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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 the Public Square. TERMS.—Three Dollars per annum, if aid in advance, or Four Dollars at the end 'of the year. Distant subscribers must in all cases pay in advance. Advertisements inserted at the usual rates. 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