 |
To what extent it may be proper to expand our system of government is a question which does not press for a decision at this time. At the end of the Revolutionary war, in 1783, we had, as we contended and believed, a right to the free navigation of the Mississippi, but it was not until after the expiration of twelve years, in 1795, that that right was acknowledged and enjoyed. Further difficulties occurred in the bustling of a contentious world when, at the expiration of eight years more, the United States, sustaining the strength and energy of their character, acquired the Province of Louisiana, with the free navigation of the river from its source to the ocean and a liberal boundary on the western side. To this Florida has since been added, so that we now possess all the territory in which the original States had any interest, or in which the existing States can be said, either in a national or local point of view, to be in any way interested. A range of States on the western side of the Mississippi, which already is provided for, puts us essentially at ease. Whether it will be wise to go further will turn on other considerations than those which have dictated the course heretofore pursued. At whatever point we may stop, whether it be at a single range of States beyond the Mississippi or by taking a greater scope, the advantage of such improvements is deemed of the highest importance. It is so on the present scale. The further we go the greater will be the necessity for them.
It can not be doubted that improvements for great national purposes would be better made by the National Government than by the governments of the several States. Our experience prior to the adoption of the Constitution demonstrated that in the exercise by the individual States of most of the powers granted to the United States a contracted rivalry of interest and misapplied jealousy of each other had an important influence on all their measures to the great injury of the whole. This was particularly exemplified by the regulations which they severally made of their commerce with foreign nations and with each other. It was this utter incapacity in the State governments, proceeding from these and other causes, to act as a nation and to perform all the duties which the nation owed to itself under any system which left the General Government dependent on the States, which produced the transfer of these powers to the United States by the establishment of the present Constitution. The reasoning which was applicable to the grant of any of the powers now vested in Congress is likewise so, at least to a certain extent, to that in question. It is natural that the States individually in making improvements should look to their particular and local interests, The members composing their respective legislatures represent the people of each State only, and might not feel themselves at liberty to look to objects in these respects beyond that limit. If the resources of the Union were to be brought into operation under the direction of the State assemblies, or in concert with them, it may be apprehended that every measure would become the object of negotiation, of bargain and barter, much to the disadvantage of the system, as well as discredit to both governments. But Congress would look to the whole and make improvements to promote the welfare of the whole. It is the peculiar felicity of the proposed amendment that while it will enable the United States to accomplish every national object, the improvements made with that view will eminently promote the welfare of the individual States, who may also add such others as their own particular interests may require.
The situation of the Cumberland road requires the particular and early attention of Congress. Being formed over very lofty mountains and in many instances over deep and wide streams, across which valuable bridges have been erected, which are sustained by stone walls, as are many other parts of the road, all these works are subject to decay, have decayed, and will decay rapidly unless timely and effectual measures are adopted to prevent it.
The declivities from the mountains and all the heights must suffer from the frequent and heavy falls of water and its descent to the valleys, as also from the deep congelations during our severe winters. Other injuries have also been experienced on this road, such as the displacing the capping of the walls and other works, committed by worthless people either from a desire to render the road impassable or to have the transportation in another direction, or from a spirit of wantonness to create employment for idlers. These considerations show that an active and strict police ought to be established over the whole road, with power to make repairs when necessary, to establish turnpikes and tolls as the means of raising money to make them, and to prosecute and punish those who commit waste and other injuries.
Should the United States be willing to abandon this road to the States through which it passes, would they take charge of it, each of that portion within its limits, and keep it in repair? It is not to be presumed that they would, since the advantages attending it are exclusively national, by connecting, as it does, the Atlantic with the Western States, and in a line with the seat of the National Government. The most expensive parts of this road lie within Pennsylvania and Virginia, very near the confines of each State and in a route not essentially connected with the commerce of either.
If it is thought proper to vest this power in the United States, the only mode in which it can be done is by an amendment of the Constitution. The States individually can not transfer the power to the United States, nor can the United States receive it. The Constitution forms an equal and the sole relation between the General Government and the several States, and it recognizes no change in it which shall not in like manner apply to all. If it is once admitted that the General Government may form compacts with individual States not common to the others, and which the others might even disapprove, into what pernicious consequences might it not lead? Such compacts are utterly repugnant to the principles of the Constitution and of the most dangerous tendency. The States through which this road passes have given their sanction only to the route and to the acquisition of the soil by the United States, a right very different from that of jurisdiction, which can not be granted without an amendment to the Constitution, and which need not be granted for the purposes of this system except in the limited manner heretofore stated. On full consideration, therefore, of the whole subject I am of opinion that such an amendment ought to be recommended to the several States for their adoption.
I have now essentially executed that part of the task which I imposed on myself of examining the right of Congress to adopt and execute a system of internal improvement, and, I presume, have shown that it does not exist. It is, I think, equally manifest that such a power vested in Congress and wisely executed would have the happiest effect on all the great interests of our Union. It is, however, my opinion that the power should be confined to great national works only, since if it were unlimited it would be liable to abuse and might be productive of evil. For all minor improvements the resources of the States individually would be fully adequate, and by the States such improvements might be made with greater advantage than by the Union, as they would understand better such as their more immediate and local interests required.
In the view above presented I have thought it proper to trace the origin of our institutions, and particularly of the State and National Governments, for although they have a common origin in the people, yet, as the point at issue turned on what were the powers granted to the one government and what were those which remained to the other, I was persuaded that an analysis which should mark distinctly the source of power in both governments, with its progress in each, would afford the best means for obtaining a sound result. In our political career there are, obviously, three great epochs. The colonial state forms the first; the Revolutionary movement from its commencement to the adoption of the Articles of Confederation the second, and the intervening space from that event to the present day the third. The first may be considered the infant state. It was the school of morality, of political science and just principles. The equality of rights enjoyed by the people of every colony under their original charters forms the basis of every existing institution, and it was owing to the creation by those charters of distinct communities that the power, when wrested from the Crown, passed directly and exclusively to the people of each colony. The Revolutionary struggle gave activity to those principles, and its success secured to them a permanent existence in the governments of our Union, State and National. The third epoch comprises the administration under the Articles of Confederation, with the adoption of the Constitution and administration under it. On the first and last of these epochs it is not necessary to enlarge for any purpose connected with the object of this inquiry. To the second, in which we were transferred by a heroic exertion from the first to the third stage, and whose events give the true character to every institution, some further attention is due. In tracing in greater detail the prominent acts of a movement to which we owe so much I shall perform an office which, if not useful, will be gratifying to my own feelings, and I hope not unacceptable to my readers.
Of the Revolutionary movement itself sentiments too respectful, too exalted, can not be entertained. It is impossible for any citizen having a just idea of the dangers which we had to encounter to read the record of our early proceedings and to see the firmness with which they were met and the wisdom and patriotism which were displayed in every stage without being deeply affected by it. An attack on Massachusetts was considered an attack on every colony, and the people of each moved in her defense as in their own cause. The meeting of the General Congress in Philadelphia on the 6th of September, 1774, appears to have been the result of a spontaneous impulse in every quarter at the same time. The first public act proposing it, according to the Journals of the First Congress, was passed by the house of representatives of Connecticut on the 3d of June of that year; but it is presumed that the first suggestion came from Massachusetts, the colony most oppressed, and in whose favor the general sympathy was much excited. The exposition which that Congress made of grievances, in the petition to the King, in the address to the people of Great Britain, and in that to the people of the several colonies, evinced a knowledge so profound of the English constitution and of the general principles of free government and of liberty, of our rights founded on that constitution and on the charters of the several colonies, and of the numerous and egregious violations which had been committed of them, as must have convinced all impartial minds that the talent on this side of the Atlantic was at least equal to that on the other. The spirit in which those papers were drawn, which was known to be in strict accord with the public sentiment, proved that, although the whole people cherished a connection with the parent country and were desirous of preserving it on just principles, they nevertheless stood embodied at the parting line, ready to separate forever if a redress of grievances, the alternative offered, was not promptly rendered. That alternative was rejected, and in consequence war and dismemberment followed.
The powers granted to the delegates of each colony who composed the First Congress looked primarily to the support of rights and to a redress of grievances, and, in consequence, to the restoration of harmony, which was ardently desired. They justified, however, any extremity in case of necessity. They were ample for such purposes, and were executed in every circumstance with the utmost fidelity. It was not until after the meeting of the Second Congress, which took place on the 10th May, 1775, when full proof was laid before it of the commencement of hostilities in the preceding month by a deliberate attack of the British troops on the militia and inhabitants of Lexington and Concord, in Massachusetts, that war might be said to be decided on, and measures were taken to support it. The progress even then was slow and reluctant, as will be seen by their second petition to the King and their second address to the people of Great Britain, which were prepared and forwarded after that event. The arrival, however, of large bodies of troops and the pressure of war in every direction soon dispelled all hope of accommodation.
On the 15th of June, 1775, a commander in chief of the forces raised and to be raised for the defense of American liberty was appointed by the unanimous vote of Congress, and his conduct in the discharge of the duties of that high trust, which he held through the whole of the war, has given an example to the world for talents as a military commander; for integrity, fortitude, and firmness under the severest trials; for respect to the civil authority and devotion to the rights and liberties of his country, of which neither Rome nor Greece have exhibited the equal. I saw him in my earliest youth, in the retreat through Jersey, at the head of a small band, or rather in its rear, for he was always next the enemy, and his countenance and manner made an impression on me which time can never efface. A lieutenant then in the Third Virginia Regiment, I happened to be on the rear guard at Newark, and I counted the force under his immediate command by platoons as it passed me, which amounted to less than 3,000 men. A deportment so firm, so dignified, so exalted, but yet so modest and composed, I have never seen in any other person.
On the 6th July, 1775, Congress published a declaration of the causes which compelled them to take up arms, and immediately afterwards took measures for augmenting the Army and raising a navy; for organizing the militia and providing cannon and small arms and military stores of every kind; for raising a revenue and pushing the war offensively with all the means in their power. Nothing escaped the attention of that enlightened body. The people of Canada were invited to join the Union, and a force sent into the province to favor the Revolutionary party, which, however, was not capable of affording any essential aid. The people of Ireland were addressed in terms manifesting due respect for the sufferings, the talents, and patriotism of that portion of the British Empire, and a suitable acknowledgment was made to the assembly of Jamaica for the approbation it had expressed of our cause and the part it had taken in support of it with the British Government.
On the 2d of June, 1775, the convention of Massachusetts, by a letter signed by their president, of May the 10th, stated to Congress that they labored under difficulties for the want of a regular form of government, and requested to be favored with explicit advice respecting the taking up and exercising the powers of civil government, and declaring their readiness to submit to such a general plan as the Congress might direct for the colonies, or that they would make it their great study to establish such a form of government there as should not only promote their own advantage, but the union and interest of all America. To this application an answer was given on the 9th, by which it was recommended to the convention "to write letters to the inhabitants of the several places entitled to representation in assembly, requesting them to choose such representatives, and that the assembly, when chosen, should elect councilors, and that said assembly or council should exercise the powers of government until a governor of His Majesty's appointment will consent to govern the colony according to its charter."
On the 18th October of the same year the delegates from New Hampshire laid before Congress an instruction from their convention "to use their utmost endeavors to obtain the advice and direction of Congress with respect to a method for administering justice and regulating their civil police." To this a reply was given on the 3d November, by which it was recommended to the convention "to call a full and free representation of the people, and that the representatives, if they thought it necessary, should establish such a form of government as in their judgment would best promote the happiness of the people and most effectually secure peace and good order in the Province during the continuance of the present dispute between Great Britain and the colonies."
On the 4th November it was resolved by Congress "that if the convention of South Carolina shall find it necessary to establish a form of government in that colony it be recommended to that convention to call a full and free representation of the people; and the said representatives, if they think it necessary, shall establish such a form of government as in their judgment will best promote the happiness of the people and most effectually secure peace and good order in the colony during the continuance of the present dispute between Great Britain and the colonies."
On the 4th December following a resolution passed recommending the same measure, and precisely in the same words, to the convention of Virginia.
On the 10th May, 1776, it was recommended to the respective assemblies and conventions of the united colonies, where no government sufficient to the exigencies of their affairs had been established, "to adopt such government as should, in the opinion of the representatives of the people, best conduce to the happiness and safety of their constituents in particular and America in general."
On the 7th June resolutions respecting independence were moved and seconded, which were referred to a committee of the whole on the 8th and 10th, on which latter day it was resolved to postpone a decision on the first resolution or main question until the 1st July, but that no time might be lost in case the Congress agree thereto that a committee be appointed to prepare a declaration to the effect of that resolution. On the 11th June, 1776, Congress appointed a committee to prepare and digest a plan of confederation for the colonies. On the 12th July the committee reported a draft of articles, which were severally afterwards debated and amended until the 15th November, 1777, when they were adopted. These articles were then proposed to the legislatures of the several States, with a request that if approved by them they would authorize their delegates to ratify the same in Congress, and, which being done, to become conclusive. It was not until the 21st of March, 1781, as already observed, that they were ratified by the last State and carried into effect.
On the 4th July, 1776, independence was declared by an act which arrested the attention of the civilized world and will bear the test of time. For force and condensation of matter, strength of reason, sublimity of sentiment and expression, it is believed that no document of equal merit exists. It looked to everything, and with a reach, perspicuity, and energy of mind which seemed to be master of everything.
Thus it appears, in addition to the very important charge of managing the war, that Congress had under consideration at the same time the Declaration of Independence, the adoption of a confederation for the States, and the propriety of instituting State governments, with the nature of those governments, respecting which it had been consulted by the conventions of several of the colonies. So great a trust was never reposed before in a body thus constituted, and I am authorized to add, looking to the great result, that never were duties more ably or faithfully performed.
The distinguishing characteristic of this movement is that although the connection which had existed between the people of the several colonies before their dismemberment from the parent country was not only not dissolved but increased by that event, even before the adoption of the Articles of Confederation, yet the preservation and augmentation of that tie were the result of a new creation, and proceeded altogether from the people of each colony, into whose hands the whole power passed exclusively when wrested from the Crown. To the same cause the greater change which has since occurred by the adoption of the Constitution is to be traced.
The establishment of our institutions forms the most important epoch that history hath recorded. They extend unexampled felicity to the whole body of our fellow-citizens, and are the admiration of other nations. To preserve and hand them down in their utmost purity to the remotest ages will require the existence and practice of virtues and talents equal to those which were displayed in acquiring them. It is ardently hoped and confidently believed that these will not be wanting.
PROCLAMATIONS.
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.
A PROCLAMATION.
Whereas by the second section of an act of Congress of the 6th of May last, entitled "An act in addition to the act concerning navigation, and also to authorize the appointment of deputy collectors," it is provided that in the event of the signature of any treaty or convention concerning the navigation or commerce between the United States and France the President of the United States, if he should deem the same expedient, may suspend by proclamation until the end of the next session of Congress the operation of the act entitled "An act to impose a new tonnage duty on French ships and vessels, and for other purposes," and also to suspend, as aforesaid, all other duties on French vessels or the goods imported in the same which may exceed the duties on American vessels and on similar goods imported in the same; and
Whereas a convention of navigation and commerce between the United States of America and His Majesty the King of France and Navarre has this day been duly signed by John Quincy Adams, Secretary of State, on the part of the United States, and by the Baron Hyde de Neuville, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary from France, on the part of His Most Christian Majesty, which convention is in the words following:
[Here follows the treaty.]
Now, therefore, be it known that I, James Monroe, President of the United States, in pursuance of the authority aforesaid, do hereby suspend from and after the 1st day of October next until the end of the next session of Congress, the operation of the act aforesaid, entitled "An act to impose a new tonnage duty on French ships and vessels, and for other purposes," and also all other duties on French vessels and the goods being the growth, produce, and manufacture of France imported in the same which may exceed the duties on American vessels and on similar goods imported in the same, saving only the discriminating duties payable on French vessels and on articles the growth, produce, and manufacture of France imported in the same stipulated by the said convention to be paid.
In testimony whereof I have caused the seal of the United States to be affixed to these presents, and signed the same with my hand.
[SEAL.]
Done at Washington, the 24th day of June, A.D. 1822, and of the Independence of the-United States the forty-sixth.
JAMES MONROE.
By the President: JOHN QUINCY ADAMS, Secretary of State.
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
A PROCLAMATION.
Whereas by an act of the Congress of the United States passed on the 6th day of May last it was provided that on satisfactory evidence being given to the President of the United States that the ports in the islands or colonies in the West Indies under the dominion of Great Britain have been opened to the vessels of the United States the President should be, and thereby was, authorized to issue his proclamation declaring that the ports of the United States should thereafter be open to the vessels of Great Britain employed in the trade and intercourse between the United States and such islands or colonies, subject to such reciprocal rules and restrictions as the President of the United States might by such proclamation make and publish, anything in the laws entitled "An act concerning navigation" or an act entitled "An act supplementary to an act concerning navigation" to the contrary notwithstanding; and
Whereas satisfactory evidence has been given to the President of the United States that the ports hereinafter named in the islands or colonies in the West Indies under the dominion of Great Britain have been opened to the vessels of the United States; that is to say, the ports of Kingston, Savannah le Mar, Montego Bay, Santa Lucia, Antonio, St. Ann, Falmouth, Maria, Morant Bay, in Jamaica; St. George, Grenada; Roseau, Dominica; St. Johns, Antigua; San Josef, Trinidad; Scarborough, Tobago; Road Harbour, Tortola; Nassau, New Providence; Pittstown, Crooked Island; Kingston, St. Vincent; Port St. George and Port Hamilton, Bermuda; any port where there is a custom-house, Bahamas; Bridgetown, Barbadoes; St. Johns, St. Andrews, New Brunswick; Halifax, Nova Scotia; Quebec, Canada; St. Johns, Newfoundland; Georgetown, Demerara; New Amsterdam, Berbice; Castries, St. Lucia; Besseterre, St. Kitts; Charlestown, Nevis; and Plymouth, Montserrat:
Now, therefore, I, James Monroe, President of the United States of America, do hereby declare and proclaim that the ports of the United States shall hereafter, and until the end of the next session of the Congress of the United States, be open to the vessels of Great Britain employed in the trade and intercourse between the United States and the islands and colonies hereinbefore named, anything in the laws entitled "An act concerning navigation" or an act entitled "An act supplementary to an act concerning navigation" to the contrary notwithstanding, under the following reciprocal rules and restrictions, namely:
To vessels of Great Britain, bona fide British built, owned and the master and three-fourths of the mariners of which at least shall belong to Great Britain, or any United States built ship or vessel which has been sold to and become the property of British subjects, such ship or vessel being also navigated with a master and three-fourths of the mariners at least belonging to Great Britain: And provided always, That no articles shall be imported into the United States in any such British ship or vessel other than articles of the growth, produce, or manufacture of the British islands and colonies in the West Indies when imported in British vessels coming from any such island or colony, and articles of the growth, produce, or manufacture of the British colonies in North America or of the island of Newfoundland in vessels coming from the port of St. Johns, in that island, or from any of the aforesaid ports of the British colonies in North America.
Given under my hand, at the city of Washington, this 24th day of August, A.D. 1822, and in the forty-seventh year of the Independence of the United States.
JAMES MONROE.
By the President: JOHN QUINCY ADAMS, Secretary of State.
SIXTH ANNUAL MESSAGE.
WASHINGTON, December 3, 1822.
Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives:
Many causes unite to make your present meeting peculiarly interesting to our constituents. The operation of our laws on the various subjects to which they apply, with the amendments which they occasionally require, imposes annually an important duty on the representatives of a free people. Our system has happily advanced to such maturity that I am not aware that your cares in that respect will be augmented. Other causes exist which are highly interesting to the whole civilized world, and to no portion of it more so, in certain views, than to the United States. Of these causes and of their bearing on the interests of our Union I shall communicate the sentiments which I have formed with that freedom which a sense of duty dictates. It is proper, however, to invite your attention in the first instance to those concerns respecting which legislative provision is thought to be particularly urgent.
On the 24th of June last a convention of navigation and commerce was concluded in this city between the United States and France by ministers duly authorized for the purpose. The sanction of the Executive having been given to this convention under a conviction that, taking all its stipulations into view, it rested essentially on a basis of reciprocal and equal advantage, I deemed it my duty, in compliance with the authority vested in the Executive by the second section of the act of the last session of the 6th of May, concerning navigation, to suspend by proclamation until the end of the next session of Congress the operation of the act entitled "An act to impose a new tonnage duty on French ships and vessels, and for other purposes," and to suspend likewise all other duties on French vessels or the goods imported in them which exceeded the duties on American vessels and on similar goods imported in them. I shall submit this convention forthwith to the Senate for its advice and consent as to the ratification.
Since your last session the prohibition which had been imposed on the commerce between the United States and the British colonies in the West Indies and on this continent has likewise been removed. Satisfactory evidence having been adduced that the ports of those colonies had been opened to the vessels of the United States by an act of the British Parliament bearing date on the 24th of June last, on the conditions specified therein, I deemed it proper, in compliance with the provision of the first section of the act of the last session above recited, to declare, by proclamation bearing date on the 24th of August last, that the ports of the United States should thenceforward and until the end of the next session of Congress be opened to the vessels of Great Britain employed in that trade, under the limitation specified in that proclamation.
A doubt was entertained whether the act of Congress applied to the British colonies on this continent as well as to those in the West Indies, but as the act of Parliament opened the intercourse equally with both, and it was the manifest intention of Congress, as well as the obvious policy of the United States, that the provisions of the act of Parliament should be met in equal extent on the part of the United States, and as also the act of Congress was supposed to vest in the President some discretion in the execution of it, I thought it advisable to give it a corresponding construction.
Should the constitutional sanction of the Senate be given to the ratification of the convention with France, legislative provisions will be necessary to carry it fully into effect, as it likewise will be to continue in force, on such conditions as may be deemed just and proper, the intercourse which has been opened between the United States and the British colonies. Every light in the possession of the Executive will in due time be communicated on both subjects.
Resting essentially on a basis of reciprocal and equal advantage, it has been the object of the Executive in transactions with other powers to meet the propositions of each with a liberal spirit, believing that thereby the interest of our country would be most effectually promoted. This course has been systematically pursued in the late occurrences with France and Great Britain, and in strict accord with the views of the Legislature. A confident hope is entertained that by the arrangement thus commenced with each all differences respecting navigation and commerce with the dominions in question will be adjusted, and a solid foundation be laid for an active and permanent intercourse which will prove equally advantageous to both parties.
The decision of His Imperial Majesty the Emperor of Russia on the question submitted to him by the United States and Great Britain, concerning the construction of the first article of the treaty of Ghent, has been received. A convention has since been concluded between the parties, under the mediation of His Imperial Majesty, to prescribe the mode by which that article shall be carried into effect in conformity with that decision. I shall submit this convention to the Senate for its advice and consent as to the ratification, and, if obtained, shall immediately bring the subject before Congress for such provisions as may require the interposition of the Legislature.
In compliance with an act of the last session a Territorial government has been established in Florida on the principles of our system. By this act the inhabitants are secured in the full enjoyment of their rights and liberties, and to admission into the Union, with equal participation in the Government with the original States on the conditions heretofore prescribed to other Territories. By a clause in the ninth article of the treaty with Spain, by which that Territory was ceded to the United States, it is stipulated that satisfaction shall be made for the injuries, if any, which by process of law shall be established to have been suffered by the Spanish officers and individual Spanish inhabitants by the late operations of our troops in Florida. No provision having yet been made to carry that stipulation into effect, it is submitted to the consideration of Congress whether it will not be proper to vest the competent power in the district court at Pensacola, or in some tribunal to be specially organized for the purpose.
The fiscal operations of the year have been more successful than had been anticipated at the commencement of the last session of Congress.
The receipts into the Treasury during the three first quarters of the year have exceeded the sum of $14,745,000. The payments made at the Treasury during the same period have exceeded $12,279,000, leaving in the Treasury on the 30th day of September last, including $1,168,592.24 which were in the Treasury on the 1st day of January last, a sum exceeding $4,128,000.
Besides discharging all demands for the current service of the year, including the interest and reimbursement of the public debt, the 6 per cent stock of 1796, amounting to $80,000, has been redeemed. It is estimated that, after defraying the current expenses of the present quarter and redeeming the two millions of 6 per cent stock of 1820, there will remain in the Treasury on the 1st of January next nearly $3,000,000. It is estimated that the gross amount of duties which have been secured from the 1st of January to the 30th of September last has exceeded $19,500,000, and the amount for the whole year will probably not fall short of $23,000,000.
Of the actual force in service under the present military establishment, the posts at which it is stationed, and the condition of each post, a report from the Secretary of War which is now communicated will give a distinct idea. By like reports the state of the Academy at West Point will be seen, as will be the progress which has been made on the fortifications along the coast and at the national armories and arsenals.
The position on the Red River and that at the Sault of St. Marie are the only new posts that have been taken. These posts, with those already occupied in the interior, are thought to be well adapted to the protection of our frontiers. All the force not placed in the garrisons along the coast and in the ordnance depots, and indispensably necessary there, is placed on the frontiers.
The organization of the several corps composing the Army is such as to admit its expansion to a great extent in case of emergency, the officers carrying with them all the light which they possess to the new corps to which they might be appointed.
With the organization of the staff there is equal cause to be satisfied. By the concentration of every branch with its chief in this city, in the presence of the Department, and with a grade in the chief military station to keep alive and cherish a military spirit, the greatest promptitude in the execution of orders, with the greatest economy and efficiency, are secured. The same view is taken of the Military Academy. Good order is preserved in it, and the youth are well instructed in every science connected with the great objects of the institution. They are also well trained and disciplined in the practical parts of the profession. It has been always found difficult to control the ardor inseparable from that early age in such manner as to give it a proper direction. The rights of manhood are too often claimed prematurely, in pressing which too far the respect which is due to age and the obedience necessary to a course of study and instruction in every such institution are sometimes lost sight of. The great object to be accomplished is the restraint of that ardor by such wise regulations and government as, by directing all the energies of the youthful mind to the attainment of useful knowledge, will keep it within a just subordination and at the same time elevate it to the highest purposes. This object seems to be essentially obtained in this institution, and with great advantage to the Union.
The Military Academy forms the basis, in regard to science, on which the military establishment rests. It furnishes annually, after due examination and on the report of the academic staff, many well-informed youths to fill the vacancies which occur in the several corps of the Army, while others who retire to private life carry with them such attainments as, under the right reserved to the several States to appoint the officers and to train the militia, will enable them, by affording a wider field for selection, to promote the great object of the power vested in Congress of providing for the organizing, arming, and disciplining the militia. Thus by the mutual and harmonious cooperation of the two governments in the execution of a power divided between them, an object always to be cherished, the attainment of a great result, on which our liberties may depend, can not fail to be secured. I have to add that in proportion as our regular force is small should the instruction and discipline of the militia, the great resource on which we rely, be pushed to the utmost extent that circumstances will admit.
A report from the Secretary of the Navy will communicate the progress which has been made in the construction of vessels of war, with other interesting details respecting the actual state of the affairs of that Department. It has been found necessary for the protection of our commerce to maintain the usual squadrons on the Mediterranean, the Pacific, and along the Atlantic coast, extending the cruises of the latter into the West Indies, where piracy, organized into a system, has preyed on the commerce of every country trading thither. A cruise has also been maintained on the coast of Africa, when the season would permit, for the suppression of the slave trade, and orders have been given to the commanders of all our public ships to seize our own vessels, should they find any engaged in that trade, and to bring them in for adjudication.
In the West Indies piracy is of recent date, which may explain the cause why other powers have not combined against it. By the documents communicated it will be seen that the efforts of the United States to suppress it have had a very salutary effect. The benevolent provision of the act under which the protection has been extended alike to the commerce of other nations can not fail to be duly appreciated by them.
In compliance with the act of the last session entitled "An act to abolish the United States trading establishments," agents were immediately appointed and instructed, under the direction of the Secretary of the Treasury, to close the business of the trading houses among the Indian tribes and to settle the accounts of the factors and subfactors engaged in that trade, and to execute in all other respects the injunctions of that act in the mode prescribed therein. A final report of their proceedings shall be communicated to Congress as soon as it is received.
It is with great regret I have to state that a serious malady has deprived us of many valuable citizens at Pensacola and checked the progress of some of those arrangements which are important to the Territory. This effect has been sensibly felt in respect to the Indians who inhabit that Territory, consisting of the remnants of several tribes who occupy the middle ground between St. Augustine and Pensacola, with extensive claims but undefined boundaries. Although peace is preserved with those Indians, yet their position and claims tend essentially to interrupt the intercourse between the eastern and western parts of the Territory, on which our inhabitants are principally settled. It is essential to the growth and prosperity of the Territory, as well as to the interests of the Union, that these Indians should be removed, by special compact with them, to some other position or concentrated within narrower limits where they are. With the limited means in the power of the Executive, instructions were given to the governor to accomplish this object so far as it might be practicable, which was prevented by the distressing malady referred to. To carry it fully into effect in either mode additional funds will be necessary, to the provision of which the powers of Congress alone are competent. With a view to such provision as may be deemed proper, the subject is submitted to your consideration, and in the interim further proceedings are suspended.
It appearing that so much of the act entitled "An act regulating the staff of the Army," which passed on the 14th April, 1818, as relates to the commissariat will expire in April next, and the practical operation of that department having evinced its great utility, the propriety of its renewal is submitted to your consideration.
The view which has been taken of the probable productiveness of the lead mines, connected with the importance of the material to the public defense, makes it expedient that they should be managed with peculiar care. It is therefore suggested whether it will not comport with the public interest to provide by law for the appointment of an agent skilled in mineralogy to superintend them, under the direction of the proper department.
It is understood that the Cumberland road, which was constructed at a great expense, has already suffered from the want of that regular superintendence and of those repairs which are indispensable to the preservation of such a work. This road is of incalculable advantage in facilitating the intercourse between the Western and the Atlantic States. Through it the whole country from the northern extremity of Lake Erie to the Mississippi, and from all the waters which empty into each, finds an easy and direct communication to the seat of Government, and thence to the Atlantic. The facility which it affords to all military and commercial operations, and also to those of the Post-Office Department, can not be estimated too highly. This great work is likewise an ornament and an honor to the nation. Believing that a competent power to adopt and execute a system of internal improvement has not been granted to Congress, but that such a power, confined to great national purposes and with proper limitations, would be productive of eminent advantage to our Union, I have thought it advisable that an amendment of the Constitution to that effect should be recommended to the several States. A bill which assumed the right to adopt and execute such a system having been presented for my signature at the last session, I was compelled, from the view which I had taken of the powers of the General Government, to negative it, on which occasion I thought it proper to communicate the sentiments which I had formed, on mature consideration, on the whole subject. To that communication, in all the views in which the great interest to which it relates may be supposed to merit your attention, I have now to refer. Should Congress, however, deem it improper to recommend such an amendment, they have, according to my judgment, the right to keep the road in repair by providing for the superintendence of it and appropriating the money necessary for repairs. Surely if they had the right to appropriate money to make the road they have a right to appropriate it to preserve the road from ruin. From the exercise of this power no danger is to be apprehended. Under our happy system the people are the sole and exclusive fountain of power. Each government originates from them, and to them alone, each to its proper constituents, are they respectively and solely responsible for the faithful discharge of their duties within their constitutional limits; and that the people will confine their public agents of every station to the strict line of their constitutional duties there is no cause to doubt. Having, however, communicated my sentiments to Congress at the last session fully in the document to which I have referred, respecting the right of appropriation as distinct from the right of jurisdiction and sovereignty over the territory in question, I deem it improper to enlarge on the subject here.
From the best information that I have been able to obtain it appears that our manufactures, though depressed immediately after the peace, have considerably increased, and are still increasing, under the encouragement given them by the tariff of 1816 and by subsequent laws. Satisfied I am, whatever may be the abstract doctrine in favor of unrestricted commerce, provided all nations would, concur in it and it was not liable to be interrupted by war, which has never occurred and can not be expected, that there are other strong reasons applicable to our situation and relations with other countries which impose on us the obligation to cherish and sustain our manufactures. Satisfied, however, I likewise am that the interest of every part of our Union, even of those most benefited by manufactures, requires that this subject should be touched with the greatest caution, and a critical knowledge of the effect to be produced by the slightest change. On full consideration of the subject in all its relations I am persuaded that a further augmentation may now be made of the duties on certain foreign articles in favor of our own and without affecting injuriously any other interest. For more precise details I refer you to the communications which were made to Congress during the last session.
So great was the amount of accounts for moneys advanced during the late war, in addition to others of a previous date which in the regular operations of the Government necessarily remained unsettled, that it required a considerable length of time for their adjustment. By a report from the First Comptroller of the Treasury it appears that on the 4th of March, 1817, the accounts then unsettled amounted to $103,068,876.41, of which, on the 30th of September of the present year, $93,175,396.56 had been settled, leaving on that day a balance unsettled of $9,893,479.85. That there have been drawn from the Treasury, in paying the public debt and sustaining the Government in all its operations and disbursements, since the 4th of March, 1817, $157,199,380.96, the accounts for which have been settled to the amount of $137,501,451.12, leaving a balance unsettled of $19,697,929.84. For precise details respecting each of these balances I refer to the report of the Comptroller and the documents which accompany it.
From this view it appears that our commercial differences with France and Great Britain have been placed in a train of amicable arrangement on conditions fair and honorable in both instances to each party; that our finances are in a very productive state, our revenue being at present fully competent to all the demands upon it; that our military force is well organized in all its branches and capable of rendering the most important service in case of emergency that its number will admit of; that due progress has been made, under existing appropriations, in the construction of fortifications and in the operations of the Ordnance Department; that due progress has in like manner been made in the construction of ships of war; that our Navy is in the best condition, felt and respected in every sea in which it is employed for the protection of our commerce; that our manufactures have augmented in amount and improved in quality; that great progress has been made in the settlement of accounts and in the recovery of the balances due by individuals, and that the utmost economy is secured and observed in every Department of the Administration.
Other objects will likewise claim your attention, because from the station which the United States hold as a member of the great community of nations they have rights to maintain, duties to perform, and dangers to encounter.
A strong hope was entertained that peace would ere this have been concluded between Spain and the independent governments south of the United States in this hemisphere. Long experience having evinced the competency of those governments to maintain the independence which they had declared, it was presumed that the considerations which induced their recognition by the United States would have had equal weight with other powers, and that Spain herself, yielding to those magnanimous feelings of which her history furnishes so many examples, would have terminated on that basis a controversy so unavailing and at the same time so destructive. We still cherish the hope that this result will not long be postponed.
Sustaining our neutral position and allowing to each party while the war continues equal rights, it is incumbent on the United States to claim of each with equal rigor the faithful observance of our rights according to the well-known law of nations. From each, therefore, a like cooperation is expected in the suppression of the piratical practice which has grown out of this war and of blockades of extensive coasts on both seas, which, considering the small force employed to sustain them, have not the slightest foundation to rest on.
Europe is still unsettled, and although the war long menaced between Russia and Turkey has not broken out, there is no certainty that the differences between those powers will be amicably adjusted. It is impossible to look to the oppressions of the country respecting which those differences arose without being deeply affected. The mention of Greece fills the mind with the most exalted sentiments and arouses in our bosoms the best feelings of which our nature is susceptible. Superior skill and refinement in the arts, heroic gallantry in action, disinterested patriotism, enthusiastic zeal and devotion in favor of public and personal liberty are associated with our recollections of ancient Greece. That such a country should have been overwhelmed and so long hidden, as it were, from the world under a gloomy despotism has been a cause of unceasing and deep regret to generous minds for ages past. It was natural, therefore, that the reappearance of those people in their original character, contending in favor of their liberties, should produce that great excitement and sympathy in their favor which have been so signally displayed throughout the United States. A strong hope is entertained that these people will recover their independence and resume their equal station among the nations of the earth.
A great effort has been made in Spain and Portugal to improve the condition of the people, and it must be very consoling to all benevolent minds to see the extraordinary moderation with which it has been conducted. That it may promote the happiness of both nations is the ardent wish of this whole people, to the expression of which we confine ourselves; for whatever may be the feelings or sentiments which every individual under our Government has a right to indulge and express, it is nevertheless a sacred maxim, equally with the Government and people, that the destiny of every independent nation in what relates to such improvements of right belongs and ought to be left exclusively to themselves.
Whether we reason from the late wars or from those menacing symptoms which now appear in Europe, it is manifest that if a convulsion should take place in any of those countries it will proceed from causes which have no existence and are utterly unknown in these States, in which there is but one order, that of the people, to whom the sovereignty exclusively belongs. Should war break out in any of those countries, who can foretell the extent to which it may be carried or the desolation which it may spread? Exempt as we are from these causes, our internal tranquillity is secure; and distant as we are from the troubled scene, and faithful to first principles in regard to other powers, we might reasonably presume that we should not be molested by them. This, however, ought not to be calculated on as certain. Unprovoked injuries are often inflicted, and even the peculiar felicity of our situation might with some be a cause for excitement and aggression. The history of the late wars in Europe furnishes a complete demonstration that no system of conduct, however correct in principle, can protect neutral powers from injury from any party; that a defenseless position and distinguished love of peace are the surest invitations to war, and that there is no way to avoid it other than by being always prepared and willing for just cause to meet it. If there be a people on earth whose more especial duty it is to be at all times prepared to defend the rights with which they are blessed, and to surpass all others in sustaining the necessary burdens, and in submitting to sacrifices to make such preparations, it is undoubtedly the people of these States.
When we see that a civil war of the most frightful character rages from the Adriatic to the Black Sea; that strong symptoms of war appear in other parts, proceeding from causes which, should it break out, may become general and be of long duration; that the war still continues between Spain and the independent governments, her late Provinces, in this hemisphere; that it is likewise menaced between Portugal and Brazil, in consequence of the attempt of the latter to dismember itself from the former, and that a system of piracy of great extent is maintained in the neighboring seas, which will require equal vigilance and decision to suppress it, the reasons for sustaining the attitude which we now hold and for pushing forward all our measures of defense with the utmost vigor appear to me to acquire new force.
The United States owe to the world a great example, and, by means thereof, to the cause of liberty and humanity a generous support. They have so far succeeded to the satisfaction of the virtuous and enlightened of every country. There is no reason to doubt that their whole movement will be regulated by a sacred regard to principle, all our institutions being founded on that basis. The ability to support our own cause under any trial to which it may be exposed is the great point on which the public solicitude rests. It has been often charged against free governments that they have neither the foresight nor the virtue to provide at the proper season for great emergencies; that their course is improvident and expensive; that war will always find them unprepared, and, whatever may be its calamities, that its terrible warnings will be disregarded and forgotten as soon as peace returns. I have full confidence that this charge so far as relates to the United States will be shewn to be utterly destitute of truth.
JAMES MONROE.
SPECIAL MESSAGES.
DECEMBER 4, 1822.
To the Senate of the United States:
The convention between the United States and France, concluded at Washington on the 24th day of June last, is now transmitted to the Senate for their advice and consent with regard to its ratification, together with the documents relating to the negotiation, which may serve to elucidate the deliberations of the Senate concerning its objects and the purposes to which it was adapted.
JAMES MONROE.
DECEMBER 4, 1822.
To the Senate of the United States:
I transmit herewith to the Senate, for their constitutional consideration and decision thereon, a convention between the United States and Great Britain, concluded at St. Petersburg on the 12th day of July last, under the mediation of His Imperial Majesty of all the Russias, together with the documents appertaining thereto, and which may elucidate the motives for its negotiation and the objects for the accomplishment of which it is intended.
JAMES MONROE.
WASHINGTON, December 6, 1822.
To the House of Representatives of the United States:
In compliance with the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 7th of May last, requiring that a plan for the peace establishment of the Navy of the United States and also of the Marine Corps should be communicated to that House at the present session, I transmit a report of the Secretary of the Navy, containing a plan which has been prepared for the proposed establishment.
JAMES MONROE.
WASHINGTON, December 7, 1822.
To the Senate of the United States:
In compliance with the resolution of the Senate of the 8th of May last, requesting "information relative to the copper mines on the southern shore of Lake Superior, their number, value, and position, the names of the Indian tribes who claim them, the practicability of extinguishing their titles, and the probable advantages which may result to the Republic from the acquisition and working these mines," I herewith transmit a report from the Secretary of War, which comprises the information desired in the resolution referred to.
JAMES MONROE.
WASHINGTON, December 9, 1822.
To the Senate of the United States:
Recent information of the multiplied outrages and depredations which have been committed on our seamen and commerce by the pirates in the West Indies and Gulf of Mexico, exemplified by the death of a very meritorious officer, seems to call for some prompt and decisive measures on the part of the Government. All the public vessels adapted to that service which can be spared from other indispensable duties are already employed in it; but from the knowledge which has been acquired of the places from whence these outlaws issue and to which they escape from danger it appears that it will require a particular kind of force, capable of pursuing them into the shallow waters to which they retire, effectually to suppress them. I submit to the consideration of the Senate the propriety of organizing such force for that important object.
JAMES MONROE.
[The same message, dated December 6, 1822, was sent to the House of Representatives.]
WASHINGTON, December 9, 1822.
To the Senate of the United States:
In compliance with a resolution of the Senate of the 22d of February last, "requesting the President of the United States to cause to be collected and communicated to the Senate at the commencement of the next session of Congress the best information which he may be able to obtain relative to certain Christian Indians and the lands intended for their benefit on the Muskingum, in the State of Ohio, granted under an act of Congress of June 1, 1796, to the Society of the United Brethren for Propagating the Gospel among the Heathen, showing as correctly as possible the advance or decline of said Indians in numbers, morals, and intellectual endowments; whether the lands have inured to their sole benefit, and, if not, to whom, in whole or in part, have such benefits accrued," I transmit a report from the Secretary of War with the accompanying documents.
JAMES MONROE.
WASHINGTON, January 3, 1823.
To the Senate of the United States:
In compliance with the three resolutions of the Senate of the 5th April, 1822, requesting the President of the United States to communicate in detail the expenses of building each vessel of war authorized by the act of the 2d of January, 1813, and its supplements, and also the names, number, grade, etc., of the officers and men employed at each navy-yard and naval station during the two years immediately preceding the 1st of January, 1822, I herewith transmit a report from the Secretary of the Navy, with the accompanying documents, which contains the desired information.
JAMES MONROE.
WASHINGTON, January 3, 1823.
To the House of Representatives of the United States:
In compliance with the resolutions of the House of Representatives of the 8th of January, 7th May, and 17th December, 1822, requesting the President of the United States to cause to be laid before that House a detailed statement of the current expenses of the Ordnance Department for the years 1817, 1818, 1819, 1820, and 1821, and as much as can be shewn for the year 1822, and also the number and local position of each of the armories, arsenals, and magazines of the United States, the total expense of constructing and repairing the same up to the year 1821; the number of cannon and other arms annually made at each, and the expenses of each armory and arsenal for each year from 1816 to 1821, inclusive, I herewith transmit a report from the Secretary of War, accompanied by such documents as will be found to contain the desired information.
JAMES MONROE.
WASHINGTON, January 3, 1823.
To the House of Representatives of the United States:
In compliance with the resolution of the House of Representatives of the United States of the 19th of December, 1822, requesting the President of the United States to cause to be laid before that House the several laws which have been made by the governor and legislative council of Florida, together with such information as may be in the possession of the Executive, I herewith transmit a report from the Secretary of State, with the accompanying documents, which contains the information desired.
JAMES MONROE.
WASHINGTON, January 6, 1823.
To the House of Representatives of the United States:
In compliance with the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 19th of December last, requesting the President of the United States to communicate to the House the progress which has been made in the execution of the act of the last session entitled "An act to abolish the Indian trading establishments," with a report from the factories, respectively, as the same were made to him, I transmit a report from the Secretary of the Treasury, with the documents referred to by that resolution. In further execution of the act of the last session treaties have since been made with the Osage and Sac Indians by which those tribes have severally relinquished to the United States their right under preceding treaties to the maintenance of a factory within each, respectively.
JAMES MONROE.
JANUARY 6, 1823.
To the Senate:
I transmit to the Senate, for their advice and consent as to the ratification, treaties which have been made with the Osage and Sac tribes of Indians in execution of the provision contained in the act of the last session entitled "An act to abolish the Indian trading establishments."
JAMES MONROE.
WASHINGTON, January 10, 1823.
To the Senate of the United States:
In compliance with a resolution of the Senate requesting the President of the United States "to cause to be laid before the Senate the number of arms required annually to supply the militia of the West according to acts of Congress; the probable number necessary to be placed in military deposits located or to be located on the Western waters; the cost of transportation of arms to the Western States and deposits; the probable cost of manufacturing arms in the West; the probable cost of erecting at this time on the Western waters such an armory as that at Harpers Ferry or at Springfield, and such other information as he may deem important to establish the expediency of erecting on the Western waters a national armory," I herewith transmit a report from the Secretary of War containing the desired information.
JAMES MONROE.
WASHINGTON, January 16, 1823.
The VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES AND PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE:
The convention concluded and signed at St. Petersburg on the 21st of July last under the mediation of His Imperial Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias having been ratified by the three powers parties thereto, and the ratifications of the same having been duly exchanged, copies of it are now communicated to Congress, to the end that the measures for carrying it on the part of the United States into execution may obtain the cooperation of the Legislature necessary to the accomplishment of some of its provisions. A translation is subjoined of three explanatory documents, in the French language, referred to in the fourth article of the convention and annexed to it. The agreement executed at the exchange of the ratifications is likewise communicated.
JAMES MONROE.
[The same message was addressed to the Speaker of the House of Representatives.]
JANUARY 22, 1823.
To the Senate of the United States:
In compliance with a resolution of December 12, 1822, requesting that the President would cause to be laid before the Senate a statement exhibiting the amount in aggregate of the goods, wares, and merchandise exported from the United States to France, and imported from thence, in each year from and after the year 1814 to the year 1820, discriminating in the reports between the articles of the growth, produce, or manufacture of the United States and those of foreign countries, and also stating the national character of the vessels in which such exports and imports have been made, I transmit a report from the Secretary of the Treasury, which contains the information desired.
JAMES MONROE.
JANUARY 22, 1823.
To the Senate and House of Representatives:
In carrying fully into effect the intention of Congress in making an appropriation of $5,000 by the act of the 14th April, 1820, for the survey of the Ohio and the Mississippi rivers from the Rapids of the Ohio at Louisville to the Balize, for the purpose of facilitating and ascertaining the most practicable route of improving the navigation of these rivers, orders were given through the proper department to the Board of Engineers to examine and survey the said rivers with reference to those objects, and to report their opinion thereon, which they have done, and which report I now communicate for the information of Congress.
JAMES MONROE.
WASHINGTON, January 25, 1823.
To the House of Representatives:
I transmit herewith to the House of Representatives a report from the Secretary of State, together with the documents which contain the information requested by the resolution of the House of the 10th of December last, relating to the establishment at the mouth of Columbia River.
JAMES MONROE.
To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States:
I transmit herewith a letter from the Secretary of the Navy, containing one from Captain John Rodgers, president of the Naval Board, accompanied by a description of the inclined plane, dock, and fixtures for hauling up ships, and an estimate of the cost and materials and workmanship necessary for the completion of a dock and wharves, proposed to be connected with the inclined plane constructed at the navy-yard, Washington, and recommend the same to the attentive consideration of Congress.
It is confidently believed that this invention combines advantages so highly useful as to justify the appropriation required.
JAMES MONROE.
JANUARY 28, 1823
FEBRUARY 3, 1823.
To the Senate of the United States:
Having lately received a memorial from the legislative council of the Territory of Florida on subjects very interesting to the inhabitants of the Territory and also to the United States, which require legislative provision, I transmit the same to Congress and recommend it to their consideration,
JAMES MONROE.
[The same message was addressed to the Speaker of the House of Representatives.]
WASHINGTON, February 3, 1823.
To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States:
I transmit herewith a resolution of the legislature, with an extract of a letter from the governor, of Georgia, and a memorial of the legislature of Missouri, relative to the extinguishment of the Indian title to lands within the limits of these States, respectively. Believing the present time to be propitious for holding treaties for the attainment of cessions of land from the Indians within those States, I submit the subject to the consideration of Congress, that adequate appropriations for such treaties may be made should Congress deem it expedient.
JAMES MONROE.
FEBRUARY 4, 1823.
To the House of Representatives of the United States:
In compliance with the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 12th of December last, requesting the President "to communicate to the House such information as he might possess with regard to any expedition prepared in the United States and having sailed from thence within the year 1822 against the territory or dependency of any power in amity with the United States, and to inform the House whether any measures have been taken to bring to condign punishment persons who have been concerned in such expedition contrary to the laws," I transmit to the House reports from the Secretaries of State and of the Treasury, with the documents mentioned in each. Those documents contain all the information in possession of the Executive relating to the subject of the resolution.
That a force of a very limited extent has been equipped in the ports of the United States and sailed from thence for the purpose described in the resolution is manifest from the documents now communicated. The reports from the collectors of Philadelphia and New York will shew in what manner this equipment escaped their notice.
The first information of this equipment was received from St. Bartholomews, the place of its rendezvous. This was confirmed afterwards from Curracoa with an account of its failure. Should any of those persons return within the jurisdiction of the United States care will be taken that the laws applicable to such offenses are duly enforced against them. Whether any aid was afforded by others to the parties engaged in this unlawful and contemptible adventure in the ports in which it was planned, inconsistent with ordinary commercial transactions and contrary to the laws of the United States, will be referred to the Attorney-General, on whose advice any measures in regard to them will depend.
JAMES MONROE.
FEBRUARY 6, 1823.
To the House of Representatives:
In compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 28th of January last, requesting information "whether the treaty concluded with the Choctaw Nation of Indians on the 18th of October, 1820, has been executed so far as respects the cession of certain lands to said nation west of the river Mississippi, and if possession has been given of the lands ceded to them; if not, that he assign the reasons which prevented the immediate execution of the stipulations of said treaty, and whether the difficulties have diminished or increased by the delay in its execution," I communicate a report from the Secretary of War, with the documents referred to in it,
JAMES MONROE.
FEBRUARY 10, 1823.
To the Senate of the United States:
In compliance with a resolution of the Senate of February 3, requesting a statement of the number and size of cannon, mortars, and howitzers necessary for the armament of the fortifications already built and intended to be built, with an estimate of the sum necessary for their construction, I transmit a report from the Secretary of War, prepared in execution of instructions given him to that effect.
JAMES MONROE.
WASHINGTON, February 13, 1823.
To the House of Representatives of the United States:
In compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives of 22d January last, requesting the communication to the House of all the correspondence between the Governments of the United States and Great Britain relating to the negotiation of the convention of the 20th October, 1818, which may not be inconsistent with the public interest, I transmit herewith to the House a report from the Secretary of State, together with the papers requested by the resolution of the House.
JAMES MONROE.
FEBRUARY 14, 1823.
To the Senate of the United States:
In compliance with a resolution of the Senate of the 11th of this month, requesting the President to cause to be communicated to the Senate an estimate of the amount of land in the State of Georgia to which the Indian title has been extinguished by the United States since the cession of a portion of the territory of Georgia to the United States, with a statement of the cost of such extinguishment, and also an estimate of the amount of land within the said State to which the Indian title still remains to be extinguished, and by what tribes claimed, I transmit a report from the Secretary of War, which contains the information desired.
JAMES MONROE.
FEBRUARY 17, 1823.
To the House of Representatives of the United States:
In compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 17th of December, requesting the President to communicate to the House a statement of the amount expended for the current expenses of the Ordnance Department during the years 1817, 1818, 1819, 1820, and 1821, and as much as can be shewn for the year 1822, with the items for which the money was expended, the place where and the persons to whom paid, what quantity of timber has been procured for gun carriages and caissons, its cost annually, and where deposited; the quantity of ordnance of every kind that has been procured during those years or paid for, and the whole amount of arms of every description now belonging to the United States; the sum expended in the purchase of sites for arsenals since the peace, the cost of the buildings erected thereon, and whether all those arsenals are necessary for the service of the United States, I transmit a report from the Secretary of War, with the documents mentioned therein, which contains the information desired.
JAMES MONROE.
WASHINGTON, February 18, 1823.
The VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES AND PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE:
The convention of navigation and commerce between the United States of America and His Majesty the King of France and Navarre, concluded and signed at Washington on the 24th of June, 1822, with the first separate article thereto annexed, having been ratified by the two parties, and the ratifications of the same having been duly exchanged, copies of it and of the separate article referred to are now communicated to the two Houses of Congress, to the end that the necessary measures for carrying it into execution on the part of the United States may be adopted by the Legislature.
JAMES MONROE.
[The same message was sent to the House of Representatives.]
FEBRUARY 19, 1823.
To the House of Representatives of the United States:
In compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 11th of December last, I transmit to the House a report from the Secretary of the Treasury, containing the information requested, of the amount of moneys advanced to agents, subagents, contractors, subcontractors, or individuals since the 1st of January, 1817, which have not been accounted for on settlement, and of the loss sustained in each case, the sureties taken, and the names of the sureties.
JAMES MONROE.
WASHINGTON, February 19, 1823.
To the House of Representatives of the United States:
I transmit to the House of Representatives, in pursuance of a resolution of that House of the 31st of last month, a report from the Secretary of State, relative to the commissioners appointed for the purpose of ascertaining the titles and claims to land in Florida.
JAMES MONROE.
FEBRUARY 19, 1823.
To the House of Representatives of the United States:
I transmit to the House of Representatives an additional report from the Secretary of the Treasury, with the documents referred to therein, containing further information of the proceedings in execution of the law of the last session respecting the trade with the Indian tribes, called for by the resolution of the 19th of December last.
JAMES MONROE.
FEBRUARY 22, 1823.
To the House of Representatives of the United States:
In compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 11th of this month, requesting information whether any prize agents have neglected to render an account of their agency and to pay over the money in their hands, the names of those who have failed, the sums unaccounted for, and whether any of those thus failing are in the employ of the Government, and their compensation has been in consequence suspended, I transmit a report from the Secretary of the Navy, with the documents referred to by him.
JAMES MONROE.
FEBRUARY 25, 1823.
To the Congress of the United States:
I transmit to Congress the general returns of the militia of the several States and Territories for the year 1822, with an account of the arms, accouterments, ammunition, ordnance, etc., belonging to each as far as the returns have been received, in compliance with the provision of the act of 1803.
JAMES MONROE.
FEBRUARY 25, 1823.
To the Senate of the United States:
By a resolution of the 27th of December last the President of the United States was requested to communicate to the Senate such information as he might possess respecting the political state of the island of St. Domingo; whether the Government thereof was claimed by any European nation, what our commercial relations with the Government of the island were, and whether any further commercial relations with that Government would be consistent with the interest and safety of the United States.
From the import of the resolution it is inferred that the Senate were fully aware of the delicate and interesting nature of the subject embraced by it in all its branches. The call supposes something peculiar in the nature of the Government of that island and in the character of its population, to which attention is due. Impressed always with an anxious desire to meet every call of either House for information, I most willingly comply in this instance and with a view to the particular circumstances alluded to.
In adverting to the political state of St. Domingo I have to observe that the whole island is now united under one Government, under a constitution which retains the sovereignty in the hands of the people of color, and with provisions which prohibit the employment in the Government of all white persons who have emigrated there since 1816, or who may hereafter emigrate there, and which prohibit also the acquisition by such persons of the right of citizenship or to real estate in the island. In the exercise of this sovereignty the Government has not been molested by any European, power. No invasion of the island has been made or attempted by any power. It is, however, understood that the relations between the Government of France and the island have not been adjusted, that its independence has not been recognized by France, nor has peace been formally established between the parties.
The establishment of a Government of people of color in the island on the principles above stated evinces distinctly the idea of a separate interest and a distrust of other nations. Had that jealousy been confined to the inhabitants of the parent country it would have been less an object of attention; but by extending it to the inhabitants of other countries with whom no difference ever existed the policy assumes a character which does not admit of a like explanation. To what extent that spirit may be indulged or to what purposes applied our experience has yet been too limited to enable us to form a just estimate. These are inquiries more peculiarly interesting to the neighboring islands. They nevertheless deserve the attention of the United States.
Between the United States and the island a commercial intercourse exists, and it will continue to be the object of this Government to promote it. Our commerce there has been subjected to higher duties than have been imposed on like articles from some other nations. It has nevertheless been extensive, proceeding from the wants of the respective parties and the enterprise of our citizens. Of this discrimination to our injury we had a right to complain and have complained. It is expected that our commercial intercourse with the island will be placed on the footing of the most favored nation. No preference is sought in our favor, nor ought any to be given to others. Regarding the high interest of our happy Union and looking to every circumstance which may by any possibility affect the tranquillity of any part, however remotely, and guarding against such injury by suitable precautions, it is the duty of this Government to promote by all the means in its power and by a fair and honorable policy the best interest of every other part, and thereby of the whole. Feeling profoundly the force of this obligation, I shall continue to exert with unwearied zeal my best faculties to give it effect.
JAMES MONROE.
WASHINGTON, February 26, 1823.
To the House of Representatives of the United States:
I transmit to the House of Representatives, in pursuance of a resolution of that House of the 30th January last, a report from the Secretary of State, containing the information required in relation to the transactions of the commissioners under the sixth and seventh articles of the treaty of Ghent, and also as to the measures which have been taken under the fourth article of the treaty with Spain of the 22d of February, 1819, for fixing the boundary line described in the third article of the last-mentioned treaty.
JAMES MONROE.
WASHINGTON, February 27, 1823.
To the House of Representatives:
I transmit to the House of Representatives a report from the Secretary of State, made in pursuance of their resolution of the 21st of January last, requesting the President of the United States to cause to be arranged and laid before that House a digest shewing such changes in the commercial regulations of the different foreign countries with which the United States have intercourse as shall have been adopted and come to the knowledge of the Executive subsequently to the formation of the digest communicated to the Senate on the 7th December, 1819.
JAMES MONROE.
WASHINGTON, February 28, 1823.
To the House of Representatives of the United States:
I transmit to the House of Representatives a report from the Secretary of State, with copies of sundry papers which should have been included among those which accompanied my message of the 13th instant, being part of the correspondence with Great Britain relating to the negotiation of the convention of 20th of October, 1818, but which were accidentally omitted from the papers communicated to the House with that message.
JAMES MONROE.
WASHINGTON, February 28, 1823.
To the House of Representatives:
In compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 24th of January, requesting the President to communicate to the House the number of persons and the amount due from each whose compensation has been withheld or suspended, in pursuance of the law prohibiting payments to persons in arrears to the United States; whether the amount withheld has been applied in all cases to the extinguishment of their debts to the Government; whether the said laws have been enforced in all cases against securities who are liable for the payment of any arrears due; whether any disbursing officer, within the knowledge of the President, has given conclusive evidence of his insolvency, and, if so, whether he is still retained in the service of the United States, I transmit to the House a report from the Secretary of the Treasury, with the documents mentioned therein.
The report has been confined to the operations of the law. Respecting the circumstances of individuals in their transactions without the sphere of their public duties I have no means of information other than those which are common to all.
JAMES MONROE.
WASHINGTON, March 7, 1823.
To the House of Representatives of the United States:
In compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives of this day, requesting information of the measures taken with regard to the illegal blockade of the ports of the Spanish Main, and to depredations of privateers fitted out from Porto Rico and other Spanish islands on the commerce of the United States, I transmit to the House a report from the Secretary of State containing the information required by the resolution.
JAMES MONROE.
SEVENTH ANNUAL MESSAGE.
WASHINGTON, December 2, 1823.
Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives:
Many important subjects will claim your attention during the present session, of which I shall endeavor to give, in aid of your deliberations, a just idea in this communication. I undertake this duty with diffidence, from the vast extent of the interests on which I have to treat and of their great importance to every portion of our Union. I enter on it with zeal from a thorough conviction that there never was a period since the establishment of our Revolution when, regarding the condition of the civilized world and its bearing on us, there was greater necessity for devotion in the public servants to their respective duties, or for virtue, patriotism, and union in our constituents.
Meeting in you a new Congress, I deem it proper to present this view of public affairs in greater detail than might otherwise be necessary. I do it, however, with peculiar satisfaction, from a knowledge that in this respect I shall comply more fully with the sound principles of our Government. The people being with us exclusively the sovereign, it is indispensable that full information be laid before them on all important subjects, to enable them to exercise that high power with complete effect. If kept in the dark, they must be incompetent to it. We are all liable to error, and those who are engaged in the management of public affairs are more subject to excitement and to be led astray by their particular interests and passions than the great body of our constituents, who, living at home in the pursuit of their ordinary avocations, are calm but deeply interested spectators of events and of the conduct of those who are parties to them. To the people every department of the Government and every individual in each are responsible, and the more full their information the better they can judge of the wisdom of the policy pursued and of the conduct of each in regard to it. From their dispassionate judgment much aid may always be obtained, while their approbation will form the greatest incentive and most gratifying reward for virtuous actions, and the dread of their censure the best security against the abuse of their confidence. Their interests in all vital questions are the same, and the bond, by sentiment as well as by interest, will be proportionably strengthened as they are better informed of the real state of public affairs, especially in difficult conjunctures. It is by such knowledge that local prejudices and jealousies are surmounted, and that a national policy, extending its fostering care and protection to all the great interests of our Union, is formed and steadily adhered to.
A precise knowledge of our relations with foreign powers as respects our negotiations and transactions with each is thought to be particularly necessary. Equally necessary is it that we should form a just estimate of our resources, revenue, and progress in every kind of improvement connected with the national prosperity and public defense. It is by rendering justice to other nations that we may expect it from them. It is by our ability to resent injuries and redress wrongs that we may avoid them. The commissioners under the fifth article of the treaty of Ghent, having disagreed in their opinions respecting that portion of the boundary between the Territories of the United States and of Great Britain the establishment of which had been submitted to them, have made their respective reports in compliance with that article, that the same might be referred to the decision of a friendly power. It being manifest, however, that it would be difficult, if not impossible, for any power to perform that office without great delay and much inconvenience to itself, a proposal has been made by this Government, and acceded to by that of Great Britain, to endeavor to establish that boundary by amicable negotiation. It appearing from long experience that no satisfactory arrangement could be formed of the commercial intercourse between the United States and the British colonies in this hemisphere by legislative acts while each party pursued its own course without agreement or concert with the other, a proposal has been made to the British Government to regulate this commerce by treaty, as it has been to arrange in like manner the just claim of the citizens of the United States inhabiting the States and Territories bordering on the lakes and rivers which empty into the St. Lawrence to the navigation of that river to the ocean. For these and other objects of high importance to the interests of both parties a negotiation has been opened with the British Government which it is hoped will have a satisfactory result.
The commissioners under the sixth and seventh articles of the treaty of Ghent having successfully closed their labors in relation to the sixth, have proceeded to the discharge of those relating to the seventh. Their progress in the extensive survey required for the performance of their duties justifies the presumption that it will be completed in the ensuing year.
The negotiation which had been long depending with the French Government on several important subjects, and particularly for a just indemnity for losses sustained in the late wars by the citizens of the United States under unjustifiable seizures and confiscations of their property, has not as yet had the desired effect. As this claim rests on the same principle with others which have been admitted by the French Government, it is not perceived on what just ground it can be rejected. A minister will be immediately appointed to proceed to France and resume the negotiation on this and other subjects which may arise between the two nations. |
|
