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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of
+the Presidents, 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
+       Section 1 (of 2) of Volume 3: Andrew Jackson (Second Term)
+
+Author: James D. Richardson
+
+Release Date: February 21, 2004 [EBook #11202]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ANDREW JACKSON (SECOND TERM) ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Juliet Sutherland, David Garcia and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+A COMPILATION OF THE MESSAGES AND PAPERS OF THE PRESIDENTS
+
+BY JAMES D. RICHARDSON
+
+A REPRESENTATIVE FROM THE STATE OF TENNESSEE
+
+
+VOLUME III
+
+
+PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY OF CONGRESS 1902
+
+
+
+Copyright 1897
+
+BY JAMES D. RICHARDSON
+
+
+
+
+Prefatory Note
+
+
+The second volume of this compilation, issued a few weeks since, was
+received with the same degree of favor as the first volume. It was a
+matter of surprise that only sixteen years of our history, or eight
+Congresses, could be comprised within the second volume, while the first
+covered twenty-eight years, or fourteen Congresses. There is greater
+surprise that this volume includes only the period covered by the four
+years of the second term of Andrew Jackson and the four years of Martin
+Van Buren's term--eight years in all, or four Congresses. However, it
+will be found almost, if not quite, as interesting as the preceding
+ones. In it will be found the conclusion of the controversy over the
+United States Bank, including President Jackson's reasons for the
+removal of the deposits from that bank; his Farewell Address, and other
+important papers, all of which are characteristic of the man. It was
+during the second Administration of President Jackson that the act
+changing the ratio between the gold and silver dollar was passed.
+
+This volume contains President Van Buren's message recommending the
+independent treasury or subtreasury, and the discussion of that subject,
+which terminated in what has been termed "the divorce of the bank and
+state in the fiscal affairs of the Federal Government," and which
+President Van Buren considered a second Declaration of Independence. The
+controversy with Great Britain in relation to the northeastern boundary
+of the United States is also included in Van Buren's Administration, and
+will prove highly interesting.
+
+The omission of indexes to Volumes I and II has been commented on. The
+answer to such comments is, it was deemed best to omit the index to each
+volume and publish a general and comprehensive index to the entire work,
+in a separate volume. This index will be ready for distribution soon
+after the issuance of the last volume.
+
+JAMES D. RICHARDSON.
+
+NOVEMBER 26,1896.
+
+
+
+
+Andrew Jackson
+
+March 4, 1833, to March 4, 1837
+
+
+
+
+Andrew Jackson
+
+SECOND INAUGURAL ADDRESS.
+
+FELLOW-CITIZENS: The will of the American people, expressed through
+their unsolicited suffrages, calls me before you to pass through the
+solemnities preparatory to taking upon myself the duties of President of
+the United States for another term. For their approbation of my public
+conduct through a period which has not been without its difficulties,
+and for this renewed expression of their confidence in my good
+intentions, I am at a loss for terms adequate to the expression of my
+gratitude. It shall be displayed to the extent of my humble abilities in
+continued efforts so to administer the Government as to preserve their
+liberty and promote their happiness.
+
+So many events have occurred within the last four years which have
+necessarily called forth--sometimes under circumstances the most
+delicate and painful--my views of the principles and policy which ought
+to be pursued by the General Government that I need on this occasion but
+allude to a few leading considerations connected with some of them.
+
+The foreign policy adopted by our Government soon after the formation
+of our present Constitution, and very generally pursued by successive
+Administrations, has been crowned with almost complete success, and has
+elevated our character among the nations of the earth. To do justice to
+all and to submit to wrong from none has been during my Administration
+its governing maxim, and so happy have been its results that we are not
+only at peace with all the world, but have few causes of controversy,
+and those of minor importance, remaining unadjusted.
+
+In the domestic policy of this Government there are two objects
+which especially deserve the attention of the people and their
+representatives, and which have been and will continue to be the
+subjects of my increasing solicitude. They are the preservation of
+the rights of the several States and the integrity of the Union.
+
+These great objects are necessarily connected, and can only be attained
+by an enlightened exercise of the powers of each within its appropriate
+sphere in conformity with the public will constitutionally expressed.
+To this end it becomes the duty of all to yield a ready and patriotic
+submission to the laws constitutionally enacted, and thereby promote and
+strengthen a proper confidence in those institutions of the several
+States and of the United States which the people themselves have
+ordained for their own government.
+
+My experience in public concerns and the observation of a life
+somewhat advanced confirm the opinions long since imbibed by me, that
+the destruction of our State governments or the annihilation of their
+control over the local concerns of the people would lead directly
+to revolution and anarchy, and finally to despotism and military
+domination. In proportion, therefore, as the General Government
+encroaches upon the rights of the States, in the same proportion does
+it impair its own power and detract from its ability to fulfill the
+purposes of its creation. Solemnly impressed with these considerations,
+my countrymen will ever find me ready to exercise my constitutional
+powers in arresting measures which may directly or indirectly encroach
+upon the rights of the States or tend to consolidate all political power
+in the General Government. But of equal, and, indeed, of incalculable,
+importance is the union of these States, and the sacred duty of all
+to contribute to its preservation by a liberal support of the General
+Government in the exercise of its just powers. You have been wisely
+admonished to "accustom yourselves to think and speak of the Union as of
+the palladium of your political safety and prosperity, watching for its
+preservation with jealous anxiety, discountenancing whatever may suggest
+even a suspicion that it can in any event be abandoned, and indignantly
+frowning upon the first dawning of any attempt to alienate any portion
+of our country from the rest or to enfeeble the sacred ties which now
+link together the various parts." Without union our independence and
+liberty would never have been achieved; without union they never can
+be maintained. Divided into twenty-four, or even a smaller number, of
+separate communities, we shall see our internal trade burdened with
+numberless restraints and exactions; communication between distant
+points and sections obstructed or cut off; our sons made soldiers to
+deluge with blood the fields they now till in peace; the mass of our
+people borne down and impoverished by taxes to support armies and
+navies, and military leaders at the head of their victorious legions
+becoming our lawgivers and judges. The loss of liberty, of all good
+government, of peace, plenty, and happiness, must inevitably follow a
+dissolution of the Union. In supporting it, therefore, we support all
+that is dear to the freeman and the philanthropist.
+
+The time at which I stand before you is full of interest. The eyes of
+all nations are fixed on our Republic. The event of the existing crisis
+will be decisive in the opinion of mankind of the practicability of our
+federal system of government. Great is the stake placed in our hands;
+great is the responsibility which must rest upon the people of the
+United States. Let us realize the importance of the attitude in which we
+stand before the world. Let us exercise forbearance and firmness. Let us
+extricate our country from the dangers which surround it and learn
+wisdom from the lessons they inculcate.
+
+Deeply impressed with the truth of these observations, and under the
+obligation of that solemn oath which I am about to take, I shall
+continue to exert all my faculties to maintain the just powers of the
+Constitution and to transmit unimpaired to posterity the blessings of
+our Federal Union. At the same time, it will be my aim to inculcate by
+my official acts the necessity of exercising by the General Government
+those powers only that are clearly delegated; to encourage simplicity
+and economy in the expenditures of the Government; to raise no more
+money from the people than may be requisite for these objects, and in
+a manner that will best promote the interests of all classes of the
+community and of all portions of the Union. Constantly bearing in mind
+that in entering into society "individuals must give up a share of
+liberty to preserve the rest," it will be my desire so to discharge my
+duties as to foster with our brethren in all parts of the country a
+spirit of liberal concession and compromise, and, by reconciling our
+fellow-citizens to those partial sacrifices which they must unavoidably
+make for the preservation of a greater good, to recommend our invaluable
+Government and Union to the confidence and affections of the American
+people.
+
+Finally, it is my most fervent prayer to that Almighty Being before whom
+I now stand, and who has kept us in His hands from the infancy of our
+Republic to the present day, that He will so overrule all my intentions
+and actions and inspire the hearts of my fellow-citizens that we may be
+preserved from dangers of all kinds and continue forever a united and
+happy people.
+
+MARCH 4, 1833.
+
+
+
+
+REMOVAL OF THE PUBLIC DEPOSITS.
+
+[Read to the Cabinet September 18, 1833]
+
+Having carefully and anxiously considered all the facts and arguments
+which have been submitted to him relative to a removal of the public
+deposits from the Bank of the United States, the President deems it his
+duty to communicate in this manner to his Cabinet the final conclusions
+of his own mind and the reasons on which they are founded, in order to
+put them in durable form and to prevent misconceptions.
+
+The President's convictions of the dangerous tendencies of the Bank of
+the United States, since signally illustrated by its own acts, were so
+overpowering when he entered on the duties of Chief Magistrate that he
+felt it his duty, notwithstanding the objections of the friends by whom
+he was surrounded, to avail himself of the first occasion to call the
+attention of Congress and the people to the question of its recharter.
+The opinions expressed in his annual message of December, 1829, were
+reiterated in those of December, 1830 and 1831, and in that of 1830
+he threw out for consideration some suggestions in relation to a
+substitute. At the session of 1831-32 an act was passed by a majority
+of both Houses of Congress rechartering the present bank, upon which
+the President felt it his duty to put his constitutional veto. In his
+message returning that act he repeated and enlarged upon the principles
+and views briefly asserted in his annual message, declaring the bank
+to be, in his opinion, both inexpedient and unconstitutional, and
+announcing to his countrymen very unequivocally his firm determination
+never to sanction by his approval the continuance of that institution
+or the establishment of any other upon similar principles.
+
+There are strong reasons for believing that the motive of the bank in
+asking for a recharter at that session of Congress was to make it a
+leading question in the election of a President of the United States the
+ensuing November, and all steps deemed necessary were taken to procure
+from the people a reversal of the President's decision.
+
+Although the charter was approaching its termination, and the bank was
+aware that it was the intention of the Government to use the public
+deposit as fast as it has accrued in the payment of the public debt,
+yet did it extend its loans from January, 1831, to May, 1832, from
+$42,402,304.24 to $70,428,070.72, being an increase of $28,025,766.48
+in sixteen months. It is confidently believed that the leading object of
+this immense extension of its loans was to bring as large a portion of
+the people as possible under its power and influence, and it has been
+disclosed that some of the largest sums were granted on very unusual
+terms to the conductors of the public press. In some of these cases the
+motive was made manifest by the nominal or insufficient security taken
+for the loans, by the large amounts discounted, by the extraordinary
+time allowed for payment, and especially by the subsequent conduct of
+those receiving the accommodations.
+
+Having taken these preliminary steps to obtain control over public
+opinion, the bank came into Congress and asked a new charter. The object
+avowed by many of the advocates of the bank was _to put the President
+to the test_, that the country might know his final determination
+relative to the bank prior to the ensuing election. Many documents and
+articles were printed and circulated at the expense of the bank to bring
+the people to a favorable decision upon its pretensions. Those whom the
+bank appears to have made its debtors for the special occasion were
+warned of the ruin which awaited them should the President be sustained,
+and attempts were made to alarm the whole people by painting the
+depression in the price of property and produce and the general loss,
+inconvenience, and distress which it was represented would immediately
+follow the reelection of the President in opposition to the bank.
+
+Can it now be said that the question of a recharter of the bank was not
+decided at the election which ensued? Had the veto been equivocal, or
+had it not covered the whole ground; if it had merely taken exceptions
+to the details of the bill or to the time of its passage; if it had not
+met the whole ground of constitutionality and expediency, then there
+might have been some plausibility for the allegation that the question
+was not decided by the people. It was to compel the President to take
+his stand that the question was brought forward at that particular
+time. He met the challenge, willingly took the position into which his
+adversaries sought to force him, and frankly declared his unalterable
+opposition to the bank as being both unconstitutional and inexpedient.
+On that ground the case was argued to the people; and now that the
+people have sustained the President, notwithstanding the array of
+influence and power which was brought to bear upon him, it is too late,
+he confidently thinks, to say that the question has not been decided.
+Whatever may be the opinions of others, the President considers his
+reelection as a decision of the people against the bank. In the
+concluding paragraph of his veto message he said:
+
+
+  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.
+
+
+He was sustained by a just people, and he desires to evince his
+gratitude by carrying into effect their decision so far as it depends
+upon him.
+
+Of all the substitutes for the present bank which have been suggested,
+none seems to have united any considerable portion of the public in its
+favor. Most of them are liable to the same constitutional objections for
+which the present bank has been condemned, and perhaps to all there are
+strong objections on the score of expediency. In ridding the country of
+an irresponsible power which has attempted to control the Government,
+care must be taken not to unite the same power with the executive
+branch. To give a President the control over the currency and the power
+over individuals now possessed by the Bank of the United States, even
+with the material difference that he is responsible to the people, would
+be as objectionable and as dangerous as to leave it as it is. Neither
+one nor the other is necessary, and therefore ought not to be resorted
+to.
+
+On the whole, the President considers it as conclusively settled that
+the charter of the Bank of the United States will not be renewed, and
+he has no reasonable ground to believe that any substitute will be
+established. Being bound to regulate his course by the laws as they
+exist, and not to anticipate the interference of the legislative power
+for the purpose of framing new systems, it is proper for him seasonably
+to consider the means by which the services rendered by the Bank of the
+United States are to be performed after its charter shall expire.
+
+The existing laws declare that--
+
+  The deposits of the money of the United States in places in which the
+  said bank and branches thereof may be established shall be made in said
+  bank or branches thereof unless the Secretary of the Treasury shall at
+  any time otherwise order and direct, in which case the Secretary of the
+  Treasury shall immediately lay before Congress, if in session, and, if
+  not, immediately after the commencement of the next session, the reasons
+  of such order or direction.
+
+The power of the Secretary of the Treasury over the deposits is
+_unqualified_. The provision that he shall report his reasons to
+Congress is no limitation. Had it not been inserted he would have been
+responsible to Congress had he made a removal for any other than good
+reasons, and his responsibility now ceases upon the rendition of
+sufficient ones to Congress. The only object of the provision is to make
+his reasons accessible to Congress and enable that body the more readily
+to judge of their soundness and purity, and thereupon to make such
+further provision by law as the legislative power may think proper in
+relation to the deposit of the public money. Those reasons may be very
+diversified. It was asserted by the Secretary of the Treasury, without
+contradiction, as early as 1817, that he had power "to control the
+proceedings" of the Bank of the United States at any moment "by changing
+the deposits to the State banks" should it pursue an illiberal course
+toward those institutions; that "the Secretary of the Treasury will
+always be disposed to support the credit of the State banks, and will
+invariably direct transfers from the deposits of the public money in aid
+of their legitimate exertions to maintain their credit;" and he asserted
+a right to employ the State banks when the Bank of the United States
+should refuse to receive on deposit the notes of such State banks as the
+public interest required should be received in payment of the public
+dues. In several instances he did transfer the public deposits to State
+banks in the immediate vicinity of branches, for reasons connected only
+with the safety of those banks, the public convenience, and the
+interests of the Treasury.
+
+If it was lawful for Mr. Crawford, the Secretary of the Treasury at that
+time, to act on these principles, it will be difficult to discover any
+sound reason against the application of similar principles in still
+stronger cases. And it is a matter of surprise that a power which in
+the infancy of the bank was freely asserted as one of the ordinary and
+familiar duties of the Secretary of the Treasury should now be gravely
+questioned, and attempts made to excite and alarm the public mind as if
+some new and unheard-of power was about to be usurped by the executive
+branch of the Government.
+
+It is but a little more than two and a half years to the termination of
+the charter of the present bank. It is considered as the decision of the
+country that it shall then cease to exist, and no man, the President
+believes, has reasonable ground for expectation that any other Bank of
+the United States will be created by Congress.
+
+To the Treasury Department is intrusted the safe-keeping and faithful
+application of the public moneys. A plan of collection different from
+the present must therefore be introduced and put in complete operation
+before the dissolution of the present bank. When shall it be commenced?
+Shall no step be taken in this essential concern until the charter
+expires and the Treasury finds itself without an agent, its accounts in
+confusion, with no depository for its funds, and the whole business of
+the Government deranged, or shall it be delayed until six months, or a
+year, or two years before the expiration of the charter? It is obvious
+that any new system which may be substituted in the place of the Bank
+of the United States could not be suddenly carried into effect on the
+termination of its existence without serious inconvenience to the
+Government and the people. Its vast amount of notes are then to be
+redeemed and withdrawn-from circulation and its immense debt collected.
+These operations must be gradual, otherwise much suffering and distress
+will be brought upon the community.
+
+It ought to be not a work of months only, but of years, and the
+President thinks it can not, with due attention to the interests of the
+people, be longer postponed. It is safer to begin it too soon than to
+delay it too long.
+
+It is for the wisdom of Congress to decide upon the best substitute
+to be adopted in the place of the Bank of the United States, and the
+President would have felt himself relieved from a heavy and painful
+responsibility if in the charter to the bank Congress had reserved to
+itself the power of directing at its pleasure the public money to be
+elsewhere deposited, and had not devolved that power exclusively on one
+of the Executive Departments. It is useless now to inquire why this high
+and important power was surrendered by those who are peculiarly and
+appropriately the guardians of the public money. Perhaps it was an
+oversight. But as the President presumes that the charter to the bank is
+to be considered as a contract on the part of the Government, it is not
+now in the power of Congress to disregard its stipulations; and by the
+terms of that contract the public money is to be deposited in the bank
+during the continuance of its charter unless the Secretary of the
+Treasury shall otherwise direct. Unless, therefore, the Secretary of the
+Treasury first acts, Congress have no power over the subject, for they
+can not add a new clause to the charter or strike one out of it without
+the consent of the bank, and consequently the public money must remain
+in that institution to the last hour of its existence unless the
+Secretary of the Treasury shall remove it at an earlier day. The
+responsibility is thus thrown upon the executive branch of the
+Government of deciding how long before the expiration of the charter the
+public interest will require the deposits to be placed elsewhere; and
+although according to the frame and principle of our Government this
+decision would seem more properly to belong to the legislative power,
+yet as the law has imposed it upon the executive department the duty
+ought to be faithfully and firmly met, and the decision made and
+executed upon the best lights that can be obtained and the best judgment
+that can be formed. It would ill become the executive branch of the
+Government to shrink from any duty which the law imposes on it, to fix
+upon others the responsibility which justly belongs to itself. And while
+the President anxiously wishes to abstain from the exercise of doubtful
+powers and to avoid all interference with the rights and duties
+of others, he must yet with unshaken constancy discharge his own
+obligations, and can not allow himself to turn aside in order to avoid
+any responsibility which the high trust with which he has been honored
+requires him to encounter; and it being the duty of one of the Executive
+Departments to decide in the first instance, subject to the future
+action of the legislative power, whether the public deposits shall
+remain in the Bank of the United States until the end of its existence
+or be withdrawn some time before, the President has felt himself bound
+to examine the question carefully and deliberately in order to make up
+his judgment on the subject, and in his opinion the near approach of
+the termination of the charter and the public considerations heretofore
+mentioned are of themselves amply sufficient to justify the removal of
+the deposits, without reference to the conduct of the bank or their
+safety in its keeping.
+
+But in the conduct of the bank may be found other reasons, very
+imperative in their character, and which require prompt action.
+Developments have been made from time to time of its faithlessness as
+a public agent, its misapplication of public funds, its interference in
+elections, its efforts by the machinery of committees to deprive the
+Government directors of a full knowledge of its concerns, and, above
+all, its flagrant misconduct as recently and unexpectedly disclosed
+in placing all the funds of the bank, including the money of the
+Government, at the disposition of the president of the bank as means
+of operating upon public opinion and procuring a new charter, without
+requiring him to render a voucher for their disbursement. A brief
+recapitulation of the facts which justify these charges, and which have
+come to the knowledge of the public and the President, will, he thinks,
+remove every reasonable doubt as to the course which it is now the duty
+of the President to pursue.
+
+We have seen that in sixteen months ending in May, 1832, the bank
+had extended its loans more than $28,000,000, although it knew the
+Government intended to appropriate most of its large deposit during that
+year in payment of the public debt. It was in May, 1832, that its loans
+arrived at the maximum, and in the preceding March so sensible was the
+bank that it would not be able to pay over the public deposit when
+it would be required by the Government that it commenced a secret
+negotiation, without the approbation or knowledge of the Government,
+with the agents for about $2,700,000 of the 3 per cent stocks held in
+Holland, with a view of inducing them not to come forward for payment
+for one or more years after notice should be given by the Treasury
+Department. This arrangement would have enabled the bank to keep and use
+during time the public money set apart for the payment of these stocks.
+After this negotiation had commenced, the Secretary of the Treasury
+informed the bank that it was his intention to pay off one-half of the
+3 percents on the 1st of the succeeding July, which amounted to about
+$6,500,000. The president of the bank, although the committee of
+investigation was then looking into its affairs at Philadelphia, came
+immediately to Washington, and upon representing that the bank was
+desirous of accommodating the importing merchants at New York (which it
+failed to do) and undertaking to pay the interest itself, procured the
+consent of the Secretary, after consultation with the President, to
+postpone the payment until the succeeding 1st of October.
+
+Conscious that at the end of that quarter the bank would not be able
+to pay over the deposits, and that further indulgence was not to be
+expected of the Government, an agent was dispatched to England secretly
+to negotiate with the holders of the public debt in Europe and induce
+them by the offer of an equal or higher interest than that paid by the
+Government to hold back their claims for one year, during which the bank
+expected thus to retain the use of $5,000,000 of the public money, which
+the Government should set apart for the payment of that debt. The agent
+made an arrangement on terms, in part, which were in direct violation
+of the charter of the bank, and when some incidents connected with this
+secret negotiation accidentally came to the knowledge of the public and
+the Government, then, and not before, so much of it as was palpably in
+violation of the charter was disavowed. A modification of the rest was
+attempted with the view of getting the certificates without payment of
+the money, and thus absolving the Government from its liability to the
+holders. In this scheme the bank was partially successful, but to this
+day the certificates of a portion of these stocks have not been paid and
+the bank retains the use of the money.
+
+This effort to thwart the Government in the payment of the public debt
+that it might retain the public money to be used for their private
+interests, palliated by pretenses notoriously unfounded and insincere,
+would have justified the instant withdrawal of the public deposits.
+The negotiation itself rendered doubtful the ability of the bank to meet
+the demands of the Treasury, and the misrepresentations by which it was
+attempted to be justified proved that no reliance could be placed upon
+its allegations.
+
+If the question of a removal of the deposits presented itself to the
+Executive in the same attitude that it appeared before the House of
+Representatives at their last session, their resolution in relation to
+the safety of the deposits would be entitled to more weight, although
+the decision of the question of removal has been confided by law to
+another department of the Government. But the question now occurs
+attended by other circumstances and new disclosures of the most serious
+import. It is true that in the message of the President which produced
+this inquiry and resolution on the part of the House of Representatives
+it was his object to obtain the aid of that body in making a thorough
+examination into the conduct and condition of the bank and its branches
+in order to enable the executive department to decide whether the public
+money was longer safe in its hands. The limited power of the Secretary
+of the Treasury over the subject disabled him from making the
+investigation as fully and satisfactorily as it could be done by a
+committee of the House of Representatives, and hence the President
+desired the assistance of Congress to obtain for the Treasury Department
+a full knowledge of all the facts which were necessary to guide his
+judgment. But it was not his purpose, as the language of his message
+will show, to ask the representatives of the people to assume a
+responsibility which did not belong to them and relieve the executive
+branch of the Government from the duty which the law had imposed upon
+it. It is due to the President that his object in that proceeding should
+be distinctly understood, and that he should acquit himself of all
+suspicion of seeking to escape from the performance of his own duties or
+of desiring to interpose another body between himself and the people in
+order to avoid a measure which he is called upon to meet. But although
+as an act of justice to himself he disclaims any design of soliciting
+the opinion of the House of Representatives in relation to his own
+duties in order to shelter himself from responsibility under the
+sanction of their counsel, yet he is at all times ready to listen to
+the suggestions of the representatives of the people, whether given
+voluntarily or upon solicitation, and to consider them with the profound
+respect to which all will admit that they are justly entitled. Whatever
+may be the consequences, however, to himself, he must finally form his
+own judgment where the Constitution and the law make it his duty to
+decide, and must act accordingly; and he is bound to suppose that such
+a course on his part will never be regarded by that elevated body as a
+mark of disrespect to itself, but that they will, on the contrary,
+esteem it the strongest evidence he can give of his fixed resolution
+conscientiously to discharge his duty to them and the country.
+
+A new state of things has, however, arisen since the close of the
+last session of Congress, and evidence has since been laid before
+the President which he is persuaded would have led the House of
+Representatives to a different conclusion if it had come to their
+knowledge. The fact that the bank controls, and in some cases
+substantially _owns_, and by its money _supports_ some of the leading
+presses of the country is now more clearly established. Editors to
+whom it loaned extravagant sums in 1831 and 1832, on unusual time and
+nominal security, have since turned out to be insolvent, and to others
+apparently in no better condition accommodations still more extravagant,
+on terms more unusual, and some without any security, have also been
+heedlessly granted.
+
+The allegation which has so often circulated through these channels that
+the Treasury was bankrupt and the bank was sustaining it, when for many
+years there has not been less, on an average, than six millions of
+public money in that institution, might be passed over as a harmless
+misrepresentation; but when it is attempted by substantial acts to
+impair the credit of the Government and tarnish the honor of the
+country, such charges require more serious attention. With six millions
+of public money in its vaults, after having had the use of from five to
+twelve millions for nine years without interest, it became the purchaser
+of a bill drawn by our Government on that of France for about $900,000,
+being the first installment of the French indemnity. The purchase money
+was left in the use of the bank, being simply added to the Treasury
+deposit. The bank sold the bill in England, and the holder sent it to
+France for collection, and arrangements not having been made by the
+French Government for its payment, it was taken up by the agents of the
+bank in Paris with the funds of the bank in their hands. Under these
+circumstances it has through its organs openly assailed the credit of
+the Government, and has actually made and persists in a demand of 15 per
+cent, or $158,842.77, as damages, when no damage, or none beyond some
+trifling expense, has in fact been sustained, and when the bank had
+in its own possession on deposit several millions of the public money
+which it was then using for its own profit. Is a fiscal agent of the
+Government which thus seeks to enrich itself at the expense of the
+public worthy of further trust?
+
+There are other important facts not in the contemplation of the House
+of Representatives or not known to the members at the time they voted
+for the resolution.
+
+Although the charter and the rules of the bank both declare that "not
+less than seven directors" shall be necessary to the transaction of
+business, yet the most important business, even that of granting
+discounts to any extent, is intrusted to a committee of five members,
+who do not report to the board.
+
+To cut off all means of communication with the Government in relation
+to its most important acts at the commencement of the present year, not
+one of the Government directors was placed on any one committee; and
+although since, by an unusual remodeling of those bodies, some of those
+directors have been placed on some of the committees, they are yet
+entirely excluded from the committee of exchange, through which the
+greatest and most objectionable loans have been made.
+
+When the Government directors made an effort to bring back the business
+of the bank to the board in obedience to the charter and the existing
+regulations, the board not only overruled their attempt, but altered the
+rule so as to make it conform to the practice, in direct violation of
+one of the most important provisions of the charter which gave them
+existence.
+
+It has long been known that the president of the bank, by his single
+will, originates and executes many of the most important measures
+connected with the management and credit of the bank, and that the
+committee as well as the board of directors are left in entire ignorance
+of many acts done and correspondence carried on in their names, and
+apparently under their authority. The fact has been recently disclosed
+that an unlimited discretion has been and is now vested in the president
+of the bank to expend its funds in payment for preparing and circulating
+articles and purchasing pamphlets and newspapers, calculated by their
+contents to operate on elections and secure a renewal of its charter.
+It appears from the official report of the public directors that on the
+30th November, 1830, the president submitted to the board an article
+published in the American Quarterly Review containing favorable notices
+of the bank, and suggested the expediency of giving it a wider
+circulation at the expense of the bank; whereupon the board passed the
+following resolution, viz:
+
+
+  _Resolved_, That the president be authorized to take such measures in
+  regard to the circulation of the contents of the said article, either
+  in whole or in part, as he may deem most for the interest of the bank.
+
+
+By an entry in the minutes of the bank dated March 11, 1831, it appears
+that the president had not only caused a large edition of that article
+to be issued, but had also, before the resolution of 30th November was
+adopted, procured to be printed and widely circulated numerous copies of
+the reports of General Smith and Mr. McDuffie in favor of the bank; and
+on that day he suggested the expediency of extending his power to the
+printing of other articles which might subserve the purposes of the
+institution, whereupon the following resolution was adopted, viz--
+
+
+  _Resolved_, That the president is hereby authorized to cause to be
+  prepared and circulated such documents and papers as may communicate
+  to the people information in regard to the nature and operations of
+  the bank.
+
+
+The expenditures purporting to have been made under authority of these
+resolutions during the years 1831 and 1832 were about $80,000. For a
+portion of these expenditures vouchers were rendered, from which it
+appears that they were incurred in the purchase of some hundred thousand
+copies of newspapers, reports and speeches made in Congress, reviews
+of the veto message and reviews of speeches against the bank, etc.
+For another large portion no vouchers whatever were rendered, but the
+various sums were paid on orders of the president of the bank, making
+reference to the resolution of the 11th of March, 1831.
+
+On ascertaining these facts and perceiving that expenditures of a
+similar character were still continued, the Government directors a few
+weeks ago offered a resolution in the board calling for a specific
+account of these expenditures, showing the objects to which they had
+been applied and the persons to whom the money had been paid. This
+reasonable proposition was voted down.
+
+They also offered a resolution rescinding the resolutions of November,
+1830, and March, 1831. This also was rejected.
+
+Not content with thus refusing to recall the obnoxious power or even to
+require such an account of the expenditure as would show whether the
+money of the bank had in fact been applied to the objects contemplated
+by these resolutions, as obnoxious as they were, the board renewed the
+power already conferred, and even enjoined renewed attention to its
+exercise by adopting the following in lieu of the propositions submitted
+by the Government directors, viz:
+
+
+  _Resolved_, That the board have confidence in the wisdom and integrity
+  of the president and in the propriety of the resolutions of 30th
+  November, 1830, and 11th March, 1831, and entertain a full conviction
+  of the necessity of a renewed attention to the object of those
+  resolutions, and that the president be authorized and requested to
+  continue his exertions for the promotion of said object.
+
+
+Taken in connection with the nature of the expenditures heretofore made,
+as recently disclosed, which the board not only tolerate, but approve,
+this resolution puts the funds of the bank at the disposition of the
+president for the purpose of employing the whole press of the country in
+the service of the bank, to hire writers and newspapers, and to pay out
+such sums as he pleases to what person and for what services he pleases
+without the responsibility of rendering any specific account. The bank
+is thus converted into a vast electioneering engine, with means to
+embroil the country in deadly feuds, and, under cover of expenditures in
+themselves improper, extend its corruption through all the ramifications
+of society.
+
+Some of the items for which accounts have been rendered show the
+construction which has been given to the resolutions and the way in
+which the power it confers has been exerted. The money has not been
+expended merely in the publication and distribution of speeches, reports
+of committees, or articles written for the purpose of showing the
+constitutionality or usefulness of the bank, but publications have been
+prepared and extensively circulated containing the grossest invectives
+against the officers of the Government, and the money which belongs to
+the stockholders and to the public has been freely applied in efforts to
+degrade in public estimation those who were supposed to be instrumental
+in resisting the wishes of this grasping and dangerous institution. As
+the president of the bank has not been required to settle his accounts,
+no one but himself knows how much more than the sum already mentioned
+may have been squandered, and for which a credit may hereafter be
+claimed in his account under this most extraordinary resolution. With
+these facts before us can we be surprised at the torrent of abuse
+incessantly poured out against all who are supposed to stand in the way
+of the cupidity or ambition of the Bank of the United States? Can we be
+surprised at sudden and unexpected changes of opinion in favor of an
+institution which has millions to lavish and avows its determination not
+to spare its means when they are necessary to accomplish its purposes?
+The refusal to render an account of the manner in which a part of the
+money expended has been applied gives just cause for the suspicion that
+it has been used for purposes which it is not deemed prudent to expose
+to the eyes of an intelligent and virtuous people. Those who act justly
+do not shun the light, nor do they refuse explanations when the
+propriety of their conduct is brought into question.
+
+With these facts before him in an official report from the Government
+directors, the President would feel that he was not only responsible for
+all the abuses and corruptions the bank has committed or may commit, but
+almost an accomplice in a conspiracy against that Government which he
+has sworn honestly to administer, if he did not take every step within
+his constitutional and legal power likely to be efficient in putting an
+end to these enormities. If it be possible within the scope of human
+affairs to find a reason for removing the Government deposits and
+leaving the bank to its own resource for the means of effecting its
+criminal designs, we have it here. Was it expected when the moneys of
+the United States were directed to be placed in that bank that they
+would be put under the control of one man empowered to spend millions
+without rendering a voucher or specifying the object? Can they be
+considered safe with the evidence before us that tens of thousands have
+been spent for highly improper, if not corrupt, purposes, and that the
+same motive may lead to the expenditure of hundreds of thousands, and
+even millions, more? And can we justify ourselves to the people by
+longer lending to it the money and power of the Government to be
+employed for such purposes?
+
+It has been alleged by some as an objection to the removal of the
+deposits that the bank has the power, and in that event will have the
+disposition, to destroy the State banks employed by the Government,
+and bring distress upon the country. It has been the fortune of the
+President to encounter dangers which were represented as equally
+alarming, and he has seen them vanish before resolution and energy.
+Pictures equally appalling were paraded before him when this bank came
+to demand a new charter. But what was the result? Has the country been
+ruined, or even distressed? Was it ever more prosperous than since that
+act? The President verily believes the bank has not the power to produce
+the calamities its friends threaten. The funds of the Government will
+not be annihilated by being transferred. They will immediately be issued
+for the benefit of trade, and if the Bank of the United States curtails
+its loans the State banks, strengthened by the public deposits, will
+extend theirs. What comes in through one bank will go out through
+others, and the equilibrium will be preserved. Should the bank, for the
+mere purpose of producing distress, press its debtors more heavily than
+some of them can bear, the consequences will recoil upon itself, and in
+the attempts to embarrass the country it will only bring loss and ruin
+upon the holders of its own stock. But if the President believed the
+bank possessed all the power which has been attributed to it, his
+determination would only be rendered the more inflexible. If, indeed,
+this corporation now holds in its hands the happiness and prosperity of
+the American people, it is high time to take the alarm. If the despotism
+be already upon us and our only safety is in the mercy of the despot,
+recent developments in relation to his designs and the means he employs
+show how necessary it is to shake it off. The struggle can never come
+with less distress to the people or under more favorable auspices than
+at the present moment.
+
+All doubt as to the willingness of the State banks to undertake the
+service of the Government to the same extent and on the same terms as it
+is now performed by the Bank of the United States is put to rest by the
+report of the agent recently employed to collect information, and from
+that willingness their own safety in the operation may be confidently
+inferred. Knowing their own resources better than they can be known by
+others, it is not to be supposed that they would be willing to place
+themselves in a situation which they can not occupy without danger of
+annihilation or embarrassment. The only consideration applies to the
+safety of the public funds if deposited in those institutions, and when
+it is seen that the directors of many of them are not only willing
+to pledge the character and capital of the corporations in giving
+success to this measure, but also their own property and reputation, we
+can not doubt that they at least believe the public deposits would be
+safe in their management. The President thinks that these facts and
+circumstances afford as strong a guaranty as can be had in human
+affairs for the safety of the public funds and the practicability of
+a new system of collection and disbursement through the agency of the
+State banks.
+
+From all these considerations the President thinks that the State banks
+ought immediately to be employed in the collection and disbursement of
+the public revenue, and the funds now in the Bank of the United States
+drawn out with all convenient dispatch. The safety of the public moneys
+if deposited in the State banks must be secured beyond all reasonable
+doubts; but the extent and nature of the security, in addition to their
+capital, if any be deemed necessary, is a subject of detail to which the
+Treasury Department will undoubtedly give its anxious attention. The
+banks to be employed must remit the moneys of the Government without
+charge, as the Bank of the United States now does; must render all the
+services which that bank now performs; must keep the Government advised
+of their situation by periodical returns; in fine, in any arrangement
+with the State banks the Government must not in any respect be placed on
+a worse footing than it now is. The President is happy to perceive by
+the report of the agent that the banks which he has consulted have, in
+general, consented to perform the service on these terms, and that those
+in New York have further agreed to make payments in London without other
+charge than the mere cost of the bills of exchange.
+
+It should also be enjoined upon any banks which may be employed that
+it will be expected of them to facilitate domestic exchanges for the
+benefit of internal commerce; to grant all reasonable facilities to the
+payers of the revenue; to exercise the utmost liberality toward the
+other State banks, and do nothing uselessly to embarrass the Bank of
+the United States.
+
+As one of the most serious objections to the Bank of the United States
+is the power which it concentrates, care must be taken in finding other
+agents for the service of the Treasury not to raise up another power
+equally formidable. Although it would probably be impossible to produce
+such a result by any organization of the State banks which could be
+devised, yet it is desirable to avoid even the appearance. To this end
+it would be expedient to assume no more power over them and interfere no
+more in their affairs than might be absolutely necessary to the security
+of the public deposit and the faithful performance of their duties
+as agents of the Treasury. Any interference by them in the political
+contests of the country with a view to influence elections ought, in the
+opinion of the President, to be followed by an immediate discharge from
+the public service.
+
+It is the desire of the President that the control of the banks and
+the currency shall, as far as possible, be entirely separated from the
+political power of the country as well as wrested from an institution
+which has already attempted to subject the Government to its will.
+In his opinion the action of the General Government on this subject
+ought not to extend beyond the grant in the Constitution, which only
+authorizes Congress "to coin money and regulate the value thereof;"
+all else belongs to the States and the people, and must be regulated
+by public opinion and the interests of trade.
+
+In conclusion, the President must be permitted to remark that he looks
+upon the pending question as of higher consideration than the mere
+transfer of a sum of money from one bank to another. Its decision may
+affect the character of our Government for ages to come. Should the bank
+be suffered longer to use the public moneys in the accomplishment of its
+purposes, with the proofs of its faithlessness and corruption before
+our eyes, the patriotic among our citizens will despair of success in
+struggling against its power, and we shall be responsible for entailing
+it upon our country forever. Viewing it as a question of transcendent
+importance, both in the principles and consequences it involves, the
+President could not, in justice to the responsibility which he owes to
+the country, refrain from pressing upon the Secretary of the Treasury
+his view of the considerations which impel to immediate action. Upon him
+has been devolved by the Constitution and the suffrages of the American
+people the duty of superintending the operation of the Executive
+Departments of the Government and seeing that the laws are faithfully
+executed. In the performance of this high trust it is his undoubted
+right to express to those whom the laws and his own choice have made his
+associates in the administration of the Government his opinion of their
+duties under circumstances as they arise. It is this right which he now
+exercises. Far be it from him to expect or require that any member of
+the Cabinet should at his request, order, or dictation do any act which
+he believes unlawful or in his conscience condemns. From them and from
+his fellow-citizens in general he desires only that aid and support
+which their reason approves and their conscience sanctions.
+
+In the remarks he has made on this all-important question he trusts
+the Secretary of the Treasury will see only the frank and respectful
+declarations of the opinions which the President has formed on a measure
+of great national interest deeply affecting the character and usefulness
+of his Administration, and not a spirit of dictation, which the
+President would be as careful to avoid as ready to resist. Happy will he
+be if the facts now disclosed produce uniformity of opinion and unity of
+action among the members of the Administration.
+
+The President again repeats that he begs his Cabinet to consider the
+proposed measure as his own, in the support of which he shall require
+no one of them to make a sacrifice of opinion or principle. Its
+responsibility has been assumed after the most mature deliberation
+and reflection as necessary to preserve the morals of the people, the
+freedom of the press, and the purity of the elective franchise, without
+which all will unite in saying that the blood and treasure expended by
+our forefathers in the establishment of our happy system of government
+will have been vain and fruitless. Under these convictions he feels that
+a measure so important to the American people can not be commenced too
+soon, and he therefore names the 1st day of October next as a period
+proper for the change of the deposits, or sooner, provided the necessary
+arrangements with the State banks can be made.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+
+FIFTH ANNUAL MESSAGE.
+
+December 3, 1833.
+
+_Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives_:
+
+On your assembling to perform the high trusts which the people of the
+United States have confided to you, of legislating for their common
+welfare, it gives me pleasure to congratulate you upon the happy
+condition of our beloved country. By the favor of Divine Providence
+health is again restored to us, peace reigns within our borders,
+abundance crowns the labors of our fields, commerce and domestic
+industry flourish and increase, and individual happiness rewards the
+private virtue and enterprise of our citizens.
+
+Our condition abroad is no less honorable than it is prosperous at home.
+Seeking nothing that is not right and determined to submit to nothing
+that is wrong, but desiring honest friendships and liberal intercourse
+with all nations, the United States have gained throughout the world
+the confidence and respect which are due to a policy so just and so
+congenial to the character of the American people and to the spirit of
+their institutions.
+
+In bringing to your notice the particular state of our foreign affairs,
+it affords me high gratification to inform you that they are in a
+condition which promises the continuance of friendship with all nations.
+
+With Great Britain the interesting question of our northeastern boundary
+remains still undecided. A negotiation, however, upon that subject has
+been renewed since the close of the last Congress, and a proposition has
+been submitted to the British Government with the view of establishing,
+in conformity with the resolution of the Senate, the line designated by
+the treaty of 1783. Though no definitive answer has been received, it
+may be daily looked for, and I entertain a hope that the overture may
+ultimately lead to a satisfactory adjustment of this important matter.
+
+I have the satisfaction to inform you that a negotiation which, by
+desire of the House of Representatives, was opened some years ago with
+the British Government, for the erection of light-houses on the Bahamas,
+has been successful. Those works, when completed, together with those
+which the United States have constructed on the western side of the Gulf
+of Florida, will contribute essentially to the safety of navigation
+in that sea. This joint participation in establishments interesting
+to humanity and beneficial to commerce is worthy of two enlightened
+nations, and indicates feelings which can not fail to have a happy
+influence upon their political relations. It is gratifying to the
+friends of both to perceive that the intercourse between the two people
+is becoming daily more extensive, and that sentiments of mutual good
+will have grown up befitting their common origin and justifying the hope
+that by wise counsels on each side not only unsettled questions may be
+satisfactorily terminated, but new causes of misunderstanding prevented.
+
+Notwithstanding that I continue to receive the most amicable assurances
+from the Government of France, and that in all other respects the most
+friendly relations exist between the United States and that Government,
+it is to be regretted that the stipulations of the convention concluded
+on the 4th July, 1831, remain in some important parts unfulfilled.
+
+By the second article of that convention it was stipulated that the sum
+payable to the United States should be paid at Paris, in six annual
+installments, into the hands of such person or persons as should be
+authorized by the Government of the United States to receive it, and
+by the same article the first installment was payable on the 2d day of
+February, 1833. By the act of Congress of the 13th July, 1832, it was
+made the duty of the Secretary of the Treasury to cause the several
+installments, with the interest thereon, to be received from the French
+Government and transferred to the United States in such manner as he may
+deem best; and by the same act of Congress the stipulations on the part
+of the United States in the convention were in all respects fulfilled.
+Not doubting that a treaty thus made and ratified by the two
+Governments, and faithfully executed by the United States, would be
+promptly complied with by the other party, and desiring to avoid the
+risk and expense of intermediate agencies, the Secretary of the Treasury
+deemed it advisable to receive and transfer the first installment by
+means of a draft upon the French minister of finance. A draft for this
+purpose was accordingly drawn in favor of the cashier of the Bank of the
+United States for the amount accruing to the United States out of the
+first installment, and the interest payable with it. This bill was not
+drawn at Washington until five days after the installment was payable
+at Paris, and was accompanied by a special authority from the President
+authorizing the cashier or his assigns to receive the amount. The mode
+thus adopted of receiving the installment was officially made known
+to the French Government by the American charge d'affaires at Paris,
+pursuant to instructions from the Department of State. The bill,
+however, though not presented for payment until the 23d day of March,
+was not paid, and for the reason assigned by the French minister of
+finance that no appropriation had been made by the French Chambers.
+It is not known to me that up to that period any appropriation had been
+required of the Chambers, and although a communication was subsequently
+made to the Chambers by direction of the King, recommending that the
+necessary provision should be made for carrying the convention into
+effect, it was at an advanced period of the session, and the subject
+was finally postponed until the next meeting of the Chambers.
+
+Notwithstanding it has been supposed by the French ministry that the
+financial stipulations of the treaty can not be carried into effect
+without an appropriation by the Chambers, it appears to me to be not
+only consistent with the character of France, but due to the character
+of both Governments, as well as to the rights of our citizens, to treat
+the convention, made and ratified in proper form, as pledging the good
+faith of the French Government for its execution, and as imposing upon
+each department an obligation to fulfill it; and I have received
+assurances through our charge d'affaires at Paris and the French
+minister plenipotentiary at Washington, and more recently through the
+minister of the United States at Paris, that the delay has not proceeded
+from any indisposition on the part of the King and his ministers to
+fulfill the treaty, and that measures will be presented at the next
+meeting of the Chambers, and with a reasonable hope of success, to
+obtain the necessary appropriation.
+
+It is necessary to state, however, that the documents, except certain
+lists of vessels captured, condemned, or burnt at sea, proper to
+facilitate the examination and liquidation of the reclamations comprised
+in the stipulations of the convention, and which by the sixth article
+France engaged to communicate to the United States by the intermediary
+of the legation, though repeatedly applied for by the American charge
+d'affaires under instructions from this Government, have not yet been
+communicated; and this delay, it is apprehended, will necessarily
+prevent the completion of the duties assigned to the commissioners
+within the time at present prescribed by law.
+
+The reasons for delaying to communicate these documents have not been
+explicitly stated, and this is the more to be regretted as it is not
+understood that the interposition of the Chambers is in any manner
+required for the delivery of those papers.
+
+Under these circumstances, in a case so important to the interests
+of our citizens and to the character of our country, and under
+disappointments so unexpected, I deemed it my duty, however I might
+respect the general assurances to which I have adverted, no longer to
+delay the appointment of a minister plenipotentiary to Paris, but to
+dispatch him in season to communicate the result of his application to
+the French Government at an early period of your session. I accordingly
+appointed a distinguished citizen for this purpose, who proceeded on his
+mission in August last and was presented to the King early in the month
+of October. He is particularly instructed as to all matters connected
+with the present posture of affairs, and I indulge the hope that with
+the representations he is instructed to make, and from the disposition
+manifested by the King and his ministers in their recent assurances to
+our minister at Paris, the subject will be early considered, and
+satisfactorily disposed of at the next meeting of the Chambers.
+
+As this subject involves important interests and has attracted a
+considerable share of the public attention, I have deemed it proper
+to make this explicit statement of its actual condition, and should
+I be disappointed in the hope now entertained the subject will be
+again brought to the notice of Congress in such manner as the occasion
+may require.
+
+The friendly relations which have always been maintained between the
+United States and Russia have been further extended and strengthened by
+the treaty of navigation and commerce concluded on the 6th of December
+last, and sanctioned by the Senate before the close of its last session.
+The ratifications having been since exchanged, the liberal provisions
+of the treaty are now in full force, and under the encouragement which
+they have secured a flourishing and increasing commerce, yielding its
+benefits to the enterprise of both nations, affords to each the just
+recompense of wise measures, and adds new motives for that mutual
+friendship which the two countries have hitherto cherished toward
+each other.
+
+It affords me peculiar satisfaction to state that the Government of
+Spain has at length yielded to the justice of the claims which have been
+so long urged in behalf of our citizens, and has expressed a willingness
+to provide an indemnification as soon as the proper amount can be agreed
+upon. Upon this latter point it is probable an understanding had taken
+place between the minister of the United States and the Spanish
+Government before the decease of the late King of Spain; and, unless
+that event may have delayed its completion, there is reason to hope that
+it may be in my power to announce to you early in your present session
+the conclusion of a convention upon terms not less favorable than those
+entered into for similar objects with other nations. That act of justice
+would well accord with the character of Spain, and is due to the United
+States from their ancient friend. It could not fail to strengthen the
+sentiments of amity and good will between the two nations which it is so
+much the wish of the United States to cherish and so truly the interest
+of both to maintain.
+
+By the first section of an act of Congress passed on the 13th of July,
+1832, the tonnage duty on Spanish ships arriving from the ports of Spain
+was limited to the duty payable on American vessels in the ports of
+Spain previous to the 20th of October, 1817, being 5 cents per ton. That
+act was intended to give effect on our side to an arrangement made with
+the Spanish Government by which discriminating duties of tonnage were to
+be abolished in the ports of the United States and Spain on the vessels
+of the two nations. Pursuant to that arrangement, which was carried into
+effect on the part of Spain on the 20th of May, 1832, by a royal order
+dated the 20th of April, 1832, American vessels in the ports of Spain
+have paid 5 cents per ton, which rate of duty is also paid in those
+ports by Spanish ships; but as American vessels pay no tonnage duty
+in the ports of the United States, the duty of 5 cents payable in our
+ports by Spanish vessels under the act above mentioned is really a
+discriminating duty, operating to the disadvantage of Spain. Though no
+complaint has yet been made on the part of Spain, we are not the less
+bound by the obligations of good faith to remove the discrimination,
+and I recommend that the act be amended accordingly. As the royal order
+above alluded to includes the ports of the Balearic and Canary islands
+as well as those of Spain, it would seem that the provisions of the act
+of Congress should be equally extensive, and that for the repayment of
+such duties as may have been improperly received an addition should be
+made to the sum appropriated at the last session of Congress for
+refunding discriminating duties.
+
+As the arrangement referred to, however, did not embrace the islands of
+Cuba and Puerto Rico, discriminating duties to the prejudice of American
+shipping continue to be levied there. From the extent of the commerce
+carried on between the United States and those islands, particularly the
+former, this discrimination causes serious injury to one of those great
+national interests which it has been considered an essential part of our
+policy to cherish, and has given rise to complaints on the part of our
+merchants. Under instructions given to our minister at Madrid, earnest
+representations have been made by him to the Spanish Government upon
+this subject, and there is reason to expect, from the friendly
+disposition which is entertained toward this country, that a beneficial
+change will be produced. The disadvantage, however, to which our
+shipping is subjected by the operation of these discriminating duties
+requires that they be met by suitable countervailing duties during your
+present session, power being at the same time vested in the President
+to modify or discontinue them as the discriminating duties on American
+vessels or their cargoes may be modified or discontinued at those
+islands. Intimations have been given to the Spanish Government that
+the United States may be obliged to resort to such measures as are of
+necessary self-defense, and there is no reason to apprehend that it
+would be unfavorably received. The proposed proceeding if adopted
+would not be permitted, however, in any degree to induce a relaxation
+in the efforts of our minister to effect a repeal of this irregularity
+by friendly negotiation, and it might serve to give force to his
+representations by showing the dangers to which that valuable trade is
+exposed by the obstructions and burdens which a system of discriminating
+and countervailing duties necessarily produces.
+
+The selection and preparation of the Florida archives for the purpose of
+being delivered over to the United States, in conformity with the royal
+order as mentioned in my last annual message, though in progress, has
+not yet been completed. This delay has been produced partly by causes
+which were unavoidable, particularly the prevalence of the cholera at
+Havana; but measures have been taken which it is believed will expedite
+the delivery of those important records.
+
+Congress were informed at the opening of the last session that
+"owing, as was alleged, to embarrassments in the finances of Portugal,
+consequent upon the civil war in which that nation was engaged," payment
+had been made of only one installment of the amount which the Portuguese
+Government had stipulated to pay for indemnifying our citizens for
+property illegally captured in the blockade of Terceira. Since that
+time a postponement for two years, with interest, of the two remaining
+installments was requested by the Portuguese Government, and as a
+consideration it offered to stipulate that rice of the United States
+should be admitted into Portugal at the same duties as Brazilian rice.
+Being satisfied that no better arrangement could be made, my consent was
+given, and a royal order of the King of Portugal was accordingly issued
+on the 4th of February last for the reduction of the duty on rice of the
+United States. It would give me great pleasure if in speaking of that
+country, in whose prosperity the United States are so much interested,
+and with whom a long-subsisting, extensive, and mutually advantageous
+commercial intercourse has strengthened the relations of friendship,
+I could announce to you the restoration of its internal tranquillity.
+
+Subsequently to the commencement of the last session of Congress the
+final installment payable by Denmark under the convention of the 28th
+day of March, 1830, was received. The commissioners for examining the
+claims have since terminated their labors, and their awards have been
+paid at the Treasury as they have been called for. The justice rendered
+to our citizens by that Government is thus completed, and a pledge
+is thereby afforded for the maintenance of that friendly intercourse
+becoming the relations that the two nations mutually bear to each other.
+
+It is satisfactory to inform you that the Danish Government have
+recently issued an ordinance by which the commerce with the island of
+St. Croix is placed on a more liberal footing than heretofore. This
+change can not fail to prove beneficial to the trade between the United
+States and that colony, and the advantages likely to flow from it may
+lead to greater relaxations in the colonial systems of other nations.
+
+The ratifications of the convention with the King of the Two Sicilies
+have been duly exchanged, and the commissioners appointed for examining
+the claims under it have entered upon the duties assigned to them by
+law. The friendship that the interests of the two nations require of
+them being now established, it may be hoped that each will enjoy the
+benefits which a liberal commerce should yield to both.
+
+A treaty of amity and commerce between the United States and Belgium
+was concluded during the last winter and received the sanction of the
+Senate, but the exchange of the ratifications has been hitherto delayed,
+in consequence, in the first instance, of some delay in the reception of
+the treaty at Brussels, and, subsequently, of the absence of the Belgian
+minister of foreign affairs at the important conferences in which his
+Government is engaged at London. That treaty does but embody those
+enlarged principles of friendly policy which it is sincerely hoped will
+always regulate the conduct of the two nations having such strong
+motives to maintain amicable relations toward each other and so
+sincerely desirous to cherish them.
+
+With all the other European powers with whom the United States have
+formed diplomatic relations and with the Sublime Porte the best
+understanding prevails. From all I continue to receive assurances of
+good will toward the United States--assurances which it gives me no less
+pleasure to reciprocate than to receive. With all, the engagements which
+have been entered into are fulfilled with good faith on both sides.
+Measures have also been taken to enlarge our friendly relations and
+extend our commercial intercourse with other States. The system we have
+pursued of aiming at no exclusive advantages, of dealing with all on
+terms of fair and equal reciprocity, and of adhering scrupulously to all
+our engagements is well calculated to give success to efforts intended
+to be mutually beneficial.
+
+The wars of which the southern part of this continent was so long the
+theater, and which were carried on either by the mother country against
+the States which had formerly been her colonies or by the States against
+each other, having terminated, and their civil dissensions having so
+far subsided as with; few exceptions no longer to disturb the public
+tranquillity, it is earnestly hoped those States will be able to employ
+themselves without interruption in perfecting their institutions,
+cultivating the arts of peace, and promoting by wise councils and able
+exertions the public and private prosperity which their patriotic
+struggles so well entitle them to enjoy.
+
+With those States our relations have undergone but little change during
+the present year. No reunion having yet taken place between the States
+which composed the Republic of Colombia, our charge d'affaires at Bogota
+has been accredited to the Government of New Grenada, and we have,
+therefore, no diplomatic relations with Venezuela and Equator, except
+as they may be included in those heretofore formed with the Colombian
+Republic.
+
+It is understood that representatives from the three States were
+about to assemble at Bogota to confer on the subject of their mutual
+interests, particularly that of their union, and if the result should
+render it necessary, measures will be taken on our part to preserve with
+each that friendship and those liberal commercial connections which it
+has been the constant desire of the United States to cultivate with
+their sister Republics of this hemisphere. Until the important question
+of reunion shall be settled, however, the different matters which have
+been under discussion between the United States and the Republic of
+Colombia, or either of the States which composed it, are not likely
+to be brought to a satisfactory issue.
+
+In consequence of the illness of the charge d'affaires appointed to
+Central America at the last session of Congress, he was prevented from
+proceeding on his mission until the month of October. It is hoped,
+however, that he is by this time at his post, and that the official
+intercourse, unfortunately so long interrupted, has been thus renewed on
+the part of the two nations so amicably and advantageously connected by
+engagements founded on the most enlarged principles of commercial
+reciprocity.
+
+It is gratifying to state that since my last annual message some of the
+most important claims of our fellow-citizens upon the Government of
+Brazil have been satisfactorily adjusted, and a reliance is placed on
+the friendly dispositions manifested by it that justice will also be
+done in others. No new causes of complaint have arisen, and the trade
+between the two countries flourishes under the encouragement secured
+to it by the liberal provisions of the treaty.
+
+It is cause of regret that, owing, probably, to the civil dissensions
+which have occupied the attention of the Mexican Government, the time
+fixed by the treaty of limits with the United States for the meeting of
+the commissioners to define the boundaries between the two nations has
+been suffered to expire without the appointment of any commissioners on
+the part of that Government. While the true boundary remains in doubt by
+either party it is difficult to give effect to those measures which are
+necessary to the protection and quiet of our numerous citizens residing
+near that frontier. The subject is one of great solicitude to the United
+States, and will not fail to receive my earnest attention.
+
+The treaty concluded with Chili and approved by the Senate at its last
+session was also ratified by the Chilian Government, but with certain
+additional and explanatory articles of a nature to have required it to
+be again submitted to the Senate. The time limited for the exchange of
+the ratifications, however, having since expired, the action of both
+Governments on the treaty will again become necessary.
+
+The negotiations commenced with the Argentine Republic relative to
+the outrages committed on our vessels engaged in the fisheries at the
+Falkland Islands by persons acting under the color of its authority, as
+well as the other matters in controversy between the two Governments,
+have been suspended by the departure of the charge d'affaires of the
+United States from Buenos Ayres. It is understood, however, that a
+minister was subsequently appointed by that Government to renew the
+negotiation in the United States, but though daily expected he has
+not yet arrived in this country.
+
+With Peru no treaty has yet been formed, and with Bolivia no diplomatic
+intercourse has yet been established. It will be my endeavor to
+encourage those sentiments of amity and that liberal commerce which
+belong to the relations in which all the independent States of this
+continent stand toward each other.
+
+I deem it proper to recommend to your notice the revision of our
+consular system. This has become an important branch of the public
+service, inasmuch as it is intimately connected with the preservation
+of our national character abroad, with the interest of our citizens in
+foreign countries, with the regulation and care of our commerce, and
+with the protection of our seamen. At the close of the last session of
+Congress I communicated a report from the Secretary of State upon the
+subject, to which I now refer, as containing information which may be
+useful in any inquiries that Congress may see fit to institute with a
+view to a salutary reform of the system.
+
+It gives me great pleasure to congratulate you upon the prosperous
+condition of the finances of the country, as will appear from the report
+which the Secretary of the Treasury will in due time lay before you.
+The receipts into the Treasury during the present year will amount to
+more than $32,000,000. The revenue derived from customs will, it is
+believed, be more than $28,000,000, and the public lands will yield about
+$3,000,000. The expenditures within the year for all objects, including
+$2,572,240.99 on account of the public debt, will not amount to
+$25,000,000, and a large balance will remain in the Treasury after
+satisfying all the appropriations chargeable on the revenue for the
+present year.
+
+The measures taken by the Secretary of the Treasury will probably enable
+him to pay off in the course of the present year the residue of the
+exchanged 4-1/2 per cent stock, redeemable on the 1st of January next.
+It has therefore been included in the estimated expenditures of this
+year, and forms a part of the sum above stated to have been paid on
+account of the public debt. The payment of this stock will reduce the
+whole debt of the United States, funded and unfunded, to the sum of
+$4,760,082.08, and as provision has already been made for the 4-1/2
+percents above mentioned, and charged in the expenses of the present
+year, the sum last stated is all that now remains of the national debt;
+and the revenue of the coming year, together with the balance now in the
+Treasury, will be sufficient to discharge it, after meeting the current
+expenses of the Government. Under the power given to the commissioners
+of the sinking fund, it will, I have no doubt, be purchased on favorable
+terms within the year.
+
+From this view of the state of the finances and the public engagements
+yet to be fulfilled you will perceive that if Providence permits me
+to meet you at another session I shall have the high gratification of
+announcing to you that the national debt is extinguished. I can not
+refrain from expressing the pleasure I feel at the near approach of that
+desirable event. The short period of time within which the public debt
+will have been discharged is strong evidence of the abundant resources
+of the country and of the prudence and economy with which the Government
+has heretofore been administered. We have waged two wars since we became
+a nation, with one of the most powerful kingdoms in the world, both of
+them undertaken in defense of our dearest rights, both successfully
+prosecuted and honorably terminated; and many of those who partook in
+the first struggle as well as in the second will have lived to see
+the last item of the debt incurred in these necessary but expensive
+conflicts faithfully and honestly discharged. And we shall have the
+proud satisfaction of bequeathing to the public servants who follow us
+in the administration of the Government the rare blessing of a revenue
+sufficiently abundant, raised without injustice or oppression to our
+citizens, and unencumbered with any burdens but what they themselves
+shall think proper to impose upon it.
+
+The flourishing state of the finances ought not, however, to encourage
+us to indulge in a lavish expenditure of the public treasure. The
+receipts of the present year do not furnish the test by which we are to
+estimate the income of the next. The changes made in our revenue system
+by the acts of Congress of 1832 and 1833, and more especially by the
+former, have swelled the receipts of the present year far beyond the
+amount to be expected in future years upon the reduced tariff of duties.
+The shortened credits on revenue bonds and the cash duties on woolens
+which were introduced by the act of 1832, and took effect on the 4th of
+March last, have brought large sums into the Treasury in 1833, which,
+according to the credits formerly given, would not have been payable
+until 1834, and would have formed a part of the income of that year.
+These causes would of themselves produce a great diminution of the
+receipts in the year 1834 as compared with the present one, and they
+will be still more diminished by the reduced rates of duties which take
+place on the 1st of January next on some of the most important and
+productive articles. Upon the best estimates that can be made the
+receipts of the next year, with the aid of the unappropriated amount
+now in the Treasury, will not be much more than sufficient to meet the
+expenses of the year and pay the small remnant of the national debt
+which yet remains unsatisfied. I can not, therefore, recommend to you
+any alteration in the present tariff of duties. The rate as now fixed by
+law on the various articles was adopted at the last session of Congress,
+as a matter of compromise, with unusual unanimity, and unless it is
+found to produce more than the necessities of the Government call for
+there would seem to be no reason at this time to justify a change.
+
+But while I forbear to recommend any further reduction of the duties
+beyond that already provided for by the existing laws, I must earnestly
+and respectfully press upon Congress the importance of abstaining from
+all appropriations which are not absolutely required for the public
+interest and authorized by the powers clearly delegated to the United
+States. We are beginning a new era in our Government. The national debt,
+which has so long been a burden on the Treasury, will be finally
+discharged in the course of the ensuing year. No more money will
+afterwards be needed than what may be necessary to meet the ordinary
+expenses of the Government. Now, then, is the proper moment to fix our
+system of expenditure on firm and durable principles, and I can not
+too strongly urge the necessity of a rigid economy and an inflexible
+determination not to enlarge the income beyond the real necessities
+of the Government and not to increase the wants of the Government by
+unnecessary and profuse expenditures. If a contrary course should be
+pursued, it may happen that the revenue of 1834 will fall short of the
+demands upon it, and after reducing the tariff in order to lighten the
+burdens of the people, and providing for a still further reduction to
+take effect hereafter, it would be much to be deplored if at the end of
+another year we should find ourselves obliged to retrace our steps and
+impose additional taxes to meet unnecessary expenditures.
+
+It is my duty on this occasion to call your attention to the
+destruction of the public building occupied by the Treasury Department,
+which happened since the last adjournment of Congress. A thorough
+inquiry into the causes of this loss was directed and made at the time,
+the result of which will be duly communicated to you. I take pleasure,
+however, in stating here that by the laudable exertions of the officers
+of the Department and many of the citizens of the District but few
+papers were lost, and none that will materially affect the public
+interest.
+
+The public convenience requires that another building should be erected
+as soon as practicable, and in providing for it it will be advisable to
+enlarge in some manner the accommodations for the public officers of
+the several Departments, and to authorize the erection of suitable
+depositories for the safe-keeping of the public documents and records.
+
+Since the last adjournment of Congress the Secretary of the Treasury
+has directed the money of the United States to be deposited in certain
+State banks designated by him, and he will immediately lay before you
+his reasons for this direction. I concur with him entirely in the view
+he has taken of the subject, and some months before the removal I urged
+upon the Department the propriety of taking that step. The near approach
+of the day on which the charter will expire, as well as the conduct
+of the bank, appeared to me to call for this measure upon the high
+considerations of public interest and public duty. The extent of its
+misconduct, however, although known to be great, was not at that time
+fully developed by proof. It was not until late in the month of August
+that I received from the Government directors an official report
+establishing beyond question that this great and powerful institution
+had been actively engaged in attempting to influence the elections of
+the public officers by means of its money, and that, in violation of
+the express provisions of its charter, it had by a formal resolution
+placed its funds at the disposition of its president to be employed in
+sustaining the political power of the bank. A copy of this resolution is
+contained in the report of the Government directors before referred to,
+and however the object may be disguised by cautious language, no one can
+doubt that this money was in truth intended for electioneering purposes,
+and the particular uses to which it was proved to have been applied
+abundantly show that it was so understood. Not only was the evidence
+complete as to the past application of the money and power of the bank
+to electioneering purposes, but that the resolution of the board of
+directors authorized the same course to be pursued in future.
+
+It being thus established by unquestionable proof that the Bank of the
+United States was converted into a permanent electioneering engine, it
+appeared to me that the path of duty which the executive department of
+the Government ought to pursue was not doubtful. As by the terms of the
+bank charter no officer but the Secretary of the Treasury could remove
+the deposits, it seemed to me that this authority ought to be at once
+exerted to deprive that great corporation of the support and countenance
+of the Government in such an use of its funds and such an exertion
+of its power. In this point of the case the question is distinctly
+presented whether the people of the United States are to govern through
+representatives chosen by their unbiased suffrages or whether the money
+and power of a great corporation are to be secretly exerted to influence
+their judgment and control their decisions. It must now be determined
+whether the bank is to have its candidates for all offices in the
+country, from the highest to the lowest, or whether candidates on both
+sides of political questions shall be brought forward as heretofore and
+supported by the usual means.
+
+At this time the efforts of the bank to control public opinion,
+through the distresses of some and the fears of others, are equally
+apparent, and, if possible, more objectionable. By a curtailment of its
+accommodations more rapid than any emergency requires, and even while
+it retains specie to an almost unprecedented amount in its vaults,
+it is attempting to produce great embarrassment in one portion of the
+community, while through presses known to have been sustained by its
+money it attempts by unfounded alarms to create a panic in all.
+
+These are the means by which it seems to expect that it can force a
+restoration of the deposits, and as a necessary consequence extort from
+Congress a renewal of its charter. I am happy to know that through the
+good sense of our people the effort to get up a panic has hitherto
+failed, and that through the increased accommodations which the State
+banks have been enabled to afford, no public distress has followed the
+exertions of the bank, and it can not be doubted that the exercise of
+its power and the expenditure of its money, as well as its efforts to
+spread groundless alarm, will be met and rebuked as they deserve. In my
+own sphere of duty I should feel myself called on by the facts disclosed
+to order a _scire facias_ against the bank, with a view to put an end to
+the chartered rights it has so palpably violated, were it not that the
+charter itself will expire as soon as a decision would probably be
+obtained from the court of last resort.
+
+I called the attention of Congress to this subject in my last annual
+message, and informed them that such measures as were within the reach
+of the Secretary of the Treasury had been taken to enable him to judge
+whether the public deposits in the Bank of the United States were
+entirely safe; but that as his single powers might be inadequate to the
+object, I recommended the subject to Congress as worthy of their serious
+investigation, declaring it as my opinion that an inquiry into the
+transactions of that institution, embracing the branches as well as the
+principal bank, was called for by the credit which was given throughout
+the country to many serious charges impeaching their character, and
+which, if true, might justly excite the apprehension that they were no
+longer a safe depository for the public money. The extent to which the
+examination thus recommended was gone into is spread upon your journals,
+and is too well known to require to be stated. Such as was made resulted
+in a report from a majority of the Committee of Ways and Means touching
+certain specified points only, concluding with a resolution that the
+Government deposits might safely be continued in the Bank of the United
+States. This resolution was adopted at the close of the session by the
+vote of a majority of the House of Representatives.
+
+Although I may not always be able to concur in the views of the
+public interest or the duties of its agents which may be taken by the
+other departments of the Government or either of its branches, I am,
+notwithstanding, wholly incapable of receiving otherwise than with the
+most sincere respect all opinions or suggestions proceeding from such a
+source, and in respect to none am I more inclined to do so than to the
+House of Representatives. But it will be seen from the brief views at
+this time taken of the subject by myself, as well as the more ample ones
+presented by the Secretary of the Treasury, that the change in the
+deposits which has been ordered has been deemed to be called for by
+considerations which are not affected by the proceedings referred to,
+and which, if correctly viewed by that Department, rendered its act
+a matter of imperious duty.
+
+Coming as you do, for the most part, immediately from the people and the
+States by election, and possessing the fullest opportunity to know their
+sentiments, the present Congress will be sincerely solicitous to carry
+into full and fair effect the will of their constituents in regard to
+this institution. It will be for those in whose behalf we all act to
+decide whether the executive department of the Government, in the steps
+which it has taken on this subject, has been found in the line of its
+duty.
+
+The accompanying report of the Secretary of War, with the documents
+annexed to it, exhibits the operations of the War Department for the
+past year and the condition of the various subjects intrusted to its
+administration.
+
+It will be seen from them that the Army maintains the character it has
+heretofore acquired for efficiency and military knowledge. Nothing has
+occurred since your last session to require its services beyond the
+ordinary routine of duties which upon the seaboard and the inland
+frontier devolve upon it in a time of peace. The system so wisely
+adopted and so long pursued of constructing fortifications at exposed
+points and of preparing and collecting the supplies necessary for the
+military defense of the country, and thus providently furnishing in
+peace the means of defense in war, has been continued with the usual
+results. I recommend to your consideration the various subjects
+suggested in the report of the Secretary of War. Their adoption would
+promote the public service and meliorate the condition of the Army.
+
+Our relations with the various Indian tribes have been undisturbed
+since the termination of the difficulties growing out of the hostile
+aggressions of the Sac and Fox Indians. Several treaties have been
+formed for the relinquishment of territory to the United States and
+for the migration of the occupants of the region assigned for their
+residence west of the Mississippi. Should these treaties be ratified by
+the Senate, provision will have been made for the removal of almost all
+the tribes now remaining east of that river and for the termination of
+many difficult and embarrassing questions arising out of their anomalous
+political condition. It is to be hoped that those portions of two of the
+Southern tribes, which in that event will present the only remaining
+difficulties, will realize the necessity of emigration, and will
+speedily resort to it. My original convictions upon this subject have
+been confirmed by the course of events for several years, and experience
+is every day adding to their strength.
+
+That those tribes can not exist surrounded by our settlements and in
+continual contact with our citizens is certain. They have neither
+the intelligence, the industry, the moral habits, nor the desire of
+improvement which are essential to any favorable change in their
+condition. Established in the midst of another and a superior race,
+and without appreciating the causes of their inferiority or seeking to
+control them, they must necessarily yield to the force of circumstances
+and ere long disappear. Such has been their fate heretofore, and if it
+is to be averted--and it is--it can only be done by a general removal
+beyond our boundary and by the reorganization of their political system
+upon principles adapted to the new relations in which they will be
+placed. The experiment which has been recently made has so far proved
+successful. The emigrants generally are represented to be prosperous
+and contented, the country suitable to their wants and habits, and the
+essential articles of subsistence easily procured. When the report
+of the commissioners now engaged in investigating the condition and
+prospects of these Indians and in devising a plan for their intercourse
+and government is received, I trust ample means of information will
+be in possession of the Government for adjusting all the unsettled
+questions connected with this interesting subject.
+
+The operations of the Navy during the year and its present condition are
+fully exhibited in the annual report from the Navy Department.
+
+Suggestions are made by the Secretary of various improvements, which
+deserve careful consideration, and most of which, if adopted, bid fair
+to promote the efficiency of this important branch of the public
+service. Among these are the new organization of the Navy Board, the
+revision of the pay to officers, and a change in the period of time or
+in the manner of making the annual appropriations, to which I beg leave
+to call your particular attention.
+
+The views which are presented on almost every portion of our naval
+concerns, and especially on the amount of force and the number of
+officers, and the general course of policy appropriate in the present
+state of our country for securing the great and useful purposes of naval
+protection in peace and due preparation for the contingencies of war,
+meet with my entire approbation.
+
+It will be perceived from the report referred to that the fiscal
+concerns of the establishment are in an excellent condition, and it is
+hoped that Congress may feel disposed to make promptly every suitable
+provision desired either for preserving or improving the system.
+
+The general Post-Office Department has continued, upon the strength of
+its own resources, to facilitate the means of communication between
+the various portions of the Union with increased activity. The method,
+however, in which the accounts of the transportation of the mail have
+always been kept appears to have presented an imperfect view of its
+expenses. It has recently been discovered that from the earliest records
+of the Department the annual statements have been calculated to exhibit
+an amount considerably short of the actual expense incurred for that
+service. These illusory statements, together with the expense of
+carrying into effect the law of the last session of Congress
+establishing new mail routes, and a disposition on the part of the head
+of the Department to gratify the wishes of the public in the extension
+of mail facilities, have induced him to incur responsibilities for their
+improvement beyond what the current resources of the Department would
+sustain. As soon as he had discovered the imperfection of the method he
+caused an investigation to be made of its results and applied the proper
+remedy to correct the evil. It became necessary for him to withdraw some
+of the improvements which he had made to bring the expenses of the
+Department within its own resources. These expenses were incurred for
+the public good, and the public have enjoyed their benefit. They are now
+but partially suspended, and that where they may be discontinued with
+the least inconvenience to the country.
+
+The progressive increase in the income from postages has equaled the
+highest expectations, and it affords demonstrative evidence of the
+growing importance and great utility of this Department. The details
+are exhibited in the accompanying report of the Postmaster-General.
+
+The many distressing accidents which have of late occurred in that
+portion of our navigation carried on by the use of steam power deserve
+the immediate and unremitting attention of the constituted authorities
+of the country. The fact that the number of those fatal disasters is
+constantly increasing, notwithstanding the great improvements which are
+everywhere made in the machinery employed and in the rapid advances
+which have been made in that branch of science, shows very clearly that
+they are in a great degree the result of criminal negligence on the
+part of those by whom the vessels are navigated and to whose care and
+attention the lives and property of our citizens are so extensively
+intrusted.
+
+That these evils may be greatly lessened, if not substantially removed,
+by means of precautionary and penal legislation seems to be highly
+probable. So far, therefore, as the subject can be regarded as within
+the constitutional purview of Congress I earnestly recommend it to your
+prompt and serious consideration.
+
+I would also call your attention to the views I have heretofore
+expressed of the propriety of amending the Constitution in relation to
+the mode of electing the President and the Vice-President of the United
+States. Regarding it as all important to the future quiet and harmony
+of the people that every intermediate agency in the election of these
+officers should be removed and that their eligibility should be limited
+to one term of either four or six years, I can not too earnestly invite
+your consideration of the subject.
+
+Trusting that your deliberations on all the topics of general
+interest to which I have adverted, and such others as your more
+extensive knowledge of the wants of our beloved country may suggest,
+may be crowned with success, I tender you in conclusion the cooperation
+which it may be in my power to afford them.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+
+SPECIAL MESSAGES.
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _December 5, 1833_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+In compliance with the resolution of the Senate at its last session,
+requesting the President "to cause to be prepared and laid before the
+Senate at the commencement of its next session a plan for equalizing the
+pay of the officers in the Army and Navy according to their relative
+rank, and providing a stated salary or fixed compensation for their
+services in lieu of present allowances," I submit herewith a report from
+the Secretaries of the War and Navy Departments, to whom the subject was
+referred. It is believed the plan they have presented meets
+substantially the objects of the resolution.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _December 6, 1833_.
+
+_To the House of Representatives_:
+
+I transmit herewith to the House of Representatives a communication from
+the War Department, showing the circumstances under which the sum of
+$5,000, appropriated for subsistence of the Army, was transferred to the
+service of the medical and hospital department, and which, by the law
+authorizing the transfer, are required to be laid before Congress during
+the first week of their session.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _December 6, 1833_.
+
+_To the House of Representatives_:
+
+I transmit herewith, for the information of the House, the report of the
+survey made in pursuance of the fourth section of the act of Congress of
+the 4th July, 1832, authorizing the survey of canal routes in the
+Territory of Florida.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _December 11, 1833_.
+
+_To the House of Representatives_:
+
+I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of the Treasury,
+exhibiting certain transfers of appropriations that have been made in
+that Department in pursuance of the power vested in the President by the
+first section of the act of Congress of the 3d March, 1809, entitled
+"An act further to amend the several acts for the establishment and
+regulation of the Treasury, War, and Navy Departments."
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _December 12, 1833_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I have attentively considered the resolution of the Senate of the 11th
+instant, requesting the President of the United States to communicate
+to the Senate "a copy of the paper which has been published, and which
+purports to have been read by him to the heads of the Executive
+Departments, dated the 18th day of September last, relating to the
+removal of the deposits of the public money from the Bank of the United
+States and its offices."
+
+The executive is a coordinate and independent branch of the Government
+equally with the Senate, and I have yet to learn under what
+constitutional authority that branch of the Legislature has a right to
+require of me an account of any communication, either verbally or in
+writing, made to the heads of Departments acting as a Cabinet council.
+As well might I be required to detail to the Senate the free and private
+conversations I have held with those officers on any subject relating to
+their duties and my own.
+
+Feeling my responsibility to the American people, I am willing upon all
+occasions to explain to them the grounds of my conduct, and I am willing
+upon all proper occasions to give to either branch of the Legislature
+any information in my possession that can be useful in the execution of
+the appropriate duties confided to them.
+
+Knowing the constitutional rights of the Senate, I shall be the last man
+under any circumstances to interfere with them. Knowing those of the
+Executive, I shall at all times endeavor to maintain them agreeably to
+the provisions of the Constitution and the solemn oath I have taken to
+support and defend it.
+
+I am constrained, therefore, by a proper sense of my own self-respect
+and of the rights secured by the Constitution to the executive branch of
+the Government to decline a compliance with your request.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _December 23, 1833_.
+
+_To the House of Representatives_:
+
+The rules and regulations herewith submitted have been prepared by a
+board of officers in conformity with an act passed May 19, 1832.[1]
+
+They are approved by me, and in pursuance of the provisions of said act
+are now communicated to the House of Representatives for the purpose of
+obtaining to them the sanction of Congress.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+[Footnote 1: An act authorizing the revision and extension of the rules
+and regulations of the naval service.]
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _December 24, 1833_.
+
+_To the Senate_:
+
+I transmit herewith, for the consideration of the Senate as to the
+ratification thereof, the following Indian treaties that have been
+received since the adjournment of the last session of Congress, viz:
+
+
+No. 1. Treaty with the Seminole Indians, made May 9, 1832.
+
+No. 2. Treaty with the Cherokees west of the Mississippi, made
+14th February, 1833.
+
+No. 3. Treaty with the Creeks west of the Mississippi, made 14th
+February, 1833.
+
+No. 4. Assignment to the Seminoles of a tract of land for their
+residence west of the Mississippi, made 28th March, 1833.
+
+No. 5. Agreement with the Apalachiccla band of Indians, made 18th
+June, 1833.
+
+No. 6. Treaty with the united bands of Ottoes and Missourians, made
+21st September, 1833.
+
+No. 7. Treaty with the four confederated bands of Pawnees residing
+on the Platt and Loup Fork, made 9th October, 1833.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _January 6, 1834_.
+
+_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:
+
+I communicate to Congress an extract of a letter recently received from
+R.J. Leib, consul of the United States at Tangier, by which it appears
+that that officer has been induced to receive from the Emperor of
+Morocco a present of a lion and two horses, which he holds as belonging
+to the United States. There being no funds at the disposal of the
+Executive applicable to the objects stated by Mr. Leib, I submit the
+whole subject to the consideration of Congress for such direction as
+in their wisdom may seem proper.
+
+I have directed instructions to be given to all our ministers and agents
+abroad requiring that in future, unless previously authorized by
+Congress, they will not under any circumstances accept presents of any
+description from any foreign state.
+
+I deem it proper on this occasion to invite the attention of Congress
+to the presents which have heretofore been made to our public officers,
+and which have been deposited under the orders of the Government in
+the Department of State. These articles are altogether useless to the
+Government, and the care and preservation of them in the Department
+of State are attended with considerably inconvenience.
+
+The provision of the Constitution which forbids any officer, without the
+consent of Congress, to accept any present from any foreign power may be
+considered as having been satisfied by the surrender of the articles to
+the Government, and they might now be disposed of by Congress to those
+for whom they were originally intended, or to their heirs, with obvious
+propriety in both cases, and in the latter would be received as grateful
+memorials of the surrender of the present.
+
+As under the positive order now given similar presents can not hereafter
+be received, even for the purpose of being placed at the disposal of the
+Government, I recommend to Congress to authorize by law that the
+articles already in the Department of State shall be delivered to the
+persons to whom they were originally presented, if living, and to the
+heirs of such as may have died.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _January 7, 1834_.
+
+_To the House of Representatives_:
+
+In compliance with the resolution requesting the President of the United
+States to lay before the House "a copy of any contract which may have
+been made for the construction of a bridge across the Potomac opposite
+to the city of Washington, together with the authority under which such
+contract may have been made, the names of the contractors and their
+securities, if any, and the plan and estimate of the cost of such a
+bridge," I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of the
+Treasury, to whom the resolution was referred, containing all the
+information upon the subject which he is now able to communicate.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _January 9, 1834_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I transmit to the Senate, for their constitutional action, a treaty
+concluded between the commissioners on the part of the United States and
+the united nation of Chippewas, Ottawas, and Potawatamies, at Chicago,
+on the 26th of September, 1833, to the cession of certain lands in the
+State of Illinois and Territory of Michigan.
+
+I transmit also sundry documents relating thereto that I think proper
+should be laid before the Senate.
+
+I understand the country ceded by this treaty is considered a valuable
+one and its acquisition important to that section of the Union. Under
+these circumstances, as the objection to a ratification applies to
+those stipulations in the third article which provide that $100,000 and
+$150,000 shall be granted in satisfaction of claims to reservations and
+for debts due from the Indians to individuals, I recommend that the
+treaty be ratified, with the condition that an agent be appointed to
+proceed to Chicago investigate the justice of these claims. If they are
+all well founded and have been assented to by the Indians with a full
+knowledge of the circumstances, a proper investigation of them will do
+the claimants no injury, but will place the matter beyond suspicion. If,
+on the other hand, they are unjust and have not been fully understood by
+the Indians, the fraud will in that event vitiate them, and they ought
+not to be paid. To the United States, in a mere pecuniary point of view,
+it is of no importance to whom the money provided by this treaty is
+paid. They stipulate to pay a given amount, and that amount they must
+pay, but the consideration is yielded by the Indians, and they are
+entitled to its value. Whatever is granted in claims must be withheld
+from them, and if not so granted it becomes theirs. Considering the
+relations in which the Indians stand to the United States, it appears
+to me just to exercise their supervisory authority. It has been done in
+more than one instance, and as its object in this case is to ascertain
+whether any fraud exists, and if there does to correct it, I consider
+such a ratification within the proper scope of the treaty-making power.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _January 22, 1834_.
+
+_To the Senate_:
+
+I transmit to the Senate a report[2] from the Secretary of State,
+containing the information requested by their resolution of the 9th
+instant, with the documents which accompany that report.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+[Footnote 2: Relating to presents from foreign governments to officers
+of the United States.]
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _January 25, 1834_.
+
+_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:
+
+I transmit herewith to the House of Representatives a letter from the
+Secretary of State, together with the accompanying papers, relating to
+a claim preferred to that Department, through the British legation at
+Washington, for indemnification for losses alleged to have been
+sustained by the owners of the ship _Francis and Eliza_, libeled at New
+Orleans in 1819, and condemned and sold by the sentence and decree of
+the district court of the United States for the district of Louisiana,
+but afterwards restored upon an appeal to the Supreme Court of the
+United States, that such legislative provision may be made by Congress
+in behalf of those interested as shall appear just and proper in the
+case.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+FEBRUARY 4, 1834.
+
+_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:
+
+I deem it my duty to communicate to Congress the recent conduct of the
+Bank of the United States in refusing to deliver the books, papers, and
+funds in its possession relating to the execution of the act of Congress
+of June 7, 1832, entitled "An act supplementary to the 'Act for the
+relief of certain surviving officers and soldiers of the Revolution.'"
+The correspondence reported by the Secretary of War, and herewith
+transmitted, will show the grounds assumed by the bank to justify its
+refusal to make the transfer directed by the War Department. It does not
+profess to claim the privilege of this agency as a right secured to it
+by contract, nor as a benefit conferred by the Government, but as a
+burden, from which it is willing to be relieved. It places its refusal
+upon the extraordinary ground that the corporation has a right to sit in
+judgment upon the legality of the acts of the constituted authorities in
+a matter in which the stockholders are admitted to have no interest, and
+it impedes and defeats, as far as its power will permit, the execution
+of a measure of the Administration, because the opinion of the
+corporation upon the construction of an act of Congress differs from
+that of the proper officers of the United States.
+
+The claim of this corporation thus to usurp the functions of the
+judicial power and to prescribe to the executive department the manner
+in which it shall execute the trust confided to it by law is without
+example in the history of our country. If the acts of the public
+servants, who are responsible to the people for the manner in which
+they execute their duty, may thus be checked and controlled by an
+irresponsible money corporation, then indeed the whole frame of our
+Government is changed, and we have established a power in the Bank
+of the United States above what we derive from the people.
+
+It will be seen from the accompanying statement (marked A) that
+according to the latest accounts received at the War Department the Bank
+of the United States and its branches have in their possession near half
+a million of the public money, received by them under the law of 1832,
+which they have not yet accounted for, and which they refuse to pay over
+to the proper agents for the use of those persons for whose benefit it
+was withdrawn from the Treasury. It is to be regretted that this attempt
+on the part of the bank to guide and direct the Executive upon the
+construction and execution of an act of Congress should have been put
+forward and insisted on in a case where the immediate sufferers from
+their conduct will be the surviving veterans of the Revolutionary war,
+for this evil falls exclusively upon the gallant defenders of their
+country and delays and embarrasses the payment of the debt which the
+gratitude of the nation has awarded to them, and which in many instances
+is necessary for their subsistence and comfort in their declining years.
+
+The character of the claim set up by the bank and the interest of the
+parties to be immediately affected by it make it my duty to submit the
+whole subject to the consideration of Congress, and I leave it to their
+wisdom to adopt such measures as the honor of the Government and the
+just claims of the individuals injured by the proceedings may be deemed
+to require.
+
+Having called for the opinion of the Attorney-General upon this occasion
+with a view to a thorough investigation of the question which has thus
+been presented for my consideration, I inclose a copy of the report of
+that officer and add my entire concurrence in the views he has taken.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _February 12, 1834_.
+
+_To the House of Representatives_:
+
+I transmit to the House of Representatives a report[3] from the
+Secretary of State, in relation to the subject of a resolution of the
+8th of this month.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+[Footnote 3: Relating to the boundary line between Georgia and Florida.]
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _February 12, 1834_.
+
+_To the House of Representatives_:
+
+I transmit to the House of Representatives a report from the Secretary
+of State, containing the information requested[4] by the resolution of
+the 14th ultimo, with the documents which accompanied that report.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+[Footnote 4: List of presents from foreign governments to officers of
+the United States, deposited in the State Department.]
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _February 22, 1834_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I transmit herewith to the Senate, for their advice concerning its
+ratification, an additional and explanatory convention to the treaty of
+peace, amity, commerce, and navigation between the United States and
+the Republic of Chile, which additional and explanatory convention was
+concluded at the city of Santiago by the plenipotentiaries of the United
+States and of Chile on the 1st of September, 1833. I also transmit a
+report from the Secretary of State on the subject.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _March 8, 1834_.
+
+_To the House of Representatives_:
+
+I transmit herewith to the House a report from the Secretary of State,
+containing the instructions and other papers called for by the
+resolution of the House of the 14th ultimo, "relative to the trade
+between the United States and the islands of Cuba and Porto Rico," etc.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _March 11, 1834_.
+
+_To the Senate_:
+
+I renominate Henry D. Gilpin, Peter Wager, and John T. Sullivan, of
+Philadelphia, and Hugh McEldery, of Baltimore, to be directors in the
+Bank of the United States for the year 1834.
+
+I disclaim all pretension of right on the part of the President
+officially to inquire into or call in question the reasons of the
+Senate for rejecting any nomination whatsoever. As the President is
+not responsible to them for the reasons which induce him to make a
+nomination, so they are not responsible to him for the reasons which
+induce them to reject it. In these respects each is independent of
+the other and both responsible to their respective constituents.
+Nevertheless, the attitude in which certain vital interests of the
+country are placed by the rejection of the gentlemen now renominated
+require of me frankly to communicate my views of the consequences
+which must necessarily follow this act of the Senate if it be not
+reconsidered.
+
+The characters and standing of these gentlemen are well known to the
+community, and eminently qualify them for the offices to which I propose
+to appoint them. Their confirmation by the Senate at its last session to
+the same offices is proof that such was the opinion of them entertained
+by the Senate at that time, and unless something has occurred since to
+change it this act may now be referred to as evidence that their talents
+and pursuits justified their selection. The refusal, however, to confirm
+their nominations to the same offices shows that there is something
+in the conduct of these gentlemen during the last year which, in the
+opinion of the Senate, disqualifies them, and as no charge has been
+made against them as men or citizens, nothing which impeaches the
+fair private character they possessed when the Senate gave them their
+sanction at its last session, and as it, moreover, appears from the
+Journal of the Senate recently transmitted for my inspection that it was
+deemed unnecessary to inquire into their qualifications or character,
+it is to be inferred that the change in the opinion of the Senate
+has arisen from the official conduct of these gentlemen. The only
+circumstances in their official conduct which have been deemed of
+sufficient importance to attract public attention are the two reports
+made by them to the executive department of the Government, the one
+bearing date the 22d day of April and the other the 19th day of August
+last, both of which reports were communicated to the Senate by the
+Secretary of the Treasury with his reasons for removing the deposit.
+
+The truth of the facts stated in these reports is not, I presume,
+questioned by anyone. The high character and standing of the citizens
+by whom they were made prevent any doubt upon the subject. Indeed, the
+statements have not been denied by the president of the bank and the
+other directors. On the contrary, they have insisted that they were
+authorized to use the money of the bank in the manner stated in the two
+reports, and have not denied that the charges there made against the
+corporation are substantially true.
+
+It must be taken, therefore, as admitted that the statements of the
+public directors in the reports above mentioned are correct, and they
+disclose the most alarming abuses on the part of the corporation and the
+most strenuous exertions on their part to put an end to them. They prove
+that enormous sums were secretly lavished in a manner and for purposes
+that can not be justified, and that the whole of the immense capital
+of the bank has been virtually placed at the disposal of a single
+individual, to be used, if he thinks proper, to corrupt the press and
+to control the proceedings of the Government by exercising an undue
+influence over elections.
+
+The reports are made in obedience to my official directions, and I
+herewith transmit copies of my letters calling for information of the
+proceedings of the bank. Were they bound to disregard the call? Was it
+their duty to remain silent while abuses of the most injurious and
+dangerous character were daily practiced? Were they bound to conceal
+from the constituted authorities a course of measures destructive to the
+best interests of the country and intended gradually and secretly to
+subvert the foundations of our Government and to transfer its powers
+from the hands of the people to a great moneyed corporation? Was it
+their duty to sit in silence at the board and witness all these abuses
+without an attempt to correct them, or, in case of failure there, not to
+appeal to higher authority? The eighth fundamental rule authorizes any
+one of the directors, whether elected or appointed, who may have been
+absent when an excess of debt was created, or who may have dissented
+from the act, to exonerate himself from personal responsibility by
+giving notice of the fact to the President of the United States,
+thus recognizing the propriety of communicating to that officer the
+proceedings of the board in such cases. But independently of any
+argument to be derived from the principle recognized in the rule
+referred to, I can not doubt for a moment that it is the right and the
+duty of every director at the board to attempt to correct all illegal
+proceedings, and, in case of failure, to disclose them, and that every
+one of them, whether elected by the stockholders or appointed by the
+Government, who had knowledge of the facts and concealed them, would be
+justly amenable to the severest censure.
+
+But in the case of the public director it was their peculiar and
+official duty to make the disclosures, and the call upon them for
+information could not have been disregarded without a flagrant breach
+of their trust. The directors appointed by the United States can not be
+regarded in the light of the ordinary directors of a bank appointed by
+the stockholders and charged with the care of their pecuniary interests
+in the corporation. They have higher and more important duties. They are
+public officers. They are placed at the board not merely to represent
+the stock held by the United States, but to observe the conduct of the
+corporation and to watch over the public interests. It was foreseen
+that this great moneyed monopoly might be so managed as to endanger the
+interests of the country, and it was therefore deemed necessary as a
+measure of precaution to place at the board watchful sentinels, who
+should observe its conduct and stand ready to report to the proper
+officers of the Government every act of the board which might affect
+injuriously the interests of the people.
+
+The whole frame of the charter, as well as the manner of their
+appointment, proves this to be their true character. The United States
+are not represented at the board by these directors merely on account
+of the stock held by the Government. The right of the United States to
+appoint directors and the number appointed do not depend upon the amount
+of the stock, for if every share should be sold and the United States
+cease to be a stockholder altogether, yet under the charter the right
+to appoint five directors would still remain. In such a case what would
+be the character of the directors? They would represent no stock and
+be chosen by no stockholders. Yet they would have a right to sit at
+the board, to vote on all questions submitted to it, and to be made
+acquainted with all the proceedings of the corporation. They would not
+in such a case be ordinary directors chosen by the stockholders in
+proportion to their stock, but they would be public officers, appointed
+to guard the public interest, and their duties must conform to their
+office. They are not the duties of an ordinary director chosen by a
+stockholder, but they are the peculiar duties of a public officer who
+is bound on all occasions to protect to the utmost of his lawful means
+the public interests, and, where his own authority is not sufficient
+to prevent injury, to inform those to whom the law has confided the
+necessary power. Such, then, is the character and such are the duties
+of the directors appointed by the United States, whether the public be
+stockholders or not. They are officers of the United States, and not
+the mere representatives of a stockholder.
+
+The mode of their appointment and their tenure of office confirm this
+position. They are appointed like other officers of the Government and
+by the same authority. They do not hold their offices irrevocably a year
+after their appointment; on the contrary, by the express terms of the
+law, they are liable to be removed from office at any time by the
+President when in his judgment the public interest shall require it.
+In every aspect, therefore, in which the subject can be considered it is
+evident that the five directors appointed by the United States are to be
+regarded as public officers who are placed there in order to observe the
+conduct of the corporation and to prevent abuses which might otherwise
+be committed.
+
+Such being the character of the directors appointed on behalf of the
+United States, it is obviously their duty to resist, and in case of
+failure to report to the President or to the Secretary of the Treasury,
+any proceedings of the board by which the public interests may be
+injuriously affected. The President may order a _scire facias_ against
+the bank for a violation of its charter, and the Secretary of the
+Treasury is empowered to direct the money of the United States to be
+deposited elsewhere when in his judgment the public interest requires it
+to be done. The directors of this bank, like all others, are accustomed
+to sit with closed doors, and do not report their proceedings to any
+department of the Government.
+
+The monthly return which the charter requires to be made to the Treasury
+Department gives nothing more than a general statement of its pecuniary
+condition, and of that but an imperfect one; for although it shows the
+amount loaned at the bank and its different branches, it does not show
+the condition of its debtors nor the circumstances under which the loans
+were made. It does not show whether they were in truth accommodations
+granted in the regular and ordinary course of business upon fair banking
+principles or from other motives. Under the name of loans advances may
+be made to persons notoriously insolvent for the most corrupt and
+improper purposes, and a course of proceeding may be adopted in
+violation of its charter, while upon the face of its monthly statement
+everything would appear to be fair and correct.
+
+How, then, is the executive branch of the Government to become
+acquainted with the official conduct of the public directors or the
+abuses practiced by the corporation for its private ends and in
+violation of its duty to the public? The power of displacing the public
+directors and that of issuing a _scire facias_ and of removing the
+deposits were not intended to be idle and nugatory provisions without
+the means of enforcement. Yet they must be wholly inoperative and
+useless unless there be some means by which the official conduct of the
+public directors and the abuses of power on the part of the corporation
+may be brought to the knowledge of the executive department of the
+Government.
+
+Will it be said that the power is given to the Secretary of the
+Treasury to examine himself, or by his authorized agent, into the
+conduct and condition of the bank? The answer is obvious. It could not
+have been expected or intended that he would make an examination unless
+information was first given to him which excited his suspicions; and
+if he did make such a general examination without previous information
+of misconduct, it is most probable that in the complex concerns and
+accounts of a bank it would result in nothing, whatever abuses might
+have been practiced.
+
+It is, indeed, the duty of every director to give information of such
+misconduct on the part of the board. But the power to issue a _scire
+facias_ and to remove the deposits presupposes that the directors
+elected by the stockholders might abuse their power, and it can not be
+presumed that Congress intended to rely on these same directors to give
+information of their own misconduct. The Government is not accustomed
+to rely on the offending party to disclose his offense. It was intended
+that the power to issue a _scire facias_ and remove the deposits be
+real and effective. The necessary means of information were therefore
+provided in the charter, and five officers of the Government, appointed
+in the usual manner, responsible to the public and not to the
+stockholders, were placed as sentinels at the board, and are bound by
+the nature and character of their office to resist, and if unsuccessful
+to report to the proper authority, every infraction of the charter and
+every abuse of power, in order that due measures should be taken to
+punish or correct it; and in like manner it is their duty to give, when
+called upon, any explanation of their own official conduct touching the
+management of the institution.
+
+It was perhaps scarcely necessary to present to the Senate these views
+of the power of the Executive and of the duties of the five directors
+appointed by the United States. But the bank is believed to be now
+striving to obtain for itself the government of the country, and is
+seeking by new and strained constructions to wrest from the hands of the
+constituted authorities the salutary control reserved by the charter;
+and as misrepresentation is one of its most usual weapons of attack,
+I have deemed it my duty to put before the Senate in a manner not to be
+misunderstood the principles on which I have acted.
+
+Entertaining as I do a solemn conviction of the truth of these
+principles, I must adhere to them and act upon them with constancy and
+firmness. Aware as I now am of the dangerous machinations of the bank,
+it is more than ever my duty to be vigilant in guarding the rights of
+the people from the impending danger. And I should feel that I ought to
+forfeit the confidence with which my countrymen have honored me if I did
+not require regular and full reports of everything in the proceedings
+of the bank calculated to affect injuriously the public interests from
+the public directors; and if the directors should fail to give the
+information called for, it would be my imperious duty to exercise
+the power conferred on me by law of removing them from office and of
+appointing others who would discharge their duties with more fidelity to
+the public. I can never suffer anyone to hold office under me who would
+connive at corruption or who should fail to give the alarm when he saw
+the enemies of liberty endeavoring to sap the foundations of our free
+institutions and to subject the free people of the United States to the
+dominion of a great moneyed corporation.
+
+Any directors of the bank, therefore, who might be appointed by the
+Government would be required to report to the Executive as fully as the
+late directors have done, and more frequently, because the danger is
+more imminent; and it would be my duty to require of them a full detail
+of every part of the proceedings of the corporation, or any of its
+officers, in order that I might be enabled to decide whether I should
+exercise the power of ordering a _scire facias_, which is reserved to
+the President by the charter, or adopt such other lawful measures as the
+interests of the country might require. It is too obvious to be doubted
+that the misconduct of the corporation would never have been brought to
+light by the aid of a public proceeding at the board of directors. The
+board when called on by the Government directors refused to institute an
+inquiry or require an account, and the mode adopted by the latter was
+the only one by which the object could be attained. It would be absurd
+to admit the right of the Government directors to give information and
+at the same time deny the means of obtaining it. It would be but another
+mode of enabling the bank to conceal its proceedings and practice with
+impunity its corruptions. In the mode of obtaining the information,
+therefore, and in their efforts to put an end to the abuses disclosed,
+as well as in reporting them, the conduct of the late directors was
+judicious and praiseworthy, and the honesty, firmness, and intelligence
+which they have displayed entitle them, in my opinion, to the gratitude
+of the country.
+
+But if I do not mistake the principles on which the Senate have recently
+rejected them, the conduct which I deem worthy of praise they treat as
+a breach of duty, and in their judgment the measures which they took to
+obtain the informations and their efforts to put an end to the practices
+disclosed and the reports they have made to the Executive, although true
+in all their parts, are regarded as an offense and supposed to require
+some decisive mark of strong disapprobation.
+
+If the views of the Senate be such as I have supposed, the difficulty of
+sending to the Senate any other names than those of the late directors
+will be at once apparent. I can not consent to place before the Senate
+the name of anyone who is not prepared with firmness and honesty to
+discharge the duties of a public director in the manner they were
+fulfilled by those whom the Senate have refused to confirm. If for
+performing a duty lawfully required of them by the Executive they are
+to be punished by the subsequent rejection of the Senate, it would not
+only be useless, but cruel, to place men of character and honor in that
+situation, if even such men could be found to accept it. If they failed
+to give the required information or to take proper measures to obtain
+it, they would be removed by the Executive. If they gave the information
+and took proper measures to obtain it, they would upon the next
+nomination be rejected by the Senate. It would be unjust in me to place
+any other citizens in the predicament in which this unlooked-for
+decision of the Senate has placed the estimable and honorable men who
+were directors during the last year.
+
+If I am not in error in relation to the principles upon which these
+gentlemen have been rejected, the necessary consequence will be that
+the bank will hereafter be without Government directors, and the people
+of the United States must be deprived of their chief means of protection
+against its abuses, for whatever conflicting opinions may exist as to
+the right of the directors appointed in January, 1833, to hold over
+until new appointments shall be made, it is very obvious that whilst
+their rejection by the Senate remains in force they can not with
+propriety attempt to exercise such a power. In the present state of
+things, therefore, the corporation will be enabled effectually to
+accomplish the object it has been so long endeavoring to attain.
+Its exchange committees and its delegated powers to its president may
+hereafter be dispensed with without incurring the danger of exposing
+its proceedings to the public view. The sentinels which the law had
+placed at its board can no longer appear there.
+
+Justice to myself and to the faithful officers by whom the public has
+been so well and so honorably served without compensation or reward
+during the last year has required of me this full and frank exposition
+of my motives for nominating them again after their rejection by the
+Senate. I repeat that I do not question the right of the Senate to
+confirm or reject at their pleasure, and if there had been any reason
+to suppose that the rejection in this case had not been produced by the
+causes to which I have attributed it, or if my views of their duties and
+the present importance of their rigid performance were other than they
+are, I should have cheerfully acquiesced and attempted to find others
+who would accept the unenviable trust; but I can not consent to appoint
+directors of the bank to be the subservient instruments or silent
+spectators of its abuses and corruptions, nor can I ask honorable men to
+undertake the thankless duty with the certain prospect of being rebuked
+by the Senate for its faithful performance in pursuance of the lawful
+directions of the Executive.
+
+I repeat that I do not claim a right to inquire into or officially
+to censure the acts of the Senate, but the situation in which the
+important interests of the American people vested in the Bank of the
+United States and affected by its arrangements must necessarily be left
+by the rejection of the gentlemen now renominated has made it my duty
+to give this explanation to the Senate and submit the matter to their
+reconsideration. If it shall be determined by the Senate that all
+channels of information in relation to the corrupt proceedings of this
+dangerous corporation shall be cut off and the Government and country
+left exposed to its unrestrained machinations against the purity of the
+press and public liberty, I shall, after having made this effort to
+avert so great an evil, rest for the justification of my official course
+with respectful confidence on the judgment of the American people.
+
+In conclusion it is proper I should inform the Senate that there is now
+no Government director appointed for the present year, Mr. Bayard, who
+was nominated, and confirmed by the Senate, having refused to accept
+that appointment.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _March 14, 1834_.
+
+_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:
+
+I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State, accompanied by
+a copy of a letter from the commissioners appointed to adjust the claims
+of our citizens under the late treaty with Naples, and suggest for the
+consideration of Congress the expediency of extending the term allowed
+for the performance of the duties assigned to them.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _March 20, 1834_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I transmit herewith to the Senate a report[5] from the Secretary of
+State, with the documents accompanying it, in pursuance of their
+resolution of the 7th instant, relative to the ship _Olive Branch_.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+[Footnote 5: Transmitting memorial of the heir at law of General Ira
+Allen, relative to the capture, detention, and condemnation of the ship
+_Olive Branch_ and her cargo by the British Government; also copy of
+instructions given to the United States minister to Great Britain and of
+correspondence between him and the British Government on the subject.]
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _March 22, 1834_.
+
+_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:
+
+I transmit to the House of Representatives a report[6] from the Secretary
+of State, upon the subject of a resolution of the 10th instant, which
+was referred to that officer.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+[Footnote 6: Transmitting correspondence and papers relating to the
+claim of Don Juan Madrazo, a Spanish subject, for losses occasioned
+by acts of the United States and Georgia.]
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _April 1, 1834_.
+
+_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:
+
+I transmit for the consideration of Congress a report from the Secretary
+of State, and recommend that legislative measures may be taken to
+prevent the counterfeiting of foreign coins and the exporting of
+counterfeit coins from the United States.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _April 2, 1834_.
+
+_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:
+
+I lay before Congress a communication from the governor of New York and
+a copy of a communication from the governor of New Jersey, addressed to
+me with a view of obtaining the consent of Congress to an agreement
+which has been entered into by the States of New York and New Jersey
+to settle the boundary line between those States. The agreement and
+authenticated copies of the acts of the legislatures of New York and
+New Jersey relating to it are also transmitted.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _April 8, 1834_.
+
+_To the Senate_:
+
+I transmit herewith a report from the Commissioner of the General Land
+Office, made in compliance with the resolution of the Senate of the 29th
+ultimo, calling for "the dates of the proclamations and the times of
+sale specified in each of the sales of the public lands in the district
+of country acquired from the Choctaw tribe of Indians by the treaty of
+Dancing Rabbit Creek and from the Creek tribe of Indians in Alabama; and
+also the causes, if any existed, of a shorter notice being given for the
+sale of these lands than is usual in the sale of the other public lands."
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _April 17, 1834_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I transmit to the Senate, for their consideration and advice with regard
+to its ratification, a convention for the settlement of claims between
+the United States of America and Her Catholic Majesty, concluded at
+Madrid on the 17th of February, 1834.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _May 1, 1834_.
+
+_The Speaker of the House of Representatives_:
+
+I submit for the sanction of Congress certain proposals for amending the
+present laws in relation to the naval service, prepared and reported by
+the board constituted under the act of May 19, 1832.
+
+The papers on this subject are Nos. 1 to 5, inclusive.
+
+These proposals are approved by me, and if adopted in the form of laws
+appear well suited "to the present and future exigencies of that
+important arm of national defense."
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _May 12, 1834_.
+
+_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_:
+
+I communicate to Congress copies of a treaty of navigation and commerce
+between the United States and His Majesty the Emperor of all the
+Russias, concluded at St. Petersburg on the 6th (18th) of December,
+1832, and the ratifications of which were exchanged in this city on
+the 11th of May, 1833.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _May 13, 1834_.
+
+_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_:
+
+I communicate to Congress copies of a convention between the United
+States and His Majesty the King of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, to
+terminate the reclamations of the former for the depredations inflicted
+upon American commerce by Murat during the years 1809, 1810, 1811,
+and 1812, concluded at Naples on the 14th of October, 1832, and the
+ratifications of which were exchanged at the same place on the 8th
+of June, 1833.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _May 15, 1834_.
+
+_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:
+
+I transmit herewith to Congress copies of a treaty of peace, amity,
+commerce, and navigation between the United States and the Republic of
+Chile, concluded at Santiago de Chile on the 1st of September, 1833, and
+the ratifications of which were exchanged in this city on the 29th of
+April last.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _May 19, 1834_.
+
+_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:
+
+I transmit a letter from the Marquis de Rochambeau to the minister of
+the United States in France, together with a translation of the same,
+referring to the petition of certain descendants of the Count de
+Rochambeau, which was communicated to the House of Representatives with
+my message of the 22d of February, 1833. Extracts from the dispatches of
+Mr. Livingston to the Secretary of State respecting the same subject are
+also sent.
+
+I likewise transmit, for the consideration of the House, a petition
+from the heirs of the Baron de Kalb, accompanied by a note from General
+Lafayette, praying remuneration for the services rendered by the Baron
+to the United States during the War of the Revolution.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+MAY 21, 1834.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I nominate Arthur St. Clair to be register of the land office for the
+district of lands subject to sale at Indianapolis, in the State of
+Indiana, in the place of William B. Slaughter, appointed during the
+recess of the Senate.
+
+As Arthur St. Clair was heretofore appointed to this office and was
+removed during the recess, it is proper to state the reasons which
+induce me again to nominate him to the Senate.
+
+During the last summer an agent was appointed by the Treasury
+Department to examine the land offices in Indiana, and upon his report
+to the Department of the proceedings in the register's and receiver's
+offices at Indianapolis I deemed it proper to remove both of those
+officers without delay. A subsequent examination by a different agent
+enabled the parties to offer explanations of the charges against them
+in the first report, and although I am satisfied that the duty of the
+first agent was honestly and faithfully performed by him, yet the
+circumstances on which his report is founded have since been so
+explained as to acquit both of the officers who were removed of any
+intentional misconduct. In the case of Mr. St. Clair, however, it
+appears from both of the reports that he had permitted the clerk in his
+office to be the agent of speculations in land scrip contrary to the
+instructions received by him from the Treasury Department, but I am
+convinced that he himself did not participate in the speculation nor
+share in the profits, and that he gave the permission under a mistaken
+construction of the order and erroneous views of his duty as an officer.
+His mistake in this respect seems to have arisen in a great measure
+from his reliance on the judgment of others in whom he might well have
+supposed he could confide, and who appear to have sanctioned the course
+he adopted without sufficiently examining the subject and the evils to
+which such a practice would necessarily lead. Under these circumstances
+I have believed it to be an act of justice to Mr. St. Clair to present
+his name again to the Senate, as he can be reinstated in the office from
+which he was removed without injury to the person who in the recess was
+selected to succeed him. And I should have adopted the same course in
+relation to the receiver but for the peculiar circumstances in which his
+successor has been placed, and which would render it an act of injustice
+to him not to submit his name to the Senate for confirmation.
+
+The reports and papers in relation to these removals are herewith
+transmitted to the Senate, in order that they may act in the case with
+the whole evidence before them.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _May 21, 1834_.
+
+_To the House of Representatives_:
+
+I lay before the House of Representatives a copy of a "convention for
+the settlement of claims between the United States of America and Her
+Catholic Majesty," concluded on the 17th of February last.
+
+This convention has been ratified by me, agreeably to the Constitution,
+and will be immediately transmitted to Madrid, where it will doubtless
+be ratified by Her Majesty.
+
+It is deemed proper to communicate the convention thus early, that
+provision may be made for carrying the first article into effect as soon
+as the ratifications shall have been exchanged, in order that our
+citizens may with as little delay as possible obtain the stipulated
+compensation.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _May 28, 1834_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I transmit herewith to the Senate, for their advice and consent as
+to the ratification of the same, a treaty and a supplement thereto,
+concluded between John H. Eaton, a commissioner on the part of the
+United States, and a delegation from the Chickasaw tribe of Indians,
+together with the journal of proceedings.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _May 30, 1834_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+It having been represented to me by persons whose statements and
+opinions were thought worthy of confidence that the trade of the United
+States might be extended and rendered more lucrative by commercial
+arrangements with the countries bordering on the Indian Ocean, and
+being informed that the success of any efforts which might be made to
+accomplish that object would materially depend upon the secrecy with
+which they should be conducted, I appointed Mr. Edmund Roberts a special
+agent of this Government for the purpose of visiting those seas and
+concluding such commercial conventions as might have the effect of
+securing additional advantages to our trade in that quarter. This agency
+has resulted in the conclusion of treaties with the King of Siam and
+the Sultan of Muscat, whereby the commerce of the United States with
+the countries subject to the dominion of those princes, which had been
+previously embarrassed by serious disadvantages and obstructions, is
+placed upon a footing with that of the most favored nation. These
+treaties, the former of which was signed at the city of Siayuthia
+(commonly called Bankok) on the 20th day of March, 1833, and the latter
+at the city of Muscat on the 21st day of September of the same year,
+are submitted to the Senate for their consideration and advice.
+
+I transmit a copy of the instructions which were given to the special
+agent and a communication made by him to the Secretary of State,
+containing particular and important information respecting the countries
+with which these treaties have been concluded. The expenses of the
+agency have been defrayed out of the contingent fund for foreign
+intercourse.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _June 13, 1834_.
+
+_To the Senate_:
+
+I have this day received a resolution of the 12th instant, requesting me
+to communicate to the Senate a copy of the first official communication
+which was made to Andrew Stevenson of the intention of the President to
+nominate him as a minister plenipotentiary and envoy extraordinary to
+the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and his answer thereto.
+
+As a compliance with this resolution might be deemed an admission of
+the right of the Senate to call upon the President for confidential
+correspondence of this description, I consider it proper on this
+occasion to remark that I do not acknowledge such a right. But to avoid
+misrepresentation I herewith transmit a copy of the paper in question,
+which was the only communication made to Mr. Stevenson on the subject.
+
+This communication merely intimated the intention of the President in a
+particular contingency to offer to Mr. Stevenson the place of minister
+to the Court of St. James, and as the negotiations to which it refers
+were commenced early in April, 1833, in this city instead of London, and
+have been since conducted here, no further communication was made to
+him. I have no knowledge that an answer was received from Mr. Stevenson;
+none is to be found in the Department of State and none has been
+received by me.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _June 18, 1834_.
+
+_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_:
+
+I transmit to Congress an extract of a dispatch from Mr. Livingston, the
+minister of the United States at Paris, dated the 7th ultimo, and the
+copy of a communication made to him by Captain Ballard, commander of the
+frigate _United States_, by which it appears that in firing a national
+salute from that ship at Toulon, in honor of the birthday of the King
+of the French, two men were killed and four others wounded on board the
+French ship of war _Suffren_. Suitable explanations were immediately
+made to the French admiral; and the officers and crew of the American
+frigate, with that generosity which distinguishes their profession,
+promptly contributed, by a liberal subscription, toward providing for
+the families of the unfortunate sufferers. I am sure, however, that I
+should not do justice to the feelings of the American people on this
+occasion if I did not invite Congress to assume, on their part, this
+melancholy duty. I propose, therefore, that the same provision be made
+by law for these French seamen and their families as would be made for
+American seamen killed or wounded in battle. This proceeding will show
+the deep sensibility with which the disastrous accident is viewed by the
+United States, and their readiness to alleviate those consequences which
+can not be remedied.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _June 20, 1834_.
+
+_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:
+
+I transmit to the House of Representatives, for their consideration, a
+memorial from the granddaughters of the Count de Rochambeau, together
+with their letter to the minister of the United States in France, from
+whom these papers have been recently received.
+
+Translations of these documents accompany them.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _June 21, 1834_.
+
+_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_:
+
+The afflicting intelligence of the death of the illustrious Lafayette
+has been received by me this morning.
+
+I have issued the general order inclosed[7] to cause appropriate honors
+to be paid by the Army and Navy to the memory of one so highly venerated
+and beloved by my countrymen, and whom Providence has been pleased to
+remove so unexpectedly from the agitating scenes of life.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+[Footnote 7: See under Executive Orders, pp. 94-95.]
+
+
+
+JUNE 23, 1834.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I transmit for the consideration and action of the Senate a treaty
+concluded with the Cherokees for the cession of their lands east of the
+Mississippi River.
+
+It is known to the Senate that for some years great difficulties have
+been experienced in the relations of that tribe. Without further
+allusion to these than as they furnish strong inducements to a final
+settlement of all the questions involved in our intercourse with these
+Indians, it is obvious from the existing state of things that they
+can not continue in their present position with any hope of ultimate
+prosperity. I have been, therefore, desirous that a just and
+satisfactory arrangement should be made for their removal, and
+propositions to that effect upon a liberal scale have been repeatedly
+made to them. These have until now been rejected, and their rejection,
+I have been induced to believe, has been owing more to the ascendency
+acquired by individuals who are unwilling to go than to the deliberative
+opinion of a majority of the Cherokee people. Some years since a form
+of government was established among them, but since the extension of
+the laws of Georgia and Alabama over them this government can have no
+binding effect upon a great majority of them. Its obligation is also
+denied by many of them in consequence of the continuance of certain
+persons in power contrary to the principles of their fundamental
+articles of association. A delegation from the persons claiming to hold
+their authority under the former existing state of things is in this
+city, and have communicated with the War Department on the subject of
+their situation and removal. They deny the right of the persons who have
+negotiated this treaty to perform such an act, and have remonstrated
+against it. Copies of their communications are herewith transmitted.
+
+The delegation who have signed the present treaty have produced an
+authority from William Hicks, designating himself as principal chief,
+and others, signing the same in an official capacity. It is understood
+from the report of Major Currie, the enrolling agent, that public
+notice was given to all persons desirous of emigrating to attend
+upon a particular day and place in order to appoint representatives
+to communicate with the Government and to arrange the terms of cession
+and removal. In conformity with this notice a meeting was held and the
+authority herein referred to was the result.
+
+In consequence of this application John H. Eaton was appointed to meet
+and confer with them and to report their views to the War Department.
+These are embodied in the treaty which is presented to your
+consideration.
+
+Under these circumstances I submit the matter to the decision of the
+Senate. The practice of the Government has not been very strict on the
+subject of the authority of the persons negotiating treaties on the part
+of the Indians. Sometimes it has been done by persons representing the
+tribe and sometimes by the individuals composing it. I am not aware that
+a case similar in its features to the present has ever before required
+the action of the Government. But, independently of the considerations
+which so forcibly urge a settlement of this matter, no injustice can be
+done to the Indians by the ratification of this treaty. It is expressly
+provided that it will not be binding upon them till a majority has
+assented to its stipulations. When that assent is given no one can
+justly deny its obligation.
+
+The Cherokees east of the Mississippi occupy a portion of the
+territories of four States, to wit, Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee,
+and Alabama. The treaty provides that the communities inhabiting
+those divisions shall each be considered as acting for themselves
+independently of the others. We have frequently in our intercourse
+with the Indians treated with different portions of the same tribe as
+separate communities. Nor is there any injustice in this as long as they
+are separated into divisions without any very strong bond of union, and
+frequently with different interests and views. By requiring the assent
+of a majority to any act which will bind them we insure the preservation
+of a principle which will afford adequate security to their rights.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+
+VETO MESSAGE.[8]
+
+
+[Footnote 8: Pocket veto.]
+
+DECEMBER 4, 1833.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+At the close of the last session of Congress I received from that body
+a bill entitled "An act to appropriate for a limited time the proceeds
+of the sales of the public lands of the United States and for granting
+lands to certain States." The brief period then remaining before
+the rising of Congress and the extreme pressure of official duties
+unavoidable on such occasions did not leave me sufficient time for that
+full consideration of the subject which was due to its great importance.
+Subsequent consideration and reflection have, however, confirmed the
+objections to the bill which presented themselves to my mind upon its
+first perusal, and have satisfied me that it ought not to become a law.
+I felt myself, therefore, constrained to withhold from it my approval,
+and now return it to the Senate, in which it originated, with the
+reasons on which my dissent is founded.
+
+I am fully sensible of the importance, as it respects both the harmony
+and union of the States, of making, as soon as circumstances will allow
+of it, a proper and final disposition of the whole subject of the public
+lands, and any measure for that object providing for the reimbursement
+to the United States of those expenses with which they are justly
+chargeable that may be consistent with my views of the Constitution,
+sound policy, and the rights of the respective States will readily
+receive my cooperation. This bill, however, is not of that character.
+The arrangement it contemplates is not permanent, but limited to five
+years only, and in its terms appears to anticipate alterations within
+that time, at the discretion of Congress; and it furnishes no adequate
+security against those continued agitations of the subject which it
+should be the principal object of any measure for the disposition of
+the public lands to avert.
+
+Neither the merits of the bill under consideration nor the validity of
+the objections which I have felt it to be my duty to make to its passage
+can be correctly appreciated without a full understanding of the manner
+in which the public lands upon which it is intended to operate were
+acquired and the conditions upon which they are now held by the United
+States. I will therefore precede the statement of those objections by a
+brief but distinct exposition of these points.
+
+The waste lands within the United States constituted one of the early
+obstacles to the organization of any government for the protection of
+their common interests. In October, 1777, while Congress were framing
+the Articles of Confederation, a proposition was made to amend them to
+the following effect, viz:
+
+
+  That the United States in Congress assembled shall have the sole and
+  exclusive right and power to ascertain and fix the western boundary of
+  such States as claim to the Mississippi or South Sea, and lay out the
+  land beyond the boundary so ascertained into separate and independent
+  States from time to time as the numbers and circumstances of the people
+  thereof may require.
+
+
+It was, however, rejected, Maryland only voting for it, and so difficult
+did the subject appear that the patriots of that body agreed to waive it
+in the Articles of Confederation and leave it for future settlement.
+
+On the submission of the Articles to the several State legislatures for
+ratification the most formidable objection was found to be in this
+subject of the waste lands. Maryland, Rhode Island, and New Jersey
+instructed their delegates in Congress to move amendments to them
+providing that the waste or Crown lands should be considered the common
+property of the United States, but they were rejected. All the States
+except Maryland acceded to the Articles, notwithstanding some of them
+did so with the reservation that their claim to those lands as common
+property was not thereby abandoned.
+
+On the sole ground that no declaration to that effect was contained in
+the Articles, Maryland withheld her assent, and in May, 1779, embodied
+her objections in the form of instructions to her delegates, which were
+entered upon the Journals of Congress. The following extracts are from
+that document, viz:
+
+
+  Is it possible that those States who are ambitiously grasping at
+  territories to which in our judgment they have not the least shadow of
+  exclusive right will use with greater moderation the increase of wealth
+  and power derived from those territories when acquired than what they
+  have displayed in their endeavors to acquire them? ...
+
+  We are convinced policy and justice require that a country unsettled at
+  the commencement of this war, claimed by the British Crown and ceded to
+  it by the treaty of Paris, if wrested from the common enemy by the blood
+  and treasure of the thirteen States, should be considered as a common
+  property, subject to be parceled out by Congress into free, convenient,
+  and independent governments, in such manner and at such times as the
+  wisdom of that assembly shall hereafter direct. ...
+
+
+Virginia proceeded to open a land office for the sale of her Western
+lands, which produced such excitement as to induce Congress, in October,
+1779, to interpose and earnestly recommend to "the said State and all
+States similarly circumstanced to forbear settling or issuing warrants
+for such unappropriated lands, or granting the same, during the
+continuance of the present war."
+
+In March, 1780, the legislature of New York passed an act tendering a
+cession to the United States of the claims of that State to the Western
+territory, preceded by a preamble to the following effect, viz:
+
+
+  Whereas nothing under Divine Providence can more effectually contribute
+  to the tranquillity and safety of the United States of America than a
+  federal alliance on such liberal principles as will give satisfaction to
+  its respective members; and whereas the Articles of Confederation and
+  Perpetual Union recommended by the honorable Congress of the United
+  States of America have not proved acceptable to all the States, it
+  having been conceived that a portion of the waste and uncultivated
+  territory within the limits or claims of certain States ought to be
+  appropriated as a common fund for the expenses of the war, and the
+  people of the State of New York being on all occasions disposed to
+  manifest their regard for their sister States and their earnest desire
+  to promote the general interest and security, and more especially to
+  accelerate the federal alliance, by removing as far as it depends upon
+  them the before-mentioned impediment to its final accomplishment. ...
+
+
+This act of New York, the instructions of Maryland, and a remonstrance
+of Virginia were referred to a committee of Congress, who reported a
+preamble and resolutions thereon, which were adopted on the 6th
+September, 1780; so much of which as is necessary to elucidate the
+subject is to the following effect, viz:
+
+
+  That it appears advisable to press upon those States which can remove
+  the embarrassments respecting the Western country a liberal surrender of
+  a portion of their territorial claims, since they can not be preserved
+  entire without endangering the stability of the General Confederacy; to
+  remind them how indispensably necessary it is to establish the Federal
+  Union on a fixed and permanent basis and on principles acceptable to all
+  its respective members; how essential to public credit and confidence,
+  to the support of our Army, to the vigor of our counsels and success of
+  our measures, to our tranquillity at home, our reputation abroad, to our
+  very existence as a free, sovereign, and independent people; that they
+  are fully persuaded the wisdom of the several legislatures will lead
+  them to a full and impartial consideration of a subject so interesting
+  to the United States, and so necessary to the happy establishment of the
+  Federal Union; that they are confirmed in these expectations by a review
+  of the before-mentioned act of the legislature of New York, submitted to
+  their consideration. ...
+
+  _Resolved_, That copies of the several papers referred to the committee
+  be transmitted, with a copy of the report, to the legislatures of the
+  several States, and that it be earnestly recommended to those States who
+  have claims to the Western country to pass such laws and give their
+  delegates in Congress such powers as may effectually remove the only
+  obstacle to a final ratification of the Articles of Confederation, and
+  that the legislature of Maryland be earnestly requested to authorize
+  their delegates in Congress to subscribe the said Articles.
+
+
+Following up this policy, Congress proceeded, on the 10th October, 1780,
+to pass a resolution pledging the United States to the several States as
+to the manner in which any lands that might be ceded by them should be
+disposed of, the material parts of which are as follows, viz:
+
+
+  _Resolved_, That the unappropriated lands which may be ceded or
+  relinquished to the United States by any particular State pursuant to
+  the recommendation of Congress of the 6th day of September last shall be
+  disposed of for the common benefit of the United States and be settled
+  and formed into distinct republican States, which shall become members
+  of the Federal Union and have the same rights of sovereignty, freedom,
+  and independence as the other States; ... that the said lands shall be
+  granted or settled at such times and under such regulations as shall
+  hereafter be agreed on by the United States in Congress assembled, or
+  nine or more of them.
+
+
+In February, 1781, the legislature of Maryland passed an act authorizing
+their delegates in Congress to sign the Articles of Confederation. The
+following are extracts from the preamble and body of the act, viz:
+
+
+  Whereas it hath been said that the common enemy is encouraged by this
+  State not acceding to the Confederation to hope that the union of the
+  sister States may be dissolved, and therefore prosecutes the war in
+  expectation of an event so disgraceful to America, and our friends and
+  illustrious ally are impressed with an idea that the common cause would
+  be promoted by our formally acceding to the Confederation. ...
+
+
+The act of which this is the preamble authorizes the delegates of that
+State to sign the Articles, and proceeds to declare "that by acceding
+to the said Confederation this State doth not relinquish, nor intend
+to relinquish, any right or interest she hath with the other united or
+confederated States to the back country," etc.
+
+On the 1st of March, 1781, the delegates of Maryland signed the Articles
+of Confederation, and the Federal Union under that compact was complete.
+The conflicting claims to the Western lands, however, were not disposed
+of, and continued to give great trouble to Congress. Repeated and urgent
+calls were made by Congress upon the States claiming them to make
+liberal cessions to the United States, and it was not until long after
+the present Constitution was formed that the grants were completed.
+
+The deed of cession from New York was executed on the 1st of March,
+1781, the day the Articles of Confederation were ratified, and it was
+accepted by Congress on the 29th October, 1782. One of the conditions of
+this cession thus tendered and accepted was that the lands ceded to the
+United States "_shall be and inure for the use and benefit of such of
+the United States as shall become members of the federal alliance of
+the said States, and for no other use or purpose whatsoever_."
+
+The Virginia deed of cession was executed and accepted on the 1st day of
+March, 1784. One of the conditions of this cession is as follows, viz:
+
+
+  That all the lands within the territory as ceded to the United States,
+  and not reserved for or appropriated to any of the before-mentioned
+  purposes or disposed of in bounties to the officers and soldiers of the
+  American Army, _shall be considered as a common fund for the use and
+  benefit of such of the United States as have become or shall become
+  members of the confederation or federal alliance of the said States,
+  Virginia inclusive, according to their usual respective proportions in
+  the general charge and expenditure, and shall be faithfully and bona
+  fide disposed of for that purpose, and for no other use or purpose
+  whatsoever_.
+
+
+Within the years 1785, 1786, and 1787 Massachusetts, Connecticut, and
+South Carolina ceded their claims upon similar conditions. The Federal
+Government went into operation under the existing Constitution on
+the 4th of March, 1789. The following is the only provision of that
+Constitution which has a direct bearing on the subject of the public
+lands, viz:
+
+
+  The Congress shall have power to dispose of and make all needful rules
+  and regulations respecting the territory or other property belonging
+  to the United States, and nothing in this Constitution shall be so
+  construed as to prejudice any claims of the United States or of any
+  particular State.
+
+
+Thus the Constitution left all the compacts before made in full force,
+and the rights of all parties remained the same under the new Government
+as they were under the Confederation.
+
+The deed of cession of North Carolina was executed in December, 1789,
+and accepted by an act of Congress approved April 2, 1790. The third
+condition of this cession was in the following words, viz:
+
+
+  That all the lands intended to be ceded by virtue of this act to the
+  United States of America, and not appropriated as before mentioned,
+  _shall be considered as a common fund for the use and benefit of the
+  United States of America, North Carolina inclusive, according to their
+  respective and usual proportions of the general charge and expenditure,
+  and shall be faithfully disposed of for that purpose, and for no other
+  use or purpose whatever_.
+
+
+The cession of Georgia was completed on the 16th June, 1802, and in its
+leading condition is precisely like that of Virginia and North Carolina.
+This grant completed the title of the United States to all those lands
+generally called _public lands_ lying within the original limits of the
+Confederacy. Those which have been acquired by the purchase of Louisiana
+and Florida, having been paid for out of the common treasure of the
+United States, are as much the property of the General Government, to
+be disposed of for the common benefit, as those ceded by the several
+States.
+
+By the facts here collected from the early history of our Republic it
+appears that the subject of the public lands entered into the elements
+of its institutions. It was only upon the condition that those lands
+should be considered as common property, to be disposed of for the
+benefit of the United States, that some of the States agreed to come
+into a "perpetual union." The States claiming those lands acceded to
+those views and transferred their claims to the United States upon
+certain specific conditions, and on those conditions the grants were
+accepted. These solemn compacts, invited by Congress in a resolution
+declaring the purposes to which the proceeds of these lands should be
+applied, originating before the Constitution and forming the basis on
+which it was made, bound the United States to a particular course of
+policy in relation to them by ties as strong as can be invented to
+secure the faith of nations.
+
+As early as May, 1785, Congress, in execution of these compacts, passed
+an ordinance providing for the sales of lands in the Western territory
+and directing the proceeds to be paid into the Treasury of the United
+States. With the same object other ordinances were adopted prior to the
+organization of the present Government.
+
+In further execution of these compacts the Congress of the United States
+under the present Constitution, as early as the 4th of August, 1790, in
+"An act making provision for the debt of the United States," enacted as
+follows, viz:
+
+
+  That the proceeds of sales which shall be made of lands in the
+  Western territory now belonging or that may hereafter belong to the
+  United States shall be and are hereby appropriated toward sinking or
+  discharging the debts for the payment whereof the United States now
+  are or by virtue of this act may be holden, and shall be applied solely
+  to that use until the said debt shall be fully satisfied.
+
+
+To secure to the Government of the United States forever the power to
+execute these compacts in good faith the Congress of the Confederation,
+as early as July 13, 1787, in an ordinance for the government of the
+territory of the United States northwest of the river Ohio, prescribed
+to the people inhabiting the Western territory certain conditions which
+were declared to be "articles of compact between the original States and
+the people and States in the said territory," which should "forever
+remain unalterable, unless by common consent." In one of these articles
+it is declared that--
+
+
+  The legislatures of those districts, or new States, shall never
+  interfere with the primary disposal of the soil by the United States in
+  Congress assembled, nor with any regulations Congress may find necessary
+  for securing the title in such soil to the _bona fide purchasers_.
+
+
+This condition has been exacted from the people of all the new
+territories, and to put its obligation beyond dispute each new State
+carved out of the public domain has been required explicitly to
+recognize it as one of the conditions of admission into the Union. Some
+of them have declared through their conventions in separate acts that
+their people "forever disclaim all right and title to the waste and
+unappropriated lands lying within this State, and that the same shall
+be and remain at the sole and entire disposition of the United States."
+
+With such care have the United States reserved to themselves, in all
+their acts down to this day, in legislating for the Territories and
+admitting States into the Union, the unshackled power to execute in good
+faith the compacts of cession made with the original States. From these
+facts and proceedings it plainly and certainly results--
+
+1. That one of the fundamental principles on which the Confederation of
+the United States was originally based was that the waste lands of the
+West within their limits should be the common property of the United
+States.
+
+2. That those lands were ceded to the United States by the States which
+claimed them, and the cessions were accepted on the express condition
+that they should be disposed of for the common benefit of the States,
+according to their respective proportions in the general charge and
+expenditure, and for no other purpose whatsoever.
+
+3. That in execution of these solemn compacts the Congress of the United
+States did, under the Confederation, proceed to sell these lands and put
+the avails into the common Treasury, and under the new Constitution did
+repeatedly pledge them for the payment of the public debt of the United
+States, by which pledge each State was expected to profit in proportion
+to the general charge to be made upon it for that object.
+
+These are the first principles of this whole subject, which I think
+can not be contested by anyone who examines the proceedings of the
+Revolutionary Congress, the cessions of the several States, and the acts
+of Congress under the new Constitution. Keeping them deeply impressed
+upon the mind, let us proceed to examine how far the objects of the
+cessions have been completed, and see whether those compacts are not
+still obligatory upon the United States.
+
+The debt for which these lands were pledged by Congress may be
+considered as paid, and they are consequently released from that lien.
+But that pledge formed no part of the compacts with the States, or of
+the conditions upon which the cessions were made. It was a contract
+between new parties--between the United States and their creditors.
+Upon payment of the debt the compacts remain in full force, and the
+obligation of the United States to dispose of the lands for the common
+benefit is neither destroyed nor impaired. As they can not now be
+executed in that mode, the only legitimate question which can arise is,
+In what other way are these lands to be hereafter disposed of for the
+common benefit of the several States, "_according to their respective
+and usual proportion in the general charge and expenditure?_" The
+cessions of Virginia, North Carolina, and Georgia in express terms,
+and all the rest impliedly, not only provide thus specifically the
+proportion according to which each State shall profit by the proceeds
+of the land sales, but they proceed to declare that they shall be
+"_faithfully and bona fide disposed of for that purpose, and for no
+other use or purpose whatsoever_." This is the fundamental law of the
+land at this moment, growing out of compacts which are older than the
+Constitution, and formed the corner stone on which the Union itself
+was erected.
+
+In the practice of the Government the proceeds of the public lands have
+not been set apart _as a separate fund_ for the payment of the public
+debt, but have been and are now paid into the Treasury, where they
+constitute a part of the aggregate of revenue upon which the Government
+draws as well for its current expenditures as for payment of the public
+debt. In this manner they have heretofore and do now lessen the general
+charge upon the people of the several States in the exact proportions
+stipulated in the compacts.
+
+These general charges have been composed not only of the public debt and
+the usual expenditures attending the civil and military administrations
+of the Government, but of the amounts paid to the States with which
+these compacts were formed, the amounts paid the Indians for their
+right of possession, the amounts paid for the purchase of Louisiana and
+Florida, and the amounts paid surveyors, registers, receivers, clerks,
+etc., employed in preparing for market and selling the Western domain.
+
+From the origin of the land system down to the 30th September, 1832, the
+amount expended for all these purposes has been about $49,701,280, and
+the amount received from the sales, deducting payments on account of
+roads, etc., about $38,386,624. The revenue arising from the public
+lands, therefore, has not been sufficient to meet the general charges
+on the Treasury which have grown out of them by about $11,314,656. Yet
+in having been applied to lessen those charges the conditions of the
+compacts have been thus far fulfilled, and each State has profited
+according to its usual proportion in the general charge and expenditure.
+The annual proceeds of land sales have increased and the charges have
+diminished, so that at a reduced price those lands would now defray all
+current charges growing out of them and save the Treasury from further
+advances on their account. Their original intent and object, therefore,
+would be accomplished as fully as it has hitherto been by reducing the
+price and hereafter, as heretofore, bringing the proceeds into the
+Treasury. Indeed, as this is the only mode in which the objects of the
+original compact can be attained, it may be considered for all practical
+purposes that it is one of their requirements.
+
+The bill before me begins with an entire subversion of every one of the
+compacts by which the United States became possessed of their Western
+domain, and treats the subject as if they never had existence and as if
+the United States were the original and unconditional owners of all the
+public lands. The first section directs--
+
+
+  That from and after the 31st day of December, 1832, there shall be
+  allowed and paid to each of the States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois,
+  Alabama, Missouri, Mississippi, and Louisiana, over and above what each
+  of the said States is entitled to by the terms of the compacts entered
+  into between them respectively upon their admission into the Union and
+  the United States, the sum of 12-1/2 per cent upon the net amount of the
+  sales of the public lands which subsequent to the day aforesaid shall be
+  made within the several limits of the said States, which said sum of
+  12-1/2 per cent shall be applied to some object or objects of internal
+  improvement or education within the said States under the direction of
+  their several legislatures.
+
+
+This 12-1/2 per cent is to be taken out of the net proceeds of the land
+sales before any apportionment is made, and the same seven States which
+are first to receive this proportion are also to receive their due
+proportion of the residue according to the ratio of general
+distribution.
+
+Now, waiving all considerations of equity or policy in regard to this
+provision, what more need be said to demonstrate its objectionable
+character than that it is in direct and undisguised violation of the
+pledge given by Congress to the States before a single cession was made,
+that it abrogates the condition upon which some of the States came into
+the Union, and that it sets at naught the terms of cession spread upon
+the face of every grant under which the title to that portion of the
+public land is held by the Federal Government?
+
+In the apportionment of the remaining seven-eighths of the proceeds this
+bill, in a manner equally undisguised, violates the conditions upon
+which the United States acquired title to the ceded lands. Abandoning
+altogether the ratio of distribution according to the general charge and
+expenditure provided by the compacts, it adopts that of the Federal
+representative population. Virginia and other States which ceded their
+lands upon the express condition that they should receive a benefit from
+their sales in proportion to their part of the general charge are by the
+bill allowed only a portion of seven-eighths of their proceeds, and that
+not in the proportion of general charge and expenditure, but in the
+ratio of their Federal representative population.
+
+The Constitution of the United States did not delegate to Congress the
+power to abrogate these compacts. On the contrary, by declaring that
+nothing in it "_shall be so construed as to prejudice any claims of the
+United States or of any particular State_," it virtually provides that
+these compacts and the rights they secure shall remain untouched by
+the legislative power, which shall only make all "_needful rules and
+regulations_" for carrying them into effect. All beyond this would seem
+to be an assumption of undelegated power.
+
+These ancient compacts are invaluable monuments of an age of virtue,
+patriotism, and disinterestedness. They exhibit the price that great
+States which had won liberty were willing to pay for that union without
+which they plainly saw it could not be preserved. It was not for
+territory or state power that our Revolutionary fathers took up arms;
+it was for individual liberty and the right of self-government. The
+expulsion from the continent of British armies and British power was to
+them a barren conquest if through the collisions of the redeemed States
+the individual rights for which they fought should become the prey of
+petty military tyrannies established at home. To avert such consequences
+and throw around liberty the shield of union, States whose relative
+strength at the time gave them a preponderating power magnanimously
+sacrificed domains which would have made them the rivals of empires,
+only stipulating that they should be disposed of for the common benefit
+of themselves and the other confederated States. This enlightened policy
+produced union and has secured liberty. It has made our waste lands
+to swarm with a busy people and added many powerful States to our
+Confederation. As well for the fruits which these noble works of our
+ancestors have produced as for the devotedness in which they originated,
+we should hesitate before we demolish them.
+
+But there are other principles asserted in the bill which would have
+impelled me to withhold my signature had I not seen in it a violation
+of the compacts by which the United States acquired title to a large
+portion of the public lands. It reasserts the principle contained in
+the bill authorizing a subscription to the stock of the Maysville,
+Washington, Paris and Lexington Turnpike Road Company, from which I was
+compelled to withhold my consent for reasons contained in my message of
+the 27th May, 1830, to the House of Representatives.
+
+The leading principle then asserted was that Congress possesses no
+constitutional power to appropriate any part of the moneys of the
+United States for objects of a local character within the States.
+That principle I can not be mistaken in supposing has received the
+unequivocal sanction of the American people, and all subsequent
+reflection has but satisfied me more thoroughly that the interests of
+our people and the purity of our Government, if not its existence,
+depend on its observance. The public lands are the common property of
+the United States, and the moneys arising from their sales are a part of
+the public revenue. This bill proposes to raise from and appropriate a
+portion of this public revenue to certain States, providing expressly
+that it shall "_be applied to objects of internal improvement or
+education within those States_," and then proceeds to appropriate the
+balance to all the States, with the declaration that it shall be applied
+"_to such purposes as the legislatures of the said respective States
+shall deem proper_." The former appropriation is expressly for internal
+improvements or education, without qualification as to the kind of
+improvements, and therefore in express violation of the principle
+maintained in my objections to the turnpike-road bill above referred
+to. The latter appropriation is more broad, and gives the money to be
+applied to any local purpose whatsoever. It will not be denied that
+under the provisions of the bill a portion of the money might have been
+applied to making the very road to which the bill of 1830 had reference,
+and must of course come within the scope of the same principle. If the
+money of the United States can not be applied to local purposes _through
+its own agents_, as little can it be permitted to be thus expended
+_through the agency of the State governments_.
+
+It has been supposed that with all the reductions in our revenue which
+could be speedily effected by Congress without injury to the substantial
+interests of the country there might be for some years to come a surplus
+of moneys in the Treasury, and that there was in principle no objection
+to returning them to the people by whom they were paid. As the literal
+accomplishment of such an object is obviously impracticable, it was
+thought admissible, as the nearest approximation to it, to hand them
+over to the State governments, the more immediate representatives of
+the people, to be by them applied to the benefit of those to whom they
+properly belonged. The principle and the object were to return to the
+people an unavoidable surplus of revenue which might have been paid by
+them under a system which could not at once be abandoned, but even this
+resource, which at one time seemed to be almost the only alternative to
+save the General Government from grasping unlimited power over internal
+improvements, was suggested with doubts of its constitutionality.
+
+But this bill assumes a new principle. Its object is not to return to
+the people an unavoidable surplus of revenue paid in by them, but to
+create a surplus for distribution among the States. It seizes the entire
+proceeds of one source of revenue and sets them apart as a surplus,
+making it necessary to raise the moneys for supporting the Government
+and meeting the general charges from other sources. It even throws the
+entire land system upon the customs for its support, and makes the
+public lands a perpetual charge upon the Treasury. It does not return
+to the people moneys accidentally or unavoidably paid by them to the
+Government, by which they are not wanted, but compels the people to pay
+moneys into the Treasury for the mere purpose of creating a surplus for
+distribution to their State governments. If this principle be once
+admitted, it is not difficult to perceive to what consequences it may
+lead. Already this bill, by throwing the land system on the revenues
+from imports for support, virtually distributes among the States a part
+of those revenues. The proportion may be increased from time to time,
+without any departure from the principle now asserted, until the State
+governments shall derive all the funds necessary for their support from
+the Treasury of the United States, or, if a sufficient supply should be
+obtained by some States and not by others, the deficient States might
+complain; and to put an end to all further difficulty Congress, without
+assuming any new principle, need go but one step further and put the
+salaries of all the State governors, judges, and other officers, with a
+sufficient sum for other expenses, in their general appropriation bill.
+
+It appears to me that a more direct road to consolidation can not be
+devised. Money is power, and in that Government which pays all the
+public officers of the States will all political power be substantially
+concentrated. The State governments, if governments they might be
+called, would lose all their independence and dignity; the economy which
+now distinguishes them would be converted into a profusion, limited
+only by the extent of the supply. Being the dependents of the General
+Government, and looking to its Treasury as the source of all their
+emoluments, the State officers, under whatever names they might pass and
+by whatever forms their duties might be prescribed, would in effect be
+the mere stipendiaries and instruments of the central power.
+
+I am quite sure that the intelligent people of our several States will
+be satisfied on a little reflection that it is neither wise nor safe to
+release the members of their local legislatures from the responsibility
+of levying the taxes necessary to support their State governments and
+vest it in Congress, over most of whose members they have no control.
+They will not think it expedient that Congress shall be the taxgatherer
+and paymaster of all their State governments, thus amalgamating all
+their officers into one mass of common interest and common feeling.
+It is too obvious that such a course would subvert our well-balanced
+system of government, and ultimately deprive us of all the blessings
+now derived from our happy Union.
+
+However willing I might be that any unavoidable surplus in the
+Treasury should be returned to the people through their State
+governments, I can not assent to the principle that a surplus may be
+created for the purpose of distribution. Viewing this bill as in effect
+assuming the right not only to create a surplus for that purpose, but to
+divide the contents of the Treasury among the States without limitation,
+from whatever source they may be derived, and asserting the power to
+raise and appropriate money for the support of every State government
+and institution, as well as for making every local improvement, however
+trivial, I can not give it my assent.
+
+It is difficult to perceive what advantages would accrue to the old
+States or the new from the system of distribution which this bill
+proposes if it were otherwise unobjectionable. It requires no argument
+to prove that if $3,000,000 a year, or any other sum, shall be taken out
+of the Treasury by this bill for distribution it must be replaced by the
+same sum collected from the people through some other means. The old
+States will receive annually a sum of money from the Treasury, but they
+will pay in a larger sum, together with the expenses of collection and
+distribution. It is only their proportion of _seven-eighths_ of the
+proceeds of land sales which they are _to receive_, but they must _pay_
+their due proportion of the _whole_. Disguise it as we may, the bill
+proposes to them a dead loss in the ratio of _eight_ to _seven_,
+in addition to expenses and other incidental losses. This assertion
+is not the less true because it may not at first be palpable. Their
+receipts will be in large sums, but their payments in small ones. The
+_governments_ of the States will receive _seven_ dollars, for which the
+_people_ of the States will pay _eight_. The large sums received will
+be palpable to the senses; the small sums paid it requires thought to
+identify. But a little consideration will satisfy the people that the
+effect is the same as if _seven hundred dollars_ were given them from
+the public Treasury, for which they were at the same time required to
+pay in taxes, direct or indirect, _eight hundred_.
+
+I deceive myself greatly if the new States would find their interests
+promoted by such a system as this bill proposes. Their true policy
+consists in the rapid settling and improvement of the waste lands within
+their limits. As a means of hastening those events, they have long been
+looking to a reduction in the price of public lands upon the final
+payment of the national debt. The effect of the proposed system would be
+to prevent that reduction. It is true the bill reserves to Congress the
+power to reduce the price, but the effect of its details as now arranged
+would probably be forever to prevent its exercise.
+
+With the just men who inhabit the new States it is a sufficient reason
+to reject this system that it is in violation of the fundamental laws
+of the Republic and its Constitution. But if it were a mere question of
+interest or expediency they would still reject it. They would not sell
+their bright prospect of increasing wealth and growing power at such
+a price. They would not place a sum of money to be paid into their
+treasuries in competition with the settlement of their waste lands and
+the increase of their population. They would not consider a small
+or a large annual sum to be paid to their governments and immediately
+expended as an equivalent for that enduring wealth which is composed of
+flocks and herds and cultivated farms. No temptation will allure them
+from that object of abiding interest, the settlement of their waste
+lands, and the increase of a hardy race of free citizens, their glory
+in peace and their defense in war.
+
+On the whole, I adhere to the opinion, expressed by me in my annual
+message of 1832, that it is our true policy that the public lands shall
+cease as soon as practicable to be a source of revenue, except for the
+payment of those general charges which grow out of the acquisition of
+the lands, their survey and sale. Although these expenses have not been
+met by the proceeds of sales heretofore, it is quite certain they will
+be hereafter, even after a considerable reduction in the price. By
+meeting in the Treasury so much of the general charge as arises from
+that source they will hereafter, as they have been heretofore, be
+disposed of for the common benefit of the United States, according to
+the compacts of cession. I do not doubt that it is the real interest
+of each and all the States in the Union, and particularly of the new
+States, that the price of these lands shall be reduced and graduated,
+and that after they have been offered for a certain number of years
+the refuse remaining unsold shall be abandoned to the States and the
+machinery of our land system entirely withdrawn. It can not be supposed
+the compacts intended that the United States should retain forever a
+title to lands within the States which are of no value, and no doubt
+is entertained that the general interest would be best promoted by
+surrendering such lands to the States.
+
+This plan for disposing of the public lands impairs no principle,
+violates no compact, and deranges no system. Already has the price of
+those lands been reduced from $2 per acre to $1.25, and upon the will of
+Congress it depends whether there shall be a further reduction. While
+the burdens of the East are diminishing by the reduction of the duties
+upon imports, it seems but equal justice that the chief burden of the
+West should be lightened in an equal degree at least. It would be just
+to the old States and the new, conciliate every interest, disarm the
+subject of all its dangers, and add another guaranty to the perpetuity
+of our happy Union.
+
+Sensible, however, of the difficulties which surround this important
+subject, I can only add to my regrets at finding myself again compelled
+to disagree with the legislative power the sincere declaration that any
+plan which shall promise a final and satisfactory disposition of the
+question and be compatible with the Constitution and public faith shall
+have my hearty concurrence.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+[NOTE.--For reasons for the pocket veto of "An act to improve the
+navigation of the Wabash River," see Sixth Annual Message, dated
+December 1, 1834, pp. 118-123.]
+
+
+
+
+PROTEST.[9]
+
+
+[Footnote 9: The Senate ordered that it be not entered on the Journal.]
+
+APRIL 15, 1834.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+It appears by the published Journal of the Senate that on the 26th of
+December last a resolution was offered by a member of the Senate, which
+after a protracted debate was on the 28th day of March last modified
+by the mover and passed by the votes of twenty-six Senators out of
+forty-six who were present and voted, in the following words, viz:
+
+
+  _Resolved_, That the President, in the late Executive proceedings in
+  relation to the public revenue, has assumed upon himself authority and
+  power not conferred by the Constitution and laws, but in derogation of
+  both.
+
+
+Having had the honor, through the voluntary suffrages of the American
+people, to fill the office of President of the United States during
+the period which may be presumed to have been referred to in this
+resolution, it is sufficiently evident that the censure it inflicts was
+intended for myself. Without notice, unheard and untried, I thus find
+myself charged on the records of the Senate, and in a form hitherto
+unknown in our history, with the high crime of violating the laws and
+Constitution of my country.
+
+It can seldom be necessary for any department of the Government, when
+assailed in conversation or debate or by the strictures of the press or
+of popular assemblies, to step out of its ordinary path for the purpose
+of vindicating its conduct or of pointing out any irregularity or
+injustice in the manner of the attack; but when the Chief Executive
+Magistrate is, by one of the most important branches of the Government
+in its official capacity, in a public manner, and by its recorded
+sentence, but without precedent, competent authority, or just cause,
+declared guilty of a breach of the laws and Constitution, it is due to
+his station, to public opinion, and to a proper self-respect that the
+officer thus denounced should promptly expose the wrong which has been
+done.
+
+In the present case, moreover, there is even a stronger necessity for
+such a vindication. By an express provision of the Constitution, before
+the President of the United States can enter on the execution of his
+office he is required to take an oath or affirmation in the following
+words:
+
+
+  I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the
+  office of President of the United States and will to the best of my
+  ability preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United
+  States.
+
+
+The duty of defending so far as in him lies the integrity of the
+Constitution would indeed have resulted from the very nature of his
+office, but by thus expressing it in the official oath or affirmation,
+which in this respect differs from that of any other functionary, the
+founders of our Republic have attested their sense of its importance
+and have given to it a peculiar solemnity and force. Bound to the
+performance of this duty by the oath I have taken, by the strongest
+obligations of gratitude to the American people, and by the ties which
+unite my every earthly interest with the welfare and glory of my
+country, and perfectly convinced that the discussion and passage of
+the above-mentioned resolution were not only unauthorized by the
+Constitution, but in many respects repugnant to its provisions and
+subversive of the rights secured by it to other coordinate departments,
+I deem it an imperative duty to maintain the supremacy of that sacred
+instrument and the immunities of the department intrusted to my care
+by all means consistent with my own lawful powers, with the rights of
+others, and with the genius of our civil institutions. To this end I
+have caused this my _solemn protest_ against the aforesaid proceedings
+to be placed on the files of the executive department and to be
+transmitted to the Senate.
+
+It is alike due to the subject, the Senate, and the people that the
+views which I have taken of the proceedings referred to, and which
+compel me to regard them in the light that has been mentioned, should
+be exhibited at length, and with the freedom and firmness which are
+required by an occasion so unprecedented and peculiar.
+
+Under the Constitution of the United States the powers and functions
+of the various departments of the Federal Government and their
+responsibilities for violation or neglect of duty are clearly defined
+or result by necessary inference. The legislative power is, subject to
+the qualified negative of the President, vested in the Congress of the
+United States, composed of the Senate and House of Representatives; the
+executive power is vested exclusively in the President, except that in
+the conclusion of treaties and in certain appointments to office he is
+to act with the advice and consent of the Senate; the judicial power is
+vested exclusively in the Supreme and other courts of the United States,
+except in cases of impeachment, for which purpose the accusatory power
+is vested in the House of Representatives and that of hearing and
+determining in the Senate. But although for the special purposes which
+have been mentioned there is an occasional intermixture of the powers of
+the different departments, yet with these exceptions each of the three
+great departments is independent of the others in its sphere of action,
+and when it deviates from that sphere is not responsible to the others
+further than it is expressly made so in the Constitution. In every other
+respect each of them is the coequal of the other two, and all are the
+servants of the American people, without power or right to control or
+censure each other in the service of their common superior, save only
+in the manner and to the degree which that superior has prescribed.
+
+The responsibilities of the President are numerous and weighty.
+He is liable to impeachment for high crimes and misdemeanors, and on
+due conviction to removal from office and perpetual disqualification;
+and notwithstanding such conviction, he may also be indicted and
+punished according to law. He is also liable to the private action
+of any party who may have been injured by his illegal mandates or
+instructions in the same manner and to the same extent as the humblest
+functionary. In addition to the responsibilities which may thus be
+enforced by impeachment, criminal prosecution, or suit at law, he
+is also accountable at the bar of public opinion for every act of his
+Administration. Subject only to the restraints of truth and justice,
+the free people of the United States have the undoubted right, as
+individuals or collectively, orally or in writing, at such times and in
+such language and form as they may think proper, to discuss his official
+conduct and to express and promulgate their opinions concerning it.
+Indirectly also his conduct may come under review in either branch of
+the Legislature, or in the Senate when acting in its executive capacity,
+and so far as the executive or legislative proceedings of these bodies
+may require it, it may be exercised by them. These are believed to be
+the proper and only modes in which the President of the United States
+is to be held accountable for his official conduct.
+
+Tested by these principles, the resolution of the Senate is wholly
+unauthorized by the Constitution, and in derogation of its entire
+spirit. It assumes that a single branch of the legislative department
+may for the purposes of a public censure, and without any view to
+legislation or impeachment, take up, consider, and decide upon the
+official acts of the Executive. But in no part of the Constitution is
+the President subjected to any such responsibility, and in no part of
+that instrument is any such power conferred on either branch of the
+Legislature.
+
+The justice of these conclusions will be illustrated and confirmed by
+a brief analysis of the powers of the Senate and a comparison of their
+recent proceedings with those powers.
+
+The high functions assigned by the Constitution to the Senate are in
+their nature either legislative, executive, or judicial. It is only in
+the exercise of its judicial powers, when sitting as a court for the
+trial of impeachments, that the Senate is expressly authorized and
+necessarily required to consider and decide upon the conduct of the
+President or any other public officer. Indirectly, however, as has
+already been suggested, it may frequently be called on to perform that
+office. Cases may occur in the course of its legislative or executive
+proceedings in which it may be indispensable to the proper exercise of
+its powers that it should inquire into and decide upon the conduct of
+the President or other public officers, and in every such case its
+constitutional right to do so is cheerfully conceded. But to authorize
+the Senate to enter on such a task in its legislative or executive
+capacity the inquiry must actually grow out of and tend to some
+legislative or executive action, and the decision, when expressed,
+must take the form of some appropriate legislative or executive act.
+
+The resolution in question was introduced, discussed, and passed not as
+a joint but as a separate resolution. It asserts no legislative power,
+proposes no legislative action, and neither possesses the form nor any
+of the attributes of a legislative measure. It does not appear to have
+been entertained or passed with any view or expectation of its issuing
+in a law or joint resolution, or in the repeal of any law or joint
+resolution, or in any other legislative action.
+
+Whilst wanting both the form and substance of a legislative measure,
+it is equally manifest that the resolution was not justified by any
+of the executive powers conferred on the Senate. These powers relate
+exclusively to the consideration of treaties and nominations to office,
+and they are exercised in secret session and with closed doors. This
+resolution does not apply to any treaty or nomination, and was passed
+in a public session.
+
+Nor does this proceeding in any way belong to that class of incidental
+resolutions which relate to the officers of the Senate, to their Chamber
+and other appurtenances, or to subjects of order and other matters of
+the like nature, in all which either House may lawfully proceed without
+any cooperation with the other or with the President.
+
+On the contrary, the whole phraseology and sense of the resolution seem
+to be judicial. Its essence, true character, and only practical effect
+are to be found in the conduct which it charges upon the President and
+in the judgment which it pronounces on that conduct. The resolution,
+therefore, though discussed and adopted by the Senate in its legislative
+capacity, is in its office and in all its characteristics essentially
+judicial.
+
+That the Senate possesses a high judicial power and that instances may
+occur in which the President of the United States will be amenable to it
+is undeniable; but under the provisions of the Constitution it would
+seem to be equally plain that neither the President nor any other
+officer can be rightfully subjected to the operation of the judicial
+power of the Senate except in the cases and under the forms prescribed
+by the Constitution.
+
+The Constitution declares that "the President, Vice-President, and all
+civil officers of the United States shall be removed from office on
+impeachment for and conviction of treason, bribery, or other high crimes
+and misdemeanors;" that the House of Representatives "shall have the
+sole power of impeachment;" that the Senate "shall have the sole power
+to try all impeachments;" that "when sitting for that purpose they shall
+be on oath or affirmation;" that "when the President of the United
+States is tried the Chief Justice shall preside;" that "no person shall
+be convicted without the concurrence of two-thirds of the members
+present," and that "judgment shall not extend further than to removal
+from office and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor,
+trust, or profit under the United States."
+
+The resolution above quoted charges, in substance, that in certain
+proceedings relating to the public revenue the President has usurped
+authority and power not conferred upon him by the Constitution and
+laws, and that in doing so he violated both. Any such act constitutes
+a high crime--one of the highest, indeed, which the President can
+commit--a crime which justly exposes him to impeachment by the House
+of Representatives, and, upon due conviction, to removal from office
+and to the complete and immutable disfranchisement prescribed by the
+Constitution. The resolution, then, was in substance an impeachment of
+the President, and in its passage amounts to a declaration by a majority
+of the Senate that he is guilty of an impeachable offense. As such it is
+spread upon the journals of the Senate, published to the nation and to
+the world, made part of our enduring archives, and incorporated in the
+history of the age. The punishment of removal from office and future
+disqualification does not, it is true, follow this decision, nor would
+it have followed the like decision if the regular forms of proceeding
+had been pursued, because the requisite number did not concur in the
+result. But the moral influence of a solemn declaration by a majority of
+the Senate that the accused is guilty of the offense charged upon him
+has been as effectually secured as if the like declaration had been
+made upon an impeachment expressed in the same terms. Indeed, a greater
+practical effect has been gained, because the votes given for the
+resolution, though not sufficient to authorize a judgment of guilty
+on an impeachment, were numerous enough to carry that resolution.
+
+That the resolution does not expressly allege that the assumption of
+power and authority which it condemns was intentional and corrupt is no
+answer to the preceding view of its character and effect. The act thus
+condemned necessarily implies volition and design in the individual to
+whom it is imputed, and, being unlawful in its character, the legal
+conclusion is that it was prompted by improper motives and committed
+with an unlawful intent. The charge is not of a mistake in the exercise
+of supposed powers, but of the assumption of powers not conferred by
+the Constitution and laws, but in derogation of both, and nothing is
+suggested to excuse or palliate the turpitude of the act. In the absence
+of any such excuse or palliation there is only room for one inference,
+and that is that the intent was unlawful and corrupt. Besides, the
+resolution not only contains no mitigating suggestions, but, on the
+contrary, it holds up the act complained of as justly obnoxious to
+censure and reprobation, and thus as distinctly stamps it with impurity
+of motive as if the strongest epithets had been used.
+
+The President of the United States, therefore, has been by a majority of
+his constitutional triers accused and found guilty of an impeachable
+offense, but in no part of this proceeding have the directions of the
+Constitution been observed.
+
+The impeachment, instead of being preferred and prosecuted by the House
+of Representatives, originated in the Senate, and was prosecuted without
+the aid or concurrence of the other House. The oath or affirmation
+prescribed by the Constitution was not taken by the Senators, the Chief
+Justice did not preside, no notice of the charge was given to the
+accused, and no opportunity afforded him to respond to the accusation,
+to meet his accusers face to face, to cross-examine the witnesses, to
+procure counteracting testimony, or to be heard in his defense. The
+safeguards and formalities which the Constitution has connected with
+the power of impeachment were doubtless supposed by the framers of that
+instrument to be essential to the protection of the public servant, to
+the attainment of justice, and to the order, impartiality, and dignity
+of the procedure. These safeguards and formalities were not only
+practically disregarded in the commencement and conduct of these
+proceedings, but in their result I find myself convicted by less than
+two-thirds of the members present of an impeachable offense.
+
+In vain may it be alleged in defense of this proceeding that the form of
+the resolution is not that of an impeachment or of a judgment thereupon,
+that the punishment prescribed in the Constitution does not follow its
+adoption, or that in this case no impeachment is to be expected from the
+House of Representatives. It is because it did not assume the form of an
+impeachment that it is the more palpably repugnant to the Constitution,
+for it is through that form only that the President is judicially
+responsible to the Senate; and though neither removal from office nor
+future disqualification ensues, yet it is not to be presumed that the
+framers of the Constitution considered either or both of those results
+as constituting the whole of the punishment they prescribed. The
+judgment of _guilty_ by the highest tribunal in the Union, the stigma it
+would inflict on the offender, his family, and fame, and the perpetual
+record on the Journal, handing down to future generations the story of
+his disgrace, were doubtless regarded by them as the bitterest portions,
+if not the very essence, of that punishment. So far, therefore, as some
+of its most material parts are concerned, the passage, recording, and
+promulgation of the resolution are an attempt to bring them on the
+President in a manner unauthorized by the Constitution. To shield him
+and other officers who are liable to impeachment from consequences
+so momentous, except when really merited by official delinquencies,
+the Constitution has most carefully guarded the whole process of
+impeachment. A majority of the House of Representatives must think the
+officer guilty before he can be charged. Two-thirds of the Senate must
+pronounce him guilty or he is deemed to be innocent. Forty-six Senators
+appear by the Journal to have been present when the vote on the
+resolution was taken. If after all the solemnities of an impeachment
+thirty of those Senators had voted that the President was guilty, yet
+would he have been acquitted; but by the mode of proceeding adopted in
+the present case a lasting record of conviction has been entered up by
+the votes of twenty-six Senators without an impeachment or trial, whilst
+the Constitution expressly declares that to the entry of such a judgment
+an accusation by the House of Representatives, a trial by the Senate,
+and a concurrence of two-thirds in the vote of guilty shall be
+indispensable prerequisites.
+
+Whether or not an impeachment was to be expected from the House of
+Representatives was a point on which the Senate had no constitutional
+right to speculate, and in respect to which, even had it possessed the
+spirit of prophecy, its anticipations would have furnished no just
+ground for this procedure. Admitting that there was reason to believe
+that a violation of the Constitution and laws had been actually
+committed by the President, still it was the duty of the Senate, as his
+sole constitutional judges, to wait for an impeachment until the other
+House should think proper to prefer it. The members of the Senate
+could have no right to infer that no impeachment was intended. On the
+contrary, every legal and rational presumption on their part ought to
+have been that if there was good reason to believe him guilty of an
+impeachable offense the House of Representatives would perform its
+constitutional duty by arraigning the offender before the justice of
+his country. The contrary presumption would involve an implication
+derogatory to the integrity and honor of the representatives of the
+people. But suppose the suspicion thus implied were actually entertained
+and for good cause, how can it justify the assumption by the Senate of
+powers not conferred by the Constitution?
+
+It is only necessary to look at the condition in which the Senate and
+the President have been placed by this proceeding to perceive its utter
+incompatibility with the provisions and the spirit of the Constitution
+and with the plainest dictates of humanity and justice.
+
+If the House of Representatives shall be of opinion that there is just
+ground for the censure pronounced upon the President, then will it be
+the solemn duty of that House to prefer the proper accusation and to
+cause him to be brought to trial by the constitutional tribunal. But in
+what condition would he find that tribunal? A majority of its members
+have already considered the case, and have not only formed but expressed
+a deliberate judgment upon its merits. It is the policy of our benign
+systems of jurisprudence to secure in all criminal proceedings, and even
+in the most trivial litigations, a fair, unprejudiced, and impartial
+trial, and surely it can not be less important that such a trial should
+be secured to the highest officer of the Government.
+
+The Constitution makes the House of Representatives the exclusive
+judges, in the first instance, of the question whether the President
+has committed an impeachable offense. A majority of the Senate, whose
+interference with this preliminary question has for the best of all
+reasons been studiously excluded, anticipate the action of the House of
+Representatives, assume not only the function which belongs exclusively
+to that body, but convert themselves into accusers, witnesses, counsel,
+and judges, and prejudge the whole case, thus presenting the appalling
+spectacle in a free State of judges going through a labored preparation
+for an impartial hearing and decision by a previous _ex parte_
+investigation and sentence against the supposed offender.
+
+There is no more settled axiom in that Government whence we derived the
+model of this part of our Constitution than that "the lords can not
+impeach any to themselves, nor join in the accusation, _because they
+are judges_." Independently of the general reasons on which this rule
+is founded, its propriety and importance are greatly increased by the
+nature of the impeaching power. The power of arraigning the high
+officers of government before a tribunal whose sentence may expel them
+from their seats and brand them as infamous is eminently a popular
+remedy--a remedy designed to be employed for the protection of private
+right and public liberty against the abuses of injustice and the
+encroachments of arbitrary power. But the framers of the Constitution
+were also undoubtedly aware that this formidable instrument had been and
+might be abused, and that from its very nature an impeachment for high
+crimes and misdemeanors, whatever might be its result, would in most
+cases be accompanied by so much of dishonor and reproach, solicitude and
+suffering, as to make the power of preferring it one of the highest
+solemnity and importance. It was due to both these considerations that
+the impeaching power should be lodged in the hands of those who from
+the mode of their election and the tenure of their offices would most
+accurately express the popular will and at the same time be most
+directly and speedily amenable to the people. The theory of these wise
+and benignant intentions is in the present case effectually defeated by
+the proceedings of the Senate. The members of that body represent not
+the people, but the States; and though they are undoubtedly responsible
+to the States, yet from their extended term of service the effect of
+that responsibility during the whole period of that term must very much
+depend upon their own impressions of its obligatory force. When a body
+thus constituted expresses beforehand its opinion in a particular case,
+and thus indirectly invites a prosecution, it not only assumes a power
+intended for wise reasons to be confined to others, but it shields the
+latter from that exclusive and personal responsibility under which it
+was intended to be exercised, and reverses the whole scheme of this
+part of the Constitution.
+
+Such would be some of the objections to this procedure, even if it were
+admitted that there is just ground for imputing to the President the
+offenses charged in the resolution. But if, on the other hand, the House
+of Representatives shall be of opinion that there is no reason for
+charging them upon him, and shall therefore deem it improper to prefer
+an impeachment, then will the violation of privilege as it respects that
+House, of justice as it regards the President, and of the Constitution
+as it relates to both be only the more conspicuous and impressive.
+
+The constitutional mode of procedure on an impeachment has not only been
+wholly disregarded, but some of the first principles of natural right
+and enlightened jurisprudence have been violated in the very form of the
+resolution. It carefully abstains from averring in _which_ of "the late
+proceedings in relation to the public revenue the President has assumed
+upon himself authority and power not conferred by the Constitution and
+laws," It carefully abstains from specifying _what laws_ or _what parts_
+of the Constitution have been violated. Why was not the certainty of the
+offense--"the nature and cause of the accusation"--set out in the manner
+required in the Constitution before even the humblest individual, for
+the smallest crime, can be exposed to condemnation? Such a specification
+was due to the accused that he might direct his defense to the real
+points of attack, to the people that they might clearly understand in
+what particulars their institutions had been violated, and to the truth
+and certainty of our public annals. As the record now stands, whilst
+the resolution plainly charges upon the President at least one act of
+usurpation in "the late Executive proceedings in relation to the public
+revenue," and is so framed that those Senators who believed that one
+such act, and only one, had been committed could assent to it, its
+language is yet broad enough to include several such acts, and so it
+may have been regarded by some of those who voted for it. But though
+the accusation is thus comprehensive in the censures it implies, there
+is no such certainty of time, place, or circumstance as to exhibit the
+particular conclusion of fact or law which induced any one Senator to
+vote for it; and it may well have happened that whilst one Senator
+believed that some particular act embraced in the resolution was an
+arbitrary and unconstitutional assumption of power, others of the
+majority may have deemed that very act both constitutional and
+expedient, or, if not expedient, yet still within the pale of the
+Constitution; and thus a majority of the Senators may have been enabled
+to concur in a vague and undefined accusation that the President, in
+the course of "the late Executive proceedings in relation to the public
+revenue," had violated the Constitution and laws, whilst if a separate
+vote had been taken in respect to each particular act included within
+the general terms the accusers of the President might on any such vote
+have been found in the minority.
+
+Still further to exemplify this feature of the proceeding, it is
+important to be remarked that the resolution as originally offered
+to the Senate specified with adequate precision certain acts of the
+President which it denounced as a violation of the Constitution and
+laws, and that it was not until the very close of the debate, and
+when perhaps it was apprehended that a majority might not sustain the
+specific accusation contained in it, that the resolution was so modified
+as to assume its present form. A more striking illustration of the
+soundness and necessity of the rules which forbid vague and indefinite
+generalities and require a reasonable certainty in all judicial
+allegations, and a more glaring instance of the violation of those
+rules, has seldom been exhibited.
+
+In this view of the resolution it must certainly be regarded not as a
+vindication of any particular provision of the law or the Constitution,
+but simply as an official rebuke or condemnatory sentence, too general
+and indefinite to be easily repelled, but yet sufficiently precise to
+bring into discredit the conduct and motives of the Executive. But
+whatever it may have been intended to accomplish, it is obvious that
+the vague, general, and abstract form of the resolution is in perfect
+keeping with those other departures from first principles and settled
+improvements in jurisprudence so properly the boast of free countries
+in modern times. And it is not too much to say of the whole of these
+proceedings that if they shall be approved and sustained by an
+intelligent people, then will that great contest with arbitrary power
+which had established in statutes, in bills of rights, in sacred
+charters, and in constitutions of government the right of every citizen
+to a notice before trial, to a hearing before conviction, and to an
+impartial tribunal for deciding on the charge have been waged in vain.
+
+If the resolution had been left in its original form it is not to be
+presumed that it could ever have received the assent of a majority
+of the Senate, for the acts therein specified as violations of the
+Constitution and laws were clearly within the limits of the Executive
+authority. They are the "dismissing the late Secretary of the Treasury
+because he would not, contrary to his sense of his own duty, remove the
+money of the United States in deposit with the Bank of the United States
+and its branches in conformity with the President's opinion, and
+appointing his successor to effect such removal, which has been done."
+But as no other specification has been substituted, and as these were
+the "Executive proceedings in relation to the public revenue"
+principally referred to in the course of the discussion, they will
+doubtless be generally regarded as the acts intended to be denounced as
+"an assumption of authority and power not conferred by the Constitution
+or laws, but in derogation of both." It is therefore due to the occasion
+that a condensed summary of the views of the Executive in respect to
+them should be here exhibited.
+
+By the Constitution "the executive power is vested in a President
+of the United States." Among the duties imposed upon him, and which he
+is sworn to perform, is that of "taking care that the laws be faithfully
+executed." Being thus made responsible for the entire action of the
+executive department, it was but reasonable that the power of
+appointing, overseeing, and controlling those who execute the laws--a
+power in its nature executive--should remain in his hands. It is
+therefore not only his right, but the Constitution makes it his duty,
+to "nominate and, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate,
+appoint" all "officers of the United States whose appointments are not
+in the Constitution otherwise provided for," with a proviso that the
+appointment of inferior officers may be vested in the President alone,
+in the courts of justice, or in the heads of Departments.
+
+The executive power vested in the Senate is neither that of "nominating"
+nor "appointing." It is merely a check upon the Executive power of
+appointment. If individuals are proposed for appointment by the
+President by them deemed incompetent or unworthy, they may withhold
+their consent and the appointment can not be made. They check the
+action of the Executive, but can not in relation to those very subjects
+act themselves nor direct him. Selections are still made by the
+President, and the negative given to the Senate, without diminishing his
+responsibility, furnishes an additional guaranty to the country that the
+subordinate executive as well as the judicial offices shall be filled
+with worthy and competent men.
+
+The whole executive power being vested in the President, who is
+responsible for its exercise, it is a necessary consequence that he
+should have a right to employ agents of his own choice to aid him in the
+performance of his duties, and to discharge them when he is no longer
+willing to be responsible for their acts. In strict accordance with this
+principle, the power of removal, which, like that of appointment, is
+an original executive power, is left unchecked by the Constitution in
+relation to all executive officers, for whose conduct the President
+is responsible, while it is taken from him in relation to judicial
+officers, for whose acts he is not responsible. In the Government from
+which many of the fundamental principles of our system are derived the
+head of the executive department originally had power to appoint and
+remove at will all officers, executive and judicial. It was to take
+the judges out of this general power of removal, and thus make them
+independent of the Executive, that the tenure of their offices was
+changed to good behavior. Nor is it conceivable why they are placed in
+our Constitution upon a tenure different from that of all other officers
+appointed by the Executive unless it be for the same purpose.
+
+But if there were any just ground for doubt on the face of the
+Constitution whether all executive officers are removable at the will of
+the President, it is obviated by the cotemporaneous construction of the
+instrument and the uniform practice under it.
+
+The power of removal was a topic of solemn debate in the Congress of
+1789 while organizing the administrative departments of the Government,
+and it was finally decided that the President derived from the
+Constitution the power of removal so far as it regards that department
+for whose acts he is responsible. Although the debate covered the whole
+ground, embracing the Treasury as well as all the other Executive
+Departments, it arose on a motion to strike out of the bill to establish
+a Department of Foreign Affairs, since called the Department of State,
+a clause declaring the Secretary "to be removable from office by the
+President of the United States." After that motion had been decided in
+the negative it was perceived that these words did not convey the sense
+of the House of Representatives in relation to the true source of
+the power of removal. With the avowed object of preventing any future
+inference that this power was exercised by the President in virtue of
+a grant from Congress, when in fact that body considered it as derived
+from the Constitution, the words which had been the subject of debate
+were struck out, and in lieu thereof a clause was inserted in a
+provision concerning the chief clerk of the Department, which declared
+that "whenever the said principal officer shall be removed from office
+by the President of the United States, or in any other case of vacancy,"
+the chief clerk should during such vacancy have charge of the papers
+of the office. This change having been made for the express purpose of
+declaring the sense of Congress that the President derived the power
+of removal from the Constitution, the act as it passed has always been
+considered as a full expression of the sense of the legislature on this
+important part of the American Constitution.
+
+Here, then, we have the concurrent authority of President Washington, of
+the Senate, and the House of Representatives, numbers of whom had taken
+an active part in the convention which framed the Constitution and in
+the State conventions which adopted it, that the President derived an
+unqualified power of removal from that instrument itself, which is
+"beyond the reach of legislative authority." Upon this principle the
+Government has now been steadily administered for about forty-five
+years, during which there have been numerous removals made by the
+President or by his direction, embracing every grade of executive
+officers from the heads of Departments to the messengers of bureaus.
+
+The Treasury Department in the discussions of 1789 was considered on
+the same footing as the other Executive Departments, and in the act
+establishing it were incorporated the precise words indicative of the
+sense of Congress that the President derives his power to remove the
+Secretary from the Constitution, which appear in the act establishing
+the Department of Foreign Affairs. An Assistant Secretary of the
+Treasury was created, and it was provided that he should take charge of
+the books and papers of the Department "whenever the Secretary shall
+be removed from office by the President of the United States." The
+Secretary of the Treasury being appointed by the President, and being
+considered as constitutionally removable by him, it appears never to
+have occurred to anyone in the Congress of 1789, or since until very
+recently, that he was other than an executive officer, the mere
+instrument of the Chief Magistrate in the execution of the laws,
+subject, like all other heads of Departments, to his supervision and
+control. No such idea as an officer of the Congress can be found in the
+Constitution or appears to have suggested itself to those who organized
+the Government. There are officers of each House the appointment of
+which is authorized by the Constitution, but all officers referred to in
+that instrument as coming within the appointing power of the President,
+whether established thereby or created by law, are "officers of the
+United States." No joint power of appointment is given to the two Houses
+of Congress, nor is there any accountability to them as one body; but
+as soon as any office is created by law, of whatever name or character,
+the appointment of the person or persons to fill it devolves by the
+Constitution upon the President, with the advice and consent of the
+Senate, unless it be an inferior office, and the appointment be vested
+by the law itself "in the President alone, in the courts of law, or in
+the heads of Departments."
+
+But at the time of the organization of the Treasury Department an
+incident occurred which distinctly evinces the unanimous concurrence
+of the First Congress in the principle that the Treasury Department is
+wholly executive in its character and responsibilities. A motion was
+made to strike out the provision of the bill making it the duty of the
+Secretary "to digest and report plans for the improvement and management
+of the revenue and for the support of public credit," on the ground
+that it would give the executive department of the Government too much
+influence and power in Congress. The motion was not opposed on the
+ground that the Secretary was the officer of Congress and responsible
+to that body, which would have been conclusive if admitted, but on other
+ground, which conceded his executive character throughout. The whole
+discussion evinces an unanimous concurrence in the principle that the
+Secretary of the Treasury is wholly an executive officer, and the
+struggle of the minority was to restrict his power as such. From that
+time down to the present the Secretary of the Treasury, the Treasurer,
+Register, Comptrollers, Auditors, and clerks who fill the offices of
+that Department have in the practice of the Government been considered
+and treated as on the same footing with corresponding grades of officers
+in all the other Executive Departments.
+
+The custody of the public property, under such regulations as may be
+prescribed by legislative authority, has always been considered an
+appropriate function of the executive department in this and all other
+Governments. In accordance with this principle, every species of
+property belonging to the United States (excepting that which is in the
+use of the several coordinate departments of the Government as means
+to aid them in performing their appropriate functions) is in charge of
+officers appointed by the President, whether it be lands, or buildings,
+or merchandise, or provisions, or clothing, or arms and munitions of
+war. The superintendents and keepers of the whole are appointed by the
+President, responsible to him, and removable at his will.
+
+Public money is but a species of public property. It can not be raised
+by taxation or customs, nor brought into the Treasury in any other way
+except by law; but whenever or howsoever obtained, its custody always
+has been and always must be, unless the Constitution be changed,
+intrusted to the executive department. No officer can be created by
+Congress for the purpose of taking charge of it whose appointment would
+not by the Constitution at once devolve on the President and who would
+not be responsible to him for the faithful performance of his duties.
+The legislative power may undoubtedly bind him and the President by any
+laws they may think proper to enact; they may prescribe in what place
+particular portions of the public property shall be kept and for what
+reason it shall be removed, as they may direct that supplies for the
+Army or Navy shall be kept in particular stores, and it will be the duty
+of the President to see that the law is faithfully executed; yet will
+the custody remain in the executive department of the Government. Were
+the Congress to assume, with or without a legislative act, the power of
+appointing officers, independently of the President, to take the charge
+and custody of the public property contained in the military and naval
+arsenals, magazines, and storehouses, it is believed that such an act
+would be regarded by all as a palpable usurpation of executive power,
+subversive of the form as well as the fundamental principles of our
+Government. But where is the difference in principle whether the public
+property be in the form of arms, munitions of war, and supplies or in
+gold and silver or bank notes? None can be perceived; none is believed
+to exist. Congress can not, therefore, take out of the hands of the
+executive department the custody of the public property or money without
+an assumption of executive power and a subversion of the first
+principles of the Constitution.
+
+The Congress of the United States have never passed an act imperatively
+directing that the public moneys shall be kept in any particular place
+or places. From the origin of the Government to the year 1816 the
+statute book was wholly silent on the subject. In 1789 a Treasurer was
+created, subordinate to the Secretary of the Treasury, and through him
+to the President. He was required to give bond safely to keep and
+faithfully to disburse the public moneys, without any direction as to
+the manner or places in which they should be kept. By reference to the
+practice of the Government it is found that from its first organization
+the Secretary of the Treasury, acting under the supervision of the
+President, designated the places in which the public moneys should be
+kept, and especially directed all transfers from place to place. This
+practice was continued, with the silent acquiescence of Congress, from
+1789 down to 1816, and although many banks were selected and discharged,
+and although a portion of the moneys were first placed in the State
+banks, and then in the former Bank of the United States, and upon the
+dissolution of that were again transferred to the State banks, no
+legislation was thought necessary by Congress, and all the operations
+were originated and perfected by Executive authority. The Secretary of
+the Treasury, responsible to the President, and with his approbation,
+made contracts and arrangements in relation to the whole subject-matter,
+which was thus entirely committed to the direction of the President
+under his responsibilities to the American people and to those who were
+authorized to impeach and punish him for any breach of this important
+trust.
+
+The act of 1816 establishing the Bank of the United States directed the
+deposits of public money to be made in that bank and its branches in
+places in which the said bank and branches thereof may be established,
+"unless the Secretary of the Treasury should otherwise order and
+direct," in which event he was required to give his reasons to Congress.
+This was but a continuation of his preexisting power as the head of an
+Executive Department to direct where the deposits should be made, with
+the superadded obligation of giving his reasons to Congress for making
+them elsewhere than in the Bank of the United States and its branches.
+It is not to be considered that this provision in any degree altered the
+relation between the Secretary of the Treasury and the President as the
+responsible head of the executive department, or released the latter
+from his constitutional obligation to "take care that the laws be
+faithfully executed." On the contrary, it increased his responsibilities
+by adding another to the long list of laws which it was his duty to
+carry into effect.
+
+It would be an extraordinary result if because the person charged by
+law with a public duty is one of his Secretaries it were less the duty
+of the President to see that law faithfully executed than other laws
+enjoining duties upon subordinate officers or private citizens. If there
+be any difference, it would seem that the obligation is the stronger in
+relation to the former, because the neglect is in his presence and the
+remedy at hand.
+
+It can not be doubted that it was the legal duty of the Secretary of the
+Treasury to order and direct the deposits of the public money to be made
+elsewhere than in the Bank of the United States _whenever sufficient
+reasons existed for making the change_. If in such a case he neglected
+or refused to act, he would neglect or refuse to execute the law.
+What would be the sworn duty of the President? Could he say that the
+Constitution did not bind him to see the law faithfully executed because
+it was one of his Secretaries and not himself upon whom the service was
+specially imposed? Might he not be asked whether there was any such
+limitation to his obligations prescribed in the Constitution? Whether he
+is not equally bound to take care that the laws be faithfully executed,
+whether they impose duties on the highest officer of State or the lowest
+subordinate in any of the Departments? Might he not be told that it was
+for the sole purpose of causing all executive officers, from the highest
+to the lowest, faithfully to perform the services required of them by
+law that the people of the United States have made him their Chief
+Magistrate and the Constitution has clothed him with the entire
+executive power of this Government? The principles implied in these
+questions appear too plain to need elucidation.
+
+But here also we have a cotemporaneous construction of the act which
+shows that it was not understood as in any way changing the relations
+between the President and Secretary of the Treasury, or as placing the
+latter out of Executive control even in relation to the deposits of the
+public money. Nor on that point are we left to any equivocal testimony.
+The documents of the Treasury Department show that the Secretary of the
+Treasury did apply to the President and obtained his approbation and
+sanction to the original transfer of the public deposits to the present
+Bank of the United States, and did carry the measure into effect in
+obedience to his decision. They also show that transfers of the public
+deposits from the branches of the Bank of the United States to State
+banks at Chillicothe, Cincinnati, and Louisville, in 1819, were made
+with the approbation of the President and by his authority. They show
+that upon all important questions appertaining to his Department,
+whether they related to the public deposits or other matters, it was
+the constant practice of the Secretary of the Treasury to obtain for
+his acts the approval and sanction of the President. These acts and the
+principles on which they were founded were known to all the departments
+of the Government, to Congress and the country, and until very recently
+appear never to have been called in question.
+
+Thus was it settled by the Constitution, the laws, and the whole
+practice of the Government that the entire executive power is vested
+in the President of the United States; that as incident to that power
+the right of appointing and removing those officers who are to aid
+him in the execution of the laws, with such restrictions only as the
+Constitution prescribes, is vested in the President; that the Secretary
+of the Treasury is one of those officers; that the custody of the public
+property and money is an Executive function which, in relation to the
+money, has always been exercised through the Secretary of the Treasury
+and his subordinates; that in the performance of these duties he is
+subject to the supervision and control of the President, and in all
+important measures having relation to them consults the Chief Magistrate
+and obtains his approval and sanction; that the law establishing the
+bank did not, as it could not, change the relation between the President
+and the Secretary--did not release the former from his obligation to
+see the law faithfully executed nor the latter from the President's
+supervision and control; that afterwards and before the Secretary did
+in fact consult and obtain the sanction of the President to transfers
+and removals of the public deposits, and that all departments of the
+Government, and the nation itself, approved or acquiesced in these acts
+and principles as in strict conformity with our Constitution and laws.
+
+During the last year the approaching termination, according to the
+provisions of its charter and the solemn decision of the American
+people, of the Bank of the United States made it expedient, and its
+exposed abuses and corruptions made it, in my opinion, the duty of the
+Secretary of the Treasury, to place the moneys of the United States in
+other depositories. The Secretary did not concur in that opinion, and
+declined giving the necessary order and direction. So glaring were the
+abuses and corruptions of the bank, so evident its fixed purpose to
+persevere in them, and so palpable its design by its money and power to
+control the Government and change its character, that I deemed it the
+imperative duty of the Executive authority, by the exertion of every
+power confided to it by the Constitution and laws, to check its career
+and lessen its ability to do mischief, even in the painful alternative
+of dismissing the head of one of the Departments. At the time the
+removal was made other causes sufficient to justify it existed, but
+if they had not the Secretary would have been dismissed for this
+cause only.
+
+His place I supplied by one whose opinions were well known to me,
+and whose frank expression of them in another situation and generous
+sacrifices of interest and feeling when unexpectedly called to the
+station he now occupies ought forever to have shielded his motives from
+Suspicion and his character from reproach. In accordance with the views
+long before expressed by him he proceeded, with my sanction, to make
+arrangements for depositing the moneys of the United States in other
+safe institutions.
+
+The resolution of the Senate as originally framed and as passed, if it
+refers to these acts, presupposes a right in that body to interfere with
+this exercise of Executive power. If the principle be once admitted, it
+is not difficult to perceive where it may end. If by a mere denunciation
+like this resolution the President should ever be induced to act in a
+matter of official duty contrary to the honest convictions of his own
+mind in compliance with the wishes of the Senate, the constitutional
+independence of the executive department would be as effectually
+destroyed and its power as effectually transferred to the Senate as if
+that end had been accomplished by an amendment of the Constitution. But
+if the Senate have a right to interfere with the Executive powers, they
+have also the right to make that interference effective, and if the
+assertion of the power implied in the resolution be silently acquiesced
+in we may reasonably apprehend that it will be followed at some future
+day by an attempt at actual enforcement. The Senate may refuse, except
+on the condition that he will surrender his opinions to theirs and obey
+their will, to perform their own constitutional functions, to pass the
+necessary laws, to sanction appropriations proposed by the House of
+Representatives, and to confirm proper nominations made by the
+President. It has already been maintained (and it is not conceivable
+that the resolution of the Senate can be based on any other principle)
+that the Secretary of the Treasury is the officer of Congress and
+independent of the President; that the President has no right to control
+him, and consequently none to remove him. With the same propriety and on
+similar grounds may the Secretary of State, the Secretaries of War and
+the Navy, and the Postmaster-General each in succession be declared
+independent of the President, the subordinates of Congress, and
+removable only with the concurrence of the Senate. Followed to its
+consequences, this principle will be found effectually to destroy one
+coordinate department of the Government, to concentrate in the hands
+of the Senate the whole executive power, and to leave the President
+as powerless as he would be useless--the shadow of authority after
+the substance had departed.
+
+The time and the occasion which have called forth the resolution of the
+Senate seem to impose upon me an additional obligation not to pass it
+over in silence. Nearly forty-five years had the President exercised,
+without a question as to his rightful authority, those powers for the
+recent assumption of which he is now denounced. The vicissitudes of
+peace and war had attended our Government; violent parties, watchful to
+take advantage of any seeming usurpation on the part of the Executive,
+had distracted our councils; frequent removals, or forced resignations
+in every sense tantamount to removals, had been made of the Secretary
+and other officers of the Treasury, and yet in no one instance is it
+known that any man, whether patriot or partisan, had raised his voice
+against it as a violation of the Constitution. The expediency and
+justice of such changes in reference to public officers of all grades
+have frequently been the topic of discussion, but the constitutional
+right of the President to appoint, control, and remove the head of the
+Treasury as well as all other Departments seems to have been universally
+conceded. And what is the occasion upon which other principles have been
+first officially asserted? The Bank of the United States, a great
+moneyed monopoly, had attempted to obtain a renewal of its charter
+by controlling the elections of the people and the action of the
+Government. The use of its corporate funds and power in that attempt
+was fully disclosed, and it was made known to the President that the
+corporation was putting in train the same course of measures, with the
+view of making another vigorous effort, through an interference in
+the elections of the people, to control public opinion and force the
+Government to yield to its demands. This, with its corruption of the
+press, its violation of its charter, its exclusion of the Government
+directors from its proceedings, its neglect of duty and arrogant
+pretensions, made it, in the opinion of the President, incompatible with
+the public interest and the safety of our institutions that it should
+be longer employed as the fiscal agent of the Treasury. A Secretary of
+the Treasury appointed in the recess of the Senate, who had not been
+confirmed by that body, and whom the President might or might not at
+his pleasure nominate to them, refused to do what his superior in the
+executive department considered the most imperative of his duties, and
+became in fact, however innocent his motives, the protector of the bank.
+And on this occasion it is discovered for the first time that those who
+framed the Constitution misunderstood it; that the First Congress and
+all its successors have been under a delusion; that the practice of near
+forty-five years is but a continued usurpation; that the Secretary of
+the Treasury is not responsible to the President, and that to remove him
+is a violation of the Constitution and laws for which the President
+deserves to stand forever dishonored on the journals of the Senate.
+
+There are also some other circumstances connected with the discussion
+and passage of the resolution to which I feel it to be not only my
+right, but my duty, to refer. It appears by the Journal of the Senate
+that among the twenty-six Senators who voted for the resolution on its
+final passage, and who had supported it in debate in its original form,
+were one of the Senators from the State of Maine, the two Senators from
+New Jersey, and one of the Senators from Ohio. It also appears by the
+same Journal and by the files of the Senate that the legislatures of
+these States had severally expressed their opinions in respect to the
+Executive proceedings drawn in question before the Senate.
+
+The two branches of the legislature of the State of Maine on the 25th
+of January, 1834, passed a preamble and series of resolutions in the
+following words:
+
+
+  Whereas at an early period after the election of Andrew Jackson to the
+  Presidency, in accordance with the sentiments which he had uniformly
+  expressed, the attention of Congress was called to the constitutionality
+  and expediency of the renewal of the charter of the United States Bank;
+  and
+
+  Whereas the bank has transcended its chartered limits in the management
+  of its business transactions, and has abandoned the object of its
+  creation by engaging in political controversies, by wielding its power
+  and influence to embarrass the Administration of the General Government,
+  and by bringing insolvency and distress upon the commercial community;
+  and
+
+  Whereas the public security from such an institution consists less in
+  its present pecuniary capacity to discharge its liabilities than in the
+  fidelity with which the trusts reposed in it have been executed; and
+
+  Whereas the abuse and misapplication of the powers conferred have
+  destroyed the confidence of the public in the officers of the bank and
+  demonstrated that such powers endanger the stability of republican
+  institutions: Therefore,
+
+  _Resolved_, That in the removal of the public deposits from the Bank
+  of the United States, as well as in the manner of their removal, we
+  recognize in the Administration an adherence to constitutional rights
+  and the performance of a public duty.
+
+  _Resolved_, That this legislature entertain the same opinion as
+  heretofore expressed by preceding legislatures of this State, that the
+  Bank of the United States ought not to be rechartered.
+
+  _Resolved_, That the Senators of this State in the Congress of the
+  United States be instructed and the Representatives be requested to
+  oppose the restoration of the deposits and the renewal of the charter
+  of the United States Bank.
+
+
+On the 11th of January, 1834, the house of assembly and council
+composing the legislature of the State of New Jersey passed a preamble
+and a series of resolutions in the following words:
+
+
+  Whereas the present crisis in our public affairs calls for a decided
+  expression of the voice of the people of this State; and
+
+  Whereas we consider it the undoubted right of the legislatures of the
+  several States to instruct those who represent their interests in the
+  councils of the nation in all matters which intimately concern the
+  public weal and may affect the happiness or well-being of the people:
+  Therefore,
+
+  1. _Be it resolved by the council and general assembly of this State_,
+  That while we acknowledge with feelings of devout gratitude our
+  obligations to the Great Ruler of Nations for His mercies to us as a
+  people that we have been preserved alike from foreign war, from the
+  evils of internal commotions, and the machinations of designing and
+  ambitious men who would prostrate the fair fabric of our Union, that
+  we ought nevertheless to humble ourselves in His presence and implore
+  His aid for the perpetuation of our republican institutions and for a
+  continuance of that unexampled prosperity which our country has hitherto
+  enjoyed.
+
+  2. _Resolved_, That we have undiminished confidence in the integrity and
+  firmness of the venerable patriot who now holds the distinguished post
+  of Chief Magistrate of this nation, and whose purity of purpose and
+  elevated motives have so often received the unqualified approbation of
+  a large majority of his fellow-citizens.
+
+  3. _Resolved_, That we view with agitation and alarm the existence of a
+  great moneyed incorporation which threatens to embarrass the operations
+  of the Government and by means of its unbounded influence upon the
+  currency of the country to scatter distress and ruin throughout the
+  community, and that we therefore solemnly believe the present Bank of
+  the United States ought not to be rechartered.
+
+  4. _Resolved_, That our Senators in Congress be instructed and our
+  members of the House of Representatives be requested to sustain, by
+  their votes and influence, the course adopted by the Secretary of the
+  Treasury, Mr. Taney, in relation to the Bank of the United States and
+  the deposits of the Government moneys, believing as we do the course
+  of the Secretary to have been constitutional, and that the public good
+  required its adoption.
+
+  5. _Resolved_, That the governor be requested to forward a copy of the
+  above resolutions to each of our Senators and Representatives from this
+  State to the Congress of the United States.
+
+
+On the 21st day of February last the legislature of the same State
+reiterated the opinions and instructions before given by joint
+resolutions in the following words:
+
+
+  _Resolved by the council and general assembly of the State of New
+  Jersey_, That they do adhere to the resolutions passed by them on the
+  11th day of January last, relative to the President of the United
+  States, the Bank of the United States, and the course of Mr. Taney
+  in removing the Government deposits.
+
+  _Resolved_, That the legislature of New Jersey have not seen any
+  reason to depart from such resolutions since the passage thereof,
+  and it is their wish that they should receive from our Senators and
+  Representatives of this State in the Congress of the United States that
+  attention and obedience which are due to the opinion of a sovereign
+  State openly expressed in its legislative capacity.
+
+
+On the 2d of January, 1834, the senate and house of representatives
+composing the legislature of Ohio passed a preamble and resolutions in
+the following words:
+
+
+  Whereas there is reason to believe that the Bank of the United States
+  will attempt to obtain a renewal of its charter at the present session
+  of Congress; and
+
+  Whereas it is abundantly evident that said bank has exercised powers
+  derogatory to the spirit of our free institutions and dangerous to the
+  liberties of these United States; and
+
+  Whereas there is just reason to doubt the constitutional power of
+  Congress to grant acts of incorporation for banking purposes out of
+  the District of Columbia; and
+
+  Whereas we believe the proper disposal of the public lands to be of the
+  utmost importance to the people of these United States, and that honor
+  and good faith require their equitable distribution: Therefore,
+
+  _Resolved by the general assembly of the State of Ohio_, That we
+  consider the removal of the public deposits from the Bank of the United
+  States as required by the best interests of our country, and that a
+  proper sense of public duty imperiously demanded that that institution
+  should be no longer used as a depository of the public funds.
+
+  _Resolved also_, That we view with decided disapprobation the renewed
+  attempts in Congress to secure the passage of the bill providing for the
+  disposal of the public domain upon the principles proposed by Mr. Clay,
+  inasmuch as we believe that such a law would be unequal in its
+  operations and unjust in its results.
+
+  _Resolved also_, That we heartily approve of the principles set forth
+  in the late veto message upon that subject; and
+
+  _Resolved_, That our Senators in Congress be instructed and our
+  Representatives requested to use their influence to prevent the
+  rechartering of the Bank of the United States, to sustain the
+  Administration in its removal of the public deposits, and to oppose the
+  passage of a land bill containing the principles adopted in the act upon
+  that subject passed at the last session of Congress.
+
+  _Resolved_, That the governor be requested to transmit copies of the
+  foregoing preamble and resolutions to each of our Senators and
+  Representatives.
+
+
+It is thus seen that four Senators have declared by their votes that the
+President, in the late Executive proceedings in relation to the revenue,
+had been guilty of the impeachable offense of "assuming upon himself
+authority and power not conferred by the Constitution and laws, but in
+derogation of both," whilst the legislatures of their respective States
+had deliberately approved those very proceedings as consistent with the
+Constitution and demanded by the public good. If these four votes had
+been given in accordance with the sentiments of the legislatures, as
+above expressed, there would have been but twenty-two votes out of
+forty-six for censuring the President, and the unprecedented record
+of his conviction could not have been placed upon the Journal of the
+Senate.
+
+In thus referring to the resolutions and instructions of the State
+legislatures I disclaim and repudiate all authority or design to
+interfere with the responsibility due from members of the Senate to
+their own consciences, their constituents, and their country. The facts
+now stated belong to the history of these proceedings, and are important
+to the just development of the principles and interests involved in them
+as well as to the proper vindication of the executive department, and
+with that view, and that view only, are they here made the topic of
+remark.
+
+The dangerous tendency of the doctrine which denies to the President
+the power of supervising, directing, and controlling the Secretary of
+the Treasury in like manner with the other executive officers would
+soon be manifest in practice were the doctrine to be established. The
+President is the direct representative of the American people, but the
+Secretaries are not. If the Secretary of the Treasury be independent
+of the President in the execution of the laws, then is there no direct
+responsibility to the people in that important branch of this Government
+to which is committed the care of the national finances. And it is in
+the power of the Bank of the United States, or any other corporation,
+body of men, or individuals, if a Secretary shall be found to accord
+with them in opinion or can be induced in practice to promote their
+views, to control through him the whole action of the Government
+(so far as it is exercised by his Department) in defiance of the Chief
+Magistrate elected by the people and responsible to them.
+
+But the evil tendency of the particular doctrine adverted to, though
+sufficiently serious, would be as nothing in comparison with the
+pernicious consequences which would inevitably flow from the approbation
+and allowance by the people and the practice by the Senate of the
+unconstitutional power of arraigning and censuring the official conduct
+of the Executive in the manner recently pursued. Such proceedings are
+eminently calculated to unsettle the foundations of the Government, to
+disturb the harmonious action of its different departments, and to break
+down the checks and balances by which the wisdom of its framers sought
+to insure its stability and usefulness.
+
+The honest differences of opinion which occasionally exist between the
+Senate and the President in regard to matters in which both are obliged
+to participate are sufficiently embarrassing; but if the course recently
+adopted by the Senate shall hereafter be frequently pursued, it is not
+only obvious that the harmony of the relations between the President and
+the Senate will be destroyed, but that other and graver effects will
+ultimately ensue. If the censures of the Senate be submitted to by the
+President, the confidence of the people in his ability and virtue and
+the character and usefulness of his Administration will soon be at an
+end, and the real power of the Government will fall into the hands of a
+body holding their offices for long terms, not elected by the people and
+not to them directly responsible. If, on the other hand, the illegal
+censures of the Senate should be resisted by the President, collisions
+and angry controversies might ensue, discreditable in their progress and
+in the end compelling the people to adopt the conclusion either that
+their Chief Magistrate was unworthy of their respect or that the Senate
+was chargeable with calumny and injustice. Either of these results would
+impair public confidence in the perfection of the system and lead to
+serious alterations of its framework or to the practical abandonment of
+some of its provisions.
+
+The influence of such proceedings on the other departments of the
+Government, and more especially on the States, could not fail to be
+extensively pernicious. When the judges in the last resort of official
+misconduct themselves overleap the bounds of their authority as
+prescribed by the Constitution, what general disregard of its provisions
+might not their example be expected to produce? And who does not
+perceive that such contempt of the Federal Constitution by one of its
+most important departments would hold out the strongest temptations to
+resistance on the part of the State sovereignties whenever they shall
+suppose their just rights to have been invaded? Thus all the independent
+departments of the Government, and the States which compose our
+confederated Union, instead of attending to their appropriate duties and
+leaving those who may offend to be reclaimed or punished in the manner
+pointed out in the Constitution, would fall to mutual crimination and
+recrimination and give to the people confusion and anarchy instead of
+order and law, until at length some form of aristocratic power would be
+established on the ruins of the Constitution or the States be broken
+into separate communities.
+
+Far be it from me to charge or to insinuate that the present Senate of
+the United States intend in the most distant way to encourage such a
+result. It is not of their motives or designs, but only of the tendency
+of their acts, that it is my duty to speak. It is, if possible, to
+make Senators themselves sensible of the danger which lurks under the
+precedent set in their resolution, and at any rate to perform my duty
+as the responsible head of one of the coequal departments of the
+Government, that I have been compelled to point out the consequences
+to which the discussion and passage of the resolution may lead if the
+tendency of the measure be not checked in its inception. It is due to
+the high trust with which I have been charged, to those who may be
+called to succeed me in it, to the representatives of the people whose
+constitutional prerogative has been unlawfully assumed, to the people
+and to the States, and to the Constitution they have established that
+I should not permit its provisions to be broken down by such an attack
+on the executive department without at least some effort "to preserve,
+protect, and defend" them. With this view, and for the reasons which
+have been stated, I do hereby _solemnly protest_ against the
+aforementioned proceedings of the Senate as unauthorized by the
+Constitution, contrary to its spirit and to several of its express
+provisions, subversive of that distribution of the powers of government
+which it has ordained and established, destructive of the checks and
+safeguards by which those powers were intended on the one hand to be
+controlled and on the other to be protected, and calculated by their
+immediate and collateral effects, by their character and tendency, to
+concentrate in the hands of a body not directly amenable to the people
+a degree of influence and power dangerous to their liberties and fatal
+to the Constitution of their choice.
+
+The resolution of the Senate contains an imputation upon my private as
+well as upon my public character, and as it must stand forever on their
+journals, I can not close this substitute for that defense which I have
+not been allowed to present in the ordinary form without remarking
+that I have lived in vain if it be necessary to enter into a formal
+vindication of my character and purposes from such an imputation. In
+vain do I bear upon my person enduring memorials of that contest in
+which American liberty was purchased; in vain have I since periled
+property, fame, and life in defense of the rights and privileges so
+dearly bought; in vain am I now, without a personal aspiration or the
+hope of individual advantage, encountering responsibilities and dangers
+from which by mere inactivity in relation to a single point I might have
+been exempt, if any serious doubts can be entertained as to the purity
+of my purposes and motives. If I had been ambitious, I should have
+sought an alliance with that powerful institution which even now aspires
+to no divided empire. If I had been venal, I should have sold myself to
+its designs. Had I preferred personal comfort and official ease to the
+performance of my arduous duty, I should have ceased to molest it. In
+the history of conquerors and usurpers, never in the fire of youth nor
+in the vigor of manhood could I find an attraction to lure me from the
+path of duty, and now I shall scarcely find an inducement to commence
+their career of ambition when gray hairs and a decaying frame, instead
+of inviting to toil and battle, call me to the contemplation of other
+worlds, where conquerors cease to be honored and usurpers expiate their
+crimes. The only ambition I can feel is to acquit myself to Him to whom
+I must soon render an account of my stewardship, to serve my fellow-men,
+and live respected and honored in the history of my country. No;
+the ambition which leads me on is an anxious desire and a fixed
+determination to return to the people unimpaired the sacred trust they
+have confided to my charge; to heal the wounds of the Constitution and
+preserve it from further violation; to persuade my countrymen, so far
+as I may, that it is not in a splendid government supported by powerful
+monopolies and aristocratical establishments that they will find
+happiness or their liberties protection, but in a plain system, void
+of pomp, protecting all and granting favors to none, dispensing its
+blessings, like the dews of Heaven, unseen and unfelt save in the
+freshness and beauty they contribute to produce. It is such a government
+that the genius of our people requires; such an one only under which our
+States may remain for ages to come united, prosperous, and free. If
+the Almighty Being who has hitherto sustained and protected me will
+but vouchsafe to make my feeble powers instrumental to such a result,
+I shall anticipate with pleasure the place to be assigned me in the
+history of my country, and die contented with the belief that I have
+contributed in some small degree to increase the value and prolong the
+duration of American liberty.
+
+To the end that the resolution of the Senate may not be hereafter
+drawn into precedent with the authority of silent acquiescence on the
+part of the executive department, and to the end also that my motives
+and views in the Executive proceedings denounced in that resolution may
+be known to my fellow-citizens, to the world, and to all posterity, I
+respectfully request that this message and protest may be entered at
+length on the journals of the Senate.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+APRIL 21, 1834.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+Having reason to believe that certain passages contained in my message
+and protest transmitted to the Senate on the 17th [15th] instant may be
+misunderstood, I think it proper to state that it was not my intention
+to deny in the said message the power and right of the legislative
+department to provide by law for the custody, safe-keeping, and
+disposition of the public money and property of the United States.
+
+Although I am well satisfied that such a construction is not warranted
+by anything contained in that message, yet aware from experience that
+detached passages of an argumentative document, when disconnected from
+their context and considered without reference to previous limitations
+and the particular positions they were intended to refute or to
+establish, may be made to bear a construction varying altogether from
+the sentiments really entertained and intended to be expressed, and
+deeply solicitous that my views on this point should not, either now or
+hereafter, be misapprehended, I have deemed it due to the gravity of
+the subject, to the great interests it involves, and to the Senate
+as well as to myself to embrace the earliest opportunity to make this
+communication.
+
+I admit without reserve, as I have before done, the constitutional power
+of the Legislature to prescribe by law the place or places in which the
+public money or other property is to be deposited, and to make such
+regulations concerning its custody, removal, or disposition as they may
+think proper to enact. Nor do I claim for the Executive any right to
+the possession or disposition of the public property or treasure or
+any authority to interfere with the same, except when such possession,
+disposition, or authority is given to him by law. Nor do I claim the
+right in any manner to supervise or interfere with the person intrusted
+with such property or treasure, unless he be an officer whose
+appointment, under the Constitution and laws, is devolved upon the
+President alone or in conjunction with the Senate, and for whose conduct
+he is constitutionally responsible.
+
+As the message and protest referred to may appear on the Journal of
+the Senate and remain among the recorded documents of the nation,
+I am unwilling that opinions should be imputed to me, even through
+misconstruction, which are not entertained, and more particularly
+am I solicitous that I may not be supposed to claim for myself or
+my successors any power or authority not clearly granted by the
+Constitution and laws to the President. I have therefore respectfully to
+request that this communication may be considered a part of that message
+and that it may be entered therewith on the journals of the Senate.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+
+EXECUTIVE ORDERS.
+
+
+HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMY,
+
+ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE,
+
+_Washington, June 21, 1834_.
+
+ORDER 46.
+
+
+The Major-General Commanding the Army has received through the War
+Department the following General Order from the President of the United
+States:
+
+GENERAL ORDER.
+
+WASHINGTON, _June 21, 1834_.
+
+Information having been received of the death of General Lafayette,
+the President considers it due to his own feelings as well as to the
+character and services of that lamented man to announce the event to
+the Army and Navy.
+
+Lafayette was a citizen of France, but he was the distinguished friend
+of the United States. In early life he embarked in that contest which
+secured freedom and independence to our country. His services and
+sacrifices constitute a part of our Revolutionary history, and his
+memory will be second only to that of Washington in the hearts of the
+American people. In his own country and in ours he was the zealous and
+uniform friend and advocate of rational liberty. Consistent in his
+principles and conduct, he never during a long life committed an act
+which exposed him to just accusation or which will expose his memory
+to reproach. Living at a period of great excitement and of moral and
+political revolutions, engaged in many of the important events which
+fixed the attention of the world, and invited to guide the destinies of
+France at two of the most momentous eras of her history, his political
+integrity and personal disinterestedness have not been called in
+question. Happy in such a life, he has been happy in his death. He
+has been taken from the theater of action with faculties unimpaired,
+with a reputation unquestioned, and an object of veneration wherever
+civilization and the rights of man have extended; and mourning, as we
+may and must, his departure, let us rejoice that this associate of
+Washington has gone, as we humbly hope, to rejoin his illustrious
+commander in the fullness of days and of honor.
+
+He came in his youth to defend our country. He came in the maturity of
+his age to witness her growth in all the elements of prosperity, and
+while witnessing these he received those testimonials of national
+gratitude which proved how strong was his hold upon the affections of
+the American people.
+
+One melancholy duty remains to be performed. The last major-general of
+the Revolutionary army has died. Himself a young and humble participator
+in the struggles of that period, the President feels called on as well
+by personal as public considerations to direct that appropriate honors
+be paid to the memory of this distinguished patriot and soldier. He
+therefore orders that the same honors be rendered upon this occasion at
+the different military and naval stations as were observed upon the
+decease of Washington, the Father of his Country, and his contemporary
+in arms.
+
+In ordering this homage to be paid to the memory of one so eminent in
+the field, so wise in council, so endeared in private life, and so well
+and favorably known to both hemispheres the President feels assured that
+he is anticipating the sentiments not of the Army and Navy only, but of
+the whole American people.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+In obedience to the commands of the President, the following funeral
+honors will be paid at the several stations of the Army:
+
+At daybreak twenty-four guns will be fired in quick succession, and one
+gun at the interval of every half hour thereafter till sunset.
+
+The flags of the several stations will during the day be at half-mast.
+The officers of the Army will wear crape on the left arm for the period
+of six months.
+
+This order will be carried into effect under the direction of the
+commanding officer of each post and station the day after its reception.
+
+By command of Major-General Macomb, commanding in chief:
+
+R. JONES,
+
+_Adjutant-General_
+
+
+
+GREEN HILL, _October 12, 1834_.
+
+Hon. LEVI WOODBURY,
+
+_Secretary of the Treasury_.
+
+MY DEAR SIR: I inclose you two letters from two of our most respectable
+citizens. They are good men and true. The letters relate to matters
+under your immediate charge, and when I come on to Washington will see
+about them.
+
+Marshall was our candidate for the legislature, and has no doubt lost
+his election through the influence of the United States officers at that
+post, who are all of them opposed to us, and if we lose _Brown_ this
+winter from the Senate it will be owing mainly and chiefly to this.
+The county of Carterett sends three members to the legislature, and is
+Jackson to the _hub_; but Major Kirby, who commands at Fort Macon, has
+used his influence in conjunction with D. Borden, who finds the troops
+with provisions, in favor of the opposition, and have beaten our men by
+small majorities. The troops, it seems, were paid off in Virginia money,
+which is below _par_ in our State, and this just on the eve of the
+election, and hence you may see the turn that was given to the matter.
+Dr. Hunt, who wishes to be appointed surgeon at Occracock, is a fine
+man, and I should like for him to have it; but of these matters more
+when I see you.
+
+You see our new bank has gone into operation. Suppose you open a
+correspondence [with] them about the matter we have been talking about.
+It is _all important_ that this matter should be attended to. With
+sentiments of great respect, I am, dear sir, yours, etc.,
+
+J. SPEIGHT.
+
+[Indorsement.]
+
+Let a strict inquiry be had into the conduct of the officers
+complained of, and particularly why the paymaster has paid the troops in
+depreciated paper when he could as easily paid them in specie. It is his
+duty in all cases so to do, as all the revenue is specie and all public
+dues are payable in specie.
+
+A.J.
+
+
+
+
+SIXTH ANNUAL MESSAGE.
+
+
+DECEMBER 1, 1834.
+
+_Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives_:
+
+In performing my duty at the opening of your present session it gives me
+pleasure to congratulate you again upon the prosperous condition of our
+beloved country. Divine Providence has favored us with general health,
+with rich rewards in the fields of agriculture and in every branch of
+labor, and with peace to cultivate and extend the various resources
+which employ the virtue and enterprise of our citizens. Let us trust
+that in surveying a scene so flattering to our free institutions our
+joint deliberations to preserve them may be crowned with success.
+
+Our foreign relations continue, with but few exceptions, to maintain the
+favorable aspect which they bore in my last annual message, and promise
+to extend those advantages which the principles that regulate our
+intercourse with other nations are so well calculated to secure.
+
+The question of the northeastern boundary is still pending with Great
+Britain, and the proposition made in accordance with the resolution of
+the Senate for the establishment of a line according to the treaty of
+1783 has not been accepted by that Government. Believing that every
+disposition is felt on both sides to adjust this perplexing question to
+the satisfaction of all the parties interested in it, the hope is yet
+indulged that it may be effected on the basis of that proposition.
+
+With the Governments of Austria, Russia, Prussia, Holland, Sweden, and
+Denmark the best understanding exists. Commerce with all is fostered and
+protected by reciprocal good will under the sanction of liberal
+conventional or legal provisions.
+
+In the midst of her internal difficulties the Queen of Spain has
+ratified the convention for the payment of the claims of our citizens
+arising since 1819. It is in the course of execution on her part, and a
+copy of it is now laid before you for such legislation as may be found
+necessary to enable those interested to derive the benefits of it.
+
+Yielding to the force of circumstances and to the wise counsels of time
+and experience, that power has finally resolved no longer to occupy the
+unnatural position in which she stood to the new Governments established
+in this hemisphere. I have the great satisfaction of stating to you that
+in preparing the way for the restoration of harmony between those who
+have sprung from the same ancestors, who are allied by common interests,
+profess the same religion, and speak the same language the United States
+have been actively instrumental. Our efforts to effect this good work
+will be persevered in while they are deemed useful to the parties and
+our entire disinterestedness continues to be felt and understood. The
+act of Congress to countervail the discriminating duties to the
+prejudice of our navigation levied in Cuba and Puerto Rico has been
+transmitted to the minister of the United States at Madrid, to be
+communicated to the Government of the Queen. No intelligence of its
+receipt has yet reached the Department of State. If the present
+condition of the country permits the Government to make a careful and
+enlarged examination of the true interests of these important portions
+of its dominions, no doubt is entertained that their future intercourse
+with the United States will be placed upon a more just and liberal
+basis.
+
+The Florida archives have not yet been selected and delivered. Recent
+orders have been sent to the agent of the United States at Havana to
+return with all that he can obtain, so that they may be in Washington
+before the session of the Supreme Court, to be used in the legal
+questions there pending to which the Government is a party.
+
+Internal tranquillity is happily restored to Portugal. The distracted
+state of the country rendered unavoidable the postponement of a final
+payment of the just claims of our citizens. Our diplomatic relations
+will be soon resumed, and the long-subsisting friendship with that power
+affords the strongest guaranty that the balance due will receive prompt
+attention.
+
+The first installment due under the convention of indemnity with the
+King of the Two Sicilies has been duly received, and an offer has been
+made to extinguish the whole by a prompt payment--an offer I did not
+consider myself authorized to accept, as the indemnification provided
+is the exclusive property of individual citizens of the United States.
+The original adjustment of our claims and the anxiety displayed to
+fulfill at once the stipulations made for the payment of them are highly
+honorable to the Government of the Two Sicilies. When it is recollected
+that they were the result of the injustice of an intrusive power
+temporarily dominant in its territory, a repugnance to acknowledge and
+to pay which would have been neither unnatural nor unexpected, the
+circumstances can not fail to exalt its character for justice and good
+faith in the eyes of all nations.
+
+The treaty of amity and commerce between the United States and Belgium,
+brought to your notice in my last annual message as sanctioned by the
+Senate, but the ratifications of which had not been exchanged owing
+to a delay in its reception at Brussels and a subsequent absence
+of the Belgian minister of foreign affairs, has been, after mature
+deliberation, finally disavowed by that Government as inconsistent
+with the powers and instructions given to their minister who negotiated
+it. This disavowal was entirely unexpected, as the liberal principles
+embodied in the convention, and which form the groundwork of the
+objections to it, were perfectly satisfactory to the Belgian
+representative, and were supposed to be not only within the powers
+granted, but expressly conformable to the instructions given to him.
+An offer, not yet accepted, has been made by Belgium to renew
+negotiations for a treaty less liberal in its provisions on questions
+of general maritime law.
+
+Our newly established relations with the Sublime Porte promise to
+be useful to our commerce and satisfactory in every respect to this
+Government. Our intercourse with the Barbary Powers continues without
+important change, except that the present political state of Algiers has
+induced me to terminate the residence there of a salaried consul and
+to substitute an ordinary consulate, to remain so long as the place
+continues in the possession of France. Our first treaty with one of
+these powers, the Emperor of Morocco, was formed in 1786, and was
+limited to fifty years. That period has almost expired. I shall take
+measures to renew it with the greater satisfaction as its stipulations
+are just and liberal and have been, with mutual fidelity and reciprocal
+advantage, scrupulously fulfilled.
+
+Intestine dissensions have too frequently occurred to mar the
+prosperity, interrupt the commerce, and distract the governments of most
+of the nations of this hemisphere which have separated themselves from
+Spain. When a firm and permanent understanding with the parent country
+shall have produced a formal acknowledgment of their independence, and
+the idea of danger from that quarter can be no longer entertained, the
+friends of freedom expect that those countries, so favored by nature,
+will be distinguished for their love of justice and their devotion
+to those peaceful arts the assiduous cultivation of which confers
+honor upon nations and gives value to human life. In the meantime
+I confidently hope that the apprehensions entertained that some of
+the people of these luxuriant regions may be tempted, in a moment of
+unworthy distrust of their own capacity for the enjoyment of liberty, to
+commit the too common error of purchasing present repose by bestowing
+on some favorite leaders the fatal gift of irresponsible power will
+not be realized. With all these Governments and with that of Brazil no
+unexpected changes in our relations have occurred during the present
+year. Frequent causes of just complaint have arisen upon the part of the
+citizens of the United States, sometimes from the irregular action of
+the constituted subordinate authorities of the maritime regions and
+sometimes from the leaders or partisans of those in arms against the
+established Governments. In all cases representations have been or
+will be made, and as soon as their political affairs are in a settled
+position it is expected that our friendly remonstrances will be
+followed by adequate redress.
+
+The Government of Mexico made known in December last the appointment
+of commissioners and a surveyor on its part to run, in conjunction with
+ours, the boundary line between its territories and the United States,
+and excused the delay for the reasons anticipated--the prevalence of
+civil war. The commissioners and surveyors not having met within the
+time stipulated by the treaty, a new arrangement became necessary,
+and our charge d'affaires was instructed in January last to negotiate
+in Mexico an article additional to the preexisting treaty. This
+instruction was acknowledged, and no difficulty was apprehended in
+the accomplishment of that object. By information just received that
+additional article to the treaty will be obtained and transmitted to
+this country as soon as it can receive the ratification of the Mexican
+Congress.
+
+The reunion of the three States of New Grenada, Venezuela, and Equador,
+forming the Republic of Colombia, seems every day to become more
+improbable. The commissioners of the two first are understood to be now
+negotiating a just division of the obligations contracted by them when
+united under one government. The civil war in Equador, it is believed,
+has prevented even the appointment of a commissioner on its part.
+
+I propose at an early day to submit, in the proper form, the appointment
+of a diplomatic agent to Venezuela, the importance of the commerce of
+that country to the United States and the large claims of our citizens
+upon the Government arising before and since the division of Colombia
+rendering it, in my judgment, improper longer to delay this step.
+
+Our representatives to Central America, Peru, and Brazil are either at
+or on their way to their respective posts.
+
+From the Argentine Republic, from which a minister was expected to this
+Government, nothing further has been heard. Occasion has been taken on
+the departure of a new consul to Buenos Ayres to remind that Government
+that its long-delayed minister, whose appointment had been made known to
+us, had not arrived.
+
+It becomes my unpleasant duty to inform you that this pacific and highly
+gratifying picture of our foreign relations does not include those with
+France at this time. It is not possible that any Government and people
+could be more sincerely desirous of conciliating a just and friendly
+intercourse with another nation than are those of the United States
+with their ancient ally and friend. This disposition is founded as well
+on the most grateful and honorable recollections associated with our
+struggle for independence as upon a well-grounded conviction that it is
+consonant with the true policy of both. The people of the United States
+could not, therefore, see without the deepest regret even a temporary
+interruption of the friendly relations between the two countries--a
+regret which would, I am sure, be greatly aggravated if there should
+turn out to be any reasonable ground for attributing such a result to
+any act of omission or commission on our part. I derive, therefore, the
+highest satisfaction from being able to assure you that the whole course
+of this Government has been characterized by a spirit so conciliatory
+and forbearing as to make it impossible that our justice and moderation
+should be questioned, whatever may be the consequences of a longer
+perseverance on the part of the French Government in her omission to
+satisfy the conceded claims of our citizens.
+
+The history of the accumulated and unprovoked aggressions upon our
+commerce committed by authority of the existing Governments of France
+between the years 1800 and 1817 has been rendered too painfully familiar
+to Americans to make its repetition either necessary or desirable. It
+will be sufficient here to remark that there has for many years been
+scarcely a single administration of the French Government by whom the
+justice and legality of the claims of our citizens to indemnity were
+not to a very considerable extent admitted, and yet near a quarter of
+a century has been wasted in ineffectual negotiations to secure it.
+
+Deeply sensible of the injurious effects resulting from this state of
+things upon the interests and character of both nations, I regarded it
+as among my first duties to cause one more effort to be made to satisfy
+France that a just and liberal settlement of our claims was as well due
+to her own honor as to their incontestable validity. The negotiation for
+this purpose was commenced with the late Government of France, and was
+prosecuted with such success as to leave no reasonable ground to doubt
+that a settlement of a character quite as liberal as that which was
+subsequently made would have been effected had not the revolution by
+which the negotiation was cut off taken place. The discussions were
+resumed with the present Government, and the result showed that we
+were not wrong in supposing that an event by which the two Governments
+were made to approach each other so much nearer in their political
+principles, and by which the motives for the most liberal and friendly
+intercourse were so greatly multiplied, could exercise no other than a
+salutary influence upon the negotiation. After the most deliberate and
+thorough examination of the whole subject a treaty between the two
+Governments was concluded and signed at Paris on the 4th of July, 1831,
+by which it was stipulated that "the French Government, in order to
+liberate itself from all the reclamations preferred against it by
+citizens of the United States for unlawful seizures, captures,
+sequestrations, confiscations, or destruction of their vessels, cargoes,
+or other property, engages to pay a sum of 25,000,000 francs to the
+United States, who shall distribute it among those entitled in the
+manner and according to the rules it shall determine;" and it was also
+stipulated on the part of the French Government that this 25,000,000
+francs should "be paid at Paris, in six annual installments of 4,166,666
+francs and 66 centimes each, into the hands of such person or persons as
+shall be authorized by the Government of the United States to receive
+it," the first installment to be paid "at the expiration of one year
+next following the exchange of the ratifications of this convention and
+the others at successive intervals of a year, one after another, till
+the whole shall be paid. To the amount of each of the said installments
+shall be added interest at 4 per cent thereupon, as upon the other
+installments then remaining unpaid, the said interest to be computed
+from the day of the exchange of the present convention."
+
+It was also stipulated on the part of the United States, for the
+purpose of being completely liberated from all the reclamations
+presented by France on behalf of its citizens, that the sum of 1,500,000
+francs should be paid to the Government of France in six annual
+installments, to be deducted out of the annual sums which France had
+agreed to pay, interest thereupon being in like manner computed from
+the day of the exchange of the ratifications. In addition to this
+stipulation, important advantages were secured to France by the
+following article, viz:
+
+The wines of France, from and after the exchange of the ratifications of
+the present convention, shall be admitted to consumption in the States
+of the Union at duties which shall not exceed the following rates by the
+gallon (such as it is used at present for wines in the United States),
+to wit: 6 cents for red wines in casks; 10 cents for white wines in
+casks, and 22 cents for wines of all sorts in bottles. The proportions
+existing between the duties on French wines thus reduced and the general
+rates of the tariff which went into operation the 1st January, 1829,
+shall be maintained in case the Government of the United States should
+think proper to diminish those general rates in a new tariff.
+
+In consideration of this stipulation, which shall be binding on
+the United States for ten years, the French Government abandons the
+reclamations which it had formed in relation to the eighth article of
+the treaty of cession of Louisiana. It engages, moreover, to establish
+on the _long-staple_ cottons of the United States which after the
+exchange of the ratifications of the present convention shall be brought
+directly thence to France by the vessels of the United States or by
+French vessels the same duties as on _short-staple_ cottons.
+
+This treaty was duly ratified in the manner prescribed by the
+constitutions of both countries, and the ratification was exchanged
+at the city of Washington on the 2d of February, 1832. On account of
+its commercial stipulations it was in five days thereafter laid before
+the Congress of the United States, which proceeded to enact such laws
+favorable to the commerce of France as were necessary to carry it into
+full execution, and France has from that period to the present been in
+the unrestricted enjoyment of the valuable privileges that were thus
+secured to her. The faith of the French nation having been thus solemnly
+pledged through its constitutional organ for the liquidation and
+ultimate payment of the long-deferred claims of our citizens, as also
+for the adjustment of other points of great and reciprocal benefits
+to both countries, and the United States having, with a fidelity
+and promptitude by which their conduct will, I trust, be always
+characterized, done everything that was necessary to carry the treaty
+into full and fair effect on their part, counted with the most perfect
+confidence on equal fidelity and promptitude on the part of the French
+Government. In this reasonable expectation we have been, I regret to
+inform you, wholly disappointed. No legislative provision has been made
+by France for the execution of the treaty, either as it respects the
+indemnity to be paid or the commercial benefits to be secured to the
+United States, and the relations between the United States and that
+power in consequence thereof are placed in a situation threatening to
+interrupt the good understanding which has so long and so happily
+existed between the two nations.
+
+Not only has the French Government been thus wanting in the performance
+of the stipulations it has so solemnly entered into with the United
+States, but its omissions have been marked by circumstances which would
+seem to leave us without satisfactory evidences that such performance
+will certainly take place at a future period. Advice of the exchange of
+ratifications reached Paris prior to the 8th April, 1832. The French
+Chambers were then sitting, and continued in session until the 21st of
+that month, and although one installment of the indemnity was payable on
+the 2d of February, 1833, one year after the exchange of ratifications,
+no application was made to the Chambers for the required appropriation,
+and in consequence of no appropriation having then been made the draft
+of the United States Government for that installment was dishonored by
+the minister of finance, and the United States thereby involved in
+much controversy. The next session of the Chambers commenced on
+the 19th November, 1832, and continued until the 25th April, 1833.
+Notwithstanding the omission to pay the first installment had been made
+the subject of earnest remonstrance on our part, the treaty with the
+United States and a bill making the necessary appropriations to execute
+it were not laid before the Chamber of Deputies until the 6th of April,
+nearly five months after its meeting, and only nineteen days before the
+close of the session. The bill was read and referred to a committee, but
+there was no further action upon it. The next session of the Chambers
+commenced on the 26th of April, 1833, and continued until the 26th of
+June following. A new bill was introduced on the 11th of June, but
+nothing important was done in relation to it during the session. In the
+month of April, 1834, nearly three years after the signature of the
+treaty, the final action of the French Chambers upon the bill to carry
+the treaty into effect was obtained, and resulted in a refusal of the
+necessary appropriations. The avowed grounds upon which the bill was
+rejected are to be found in the published debates of that body, and
+no observations of mine can be necessary to satisfy Congress of their
+utter insufficiency. Although the gross amount of the claims of our
+citizens is probably greater than will be ultimately allowed by the
+commissioners, sufficient is, nevertheless, shown to render it
+absolutely certain that the indemnity falls far short of the actual
+amount of our just claims, independently of the question of damages and
+interest for the detention. That the settlement involved a sacrifice
+in this respect was well known at the time--a sacrifice which was
+cheerfully acquiesced in by the different branches of the Federal
+Government, whose action upon the treaty was required from a sincere
+desire to avoid further collision upon this old and disturbing subject
+and in the confident expectation that the general relations between the
+two countries would be improved thereby.
+
+The refusal to vote the appropriation, the news of which was received
+from our minister in Paris about the 15th day of May last, might have
+been considered the final determination of the French Government not
+to execute the stipulations of the treaty, and would have justified an
+immediate communication of the facts to Congress, with a recommendation
+of such ultimate measures as the interest and honor of the United States
+might seem to require. But with the news of the refusal of the Chambers
+to make the appropriation were conveyed the regrets of the King and a
+declaration that a national vessel should be forthwith sent out with
+instructions to the French minister to give the most ample explanations
+of the past and the strongest assurances for the future. After a long
+passage the promised dispatch vessel arrived. The pledges given by the
+French minister upon receipt of his instructions were that as soon
+after the election of the new members as the charter would permit
+the legislative Chambers of France should be called together and
+the proposition for an appropriation laid before them; that all the
+constitutional powers of the King and his cabinet should be exerted to
+accomplish the object, and that the result should be made known early
+enough to be communicated to Congress at the commencement of the
+present session. Relying upon these pledges, and not doubting that the
+acknowledged justice of our claims, the promised exertions of the King
+and his cabinet, and, above all, that sacred regard for the national
+faith and honor for which the French character has been so distinguished
+would secure an early execution of the treaty in all its parts, I did
+not deem it necessary to call the attention of Congress to the subject
+at the last session.
+
+I regret to say that the pledges made through the minister of France
+have not been redeemed. The new Chambers met on the 3its July last, and
+although the subject of fulfilling treaties was alluded to in the speech
+from the throne, no attempt was made by the King or his cabinet to
+procure an appropriation to carry it into execution. The reasons given
+for this omission, although they might be considered sufficient in an
+ordinary case, are not consistent with the expectations founded upon the
+assurances given here, for there is no constitutional obstacle to
+entering into legislative business at the first meeting of the Chambers.
+This point, however, might have been overlooked had not the Chambers,
+instead of being called to meet at so early a day that the result of
+their deliberations might be communicated to me before the meeting of
+Congress, been prorogued to the 29th of the present month--a period so
+late that their decision can scarcely be made known to the present
+Congress prior to its dissolution. To avoid this delay our minister in
+Paris, in virtue of the assurance given by the French minister in the
+United States, strongly urged the convocation of the Chambers at an
+earlier day, but without success. It is proper to remark, however, that
+this refusal has been accompanied with the most positive assurances on
+the part of the executive government of France of their intention to
+press the appropriation at the ensuing session of the Chambers.
+
+The executive branch of this Government has, as matters stand, exhausted
+all the authority upon the subject with which it is invested and which
+it had any reason to believe could be beneficially employed.
+
+The idea of acquiescing in the refusal to execute the treaty will not,
+I am confident, be for a moment entertained by any branch of this
+Government, and further negotiation upon the subject is equally out of
+the question.
+
+If it shall be the pleasure of Congress to await the further action
+of the French Chambers, no further consideration of the subject will
+at this session probably be required at your hands. But if from the
+original delay in asking for an appropriation, from the refusal of the
+Chambers to grant it when asked, from the omission to bring the subject
+before the Chambers at their last session, from the fact that, including
+that session, there have been five different occasions when the
+appropriation might have been made, and from the delay in convoking the
+Chambers until some weeks after the meeting of Congress, when it was
+well known that a communication of the whole subject to Congress at the
+last session was prevented by assurances that it should be disposed of
+before its present meeting, you should feel yourselves constrained to
+doubt whether it be the intention of the French Government, in all its
+branches, to carry the treaty into effect, and think that such measures
+as the occasion may be deemed to call for should be now adopted, the
+important question arises what those measures shall be.
+
+Our institutions are essentially pacific. Peace and friendly intercourse
+with all nations are as much the desire of our Government as they are
+the interest of our people. But these objects are not to be permanently
+secured by surrendering the rights of our citizens or permitting solemn
+treaties for their indemnity, in cases of flagrant wrong, to be
+abrogated or set aside.
+
+It is undoubtedly in the power of Congress seriously to affect the
+agricultural and manufacturing interests of France by the passage
+of laws relating to her trade with the United States. Her products,
+manufactures, and tonnage may be subjected to heavy duties in our ports,
+or all commercial intercourse with her may be suspended. But there
+are powerful and to my mind conclusive objections to this mode of
+proceeding. We can not embarrass or cut off the trade of France without
+at the same time in some degree embarrassing or cutting off our own
+trade. The injury of such a warfare must fall, though unequally, upon
+our own citizens, and could not but impair the means of the Government
+and weaken that united sentiment in support of the rights and honor of
+the nation which must now pervade every bosom. Nor is it impossible that
+such a course of legislation would introduce once more into our national
+councils those disturbing questions in relation to the tariff of duties
+which have been so recently put to rest. Besides, by every measure
+adopted by the Government of the United States with the view of injuring
+France the clear perception of right which will induce our own people
+and the rulers and people of all other nations, even of France herself,
+to pronounce our quarrel just will be obscured and the support rendered
+to us in a final resort to more decisive measures will be more limited
+and equivocal. There is but one point in the controversy, and upon that
+the whole civilized world must pronounce France to be in the wrong. We
+insist that she shall pay us a sum of money which she has acknowledged
+to be due, and of the justice of this demand there can be but one
+opinion among mankind. True policy would seem to dictate that the
+question at issue should be kept thus disencumbered and that not the
+slightest pretense should be given to France to persist in her refusal
+to make payment by any act on our part affecting the interests of her
+people. The question should be left, as it is now, in such an attitude
+that when France fulfills her treaty stipulations all controversy will
+be at an end.
+
+It is my conviction that the United States ought to insist on a prompt
+execution of the treaty, and in case it be refused or longer delayed
+take redress into their own hands. After the delay on the part of France
+of a quarter of a century in acknowledging these claims by treaty, it is
+not to be tolerated that another quarter of a century is to be wasted in
+negotiating about the payment. The laws of nations provide a remedy for
+such occasions. It is a well-settled principle of the international code
+that where one nation owes another a liquidated debt which it refuses or
+neglects to pay the aggrieved party may seize on the property belonging
+to the other, its citizens or subjects, sufficient to pay the debt
+without giving just cause of war. This remedy has been repeatedly
+resorted to, and recently by France herself toward Portugal, under
+circumstances less unquestionable.
+
+The time at which resort should be had to this or any other mode of
+redress is a point to be decided by Congress. If an appropriation shall
+not be made by the French Chambers at their next session, it may justly
+be concluded that the Government of France has finally determined to
+disregard its own solemn undertaking and refuse to pay an acknowledged
+debt. In that event every day's delay on our part will be a stain upon
+our national honor, as well as a denial of justice to our injured
+citizens. Prompt measures, when the refusal of France shall be complete,
+will not only be most honorable and just, but will have the best effect
+upon our national character.
+
+Since France, in violation of the pledges given through her minister
+here, has delayed her final action so long that her decision will
+not probably be known in time to be communicated to this Congress,
+I recommend that a law be passed authorizing reprisals upon French
+property in case provision shall not be made for the payment of the debt
+at the approaching session of the French Chambers. Such a measure ought
+not to be considered by France as a menace. Her pride and power are too
+well known to expect anything from her fears and preclude the necessity
+of a declaration that nothing partaking of the character of intimidation
+is intended by us. She ought to look upon it as the evidence only of an
+inflexible determination on the part of the United States to insist
+on their rights. That Government, by doing only what it has itself
+acknowledged to be just, will be able to spare the United States the
+necessity of taking redress into their own hands and save the property
+of French citizens from that seizure and sequestration which American
+citizens so long endured without retaliation or redress. If she should
+continue to refuse that act of acknowledged justice and, in violation
+of the law of nations, make reprisals on our part the occasion of
+hostilities against the United States, she would but add violence to
+injustice, and could not fail to expose herself to the just censure
+of civilized nations and to the retributive judgments of Heaven.
+
+Collision with France is the more to be regretted on account of the
+position she occupies in Europe in relation to liberal institutions, but
+in maintaining our national rights and honor all governments are alike
+to us. If by a collision with France in a case where she is clearly
+in the wrong the march of liberal principles shall be impeded, the
+responsibility for that result as well as every other will rest on her
+own head.
+
+Having submitted these considerations, it belongs to Congress to decide
+whether after what has taken place it will still await the further
+action of the French Chambers or now adopt such provisional measures
+as it may deem necessary and best adapted to protect the rights and
+maintain the honor of the country. Whatever that decision may be, it
+will be faithfully enforced by the Executive as far as he is authorized
+so to do.
+
+According to the estimate of the Treasury Department, the revenue
+accruing from all sources during the present year will amount to
+$20,624,717, which, with the balance remaining in the Treasury
+on the 1st of January last of $11,702,905, produces an aggregate of
+$32,327,623. The total expenditure during the year for all objects,
+including the public debt, is estimated at $25,591,390, which will leave
+a balance in the Treasury on the 1st of January, 1835, of $6,736,232.
+In this balance, however, will be included about $1,150,000 of what was
+heretofore reported by the Department as not effective.
+
+Of former appropriations it is estimated that there will remain
+unexpended at the close of the year $8,002,925, and that of this sum
+there will not be required more than $5,141,964 to accomplish the
+objects of all the current appropriations. Thus it appears that after
+satisfying all those appropriations and after discharging the last item
+of our public debt, which will be done on the 1st of January next, there
+will remain unexpended in the Treasury an effective balance of about
+$440,000. That such should be the aspect of our finances is highly
+flattering to the industry and enterprise of our population and
+auspicious of the wealth and prosperity which await the future
+cultivation of their growing resources. It is not deemed prudent,
+however, to recommend any change for the present in our impost rates,
+the effect of the gradual reduction now in progress in many of them not
+being sufficiently tested to guide us in determining the precise amount
+of revenue which they will produce.
+
+Free from public debt, at peace with all the world, and with no
+complicated interests to consult in our intercourse with foreign powers,
+the present may be hailed as the epoch in our history the most favorable
+for the settlement of those principles in our domestic policy which
+shall be best calculated to give stability to our Republic and secure
+the blessings of freedom to our citizens.
+
+Among these principles, from our past experience, it can not be doubted
+that simplicity in the character of the Federal Government and a rigid
+economy in its administration should be regarded as fundamental and
+sacred. All must be sensible that the existence of the public debt, by
+rendering taxation necessary for its extinguishment, has increased the
+difficulties which are inseparable from every exercise of the taxing
+power, and that it was in this respect a remote agent in producing those
+disturbing questions which grew out of the discussions relating to
+the tariff. If such has been the tendency of a debt incurred in the
+acquisition and maintenance of our national rights and liberties, the
+obligations of which all portions of the Union cheerfully acknowledged,
+it must be obvious that whatever is calculated to increase the burdens
+of Government without necessity must be fatal to all our hopes of
+preserving its true character. While we are felicitating ourselves,
+therefore, upon the extinguishment of the national debt and the
+prosperous state of our finances, let us not be tempted to depart from
+those sound maxims of public policy which enjoin a just adaptation of
+the revenue to the expenditures that are consistent with a rigid economy
+and an entire abstinence from all topics of legislation that are not
+clearly within the constitutional powers of the Government and suggested
+by the wants of the country. Properly regarded under such a policy,
+every diminution of the public burdens arising from taxation gives to
+individual enterprise increased power and furnishes to all the members
+of our happy Confederacy new motives for patriotic affection and
+support. But above all, its most important effect will be found in its
+influence upon the character of the Government by confining its action
+to those objects which will be sure to secure to it the attachment and
+support of our fellow-citizens.
+
+Circumstances make it my duty to call the attention of Congress to
+the Bank of the United States. Created for the convenience of the
+Government, that institution has become the scourge of the people. Its
+interference to postpone the payment of a portion of the national debt
+that it might retain the public money appropriated for that purpose to
+strengthen it in a political contest, the extraordinary extension and
+contraction of its accommodations to the community, its corrupt and
+partisan loans, its exclusion of the public directors from a knowledge
+of its most important proceedings, the unlimited authority conferred on
+the president to expend its funds in hiring writers and procuring the
+execution of printing, and the use made of that authority, the retention
+of the pension money and books after the selection of new agents, the
+groundless claim to heavy damages in consequence of the protest of the
+bill drawn on the French Government, have through various channels been
+laid before Congress. Immediately after the close of the last session
+the bank, through its president, announced its ability and readiness to
+abandon the system of unparalleled curtailment and the interruption of
+domestic exchanges which it had practiced upon from the 1st of August,
+1833, to the 30th of June, 1834, and to extend its accommodations to
+the community. The grounds assumed in this annunciation amounted to an
+acknowledgment that the curtailment, in the extent to which it had been
+carried, was not necessary to the safety of the bank, and had been
+persisted in merely to induce Congress to grant the prayer of the bank
+in its memorial relative to the removal of the deposits and to give it
+a new charter. They were substantially a confession that all the real
+distresses which individuals and the country had endured for the
+preceding six or eight months had been needlessly produced by it,
+with the view of affecting through the sufferings of the people the
+legislative action of Congress. It is a subject of congratulation
+that Congress and the country had the virtue and firmness to bear the
+infliction, that the energies of our people soon found relief from this
+wanton tyranny in vast importations of the precious metals from almost
+every part of the world, and that at the close of this tremendous effort
+to control our Government the bank found itself powerless and no longer
+able to loan out its surplus means. The community had learned to manage
+its affairs without its assistance, and trade had already found new
+auxiliaries, so that on the 1st of October last the extraordinary
+spectacle was presented of a national bank more than one-half of whose
+capital was either lying unproductive in its vaults or in the hands of
+foreign bankers.
+
+To the needless distresses brought on the country during the last
+session of Congress has since been added the open seizure of the
+dividends on the public stock to the amount of $170,041, under pretense
+of paying damages, cost, and interest upon the protested French bill.
+This sum constituted a portion of the estimated revenues for the year
+1834, upon which the appropriations made by Congress were based. It
+would as soon have been expected that our collectors would seize on the
+customs or the receivers of our land offices on the moneys arising from
+the sale of public lands under pretenses of claims against the United
+States as that the bank would have retained the dividends. Indeed, if
+the principle be established that anyone who chooses to set up a claim
+against the United States may without authority of law seize on the
+public property or money wherever he can find it to pay such claim,
+there will remain no assurance that our revenue will reach the Treasury
+or that it will be applied after the appropriation to the purposes
+designated in the law. The paymasters of our Army and the pursers of our
+Navy may under like pretenses apply to their own use moneys appropriated
+to set in motion the public force, and in time of war leave the country
+without defense. This measure resorted to by the bank is disorganizing
+and revolutionary, and if generally resorted to by private citizens in
+like cases would fill the land with anarchy and violence.
+
+It is a constitutional provision "that no money shall be drawn from
+the Treasury but in consequence of appropriations made by law." The
+palpable object of this provision is to prevent the expenditure of the
+public money for any purpose whatsoever which shall not have been first
+approved by the representatives of the people and the States in Congress
+assembled. It vests the power of declaring for what purposes the public
+money shall be expended in the legislative department of the Government,
+to the exclusion of the executive and judicial, and it is not within
+the constitutional authority of either of those departments to pay it
+away without law or to sanction its payment. According to this plain
+constitutional provision, the claim of the bank can never be paid
+without an appropriation by act of Congress. But the bank has never
+asked for an appropriation. It attempts to defeat the provision of the
+Constitution and obtain payment without an act of Congress. Instead of
+awaiting an appropriation passed by both Houses and approved by the
+President, it makes an appropriation for itself and invites an appeal
+to the judiciary to sanction it. That the money had not technically
+been paid into the Treasury does not affect the principle intended to
+be established by the Constitution. The Executive and the judiciary
+have as little right to appropriate and expend the public money without
+authority of law before it is placed to the credit of the Treasury as to
+take it from the Treasury. In the annual report of the Secretary of the
+Treasury, and in his correspondence with the president of the bank, and
+the opinions of the Attorney-General accompanying it, you will find a
+further examination of the claims of the bank and the course it has
+pursued.
+
+It seems due to the safety of the public funds remaining in that bank
+and to the honor of the American people that measures be taken to
+separate the Government entirely from an institution so mischievous to
+the public prosperity and so regardless of the Constitution and laws. By
+transferring the public deposits, by appointing other pension agents as
+far as it had the power, by ordering the discontinuance of the receipt
+of bank checks in the payment of the public dues after the 1st day of
+January, the Executive has exerted all its lawful authority to sever the
+connection between the Government and this faithless corporation.
+
+The high-handed career of this institution imposes upon the
+constitutional functionaries of this Government duties of the gravest
+and most imperative character--duties which they can not avoid and from
+which I trust there will be no inclination on the part of any of them
+to shrink. My own sense of them is most clear, as is also my readiness
+to discharge those which may rightfully fall on me. To continue any
+business relations with the Bank of the United States that may be
+avoided without a violation of the national faith after that institution
+has set at open defiance the conceded right of the Government to examine
+its affairs, after it has done all in its power to deride the public
+authority in other respects and to bring it into disrepute at home and
+abroad, after it has attempted to defeat the clearly expressed will of
+the people by turning against them the immense power intrusted to its
+hands and by involving a country otherwise peaceful, flourishing, and
+happy, in dissension, embarrassment, and distress, would make the nation
+itself a party to the degradation so sedulously prepared for its public
+agents and do much to destroy the confidence of mankind in popular
+governments and to bring into contempt their authority and efficiency.
+In guarding against an evil of such magnitude considerations of
+temporary convenience should be thrown out of the question, and we
+should be influenced by such motives only as look to the honor and
+preservation of the republican system. Deeply and solemnly impressed
+with the justice of these views, I feel it to be my duty to recommend to
+you that a law be passed authorizing the sale of the public stock: that
+the provision of the charter requiring the receipt of notes of the bank
+in payment of public dues shall, in accordance with the power reserved
+to Congress in the fourteenth section of the charter, be suspended until
+the bank pays to the Treasury the dividends withheld, and that all laws
+connecting the Government or its officers with the bank, directly or
+indirectly, be repealed, and that the institution be left hereafter
+to its own resources and means.
+
+Events have satisfied my mind, and I think the minds of the American
+people, that the mischiefs and dangers which flow from a national bank
+far overbalance all its advantages. The bold effort the present bank has
+made to control the Government, the distresses it has wantonly produced,
+the violence of which it has been the occasion in one of our cities
+famed for its observance of law and order, are but premonitions of the
+fate which awaits the American people should they be deluded into a
+perpetuation of this institution or the establishment of another like
+it. It is fervently hoped that thus admonished those who have heretofore
+favored the establishment of a substitute for the present bank will
+be induced to abandon it, as it is evidently better to incur any
+inconvenience that may be reasonably expected than to concentrate the
+whole moneyed power of the Republic in any form whatsoever or under
+any restrictions.
+
+Happily it is already illustrated that the agency of such an institution
+is not necessary to the fiscal operations of the Government. The State
+banks are found fully adequate to the performance of all services which
+were required of the Bank of the United States, quite as promptly and
+with the same cheapness. They have maintained themselves and discharged
+all these duties while the Bank of the United States was still powerful
+and in the field as an open enemy, and it is not possible to conceive
+that they will find greater difficulties in their operations when that
+enemy shall cease to exist.
+
+The attention of Congress is earnestly invited to the regulation of the
+deposits in the State banks by law. Although the power now exercised by
+the executive department in this behalf is only such as was uniformly
+exerted through every Administration from the origin of the Government
+up to the establishment of the present bank, yet it is one which
+is susceptible of regulation by law, and therefore ought so to be
+regulated. The power of Congress to direct in what places the Treasurer
+shall keep the moneys in the Treasury and to impose restrictions upon
+the Executive authority in relation to their custody and removal is
+unlimited, and its exercise will rather be courted than discouraged by
+those public officers and agents on whom rests the responsibility for
+their safety. It is desirable that as little power as possible should
+be left to the President or the Secretary of the Treasury over those
+institutions, which, being thus freed from Executive influence, and
+without a common head to direct their operations, would have neither the
+temptation nor the ability to interfere in the political conflicts of
+the country. Not deriving their charters from the national authorities,
+they would never have those inducements to meddle in general elections
+which have led the Bank of the United States to agitate and convulse the
+country for upward of two years.
+
+The progress of our gold coinage is creditable to the officers of
+the Mint, and promises in a short period to furnish the country with a
+sound and portable currency, which will much diminish the inconvenience
+to travelers of the want of a general paper currency should the State
+banks be incapable of furnishing it. Those institutions have already
+shown themselves competent to purchase and furnish domestic exchange
+for the convenience of trade at reasonable rates, and not a doubt is
+entertained that in a short period all the wants of the country in bank
+accommodations and exchange will be supplied as promptly and as cheaply
+as they have heretofore been by the Bank of the United States. If the
+several States shall be induced gradually to reform their banking
+systems and prohibit the issue of all small notes, we shall in a few
+years have a currency as sound and as little liable to fluctuations
+as any other commercial country.
+
+The report of the Secretary of War, together with the accompanying
+documents from the several bureaus of that Department, will exhibit
+the situation of the various objects committed to its administration.
+
+No event has occurred since your last session rendering necessary any
+movements of the Army, with the exception of the expedition of the
+regiment of dragoons into the territory of the wandering and predatory
+tribes inhabiting the western frontier and living adjacent to the
+Mexican boundary. These tribes have been heretofore known to us
+principally by their attacks upon our own citizens and upon other
+Indians entitled to the protection of the United States. It became
+necessary for the peace of the frontiers to check these habitual
+inroads, and I am happy to inform you that the object has been effected
+without the commission of any act of hostility. Colonel Dodge and the
+troops under his command have acted with equal firmness and humanity,
+and an arrangement has been made with those Indians which it is hoped
+will assure their permanent pacific relations with the United States and
+the other tribes of Indians upon that border. It is to be regretted that
+the prevalence of sickness in that quarter has deprived the country of a
+number of valuable lives, and particularly that General Leavenworth, an
+officer well known, and esteemed for his gallant services in the late
+war and for his subsequent good conduct, has fallen a victim to his zeal
+and exertions in the discharge of his duty.
+
+The Army is in a high state of discipline. Its moral condition, so far
+as that is known here, is good, and the various branches of the public
+service are carefully attended to. It is amply sufficient under its
+present organization for providing the necessary garrisons for the
+seaboard and for the defense of the internal frontier, and also for
+preserving the elements of military knowledge and for keeping pace
+with those improvements which modern experience is continually making.
+And these objects appear to me to embrace all the legitimate purposes
+for which a permanent military force should be maintained in our
+country. The lessons of history teach us its danger and the tendency
+which exists to an increase. This can be best met and averted by a just
+caution on the part of the public itself, and of those who represent
+them in Congress.
+
+From the duties which devolve on the Engineer Department and upon
+the topographical engineers, a different organization seems to be
+demanded by the public interest, and I recommend the subject to
+your consideration.
+
+No important change has during this season taken place in the condition
+of the Indians. Arrangements are in progress for the removal of the
+Creeks, and will soon be for the removal of the Seminoles. I regret that
+the Cherokees east of the Mississippi have not yet determined as a
+community to remove. How long the personal causes which have heretofore
+retarded that ultimately inevitable measure will continue to operate
+I am unable to conjecture. It is certain, however, that delay will bring
+with it accumulated evils which will render their condition more and
+more unpleasant. The experience of every year adds to the conviction
+that emigration, and that alone, can preserve from destruction the
+remnant of the tribes yet living amongst us. The facility with which the
+necessaries of life are procured and the treaty stipulations providing
+aid for the emigrant Indians in their agricultural pursuits and in the
+important concern of education, and their removal from those causes
+which have heretofore depressed all and destroyed many of the tribes,
+can not fail to stimulate their exertions and to reward their industry.
+
+The two laws passed at the last session of Congress on the subject of
+Indian affairs have been carried into effect, and detailed instructions
+for their administration have been given. It will be seen by the
+estimates for the present session that a great reduction will take place
+in the expenditures of the Department in consequence of these laws, and
+there is reason to believe that their operation will be salutary and
+that the colonization of the Indians on the western frontier, together
+with a judicious system of administration, will still further reduce
+the expenses of this branch of the public service and at the same time
+promote its usefulness and efficiency.
+
+Circumstances have been recently developed showing the existence of
+extensive frauds under the various laws granting pensions and gratuities
+for Revolutionary services. It is impossible to estimate the amount
+which may have been thus fraudulently obtained from the National
+Treasury. I am satisfied, however, it has been such as to justify a
+reexamination of the system and the adoption of the necessary checks in
+its administration. All will agree that the services and sufferings of
+the remnant of our Revolutionary band should be fully compensated; but
+while this is done, every proper precaution should be taken to prevent
+the admission of fabricated and fraudulent claims. In the present mode
+of proceeding the attestations and certificates of the judicial officers
+of the various States form a considerable portion of the checks which
+are interposed against the commission of frauds. These, however, have
+been and may be fabricated, and in such a way as to elude detection at
+the examining offices. And independently of this practical difficulty,
+it is ascertained that these documents are often loosely granted;
+sometimes even blank certificates have been issued; sometimes prepared
+papers have been signed without inquiry, and in one instance, at least,
+the seal of the court has been within reach of a person most interested
+in its improper application. It is obvious that under such circumstances
+no severity of administration can check the abuse of the law. And
+information has from time to time been communicated to the Pension
+Office questioning or denying the right of persons placed upon the
+pension list to the bounty of the country. Such cautions are always
+attended to and examined, but a far more general investigation is called
+for, and I therefore recommend, in conformity with the suggestion of the
+Secretary of War, that an actual inspection should be made in each State
+into the circumstances and claims of every person now drawing a pension.
+The honest veteran has nothing to fear from such a scrutiny, while the
+fraudulent claimant will be detected and the public Treasury relieved to
+an amount, I have reason to believe, far greater than has heretofore
+been suspected. The details of such a plan could be so regulated as to
+interpose the necessary checks without any burdensome operation upon the
+pensioners. The object should be twofold:
+
+1. To look into the original justice of the claims, so far as this can
+be done under a proper system of regulations, by an examination of the
+claimants themselves and by inquiring in the vicinity of their residence
+into their history and into the opinion entertained of their
+Revolutionary services.
+
+2. To ascertain in all cases whether the original claimant is living,
+and this by actual personal inspection.
+
+This measure will, if adopted, be productive, I think, of the desired
+results, and I therefore recommend it to your consideration, with the
+further suggestion that all payments should be suspended till the
+necessary reports are received.
+
+It will be seen by a tabular statement annexed to the documents
+transmitted to Congress that the appropriations for objects connected
+with the War Department, made at the last session, for the service of
+the year 1834, excluding the permanent appropriation for the payment of
+military gratuities under the act of June 7, 1832, the appropriation of
+$200,000 for arming and equipping the militia, and the appropriation of
+$10,000 for the civilization of the Indians, which are not annually
+renewed, amounted to the sum of $9,003,261, and that the estimates of
+appropriations necessary for the same branches of service for the year
+1835 amount to the sum of $5,778,964, making a difference in the
+appropriations of the current year over the estimates of the
+appropriations for the next of $3,224,297.
+
+The principal causes which have operated at this time to produce this
+great difference are shown in the reports and documents and in the
+detailed estimates. Some of these causes are accidental and temporary;
+while others are permanent, and, aided by a just course of
+administration, may continue to operate beneficially upon the public
+expenditures.
+
+A just economy, expending where the public service requires and
+withholding where it does not, is among the indispensable duties of
+the Government.
+
+I refer you to the accompanying report of the Secretary of the Navy
+and to the documents with it for a full view of the operations of that
+important branch of our service during the present year. It will be
+seen that the wisdom and liberality with which Congress has provided
+for the gradual increase of our navy material have been seconded by a
+corresponding zeal and fidelity on the part of those to whom has been
+confided the execution of the laws on the subject, and that but a short
+period would be now required to put in commission a force large enough
+for any exigency into which the country may be thrown.
+
+When we reflect upon our position in relation to other nations, it
+must be apparent that in the event of conflicts with them we must look
+chiefly to our Navy for the protection of our national rights. The wide
+seas which separate us from other Governments must of necessity be the
+theater on which an enemy will aim to assail us, and unless we are
+prepared to meet him on this element we can not be said to possess the
+power requisite to repel or prevent aggressions. We can not, therefore,
+watch with too much attention this arm of our defense, or cherish with
+too much care the means by which it can possess the necessary efficiency
+and extension. To this end our policy has been heretofore wisely
+directed to the constant employment of a force sufficient to guard our
+commerce, and to the rapid accumulation of the materials which are
+necessary to repair our vessels and construct with ease such new ones
+as may be required in a state of war.
+
+In accordance with this policy, I recommend to your consideration the
+erection of the additional dry dock described by the Secretary of the
+Navy, and also the construction of the steam batteries to which he has
+referred, for the purpose of testing their efficacy as auxiliaries to
+the system of defense now in use.
+
+The report of the Postmaster-General herewith submitted exhibits the
+condition and prospects of that Department. From that document it
+appears that there was a deficit in the funds of the Department at
+the commencement of the present year beyond its available means of
+$315,599.98, which on the 1st July last had been reduced to $268,092.74.
+It appears also that the revenues for the coming year will exceed the
+expenditures about $270,000, which, with the excess of revenue which
+will result from the operations of the current half year, may be
+expected, independently of any increase in the gross amount of postages,
+to supply the entire deficit before the end of 1835. But as this
+calculation is based on the gross amount of postages which had accrued
+within the period embraced by the times of striking the balances, it is
+obvious that without a progressive increase in the amount of postages
+the existing retrenchments must be persevered in through the year 1836
+that the Department may accumulate a surplus fund sufficient to place
+it in a condition of perfect ease.
+
+It will be observed that the revenues of the Post-Office Department,
+though they have increased, and their amount is above that of any former
+year, have yet fallen short of the estimates more than $100,000. This is
+attributed in a great degree to the increase of free letters growing out
+of the extension and abuse of the franking privilege. There has been a
+gradual increase in the number of executive offices to which it has been
+granted, and by an act passed in March, 1833, it was extended to members
+of Congress throughout the whole year. It is believed that a revision of
+the laws relative to the franking privilege, with some enactments to
+enforce more rigidly the restrictions under which it is granted, would
+operate beneficially to the country, by enabling the Department at an
+earlier period to restore the mail facilities that have been withdrawn,
+and to extend them more widely, as the growing settlements of the
+country may require.
+
+To a measure so important to the Government and so just to our
+constituents, who ask no exclusive privileges for themselves and are not
+willing to concede them to others, I earnestly recommend the serious
+attention of Congress.
+
+The importance of the Post-Office Department and the magnitude to which
+it has grown, both in its revenues and in its operations, seem to demand
+its reorganization by law. The whole of its receipts and disbursements
+have hitherto been left entirely to Executive control and individual
+discretion. The principle is as sound in relation to this as to any
+other Department of the Government, that as little discretion should be
+confided to the executive officer who controls it as is compatible with
+its efficiency. It is therefore earnestly recommended that it be
+organized with an auditor and treasurer of its own, appointed by the
+President and Senate, who shall be branches of the Treasury Department.
+
+Your attention is again respectfully invited to the defect which exists
+in the judicial system of the United States. Nothing can be more
+desirable than the uniform operation of the Federal judiciary throughout
+the several States, all of which, standing on the same footing as
+members of the Union, have equal rights to the advantages and benefits
+resulting from its laws. This object is not attained by the judicial
+acts now in force, because they leave one-fourth of the States without
+circuit courts.
+
+It is undoubtedly the duty of Congress to place all the States on the
+same footing in this respect, either by the creation of an additional
+number of associate judges or by an enlargement of the circuits assigned
+to those already appointed so as to include the new States. Whatever may
+be the difficulty in a proper organization of the judicial system so as
+to secure its efficiency and uniformity in all parts of the Union and at
+the same time to avoid such an increase of judges as would encumber the
+supreme appellate tribunal, it should not be allowed to weigh against
+the great injustice which the present operation of the system produces.
+
+I trust that I may be also pardoned for renewing the recommendation
+I have so often submitted to your attention in regard to the mode of
+electing the President and Vice-President of the United States. All the
+reflection I have been able to bestow upon the subject increases my
+conviction that the best interests of the country will be promoted by
+the adoption of some plan which will secure in all contingencies that
+important right of sovereignty to the direct control of the people.
+Could this be attained, and the terms of those officers be limited to a
+single period of either four or six years, I think our liberties would
+possess an additional safeguard.
+
+At your last session I called the attention of Congress to the
+destruction of the public building occupied by the Treasury Department.
+As the public interest requires that another building should be erected
+with as little delay as possible, it is hoped that the means will be
+seasonably provided and that they will be ample enough to authorize such
+an enlargement and improvement in the plan of the building as will more
+effectually accommodate the public officers and secure the public
+documents deposited in it from the casualties of fire.
+
+I have not been able to satisfy myself that the bill entitled "An act to
+improve the navigation of the Wabash River," which was sent to me at the
+close of your last session, ought to pass, and I have therefore withheld
+from it my approval and now return it to the Senate, the body in which
+it originated.
+
+There can be no question connected with the administration of public
+affairs more important or more difficult to be satisfactorily dealt with
+than that which relates to the rightful authority and proper action of
+the Federal Government upon the subject of internal improvements. To
+inherent embarrassments have been added others resulting from the course
+of our legislation concerning it.
+
+I have heretofore communicated freely with Congress upon this subject,
+and in adverting to it again I can not refrain from expressing my
+increased conviction of its extreme importance as well in regard to
+its bearing upon the maintenance of the Constitution and the prudent
+management of the public revenue as on account of its disturbing effect
+upon the harmony of the Union.
+
+We are in no danger from violations of the Constitution by which
+encroachments are made upon the personal rights of the citizen. The
+sentence of condemnation long since pronounced by the American people
+upon acts of that character will, I doubt not, continue to prove as
+salutary in its effects as it is irreversible in its nature. But against
+the dangers of unconstitutional acts which, instead of menacing the
+vengeance of offended authority, proffer local advantages and bring
+in their train the patronage of the Government, we are, I fear, not so
+safe. To suppose that because our Government has been instituted for the
+benefit of the people it must therefore have the power to do whatever
+may seem to conduce to the public good is an error into which even
+honest minds are too apt to fall. In yielding themselves to this fallacy
+they overlook the great considerations in which the Federal Constitution
+was founded. They forget that in consequence of the conceded diversities
+in the interest and condition of the different States it was foreseen at
+the period of its adoption that although a particular measure of the
+Government might be beneficial and proper in one State it might be the
+reverse in another; that it was for this reason the States would not
+consent to make a grant to the Federal Government of the general and
+usual powers of government, but of such only as were specifically
+enumerated, and the probable effects of which they could, as they
+thought, safely anticipate; and they forget also the paramount
+obligation upon all to abide by the compact then so solemnly and, as
+it was hoped, so firmly established. In addition to the dangers to the
+Constitution springing from the sources I have stated, there has been
+one which was perhaps greater than all. I allude to the materials which
+this subject has afforded for sinister appeals to selfish feelings, and
+the opinion heretofore so extensively entertained of its adaptation to
+the purposes of personal ambition. With such stimulants it is not
+surprising that the acts and pretensions of the Federal Government in
+this behalf should sometimes have been carried to an alarming extent.
+The questions which have arisen upon this subject have related--
+
+First. To the power of making internal improvements within the limits of
+a State, with the right of territorial jurisdiction, sufficient at least
+for their preservation and use.
+
+Second. To the right of appropriating money in aid of such works when
+carried on by a State or by a company in virtue of State authority,
+surrendering the claim of jurisdiction; and
+
+Third. To the propriety of appropriation for improvements of a
+particular class, viz, for light-houses, beacons, buoys, public piers,
+and for the removal of sand bars, sawyers, and other temporary and
+partial impediments in our navigable rivers and harbors.
+
+The claims of power for the General Government upon each of these
+points certainly present matter of the deepest interest. The first is,
+however, of much the greatest importance, inasmuch as, in addition to
+the dangers of unequal and improvident expenditures of public moneys
+common to all, there is superadded to that the conflicting jurisdictions
+of the respective governments. Federal jurisdiction, at least to the
+extent I have stated, has been justly regarded by its advocates as
+necessarily appurtenant to the power in question, if that exists by
+the Constitution. That the most injurious conflicts would unavoidably
+arise between the respective jurisdictions of the State and Federal
+Governments in the absence of a constitutional provision marking out
+their respective boundaries can not be doubted. The local advantages to
+be obtained would induce the States to overlook in the beginning the
+dangers and difficulties to which they might ultimately be exposed. The
+powers exercised by the Federal Government would soon be regarded with
+jealousy by the State authorities, and originating as they must from
+implication or assumption, it would be impossible to affix to them
+certain and safe limits. Opportunities and temptations to the assumption
+of power incompatible with State sovereignty would be increased and
+those barriers which resist the tendency of our system toward
+consolidation greatly weakened. The officers and agents of the General
+Government might not always have the discretion to abstain from
+intermeddling with State concerns, and if they did they would not always
+escape the suspicion of having done so. Collisions and consequent
+irritations would spring up; that harmony which should ever exist
+between the General Government and each member of the Confederacy would
+be frequently interrupted; a spirit of contention would be engendered
+and the dangers of disunion greatly multiplied.
+
+Yet we all know that notwithstanding these grave objections this
+dangerous doctrine was at one time apparently proceeding to its final
+establishment with fearful rapidity. The desire to embark the Federal
+Government in works of internal improvement prevailed in the highest
+degree during the first session of the first Congress that I had the
+honor to meet in my present situation. When the bill authorizing a
+subscription on the part of the United States for stock in the Maysville
+and Lexington Turnpike Company passed the two Houses, there had been
+reported by the Committees of Internal Improvements bills containing
+appropriations for such objects, inclusive of those for the Cumberland
+road and for harbors and light-houses, to the amount of $106,000,000. In
+this amount was included authority to the Secretary of the Treasury to
+subscribe for the stock of different companies to a great extent, and
+the residue was principally for the direct construction of roads by this
+Government. In addition to these projects, which had been presented to
+the two Houses under the sanction and recommendation of their respective
+Committees on Internal Improvements, there were then still pending
+before the committees, and in memorials to Congress presented but not
+referred, different projects for works of a similar character, the
+expense of which can not be estimated with certainty, but must have
+exceeded $100,000,000.
+
+Regarding the bill authorizing a subscription to the stock of the
+Maysville and Lexington Turnpike Company as the entering wedge of a
+system which, however weak at first, might soon become strong enough to
+rive the bands of the Union asunder, and believing that if its passage
+was acquiesced in by the Executive and the people there would no longer
+be any limitation upon the authority of the General Government in
+respect to the appropriation of money for such objects, I deemed it an
+imperative duty to withhold from it the Executive approval. Although
+from the obviously local character of that work I might well have
+contented myself with a refusal to approve the bill upon that ground,
+yet sensible of the vital importance of the subject, and anxious that
+my views and opinions in regard to the whole matter should be fully
+understood by Congress and by my constituents, I felt it my duty to go
+further. I therefore embraced that early occasion to apprise Congress
+that in my opinion the Constitution did not confer upon it the power
+to authorize the construction of ordinary roads and canals within the
+limits of a State and to say, respectfully, that no bill admitting such
+a power could receive my official sanction. I did so in the confident
+expectation that the speedy settlement of the public mind upon the whole
+subject would be greatly facilitated by the difference between the two
+Houses and myself, and that the harmonious action of the several
+departments of the Federal Government in regard to it would be
+ultimately secured.
+
+So far, at least, as it regards this branch of the subject, my best
+hopes have been realized. Nearly four years have elapsed, and several
+sessions of Congress have intervened, and no attempt within my
+recollection has been made to induce Congress to exercise this power.
+The applications for the construction of roads and canals which were
+formerly multiplied upon your files are no longer presented, and we have
+good reason to infer that the current of public sentiment has become
+so decided against the pretension as effectually to discourage its
+reassertion. So thinking, I derive the greatest satisfaction from the
+conviction that thus much at least has been secured upon this important
+and embarrassing subject.
+
+From attempts to appropriate the national funds to objects which are
+confessedly of a local character we can not, I trust, have anything
+further to apprehend. My views in regard to the expediency of making
+appropriations for works which are claimed to be of a national character
+and prosecuted under State authority--assuming that Congress have the
+right to do so--were stated in my annual message to Congress in 1830,
+and also in that containing my objections to the Maysville road bill.
+
+So thoroughly convinced am I that no such appropriations ought to
+be made by Congress until a suitable constitutional provision is
+made upon the subject, and so essential do I regard the point to the
+highest interests of our country, that I could not consider myself as
+discharging my duty to my constituents in giving the Executive sanction
+to any bill containing such an appropriation. If the people of the
+United States desire that the public Treasury shall be resorted to for
+the means to prosecute such works, they will concur in an amendment of
+the Constitution prescribing a rule by which the national character
+of the works is to be tested, and by which the greatest practicable
+equality of benefits may be secured to each member of the Confederacy.
+The effects of such a regulation would be most salutary in preventing
+unprofitable expenditures, in securing our legislation from the
+pernicious consequences of a scramble for the favors of Government,
+and in repressing the spirit of discontent which must inevitably arise
+from an unequal distribution of treasures which belong alike to all.
+
+There is another class of appropriations for what may be called, without
+impropriety, internal improvements, which have always been regarded as
+standing upon different grounds from those to which I have referred. I
+allude to such as have for their object the improvement of our harbors,
+the removal of partial and temporary obstructions in our navigable
+rivers, for the facility and security of our foreign commerce. The
+grounds upon which I distinguished appropriations of this character from
+others have already been stated to Congress. I will now only add that at
+the first session of Congress under the new Constitution it was provided
+by law that all expenses which should accrue from and after the 15th day
+of August, 1789, in the necessary support and maintenance and repairs of
+all light-houses, beacons, buoys, and public piers erected, placed, or
+sunk before the passage of the act within any bay, inlet, harbor, or
+port of the United States, for rendering the navigation thereof easy and
+safe, should be defrayed out of the Treasury of the United States, and,
+further, that it should be the duty of the Secretary of the Treasury
+to provide by contracts, with the approbation of the President, for
+rebuilding when necessary and keeping in good repair the light-houses,
+beacons, buoys, and public piers in the several States, and for
+furnishing them with supplies. Appropriations for similar objects have
+been continued from that time to the present without interruption or
+dispute. As a natural consequence of the increase and extension of our
+foreign commerce, ports of entry and delivery have been multiplied and
+established, not only upon our seaboard, but in the interior of the
+country upon our lakes and navigable rivers. The convenience and
+safety of this commerce have led to the gradual extension of these
+expenditures; to the erection of light-houses, the placing, planting,
+and sinking of buoys, beacons, and piers, and to the removal of partial
+and temporary obstructions in our navigable rivers and in the harbors
+upon our Great Lakes as well as on the seaboard. Although I have
+expressed to Congress my apprehension that these expenditures have
+sometimes been extravagant and disproportionate to the advantages to be
+derived from them, I have not felt it to be my duty to refuse my assent
+to bills containing them, and have contented myself to follow in this
+respect in the footsteps of all my predecessors. Sensible, however, from
+experience and observation of the great abuses to which the unrestricted
+exercise of this authority by Congress was exposed, I have prescribed a
+limitation for the government of my own conduct by which expenditures of
+this character are confined to places below the ports of entry or
+delivery established by law. I am very sensible that this restriction is
+not as satisfactory as could be desired, and that much embarrassment may
+be caused to the executive department in its execution by appropriations
+for remote and not well-understood objects. But as neither my own
+reflections nor the lights which I may properly derive from other
+sources have supplied me with a better, I shall continue to apply my
+best exertions to a faithful application of the rule upon which it is
+founded. I sincerely regret that I could not give my assent to the bill
+entitled "An act to improve the navigation of the Wabash River;" but
+I could not have done so without receding from the ground which I have,
+upon the fullest consideration, taken upon this subject, and of which
+Congress has been heretofore apprised, and without throwing the subject
+again open to abuses which no good citizen entertaining my opinions
+could desire.
+
+I rely upon the intelligence and candor of my fellow-citizens, in whose
+liberal indulgence I have already so largely participated, for a correct
+appreciation of my motives in interposing as I have done on this and
+other occasions checks to a course of legislation which, without in the
+slightest degree calling in question the motives of others, I consider
+as sanctioning improper and unconstitutional expenditures of public
+treasure.
+
+I am not hostile to internal improvements, and wish to see them extended
+to every part of the country. But I am fully persuaded, if they are not
+commenced in a proper manner, confined to proper objects, and conducted
+under an authority generally conceded to be rightful, that a successful
+prosecution of them can not be reasonably expected. The attempt will
+meet with resistance where it might otherwise receive support, and
+instead of strengthening the bonds of our Confederacy it will only
+multiply and aggravate the causes of disunion.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+
+SPECIAL MESSAGES
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _December 4, 1834_.
+
+_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:
+
+I transmit to Congress a communication addressed to me by M. George
+Washington Lafayette, accompanying a copy of the Declaration of
+Independence engraved on copper, which his illustrious father bequeathed
+to Congress to be placed in their library as a last tribute of respect,
+patriotic love, and affection for his adopted country.
+
+I have a mournful satisfaction in transmitting this precious bequest of
+that great and good man who through a long life, under many vicissitudes
+and in both hemispheres, sustained the principles of civil liberty
+asserted in that memorable Declaration, and who from his youth to the
+last moment of his life cherished for our beloved country the most
+generous attachment.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+The bequest accompanies the message to the House of Representatives.
+
+A.J.
+
+
+
+PARIS, _June 15, 1834_.
+
+SIR: A great misfortune has given me more than one solemn and important
+duty to fulfill, and the ardent desire of accomplishing with fidelity my
+father's last will emboldens me to claim the patronage of the President
+of the United States and his benevolent intervention when I am obliged
+respectfully and mournfully to address the Senate and Representatives of
+a whole nation.
+
+Our forever beloved parent possessed a copper plate on which was
+inscribed the first engraved copy of the American Declaration of
+Independence, and his last intention in departing this world was that
+the precious plate should be presented to the Congress of the United
+States, to be deposited in their library as a last tribute of respect,
+patriotic love, and affection for his adopted country.
+
+Will it be permitted to me, a faithful disciple of that American school
+whose principles are so admirably exposed in that immortal Declaration,
+to hope that you, sir, would do me the honor to communicate this letter
+to both Houses of Congress at the same time that in the name of his
+afflicted family you would present to them my venerated father's gift?
+
+In craving such an important favor, sir, the son of General Lafayette,
+the adopted grandson of Washington, knows and shall never forget that he
+would become unworthy of it if he was ever to cease to be a French and
+American patriot. With the utmost respect, I am, sir, your devoted and
+obedient servant,
+
+GEORGE W. LAFAYETTE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _December 10, 1834_.
+
+_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_:
+
+The joint resolutions of Congress unanimously expressing their
+sensibility on the intelligence of the death of General Lafayette were
+communicated, in compliance with their will, to George Washington
+Lafayette and the other members of the family of that illustrious man.
+By their request I now present the heartfelt acknowledgments of the
+surviving descendants of our beloved friend for that highly valued proof
+of the sympathy of the United States.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _June 27, 1834_.
+
+GEORGE WASHINGTON LAFAYETTE AND THE OTHER MEMBERS OF THE FAMILY OF THE
+LATE GENERAL LAFAYETTE:
+
+In compliance with the will of Congress, I transmit to you the joint
+resolutions of the two Houses unanimously expressing the sensibility
+with which they received the intelligence of the death of "General
+Lafayette, the friend of the United States, the friend of Washington,
+and the friend of liberty;" and I also assure you of the condolence of
+this whole nation in the irreparable bereavement which by that event you
+have sustained.
+
+In complying with the request of Congress I can not omit the occasion of
+offering you my own condolence in the great loss you have sustained, and
+of expressing my admiration of the eminent virtues of the distinguished
+patriot whom it has pleased Providence to remove to his high reward.
+
+I also pray you to be persuaded that your individual welfare and
+prosperity will always be with me objects of that solicitude which the
+illustrious services of the great friend and benefactor of my country
+are calculated to awaken.
+
+
+ANDREW JACKSON,
+
+_President of the United States_.
+
+
+
+RESOLUTION manifesting the sensibility of the two Houses of Congress and
+of the nation on the occasion of the decease of General Lafayette.
+
+_Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
+States of America in Congress assembled_, That the two Houses of
+Congress have received with the profoundest sensibility intelligence of
+the death of General Lafayette, the friend of the United States, the
+friend of Washington, and the friend of liberty.
+
+_And be it further resolved_, That the sacrifices and efforts of this
+illustrious person in the cause of our country during her struggle for
+independence, and the affectionate interest which he has at all times
+manifested for the success of her political institutions, claim from the
+Government and people of the United States an expression of condolence
+for his loss, veneration for his virtues, and gratitude for his
+services.
+
+_And be it further resolved_, That the President of the United States be
+requested to address, together with a copy of the above resolutions, a
+letter to George Washington Lafayette and the other members of his
+family, assuring them of the condolence of this whole nation in their
+irreparable bereavement.
+
+_And be it further resolved_, That the members of the two Houses of
+Congress will wear a badge of mourning for thirty days, and that it be
+recommended to the people of the United States to wear a similar badge
+for the same period.
+
+_And be it further resolved_, That the halls of the Houses be dressed in
+mourning for the residue of the session.
+
+_And be it further resolved_, That John Quincy Adams be requested to
+deliver an oration on the life and character of General Lafayette before
+the two Houses of Congress at the next session.
+
+JNO. BELL,
+
+_Speaker of the House of Representatives_.
+
+M. VAN BUREN,
+
+_Vice-President of the United States and President of the Senate_.
+
+Approved, June 26, 1834.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+LA GRANGE, _October 21, 1834_.
+
+SIR: The resolution of Congress communicated to me by your honored favor
+of the 27th of June, that glorious testimony of American national
+affection for my beloved and venerated father, has been received by his
+family with the deepest sense of the most respectful and, give me leave
+to say, filial gratitude.
+
+And now, sir, that we experience the benefits of such a high and
+soothing sympathy, we find ourselves called to the honor of addressing
+to the people and Congress of the United States our heartfelt and
+dutiful thanks.
+
+Sir, you were the friend of my father, and the kind letter which
+accompanied the precious message seems to be for us a sufficient
+authorization to our claiming once more your honorable assistance for
+the accomplishment of a duty dear to our hearts. We most fervently wish
+that the homage of our everlasting devotion to a nation whose tears
+have deigned to mingle with ours should be offered to both Houses
+of Congress. Transmitted by you, sir, that homage shall be rendered
+acceptable, and we earnestly pray you, sir, to present it in our name.
+Our gratitude shall be forever adequate to the obligation.
+
+The resolution which so powerfully honors my father's memory shall be
+deposited as a most sacred family property in that room of mourning
+where once his son and grandsons used to receive with avidity from him
+lessons of patriotism and active love of liberty. There the daily
+contemplation of it will more and more impress their minds with that
+encouraging conviction that the affection and esteem of a free nation
+is the most desirable reward that can be obtained on earth.
+
+With the utmost respect, sir, I have the honor to be, your devoted and
+obedient servant,
+
+GEORGE W. LAFAYETTE.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _December 12, 1834_.
+
+_To the House of Representatives_:
+
+In compliance with the resolution of the House of Representatives of
+the 10th instant, calling for any information which the President may
+possess respecting the burning of the building occupied by the Treasury
+Department in the year 1833, I transmit herewith the papers containing
+the inquiry into the cause of that disaster, which was directed and made
+soon after its occurrence.
+
+Accompanying this inquiry I also transmit a particular report from Mr.
+McLane, who was then Secretary of the Treasury, stating all the facts
+relating to the subject which were within the knowledge of the officers
+of the Department and such losses of records and papers as were
+ascertained to have been sustained.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+_To the Senate_:
+
+I transmit herewith, for the consideration of the Senate, papers showing
+the terms on which the united tribes of the Chippewas, Ottawas, and
+Potawatamies are willing to accede to the amendments contained in the
+resolution of the Senate of the 22d of May last, ratifying conditionally
+the treaty which had been concluded with them on the 26th day of
+September, 1833.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+DECEMBER 15, 1834.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _December 27, 1834_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I transmit to the Senate a report from the Secretary of State, together
+with the papers relative to the execution of the treaty of the 4th of
+July, 1831, between the United States and France, requested by their
+resolution of the ---- instant.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _December 27, 1834_.
+
+_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:
+
+I transmit to the House a report from the Secretary of State, together
+with the papers relating to the refusal of the French Government to make
+provision for the execution of the treaty between the United States and
+France concluded on the 4th July, 1831, requested by their resolution of
+the 24th instant.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+DEPARTMENT OF STATE,
+
+_Washington, December 27, 1834_.
+
+The PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES:
+
+The Secretary of State, to whom has been referred the resolution
+of the House of Representatives of the 24th instant, requesting the
+President of the United States "to communicate to the House, if not in
+his opinion incompatible with the public interest, any communications or
+correspondence which may have taken place between our minister at Paris
+and the French Government, or between the minister from France to this
+Government and the Secretary of State, on the subject of the refusal of
+the French Government to make provision for the execution of the treaty
+concluded between the United States and France on the 4th July, 1831,"
+has the honor of reporting to the President copies of the papers desired
+by that resolution.
+
+It will be perceived that no authority was given to either of
+the charges d'affaires who succeeded Mr. Rives to enter into any
+correspondence with the French Government in regard to the merits of
+the convention, or in relation to its execution, except to urge the
+prompt delivery of the papers stipulated for in the sixth article and to
+apprise that Government of the arrangement made for receiving payment of
+the first installment.
+
+All which is respectfully submitted.
+
+JOHN FORSYTH.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _January 5, 1835_.
+
+_To the House of Representatives_:
+
+In answer to the resolution of the House of Representatives passed on
+the 24th ultimo, I transmit a report[10] from the Secretary of State upon
+the subject.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+[Footnote 10: Relating to claims of American citizens upon the Mexican
+Government.]
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _January 6, 1835_.
+
+_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:
+
+In answer to a resolution of the House of Representatives passed on the
+27th ultimo, I transmit a report made to me by the Secretary of State on
+the subject; and I have to acquaint the House that the negotiation for
+the settlement of the northeastern boundary being now in progress, it
+would, in my opinion, be incompatible with the public interest to lay
+before the House any communications which have been had between the two
+Governments since the period alluded to in the resolution.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _January 13, 1835_.
+
+_To the House of Representatives_:
+
+In compliance with the resolution of the House of the 8th instant,
+requesting "copies of every circular or letter of instruction emanating
+from the Treasury or War Departments since the 30th day of June last,
+and addressed to either the receiving or the disbursing officers
+stationed in States wherein land offices are established or public works
+are constructing under the authority of Congress," I transmit herewith
+reports from the Secretaries of the Treasury and War Departments,
+containing the information sought for.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _January 13, 1835_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I have received the resolution of the Senate of the 9th instant,
+requesting me to communicate "a copy of any report made by any director
+or directors of the Bank of the United States appointed by the
+Government, purporting to give information to the Executive of certain
+notes and bills of exchange discounted at the Bank of the United States
+for account and benefit of George Poindexter, a member of the Senate;
+also the name or names of such director or directors."
+
+In my replies to the resolutions of the Senate of the 11th December,
+1833, and of 12th of June, 1834, the former passed in their legislative
+and the latter in their executive capacity, I had occasion to state the
+objections to requests of this nature, and to vindicate in this respect
+the constitutional rights of the executive department. The views then
+expressed remain unchanged, and as I think them peculiarly applicable to
+the present occasion I should feel myself required to decline any reply
+to the resolution before me were there not reason to apprehend that
+persons now in nomination before the Senate might possibly by such a
+course be exposed to improper and injurious imputations.
+
+The resolution of the Senate, standing alone, would seem to be adopted
+with the view of obtaining information in regard to the transactions
+which may have been had between a particular member of the Senate and
+the Bank of the United States. It can, however, scarcely be supposed
+that such was its object, inasmuch as the Senate have it in their power
+to obtain any information they may desire on this subject from their own
+committee, who have been freely allowed, as appears by their published
+report, to make examinations of the books and proceedings of the bank,
+peremptorily denied to the Government directors, and not even allowed
+to the committee of the House of Representatives. It must therefore be
+presumed that the resolution has reference to some other matter, and on
+referring to the Executive Journal of the Senate I find therein such
+proceedings as in my judgment fully to authorize the apprehension
+stated.
+
+Under these circumstances, and for the purpose of preventing
+misapprehension and injustice, I think it proper to communicate herewith
+a copy of the only report made to me by any director or directors of the
+Bank of the United States appointed by the Government, since the report
+of the 19th of August, 1833, which is already in the possession of
+the Senate. It will be perceived that the paper herewith transmitted
+contains no information whatever as to the discounting of notes or bills
+of exchange for the account and benefit of the member of the Senate
+named in their resolution, nor have I at any time received from the
+Government directors any report purporting to give any such information.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _January 29, 1835_.
+
+_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:
+
+I transmit to the House of Representatives a report[11] from the
+Secretary of State, upon the subject of a resolution of the 22d instant,
+which was referred to that officer, together with the papers referred to
+in the said report.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+[Footnote 11: Relating to commerce with Cuba and Puerto Rico.]
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _January 30, 1835_.
+
+_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:
+
+With, reference to the claim of the granddaughters of the Marshal de
+Rochambeau, and in addition to the papers formerly communicated relating
+to the same subject, I now transmit to the House of Representatives, for
+their consideration, a memorial to the Congress of the United States
+from the Countess d'Ambrugeac and the Marquise de la Goree, together
+with the letter which accompanied it. Translations of these documents
+are also sent.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _February 6, 1835_.
+
+_To the House of Representatives_:
+
+I submit to Congress a report from the Secretary of War, containing the
+evidence of certain claims to reservations under the fourteenth article
+of the treaty of 1830 with the Choctaws, which the locating agent has
+reserved from sale in conformity with instructions from the President,
+who did not consider himself authorized to direct their location.
+
+Should Congress consider the claims just, it will be proper to pass a
+law authorizing their location, or satisfying them in some other way.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _February 6, 1835_.
+
+_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:
+
+I transmit to the House of Representatives a report of the Secretary of
+State, accompanied with extracts from certain dispatches received from
+the minister of the United States at Paris, which are communicated in
+compliance with a resolution of the House of the 31st ultimo. Being of
+opinion that the residue of the dispatches of that minister can not at
+present be laid before the House consistently with the public interest,
+I decline transmitting them. In doing so, however, I deem proper to
+state that whenever any communication shall be received exhibiting any
+change in the condition of the business referred to in the resolution
+information will be promptly transmitted to Congress.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+DEPARTMENT OF STATE,
+
+_Washington, February 5, 1835_.
+
+The PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES:
+
+The Secretary of State, to whom has been referred the resolution of the
+House of Representatives of the 31st ultimo, requesting the President
+"to communicate to that House, if not incompatible with the public
+interest, any correspondence with the Government of France and any
+dispatches received from the minister of the United States at Paris, not
+hitherto communicated to the House, in relation to the failure of the
+French Government to carry into effect any stipulation of the treaty
+of the 4th day of July, 1831," has the honor to report to the President
+that as far as is known to the Department no correspondence has taken
+place with the Government of France since that communicated to the
+House on the 27th December last. The Secretary is not aware that the
+dispatches received from the minister of the United States at Paris
+present any material fact which does not appear in the correspondence
+already transmitted. He nevertheless incloses so much of those
+dispatches written subsequently to the commencement of the present
+session of the French Chambers as may serve to shew the state of the
+business to which they relate since that time, and also that portion of
+an early dispatch which contains the substance of the assurances made to
+him by His Majesty the King of the French at a formal audience granted
+to him for the purpose of presenting his credentials, and he submits for
+the President's consideration whether the residue can consistently with
+the public interest be now laid before the House.
+
+JOHN FORSYTH.
+
+
+
+_Mr. Livingston to the Secretary of State of the United States_.
+
+[Extracts.]
+
+PARIS, _October 4, 1833_.
+
+SIR: On Monday I presented my letter of credence to the King, on which
+occasion I made the address to him a copy of which is inclosed.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+His answer was long and earnest. I can not pretend to give you the words
+of it, but in substance it was a warm expression of his good feeling
+toward the United States for the hospitality he had received there,
+etc. ... "As to the convention," he said, "assure your Government that
+unavoidable circumstances alone prevented its immediate execution, but
+it will be faithfully performed. Assure your Government of this," he
+repeated, "the necessary laws will be passed at the next meeting of the
+Chambers. I tell you this not only as King, but as an individual whose
+promise will be fulfilled."
+
+
+
+_Mr. Livingston to the Secretary of State_.
+
+[Extracts.]
+
+PARIS, _November 22, 1834_.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I do not hope for any decision on our affairs before the middle of
+January. One motive for delay is an expectation that the message of the
+President may arrive before the discussion, and that it may contain
+something to show a strong national feeling on the subject. _This is
+not mere conjecture; I know the fact_. And I repeat now from a full
+knowledge of the case what I have more than once stated in my former
+dispatches as my firm persuasion, that the moderate tone taken by our
+Government when the rejection was first known was attributed by some
+to indifference or to a conviction on the part of the President that
+he would not be supported in any strong measure by the people, and by
+others to a consciousness that the convention had given us more than we
+were entitled to ask.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I saw last night an influential member of the Chamber, who told me
+that, ... and that the King had spoken of our affairs and appeared
+extremely anxious to secure the passage of the law. I mention this as
+one of the many circumstances which, independent of official assurances,
+convince me that the King is sincere, and now I have no doubt of the
+sincerity of his cabinet. From all this you may imagine the anxiety I
+shall feel for the arrival of the President's message. On its tone will
+depend very much, not only the payment of our claims, but our national
+reputation for energy. I have no doubt it will be such as to attain both
+of these important objects.
+
+
+
+_Mr. Livingston to Mr. Forsyth_.
+
+[Extract.]
+
+PARIS, _December 6, 1834_.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The Chambers were convened on the 1st instant under very exciting
+circumstances, the ministers individually and the papers supposed to
+speak their language having previously announced a design to enter into
+a full explanation of their conduct, to answer all interrogations, and
+place their continuance in office on the question of approval by the
+Chambers of their measures.
+
+This, as you will see by the papers, they have frankly and explicitly
+done, and after a warm debate of two days, which has just closed, they
+have gained a decided victory. This gives them confidence, permanence,
+and, I hope, influence enough to carry the treaty. I shall now urge the
+presentation of the law at as early a day as possible, and although I do
+not yet feel very certain of success, my hopes of it are naturally much
+increased by the vote of this evening. The conversations I have had
+with the King and with all the ministers convince me that now they are
+perfectly in earnest and united on the question, and that it will be
+urged with zeal and ability.
+
+Many of the deputies, too, with whom I have entered into explanations on
+the subject, seem now convinced that the interest as well as the honor
+of the nation requires the fulfillment of their engagements. This gives
+me hopes that the endeavors I shall continue to make without ceasing
+until the question is decided may be successful.
+
+The intimation I have conceived myself authorized to make of the serious
+consequences that may be expected from another rejection of the law, and
+of the firm determination of our Government to admit of no reduction or
+change in the treaty, I think has had an effect. On the whole, I repeat
+that without being at all confident I now entertain better hopes than I
+have for some time past done.
+
+
+
+_Mr. Livingston to the Secretary of State_.
+
+[Extracts.]
+
+PARIS, _December 22, 1834_.
+
+Hon. JOHN FORSYTH,
+
+_Secretary of State, etc._
+
+SIR: Our diplomatic relations with this Government are on the most
+extraordinary footing. With the executive branch I have little to
+discuss, for they agree with me in every material point on the subject
+of the treaty. With the legislature, where the great difficulty arises,
+I can have no official communication. Yet, deeply impressed with the
+importance to my fellow-citizens of securing the indemnity to which
+they are entitled, and to the country of enforcing the execution of
+engagements solemnly made to it, as well as of preventing a rupture,
+which must infallibly follow the final refusal to execute the
+convention, I have felt it a duty to use every proper endeavor to
+avoid this evil. This has been and continues to be a subject of much
+embarrassment.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+My last dispatch (6th December) was written immediately after the vote
+of the Chamber of Deputies had, as it was thought, secured a majority
+to the administration, and it naturally excited hopes which that
+supposition was calculated to inspire. I soon found, however, both from
+the tone of the administration press and from the language of the King
+and all the ministers with whom I conferred on the subject, that they
+were not willing to put their popularity to the test on our question.
+
+It will not be made one on the determination of which the ministers are
+willing to risk their portfolios. The very next day after the debate the
+ministerial gazette (Les Debats) declared that, satisfied with the
+approbation the Chamber had given to their system, it was at perfect
+liberty to exercise its discretion as to particular measures which do
+not form _an essential part of that system_; and the communications I
+subsequently had with the King and the ministers confirmed me in the
+opinion that the law for executing our convention was to be considered
+as one of those free questions. I combated this opinion, and asked
+whether the faithful observance of treaties was not _an essential part
+of their_ system, and, if so, whether it did not come within their rule.
+Without answering this argument, I was told of the endeavors they were
+making to secure the passage of the law by preparing the statement[12]
+mentioned in my former dispatch. This, it is said, is nearly finished,
+and from what I know of its tenor it will produce all the effect that
+truth and justice can be expected to have on prejudice and party spirit.
+
+The decision not to make it a cabinet question will not be without its
+favorable operation; ... some of the leaders of the opposition, who may
+not be willing to take the responsibility of a rupture between the two
+nations by breaking the treaty, when they are convinced that instead of
+forcing the ministers to resign they will themselves only incur the
+odium of having caused the national breach. In this view of the subject
+I shall be much aided if by the tenor of the President's message it is
+seen that we shall resent the breach of faith they contemplate.
+
+It is on all hands conceded that it would be imprudent to press the
+decision before the next month, when the exposition will be printed
+and laid before the Chambers.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+On the whole, I am far from being sanguine of success in the endeavors
+which I shall not cease to make for the accomplishment of this important
+object of my mission, and I expect with some solicitude the instructions
+for my conduct in the probable case of a rejection of the law.
+
+I have the honor to be, etc.,
+
+EDW. LIVINGSTON.
+
+[Footnote 12: A memoir to be laid before the commission which may be
+appointed to examine the law, intended to contain all the arguments and
+facts by which it is to be supported.]
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _February 10, 1835_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I have received the resolution of the Senate of the 2d instant,
+requesting me to communicate copies of the charges, if any, which may
+have been made to me against the official conduct of Gideon Fitz, late
+surveyor-general south of the State of Tennessee, which caused his
+removal from office.
+
+The resolution is preceded by a preamble which alleges as reasons for
+this request that the causes which may have produced the removal of the
+officer referred to may contain information necessary to the action of
+the Senate on the nomination of his successor and to the investigation
+now in progress respecting the frauds in the sales of the public lands.
+
+This is another of those calls for information made upon me by the
+Senate which have, in my judgment, either related to the subjects
+exclusively belonging to the executive department or otherwise
+encroached on the constitutional powers of the Executive. Without
+conceding the right of the Senate to make either of these requests,
+I have yet, for the various reasons heretofore assigned in my several
+replies, deemed it expedient to comply with several of them. It is now,
+however, my solemn conviction that I ought no longer, from any motive
+nor in any degree, to yield to these unconstitutional demands. Their
+continued repetition imposes on me, as the representative and trustee of
+the American people, the painful but imperious duty of resisting to the
+utmost any further encroachment on the rights of the Executive. This
+course is especially due to the present resolution. The President in
+cases of this nature possesses the exclusive power of removal from
+office, and, under the sanctions of his official oath and of his
+liability to impeachment, he is bound to exercise it whenever the public
+welfare shall require. If, on the other hand, from corrupt motives he
+abuses this power, he is exposed to the same responsibilities. On no
+principle known to our institutions can he be required to account
+for the manner in which he discharges this portion of his public
+duties, save only in the mode and under the forms prescribed by the
+Constitution. The suggestion that the charges a copy of which is
+requested by the Senate "may contain information necessary to their
+action" on a nomination now before them can not vary the principle.
+There is no necessary connection between the two subjects, and even if
+there were the Senate have no right to call for that portion of these
+matters which appertains to the separate and independent action of the
+Executive. The intimation that these charges may also be necessary
+"to the investigation now in progress respecting frauds in the sales of
+public lands" is still more insufficient to authorize the present call.
+Those investigations were instituted and have thus far been conducted
+by the Senate in their legislative capacity, and with the view, it
+is presumed, to some legislative action. If the President has in his
+possession any information on the subject of such frauds, it is his duty
+to communicate it to Congress, and it may undoubtedly be called for by
+either House sitting in its legislative capacity, though even from such
+a call all matters properly belonging to the exclusive duties of the
+President must of necessity be exempted.
+
+The resolution now before me purports to have been passed in executive
+session, and I am bound to presume that if the information requested
+therein should be communicated it would be applied in secret session to
+"the investigation of frauds in the sales of the public lands." But,
+if so applied, the distinction between the executive and legislative
+functions of the Senate would not only be destroyed, but the citizen
+whose conduct is impeached would lose one of his valuable securities,
+that which is afforded by a public investigation in the presence of his
+accusers and of the witnesses against him. Besides, a compliance with
+the present resolution would in all probability subject the conduct and
+motives of the President in the case of Mr. Fitz to the review of the
+Senate when not sitting as judges on an impeachment, and even if this
+consequence should not occur in the present case the compliance of the
+Executive might hereafter be quoted as a precedent for similar and
+repeated applications,
+
+Such a result, if acquiesced in, would ultimately subject the
+independent constitutional action of the Executive in a matter of great
+national concernment to the domination and control of the Senate; if not
+acquiesced in, it would lead to collisions between coordinate branches
+of the Government, well calculated to expose the parties to indignity
+and reproach and to inflict on the public interest serious and lasting
+mischief.
+
+I therefore decline a compliance with so much of the resolution of the
+Senate as requests "copies of the charges, if any," in relation to Mr.
+Fitz, and in doing so must be distinctly understood as neither affirming
+nor denying that any such charges were made; but as the Senate may
+lawfully call upon the President for information properly appertaining
+to nominations submitted to them, I have the honor, in this respect, to
+reply that I have none to give them in the case of the person nominated
+as successor to Mr. Fitz, except that I believe him, from sources
+entitled to the highest credit, to be well qualified in abilities and
+character to discharge the duties of the office in question.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _February 14, 1835_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I beg leave to call the attention of Congress to the accompanying
+communication from the Secretary of War, from which it appears that the
+"act for the relief of Benedict Alford and Robert Brush," although
+signed and duly certified by the proper officers as having passed the
+two Houses of Congress at their last session, had not in fact obtained
+the sanction of that body when it was presented to the President for his
+approval.
+
+Under these circumstances it is thought that the subject is worthy of
+the consideration of Congress.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _February 16, 1835_.
+
+_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:
+
+I transmit to the House of Representatives, for their consideration, a
+petition to the Congress of the United States from Adelaide de Grasse
+de Grochamps, one of the surviving daughters of the Count de Grasse,
+together with the letter which accompanied it. Translations of these
+papers are also sent.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _February 18, 1835_.
+
+_To the House of Representatives_:
+
+Since my message a few days ago relating to Choctaw reservations other
+documents on the same subject have been received from the locating
+agent, which are mentioned in the accompanying report of the Secretary
+of War, and which I also transmit herewith for the information and
+consideration of Congress.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _February 21, 1835_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I transmit herewith, for the advice and consent of the Senate as to the
+ratification of the same, four treaties for Potawatamie reservations,
+concluded by General Marshall in December last.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _February 25, 1835_.
+
+_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_:
+
+I transmit to Congress a report from the Secretary of State, with copies
+of all the letters received from Mr. Livingston since the message to the
+House of Representatives of the 6th instant, of the instructions given
+to that minister, and of all the late correspondence with the French
+Government in Paris or in Washington, except a note of Mr. Serurier,
+which, for the reasons stated in the report, is not now communicated.
+
+It will be seen that I have deemed it my duty to instruct Mr. Livingston
+to quit France with his legation and return to the United States if an
+appropriation for the fulfillment of the convention shall be refused by
+the Chambers.
+
+The subject being now in all its present aspects before Congress, whose
+right it is to decide what measures are to be pursued in that event, I
+deem it unnecessary to make further recommendation, being confident that
+on their part everything will be done to maintain the rights and honor
+of the country which the occasion requires.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+DEPARTMENT OF STATE,
+
+_Washington, February 25, 1835_.
+
+The PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES:
+
+The Secretary of State has the honor to submit to the President copies
+of all the letters received from Mr. Livingston since the message to the
+House of Representatives of the 6th instant, of the instructions given
+to that minister, and of all the late correspondence with the French
+Government in Paris or in Washington, except the last note of M.
+Serurier, which it has been considered necessary to submit to the
+Government of France before it is made public or answered, that it may
+be ascertained whether some exceptionable expressions are to be taken
+as the result of a settled purpose in that Government or as the mere
+ebullition of the minister's indiscretion.
+
+JOHN FORSYTH.
+
+
+
+_Mr. Livingston to Mr. Forsyth_.
+
+No. 70.
+
+LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES,
+
+_Paris, January 11, 1835_.
+
+Hon. JOHN FORSYTH.
+
+SIR: Believing that it would be important for me to receive the
+dispatches you might think it necessary to send with the President's
+message, I ventured on incurring the expense of a courier to bring it
+to me as soon as it should arrive at Havre. Mr. Beasley accordingly,
+on the arrival of the _Sully_, dispatched a messenger with my letters
+received by that vessel, and a New York newspaper containing the
+message, but without any communication from the Department, so that
+your No. 43 is still the last which I have to acknowledge. The courier
+arrived at 2 o'clock on the morning of the 8th. Other copies were the
+same morning received by the estafette, and the contents, being soon
+known, caused the greatest sensation, which as yet is, I think,
+unfavorable--the few members of the opposition who would have voted for
+the execution of the treaty now declaring that they can not do it under
+the threat of reprisals, and the great body of that party making use
+of the effect it has on national pride to gain proselytes from the
+ministerial side of the Chamber, in which I have no doubt they have
+in a great degree for the time succeeded.
+
+The ministers are aware of this, and will not, I think, immediately
+urge the consideration of the law, as I have no doubt they were prepared
+to do when the message arrived. Should Congress propose commercial
+restrictions or determine to wait to the end of the session before they
+act, this will be considered as a vote against reprisals, and then the
+law will be proposed and I think carried. But I ought not to conceal
+from you that the excitement is at present very great; that their pride
+is deeply wounded by what they call an attempt to coerce them by threats
+to the payment of a sum which they persist, in opposition to the
+plainest proof, in declaring not to be due. This feeling is fostered by
+the language of our opposition papers, particularly by the Intelligencer
+and New York Courier, extracts from which have been sent on by
+Americans, declaring them to be the sentiments of a majority of the
+people. These, as you will see, are translated and republished here,
+with such comments as they might have been expected and undoubtedly were
+intended to produce, and if hostilities should take place between the
+two countries those persons may flatter themselves with having the
+credit of a great share in producing them. The only letter I have
+received from home is from one of my family. This, to my great
+satisfaction, informs me that the President will be supported by
+all parties, and I am told that this is the language of some of the
+opposition papers; but as they are not sent to the legation I can not
+tell in what degree this support can be depended upon. Whether the
+energetic language of the message will be made the pretext with some or
+be the cause with others among the deputies for rejecting the law can
+not, of course, be yet conjectured with any great degree of probability,
+but I think it will have a good effect. It has certainly raised us in
+the estimation of other powers, if I may judge from the demeanor of
+their representatives here, and my own opinion is that as soon as the
+first excitement subsides it will operate favorably on the counsels of
+France. Already some of the journals begin to change their tone, and I
+am much mistaken if the opposition here, finding that we are in earnest,
+will incur the responsibility of a rupture between the two nations,
+which they see must take place if the treaty be rejected. The funds
+experienced a considerable fall as soon as the message was known, and
+insurance rose. In short, it has made them feel the commercial as well
+as political importance of our country.
+
+The Comte de Rigny had requested me to communicate the message to him as
+soon as it should be received. This I promised to do, and accordingly on
+the morning of the 8th, to avoid any mistake as to the mode of making
+the communication, I carried the paper to him myself, telling him that
+I had received a gazette containing a paper said to be the message of
+the President, which I delivered to him in compliance with my promise;
+but I requested him to observe that it was not an authentic paper,
+nor was it delivered in pursuance of instructions, nor in my official
+character. I thought it, for obvious reasons, necessary to be very
+explicit on this point, and he properly understood me, as he had not yet
+read the message. Little more passed at the interview, and I thought of
+it, but not immediately, to seek another. I shall probably, however, see
+him to-night, and shall then appoint some time for a further conference,
+of which I will by this same packet give you the result.
+
+Mr. Middleton has just arrived from Madrid with the inscriptions for the
+Spanish indemnity and a draft for the first payment of interest. His
+instructions are, he says, to leave them with me, but as I have heard
+nothing from the Department I shall advise the depositing them with
+Rothschild to wait the directions of the President.
+
+The importance of obtaining the earliest intelligence at this crisis of
+our affairs with France has induced me to direct that my letters should
+be sent by the estafette from Havre, and that if any important advice
+should be received at such an hour in the day as would give a courier
+an advance of some hours over the estafette, that a special messenger
+should be dispatched with it.
+
+I have the honor to be, very respectfully, sir, your most obedient
+servant,
+
+EDW. LIVINGSTON.
+
+
+
+_Mr. Livingston to Mr. Forsyth_.
+
+No. 71.
+
+LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES,
+
+_Paris, January 14, 1835_.
+
+Hon. JOHN FORSYTH.
+
+SIR: The intended conference with the minister for foreign affairs of
+which I spoke to you in my last (No. 70) took place yesterday morning. I
+began it by expressing my regret that a communication from the President
+to Congress had been so much misrepresented in that part which related
+to France as to be construed into a measure of hostilities. It was, I
+said, part of a consultation between different members of our Government
+as to the proper course to be pursued if the legislative body of France
+should persevere in refusing to provide the means of complying with a
+treaty formally made; that the President, as was his duty, stated the
+facts truly and in moderate language, without any irritating comment;
+that in further pursuance of his official duty he declared the different
+modes of redress which the law of nations permitted in order to avoid
+hostilities, expressing, as he ought to do, his reasons for preferring
+one of them; that in all this there was nothing addressed to the French
+nation; and I likened it to a proceeding well known in the French law
+(a family council in which the concerns and interests are discussed),
+but of which in our case the debates were necessarily public; that a
+further elucidation of the nature of this document might be drawn from
+the circumstance that no instructions had been given to communicate it
+to the French Government, and that if a gazette containing it had been
+delivered it was at the request of his excellency, and expressly
+declared to be a private communication, not an official one. I further
+stated that I made this communication without instructions, merely
+to counteract misapprehensions and from an earnest desire to rectify
+errors which might have serious consequences. I added that it was very
+unfortunate that an earlier call of the Chambers had not been made in
+consequence of Mr. Serurier's promise, the noncompliance with which was
+of a nature to cause serious disquietude with the Government of the
+United States. I found immediately that this was the part of the
+message that had most seriously affected the King, for Comte de Rigny
+immediately took up the argument, endeavoring to show that the
+Government had acted in good faith, relying principally on the danger
+of a second rejection had the Chambers been called at an early day
+expressly for this object I replied by repeating that the declaration
+made by Mr. Serurier was a positive and formal one, and that it had
+produced a forbearance on the part of the President to lay the state of
+the case before Congress. In this conference, which was a long one, we
+both regretted that any misunderstanding should interrupt the good
+intelligence of two nations having so many reasons to preserve it and so
+few of conflicting interests. He told me (what I knew before) that the
+exposition was prepared, and that the law would have been presented the
+day after that on which the message was received. He showed me the
+document, read part of it to me, and expressed regret that the language
+of the message prevented it being sent in. I said that I hoped the
+excitement would soon subside and give place to better feelings, in
+which I thought he joined with much sincerity. It is perhaps necessary
+to add that an allusion was made by me to the change of ministry in
+November and the reinstatement of the present ministers, which I told
+him I had considered as a most favorable occurrence, and that I had so
+expressed myself in my communications to you, but that this circumstance
+was unknown at Washington when the message was delivered; and I added
+that the hopes of success held out in the communication to which I
+referred and the assurances it contained that the ministers would
+zealously urge the adoption of the law might probably have imparted the
+same hopes to the President and have induced some change in the measure
+he had recommended, but that the formation of the Dupin ministry, if
+known, must have had a very bad effect on the President's mind, as
+many of that ministry were known to be hostile to the treaty.
+
+When I took leave the minister requested me to reflect on the
+propriety of presenting a note of our conversation, which he said should
+be formal or otherwise, as I should desire. I told him I would do so,
+and inform him on the next morning by 11 o'clock. We parted, as I
+thought, on friendly terms, and in the evening, meeting him at the
+Austrian ambassador's, I told him that on reflection I had determined to
+wait the arrival of the packet of the 16th before I gave the note, to
+which he made no objection. After all this you may judge of my surprise
+when last night about 10 o'clock I received the letter copy of which is
+inclosed, and which necessarily closes my mission. In my reply I shall
+take care to throw the responsibility of breaking up the diplomatic
+intercourse between the countries where it ought to rest, and will not
+fail to expose the misstatements which you will observe are contained in
+the minister's note, both as respects my Government and myself; but the
+late hour at which I received the Comte de Rigny's note and the almost
+immediate departure of the packet may prevent my sending you a copy of
+my communication to him, which I shall use the utmost diligence in
+preparing.
+
+The law, it is said, will be presented to-day, and I have very
+little doubt that it will pass. The ministerial phalanx, reenforced by
+those of the opposition (and they are not a few) who will not take the
+responsibility of involving the country in the difficulties which they
+now see must ensue, will be sufficient to carry the vote. The recall of
+Serurier and the notice to me are measures which are resorted to to save
+the pride of the Government and the nation.
+
+I have the honor to be, very respectfully, sir, your most obedient
+servant,
+
+EDW. LIVINGSTON.
+
+
+
+_From Count de Rigny to Mr. Livingston_.
+
+[Translation.]
+
+DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS,
+
+_Paris, January 13, 1835_.
+
+Hon. EDWARD LIVINGSTON, etc.
+
+SIR: You have well comprehended the nature of the impressions produced
+upon the King's Government by the message which His Excellency President
+Jackson addressed on the 1st of December to the Congress of the United
+States. Nothing certainly could have prepared us for it. Even though
+the complaints expressed in it had been as just as they are in reality
+unjust, we should still have had a right to be astonished on receiving
+the first communication of them in such a form.
+
+In the explanations which I am now about to make I can not enter upon
+the consideration of any facts other than those occurring subsequently
+to the vote by which the last Chamber of Deputies refused the
+appropriation necessary for the payment stipulated in the treaty of July
+4. However this vote may have been regarded by the Government of the
+United States, it is evident that by accepting (_accueillant_) the
+promise of the King's Government to bring on a second deliberation
+before the new legislature it had in fact postponed all discussion and
+all recrimination on the subject of this first refusal until another
+decision should have either repealed or confirmed it. This postponement
+therefore sets aside for the time all difficulties arising either justly
+or unjustly from the rejection of the treaty or from the delay by which
+it had been preceded; and although the message begins by enumerating
+them, I think proper, in order to confine myself to the matter in
+question, only to reply to the imputations made on account of subsequent
+occurrences.
+
+The reproaches which President Jackson considers himself authorized to
+address to France may be summed up in a few words. The King's Government
+promised to present the treaty of July 4 again to the Chambers as soon
+as they could be assembled. They were assembled on the 31st of July, and
+the treaty has not yet been presented to them. Such is exactly the whole
+substance of the President's argumentation, and nothing can be easier
+than to refute it.
+
+I may first observe that the assembling of the Chambers on the 31st of
+July, in obedience to a legal prescription that they should be called
+together within a stated period after a dissolution of the Chamber of
+Deputies, was nothing more than a piece of formality, and if President
+Jackson had attended to the internal mechanism of our administrative
+system he would have been convinced that the session of 1835 could not
+have really commenced at that session of 1834. Everyone knew beforehand
+that after a fortnight spent in the forms of installation it would be
+adjourned.
+
+The President of the United States considers that the bill relative to
+the American claims should have been presented to the Chamber within
+that fortnight. I can not understand the propriety of this reproach. The
+bill was explicitly announced in the speech from the throne on the very
+day on which the Chambers met. This was all that was required to make
+known the opinion and design of the Government, and to prevent that
+species of moral proscription to which absolute silence would have given
+authority. With regard to the mere act of presentation so long before
+discussion could possibly take place, this proceeding would have been so
+unusual and extraordinary that it might have increased the unfavorable
+prepossessions of the public, already too numerous, without producing
+any real advantage in return. Above all, the result which the President
+had in view, of being able to announce the new vote of the Chamber of
+Deputies in his message, would not have been attained.
+
+President Jackson expresses his regrets that your solicitations
+(_instances_) had not determined the King's Government to call the
+Chambers together at an earlier day. How soon soever they may have been
+called, the simplest calculation will serve to shew that the discussions
+in our Chambers could not have been known in the United States at the
+opening of Congress, and the President's regret is therefore unfounded.
+
+Moreover, the same obstacles and the same administrative reasons which
+rendered a real session impossible during the months of July or August
+were almost equally opposed to its taking place before the last weeks
+of the year. The head of a government like that of the United States
+should be able to comprehend more clearly than anyone else those moral
+impossibilities which arise from the fixed character of the principles
+of a constitutional regime, and to see that in such a system the
+administration is subject to constant and regular forms, from which
+no special interest, however important, can authorize a deviation.
+
+It is, then, evident that far from meriting the reproach of failing
+to comply with its engagements, far from having deferred, either
+voluntarily or from negligence, the accomplishment of its promises, the
+King's Government, ever occupied in the design of fulfilling them, was
+only arrested for a moment by insurmountable obstacles. This appears
+from the explanations now given, and I must add that the greater part of
+them have already been presented by M. Serurier to the Government of the
+United States, which by its silence seemed to acknowledge their full
+value.
+
+It is worthy of remark that on the 1st of December, the day on which
+President Jackson signed the message to Congress, and remarked with
+severity that nearly a month was to elapse before the assembling of
+the Chambers, they were in reality assembled in virtue of a royal
+ordinance calling them together at a period earlier than that first
+proposed. Their assemblage was not indeed immediately followed by the
+presentment of the bill relative to the American claims, but you, sir,
+know better than any other person the causes of this new delay. You
+yourself requested us not to endanger the success of this important
+affair by mingling its discussion with debates of a different nature,
+as their mere coincidence might have the effect of bringing other
+influences into play than those by which it should naturally be
+governed. By this request, sir, you clearly shewed that you had with
+your judicious spirit correctly appreciated the situation of things and
+the means of advancing the cause which you were called to defend. And
+permit me to add that the course which you have thought proper to adopt
+on this point is the best justification of that which we ourselves have
+for some months been pursuing in obedience to the necessities inherent
+in our political organization, and in order to insure as far as lies in
+our power the success of the new attempt which we were preparing to make
+in the Chamber.
+
+However this may be, the King's Government, freed from the internal
+difficulties the force of which you have yourself so formally admitted,
+was preparing to present the bill for giving sanction to the treaty of
+July 4, when the strange message of December 1 came and obliged it again
+to deliberate on the course which it should pursue.
+
+The King's Government, though deeply wounded by imputations to which
+I will not give a name, having demonstrated their purely gratuitous
+character, still does not wish to retreat absolutely from a
+determination already taken in a spirit of good faith and justice. How
+great soever may be the difficulties caused by the provocation which
+President Jackson has given, and by the irritation which it has produced
+in the public mind, it will ask the Chambers for an appropriation of
+twenty-five millions in order to meet the engagements of July 4; but at
+the same time His Majesty has considered it due to his own dignity no
+longer to leave his minister exposed to hear language so offensive to
+France. M. Serurier will receive orders to return to France.
+
+Such, sir, are the determinations of which I am charged immediately to
+inform you, in order that you may make them known to the Government of
+the United States and that you may yourself take those measures which
+may seem to you to be the natural consequences of this communication.
+The passports which you may desire are therefore at your disposition.
+
+Accept, sir, the assurance of my high consideration.
+
+DE RIGNY.
+
+
+
+_Mr. Livingston to Mr. Forsyth_.
+
+No. 72.
+
+LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES,
+
+_Paris, January 15, 1835_.
+
+SIR: Having determined to send Mr. Brown, one of the gentlemen
+attached to the legation, to Havre with my dispatches, I have just time
+to add to them the copy of the note which I have sent to the Comte de
+Rigny. The course indicated by it was adopted after the best reflections
+I could give to the subject, and I hope will meet the approbation of
+the President. My first impressions were that I ought to follow my
+inclinations, demand my passports, and leave the Kingdom. This would at
+once have freed me from a situation extremely painful and embarrassing;
+but a closer attention convinced me that by so doing I should give to
+the French Government the advantage they expect to derive from the
+equivocal terms of their note, which, as occasions might serve, they
+might represent as a suggestion only, leaving upon me the responsibility
+of breaking up the diplomatic intercourse between the two countries if
+I demanded my passports; or, if I did not, and they found the course
+convenient, they might call it an order to depart which I had not
+complied with. Baron Rothschild also called on me yesterday, saying that
+he had conversed with the Comte de Rigny, who assured him that the note
+was not intended as a notice to depart, and that he would be glad to see
+me on the subject. I answered that I could have no verbal explanations
+on the subject, to which he replied that he had suggested the writing
+a note on the subject, but that the minister had declined any written
+communication. Rothschild added that he had made an appointment with the
+Comte de Rigny for 6 o'clock, and would see me again at night, and he
+called to say that there had been a misunderstanding as to the time of
+appointment, and that he had not seen Mr. de Rigny, but would see him
+this morning. But in the meantime I determined on sending my note, not
+only for the reasons contained in it, which appeared to me conclusive,
+but because I found that the course was the correct one in diplomacy,
+and that to ask for a passport merely because the Government near which
+the minister was accredited had suggested it would be considered as
+committing the dignity of his own; that the universal practice in such
+cases was to wait the order to depart, and not by a voluntary demand
+of passports exonerate the foreign Government from the odium and
+responsibility of so violent a measure. My note will force them to take
+their ground. If the answer is that they intended only a suggestion
+which I may follow or not, as I choose, I will remain, but keep aloof
+until I receive your directions. If, on the other hand, I am told
+to depart, I will retire to Holland or England, and there wait the
+President's orders. In either case the derangement will be extremely
+expensive and my situation very disagreeable. The law was not presented
+yesterday, but will be to-day, and I have been informed that it is to be
+introduced by an expose throwing all the blame of the present state of
+things on Mr. Serurier and me for not truly representing the opinions of
+our respective Governments. They may treat their own minister as they
+please, but they shall not, without exposure, presume to judge of my
+conduct and make me the scapegoat for their sins. The truth is, they
+are sadly embarrassed. If the law should be rejected, I should not be
+surprised if they anticipated our reprisals by the seizure of our
+vessels in port or the attack of our ships in the Mediterranean with a
+superior force. I shall without delay inform Commodore Patterson of the
+state of things, that he may be on his guard, having already sent him a
+copy of the message.
+
+I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant,
+
+EDW. LIVINGSTON.
+
+
+
+_Mr. Livingston to the Count de Rigny_.
+
+LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
+
+_Paris, January 14, 1835_.
+
+His Excellency COUNT DE RIGNY, etc.:
+
+The undersigned, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of
+the United States of America, received late last night the note of His
+Excellency the Count de Rigny, minister secretary of state for foreign
+affairs, dated the 13th instant.
+
+The undersigned sees with great surprise as well as regret that a
+communication made by one branch of the Government of the United States
+to another, not addressed to that of His Majesty the King of the French,
+nor even communicated to it, is alleged as the motive for a measure
+which not only increases actual subjects of irritation, but which
+necessarily cuts off all the usual means of restoring harmony to two
+nations who have the same interests, commercial and political, to unite
+them, and none but factitious subjects for collision.
+
+The grave matter in the body of his excellency's note demands and will
+receive a full answer. It is to the concluding part that his attention
+is now requested. The undersigned, after being informed that it is the
+intention of His Majesty's Government to recall Mr. Serurier, is told
+"that this information is given to the undersigned in order that he may
+communicate it to his Government and in order that he may himself take
+those measures which may appear to him the natural result of that
+communication, and that in consequence thereof the passports which he
+might require are at his disposition." This phrase may be considered as
+an intimation of the course which, in the opinion of His Majesty's
+Government, the undersigned ought to pursue as the natural result of Mr.
+Serurier's recall, or it may be construed, as it seems to have been by
+the public, into a direction by His Majesty's Government to the minister
+of the United States to cease his functions and leave the country.
+
+It is necessary in a matter involving such grave consequences that there
+should be no misunderstanding, the two categories demanding a line of
+conduct entirely different the one from the other.
+
+In the first, he can take no directions or follow no suggestions
+but those given by his own Government, which he has been sent here to
+represent. The recall of the minister of France on the grounds alleged
+could not have been anticipated. Of course no instructions have been
+given to the undersigned on the subject, and he will not take upon
+himself the responsibility which he would incur by a voluntary demand
+of his passports, although made on the suggestion of His Majesty's
+Government. If this be the sense of the passage in question, the duty
+of the undersigned can not be mistaken. He will transmit the note of
+His Excellency the Comte de Rigny to his Government and wait its
+instructions. Widely different will be his conduct if he is informed
+that the conclusion of the Comte de Rigny's note is intended as a
+direction that he should quit the French territory. This he will without
+delay comply with on being so informed and on receiving the passports
+necessary for his protection until he shall leave the Kingdom.
+
+Leaving the responsibility of this measure where it ought to rest, the
+undersigned has the honor to renew to His Excellency the Comte de Rigny
+the assurance, etc.
+
+EDW'D LIVINGSTON.
+
+
+
+_Mr. Livingston to Mr. Forsyth_.
+
+No. 73.
+
+LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES,
+
+_Paris, January 16, 1935_.
+
+Hon. J. FORSYTH, etc.
+
+SIR: The wind being unfavorable, I hope that this letter may arrive in
+time for the packet.
+
+By the inclosed semiofficial paper you will see that a law has been
+presented for effecting the payment of 25,000,000 francs capital to the
+United States, for which the budgets of the six years next succeeding
+this are affected, and with a condition annexed that our Government
+shall have done nothing to affect the interests of France. It would seem
+from this that they mean to pay nothing but the capital, and that only
+in six years from this time; but as the law refers to the treaty for
+execution of which it provides, I presume the intention of the ministry
+can not be to make any change in it, and that the phraseology is in
+conformity to their usual forms. At any rate, I shall, notwithstanding
+the situation in which I am placed in relation to this Government,
+endeavor to obtain some explanation on this point.
+
+The packet of the 16th arrived, but to my great regret brought me no
+dispatches, and having received none subsequent to your No. 43, and that
+not giving me any indication of the conduct that would be expected from
+me in the event of such measures as might have been expected on the
+arrival of the President's message, I have been left altogether to the
+guidance of my own sense of duty under circumstances of much difficulty.
+I have endeavored to shape my course through them in such a way as to
+maintain the dignity of my Government and preserve peace, and, if
+possible, restore the good understanding that existed between the two
+countries. From the view of the motives of the President's message
+contained in the answer of the Globe to the article in the Intelligencer
+I am happy in believing that the representations I have made to the
+Comte de Rigny, as detailed in my No. 71, are those entertained by the
+Government, and that I have not, in this at least, gone further than it
+would have directed me to do had I been favored with your instructions.
+
+I have no answer yet to my note to the Comte de Rigny, a copy of which
+was sent by my last dispatch, nor can I form any new conjecture as to
+the event.
+
+The inclosed paper contains a notice that I had been received by the
+King. This is unfounded, and shall be contradicted. I shall not in the
+present state of things make my appearance at court, and only in cases
+where it is indispensable have any communication with the minister.
+
+I have the honor to be, with great respect, your obedient, humble
+servant,
+
+EDW. LIVINGSTON.
+
+
+
+_Mr. Forsyth to Mr. Livingston_.
+
+DEPARTMENT OF STATE,
+
+_Washington, February 13, 1835_.
+
+EDWARD LIVINGSTON, Esq.
+
+SIR: To relieve the anxiety expressed in your late communication to the
+Department of State as to the course to be pursued in the event of the
+rejection by the Chamber of Deputies of the law to appropriate funds
+to carry into effect the treaty of 4th July, 1831, I am directed by
+the President to inform you that if Congress shall adjourn without
+prescribing some definite course of action, as soon as it is known here
+that the law of appropriation has been again rejected by the French
+Chamber a frigate will be immediately dispatched to Havre to bring you
+back to the United States, with such instructions as the state of the
+question may then render necessary and proper.
+
+I am, sir, etc.,
+
+JOHN FORSYTH.
+
+
+
+_Mr. Forsyth to Mr. Livingston_.
+
+No. 49.
+
+DEPARTMENT OF STATE,
+
+_Washington, February 24, 1835_.
+
+EDWARD LIVINGSTON, Esq.,
+
+_Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary_.
+
+SIR: Your dispatches to No. 73 have been received at the Department--No.
+73 by yesterday's mail. Nos. 70, 71, 72 were delayed until this morning
+by the mismanagement of the young man to whose care they were committed
+by the captain of the packet _Sully_ in New York.
+
+In the very unexpected and unpleasant position in which you have been
+placed I am directed by the President to say to you that he approves of
+your conduct as well becoming the representative of a Government ever
+slow to manifest resentment and eager only to fulfill the obligations
+of justice and good faith, but at the same time to inform you that he
+should have felt no surprise and certainly would have expressed no
+displeasure had you yielded to the impulse of national pride and at once
+have quitted France, with the whole legation, on the receipt of the
+Count de Rigny's note of the 13th of January. M. Serurier, having
+received his orders, has terminated his ministerial career by the
+transmission of a note, a copy of which and of all the correspondence
+had with him is herewith inclosed. M. Pageot has been presented to me
+as charged with the affairs of France on the recall of the minister.
+
+The note of the Count de Rigny having no doubt, according to your
+intention, received from you an appropriate reply, it is only necessary
+for me now to say that the Count is entirely mistaken in supposing that
+any explanations have been given here by M. Serurier of the causes that
+have led to the disregard or postponement of the engagements entered
+into by France after the rejection of the appropriation by the last
+Chamber of Deputies, and of which he was the organ. No written
+communication whatever has been made on the subject, and none verbally
+made of sufficient importance to be recorded, a silence with regard to
+which could have been justly the foundation of any inference that the
+President was satisfied that the course of the French administration was
+either reconcilable to the assurances given him or necessary to secure
+a majority of the Chamber of Deputies.
+
+The last note of M. Serurier will be the subject of separate
+instructions, which will be immediately prepared and forwarded to you.
+
+In the present position of our relations with France the President
+directs that if the appropriation to execute the treaty shall be or
+shall have been rejected by the French legislature, you forthwith quit
+the territory of France, with all the legation, and return to the United
+States by the ship of war which shall be in readiness at Havre to bring
+you back to your own country. If the appropriation be made, you may
+retire to England or Holland, leaving Mr. Barton in charge of affairs.
+Notify the Department of the place selected as your temporary residence
+and await further instructions.
+
+I am, sir, your obedient servant,
+
+JOHN FORSYTH.
+
+
+
+_Mr. Serurier to Mr. Forsyth_.
+
+[Translation.]
+
+WASHINGTON, _February 23, 1835_.
+
+Hon. JOHN FORSYTH,
+
+_Secretary of State of the United States_.
+
+SIR: I have just received orders from my Government which make it
+necessary for me to demand of you an immediate audience. I therefore
+request you to name the hour at which it will suit you to receive me at
+the Department of State.
+
+I have the honor to be, with great consideration, sir, your obedient,
+humble servant,
+
+SERURIER.
+
+
+
+_Mr. Forsyth to Mr. Serurier_.
+
+DEPARTMENT OF STATE,
+
+_Washington, February 23, 1835_.
+
+M. SERURIER,
+
+_Envoy Extraordinary, etc., of the King of the French_:
+
+Official information having been received by the President of the recall
+of Mr. Serurier by his Government, and the papers of the morning having
+announced the arrival of a French sloop of war at New York for the
+supposed object of carrying him from the United States, the undersigned,
+Secretary of State of the United States, tenders to Mr. Serurier all
+possible facilities in the power of this Government to afford to enable
+him to comply speedily with the orders he may have received or may
+receive.
+
+The undersigned avails himself of the occasion to renew to Mr. Serurier
+the assurance of his very great consideration.
+
+JOHN FORSYTH.
+
+
+
+_Mr. Forsyth to Mr. Serurier_.
+
+DEPARTMENT OF STATE,
+
+_Washington, February 23, 1835_.
+
+The undersigned, Secretary of State of the United States, informs M.
+Serurier, in reply to his note of this instant, demanding the indication
+of an hour for an immediate audience, that he is ready to receive in
+writing any communication the minister of France desires to have made
+to the Government of the United States.
+
+The undersigned has the honor to offer M. Serurier the assurances of his
+very great consideration,
+
+JOHN FORSYTH.
+
+
+
+_Mr. Serurier to Mr. Forsyth_.
+
+[Translation.]
+
+WASHINGTON, _February 23, 1835_.
+
+Hon. JOHN FORSYTH,
+
+_Secretary of State_.
+
+SIR: My object in asking you this morning to name the hour at which it
+would suit you to receive me was in order that I might, in consequence
+of my recall as minister of His Majesty near the United States, present
+and accredit M. Pageot, the first secretary of this legation, as charge
+d'affaires of the King. This presentation, which, according to usage, I
+calculated on making in person, I have the honor, in compliance with the
+desire expressed to me by you, to make in the form which you appear to
+prefer.
+
+I thank you, sir, for the facilities which you have been kind enough
+to afford me in the note preceding that now answered, also of this
+morning's date, and which crossed the letter in which I demanded an
+interview.
+
+I have the honor to renew to you, sir, the assurance of my high
+consideration.
+
+SERURIER.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _February 28, 1835_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I transmit to the Senate of the United States a report[13] of the
+Secretary of State, to whom was referred the resolutions of that body
+passed on the 2d and 17th days of the present month, together with such
+portion of the correspondence and instructions requested by the said
+resolutions as could be transcribed within the time that has elapsed
+since they were received and as can be communicated without prejudice
+to the public interest.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+[Footnote 13: Relating to the treaty of indemnity with Spain of
+February 17, 1834.]
+
+
+
+
+VETO MESSAGE.
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _March 3, 1835_.
+
+_To the Senate_:
+
+
+I respectfully return to the Senate, where it originated, the "act to
+authorize the Secretary of the Treasury to compromise the claims allowed
+by the commissioners under the treaty with the King of the Two Sicilies,
+concluded October 14, 1832," without my signature.
+
+The act is, in my judgment, inconsistent with the division of powers
+in the Constitution of the United States, as it is obviously founded on
+the assumption that an act of Congress can give power to the Executive
+or to the head of one of the Departments to negotiate with a foreign
+government. The debt due by the King of the Two Sicilies will, after the
+commissioners have made their decision, become the private vested
+property of the citizens of the United States to whom it may be awarded.
+Neither the Executive nor the Legislature can properly interfere with it
+without their consent. With their consent the Executive has competent
+authority to negotiate about it for them with a foreign government--an
+authority Congress can not constitutionally abridge or increase.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+
+PROCLAMATION.
+
+
+[From Statutes at Large (Little, Brown & Co.), Vol. XI, p. 781.]
+
+BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
+
+A PROCLAMATION.
+
+Whereas by an act of 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 hereby
+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 Mechlenberg Schwerin, through an
+official communication of Leon Herckenrath, his consul at Charleston,
+in the United States, under date of the 13th April, 1835, that no
+discriminating duties of tonnage or impost are imposed or levied in
+the ports of the Grand Duchy of Mechlenberg Schwerin 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:
+
+Now, therefore, I, Andrew Jackson, President of the United States of
+America, do hereby declare and proclaim 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 Grand
+Duchy of Mechlenberg Schwerin and the produce, manufactures, or
+merchandise imported into the United States in the same from the said
+Grand Duchy or from any other foreign country, the said suspension to
+take effect from the 13th day of April, 1835, above mentioned, 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.
+
+[SEAL.]
+
+Given under my hand at the city of Washington, the 28th day of April,
+A.D. 1835, and of the Independence of the United States the fifty-ninth.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+By the President:
+  JOHN FORSYTH,
+    _Secretary of State_.
+
+
+
+
+SEVENTH ANNUAL MESSAGE.
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _December 7, 1835_.
+
+_Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives_:
+
+In the discharge of my official duty the task again devolves upon
+me of communicating with a new Congress. The reflection that the
+representation of the Union has been recently renewed, and that the
+constitutional term of its service will expire with my own, heightens
+the solicitude with which I shall attempt to lay before it the state
+of our national concerns and the devout hope which I cherish that its
+labors to improve them may be crowned with success.
+
+You are assembled at a period of profound interest to the American
+patriot. The unexampled growth and prosperity of our country having
+given us a rank in the scale of nations which removes all apprehension
+of danger to our integrity and independence from external foes, the
+career of freedom is before us, with an earnest from the past that if
+true to ourselves there can be no formidable obstacle in the future
+to its peaceful and uninterrupted pursuit. Yet, in proportion to the
+disappearance of those apprehensions which attended our weakness, as
+once contrasted with the power of some of the States of the Old World,
+should we now be solicitous as to those which belong to the conviction
+that it is to our own conduct we must look for the preservation of those
+causes on which depend the excellence and the duration of our happy
+system of government.
+
+In the example of other systems founded on the will of the people we
+trace to internal dissension the influences which have so often blasted
+the hopes of the friends of freedom. The social elements, which were
+strong and successful when united against external danger, failed
+in the more difficult task of properly adjusting their own internal
+organization, and thus gave way the great principle of self-government.
+Let us trust that this admonition will never be forgotten by the
+Government or the people of the United States, and that the testimony
+which our experience thus far holds out to the great human family of the
+practicability and the blessings of free government will be confirmed
+in all time to come.
+
+We have but to look at the state of our agriculture, manufactures, and
+commerce and the unexampled increase of our population to feel the
+magnitude of the trust committed to us. Never in any former period of
+our history have we had greater reason than we now have to be thankful
+to Divine Providence for the blessings of health and general prosperity.
+Every branch of labor we see crowned with the most abundant rewards. In
+every element of national resources and wealth and of individual comfort
+we witness the most rapid and solid improvements. With no interruptions
+to this pleasing prospect at home which will not yield to the spirit of
+harmony and good will that so strikingly pervades the mass of the people
+in every quarter, amidst all the diversity of interest and pursuits to
+which they are attached, and with no cause of solicitude in regard to
+our external affairs which will not, it is hoped, disappear before
+the principles of simple justice and the forbearance that mark our
+intercourse with foreign powers, we have every reason to feel proud
+of our beloved country.
+
+The general state of our foreign relations has not materially changed
+since my last annual message.
+
+In the settlement of the question of the northeastern boundary little
+progress has been made. Great Britain has declined acceding to the
+proposition of the United States, presented in accordance with the
+resolution of the Senate, unless certain preliminary conditions were
+admitted, which I deemed incompatible with a satisfactory and rightful
+adjustment of the controversy. Waiting for some distinct proposal from
+the Government of Great Britain, which has been invited, I can only
+repeat the expression of my confidence that, with the strong mutual
+disposition which I believe exists to make a just arrangement, this
+perplexing question can be settled with a due regard to the well-founded
+pretensions and pacific policy of all the parties to it. Events are
+frequently occurring on the northeastern frontier of a character to
+impress upon all the necessity of a speedy and definitive termination of
+the dispute. This consideration, added to the desire common to both to
+relieve the liberal and friendly relations so happily existing between
+the two countries from all embarrassment, will no doubt have its just
+influence upon both.
+
+Our diplomatic intercourse with Portugal has been renewed, and it is
+expected that the claims of our citizens, partially paid, will be fully
+satisfied as soon as the condition of the Queen's Government will permit
+the proper attention to the subject of them. That Government has, I am
+happy to inform you, manifested a determination to act upon the liberal
+principles which have marked our commercial policy. The happiest effects
+upon the future trade between the United States and Portugal are
+anticipated from it, and the time is not thought to be remote when a
+system of perfect reciprocity will be established.
+
+The installments due under the convention with the King of the Two
+Sicilies have been paid with that scrupulous fidelity by which his whole
+conduct has been characterized, and the hope is indulged that the
+adjustment of the vexed question of our claims will be followed by a
+more extended and mutually beneficial intercourse between the two
+countries.
+
+The internal contest still continues in Spain. Distinguished as
+this struggle has unhappily been by incidents of the most sanguinary
+character, the obligations of the late treaty of indemnification with us
+have been, nevertheless, faithfully executed by the Spanish Government.
+
+No provision having been made at the last session of Congress
+for the ascertainment of the claims to be paid and the apportionment
+of the funds under the convention made with Spain, I invite your early
+attention to the subject. The public evidences of the debt have,
+according to the terms of the convention and in the forms prescribed by
+it, been placed in the possession of the United States, and the interest
+as it fell due has been regularly paid upon them. Our commercial
+intercourse with Cuba stands as regulated by the act of Congress.
+No recent information has been received as to the disposition of the
+Government of Madrid on this subject, and the lamented death of our
+recently appointed minister on his way to Spain, with the pressure of
+their affairs at home, renders it scarcely probable that any change is
+to be looked for during the coming year. Further portions of the Florida
+archives have been sent to the United States, although the death of one
+of the commissioners at a critical moment embarrassed the progress of
+the delivery of them. The higher officers of the local government have
+recently shewn an anxious desire, in compliance with the orders from the
+parent Government, to facilitate the selection and delivery of all we
+have a right to claim.
+
+Negotiations have been opened at Madrid for the establishment of a
+lasting peace between Spain and such of the Spanish American Governments
+of this hemisphere as have availed themselves of the intimation given
+to all of them of the disposition of Spain to treat upon the basis of
+their entire independence. It is to be regretted that simultaneous
+appointments by all of ministers to negotiate with Spain had not been
+made. The negotiation itself would have been simplified, and this
+long-standing dispute, spreading over a large portion of the world,
+would have been brought to a more speedy conclusion.
+
+Our political and commercial relations with Austria, Prussia, Sweden,
+and Denmark stand on the usual favorable bases. One of the articles of
+our treaty with Russia in relation to the trade on the northwest coast
+of America having expired, instructions have been given to our minister
+at St. Petersburg to negotiate a renewal of it. The long and unbroken
+amity between the two Governments gives every reason for supposing the
+article will be renewed, if stronger motives do not exist to prevent
+it than with our view of the subject can be anticipated here.
+
+I ask your attention to the message of my predecessor at the opening
+of the second session of the Nineteenth Congress, relative to our
+commercial intercourse with Holland, and to the documents connected with
+that subject, communicated to the House of Representatives on the 10th
+of January, 1825, and 18th of January, 1827. Coinciding in the opinion
+of my predecessor that Holland is not, under the regulations of her
+present system, entitled to have her vessels and their cargoes received
+into the United States on the footing of American vessels and cargoes as
+regards duties of tonnage and impost, a respect for his reference of it
+to the Legislature has alone prevented me from acting on the subject. I
+should still have waited without comment for the action of Congress, but
+recently a claim has been made by Belgian subjects to admission into our
+ports for their ships and cargoes on the same footing as American, with
+the allegation we could not dispute that our vessels received in their
+ports the identical treatment shewn to them in the ports of Holland,
+upon whose vessels no discrimination is made in the ports of the United
+States. Giving the same privileges the Belgians expected the same
+benefits---benefits that were, in fact, enjoyed when Belgium and Holland
+were united under one Government. Satisfied with the justice of their
+pretension to be placed on the same footing with Holland, I could not,
+nevertheless, without disregard to the principle of our laws, admit
+their claim to be treated as Americans, and at the same time a respect
+for Congress, to whom the subject had long since been referred, has
+prevented me from producing a just equality by taking from the vessels
+of Holland privileges conditionally granted by acts of Congress,
+although the condition upon which the grant was made has, in my
+judgment, failed since 1822. I recommend, therefore, a review of the
+act of 1824, and such a modification of it as will produce an equality
+on such terms as Congress shall think best comports with our settled
+policy and the obligations of justice to two friendly powers.
+
+With the Sublime Porte and all the Governments on the coast of Barbary
+our relations continue to be friendly. The proper steps have been taken
+to renew our treaty with Morocco.
+
+The Argentine Republic has again promised to send within the current
+year a minister to the United States.
+
+A convention with Mexico for extending the time for the appointment of
+commissioners to run the boundary line has been concluded and will be
+submitted to the Senate. Recent events in that country have awakened
+the liveliest solicitude in the United States. Aware of the strong
+temptations existing and powerful inducements held out to the citizens
+of the United States to mingle in the dissensions of our immediate
+neighbors, instructions have been given to the district attorneys of
+the United States where indications warranted it to prosecute without
+respect to persons all who might attempt to violate the obligations of
+our neutrality, while at the same time it has been thought necessary to
+apprise the Government of Mexico that we should require the integrity
+of our territory to be scrupulously respected by both parties.
+
+From our diplomatic agents in Brazil, Chile, Peru, Central America,
+Venezuela, and New Granada constant assurances are received of the
+continued good understanding with the Governments to which they are
+severally accredited. With those Governments upon which our citizens
+have valid and accumulating claims, scarcely an advance toward a
+settlement of them is made, owing mainly to their distracted state or to
+the pressure of imperative domestic questions. Our patience has been and
+will probably be still further severely tried, but our fellow-citizens
+whose interests are involved may confide in the determination of the
+Government to obtain for them eventually ample retribution.
+
+Unfortunately, many of the nations of this hemisphere are still
+self-tormented by domestic dissensions. Revolution succeeds revolution;
+injuries are committed upon foreigners engaged in lawful pursuits; much
+time elapses before a government sufficiently stable is erected to
+justify expectation of redress; ministers are sent and received, and
+before the discussions of past injuries are fairly begun fresh troubles
+arise; but too frequently new injuries are added to the old, to be
+discussed together with the existing government after it has proved its
+ability to sustain the assaults made upon it, or with its successor if
+overthrown. If this unhappy condition of things continues much longer,
+other nations will be under the painful necessity of deciding whether
+justice to their suffering citizens does not require a prompt redress of
+injuries by their own power, without waiting for the establishment of a
+government competent and enduring enough to discuss and to make
+satisfaction for them.
+
+Since the last session of Congress the validity of our claims upon
+France, as liquidated by the treaty of 1831, has been acknowledged by
+both branches of her legislature, and the money has been appropriated
+for their discharge; but the payment is, I regret to inform you, still
+withheld.
+
+A brief recapitulation of the most important incidents in this
+protracted controversy will shew how utterly untenable are the grounds
+upon which this course is attempted to be justified.
+
+On entering upon the duties of my station I found the United States an
+unsuccessful applicant to the justice of France for the satisfaction of
+claims the validity of which was never questionable, and has now been
+most solemnly admitted by France herself. The antiquity of these claims,
+their high justice, and the aggravating circumstances out of which they
+arose are too familiar to the American people to require description.
+It is sufficient to say that for a period of ten years and upward our
+commerce was, with but little interruption, the subject of constant
+aggressions on the part of France--aggressions the ordinary features of
+which were condemnations of vessels and cargoes under arbitrary decrees,
+adopted in contravention as well of the laws of nations as of treaty
+stipulations, burnings on the high seas, and seizures and confiscations
+under special imperial rescripts in the ports of other nations occupied
+by the armies or under the control of France. Such it is now conceded
+is the character of the wrongs we suffered--wrongs in many cases so
+flagrant that even their authors never denied our right to reparation.
+Of the extent of these injuries some conception may be formed from the
+fact that after the burning of a large amount at sea and the necessary
+deterioration in other cases by long detention the American property so
+seized and sacrificed at forced sales, excluding what was adjudged to
+privateers before or without condemnation, brought into the French
+treasury upward of 24,000,000 francs, besides large custom-house duties.
+
+The subject had already been an affair of twenty years' uninterrupted
+negotiation, except for a short time when France was overwhelmed by
+the military power of united Europe. During this period, whilst other
+nations were extorting from her payment of their claims at the point of
+the bayonet, the United States intermitted their demand for justice out
+of respect to the oppressed condition of a gallant people to whom they
+felt under obligations for fraternal assistance in their own days
+of suffering and of peril. The bad effects of these protracted and
+unavailing discussions, as well upon our relations with France as upon
+our national character, were obvious, and the line of duty was to my
+mind equally so. This was either to insist upon the adjustment of our
+claims within a reasonable period or to abandon them altogether. I could
+not doubt that by this course the interests and honor of both countries
+would be best consulted. Instructions were therefore given in this
+spirit to the minister who was sent out once more to demand reparation.
+Upon the meeting of Congress in December, 1829, I felt it my duty to
+speak of these claims and the delays of France in terms calculated to
+call the serious attention of both countries to the subject. The then
+French ministry took exception to the message on the ground of its
+containing a menace, under which it was not agreeable to the French
+Government to negotiate. The American minister of his own accord refuted
+the construction which was attempted to be put upon the message and at
+the same time called to the recollection of the French ministry that
+the President's message was a communication addressed, not to foreign
+governments, but to the Congress of the United States, in which it
+was enjoined upon him by the Constitution to lay before that body
+information of the state of the Union, comprehending its foreign as well
+as its domestic relations, and that if in the discharge of this duty he
+felt it incumbent upon him to summon the attention of Congress in due
+time to what might be the possible consequences of existing difficulties
+with any foreign government, he might fairly be supposed to do so under
+a sense of what was due from him in a frank communication with another
+branch of his own Government, and not from any intention of holding
+a menace over a foreign power. The views taken by him received my
+approbation, the French Government was satisfied, and the negotiation
+was continued. It terminated in the treaty of July 4, 1831, recognizing
+the justice of our claims in part and promising payment to the amount
+of 25,000,000 francs in six annual installments.
+
+The ratifications of this treaty were exchanged at Washington on the
+2d of February, 1832, and in five days thereafter it was laid before
+Congress, who immediately passed the acts necessary on our part to
+secure to France the commercial advantages conceded to her in the
+compact. The treaty had previously been solemnly ratified by the King of
+the French in terms which are certainly not mere matters of form, and of
+which the translation is as follows:
+
+
+  We, approving the above convention in all and each of the dispositions
+  which are contained in it, do declare, by ourselves as well as by our
+  heirs and successors, that it is accepted, approved, ratified, and
+  confirmed, and by these presents, signed by our hand, we do accept,
+  approve, ratify, and confirm it; promising, on the faith and word of a
+  king, to observe it and to cause it to be observed inviolably, without
+  ever contravening it or suffering it to be contravened, directly or
+  indirectly, for any cause or under any pretense whatsoever.
+
+
+Official information of the exchange of ratifications in the
+United States reached Paris whilst the Chambers were in session. The
+extraordinary and to us injurious delays of the French Government in
+their action upon the subject of its fulfillment have been heretofore
+stated to Congress, and I have no disposition to enlarge upon them here.
+It is sufficient to observe that the then pending session was allowed to
+expire without even an effort to obtain the necessary appropriations;
+that the two succeeding ones were also suffered to pass away without
+anything like a serious attempt to obtain a decision upon the subject,
+and that it was not until the fourth session, almost three years after
+the conclusion of the treaty and more than two years after the exchange
+of ratifications, that the bill for the execution of the treaty was
+pressed to a vote and rejected.
+
+In the meantime the Government of the United States, having full
+confidence that a treaty entered into and so solemnly ratified by the
+French King would be executed in good faith, and not doubting that
+provision would be made for the payment of the first installment which
+was to become due on the 2d day of February, 1833, negotiated a draft
+for the amount through the Bank of the United States. When this draft
+was presented by the holder with the credentials required by the treaty
+to authorize him to receive the money, the Government of France allowed
+it to be protested. In addition to the injury in the nonpayment of the
+money by France, conformably to her engagement, the United States were
+exposed to a heavy claim on the part of the bank under pretense of
+damages, in satisfaction of which that institution seized upon and still
+retains an equal amount of the public money. Congress was in session
+when the decision of the Chambers reached Washington, and an immediate
+communication of this apparently final decision of France not to fulfill
+the stipulations of the treaty was the course naturally to be expected
+from the President. The deep tone of dissatisfaction which pervaded the
+public mind and the correspondent excitement produced in Congress by
+only a general knowledge of the result rendered it more than probable
+that a resort to immediate measures of redress would be the consequence
+of calling the attention of that body to the subject. Sincerely desirous
+of preserving the pacific relations which had so long existed between
+the two countries, I was anxious to avoid this course if I could be
+satisfied that by doing so neither the interests nor the honor of my
+country would be compromitted. Without the fullest assurances upon that
+point, I could not hope to acquit myself of the responsibility to be
+incurred in suffering Congress to adjourn without laying the subject
+before them. Those received by me were believed to be of that character.
+
+That the feelings produced in the United States by the news of the
+rejection of the appropriation would be such as I have described them
+to have been was foreseen by the French Government, and prompt measures
+were taken by it to prevent the consequences. The King in person
+expressed through our minister at Paris his profound regret at the
+decision of the Chambers, and promised to send forthwith a national
+ship with dispatches to his minister here authorizing him to give such
+assurances as would satisfy the Government and people of the United
+States that the treaty would yet be faithfully executed by France.
+The national ship arrived, and the minister received his instructions.
+Claiming to act under the authority derived from them, he gave to this
+Government in the name of his the most solemn assurances that as soon
+after the new elections as the charter would permit the French
+Chambers would be convened and the attempt to procure the necessary
+appropriations renewed; that all the constitutional powers of the King
+and his ministers should be put in requisition to accomplish the object,
+and he was understood, and so expressly informed by this Government at
+the time, to engage that the question should be pressed to a decision at
+a period sufficiently early to permit information of the result to be
+communicated to Congress at the commencement of their next session.
+Relying upon these assurances, I incurred the responsibility, great
+as I regarded it to be, of suffering Congress to separate without
+communicating with them upon the subject.
+
+The expectations justly founded upon the promises thus solemnly made to
+this Government by that of France were not realized. The French Chambers
+met on the 31st of July, 1834, soon after the election, and although our
+minister in Paris urged the French ministry to bring the subject before
+them, they declined doing so. He next insisted that the Chambers, if
+prorogued without acting on the subject, should be reassembled at a
+period so early that their action on the treaty might be known in
+Washington prior to the meeting of Congress. This reasonable request
+was not only declined, but the Chambers were prorogued to the 29th of
+December, a day so late that their decision, however urgently pressed,
+could not in all probability be obtained in time to reach Washington
+before the necessary adjournment of Congress by the Constitution. The
+reasons given by the ministry for refusing to convoke the Chambers at
+an earlier period were afterwards shewn not to be insuperable by their
+actual convocation on the 1st of December under a special call for
+domestic purposes, which fact, however, did not become known to this
+Government until after the commencement of the last session of Congress.
+
+Thus disappointed in our just expectations, it became my imperative
+duty to consult with Congress in regard to the expediency of a resort
+to retaliatory measures in case the stipulations of the treaty should
+not be speedily complied with, and to recommend such as in my judgment
+the occasion called for. To this end an unreserved communication of the
+case in all its aspects became indispensable. To have shrunk in making
+it from saying all that was necessary to its correct understanding,
+and that the truth would justify, for fear of giving offense to
+others, would have been unworthy of us. To have gone, on the other
+hand, a single step further for the purpose of wounding the pride of a
+Government and people with whom we had so many motives for cultivating
+relations of amity and reciprocal advantage would have been unwise and
+improper. Admonished by the past of the difficulty of making even the
+simplest statement of our wrongs without disturbing the sensibilities of
+those who had by their position become responsible for their redress,
+and earnestly desirous of preventing further obstacles from that source,
+I went out of my way to preclude a construction of the message by which
+the recommendation that was made to Congress might be regarded as a
+menace to France in not only disavowing such a design, but in declaring
+that her pride and her power were too well known to expect anything from
+her fears. The message did not reach Paris until more than a month after
+the Chambers had been in session, and such was the insensibility of the
+ministry to our rightful claims and just expectations that our minister
+had been informed that the matter when introduced would not be pressed
+as a cabinet measure.
+
+Although the message was not officially communicated to the French
+Government, and notwithstanding the declaration to the contrary which
+it contained, the French ministry decided to consider the conditional
+recommendation of reprisals a menace and an insult which the honor of
+the nation made it incumbent on them to resent. The measures resorted
+to by them to evince their sense of the supposed indignity were the
+immediate recall of their minister at Washington, the offer of passports
+to the American minister at Paris, and a public notice to the
+legislative Chambers that all diplomatic intercourse with the United
+States had been suspended. Having in this manner vindicated the dignity
+of France, they next proceeded to illustrate her justice. To this end a
+bill was immediately introduced into the Chamber of Deputies proposing
+to make the appropriations necessary to carry into effect the treaty.
+As this bill subsequently passed into a law, the provisions of which
+now constitute the main subject of difficulty between the two nations,
+it becomes my duty, in order to place the subject before you in a clear
+light, to trace the history of its passage and to refer with some
+particularity to the proceedings and discussions in regard to it.
+
+The minister of finance in his opening speech alluded to the measures
+which had been adopted to resent the supposed indignity, and recommended
+the execution of the treaty as a measure required by the honor and
+justice of France. He as the organ of the ministry declared the message,
+so long as it had not received the sanction of Congress, a mere
+expression of the personal opinion of the President, for which neither
+the Government nor people of the United States were responsible, and
+that an engagement had been entered into for the fulfillment of which
+the honor of France was pledged. Entertaining these views, the single
+condition which the French ministry proposed to annex to the payment of
+the money was that it should not be made until it was ascertained that
+the Government of the United States had done nothing to injure the
+interests of France, or, in other words, that no steps had been
+authorized by Congress of a hostile character toward France.
+
+What the disposition or action of Congress might be was then unknown to
+the French cabinet; but on the 14th of January the Senate resolved that
+it was at that time inexpedient to adopt any legislative measures in
+regard to the state of affairs between the United States and France, and
+no action on the subject had occurred in the House of Representatives.
+These facts were known in Paris prior to the 28th of March, 1835, when
+the committee to whom the bill of indemnification had been referred
+reported it to the Chamber of Deputies. That committee substantially
+reechoed the sentiments of the ministry, declared that Congress had set
+aside the proposition of the President, and recommended the passage of
+the bill without any other restriction than that originally proposed.
+Thus was it known to the French ministry and Chambers that if the
+position assumed by them, and which had been so frequently and solemnly
+announced as the only one compatible with the honor of France, was
+maintained and the bill passed as originally proposed, the money would
+be paid and there would be an end of this unfortunate controversy.
+
+But this cheering prospect was soon destroyed by an amendment introduced
+into the bill at the moment of its passage, providing that the money
+should not be paid until the French Government had received satisfactory
+explanations of the President's message of the 2d December, 1834, and,
+what is still more extraordinary, the president of the council of
+ministers adopted this amendment and consented to its incorporation
+in the bill. In regard to a supposed insult which had been formally
+resented by the recall of their minister and the offer of passports
+to ours, they now for the first time proposed to ask explanations.
+Sentiments and propositions which they had declared could not justly
+be imputed to the Government or people of the United States are set up
+as obstacles to the performance of an act of conceded justice to that
+Government and people. They had declared that the honor of France
+required the fulfillment of the engagement into which the King had
+entered, unless Congress adopted the recommendations of the message.
+They ascertained that Congress did not adopt them, and yet that
+fulfillment is refused unless they first obtain from the President
+explanations of an opinion characterized by themselves as personal
+and inoperative.
+
+The conception that it was my intention to menace or insult the
+Government of France is as unfounded as the attempt to extort from the
+fears of that nation what her sense of justice may deny would be vain
+and ridiculous. But the Constitution of the United States imposes on
+the President the duty of laying before Congress the condition of the
+country in its foreign and domestic relations, and of recommending such
+measures as may in his opinion be required by its interests. From the
+performance of this duty he can not be deterred by the fear of wounding
+the sensibilities of the people or government of whom it may become
+necessary to speak; and the American people are incapable of submitting
+to an interference by any government on earth, however powerful, with
+the free performance of the domestic duties which the Constitution has
+imposed on their public functionaries. The discussions which intervene
+between the several departments of our Government belong to ourselves,
+and for anything said in them our public servants are only responsible
+to their own constituents and to each other. If in the course of their
+consultations facts are erroneously stated or unjust deductions are
+made, they require no other inducement to correct them, however informed
+of their error, than their love of justice and what is due to their own
+character; but they can never submit to be interrogated upon the subject
+as a matter of right by a foreign power. When our discussions terminate
+in acts, our responsibility to foreign powers commences, not as
+individuals, but as a nation. The principle which calls in question
+the President for the language of his message would equally justify a
+foreign power in demanding explanation of the language used in the
+report of a committee or by a member in debate.
+
+This is not the first time that the Government of France has taken
+exception to the messages of American Presidents. President Washington
+and the first President Adams in the performance of their duties to the
+American people fell under the animadversions of the French Directory.
+The objection taken by the ministry of Charles X, and removed by the
+explanations made by our minister upon the spot, has already been
+adverted to. When it was understood that the ministry of the present
+King took exception to my message of last year, putting a construction
+upon it which was disavowed on its face, our late minister at Paris,
+in answer to the note which first announced a dissatisfaction with
+the language used in the message, made a communication to the French
+Government under date of the 29th of January, 1835,[14] calculated to
+remove all impressions which an unreasonable susceptibility had created.
+He repeated and called the attention of the French Government to the
+disavowal contained in the message itself of any intention to intimidate
+by menace; he truly declared that it contained and was intended to
+contain no charge of ill faith against the King of the French, and
+properly distinguished between the right to complain in unexceptionable
+terms of the omission to execute an agreement and an accusation of
+bad motives in withholding such execution, and demonstrated that the
+necessary use of that right ought not to be considered as an offensive
+imputation. Although this communication was made without instructions
+and entirely on the minister's own responsibility, yet it was afterwards
+made the act of this Government by my full approbation, and that
+approbation was officially made known on the 25th of April, 1835, to
+the French Government. It, however, failed to have any effect. The law,
+after this friendly explanation, passed with the obnoxious amendment,
+supported by the King's ministers, and was finally approved by the King.
+
+The people of the United States are justly attached to a pacific
+system in their intercourse with foreign nations. It is proper,
+therefore, that they should know whether their Government has adhered
+to it. In the present instance it has been carried to the utmost extent
+that was consistent with a becoming self-respect. The note of the 29th
+of January, to which I have before alluded, was not the only one which
+our minister took upon himself the responsibility of presenting on the
+same subject and in the same spirit. Finding that it was intended to
+make the payment of a just debt dependent on the performance of a
+condition which he knew could never be complied with, he thought it a
+duty to make another attempt to convince the French Government that
+whilst self-respect and regard to the dignity of other nations would
+always prevent us from using any language that ought to give offense,
+yet we could never admit a right in any foreign government to ask
+explanations of or to interfere in any manner in the communications
+which one branch of our public councils made with another; that in
+the present case no such language had been used, and that this had
+in a former note been fully and voluntarily stated, before it was
+contemplated to make the explanation a condition; and that there might
+be no misapprehension he stated the terms used in that note, and he
+officially informed them that it had been approved by the President,
+and that therefore every explanation which could reasonably be asked or
+honorably given had been already made; that the contemplated measure
+had been anticipated by a voluntary and friendly declaration, and was
+therefore not only useless, but might be deemed offensive, and certainly
+would not be complied with if annexed as a condition.
+
+When this latter communication, to which I especially invite the
+attention of Congress, was laid before me, I entertained the hope that
+the means it was obviously intended to afford of an honorable and speedy
+adjustment of the difficulties between the two nations would have been
+accepted, and I therefore did not hesitate to give it my sanction and
+full approbation. This was due to the minister who had made himself
+responsible for the act, and it was published to the people of the
+United States and is now laid before their representatives to shew
+how far their Executive has gone in its endeavors to restore a good
+understanding between the two countries. It would have been at any
+time communicated to the Government of France had it been officially
+requested.
+
+The French Government having received all the explanation which honor
+and principle permitted, and which could in reason be asked, it was
+hoped it would no longer hesitate to pay the installments now due.
+The agent authorized to receive the money was instructed to inform the
+French minister of his readiness to do so. In reply to this notice he
+was told that the money could not then be paid, because the formalities
+required by the act of the Chambers had not been arranged.
+
+Not having received any official information of the intentions of the
+French Government, and anxious to bring, as far as practicable, this
+unpleasant affair to a close before the meeting of Congress, that you
+might have the whole subject before you, I caused our charge d'affaires
+at Paris to be instructed to ask for the final determination of the
+French Government, and in the event of their refusal to pay the
+installments now due, without further explanations to return to the
+United States.
+
+The result of this last application has not yet reached us, but is daily
+expected. That it may be favorable is my sincere wish. France having
+now, through all the branches of her Government, acknowledged the
+validity of our claims and the obligation of the treaty of 1831, and
+there really existing no adequate cause for further delay, will at
+length, it may be hoped, adopt the course which the interests of both
+nations, not less than the principles of justice, so imperiously
+require. The treaty being once executed on her part, little will remain
+to disturb the friendly relations of the two countries--nothing, indeed,
+which will not yield to the suggestions of a pacific and enlightened
+policy and to the influence of that mutual good will and of those
+generous recollections which we may confidently expect will then be
+revived in all their ancient force. In any event, however, the principle
+involved in the new aspect which has been given to the controversy is so
+vitally important to the independent administration of the Government
+that it can neither be surrendered nor compromitted without national
+degradation. I hope it is unnecessary for me to say that such a
+sacrifice will not be made through any agency of mine. The honor of my
+country shall never be stained by an apology from me for the statement
+of truth and the performance of duty; nor can I give any explanation
+of my official acts except such as is due to integrity and justice
+and consistent with the principles on which our institutions have
+been framed. This determination will, I am confident, be approved
+by my constituents. I have, indeed, studied their character to but
+little purpose if the sum of 25,000,000 francs will have the weight
+of a feather in the estimation of what appertains to their national
+independence, and if, unhappily, a different impression should at any
+time obtain in any quarter, they will, I am sure, rally round the
+Government of their choice with alacrity and unanimity, and silence
+forever the degrading imputation.
+
+Having thus frankly presented to you the circumstances which since the
+last session of Congress have occurred in this interesting and important
+matter, with the views of the Executive in regard to them, it is at this
+time only necessary to add that whenever the advices now daily expected
+from our charge d'affaires shall have been received they will be made
+the subject of a special communication.
+
+The condition of the public finances was never more flattering than at
+the present period.
+
+Since my last annual communication all the remains of the public
+debt have been redeemed, or money has been placed in deposit for this
+purpose whenever the creditors choose to receive it. All the other
+pecuniary engagements of the Government have been honorably and promptly
+fulfilled, and there will be a balance in the Treasury at the close of
+the present year of about $19,000,000. It is believed that after meeting
+all outstanding and unexpended appropriations there will remain near
+eleven millions to be applied to any new objects which Congress may
+designate or to the more rapid execution of the works already in
+progress. In aid of these objects, and to satisfy the current
+expenditures of the ensuing year, it is estimated that there will
+be received from various sources twenty millions more in 1836.
+
+Should Congress make new appropriations in conformity with the estimates
+which will be submitted from the proper Departments, amounting to about
+twenty-four millions, still the available surplus at the close of the
+next year, after deducting all unexpended appropriations, will probably
+not be less than six millions. This sum can, in my judgment, be now
+usefully applied to proposed improvements in our navy-yards, and to new
+national works which are not enumerated in the present estimates or
+to the more rapid completion of those already begun. Either would be
+constitutional and useful, and would render unnecessary any attempt
+in our present peculiar condition to divide the surplus revenue or to
+reduce it any faster than will be effected by the existing laws. In
+any event, as the annual report from the Secretary of the Treasury will
+enter into details, shewing the probability of some decrease in the
+revenue during the next seven years and a very considerable deduction in
+1842, it is not recommended that Congress should undertake to modify the
+present tariff so as to disturb the principles on which the compromise
+act was passed. Taxation on some of the articles of general consumption
+which are not in competition with our own productions may be no doubt so
+diminished as to lessen to some extent the source of this revenue, and
+the same object can also be assisted by more liberal provisions for the
+subjects of public defense, which in the present state of our prosperity
+and wealth may be expected to engage your attention. If, however, after
+satisfying all the demands which can arise from these sources the
+unexpended balance in the Treasury should still continue to increase,
+it would be better to bear with the evil until the great changes
+contemplated in our tariff laws have occurred and shall enable us to
+revise the system with that care and circumspection which are due to
+so delicate and important a subject.
+
+It is certainly our duty to diminish as far as we can the burdens of
+taxation and to regard all the restrictions which are imposed on the
+trade and navigation of our citizens as evils which we shall mitigate
+whenever we are not prevented by the adverse legislation and policy
+of foreign nations or those primary duties which the defense and
+independence of our country enjoin upon us. That we have accomplished
+much toward the relief of our citizens by the changes which have
+accompanied the payment of the public debt and the adoption of the
+present revenue laws is manifest from the fact that compared with 1833
+there is a diminution of near twenty-five millions in the last two
+years, and that our expenditures, independently of those for the public
+debt, have been reduced near nine millions during the same period. Let
+us trust that by the continued observance of economy and by harmonizing
+the great interests of agriculture, manufactures, and commerce much
+more may be accomplished to diminish the burdens of government and to
+increase still further the enterprise and the patriotic affection of all
+classes of our citizens and all the members of our happy Confederacy.
+As the data which the Secretary of the Treasury will lay before you in
+regard to our financial resources are full and extended, and will afford
+a safe guide in your future calculations, I think it unnecessary to
+offer any further observations on that subject here.
+
+Among the evidences of the increasing prosperity of the country, not
+the least gratifying is that afforded by the receipts from the sales of
+the public lands, which amount in the present year to the unexpected
+sum of $11,000,000. This circumstance attests the rapidity with which
+agriculture, the first and most important occupation of man, advances
+and contributes to the wealth and power of our extended territory.
+Being still of the opinion that it is our best policy, as far as we can
+consistently with the obligations under which those lands were ceded to
+the United States, to promote their speedy settlement, I beg leave to
+call the attention of the present Congress to the suggestions I have
+offered respecting it in my former messages.
+
+The extraordinary receipts from the sales of the public lands invite
+you to consider what improvements the land system, and particularly the
+condition of the General Land Office, may require. At the time this
+institution was organized, near a quarter of a century ago, it would
+probably have been thought extravagant to anticipate for this period
+such an addition to its business as has been produced by the vast
+increase of those sales during the past and present years. It may also
+be observed that since the year 1812 the land offices and surveying
+districts have been greatly multiplied, and that numerous legislative
+enactments from year to year since that time have imposed a great
+amount of new and additional duties upon that office, while the want
+of a timely application of force commensurate with the care and labor
+required has caused the increasing embarrassment of accumulated arrears
+in the different branches of the establishment.
+
+These impediments to the expedition of much duty in the General Land
+Office induce me to submit to your judgment whether some modification
+of the laws relating to its organization, or an organization of a new
+character, be not called for at the present juncture, to enable the
+office to accomplish all the ends of its institution with a greater
+degree of facility and promptitude than experience has proved to be
+practicable under existing regulations. The variety of the concerns and
+the magnitude and complexity of the details occupying and dividing the
+attention of the Commissioner appear to render it difficult, if not
+impracticable, for that officer by any possible assiduity to bestow on
+all the multifarious subjects upon which he is called to act the ready
+and careful attention due to their respective importance, unless the
+Legislature shall assist him by a law providing, or enabling him to
+provide, for a more regular and economical distribution of labor, with
+the incident responsibility among those employed under his direction.
+The mere manual operation of affixing his signature to the vast number
+of documents issuing from his office subtracts so largely from the time
+and attention claimed by the weighty and complicated subjects daily
+accumulating in that branch of the public service as to indicate the
+strong necessity of revising the organic law of the establishment. It
+will be easy for Congress hereafter to proportion the expenditure on
+account of this branch of the service to its real wants by abolishing
+from time to time the offices which can be dispensed with.
+
+The extinction of the public debt having taken place, there is no longer
+any use for the offices of Commissioners of Loans and of the Sinking
+Fund. I recommend, therefore, that they be abolished, and that proper
+measures be taken for the transfer to the Treasury Department of any
+funds, books, and papers connected with the operations of those offices,
+and that the proper power be given to that Department for closing
+finally any portion of their business which may remain to be settled.
+
+It is also incumbent on Congress in guarding the pecuniary interests
+of the country to discontinue by such a law as was passed in 1812 the
+receipt of the bills of the Bank of the United States in payment of the
+public revenue, and to provide for the designation of an agent whose
+duty it shall be to take charge of the books and stock of the United
+States in that institution, and to close all connection with it after
+the 3d of March, 1836, when its charter expires. In making provision in
+regard to the disposition of this stock it will be essential to define
+clearly and strictly the duties and powers of the officer charged with
+that branch of the public service.
+
+It will be seen from the correspondence which the Secretary of the
+Treasury will lay before you that notwithstanding the large amount
+of the stock which the United States hold in that institution no
+information has yet been communicated which will enable the Government
+to anticipate when it can receive any dividends or derive any benefit
+from it.
+
+Connected with the condition of the finances and the flourishing state
+of the country in all its branches of industry, it is pleasing to
+witness the advantages which have been already derived from the recent
+laws regulating the value of the gold coinage. These advantages will be
+more apparent in the course of the next year, when the branch mints
+authorized to be established in North Carolina, Georgia, and Louisiana
+shall have gone into operation. Aided, as it is hoped they will be, by
+further reforms in the banking systems of the States and by judicious
+regulations on the part of Congress in relation to the custody of the
+public moneys, it may be confidently anticipated that the use of gold
+and silver as a circulating medium will become general in the ordinary
+transactions connected with the labor of the country. The great
+desideratum in modern times is an efficient check upon the power of
+banks, preventing that excessive issue of paper whence arise those
+fluctuations in the standard of value which render uncertain the rewards
+of labor. It was supposed by those who established the Bank of the
+United States that from the credit given to it by the custody of the
+public moneys and other privileges and the precautions taken to guard
+against the evils which the country had suffered in the bankruptcy of
+many of the State institutions of that period we should derive from that
+institution all the security and benefits of a sound currency and every
+good end that was attainable under that provision of the Constitution
+which authorizes Congress alone to coin money and regulate the value
+thereof. But it is scarcely necessary now to say that these
+anticipations have not been realized.
+
+After the extensive embarrassment and distress recently produced by the
+Bank of the United States, from which the country is now recovering,
+aggravated as they were by pretensions to power which defied the public
+authority, and which if acquiesced in by the people would have changed
+the whole character of our Government, every candid and intelligent
+individual must admit that for the attainment of the great advantages of
+a sound currency we must look to a course of legislation radically
+different from that which created such an institution.
+
+In considering the means of obtaining so important an end we must set
+aside all calculations of temporary convenience, and be influenced
+by those only which are in harmony with the true character and the
+permanent interests of the Republic. We must recur to first principles
+and see what it is that has prevented the legislation of Congress and
+the States on the subject of currency from satisfying the public
+expectation and realizing results corresponding to those which have
+attended the action of our system when truly consistent with the great
+principle of equality upon which it rests, and with that spirit of
+forbearance and mutual concession and generous patriotism which was
+originally, and must ever continue to be, the vital element of our
+Union.
+
+On this subject I am sure that I can not be mistaken in ascribing our
+want of success to the undue countenance which has been afforded to the
+spirit of monopoly. All the serious dangers which our system has yet
+encountered may be traced to the resort to implied powers and the use of
+corporations clothed with privileges, the effect of which is to advance
+the interests of the few at the expense of the many. We have felt but
+one class of these dangers exhibited in the contest waged by the Bank
+of the United States against the Government for the last four years.
+Happily they have been obviated for the present by the indignant
+resistance of the people, but we should recollect that the principle
+whence they sprung is an ever-active one, which will not fail to renew
+its efforts in the same and in other forms so long as there is a hope
+of success, founded either on the inattention of the people or the
+treachery of their representatives to the subtle progress of its
+influence. The bank is, in fact, but one of the fruits of a system at
+war with the genius of all our institutions--a system founded upon a
+political creed the fundamental principle of which is a distrust of
+the popular will as a safe regulator of political power, and whose
+great ultimate object and inevitable result, should it prevail, is the
+consolidation of all power in our system in one central government.
+Lavish public disbursements and corporations with exclusive privileges
+would be its substitutes for the original and as yet sound checks and
+balances of the Constitution--the means by whose silent and secret
+operation a control would be exercised by the few over the political
+conduct of the many by first acquiring that control over the labor and
+earnings of the great body of the people. Wherever this spirit has
+effected an alliance with political power, tyranny and despotism have
+been the fruit. If it is ever used for the ends of government, it has to
+be incessantly watched, or it corrupts the sources of the public virtue
+and agitates the country with questions unfavorable to the harmonious
+and steady pursuit of its true interests.
+
+We are now to see whether, in the present favorable condition of the
+country, we can not take an effectual stand against this spirit of
+monopoly, and practically prove in respect to the currency as well as
+other important interests that there is no necessity for so extensive a
+resort to it as that which has been heretofore practiced. The experience
+of another year has confirmed the utter fallacy of the idea that the
+Bank of the United States was necessary as a fiscal agent of the
+Government. Without its aid as such, indeed, in despite of all the
+embarrassment it was in its power to create, the revenue has been paid
+with punctuality by our citizens, the business of exchange, both
+foreign and domestic, has been conducted with convenience, and the
+circulating medium has been greatly improved. By the use of the State
+banks, which do not derive their charters from the General Government
+and are not controlled by its authority, it is ascertained that the
+moneys of the United States can be collected and disbursed without loss
+or inconvenience, and that all the wants of the community in relation
+to exchange and currency are supplied as well as they have ever been
+before. If under circumstances the most unfavorable to the steadiness of
+the money market it has been found that the considerations on which the
+Bank of the United States rested its claims to the public favor were
+imaginary and groundless, it can not be doubted that the experience of
+the future will be more decisive against them.
+
+It has been seen that without the agency of a great moneyed monopoly the
+revenue can be collected and conveniently and safely applied to all the
+purposes of the public expenditure. It is also ascertained that instead
+of being necessarily made to promote the evils of an unchecked paper
+system, the management of the revenue can be made auxiliary to the
+reform which the legislatures of several of the States have already
+commenced in regard to the suppression of small bills, and which has
+only to be fostered by proper regulations on the part of Congress to
+secure a practical return to the extent required for the security of
+the currency to the constitutional medium. Severed from the Government
+as political engines, and not susceptible of dangerous extension and
+combination, the State banks will not be tempted, nor will they have the
+power, which we have seen exercised, to divert the public funds from the
+legitimate purposes of the Government. The collection and custody of
+the revenue, being, on the contrary, a source of credit to them, will
+increase the security which the States provide for a faithful execution
+of their trusts by multiplying the scrutinies to which their operations
+and accounts will be subjected. Thus disposed, as well from interest
+as the obligations of their charters, it can not be doubted that such
+conditions as Congress may see fit to adopt respecting the deposits in
+these institutions, with a view to the gradual disuse, of the small
+bills will be cheerfully complied with, and that we shall soon gain in
+place of the Bank of the United States a practical reform in the whole
+paper system of the country. If by this policy we can ultimately witness
+the suppression of all bank bills below $20, it is apparent that gold
+and silver will take their place and become the principal circulating
+medium in the common business of the farmers and mechanics of the
+country. The attainment of such a result will form an era in the history
+of our country which will be dwelt upon with delight by every true
+friend of its liberty and independence. It will lighten the great
+tax which our paper system has so long collected from the earnings of
+labor, and do more to revive and perpetuate those habits of economy and
+simplicity which are so congenial to the character of republicans than
+all the legislation which has yet been attempted.
+
+To this subject I feel that I can not too earnestly invite the special
+attention of Congress, without the exercise of whose authority the
+opportunity to accomplish so much public good must pass unimproved.
+Deeply impressed with its vital importance, the Executive has taken all
+the steps within his constitutional power to guard the public revenue
+and defeat the expectation which the Bank of the United States indulged
+of renewing and perpetuating its monopoly on the ground of its necessity
+as a fiscal agent and as affording a sounder currency than could be
+obtained without such an institution. In the performance of this duty
+much responsibility was incurred which would have been gladly avoided if
+the stake which the public had in the question could have been otherwise
+preserved. Although clothed with the legal authority and supported by
+precedent, I was aware that there was in the act of the removal of the
+deposits a liability to excite that sensitiveness to Executive power
+which it is the characteristic and the duty of freemen to indulge; but
+I relied on this feeling also, directed by patriotism and intelligence,
+to vindicate the conduct which in the end would appear to have been
+called for by the best interests of my country. The apprehensions
+natural to this feeling that there may have been a desire, through the
+instrumentality of that measure, to extend the Executive influence, or
+that it may have been prompted by motives not sufficiently free from
+ambition, were not overlooked. Under the operation of our institutions
+the public servant who is called on to take a step of high
+responsibility should feel in the freedom which gives rise to such
+apprehensions his highest security. When unfounded the attention which
+they arouse and the discussions they excite deprive those who indulge
+them of the power to do harm; when just they but hasten the certainty
+with which the great body of our citizens never fail to repel an attempt
+to procure their sanction to any exercise of power inconsistent with the
+jealous maintenance of their rights. Under such convictions, and
+entertaining no doubt that my constitutional obligations demanded the
+steps which were taken in reference to the removal of the deposits, it
+was impossible for me to be deterred from the path of duty by a fear
+that my motives could be misjudged or that political prejudices could
+defeat the just consideration of the merits of my conduct. The result
+has shewn how safe is this reliance upon the patriotic temper and
+enlightened discernment of the people. That measure has now been before
+them and has stood the test of all the severe analysis which its general
+importance, the interests it affected, and the apprehensions it excited
+were calculated to produce, and it now remains for Congress to consider
+what legislation has become necessary in consequence.
+
+I need only add to what I have on former occasions said on this subject
+generally that in the regulations which Congress may prescribe
+respecting the custody of the public moneys it is desirable that as
+little discretion as may be deemed consistent with their safe-keeping
+should be given to the executive agents. No one can be more deeply
+impressed than I am with the soundness of the doctrine which restrains
+and limits, by specific provisions, executive discretion, as far as it
+can be done consistently with the preservation of its constitutional
+character. In respect to the control over the public money this doctrine
+is peculiarly applicable, and is in harmony with the great principle
+which I felt I was sustaining in the controversy with the Bank of the
+United States, which has resulted in severing to some extent a dangerous
+connection between a moneyed and political power. The duty of the
+Legislature to define, by clear and positive enactments, the nature and
+extent of the action which it belongs to the Executive to superintend
+springs out of a policy analogous to that which enjoins upon all the
+branches of the Federal Government an abstinence from the exercise of
+powers not clearly granted.
+
+In such a Government, possessing only limited and specific powers, the
+spirit of its general administration can not be wise or just when it
+opposes the reference of all doubtful points to the great source of
+authority, the States and the people, whose number and diversified
+relations, securing them against the influences and excitements which
+may mislead their agents, make them the safest depository of power.
+In its application to the Executive, with reference to the legislative
+branch of the Government, the same rule of action should make the
+President ever anxious to avoid the exercise of any discretionary
+authority which can be regulated by Congress. The biases which may
+operate upon him will not be so likely to extend to the representatives
+of the people in that body.
+
+In my former messages to Congress I have repeatedly urged the
+propriety of lessening the discretionary authority lodged in the
+various Departments, but it has produced no effect as yet, except
+the discontinuance of extra allowances in the Army and Navy and the
+substitution of fixed salaries in the latter. It is believed that the
+same principles could be advantageously applied in all cases, and would
+promote the efficiency and economy of the public service, at the same
+time that greater satisfaction and more equal justice would be secured
+to the public officers generally.
+
+The accompanying report of the Secretary of War will put you in
+possession of the operations of the Department confided to his care
+in all its diversified relations during the past year.
+
+I am gratified in being able to inform you that no occurrence has
+required any movement of the military force, except such as is common to
+a state of peace. The services of the Army have been limited to their
+usual duties at the various garrisons upon the Atlantic and inland
+frontier, with the exceptions stated by the Secretary of War. Our small
+military establishment appears to be adequate to the purposes for which
+it is maintained, and it forms a nucleus around which any additional
+force may be collected should the public exigencies unfortunately
+require any increase of our military means.
+
+The various acts of Congress which have been recently passed in relation
+to the Army have improved its condition, and have rendered its
+organization more useful and efficient. It is at all times in a state
+for prompt and vigorous action, and it contains within itself the power
+of extension to any useful limit, while at the same time it preserves
+that knowledge, both theoretical and practical, which education and
+experience alone can give, and which, if not acquired and preserved in
+time of peace, must be sought under great disadvantages in time of war.
+
+The duties of the Engineer Corps press heavily upon that branch of the
+service, and the public interest requires an addition to its strength.
+The nature of the works in which the officers are engaged renders
+necessary professional knowledge and experience, and there is no economy
+in committing to them more duties than they can perform or in assigning
+these to other persons temporarily employed, and too often of necessity
+without all the qualifications which such service demands. I recommend
+this subject to your attention, and also the proposition submitted at
+the last session of Congress and now renewed, for a reorganization of
+the Topographical Corps. This reorganization can be effected without any
+addition to the present expenditure and with much advantage to the
+public service. The branch of duties which devolves upon these officers
+is at all times interesting to the community, and the information
+furnished by them is useful in peace and war.
+
+Much loss and inconvenience have been experienced in consequence of
+the failure of the bill containing the ordinary appropriations for
+fortifications which passed one branch of the National Legislature at
+the last session, but was lost in the other. This failure was the more
+regretted not only because it necessarily interrupted and delayed the
+progress of a system of national defense, projected immediately after
+the last war and since steadily pursued, but also because it contained
+a contingent appropriation, inserted in accordance with the views
+of the Executive, in aid of this important object and other branches
+of the national defense, some portions of which might have been most
+usefully applied during the past season. I invite your early attention
+to that part of the report of the Secretary of War which relates
+to this subject, and recommend an appropriation sufficiently liberal
+to accelerate the armament of the fortifications agreeably to the
+proposition submitted by him, and to place our whole Atlantic seaboard
+in a complete state of defense. A just regard to the permanent interests
+of the country evidently requires this measure, but there are also other
+reasons which at the present juncture give it peculiar force and make
+it my duty to call to the subject your special consideration.
+
+The present system of military education has been in operation
+sufficiently long to test its usefulness, and it has given to the
+Army a valuable body of officers. It is not alone in the improvement,
+discipline, and operation of the troops that these officers are
+employed. They are also extensively engaged in the administrative and
+fiscal concerns of the various matters confided to the War Department;
+in the execution of the staff duties usually appertaining to military
+organization; in the removal of the Indians and in the disbursement of
+the various expenditures growing out of our Indian relations; in the
+formation of roads and in the improvement of harbors and rivers; in
+the construction of fortifications, in the fabrication of much of the
+_materiel_ required for the public defense, and in the preservation,
+distribution, and accountability of the whole, and in other
+miscellaneous duties not admitting of classification.
+
+These diversified functions embrace very heavy expenditures of public
+money, and require fidelity, science, and business habits in their
+execution, and a system which shall secure these qualifications is
+demanded by the public interest. That this object has been in a great
+measure obtained by the Military Academy is shewn by the state of the
+service and by the prompt accountability which has generally followed
+the necessary advances. Like all other political systems, the present
+mode of military education no doubt has its imperfections, both of
+principle and practice; but I trust these can be improved by rigid
+inspections and by legislative scrutiny without destroying the
+institution itself.
+
+Occurrences to which we as well as all other nations are liable, both
+in our internal and external relations, point to the necessity of an
+efficient organization of the militia. I am again induced by the
+importance of the subject to bring it to your attention. To suppress
+domestic violence and to repel foreign invasion, should these calamities
+overtake us, we must rely in the first instance upon the great body of
+the community whose will has instituted and whose power must support
+the Government. A large standing military force is not consonant to the
+spirit of our institutions nor to the feelings of our countrymen, and
+the lessons of former days and those also of our own times shew the
+danger as well as the enormous expense of these permanent and extensive
+military organizations. That just medium which avoids an inadequate
+preparation on one hand and the danger and expense of a large force on
+the other is what our constituents have a right to expect from their
+Government. This object can be attained only by the maintenance of
+a small military force and by such an organization of the physical
+strength of the country as may bring this power into operation whenever
+its services are required. A classification of the population offers the
+most obvious means of effecting this organization. Such a division may
+be made as will be just to all by transferring each at a proper period
+of life from one class to another and by calling first for the services
+of that class, whether for instruction or action, which from age is
+qualified for the duty and may be called to perform it with least
+injury to themselves or to the public. Should the danger ever become so
+imminent as to require additional force, the other classes in succession
+would be ready for the call. And if in addition to this organization
+voluntary associations were encouraged and inducements held out for
+their formation, our militia would be in a state of efficient service.
+Now, when we are at peace, is the proper time to digest and establish
+a practicable system. The object is certainly worth the experiment and
+worth the expense. No one appreciating the blessings of a republican
+government can object to his share of the burden which such a plan may
+impose. Indeed, a moderate portion of the national funds could scarcely
+be better applied than in carrying into effect and continuing such an
+arrangement, and in giving the necessary elementary instruction. We are
+happily at peace with all the world. A sincere desire to continue so and
+a fixed determination to give no just cause of offense to other nations
+furnish, unfortunately, no certain grounds of expectation that this
+relation will be uninterrupted. With this determination to give no
+offense is associated a resolution, equally decided, tamely to submit
+to none. The armor and the attitude of defense afford the best security
+against those collisions which the ambition, or interest, or some other
+passion of nations not more justifiable is liable to produce. In many
+countries it is considered unsafe to put arms into the hands of the
+people and to instruct them in the elements of military knowledge. That
+fear can have no place here when it is recollected that the people are
+the sovereign power. Our Government was instituted and is supported by
+the ballot box, not by the musket. Whatever changes await it, still
+greater changes must be made in our social institutions before our
+political system can yield to physical force. In every aspect,
+therefore, in which I can view the subject I am impressed with the
+importance of a prompt and efficient organization of the militia.
+
+The plan of removing the aboriginal people who yet remain within the
+settled portions of the United States to the country west of the
+Mississippi River approaches its consummation. It was adopted on the
+most mature consideration of the condition of this race, and ought to
+be persisted in till the object is accomplished, and prosecuted with
+as much vigor as a just regard to their circumstances will permit, and
+as fast as their consent can be obtained. All preceding experiments
+for the improvement of the Indians have failed. It seems now to be an
+established fact that they can not live in contact with a civilized
+community and prosper. Ages of fruitless endeavors have at length
+brought us to a knowledge of this principle of intercommunication with
+them. The past we can not recall, but the future we can provide for.
+Independently of the treaty stipulations into which we have entered with
+the various tribes for the usufructuary rights they have ceded to us,
+no one can doubt the moral duty of the Government of the United States
+to protect and if possible to preserve and perpetuate the scattered
+remnants of this race which are left within our borders. In the
+discharge of this duty an extensive region in the West has been assigned
+for their permanent residence. It has been divided into districts and
+allotted among them. Many have already removed and others are preparing
+to go, and with the exception of two small bands living in Ohio and
+Indiana, not exceeding 1,500 persons, and of the Cherokees, all the
+tribes on the east side of the Mississippi, and extending from Lake
+Michigan to Florida, have entered into engagements which will lead
+to their transplantation.
+
+The plan for their removal and reestablishment is founded upon the
+knowledge we have gained of their character and habits, and has been
+dictated by a spirit of enlarged liberality. A territory exceeding in
+extent that relinquished has been granted to each tribe. Of its
+climate, fertility, and capacity to support an Indian population the
+representations are highly favorable. To these districts the Indians are
+removed at the expense of the United States, and with certain supplies
+of clothing, arms, ammunition, and other indispensable articles; they
+are also furnished gratuitously with provisions for the period of a year
+after their arrival at their new homes. In that time, from the nature
+of the country and of the products raised by them, they can subsist
+themselves by agricultural labor, if they choose to resort to that mode
+of life; if they do not they are upon the skirts of the great prairies,
+where countless herds of buffalo roam, and a short time suffices to
+adapt their own habits to the changes which a change of the animals
+destined for their food may require. Ample arrangements have also been
+made for the support of schools; in some instances council houses and
+churches are to be erected, dwellings constructed for the chiefs, and
+mills for common use. Funds have been set apart for the maintenance of
+the poor; the most necessary mechanical arts have been introduced, and
+blacksmiths, gunsmiths, wheelwrights, millwrights, etc., are supported
+among them. Steel and iron, and sometimes salt, are purchased for them,
+and plows and other farming utensils, domestic animals, looms, spinning
+wheels, cards, etc., are presented to them. And besides these beneficial
+arrangements, annuities are in all cases paid, amounting in some
+instances to more than $30 for each individual of the tribe, and in all
+cases sufficiently great, if justly divided and prudently expended, to
+enable them, in addition to their own exertions, to live comfortably.
+And as a stimulus for exertion, it is now provided by law that "in all
+cases of the appointment of interpreters or other persons employed for
+the benefit of the Indians a preference shall be given to persons of
+Indian descent, if such can be found who are properly qualified for the
+discharge of the duties."
+
+Such are the arrangements for the physical comfort and for the moral
+improvement of the Indians. The necessary measures for their political
+advancement and for their separation from our citizens have not been
+neglected. The pledge of the United States has been given by Congress
+that the country destined for the residence of this people shall be
+forever "secured and guaranteed to them." A country west of Missouri and
+Arkansas has been assigned to them, into which the white settlements
+are not to be pushed. No political communities can be formed in that
+extensive region, except those which are established by the Indians
+themselves or by the United States for them and with their concurrence.
+A barrier has thus been raised for their protection against the
+encroachment of our citizens, and guarding the Indians as far as
+possible from those evils which have brought them to their present
+condition. Summary authority has been given by law to destroy all ardent
+spirits found in their country, without waiting the doubtful result
+and slow process of a legal seizure. I consider the absolute and
+unconditional interdiction of this article among these people as the
+first and great step in their melioration. Halfway measures will answer
+no purpose. These can not successfully contend against the cupidity
+of the seller and the overpowering appetite of the buyer. And the
+destructive effects of the traffic are marked in every page of the
+history of our Indian intercourse.
+
+Some general legislation seems necessary for the regulation of the
+relations which will exist in this new state of things between the
+Government and people of the United States and these transplanted
+Indian tribes, and for the establishment among the latter, and with
+their own consent, of some principles of intercommunication which their
+juxtaposition will call for; that moral may be substituted for physical
+force, the authority of a few and simple laws for the tomahawk, and that
+an end may be put to those bloody wars whose prosecution seems to have
+made part of their social system.
+
+After the further details of this arrangement are completed, with a very
+general supervision over them, they ought to be left to the progress of
+events. These, I indulge the hope, will secure their prosperity and
+improvement, and a large portion of the moral debt we owe them will
+then be paid.
+
+The report from the Secretary of the Navy, shewing the condition of that
+branch of the public service, is recommended to your special attention.
+It appears from it that our naval force at present in commission,
+with all the activity which can be given to it, is inadequate to the
+protection of our rapidly increasing commerce. This consideration and
+the more general one which regards this arm of the national defense
+as our best security against foreign aggressions strongly urge the
+continuance of the measures which promote its gradual enlargement and a
+speedy increase of the force which has been heretofore employed abroad
+and at home. You will perceive from the estimates which appear in the
+report of the Secretary of the Navy that the expenditures necessary to
+this increase of its force, though of considerable amount, are small
+compared with the benefits which they will secure to the country.
+
+As a means of strengthening this national arm I also recommend to your
+particular attention the propriety of the suggestion which attracted the
+consideration of Congress at its last session, respecting the enlistment
+of boys at a suitable age in the service. In this manner a nursery of
+skillful and able-bodied seamen can be established, which will be of
+the greatest importance. Next to the capacity to put afloat and arm the
+requisite number of ships is the possession of the means to man them
+efficiently, and nothing seems better calculated to aid this object than
+the measure proposed. As an auxiliary to the advantages derived from our
+extensive commercial marine, it would furnish us with a resource ample
+enough for all the exigencies which can be anticipated. Considering the
+state of our resources, it can not be doubted that whatever provision
+the liberality and wisdom of Congress may now adopt with a view to the
+perfect organization of this branch of our service will meet the
+approbation of all classes of our citizens.
+
+By the report of the Postmaster-General it appears that the revenue
+of the Department during the year ending on the 30th day of June last
+exceeded its accruing responsibilities $236,206, and that the surplus
+of the present fiscal year is estimated at $476,227. It further appears
+that the debt of the Department on the 1st day of July last, including
+the amount due to contractors for the quarter then just expired, was
+about $1,064,381, exceeding the available means about $23,700; and that
+on the 1st instant about $597,077 of this debt had been paid--$409,991
+out of postages accruing before July and $187,086 out of postages
+accruing since. In these payments are included $67,000 of the old debt
+due to banks. After making these payments the Department had $73,000
+in bank on the 1st instant. The pleasing assurance is given that the
+Department is entirely free from embarrassment, and that by collection
+of outstanding balances and using the current surplus the remaining
+portion of the bank debt and most of the other debt will probably be
+paid in April next, leaving thereafter a heavy amount to be applied in
+extending the mail facilities of the country. Reserving a considerable
+sum for the improvement of existing mail routes, it is stated that the
+Department will be able to sustain with perfect convenience an annual
+charge of $300,000 for the support of new routes, to commence as soon
+as they can be established and put in operation.
+
+The measures adopted by the Postmaster-General to bring the means of
+the Department into action and to effect a speedy extinguishment of its
+debt, as well as to produce an efficient administration of its affairs,
+will be found detailed at length in his able and luminous report. Aided
+by a reorganization on the principles suggested and such salutary
+provisions in the laws regulating its administrative duties as the
+wisdom of Congress may devise or approve, that important Department will
+soon attain a degree of usefulness proportioned to the increase of our
+population and the extension of our settlements.
+
+Particular attention is solicited to that portion of the report of the
+Postmaster-General which relates to the carriage of the mails of the
+United States upon railroads constructed by private corporations under
+the authority of the several States. The reliance which the General
+Government can place on those roads as a means of carrying on its
+operations and the principles on which the use of them is to be obtained
+can not too soon be considered and settled. Already does the spirit of
+monopoly begin to exhibit its natural propensities in attempts to exact
+from the public, for services which it supposes can not be obtained on
+other terms, the most extravagant compensation. If these claims be
+persisted in, the question may arise whether a combination of citizens,
+acting under charters of incorporation from the States, can, by a direct
+refusal or the demand of an exorbitant price, exclude the United States
+from the use of the established channels of communication between the
+different sections of the country, and whether the United States can
+not, without transcending their constitutional powers, secure to the
+Post-Office Department the use of those roads by an act of Congress
+which shall provide within itself some equitable mode of adjusting the
+amount of compensation. To obviate, if possible, the necessity of
+considering this question, it is suggested whether it be not expedient
+to fix by law the amounts which shall be offered to railroad companies
+for the conveyance of the mails, graduated according to their average
+weight, to be ascertained and declared by the Postmaster-General. It
+is probable that a liberal proposition of that sort would be accepted.
+
+In connection with these provisions in relation to the Post-Office
+Department, I must also invite your attention to the painful excitement
+produced in the South by attempts to circulate through the mails
+inflammatory appeals addressed to the passions of the slaves, in prints
+and in various sorts of publications, calculated to stimulate them to
+insurrection and to produce all the horrors of a servile war. There is
+doubtless no respectable portion of our countrymen who can be so far
+misled as to feel any other sentiment than that of indignant regret at
+conduct so destructive of the harmony and peace of the country, and so
+repugnant to the principles of our national compact and to the dictates
+of humanity and religion. Our happiness and prosperity essentially
+depend upon peace within our borders, and peace depends upon the
+maintenance in good faith of those compromises of the Constitution upon
+which the Union is founded. It is fortunate for the country that the
+good sense, the generous feeling, and the deep-rooted attachment of
+the people of the nonslaveholding States to the Union and to their
+fellow-citizens of the same blood in the South have given so strong
+and impressive a tone to the sentiments entertained against the
+proceedings of the misguided persons who have engaged in these
+unconstitutional and wicked attempts, and especially against the
+emissaries from foreign parts who have dared to interfere in this
+matter, as to authorize the hope that those attempts will no longer
+be persisted in. But if these expressions of the public will shall
+not be sufficient to effect so desirable a result, not a doubt can be
+entertained that the nonslaveholding States, so far from countenancing
+the slightest interference with the constitutional rights of the South,
+will be prompt to exercise their authority in suppressing so far as in
+them lies whatever is calculated to produce this evil.
+
+In leaving the care of other branches of this interesting subject
+to the State authorities, to whom they properly belong, it is
+nevertheless proper for Congress to take such measures as will prevent
+the Post-Office Department, which was designed to foster an amicable
+intercourse and correspondence between all the members of the
+Confederacy, from being used as an instrument of an opposite character.
+The General Government, to which the great trust is confided of
+preserving inviolate the relations created among the States by the
+Constitution, is especially bound to avoid in its own action anything
+that may disturb them. I would therefore call the special attention of
+Congress to the subject, and respectfully suggest the propriety of
+passing such a law as will prohibit, under severe penalties, the
+circulation in the Southern States, through the mail, of incendiary
+publications intended to instigate the slaves to insurrection.
+
+I felt it to be my duty in the first message which I communicated to
+Congress to urge upon its attention the propriety of amending that part
+of the Constitution which provides for the election of the President and
+the Vice-President of the United States. The leading object which I had
+in view was the adoption of some new provisions which would secure to
+the people the performance of this high duty without any intermediate
+agency. In my annual communications since I have enforced the same
+views, from a sincere conviction that the best interests of the country
+would be promoted by their adoption. If the subject were an ordinary
+one, I should have regarded the failure of Congress to act upon it as an
+indication of their judgment that the disadvantages which belong to the
+present system were not so great as those which would result from any
+attainable substitute that had been submitted to their consideration.
+Recollecting, however, that propositions to introduce a new feature in
+our fundamental laws can not be too patiently examined, and ought not to
+be received with favor until the great body of the people are thoroughly
+impressed with their necessity and value as a remedy for real evils,
+I feel that in renewing the recommendation I have heretofore made on
+this subject I am not transcending the bounds of a just deference to
+the sense of Congress or to the disposition of the people. However much
+we may differ in the choice of the measures which should guide the
+administration of the Government, there can be but little doubt in the
+minds of those who are really friendly to the republican features of
+our system that one of its most important securities consists in the
+separation of the legislative and executive powers at the same time that
+each is held responsible to the great source of authority, which is
+acknowledged to be supreme, in the will of the people constitutionally
+expressed. My reflection and experience satisfy me that the framers of
+the Constitution, although they were anxious to mark this feature as a
+settled and fixed principle in the structure of the Government, did not
+adopt all the precautions that were necessary to secure its practical
+observance, and that we can not be said to have carried into complete
+effect their intentions until the evils which arise from this organic
+defect are remedied.
+
+Considering the great extent of our Confederacy, the rapid increase of
+its population, and the diversity of their interests and pursuits, it
+can not be disguised that the contingency by which one branch of the
+Legislature is to form itself into an electoral college can not become
+one of ordinary occurrence without producing incalculable mischief. What
+was intended as the medicine of the Constitution in extreme cases can
+not be frequently used without changing its character and sooner or
+later producing incurable disorder.
+
+Every election by the House of Representatives is calculated to
+lessen the force of that security which is derived from the distinct and
+separate character of the legislative and executive functions, and while
+it exposes each to temptations adverse to their efficiency as organs
+of the Constitution and laws, its tendency will be to unite both in
+resisting the will of the people, and thus give a direction to the
+Government antirepublican and dangerous. All history tells us that
+a free people should be watchful of delegated power, and should never
+acquiesce in a practice which will diminish their control over it.
+This obligation, so universal in its application to all the principles
+of a republic, is peculiarly so in ours, where the formation of parties
+founded on sectional interests is so much fostered by the extent of
+our territory. These interests, represented by candidates for the
+Presidency, are constantly prone, in the zeal of party and selfish
+objects, to generate influences unmindful of the general good and
+forgetful of the restraints which the great body of the people would
+enforce if they were in no contingency to lose the right of expressing
+their will. The experience of our country from the formation of the
+Government to the present day demonstrates that the people can not too
+soon adopt some stronger safeguard for their right to elect the highest
+officers known to the Constitution than is contained in that sacred
+instrument as it now stands.
+
+It is my duty to call the particular attention of Congress to the
+present condition of the District of Columbia. From whatever cause the
+great depression has arisen which now exists in the pecuniary concerns
+of this District, it is proper that its situation should be fully
+understood and such relief or remedies provided as are consistent with
+the powers of Congress. I earnestly recommend the extension of every
+political right to the citizens of this District which their true
+interests require, and which does not conflict with the provisions of
+the Constitution. It is believed that the laws for the government of the
+District require revisal and amendment, and that much good may be done
+by modifying the penal code so as to give uniformity to its provisions.
+
+Your attention is also invited to the defects which exist in the
+judicial system of the United States. As at present organized the States
+of the Union derive unequal advantages from the Federal judiciary, which
+have been so often pointed out that I deem it unnecessary to repeat them
+here. It is hoped that the present Congress will extend to all the
+States that equality in respect to the benefits of the laws of the Union
+which can only be secured by the uniformity and efficiency of the
+judicial system.
+
+With these observations on the topics of general interest which are
+deemed worthy of your consideration, I leave them to your care, trusting
+that the legislative measures they call for will be met as the wants and
+the best interests of our beloved country demand.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+[Footnote 14: For communication, see pp. 202-208.]
+
+
+
+_Mr. Livingston to the Duke de Broglie_.
+
+LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES,
+
+_Paris, April 25, 1835_.
+
+His Excellency the Duc de Broglie, etc.,
+
+_Minister Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs_.
+
+SIR: About to return to my own country, I am unwilling to leave this
+without adding one more effort to the many I have heretofore made to
+restore to both that mutual good understanding which their best
+interests require, and which probable events may interrupt and perhaps
+permanently destroy.
+
+From the correspondence and acts of His Majesty's Government since the
+message of the President of the United States was known at Paris it is
+evident that an idea is entertained of making the fulfillment of the
+treaty of 1831 dependent on explanations to be given of the terms used
+in the message, and withholding payment of an acknowledged debt until
+satisfaction be given for a supposed indecorum in demanding it. The bare
+possibility that this opinion might be entertained and acted upon by His
+Majesty's Government renders it incumbent on me to state explicitly what
+I understand to be the sentiments of mine on this subject.
+
+Erroneous impressions, arising from the want of a proper attention to
+the structure of our Government, to the duties of its Chief Magistrate,
+to the principles it has adopted and its strict adherence to them in
+similar cases, might raise expectations which could never be realized
+and lead to measures destructive of all harmony between the parties.
+This communication is made in full confidence that it is the wish of His
+Majesty's Government, as it most sincerely is that of the President, to
+avoid all measures of that description; and it is hoped, therefore, that
+it will be received in the spirit by which it is dictated--that of
+conciliation and peace.
+
+The form of our Government and the functions of the President as
+a component part of it have in their relation to this subject been
+sufficiently explained in my previous correspondence, especially in
+my letter to the Comte de Rigny of the 29th of January last. I have
+therefore little to add to that part of my representation which is
+drawn from the form of our Government and the duties of the President
+in administering it. If these are fully understood, the principles of
+action derived from them can not be mistaken.
+
+The President, as the chief executive power, must have a free and
+entirely unfettered communication with the coordinate powers of
+Government. As the organ of intercourse with other nations, he is
+the only source from which a knowledge of our relations with them
+can be conveyed to the legislative branches. It results from this
+that the utmost freedom from all restraint in the details into which
+he is obliged to enter of international concerns and of the measures
+in relation to them is essential to the proper performance of this
+important part of his functions. He must exercise them without having
+continually before him the fear of offending the susceptibility of the
+powers whose conduct he is obliged to notice. In the performance of this
+duty he is subject to public opinion and his own sense of propriety
+for an indiscreet, to his constituents for a dangerous, and to his
+constitutional judges for an illegal, exercise of the power, but to no
+other censure, foreign or domestic. Were any foreign powers permitted to
+scan the communications of the Executive, their complaints, whether real
+or affected, would involve the country in continual controversies; for
+the right being acknowledged, it would be a duty to exercise it by
+demanding a disavowal of every phrase they might deem offensive and an
+explanation of every word to which an improper interpretation could be
+given. The principle, therefore, has been adopted that no foreign power
+has a right to ask for explanations of anything that the President,
+in the exercise of his functions, thinks proper to communicate to
+Congress, or of any course he may advise them to pursue. This rule is
+not applicable to the Government of the United States alone, but, in
+common with it, to all those in which the constitutional powers are
+distributed into different branches. No such nation desirous of avoiding
+foreign influence or foreign interference in its councils; no such
+nation possessing a due sense of its dignity and independence, can long
+submit to the consequences of this interference. When these are felt, as
+they soon will be, all must unite in repelling it, and acknowledge that
+the United States are contending in a cause common to them all, and more
+important to the liberal Governments of Europe than even to themselves;
+for it is too obvious to escape the slightest attention that the
+Monarchies of Europe by which they are surrounded will have all the
+advantage of this supervision of the domestic councils of their
+neighbors without being subject to it themselves. It is true that in
+the representative Governments of Europe executive communications to
+legislative bodies have not the extension that is given to them in the
+United States, and that they are therefore less liable to attack on that
+quarter; but they must not imagine themselves safe. In the opening
+address, guarded as it commonly is, every proposition made by the
+ministry, every resolution of either chamber, will offer occasions for
+the jealous interference of national punctilio, for all occupy the same
+grounds. No intercommunication of the different branches of Government
+will be safe, and even the courts of justice will afford no sanctuary
+for freedom of decision and of debate, and the susceptibility of foreign
+powers must be consulted in all the departments of Government. Occasions
+for intervention in the affairs of other countries are but too numerous
+at present, without opening another door to encroachments; and it is no
+answer to the argument to say that no complaints will be made but for
+reasonable cause, and that of this, the nation complained of being the
+judge, no evil can ensue. But this argument concedes the right of
+examining the communications in question, which is denied. Allow it and
+you will have frivolous as well as grave complaints to answer, and must
+not only heal the wounds of a just national pride, but apply a remedy
+to those of a morbid susceptibility. To show that my fear of the
+progressive nature of these encroachments is not imaginary, I pray leave
+to call your excellency's attention to the inclosed report from the
+Secretary of State to the President. It is offered for illustration, not
+for complaint; I am instructed to make none. Because the Government of
+France has taken exceptions to the President's opening message, the
+charge d'affaires of France thinks it his duty to protest against a
+special communication, and to point out the particular passages in a
+correspondence of an American minister with his own Government to the
+publication of which he objects. If the principle I contest is just,
+the charge d'affaires is right. He has done his duty as a vigilant
+supervisor of the President's correspondence. If the principle is
+admitted, every diplomatic agent at Washington will do the same, and we
+shall have twenty censors of the correspondence of the Government and of
+the public press. If the principle is correct, every communication which
+the President makes in relation to our foreign affairs, either to the
+Congress or to the public, ought in prudence to be previously submitted
+to these ministers, in order to avoid disputes and troublesome and
+humiliating explanations. If the principle be submitted to, neither
+dignity nor independence is left to the nation. To submit even to
+a discreet exercise of such a privilege would be troublesome and
+degrading, and the inevitable abuse of it could not be borne. It must
+therefore be resisted at the threshold, and its entrance forbidden
+into the sanctuary of domestic consultations. But whatever may be the
+principles of other governments, those of the United States are fixed;
+the right will never be acknowledged, and any attempt to enforce it
+will be repelled by the undivided energy of the nation.
+
+I pray your excellency to observe that my argument does not deny a right
+to all foreign powers of taking proper exceptions to the governmental
+acts and language of another. It is to their interference in its
+consultations, in its proceedings while yet in an inchoate state, that
+we object. Should the President do an official executive act affecting
+a foreign power, or use exceptionable language in addressing it through
+his minister or through theirs; should a law be passed injurious to the
+dignity of another nation--in all these and other similar cases a demand
+for explanation would be respectfully received, and answered in the
+manner that justice and a regard to the dignity of the complaining
+nation would require.
+
+After stating these principles, let me add that they have not only been
+theoretically adopted, but that they have been practically asserted.
+On two former occasions exceptions of the same nature were taken to the
+President's message by the Government of France, and in neither did
+they produce any other explanation than that derived from the nature
+of our Government, and this seems on those occasions to have been
+deemed sufficient, for in both cases the objections were virtually
+abandoned--one when Messrs. Marshall, Gerry, and Pinckney were refused
+to be received, and again in the negotiation between Prince Polignac and
+Mr. Rives. In the former case, although the message of the President
+was alleged as the cause of the refusal to receive the ministers, yet
+without any such explanation their successors were honorably accredited.
+In the latter case the allusion in the message to an apprehended
+collision was excepted to, but the reference made by Mr. Rives to
+the constitutional duties of the President seems to have removed the
+objection.
+
+Having demonstrated that the United States can not in any case permit
+their Chief Magistrate to be questioned by any foreign government in
+relation to his communications with the coordinate branches of his own,
+it is scarcely necessary to consider the case of such an explanation
+being required as the condition on which the fulfillment of a treaty or
+any pecuniary advantage was to depend. The terms of such a proposition
+need only be stated to show that it would be not only inadmissible, but
+rejected as offensive to the nation to which it might be addressed.
+In this case it would be unnecessary as well as inadmissible. France
+has already received, by the voluntary act of the President, every
+explanation the nicest sense of national honor could desire. That which
+could not have been given to a demand, that which can never be given
+on the condition now under discussion, a fortunate succession of
+circumstances, as I shall proceed to shew, has brought about. Earnestly
+desirous of restoring the good understanding between the two nations,
+as soon as a dissatisfaction with the President's message was shewn
+I suppressed every feeling which the mode of expressing that
+dissatisfaction was calculated to produce, and without waiting for
+instructions I hastened on my own responsibility to make a communication
+to your predecessor in office on the subject. In this, under the reserve
+that the President could not be called on for an explanation, I did
+in fact give one that I thought would have removed all injurious
+impressions.
+
+This is the first of the fortunate circumstances to which I have
+alluded--fortunate in being made before any demand implying a right to
+require it; fortunate in its containing, without any knowledge of the
+precise parts of the message which gave offense, answers to all that
+have since come to my knowledge. I can easily conceive that the
+communication of which I speak, made, as I expressly stated, without
+previous authority from my Government, might not have had the effect
+which its matter was intended to produce, but it has since (as I have
+now the honor to inform your excellency) received from the President his
+full and unqualified approbation; but it is necessary to add that this
+was given before he had any intimation of an intention to attach it
+as a condition to the payment of the indemnity due by the treaty, given
+not only when he was ignorant of any such intent, but when he was
+informed by France that she intended to execute the treaty and saw by
+the law which was introduced that it was not to be fettered by any such
+condition. Thus that is already done by a voluntary act which could not
+have been done when required as a right, still less when made, what will
+unquestionably in the United States be considered degrading, as a
+condition. At this time, sir, I would for no consideration enter into
+the details I then did. If I could now so far forget what under present
+circumstances would be due to the dignity of my country, I should be
+disavowed, and deservedly disavowed, by the President. It is happy,
+therefore, I repeat, that the good feeling of my country was evinced in
+the manner I have stated at the only time when it could be done with
+honor; and though present circumstances would forbid my making the
+communication I then did, they do not prevent my referring to it for
+the purpose of shewing that it contains, as I have stated it does,
+everything that ought to have been satisfactory. Actual circumstances
+enable me to do this now. Future events, which I need not explain, may
+hereafter render it improper, and it may be nugatory unless accepted as
+satisfactory before the occurrence of those events. Let it be examined
+with the care which the importance of giving it a true construction
+requires. The objections to the message, as far as I can understand,
+for they have never been specified, are:
+
+First. That it impeaches the good faith of His Majesty's Government.
+
+Secondly. That it contains a menace of enforcing the performance of the
+treaty by reprisals.
+
+On the first head, were I now discussing the terms of the message
+itself, it would be easy to shew that it contains no such charge.
+The allegation that the stipulations of a treaty have not been complied
+with, that engagements made by ministers have not been fulfilled,
+couched in respectful terms, can never be deemed offensive, even when
+expressly directed to the party whose infractions are complained of, and
+consequently can never give cause for a demand of explanation; otherwise
+it is evident that no consideration of national injuries could ever take
+place. The message, critically examined on this point, contains nothing
+more than such an enumeration of the causes of complaint. As to its
+terms, the most fastidious disposition can not fasten on one that could
+be excepted to. The first refusal and subsequent delay are complained
+of, but no unworthy motives for either are charged or insinuated. On the
+whole, if I were commissioned to explain and defend this part of the
+message, I should say with the conviction of truth that it is impossible
+to urge a complaint in milder or more temperate terms; but I am not
+so commissioned. I am endeavoring to shew not only that every proper
+explanation is given in my letter to M. de Rigny of the 29th of January
+last, but that in express terms it declares that the sincerity of His
+Majesty's Government in their desire to execute the treaty was not
+doubted. Suffer me to draw your excellency's attention to the passages
+alluded to. In discussing the nature of M. Serurier's engagement I say:
+
+"It is clear, therefore, that more was required than the expression of
+a desire on the part of His Majesty's ministers to execute the treaty,
+_a desire the sincerity of which was never doubted, but which might be
+unavailing, as its accomplishment depended on the vote of the
+Chambers_."
+
+Again, in speaking of the delay which occurred in the month of December,
+I say:
+
+"It is referred to, I presume, in order to shew that it was produced by
+a desire on the part of His Majesty's ministers the better to assure the
+passage of the law. Of this, sir, I never had a doubt, and immediately
+so advised my Government, and informed it, as was the fact, that I
+perfectly acquiesced in the delay."
+
+Thus it must be evident, not only that no offensive charge of ill faith
+is made in the message, but that, as is expressly stated in the first
+extract, full justice was done at Washington to the intentions of the
+French Government. While the delay is complained of us a wrong, no
+improper motives are attributed to the Government in causing it. Again,
+sir, the whole tenor of that part of my letter which relates to the
+inexecution of the promise made by M. Serurier, while it asserts the
+construction put upon it by the President to be the true one, and
+appeals to facts and circumstances to support that construction, yet it
+avoids charging the French Government with any intentional violation, by
+attributing their delay to an erroneous construction only; for in the
+letter (I again quote literally) I say:
+
+"I have entered into this detail with the object of showing that
+although the ministers of the King, under the interpretation they seem
+to have given to M. Serurier's promise, may have considered themselves
+at liberty to defer the presentation of the law until the period
+which they thought would best secure its success, yet the President,
+interpreting that promise differently, feeling that in consequence of it
+he had forborne to do what might be strictly called a duty, and seeing
+that its performance had not taken place, could not avoid stating the
+whole case clearly and distinctly to Congress."
+
+Thus, sir, the President, in stating the acts of which he thought his
+country had reason to complain, does not make a single imputation of
+improper motive, and to avoid all misconstruction he offers a voluntary
+declaration that none such were entertained.
+
+The part of the message which seems to have caused the greatest
+sensation in France is that in which, after a statement of the causes
+of complaint, it enters into a consideration of the measures to obtain
+redress which in similar cases are sanctioned by the laws of nations.
+The complaint seems to be that, in a discussion it was impossible to
+avoid, of the efficacy and convenience of each, a preference was given
+to reprisals, considered as a remedial, not as a hostile, measure,
+and this has been construed into a menace. If any explanations were
+necessary on this head, they are given in the message itself. It is
+there expressly disavowed, and the power and high character of France
+are appealed to to shew that it never could be induced by threats to do
+what its sense of justice denied. If the measure to which I have more
+than once alluded should be resorted to, and the humiliation attending
+a compliance with it could be endured; if it were possible under such
+circumstances to give an explanation, what more could be required than
+that which is contained in the message itself that it was not intended
+as a menace? If the measure to which I alluded should be adopted and
+submitted to, what would His Majesty's Government require? The disavowal
+of any intent to influence the councils of France by threats? They have
+it already. It forms a part of the very instrument which caused the
+offense, and I will not do them the injustice to think that they could
+form the offensive idea of requiring more. The necessity of discussing
+the nature of the remedies for the nonexecution of the treaty, the
+character and spirit in which it was done, are explained in my letter so
+often referred to, and I pray your excellency to consider the concluding
+part of it, beginning with the quotation I have last made. But if I
+wanted any argument to shew that no explanation of this part of the
+message was necessary or could be required, I should find it in the
+opinion--certainly a just one--expressed by His Majesty's ministers,
+that the recommendation of the President not having been adopted by the
+other branches of the Government it was not a national act, and could
+not be complained of as such. Nay, in the note presented by M. Serurier
+to the Government at Washington and the measures which it announces (his
+recall and the offer of my passports) the Government of His Majesty seem
+to have done all that they thought its dignity required, for they at
+the same time declare that the law providing for the payment will be
+presented, but give no intimation of any previous condition and annex
+none to the bill which they present. The account of dignity being thus
+declared by this demonstration to be settled, it can not be supposed
+that it will again be introduced as a set-off against an acknowledged
+pecuniary balance. Before I conclude my observations on this part of the
+subject it will be well to inquire in what light exceptions are taken
+to this part of the message, whether as a menace generally or to the
+particular measure proposed. In the first view, if every measure that
+a Government having claims on another declares it must pursue if those
+claims are not allowed (whatever may be the terms employed) is a menace,
+it is necessary, and not objectionable unless couched in offensive
+language; it is a fair declaration of what course the party making it
+intends to pursue, and except in cases where pretexts were wanted for
+a rupture have rarely been objected to, even when avowedly the act of
+the nation, not, as in this case, a proposal made by one branch of its
+Government to another. Instances of this are not wanting, but need not
+be here enumerated. One, however, ought to be mentioned, because it is
+intimately connected with the subject now under discussion. While the
+commerce of the United States was suffering under the aggressions of the
+two most powerful nations of the world the American Government, in this
+sense of the word, menaced them both. It passed a law in express terms
+declaring to them that unless they ceased their aggressions America
+would hold no intercourse with them; that their ships would be seized if
+they ventured into American ports; that the productions of their soil or
+industry should be forfeited. Here was an undisguised menace in clear,
+unequivocal terms, and of course, according to the argument against
+which I contend, neither France nor England could deliberate under its
+pressure without dishonor. Yet the Emperor of France, certainly an
+unexceptionable judge of what the dignity of his country required, did
+deliberate, did accept the condition, did repeal the Berlin and Milan
+decrees, did not make any complaint of the act as a threat, though he
+called it an injury. Great Britain, too, although at that time on not
+very friendly terms with the United States, made no complaint that her
+pride was offended. Her minister on the spot even made a declaration
+that the obnoxious orders were repealed. It is true he was disavowed,
+but the disavowal was accompanied by no objections to the law as a
+threat. Should the objection be to the nature of the remedy proposed,
+and that the recommendation of reprisals is the offensive part, it would
+be easy to show that it stands on the same ground with any other remedy;
+that it is not hostile in its nature; that it has been resorted to by
+France to procure redress from other powers, and by them against her,
+without producing war. But such an argument is not necessary. This is
+not the case of a national measure, either of menace or action; it is a
+recommendation only of one branch of Government to another, and France
+has itself shown that a proposal of this nature could not be noticed as
+an offense. In the year 1808 the Senate of the United States annexed to
+the bill of nonintercourse a section which not only advised but actually
+authorized the President to issue letters of marque and reprisal against
+both France and England, if the one did not repeal the Berlin and Milan
+decrees and the other did not revoke the orders in council. This clause
+was not acceded to by the Representatives, but it was complete as the
+act of the Senate; yet neither France nor England complained of it as
+an indignity. Both powers had ministers on the spot, and the dignity of
+neither seems to have been offended.
+
+If the view I have now taken of the subject be correct; if I have
+succeeded in conveying to His Majesty's ministers the conviction
+I myself feel that no right exists in any foreign nation to ask
+explanations of or even to notice any communications between the
+different branches of our Government; that to admit it even in a single
+instance would be a dangerous precedent and a derogation from national
+dignity, and that in the present instance an explanation that ought to
+be satisfactory has been voluntarily given, I have then demonstrated
+that any measure founded on such supposed right is not only
+inadmissible, but is totally unnecessary, and consequently that His
+Majesty's ministers may at once declare that previous explanations given
+by the minister of the United States, and subsequently approved by the
+President, had satisfied them on the subject of the message.
+
+The motives of my Government during the whole course of this
+controversy have been misunderstood or not properly appreciated, and the
+question is daily changing its character. A negotiation entered into for
+procuring compensation to individuals involved no positive obligation
+on their Governments to prosecute it to extremities. A solemn treaty,
+ratified by the constitutional organs of the two powers, changed the
+private into a public right. The Government acquires by it a perfect
+right to insist on its stipulations. All doubts as to their justice seem
+now to have been removed, and every objection to the payment of a debt
+acknowledged to be just will be severely scrutinized by the impartial
+world. What character will be given to a refusal to pay such a debt on
+the allegation, whether well or ill founded, of an offense to national
+honor it does not become me to say. The French nation are the last that
+would ever appreciate national honor by any number of millions it could
+withhold as a compensation for an injury offered to it. The United
+States, commercial as they are, are the last that would settle such an
+account. The proposition I allude to would be unworthy of both, and it
+is sincerely to be hoped that it will never be made.
+
+To avoid the possibility of misapprehension, I repeat that this
+communication is made with the single view of apprising His Majesty's
+Government of the consequences attending a measure which without such
+notice they might be inclined to pursue; that although I am not
+authorized to state what measures will be taken by the United States,
+yet I speak confidently of the principles they have adopted, and have
+no doubt they will never be abandoned.
+
+This is the last communication I shall have the honor to make. It is
+dictated by a sincere desire to restore a good intelligence, which
+seems to be endangered by the very measure intended to consolidate it.
+Whatever be the result, the United States may appeal to the world to
+bear witness that in the assertion of the rights of their citizens and
+the dignity of their Government they have never swerved from the respect
+due to themselves and from that which they owe to the Government of
+France.
+
+I pray your excellency to receive the assurance of the high
+consideration with which I have the honor to be, your most obedient
+servant,
+
+EDW. LIVINGSTON.
+
+
+
+_Mr. Livingston to Mr. Forsyth_.
+
+WASHINGTON, _June 29, 1835_.
+
+Hon. JOHN FORSYTH,
+
+_Secretary of State, etc._
+
+
+SIR: After having by my note to the Duke de Broglie dated the 25th April
+last made a final effort to preserve a good understanding between the
+United States and France by suggesting such means of accommodation as
+I thought were consistent with the honor of the one country to offer and
+of the other to accept, I determined to avail myself of the leave to
+return which was given by your dispatch, No,--, rather than to remain,
+as I had desired to do, in England waiting the result of my last
+communication. This step having been approved by the President, I need
+not here refer to the reasons which induced me to take it. Having
+received my passports, I left Paris on the 29th of April. At the time
+of my departure the note, of which a copy has been transmitted to you,
+asking an explanation of the terms used in Mr. Serurier's communication
+to the Department remained unanswered, but I have reason to believe that
+the answer when given will be satisfactory.
+
+The principal business with which I was charged having thus been brought
+to a close, I presume that my services can no longer be useful to my
+country, and I therefore pray that the President will be pleased to
+accept my resignation of the trust with which I have been honored.
+I shall terminate it by transmitting to the Department some papers
+relating to matters of minor importance which I soon expect to receive,
+and will add the explanations which may yet be wanting to give a full
+view of the affairs of the mission up to the time of my leaving France.
+
+I have the honor to be, sir, with perfect respect, your most obedient
+servant,
+
+EDW. LIVINGSTON.
+
+
+
+_Mr. Forsyth to Mr. Livingston_.
+
+DEPARTMENT OF STATE,
+
+_Washington, June 30, 1835_.
+
+EDWARD LIVINGSTON, Esq.,
+
+_Washington_.
+
+SIR: Your letter of the 29th instant has been laid before the President,
+and I am directed to reply that the President can not allow you, who
+have been so long and usefully employed in the public service, to leave
+the trust last confided to you without an expression of his regard and
+respect, the result of many years of intimate association in peace
+and war. Although differing on some points of general policy, your
+singleness of purpose, perfect integrity, and devotion to your country
+have been always known to him. In the embarrassing and delicate position
+you have lately occupied your conduct, and especially your last official
+note in closing your correspondence with the French Government, has met
+his entire approbation, exhibiting as it does, with truth, the anxious
+desire of the Government and the people of the United States to maintain
+the most liberal and pacific relations with the nation to which you were
+accredited, and a sincere effort to remove ill-founded impressions and
+to soothe the feelings of national susceptibility, even when they have
+been unexpectedly excited, while at the same time it discourages with a
+proper firmness any expectation that the American Government can ever
+be brought to allow an interference inconsistent with the spirit of its
+institutions or make concessions incompatible with its self-respect. The
+President is persuaded that he will be sustained in these opinions by
+the undivided sentiment of the American people, and that you will carry
+into a retirement which he trusts may be temporary the consciousness
+not only of having performed your duty, but of having realized the
+anticipations of your fellow-citizens and secured for yourself and
+your country the just appreciation of the world.
+
+I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
+
+JOHN FORSYTH.
+
+
+
+
+SPECIAL MESSAGES.
+
+
+WASHINGTON CITY, _December 8, 1835_.
+
+_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_:
+
+I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of the Treasury,
+exhibiting certain transfers of appropriations that have been made in
+that Department in pursuance of the power vested in the President by the
+act of Congress of the 3d of March, 1809, entitled "An act further to
+amend the several acts for the establishment and regulation of the
+Treasury, War, and Navy Departments."
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _December 9, 1835_.
+
+_To the Senate and House of Representatives_.
+
+GENTLEMEN: I herewith communicate, for the information of Congress, a
+report of the Secretary of War, with accompanying documents, showing the
+progress made during the present year in the astronomical observations
+made under the act of the 14th of July, 1832, relative to the northern
+boundary of the State of Ohio.
+
+The controversy between the authorities of the State of Ohio and those
+of the Territory of Michigan in respect to this boundary assumed about
+the time of the termination of the last session of Congress a very
+threatening aspect, and much care and exertion were necessary to
+preserve the jurisdiction of the Territorial government under the acts
+of Congress and to prevent a forcible collision between the parties. The
+nature and course of the dispute and the measures taken by the Executive
+for the purpose of composing it will fully appear in the accompanying
+report from the Secretary of State and the documents therein referred
+to.
+
+The formation of a State government by the inhabitants of the Territory
+of Michigan and their application, now pending, to be admitted into the
+Union give additional force to the many important reasons which call for
+the settlement of this question by Congress at their present session.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _December 9, 1835_.
+
+_To the Senate and House of Representatives_.
+
+GENTLEMEN: By the act of the 11th of January, 1805, all that part of
+the Indiana Territory lying north of a line drawn due "east from the
+southerly bend or extreme of Lake Michigan until it shall intersect Lake
+Erie, and east of a line drawn from the said southerly bend through the
+middle of said lake to its northern extremity, and thence due north to
+the northern boundary of the United States," was erected into a separate
+Territory by the name of Michigan.
+
+The territory comprised within these limits being part of the district
+of country described in the ordinance of the 13th of July, 1787, which
+provides that whenever any of the States into which the same should
+be divided should have 60,000 free inhabitants such State should be
+admitted by its delegates into the Congress of the United States on
+an equal footing with the original States in all respects whatever,
+and shall be at liberty to form a permanent constitution and State
+government, provided the constitution and State government so to
+be formed shall be republican, and in conformity to the principles
+contained in these articles, etc., the inhabitants thereof have during
+the present year, in pursuance of the right secured by the ordinance,
+formed a constitution and State government. That instrument, together
+with various other documents connected therewith, has been transmitted
+to me for the purpose of being laid before Congress, to whom the power
+and duty of admitting new States into the Union exclusively appertains;
+and the whole are herewith communicated for your early decision.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _December 17, 1835_.
+
+The VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES AND PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE:
+
+I transmit, for the consideration of the Senate with a view to its
+ratification, a convention between the United States and the United
+Mexican States, concluded and signed by the plenipotentiaries of the
+respective parties at the City of Mexico on the 3d of April, 1835, and
+the object of which is to extend the time for the appointment of their
+commissioners and surveyors provided for by the third article of the
+treaty of limits between them of the 12th of January, 1835.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _December 17, 1835_.
+
+_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_:
+
+I transmit to Congress a report from the Secretary of State,
+accompanying copies of certain papers relating to a bequest to the
+United States by Mr. James Smithson, of London, for the purpose of
+founding "at Washington an establishment under the name of the
+Smithsonian Institution, for the increase and diffusion of knowledge
+among men." The Executive having no authority to take any steps for
+accepting the trust and obtaining the funds, the papers are communicated
+with a view to such measures as Congress may deem necessary.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _December 22, 1835_.
+
+_To the Congress of the United States_:
+
+I transmit herewith, for the information of Congress, a report from the
+War Department, on the condition of the Cumberland road in the States of
+Illinois and Indiana.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _December 22, 1835_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I transmit to the Senate, for their consideration and advice with
+regard to its ratification, a convention signed at Paris by the
+plenipotentiaries of the United States and the Swiss Confederation on
+the 6th of March last. A copy of the convention is also transmitted for
+the convenience of the Senate.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+DECEMBER 23, 1835.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I hereby submit, for the advice and sanction of the Senate, the inclosed
+proposal of the Secretary of the Treasury for the investment of the
+proceeds of the sales of public lands in behalf of the Chickasaw Indians
+under the treaties therein mentioned.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _January 11, 1836_.
+
+_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_:
+
+Having laid before Congress on the 9th ultimo the correspondence which
+had previously taken place relative to the controversy between Ohio and
+Michigan on the question of boundary between that State and Territory,
+I now transmit reports from the Secretaries of State and War on the
+subject, with the papers therein referred to.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _January 12, 1836_.
+
+_To the Senate_:
+
+I transmit herewith, for the consideration and advice of the Senate as
+to the ratification of the same, the two treaties concluded with the
+Carmanchee Indians and with the Caddo Indians referred to in the
+accompanying communication from the War Department.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _January 15, 1836_.
+
+_To the Senate and House of Representatives_.
+
+GENTLEMEN: In my message at the opening of your session I informed you
+that our charge d'affaires at Paris had been instructed to ask for the
+final determination of the French Government in relation to the payment
+of the indemnification secured by the treaty of the 4th of July, 1831,
+and that when advices of the result should be received it would be made
+the subject of a special communication.
+
+In execution of this design I now transmit to you the papers
+numbered from 1 to 13, inclusive, containing among other things the
+correspondence on this subject between our charge d'affaires and the
+French minister of foreign affairs, from which it will be seen that
+France requires as a condition precedent to the execution of a treaty
+unconditionally ratified and to the payment of a debt acknowledged by
+all the branches of her Government to be due that certain explanations
+shall be made of which she dictates the terms. These terms are such as
+that Government has already been officially informed can not be complied
+with, and if persisted in they must be considered as a deliberate
+refusal on the part of France to fulfill engagements binding by the laws
+of nations and held sacred by the whole civilized world. The nature of
+the act which France requires from this Government is clearly set forth
+in the letter of the French minister marked No. 4. We will pay the
+money, says he, when "_the Government of the United States is ready on
+its part to declare to us, by addressing its claim to us officially in
+writing, that it regrets the misunderstanding which has arisen between
+the two countries; that this misunderstanding is founded on a mistake;
+that it never entered into its intention to call in question the good
+faith of the French Government nor to take a menacing attitude toward
+France."_ And he adds: _"If the Government of the United States does
+not give this assurance we shall be obliged to think that this
+misunderstanding is not the result of an error."_ In the letter marked
+No. 6 the French minister also remarks that _"the Government of the
+United States knows that upon itself depends henceforward the execution
+of the treaty of July 4, 1831_."
+
+Obliged by the precise language thus used by the French minister to
+view it as a peremptory refusal to execute the treaty except on terms
+incompatible with the honor and independence of the United States, and
+persuaded that on considering the correspondence now submitted to you
+you can regard it in no other light, it becomes my duty to call your
+attention to such measures as the exigency of the case demands if the
+claim of interfering in the communications between the different
+branches of our Government shall be persisted in. This pretension is
+rendered the more unreasonable by the fact that the substance of the
+required explanation has been repeatedly and voluntarily given before it
+was insisted on as a condition--a condition the more humiliating because
+it is demanded as the equivalent of a pecuniary consideration. Does
+France desire only a declaration that we had no intention to obtain our
+rights by an address to her fears rather than to her justice? She has
+already had it, frankly and explicitly given by our minister accredited
+to her Government, his act ratified by me, and my confirmation of it
+officially communicated by him in his letter to the French minister
+of foreign affairs of the 25th of April, 1835, and repeated by my
+published approval of that letter after the passage of the bill of
+indemnification. Does France want a degrading, servile repetition of
+this act, in terms which she shall dictate and which will involve
+an acknowledgment of her assumed right to interfere in our domestic
+councils? She will never obtain it. The spirit of the American people,
+the dignity of the Legislature, and the firm resolve of their executive
+government forbid it.
+
+As the answer of the French minister to our charge d'affaires at Paris
+contains an allusion to a letter addressed by him to the representative
+of France at this place, it now becomes proper to lay before you the
+correspondence had between that functionary and the Secretary of
+State relative to that letter, and to accompany the same with such
+explanations as will enable you to understand the course of the
+Executive in regard to it. Recurring to the historical statement made
+at the commencement of your session, of the origin and progress of our
+difficulties with France, it will be recollected that on the return of
+our minister to the United States I caused my official approval of the
+explanations he had given to the French minister of foreign affairs to
+be made public. As the French Government had noticed the message without
+its being officially communicated, it was not doubted that if they
+were disposed to pay the money due to us they would notice any public
+explanation of the Government of the United States in the same way. But,
+contrary to these well-founded expectations, the French ministry did not
+take this fair opportunity to relieve themselves from their unfortunate
+position and to do justice to the United States.
+
+Whilst, however, the Government of the United States was awaiting the
+movements of the French Government in perfect confidence that the
+difficulty was at an end, the Secretary of State received a call from
+the French charge d'affaires in Washington, who desired to read to him
+a letter he had received from the French minister of foreign affairs.
+He was asked whether he was instructed or directed to make any official
+communication, and replied that he was only authorized to read the
+letter and furnish a copy if requested. The substance of its contents,
+it is presumed, may be gathered from Nos. 4 and 6, herewith transmitted.
+It was an attempt to make known to the Government of the United States
+privately in what manner it could make explanations, apparently
+voluntary, but really dictated by France, acceptable to her, and thus
+obtain payment of the 25,000,000 francs. No exception was taken to this
+mode of communication, which is often used to prepare the way for
+official intercourse, but the suggestions made in it were in their
+substance wholly inadmissible. Not being in the shape of an official
+communication to this Government, it did not admit of reply or official
+notice, nor could it safely be made the basis of any action by the
+Executive or the Legislature, and the Secretary of State did not think
+proper to ask a copy, because he could have no use for it. Copies of
+papers marked Nos. 9, 10, and 11 shew an attempt on the part of the
+French charge d'affaires to place a copy of this letter among the
+archives of this Government, which for obvious reasons was not allowed
+to be done; but the assurance before given was repeated, that any
+official communication which he might be authorized to make in the
+accustomed form would receive a prompt and just consideration. The
+indiscretion of this attempt was made more manifest by the subsequent
+avowal of the French charge d'affaires that the object was to bring this
+letter before Congress and the American people. If foreign agents, on
+a subject of disagreement between their government and this, wish to
+prefer an appeal to the American people, they will hereafter, it is
+hoped, better appreciate their own rights and the respect due to others
+than to attempt to use the Executive as the passive organ of their
+communications.
+
+It is due to the character of our institutions that the diplomatic
+intercourse of this Government should be conducted with the utmost
+directness and simplicity, and that in all cases of importance the
+communications received or made by the Executive should assume the
+accustomed official form. It is only by insisting on this form that
+foreign powers can be held to full responsibility, that their
+communications can be officially replied to, or that the advice or
+interference of the Legislature can with propriety be invited by the
+President. This course is also best calculated, on the one hand, to
+shield that officer from unjust suspicions, and on the other to subject
+this portion of his acts to public scrutiny, and, if occasion shall
+require it, to constitutional animadversion. It was the more necessary
+to adhere to these principles in the instance in question inasmuch as,
+in addition to other important interests, it very intimately concerned
+the national honor--a matter in my judgment much too sacred to be made
+the subject of private and unofficial negotiation.
+
+It will be perceived that this letter of the French minister of foreign
+affairs was read to the Secretary of State on the 11th of September
+last. This was the first authentic indication of the specific views of
+the French Government received by the Government of the United States
+after the passage of the bill of indemnification. Inasmuch as the
+letter had been written before the official notice of my approval of
+Mr. Livingston's last explanation and remonstrance could have reached
+Paris, just ground of hope was left, as has been before stated, that
+the French Government, on receiving that information in the same manner
+as the alleged offensive message had reached them, would desist from
+their extraordinary demand and pay the money at once. To give them
+an opportunity to do so, and, at all events, to elicit their final
+determination and the ground they intended to occupy, the instructions
+were given to our charge d'affaires which were adverted to at the
+commencement of the present session of Congress. The result, as you have
+seen, is a demand of an official written expression of regrets and a
+direct explanation addressed to France with a distinct intimation that
+this is a _sine qua non_.
+
+Mr. Barton having, in pursuance of his instructions, returned to the
+United States and the charge d'affaires of France having been recalled,
+all diplomatic intercourse between the two countries is suspended, a
+state of things originating in an unreasonable susceptibility on the
+part of the French Government and rendered necessary on our part by
+their refusal to perform engagements contained in a treaty from the
+faithful performance of which by us they are to this day enjoying many
+important commercial advantages.
+
+It is time that this unequal position of affairs should cease, and that
+legislative action should be brought to sustain Executive exertion in
+such measures as the case requires. While France persists in her refusal
+to comply with the terms of a treaty the object of which was, by
+removing all causes of mutual complaint, to renew ancient feelings of
+friendship and to unite the two nations in the bonds of amity and of a
+mutually beneficial commerce, she can not justly complain if we adopt
+such peaceful remedies as the law of nations and the circumstances of
+the case may authorize and demand. Of the nature of these remedies I
+have heretofore had occasion to speak, and, in reference to a particular
+contingency, to express my conviction that reprisals would be best
+adapted to the emergency then contemplated. Since that period France,
+by all the departments of her Government, has acknowledged the validity
+of our claims and the obligations of the treaty, and has appropriated
+the moneys which are necessary to its execution; and though payment is
+withheld on grounds vitally important to our existence as an independent
+nation, it is not to be believed that she can have determined
+permanently to retain a position so utterly indefensible. In the
+altered state of the questions in controversy, and under all existing
+circumstances, it appears to me that until such a determination shall
+have become evident it will be proper and sufficient to retaliate her
+present refusal to comply with her engagements by prohibiting the
+introduction of French products and the entry of French vessels into our
+ports. Between this and the interdiction of all commercial intercourse,
+or other remedies, you, as the representatives of the people, must
+determine. I recommend the former in the present posture of our affairs
+as being the least injurious to our commerce, and as attended with the
+least difficulty of returning to the usual state of friendly intercourse
+if the Government of France shall render us the justice that is due,
+and also as a proper preliminary step to stronger measures should their
+adoption be rendered necessary by subsequent events.
+
+The return of our charge d'affaires is attended with public notices of
+naval preparations on the part of France destined for our seas. Of the
+cause and intent of these armaments I have no authentic information, nor
+any other means of judging except such as are common to yourselves and
+to the public; but whatever may be their object, we are not at liberty
+to regard them as unconnected with the measures which hostile movements
+on the part of France may compel us to pursue. They at least deserve to
+be met by adequate preparation on our part, and I therefore strongly
+urge large and speedy appropriations for the increase of the Navy and
+the completion of our coast defenses.
+
+If this array of military force be really designed to affect the action
+of the Government and people of the United States on the questions now
+pending between the two nations, then indeed would it be dishonorable
+to pause a moment on the alternative which such a state of things would
+present to us. Come what may, the explanation which France demands can
+never be accorded, and no armament, however powerful and imposing, at a
+distance or on our coast, will, I trust, deter us from discharging the
+high duties which we owe to our constituents, our national character,
+and to the world.
+
+The House of Representatives at the close of the last session of
+Congress unanimously resolved that the treaty of the 4th of July, 1831,
+should be maintained and its execution insisted on by the United States.
+It is due to the welfare of the human race not less than to our own
+interests and honor that this resolution should at all hazards be
+adhered to. If after so signal an example as that given by the American
+people during their long-protracted difficulties with France of
+forbearance under accumulated wrongs and of generous confidence in
+her ultimate return to justice she shall now be permitted to withhold
+from us the tardy and imperfect indemnification which after years of
+remonstrance and discussion had at length been solemnly agreed on by
+the treaty of 1831 and to set at naught the obligations it imposes, the
+United States will not be the only sufferers. The efforts of humanity
+and religion to substitute the appeals of justice and the arbitrament of
+reason for the coercive measures usually resorted to by injured nations
+will receive little encouragement from such an issue. By the selection
+and enforcement of such lawful and expedient measures as may be
+necessary to prevent a result so injurious to ourselves and so fatal to
+the hopes of the philanthropist we shall therefore not only preserve the
+pecuniary interests of our citizens, the independence of our Government,
+and the honor of our country, but do much, it may be hoped, to vindicate
+the faith of treaties and to promote the general interests of peace,
+civilization, and improvement.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+No. 1.
+
+_Mr. Forsyth to Mr. Barton_.
+
+DEPARTMENT OF STATE,
+
+_Washington, June 28, 1835_.
+
+THOMAS P. BARTON, Esq., etc.
+
+SIR: Mr. Livingston arrived here the day before yesterday. By the
+mail of yesterday your letter of the 7th of May, with a copy of
+Mr. Livingston's last note to the Duke de Broglie, was received.
+
+After an attentive examination of Mr. Livingston's correspondence with
+this Department and the Government of France, elucidated by his verbal
+explanations, the President has directed me to say to you that the
+Messrs. de Rothschild have been authorized by the Treasury Department to
+receive the money due under the treaty with France. Of this authority
+they will be directed to give notice to the French Government without
+demanding payment. For yourself, you will, if the bill of indemnity is
+rejected, follow Mr. Livingston to the United States. If the money is
+placed at the disposal of the King, conditionally, by the legislature
+of France, you will await further orders from the United States,
+but maintain a guarded silence on the subject of the indemnity. If
+approached by the Government of France, directly or indirectly, you
+will hear what is said without reply, state what has occurred in full
+to the Department, and await its instructions. It is the desire of the
+President that you will make not even a reference to the subject of the
+treaty in your intercourse with the French Government until the course
+intended to be pursued is definitely explained to the United States.
+Whatever may be said to the Messrs. de Rothschild it will be their duty
+to report to you as well as to the Treasury Department, and whenever
+they converse with you they must be reminded that it is expected that
+they will wait for express notice from the Government of France that
+it is ready to pay before an application for payment is made.
+
+The course adopted by Mr. Livingston has been fully approved, and
+the hope is indulged that his representations have had their just
+influence on the counsels of the King of France. However that may be,
+the President's determination is that the terms upon which the two
+Governments are to stand toward each other shall be regulated so far
+as his constitutional power extends by France.
+
+A packet from the Treasury, addressed to the Messrs. de Rothschild, and
+containing the instructions of the Secretary, accompanied by a special
+power appointing them the agents of the United States to receive the
+payments due under the treaty of 1831, is forwarded herewith. The copy
+of a letter from this Department to M. Pageot is also inclosed for your
+perusal.
+
+I am, sir, your obedient servant,
+
+JOHN FORSYTH.
+
+
+
+No. 2.
+
+_Mr. Forsyth to Mr. Barton_.
+
+DEPARTMENT OF STATE,
+
+_Washington, September 14, 1835_.
+
+THOMAS P. BARTON, Esq., etc.
+
+SIR: So much time will have elapsed before this dispatch can reach you,
+since the passage of the law by the French Chambers placing at the
+disposition of the King the funds to fulfill the treaty with the United
+States, that it is presumed the intention of the French Government will
+have been by that period disclosed. It is proper therefore, in the
+opinion of the President, that you should receive your last instructions
+in relation to it. It has always been his intention that the legation of
+the United States should leave France if the treaty were not fulfilled.
+You have been suffered to remain after the departure of Mr. Livingston
+under the expectation that the Government of France would find in all
+that has occurred its obligation to proceed forthwith to the fulfillment
+of it as soon as funds were placed in its hands. If this expectation is
+disappointed, you must ask for your passports and return to the United
+States. If no movement has been made on the part of France and no
+intimation given to you or to the banker of the United States who is the
+authorized agent of the Treasury to receive the installments due of the
+time that payment will be made, you are instructed to call upon the Duke
+de Broglie and request to be informed what are the intentions of the
+Government in relation to it, stating that you do so by orders of your
+Government and with a view to regulate your conduct by the information
+you may receive from him. In the present agitated state of France it is
+the particular desire of the President that your application should be
+made in the most conciliatory tone and your interview with the Duke
+marked by expressions, as coming from your Government, of great personal
+respect for that minister and of an anxious desire for the safety of the
+King of France. If the Duke should inform you that the money is to be
+paid on any fixed day, you will remain in France; otherwise you will
+apply for your passports, and state the reason to be that the treaty
+of indemnity has not been executed by France.
+
+The President especially directs that you should comply with these
+instructions so early that the result may be known here before the
+meeting of Congress, which takes place on the 7th of December next.
+
+I am, sir, your obedient servant,
+
+JOHN FORSYTH.
+
+
+
+No. 3.
+
+_Mr. Barton to the Duke de Broglie_.
+
+[Translation.]
+
+D.
+
+LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
+
+_Paris, October 24, 1835_.
+
+His Excellency the DUKE DE BROGLIE,
+
+_Minister of Foreign Affairs, etc._
+
+MONSIEUR LE DUC: Having executed to the letter the last instructions of
+my Government in the interview which I had the honor to have with your
+excellency on the 20th of this month, in order further to comply with
+those instructions I am about to return to the United States. Before
+leaving France, however, I have thought that it might not be altogether
+useless to address your excellency and to submit to you the conversation
+which then took place between us, word for word, as I understood it.
+In pursuing this course I am prompted by a double motive: First, by a
+sincere desire to avoid even the slightest misunderstanding as to the
+precise meaning of any expressions used on either part, and also with
+a view, in presenting myself to my Government, to furnish indisputable
+proof of my fidelity in executing the instructions with which I had
+the honor to be charged. This last motive, Monsieur le Duc, does not
+interest you personally, but the first, I am sure, will not appear
+without importance in your eyes.
+
+Having said that I was instructed to employ both language and manner the
+most conciliatory, I begged you to believe, should anything appear to
+you not to partake of that character, that the fault must be attributed
+_to me alone_, and not to my Government, as in that case I should be
+certain that I neither represented its disposition nor faithfully obeyed
+its orders.
+
+I began the conversation by informing you that I had requested an
+interview by order of my Government, and that on the result of that
+interview would depend my future movements. I said that I was ordered
+to convey to the French Government assurances of the very lively
+satisfaction felt by the President on receiving the news and
+confirmation of the King's safety, and that I was further instructed
+by the Secretary of State to assure you personally of his high
+consideration. After an obliging answer of your excellency I had
+the honor to submit the following question:
+
+"I am instructed by my Government to inquire of your excellency what
+are the intentions of His Majesty's Government in relation to the funds
+voted by the Chambers."
+
+And I understood you to make the following answer:
+
+"Having written a dispatch to His Majesty's charge d'affaires at
+Washington, with instructions to communicate it to Mr. Forsyth, and M.
+Pageot having read it to Mr. Forsyth, I have nothing to say in addition
+to that dispatch."
+
+I said:
+
+"I am also instructed to inquire of your excellency whether His
+Majesty's Government is ready to pay those funds."
+
+And you returned this answer:
+
+"Yes, in the terms of the dispatch."
+
+I added:
+
+"I am instructed to ask another question: Will His Majesty's Government
+name any fixed determined period when they will be disposed to pay those
+funds?"
+
+To this question the following was your excellency's answer, as I
+understood it:
+
+"To-morrow, if necessary. When the Government of the United States shall
+by a written official communication have expressed its regret at the
+misunderstanding which has taken place between the two Governments,
+assuring us that this misunderstanding was founded on an error--that
+it did not intend to call in question the good faith of His Majesty's
+Government--the funds are there; we are ready to pay. In the dispatch
+to M. Pageot we gave the views of our Government on this question.
+Mr. Forsyth not having thought proper to accept a copy of that dispatch,
+and having said that the Government of the United States could not
+receive a communication in such a form, I have nothing to add. I am
+forced to retrench myself behind that dispatch. If the Government of the
+United States does not give this assurance, we shall be obliged to think
+that this misunderstanding is not the result of an error, and the
+business will stop there."
+
+To your excellency's offer to communicate to me the dispatch to M.
+Pageot I replied that as my instructions had no reference to that
+question I did not think myself authorized to discuss it.
+
+After some minutes I rose and said:
+
+"In a short time I shall have the honor of writing to your excellency."
+
+You answered:
+
+"I shall at all times receive with pleasure any communication addressed
+to me on the part of the Government of the United States."
+
+And our conversation ended.
+
+Such, Monsieur le Duc, as far as my memory serves me, are the literal
+expressions employed by both of us. Should you discover any inaccuracies
+in the relation which I have the honor to submit to you, it will give me
+pleasure, as it will be my duty, to correct them. If, on the contrary,
+this relation should appear to you in every respect conformable to the
+truth, I take the liberty of claiming from your kindness a confirmation
+of it, for the reasons which I have already, I believe, sufficiently
+explained.
+
+I eagerly avail myself of this occasion, Monsieur le Duc, to renew the
+assurances of very high consideration with which I have the honor to be,
+your excellency's most obedient, humble servant,
+
+THOS. P. BARTON.
+
+
+
+No. 4.
+
+_The Duke de Broglie to Mr. Barton_.
+
+[Translation.]
+
+E.
+
+PARIS, _October 26, 1835_.
+
+T.P. BARTON,
+
+_Charge de Affaires of the United States_.
+
+SIR: I have received the letter which you did me the honor to address to
+me on the 24th of this month.
+
+You are desirous to give your Government a faithful account of the
+conversation which you had with me on the 20th. While communicating
+to me a statement of that conversation you request me to indicate the
+involuntary errors which I may remark in it. I appreciate the motives
+which influence you and the importance which you attach to the exactness
+of this statement, and I therefore hasten to point out three errors
+which have found their way into your report, acknowledging at the same
+time its perfect conformity on all other points with the explanations
+interchanged between us.
+
+In reply to your question _whether the King's Government would name any
+fixed and determinate period at which it would be disposed to pay the
+twenty-five millions_ you make me say:
+
+"To-morrow, if necessary. When the Government of the United States shall
+by a written official communication have expressed its regret at the
+misunderstanding which has taken place between the two Governments,
+assuring us that this misunderstanding is founded on an error--that it
+did not intend to call in question the good faith of His Majesty's
+Government," etc.
+
+Now, this is what I really said:
+
+"To-morrow, to-day, immediately, if the Government of the United States
+is ready on its part to declare to us, by addressing its claim
+(_reclamation_) to us officially in writing that it regrets the
+misunderstanding which has arisen between the two countries; that this
+misunderstanding is founded upon a mistake, and that it never entered
+into its intention (_pensee_) to call in question the good faith of the
+French Government nor to take a menacing attitude toward France."
+
+By the terms of your report I am made to have continued thus:
+
+"In the dispatch to M. Pageot we gave the views of our Government on
+this question. Mr. Forsyth not having thought proper to accept a copy of
+that dispatch, and having said that the Government of the United States
+could not receive the communication in that form," etc.
+
+That was not what I said, because such was not the language of Mr.
+Forsyth to M. Pageot. On refusing the copy offered to him by that charge
+d'affaires Mr. Forsyth gave as the only reason _that it was a document
+of which he could make no use_, and that was the phrase repeated by me.
+
+Mr. Forsyth made no objection to the form which I had adopted
+to communicate to the Federal Government the views of the King's
+Government; in fact, not only is there nothing unusual in that form,
+not only is it employed in the intercourse between one government and
+another whenever there is a desire to avoid the irritation which might
+involuntarily arise from an exchange of contradictory notes in a direct
+controversy, but reflection on the circumstances and the respective
+positions of the two countries will clearly show that it was chosen
+precisely in a spirit of conciliation and regard for the Federal
+Government.
+
+Finally, sir, after having said, "If the Government of the United States
+does not give this assurance we shall be obliged to think that this
+misunderstanding is not the result of an error," I did not add, "and the
+business will stop there." This last error is, however, of so little
+importance that I hesitated to notice it. Receive, sir, the assurances
+of my high consideration.
+
+V. BROGLIE.
+
+
+
+No. 5.
+
+_Mr. Barton to the Duke de Broglie_.
+
+F.
+
+LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
+
+_Paris, November 6, 1835_.
+
+His Excellency the DUKE DE BROGLIE,
+
+_Minister of Foreign Affairs, etc._
+
+MONSIEUR LE DUC: Having been recalled by my Government, I have the honor
+to request that your excellency will be pleased to cause passports to
+be prepared to enable me to proceed to Havre, thence to embark for the
+United States, and for my protection during the time I may find it
+necessary to remain in Paris. I am instructed to give as a reason for
+my departure the nonexecution on the part of His Majesty's Government
+of the convention of July 4, 1831.
+
+I avail myself of this opportunity, Monsieur le Duc, to renew the
+assurances of very high consideration with which I have the honor
+to be, your excellency's most obedient, humble servant,
+
+THOS. P. BARTON.
+
+
+
+No. 6.
+
+_The Duke de Broglie to Mr. Barton_.
+
+[Translation.]
+
+PARIS, _November 8, 1835_.
+
+Mr. BARTON,
+
+_Charge d'Affaires of the United States of America_.
+
+SIR: Having taken His Majesty's orders with regard to your communication
+of the 6th instant, I have the honor to send you herewith the passports
+which you requested of me. As to the reasons which you have been charged
+to advance in explanation of your departure, I have nothing to say (_Je
+n'ai point a m'y arreter_). The Government of the United States, sir,
+knows that upon itself depends henceforward the execution of the treaty
+of July 4, 1831.
+
+Accept, sir, the assurance of my high consideration.
+
+V. BROGLIE.
+
+
+
+No. 7.
+
+_Mr. Forsyth to Mr. Pageot_.
+
+DEPARTMENT OF STATE,
+
+_Washington, June 29, 1835_.
+
+M. PAGEOT,
+
+_Charge d'Affaires, etc._
+
+SIR: I have the honor to acquaint you, for the information of your
+Government, that the Secretary of the Treasury has, in conformity with
+the provisions of the act of Congress of 13th July, 1832, designated the
+Messrs. de Rothschild Brothers, of Paris, as agents to receive the
+payments from time to time due to this Government under the stipulations
+of the convention of 4th July, 1831, between the United States and His
+Majesty the King of the French, and that the President has granted a
+special power to the said Messrs. de Rothschild Brothers, authorizing
+and empowering them, upon the due receipt of the same, to give the
+necessary acquittances to the French Government, according to the
+provisions of the convention referred to.
+
+The power given to the Messrs. de Rothschild will be presented by them
+whenever the French Government is ready to make the payments.
+
+I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant,
+
+JOHN FORSYTH.
+
+
+
+No. 8.
+
+_Mr. Pageot to Mr. Forsyth_.
+
+[Translation.]
+
+WASHINGTON, _June 29, 1835_.
+
+Hon. Mr. FORSYTH,
+
+_Secretary of State_.
+
+SIR: I have received the letter which you did me the honor to address
+to me this day, and by which you communicate to me, for the information
+of my Government, that the Secretary of the Treasury, in virtue of the
+act of Congress of July 13, 1832, has appointed Messrs. de Rothschild
+Brothers, at Paris, agents for receiving as they become due the several
+payments of the sum stipulated as indemnification by the convention
+concluded on the 4th of July, 1831, between His Majesty the King of
+the French and the United States of America.
+
+I lost no time, sir, in transmitting this communication to my
+Government, and I embrace this opportunity to offer you the assurance
+of the high consideration with which I have the honor to be, your most
+humble and obedient servant,
+
+A. PAGEOT.
+
+
+
+No. 9.
+
+_Mr. Pageot to Mr. Forsyth_.
+
+[Translation.]
+
+WASHINGTON, _December 1, 1835_.
+
+Hon. JOHN FORSYTH,
+
+_Secretary of State of the United States_.
+
+SIR: On the 11th of September last I had the honor, as I was authorized,
+to read to you a dispatch which his excellency the minister of foreign
+affairs had addressed to me on the 17th of June previous, respecting the
+state of the relations between France and the United States. The object
+of this communication was to make known to the Cabinet of Washington,
+in a form often employed, the point of view from which the King's
+Government regarded the difficulties between the two countries, and to
+indicate the means by which, in its opinion, they might be terminated in
+a manner honorable to both Governments. I was also authorized to allow
+you, in case you should desire it, to take a copy of this dispatch,
+but, contrary to the expectation which diplomatic usages in such cases
+permitted me to entertain, you thought proper to refuse to request it.
+
+I regretted this resolution of yours, sir, at the time, because, in
+the first place, it appeared to be at variance with (_s' ecarter de_)
+that conciliatory spirit which so particularly characterized the
+communication just made to you, and, next, as it seemed in a manner
+to deprive the Cabinet of Washington of the means of knowing in their
+full extent the views of the King's Government, of which an attentive
+examination of the Duke de Broglie's letter could alone have enabled it
+to form a just estimate. These regrets, sir, have not been diminished,
+and at the moment when the President is about to communicate to Congress
+the state of the relations between France and the United States I
+consider it useful and necessary for the interests of all to endeavor to
+place him in possession of all the facts which may afford him the means
+of giving an exact account of the real dispositions and views of the
+King's Government on the subject of the existing difficulties.
+
+With this intention, and from a desire to neglect nothing which,
+by offering to the American Government another opportunity of making
+itself acquainted minutely with the highly conciliatory sentiments of
+His Majesty's Government, may contribute to restore good understanding
+between the Cabinets of Paris and Washington, I have the honor to
+transmit to you a copy of the Duke de Broglie's dispatch and to request
+you to place it under the eye of the President.
+
+I embrace this opportunity, sir, to renew to you the assurance of the
+high consideration with which I have the honor to be, your most humble
+and most obedient servant,
+
+A. PAGEOT.
+
+
+
+No. 10.
+
+_Mr. Forsyth to Mr. Pageot_.
+
+DEPARTMENT OF STATE,
+
+_Washington, December 3, 1835_.
+
+M. PAGEOT,
+
+_Charge d'Affaires, etc._
+
+SIR: I had yesterday the honor to receive your note of the 1st instant,
+with the accompanying paper, purporting to be a copy of a letter
+addressed under date of the 17th of June last by His Excellency the
+Duke de Broglie, minister of foreign affairs of France, to yourself.
+
+After referring to what occurred in our interview of the 11th September
+in regard to the original letter, and expressing your regrets at the
+course I then felt it my duty to take, you request me to place the copy
+inclosed in your letter under the eye of the President.
+
+In allowing you during that interview to read to me the Duke de
+Broglie's dispatch, which I cheerfully did, you were enabled to avail
+yourself of that informal mode of apprising this Department of the views
+of your Government in the full extent authorized by diplomatic usage.
+The question whether or not I should ask a copy of that dispatch was
+of course left, as it should have been, by your Government exclusively
+to my discretion. My reasons for not making that request were frankly
+stated to you, founded on a conviction that in the existing state of the
+relations between the two countries the President would think it most
+proper that every communication upon the subject in difference between
+them designed to influence his conduct should, before it was submitted
+to his consideration, be made to assume the official form belonging to
+a direct communication from one government to another by which alone
+he could be enabled to cause a suitable reply to be given to it and to
+submit it, should such a step become necessary, to his associates in the
+Government. I had also the honor at the same time to assure you that any
+direct communication from yourself as the representative of the King's
+Government to me, embracing the contents of this dispatch or any other
+matter you might be authorized to communicate in the accustomed mode,
+would be laid without delay before the President, and would undoubtedly
+receive from him an early and just consideration.
+
+It can not have escaped your reflections that my duty required that
+the circumstances of the interview between us should be reported
+to the President, and that the discovery of any error on my part in
+representing his views of the course proper to be pursued on that
+occasion would without fail have been promptly communicated to you.
+That duty was performed. The substance of our interview and the reasons
+by which my course in it had been guided were immediately communicated to
+and entirely approved by him. I could not, therefore, have anticipated
+that after so long a period had elapsed, and without any change in the
+condition of affairs, you should have regarded it as useful or proper
+to revive the subject at the time and in the form you have seen fit to
+adopt. Cordially reciprocating, however, the conciliatory sentiments
+expressed in your note, and in deference to your request, I have again
+consulted the President on the subject, and am instructed to inform
+you that the opinion expressed by me in the interview between us,
+and subsequently confirmed by him, remains unchanged, and I therefore
+respectfully restore to you the copy of the Duke de Broglie's letter,
+as I can not make the use of it which you desired.
+
+I am also instructed to say that the President entertains a decided
+conviction that a departure in the present case from the ordinary and
+accustomed method of international communication is calculated to
+increase rather than to diminish the difficulties unhappily existing
+between France and the United States, and that its observance in their
+future intercourse will be most likely to bring about the amicable
+adjustment of those difficulties on terms honorable to both parties.
+Such a result is sincerely desired by him, and he will omit nothing
+consistent with the faithful discharge of his duties to the United
+States by which it may be promoted. In this spirit I am directed by him
+to repeat to you the assurance made in our interview in September last,
+that any official communication you may think proper to address to this
+Government will promptly receive such consideration as may be due to its
+contents and to the interests involved in the subject to which it may
+refer.
+
+As the inclosed paper is not considered the subject of reply, you will
+allow me to add, for the purpose of preventing any misconception in this
+respect, that my silence in regard to its contents is not to be
+construed as admitting the accuracy of any of the statements or
+reasonings contained in it.
+
+I have the honor to renew, etc.
+
+JOHN FORSYTH.
+
+
+
+No. 11.
+
+_Mr. Pageot to Mr. Forsyth_.
+
+[Translation.]
+
+WASHINGTON, _December 5, 1835_.
+
+Hon. JOHN FORSYTH,
+
+_Secretary of State of the United States_.
+
+SIR: I yesterday evening received the letter which you did me the honor
+to write to me on the 3d of this month. With it you return to me the
+copy of a dispatch which I had transmitted to you two days before, and
+the original of which was addressed to me on the 17th of June last by
+his excellency the minister of foreign affairs.
+
+I will not seek, sir, to disguise from you the astonishment produced in
+me by the return of a document so very important in the present state of
+the relations between the two countries; neither will I undertake to
+reply to the reasons on which this determination of yours is based.
+My intention in communicating this document to you in a form not only
+sanctioned by the diplomatic usages of all nations and all ages, but
+also the most direct which I could possibly have chosen, was to make
+known the real dispositions of my Government to the President of the
+United States, and through him to Congress and the American people,
+conceiving that in the existing situation of the two countries it was
+essential that each Government should fully comprehend the intentions
+of the other. This consideration appeared to me paramount to all others.
+You have judged otherwise, sir, and you have thought that whatever might
+be the importance of a communication it was proper before receiving it
+to examine whether the form in which it came to you were strictly
+accordant with the usages necessary, in your opinion, to be observed in
+diplomatic transactions with the Government of the Republic. I will not
+insist further. I have fulfilled all the duties which appeared to be
+prescribed for me by the spirit of reconciliation, in conjunction with
+the respect due by me to all communications from my Government, and
+nothing more remains for me than to express my deep regret that the
+misunderstanding between the two Governments, already so serious, should
+be kept up, not by weighty difficulties which involve the interests and
+the dignity of the two countries, but by questions of form as uncertain
+in their principles as doubtful in their application.
+
+I have the honor to renew to you, sir, the assurances of my high
+consideration.
+
+A. PAGEOT.
+
+
+
+No. 12.
+
+_Mr. Pageot to Mr. Forsyth_.
+
+[Translation.]
+
+WASHINGTON, _January 2, 1836_.
+
+_ Hon. JOHN FORSYTH_,
+
+_Secretary of State of the United States_.
+
+SIR: I have the honor to announce to you that, in consequence of the
+recall of Mr. Barton, the King's Government has given me orders to
+lay down the character of charge d'affaires of His Majesty near the
+Government of the United States. I shall therefore immediately begin the
+preparations for my return to France; but in the meantime I think proper
+to claim the protection of the Federal Government during the period
+which I may consider it necessary to remain in the United States.
+
+I have the honor to be, with the most distinguished consideration, sir,
+your most humble and obedient servant,
+
+A. PAGEOT.
+
+
+
+No. 13.
+
+_Mr. Forsyth to Mr. Pageot_.
+
+DEPARTMENT OF STATE,
+
+_Washington, January 2, 1836_.
+
+_M. ALPHONSE PAGEOT, etc._
+
+SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge your note of this day's date, in
+which you announce that you have the orders of your Government, given
+in consequence of the recall of Mr. Barton, to lay aside the character
+of charge d'affaires of the King of France near the Government of the
+United States. The protection of the Federal Government is due and will
+of course be extended to you during the time necessary for your
+preparations to return to France.
+
+I am, sir, with great consideration, your obedient servant,
+
+JOHN FORSYTH.
+
+
+
+C.
+
+LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES,
+
+_Paris, January 29, 1835_.
+
+His Excellency COUNT DE RIGNY,
+
+_Minister Secretary of State of Foreign Affairs_.
+
+SIR: Having already had occasion to acknowledge the receipt of your
+excellency's letter of the 13th instant, and to answer that part of it
+which most urgently required my attention, I proceed to a consideration
+of the other matters which it contains. I shall do this with a sincere
+desire to avoid everything that may excite irritation or increase
+difficulties which already unfortunately exist. Guided by this
+disposition, I shall confine myself to an examination of your note,
+considered only as an exposition of the causes which His Majesty's
+Government thinks it has to complain of in the message sent by the
+President of the United States to Congress at the opening of its present
+session.
+
+Your excellency begins by observing that nothing could have prepared
+His Majesty's Government for the impressions made upon it by the
+President's message, and that if the complaints he makes were as just as
+you think them unfounded, still you would have reason to be astonished
+at receiving _the first communication of them in such a form_. If His
+Majesty's Government was not prepared to receive complaints on the part
+of the United States for nonexecution of the treaty, everything I have
+said and written since I have had the honor of communicating with your
+excellency and your predecessors in office must have been misunderstood
+or forgotten. I can scarcely suppose the first, for if my whole
+correspondence is referred to and my verbal representations
+recollected they will be found in the most unequivocal language to
+express an extreme solicitude for the execution of the treaty, a
+deep disappointment at the several delays which have intervened, and
+emphatically the necessity which the President would be under of laying
+the matter before Congress at the time when in fact he has done so if
+before that period he did not receive notice that the law had passed for
+giving effect to the treaty. To urge the obligation of the treaty, to
+prepare His Majesty's Government for the serious consequences that must
+result from its breach or an unnecessary delay in executing it, was my
+duty, and it has been faithfully and unremittingly executed. To my own
+official representation on the 26th I added on the 29th July last the
+precise instructions I had received, to inform His Majesty's Government
+that "the President could not avoid laying before Congress on the 1st of
+December a full statement of the position of affairs on this interesting
+subject, or permit the session to end, as it must do on the 3d March,
+without recommending such measures as the justice and the honor of the
+country may require."
+
+In this alone, then, there was sufficient, independently of my numerous
+applications and remonstrances, to prepare His Majesty's Government
+for the just complaints of the United States and for the "impression"
+they ought to produce, as well as for the "_mode_" in which they were
+communicated, a mode clearly pointed out in the passage I have quoted
+from my note of the 29th of July--that is to say, by the annual message
+from the President to Congress, which, as I have already had occasion
+to observe, His Majesty's ministers have erroneously considered as
+addressed directly to them, and, viewing it in that light, have
+arraigned this document as containing groundless complaints, couched in
+language not called for by the occasion, and offering for consideration
+means of redress offensive to the dignity of France. I shall endeavor by
+a plain exposition of facts to repel those charges. I shall examine them
+with the freedom the occasion requires, but, suppressing the feelings
+which some parts of your excellency's letter naturally excite, will, as
+far as possible, avoid all those topics for recrimination which press
+upon my mind. The observation I am about to make will not be deemed a
+departure from this rule, because it is intended to convey information
+which seems to have been wanted by His Majesty's minister when on a late
+occasion he presented a law to the Chamber of Deputies. It is proper,
+therefore, to state that although the military title of general was
+gloriously acquired by the present head of the American Government,
+he is not in official language designated as _General Jackson_, but as
+"the President of the United States," and that his communication was
+made in that character.
+
+I proceed now to the examination of that portion of your excellency's
+letter which attempts to show that the complaints set forth in the
+President's message are groundless.
+
+It begins by assuming as a principle of argument that after the Chamber
+of Deputies had rejected the law and His Majesty's Government had
+promised to present it anew the United States had by receiving that
+promise given up all right to complain of any anterior delays. I have
+vainly endeavored, sir, to find any rule of reasoning by which this
+argument can be supported. It would undoubtedly be much easier to strike
+off from the case the delays of two years in proposing the law than to
+justify them.
+
+It is true that the United States, with a moderation and forbearance
+for which they receive no credit, waited two years, almost without
+complaint, for the performance of a treaty which engaged the faith of
+the French nation to pay a just indemnity, for which they had already
+waited more than twenty years. It is true that His Majesty's Government
+offered solemn assurances that as soon as the constitution of the
+country would permit a new attempt would be made to redeem the national
+pledge given by the treaty. It is true also that the President of the
+United States gave credit to those assurances; but it is also true--and
+your excellency seems to lose sight of that important uncontested
+fact--that formal notice was given that the performance of those
+promises would be expected according to their letter, and that he
+could delay no longer than the 1st of December the execution of a duty
+which those assurances had induced him to postpone. Whatever reasons
+His Majesty's Government had for not complying with Mr. Serurier's
+engagement, or however they may have interpreted it, the President could
+not be precluded from considering the whole case as open and adding to
+his statement the wrongs occasioned by the delays anterior to the vote
+of rejection. Those delays are still unaccounted for, and are rendered
+more questionable by the preference given to another treaty, although
+subsequently made, for the guarantee of the Greek loan.
+
+Confining your observations to this second period, you say that the
+reproaches which the President thinks himself authorized in making to
+France may be comprised in the following words:
+
+"The Government of the King had promised to present the treaty of July
+anew to the Chambers as soon as they could be assembled; but they have
+been assembled on the 31st of July of the last year and the treaty has
+not yet been presented."
+
+Stating this as the whole of the complaint, you proceed, sir, in your
+endeavor to refute it.
+
+I am obliged, reluctantly, here to make use of arguments which in the
+course of this discussion have been often repeated, but which seem to
+have made no impression on His Majesty's Government. I am obliged, in
+repelling the reproaches addressed to the President, to bring to your
+recollection the terms of the promise on which he relied, the
+circumstances attending it, and the object for which it was given. These
+must be fully understood and fully waived before the question between us
+can be resolved.
+
+The circumstances under which Mr. Serurier's note was written are
+material in considering its true import. The payment stipulated by a
+treaty duly ratified on both sides had just been formally refused by a
+vote of the Chamber of Deputies. More than two years had passed since
+it had been proclaimed as the law of the land in the United States,
+and ever since the articles favorable to France had been in constant
+operation. Notice of this refusal had some time before been received by
+the President. It would have been his duty, had nothing else occurred,
+to communicate to Congress this event, so unexpected and so injurious to
+the interest of the country. One circumstance prevented the performance
+of this duty and justified the omission. The notice of the rejection was
+accompanied by information that the minister of France was instructed to
+make explanations and engagements on the subject, and that a ship of
+war would be dispatched with his instructions. The President had waited
+a month for the arrival of this ship. An unusually long session of
+Congress still afforded an opportunity for making the communication,
+even after her arrival. If made it would undoubtedly have produced
+consequences the nature of which may be imagined by considering the
+events that have since occurred. It was necessary, then, to prevent an
+interruption of the friendly relations between the two countries, that
+this communication should be postponed until the subsequent session
+of Congress; longer than that it was well known that it could not be
+deferred. This was clearly and explicitly stated in a conference between
+Mr. Serurier and the Secretary of State of the United States, in which
+the former gave the promise in question. But the President desired to
+have the engagement in a written and official form (and as Mr. Serurier
+expresses it in his letter), "_pour des causes prises dans les
+necessites de votre Gouvernement_" What governmental necessity does he
+allude to? Clearly that which obliged the President to communicate these
+engagements to Congress at the next session.
+
+Here, then, we have a stipulation made under special orders, sent
+out by a ship dispatched for that express purpose, communicated first
+verbally in an official conference, afterwards reduced to writing and
+delivered to the proper officers, for the double purpose of justifying
+the President for not making an immediate communication at their then
+session and also to serve as a pledge which he might exhibit if
+unredeemed at their next. These objects are well stated by Mr. Serurier
+to be "that the Government of the Republic may avoid, with a
+providential solicitude, _in this unsettled state of things_ all that
+may become a cause of new irritation between the two countries, endanger
+the treaty, and raise obstacles that may become insurmountable to the
+views of conciliation and harmony which animate the councils of the
+King." It was, then, to avoid a communication to Congress, which Mr.
+Serurier saw would endanger the peace of the two countries, that this
+engagement was made. Surely, then, every word of a stipulation made
+under such circumstances and for such important purposes must have been
+duly considered and its import properly weighed, first by the cabinet
+who directed, afterwards by the minister who delivered and the
+Government which received it.
+
+What, then, was this engagement? First, that the Government of the King
+will use every legal and constitutional effort which its persevering
+persuasion of the justice and advantages of the treaty authorize
+the United States to expect from it. "Son intention est" (I quote
+literally), "_en outre_" (that is, besides using those endeavors above
+mentioned), "de faire tout ce que _not re constitution permet_ pour
+rapprocher autant que possible l'epoque de la presentation nouvelle de
+la loi rejettee." Your excellency can not fail to have observed two
+distinct parts in this engagement--one relating to the endeavors the
+ministry promise to make in order to induce the Chambers to pass the
+law, for the success of which they could not answer; another relating
+to the time of presentation of the law, a matter which depended on
+them alone, restricted only by constitutional forms.
+
+The promise on this point, then, was precise, and could not be
+misunderstood. Whatever the _constitution of France permitted_, the
+Government of France promised to do in order to hasten the presentation
+of the law. What was the cause of this desire to bring the business
+before the Chambers at an early day? No one can doubt it who knows
+the situation of the two countries, still less anyone who has read the
+correspondence. It was to enable the President to make those statements
+to the next Congress which, relying on the engagements of the French
+minister, he had omitted to make to this.
+
+It was clear, therefore, that more was required than the expression of a
+desire on the part of His Majesty's ministers to execute the treaty--a
+desire the sincerity of which was not doubted, but which might be
+unavailing, as its accomplishment depended on the vote of the Chambers.
+For the President's satisfaction, and for his justification too, an
+engagement was offered and accepted for the performance of an act which
+depended on His Majesty's Government alone. This engagement was couched
+in the unequivocal terms I have literally quoted.
+
+This, sir, is not all. That there might be no misunderstanding on the
+subject, this promise, with the sense in which it was understood, the
+important object for which it was given, and the serious consequences
+that might attend a failure to comply with it, were urged in
+conversation, and repeated in my official letters, particularly those
+of the 26th and 29th of July and 3d and 9th of August last, in which
+its performance was strongly pressed.
+
+The answers to these letters left no hope that the question would be
+submitted to the Chambers in time to have the result known before the
+adjournment of Congress, and by the refusal to hasten the convocation of
+the Chambers before the last of December showed unequivocally that, so
+far from taking all measures permitted by the constitution to _hasten_
+the period of presenting the law, it was to be left to the most remote
+period of the ordinary course of legislation.
+
+This decision of His Majesty's Government, contained in your
+excellency's note to me of the 7th August, was duly transmitted to the
+President, and it naturally produced upon his mind the impressions which
+I anticipated in my letters to your excellency that it would produce.
+He saw with the deepest regret that a positive assurance for convening
+the Chambers as soon as the constitution would permit was construed to
+mean only a disposition to do so, and that this disposition had yielded
+to objections which he could not think of sufficient force to justify a
+delay even if there had intervened no promise, especially as the serious
+consequences of that delay had been earnestly and repeatedly brought to
+the consideration of His Majesty's Government. In fact, sir, what were
+those objections? I do not speak of those which were made to presenting
+the law in the session of July last, for although no constitutional
+impediment offered itself, yet it was not strongly insisted on, because
+an early session in the autumn, would have the same effect; and the
+President, for the same reason, says that it might have been overlooked
+if an early call of the Chambers had been made. They are the objections
+to this call, then, which immediately demand our attention. What, in
+fact, were they? None derived from the constitutional charter have been
+or could have been asserted. What, then, were they? Your excellency's
+letter of the 3d of August to me contains none but this: "His Majesty's
+Government finds it impossible to make any positive engagement on that
+point." In that of the 7th of August there are two reasons assigned:
+First, the general inconvenience to the members. This the President
+could surely not think of alleging to Congress as a sufficient reason
+for omitting to lay the matter before them. The next, I confess, has
+a little more weight, and might have excused a delay if the assurance
+given by Mr. Serurier had been, as your excellency construes it,
+merely of a _disposition_ to hasten the presentation of the law.
+If the engagement had amounted to no more than this, and His Majesty's
+ministers thought that an early call would endanger the passage of
+the law, it might possibly justify _them_ in not making it. But the
+President, who relied on the promise he had received, who in consequence
+of it had deferred the performance of an important duty; the President,
+who had given timely and official notice that this duty must be
+performed at the opening of the next Congress; the President, who could
+see no greater prospect of the passage of the law in a winter than in an
+autumnal session--how was _he_ to justify himself and redeem the pledge
+_he_ had made to his country? He did it in the way he always does--by a
+strict performance.
+
+From this detail your excellency will, I hope, see that the President's
+causes of complaint can not, as you suppose, be confined within the
+narrow limit you have assigned to them. The failure to present the law
+in the session of July was not the only, nor even the principal, point
+in which he thought the engagement of Mr. Serurier uncomplied with;
+for although he saw no reason for the omission that could be called
+a constitutional one, yet he expressly says that might have been
+overlooked. He always (it can not too often be repeated) looked to the
+promise of Mr. Serurier as it was given at Washington, not as it was
+interpreted at Paris, and he had a right to believe that as on previous
+occasions the Legislature had, in the years 1819, 1822, 1825, and 1830,
+held their sessions for the transaction of the ordinary business in
+the months of July and August, he had a right, I say, to believe that
+there was no insurmountable objection to the consideration of this
+extraordinary case, enforced by a positive promise. Yet, as I have
+remarked, he did not make this his principal cause of complaint; it
+was the omission to call the Chambers at an earlier period than the
+very end of the year.
+
+On this head your excellency is pleased to observe that the same
+reasons, drawn from the usual course of administration, which rendered
+the presentation of the law in the session of July impossible applied
+with nearly the same force to a call before the end of the year; and
+you appeal to the President's knowledge of the "fixed principles of a
+constitutional system" to prove that the administration under such a
+government is subject to regular and permanent forms, "from which no
+special interest, however important, should induce it to deviate." For
+this branch of the argument it unfortunately happens that no regular
+form of administration, no fixed principle, no usage whatever, would
+have opposed a call of the Chambers at an early day, and the rule which
+your excellency states would not be broken "in favor of any interest,
+however important," has actually been made to yield to one of domestic
+occurrence. _The Chambers have just been convened before the period
+which was declared to be the soonest at which they could possibly meet_.
+Your excellency will also excuse me for remarking that since the first
+institution of the Chambers, in 1814, there have been convocations
+for every month of the year, without exception, which I will take the
+liberty of bringing to your recollection by enumerating the different
+dates. The Chambers were summoned for the month of January in the years
+1823, 1826, and 1829; for February, in the years 1827 and 1829; for
+March, in 1815, 1824, and 1830; for April, in 1833; for May, in 1814;
+for June, in 1815, 1822, and 1825; for July, in 1834; for August,
+in 1830 and 1831; for September, in 1815; for October, in 1816; for
+November, in 1817, 1818, 1819, 1821, and 1832; and for December, in
+1820, 1824, 1826, and 1833. It is, then, clear to demonstration that
+neither constitutional impediment nor stern, inflexible usage prevented
+such a call of the Chambers as would have complied with the letter of
+Mr. Serurier's engagement. Since I have alluded to the actual meeting of
+the Chambers on the 1st of December, it is but candid to allow that even
+this period would not have enabled the President to have attained one
+of his objects--the presenting of the result of their deliberations to
+Congress in his opening message. But even that slight concession, if
+it had been made to my unceasing applications, might have given an
+opportunity of conveying their decision to Congress before the 4th
+of March, when they must adjourn, because, had that day been then
+determined on, everything would have been ready to lay before the
+Chambers on the opening of the session; but a meeting a month or six
+weeks earlier would have given ample time for deliberation and decision
+in season to have it known at Washington on the 1st of December.
+
+The necessity of giving time to the new members to inform themselves
+of the nature of the question and the old ones to recover from the
+impression which erroneous statements had made upon their minds I
+understand to be the remaining motive of His Majesty's ministers for
+delaying the meeting; but this was a precaution which, relying on the
+plain obligation of the treaty, the President could not appreciate, and
+he must, moreover, have thought that if a long discussion was necessary
+to understand the merits of the question it was an additional reason for
+hastening the meeting where those merits were to be discussed. The delay
+that occurred between the meeting of the Chambers and the 1st of January
+need not have entered into the discussion, because, not long known at
+Washington, it could not have had any influence on the message. It is
+referred to, I presume, in order to show that it was produced by a
+desire on the part of His Majesty's ministers the better to assure the
+passage of the law. Of this, sir, I never had a doubt, and immediately
+so advised my Government, and informed it (as was the fact) that I
+perfectly acquiesced in the delay; first, because of the circumstance to
+which you allude; secondly, because the statements originally intended
+to be ready by the 1st of January were not yet prepared. There is a
+slight error in this part of your excellency's letter; the delay was
+not made at my request, but was fully approved of, for the reasons
+which I have stated.
+
+I have entered into this detail, sir, not for the purpose of
+recrimination, which, in most cases useless, would in this be worse, but
+with the object, as was my duty, of showing that although the ministers
+of the King, under the interpretation they seem to have given to Mr.
+Serurier's promise, may have considered themselves at liberty to defer
+the presentation of the law until the period which they thought would
+best secure its success, yet the President, interpreting that promise
+differently, feeling that in consequence of it he had forborne to do
+what might be strictly called a duty, and seeing that its performance
+had not taken place, could not avoid stating the whole case clearly and
+distinctly to Congress and detailing to them all the remedies which the
+law of nations would allow to be applied to the case, leaving to them
+the choice, leaving to their wisdom and prudence the option, of the
+alternative of further delay or conditional action. Could he have said
+less in this branch of his message? If he alluded to the subject at
+all, he was obliged to detail the circumstances of the case. It is
+not pretended that this is not done with fidelity as to facts. The
+ratification of the treaty, its effect in pledging the faith of the
+nation, the fidelity with which the United States have executed it,
+the delay that intervened before it was brought before the Chambers,
+their rejection of the law, the assurances made by Mr. Serurier, the
+forbearance of the President to make a communication to Congress in
+consequence of those assurances, and the adjournment of the question by
+His Majesty's Government to the end of the year--none of these have ever
+been denied, and all this the President was obliged to bring before
+Congress if, as I have said, he spoke on the subject. But he was obliged
+by a solemn duty to speak of it, and he had given timely and repeated
+notice of this obligation. The propositions which he submitted to
+Congress in consequence of those facts were a part of his duty. They
+were, as I have stated, exclusively addressed to that body, and in
+offering them he felt and expressed a proper regret, and, doing justice
+to the character and high feeling of the French nation, he explicitly
+disavowed any intention of influencing it by a menace.
+
+I have no mission, sir, to offer any modification of the President's
+communication to Congress, and I beg that what I have said may be
+considered with the reserve that I do not acknowledge any right to
+demand or any obligation to give explanations of a document of that
+nature. But the relations which previously existed between the two
+countries, a desire that no unnecessary misunderstanding should
+interrupt them, and the tenor of your excellency's letter (evidently
+written under excited feeling) all convinced me that it was not
+incompatible with self-respect and the dignity of my country to enter
+into the detail I have done. The same reasons induced me to add that the
+idea erroneously entertained that an injurious menace is contained in
+the message has prevented your excellency from giving a proper attention
+to its language. A cooler examination will show that although the
+President was obliged, as I have demonstrated, to state to Congress
+the engagements which had been made, and that in his opinion they had
+not been complied with, yet in a communication not addressed to His
+Majesty's Government not a disrespectful term is employed, nor a phrase
+that his own sense of propriety, as well as the regard which one
+nation owes to another, would induce him to disavow. On the contrary,
+expressions of sincere regret that circumstances obliged him to complain
+of acts that disturbed the harmony he wished to preserve with a nation
+and Government to the high characters of which he did ample justice.
+
+An honorable susceptibility to everything that may in the remotest
+degree affect the honor of the country is a national sentiment in
+France; but you will allow, sir, that it is carried too far when it
+becomes impatient of just complaint, when it will allow none of its
+acts to be arraigned and considers as an offense a simple and correct
+examination of injuries received and as an insult a deliberation on the
+means of redress. If it is forbidden, under the penalties of giving just
+cause of offense, for the different branches of a foreign government to
+consult together on the nature of wrongs it has received and review the
+several remedies which the law of nations present and circumstances
+justify, then no such consultation can take place in a government like
+that of the United States, where all the proceedings are public, without
+at once incurring the risk of war, which it would be the very object of
+that consultation to avoid.
+
+The measures announced in the close of your letter, as well as the
+correspondence that it has occasioned between us, have been transmitted
+to my Government, and I wait the instructions which that communication
+will produce.
+
+I pray your excellency to receive the renewed assurance of the high
+consideration with which I have the honor to be, your most obedient,
+humble servant,
+
+EDW. LIVINGSTON.
+
+[Indorsement.]
+
+This letter was referred to in my message of the 7th of December last,
+and ought to have been then transmitted with that of the 25th of April,
+but by some oversight it was omitted.
+
+A.J.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _January 18, 1836_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+In compliance with the resolution of the Senate of the 12th instant,
+I transmit a report of the Secretary of State, with the papers therein
+referred to, which, with those accompanying the special message this day
+sent to Congress, are believed to contain all the information requested.
+The papers relative to the letter of the late minister of France have
+been added to those called for, that the subject may be fully
+understood.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+DEPARTMENT OF STATE,
+
+_Washington, January 13, 1836_.
+
+The PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES:
+
+The Secretary of State has the honor to lay before the President a copy
+of a report made to him in June last, and of a letter addressed to this
+Department by the late minister of the Government of France, with the
+correspondence connected with that communication, which, together with a
+late correspondence between the Secretary of State and the French charge
+d'affaires and a recent correspondence between the charge d'affaires of
+the United States at Paris and the Duke de Broglie, already transmitted
+to the President to be communicated to Congress with his special message
+relative thereto, are the only papers in the Department of State
+supposed to be called for by the resolutions of the Senate of the 12th
+instant.
+
+It will be seen by the correspondence with the charge d'affaires of
+France that a dispatch to him from the Duke de Broglie was read to the
+Secretary at the Department in September last. It concluded with an
+authority to permit a copy to be taken if it was desired. That dispatch
+being an argumentative answer to the last letter of Mr. Livingston to
+the French Government, and in affirmance of the right of France to
+expect explanations of the message of the President, which France
+had been distinctly and timely informed could not be given without a
+disregard by the Chief Magistrate of his constitutional obligations,
+no desire was expressed to obtain a copy, it being obviously improper
+to receive an argument in a form which admitted of no reply, and
+necessarily unavailing to inquire how much or how little would satisfy
+France, when her right to any such explanation had been beforehand so
+distinctly and formally denied.
+
+All which is respectfully submitted.
+
+JOHN FORSYTH.
+
+
+
+DEPARTMENT OF STATE,
+
+_Washington, June 18, 1835_.
+
+The PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES:
+
+I have the honor to present, for the examination of the President, three
+letters received at the Department from ----, dated at Paris, the 19th,
+23d, and 30th of April. The last two I found here on my recent return
+from Georgia. They were received on the 9th and 10th of June; the
+last came to my own hand yesterday. Several communications have been
+previously received from the same quarter, all of them volunteered; none
+of them have been acknowledged. The unsolicited communications to the
+Department by citizens of the United States of facts that may come to
+their knowledge while residing abroad, likely to be interesting to
+their country, are always received with pleasure and carefully preserved
+on the files of the Government. Even opinions on foreign topics are
+received with proper respect for the motives and character of those
+who may choose to express them.
+
+But holding it both improper and dangerous to countenance any of
+our citizens occupying no public station in sending confidential
+communications on our affairs with a foreign government at which we have
+an accredited agent, upon subjects involving the honor of the country,
+without the knowledge of such agent, and virtually substituting himself
+as the channel of communication between that government and his own, I
+considered it my duty to invite Mr. Pageot to the Department to apprise
+him of the contents of Mr. ----'s letter of the 23d of April, and at the
+same time to inform him that he might communicate the fact to the Duke
+de Broglie that no notice could be taken of Mr. ---- and his
+communications.
+
+The extreme and culpable indiscretion of Mr. ---- in this transaction
+was strikingly illustrated by a remark of Mr. Pageot, after a careful
+examination of the letter of 23d April, that although without
+instructions from his Government he would venture to assure me that
+the Duke de Broglie could not have expected Mr. ---- to make such
+a communication to the Secretary of State. Declining to enter into
+the consideration of what the Duke might have expected or intended,
+I was satisfied with the assurances Mr. Pageot gave me that he would
+immediately state what had occurred to his Government.
+
+All which is respectfully submitted, with the hope, if the course
+pursued is approved by the President, that this report may be filed
+in this Department with the letters to which it refers.
+
+JOHN FORSYTH.
+
+
+
+_Mr. Forsyth to Mr. Livingston_.
+
+No. 50.
+
+[Extract.]
+
+DEPARTMENT OF STATE,
+
+_Washington, March 5, 1835_.
+
+EDWARD LIVINGSTON, Esq.,
+
+_Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Paris_.
+
+SIR: In my note No. 49 you were informed that the last letter of
+M. Serurier would be made the subject of separate and particular
+instructions to you. Unwilling to add to the irritation produced by
+recent incidents in our relations with France, the President will not
+take for granted that the very exceptionable language of the French
+minister was used by the orders or will be countenanced by the authority
+of the King of France. You will therefore, as early as practicable after
+this reaches you, call the attention of the minister of foreign affairs
+to the following passage in M. Serurier's letter:
+
+
+  "Les plaintes que porte M. le President centre le pretendu
+  non-accomplissement des engagemens pris par le Gouvernement du Roi a
+  la suite du vote du 1er avril 1834, ne sont pas seulement etrange par
+  l'entiere inexactitude des allegations sur lesquelles elles reposent,
+  mais aussi parceque les explications qu'a recues a Paris M. Livingston,
+  et celles que le soussigne a donnees directement an cabinet de
+  Washington semblaient ne pas laisser meme la possibilite d'un
+  malentendu sur des points aussi delicats."
+
+
+In all discussions between government and government, whatever
+may be the differences of opinion on the facts or principles brought
+into view, the invariable rule of courtesy and justice demands that
+the sincerity of the opposing party in the views which it entertains
+should never be called in question. Facts may be denied, deductions
+examined, disproved, and condemned, without just cause of offense; but
+no impeachment of the integrity of the Government in its reliance
+on the correctness of its own views can be permitted without a total
+forgetfulness of self-respect. In the sentence quoted from M. Serurier's
+letter no exception is taken to the assertion that the complaints of
+this Government are founded upon allegations entirely inexact, nor upon
+that which declares the explanations given here or in Paris appeared,
+not to have left even the possibility of a misunderstanding on such
+delicate points. The correctness of these assertions we shall always
+dispute, and while the records of the two Governments endure we shall
+find no difficulty in shewing that they are groundless; but when M.
+Serurier chooses to qualify the nonaccomplishment of the engagements
+made by France, to which the President refers, as a _pretended_
+nonaccomplishment, he conveys the idea that the Chief Magistrate knows
+or believes that he is in error, and acting upon this known error seeks
+to impose it upon Congress and the world as truth. In this sense it
+is a direct attack upon the integrity of the Chief Magistrate of the
+Republic. As such it must be indignantly repelled; and it being a
+question of moral delinquency between the two Governments, the evidence
+against France, by whom it is raised, must be sternly arrayed. You will
+ascertain, therefore, if it has been used by the authority or receives
+the sanction of the Government of France _in that sense_. Should it
+be disavowed or explained, as from the note of the Count de Rigny to
+you, written at the moment of great excitement, and in its matter not
+differing from M. Serurier's, it is presumed it will be, you will then
+use the materials herewith communicated, or already in your power, in
+a temper of great forbearance, but with a firmness of tone not to be
+mistaken, to answer the substance of the note itself.
+
+
+
+_Mr. Serurier to Mr. Forsyth_.
+
+[Translation.]
+
+WASHINGTON, _February 23, 1835_.
+
+Hon. JOHN FORSYTH,
+
+_Secretary of State_.
+
+The undersigned, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of His
+Majesty the King of the French at Washington, has received orders to
+present the following note to the Secretary of State of the Government
+of the United States:
+
+It would be superfluous to say that the message addressed on the 1st
+of December, 1834, to the Congress of the United States by President
+Jackson was received at Paris with a sentiment of painful surprise.
+
+The King's Government is far from supposing that the measures
+recommended in this message to the attention of Congress can be
+adopted (_votees_) by that assembly; but even considering the document
+in question as a mere manifestation of the opinion which the President
+wishes to express with regard to the course taken in this affair, it is
+impossible not to consider its publication as a fact of a most serious
+nature.
+
+The complaints brought forward by the President on account of the
+pretended nonfulfillment of the engagements entered into by the King's
+Government after the vote of the 1st of April are strange, not only from
+the total inaccuracy of the allegations on which they are based, but
+also because the explanations received by Mr. Livingston at Paris and
+those which the undersigned has given directly to the Cabinet of
+Washington seemed not to leave the slightest possibility of
+misunderstanding on points so delicate.
+
+It appeared, indeed, from these explanations that although the session
+of the French Chambers, which was opened on the 31st of July last in
+compliance with an express provision of the charter, was prorogued at
+the end of a fortnight, before the bill relative to the American claims,
+announced in the discourse from the throne, could be placed under
+discussion, this prorogation arose (_tendit_) entirely from the absolute
+impossibility of commencing at so premature a period the legislative
+labors belonging to the year 1835.
+
+It also appeared that the motives which had hindered the formal
+presentation to the Chambers of the bill in question during the first
+space of a fortnight originated chiefly in the desire more effectually
+to secure the success of this important affair by choosing the most
+opportune moment of offering it to the deliberations of the deputies
+newly elected, who, perhaps, might have been unfavorably impressed by
+this unusual haste in submitting it to them so long before the period
+at which they could enter upon an examination of it.
+
+The undersigned will add that it is, moreover, difficult to comprehend
+what advantage could have resulted from such a measure, since it could
+not evidently have produced the effect which the President declares that
+he had in view, of enabling him to state at the opening of Congress that
+these long-pending negotiations were definitively closed. The President
+supposes, it is true, that the Chambers might have been called together
+anew before the last month of 1834; but even though the session had been
+opened some months earlier--which for several reasons would have been
+impossible--the simplest calculation will serve to shew that in no case
+could the decision of the Chambers have been taken, much less made known
+at Washington, before the 1st of December.
+
+The King's Government had a right (_devait_) to believe that
+considerations so striking would have proved convincing with the
+Cabinet of the United States, and the more so as no direct communication
+made to the undersigned by this Cabinet or transmitted at Paris by
+Mr. Livingston had given token of the irritation and misunderstandings
+which the message of December 1 has thus deplorably revealed, and as
+Mr. Livingston, with that judicious spirit which characterizes him,
+coinciding with the system of (_menagemens_) precautions and temporizing
+prudence adopted by the cabinet of the Tuileries with a view to the
+common interests, had even requested at the moment of the meeting of
+the Chambers that the presentation of the bill in question might be
+deferred, in order that its discussion should not be mingled with
+debates of another nature, with which its coincidence might place it
+in jeopardy.
+
+This last obstacle had just been removed and the bill was about to be
+presented to the Chamber of Deputies when the arrival of the message, by
+creating in the minds of all a degree of astonishment at least equal to
+the just irritation which it could not fail to produce, has forced the
+Government of the King to deliberate on the part which it had to adopt.
+
+Strong in its own right and dignity, it did not conceive that the
+inexplicable act of the President ought to cause it to renounce
+absolutely a determination the origin of which had been its respect for
+engagements (_loyaute_) and its good feelings toward a friendly nation.
+Although it does not conceal from itself that the provocation given
+at Washington has materially increased the difficulties of the case,
+already so great, yet it has determined to ask from the Chambers an
+appropriation of twenty-five millions to meet the engagements of the
+treaty of July 4.
+
+But His Majesty has at the same time resolved no longer to expose
+his minister to hear such language as that held on December 1. The
+undersigned has received orders to return to France, and the dispatch
+of this order has been made known to Mr. Livingston.
+
+The undersigned has the honor to present to the Secretary of State the
+assurance of his high consideration.
+
+SERURIER.
+
+
+
+_Mr. Livingston to the Duke de Broglie_.
+
+LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATICS OF AMERICA,
+
+_Paris, April 18, 1835_.
+
+M. LE DUC: I am specially directed to call the attention of His
+Majesty's Government to the following passage in the note presented
+by M. Serurier to the Secretary of State at Washington:
+
+"Les plaintes que porte Monsieur le President centre le pretendu
+non-accomplissement des engagemens pris par le Gouvernement du Roi a
+la suite du vote du 1er avril 1834, ne sont pas settlement etrange par
+l'entiere inexactitude des allegations sur lesquelles elles reposent,
+mais aussi parceque les explications qu'a recues a Paris M. Livingston,
+et celles que le soussigne a donnees directement an cabinet de
+Washington, semblaient ne pas laisser meme la possibilite d'un
+malentendu sur des points aussi delicats."
+
+Each party in a discussion of this nature has an uncontested right to
+make its own statement of facts and draw its own conclusions from them,
+to acknowledge or deny the accuracy of counter proof or the force of
+objecting arguments, with no other restraints than those which respect
+for his own convictions, the opinion of the world, and the rules of
+common courtesy impose. This freedom of argument is essential to the
+discussion of all national concerns, and can not be objected to without
+showing an improper and irritating susceptibility. It is for this reason
+that the Government of the United States make no complaint of the
+assertion in the note presented by M. Serurier that the statement of
+facts contained in the President's message is inaccurate, and that
+the causes assigned for the delay in presenting the law ought to
+have satisfied them. On their part they contest the facts, deny the
+accuracy of the conclusions, and appeal to the record, to reason, and
+to the sense of justice of His Majesty's Government on a more mature
+consideration of the case for their justification. But I am further
+instructed to say that there is one expression in the passage I have
+quoted which in one signification could not be admitted even within the
+broad limits which are allowed to discussions of this nature, and which,
+therefore, the President will not believe to have been used in the
+offensive sense that might be attributed to it. The word "_pretendu_"
+sometimes, it is believed, in French, and its translation always in
+English, implies not only that the assertion which it qualifies is
+untrue, but that the party making it knows it to be so and uses it
+for the purposes of deception.
+
+Although the President can not believe that the term was employed in
+this injurious sense, yet the bare possibility of a construction being
+put upon it which it would be incumbent on him to repel with indignation
+obliges him to ask for the necessary explanation.
+
+I have the honor to be, etc.,
+
+EDWARD LIVINGSTON.
+
+
+
+_Mr. Livingston to Mr. Forsyth_.
+
+[Extract.]
+
+WASHINGTON, _June 29, 1835_.
+
+... Having received my passports, I left Paris on the 29th of April.
+At the time of my departure the note, of which a copy has been
+transmitted to you, asking an explanation of the terms used in M.
+Serurier's communication to the Department, remained unanswered, but I
+have reason to believe that the answer when given will be satisfactory.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _January 20, 1836_.
+
+Hon. JAMES K. POLK,
+
+_Speaker of the House of Representatives_.
+
+SIR: I herewith transmit to the House of Representatives a report from
+the Director of the Mint, exhibiting the operations of that institution
+during the year 1835.
+
+The report contains also some very useful suggestions as to certain
+changes in the laws connected with our coinage and with that
+establishment, which are recommended to your early and careful
+attention.
+
+Besides some remarks in it on the progress made in the erection of
+branch mints and procuring machinery therefor, I inclose a report from
+the Secretary of the Treasury, submitting more detailed statements as to
+the new buildings from each of the agents appointed to superintend their
+erection.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _February 8, 1836_.
+
+_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:
+
+The Government of Great Britain has offered its mediation for the
+adjustment of the dispute between the United States and France.
+Carefully guarding that point in the controversy which, as it involves
+our honor and independence, admits of no compromise, I have cheerfully
+accepted the offer. It will be obviously improper to resort even to the
+mildest measures of a compulsory character until it is ascertained
+whether France has declined or accepted the mediation. I therefore
+recommend a suspension of all proceedings on that part of my special
+message of the 15th of January last which proposes a partial
+nonintercourse with France. While we can not too highly appreciate the
+elevated and disinterested motives of the offer of Great Britain, and
+have a just reliance upon the great influence of that power to restore
+the relations of ancient friendship between the United States and
+France, and know, too, that our own pacific policy will be strictly
+adhered to until the national honor compels us to depart from it, we
+should be insensible to the exposed condition of our country and forget
+the lessons of experience if we did not efficiently and sedulously
+prepare for an adverse result. The peace of a nation does not depend
+exclusively upon its own will, nor upon the beneficent policy of
+neighboring powers; and that nation which is found totally unprepared
+for the exigencies and dangers of war, although it come without having
+given warning of its approach, is criminally negligent of its honor and
+its duty. I can not too strongly repeat the recommendation already made
+to place the seaboard in a proper state for defense and promptly to
+provide the means for amply protecting our commerce.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _February 9, 1836_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+In answer to the call made by the Senate in their resolution of the
+3d instant, relative to the Indian hostilities in Florida, I transmit
+herewith a report from the Secretary of War, accompanied by sundry
+explanatory papers.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _February 10, 1836_.
+
+_To the House of Representatives_:
+
+I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of War, with copies of
+so much of the correspondence relating to Indian affairs called for by
+the resolution of the House of January 23, 1835, as can be furnished by
+that Department. I also transmit a report on the same subject from the
+Treasury Department, from which it appears that without a special
+appropriation or the suspension for a considerable period of much
+of the urgent and current business of the General Land Office it
+is impracticable to take copies of all the papers described in the
+resolution. Under these circumstances the subject is again respectfully
+submitted to the consideration of the House of Representatives.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+FEBRUARY 11, 1836.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I herewith return to the Senate the resolution of the legislature of the
+State of Indiana requesting the President to suspend from sale a strip
+of land 10 miles in width, on a line from Munceytown to Fort Wayne,
+which resolution was referred to me on the 5th instant.
+
+It appears from the memorial to which the resolution is subjoined that
+the lands embraced therein have been in market for several years past;
+that the legislature of the State of Indiana have applied to Congress
+for the passage of a law giving that State the right to purchase at such
+reduced prices as Congress may fix, and that their suspension from sale
+is requested as auxiliary to this application.
+
+By the acts of Congress now in force all persons who may choose to make
+entries for these lands in the manner prescribed by law are entitled to
+purchase the same, and as the President possesses no dispensing power it
+will be obvious to the Senate that until authorized by law he can not
+rightfully act on the subject referred to him.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _February 15, 1836_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I transmit to the Senate, in pursuance of the resolutions passed by
+that body on the 3d instant, a report from the Secretary of State,
+accompanied by certain papers, relative to the existing relations
+between the United States and France.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _February 18, 1836_.
+
+_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:
+
+I transmit to the House of Representatives, in answer to their
+resolutions of the ---- February instant, reports from the Secretary of
+State and the Secretary of the Treasury, with accompanying documents,
+relating to the relations between the United States and France. For
+reasons adverted to by the Secretary of State, the resolutions of the
+House have not been more fully complied with.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+FEBRUARY 22, 1836.
+
+_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:
+
+I transmit herewith to Congress copies of the correspondence between the
+Secretary of State and the charge d'affaires of His Britannic Majesty,
+relative to the mediation of Great Britain in our disagreement with
+France and to the determination of the French Government to execute the
+treaty of indemnification without further delay on the application for
+payment by the agent of the United States.
+
+The grounds upon which the mediation was accepted will be found fully
+developed in the correspondence. On the part of France the mediation had
+been publicly accepted before the offer of it could be received here.
+Whilst each of the two Governments has thus discovered a just solicitude
+to resort to all honorable means of adjusting amicably the controversy
+between them, it is a matter of congratulation that the mediation has
+been rendered unnecessary. Under such circumstances the anticipation may
+be confidently indulged that the disagreement between the United States
+and France will not have produced more than a temporary estrangement.
+The healing effects of time, a just consideration of the powerful
+motives for a cordial good understanding between the two nations, the
+strong inducements each has to respect and esteem the other, will no
+doubt soon obliterate from their remembrance all traces of that
+disagreement.
+
+Of the elevated and disinterested part the Government of Great Britain
+has acted and was prepared to act I have already had occasion to express
+my high sense. Universal respect and the consciousness of meriting
+it are with Governments as with men the just rewards of those who
+faithfully exert their power to preserve peace, restore harmony, and
+perpetuate good will.
+
+I may be permitted, I trust, at this time, without a suspicion of the
+most remote desire to throw off censure from the Executive or to point
+it to any other department or branch of the Government, to refer to the
+want of effective preparation in which our country was found at the
+late crisis. From the nature of our institutions the movements of the
+Government in preparation for hostilities must ever be too slow for the
+exigencies of unexpected war. I submit it, then, to you whether the
+first duty we owe to the people who have confided to us their power is
+not to place our country in such an attitude as always to be so amply
+supplied with the means of self-defense as to afford no inducements to
+other nations to presume upon our forbearance or to expect important
+advantages from a sudden assault, either upon our commerce, our
+seacoast, or our interior frontier. In case of the commencement of
+hostilities during the recess of Congress, the time inevitably elapsing
+before that body could be called together, even under the most favorable
+circumstances, would be pregnant with danger; and if we escaped without
+signal disaster or national dishonor, the hazard of both unnecessarily
+incurred could not fail to excite a feeling of deep reproach. I
+earnestly recommend to you, therefore, to make such provisions that
+in no future time shall we be found without ample means to repel
+aggression, even although it may come upon us without a note of warning.
+We are now, fortunately, so situated that the expenditure for this
+purpose will not be felt, and if it were it would be approved by those
+from whom all its means are derived, and for whose benefit only it
+should be used with a liberal economy and an enlightened forecast.
+
+In behalf of these suggestions I can not forbear repeating the wise
+precepts of one whose counsels can not be forgotten:
+
+
+  ... The United States ought not to indulge a persuasion that, contrary
+  to the order of human events, they will forever keep at a distance
+  those painful appeals to arms with which the history of every other
+  nation abounds. There is a rank due to the United States among nations
+  which will be withheld, if not absolutely lost, by the reputation of
+  weakness. If we desire to avoid insult, we must be able to repel it;
+  if we desire to secure peace, one of the most powerful instruments of
+  our rising prosperity, it must be known that we are at all times ready
+  for war.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _January 27, 1836_.
+
+The undersigned, His Britannic Majesty's charge d'affaires, has been
+instructed to state to Mr. Forsyth, the Secretary of State of the United
+States, that the British Government has witnessed with the greatest pain
+and regret the progress of the misunderstanding which has lately grown
+up between the Governments of France and of the United States. The first
+object of the undeviating policy of the British cabinet has been to
+maintain uninterrupted the relations of peace between Great Britain and
+the other nations of the world, without any abandonment of national
+interests and without any sacrifice of national honor. The next object
+to which their anxious and unremitting exertions have been directed has
+been by an appropriate exercise of the good offices and moral influence
+of Great Britain to heal dissensions which may have arisen among
+neighboring powers and to preserve for other nations those blessings of
+peace which Great Britain is so desirous of securing for herself.
+
+The steady efforts of His Majesty's Government have hitherto been,
+fortunately, successful in the accomplishment of both these ends, and
+while Europe during the last five years has passed through a crisis of
+extraordinary hazard without any disturbance of the general peace, His
+Majesty's Government has the satisfaction of thinking that it has on
+more than one occasion been instrumental in reconciling differences
+which might otherwise have led to quarrels, and in cementing union
+between friendly powers.
+
+But if ever there could be an occasion on which it would be painful to
+the British Government to see the relations of amity broken off between
+two friendly states that occasion is undoubtedly the present, when a
+rupture is apprehended between two great powers, with both of which
+Great Britain is united by the closest ties--with one of which she is
+engaged in active alliance; with the other of which she is joined by
+community of interests and by the bonds of kindred.
+
+Nor would the grounds of difference on the present occasion reconcile
+the friends and wellwishers of the differing parties to the misfortune
+of an open rupture between them.
+
+When the conflicting interests of two nations are so opposed on a
+particular question as to admit of no possible compromise, the sword may
+be required to cut the knot which reason is unable to untie.
+
+When passions have been so excited on both sides that no common standard
+of justice can be found, and what one party insists on as a right the
+other denounces as a wrong, prejudice may become too headstrong to yield
+to the voice of equity, and those who can agree on nothing else may
+consent to abide the fate of arms and to allow that the party which
+shall prove the weakest in the war shall be deemed to have been wrong
+in the dispute.
+
+But in the present case there is no question of national interest at
+issue between France and the United States. In the present case there
+is no demand of justice made by one party and denied by the other.
+The disputed claims of America on France, which were founded upon
+transactions in the early part of the present century and were for many
+years in litigation, have at length been established by mutual consent
+and are admitted by a treaty concluded between the two Governments.
+The money due by France has been provided by the Chambers, and has been
+placed at the disposal of the French Government for the purpose of being
+paid to the United States. But questions have arisen between the two
+Governments in the progress of those transactions affecting on both
+sides the feelings of national honor, and it is on this ground that the
+relations between the parties have been for the moment suspended and are
+in danger of being more seriously interrupted.
+
+In this state of things the British Government is led to think that the
+good offices of a third power equally the friend of France and of the
+United States, and prompted by considerations of the highest order most
+earnestly to wish for the continuance of peace, might be useful in
+restoring a good understanding between the two parties on a footing
+consistent with the nicest feelings of national honor in both.
+
+The undersigned has therefore been instructed by His Majesty's
+Government formally to tender to the Government of the United States the
+mediation of Great Britain for the settlement of the differences between
+the United States and France, and to say that a note precisely similar
+to the present has been delivered to the French Government by His
+Majesty's ambassador at Paris. The undersigned has, at the same time,
+to express the confident hope of His Majesty's Government that if the two
+parties would agree to refer to the British Government the settlement of
+the point at issue between them, and to abide by the opinion which that
+Government might after due consideration communicate to the two parties
+thereupon, means might be found of satisfying the honor of each without
+incurring those great and manifold evils which a rupture between two
+such powers must inevitably entail on both.
+
+The undersigned has the honor to renew to Mr. Forsyth the assurance of
+his most distinguished consideration.
+
+CHARLES BANKHEAD.
+
+
+
+DEPARTMENT OF STATE,
+
+_Washington, February 3, 1836_.
+
+CHARLES BANKHEAD, Esq.:
+
+The undersigned, Secretary of State of the United States, has had the
+honor to receive the note of the 27th ultimo of Mr. Charles Bankhead,
+His Britannic Majesty's charge d'affaires, offering to the Government of
+the United States the mediation of His Britannic Majesty's Government
+for the settlement of the differences unhappily existing between the
+United States and France. That communication having been submitted
+to the President, and considered with all the care belonging to the
+importance of the subject and the source from which it emanated,
+the undersigned has been instructed to assure Mr. Bankhead that the
+disinterested and honorable motives which have dictated the proposal are
+fully appreciated. The pacific policy of His Britannic Majesty's cabinet
+and their efforts to heal dissensions arising among nations are worthy
+of the character and commanding influence of Great Britain, and the
+success of those efforts is as honorable to the Government by whose
+instrumentality it was secured as it has been beneficial to the parties
+more immediately interested and to the world at large.
+
+The sentiments upon which this policy is founded, and which are so
+forcibly displayed in the offer that has been made, are deeply impressed
+upon the mind of the President. They are congenial with the institutions
+and principles as well as with the interests and habits of the people of
+the United States, and it has been the constant aim of their Government
+in its conduct toward other powers to observe and illustrate them.
+Cordially approving the general views of His Britannic Majesty's
+Government, the President regards with peculiar satisfaction the
+enlightened and disinterested solicitude manifested by it for the
+welfare of the nations to whom its good offices are now tendered, and
+has seen with great sensibility, in the exhibition of that feeling, the
+recognition of that community of interests and those ties of kindred by
+which the United States and Great Britain are united.
+
+If circumstances did not render it certain, it would have been obvious
+from the language of Mr. Bankhead's note to the undersigned that the
+Government of His Britannic Majesty, when the instructions under which
+it was prepared were given, could not have been apprised of all the
+steps taken in the controversy between the United States and France.
+It was necessarily ignorant of the tenor of the two recent messages of
+the President to Congress--the first communicated at the commencement of
+the present session, under date of the 7th of December, 1835, and the
+second under that of the 15th of January, 1836. Could these documents
+have been within the knowledge of His Britannic Majesty's Government,
+the President does not doubt that it would have been fully satisfied
+that the disposition of the United States, notwithstanding their
+well-grounded and serious causes of complaint against France, to
+restore friendly relations and cultivate a good understanding with the
+Government of that country was undiminished, and that all had already
+been done on their part that could in reason be expected of them to
+secure that result. The first of these documents, although it gave such
+a history of the origin and progress of the claims of the United States
+and of the proceedings of France before and since the treaty of 1831
+as to vindicate the statements and recommendations of the message of
+the 1st of December, 1834, yet expressly disclaimed the offensive
+interpretation put upon it by the Government of France, and while
+it insisted on the acknowledged rights of the United States and the
+obligations of the treaty and maintained the honor and independence
+of the American Government, evinced an anxious desire to do all that
+constitutional duty and strict justice would permit to remove every
+cause of irritation and excitement. The special message of the 15th
+January last being called for by the extraordinary and inadmissible
+demands of the Government of France as defined in the last official
+communications at Paris, and by the continued refusal of France to
+execute a treaty from the faithful performance of which by the United
+States it was tranquilly enjoying important advantages, it became the
+duty of the President to recommend such measures as might be adapted
+to the exigencies of the occasion. Unwilling to believe that a nation
+distinguished for honor and intelligence could have determined
+permanently to maintain a ground so indefensible, and anxious still to
+leave open the door of reconciliation, the President contented himself
+with proposing to Congress the mildest of the remedies given by the law
+and practice of nations in connection with such propositions for defense
+as were evidently required by the condition of the United States and
+the attitude assumed by France. In all these proceedings, as well as
+in every stage of these difficulties with France, it is confidently
+believed that the course of the United States, when duly considered
+by other Governments and the world, will be found to have been marked
+not only by a pacific disposition, but by a spirit of forbearance and
+conciliation.
+
+For a further illustration of this point, as well as for the purpose of
+presenting a lucid view of the whole subject, the undersigned has the
+honor to transmit to Mr. Bankhead copies of all that part of the message
+of December 7, 1835, which relates to it and of the correspondence
+referred to therein, and also copies of the message and accompanying
+documents of the 15th of January, 1836, and of another message of the
+18th of the same month, transmitting a report of the Secretary of State
+and certain documents connected with the subject.
+
+These papers, while they will bring down the history of the
+misunderstanding between the United States and France to the present
+date, will also remove an erroneous impression which appears to be
+entertained by His Britannic Majesty's Government. It is suggested in
+Mr. Bankhead's note that there is no question of national interest
+at issue between France and the United States, and that there is no
+demand of justice made by the one party and denied by the other. This
+suggestion appears to be founded on the facts that the claims of the
+United States have been admitted by a treaty concluded between the two
+Governments and that the money due by France has been provided by the
+Chambers and placed at the disposal of the French Government for the
+purpose of being paid to the United States. But it is to be observed
+that the payment of the money thus appropriated is refused by the French
+Government unless the United States will first comply with a condition
+not contained in the treaty and not assented to by them. This refusal to
+make payment is, in the view of the United States, a denial of justice,
+and has not only been accompanied by acts and language of which they
+have great reason to complain, but the delay of payment is highly
+injurious to those American citizens who are entitled to share in the
+indemnification provided by the treaty and to the interests of the
+United States, inasmuch as the reduction of the duties levied on French
+wines in pursuance of that treaty has diminished the public revenue,
+and has been and yet is enjoyed by France, with all the other benefits
+of the treaty, without the consideration and equivalents for which
+they were granted. But there are other national interests, and, in the
+judgment of this Government, national interests of the highest order,
+involved in the condition prescribed and insisted on by France which
+it has been by the President made the duty of the undersigned to bring
+distinctly into view. That condition proceeds on the assumption that a
+foreign power whose acts are spoken of by the President of the United
+States in a message to Congress, transmitted in obedience to his
+constitutional duties, and which deems itself aggrieved by the language
+thus held by him, may as a matter of right require from the Government
+of the United States a direct official explanation of such language,
+to be given in such form and expressed in such terms as shall meet the
+requirements and satisfy the feelings of the offended party, and may
+in default of such explanation annul or suspend a solemn treaty duly
+executed by its constitutional organ. Whatever may be the responsibility
+of those nations whose executives possess the power of declaring war
+and of adopting other coercive remedies without the intervention of
+the legislative department, for the language held by the Executive in
+addressing that department, it is obvious that under the Constitution
+of the United States, which gives to the Executive no such powers, but
+vests them exclusively in the Legislature, whilst at the same time it
+imposes on the Executive the duty of laying before the Legislature the
+state of the nation, with such recommendations as he may deem proper,
+no such responsibility can be admitted without impairing that freedom
+of intercommunication which is essential to the system and without
+surrendering in this important particular the right of self-government.
+In accordance with this view of the Federal Constitution has been the
+practice under it. The statements and recommendations of the President
+to Congress are regarded by this Government as a part of the purely
+domestic consultations held by its different departments--consultations
+in which nothing is addressed to foreign powers, and in which they can
+not be permitted to interfere, and for which, until consummated and
+carried out by acts emanating from the proper constitutional organs,
+the nation is not responsible and the Government not liable to account
+to other States.
+
+It will be seen from the accompanying correspondence that when the
+condition referred to was first proposed in the Chamber of Deputies the
+insuperable objections to it were fully communicated by the American
+minister at Paris to the French Government, and that he distinctly
+informed it that the condition, if prescribed, could never be complied
+with. The views expressed by him were approved by the President, and
+have been since twice asserted and enforced by him in his messages to
+Congress in terms proportioned in their explicitness and solemnity to
+the conviction he entertains of the importance and inviolability of the
+principle involved.
+
+The United States can not yield this principle, nor can they do or
+consent to any measure by which its influence in the action of their
+political system can be obstructed or diminished. Under these
+circumstances the President feels that he may rely on the intelligence
+and liberality of His Britannic Majesty's Government for a correct
+estimation of the imperative obligations which leave him no power to
+subject this point to the control of any foreign state, whatever may be
+his confidence in its justice and impartiality--a confidence which he
+has taken pleasure in instructing the undersigned to state is fully
+reposed by him in the Government of His Britannic Majesty.
+
+So great, however, is the desire of the President for the restoration of
+a good understanding with the Government of France, provided it can be
+effected on terms compatible with the honor and independence of the
+United States, that if, after the frank avowal of his sentiments upon
+the point last referred to and the explicit reservation of that point,
+the Government of His Britannic Majesty shall believe that its mediation
+can be useful in adjusting the differences which exist between the two
+countries and in restoring all their relations to a friendly footing, he
+instructs the undersigned to inform Mr. Bankhead that in such case the
+offer of mediation made in his note is cheerfully accepted.
+
+The United States desire nothing but equal and exact justice, and they
+can not but hope that the good offices of a third power, friendly to
+both parties, and prompted by the elevated considerations manifested
+in Mr. Bankhead's note, may promote the attainment of this end.
+
+Influenced by these motives, the President will cordially cooperate,
+so far as his constitutional powers may enable him, in such steps as
+may be requisite on the part of the United States to give effect to the
+proposed mediation. He trusts that no unnecessary delay will be allowed
+to occur, and instructs the undersigned to request that the earliest
+information of the measures taken by Great Britain and of their result
+may be communicated to this Government.
+
+The undersigned avails himself of the occasion to renew to Mr. Bankhead
+the assurances of his distinguished consideration.
+
+JOHN FORSYTH.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _February 15, 1836_.
+
+Hon. JOHN FORSYTH, etc.:
+
+The undersigned, His Britannic Majesty's charge d'affaires, with
+reference to his note of the 27th of last month, has the honor to inform
+Mr. Forsyth, Secretary of State of the United States, that he has been
+instructed by his Government to state that the British Government has
+received a communication from that of France which fulfills the wishes
+that impelled His Britannic Majesty to offer his mediation for the
+purpose of effecting an amicable adjustment of the difference between
+France and the United States.
+
+The French Government has stated to that of His Majesty that the frank
+and honorable manner in which the President has in his recent message
+expressed himself with regard to the points of difference between the
+Governments of France and of the United States has removed those
+difficulties, upon the score of national honor, which have hitherto
+stood in the way of the prompt execution by France of the treaty of the
+4th July, 1831, and that consequently the French Government is now ready
+to pay the installment which is due on account of the American indemnity
+whenever the payment of that installment shall be claimed by the
+Government of the United States.
+
+The French Government has also stated that it made this communication
+to that of Great Britain not regarding the British Government as a
+formal mediator, since its offer of mediation had then reached only the
+Government of France, by which it had been accepted, but looking upon
+the British Government as a common friend of the two parties, and
+therefore as a natural channel of communication between them.
+
+The undersigned is further instructed to express the sincere pleasure
+which is felt by the British Government at the prospect thus afforded of
+an amicable termination of a difference which has produced a temporary
+estrangement between two nations who have so many interests in common,
+and who are so entitled to the friendship and esteem of each other; and
+the undersigned has also to assure Mr. Forsyth that it has afforded the
+British Government the most lively satisfaction to have been upon this
+occasion the channel of a communication which they trust will lead to
+the complete restoration of friendly relations between the United States
+and France.
+
+The undersigned has great pleasure in renewing to Mr. Forsyth the
+assurances of his most distinguished consideration.
+
+CHARLES BANKHEAD.
+
+
+
+DEPARTMENT OF STATE,
+
+_Washington, February 16, 1836_.
+
+CHARLES BANKHEAD, Esq.:
+
+The undersigned, Secretary of State of the United States, has had the
+honor to receive Mr. Bankhead's note of the 15th instant, in which he
+states by the instructions of his Government that the British Government
+have received a communication from that of France which fulfills the
+wishes that impelled His Britannic Majesty to offer his mediation for
+the purpose of effecting an amicable adjustment of the differences
+between France and the United States; that the French Government, being
+satisfied with the frank and honorable manner in which the President has
+in his recent message expressed himself in regard to the points of
+difference between the two Governments, is ready to pay the installment
+due on account of the American indemnity whenever it shall be claimed by
+the Government of the United States, and that this communication is made
+to the Government of Great Britain not as a formal mediator, but as a
+common friend of both parties.
+
+The undersigned has submitted this note of His Britannic Majesty's
+charge d'affaires to the President, and is instructed to reply that the
+President has received this information with the highest satisfaction--a
+satisfaction as sincere as was his regret at the unexpected occurrence
+of the difficulty created by the erroneous impressions heretofore made
+upon the national sensibility of France. By the fulfillment of the
+obligations of the convention between the two Governments the great
+cause of difference will be removed, and the President anticipates
+that the benevolent and magnanimous wishes of His Britannic Majesty's
+Government will be speedily realized, as the temporary estrangement
+between the two nations who have so many common interests will no doubt
+be followed by the restoration of their ancient ties of friendship and
+esteem.
+
+The President has further instructed the undersigned to express to His
+Britannic Majesty's Government his sensibility at the anxious desire
+it has displayed to preserve the relations of peace between the United
+States and France, and the exertions it was prepared to make to
+effectuate that object, so essential to the prosperity and congenial
+to the wishes of the two nations and to the repose of the world.
+
+Leaving His Majesty's Government to the consciousness of the elevated
+motives which have governed its conduct and to the universal respect
+which must be secured to it, the President is satisfied that no
+expressions, however strong, of his own feelings can be appropriately
+used which could add to the gratification afforded to His Majesty's
+Government at being the channel of communication to preserve peace and
+restore good will between differing nations, each of whom is its friend.
+
+The undersigned avails himself of this occasion to renew to Mr. Bankhead
+the assurance of his distinguished consideration.
+
+JOHN FORSYTH.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _February 23, 1836_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I transmit herewith a report of the Secretary of War, on the progress
+of the improvement of Red River, furnishing information in addition to
+that communicated with my message at the opening of the present session
+of Congress.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+[The same letter was addressed to the Speaker of the House of
+Representatives.]
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _February 25, 1836_.
+
+_To the Senate_:
+
+I transmit to the Senate a report[15] from the Secretary of State,
+complying as far as practicable with their resolution of the 16th
+instant.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+[Footnote 15: Relating to claims for spoliations under the French treaty
+of 1831.]
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _February 29, 1836_.
+
+_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_:
+
+I transmit a report of the Secretary of State, communicating an
+application from the charge d'affaires of Portugal for the passage by
+Congress of a special act abolishing discriminating duties upon the
+cargoes of Portuguese vessels imported into the United States from those
+parts of the dominions of Portugal in which no discriminating duties
+are charged upon the vessels of the United States or their cargoes, and
+providing for a return of the discriminating duties which have been
+exacted upon the cargoes of Portuguese vessels thus circumstanced since
+the 18th of April, 1834. I also transmit a copy of the correspondence
+which has taken place upon the subject between the Department of State
+and the charge d'affaires of Portugal.
+
+The whole matter is submitted to the discretion of Congress, with this
+suggestion, that if an act should be passed placing the cargoes of
+Portuguese vessels coming from certain parts of the territories of
+Portugal on the footing of those imported in vessels of the United
+States, in deciding upon the propriety of restoring the duties
+heretofore levied and the time to which they should be restored regard
+should be had to the fact that the decree of the 18th April, 1834, which
+is made the basis of the present application, took effect in the islands
+of Madeira and the Azores many months after its promulgation, and to the
+more important fact that until the 1st of February instant an indirect
+advantage was allowed in Portugal to importations from Great Britain
+over those from other countries, including the United States.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+DEPARTMENT OF STATE,
+
+_February 27, 1836_.
+
+The PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES:
+
+The undersigned, Secretary of State, has the honor to report to the
+President that official information was received at this Department some
+time since from the charge d'affaires of Portugal of the abolition of
+all discriminating duties upon the cargoes of foreign vessels, including
+those of the United States, imported into Lisbon and Oporto, by a decree
+of the Portuguese Government promulgated on the 18th of April, 1834,
+the operation of which decree was stated by the charge to extend to the
+island of Madeira. Upon the strength of this decree he applied, by order
+of his Government, for the suspension, under the fourth section of the
+act of Congress of January 7, 1824, of discriminating duties upon the
+cargoes of Portuguese vessels imported into the United States; but
+being informed that the act alluded to was inapplicable by reason that
+discriminating duties upon the cargoes of American vessels still existed
+in a part of the dominions of Portugal, he has requested that the
+principle acted upon in regard to Holland may be extended to Portugal,
+and that discriminating duties may be abolished in respect to Portugal
+proper, the Madeira Islands, the Azores, and such other parts of the
+Portuguese dominions wherein no discriminating duty is levied upon
+the vessels of the United States or their cargoes. This request is
+accompanied by a suggestion that unless some such reciprocity is
+established the benefits of the decree of April, 1834, will be withdrawn
+so far as respects this country. Application is also made for a return
+of the discriminating duties which have been collected since the
+promulgation of the said decree from the vessels of Portugal arriving
+in the United States from any of the ports embraced by that decree.
+In reference to this point it is proper to state that it does not appear
+that the force or operation of the decree referred to of the 18th April,
+1834, was extended by any official act of the Portuguese Government to
+the islands of Madeira or the Azores until February or April, 1835.
+It is also to be observed that, notwithstanding the abolition by that
+decree of discriminating duties upon the importation of goods into
+Portugal from foreign countries, an exemption existed until the 1st of
+February instant, according to information received from our charge
+d'affaires at Lisbon, in favor of various articles when imported from
+Great Britain, from an excise duty which was exacted upon the same
+articles when imported from other foreign countries or produced or
+manufactured at home. This exemption was granted in pursuance of the
+construction given to a stipulation contained in the late treaty
+between Portugal and Great Britain, and ceased, together with that
+treaty, on the 1st day of the present month.
+
+The undersigned has the honor to transmit with this report a copy of the
+correspondence between the Department and the charge d'affaires of
+Portugal upon which it is founded.
+
+JOHN FORSYTH.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _February 29, 1836_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State, correcting an
+error made in the report recently communicated to the Senate in answer
+to the resolution of the 16th instant, respecting the number and amount
+of claims for spoliations presented to the commissioners under the
+French treaty of 1831 which were rejected.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _March 5, 1836_.
+
+_To the Senate_:
+
+I submit to the Senate, for their advice and consent as to the
+ratification of the same, the treaty and the supplement to it recently
+concluded with the Cherokee Indians.
+
+The papers referred to in the accompanying communication from the
+Secretary of War as necessary to a full view of the whole subject are
+also herewith submitted.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _March 7, 1836_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I transmit to the Senate, for their consideration with a view to its
+ratification, a treaty of peace, amity, navigation, and commerce between
+the United States and the Republic of Venezuela, concluded and signed by
+their plenipotentiaries at the city of Caracas on the 20th of January
+last.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _March 10, 1836_.
+
+_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:
+
+I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State, communicating
+the proceedings of a convention assembled at Little Rock, in the
+Territory of Arkansas, for the purpose of forming a constitution and
+system of government for the State of Arkansas. The constitution adopted
+by this convention and the documents accompanying it, referred to in the
+report from the Secretary of State, are respectfully submitted to the
+consideration of Congress.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _April 1, 1836_.
+
+_To the Senate_:
+
+I transmit herewith to the Senate, for their advice and consent as
+to its ratification, a treaty concluded with the Ottawa and Chippewa
+Indians.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _April 8, 1836_.
+
+_To the Senate_:
+
+I transmit herewith reports from the Secretaries of the War and Navy
+Departments, to whom were referred the resolutions adopted by the Senate
+on the 18th of February last, requesting information of the probable
+amount of appropriations that would be necessary to place the land and
+naval defenses of the country upon a proper footing of strength and
+respectability.
+
+In respect to that branch of the subject which falls more particularly
+under the notice of the Secretary of War, and in the consideration of
+which he has arrived at conclusions differing from those contained in
+the report from the Engineer Bureau, I think it proper to add my
+concurrence in the views expressed by the Secretary.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _April 12, 1836_.
+
+_To the Senate_:
+
+I transmit herewith a report[16] from the Secretary of War,
+communicating the original letter from Major Davis and the statements
+which accompany it, referred to in the resolution of the Senate of the
+8th instant.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+[Footnote 16: Relating to the treaty of December 29, 1835, with the
+Cherokee Indians.]
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _April 27, 1836_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I transmit herewith to the Senate, for their advice and consent as
+to the ratification of the same, a treaty concluded with the Wyandot
+Indians for a cession of a portion of their reservation in the State
+of Ohio.
+
+In order to prevent any abuse of the power granted to the chiefs in the
+fifth article of the treaty, I recommend the adoption of the suggestion
+contained in the accompanying letter of the Secretary of War; otherwise
+I shall not feel satisfied in approving that article.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _April 29, 1836_.
+
+_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:
+
+It affords me pleasure to transmit to Congress a copy of the Catalogue
+of the Arundel Manuscripts in the British Museum, which has been
+forwarded to me, as will be perceived from the inclosed letter, on
+behalf of the trustees of that institution, for the purpose of being
+placed in the United States library.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:
+
+Believing that the act of the 12th July, 1832, does not enable the
+Executive to carry into effect the recently negotiated additional article
+to the treaty of limits with Mexico, I transmit to Congress copies of
+that article, that the necessary legislative provision may be made for
+its faithful execution on the part of the United States.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+MAY 6, 1836.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _May 10, 1836_.
+
+_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:
+
+Information has been received at the Treasury Department that the four
+installments under our treaty with France have been paid to the agent of
+the United States. In communicating this satisfactory termination of our
+controversy with France, I feel assured that both Houses of Congress
+will unite with me in desiring and believing that the anticipations of a
+restoration of the ancient cordial relations between the two countries,
+expressed in my former messages on this subject, will be speedily
+realized.
+
+No proper exertion of mine shall be wanting to efface the remembrance of
+those misconceptions that have temporarily interrupted the accustomed
+intercourse between them.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _May 14, 1836_.
+
+_To the House of Representatives_:
+
+In compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives of the
+10th instant, I transmit reports[17] from the Secretaries of State and
+War, with the papers accompanying the same.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+[Footnote 17: Relating to affairs with Mexico.]
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _May 14, 1836_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I transmit, for the consideration of the Senate, three treaties
+concluded with certain bands of Pottawatamie Indians in the State
+of Indiana.
+
+I transmit also a report from the Secretary of War, inclosing the
+instructions under which these treaties were negotiated.
+
+I would remark that the fourth article of each treaty provides for the
+appointment of a commissioner and the payment of the debts due by the
+Indians. There is no limitation upon the amount of these debts, though
+it is obvious from these instructions that the commissioner should have
+limited the amount to be applied to this object; otherwise the whole
+fund might be exhausted and the Indians left without the means of
+living. I therefore recommend either that the Senate limit the amount
+at their discretion or that they provide by resolution that the whole
+purchase money be paid to the Indians, leaving to them the adjustment
+of their debts.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _May 21, 1836_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I transmit herewith two treaties concluded with bands of Pottawatamies
+in the State of Indiana, with accompanying papers, for the consideration
+and action of the Senate.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _May 26, 1836_.
+
+_To the House of Representatives_:
+
+I transmit, in conformity with a resolution of the House of
+Representatives of the 21st instant, a report of the Secretary of War,
+containing the information called for on the subject of the causes of
+the hostilities of the Seminoles and the measures taken to repress them.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _May 27, 1836_.
+
+_To the House of Representatives_:
+
+In further compliance with so much of the resolution of the House of
+Representatives of the 21st instant as calls for an account of the
+causes of the hostilities of the Seminole Indians, I transmit a
+supplementary report from the Secretary of War.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _May 28, 1836_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I transmit herewith, for the consideration and action of the Senate,
+a treaty concluded on the 24th instant with the Chippewa Indians of
+Saganaw.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _May 31, 1836_.
+
+_To the Senate_:
+
+I transmit herewith the response of Samuel Gwin, esq.,[18] to the charges
+affecting his official conduct and character which were set forth in the
+evidence taken under the authority of the Senate by the Committee on
+Public Lands, and which was referred to the President by the resolution
+of the Senate bearing date the 3d day of March, 1835. This resolution
+and the evidence it refers to were officially communicated to Mr. Gwin
+by the Secretary of the Treasury, and the response of Mr. Gwin has been
+received through the same official channel.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+[Footnote 18: Register of the land office for the northwestern district
+of Mississippi.]
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _June 1, 1836_.
+
+_To the Senate_:
+
+I transmit herewith to the Senate a communication which has been
+received from Mr. B.F. Currey[19] in answer to a call made upon him by
+the President, through the War Department, in consequence of the serious
+charges which were preferred against him by one of the honorable members
+of the Senate. It seems to be due to justice that the Senate should be
+furnished, agreeably to the request of Mr. Currey, with the explanations
+contained in this communication, particularly as they are deemed so far
+satisfactory as would render his dismissal or even censure undeserved
+and improper.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+[Footnote 19: Agent for the removal of the Cherokee Indians.]
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _June 3, 1836_.
+
+_To the Senate_:
+
+In compliance with the resolution of the Senate of the 27th ultimo,
+requesting the President to inform the Senate "whether any increase or
+improvement of organization is needed in the Ordnance Corps," I have
+to state that I entertain no doubt of the propriety of increasing the
+corps, and that I concur in the plan proposed for this purpose in the
+accompanying report from the Secretary of War.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _June 3, 1836_.
+
+_To the House of Representatives_:
+
+I transmit herewith a supplemental report from the War Department, in
+answer to the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 21st
+ultimo, calling for information respecting the causes of the Seminole
+hostilities and the measures taken to suppress them.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _June 3, 1836_.
+
+_To the House of Representatives_:
+
+I herewith transmit a report from the Secretary of the Treasury, in
+relation to the injuries sustained by the bridge across the Potomac
+River during the recent extraordinary rise of water, and would
+respectfully recommend to the early attention of Congress the
+legislation, therein suggested.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _June 14, 1836_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I transmit a report of the Secretary of State, prepared in compliance
+with the resolution of the Senate of the 11th instant, upon the subject
+of the depredations of the Mexicans on the property of Messrs. Chouteau
+and Demun.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _June 15, 1836_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I communicate to the Senate a report from the Secretary of State, with a
+copy of the correspondence requested by a resolution of the 21st ultimo,
+relative to the northeastern boundary of the United States.
+
+At the last session of Congress I felt it my duty to decline complying
+with a request made by the House of Representatives for copies of this
+correspondence, feeling, as I did, that it would be inexpedient to
+publish it while the negotiation was pending; but as the negotiation was
+undertaken under the special advice of the Senate, I deem it improper to
+withhold the information which that body has requested, submitting to
+them to decide whether it will be expedient to publish the
+correspondence before the negotiation has been closed.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _June 23, 1836_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+In compliance with a resolution of the Senate of the 18th instant,
+I transmit a report[20] from the Secretary of State, with the papers
+therewith presented. Not having accurate and detailed information of the
+civil, military, and political condition of Texas, I have deemed it
+expedient to take the necessary measures, now in progress, to procure it
+before deciding upon the course to be pursued in relation to the newly
+declared government.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+[Footnote 20: Relating to the political condition of Texas, the
+organization of its Government, and its capacity to maintain its
+independence, etc.]
+
+
+
+JUNE 28, 1836.
+
+_To the House of Representatives_:
+
+I transmit to the House of Representatives a report from the Secretary
+of War, conveying the information called for by the House in its
+resolution of yesterday, concerning the Cherokee treaty recently
+ratified.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _June 28, 1836_.
+
+_To the Senate_:
+
+As it is probable that it may be proper to send a minister to Paris
+prior to the next meeting of Congress, I nominate Lewis Cass, now
+Secretary for the Department of War, to be envoy extraordinary and
+minister plenipotentiary to France, not to be commissioned until notice
+has been received here that the Government of France has appointed a
+minister to the United States who is about to set out for Washington.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _June 30, 1836_.
+
+_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:
+
+It becomes my painful duty to announce to you the melancholy
+intelligence of the death of James Madison, ex-President of the United
+States. He departed this life at half past 6 o'clock on the morning of
+the 28th instant, full of years and full of honors.
+
+I hasten this communication in order that Congress may adopt such
+measures as may be proper to testify their sense of the respect which is
+due to the memory of one whose life has contributed so essentially to
+the happiness and glory of his country and the good of mankind.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:
+
+I transmit to Congress copies of a treaty of peace, friendship,
+navigation, and commerce between the United States and the Republic of
+Venezuela, concluded on the 20th of January, and the ratifications of
+which were exchanged at Caracas on the 31st of May last.
+
+
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+JUNE 30, 1836.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _June 30, 1836_.
+
+_To the House of Representatives_:
+
+I return to the House of Representatives the papers which accompanied
+their resolution of the 6th of May last, relative to the claim of Don
+Juan Madrazo, together with a report of the Secretary of State and
+copies of a correspondence between him and the Attorney-General, showing
+the grounds upon which that officer declines giving the opinion
+requested by the resolution.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _July 1, 1836_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+In answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 21st January last,
+I transmit a report[21] of the Secretary of War, containing the copies
+called for so far as relates to his Department.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+[Footnote 21: Relating to frauds in sales of public lands or Indian
+reservations.]
+
+
+
+
+VETO MESSAGE.
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _June 9, 1836_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+The act of Congress "to appoint a day for the annual meeting of
+Congress," which originated in the Senate, has not received my
+signature. The power of Congress to fix by law a day for the regular
+annual meeting of Congress is undoubted, but the concluding part of
+this act, which is intended to fix the adjournment of every succeeding
+Congress to the second Monday in May after the commencement of the first
+session, does not appear to me in accordance with the provisions of the
+Constitution of the United States.
+
+The Constitution provides, Article I, section 5, that--
+
+
+  Neither House, during the session of Congress, shall, without the
+  consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any
+  other place than that in which the two Houses shall be sitting.
+
+
+Article I, section 7, that--
+
+
+  Every order, resolution, or vote to which the concurrence of the Senate
+  and House of Representatives may be necessary (except on a question of
+  adjournment) shall be presented to the President of the United States,
+  and before the same shall take effect shall be approved by him. ...
+
+
+Article II, section 3, that--
+
+
+  He [the President] may, on extraordinary occasions convene both Houses,
+  or either of them, and in case of disagreement between them with respect
+  to the time of adjournment he may adjourn them to such time as he shall
+  think proper. ...
+
+
+According to these provisions the day of the adjournment of Congress
+is not the subject of legislative enactment. Except in the event of
+disagreement between the Senate and House of Representatives, the
+President has no right to meddle with the question, and in that event
+his power is exclusive, but confined to fixing the adjournment of the
+Congress whose branches have disagreed. The question of adjournment is
+obviously to be decided by each Congress for itself, by the separate
+action of each House for the time being, and is one of those subjects
+upon which the framers of that instrument did not intend one Congress
+should act, with or without the Executive aid, for its successors.
+As a substitute for the present rule, which requires the two Houses by
+consent to fix the day of adjournment, and in the event of disagreement
+the President to decide, it is proposed to fix a day by law to be
+binding in all future time unless changed by consent of both Houses of
+Congress, and to take away the contingent power of the Executive which
+in anticipated cases of disagreement is vested in him. This substitute
+is to apply, not to the present Congress and Executive, but to our
+successors. Considering, therefore, that this subject exclusively
+belongs to the two Houses of Congress whose day of adjournment is to be
+fixed, and that each has at that time the right to maintain and insist
+upon its own opinion, and to require the President to decide in the
+event of disagreement with the other, I am constrained to deny my
+sanction to the act herewith respectfully returned to the Senate.
+I do so with greater reluctance as, apart from this constitutional
+difficulty, the other provisions of it do not appear to me
+objectionable.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+
+PROCLAMATION.
+
+
+[From Statutes at Large (little, Brown & Co.), Vol. XI, p. 782.]
+
+BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
+
+A PROCLAMATION.
+
+Whereas by an act of 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 hereby
+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 the
+Government of His Imperial and Royal Highness the Grand Duke of Tuscany,
+through an official communication of Baron Lederer, the consul-general
+of His Imperial and Royal Highness in the United States, under date of
+the 6th day of August, 1836, that no discriminating duties of tonnage
+or impost are imposed or levied in the ports of Tuscany 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:
+
+Now, therefore, I, Andrew Jackson, President of the United States of
+America, do hereby declare and proclaim 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 Grand
+Dukedom of Tuscany and the produce, manufactures, or merchandise
+imported into the United States in the same from the said Grand Dukedom
+or from any other foreign country, the said suspension to take effect
+from the 6th day of August, 1836, above mentioned, 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. Given under my hand, at the city of Washington, the 1st day
+of September, A.D. 1836, and of the Independence of the United States
+the sixty-first.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+By the President:
+  JOHN FORSYTH,
+    _Secretary of State_.
+
+
+
+
+EXECUTIVE ORDER.
+
+
+HERMITAGE, _August 7, 1836_.
+
+C.A. HARRIS, Esq.,
+
+_Acting Secretary of War_.
+
+SIR: I reached home on the evening of the 4th, and was soon surrounded
+with the papers and letters which had been sent here in anticipation of
+my arrival. Amongst other important matters which immediately engaged my
+attention was the requisition of General Gaines on Tennessee, Kentucky,
+Mississippi, and Louisiana. Believing that the reasons given for this
+requisition were not consistent with the neutrality which it is our
+duty to observe in respect to the contest in Texas, and that it would
+embarrass the apportionment which had been made of the 10,000 volunteers
+authorized by the recent act of Congress, I informed Governor Cannon by
+letter on the 5th instant that it could not receive my sanction. The
+volunteers authorized by Congress were thought competent, with the aid
+of the regular force, to terminate the Indian war in the South and
+protect our western frontier, and they were apportioned in a manner
+the best calculated to secure these objects. Agreeably to this
+apportionment, the volunteers raised in Arkansas and Missouri, and
+ordered to be held in readiness for the defense of the western frontier,
+should have been called on before any other requisition was made upon
+Tennessee, who has already more than her proportion in the field. Should
+an emergency hereafter arise making it necessary to have a greater force
+on that frontier than was anticipated when the apportionment was made,
+it will be easy to order the east Tennessee brigade there. All the
+volunteers under the act are engaged for one year's service, unless
+sooner discharged. Taking this view of the subject, I regret that as
+soon as the War Department had information of the requisition made by
+General Gaines it had not at once notified the governors of the States
+that the apportionment of the volunteers at first communicated to them
+would not be departed from, and that of course those in the States
+nearest to the scene of threatened hostility would be first called on.
+
+I had written thus far when your letter of the 26th of July last,
+accompanied by one from General Wool of the 15th of July and one from
+General Towsen of the 25th of July last, was handed to me. The letter
+from General Wool was unexpected. His guide was the requisition on
+the State, and I can not well imagine how he could suppose that the
+Department would authorize a greater number of troops to be mustered and
+paid than he was specially directed to receive. He was apprised fully of
+the apportionment which had been made of the 10,000 volunteers, and of
+the considerations which induced us to require 1,000 from Florida, 2,000
+from Georgia, 2,000 from Alabama, and 2,500 from Tennessee. This force
+was designated in this manner because it was in the country nearest to
+the Seminoles, Creeks, and Cherokees, and in like manner near the force
+designated for the western frontier, except a fraction of about 430 men
+to be hereafter selected when it should be ascertained where it would be
+most needed. It is therefore unaccountable to me why General Wool would
+receive and muster into the service a greater number than has been
+called for and placed under his command, particularly as he knew that
+Tennessee had already been called upon for more volunteers than her
+proportion in the general apportionment. He knows that the President
+can only execute the law, and he ought to have recollected that if the
+officers charged with the military operations contemplated by the law
+were to use their own discretion in fixing the number of men to be
+received and mustered into the service there could be no certainty in
+the amount of force which would be brought into the field. His guide
+was the requisition upon Tennessee for 2,500, and he should never have
+departed from it.
+
+The brave men whose patriotism brought them into the field ought to be
+paid, but I seriously doubt whether any of the money now appropriated
+can be used for this purpose, as all the volunteers authorized by the
+act of Congress have been apportioned, and the appropriations should
+be first applicable to their payment if they should be ordered into
+the field. All that we can do is to bring the subject before the next
+Congress, which I trust will pass an act authorizing the payment. Those
+men obeyed the summons of their country, and ought not to suffer for the
+indiscretion of those who caused more of them to turn out than could be
+received into the service. The excess would have been avoided had the
+governor of Tennessee apportioned his requisition to each county or
+regiment, so as to make the proper number. This, however, can now only
+be regretted. I can not approve the mustering or reception into the
+service of the excess further than it may have been done to secure them
+hereafter the justice which it will be in the power of Congress to
+extend to them. They ought to be paid for their travel and expense to,
+at, and from the place of rendezvous, and Congress will doubtless pass
+the necessary law. Their promptness in tendering their services and
+equipping themselves for the field is a high evidence of patriotism,
+and the thanks of their country.
+
+I shall inclose a copy of this letter to General Wool, and write to the
+governors of Kentucky, Mississippi, and Louisiana to withhold for the
+present the quota called for under General Gaines's requisition, and if
+they are concentrated to muster and discharge them and wait for further
+orders.
+
+I am, yours, respectfully,
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+
+EIGHTH ANNUAL MESSAGE.
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _December 5, 1836_.
+
+_Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives_:
+
+Addressing to you the last annual message I shall ever present to the
+Congress of the United States, it is a source of the most heartfelt
+satisfaction to be able to congratulate you on the high state of
+prosperity which our beloved country has attained. With no causes at
+home or abroad to lessen the confidence with which we look to the future
+for continuing proofs of the capacity of our free institutions to
+produce all the fruits of good government, the general condition of our
+affairs may well excite our national pride.
+
+I can not avoid congratulating you, and my country particularly, on the
+success of the efforts made during my Administration by the Executive
+and Legislature, in conformity with the sincere, constant, and earnest
+desire of the people, to maintain peace and establish cordial relations
+with all foreign powers. Our gratitude is due to the Supreme Ruler of
+the Universe, and I invite you to unite with me in offering to Him
+fervent supplications that His providential care may ever be extended to
+those who follow us, enabling them to avoid the dangers and the horrors
+of war consistently with a just and indispensable regard to the rights
+and honor of our country. But although the present state of our foreign
+affairs, standing, without important change, as they did when you
+separated in July last, is flattering in the extreme, I regret to say
+that many questions of an interesting character, at issue with other
+powers, are yet unadjusted. Amongst the most prominent of these is that
+of our northeastern boundary. With an undiminished confidence in the
+sincere desire of His Britannic Majesty's Government to adjust that
+question, I am not yet in possession of the precise grounds upon which
+it proposes a satisfactory adjustment.
+
+With France our diplomatic relations have been resumed, and under
+circumstances which attest the disposition of both Governments to
+preserve a mutually beneficial intercourse and foster those amicable
+feelings which are so strongly required by the true interests of the two
+countries. With Russia, Austria, Prussia, Naples, Sweden, and Denmark
+the best understanding exists, and our commercial intercourse is
+gradually expanding itself with them. It is encouraged in all these
+countries, except Naples, by their mutually advantageous and liberal
+treaty stipulations with us.
+
+The claims of our citizens on Portugal are admitted to be just, but
+provision for the payment of them has been unfortunately delayed by
+frequent political changes in that Kingdom.
+
+The blessings of peace have not been secured by Spain. Our connections
+with that country are on the best footing, with the exception of the
+burdens still imposed upon our commerce with her possessions out of
+Europe.
+
+The claims of American citizens for losses sustained at the bombardment
+of Antwerp have been presented to the Governments of Holland and
+Belgium, and will be pressed, in due season, to settlement.
+
+With Brazil and all our neighbors of this continent we continue to
+maintain relations of amity and concord, extending our commerce with
+them as far as the resources of the people and the policy of their
+Governments will permit. The just and long-standing claims of our
+citizens upon some of them are yet sources of dissatisfaction and
+complaint. No danger is apprehended, however, that they will not be
+peacefully, although tardily, acknowledged and paid by all, unless the
+irritating effect of her struggle with Texas should unfortunately make
+our immediate neighbor, Mexico, an exception.
+
+It is already known to you, by the correspondence between the two
+Governments communicated at your last session, that our conduct in
+relation to that struggle is regulated by the same principles that
+governed us in the dispute between Spain and Mexico herself, and I trust
+that it will be found on the most severe scrutiny that our acts have
+strictly corresponded with our professions. That the inhabitants of the
+United States should feel strong prepossessions for the one party is
+not surprising. But this circumstance should of itself teach us great
+caution, lest it lead us into the great error of suffering public policy
+to be regulated by partiality or prejudice; and there are considerations
+connected with the possible result of this contest between the two
+parties of so much delicacy and importance to the United States that our
+character requires that we should neither anticipate events nor attempt
+to control them. The known desire of the Texans to become a part of
+our system, although its gratification depends upon the reconcilement
+of various and conflicting interests, necessarily a work of time
+and uncertain in itself, is calculated to expose our conduct to
+misconstruction in the eyes of the world. There are already those who,
+indifferent to principle themselves and prone to suspect the want of
+it in others, charge us with ambitious designs and insidious policy.
+You will perceive by the accompanying documents that the extraordinary
+mission from Mexico has been terminated on the sole ground that the
+obligations of this Government to itself and to Mexico, under treaty
+stipulations, have compelled me to trust a discretionary authority to
+a high officer of our Army to advance into territory claimed as part of
+Texas if necessary to protect our own or the neighboring frontier from
+Indian depredation. In the opinion of the Mexican functionary who has
+just left us, the honor of his country will be wounded by American
+soldiers entering, with the most amicable avowed purposes, upon ground
+from which the followers of his Government have been expelled, and over
+which there is at present no certainty of a serious effort on its part
+being made to reestablish its dominion. The departure of this minister
+was the more singular as he was apprised that the sufficiency of the
+causes assigned for the advance of our troops by the commanding general
+had been seriously doubted by me, and there was every reason to suppose
+that the troops of the United States, their commander having had time to
+ascertain the truth or falsehood of the information upon which they had
+been marched to Nacogdoches, would be either there in perfect accordance
+with the principles admitted to be just in his conference with the
+Secretary of State by the Mexican minister himself, or were already
+withdrawn in consequence of the impressive warnings their commanding
+officer had received from the Department of War. It is hoped and
+believed that his Government will take a more dispassionate and just
+view of this subject, and not be disposed to construe a measure of
+justifiable precaution, made necessary by its known inability in
+execution of the stipulations of our treaty to act upon the frontier,
+into an encroachment upon its rights or a stain upon its honor.
+
+In the meantime the ancient complaints of injustice made on behalf of
+our citizens are disregarded, and new causes of dissatisfaction have
+arisen, some of them of a character requiring prompt remonstrance and
+ample and immediate redress. I trust, however, by tempering firmness
+with courtesy and acting with great forbearance upon every incident that
+has occurred or that may happen, to do and to obtain justice, and thus
+avoid the necessity of again bringing this subject to the view of
+Congress.
+
+It is my duty to remind you that no provision has been made to execute
+our treaty with Mexico for tracing the boundary line between the two
+countries. Whatever may be the prospect of Mexico's being soon able
+to execute the treaty on its part, it is proper that we should be in
+anticipation prepared at all times to perform our obligations, without
+regard to the probable condition of those with whom we have contracted
+them.
+
+The result of the confidential inquiries made into the condition and
+prospects of the newly declared Texan Government will be communicated
+to you in the course of the session.
+
+Commercial treaties promising great advantages to our enterprising
+merchants and navigators have been formed with the distant Governments
+of Muscat and Siam. The ratifications have been exchanged, but have
+not reached the Department of State. Copies of the treaties will be
+transmitted to you if received before, or published if arriving after,
+the close of the present session of Congress.
+
+Nothing has occurred to interrupt the good understanding that has long
+existed with the Barbary Powers, nor to check the good will which is
+gradually growing up from our intercourse with the dominions of the
+Government of the distinguished chief of the Ottoman Empire.
+
+Information has been received at the Department of State that a treaty
+with the Emperor of Morocco has just been negotiated, which, I hope,
+will be received in time to be laid before the Senate previous to the
+close of the session.
+
+You will perceive from the report of the Secretary of the Treasury
+that the financial means of the country continue to keep pace with its
+improvement in all other respects. The receipts into the Treasury during
+the present year will amount to about $47,691,898; those from customs
+being estimated at $22,523,151, those from lands at about $24,000,000,
+and the residue from miscellaneous sources. The expenditures for all
+objects during the year are estimated not to exceed $32,000,000, which
+will leave a balance in the Treasury for public purposes on the 1st day
+of January next of about $41,723,959. This sum, with the exception of
+$5,000,000, will be transferred to the several States in accordance with
+the provisions of the act regulating the deposits of the public money.
+
+The unexpended balances of appropriation on the 1st day of January next
+are estimated at $14,636,062, exceeding by $9,636,062 the amount which
+will be left in the deposit banks, subject to the draft of the Treasurer
+of the United States, after the contemplated transfers to the several
+States are made. If, therefore, the future receipts should not be
+sufficient to meet these outstanding and future appropriations, there
+may be soon a necessity to use a portion of the funds deposited with
+the States.
+
+The consequences apprehended when the deposit act of the last session
+received a reluctant approval have been measurably realized. Though an
+act merely for the deposit of the surplus moneys of the United States in
+the State treasuries for safe-keeping until they may be wanted for the
+service of the General Government, it has been extensively spoken of
+as an act to give the money to the several States, and they have been
+advised to use it as a gift, without regard to the means of refunding
+it when called for. Such a suggestion has doubtless been made without
+a due consideration of the obligations of the deposit act, and without
+a proper attention to the various principles and interests which are
+affected by it. It is manifest that the law itself can not sanction
+such a suggestion, and that as it now stands the States have no more
+authority to receive and use these deposits without intending to return
+them than any deposit bank or any individual temporarily charged with
+the safe-keeping or application of the public money would now have for
+converting the same to their private use without the consent and against
+the will of the Government. But independently of the violation of public
+faith and moral obligation which are involved in this suggestion when
+examined in reference to the terms of the present deposit act, it
+is believed that the considerations which should govern the future
+legislation of Congress on this subject will be equally conclusive
+against the adoption of any measure recognizing the principles on
+which the suggestion has been made.
+
+Considering the intimate connection of the subject with the financial
+interests of the country and its great importance in whatever aspect
+it can be viewed, I have bestowed upon it the most anxious reflection,
+and feel it to be my duty to state to Congress such thoughts as have
+occurred to me, to aid their deliberation in treating it in the manner
+best calculated to conduce to the common good.
+
+The experience of other nations admonished us to hasten the
+extinguishment of the public debt; but it will be in vain that we have
+congratulated each other upon the disappearance of this evil if we do
+not guard against the equally great one of promoting the unnecessary
+accumulation of public revenue. No political maxim is better established
+than that which tells us that an improvident expenditure of money is the
+parent of profligacy, and that no people can hope to perpetuate their
+liberties who long acquiesce in a policy which taxes them for objects
+not necessary to the legitimate and real wants of their Government.
+Flattering as is the condition of our country at the present period,
+because of its unexampled advance in all the steps of social and
+political improvement, it can not be disguised that there is a lurking
+danger already apparent in the neglect of this warning truth, and that
+the time has arrived when the representatives of the people should be
+employed in devising some more appropriate remedy than now exists to
+avert it.
+
+Under our present revenue system there is every probability that there
+will continue to be a surplus beyond the wants of the Government, and it
+has become our duty to decide whether such a result be consistent with
+the true objects of our Government.
+
+Should a surplus be permitted to accumulate beyond the appropriations,
+it must be retained in the Treasury, as it now is, or distributed among
+the people or the States.
+
+To retain it in the Treasury unemployed in any way is impracticable; it
+is, besides, against the genius of our free institutions to lock up in
+vaults the treasure of the nation. To take from the people the right of
+bearing arms and put their weapons of defense in the hands of a standing
+army would be scarcely more dangerous to their liberties than to permit
+the Government to accumulate immense amounts of treasure beyond the
+supplies necessary to its legitimate wants. Such a treasure would
+doubtless be employed at some time, as it has been in other countries,
+when opportunity tempted ambition.
+
+To collect it merely for distribution to the States would seem to be
+highly impolitic, if not as dangerous as the proposition to retain it
+in the Treasury. The shortest reflection must satisfy everyone that to
+require the people to pay taxes to the Government merely that they may
+be paid back again is sporting with the substantial interests of the
+country, and no system which produces such a result can be expected to
+receive the public countenance. Nothing could be gained by it even if
+each individual who contributed a portion of the tax could receive back
+promptly the same portion. But it is apparent that no system of the kind
+can ever be enforced which will not absorb a considerable portion of
+the money to be distributed in salaries and commissions to the agents
+employed in the process and in the various losses and depreciations
+which arise from other causes, and the practical effect of such an
+attempt must ever be to burden the people with taxes, not for purposes
+beneficial to them, but to swell the profits of deposit banks and
+support a band of useless public officers.
+
+A distribution to the people is impracticable and unjust in other
+respects. It would be taking one man's property and giving it to
+another. Such would be the unavoidable result of a rule of equality
+(and none other is spoken of or would be likely to be adopted), inasmuch
+as there is no mode by which the amount of the individual contributions
+of our citizens to the public revenue can be ascertained. We know
+that they contribute _unequally_, and a rule, therefore, that would
+distribute to them _equally_ would be liable to all the objections
+which apply to the principle of an equal division of property. To make
+the General Government the instrument of carrying this odious principle
+into effect would be at once to destroy the means of its usefulness and
+change the character designed for it by the framers of the Constitution.
+
+But the more extended and injurious consequences likely to result
+from a policy which would collect a surplus revenue for the purpose of
+distributing it may be forcibly illustrated by an examination of the
+effects already produced by the present deposit act. This act, although
+certainly designed to secure the safe-keeping of the public revenue,
+is not entirely free in its tendencies from any of the objections which
+apply to this principle of distribution. The Government had without
+necessity received from the people a large surplus, which, instead
+of being employed as heretofore and returned to them by means of the
+public expenditure, was deposited with sundry banks. The banks proceeded
+to make loans upon this surplus, and thus converted it into banking
+capital, and in this manner it has tended to multiply bank charters
+and has had a great agency in producing a spirit of wild speculation.
+The possession and use of the property out of which this surplus was
+created belonged to the people, but the Government has transferred its
+possession to incorporated banks, whose interest and effort it is to
+make large profits out of its use. This process need only be stated
+to show its injustice and bad policy.
+
+And the same observations apply to the influence which is produced by
+the steps necessary to collect as well as to distribute such a revenue.
+About three-fifths of all the duties on imports are paid in the city
+of New York, but it is obvious that the means to pay those duties are
+drawn from every quarter of the Union. Every citizen in every State who
+purchases and consumes an article which has paid a duty at that port
+contributes to the accumulating mass. The surplus collected there must
+therefore be made up of moneys or property withdrawn from other points
+and other States. Thus the wealth and business of every region from
+which these surplus funds proceed must be to some extent injured, while
+that of the place where the funds are concentrated and are employed in
+banking are proportionably extended. But both in making the transfer
+of the funds which are first necessary to pay the duties and collect
+the surplus and in making the retransfer which becomes necessary when
+the time arrives for the distribution of that surplus there is a
+considerable period when the funds can not be brought into use, and it
+is manifest that, besides the loss inevitable from such an operation,
+its tendency is to produce fluctuations in the business of the country,
+which are always productive of speculation and detrimental to the
+interests of regular trade. Argument can scarcely be necessary to
+show that a measure of this character ought not to receive further
+legislative encouragement.
+
+By examining the practical operation of the ratio for distribution
+adopted in the deposit bill of the last session we shall discover other
+features that appear equally objectionable. Let it be assumed, for the
+sake of argument, that the surplus moneys to be deposited with the
+States have been collected and belong to them in the ratio of their
+federal representative population--an assumption founded upon the fact
+that any deficiencies in our future revenue from imposts and public
+lands must be made up by direct taxes collected from the States in that
+ratio. It is proposed to distribute this surplus--say $30,000,000--not
+according to the ratio in which it has been collected and belongs to
+the people of the States, but in that of their votes in the colleges of
+electors of President and Vice-President. The effect of a distribution
+upon that ratio is shown by the annexed table, marked A.
+
+By an examination of that table it will be perceived that in the
+distribution of a surplus of $30,000,000 upon that basis there is a
+great departure from the principle which regards representation as the
+true measure of taxation, and it will be found that the tendency of that
+departure will be to increase whatever inequalities have been supposed
+to attend the operation of our federal system in respect to its bearings
+upon the different interests of the Union. In making the basis of
+representation the basis of taxation the framers of the Constitution
+intended to equalize the burdens which are necessary to support the
+Government, and the adoption of that ratio, while it accomplished this
+object, was also the means of adjusting other great topics arising out
+of the conflicting views respecting the political equality of the
+various members of the Confederacy. Whatever, therefore, disturbs the
+liberal spirit of the compromises which established a rule of taxation
+so just and equitable, and which experience has proved to be so well
+adapted to the genius and habits of our people, should be received with
+the greatest caution and distrust.
+
+A bare inspection in the annexed table of the differences produced
+by the ratio used in the deposit act compared with the results of a
+distribution according to the ratio of direct taxation must satisfy
+every unprejudiced mind that the former ratio contravenes the spirit of
+the Constitution and produces a degree of injustice in the operations of
+the Federal Government which would be fatal to the hope of perpetuating
+it. By the ratio of direct taxation, for example, the State of Delaware
+in the collection of $30,000,000 of revenue would pay into the Treasury
+$188,716, and in a distribution of $30,000,000 she would receive back
+from the Government, according to the ratio of the deposit bill, the
+sum of $306,122; and similar results would follow the comparison between
+the small and the large States throughout the Union, thus realizing to
+the small States an advantage which would be doubtless as unacceptable
+to them as a motive for incorporating the principle in any system
+which would produce it as it would be inconsistent with the rights and
+expectations of the large States. It was certainly the intention of that
+provision of the Constitution which declares that "all duties, imposts,
+and excises" shall "be uniform throughout the United States" to make the
+burdens of taxation fall equally upon the people in whatever State of
+the Union they may reside. But what would be the value of such a uniform
+rule if the moneys raised by it could be immediately returned by a
+different one which will give to the people of some States much more
+and to those of others much less than their fair proportions? Were the
+Federal Government to exempt in express terms the imports, products,
+and manufactures of some portions of the country from all duties while
+it imposed heavy ones on others, the injustice could not be greater. It
+would be easy to show how by the operation of such a principle the large
+States of the Union would not only have to contribute their just share
+toward the support of the Federal Government, but also have to bear in
+some degree the taxes necessary to support the governments of their
+smaller sisters; but it is deemed unnecessary to state the details
+where the general principle is so obvious.
+
+A system liable to such objections can never be supposed to have
+been sanctioned by the framers of the Constitution when they conferred
+on Congress the taxing power, and I feel persuaded that a mature
+examination of the subject will satisfy everyone that there are
+insurmountable difficulties in the operation of any plan which can
+be devised of collecting revenue for the purpose of distributing it.
+Congress is only authorized to levy taxes "_to pay the debts and provide
+for the common defense and general welfare of the United States_." There
+is no such provision as would authorize Congress to collect together the
+property of the country, under the name of revenue, for the purpose of
+dividing it equally or unequally among the States or the people. Indeed,
+it is not probable that such an idea ever occurred to the States when
+they adopted the Constitution. But however this may be, the only safe
+rule for us in interpreting the powers granted to the Federal Government
+is to regard the absence of express authority to touch a subject so
+important and delicate as this is as equivalent to a prohibition.
+
+Even if our powers were less doubtful in this respect as the
+Constitution now stands, there are considerations afforded by recent
+experience which would seem to make it our duty to avoid a resort to
+such a system.
+
+All will admit that the simplicity and economy of the State governments
+mainly depend on the fact that money has to be supplied to support them
+by the same men, or their agents, who vote it away in appropriations.
+Hence when there are extravagant and wasteful appropriations there must
+be a corresponding increase of taxes, and the people, becoming awakened,
+will necessarily scrutinize the character of measures which thus
+increase their burdens. By the watchful eye of self-interest the agents
+of the people in the State governments are repressed and kept within
+the limits of a just economy. But if the necessity of levying the
+taxes be taken from those who make the appropriations and thrown upon
+a more distant and less responsible set of public agents, who have
+power to approach the people by an indirect and stealthy taxation,
+there is reason to fear that prodigality will soon supersede those
+characteristics which have thus far made us look with so much pride and
+confidence to the State governments as the mainstay of our Union and
+liberties. The State legislatures, instead of studying to restrict their
+State expenditures to the smallest possible sum, will claim credit
+for their profusion, and harass the General Government for increased
+supplies. Practically there would soon be but one taxing power, and
+that vested in a body of men far removed from the people, in which the
+farming and mechanic interests would scarcely be represented. The States
+would gradually lose their purity as well as their independence; they
+would not dare to murmur at the proceedings of the General Government,
+lest they should lose their supplies; all would be merged in a practical
+consolidation, cemented by widespread corruption, which could only
+be eradicated by one of those bloody revolutions which occasionally
+overthrow the despotic systems of the Old World. In all the other
+aspects in which I have been able to look at the effect of such a
+principle of distribution upon the best interests of the country I
+can see nothing to compensate for the disadvantages to which I have
+adverted. If we consider the protective duties, which are in a great
+degree the source of the surplus revenue, beneficial to one section of
+the Union and prejudicial to another, there is no corrective for the
+evil in such a plan of distribution. On the contrary, there is reason to
+fear that all the complaints which have sprung from this cause would be
+aggravated. Everyone must be sensible that a distribution of the surplus
+must beget a disposition to cherish the means which create it, and any
+system, therefore, into which it enters must have a powerful tendency to
+increase rather than diminish the tariff. If it were even admitted that
+the advantages of such a system could be made equal to all the sections
+of the Union, the reasons already so urgently calling for a reduction of
+the revenue would nevertheless lose none of their force, for it will
+always be improbable that an intelligent and virtuous community can
+consent to raise a surplus for the mere purpose of dividing it,
+diminished as it must inevitably be by the expenses of the various
+machinery necessary to the process.
+
+The safest and simplest mode of obviating all the difficulties which
+have been mentioned is to collect only revenue enough to meet the wants
+of the Government, and let the people keep the balance of their property
+in their own hands, to be used for their own profit. Each State will
+then support its own government and contribute its due share toward the
+support of the General Government. There would be no surplus to cramp
+and lessen the resources of individual wealth and enterprise, and the
+banks would be left to their ordinary means. Whatever agitations and
+fluctuations might arise from our unfortunate paper system, they could
+never be attributed, justly or unjustly, to the action of the Federal
+Government. There would be some guaranty that the spirit of wild
+speculation which seeks to convert the surplus revenue into banking
+capital would be effectually checked, and that the scenes of
+demoralization which are now so prevalent through the land would
+disappear.
+
+Without desiring to conceal that the experience and observation of the
+last two years have operated a partial change in my views upon this
+interesting subject, it is nevertheless regretted that the suggestions
+made by me in my annual messages of 1829 and 1830 have been greatly
+misunderstood. At that time the great struggle was begun against that
+latitudinarian construction of the Constitution which authorizes the
+unlimited appropriation of the revenues of the Union to internal
+improvements within the States, tending to invest in the hands and place
+under the control of the General Government all the principal roads and
+canals of the country, in violation of State rights and in derogation
+of State authority. At the same time the condition of the manufacturing
+interest was such as to create an apprehension that the duties on
+imports could not without extensive mischief be reduced in season to
+prevent the accumulation of a considerable surplus after the payment
+of the national debt. In view of the dangers of such a surplus, and in
+preference to its application to internal improvements in derogation of
+the rights and powers of the States, the suggestion of an amendment
+of the Constitution to authorize its distribution was made. It was an
+alternative for what were deemed greater evils--a temporary resort to
+relieve an overburdened treasury until the Government could, without
+a sudden and destructive revulsion in the business of the country,
+gradually return to the just principle of raising no more revenue from
+the people in taxes than is necessary for its economical support. Even
+that alternative was not spoken of but in connection with an amendment
+of the Constitution. No temporary inconvenience can justify the exercise
+of a prohibited power or a power not granted by that instrument, and
+it was from a conviction that the power to distribute even a temporary
+surplus of revenue is of that character that it was suggested only in
+connection with an appeal to the source of all legal power in the
+General Government, the States which have established it. No such
+appeal has been taken, and in my opinion a distribution of the surplus
+revenue by Congress either to the States or the people is to be
+considered as among the prohibitions of the Constitution. As already
+intimated, my views have undergone a change so far as to be convinced
+that no alteration of the Constitution in this respect is wise or
+expedient. The influence of an accumulating surplus upon the legislation
+of the General Government and the States, its effect upon the credit
+system of the country, producing dangerous extensions and ruinous
+contractions, fluctuations in the price of property, rash speculation,
+idleness, extravagance, and a deterioration of morals, have taught us
+the important lesson that any transient mischief which may attend the
+reduction of our revenue to the wants of our Government is to be borne
+in preference to an overflowing treasury.
+
+I beg leave to call your attention to another subject intimately
+associated with the preceding one--the currency of the country.
+
+It is apparent from the whole context of the Constitution, as well as
+the history of the times which gave birth to it, that it was the purpose
+of the Convention to establish a currency consisting of the precious
+metals. These, from their peculiar properties which rendered them the
+standard of value in all other countries, were adopted in this as well
+to establish its commercial standard in reference to foreign countries
+by a permanent rule as to exclude the use of a mutable medium of
+exchange, such as of certain agricultural commodities recognized by
+the statutes of some States as a tender for debts, or the still more
+pernicious expedient of a paper currency. The last, from the experience
+of the evils of the issues of paper during the Revolution, had become so
+justly obnoxious as not only to suggest the clause in the Constitution
+forbidding the emission of bills of credit by the States, but also to
+produce that vote in the Convention which negatived the proposition to
+grant power to Congress to charter corporations--a proposition well
+understood at the time as intended to authorize the establishment of a
+national bank, which was to issue a currency of bank notes on a capital
+to be created to some extent out of Government stocks. Although this
+proposition was refused by a direct vote of the Convention, the object
+was afterwards in effect obtained by its ingenious advocates through a
+strained construction of the Constitution. The debts of the Revolution
+were funded at prices which formed no equivalent compared with the
+nominal amount of the stock, and under circumstances which exposed the
+motives of some of those who participated in the passage of the act
+to distrust.
+
+The facts that the value of the stock was greatly enhanced by the
+creation of the bank, that it was well understood that such would be
+the case, and that some of the advocates of the measure were largely
+benefited by it belong to the history of the times, and are well
+calculated to diminish the respect which might otherwise have been
+due to the action of the Congress which created the institution.
+
+On the establishment of a national bank it became the interest of its
+creditors that gold should be superseded by the paper of the bank as a
+general currency. A value was soon attached to the gold coins which made
+their exportation to foreign countries as a mercantile commodity more
+profitable than their retention and use at home as money. It followed
+as a matter of course, if not designed by those who established the
+bank, that the bank became in effect a substitute for the Mint of the
+United States.
+
+Such was the origin of a national-bank currency, and such the beginning
+of those difficulties which now appear in the excessive issues of the
+banks incorporated by the various States.
+
+Although it may not be possible by any legislative means within our
+power to change at once the system which has thus been introduced, and
+has received the acquiescence of all portions of the country, it is
+certainly our duty to do all that is consistent with our constitutional
+obligations in preventing the mischiefs which are threatened by its
+undue extension. That the efforts of the fathers of our Government to
+guard against it by a constitutional provision were founded on an
+intimate knowledge of the subject has been frequently attested by the
+bitter experience of the country. The same causes which led them to
+refuse their sanction to a power authorizing the establishment of
+incorporations for banking purposes now exist in a much stronger degree
+to urge us to exert the utmost vigilance in calling into action the
+means necessary to correct the evils resulting from the unfortunate
+exercise of the power, and it is to be hoped that the opportunity for
+effecting this great good will be improved before the country witnesses
+new scenes of embarrassment and distress.
+
+Variableness must ever be the characteristic of a currency of which the
+precious metals are not the chief ingredient, or which can be expanded
+or contracted without regard to the principles that regulate the value
+of those metals as a standard in the general trade of the world. With us
+bank issues constitute such a currency, and must ever do so until they
+are made dependent on those just proportions of gold and silver as a
+circulating medium which experience has proved to be necessary not only
+in this but in all other commercial countries. Where those proportions
+are not infused into the circulation and do not control it, it is
+manifest that prices must vary according to the tide of bank issues,
+and the value and stability of property must stand exposed to all the
+uncertainty which attends the administration of institutions that are
+constantly liable to the temptation of an interest distinct from that
+of the community in which they are established.
+
+The progress of an expansion, or rather a depreciation, of the currency
+by excessive bank issues is always attended by a loss to the laboring
+classes. This portion of the community have neither time nor opportunity
+to watch the ebbs and flows of the money market. Engaged from day to day
+in their useful toils, they do not perceive that although their wages
+are nominally the same, or even somewhat higher, they are greatly
+reduced in fact by the rapid increase of a spurious currency, which, as
+it appears to make money abound, they are at first inclined to consider
+a blessing. It is not so with the speculator, by whom this operation
+is better understood, and is made to contribute to his advantage. It is
+not until the prices of the necessaries of life become so dear that the
+laboring classes can not supply their wants out of their wages that the
+wages rise and gradually reach a justly proportioned rate to that of the
+products of their labor. When thus, by the depreciation in consequence
+of the quantity of paper in circulation, wages as well as prices become
+exorbitant, it is soon found that the whole effect of the adulteration
+is a tariff on our home industry for the benefit of the countries where
+gold and silver circulate and maintain uniformity and moderation in
+prices. It is then perceived that the enhancement of the price of land
+and labor produces a corresponding increase in the price of products
+until these products do not sustain a competition with similar ones in
+other countries, and thus both manufactured and agricultural productions
+cease to bear exportation from the country of the spurious currency,
+because they can not be sold for cost. This is the process by which
+specie is banished by the paper of the banks. Their vaults are soon
+exhausted to pay for foreign commodities. The next step is a stoppage
+of specie payment--a total degradation of paper as a currency--unusual
+depression of prices, the ruin of debtors, and the accumulation of
+property in the hands of creditors and cautious capitalists.
+
+It was in view of these evils, together with the dangerous power wielded
+by the Bank of the United States and its repugnance to our Constitution,
+that I was induced to exert the power conferred upon me by the American
+people to prevent the continuance of that institution. But although
+various dangers to our republican institutions have been obviated by
+the failure of that bank to extort from the Government a renewal of
+its charter, it is obvious that little has been accomplished except a
+salutary change of public opinion toward restoring to the country the
+sound currency provided for in the Constitution. In the acts of several
+of the States prohibiting the circulation of small notes, and the
+auxiliary enactments of Congress at the last session forbidding their
+reception or payment on public account, the true policy of the country
+has been advanced and a larger portion of the precious metals infused
+into our circulating medium. These measures will probably be followed
+up in due time by the enactment of State laws banishing from
+circulation bank notes of still higher denominations, and the object
+may be materially promoted by further acts of Congress forbidding the
+employment as fiscal agents of such banks as continue to issue notes of
+low denominations and throw impediments in the way of the circulation
+of gold and silver.
+
+The effects of an extension of bank credits and overissues of bank
+paper have been strikingly illustrated in the sales of the public lands.
+From the returns made by the various registers and receivers in the
+early part of last summer it was perceived that the receipts arising
+from the sales of the public lands were increasing to an unprecedented
+amount. In effect, however, these receipts amounted to nothing more
+than credits in bank. The banks lent out their notes to speculators.
+They were paid to the receivers and immediately returned to the banks,
+to be lent out again and again, being mere instruments to transfer to
+speculators the most valuable public land and pay the Government by a
+credit on the books of the banks. Those credits on the books of some of
+the Western banks, usually called deposits, were already greatly beyond
+their immediate means of payment, and were rapidly increasing. Indeed,
+each speculation furnished means for another; for no sooner had one
+individual or company paid in the notes than they were immediately
+lent to another for a like purpose, and the banks were extending their
+business and their issues so largely as to alarm considerate men and
+render it doubtful whether these bank credits if permitted to accumulate
+would ultimately be of the least value to the Government. The spirit of
+expansion and speculation was not confined to the deposit banks, but
+pervaded the whole multitude of banks throughout the Union and was
+giving rise to new institutions to aggravate the evil.
+
+The safety of the public funds and the interest of the people generally
+required that these operations should be checked; and it became the duty
+of every branch of the General and State Governments to adopt all
+legitimate and proper means to produce that salutary effect. Under this
+view of my duty I directed the issuing of the order which will be laid
+before you by the Secretary of the Treasury, requiring payment for the
+public lands sold to be made in specie, with an exception until the
+15th of the present month in favor of actual settlers. This measure
+has produced many salutary consequences. It checked the career of the
+Western banks and gave them additional strength in anticipation of the
+pressure which has since pervaded our Eastern as well as the European
+commercial cities. By preventing the extension of the credit system it
+measurably cut off the means of speculation and retarded its progress
+in monopolizing the most valuable of the public lands. It has tended
+to save the new States from a nonresident proprietorship, one of
+the greatest obstacles to the advancement of a new country and the
+prosperity of an old one. It has tended to keep open the public lands
+for entry by emigrants at Government prices instead of their being
+compelled to purchase of speculators at double or triple prices. And
+it is conveying into the interior large sums in silver and gold, there
+to enter permanently into the currency of the country and place it on a
+firmer foundation. It is confidently believed that the country will find
+in the motives which induced that order and the happy consequences which
+will have ensued much to commend and nothing to condemn.
+
+It remains for Congress if they approve the policy which dictated
+this order to follow it up in its various bearings. Much good, in my
+judgment, would be produced by prohibiting sales of the public lands
+except to actual settlers at a reasonable reduction of price, and to
+limit the quantity which shall be sold to them. Although it is believed
+the General Government never ought to receive anything but the
+constitutional currency in exchange for the public lands, that point
+would be of less importance if the lands were sold for immediate
+settlement and cultivation. Indeed, there is scarcely a mischief arising
+out of our present land system, including the accumulating surplus of
+revenues, which would not be remedied at once by a restriction on land
+sales to actual settlers; and it promises other advantages to the
+country in general and to the new States in particular which can
+not fail to receive the most profound consideration of Congress.
+
+Experience continues to realize the expectations entertained as to the
+capacity of the State banks to perform the duties of fiscal agents for
+the Government at the time of the removal of the deposits. It was
+alleged by the advocates of the Bank of the United States that the State
+banks, whatever might be the regulations of the Treasury Department,
+could not make the transfers required by the Government or negotiate the
+domestic exchanges of the country. It is now well ascertained that the
+real domestic exchanges performed through discounts by the United States
+Bank and its twenty-five branches were at least one-third less than
+those of the deposit banks for an equal period of time; and if a
+comparison be instituted between the amounts of service rendered by
+these institutions on the broader basis which has been used by the
+advocates of the United States Bank in estimating what they consider
+the domestic exchanges transacted by it, the result will be still more
+favorable to the deposit banks.
+
+The whole amount of public money transferred by the Bank of the United
+States in 1832 was $16,000,000. The amount transferred and actually
+paid by the deposit banks in the year ending the 1st of October last
+was $39,319,899; the amount transferred and paid between that period
+and the 6th of November was $5,399,000, and the amount of transfer
+warrants outstanding on that day was $14,450,000, making an aggregate
+of $59,168,894. These enormous sums of money first mentioned have been
+transferred with the greatest promptitude and regularity, and the rates
+at which the exchanges have been negotiated previously to the passage of
+the deposit act were generally below those charged by the Bank of the
+United States. Independently of these services, which are far greater
+than those rendered by the United States Bank and its twenty-five
+branches, a number of the deposit banks have, with a commendable zeal
+to aid in the improvement of the currency, imported from abroad, at
+their own expense, large sums of the precious metals for coinage and
+circulation.
+
+In the same manner have nearly all the predictions turned out in respect
+to the effect of the removal of the deposits--a step unquestionably
+necessary to prevent the evils which it was foreseen the bank itself
+would endeavor to create in a final struggle to procure a renewal of
+its charter. It may be thus, too, in some degree with the further steps
+which may be taken to prevent the excessive issue of other bank paper,
+but it is to be hoped that nothing will now deter the Federal and State
+authorities from the firm and vigorous performance of their duties to
+themselves and to the people in this respect.
+
+In reducing the revenue to the wants of the Government your particular
+attention is invited to those articles which constitute the necessaries
+of life. The duty on salt was laid as a war tax, and was no doubt
+continued to assist in providing for the payment of the war debt.
+There is no article the release of which from taxation would be felt so
+generally and so beneficially. To this may be added all kinds of fuel
+and provisions. Justice and benevolence unite in favor of releasing the
+poor of our cities from burdens which are not necessary to the support
+of our Government and tend only to increase the wants of the destitute.
+
+It will be seen by the report of the Secretary of the Treasury
+and the accompanying documents that the Bank of the United States has
+made no payment on account of the stock held by the Government in that
+institution, although urged to pay any portion which might suit its
+convenience, and that it has given no information when payment may be
+expected. Nor, although repeatedly requested, has it furnished the
+information in relation to its condition which Congress authorized the
+Secretary to collect at their last session. Such measures as are within
+the power of the Executive have been taken to ascertain the value of
+the stock and procure the payment as early as possible.
+
+The conduct and present condition of that bank and the great amount
+of capital vested in it by the United States require your careful
+attention. Its charter expired on the 3d day of March last, and it has
+now no power but that given in the twenty-first section, "to use the
+corporate name, style, and capacity for the purpose of suits for the
+final settlement and liquidation of the affairs and accounts of the
+corporation, and for the sale and disposition of their estate--real,
+personal, and mixed--but not for any other purpose or in any other
+manner whatsoever, nor for a period exceeding two years after the
+expiration of the said term of incorporation." Before the expiration
+of the charter the stockholders of the bank obtained an act of
+incorporation from the legislature of Pennsylvania, excluding only the
+United States. Instead of proceeding to wind up their concerns and pay
+over to the United States the amount due on account of the stock held
+by them, the president and directors of the old bank appear to have
+transferred the books, papers, notes, obligations, and most or all of
+its property to this new corporation, which entered upon business as
+a continuation of the old concern. Amongst other acts of questionable
+validity, the notes of the expired corporation are known to have been
+used as its own and again put in circulation. That the old bank had no
+right to issue or reissue its notes after the expiration of its charter
+can not be denied, and that it could not confer any such right on its
+substitute any more than exercise it itself is equally plain. In law and
+honesty the notes of the bank in circulation at the expiration of its
+charter should have been called in by public advertisement, paid up as
+presented, and, together with those on hand, canceled and destroyed.
+Their reissue is sanctioned by no law and warranted by no necessity.
+If the United States be responsible in their stock for the payment of
+these notes, their reissue by the new corporation for their own profit
+is a fraud on the Government. If the United States is not responsible,
+then there is no legal responsibility in any quarter, and it is a fraud
+on the country. They are the redeemed notes of a dissolved partnership,
+but, contrary to the wishes of the retiring partner and without his
+consent, are again reissued and circulated.
+
+It is the high and peculiar duty of Congress to decide whether any
+further legislation be necessary for the security of the large amount of
+public property now held and in use by the new bank, and for vindicating
+the rights of the Government and compelling a speedy and honest
+settlement with all the creditors of the old bank, public and private,
+or whether the subject shall be left to the power now possessed by the
+Executive and judiciary. It remains to be seen whether the persons
+who as managers of the old bank undertook to control the Government,
+retained the public dividends, shut their doors upon a committee of
+the House of Representatives, and filled the country with panic to
+accomplish their own sinister objects may now as managers of a new bank
+continue with impunity to flood the country with a spurious currency,
+use the seven millions of Government stock for their own profit, and
+refuse to the United States all information as to the present condition
+of their own property and the prospect of recovering it into their
+own possession.
+
+The lessons taught by the Bank of the United States can not well be lost
+upon the American people. They will take care never again to place so
+tremendous a power in irresponsible hands, and it will be fortunate if
+they seriously consider the consequences which are likely to result on a
+smaller scale from the facility with which corporate powers are granted
+by their State governments.
+
+It is believed that the law of the last session regulating the deposit
+banks operates onerously and unjustly upon them in many respects, and
+it is hoped that Congress, on proper representations, will adopt the
+modifications which are necessary to prevent this consequence.
+
+The report of the Secretary of War _ad interim_ and the accompanying
+documents, all which are herewith laid before you, will give you a full
+view of the diversified and important operations of that Department
+during the past year.
+
+The military movements rendered necessary by the aggressions of the
+hostile portions of the Seminole and Creek tribes of Indians, and by
+other circumstances, have required the active employment of nearly our
+whole regular force, including the Marine Corps, and of large bodies of
+militia and volunteers. With all these events so far as they were known
+at the seat of Government before the termination of your last session
+you are already acquainted, and it is therefore only needful in this
+place to lay before you a brief summary of what has since occurred.
+
+The war with the Seminoles during the summer was on our part chiefly
+confined to the protection of our frontier settlements from the
+incursions of the enemy, and, as a necessary and important means for the
+accomplishment of that end, to the maintenance of the posts previously
+established. In the course of this duty several actions took place,
+in which the bravery and discipline of both officers and men were
+conspicuously displayed, and which I have deemed it proper to notice
+in respect to the former by the granting of brevet rank for gallant
+services in the field. But as the force of the Indians was not so far
+weakened by these partial successes as to lead them to submit, and
+as their savage inroads were frequently repeated, early measures were
+taken for placing at the disposal of Governor Call, who as commander in
+chief of the Territorial militia had been temporarily invested with the
+command, an ample force for the purpose of resuming offensive operations
+in the most efficient manner so soon as the season should permit.
+Major-General Jesup was also directed, on the conclusion of his duties
+in the Creek country, to repair to Florida and assume the command.
+
+The result of the first movement made by the forces under the direction
+of Governor Call in October last, as detailed in the accompanying
+papers, excited much surprise and disappointment. A full explanation has
+been required of the causes which led to the failure of that movement,
+but has not yet been received. In the meantime, as it was feared that
+the health of Governor Call, who was understood to have suffered much
+from sickness, might not be adequate to the crisis, and as Major-General
+Jesup was known to have reached Florida, that officer was directed to
+assume the command, and to prosecute all needful operations with the
+utmost promptitude and vigor. From the force at his disposal and the
+dispositions he has made and is instructed to make, and from the very
+efficient measures which it is since ascertained have been taken by
+Governor Call, there is reason to hope that they will soon be enabled to
+reduce the enemy to subjection. In the meantime, as you will perceive
+from the report of the Secretary, there is urgent necessity for further
+appropriations to suppress these hostilities.
+
+Happily for the interests of humanity, the hostilities with the Creeks
+were brought to a close soon after your adjournment, without that
+effusion of blood which at one time was apprehended as inevitable.
+The unconditional submission of the hostile party was followed by their
+speedy removal to the country assigned them west of the Mississippi.
+The inquiry as to alleged frauds in the purchase of the reservations
+of these Indians and the causes of their hostilities, requested by the
+resolution of the House of Representatives of the 1st of July last
+to be made by the President, is now going on through the agency of
+commissioners appointed for that purpose. Their report may be expected
+during your present session.
+
+The difficulties apprehended in the Cherokee country have been
+prevented, and the peace and safety of that region and its vicinity
+effectually secured, by the timely measures taken by the War Department,
+and still continued.
+
+The discretionary authority given to General Gaines to cross the Sabine
+and to occupy a position as far west as Nacogdoches, in case he should
+deem such a step necessary to the protection of the frontier and to the
+fulfillment of the stipulations contained in our treaty with Mexico, and
+the movement subsequently made by that officer have been alluded to in a
+former part of this message. At the date of the latest intelligence from
+Nacogdoches our troops were yet at that station, but the officer who has
+succeeded General Gaines has recently been advised that from the facts
+known at the seat of Government there would seem to be no adequate
+cause for any longer maintaining that position, and he was accordingly
+instructed, in case the troops were not already withdrawn under the
+discretionary powers before possessed by him, to give the requisite
+orders for that purpose on the receipt of the instructions, unless he
+shall then have in his possession such information as shall satisfy him
+that the maintenance of the post is essential to the protection of our
+frontiers and to the due execution of our treaty stipulations, as
+previously explained to him.
+
+Whilst the necessities existing during the present year for the service
+of militia and volunteers have furnished new proofs of the patriotism of
+our fellow-citizens, they have also strongly illustrated the importance
+of an increase in the rank and file of the Regular Army. The views
+of this subject submitted by the Secretary of War in his report meet
+my entire concurrence, and are earnestly commended to the deliberate
+attention of Congress. In this connection it is also proper to remind
+you that the defects in our present militia system are every day
+rendered more apparent. The duty of making further provision by law
+for organizing, arming, and disciplining this arm of defense has been
+so repeatedly presented to Congress by myself and my predecessors that
+I deem it sufficient on this occasion to refer to the last annual
+message and to former Executive communications in which the subject
+has been discussed.
+
+It appears from the reports of the officers charged with mustering into
+service the volunteers called for under the act of Congress of the last
+session that more presented themselves at the place of rendezvous in
+Tennessee than were sufficient to meet the requisition which had been
+made by the Secretary of War upon the governor of that State. This was
+occasioned by the omission of the governor to apportion the requisition
+to the different regiments of militia so as to obtain the proper number
+of troops and no more. It seems but just to the patriotic citizens who
+repaired to the general rendezvous under circumstances authorizing them
+to believe that their services were needed and would be accepted that
+the expenses incurred by them while absent from their homes should be
+paid by the Government. I accordingly recommend that a law to this
+effect be passed by Congress, giving them a compensation which will
+cover their expenses on the march to and from the place of rendezvous
+and while there; in connection with which it will also be proper to make
+provision for such other equitable claims growing out of the service of
+the militia as may not be embraced in the existing laws.
+
+On the unexpected breaking out of hostilities in Florida, Alabama,
+and Georgia it became necessary in some cases to take the property
+of individuals for public use. Provision should be made by law for
+indemnifying the owners; and I would also respectfully suggest whether
+some provision may not be made, consistently with the principles of our
+Government, for the relief of the sufferers by Indian depredations or
+by the operations of our own troops.
+
+No time was lost after the making of the requisite appropriations
+in resuming the great national work of completing the unfinished
+fortifications on our seaboard and of placing them in a proper state of
+defense. In consequence, however, of the very late day at which those
+bills were passed, but little progress could be made during the season
+which has just closed. A very large amount of the moneys granted at your
+last session accordingly remains unexpended; but as the work will be
+again resumed at the earliest moment in the coming spring, the balance
+of the existing appropriations, and in several cases which will be
+laid before you, with the proper estimates, further sums for the like
+objects, may be usefully expended during the next year.
+
+The recommendations of an increase in the Engineer Corps and for a
+reorganization of the Topographical Corps, submitted to you in my last
+annual message, derive additional strength from the great embarrassments
+experienced during the present year in those branches of the service,
+and under which they are now suffering. Several of the most important
+surveys and constructions directed by recent laws have been suspended
+in consequence of the want of adequate force in these corps.
+
+The like observations may be applied to the Ordnance Corps and to the
+general staff, the operations of which as they are now organized must
+either be frequently interrupted or performed by officers taken from
+the line of the Army, to the great prejudice of the service.
+
+For a general view of the condition of the Military Academy and of other
+branches of the military service not already noticed, as well as for
+fuller illustrations of those which have been mentioned, I refer you to
+the accompanying documents, and among the various proposals contained
+therein for legislative action I would particularly notice the
+suggestion of the Secretary of War for the revision of the pay of the
+Army as entitled to your favorable regard.
+
+The national policy, founded alike in interest and in humanity, so long
+and so steadily pursued by this Government for the removal of the Indian
+tribes originally settled on this side of the Mississippi to the west of
+that river, may be said to have been consummated by the conclusion of
+the late treaty with the Cherokees. The measures taken in the execution
+of that treaty and in relation to our Indian affairs generally will
+fully appear by referring to the accompanying papers. Without dwelling
+on the numerous and important topics embraced in them, I again invite
+your attention to the importance of providing a well-digested and
+comprehensive system for the protection, supervision, and improvement of
+the various tribes now planted in the Indian country. The suggestions
+submitted by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, and enforced by the
+Secretary, on this subject, and also in regard to the establishment of
+additional military posts in the Indian country, are entitled to your
+profound consideration. Both measures are necessary, for the double
+purpose of protecting the Indians from intestine war, and in other
+respects complying with our engagements to them, and of securing our
+western frontier against incursions which otherwise will assuredly be
+made on it. The best hopes of humanity in regard to the aboriginal race,
+the welfare of our rapidly extending settlements, and the honor of the
+United States are all deeply involved in the relations existing between
+this Government and the emigrating tribes. I trust, therefore, that the
+various matters submitted in the accompanying documents in respect to
+those relations will receive your early and mature deliberation, and
+that it may issue in the adoption of legislative measures adapted to
+the circumstances and duties of the present crisis.
+
+You are referred to the report of the Secretary of the Navy for a
+satisfactory view of the operations of the Department under his charge
+during the present year. In the construction of vessels at the different
+navy-yards and in the employment of our ships and squadrons at sea that
+branch of the service has been actively and usefully employed. While
+the situation of our commercial interests in the West Indies required a
+greater number than usual of armed vessels to be kept on that station,
+it is gratifying to perceive that the protection due to our commerce in
+other quarters of the world has not proved insufficient. Every effort
+has been made to facilitate the equipment of the exploring expedition
+authorized by the act of the last session, but all the preparation
+necessary to enable it to sail has not yet been completed. No means
+will be spared by the Government to fit out the expedition on a scale
+corresponding with the liberal appropriations for the purpose and with
+the elevated character of the objects which are to be effected by it.
+
+I beg leave to renew the recommendation made in my last annual message
+respecting the enlistment of boys in our naval service, and to urge upon
+your attention the necessity of further appropriations to increase the
+number of ships afloat and to enlarge generally the capacity and force
+of the Navy. The increase of our commerce and our position in regard
+to the other powers of the world will always make it our policy and
+interest to cherish the great naval resources of our country.
+
+The report of the Postmaster-General presents a gratifying picture of
+the condition of the Post-Office Department. Its revenues for the year
+ending the 30th June last were $3,398,455.19, showing an increase of
+revenue over that of the preceding year of $404,878.53, or more than
+13 per cent. The expenditures for the same year were $2,755,623.76,
+exhibiting a surplus of $642,831.43. The Department has been redeemed
+from embarrassment and debt, has accumulated a surplus exceeding half a
+million of dollars, has largely extended and is preparing still further
+to extend the mail service, and recommends a reduction of postages equal
+to about 20 per cent. It is practicing upon the great principle which
+should control every branch of our Government of rendering to the
+public the greatest good possible with the least possible taxation
+to the people.
+
+The scale of postages suggested by the Postmaster-General recommends
+itself, not only by the reduction it proposes, but by the simplicity
+of its arrangement, its conformity with the Federal currency, and the
+improvement it will introduce into the accounts of the Department and
+its agents.
+
+Your particular attention is invited to the subject of mail contracts
+with railroad companies. The present laws providing for the making of
+contracts are based upon the presumption that competition among bidders
+will secure the service at a fair price; but on most of the railroad
+lines there is no competition in that kind of transportation, and
+advertising is therefore useless. No contract can now be made with
+them except such as shall be negotiated before the time of offering or
+afterwards, and the power of the Postmaster-General to pay them high
+prices is practically without limitation. It would be a relief to him
+and no doubt would conduce to the public interest to prescribe by law
+some equitable basis upon which such contracts shall rest, and restrict
+him by a fixed rule of allowance. Under a liberal act of that sort he
+would undoubtedly be able to secure the services of most of the railroad
+companies, and the interest of the Department would be thus advanced.
+
+The correspondence between the people of the United States and the
+European nations, and particularly with the British Islands, has become
+very extensive, and requires the interposition of Congress to give it
+security. No obstacle is perceived to an interchange of mails between
+New York and Liverpool or other foreign ports, as proposed by the
+Postmaster-General. On the contrary, it promises, by the security it
+will afford, to facilitate commercial transactions and give rise to an
+enlarged intercourse among the people of different nations, which can
+not but have a happy effect. Through the city of New York most of
+the correspondence between the Canadas and Europe is now carried on,
+and urgent representations have been received from the head of the
+provincial post-office asking the interposition of the United States
+to guard it from the accidents and losses to which it is now subjected.
+Some legislation appears to be called for as well by our own interest
+as by comity to the adjoining British provinces.
+
+The expediency of providing a fireproof building for the important books
+and papers of the Post-Office Department is worthy of consideration. In
+the present condition of our Treasury it is neither necessary nor wise
+to leave essential public interests exposed to so much danger when they
+can so readily be made secure. There are weighty considerations in the
+location of a new building for that Department in favor of placing it
+near the other executive buildings.
+
+The important subjects of a survey of the coast and the manufacture of
+a standard of weights and measures for the different custom-houses have
+been in progress for some years under the general direction of the
+Executive and the immediate superintendence of a gentleman possessing
+high scientific attainments. At the last session of Congress the making
+of a set of weights and measures for each State in the Union was added
+to the others by a joint resolution.
+
+The care and correspondence as to all these subjects have been devolved
+on the Treasury Department during the last year. A special report from
+the Secretary of the Treasury will soon be communicated to Congress,
+which will show what has been accomplished as to the whole, the number
+and compensation of the persons now employed in these duties, and the
+progress expected to be made during the ensuing year, with a copy of the
+various correspondence deemed necessary to throw light on the subjects
+which seem to require additional legislation. Claims have been made for
+retrospective allowances in behalf of the superintendent and some of
+his assistants, which I did not feel justified in granting. Other
+claims have been made for large increases in compensation, which, under
+all the circumstances of the several cases, I declined making without
+the express sanction of Congress. In order to obtain that sanction
+the subject was at the last session, on my suggestion and by request
+of the immediate superintendent, submitted by the Treasury Department
+to the Committee on Commerce of the House of Representatives. But no
+legislative action having taken place, the early attention of Congress
+is now invited to the enactment of some express and detailed provisions
+in relation to the various claims made for the past, and to the
+compensation and allowances deemed proper for the future.
+
+It is further respectfully recommended that, such being the
+inconvenience of attention to these duties by the Chief Magistrate,
+and such the great pressure of business on the Treasury Department,
+the general supervision of the coast survey and the completion of the
+weights and measures, if the works are kept united, should be devolved
+on a board of officers organized specially for that purpose, or on the
+Navy Board attached to the Navy Department.
+
+All my experience and reflection confirm the conviction I have so
+often expressed to Congress in favor of an amendment of the Constitution
+which will prevent in any event the election of the President and
+Vice-President of the United States devolving on the House of
+Representatives and the Senate, and I therefore beg leave again to
+solicit your attention to the subject. There were various other
+suggestions in my last annual message not acted upon, particularly
+that relating to the want of uniformity in the laws of the District
+of Columbia, that are deemed worthy of your favorable consideration.
+
+Before concluding this paper I think it due to the various Executive
+Departments to bear testimony to their prosperous condition and to the
+ability and integrity with which they have been conducted. It has been
+my aim to enforce in all of them a vigilant and faithful discharge of
+the public business, and it is gratifying to me to believe that there
+is no just cause of complaint from any quarter at the manner in which
+they have fulfilled the objects of their creation.
+
+Having now finished the observations deemed proper on this the last
+occasion I shall have of communicating with the two Houses of Congress
+at their meeting, I can not omit an expression of the gratitude which
+is due to the great body of my fellow-citizens, in whose partiality and
+indulgence I have found encouragement and support in the many difficult
+and trying scenes through which it has been my lot to pass during my
+public career. Though deeply sensible that my exertions have not been
+crowned with a success corresponding to the degree of favor bestowed
+upon me, I am sure that they will be considered as having been
+directed by an earnest desire to promote the good of my country, and I
+am consoled by the persuasion that whatever errors have been committed
+will find a corrective in the intelligence and patriotism of those who
+will succeed us. All that has occurred during my Administration is
+calculated to inspire me with increased confidence in the stability of
+our institutions; and should I be spared to enter upon that retirement
+which is so suitable to my age and infirm health and so much desired
+by me in other respects, I shall not cease to invoke that beneficent
+Being to whose providence we are already so signally indebted for the
+continuance of His blessings on our beloved country.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+A.--_Statement of distribution of surplus revenue of $30,000,000 among
+the several States, agreeably to the number of electoral votes for
+President and according to the constitutional mode of direct taxation
+by representative population, and the difference arising from those two
+modes of distribution, as per census of 1830_.
+
+
+   S  Representative Elect- Share      Share      Difference  Difference
+   t  population     oral   according  according  in favor    in favor
+   a                 vote   to system  to         of direct   of
+   t                        of direct  electoral  tax         electoral
+   e                        taxation   vote       mode        vote mode
+
+  ME    399,454      10    $999,371   $1,020,408               $21,037
+  NH    269,327       7     673,813      714,286                40,473
+  MA    610,408      14   1,527,144    1,428,571    $98,573
+  RI     97,192       4     243,159      408,163               165,004
+  CT    297,665       8     744,711      816,327                71,616
+  VT    280,652       7     702,147      714,286                12,139
+  NY  1,918,578      42   4,799,978    4,285,714    514,264
+  NJ    319,921       8     800,392      816,427                15,935
+  PA  1,348,072      30   3,372,662    3,061,225    311,437
+  DE     75,431       3     188,716      306,122               117,406
+  MD    405,842      10   1,015,352    1,020,408                 5,056
+  VA  1,023,502      23   2,560 640    2,346,939    213,701
+  NC    639,747      15   1,600,546    1,530,612     69,934
+  SC    455,025      11   1,138,400    1,122,449     15,951
+  GA    429,811      11   1,075,319    1,122,449                47,130
+  AL    262,307       7     656,751      714,286                57,535
+  MS    110,357       4     276,096      408,163               132,067
+  LA    171,904       5     430,076      510,204                80,128
+  TN    625,263      15   1,564,309    1,530,612     33,697
+  KY    621,832      15   1,555,725    1,530,612     25,113
+  OH    937,901      21   2,346,479    2,142,858    203,621
+  IN    343,030       9     858,206      918,368                60,162
+  IL    157,146       5     393,154      510,204               117,050
+  MO    130,419       4     326,288      408,163                81,875
+  AR     28,557       3      71,445      306,122               234,677
+  MI     31,625       3      79,121      306,102               227,001
+  Total
+     11,991,168     294  30,000,000   30,000,000  1,486,291  1,486,291
+
+[Transcriber's Note: State names abbreviated to reduce column width.]
+
+
+
+
+SPECIAL MESSAGES.
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _December 6, 1836_.
+
+_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:
+
+I transmit herewith to Congress copies of my correspondence with Mrs.
+Madison, produced by the resolution adopted at the last session by the
+Senate and House of Representatives on the decease of her venerated
+husband. The occasion seems to be appropriate to present a letter from
+her on the subject of the publication of a work of great political
+interest and ability, carefully prepared by Mr. Madison's own hand,
+under circumstances that give it claims to be considered as little
+less than official.
+
+Congress has already, at considerable expense, published in a
+variety of forms the naked journals of the Revolutionary Congress
+and of the Convention that formed the Constitution of the United
+States. I am persuaded that the work of Mr. Madison, considering the
+author, the subject-matter of it, and the circumstances under which
+it was prepared--long withheld from the public, as it has been,
+by those motives of personal kindness and delicacy that gave tone
+to his intercourse with his fellow-men, until he and all who had
+been participators with him in the scenes he describes have passed
+away--well deserves to become the property of the nation, and can not
+fail, if published and disseminated at the public charge, to confer
+the most important of all benefits on the present and all succeeding
+generations--accurate knowledge of the principles of their Government
+and the circumstances under which they were recommended and embodied
+in the Constitution for adoption.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+DEPARTMENT OF STATE,
+
+_July 9, 1836_.
+
+The Secretary of State has the honor to report to the President that
+there is no resolution of Congress on the death of Mr. Madison on
+file in the Department of State. By application at the offices of the
+Secretary of the Senate and Clerk of the House of Representatives the
+inclosed certified copy of a set of resolutions has been procured.
+These resolutions, being joint, should have been enrolled, signed
+by the presiding officers of the two Houses, and submitted for the
+Executive approbation. By referring to the proceedings on the death
+of General Washington such a course appears to have been thought
+requisite, but in this case it has been deemed unnecessary or has
+been omitted accidentally. The value of the public expression of
+sympathy would be so much diminished by postponement to the next
+session that the Secretary has thought it best to present the papers,
+incomplete as they are, as the basis of such a letter as the President
+may think proper to direct to Mrs. Madison.
+
+JOHN FORSYTH,
+
+_Secretary of State_.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _July 9, 1836_.
+
+Mrs. D.P. MADISON,
+
+_Montpelier, Va_.
+
+MADAM: It appearing to have been the intention of Congress to make me
+the organ of assuring you of the profound respect entertained by both
+its branches for your person and character, and of their sincere
+condolence in the late afflicting dispensation of Providence, which has
+at once deprived you of a beloved companion and your country of one
+of its most valued citizens, I perform that duty by transmitting the
+documents herewith inclosed.
+
+No expression of my own sensibility at the loss sustained by yourself
+and the nation could add to the consolation to be derived from these
+high evidences of the public sympathy. Be assured, madam, that there is
+not one of your countrymen who feels more poignantly the stroke which
+has fallen upon you or who will cherish with a more endearing constancy
+the memory of the virtues, the services, and the purity of the
+illustrious man whose glorious and patriotic life has been just
+terminated by a tranquil death.
+
+I have the honor to be, madam, your most obedient servant,
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+The President of the United States having communicated to the two
+Houses of Congress the melancholy intelligence of the death of their
+illustrious and beloved fellow-citizen, James Madison, of Virginia,
+late President of the United States, and the two Houses sharing in
+the general grief which this distressing event must produce:
+
+_Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
+United States of America in Congress assembled_, That the chairs
+of the President of the Senate and of the Speaker of the House of
+Representatives be shrouded in black during the present session,
+and that the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of
+Representatives, and the members and officers of both Houses wear
+the usual badge of mourning for thirty days.
+
+_Resolved_, That it be recommended to the people of the United States
+to wear crape on the left arm, as mourning, for thirty days.
+
+_Resolved_, That the President of the United States be requested to
+transmit a copy of these resolutions to Mrs. Madison, and to assure her
+of the profound respect of the two Houses of Congress for her person and
+character and of their sincere condolence on the late afflicting
+dispensation of Providence.
+
+
+
+MONTPELIER, _August 20, 1836_.
+
+The PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES:
+
+I received, sir, in due time, your letter conveying to me the
+resolutions Congress were pleased to adopt on the occasion of the death
+of my beloved husband--a communication made the more grateful by the
+kind expression of your sympathy which it contained.
+
+The high and just estimation of my husband by my countrymen and friends
+and their generous participation in the sorrow occasioned by our
+irretrievable loss, expressed through their supreme authorities and
+otherwise, are the only solace of which my heart is susceptible on the
+departure of him who had never lost sight of that consistency, symmetry,
+and beauty of character in all its parts which secured to him the love
+and admiration of his country, and which must ever be the subject of
+peculiar and tender reverence to one whose happiness was derived from
+their daily and constant exercise.
+
+The best return I can make for the sympathy of my country is to fulfill
+the sacred trust his confidence reposed in me, that of placing before
+it and the world what his pen prepared for their use--a legacy the
+importance of which is deeply impressed on my mind.
+
+With great respect,
+
+D.P. MADISON.
+
+
+
+MONTPELIER, _November 15, 1836_.
+
+The PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.
+
+SIR: The will of my late husband, James Madison, contains the following
+provision:
+
+"Considering the peculiarity and magnitude of the occasion which
+produced the Convention at Philadelphia in 1787, the characters who
+composed it, the Constitution which resulted from their deliberations,
+its effects during a trial of so many years on the prosperity of the
+people living under it, and the interest it has inspired among the
+friends of free government, it is not an unreasonable inference that a
+careful and extended report of the proceedings and discussions of that
+body, which were with closed doors, by a member who was constant in his
+attendance, will be particularly gratifying to the people of the United
+States and to all who take an interest in the progress of political
+science and the cause of true liberty."
+
+This provision bears evidence of the value he set on his report of the
+debates in the Convention, and he has charged legacies on them alone to
+the amount of $1,200 for the benefit of literary institutions and for
+benevolent purposes, leaving the residuary net proceeds for the use of
+his widow.
+
+In a paper written by him, and which it is proposed to annex as a
+preface to the Debates, he traces the formation of confederacies and of
+the Articles of Confederation, its defects which caused and the steps
+which led to the Convention, his reasons for taking the debates and the
+manner in which he executed the task, and his opinion of the framers of
+the Constitution. From this I extract his description of the manner in
+which they were taken, as it guarantees their fullness and accuracy:
+
+"In pursuance of the task I had assumed, I chose a seat in front of the
+presiding member, with the other members on my right and left hands.
+In this favorable position for hearing all that passed I noted down,
+in terms legible and in abbreviations and marks intelligible to myself,
+what was read from the chair or spoken by the members, and losing not
+a moment unnecessarily between the adjournment and reassembling of
+the Convention, I was enabled to write out my daily notes during the
+session, or within a few finishing days after its close, in the extent
+and form preserved in my own hand on my files.
+
+"In the labor and correctness of this I was not a little aided by
+practice and by a familiarity with the style and the train of
+observation and reasoning which characterized the principal speakers.
+It happened also that I was not absent a single day, nor more than the
+casual fraction of an hour in any day, so that I could not have lost
+a single speech, unless a very short one."
+
+However prevailing the restraint which veiled during the life of Mr.
+Madison this record of the creation of our Constitution, the grave,
+which has closed over all those who participated in its formation, has
+separated their acts from all that is personal to him or to them. His
+anxiety for their early publicity after this was removed may be inferred
+from his having them transcribed and revised by himself; and, it may be
+added, the known wishes of his illustrious friend Thomas Jefferson and
+other distinguished patriots, the important light they would shed for
+present as well as future usefulness, besides my desire to fulfill
+the pecuniary obligations imposed by his will, urged their appearance
+without awaiting the preparation of his other works, and early measures
+were accordingly adopted by me to ascertain from publishers in various
+parts of the Union the terms on which their publication could be
+effected.
+
+It was also intended to publish with these debates those taken by him in
+the Congress of the Confederation in 1782, 1783, and 1787, of which he
+was then a member, and selections made by himself and prepared under
+his eye from his letters narrating the proceedings of that body during
+the periods of his service in it, prefixing the debates in 1776 on the
+Declaration of Independence by Thomas Jefferson so as to embody all the
+memorials in that shape known to exist. This expose of the situation of
+the country under the Confederation and the defects of the old system of
+government evidenced in the proceedings under it seem to convey such
+preceding information as should accompany the debates on the formation
+of the Constitution by which it was superseded.
+
+The proposals which have been received, so far from corresponding with
+the expectations of Mr. Madison when he charged the first of these works
+with those legacies, have evidenced that their publication could not be
+engaged in by me without advances of funds and involving of risks which
+I am not in a situation to make or incur.
+
+Under these circumstances, I have been induced to submit for your
+consideration whether the publication of these debates be a matter of
+sufficient interest to the people of the United States to deserve to be
+brought to the notice of Congress; and should such be the estimation of
+the utility of these works by the representatives of the nation as to
+induce them to relieve me individually from the obstacles which impede
+it, their general circulation will be insured and the people be
+remunerated by its more economical distribution among them.
+
+With high respect and consideration,
+
+D.P. MADISON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _December 6, 1836_.
+
+_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_:
+
+I transmit to Congress a report from the Commissioner of the Public
+Buildings, showing the progress made in the construction of the public
+buildings which by the act of the 4th of July last the President was
+authorized to cause to be erected.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+DECEMBER 20, 1836.
+
+_To the Senate and House of Representatives_.
+
+GENTLEMEN: Herewith I transmit a report of the Postmaster-General, and
+recommend the passage of such laws and the making of such appropriations
+as may be necessary to carry into effect the measures adopted by him for
+resuming the business of the Department under his charge and securing
+the public property in the old Post-Office building.
+
+It is understood that the building procured for the temporary use of the
+Department is far from being fireproof, and that the valuable books and
+papers saved from the recent conflagration will there be exposed to
+similar dangers. I therefore feel it my duty to recommend an immediate
+appropriation for the construction of a fireproof General Post-Office,
+that the materials may be obtained within the present winter and the
+buildings erected as rapidly as practicable.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+POST-OFFICE DEPARTMENT,
+
+_December 20, 1836_.
+
+The PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.
+
+SIR: On the morning of the 15th instant I performed the painful duty
+of reporting to you orally the destruction of the General Post-Office
+building by fire, and received your instructions to inquire into the
+cause and extent of the calamity, for the purpose of enabling you to
+make a communication to Congress.
+
+A few hours afterwards I received, through the chairman of the Committee
+on the Post-Office and Post-Roads of the House of Representatives, an
+official copy of a resolution adopted by that House, instructing the
+committee to institute a similar inquiry, and the chairman asked for
+such information as it was in my power to give. The investigation
+directed by you was thus rendered unnecessary.
+
+The corporation of the city of Washington with honorable promptitude
+offered the Department the use of the west wing of the City Hall, now
+occupied by the mayor and councils and their officers and the officers
+of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company. The proprietors of the medical
+college also tendered the use of their building on E street, and offers
+were made of several other buildings in the central parts of the city.
+An examination was made of such as promise by their magnitude to afford
+sufficient room for the force employed in the Department, but none
+were found equal in the commodiousness of their interior structure and
+abundant room to Fuller's Hotel, opposite the buildings occupied by
+the Treasury Department on Pennsylvania avenue. That building has been
+obtained on terms which the accompanying papers (marked 1 and 2) will
+fully exhibit. The business of the Department will be immediately
+resumed in that building.
+
+The agreement with Mr. Fuller will make necessary an immediate
+appropriation by Congress, and upon that body will devolve also the duty
+of providing for the payment of the rent, if they shall approve of the
+arrangement.
+
+In the meantime steps have been taken to secure all that is valuable in
+the ruins of the Post-Office building, and to protect from the weather
+the walls of so much of it as was occupied by the General Post-Office
+which stand firm.
+
+The Department has no fund at command out of which the services
+necessary in the accomplishment of these objects can be paid for, nor
+has it the means to replace the furniture which has been lost and must
+be immediately obtained to enable the clerks to proceed with their
+current business.
+
+These facts I deem it my duty to report to you, that you may recommend
+to Congress such measures thereupon as you may deem expedient.
+
+With the highest respect, your obedient servant,
+
+AMOS KENDALL.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _December 20, 1836_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I transmit herewith, for the consideration and action of the Senate,
+treaties concluded with the Ioways and Sacs of Missouri, with the Sioux,
+with the Sacs and Foxes, and with the Otoes and Missourias and Omahas,
+by which they have relinquished their rights in the lands lying between
+the State of Missouri and the Missouri River, ceded in the first article
+of the treaty with them of July 15, 1830.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _December 20, 1836_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I transmit herewith to the Senate, for their consideration in reference
+to its ratification, a treaty of peace and friendship between the United
+States of America and the Emperor of Morocco, concluded at Meccanez on
+the 16th of September, 1836, with a report of the Secretary of State and
+the documents therein mentioned.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _December 21, 1836_.
+
+_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_:
+
+During the last session information was given to Congress by the
+Executive that measures had been taken to ascertain "the political,
+military, and civil condition of Texas." I now submit for your
+consideration extracts from the report of the agent who had been
+appointed to collect it relative to the condition of that country.
+
+No steps have been taken by the Executive toward the acknowledgment of
+the independence of Texas, and the whole subject would have been left
+without further remark on the information now given to Congress were it
+not that the two Houses at their last session, acting separately, passed
+resolutions "that the independence of Texas ought to be acknowledged by
+the United States whenever satisfactory information should be received
+that it had in successful operation a civil government capable of
+performing the duties and fulfilling the obligations of an independent
+power." This mark of interest in the question of the independence of
+Texas and indication of the views of Congress make it proper that I
+should somewhat in detail present the considerations that have governed
+the Executive in continuing to occupy the ground previously taken in
+the contest between Mexico and Texas.
+
+The acknowledgment of a new state as independent and entitled to a place
+in the family of nations is at all times an act of great delicacy and
+responsibility, but more especially so when such state has forcibly
+separated itself from another of which it had formed an integral part
+and which still claims dominion over it. A premature recognition under
+these circumstances, if not looked upon as justifiable cause of war, is
+always liable to be regarded as a proof of an unfriendly spirit to one
+of the contending parties. All questions relative to the government of
+foreign nations, whether of the Old or the New World, have been treated
+by the United States as questions of fact only, and our predecessors
+have cautiously abstained from deciding upon them until the clearest
+evidence was in their possession to enable them not only to decide
+correctly, but to shield their decisions from every unworthy imputation.
+In all the contests that have arisen out of the revolutions of France,
+out of the disputes relating to the crowns of Portugal and Spain, out of
+the revolutionary movements of those Kingdoms, out of the separation of
+the American possessions of both from the European Governments, and out
+of the numerous and constantly occurring struggles for dominion in
+Spanish America, so wisely consistent with our just principles has been
+the action of our Government that we have under the most critical
+circumstances avoided all censure and encountered no other evil than
+that produced by a transient estrangement of good will in those against
+whom we have been by force of evidence compelled to decide.
+
+It has thus been made known to the world that the uniform policy and
+practice of the United States is to avoid all interference in disputes
+which merely relate to the internal government of other nations, and
+eventually to recognize the authority of the prevailing party, without
+reference to our particular interests and views or to the merits of the
+original controversy. Public opinion here is so firmly established and
+well understood in favor of this policy that no serious disagreement has
+ever arisen among ourselves in relation to it, although brought under
+review in a variety of forms and at periods when the minds of the people
+were greatly excited by the agitation of topics purely domestic in
+their character. Nor has any deliberate inquiry ever been instituted in
+Congress or in any of our legislative bodies as to whom belonged the
+power of originally recognizing a new State--a power the exercise of
+which is equivalent under some circumstances to a declaration of war; a
+power nowhere expressly delegated, and only granted in the Constitution
+as it is necessarily involved in some of the great powers given to
+Congress, in that given to the President and Senate to form treaties
+with foreign powers and to appoint ambassadors and other public
+ministers, and in that conferred upon the President to receive ministers
+from foreign nations.
+
+In the preamble to the resolution of the House of Representatives
+it is distinctly intimated that the expediency of recognizing the
+independence of Texas should be left to the decision of Congress.
+In this view, on the ground of expediency, I am disposed to concur,
+and do not, therefore, consider it necessary to express any opinion
+as to the strict constitutional right of the Executive, either apart
+from or in conjunction with the Senate, over the subject. It is to be
+presumed that on no future occasion will a dispute arise, as none has
+heretofore occurred, between the Executive and Legislature in the
+exercise of the power of recognition. It will always be considered
+consistent with the spirit of the Constitution, and most safe, that
+it should be exercised, when probably leading to war, with a previous
+understanding with that body by whom war can alone be declared, and by
+whom all the provisions for sustaining its perils must be furnished.
+Its submission to Congress, which represents in one of its branches
+the States of this Union and in the other the people of the United
+States, where there may be reasonable ground to apprehend so grave
+a consequence, would certainly afford the fullest satisfaction to our
+own country and a perfect guaranty to all other nations of the justice
+and prudence of the measures which might be adopted.
+
+In making these suggestions it is not my purpose to relieve myself from
+the responsibility of expressing my own opinions of the course the
+interests of our country prescribe and its honor permits us to follow.
+
+It is scarcely to be imagined that a question of this character could be
+presented in relation to which it would be more difficult for the United
+States to avoid exciting the suspicion and jealousy of other powers, and
+maintain their established character for fair and impartial dealing. But
+on this, as on every trying occasion, safety is to be found in a rigid
+adherence to principle.
+
+In the contest between Spain and her revolted colonies we stood aloof
+and waited, not only until the ability of the new States to protect
+themselves was fully established, but until the danger of their being
+again subjugated had entirely passed away. Then, and not till then,
+were they recognized. Such was our course in regard to Mexico herself.
+The same policy was observed in all the disputes growing out of the
+separation into distinct governments of those Spanish American States
+who began or carried on the contest with the parent country united under
+one form of government. We acknowledged the separate independence of
+New Granada, of Venezuela, and of Ecuador only after their independent
+existence was no longer a subject of dispute or was actually acquiesced
+in by those with whom they had been previously united. It is true that,
+with regard to Texas, the civil authority of Mexico has been expelled,
+its invading army defeated, the chief of the Republic himself captured,
+and all present power to control the newly organized Government of Texas
+annihilated within its confines. But, on the other hand, there is, in
+appearance at least, an immense disparity of physical force on the side
+of Mexico. The Mexican Republic under another executive is rallying its
+forces under a new leader and menacing a fresh invasion to recover its
+lost dominion.
+
+Upon the issue of this threatened invasion the independence of Texas
+may be considered as suspended, and were there nothing peculiar in the
+relative situation of the United States and Texas our acknowledgment
+of its independence at such a crisis could scarcely be regarded as
+consistent with that prudent reserve with which we have heretofore
+held ourselves bound to treat all similar questions. But there are
+circumstances in the relations of the two countries which require us to
+act on this occasion with even more than our wonted caution. Texas was
+once claimed as a part of our property, and there are those among our
+citizens who, always reluctant to abandon that claim, can not but regard
+with solicitude the prospect of the reunion of the territory to this
+country. A large proportion of its civilized inhabitants are emigrants
+from the United States, speak the same language with ourselves, cherish
+the same principles, political and religious, and are bound to many of
+our citizens by ties of friendship and kindred blood; and, more than
+all, it is known that the people of that country have instituted the
+same form of government with our own, and have since the close of your
+last session openly resolved, on the acknowledgment by us of their
+independence, to seek admission into the Union as one of the Federal
+States. This last circumstance is a matter of peculiar delicacy, and
+forces upon us considerations of the gravest character. The title of
+Texas to the territory she claims is identified with her independence.
+She asks us to acknowledge that title to the territory, with an avowed
+design to treat immediately of its transfer to the United States. It
+becomes us to beware of a too early movement, as it might subject us,
+however unjustly, to the imputation of seeking to establish the claim of
+our neighbors to a territory with a view to its subsequent acquisition
+by ourselves. Prudence, therefore, seems to dictate that we should
+still stand aloof and maintain our present attitude, if not until
+Mexico itself or one of the great foreign powers shall recognize the
+independence of the new Government, at least until the lapse of time
+or the course of events shall have proved beyond cavil or dispute
+the ability of the people of that country to maintain their separate
+sovereignty and to uphold the Government constituted by them. Neither
+of the contending parties can justly complain of this course. By
+pursuing it we are but carrying out the long-established policy of
+our Government--a policy which has secured to us respect and influence
+abroad and inspired confidence at home.
+
+Having thus discharged my duty, by presenting with simplicity and
+directness the views which after much reflection I have been led to
+take of this important subject, I have only to add the expression of my
+confidence that if Congress shall differ with me upon it their judgment
+will be the result of dispassionate, prudent, and wise deliberation,
+with the assurance that during the short time I shall continue connected
+with the Government I shall promptly and cordially unite with you in
+such measures as may be deemed best fitted to increase the prosperity
+and perpetuate the peace of our favored country.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+DECEMBER 26, 1836.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I herewith transmit to the Senate the report of the Secretary of the
+Treasury, giving all the information required by their resolution of the
+19th instant, calling for a list of the different appropriations which
+will leave unexpended balances on the 1st day of January next.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _December 26, 1836_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I nominate William Gates, late major of the First Regiment of Artillery,
+for reappointment in the Army, to be major in the Second Regiment of
+Artillery, to take rank from the 30th May, 1832, the date of his former
+commission. This officer was stricken from the rolls of the Army by my
+order on the 7th of June last, upon a full consideration by me of the
+proceedings of a court of inquiry held at his request for the purpose of
+investigating his conduct during and subsequent to the attack on Fort
+Barnwell, at Volusia, in Florida, in April last, which court, after
+mature deliberation on the testimony before them, expressed the opinion
+"that the effective force under the command of Major Gates was much
+greater than the estimated force of the Indians who attacked him on the
+morning of the 14th of April, 1836, and that therefore he was capable of
+meeting the enemy in the field if necessary; also, that the bodies of
+two volunteers killed were improperly left exposed, and ought to have
+been brought in on the morning when they were killed, such exposure
+necessarily operating injuriously on the garrison." He is now nominated
+for a reappointment to the end that he may be brought to trial before
+a court-martial, such a trial being solicited by him.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _December, 1836_.
+
+_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_:
+
+By the second section of the act "to establish the northern boundary
+line of the State of Ohio, and to provide for the admission of the State
+of Michigan into the Union upon the conditions therein expressed,"
+approved June 15, 1836, the constitution and State government which the
+people of Michigan had formed for themselves was ratified and confirmed
+and the State of Michigan declared to be one of the United States of
+America, and admitted into the Union upon an equal footing with the
+original States, but on the express condition that the said State should
+consist of and have jurisdiction over all the territory included within
+certain boundaries described in the act, and over none other. It was
+further enacted by the third section of the same law that, as a
+compliance with the fundamental condition of admission, the boundaries
+of the State of Michigan, as thus described, declared, and established,
+should "receive the assent of a convention of delegates elected by the
+people of said State for the sole purpose of giving the assent" therein
+required; that as soon as such assent should be given the President of
+the United States should announce the same by proclamation, and that
+thereupon, and without any further proceeding on the part of Congress,
+the admission of the State into the Union as one of the United States
+of America should be considered as complete, and the Senators and
+Representatives in the Congress of the United States entitled to
+take their seats without further delay.
+
+In the month of November last I received a communication inclosing
+the official proceedings of a convention assembled at Ann Arbor, in
+Michigan, on the 26th of September, 1836, all which (marked A) are
+herewith laid before you. It will be seen by these papers that the
+convention therein referred to was elected by the people of Michigan
+pursuant to an act of the State legislature passed on the 25th of July
+last in consequence of the above-mentioned act of Congress, and that it
+declined giving its assent to the fundamental condition prescribed by
+Congress, and rejected the same.
+
+On the 24th instant the accompanying paper (marked B), with its
+inclosure, containing the proceedings of a convention of delegates
+subsequently elected and held in the State of Michigan, was presented
+to me. By these papers, which are also herewith submitted for your
+consideration, it appears that elections were held in all the counties
+of the State, except two, on the 5th and 6th days of December instant,
+for the purpose of electing a convention of delegates to give the
+assent required by Congress; that the delegates then elected assembled
+in convention on the 14th day of December instant, and that on the
+following day the assent of the body to the fundamental condition
+above stated was formally given.
+
+This latter convention was not held or elected by virtue of any act of
+the Territorial or State legislature; it originated from the people
+themselves, and was chosen by them in pursuance of resolutions adopted
+in primary assemblies held in the respective counties. The act of
+Congress, however, does not prescribe by what authority the convention
+shall be ordered, or the time when or the manner in which it shall be
+chosen. Had these latter proceedings come to me during the recess of
+Congress, I should therefore have felt it my duty, on being satisfied
+that they emanated from a convention of delegates elected in point
+of fact by the people of the State for the purpose required, to have
+issued my proclamation thereon as provided by law; but as the authority
+conferred on the President was evidently given to him under the
+expectation that the assent of the convention might be laid before him
+during the recess of Congress and to avoid the delay of a postponement
+until the meeting of that body, and as the circumstances which now
+attend the case are in other respects peculiar and such as could not
+have been foreseen when the act of June 15, 1836, was passed, I deem
+it most agreeable to the intent of that law, and proper for other
+reasons, that the whole subject should be submitted to the decision of
+Congress. The importance of your early action upon it is too obvious
+to need remark.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _December 28, 1836_.
+
+_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:
+
+In compliance with the resolution of the House of Representatives of
+the 23d instant, I herewith transmit a report[22] from the Secretary
+of State, to whom the resolution was referred, containing all the
+information upon the subject which he is now able to communicate.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+[Footnote 22: Relating to the bequest of James Smithson.]
+
+
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I transmit to the Senate a report[23] of the Secretary of the Navy,
+complying with their resolution of the 24th of May, 1836.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+DECEMBER 29, 1836.
+
+[Footnote 23: Relating to the survey of the harbors south of the
+Chesapeake.]
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _December 30, 1836_.
+
+_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:
+
+I transmit herewith a communication from the Secretary of War
+_ad interim_, with certain accompanying papers[24] from the Engineer
+Department, required to complete the annual report from that
+Department.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+[Footnote 24: Reports of the superintendents of the Cumberland road in
+Indiana and Illinois and of the improvement of the Ohio River above the
+Falls.]
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _December 30, 1836_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I transmit herewith, for your consideration and action, four treaties
+with bands of Potawatamie Indians in Indiana, accompanied by a report
+from the War Department and sundry other papers.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _December 30, 1836_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I transmit herewith, for your consideration and action, a treaty with
+the Menomonie tribe of Indians, accompanied by a report from the War
+Department. I recommend the modifications proposed in the report.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _January 7, 1837_.
+
+_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:
+
+I herewith transmit to Congress a report of the Secretary of State, with
+the accompanying letter, addressed to him by the commission appointed
+under the act of Congress of the last session for carrying into effect
+the convention between the United States and Spain.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _January 9, 1837_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+Immediately after the passage by the Senate, at a former session, of
+the resolution requesting the President to consider the expediency
+of opening negotiations with the governments of other nations, and
+particularly with the Governments of Central America and New Granada,
+for the purpose of effectually protecting, by equitable treaty
+stipulations with them, such individuals or companies as might undertake
+to open a communication between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans by the
+construction of a ship canal across the isthmus which connects North and
+South America, and of securing forever by such stipulations the free and
+equal right of navigating such canal to all such nations on the payment
+of such reasonable tolls as ought to be established to compensate the
+capitalists who might engage in such undertaking and complete the work,
+an agent was employed to obtain information in respect to the situation
+and character of the country through which the line of communication,
+if established, would necessarily pass, and the state of the projects
+which were understood to be contemplated for opening such communication
+by a canal or a railroad. The agent returned to the United States in
+September last, and although the information collected by him is not as
+full as could have been desired, yet it is sufficient to show that the
+probability of an early execution of any of the projects which have been
+set on foot for the construction of the communication alluded to is not
+so great as to render it expedient to open a negotiation at present with
+any foreign government upon the subject.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _January 17, 1837_.
+
+_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:
+
+I hereby submit to the House of Representatives certain communications
+from the Secretary of the Treasury and the attorney of the United States
+for the District of Columbia. They relate to the difficulties which have
+been interposed under the existing laws in bringing to conviction and
+punishment the supposed incendiaries of the Treasury buildings in the
+year 1833.
+
+The peculiar circumstances of this case, so long concealed, and of
+the flagrant frauds by persons disconnected with the Government, which
+were still longer concealed, and to screen some of which forever was
+probably a principal inducement to the burning of the buildings, lead
+me earnestly to recommend a revision of the laws on this subject.
+I do this with a wish not only to render the punishment hereafter more
+severe for the wanton destruction of the public property, but to repeal
+entirely the statute of limitation in all criminal cases, except
+small misdemeanors, and in no event to allow a party to avail himself
+of its benefits during the period the commission of the crime was
+kept concealed or the persons on trial were not suspected of having
+perpetrated the offense.
+
+It must be manifest to Congress that the exposed state of the public
+records here, without fireproof buildings, imperatively requires the
+most ample remedies for their protection, and the greatest vigilance and
+fidelity in all officers, whether executive or judicial, in bringing to
+condign punishment the real offenders.
+
+Without these the public property is in that deplorable situation which
+depends quite as much on accident and good fortune as the laws, for
+safety.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+[The same message was sent to the Senate.]
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _January 17, 1837_.
+
+_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_:
+
+I transmit to Congress herewith the copy of an act of the State of
+Missouri passed on the 16th ultimo, expressing the assent of that State
+to the several provisions of the act of Congress entitled "An act to
+extend the western boundary of the State of Missouri to the Missouri
+River," approved June 7, 1836. A copy of the act, duly authenticated,
+has been deposited in the Department of State.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+JANUARY 18, 1837.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+In compliance with a resolution of the Senate at their last session,
+I herewith transmit the inclosed documents, which contain all the
+information on the subject of the claim of the heirs of George Galphin
+within the power of the Executive.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _January 18, 1837_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+In compliance with the resolution of the Senate dated the 16th instant,
+I transmit a copy and a translation of a letter addressed to me on the
+4th of July last by the President of the Mexican Republic, and a copy of
+my reply to the same on the 4th of September. No other communication on
+the subject of the resolution referred to has been made to the Executive
+by any other foreign government, or by any person claiming to act in
+behalf of Mexico.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+_The President of the Mexican Republic to the President of the United
+States_.
+
+COLUMBIA, IN TEXAS, _July 4, 1836_.
+
+His Excellency General ANDREW JACKSON,
+
+_President of the United States of America_.
+
+MUCH ESTEEMED SIR: In fulfillment of the duties which patriotism and
+honor impose upon a public man, I came to this country at the head of
+6,000 Mexicans. The chances of war, made inevitable by circumstances,
+reduced me to the condition of a prisoner, in which I still remain, as
+you may have already learned. The disposition evinced by General Samuel
+Houston, the commander in chief of the Texan army, and by his successor,
+General Thomas J. Rusk, for the termination of the war; the decision
+of the President and cabinet of Texas in favor of a proper compromise
+between the contending parties, and my own conviction, produced the
+conventions of which I send you copies inclosed, and the orders given
+by me to General Filisola, my second in command, to retire from the
+river Brasos, where he was posted, to the other side of the river
+Bravo del Norte.
+
+As there was no doubt that General Filisola would religiously comply, as
+far as concerned himself, the President and cabinet agreed that I should
+set off for Mexico, in order to fulfill the other engagements, and with
+that intent I embarked on board the schooner _Invincible_, which was
+to carry me to the port of Vera Cruz. Unfortunately, however, some
+indiscreet persons raised a mob, which obliged the authorities to have
+me landed by force and brought back into strict captivity. This incident
+has prevented me from going to Mexico, where I should otherwise have
+arrived early in last month; and in consequence of it the Government of
+that country, doubtless ignorant of what has occurred, has withdrawn the
+command of the army from General Filisola and has ordered his successor,
+General Urrea, to continue its operations, in obedience to which order
+that general is, according to the latest accounts, already at the river
+Nueces. In vain have some reflecting and worthy men endeavored to
+demonstrate the necessity of moderation and of my going to Mexico
+according to the convention; but the excitement of the public mind has
+increased with the return of the Mexican army to Texas. Such is the
+state of things here at present. The continuation of the war and of its
+disasters is therefore inevitable unless the voice of reason be heard in
+proper time from the mouth of some powerful individual. It appears to
+me that you, sir, have it in your power to perform this good office,
+by interfering in favor of the execution of the said convention, which
+shall be strictly fulfilled on my part. When I offered to treat with
+this Government, I was convinced that it was useless for Mexico to
+continue the war. I have acquired exact information respecting this
+country which I did not possess four months ago. I have too much zeal
+for the interests of my country to wish for anything which is not
+compatible with them. Being always ready to sacrifice myself for its
+glory and advantage, I never would have hesitated to subject myself to
+torments or death rather than consent to any compromise if Mexico could
+thereby have obtained the slightest benefit. I am firmly convinced that
+it is proper to terminate this question by political negotiation. That
+conviction alone determined me sincerely to agree to what has been
+stipulated, and in the same spirit I make to you this frank declaration.
+Be pleased, sir, to favor me by a like confidence on your part. Afford
+me the satisfaction of avoiding approaching evils and of contributing
+to that good which my heart advises. Let us enter into negotiations
+by which the friendship between your nation and the Mexican may be
+strengthened, both being amicably engaged in giving being and stability
+to a people who are desirous of appearing in the political world, and
+who, under the protection of the two nations, will attain its object
+within a few years.
+
+The Mexicans are magnanimous when treated with consideration. I will
+clearly set before them the proper and humane reasons which require
+noble and frank conduct on their part, and I doubt not that they will
+act thus as soon as they have been convinced.
+
+By what I have here submitted you will see the sentiments which animate
+me, and with which I remain, your most humble and obedient servant,
+
+ANTONIO LOPEZ DE SANTA ANNA.
+
+
+
+_The President of the United States to the President of the Mexican
+Republic_.
+
+HERMITAGE, _September 4, 1836_.
+
+General ANTONIO LOPEZ DE SANTA ANNA.
+
+SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the
+4th day of July last, which has been forwarded to me by General Samuel
+Houston, under cover of one from him, transmitted by an express from
+General Gaines, who is in command of the United States forces on the
+Texan frontier. The great object of these communications appears to be
+to put an end to the disasters which necessarily attend the civil war
+now raging in Texas, and asking the interposition of the United States
+in furthering so humane and desirable a purpose. That any well-intended
+effort of yours in aid of this object should have been defeated is
+calculated to excite the regret of all who justly appreciate the
+blessings of peace, and who take an interest in the causes which
+contribute to the prosperity of Mexico in her domestic as well as
+her foreign relations.
+
+The Government of the United States is ever anxious to cultivate peace
+and friendship with all nations; but it proceeds on the principle that
+all nations have the right to alter, amend, or change their own
+government as the sovereign power--the people--may direct. In this
+respect it never interferes with the policy of other powers, nor can it
+permit any on the part of others with its internal policy. Consistently
+with this principle, whatever we can do to restore peace between
+contending nations or remove the causes of misunderstanding is
+cheerfully at the service of those who are willing to rely upon
+our good offices as a friend or mediator.
+
+In reference, however, to the agreement which you, as the representative
+of Mexico, have made with Texas, and which invites the interposition of
+the United States, you will at once see that we are forbidden by the
+character of the communications made to us through the Mexican minister
+from considering it. That Government has notified us that as long as
+you are a prisoner no act of yours will be regarded as binding by the
+Mexican authorities. Under these circumstances it will be manifest to
+you that good faith to Mexico, as well as the general principle to which
+I have adverted as forming the basis of our intercourse with all foreign
+powers, make it impossible for me to take any step like that you have
+anticipated. If, however, Mexico should signify her willingness to avail
+herself of our good offices in bringing about the desirable result you
+have described, nothing could give me more pleasure than to devote my
+best services to it. To be instrumental in terminating the evils of
+civil war and in substituting in their stead the blessings of peace
+is a divine privilege. Every government and the people of all countries
+should feel it their highest happiness to enjoy an opportunity of thus
+manifesting their love of each other and their interest in the general
+principles which apply to them all as members of the common family
+of man.
+
+Your letter, and that of General Houston, commander in chief of
+the Texan army, will be made the basis of an early interview with
+the Mexican minister at Washington. They will hasten my return to
+Washington, to which place I will set out in a few days, expecting
+to reach it by the its of October. In the meantime I hope Mexico and
+Texas, feeling that war is the greatest of calamities, will pause before
+another campaign is undertaken and can add to the number of those scenes
+of bloodshed which have already marked the progress of their contest and
+have given so much pain to their Christian friends throughout the world.
+
+This is sent under cover to General Houston, who will give it a safe
+conveyance to you.
+
+I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+JANUARY 19, 1837.
+
+_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_:
+
+I herewith transmit a copy of the annual report of the Director of the
+Mint, showing the operations of the institution during the past year and
+also the progress made toward completion of the branch mints in North
+Carolina, Georgia, and Louisiana.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _January 20, 1837_.
+
+_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:
+
+In compliance with the act of Congress of the 3d of March, 1829, I
+herewith transmit to Congress the report of the board of inspectors of
+the penitentiary of Washington, and beg leave to draw their attention to
+the fact presented with the report, "that the inspectors have received
+no compensation for their services for two years, viz, 1829 and 1830,"
+and request that an appropriation be made for the same.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _January 21, 1837_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I transmit, for your constitutional action, a report from the War
+Department, accompanied by a treaty with the Stockbridge and Munsee
+Indians.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _January 21, 1837_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I transmit, for your constitutional action, a report from the War
+Department, accompanied by a treaty with a portion of the New York
+Indians.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _January 25, 1837_.
+
+_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:
+
+In compliance with the resolution of the House of Representatives of
+the 17th instant, I transmit a report[25] from the Secretary of State,
+together with the documents by which it was accompanied.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+[Footnote 25: Relating to the condition of the political relations
+between the United States and Mexico, and to the condition of Texas.]
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _January 27, 1837_.
+
+_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:
+
+I transmit herewith certain papers from the War Department, relative to
+the improvement of Brunswick Harbor, Georgia.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _January 30, 1837_.
+
+_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:
+
+I herewith transmit to the House the copy of a letter addressed to
+me by the governor of the State of Maine on the 30th of June last,
+communicating sundry resolutions of the legislature of that State and
+claiming the reimbursement of certain moneys paid to John and Phineas
+R. Harford for losses and expenses incurred by them under circumstances
+explained in the accompanying papers.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _February 6, 1837_.
+
+The SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES:
+
+In compliance with the resolution of the House of Representatives of the
+3d instant, I herewith transmit the report[26] of the Secretary of the
+Navy, which affords all the information required by said resolution. The
+President begs leave to add that he trusts that all facilities will be
+given to this exploring expedition that Congress can bestow and the
+honor of the nation demands.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+[Footnote 26: Relating to the South Sea exploring expedition.]
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _February 6, 1837_.
+
+_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_:
+
+At the beginning of this session Congress was informed that our
+claims upon Mexico had not been adjusted, but that notwithstanding the
+irritating effect upon her councils of the movements in Texas, I hoped,
+by great forbearance, to avoid the necessity of again bringing the
+subject of them to your notice. That hope has been disappointed. Having
+in vain urged upon that Government the justice of those claims and my
+indispensable obligation to insist that there should be "no further
+delay in the acknowledgment, if not in the redress, of the injuries
+complained of," my duty requires that the whole subject should be
+presented, as it now is, for the action of Congress, whose exclusive
+right it is to decide on the further measures of redress to be employed.
+The length of time since some of the injuries have been committed, the
+repeated and unavailing applications for redress, the wanton character
+of some of the outrages upon the property and persons of our citizens,
+upon the officers and flag of the United States, independent of recent
+insults to this Government and people by the late extraordinary Mexican
+minister, would justify in the eyes of all nations immediate war.
+That remedy, however, should not be used by just and generous nations,
+confiding in their strength for injuries committed, if it can be
+honorably avoided; and it has occurred to me that, considering the
+present embarrassed condition of that country, we should act with both
+wisdom and moderation by giving to Mexico one more opportunity to atone
+for the past before we take redress into our own hands. To avoid all
+misconception on the part of Mexico, as well as to protect our own
+national character from reproach, this opportunity should be given with
+the avowed design and full preparation to take immediate satisfaction if
+it should not be obtained on a repetition of the demand for it. To this
+end I recommend that an act be passed authorizing reprisals, and the use
+of the naval force of the United States by the Executive against Mexico
+to enforce them, in the event of a refusal by the Mexican Government to
+come to an amicable adjustment of the matters in controversy between us
+upon another demand thereof made from on board one of our vessels of
+war on the coast of Mexico.
+
+The documents herewith transmitted, with those accompanying my message
+in answer to a call of the House of Representatives of the 17th ultimo,
+will enable Congress to judge of the propriety of the course heretofore
+pursued and to decide upon the necessity of that now recommended.
+
+If these views should fail to meet the concurrence of Congress, and that
+body be able to find in the condition of the affairs between the two
+countries, as disclosed by the accompanying documents, with those
+referred to, any well-grounded reasons to hope that an adjustment of
+the controversy between them can be effected without a resort to the
+measures I have felt it my duty to recommend, they may be assured of
+my cooperation in any other course that shall be deemed honorable
+and proper.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _February 7, 1837_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I transmit communications from the War Department relating to the treaty
+with the Sacs and Foxes recently submitted to the Senate.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _February 7, 1837_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I transmit herewith, for the constitutional action of the Senate, a
+report from the War Department, accompanied by a treaty with the Saganaw
+tribe of Chippewa Indians.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _February, 1837_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I transmit, for your consideration and action, a treaty with certain
+Potawatamie Indians, accompanied by a report from the War Department.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _February 9, 1837_.
+
+_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_:
+
+I communicate to Congress printed copies of the treaty of peace and
+commerce between the United States and the Empire of Morocco, concluded
+at Meccanez on the 16th day of September last, and duly ratified by the
+respective Governments.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _February 11, 1837_.
+
+_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:
+
+I herewith transmit to the House of Representatives a letter addressed
+to me on the 30th ultimo by the governor of the State of New Hampshire,
+communicating several resolutions of the legislature of that
+Commonwealth and claiming the reimbursement of certain expenses incurred
+by that State in maintaining jurisdiction over that portion of its
+territory north of the forty-fifth degree of north latitude, known
+by the name of Indian Stream, under circumstances explained in his
+excellency's letter.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _February 13, 1837_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I herewith transmit to the Senate a report[27] from the Secretary of
+State, with accompanying papers, embracing a copy of the correspondence
+requested by the resolution of the 7th instant, and such additional
+documents as were deemed necessary to a correct understanding of the
+whole subject.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+[Footnote 27: Relating to the seizure of slaves on board the brigs
+_Encomium_ and _Enterprise_ by the authorities of Bermuda and New
+Providence.]
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON CITY, _February 14, 1837_.
+
+_To the House of Representatives_:
+
+I transmit herewith a copy of the instructions, prepared under my
+direction by the War Department, for the commissioners appointed by me,
+in pursuance of the request contained in the resolution adopted by the
+House of Representatives on the 1st of July last, to investigate the
+causes of the hostilities then existing with the Creek Indians, and also
+copies of the reports on that subject received from the commissioners.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+FEBRUARY 15, 1837.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I herewith transmit to the Senate a report of the Postmaster-General,
+on the subject of the claims of Messrs. Stockton and Stokes, with a
+review of that report by the Solicitor of the Treasury, to whom, under
+a law of the last session of Congress, all the suspended debts of those
+contractors had been submitted; also a supplemental rejoinder by the
+Postmaster-General since the report of the Solicitor of the Treasury
+was made, with the papers accompanying the same, all of which are
+respectfully submitted for the consideration of the Senate.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _February 15, 1837_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I transmit herewith, for your consideration and action, a treaty lately
+made with the Sioux of the Mississippi, accompanied by a report from the
+War Department.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _February, 1837_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+I transmit herewith a convention between the Choctaws and Chickasaws,
+which meets my approbation, and for which I ask your favorable
+consideration and action.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _February 20, 1837_.
+
+_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:
+
+In compliance with the resolution of the House of Representatives of
+the 9th ultimo, I transmit a report from the Secretary of State and
+the documents[28] by which it was accompanied.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+[Footnote 28: Correspondence of William Tudor, Jr., while consul, etc.,
+of the United States to Peru and charge d'affaires at Rio de Janeiro.]
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _February 24, 1837_.
+
+_To the House of Representatives_:
+
+I transmit a letter from the Secretary of War ad interim, accompanied by
+various documents, in relation to a survey recently made of the mouths
+of the Mississippi River under a law of the last session of Congress.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _March 3, 1837_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+In the month of October last, the office of Secretary of War being
+vacant, I appointed Benjamin F. Butler, of the State of New York, to
+perform the duties thereof during the pleasure of the President, but
+with the expectation that the office would be otherwise filled, on the
+nomination of my successor, immediately on the commencement of his term
+of service. This expectation I have reason to believe will be fulfilled,
+but as it is necessary in the present state of the public service that
+the vacancy should actually occur, and as it is doubtful whether Mr.
+Butler can act under his present appointment after the expiration of
+the present session of the Senate, I hereby nominate the said Benjamin
+F. Butler to be Secretary of War of the United States, to hold the said
+office during the pleasure of the President until a successor duly
+appointed shall accept such office and enter on the duties thereof.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _March 3, 1837_.
+
+_To the Senate of the United States_:
+
+In my message to Congress of the 21st of December last I laid before
+that body, without reserve, my views concerning the recognition of the
+independence of Texas, with a report of the agent employed by the
+Executive to obtain information in respect to the condition of that
+country. Since that time the subject has been repeatedly discussed in
+both branches of the Legislature. These discussions have resulted in the
+insertion of a clause in the general appropriation law passed by both
+Houses providing for the outfit and salary of a diplomatic agent to be
+sent to the Republic of Texas whenever the President of the United
+States may receive satisfactory evidence that Texas is an independent
+power and shall deem it expedient to appoint such minister, and in the
+adoption of a resolution by the Senate, the constitutional advisers of
+the Executive on the diplomatic intercourse of the United States with
+foreign powers, expressing the opinion that "the State of Texas having
+established and maintained an independent government capable of
+performing those duties, foreign and domestic, which appertain to
+independent governments, and it appearing that there is no longer any
+reasonable prospect of the successful prosecution of the war by Mexico
+against said State, it is expedient and proper and in conformity with
+the laws of nations and the practice of this Government in like cases
+that the independent political existence of said State be acknowledged
+by the Government of the United States." Regarding these proceedings
+as a virtual decision of the question submitted by me to Congress,
+I think it my duty to acquiesce therein, and therefore I nominate Alcee
+La Branche, of Louisiana, to be charge d'affaires to the Republic
+of Texas.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+
+VETO MESSAGE.[29]
+
+[Footnote 29: Pocket veto. This message was never sent to Congress, but
+was deposited in the Department of State.]
+
+MARCH 3, 1837--11.45 p.m.
+
+The bill from the Senate entitled "An act designating and limiting the
+funds receivable for the revenues of the United States" came to my hands
+yesterday at 2 o'clock p. m. On perusing it I found its provisions so
+complex and uncertain that I deemed it necessary to obtain the opinion
+of the Attorney-General of the United States on several important
+questions touching its construction and effect before I could decide
+on the disposition to be made of it. The Attorney-General took up the
+subject immediately, and his reply was reported to me this day at 5
+o'clock p. m., and is hereunto annexed. As this officer, after a careful
+and laborious examination of the bill and a distinct expression of his
+opinion on the points proposed to him still came to the conclusion
+that the construction of the bill, should it become a law, would yet
+be a subject of much perplexity and doubt (a view of the bill entirely
+coincident with my own), and as I can not think it proper, in a matter
+of such vital interest and of such constant application, to approve a
+bill so liable to diversity of interpretations, and more especially as
+I have not had time, amid the duties constantly pressing on me, to give
+the subject that deliberate consideration which its importance demands,
+I am constrained to retain the bill, without acting definitively
+thereon; and to the end that my reasons for this step may be fully
+understood I shall cause this paper, with the opinion of the
+Attorney-General and the bill in question, to be deposited in the
+Department of State.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+ATTORNEY-GENERAL'S OFFICE,
+
+_March 3, 1837_.
+
+The PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.
+
+SIR: I have had the honor to receive the several questions proposed to
+me by you on the bill which has just passed the two Houses of Congress,
+entitled "An act designating and limiting the funds receivable for
+the revenues of the United States," and which is now before you for
+consideration. These questions may be arranged under three general
+heads, and in that order I shall proceed to reply to them.
+
+I. Will the proposed bill, if approved, repeal or alter the laws now in
+force designating the currency required to be received in payment of the
+public dues, for lands or otherwise?
+
+Will it compel the Treasury officers to receive the notes of
+specie-paying banks having the characteristics described in its first
+and second sections?
+
+In what respect does it differ from and how far will it change the joint
+resolution of April 30, 1816?
+
+_Answer_. In order to a correct reply to this question, and indeed to
+any other question arising on this obscurely penned bill, we must first
+obtain a general view of all its provisions.
+
+The first section requires the Secretary of the Treasury to take
+measures for collecting the public revenue, first, in the legal currency
+of the United States (i.e., gold and silver), or, second, in the notes
+of such specie-paying banks as shall from time to time conform to
+certain conditions in regard to small bills, described in the section.
+This section does not expressly give the Secretary power to direct that
+any particular notes _shall_ be received for lands or for duties, but it
+_forbids_ the receipt of any paper currency other than such bank notes
+as are described in the section; and it requires the Secretary to adopt
+measures, in his discretion, to effectuate that prohibition.
+
+The second section extends the prohibition still further, by forbidding
+the receipt of any notes which the banks in which they are to be
+deposited shall not, under the supervision and control of the Secretary
+of the Treasury, agree to pass to the credit of the United States as
+_cash_; to which is added a proviso authorizing the Secretary to
+withdraw the public deposits from any bank which shall refuse to receive
+as cash from the United States any notes receivable under the law which
+such bank receives in the ordinary course of business on general
+deposit.
+
+The third and last section allows the receipt, as heretofore, of land
+scrip and Treasury certificates for public lands, and forbids the
+Secretary of the Treasury to make any discrimination in the funds
+receivable (other than such as results from the receipt of land scrip
+or Treasury certificates) between the different branches of the public
+revenue.
+
+From this analysis of the bill it appears that, so far as regards bank
+notes, the bill designates and limits then: receivableness for the
+revenues of the United States, first, by forbidding the receipts of any
+except such as have all the characteristics described in the first and
+second sections of the bill, and, secondly, by restraining the Secretary
+of the Treasury from making any discrimination in this respect between
+the different branches of the public revenue. In this way the bill
+performs, to a certain extent, the office of "designating and limiting
+the funds receivable for the revenues of the United States," as
+mentioned in its title; but it would seem from what has been stated
+that it is only in this way that any such office is performed. This
+impression will be fully confirmed as we proceed.
+
+The bill, should it be approved, will be supplementary to the laws now
+in force relating to the same subject, but as it contains no repealing
+clause no provision of those former laws, except such as may be plainly
+repugnant to the present bill, will be repealed by it.
+
+The existing laws embraced in the above question, and applicable to the
+subject, are:
+
+_First. As to duties on goods imported_.--The seventy-fourth section
+of the collection law of the 2d of March, 1799, the first of which,
+reenacting in this respect the act of the 31st of July, 1789, provides
+"that all duties and fees to be collected shall be _payable in money of
+the United States or in foreign gold and silver coins_ at the following
+rates," etc. The residue of the section, as to rates, has been altered
+by subsequent laws, and the clause quoted was varied during the
+existence of the Bank of the United States, the notes of which were
+expressly made receivable in all payments to the United States, and
+during the existence of the act making Treasury notes receivable by
+such act; but in no other respects has it ever been repealed.
+
+_Second. As to public lands.--_The general land law of the 10th of May,
+1800, section 5, provided that no lands should be sold, "at either
+public or private sale, for less than $2 per acre, and payment may be
+made for the same by all purchasers _either in specie or in evidences of
+the public debt of the United States,_ at the rates prescribed" by a
+prior law. This provision was varied by the acts relative to Treasury
+notes and the Bank of the United States in like manner as above
+mentioned. The second section of the general land law of the 24th of
+April, 1820, abrogated the allowance of credits on the sale of public
+lands after the its day of July then next; required every purchaser at
+public sale to make complete payment on the day of purchase, and the
+purchaser at private sale to produce to the register a receipt from the
+Treasurer of the United States or from the receiver of the district for
+the amount of the purchase money. The proviso to the fourth section of
+the same law enacted, in respect to reverted lands and lands remaining
+unsold, that they should not be sold for less price than $1.25 per acre,
+"nor on any other terms than that of _cash_ payment." This latter act
+has been further modified by the allowing Virginia land scrip to be
+received in payment for public lands.
+
+_Third. As to both duties and lands_.--The joint resolution of the 30th
+of April, 1816, provides that the Secretary of the Treasury "be required
+and directed to adopt such measures as he may deem necessary to cause,
+as soon as may be, all duties, taxes, debts, or sums of money accruing
+or becoming payable to the United States to be collected and paid in the
+legal currency of the United States, or Treasury notes, or notes of the
+Bank of the United States, _as by law provided and declared_, or in
+notes of banks which are payable and paid on demand in the said legal
+currency of the United States, and that from and after the 20th day of
+February next no such duties, taxes, debts, or sums of money accruing or
+becoming payable to the United States as aforesaid ought to be collected
+or received otherwise than in the legal currency of the United States,
+or Treasury notes, or notes of the Bank of the United States, or in
+notes of banks which are payable and paid on demand in the legal
+currency of the United States." According to the opinion given by me as
+a member of your Cabinet in the month of July last, and to which I still
+adhere, this resolution was mandatory only as it respected the legal
+currency of the United States, Treasury notes, and notes of the Bank
+of the United States, and in respect to the notes of the State banks,
+though payable and paid in specie, was permissive merely in the
+discretion of the Secretary; and in accordance with this opinion has
+been the practical construction given to the resolution by the Treasury
+Department. It is known to you, however, that distinguished names have
+been vouched for the opinion that the resolution was mandatory as to the
+notes of all specie-paying banks; that the debtor had the right, at his
+option, to make payment in such notes, and that if tendered by him the
+Treasury officers had no discretion to refuse them.
+
+It is thus seen that the laws now in force, so far as they _positively
+enjoin_ the receipt of any particular currency in payment of public
+dues, are confined to gold and silver, except that in certain cases
+Virginia land scrip and Treasury certificates are directed to be
+received on the sale of public lands. In my opinion, there is nothing in
+the bill before me repugnant to those laws. The bill does not _expressly
+_ declare and enact that any particular species of currency _shall be
+receivable _in payment of the public revenue. On the contrary, as the
+provisions of the first and second sections are chiefly of a _negative_
+character, I think they do not take away the power of the Secretary,
+previously possessed under the acts of Congress, and as the agent of
+the President, to _forbid_ the receipt of any bank notes which are not
+by some act of Congress expressly made absolutely receivable in payment
+of the public dues.
+
+The above view will, I think, be confirmed by a closer examination
+of the bill. It sets out with the assumption that there is a currency
+established by law (i. e., gold and silver); and it further assumes that
+the public revenue of all descriptions ought to be collected exclusively
+in such legal currency, or in bank notes of a certain character; and
+therefore it provides that the Secretary of the Treasury _shall_ take
+measures to effect a collection of the revenue "in the legal currency
+of the United States, _or_ in notes of banks which are payable and paid
+on demand in the said legal currency," under certain restrictions,
+afterwards mentioned in the act.
+
+The question then arises: Are bank notes having the requisite
+characteristics placed by the clause just quoted on the same footing
+with the legal currency, so as to make it the duty of the Secretary of
+the Treasury to allow the receipt of them when tendered by the debtor?
+In my judgment, such is not the effect of the provision.
+
+If Congress had intended to make so important an alteration of the
+existing law as to compel the receiving officers to take payment in the
+bank notes described in the bill, the natural phraseology would have
+been, "in the legal currency of the United States _and_ in notes of
+banks which are payable and paid in the legal currency," etc. And it is
+reasonable to presume that Congress would have used such, phraseology,
+or would have gone on to make a distinct provision expressly declaring
+that such bank notes _should be receivable, _as was done in the bank
+charters of 1790 and 1816, and as was also done by the acts relative to
+evidences of debt, Treasury notes, and Virginia land scrip. The form of
+one of these provisions (the fourteenth section of the act incorporating
+the late Bank of the United States) will illustrate the idea I desire
+to present:
+
+"SEC. 14. _And be it further enacted, _That the bills or notes of the
+said corporation, originally made payable, or which shall have become
+payable, on demand, _shall be receivable _in all payments to the United
+States, unless otherwise directed by act of Congress."
+
+The difference between the language there used and that employed in the
+present bill is too obvious to require comment. It is true that the word
+"or," when it occurs in wills and agreements, is sometimes construed to
+mean "and," in order to give effect to the plain intent of the parties;
+and such a construction of the word may sometimes be given when it
+occurs in statutes, where the general intent of the lawmakers evidently
+requires it. But this construction of the word in the present case is
+not only unnecessary, but, in my opinion, repugnant to the whole scope
+of the bill, which, so far from commanding the public officers to
+receive bank notes in cases not required by the existing laws,
+introduces several new prohibitions on the receipt of such notes.
+
+Nor do I think this one of those cases in which a choice is given to the
+debtor to pay in one or other of two descriptions of currency, both of
+which are receivable by law. Such a choice was given by the land law of
+the 10th of May, 1800, section 5, between specie and the evidences of
+the public debt of the United States then receivable by law, and also
+by the joint resolution of the 30th of April, 1816, between "the legal
+currency of the United States, or Treasury notes, or notes of the Bank
+of the United States, as by law provided and declared." The option given
+by that resolution continued in force so long as the laws providing and
+declaring that Treasury notes and notes of the Bank of the United States
+should be receivable in payments to the United States, and ceased when
+those laws expired. The distinction between that description of paper
+currency which is by law expressly made receivable in payment of public
+dues, and the notes of the State banks, which were only _permitted_ to
+be received, is plainly marked in the resolution of 1816. While the
+former are placed on the same footing with the legal currency, because
+by previous laws it had been so "_provided and declared_" the latter
+were left to be received or not received, at the discretion of the
+Secretary of the Treasury, except that he was restricted from allowing
+any to be received which were not payable and paid on demand in the
+legal currency. The bank notes spoken of in the bill before me, having
+never been made receivable by law, must be regarded as belonging to the
+latter class, and not to the former; and there can therefore be no
+greater obligation under the present bill, should it become a law, to
+receive them in payment than there was to receive the paper of the
+State banks under the resolution of 1816.
+
+As to the difference between this bill and the joint resolution of 1816,
+the bill differs from that resolution in the following particulars:
+
+First. It says nothing of Treasury notes and the notes of the Bank of
+the United States, which by the resolution of 1816 are recognized as
+having been made receivable by laws then in force in payment of public
+dues of all descriptions.
+
+Second. It abridges the discretion left with the Secretary of the
+Treasury by that resolution, by positively forbidding the receipt of
+bank notes not having the characteristics described in the first and
+second sections of the bill; whereas the receipt of some of the notes so
+forbidden might, under the resolution of 1816, have been allowed by the
+Secretary.
+
+Third. It forbids the making of any discrimination in respect to the
+receipt of bank notes between the different branches of the public
+revenue; whereas the Secretary of the Treasury, under the resolution of
+1816, was subject to no such restraint, and had the power to make the
+discrimination forbidden by the bill, except as to the notes of the Bank
+of the United States and Treasury notes.
+
+This bill, if approved, will change the resolution of 1816, so far
+as it now remains in force, in the second and third particulars just
+mentioned, but in my opinion, as already suggested, will change it in
+no other respect.
+
+II. What is the extent of the supervision and control allowed by this
+bill to the Secretary of the Treasury over the notes to be received by
+the deposit banks?
+
+And does it allow him to direct what particular notes shall or shall not
+be received for lands or for duties?
+
+_Answer_. After maturely considering, so far as time has been
+allowed me, the several provisions of the bill, I think the following
+conclusions may fairly be drawn from them when taken in connection with
+the laws now in force, and above referred to, and that should it become
+a law they will probably express its legal effect.
+
+First. That the Secretary of the Treasury _can not direct _the receipt
+of any notes except such as are issued by banks which conform to the
+first section of the law and such as will be passed by the proper
+deposit bank to the credit of the United States as _cash_.
+
+Second. That he _may direct_ the receipt of notes issued by banks which
+conform to the first section, provided the deposit bank in which the
+notes are to be deposited shall agree to credit them as cash.
+
+Third. That if the deposit bank in which the money is to be deposited
+shall refuse to receive as cash the notes designated by the Secretary,
+and which such bank receives in the ordinary course of business on
+general deposit, he may withdraw the public deposits and select another
+depository which will agree to receive them.
+
+Fourth. That if he can not find a depository which will so agree, then
+that the Secretary can not direct or authorize the receipt of any notes
+except such as the deposit bank primarily entitled to the deposits will
+agree to receive and deposit as cash.
+
+Fifth. That although a deposit bank might be willing to receive from
+the collectors and receivers, and to credit as _cash_, notes of certain
+banks which conform to the first section, yet, for the reasons before
+stated, I am of opinion that the Secretary is not _obliged_ to allow the
+receipt of such notes.
+
+Sixth. The Secretary is forbidden to make any discrimination in
+_the funds receivable _"between the different branches of the public
+revenue," and therefore, though he may forbid the receipt of the notes
+of any particular bank or class of banks not excluded by the bill, and
+may forbid the receipt of notes of denominations larger than those named
+in the bill, yet when he issues any such prohibition it must apply to
+_all_ the branches of the public revenue.
+
+Seventh. If I am right in the foregoing propositions, the result will be
+that the proposed law will leave in the Secretary of the Treasury power
+to _prohibit_ the receipt of particular _notes provided his prohibition
+apply to both lands and duties, _and power to _direct_ what particular
+notes allowed by the law shall be received _provided he can find a
+deposit bank which will agree to receive and [credit] them as cash_.
+
+III. Are the deposit banks the sole judges under this bill of what
+notes they will receive, or are they bound to receive the notes of every
+specie-paying bank, chartered or unchartered, wherever situated, in any
+part of the United States?
+
+_Answer_. In my opinion the deposit banks, under the bill in question,
+will be the sole judges of the notes to be received by them from any
+collector or receiver of public money, and they will not be bound to
+receive the notes of any other bank whose notes they may choose to
+reject, provided they apply the same rule to the United States which
+they apply to their own depositors. In other words, the general rule as
+to what notes are to be received as cash, prescribed by each deposit
+bank for the regulation of its ordinary business, must be complied with
+by the collectors and receivers whose moneys are to be deposited with
+that bank. But it will not therefore follow that those officers will be
+bound to receive what the bank generally receives, because, as already
+stated, they may refuse of their own accord, or under the direction of
+the Secretary of the Treasury, any bank notes not expressly directed by
+act of Congress to be received in payment of the public dues.
+
+I have thus answered the several questions proposed on the bill before
+me; and though I have been necessarily obliged to examine the subject
+with much haste, I have no other doubts as to the soundness of the
+construction above given than such as belong to discussions of this
+nature and to a proper sense of the fallibility of human judgment. It
+is, however, my duty to remind you that very different opinions were
+expressed in the course of the debates on the proposed law by some of
+the members who took part therein. It would seem from these debates that
+the bill, in some instances at least, was supported under the impression
+that it would compel the Treasury officers to receive all bank notes
+possessing all the characteristics described in the first and second
+sections, and that the Secretary of the Treasury would have no power
+to forbid their receipt. It must be confessed that the language is
+sufficiently ambiguous to give some plausibility to such a construction,
+and that it seems to derive some support from the refusal of the House
+of Representatives to consider an amendment reported by the Committee of
+Ways and Means of that House, which would substantially have given the
+bill, in explicit terms, the interpretation I have put on it, and have
+removed the uncertainty which now pervades it. Under these circumstances
+it may reasonably be expected that the true meaning of the bill, should
+it be passed into a law, will become a subject of discussion and
+controversy, and probably remain involved in much perplexity and doubt
+until it shall have been settled by a judicial decision. How far these
+latter considerations are to be regarded by you in your decision on the
+bill is a question which belongs to another place, and on which,
+therefore, I forbear to enlarge in this communication. I have the honor
+to be, sir, with high respect, your obedient servant,
+
+B.F. BUTLER.
+
+
+
+AN ACT designating and limiting the funds receivable for the revenues of
+the United States.
+
+_Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
+States of America in Congress assembled_. That the Secretary of the
+Treasury be, and hereby is, required to adopt such measures as he may
+deem necessary to effect a collection of the public revenue of the
+United States, whether arising from duties, taxes, debts, or sales of
+lands, in the manner and on the principles herein provided; that is,
+that no such duties, taxes, debts, or sums of money, payable for lands,
+shall be collected or received otherwise than in the legal currency of
+the United States, or in notes of banks which are payable and paid on
+demand in the said legal currency of the United States under the
+following restrictions and conditions in regard to such notes, to wit:
+From and after the passage of this act the notes of no bank which shall
+issue or circulate bills or notes of a less denomination than five
+dollars shall be received on account of the public dues; and from and
+after the thirtieth day of December, eighteen hundred and thirty-nine,
+the notes of no bank which shall issue or circulate bills or notes of a
+less denomination than ten dollars shall be so receivable; and from and
+after the thirtieth day of December, one thousand eight hundred and
+forty-one, the like prohibition shall be extended to the notes of all
+banks issuing bills or notes of a less denomination than twenty dollars.
+
+SEC. 2. _And be it further enacted, _That no notes shall be received by
+the collectors or receivers of the public money which the banks in which
+they are to be deposited shall not, under the supervision and control of
+the Secretary of the Treasury, agree to pass to the credit of the United
+States as cash: _Provided_, That if any deposit bank shall refuse to
+receive and pass to the credit of the United States as cash any notes
+receivable under the provisions of this act, which said bank, in the
+ordinary course of business, receives on general deposit, the Secretary
+of the Treasury is hereby authorized to withdraw the public deposits
+from said bank.
+
+SEC. 3. _And be it further enacted, _That this act shall not be so
+construed as to prohibit receivers or collectors of the dues of the
+Government from receiving for the public lands any kind of land scrip
+or Treasury certificates now authorized by law, but the same shall
+hereafter be received for the public lands in the same way and manner
+as has heretofore been practiced; and it shall not be lawful for the
+Secretary of the Treasury to make any discrimination in the funds
+receivable between the different branches of the public revenue,
+except as is provided in this section.
+
+JAMES K. POLK,
+
+_Speaker of the House of Representatives_.
+
+W.R. KING,
+
+_President of the Senate pro tempore_.
+
+I certify that this act did originate in the Senate.
+
+ASBURY DICKINS,
+
+_Secretary_.
+
+
+
+
+PROCLAMATION.
+
+[From Senate Journal, Twenty-fourth Congress, second session, p. 355.]
+
+DECEMBER 20, 1836.
+
+_The President of the United States to ------,  Senator for the State
+of ------_.
+
+By virtue of the power vested in me by the Constitution, I hereby
+convene the Senate of the United States to meet in the Senate Chamber on
+the 4th day of March next, at 10 o'clock in the forenoon, to receive any
+communication the President of the United States may think it his duty
+to make.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+
+EXECUTIVE ORDERS.
+
+
+WAR DEPARTMENT,
+
+_February 15, 1837_.
+
+Major-General ALEXANDER MACOMB,
+
+_President of the Court of Inquiry, etc._
+
+SIR: I have the honor to inclose a copy of the opinion of the President
+of the United States on the proceedings of the court of inquiry of which
+you are president, relative to the campaign against the Creek Indians,
+and, in compliance with the direction at the close thereof, to transmit
+herewith those proceedings, with the documentary evidence referred to
+therein, for the further action of the court.
+
+Very respectfully, your most obedient servant,
+
+B.F. BUTLER,
+
+_Secretary of War ad interim_.
+
+P.S.--The proceedings and a portion of the documents accompany this.
+The balance of the documents (except Nos. 204 and 209, which will be
+sent to-morrow) are in a separate package, and sent by the same mail.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _February 14, 1837_.
+
+The President has carefully examined the proceedings of the court of
+inquiry recently held at the city of Frederick, by virtue of Orders
+Nos. 65 and 68, so far as the same relate to the causes of the delay in
+opening and prosecuting the campaign in Georgia and Alabama against the
+hostile Creek Indians in the year 1836, and has maturely considered the
+opinion of the court on this part of the subject referred to it.
+
+The order constituting the court directs it, among other things--
+
+
+  To inquire and examine into the causes of the delay in opening and
+  prosecuting the campaign in Georgia and Alabama against the hostile
+  Creek Indians in the year 1836, and into every subject connected with
+  the military operations in the campaign aforesaid, and, after fully
+  investigating the same, to report the facts, together with its opinion
+  on the whole subject, for the information of the President.
+
+
+It appears from the proceedings that after the testimony of nine
+witnesses had been received by the court, and after more than one
+hundred documents bearing on the subject had also been produced in
+evidence, and after Major-General Scott had addressed the court on the
+subject, the court proceeded to pronounce its opinion, as follows:
+
+
+  Upon a careful examination of the abundant testimony taken in the
+  foregoing case the court is of opinion that no delay which it was
+  practicable to have avoided was made by Major-General Scott in opening
+  the campaign against the Creek Indians. On the contrary, it appears
+  that he took the earliest measures to provide arms, munitions, and
+  provisions for his forces, who were found almost wholly destitute; and
+  as soon as arms could be put into the hands of the volunteers they
+  were, in succession, detached and placed in position to prevent the
+  enemy from retiring upon Florida, and whence they could move against
+  the main body of the enemy as soon as equipped for offensive
+  operations.
+
+  From the testimony of the governor of Georgia, of Major-General
+  Sanford, commander of the Georgia volunteers, and many other witnesses
+  of high rank and standing who were acquainted with the topography of
+  the country and the position and strength of the enemy, the court is
+  of opinion that the plan of campaign adopted by Major-General Scott
+  was well calculated to lead to successful results, and that it was
+  prosecuted by him, as far as practicable, with zeal and ability, until
+  recalled from the command upon representations made by Major-General
+  Jesup, his second in command, from Fort Mitchell, in a letter bearing
+  date the 20th of June, 1836, addressed to F.P. Blair, esq., at
+  Washington, marked "private," containing a request that it be shown to
+  the President; which letter was exposed and brought to light by the
+  dignified and magnanimous act of the President in causing it to be
+  placed on file in the Department of War as an official document, and
+  which forms part of the proceedings. (See Document No. 214.) Conduct
+  so extraordinary and inexplicable on the part of Major-General Jesup,
+  in reference to the character of said letter, should, in the opinion
+  of the court, be investigated.
+
+
+The foregoing opinion is not accompanied by any report of the _facts_
+in the case, as required by the order constituting the court; on the
+contrary, the facts are left to be gathered from the mass of oral and
+documentary evidence contained in the proceedings, and thus a most
+important part of the duty assigned to the court remains unexecuted.
+Had the court stated the facts of the case as established to its
+satisfaction by the evidence before it, the President, on comparing
+such state of facts found by the court with its opinion, would have
+distinctly understood the views entertained by the court in respect to
+the degree of promptitude and energy which ought to be displayed in a
+campaign against Indians--and one which the President's examination of
+the evidence has not supplied, inasmuch as he has no means of knowing
+whether the conclusions drawn by him from the evidence agree with those
+of the court.
+
+The opinion of the court is also argumentative, and wanting in
+requisite precision, inasmuch as it states that "no delay _which it
+was practicable to have avoided was made by Major-General Scott_ in
+opening the campaign against the Creek Indians," etc.; thus leaving it
+to be inferred, but not distinctly finding, that there was some delay,
+and that it was made by some person other than Major-General Scott,
+without specifying in what such delay consisted, when it occurred, how
+long it continued, nor by whom it was occasioned. Had the court found
+a state of facts, as required by the order constituting it, the
+uncertainty now existing in this part of the opinion would have been
+obviated and the justice of the opinion itself readily determined.
+
+That part of the opinion of the court which animadverts on the letter
+addressed by Major-General Jesup to F.P. Blair, esq., bearing date the
+20th of June, 1836, and which presents the same as a subject demanding
+investigation, appears to the President to be wholly unauthorized by the
+order constituting the court, and by which its jurisdiction was confined
+to an inquiry into the causes of the delay in opening and prosecuting
+the campaign against the hostile Creeks and into such subjects as were
+connected with the military operations in that campaign. The causes of
+the recall of Major-General Scott from the command and the propriety
+or impropriety of the conduct of General Jesup in writing the letter
+referred to were not submitted to the court as subjects of inquiry. The
+court itself appears to have been of this opinion, inasmuch as no notice
+was given to General Jesup of the pendency of the proceedings, nor had
+he any opportunity to cross-examine and interrogate the witnesses, nor
+to be heard in respect to his conduct in the matter remarked on by the
+court.
+
+For the several reasons above assigned, the President disapproves the
+opinion of the court, and remits to it the proceedings in question, to
+the end that the court may resume the consideration of the evidence and
+from the same, and from such further evidence as shall be taken (in
+case the court shall deem it necessary to take further evidence), may
+ascertain and report with distinctness and precision, especially as to
+time, place, distances, and other circumstances, all the facts touching
+the opening and prosecuting of the campaign in Georgia and Alabama
+against the hostile Creek Indians in the year 1836, and the military
+operations in the said campaign, and touching the delay, if any there
+was, in the opening or prosecuting of said campaign, and the causes of
+such delay; and to the end, also, that the court, whilst confining its
+opinion to the subject-matters submitted to it, may fully and distinctly
+express its opinion on those matters for the information of the
+President.
+
+The Secretary of War _ad interim _will cause the proceedings of the
+court on the subject of the campaign against the Creek Indians, with the
+documentary evidence referred to therein and a copy of the foregoing
+opinion, to be transmitted to Major-General Alexander Macomb, president
+of the court, for the proper action thereon.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON, _February 18, 1837_.
+
+The proceedings of the court of inquiry recently assembled and
+still sitting at Frederick by virtue of Orders Nos. 65 and 68, so
+far as the same relate to the causes of the failure of the campaign
+of Major-General Scott against the Seminole Indians in 1836, were
+heretofore submitted to the President, and the examination thereof
+suspended in consequence of the necessary connection between the case
+of Major-General Scott and that of Major-General Gaines, also referred
+to the same court, and not yet reported on. Certain other proceedings
+of the same court having been since examined by the President, and
+having been found defective, and therefore remitted to the court for
+reconsideration, the President has deemed it proper, in order to
+expedite the matter, to look into the first-mentioned proceedings for
+the purpose of ascertaining whether or not the like defects existed
+therein. On this inspection of the record he perceives that the court
+has not reported, except in a few instances, the facts of the case, as
+required by the order constituting the court, and in those instances the
+facts found by the court are stated in a very general form and without
+sufficient minuteness and precision; and he therefore remits the said
+proceedings to the court, to the end that the court may resume the
+consideration of the evidence, and from the same, and from such further
+evidence as may be taken (in case the court shall deem it necessary to
+take further evidence), may ascertain and report with distinctness
+and precision all the facts touching the subject to be inquired of,
+established to the satisfaction of the court by the evidence before it,
+and especially the times when and places where the several occurrences
+which are deemed material by the court in the formation of its opinion
+actually took place, with the amount of force on both sides at the
+different periods of time embraced in the transactions, and the
+positions thereof, and such other circumstances as are deemed material
+by the court; together with its opinion on the whole subject, for the
+information of the President.
+
+The Secretary of War _ad interim_ will cause the proceedings of the
+court in the case of Major-General Scott, first above mentioned, with
+the documentary evidence referred to therein and a copy hereof, to be
+transmitted to Major-General Alexander Macomb, president of the court,
+for the proper action thereon.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+
+FAREWELL ADDRESS.
+
+
+MARCH 4, 1837.
+
+FELLOW-CITIZENS: Being about to retire finally from public life, I beg
+leave to offer you my grateful thanks for the many proofs of kindness
+and confidence which I have received at your hands. It has been
+my fortune in the discharge of public duties, civil and military,
+frequently to have found myself in difficult and trying situations,
+where prompt decision and energetic action were necessary, and where the
+interest of the country required that high responsibilities should be
+fearlessly encountered; and it is with the deepest emotions of gratitude
+that I acknowledge the continued and unbroken confidence with which you
+have sustained me in every trial. My public life has been a long one,
+and I can not hope that it has at all times been free from errors; but
+I have the consolation of knowing that if mistakes have been committed
+they have not seriously injured the country I so anxiously endeavored to
+serve, and at the moment when I surrender my last public trust I leave
+this great people prosperous and happy, in the full enjoyment of liberty
+and peace, and honored and respected by every nation of the world.
+
+If my humble efforts have in any degree contributed to preserve to you
+these blessings, I have been more than rewarded by the honors you have
+heaped upon me, and, above all, by the generous confidence with which
+you have supported me in every peril, and with which you have continued
+to animate and cheer my path to the closing hour of my political life.
+The time has now come when advanced age and a broken frame warn me to
+retire from public concerns, but the recollection of the many favors
+you have bestowed upon me is engraven upon my heart, and I have felt
+that I could not part from your service without making this public
+acknowledgment of the gratitude I owe you. And if I use the occasion
+to offer to you the counsels of age and experience, you will, I trust,
+receive them with the same indulgent kindness which you have so often
+extended to me, and will at least see in them an earnest desire to
+perpetuate in this favored land the blessings of liberty and equal law.
+
+We have now lived almost fifty years under the Constitution framed by
+the sages and patriots of the Revolution. The conflicts in which the
+nations of Europe were engaged during a great part of this period, the
+spirit in which they waged war against each other, and our intimate
+commercial connections with every part of the civilized world rendered
+it a time of much difficulty for the Government of the United States.
+We have had our seasons of peace and of war, with all the evils which
+precede or follow a state of hostility with powerful nations. We
+encountered these trials with our Constitution yet in its infancy, and
+under the disadvantages which a new and untried government must always
+feel when it is called upon to put forth its whole strength without the
+lights of experience to guide it or the weight of precedents to justify
+its measures. But we have passed triumphantly through all these
+difficulties. Our Constitution is no longer a doubtful experiment,
+and at the end of nearly half a century we find that it has preserved
+unimpaired the liberties of the people, secured the rights of property,
+and that our country has improved and is flourishing beyond any former
+example in the history of nations.
+
+In our domestic concerns there is everything to encourage us, and if
+you are true to yourselves nothing can impede your march to the highest
+point of national prosperity. The States which had so long been retarded
+in their improvement by the Indian tribes residing in the midst of
+them are at length relieved from the evil, and this unhappy race--the
+original dwellers in our land--are now placed in a situation where we
+may well hope that they will share in the blessings of civilization
+and be saved from that degradation and destruction to which they were
+rapidly hastening while they remained in the States; and while the
+safety and comfort of our own citizens have been greatly promoted by
+their removal, the philanthropist will rejoice that the remnant of that
+ill-fated race has been at length placed beyond the reach of injury or
+oppression, and that the paternal care of the General Government will
+hereafter watch over them and protect them.
+
+If we turn to our relations with foreign powers, we find our condition
+equally gratifying. Actuated by the sincere desire to do justice to
+every nation and to preserve the blessings of peace, our intercourse
+with them has been conducted on the part of this Government in the
+spirit of frankness; and I take pleasure in saying that it has generally
+been met in a corresponding temper. Difficulties of old standing have
+been surmounted by friendly discussion and the mutual desire to be just,
+and the claims of our citizens, which had been long withheld, have at
+length been acknowledged and adjusted and satisfactory arrangements made
+for their final payment; and with a limited, and I trust a temporary,
+exception, our relations with every foreign power are now of the most
+friendly character, our commerce continually expanding, and our flag
+respected in every quarter of the world.
+
+These cheering and grateful prospects and these multiplied favors we
+owe, under Providence, to the adoption of the Federal Constitution. It
+is no longer a question whether this great country can remain happily
+united and flourish under our present form of government. Experience,
+the unerring test of all human undertakings, has shown the wisdom and
+foresight of those who formed it, and has proved that in the union of
+these States there is a sure foundation for the brightest hopes of
+freedom and for the happiness of the people. At every hazard and by
+every sacrifice this Union must be preserved.
+
+The necessity of watching with jealous anxiety for the preservation of
+the Union was earnestly pressed upon his fellow-citizens by the Father
+of his Country in his Farewell Address. He has there told us that "while
+experience shall not have demonstrated its impracticability, there will
+always be reason to distrust the patriotism of those who in any quarter
+may endeavor to weaken its bands;" and he has cautioned us in the
+strongest terms against the formation of parties on geographical
+discriminations, as one of the means which might disturb our Union
+and to which designing men would be likely to resort.
+
+The lessons contained in this invaluable legacy of Washington to his
+countrymen should be cherished in the heart of every citizen to the
+latest generation; and perhaps at no period of time could they be more
+usefully remembered than at the present moment; for when we look upon
+the scenes that are passing around us and dwell upon the pages of his
+parting address, his paternal counsels would seem to be not merely
+the offspring of wisdom and foresight, but the voice of prophecy,
+foretelling events and warning us of the evil to come. Forty years have
+passed since this imperishable document was given to his countrymen. The
+Federal Constitution was then regarded by him as an experiment--and he
+so speaks of it in his Address--but an experiment upon the success of
+which the best hopes of his country depended; and we all know that he
+was prepared to lay down his life, if necessary, to secure to it a full
+and a fair trial. The trial has been made. It has succeeded beyond the
+proudest hopes of those who framed it. Every quarter of this widely
+extended nation has felt its blessings and shared in the general
+prosperity produced by its adoption. But amid this general prosperity
+and splendid success the dangers of which he warned us are becoming
+every day more evident, and the signs of evil are sufficiently apparent
+to awaken the deepest anxiety in the bosom of the patriot. We behold
+systematic efforts publicly made to sow the seeds of discord between
+different parts of the United States and to place party divisions
+directly upon geographical distinctions; to excite the _South_ against
+the _North_ and the _North_ against the _South_, and to force into the
+controversy the most delicate and exciting topics--topics upon which it
+is impossible that a large portion of the Union can ever speak without
+strong emotion. Appeals, too, are constantly made to sectional interests
+in order to influence the election of the Chief Magistrate, as if it
+were desired that he should favor a particular quarter of the country
+instead of fulfilling the duties of his station with impartial justice
+to all; and the possible dissolution of the Union has at length become
+an ordinary and familiar subject of discussion. Has the warning voice of
+Washington been forgotten, or have designs already been formed to sever
+the Union? Let it not be supposed that I impute to all of those who have
+taken an active part in these unwise and unprofitable discussions a want
+of patriotism or of public virtue. The honorable feeling of State
+pride and local attachments finds a place in the bosoms of the most
+enlightened and pure. But while such men are conscious of their own
+integrity and honesty of purpose, they ought never to forget that the
+citizens of other States are their political brethren, and that however
+mistaken they may be in their views, the great body of them are equally
+honest and upright with themselves. Mutual suspicions and reproaches may
+in time create mutual hostility, and artful and designing men will
+always be found who are ready to foment these fatal divisions and to
+inflame the natural jealousies of different sections of the country.
+The history of the world is full of such examples, and especially the
+history of republics.
+
+What have you to gain by division and dissension? Delude not yourselves
+with the belief that a breach once made may be afterwards repaired.
+If the Union is once severed, the line of separation will grow wider
+and wider, and the controversies which are now debated and settled
+in the halls of legislation will then be tried in fields of battle and
+determined by the sword. Neither should you deceive yourselves with
+the hope that the first line of separation would be the permanent one,
+and that nothing but harmony and concord would be found in the new
+associations formed upon the dissolution of this Union. Local interests
+would still be found there, and unchastened ambition. And if the
+recollection of common dangers, in which the people of these United
+States stood side by side against the common foe, the memory of
+victories won by their united valor, the prosperity and happiness they
+have enjoyed under the present Constitution, the proud name they bear as
+citizens of this great Republic--if all these recollections and proofs
+of common interest are not strong enough to bind us together as one
+people, what tie will hold united the new divisions of empire when these
+bonds have been broken and this Union dissevered? The first line of
+separation would not last for a single generation; new fragments would
+be torn off, new leaders would spring up, and this great and glorious
+Republic would soon be broken into a multitude of petty States, without
+commerce, without credit, jealous of one another, armed for mutual
+aggression, loaded with taxes to pay armies and leaders, seeking aid
+against each other from foreign powers, insulted and trampled upon by
+the nations of Europe, until, harassed with conflicts and humbled and
+debased in spirit, they would be ready to submit to the absolute
+dominion of any military adventurer and to surrender their liberty for
+the sake of repose. It is impossible to look on the consequences that
+would inevitably follow the destruction of this Government and not feel
+indignant when we hear cold calculations about the value of the Union
+and have so constantly before us a line of conduct so well calculated
+to weaken its ties.
+
+There is too much at stake to allow pride or passion to influence your
+decision. Never for a moment believe that the great body of the citizens
+of any State or States can deliberately intend to do wrong. They may,
+under the influence of temporary excitement or misguided opinions,
+commit mistakes; they may be misled for a time by the suggestions of
+self-interest; but in a community so enlightened and patriotic as the
+people of the United States argument will soon make them sensible of
+their errors, and when convinced they will be ready to repair them. If
+they have no higher or better motives to govern them, they will at least
+perceive that their own interest requires them to be just to others, as
+they hope to receive justice at their hands.
+
+But in order to maintain the Union unimpaired it is absolutely necessary
+that the laws passed by the constituted authorities should be faithfully
+executed in every part of the country, and that every good citizen
+should at all times stand ready to put down, with the combined force
+of the nation, every attempt at unlawful resistance, under whatever
+pretext it may be made or whatever shape it may assume. Unconstitutional
+or oppressive laws may no doubt be passed by Congress, either from
+erroneous views or the want of due consideration; if they are within
+the reach of judicial authority, the remedy is easy and peaceful; and
+if, from the character of the law, it is an abuse of power not within
+the control of the judiciary, then free discussion and calm appeals to
+reason and to the justice of the people will not fail to redress the
+wrong. But until the law shall be declared void by the courts or
+repealed by Congress no individual or combination of individuals can be
+justified in forcibly resisting its execution. It is impossible that any
+government can continue to exist upon any other principles. It would
+cease to be a government and be unworthy of the name if it had not the
+power to enforce the execution of its own laws within its own sphere
+of action.
+
+It is true that cases may be imagined disclosing such a settled purpose
+of usurpation and oppression on the part of the Government as would
+justify an appeal to arms. These, however, are extreme cases, which we
+have no reason to apprehend in a government where the power is in the
+hands of a patriotic people. And no citizen who loves his country would
+in any case whatever resort to forcible resistance unless he clearly saw
+that the time had come when a freeman should prefer death to submission;
+for if such a struggle is once begun, and the citizens of one section
+of the country arrayed in arms against those of another in doubtful
+conflict, let the battle result as it may, there will be an end of the
+Union and with it an end to the hopes of freedom. The victory of the
+injured would not secure to them the blessings of liberty; it would
+avenge their wrongs, but they would themselves share in the common ruin.
+
+But the Constitution can not be maintained nor the Union preserved,
+in opposition to public feeling, by the mere exertion of the coercive
+powers confided to the General Government. The foundations must be
+laid in the affections of the people, in the security it gives to life,
+liberty, character, and property in every quarter of the country, and in
+the fraternal attachment which the citizens of the several States bear
+to one another as members of one political family, mutually contributing
+to promote the happiness of each other. Hence the citizens of every
+State should studiously avoid everything calculated to wound the
+sensibility or offend the just pride of the people of other States, and
+they should frown upon any proceedings within their own borders likely
+to disturb the tranquillity of their political brethren in other
+portions of the Union. In a country so extensive as the United States,
+and with pursuits so varied, the internal regulations of the several
+States must frequently differ from one another in important particulars,
+and this difference is unavoidably increased by the varying principles
+upon which the American colonies were originally planted--principles
+which had taken deep root in their social relations before the
+Revolution, and therefore of necessity influencing their policy
+since they became free and independent States. But each State has the
+unquestionable right to regulate its own internal concerns according to
+its own pleasure, and while it does not interfere with the rights of
+the people of other States or the rights of the Union, every State must
+be the sole judge of the measures proper to secure the safety of its
+citizens and promote their happiness; and all efforts on the part of
+people of other States to cast odium upon their institutions, and all
+measures calculated to disturb their rights of property or to put in
+jeopardy their peace and internal tranquillity, are in direct opposition
+to the spirit in which the Union was formed, and must endanger its
+safety. Motives of philanthropy may be assigned for this unwarrantable
+interference, and weak men may persuade themselves for a moment that
+they are laboring in the cause of humanity and asserting the rights of
+the human race; but everyone, upon sober reflection, will see that
+nothing but mischief can come from these improper assaults upon the
+feelings and rights of others. Rest assured that the men found busy in
+this work of discord are not worthy of your confidence, and deserve
+your strongest reprobation.
+
+In the legislation of Congress also, and in every measure of the General
+Government, justice to every portion of the United States should be
+faithfully observed. No free government can stand without virtue in the
+people and a lofty spirit of patriotism, and if the sordid feelings of
+mere selfishness shall usurp the place which ought to be filled by
+public spirit, the legislation of Congress will soon be converted
+into a scramble for personal and sectional advantages. Under our free
+institutions the citizens of every quarter of our country are capable of
+attaining a high degree of prosperity and happiness without seeking to
+profit themselves at the expense of others; and every such attempt must
+in the end fail to succeed, for the people in every part of the United
+States are too enlightened not to understand their own rights and
+interests and to detect and defeat every effort to gain undue advantages
+over them; and when such designs are discovered it naturally provokes
+resentments which can not always be easily allayed. Justice--full and
+ample justice--to every portion of the United States should be the
+ruling principle of every freeman, and should guide the deliberations
+of every public body, whether it be State or national.
+
+It is well known that there have always been those amongst us who wish
+to enlarge the powers of the General Government, and experience would
+seem to indicate that there is a tendency on the part of this Government
+to overstep the boundaries marked out for it by the Constitution. Its
+legitimate authority is abundantly sufficient for all the purposes for
+which it was created and its powers being expressly enumerated, there
+can be no justification for claiming anything beyond them. Every attempt
+to exercise power beyond these limits should be promptly and firmly
+opposed, for one evil example will lead to other measures still more
+mischievous; and if the principle of constructive powers or supposed
+advantages or temporary circumstances shall ever be permitted to justify
+the assumption of a power not given by the Constitution, the General
+Government will before long absorb all the powers of legislation, and
+you will have in effect but one consolidated government. From the
+extent of our country, its diversified interests, different pursuits,
+and different habits, it is too obvious for argument that a single
+consolidated government would be wholly inadequate to watch over and
+protect its interests; and every friend of our free institutions should
+be always prepared to maintain unimpaired and in full vigor the rights
+and sovereignty of the States and to confine the action of the General
+Government strictly to the sphere of its appropriate duties.
+
+There is, perhaps, no one of the powers conferred on the Federal
+Government so liable to abuse as the taxing power. The most productive
+and convenient sources of revenue were necessarily given to it, that it
+might be able to perform the important duties imposed upon it; and the
+taxes which it lays upon commerce being concealed from the real payer in
+the price of the article, they do not so readily attract the attention
+of the people as smaller sums demanded from them directly by the
+taxgatherer. But the tax imposed on goods enhances by so much the price
+of the commodity to the consumer, and as many of these duties are
+imposed on articles of necessity which are daily used by the great body
+of the people, the money raised by these imposts is drawn from their
+pockets. Congress has no right under the Constitution to take money from
+the people unless it is required to execute some one of the specific
+powers intrusted to the Government; and if they raise more than is
+necessary for such purposes, it is an abuse of the power of taxation,
+and unjust and oppressive. It may indeed happen that the revenue will
+sometimes exceed the amount anticipated when the taxes were laid. When,
+however, this is ascertained, it is easy to reduce them, and in such a
+case it is unquestionably the duty of the Government to reduce them, for
+no circumstances can justify it in assuming a power not given to it by
+the Constitution nor in taking away the money of the people when it is
+not needed for the legitimate wants of the Government.
+
+Plain as these principles appear to be, you will yet find there is a
+constant effort to induce the General Government to go beyond the limits
+of its taxing power and to impose unnecessary burdens upon the people.
+Many powerful interests are continually at work to procure heavy duties
+on commerce and to swell the revenue beyond the real necessities of the
+public service, and the country has already felt the injurious effects
+of their combined influence. They succeeded in obtaining a tariff of
+duties bearing most oppressively on the agricultural and laboring
+classes of society and producing a revenue that could not be usefully
+employed within the range of the powers conferred upon Congress, and
+in order to fasten upon the people this unjust and unequal system of
+taxation extravagant schemes of internal improvement were got up in
+various quarters to squander the money and to purchase support. Thus
+one unconstitutional measure was intended to be upheld by another, and
+the abuse of the power of taxation was to be maintained by usurping
+the power of expending the money in internal improvements. You can
+not have forgotten the severe and doubtful struggle through which we
+passed when the executive department of the Government by its veto
+endeavored to arrest this prodigal scheme of injustice and to bring
+back the legislation of Congress to the boundaries prescribed by the
+Constitution. The good sense and practical judgment of the people
+when the subject was brought before them sustained the course of the
+Executive, and this plan of unconstitutional expenditures for the
+purposes of corrupt influence is, I trust, finally overthrown.
+
+The result of this decision has been felt in the rapid extinguishment of
+the public debt and the large accumulation of a surplus in the Treasury,
+notwithstanding the tariff was reduced and is now very far below the
+amount originally contemplated by its advocates. But, rely upon it, the
+design to collect an extravagant revenue and to burden you with taxes
+beyond the economical wants of the Government is not yet abandoned. The
+various interests which have combined together to impose a heavy tariff
+and to produce an overflowing Treasury are too strong and have too
+much at stake to surrender the contest. The corporations and wealthy
+individuals who are engaged in large manufacturing establishments desire
+a high tariff to increase their gains. Designing politicians will
+support it to conciliate their favor and to obtain the means of profuse
+expenditure for the purpose of purchasing influence in other quarters;
+and since the people have decided that the Federal Government can not be
+permitted to employ its income in internal improvements, efforts will be
+made to seduce and mislead the citizens of the several States by holding
+out to them the deceitful prospect of benefits to be derived from a
+surplus revenue collected by the General Government and annually divided
+among the States; and if, encouraged by these fallacious hopes, the
+States should disregard the principles of economy which ought to
+characterize every republican government, and should indulge in lavish
+expenditures exceeding their resources, they will before long find
+themselves oppressed with debts which they are unable to pay, and the
+temptation will become irresistible to support a high tariff in order
+to obtain a surplus for distribution. Do not allow yourselves, my
+fellow-citizens, to be misled on this subject. The Federal Government
+can not collect a surplus for such purposes without violating the
+principles of the Constitution and assuming powers which have not been
+granted. It is, moreover, a system of injustice, and if persisted in
+will inevitably lead to corruption, and must end in ruin. The surplus
+revenue will be drawn from the pockets of the people--from the farmer,
+the mechanic, and the laboring classes of society; but who will receive
+it when distributed among the States, where it is to be disposed of by
+leading State politicians, who have friends to favor and political
+partisans to gratify? It will certainly not be returned to those who
+paid it and who have most need of it and are honestly entitled to
+it. There is but one safe rule, and that is to confine the General
+Government rigidly within the sphere of its appropriate duties. It
+has no power to raise a revenue or impose taxes except for the purposes
+enumerated in the Constitution, and if its income is found to exceed
+these wants it should be forthwith reduced and the burden of the people
+so far lightened.
+
+In reviewing the conflicts which have taken place between different
+interests in the United States and the policy pursued since the adoption
+of our present form of Government, we find nothing that has produced
+such deep-seated evil as the course of legislation in relation to the
+currency. The Constitution of the United States unquestionably intended
+to secure to the people a circulating medium of gold and silver. But the
+establishment of a national bank by Congress, with the privilege of
+issuing paper money receivable in the payment of the public dues, and
+the unfortunate course of legislation in the several States upon the
+same subject, drove from general circulation the constitutional currency
+and substituted one of paper in its place.
+
+It was not easy for men engaged in the ordinary pursuits of business,
+whose attention had not been particularly drawn to the subject, to
+foresee all the consequences of a currency exclusively of paper, and we
+ought not on that account to be surprised at the facility with which
+laws were obtained to carry into effect the paper system. Honest and
+even enlightened men are sometimes misled by the specious and plausible
+statements of the designing. But experience has now proved the mischiefs
+and dangers of a paper currency, and it rests with you to determine
+whether the proper remedy shall be applied.
+
+The paper system being founded on public confidence and having of itself
+no intrinsic value, it is liable to great and sudden fluctuations,
+thereby rendering property insecure and the wages of labor unsteady and
+uncertain. The corporations which create the paper money can not be
+relied upon to keep the circulating medium uniform in amount. In times
+of prosperity, when confidence is high, they are tempted by the prospect
+of gain or by the influence of those who hope to profit by it to extend
+their issues of paper beyond the bounds of discretion and the reasonable
+demands of business; and when these issues have been pushed on from day
+to day, until public confidence is at length shaken, then a reaction
+takes place, and they immediately withdraw the credits they have given,
+suddenly curtail their issues, and produce an unexpected and ruinous
+contraction of the circulating medium, which is felt by the whole
+community. The banks by this means save themselves, and the mischievous
+consequences of their imprudence or cupidity are visited upon the
+public. Nor does the evil stop here. These ebbs and flows in the
+currency and these indiscreet extensions of credit naturally engender
+a spirit of speculation injurious to the habits and character of
+the people. We have already seen its effects in the wild spirit of
+speculation in the public lands and various kinds of stock which within
+the last year or two seized upon such a multitude of our citizens and
+threatened to pervade all classes of society and to withdraw their
+attention from the sober pursuits of honest industry. It is not by
+encouraging this spirit that we shall best preserve public virtue
+and promote the true interests of our country; but if your currency
+continues as exclusively paper as it now is, it will foster this eager
+desire to amass wealth without labor; it will multiply the number of
+dependents on bank accommodations and bank favors; the temptation to
+obtain money at any sacrifice will become stronger and stronger, and
+inevitably lead to corruption, which will find its way into your public
+councils and destroy at no distant day the purity of your Government.
+Some of the evils which arise from this system of paper press with
+peculiar hardship upon the class of society least able to bear it.
+A portion of this currency frequently becomes depreciated or worthless,
+and all of it is easily counterfeited in such a manner as to require
+peculiar skill and much experience to distinguish the counterfeit from
+the genuine note. These frauds are most generally perpetrated in the
+smaller notes, which are used in the daily transactions of ordinary
+business, and the losses occasioned by them are commonly thrown upon the
+laboring classes of society, whose situation and pursuits put it out of
+their power to guard themselves from these impositions, and whose daily
+wages are necessary for their subsistence. It is the duty of every
+government so to regulate its currency as to protect this numerous
+class, as far as practicable, from the impositions of avarice and
+fraud. It is more especially the duty of the United States, where the
+Government is emphatically the Government of the people, and where this
+respectable portion of our citizens are so proudly distinguished from
+the laboring classes of all other nations by their independent spirit,
+their love of liberty, their intelligence, and their high tone of moral
+character. Their industry in peace is the source of our wealth and their
+bravery in war has covered us with glory; and the Government of the
+United States will but ill discharge its duties if it leaves them a prey
+to such dishonest impositions. Yet it is evident that their interests
+can not be effectually protected unless silver and gold are restored
+to circulation.
+
+These views alone of the paper currency are sufficient to call for
+immediate reform; but there is another consideration which should still
+more strongly press it upon your attention.
+
+Recent events have proved that the paper-money system of this country
+may be used as an engine to undermine your free institutions, and that
+those who desire to engross all power in the hands of the few and to
+govern by corruption or force are aware of its power and prepared to
+employ it. Your banks now furnish your only circulating medium, and
+money is plenty or scarce according to the quantity of notes issued by
+them. While they have capitals not greatly disproportioned to each
+other, they are competitors in business, and no one of them can exercise
+dominion over the rest; and although in the present state of the
+currency these banks may and do operate injuriously upon the habits of
+business, the pecuniary concerns, and the moral tone of society, yet,
+from their number and dispersed situation, they can not combine for the
+purposes of political influence, and whatever may be the dispositions
+of some of them their power of mischief must necessarily be confined
+to a narrow space and felt only in their immediate neighborhoods.
+
+But when the charter for the Bank of the United States was obtained
+from Congress it perfected the schemes of the paper system and gave
+to its advocates the position they have struggled to obtain from the
+commencement of the Federal Government to the present hour. The immense
+capital and peculiar privileges bestowed upon it enabled it to exercise
+despotic sway over the other banks in every part of the country. From
+its superior strength it could seriously injure, if not destroy, the
+business of any one of them which might incur its resentment; and
+it openly claimed for itself the power of regulating the currency
+throughout the United States. In other words, it asserted (and it
+undoubtedly possessed) the power to make money plenty or scarce at its
+pleasure, at any time and in any quarter of the Union, by controlling
+the issues of other banks and permitting an expansion or compelling
+a general contraction of the circulating medium, according to its own
+will. The other banking institutions were sensible of its strength, and
+they soon generally became its obedient instruments, ready at all times
+to execute its mandates; and with the banks necessarily went also that
+numerous class of persons in our commercial cities who depend altogether
+on bank credits for their solvency and means of business, and who are
+therefore obliged, for their own safety, to propitiate the favor of
+the money power by distinguished zeal and devotion in its service.
+The result of the ill-advised legislation which established this great
+monopoly was to concentrate the whole moneyed power of the Union, with
+its boundless means of corruption and its numerous dependents, under the
+direction and command of one acknowledged head, thus organizing this
+particular interest as one body and securing to it unity and concert of
+action throughout the United States, and enabling it to bring forward
+upon any occasion its entire and undivided strength to support or defeat
+any measure of the Government. In the hands of this formidable power,
+thus perfectly organized, was also placed unlimited dominion over the
+amount of the circulating medium, giving it the power to regulate the
+value of property and the fruits of labor in every quarter of the Union,
+and to bestow prosperity or bring ruin upon any city or section of the
+country as might best comport with its own interest or policy.
+
+We are not left to conjecture how the moneyed power, thus organized and
+with such a weapon in its hands, would be likely to use it. The distress
+and alarm which pervaded and agitated the whole country when the Bank
+of the United States waged war upon the people in order to compel them
+to submit to its demands can not yet be forgotten. The ruthless and
+unsparing temper with which whole cities and communities were oppressed,
+individuals impoverished and ruined, and a scene of cheerful prosperity
+suddenly changed into one of gloom and despondency ought to be indelibly
+impressed on the memory of the people of the United States. If such was
+its power in a time of peace, what would it not have been in a season
+of war, with an enemy at your doors? No nation but the freemen of the
+United States could have come out victorious from such a contest; yet,
+if you had not conquered, the Government would have passed from the
+hands of the many to the hands of the few, and this organized money
+power from its secret conclave would have dictated the choice of your
+highest officers and compelled you to make peace or war, as best suited
+their own wishes. The forms of your Government might for a time have
+remained, but its living spirit would have departed from it.
+
+The distress and sufferings inflicted on the people by the bank are some
+of the fruits of that system of policy which is continually striving to
+enlarge the authority of the Federal Government beyond the limits fixed
+by the Constitution. The powers enumerated in that instrument do not
+confer on Congress the right to establish such a corporation as the Bank
+of the United States, and the evil consequences which followed may warn
+us of the danger of departing from the true rule of construction and of
+permitting temporary circumstances or the hope of better promoting the
+public welfare to influence in any degree our decisions upon the extent
+of the authority of the General Government. Let us abide by the
+Constitution as it is written, or amend it in the constitutional mode
+if it is found to be defective.
+
+The severe lessons of experience will, I doubt not, be sufficient to
+prevent Congress from again chartering such a monopoly, even if the
+Constitution did not present an insuperable objection to it. But you
+must remember, my fellow-citizens, that eternal vigilance by the people
+is the price of liberty, and that you must pay the price if you wish to
+secure the blessing. It behooves you, therefore, to be watchful in your
+States as well as in the Federal Government. The power which the moneyed
+interest can exercise, when concentrated under a single head and with
+our present system of currency, was sufficiently demonstrated in the
+struggle made by the Bank of the United States. Defeated in the General
+Government, the same class of intriguers and politicians will now resort
+to the States and endeavor to obtain there the same organization which
+they failed to perpetuate in the Union; and with specious and deceitful
+plans of public advantages and State interests and State pride they will
+endeavor to establish in the different States one moneyed institution
+with overgrown capital and exclusive privileges sufficient to enable it
+to control the operations of the other banks. Such an institution will
+be pregnant with the same evils produced by the Bank of the United
+States, although its sphere of action is more confined, and in the State
+in which it is chartered the money power will be able to embody its
+whole strength and to move together with undivided force to accomplish
+any object it may wish to attain. You have already had abundant evidence
+of its power to inflict injury upon the agricultural, mechanical, and
+laboring classes of society, and over those whose engagements in trade
+or speculation render them dependent on bank facilities the dominion of
+the State monopoly will be absolute and their obedience unlimited. With
+such a bank and a paper currency the money power would in a few years
+govern the State and control its measures, and if a sufficient number of
+States can be induced to create such establishments the time will soon
+come when it will again take the field against the United States and
+succeed in perfecting and perpetuating its organization by a charter
+from Congress.
+
+It is one of the serious evils of our present system of banking that it
+enables one class of society--and that by no means a numerous one--by
+its control over the currency, to act injuriously upon the interests
+of all the others and to exercise more than its just proportion of
+influence in political affairs. The agricultural, the mechanical, and
+the laboring classes have little or no share in the direction of the
+great moneyed corporations, and from their habits and the nature of
+their pursuits they are incapable of forming extensive combinations to
+act together with united force. Such concert of action may sometimes be
+produced in a single city or in a small district of country by means of
+personal communications with each other, but they have no regular or
+active correspondence with those who are engaged in similar pursuits
+in distant places; they have but little patronage to give to the press,
+and exercise but a small share of influence over it; they have no crowd
+of dependents about them who hope to grow rich without labor by their
+countenance and favor, and who are therefore always ready to execute
+their wishes. The planter, the farmer, the mechanic, and the laborer all
+know that their success depends upon their own industry and economy, and
+that they must not expect to become suddenly rich by the fruits of their
+toil. Yet these classes of society form the great body of the people of
+the United States; they are the bone and sinew of the country--men who
+love liberty and desire nothing but equal rights and equal laws, and
+who, moreover, hold the great mass of our national wealth, although it
+is distributed in moderate amounts among the millions of freemen who
+possess it. But with overwhelming numbers and wealth on their side they
+are in constant danger of losing their fair influence in the Government,
+and with difficulty maintain their just rights against the incessant
+efforts daily made to encroach upon them. The mischief springs from the
+power which the moneyed interest derives from a paper currency which
+they are able to control, from the multitude of corporations with
+exclusive privileges which they have succeeded in obtaining in the
+different States, and which are employed altogether for their benefit;
+and unless you become more watchful in your States and check this spirit
+of monopoly and thirst for exclusive privileges you will in the end find
+that the most important powers of Government have been given or bartered
+away, and the control over your dearest interests has passed into the
+hands of these corporations.
+
+The paper-money system and its natural associations--monopoly and
+exclusive privileges--have already struck their roots too deep in the
+soil, and it will require all your efforts to check its further growth
+and to eradicate the evil. The men who profit by the abuses and desire
+to perpetuate them will continue to besiege the halls of legislation in
+the General Government as well as in the States, and will seek by every
+artifice to mislead and deceive the public servants. It is to yourselves
+that you must look for safety and the means of guarding and perpetuating
+your free institutions. In your hands is rightfully placed the
+sovereignty of the country, and to you everyone placed in authority
+is ultimately responsible. It is always in your power to see that the
+wishes of the people are carried into faithful execution, and their
+will, when once made known, must sooner or later be obeyed; and
+while the people remain, as I trust they ever will, uncorrupted and
+incorruptible, and continue watchful and jealous of their rights, the
+Government is safe, and the cause of freedom will continue to triumph
+over all its enemies.
+
+But it will require steady and persevering exertions on your part to rid
+yourselves of the iniquities and mischiefs of the paper system and to
+check the spirit of monopoly and other abuses which have sprung up with
+it, and of which it is the main support. So many interests are united
+to resist all reform on this subject that you must not hope the conflict
+will be a short one nor success easy. My humble efforts have not
+been spared during my administration of the Government to restore the
+constitutional currency of gold and silver, and something, I trust, has
+been done toward the accomplishment of this most desirable object; but
+enough yet remains to require all your energy and perseverance. The
+power, however, is in your hands, and the remedy must and will be
+applied if you determine upon it.
+
+While I am thus endeavoring to press upon your attention the principles
+which I deem of vital importance in the domestic concerns of the
+country, I ought not to pass over without notice the important
+considerations which should govern your policy toward foreign powers.
+It is unquestionably our true interest to cultivate the most friendly
+understanding with every nation and to avoid by every honorable means
+the calamities of war, and we shall best attain this object by frankness
+and sincerity in our foreign intercourse, by the prompt and faithful
+execution of treaties, and by justice and impartiality in our conduct
+to all. But no nation, however desirous of peace, can hope to escape
+occasional collisions with other powers, and the soundest dictates of
+policy require that we should place ourselves in a condition to assert
+our rights if a resort to force should ever become necessary. Our local
+situation, our long line of seacoast, indented by numerous bays, with
+deep rivers opening into the interior, as well as our extended and still
+increasing commerce, point to the Navy as our natural means of defense.
+It will in the end be found to be the cheapest and most effectual, and
+now is the time, in a season of peace and with an overflowing revenue,
+that we can year after year add to its strength without increasing the
+burdens of the people. It is your true policy, for your Navy will not
+only protect your rich and flourishing commerce in distant seas, but
+will enable you to reach and annoy the enemy and will give to defense
+its greatest efficiency by meeting danger at a distance from home. It
+is impossible by any line of fortifications to guard every point from
+attack against a hostile force advancing from the ocean and selecting
+its object, but they are indispensable to protect cities from
+bombardment, dockyards and naval arsenals from destruction, to give
+shelter to merchant vessels in time of war and to single ships or
+weaker squadrons when pressed by superior force. Fortifications of this
+description can not be too soon completed and armed and placed in a
+condition of the most perfect preparation. The abundant means we now
+possess can not be applied in any manner more useful to the country, and
+when this is done and our naval force sufficiently strengthened and our
+militia armed we need not fear that any nation will wantonly insult us
+or needlessly provoke hostilities. We shall more certainly preserve
+peace when it is well understood that we are prepared for war.
+
+In presenting to you, my fellow-citizens, these parting counsels, I
+have brought before you the leading principles upon which I endeavored
+to administer the Government in the high office with which you twice
+honored me. Knowing that the path of freedom is continually beset by
+enemies who often assume the disguise of friends, I have devoted the
+last hours of my public life to warn you of the dangers. The progress of
+the United States under our free and happy institutions has surpassed
+the most sanguine hopes of the founders of the Republic. Our growth
+has been rapid beyond all former example in numbers, in wealth, in
+knowledge, and all the useful arts which contribute to the comforts and
+convenience of man, and from the earliest ages of history to the present
+day there never have been thirteen millions of people associated in one
+political body who enjoyed so much freedom and happiness as the people
+of these United States. You have no longer any cause to fear danger from
+abroad; your strength and power are well known throughout the civilized
+world, as well as the high and gallant bearing of your sons. It is
+from within, among yourselves--from cupidity, from corruption, from
+disappointed ambition and inordinate thirst for power--that factions
+will be formed and liberty endangered. It is against such designs,
+whatever disguise the actors may assume, that you have especially to
+guard yourselves. You have the highest of human trusts committed to your
+care. Providence has showered on this favored land blessings without
+number, and has chosen you as the guardians of freedom, to preserve it
+for the benefit of the human race. May He who holds in His hands the
+destinies of nations make you worthy of the favors He has bestowed and
+enable you, with pure hearts and pure hands and sleepless vigilance, to
+guard and defend to the end of time the great charge He has committed
+to your keeping.
+
+My own race is nearly run; advanced age and failing health warn me that
+before long I must pass beyond the reach of human events and cease to
+feel the vicissitudes of human affairs. I thank God that my life has
+been spent in a land of liberty and that He has given me a heart to love
+my country with the affection of a son. And filled with gratitude for
+your constant and unwavering kindness, I bid you a last and affectionate
+farewell.
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A Compilation of the Messages and
+Papers of the Presidents, by James D. Richardson
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