted by the traffic of slaves; one
armed vessel has been stationed on the coast of our eastern boundary, to cruise
along the fishing grounds in Hudsons Bay and on the coast of Labrador, and the
first service of a new frigate has been performed in restoring to his native
soil and domestic enjoyments the veteran hero whose youthful blood and treasure
had freely flowed in the cause of our country's independence, and whose whole
life has been a series of services and sacrifices to the improvement of his
fellow men.
The visit of
General Lafayette, alike honorable to himself and to our country, closed, as it
had commenced, with the most affecting testimonials of devoted attachment on
his part, and of unbounded gratitude of this people to him in return. It will
form here-after a pleasing incident in the annals of our Union, giving to real
history the intense interest of romance and signally marking the unpurchasable
tribute of a great nation's social affections to the disinterested champion of
the liberties of humankind.
The constant
maintenance of a small squadron in the Mediterranean is a necessary substitute
for the humiliating alternative of paying tribute for the security of our
commerce in that sea, and for a precarious peace, at the mercy of every caprice
of four Barbary states, by whom it was liable to be violated. An additional
motive for keeping a respectable force stationed there at this time is found in
the maritime war raging between the Greeks and the Turks, and in which the
neutral navigation of this Union is always in danger of outrage and
depredation. A few instances have occurred of such depredations upon our
merchant vessels by privateers or pirates wearing the Grecian flag, but without
real authority from the Greek or any other government. The heroic struggles of
the Greeks themselves, in which our warmest sympathies as free men and
Christians have been engaged, have continued to be maintained with vicissitudes
of success adverse and favorable.
Similar motives
have rendered expedient the keeping of a like force on the coasts of Peru and
Chile on the Pacific. The irregular and convulsive character of the war upon
the shores has been extended to the conflicts upon the ocean. An active warfare
has been kept up for years with alternate success, though generally to the
advantage of the American patriots. But their naval forces have not always been
under the control of their own governments. Blockades, unjustifiable upon any
acknowledged principles of international law, have been proclaimed by officers
in command, and though disavowed by the supreme authorities, the protection of
our own commerce against them has been made cause of complaint and erroneous
imputations against some of the most gallant officers of our Navy. Complaints
equally groundless have been made by the commanders of the Spanish royal forces
in those seas; but the most effective protection to our commerce has been the
flag and the firmness of our own commanding officers.
The cessation of
the war by the complete triumph of the patriot cause has removed, it is hoped,
all cause of dissension with one party and all vestige of force of the other.
But an unsettled coast of many degrees of latitude forming a part of our own
territory and a flourishing commerce and fishery extending to the islands of
the Pacific and to China still require that the protecting power of the Union
should be displayed under its flag as well upon the ocean as upon the land.
The objects of
the West India Squadron have been to carry into execution the laws for the suppression
of the African slave trade; for the protection of our commerce against vessels
of piratical character, though bearing commissions from either of the
belligerent parties; for its protection against open and unequivocal pirates.
These objects during the present year have been accomplished more effectually
than at any former period. The African slave trade has long been excluded from
the use of our flag, and if some few citizens of our country have continued to
set the laws of the Union as well as those of nature and humanity at defiance
by persevering in that abominable traffic, it has been only by sheltering
themselves under the banners of other nations less earnest for the total
extinction of the trade of ours.
The active,
persevering, and unremitted energy of Captain Warrington and of the officers
and men under his command on that trying and perilous service have been crowned
with signal success, and are entitled to the approbation of their country. But
experience has shown that not even a temporary suspension or relaxation from
assiduity can be indulged on that station without reproducing piracy and murder
in all their horrors; nor is it probably that for years to come our immensely
valuable commerce in those seas can navigate in security without the steady
continuance of an armed force devoted to its protection.
It were, indeed,
a vain and dangerous illusion to believe that in the present or probable
condition of human society a commerce so extensive and so rich as ours could
exist and be pursued in safety without the continual support of a military
marine—the only arm by which the power of this Confederacy can be estimated or
felt by foreign nations, and the only standing military force which can never
be dangerous to our own liberties at home. A permanent naval peace
establishment, therefore, adapted to our present condition, and adaptable to
that gigantic growth with which the nation is advancing in its career, is among
the subjects which have already occupied the foresight of the last Congress, and
which will deserve your serious deliberations. Our Navy, commenced at an early
period of our present political organization upon a scale commensurate with the
incipient energies, the scanty resources, and the comparative indigence of our
infancy, was even then found adequate to cope with all the powers of Barbary,
save the first, and with one of the principle maritime powers of Europe.
At a period of
further advancement, but with little accession of strength, it not only
sustained with honor the most unequal of conflicts, but covered itself and our
country with unfading glory. But it is only since the close of the late war
that by the numbers and force of the ships of which it was composed it could
deserve the name of a navy. Yet it retains nearly the same organization as when
it consisted only of five frigates. The rules and regulations by which it is
governed earnestly call for revision, and the want of a naval school of
instruction, corresponding with the Military Academy at West Point, for the
formation of scientific and accomplished officers, is felt with daily
increasing aggravation.
The act of
Congress of 1824-05-26, authorizing an examination and survey of the harbor of
Charleston, in South Carolina, of St. Marys, in Georgia, and of the coast of
Florida, and for other purposes, has been executed so far as the appropriation
would admit. Those of the 3rd of March last, authorizing the establishment of a
navy yard and depot on the coast of Florida, in the Gulf of Mexico, and
authorizing the building of 10 sloops of war, and for other purposes, are in
the course of execution, for the particulars of which and other objects
connected with this Department I refer to the report of the Secretary of the
Navy, herewith communicated.
A report from
the Postmaster General is also submitted, exhibiting the present flourishing
condition of that Department. For the first time for many years the receipts
for the year ending on the first of July last exceeded the expenditures during
the same period to the amount of more than $45,000. Other facts equally
creditable to the administration of this Department are that in two years from
1823-07-01, an improvement of more than $185,000 in its pecuniary affairs has
been realized; that in the same interval the increase of the transportation of
the mail has exceeded 1,500,000 miles annually, and that 1,040 new post offices
have been established. It hence appears that under judicious management the
income from this establishment may be relied on as fully adequate to defray its
expenses, and that by the discontinuance of post roads altogether unproductive,
others of more useful character may be opened, 'til the circulation of the mail
shall keep pace with the spread of our population, and the comforts of friendly
correspondence, the exchanges of internal traffic, and the lights of the
periodical press shall be distributed to the remotest corners of the Union, at
a charge scarcely perceptible to any individual, and without the cost of a
dollar to the public Treasury.
Upon this first
occasion of addressing the legislature of the Union, with which I have been
honored, in presenting to their view the execution so far as it has been
effected of the measures sanctioned by them for promoting the internal
improvement of our country, I can not close the communication without
recommending to their calm and persevering consideration the general principle
in a more enlarged extent. The great object of the institution of civil
government is the improvement of the condition of those who are parties to the
social compact, and no government, in what ever form constituted, can
accomplish the lawful ends of its institution but in proportion as it improves
the condition of those over whom it is established. Roads and canals, by
multiplying and facilitating the communications and intercourse between distant
regions and multitudes of men, are among the most important means of
improvement. But moral, political, intellectual improvement are duties assigned
by the Author of Our Existence to social no less than to individual man.
For the
fulfillment of those duties governments are invested with power, and to the
attainment of the end—the progressive improvement of the condition of the
governed—the exercise of delegated powers is a duty as sacred and indispensable
as the usurpation of powers not granted is criminal and odious.
Among the first,
perhaps the very first, instrument for the improvement of the condition of men
is knowledge, and to the acquisition of much of the knowledge adapted to the
wants, the comforts, and enjoyments of human life public institutions and
seminaries of learning are essential. So convinced of this was the first of my
predecessors in this office, now first in the memory, as, living, he was first
in the hearts, of our countrymen, that once and again in his addresses to the
Congresses with whom he cooperated in the public service he earnestly
recommended the establishment of seminaries of learning, to prepare for all the
emergencies of peace and war—a national university and a military academy. With
respect to the latter, had he lived to the present day, in turning his eyes to
the institution at West Point he would have enjoyed the gratification of his
most earnest wishes; but in surveying the city which has been honored with his
name he would have seen the spot of earth which he had destined and bequeathed
to the use and benefit of his country as the site for a university still bare
and barren.
In assuming her
station among the civilized nations of the earth it would seem that our country
had contracted the engagement to contribute her share of mind, of labor, and of
expense to the improvement of those parts of knowledge which lie beyond the
reach of individual acquisition, and particularly to geographical and
astronomical science. Looking back to the history only of the half century
since the declaration of our independence, and observing the generous emulation
with which the governments of France, Great Britain, and Russia have devoted
the genius, the intelligence, the treasures of their respective nations to the
common improvement of the species in these branches of science, is it not
incumbent upon us to inquire whether we are not bound by obligations of a high
and honorable character to contribute our portion of energy and exertion to the
common stock? The voyages of discovery prosecuted in the course of that time at
the expense of those nations have not only redounded to their glory, but to the
improvement of human knowledge.
We have been
partakers of that improvement and owe for it a sacred debt, not only of
gratitude, but of equal or proportional exertion in the same common cause. Of
the cost of these undertakings, if the mere expenditures of outfit, equipment,
and completion of the expeditions were to be considered the only charges, it would
be unworthy of a great and generous nation to take a second thought. One
hundred expeditions of circumnavigation like those of Cook and La Prouse would
not burden the exchequer of the nation fitting them out so much as the ways and
means of defraying a single campaign in war. but if we take into account the
lives of those benefactors of man-kind of which their services in the cause of
their species were the purchase, how shall the cost of those heroic enterprises
be estimated, and what compensation can be made to them or to their countries
for them? Is it not by bearing them in affectionate remembrance? Is it not
still more by imitating their example—by enabling country-men of our own to
pursue the same career and to hazard their lives in the same cause?
In inviting the
attention of Congress to the subject of internal improvements upon a view thus
enlarged it is not my desire to recommend the equipment of an expedition for
circumnavigating the globe for purposes of scientific research and inquiry. We
have objects of useful investigation nearer home, and to which our cares may be
more beneficially applied. The interior of our own territories has yet been
very imperfectly explored. our coasts along many degrees of latitude upon the
shores of the Pacific Ocean, though much frequented by our spirited commercial
navigators, have been barely visited by our public ships. The River of the
West, first fully discovered and navigated by a countryman of our own, still
bears the name of the ship in which he ascended its waters, and claims the
protection of our armed national flag at its mouth. With the establishment of a
military post there or at some other point of that coast, recommended by my
predecessor and already matured in the deliberations of the last Congress, I would
suggest the expediency of connecting the equipment of a public ship for the
exploration of the whole north-west coast of this continent.
The
establishment of an uniform standard of weights and measures was one of the
specific objects contemplated in the formation of our Constitution, and to fix
that standard was on of the powers delegated by express terms in that
instrument to Congress. The governments of Great Britain and France have
scarcely ceased to be occupied with inquiries and speculations on the same
subject since the existence of our Constitution, and with them it has expanded
into profound, laborious, and expensive researches into the figure of the earth
and the comparative length of the pendulum vibrating seconds in various
latitudes from the equator to the pole. These researches have resulted in the
composition and publication of several works highly interesting to the cause of
science. The experiments are yet in the process of performance. Some of them
have recently been made on our own shores, within the walls of one of our own
colleges, and partly by one of our own fellow citizens. It would be honorable
to our country if the sequel of the same experiments should be countenanced by
the patronage of our government, as they have hitherto been by those of France
and Britain.
Connected with
the establishment of an university, or separate from it, might be undertaken
the erection of an astronomical observatory, with provision for the support of
an astronomer, to be in constant attendance of observation upon the phenomena
of the heavens, and for the periodical publication of his observances. it is
with no feeling of pride as an American that the remark may be made that on the
comparatively small territorial surface of Europe there are existing upward of
130 of these lighthouses of the skies, while throughout the whole American
hemisphere there is not one. If we reflect a moment upon the discoveries which
in the last four centuries have been made in the physical constitution of the
universe by the means of these buildings and of observers stationed in them,
shall we doubt of their usefulness to every nation? And while scarcely a year
passes over our heads without bringing some new astronomical discovery to
light, which we must fain receive at second hand from Europe, are we not
cutting ourselves off from the means of returning light for light while we have
neither observatory nor observer upon our half of the globe and the earth
revolves in perpetual darkness to our unsearching eyes?
When, on
1791-10-25, the first President of the United States announced to Congress the
result of the first enumeration of the inhabitants of this Union, he informed
them that the returns gave the pleasing assurance that the population of the
United States bordered on 4,000,000 persons. At the distance of 30 years from
that time the last enumeration, five years since completed, presented a
population bordering on 10,000,000. Perhaps of all the evidence of a prosperous
and happy condition of human society the rapidity of the increase of population
is the most unequivocal. But the demonstration of our prosperity rests not
alone upon this indication.
Our commerce,
our wealth, and the extent of our territories have increased in corresponding
proportions, and the number of independent communities associated in our
federal Union has since that time nearly doubled. The legislative
representation of the states and people in the two Houses of Congress has grown
with the growth of their constituent bodies. The House, which then consisted of
65 members, now numbers upward of 200. The Senate, which consisted of 26
members, has now 48. But the executive and, still more, the judiciary
departments are yet in a great measure confined to their primitive
organization, and are now not adequate to the urgent wants of a still growing
community.
The naval
armaments, which at an early period forced themselves upon the necessities of
the Union, soon led to the establishment of a Department of the Navy. But the
Departments of Foreign Affairs and of the Interior, which early after the
formation of the government had been united in one, continue so united to this
time, to the unquestionable detriment of the public service. The multiplication
of our relations with the nations and governments of the Old World has kept
pace with that of our population and commerce, while within the last 10 years a
new family of nations in our own hemisphere has arisen among the inhabitants of
the earth, with whom our intercourse, commercial and political, would of itself
furnish occupation to an active and industrious department.
The constitution
of the judiciary, experimental and imperfect as it was even in the infancy of
our existing government, is yet more inadequate to the administration of
national justice at our present maturity. Nine years have elapsed since a
predecessor in this office, now not the last, the citizen who, perhaps, of all
others throughout the Union contributed most to the formation and establishment
of our Constitution, in his valedictory address to Congress, immediately
preceding his retirement from public life, urgently recommended the revision of
the judiciary and the establishment of an additional executive department. The
exigencies of the public service and its unavoidable deficiencies, as now in exercise,
have added yearly cumulative weight to the considerations presented by him as
persuasive to the measure, and in recommending it to your deliberations I am
happy to have the influence of this high authority in aid of the undoubting
convictions of my own experience.
The laws
relating to the administration of the Patent Office are deserving of much
consideration and perhaps susceptible of some improvement. The grant of power
to regulate the action of Congress upon this subject has specified both the end
to be obtained and the means by which it is to be effected, "to promote
the progress of science and useful arts by securing for limited times to
authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and
discoveries". If an honest pride might be indulged in the reflection that
on the records of that office are already found inventions the usefulness of
which has scarcely been transcended in the annals of human ingenuity, would not
its exultation be allayed by the inquiry whether the laws have effectively
insured to the inventors the reward destined to them by the Constitution—even a
limited term of exclusive right to their discoveries?
On 1799-12-24,
it was resolved by Congress that a marble monument should be erected by the
United States in the Capitol at the city of Washington; that the family of
General Washington should be requested to permit his body to be deposited under
it, and that the monument be so designed as to commemorate the great events of
his military and political life. In reminding Congress of this resolution and
that the monument contemplated by it remains yet without execution, I shall
indulge only the remarks that the works at the Capitol are approaching to
completion; that the consent of the family, desired by the resolution, was
requested and obtained; that a monument has been recently erected in this city
over the remains of another distinguished patriot of the Revolution, and that a
spot has been reserved within the walls where you are deliberating for the
benefit of this and future ages, in which the mortal remains may be deposited
of him whose spirit hovers over you and listens with delight to every act of
the representatives of his nation which can tend to exalt and adorn his and
their country.
The Constitution
under which you are assembled is a charter of limited powers. After full and
solemn deliberation upon all or any of the objects which, urged by an
irresistible sense of my own duty, I have recommended to your attention should
you come to the conclusion that, however desirable in themselves, the enactment
of laws for effecting them would transcend the powers committed to you by that
venerable instrument which we are all bound to support, let no consideration
induce you to assume the exercise of powers not granted to you by the people.
But if the power
to exercise exclusive legislation in all cases what so ever over the District
of Columbia; if the power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and
excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general
welfare of the United States; if the power to regulate commerce with foreign
nations and among the several States and with the Indian tribes, to fix the
standard of weights and measures, to establish post offices and post roads, to
declare war, to raise and support armies, to provide and maintain a navy, to
dispose of and make all needful rules and regulations respecting the territory
or other property belonging to the United States, and to make all laws which
shall be necessary and proper for carrying these powers into execution—if these
powers and others enumerated in the Constitution may be effectually brought
into action by laws promoting the improvement of agriculture, commerce, and
manufactures, the cultivation and encouragement of the mechanic and of the
elegant arts, the advancement of literature, and the progress of the sciences,
ornamental and profound, to refrain from exercising them for the benefit of the
people themselves would be to hide in the earth the talent committed to our
charge—would be treachery to the most sacred of trusts.
The spirit of
improvement is abroad upon the earth. It stimulates the hearts and sharpens the
faculties not of our fellow citizens alone, but of the nations of Europe and of
their rulers. While dwelling with pleasing satisfaction upon the superior
excellence of our political institutions, let us not be unmindful that liberty
is power; that the nation blessed with the largest portion of liberty must in
proportion to its numbers be the most powerful nation upon earth, and that the
tenure of power by man is, in the moral purposes of his Creator, upon condition
that it shall be exercised to ends of beneficence, to improve the condition of
himself and his fellow men.
While foreign
nations less blessed with that freedom which is power than ourselves are
advancing with gigantic strides in the career of public improvement, were we to
slumber in indolence or fold up our arms and proclaim to the world that we are
palsied by the will of our constituents, would it not be to cast away the
bounties of Providence and doom ourselves to perpetual inferiority? In the
course of the year now drawing to its close we have beheld, under the auspices
and at the expense of one state of this Union, a new university unfolding its
portals to the sons of science and holding up the torch of human improvement to
eyes that seek the light. We have seen under the persevering and enlightened
enterprise of another state the waters of our Western lakes mingle with those
of the ocean. If undertakings like these have been accomplished in the compass
of a few years by the authority of single members of our Confederation, can we,
the representative authorities of the whole Union, fall behind our fellow
servants in the exercise of the trust committed to us for the benefit of our common
sovereign by the accomplishment of works important to the whole and to which
neither the authority nor the resources of any one state can be adequate?
Finally, fellow
citizens, I shall await with cheering hope and faithful cooperation the result
of your deliberations, assured that, without encroaching upon the powers
reserved to the authorities of the respective states or to the people, you
will, with a due sense of your obligations to your country and of the high
responsibilities weighing upon yourselves, give efficacy to the means committed
to you for the common good. And may He who searches the hearts of the children
of men prosper your exertions to secure the blessings of peace and promote the
highest welfare of your country.
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