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About Daily constitutionalist. (Augusta, Ga.) 1846-1851 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 9, 1848)
whether of the navy or of the merchant ser- f vice, requiring repair, must, ut great expense, come round Cape Horn to one of our Atlantic yards for that purpose. With such establish - i' -nM. vessels, it is believed, may be built or repaired as cheaply in California as upon, the Atlantic coast. They would give employment to many of our enterprising ship-builders and mechanics, and greatly facilitate and enlarge our commerce in the Pacific. As it is ascertained that mines of gold, sil ver, copper,and quicksilver exist in New Mex ico and California, and that nearly all the lands where they are found belong to the U. States, it is deemed important to the public interests that provision be made for a ideolo gical and miueralogical examination of these regions. Measures should be adopted to pre serve the mineral lands, especially such as contain the precious metals, for the use of the United States; or if brought into market, to separate them from the farming lands, and dispose of them in such manner as to secure a large return of money to the treasury, and at the same time lead to the development of their wealth by individual proprietors uad purchasers. To do this, it will be necessary to provide for tin immediate survey and loca tion of the lots. If Congress should deem it proper to dispose of the mineral lands, they should be sold in small quantities, and at a fix ed minimum price. I recommend that surveyor generals’'offices be authorized to be established ia New Mex ico and California, and provision made for sur veying and bringing the public lands into market at the earliest practicable period. In disposing of these lands, I recomend that the right of pre-emption be secured,and liberal grants made to the early emigrants who have settled or may settle upon them. It will be important to extend our revenue laws over these Territories, and especially over ; California, at an early period. There is al ready a considerable commerce with Califor nia; and until ports of entry shall be estab lished and collectors appointed, no revenue can be received. if these and other necessary and proper ! measures be adopted for the development of the wealth and recourees of New Mexico and California, and regular Territorial govern ments be established over them, such will pro bably be the rapid enlargement of our com merce and navigation, and such the addition to the national wealth, that the present gen eration may live to witness the controlling commercial and monetary power of the world transferred from London and other European emporiums to the city of New York. The apprehensions which were entertained by some of our statesmen, in the earlier periods of the government, that our system was in capable of operating with sufficient energy and success over largely extended territorial limits, and that if this were attempted, it would fall to pieces by its own weakness, have been dis sipated by our experience. By the division of power between the State and federal gov ernment, the latter is found to operate with us much energy in the extremes as in the centre, it is as efficient in the remotest of the thirty Sates which now compose the Union, a» it was in the thirteen States which formed our con stitution. Indeed, it may well be doubted, whether, if our present population had been confined within the limits of the original thir teen States, the tendencies to centralization and consolidation would not have been such as to have encroached upon the essential re served rights of the States. and thus to have made the federal government a wlldely dif ferent one, practically', from what it is in theory', and was intended to be by' its framers. So far from entertainin'; apprehensions of the safety' of our system by t lie extension of our territory, the belief is confidently entertained that each new State gives strength and an ad ditional guaranty fur the preservation of the Union itself. In pursuance of the provisions of the thir teenth article of the treaty' of peace, friendship, limits, and settlement, with the republic ol Mexico, and of the act of July the twenty ninth, 1848, claims of our citizens which had been ’‘already liquidated and decided against the Mexican republic,” amounting, with the interest thereon, to two million twenty three thousand eight hundred and thirty-two clui lare and fifty-one cents, have been liquidated and paid. There remains to be paid of these claims, seventy-four thousand one hundred and ninety-two dollars and twenty-six cents. Congress at its last session having made no provision for executing the fifteenth article of the treaty, by which the United States assume to make satisfaction for the “unliquidated claims” of our citizens against Mexico, to “an am -mt not exceeding three and a quarter millions of dollars,” the subject is again re commended to your favorable consideration. The exchange of ratifications of the treaty' | with Mexico took place on the thirtieth of I May, 1848. Within one year after that time the commissioner and surveyor which each i government stipulates to appoint, are requir- j ed to meet “at the port of San Diego, and pro ceeded to run and mark the said boundary in its whole course to the mouth of the Bravo del Norte.” It will be seen from this pro- that the period within which a com missioner and surveyor of the respective gov ernments are to meet at San Diego, will ex- j pire on the thirtieth of May, 1849, Congress, ! at the close of its last session, made an ap propriation for “the expenses of running and | marking the boundary' line” between the two countries, but did not fix the amount of salary , which should be paid to the commissioner and j surveyor to be appointed on the part of the | United States. It is desirable that the amount of compensations which they shall receive should be prescribed by law, and not left, as at present, to Executive discretion. Measures were adopted at the earliest prac ticable period to organize the “Territorial gov ernment of Oregon,” as authorized by the act of the fourteenth of August last. The gov ernor and marshal of the Territory, accompani ed by a small military escort, left the frontier 1 of Missouri in September, last, and took the southern route, by the way of Santa Fe and the river Gila, to California, with the inten tion of proceeding thence in one of our ves sels of war to their destination. The governor was fully advised of the great importance of hi* early arrival in the country, and it is con fidently believed he may reach Oregon in the latter part of the present month, or early in the next. The other officers for the Territory have proceeded by sea. In the month of May last, I communicated information to Congress that an Indian war had broken out in Oregon, and recommended that authority be given to raise an adequate number of volunteers to proceed without de lay to the assistance of our fell nv-citizcus in that lerritory. The authority to raise such a force not having been granted bv Congress, , as soon jis their services could be dispensed V th m Mexico, orders were issued to the re gimentot mounted riflemen to proceed to Jes - ferson Barracks. i n Missouri, and to prepare to march to Oregon as soon as the \ provision could be made. Shortly before it was 1 ready to march, it was arrested by the pro vision of the act passed by Congress on the last day of the last session, which directed that all the non-commissioned officers, musicians* and privates ot that regiment, who hud been in service in Mexico, should upon their ap plication. be entitled to be di-charged. The effect of this provision was to disband the rank and file of the regiment; and before their pla ces could be tilled by recruits, the season had so fur advanced that it was impracticable for | it to proceed until the opening of the next spring. In the month of October last, the accom panying communication was received from the governor ot the temporary government of Ore yon, giving information of the continuance of the Indian disturbances, and of the destitution and defenceless condition of the inhabitants. Orders were immediately transmitted to the commander of our squadron in the Pacific, to despatch to their assistance a part of the naval forces on that station, to furnish them with arms and ammunition, and to continue to give ; them such aid and protection as the navy could : afford, until the army could reach the coun j tr . v * It is the policy of humanity, and one which has always been pursued by the United States, | to cultivate the good will of the aboriginal | tribes of this continent, and to restrain them 1 from making war, and indulging in excesses, i by mild means, rather than by force. That ; this could have been done with the tribes in ( Oregon, had that Territory been brought un- I : der the government of our laws at an earlier period, and had suitable measures been adopt- j ed by Congress, such as now exist in our in- ! tercourse with the other Indian tribes within j our limits, cannot be doubted. Indeed, the ; immediate and only cause of the existing j hostility of the Indians ol Oregon is represent - i ed to have been, the long delay of the United | States in making to them some trifling enm- I ; peusation, in such articles as they wanted, , for the country now occupied by our emigrants I which the Indians claimed, and over which i 1 they formerly roamed. This compensation had ! , been promised to them by the temporary g'-v- ; eminent established in Oregon, but its fulfil ment had been postponed from time to time, for nearly two years, whilst those who made it had been anxiously waiting for Congress to | establish a territorial government over the country. The Indians became at length dis : trustful of their gQod faith, and sought redress by plunder and massacre, which Anally led to \ the present difficulties. A few thousand dol- ! I lurs in suitable presents, as a compensation for i the country which had been taken possession i of by our citizens, would have satisfied the Indians, and have prevented the war. A small | amount properly distributed, it is confidently believed, would soon restore quiet. In this Indian war our fellow-citizens ofOregon having been compelled to take the field in their own defence, have performed valuable military ser vices, and been subjected to expenses which have fallen heavily upon them. Justice de- i mauds that provision should be made by Con gress to compensate them for their services, and to refund to them the necessary expenses which they have incurred. I repeat the recommendation heretofore j made to Congress, that provision be made for the appointment of a suitable number of In- ■ dians agents to reside among the tribes of Ore- | gon, and that a small sum he appropriated to i enable these agents to cultivate friendly re lation with them. If this be done, the presence j of a small military force will be all that is ne cessary to keep them in check, and preserve peace. I recommend that similar provision be made as regards the tribes inhabiting northern Tex as, New Mexico, California, and the extensive region lying between our settlements in Mis souri and these possessions, as the most ef fective means of preserving peace upon our borders, and within the recently acquired ter i ritories. The Secretary of the Treasury will present ; in his annual report a highly satisfactory state j ment of the condition of the finances. The imports for the fiscal year ending on the thirtieth of June last, w ere of the value of one hundred and fifty-four million nine hun dred and seventy-six dollars; of which the amount exported was twenty-one million one hundred and twenty-eight thousand and ten dollars, leaving one hundred and thirty-three million eight hundred and forty-nine thou sand eight hundred and sixty-six dollars in the country for domestic use. The value of the exports for the same period was one hundred and fifty-four million thirty two thousand one hundred and thirty-one dollars, consisting of domestic productions amounting to one hundred.and thirty-two mil lion nine hundred and four thousand one hundred and twenty-one dollars, and twenty one million one hundred and twenty-eight thousand and ten dollars of foreign articles. The receipts into the treasury for the same period, exclusive of loans, amounted tothirtv live million four hundred and thirty-six thou sand seven hundred and fifty dollars and fifty nine tents; of which there wag derived from customs thirty-one million seven hundred and fifty-seven thousand and seventy dollars and ninety-six cents; from sales of public lands, three million three hundred and twenty-eight thousand six hundred and forty-two dollars ! and fifty-six cents; and from miscellaneous | and incidental sources, three hundred and fifty-one thousand and thirty-seven dollars | and seven cents. It will be perceived that the revenue from customs for the last fiscal year exceeded by seven hundred and fifty-seven thousand and seven dollars and ninety-six cents the estimate of the Secretary of Treasury in his last annual report; and that the aggregate receipts during the same period from customs, lands, and miscellaneous sources, also exceeded the es timate by the sum of five hundred and thirty six-thousand seven hundred and fifty dollars and fifty-nine cents —indicating, however, a very near approach in the estimate to the ac i tual result. The expenditures during the fiscal year end ing on the thirtieth of June last, including those of the war, and exclusive of payments of principal and interest for the public debt, were forty-two million eight hundred and ele ven thousand nine hundred and seventy dol- j lars and three cents. It is estimated that the receipts into the treasury for the fiscal year ending on the i thirtieth of June, 1849, including the balance I in the treasury on the first of July last, will ; amount to the sum of fifty-seven million forty- i eight thousand nine hundred and sixty-nine I dollars and ninety cents; of which thirty-two millions of dollarss, it is estimated, will be de- ( rived from customs; three millions of dollars j from the sales of the public lands; and one I million two hundred thousand dollars from miscellaneous and incidental sources, inclu ding the premium upon the loans, and amount i paid and to be paid into the treasury on ac- | count of military contributions in Mexico, and j the sales of arms and vessels and other pub- | lie property rendered unnecessary for the use j of the government by the termination of the | war; and twenty millions six hundred and ninety-five thousand four hundred and thirty- I live dollars and thirty-five cents from loans ; alieady negotiated, including treasury notes j funded, which together avith the balance in ! the treasury on the first of July last, make the sum estimated. The expenditures for the same period, in cluding the necessary payment on account of the principal and interest of the public debt, and the principal and interest of the first in tahnent due to Mexico on the thirtieth of May next, and other expenditures growing out of the war, to be paid during the present year, j will amount, including the reimbursement of | treasury n tes, to the sum of fifty-four million °ne hundred and ninety-five thousand two hundred and seventy-five dollars and six cents; leaving an estimated balance in the treasury ou the first of July, 1849, of two million eight hundred and fifty-three thousand six hundred and ninety-four dollars and eight-four cents. The Secretary of the Treasury will present, f a» required by law, the estimate of the receipts ! and expenditures for the next fiscal year.-- | The expenditures as estimate for that year arc j thirty-three million two hundred and thirteen j thousand one hundred and fifty-two dollars | and seventy-three cents, including three mil- , lion seven hundred and ninety-nine thousand j one hundred and two dollars and eighteen ! cents lor the interest on the public debt, and 1 three million five hundred and forty thousand | dollars for the principal and interest due to Mexico on the thirtieth of May, 1850; leaving the sum of twenty-five million eight hundred i and seventy-four thousand and fifty-dollars and thirty-five cents; which, it is believed, will be ample for the ordinary peace expendi i turos. The operations of the tariff act of ISIS have : been such during the past year as fully to ( meet the the public expectation, and to con i firm the opinion heretofore expressed of the wisdom of the change in our revenue system f which was effected by it. The receipts under it into the treasury for the first fiscal years af | ter its enactment exceeded by the sum of rive ' million forty-four thousand tour hundred and three dollars and nine cents the amount col lected during the last fiscal year under the i tariff act of 1842, ending the thirtieth of June, I 184 G. The total revenue realized from the j | commencement of its operation, on the first j 1 of December, 1846, until the close of the last quarter, on the thirtieth of September last, | being twenty-two months, was fifty-six mil ■ lion six hundred and fifty-four thousand Jive ; hundred and sixty-three dollars and seveuty -1 nine cents —being a much larger sum than was ever before received from duties during any equal period under the tariff’acts of 1824,1828, | 1832, and 1842. Whilst by the repeal of high ly protective and prohibitory duties the rev enue has been increased, the taxes on the peo ple have been diminished. They have been relieved from the heavy amounts with which ! they were burdened under former laws in the | form of increased prices or bounties paid to j favored classes and pursuits. The predictions which were made that the tariff act of 1846 would reduce the amouu. I of revenue below that collected under th act of 1842, and would prostrate the bu° siness and destroy the prosperity of the ; i country, have not been verified. With an ( i increased and increasing revenue, the fi nances are in a highly flourishing condition. — Agriculture, commerce, and navigation are i prosperous; the prices of manufactured fabrics, and of other products, are much less injurious ly affected than was to have been anticipated, from the unprecedented revulsions, which du -1 ing the last and the present year, have over whelmed the industry and paralyzed the cre dit and commerce of so many great and en lightened nations of Europe. Severe commercial revulsions abroad have always heretofore operated to depress, and of ten to affect disastrously, almost, every branch of American industry. The temporary de pression of a portion of our manufacturing in terests is the effect of foreign causes, and is far less severe than has prevailed on ail former similar occasions. It is believed that, looking to the great ag gregate of all our interests, the whole coun try was never more prosperous than at the present period, and never more rapidly advanc ing in wealth and population. Neither the foreign war in which we have been involved, nor the loans which have absorbed so large a portion of our capital, nor the commercial re vulsion in Great Britain in 1847, nor the pa ralysis of credit and commerce throughout Europe in 1848, have affected injuriously to any considerable extent any of the great in terests of the country, or arrested our onward march to greatness, wealth, and power. Had the disturbances in Europe not occur- I red, our commerce would undoubtedly have been still more extended, and would have ad ded still more to the national wealth and pub lic prosperity. But notwithstanding these disturbances, the operations of the revenue system established by the tariff act of 1846 have been so generally beneficial to the government and the business of the country, that no 1 change in its provisions is demanded by a wise public policy, and none is recommended. The operations of the constitutional treasu ry established by the act of the sixth of Au gust, 1846, in the receipt, custody, and dis bursement ot the public money, have con | tinued to be successful. Under this system the public finances have been carried through a foreign war, involving the necessity of loans and extraordinary expenditures, and requiring distant transfers and disbursements, without embarrassment, and no loss lias occurred of any of the public money deposited under its pro visions. Whilst it has proved to be safe and useful to the government, its effects have been most beneficial upon the business of the coun try. It lias tended powerfully to secure an exemption from that inflation and fluctuation of the paper currency, so injurious to domes- i tic industry, and rendering so uncertain the rewards of labor, and it is believed has largely contributed to preserve the whole country from a (serious commercial [revulsion, such as often occurred upon the bank deposite system. In the year 1817 there was a revolu tion in the business of Great Britain of great extent and intensity, which was followed by failures in that kingdom unprecedented in j number and amount of losses. This is believed to be the first instance when such disastrous bankruptcies, occurring in a country with which w-e have such extensive commerce, pro duced little or ou injurious effect upon our j trade or currency. We remained but little affected in our money market, and our busi ness and industry were still prosperous and j progressive. During the present year, nearly the whole ■ continent of Europe has been convulsed by ! ' civil war and revolutions, attended by numer ous bankruptcies, by an unprecedented fall I in their public securities, and an almost uni versal paralysis of commence and industry; ! and yet, although our trade and the prices of : our products must have been somewhat un favorably affected by these causes, w'e have escaped a revulsion, our money market is | comparatively easy, aad public credit has ud- J vanced and improved. It is confidently believed that we have been 1 saved from their effect by the salutary opera- ; tion of the constitutional treasury. It is cer- ( tain, that if the twenty-four millions of specie imported into the country during the fiscal ; year ending on the thirtieth of June, 1847, had j i gone into the banks, as to a great extent it ! j must done, it would, in the absence of ! this system, have been made the basis of , augmented bank paper issues, probably to an amount not less than sixty or seventy millions of dollars, producing, as an iue\ itable conse quence an inflated currency, exti avagant prices for a time, and wild speculation, which must have been followed, on the reflux to Europe,the succeeding year, of so ranch of that specie, by the prostration of the business of the country, the suspension of the banks, and most exten- | sive bankruptcies. Occurring, as this would have done, at a period when the country was engaged in a foreign war; when consi Jerable loans of specie were required for distant dis- I bursemeuts, and when the banks, the fiscal agents of the government, and the depositories of its money, were suspended, the public credit must have sunk, and many millions of dollars, j as was the case during the war of 1812, must have been sacrificed in discounts upon loans, | aad upon the depreciated paper currency which • 1 the government would have been compelled ! to use. i f Under the operations of the constitutional! treasury, not a dollar has been lo>t by the de preciation of the currency. The loans require! to prosecute the war with Mexico were nego tiated bv the Secretary of the freasurv above par, realizing a large premium to the "ovem inent. The restraining effect ot the system upon the tendencies to excessive paper issues by banks has saved the government from heavy losses, and thousands of our business men from bankruptcy and ruin. The wisdom of the system has been te.-t'-d, by the experience of the last two years; and it is the dictate ot sound policy that it should remain undisturb ed. The modification in some of the details ot this measure, involving none of its essential principles, heretofore recommended, are again presented for your favorable consideration. In my message of the sixth of July last, transmitting to Congress the ratified treaty of peace with Mexico, I recommended the adop tion of measures for the speedy payment of the public debt. In reiterating that recom mendation, I refer you to the considerations presented in that message in its support. The public debt, including that authorized to be negotiated, in pursuance of existing laws, and including treasury notes, amounted at that time to sixty five million seven hundred and seventv eight thousand four hundred and fif ty dollars and forty one cents. Funded stock of the United States, amount ting to about half a million dollars, has been purchased, as authorized by law, since that period, and the public debt has been reduced; tlie details ot which will be presented in the annual report of the Secretary of the Treasu ry. The estimates of expenditures for the next 1 fiscal year, submitted by the Secretary of tin 1 Treasury, it is believed will be ample tor all necessary purposes. If the appropriations Made by Congress .shall not exceed the amount estimated, the means in the treasury will be i sufficient to defray all the expenses ot the government; to pay off the next instalment ot . three millions of dollars to Mexico, which will full due ou the thirtieth of May next; and still a considerable surplus will remain, ; which should be applied to the purchase ot the , public stuck and reduction of the public debt. Should enlarged appropriations be made, the ; i necessary consequence will be to postpone the ; j payment of the debt. Though our debt, as compared with most other nations, is small, it | is our true policy, and in harmony with the ! genius of our institutions, that we should * present to the world the rare spectacle of a great republic, possessing vast resources and wealth, wholly exempt from public indebted ness. This would add still more to our strength and give to us a still more commanding pcsi- I tiou among the nations of the earth. The public expenditures should be ecouom ! cal, and should be confined to such necessary objects as are clearly within the powers of Congress. All such as are not absolutely de manded should be postponed, and the pay ment of the public debt at the earliest prac ticable period, should be a cardinal principle in our public policy. For the reason assigned in my last annual j message, 1 repeat the recommendation that a mint of the United States be established in the city of Now York. The importance of this measure is greatly increased by the acqui sition of the rich mines of the precious metals i in New Mexico and California, especially the latter. I repeat the recommendation heretofore made, in favor of the graduation and reduc tion of the price of such ot the public lands as have been long offered in the market, and have remained unsold, and in favor of extend ing the right of pre-emption to the actual set tlers on tlxe uusurveyed as well as the survey ed lauds. The condition and operations of the army, and the state of other branches of the public service under the supervision of the War de partment, are satisfactorily presented in the accompanying report of the Secretary of War. On the return of peace, our forces were withdrawn from Mexico, and the volunteers and that portion of the regular army engaged I for the war were disbanded. Orders have been issued for stationing the forces of our permanent establishment at various positions in our extended country, where troops may be required. Owing to the remoteness of some of these positions, the detachments have not yet reached their destination. Notwithstand ing the extension of the limits of our coun try, and the forces required in the new terri tories, it is confidently believed that our pres ent military establishment is sufficient for all exigencies, so long as our peaceful relations remain undisturbed. Os the amount of military contribution ■ collected in Mexico, the sum of’six hundred and sixty nine thousand six hundred and for ty six dollars was applied to the payment of i the first instalment due under the treaty with Mexico. The further sum of three hundred ; and forty six thousand three hundred and six | ty nine dollars and thirty cents has been paid into the treasury, and unexpended balances still remain in the hands of the disbursing ot hers and those who were engaged in the col lection of these moneys. After the proclam ation of peace, no further disbursements were made of any of the unexpended moneys aris ing from this source. The balances ou hand were directed to be paid into the treasury, and individual claims will continue to remain un adjusted until Congress shall authorize their i settlement and payment. These claims are not considerable in numbers or amount. I recommend *to your favorable considers- ■ tions the suggestions of the Secietary of War | and the Secretary of the Navy in regard to : legislation ou this subject. Our Indian relations are presented in a most | favorable view in the report from the War Department. The wisdom of our policy in j regard to the tribes within our limits, is clear ; ly manifested by their improved and rapidly J improving condition. A most important treaty with the Menom onies has been recently negotiated by the : Commissioner of Indian Affairs in person, by which all their land in the state of Wiscon sin—being about four million of acres— has j been ceded to the United States. This treaty j will be submitted to the Senate for ratiflea ; tiou at an early period of your present session. Within the last four years, eight important j : treaties have been negotiated, and at a cost of j one million eight hundred and and forty two thousand dollars; Indian lands to the amount more than of eighteen million live hundred j thousand acres, have been ceded to the Uni- ! ted States; and provision has been made for i settling in the country west of the Mississip pi, the tribes which occupied this large extent of the public domain. The title to all the In- . dian lands within the several States of our Union, with the exception of a few small re servations, is now extinguished, and a vast region opened for settlement and cultivation. The accompanying report of the Secretary of the Navy, gives a satisfactory exhibit of the operations and condition of that branch of the public service. The number of small vessels suitable for en tering the mouths of rivers were judiciously purchased during the war, and gave great ef ficiency to the squadron in the Gulf of Mcxi- i co. On the return of peace when no longer valuable for naval purposes, and liable to con- j slant deterioration, they were sold, and the ! money placed in the treasury. The number of men in the naval service au- j thorised during the war, has been reduced by ! discharges below- the maximum fixed for the I peace establishment. Adequate squadrons are maintained in the several quarters of the j "lube where experience has shown their servU cou may be most usefully employed; and the naval service "'as never in a condition of high er discipline or greater eliicietiey. I invite attention to the recommendation of the Secreatry ot the Navy on the subject of the marine corps. »he reduction of the corps at the end of the war, required that four offi cers of each of the three lower grades should be dropped from the rolls. A board of offi cers made the selection: and those designated were necessarily dismissed, but without any alleged fault. I concur in opinion with the Secretary, that the service would be improved by reducing the number of landsmen, and in creasing the marines. Such a measure would justify an increase of the number of officers to the extent of the reduction by dismissal, and still the corps would have fewer officers than a corresponding number of men in the army. The contracts for the transportation of the mails in steamships, convertible into war steamers, promise to realize all the benefits to our commerce and to the navy which were anticipated. The first steamer thus secured to the government was launched in January, 1547. There are now seven ; and in another year there will, probably, be not less than seventeen afloat. While' this great national advantage is secured, our social and commer cial intercourse is increased and promoted with Germany, Great Britain, and other parts of Europe, with all the c unities on the West Coast ot our continent, especially with Ore gon and California, and between the northern and southern sections of the United States, i Considerable revenue may be expected from postages; but the connected line from New York to Chagres, and thence across the isth mus to Oregon, cannot fail to exert a bene ficial influence, not now to be estimated, on the interests of the manufactures, commerce, navigation and currency of the United States. As an important part of the system, I recom mend to your favorable consideration the es j tablishment of the proposed line of steamers between Now Orleans and Vera Cruz. It : promises the most happy results in cementing . friendship between the two republics, and in ; extending reciprocal benefits to the trade and | manufactures of both. The report of the Postmaster General will make 1 known to you the operations ot that department j for the past y ear. ft is gratifying to find the revenues of the de j partment. under the rates of postage now estab lished by law, so rapidly increasing. The gross amount of postages during the last fiscal year amounted to four million three hundred and se- I venty one thousand and seventy-seven dollars, ex ! ceeding tlio annual average received for the nine j years immediately preceding the passage of the ■ act of the third oi March, It) 15, l>y the sum ot six I thousand four hundred and fifty-three dollars, and ! exceeding the amount received for the year end ing the thirtieth ot June, Id 17, hy (he sum of four , hundred and twenty-live thousand one hundred | | and eighty-four dollar*. The expenditures f< r the year, excluding the | sum of ninety-four thousand s:\ hundred and se- 1 | venty-two dollars, allowed by Congress at its last I session to individual clan •ants, ami including the } sum ol one hundred thousand live hundred dollars I I paid lor the services of the line of steamers he- i tween firemen and .New York, amounted to four million one hundred and ninety-eight thousand eight hundred and forty live dollars, which is less than the annual average for the nine years pre- | vious to the of 1815. by three hundred thousand j seven hundred and forty-eight dollars. The mail routes, on tnr* thirtieth day of June ! ast, were one hundred and sixty-three thousand | wo hundred and eight miles in extent —being an increase during the last year ot nine thousand three ! hundred and ninety miles. The mails were trans- | ported over them, during the same time, forty-one | million twelve thousand live hundred and seventy nine miles-, making an increase oi transportation lor the year of two million one hundred and twen ty-four thousand six hundred and eighty miles, whilst the expense was less than that of the pre vious year by four thousand two hundred and thir | ty-five dollars. The increase in tlie mail transportation within the last three years has been live million three I hundred and seventy eight thousand three hundred i and ten miles whilst the expenses were reduced ! four hundred and fifty-six thousai d seven hundred and thirty-eight dollars—making an increase of t I service at the rate of fifteen er cent... and a re- | ductiou in the expenses of more than fifteen per j j cent. During the past year there have horn employ - ed, under contracts with the Post Oilice Depart- i raent. two ocean steamers in conveying the mails ! monthly between New York and Bremen, and one ! since October last, performing semi-monthly ser vice between Charleston and Havana; and a con tract has been made for the transportation of the Pacific mails across the isthmu- 1, oin Chagres to i Panama. ljnder the authority given to the Secretary of j the Navy, three ocean steamers have been con- ; structed and sent to the Pacific, and are expected i to enter upon the mail service between Panama and Oregon, and the intermediate ports, on the : first of January next, and a fourth has been en- j gaged by him for the service between Havana and j l Chagres; so that a re,. ...r monthly- mad line will be kept up after that lime between the I nited ! i States and our territories on the PacTic. Notwithstanding this great increase in the mail service, should the revenue continue to increase ' the present year as it did in the last, there will i be received near four hundred and fifty thousand dollars more than the expenditures. I'hese considerations have satisfied the Post master General that, with certain modifications of | the act ofglSfo, the revenue may be still further ; increased, and a reduction of postages made to a j uniform rate of live cents, without an interference ! with the principle, which has been constantly- and j 1 properly enforced, of making that department | t sustain itself. A wfM-digested cheap postage system is the best ; I means of diffusing intelligence among the people, j i and is of so much importance in a counti v so ex ; tensive as that of the United States, that I rccom- ; i mend to your favorable consideration the sugges- | lions of the Postmaster General for its iinprove j ruent. Nothing can retard the onward progress of our I country, and prevent us from assuming and main taining the first rank among nations, but a disre gard of the experience of the past, and a recur rence to an unwise public policy. \Ve have ju»t ' 1 closed a foreign war by an honorable peace—a war i rendered necessary and unavoidable in vindication l of the national rights and honor. The present I condition of the country is similar in some respects ' ! to that which existed immediately after the close j I of the war with Great Britain in 1815, and the oc- j ■ casion is deemed to be a proper one to take a re- ' • trospect of the measures of public policy which j followed that wur. There was .at that period of | our history a departure from our earlier policy.— ! The enlargement of th“ powers of the federal go- j vernment by construction, which obtained, was not warranted by any just interpretation of the con- 1 j stitution. A few years after the close of that war, [ a series ol measures were adopted which, united and combined,ronstit«teu what wa- tei med by I heir ! authors and a Ivocales the •* American System.” loc introduction of the new policy was for a time favored by the condition of the country- ; by the heavy debt which had been contractcd during the war; by the depression of the public credit; j by the deranged stole of the finances and the cur- | rcncy ; and by the commercial and pecuniary em- ( barrassment which extensively prevailed. These were not tin; only causes which led to its establish- j mens. The events of the wir with Great Britain, and the embarrassments which had attended its J prosecution, had left on the minds of many of our I statesmen the impression that our government was i not strong enough, and that to wield its resources i successfully in great emergencies, and especially . in war, more power should be concentrated in its hands. This increased power they did not seek to obtain by the legitimate and prescribed mode—an amendment of the constitution —but by construe- | lion. They saw governments in the old world based j upon different orders of society, aud so constituted as to throw the whole power of nations into the j hands of a few, who taxed and controlled the many without responsibility or restraint In that arrangement they conceiv; d the strength of na- i tion- in war consisted. There was also something i fascinating in the ease, luxury, and di-play of the i high orders, who drew the wealth from the toil ot i the laboring millions, '['he authors of the system j drew their ideas of political economy from what ( they had witnessed iu Europe, and particularly in i f Great Britain. They had viewed the enormous wealth concentrated in few hands, and had seen the splendor ot the overgrown establishments i f an aristoerac\ which was upheld by the restrictive policy. They forgot to look down upon the poor er classes of the English population, upon whose daily and yearly labor the great establishments they so much admit ed were sustained and support ed. They failed to perceive that the scant v ied and half-clad operatives were not only in abject poverty, but were hound in chains of oppressive servitude for the benefit of favored classes, uho were the exclusive objects of the ease of the l-o vern men t. It was not possible to reconstruct society in the United States upon the European plan. Here there was a written constitution, by which orders and titles were not recognized or tolerated. \ system of measures was therefore devised, cal •«. lated. if not intended, to withdraw power gradual ly and silently from the States and the mass of the people, and by construction to approximate our go i verument to the European models, substituting ua aristocracy of wealth for that of orders and titles. Without reflecting upon the dissimilarity of our institutions, and of the condition of onrpeople and those of Europe, they'conceived the vain idea of building up in the United .States a system similar to that which they admired abroad. Great Britain hud a national! bank of large capital, in whose hands was concentrated the controlling monetary and financial power of the nation ; an institution wielding almost kingly power, and exerting vast , influence upon all the operati ms of trade, and up on the policy of the government itself. Great i Britain had an enoimus public debt, and it had be- I come a part of her public policy to regard this i, | a “ public blessing." Great Britain had also a re strictive policy, w hich placed letters and bind; ; - j on trade, and treminelled the productive imlustn lof the mass of the nation. By her combined • tern of policy, the landlords and otlu r properly holders were protected and enriched by the enor mous taxes which were levied upon the labor of the country for their advantage. Imitating this foreign policy, the first step in es ; tabiishing the new system in the United States was the creation of a national bank. Not foresee- | iug tiie dangerous power and countless evils which such an institution might entail on the country, nor perceiving the connection which it was de , signed to form between the hank an 1 the of cr branches of the miscalled ‘■'American System,’ 7 i but feeling the embarrassments of the treasury, 5 | and of the bndness ot the country, consequent up I on the war. some of our statesmen whe had lu id ! different and sounder views, were induced to I • yield their scruples, and, indeed, settled convic tions of its unconstitntionalit y, and to give it their j j sanction, as an expedient which they vainly hoped might produce relief. It was a most unfortunate : error, as the subsequent history and final catastro- I plie of that dangerous and corrupt institution hate abundantly proved. The bank, with its numerous ’ . branches ramified into the States, soon brought i many of the active political and commerced men ■ i in different sections of the country into the rela ' tion of debtors to it, and dependants upon it for pe ‘ ; cuniary favors ; thus diffusing throughout the mass ' j of society a great number ot individuals of power 1 ' and influence to give tone to public opinion, and * to act in concert in cases of emergency. The ■ i corrupt power of such a political engine is i. , long-; r , era matter of speculation, having been displayed’ i in numerous instances, but most signally in the ; litical struggles ol 1832—,5—' 1, in opposition to the, i public will represented by a fearless and patriotic' . President. I But the bank was but one branch of the mw! | system. A public debt of more than one htindn d! 1 and twenty millions of dollars existed ; and it is not! ! to be disguised that many of the authors of tin | new system did not regard its speedy payment a i essential to the public prosperity, but looked it|H , on its continuance as no national evil. Whilst thy | debt exis'ed, it furnished aliment l<» the national ; bank, and rendered increased taxation necessary ; to the amount of the interest, exceeding seietij millions of dollars annually. This operated in harmony with the next brand! of the new system, which was a high protective tariff. This was to afford bounties to favored! | classes and particular pursuits, at the expense <4 i all others. A proposition to tux the whole people for the purpose ol enriching a few, was too mo:.-* strous to be openly made. The scheme was therefore, veiled under tile plausible but delii-nd pretext of a measure to protect ‘■home industry ' and many of our people were, for a time, led J believe that a tax which in the main tell upon 1 j bor, was for the benefit of the laborer who paid { This branch of the system involved a partuerslaf between the government and the favored classi-j —the former receiving tlie proceeds of the t u imposed on articles imported, and the latter the in created price of similar articles produced at bond I caused by such tax. ll is obvious that the portM 1 tube received by the favored classes would, as j i general rnle.be increased in proportion to the in* | crease of the rates of tax imposed,and diminish?! as those rates were reduced to the revenue start i dard required by the wants of the government. -i : The rates required to produce a sufficient re ven f | for the ordinary expenditures of government, ts i necessary purposes, were not likely to give to !h| : private partners in this scheme profit- siifticiej '• to satisfy their cupidity ; and hence a variety j i expedients and pretexts were resorted to for Id i purpose of enlarging the expenditures, and (herd . by creating a necessity for keeping up a high p:| tective tariff. The effect of this policy was toil I terpose artificial restrictions upon the n atari course of the business and trade of the cminu s, a> : to advance the interests of large capitalists a I | monopolists, at the expense of the great nia-s t I the people, who were taxed to increase liic| i wealth. Another branch of this system was a cotnpfj 1 hensive scheme of internal improvements, capulf ot indefinite enlargement. and snificieut to swallJ? i up as many millions annually as could be exact* Irom the foreign commerce of the country. TW was a convenient and necessary adjunct of the pi j j tective tariff. It was to be the great absorbent! any surplus which might at any time accumnS* | in the treasury, and of the taxes levied on the pie, not lor necessary revenue purposes, but f» the avowed object of affording protection tut* ! favored classes. Auxi.iary to the same end, if it was not an e j seutia! part of the system itself, was the sciicj f which, at a later period, obtained, for disiributl I the proceeds of the sales of the public lands an | ! the States. Other expedients were devised! | take money out of the treasury, and prevent 3 coming in from any other sources than the pro? live tariff. The authors and supporters of t system were the advocates of the largest expetj lures, whether for necessary or useful pin p -cl not, because the larger the expenditures the ' er was the pretext for high taxes iu the tonu protective duties. These several measures were -.’.stained by p (i ! iar names and plausible arguments, bv which tit 1 sends were deluded. The bank was represer: to be an indispensable fiscal agent for the g« v " meat; was to equalize exchanges, and toregni and furnish u sound currency, always and ! ■■ where of uniform value. The protective t was to give employment to “ American lal r advanced price •; was to protect ‘-home indus* l and furnish a steady market f->r the farmer, ternal improvements were to bring traJe into 1 cry neighborhood and enhance the value o! ev 1 n;«n » property. The distribution ot the land J ney was to enrich the States, finish their pi l works, plant schools throughout their border * i relieve them irom taxation. But the fact, tiff every dollar taken out ol the treasury 1 «>r rj objects, a much larger sum was transterred j the pockets of the people to the favored ci j was carefully concealed, a- was also the te«df if not the ultimate design of the system to bus an aristocracy of wealth, to control the mas-f soci ‘tv, and monopoii/.e the political power f country. The several branches of this system were -0 timuteiy blended together, that in their npei'f each sustained and strengthened the other-. 11 joint operation was, to add new burdens ot # tion and to encourage a largely increase wasteful expenditure of public money. T=T the interest of the bunk that the revenue e «* cd and the disbursements made by the govei ® should be large, because, being the depositor) the public money, the larger the amount, the;* er would be the bank profits by it- use. B the interest of the favored classes, who yvera richcd by the protective tariff, to have ti e r ; W that protection as high as possible ; tor the ot those rates, the greater yvmild be their advanl It yvas the interest of the people of ail those I tions and localities who expected to be ben* I by expenditures for internal improvement-I the amount collected should be a- large as poJ to the end that the sum disbursed nigh ai| the larger. The .States being the beniti ’ianl the distribution of the land money, bad an int| in having the rates of taxes imposed by the, tective tariff large enough to yield a sufficied venue fiom that source to meet the wants u|
