Newspaper Page Text
Tuesday, Dec. 26, 1826.
BY MYRON BARTLET.
Volume 1 JVo. 9.
57* The Telegraph is published weekly
at Macon, Ga.—Office on Cherry Street, near
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CONGRESS,
MESSAGE
Or THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES,
Communicated to both Houses, at the commence*
ment of the Second Session of the .Nineteenth
Congress.
To the 8cnate and House of Representatives of the
United States.
Fellow Citizens of the Stnntc
and of the House of Representatives,
The assemblage of the representatives of
our union in both houses of congress at this
Itimc, occurs under circumstances calling for
the renewed homage of our grateful acknow
ledgements to the Giver of all Good. With
Ihe exceptions incidental to the most felicitous
pondition of human, existence, we continue to
highly favored in all the dements which
ontribute to individual comfort and to nation-
prosperity. In the survey of our extensive
Country, wc have generally to observe abodes
pf health and regions of plenty. In our civil
nd political relations, wc have peace without,
nd tranquility within our borders.. Wo are,
i a people, increasing with unabated rapidity
i population, wealth, qnd national resources;
nd, whatever differences of opinion exist a-
mong us, with regard to the modo ahd
lie means by which we shall turn the be-
keficenco of Hcavon to the improvement of
lur condition, there is yet a spirit animating
Is all, which will not suffer the bounties of Pro
vidence to bo showered upon us in vain, but’will
eccive them with grateful hearts, and apply
hem with unwearied hands, to the advance-
pent of the general good.
Of the subjects recommended to the consid-
ration of congress at their last session, some
kero then definitively acted upon. Others
eft unfinished, but partinlly matured, will re
lur to your attention,without needing a renew-
II of notico from me. The purposo of this
loimnunication will be, to present to your view
lie general asjiect of our public affairs at this
noincnt, and the 'measures which havo been
aken to carry into effect the intentions of the
legislature, us signified by the laws then and
Jorctofoi-e enacted.
Iu our intercourse with the other nations of
lie earth, we have still the happiness of enjoy
pg peace and n general good understanding—
unified, however, in several important instan-
s, by collisions of interest, arid by unsatisfi-
I claims of justice, to the settlement of which,
|ic constitutional interposition of the legislative
uthority may become ultimately indisponsa-
lie.
By the decease of the emperor Alexander of
Russia, which occurred cotemporaneously with
pc commencement of tho last session of con-
1S , the United States have been deprived of
■long tried, steady and faithful friend. Born
Vho inheritance of absolute power, and train-
n in tho school of adversity, from which no
btveron earth, however absolute, is exempt,
lat monarch, ftom his youth, had been taught
f feel the forco. t*nd value of public opinion,
M to bo sensible thut tho interests of his own
pvernment would bo best promoted by n frank
F friendly intercourse with this republic, as
iso of his pcopiri would bo advanced by a
oral commercial intercourse with our coun-
A candid and confidential interchange of
ntiraonts between him and tho government of
e United States, upon the affairs of South-A-
pnea, took place at a period not long pre-
*hng his demise, and contributed-to fix that
urse ofpolicy which loft to the other govern-
pnts of Europe no alternative but that of soon-
I or .later recognizing the independence of
F southern neighbors, of which the example
Id. by tho United States, already been set.
P‘e ordinary diplomatic communications be-
F e n his successor, tho emperor Nicholas,
•d tho United States, have suffored some in-
Uption by the illness, departure, and sub-
pent decease of his minister residing here,
1° enjoyed, as lie merited, tho entire confi-
^ ce °f his new sovereign, as ho had cininent-
fesponded to that of his predecessor, hut
I nave had tho most satisfactory assurances,
It tho sentiments of tho reigning emperor to
rus the United States, arc ahogo'.her confor-
►ulo to those which had so long and constantly
Jtnated his imperial brother; and ^vc havo
to hope that they will servo to cement
harmony ‘and good understanding between
1 tw ° nations, which, founded, in congenial
pfosts cannot but result in the. advancement
[he welfare and prosperity of both.
relations of comraerco. and navigation
mi trance are, bjtho oporation of tho con-
ption of 24lh June, 1822, with that nation,
P ***** °f gradual and progressive improvc-
[ • Convinced by all our experience, no
nan by the principles of fair and liberal rc-
n °cily which the United States havo con-
•, v tendered to all the nations of tho earth,
,? °f commercial intercourse,’which
would universally prefer, that fair and c-
P competition is most conducive to tho in-
3 s °f both parties, tho United States, in
wgociation of that convention, earnestly
contended for a mutual renunciation of discri
initiating duties and charges in tho ports of tho
two countries. Unable to obtain the immedi
ate recognition of this principle in its full ex
tent, after reducing the duties of discrimination,
so far £ it was found attainable, it was agreed
that, at the expiration of two years from the
1st of October, 1822, when tho convention was
to go into effect, unless a notice of six months
on cither side should be given to tho other,
that the convention must terminate, those du
ties should be reduced one fourth; and that
this reduction should be yearly repeated until
all discrimination should cease, while tho con
vention itself should continue in force. By tho
effect of this stipulation, three-fourths of the
discriminating duties which had been levied by
each party upon tho vessels of tho other in its
S orts, have already been removed; and on the
rst of noxt October, should the convention be
still in force, the remaining fourth will be dis
continued. French vessels, laden with French
produce, will be received in our ports on the
same terms as our own; and ours, in return,
will enjoy the same advantages in the ports of
France. By theso approximations to an un
qualify of duties and of charges, not only has
tho commmcrco between the two countries
prospered, but friendly dispositions have been
on both sides encouraged and promoted. They
Will continue to bo cherishod and cultivated on
tho part of tho United States. It would havo
been gratifying to have had it in my power to
add, that the claims upon the justice of the
French government, involving tho property and
tho comfortable subsistence of many of our fel-
low-citizons, and which have been so long and
so earnestly urged, were in a more promising
train of adjustment than at your last meeting;
but their condition remains unaltered.
With tho government of the Netherlands,
the mutual abandonment of discriminating du
ties had been regelated by legislative acts on
both sides. The act of congress of the 20th
April, 1818, abolished all discriminating duties
of impost and tonnage, upon tho vessels and
produce of tho Netherlands in tho ports of the
United States, upon the assurance given by the
gdvorUment of tho Netherlands, that all such
duties operating against the shipping and com
merce of the United States, in that kingdom,
had been abolished, f These reciprocal regu
lations had continued in force several years,
when the discriminating principle was resumed
by Jtho Netherlands in a new and indirect form,
by a bounty ef ten por cent, in the shape of a
return of duties to their national vessels, arid
in which those of the United States are not
permitted to participate, By the act of con
gress of 7th January, 1824, all discriminating
duties in tho United States were again suspend
ed, so fir as related to tho vessels and produce
of the Netherlands, so long as the reciprocal
exemption should be extended to tho vessels and
( traduce o’f the United States in tho Nether-
ands. But the same act provides, that in the
event of a restoration of discriminating duties,
to operate against the shipping and Commerce
of the United States, in any of* the foreign
countries referred to therein, tho suspension of
discriminating duties in favor of tho navigation
of such foreign country should cease, and all the
provisions of tho acts imposing discriminating
foreign tonnage and impost duties in tho United
States, should revive, and be in full force with
regard to that nation.
In the correspondence with tho government
of the Netherlands upon this subject, they have
contended that the favor shown tit> their own
shipping by th'S bounty upon thoir tonnage, is
not to bo considered as a discriminating duty.
But it cannot be denied that it produces all tho
*ame effects. Had tho mutual abolition been
stipulated by treaty, such a bounty upon the
national vessels could scarcely havo been grant
ed consistently with good faith. Yet, as the act
of congress of 7th Januarjl, 1824, has not ex
pressly. authorized tho executive authority to
determine what shall bo considered as a revi
val of discriminating duties by a foreign gov
ernment to tho disadvantage of tlio United
States, and as the retaliatory measure on our
part, however just and necessary, may tend ra
ther to that conflict of legislation which we de
precate, than to that concert to which we in
vito ail commercial nations, as most conducive
to thoir interest and our otvit, I have thought it
most consistent with tho spirit of our institu
tions to refer the subject again to the para*
mount authority of the legislature, to decide
what measure the emergency may require,
than abruptly by proclamation, to carry into,
effect tho minatory provision of tho act of 1824.
During the lust session of congress, treaties
of amity, navigation and commerce, wore ne
gotiated and signed at this place, with the gov-
vornment of Denmark, in Europe, and with
tho Federation of Central America, in this
hemisphere. Theso treaties then received the
constitutional sanction of the senate, by Uteud-
vico and consent to thoir ratification. They
were accordingly ratified on tho part of the U-
gited States, and during tho recess of congress,
liavo been also ratified by tho other respective
contracting parties. The ratifications have
been exchanged, and they have boon published
by proclamations, copies of which aro here with
communicated to congress. Theso treaties
have established between the contracting par
ties the principles of equality and reciprocity
in their broadest and most liberal extent: Each
party admitting tho vessels of the other into its
ports, laden witli cargoes, the produce or man
ufacture of any quarter of tho globe, upon the
payment of the same duties' of tonnage arid im
post that are chargeable upon their own.—
They have further stipulated, that the parties
shall .hereafter grant nq favor of navigation or
commerce to any other nation which shall not
upon tho same terms be granted to each other;
and that neither party will impose upon arti
cles of merchandize; the product of maoufaev
turo of the other, any other or higher duties
than upon tho liko articles being the produce,
or manufacture of any other country. To these
principles titere is in the convention with Den
mark, an exception, with regard to the colonies
of that kingdom, in tho Arctic soas, but nono
with regard to her colonies in tho West Indies.
In the course of last summer, the term to
which our last commercial treaty with Sweden
was limited, has expired. A continuation of
it is in the contemplation of tho Swedish gov
ernment, and is believed to bo desirable on the
part of the United States. It has beon pro
posed by the king of Sweden, that, pend
ing tho negotiation of renewal, the expired
treaty should be mutually considered as still in
force; a measure which will require tho sanction
of congress to bo carried into effect on our part,
and which I therefore recommend to yoiir ton
sideration.
With Prussia, Spain, Portugal, and in gener
al all the European powers, between whom and
the United States rclations of friendly inter
course havo existed, their condition has riot
materially varied since the last session of con
gress. I regret not to be able to say the same
of our commercial intercourse with the coloni
al possessions of Great Britain in America.-—
Negotiations of the highest importance to our
common interests have been for several years
in discussion between the two governments;
and on the part of the United States have
been invariably pursued in the spirit of candor
and conciliation. Interests of groat magnitude
and delicacy had been ndjusied by the conven
tions of 1815 and 1818, while that of 1822,
mediated by the late emperor Alexander, had
promised a satisfactory compromise of claims
which the government of the United States,
in justice to the rights of a nutrierous class of
their citizens, was bound to sustain. But
with regard to the commercial intercourse be
tween the United States and tbp British colo
nies in America, it has been hitherto found im
practicable to bring the parties to an under
standing satisfactory to both. The relative
eographical position, and tho respective pro-
ucts of nature cultivated by human industry,
had constituted tho elements of a commercial
intercourse botween the United States and
Britisii America, insular ahd continental, im
portant to the inhabitants of both countrios.—
But it had been interdicted by Great Britain,
upon a principle heretofore practised upon by
the colonizing nations of Europe, of holding
the trade of their colonies, eacn in exclusive
monopoly to herself. After tho termination
of the late war, this interdiction had been re
vived, and the British government declined in
cluding this portion of our intercourse with her
possessions in the negociation of the-convention
of 1815. Tho trade was then carried on exclu
sively in British vessels, till tho act of congress
concerning navigation, of 1818, and the supple
mental act of 1820, met the interdict by a cor
responding measure on the part of the Unitod
States. These mensuresj not of retaliation,
but of necessary self-defence, were soon suc
ceeded by an act of parliament, opening cer
tain colonial ports-to the vessels of the United
States, coming directly from them, and to the
importation from them of certain articles of
our produce, burdened with heavy duties, aad
excluding some of the most valuable articles of
our exports. Tho United States opened their
ports to British vessels from tho colonies, upon
terms as exactly corresponding with those of
the act of parliament as; in the relative posi
tion of the parties; could he made. And a ne
gociation was commenced by mutual consont,
with the hope, on our part, that a reciprocal
spirit of accommodation and a common senti
ment of the importance of the trade to tho in
terests of the inhabitants of the two countries,
between whom it must bo carried on, would
ultimately bring the parties to a compromise,
with which both might be satisfied. With this
view, tho government of the United States, had
determined to sacrifice something of that entire
reciprocity which in nil commercial arrange
ments with foreign powors they aro entitled to
deraandy-and to-acquicsce in some inequalities
disadvantageous to ourselves, rather than to
forego tho benefit of a final and permanent ad
justment of this interest, to the satisfaction of
Great Britain herself. TJiu negotiation, re
peatedly suspended by accidental cifcumstau-
ces, was however, by mutual agreement and
express assent, considered as pending, arid u>
bo speedily resumed. In the mcahtime 'ano-
.tite'r act of parliament, so doub.fu! and ambigu
ous in its import as to have been misunder
stood by the officers iri tho colonies who wore
to carry it into execution, opens again certain
colonial ports, upon new condiliops and terms,
with a tlircat to close them against any nation
which may not accept those terms as prescrib
ed by the British government. This act'pass
ed in July, 1S25, not communicated to the u<>
vernmerit of the United Suites, not understood
by the British officers of the vus otns in the co
lonics where it was to be enforced,_ was never
theless submitted to the consideration of con
gress, at their last session. With the know
ledge that a negotiation upon the subject had
long been in progress, and pledges given of its
resumption at an early d ty, it tv is deemed ex
pedient to wait the result of tint negociation,
rather thmto subscribe implicitly to terms,- the
import oWrhicb was not clear, and which the
Britisii authorities themselves, in this hemi
sphere, were not prepared to explain.
Immediately after the close ot the last ses
sion of congress, one of our most distinguished
citizens was despatched as envoy extraordinary
and minister pleni|>otentiary tt> Great Britain,
furnished with instructions which we could not
doubt would lead to a conclusion of this long-
controverted interest, upon terms acceptable to
Great Britain. Upon his arrival, and befote
from and after tho first of December now cur
rent, the vessels of the United States from all
tho colonial British, ports, excepting those im
mediately bordoring upon our territories. In
answer to his expostulations upon a mqasure
thus unexpected, he is Informed that, according
to ancient maxims of policy of European'nations
having colonics, their trado is ancxclusivo pos
session of the mother country. That all partici
pation in h, by other nations, is.a boon br favor;
not forming a subject of negotiation, but to be
regulated by the legislative acts of the powor
owning the colony. That the British govern
ment, therefore, declines negotiating concern
ing it; and that, as the United States did not
forthwith accept purely and simply the terms
offered by tho act of parliament of July, 1825,
Great Britain would not now admit the ves
sels of tho United States even upon tho .terms
on which she has opened them to tho naviga
tion of other nations.
We havo boon accustomed to consider tho
trade which wo have enjoyed tyith the British
Colonies, rather as an interchange of mutual
benefits, than as a mere favor received; that,
under every circumstance, wo have given an
ample equivalent. We have seen every other
nation, holding Colonies, nogotiato with other
nations, and grant tlifcm, freely, admission to
tho Colonies by Treaty; and, so far arc tlio
other colonizing nations of Europe now from
refusing to negotiate for trade with their Col
onies, that tve ourselves havo secured access to
the Colonies of more than one of them by
Treaty. The refusal, however, of Great
Britain to negotiate, loaves to the United States
no other alternative than that of regulating, or
interdicting, altogether,' the trade on their part,
according us either measure may affect the id>
lerests of our own country; and, with that ex
clusive object, I would recommend the wholo
subject to your calm and candid deliberations.
It is hoped that our unavailing exertions to
accomplish a cordial good understanding on
this interest, will not have an unpropitlous ef
fect upon the othor great top : cs of qiscuss.on
botween the two Governments. Our North
eastern mid Northwestern boundaries are still
unadjusted; The Commissioners under the
7th article of tho Treaty of Ghent have near
ly come to the close of their labors; nor can
wo renounce the expectatioii, enfeebled as it is,
that they may agreo upon their report, to the
satisfaction or acquiescence of both parties.—
Tho Commission for liquidating the claims
for indemnity for slaves carried away after the
close of tho war has been sitting, with doubt
ful prospects of success. Propositions of
■compromise have, however, passed between
the two Governments, tho result of which, we
flattor ourselves, may yet prove satisfact ory.—
Our own dispositions and purposes towards
Great Britain are all friendly and conciliatory;
nor can we abandori,but with strong reluctance,
tho belief that they will ultimately meet a re
turn, not of favors, which we neither ask nor
desire, but of equal reciprocity and good will.
With the American Governments of this
hemisphere, wo continue to maintain an inter
course altogether friendly, and between their
nations and ours that commercial interchange
of which mutual benefit is tlio source,' and mu
tual comfort and harmony the result, is in a
continual state of improvement. The war be
tween Spain and them, since the total expul
sion, of tho Spanish military force from their
continental' territories, hits been little more
than nominal; and their inlornnl tranquility,
though occasionally menaced by the agitations
which civil wars never fail to leave behind
them, has not been affected by auy serious
calamity.
Tho Congress of Ministers from several of
those nations which assembled at Panama, af*
ter a short session there, adjourned to meet a*
gain, at a more favorable season,- in the neigh*
borhood of Mexico. Tlio decease of one of
our Ministers on his way to the Istlunus, and
tks impediments of tho season, which delayed
tho departure of the other, deprived us of tho
advantage of boing represented at the first
meeting of\the Congress. There is, however,
no reason to believo that any of the transac
tions of the Congress were of n nature to af
fect injuriously tho interests of the United
States, or to require tlio interposition of out
Ministers, hail they been present. Their ab
sence. has indeed deprived us of the opportu*.
nity of possessing precise and authentic infor
mation of the treaties which were concluded
at Panama; and the whole result has confirm
ed mo in tho conviction of tho expediency to
tho United States of being represented at the
Congress. Tito surviving member -of the
Mission, appointed during your last session,
has accordingly proceeded to. his destination,
and a successor to his distinguished and lairicnt-
ed associate will bo nominated to tho Senate.—-
A Treaty of Amity, Navigation and Com
merce, has, in the course of tho last summer,
been concluded by our Minister Plenipoten
tiary at Mexico, with tho United States of that
Confederacy, which will also be laid beforo the
Senate, for their advice with regard to its rati
fication. \’*&.‘ J*
•In adverting to tho presont condition of our
fiscal concoms, and to the prospect of our
Revenue, tho first remark that calls our atten
tion, is, tln-t they are less exuberantly prosper-
ouslhan they Were at the corresponding period
of the last year. Tlio severe shock so exten
sively sustained by .the commercial and manu
facturing interests In Great Britain, has not
been without a perceptible recoil upon our
selves. A reduced importation from abroad
is necessarily succeeded by a reduced return
to the Treasury at home. The net revenue
of the present year will not equal that of the
last. Anti the receipts of that which is to
come will fall short of those in the current
of our domestic manufactures, and so far is
compensated by an equivalent more profitable
to tne nation. It is also highly gratifying to
perceivo, that the deficiency in the revenue,
while it scarcely exceeds the anticipations of
tho last year’s estimatesfrora tho Treasury,has
not interrupted the application of more than
eleven millions during tho presont year, to the
discharge of the principal and interest of tho
debt, nor the reduction of upwards of seven
millions of the capital debt itself. The ba
lance in the Treasury on tho first of January
last, was live millions two hundred and otto
thousand six hundred and fifty dollars and
forty tlireo cents. Tho receipts from that
time to the 30th of September last, were nine
teen millions fivo hundred arid eighty-five thou-
sand nine hundred aud thirty-two dollars and
.fifty cents. < The receipts of tho curreut
quarter, estimated at six millions of dollars,
yiold, with tho sums already received, a reve
nue, of about twenty-five millions and a half
for tho year. The expenditures for the three
first quarters of tlio year have amounted to
eighteen millions seven hundred and fourteen
thousand two hundred snd twenty-six dollars
and sixty-six cents., The expenditures of tho
current quarter are expected, including tho two
millions of tho principal debt to bo paid, to ba
lance the receipts. So’ that the Expenses of
the year, amounting to upwards of a million
less than its income, will leave a proportion
ally increased balance in the Treasury on the
first of January, 1827, over that of tho first of
January.last. . Instead of five millions two
hundred thousand, there will be six million*
four hundred thousand dollars.
The amount of duties secured on merchan
dise imported from tho cemmencemont of tlte
year until the 3Qth September, is estimated at
twenty-one millions two hundred and fifty
thousand dollars, and the ariiount that will
probably accrue during tho present quarter, is
estimated at four millions two hundred aud
fifty thousand, making for tho wholo year twen-
ty-fivo millions and a half, from which the
drawbacks being deducted, will leave a clear
revenue from the customs, receivable in tho
year 1827, of about twenty millions four hun
dred thousand dollars, which, with the sums to
be received - from tho proceeds of Public
Lands,tho Bank Dividends, and other inciden
tal receipts, will form an aggregate of about
twenty-threo millions, a sum falling short of
the wholo expenses of the present year, little
more than the portion of thoso expenditures
applied to the discharge of the public debt;
boyoiid the annual appropriation of ton mil
lions, by the act of third March, 1817. At
the passage of that act tho public dobt amount
ed to one hundred and twenty-three millions
and a half. On the first of January next, it
will bo short of seventy-four millions. In tho
lapse of -those ten years, fifty millions of pub
lic debt, with the annual charge of upwards of
threo millions of interest upon them, havo been
extinguished. At the passage of that act, of
the annual appropriation of the ten millions,
seven were absorbed in the payment of inte
rest, and not more than three millions went to
reduce the capital of the debt. Of the same
ten millions, at this time scarcely four are ap
plicable to the interest, and upwards of six are
effective in melting down the captaL Yotour
experience has proved that a revenuo consist
ing so largely of imposts and tonnage, ebbs mid-
flows to an extraordinary extent, with all the
fluctuations incident to the general commerce
of the world, it is witliin.our recollection
that even in the compass- of the sumo last ten
years, the receipts of the Treasury wore not
adequate to the expenditures of the year; and
that in two successive years it was found ne
cessary to resort to loans to meet tlio engage
ments of the nation. Tho returning tides of
the succeeding years replenished the public
coffers, until they havo again begun to fee!
(he vicissitude of the decline. To product!
these alternations of fulness and exhattstatiori,'
the relative operation of abundant or of un
fruitful seasons, tite regulations of foreign
Governments, political revolutions, tho pros
perous or decaying condition of manufactures, *
commercial speculations, and many other cau
ses, not always to be traced, variously combine.
Wo have found the alternate swells and diminu
tions embracing periods of from twd to three
years. Tho last period of depression to ui
was from 1819 (o 1822. Tho corresponding
revival was from 1823 to the commencement
Still we havo no cause to
he had delivered his letters of evidence, ho was (year: Tlio diminution howQvrr,isinpartat*
oiei b^aiiordeif Wf the'British council,ttidriditig, Itribufable to tbe flourishing couuitmn of some
of the presont year,
tipprehoud a doprcssion.comparablo to that of
tho former period, or even to anticipate a de
ficiency which will intrench upon tho ability to
apply tho annual ten millions to tlio reduction
of tho debt. It is well for us, however, to be > '
admonished of tho necessity of abiding by
the maxims of tho most vigilant economy, and
of resorting to all honorable and useful expo- •
dients, for pursuing withstcady and inflexible
perseventneo the total discharge of the debt.
Besides the seven millions of tho loan* of
1813, which will havo been discharged in tlio
course of the presont year, there are nine
milllions which, by tho terms of the contracts,
would have been, aud aro now, redeemable.—. •
Thirteen millions iriore of tho loan of 1814
will become redeemable from and after the ex
piration of tho present month; and nine other
millions from and after the close of the en
suing year. They constitute a mass of thirty
one millions of dollars, all bearing an interest
of six per cent, more than twenty millions of
which will bo immediately redeemable, and the
rest within little more than a year. Leaving-
of this amount, fifteen millions to continue at s
the interest of six per cent,but lobe, as far ns
shall bo found practicable, paid off in the years
1827 arid 1828, there is scarcely a doubt, that
the remaining sixteen millions might, within a
few months, bo discharged .by a loan at not ex
ceeding five JCr coat. redeemable iattayemi