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e v e k v t n u u sr n a y morning,
BY JAMES VAN NEKS,
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TE RMS:
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It E P O R T
OK THE SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY ON
THE FINANCES, &,C.
In obedience to the directions of the act of
Congress, ot the 10th of May, ItfOO, supple
mentary to the “Act to'establish the Treasury
Department,” the Secretary of the Treasury
respectfully submits the following report:
1. OF THE PUBLIC REVENUE & EXPENDITURES.
The receipt* and expenditures for the year
1840, were as follows :
The available baltncc in die Treasury
on die Ist of January, IK4'), (exclu
sive of amount deposited wuli the
Stati s, trust lun.is, and indemnities,
and the amount due from banksvvhich
failed in 1837,) was, as appears by
the hooks ofihe Register of he Trea
"ry 33,GG3,053 GO
The leeeip's in'o the Treasury during
the year 1849 were, from
Customs §13,499,502 17
Lands 3,292,285 53
li nd of the Hank of the
tinned Staled 1,771,513 80
Miscellaneous anl inci
,denial sources 233 258 23
Ranks fad and in 1337 713,629 55
Treasury notes issued 5,559 54; 51
Ma'-ing __ 52,350,820 41
The cxpeudi :urus in fie same year
were, !br
Civil ir.st, foreign inter
course&iuiscidlaiieou* §5.492,030 98
Miliary I department 10,8 iti,236 45
Naval Department G, 031,088 S3
Futilic I debt 11,982 7 7
Add outstanding war
rants issued prior to
Ist January, 1811 1 416,334 28
Trcas’y notes n deemed
including interest 4,045 802 05
Leaymg a liahtnce hi the Treasury on
tile Ist of January. 1641, of 037,415 G3
Thercciipts fiout the 1-t of January
to the 4:li March, 1811. were, say
From Customs ‘*‘1,974 836 46
Lauds 386,1-lS 5G
Miscellaneous and incr
dental sources 31.349 65
Burks tail din 1837 18,U 0 00
Treasury Notes i-cited per
act of ilstMarch, 1840 1,110,C1l C 8
Treasury n-Hes issued un
der act o f 15th Februa
ry, 1841 73 6SI 32
IJ.md of the Rank of the
United States 17,913 00
Mak-ng with the balance in the Trea
su-y, January 1, 1811 5,139,885 10
The e.Ypendnurea I'nr the same period
wire, etvil list, miscellaneous, anti
foreign intercourse, 943 517 14
Military Department 2.273.0!.7 11
Naval Department 759.343 (it)
Public Debt 3 61- 70
Ticasury Notes redeemed,
includiiiff interest *G47 590 09
leaving the balance in tbe Treasury
oil tbe 4ih March, 1841 572,7 IS 4G
The balance ts appropriations outstnn
duiii on the 4 bof March. 1811, were
(Statement A.)
Civi foreign intercourse and miscella
neous §5,237,234 28
Military 15 991,895 15
Naval 6,910,268 69
Public Debt 6,387 30
Treasury notes issued prior to the Ist
of January, 1811. and outstanding on
the 4ih March, 1811 3 573 220 CO
Do. issued under the act of IS4O. from
Ist January to tbe 4 h of March,
ISfl, which may. and most of which
j robabiv will lie presented in pay
ment of public dues during the year
1811 1 110.611 03
Interest estimated at about 300,000 00
Making in the aggregate $33 1-9.616 50
Os this there will be required for the
services of the current year 24,210,000 CO
Additional appropi ia!ions required by
the War Department for the year
l§4l, viz :
Fortifications and works
of defence $ 1,435,5C0 00
For armaments > f tonifi
cations and ird mice
sto. cs 220,000 00
For payment of arreara
ges and current expen
ses, and taking care of
public property on roads
harrors, rivers, &c. 40,193 12
For arrearages Dr pre
venting and suppros
sm” I ndiau hostilities 825.637 86
Making 26,731,336 98
The actual and estimated means un
der the existing laws t > meet these
demands are, viz :
The available balance in
the Treasury on the
4;h March, IS4l—see
statement B. 646.503 12
Treasury notes author
ized under the act of
1840, issued after the
3d March, 1311 413 592 72’
Treasury notes author
ized by the act of 1841
to be i>s ted afier the
4th March, 1841 5,000,000 00
Receipts fro II customs
est 111 I ed at 12,000.000 00
llecp-’.s trnm public lands 2 500,0( 000
Miiccll.uieou> sources 170.000 00
leaving improve!- i for.of ;he demands
for tin- pi sen y u . the - nil of 6,000,941 14
Tber- will a!s., iv.*!m i t.ir public
dues in ill e pres nt year, .v payable
in 18 42. T.o s iiy uot s a issues of
me or. -ent y ear, v is :
* This iie ii, and the item of expenditure for the
pavtn nt <*f Trv i m > ini'es lu>m Ist of January to
4 i's \I ir 1811 : -i *-tft a >o'i! sSOO 000 of Treas
ury n.■ i■ w i l i v ■■ re-. • i ai the Department on
a c mu! nl istum ■ I trmj i >a’ period, but for which
the wutT inis “cie not ts--uvd until a subsequent pe
ri -ai.
VOLUME I.]
Issued under the act of 1841
prior to the 41. March §073,681 32
Do. do. 1840, after the 3d
March 413,592 72
Do. do. 1841, to be issued
after i:.e 4!h of Match,
and included in the esti
mate of wavs it means 5 .000 OCO GO
’ 6 087,274 04
Making an aggregate of debt and deficit
to be provided for in fhis and tile en
suing year, of 12,088,215 18
This estimate is founded on the assump
tmn that all the moneys in the public
depo-ilories can be at once made a
vadab!*', and fhatanv and all of the
demands upon the Treasury can be
satisfied, so long as money to a sutfi
• cienl amount remains in any or all
the depositories.; But that is by no
means the case ; while the power to
issue Treasuiy notes exists, there
should be at all times, for the con
venience of the Treasury, a sum e
qual to §1,000.000. in tile various de
positories subject to draft. When
that power i expended, the sum
should be increased to not less than 4,000 000 18
Which sum added to the above, makes
the estimated deficit §l6 085,215 18
But the undersigned feels it his duty to call
the attention of Congress to the more imme
diate demands of the public service, and the
means by which those demands are to be
supplied.
The sums which will be required from the
Ist of Jtitle to the olst of August next, are es
timated as follows, viz :
For Ihc payment ol Treasury note/
which will tall due wiiiiui that nine,
and the interest theieon, about $2,756,800 00
Ba.ancefor tailing the Gin census, 294,000 00
For llits civil list, miscellaneous and
foreign intercourse, 1.309,308 37
Military service, 4,591,809.00
Naval do 1.844,000 00
Public Debt, 6,387 09
Expenses of the extra session of Con
gress, 350,000 00
Making about, 11,151,693 37
The ways and means in the pow
er of the Treasury, and which
will probably accrue under
existing laws, as follows :
1. Funds in the ‘treasury
(as per statement C,) $644,361 16
2. Treasury notes author
ized by tiie act of 15th of
February, 1841, 1,505 913 91
3. Estimated receipts from
the customs 3 000.000 00
do do the lands, 700,000 00
do do the miscel
laneous somces, 50,000 00
.Making, 5.900,305 07
And leaving a deficit of 5,251,388 30
To with it add the sum recommended
to be kept in ilte Treasury to meet
any emergencies of the public ser
vice, viz : 4,000,000 00
Making an aggregate of 9,251 388 30
In another part of this paper the views ol
the Department as to the mode of providing
for the above deficit, together with (he residue
of the existing public debt, will be presented.
From the yeai 1816 to 1837, a per.od of
twenty-one years, the revenues con
stantly exceeded the expenditures.
Tlie average animal surplus ilumig
that time was §11,464,226 87, (see
t..bie3 1 and 2 ) making an aggregate
excess of §240 748,764 27. Us this
there was applied to the extinction
of me national debt 5208,792,127 41,
and mere was under the provision of
the act of the 234 of June, 1836, de
posited with the States S2B Uil 644-
91, and there remained oil tiie Ist of
January, 1837, m the Treasury of
the United Stales including die
<• . -i. .ton to the Slates,
a siuplus of 17.1U9,4/i 20
l’liere were, also, outstanding debts
due unJ lullig due to the Treasury,
ai isiuo from oilier sources than those
of the ordinary revenue, and which
were ai;i b tween the Ist ol Janua
ry, 1837, and 4 hoi March 1841, the
amount ol [see -tatenient DJ 9,124,747 00
There were also, issued within that pe
riod, auJ outstanding <>n the 4th jof
March, IS-IL, Ttca ury notes to tiie
an,out of 5 643 512 04
.Vlakin-r the agsresate available means
which were in the I reusury oil the
T.-t us January, 1837, which came
into it prior to tin- 4th March IS4I,
over and above tiie current revenue 31,882,752 66
From which deduct the amount [less
the trust funds] remaining in the
Treasury on the 4<h March, 1841, 572,718 46
And there appears an excess of ex
penditure over tiie current revenue
U §31,310,014 2C
It is proper to remark that the entries on the
books of the Register of the Treasury do not
always show tiie tiue dates ol the receipts
and ex|)endn tires. An item involved in the
above statement (table D) will serve to illus
trate this fact. Tbe sum of ssl 2,1.16 47 was,
on ihe 2,1 and 31st of October, 18-10 paid by
the Bank of the United Stales on its lasi
bond to William Armstrong, superintendent at
Fort Gibson, by order ol tbe Secretary o(
War. Though this sum was in fact received
and expended on those days, it did not find
its way into tlie ollice ol the Register until
tbe 4th of March, 1841, on which day it ap
pears on his books both as a receipt and an
expenditure.
Thus and to this extent, within the last
four years, were the expenditures pushed be
yond the amount of the revenue, i'hey were
made to absorb the surplus in the Treasury
and the outstanding debts due to the United
Slates, so that the Treasury was, on the 4ih
of March, 134iz]exhansied of its means arid
subject to heavy and immediate liabilities. It
was already burdened with a debt incurred in
time of peace, and without any adequate re
sources except the authority granted by law
to augment that debt.
As vet no provision has been made to re
duce this debt or to check its constant and ra
pid increase. We find it, therefore, as far as
past legislation and financial arrangements
chracteriz.e it, a permanent and increasing na
tional debt. The temporary expedients bv
which it has been sustained no not at all] vary
its essential character.
The attention of Congress is respectfully
invited to the necessity of early and effectual
measures to prevent its further augmentation.
The obvious remedy is to increase the reve
nue as far as may be without unreasonably
burden i g commerce, and to reduce the ex
penditures within the limits of strict economy.
But as it may nut comport with the views
of Confess to no into a revision and adjust
ment of the customs so long before the act of
March 2, ISJ3, comes to have its final and
permanent operation, the undersigned would
respectfully recommend, as a temporary mea
sure, the levy of a duty of 20 per cent ad va
lorem on all articles which are now free of du
ty, ot which pay a less duly than -20 percent
except gold and silver, and the articles speci
fically enumerated in the sth section of the act
of March 2, 1533.
If this measure he adopted, it is estimated
i that there will be received into the Treasury
from customs, in the last quarter of the pres
ent year, about 85.300.000; in all of the year
1 1842, about $*.22,500,000; and in the year
1843, after the final reduction under the act
of March i 1833, about 8-0,500.000. The
details of lhis estimate will he found in the
accompanying paper, marked E, and enclo
, sures.
It is believed that, after the heavy expendi
tures required for the public service in the
present year shall have been provided for, the
revenues which will accrue lrom that, or a
THE COLUMBUS TIMES.
nearly proximate duty, will be sufficient lo de
liuy the expenses of Government, and leave
a surplus to be annually applied to the grad
ual payment ol the national debt, leaving the
pr* ceeds ol the frublic lands to be disposed of
as Congress shall think lit.
I The general principles on which the final
revision ol the tanll is to rest are perhaps
simple and easy to be apprehended, but the
work ol revision itself, in its adaptation and
detail, must be a work of time. It should be
done on calm reflection and careful deitbera
-1 ion, with a view to reconcile, as far as possi
ble, the conflicting opinions, and to promote
all the various interests of the whole People
ol these United States. And it may be im
portant, in that adjustment, not only to recip
rocate on lair and tcjiiai principles, and in a
liberal spirit, the concessions which may he
accorded to our commerce by foreign nations,
but also to do justice to our own citizens by
meeting in a like eaual spirit any heavy ex
actions or prohibitions which foreign nations
may think lit to impose upon the importation
of our staple productions.
Some legal provisions are also required lo
correct inequalities between the duties upon
sugar and molasses, and the drawbacks upon
refined sugar and rum, manufactured or dis
ti.led from foreign materials. The relation
between the duty and the drawback was ad
justed by the acts of January -21st, 1829, and
May 29th, 1830, since which lime the duties
have been and minished, while the drawbacks
remain tiie same. And a provision of law de
claring that all non enumerated articles which
bear a similitude to any enumerated article
chargeab'e with duty shall pay the same rate
of duty with the article which it most reseni
blen, would save a large sum annually to the
revenue, and prevent much annoyance and
litigation between the importer and ihe officers
charged with the collection of the customs.
of tiie public debt.
But it is not expected that any modifica
tion of lire revenue laws will he operative to
supply the immediate wants of the Treas
ury, and to pay the debts which fall due ill the
present and in the ensuing year. A further
loan is necessary to elfcfct these objects, and
the only questions that ctfn arise ate as to the
mode of procuring the loan, the character t f
the securities, and the assumed duration of the
debt.
It would, in the opinion of the undersigned,
be unwise to charge upon the commerce or
the resources of the country, in any form, the
burden of paying at once, or at all nastily the
national debt. Before that is done, measures
of restoration and relief are required. The
currency of the country should he restored,
and commerce and industry relieved from their
present state of embarrassment and depres
sion, and a benign and liberal policy on the
part ol the General Government should cMI
ibrih once more the hardy industry and active
enterprise of our people, and the vast resour
ces ol our country.
If we assume the period of from five to
eight years as that in w’hicit this debt can be
paid without inconvenience and embarrass
ment—and the time appears to be she, rtenough
—we have one of the most essential elements ■
on which to form our judgement as to ihe best
and most convenient mode in which the loan
can be kept up, and the credit of the Govern
ment sustained.
In the inception and during the progressive
increase of a national debt, tne issues of Treas
ury notes, though dangerous and delusive,
have yet their*advantages. They need not
be issue;! faster than the actual wants of the
Treasury require; and the power to issue any
given sum is, for ai! effective purposes of im
mediate expenditure, a fund it( tiie Treasury
available to that amount. But, when the
t ebt has acquired its maximum and ceases to
accumulate, or when it becomes larger than
the amount necessary to be kept tut hard to
meet the current wants of the Tieasury, these
advantages disappear. This mode of loan
then becomes to the Government what tiie
wale m market of new promissory notes, for
the purpose of raising money to take up old
promissory notes, is to an individual. It is
the issue of Treasury notes to take up other
Treasury notes year alter year in succession ;
and, under those circumstances, it is inconve
nient and expensive.
But the raising of money hy the issue of
Treasury notes is objectionable, because it is
deceptive ; by this means a heavy debt may
be raised and hastened permanently upon the
country, the amount of new issues being in
volved with the payment of the old ; while the
People, and even those who administer the fi
nanc r s, may not be impressed with the
important Let that a national debt is created
or in the process ol creation.
Therefore, in the opinion of the undersign
ed, when a national debt does exist, and must
continue for a time, it is better that it should
be made a funded debt, according to our an
cient financial usage, li is then sheltered by
no cover, and is the subject ol no delusion.—
It is open, palpable, true; the eyes of the
country will be upon it, and will be able at a
glance.to mark its reduction or its increase ;
and it is believed that a loan for the requisite
amount, having eight years to run, but re
deemable at the will of the Government, on
siz months’ notice, could be negotiated at a
much less rate of interest than Treasury notes.
Much expense would also be saved in dispen
sing with the machinery of the issue and pay
ment and cancelling ot Treasury notes.
It is therefore respectfully recommended
that a sum sufficient to pay the debt at pres
ent existing, and such as will necessarily ac
crue in this and the ensuing year, be raised on
loan for the lime, and on the condition above
suggested.
ON KEEPING AND DISBURSING THE PUBLIC
MONEY.
The undersigned would also respectfully
invite the attention of Congress to the present
mode of keeping and disbursing the public
moneys; and also to the subject of the creation
or employment ol a fiscal agent to he charged
with the performance ot these and other du
ties. The subject is one of great importance,
both to the Government and to the communi
ty. Such agent or depository ought to unite,
m the highest practicable degree, the safety
of the pubhc tuuds, and convenience and econ
omy in their administration; and it should, if
possible, be so selected or framed as to exert
a salutary influence over the business and cur
rency of the country.
The mode of keeping and disbursing the
ptthiic money, provided by the act of July 4,
1840, will be found, on comparison with that
heretofore chiefly used hv the Government,
eminently deficient in all these essential requi
sites- The financial history of the United
States, especially tor the last twelve years,
furnishes abundant proof that the public mon
ey is unsafe in the custody ol individuals,
and that their official bunds are no sufficient
security for its safe keeping and faithful ap
plication. W ilhin the period above named,
many receiving officers connected with the
Treasury Department have become defaulters
to the Government. The aggregate loss from
that cause within that period, as shown by the
hooks of the Department, amount to 52.0-20,-
500. but a small part of which will probably
be recovered from their bonds. It is true that,
in anv system which can lie adopted, some
part of the public money must, iti the process
of collection, pass through the hands of indi-
“THE UNION OF THE STATES, AND TIIE sovereignty of the states.”
COLUMBUS, GEORGIA, THURSDAY MORNING, JUNE 24, 1841.
vidua is, and be subject to their dedications;
but the act u July 4, 1840, extends and con
tinues the risj beyond the period of collection,
and subjectssarge masses which, in the fluc
tuations of qmnneree, sometimes accummu
late, to the situe dangerous custody.
Nor or.iv is tiie public money in the hands
of individuals more exposed to loss from ordi
nary defalcations than when deposited in a
well regulated bank; but the Government is
also liable to the risks of fire, robbery, and oth
er casualties, occurring either in deposite or
transitission, from which it is entirely protec
ted wlen a well regulated bank is the depos
: itorv and the fiscal agent.
Tht present systen is aiso, in many respects,
■ cumbrous and inconvenient. Its tendency is
i (o center the disbursements of the public mon
-1 ies at some of the Eastern cities, chiefly at
New York. That being the great commer
cial emporium of the United States, is the
point a*, which funds are the most valuable,
and,, therefore, the most sought; hence those
who are entitled to payments out of the pub
lic Treasury claim them there. It is true
there is a general discretion in the head of the
Deparlmant to refuse or grant the favor of
such payments according to its convenience;
but when the currency is deranged, and the
premium on exchanges is high, this discretion
involves discrimination to a large amount
among creditors equally entitled. It then be
comes a dangerous discretion, and one that
ought not to exist. But, under the present
system, it cannot be avoided, save in a few
cases, without discharging every public liabil
ity at the most favored point. This would at
once center all the disbursements at a few of
the Eastern cities, and involve the Treasury
in the risk and expense of transporting the pub
lic funds from -be various jioints of collection
to the places of disbursement.
An item of less importance, but still worthy
consideration, in settling on a permanent and
economical arrangement, is the direct expense
of the present system, including the cost of the
buildings for the depositoiy of the public mon
ey, and the salaries ol the officers and their
clerks who receive and dbßurse it. No por
tion of this risk, inconvenience, or expense
need to be incurred where a well regulated
bank is made the fiscal agent.
But the present system is also, in the opin
ion of the undersigned, injurious to the busi
ness and currency of the country. Instead of
permitting the credit and the finances of the
Government to lend their indirect but efficient
aid in sustaining the credit and regulating the
currency of the country, it brings into direct
hostility those important interests. In the
progress of the system a sufficient amount of
gold and silver to supply the wants of Treas
ury must be withdrawn from circulation and
locked up in vaults, leaving no representative
to sujtply its place in the general cbculalion.
A large amount, also, in the hands of those
who pay to or receive (Vi m the Treasury, is
equally withdrawn from general circulation,
and made to flow through those channels alone
which lead into and out of the public coffers.
The other'avenues of commerce and inter
couse are thus deprived of their proportion of
the precious metals.
Within the flftv-two years during which
our Constitutional Government has existed,
we have had for two periods of twenty years
each, a bank chartered by Congress as a de
pository of tiie public monies and as a fiscal
agent. We have bad, also, at two intervals,
amounting to about nine yeriis, State banks
employed tor like purposes; and, during the
remainder of the time, trie funds of tl te Gov
ernment have been kept and the finances ad
ministered partly by the banks and partly by
individual officers and agents. The losses
sustained by Slate batiks, as depositories, du
ring the first period of their employment, ex
tending from ISII to 18111, agreeably to a
statement prepared by the Secretary of the
Treasury in 1833, and revised and republish
ed in 1837, were ,*551,000,676. In the latter
period, from 1833 to 1837 though no actual
loss is believed to have occurred, yet the Treas
ury and the country suffered inconvenience
and embarrassment from the fiscal arrange
ments with those numerous and disconnected
institutions. But, during the forty years that
the two banks of the United States were the
depositories of the public money and the fiscal
agents of the Government, no loss whatever
was sustained, nor any delay or any expense
incurred in transmitting or disbursing the pub
lie monies, so far as the agency of those insti
tutions extended. Then, as regards the wants
of the Treasury merely, the safety of the pub
lic funds, and economy in their administration,
exjaerieuce lias demonstrated the superior util
ity of a bank constituted and adopted by Con
gress as a fiscal agent, ft lias also proved to
tis that the act.ve business of the country, its
currency, its credit, its nuluslty, and its com
merce, are intimately connected with
dependent upon the financial arrangements of
the General Government. If they be wise
and beuffieent, they indirectly, but efficiently,
promote those great interests ot the People;
if constant and uniform in their action, they
give to those interests confidence and stabili
ty-
v n • . I -f* 11- -f. b *l,■ *- rtf,
Since (he removal of the pnb.ic deposites £
from the Bank ot the United States, in 1803, j
l;,e Government has had no permament sis- ,
cal agent and no definite financial system. ,
All has been experiment, transfer, and change. ;
The business of the country has y ielded to the ,
unsteady impulse, and moved forward with .
wild irregularity; atone tune stimulated to (
excessive action, at another sunk intolethar- (
gv. And, in providing for the wants ol the ,
Treasury, it is surely important to look, also,
to the wants and the welfare of the coinrou
nitv, fiom the products of whose industry the
Treasury is supplied.
And as regards those great interests, we find
the testimony of past years is no less distinct
and strong in favor ol a moneyed institution
charlered liy the General Government, and
possessed of its confidence and credit. Ihe
period embrac.uglhe last ten years ol tneex
stence of the late Bank ol tire United Sia.cs,
as the fiscal agent is tresh in the memory o.
us ail, and is looked back to as a periou ot
orreat public prosperity; and though o;her
causes did, doubtless, co-operate to produce
that favorable condition o! things, yet one of
the Governing principles on wnich depended
the* steady advance of the country in com
merce, in industry, and in substantial wealth,
was the existence of a fiscal agent established
bv the General Government, and charged
with the equalization of exchanges, and the
regulation of the currency.
In the present condition of our country, the
relief to be anticipated from such an institu
tion cannot he immediate, hut must he the
wotk of time. 4he business ot the country
would, however, in the opinion ot the under
signed, steadily and certainly revive under its
influence.
In whatever point of light the undersigned
is able to . this subject, he is irresistibly
led to the conclusion that such fiscal agent, so
framed as to possess those important t unctions,
| is alike essentia! to the wants of the Treasury
i and of the community. Such an institution
! should be framed with deliberation, for it
; must have high duties to perform, and exten-
I sive interests to protect and promote; and it
; should he granted with care, for it will be lia
i j hie to great and dangerous abuses. As the
i fiscal agent of the Government and an elfeo-
live reguiatior of the currency in a wide spread
community, it should he steady and uniform
tn its action, and fixed and stable in its char
acter.
I be undersigned has no doubt of the pow
er ol Congress to create sucii an institution.
Experience has proved its necessity to carry
out other expressly granted powers; it has
been exercised and recognized hy the Legisla
tive and Executive Departments of the Gov
ernment during four-fifths of the whole period
ol our national existence, and it has received
the uniform sanction of our highest judicial
tribunal.
Yet that power has been questioned bv
many wise and patriotic statesmen whose
opinions are entitled to consideration and res
pcct; and in a measure like this ofhiglt polit
ical import, which, if wisely conceived and
cordially concurred in, must have a great and
enduring influence on the prosperity of the
country, it is important, as (ar as possible, to
obviate objections and reconcile opinion.
fl such an institution can be so conceived
in principle and guarded in its details as to
remove all scruples ouching tbe question of
constitutional power, and thus avoid the ob
jections which have been urged against those
heretofore created by Congress, it will, in the
opinion of the undersigned, produce the hap
oiest results, and confer lasting and important
benefits on the country.
‘1 lie undersigned, therefore, respectfully re
cur mends'the creation of such fiscal agent,
and the repeal of the act of July 4, 1310, pro
viding “for the collection, safe-keeping, trans
fer, and disbursement of the public revenue,”
except the penal provisions thereof, which will
probably require revision and modification.
All which is respectfully submitted,
T. EWING,
Secretary of tbe Treasury.
Treasury Department, June 2, IS4I.
FROM THE WAR DEPARTMENT.
Wak Department,
May 31, 1841.
Sir.: I propose to bring to your notice, at the
present time only such matters confided to the
superintendence of the Department of War
as, from their nature or pressing emergency,
or from the general interest they excite, you
insy deem proper to communicate for the in
formation of Congress and the public.
Although the inspections directed since the
adjournment of Congress have been made with
the greatest promptness, and furnish an exten
sive body of information in regard to the state
of the public defences, as well as to the dis
cipline and efficiency of the army, and bear
full and satisfactory testimony to the impor
tance of the Inspector’s Department, yet, from
the limited time allowed, and the immense ex
tent of territory over which the numerous es
tablishments connected with the military ser
vice are distributed, the inspections are neces
sarily incomplete; and it is therefore not de
signed to notice all the considerations sugges
ted by the information they afford until a fu
ture occasion.
In the general condition and disposition of
the army there has been no material change
since the last annual report from this Depart
ment. The regular force stationed in Florida,
consisting of eight regiments, and number
ing, in the aggregate, by the last returns, five
thousand and fifty-seven, it lias been found ex
pedient to continue in service in that Terri
tory.
A few incursions by small detachments of
our troops into the fastnesses of the enemy,
by which their atrocities have ‘ been signally
Visited upon their own heath?, have boon the
only exceptions to the general cessation of
hostilities which took place last fall, soon
after the regiments, reinforced by new recruits
and provided with every necessary supply,
were prepared for active operations; nor have
they been renewed since that time. Offers to
negotiate from several chiefs, the device by
which those crafty warriors have so often baf
fled our arms at the period most propitious
to success, were renewed under such circum
stances as induced the commanding General
once more to embrace them. The strongest
confidence appears to have been felt that, with
the aid of a suitable amount of funds, applica
ble to that object, the whole ot the hostile
bands might soon be persuaded to surrender,
and abandon the country. This Ine of poli
cy'', though tardy in its results, continued to
hold out such hopes of complete success as
to encourage the late Administration in the
belief that this protracted war had at last been
brought so near a close as to be no longer a
subject of peculiar interest or anxiety. For
these reasons it was not thought expedient to
check or interrupt the negotiations in progress
or, the 4th of March last, by directing a differ
ent mode of operations.
The result so far, since the negotiations
were renewed in the fall, lias been the surren
der of four hundred and thirty-one Indians,
including about one hundred warriors ail of
whom have been transported to the country
assigned them, west ot the Mississippi. Some
expectation is still indulged by the officer in
command that the remaining bands that have
so long infected the upper and northern dis
tricts of the peninsula will surrender in a
short time ; but I regret to state that but little
hope can be justly cherished that this unhappy
and wasteful war, which has already cost so
great a number of valuable lives, and so many
millions of public treasure, will be terminated
without still further sacrifices. It. appears
that, after six months of negotiations, no ac
cess has been had to the principal & most pow
erful chief, or to any of his followers. Direc
tions have accordingly been given for the most
energetic and effective prosecution of the
war the moment further negotiations shall ap
pear useless. Steps have also been taken to
increase the efficiency of the means now at the
disposal of the officer in command ; and, in the
meantime, the retrenchment of every expen
diture connected with the service, for purposes
not essential in Indian warfare, has been ear
nestly enjoined.
The many weighty considerations which in
vite the immediate attention of Congress to
the subject of the public defences generally,
and particularly to the works absolutely neces
sary to the security of our great commercial
emporiums, and the keys to our most valuable
resources of every kind, must be so generally
understood and app; mated that nothing this
Department can urge could add any thing to
their force and conclusiveness. To say noth
ing of the destruction of property, and our
weakened condition in a military point of view,
attendant upon the carrying of any of our most
assailable points, the penetration of our terri
to'” id the seizure of even one of ourstrong
ho ;iv a powerful enemy upon the sudden
outbreak of war, it would seem to be equally
the dictate of patriotism and wisdom to make
• due provision against the iniliction of such
; insults to the national honor and character.
It has been urged as an objection to the fur
ther progress of the works heretofore projec
ted for the defence of our extensive sea-coast,
that the recent experiments in the use of steam
power in ocean navigation, and the ready ap
plication of the same powerful agent to the
defence of our principal harbors, together with
the* late inventions in the means of increasing
the destructiveness of shells, must soon intro
duce an entire change in the system of coast
defence, as well as of maritime war in gener
al. It is true that the mental activity, charac
| tcristic of the age in every other art and ad-
[NUMBER 20.
ence, has not been less fruitful in suggesting
improvements in the art of war, the value of
some of which has already been tested in prac
tice, and doubtles others will, in time, prove
equally successful. In no department of pub
lic affairs may the natural connection and de
pendence between all the sciences and inven
tions of art be more beneficially illustrated
than in the improvement of the means of na
tional defence. That the cause of humanity
will be promoted in proportion as the existing
systems and means of defensive warfare are
perfected by new ini’ ruvements, in affording
to all nations :eater security to the indepen
dent enjoyment of their own acquisitions and
forms of society and government; in putting
the weak upon a more equal footing with the
strong; in rendering wars less frequent, and
allowing all the arts of peace to flourish in
uninterrupted vigor, cannot be doubted. It is
a source of much gratification to observe that
several gentleman of high professional distinc
tion in the army are employing themselves in
these appropriate studies. But while, in car
rying forward the plans devised in former years,
due regard should be had to the improve
ments already introduced in the moans of de -
fence, and, as far as practicable, to such mod- :
ifications as may be rendered necessary by
future discoveries, we must take care, by the
most efficient application of the means already
known and approved, not to les:; the advantage
of present security. 1
The array of well authenticated facts and
results of past experience, and the well sus
tained reasoning founded iq on them, exhibited
in the report ot the board of officers referred
to in the accompanying letter of the chief of
the Corps of Engineers, appears to be conclu
sive in favor of completing the system of de
fence therein recommend, so far, at least, as to
place the country in what is denominated a
good state of defensive preparation against
any sudden occurrence of war. To this ex
tent the completion of the works heretofore
projected may be regarded as indispensable,
however defective they may be as a perfect
system of national defence. It will be seen
from the estimates stated in the re port alluded
to, that to effect that object will require an ap
propriation of $9,693,547 upon the fortifica
tions, and $2,493,000 for the armaments ; ma
king together the sum of $12,186,547. The
obligation of the Government to apply this sum
to the objects contemplated as speedily as the
nature and due permanence of the several
constructions will admit, is rendered impera
tive and absolute by every consideration .of
public safely and public honor.
It is estimated by the Chief Engineer that
the sum of $1,435,500 can be judiciously and
most beneficially applied upon these essential
works of defence during the remainder of the
present year, in addition to the appropriations
heretofore made for the same objects. The ex
penditures in this branch of service have been
more considerable in the current quarter than ;
usual, and lienee the additional appropriations
asked for are larger than they would have been
under ordinary circumstances, llow this has
happened will be explained by the fact that,
soon after the accession of your immediate
and lamented predecessor, all the means at
the disposal of this Department were directed
lo be employed upon the fortifications and
other works for the protection of the Atlantic
frontier, in the manner deemed best calculated
to produce the greatest possible efficiency in
the shortest time. This course appeared to
be called for by the unsettled and threatening
aspect of oiu foreign relations, While the
whole of the resources at the disposal of this
Department for this service were thus ordered
to be applied to such unfinished works as couid
be made available, in whole or in part, in a
reasonable time, it is-prope-r to state, in this
connexion, that directions were at the same
time given to supply, without delay, the works
already completed, with their appropriate ar
ia nnent.
The promptitude and liberality with which
the Governor of New York and the Commis
sioner of public lands in that State responded
to the recent application of the Department
to be put in possession of the works construc
ted on Staten Island under the supervision
and at the expense of that State, for the de
fence of New York harbor, deserves the
thanks of the country, and should be further
acknowledged by the immediate appropria
tion of the sum demanded as a compen
sation for the ground upon which they are
situated. The works are regarded as of great
importance to the object for which they were
designed, and they are now in a course of re
pair and improvement, under the direction of
a compietent officer of the corps of engineers.
The correspondence between this Department
and the Governor of New York, and the report
of the Chief Engineer, will show the terms
upon which the title of this property will be
vested in the United States.
It will be seen from the accompanying re
port from the Ordinance Department, that
some additional appropriations* tor that service
are believed to be important to the public in
terest. The amount called for is $22,000. —
The importance of the operations of this De
partment and its immediate connexion with
the national defence, >n providing guns, gun
carriages, and other munitions, will at once be
perceived.
it is necessary that the attention of Con- 1
gross should he called to the policy armories.
The duty of increasing, by every practicable
means, the efficiency ol these important es
tablishments, not less than a due regard to
economy, influenced the Department in giving
its sanction to the plan of dispensing with
the civil superintendence authorized by law.
After full consideration, it was believed tiiat
this could be safely and advantageously done.
—Accordingly the armories are now in
charge of skilful and experienced officers
of the Ordnance Department. One defect
in the policy of taking superintendents
from civil life, as shown by past experience,
is the want of proper qualifications in the
persons usually selected. Some degree ol
science, as well as a practical knowledge in
the construction & use of arms, are indispensa
ble requisities in the superintendents. The
desired and proper qualifications are rarely to
be found united in the same person in civil life,
whose services can be commanded by the Gov
ernment. Another and more serious objection
to the system of supervision heretofore prac
tised is found in the defective and inadequate
control which the Department has been able to
exercise over the superintendents. It has
| been found impossible, in some instances, to
enforce the most salutary regulations. The
necessary degree of deference lo the orders
and wishes of the superior authoriiy, it is
manifest, has not been felt. This probably is
the inevitable result of the nature of the in
terests and influences, in no manner connected
with the objects of these establishments,
which too often control the conduct of the su
perintendents. For these reasons, it is deem
ed of great importance that the armories
be separated as far as possible, from all con
nexion with the party politics of the day.—
The force of the objections suggested to a
civil superintendence cannot be better illustra
ted than by the statements contained in tire
accompanying memorandum of the Ordnance
Department, which appears to be taken chief
ly from the correspondence between that De
j a rt mcnt and the superintendent of the armory
at Harper’s Ferry.
But the expediency of continuing the su-
perimendeucy of these officers must finally
be decided by Congress. Some hesitation
was felt in dropping, temporarily, the civil su
per intendency; but as neither of the late
superintendents, though of much personal
worth, was regarded as, possessing, in a due
degree, those particular qualifications which
are important in the management of such es
tablishments, their removal was thought a fit
occasion to introduce anew system. Time
has not yet been allowed to test sufficiently its
advantages or defects. If it shall be the pleas
ure of CormMss to allow the existing vacan.
cies under as it now stands, to contin
ue for a short period, the public interests will
be subserved whatever may be the result of
the experiment. If the policy recommended
by the Ordnance Department, and so far sanc
tioned by this Department, shall succeed, it
will be well for the public service, it it shall
fail, there will no longer be any pretext for fu
ture changes; and the Department will look
to the selection of the most competent super
intendents from the walks of civil life, and to
the means of improving the efficiency of these
establishments by such new regulations, un
der your direction, as may be suggested by ex
perience.
Additional appropriations, to the amount of
$825,037 80, are required by the Pay and
Quartermaster’s Departments for the service
of the present year. The amount asked by
the Quartermaster General appears to be in
dispensable. It is about the sum which Con
gress at the last session failed to appropriate,
though included in the estimates, and under
stood to be in part for arrearges for the year
1840 : and a large portion of the present de
mand may not be improperly set down to the
same account. A portion of the sum required
by the Pay Department is for arrearages of tho
year 1840, as will appear from tho report of
the Paymaster General.
The agents and superinlendants heretofore
employed in the construction of the various
improvements on the lakes, theseacoast, and
in the interior, have been discharged, except
such as have been retained at a small compen
sation, to guard some of the most important
works remaining in an unfinished state, and
the public property connected with them. In
a few instances, it has been found expedient
to employ an agent to take care of the pro
perty of the Government collected for the con
struction of these works, until Congress sIkHI
determine upon the question of continuing or
abandoning them, where there was no fund
out of which they could be paid. Some of
these agents have been paid from the pro
ceeds of the sale of a portion of the public
properly ; others can be paid only by further
sales or under an appropriation by Congress.
It has also been ascertained that the expendi
tures upon several of these works have ex
ceeded the appropriations made for the con
struction. These arrearages are generally
due to contractors and laborers in no way re
sponsible for this error; and provision should
therefore be made for the payment of them.
The amount necessary to discharge them, as
well as to pay the expenses of the agents em
ployed as above stated, appears from the re
port of the Chief of the Corps of Topographi
cal P'.ngineers to be $39, 997 12.
The subject of the expediency of comple
ting the Cumberland road, and ot improving
certain harbors and the navigation of certain
great rivers, which may be regarded;as neces
sary and proper in making adequate provision
for the public defence, I propose to postpone
the further notice of until the stated session of
Congress, as the consideration of it will in
volve the propriety of making appropriations
for various works of internal improvement not
necessarily connected with that object, and,
consequently, will requre more time than Con
gress, at its approaching session, may find if
convenient to give.
At the late session of Congress, the sum of
$30,000 was appropriated to be expended,
under the direction of this Department, in re
pairing the breach in the Potomac bridge.
Soon after Ihe adjournment, an officer of the
Corps of Topographical Engineers, distin
guished alike tor his science and practical skill,
was selected to make the necessary examina
tions, and to report a suitable plan lor the ex
ecution of the work. With what skill and
accuracy be has performed this preliminary
service, will appear from his report to the
Chief of the Corps. The highest confidence
being reposed in the soundness of his judg
ment, it was determined at once to expend no
portion ol the money placed at the disposal of*
the Department for the accomplishment of so
important a woik upon a plan which did not
promise to secure, what was held to be indis
pensable, its performance and durability.—
Fiom the statements contained in the report
of Major Turnbull, it is obvious that the re
pairs, if done upon the plan which loaned the
basis of the estimate upon which the appro
priation was made, could not stand through a
single season of freshet or ice. The question
was then presented, whether it was proper to
commence the repairs upon the only plan
which promised the requisite strength and du
rability, but the cost of which would far ex
ceed the appropriation made by Congress, and
which, it was known to the Department, was
supposed to be ample lor the object, or wait
the sanction ol that body at the approaching
session. The great convenience and import
ance ol the bridge at this point, and the
strong interest felt by the citizens of this Dis
trict ttiat the repairs should not be delayed,
ur-ied the immediate commencement of the
woik, while its questionable propriety, under
the prospect of an immediate session of Con
gress, decided the Department to postpone
further operations until that body should have
an opportunity of acting upon the subject.
The utility and importance of this bridge not
only to the citizens of this city and District,
hut to the carrying of the public mail, and to
the Southern travel at the season of the year
when the river is obstructed by ice, are so
generally felt and acknowledged, that I need
say no more to recommend the additional ap
propriation required; or that the sanction of
Congress be given in some olher form, at an
early day of the session, to the making of the
necessary repairs upon the only safe and du
rable plan wiiich presents itself.
Another public work of great interest com
mitted to the care ol this Department deserves
some notice at this time. The sum ot $75,-
000 was appropriated at the late session of
Congress for clearing out the lied River raft.
The large sums ol money heretofore expend
ed on this object, the high expectation indulg
ed, al'ter the first successful experiment, of
the practicability of effecting it, the subse
quent accumulation and continuance of par
tial obstructions, and the consequent disap
pointment of the Public, caused the Depart
ment to give its early and serious attention to
the subject. Believing that Congress, in ma
king this appropriation, indulged the hope that
it would be all that would be required lor the
completion of the work, the Department, re
solved that the highest degree of permanent c
and utility attainable by the use of the means
placed at iis disposal should Ire accomplished,
directed that an officer of high credit for skill
and judgment should proceed without delay
lo ascertain the nature, extent, and causes of
the obstructions which interrupt the naviga
tion of that river, and to submit a plan for
heir removal. That officer lias not yet re
ported lo the Department. It is intended that
the steam and snag boats, after being repaired,
shall ascend Red river, while it continues in a
navigable slate, to the point of obstruction ;
but it is not designed to enter upon the work
until autumn. This policy, as “ ill fully ap
pear from the report of the Chief ol the To-.
pograhical Engineers, and t lie accompanying
letter of the superintendant, was dictated
a sound economy, ii not bv the necessity ut
the case.
A practice has prevailed in the Indian De
partment of making payments from money#