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■ It upon some of them arc yet sources dissatisfaction and complaint. No danger is apprehended, however, | that they will not be peaceably al- } though tardily acknowledged an I' paid by all, unless the irritating effect of her struggle with Texas should unfortunately make our immediate neighbor, Mexico, an exception. It is already known to you, by the j correspondence between the two; Governments, communicated at your ( last session, that our conduct in re-1 lation to that struggle is regulated by i the same principles that governed | us in the dispute between Spain and] Mexico herself, and, I trust, that it; will be found, on the most severe 1 scrutiny, that our acts have strictly corresponded with our professions. That the inhabitants of the United States should feel strong preposses sions for the one party is not surpri sing. But this circumstance should of itself, teach us great caution, least it lead us into the great error of suf fering public policy to be regulated by partiality or prejudice ; ami there are considerations connected with the possible result of thisco est between the two parties, of so much delicasy and importance to the U.S. that our charter requires that wc should neither anticipate events, nor attempt to control them. 'The known desire of the i exams to be come a part of on? system, althoug i its gratification depends upon the reconcilement of various ?nd con flicting interests, necessarily a work of time, and uncertain in i’seV, is cal culated to expose our conduct to misconstruction in the eyes of the world. There are already those who indifferent to principle themselves, and prone io suspect the want of it in others, charge us with ambitions designs and insidious pok“‘Y« Von will perceive, by the accompanying documents, that the extraordinary. mission from Mexico has been ter minated on the sole grounds that the obligation-; of this Government to it self and Mexic >, under treaty stipu lations, have compelled me to trust a discretionary authority to a high officer of our army, to advance into ravmniuij ’ iciHiivxr <c-» i.ciii ; as, ifneecssaay, lo protect our own or the neighboring frontier from In dian depredation. In the opinion' of the Aiexican functionary who his; just left us, the honor of his count n will be wounded by American soldiers entering, with the most ami-i cable avowed purpose, upon ground from which the followers of his Gov i erment have been expelled, and over which there is at present no certainty of a serious effort on its part being made to re-establish its The departure of this minister wa -J the more singular as he was appris ed that the sufficiencies of the cau ses assigned for the advance u! our troops by the commanding General' had been seriously doubted by me;! and that there was every reason to suppose that the troops of the 1 . S. —their commander having had time to ascertain the truth or falst h »od of the information upon which they had been marched to Nacogdoches • —would be either there in perfect accordance with the principles ad mitted to be just in his conference with the Secretaay ol State, by the Mexican Minister himself, or were already withdrawn in consequence of the impressive warnings their commanding officer had icccivcd from the Department of War. It >s hoped ami beheved that his Govern ment will lake a more and just view ot this subject, and not be disposed to construe a measure of justifiable precaution, made :.ece*- sarv by its known inability , in exe cution of our treaty, to act upon the frontier, into an encroachment upon its rights, ora stain upon its honor. In the mean time, the ancient com plaints of injustice, made on behalf of our citizens, are disregarded. and new causes of dissatisfaction have arisen, some of them of a charac er requring prompt remonstrances, and ample and immediate redress. I trust, however, by tempering firm ness with courtesx. and acting vh great forbearance upon every inci dent that has occ tired, or that max happen, to do and to obtain > istice. and th in avoid the necessity of again bringing this subject to the view of, Congress. _ i It is my duty to remind you, that 1 no provission has been made to ex ecute our treaty with Mexico for tracing the boundary line between the two countries. Whatever may be the prospect of Mexico being soon able to execute the treaty on i its part, it is proper th it we should I be, in anticipation, prepared at al! 'times to perform our obligations, 'without regard to the probable con ! dilion of those with whom we have i contracted them. ; The result of the confidential in ■ quiries made into the condition and prospects of the newly declared Texiaa Government, will be commu nicated to you in course of the ses- sion. Commercial’ treaties, promising great a ivautages to our enterprising merchants and navigators, have been lormed with the distant Govern ! meats of Muscat and Siam. The (ratifications have been exchanged, but not reached the department ol ( State; copies of the treaties will be transmitted to you, if received be fore, or published if arriving after, rite close of the present session of Congress. Nothing has occured to interrupt the good understanding that has Lmg existed with the Barbary Pow ers, nor to c heck the good will which is gradually growing up in our mter (cour.se with the dominions oi the | Government of the distinguished (Chief of the Ottoman of Umpire. > |nf9rm.ltio i iias been received at the Denart neat of State that a trea ty withtnc Umperor of Morocco lias just been negotiated, which, [hope, ; will be received in time to be laid before the Senate previous to the < lose of the session You will perceive, from the report of the Secretary of the Prcasury,; iiMt die financial means of the conn-; t'y c6.’iti?‘ue to keep pace with its; improvement in all other respects. I The receipts into the Treasury du-1 ring the present year, will amount to about $17,691,898: those b’° cjlstoais being estimated rd .g’/'g’? .025,1.91; tnoM-iro n lands ar a..'-”" $2 i.000,(MO, and the residue li om miscellaneous sources, '[’lie expen ditures for ail objects during the year, are estimated not to exceed $22,000,000, which will leave a bal ance in the Treasury for public pur poses, on the first day January next, of about $11,723,959. This bum with the exception of live millions, will be transferred to the several States, in accordant e with the pro visions ol the act regulating the de- positt's o! the public money. » he unexpended balances of ap propropriation, on the I*4 day o ■January next, are estimated at $14,- 636,062, exceeding by $9,636,062. the amount which will be ieit in the depusirc banks, subject to the drah of the Treasurer of the Gnited Staes after the contemplated transfers to j the several States are made. !>' therefore, the future receipts should . not be sufficient to meet these out standing and future approp: iaiions there mav be soon a necessity to use a portion of the funds deposited with the States. 'The consequences apprehended, when the deposit act of the last ses sion received a reluctant aporoval, have been measurably realized. Though an act merely (or the depo site of tin surplus moneys of the U. States in the state i'reasuries, for safekeeping, until they may be wan ted for the General Government, it has been extensively spoken of as an a< t t » give the money to the sev eral States, and they have been ad vised to use it as a gilt, without re gard to the means of refunding it when called for Such asuggestion has doubtless been made without a due consideration of the obligation of the deposite act, and without a proper attention to the various prin ciples and interests which are affec ted bv it It is ma lifest that the law itself cannot saueti m such a sugges tion. ami that, as it now stands, the .states have no more authoiity to re ceive and use th< deposite* willi n' t intending to return them, than an} deposit bank, or any individual temporary charged with the safcji , keeping »r applicotion of the public ‘ imoney, vould now have for conver ting the lame to their private use 'without he consent and against the will of tie Government. But, inde pendently of the violation of public J faith and moral obigation v. hicn are I involve! in this suggestion, when ex-1 amineu in reference to the terms oi the present deposit, act, it is believ ed that the considerations which 'would govern the future legislation of Congress on this subject, will be equally conclusive against the adop tion of any measure recognising the ■ principles on which the suggestion I has been made. I Considering the intimate connec • tion of the subject with the financial - interests of the country, and its great importance in whatever as- Ppect it can be viewed,! have be ; stowed upon it the most anxious re -1 flection, and feel it to be my duty - to state to Congress such thoughts 3 as have occured to me, to aid their , Jdeliberati >n in treating it in the man -1 pier best < alculated to conduce to the 3 common good. -I I'he experience of other nations , admonished us to hasten extinguish I merit of the public debt. ut it will be in vain that we have congrat- 1 ulated each other upon the disappear s ance of this evil, if we do nut guard - against the equally great one of pro -1 moting the umiecessary accumulation -of public revenue.—No political max -3 ■ini is better established than that 1 which tells us that an imprudent 'expenditure of money is the parent t!of profligacy, and that no people -pan hope to perpetuate their liber s/ties who long acquiesce in a policy , which taxes them for objects not ne- I < essary to the legitimate and real ‘ wants of their government. Flatter lingas is the conditi 11 of our coun tpry at the present period, because of its unexampled advance in all the ■ steps of solid and political improv c > ment, it cannot be disguise I that ithere is a lurking danger already ap parent in the nt gleet of this warning l truth, and that the time has arrived ! when the representatives of the peo- - pie should be empl >yed in devising sonic inure uupi vpiiiuc icuicuy uian ! now exists, to avert it. JJnder our present revenue sys tem, U.’cre is every probability that lucre v ill continue to be a surplus beyond tin? cants ol the Govern ment; audit has become our duty to decide whether such a result be con sistent with the true objects ol our Government. Should a surplus be permitted to accumulate, bey tmd the appropria tions, it must be retain d in the I rcasurx as it now is, or distributed among the propl. or the states. !'o retain it in the Treasury, unem ployed in any way, is impracticable. It is, besides, again>t the genius ol our free institution to lock up in vaults the trersuries of the nation. To take from the people the right of bearing arms, and puttheir wea pons of defence in the hands of a *tauding army, would be scarselv more dangerous to their liberties, than to permit the (iovernmeil to act umulate immense of trea sure bey ond the supplies neceasary to its legitimate wants, a trea sure would doubtless be employ ed at some time, as it has been in other counties when opportunity tempted ambition. I’o collect it merely for d stribmion to the Slates, wojld seem to be highly impolitic, it not as dangerous as .he proposition to reiaiti it in the I rea-ury. The shortest reflection must s itisfv every one that to r-q ore the peo ple to piy I iXes to the Government merely lhal they may be paid back again, is sporting with the subslaniial interests of the Country, and no system wlu<h produces such a result can be expected i.> receive the public counte n see. Nothing could be g’timd l>y it, even it each individual who contr b t» d a p- ri< n of die tax could receive back promptly the same portion. But it is apparent that no sys >rm of ihe kind can ever be enforce d, whi> h will not al.sorl e corsuleiable poiiton <>t Inc nioney, to be di'li ibuted in salaries and corn mi-si’ U' to 'he age ts empl yed in the process ai d in the v .'ions tosses and denrema’ions wi i i arise from other causes; and the pr .e tjc.,l f iieci of <U' h an attempt tins ever h»* t<> b ird n the pe >plfj won lax-*, n- t for por;i*«- sc- b» r.eti lai to them but to swell ih»* pr. ti - < t oepe-ite banks, and supp >rt a band of use U ss public , Jn rr». A Gi> r.btitiou to the people is impractirabk at dui just m other tr>, ec s. It would be la kit'® one man’s property s.nd giving it to ano- iberS. Stwli would be the unavoidable result of a rule <>f ecjualby (and none other is spoke’ <>f, or would be likely to be adopted) ioaS much as there is no mt.de by which the amount of the individual contributions of our citizens Io the public revenue can be ascer tained. We know that <ney contribute une* qually, and a rule therefore that would dts’ri bu’t- to them equally, would be liable to all plte objections which apply to the principle of an equal division of property. To make the General Government lite instrument of ciflfrv ing this odious principle into e(T« ct, would be at once 10 de-troy ’he means of its usefulness, and change the character designed for it by the framers of the Constitution. But the more extended and injur ous conse quences likely to ieoi|i from a policy winch would collect a surplus revenue for lhe purpose of distribuii ig it, may be forcibly illustrated by an examine.ion ol the effeeis already pro duced by the pieseul deposite a< t. This act, dthou'jli ceitamly designed t<< secure the safe keeping ol ’be pubhc revenue, is not entirely tree in bs tendencies from many of the ob jections which apply (o this principle of distri bution. The Government had, without ne cessily, received fn»m the people a l.aroe sur plus, which, instead ot being employed as heri’toli.re, and returned to them by means of the public expcndiuiie, was deposited with sundry banks. The batiks proceeded to make loans upon this surplus, and thus convened it into hanking capital ; and in this manm r it t,;is tended to multiply hank charters, and Inn sad a great agency in producing a spirit ol vild speculation. I'he possession and use of the properly out of which this surplus was ere ated. belong to the people ; bm the Govern ■m ill hss transferred ps possession lo ineorpo ra ed b inks, whose interest and rfful it is Io make large profits out of Hs us.*. This pro cess need only be stated to show its injustice a id bad policy. And lhe same observations apply <o the it.fluence which is produced by the steps ne cessary io collect, as well as distribute such a revenue. About three fifths ol all lhe duties ■>n imports are paid in the • , ity of New F>rk. but i is obvious th it the means to pav those dudes are drawn from every q 1 »rter of the Union. Every citize 1 in every Sta’e, who purchases and consumes an article winch has paid a duty at that non, comriim’es lo the ac cumul iimg m ss. The surplus crllected there must, then tore, be made up of moneys <»r i.roi>eitj withdrawn from other points and other States Thus the wealth and bn-uness <>f every region fiom which those surplus funds proceed, must be to some extent injured, while that nf the place where the funds are concentrated, arid are employed in banking, are proportionally extended. But both in making the transfer of lhe fact which are first necessary to pay he duties and collect the surplus—and m making the transfer, which becomes necessary when the time arrives for lhe distribution of that surplus—there is a con-ode able period when the funds cannot be brough' into use ; and 11 is manifest that, be > i > —-—,.i<. *<•< ti mi <>per i- ’ l ot), Us tendency is t<> pioducr fluciuntimis in | I tie. business >4 the country winch are alwnvs , productive of specul ition, and d> trim'ii’a! l<> •he inh rest* «>f r< 2<il.ir trade. Argument can scarcely he necras rv to show that a measure i<d this chametar night not to receive further I* gisi live encouragement. j By examining the practical operation of the ipiio lot di nbuliori, adopted tn the deposde hill of the last session, we shall discover other •feniinrs, that appeal equally objectionable.— , 1 et it be assumed, (or the sake of argument, • hai the snr<>bis moneys to he deposited wi’li the States, have her n collected, and belong to them, in the ratio r»f their federal repres- ma live papula!nin—an a-sumptmn founded upon (lie fact lhal any diff. reucies in our future revenue from imports and public lauds, rnu-i .'•e made up bv direct taxes, collected fmm the States in taai ratio. It is proposed to distil- I hole lite surplus, say $30,000,000, not accot- J dmg u> the ratio in win h it bus been collected j and belongs to the people of the Slates, Inn m that of (heir van s in the c< lieges of e|« ctors ol President and Vice Piesidept. The effect I of a dis'i iimiion upon 'hat ratio is shown by •he ann< xed table, m irked A. Bv an exiitnuiaiion of that table, it will be percejvi d hat in th.- distribution of a surplus. <•1 §30,000,000. upon that basis, there is a ' gre >' departure from the principle winch re-j 2md< representation as the trii3 measure of; uixatum : and it will fie found tli.H the len demy of that depart re will be to increase whatever inequalities have been supposed to attend the operation ol out federal system in respect to ns bearings upon the different m t rests of ttie Union. In making the basis ol repr. k eiitali<*n the basis of tux ilion, the fra m r- ol the eon-tpu u>n intend, d to equulizc . hire loudens which are nccessaiy to support ] I the (loveriiinct t ; and tht adopiion of ttiui rilio. wliilo it aecoin; !iS"ed this object, was I also the uh a ‘s of adj i*tmg other great topic*, arising out «>f the confli* ting views respectitiL' pobticirl equality of the various numtiers ol I itie coofeCei oy. Whatever therefore disturb,* !f;e liberal spirit ot the compromises which est ibhsiied a rub- of taxation .*<> j>i-i and eq 'li able, and which experience have proved t > no so well adapted to the genius and babes of our people, should !>e received with the greatest cau .on and distrust. A bare mspei lion, in the annexed table, of the d (Terences produced bv the ratio used in Ho deposite act, compared with ‘he lesol's of i distri u ion a --cordmg io the taiio of direci taxation, must s iiisfy every unprejudiced tnind, tliat tlie lonm r ratio contravene* the spirit <>t ihe constitution, and produces a dcgiee ol in jus’n e in th** op» ration of the Federal Gov imminent *:m h would be fital io the hope t I peipelu itmg it. By the ratio of direct ta\a |t«on, tor exa nple, tne Slate of I) laware, in phe collection of $30,000,000 of revenue, 1 would pay into me :i< ..ry §188,716 ; and in a distribution of $30,000,000 she would re- ceivebark from the Government according to the ratio us ihe deposife bill, the sen) of SBO6 122 j ai d similar results would follow the comparison between the small and the large States throughout the Union ; thus real izing to the smill Slates at* advantage which would be doubtless as unacceptable to them as a motive for incorporiaiing the principle in any system which would produce it, as 11 would be inconsistent with the rights and expecuons of he large Stales. It was cerlaitlly the in etitton of that provision ol the constitution which declares that “all duties, imposts and excises” shall “ be uniform throughout the United Stales,’’ to make lhe burdens of taxa tion fall equally upon lhe people in whatever State of the Union they reside. But what would be the value of such an uniform rule if the moneys raised by it could be immediately returned by a difFGenl one which will give to the people of some Slates much more, and those of others mucii less, than their fair pro portion ? Were tie Fderal G .Vermont to ex empt, m express term-, the imports, products, and manifactures of some portions of the country from all duties, while it imposed a heavy one on others, *he injustice could not he greater. It would be easy to show how, by the operation of such a principle, the large States ot the Uaiou would no’ only have to contribute their just sh <re towards the support of the Federal Government, but also have to bear in some degree the 'axes neces sary to support the G<»vernmeni of their smaller sisters ; but u is deemed unnecessary ;’o state ihe det ols where the general princi ple> is so obv.oiis. A system ii tble u> such obj-'etions can ne uer be supposed to have been s moioned by the framer- <d the consi.tmi >ll, wueti they con* I-tied >it Congress ihe t >x ng power; and I feel persuaded -hat a m dure examination of lhe subject will satisfy eveiy one that there are insurmountable difficulties m the operation of hip plan which can be devised of collecting revenue f r 'he purpose of distributing it.— Congress is only authorized to levy faxes ‘fo pay t!u debts and provide for the com non d f nee and general welfare of the United States I here is no such provision as would au'iiiirize Congress to collect together the pioper v <>f the country, under the name of revenue, lor 'he purpose of dividing it equally or unequally among the St ties or lhe people. Indeed, ii is not proable that such an idea ever occur, d to the states when they adopted .he ronsutufiam. But, however this tnav be, lhe only sale rule lor us in interpreting iho povv rs granted to the Federal Government, is 10 regard the absem e of express authority to touch a subject *o important aad delicate as this is, as equivalent to a prohibition. Even if our powers were less doub'fu! in 'his respect, as ihe constitution now stands, there are consideratioos fforled by recent expence, who h would seem to make it our duty to avoid a rcsoii 'o sir h a system. All will admit that tho simplicity and econ omy of the State G>>vertim< nts, mainly de pend r>n tl.c fact 'hat nrmv has to he appli d 10 support them Tty the same men, or their a<>ents, who vote p away n> appropriations.—> Hence, when there ate exoavag tni and waste ful apuropiimions, th. re must be a correspon ding mi te .so of taxes, >nd the people, be commg aw >k tod, will necessarily s, ru tiuze the character of measures which tnus increase their burdens. Bv thw watchful eye of self interest, the agents of lhe people in lhe S ate Governments are repressed, and kepi within the limits <>f a josi ecun .my. But if lhe r:e cessny of levying ih** taxes ho taken from ; ih. se who make ihe appropriations, anti hrown j upon a mure disiani and less responsible set of public agents, who have pawer lo approach the people by sin indirect >nd smallhv taxation, there is reason to fear 'hat prodigality will soop supersede those < harm terisin s winch have thus fat made us look wip> so much prido and eonfiuence to ihe S ate G.ivermrienis, a* ihe mam stav of our Um .n and Eiberiins. The Sta e Le ’islmures, instead of studying o restiiet heir Slate expe.idi ores to the smal lest possible smn, wdi claim —< dn for their C>roh<i|>m, and liarrass the F.'(feral Govern ment fin increased supplies. Practically, diere would soon be bui one taxing power, mid ih ii veste 1 in winch the faro'ing ami mechanic interests would scarcely be represented.— Th** Stales would g«-..d i.illv lose ilu-ir purity as well as their independanee ; they would ii'.l dare t<> murmur at the proceedings of the Gem ral Government, lest they should have their supplies : all would be merged m a prac tical < nusnlidaiioiis, < emenied bv wide spread corruption, winch could onl) be eradicated bv i.ne of those bloody r volutions which occa sionally overthrow the despotic systems of the old w<>rid In all the other aspects in which I have been able to look at tiie efi’ert <P sm h a pi mciple of d’s'rihution opon lhe ties' inleresis of the co uitry, I can s< e nothing to compensate for the disadvantages 10 winch I have adverted. 11 we consider the pro eciive duties, which are, in a great d' giee, the source of the sur plus revenue, l.enefi.-ral to one sc< - ’imt of tho Union, and prt j idi< iil to another, there is no corrective f<». the evil in *uch a plan of disiri buuon. O • die coutrai y,'here is reason tr> ' feat that all ihe coin.daiuls wincr. have sprung ! from Uns cause would be nggr.va ed Every one mu*i be -ensible th '' a dis ributmii of tlio surplus m Ist beget a disposition i<> ehcri'li lhe m an* which create 1. ; and any system, therefore, into w i< b it enters, must have a < owerful leudencv to irifiease. ra'hi r than diminish the .ar FI It it were even adinit ed that lhe advantage's of such u system could be made equal to all 'be sectionr* <>t 'he Union, he rea-ons ilready ’o* urgen I calling tor a n duclton ..f lhe revenue, w<> ild, nevcrwo-l. s!’, lose inme of l.ieir t*»r< e; tor it w'li ‘always be improbable that an, lutell.gem and vir uous commi.m y can consent to rai*e a surplus for die mere purpose of dividing H, ditniuised as it must inevu .t.rv be by lhe expenses of lhe * various machinery necessary to the process.