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PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE.
Fellow Citizens of the Senate
and. of the House of Reprsentatives ;
The assemblage of the Repre
sentatives ofour Union in both houses
ofCongress at this time occurs under
circmstances calling for the renewed
homage ofour grateful acknowledg
ments to the giver of all good. With
the exceptions incidental to the most
iolicitous condition of human exis
tence, we continue to be highly fa
vored in all the elements which con
tribute to individual comfort and to
cations! prosperity. In the survey
of our extensive country, we have
generally to observe abodes ofhealth
and regions of plenty. In our civil
and political relations, we have peace
without, and tranquillity within, our
borders. We are, as a people, in
creasing with unabated rapidity in
population, wealth, and national re
sources; and, whatever differences
of opinion exist among us, with re
gard to the mode and the means by
which we shall turn the beneficence
j of Heaven to the improvement of
' our own condition, there is yet a
-pirit, animating us all, which will
not suffer the bounties of Providence
to be showered upon us in vain, but
will receive them with grateful
hearts, and apply them w ith unweari
ed hands, to tLe advancement of the
general good.
Os the subjects recommended to
the consideration of Congress at their
lust Session, some were then defini
tively act<d upon. Others left un
finished, hut partly matured, will re
cur to your attention, without need
ing a renewal of notice from me.
-.ie purpose of this communication
''■'ill be, to present to your view the
general aspect of our public affairs
ct this moment, and the measures
which have been taken to carry into
effect the intentions of the Legisla
ture as signified by the laws then and
heretofore enacted.
In our intercourse with the other
nations of the earth, we have still
the happiness of en joying peace and
:i general good understanding—quali
fied, however, in several important
instances, by collisions of interest,
ad by unsatisfied claims of justice,
to the settlement of which the can
■htutional interposition of the Legis
lative authority may become uitirna
eiy indispensable.
the deceascJof the Emperor Al
ciunder of Russia, which occurred
eternporaneously with the com
mencement of the last .Session of
Congress, the United States have
•>een deprived of a long tried, steady,
•nu faithful friend. Horn to the in
heritance of absolute power, and
uined ' !l the school of adversity,
■am which no power on earth, how
- I 'r absolute, is exempt, that mon
, rc h, from his youth, had been taught
1 . ee l Hie force and value of public
pimon, and to bo sensible that the
J " crests ol his own Government
uuld best be promoted by a frank
f friendly intercorsc with this rc
' ~ as of ids people would
junvauccdby a liberal commercial
with our country. A can
! n confidential interchange of
crrtirncntf; between him and t-hc gov
‘ament ol the United States, upon
a * rs *^ o, “hcrn America, took j
n * a period not long prececding j
••'s uemi se , and contributed to fix j
■fl C ? urse 01 policy which left to j
,j. L , cr Governments of Europe j
l. n '-ernative but that of sooner or j
r the independence |
J -* Southern neighbors, of which 1
, j" -uple had, by theUnitedstates '
Pbm • Cen Set of dinary di-
L at,c communications between
i.u ,S |i CC ?- SSOr ’ tbe Emperor Nicholas
l om ' e b n,t od States, have suffered i
; c interruption by theillncs.de
h;, re ; ar -d subsequent decease of!
■EvJr," re3 '‘l' n K here, who en- j
:iiin as he merited, the entire co.i-i
ituil ' C °* 1-is new sovereign, as he j
j cmmently responded to that of
i 1 H
♦ht.i s “ustactory assurances,
* sentiments of the reigning I
Emperor towards the United States
are altogether conformable to those
which had so long and constantly ani
mated his imperial brother; and we
have reason to hope that they will
serve to cement that harmony and
good understanding between the two
nations, which, founded in congenial
interests, cannot hut result in the ad
vancement of the welfare and pros
perity of both.
Our relations of commerce and
navigation with France are, by the
operation of the Convention of 24th
June, 1822, with that nation, in a
state of gradual and progressive im
provement. Convinced by all our
experience, no less than by the prin
ciples offair and liberal reciprocity
which tbe United States have con
stantly tendered to all the nations of
the earth, as the rule of commercial
intercourse which they would uni
versally prefer, that fair and equal
competition is most conducive to the
interests of both parties, the United
States, in the negotiation of that
Convention, earnestly contended for
a mutual renunciation of discriminat
ing duties and charges in the ports
of the two countries. Unable to ob
tain the immediate recognition of
this principle in its full extent, after
reducing the duties of discrimina
tion, so far as was found attsfinable,
it was agreed that, at the expiration
of two years from the Ist of Octo
ber, 1822, when the Convention was
to go into effect, unless a notice of
six months on either side shonld be
given to the other, that the Conven.
tion itself must terminate, those duties
should be reduced by one-fourth;
and that this reduction should be
yearly repeated until all discrimina
tion should ceas. while the Conven
tion itself should continue in force.
By the effectoftbis stipulation,three
fourths of the discriminating duties
which had been levied by each party
upon the vessels of tne other in its
ports, have already been removed ;
and, on the first of next October,
should the Convention be still in force
the remaining fourth will be discon
tinued. French vessels laden with
French produce, will he received in
our ports on the same terms as our
own; and ours, in return, will enjoy
the same advtntagcs in the ports of
France By these approximations
to an equality of duties and of charges
not only has the commerce between
tin! two countries prospered, hut
friendly dispositions have been, on
both sides, encouraged and promot
ed. They will continue to he cher
ished and cultivated on the part of
tiie United States. It would have
beer; gratifying to have had it in my
power to add, that the claims upon
the justice of the French Govern
ment, involving the property and the
comfortable subsistence of many of
our fellow-citizens, and which have
been so long and so earnestly urged,
ivere in a more promising train of
adju tment than at your last meeting
but their condition remains unal
tered.
With the Government of the No
j thcrlands. the mutual abandonment
I of discriminating duties had been rc
j gulated by Legislative acts on both
siiies. The act of Congress of the
20th of April. 1818, abolished all
discriminating duties of Impost and
Tonnage, upon the vessels and pro
duce of the Netherlands in the ports
of the United States upon the as
surance given by the Government of
the Netherlands, that all such duties
operating against the shipping and
comm- rce of the United States, in
that Kingdom, had been abolished.
These reciprocil regulations had
continued in force several years,
when the discriminating priuciph
was resumed by (lie Netherlands in a
new and indirect form, by a bounty
of ten per cent, in tiie shape of a I
return of duties to t heir national ves
sels, and in which those of the Unit j
ed States are not permitted to par-j
ticipate. By the act of Congress
of the 7th of January 1824, all dis
criminating duties in the United
States were again suspended, so far
as related to the vessels and pro
duce o. the Netherlands, so long as
the reciprocal exemption shad he ex
tended to the vessels and produce
ofthe United States in the Nether
lands. But the same act provides
that, in the event of a restoration of
discriminating duties, to operate a
gainst the shipping and commerce
ofthe United States, in any of the
foreign countries referred to therein,
the suspension of discriminating
duties, in favoj of the navigation of
such foreign country should cease,
and all the provisions ofthe acts im
posing discriminating foreign tonnage |
and impost duties in the United States
should revive, and he in full force
with regard to that nation.
lu the correspondence wish the
Government of the Netherlands up
on this subject, they have contend
ed that ihe favor shown to their own
shipping by this bounty upon their
tonnage, is not to he considered as a '
H* tibi erunt artes, pacisque imponere raorem, parcerc subjcctis et debellare superbej.—Virgil.
MILLEDGEVILLE, TUESDAY, DECEMBER, 26 1826.
discriminating duty. But it cannot
ho denied that it produces all the
same effects. Had the mutual aboli
tion been stipulated by treaty, such
a bounty upon tl.-e national vessels
could scarcely have been granted
consistently with good faith. Yet,
as the act of Congress of 7th Janua
ry, 1824, has not expressly authoriz
ed the Executive authority lo deter
mine what shall be considered as a
revival of discriminating duties by a
foreign Government to the disad
vantage of the United States, and as
the retaliatory measure on our part,
hawever just and necessary, may
tend rather to that conflict of legisla
tion which wc deprecate, than tothat
concert to which we invite all com
mercial nations, as most conducive to
their interest and our own. I have
thought it more consistent with the
spirit ofour institutions to refer the
subject again to the paramount au
thority of the Legislature to decide
what measure the emergency may
require, than abruptly, by proclama
tion to carry into effect the minatory
provision ofthe act of 1824.
During the last session ofCongress
Treaties of Amity, Navigation, and
Commerce, were negotiated and
Signed at this place with the Gov
ernment ofDenmark, in Europe and
with the Federation of Central A
tnerica, in this hemisphere. These
Treaties then received the constitu
tional sanction of the Senate, by the
advice and consent to their ratifica
tion. They were accordingly ratifi
ed, on the part of the United States,
and, during the recess of Congress,
have been also ratified by the other
respective contracting parties. The
ratifications have been exchanged,
and they have been published by
Proclamations, copies of which are
herewith communica ed to Congress.
These Treaties have established be
tween the contracting parties the
principles of equality and reciprocity
in their broadest and most liberal ex
tent : Each party admitting the ves
sels of the other into its ports, laden
with cargoes the produce or manu
facture of any quarter of the globe
upon the payment of the same duties
of tonnage and impost that are
clmrgeable upon their own. They
have further stipulated, that the par
ties shall hereafter grant no favor of
navigation or commerce to any
other nation, which shall not, upon
the same terms, be granted to each
other ; and that neither party will
impose, upon articles of merchandise
the produce or manufacture of the
other, any other or higher duties
than upon the like articles, being the
produce or manufacture of any other
country. To these principles there
is, in the Convention with Denmark,
an exception, with regard to the
Colonies of that Kingdom in tho
Arctic Seas, but none with regard to
her Colonics in the West Indies.
In thexourse of the last summer,
the term to which our last Commer
cial Treaty with Sw den was limited
has expired. A continuation of it
is in the contemplation of the Swed
ish Government, and is believed to
bo desirable on the part of the United
States. U. has been proposed by
tbe King of Sweden, that, pending
the negotiation of renewal, the expir
ed Treaty should be mutually con
sidered as still in force ; a measure
which will require the sanction of
Congress to he carried into effect on
our part, and which I therefore recom
mend to your consideration.
Vv ith Prussia, Spain, Portugal and
in general all the European powers,
between whom and the United States
relations of friendly intercourse have
existed, their condition has not ma
terially varied since the last session
of Congress. I regret not to be able
to say the same ofour commercial in
! tercourse with-the Colonial Possess
| ions of Great Britain, in America,
j Negotiations of the highest impor
| tance to our common interests have
been for several years in discussion
between the two Governments; and
on the part of the United States have
been invariably pursued in the spirit
ofcandor and conciliation. Interests
of great, magnitude and delicacy had
been adjusted by the Conventions
of 1815 and 1818,'while that of 1822,
mediated by the late Emperor Alex
ander, had promised a satisfactory
compromise of claims which the Gov
ernment ofthe United States, in jus
tice to the rights of a numerous class
of'heir citizens, was bound to sus
tain. But with regard to the com
mercial intercourse between tiie Unit •
ed States and tho British Colonies
in America, it has been hitherto found
impracticable to bring the parties to
an understanding satisfactory to
both. The relative geographical po
sition, and the rcspectiv products of
nature cultivated by human industry,
had constituted the elements of a
commercial intercourse between the
United States and British America,
insular and continental, important to
the inhabitants of both ceuntri-
But it had been interdicted hv Great ■
Britain, upon a principle heretofore
practised upon by the colonizing na
tions ofEuropa, of holding the trade
of their colonies, each in exclusive
monopoly to heresclf. After the
termination of the late war, this inter
diction had been revived, and the
British Government declined includ
ing this portion of our intercourse
with her possessions in the negotia
tion of the Convention of 1815.
The trade was then carried on exclu
sively in British vessels, till tho act
of Congress concerning navigation,
of 1818, and the supplemental act of
1820, met the interdict by a corres
ponding measure on the part of the
United States. These measures, not
of retaliation, hut of necessary self
defence, were soon succeeded by an
Act of Parliament, opening certain
colonial ports to tho vessels of the
United States, coming directly from
them, and to tho importation from
them of certain articles of our pro
duce, burdened with heavy duties,
and excluding some of the most val
uable articles of our exports. The
United States oped and their ports to
British vessels from the Colonies, up
on terms as exactly corresponding
with those of the act of Parliament,
as, in the relative position of the car
ties. could he made. And a negotia
tion was commenced by mutual con
sent, with the hope, on our part, that
a reciprocal spirit of accommodation
and a common sentiment of the im
portance of the trade to the interests
of the inhabitants of the two coun
tries, between whom in must be car
ried on, would ultimately bring the
parties to a compromise with which
botli might he satisfied. With this
view, the Government of the United
Stales had determined to sacrifice
something of that entire reciprocity
which in all commercial arrangements
with Foreign Powers they are entitl
ed to demand, and to acquiesce in
some inequalities disadvantageous
to ourselves, rather than to forego
the benefit of a final and permanent
adjustment of this interest, to the
satisfaction of Great Britain herself.
The negotiation, repeatedly suspend
ed by accidental circumstances, was,
however, by mutual agreement and
express assent, considered as pend
ing, and to he speedily resumed. In
the mean time, another act of parlia
ment, so doubtful and ambiguous in
its import as to have been misunder
stood by the officers in the Colonies
who were to carry it into execution,
opens again certain Colonial ports,
upon new conditions and terms, with
a threat to close them against any
Nation which may not accept those
terms, as prescribed by the British
Government. This act passed in
July, 1825, not communicated to the
Government of the United States,
not understood by the British Officers
j of the Customs in the Colonies where
I it was to be enforced, was neverthe
less submitted to the consideration
Jof Congress, at their last session,
j With the knowledge that a negotia
! tion upon the subject had long been
j in progress, and pledges given of its
| resumption at an early day, it was
| deemed expedient to await the result
jof that negotiation, rather than to
j subscribe implicity to terms the im
port of which was not clear, and
| which the British authorities them
selves, in this hemisphere, were not
prepared to explain.
Immediately after the close ofthe
last session of congress, one of our
most distisguished citizens was des
patched as envoy extraordinary and
minister plenipotentiary to Great
Britian, furnished with instructions
which we could not doubt would lead
to a conclusion to this long contio
verted interest, upon terms accepta
ble to Great Britain. Upon this arri
val, and before he had delivered his
letters of credence, lie was met bv
an order of the British council ex
cluding from and after tho first of
December now current, the vessels
of the United States from all the
colonial British ports, exceptingthose
immediately bordciing upon our ter
ritories. In answer to his expostu
lations upon a measure thus unex
pected, he is informed that, accord
ing to the ancient maxims of policy
of European nations having colonies,
their trade is an exclusive possession
of the mother country. That all
participation in it by other nations,
is a boon or favor not forming a sub
ject of negotiation, but to he regula
ted by the legislative acts of Hie
power owning the colony. That the
British government, therefore de
clines negotiating concerning it; and
that as the United States did not
forthwith accept purely nnd simply
the terms offered by the act of par
liament, ol July, 1825, Great Britain
would not now admit the vessels of
t he United States even upon the terms
on which she has opened them to the
navigation of other nations.
We have been accustomed to con
*ider the trade which we have mi
ned with tho British colonics, ra
'hcr as nr interchange of mutual ben
efits, than as a mere favor received :
that under every circumstance we
have given an ample equivalent. We
have seen every other nation, hold
ing colonies, n-gotiatc with other na
tions, and grant them freely, admis
sion to the colonies by treat)’*; and,
so far are the other colonizing na
tions of Europe now from refusing
to negotiat for trade w ith their col
onics, that we ourselves have secur
ed access to the colonies of more
than one of them by treaty. The
refusal, however, of Great Britain to
negotiate, leaves to tho United States
no other alternative than that of reg
ulating, or interdicting, altogether,
tho trade part, according as
either measure may affect the inter
ests of our own country ; and. with
that exclusive object, I would re
commend the whole subject to your
calm and candid deliberations.
It is hoped that our unavailing ex
ertions to accomplish a cordial good
understanding on this interest, will
not have an unpropitious effect upon
the other great topics of discussion
between the two gov ernments. Our
northeastern and northwestern boun
daries are still unadjusted. The com
missioners under the 7th article of
the treaty of Ghent have nearly come
to the close of their labors ; nor can
we renounce the expectation, enfee
bled as it is, that they may agree up
on their report to the satisfaction or
acquiescence of both parties The
commission for liquidating the claims
for indemnity for slaves carried away
after the close ofthe war, has been
siting, with doubtful prospects of
success. Propositions of comprom
ise have, however, passed between
the two governments, the result of
which, we flatter ourselves, may yet
prove satisfactory. Our own dispo
sitions and purposes towards Great
Britain are all friendly and concilia
tory ; nor can we abandon, hut with
strong reluctance, the belief that
they will, ultimately; meet a return,
not of favors, which we neither ask
nor desire, hut of equal reciprocity
and good will.
With the American governments
of this hemisphere we continue to
maintain an intercourse altogether
friendly, and between their nations
and ours that commercial interchange
of which mutual benefit is the sourc®,
and mutual comfort and harmony the
rosult, is in a continual state of im
provement. The war betwceen
Spain and them, since the total ex
pulsion of the Spanish military force
from their continental territories, has
been little more than nominal; and
their*internal tranquility, though oc
casionally menaced by thesitations
which civil wars never fail to leave
behind them, has not been affected
by any serious calamity.
The congress of ministers from
several of those nations which assem
j bled at Panama, after a short session
| there, adjourned to meet again, at a
more favorable season, in the neigh
borhood of Mexico. The decease of
one of our ministers on iiis way to
the Isthmus, and the impediments of
the season, which delayed the depar
ture ofthe other, deprived us ofthe
advantage of being represented at
the first meeting of the congress.
There is, however, no reason to be
lieve that any of the transactions of
the congress were of a nature to af
fect injuriously the interests ofthe U.
States, or to require the interposi
tion ofour ministers, had they been
present. Their absence lias, indeed
deprived us of the opportunity of
possessing precise and authentic in
formation oft lie treaties which were
concluded at Panama ; and the whole
result has confirmed me in the con
viction of tho expediency to the U.
States of being represented at the
congress. The surviving member
of the mission, npoointed during
your last session, has accordingly pro
ceeded to his destination, and a suc
cessor to his distinguished and la
mented associate will he nominated
to the senate. A treaty of amity,
navigation, and commcrco, lias, in
the course ofthe last summer, been
concluded by our minister plenipo
tentiary at Mexico, with the United
States of that confederacy, which
will also be laid before the senate,
for their advice with regard to its
ratification.
In adverting to the condi
tion of our fiscal concerns, and to the
prospects of our revenue, the first
remark that calls oui att- ntion, is,
that they are less exuberantly pros
perous than they wer at the corres
ponding period of the last year. The
severe shock so extensively sustain
ed by the commercial and manufac
turing interests in Great Britain, has
not been without a perceptible recoil
upon ourselves. A reduced impor
tation from abroad is necessarily suc
ceeded by a reduced return to the
treasury at home. The net revenue
of the present year w ill not t qau;
that of the last. And the rero>t~+*'"l
that which is to come will fall shop*;
in the '•uirerd year, Di;**,
[OR $4 IF NOT PAID IN SIX MONTHS.
NO. 51....V0L. I*
inution, however,Jis in part
ble to the flourishing condition o
some of nur domestic mannfactSres’
and so far is compensated by an e»
quivalent more profitable to tho na
tion. It is also highly gratifying to
perceive, thar the deficiency in the
revenue, while it scarcely exceeds
tiie anticipations ofthe last year's
estimates from the treasury, has not
interrupted the application of more
j than eleven millions during the pres
ent Tear, to the discharge of the
principal and interest of the debt,
nor (he reduction of upwards of sev
en millions ofthe capital debt itself.
The balance in the treasury on the
Ist of January Inst, was five millions
two hundred and one thousand six'
hundred and fifty dollars and forty
threecents. The receipts from that
line to tho Ck£ lacs
W'cro nineteen millions five hundred
and eighty five thousand nine hun
dred and thirty two dollars and fifty
cents. The receipts of the current
quarter, estimated at six millions of
dollars, yield, with the sum already
received, a revenue of about twenty
five millions and a half for the year.
The expenditures for the three first
quarters of the year have amounted
to eighteen millions seven hundred
and fourteen thousand two hundred
and twenty-six dollars and sixty-sil
cents. The expenditures ofthe cur
rent quarter are expected, including
the two millions ofthe principal debt
to he paid, to balance the receipts.
So that the expenses of the year, u
mounting to upwards of a million less
than its income, will leave a propor
tionally increased balance in the
treasury on the first of January, 1827,
over that of tiie iirsi of January last.
Instead of five millions two hundred
thousand, there will be six millions
four hundred thousand dollars.
The amount of duties secured on
merchandise imported from the com
mencement of the year until the 30th
of September, is estimated at twenty
one milliohs two hundred nnd fifty
thousand dollars and the amount
that will probably accrue during the
present quarter, is estimated at four
millions two hundred and fifty then
sand, making for the whole yoartweo*
ty-live millions and a half from which
the drawbacks being deducted, will
leave a clear revenue from the cus
toms, receivald in the year 1827, of
about twenty millions four hundred
thousand dollars, whch, with the
sums to be received from the pro
ceeds of public lands, the bank divi
dends, and other incidental
will form an aggregato of about twen
ty-three millions, a sum falling short
of the whole expenses ofthe prcscDl
year, little more than the portion of
those expenditures applied to the
discharge ofthe public debt, beyond
the annual appropriation of ten mill
ions, by the act of March, 1827. At
the passage of that act, the public
debt amounted to one hundred and
twenty-three millions and n half. On
the first of January ncxt.it will be
short of seventy-four millions. In the
lapse of these ten years, fifty millions;
of public debt, with the annual charge
of upwards of three millions of inter
est upon them, have been extinguish
ed. At the passage of that net, of
the annual appropriation of tho ten
millions, seven were ahsorded in tho
payment of interest, and not more
than three millions wont to rednee
the capital of .he debt. Ofthe snmo
ten millions, at this time scarcely
four are applicable to the interest,
and upwards of six are effective m
melting down the capital. Yet our
experience has proved that a revc*
nue consisting so largely of imposts
and tonnage, ebbs and flows to an
extraordinary extent, with all the
fluctuations incident to the genoral
commerce of the world. It is with
in our recollection that even in tbe
compass of the same last ten years,
the receipts of the treasnry were not
adequate to the expenditures of the
year; and that in two successive*
years it was found necessary to resort
to loans to meet the engagements of
the nation. The returning tides of
the succeeding years replenished the
public coffers, until they have again
begun to feel the vicissitudes of a
decline. To produce these altcrnu
tiqns of fullness and exhaustion, the
relative operation of abundant or of
unfruitful seasons, the regulations of
foreign governments, political revo
lutions, the prosperous or decaying
condition of manufactures, commmer
cial speculations, and many other
caus s, not; always to be traced, van
ou-ly comhiSte. We have found th'
alternate swells apd diminutions
bracing periods of from two to^' ss _
years The last period ofrfß2£
ion to us was from 1819.<s from
The corresponding reviu of (] Jo
1823 to the comment no cans*;
present year. Still ,iCn comp Hra _
to apprehend a d‘ f l cr Period or
P'&pXZSSSF*
4vv- r<4
out of mind— Wuore rests un.