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to their obvious injury, upon a protraction
of hostilities. These United States threw
off th n ir colonial dependence, and establish
ed independent Governments ; and Great
B itain, after having wasted all her ener
gies in the attempt to subdue them for a less
poiiitd than Mexico lias attempted to subju
gate Texas, had the wisdom and justice to
acknowledge their independence, thereby
recognising the obligation which rested on
her as one of the family of nations. Ane.x
ample thus set by ono of the proudest as
well as most powerful nations of the earth,
it could in no way disparage Mexico to imi
tate. While, therefore, the Executive
would deplore any collision with Mexico,
or any disturbance of the friendly relations
which exist between the two countries, it
cannot permit that Government to control
its policy, whatever it may be, towards Tex
as ; but will treat her as by the recognition
of her independence the United States have
long since declared they would do, as en
tirely independent of Mexico. The high
obligations of public duty may enforce
from the constituted authorities of the Uni
ted States a policy which the course perse
vered in by Mexico will have mainly con
tribilled to produce ; and the Executive, in
such a contingency, will with confidence
throw itself upon the patriotism of the Peo
ple to sustain the Government in its course
of action.
Measures of an unusual character have
recently been adopted by the Mexican Gov
ernment calculated in no small degree to
asset the trade of other nations with Mexi
co, and to operate injuriously to the United
States. All foreigners by a decree of the
23d day of September, and after six months
from the day of its promulgation, are for
bidden to carry on the business of selling
by retail any goods within the confines of
1 xico. Against this decree our Minister
lias not failed to remonstrate.
The trade heretofore carried on by our
citizens with Sante Fe, in which much cap
ital was already invested, and which was
becoming of daily increasing importance,
lias suddenly been arrested by a decree of
v irtual prohibition on the part of the Mex
ican Government. Whatever may be the
right of Mexico to prohibit any particular
course of trade, to the citizens of subjects of
foreign powers, this late procedure, to say
th.. least of it, wears a harsh and unfriend
ly aspect.
The instalments on the claims recently
settled by the Convention with Mexico have
be.-n punctually paid as they have fallen
due, and our Minister is engaged in urging
the i; taldishment of anew commission in
pursuance of the Convention for the settle
ment of unadjusted claims.
Wi:h the other American Slates our re
lations of amity and good will have remain
ed uninterrupted. Our Minister near the
Republic of New Grenada, lias succeeded
in eifecting an adjustment of the claim upon
that Government for the schooner “By
Chance,” which had been ponding for ma
ny years. The claim for the brig “Mor
ris, ’ which had its origin during the exis
tence of the Republic of Columbia, and in
demnification for which, since the dissolu
tion of that Republic, has devolved on its
several members, will be urged with re
newed zeal.
I have much pleasure in saying that the
Government of Brazil has adjusted the
claim upon that Government in the case
of the schooner “John S. Bryan,” and that
sanguine hopes are entertained that the
same spirit of justice will influence its
councils in arriving at an eariy decision
:i).>n the remaining claims ; thereby remo
ving all cause of dissension between two
Powers, whose interests are to some extent
i.;let-woven with each other.
Our Minister at Chili has succeeded in
indue ing a recognition by that Government,
of tlie adjustment effected by his predeces
sor of the first claims in the case of the
“Macedonian.” The first instalment has
been received by the claimants in the U
cited States.
Notice of the exchange of ratifications of
the treaty with Peru, which will take place
at Lima, has not yet reached this country,
but is shortly expected to be received, when
the claims upon that Republic will doubt
less be liquidated and paid.
In consequence of a misunderstanding
between this Government and that of'Buenos
Ayres, occurring several years ago, this
Government has remained unrepresented
at that court, while a minister from it has
been constantly resident here. The cau
ses of irritation have in a great measure
passed away, and it is in contemplation, in
view of important interests which have
grown up in that country, at some early
period during the present session of Con
gress, with the concurrence of the Senate,
to restore diplomatic relations between the
two countries.
Under the provisions of an act of Con
gress of the last session, a Minister was des
patched from the United States to China, in
August of the present year, who, from the
latest accounts we have from him, was at
Suez, in Egypt,on tho 25th of September
last, on his route to China.
In regard to the Indian tribes residing
within our jurisdictional limits, the great
est vigilance of live Government has been
exerted to preserve them at peace among
themselves, and to inspire them with feel
ings of confidence in the justice of I his Gov
ernment, and to cultivate friendship with
the border inhabitants. This has happily
succeeded to a great extent; but it is a sub
ject of regret that they suffer themselves in
some instances to be imposed upon by art
ful and designing men—and this notwith
standing all the efTorts of the Government
to prevent it.
The receipts into the Treasury for the
calendar year 1843, exclusive of loans,
were little more than eighteen millions of
dollars ; and the expenditures, exclusive
of payments on the public debt, will have
been about twenty-three millions of dollars.
By the Act of 1842, anew arrangement of
the fiscal year was made, so that it should
commence on the Ist day of July in each
year. The accounts and estimates for the
current fiscal year, will show that the loans
pud Treasury notes made and issued be-
fore the close of the last Congress, to meet
the anticipated deficiency, have not been
entirely adequate. Although on the Ist of
October last, there was a balanco in the
Treasury in consequence of the provision
thus made of (53,914,082 77, yet the appro,
priations already made by Congress, will
absorb that balance, and leave a probable
deficiency of two millions of dollars at the
close of the present fiscal year. Thcreare
outstanding Treasury notes to about the
amount of four millions six hundred thou
sand dollars ; and should they be returned
upon the Treasury during the fiscal year,
they will require provision for their redemp
tion. Ido not however regard this as pro
bable, since they have obviously entered in
to the currency of the country, and will
continue to form a portion of it, it’ the sys
tem now adopted be continued. The loan
of 1841, amounting t0#5,672,976 88, fulls
due on the Ist of January, 1845, and must
be provided for or postponed by anew loan.
And unless the resources of revenue should
be materially increased by you, there will
be a probable deficiency lor the service of
the fiscal year ending June 30th, 1845, of
upwards of about four millions of dollars.
The delusion incident to an enormously
excessive paper circulation, which gave a
fictitious value to every thing, and stimula
ted adventure and speculation to an extra
vagant extent, has been happily succeeded
hv the substitution of the precious metals
and paper promptly redeemable in specie,
and thus false values have disappeared,
and a sounder condition of things has been
introduced. This transition, although inti
mately connected with the prosperity of the
I country, has nevertheless been attended
with much embarrassment to the Govern
ment, in its financial concerns. So long as
the foreign importers could receive pay
ment for their cargoes in a currency of
■ greatly less value than that in Europe, but
fully available here in the purchase of our
agricultural productions, their profits being
immeasurably augmented by the operation,
tho shipments were large and the revenues
of the Government became superabundant.
But the change in the character of the cir
culation from a nominal and apparently
real value, in the first stages of its existence,
to an obviously depreciated value in its se
cond, so that it no longer answered the
purposes of exchange or barter, and its ul
timate substitution by a sound metallic and
paper circulation combined, has been at
tended by diminished importations, and a
consequent falling off in the revenue. This
has induced Congress, from 1837, to resort
to the expedient ol issuing Treasury notes,
and finally of funding them, in order to sup
ply deficiencies. I cannot, however, with
hold the remark that it is in no way com
patible with the dignity of the Government
that a public debt should he created in time
of peace to meet the current expenses of
the Government, ot that temporary expedi
ents should be resorted to an hour longer
than it is possible to avoid them. The Ex
ecutive can do no more than apply the
means which Congress places in its hands
for the support of Government; and happi
ly for the good of the country and for the
preservation of its liberties, it possesses no
power to levy exactions on the people, or
to force from them contributions to the pub
lic revenue in any form. It can only re
commend such measures as may, in its o
pinion, be called for by the wants of the
public service, to Congress, with whom a
[ lone rests the power to “lay and collect
| taxes, duties, imports, and excises.” This
duty has upon several occasions hereto
fore been performed. The present condi
tion of things gives a flattering promise that
trade and commerce are rapidly reviving,
and, fortunately for the country, the sour
ces ofrevenue have only to be opened, in
order to prove abundant.
While we can anticipate no considerable
increase in the proceeds of the sales of the
public lands for reasons perfectly obvious
to all, for several years to come, yet the
public lands cannot otherwise than be re
garded as the foundation of the public cred
it. With so large a body of the most fer
tile lands in the world under the control
and at the disposal of the Government, no
one can reasonably doubt the entire ability
of the Government to meet its engagement
under every emergency. In seasons of
trials anddifficulty similar to those through
which we are passing, the capitalist makes
his investment in the Government stocks
with the most assured confidenceofultimatc
reimbursement; and whatever may be said
in a period of great financial prosperity,
such as existed for years after 1833, I
should regard it as suicidal in a season of
financial embarrassment, either to alienate
the lands themselves, or the proceeds ari
sing from their sales. The first and pa
ramount duty of those to whom may be en
trusted the administration of public affair,
is to guard the public credit. In re-estab
lishing the credit of this central Govern
ment, the readiest and most obvious mode
is taken to restore the credit of the States.
The extremities can only be made sound
by producing a healthy action in the Cen
tral Government, and the history of the pre
sent day fully establishes the fact, that an
increase in the value of the stocks of this
Government will, in a majority of instan
ces, be attended by an increase in the val
ue of the stocks of the States. It should,
therefore, be a matter of general congratu
lation that amidst all the embarrassments
arising from surrounding circumstances,
the credit of the Government should have
been so fully restored that it has been en
abled to effect a loan of seven millions of
dollars to redeem that amount of Treasury
notes, on terms more favorable than any
that have been offered for many years.—
And the six per cent, stock which was cre
ated in 1842, has advanced in the hands of
the holders to nearly twenty per cent, a
hove its par value. The confidence of the
people in the integrity of their Government
has thus been signally manifested. These
opinions relative to the public lands do not
in any manner conflict with the observance
of the mostliberal policy towards those of
our fellow-citizens who press forward into
the wilderness and are the pioneers in the
work of its reclamation. In securing to
all such their rights of pre-emption, the
Government perform# hut an act of retribu
tive justice for sufferings encountered and
hardships endured, and finds ample rentu
aeration in the comforts which its policy en
sures arid the happiness which it imparts.
Should a revistou of the tariff, with a
view to revenue, become necessa'y in the
estimation of Congress, I doubt not you will
approach the subject with a just and enligh
tened regard to the interests of the whole
Union. The principles and views which
I have heretofore hud occasion to submit,
remain unchanged. It can, however, ne
ver be too often repeated, that the promt
nent interest ofevery important pursuit of
life, requires for success, permanency and
stability in legislation. These can only be
attained by adopting as the basis of action,
moderation in all things, which is an indis
pensable necessary to secure the harmo
nious action of the political as of the ani
mal system. In our political organization,
no one section of the country should desire
to have its supposed interests advanced at
tho sacrifice of all others; hut Union being
lite great interest, equally precious to all,
should be fostered and sustained by mutu
al concessions and the cultivation of that
spirit of compromise from which the Con
stitution itself proceeded.
You will be informed, by the report from
the Treasury Department, of the measures
taken under the act of the last session, au
thorizing the re-issue of Treasury notes in
lieu of those then outstanding. The system
adopted in pursuance of existing laws,
seems well calculated to save the country
a large amount of interest, while it affords
conveniences and obviate dangers and ex
pense in the transmission of funds to dis
bursing agents. I refer you also to that
report for the means proposed bv the Secre
tary to increase the revenue, and particu
larly to that portion of it which relates to
the subject of the ware-housing system,
which I earnestly urged upon Congress at
its last session, as to the importance of
which my opinion has undergone no change.
In view of tlie disordered condition of the
currency’ at the time, and the high rates of
exchange between different parts of the
country, I felt it to he incumbent on me, to
present to the consideration of your prede
cessors, a proposition conflicting in no de
gree with the Constitution, or with the rights
of the States, and having the sanction not
in detail, but in principle, of some of the
eminent men who bad preceded me in tlie
Executive office. That proposition con
templated the issuing of Treasury notes of
denominations not less than five nor more
than one hundred dollars, to he employed
in payment of the obligations of the Govern
ment in lieu of gold and silver, at the option
of the public creditor, and to an amount not
exceeding #15,000,001). It was proposed
to make them receivable everywhere, and
to establish at various points depositories of
gold and silver to be held in trust for the
redemption of such notes, so as to ensure
their convertibility into specie. No doubt
was entertained that such notes would
have maintained a par value with gold and
silver, thus furnishing a paper currency of
equal valueovcrthe Union, thereby meet
ing the just expectations of the people and
fulfilling the duties of a parental Govern
ment. Whether the depositories should be
permitted to sell or purchase bills under
very limited restrictions, together with all
its other details, was submitted to the wis
dom ofCongress, and was regarded as of
secondary importance. I thought then,
and think now, that such an arrangement
would have been attended with tlie happi
est results. The whole matter of the cur
rency would have been placed where by the
Constitution it was designed to be placed ;
under the immediate supervision and con
trol of Congress. Tlie action of the Gov
ernment would have been independent of
all corporations, and the same eye which
rests unceasingly on the specie currency
and guards it against adulteration, would
also have rested on the paper currency, to
control and regulate its issups and protect
it against depreciation. The same reasons
which would forbid Congress from parting
with the power over the coinage, would
seem to operate with nearly equal force in
regard to any substitution for ihe precious
metals in tiie form of a circulating medi
uni. Paper, when substituted for specie,
constitutes a standard of value by’ which
the operations of society are regulated, and
whatsoever causes its depreciation, affects
society to an extent uearly, if not quite, e
qual to the adulteration of the coin. Nor
can I withhold the remark, that its advan
tages, constrasted with a Bank of the Uni
ted Stales, apart from the fact that a Bank
was esteemed as obnoxious to the public
sentiment, as well on the score of expedi
ency as of constitutionality, appeared to me
to be striking and obvious. The relief
which a bank would afford by an issue of
#15,000,000 ofits notes, judging from the
experience of the ldte United States Bank,
would not haveoccurred in less than fifteen
years ; whereas, under the proposed ar
rangement, the relief arising from the is
sue ofsls,ooo,oooofTreasury notes would
have been consummated in one year ; thus
furnishing in one-fifteenth part of the time
in which a bank could have accomplished
it, a paper medium of exchange, equal in
amount to the real wants of the country, at
par value with gold and silver. The sa
ving to the Government would have been
equal to all the interest which it has had
to pay on Treasury notes of previous as
well as subsequent issues, thereby relieving
the Government, and at the same time af
fording relief to the people. Under all the
responsibilities attached to the station which
1 occupy, and in redemption of a pledge
given to the last Congress at the close of
its first session, I submitted the suggestion
to its consideration at two consecutive ses
sions. Tho recommendation, honever, met
with no favor at its hands. While I am
free to admit, that the necessities of the
times have since become greatly amelior
ated, and that there is good reason to hope
that the country is safely and rapidly e
merging from the difficulties and embar
rassments which every where surrounded
it in 1841, yet I cannot but think that its
restoration to a sound and healthy condi
tion would be greatly expedited by a re
sort to the expedient in a modified form.
The operations, on the Treasury now
rest on the act of 178 w, anil the resolution
oflßl6, and those laws have been so admin
istered as to produce as great a quantum of
good to the country as their provisions are
capubleof yielding. If there had been any
distinct expression of opinion going to show
that public sentiment is averse to the plan
either us heretofore recommended to Con
gress, or in a modified form, while my own
opinion in regard to it would remain un
changed, I should be very fur from again
presenting it to your consideration. The
Government has originated with the States
and the people, for their own benefit and ad
vantage ; and it would be subversive of
the foundation principles of the political ed
ifice which they have reared, to persevere
in a measure which in their mature judg
ments, they had either repudiated or con
demned. Tho will of our constituents,
clearly expressed, should be regarded as
the light to guide our footsteps ; the true
difference between a monarchical or aris.
tocratical government and a Republic be
ing, that in the first the will of the few pro
vails over the will of the many, while in
the last the will of the many should be alone
consulted.
The report of the Secretary of War will
bring you acquainted with the condition of
that important branch of the public service.
The Army may be regarded in consequence
of the small number of the rank and file in
each Company and Regiment, as little more
than a nucleus around which to rally the
military force of the country in case of war
and yet its services in preserving the peace
of the frontiers are of a most important na
ture. In all cases of emergency, the reli
ance of the country is properly placed in
the militia of the several States, and it may
well deserve the consideration ofCongress,
whether anew and more perfect organiza
tion might not he introduced, looking main
ly to the volunteer companies of the Union
for the present, and of easy application to
the great body of the militia in time of War.
The expenditures of the War Department
have been considerably reduced in the last
two years ; contingencies, however, may
arise, which would call for the filling up of
the regiments with a full complement of
men, and make it very desirable to remount
the Corps of Dragoons, which by an act of
the last Congress was directed to be dissol
ved.
I refer you to the accompanying report
of the Secretary for information in relation
to the Navy of the United Stales. While
every effort has been and will continue to
to be made to retrench all superfluities and
lop off all excrescences which from time to
time tnav have grown up, yet it lias not
been regarded as wise or prudent to recom
mend any material change in annual ap
propriations. The interests which are in
volved are of too important a character to
lead to the recommendation of any other
than a liberal policy. Adequate appropri
ations ought to be made to enable the Exec
utive to fit out all the ships that are now in
a course of building, or that require repairs,
for active service in the shortest possible
time, should any emergency arise which
may require it. An efficient Navy, while
it is the cheapest means of public defence,
enlists in its support the feelings of pride
and confidence which brilliant deeds and
heroic valor have heretofore served to
strengthen and confirm.
I refer you particularly to that part of
the Secretary’s Report which lias reference
to recent experiments in the application of
steam and in the construction of war steam
ers, made under the superintendence ofdis.
tinguished officers of tho navy. In addition
to other manifest improvements in the con
struction, of the steam engine and applica
tion of the motive power, which has ren
dered them more appropriate to the uses of
ships of war, one of those officers has bro’t
into use a power which makes tho steam
ship most formidable either for attack or
defence. I cannot too strongly recommend
this subject to your consideration, and do
not hesitate to express my entire conviction
ofits great importance.
I call your particular attention also to
that portion of the Secretary’s report which
has reference to the act of the late session
ofCongress which prohibited the transfer
of any balance of appropriation from other
heads of appropriation to that for building,
equipment, and repair. The repeal of that
prohibition will enable the Department to
give renewed employment to a large class
of workmen who have been necessarily dis
charged in consequence of the want of
means to pay them ; a circumstance at
tended, especially at this season of the year
with much privation and suffering.
It gives me great pain to announce to you
the loss of the steamship “ The Missouri,”
by fire, in the Bay of Gibraltar, whereshe
had stopped to renew her supplies of coal,
on her voyage to Alexandria, with Mr.
Cushing, the American Minister to China
on board. There is ground for high com
mendation of the officers and men, for the
coolness and intrepidity and perfect sub
mission to discipline evinced under the
most trying circumstances. Surrounded
by’ a raging fire, which the utmost exertions
could not subdue, and which threatened
momentarily the explosions of her well sup
plied magazines, the officers exhibited no
signs of fear, and’ the men obeyed every or
der with alacrity. Nor was she abandoned
until the last gleam of hope of saving her
had expired. It is well worthy ofyour con
sideration whether the losses sustained by
the officers and crew in this unfortunate
affair should not be reimbursed in them.
I cannot lake leave of this painful sub
ject without adverting to the aid rendered
upon the occasion, by the British authori
ties at Gibraltar, and the commander, offi
cers and crew of the British ship of the line
“ The Malabar,” which was lying at the
time in the bay. Every thing that gener
osity or humanity could dictate, was readi
ly performed. It is by such acts of good
will by one to another of the family of na
tions, that fraternal feelings are nourished
and the blessings cf permanent peace se-
cured.
Tiie Report of the Postmaster General
will bring you acquainted with the opera
tions of that Department during the past
year, and will suggest to you such modifi
cations of the existing laws as in your opin
ion the exigencies of the public service may
require. The change which the country
has undergone of late years in the mode of
travel and transportation has afforded so
many facilities for the transmission of mail
matter out of the regularmail, as to require
the greatest vigilance and circumspec
tion in order to enable the officer at tho
head of the Department to restrain the
expenditures within the income. There
is also too much reason to fear that the
franking privilege has run into great a
buse. The Department nevertheless has
been conducted with tlie greatest vigor, and
has attaint'd at the least possible expense,
all the useful objects for wihch it was es
tablished.
In regard toali the departments, I am
quite happy in the belief that nothing has
been left undone which was called for by a
true spirit of economy, or by a system of ac
countability rigidly enforced. This is in
some degree apparent from the fact, that the
Government has sustained no loss by the
default of any of its agents. In the com
plex, but at the same time, beautiful ma
chinery ofour system of Government, it is
not a matter of surprise, that some remote
agency may have failed for an instant to
fulfil its desired office ; but I feel confident
in the assertion, that nothing has occurred
to interrupt the harmonious action of the
Government itself, and that while the laws
have been executed with efficiency and vig
or, the rights neither of States nor individ
uals have been trampled on or disregarded.
In the mean time tiie country has been
steadily advancing in that contributes to
national greatness. The tide of population
continues unbrokenly to flow into tlie new
Slates and Territories, where a refuge is
found not only for our native horn fellow
citizens, but for emigrants from all parts
of the civilized world, who come a
tnong us to partake of the blessings of our
free institutions, and to aid by their labor to
swell tlie current of our wealth and power.
It is due to every consideration of public
policy that the lakes and rivers of the West
should receive all such attention at the
hands of Congress as the Constitution will
enable it to bestow. Works in favorable
and proper situations on the lakes would
lie found to be as indispensably necessary
in case of war to carry on safe and success
ful naval operations, as fortifications on the
Atlantic sea board. The appropriation
made by the last Congress for the improve
ment of the navigation of the Mississippi ri
ver, has been diligently and efficiently ap
plied.
1 cannot close this communication, gen
tlemen, without recommending to your most
favorable consideration, the interests of this
District. Appointed by the Constitution
its exclusive legislators, and forming in
this particular the only anomaly in our
system of Government of the Legislative
body being elected by others than those for
whose advantage they are to legislate, you
will feel a superadded obligation to look
into their condition, and to leave no cause
for complaint or regret. The Seat of Gov
ernment of our associated Republics
cannot but be regarded as worthy of your
parental care.
In connexion with its other interests, as
well as those of the whole country, I re
commend that at your present session you
adopt such measures, in order to carry in
to effect the. Smithonian bequest, as in your
judgment will be well calculated to con
summate the liberal intent of the testator.
Wheu, under a dispensation of Divine
Providence, I succeeded to the Presidential
office, the state of public affairs was cm
barrassing and critical. To add to the irri
tation consequent upon a long standing con
troversy with one of the most powerful na
tions of modern times, involving not only
questionsof boundary which under the most
favorable circnmstanoes, are always em
barrassing. but at the same time important
and high principles of maritime law—bor
der controversies between the citizens and
subjects of the two countries and subjects of
the two countries bad engendered a state of
feeling and ofconduct which threatened the
most calamitous consequences. The haz
ards incident to this state of things were
greatly heightened by the arrest and im
prisonment of a subject of Great Britain,
who acting as it was allcdged, as a part of
a military force, had aided in the commis
sion of an act violative of the territorial ju
risdiction of the United States, and invol
ving the murder of a citizen of tho State
of New York. A large amount of claims
against the. Gosernment of Mexico remain
ed unadjusted, and a war of several years
continuance with the savage tribes of Flor
ida still prevailed, attended with the deso
lation of a large portion of that beautiful
territory, and with the sacrifice of many
valuable lives. To increase the embar
rassments of the Government, individual
and Stale credit had been nearly stricken
down, and confidence in the General Gov
ernment was much impaired, that loans of
a small amount could only benegociated at
a considerable sacrifice. Asa necessary
consequence of the blight which had fallen
on commerce and mechanical industry, the
ships of the one were thrown out of employ
ment, and the operations of the
been greatly diminished. Owing to the
condition of the currency, exchanges be
tween different parts of the country had
become ruinously high, and trade had to
depend on a depreciated paper currency in
conducting its transactions. I shall be per
mitted to congratulate the country that, un
der an overruling Providence peace was
preserved without a sacrifice ot the nation
al honor ; the war in Florida was brought
to a speedy termination ; a large portion of
of the claims on Mexico have been fully ad
judicated and are in a course of payment,
while justice has been rendered to us in
other matters ; confidence between man and
man is in a great measnre restored, and the
credit of this Government fully and perfect
ly re-established. Commerce is becoming
more and more extended in its oparntions,
and manufacturing and mechanical indus
try once more retipi thq rewards of skill &
labor honestly applied. The -'operations of
trade rest on a sound enrri ncv. and the
rates of exchnnge are reduced to their low
est amount. In this condition of things I
h ive felt ito be my duty to hring to your fa
vorable consideration matters of great in
terest in their present and ultimate results,
and the only desire which 1 feel in connec
tion with tho future is, and will continue to
bo, to leave the country prosperous, and its
institutions uninjured.
JOHN TYLER.
Washington, December, 1844.
Plain Talk. —The ‘New York Gazette,’
the new Calhoun paper, gives Van Buren
o “mortal lick,” under the fifth rib, in the
following paragraph :
“How can a candid man read Mr. Tan
Buren’s letter to the Indiana Convention un
derstandingly, and not feel himself insulted
and paltered with, bv its duplicity l That
it contains ‘avowals of freo trade opinions’
is perfectly true ; and it is also true that it
stultifies them by adopting protection to the i
full breadth of the present tariff. But tot i
the Richmond Enquirer, he wrote about the’ *
very same date, declaring he disapproved
the present tariff, both in principle and de
tail. What, then, finally, does ho approve
or disapprove ? ‘You told me the other
day,’ said an enraged author to Garrick,
‘that my talents did not lie in tragedy ; to
day you tell rue they do not lie in comedy ;
now tell me, if you please, where the divil
do they lie V ”
Thomas H. Benton, in a Speech made to
the Loco-focos of St. Louis Cos., Missouri,
at Manchester, on the 4th inst., uttered the
following among other equally gross and
flagitious falsehoods:
“The election (of Gen. Harrison) was
carried by bribed votes, paid for with sus.
pended bank notes—by false votes, given
by people who did not exist—by imported
votes, carried from State to State—by sim
ulated votes, changing their dress and name
twenty times, and voting as often—and by
changing tickets after the vote was in the
ballot box. By these, and such like means,
the election was carried ; and judicial proof
lias since established the degrading fads.’’
Mr. Benton! each of the above observa
tions is a deliberate falsehood, and you are
an unqualified villain ! We dare you, we
defy you, to produce “judicial proof,” or
any thing like it, of what you assert! You
know you cannot, and you have lied delib
erately, wiifully ‘
Not only is there no proof of what you
charge on the Whigs but there is abundant
proofof the very contrary. The States
which in 1840 cast the largest vote in pro
portion to their population were New
Hampshire and Illinois, both voting for
Van Huron. Illinois, we think it will be
conceded, was carried for Van Buren by
the votes of aliens not Naturalized accor
ding to the requirements of the Federal
Constitution. At any rate these votes were
admitted by the Van Buren party and were
cast accordingly for that party. New
Hampshire not only cast an enormous vote
in proportion to her population, but the rote
of the Van Buren townships -of that State
teas ten per cent, heavier in proportion
their population than the vote of the
townships. In this State we have not a
shadow of doubt that four illegal votes were
polled for Van Buren to one for Harrison,
We do not in this charge our opponents
with designing foul play but the material
for illegal voters is overwhelmingly on
their side, as every one knows, and it would
hardly be possible that a majority of illegal
votes should be given to the Whig tickets.
Col. Benton is one of theleaders who ate
determined to bully the Loco-foco party
into the renornination of Van Buren. We
heartily wish them success in this; for the
man to sustain whom you are obliged to
contend that the People are a debauched,
befooled, unthinking mob, and their elec
tions a mere farce, can never be elected.
But he shall not utter such gross and dis
graceful libels on the People and their em
phatic, righteous Verdict in 1840 without
castigation.— N. Y. Tribune-
Books and Newspapers. —Of all the a
musements that can be imagined for a hard
working man, after his daily toil, or in in
tervals, there is nothing like reading an in
teresting newspaper or book. It calls for
no bodily exertion, of which he has already
had enough, or perhaps too much. It re
lieves his home of dullness and sameness.
It transport him intolivelier and gayer, and
more diversified and interesting scenes;
and, while he enjoys himself there, he may
forget the evils of the present moments ful
ly as much as if he were ever so drunk,
with tlie advantage of finding himself the
next day with the money in his pocket, or
at least laid out in real necessaries, and
without the drunkard’s miseries of mind and
body. Nav, it accompanies him to his next
day’s work ; and, if what he has been read
ing be any thing above the idlest and light
est, it gives him something to think of, be
sides the mere mechanical drugcry of his
every-day occupation ; something he can
enjoy while absent, and look forward to with
pleasure. If 1 were to pray for a taste
which should stand me instead, under every
variety of circumstances, and be a source of
happiness and cheerfulness to me through
life, and a shield against its ills, however
things might go amiss, and the world frown
upon me, it would be a taste for reading.
Shameful Theft. —Capt. Marryatt has
published a “ Narrative of the Travels and
Adventures of Monsieur Violet, in Califor
nia, Sonora and Western Texas.”
This Narrative it seems, is made up from
the sketches published by Mr. Kendall in
the New Orleans Picayune, of his journey
to Santa Fe, and from that place the city -
of Mexico, after he was tak<rt> prisiSner jy
the Mexicans. Mr. Kendall, in b letter to
the Courier and Enquirer, exposes this great
literary fraud, which should damn its au
thor to everlasting infamy. /
