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diff --git a/old/10858-8.txt b/old/10858-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..83c3aae --- /dev/null +++ b/old/10858-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,12025 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Messages and Papers of the Presidents: +Andrew Jackson, by Edited by James D. Richardson + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents, + Vol. 2, Part 3, Andrew Jackson, 1st term + +Author: Edited by James D. Richardson + +Release Date: January 28, 2004 [EBook #10858] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ANDREW JACKSON *** + + + + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, David King, and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team + + + + + +MESSAGES AND PAPERS OF THE PRESIDENTS: + +ANDREW JACKSON + +March 4, 1829, to March 4, 1833 + +Edited by James D. Richardson + + + + +ANDREW JACKSON + + +Andrew Jackson was born in the Waxhaw Settlement, North or South +Carolina, on the 15th of March, 1767. He was a son of Andrew Jackson, an +Irishman, who emigrated to America in 1765 and died in 1767. The name of +his mother was Elizabeth Hutchinson. There is little definite +information about the schools that he attended. According to Parton, "He +learned to read, to write, and cast accounts--little more." Having taken +arms against the British in 1781, he was captured, and afterwards +wounded by an officer because he refused to clean the officer's boots. +About 1785 he began to study law at Salisbury, N.C. In 1788 removed to +Nashville, Tenn., where he began to practice law. About 1791 he married +Rachel Robards, originally Rachel Donelson, whose first husband was +living and had taken preliminary measures to obtain a divorce, which was +legally completed in 1793. The marriage ceremony was again performed in +1794. He was a member of the convention which framed the constitution of +Tennessee in 1796, and in the autumn of that year was elected +Representative to Congress by the people of Tennessee, which State was +then entitled to only one member. Supported Thomas Jefferson in the +Presidential election of 1796. In 1797 became a Senator of the United +States for the State of Tennessee. Resigned his seat in the Senate in +1798; was a judge of the supreme court of Tennessee from 1798 till 1804. +After war had been declared against Great Britain, General Jackson (who +several years before had been appointed major-general of militia) +offered his services and those of 2,500 volunteers in June, 1812. He was +ordered to New Orleans, and led a body of 2,070 men in that direction; +but at Natchez he received an order, dated February 6, 1813, by which +his troops were dismissed from public service. In October, 1813, he took +the field against the Creek Indians, whom he defeated at Talladega in +November. By his services in this Creek war, which ended in 1814, he +acquired great popularity, and in May, 1814, was appointed a +major-general in the Regular Army; was soon afterwards ordered to the +Gulf of Mexico, to oppose an expected invasion of the British. In +November he seized Pensacola, which belonged to Spain, but was used by +the British as a base of operations. About the 1st of December he moved +his army to New Orleans, where he was successful in two engagements with +the British, and afterwards gained his famous victory on January 8, +1815. This was the last battle of the war, a treaty of peace having been +signed on December 24, 1814. In 1817-18 he waged a successful war +against the Seminoles in Florida, seized Pensacola, and executed +Arbuthnot and Ambrister, two British subjects, accused of inciting the +savages to hostile acts against the Americans. He was appointed governor +of Florida in 1821. In 1823 was elected a Senator of the United States, +and nominated as candidate for the Presidency by the legislature of +Tennessee. His competitors were John Quincy Adams, Henry Clay, and +William H. Crawford. Jackson received 99 electoral votes, Adams 84, +Crawford 41, and Clay 37. As no candidate had a majority, the election +devolved on the House of Representatives, and it resulted in the choice +of Mr. Adams. In 1828 Jackson was elected President, receiving 178 +electoral votes, while Adams received 83; was reelected in 1832, +defeating Henry Clay. Retired to private life March 4, 1837. He died at +the Hermitage on the 8th of June, 1845, and was buried there. + + + + +LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT ELECT. + +CITY OF WASHINGTON, _March 2, 1829._ +J.C. CALHOUN, +_Vice-President of the United States_. + +Sir: Through you I beg leave to inform the Senate that on Wednesday, the +4th instant, at 12 o'clock, I shall be ready to take the oath prescribed +by the Constitution previously to entering on a discharge of my official +duties, and at such place as the Senate may think proper to designate. + +I am, very respectfully, sir, your obedient servant, + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + + + +FIRST INAUGURAL ADDRESS. + +Fellow-Citizens: About to undertake the arduous duties that I have been +appointed to perform by the choice of a free people, I avail myself of +this customary and solemn occasion to express the gratitude which their +confidence inspires and to acknowledge the accountability which my +situation enjoins. While the magnitude of their interests convinces me +that no thanks can be adequate to the honor they have conferred, it +admonishes me that the best return I can make is the zealous dedication +of my humble abilities to their service and their good. + +As the instrument of the Federal Constitution it will devolve on me for +a stated period to execute the laws of the United States, to superintend +their foreign and their confederate relations, to manage their revenue, +to command their forces, and, by communications to the Legislature, to +watch over and to promote their interests generally. And the principles +of action by which I shall endeavor to accomplish this circle of duties +it is now proper for me briefly to explain. + +In administering the laws of Congress I shall keep steadily in view the +limitations as well as the extent of the Executive power, trusting +thereby to discharge the functions of my office without transcending its +authority. With foreign nations it will be my study to preserve peace +and to cultivate friendship on fair and honorable terms, and in the +adjustment of any differences that may exist or arise to exhibit the +forbearance becoming a powerful nation rather than the sensibility +belonging to a gallant people. + +In such measures as I may be called on to pursue in regard to the rights +of the separate States I hope to be animated by a proper respect for +those sovereign members of our Union, taking care not to confound the +powers they have reserved to themselves with those they have granted to +the Confederacy. + +The management of the public revenue--that searching operation in all +governments--is among the most delicate and important trusts in ours, +and it will, of course, demand no inconsiderable share of my official +solicitude. Under every aspect in which it can be considered it would +appear that advantage must result from the observance of a strict and +faithful economy. This I shall aim at the more anxiously both because it +will facilitate the extinguishment of the national debt, the unnecessary +duration of which is incompatible with real independence, and because it +will counteract that tendency to public and private profligacy which a +profuse expenditure of money by the Government is but too apt to +engender. Powerful auxiliaries to the attainment of this desirable end +are to be found in the regulations provided by the wisdom of Congress +for the specific appropriation of public money and the prompt +accountability of public officers. + +With regard to a proper selection of the subjects of impost with a view +to revenue, it would seem to me that the spirit of equity, caution, and +compromise in which the Constitution was formed requires that the great +interests of agriculture, commerce, and manufactures should be equally +favored, and that perhaps the only exception to this rule should consist +in the peculiar encouragement of any products of either of them that may +be found essential to our national independence. + +Internal improvement and the diffusion of knowledge, so far as they can +be promoted by the constitutional acts of the Federal Government, are of +high importance. + +Considering standing armies as dangerous to free governments in time of +peace, I shall not seek to enlarge our present establishment, nor +disregard that salutary lesson of political experience which teaches +that the military should be held subordinate to the civil power. The +gradual increase of our Navy, whose flag has displayed in distant climes +our skill in navigation and our fame in arms; the preservation of our +forts, arsenals, and dockyards, and the introduction of progressive +improvements in the discipline and science of both branches of our +military service are so plainly prescribed by prudence that I should be +excused for omitting their mention sooner than for enlarging on their +importance. But the bulwark of our defense is the national militia, +which in the present state of our intelligence and population must +render us invincible. As long as our Government is administered for the +good of the people, and is regulated by their will; as long as it +secures to us the rights of person and of property, liberty of +conscience and of the press, it will be worth defending; and so long as +it is worth defending a patriotic militia will cover it with an +impenetrable aegis. Partial injuries and occasional mortifications we +may be subjected to, but a million of armed freemen, possessed of the +means of war, can never be conquered by a foreign foe. To any just +system, therefore, calculated to strengthen this natural safeguard of +the country I shall cheerfully lend all the aid in my power. + +It will be my sincere and constant desire to observe toward the Indian +tribes within our limits a just and liberal policy, and to give that +humane and considerate attention to their rights and their wants which +is consistent with the habits of our Government and the feelings of our +people. + +The recent demonstration of public sentiment inscribes on the list of +Executive duties, in characters too legible to be overlooked, the task +of _reform_, which will require particularly the correction of those +abuses that have brought the patronage of the Federal Government into +conflict with the freedom of elections, and the counteraction of those +causes which have disturbed the rightful course of appointment and have +placed or continued power in unfaithful or incompetent hands. + +In the performance of a task thus generally delineated I shall endeavor +to select men whose diligence and talents will insure in their +respective stations able and faithful cooperation, depending for the +advancement of the public service more on the integrity and zeal of the +public officers than on their numbers. + +A diffidence, perhaps too just, in my own qualifications will teach me +to look with reverence to the examples of public virtue left by my +illustrious predecessors, and with veneration to the lights that flow +from the mind that founded and the mind that reformed our system. The +same diffidence induces me to hope for instruction and aid from the +coordinate branches of the Government, and for the indulgence and +support of my fellow-citizens generally. And a firm reliance on the +goodness of that Power whose providence mercifully protected our +national infancy, and has since upheld our liberties in various +vicissitudes, encourages me to offer up my ardent supplications that He +will continue to make our beloved country the object of His divine care +and gracious benediction. + +MARCH 4, 1829. + + + + +SPECIAL MESSAGES. + + +_March 6, 1829_. +_the Senate of the United States_. + +GENTLEMEN: The Executive nominations made during the past session of +Congress, and which remain unacted on by the Senate, I hereby withdraw +from their consideration. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +_March 6, 1829_. +_Gentlemen of the Senate_: + +The treaty of commerce and navigation concluded at Washington on the 1st +of May, 1828, between the United States and the King of Prussia, was +laid before the Senate, who, by their resolution of the 14th of that +month, advised and consented to its ratification by the President. + +By the sixteenth article of that treaty it was agreed that the exchange +of ratifications should be made within nine months from its date. + +On the 15th day of February last, being fifteen days after the time +stipulated for the exchange by the terms of the treaty, the chargé +d'affaires of the King of Prussia informed the Secretary of State that +he had received the Prussian ratification and was ready to exchange it +for that of the United States. In reply he was informed of the intention +of the President, my late predecessor, not to proceed to the exchange in +consequence of the expiration of the time within which it was to be +made. + +Under these circumstances I have thought it my duty, in order to avoid +all future questions, to ask the advice and consent of the Senate to +make the proposed exchange. + +I send you the original of the treaty, together with a printed copy of +it. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +_March 11, 1829_. +_To the Senate of the United States_. + +GENTLEMEN: Brevet rank for ten years' faithful service has produced much +confusion in the Army. For this reason the discretion vested in the +President of the United States on this subject would not be exercised by +any submission of those cases to the Senate but that it has been +heretofore the practice to do so. They are accordingly submitted, with +other nominations, to fill the offices respectively annexed to their +names in the inclosed lists,[1] for the consideration of the Senate. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + +[Footnote 1: Omitted.] + + + + +PROCLAMATIONS. + +By the President of the United States of America. + + +A PROCLAMATION. + +Whereas by an act of the Congress of the United States of the 7th of +January, 1824, entitled "An act concerning discriminating duties of +tonnage and impost," it is provided that upon satisfactory evidence +being given to the President of the United States by the government of +any foreign nation that no discriminating duties of tonnage or impost +are imposed or levied within the ports of the said nation upon vessels +belonging wholly to citizens of the United States, or upon merchandise +the produce or manufacture thereof imported in the same, the President +is thereby authorized to issue his proclamation declaring that the +foreign discriminating duties of tonnage and impost within the United +States are, and shall be, suspended and discontinued so far as respects +the vessels of the said nation and the merchandise of its produce or +manufacture imported into the United States in the same, the said +suspension to take effect from the time of such notification being given +to the President of the United States and to continue so long as the +reciprocal exemption of vessels belonging to citizens of the United +States, and merchandise, as aforesaid, therein laden, shall be +continued, and no longer; and + +Whereas satisfactory evidence has been received by me from His Imperial +Majesty the Emperor of Austria, through the Baron de Lederer, his +consul-general in the United States, that vessels wholly belonging to +citizens of the United States are not, nor shall be, on their entering +any Austrian port, from and after the 1st day of January last, subject +to the payment of higher duties of tonnage than are levied on Austrian +ships: + +Now, therefore, I, Andrew Jackson, President of the United States of +America, do hereby declare and proclaim that so much of the several acts +imposing duties on the tonnage of ships arriving in the United States as +imposed a discriminating duty between the vessels of the Empire of +Austria and vessels of the United States are suspended and discontinued, +the said suspension to take effect from the day above mentioned and to +continue henceforward so long as the reciprocal exemption of the vessels +of the United States shall be continued in the ports of the imperial +dominions of Austria. + +(SEAL.) + +Given under my hand, at the city of Washington, this 11th day of May, +A.D. 1829, and the fifty-second[2] of the Independence of the United +States. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + +By the President: +M. Van Buren, +_Secretary of State_. + +[Footnote 2: Should be "third" instead of "second."] + + +BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. + +A PROCLAMATION. + +Whereas by an act of the Congress of the United States of the 24th of +May, 1828, entitled "An act in addition to an act entitled 'An act +concerning discriminating duties of tonnage and impost,' and to equalize +the duties on Prussian vessels and their cargoes," it is provided that +upon satisfactory evidence being given to the President of the United +States by the government of any foreign nation that no discriminating +duties of tonnage or impost are imposed or levied in the ports of the +said nation upon vessels wholly belonging to citizens of the United +States, or upon the produce, manufactures, or merchandise imported in +the same from the United States or from any foreign country, the +President is thereby authorized to issue his proclamation declaring that +the foreign discriminating duties of tonnage and impost within the +United States are, and shall be, suspended and discontinued so far as +respects the vessels of the said foreign nation and the produce, +manufactures, or merchandise imported into the United States in the same +from the said foreign nation or from any other foreign country, the said +suspension to take effect from the time of such notification being given +to the President of the United States and to continue so long as the +reciprocal exemption of vessels belonging to citizens of the United +States, and their cargoes, as aforesaid, shall be continued, and no +longer; and + +Whereas satisfactory evidence has lately been received by me from His +Imperial Majesty the Emperor of Austria, through an official +communication of the Baron de Lederer, his consul-general in the United +States, under date of the 29th of May, 1829, that no other or higher +duties of tonnage and impost are imposed or levied since the 1st day of +January last in the ports of Austria upon vessels wholly belonging to +citizens of the United States and upon the produce, manufactures, or +merchandise imported in the same from the United States and from any +foreign country whatever than are levied on Austrian ships and their +cargoes in the same ports under like circumstances: + +Now, therefore, I, Andrew Jackson, President of the United States of +America, do hereby declare and proclaim that so much of the several acts +imposing discriminating duties of tonnage and impost within the United +States are, and shall be, suspended and discontinued so far as respects +the vessels of Austria and the produce, manufactures, and merchandise +imported into the United States in the same from the dominions of +Austria and from any other foreign country whatever, the said suspension +to take effect from the day above mentioned and to continue +thenceforward so long as the reciprocal exemption of the vessels of the +United States and the produce, manufactures, and merchandise imported +into the dominions of Austria in the same, as aforesaid, shall be +continued on the part of the Government of His Imperial Majesty the +Emperor of Austria. + +Given under my hand, at the city of Washington, this 3d day of June, +A.D. 1829, and the fifty-third of the Independence of the United States. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + +By the President: +M. VAN BUREN, +_Secretary of State_. + + +EXECUTIVE ORDER. + +In all applications by any invalid to obtain a pension in consequence of +any disability incurred, no payment therefor shall commence until proof +shall be filed in the Department and the decision of the Secretary had +thereon; and no pension will be allowed to anyone while acting as an +officer of the Army except in cases which have been heretofore adjudged. + +Approved, 8th April, 1829. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE. + +_Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +It affords me pleasure to tender my friendly greetings to you on the +occasion of your assembling at the seat of Government to enter upon the +important duties to which you have been called by the voice of our +countrymen. The task devolves on me, under a provision of the +Constitution, to present to you, as the Federal Legislature of +twenty-four sovereign States and 12,000,000 happy people, a view of our +affairs, and to propose such measures as in the discharge of my official +functions have suggested themselves as necessary to promote the objects +of our Union. + +In communicating with you for the first time it is to me a source of +unfeigned satisfaction, calling for mutual gratulation and devout thanks +to a benign Providence, that we are at peace with all mankind, and that +our country exhibits the most cheering evidence of general welfare and +progressive improvement. Turning our eyes to other nations, our great +desire is to see our brethren of the human race secured in the blessings +enjoyed by ourselves, and advancing in knowledge, in freedom, and in +social happiness. + +Our foreign relations, although in their general character pacific and +friendly, present subjects of difference between us and other powers of +deep interest as well to the country at large as to many of our +citizens. To effect an adjustment of these shall continue to be the +object of my earnest endeavors, and notwithstanding the difficulties of +the task, I do not allow myself to apprehend unfavorable results. +Blessed as our country is with everything which constitutes national +strength, she is fully adequate to the maintenance of all her interests. +In discharging the responsible trust confided to the Executive in this +respect it is my settled purpose to ask nothing that is not clearly +right and to submit to nothing that is wrong; and I flatter myself that, +supported by the other branches of the Government and by the +intelligence and patriotism of the people, we shall be able, under the +protection of Providence, to cause all our just rights to be respected. + +Of the unsettled matters between the United States and other powers, the +most prominent are those which have for years been the subject of +negotiation with England, France, and Spain. The late periods at which +our ministers to those Governments left the United States render it +impossible at this early day to inform you of what has been done on the +subjects with which they have been respectively charged. Relying upon +the justice of our views in relation to the points committed to +negotiation and the reciprocal good feeling which characterizes our +intercourse with those nations, we have the best reason to hope for a +satisfactory adjustment of existing differences. + +With Great Britain, alike distinguished in peace and war, we may look +forward to years of peaceful, honorable, and elevated competition. +Everything in the condition and history of the two nations is calculated +to inspire sentiments of mutual respect and to carry conviction to the +minds of both that it is their policy to preserve the most cordial +relations. Such are my own views, and it is not to be doubted that such +are also the prevailing sentiments of our constituents. Although neither +time nor opportunity has been afforded for a full development of the +policy which the present cabinet of Great Britain designs to pursue +toward this country, I indulge the hope that it will be of a just and +pacific character; and if this anticipation be realized we may look with +confidence to a speedy and acceptable adjustment of our affairs. + +Under the convention for regulating the reference to arbitration of the +disputed points of boundary under the fifth article of the treaty of +Ghent, the proceedings have hitherto been conducted in that spirit of +candor and liberality which ought ever to characterize the acts of +sovereign States seeking to adjust by the most unexceptionable means +important and delicate subjects of contention. The first statements of +the parties have been exchanged, and the final replication on our part +is in a course of preparation. This subject has received the attention +demanded by its great and peculiar importance to a patriotic member of +this Confederacy. + +The exposition of our rights already made is such as, from the high +reputation of the commissioners by whom it has been prepared, we had a +right to expect. Our interests at the Court of the Sovereign who has +evinced his friendly disposition by assuming the delicate task of +arbitration have been committed to a citizen of the State of Maine, +whose character, talents, and intimate acquaintance with the subject +eminently qualify him for so responsible a trust. With full confidence +in the justice of our cause and in the probity, intelligence, and +uncompromising independence of the illustrious arbitrator, we can have +nothing to apprehend from the result. + +From France, our ancient ally, we have a right to expect that justice +which becomes the sovereign of a powerful, intelligent, and magnanimous +people. The beneficial effects produced by the commercial convention of +1822, limited as are its provisions, are too obvious not to make a +salutary impression upon the minds of those who are charged with the +administration of her Government. Should this result induce a +disposition to embrace to their full extent the wholesome principles +which constitute our commercial policy, our minister to that Court will +be found instructed to cherish such a disposition and to aid in +conducting it to useful practical conclusions. The claims of our +citizens for depredations upon their property, long since committed +under the authority, and in many instances by the express direction, of +the then existing Government of France, remain unsatisfied, and must +therefore continue to furnish a subject of unpleasant discussion and +possible collision between the two Governments. I cherish, however, a +lively hope, founded as well on the validity of those claims and the +established policy of all enlightened governments as on the known +integrity of the French Monarch, that the injurious delays of the past +will find redress in the equity of the future. Our minister has been +instructed to press these demands on the French Government with all the +earnestness which is called for by their importance and irrefutable +justice, and in a spirit that will evince the respect which is due to +the feelings of those from whom the satisfaction is required. + +Our minister recently appointed to Spain has been authorized to assist +in removing evils alike injurious to both countries, either by +concluding a commercial convention upon liberal and reciprocal terms or +by urging the acceptance in their full extent of the mutually beneficial +provisions of our navigation acts. He has also been instructed to make a +further appeal to the justice of Spain, in behalf of our citizens, for +indemnity for spoliations upon our commerce committed under her +authority--an appeal which the pacific and liberal course observed on +our part and a due confidence in the honor of that Government authorize +us to expect will not be made in vain. + +With other European powers our intercourse is on the most friendly +footing. In Russia, placed by her territorial limits, extensive +population, and great power high in the rank of nations, the United +States have always found a steadfast friend. Although her recent +invasion of Turkey awakened a lively sympathy for those who were exposed +to the desolations of war, we can not but anticipate that the result +will prove favorable to the cause of civilization and to the progress of +human happiness. The treaty of peace between these powers having been +ratified, we can not be insensible to the great benefit to be derived by +the commerce of the United States from unlocking the navigation of the +Black Sea, a free passage into which is secured to all merchant vessels +bound to ports of Russia under a flag at peace with the Porte. This +advantage, enjoyed upon conditions by most of the powers of Europe, has +hitherto been withheld from us. During the past summer an antecedent but +unsuccessful attempt to obtain it was renewed under circumstances which +promised the most favorable results. Although these results have +fortunately been thus in part attained, further facilities to the +enjoyment of this new field for the enterprise of our citizens are, in +my opinion, sufficiently desirable to insure to them our most zealous +attention. + +Our trade with Austria, although of secondary importance, has been +gradually increasing, and is now so extended as to deserve the fostering +care of the Government. A negotiation, commenced and nearly completed +with that power by the late Administration, has been consummated by a +treaty of amity, navigation, and commerce, which will be laid before the +Senate. + +During the recess of Congress our diplomatic relations with Portugal +have been resumed. The peculiar state of things in that country caused a +suspension of the recognition of the representative who presented +himself until an opportunity was had to obtain from our official organ +there information regarding the actual and, as far as practicable, +prospective condition of the authority by which the representative in +question was appointed. This information being received, the application +of the established rule of our Government in like cases was no longer +withheld. + +Considerable advances have been made during the present year in the +adjustment of claims of our citizens upon Denmark for spoliations, but +all that we have a right to demand from that Government in their behalf +has not yet been conceded. From the liberal footing, however, upon which +this subject has, with the approbation of the claimants, been placed by +the Government, together with the uniformly just and friendly +disposition which has been evinced by His Danish Majesty, there is a +reasonable ground to hope that this single subject of difference will +speedily be removed. + +Our relations with the Barbary Powers continue, as they have long been, +of the most favorable character. The policy of keeping an adequate force +in the Mediterranean, as security for the continuance of this +tranquillity, will be persevered in, as well as a similar one for the +protection of our commerce and fisheries in the Pacific. + +The southern Republics of our own hemisphere have not yet realized all +the advantages for which they have been so long struggling. We trust, +however, that the day is not distant when the restoration of peace and +internal quiet, under permanent systems of government, securing the +liberty and promoting the happiness of the citizens, will crown with +complete success their long and arduous efforts in the cause of +self-government, and enable us to salute them as friendly rivals in all +that is truly great and glorious. + +The recent invasion of Mexico, and the effect thereby produced upon her +domestic policy, must have a controlling influence upon the great +question of South American emancipation. We have seen the fell spirit of +civil dissension rebuked, and perhaps forever stifled, in that Republic +by the love of independence. If it be true, as appearances strongly +indicate, that the spirit of independence is the master spirit, and if a +corresponding sentiment prevails in the other States, this devotion to +liberty can not be without a proper effect upon the counsels of the +mother country. The adoption by Spain of a pacific policy toward her +former colonies--an event consoling to humanity, and a blessing to the +world, in which she herself can not fail largely to participate--may be +most reasonably expected. + +The claims of our citizens upon the South American Governments generally +are in a train of settlement, while the principal part of those upon +Brazil have been adjusted, and a decree in council ordering bonds to be +issued by the minister of the treasury for their amount has received the +sanction of His Imperial Majesty. This event, together with the exchange +of the ratifications of the treaty negotiated and concluded in 1828, +happily terminates all serious causes of difference with that power. + +Measures have been taken to place our commercial relations with Peru +upon a better footing than that upon which they have hitherto rested, +and if met by a proper disposition on the part of that Government +important benefits may be secured to both countries. + +Deeply interested as we are in the prosperity of our sister Republics, +and more particularly in that of our immediate neighbor, it would be +most gratifying to me were I permitted to say that the treatment which +we have received at her hands has been as universally friendly as the +early and constant solicitude manifested by the United States for her +success gave us a right to expect. But it becomes my duty to inform you +that prejudices long indulged by a portion of the inhabitants of Mexico +against the envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of the +United States have had an unfortunate influence upon the affairs of the +two countries, and have diminished that usefulness to his own which was +justly to be expected from his talents and zeal. To this cause, in a +great degree, is to be imputed the failure of several measures equally +interesting to both parties, but particularly that of the Mexican +Government to ratify a treaty negotiated and concluded in its own +capital and under its own eye. Under these circumstances it appeared +expedient to give to Mr. Poinsett the option either to return or not, as +in his judgment the interest of his country might require, and +instructions to that end were prepared; but before they could be +dispatched a communication was received from the Government of Mexico, +through its chargé d'affaires here, requesting the recall of our +minister. This was promptly complied with, and a representative of a +rank corresponding with that of the Mexican diplomatic agent near this +Government was appointed. Our conduct toward that Republic has been +uniformly of the most friendly character, and having thus removed the +only alleged obstacle to harmonious intercourse, I can not but hope that +an advantageous change will occur in our affairs. + +In justice to Mr. Poinsett it is proper to say that my immediate +compliance with the application for his recall and the appointment of a +successor are not to be ascribed to any evidence that the imputation of +an improper interference by him in the local politics of Mexico was well +founded, nor to a want of confidence in his talents or integrity, and to +add that the truth of that charge has never been affirmed by the federal +Government of Mexico in its communications with this. + +I consider it one of the most urgent of my duties to bring to your +attention the propriety of amending that part of our Constitution which +relates to the election of President and Vice-President. Our system of +government was by its framers deemed an experiment, and they therefore +consistently provided a mode of remedying its defects. + +To the people belongs the right of electing their Chief Magistrate; it +was never designed that their choice should in any case be defeated, +either by the intervention of electoral colleges or by the agency +confided, under certain contingencies, to the House of Representatives. +Experience proves that in proportion as agents to execute the will of +the people are multiplied there is danger of their wishes being +frustrated. Some may be unfaithful; all are liable to err. So far, +therefore, as the people can with convenience speak, it is safer for +them to express their own will. + +The number of aspirants to the Presidency and the diversity of the +interests which may influence their claims leave little reason to expect +a choice in the first instance, and in that event the election must +devolve on the House of Representatives, where it is obvious the will of +the people may not be always ascertained, or, if ascertained, may not be +regarded. From the mode of voting by States the choice is to be made by +24 votes, and it may often occur that one of these will be controlled by +an individual Representative. Honors and offices are at the disposal of +the successful candidate. Repeated ballotings may make it apparent that +a single individual holds the cast in his hand. May he not be tempted to +name his reward? But even without corruption, supposing the probity of +the Representative to be proof against the powerful motives by which it +may be assailed, the will of the people is still constantly liable to be +misrepresented. One may err from ignorance of the wishes of his +constituents; another from a conviction that it is his duty to be +governed by his own judgment of the fitness of the candidates; finally, +although all were inflexibly honest, all accurately informed of the +wishes of their constituents, yet under the present mode of election a +minority may often elect a President, and when this happens it may +reasonably be expected that efforts will be made on the part of the +majority to rectify this injurious operation of their institutions. But +although no evil of this character should result from such a perversion +of the first principle of our system--_that the majority is to +govern_--it must be very certain that a President elected by a minority +can not enjoy the confidence necessary to the successful discharge of +his duties. + +In this as in all other matters of public concern policy requires that +as few impediments as possible should exist to the free operation of the +public will. Let us, then, endeavor so to amend our system that the +office of Chief Magistrate may not be conferred upon any citizen but in +pursuance of a fair expression of the will of the majority. + +I would therefore recommend such an amendment of the Constitution as may +remove all intermediate agency in the election of the President and +Vice-President. The mode may be so regulated as to preserve to each +State its present relative weight in the election, and a failure in the +first attempt may be provided for by confining the second to a choice +between the two highest candidates. In connection with such an amendment +it would seem advisable to limit the service of the Chief Magistrate to +a single term of either four or six years. If, however, it should not be +adopted, it is worthy of consideration whether a provision disqualifying +for office the Representatives in Congress on whom such an election may +have devolved would not be proper. + +While members of Congress can be constitutionally appointed to offices +of trust and profit it will be the practice, even under the most +conscientious adherence to duty, to select them for such stations as +they are believed to be better qualified to fill than other citizens; +but the purity of our Government would doubtless be promoted by their +exclusion from all appointments in the gift of the President, in whose +election they may have been officially concerned. The nature of the +judicial office and the necessity of securing in the Cabinet and in +diplomatic stations of the highest rank the best talents and political +experience should, perhaps, except these from the exclusion. + +There are, perhaps, few men who can for any great length of time enjoy +office and power without being more or less under the influence of +feelings unfavorable to the faithful discharge of their public duties. +Their integrity may be proof against improper considerations immediately +addressed to themselves, but they are apt to acquire a habit of looking +with indifference upon the public interests and of tolerating conduct +from which an unpracticed man would revolt. Office is considered as a +species of property, and government rather as a means of promoting +individual interests than as an instrument created solely for the +service of the people. Corruption in some and in others a perversion of +correct feelings and principles divert government from its legitimate +ends and make it an engine for the support of the few at the expense of +the many. The duties of all public officers are, or at least admit of +being made, so plain and simple that men of intelligence may readily +qualify themselves for their performance; and I can not but believe that +more is lost by the long continuance of men in office than is generally +to be gained by their experience. I submit, therefore, to your +consideration whether the efficiency of the Government would not be +promoted and official industry and integrity better secured by a general +extension of the law which limits appointments to four years. + +In a country where offices are created solely for the benefit of the +people no one man has any more intrinsic right to official station than +another. Offices were not established to give support to particular men +at the public expense. No individual wrong is, therefore, done by +removal, since neither appointment to nor continuance in office is +matter of right. The incumbent became an officer with a view to public +benefits, and when these require his removal they are not to be +sacrificed to private interests. It is the people, and they alone, who +have a right to complain when a bad officer is substituted for a good +one. He who is removed has the same means of obtaining a living that are +enjoyed by the millions who never held office. The proposed limitation +would destroy the idea of property now so generally connected with +official station, and although individual distress may be sometimes +produced, it would, by promoting that rotation which constitutes a +leading principle in the republican creed, give healthful action to the +system. + +No very considerable change has occurred during the recess of Congress +in the condition of either our agriculture, commerce, or manufactures. +The operation of the tariff has not proved so injurious to the two +former or as beneficial to the latter as was anticipated. Importations +of foreign goods have not been sensibly diminished, while domestic +competition, under an illusive excitement, has increased the production +much beyond the demand for home consumption. The consequences have been +low prices, temporary embarrassment, and partial loss. That such of our +manufacturing establishments as are based upon capital and are prudently +managed will survive the shock and be ultimately profitable there is no +good reason to doubt. + +To regulate its conduct so as to promote equally the prosperity of these +three cardinal interests is one of the most difficult tasks of +Government; and it may be regretted that the complicated restrictions +which now embarrass the intercourse of nations could not by common +consent be abolished, and commerce allowed to flow in those channels to +which individual enterprise, always its surest guide, might direct it. +But we must ever expect selfish legislation in other nations, and are +therefore compelled to adapt our own to their regulations in the manner +best calculated to avoid serious injury and to harmonize the conflicting +interests of our agriculture, our commerce, and our manufactures. Under +these impressions I invite your attention to the existing tariff, +believing that some of its provisions require modification. + +The general rule to be applied in graduating the duties upon articles of +foreign growth or manufacture is that which will place our own in fair +competition with those of other countries; and the inducements to +advance even a step beyond this point are controlling in regard to those +articles which are of primary necessity in time of war. When we reflect +upon the difficulty and delicacy of this operation, it is important that +it should never be attempted but with the utmost caution. Frequent +legislation in regard to any branch of industry, affecting its value, +and by which its capital may be transferred to new channels, must always +be productive of hazardous speculation and loss. + +In deliberating, therefore, on these interesting subjects local feelings +and prejudices should be merged in the patriotic determination to +promote the great interests of the whole. All attempts to connect them +with the party conflicts of the day are necessarily injurious, and +should be discountenanced. Our action upon them should be under the +control of higher and purer motives. Legislation subjected to such +influences can never be just, and will not long retain the sanction of a +people whose active patriotism is not bounded by sectional limits nor +insensible to that spirit of concession and forbearance which gave life +to our political compact and still sustains it. Discarding all +calculations of political ascendency, the North, the South, the East, +and the West should unite in diminishing any burthen of which either may +justly complain. + +The agricultural interest of our country is so essentially connected +with every other and so superior in importance to them all that it is +scarcely necessary to invite to it your particular attention. It is +principally as manufactures and commerce tend to increase the value of +agricultural productions and to extend their application to the wants +and comforts of society that they deserve the fostering care of +Government. + +Looking forward to the period, not far distant, when a sinking fund will +no longer be required, the duties on those articles of importation which +can not come in competition with our own productions are the first that +should engage the attention of Congress in the modification of the +tariff. Of these, tea and coffee are the most prominent. They enter +largely into the consumption of the country, and have become articles of +necessity to all classes. A reduction, therefore, of the existing duties +will be felt as a common benefit, but like all other legislation +connected with commerce, to be efficacious and not injurious it should +be gradual and certain. + +The public prosperity is evinced in the increased revenue arising from +the sales of the public lands and in the steady maintenance of that +produced by imposts and tonnage, notwithstanding the additional duties +imposed by the act of 19th May, 1828, and the unusual importations in +the early part of that year. + +The balance in the Treasury on January 1, 1829, was $5,972,435.81. The +receipts of the current year are estimated at $24,602,230 and the +expenditures for the same time at $26,164,595, leaving a balance in the +Treasury on the 1st of January next of $4,410,070.81. + +There will have been paid on account of the public debt during the +present year the sum of $12,405,005.80, reducing the whole debt of the +Government on the 1st of January next to $48,565,406.50, including seven +millions of 5 per cent stock subscribed to the Bank of the United +States. The payment on account of public debt made on the 1st of July +last was $8,715,462.87. It was apprehended that the sudden withdrawal of +so large a sum from the banks in which it was deposited, at a time of +unusual pressure in the money market, might cause much injury to the +interests dependent on bank accommodations. But this evil was wholly +averted by an early anticipation of it at the Treasury, aided by the +judicious arrangements of the officers of the Bank of the United States. + +This state of the finances exhibits the resources of the nation in an +aspect highly flattering to its industry and auspicious of the ability +of Government in a very short time to extinguish the public debt. When +this shall be done our population will be relieved from a considerable +portion of its present burthens, and will find not only new motives to +patriotic affection, but additional means for the display of individual +enterprise. The fiscal power of the States will also be increased, and +may be more extensively exerted in favor of education and other public +objects, while ample means will remain in the Federal Government to +promote the general weal in all the modes permitted to its authority. + +After the extinction of the public debt it is not probable that any +adjustment of the tariff upon principles satisfactory to the people of +the Union will until a remote period, if ever, leave the Government +without a considerable surplus in the Treasury beyond what may be +required for its current service. As, then, the period approaches when +the application of the revenue to the payment of debt will cease, the +disposition of the surplus will present a subject for the serious +deliberation of Congress; and it may be fortunate for the country that +it is yet to be decided. Considered in connection with the difficulties +which have heretofore attended appropriations for purposes of internal +improvement, and with those which this experience tells us will +certainly arise whenever power over such subjects may be exercised by +the General Government, it is hoped that it may lead to the adoption of +some plan which will reconcile the diversified interests of the States +and strengthen the bonds which unite them. Every member of the Union, in +peace and in war, will be benefited by the improvement of inland +navigation and the construction of highways in the several States. Let +us, then, endeavor to attain this benefit in a mode which will be +satisfactory to all. That hitherto adopted has by many of our +fellow-citizens been deprecated as an infraction of the Constitution, +while by others it has been viewed as inexpedient. All feel that it has +been employed at the expense of harmony in the legislative councils. + +To avoid these evils it appears to me that the most safe, just, and +federal disposition which could be made of the surplus revenue would be +its apportionment among the several States according to their ratio of +representation, and should this measure not be found warranted by the +Constitution that it would be expedient to propose to the States an +amendment authorizing it. I regard an appeal to the source of power in +cases of real doubt, and where its exercise is deemed indispensable to +the general welfare, as among the most sacred of all our obligations. +Upon this country more than any other has, in the providence of God, +been cast the special guardianship of the great principle of adherence +to written constitutions. If it fail here, all hope in regard to it will +be extinguished. That this was intended to be a government of limited +and specific, and not general, powers must be admitted by all, and it is +our duty to preserve for it the character intended by its framers. If +experience points out the necessity for an enlargement of these powers, +let us apply for it to those for whose benefit it is to be exercised, +and not undermine the whole system by a resort to overstrained +constructions. The scheme has worked well. It has exceeded the hopes of +those who devised it, and become an object of admiration to the world. +We are responsible to our country and to the glorious cause of +self-government for the preservation of so great a good. The great mass +of legislation relating to our internal affairs was intended to be left +where the Federal Convention found it--in the State governments. Nothing +is clearer, in my view, than that we are chiefly indebted for the +success of the Constitution under which we are now acting to the +watchful and auxiliary operation of the State authorities. This is not +the reflection of a day, but belongs to the most deeply rooted +convictions of my mind. I can not, therefore, too strongly or too +earnestly, for my own sense of its importance, warn you against all +encroachments upon the legitimate sphere of State sovereignty. Sustained +by its healthful and invigorating influence the federal system can never +fall. + +In the collection of the revenue the long credits authorized on goods +imported from beyond the Cape of Good Hope are the chief cause of the +losses at present sustained. If these were shortened to six, nine, and +twelve months, and warehouses provided by Government sufficient to +receive the goods offered in deposit for security and for debenture, and +if the right of the United States to a priority of payment out of the +estates of its insolvent debtors were more effectually secured, this +evil would in a great measure be obviated. An authority to construct +such houses is therefore, with the proposed alteration of the credits, +recommended to your attention. + +It is worthy of notice that the laws for the collection and security of +the revenue arising from imposts were chiefly framed when the rates of +duties on imported goods presented much less temptation for illicit +trade than at present exists. There is reason to believe that these laws +are in some respects quite insufficient for the proper security of the +revenue and the protection of the interests of those who are disposed to +observe them. The injurious and demoralizing tendency of a successful +system of smuggling is so obvious as not to require comment, and can not +be too carefully guarded against. I therefore suggest to Congress the +propriety of adopting efficient measures to prevent this evil, avoiding, +however, as much as possible, every unnecessary infringement of +individual liberty and embarrassment of fair and lawful business. + +On an examination of the records of the Treasury I have been forcibly +struck with the large amount of public money which appears to be +outstanding. Of the sum thus due from individuals to the Government a +considerable portion is undoubtedly desperate, and in many instances has +probably been rendered so by remissness in the agents charged with its +collection. By proper exertions a great part, however, may yet be +recovered; and whatever may be the portions respectively belonging to +these two classes, it behooves the Government to ascertain the real +state of the fact. This can be done only by the prompt adoption of +judicious measures for the collection of such as may be made available. +It is believed that a very large amount has been lost through the +inadequacy of the means provided for the collection of debts due to the +public, and that this inadequacy lies chiefly in the want of legal skill +habitually and constantly employed in the direction of the agents +engaged in the service. It must, I think, be admitted that the +supervisory power over suits brought by the public, which is now vested +in an _accounting_ officer of the Treasury, not selected with a view to +his legal knowledge, and encumbered as he is with numerous other duties, +operates unfavorably to the public interest. + +It is important that this branch of the public service should be +subjected to the supervision of such professional skill as will give it +efficiency. The expense attendant upon such a modification of the +executive department would be justified by the soundest principles of +economy. I would recommend, therefore, that the duties now assigned to +the agent of the Treasury, so far as they relate to the superintendence +and management of legal proceedings on the part of the United States, be +transferred to the Attorney-General, and that this officer be placed on +the same footing in all respects as the heads of the other Departments, +receiving like compensation and having such subordinate officers +provided for his Department as may be requisite for the discharge of +these additional duties. + +The professional skill of the Attorney-General, employed in directing +the conduct of marshals and district attorneys, would hasten the +collection of debts now in suit and hereafter save much to the +Government. It might be further extended to the superintendence of all +criminal proceedings for offenses against the United States. In making +this transfer great care should be taken, however, that the power +necessary to the Treasury Department be not impaired, one of its +greatest securities consisting in a control over all accounts until they +are audited or reported for suit. + +In connection with the foregoing views I would suggest also an inquiry +whether the provisions of the act of Congress authorizing the discharge +of the persons of debtors to the Government from imprisonment may not, +consistently with the public interest, be extended to the release of the +debt where the conduct of the debtor is wholly exempt from the +imputation of fraud. Some more liberal policy than that which now +prevails in reference to this unfortunate class of citizens is certainly +due to them, and would prove beneficial to the country. The continuance +of the liability after the means to discharge it have been exhausted can +only serve to dispirit the debtor; or, where his resources are but +partial, the want of power in the Government to compromise and release +the demand instigates to fraud as the only resource for securing a +support to his family. He thus sinks into a state of apathy, and becomes +a useless drone in society or a vicious member of it, if not a feeling +witness of the rigor and inhumanity of his country. All experience +proves that oppressive debt is the bane of enterprise, and it should be +the care of a republic not to exert a grinding power over misfortune and +poverty. + +Since the last session of Congress numerous frauds on the Treasury have +been discovered, which I thought it my duty to bring under the +cognizance of the United States court for this district by a criminal +prosecution. It was my opinion and that of able counsel who were +consulted that the cases came within the penalties of the act of the +Seventeenth Congress approved 3d March, 1823, providing for the +punishment of frauds committed on the Government of the United States. +Either from some defect in the law or in its administration every +effort, to bring the accused to trial under its provisions proved +ineffectual, and the Government was driven to the necessity of resorting +to the vague and inadequate provisions of the common law. It is +therefore my duty to call your attention to the laws which have been +passed for the protection of the Treasury. If, indeed, there be no +provision by which those who may be unworthily intrusted with its +guardianship can be punished for the most flagrant violation of duty, +extending even to the most fraudulent appropriation of the public funds +to their own use, it is time to remedy so dangerous an omission; or if +the law has been perverted from its original purposes, and criminals +deserving to be punished under its provisions have been rescued by legal +subtleties, it ought to be made so plain by amendatory provisions as to +baffle the arts of perversion and accomplish the ends of its original +enactment. + +In one of the most flagrant cases the court decided that the prosecution +was barred by the statute which limits prosecutions for fraud to two +years. In this case all the evidences of the fraud, and, indeed, all +knowledge that a fraud had been committed, were in possession of the +party accused until after the two years had elapsed. Surely the statute +ought not to run in favor of any man while he retains all the evidences +of his crime in his own possession, and least of all in favor of a +public officer who continues to defraud the Treasury and conceal the +transaction for the brief term of two years. I would therefore recommend +such an alteration of the law as will give the injured party and the +Government two years after the disclosure of the fraud or after the +accused is out of office to commence their prosecution. + +In connection with this subject I invite the attention of Congress to a +general and minute inquiry into the condition of the Government, with a +view to ascertain what offices can be dispensed with, what expenses +retrenched, and what improvements may be made in the organization of its +various parts to secure the proper responsibility of public agents and +promote efficiency and justice in all its operations. + +The report of the Secretary of War will make you acquainted with the +condition of our Army, fortifications, arsenals, and Indian affairs. The +proper discipline of the Army, the training and equipment of the +militia, the education bestowed at West Point, and the accumulation of +the means of defense applicable to the naval force will tend to prolong +the peace we now enjoy, and which every good citizen, more especially +those who have felt the miseries of even a successful warfare, must +ardently desire to perpetuate. + +The returns from the subordinate branches of this service exhibit a +regularity and order highly creditable to its character. Both officers +and soldiers seem imbued with a proper sense of duty, and conform to the +restraints of exact discipline with that cheerfulness which becomes the +profession of arms. There is need, however, of further legislation to +obviate the inconveniences specified in the report under consideration, +to some of which it is proper that I should call your particular +attention. + +The act of Congress of the 2d March, 1821, to reduce and fix the +military establishment, remaining unexecuted as it regards the command +of one of the regiments of artillery, can not now be deemed a guide to +the Executive in making the proper appointment. An explanatory act, +designating the class of officers out of which this grade is to be +filled--whether from the military list as existing prior to the act of +1821 or from it as it has been fixed by that act--would remove this +difficulty. It is also important that the laws regulating the pay and +emoluments of officers generally should be more specific than they now +are. Those, for example, in relation to the Paymaster and Surgeon +General assign to them an annual salary of $2,500, but are silent as to +allowances which in certain exigencies of the service may be deemed +indispensable to the discharge of their duties. This circumstance has +been the authority for extending to them various allowances at different +times under former Administrations, but no uniform rule has been +observed on the subject. Similar inconveniences exist in other cases, in +which the construction put upon the laws by the public accountants may +operate unequally, produce confusion, and expose officers to the odium +of claiming what is not their due. + +I recommend to your fostering care, as one of our safest means of +national defense, the Military Academy. This institution has already +exercised the happiest influence upon the moral and intellectual +character of our Army; and such of the graduates as from various causes +may not pursue the profession of arms will be scarcely less useful as +citizens. Their knowledge of the military art will be advantageously +employed in the militia service, and in a measure secure to that class +of troops the advantages which in this respect belong to standing +armies. + +I would also suggest a review of the pension law, for the purpose of +extending its benefits to every Revolutionary soldier who aided in +establishing our liberties, and who is unable to maintain himself in +comfort. These relics of the War of Independence have strong claims upon +their country's gratitude and bounty. The law is defective in not +embracing within its provisions all those who were during the last war +disabled from supporting themselves by manual labor. Such an amendment +would add but little to the amount of pensions, and is called for by the +sympathies of the people as well as by considerations of sound policy. +It will be perceived that a large addition to the list of pensioners has +been occasioned by an order of the late Administration, departing +materially from the rules which had previously prevailed. Considering it +an act of legislation, I suspended its operation as soon as I was +informed that it had commenced. Before this period, however, +applications under the new regulation had been preferred to the number +of 154, of which, on the 27th March, the date of its revocation, 87 were +admitted. For the amount there was neither estimate nor appropriation; +and besides this deficiency, the regular allowances, according to the +rules which have heretofore governed the Department, exceed the estimate +of its late Secretary by about $50,000, for which an appropriation is +asked. + +Your particular attention is requested to that part of the report of the +Secretary of War which relates to the money held in trust for the Seneca +tribe of Indians. It will be perceived that without legislative aid the +Executive can not obviate the embarrassments occasioned by the +diminution of the dividends on that fund, which originally amounted to +$100,000, and has recently been invested in United States 3 per cent +stock. + +The condition and ulterior destiny of the Indian tribes within the +limits of some of our States have become objects of much interest and +importance. It has long been the policy of Government to introduce among +them the arts of civilization, in the hope of gradually reclaiming them +from a wandering life. This policy has, however, been coupled with +another wholly incompatible with its success. Professing a desire to +civilize and settle them, we have at the same time lost no opportunity +to purchase their lands and thrust them farther into the wilderness. By +this means they have not only been kept in a wandering state, but been +led to look upon us as unjust and indifferent to their fate. Thus, +though lavish in its expenditures upon the subject, Government has +constantly defeated its own policy, and the Indians in general, receding +farther and farther to the west, have retained their savage habits. A +portion, however, of the Southern tribes, having mingled much with the +whites and made some progress in the arts of civilized life, have lately +attempted to erect an independent government within the limits of +Georgia and Alabama. These States, claiming to be the only sovereigns +within their territories, extended their laws over the Indians, which +induced the latter to call upon the United States for protection. + +Under these circumstances the question presented was whether the General +Government had a right to sustain those people in their pretensions. The +Constitution declares that "no new State shall be formed or erected +within the jurisdiction of any other State" without the consent of its +legislature. If the General Government is not permitted to tolerate the +erection of a confederate State within the territory of one of the +members of this Union against her consent, much less could it allow a +foreign and independent government to establish itself there. Georgia +became a member of the Confederacy which eventuated in our Federal Union +as a sovereign State, always asserting her claim to certain limits, +which, having been originally defined in her colonial charter and +subsequently recognized in the treaty of peace, she has ever since +continued to enjoy, except as they have been circumscribed by her own +voluntary transfer of a portion of her territory to the United States in +the articles of cession of 1802. Alabama was admitted into the Union on +the same footing with the original States, with boundaries which were +prescribed by Congress. There is no constitutional, conventional, or +legal provision which allows them less power over the Indians within +their borders than is possessed by Maine or New York. Would the people +of Maine permit the Penobscot tribe to erect an independent government +within their State? And unless they did would it not be the duty of the +General Government to support them in resisting such a measure? Would +the people of New York permit each remnant of the Six Nations within her +borders to declare itself an independent people under the protection of +the United States? Could the Indians establish a separate republic on +each of their reservations in Ohio? And if they were so disposed would +it be the duty of this Government to protect them in the attempt? If the +principle involved in the obvious answer to these questions be +abandoned, it will follow that the objects of this Government are +reversed, and that it has become a part of its duty to aid in destroying +the States which it was established to protect. + +Actuated by this view of the subject, I informed the Indians inhabiting +parts of Georgia and Alabama that their attempt to establish an +independent government would not be countenanced by the Executive of the +United States, and advised them to emigrate beyond the Mississippi or +submit to the laws of those States. + +Our conduct toward these people is deeply interesting to our national +character. Their present condition, contrasted with what they once were, +makes a most powerful appeal to our sympathies. Our ancestors found them +the uncontrolled possessors of these vast regions. By persuasion and +force they have been made to retire from river to river and from +mountain to mountain, until some of the tribes have become extinct and +others have left but remnants to preserve for awhile their once terrible +names. Surrounded by the whites with their arts of civilization, which +by destroying the resources of the savage doom him to weakness and +decay, the fate of the Mohegan, the Narragansett, and the Delaware is +fast overtaking the Choctaw, the Cherokee, and the Creek. That this fate +surely awaits them if they remain within the limits of the States does +not admit of a doubt. Humanity and national honor demand that every +effort should be made to avert so great a calamity. It is too late to +inquire whether it was just in the United States to include them and +their territory within the bounds of new States, whose limits they could +control. That step can not be retraced. A State can not be dismembered +by Congress or restricted in the exercise of her constitutional power. +But the people of those States and of every State, actuated by feelings +of justice and a regard for our national honor, submit to you the +interesting question whether something can not be done, consistently +with the rights of the States, to preserve this much-injured race. + +As a means of effecting this end I suggest for your consideration the +propriety of setting apart an ample district west of the Mississippi, +and without the limits of any State or Territory now formed, to be +guaranteed to the Indian tribes as long as they shall occupy it, each +tribe having a distinct control over the portion designated for its use. +There they may be secured in the enjoyment of governments of their own +choice, subject to no other control from the United States than such as +may be necessary to preserve peace on the frontier and between the +several tribes. There the benevolent may endeavor to teach them the arts +of civilization, and, by promoting union and harmony among them, to +raise up an interesting commonwealth, destined to perpetuate the race +and to attest the humanity and justice of this Government. + +This emigration should be voluntary, for it would be as cruel as unjust +to compel the aborigines to abandon the graves of their fathers and seek +a home in a distant land. But they should be distinctly informed that if +they remain within the limits of the States they must be subject to +their laws. In return for their obedience as individuals they will +without doubt be protected in the enjoyment of those possessions which +they have improved by their industry. But it seems to me visionary to +suppose that in this state of things claims can be allowed on tracts of +country on which they have neither dwelt nor made improvements, merely +because they have seen them from the mountain or passed them in the +chase. Submitting to the laws of the States, and receiving, like other +citizens, protection in their persons and property, they will ere long +become merged in the mass of our population. + +The accompanying report of the Secretary of the Navy will make you +acquainted with the condition and useful employment of that branch of +our service during the present year. Constituting as it does the best +standing security of this country against foreign aggression, it claims +the especial attention of Government. In this spirit the measures which +since the termination of the last war have been in operation for its +gradual enlargement were adopted, and it should continue to be cherished +as the offspring of our national experience. It will be seen, however, +that notwithstanding the great solicitude which has been manifested for +the perfect organization of this arm and the liberality of the +appropriations which that solicitude has suggested, this object has in +many important respects not been secured. + +In time of peace we have need of no more ships of war than are requisite +to the protection of our commerce. Those not wanted for this object must +lay in the harbors, where without proper covering they rapidly decay, +and even under the best precautions for their preservation must soon +become useless. Such is already the case with many of our finest +vessels, which, though unfinished, will now require immense sums of +money to be restored to the condition in which they were when committed +to their proper element. On this subject there can be but little doubt +that our best policy would be to discontinue the building of ships of +the first and second class, and look rather to the possession of ample +materials, prepared for the emergencies of war, than to the number of +vessels which we can float in a season of peace, as the index of our +naval power. Judicious deposits in navy-yards of timber and other +materials, fashioned under the hands of skillful workmen and fitted for +prompt application to their various purposes, would enable us at all +times to construct vessels as fast as they can be manned, and save the +heavy expense of repairs, except to such vessels as must be employed in +guarding our commerce. The proper points for the establishment of these +yards are indicated with so much force in the report of the Navy Board +that in recommending it to your attention I deem it unnecessary to do +more than express my hearty concurrence in their views. The yard in this +District, being already furnished with most of the machinery necessary +for shipbuilding, will be competent to the supply of the two selected by +the Board as the best for the concentration of materials, and, from the +facility and certainty of communication between them, it will be useless +to incur at those depots the expense of similar machinery, especially +that used in preparing the usual metallic and wooden furniture of +vessels. + +Another improvement would be effected by dispensing altogether with the +Navy Board as now constituted, and substituting in its stead bureaus +similar to those already existing in the War Department. Each member of +the Board, transferred to the head of a separate bureau charged with +specific duties, would feel in its highest degree that wholesome +responsibility which can not be divided without a far more than +proportionate diminution of its force. Their valuable services would +become still more so when separately appropriated to distinct portions +of the great interests of the Navy, to the prosperity of which each +would be impelled to devote himself by the strongest motives. Under such +an arrangement every branch of this important service would assume a +more simple and precise character, its efficiency would be increased, +and scrupulous economy in the expenditure of public money promoted. + +I would also recommend that the Marine Corps be merged in the artillery +or infantry, as the best mode of curing the many defects in its +organization. But little exceeding in number any of the regiments of +infantry, that corps has, besides its lieutenant-colonel commandant, +five brevet lieutenant-colonels, who receive the full pay and emoluments +of their brevet rank, without rendering proportionate service. Details +for marine service could as well be made from the artillery or infantry, +there being no peculiar training requisite for it. + +With these improvements, and such others as zealous watchfulness and +mature consideration may suggest, there can be little doubt that under +an energetic administration of its affairs the Navy may soon be made +everything that the nation wishes it to be. Its efficiency in the +suppression of piracy in the West India seas, and wherever its squadrons +have been employed in securing the interests of the country, will appear +from the report of the Secretary, to which I refer you for other +interesting details. Among these I would bespeak the attention of +Congress for the views presented in relation to the inequality between +the Army and Navy as to the pay of officers. No such inequality should +prevail between these brave defenders of their country, and where it +does exist it is submitted to Congress whether it ought not to be +rectified. + +The report of the Postmaster General is referred to as exhibiting a +highly satisfactory administration of that Department. Abuses have been +reformed, increased expedition in the transportation of the mail +secured, and its revenue much improved. In a political point of view +this Department is chiefly important as affording the means of diffusing +knowledge. It is to the body politic what the veins and arteries are to +the natural--conveying rapidly and regularly to the remotest parts of +the system correct information of the operations of the Government, and +bringing back to it the wishes and feelings of the people. Through its +agency we have secured to ourselves the full enjoyment of the blessings +of a free press. + +In this general survey of our affairs a subject of high importance +presents itself in the present organization of the judiciary. An uniform +operation of the Federal Government in the different States is certainly +desirable, and existing as they do in the Union on the basis of perfect +equality, each State has a right to expect that the benefits conferred +on the citizens of others should be extended to hers. The judicial +system of the United States exists in all its efficiency in only fifteen +members of the Union; to three others the circuit courts, which +constitute an important part of that system, have been imperfectly +extended, and to the remaining six altogether denied. The effect has +been to withhold from the inhabitants of the latter the advantages +afforded (by the Supreme Court) to their fellow-citizens in other States +in the whole extent of the criminal and much of the civil authority of +the Federal judiciary. That this state of things ought to be remedied, +if it can be done consistently with the public welfare, is not to be +doubted. Neither is it to be disguised that the organization of our +judicial system is at once a difficult and delicate task. To extend the +circuit courts equally throughout the different parts of the Union, and +at the same time to avoid such a multiplication of members as would +encumber the supreme appellate tribunal, is the object desired. Perhaps +it might be accomplished by dividing the circuit judges into two +classes, and providing that the Supreme Court should be held by these +classes alternately, the Chief Justice always presiding. + +If an extension of the circuit-court system to those States which do not +now enjoy its benefits should be determined upon, it would of course be +necessary to revise the present arrangement of the circuits; and even if +that system should not be enlarged, such a revision is recommended. + +A provision for taking the census of the people of the United States +will, to insure the completion of that work within a convenient time, +claim the early attention of Congress. + +The great and constant increase of business in the Department of State +forced itself at an early period upon the attention of the Executive. +Thirteen years ago it was, in Mr. Madison's last message to Congress, +made the subject of an earnest recommendation, which has been repeated +by both of his successors; and my comparatively limited experience has +satisfied me of its justness. It has arisen from many causes, not the +least of which is the large addition that has been made to the family of +independent nations and the proportionate extension of our foreign +relations. The remedy proposed was the establishment of a home +department--a measure which does not appear to have met the views of +Congress on account of its supposed tendency to increase, gradually and +imperceptibly, the already too strong bias of the federal system toward +the exercise of authority not delegated to it. I am not, therefore, +disposed to revive the recommendation, but am not the less impressed +with the importance of so organizing that Department that its Secretary +may devote more of his time to our foreign relations. Clearly satisfied +that the public good would be promoted by some suitable provision on the +subject, I respectfully invite your attention to it. + +The charter of the Bank of the United States expires in 1836, and its +stockholders will most probably apply for a renewal of their privileges. +In order to avoid the evils resulting from precipitancy in a measure +involving such important principles and such deep pecuniary interests, I +feel that I can not, in justice to the parties interested, too soon +present it to the deliberate consideration of the Legislature and the +people. Both the constitutionality and the expediency of the law +creating this bank are well questioned by a large portion of our +fellow-citizens, and it must be admitted by all that it has failed in +the great end of establishing a uniform and sound currency. + +Under these circumstances, if such an institution is deemed essential to +the fiscal operations of the Government, I submit to the wisdom of the +Legislature whether a national one, founded upon the credit of the +Government and its revenues, might not be devised which would avoid all +constitutional difficulties and at the same time secure all the +advantages to the Government and country that were expected to result +from the present bank. + +I can not close this communication without bringing to your view the +just claim of the representatives of Commodore Decatur, his officers and +crew, arising from the recapture of the frigate _Philadelphia_ under the +heavy batteries of Tripoli. Although sensible, as a general rule, of the +impropriety of Executive interference under a Government like ours, +where every individual enjoys the right of directly petitioning +Congress, yet, viewing this case as one of very peculiar character, I +deem it my duty to recommend it to your favorable consideration. Besides +the justice of this claim, as corresponding to those which have been +since recognized and satisfied, it is the fruit of a deed of patriotic +and chivalrous daring which infused life and confidence into our infant +Navy and contributed as much as any exploit in its history to elevate +our national character. Public gratitude, therefore, stamps her seal +upon it, and the meed should not be withheld which may hereafter operate +as a stimulus to our gallant tars. + +I now commend you, fellow-citizens, to the guidance of Almighty God, +with a full reliance on His merciful providence for the maintenance of +our free institutions, and with an earnest supplication that whatever +errors it may be my lot to commit in discharging the arduous duties +which have devolved on me will find a remedy in the harmony and wisdom +of your counsels. + +ANDREW JACKSON. +December 8, 1829. + + + + +SPECIAL MESSAGES. + + +_December 14, 1829_. +_The Vice-President of the United States and President of +the Senate_: + +In pursuance of the resolution of the Senate of the 2d March, 1829, +requesting the President of the United States to communicate to it +"copies of the journal of the commissioners under the first article of +the treaty of Ghent for the months of October and November, 1817, or so +much thereof as in his opinion may be safely communicated, not including +the agreement or evidence offered by the agents," I have the honor +herewith to transmit a report from the Secretary of State, accompanying +the document referred to in said resolution. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +WASHINGTON, _December 14, 1829_. +_The Vice-President of the United States and President of +the Senate_: + +I transmit to the Senate, for their advice and consent as to the +ratification of it, a treaty of commerce and navigation between the +United States of America and His Majesty the Emperor of Austria, +concluded and signed in this city on the 2d of August in the present +year. + +ANDREW JACKSON + + +_December 15, 1829_. +_The Speaker of the House of Representatives_: + +A deputation from the Passamaquoddy Indians resident within the limits +of Maine have arrived in this city and presented a memorial soliciting +the aid of the Government in providing them the means of support. +Recollecting that this tribe when strong and numerous fought with us for +the liberty which we now enjoy, I could not refuse to present to the +consideration of Congress their supplication for a small portion of the +bark and timber of the country which once belonged to them. + +It is represented that from individuals who own the lands adjoining the +present small possession of this tribe purchases can be made +sufficiently extensive to secure the objects of the memorial in this +respect, as will appear from the papers herewith transmitted. Should +Congress deem it proper to make them, it will be necessary to provide +for their being held in trust for the use of the tribe during its +existence as such. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +_December 16, 1829_. +_The Speaker of the House of Representatives_: + +I have the honor to transmit herewith to the House of Representatives a +report of the Secretary of War, accompanying copies of surveys[3] made +in pursuance of the acts of Congress passed the 30th of April, 1824, and +the 2d of March, 1829, and to request that the House cause them to be +laid before the Senate, as there are no duplicates prepared. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + +[Footnote 3: Of Deep Creek, Virginia; Pasquotank River, North Carolina; +entrance of the river Teche, Louisiana; passes at mouth of the +Mississippi, Louisiana; water tract between Lake Pontchartrain and +Mobile Bay; Des Moines and Rock River rapids in the Mississippi; with a +view to the location of a railroad from Charleston to Hamburg, S.C.] + + +_December 22, 1829_. +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I herewith transmit two treaties--one concluded with the Winnebago tribe +of Indians at Prairie du Chien on the 1st of August, 1829, and the other +with the Chippewa, Ottawa, and Pottawattamie tribes at the same place on +the 29th of July, 1829--which, with the documents explanatory thereof, +are submitted to the Senate for consideration whether they will advise +and consent to their ratification. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +_December 29, 1829_. +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit herewith a treaty concluded with the Delaware tribe of +Indians on the 3d of August, 1829, which, with the documents explanatory +thereof, is submitted to the consideration of the Senate for their +advice and consent as to the ratification of the same. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +_December 30, 1829_. +_The Speaker of the House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith to the House the report and estimate of the survey +made in pursuance of the act of the 30th April, 1824, in order to +ascertain the practicability of connecting the waters of the Altamaha +and Tennessee rivers by a canal and railroad, and request, as there is +no duplicate of the same prepared, that the House will cause it to be +laid before the Senate. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +_January 4, 1830_. +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I have been requested by the legislature of South Carolina, as will +appear from the documents accompanying this communication, to submit to +the consideration of Congress certain claims against the United States +for advances made by that State during the last war. It is conceded that +the redress sought for can only be obtained through the interposition of +Congress. The only agency allowed to me is to present such facts in +relation to the subject as are in the possession of the Executive, in +order that the whole may be fairly considered. + +This duty I perform with great pleasure, being well satisfied that no +inducement will be wanting to secure to the claims of a member of the +Confederacy that has under all circumstances shewn an ardent devotion to +the cause of the country the most ample justice. + +By a reference to the Department of War for information as to the nature +and extent of these claims it appears that they consist of-- + +First. Interest upon moneys advanced for the United States which have +been heretofore reimbursed. + +Second. Certain advances which on a settlement of accounts between South +Carolina and the United States were disallowed or suspended by the +accounting officers of the Treasury. + +In regard to the former, the rule hitherto adopted by Congress has been +to allow to the States interest only where they had paid it on money +borrowed, and had applied it to the use of the United States. The case +of South Carolina does not come strictly within this rule, because +instead of borrowing, as she alleges, for the use of the United States, +upon interest, she applied to the use of the United States funds for +which she was actually receiving an interest; and she is understood to +insist that the loss of interest in both cases being equal, and the +relief afforded equally meritorious, the same principle of remuneration +should be applied. + +Acting upon an enlightened sense of national justice and gratitude, it +is confidently believed that Congress will be as mindful of this claim +as it has been of others put forward by the States that in periods of +extreme peril generously contributed to the service of the Union and +enabled the General Government to discharge its obligations. The grounds +upon which certain portions of it have been suspended or rejected will +appear from the communications of the Secretary of War and Third Auditor +herewith submitted. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +_January 4, 1830_. +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit herewith a supplement to the treaty made with the Delaware +tribe on the 3d of October, 1818, which, with the accompanying papers, +is submitted to the Senate for their advice and consent as to the +ratification of the same. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +_January 5, 1830_. +_To the House of Representatives_: + +The subject of the inclosed memorial[4] having been adjudicated by the +courts of the country, and decided against the memorialists, it is +respectfully laid before Congress, the only power now to which they can +appeal for relief. + +ANDREW JACKSON + +[Footnote 4: Of certain purchasers of land in Louisiana from the +Government of Spain.] + + +_January 5, 1830_. +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I submit herewith a report[5] from the Secretary of the Treasury, giving +the information called for by a resolution of the Senate of the 24th +December, 1828. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + +[Footnote 5: Transmitting statements of moneys appropriated and lands +granted to the several States for purposes of education and construction +of roads and canals, etc., since the adoption of the Constitution.] + + +WASHINGTON, _January 14, 1830_. +_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_: + +I transmit to Congress copies of three Indian treaties, which have been +duly ratified: + +1. A treaty with the nation of Winnebago Indians, concluded on the 1st +of August, 1829, at Prairie du Chien, in the Territory of Michigan, +between General John McNeil, Colonel Pierre Menard, and Caleb At-water, +esq., commissioners on the part of the United States, and certain chiefs +and warriors on the part of the nation of Winnebago Indians. + +2. A treaty with the united nations of Chippewa, Ottowa, and +Pottawatomie Indians, concluded on the 29th of July, 1829, at Prairie du +Chien, between General John McNeil, Colonel Pierre Menard, and Caleb +Atwater, esq., commissioners on the part of the United States, and +certain chiefs and warriors of the said united nations on the part of +said nations. + +3. Articles of agreement between the United States of America and the +band of Delaware Indians upon the Sandusky River, in the State of Ohio, +entered into on the 3d of August, 1829, at Little Sandusky, in the State +of Ohio, by John McElvain, commissioner on the part of the United +States, and certain chiefs on the part of said band of Delaware Indians. + +I transmit also the estimates of appropriation necessary to carry them +into effect. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +_January 19, 1830_. +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_. + +GENTLEMEN: The accompanying gold medal, commemorative of the delivery of +the Liberator President of the Republic of Colombia from the daggers of +assassins on the night of the 25th of September last, has been offered +for my acceptance by that Government. The respect which I entertain as +well for the character of the Liberator President as for the people and +Government over which he presides renders this mark of their regard most +gratifying to my feelings; but I am prevented from complying with their +wishes by the provision of our Constitution forbidding the acceptance of +presents from a foreign state by officers of the United States, and it +is therefore placed at the disposal of Congress. + +The powerful influence in the affairs of his country which the +sacrifices and heroic deeds of General Bolivar have acquired for him +creates an anxiety as to his future course in which the friends of +liberal institutions throughout the world deeply participate. The +favorable estimate which I have formed of the nature of the services +rendered by him, and of his personal character, impresses me with the +strongest confidence that his conduct in the present condition of his +country will be such as may best promote her true interest and best +secure his own permanent fame. + +I deem the present a suitable occasion to inform you that shortly after +my communication to Congress at the opening of the session dispatches +were received from Mr. Moore, the envoy extraordinary and minister +plenipotentiary of the United States to Colombia, stating that he had +succeeded in obtaining the assent of the council of ministers to the +allowance of the claims of our citizens upon that Government in the +cases of the brig _Josephine_ and her cargo and the schooner _Ranger_ +and part of her cargo. An official copy of the convention subsequently +entered into between Mr. Moore and the secretary of foreign affairs, +providing for the final settlement of those claims, has just been +received at the Department of State. By an additional article of this +convention the claim in the case of the brig _Morris_ is suspended until +further information is obtained by the Colombian Government from the +Court at Carracas; and Mr. Moore anticipates its early and satisfactory +adjustment. The convention only waited the ratification of the Liberator +President, who was at the time absent from Bogota, to be binding upon +the Colombian Government. Although these claims are not, comparatively, +of a large amount, yet the prompt and equitable manner in which the +application of Mr. Moore in behalf of our injured citizens was met by +that Government entitles its conduct to our approbation, and promises +well for the future relations of the two countries. + +It gives me pleasure to add an expression of my entire satisfaction with +the conduct of Mr. Moore since his arrival at Bogota. The judgment and +discretion evinced by him on occasions of much interest and delicacy, +the assiduity displayed in bringing so nearly to a conclusion within +five weeks after his arrival claims which had been pending for years, +and the promptitude and capacity with which he has entered upon other +and more important portions of his official duty are calculated to +inspire strong confidence in his future usefulness. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +_January 20, 1830_. +_To the Senate and House of Representatives._ + +GENTLEMEN: I respectfully submit to your consideration the accompanying +communication from the Secretary or the Treasury, showing that according +to the terms of an agreement between the United States and the United +Society of Christian Indians the latter have a claim to an annuity of +$400, commencing from the 1st of October, 1826, for which an +appropriation by law for this amount, as long as they are entitled to +receive it, will be proper. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +WASHINGTON, _January 26, 1830_. +_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_: + +I submit to Congress a communication from the Secretary of State, +together with the report of the Superintendent of the Patent Office, to +which it refers, showing the present condition of that office and +suggesting the necessity of further legislative provisions in regard to +it, and I recommend the subjects it embraces to the particular attention +of Congress. + +It will be seen that there is an unexplained deficiency in the accounts +which have been rendered at the Treasury of the fees received at the +office, amounting to $4,290, and that precautions have been provided to +guard against similar delinquencies in future. Congress will decide on +their sufficiency and whether any legislative aid is necessary upon this +branch of the subject referred to in the report. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +_January 26, 1830_. +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I find it necessary to recommend to Congress a revision of the laws +relating to the direct and contingent expenses of our intercourse with +foreign nations, and particularly of the act of May 1, 1810, entitled +"An act fixing the compensation of public ministers and of consuls +residing on the coast of Barbary, and for other purposes." + +A letter from the Fifth Auditor of the Treasury to the Secretary of +State, herewith transmitted, which notices the difficulties incident to +the settlement of the accounts of certain diplomatic agents of the +United States, serves to show the necessity of this revision. This +branch of the Government is incessantly called upon to sanction +allowances which not unfrequently appear to have just and equitable +foundations in usage, but which are believed to be incompatible with the +provisions of the act of 1810. The letter from the Fifth Auditor +contains a description of several claims of this character which are +submitted to Congress as the only tribunal competent to afford the +relief to which the parties consider themselves entitled. + +Among the most prominent questions of this description are the +following: + +_I. Claims for outfits by ministers and charges d'affaires duly +appointed by the President and Senate_. + +The act of 1790, regulating the expenditures for foreign intercourse, +provided "that, exclusive of an outfit, which shall in no case exceed +one year's full salary to the minister plenipotentiary or chargé +d'affaires to whom the same may be allowed, the President shall not +allow to any minister plenipotentiary a greater sum than at the rate of +$9,000 per annum as a compensation for all his personal services and +other expenses, nor a greater sum for the same than $4,500 per annum to +a chargé d'affaires." By this provision the maximum of allowance only +was fixed, leaving the question as to any outfit, either in whole or in +part, to the discretion of the President, to be decided according to +circumstances. Under it a variety of cases occurred, in which outfits +having been given to diplomatic agents on their first appointment, +afterwards, upon their being transferred to other courts or sent upon +special and distinct missions, full or half outfits were again allowed. + +This act, it will be perceived, although it fixes the maximum of outfit, +is altogether silent as to the circumstances under which outfits might +be allowed; indeed, the authority to allow them at all is not expressly +conveyed, but only incidentally adverted to in limiting the amount. This +limitation continued to be the only restriction upon the Executive until +1810, the act of 1790 having been kept in force till that period by five +successive reenactments, in which it is either referred to by means of +its title or its terms are repeated verbatim. In 1810 an act passed +wherein the phraseology which had been in use for twenty years is +departed from. Fixing the same limits precisely to the _amount_ of +salaries and outfits to ministers and chargés as had been six times +fixed since 1790, it differs from preceding acts by formally conveying +an authority to allow an outfit to "a minister plenipotentiary or chargé +d'affaires _on going from the United States to any foreign country_;" +and, in addition to this specification of the circumstances under which +the outfit may be allowed, it contains one of the conditions which shall +be requisite to entitle a chargé or secretary to the compensation +therein provided. + +Upon a view of all the circumstances connected with the subject I can +not permit myself to doubt that it was with reference to the practice of +multiplying outfits to the same person and in the intention of +prohibiting it in future that this act was passed. + +It being, however, frequently deemed advantageous to transfer ministers +already abroad from one court to another, or to employ those who were +resident at a particular court upon special occasions elsewhere, it +seems to have been considered that it was not the intention of Congress +to restrain the Executive from so doing. It was further contended that +the President being left free to select for ministers citizens, whether +at home or abroad, a right on the part of such ministers to the usual +emoluments followed as a matter of course. This view was sustained by +the opinion of the law officer of the Government, and the act of 1810 +was construed to leave the whole subject of salary and outfit where it +found it under the law of 1790; that is to say, completely at the +discretion of the President, without any other restriction than the +maximum already fixed by that law. This discretion has from time to time +been exercised by successive Presidents; but whilst I can not but +consider the restriction in this respect imposed by the act of 1810 as +inexpedient, I can not feel myself justified in adopting a construction +which defeats the only operation of which this part of it seems +susceptible; at least, not unless Congress, after having the subject +distinctly brought to their consideration, should virtually give their +assent to that construction. Whatever may be thought of the propriety of +giving an outfit to secretaries of legation or others who may be +considered as only temporarily charged with, the affairs intrusted to +them, I am impressed with the justice of such an allowance in the case +of a citizen who happens to be abroad when first appointed, and that of +a minister already in place, when the public interest requires his +transfer, and, from the breaking up of his establishment and other +circumstances connected with the change, he incurs expenses to which he +would not otherwise have been subjected. + +_II. Claims for outfits and salaries by chargés d'affaires and +secretaries of legation who have not been appointed by the President by +and with the advice and consent of the Senate_. + +By the second section of the act of 1810 it is provided-- + + That to entitle any chargé d'affaires or secretary of any legation + or embassy to any foreign country, or secretary of any minister + plenipotentiary, to the compensation hereinbefore provided they + shall respectively be appointed by the President of the United + States, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate; but in the + recess of the Senate the President is hereby authorized to make such + appointments, which shall be submitted to the Senate at the next + session thereafter for their advice and consent; and no compensation + shall be allowed to any chargé d'affaires or any of the secretaries + hereinbefore described who shall not be appointed as aforesaid. + +Notwithstanding the explicit language of this act, claims for outfits +and salaries have been made--and allowed at the Treasury--by chargés +d'affaires and secretaries of legation who had not been appointed in the +manner specified. Among the accompanying documents will be found several +claims of this description, of which a detailed statement is given in +the letter of the Fifth Auditor. The case of Mr. William B. Lawrence, +late chargé d'affaires at London, is of a still more peculiar character, +in consequence of his having actually drawn his outfit and salary from +the bankers employed by the Government, and from the length of time he +officiated in that capacity. Mr. Lawrence's accounts were rendered to +the late Administration, but not settled. I have refused to sanction the +allowance claimed, because the law does not authorize it, but have +refrained from directing any proceedings to compel a reimbursement of +the money thus, in my judgment, illegally received until an opportunity +should be afforded to Congress to pass upon the equity of the claim. + +Appropriations are annually and necessarily made "for the contingent +expenses of all the missions abroad" and "for the contingent expenses of +foreign intercourse," and the expenditure of these funds intrusted to +the discretion of the President. It is out of those appropriations that +allowances of this character have been claimed, and, it is presumed, +made. Deeming, however, that the discretion thus committed to the +Executive does not extend to the allowance of charges prohibited by +express law, I have felt it my duty to refer all existing claims to the +action of Congress, and to submit to their consideration whether any +alteration of the law in this respect is necessary. + +_III. The allowance of a quarter's salary to ministers and chargés +d'affaires to defray their expenses home_. + +This allowance has been uniformly made, but is without authority by law. +Resting in Executive discretion, it has, according to circumstances, +been extended to cases where the ministers died abroad, to defray the +return of his family, and was recently claimed in a case where the +minister had no family, on grounds of general equity. A charge of this +description can hardly be regarded as a contingent one, and if allowed +at all must be in lieu of salary. As such it is altogether arbitrary, +although it is not believed that the interests of the Treasury are, upon +the whole, much affected by the substitution. In some cases the +allowance is for a longer period than is occupied in the return of the +minister; in others, for one somewhat less; and it seems to do away all +inducement to unnecessary delay. The subject is, however, susceptible of +positive regulation by law, and it is, on many accounts, highly +expedient that it should be placed on that footing. I have therefore, +without directing any alteration in the existing practice, felt it my +duty to bring it to your notice. + +_IV. Traveling and other expenses in following the court in cases where +its residence is not stationary_. + +The only legations by which expenses of this description are incurred +and charged are those to Spain and the Netherlands, and to them they +have on several occasions been allowed. Among the documents herewith +communicated will be found, with other charges requiring legislative +interference, an account for traveling expenses, with a statement of the +grounds upon which their reimbursement is claimed. This account has been +suspended by the officer of the Treasury to whom its settlement belongs; +and as the question will be one of frequent recurrence, I have deemed +the occasion a fit one to submit the whole subject to the revision of +Congress. The justice of these charges for extraordinary expenses +unavoidably incurred has been admitted by former Administrations and the +claims allowed. My difficulty grows out of the language of the act of +1810, which expressly declares that the salary and outfit it authorizes +to the minister and chargé d'affaires shall be "a compensation for all +his personal services and expenses." The items which ordinarily form the +contingent expenses of a foreign mission are of a character distinct +from the _personal_ expenses of the minister. The difficulty of +regarding those now referred to in that light is obvious. There are +certainly strong considerations of equity in favor of a remuneration for +them at the two Courts where they are alone incurred, and if such should +be the opinion of Congress it is desirable that authority to make it +should be expressly conferred by law rather than continue to rest upon +doubtful construction. + +_V. Charges of consuls for discharging diplomatic functions, without +appointment, during a temporary vacancy in the office of chargé +d'affaires._ + +It has sometimes happened that consuls of the United States, upon the +occurrence of vacancies at their places of residence in the diplomatic +offices of the United States by the death or retirement of our minister +or chargé d'affaires, have taken under their care the papers of such +missions and usefully discharged diplomatic functions in behalf of their +Government and fellow-citizens till the vacancies were regularly filled. +In some instances this is stated to have been done to the abandonment of +other pursuits and at a considerably increased expense of living. There +are existing claims of this description, which can not be finally +adjusted or allowed without the sanction of Congress. A particular +statement of them accompanies this communication. + +The nature of this branch of the public service makes it necessary to +commit portions of the expenses incurred in it to Executive discretion; +but it is desirable that such portions should be as small as possible. +The purity and permanent success of our political institutions depend in +a great measure upon definite appropriations and a rigid adherence to +the enactments of the Legislature disposing of public money. My desire +is to have the subject placed upon a more simple and precise, but not +less liberal, footing than it stands on at present, so far as that may +be found practicable. An opinion that the salaries allowed by law to our +agents abroad are in many cases inadequate is very general, and it is +reasonable to suppose that this impression has not been without its +influence in the construction of the laws by which those salaries are +fixed. There are certainly motives which it is difficult to resist to an +increased expense on the part of some of our functionaries abroad +greatly beyond that which would be required at home. + +Should Congress be of opinion that any alteration for the better can be +made, either in the rate of salaries now allowed or in the rank and +gradation of our diplomatic agents, or both, the present would be a fit +occasion for a revision of the whole subject. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_. + +GENTLEMEN: I transmit herewith the annual report of the inspectors of +the penitentiary in the District of Columbia, and beg leave to recommend +the propriety of providing by law a reasonable compensation for the +service of those officers. The act of Congress under which they were +commissioned, though it imposes upon them important duties, in the +performance of which much time and labor are necessary, is silent as to +the compensation which they ought to receive. + +ANDREW JACKSON. +_February 1, 1830_. + + +_February 5, 1830_. +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I herewith communicate to the Senate a letter from the Secretary of War, +with the papers which accompany it, in answer to the resolution of the +Senate of the 2d February, requesting "so much of a report received from +the officer of the United States Army who had command of the detachment +for the protection of the caravan of traders to Santa Fe of New Mexico +during the last summer as may be proper to be made public and material +to be known, devising further means for the security of the inland trade +between Missouri and Mexico." + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +_February 12, 1830_. +_The Speaker of the House of Representatives_: + +I forward to the House of Representatives, for the information and +decision of Congress, a communication to me from the Secretary of War on +the subject of the continuation of the Cumberland road. + +There being but one plan of the surveys made produces the necessity of +making this communication to but one branch of the Legislature. When the +question shall be disposed of, I request that the map may be returned to +the Secretary of War. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +_February 18, 1830_. +_To the House of Representatives_: + +In pursuance of a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 9th +instant, requesting information respecting the accounts of William B. +Lawrence as chargé d'affaires of the United States to Great Britain, I +have the honor to communicate a report of the Secretary of State, +furnishing the desired information. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +_February 20, 1830_. +_To the Senate of the United States_. + +GENTLEMEN: Having seen a report from the Treasury Department, just made +to me, that General John Campbell, lately nominated Indian agent, stands +recorded as a public defaulter on the books of the Treasury, and being +unapprised of this fact when he was nominated to the Senate, I beg leave +to withdraw this nomination. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +_March 1, 1830_. +_To the Senate of the United States_. + +GENTLEMEN: In compliance with your resolution of the 4th ultimo, +relating to the boundary line between the United States and the Cherokee +Nation of Indians, I have duly examined the same, and find that the +Executive has no power to alter or correct it. + +I therefore return the papers, with a report from the Secretary of War +on the subject, for the further deliberation of Congress. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +WASHINGTON, _March 9, 1830_. +_Gentlemen of the House of Representatives_: + +I submit to the consideration of Congress a letter of the governor of +Virginia, transmitting two acts of the general assembly of that State, +respecting the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +WASHINGTON, _March 9, 1830_. +_Gentlemen of the House of Representatives_: + +I submit to your consideration the memorials of Francis H. Nicoll and +John Conard, the latter marshal of the eastern district of Pennsylvania, +praying for the interposition and aid of Congress in the discharge of a +judgment recovered against him by the said Nicoll, alleging, as +defendant in the suit, that he was the mere organ of the United States, +and acted by and under the instructions of the Government. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +_March 10, 1830_. +_To the Senate of the United States_. + +GENTLEMEN: In compliance with the resolution of the Senate of the 6th +instant, requesting me to "send a copy of the bond entered into and +executed by Israel T. Canfield as receiver of public moneys in the now +Crawfordsville district, Indiana, together with the names of his +securities, to the Senate," I herewith transmit a certified copy of the +official bond of Israel T. Canby, and a letter from the Secretary of the +Treasury, from which it appears that this is the officer referred to in +the resolution. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +WASHINGTON, _March 15, 1830_. +_To the House of Representatives of the United States_: + +In pursuance of a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 27th +ultimo, calling for information respecting the report of the +commissioner for running and marking the line between the United States +and Florida under the treaty of 1795, I herewith communicate a report +from the Secretary of State, containing the desired information. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +_March 18, 1830_. +_To the House of Representatives_: + +GENTLEMEN: I transmit, for the consideration of Congress, a report from +the War Department of a survey[6] authorized by the act of the 2d of +March, 1829. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + +[Footnote 6: Of ship channel of Penobscot River from Whitehead to +Bangor, Me.] + + +_March 27, 1830_. +_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_. + +GENTLEMEN: I transmit, for the consideration of Congress, a letter of +the Secretary of the Navy, accompanying the reports of Lieutenants +Tattnall and Gedney, who were detailed to make a survey of the Dry +Tortugas, and beg leave to call your attention to the importance of the +position to the United States as a naval station. I also respectfully +recommend that the appropriation necessary to make a scientific +examination of its capacities for defense may be granted. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +_March 31, 1830_. +_To the House of Representatives_. + +GENTLEMEN: I respectfully submit to your consideration the accompanying +report from the War Department, exhibiting the state of the +fortifications at Pea Patch Island and the necessity of further +appropriations for the security of that site. The report specifies the +improvements deemed proper, and the estimate of their cost. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +_April 2, 1830_. +_To the House of Representatives_. + +GENTLEMEN: In compliance with a resolution of the House of the 22nd +ultimo, "requesting the President of the United States to communicate to +it any correspondence or information in possession of the Government, +and which, in his judgment, the public service will admit of being +communicated, touching intrusions, or alleged intrusions, on lands the +possession of which is claimed by the Cherokee tribe of Indians, the +number of intrusions, if any, and the reasons why they have not been +removed; and also any correspondence or information touching outrages +alleged to have been committed by Cherokee Indians on citizens of +Georgia occupying lands to which the Indian claim has not been +extinguished, or by citizens of Georgia on Cherokee Indians," I transmit +herewith a report from the Secretary of War, containing the information +required. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +_April 6, 1830_. +_To the Senate of the United States_. + +GENTLEMEN: In compliance with the resolution of the Senate of the 5th +instant, requesting the President of the United States to transmit to +the Senate any record or other information in the Department of War or +before the President respecting the conviction of Wharton Rector of any +crime in Missouri before his departure for Arkansas, or touching his +fitness for the office to which he has been nominated, and any other +evidence in the Department relative to the fitness of Wharton Rector for +the office of Indian agent, I inclose herewith a report from the +Secretary of War. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +_April 13, 1830_. +_To the House of Representatives_. + +GENTLEMEN: I transmit herewith a report from the War Department, in +compliance with the resolution of the House of the 18th ultimo, calling +for information in relation to the expenses incident to the removal and +support of the Indians west of the Mississippi, etc. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +_April 15, 1830_. +_To the Senate of the United States_. + +GENTLEMEN: I submit to the Senate, in compliance with the request in +their resolution of the 12th instant, all the communications found in +the Department of State touching the character, conduct, and +qualifications of John Hamm, which appear or are supposed to have been +made while the said Hamm was an applicant for reappointment to the +office of marshal of the district of Ohio, in the year 1822. + +As that individual has been recently nominated to the Senate to be +chargé d'affaires of the United States to the Government of Central +America, I take advantage of the occasion to request the Senate to +postpone a final decision on his nomination, upon the following grounds: +That information, though not official, has just been received at the +Department of State of a change having been lately effected in the +Government of Central America, which, if confirmed, may make a +correspondent change in the appointment necessary, or perhaps render it +altogether unnecessary that this Government, under present +circumstances, should send a diplomatic agent to that country at all. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +_April 22, 1830_. +_To the House of Representatives_. + +GENTLEMEN: I transmit, for the consideration of Congress, a report from +the War Department of a survey[7] authorized by the act of 2d March, +1829. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + +[Footnote 7: Of the harbor of St. Augustine, Fla.] + + +_April, 23, 1830_. +_To the Senate of the United States_. + +GENTLEMEN: In compliance with the resolution of the Senate of the 20th +instant, I transmit herewith a report[8] from the Secretary of War. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + +[Footnote 8: Transmitting correspondence of June, 1825, relative to +treaties with the Osage and Kansas Indians.] + + +_April 23, 1830_. +_Gentlemen of the Senate and House of Representatives_. + +GENTLEMEN: I transmit herewith a report from the Department of War of +the survey made of Sandy Bay, Massachusetts, in conformity to the act of +2d March, 1829. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +_May 1, 1830_. +_To the Senate of the United States_. + +GENTLEMEN: Finding from the inclosed letter from the Secretary of the +Treasury that James C. Dickson, lately nominated to be receiver of +public moneys at Mount Salus, Miss., is a defaulter, I beg leave to +withdraw his nomination, and to nominate in his place Hiram G. Rennels. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +_May 6, 1830_. +_To the Senate of the United States_. + +GENTLEMEN: The accompanying propositions, in the form of a treaty, have +been recently sent to me by special messenger from the Choctaw Nation of +Indians, and since it was received a protest against it has been +forwarded. Both evince a desire to cede to the United States all their +country east of the Mississippi, and both are here submitted. These +measures are the voluntary acts of the Indians themselves. The +Government was not represented in the councils which adopted them, nor +had it any previous intimation that such steps were in contemplation. +The Indians convened of their own accord, settled and executed the +propositions contained in the treaty presented to me, and agreed to be +bound by them if within three months they should receive the approbation +of the President and Senate. The other measure is equally their own. + +It is certainly desirous, on various and very pressing accounts, as will +appear from the accompanying documents, that some agreement should be +concluded with the Indians by which an object so important as their +removal beyond the territorial limits of the States may be effected. In +settling the terms of such an agreement I am disposed to exercise the +utmost liberality, and to concur in any which are consistent with the +Constitution and not incompatible with the interests of the United +States and their duties to the Indians. I can not, however, regard the +terms proposed by the Choctaws to be in all respects of this character; +but desirous of concluding an arrangement upon such as are, I have drawn +up the accompanying amendments, which I propose to offer to the Choctaws +if they meet the approbation of the Senate. The conditions which they +offer are such as, in my judgment, will be most likely to be acceptable +to both parties and are liable to the fewest objections. Not being +tenacious, though, on the subject, I will most cheerfully adopt any +modifications which on a frank interchange of opinions my constitutional +advisers may suggest and which I shall be satisfied are reconcilable +with my official duties. + +With these views, I ask the opinion of the Senate upon the following +questions: + +Will the Senate advise the conclusion of a treaty with the Choctaw +Nation according to the terms which they propose? Or will the Senate +advise the conclusion of a treaty with that tribe as modified by the +alterations suggested by me? If not, what further alteration or +modification will the Senate propose? + +I am fully aware that in thus resorting to the early practice of the +Government, by asking the previous advice of the Senate in the discharge +of this portion of my duties, I am departing from a long and for many +years an unbroken usage in similar cases. But being satisfied that this +resort is consistent with the provisions of the Constitution, that it is +strongly recommended in this instance by considerations of expediency, +and that the reasons which have led to the observance of a different +practice, though very cogent in negotiations with foreign nations, do +not apply with equal force to those made with Indian tribes, I flatter +myself that it will not meet the disapprobation of the Senate. Among the +reasons for a previous expression of the views of the Senate the +following are stated as most prominent: + +1. The Indians have requested that their propositions should be +submitted to the Senate. + +2. The opinion of the Senate in relation to the terms to be proposed +will have a salutary effect in a future negotiation, if one should be +deemed proper. + +3. The Choctaw is one of the most numerous and powerful tribes within +our borders, and as the conclusion of a treaty with them may have a +controlling effect upon other tribes it is important that its terms +should be well considered. Those now proposed by the Choctaws, though +objectionable, it is believed are susceptible of modifications which +will leave them conformable to the humane and liberal policy which the +Government desires to observe toward the Indian tribes, and be at the +same time acceptable to them. To be possessed of the views of the Senate +on this important and delicate branch of our future negotiations would +enable the President to act much more effectively in the exercise of his +particular functions. There is also the best reason to believe that +measures in this respect emanating from the united counsel of the +treaty-making power would be more satisfactory to the American people +and to the Indians. + +It will be seen that the pecuniary stipulations are large; and in +bringing this subject to the consideration of the Senate I may be +allowed to remark that the amount of money which may be secured to be +paid should, in my judgment, be viewed as of minor importance. If a fund +adequate to the object in view can be obtained from the lands which they +cede, all the purposes of the Government should be regarded as answered. +The great desideratum is the removal of the Indians and the settlement +of the perplexing question involved in their present location--a +question in which several of the States of this Union have the deepest +interest, and which, if left undecided much longer, may eventuate in +serious injury to the Indians. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +_May 13, 1830_. +_To the House of Representatives_. + +GENTLEMEN: The inclosed documents will present to Congress the necessity +of some legislative provision by which to prevent the offenses to which +they refer. At present it appears there is no law existing for the +punishment of persons guilty of interrupting the public surveyors when +engaged in the performance of the trusts confided to them. I suggest, +therefore, for your consideration the propriety of adopting some +provision, with adequate penalties, to meet the case. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +_May 13, 1830_. +_To the House of Representatives_. + +GENTLEMEN: I have the honor, in compliance with a resolution of your +House of the 10th ultimo, to transmit the inclosed documents, which +furnish all the information of the steps that have been taken and plans +procured for the erection of a radiating marine railway for the repair +of sloops of war at the navy-yard at Pensacola. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +_May 14, 1830_. +_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_. + +GENTLEMEN: I herewith transmit to Congress the report of the engineer +employed to survey the bar at the mouth of Sag Harbor, to ascertain the +best method of preventing the harbor being filled up with sand, and the +cost of the same, authorized by the act of the 2d of March, 1829. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +_May 21, 1830_. +_To the Senate of the United States_. + +GENTLEMEN: It having been represented to me that some of the members of +the Senate voted against the confirmation of the appointment of Major +M.M. Noah as surveyor of the port of New York through misapprehension, +and having received the accompanying letter and memorial from a number +of the most respectable merchants and citizens of that city, setting +forth his fitness for the office, I therefore renominate him to the +Senate as surveyor of the customs for the port of New York. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +_May 25, 1830_. +_To the House of Representatives_. + +GENTLEMEN: I transmit herewith, for the use of the House, the report of +a survey[9] made in compliance with the act of the 2d of March, 1829. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + +[Footnote 9: Of the harbors of Stamford and Norwalk, Conn.] + + +WASHINGTON, _May 26, 1830_. +_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_. + +GENTLEMEN: I think it my duty to inform you that I am daily expecting +the definitive answer of the British Government to a proposition which +has been submitted to it by this, upon the subject of the colonial +trade. + +This communication has been delayed by a confident belief that the +answer referred to would have been received early enough to have +admitted of its submission to you in sufficient season for the final +action of Congress at its present session, and is now induced by an +apprehension that although the packet by which it was intended to be +sent is hourly expected, its arrival may, nevertheless, be delayed until +after your adjournment. + +Should this branch of the negotiation committed to our minister be +successful, the present interdict would, nevertheless, be necessarily +continued until the next session of Congress, as the President has in no +event authority to remove it. + +Although no decision had been made at the date of our last advices from +Mr. McLane, yet from the general character of the interviews between him +and those of His Majesty's ministers whose particular duty it was to +confer with him on the subject there is sufficient reason to expect a +favorable result to justify me in submitting to you the propriety of +providing for a decision in the recess. + +This may be done by authorizing the President, in case an arrangement +can be effected upon such terms as Congress would approve, to carry the +same into effect on our part by proclamation, or, if it should be +thought advisable, to execute the views of Congress by like means in the +event of an unfavorable decision. + +Any information in the possession of the Executive which you may deem +necessary to guide your deliberations, and which it may, under existing +circumstances, be proper to communicate, shall be promptly laid before +you, if required. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +WASHINGTON, _May 27, 1830_. +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +It is gratifying to me to be able to communicate to the Senate before +the termination of its present session, for its advice and consent as to +the ratification of it, a convention just received at the Department of +State between the United States and His Majesty the King of Denmark, +which was negotiated on the part of the former by Mr. Henry Wheaton, +their chargé d'affaires at the Court of Denmark, and on that of the +latter by the Sieurs Henry Count de Schemmelman, his minister of foreign +affairs, and Paul Christian de Stemann, president of his chancery, and +concluded and signed by these plenipotentiaries at Copenhagen on the +28th of March of the present year. + +The convention provides by compromise for the adjustment and payment of +indemnities to no inconsiderable amount, long sought from the Government +of Denmark by that of the United States, in behalf of their citizens who +had preferred claims for the same, relating to the seizure, detention, +and condemnation or confiscation of their vessels, cargoes, or property +by the public armed ships or by the tribunals of Denmark or in the +states subject to the Danish scepter; and there is every reason to +believe, as the Senate will infer from the correspondence which +accompanies this communication, that the proposed arrangement will prove +entirely satisfactory to them. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +_May 28, 1830_. +_To the Senate of the United States_. + +GENTLEMEN: For the reasons expressed in the inclosed note, I renominate +Wharton Rector to be agent for the Shawnee and Delaware Indians. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +The PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. + +SIR: The rejection of Colonel Rector by the Senate took place in the +absence of Mr. McLean and myself. We were both confined to our rooms by +illness. Had we been present his nomination would have been confirmed. I +believe that if he were again placed before the Senate his nomination +would be confirmed, and should therefore be pleased if he could be again +nominated. + +I have the honor to be, your obedient servant, +J. ROWAN. + + +_May 29, 1830_. +_To the House of Representatives_. + +GENTLEMEN: Having approved and signed a resolution, originating in the +House of Representatives, which provides "that the pay, subsistence, +emoluments, and allowances received by the officers of the Marine Corps +previous to the 1st of April, 1829, be, and the same is hereby, directed +to be continued to them from that date up to the 28th of February, +1831," it becomes my duty to call the attention of Congress to the fact +that the estimates for that branch of the public service submitted to +them at the commencement of the present session were made with reference +to the pay, subsistence, emoluments, and allowances provided for by law, +and excluding those which previously to the 1st of April, 1829, had been +made on the authority of the Department alone, and to suggest the +propriety of an appropriation to meet the increased expenditure. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +WASHINGTON, _May 29, 1830_. +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I submit herewith a report[10] from the Secretary of the Treasury, +giving the information called for by a resolution of the Senate of the +3d of March, 1829. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + +[Footnote 10: Transmitting statements of lands appropriated by Congress +for specific objects within the several States, etc.; disbursements made +within the several States and Territories from the commencement of the +Government to December 31, 1828; value of exports from the commencement +of the Government to September 30, 1828. ] + + +_May 30, 1830_. +_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_. + +Gentlemen: I have approved and signed the bill entitled "An act making +appropriations for examinations and surveys, and also for certain works +of internal improvement," but as the phraseology of the section which +appropriates the sum of $8,000 for the road from Detroit to Chicago may +be construed to authorize the application of the appropriation for the +continuance of the road beyond the limits of the Territory of Michigan, +I desire to be understood as having approved this bill with the +understanding that the road authorized by this section is not to be +extended beyond the limits of the said Territory. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + + + +VETO MESSAGES. + + +_May 27, 1830_. +_To the House of Representatives_. + +Gentlemen: I have maturely considered the bill proposing to authorize "a +subscription of stock in the Maysville, Washington, Paris, and Lexington +Turnpike Road Company," and now return the same to the House of +Representatives, in which it originated, with my objections to its +passage. + +Sincerely friendly to the improvement of our country by means of roads +and canals, I regret that any difference of opinion in the mode of +contributing to it should exist between us; and if in stating this +difference I go beyond what the occasion may be deemed to call for, I +hope to find an apology in the great importance of the subject, an +unfeigned respect for the high source from which this branch of it has +emanated, and an anxious wish to be correctly understood by my +constituents in the discharge of all my duties. Diversity of sentiment +among public functionaries actuated by the same general motives, on the +character and tendency of particular measures, is an incident common to +all Governments, and the more to be expected in one which, like ours, +owes its existence to the freedom of opinion, and must be upheld by the +same influence. Controlled as we thus are by a higher tribunal, before +which our respective acts will be canvassed with the indulgence due to +the imperfections of our nature, and with that intelligence and unbiased +judgment which are the true correctives of error, all that our +responsibility demands is that the public good should be the measure of +our views, dictating alike their frank expression and honest +maintenance. + +In the message which was presented to Congress at the opening of its +present session I endeavored to exhibit briefly my views upon the +important and highly interesting subject to which our attention is now +to be directed. I was desirous of presenting to the representatives of +the several States in Congress assembled the inquiry whether some mode +could not be devised which would reconcile the diversity of opinion +concerning the powers of this Government over the subject of internal +improvement, and the manner in which these powers, if conferred by the +Constitution, ought to be exercised. The act which I am called upon to +consider has, therefore, been passed with a knowledge of my views on +this question, as these are expressed in the message referred to. In +that document the following suggestions will be found: + + After the extinction of the public debt it is not probable that any + adjustment of the tariff upon principles satisfactory to the people + of the Union will until a remote period, if ever, leave the + Government without a considerable surplus in the Treasury beyond + what may be required for its current service. As, then, the period + approaches when the application of the revenue to the payment of + debt will cease, the disposition of the surplus will present a + subject for the serious deliberation of Congress; and it may be + fortunate for the country that it is yet to be decided. Considered + in connection with the difficulties which have heretofore attended + appropriations for purposes of internal improvement, and with those + which this experience tells us will certainly arise whenever power + over such subjects may be exercised by the General Government, it is + hoped that it may lead to the adoption of some plan which will + reconcile the diversified interests of the States and strengthen the + bonds which unite them. Every member of the Union, in peace and in + war, will be benefited by the improvement of inland navigation and + the construction of highways in the several States. Let us, then, + endeavor to attain this benefit in a mode which will be satisfactory + to all. That hitherto adopted has by many of our fellow-citizens + been deprecated as an infraction of the Constitution, while by + others it has been viewed as inexpedient. All feel that it has been + employed at the expense of harmony in the legislative councils. + +And adverting to the constitutional power of Congress to make what I +considered a proper disposition of the surplus revenue, I subjoined the +following remarks: + + To avoid these evils it appears to me that the most safe, just, and + federal disposition which could be made of the surplus revenue would + be its apportionment among the several States according to their + ratio of representation, and should this measure not be found + warranted by the Constitution that it would be expedient to propose + to the States an amendment authorizing it. + +The constitutional power of the Federal Government to construct or +promote works of internal improvement presents itself in two points of +view--the first as bearing upon the sovereignty of the States within +whose limits their execution is contemplated, if jurisdiction of the +territory which they may occupy be claimed as necessary to their +preservation and use; the second as asserting the simple right to +appropriate money from the National Treasury in aid of such works when +undertaken by State authority, surrendering the claim of jurisdiction. +In the first view the question of power is an open one, and can be +decided without the embarrassments attending the other, arising from the +practice of the Government. Although frequently and strenuously +attempted, the power to this extent has never been exercised by the +Government in a single instance. It does not, in my opinion, possess it; +and no bill, therefore, which admits it can receive my official +sanction. + +But in the other view of the power the question is differently situated. +The ground taken at an early period of the Government was "that whenever +money has been raised by the general authority and is to be applied to a +particular measure, a question arises whether the particular measure be +within the enumerated authorities vested in Congress. If it be, the +money requisite for it may be applied to it; if not, no such application +can be made." The document in which this principle was first advanced is +of deservedly high authority, and should be held in grateful remembrance +for its immediate agency in rescuing the country from much existing +abuse and for its conservative effect upon some of the most valuable +principles of the Constitution. The symmetry and purity of the +Government would doubtless have been better preserved if this +restriction of the power of appropriation could have been maintained +without weakening its ability to fulfill the general objects of its +institution, an effect so likely to attend its admission, +notwithstanding its apparent fitness, that every subsequent +Administration of the Government, embracing a period of thirty out of +the forty-two years of its existence, has adopted a more enlarged +construction of the power. It is not my purpose to detain you by a +minute recital of the acts which sustain this assertion, but it is +proper that I should notice some of the most prominent in order that the +reflections which they suggest to my mind may be better understood. + +In the Administration of Mr. Jefferson we have two examples of the +exercise of the right of appropriation, which in the considerations that +led to their adoption and in their effects upon the public mind have had +a greater agency in marking the character of the power than any +subsequent events. I allude to the payment of $15,000,000 for the +purchase of Louisiana and to the original appropriation for the +construction of the Cumberland road, the latter act deriving much weight +from the acquiescence and approbation of three of the most powerful of +the original members of the Confederacy, expressed through their +respective legislatures. Although the circumstances of the latter case +may be such as to deprive so much of it as relates to the actual +construction of the road of the force of an obligatory exposition of the +Constitution, it must, nevertheless, be admitted that so far as the mere +appropriation of money is concerned they present the principle in its +most imposing aspect. No less than twenty-three different laws have been +passed, through all the forms of the Constitution, appropriating upward +of $2,500,000 out of the National Treasury in support of that +improvement, with the approbation of every President of the United +States, including my predecessor, since its commencement. + +Independently of the sanction given to appropriations for the Cumberland +and other roads and objects under this power, the Administration of Mr. +Madison was characterized by an act which furnishes the strongest +evidence of his opinion of its extent. A bill was passed through both +Houses of Congress and presented for his approval, "setting apart and +pledging certain funds for constructing roads and canals and improving +the navigation of water courses, in order to facilitate, promote, and +give security to internal commerce among the several States and to +render more easy and less expensive the means and provisions for the +common defense." Regarding the bill as asserting a power in the Federal +Government to construct roads and canals within the limits of the States +in which they were made, he objected to its passage on the ground of its +unconstitutionality, declaring that the assent of the respective States +in the mode provided by the bill could not confer the power in question; +that the only cases in which the consent and cession of particular +States can extend the power of Congress are those specified and provided +for in the Constitution, and superadding to these avowals his opinion +that "a restriction of the power 'to provide for the common defense and +general welfare' to cases which are to be provided for by the +expenditure of money would still leave within the legislative power of +Congress all the great and most important measures of Government, money +being the ordinary and necessary means of carrying them into execution." +I have not been able to consider these declarations in any other point +of view than as a concession that the right of appropriation is not +limited by the power to carry into effect the measure for which the +money is asked, as was formerly contended. + +The views of Mr. Monroe upon this subject were not left to inference. +During his Administration a bill was passed through both Houses of +Congress conferring the jurisdiction and prescribing the mode by which +the Federal Government should exercise it in the case of the Cumberland +road. He returned it with objections to its passage, and in assigning +them took occasion to say that in the early stages of the Government he +had inclined to the construction that it had no right to expend money +except in the performance of acts authorized by the other specific +grants of power, according to a strict construction of them, but that on +further reflection and observation his mind had undergone a change; that +his opinion then was "that Congress have an unlimited power to raise +money, and that in its appropriation they have a discretionary power, +restricted only by the duty to appropriate it to purposes of common +defense, and of general, not local, national, not State, benefit;" and +this was avowed to be the governing principle through the residue of his +Administration. The views of the last Administration are of such recent +date as to render a particular reference to them unnecessary. It is well +known that the appropriating power, to the utmost extent which had been +claimed for it, in relation to internal improvements was fully +recognized and exercised by it. + +This brief reference to known facts will be sufficient to show the +difficulty, if not impracticability, of bringing back the operations of +the Government to the construction of the Constitution set up in 1798, +assuming that to be its true reading in relation to the power under +consideration, thus giving an admonitory proof of the force of +implication and the necessity of guarding the Constitution with +sleepless vigilance against the authority of precedents which have not +the sanction of its most plainly defined powers; for although it is the +duty of all to look to that sacred instrument instead of the statute +book, to repudiate at all times encroachments upon its spirit, which are +too apt to be effected by the conjuncture of peculiar and facilitating +circumstances, it is not less true that the public good and the nature +of our political institutions require that individual differences should +yield to a well-settled acquiescence of the people and confederated +authorities in particular constructions of the Constitution on doubtful +points. Not to concede this much to the spirit of our institutions would +impair their stability and defeat the objects of the Constitution +itself. + +The bill before me does not call for a more definite opinion upon the +particular circumstances which will warrant appropriations of money by +Congress to aid works of internal improvement, for although the +extension of the power to apply money beyond that of carrying into +effect the object for which it is appropriated has, as we have seen, +been long claimed and exercised by the Federal Government, yet such +grants have always been professedly under the control of the general +principle that the works which might be thus aided should be "of a +general, not local, national, not State," character. A disregard of this +distinction would of necessity lead to the subversion of the federal +system. That even this is an unsafe one, arbitrary in its nature, and +liable, consequently, to great abuses, is too obvious to require the +confirmation of experience. It is, however, sufficiently definite and +imperative to my mind to forbid my approbation of any bill having the +character of the one under consideration. I have given to its provisions +all the reflection demanded by a just regard for the interests of those +of our fellow-citizens who have desired its passage, and by the respect +which is due to a coordinate branch of the Government, but I am not able +to view it in any other light than as a measure of purely local +character; or, if it can be considered national, that no further +distinction between the appropriate duties of the General and State +Governments need be attempted, for there can be no local interest that +may not with equal propriety be denominated national. It has no +connection with any established system of improvements; is exclusively +within the limits of a State, starting at a point on the Ohio River and +running out 60 miles to an interior town, and even as far as the State +is interested conferring partial instead of general advantages. + +Considering the magnitude and importance of the power, and the +embarrassments to which, from the very nature of the thing, its exercise +must necessarily be subjected, the real friends of internal improvement +ought not to be willing to confide it to accident and chance. What is +properly _national_ in its character or otherwise is an inquiry which is +often extremely difficult of solution. The appropriations of one year +for an object which is considered national may be rendered nugatory by +the refusal of a succeeding Congress to continue the work on the ground +that it is local. No aid can be derived from the intervention of +corporations. The question regards the character of the work, not that +of those by whom it is to be accomplished. Notwithstanding the union of +the Government with the corporation by whose immediate agency any work +of internal improvement is carried on, the inquiry will still remain. Is +it national and conducive to the benefit of the whole, or local and +operating only to the advantage of a portion of the Union? + +But although I might not feel it to be my official duty to interpose the +Executive veto to the passage of a bill appropriating money for the +construction of such works as are authorized by the States and are +national in their character, I do not wish to be understood as +expressing an opinion that it is expedient at this time for the General +Government to embark in a system of this kind; and anxious that my +constituents should be possessed of my views on this as well as on all +other subjects which they have committed to my discretion, I shall state +them frankly and briefly. Besides many minor considerations, there are +two prominent views of the subject which have made a deep impression +upon my mind, which, I think, are well entitled to your serious +attention, and will, I hope, be maturely weighed by the people. + +From the official communication submitted to you it appears that if no +adverse and unforeseen contingency happens in our foreign relations and +no unusual diversion be made of the funds set apart for the payment of +the national debt we may look with confidence to its entire +extinguishment in the short period of four years. The extent to which +this pleasing anticipation is dependent upon the policy which may be +pursued in relation to measures of the character of the one now under +consideration must be obvious to all, and equally so that the events of +the present session are well calculated to awaken public solicitude upon +the subject. By the statement from the Treasury Department and those +from the clerks of the Senate and House of Representatives, herewith +submitted, it appears that the bills which have passed into laws, and +those which in all probability will pass before the adjournment of +Congress, anticipate appropriations which, with the ordinary +expenditures for the support of Government, will exceed considerably the +amount in the Treasury for the year 1830. Thus, whilst we are +diminishing the revenue by a reduction of the duties on tea, coffee, and +cocoa the appropriations for internal improvement are increasing beyond +the available means of the Treasury. And if to this calculation be added +the amounts contained in bills which are pending before the two Houses, +it may be safely affirmed that $10,000,000 would not make up the excess +over the Treasury receipts, unless the payment of the national debt be +postponed and the means now pledged to that object applied to those +enumerated in these bills. Without a well-regulated system of internal +improvement this exhausting mode of appropriation is not likely to be +avoided, and the plain consequence must be either a continuance of the +national debt or a resort to additional taxes. + +Although many of the States, with a laudable zeal and under the +influence of an enlightened policy, are successfully applying their +separate efforts to works of this character, the desire to enlist the +aid of the General Government in the construction of such as from their +nature ought to devolve upon it, and to which the means of the +individual States are inadequate, is both rational and patriotic, and if +that desire is not gratified now it does not follow that it never will +be. The general intelligence and public spirit of the American people +furnish a sure guaranty that at the proper time this policy will be made +to prevail under circumstances more auspicious to its successful +prosecution than those which now exist. But great as this object +undoubtedly is, it is not the only one which demands the fostering care +of the Government. The preservation and success of the republican +principle rest with us. To elevate its character and extend its +influence rank among our most important duties, and the best means to +accomplish this desirable end are those which will rivet the attachment +of our citizens to the Government of their choice by the comparative +lightness of their public burthens and by the attraction which the +superior success of its operations will present to the admiration and +respect of the world. Through the favor of an overruling and indulgent +Providence our country is blessed with general prosperity and our +citizens exempted from the pressure of taxation, which other less +favored portions of the human family are obliged to bear; yet it is true +that many of the taxes collected from our citizens through the medium of +imposts have for a considerable period been onerous. In many particulars +these taxes have borne severely upon the laboring and less prosperous +classes of the community, being imposed on the necessaries of life, and +this, too, in cases where the burthen was not relieved by the +consciousness that it would ultimately contribute to make us independent +of foreign nations for articles of prime necessity by the encouragement +of their growth and manufacture at home. They have been cheerfully borne +because they were thought to be necessary to the support of Government +and the payment of the debts unavoidably incurred in the acquisition and +maintenance of our national rights and liberties. But have we a right to +calculate on the same cheerful acquiescence when it is known that the +necessity for their continuance would cease were it not for irregular, +improvident, and unequal appropriations of the public funds? Will not +the people demand, as they have a right to do, such a prudent system of +expenditure as will pay the debts of the Union and authorize the +reduction of every tax to as low a point as the wise observance of the +necessity to protect that portion of our manufactures and labor whose +prosperity is essential to our national safety and independence will +allow? When the national debt is paid, the duties upon those articles +which we do not raise may be repealed with safety, and still leave, I +trust, without oppression to any section of the country, an accumulating +surplus fund, which may be beneficially applied to some well-digested +system of improvement. + +Under this view the question as to the manner in which the Federal +Government can or ought to embark in the construction of roads and +canals, and the extent to which it may impose burthens on the people for +these purposes, may be presented on its own merits, free of all disguise +and of every embarrassment, except such as may arise from the +Constitution itself. Assuming these suggestions to be correct, will not +our constituents require the observance of a course by which they can be +effected? Ought they not to require it? With the best disposition to +aid, as far as I can conscientiously, in furtherance of works of +internal improvement, my opinion is that the soundest views of national +policy at this time point to such a course. Besides the avoidance of an +evil influence upon the local concerns of the country, how solid is the +advantage which the Government will reap from it in the elevation of its +character! How gratifying the effect of presenting to the world the +sublime spectacle of a Republic of more than 12,000,000 happy people, in +the fifty-fourth year of her existence, after having passed through two +protracted wars--the one for the acquisition and the other for the +maintenance of liberty--free from debt and with all her immense +resources unfettered! What a salutary influence would not such an +exhibition exercise upon the cause of liberal principles and free +government throughout the world! Would we not ourselves find in its +effect an additional guaranty that our political institutions will be +transmitted to the most remote posterity without decay? A course of +policy destined to witness events like these can not be benefited by a +legislation which tolerates a scramble for appropriations that have no +relation to any general system of improvement, and whose good effects +must of necessity be very limited. In the best view of these +appropriations, the abuses to which they lead far exceed the good which +they are capable of promoting. They may be resorted to as artful +expedients to shift upon the Government the losses of unsuccessful +private speculation, and thus, by ministering to personal ambition and +self-aggrandizement, tend to sap the foundations of public virtue and +taint the administration of the Government with a demoralizing +influence. + +In the other view of the subject, and the only remaining one which it is +my intention to present at this time, is involved the expediency of +embarking in a system of internal improvement without a previous +amendment of the Constitution explaining and defining the precise powers +of the Federal Government over it. Assuming the right to appropriate +money to aid in the construction of national works to be warranted by +the cotemporaneous and continued exposition of the Constitution, its +insufficiency for the successful prosecution of them must be admitted by +all candid minds. If we look to usage to define the extent of the right, +that will be found so variant and embracing so much that has been +overruled as to involve the whole subject in great uncertainty and to +render the execution of our respective duties in relation to it replete +with difficulty and embarrassment. It is in regard to such works and the +acquisition of additional territory that the practice obtained its first +footing. In most, if not all, other disputed questions of appropriation +the construction of the Constitution may be regarded as unsettled if the +right to apply money in the enumerated cases is placed on the ground of +usage. + +This subject has been one of much, and, I may add, painful, reflection +to me. It has bearings that are well calculated to exert a powerful +influence upon our hitherto prosperous system of government, and which, +on some accounts, may even excite despondency in the breast of an +American citizen. I will not detain you with professions of zeal in the +cause of internal improvements. If to be their friend is a virtue which +deserves commendation, our country is blessed with an abundance of it, +for I do not suppose there is an intelligent citizen who does not wish +to see them flourish. But though all are their friends, but few, I +trust, are unmindful of the means by which they should be promoted; none +certainly are so degenerate as to desire their success at the cost of +that sacred instrument with the preservation of which is indissolubly +bound our country's hopes. If different impressions are entertained in +any quarter; if it is expected that the people of this country, reckless +of their constitutional obligations, will prefer their local interest to +the principles of the Union, such expectations will in the end be +disappointed; or if it be not so, then indeed has the world but little +to hope from the example of free government. When an honest observance +of constitutional compacts can not be obtained from communities like +ours, it need not be anticipated elsewhere, and the cause in which there +has been so much martyrdom, and from which so much was expected by the +friends of liberty, may be abandoned, and the degrading truth that man +is unfit for self-government admitted. And this will be the case if +_expediency_ be made a rule of construction in interpreting the +Constitution. Power in no government could desire a better shield for +the insidious advances which it is ever ready to make upon the checks +that are designed to restrain its action. + +But I do not entertain such gloomy apprehensions. If it be the wish of +the people that the construction of roads and canals should be conducted +by the Federal Government, it is not only highly expedient, but +indispensably necessary, that a previous amendment of the Constitution, +delegating the necessary power and defining and restricting its exercise +with reference to the sovereignty of the States, should be made. Without +it nothing extensively useful can be effected. The right to exercise as +much jurisdiction as is necessary to preserve the works and to raise +funds by the collection of tolls to keep them in repair can not be +dispensed with. The Cumberland road should be an instructive admonition +of the consequences of acting without this right. Year after year +contests are witnessed, growing out of efforts to obtain the necessary +appropriations for completing and repairing this useful work. Whilst one +Congress may claim and exercise the power, a succeeding one may deny it; +and this fluctuation of opinion must be unavoidably fatal to any scheme +which from its extent would promote the interests and elevate the +character of the country. The experience of the past has shown that the +opinion of Congress is subject to such fluctuations. + +If it be the desire of the people that the agency of the Federal +Government should be confined to the appropriation of money in aid of +such undertakings, in virtue of State authorities, then the occasion, +the manner, and the extent of the appropriations should be made the +subject of constitutional regulation. This is the more necessary in +order that they may be equitable among the several States, promote +harmony between different sections of the Union and their +representatives, preserve other parts of the Constitution from being +undermined by the exercise of doubtful powers or the too great extension +of those which are not so, and protect the whole subject against the +deleterious influence of combinations to carry by concert measures +which, considered by themselves, might meet but little countenance. + +That a constitutional adjustment of this power upon equitable principles +is in the highest degree desirable can scarcely be doubted, nor can it +fail to be promoted by every sincere friend to the success of our +political institutions. In no government are appeals to the source of +power in cases of real doubt more suitable than in ours. No good motive +can be assigned for the exercise of power by the constituted +authorities, while those for whose benefit it is to be exercised have +not conferred it and may not be willing to confer it. It would seem to +me that an honest application of the conceded powers of the General +Government to the advancement of the common weal present a sufficient +scope to satisfy a reasonable ambition. The difficulty and supposed +impracticability of obtaining an amendment of the Constitution in this +respect is, I firmly believe, in a great degree unfounded. The time has +never yet been when the patriotism and intelligence of the American +people were not fully equal to the greatest exigency, and it never will +when the subject calling forth their interposition is plainly presented +to them. To do so with the questions involved in this bill, and to urge +them to an early, zealous, and full consideration of their deep +importance, is, in my estimation, among the highest of our duties. + +A supposed connection between appropriations for internal improvement +and the system of protecting duties, growing out of the anxieties of +those more immediately interested in their success, has given rise to +suggestions which it is proper I should notice on this occasion. My +opinions on these subjects have never been concealed from those who had +a right to know them. Those which I have entertained on the latter have +frequently placed me in opposition to individuals as well as communities +whose claims upon my friendship and gratitude are of the strongest +character, but I trust there has been nothing in my public life which +has exposed me to the suspicion of being thought capable of sacrificing +my views of duty to private considerations, however strong they may have +been or deep the regrets which they are capable of exciting. + +As long as the encouragement of domestic manufactures is directed to +national ends it shall receive from me a temperate but steady support. +There is no necessary connection between it and the system of +appropriations. On the contrary, it appears to me that the supposition +of their dependence upon each other is calculated to excite the +prejudices of the public against both. The former is sustained on the +grounds of its consistency with the letter and spirit of the +Constitution, of its origin being traced to the assent of all the +parties to the original compact, and of its having the support and +approbation of a majority of the people, on which account it is at least +entitled to a fair experiment. The suggestions to which I have alluded +refer to a forced continuance of the national debt by means of large +appropriations as a substitute for the security which the system derives +from the principles on which it has hitherto been sustained. Such a +course would certainly indicate either an unreasonable distrust of the +people or a consciousness that the system does not possess sufficient +soundness for its support if left to their voluntary choice and its own +merits. Those who suppose that any policy thus founded can be long +upheld in this country have looked upon its history with eyes very +different from mine. This policy, like every other, must abide the will +of the people, who will not be likely to allow any device, however +specious, to conceal its character and tendency. + +In presenting these opinions I have spoken with the freedom and candor +which I thought the occasion for their expression called for, and now +respectfully return the bill which has been under consideration for your +further deliberation and judgment. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +WASHINGTON, _May 31, 1830_. +_To the Senate of the United States_. + +GENTLEMEN: I have considered the bill proposing "to authorize a +subscription of stock in the Washington Turnpike Road Company," and now +return the same to the Senate, in which it originated. + +I am unable to approve this bill, and would respectfully refer the +Senate to my message to the House of Representatives on returning to +that House the bill "to authorize a subscription of stock in the +Maysville, Washington, Paris and Lexington Turnpike Road Company" for a +statement of my objections to the bill herewith returned. The message +referred to bears date on the 27th instant, and a printed copy of the +same is herewith transmitted, + +ANDREW JACKSON. + +(NOTE.--For reasons for the pocket vetoes of "An act for making +appropriations for building light-houses, light-boats, beacons, and +monuments, placing buoys, and for improving harbors and directing +surveys," and "An act to authorize a subscription for stock in the +Louisville and Portland Canal Company," see Second Annual Message, dated +December 6, 1830, p. 508.) + + + + +PROCLAMATIONS. + + +BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. +A PROCLAMATION. + +Whereas it has been represented that many uninformed or evil-disposed +persons have taken possession of or made a settlement on the public +lands of the United States within the district of lands subject to sale +at Huntsville, in the State of Alabama, which have not been previously +sold, ceded, or leased by the United States, or the claim to which lands +by such persons has not been previously recognized and confirmed by the +United States, which possession or settlement is, by the act of Congress +passed on the 3d day of March, 1807, expressly prohibited; and + +Whereas the due execution of the said act of Congress, as well as the +general interest, requires that such illegal practices should be +promptly repressed: + +Now, therefore, I, Andrew Jackson, President of the United States, have +thought proper to issue this my proclamation, commanding and strictly +enjoining all persons who have unlawfully taken possession of or made +any settlement on, or who now unlawfully occupy, any of the public lands +within the district of lands subject to sale at Huntsville, in the State +of Alabama, as aforesaid, forthwith to remove therefrom; and I do hereby +further command and enjoin the marshal, or officer acting as marshal, in +that State, where such possession shall have been taken or settlement +made, to remove, from and after the 1st day of September, 1830, all or +any of the said unlawful occupants; and to effect the said service I do +hereby authorize the employment of such military force as may become +necessary in pursuance of the provisions of the act of Congress +aforesaid, warning the offenders, moreover, that they will be prosecuted +in all such other ways as the law directs. + +In testimony whereof I have caused the seal of the United States of +America to be affixed to these presents, and signed the same with my +hand. + +(SEAL.) + +Done at the city of Washington, the 6th day of March, A.D. 1830, and of +the Independence of the United States of America the fifty-fourth. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + +By the President: +M. VAN BUREN, +_Secretary of State_. + + +(From original in General Land Office.) + +BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. + +In pursuance of law, I, Andrew Jackson, President of the United States +of America, do hereby declare and make known that public sales will be +held at the under-mentioned land offices, in the State of Louisiana, at +the periods designated, to wit: + +At the land office at New Orleans on the first Monday in November next, +for the disposal of such of the public lands within the limits of the +under-mentioned fractional townships as are not covered by private land +claims, viz: + +Fractional townships 6, 7, and 9 south, of range 12 east; fractional +townships 9 and 10 south, of range 13 east; fractional township 11 +south, of range 15 east; fractional township 12 south, of range 16 east; +fractional township 12 south, of ranges 20 and 21 east; fractional +township 13 south, of range 21 east. + +The above-described lands are adjacent to and binding on the Mississippi +River. + +At the land office at Ouachita, on the third Monday in November next, +for the disposal of the public lands within the limits of the +undermentioned townships and fractional townships, viz: + +Fractional townships 3 and 4 north, of range 1 east; fractional +townships 2 and 3 and townships 19 and 20 north, of range 2 east; +fractional townships 2 and 3 and townships 7, 13, 14, 19, and 20 north, +of range 3 east; fractional township 3 and townships 8, 9, 13, 14, and +19 north, of range 4 east; township 9 north, of ranges 5 and 6 east; +township 10 north, of range 7 east; townships 10, 11, and 12 north, of +range 8 east; also township 8 north, of range 9 east, and townships 8 +and 9 north, of range 10 east, including the Lake St. John and part of +Lake Concordia, near Natchez; township 21 and fractional township 22 +north, of range 12 east; fractional townships 21, 22, and 23, of range +13 east, in the vicinity of Lake Providence; fractional township 4 +north, of range 1 west; fractional townships 5 and 6 north, of range 2 +west; fractional townships 5 and 6 and township 7 north, of range 3 +west. + +At the land office at St. Helena on the third Monday in November next, +for the disposal of the public lands within the limits of the +undermentioned townships and fractional townships, viz: + +Township 4 and fractional townships 5 and 7, of range 1 west; townships +1 and 2 and fractional townships 3, 4, and 5, of range 2 west; townships +1 and 2 and fractional township 3, of range 3 west; fractional townships +1 and 2, of range 4 west; townships 4 and 5, of range 1 east; township +4, of range 2 east; township 4 and fractional townships 7 and 8, of +range 10 east; townships 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, and fractional township 8, of +range 11 east; townships 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and fractional township 8, of +range 12 east; townships 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, and 8 and fractional townships 4 +and 9, of range 13 east; fractional townships 1, 2, 3, and 10, of range +14 east; fractional township 10, of ranges 15, 16, and 17 east. + +The townships and fractional townships will be offered in the order in +which they are above designated, beginning with the lowest number of +section in each. + +The lands reserved by law for the use of schools or for other purposes +are to be excluded from sale. + +Given under my hand, at the city of Washington, this 5th day of June, +1830. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + +By the President: +GEORGE GRAHAM, +_Commissioner of the General Land Office_. + + +BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. + +A PROCLAMATION. + +Whereas by an act of the Congress of the United States of the 24th of +May, 1828, entitled "An act in addition to an act entitled 'An act +concerning discriminating duties of tonnage and impost,' and to equalize +the duties on Prussian vessels and their cargoes," it is provided that +upon satisfactory evidence being given to the President of the United +States by the government of any foreign nation that no discriminating +duties of tonnage or impost are imposed or levied in the ports of the +said nation upon vessels wholly belonging to citizens of the United +States, or upon the produce, manufactures, or merchandise imported in +the same from the United States or from any foreign country, the +President is thereby authorized to issue his proclamation declaring that +the foreign discriminating duties of tonnage and impost within the +United States are, and shall be, suspended and discontinued so far as +respects the vessels of the said foreign nation and the produce, +manufactures, or merchandise imported into the United States in the same +from the said foreign nation or from any other foreign country, the said +suspension to take effect from the time of such notification being given +to the President of the United States and to continue so long as the +reciprocal exemption of vessels belonging to citizens of the United +States, and their cargoes, as aforesaid, shall be continued, and no +longer; and + +Whereas satisfactory evidence has lately been received by me from His +Royal Highness the Grand Duke of Oldenburg, through an official +communication of F.A. Mensch, his consul in the United States, under +date of the 15th of September, 1830, that no discriminating duties of +tonnage or impost are imposed or levied in the ports of the Grand +Dukedom of Oldenburg upon vessels wholly belonging to citizens of the +United States or upon the produce, manufactures, or merchandise imported +in the same from the United States or from any other country: + +Now, therefore, I, Andrew Jackson, President of the United States of +America, do hereby declare and proclaim that so much of the several acts +imposing discriminating duties of tonnage and impost within the United +States are, and shall be, suspended and discontinued so far as respects +the vessels of the Grand Dukedom of Oldenburg and the produce, +manufactures, and merchandise imported into the United States in the +same from the Grand Dukedom of Oldenburg and from any other foreign +country whatever, the said suspension to take effect from the day above +mentioned and to continue thenceforward so long as the reciprocal +exemption of the vessels of the United States and the produce, +manufactures, and merchandise imported into the Grand Dukedom of +Oldenburg in the same, as aforesaid, shall be continued on the part of +the Government of His Royal Highness the Grand Duke of Oldenburg. + +Given under my hand, at the city of Washington, the 18th day of +September, A.D. 1830, and the fifty-fifth of the Independence of the +United States. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + +By the President: +M. VAN BUREN, _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 +29th day of May, 1830, it is provided that whenever the President of the +United States shall receive satisfactory evidence that the Government of +Great Britain will open the ports in its colonial possessions in the +West Indies, on the continent of South America, the Bahama Islands, the +Caicos, and the Bermuda or Somer Islands to the vessels of the United +States for an indefinite or for a limited term; that the vessels of the +United States, and their cargoes, on entering the colonial ports +aforesaid, shall not be subject to other or higher duties of tonnage or +impost or charges of any other description than would be imposed on +British vessels or their cargoes arriving in the said colonial +possessions from the United States; that the vessels of the United +States may import into the said colonial possessions from the United +States any article or articles which could be imported in a British +vessel into the said possessions from the United States; and that the +vessels of the United States may export from the British colonies +aforementioned, to any country whatever other than the dominions or +possessions of Great Britain, any article or articles that can be +exported therefrom in a British vessel to any country other than the +British dominions or possessions as aforesaid, leaving the commercial +intercourse of the United States with all other parts of the British +dominions or possessions on a footing not less favorable to the United +States than it now is--that then, and in such case, the President of the +United States shall be authorized, at any time before the next session +of Congress, to issue his proclamation declaring that he has received +such evidence, and that thereupon, and from the date of such +proclamation, the ports of the United States shall be opened +indefinitely or for a term fixed, as the case may be, to British vessels +coming from the said British colonial possessions, and their cargoes, +subject to no other or higher duty of tonnage or impost or charge of any +description whatever than would be levied on the vessels of the United +States or their cargoes arriving from the said British possessions; and +that it shall be lawful for the said British vessels to import into the +United States and to export therefrom any article or articles which may +be imported or exported in vessels of the United States; and that the +act entitled "An act concerning navigation," passed on the 18th day of +April, 1818, an act supplementary thereto, passed the 15th day of May, +1820, and an act entitled "An act to regulate the commercial intercourse +between the United States and certain British ports," passed on the 1st +day of March, 1823, shall in such case be suspended or absolutely +repealed, as the case may require; and + +Whereas by the said act it is further provided that whenever the ports +of the United States shall have been opened under the authority thereby +given, British vessels and their cargoes shall be admitted to an entry +in the ports of the United States from the islands, provinces, or +colonies of Great Britain on or near the North American continent and +north or east of the United States; and + +Whereas satisfactory evidence has been received by the President of the +United States that whenever he shall give effect to the provisions of +the act aforesaid the Government of Great Britain will open for an +indefinite period the ports in its colonial possessions in the West +Indies, on the continent of South America, the Bahama Islands, the +Caicos, and the Bermuda or Somer Islands to the vessels of the United +States, and their cargoes, upon the terms and according to the +requisitions of the aforesaid act of Congress: + +Now, therefore, I, Andrew Jackson, President of the United States of +America, do hereby declare and proclaim that such evidence has been +received by me, and that by the operation of the act of Congress passed +on the 29th day of May, 1830, the ports of the United States are from +the date of this proclamation open to British vessels coming from the +said British possessions, and their cargoes, upon the terms set forth in +the said act. The act entitled "An act concerning navigation," passed on +the 18th day of April, 1818, the act supplementary thereto, passed the +15th day of May, 1820, and the act entitled "An act to regulate the +commercial intercourse between the United States and certain British +ports," passed the 1st day of March, 1823, are absolutely repealed, and +British vessels and their cargoes are admitted to an entry in the ports +of the United States from the islands, provinces, and colonies of Great +Britain on or near the North American continent and north or east of the +United States. + +Given under my hand, at the city of Washington, the 5th day of October, +A.D. 1830, and the fifty-fifth of the Independence of the United States. + +ANDREW JACKSON. +By the President: +M. VAN BUREN, +_Secretary of State_. + + + + +EXECUTIVE ORDER. + + +ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE, +_Washington, June 12, 1830_. + +ORDER 29. + +The following general order has been received from the War Department. +It is published for the information of all concerned: + +DEPARTMENT OF WAR, +_Washington, June 12, 1830_. + +GENERAL ORDER. + +Congress at their last session passed an act repealing so much of the +military law as imposes the penalty of death on those who "in time of +peace" shall be found guilty of the crime of desertion. To give complete +effect to the benevolent designs of said act, and that the Army may be +correctly informed, it is hereby proclaimed that a free and full pardon +is extended to those who at the date of this order stand in the +character of deserters. All who are under arrest for this offense at the +different posts and garrisons will be forthwith liberated, and return to +their duty. Such as are roaming at large and those who are under +sentence of death are discharged, and are not again to be permitted to +enter the Army, nor at any time hereafter to be enlisted in the service +of the country. It is desirable and highly important that the ranks of +the Army should be composed of respectable, not degraded, materials. +Those who can be so lost to the obligations of a soldier as to abandon a +country which morally they are bound to defend, and which solemnly they +have sworn to serve, are unworthy, and should be confided in no more. By +order of the President of the United States: + +JOHN H. EATON, +_Secretary of War_. + +Communicated by order of Alexander Macomb, Major-General Commanding the +Army. + +R. JONES, _Adjutant-General._ + + + + +SECOND ANNUAL MESSAGE. + +_December 6, 1830_. +_Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +The pleasure I have in congratulating you upon your return to your +constitutional duties is much heightened by the satisfaction which the +condition of our beloved country at this period justly inspires. The +beneficent Author of All Good has granted to us during the present year +health, peace, and plenty, and numerous causes for joy in the wonderful +success which attends the progress of our free institutions. + +With a population unparalleled in its increase, and possessing a +character which combines the hardihood of enterprise with the +considerateness of wisdom, we see in every section of our happy country +a steady improvement in the means of social intercourse, and +correspondent effects upon the genius and laws of our extended Republic. + +The apparent exceptions to the harmony of the prospect are to be +referred rather to inevitable diversities in the various interests which +enter into the composition of so extensive a whole than to any want of +attachment to the Union--interests whose collisions serve only in the +end to foster the spirit of conciliation and patriotism so essential to +the preservation of that Union which I most devoutly hope is destined to +prove imperishable. + +In the midst of these blessings we have recently witnessed changes in +the condition of other nations which may in their consequences call for +the utmost vigilance, wisdom, and unanimity in our councils, and the +exercise of all the moderation and patriotism of our people. + +The important modifications of their Government, effected with so much +courage and wisdom by the people of France, afford a happy presage of +their future course, and have naturally elicited from the kindred +feelings of this nation that spontaneous and universal burst of applause +in which you have participated. In congratulating you, my +fellow-citizens, upon an event so auspicious to the dearest interests of +mankind I do no more than respond to the voice of my country, without +transcending in the slightest degree that salutary maxim of the +illustrious Washington which enjoins an abstinence from all interference +with the internal affairs of other nations. From a people exercising in +the most unlimited degree the right of self-government, and enjoying, as +derived from this proud characteristic, under the favor of Heaven, much +of the happiness with which they are blessed; a people who can point in +triumph to their free institutions and challenge comparison with the +fruits they bear, as well as with the moderation, intelligence, and +energy with which they are administered--from such a people the deepest +sympathy was to be expected in a struggle for the sacred principles of +liberty, conducted in a spirit every way worthy of the cause, and +crowned by a heroic moderation which has disarmed revolution of its +terrors. Notwithstanding the strong assurances which the man whom we so +sincerely love and justly admire has given to the world of the high +character of the present King of the French, and which if sustained to +the end will secure to him the proud appellation of Patriot King, it is +not in his success, but in that of the great principle which has borne +him to the throne--the paramount authority of the public will--that the +American people rejoice. + +I am happy to inform you that the anticipations which were indulged at +the date of my last communication on the subject of our foreign affairs +have been fully realized in several important particulars. + +An arrangement has been effected with Great Britain in relation to the +trade between the United States and her West India and North American +colonies which has settled a question that has for years afforded matter +for contention and almost uninterrupted discussion, and has been the +subject of no less than six negotiations, in a manner which promises +results highly favorable to the parties. + +The abstract right of Great Britain to monopolize the trade with her +colonies or to exclude us from a participation therein has never been +denied by the United States. But we have contended, and with reason, +that if at any time Great Britain may desire the productions of this +country as necessary to her colonies they must be received upon +principles of just reciprocity, and, further, that it is making an +invidious and unfriendly distinction to open her colonial ports to the +vessels of other nations and close them against those of the United +States. + +Antecedently to 1794 a portion of our productions was admitted into the +colonial islands of Great Britain by particular concessions, limited to +the term of one year, but renewed from year to year. In the +transportation of these productions, however, our vessels were not +allowed to engage, this being a privilege reserved to British shipping, +by which alone our produce could be taken to the islands and theirs +brought to us in return. From Newfoundland and her continental +possessions all our productions, as well as our vessels, were excluded, +with occasional relaxations, by which, in seasons of distress, the +former were admitted in British bottoms. + +By the treaty of 1794 she offered to concede to us for a limited time +the right of carrying to her West India possessions in our vessels not +exceeding 70 tons burthen, and upon the same terms as British vessels, +any productions of the United States which British vessels might import +therefrom. But this privilege was coupled with conditions which are +supposed to have led to its rejection by the Senate; that is, that +American vessels should land their return cargoes in the United States +only, and, moreover, that they should during the continuance of the +privilege be precluded from carrying molasses, sugar, coffee, cocoa, or +cotton either from those islands or from the United States to any other +part of the world. Great Britain readily consented to expunge this +article from the treaty, and subsequent attempts to arrange the terms of +the trade either by treaty stipulations or concerted legislation having +failed, it has been successively suspended and allowed according to the +varying legislation of the parties. + +The following are the prominent points which have in later years +separated the two Governments: Besides a restriction whereby all +importations into her colonies in American vessels are confined to our +own products carried hence, a restriction to which it does not appear +that we have ever objected, a leading object on the part of Great +Britain has been to prevent us from becoming the carriers of British +West India commodities to any other country than our own. On the part of +the United States it has been contended, first, that the subject should +be regulated by treaty stipulation in preference to separate +legislation; second, that our productions, when imported into the +colonies in question, should not be subject to higher duties than the +productions of the mother country or of her other colonial possessions, +and, third, that our vessels should be allowed to participate in the +circuitous trade between the United States and different parts of the +British dominions. + +The first point, after having been for a long time strenuously insisted +upon by Great Britain, was given up by the act of Parliament of July, +1825, all vessels suffered to trade with the colonies being permitted to +clear from thence with any articles which British vessels might export +and proceed to any part of the world, Great Britain and her dependencies +alone excepted. On our part each of the above points had in succession +been explicitly abandoned in negotiations preceding that of which the +result is now announced. + +This arrangement secures to the United States every advantage asked by +them, and which the state of the negotiation allowed us to insist upon. +The trade will be placed upon a footing decidedly more favorable to this +country than any on which it ever stood, and our commerce and navigation +will enjoy in the colonial ports of Great Britain every privilege +allowed to other nations. + +That the prosperity of the country so far as it depends on this trade +will be greatly promoted by the new arrangement there can be no doubt. +Independently of the more obvious advantages of an open and direct +intercourse, its establishment will be attended with other consequences +of a higher value. That which has been carried on since the mutual +interdict under all the expense and inconvenience unavoidably incident +to it would have been insupportably onerous had it not been in a great +degree lightened by concerted evasions in the mode of making the +trans-shipments at what are called the neutral ports. These indirections +are inconsistent with the dignity of nations that have so many motives +not only to cherish feelings of mutual friendship, but to maintain such +relations as will stimulate their respective citizens and subjects to +efforts of direct, open, and honorable competition only, and preserve +them from the influence of seductive and vitiating circumstances. + +When your preliminary interposition was asked at the close of the last +session, a copy of the instructions under which Mr. McLane has acted, +together with the communications which had at that time passed between +him and the British Government, was laid before you. Although there has +not been anything in the acts of the two Governments which requires +secrecy, it was thought most proper in the then state of the negotiation +to make that communication a confidential one. So soon, however, as the +evidence of execution on the part of Great Britain is received the whole +matter shall be laid before you, when it will be seen that the +apprehension which appears to have suggested one of the provisions of +the act passed at your last session, that the restoration of the trade +in question might be connected with other subjects and was sought to be +obtained at the sacrifice of the public interest in other particulars, +was wholly unfounded, and that the change which has taken place in the +views of the British Government has been induced by considerations as +honorable to both parties as I trust the result will prove beneficial. + +This desirable result was, it will be seen, greatly promoted by the +liberal and confiding provisions of the act of Congress of the last +session, by which our ports were upon the reception and annunciation by +the President of the required assurance on the part of Great Britain +forthwith opened to her vessels before the arrangement could be carried +into effect on her part, pursuing in this act of prospective legislation +a similar course to that adopted by Great Britain in abolishing, by her +act of Parliament in 1825, a restriction then existing and permitting +our vessels to clear from the colonies on their return voyages for any +foreign country whatever before British vessels had been relieved from +the restriction imposed by our law of returning directly from the United +States to the colonies, a restriction which she required and expected +that we should abolish. Upon each occasion a limited and temporary +advantage has been given to the opposite party, but an advantage of no +importance in comparison with the restoration of mutual confidence and +good feeling, and the ultimate establishment of the trade upon fair +principles. + +It gives me unfeigned pleasure to assure you that this negotiation has +been throughout characterized by the most frank and friendly spirit on +the part of Great Britain, and concluded in a manner strongly indicative +of a sincere desire to cultivate the best relations with the United +States. To reciprocate this disposition to the fullest extent of my +ability is a duty which I shall deem it a privilege to discharge. + +Although the result is itself the best commentary on the services +rendered to his country by our minister at the Court of St. James, it +would be doing violence to my feelings were I to dismiss the subject +without expressing the very high sense I entertain of the talent and +exertion which have been displayed by him on the occasion. + +The injury to the commerce of the United States resulting from the +exclusion of our vessels from the Black Sea and the previous footing of +mere sufferance upon which even the limited trade enjoyed by us with +Turkey has hitherto been placed have for a long time been a source of +much solicitude to this Government, and several endeavors have been made +to obtain a better state of things. Sensible of the importance of the +object, I felt it my duty to leave no proper means unemployed to acquire +for our flag the same privileges that are enjoyed by the principal +powers of Europe. Commissioners were consequently appointed to open a +negotiation with the Sublime Porte. Not long after the member of the +commission who went directly from the United States had sailed, the +account of the treaty of Adrianople, by which one of the objects in view +was supposed to be secured, reached this country. The Black Sea was +understood to be opened to us. Under the supposition that this was the +case, the additional facilities to be derived from the establishment of +commercial regulations with the Porte were deemed of sufficient +importance to require a prosecution of the negotiation as originally +contemplated. It was therefore persevered in, and resulted in a treaty, +which will be forthwith laid before the Senate. + +By its provisions a free passage is secured, without limitation of time, +to the vessels of the United States to and from the Black Sea, including +the navigation thereof, and our trade with Turkey is placed on the +footing of the most favored nation. The latter is an arrangement wholly +independent of the treaty of Adrianople, and the former derives much +value, not only from the increased security which under any +circumstances it would give to the right in question, but from the fact, +ascertained in the course of the negotiation, that by the construction +put upon that treaty by Turkey the article relating to the passage of +the Bosphorus is confined to nations having treaties with the Porte. The +most friendly feelings appear to be entertained by the Sultan, and an +enlightened disposition is evinced by him to foster the intercourse +between the two countries by the most liberal arrangements. This +disposition it will be our duty and interest to cherish. + +Our relations with Russia are of the most stable character. Respect for +that Empire and confidence in its friendship toward the United States +have been so long entertained on our part and so carefully cherished by +the present Emperor and his illustrious predecessor as to have become +incorporated with the public sentiment of the United States. No means +will be left unemployed on my part to promote these salutary feelings +and those improvements of which the commercial intercourse between the +two countries is susceptible, and which have derived increased +importance from our treaty with the Sublime Porte. + +I sincerely regret to inform you that our minister lately commissioned +to that Court, on whose distinguished talents and great experience in +public affairs I place great reliance, has been compelled by extreme +indisposition to exercise a privilege which, in consideration of the +extent to which his constitution had been impaired in the public +service, was committed to his discretion--of leaving temporarily his +post for the advantage of a more genial climate. + +If, as it is to be hoped, the improvement of his health should be such +as to justify him in doing so, he will repair to St. Petersburg and +resume the discharge of his official duties. I have received the most +satisfactory assurances that in the meantime the public interest in that +quarter will be preserved from prejudice by the intercourse which he +will continue through the secretary of legation with the Russian +cabinet. + +You are apprised, although the fact has not yet been officially +announced to the House of Representatives, that a treaty was in the +month of March last concluded between the United States and Denmark, by +which $650,000 are secured to our citizens as an indemnity for +spoliations upon their commerce in the years 1808, 1809, 1810, and 1811. +This treaty was sanctioned by the Senate at the close of its last +session, and it now becomes the duty of Congress to pass the necessary +laws for the organization of the board of commissioners to distribute +the indemnity among the claimants. It is an agreeable circumstance in +this adjustment that the terms are in conformity with the previously +ascertained views of the claimants themselves, thus removing all +pretense for a future agitation of the subject in any form. + +The negotiations in regard to such points in our foreign relations as +remain to be adjusted have been actively prosecuted during the recess. +Material advances have been made, which are of a character to promise +favorable results. Our country, by the blessing of God, is not in a +situation to invite aggression, and it will be our fault if she ever +becomes so. Sincerely desirous to cultivate the most liberal and +friendly relations with all; ever ready to fulfill our engagements with +scrupulous fidelity; limiting our demands upon others to mere justice; +holding ourselves ever ready to do unto them as we would wish to be done +by, and avoiding even the appearance of undue partiality to any nation, +it appears to me impossible that a simple and sincere application of our +principles to our foreign relations can fail to place them ultimately +upon the footing on which it is our wish they should rest. + +Of the points referred to, the most prominent are our claims upon France +for spoliations upon our commerce; similar claims upon Spain, together +with embarrassments in the commercial intercourse between the two +countries which ought to be removed; the conclusion of the treaty of +commerce and navigation with Mexico, which has been so long in suspense, +as well as the final settlement of limits between ourselves and that +Republic, and, finally, the arbitrament of the question between the +United States and Great Britain in regard to the northeastern boundary. + +The negotiation with France has been conducted by our minister with zeal +and ability, and in all respects to my entire satisfaction. Although the +prospect of a favorable termination was occasionally dimmed by counter +pretensions to which the United States could not assent, he yet had +strong hopes of being able to arrive at a satisfactory settlement with +the late Government. The negotiation has been renewed with the present +authorities, and, sensible of the general and lively confidence of our +citizens in the justice and magnanimity of regenerated France, I regret +the more not to have it in my power yet to announce the result so +confidently anticipated. No ground, however, inconsistent with this +expectation has yet been taken, and I do not allow myself to doubt that +justice will soon be done us. The amount of the claims, the length of +time they have remained unsatisfied, and their incontrovertible justice +make an earnest prosecution of them by this Government an urgent duty. +The illegality of the seizures and confiscations out of which they have +arisen is not disputed, and whatever distinctions may have heretofore +been set up in regard to the liability of the existing Government it is +quite clear that such considerations can not now be interposed. + +The commercial intercourse between the two countries is susceptible of +highly advantageous improvements, but the sense of this injury has had, +and must continue to have, a very unfavorable influence upon them. From +its satisfactory adjustment not only a firm and cordial friendship, but +a progressive development of all their relations, may be expected. It +is, therefore, my earnest hope that this old and vexatious subject of +difference may be speedily removed. + +I feel that my confidence in our appeal to the motives which should +govern a just and magnanimous nation is alike warranted by the character +of the French people and by the high voucher we possess for the enlarged +views and pure integrity of the Monarch who now presides over their +councils, and nothing shall be wanting on my part to meet any +manifestation of the spirit we anticipate in one of corresponding +frankness and liberality. + +The subjects of difference with Spain have been brought to the view of +that Government by our minister there with much force and propriety, and +the strongest assurances have been received of their early and favorable +consideration. + +The steps which remained to place the matter in controversy between +Great Britain and the United States fairly before the arbitrator have +all been taken in the same liberal and friendly spirit which +characterized those before announced. Recent events have doubtless +served to delay the decision, but our minister at the Court of the +distinguished arbitrator has been assured that it will be made within +the time contemplated by the treaty. + +I am particularly gratified in being able to state that a decidedly +favorable, and, as I hope, lasting, change has been effected in our +relations with the neighboring Republic of Mexico. The unfortunate and +unfounded suspicions in regard to our disposition which it became my +painful duty to advert to on a former occasion have been, I believe, +entirely removed, and the Government of Mexico has been made to +understand the real character of the wishes and views of this in regard +to that country. The consequence is the establishment of friendship and +mutual confidence. Such are the assurances I have received, and I see no +cause to doubt their sincerity. + +I had reason to expect the conclusion of a commercial treaty with Mexico +in season for communication on the present occasion. Circumstances which +are not explained, but which I am persuaded are not the result of an +indisposition on her part to enter into it, have produced the delay. + +There was reason to fear in the course of the last summer that the +harmony of our relations might be disturbed by the acts of certain +claimants, under Mexican grants, of territory which had hitherto been +under our jurisdiction. The cooperation of the representative of Mexico +near this Government was asked on the occasion and was readily afforded. +Instructions and advice have been given to the governor of Arkansas and +the officers in command in the adjoining Mexican State by which it is +hoped the quiet of that frontier will be preserved until a final +settlement of the dividing line shall have removed all ground of +controversy. + +The exchange of ratifications of the treaty concluded last year with +Austria has not yet taken place. The delay has been occasioned by the +nonarrival of the ratification of that Government within the time +prescribed by the treaty. Renewed authority has been asked for by the +representative of Austria, and in the meantime the rapidly increasing +trade and navigation between the two countries have been placed upon the +most liberal footing of our navigation acts. + +Several alleged depredations have been recently committed on our +commerce by the national vessels of Portugal. They have been made the +subject of immediate remonstrance and reclamation. I am not yet +possessed of sufficient information to express a definitive opinion of +their character, but expect soon to receive it. No proper means shall be +omitted to obtain for our citizens all the redress to which they may +appear to be entitled. + +Almost at the moment of the adjournment of your last session two +bills--the one entitled "An act for making appropriations for building +light-houses, light-boats, beacons, and monuments, placing buoys, and +for improving harbors and directing surveys," and the other "An act to +authorize a subscription for stock in the Louisville and Portland Canal +Company"--were submitted for my approval. It was not possible within the +time allowed me before the close of the session to give to these bills +the consideration which was due to their character and importance, and I +was compelled to retain them for that purpose. I now avail myself of +this early opportunity to return them to the Houses in which they +respectively originated with the reasons which, after mature +deliberation, compel me to withhold my approval. + +The practice of defraying out of the Treasury of the United States the +expenses incurred by the establishment and support of light-houses, +beacons, buoys, and public piers within the bays, inlets, harbors, and +ports of the United States, to render the navigation thereof safe and +easy, is coeval with the adoption of the Constitution, and has been +continued without interruption or dispute. + +As our foreign commerce increased and was extended into the interior of +the country by the establishment of ports of entry and delivery upon our +navigable rivers the sphere of those expenditures received a +corresponding enlargement. Light-houses, beacons, buoys, public piers, +and the removal of sand bars, sawyers, and other partial or temporary +impediments in the navigable rivers and harbors which were embraced in +the revenue districts from time to time established by law were +authorized upon the same principle and the expense defrayed in the same +manner. That these expenses have at times been extravagant and +disproportionate is very probable. The circumstances under which they +are incurred are well calculated to lead to such a result unless their +application is subjected to the closest scrutiny. The local advantages +arising from the disbursement of public money too frequently, it is to +be feared, invite appropriations for objects of this character that are +neither necessary nor useful. + +The number of light-house keepers is already very large, and the bill +before me proposes to add to it fifty-one more of various descriptions. +From representations upon the subject which are understood to be +entitled to respect I am induced to believe that there has not only been +great improvidence in the past expenditures of the Government upon these +objects, but that the security of navigation has in some instances been +diminished by the multiplication of light-houses and consequent change +of lights upon the coast. It is in this as in other respects our duty to +avoid all unnecessary expense, as well as every increase of patronage +not called for by the public service. But in the discharge of that duty +in this particular it must not be forgotten that in relation to our +foreign commerce the burden and benefit of protecting and accommodating +it necessarily go together, and must do so as long as the public revenue +is drawn from the people through the custom-house. It is indisputable +that whatever gives facility and security to navigation cheapens +imports, and all who consume them are alike interested in whatever +produces this effect. If they consume, they ought, as they now do, to +pay; otherwise they do not pay. The consumer in the most inland State +derives the same advantage from every necessary and prudent expenditure +for the facility and security of our foreign commerce and navigation +that he does who resides in a maritime State. Local expenditures have +not of themselves a corresponding operation. + +From a bill making _direct_ appropriations for such objects I should not +have withheld my assent. The one now returned does so in several +particulars, but it also contains appropriations for surveys of a local +character, which I can not approve. It gives me satisfaction to find +that no serious inconvenience has arisen from withholding my approval +from this bill; nor will it, I trust, be cause of regret that an +opportunity will be thereby afforded for Congress to review its +provisions under circumstances better calculated for full investigation +than those under which it was passed. + +In speaking of direct appropriations I mean not to include a practice +which has obtained to some extent, and to which I have in one instance, +in a different capacity, given my assent--that of subscribing to the +stock of private associations. Positive experience and a more thorough +consideration of the subject have convinced me of the impropriety as +well as inexpediency of such investments. All improvements effected by +the funds of the nation for general use should be open to the enjoyment +of all our fellow-citizens, exempt from the payment of tolls or any +imposition of that character. The practice of thus mingling the concerns +of the Government with those of the States or of individuals is +inconsistent with the object of its institution and highly impolitic. +The successful operation of the federal system can only be preserved by +confining it to the few and simple, but yet important, objects for which +it was designed. + +A different practice, if allowed to progress, would ultimately change +the character of this Government by consolidating into one the General +and State Governments, which were intended to be kept forever distinct. +I can not perceive how bills authorizing such subscriptions can be +otherwise regarded than as bills for revenue, and consequently subject +to the rule in that respect prescribed by the Constitution. If the +interest of the Government in private companies is subordinate to that +of individuals, the management and control of a portion of the public +funds is delegated to an authority unknown to the Constitution and +beyond the supervision of our constituents; if superior, its officers +and agents will be constantly exposed to imputations of favoritism and +oppression. Direct prejudice to the public interest or an alienation of +the affections and respect of portions of the people may, therefore, in +addition to the general discredit resulting to the Government from +embarking with its constituents in pecuniary stipulations, be looked for +as the probable fruit of such associations. It is no answer to this +objection to say that the extent of consequences like these can not be +great from a limited and small number of investments, because experience +in other matters teaches us--and we are not at liberty to disregard its +admonitions--that unless an entire stop be put to them it will soon be +impossible to prevent their accumulation until they are spread over the +whole country and made to embrace many of the private and appropriate +concerns of individuals. + +The power which the General Government would acquire within the several +States by becoming the principal stockholder in corporations, +controlling every canal and each 60 or 100 miles of every important +road, and giving a proportionate vote in all their elections, is almost +inconceivable, and in my view dangerous to the liberties of the people. + +This mode of aiding such works is also in its nature deceptive, and in +many cases conducive to improvidence in the administration of the +national funds. Appropriations will be obtained with much greater +facility and granted with less security to the public interest when the +measure is thus disguised than when definite and direct expenditures of +money are asked for. The interests of the nation would doubtless be +better served by avoiding all such indirect modes of aiding particular +objects. In a government like ours more especially should all public +acts be, as far as practicable, simple, undisguised, and intelligible, +that they may become fit subjects for the approbation or animadversion +of the people. The bill authorizing a subscription to the Louisville and +Portland Canal affords a striking illustration of the difficulty of +withholding additional appropriations for the same object when the first +erroneous step has been taken by instituting a partnership between the +Government and private companies. It proposes a third subscription on +the part of the United States, when each preceding one was at the time +regarded as the extent of the aid which Government was to render to that +work; and the accompanying bill for light-houses, etc., contains an +appropriation for a survey of the bed of the river, with a view to its +improvement by removing the obstruction which the canal is designed to +avoid. This improvement, if successful, would afford a free passage of +the river and render the canal entirely useless. To such improvidence is +the course of legislation subject in relation to internal improvements +on local matters, even with the best intentions on the part of Congress. + +Although the motives which have influenced me in this matter may be +already sufficiently stated, I am, nevertheless, induced by its +importance to add a few observations of a general character. + +In my objections to the bills authorizing subscriptions to the Maysville +and Rockville road companies I expressed my views fully in regard to the +power of Congress to construct roads and canals within a State or to +appropriate money for improvements of a local character. I at the same +time intimated my belief that the right to make appropriations for such +as were of a national character had been so generally acted upon and so +long acquiesced in by the Federal and State Governments and the +constituents of each as to justify its exercise on the ground of +continued and uninterrupted usage, but that it was, nevertheless, highly +expedient that appropriations even of that character should, with the +exception made at the time, be deferred until the national debt is paid, +and that in the meanwhile some general rule for the action of the +Government in that respect ought to be established. + +These suggestions were not necessary to the decision of the question +then before me, and were, I readily admit, intended to awake the +attention and draw forth the opinions and observations of our +constituents upon a subject of the highest importance to their +interests, and one destined to exert a powerful influence upon the +future operations of our political system. I know of no tribunal to +which a public man in this country, in a case of doubt and difficulty, +can appeal with greater advantage or more propriety than the judgment of +the people; and although I must necessarily in the discharge of my +official duties be governed by the dictates of my own judgment, I have +no desire to conceal my anxious wish to conform as far as I can to the +views of those for whom I act. + +All irregular expressions of public opinion are of necessity attended +with some doubt as to their accuracy, but making full allowances on that +account I can not, I think, deceive myself in believing that the acts +referred to, as well as the suggestions which I allowed myself to make +in relation to their bearing upon the future operations of the +Government, have been approved by the great body of the people. That +those whose immediate pecuniary interests are to be affected by proposed +expenditures should shrink from the application of a rule which prefers +their more general and remote interests to those which are personal and +immediate is to be expected. But even such objections must from the +nature of our population be but temporary in their duration, and if it +were otherwise our course should be the same, for the time is yet, I +hope, far distant when those intrusted with power to be exercised for +the good of the whole will consider it either honest or wise to purchase +local favors at the sacrifice of principle and general good. + +So understanding public sentiment, and thoroughly satisfied that the +best interests of our common country imperiously require that the course +which I have recommended in this regard should be adopted, I have, upon +the most mature consideration, determined to pursue it. + +It is due to candor, as well as to my own feelings, that I should +express the reluctance and anxiety which I must at all times experience +in exercising the undoubted right of the Executive to withhold his +assent from bills on other grounds than their constitutionality. That +this right should not be exercised on slight occasions all will admit. +It is only in matters of deep interest, when the principle involved may +be justly regarded as next in importance to infractions of the +Constitution itself, that such a step can be expected to meet with the +approbation of the people. Such an occasion do I conscientiously believe +the present to be. In the discharge of this delicate and highly +responsible duty I am sustained by the reflection that the exercise of +this power has been deemed consistent with the obligation of official +duty by several of my predecessors, and by the persuasion, too, that +whatever liberal institutions may have to fear from the encroachments of +Executive power, which has been everywhere the cause of so much strife +and bloody contention, but little danger is to be apprehended from a +precedent by which that authority denies to itself the exercise of +powers that bring in their train influence and patronage of great +extent, and thus excludes the operation of personal interests, +everywhere the bane of official trust. I derive, too, no small degree of +satisfaction from the reflection that if I have mistaken the interests +and wishes of the people the Constitution affords the means of soon +redressing the error by selecting for the place their favor has bestowed +upon me a citizen whose opinions may accord with their own. I trust, in +the meantime, the interests of the nation will be saved from prejudice +by a rigid application of that portion of the public funds which might +otherwise be applied to different objects to that highest of all our +obligations, the payment of the public debt, and an opportunity be +afforded for the adoption of some better rule for the operations of the +Government in this matter than any which has hitherto been acted upon. + +Profoundly impressed with the importance of the subject, not merely as +relates to the general prosperity of the country, but to the safety of +the federal system, I can not avoid repeating my earnest hope that all +good citizens who take a proper interest in the success and harmony of +our admirable political institutions, and who are incapable of desiring +to convert an opposite state of things into means for the gratification +of personal ambition, will, laying aside minor considerations and +discarding local prejudices, unite their honest exertions to establish +some fixed general principle which shall be calculated to effect the +greatest extent of public good in regard to the subject of internal +improvement, and afford the least ground for sectional discontent. + +The general grounds of my objection to local appropriations have been +heretofore expressed, and I shall endeavor to avoid a repetition of what +has been already urged--the importance of sustaining the State +sovereignties as far as is consistent with the rightful action of the +Federal Government, and of preserving the greatest attainable harmony +between them. I will now only add an expression of my conviction--a +conviction which every day's experience serves to confirm--that the +political creed which inculcates the pursuit of those great objects as a +paramount duty is the true faith, and one to which we are mainly +indebted for the present success of the entire system, and to which we +must alone look for its future stability. + +That there are diversities in the interests of the different States +which compose this extensive Confederacy must be admitted. Those +diversities arising from situation, climate, population, and pursuits +are doubtless, as it is natural they should be, greatly exaggerated by +jealousies and that spirit of rivalry so inseparable from neighboring +communities. These circumstances make it the duty of those who are +intrusted with the management of its affairs to neutralize their effects +as far as practicable by making the beneficial operation of the Federal +Government as equal and equitable among the several States as can be +done consistently with the great ends of its institution. + +It is only necessary to refer to undoubted facts to see how far the past +acts of the Government upon the subject under consideration have fallen +short of this object. The expenditures heretofore made for internal +improvements amount to upward of $5,000,000, and have been distributed +in very unequal proportions amongst the States. The estimated expense of +works of which surveys have been made, together with that of others +projected and partially surveyed, amounts to more than $96,000,000. + +That such improvements, on account of particular circumstances, may be +more advantageously and beneficially made in some States than in others +is doubtless true, but that they are of a character which should prevent +an equitable distribution of the funds amongst the several States is not +to be conceded. The want of this equitable distribution can not fail to +prove a prolific source of irritation among the States. + +We have it constantly before our eyes that professions of superior zeal +in the cause of internal improvement and a disposition to lavish the +public funds upon objects of this character are daily and earnestly put +forth by aspirants to power as constituting the highest claims to the +confidence of the people. Would it be strange, under such circumstances, +and in times of great excitement, that grants of this description should +find their motives in objects which may not accord with the public good? +Those who have not had occasion to see and regret the indication of a +sinister influence in these matters in past times have been more +fortunate than myself in their observation of the course of public +affairs. If to these evils be added the combinations and angry +contentions to which such a course of things gives rise, with their +baleful influences upon the legislation of Congress touching the leading +and appropriate duties of the Federal Government, it was but doing +justice to the character of our people to expect the severe condemnation +of the past which the recent exhibitions of public sentiment has +evinced. + +Nothing short of a radical change in the action of the Government upon +the subject can, in my opinion, remedy the evil. If, as it would be +natural to expect, the States which have been least favored in past +appropriations should insist on being redressed in those hereafter to be +made, at the expense of the States which have so largely and +disproportionately participated, we have, as matters now stand, but +little security that the attempt would do more than change the +inequality from one quarter to another. + +Thus viewing the subject, I have heretofore felt it my duty to recommend +the adoption of some plan for the distribution of the surplus funds, +which may at any time remain in the Treasury after the national debt +shall have been paid, among the States, in proportion to the number of +their Representatives, to be applied by them to objects of internal +improvement. + +Although this plan has met with favor in some portions of the Union, it +has also elicited objections which merit deliberate consideration. A +brief notice of these objections here will not, therefore, I trust, be +regarded as out of place. + +They rest, as far as they have come to my knowledge, on the following +grounds: First, an objection to the ratio of distribution; second, an +apprehension that the existence of such a regulation would produce +improvident and oppressive taxation to raise the funds for distribution; +third, that the mode proposed would lead to the construction of works of +a local nature, to the exclusion of such as are general and as would +consequently be of a more useful character; and, last, that it would +create a discreditable and injurious dependence on the part of the State +governments upon the Federal power. Of those who object to the ratio of +representation as the basis of distribution, some insist that the +importations of the respective States would constitute one that would be +more equitable; and others again, that the extent of their respective +territories would furnish a standard which would be more expedient and +sufficiently equitable. The ratio of representation presented itself to +my mind, and it still does, as one of obvious equity, because of its +being the ratio of contribution, whether the funds to be distributed be +derived from the customs or from direct taxation. It does not follow, +however, that its adoption is indispensable to the establishment of the +system proposed. There may be considerations appertaining to the subject +which would render a departure, to some extent, from the rule of +contribution proper. Nor is it absolutely necessary that the basis of +distribution be confined to one ground. It may, if in the judgment of +those whose right it is to fix it be deemed politic and just to give +it that character, have regard to several. + +In my first message I stated it to be my opinion that "it is not +probable that any adjustment of the tariff upon principles satisfactory +to the people of the Union will until a remote period, if ever, leave +the Government without a considerable surplus in the Treasury beyond +what may be required for its current service." I have had no cause to +change that opinion, but much to confirm it. Should these expectations +be realized, a suitable fund would thus be produced for the plan under +consideration to operate upon, and if there be no such fund its adoption +will, in my opinion, work no injury to any interest; for I can not +assent to the justness of the apprehension that the establishment of the +proposed system would tend to the encouragement of improvident +legislation of the character supposed. Whatever the proper authority in +the exercise of constitutional power shall at any time hereafter decide +to be for the general good will in that as in other respects deserve and +receive the acquiescence and support of the whole country, and we have +ample security that every abuse of power in that regard by agents of the +people will receive a speedy and effectual corrective at their hands. +The views which I take of the future, founded on the obvious and +increasing improvement of all classes of our fellow-citizens in +intelligence and in public and private virtue, leave me without much +apprehension on that head. + +I do not doubt that those who come after us will be as much alive as we +are to the obligation upon all the trustees of political power to exempt +those for whom they act from all unnecessary burthens, and as sensible +of the great truth that the resources of the nation beyond those +required for immediate and necessary purposes of Government can nowhere +be so well deposited as in the pockets of the people. + +It may sometimes happen that the interests of particular States would +not be deemed to coincide with the general interest in relation to +improvements within such States. But if the danger to be apprehended +from this source is sufficient to require it, a discretion might be +reserved to Congress to direct to such improvements of a general +character as the States concerned might not be disposed to unite in, the +application of the quotas of those States, under the restriction of +confining to each State the expenditure of its appropriate quota. It +may, however, be assumed as a safe general rule that such improvements +as serve to increase the prosperity of the respective States in which +they are made, by giving new facilities to trade, and thereby augmenting +the wealth and comfort of their inhabitants, constitute the surest mode +of conferring permanent and substantial advantages upon the whole. The +strength as well as the true glory of the Confederacy is founded on the +prosperity and power of the several independent sovereignties of which +it is composed and the certainty with which they can be brought into +successful active cooperation through the agency of the Federal +Government. + +It is, moreover, within the knowledge of such as are at all conversant +with public affairs that schemes of internal improvement have from time +to time been proposed which, from their extent and seeming magnificence, +were readily regarded as of national concernment, but which upon fuller +consideration and further experience would now be rejected with great +unanimity. + +That the plan under consideration would derive important advantages from +its certainty, and that the moneys set apart for these purposes would be +more judiciously applied and economically expended under the direction +of the State legislatures, in which every part of each State is +immediately represented, can not, I think, be doubted. In the new States +particularly, where a comparatively small population is scattered over +an extensive surface, and the representation in Congress consequently +very limited, it is natural to expect that the appropriations made by +the Federal Government would be more likely to be expended in the +vicinity of those members through whose immediate agency they were +obtained than if the funds were placed under the control of the +legislature, in which every county of the State has its own +representative. This supposition does not necessarily impugn the motives +of such Congressional representatives, nor is it so intended. We are all +sensible of the bias to which the strongest minds and purest hearts are, +under such circumstances, liable. In respect to the last objection--its +probable effect upon the dignity and independence of State +governments--it appears to me only necessary to state the case as it is, +and as it would be if the measure proposed were adopted, to show that +the operation is most likely to be the very reverse of that which the +objection supposes. + +In the one case the State would receive its quota of the national +revenue for domestic use upon a fixed principle as a matter of right, +and from a fund to the creation of which it had itself contributed its +fair proportion. Surely there could be nothing derogatory in that. As +matters now stand the States themselves, in their sovereign character, +are not unfrequently petitioners at the bar of the Federal Legislature +for such allowances out of the National Treasury as it may comport with +their pleasure or sense of duty to bestow upon them. It can not require +argument to prove which of the two courses is most compatible with the +efficiency or respectability of the State governments. + +But all these are matters for discussion and dispassionate +consideration. That the desired adjustment would be attended with +difficulty affords no reason why it should not be attempted. The +effective operation of such motives would have prevented the adoption of +the Constitution under which we have so long lived and under the benign +influence of which our beloved country has so signally prospered. The +framers of that sacred instrument had greater difficulties to overcome, +and they did overcome them. The patriotism of the people, directed by a +deep conviction of the importance of the Union, produced mutual +concession and reciprocal forbearance. Strict right was merged in a +spirit of compromise, and the result has consecrated their disinterested +devotion to the general weal. Unless the American people have +degenerated, the same result can be again effected whenever experience +points out the necessity of a resort to the same means to uphold the +fabric which their fathers have reared. It is beyond the power of man to +make a system of government like ours or any other operate with precise +equality upon States situated like those which compose this Confederacy; +nor is inequality always injustice. Every State can not expect to shape +the measures of the General Government to suit its own particular +interests. The causes which prevent it are seated in the nature of +things, and can not be entirely counteracted by human means. Mutual +forbearance becomes, therefore, a duty obligatory upon all, and we may, +I am confident, count upon a cheerful compliance with this high +injunction on the part of our constituents. It is not to be supposed +that they will object to make such comparatively inconsiderable +sacrifices for the preservation of rights and privileges which other +less favored portions of the world have in vain waded through seas of +blood to acquire. + +Our course is a safe one if it be but faithfully adhered to. +Acquiescence in the constitutionally expressed will of the majority, and +the exercise of that will in a spirit of moderation, justice, and +brotherly kindness, will constitute a cement which would forever +preserve our Union. Those who cherish and inculcate sentiments like +these render a most essential service to their country, while those who +seek to weaken their influence are, however conscientious and +praiseworthy their intentions, in effect its worst enemies. + +If the intelligence and influence of the country, instead of laboring to +foment sectional prejudices, to be made subservient to party warfare, +were in good faith applied to the eradication of causes of local +discontent, by the improvement of our institutions and by facilitating +their adaptation to the condition of the times, this task would prove +one of less difficulty. May we not hope that the obvious interests of +our common country and the dictates of an enlightened patriotism will in +the end lead the public mind in that direction? + +After all, the nature of the subject does not admit of a plan wholly +free from objection. That which has for some time been in operation is, +perhaps, the worst that could exist, and every advance that can be made +in its improvement is a matter eminently worthy of your most deliberate +attention. + +It is very possible that one better calculated to effect the objects in +view may yet be devised. If so, it is to be hoped that those who +disapprove the past and dissent from what is proposed for the future +will feel it their duty to direct their attention to it, as they must be +sensible that unless some fixed rule for the action of the Federal +Government in this respect is established the course now attempted to be +arrested will be again resorted to. Any mode which is calculated to give +the greatest degree of effect and harmony to our legislation upon the +subject, which shall best serve to keep the movements of the Federal +Government within the sphere intended by those who modeled and those who +adopted it, which shall lead to the extinguishment of the national debt +in the shortest period and impose the lightest burthens upon our +constituents, shall receive from me a cordial and firm support. + +Among the objects of great national concern I can not omit to press +again upon your attention that part of the Constitution which regulates +the election of President and Vice-President. The necessity for its +amendment is made so clear to my mind by observation of its evils and by +the many able discussions which they have elicited on the floor of +Congress and elsewhere that I should be wanting to my duty were I to +withhold another expression of my deep solicitude on the subject. Our +system fortunately contemplates a recurrence to first principles, +differing in this respect from all that have preceded it, and securing +it, I trust, equally against the decay and the commotions which have +marked the progress of other governments. Our fellow-citizens, too, who +in proportion to their love of liberty keep a steady eye upon the means +of sustaining it, do not require to be reminded of the duty they owe to +themselves to remedy all essential defects in so vital a part of their +system. While they are sensible that every evil attendant upon its +operation is not necessarily indicative of a bad organization, but may +proceed from temporary causes, yet the habitual presence, or even a +single instance, of evils which can be clearly traced to an organic +defect will not, I trust, be overlooked through a too scrupulous +veneration for the work of their ancestors. The Constitution was an +experiment committed to the virtue and intelligence of the great mass of +our countrymen, in whose ranks the framers of it themselves were to +perform the part of patriotic observation and scrutiny, and if they have +passed from the stage of existence with an increased confidence in its +general adaptation to our condition we should learn from authority so +high the duty of fortifying the points in it which time proves to be +exposed rather than be deterred from approaching them by the suggestions +of fear or the dictates of misplaced reverence. + +A provision which does not secure to the people a direct choice of their +Chief Magistrate, but has a tendency to defeat their will, presented to +my mind such an inconsistency with the general spirit of our +institutions that I was induced to suggest for your consideration the +substitute which appeared to me at the same time the most likely to +correct the evil and to meet the views of our constituents. The most +mature reflection since has added strength to the belief that the best +interests of our country require the speedy adoption of some plan +calculated to effect this end. A contingency which sometimes places it +in the power of a single member of the House of Representatives to +decide an election of so high and solemn a character is unjust to the +people, and becomes when it occurs a source of embarrassment to the +individuals thus brought into power and a cause of distrust of the +representative body. Liable as the Confederacy is, from its great +extent, to parties founded upon sectional interests, and to a +corresponding multiplication of candidates for the Presidency, the +tendency of the constitutional reference to the House of Representatives +is to devolve the election upon that body in almost every instance, and, +whatever choice may then be made among the candidates thus presented to +them, to swell the influence of particular interests to a degree +inconsistent with the general good. The consequences of this feature of +the Constitution appear far more threatening to the peace and integrity +of the Union than any which I can conceive as likely to result from the +simple legislative action of the Federal Government. + +It was a leading object with the framers of the Constitution to keep as +separate as possible the action of the legislative and executive +branches of the Government. To secure this object nothing is more +essential than to preserve the former from all temptations of private +interest, and therefore so to direct the patronage of the latter as not +to permit such temptations to be offered. Experience abundantly +demonstrates that every precaution in this respect is a valuable +safeguard of liberty, and one which my reflections upon the tendencies +of our system incline me to think should be made still stronger. It was +for this reason that, in connection with an amendment of the +Constitution removing all intermediate agency in the choice of the +President, I recommended some restrictions upon the reeligibility of +that officer and upon the tenure of offices generally. The reason still +exists, and I renew the recommendation with an increased confidence that +its adoption will strengthen those checks by which the Constitution +designed to secure the independence of each department of the Government +and promote the healthful and equitable administration of all the trusts +which it has created. The agent most likely to contravene this design of +the Constitution is the Chief Magistrate. In order, particularly, that +his appointment may as far as possible be placed beyond the reach of any +improper influences; in order that he may approach the solemn +responsibilities of the highest office in the gift of a free people +uncommitted to any other course than the strict line of constitutional +duty, and that the securities for this independence may be rendered as +strong as the nature of power and the weakness of its possessor will +admit, I can not too earnestly invite your attention to the propriety of +promoting such an amendment of the Constitution as will render him +ineligible after one term of service. + +It gives me pleasure to announce to Congress that the benevolent policy +of the Government, steadily pursued for nearly thirty years, in relation +to the removal of the Indians beyond the white settlements is +approaching to a happy consummation. Two important tribes have accepted +the provision made for their removal at the last session of Congress, +and it is believed that their example will induce the remaining tribes +also to seek the same obvious advantages. + +The consequences of a speedy removal will be important to the United +States, to individual States, and to the Indians themselves. The +pecuniary advantages which it promises to the Government are the least +of its recommendations. It puts an end to all possible danger of +collision between the authorities of the General and State Governments +on account of the Indians. It will place a dense and civilized +population in large tracts of country now occupied by a few savage +hunters. By opening the whole territory between Tennessee on the north +and Louisiana on the south to the settlement of the whites it will +incalculably strengthen the southwestern frontier and render the +adjacent States strong enough to repel future invasions without remote +aid. It will relieve the whole State of Mississippi and the western part +of Alabama of Indian occupancy, and enable those States to advance +rapidly in population, wealth, and power. It will separate the Indians +from immediate contact with settlements of whites; free them from the +power of the States; enable them to pursue happiness in their own way +and under their own rude institutions; will retard the progress of +decay, which is lessening their numbers, and perhaps cause them +gradually, under the protection of the Government and through the +influence of good counsels, to cast off their savage habits and become +an interesting, civilized, and Christian community. These consequences, +some of them so certain and the rest so probable, make the complete +execution of the plan sanctioned by Congress at their last session an +object of much solicitude. + +Toward the aborigines of the country no one can indulge a more friendly +feeling than myself, or would go further in attempting to reclaim them +from their wandering habits and make them a happy, prosperous people. I +have endeavored to impress upon them my own solemn convictions of the +duties and powers of the General Government in relation to the State +authorities. For the justice of the laws passed by the States within the +scope of their reserved powers they are not responsible to this +Government. As individuals we may entertain and express our opinions of +their acts, but as a Government we have as little right to control them +as we have to prescribe laws for other nations. + +With a full understanding of the subject, the Choctaw and the Chickasaw +tribes have with great unanimity determined to avail themselves of the +liberal offers presented by the act of Congress, and have agreed to +remove beyond the Mississippi River. Treaties have been made with them, +which in due season will be submitted for consideration. In negotiating +these treaties they were made to understand their true condition, and +they have preferred maintaining their independence in the Western +forests to submitting to the laws of the States in which they now +reside. These treaties, being probably the last which will ever be made +with them, are characterized by great liberality on the part of the +Government. They give the Indians a liberal sum in consideration of +their removal, and comfortable subsistence on their arrival at their new +homes. If it be their real interest to maintain a separate existence, +they will there be at liberty to do so without the inconveniences and +vexations to which they would unavoidably have been subject in Alabama +and Mississippi. + +Humanity has often wept over the fate of the aborigines of this country, +and Philanthropy has been long busily employed in devising means to +avert it, but its progress has never for a moment been arrested, and one +by one have many powerful tribes disappeared from the earth. To follow +to the tomb the last of his race and to tread on the graves of extinct +nations excite melancholy reflections. But true philanthropy reconciles +the mind to these vicissitudes as it does to the extinction of one +generation to make room for another. In the monuments and fortresses of +an unknown people, spread over the extensive regions of the West, we +behold the memorials of a once powerful race, which was exterminated or +has disappeared to make room for the existing savage tribes. Nor is +there anything in this which, upon a comprehensive view of the general +interests of the human race, is to be regretted. Philanthropy could not +wish to see this continent restored to the condition in which it was +found by our forefathers. What good man would prefer a country covered +with forests and ranged by a few thousand savages to our extensive +Republic, studded with cities, towns, and prosperous farms, embellished +with all the improvements which art can devise or industry execute, +occupied by more than 12,000,000 happy people, and filled with all the +blessings of liberty, civilization, and religion? + +The present policy of the Government is but a continuation of the same +progressive change by a milder process. The tribes which occupied the +countries now constituting the Eastern States were annihilated or have +melted away to make room for the whites. The waves of population and +civilization are rolling to the westward, and we now propose to acquire +the countries occupied by the red men of the South and West by a fair +exchange, and, at the expense of the United States, to send them to a +land where their existence may be prolonged and perhaps made perpetual. +Doubtless it will be painful to leave the graves of their fathers; but +what do they more than our ancestors did or than our children are now +doing? To better their condition in an unknown land our forefathers left +all that was dear in earthly objects. Our children by thousands yearly +leave the land of their birth to seek new homes in distant regions. Does +Humanity weep at these painful separations from everything, animate and +inanimate, with which the young heart has become entwined? Far from it. +It is rather a source of joy that our country affords scope where our +young population may range unconstrained in body or in mind, developing +the power and faculties of man in their highest perfection. These remove +hundreds and almost thousands of miles at their own expense, purchase +the lands they occupy, and support themselves at their new homes from +the moment of their arrival. Can it be cruel in this Government when, by +events which it can not control, the Indian is made discontented in his +ancient home to purchase his lands, to give him a new and extensive +territory, to pay the expense of his removal, and support him a year in +his new abode? How many thousands of our own people would gladly embrace +the opportunity of removing to the West on such condition! If the offers +made to the Indians were extended to them, they would be hailed with +gratitude and joy. + +And is it supposed that the wandering savage has a stronger attachment +to his home than the settled, civilized Christian? Is it more afflicting +to him to leave the graves of his fathers than it is to our brothers and +children? Rightly considered, the policy of the General Government +toward the red man is not only liberal, but generous. He is unwilling to +submit to the laws of the States and mingle with their population. To +save him from this alternative, or perhaps utter annihilation, the +General Government kindly offers him a new home, and proposes to pay the +whole expense of his removal and settlement. + +In the consummation of a policy originating at an early period, and +steadily pursued by every Administration within the present century--so +just to the States and so generous to the Indians--the Executive feels +it has a right to expect the cooperation of Congress and of all good and +disinterested men. The States, moreover, have a right to demand it. It +was substantially a part of the compact which made them members of our +Confederacy. With Georgia there is an express contract; with the new +States an implied one of equal obligation. Why, in authorizing Ohio, +Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Mississippi, and Alabama to form +constitutions and become separate States, did Congress include within +their limits extensive tracts of Indian lands, and, in some instances, +powerful Indian tribes? Was it not understood by both parties that the +power of the States was to be coextensive with their limits, and that +with all convenient dispatch the General Government should extinguish +the Indian title and remove every obstruction to the complete +jurisdiction of the State governments over the soil? Probably not one of +those States would have accepted a separate existence--certainly it +would never have been granted by Congress--had it been understood that +they were to be confined forever to those small portions of their +nominal territory the Indian title to which had at the time been +extinguished. + +It is, therefore, a duty which this Government owes to the new States to +extinguish as soon as possible the Indian title to all lands which +Congress themselves have included within their limits. When this is done +the duties of the General Government in relation to the States and the +Indians within their limits are at an end. The Indians may leave the +State or not, as they choose. The purchase of their lands does not alter +in the least their personal relations with the State government. No act +of the General Government has ever been deemed necessary to give the +States jurisdiction over the persons of the Indians. That they possess +by virtue of their sovereign power within their own limits in as full a +manner before as after the purchase of the Indian lands; nor can this +Government add to or diminish it. + +May we not hope, therefore, that all good citizens, and none more +zealously than those who think the Indians oppressed by subjection to +the laws of the States, will unite in attempting to open the eyes of +those children of the forest to their true condition, and by a speedy +removal to relieve them from all the evils, real or imaginary, present +or prospective, with which they may be supposed to be threatened. + +Among the numerous causes of congratulation the condition of our impost +revenue deserves special mention, inasmuch as it promises the means of +extinguishing the public debt sooner than was anticipated, and furnishes +a strong illustration of the practical effects of the present tariff +upon our commercial interests. + +The object of the tariff is objected to by some as unconstitutional, and +it is considered by almost all as defective in many of its parts. + +The power to impose duties on imports originally belonged to the several +States. The right to adjust those duties with a view to the +encouragement of domestic branches of industry is so completely +incidental to that power that it is difficult to suppose the existence +of the one without the other. The States have delegated their whole +authority over imports to the General Government without limitation or +restriction, saving the very inconsiderable reservation relating to +their inspection laws. This authority having thus entirely passed from +the States, the right to exercise it for the purpose of protection does +not exist in them, and consequently if it be not possessed by the +General Government it must be extinct. Our political system would thus +present the anomaly of a people stripped of the right to foster their +own industry and to counteract the most selfish and destructive policy +which might be adopted by foreign nations. This surely can not be the +case. This indispensable power thus surrendered by the States must be +within the scope of the authority on the subject expressly delegated to +Congress. + +In this conclusion I am confirmed as well by the opinions of Presidents +Washington, Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe, who have each repeatedly +recommended the exercise of this right under the Constitution, as by the +uniform practice of Congress, the continued acquiescence of the States, +and the general understanding of the people. + +The difficulties of a more expedient adjustment of the present tariff, +although great, are far from being insurmountable. Some are unwilling to +improve any of its parts because they would destroy the whole; others +fear to touch the objectionable parts lest those they approve should be +jeoparded. I am persuaded that the advocates of these conflicting views +do injustice to the American people and to their representatives. The +general interest is the interest of each, and my confidence is entire +that to insure the adoption of such modifications of the tariff as the +general interest requires it is only necessary that that interest should +be understood. + +It is an infirmity of our nature to mingle our interests and prejudices +with the operation of our reasoning powers, and attribute to the objects +of our likes and dislikes qualities they do not possess and effects they +can not produce. The effects of the present tariff are doubtless +overrated, both in its evils and in its advantages. By one class of +reasoners the reduced price of cotton and other agricultural products is +ascribed wholly to its influence, and by another the reduced price of +manufactured articles. The probability is that neither opinion +approaches the truth, and that both are induced by that influence of +interests and prejudices to which I have referred. The decrease of +prices extends throughout the commercial world, embracing not only the +raw material and the manufactured article, but provisions and lands. The +cause must therefore be deeper and more pervading than the tariff of the +United States. It may in a measure be attributable to the increased +value of the precious metals, produced by a diminution of the supply and +an increase in the demand, while commerce has rapidly extended itself +and population has augmented. The supply of gold and silver, the general +medium of exchange, has been greatly interrupted by civil convulsions in +the countries from which they are principally drawn. A part of the +effect, too, is doubtless owing to an increase of operatives and +improvements in machinery. But on the whole it is questionable whether +the reduction in the price of lands, produce, and manufactures has been +greater than the appreciation of the standard of value. + +While the chief object of duties should be revenue, they may be so +adjusted as to encourage manufactures. In this adjustment, however, it +is the duty of the Government to be guided by the general good. Objects +of national importance alone ought to be protected. Of these the +productions of our soil, our mines, and our workshops, essential to +national defense, occupy the first rank. Whatever other species of +domestic industry, having the importance to which I have referred, may +be expected, after temporary protection, to compete with foreign labor +on equal terms merit the same attention in a subordinate degree. + +The present tariff taxes some of the comforts of life unnecessarily +high; it undertakes to protect interests too local and minute to justify +a general exaction, and it also attempts to force some kinds of +manufactures for which the country is not ripe. Much relief will be +derived in some of these respects from the measures of your last +session. + +The best as well as fairest mode of determining whether from any just +considerations a particular interest ought to receive protection would +be to submit the question singly for deliberation. If after due +examination of its merits, unconnected with extraneous considerations-- +such as a desire to sustain a general system or to purchase support for +a different interest--it should enlist in its favor a majority of the +representatives of the people, there can be little danger of wrong or +injury in adjusting the tariff with reference to its protective effect. +If this obviously just principle were honestly adhered to, the branches +of industry which deserve protection would be saved from the prejudice +excited against them when that protection forms part of a system by +which portions of the country feel or conceive themselves to be +oppressed. What is incalculably more important, the vital principle of +our system--that principle which requires acquiescence in the will of +the majority--would be secure from the discredit and danger to which it +is exposed by the acts of majorities founded not on identity of +conviction, but on combinations of small minorities entered into for the +purpose of mutual assistance in measures which, resting solely on their +own merits, could never be carried. + +I am well aware that this is a subject of so much delicacy, on account +of the extended interests it involves, as to require that it should be +touched with the utmost caution, and that while an abandonment of the +policy in which it originated--a policy coeval with our Government, and +pursued through successive Administrations--is neither to be expected or +desired, the people have a right to demand, and have demanded, that it +be so modified as to correct abuses and obviate injustice. + +That our deliberations on this interesting subject should be +uninfluenced by those partisan conflicts that are incident to free +institutions is the fervent wish of my heart. To make this great +question, which unhappily so much divides and excites the public mind, +subservient to the short sighted views of faction must destroy all hope +of settling it satisfactorily to the great body of the people and for +the general interest. I can not, therefore, in taking leave of the +subject, too earnestly for my own feelings or the common good warn you +against the blighting consequences of such a course. + +According to the estimates at the Treasury Department, the receipts in +the Treasury during the present year will amount to $24,161,018, which +will exceed by about $300,000 the estimate presented in the last annual +report of the Secretary of the Treasury. The total expenditure during +the year, exclusive of public debt, is estimated at $13,742,311, and the +payment on account of public debt for the same period will have been +$11,354,630, leaving a balance in the Treasury on the 1st of January, +1831, of $4,819,781. + +In connection with the condition of our finances, it affords me pleasure +to remark that judicious and efficient arrangements have been made by +the Treasury Department for securing the pecuniary responsibility of the +public officers and the more punctual payment of the public dues. The +Revenue-Cutter Service has been organized and placed on a good footing, +and aided by an increase of inspectors at exposed points, and +regulations adopted under the act of May, 1830, for the inspection and +appraisement of merchandise, has produced much improvement in the +execution of the laws and more security against the commission of frauds +upon the revenue. Abuses in the allowances for fishing bounties have +also been corrected, and a material saving in that branch of the service +thereby effected. In addition to these improvements the system of +expenditure for sick seamen belonging to the merchant service has been +revised, and being rendered uniform and economical the benefits of the +fund applicable to this object have been usefully extended. + +The prosperity of our country is also further evinced by the increased +revenue arising from the sale of public lands, as will appear from the +report of the Commissioner of the General Land Office and the documents +accompanying it, which are herewith transmitted. I beg leave to draw +your attention to this report, and to the propriety of making early +appropriations for the objects which it specifies. + +Your attention is again invited to the subjects connected with that +portion of the public interests intrusted to the War Department. Some of +them were referred to in my former message, and they are presented in +detail in the report of the Secretary of War herewith submitted. I refer +you also to the report of that officer for a knowledge of the state of +the Army, fortifications, arsenals, and Indian affairs, all of which it +will be perceived have been guarded with zealous attention and care. It +is worthy of your consideration whether the armaments necessary for the +fortifications on our maritime frontier which are now or shortly will be +completed should not be in readiness sooner than the customary +appropriations will enable the Department to provide them. This +precaution seems to be due to the general system of fortification which +has been sanctioned by Congress, and is recommended by that maxim of +wisdom which tells us in peace to prepare for war. + +I refer you to the report of the Secretary of the Navy for a highly +satisfactory account of the manner in which the concerns of that +Department have been conducted during the present year. Our position in +relation to the most powerful nations of the earth, and the present +condition of Europe, admonish us to cherish this arm of our national +defense with peculiar care. Separated by wide seas from all those +Governments whose power we might have reason to dread, we have nothing +to apprehend from attempts at conquest. It is chiefly attacks upon our +commerce and harassing inroads upon our coast against which we have to +guard. A naval force adequate to the protection of our commerce, always +afloat, with an accumulation of the means to give it a rapid extension +in case of need, furnishes the power by which all such aggressions may +be prevented or repelled. The attention of the Government has therefore +been recently directed more to preserving the public vessels already +built and providing materials to be placed in depot for future use than +to increasing their number. With the aid of Congress, in a few years the +Government will be prepared in case of emergency to put afloat a +powerful navy of new ships almost as soon as old ones could be repaired. + +The modifications in this part of the service suggested in my last +annual message, which are noticed more in detail in the report of the +Secretary of the Navy, are again recommended to your serious attention. + +The report of the Postmaster-General in like manner exhibits a +satisfactory view of the important branch of the Government under his +charge. In addition to the benefits already secured by the operations of +the Post-Office Department, considerable improvements within the present +year have been made by an increase in the accommodation afforded by +stage coaches, and in the frequency and celerity of the mail between +some of the most important points of the Union. + +Under the late contracts improvements have been provided for the +southern section of the country, and at the same time an annual saving +made of upward of $72,000. Notwithstanding the excess of expenditure +beyond the current receipts for a few years past, necessarily incurred +in the fulfillment of existing contracts and in the additional expenses +between the periods of contracting to meet the demands created by the +rapid growth and extension of our nourishing country, yet the +satisfactory assurance is given that the future revenue of the +Department will be sufficient to meet its extensive engagements. The +system recently introduced that subjects its receipts and disbursements +to strict regulation has entirely fulfilled its designs. It gives full +assurance of the punctual transmission, as well as the security of the +funds of the Department. The efficiency and industry of its officers and +the ability and energy of contractors justify an increased confidence in +its continued prosperity. + +The attention of Congress was called on a former occasion to the +necessity of such a modification in the office of Attorney-General of +the United States as would render it more adequate to the wants of the +public service. This resulted in the establishment of the office of +Solicitor of the Treasury, and the earliest measures were taken to give +effect to the provisions of the law which authorized the appointment of +that officer and defined his duties. But it is not believed that this +provision, however useful in itself, is calculated to supersede the +necessity of extending the duties and powers of the Attorney-General's +Office. On the contrary, I am convinced that the public interest would +be greatly promoted by giving to that officer the general +superintendence of the various law agents of the Government, and of all +law proceedings, whether civil or criminal, in which the United States +may be interested, allowing him at the same time such a compensation as +would enable him to devote his undivided attention to the public +business. I think such a provision is alike due to the public and to the +officer. + +Occasions of reference from the different Executive Departments to the +Attorney-General are of frequent occurrence, and the prompt decision of +the questions so referred tends much to facilitate the dispatch of +business in those Departments. The report of the Secretary of the +Treasury hereto appended shows also a branch of the public service not +specifically intrusted to any officer which might be advantageously +committed to the Attorney-General. But independently of those +considerations this office is now one of daily duty. It was originally +organized and its compensation fixed with a view to occasional service, +leaving to the incumbent time for the exercise of his profession in +private practice. The state of things which warranted such an +organization no longer exists. The frequent claims upon the services of +this officer would render his absence from the seat of Government in +professional attendance upon the courts injurious to the public service, +and the interests of the Government could not fail to be promoted by +charging him with the general superintendence of all its legal concerns. + +Under a strong conviction of the justness of these suggestions, I +recommend it to Congress to make the necessary provisions for giving +effect to them, and to place the Attorney-General in regard to +compensation on the same footing with the heads of the several Executive +Departments. To this officer might also be intrusted a cognizance of the +cases of insolvency in public debtors, especially if the views which I +submitted on this subject last year should meet the approbation of +Congress--to which I again solicit your attention. + +Your attention is respectfully invited to the situation of the District +of Columbia. Placed by the Constitution under the exclusive jurisdiction +and control of Congress, this District is certainly entitled to a much +greater share of its consideration than it has yet received. There is a +want of uniformity in its laws, particularly in those of a penal +character, which increases the expense of their administration and +subjects the people to all the inconveniences which result from the +operation of different codes in so small a territory. On different sides +of the Potomac the same offense is punishable in unequal degrees, and +the peculiarities of many of the early laws of Maryland and Virginia +remain in force, notwithstanding their repugnance in some cases to the +improvements which have superseded them in those States. + +Besides a remedy for these evils, which is loudly called for, it is +respectfully submitted whether a provision authorizing the election of a +delegate to represent the wants of the citizens of this District on the +floor of Congress is not due to them and to the character of our +Government. No portion of our citizens should be without a practical +enjoyment of the principles of freedom, and there is none more important +than that which cultivates a proper relation between the governors and +the governed. Imperfect as this must be in this case, yet it is believed +that it would be greatly improved by a representation in Congress with +the same privileges that are allowed to the other Territories of the +United States. + +The penitentiary is ready for the reception of convicts, and only awaits +the necessary legislation to put it into operation, as one object of +which I beg leave to recall your attention to the propriety of providing +suitable compensation for the officers charged with its inspection. + +The importance of the principles involved in the inquiry whether it will +be proper to recharter the Bank of the United States requires that I +should again call the attention of Congress to the subject. Nothing has +occurred to lessen in any degree the dangers which many of our citizens +apprehend from that institution as at present organized. In the spirit +of improvement and compromise which distinguishes our country and its +institutions it becomes us to inquire whether it be not possible to +secure the advantages afforded by the present bank through the agency of +a Bank of the United States so modified in its principles and structure +as to obviate constitutional and other objections. + +It is thought practicable to organize such a bank with the necessary +officers as a branch of the Treasury Department, based on the public and +individual deposits, without power to make loans or purchase property, +which shall remit the funds of the Government, and the expense of which +may be paid, if thought advisable, by allowing its officers to sell +bills of exchange to private individuals at a moderate premium. Not +being a corporate body, having no stockholders, debtors, or property, +and but few officers, it would not be obnoxious to the constitutional +objections which are urged against the present bank; and having no means +to operate on the hopes, fears, or interests of large masses of the +community, it would be shorn of the influence which makes that bank +formidable. The States would be strengthened by having in their hands +the means of furnishing the local paper currency through their own +banks, while the Bank of the United States, though issuing no paper, +would check the issues of the State banks by taking their notes in +deposit and for exchange only so long as they continue to be redeemed +with specie. In times of public emergency the capacities of such an +institution might be enlarged by legislative provisions. + +These suggestions are made not so much as a recommendation as with a +view of calling the attention of Congress to the possible modifications +of a system which can not continue to exist in its present form without +occasional collisions with the local authorities and perpetual +apprehensions and discontent on the part of the States and the people. + +In conclusion, fellow-citizens, allow me to invoke in behalf of your +deliberations that spirit of conciliation and disinterestedness which is +the gift of patriotism. Under an overruling and merciful Providence the +agency of this spirit has thus far been signalized in the prosperity and +glory of our beloved country. May its influence be eternal. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + + + +SPECIAL MESSAGES. + + +_December 9, 1830_. +_To the Senate of the United States_. + +Gentlemen: I transmit herewith a treaty concluded by commissioners duly +authorized on the part of the United States with the Choctaw tribe of +Indians, which, with explanatory documents, is submitted to the Senate +for their advice and consent as to the ratification of the same. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +Washington, _December 10, 1830_. +_To the Senate of the United States:_ + +I transmit to the Senate printed copies of the convention between the +United States and His Majesty the King of Denmark, concluded at +Copenhagen on the 28th March, 1830, and ratified by and with the advice +and consent of the Senate. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + +(The same message was sent to the House of Representatives.) + + +Washington, _December 10, 1830_. +_To the Senate of the United States:_ + +I submit for the consideration of the Senate a treaty of commerce and +navigation, together with a separate and secret article, concluded at +Constantinople on the 7th day of May last, and signed by Charles Rhind, +James Biddle, and David Offley as commissioners on the part of the +United States, and by Mahommed Hamed, reis effendi, on the part of the +Sublime Porte. + +The French versions herewith transmitted, and accompanied by copies and +English translations of the same, are transcripts of the original +translations from the Turkish, signed by the commissioners of the United +States and delivered to the Government of the Sublime Porte. + +The paper in Turkish is the original signed by the Turkish +plenipotentiary and delivered by him to the American commissioners. Of +this a translation into the English language, and believed to be +correct, is like-wise transmitted. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +Washington, _December 15, 1830_. +_To the Senate and House of Representatives._ + +Gentlemen: From information received at the Department of State it is +ascertained that owing to unforeseen circumstances several of the +marshals have been unable to complete the enumeration of the inhabitants +of the United States within the time prescribed by the act of the 23d +March, 1830, viz, by the 1st day of the present month. + +As the completion of the Fifth Census as respects several of the States +of the Union will have been defeated unless Congress, to whom the case +is submitted, shall by an act of the present session allow further time +for making the returns in question, the expediency is suggested of +allowing such an act to pass at as early a day as possible. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +_December 20, 1830_. +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +In compliance with the resolution of the Senate of the 14th instant, +calling for copies of any letters or other communications which may have +been received at the Department of War from the chiefs and headmen, or +any of them, of the Choctaw tribe of Indians since the treaty entered +into by the commissioners on the part of the United States with that +tribe of Indians at Dancing Rabbit Creek, and also for information +showing the number of Indians belonging to that tribe who have emigrated +to the country west of the Mississippi, etc., I submit herewith a report +from the Secretary of War, containing the information requested. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +Washington, _December 20, 1830_. +_To the Senate of the United States:_ + +In compliance with the resolution of the Senate of the 16th instant, +calling for certain papers relative to the negotiation of the treaty +between the United States and Turkey now before the Senate, I +communicate the inclosed report of the Secretary of State, accompanied +by the documents and containing the information requested. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +_December 29, 1830_. +_To the Senate of the United States:_ + +I submit to the consideration of the Senate two treaties--one of peace, +the other of cession--concluded at Prairie du Chien on the 10th and 15th +July, 1830, by commissioners duly authorized on the part of the United +States and by deputations of the confederated tribes of Indians residing +on the Upper Mississippi. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +_December 30, 1830_. +_To the Senate of the United States:_ + +A vacancy having arisen in the office of brigadier in consequence of the +removal of General John Nicks from the Territory of Arkansas to +Cantonment Gibson, I nominated at your last session William Montgomery +to be general of the second brigade of militia of said Territory. By +this communication I desire to correct the Journal of the Senate and my +message of the 22d of April, 1830, so as to exclude the idea that +General Nicks was removed from office. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +Washington, _December 31, 1830_. +_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_: + +I transmit herewith to Congress a copy of a correspondence which lately +passed between Major-General Von Scholten, His Danish Majesty's +governor-general of his West India possessions and special minister to +the United States, and Mr. Van Buren, Secretary of State, concerning the +regulation of the commercial intercourse between those possessions and +the United States, which comprehends the propositions that General Von +Scholten made to this Government in behalf of his Sovereign upon that +subject and the answers of the Secretary of State to the same, the last +showing the grounds upon which this Government declined acceding to the +overtures of the Danish envoy. + +This correspondence is now submitted to the two Houses of Congress in +compliance with the wish and request of General Von Scholten himself, +and under the full persuasion upon my part that it will receive all the +attention and consideration to which the very friendly relations that +have so long subsisted between the United States and the King of Denmark +especially entitle it in the councils of this Union. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +_January 3, 1831_. +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +Since my message of the 20th of December last, transmitting to the +Senate a report from the Secretary of War, with information requested by +the resolution of the Senate of the 14th December, in relation to the +treaty concluded at Dancing Rabbit Creek with the Choctaw Indians, I +have received the two letters which are herewith inclosed, containing +further information on the subject. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +Washington, _January 3, 1831_. +_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_: + +I communicate to Congress the papers relating to the recent arrangement +with Great Britain with respect to the trade between her colonial +possessions and the United States, to which reference was made in my +message at the opening of the present session. + +It will appear from those documents that owing to the omission in the +act of the 29th of May last of a clause expressly restricting +importations into the British colonies in American vessels to the +productions of the United States, to the amendment engrafted upon that +act in the House Of Representatives, providing that when the trade with +the West India colonies should be opened the commercial intercourse of +the United States with all other parts of the British dominions or +possessions should be left on a footing not less favorable to the United +States than it now is, and to the act not specifying the terms upon +which British vessels coming from the northern colonies should be +admitted to entry into the ports of the United States, an apprehension +was entertained by the Government of Great Britain that under the +contemplated arrangement claims might be set up on our part inconsistent +with the propositions submitted by our minister and with the terms to +which she was willing to agree, and that this circumstance led to +explanations between Mr. McLane and the Earl of Aberdeen respecting the +intentions of Congress and the true construction to be given to the act +referred to. + +To the interpretation given by them to that act I did not hesitate to +agree. It was quite clear that in adopting the amendment referred to +Congress could not have intended to preclude future alterations in the +existing intercourse between the United States and other parts of the +British dominions; and the supposition that the omission to restrict in +terms the importations to the productions of the country to which the +vessels respectively belong was intentional was precluded by the +propositions previously made by this Government to that of Great +Britain, and which were before Congress at the time of the passage of +the act; by the principles which govern the maritime legislation of the +two countries and by the provisions of the existing commercial treaty +between them. + +Actuated by this view of the subject, and convinced that it was in +accordance with the real intentions of Congress, I felt it my duty to +give effect to the arrangement by issuing the required proclamation, of +which a copy is likewise herewith communicated. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +_January 5, 1831_. +_To the House of Representatives_: + +In compliance with the resolution of the House of Representatives of the +17th of December last, calling for information on the subject of +internal improvement, I submit herewith a report from the Secretaries of +War and Treasury, containing the information required. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +_January 7, 1831_. +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I beg leave to call the attention of Congress to the accompanying report +from the Navy Department, upon the state of the accounts of the Navy in +the office of the Fourth Auditor, and to suggest the necessity of +correcting the evils complained of by early legislation. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +Washington, _January 11, 1831_. +_The Speaker of the House of Representatives_: + +I transmit to Congress a report of the Secretary of State, with the +report to him from the Patent Office which accompanied it, in relation +to the concerns of that office, and recommend the whole subject to early +and favorable consideration. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + +(The same message was sent to the Senate.) + + +_January 15, 1831_. +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +In compliance with the resolution of the Senate of the 23d ultimo, +requesting to be informed of the quantity of live-oak timber in the +United States, where it is, and what means are employed to preserve it, +I present herewith a report of the Secretary of the Navy, containing the +information required, + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +_January 15, 1831_. +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I submit to the consideration of Congress the accompanying report and +documents from the Navy Department, in relation to the capture of the +Spanish slave vessel called _The Fenix_, and recommend that suitable +legislative provision be made for the maintenance of the unfortunate +captives pending the legislation which has grown out of the case. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +_January 24, 1831_. +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of War, containing the +information requested by the resolution of the Senate of the 21st +instant, in relation to "the state of the British establishments in the +valley of the Columbia and the state of the fur trade as carried on by +the citizens of the United States and the Hudsons Bay Company." + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +_January 25, 1831_. +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I beg leave to call the attention of Congress to the inclosed +communication from the Secretary of the Navy, in relation to the pay and +other allowances of the officers of the Marine Corps, and to recommend +the adoption of the legislative provisions suggested in it. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +Washington, D.C., _January 26, 1831_. +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +In pursuance of the advice and consent of the Senate as expressed in +their resolution of the 10th February, 1830, the treaty of commerce and +navigation between the United States and Austria concluded in this city +on the 27th of August, 1829, was duly ratified by this Government on the +11th day of the same month of February; but the treaty itself containing +a stipulation that the ratifications of the two parties to it should be +exchanged within twelve months from the date of its signature, and that +of the Austrian Government not having been received here till after the +expiration of the time limited, I have not thought myself at liberty +under these circumstances, without the additional advice and consent of +the Senate, to authorize that ceremony on the part of this Government. +Information having been received at the Department of State from the +Austrian representative in the United States that he is prepared to +proceed to the exchange of the ratifications of his Government for that +of this, the question is therefore submitted to the Senate for their +advice and consent upon the occasion. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +_February 3, 1831_. +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I respectfully submit to the Senate, in answer to their legislative +resolution of the 20th ultimo, in relation to the sales of land at the +Crawfordsville land office in November last, reports from the Secretary +of the Treasury and the Commissioner of the General Land Office. + +Concurring with the Secretary of the Treasury in the views he has taken +of the treaties and act of Congress touching the subject, I can not +discover that the President is invested with any power under the +Constitution or laws to withhold a patent from a purchaser who has given +a fair and valuable consideration for land, and thereby acquired a +vested right to the same; nor do I perceive that the sole legislative +resolution of the Senate can confer such a power, or suspend the right +of the citizens to enter the lands that have been offered for sale in +said district and remain unsold, so long as the law authorizing the same +remains unrepealed. + +I beg leave, therefore, to present the subject to the reconsideration of +the Senate. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +Washington, _February 3, 1831_. +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I transmit to the House of Representatives a report from the Treasury +Department, in compliance with the resolution of the House of +Representatives of the 3d ultimo, calling for the correspondence in +relation to locating a cession of lands made or intended to be made by +the Pottawattamie tribe of Indians for the benefit of the State of +Indiana, etc. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +_To the House of Representatives of the United States_: + +I communicate to the House of Representatives, in compliance with their +resolution of the 29th of January last, calling for information and +papers respecting the seizure of American vessels by the naval forces of +Portugal forming the blockade of the island of Terceira, a report from +the Secretary of State, which, with the documents accompanying it, +contains the information in his Department upon that subject, and avail +myself of the occasion further to inform the House of Representatives +that orders had before the introduction of the resolution referred to +been given to fit out a ship of war for the more effectual protection of +our commerce in that quarter. + +ANDREW JACKSON. +_February 16, 1831_. + + +Washington, _February 19, 1831._ +_The Speaker of the House of Representatives_: + +I present for the consideration of Congress a report from the Secretary +of War, relative to a compromise of title of the island on which Fort +Delaware has been constructed. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + +(The same message was sent to the Senate.) + + +_February 22, 1831_. +_To the Congress of the United States_: + +I transmit to Congress a letter from Mr. Rhind, stating the +circumstances under which he received the four Arabian horses that were +brought by him to the United States from Turkey. His letter will enable +Congress to decide what ought to be done with them. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +_February 22, 1831_. +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I have received your resolution of the 15th instant, requesting me "to +inform the Senate whether the provisions of the act entitled 'An act to +regulate trade and intercourse with the Indian tribes and to preserve +peace on the frontiers,' passed the 30th of March, 1802, have been fully +complied with on the part of the United States Government, and if they +have not that he inform the Senate of the reasons that have induced the +Government to decline the enforcement of said act," and I now reply to +the same. + +According to my views of the act referred to, I am not aware of any +omission to carry into effect its provisions in relation to trade and +intercourse with the Indian tribes so far as their execution depended on +the agency confided to the Executive. + +The numerous provisions of that act designed to secure to the Indians +the peaceable possession of their lands may be reduced, substantially, +to the following: That citizens of the United States are restrained +under sufficient penalties from entering upon the lands for the purpose +of hunting thereon, or of settling them, or of giving their horses and +cattle the benefit of a range upon them, or of traveling through them +without a written permission; and that the President of the United +States is authorized to employ the military force of the country to +secure the observance of these provisions. The authority to the +President, however, is not imperative. The language is: + + It shall be lawful for the President to take such measures and to + employ such military force as he may judge necessary to remove from + lands belonging to or secured by treaty to any Indian tribe any + citizen who shall make a settlement thereon. + +By the nineteenth section of this act it is provided that nothing in it +"shall be construed to prevent any trade or intercourse with Indians +living on lands surrounded by settlements of citizens of the United +States and being within the ordinary jurisdiction of any of the +individual States." This provision I have interpreted as being +prospective in its operation and as applicable not only to Indian tribes +which at the date of its passage were subject to the jurisdiction of any +State, but to such also as should thereafter become so. To this +construction of its meaning I have endeavored to conform, and have taken +no step inconsistent with it. As soon, therefore, as the sovereign power +of the State of Georgia was exercised by an extension of her laws +throughout her limits, and I had received information of the same, +orders were given to withdraw from the State the troops which had been +detailed to prevent intrusion upon the Indian lands within it, and these +orders were executed. The reasons which dictated them shall be frankly +communicated. + +The principle recognized in the section last quoted was not for the +first time then avowed. It is conformable to the uniform practice of the +Government before the adoption of the Constitution, and amounts to a +distinct recognition by Congress at that early day of the doctrine that +that instrument had not varied the powers of the Federal Government over +Indian affairs from what they were under the Articles of Confederation. +It is not believed that there is a single instance in the legislation of +the country in which the Indians have been regarded as possessing +political rights independent of the control and authority of the States +within the limits of which they resided. As early as the year 1782 the +Journals of Congress will show that no claim of such a character was +countenanced by that body. In that year the application of a tribe of +Indians residing in South Carolina to have certain tracts of land which +had been reserved for their use in that State secured to them free from +intrusion, and without the right of alienating them even with their own +consent, was brought to the consideration of Congress by a report from +the Secretary of War. The resolution which was adopted on that occasion +is as follows: + + _Resolved_, That it be recommended to the legislature of South + Carolina to take such measures for the satisfaction and security of + said tribes as the said legislature in their wisdom may think fit. + +Here is no assertion of the right of Congress under the Articles of +Confederation to interfere with the jurisdiction of the States over +Indians within their limits, but rather a negation of it. They refused +to interfere with the subject, and referred it under a general +recommendation back to the State, to be disposed of as her wisdom might +decide. + +If in addition to this act and the language of the Articles of +Confederation anything further can be wanting to show the early views of +the Government on the subject, it will be found in the proclamation +issued by Congress in 1783. It contains this language: + + The United States in Congress assembled have thought proper to issue + their proclamation, and they do hereby prohibit and forbid all + persons from making settlements on lands inhabited or claimed by + Indians without the limits or jurisdiction of any particular State. + +And again: + + _Resolved_, That the preceding measures of Congress relative to + Indian affairs shall not be construed to affect the territorial + claims of any of the States or their legislative rights within their + respective limits. + +It was not then pretended that the General Government had the power in +their relations with the Indians to control or oppose the internal +polity of the individual States of this Union, and if such was the case +under the Articles of Confederation the only question on the subject +since must arise out of some more enlarged power or authority given to +the General Government by the present Constitution. Does any such exist? + +Amongst the enumerated grants of the Constitution that which relates to +this subject is expressed in these words: "Congress shall have power to +regulate commerce with the Indian tribes." In the interpretation of this +power we ought certainly to be guided by what had been the practice of +the Government and the meaning which had been generally attached to the +resolves of the old Congress if the words used to convey it do not +clearly import a different one, as far as it affects the question of +jurisdiction in the individual States. The States ought not to be +divested of any part of their antecedent jurisdiction by implication or +doubtful construction. Tested by this rule it seems to me to be +unquestionable that the jurisdiction of the States is left untouched by +this clause of the Constitution, and that it was designed to give to the +General Government complete control over the trade and intercourse of +those Indians only who were not within the limits of any State. + +From a view of the acts referred to and the uniform practice of the +Government it is manifest that until recently it has never been +maintained that the right of jurisdiction by a State over Indians within +its territory was subordinate to the power of the Federal Government. +That doctrine has not been enforced nor even asserted in any of the +States of New England where tribes of Indians have resided, and where a +few of them yet remain. These tribes have been left to the undisturbed +control of the States in which they were found, in conformity with the +view which has been taken of the opinions prevailing up to 1789 and the +clear interpretation of the act of 1802. In the State of New York, where +several tribes have resided, it has been the policy of the Government to +avoid entering into quasi treaty engagements with them, barely +appointing commissioners occasionally on the part of the United States +to facilitate the objects of the State in its negotiations with them. +The Southern States present an exception to this policy. As early as +1784 the settlements within the limits of North Carolina were advanced +farther to the west than the authority of the State to enforce an +obedience of its laws. Others were in a similar condition. The +necessities, therefore, and not the acknowledged principles, of the +Government must have suggested the policy of treating with the Indians +in that quarter as the only practicable mode of conciliating their good +will. The United States at that period had just emerged from a +protracted war for the achievement of their independence. At the moment +of its conclusion many of these tribes, as powerful as they were +ferocious in their mode of warfare, remained in arms, desolating our +frontier settlements. Under these circumstances the first treaties, in +1785 and 1790, with the Cherokees, were concluded by the Government of +the United States, and were evidently sanctioned as measures of +necessity adapted to the character of the Indians and indispensable to +the peace and security of the western frontier. But they can not be +understood as changing the political relations of the Indians to the +States or to the Federal Government. To effect this would have required +the operation of quite a different principle and the intervention of a +tribunal higher than that of the treaty-making power. + +To infer from the assent of the Government to this deviation from the +practice which had before governed its intercourse with the Indians, and +the accidental forbearance of the States to assert their right of +jurisdiction over them, that they had surrendered this portion of their +sovereignty, and that its assumption now is usurpation, is conceding too +much to the necessity which dictated those treaties, and doing violence +to the principles of the Government and the rights of the States without +benefiting in the least degree the Indians. The Indians thus situated +can not be regarded in any other light than as members of a foreign +government or of that of the State within whose chartered limits they +reside. If in the former, the ordinary legislation of Congress in +relation to them is not warranted by the Constitution, which was +established for the benefit of our own, not of a foreign people. If in +the latter, then, like other citizens or people resident within the +limits of the States, they are subject to their jurisdiction and +control. To maintain a contrary doctrine and to require the Executive to +enforce it by the employment of a military force would be to place in +his hands a power to make war upon the rights of the States and the +liberties of the country--a power which should be placed in the hands of +no individual. + +If, indeed, the Indians are to be regarded as people possessing rights +which they can exercise independently of the States, much error has +arisen in the intercourse of the Government with them. Why is it that +they have been called upon to assist in our wars without the privilege +of exercising their own discretion? If an independent people, they +should as such be consulted and advised with; but they have not been. In +an order which was issued to me from the War Department in September, +1814, this language is employed: + + All the friendly Indians should be organized and prepared to + cooperate with your other forces. There appears to be some + dissatisfaction among the Choctaws; their friendship and services + should be secured without delay. The friendly Indians must be fed + and paid, and _made to fight when_ and _where their services may be + required_. + +To an independent and foreign people this would seem to be assuming, I +should suppose, rather too lofty a tone--one which the Government would +not have assumed if they had considered them in that light. Again, by +the Constitution the power of declaring war belongs exclusively to +Congress. We have been often engaged in war with the Indian tribes +within our limits, but when have these hostilities been preceded or +accompanied by an act of Congress declaring war against the tribe which +was the object of them? And was the prosecution of such hostilities an +usurpation in each case by the Executive which conducted them of the +constitutional power of Congress? It must have been so, I apprehend, if +these tribes are to be considered as foreign and independent nations. + +The steps taken to prevent intrusion upon Indian lands had their origin +with the commencement of our Government, and became the subject of +special legislation in 1802, with the reservations which have been +mentioned in favor of the jurisdiction of the States. With the exception +of South Carolina, who has uniformly regulated the Indians within her +limits without the aid of the General Government, they have been felt +within all the States of the South without being understood to affect +their rights or prevent the exercise of their jurisdiction, whenever +they were in a situation to assume and enforce it. Georgia, though +materially concerned, has on this principle forborne to spread her +legislation farther than the settlements of her own white citizens, +until she has recently perceived within her limits a people claiming to +be capable of self-government, sitting in legislative council, +organizing courts and administering justice. To disarm such an anomalous +invasion of her sovereignty she has declared her determination to +execute her own laws throughout her limits--a step which seems to have +been anticipated by the proclamation of 1783, and which is perfectly +consistent with the nineteenth section of the act of 1802. According to +the language and reasoning of that section, the tribes to the South and +the Southwest are not only "surrounded by settlements of the citizens of +the United States," but are now also "within the ordinary jurisdiction +of the individual States." They became so from the moment the laws of +the State were extended over them, and the same result follows the +similar determination of Alabama and Mississippi. These States have each +a right to claim in behalf of their position now on this question the +same respect which is conceded to the other States of the Union. + +Toward this race of people I entertain the kindest feelings, and am not +sensible that the views which I have taken of their true interests are +less favorable to them than those which oppose their emigration to the +West. Years since I stated to them my belief that if the States chose to +extend their laws over them it would not be in the power of the Federal +Government to prevent it. My opinion remains the same, and I can see no +alternative for them but that of their removal to the West or a quiet +submission to the State laws. If they prefer to remove, the United +States agree to defray their expenses, to supply them the means of +transportation and a year's support after they reach their new homes--a +provision too liberal and kind to deserve the stamp of injustice. Either +course promises them peace and happiness, whilst an obstinate +perseverance in the effort to maintain their possessions independent of +the State authority can not fail to render their condition still more +helpless and miserable. Such an effort ought, therefore, to be +discountenanced by all who sincerely sympathize in the fortunes of this +peculiar people, and especially by the political bodies of the Union, as +calculated to disturb the harmony of the two Governments and to endanger +the safety of the many blessings which they enable us to enjoy. + +As connected with the subject of this inquiry, I beg leave to refer to +the accompanying letter from the Secretary of War, inclosing the orders +which proceeded from that Department, and a letter from the governor of +Georgia. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +Washington, _February 26, 1831_. +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +The inclosed report[11] of the Secretary of War is herewith inclosed in +answer to the resolution of the Senate of yesterday's date. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + +[Footnote 11: Relative to the expenditure of appropriations for +improving the Ohio and Mississippi rivers.] + + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I present for the consideration of the Senate articles of agreement +entered into and concluded by commissioners duly appointed on the part +of the United States and the chiefs of the Menominee tribe of Indians at +Green Bay. Various attempts were made to reconcile the conflicting +interests of the New York Indians, but without success, as will appear +by the report made by the Secretary of War. No stipulation in their +favor could be introduced into the agreement without the consent of the +Menominees, and that consent could not be obtained to any greater extent +than the articles show. + +Congress only is competent now to adjust and arrange these differences +and satisfy the demands of the New York Indians. The whole matter is +respectfully submitted. + +ANDREW JACKSON. +_February 28, 1831_. + + +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I submit to the consideration of the Senate of the United States +articles of agreement and convention concluded this day between the +United States, by a commissioner duly authorized, and the Seneca tribe +of Indians resident in the State of Ohio. + +ANDREW JACKSON. +_February 28, 1831_. + + +_February 28, 1831_. +_The Speaker of the House of Representatives of the United States_: + +I lay before the House of Representatives a treaty recently concluded +with the Choctaw tribe of Indians, that provision may be made for +carrying the same into effect agreeably to the estimate heretofore +presented by the Secretary of War to the Committee of Ways and Means. It +is a printed copy as it passed the Senate, no amendment having been made +except to strike out the preamble. I also communicate a letter from the +Secretary of War on this subject. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +_March 1, 1831_. +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit herewith, for the use of the Senate, printed copies of the +treaties which have been lately ratified between the United States and +the Choctaw Indians and between the United States and the confederated +tribes of the Sacs and Foxes and other tribes. + + +ANDREW JACKSON. + +(The same message was sent to the House of Representatives.) + + +WASHINGTON, _March 2, 1831_. +_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_: + +I communicate to Congress a treaty of commerce and navigation between +the United States and the Emperor of Austria, concluded in this city on +the 28th March, 1830, the ratifications of which were exchanged on the +10th of February last. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +_March 2, 1831_. +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +John H. Clack, a master commandant in the Navy of the United States, +having rank as such from the 24th April, 1828, was on the sentence of a +court-martial, which was approved by me, ordered to be dismissed from +the service. On a reexamination of the record of the trial I am +satisfied that the proceeding was illegal in substance, and therefore +that the sentence was void. + +To restore the party to the rights of which he was deprived by the +enforcement of a sentence which was in law erroneous and void, I +nominate the said John H. Clack to be a master commandant in the Navy of +the United States, to take rank as such from the 24th April, 1828. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + + + +PROCLAMATION. + +BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. + +A PROCLAMATION. + +Whereas information has been transmitted to the President of the United +States by the governor of the Territory of Arkansas that certain persons +pretending to act under the authority of the Mexican Government, and +without any lawful right or power derived from that of the United +States, have attempted to and do survey, for sale and settlement, a +portion of the public lands in said Territory, and particularly in the +counties of Lafayette, Sevier, and Miller, and have presumed to and do +administer to the citizens residing in said counties the oath of +allegiance to the said Mexican Government; and + +Whereas such acts and practices are contrary to the law of the land and +the provisions of the act of Congress approved the 3d day of March, A.D. +1807, and are offenses against the peace and public tranquillity of the +said Territory and the inhabitants thereof: + +Now, therefore, be it known that I, Andrew Jackson, President of the +United States, by virtue of the power and authority vested in me in and +by the said act of Congress, do issue this my proclamation, commanding +and strictly enjoining all persons who have unlawfully entered upon, +taken possession of, or made any settlement on the public lands in the +said counties of Lafayette, Sevier, or Miller, or who may be in the +unlawful occupation or possession of the same, or any part thereof, +forthwith to depart and remove therefrom; and I do hereby command and +require the marshal of the said Territory of Arkansas, or other officer +or officers acting as such marshal, from and after the 15th day of April +next to remove or cause to be removed all persons who may then +unlawfully be upon, in possession of, or who may unlawfully occupy any +of the public lands in the said counties of Lafayette, Sevier, or +Miller, or who may be surveying or attempting to survey the same without +any authority therefor from the Government of the United States; and to +execute and carry into effect this proclamation I do hereby authorize +the employment of such military force as may be necessary pursuant to +the act of Congress aforesaid, and warn all offenders in the premises +that they will be prosecuted and punished in such other way and manner +as may be consistent with the provisions and requisitions of the law in +such case made and provided. + +Done at the city of Washington, this 10th day of February, A.D. 1831, +and of the Independence of the United States of America the fifty-fifth. + +ANDREW JACKSON. +By the President. + + + + +EXECUTIVE ORDER. + +Washington, _August 6, 1831_. +_Acting Secretary of War_. + +Sir: You will, after the receipt of this, report to the President for +dismissal every clerk in your office who shall avail himself of the +benefit of the insolvent debtors' act for debts contracted during my +Administration. + +Very respectfully, +ANDREW JACKSON. + +(The same order was addressed to the Secretary of the Navy.) + + + + +THIRD ANNUAL MESSAGE. + +_December 6, 1831_. +_Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +The representation of the people has been renewed for the twenty-second +time since the Constitution they formed has been in force. For near half +a century the Chief Magistrates who have been successively chosen have +made their annual communications of the state of the nation to its +representatives. Generally these communications have been of the most +gratifying nature, testifying an advance in all the improvements of +social and all the securities of political life. But frequently and +justly as you have been called on to be grateful for the bounties of +Providence, at few periods have they been more abundantly or extensively +bestowed than at the present; rarely, if ever, have we had greater +reason to congratulate each other on the continued and increasing +prosperity of our beloved country. + +Agriculture, the first and most important occupation of man, has +compensated the labors of the husbandman with plentiful crops of all the +varied products of our extensive country. Manufactures have been +established in which the funds of the capitalist find a profitable +investment, and which give employment and subsistence to a numerous and +increasing body of industrious and dexterous mechanics. The laborer is +rewarded by high wages in the construction of works of internal +improvement, which are extending with unprecedented rapidity. Science is +steadily penetrating the recesses of nature and disclosing her secrets, +while the ingenuity of free minds is subjecting the elements to the +power of man and making each new conquest auxiliary to his comfort. By +our mails, whose speed is regularly increased and whose routes are every +year extended, the communication of public intelligence and private +business is rendered frequent and safe; the intercourse between distant +cities, which it formerly required weeks to accomplish, is now effected +in a few days; and in the construction of railroads and the application +of steam power we have a reasonable prospect that the extreme parts of +our country will be so much approximated and those most isolated by the +obstacles of nature rendered so accessible as to remove an apprehension +sometimes entertained that the great extent of the Union would endanger +its permanent existence. + +If from the satisfactory view of our agriculture, manufactures, and +internal improvements we turn to the state of our navigation and trade +with foreign nations and between the States, we shall scarcely find less +cause for gratulation. A beneficent Providence has provided for their +exercise and encouragement an extensive coast, indented by capacious +bays, noble rivers, inland seas; with a country productive of every +material for shipbuilding and every commodity for gainful commerce, and +filled with a population active, intelligent, well-informed, and +fearless of danger. These advantages are not neglected, and an impulse +has lately been given to commercial enterprise, which fills our +shipyards with new constructions, encourages all the arts and branches +of industry connected with them, crowds the wharves of our cities with +vessels, and covers the most distant seas with our canvas. + +Let us be grateful for these blessings to the beneficent Being who has +conferred them, and who suffers us to indulge a reasonable hope of their +continuance and extension, while we neglect not the means by which they +may be preserved. If we may dare to judge of His future designs by the +manner in which His past favors have been bestowed, He has made our +national prosperity to depend on the preservation of our liberties, our +national force on our Federal Union, and our individual happiness on the +maintenance of our State rights and wise institutions. If we are +prosperous at home and respected abroad, it is because we are free, +united, industrious, and obedient to the laws. While we continue so we +shall by the blessing of Heaven go on in the happy career we have begun, +and which has brought us in the short period of our political existence +from a population of three to thirteen millions; from thirteen separate +colonies to twenty-four united States; from weakness to strength; from a +rank scarcely marked in the scale of nations to a high place in their +respect. + +This last advantage is one that has resulted in a great degree from the +principles which have guided our intercourse with foreign powers since +we have assumed an equal station among them, and hence the annual +account which the Executive renders to the country of the manner in +which that branch of his duties has been fulfilled proves instructive +and salutary. + +The pacific and wise policy of our Government kept us in a state of +neutrality during the wars that have at different periods since our +political existence been carried on by other powers; but this policy, +while it gave activity and extent to our commerce, exposed it in the +same proportion to injuries from the belligerent nations. Hence have +arisen claims of indemnity for those injuries. England, France, Spain, +Holland, Sweden, Denmark, Naples, and lately Portugal had all in a +greater or less degree infringed our neutral rights. Demands for +reparation were made upon all. They have had in all, and continue to +have in some, cases a leading influence on the nature of our relations +with the powers on whom they were made. + +Of the claims upon England it is unnecessary to speak further than to +say that the state of things to which their prosecution and denial gave +rise has been succeeded by arrangements productive of mutual good +feeling and amicable relations between the two countries, which it is +hoped will not be interrupted. One of these arrangements is that +relating to the colonial trade which was communicated to Congress at the +last session; and although the short period during which it has been in +force will not enable me to form an accurate judgment of its operation, +there is every reason to believe that it will prove highly beneficial. +The trade thereby authorized has employed to the 30th September last +upward of 30,000 tons of American and 15,000 tons of foreign shipping in +the outward voyages, and in the inward nearly an equal amount of +American and 20,000 only of foreign tonnage. Advantages, too, have +resulted to our agricultural interests from the state of the trade +between Canada and our Territories and States bordering on the St. +Lawrence and the Lakes which may prove more than equivalent to the loss +sustained by the discrimination made to favor the trade of the northern +colonies with the West Indies. + +After our transition from the state of colonies to that of an +independent nation many points were found necessary to be settled +between us and Great Britain. Among them was the demarcation of +boundaries not described with sufficient precision in the treaty of +peace. Some of the lines that divide the States and Territories of the +United States from the British Provinces have been definitively fixed. +That, however, which separates us from the Provinces of Canada and New +Brunswick to the north and the east was still in dispute when I came +into office, but I found arrangements made for its settlement over which +I had no control. The commissioners who had been appointed under the +provisions of the treaty of Ghent having been unable to agree, a +convention was made with Great Britain by my immediate predecessor in +office, with the advice and consent of the Senate, by which it was +agreed "that the points of difference which have arisen in the +settlement of the boundary line between the American and British +dominions, as described in the fifth article of the treaty of Ghent, +shall be referred, as therein provided, to some friendly sovereign or +State, who shall be invited to investigate and make a decision upon such +points of difference;" and the King of the Netherlands having by the +late President and His Britannic Majesty been designated as such +friendly sovereign, it became my duty to carry with good faith the +agreement so made into full effect. To this end I caused all the +measures to be taken which were necessary to a full exposition of our +case to the sovereign arbiter, and nominated as minister plenipotentiary +to his Court a distinguished citizen of the State most interested in the +question, and who had been one of the agents previously employed for +settling the controversy. On the 10th day of January last His Majesty +the King of the Netherlands delivered to the plenipotentiaries of the +United States and of Great Britain his written opinion on the case +referred to him. The papers in relation to the subject will be +communicated by a special message to the proper branch of the Government +with the perfect confidence that its wisdom will adopt such measures as +will secure an amicable settlement of the controversy without infringing +any constitutional right of the States immediately interested. + +It affords me satisfaction to inform you that suggestions made by my +direction to the chargé d'affaires of His Britannic Majesty to this +Government have had their desired effect in producing the release of +certain American citizens who were imprisoned for setting up the +authority of the State of Maine at a place in the disputed territory +under the actual jurisdiction of His Britannic Majesty. From this and +the assurances I have received of the desire of the local authorities to +avoid any cause of collision I have the best hopes that a good +understanding will be kept up until it is confirmed by the final +disposition of the subject. + +The amicable relations which now subsist between the United States and +Great Britain, the increasing intercourse between their citizens, and +the rapid obliteration of unfriendly prejudices to which former events +naturally gave rise concurred to present this as a fit period for +renewing our endeavors to provide against the recurrence of causes of +irritation which in the event of war between Great Britain and any other +power would inevitably endanger our peace. Animated by the sincerest +desire to avoid such a state of things, and peacefully to secure under +all possible circumstances the rights and honor of the country, I have +given such instructions to the minister lately sent to the Court of +London as will evince that desire, and if met by a correspondent +disposition, which we can not doubt, will put an end to causes of +collision which, without advantage to either, tend to estrange from each +other two nations who have every motive to preserve not only peace, but +an intercourse of the most amicable nature. + +In my message at the opening of the last session of Congress I expressed +a confident hope that the justice of our claims upon France, urged as +they were with perseverance and signal ability by our minister there, +would finally be acknowledged. This hope has been realized. A treaty has +been signed which will immediately be laid before the Senate for its +approbation, and which, containing stipulations that require legislative +acts, must have the concurrence of both Houses before it can be carried +into effect. By it the French Government engage to pay a sum which, if +not quite equal to that which may be found due to our citizens, will +yet, it is believed, under all circumstances, be deemed satisfactory by +those interested. The offer of a gross sum instead of the satisfaction +of each individual claim was accepted because the only alternatives were +a rigorous exaction of the whole amount stated to be due on each claim, +which might in some instances be exaggerated by design, in others +overrated through error, and which, therefore, it would have been both +ungracious and unjust to have insisted on; or a settlement by a mixed +commission, to which the French negotiators were very averse, and which +experience in other cases had shewn to be dilatory and often wholly +inadequate to the end. A comparatively small sum is stipulated on our +part to go to the extinction of all claims by French citizens on our +Government, and a reduction of duties on our cotton and their wines has +been agreed on as a consideration for the renunciation of an important +claim for commercial privileges under the construction they gave to the +treaty for the cession of Louisiana. + +Should this treaty receive the proper sanction, a source of irritation +will be stopped that has for so many years in some degree alienated from +each other two nations who, from interest as well as the remembrance of +early associations, ought to cherish the most friendly relations; an +encouragement will be given for perseverance in the demands of justice +by this new proof that if steadily pursued they will be listened to, and +admonition will be offered to those powers, if any, which may be +inclined to evade them that they will never be abandoned; above all, a +just confidence will be inspired in our fellow-citizens that their +Government will exert all the powers with which they have invested it in +support of their just claims upon foreign nations; at the same time that +the frank acknowledgment and provision for the payment of those which +were addressed to our equity, although unsupported by legal proof, +affords a practical illustration of our submission to the divine rule of +doing to others what we desire they should do unto us. + +Sweden and Denmark having made compensation for the irregularities +committed by their vessels or in their ports to the perfect satisfaction +of the parties concerned, and having renewed the treaties of commerce +entered into with them, our political and commercial relations with +those powers continue to be on the most friendly footing. + +With Spain our differences up to the 22d of February, 1819, were settled +by the treaty of Washington of that date, but at a subsequent period our +commerce with the States formerly colonies of Spain on the continent of +America was annoyed and frequently interrupted by her public and private +armed ships. They captured many of our vessels prosecuting a lawful +commerce and sold them and their cargoes, and at one time to our demands +for restoration and indemnity opposed the allegation that they were +taken in the violation of a blockade of all the ports of those States. +This blockade was declaratory only, and the inadequacy of the force to +maintain it was so manifest that this allegation was varied to a charge +of trade in contraband of war. This, in its turn, was also found +untenable, and the minister whom I sent with instructions to press for +the reparation that was due to our injured fellow-citizens has +transmitted an answer to his demand by which the captures are declared +to have been legal, and are justified because the independence of the +States of America never having been acknowledged by Spain she had a +right to prohibit trade with them under her old colonial laws. This +ground of defense was contradictory, not only to those which had been +formerly alleged, but to the uniform practice and established laws of +nations, and had been abandoned by Spain herself in the convention which +granted indemnity to British subjects for captures made at the same +time, under the same circumstances, and for the same allegations with +those of which we complain. + +I, however, indulge the hope that further reflection will lead to other +views, and feel confident that when His Catholic Majesty shall be +convinced of the justice of the claims his desire to preserve friendly +relations between the two countries, which it is my earnest endeavor to +maintain, will induce him to accede to our demand. I have therefore +dispatched a special messenger with instructions to our minister to +bring the case once more to his consideration, to the end that if (which +I can not bring myself to believe) the same decision (that can not but +be deemed an unfriendly denial of justice) should be persisted in the +matter may before your adjournment be laid before you, the +constitutional judges of what is proper to be done when negotiation for +redress of injury fails. + +The conclusion of a treaty for indemnity with France seemed to present a +favorable opportunity to renew our claims of a similar nature on other +powers, and particularly in the case of those upon Naples, more +especially as in the course of former negotiations with that power our +failure to induce France to render us justice was used as an argument +against us. The desires of the merchants, who were the principal +sufferers, have therefore been acceded to, and a mission has been +instituted for the special purpose of obtaining for them a reparation +already too long delayed. This measure having been resolved on, it was +put in execution without waiting for the meeting of Congress, because +the state of Europe created an apprehension of events that might have +rendered our application ineffectual. + +Our demands upon the Government of the Two Sicilies are of a peculiar +nature. The injuries on which they are founded are not denied, nor are +the atrocity and perfidy under which those injuries were perpetrated +attempted to be extenuated. The sole ground on which indemnity has been +refused is the alleged illegality of the tenure by which the monarch who +made the seizures held his crown. This defense, always unfounded in any +principle of the law of nations, now universally abandoned, even by +those powers upon whom the responsibility for acts of past rulers bore +the most heavily, will unquestionably be given up by His Sicilian +Majesty, whose counsels will receive an impulse from that high sense of +honor and regard to justice which are said to characterize him; and I +feel the fullest confidence that the talents of the citizen commissioned +for that purpose will place before him the just claims of our injured +citizens in such a light as will enable me before your adjournment to +announce that they have been adjusted and secured. Precise instructions +to the effect of bringing the negotiation to a speedy issue have been +given, and will be obeyed. + +In the late blockade of Terceira some of the Portuguese fleet captured +several of our vessels and committed other excesses, for which +reparation was demanded, and I was on the point of dispatching an armed +force to prevent any recurrence of a similar violence and protect our +citizens in the prosecution of their lawful commerce when official +assurances, on which I relied, made the sailing of the ships +unnecessary. Since that period frequent promises have been made that +full indemnity shall be given for the injuries inflicted and the losses +sustained. In the performance there has been some, perhaps unavoidable, +delay; but I have the fullest confidence that my earnest desire that +this business may at once be closed, which our minister has been +instructed strongly to express, will very soon be gratified. I have the +better ground for this hope from the evidence of a friendly disposition +which that Government has shown by an actual reduction in the duty on +rice the produce of our Southern States, authorizing the anticipation +that this important article of our export will soon be admitted on the +same footing with that produced by the most favored nation. + +With the other powers of Europe we have fortunately had no cause of +discussions for the redress of injuries. With the Empire of the Russias +our political connection is of the most friendly and our commercial of +the most liberal kind. We enjoy the advantages of navigation and trade +given to the most favored nation, but it has not yet suited their +policy, or perhaps has not been found convenient from other +considerations, to give stability and reciprocity to those privileges by +a commercial treaty. The ill health of the minister last year charged +with making a proposition for that arrangement did not permit him to +remain at St. Petersburg, and the attention of that Government during +the whole of the period since his departure having been occupied by the +war in which it was engaged, we have been assured that nothing could +have been effected by his presence. A minister will soon be nominated, +as well to effect this important object as to keep up the relations of +amity and good understanding of which we have received so many +assurances and proofs from His Imperial Majesty and the Emperor his +predecessor. + +The treaty with Austria is opening to us an important trade with the +hereditary dominions of the Emperor, the value of which has been +hitherto little known, and of course not sufficiently appreciated. While +our commerce finds an entrance into the south of Germany by means of +this treaty, those we have formed with the Hanseatic towns and Prussia +and others now in negotiation will open that vast country to the +enterprising spirit of our merchants on the north--a country abounding +in all the materials for a mutually beneficial commerce, filled with +enlightened and industrious inhabitants, holding an important place in +the politics of Europe, and to which we owe so many valuable citizens. +The ratification of the treaty with the Porte was sent to be exchanged +by the gentleman appointed our chargé d'affaires to that Court. Some +difficulties occurred on his arrival, but at the date of his last +official dispatch he supposed they had been obviated and that there was +every prospect of the exchange being speedily effected. + +This finishes the connected view I have thought it proper to give of our +political and commercial relations in Europe. Every effort in my power +will be continued to strengthen and extend them by treaties founded on +principles of the most perfect reciprocity of interest, neither asking +nor conceding any exclusive advantage, but liberating as far as it lies +in my power the activity and industry of our fellow-citizens from the +shackles which foreign restrictions may impose. + +To China and the East Indies our commerce continues in its usual extent, +and with increased facilities which the credit and capital of our +merchants afford by substituting bills for payments in specie. A daring +outrage having been committed in those seas by the plunder of one of our +merchantmen engaged in the pepper trade at a port in Sumatra, and the +piratical perpetrators belonging to tribes in such a state of society +that the usual course of proceedings between civilized nations could not +be pursued, I forthwith dispatched a frigate with orders to require +immediate satisfaction for the injury and indemnity to the sufferers. + +Few changes have taken place in our connections with the independent +States of America since my last communication to Congress. The +ratification of a commercial treaty with the United Republics of Mexico +has been for some time under deliberation in their Congress, but was +still undecided at the date of our last dispatches. The unhappy civil +commotions that have prevailed there were undoubtedly the cause of the +delay, but as the Government is now said to be tranquillized we may hope +soon to receive the ratification of the treaty and an arrangement for +the demarcation of the boundaries between us. In the meantime, an +important trade has been opened with mutual benefit from St. Louis, in +the State of Missouri, by caravans to the interior Provinces of Mexico. +This commerce is protected in its progress through the Indian countries +by the troops of the United States, which have been permitted to escort +the caravans beyond our boundaries to the settled part of the Mexican +territory. + +From Central America I have received assurances of the most friendly +kind and a gratifying application for our good offices to remove a +supposed indisposition toward that Government in a neighboring State. +This application was immediately and successfully complied with. They +gave us also the pleasing intelligence that differences which had +prevailed in their internal affairs had been peaceably adjusted. Our +treaty with this Republic continues to be faithfully observed, and +promises a great and beneficial commerce between the two countries--a +commerce of the greatest importance if the magnificent project of a ship +canal through the dominions of that State from the Atlantic to the +Pacific Ocean, now in serious contemplation, shall be executed. + +I have great satisfaction in communicating the success which has +attended the exertions of our minister in Colombia to procure a very +considerable reduction in the duties on our flour in that Republic. +Indemnity also has been stipulated for injuries received by our +merchants from illegal seizures, and renewed assurances are given that +the treaty between the two countries shall be faithfully observed. + +Chili and Peru seem to be still threatened with civil commotions, and +until they shall be settled disorders may naturally be apprehended, +requiring the constant presence of a naval force in the Pacific Ocean to +protect our fisheries and guard our commerce. + +The disturbances that took place in the Empire of Brazil previously to +and immediately consequent upon the abdication of the late Emperor +necessarily suspended any effectual application for the redress of some +past injuries suffered by our citizens from that Government, while they +have been the cause of others, in which all foreigners seem to have +participated. Instructions have been given to our minister there to +press for indemnity due for losses occasioned by these irregularities, +and to take care that our fellow-citizens shall enjoy all the privileges +stipulated in their favor by the treaty lately made between the two +powers, all which the good intelligence that prevails between our +minister at Rio Janeiro and the Regency gives us the best reason to +expect. + +I should have placed Buenos Ayres in the list of South American powers +in respect to which nothing of importance affecting us was to be +communicated but for occurrences which have lately taken place at the +Falkland Islands, in which the name of that Republic has been used to +cover with a show of authority acts injurious to our commerce and to the +property and liberty of our fellow-citizens. In the course of the +present year one of our vessels, engaged in the pursuit of a trade which +we have always enjoyed without molestation, has been captured by a band +acting, as they pretend, under the authority of the Government of Buenos +Ayres. I have therefore given orders for the dispatch of an armed vessel +to join our squadron in those seas and aid in affording all lawful +protection to our trade which shall be necessary, and shall without +delay send a minister to inquire into the nature of the circumstances +and also of the claim, if any, that is set up by that Government to +those islands. In the meantime, I submit the case to the consideration +of Congress, to the end that they may clothe the Executive with such +authority and means as they may deem necessary for providing a force +adequate to the complete protection of our fellow-citizens fishing and +trading in those seas. + +This rapid sketch of our foreign relations, it is hoped, +fellow-citizens, may be of some use in so much of your legislation as +may bear on that important subject, while it affords to the country at +large a source of high gratification in the contemplation of our +political and commercial connection with the rest of the world. At peace +with all; having subjects of future difference with few, and those +susceptible of easy adjustment; extending our commerce gradually on all +sides and on none by any but the most liberal and mutually beneficial +means, we may, by the blessing of Providence, hope for all that national +prosperity which can be derived from an intercourse with foreign +nations, guided by those eternal principles of justice and reciprocal +good will which are binding as well upon States as the individuals of +whom they are composed. + +I have great satisfaction in making this statement of our affairs, +because the course of our national policy enables me to do it without +any indiscreet exposure of what in other governments is usually +concealed from the people. Having none but a straightforward, open +course to pursue, guided by a single principle that will bear the +strongest light, we have happily no political combinations to form, no +alliances to entangle us, no complicated interests to consult, and in +subjecting all we have done to the consideration of our citizens and to +the inspection of the world we give no advantage to other nations and +lay ourselves open to no injury. + +It may not be improper to add that to preserve this state of things and +give confidence to the world in the integrity of our designs all our +consular and diplomatic agents are strictly enjoined to examine well +every cause of complaint preferred by our citizens, and while they urge +with proper earnestness those that are well founded, to countenance none +that are unreasonable or unjust, and to enjoin on our merchants and +navigators the strictest obedience to the laws of the countries to which +they resort, and a course of conduct in their dealings that may support +the character of our nation and render us respected abroad. + +Connected with this subject, I must recommend a revisal of our consular +laws. Defects and omissions have been discovered in their operation that +ought to be remedied and supplied. For your further information on this +subject I have directed a report to be made by the Secretary of State, +which I shall hereafter submit to your consideration. + +The internal peace and security of our confederated States is the next +principal object of the General Government. Time and experience have +proved that the abode of the native Indian within their limits is +dangerous to their peace and injurious to himself. In accordance with my +recommendation at a former session of Congress, an appropriation of half +a million of dollars was made to aid the voluntary removal of the +various tribes beyond the limits of the States. At the last session I +had the happiness to announce that the Chickasaws and Choctaws had +accepted the generous offer of the Government and agreed to remove +beyond the Mississippi River, by which the whole of the State of +Mississippi and the western part of Alabama will be freed from Indian +occupancy and opened to a civilized population. The treaties with these +tribes are in a course of execution, and their removal, it is hoped, +will be completed in the course of 1832. + +At the request of the authorities of Georgia the registration of +Cherokee Indians for emigration has been resumed, and it is confidently +expected that one-half, if not two-thirds, of that tribe will follow the +wise example of their more westerly brethren. Those who prefer remaining +at their present homes will hereafter be governed by the laws of +Georgia, as all her citizens are, and cease to be the objects of +peculiar care on the part of the General Government. + +During the present year the attention of the Government has been +particularly directed to those tribes in the powerful and growing State +of Ohio, where considerable tracts of the finest lands were still +occupied by the aboriginal proprietors. Treaties, either absolute or +conditional, have been made extinguishing the whole Indian title to the +reservations in that State, and the time is not distant, it is hoped, +when Ohio will be no longer embarrassed with the Indian population. The +same measures will be extended to Indiana as soon as there is reason to +anticipate success. It is confidently believed that perseverance for a +few years in the present policy of the Government will extinguish the +Indian title to all lands lying within the States composing our Federal +Union, and remove beyond their limits every Indian who is not willing to +submit to their laws. Thus will all conflicting claims to jurisdiction +between the States and the Indian tribes be put to rest. It is pleasing +to reflect that results so beneficial, not only to the States +immediately concerned, but to the harmony of the Union, will have been +accomplished by measures equally advantageous to the Indians. What the +native savages become when surrounded by a dense population and by +mixing with the whites may be seen in the miserable remnants of a few +Eastern tribes, deprived of political and civil rights, forbidden to +make contracts, and subjected to guardians, dragging out a wretched +existence, without excitement, without hope, and almost without thought. + +But the removal of the Indians beyond the limits and jurisdiction of the +States does not place them beyond the reach of philanthropic aid and +Christian instruction. On the contrary, those whom philanthropy or +religion may induce to live among them in their new abode will be more +free in the exercise of their benevolent functions than if they had +remained within the limits of the States, embarrassed by their internal +regulations. Now subject to no control but the superintending agency of +the General Government, exercised with the sole view of preserving +peace, they may proceed unmolested in the interesting experiment of +gradually advancing a community of American Indians from barbarism to +the habits and enjoyments of civilized life. + +Among the happiest effects of the improved relations of our Republic has +been an increase of trade, producing a corresponding increase of revenue +beyond the most sanguine anticipations of the Treasury Department. + +The state of the public finances will be fully shown by the Secretary of +the Treasury in the report which he will presently lay before you. I +will here, however, congratulate you upon their prosperous condition. +The revenue received in the present year will not fall short of +$27,700,000, and the expenditures for all objects other than the public +debt will not exceed $14,700,000. The payment on account of the +principal and interest of the debt during the year will exceed +$16,500,000, a greater sum than has been applied to that object out of +the revenue in any year since the enlargement of the sinking fund except +the two years following immediately thereafter. The amount which will +have been applied to the public debt from the 4th of March, 1829, to the +1st of January next, which is less than three years since the +Administration has been placed in my hands, will exceed $40,000,000. + +From the large importations of the present year it may be safely +estimated that the revenue which will be received into the Treasury from +that source during the next year, with the aid of that received from the +public lands, will considerably exceed the amount of the receipts of the +present year; and it is believed that with the means which the +Government will have at its disposal from various sources, which will be +fully stated by the proper Department, the whole of the public debt may +be extinguished, either by redemption or purchase, within the four years +of my Administration. We shall then exhibit the rare example of a great +nation, abounding in all the means of happiness and security, altogether +free from debt. + +The confidence with which the extinguishment of the public debt may be +anticipated presents an opportunity for carrying into effect more fully +the policy in relation to import duties which has been recommended in my +former messages. A modification of the tariff which shall produce a +reduction of our revenue to the wants of the Government and an +adjustment of the duties on imports with a view to equal justice in +relation to all our national interests and to the counteraction of +foreign policy so far as it may be injurious to those interests, is +deemed to be one of the principal objects which demand the consideration +of the present Congress. Justice to the interests of the merchant as +well as the manufacturer requires that material reductions in the import +duties be prospective; and unless the present Congress shall dispose of +the subject the proposed reductions can not properly be made to take +effect at the period when the necessity for the revenue arising from +present rates shall cease. It is therefore desirable that arrangements +be adopted at your present session to relieve the people from +unnecessary taxation after the extinguishment of the public debt. In the +exercise of that spirit of concession and conciliation which has +distinguished the friends of our Union in all great emergencies, it is +believed that this object may be effected without injury to any national +interest. + +In my annual message of December, 1829, I had the honor to recommend the +adoption of a more liberal policy than that which then prevailed toward +unfortunate debtors to the Government, and I deem it my duty again to +invite your attention to this subject. + +Actuated by similar views, Congress at their last session passed an act +for the relief of certain insolvent debtors of the United States, but +the provisions of that law have not been deemed such as were adequate to +that relief to this unfortunate class of our fellow-citizens which may +be safely extended to them. The points in which the law appears to be +defective will be particularly communicated by the Secretary of the +Treasury, and I take pleasure in recommending such an extension of its +provisions as will unfetter the enterprise of a valuable portion of our +citizens and restore to them the means of usefulness to themselves and +the community. While deliberating on this subject I would also recommend +to your consideration the propriety of so modifying the laws for +enforcing the payment of debts due either to the public or to +individuals suing in the courts of the United States as to restrict the +imprisonment of the person to cases of fraudulent concealment of +property. The personal liberty of the citizen seems too sacred to be +held, as in many cases it now is, at the will of a creditor to whom he +is willing to surrender all the means he has of discharging his debt. + +The reports from the Secretaries of the War and Navy Departments and +from the Postmaster-General, which accompany this message, present +satisfactory views of the operations of the Departments respectively +under their charge, and suggest improvements which are worthy of and to +which I invite the serious attention of Congress. Certain defects and +omissions having been discovered in the operation of the laws respecting +patents, they are pointed out in the accompanying report from the +Secretary of State. + +I have heretofore recommended amendments of the Federal Constitution +giving the election of President and Vice-President to the people and +limiting the service of the former to a single term. So important do I +consider these changes in our fundamental law that I can not, in +accordance with my sense of duty, omit to press them upon the +consideration of a new Congress. For my views more at large, as well in +relation to these points as to the disqualification of members of +Congress to receive an office from a President in whose election they +have had an official agency, which I proposed as a substitute, I refer +you to my former messages. + +Our system of public accounts is extremely complicated, and it is +believed may be much improved. Much of the present machinery and a +considerable portion of the expenditure of public money may be dispensed +with, while greater facilities can be afforded to the liquidation of +claims upon the Government and an examination into their justice and +legality quite as efficient as the present secured. With a view to a +general reform in the system, I recommend the subject to the attention +of Congress. + +I deem it my duty again to call your attention to the condition of the +District of Columbia. It was doubtless wise in the framers of our +Constitution to place the people of this District under the jurisdiction +of the General Government, but to accomplish the objects they had in +view it is not necessary that this people should be deprived of all the +privileges of self-government. Independently of the difficulty of +inducing the representatives of distant States to turn their attention +to projects of laws which are not of the highest interest to their +constituents, they are not individually, nor in Congress collectively, +well qualified to legislate over the local concerns of this District. +Consequently its interests are much neglected, and the people are almost +afraid to present their grievances, lest a body in which they are not +represented and which feels little sympathy in their local relations +should in its attempt to make laws for them do more harm than good. +Governed by the laws of the States whence they were severed, the two +shores of the Potomac within the 10 miles square have different penal +codes--not the present codes of Virginia and Mary land, but such as +existed in those States at the time of the cession to the United States. +As Congress will not form a new code, and as the people of the District +can not make one for themselves, they are virtually under two +governments. Is it not just to allow them at least a Delegate in +Congress, if not a local legislature, to make laws for the District, +subject to the approval or rejection of Congress? I earnestly recommend +the extension to them of every political right which their interests +require and which may be compatible with the Constitution. + +The extension of the judiciary system of the United States is deemed to +be one of the duties of Government. One-fourth of the States in the +Union do not participate in the benefits of a circuit court. To the +States of Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Alabama, Mississippi, and +Louisiana, admitted into the Union since the present judicial system was +organized, only a district court has been allowed. If this be +sufficient, then the circuit courts already existing in eighteen States +ought to be abolished; if it be not sufficient, the defect ought to be +remedied, and these States placed on the same footing with the other +members of the Union. It was on this condition and on this footing that +they entered the Union, and they may demand circuit courts as a matter +not of concession, but of right. I trust that Congress will not adjourn +leaving this anomaly in our system. + +Entertaining the opinions heretofore expressed in relation to the Bank +of the United States as at present organized, I felt it my duty in my +former messages frankly to disclose them, in order that the attention of +the Legislature and the people should be seasonably directed to that +important subject, and that it might be considered and finally disposed +of in a manner best calculated to promote the ends of the Constitution +and subserve the public interests. Having thus conscientiously +discharged a constitutional duty, I deem it proper on this occasion, +without a more particular reference to the views of the subject then +expressed, to leave it for the present to the investigation of an +enlightened people and their representatives. + +In conclusion permit me to invoke that Power which superintends all +governments to infuse into your deliberations at this important crisis +of our history a spirit of mutual forbearance and conciliation. In that +spirit was our Union formed, and in that spirit must it be preserved. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + + + +SPECIAL MESSAGES. + + +Washington, _December 6, 1831_. +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit to the Senate, for their advice with regard to its +ratification, a treaty between the United States and France, signed at +Paris by the plenipotentiaries of the two Governments on the 4th of +July, 1831. + +With the treaty are also transmitted the dispatch which accompanied it, +and two others on the same subject received since. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +_December 7, 1831_. +_Gentlemen of the Senate_: + +In my public message to both Houses of Congress I communicated the state +in which I had found the controverted claims of Great Britain and the +United States in relation to our northern and eastern boundary, and the +measures which since my coming into office I had pursued to bring it to +a close, together with the fact that on the 10th day of January last the +sovereign arbiter had delivered his opinion to the plenipotentiaries of +the United States and Great Britain. + +I now transmit to you that opinion for your consideration, that you may +determine whether you will advise submission to the opinion delivered by +the sovereign arbiter and consent to its execution. + +That you may the better be enabled to judge of the obligation as well as +the expediency of submitting to or rejecting the decision of the +arbiter, I herewith transmit-- + +1. A protest made by the minister plenipotentiary of the United States +after receiving the opinion of the King of the Netherlands, on which +paper it may be necessary to remark that I had always determined, +whatever might have been the result of the examination by the sovereign +arbiter, to have submitted the same to the Senate for their advice +before I executed or rejected it. Therefore no instructions were given +to the ministers to do any act that should commit the Government as to +the course it might deem proper to pursue on a full consideration of all +the circumstances of the case. + +2. The dispatches from our minister at The Hague accompanying the +protest, as well as those previous and subsequent thereto, in relation +to the subject of the submission. + +3. Communications between the Department of State and the governor of +the State of Maine in relation to this subject. + +4. Correspondence between the chargé d'affaires of His Britannic Majesty +and the Department of State in relation to the arrest of certain persons +at Madawasca under the authority of the British Government at New +Brunswick. + +It is proper to add that in addition to the evidence derived from Mr. +Treble's dispatches of the inclination of the British Government to +abide by the award, assurances to the same effect have been uniformly +made to our minister at London, and that an official communication on +that subject may very soon be expected. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +Washington City, _December 7, 1831_. +_To the Congress of the United States_: + +I transmit herewith, for the information of Congress, two letters from +the Secretary of State, accompanied by statements from that Department +showing the progress which has been made in taking the Fifth Census of +the inhabitants of the United States, and also by a printed copy of the +revision of the statements heretofore transmitted to Congress of all +former enumerations of the population of the United States and their +Territories. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +Washington, _December 13, 1831_. +_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_: + +The accompanying papers show the situation of extreme peril from which +more than sixty of our fellow-citizens have been rescued by the courage +and humanity of the master and crew of a Spanish brig. As no property +was saved, there were no means of making pecuniary satisfaction for the +risk and loss incurred in performing this humane and meritorious +service. Believing, therefore, that the obligation devolved upon the +nation, but having no funds at my disposal which I could think +constitutionally applicable to the case, I have thought honor as well as +justice required that the facts should be submitted to the consideration +of Congress, in order that they might provide not only a just indemnity +for the losses incurred, but some compensation adequate to the merits of +the service. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +WASHINGTON, _December 13, 1831_. +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit herewith, in obedience to a resolution of the Senate of the +8th December, 1831, all the information in the possession of the +Executive relative to the capture, abduction, and imprisonment of +American citizens by the provincial authorities of New Brunswick, and +the measures which, in consequence thereof, have been adopted by the +Executive of the United States. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +WASHINGTON CITY, _December 21, 1831_. +_To the Congress of the United States_: + +I transmit herewith, for the information of Congress, a report of the +Secretary of State, respecting tonnage duties levied at Martinique and +Guadaloupe on American vessels and on French vessels from those islands +to the United States. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +WASHINGTON CITY, _December 21, 1831_. +_Gentlemen of the Senate_: + +Since my message of the 7th instant, transmitting the award of the King +of the Netherlands, I have received the official communication, then +expected, of the determination of the British Government to abide by the +award. This communication is now respectfully laid before you for the +purpose of aiding your deliberations on the same subject. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +WASHINGTON, _December 29, 1831_. +_To the House of Representatives_: + +In compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives of the +19th instant, requesting the President of the United States to +communicate to it "the correspondence between the governor of Georgia +and any Department of this Government, in the years 1830 and 1831, in +relation to the boundary line between the State of Georgia and the +Territory of Florida," I transmit herewith a communication from the +Secretary of State, with copies of the papers referred to. It is proper +to add, as the resolutions on this subject from the governor and +legislature of Georgia were received after the adjournment of the last +Congress, and as that body, after having the same subject under +consideration, had failed to authorize the President to take any steps +in relation to it, that it was my intention to present it in due time to +the attention of the present Congress by special message. This +determination has been hastened by the call of the House for the +information now communicated, and it only remains for me to await the +action of Congress upon the subject. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +WASHINGTON, _January 5, 1832_. +_To the Senate_: + +I herewith lay before the Senate, for their advice and consent as to the +ratification of the same, a treaty between the United States and the +principal chiefs and warriors of the mixed band of Seneca and Shawnee +Indians living on the waters of the Great Miami and within the +territorial limits of the county of Logan, in the State of Ohio, entered +into on the 30th day of July, 1831; and also a treaty between the United +States and the chiefs, headmen, and warriors of the band of Ottaway +Indians residing within the State of Ohio, entered into on the 30th of +August, 1831. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +WASHINGTON, _January 10, 1832_. +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I herewith transmit a report made by the Secretary of State on the +subject of a commercial arrangement with the Republic of Colombia, which +requires legislative action to carry it into effect. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +WASHINGTON, _January 12, 1832_. +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I herewith lay before the Senate, for their advice and consent as to the +ratification of the same, a treaty made on the 8th of August last with +the Shawnee Indians. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +WASHINGTON, _January 18, 1832_. +_To the Senate_: + +I transmit herewith a report of the Secretary of State, in answer to the +resolution of the Senate of the 3d instant, and accompanied by copies of +the instructions and correspondence relative to the late treaty with +France, called for by that resolution. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +WASHINGTON, _January 20, 1832_. +_To the Congress of the United States_: + +I respectfully invite the attention of Congress to the propriety of +compromising the title of the islands on which Fort Delaware stands in +the manner pointed out by the accompanying report from the War +Department. This subject was presented to Congress during the last +session, but for want of time, it is believed, did not receive its +action. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +WASHINGTON, _January 23, 1832_. +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I herewith transmit to the House of Representatives a copy of a +correspondence between the late minister of Great Britain and the late +Secretary of State of the United States on the subject of a claim of +Cyrenius Hall, a British subject and an inhabitant of Upper Canada, for +the loss which he alleges to have sustained in consequence of the +imputed seizure of a schooner (his property) by the collector of the +customs at Venice, in Sandusky Bay, in the year 1821, and the subsequent +neglect of that officer in relation to the said schooner, together with +copies of the documents adduced in support of the claim, that such +legislative provision may be made in behalf of the claimant as shall +appear just and proper in the case. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +WASHINGTON, _January 24, 1832_. +_To the House of Representatives_: + +In compliance with the resolution of the House of Representatives of the +20th instant, I herewith transmit a report from the Secretary of War, +containing all the information in possession of the Executive required +by that resolution. + +For the reason assigned by the Secretary in his report I have to request +that the abstracts of the Choctaw reservations may be returned to the +War Department when the House shall no longer require them. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +WASHINGTON, _January 26, 1832_. +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith reports from the Secretaries of the War and Navy +Departments, containing the information required by the resolution of +the House of the 5th instant, in regard to the expenditures on +breakwaters since 1815. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +WASHINGTON, _January 27, 1832_. +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +In compliance with the resolution of the Senate of the 18th instant, I +herewith transmit a report[12] of the Secretary of State, which, +together with the letter of His Britannic Majesty's chargé d'affaires +heretofore communicated, demanding the execution of the opinion +delivered by the sovereign arbiter, contains all the information +requested by the said resolution, omitting nothing that may enable the +Senate to give the advice requested by my message of the 7th of December +last, on the question of carrying into effect the opinion of the King of +the Netherlands. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + +[Footnote 12: Relating to the northeastern boundary of the United +States.] + + +WASHINGTON CITY, _January 27, 1832_. +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +Since the dismission of Lieutenant Hampton Westcott for participating as +second in a duel in March, A.D. 1830, a more particular investigation of +the circumstances has resulted in exonerating him from having instigated +the fatal meeting, and the said Westcott, on a trial by a jury, has been +acquitted of all legal guilt in the transaction. + +I therefore nominate the said Hampton Westcott to be a lieutenant in the +Navy of the United States from the 17th of May, 1828, his former date, +and to take rank next after Richard R. McMullin. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +WASHINGTON, _February 3, 1832_. +_To the Senate_: + +In addition to the documents relating to the settlement of the +northeastern boundary of the United States now in possession of the +Senate, I have just received certain proceedings and resolutions of the +legislature of the State of Maine on the subject, which are herewith +transmitted. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +WASHINGTON, _February 6, 1832_. +_To the House of Representatives_: + +In compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives of the +3d March, 1831, I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State +on the subject of the regulations of England, France, and the +Netherlands respecting their fisheries. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +WASHINGTON; _February 7, 1832_. +_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_: + +A convention having been entered into between the United States and the +King of the French, it has been ratified with the advice and consent of +the Senate; and my ratification having been exchanged in due form on the +2d of February, 1832, by the Secretary of State and the envoy +extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of the King of the French, it +is now communicated to you for consideration in your legislative +capacity. + +You will observe that some important conditions can not be carried into +execution but with the aid of the Legislature, and that the proper +provisions for that purpose seem to be required without delay. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +WASHINGTON, _February 7, 1832_. +_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_: + +A treaty of commerce and navigation having been entered into between the +United States and the Sublime Porte, it has been ratified with the +advice and consent of the Senate; and my ratification having been +exchanged in due form on the 5th October, 1831, by our chargé d'affaires +at Constantinople and that Government, it is now communicated to both +Houses of Congress. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +WASHINGTON, _February 8, 1832_. +_To the Senate_: + +I transmit herewith, for the information of the Senate, a report from +the Department of War, showing the situation of the country at Green Bay +ceded for the benefit of the New York Indians, and also the proceedings +of the commissioner, who has lately had a meeting with them. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +WASHINGTON, _February 8, 1832_. +_To the Senate_: + +I transmit herewith a report of the Secretary of War, made in compliance +with a resolution of the Senate of March 2, 1831, requesting the +President of the United States "to cause to be collected and reported to +the Senate at the commencement of the next stated session of Congress +the most authentic information which can be obtained of the number and +names of the American citizens who have been killed or robbed while +engaged in the fur trade or the inland trade to Mexico since the late +war with Great Britain, the amount of the robberies committed, and at +what places and by what tribes; also the number of persons who annually +engage in the fur trade and inland trade to Mexico, the amount of +capital employed, and the annual amount of the proceeds in furs, robes, +peltries, money, etc.; also the disadvantages, if any, which these +branches of trade labor under, and the means for their relief and +protection." + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +WASHINGTON, _February 10, 1832_. +_To the House of Representatives_: + +In compliance with the resolution of the House of Representatives of the +3d March, 1831, I herewith transmit a report of the Secretary of War "of +the survey of the Savannah and Tennessee rivers made in 1828." + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +WASHINGTON, _February 13, 1832_. +_To the Senate_: + +I herewith transmit a report from the Secretary of State, containing the +information and documents[13] called for by a resolution of the Senate +of the 9th instant. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + +[Footnote 13: Dispatch of Mr. Gallatin transmitting the convention of +September 29, 1827, and report of an exploring survey from the Sebois +River to the head waters of the Penobscot River, made in 1829.] + + +WASHINGTON, _February 15, 1832_. +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +Being more and more convinced that the destiny of the Indians within the +settled portion of the United States depends upon their entire and +speedy migration to the country west of the Mississippi set apart for +their permanent residence, I am anxious that all the arrangements +necessary to the complete execution of the plan of removal and to the +ultimate security and improvement of the Indians should be made without +further delay. Those who have already removed and are removing are +sufficiently numerous to engage the serious attention of the Government, +and it is due not less to them than to the obligation which the nation +has assumed that every reasonable step should be taken to fulfill the +expectations that have been held out to them. Many of those who yet +remain will no doubt within a short period become sensible that the +course recommended is the only one which promises stability or +improvement, and it is to be hoped that all of them will realize this +truth and unite with their brethren beyond the Mississippi. Should they +do so, there would then be no question of jurisdiction to prevent the +Government from exercising such a general control over their affairs as +may be essential to their interest and safety. Should any of them, +however, repel the offer of removal, they are free to remain, but they +must remain with such privileges and disabilities as the respective +States within whose jurisdiction they live may prescribe. + +I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of War, which presents a +general outline of the progress that has already been made in this work +and of all that remains to be done. It will be perceived that much +information is yet necessary for the faithful performance of the duties +of the Government, without which it will be impossible to provide for +the execution of some of the existing stipulations, or make those +prudential arrangements upon which the final success of the whole +movement, so far as relates to the Indians themselves, must depend. + +I recommend the subject to the attention of Congress in the hope that +the suggestions in this report may be found useful and that provision +may be made for the appointment of the commissioners therein referred to +and for vesting them with such authority as may be necessary to the +satisfactory performance of the important duties proposed to be +intrusted to them. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +WASHINGTON, _February 20, 1832_. +_To the Senate._ + +I nominate Charles Ellery to be a lieutenant in the Navy of the United +States, to take rank as if appointed the 29th of April, 1826. + +In explanation of the above nomination the President submits to the +Senate the following facts: + +Charles Ellery was originally appointed a lieutenant in the Navy the +13th of January, 1825, and was dismissed from the service the 24th of +November, 1830. The dismissal was in pursuance of the sentence of the +same court-martial which tried Master Commandant Clack in September, +1830; but it is thought no technical objections to the legality of the +proceedings can be found so well sustained as they were in the case of +Master Commandant Clack before the Senate at their last session, and it +is supposed that Lieutenant Ellery has no claim for restoration to his +former rank except on the ground of great severity in the sentence, +founded on unfavorable impressions as to his conduct, which his prior +and subsequent behavior, as manifested in the documents hereto annexed, +prove to have been in some degree erroneous. The charges were +intemperance and sleeping on his post. His departures from strict +temperance were only in a few instances, and seem to have arisen from +domestic calamity and never to have grown into a habit; and the only +instance testified to in support of the other charge seems now at least +doubtful, and if sustained at all to be imputable to the same cause. + +Under these views of the case, which a charitable consideration of the +proceedings and of his character as fully developed in the annexed +documents appears fully to justify, his punishment ought, in my opinion, +to be mitigated. He is therefore nominated so as to restore him to the +service, with loss of pay and rank for about the time elapsed since his +last dismission. + +The proceedings of the court-martial and the testimonials referred to +are inclosed, numbered from 1 to 10. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +UNITED STATES, _February 24, 1832_. +_Gentlemen of the Senate_: + +I lay before you, for your consideration and advice, a treaty of limits +between the United States of America and the Republic of Mexico, +concluded at Mexico on the 12th day of January, 1828, and a +supplementary article relating thereto, signed also at Mexico on the 5th +day of April, 1831. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +UNITED STATES, _February 24, 1832_. +_Gentlemen of the Senate_: + +I lay before you, for your consideration and advice, a treaty of amity +and commerce between the United States of America and the Republic of +Mexico, concluded at Mexico on the 5th day of April, in the year 1831. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +WASHINGTON, _February 29, 1832_. +_To the Senate_: + +In compliance with the resolution of the Senate of the 22d December, +1831, calling for certain information in relation to the trade between +the United States and the British American colonies, I transmit herewith +a report from the Secretary of the Treasury. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +WASHINGTON, _February 29, 1832_. +_To the Senate_: + +In compliance with the resolution requesting the President of the United +States to communicate to the Senate the considerations which in his +opinion render it proper that the United States should be represented by +a chargé d ŕffaires to the King of the Belgians at this time, I transmit +herewith a report from the Secretary of State. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +WASHINGTON, _March 1, 1832_. +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I submit to the consideration of Congress the accompanying report from +the Secretary of State, showing the propriety of making some change by +law in the duty on the red wines imported into the United States from +Austria. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +WASHINGTON, _March 1, 1832_. +_To the Senate_: + +Since my message yesterday in answer to the resolution of the Senate of +the 22d December, 1831, calling for certain information in possession of +the Executive relating to the trade between the United States and the +British American colonies, I have received a report from the Secretary +of State on the subject, which is also respectfully submitted to the +Senate. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +WASHINGTON, _March 2, 1832_. +_To the Senate_: + +In compliance with the resolution of the Senate of February 9, 1832, I +have received the accompanying report from the Commissioner of the +General Land Office, "on the extent and amount of business of the +surveyor-general's district for Missouri, Illinois, and Arkansas, and +the expediency of dividing the said district," which is respectfully +submitted to the Senate. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +WASHINGTON, _March 12, 1832_. +_To the House of Representatives_: + +In compliance with the resolution of the House of Representatives of the +7th instant, requesting the President of the United States to inform the +House "whether any, and, if any, what, Indian tribes or nations who +joined the enemy in the late war with Great Britain continue to receive +annuities from the United States under treaties made prior to the war +and not renewed since the peace," I transmit herewith a report from the +Secretary of War. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +WASHINGTON, _March 12, 1832_. +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of War, containing the +information called for by the resolution of the House of the 26th +January last, in relation to the expenditures incurred by the execution +of the act approved May 28, 1830, entitled "An act to provide for an +exchange of lands with the Indians residing in any of the States or +Territories, and for their removal west of the river Mississippi." + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +WASHINGTON, _March 12, 1832_. +_To the Senate_: + +I transmit herewith to the Senate a report from the Secretary of War, +containing the information called for by the resolution of the Senate of +the 12th of January last, in relation to the employment of agents among +the Indians since the passage of the "act to provide for an exchange of +lands with the Indians residing within any of the States or Territories, +and for their removal west of the Mississippi," approved 28th May, 1830. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +WASHINGTON, _March 14, 1832_. +_To the Senate_: + +I submit herewith, for the consideration of the Senate as to their +advice and consent to the same, an agreement or convention lately made +with a band of the Wyandot Indians residing within the limits of Ohio. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +WASHINGTON, _March 16, 1832_. +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State, containing the +information called for by the House of Representatives of the 24th +February last, in relation to the situation of the Government of the +Republic of Colombia and the state of our diplomatic relations with it. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +WASHINGTON, _March 26, 1832_. +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit to the Senate, for their advice and consent as to the +ratification of the same, a treaty concluded at this city on the 24th +instant between the United States and the Creek tribe of Indians. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +WASHINGTON, _March 29, 1832_. +_To the Senate_: + +In compliance with the resolution requesting the "President to inform +the Senate whether any, and, if any, what, communications have passed +between the executive department of the United States and the executive +or legislative department of the State of Maine relative to the +northeastern boundary, and whether any proposition has been made by +either that the boundary designated by the King of the Netherlands shall +be established for a _consideration_ to be paid to Maine, and, if so, +what consideration was proposed, so far as the same may not be +inconsistent with the public interest," I transmit herewith a report +from the Secretary of State. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +WASHINGTON, _April 2, 1832_. +_To the House of Representatives_: + +In compliance with the resolution of the House of the 17th of the last +month, requesting the President to obtain and communicate to it as soon +as may be practicable information "whether possession has been taken of +any part of the territory of the United States on the Pacific Ocean by +the subjects of any foreign power, with any other information relative +to the condition and character of the said territory," I transmit +herewith reports from the Secretaries of the State and Navy Departments, +from which it will appear that there is no satisfactory information on +the subject now in possession of the Executive, and that none is likely +to be obtained but at an expense which can not be incurred without the +authority of Congress. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +WASHINGTON, _April 4, 1832_. +_To the Congress of the United States_: + +I transmit herewith to Congress a report from the Secretary of State, +showing the circumstances under which refuge was given on board the +United States ship _St. Louis_, Captain Sloat, to the vice-president of +the Republic of Peru and to General Miller, and the expense thereby +incurred by Captain Sloat, for the payment of which there is no fund +applicable to the case. + +I recommend to Congress that provision be made for this and similar +cases that may occur in future. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +WASHINGTON, _April 4, 1832_. +_To the Congress of the United States_: + +I submit herewith to the consideration of Congress a report from the +Secretary of State, showing the necessity of providing additional +accommodations for the Patent Office, and proposing the purchase of a +suitable building, which has been offered to the Government for the +purpose. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +WASHINGTON, _April 4, 1832_. +_To the Senate_: + +I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State, made in +compliance with the resolution of the Senate which requests the +President to communicate to the Senate, if not incompatible with the +public interest, that portion of the correspondence between Mr. McLane, +while minister at London, and the Secretary of State, and also between +our said minister and the British Government, respecting the colonial +trade, which may not have been communicated with his message to Congress +of the 3d January, 1831. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +WASHINGTON, _April 6, 1832_. +_To the Senate_: + +I nominate William P. Zantzinger, of Pennsylvania, to be a purser in the +Navy of the United States. + +In submitting the above nomination it is deemed proper to give some +detail of the peculiar circumstances of the case. Mr. Zantzinger was +formerly a purser, and after a trial by a court-martial in January, +1830, was dismissed from the naval service. The record is inclosed, +marked A. In July, 1830, verbally, afterwards in writing early in 1831, +he applied for restoration to his former situation and date on the +assumed ground that the proceedings in his trial were illegal and void, +and he fortified himself by the many numerous certificates and opinions +herewith forwarded, marked B. + +These have been carefully examined, and though failing to convince me of +the correctness of his position in respect to the nullity of those +proceedings, I am satisfied that under all the circumstances of the case +a mitigation of his sentence can be justified on both public and +personal grounds. + +With the loss of his former date and of his pay since his dismission, I +have therefore submitted his nomination to take effect like an original +entry into the service, only from its confirmation by the Senate. There +is now one vacancy in the corps of pursers. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +WASHINGTON, _April 9, 1832_. +_To the Senate_: + +In compliance with the resolution requesting the President to transmit +to the Senate "Lord Aberdeen's letter in answer to Mr. Barbour's of the +27th November, 1828, and also so much of a letter of the 22d April, +1831, from Mr. McLane to Mr. Van Buren as relates to the proposed duty +on cotton," I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State, +communicating copies of the letters referred to. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +WASHINGTON, _April 13, 1832_. +_To the Congress of the United States_: + +Approving the suggestions expressed by the Secretary of State in regard +to the propriety of exempting Portuguese vessels entering the ports of +the United States from the payment of the duties on tonnage, in +consequence of a like exemption being extended to those of the United +States, I transmit herewith, for the consideration of Congress, his +letter on the subject. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +WASHINGTON, _April 18, 1832_. +_To the Senate_: + +I transmit herewith a report[14] from the Secretary of the Treasury, +containing the information called for by the resolution of the Senate of +the 3d instant. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + +[Footnote 14: Relating to trade with the European possessions of Great +Britain for the year ending September 30, 1831.] + + +WASHINGTON, _April 19, 1832_. +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith printed copies of each of the treaties between the +United States and the Indian tribes that have been ratified during the +present session of Congress. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +WASHINGTON, _April 20, 1832_. +_To the Senate_: + +In compliance with the resolution of the Senate of the 9th instant, +requesting the President "to communicate to the Senate all the +instructions given by this Government to our ministers to Great Britain +and all the correspondence of our ministers on the subject of the +colonial and West India trade since the 3d of March, 1825, not +heretofore communicated, so far as the public interest will, in his +judgment, permit," I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of +State, containing the information required. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +WASHINGTON, _April 23, 1832_. +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith, for the consideration of Congress, a report from +the Secretary of State, suggesting the propriety of passing a law making +it criminal within the limits of the United States to counterfeit the +current coin of any foreign nation. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +WASHINGTON, _April 23, 1832_. +_To the Senate_: + +I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of the Treasury, +containing the information called for by the resolution of the 26th of +March last, in which the President is requested to communicate to the +Senate-- + +First. The total amount of public lands belonging to the United States +which remain unsold, whether the Indian title thereon has been +extinguished or not, as far as that amount can be ascertained from +surveys actually made or by estimate, and distinguishing the States and +Territories respectively in which it is situated, and the quantity in +each. + +Second. The amount on which, the Indian title has been extinguished and +the sums paid for the extinction thereof, and the amount on which the +Indian title remains to be extinguished. + +Third. The amount which has been granted by Congress from time to time +in the several States and Territories, distinguishing between them and +stating the purposes for which the grants were respectively made, and +the amount of lands granted or money paid in satisfaction of Virginia +land claims. + +Fourth. The amount which has been heretofore sold by the United States, +distinguishing between the States and Territories in which it is +situated. + +Fifth. The amount which has been paid to France, Spain, and Georgia for +the public lands acquired from them respectively, including the amount +which has been paid to purchasers from Georgia to quiet or in +satisfaction of their claims, and the amount paid to the Indians to +extinguish their title within the limits of Georgia. + +Sixth. The total expense of administering the public domain since the +declaration of independence, including all charges for surveying, for +land offices, and other disbursements, and exhibiting the net amount +which has been realized in the Treasury from that source. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +WASHINGTON, _May 1, 1832_. +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith, for the use of the House, a printed copy of two +treaties lately ratified between the United States of America and the +United Mexican States. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + +(The same message was sent to the Senate.) + + +WASHINGTON, _May 2,1832_. +_To the House of Representatives_: + +In compliance with a resolution of the House of the 1st instant, in +relation to the imprisonment[15] of Samuel G. Howe, I transmit herewith +a report from the Secretary of State, by which it appears that no +information on the subject has yet reached the Department of State but +what is contained in the public newspapers. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + +[Footnote 15: In Berlin, Prussia.] + + +WASHINGTON, _May 29, 1832_. +_To the House of Representatives_: + +In compliance with the resolution of the House of the 18th instant, I +transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State, with copies of +the several instructions under which the recent treaty of indemnity with +Denmark was negotiated, and also of the other papers relating to the +negotiation required by the resolution. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +WASHINGTON, _May 29, 1832_. +_To the House of Representatives_: + +In compliance with the resolution of the House of the 27th of February +last, requesting copies of the instructions and correspondence relating +to the negotiation of the treaty with the Sublime Porte, together with +those of the negotiations preceding the treaty from the year 1819, I +transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State, with the papers +required. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +WASHINGTON, _June 11, 1832_. +_To the Senate_: + +I renominate Samuel Gwin to be register of the land office at Clinton, +in the State of Mississippi. + +In nominating Mr. Gwin to this office again it is proper to state to the +Senate that I do so in compliance with the request of a number of the +most respectable citizens of the State of Mississippi and with that of +one of the Senators from the same State. The letters expressing this +request are herewith respectfully inclosed for the consideration of the +Senate. It will be perceived that they bear the fullest testimony to the +fitness of Mr. Gwin for the office, and evince a strong desire that he +should be continued in it. + +Under these circumstances, and possessing myself a personal knowledge of +his integrity and fitness and of the claims which his faithful and +patriotic services give him upon the Government, I deem it an act of +justice to nominate him again, not doubting that the Senate will embrace +with cheerfulness an opportunity, with fuller information, to reconsider +their former vote upon his nomination. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +WASHINGTON, _June 25, 1832_. +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I herewith transmit to the Senate a report from the Secretary of State, +on the subject of the abolition of discriminating duties on the tonnage +of Spanish vessels. As it requires legislative enactment, I recommend it +to the early attention of Congress. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + +(The same message was sent to the House of Representatives.) + + +WASHINGTON CITY, _July 12, 1832_. +_The Speaker of the House of Representatives_. + +SIR: In compliance with the resolution of the House of Representatives +passed this day, requesting the President of the United States "to lay +before the House copies of the instructions given to the commander of +the frigate _Potomac_ previous to and since the departure of that ship +from the island of Sumatra, and copies of such letters as may have been +received from said commander after his arrival at Quallah Battoo, except +such parts as may in his judgment require secrecy," I forward copies of +the two letters of instructions to Captain Downes in relation to the +piratical plunder and murder of our citizens at Quallah Battoo, on the +coast of Sumatra, detailing his proceedings. + +The instructions, with the papers annexed, are all that have been given +bearing on this subject, and although parts of them do not relate +materially to the supposed object of the resolution, yet it has been +deemed expedient to omit nothing contained in the originals. + +The letter and report from Captain Downes which are herewith furnished +are all yet received from him bearing upon his proceedings at Quallah +Battoo; but as further intelligence may hereafter be communicated by +him, I send them for the information of the House, submitting, however, +in justice to that officer, that their contents should not be published +until he can enjoy a further opportunity of giving more full +explanations of all the circumstances under which he conducted. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +WASHINGTON, _July 14, 1832_. +_To the House of Representatives of the United States_: + +In compliance with the resolution of the House of the 17th of February +last, requesting copies of the instructions and correspondence relative +to the treaty with the Sublime Porte, together with those of the +negotiations preceding that treaty, from the year 1829, I transmit +herewith a supplemental report from the Secretary of State, with the +papers accompanying the same. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + + + +VETO MESSAGE. + +WASHINGTON, _July 10, 1832_. +_To the Senate_: + +The bill "to modify and continue" the act entitled "An act to +incorporate the subscribers to the Bank of the United States" was +presented to me on the 4th July instant. Having considered it with that +solemn regard to the principles of the Constitution which the day was +calculated to inspire, and come to the conclusion that it ought not to +become a law, I herewith return it to the Senate, in which it +originated, with my objections. + +A bank of the United States is in many respects convenient for the +Government and useful to the people. Entertaining this opinion, and +deeply impressed with the belief that some of the powers and privileges +possessed by the existing bank are unauthorized by the Constitution, +subversive of the rights of the States, and dangerous to the liberties +of the people, I felt it my duty at an early period of my Administration +to call the attention of Congress to the practicability of organizing an +institution combining all its advantages and obviating these objections. +I sincerely regret that in the act before me I can perceive none of +those modifications of the bank charter which are necessary, in my +opinion, to make it compatible with justice, with sound policy, or with +the Constitution of our country. + +The present corporate body, denominated the president, directors, and +company of the Bank of the United States, will have existed at the time +this act is intended to take effect twenty years. It enjoys an exclusive +privilege of banking under the authority of the General Government, a +monopoly of its favor and support, and, as a necessary consequence, +almost a monopoly of the foreign and domestic exchange. The powers, +privileges, and favors bestowed upon it in the original charter, by +increasing the value of the stock far above its par value, operated as a +gratuity of many millions to the stockholders. + +An apology may be found for the failure to guard against this result in +the consideration that the effect of the original act of incorporation +could not be certainly foreseen at the time of its passage. The act +before me proposes another gratuity to the holders of the same stock, +and in many cases to the same men, of at least seven millions more. This +donation finds no apology in any uncertainty as to the effect of the +act. On all hands it is conceded that its passage will increase at least +20 or 30 per cent more the market price of the stock, subject to the +payment of the annuity of $200,000 per year secured by the act, thus +adding in a moment one-fourth to its par value. It is not our own +citizens only who are to receive the bounty of our Government. More than +eight millions of the stock of this bank are held by foreigners. By this +act the American Republic proposes virtually to make them a present of +some millions of dollars. For these gratuities to foreigners and to some +of our own opulent citizens the act secures no equivalent whatever. They +are the certain gains of the present stockholders under the operation of +this act, after making full allowance for the payment of the bonus. + +Every monopoly and all exclusive privileges are granted at the expense +of the public, which ought to receive a fair equivalent. The many +millions which this act proposes to bestow on the stockholders of the +existing bank must come directly or indirectly out of the earnings of +the American people. It is due to them, therefore, if their Government +sell monopolies and exclusive privileges, that they should at least +exact for them as much as they are worth in open market. The value of +the monopoly in this case may be correctly ascertained. The twenty-eight +millions of stock would probably be at an advance of 50 per cent, and +command in market at least $42,000,000, subject to the payment of the +present bonus. The present value of the monopoly, therefore, is +$17,000,000, and this the act proposes to sell for three millions, +payable in fifteen annual installments of $200,000 each. + +It is not conceivable how the present stockholders can have any claim to +the special favor of the Government. The present corporation has enjoyed +its monopoly during the period stipulated in the original contract. If +we must have such a corporation, why should not the Government sell out +the whole stock and thus secure to the people the full market value of +the privileges granted? Why should not Congress create and sell +twenty-eight millions of stock, incorporating the purchasers with all +the powers and privileges secured in this act and putting the premium +upon the sales into the Treasury? + +But this act does not permit competition in the purchase of this +monopoly. It seems to be predicated on the erroneous idea that the +present stockholders have a prescriptive right not only to the favor but +to the bounty of Government. It appears that more than a fourth part of +the stock is held by foreigners and the residue is held by a few hundred +of our own citizens, chiefly of the richest class. For their benefit +does this act exclude the whole American people from competition in the +purchase of this monopoly and dispose of it for many millions less than +it is worth. This seems the less excusable because some of our citizens +not now stockholders petitioned that the door of competition might be +opened, and offered to take a charter on terms much more favorable to +the Government and country. + +But this proposition, although made by men whose aggregate wealth is +believed to be equal to all the private stock in the existing bank, has +been set aside, and the bounty of our Government is proposed to be again +bestowed on the few who have been fortunate enough to secure the stock +and at this moment wield the power of the existing institution. I can +not perceive the justice or policy of this course. If our Government +must sell monopolies, it would seem to be its duty to take nothing less +than their full value, and if gratuities must be made once in fifteen or +twenty years let them not be bestowed on the subjects of a foreign +government nor upon a designated and favored class of men in our own +country. It is but justice and good policy, as far as the nature of the +case will admit, to confine our favors to our own fellow citizens, and +let each in his turn enjoy an opportunity to profit by our bounty. In +the bearings of the act before me upon these points I find ample reasons +why it should not become a law. + +It has been urged as an argument in favor of rechartering the present +bank that the calling in its loans will produce great embarrassment and +distress. The time allowed to close its concerns is ample, and if it has +been well managed its pressure will be light, and heavy only in case its +management has been bad. If, therefore, it shall produce distress, the +fault will be its own, and it would furnish a reason against renewing a +power which has been so obviously abused. But will there ever be a time +when this reason will be less powerful? To acknowledge its force is to +admit that the bank ought to be perpetual, and as a consequence the +present stockholders and those inheriting their rights as successors be +established a privileged order, clothed both with great political power +and enjoying immense pecuniary advantages from their connection with the +Government. + +The modifications of the existing charter proposed by this act are not +such, in my view, as make it consistent with the rights of the States or +the liberties of the people. The qualification of the right of the bank +to hold real estate, the limitation of its power to establish branches, +and the power reserved to Congress to forbid the circulation of small +notes are restrictions comparatively of little value or importance. All +the objectionable principles of the existing corporation, and most of +its odious features, are retained without alleviation. + +The fourth section provides "that the notes or bills of the said +corporation, although the same be, on the faces thereof, respectively +made payable at one place only, shall nevertheless be received by the +said corporation at the bank or at any of the offices of discount and +deposit thereof if tendered in liquidation or payment of any balance or +balances due to said corporation or to such office of discount and +deposit from any other incorporated bank." This provision secures to the +State banks a legal privilege in the Bank of the United States which is +withheld from all private citizens. If a State bank in Philadelphia owe +the Bank of the United States and have notes issued by the St. Louis +branch, it can pay the debt with those notes, but if a merchant, +mechanic, or other private citizen be in like circumstances he can not +by law pay his debt with those notes, but must sell them at a discount +or send them to St. Louis to be cashed. This boon conceded to the State +banks, though not unjust in itself, is most odious because it does not +measure out equal justice to the high and the low, the rich and the +poor. To the extent of its practical effect it is a bond of union among +the banking establishments of the nation, erecting them into an interest +separate from that of the people, and its necessary tendency is to unite +the Bank of the United States and the State banks in any measure which +may be thought conducive to their common interest. + +The ninth section of the act recognizes principles of worse tendency +than any provision of the present charter. + +It enacts that "the cashier of the bank shall annually report to the +Secretary of the Treasury the names of all stockholders who are not +resident citizens of the United States, and on the application of the +treasurer of any State shall make out and transmit to such treasurer a +list of stockholders residing in or citizens of such State, with the +amount of stock owned by each." Although this provision, taken in +connection with a decision of the Supreme Court, surrenders, by its +silence, the right of the States to tax the banking institutions created +by this corporation under the name of branches throughout the Union, it +is evidently intended to be construed as a concession of their right to +tax that portion of the stock which may be held by their own citizens +and residents. In this light, if the act becomes a law, it will be +understood by the States, who will probably proceed to levy a tax equal +to that paid upon the stock of banks incorporated by themselves. In some +States that tax is now 1 per cent, either on the capital or on the +shares, and that may be assumed as the amount which all citizen or +resident stockholders would be taxed under the operation of this act. As +it is only the stock _held_ in the States and not that _employed_ within +them which would be subject to taxation, and as the names of foreign +stockholders are not to be reported to the treasurers of the States, it +is obvious that the stock held by them will be exempt from this burden. +Their annual profits will therefore be 1 per cent more than the citizen +stockholders, and as the annual dividends of the bank may be safely +estimated at 7 per cent, the stock will be worth 10 or 15 per cent more +to foreigners than to citizens of the United States. To appreciate the +effects which this state of things will produce, we must take a brief +review of the operations and present condition of the Bank of the United +States. + +By documents submitted to Congress at the present session it appears +that on the 1st of January, 1832, of the twenty-eight millions of +private stock in the corporation, $8,405,500 were held by foreigners, +mostly of Great Britain. The amount of stock held in the nine Western +and Southwestern States is $140,200, and in the four Southern States is +$5,623,100, and in the Middle and Eastern States is about $13,522,000. +The profits of the bank in 1831, as shown in a statement to Congress, +were about $3,455,598; of this there accrued in the nine Western States +about $1,640,048; in the four Southern States about $352,507, and in the +Middle and Eastern States about $1,463,041. As little stock is held in +the West, it is obvious that the debt of the people in that section to +the bank is principally a debt to the Eastern and foreign stockholders; +that the interest they pay upon it is carried into the Eastern States +and into Europe, and that it is a burden upon their industry and a drain +of their currency, which no country can bear without inconvenience and +occasional distress. To meet this burden and equalize the exchange +operations of the bank, the amount of specie drawn from those States +through its branches within the last two years, as shown by its official +reports, was about $6,000,000. More than half a million of this amount +does not stop in the Eastern States, but passes on to Europe to pay the +dividends of the foreign stockholders. In the principle of taxation +recognized by this act the Western States find no adequate compensation +for this perpetual burden on their industry and drain of their currency. +The branch bank at Mobile made last year $95,140, yet under the +provisions of this act the State of Alabama can raise no revenue from +these profitable operations, because not a share of the stock is held by +any of her citizens. Mississippi and Missouri are in the same condition +in relation to the branches at Natchez and St. Louis, and such, in a +greater or less degree, is the condition of every Western State. The +tendency of the plan of taxation which this act proposes will be to +place the whole United States in the same relation to foreign countries +which the Western States now bear to the Eastern. When by a tax on +resident stockholders the stock of this bank is made worth 10 or 15 per +cent more to foreigners than to residents, most of it will inevitably +leave the country. + +Thus will this provision in its practical effect deprive the Eastern as +well as the Southern and Western States of the means of raising a +revenue from the extension of business and great profits of this +institution. It will make the American people debtors to aliens in +nearly the whole amount due to this bank, and send across the Atlantic +from two to five millions of specie every year to pay the bank +dividends. + +In another of its bearings this provision is fraught with danger. Of the +twenty-five directors of this bank five are chosen by the Government and +twenty by the citizen stockholders. From all voice in these elections +the foreign stockholders are excluded by the charter. In proportion, +therefore, as the stock is transferred to foreign holders the extent of +suffrage in the choice of directors is curtailed. Already is almost a +third of the stock in foreign hands and not represented in elections. It +is constantly passing out of the country, and this act will accelerate +its departure. The entire control of the institution would necessarily +fall into the hands of a few citizen stockholders, and the ease with +which the object would be accomplished would be a temptation to +designing men to secure that control in their own hands by monopolizing +the remaining stock. There is danger that a president and directors +would then be able to elect themselves from year to year, and without +responsibility or control manage the whole concerns of the bank during +the existence of its charter. It is easy to conceive that great evils to +our country and its institutions might flow from such a concentration of +power in the hands of a few men irresponsible to the people. + +Is there no danger to our liberty and independence in a bank that in its +nature has so little to bind it to our country? The president of the +bank has told us that most of the State banks exist by its forbearance. +Should its influence become concentered, as it may under the operation +of such an act as this, in the hands of a self-elected directory whose +interests are identified with those of the foreign stockholders, will +there not be cause to tremble for the purity of our elections in peace +and for the independence of our country in war? Their power would be +great whenever they might choose to exert it; but if this monopoly were +regularly renewed every fifteen or twenty years on terms proposed by +themselves, they might seldom in peace put forth their strength to +influence elections or control the affairs of the nation. But if any +private citizen or public functionary should interpose to curtail its +powers or prevent a renewal of its privileges, it can not be doubted +that he would be made to feel its influence. + +Should the stock of the bank principally pass into the hands of the +subjects of a foreign country, and we should unfortunately become +involved in a war with that country, what would be our condition? Of the +course which would be pursued by a bank almost wholly owned by the +subjects of a foreign power, and managed by those whose interests, if +not affections, would run in the same direction there can be no doubt. +All its operations within would be in aid of the hostile fleets and +armies without. Controlling our currency, receiving our public moneys, +and holding thousands of our citizens in dependence, it would be more +formidable and dangerous than the naval and military power of the enemy. + +If we must have a bank with private stockholders, every consideration of +sound policy and every impulse of American feeling admonishes that it +should be _purely American_. Its stockholders should be composed +exclusively of our own citizens, who at least ought to be friendly to +our Government and willing to support it in times of difficulty and +danger. So abundant is domestic capital that competition in subscribing +for the stock of local banks has recently led almost to riots. To a bank +exclusively of American stockholders, possessing the powers and +privileges granted by this act, subscriptions for $200,000,000 could be +readily obtained. Instead of sending abroad the stock of the bank in +which the Government must deposit its funds and on which it must rely to +sustain its credit in times of emergency, it would rather seem to be +expedient to prohibit its sale to aliens under penalty of absolute +forfeiture. + +It is maintained by the advocates of the bank that its constitutionality +in all its features ought to be considered as settled by precedent and +by the decision of the Supreme Court. To this conclusion I can not +assent. Mere precedent is a dangerous source of authority, and should +not be regarded as deciding questions of constitutional power except +where the acquiescence of the people and the States can be considered as +well settled. So far from this being the case on this subject, an +argument against the bank might be based on precedent. One Congress, in +1791, decided in favor of a bank; another, in 1811, decided against it. +One Congress, in 1815, decided against a bank; another, in 1816, decided +in its favor. Prior to the present Congress, therefore, the precedents +drawn from that source were equal. If we resort to the States, the +expressions of legislative, judicial, and executive opinions against the +bank have been probably to those in its favor as 4 to 1. There is +nothing in precedent, therefore, which, if its authority were admitted, +ought to weigh in favor of the act before me. + +If the opinion of the Supreme Court covered the whole ground of this +act, it ought not to control the coordinate authorities of this +Government. The Congress, the Executive, and the Court must each for +itself be guided by its own opinion of the Constitution. Each public +officer who takes an oath to support the Constitution swears that he +will support it as he understands it, and not as it is understood by +others. It is as much the duty of the House of Representatives, of the +Senate, and of the President to decide upon the constitutionality of any +bill or resolution which may be presented to them for passage or +approval as it is of the supreme judges when it may be brought before +them for judicial decision. The opinion of the judges has no more +authority over Congress than the opinion of Congress has over the +judges, and on that point the President is independent of both. The +authority of the Supreme Court must not, therefore, be permitted to +control the Congress or the Executive when acting in their legislative +capacities, but to have only such influence as the force of their +reasoning may deserve. + +But in the case relied upon the Supreme Court have not decided that all +the features of this corporation are compatible with the Constitution. +It is true that the court have said that the law incorporating the bank +is a constitutional exercise of power by Congress; but taking into view +the whole opinion of the court and the reasoning by which they have come +to that conclusion, I understand them to have decided that inasmuch as a +bank is an appropriate means for carrying into effect the enumerated +powers of the General Government, therefore the law incorporating it is +in accordance with that provision of the Constitution which declares +that Congress shall have power "to make all laws which shall be +necessary and proper for carrying those powers into execution." Having +satisfied themselves that the word "_necessary_" in the Constitution +means "_needful," "requisite," "essential," "conducive to_," and that "a +bank" is a convenient, a useful, and essential instrument in the +prosecution of the Government's "fiscal operations," they conclude that +to "use one must be within the discretion of Congress" and that "the act +to incorporate the Bank of the United States is a law made in pursuance +of the Constitution;" "but," say they, "_where the law is not prohibited +and is really calculated to effect any of the objects intrusted to the +Government, to undertake here to inquire into the degree of its +necessity would be to pass the line which circumscribes the judicial +department and to tread on legislative ground_." + +The principle here affirmed is that the "degree of its necessity," +involving all the details of a banking institution, is a question +exclusively for legislative consideration. A bank is constitutional, but +it is the province of the Legislature to determine whether this or that +particular power, privilege, or exemption is "necessary and proper" to +enable the bank to discharge its duties to the Government, and from +their decision there is no appeal to the courts of justice. Under the +decision of the Supreme Court, therefore, it is the exclusive province +of Congress and the President to decide whether the particular features +of this act are _necessary_ and _proper_ in order to enable the bank to +perform conveniently and efficiently the public duties assigned to it as +a fiscal agent, and therefore constitutional, or _unnecessary_ and +_improper_, and therefore unconstitutional. + +Without commenting on the general principle affirmed by the Supreme +Court, let us examine the details of this act in accordance with the +rule of legislative action which they have laid down. It will be found +that many of the powers and privileges conferred on it can not be +supposed necessary for the purpose for which it is proposed to be +created, and are not, therefore, means necessary to attain the end in +view, and consequently not justified by the Constitution. + +The original act of incorporation, section 21, enacts "that no other +bank shall be established by any future law of the United States during +the continuance of the corporation hereby created, for which the faith +of the United States is hereby pledged: _Provided_, Congress may renew +existing charters for banks within the District of Columbia not +increasing the capital thereof, and may also establish any other bank or +banks in said District with capitals not exceeding in the whole +$6,000,000 if they shall deem it expedient." This provision is continued +in force by the act before me fifteen years from the 3d of March, 1836. + +If Congress possessed the power to establish one bank, they had power to +establish more than one if in their opinion two or more banks had been +"necessary" to facilitate the execution of the powers delegated to them +in the Constitution. If they possessed the power to establish a second +bank, it was a power derived from the Constitution to be exercised from +time to time, and at any time when the interests of the country or the +emergencies of the Government might make it expedient. It was possessed +by one Congress as well as another, and by all Congresses alike, and +alike at every session. But the Congress of 1816 have taken it away from +their successors for twenty years, and the Congress of 1832 proposes to +abolish it for fifteen years more. It can not be "_necessary_" or +"_proper_" for Congress to barter away or divest themselves of any of +the powers vested in them by the Constitution to be exercised for the +public good. It is not "_necessary_" to the efficiency of the bank, nor +is it "_proper_" in relation to themselves and their successors. They +may _properly_ use the discretion vested in them, but they may not limit +the discretion of their successors. This restriction on themselves and +grant of a monopoly to the bank is therefore unconstitutional. + +In another point of view this provision is a palpable attempt to amend +the Constitution by an act of legislation. The Constitution declares +that "the Congress shall have power to exercise exclusive legislation in +all cases whatsoever" over the District of Columbia. Its constitutional +power, therefore, to establish banks in the District of Columbia and +increase their capital at will is unlimited and uncontrollable by any +other power than that which gave authority to the Constitution. Yet this +act declares that Congress shall _not_ increase the capital of existing +banks, nor create other banks with capitals exceeding in the whole +$6,000,000. The Constitution declares that Congress _shall_ have power +to exercise exclusive legislation over this District "_in all cases +whatsoever_," and this act declares they shall not. Which is the supreme +law of the land? This provision can not be "_necessary_" or "_proper_" +or _constitutional_ unless the absurdity be admitted that whenever it be +"necessary and proper" in the opinion of Congress they have a right to +barter away one portion of the powers vested in them by the Constitution +as a means of executing the rest. + +On two subjects only does the Constitution recognize in Congress the +power to grant exclusive privileges or monopolies. It declares that +"Congress shall have power to promote the progress of science and useful +arts by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the +exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries." Out of +this express delegation of power have grown our laws of patents and +copyrights. As the Constitution expressly delegates to Congress the +power to grant exclusive privileges in these cases as the means of +executing the substantive power "to promote the progress of science and +useful arts," it is consistent with the fair rules of construction to +conclude that such a power was not intended to be granted as a means of +accomplishing any other end. On every other subject which comes within +the scope of Congressional power there is an ever-living discretion in +the use of proper means, which can not be restricted or abolished +without an amendment of the Constitution. Every act of Congress, +therefore, which attempts by grants of monopolies or sale of exclusive +privileges for a limited time, or a time without limit, to restrict or +extinguish its own discretion in the choice of means to execute its +delegated powers is equivalent to a legislative amendment of the +Constitution, and palpably unconstitutional. + +This act authorizes and encourages transfers of its stock to foreigners +and grants them an exemption from all State and national taxation. So +far from being "_necessary and proper_" that the bank should possess +this power to make it a safe and efficient agent of the Government in +its fiscal operations, it is calculated to convert the Bank of the +United States into a foreign bank, to impoverish our people in time of +peace, to disseminate a foreign influence through every section of the +Republic, and in war to endanger our independence. + +The several States reserved the power at the formation of the +Constitution to regulate and control titles and transfers of real +property, and most, if not all, of them have laws disqualifying aliens +from acquiring or holding lands within their limits. But this act, in +disregard of the undoubted right of the States to prescribe such +disqualifications, gives to aliens stockholders in this bank an interest +and title, as members of the corporation, to all the real property it +may acquire within any of the States of this Union. This privilege +granted to aliens is not "_necessary_" to enable the bank to perform its +public duties, nor in any sense "_proper_" because it is vitally +subversive of the rights of the States. + +The Government of the United States have no constitutional power to +purchase lands within the States except "for the erection of forts, +magazines, arsenals, dockyards, and other needful buildings," and even +for these objects only "by the consent of the legislature of the State +in which the same shall be." By making themselves stockholders in the +bank and granting to the corporation the power to purchase lands for +other purposes they assume a power not granted in the Constitution and +grant to others what they do not themselves possess. It is not +_necessary_ to the receiving, safe-keeping, or transmission of the funds +of the Government that the bank should possess this power, and it is not +_proper_ that Congress should thus enlarge the powers delegated to them +in the Constitution. + +The old Bank of the United States possessed a capital of only +$11,000,000, which was found fully sufficient to enable it with dispatch +and safety to perform all the functions required of it by the +Government. The capital of the present bank is $35,000,000--at least +twenty-four more than experience has proved to be _necessary_ to enable +a bank to perform its public functions. The public debt which existed +during the period of the old bank and on the establishment of the new +has been nearly paid off, and our revenue will soon be reduced. This +increase of capital is therefore not for public but for private +purposes. + +The Government is the only "_proper_" judge where its agents should +reside and keep their offices, because it best knows where their +presence will be "_necessary_." It can not, therefore, be "_necessary_" +or "_proper_" to authorize the bank to locate branches where it pleases +to perform the public service, without consulting the Government, and +contrary to its will. The principle laid down by the Supreme Court +concedes that Congress can not establish a bank for purposes of private +speculation and gain, but only as a means of executing the delegated +powers of the General Government. By the same principle a branch bank +can not constitutionally be established for other than public purposes. +The power which this act gives to establish two branches in any State, +without the injunction or request of the Government and for other than +public purposes, is not "_necessary_" to the due _execution_ of the +powers delegated to Congress. + +The bonus which is exacted from the bank is a confession upon the face +of the act that the powers granted by it are greater than are +"_necessary_" to its character of a fiscal agent. The Government does +not tax its officers and agents for the privilege of serving it. The +bonus of a million and a half required by the original charter and that +of three millions proposed by this act are not exacted for the privilege +of giving "the necessary facilities for transferring the public funds +from place to place within the United States or the Territories thereof, +and for distributing the same in payment of the public creditors without +charging commission or claiming allowance on account of the difference +of exchange," as required by the act of incorporation, but for something +more beneficial to the stockholders. The original act declares that it +(the bonus) is granted "in consideration of the exclusive privileges and +benefits conferred by this act upon the said bank," and the act before +me declares it to be "in consideration of the exclusive benefits and +privileges continued by this act to the said corporation for fifteen +years, as aforesaid." It is therefore for "exclusive privileges and +benefits" conferred for their own use and emolument, and not for the +advantage of the Government, that a bonus is exacted. These surplus +powers for which the bank is required to pay can not surely be +"_necessary_" to make it the fiscal agent of the Treasury. If they were, +the exaction of a bonus for them would not be "_proper_." + +It is maintained by some that the bank is a means of executing the +constitutional power "to coin money and regulate the value thereof." +Congress have established a mint to coin money and passed laws to +regulate the value thereof. The money so coined, with its value so +regulated, and such foreign coins as Congress may adopt are the only +currency known to the Constitution. But if they have other power to +regulate the currency, it was conferred to be exercised by themselves, +and not to be transferred to a corporation. If the bank be established +for that purpose, with a charter unalterable without its consent, +Congress have parted with their power for a term of years, during which +the Constitution is a dead letter. It is neither necessary nor proper to +transfer its legislative power to such a bank, and therefore +unconstitutional. + +By its silence, considered in connection with the decision of the +Supreme Court in the case of McCulloch against the State of Maryland, +this act takes from the States the power to tax a portion of the banking +business carried on within their limits, in subversion of one of the +strongest barriers which secured them against Federal encroachments. +Banking, like farming, manufacturing, or any other occupation or +profession, is _a business_, the right to follow which is not originally +derived from the laws. Every citizen and every company of citizens in +all of our States possessed the right until the State legislatures +deemed it good policy to prohibit private banking by law. If the +prohibitory State laws were now repealed, every citizen would again +possess the right. The State banks are a qualified restoration of the +right which has been taken away by the laws against banking, guarded by +such provisions and limitations as in the opinion of the State +legislatures the public interest requires. These corporations, unless +there be an exemption in their charter, are, like private bankers and +banking companies, subject to State taxation. The manner in which these +taxes shall be laid depends wholly on legislative discretion. It may be +upon the bank, upon the stock, upon the profits, or in any other mode +which the sovereign power shall will. + +Upon the formation of the Constitution the States guarded their taxing +power with peculiar jealousy. They surrendered it only as it regards +imports and exports. In relation to every other object within their +jurisdiction, whether persons, property, business, or professions, it +was secured in as ample a manner as it was before possessed. All +persons, though United States officers, are liable to a poll tax by the +States within which they reside. The lands of the United States are +liable to the usual land tax, except in the new States, from whom +agreements that they will not tax unsold lands are exacted when they are +admitted into the Union. Horses, wagons, any beasts or vehicles, tools, +or property belonging to private citizens, though employed in the +service of the United States, are subject to State taxation. Every +private business, whether carried on by an officer of the General +Government or not, whether it be mixed with public concerns or not, even +if it be carried on by the Government of the United States itself, +separately or in partnership, falls within the scope of the taxing power +of the State. Nothing comes more fully within it than banks and the +business of banking, by whomsoever instituted and carried on. Over this +whole subject-matter it is just as absolute, unlimited, and +uncontrollable as if the Constitution had never been adopted, because in +the formation of that instrument it was reserved without qualification. + +The principle is conceded that the States can not rightfully tax the +operations of the General Government. They can not tax the money of the +Government deposited in the State banks, nor the agency of those banks +in remitting it; but will any man maintain that their mere selection to +perform this public service for the General Government would exempt the +State banks and their ordinary business from State taxation? Had the +United States, instead of establishing a bank at Philadelphia, employed +a private banker to keep and transmit their funds, would it have +deprived Pennsylvania of the right to tax his bank and his usual banking +operations? It will not be pretended. Upon what principle, then, are the +banking establishments of the Bank of the United States and their usual +banking operations to be exempted from taxation? It is not their public +agency or the deposits of the Government which the States claim a right +to tax, but their banks and their banking powers, instituted and +exercised within State jurisdiction for their private emolument--those +powers and privileges for which they pay a bonus, and which the States +tax in their own banks. The exercise of these powers within a State, no +matter by whom or under what authority, whether by private citizens in +their original right, by corporate bodies created by the States, by +foreigners or the agents of foreign governments located within their +limits, forms a legitimate object of State taxation. From this and like +sources, from the persons, property, and business that are found +residing, located, or carried on under their jurisdiction, must the +States, since the surrender of their right to raise a revenue from +imports and exports, draw all the money necessary for the support of +their governments and the maintenance of their independence. There is no +more appropriate subject of taxation than banks, banking, and bank +stocks, and none to which the States ought more pertinaciously to cling. + +It can not be _necessary_ to the character of the bank as a fiscal agent +of the Government that its private business should be exempted from that +taxation to which all the State banks are liable, nor can I conceive it +"_proper_" that the substantive and most essential powers reserved by +the States shall be thus attacked and annihilated as a means of +executing the powers delegated to the General Government. It may be +safely assumed that none of those sages who had an agency in forming or +adopting our Constitution ever imagined that any portion of the taxing +power of the States not prohibited to them nor delegated to Congress was +to be swept away and annihilated as a means of executing certain powers +delegated to Congress. + +If our power over means is so absolute that the Supreme Court will not +call in question the constitutionality of an act of Congress the subject +of which "is not prohibited, and is really calculated to effect any of +the objects intrusted to the Government," although, as in the case +before me, it takes away powers expressly granted to Congress and rights +scrupulously reserved to the States, it becomes us to proceed in our +legislation with the utmost caution. Though not directly, our own powers +and the rights of the States may be indirectly legislated away in the +use of means to execute substantive powers. We may not enact that +Congress shall not have the power of exclusive legislation over the +District of Columbia, but we may pledge the faith of the United States +that as a means of executing other powers it shall not be exercised for +twenty years or forever. We may not pass an act prohibiting the States +to tax the banking business carried on within their limits, but we may, +as a means of executing our powers over other objects, place that +business in the hands of our agents and then declare it exempt from +State taxation in their hands. Thus may our own powers and the rights of +the States, which we can not directly curtail or invade, be frittered +away and extinguished in the use of means employed by us to execute +other powers. That a bank of the United States, competent to all the +duties which may be required by the Government, might be so organized as +not to infringe on our own delegated powers or the reserved rights of +the States I do not entertain a doubt. Had the Executive been called +upon to furnish the project of such an institution, the duty would have +been cheerfully performed. In the absence of such a call it was +obviously proper that he should confine himself to pointing out those +prominent features in the act; presented which in his opinion make it +incompatible with the Constitution and sound policy. A general +discussion will now take place, eliciting new light and settling +important principles; and a new Congress, elected in the midst of such +discussion, and furnishing an equal representation of the people +according to the last census, will bear to the Capitol the verdict of +public opinion, and, I doubt not, bring this important question to a +satisfactory result. + +Under such circumstances the bank comes forward and asks a renewal of +its charter for a term of fifteen years upon conditions which not only +operate as a gratuity to the stockholders of many millions of dollars, +but will sanction any abuses and legalize any encroachments. + +Suspicions are entertained and charges are made of gross abuse and +violation of its charter. An investigation unwillingly conceded and so +restricted in time as necessarily to make it incomplete and +unsatisfactory discloses enough to excite suspicion and alarm. In the +practices of the principal bank partially unveiled, in the absence of +important witnesses, and in numerous charges confidently made and as yet +wholly uninvestigated there was enough to induce a majority of the +committee of investigation--a committee which was selected from the most +able and honorable members of the House of Representatives--to recommend +a suspension of further action upon the bill and a prosecution of the +inquiry. As the charter had yet four years to run, and as a renewal now +was not necessary to the successful prosecution of its business, it was +to have been expected that the bank itself, conscious of its purity and +proud of its character, would have withdrawn its application for the +present, and demanded the severest scrutiny into all its transactions. +In their declining to do so there seems to be an additional reason why +the functionaries of the Government should proceed with less haste and +more caution in the renewal of their monopoly. + +The bank is professedly established as an agent of the executive branch +of the Government, and its constitutionality is maintained on that +ground. Neither upon the propriety of present action nor upon the +provisions of this act was the Executive consulted. It has had no +opportunity to say that it neither needs nor wants an agent clothed with +such powers and favored by such exemptions. There is nothing in its +legitimate functions which makes it necessary or proper. Whatever +interest or influence, whether public or private, has given birth to +this act, it can not be found either in the wishes or necessities of the +executive department, by which present action is deemed premature, and +the powers conferred upon its agent not only unnecessary, but dangerous +to the Government and country. + +It is to be regretted that the rich and powerful too often bend the acts +of government to their selfish purposes. Distinctions in society will +always exist under every just government. Equality of talents, of +education, or of wealth can not be produced by human institutions. In +the full enjoyment of the gifts of Heaven and the fruits of superior +industry, economy, and virtue, every man is equally entitled to +protection by law; but when the laws undertake to add to these natural +and just advantages artificial distinctions, to grant titles, +gratuities, and exclusive privileges, to make the rich richer and the +potent more powerful, the humble members of society--the farmers, +mechanics, and laborers--who have neither the time nor the means of +securing like favors to themselves, have a right to complain of the +injustice of their Government. There are no necessary evils in +government. Its evils exist only in its abuses. If it would confine +itself to equal protection, and, as Heaven does its rains, shower its +favors alike on the high and the low, the rich and the poor, it would be +an unqualified blessing. In the act before me there seems to be a wide +and unnecessary departure from these just principles. + +Nor is our Government to be maintained or our Union preserved by +invasions of the rights and powers of the several States. In thus +attempting to make our General Government strong we make it weak. Its +true strength consists in leaving individuals and States as much as +possible to themselves--in making itself felt, not in its power, but in +its beneficence; not in its control, but in its protection; not in +binding the States more closely to the center, but leaving each to move +unobstructed in its proper orbit. + +Experience should teach us wisdom. Most of the difficulties our +Government now encounters and most of the dangers which impend over our +Union have sprung from an abandonment of the legitimate objects of +Government by our national legislation, and the adoption of such +principles as are embodied in this act. Many of our rich men have not +been content with equal protection and equal benefits, but have besought +us to make them richer by act of Congress. By attempting to gratify +their desires we have in the results of our legislation arrayed section +against section, interest against interest, and man against man, in a +fearful commotion which threatens to shake the foundations of our Union. +It is time to pause in our career to review our principles, and if +possible revive that devoted patriotism and spirit of compromise which +distinguished the sages of the Revolution and the fathers of our Union. +If we can not at once, in justice to interests vested under improvident +legislation, make our Government what it ought to be, we can at least +take a stand against all new grants of monopolies and exclusive +privileges, against any prostitution of our Government to the +advancement of the few at the expense of the many, and in favor of +compromise and gradual reform in our code of laws and system of +political economy. + +I have now done my duty to my country. If sustained by my fellow +citizens, I shall be grateful and happy; if not, I shall find in the +motives which impel me ample grounds for contentment and peace. In the +difficulties which surround us and the dangers which threaten our +institutions there is cause for neither dismay nor alarm. For relief and +deliverance let us firmly rely on that kind Providence which I am sure +watches with peculiar care over the destinies of our Republic, and on +the intelligence and wisdom of our countrymen. Through _His_ abundant +goodness and _their_ patriotic devotion our liberty and Union will be +preserved. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + + + +FOURTH ANNUAL MESSAGE. + +_December 4, 1832_. +_Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +It gives me pleasure to congratulate you upon your return to the seat of +Government for the purpose of discharging your duties to the people of +the United States. Although the pestilence which had traversed the Old +World has entered our limits and extended its ravages over much of our +land, it has pleased Almighty God to mitigate its severity and lessen +the number of its victims compared with those who have fallen in most +other countries over which it has spread its terrors. Notwithstanding +this visitation, our country presents on every side marks of prosperity +and happiness unequaled, perhaps, in any other portion of the world. If +we fully appreciate our comparative condition, existing causes of +discontent will appear unworthy of attention, and, with hearts of +thankfulness to that divine Being who has filled our cup of prosperity, +we shall feel our resolution strengthened to preserve and hand down to +posterity that liberty and that union which we have received from our +fathers, and which constitute the sources and the shield of all our +blessings. + +The relations of our country continue to present the same picture of +amicable intercourse that I had the satisfaction to hold up to your view +at the opening of your last session. The same friendly professions, the +same desire to participate in our flourishing commerce, the same +disposition to refrain from injuries unintentionally offered, are, with +few exceptions, evinced by all nations with whom we have any +intercourse. This desirable state of things may be mainly ascribed to +our undeviating practice of the rule which has long guided our national +policy, to require no exclusive privileges in commerce and to grant +none. It is daily producing its beneficial effect in the respect shown +to our flag, the protection of our citizens and their property abroad, +and in the increase of our navigation and the extension of our +mercantile operations. The returns which have been made out since we +last met will show an increase during the last preceding year of more +than 80,000 tons in our shipping and of near $40,000,000 in the +aggregate of our imports and exports. + +Nor have we less reason to felicitate ourselves on the position of our +political than of our commercial concerns. They remain in the state in +which they were when I last addressed you--a state of prosperity and +peace, the effect of a wise attention to the parting advice of the +revered Father of his Country on this subject, condensed into a maxim +for the use of posterity by one of his most distinguished successors--to +cultivate free commerce and honest friendship with all nations, but to +make entangling alliances with none. A strict adherence to this policy +has kept us aloof from the perplexing questions that now agitate the +European world and have more than once deluged those countries with +blood. Should those scenes unfortunately recur, the parties to the +contest may count on a faithful performance of the duties incumbent on +us as a neutral nation, and our own citizens may equally rely on the +firm assertion of their neutral rights. + +With the nation that was our earliest friend and ally in the infancy of +our political existence the most friendly relations have subsisted +through the late revolutions of its Government, and, from the events of +the last, promise a permanent duration. It has made an approximation in +some of its political institutions to our own, and raised a monarch to +the throne who preserves, it is said, a friendly recollection of the +period during which he acquired among our citizens the high +consideration that could then have been produced by his personal +qualifications alone. + +Our commerce with that nation is gradually assuming a mutually +beneficial character, and the adjustment of the claims of our citizens +has removed the only obstacle there was to an intercourse not only +lucrative, but productive of literary and scientific improvement. + +From Great Britain I have the satisfaction to inform you that I continue +to receive assurances of the most amicable disposition, which have on my +part on all proper occasions been promptly and sincerely reciprocated. +The attention of that Government has latterly been so much engrossed by +matters of a deeply interesting domestic character that we could not +press upon it the renewal of negotiations which had been unfortunately +broken off by the unexpected recall of our minister, who had commenced +them with some hopes of success. My great object was the settlement of +questions which, though now dormant, might hereafter be revived under +circumstances that would endanger the good understanding which it is the +interest of both parties to preserve inviolate, cemented as it is by a +community of language, manners, and social habits, and by the high +obligations we owe to our British ancestors for many of our most +valuable institutions and for that system of representative government +which has enabled us to preserve and improve them. + +The question of our northeastern boundary still remains unsettled. In my +last annual message I explained to you the situation in which I found +that business on my coming into office, and the measures I thought it my +duty to pursue for asserting the rights of the United States before the +sovereign who had been chosen by my predecessor to determine the +question, and also the manner in which he had disposed of it. A special +message to the Senate in their executive capacity afterwards brought +before them the question whether they would advise a submission to the +opinion of the sovereign arbiter. That body having considered the award +as not obligatory and advised me to open a further negotiation, the +proposition was immediately made to the British Government, but the +circumstances to which I have alluded have hitherto prevented any answer +being given to the overture. Early attention, however, has been promised +to the subject, and every effort on my part will be made for a +satisfactory settlement of this question, interesting to the Union +generally, and particularly so to one of its members. + +The claims of our citizens on Spain are not yet acknowledged. On a +closer investigation of them than appears to have heretofore taken place +it was discovered that some of these demands, however strong they might +be upon the equity of that Government, were not such as could be made +the subject of national interference; and faithful to the principle of +asking nothing but what was clearly right, additional instructions have +been sent to modify our demands so as to embrace those only on which, +according to the laws of nations, we had a strict right to insist. An +inevitable delay in procuring the documents necessary for this review of +the merits of these claims retarded this operation until an unfortunate +malady which has afflicted His Catholic Majesty prevented an examination +of them. Being now for the first time presented in an unexceptionable +form, it is confidently hoped that the application will be successful. + +I have the satisfaction to inform you that the application I directed to +be made for the delivery of a part of the archives of Florida, which had +been carried to The Havannah, has produced a royal order for their +delivery, and that measures have been taken to procure its execution. + +By the report of the Secretary of State communicated to you on the 25th +June last you were informed of the conditional reduction obtained by the +minister of the United States at Madrid of the duties on tonnage levied +on American shipping in the ports of Spain. The condition of that +reduction having been complied with on our part by the act passed the +13th of July last, I have the satisfaction to inform you that our ships +now pay no higher nor other duties in the continental ports of Spain +than are levied on their national vessels. + +The demands against Portugal for illegal captures in the blockade of +Terceira have been allowed to the full amount of the accounts presented +by the claimants, and payment was promised to be made in three +installments. The first of these has been paid; the second, although +due, had not at the date of our last advices been received, owing, it +was alleged, to embarrassments in the finances consequent on the civil +war in which that nation is engaged. + +The payments stipulated by the convention with Denmark have been +punctually made, and the amount is ready for distribution among the +claimants as soon as the board, now sitting, shall have performed their +functions. + +I regret that by the last advices from our chargé d'affaires at Naples +that Government had still delayed the satisfaction due to our citizens, +but at that date the effect of the last instructions was not known. +Dispatches from thence are hourly expected, and the result will be +communicated to you without delay. + +With the rest of Europe our relations, political and commercial, remain +unchanged. Negotiations are going on to put on a permanent basis the +liberal system of commerce now carried on between us and the Empire of +Russia. The treaty concluded with Austria is executed by His Imperial +Majesty with the most perfect good faith, and as we have no diplomatic +agent at his Court he personally inquired into and corrected a +proceeding of some of his subaltern officers to the injury of our consul +in one of his ports. + +Our treaty with the Sublime Porte is producing its expected effects on +our commerce. New markets are opening for our commodities and a more +extensive range for the employment of our ships. A slight augmentation +of the duties on our commerce, inconsistent with the spirit of the +treaty, had been imposed, but on the representation of our charge +d'affaires it has been promptly withdrawn, and we now enjoy the trade +and navigation of the Black Sea and of all the ports belonging to the +Turkish Empire and Asia on the most perfect equality with all foreign +nations. + +I wish earnestly that in announcing to you the continuance of friendship +and the increase of a profitable commercial intercourse with Mexico, +with Central America, and the States of the South I could accompany it +with the assurance that they all are blessed with that internal +tranquillity and foreign peace which their heroic devotion to the cause +of their independence merits. In Mexico a sanguinary struggle is now +carried on, which has caused some embarrassment to our commerce, but +both parties profess the most friendly disposition toward us. To the +termination of this contest we look for the establishment of that secure +intercourse so necessary to nations whose territories are contiguous. +How important it will be to us we may calculate from the fact that even +in this unfavorable state of things our maritime commerce has increased, +and an internal trade by caravans from St. Louis to Santa Fe, under the +protection of escorts furnished by the Government, is carried on to +great advantage and is daily increasing. The agents provided for by the +treaty, with this power to designate the boundaries which it +established, have been named on our part, but one of the evils of the +civil war now raging there has been that the appointment of those with +whom they were to cooperate has not yet been announced to us. + +The Government of Central America has expelled from its territory the +party which some time since disturbed its peace. Desirous of fostering a +favorable disposition toward us, which has on more than one occasion +been evinced by this interesting country, I made a second attempt in +this year to establish a diplomatic intercourse with them; but the death +of the distinguished citizen whom I had appointed for that purpose has +retarded the execution of measures from which I hoped much advantage to +our commerce. The union of the three States which formed the Republic of +Colombia has been dissolved, but they all, it is believed, consider +themselves as separately bound by the treaty which was made in their +federal capacity. The minister accredited to the federation continues in +that character near the Government of New Granada, and hopes were +entertained that a new union would be formed between the separate +States, at least for the purposes of foreign intercourse. Our minister +has been instructed to use his good offices, whenever they shall be +desired, to produce the reunion so much to be wished for, the domestic +tranquillity of the parties, and the security and facility of foreign +commerce. + +Some agitations naturally attendant on an infant reign have prevailed in +the Empire of Brazil, which have had the usual effect upon commercial +operations, and while they suspended the consideration of claims created +on similar occasions, they have given rise to new complaints on the part +of our citizens. A proper consideration for calamities and difficulties +of this nature has made us less urgent and peremptory in our demands for +justice than duty to our fellow-citizens would under other circumstances +have required. But their claims are not neglected, and will on all +proper occasions be urged, and it is hoped with effect. + +I refrain from making any communication on the subject of our affairs +with Buenos Ayres, because the negotiation communicated to you in my +last annual message was at the date of our last advices still pending +and in a state that would render a publication of the details +inexpedient. + +A treaty of amity and commerce has been formed with the Republic of +Chili, which, if approved by the Senate, will be laid before you. That +Government seems to be established, and at peace with its neighbors; and +its ports being the resorts of our ships which are employed in the +highly important trade of the fisheries, this commercial convention can +not but be of great advantage to our fellow-citizens engaged in that +perilous but profitable business. + +Our commerce with the neighboring State of Peru, owing to the onerous +duties levied on our principal articles of export, has been on the +decline, and all endeavors to procure an alteration have hitherto proved +fruitless. With Bolivia we have yet no diplomatic intercourse, and the +continual contests carried on between it and Peru have made me defer +until a more favorable period the appointment of any agent for that +purpose. + +An act of atrocious piracy having been committed on one of our trading +ships by the inhabitants of a settlement on the west coast of Sumatra, a +frigate was dispatched with orders to demand satisfaction for the injury +if those who committed it should be found to be members of a regular +government, capable of maintaining the usual relations with foreign +nations; but if, as it was supposed and as they proved to be, they were +a band of lawless pirates, to inflict such a chastisement as would deter +them and others from like aggressions. This last was done, and the +effect has been an increased respect for our flag in those distant seas +and additional security for our commerce. + +In the view I have given of our connection with foreign powers allusions +have been made to their domestic disturbances or foreign wars, to their +revolutions or dissensions. It may be proper to observe that this is +done solely in cases where those events affect our political relations +with them, or to show their operation on our commerce. Further than this +it is neither our policy nor our right to interfere. Our best wishes on +all occasions, our good offices when required, will be afforded to +promote the domestic tranquillity and foreign peace of all nations with +whom we have any intercourse. Any intervention in their affairs further +than this, even by the expression of an official opinion, is contrary to +our principles of international policy, and will always be avoided. + +The report which the Secretary of the Treasury will in due time lay +before you will exhibit the national finances in a highly prosperous +state. Owing to the continued success of our commercial enterprise, +which has enabled the merchants to fulfill their engagements with the +Government, the receipts from customs during the year will exceed the +estimate presented at the last session, and with the other means of the +Treasury will prove fully adequate not only to meet the increased +expenditures resulting from the large appropriations made by Congress, +but to provide for the payment of all the public debt which is at +present redeemable. It is now estimated that the customs will yield to +the Treasury during the present year upward of $28,000,000. The public +lands, however, have proved less productive than was anticipated, and +according to present information will not much exceed two millions. The +expenditures for all objects other than the public debt are estimated to +amount during the year to about sixteen millions and a half, while a +still larger sum, viz, $18,000,000, will have been applied to the +principal and interest of the public debt. + +It is expected, however, that in consequence of the reduced rates of +duty which will take effect after the 3d of March next there will be a +considerable falling off in the revenue from customs in the year 1833. +It will nevertheless be amply sufficient to provide for all the wants of +the public service, estimated even upon a liberal scale, and for the +redemption and purchase of the remainder of the public debt. On the 1st +of January next the entire public debt of the United States, funded and +unfunded, will be reduced to within a fraction of $7,000,000, of which +$2,227,363 are not of right redeemable until the 1st of January, 1834, +and $4,735,296 not until the 2d of January, 1835. The commissioners of +the sinking funds, however, being invested with full authority to +purchase the debt at the market price, and the means of the Treasury +being ample, it may be hoped that the whole will be extinguished within +the year 1833. + +I can not too cordially congratulate Congress and my fellow-citizens on +the near approach of that memorable and happy event--the extinction of +the public debt of this great and free nation. Faithful to the wise and +patriotic policy marked out by the legislation of the country for this +object, the present Administration has devoted to it all the means which +a flourishing commerce has supplied and a prudent economy preserved for +the public Treasury. Within the four years for which the people have +confided the Executive power to my charge $58,000,000 will have been +applied to the payment of the public debt. That this has been +accomplished without stinting the expenditures for all other proper +objects will be seen by referring to the liberal provision made during +the same period for the support and increase of our means of maritime +and military defense, for internal improvements of a national character, +for the removal and preservation of the Indians, and, lastly, for the +gallant veterans of the Revolution. + +The final removal of this great burthen from our resources affords the +means of further provision for all the objects of general welfare and +public defense which the Constitution authorizes, and presents the +occasion for such further reduction in the revenue as may not be +required for them. From the report of the Secretary of the Treasury it +will be seen that after the present year such a reduction may be made to +a considerable extent, and the subject is earnestly recommended to the +consideration of Congress in the hope that the combined wisdom of the +representatives of the people will devise such means of effecting that +salutary object as may remove those burthens which shall be found to +fall unequally upon any and as may promote all the great interests of +the community. + +Long and patient reflection has strengthened the opinions I have +heretofore expressed to Congress on this subject, and I deem it my duty +on the present occasion again to urge them upon the attention of the +Legislature. The soundest maxims of public policy and the principles +upon which our republican institutions are founded recommend a proper +adaptation of the revenue to the expenditure, and they also require that +the expenditure shall be limited to what, by an economical +administration, shall be consistent with the simplicity of the +Government and necessary to an efficient public service. In effecting +this adjustment it is due, in justice to the interests of the different +States, and even to the preservation of the Union itself, that the +protection afforded by existing laws to any branches of the national +industry should not exceed what may be necessary to counteract the +regulations of foreign nations and to secure a supply of those articles +of manufacture essential to the national independence and safety in time +of war. If upon investigation it shall be found, as it is believed it +will be, that the legislative protection granted to any particular +interest is greater than is indispensably requisite for these objects, I +recommend that it be gradually diminished, and that as far as may be +consistent with these objects the whole scheme of duties be reduced to +the revenue standard as soon as a just regard to the faith of the +Government and to the preservation of the large capital invested in +establishments of domestic industry will permit. + +That manufactures adequate to the supply of our domestic consumption +would in the abstract be beneficial to our country there is no reason to +doubt, and to effect their establishment there is perhaps no American +citizen who would not for awhile be willing to pay a higher price for +them. But for this purpose it is presumed that a tariff of high duties, +designed for perpetual protection, has entered into the minds of but few +of our statesmen. The most they have anticipated is a temporary and, +generally, incidental protection, which they maintain has the effect to +reduce the price by domestic competition below that of the foreign +article. Experience, however, our best guide on this as on other +subjects, makes it doubtful whether the advantages of this system are +not counterbalanced by many evils, and whether it does not tend to beget +in the minds of a large portion of our countrymen a spirit of discontent +and jealousy dangerous to the stability of the Union. + +What, then, shall be done? Large interests have grown up under the +implied pledge of our national legislation, which it would seem a +violation of public faith suddenly to abandon. Nothing could justify it +but the public safety, which is the supreme law. But those who have +vested their capital in manufacturing establishments can not expect that +the people will continue permanently to pay high taxes for their +benefit, when the money is not required for any legitimate purpose in +the administration of the Government. Is it not enough that the high +duties have been paid as long as the money arising from them could be +applied to the common benefit in the extinguishment of the public debt? + +Those who take an enlarged view of the condition of our country must be +satisfied that the policy of protection must be ultimately limited to +those articles of domestic manufacture which are indispensable to our +safety in time of war. Within this scope, on a reasonable scale, it is +recommended by every consideration of patriotism and duty, which will +doubtless always secure to it a liberal and efficient support. But +beyond this object we have already seen the operation of the system +productive of discontent. In some sections of the Republic its influence +is deprecated as tending to concentrate wealth into a few hands, and as +creating those germs of dependence and vice which in other countries +have characterized the existence of monopolies and proved so destructive +of liberty and the general good. A large portion of the people in one +section of the Republic declares it not only inexpedient on these +grounds, but as disturbing the equal relations of property by +legislation, and therefore unconstitutional and unjust. + +Doubtless these effects are in a great degree exaggerated, and may be +ascribed to a mistaken view of the considerations which led to the +adoption of the tariff system; but they are nevertheless important in +enabling us to review the subject with a more thorough knowledge of all +its bearings upon the great interests of the Republic, and with a +determination to dispose of it so that none can with justice complain. + +It is my painful duty to state that in one quarter of the United States +opposition to the revenue laws has arisen to a height which threatens to +thwart their execution, if not to endanger the integrity of the Union. +Whatever obstructions may be thrown in the way of the judicial +authorities of the General Government, it is hoped they will be able +peaceably to overcome them by the prudence of their own officers and the +patriotism of the people. But should this reasonable reliance on the +moderation and good sense of all portions of our fellow-citizens be +disappointed, it is believed that the laws themselves are fully adequate +to the suppression of such attempts as may be immediately made. Should +the exigency arise rendering the execution of the existing laws +impracticable from any cause whatever, prompt notice of it will be given +to Congress, with a suggestion of such views and measures as may be +deemed necessary to meet it. + +In conformity with principles heretofore explained, and with the hope of +reducing the General Government to that simple machine which the +Constitution created and of withdrawing from the States all other +influence than that of its universal beneficence in preserving peace, +affording an uniform currency, maintaining the inviolability of +contracts, diffusing intelligence, and discharging unfelt its other +superintending functions, I recommend that provision be made to dispose +of all stocks now held by it in corporations, whether created by the +General or State Governments, and placing the proceeds in the Treasury. +As a source of profit these stocks are of little or no value; as a means +of influence among the States they are adverse to the purity of our +institutions. The whole principle on which they are based is deemed by +many unconstitutional, and to persist in the policy which they indicate +is considered wholly inexpedient. + +It is my duty to acquaint you with an arrangement made by the Bank of +the United States with a portion of the holders of the 3 per cent stock, +by which the Government will be deprived of the use of the public funds +longer than was anticipated. By this arrangement, which will be +particularly explained by the Secretary of the Treasury, a surrender of +the certificates of this stock may be postponed until October, 1833, and +thus the liability of the Government, after its ability to discharge the +debt, may be continued by the failure of the bank to perform its duties. + +Such measures as are within the reach of the Secretary of the Treasury +have been taken to enable him to judge whether the public deposits in +that institution may be regarded as entirely safe; but as his limited +power may prove inadequate to this object, I recommend the subject to +the attention of Congress, under the firm belief that it is worthy of +their serious investigation. An inquiry into the transactions of the +institution, embracing the branches as well as the principal bank, seems +called for by the credit which is given throughout the country to many +serious charges impeaching its character, and which if true may justly +excite the apprehension that it is no longer a safe depository of the +money of the people. + +Among the interests which merit the consideration of Congress after the +payment of the public debt, one of the most important, in my view, is +that of the public lands. Previous to the formation of our present +Constitution it was recommended by Congress that a portion of the waste +lands owned by the States should be ceded to the United States for the +purposes of general harmony and as a fund to meet the expenses of the +war. The recommendation was adopted, and at different periods of time +the States of Massachusetts, New York, Virginia, North and South +Carolina, and Georgia granted their vacant soil for the uses for which +they had been asked. As the lands may now be considered as relieved from +this pledge, the object for which they were ceded having been +accomplished, it is in the discretion of Congress to dispose of them in +such way as best to conduce to the quiet, harmony, and general interest +of the American people. In examining this question all local and +sectional feelings should be discarded and the whole United States +regarded as one people, interested alike in the prosperity of their +common country. + +It can not be doubted that the speedy settlement of these lands +constitutes the true interest of the Republic. The wealth and strength +of a country are its population, and the best part of that population +are the cultivators of the soil. Independent farmers are everywhere the +basis of society and true friends of liberty. + +In addition to these considerations questions have already arisen, and +may be expected hereafter to grow out of the public lands, which involve +the rights of the new States and the powers of the General Government, +and unless a liberal policy be now adopted there is danger that these +questions may speedily assume an importance not now generally +anticipated. The influence of a great sectional interest, when brought +into full action, will be found more dangerous to the harmony and union +of the States than any other cause of discontent, and it is the part of +wisdom and sound policy to foresee its approaches and endeavor if +possible to counteract them. + +Of the various schemes which have been hitherto proposed in regard to +the disposal of the public lands, none has yet received the entire +approbation of the National Legislature. Deeply impressed with the +importance of a speedy and satisfactory arrangement of the subject, I +deem it my duty on this occasion to urge it upon your consideration, and +to the propositions which have been heretofore suggested by others to +contribute those reflections which have occurred to me, in the hope that +they may assist you in your future deliberations. + +It seems to me to be our true policy that the public lands shall cease +as soon as practicable to be a source of revenue, and that they be sold +to settlers in limited parcels at a price barely sufficient to reimburse +to the United States the expense of the present system and the cost +arising under our Indian compacts. The advantages of accurate surveys +and undoubted titles now secured to purchasers seem to forbid the +abolition of the present system, because none can be substituted which +will more perfectly accomplish these important ends. It is desirable, +however, that in convenient time this machinery be withdrawn from the +States, and that the right of soil and the future disposition of it be +surrendered to the States respectively in which it lies. + +The adventurous and hardy population of the West, besides contributing +their equal share of taxation under our impost system, have in the +progress of our Government, for the lands they occupy, paid into the +Treasury a large proportion of $40,000,000, and of the revenue received +therefrom but a small part has been expended amongst them. When to the +disadvantage of their situation in this respect we add the consideration +that it is their labor alone which gives real value to the lands, and +that the proceeds arising from their sale are distributed chiefly among +States which had not originally any claim to them, and which have +enjoyed the undivided emolument arising from the sale of their own +lands, it can not be expected that the new States will remain longer +contented with the present policy after the payment of the public debt. +To avert the consequences which may be apprehended from this cause, to +put an end forever to all partial and interested legislation on the +subject, and to afford to every American citizen of enterprise the +opportunity of securing an independent freehold, it seems to me, +therefore, best to abandon the idea of raising a future revenue out of +the public lands. + +In former messages I have expressed my conviction that the Constitution +does not warrant the application of the funds of the General Government +to objects of internal improvement which are not national in their +character, and, both as a means of doing justice to all interests and +putting an end to a course of legislation calculated to destroy the +purity of the Government, have urged the necessity of reducing the whole +subject to some fixed and certain rule. As there never will occur a +period, perhaps, more propitious than the present to the accomplishment +of this object, I beg leave to press the subject again upon your +attention. + +Without some general and well-defined principles ascertaining those +objects of internal improvement to which the means of the nation may be +constitutionally applied, it is obvious that the exercise of the power +can never be satisfactory. Besides the danger to which it exposes +Congress of making hasty appropriations to works of the character of +which they may be frequently ignorant, it promotes a mischievous and +corrupting influence upon elections by holding out to the people the +fallacious hope that the success of a certain candidate will make +navigable their neighboring creek or river, bring commerce to their +doors, and increase the value of their property. It thus favors +combinations to squander the treasure of the country upon a multitude of +local objects, as fatal to just legislation as to the purity of public +men. + +If a system compatible with the Constitution can not be devised which is +free from such tendencies, we should recollect that that instrument +provides within itself the mode of its amendment, and that there is, +therefore, no excuse for the assumption of doubtful powers by the +General Government. If those which are clearly granted shall be found +incompetent to the ends of its creation, it can at any time apply for +their enlargement; and there is no probability that such an application, +if founded on the public interest, will ever be refused. If the +propriety of the proposed grant be not sufficiently apparent to command +the assent of three-fourths of the States, the best possible reason why +the power should not be assumed on doubtful authority is afforded; for +if more than one-fourth of the States are unwilling to make the grant +its exercise will be productive of discontents which will far +overbalance any advantages that could be derived from it. All must admit +that there is nothing so worthy of the constant solicitude of this +Government as the harmony and union of the people. + +Being solemnly impressed with the conviction that the extension of the +power to make internal improvements beyond the limit I have suggested, +even if it be deemed constitutional, is subversive of the best interests +of our country, I earnestly recommend to Congress to refrain from its +exercise in doubtful cases, except in relation to improvements already +begun, unless they shall first procure from the States such an amendment +of the Constitution as will define its character and prescribe its +bounds. If the States feel themselves competent to these objects, why +should this Government wish to assume the power? If they do not, then +they will not hesitate to make the grant. Both Governments are the +Governments of the people; improvements must be made with the money of +the people, and if the money can be collected and applied by those more +simple and economical political machines, the State governments, it will +unquestionably be safer and better for the people than to add to the +splendor, the patronage, and the power of the General Government. But if +the people of the several States think otherwise they will amend the +Constitution, and in their decision all ought cheerfully to acquiesce. + +For a detailed and highly satisfactory view of the operations of the War +Department I refer you to the accompanying report of the Secretary of +War. + +The hostile incursions of the Sac and Fox Indians necessarily led to the +interposition of the Government. A portion of the troops, under Generals +Scott and Atkinson, and of the militia of the State of Illinois were +called into the field. After a harassing warfare, prolonged by the +nature of the country and by the difficulty of procuring subsistence, +the Indians were entirely defeated, and the disaffected band dispersed +or destroyed. The result has been creditable to the troops engaged in +the service. Severe as is the lesson to the Indians, it was rendered +necessary by their unprovoked aggressions, and it is to be hoped that +its impression will be permanent and salutary. + +This campaign has evinced the efficient organization of the Army and its +capacity for prompt and active service. Its several departments have +performed their functions with energy and dispatch, and the general +movement was satisfactory. + +Our fellow-citizens upon the frontiers were ready, as they always are, +in the tender of their services in the hour of danger. But a more +efficient organization of our militia system is essential to that +security which is one of the principal objects of all governments. +Neither our situation nor our institutions require or permit the +maintenance of a large regular force. History offers too many lessons of +the fatal result of such a measure not to warn us against its adoption +here. The expense which attends it, the obvious tendency to employ it +because it exists and thus to engage in unnecessary wars, and its +ultimate danger to public liberty will lead us, I trust, to place our +principal dependence for protection upon the great body of the citizens +of the Republic. If in asserting rights or in repelling wrongs war +should come upon us, our regular force should be increased to an extent +proportioned to the emergency, and our present small Army is a nucleus +around which such force could be formed and embodied. But for the +purposes of defense under ordinary circumstances we must rely upon the +electors of the country. Those by whom and for whom the Government was +instituted and is supported will constitute its protection in the hour +of danger as they do its check in the hour of safety. + +But it is obvious that the militia system is imperfect. Much time is +lost, much unnecessary expense incurred, and much public property wasted +under the present arrangement. Little useful knowledge is gained by the +musters and drills as now established, and the whole subject evidently +requires a thorough examination. Whether a plan of classification +remedying these defects and providing for a system of instruction might +not be adopted is submitted to the consideration of Congress. The +Constitution has vested in the General Government an independent +authority upon the subject of the militia which renders its action +essential to the establishment or improvement of the system, and I +recommend the matter to your consideration in the conviction that the +state of this important arm of the public defense requires your +attention. I am happy to inform you that the wise and humane policy of +transferring from the eastern to the western side of the Mississippi the +remnants of our aboriginal tribes, with their own consent and upon just +terms, has been steadily pursued, and is approaching, I trust, its +consummation. By reference to the report of the Secretary of War and to +the documents submitted with it you will see the progress which has been +made since your last session in the arrangement of the various matters +connected with our Indian relations. With one exception every subject +involving any question of conflicting jurisdiction or of peculiar +difficulty has been happily disposed of, and the conviction evidently +gains ground among the Indians that their removal to the country +assigned by the United States for their permanent residence furnishes +the only hope of their ultimate prosperity. + +With that portion of the Cherokees, however, living within the State of +Georgia it has been found impracticable as yet to make a satisfactory +adjustment. Such was my anxiety to remove all the grounds of complaint +and to bring to a termination the difficulties in which they are +involved that I directed the very liberal propositions to be made to +them which accompany the documents herewith submitted. They can not but +have seen in these offers the evidence of the strongest disposition on +the part of the Government to deal justly and liberally with them. An +ample indemnity was offered for their present possessions, a liberal +provision for their future support and improvement, and full security +for their private and political rights. Whatever difference of opinion +may have prevailed respecting the just claims of these people, there +will probably be none respecting the liberality of the propositions, and +very little respecting the expediency of their immediate acceptance. +They were, however, rejected, and thus the position of these Indians +remains unchanged, as do the views communicated in my message to the +Senate of February 22, 1831. + +I refer you to the annual report of the Secretary of the Navy, which +accompanies this message, for a detail of the operations of that branch +of the service during the present year. + +Besides the general remarks on some of the transactions of our Navy +presented in the view which has been taken of our foreign relations, I +seize this occasion to invite to your notice the increased protection +which it has afforded to our commerce and citizens on distant seas +without any augmentation of the force in commission. In the gradual +improvement of its pecuniary concerns, in the constant progress in the +collection of materials suitable for use during future emergencies, and +in the construction of vessels and the buildings necessary to their +preservation and repair, the present state of this branch of the service +exhibits the fruits of that vigilance and care which are so +indispensable to its efficiency. Various new suggestions, contained in +the annexed report, as well as others heretofore submitted to Congress, +are worthy of your attention, but none more so than that urging the +renewal for another term of six years of the general appropriation for +the gradual improvement of the Navy. + +From the accompanying report of the Postmaster-General you will also +perceive that that Department continues to extend its usefulness without +impairing its resources or lessening the accommodations which it affords +in the secure and rapid transportation of the mail. + +I beg leave to call the attention of Congress to the views heretofore +expressed in relation to the mode of choosing the President and +Vice-President of the United States, and to those respecting the tenure +of office generally. Still impressed with the justness of those views +and with the belief that the modifications suggested on those subjects +if adopted will contribute to the prosperity and harmony of the country, +I earnestly recommend them to your consideration at this time. + +I have heretofore pointed out defects in the law for punishing official +frauds, especially within the District of Columbia. It has been found +almost impossible to bring notorious culprits to punishment, and, +according to a decision of the court for this District, a prosecution is +barred by a lapse of two years after the fraud has been committed. It +may happen again, as it has already happened, that during the whole two +years all the evidences of the fraud may be in the possession of the +culprit himself. However proper the limitation may be in relation to +private citizens, it would seem that it ought not to commence running in +favor of public officers until they go out of office. + +The judiciary system of the United States remains imperfect. Of the nine +Western and Southwestern States three only enjoy the benefits of a +circuit court. Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee are embraced in the general +system, but Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Alabama, Mississippi, and +Louisiana have only district courts. If the existing system be a good +one, why should it not be extended? If it be a bad one, why is it +suffered to exist? The new States were promised equal rights and +privileges when they came into the Union, and such are the guaranties of +the Constitution. Nothing can be more obvious than the obligation of the +General Government to place all the States on the same footing in +relation to the administration of justice, and I trust this duty will be +neglected no longer. + +On many of the subjects to which your attention is invited in this +communication it is a source of gratification to reflect that the steps +to be now adopted are uninfluenced by the embarrassments entailed upon +the country by the wars through which it has passed. In regard to most +of our great interests we may consider ourselves as just starting in our +career, and after a salutary experience about to fix upon a permanent +basis the policy best calculated to promote the happiness of the people +and facilitate their progress toward the most complete enjoyment of +civil liberty. On an occasion so interesting and important in our +history, and of such anxious concern to the friends of freedom +throughout the world, it is our imperious duty to lay aside all selfish +and local considerations and be guided by a lofty spirit of devotion to +the great principles on which our institutions are founded. + +That this Government may be so administered as to preserve its +efficiency in promoting and securing these general objects should be the +only aim of our ambition, and we can not, therefore, too carefully +examine its structure, in order that we may not mistake its powers or +assume those which the people have reserved to themselves or have +preferred to assign to other agents. We should bear constantly in mind +the fact that the considerations which induced the framers of the +Constitution to withhold from the General Government the power to +regulate the great mass of the business and concerns of the people have +been fully justified by experience, and that it can not now be doubted +that the genius of all our institutions prescribes simplicity and +economy as the characteristics of the reform which is yet to be effected +in the present and future execution of the functions bestowed upon us by +the Constitution. + +Limited to a general superintending power to maintain peace at home and +abroad, and to prescribe laws on a few subjects of general interest not +calculated to restrict human liberty, but to enforce human rights, this +Government will find its strength and its glory in the faithful +discharge of these plain and simple duties. Relieved by its protecting +shield from the fear of war and the apprehension of oppression, the free +enterprise of our citizens, aided by the State sovereignties, will work +out improvements and ameliorations which can not fail to demonstrate +that the great truth that the people can govern themselves is not only +realized in our example, but that it is done by a machinery in +government so simple and economical as scarcely to be felt. That the +Almighty Ruler of the Universe may so direct our deliberations and +overrule our acts as to make us instrumental in securing a result so +dear to mankind is my most earnest and sincere prayer. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + + + +SPECIAL MESSAGES. + + +WASHINGTON, _December 11, 1832_. +_The President of the Senate_: + +I lay before the Senate, for its consideration and advice, a treaty of +amity and commerce between the United States of America and the Republic +of Chili, concluded at Santiago on the 16th day of May, 1832. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +WASHINGTON, _December 12, 1832_. +_To the Senate_: + +I transmit herewith, for the consideration and advice of the Senate as +to their ratification, treaties that have been concluded by +commissioners duly appointed on the part of the United States with the +following tribes of Indians, viz: The Chickasaws, the Apalachicola band +in Florida, the Sacs and Foxes, the Winnebagoes, the Potawatamies of +Indiana and Michigan, the Potawatamies of the Wabash and Elkheart, and +the Potawatamies of the Prairie. + +I also transmit the report and journals of the commissioners. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + + +WASHINGTON, _December 17, 1832_. +_The President of the Senate_: + +A convention having been concluded at Naples on the 14th October, 1832, +between the United States and the Government of the Two Sicilies, I now +lay it before the Senate for its constitutional action upon it. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +WASHINGTON, _December 17, 1832_. +_To the Senate_: + +In compliance with the resolution of the Senate requesting the President +of the United States "to communicate to the Senate copies of the +commission appointing Samuel Gwin register of the land office at Mount +Salus, in the State of Mississippi, in the recess of the Senate in 1831, +and of the commission appointing the said Gwin to the same office in the +recess of the Senate in 1832, and also a copy of the opinion of the +Attorney-General of the United States in relation to said last-mentioned +commission, and also the opinions, if any, of former Attorneys-General +in similar cases, and copies of the commissions which may have issued in +like cases, if any, under former Administrations," I transmit herewith +the papers called for. + +It may be proper to remark of the case of the navy agent, supposed to be +analogous to that of Mr. Gwin, that the commissions are not usually +recorded. The one transmitted, however, is the form generally observed, +varied to suit the circumstances of the case, and omitting or inserting +the words "by and with the advice and consent of the Senate," according +to the time the appointment is made. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +WASHINGTON, _December 21, 1832_. +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I beg leave to call the attention of Congress to the accompanying +communication from the Secretary of State, inclosing a correspondence +between him and the artist employed to execute the statue of Washington +which is to be placed in the Rotunda of the Capitol. + +It appears from this correspondence that the present appropriation for +the execution of this work is inadequate to the object, and I therefore +feel it my duty before concluding the contract to ascertain whether the +additional sum recommended as proper by the Secretary of State and the +terms proposed by the artist will meet the approbation of Congress. + +For this purpose the papers are respectfully submitted. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +WASHINGTON, _December 27, 1832_. +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I beg leave to call the attention of Congress to the accompanying +reports--one from the engineer selected under the act of the 14th July +last to take charge of the survey of the bridge across the Potomac which +that act authorized the President to cause to be erected, and showing, +after a careful survey, the propriety of applying a part of the sum +appropriated to the repairing the old bridge; the other showing the +considerations which, in the opinion of the same engineer and that of +General Gratiot, should determine the choice between a superstructure of +wood and of iron on the same foundation of granite. + +Concurring in the reasons stated by these officers for the preference of +the superstructure of wood, I have adopted it accordingly, and propose +to take the measures necessary for the execution of the work. +Previously, however, to inviting contracts for this purpose I deem it +advisable to submit the subject to Congress, in order that the necessary +appropriations may be supplied. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +WASHINGTON, _December 28, 1832_. +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I have taken into consideration the resolution of the House requesting +me to communicate to it, so far as in my opinion may be consistent with +the public interest, "the correspondence between the Government of the +United States and that of the Republic of Buenos Ayres which has +resulted in the departure of the chargé d'affaires of the United States +from that Republic, together with the instructions given to the said +chargé d'affaires," and in answer to the said request state for the +information of the House that although the chargé d'affaires of the +United States has found it necessary to return, yet the negotiation +between the two countries for the arrangement of the differences between +them are not considered as broken off, but are suspended only until the +arrival of a minister, who, it is officially announced, will be sent to +this country with powers to treat on the subject. + +This fact, it is believed, will justify the opinion I have formed that +it will not be consistent with the public interest to communicate the +correspondence and instructions requested by the House so long as the +negotiation shall be pending. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +WASHINGTON, _January 2, 1833_. +_The Speaker of the House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State on the subject +of the French ship _Pactole_, upon the cargo of which a discriminating +duty seems to have been levied in 1827 by the collector at Pensacola, in +contravention, as is alleged, with the convention of 1822 with France. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +Washington, _January 6, 1833_. +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I beg leave to call the attention of Congress to the accompanying report +from the Secretary of State, recommending an appropriation to refund the +amount of duties that have been collected in the ports of the United +States on the tonnage of foreign vessels belonging to nations that have +abolished in their ports discriminating duties on the vessels of the +United States. + +I also transmit herewith another report from the Secretary of State, +stating the losses to which certain Swedish subjects allege they were +exposed by the taking out of one of the ports of St. Bartholomew, in the +year 1828, a vessel under the flag of the Republic of Buenos Ayres, by +the commander of the United States ship _Erie_, and for the payment of +which it is thought provision ought to be made by Congress. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +WASHINGTON, _January 7, 1833_. +_The Speaker of the House of Representatives_: + +I transmit to the House of Representatives the report of the Secretary +of State upon the subject of the duties on the cargo of the French ship +_Pactole_, prepared in obedience to the resolution of that House of the +20th of December, 1832, which was referred to him. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +_To the Senate_: + +In compliance with the resolution of the Senate of the 28th ultimo, +requesting the President of the United States to communicate to the +Senate a copy of the treaty concluded at Franklin, in the State of +Tennessee, between the United States and the Chickasaw tribe of Indians, +on the ---- day of August, 1830, together with a copy of the +instructions, if any, to the commissioner who negotiated the treaty with +said tribe of Indians, bearing date the 30th day of October, 1832, I +transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of War, containing the +information required. + +ANDREW JACKSON. +_January 8, 1833_. + + +WASHINGTON, _January 10, 1833_. +_The Speaker of the House of Representatives_: + +In compliance with the resolution of the House of the 4th instant, +requesting to be furnished with such information as the President may +possess "in relation to the survey of the northern boundary of the State +of Ohio under the provisions of the act of Congress passed for that +purpose on the 14th of July, 1832," I transmit herewith a report from +the Secretary of War containing it. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +WASHINGTON, _January 14, 1833_. +_To the Senate_: + +I transmit herewith to the Senate, for their advice and consent as to +the ratification of the same, treaties that have been concluded by +commissioners duly appointed on the part of the United States with the +following Indian tribes, viz: With the Kickapoos; with the Shawanoes and +Delawares, late of Cape Gerardeau, together with stipulations with +Delawares for certain private annuities; with the Pankeshaws and +Peorias. + +I also transmit the journal of the commissioners who negotiated these +treaties. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +WASHINGTON, _January 16, 1833_. +_Gentlemen of the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +In my annual message at the commencement of your present session I +adverted to the opposition to the revenue laws in a particular quarter +of the United States, which threatened not merely to thwart their +execution, but to endanger the integrity of the Union; and although I +then expressed my reliance that it might be overcome by the prudence of +the officers of the United States and the patriotism of the people, I +stated that should the emergency arise rendering the execution of the +existing laws impracticable from any cause whatever prompt notice should +be given to Congress, with the suggestion of such views and measures as +might be necessary to meet it. + +Events which have occurred in the quarter then alluded to, or which have +come to my knowledge subsequently, present this emergency. + +Since the date of my last annual message I have had officially +transmitted to me by the governor of South Carolina, which I now +communicate to Congress, a copy of the ordinance passed by the +convention which assembled at Columbia, in the State of South Carolina, +in November last, declaring certain acts of Congress therein mentioned +within the limits of that State to be absolutely null and void, and +making it the duty of the legislature to pass such laws as would be +necessary to carry the same into effect from and after the 1st February +next. + +The consequences to which this extraordinary defiance of the just +authority of the Government might too surely lead were clearly foreseen, +and it was impossible for me to hesitate as to my own duty in such an +emergency. + +The ordinance had been passed, however, without any certain knowledge of +the recommendation which, from a view of the interests of the nation at +large, the Executive had determined to submit to Congress, and a hope +was indulged that by frankly explaining his sentiments and the nature of +those duties which the crisis would devolve upon him the authorities of +South Carolina might be induced to retrace their steps. In this hope I +determined to issue my proclamation of the 10th of December last, a copy +of which I now lay before Congress. + +I regret to inform you that these reasonable expectations have not been +realized, and that the several acts of the legislature of South Carolina +which I now lay before you, and which have all and each of them finally +passed after a knowledge of the desire of the Administration to modify +the laws complained of, are too well calculated both in their positive +enactments and in the spirit of opposition which they obviously +encourage wholly to obstruct the collection of the revenue within the +limits of that State. + +Up to this period neither the recommendation of the Executive in regard +to our financial policy and impost system, nor the disposition +manifested by Congress promptly to act upon that subject, nor the +unequivocal expression of the public will in all parts of the Union +appears to have produced any relaxation in the measures of opposition +adopted by the State of South Carolina; nor is there any reason to hope +that the ordinance and laws will be abandoned. + +I have no knowledge that an attempt has been made, or that it is in +contemplation, to reassemble either the convention or the legislature, +and it will be perceived that the interval before the 1st of February is +too short to admit of the preliminary steps necessary for that purpose. +It appears, moreover, that the State authorities are actively organizing +their military resources, and providing the means and giving the most +solemn assurances of protection and support to all who shall enlist in +opposition to the revenue laws. + +A recent proclamation of the present governor of South Carolina has +openly defied the authority of the Executive of the Union, and general +orders from the headquarters of the State announced his determination to +accept the services of volunteers and his belief that should their +country need their services they will be found at the post of honor and +duty, ready to lay down their lives in her defense. Under these orders +the forces referred to are directed to "hold themselves in readiness to +take the field at a moment's warning," and in the city of Charleston, +within a collection district, and a port of entry, a rendezvous has been +opened for the purpose of enlisting men for the magazine and municipal +guard. Thus South Carolina presents herself in the attitude of hostile +preparation, and ready even for military violence if need be to enforce +her laws for preventing the collection of the duties within her limits. + +Proceedings thus announced and matured must be distinguished from +menaces of unlawful resistance by irregular bodies of people, who, +acting under temporary delusion, may be restrained by reflection and the +influence of public opinion from the commission of actual outrage. In +the present instance aggression may be regarded as committed when it is +officially authorized and the means of enforcing it fully provided. + +Under these circumstances there can be no doubt that it is the +determination of the authorities of South Carolina fully to carry into +effect their ordinance and laws after the 1st of February. It therefore +becomes my duty to bring the subject to the serious consideration of +Congress, in order that such measures as they in their wisdom may deem +fit shall be seasonably provided, and that it may be thereby understood +that while the Government is disposed to remove all just cause of +complaint as far as may be practicable consistently with a proper regard +to the interests of the community at large, it is nevertheless +determined that the supremacy of the laws shall be maintained. + +In making this communication it appears to me to be proper not only that +I should lay before you the acts and proceedings of South Carolina, but +that I should also fully acquaint you with those steps which I have +already caused to be taken for the due collection of the revenue, and +with my views of the subject generally, that the suggestions which the +Constitution requires me to make in regard to your future legislation +may be better understood. + +This subject having early attracted the anxious attention of the +Executive, as soon as it was probable that the authorities of South +Carolina seriously meditated resistance to the faithful execution of the +revenue laws it was deemed advisable that the Secretary of the Treasury +should particularly instruct the officers of the United States in that +part of the Union as to the nature of the duties prescribed by the +existing laws. + +Instructions were accordingly issued on the 6th of November to the +collectors in that State, pointing out their respective duties and +enjoining upon each a firm and vigilant but discreet performance of them +in the emergency then apprehended. + +I herewith transmit copies of these instructions and of the letter +addressed to the district attorney, requesting his cooperation. These +instructions were dictated in the hope that as the opposition to the +laws by the anomalous proceeding of nullification was represented to be +of a pacific nature, to be pursued substantially according to the forms +of the Constitution and without resorting in any event to force or +violence, the measures of its advocates would be taken in conformity +with that profession, and on such supposition the means afforded by the +existing laws would have been adequate to meet any emergency likely to +arise. + +It was, however, not possible altogether to suppress apprehension of the +excesses to which the excitement prevailing in that quarter might lead, +but it certainly was not foreseen that the meditated obstruction to the +laws would so soon openly assume its present character. + +Subsequently to the date of those instructions, however, the ordinance +of the convention was passed, which, if complied with by the people of +the State, must effectually render inoperative the present revenue laws +within her limits. + +That ordinance declares and ordains-- + + That the several acts and parts of acts of the Congress of the + United States purporting to be laws for the imposing of duties and + imposts on the importation of foreign commodities, and now having + operation and effect within the United States, and more especially + "An act in alteration of the several acts imposing duties on + imports," approved on the 19th of May, 1828, and also an act + entitled "An act to alter and amend the several acts imposing duties + on imports," approved on the 14th July, 1832, are unauthorized by + the Constitution of the United States, and violate the true intent + and meaning thereof, and are null and void and no law, nor binding + upon the State of South Carolina, its officers and citizens; and all + promises, contracts, and obligations made or entered into, or to be + made or entered into, with purpose to secure the duties imposed by + the said acts, and all judicial proceedings which shall be hereafter + had in affirmance thereof, are and shall be held utterly null and + void. + +It also ordains-- + + That it shall not be lawful for any of the constituted authorities, + whether of the State of South Carolina or of the United States, to + enforce the payment of duties imposed by the said acts within the + limits of the State, but that it shall be the duty of the + legislature to adopt such measures and pass such acts as may be + necessary to give full effect to this ordinance and to prevent the + enforcement and arrest the operation of the said acts and parts of + acts of the Congress of the United States within the limits of the + State from and after the 1st of February next; and it shall be the + duty of all other constituted authorities and of all other persons + residing or being within the limits of the State, and they are + hereby required and enjoined, to obey and give effect to this + ordinance and such acts and measures of the legislature as may be + passed or adopted in obedience thereto. + +It further ordains-- + + That in no case of law or equity decided in the courts of the State + wherein shall be drawn in question the authority of this ordinance, + or the validity of such act or acts of the legislature as may be + passed for the purpose of giving effect thereto, or the validity of + the aforesaid acts of Congress imposing duties, shall any appeal be + taken or allowed to the Supreme Court of the United States, nor + shall any copy of the record be permitted or allowed for that + purpose; and the person or persons attempting to take such appeal + may be dealt with as for a contempt of court. + +It likewise ordains-- + + That all persons holding any office of honor, profit, or trust, + civil or military, under the State shall, within such time and in + such manner as the legislature shall prescribe, take an oath well + and truly to obey, execute, and enforce this ordinance and such act + or acts of the legislature as may be passed in pursuance thereof, + according to the true intent and meaning of the same; and on the + neglect or omission of any such person or persons so to do his or + their office or offices shall be forthwith vacated, and shall be + filled up as if such person or persons were dead or had resigned. + And no person hereafter elected to any office of honor, profit, or + trust, civil or military, shall, until the legislature shall + otherwise provide and direct, enter on the execution of his office + or be in any respect competent to discharge the duties thereof until + he shall in like manner have taken a similar oath; and no juror + shall be empaneled in any of the courts of the State in any cause in + which shall be in question this ordinance or any act of the + legislature passed in pursuance thereof, unless he shall first, in + addition to the usual oath, have taken an oath that he will well and + truly obey, execute, and enforce this ordinance and such act or acts + of the legislature as may be passed to carry the same into operation + and effect, according to the true intent and meaning thereof. + +The ordinance concludes: + + And we, the people of South Carolina, to the end that it may be + fully understood by the Government of the United States and the + people of the co-States that we are determined to maintain this + ordinance and declaration at every hazard, do further declare that + we will not submit to the application of force on the part of the + Federal Government to reduce this State to obedience, but that we + will consider the passage by Congress of any act authorizing the + employment of a military or naval force against the State of South + Carolina, her constituted authorities or citizens, or any act + abolishing or closing the ports of this State, or any of them, or + otherwise obstructing the free ingress and egress of vessels to and + from the said ports, or any other act on the part of the Federal + Government to coerce the State, shut up her ports, destroy or harass + her commerce, or to enforce the acts hereby declared to be null and + void, otherwise than through the civil tribunals of the country, as + inconsistent with the longer continuance of South Carolina in the + Union; and that the people of this State will thenceforth hold + themselves absolved from all further obligation to maintain or + preserve their political connection with the people of the other + States, and will forthwith proceed to organize a separate government + and to do all other acts and things which sovereign and independent + states may of right do. + +This solemn denunciation of the laws and authority of the United States +has been followed up by a series of acts on the part of the authorities +of that State which manifest a determination to render inevitable a +resort to those measures of self-defense which the paramount duty of the +Federal Government requires, but upon the adoption of which that State +will proceed to execute the purpose it has avowed in this ordinance of +withdrawing from the Union. + +On the 27th of November the legislature assembled at Columbia, and on +their meeting the governor laid before them the ordinance of the +convention. In his message on that occasion he acquaints them that "this +ordinance has thus become a part of the fundamental law of South +Carolina;" that "the die has been at last cast, and South Carolina has +at length appealed to her ulterior sovereignty as a member of this +Confederacy and has planted herself on her reserved rights. The rightful +exercise of this power is not a question which we shall any longer +argue. It is sufficient that she has willed it, and that the act is +done; nor is its strict compatibility with our constitutional obligation +to all laws passed by the General Government within the authorized +grants of power to be drawn in question when this interposition is +exerted in a case in which the compact has been palpably, deliberately, +and dangerously violated. That it brings up a conjuncture of deep and +momentous interest is neither to be concealed nor denied. This crisis +presents a class of duties which is referable to yourselves. You have +been commanded by the people in their highest sovereignty to take care +that within the limits of this State their will shall be obeyed." "The +measure of legislation," he says, "which you have to employ at this +crisis is the precise amount of such enactments as may be necessary to +render it utterly impossible to collect within our limits the duties +imposed by the protective tariffs thus nullified." + +He proceeds: + + That you should arm every citizen with a civil process by which he + may claim, if he pleases, a restitution of his goods seized under + the existing imposts on his giving security to abide the issue of a + suit at law, and at the same time define what shall constitute + treason against the State, and by a bill of pains and penalties + compel obedience and punish disobedience to your own laws, are + points too obvious to require any discussion. In one word, you must + survey the whole ground. You must look to and provide for all + possible contingencies. In your own limits your own courts of + judicature must not only be supreme, but you must look to the + ultimate issue of any conflict of jurisdiction and power between + them and the courts of the United States. + +The governor also asks for power to grant clearances, in violation of +the laws of the Union; and to prepare for the alternative which must +happen unless the United States shall passively surrender their +authority, and the Executive, disregarding his oath, refrain from +executing the laws of the Union, he recommends a thorough revision of +the militia system, and that the governor "be authorized to accept for +the defense of Charleston and its dependencies the services of 2,000 +volunteers, either by companies or files," and that they be formed into +a legionary brigade consisting of infantry, riflemen, cavalry, field and +heavy artillery, and that they be "armed and equipped from the public +arsenals completely for the field, and that appropriations be made for +supplying all deficiencies in our munitions of war." In addition to +these volunteer drafts, he recommends that the governor be authorized +"to accept the services of 10,000 volunteers from the other divisions of +the State, to be organized and arranged in regiments and brigades, the +officers to be selected by the commander in chief, and that this whole +force be called _the State guard_." + +A request has been regularly made of the secretary of state of South +Carolina for authentic copies of the acts which have been passed for the +purpose of enforcing the ordinance, but up to the date of the latest +advices that request had not been complied with, and on the present +occasion, therefore, reference can only be made to those acts as +published in the newspapers of the State. + +The acts to which it is deemed proper to invite the particular attention +of Congress are: + +First. "An act to carry into effect, in part, an ordinance to nullify +certain acts of the Congress of the United States purporting to be laws +laying duties on the importation of foreign commodities," passed in +convention of this State, at Columbia, on the 24th November, 1832. + +This act provides that any goods seized or detained under pretense of +securing the duties, or for the nonpayment of duties, or under any +process, order, or decree, or other pretext contrary to the intent and +meaning of the ordinance may be recovered by the owner or consignee by +"an act of replevin;" that in case of refusing to deliver them, or +removing them so that the replevin can not be executed, the sheriff may +seize the personal estate of the offender to double the amount of the +goods, and if any attempt shall be made to retake or seize them it is +the duty of the sheriff to recapture them; and that any person who shall +disobey the process or remove the goods, or anyone who shall attempt to +retake or seize the goods under pretense of securing the duties, or for +nonpayment of duties, or under any process or decree contrary to the +intent of the ordinance, shall be fined and imprisoned, besides being +liable for any other offense involved in the act. + +It also provides that any person arrested or imprisoned on any judgment +or decree obtained in any Federal court for duties shall be entitled to +the benefit secured by the habeas corpus act of the State in cases of +unlawful arrest, and may maintain an action for damages, and that if any +estate shall be sold under such judgment or decree the sale shall be +held illegal. It also provides that any jailer who receives a person +committed on any process or other judicial proceedings to enforce the +payment of duties, and anyone who hires his house as a jail to receive +such persons, shall be fined and imprisoned. And, finally, it provides +that persons paying duties may recover them back with interest. + +The next is called "An act to provide for the security and protection of +the people of the State of South Carolina." + +This act provides that if the Government of the United States or any +officer thereof shall, by the employment of naval or military force, +attempt to coerce the State of South Carolina into submission to the +acts of Congress declared by the ordinance null and void, or to resist +the enforcement of the ordinance or of the laws passed in pursuance +thereof, or in case of any armed or forcible resistance thereto, the +governor is authorized to resist the same and to order into service the +whole or so much of the military force of the State as he may deem +necessary; and that in case of any overt act of coercion or intention to +commit the same, manifested by an unusual assemblage of naval or +military forces in or near the State, or the occurrence of any +circumstances indicating that armed force is about to be employed +against the State or in resistance to its laws, the governor is +authorized to accept the services of such volunteers and call into +service such portions of the militia as may be required to meet the +emergency. + +The act also provides for accepting the service of the volunteers and +organizing the militia, embracing all free white males between the ages +of 16 and 60, and for the purchase of arms, ordnance, and ammunition. It +also declares that the power conferred on the governor shall be +applicable to all cases of insurrection or invasion, or imminent danger +thereof, and to cases where the laws of the State shall be opposed and +the execution thereof forcibly resisted by combinations too powerful to +be suppressed by the power vested in the sheriffs and other civil +officers, and declares it to be the duty of the governor in every such +case to call forth such portions of the militia and volunteers as may be +necessary promptly to suppress such combinations and cause the laws of +the State to be executed. + +No. 9 is "An act concerning the oath required by the ordinance passed in +convention at Columbia on the 24th of November, 1832." + +This act prescribes the form of the oath, which is, to obey and execute +the ordinance and all acts passed by the legislature in pursuance +thereof, and directs the time and manner of taking it by the officers of +the State--civil, judiciary, and military. + +It is believed that other acts have been passed embracing provisions for +enforcing the ordinance, but I have not yet been able to procure them. + +I transmit, however, a copy of Governor Hamilton's message to the +legislature of South Carolina; of Governor Hayne's inaugural address to +the same body, as also of his proclamation, and a general order of the +governor and commander in chief, dated the 20th of December, giving +public notice that the services of volunteers will be accepted under the +act already referred to. + +If these measures can not be defeated and overcome by the power +conferred by the Constitution on the Federal Government, the +Constitution must be considered as incompetent to its own defense, the +supremacy of the laws is at an end, and the rights and liberties of the +citizens can no longer receive protection from the Government of the +Union. They not only abrogate the acts of Congress commonly called the +tariff acts of 1828 and 1832, but they prostrate and sweep away at once +and without exception every act and every part of every act imposing any +amount whatever of duty on any foreign merchandise, and virtually every +existing act which has ever been passed authorizing the collection of +the revenue, including the act of 1816, and also the collection law of +1799, the constitutionality of which has never been questioned. It is +not only those duties which are charged to have been imposed for the +protection of manufactures that are thereby repealed, but all others, +though laid for the purpose of revenue merely, and upon articles in no +degree suspected of being objects of protection. The whole revenue +system of the United States in South Carolina is obstructed and +overthrown, and the Government is absolutely prohibited from collecting +any part of the public revenue within the limits of that State. +Henceforth, not only the citizens of South Carolina and of the United +States, but the subjects of foreign states may import any description or +quantity of merchandise into the ports of South Carolina without the +payment of any duty whatsoever. That State is thus relieved from the +payment of any part of the public burthens, and duties and imposts are +not only rendered not uniform throughout the United States, but a direct +and ruinous preference is given to the ports of that State over those of +all the other States of the Union, in manifest violation of the positive +provisions of the Constitution. + +In point of duration, also, those aggressions upon the authority of +Congress which by the ordinance are made part of the fundamental law of +South Carolina are absolute, indefinite, and without limitation. They +neither prescribe the period when they shall cease nor indicate any +conditions upon which those who have thus undertaken to arrest the +operation of the laws are to retrace their steps and rescind their +measures. They offer to the United States no alternative but +unconditional submission. If the scope of the ordinance is to be +received as the scale of concession, their demands can be satisfied only +by a repeal of the whole system of revenue laws and by abstaining from +the collection of any duties and imposts whatsoever. + +It is true that in the address to the people of the United States by the +convention of South Carolina, after announcing "the fixed and final +determination of the State in relation to the protecting system," they +say "that it remains for us to submit a plan of taxation in which we +would be willing to acquiesce in a liberal spirit of concession, +provided we are met in due time and in a becoming spirit by the States +interested in manufactures." In the opinion of the convention, an +equitable plan would be that "the whole list of protected articles +should be imported free of all duty, and that the revenue derived from +import duties should be raised exclusively from the unprotected +articles, or that whenever a duty is imposed upon protected articles +imported an excise duty of the same rate shall be imposed upon all +similar articles manufactured in the United States." + +The address proceeds to state, however, that "they are willing to make a +large offering to preserve the Union, and, with a distinct declaration +that it is a concession on our part, we will consent that the same rate +of duty may be imposed upon the protected articles that shall be imposed +upon the unprotected, provided that no more revenue be raised than is +necessary to meet the demands of the Government for constitutional +purposes, and provided also that a duty substantially uniform be imposed +upon all foreign imports." + +It is also true that in his message to the legislature, when urging the +necessity of providing "means of securing their safety by ample +resources for repelling force by force," the governor of South Carolina +observes that he "can not but think that on a calm and dispassionate +review by Congress and the functionaries of the General Government of +the true merits of this controversy the arbitration by a call of a +convention of all the States, which we sincerely and anxiously seek and +desire, will be accorded to us." + +From the diversity of terms indicated in these two important documents, +taken in connection with the progress of recent events in that quarter, +there is too much reason to apprehend, without in any manner doubting +the intentions of those public functionaries, that neither the terms +proposed in the address of the convention nor those alluded to in the +message of the governor would appease the excitement which has led to +the present excesses. It is obvious, however, that should the latter be +insisted on they present an alternative which the General Government of +itself can by no possibility grant, since by an express provision of the +Constitution Congress can call a convention for the purpose of proposing +amendments only "on the application of the legislatures of two-thirds of +the States." And it is not perceived that the terms presented in the +address are more practicable than those referred to in the message. + +It will not escape attention that the conditions on which it is said in +the address of the convention they "would be willing to acquiesce" form +no part of the ordinance. While this ordinance bears all the solemnity +of a fundamental law, is to be authoritative upon all within the limits +of South Carolina, and is absolute and unconditional in its terms, the +address conveys only the sentiments of the convention, in no binding or +practical form; one is the act of the State, the other only the +expression of the opinions of the members of the convention. To limit +the effect of that solemn act by any terms or conditions whatever, they +should have been embodied in it, and made of import no less +authoritative than the act itself. By the positive enactments of the +ordinance the execution of the laws of the Union is absolutely +prohibited, and the address offers no other prospect of their being +again restored, even in the modified form proposed, than what depends +upon the improbable contingency that amid changing events and increasing +excitement the sentiments of the present members of the convention and +of their successors will remain the same. + +It is to be regretted, however, that these conditions, even if they had +been offered in the same binding form, are so undefined, depend upon so +many contingencies, and are so directly opposed to the known opinions +and interests of the great body of the American people as to be almost +hopeless of attainment. The majority of the States and of the people +will certainly not consent that the protecting duties shall be wholly +abrogated, never to be reenacted at any future time or in any possible +contingency. As little practicable is it to provide that "the same rate +of duty shall be imposed upon the protected articles that shall be +imposed upon the unprotected," which, moreover, would be severely +oppressive to the poor, and in time of war would add greatly to its +rigors. And though there can be no objection to the principle, properly +understood, that no more revenue shall be raised than is necessary for +the constitutional purposes of the Government, which principle has been +already recommended by the Executive as the true basis of taxation, yet +it is very certain that South Carolina alone can not be permitted to +decide what these constitutional purposes are. + +The period which constitutes the due time in which the terms proposed in +the address are to be accepted would seem to present scarcely less +difficulty than the terms themselves. Though the revenue laws are +already declared to be void in South Carolina, as well as the bonds +taken under them and the judicial proceedings for carrying them into +effect, yet as the full action and operation of the ordinance are to be +suspended until the 1st of February the interval may be assumed as the +time within which it is expected that the most complicated portion of +the national legislation, a system of long standing and affecting great +interests in the community, is to be rescinded and abolished. If this be +required, it is clear that a compliance is impossible. + +In the uncertainty, then, that exists as to the duration of the +ordinance and of the enactments for enforcing it, it becomes imperiously +the duty of the Executive of the United States, acting with a proper +regard to all the great interests committed to his care, to treat those +acts as absolute and unlimited. They are so as far as his agency is +concerned. He can not either embrace or lead to the performance of the +conditions. He has already discharged the only part in his power by the +recommendation in his annual message. The rest is with Congress and the +people, and until they have acted his duty will require him to look to +the existing state of things and act under them according to his high +obligations. + +By these various proceedings, therefore, the State of South Carolina has +forced the General Government, unavoidably, to decide the new and +dangerous alternative of permitting a State to obstruct the execution of +the laws within its limits or seeing it attempt to execute a threat of +withdrawing from the Union. That portion of the people at present +exercising the authority of the State solemnly assert their right to do +either and as solemnly announce their determination to do one or the +other. + +In my opinion, both purposes are to be regarded as revolutionary in +their character and tendency, and subversive of the supremacy of the +laws and of the integrity of the Union. The result of each is the same, +since a State in which, by an usurpation of power, the constitutional +authority of the Federal Government is openly defied and set aside wants +only the form to be independent of the Union. + +The right of the people of a single State to absolve themselves at will +and without the consent of the other States from their most solemn +obligations, and hazard the liberties and happiness of the millions +composing this Union, can not be acknowledged. Such authority is +believed to be utterly repugnant both to the principles upon which the +General Government is constituted and to the objects which it is +expressly formed to attain. + +Against all acts which may be alleged to transcend the constitutional +power of the Government, or which may be inconvenient or oppressive in +their operation, the Constitution itself has prescribed the modes of +redress. It is the acknowledged attribute of free institutions that +under them the empire of reason and law is substituted for the power of +the sword. To no other source can appeals for supposed wrongs be made +consistently with the obligations of South Carolina; to no other can +such appeals be made with safety at any time; and to their decisions, +when constitutionally pronounced, it becomes the duty no less of the +public authorities than of the people in every case to yield a patriotic +submission. + +That a State or any other great portion of the people, suffering under +long and intolerable oppression and having tried all constitutional +remedies without the hope of redress, may have a natural right, when +their happiness can be no otherwise secured, and when they can do so +without greater injury to others, to absolve themselves from their +obligations to the Government and appeal to the last resort, needs not +on the present occasion be denied. + +The existence of this right, however, must depend upon the causes which +may justify its exercise. It is the _ultima ratio_, which presupposes +that the proper appeals to all other means of redress have been made in +good faith, and which can never be rightfully resorted to unless it be +unavoidable. It is not the right of the State, but of the individual, +and of all the individuals in the State. It is the right of mankind +generally to secure by all means in their power the blessings of liberty +and happiness; but when for these purposes any body of men have +voluntarily associated themselves under a particular form of government, +no portion of them can dissolve the association without acknowledging +the correlative right in the remainder to decide whether that +dissolution can be permitted consistently with the general happiness. In +this view it is a right dependent upon the power to enforce it. Such a +right, though it may be admitted to preexist and can not be wholly +surrendered, is necessarily subjected to limitations in all free +governments, and in compacts of all kinds freely and voluntarily entered +into, and in which the interest and welfare of the individual become +identified with those of the community of which he is a member. In +compacts between individuals, however deeply they may affect their +relations, these principles are acknowledged to create a sacred +obligation; and in compacts of civil government, involving the liberties +and happiness of millions of mankind, the obligation can not be less. + +Without adverting to the particular theories to which the federal +compact has given rise, both as to its formation and the parties to it, +and without inquiring whether it be merely federal or social or +national, it is sufficient that it must be admitted to be a compact and +to possess the obligations incident to a compact; to be "a compact by +which power is created on the one hand and obedience exacted on the +other; a compact freely, voluntarily, and solemnly entered into by the +several States and ratified by the people thereof, respectively; a +compact by which the several States and the people thereof, +respectively, have bound themselves to each other and to the Federal +Government, and by which the Federal Government is bound to the several +States and to every citizen of the United States." To this compact, in +whatever mode it may have been done, the people of South Carolina have +freely and voluntarily given their assent, and to the whole and every +part of it they are, upon every principle of good faith, inviolably +bound. Under this obligation they are bound and should be required to +contribute their portion of the public expense, and to submit to all +laws made by the common consent, in pursuance of the Constitution, for +the common defense and general welfare, until they can be changed in the +mode which the compact has provided for the attainment of those great +ends of the Government and of the Union. Nothing less than causes which +would justify revolutionary remedy can absolve the people from this +obligation, and for nothing less can the Government permit it to be done +without violating its own obligations, by which, under the compact, it +is bound to the other States and to every citizen of the United States. + +These deductions plainly flow from the nature of the federal compact, +which is one of limitations, not only upon the powers originally +possessed by the parties thereto, but also upon those conferred on the +Government and every department thereof. It will be freely conceded that +by the principles of our system all power is vested in the people, but +to be exercised in the mode and subject to the checks which the people +themselves have prescribed. These checks are undoubtedly only different +modifications of the same great popular principle which lies at the +foundation of the whole, but are not on that account to be less regarded +or less obligatory. + +Upon the power of Congress, the veto of the Executive and the authority +of the judiciary, which is to extend to all cases in law and equity +arising under the Constitution and laws of the United States made in +pursuance thereof, are the obvious checks, and the sound action of +public opinion, with the ultimate power of amendment, are the salutary +and only limitation upon the powers of the whole. + +However it may be alleged that a violation of the compact by the +measures of the Government can affect the obligations of the parties, it +can not even be pretended that such violation can be predicated of those +measures until all the constitutional remedies shall have been fully +tried. If the Federal Government exercise powers not warranted by the +Constitution, and immediately affecting individuals, it will scarcely be +denied that the proper remedy is a recourse to the judiciary. Such +undoubtedly is the remedy for those who deem the acts of Congress laying +duties and imposts, and providing for their collection, to be +unconstitutional. The whole operation of such laws is upon the +individuals importing the merchandise. A State is absolutely prohibited +from laying imposts or duties on imports or exports without the consent +of Congress, and can not become a party under these laws without +importing in her own name or wrongfully interposing her authority +against them. By thus interposing, however, she can not rightfully +obstruct the operation of the laws upon individuals. For their +disobedience to or violation of the laws the ordinary remedies through +the judicial tribunals would remain. And in a case where an individual +should be prosecuted for any offense against the laws, he could not set +up in justification of his act a law of the State, which, being +unconstitutional, would therefore be regarded as null and void. The law +of a State can not authorize the commission of a crime against the +United States or any other act which, according to the supreme law of +the Union, would be otherwise unlawful; and it is equally clear that if +there be any case in which a State, as such, is affected by the law +beyond the scope of judicial power, the remedy consists in appeals to +the people, either to effect a change in the representation or to +procure relief by an amendment of the Constitution. But the measures of +the Government are to be recognized as valid, and consequently supreme, +until these remedies shall have been effectually tried, and any attempt +to subvert those measures or to render the laws subordinate to State +authority, and afterwards to resort to constitutional redress, is worse +than evasive. It would not be a proper resistance to "_a government of +unlimited powers_," as has been sometimes pretended, but unlawful +opposition to the very limitations on which the harmonious action of the +Government and all its parts absolutely depends. South Carolina has +appealed to none of these remedies, but in effect has defied them all. +While threatening to separate from the Union if any attempt be made to +enforce the revenue laws otherwise than through the civil tribunals of +the country, she has not only not appealed in her own name to those +tribunals which the Constitution has provided for all cases in law or +equity arising under the Constitution and laws of the United States, but +has endeavored to frustrate their proper action on her citizens by +drawing the cognizance of cases under the revenue laws to her own +tribunals, specially prepared and fitted for the purpose of enforcing +the acts passed by the State to obstruct those laws, and both the judges +and jurors of which will be bound by the import of oaths previously +taken to treat the Constitution and laws of the United States in this +respect as a nullity. Nor has the State made the proper appeal to public +opinion and to the remedy of amendment; for without waiting to learn +whether the other States will consent to a convention, or if they do +will construe or amend the Constitution to suit her views, she has of +her own authority altered the import of that instrument and given +immediate effect to the change. In fine, she has set her own will and +authority above the laws, has made herself arbiter in her own cause, and +has passed at once over all intermediate steps to measures of avowed +resistance, which, unless they be submitted to, can be enforced only by +the sword. + +In deciding upon the course which a high sense of duty to all the people +of the United States imposes upon the authorities of the Union in this +emergency, it can not be overlooked that there is no sufficient cause +for the acts of South Carolina, or for her thus placing in jeopardy the +happiness of so many millions of people. Misrule and oppression, to +warrant the disruption of the free institutions of the Union of these +States, should be great and lasting, defying all other remedy. For +causes of minor character the Government could not submit to such a +catastrophe without a violation of its most sacred obligations to the +other States of the Union who have submitted their destiny to its hands. + +There is in the present instance no such cause, either in the degree of +misrule or oppression complained of or in the hopelessness of redress by +constitutional means. The long sanction they have received from the +proper authorities and from the people, not less than the unexampled +growth and increasing prosperity of so many millions of freemen, attest +that no such oppression as would justify, or even palliate, such a +resort can be justly imputed either to the present policy or past +measures of the Federal Government. + +The same mode of collecting duties, and for the same general objects, +which began with the foundation of the Government, and which has +conducted the country through its subsequent steps to its present +enviable condition of happiness and renown, has not been changed. +Taxation and representation, the great principle of the American +Revolution, have continually gone hand in hand, and at all times and in +every instance no tax of any kind has been imposed without their +participation, and, in some instances which have been complained of, +with the express assent of a part of the representatives of South +Carolina in the councils of the Government. Up to the present period no +revenue has been raised beyond the necessary wants of the country and +the authorized expenditures of the Government; and as soon as the +burthen of the public debt is removed those charged with the +administration have promptly recommended a corresponding reduction of +revenue. + +That this system thus pursued has resulted in no such oppression upon +South Carolina needs no other proof than the solemn and official +declaration of the late chief magistrate of that State in his address to +the legislature. In that he says that-- + + The occurrences of the past year, in connection with our domestic + concerns, are to be reviewed with a sentiment of fervent gratitude + to the Great Disposer of Human Events; that tributes of grateful + acknowledgment are due for the various and multiplied blessings He + has been pleased to bestow on our people; that abundant harvests in + every quarter of the State have crowned the exertions of + agricultural labor; that health almost beyond former precedent has + blessed our homes, and that there is not less reason for + thankfulness in surveying our social condition. + +It would indeed be difficult to imagine oppression where in the social +condition of a people there was equal cause of thankfulness as for +abundant harvests and varied and multiplied blessings with which a kind +Providence had favored them. + +Independently of these considerations, it will not escape observation +that South Carolina still claims to be a component part of the Union, to +participate in the national councils and to share in the public benefits +without contributing to the public burdens, thus asserting the dangerous +anomaly of continuing in an association without acknowledging any other +obligation to its laws than what depends upon her own will. + +In this posture of affairs the duty of the Government seems to be plain. +It inculcates a recognition of that State as a member of the Union and +subject to its authority, a vindication of the just power of the +Constitution, the preservation of the integrity of the Union, and the +execution of the laws by all constitutional means. + +The Constitution, which his oath of office obliges him to support, +declares that the Executive "_shall take care that the laws be +faithfully executed_" and in providing that he shall from time to time +give to Congress information of the state of the Union, and recommend to +their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and +expedient, imposes the additional obligation of recommending to Congress +such more efficient provision for executing the laws as may from time to +time be found requisite. + +The same instrument confers on Congress the power not merely to lay and +collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises, to pay the debts and +provide for the common defense and general welfare, but "to make all +laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into effect the +foregoing powers and all other powers vested by the Constitution in the +Government of the United States or in any department or officer +thereof," and also to provide for calling forth the militia for +executing the laws of the Union. In all cases similar to the present the +duties of the Government become the measure of its powers, and whenever +it fails to exercise a power necessary and proper to the discharge of +the duty prescribed by the Constitution it violates the public trusts +not less than it would in transcending its proper limits. To refrain, +therefore, from the high and solemn duties thus enjoined, however +painful the performance may be, and thereby tacitly permit the rightful +authority of the Government to be contemned and its laws obstructed by a +single State, would neither comport with its own safety nor the rights +of the great body of the American people. + +It being thus shown to be the duty of the Executive to execute the laws +by all constitutional means, it remains to consider the extent of those +already at his disposal and what it may be proper further to provide. + +In the instructions of the Secretary of the Treasury to the collectors +in South Carolina the provisions and regulations made by the act of +1799, and also the fines, penalties, and forfeitures for their +enforcement, are particularly detailed and explained. It may be well +apprehended, however, that these provisions may prove inadequate to meet +such an open, powerful, organized opposition as is to be commenced after +the 1st of February next. + +Subsequently to the date of these instructions and to the passage of the +ordinance, information has been received from sources entitled to be +relied on that owing to the popular excitement in the State and the +effect of the ordinance declaring the execution of the revenue laws +unlawful a sufficient number of persons in whom confidence might be +placed could not be induced to accept the office of inspector to oppose +with any probability of success the force which will no doubt be used +when an attempt is made to remove vessels and their cargoes from the +custody of the officers of the customs, and, indeed, that it would be +impracticable for the collector, with the aid of any number of +inspectors whom he may be authorized to employ, to preserve the custody +against such an attempt. + +The removal of the custom-house from Charleston to Castle Pinckney was +deemed a measure of necessary precaution, and though the authority to +give that direction is not questioned, it is nevertheless apparent that +a similar precaution can not be observed in regard to the ports of +Georgetown and Beaufort, each of which under the present laws remains a +port of entry and exposed to the obstructions meditated in that quarter. + +In considering the best means of avoiding or of preventing the +apprehended obstruction to the collection of the revenue, and the +consequences which may ensue, it would appear to be proper and necessary +to enable the officers of the customs to preserve the custody of vessels +and their cargoes, which by the existing laws they are required to take, +until the duties to which they are liable shall be paid or secured. The +mode by which it is contemplated to deprive them of that custody is the +process of replevin and that of _capias in withernam_, in the nature of +a distress from the State tribunals organized by the ordinance. + +Against the proceeding in the nature of a distress it is not perceived +that the collector can interpose any resistance whatever, and against +the process of replevin authorized by the law of the State he, having no +common-law power, can only oppose such inspectors as he is by statute +authorized and may find it practicable to employ, and these, from the +information already adverted to, are shown to be wholly inadequate, + +The respect which that process deserves must therefore be considered. + +If the authorities of South Carolina had not obstructed the legitimate +action of the courts of the United States, or if they had permitted the +State tribunals to administer the law according to their oath under the +Constitution and the regulations of the laws of the Union, the General +Government might have been content to look to them for maintaining the +custody and to encounter the other inconveniences arising out of the +recent proceedings. Even in that case, however, the process of replevin +from the courts of the State would be irregular and unauthorized. It has +been decided by the Supreme Court of the United States that the courts +of the United States have exclusive jurisdiction of all seizures made on +land or water for a breach of the laws of the United States, and any +intervention of a State authority which, by taking the thing seized out +of the hands of the United States officer, might obstruct the exercise +of this jurisdiction is unlawful; that in such case the court of the +United States having cognizance of the seizure may enforce a redelivery +of the thing by attachment or other summary process; that the question +under such a seizure whether a forfeiture has been actually incurred +belongs exclusively to the courts of the United States, and it depends +on the final decree whether the seizure is to be deemed rightful or +tortuous; and that not until the seizure be finally judged wrongful and +without probable cause by the courts of the United States can the party +proceed at common law for damages in the State courts. + +But by making it "unlawful for any of the constituted authorities, +whether of the United States or of the State, to enforce the laws for +the payment of duties, and declaring that all judicial proceedings which +shall be hereafter had in affirmance of the contracts made with purpose +to secure the duties imposed by the said acts are and shall be held +utterly null and void," she has in effect abrogated the judicial +tribunals within her limits in this respect, has virtually denied the +United States access to the courts established by their own laws, and +declared it unlawful for the judges to discharge those duties which they +are sworn to perform. In lieu of these she has substituted those State +tribunals already adverted to, the judges whereof are not merely +forbidden to allow an appeal or permit a copy of their record, but are +previously sworn to disregard the laws of the Union and enforce those +only of South Carolina, and thus deprived of the function essential to +the judicial character of inquiring into the validity of the law and the +right of the matter, become merely ministerial instruments in aid of the +concerted obstruction of the laws of the Union. + +Neither the process nor authority of these tribunals thus constituted +can be respected consistently with the supremacy of the laws or the +rights and security of the citizen. If they be submitted to, the +protection due from the Government to its officers and citizens is +withheld, and there is at once an end not only to the laws, but to the +Union itself. + +Against such a force as the sheriff may, and which by the replevin law +of South Carolina it is his duty to exercise, it can not be expected +that a collector can retain his custody with the aid of the inspectors. +In such case, it is true, it would be competent to institute suits in +the United States courts against those engaged in the unlawful +proceeding, or the property might be seized for a violation of the +revenue laws, and, being libeled in the proper courts, an order might be +made for its redelivery, which would be committed to the marshal for +execution. But in that case the fourth section of the act, in broad and +unqualified terms, makes it the duty of the sheriff "to prevent such +recapture or seizure, or to redeliver the goods, as the case may be," +"even under any process, order, or decrees, or other pretext contrary to +the true intent and meaning of the ordinance aforesaid." It is thus made +the duty of the sheriff to oppose the process of the courts of the +United States, and for that purpose, if need be, to employ the whole +power of the county. And the act expressly reserves to him all power +which, independently of its provisions, he could have used. In this +reservation it obviously contemplates a resort to other means than those +particularly mentioned. + +It is not to be disguised that the power which it is thus enjoined upon +the sheriff to employ is nothing less than the _posse comitatus_ in all +the rigor of the ancient common law. This power, though it may be used +against unlawful resistance to judicial process, is in its character +forcible, and analogous to that conferred upon the marshals by the act +of 1795. It is, in fact, the embodying of the whole mass of the +population, under the command of a single individual, to accomplish by +their forcible aid what could not be effected peaceably and by the +ordinary means. It may properly be said to be a relic of those ages in +which the laws could be defended rather by physical than moral force, +and in its origin was conferred upon the sheriffs of England to enable +them to defend their county against any of the King's enemies when they +came into the land, as well as for the purpose of executing process. In +early and less civilized times it was intended to include "the aid and +attendance of all knights and others who were bound to have harness." It +includes the right of going with arms and military equipment, and +embraces larger classes and greater masses of population than can be +compelled by the laws of most of the States to perform militia duty. If +the principles of the common law are recognized in South Carolina (and +from this act it would seem they are), the power of summoning the _posse +comitatus_ will compel, under the penalty of fine and imprisonment, +every man over the age of 15, and able to travel, to turn out at the +call of the sheriff, and with such weapons as may be necessary; and it +may justify beating, and even killing, such as may resist. The use of +the _posse comitatus_ is therefore a direct application of force, and +can not be otherwise regarded than as the employment of the whole +militia force of the county, and in an equally efficient form under a +different name. No proceeding which resorts to this power to the extent +contemplated by the act can be properly denominated peaceable. + +The act of South Carolina, however, does not rely altogether upon this +forcible remedy. For even attempting to resist or disobey, though by the +aid only of the ordinary officers of the customs, the process of +replevin, the collector and all concerned are subjected to a further +proceeding in the nature of a distress of their personal effects, and +are, moreover, made guilty of a misdemeanor, and liable to be punished +by a fine of not less than $1,000 nor more than $5,000 and to +imprisonment not exceeding two years and not less than six months; and +for even attempting to execute the order of the court for retaking the +property the marshal and all assisting would be guilty of a misdemeanor +and liable to a fine of not less than $3,000 nor more than $10,000 and +to imprisonment not exceeding two years nor less than one: and in case +the goods should be retaken under such process it is made the absolute +duty of the sheriff to retake them. + +It is not to be supposed that in the face of these penalties, aided by +the powerful force of the county, which would doubtless be brought to +sustain the State officers, either that the collector would retain the +custody in the first instance or that the marshal could summon +sufficient aid to retake the property pursuant to the order or other +process of the court. + +It is, moreover, obvious that in this conflict between the powers of the +officers of the United States and of the State (unless the latter be +passively submitted to) the destruction to which the property of the +officers of the customs would be exposed, the commission of actual +violence, and the loss of lives would be scarcely avoidable. + +Under these circumstances and the provisions of the acts of South +Carolina the execution of the laws is rendered impracticable even +through the ordinary judicial tribunals of the United States. There +would certainly be fewer difficulties, and less opportunity of actual +collision between the officers of the United States and of the State, +and the collection of the revenue would be more effectually secured--if, +indeed, it can be done in any other way--by placing the custom-house +beyond the immediate power of the county. + +For this purpose it might be proper to provide that whenever by any +unlawful combination or obstruction in any State or in any port it +should become impracticable faithfully to collect the duties, the +President of the United States should be authorized to alter and abolish +such of the districts and ports of entry as should be necessary, and to +establish the custom-house at some secure place within some port or +harbor of such State; and in such cases it should be the duty of the +collector to reside at such place, and to detain all vessels and cargoes +until the duties imposed by law should be properly secured or paid in +cash, deducting interest; that in such cases it should be unlawful to +take the vessel and cargo from the custody of the proper officer of the +customs unless by process from the ordinary judicial tribunals of the +United States, and that in case of an attempt otherwise to take the +property by a force too great to be overcome by the officers of the +customs it should be lawful to protect the possession of the officers by +the employment of the land and naval forces and militia, under +provisions similar to those authorized by the eleventh section of the +act of the 9th of January, 1809. + +This provision, however, would not shield the officers and citizens of +the United States, acting under the laws, from suits and prosecutions in +the tribunals of the State which might thereafter be brought against +them, nor would it protect their property from the proceeding by +distress, and it may well be apprehended that it would be insufficient +to insure a proper respect to the process of the constitutional +tribunals in prosecutions for offenses against the United States and to +protect the authorities of the United States, whether judicial or +ministerial, in the performance of their duties. It would, moreover, be +inadequate to extend the protection due from the Government to that +portion of the people of South Carolina against outrage and oppression +of any kind who may manifest their attachment and yield obedience to the +laws of the Union. + +It may therefore be desirable to revive, with some modifications better +adapted to the occasion, the sixth section of the act of the 3d March, +1815, which expired on the 4th March, 1817, by the limitation of that of +27th April, 1816, and to provide that in any case where suit shall be +brought against any individual in the courts of the State for any act +done under the laws of the United States he should be authorized to +remove the said cause by petition into the circuit court of the United +States without any copy of the record, and that the court should proceed +to hear and determine the same as if it had been originally instituted +therein; and that in all cases of injuries to the persons or property of +individuals for disobedience to the ordinance and laws of South Carolina +in pursuance thereof redress may be sought in the courts of the United +States. It may be expedient also, by modifying the resolution of the 3d +March, 1791, to authorize the marshals to make the necessary provision +for the safe-keeping of prisoners committed under the authority of the +United States. + +Provisions less than these, consisting as they do for the most part +rather of a revival of the policy of former acts called for by the +existing emergency than of the introduction of any unusual or rigorous +enactments, would not cause the laws of the Union to be properly +respected or enforced. It is believed these would prove adequate unless +the military forces of the State of South Carolina authorized by the +late act of the legislature should be actually embodied and called out +in aid of their proceedings and of the provisions of the ordinance +generally. Even in that case, however, it is believed that no more will +be necessary than a few modifications of its terms to adapt the act of +1795 to the present emergency, as by that act the provisions of the law +of 1792 were accommodated to the crisis then existing, and by conferring +authority upon the President to give it operation during the session of +Congress, and without the ceremony of a proclamation, whenever it shall +be officially made known to him by the authority of any State, or by the +courts of the United States, that within the limits of such State the +laws of the United States will be openly opposed and their execution +obstructed by the actual employment of military force, or by any +unlawful means whatsoever too great to be otherwise overcome. + +In closing this communication, I should do injustice to my own feelings +not to express my confident reliance upon the disposition of each +department of the Government to perform its duty and to cooperate in all +measures necessary in the present emergency. + +The crisis undoubtedly invokes the fidelity of the patriot and the +sagacity of the statesman, not more in removing such portion of the +public burden as may be necessary than in preserving the good order of +society and in the maintenance of well-regulated liberty. + +While a forbearing spirit may, and I trust will, be exercised toward the +errors of our brethren in a particular quarter, duty to the rest of the +Union demands that open and organized resistance to the laws should not +be executed with impunity. + +The rich inheritance bequeathed by our fathers has devolved upon us the +sacred obligation of preserving it by the same virtues which conducted +them through the eventful scenes of the Revolution and ultimately +crowned their struggle with the noblest model of civil institutions. +They bequeathed to us a Government of laws and a Federal Union founded +upon the great principle of popular representation. After a successful +experiment of forty-four years, at a moment when the Government and the +Union are the objects of the hopes of the friends of civil liberty +throughout the world, and in the midst of public and individual +prosperity unexampled in history, we are called to decide whether these +laws possess any force and that Union the means of self-preservation. +The decision of this question by an enlightened and patriotic people can +not be doubtful. For myself, fellow-citizens, devoutly relying upon that +kind Providence which has hitherto watched over our destinies, and +actuated by a profound reverence for those institutions I have so much +cause to love, and for the American people, whose partiality honored me +with their highest trust, I have determined to spare no effort to +discharge the duty which in this conjuncture is devolved upon me. That a +similar spirit will actuate the representatives of the American people +is not to be questioned; and I fervently pray that the Great Ruler of +Nations may so guide your deliberations and our joint measures as that +they may prove salutary examples not only to the present but to future +times, and solemnly proclaim that the Constitution and the laws are +supreme and the _Union indissoluble_. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +WASHINGTON, _January 16, 1833_. +_To the Senate_: + +In conformity with a resolution of the Senate of the 31st December last, +I herewith transmit copies of the instructions under which the late +treaty of indemnity with Naples was negotiated, and of all the +correspondence relative thereto. + +It will appear evident from a perusal of some of those documents that +they are written by the agents of the United States to their own +Government with a freedom, as far as relates to the officers of that of +Naples, which was never intended for the public eye, and as they might, +if printed, accidentally find their way abroad and thereby embarrass our +ministers in their future operations in foreign countries, I +respectfully recommend that in the printing, if deemed necessary, such a +discrimination be made as to avoid that inconvenience, preferring this +course to withholding from the Senate any part of the correspondence. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +WASHINGTON, _January 17, 1833_. +_The Speaker of the House of Representatives_: + +In conformity with a resolution of the House of Representatives of the +11th December last, I herewith transmit "such portions as have not +heretofore been communicated of the instructions given to our ministers +in France on the subject of claims for spoliations since September, +1800, and of the correspondence of said ministers with the French +Government and with the Secretary of State of the United States on the +same subject." + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +WASHINGTON, _January 22, 1833_. +_To the Senate_: + +Having received on yesterday certified copies of the acts passed by the +State of South Carolina to carry into effect her ordinance of +nullification, which were referred to in my message of the 16th instant +to Congress, I now transmit them. + +As but one copy of these acts was sent to me, I am prevented from +communicating them by a joint message to the two Houses of Congress. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +WASHINGTON, _January 23, 1833_. +_The President of the Senate_: + +A treaty of peace, friendship, and amity between the United States and +the King of the Belgians having this day been concluded by the +plenipotentiaries of the respective countries, I herewith transmit it to +the Senate for its consideration. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +_The Speaker of the House of Representatives_: + +I transmit to the House of Representatives a report of the Secretary of +State, with a list of appointments made by the Executive since the 13th +of April, 1826, from members of Congress during their term of service +and for twelve months thereafter, pursuant to the resolution of the said +House of the 26th of December, 1832, which I referred to him, and which +appointments are recorded in his office. I send likewise a list of +similar appointments, also furnished by the Secretary of State and of +record in his office, from the 3d of March, 1825, to the 13th of April, +1826. + +ANDREW JACKSON. +_January 23, 1833_. + + +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I send herewith a convention concluded on the 14th day of October last +between the United States and His Majesty the King of the Two Sicilies. +This treaty has been ratified by me agreeably to the Constitution, and +the ratification will be dispatched to Naples without delay, when there +is no doubt it will be ratified by His Sicilian Majesty. + +The early communication of this treaty is deemed proper because it will +be necessary to provide for the execution of the first article in order +that our fellow-citizens may with as little delay as possible obtain the +compensation stipulated for by this convention. + +ANDREW JACKSON. +_January 24, 1833_. + + +WASHINGTON, _January 25, 1833_. +_The Speaker of the House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith, for the information of Congress, the report of the +officer to whom was intrusted the inspection of the works for the +improvement of the navigation of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +WASHINGTON, _January 29, 1833_. +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I herewith transmit to the House of Representatives a report from the +Postmaster-General, which I request may be considered as forming a part +of my message of the 23d instant, in answer to the resolution calling +for a list of all appointments made by the Executive since the 13th +April, 1826, from the members of Congress during their term of service +and for twelve months thereafter, etc. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +WASHINGTON, _February 7, 1833_. +_To the Senate and House of Representatives_: + +I transmit, for the consideration of Congress, a report from the +Secretary of State, on the subject of our diplomatic intercourse with +foreign nations. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +WASHINGTON, _February 12, 1833_. +_To the Senate_: + +In compliance with the resolution of the Senate requesting the President +of the United States to lay before it "copies of the orders which have +been given to the commanding officers of the military forces assembled +in and near to the city of Charleston, S.C., and also copies of the +orders which have been given to the commander of the naval forces +assembled in the harbor of Charleston, particularly such orders, if any +such have been given, to resist the constituted authorities of the State +of South Carolina within the limits of said State," I transmit herewith +papers, numbered from 1 to 17, inclusive, embracing the orders which +have been given to the commanding officers of the land and naval forces +assembled in and near the city of Charleston and within the limits of +the State of South Carolina, and which relate to the military operations +in that quarter. No order has at any time been given in any manner +inconsistent therewith. There is a part, however, of the letter of the +Secretary of War dated December 3, 1832, omitted, which, being +conditional in its character, and not relating to the operation of the +troops, it is deemed improper in the present state of the service to +communicate. + +No order has been at any time given "to resist" the constituted +authorities of the State of South Carolina within the chartered limits +of said State. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +WASHINGTON, _February 12, 1833_. +_To the Senate_: + +I transmit herewith to the Senate, for their advice and consent as to +the ratification of the same, a treaty recently concluded between the +commissioners for adjusting all differences with the Indians west of the +Mississippi and the mixed band of Shawnese and Senecas who emigrated +from Ohio. I transmit also the journal of their proceedings. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +WASHINGTON, _February 15, 1833_. +_To the Senate_: + +I transmit herewith to the Senate, for their advice and consent as to +the ratification of the same, articles of agreement supplemental to the +treaty of February 8, 1831, between the commissioner on the part of the +United States and the Menominee tribe of Indians, with the assent of the +New York Indians. + +I transmit also the journal of proceedings. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +WASHINGTON, _February 19, 1833_. +_To the Senate_: + +The renomination of Samuel Gwin to be register of the land office at +Mount Salus, in the State of Mississippi, having been on the 16th of +July last laid upon the table of the Senate, with a resolution declaring +that it was not the intention of the Senate to take any proceeding in +regard to it during that session, a vacancy in the office was found +existing in the recess, which the public service required to be filled, +and which was filled by the appointment of Samuel Gwin. I therefore +nominate the said Gwin to the same office. + +In addition to the papers which were transmitted with his nomination at +the last session, I have received others from the most respectable +sources in the State of Mississippi, bearing the fullest testimony to +his fitness for the office in question. Of this character are the two +now inclosed, signed by members of the convention recently assembled to +revise the constitution of the State, and also by many members of its +present legislature. They also show that the appointment of Mr. Gwin +would be acceptable to the great body of the people interested in the +office. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +WASHINGTON, _February 22, 1833_. +_To the House of Representatives_: + +I transmit herewith, for the consideration of the House, a letter from +General Lafayette to the Secretary of State, with the petition which +came inclosed in it of the Countess d'Ambrugeac and Madame de la Gorée, +granddaughter of Marshal Count Rochambeau, and original documents in +support thereof, praying compensation for services rendered by the Count +to the United States during the Revolutionary war, together with +translations of the same; and I transmit with the same view the petition +of Messrs. De Fontenille de Jeaumont and De Rossignol Grandmont, praying +compensation for services rendered by them to the United States in the +French army, and during the same war, with original papers in support +thereof, all received through the same channel, together with +translations of the same. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +WASHINGTON, _February 22, 1833_. +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I transmit to the Senate, for its advice and consent as to the +ratification of the same, a treaty of commerce and navigation between +the United States and Russia, concluded and signed at St. Petersburg on +the 18th of December, 1832, by the plenipotentiaries of the two parties, +with an additional article to the same, concluded and signed on the same +day, together with an extract from the dispatch of the minister of the +United States at St. Petersburg to the Secretary of State, communicating +the said treaty and additional article. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +WASHINGTON, _February 26, 1833_. +_To the Senate_: + +I transmit herewith, for the advice and consent of the Senate as to the +ratification of the same, a treaty concluded with the Ottawa Indians +residing on the Miami of Lake Erie on the 18th instant by the +commissioners on the part of the United States, + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +WASHINGTON, _March 2, 1833_. +_To the Senate_: + +I transmit herewith, for the consideration of the Senate, a report from +the Secretary of State, in relation to the consular establishment of the +United States. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +WASHINGTON, _March 2, 1833_. +_To the Senate_: + +I have made several nominations to offices located within the limits of +the State of Mississippi which have not received the approbation of the +Senate. Inferring that these nominations have been rejected in pursuance +of a resolution adopted by the Senate on the 3d of February, 1831, "that +it is inexpedient to appoint a citizen of one State to an office which +may be vacated or become vacant in any other State of the Union within +which such citizen does not reside, without some evident necessity for +such appointment," and regarding that resolution, in effect, as an +unconstitutional restraint upon the authority of the President in +relation to appointments to office, I think it proper to inform the +Senate that I shall feel it my duty to abstain from any further attempt +to fill the offices in question. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +_The President of the Senate_: + +In compliance with a resolution of the Senate passed the 1st instant, +requesting "that the President inform the Senate, if not incompatible +with the public interest, what negotiation has been had since the last +session of Congress with Great Britain in relation to the northeastern +boundary of the United States, and the progress and result thereof; also +whether any arrangement, stipulation, or agreement has at any time been +made between the Executive of the United States and the government of +the State of Maine, or by commissioners or agents on the part of the +United States and that State, having reference to any proposed transfer +or relinquishment of their right of jurisdiction and territory belonging +to that State, together with all documents, correspondence, and +communications in relation thereto," I inform the Senate that overtures +for opening a negotiation for the settlement of the boundary between the +United States and the British provinces have been made to the Government +of Great Britain since the last session, but that no definitive answer +has yet been received to these propositions, and that a conditional +arrangement has been made between commissioners appointed by me and +others named by the governor of Maine, with the authority of its +legislature, which can not take effect without the sanction of Congress +and of the legislature aforesaid, and which will be communicated to them +as soon as the contingency in which alone it was intended to operate +shall happen. In the meantime it is not deemed compatible with the +public interest that it should be communicated. + +ANDREW JACKSON. +_March 2, 1833_. + + + + +VETO MESSAGES.[16] + +[Footnote 16: Pocket vetoes.] + + +WASHINGTON, _December 6, 1832_. +_To the Senate of the United States_: + +I avail myself of this early opportunity to return to the Senate, in +which it originated, the bill entitled "An act providing for the final +settlement of the claims of States for interest on advances to the +United States made during the last war," with the reasons which induced +me to withhold my approbation, in consequence of which it has failed to +become a law. + +This bill was presented to me for my signature on the last day of your +session, and when I was compelled to consider a variety of other bills +of greater urgency to the public service. It obviously embraced a +principle in the allowance of interest different from that which had +been sanctioned by the practice of the accounting officers or by the +previous legislation of Congress in regard to the advances by the +States, and without any apparent grounds for the change. + +Previously to giving my sanction to so great an extension of the +practice of allowing interest upon accounts with the Government, and +which in its consequences and from analogy might not only call for large +payments from the Treasury, but disturb the great mass of individual +accounts long since finally settled, I deemed it my duty to make a more +thorough investigation of the subject than it was possible for me to do +previously to the close of your last session. I adopted this course the +more readily from the consideration that as the bill contained no +appropriation the States which would have been entitled to claim its +benefits could not have received them without the fuller legislation of +Congress. + +The principle which this bill authorizes varies not only from the +practice uniformly adopted by many of the accounting officers in the +case of individual accounts and in those of the States finally settled +and closed previously to your last session, but also from that pursued +under the act of your last session for the adjustment and settlement of +the claims of the State of South Carolina. This last act prescribed no +particular mode for the allowance of interest, which, therefore, in +conformity with the directions of Congress in previous cases and with +the uniform practice of the Auditor by whom the account was settled, was +computed on the sums expended by the State of South Carolina for the use +and benefit of the United States, and which had been repaid to the +State; and the payments made by the United States were deducted from the +principal sums, exclusive of the interest, thereby stopping future +interest on so much of the principal as had been reimbursed by the +payment. + +I deem it proper, moreover, to observe that both under the act of the +5th of August, 1790, and that of the 12th of February, 1793, authorizing +the settlement of the accounts between the United States and the +individual States arising out of the war of the Revolution, the interest +on those accounts was computed in conformity with the practice already +adverted to, and from which the bill now returned is a departure. + +With these reasons and considerations I return the bill to the Senate. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +_December 6, 1832_. +_To the House of Representatives_: + +In addition to the general views I have heretofore expressed to Congress +on the subject of internal improvement, it is my duty to advert to it +again in stating my objections to the bill entitled "An act for the +improvement of certain harbors and the navigation of certain rivers," +which was not received a sufficient time before the close of the last +session to enable me to examine it before the adjournment. + +Having maturely considered that bill within the time allowed me by the +Constitution, and being convinced that some of its provisions conflict +with the rule adopted for my guide on this subject of legislation, I +have been compelled to withhold from it my signature, and it has +therefore failed to become a law. + +To facilitate as far as I can the intelligent action of Congress upon +the subjects embraced in this bill, I transmit herewith a report from +the Engineer Department, distinguishing, as far as the information +within its possession would enable it, between those appropriations +which do and those which do not conflict with the rules by which my +conduct in this respect has hitherto been governed. By that report it +will be seen that there is a class of appropriations in the bill for the +improvement of streams that are not navigable, that are not channels of +commerce, and that do not pertain to the harbors or ports of entry +designated by law, or have any ascertained connection with the usual +establishments for the security of commerce, external or internal. + +It is obvious that such appropriations involve the sanction of a +principle that concedes to the General Government an unlimited power +over the subject of internal improvements, and that I could not, +therefore, approve a bill containing them without receding from the +positions taken in my veto of the Maysville road bill, and afterwards in +my annual message of December 6, 1830. + +It is to be regretted that the rules by which the classification of the +improvements in this bill has been made by the Engineer Department are +not more definite and certain, and that embarrassments may not always be +avoided by the observance of them, but as neither my own reflection nor +the lights derived from other sources have furnished me with a better +guide, I shall continue to apply my best exertions to their application +and enforcement. In thus employing my best faculties to exercise the +power with which I am invested to avoid evils and to effect the greatest +attainable good for our common country I feel that I may trust to your +cordial cooperation, and the experience of the past leaves me no room to +doubt the liberal indulgence and favorable consideration of those for +whom we act. + +The grounds upon which I have given my assent to appropriations for the +construction of light-houses, beacons, buoys, public piers, and the +removal of sand bars, sawyers, and other temporary or partial +impediments in our navigable rivers and harbors, and with which many of +the provisions of this bill correspond, have been so fully stated that I +trust a repetition of them is unnecessary. Had there been incorporated +in the bill no provisions for works of a different description, +depending on principles which extend the power of making appropriations +to every object which the discretion of the Government may select, and +losing sight of the distinctions between national and local character +which I had stated would be my future guide on the subject, I should +have cheerfully signed the bill. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + + + +PROCLAMATION. + +BY ANDREW JACKSON, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. + +Whereas a convention assembled in the State of South Carolina have +passed an ordinance by which they declare "that the several acts and +parts of acts of the Congress of the United States purporting to be laws +for the imposing of duties and imposts on the importation of foreign +commodities, and now having actual operation and effect within the +United States, and more especially" two acts for the same purposes +passed on the 29th of May, 1828, and on the 14th of July, 1832, "are +unauthorized by the Constitution of the United States, and violate the +true meaning and intent thereof, and are null and void and no law," nor +binding on the citizens of that State or its officers; and by the said +ordinance it is further declared to be unlawful for any of the +constituted authorities of the State or of the United States to enforce +the payment of the duties imposed by the said acts within the same +State, and that it is the duty of the legislature to pass such laws as +may be necessary to give full effect to the said ordinance; and + +Whereas by the said ordinance it is further ordained that in no case of +law or equity decided in the courts of said State wherein shall be drawn +in question the validity of the said ordinance, or of the acts of the +legislature that may be passed to give it effect, or of the said laws of +the United States, no appeal shall be allowed to the Supreme Court of +the United States, nor shall any copy of the record be permitted or +allowed for that purpose, and that any person attempting to take such +appeal shall be punished as for contempt of court; and, finally, the +said ordinance declares that the people of South Carolina will maintain +the said ordinance at every hazard, and that they will consider the +passage of any act by Congress abolishing or closing the ports of the +said State or otherwise obstructing the free ingress or egress of +vessels to and from the said ports, or any other act of the Federal +Government to coerce the State, shut up her ports, destroy or harass her +commerce, or to enforce the said acts otherwise than through the civil +tribunals of the country, as inconsistent with the longer continuance of +South Carolina in the Union, and that the people of the said State will +thenceforth hold themselves absolved from all further obligation to +maintain or preserve their political connection with the people of the +other States, and will forthwith proceed to organize a separate +government and do all other acts and things which sovereign and +independent states may of right do; and + +Whereas the said ordinance prescribes to the people of South Carolina a +course of conduct in direct violation of their duty as citizens of the +United States, contrary to the laws of their country, subversive of its +Constitution, and having for its object the destruction of the +Union--that Union which, coeval with our political existence, led our +fathers, without any other ties to unite them than those of patriotism +and a common cause, through a sanguinary struggle to a glorious +independence; that sacred Union, hitherto inviolate, which, perfected by +our happy Constitution, has brought us, by the favor of Heaven, to a +state of prosperity at home and high consideration abroad rarely, if +ever, equaled in the history of nations: + +To preserve this bond of our political existence from destruction, to +maintain inviolate this state of national honor and prosperity, and to +justify the confidence my fellow-citizens have reposed in me, I, Andrew +Jackson, President of the United States, have thought proper to issue +this my proclamation, stating my views of the Constitution and laws +applicable to the measures adopted by the convention of South Carolina +and to the reasons they have put forth to sustain them, declaring the +course which duty will require me to pursue, and, appealing to the +understanding and patriotism of the people, warn them of the +consequences that must inevitably result from an observance of the +dictates of the convention. + +Strict duty would require of me nothing more than the exercise of those +powers with which I am now or may hereafter be invested for preserving +the peace of the Union and for the execution of the laws; but the +imposing aspect which opposition has assumed in this case, by clothing +itself with State authority, and the deep interest which the people of +the United States must all feel in preventing a resort to stronger +measures while there is a hope that anything will be yielded to +reasoning and remonstrance, perhaps demand, and will certainly justify, +a full exposition to South Carolina and the nation of the views I +entertain of this important question, as well as a distinct enunciation +of the course which my sense of duty will require me to pursue. + +The ordinance is founded, not on the indefeasible right of resisting +acts which are plainly unconstitutional and too oppressive to be +endured, but on the strange position that any one State may not only +declare an act of Congress void, but prohibit its execution; that they +may do this consistently with the Constitution; that the true +construction of that instrument permits a State to retain its place in +the Union and yet be bound by no other of its laws than those it may +choose to consider as constitutional. It is true, they add, that to +justify this abrogation of a law it must be palpably contrary to the +Constitution; but it is evident that to give the right of resisting laws +of that description, coupled with the uncontrolled right to decide what +laws deserve that character, is to give the power of resisting all laws; +for as by the theory there is no appeal, the reasons alleged by the +State, good or bad, must prevail. If it should be said that public +opinion is a sufficient check against the abuse of this power, it may be +asked why it is not deemed a sufficient guard against the passage of an +unconstitutional act by Congress? There is, however, a restraint in this +last case which makes the assumed power of a State more indefensible, +and which does not exist in the other. There are two appeals from an +unconstitutional act passed by Congress--one to the judiciary, the other +to the people and the States. There is no appeal from the State decision +in theory, and the practical illustration shows that the courts are +closed against an application to review it, both judges and jurors being +sworn to decide in its favor. But reasoning on this subject is +superfluous when our social compact, in express terms, declares that the +laws of the United States, its Constitution, and treaties made under it +are the supreme law of the land, and, for greater caution, adds "that +the judges in every State shall be bound thereby, anything in the +constitution or laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding." And +it may be asserted without fear of refutation that no federative +government could exist without a similar provision. Look for a moment to +the consequence. If South Carolina considers the revenue laws +unconstitutional and has a right to prevent their execution in the port +of Charleston, there would be a clear constitutional objection to their +collection in every other port; and no revenue could be collected +anywhere, for all imposts must be equal. It is no answer to repeat that +an unconstitutional law is no law so long as the question of its +legality is to be decided by the State itself, for every law operating +injuriously upon any local interest will be perhaps thought, and +certainly represented, as unconstitutional, and, as has been shown, +there is no appeal. + +If this doctrine had been established at an earlier day, the Union would +have been dissolved in its infancy. The excise law in Pennsylvania, the +embargo and nonintercourse law in the Eastern States, the carriage tax +in Virginia, were all deemed unconstitutional, and were more unequal in +their operation than any of the laws now complained of; but, +fortunately, none of those States discovered that they had the right now +claimed by South Carolina. The war into which we were forced to support +the dignity of the nation and the rights of our citizens might have +ended in defeat and disgrace, instead of victory and honor, if the +States who supposed it a ruinous and unconstitutional measure had +thought they possessed the right of nullifying the act by which it was +declared and denying supplies for its prosecution. Hardly and unequally +as those measures bore upon several members of the Union, to the +legislatures of none did this efficient and peaceable remedy, as it is +called, suggest itself. The discovery of this important feature in our +Constitution was reserved to the present day. To the statesmen of South +Carolina belongs the invention, and upon the citizens of that State will +unfortunately fall the evils of reducing it to practice. + +If the doctrine of a State veto upon the laws of the Union carries with +it internal evidence of its impracticable absurdity, our constitutional +history will also afford abundant proof that it would have been +repudiated with indignation had it been proposed to form a feature in +our Government. + +In our colonial state, although dependent on another power, we very +early considered ourselves as connected by common interest with each +other. Leagues were formed for common defense, and before the +declaration of independence we were known in our aggregate character as +_the United Colonies of America_. That decisive and important step was +taken jointly. We declared ourselves a nation by a joint, not by several +acts, and when the terms of our Confederation were reduced to form it +was in that of a solemn league of several States, by which they agreed +that they would collectively form one nation for the purpose of +conducting some certain domestic concerns and all foreign relations. In +the instrument forming that Union is found an article which declares +that "every State shall abide by the determinations of Congress on all +questions which by that Confederation should be submitted to them." + +Under the Confederation, then, no State could legally annul a decision +of the Congress or refuse to submit to its execution; but no provision +was made to enforce these decisions. Congress made requisitions, but +they were not complied with. The Government could not operate on +individuals. They had no judiciary, no means of collecting revenue. + +But the defects of the Confederation need not be detailed. Under its +operation we could scarcely be called a nation. We had neither +prosperity at home nor consideration abroad. This state of things could +not be endured, and our present happy Constitution was formed, but +formed in vain if this fatal doctrine prevails. It was formed for +important objects that are announced in the preamble, made in the name +and by the authority of the people of the United States, whose delegates +framed and whose conventions approved it. The most important among these +objects--that which is placed first in rank, on which all the others +rest--is "_to form a more perfect union_." Now, is it possible that even +if there were no express provision giving supremacy to the Constitution +and laws of the United States over those of the States, can it be +conceived that an instrument made for the purpose of "_forming a more +perfect union_" than that of the Confederation could be so constructed +by the assembled wisdom of our country as to substitute for that +Confederation a form of government dependent for its existence on the +local interest, the party spirit, of a State, or of a prevailing faction +in a State? Every man of plain, unsophisticated understanding who hears +the question will give such an answer as will preserve the Union. +Metaphysical subtlety, in pursuit of an impracticable theory, could +alone have devised one that is calculated to destroy it. + +I consider, then, the power to annul a law of the United States, assumed +by one State, _incompatible with the existence of the Union, +contradicted expressly by the letter of the Constitution, unauthorised +by its spirit, inconsistent with every principle on which it was +founded, and destructive of the great object for which it was formed_. + +After this general view of the leading principle, we must examine the +particular application of it which is made in the ordinance. + +The preamble rests its justification on these grounds: It assumes as a +fact that the obnoxious laws, although they purport to be laws for +raising revenue, were in reality intended for the protection of +manufactures, which purpose it asserts to be unconstitutional; that the +operation of these laws is unequal; that the amount raised by them is +greater than is required by the wants of the Government; and, finally, +that the proceeds are to be applied to objects unauthorized by the +Constitution. These are the only causes alleged to justify an open +opposition to the laws of the country and a threat of seceding from the +Union if any attempt should be made to enforce them. The first virtually +acknowledges that the law in question was passed under a power expressly +given by the Constitution to lay and collect imposts; but its +constitutionality is drawn in question from the _motives_ of those who +passed it. However apparent this purpose may be in the present case, +nothing can be more dangerous than to admit the position that an +unconstitutional purpose entertained by the members who assent to a law +enacted under a constitutional power shall make that law void. For how +is that purpose to be ascertained? Who is to make the scrutiny? How +often may bad purposes be falsely imputed, in how many cases are they +concealed by false professions, in how many is no declaration of motive +made? Admit this doctrine, and you give to the States an uncontrolled +right to decide, and every law may be annulled under this pretext. If, +therefore, the absurd and dangerous doctrine should be admitted that a +State may annul an unconstitutional law, or one that it deems such, it +will not apply to the present case. + +The next objection is that the laws in question operate unequally. This +objection may be made with truth to every law that has been or can be +passed. The wisdom of man never yet contrived a system of taxation that +would operate with perfect equality. If the unequal operation of a law +makes it unconstitutional, and if all laws of that description may be +abrogated by any State for that cause, then, indeed, is the Federal +Constitution unworthy of the slightest effort for its preservation. We +have hitherto relied on it as the perpetual bond of our Union; we have +received it as the work of the assembled wisdom of the nation; we have +trusted to it as to the sheet anchor of our safety in the stormy times +of conflict with a foreign or domestic foe; we have looked to it with +sacred awe as the palladium of our liberties, and with all the +solemnities of religion have pledged to each other our lives and +fortunes here and our hopes of happiness hereafter in its defense and +support. Were we mistaken, my countrymen, in attaching this importance +to the Constitution of our country? Was our devotion paid to the +wretched, inefficient, clumsy contrivance which this new doctrine would +make it? Did we pledge ourselves to the support of an airy nothing--a +bubble that must be blown away by the first breath of disaffection? Was +this self-destroying, visionary theory the work of the profound +statesmen, the exalted patriots, to whom the task of constitutional +reform was intrusted? Did the name of Washington sanction, did the +States deliberately ratify, such an anomaly in the history of +fundamental legislation? No; we were not mistaken. The letter of this +great instrument is free from this radical fault. Its language directly +contradicts the imputation; its spirit, its evident intent, contradicts +it. No; we did not err. Our Constitution does not contain the absurdity +of giving power to make laws and another to resist them. The sages whose +memory will always be reverenced have given us a practical and, as they +hoped, a permanent constitutional compact. The Father of his Country did +not affix his revered name to so palpable an absurdity. Nor did the +States, when they severally ratified it, do so under the impression that +a veto on the laws of the United States was reserved to them or that +they could exercise it by implication. Search the debates in all their +conventions, examine the speeches of the most zealous opposers of +Federal authority, look at the amendments that were proposed; they are +all silent--not a syllable uttered, not a vote given, not a motion made +to correct the explicit supremacy given to the laws of the Union over +those of the States, or to show that implication, as is now contended, +could defeat it. No; we have not erred. The Constitution is still the +object of our reverence, the bond of our Union, our defense in danger, +the source of our prosperity in peace. It shall descend, as we have +received it, uncorrupted by sophistical construction, to our posterity; +and the sacrifices of local interest, of State prejudices, of personal +animosities, that were made to bring it into existence, will again be +patriotically offered for its support. + +The two remaining objections made by the ordinance to these laws are +that the sums intended to be raised by them are greater than are +required and that the proceeds will be unconstitutionally employed. + +The Constitution has given, expressly, to Congress the right of raising +revenue and of determining the sum the public exigencies will require. +The States have no control over the exercise of this right other than +that which results from the power of changing the representatives who +abuse it, and thus procure redress. Congress may undoubtedly abuse this +discretionary power; but the same may be said of others with which they +are vested. Yet the discretion must exist somewhere. The Constitution +has given it to the representatives of all the people, checked by the +representatives of the States and by the Executive power. The South +Carolina construction gives it to the legislature or the convention of a +single State, where neither the people of the different States, nor the +States in their separate capacity, nor the Chief Magistrate elected by +the people have any representation. Which is the most discreet +disposition of the power? I do not ask you, fellow-citizens, which is +the constitutional disposition; that instrument speaks a language not to +be misunderstood. But if you were assembled in general convention, which +would you think the safest depository of this discretionary power in the +last resort? Would you add a clause giving it to each of the States, or +would you sanction the wise provisions already made by your +Constitution? If this should be the result of your deliberations when +providing for the future, are you, can you, be ready to risk all that we +hold dear, to establish, for a temporary and a local purpose, that which +you must acknowledge to be destructive, and even absurd, as a general +provision? Carry out the consequences of this right vested in the +different States, and you must perceive that the crisis your conduct +presents at this day would recur whenever any law of the United States +displeased any of the States, and that we should soon cease to be a +nation. + +The ordinance, with the same knowledge of the future that characterizes +a former objection, tells you that the proceeds of the tax will be +unconstitutionally applied. If this could be ascertained with certainty, +the objection would with more propriety be reserved for the law so +applying the proceeds, but surely can not be urged against the laws +levying the duty. + +These are the allegations contained in the ordinance. Examine them +seriously, my fellow-citizens; judge for yourselves. I appeal to you to +determine whether they are so clear, so convincing, as to leave no doubt +of their correctness; and even if you should come to this conclusion, +how far they justify the reckless, destructive course which you are +directed to pursue. Review these objections and the conclusions drawn +from them once more. What are they? Every law, then, for raising +revenue, according to the South Carolina ordinance, may be rightfully +annulled, unless it be so framed as no law ever will or can be framed. +Congress have a right to pass laws for raising revenue and each State +have a right to oppose their execution--two rights directly opposed to +each other; and yet is this absurdity supposed to be contained in an +instrument drawn for the express purpose of avoiding collisions between +the States and the General Government by an assembly of the most +enlightened statesmen and purest patriots ever embodied for a similar +purpose. + +In vain have these sages declared that Congress shall have power to lay +and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises; in vain have they +provided that they shall have power to pass laws which shall be +necessary and proper to carry those powers into execution, that those +laws and that Constitution shall be the "supreme law of the land, and +that the judges in every State shall be bound thereby, anything in the +constitution or laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding;" in +vain have the people of the several States solemnly sanctioned these +provisions, made them their paramount law, and individually sworn to +support them whenever they were called on to execute any office. Vain +provisions! ineffectual restrictions! vile profanation of oaths! +miserable mockery of legislation! if a bare majority of the voters in +any one State may, on a real or supposed knowledge of the intent with +which a law has been passed, declare themselves free from its operation; +say, here it gives too little; there, too much, and operates unequally; +here it suffers articles to be free that ought to be taxed; there it +taxes those that ought to be free; in this case the proceeds are +intended to be applied to purposes which we do not approve; in that, the +amount raised is more than is wanted. Congress, it is true, are invested +by the Constitution with the right of deciding these questions according +to their sound discretion. Congress is composed of the representatives +of all the States and of all the people of all the States. But _we_, +part of the people of one State, to whom the Constitution has given no +power on the subject, from whom it has expressly taken it away; _we_, +who have solemnly agreed that this Constitution shall be our law; _we_, +most of whom have sworn to support it--_we_ now abrogate this law and +swear, and force others to swear, that it shall not be obeyed; and we do +this not because Congress have no right to pass such laws--this we do +not allege--but because they have passed them with improper views. They +are unconstitutional from the motives of those who passed them, which we +can never with certainty know; from their unequal operation, although it +is impossible, from the nature of things, that they should be equal; and +from the disposition which we presume may be made of their proceeds, +although that disposition has not been declared. This is the plain +meaning of the ordinance in relation to laws which it abrogates for +alleged unconstitutionality. But it does not stop there. It repeals in +express terms an important part of the Constitution itself and of laws +passed to give it effect, which have never been alleged to be +unconstitutional. + +The Constitution declares that the judicial powers of the United States +extend to cases arising under the laws of the United States, and that +such laws, the Constitution, and treaties shall be paramount to the +State constitutions and laws. The judiciary act prescribes the mode by +which the case may be brought before a court of the United States by +appeal when a State tribunal shall decide against this provision of the +Constitution. The ordinance declares there shall be no appeal--makes the +State law paramount to the Constitution and laws of the United States, +forces judges and jurors to swear that they will disregard their +provisions, and even makes it penal in a suitor to attempt relief by +appeal. It further declares that it shall not be lawful for the +authorities of the United States or of that State to enforce the payment +of duties imposed by the revenue laws within its limits. + +Here is a law of the United States, not even pretended to be +unconstitutional, repealed by the authority of a small majority of the +voters of a single State. Here is a provision of the Constitution which +is solemnly abrogated by the same authority. + +On such expositions and reasonings the ordinance grounds not only an +assertion of the right to annul the laws of which it complains, but to +enforce it by a threat of seceding from the Union if any attempt is made +to execute them. + +This right to secede is deduced from the nature of the Constitution, +which, they say, is a compact between sovereign States who have +preserved their whole sovereignty and therefore are subject to no +superior; that because they made the compact they can break it when in +their opinion it has been departed from by the other States. Fallacious +as this course of reasoning is, it enlists State pride and finds +advocates in the honest prejudices of those who have not studied the +nature of our Government sufficiently to see the radical error on which +it rests. + +The people of the United States formed the Constitution, acting through +the State legislatures in making the compact, to meet and discuss its +provisions, and acting in separate conventions when they ratified those +provisions; but the terms used in its construction show it to be a +Government in which the people of all the States, collectively, are +represented. We are _one people_ in the choice of President and +Vice-President. Here the States have no other agency than to direct the +mode in which the votes shall be given. The candidates having the +majority of all the votes are chosen. The electors of a majority of +States may have given their votes for one candidate, and yet another may +be chosen. The people, then, and not the States, are represented in the +executive branch. + +In the House of Representatives there is this difference, that the +people of one State do not, as in the case of President and +Vice-President, all vote for the same officers. The people of all the +States do not vote for all the members, each State electing only its own +representatives. But this creates no material distinction. When chosen, +they are all representatives of the United States, not representatives +of the particular State from which they come. They are paid by the +United States, not by the State; nor are they accountable to it for any +act done in the performance of their legislative functions; and however +they may in practice, as it is their duty to do, consult and prefer the +interests of their particular constituents when they come in conflict +with any other partial or local interest, yet it is their first and +highest duty, as representatives of the United States, to promote the +general good. + +The Constitution of the United States, then, forms a _government_, not a +league; and whether it be formed by compact between the States or in any +other manner, its character is the same. It is a Government in which all +the people are represented, which operates directly on the people +individually, not upon the States; they retained all the power they did +not grant. But each State, having expressly parted with so many powers +as to constitute, jointly with the other States, a single nation, can +not, from that period, possess any right to secede, because such +secession does not break a league, but destroys the unity of a nation; +and any injury to that unity is not only a breach which would result +from the contravention of a compact, but it is an offense against the +whole Union. To say that any State may at pleasure secede from the Union +is to say that the United States are not a nation, because it would be a +solecism to contend that any part of a nation might dissolve its +connection with the other parts, to their injury or ruin, without +committing any offense. Secession, like any other revolutionary act, may +be morally justified by the extremity of oppression, but to call it a +constitutional right is confounding the meaning of terms, and can only +be done through gross error or to deceive those who are willing to +assert a right, but would pause before they made a revolution or incur +the penalties consequent on a failure. + +Because the Union was formed by a compact, it is said the parties to +that compact may, when they feel themselves aggrieved, depart from it; +but it is precisely because it is a compact that they can not. A compact +is an agreement or binding obligation. It may by its terms have a +sanction or penalty for its breach, or it may not. If it contains no +sanction, it may be broken with no other consequence than moral guilt; +if it have a sanction, then the breach incurs the designated or implied +penalty. A league between independent nations generally has no sanction +other than a moral one; or if it should contain a penalty, as there is +no common superior it can not be enforced. A government, on the +contrary, always has a sanction, express or implied; and in our case it +is both necessarily implied and expressly given. An attempt, by force of +arms, to destroy a government is an offense, by whatever means the +constitutional compact may have been formed; and such government has the +right by the law of self-defense to pass acts for punishing the +offender, unless that right is modified, restrained, or resumed by the +constitutional act. In our system, although it is modified in the case +of treason, yet authority is expressly given to pass all laws necessary +to carry its powers into effect, and under this grant provision has been +made for punishing acts which obstruct the due administration of the +laws. + +It would seem superfluous to add anything to show the nature of that +union which connects us, but as erroneous opinions on this subject are +the foundation of doctrines the most destructive to our peace, I must +give some further development to my views on this subject. No one, +fellow-citizens, has a higher reverence for the reserved rights of the +States than the Magistrate who now addresses you. No one would make +greater personal sacrifices or official exertions to defend them from +violation; but equal care must be taken to prevent, on their part, an +improper interference with or resumption of the rights they have vested +in the nation. The line has not been so distinctly drawn as to avoid +doubts in some cases of the exercise of power. Men of the best +intentions and soundest views may differ in their construction of some +parts of the Constitution; but there are others on which dispassionate +reflection can leave no doubt. Of this nature appears to be the assumed +right of secession. It rests, as we have seen, on the alleged undivided +sovereignty of the States and on their having formed in this sovereign +capacity a compact which is called the Constitution, from which, because +they made it, they have the right to secede. Both of these positions are +erroneous, and some of the arguments to prove them so have been +anticipated. + +The States severally have not retained their entire sovereignty. It has +been shown that in becoming parts of a nation, not members of a league, +they surrendered many of their essential parts of sovereignty. The right +to make treaties, declare war, levy taxes, exercise exclusive judicial +and legislative powers, were all of them functions of sovereign power. +The States, then, for all these important purposes were no longer +sovereign. The allegiance of their citizens was transferred, in the +first instance, to the Government of the United States; they became +American citizens and owed obedience to the Constitution of the United +States and to laws made in conformity with the powers it vested in +Congress. This last position has not been and can not be denied. How, +then, can that State be said to be sovereign and independent whose +citizens owe obedience to laws not made by it and whose magistrates are +sworn to disregard those laws when they come in conflict with those +passed by another? What shows conclusively that the States can not be +said to have reserved an undivided sovereignty is that they expressly +ceded the right to punish treason--not treason against their separate +power, but treason against the United States. Treason is an offense +against _sovereignty_, and sovereignty must reside with the power to +punish it. But the reserved rights of the States are not less sacred +because they have, for their common interest, made the General +Government the depository of these powers. The unity of our political +character (as has been shown for another purpose) commenced with its +very existence. Under the royal Government we had no separate character; +our opposition to its oppressions began as _united colonies_. We were +the _United States_ under the Confederation, and the name was +perpetuated and the Union rendered more perfect by the Federal +Constitution. In none of these stages did we consider ourselves in any +other light than as forming one nation. Treaties and alliances were made +in the name of all. Troops were raised for the joint defense. How, then, +with all these proofs that under all changes of our position we had, for +designated purposes and with defined powers, created national +governments, how is it that the most perfect of those several modes of +union should now be considered as a mere league that may be dissolved at +pleasure? It is from an abuse of terms. Compact is used as synonymous +with league, although the true term is not employed, because it would at +once show the fallacy of the reasoning. It would not do to say that our +Constitution was only a league, but it is labored to prove it a compact +(which in one sense it is) and then to argue that as a league is a +compact every compact between nations must of course be a league, and +that from such an engagement every sovereign power has a right to +recede. But it has been shown that in this sense the States are not +sovereign, and that even if they were, and the national Constitution had +been formed by compact, there would be no right in any one State to +exonerate itself from its obligations. + +So obvious are the reasons which forbid this secession that it is +necessary only to allude to them. The Union was formed for the benefit +of all. It was produced by mutual sacrifices of interests and opinions. +Can those sacrifices be recalled? Can the States who magnanimously +surrendered their title to the territories of the West recall the grant? +Will the inhabitants of the inland States agree to pay the duties that +may be imposed without their assent by those on the Atlantic or the Gulf +for their own benefit? Shall there be a free port in one State and +onerous duties in another? No one believes that any right exists in a +single State to involve all the others in these and countless other +evils contrary to engagements solemnly made. Everyone must see that the +other States, in self-defense, must oppose it at all hazards. + +These are the alternatives that are presented by the convention--a +repeal of all the acts for raising revenue, leaving the Government +without the means of support, or an acquiescence in the dissolution of +our Union by the secession of one of its members. When the first was +proposed, it was known that it could not be listened to for a moment. It +was known, if force was applied to oppose the execution of the laws, +that it must be repelled by force; that Congress could not, without +involving itself in disgrace and the country in ruin, accede to the +proposition; and yet if this is not done in a given day, or if any +attempt is made to execute the laws, the State is by the ordinance +declared to be out of the Union. The majority of a convention assembled +for the purpose have dictated these terms, or rather this rejection of +all terms, in the name of the people of South Carolina. It is true that +the governor of the State speaks of the submission of their grievances +to a convention of all the States, which, he says, they "sincerely and +anxiously seek and desire." Yet this obvious and constitutional mode of +obtaining the sense of the other States on the construction of the +federal compact, and amending it if necessary, has never been attempted +by those who have urged the State on to this destructive measure. The +State might have proposed the call for a general convention to the other +States, and Congress, if a sufficient number of them concurred, must +have called it. But the first magistrate of South Carolina, when he +expressed a hope that "on a review by Congress and the functionaries of +the General Government of the merits of the controversy" such a +convention will be accorded to them, must have known that neither +Congress nor any functionary of the General Government has authority to +call such a convention unless it be demanded by two-thirds of the +States. This suggestion, then, is another instance of the reckless +inattention to the provisions of the Constitution with which this crisis +has been madly hurried on, or of the attempt to persuade the people that +a constitutional remedy had been sought and refused. If the legislature +of South Carolina "anxiously desire" a general convention to consider +their complaints, why have they not made application for it in the way +the Constitution points out? The assertion that they "earnestly seek" it +is completely negatived by the omission. + +This, then, is the position in which we stand: A small majority of the +citizens of one State in the Union have elected delegates to a State +convention; that convention has ordained that all the revenue laws of +the United States must be repealed, or that they are no longer a member +of the Union. The governor of that State has recommended to the +legislature the raising of an army to carry the secession into effect, +and that he may be empowered to give clearances to vessels in the name +of the State. No act of violent opposition to the laws has yet been +committed, but such a state of things is hourly apprehended. And it is +the intent of this instrument to _proclaim_, not only that the duty +imposed on me by the Constitution "to take care that the laws be +faithfully executed" shall be performed to the extent of the powers +already vested in me by law, or of such others as the wisdom of Congress +shall devise and intrust to me for that purpose, but to warn the +citizens of South Carolina who have been deluded into an opposition to +the laws of the danger they will incur by obedience to the illegal and +disorganizing ordinance of the convention; to exhort those who have +refused to support it to persevere in their determination to uphold the +Constitution and laws of their country; and to point out to all the +perilous situation into which the good people of that State have been +led, and that the course they are urged to pursue is one of ruin and +disgrace to the very State whose rights they affect to support. + +Fellow-citizens of _my_ native State, let me not only admonish you, as +the First Magistrate of our common country, not to incur the penalty of +its laws, but use the influence that a father would over his children +whom he saw rushing to certain ruin. In that paternal language, with +that paternal feeling, let me tell you, my countrymen, that you are +deluded by men who are either deceived themselves or wish to deceive +you. Mark under what pretenses you have been led on to the brink of +insurrection and treason on which you stand. First, a diminution of the +value of your staple commodity, lowered by overproduction in other +quarters, and the consequent diminution in the value of your lands were +the sole effect of the tariff laws. The effect of those laws was +confessedly injurious, but the evil was greatly exaggerated by the +unfounded theory you were taught to believe--that its burthens were in +proportion to your exports, not to your consumption of imported +articles. Your pride was roused by the assertion that a submission to +those laws was a state of vassalage and that resistance to them was +equal in patriotic merit to the opposition our fathers offered to the +oppressive laws of Great Britain. You were told that this opposition +might be peaceably, might be constitutionally, made; that you might +enjoy all the advantages of the Union and bear none of its burthens. +Eloquent appeals to your passions, to your State pride, to your native +courage, to your sense of real injury, were used to prepare you for the +period when the mask which concealed the hideous features of _disunion_ +should be taken off. It fell, and you were made to look with complacency +on objects which not long since you would have regarded with horror. +Look back to the arts which have brought you to this state; look forward +to the consequences to which it must inevitably lead! Look back to what +was first told you as an inducement to enter into this dangerous course. +The great political truth was repeated to you that you had the +revolutionary right of resisting all laws that were palpably +unconstitutional and intolerably oppressive. It was added that the right +to nullify a law rested on the same principle, but that it was a +peaceable remedy. This character which was given to it made you receive +with too much confidence the assertions that were made of the +unconstitutionally of the law and its oppressive effects. Mark, my +fellow-citizens, that by the admission of your leaders the +unconstitutionality must be _palpable_, or it will not justify either +resistance or nullification. What is the meaning of the word _palpable_ +in the sense in which it is here used? That which is apparent to +everyone; that which no man of ordinary intellect will fail to perceive. +Is the unconstitutionality of these laws of that description? Let those +among your leaders who once approved and advocated the principle of +protective duties answer the question; and let them choose whether they +will be considered as incapable then of perceiving that which must have +been apparent to every man of common understanding, or as imposing upon +your confidence and endeavoring to mislead you now. In either case they +are unsafe guides in the perilous path they urge you to tread. Ponder +well on this circumstance, and you will know how to appreciate the +exaggerated language they address to you. They are not champions of +liberty, emulating the fame of our Revolutionary fathers, nor are you an +oppressed people, contending, as they repeat to you, against worse than +colonial vassalage. You are free members of a flourishing and happy +Union. There is no settled design to oppress you. You have indeed felt +the unequal operation of laws which may have been unwisely, not +unconstitutionally, passed; but that inequality must necessarily be +removed. At the very moment when you were madly urged on to the +unfortunate course you have begun a change in public opinion had +commenced. The nearly approaching payment of the public debt and the +consequent necessity of a diminution of duties had already produced a +considerable reduction, and that, too, on some articles of general +consumption in your State. The importance of this change was underrated, +and you were authoritatively told that no further alleviation of your +burthens was to be expected at the very time when the condition of the +country imperiously demanded such a modification of the duties as should +reduce them to a just and equitable scale. But, as if apprehensive of +the effect of this change in allaying your discontents, you were +precipitated into the fearful state in which you now find yourselves. + +I have urged you to look back to the means that were used to hurry you +on to the position you have now assumed and forward to the consequences +it will produce. Something more is necessary. Contemplate the condition +of that country of which you still form an important part. Consider its +Government, uniting in one bond of common interest and general +protection so many different States, giving to all their inhabitants the +proud title of _American citizen_, protecting their commerce, securing +their literature and their arts, facilitating their intercommunication, +defending their frontiers, and making their name respected in the +remotest parts of the earth. Consider the extent of its territory, its +increasing and happy population, its advance in arts which render life +agreeable, and the sciences which elevate the mind. See education +spreading the lights of religion, morality, and general information into +every cottage in this wide extent of our Territories and States. Behold +it as the asylum where the wretched and the oppressed find a refuge and +support. Look on this picture of happiness and honor and say, _We too +are citizens of America_. Carolina is one of these proud States; her +arms have defended, her best blood has cemented, this happy Union. And +then add, if you can, without horror and remorse, This happy Union we +will dissolve; this picture of peace and prosperity we will deface; this +free intercourse we will interrupt; these fertile fields we will deluge +with blood; the protection of that glorious flag we renounce; the very +name of Americans we discard. And for what, mistaken men? For what do +you throw away these inestimable blessings? For what would you exchange +your share in the advantages and honor of the Union? For the dream of a +separate independence--a dream interrupted by bloody conflicts with your +neighbors and a vile dependence on a foreign power. If your leaders +could succeed in establishing a separation, what would be your +situation? Are you united at home? Are you free from the apprehension of +civil discord, with all its fearful consequences? Do our neighboring +republics, every day suffering some new revolution or contending with +some new insurrection, do they excite your envy? But the dictates of a +high duty oblige me solemnly to announce that you can not succeed. The +laws of the United States must be executed. I have no discretionary +power on the subject; my duty is emphatically pronounced in the +Constitution. Those who told you that you might peaceably prevent their +execution deceived you; they could not have been deceived themselves. +They know that a forcible opposition could alone prevent the execution +of the laws, and they know that such opposition must be repelled. Their +object is disunion. But be not deceived by names. Disunion by armed +force is _treason_. Are you really ready to incur its guilt? If you are, +on the heads of the instigators of the act be the dreadful consequences; +on their heads be the dishonor, but on yours may fall the punishment. On +your unhappy State will inevitably fall all the evils of the conflict +you force upon the Government of your country. It can not accede to the +mad project of disunion, of which you would be the first victims. Its +First Magistrate can not, if he would, avoid the performance of his +duty. The consequence must be fearful for you, distressing to your +fellow-citizens here and to the friends of good government throughout +the world. Its enemies have beheld our prosperity with a vexation they +could not conceal; it was a standing refutation of their slavish +doctrines, and they will point to our discord with the triumph of +malignant joy. It is yet in your power to disappoint them. There is yet +time to show that the descendants of the Pinckneys, the Sumpters, the +Rutledges, and of the thousand other names which adorn the pages of your +Revolutionary history will not abandon that Union to support which so +many of them fought and bled and died. I adjure you, as you honor their +memory, as you love the cause of freedom, to which they dedicated their +lives, as you prize the peace of your country, the lives of its best +citizens, and your own fair fame, to retrace your steps. Snatch from the +archives of your State the disorganizing edict of its convention; bid +its members to reassemble and promulgate the decided expressions of your +will to remain in the path which alone can conduct you to safety, +prosperity, and honor. Tell them that compared to disunion all other +evils are light, because that brings with it an accumulation of all. +Declare that you will never take the field unless the star-spangled +banner of your country shall float over you; that you will not be +stigmatized when dead, and dishonored and scorned while you live, as the +authors of the first attack on the Constitution of your country. Its +destroyers you can not be. You may disturb its peace, you may interrupt +the course of its prosperity, you may cloud its reputation for +stability; but its tranquillity will be restored, its prosperity will +return, and the stain upon its national character will be transferred +and remain an eternal blot on the memory of those who caused the +disorder. + +Fellow-citizens of the United States, the threat of unhallowed disunion, +the names of those once respected by whom it is uttered, the array of +military force to support it, denote the approach of a crisis in our +affairs on which the continuance of our unexampled prosperity, our +political existence, and perhaps that of all free governments may +depend. The conjuncture demanded a free, a full, and explicit +enunciation, not only of my intentions, but of my principles of action; +and as the claim was asserted of a right by a State to annul the laws of +the Union, and even to secede from it at pleasure, a frank exposition of +my opinions in relation to the origin and form of our Government and the +construction I give to the instrument by which it was created seemed to +be proper. Having the fullest confidence in the justness of the legal +and constitutional opinion of my duties which has been expressed, I rely +with equal confidence on your undivided support in my determination to +execute the laws, to preserve the Union by all constitutional means, to +arrest, if possible, by moderate and firm measures the necessity of a +recourse to force; and if it be the will of Heaven that the recurrence +of its primeval curse on man for the shedding of a brother's blood +should fall upon our land, that it be not called down by any offensive +act on the part of the United States. + +Fellow-citizens, the momentous case is before you. On your undivided +support of your Government depends the decision of the great question it +involves--whether your sacred Union will be preserved and the blessing +it secures to us as one people shall be perpetuated. No one can doubt +that the unanimity with which that decision will be expressed will be +such as to inspire new confidence in republican institutions, and that +the prudence, the wisdom, and the courage which it will bring to their +defense will transmit them unimpaired and invigorated to our children. + +May the Great Ruler of Nations grant that the signal blessings with +which He has favored ours may not, by the madness of party or personal +ambition, be disregarded and lost; and may His wise providence bring +those who have produced this crisis to see the folly before they feel +the misery of civil strife, and inspire a returning veneration for that +Union which, if we may dare to penetrate His designs, He has chosen as +the only means of attaining the high destinies to which we may +reasonably aspire. + +(SEAL.) + +In testimony whereof I have caused the seal of the United States to be +hereunto affixed, having signed the same with my hand. Done at the city +of Washington, this 10th day of December, A.D. 1832, and of the +Independence of the United States the fifty-seventh. + +ANDREW JACKSON. + +By the President: +EDW. LIVINGSTON, +_Secretary of State_. + + + + +ERRATA. + +(The following papers were found too late for insertion in Vol. I.) + + +LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT ELECT. + +(From Annals of Congress, Fourth Congress, second session, 1544.) + +The Vice-President laid before the Senate the following communication: + +_Gentlemen of the Senate_: + +In consequence of the declaration made yesterday in the Chamber of the +House of Representatives of the election of a President and +Vice-President of the United States, the record of which has just now +been read from your journal by your secretary, I have judged it proper +to give notice that on the 4th of March next, at 12 o'clock, I propose +to attend again in the Chamber of the House of Representatives, in order +to take the oath prescribed by the Constitution of the United States to +be taken by the President, to be administered by the Chief Justice or +such other judge of the Supreme Court of the United States as can most +conveniently attend, and, in case none of those judges can attend, by +the judge of the district of Pennsylvania, before such Senators and +Representatives of the United States as may find it convenient to honor +the transaction with their presence. + +(JOHN ADAMS.) + +FEBRUARY 9, 1797. + + +PROCLAMATION. + +(From Annals of Congress, Fifth Congress, Vol. I, 620.) + +UNITED STATES, _July 16, 1798_. + +_The President of the United States to_ -----, _Senator for the State +of_ ----; + +Certain matters touching the public good requiring that the session of +the Senate for executive business should be continued, and that the +members thereof should convene on Tuesday, the 17th day of July instant, +you are desired to attend at the Senate Chamber, in Philadelphia, on +that day, at 10 o'clock in the forenoon, then and there to receive and +deliberate on such communications as shall be made to you on my part. + +JOHN ADAMS. + + +PROCLAMATION. + +(From Miscellaneous Letters, Department of State, vol. 24.) + +BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. + +In pursuance of the act of Congress passed on the 16th July, 1798, +entitled "An act for erecting a light-house at Gayhead, on Marthas +Vineyard, and for other purposes," and an act which passed the +legislature of Massachusetts on the 22d February, 1799, entitled "An act +to cede to the United States a tract of land at Gayhead for a +lighthouse," the following tract of land, situate at Gayhead, on the +western part of Marthas Vineyard, in Dukes County, State of +Massachusetts, is designated as the land ceded to the United States by +the aforesaid act of the legislature of Massachusetts for the purpose of +erecting a lighthouse, to wit: Beginning at a stake and heap of stones +(1 rod from the edge of the cliff of said head), thence east 11 degrees +south 18 rods to a stake and heap of stones; thence south 11 degrees +west 18 rods to a stake and heap of stones; thence west 11 degrees north +18 rods to a stake and heap of stones; thence north 11 degrees east to +the first-mentioned bound, containing 2 acres and 4 rods. + +(SEAL.) + +In witness whereof I have caused the seal of the United States of +America to be hereto affixed, and signed the same with my hand, at +Philadelphia, on the 1st day of July, 1799, and in the twenty-third year +of the Independence of the said States. + +JOHN ADAMS. + +By the President: +TIMOTHY PICKERING, +_Secretary of State_. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Messages and Papers of the Presidents: +Andrew Jackson, by Edited by James D. 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