Newspaper Page Text
tMUIB AIRCTSh
THURSDAY MORSIXGf DEC. U,1b23.
The a refit length of the presidents message
has precluded much other matter prepared fox
thin days paper.
We have received from our correspondents the
oHiinre of the N. Y. Daily Advertiser, and Mor-
Bins Courier, and the Philadelphia Gazette, slips
containing Liverpool dates to the i>th Oi lolier,
aiwlaccounts front Rochelle, France, to the 24th
T>*e English aeCounts have been anticipated
bv the Sarah Sheaf, at this port. Several articles
from the French papers will be found interesting.
Constantinople Sept. 27.—The port© has receiv
ed the official news that the Grand Vivier arrived
on the 15th September at the camp at V ama, by
lake Leman. The captain pacha to gain time,
had deceive ! the Russians, and proposed to sub
mit until the 14th September; the grand vizier ar
rived on the loth; it is supposed that the siege
has been raised. Hasnev Bey announces the gen
eral rCtieat of the Russians from Chotimla, and
the defeat on the 9th, 13th, and 17th, September,
ofthr.se under command of Wittgenstein. The
w. v* were encumbered with dead and wounded
Russians, the.r baggage and artillery are lost and
in case of their retreat from Varna, they will not
nave a gun. The grand seign*r is in ms camp at
Ramischiflic; the Turks are m the height of en
thusiasm.- — Gazette de Et a nee.
Bucharest Sept. 30.—We are delivered from our
dismay, by learning the agreeable news that Gen.
GiWir has beaten the I’urks who came tmm
Widdin. 500 prisoners, 13 cannon and 7 stand
ards taken (Our English papers say the 1 urks
were 30,000 strong ) Frince Sonerbatofl must
have arrived near Silistria with his reinforcements
bv this time ; and Gen. Roth, in spite of unfavora
ble reports, has taken position against the I urks
on the road to RudschucK.— (raz-
Vienna, (Jet. 11. —Negociations were to be car
ried on with regard to the evacuation of the Mo
rea, and different communications from the three
ambassadors, must have been sent to the Porte by
the Austrian internuncio. It was believed that
the Divan would decide by giving orders for the
evacuation of the Morea, and acceding to the
treaty of Cth July.
It is seid that new symptoms of plague had been
observed at Bucharest, lb.
Letters from Xante say that a french officer
had arrived there, to moke arrangements to sup
ply -lie French troops in the Morea with provisions
-~his offers amounting to 70,000 francs a month.
AH the M wcotS Turks who would not follow Ibra
him, have been taken to the castle of Navarino,
and negotiations are making with the Greek go
vernment for their security. The forts have been
pi iced in the hands of the French, who are puri
fvimr them, beginning with Navarino, where
Cos in Guilleminot has his head quarters.
The third division of the French expedition ar
rived at Navarino Sept. 10th. The 1 urkish offi
cers commanding the fortresses, refused at that
time to subscribe to Ibrahim s capitulation.
MESSAGE
OF THE
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES,
Communicated to both Houses, at the commence
ment -f th 2d Session of the 20th Congress.
To the Senate ana House o f Representatives of the
United States.
Fkllow-Cittiens of the Sf.sate,
and of tiie Hoc si: of Representatives:
If the enjoyment in profusion of the bounties of
Providence forms a suitable subjeet of mutual
gratillation and grateful acknowledgment, we are
admonished at this return of the season, when the
Representatives of the Nation are assembled to
deliberate up>n their concerns, to offer up the
tribute of fervent and grateful hearts, for the
ncVer-failing mercies of Hi.n who rnletli over ail.
He ha3 again favored us With healthful seasons and
abumhnt°harvcsts He has sustained us in
with foreign countries, and in tranquility within
pur borders. He has preserved us in the quiet
and undisturbed possession of civil and religious
liberty. He has crowned the year with his good
ness. imposing on us no other conditions than of
improving for our own happiness the blessings be
stowed by His hands, and, in the fruition of all
His favors, of devoting the faculties with which
v;e have been endowed by Him to his glory and to
ffur own temporal and eternal welfare.
In the relations of our Federal Union with our
brethren of the human rice, the changes which
have occurred since the cloe of your la.at session,
have generally tended to tjie preservation of peace, *
and to the cultivation of harmony. Before your
last separation, a War had unhappily been kindled
betwoen the Empire of Russia, one of those with
which our intercourse has been no other than a
constant exchange of good offices, and that of the !
Ottoman Porte, a nation from which geographical j
distance, religious opinions, and maxims of go
vernment on their part little suited to the forma
tion of those bonds of mutual benevolence which
resu’t from the benefits of commerce, had kept us
in a state, perhaps too much prolonged, of cold
ness and alienation. The extensive, fertile, and :
populous dominions of the Sultan, belong rather \
to the Asiatic, than the European division of the i
human family. They enter but partially into the J
system of Europe ; nor have their wars with Rus
f.ia and Austria, the European states upon which
they border, for more than a century past, disturb
ed the pacific relations of those states with the
other Great Powers of Europe. Neither France,
mr nor Great Britain, lias ever taken
part in them; nor is it to be expected that they
wll at this time. The declaration of war hy
Russia has received the approbation or acquies
cence of her allies and we mav indulge the hope
that its progress and termination will be signali
zed bv the moderation and forbearance, no less
than by the energy of the Emperor Nicholas, and
that it will afford the opportunity for such collate
ral agency in behalf of the suffering Greeks, as
will secure to ‘hem ultimately the triumph of hu
manity and of freedom.
The state of our particular relations with
France, has scarcely varied m the course of the
present year. Tire commercial intercourse be
tween the two countries has continued to increase
for the mutual benefit of both. The claims of in
deointv to numbers of our fellow-citizens for de
precations upon their property heretofore commit
ted, during the Revolutionary Governments, still
remain unadjusted, and still term the subject of
earnest representation and remonstrance. Recent
advices from the Minister of the United States at
Paris encourage the expectation that the appeal to
the justice of the French Government will ere
Jong receive a favorable consideration.
The last friendly expedient has been resorted
to for the decision of the controversy with Great
Britain, relating to the North Eastern boundary of
the United States. By an agreement with the
British Government, carrying into effect the pro
visions of the fifth article of the Tiealy of Ghent,
and the convention of the 29th Sept Jc27, his
Majesty the King of the Netherlands has by com
mon consent been selected as the umpire between
the parties. The proposal to him to accept the
designation for the performance of this friendly
office will be made at an early tiay,nnd the United
States, relying upon the justice of their cause,
will cheerfully commit the arbitrament of it to a
Prince equally diatinguished for the independence
of his spirit, ids indefatigable assiduity to the du
ties of . his station, and his inflexible personal pro
bity.
Our commercial rela ins with Great Britain
will deserve the serious consideration of Congress,
and the exercise of a conciliatory and forbearing
spirit in the policy of both Governments. The
state of them has been materially changed by the
Act of Congress passed at their last Session, in
alteration of the several Acts imposing duties ou
imposts, and by Acts of more recent date of the
British Parliament. The effect of the interdic
tion of direct trade commenced by Great Britain,
and reciprocated by the United States, has been,
as was to be foreseen, *vly to substitute different
channels for an exchange of commodities indis
pensable to the colonies, and profitable to a nu
merous class of our fellow-citizens. The exports,
the revenue, the navigation df the United Mates,
have suffered no diminution by our exclusion n
direct access to the British Colonies. Ihe C •
nios pay’ more dearly tor the necessaries of life,
which their Government burdens with the char
ges of double voyages, freight, insurance and
commission, and the profits of onr exports are
! somewhat impaired, and more injuriously transfer
‘ red from one portion of our eitizfens to another. —
! The resumption of this old and otherwise exploded
: system of Colonial exclusion has not secured to
the shipping interest ot Great Britain, the relief
whi> *i, at the expense of the distant colonies, and
of the United States, it was expected to afford;—
* Other measures have been resorted to more point
edly bearing upon the navigation of the United
States, and which, unless modified by the con
struction given to the recent Acts of Parliament,
’ w ill be manifestly incompatible with the positive
stipulations of the commercial convention exist
ing between the two countries. ‘I hat convention,
however, may be terminated, with twelve months
notice, at the option of either party.
A treaty of amitv, navigation and commerce
between the United'States and his Majesty the
Emperor of Austria. King es Hungary and Bone
tuia, has been prepared for signature by the Se
cretary of State, and by the Baron de tedeier,
intrusted with full powers of the Austrian Go
vernment. Independently of the new and friendly
relations which may be thus commenced with one
of tho most eminent and powerful nations of the
Earth, the occasion has been taken in it, as in
other recent Treaties concluded by the U- Mates,
to extend those principles of liberal intercourse
and of fair reciprocity which intertwine with the
exchano-cs of commerce, the principles of justice,
and the feelings of mutual benevolence 1 his
system, first proclaimed in the first commercial
Treaty ever concluded by the U. States, that of
6th ► f February, 1778, with Franco, has been in
variably the cherished policy of our Union. It is
by treaties of commerce alone that it can be made
ultimately to prevail as the established system of
all civilized nations. With this principle our fa
thers extended the hand of friendship to every
nation of the globe, and to this policy our country
has ever since adhered —whatever of regulation
in our laws has ever been adopted unfavorable to
the interest of any foreign nation, has been essen
tially defensive and counteracting to similar regu
lations of their’s operating against us.
Inline lately after the close of the war of inde
pendence, commissioners were appointed by the
Congress of the confederation, authorized to con
clude treaties with every nation of Europe dispo
sed to adopt them. Before the wars of the French
revolution, such treaties had been con.sumated
with the United Netherlands, Sweden and Prussia
During those wars, treaties with Great Britain
and Spain had been effected, and those with Prus
sia and France renewed. In all these, some con
cessions to the liberal principle of intercourse pro
posed by the United States had boon obtained )
but as, in all the negotiations, they came bcca
sionally in collision with previous internal regula
tions, or exclusive and excluding compacts of mo
nopoly, with which the other parties had been
trammelled, the advances made in them towards
the freedom of trade were partial and imperfect.
Colonial establishments, chartered companies and
ship building influence, pervaded and encumbered
the legislation of all the great commercial states ;
and the United States, in offering free trade and
equal privilege to all, were compelled to acquiesce ]
in many exceptions with each of the parties to j
their treaties, accommodated to their existing laws j
and anterior engagements.
The colonial system by which this whole hetnis-1
pile re was hound has flilien into ruins. Totally j
abolished by revolutions, converting colonies into ■
independent nations, throughout the two Ameri- 1
can Continents, excepting a portion of territory
chiefly at the northern extremity of our own, and j
confined to the remnants of dominion retained by
Great Britain over the insular Archipelago, geo- i
graphically the appendages of our part of the j
globe. With all the rest we have free trade—!
even with the insular colonies of ell the European
nations except Great Britain. Her Government
also had manifested approaches to the adoption of
a free and liberal intercourse between her colonies
and other nations, though, by a sudden and scarce
ly explained revolution, toe spirit of exclusion has
been revived for operation upon the U. States
alone.
Thu conclusion of our last Treaty of Peace
with Great Britain was shortly afterwards follow
ed bv a commercial convention placing the direct
intercourse between s two countries upon a
footing ol more equ./ .ociprocity than had ever
before been admitted. The same principle has
since been much farther extended by Treaties
with France, Sweden, Denmark, the llansiaticl
cities, Prussia, in Europe, and with tiie Republics ■
Colombia, and of Central America, in this hemis- j
phere. The mutual abolition of discriminating t
duties and charges, upon the navigation and com
mercial intercourse between the parties is the
oreneral maxim which characterizes them all.—
‘f'here is reason to expect that it will, at no dis
tant period, be adopted by other nations b->th of
Europe and America, and to hope that by its uni
versal prevalence, one of the fruitful sources of
wars of commercial competition will be extin
guished.
Among the nations upon whose Governments
nnny of our fellow-citizens have had long pend
ing claims of indemnity for depredations upon
their property during a peiiod when the rights of
neutral commerce were disregarded, was that of
Denmark. They were, soon alter the events oc
curred, the subject of a special mission from the
United .States, at the,close of which the assurance
was given by his Danish Majesty that, at a period
of more tranquility, and of less distress, they
would he considered, examined and decided upon,
in a spirit of determined purpose for the dispen
sation of justice. I have much pleasure in in-1
forming Congress, that the fulfilment of this
honorable promise is now in progress; that a small i
portion of the claims has already been settled to
the satisfaction of the claimants ; and that we have j
reason to hope that the remainder will shortly be
placed in a train of equitable adjustment. Tins i
result has always been confidently expected from
the character of personal integrity and of bene-. |
volence which the Sovereign of the Danish Do- \
minions has, through every vicissitude of fortune,;
maintained.
The general aspect of the affairs of our neigh
boring American nations of the south has been ra
ther of approaching than of settled tranquility.—
Internal disturbances have been more frequent;
among them than their common friends would ‘
have desired. Our intercourse with all has con- ;
tinued to be that of friendship, and of mutual good
will. Treaties of commerce and of boundaries!
with the United Mexican states have been nego
ciated, but, from various successive obstacles, not
yet brought lo a final conclusion. The civil war ;
which unfortunately still prevails in the Republic ‘
of Central America, has been unpropiLious to the I
cultivation of our commercial relations with them; ;
and the disscn&i -ns and revolutionary changes in i
the Republics of Colombia and of Peru, liavp been ■
seen with cordial regret by us, who would gladly !
contribute to the of both. It is with !
great satisfaction, however, that we have witness- ‘
ed the recent conclusion of a peace between the
governments of Buenos Ayres and of Brazil; and
it is equal y gratifying to observe that indemnity ;
has been obtained for some of the injuries which
our fellow citizens had sustained in the latter of
those countries The rest are in a train of nego- •
tiation, which we hope may terminate to mutual
satisfaction, and that it may be succeeded by a ‘
treaty of commerce, and navigation upon liberal;
principles, propitious to a groat and growing com
merce, alleady important to the interests of our i
country.
The condition and prospects of the Revenue are j
more favorable than our most sanguine expecta
tions had anticipated. The balance in the treasu- j
ry on the first of January last, exclusive of the ‘
moneys received under the convention of 13th of
November, 1626, v\ ith Gieat Britain, was five mil
lions eight hundred and sixty-one thousand nine :
hundred and *venty-two dollars and eighty-three
i cents The receipts into the treasury from tire
‘ first of Januaiy to the 30th of September last , so
! f ar as t j lo y hove been ascertained to form the basts
! of an estimate amount to eighteen millions six
- hundred ami thirty-three thousand five hundred
and eighty cUllars-and twenty-seven cents, which
. with the receipt* of the present quarter, estimated
Tt fivp millions four hundred and six-one thousand
! two hundred and eighty-three dollars and forty
1 cents, form an aggregate of receipts during the
vear of twenty-four millions and ninety-four thou
sand eight nundred and sixty-three dollars and
sixty-seven cents. The expenditures of tho year
may probably amount to twenty-five millions six
• hundred awl thirty-seven thousand five hundred
and elevenjdollars knd sixty-three cents; and leave
in the treasury oil the Ist of January next, the
sum of five millions one hundred and twenty-five
thousand six hundred and thirty-eight dollars four
teen cents.
‘ The receipts of the present year have amonnt
’ ed to near two millions more than was anticipated
at the commencement of the last session ot Con
q*he amount of duties secured on importations
from the Ist of January to the 30th of September,
was about twenty-two millions nine hundred and
ninetv-seven thousand, aud that of the estimated
accruing revenue is five millions, leaving an ag
oreo-ateTor the vear of near twenty-eight millions.
Tins is one million more than the estimate made
last Decomber for the accruing revenue of the
present year, which, with allowances tor diaw
backs and contingent deficiencies, was expected
to produce an actual revenue of twenty-two mil
lions three hundred thousand dollars. Had these
only been realized, the expenditures of the year
would have been also proportionally reduced
For of these twenty-four millions received, up
wards of nine millions have been applied to the
Extinction of public debt bearing an interest of six
per cent, a year, and of course reducing the bur
den of interest annually payable in future, by the
amount of more than hall a million. Ihe pay
, ments on account ot interest during the current
year exceed three millions ot dollars; presenting
an aggregate of more than twelve millions applied
during the year to the discharge of the public
debt, the whole of which remaining due on the J
Ist of January next will amount only to fifty-eight j
millions tlireo hundred and sixty-two thousand
one hundred and thirty-five dollars, seventy-eight
cents.
That the revenue of the ensuing year will not
fall short of that received in the one now expiring
there arc indications which can scarcely prove j
deceptive. In our country, an uniform experience
of forty years has shown that whatever the tariffj
of duties upon articles imported Irom abroad has j
been, the amount of importations has always borne j
an average value nearly approaching to that of tho
exports, though occasionally differing in the ba
lance, sometimes being more, and sometimes less.
It is, indeed, a general law of prosperous corn- j
meroe, that the real value of exports should, by
small, and only a small balance, exceed that ot
imports, that balance being a permanent addition
to the wealth of the nation. The extent of the
prosperous commerce of the nation must be regu
lated by the amount of its exports; and an import
ant addition to the value of these will draw after it ’
a corresponding increase of importations. It has |
happened, in the vicissitudes of tho seasons, that :
the harvests of all Europe have, in the late sum
mer and autumn, fallen short of therr usual aver
age. A relaxation of the interdict upon the im
portation of gram ami flour from abroad has ensur
ed; a propitious market has been opened to tho
granaries of our country; paid anew prospect oi
reward presented to the labors of the husbandman,
which, for several years, has been denied. This
accession to the profits of agriculture in the mid- .
die arid western portions of our Union is acoiden- j
tal and temporary It may continue omy for a
single year. It may be, as has been oflen experi
enced in the revolutions of time, but the first of
several scanty harvests in succession. We may
consider it certain that, for the approaching year,
it has added an item of largo amount to the value
of our exports, and that it will produce a corre
spoJuliiiT increase of importations. It may, there
fore, confidently be foreseen that the revenue of
1629 will equal, and probably exceed that of 1628,
and will afford tno means of extinguishing ten
millions more of the principal of the public debt.
This new element of prosperity to that part of
our agricultural industry which is occupied in pro
ducing the first, article of human subsistence, is of
the most cheering character to the feelings of pa
triotism. Proceeding from a cause which huma
nity will view with concern, the sufferings of scar
city in distant lands, it yields a consolatory reflec
tion, that this scarcity is in no respect attributa
ble to us, that it comes from the dispensation of
Him who ordains all in wisdom and goodness, and
who permits evil itself only as an instrument of
good; that, far from contributing to the scarcity,
our agonev will be applied to the alleviation cf its
seventy, and that in pouring forth, from the abun
dance of oui own garners, the supplies which will
partially restore plenty to those who are in need,
we shall ourselves reduce our stores, and add to
the price of our own bread, so as in some degree
to participate in the wants which it will be the
good fortune of our country to-relieve.
The inte.osis of an agricultural,
corn mere! a!, and iri mi factoring nation, are
so liked in union together, that no perma
nent cause ofpr&sp'. rity to one of them can
operate without extending its influence to
the others Ail these interests are alike
under the protesting power of the legisla
tive authority; and the duties of the repre
sentative bodies are to conciliate them in
harmony together* So far as the object of
taxation is to raise a revenue for dischar
ging the debts, and defraying the expenses
of the community, it should as much as po-1
sible suit the burthen with equal hand u
pon all, in proportion with their ability of
bearing it without oppression. But the
legislation of one nation is sometimes
intentionally made to bear heavily upon the
interests of another. That legislation, r-0- J
apted as it is meant to be to the special in
teretUsufits own people, will often press,
most unequally up n the several compo- 1
nent interests t.f its neighbors. Thus, the
legislation of Great Britain, when as has.
recently been avowed, adopted to the de- j
pression of a rival nation, vvd naturally a- I
hound with regulations of interdict upon ;
the productions of the soil or industry of!
the other winch come in competition with I
its own; and will present encouragement,
perhaps even bounty, to the raw material
of the other State, which it cannot produce
itself, and which is essential for the use of
its manufactures, competitors in the mar
kets of 1 lie world with those of its com
mercial legislation of Great Britain, as it
bears upon our interests. It excludes, with
interdicting duties, all importation (except
in time of approaching of the great
staple productions of our Middle &. W states;
it prosenbf s, with equal rigor, the bulkier
lumber and five stock of the same portion,
and also of the Northern and Eastern part of
our Union. It refuses even the rice of the
South, unless aggravated with a charge of
duty upon the Northern carrier who brings
it to them. But the cotton, indispensable
for their looms they wPI receive almost duty
free, to weave it iuto a fabric for our own
wear, to the destruction of onr own manu
factures, which they are enabled thus to
nt derseil. Is the self producting energy
of this nation so helpless that there exists,
in the political institution of our country,
no power to counteract the bias of llos for
eign legislation 1 that the growers of gram
■ must so!, it to this exclusion from the for
eign muikets of their prmaice; Jiiat the
shippers must dismantle their slops,
trade of ihe North stagnate at the what ves,
and the manufacture.s starve at the looms,
while the whole people shall pay tribute to
foreign industry t<* be clad in foieig
garb; that the Congress of the Union are
impotent to restore the balance in favor of
native industry destroyed by the staiuies of
another realm? T4©re just and more gen
erous sentiments will 1 trust, prevail. Il
the tariff adopted at the last session of Con
gress shall he found, by experience to bear
oppressively upon the interests of any one
section of the Union* it ought to be, and l
cannot doubt will be, so modified as to alle
viate its burden. To the voice of just
complaint from any portion of their con
stituents, the Representatives of the States
and people will never turn away their ears.
But so long as the duty of the foreign shall
operate only as a bounty upon the domes
tic article —while the planter, and the mer
chant and the shepherd, aud the husband
man, shall he found thriving in their occu
pations under the imposed for the
protection of domestic manufactures they
will not repine at the prosperity shared
with themselves by their fellow citizens of
other professions, nor denounce ns viola
tions of the constitution the deliberate facts
of congress to shield from the wrongs ol
foreign laws, the native industry of the
Union ‘ bile the tariff of the hist session
of Congress was a subject of legislative
deliberation, it was foretold by some id its
oppesers that one of its necessary con
sequences would be to impair the Re
venue. It is yet 100 soon to pronounce,
with confidence that this prediction was
erroneous. The obstruction of one ave
nue of trade not unfrequeotly opens an
issue to another. Tha consequence of the
tariff will be to increase the exportation,
and to dismiss the importation of some spe
cific articles. But by the general law of
trade, tho increase of exportation of one
article will be followed by an increased
importation of- thers, the duties upon
which will supply the deficiency, which
the diminished importation would other
wise occasion The ♦ (fret of taxation u
pon revenue can seldom be foreseen with
certainty It must abide the test of ex
perience As yet no symptoms of dimin
ution are perceptible in the receipts of the
Treasury—As yet, little addition of cost
has even been experienced upen the arti
cles burdened with heaver du:ks by the
last tariff. Tho domestic manufacturer
supplies the same or a kindred article at a
diminished pries, and tho consumer pays
the same tribute to the labor of his own
countryman, which he must otherwise hi ve
paid to foreign industry and toil.
The tariff of the hist session was, in its
details, not acceptable to the great inter
ests of any portion of the Union, not even
to the interest which it whs specially
intended to subserve. lls object was to
balance the burdens upon native industry
imposed by the operation id* foreign laws;
but not to aggravate the burdens of one
section of the Union by the relief afforded
to another. To the great principle sanc
tioned hy that act, one r-f those upon which
the constitution itself was. formed, I hope
and tins! tho authorities of the Union will
adhere. But if any of the duties imposed
by the act only relieve the manufactory hy
aggravating the burden of ihe planter let a
careful rcvisal of its provisions, enlightened
by the practical experience of its effects,
be directed to retain tluve which impart
to native industry and remove or supply
the place of those which only alleviate
ono great national interest by lire depres
sion of another.
Tl ip United States of America, and the I
people of every State of which they are com
posed are each of them Sovcrign Powers.
The Legislative authority of the whole is
exercised by Congress under authority
granted them in the common Constitution.
The legislative power of each Slate is ex
ercised by assemblies deriving their author
ity from the Constitution of the State.—
Each is sovereign within its own province.
Tire distribution of power between them
resupposes that these authorities will move
in harmony with eacli other. The mern
hers oi the Slate and general Govern
ments are all under oath to support both,
and allegiance is due to the one and to the
other. The case of a conflict between
these two powers lias not been snpposed;
nor has any provision been made for it in
our institutions; as a virtuous nation of
ancient times existed more than hve ceutu.
lies without a iuw for the punishment of
par icicle.
ote than once, however, in the course
ol eur history, have the people and the
legislatures of one or inoro states* in nio
ments of excitement, been instigated to
this conflict; and the means of effecting
this impulse have been allegations that the
acts of congress to be resisted, were uncoil,
stitutional. The people of no one state
have ever delegated to their legislature the
power of pronouncing an act of congress
unconstitutional; but they have delegated to
them powers, by the exercise of which the
execution of the laws of congress within
the state may be resisted. If we suppose
the case of such conflicting legislation
sustained by the corresponding executive
and judicial authorities, patriotism and
philanthropy turn iher eyes from the
-condition in which the parties would be
placed, and from that of the people of both
which must be its victims.
The reports from the secretary at war,
arid from the various subordinate offices of
the resort of that department, present an
exposition of the public administration of
affairs connected with them through the
course of the current year. The present
state of the army, and the distiibution of
the force of which it is composed, will be
seen from the report of the major general.
Several alterations in the disposal of the
troops have been found expedient in the
course of tqe year, and the discipline of
the armyf though net enth. * f. r ;
exceptions, has been generally gouii.
The attention of congress M;irr , ( ,
ly invited to tint pact of the h*jn t rt ’
secretary of war which concern* a
ing system of our rtl.il ions with t ic- n,; ‘
tribes. At the est iblisumont of 1 1> ( . r • l "' i
I I l U, Mf.
al government u-udur me pitseni cans*;
lion ot the United States* the principle *
adopted of considering them as fore, , h
independent powers; and also as
tors of lands* They were ’
considered as- saVugcs, whom it r ’
r ii . . . f>t;r
policy aud our duty, to use our nfl l( .
in converting to ;hrisjianity, and m k (ll *
ing within the pahe of civiiz ilioii.
As independent powers, we
with them by treaties* 03 proprietors
purchased of tiieri all the kinds
could prevail upon them to sell—asbrtMh> °
of the human race, rude and ignorant
endeavored to bring them to the
of religion and letters.- The ultimate
sign was to incorporate in our owu ii:s; i!r ,
lions that portion of them which cuulil } lft
converted to the state of civilization, j
the practice of European states, before, - -
Revolution, they had been considered•’
children to be governed; as lei.eitts at ri:s
cietion, to be dispossessed as occasion
might require; as humors,-to be iiulcmi g.
ed by trilling concessions for removal ( ru ,
the grounds upon which tb- ir game n-gg
extirpated. In changing the sysu uq t
would seem as if a contemplation of [U
consequences of the change l,c u,oi
taken. We. have been far more succts n
in the ucqtmhon of their lands than n, j„ u
parting to them the principles, or inspiring
them with the spirit r>f iviliztnioii |]*
in appropriating to ourselves their hunting
grounds, we have brought upon ourwlvtj
the obligation of providing them with sub*
sistence; and when we h ..vc had the rare
good fortune < f teaching them the arts of
civilization, and the doctrines of Christian
ly, we have unexpectedly found ihentfona,
ing, in the midst of ourselves, compiuimi-j
claiming to be independent of ours,and ri
vals of sovereignly within the territoriestf
the members of our Union. This state of I
things requires that a remedy should be
provided* A ren?edy which, while it shall
do justice to these unfortunate
nature may secine to the mombeis of our
confederation the ir rights of St veieigiiy I
and of soil. As the outline of a project
to that effect, the views pres ented in tlie
Report of the Secretary of War are re-1
commended to the consideration of Cw> I
gross.
The Report from the Engineer Depart
ment presents a comprehensive view <i
the progress which has been made in i\a
gre*t systems pi emotive of the public in
terest commenced and organized under the
authority of Congress, and the effects and
which have already contributed to the so
curiiy as they will hereafter largely contri
bute to the honor and dignity of the nation,
The firs; of these great systems is tint
of fortifications, commenced iin nice iate j
after the dose of our last war, under Ttte
Siiluitary experience which the events of
that war had impiesscd upon our counfrj
men of its necessity. Introduced timer
the auspurs of my immediate predecessor
it has btvii continued with the persevering
and liberal eacuurageirent of the Legisla
ture ; and combined with
exertions tor the gradual increase and i®*
prove men t the Navy pre pates for our u
tensive country a condition of defence
adapted 10 any critical emergency which
the varying course of events may bring
forth. Our advance in these concerted
systems hsve for the last ten years been
steady and progressive, and in a few j pari
• more will be completed as to leave no cause
for Apprehension that our sea cost will over
again offer a theatre of hostile invasion. I
The next of i.\ese cardinal measures ofl
policy, is the preliminary to great and Its*
ling works of public improvement, in tM
surveys of roads, examination for diecoursal
of canals, and labor.; s for the removal d’l
the obstructions of rivers and harboursfirsll
commenced by Act of Congress ol 3Gdi|
April, IS:!4. I
The report exhibits in ono table e l
funds appropriated at the last and prece-1
ciitig Sessions of Congress, for all I
fortifications, surveys, aud works of pitfi'J
improvement ; the manner in which
funds h tve been applied ibe amount exp**’!
deJ upon the several works under constr^i
lion, and tin further sunrs which may I
necessary to complete them. In a ■
the works projected by ihe Board of L'l
gineeis which have not been conmiU ]Cfis, l
ar.d the estimate of thuir cost .1
In a third the report of the anual Bos I
of Visiters at the Military AcaJejj£J I
West Point. For fhirieeen tortiJCtn 0 ■
erecting on various points of our Atw° ■
coast from Rhode Island to Louisiana I
aggregate expenditure of ihe year has
len a little a little short us one niiliio 0 1
dollars .. I
For the preparation of five additio ■
reports of reconnoissanoe and sur m
s’*nee the last Session of Congress, f° r
civil constructions upon thirty seven yj
rent public works commenced eigh l J
for which specific appropriations ave pfl jß
made by Acts of Congress ard J
oilier incipient surveys under the a u ,■
ty given by the Act of 30tit Aprib
about one million un re oi dollars li* v(N * 1
drawn from the Treasury.- ! JM
To these tvvo millions of .dollars
be added the appropriation pi ||
lars. to commence the erection a ,■
water; near the mouth of the
Chesapeake—tho Louisville and * ( ° r
the Dismal Swamp, and the
aud Ohio Canal ; the large dons* 10 jfl
lands to the States oi Ohio, Inj *}*
linois, and Alabama for objects°*!
ments within those States aud
appropriated for Light Houses u
Piers on the coast, and a full vie*
taken of the muaificicnee of [M
in the application of its resources J
improvenvent of its own cQpdU*° n ’ m
Os these great national uuefeato n® -fl
Academy at West Point is aiut |