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IvoL. LVI.
President's Message.
Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and
of the House of Representatives.
The Constitution of the United States provides that
Congress shall assemble annually on the first Monday of
December, and it has been usual for the President to make
do communication of a public character to the Senate and
House of Reprosentativew until advised of their readiness
to receive it. 1 have deterred to this usage until the close of
the first month of the session, but my convictions of duty
will not permit me longer to postpone the discharge of the
obligation enjoined by the constitution mem the President
"to giate the Congress information of the state of the
Union, and recommend to their consideration such meas
ures as he shall judge necessary and expedient."
It is matter of congratulation that the Republic is
tranquilly advancing iu a career of prosperity MA peace.
Whilst relations of amity continue to exist between the
United States and all foreign power, with seine of them
grave questions are depending, which may require the
consideration of Congress.
Of much questions, the most important in that, which
has arisen out of the negotiationswith Great Britain in ref
emice to Central America.
By the convention concluded between the two govern
ments on the 19th of April, 1810, both parties covenanted
that neither will ever occupy, or fortify, or colonize or
assume, or exercise any dominion over Nicaragua, Costa
Rica, the Mosquito coast, or any partof Central America."
It was the undoubted understanding of the United
States, In making this treaty, that all the present States
of the former republic of Central America, and the entire
territory of each, would thenceforth enjoy complete iude
,pcndence ; and that both contracting parties engaged
equally, and to the same extent, for the present anal for
the future, that if either of them had any claim of right
in Central America, such claim, and all occupation or au
thority under it, were unreservedly relinquished by the
stipulations of the convention ; and that no dominion was
thereafter to be exercised orassumed in any put of Cen
tral America, by Great Britain or the United States.
This government consoled to restrictions in regard to
region of country, wherein we had specific :and peculiar
Interests, uuly upon the souviction that the like restric
thins were in tine Mille sense obligatory on Great Britain.
But for this understanding of the force and effect of the
convention, it would never have been concluded by us.
So clear was this understanding un the part of the UM
.OII States, that, in correstmndence cotemporatieous with
the ratification of the Convention it war distinctly ex
pressed that tire mutual covenants of 11011-oCellpittioll were
not intended to apply to the British establinbillelitS of the
Belize. This qualification Is to be ascribed to the fact,
that, in virtue of successive treaties with previous sever
ereigns of the country, Great Britain had obtained a con
cession of the right to cut mahogany or dyewoods at the
Belize, but with positive exclusion of all 1101111lill or 005-
nreighty ; and thus it confirms the natural construction
end underlinsul intport of the treaty as to all the rest of
the region to which the stipulations applied.
however, became apparent, ut an early day after en
t ,ring upon the discharge of my present functions, that
Great Britain still continued ill the exercise or assertion
of large authority in all that part of Central America
connuunly called the Mosquito coast, and covering the
entire length .4 the State of Nicaragua. arid a part of
Costa Ririe that she regarded the Belie,' ns her absolute
domain, and was gradually extending its limits at the
expense of the State of Honduras; and that she had for
mally colonized a considerable insular group known as
the Bay Islands, and belonging, of right, to that State.
All these acts orpretensiour of Great Britain, being con
trary to the rights of the States of Central America, and
to the manifest tenor of her stipulations with the United
States, as understood by this government, have been
made the subject of negotiation through the American
Minister in London. I transmit herewith the instruc
tions to him ou the subject, and the corespondence be
tween him and tine British Secretary for Foreign Affairs,
by which you will perceive that the two goVernments
differ widely and irreconcileably as to the cmistruction
of the convention, and its effect on their respective
relhtions to Central America.
Great Britian so construes the convention, as to'ntain
tain unchanged all her. previous pretensions over the
Mosquito coast, and in different parts of Central Ameri
ca. These pretensions, as to the Mosquito coast, are
founded on the assumption of political relation between
Great Britain and the rentnant of a tribe of Indians on
that cceist, entered into at a time when the whole
cohin
try was a colonial pos.esslon of Spain. It cannot be suc
cessfully controverted, that, by the public law of Eu
rope and America, no possible act of such Indians or
their predecessors could confer on Great Britain any po.
laical rights.
Great Britain does not allege the ass rot of Spain as
the origin of her claims on the .Mosquito coast. She has.
on the contrary, by repeated and successive Icalico. re
nounced and relinquished all pretensions of her own,
and recognized the full and sovereign rights of Spain in
the most unequivocal terms. Yet these pretensions, so
without solid foundation In the beginning, and thus re
peatedly abjured, were, at a recent period, revived by
Great Britain against the Central American States, the
legitimate successors to all the ancient jurisdiction of
Spain in that region. They were first applied only to a
defined part of the coast of Nicaragua, afterwards to the
whole of its Atlantic coast, and lastly to a part of the
coast of Costa Rica; and they are now reasserted to this
extent, notwithstanding engagements to the United
States.
On the eastern coast of Nicaragua and Costa Rica, the
interference of threat Britain, though exerted at one time
in the form of military occupation of the port of San
Juan del Norte, then in the peaceful possession of the
appropriate authorities of the Central America States, is
now presented by her as the rightful exercise of a pro
tectorship over the Mosquito tribe of lulians.
• But the establishment at the Belize , note reaching far
beyond its treaty limits into the State of Honduras, and
that of the Bay Islands, appertaining of right to the
same State, are as distinctly colonial ~,, ,o vernments as
those ofJantaica or Canada, and theref.we contrary to
the very letter as well as to the spirit of the convention
with the United States, as it was at the time of ratifica
tion, and now is, understood by this ~, o veruntent.
The interpretation which the British government thus
in assertion and act, persists in ascribing to the conven
tion, entirely changes its character. While it holds us
to all our obligations, it in a great measure releases
Great Britain from those, which constituted the consid
ation of this government for entering into the conven
tion. It is impossible, in my judgment, for the United
States to acquiesce in such a construction of the respect
ive relations of the two governments to Central America.
To a renewed call by this government up
on Great Britain, to abide by, and carry. into
effect, the stipulations of the convention,
according to its obvious import, by with
drawing from the possession or colonization
of portions of the Central American States
of Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica, the
British government has at length replied,
affirming that the operation of the treaty is
prospective only, and did not require Great
Britain to abandon or contract any posses
sions held by her in Central America at the
date of its conclusion.
This reply substitutes a partial issue in
the place of the general one presented by the
United States. The . British government
passes over the question of the rights of
Great Britain, real or supposed, in .Central
America, and assumes that she had' such
rights at the date of the treaty, and that those
rights comprehended the protectorship of the
Mosquito Indians, the extended jurisdiction
o nd limits of the Balize, and the colony of
the Bay Islands, and therefore proceeds by
implication to infer, that, if the stipulations
of the treaty be merely future in effect, Great
Britain may still continue to hold the con
tested portions of Central America. The Uni
ted States cannot admit either the infer
ences or the premises. We steadily deny,
that, at the date of the treaty, Great Aritain
had any possessions there, other than the
limited and peculiar establishment at the
Balize, and maintain that, if she had any,
they were surrendered by the convention.
This government, recognising the obliga
tions of the treaty, has of course desired to
see it executed in good faith by both parties,
and in the discussion, therefore, has not
looked to rights, which we might asssert,
independently of the treaty, in consideration
of our geographical position and of other
circumstances, which create for us relations
to the Centel American States, different from
those of any government of urope.
The British government, in its last com
municatiomalthough well knowing the views
of 'the - United States, still declares that it sees
no reason why a conciliatory spirit may not
enable the two governments to overcome all
obstacles to a satisfactory adjustment of the
subject.
Assured of the correctness of the construc
tion of the treaty constantly adhered to by
this government, and resolved to insist on
the rights of the United States, yet actu
ated alSo by the same desire which is avow
ed by the British government, to remove all
causes of serious misunderstanding between
t No nations associated by so many ties of in
terest and kindred, it has appeared to me
proper not to consider 411 amicable solution
of the controversy hopeless.
There is, however, reason to apprehend
that, with Great Britain in the actual occu
pation of the disputed territories, and the
treaty therefore practically null, so far as
regards our rights, this international difficul
ty cannot long remain undetermined, with
out involving in serious danger the friendly
relations which it is the interest as, well as
duty of both countries to cherish and pre
serVe. It will afford me the sincere gratifica
tion if futur efforts shall result in the suc
cess, anticipated heretofore with more con
fidence thau the aspect of the case permits
me now to entertain.
RECRUITMENT.
One other subject of discussion between
the United States and Great Britain has
grown out of tie attempt, which the exigen
cies of the war in which she is engaged with
Russia induced her to make, to drawrecruits
from the United States.
It is the traditional and settled policy of
the United States to maintain impartial neu
trality during the wars which from time to
time occur among the great nations of the
world. Performing all the duties of neu
trality towards the respective belligerent
states, we may reasonably expect them not
to interfere with our lawful enjoyment of its
benefits. Notwithstanding the existence of
such L. stilitiee, our citizens retain the indi
vidual right to continue all their accustom
ed pursuits, by land of sea, at home or abroad
subject wily - to spell restrictions in this rela
tion as the laws of war, the usage of nations,
or special treaties, may impose; and it is our
sovereign right that our territory and juris
diction shall not be invaded by either of the
belligerent parties, for the transit of their
armies, the operations of their fleets, the levy
of troops for their service, the fitting out of
cruisers by or against either, or any other
act or incident of war. And these undenia
ble rights of neutrality, individual and na
tional, the United States will under no cir
cumstances surrender.
In pursuance of this policy, the laws of the
United States do not forbid their citizens to
sell to either of the belligerent powers, arti
cles, contraband of war, or to take munitions
of war or soldiers on board their private ships
for transportation; and although, in so doing,
the individual citizen exposes his property
or person to some of the inizards of war, his
acts do not involve any breach of national
neutrality, nor of themselves implicate the
government. Thus, during the progress of
the present war in Europe, our citizens have,
without national responsibility therefor, sold
gutipowder and arms to all buyers, regard
lesWof the destination of those articles. Our
merchantmen have been, and still continue
to be, largely employed by Great Britain and
by France, in transporting troops, provisi
ons, and munitions of war to the principal
seat of military operations, and in bringing
home their sick and wounded soldiers; but
such use of our mercantile marine is not in
terdicted either by the international or by
our municipal law, and therefore does not
compromit our neutral relations with Russiit.
But our municipal law, in accordance
with the law of nations, peremptorily forbids,
not only foreigners, but our own citizens, to
fit out, within the limits of the United States,
a vessel to c.iminit hostilities against any
state with the United States are at peace, or
to increase the force of any foreign armed
vessel intended fur such hostilities against
a friendly state.
Whatever concern may have been felt by
either of the belligerent powers lest private
armed cruisers, or other vessels, in the ser
vice of one, might be fitted out in the ports
of:this country to depredate on the property
of the other, all such fears have proved to be
utterly groundless. Our citizens have been
withheld from such act or purpose by good
faith, and by respect for the law.
While the laws of the Union are thus per
emptory in their prohibition of the equip
ment or armament of belligerent cruisers in
our ports, they provide not less absolutely
that no person shall, within the territory or
jurisdiction of the United States, enlist or
enter himself, ur hire or retain another per
son to go beyond the limits or jurisdiction of
the United States with intent to be enlisted,
in the service of any foreign state, either as
a soldier, or as a marine or seaman on board
of any vessel of war, letter of marque, or
privateer. And these enactments are also
in strict conformity with the law of nations.
which declares, that no state has the right
to raise troops fbr land or sea service in an
other state without its consent, and 'that,
whether forbidden by the municipal law or
not, the very attempt to do it, without such
consent, is an attack on the national sover
eignty.
Such being the public rights and the mu
nicipal law of the United States, no solici
tude nn the subject was entertained by this
government, when, a year since, the British
Parliament passed an act to provide for the
enlistment of foreigners in the military ser
vice of Great Britain: Nothing on the face
of the act, or in its public history, indicated
that the British government proposed to at
tempt recruitment in the United States; nor
did it ever give intimation of such intention
to this government. It was matter of sur
prise, therefore, to find, subsequently, that
the engagement of persons within the United
States to proceed to Halifax, in the British
province of Nova Scotia, and there enlist in
the service of Great Britain, was going on
extensively, with little or no disguise. Or
dinary legal steps were immediately taken
to arrest and punish parties concerned, and
so put an end to acts infringing the munici
pal law and derogatory to our sovereignty.
Meanwhile suitable representations on the
subject were addressed to the British gov
ernment.
Thereupon it became known by the ad
mission of the British government itself, that
the attempt to draw recruits from this coun
try originated with it, or at least had its ap
proval and sanction; but it also appeared
that the public agents engaged in it had
"strinment instructions" not to violate the
municipal law of the United States.
It is difficult to understand how it should
have been supposed that troops could be
raised here by Great Britain, without viola
tion of the municipal law. The unmistaka
ble object of the law was to prevent every
such act, which, if performed, must be either
in violation of the law, or in studied evasion
of it; and, in either alternative, the act done
would be alike injurious to the sovereignty
of the United States.
In the meantime, the matter acquired ad
ditional importance, by the recruitments in
the United States not being discontinued,
and the'disolosure of the fact that they were
prosecuted upon a systematic plan devised
by official authority; that recruiting rendez
vous had been opened in our principal cities,
and depots for the reception of recruits es
tablished on our frontier: and the whole
business conducted under the supervision
and by the regular co-operation of British
officers, civil and military, some in the North
American provinces, and some in the United
States. The complicity of those officers in
an undertaking, which could only be accom
plished by defying our laws, throwing sus
picion over our attitude of neutrality, and
disregarding our territorial rights, is con:
elusively proved by the evidence elicited on
the trial of such of their agents as have been
apprehended and convicted. Some of the
officers thus implicated are of high official
position, and many of them beyond -our
jurisdiction, so that legal proceedings could
not reach the source of mischief.
These considerations, and the fact that
the cause of complaint was not a mere casual
occurrence, but a deliberate design entered
upon with full knowledg4, of our laws and
national policy, and conducted by responsi
ble public functionaries, impelled me to pre
sent the case to the British government, in
order to secure, act only a cessation of the
wrong, but its reparation. The subject is still
under discussion, the result of which will be
communicated to you in due time.
BRITISH RELATIONS-COB tinued
I repeat the recommendation submitted
to the last Congress, that provision be made
for the appointment of a commissioner, in
connection with Great Britain, to survey
and establish the boundary line, which di
vides the Territory of Washington from the
contiguous British possessions. By reason
of the extent and importance of the country
in dispute, there has been iminent danger
of collision between the subjects of Great
Britain and the citizens of the United States,
including their respective authorities in that
quarter. The prospect of a speedy arrange
ment has contributed hitherto to induce on
both sides forbearance to assert by force
what each claims as a right. Continuance
of delay on the part of the two governments
to act in the matter will increase the dangers
and difficulties of the controversy.
Misunderstanding exists as to the extent,
character and value of the possessory rights
of the Hudson's Bay Company, and the pro
perty of the Puget's Sound Agricultural
Company, reserved in our treaty wills Great
Britain relative to the Territory of Oregon.
I have reason to believe that a cession of the
rights of both companies to the U. States,
" THAT COUNTRY IS THE MOST PROSPEROUS WHERE LABOR COMMANDS THE GREATEST REWARD."
LANCASTER CITY, PA., TUESDAY MORNING, JANUARY 8, 1856.
which would be the readiest means of termi
nating all questions, can be obtained on
reasonable terms; and, with a view to this
end, I present the subject to the attention of
Congress.
The colony of Newfoundland, having
enacted the laws required by the treaty of
the sth of June, 1854, is now placed on the
same footing, in respect to the commercial
intercourse with the United States, as the
other British North American provinces.
The commission, which that treaty con
templated, for determining the rights of
fishery in rivers and mouths of rivers, on the
coasts of the United States and the British
North American provinces, has been orga
nized and has commenced its labors; to com
plete which there is needed further appro
priations for the service of another season.
SOUND DUES
In pursuance of the authority, conferred by
a resolution of the Senate of the United
States passed on the 3d of March last, notice
was given to Denmark, on the 14th day of
April, of the intention of this government to
avail itself of the stipulation of the subsist
ing convention of friendship, commerce, and
navigation between that Kingdom and the
United States, whereby either party might af
ter ten years terminate the same at the expi
ration of one year from the date of notice for
that purpose.
The consideration which led me to call the
attention of Congress to that convention, and
induced the Senate to adopt the resolution re
ferred to, still continue in full force. The
convention contains an article, which, al
though it does not directly engage the United
States to submit to the impossition of tolls
on the vessels and cargoes of Americans pass
ing into or from theßaltic sea, during the
continuance of the treaty, yet may, by possi
bility, be construed as implying such submis
sion. The exaction of those tolls not being
justified by any principle of international law
it became the right and the duty of the Uni
ted States to relieve themselves from the im
plication of engagement on the subject, so as
to be perfectly free to act in the premises in
such way as their Public interest and honor
shall demand.
I remain of the opinion that the United
States ought not to submit to the payment of
the Sound dues, not so much because of their
amount, which is a secondary matter, but be
cause it is in effect the recognition of the right
of Denmark to trust one of the great maritime
highways of nations as a close sea, and the
navigation of it as a privilege for which tri
bute may be imposed upon those who have
occasion to use it.
This government, on a former occasion not
unlike the present, signalized its determina
tion to maintain the freedom of the seas, and
of the great natural channels of navigation.
The Barbary States had, for a long time, co
erced the payment of tribute from all nations,
whose ships frequented the Medetet , anean.—
To the last demand of such payment made
by them, the United States although suffer
ing less by their depredations than ma
ny other nations, returned the explicit an
swer, that we prefered war to tribute, and
thus opened the way to the relief of the com
merce of the world from an ignominious tax,
so long submitted to by the more powerful
nations of Europe.
If the manner of payment of the Sound
dues differ from that of the tribute formerly
conceded to the Barbary States, still their
execution by Denmark has no better founda
tion in right. Each was, in its orign, noth
ing but a tax on a common natural right, ex
tdrted. by those, who were at that time able
to obstruct the free and secure employment
of it, but who no longer possessses that power.
Denmark, while resisting our assertion of
the freedom of the Baltic Sound and Belts,
has indicated a readiness to make some new
arrangement on the subject, and has invited
the governments interested, including the
United States, to be represented in a conven
tion to assemble for the purpose of receiving
and considering a proposition, which she in
tends to submit for the capitalization of the
Sound dues, and the distribution of the sum
to be paid as oommutation among the govern
ments, according to the respective propor
tions of their maritime commerce to and from
the Baltic. I have declined in behalf of the
United States to accept thie invitation, for
the most cogent reasons. One is, that Den
mark does not offer to submit to the conven
tion the question of her right to levy the
Sound dues. A second is, that, if the conven
tion were allowed to take cognizance of that
particular question, still it would not be
competent to deal with the great internatio
nal principle involved which effects the right
in other cases of navigation and ormmercial
freedom, as well as that of access to the Baltic.
Above all, by the express terms of the propo
sition it is contemplated, that the considera
tion of the Sound dues shall be commingled
with, and made subordinate to a matter whol
ly extraneous, the balance of power among the
governments of Europe.
While, however, rejecting this proposition,
and insisting on the right of free transit into
'and from the Baltic, I have expressed to Den
mark a willingness on the part of the United
States, to share liberally with other powers
in compensating her for any advantages
which commerce shall hereafter derive from
expenditures made by her for the improve.
ment aqd safety of the navigation of the
Sound and Belts.
I lay before you, herewith, sundry docu
ments on the subject, in which my views are
more fully disclosed. Should no satisfactory
arrangement be soon concluded, I shall again
call your attention to the subject, with rec
ommendation of such measures as may ap
pear to be required in order to assert and se
cure the rights of the United States so far as
they are affected by the pretentious of Den
mark.
I announce with much gratification, that,
since the adjournment of the last Congress,
the question, then existing between this gov
ernment and that of France, respecting the
French Consul at San Francisco, bas been sa
tisfactorily determined, and that the rela
tions of the two goverments continue to be
of the most friendly nature.
A question, also, which has been pending
for several yearS, between the United States
and the Kingdom of Greece, growing out of
the sequestration, by public authorities of
that country, of property belonging to the
present American Consul at Athens, and
which had been the subject of very earnest
discussions heretofore, has recently been set
tled to the satisfaction of the patty interest
ed and of both governments.
With Spain peaceful relations are still
maintained, and some progress has been made
in securing the redress of wrongs complained
of by this government, Spain has not only
disavowed and disapproved the conduct of
the officers who'illegally seized and detained
the steamer Black Warrior at Havina, bnt
has also paid the sum claimed as indemnity
for the loss thereby inflicted on citizens of
the United States.
In consequence of a destructive hurricane
which visited Cuba in 1854, the supreme au
thority of that island issued a decree, per
mitting the importation, for the period of six
months, of certain building materials and
provisions, free of duty, but revoked it when
about half the period only had elapsed, to
the injury of citizens of the United States,
who had proceeded to act on the faith of that
decree. The Spanish Government refused
indemnification to the parties aggrieved un
til recently, when it was assented to, pay
ment being promised to be made so soon as
the amount due can be ascertained.
Satisfaction claimed for the arrest and
search of the steamer El Dorado has not yet
been accorded, but there is reason to believe
that it will be, and that case, with others,
continues to be urged on the attention of
the Spanish Government. I do not aban
don the hope of concluding with Spain some
general arrangement, which, if it do not whol
ly prevent the recurrence of difficulties in
Cuba, will render them less frequent, and
whenever they shall occur facilitate their
more speedy settlement.
The interposition of this government has
been invoked by many-of its citizens, on ac
count of injuries done to their persons and
property, for which the Mexican republic is
responsible. The unhappy situation of that
country, for some time past has not allowed
its g overnment to give due consideration to
claims of private separation, and has appear
ed to call for and justify some forbearance in
such matters on the part of this government.
But, if the revolutionary movements; which
have lately occurred in that republic, end in
the organization of a staple government, ur
gent appeals to its justice will then be made,
and, it may be hoped, with success, for the
redress of all complaints of our citizens.
In regard to the American republics, which,
from their proximity and other considera
tions, have peculiar relations to this govern
ment, while it has been my constant aim
strictly to observe all the obligations of poli
tical friendship and of good neighborhood,
obstacles of this have arisen in some of them,
from their own insufficient power to check
lawless irruptions, which in effect throws
most of the task to the United States. Thus
it is that the distracted internal condition of
the State of Nicaragua has made it incumb•
eut on me to appeal to the good faith of our
citizens ty abstain from unlawful interven
tion in its affairs, and to adopt preventive
measures to the same end ; which, on a sim
ilar occasion, had the best results in reassur
ing the peace of the Mexican States of Sono
ra and Lower California.
BM=
Since the last session of Congress a treaty
of amity, commerce and navigation, and for
the surrender of fugitive criminals, with the
kingdom of the Two Sicilies ; a treaty of
friendship, commerce and navigation with
Nicaragua ; and a convention of commercial
reciprocity with the Hawaiin kingdom, have
been negotiated. The latter kingdom and
the State of Nicaragua have also acceded to
a declaration, recognizing as international
rights the principles contained in the conven
tion between the United States and Bussia
of the 22d of July, 1854. These treaties and
conventions will be laid before the Senate
for ratification. "
TRBASCRY
The statements made, in my last annual
message, respecting the anticipated receipts
and expenditures of the Treasury, have been
substantially verified.
It appears from the report of the Secretary
of the Treasury, that the receipts during the
last fiscal year ending June 30th, 1855, from
all sources, were sixty-five millions three
thousand nine hundred and thirty dollars ;
and that the public expenditures for the same
period, exclusive of payments on account of
the public debt, amounted to fifty-six mil
lions three hundred and fifty-six thousand
three hundred and ninety-three dollars. Du
ring the same period, the payments made in
redemption of the public debt, including in
terest and premium, amounted to nine mil
lions eight hundred and forty-four thousanl
Ave hundre.l and twenty-eight dollars.
The bah.nato in the Treasury at the begin
ning of the present fiscal year, July 1, 1855,
was eighteen millions nine hundred and thir
ty-one thousand nine hundred and seventy
six dollars; the receipts of the first quarter,
and the estimated receipts for the remaining
three quarters, amount, together, to sixty
seven millions nine hundred and eighteen
thousand seven hundred and thirty-four dol
lars ; thus affording in all, as the available
resources of the current fiscal year, the sum
of eighty-six millions eight hundred and fif
ty-six thousand seven hundred and ten dol
lars.
If, to the actual expenditures of the first
quarter of the current fiscal year, be added
the probable expenditures for the re maining
three-quarters, as estimated by the Secre'ary
of the Treasury, the sum total will be seven
ty-one millions two hundred and twenty-six
thousand eight hundred and forty-six dollars,
thereby leaving an estimated balance in the
treasury on July 1, 1856, of fifteen millions
six hundred and twenty-three thousand eight
hundred and sixty-three dollars and forty
one cents.
In the above estimated expenditures of the
present fiscal year are included three millions
of dollars to meet the last instalment of ten
millions provided for in the late treaty with
Mexico, and seven millions seven hundred
and fifty thousand dollars appropriated ou
account of the debt due to Texas, which two
sums make an aggregate of ten millions sev
en hundred and fifty thousand dollars, and
reduce the expenditures, actual or estimated,
for ordinary objects of the year, to the sum
of sixty millions four hundred and seventy
six thousand dollars.
The amount of the public debt, at the com
mencement of the present fiscal year, was
forty millions five hundred and eighty-three
thousand six hundred and thirty-one dollars,
and, deduction being made of subsequent
payments, the whole public debt of the fed
eral government remaining at this time is
less than forty millions of dollars.
The remnant of certain other government
stocks, amounting to two hundred and forty
ty-three thousand dollars, referred to in my
last message as outstanding, has since been
paid.
I am fully persuaded that it would he dif
ficult to devise a system superior to that, by
which the fiscal business of the government
is now conducted. Notwithstanding the great
number of public agents of collection and die
bursement, it is believed that the checks and
guards provided, including the requirement
of monthly returns, render it scarcely possi
ble for any considerable fraud on the part of
those agents, or neglect involving hazard of
serious public loss, to escape detection. I
renew, however, the recommendation, hereto
fore made by me, of the enactment of a law
declaring it felony on the part of public of
ficers to insert false entries into their books
of record or account, or to make false returns
and also requiring them on the terminalion
of their services to deliver to their successors
all books, records, and other objets of a pub
lic nature in their custody.
Derived as our public revenue is, in chief
part, from duties on imports, its magnitude
affords gratifying evidence of the prosperty,
not only of onr commerce, but of the other
great interests upon which that depends.
The principle that all moneys not requir
ed for the current expenses of the govern
ment should remain for active employment
in the hands of the people, and the conspicu
ous fact that the annual revenue from all
sources exceeds, by many millions of dollars,
the amount needed for a prudent and econo
mical administration of public affairs, cannot
fail to suggest the propriety of an early re
vision and reduction of the tariff of duties on
imports. It is now so generally conceded
that the purpose of revenue alone can justi
fy the imposition of duties on imports, that,
in readjusting the impost tables and sche
dules, which unquestionably requires essen
tial modifications, a departure from the priri
ciples of the present tariff is not anticipated.
The army, during the past year, has been ac
tively engaged in defending.the Indian frontier the
state of the service permitting but Jew, and small
garrisons in our permanent fortifications. The ad
ditional regiments authorized at the last session of
Congress have been recruited and organized, and a
large portion of the troops have already been sent
to the field. All the duties which devolve on the
military establishment have been satisfactorily
performed, and the dangers and the privations in
cident to the character of the service required of
our troops have furnished additional evidence
of their courage, zeal and capacity, to meet any
requisition which their country may make upon
them. For the details of the military operations,
the distribution of thli troops, and additional pro
visions required for the military service, I refer to
the report of the Secretary of War and the accom
panying documents.
Experience, gathered from events which have
transpired since my last annual message. has but
served to confirm the opinion then:expressed:of the
propriety of making provisions,. by a retired list,
for disabled officers, and for increased compensa
tion to the officers retained on the list .for active
duty. All the reasons which existed, when these
measures were reccommended on former occasions,
continue without modification, except so far as cir
cumstances have given to some of them additional
force.
The recomendations, heretofore made fora par
tial reorganization of the army, are also renewed.
The thorough elementary education gi wen to those
officers, who commenced their service with the
grade of cadet, qualifies them, to' a considerable
extent, to"perform the duties of every arm of the
service : but to give the highest efficiency to artil
ery requires the practice and special etudyof many
years ; and it is slot, therefore, beP4eved to be ad-
visable to maintain, in time of peace, a larger force
of that arm than can be usually employed in the
ji...t p
duties appertaining ' e service of the field and
siege' rtillery. A,
The duties e staff iit all its various branches
belong to the movements of the troops, and the
efficiency of an army in the field would materially
depend upon the ability with which those duties
are discharged. It is not, as in the ease of the ar
tillery, a speciality, but requires, also, an intimate
knowledge of the duties of an officer of the line,
and it is not doubted that, to complete the educa•
tion of an officer for either the line or the general
staff, it is desireable that he shall have served in
both.; With this' view, it was recommended on a
former occasion that the duties of the staff should
be mainly performed by details from the line ; and
with conviction of the advantages which would re
sult from such a change, it is again presented for
the consideration of Congress.
• NAVY.
The report of the Seeretary of the Navy, here
with submitted, exhibits in full the naval opera
tions of the past year, together with the present
condition of the service, and it makes suggestions
of further legislation, to which your attention is
The construction of the six steam frigates, for
which appropriations were made by the last Con
gress; has proceeded in the most satisfactory man
ner, and with such expedition, as to warrant the
belief, that they will be ready for service !early in
the coming spring. Important as this addition to
our naval force is, it still remains inadequate to
the contingent exigencies of the ,pfotection of the
extensive sea coast and vast commercial interests
of the United States. In view of this fact, and of
the acknowledged wisdom of the policy of a grad
ual and systematic increase of the navy, an appro
priation is recommended for the construction of
six steam sloops of-yrar.
In regard to the steps taken in execution of the
act of Congress to promote the inefficiency of the
navy, it is unnecessary for me to say more than to
express entire concurrence in the observations on
that subjeot presented by the Secretary in his re
port.
1311021103
It will be perceived, by the report of the Poet
master General, that the gross expenditure of the
department for the last fiscal year was nine million
nine hundred and sixty-eight thousand three hun
dred and forty-two dollars, and the gross receipts
seven million three hundred and forty-two thou
sand 'one hundred and thirty-six dollars, making
anexcess of expenditure over receipts of two mil
lion six hundred and twenty six thousand two
hundred and six dollars ; and that the cost of mail
transportation during that year was six hundred
and seventy-four thousand nine hundred and fifty
two dollars greater than the previous year. Muoh
of the heavy expenditures to whichlthe treasury is
thus subjected, is to be ascribed to the large quan
tity of printed matter conveyed by the mails, ei
ther franked or liable to no postage by law, or to
very low rates of postage compared with that char
ged on letters, and to the great cost of mail servioe
on railroads and by ocean steamers. The sugges
tions of the Post Master General on the subject
deserve the consideration of Congress.
MEM
The report of the Secretary of the Interior will
engage your attention, as well , for useful sugges •
tions it contains, as for the interest and importance
of the subjects to which they refer.
The aggregate amount of public land sold du
ring the last fiscal year, located with military
scrip or land warrants, taken up under grants for
roads, and selected as swamp lands by States, is
twenty four million five hundred and fifty-seven
thousand four hundred and nine acres; of which the
portion sold was fifteen millions seven hundred and
twenty nine thousand five hundred and twenty four
acres, yielding in receipts the sum of eleven million
four hundred and eighty five thousand three hun
dred and eighty dollars. In the same period of
time, eight million seven hundred and twenty three
thousand eight hundred and fifty four acres have
been surveyed ; but, in consideration of the quan
tity already subject to entry, no additional tracts
have been brought into market.
The peculiar relation of the general government
to the District of Columbia renders it proper to
commend to your care not only its materials, but
also its moral interests, including education, more
especially in those parts of the district outside of
the cities of Washington and Georgetown.
The commissioners appointed to revise and codify
the laws of the District have'made such progress
in the performance of their task, as' to insure its
completion in the time preseribed by the act of
Congress.
Information has recently been received, that the
peace of the settlements in the Territories of Ore
gon and Washington is disturbed by hostilites on
the part of the Indians, with indications of exten
sive combinations of a hostile character among the
tribes in that quarter, the more serious in their
possible effect by reason of the undetermined for
eign interests existing in those Territories, to which
your attention has already been especially invited.
Efficient measures have been taken, which, it is
believed, will restore quiet, and afford protection
to our citizens.
In the Territory of Kansas there have been acts
prejudicial to good order, but as yet none have oc.•
curred under circumstances to justify the interpo
sition of the Federal Executive. That could only
be in case of obstruction to Federal law, or of or
ganized resistance to territorial law, assuming the
character of insurrection, which, if it should occur,
it would be my duty promptly to overcome and
suppres. I cherish the hope, however, that the
occurrence of any such untoward events will be
prevented by the sound sense of the people of the
Territory, who, by its organic law, possessing the
right to determine their own domestic institutions,
are entitled, while deporting themselves peacefully.
to the free exercise of that right, and must be pro
tected in the enjoyment of it, without interference
on the part of the citizens of any of the States.
The southern boundary line of this Territory has
never been surveyed and established. 'The rapidly
extending settlements in that region, and the fact
that the main route between Independence ' in the
State of Missouri, and New Mexico, is contaguous
to this line, suggest the probability that embarras
ing questions of jurisdiction may consequently
arise. For these and other considerations, I com
mend the subject to your early attention.
CONSTITUTIONAL THEORY OF TEE GOVERNMENT.
I have thus passed in review the general state
of the Union, including such particular concerns of
the federal government, whether of domestic or
foreign relation, as it appeared to me desirable and
useful to bring to the special notice of Congress.
Unlike the great states of Europe and Asia, and
many of those of America, these United States are
wasting their strength neither in foreign war nor
domestic strife. Whatever of discontent or public
dissatisfaction exists, is attributable to the imper
fections of human nature,.or is incident to all gov
ernments, however perfect, which human wisdom
can devise. Such subjects of political agitation,
as occupy the public mind, consist, to a great ex
tent, of exaggeration of inevitable evils, or over
zeal in social improvement, or mere imagination of
grievance, having but remote connexion with any
of the constitutional functions or duties of the fede
ral government. To whatever extent these ques
tions exhibit a tendency menacing to the stability
of the constitution, or the integrity of the Union,
and no farther, they demand the consideration of
the Executive, and require to be presented by him
to Congress.
Before the Thirteen Colonies became a confede
ration of independent States, they were associated
duly by community of transatlantic origin, by
geographical position, and by the mutual tie of com
mon dependence on Great Britain. When that tie
was sundered, they severally assumed the powers
and rights of absolute self-governmeat. The
municipal and social institutions of each, its laws
of property and of personal relation, even in its
political organisation, were such only as each one
choose to establish, wholly without interference
from any other. In the language of the Declara
tion of Independence, each State had "full power
to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, es
tablish commerce, and to do all other acts and
things which independent States may of right do."
The several colonies differed in climate, in soil, in
natural productions, in religion, in system of edu
cation, in legislation, and in the forms of political
administration ; and they continued to differ in
these respects when they voluntarily allied. them
selves as States to carry on the war of the revolu
tion.
The object of that war was to disenthral the
United Colonies from foreign rule, which had proved
to be oppressive, and to separate them permanently
from the mother country : the political result was
the foundation of a federal republic of the free
white men of the colonies, constituted, as they
were, in distinct, and reciprocally independent
State governments. As for the subject races,
whether Indian or African, the wise and brave
statesmen of that day, being engaged in no extra
vagant scheme of social change, left them as they
were, and thus preserved themselves and their pos
terity from the anarchy, and the ever-recurring
civil wars, which have prevailed in other revolu
tionized European colonies of America.
When the confederated States found it convenient
to modify the condition of their association, by
giving to the general government direct access, in
some respects, to the people of the States, instead
of confining it to action on the States as such, they
proceeded to frame the existing constitution, ad
hering steadily to one guiding thought, which was,
to delegate only such power as was necessary and
proper to, the execution of specific purposes, or, in
other words, to retain as much as possibte, consist
ently with those purposes, of the independent pow
ers of the individual States. For objects of com
mon defence and security, they intrusted to the
general government certain carefully defined func
tions, leaving all others as the undelegated rights
of the' separate independent sovereignties.
—Buonelisx.
Such is the constitutional theory of our govern
ment, the practical observance of which has car
ried us, and us alone, among modern republics,
through nearly three generations of time without
the cost of one drop of blood shed in civil war.—
With freedom and concert of action, it has enabled
us to contend successfully on the battle-field against
foreign foes, has elevated the feeble colonies into
powerful States, and has raised our industrial pro
ductions, and our Commerce which transports them,
to the level of the richeit and the greatest nations
of Europe. And the admirable adaptation of our
political institutions to their objects, combining
local self-government with aggregate strength, has
established the practicability of a government like
ours to cover a continent with confederate States.
The Congress of the United States is, in ef
fect, that congress of sovereignties, which
good men in the Old World have sought for,
but could never attain, and which imparts to
America an exemption from the mutable
eagues for common action, from the wars, the
mutual invasions, and vague aspirations after
the balance of power, which convulse from
time to time thecgovernments of Europe. Our
co-operative action rests in the conditions of
permanent confederation prescribed by the
constitution. Our balance of power is in the
separate reserved rights of the States, and
their equal representation in the Senate. That
independent sovereignty in every one of the
States, with its reserved rights of local self
government assured to each by their co-equal
power in the Senate, was the fundamental con
dition of the constitution. Without it the
Union would never have existed. However de
sirous the larger States might be to re-organ
ize the government so as to give to their popu
lation its proportionate weight in the common
counsels, they knew it was impossible, unless
they conceded to the smaller ones authority to
exercise at least a negative influence on all the
measures of the government, whether legisla
tive or executive, through their 'equal repre
sentation in the Senate. Indeed, the larger
States themselves-could not have failed to per
ceive that the same power was equally neces
sary to them, for the security of their own do
mestic interests against the aggregate force of
the general government. In a word, the
original States went into the permanent league
on the agreed premises, of exerting their com
mon strength for the dfence of the whole, and
of all its parts ; but of utterly excluding all
capability of reciprocal aggression. Each sol
emnly bound itself to all the others, not to un
dertake, nor permit an encroachment upon, or
intermeddling with, another's reserved rights.
When it was deemed expedient, particular
rights of the States were expressly guarantied
by the constitution ; but, in all things beside,
these rights were guarded by the limitation of
the powers granted, and by express reservation
of all powers not granted, in the compact of
union. Thus, the great power of taxation was
limited to purposes of common defence and
general welfare, excluding objects appertaining
to the local legislation of the several States;
and those purposes of general welfare and
Commas defence were afterwards defined by
specific enumeration, as being matters only of
corelation between the States themselves, or
between them and foreign governments, which
because of their common and general nature,
could not be left to the separate control of each
State.
Of the circumstances of local condition, in
terest and rights, in which a portion of the
States, constituting one great section of the
Union differed from the rest, and from another
section, the most important was the peculiarity
of a larger relative colored population in the
southern than in the northern States.
A population of this class, held in subjection
existed in nearly all the States, but was more
numerous and of more serious concernment in
the South than in the North, on account of
natural differences of climate and production;
and it was foreseen that, for the same reasons,
while this population . would diminish, and,
sooner or later,, ; cease to exist, in some States,
it might increase in others. The peculiar
character and magnitude of this question of
local rights, not in material relations only,
but still more in socritl ones, caused it to enter
into the special stipulations of the constitu
tion.
Hence, while the general government, as
well by the enumerated powers granted to it,
as by those not enumerated; and therefore re
fused to it, was forbidden to touch this matter
in the sense of attack or offence, it was placed
under the general safeguard of the Union, in
the sense of defence against either invasion or
domestic violence, like all other local interests
of the several States. Each State expressly
stipulated, as well for itself as for each and all
of its citizens, and every citizen of each State
became solemnly bound by his allegiance to
the constitution, that any person, held to ser
vice or labor in one State, escaping into anoth
er, should not, in consequence of any law or
regulation thereof, be discharged from such
service or labor, but should be delivered up on
claim of the party to whom such service or la
bor might be due by the laws of his State.
Thus, and thus only, by the reciprocal
guaranty of all the rights of every State
against interference on the part of another,
was the present form of government establish
ed by our fathers and transmitted to us; and
by no other means is it possible for it to exist.
If one State ceases to respect the rights of
another, and obtrusively intermeddles with its
local interests,—if a portion of the States as
sume to impose their institutions on the others,
or refuse to fulfil their obligations to them,—
we are no longer united friendly States, but
distracted, hostile ones, with" little capacity
left of common advantage, but abundant means
of reciprocal injury and mischief.
Practically, it is immaterial whether aggres
sive interference between the States, or delib
erate refusal on the part of any one of them to
comply with constitutional obligations, arise
from erroneous conviction or blind prejudice,
whether it be perpetrated by direction or indi
rection. In either case, it is full of threat and
of danger to the durability of the Union.
CONSTITUTIONAL RELATIONS OF SLAVERY
Placed in the office of Chief Magistrate as
the executive agent of the whole country,
bound to take care that the laws be faithfully
executed, and specially enjoined by the con
stitution to give information to Congress on
the State of the Union, it, would be palpable
neglect of duty on my part to pass over a sub
ject like this, which, beyond all things at the
present time, vitally concerns individual and
public security. -
It has been a matter of painful regret to see
States, conspicuous for their services in found
ing this Republic; awl equally sharing its ad
vantages, disregard their constitutional oblige
'dons to it.. 2 Although .conscious of their in
ability to heal admitted and palpable social
evils of their own, and which are completely
within their jurisdiction, they engage in the
offensive and hopeless undertaking of reform
ing the domestic institutions of other .States
wholly beyond their control and authority. In
the vain pursuit of ends, by them entirely un
attainable, and which they may tilt legally at
tempt to compass, they peril the very existence
of the constitution, and all the countless
benefits which it has conferred. While the
people of the southern States confine their at
tention to their own affairs, not presuming
officiously to intermeddie with the social insti
tutions of northern States, too many of the
inhabitants of the latter are permanently
organized in associations to inflict injury on
the former, by wrongful acts, which would be
cause of war as between foreignpowers; anti
only foil to be such in our system, because
perpetrated under cover of the Union.
It is impossible to present this subject as
truth and the occasion require, without uoti
cing the reiterated, but groundless allegation,
that the South has persistently .asserted claims
and obtained advantages in the practical ad
ministration of the general goverzanent, to the
prejudice ot the North, and in which• the latter
has acquiesced. That is, the Staten, which
either promote or tolerate attacks on the rights
of persons and of property in other States, to
disguise their own injustice, pretend or imag
ine, and constantly aver, that they, whose con
stitutional rights are thus systematically as
sailed, are themselves the aggressors. At the
present time, this imputed aggression, resting,
as it does, only in the vague, declamatory
charges of political agitators, resolves itself
into misapprehensiot., or misinterpretation., of
the principles and fat its of the politica tl organi
zation of the new Territories of the United
States.
What is the voice of history ? When the
ordinance which provitled for the government
f the Territory Dortim eat of the riv,v Ohio,
and for its eventual sub-divisto. into new
States, was adopted in the Congress of the
confederation, it is not to be supposed .that
the question of future relative power, as be
tween the States which retained, and those
which did not retain, a numerous c bored pop
ulation,
T
escaped notice, or failed to be onsid
ered.
And yet the concession o that vast
territory to the interests and opinions of the
Northern States, a territory now the seat of
five among the largest members of the Union,
was, in great measure, the act of the State of
Virginia and of the South.
When Louisiana was acquired by the United
States, it was an acquisition
,not less to the
North thou to the South ; for whicli t it was im
portant to the country at the mo th of the
river Mississippi to become the emporium of
the country above it, so also it was oven more
important to the whole Union to ha' that em
porium; and although the new pr vince, by
reason of its imperfect settlement, was mainly
regarded as on the Gulf of Mexico,in Ifact, it ex
tended to the opposite boundaries ofithe United
States,with far greater breadth aboTe than be
low, and was in territory, as in everything
else, equally at least an accession to the north
ern States. It is mere delusion, th-refore, to
speak of Louisiana as acquisition i. the spe
cial interest of the South.
The patriotic and just men, who .articipated
in that act, were influenced by motives far
above sectional jealousies. It wal in truth
the great event, which, by comple ing for us
the possession of the valley of the Mississippi,
with commercial access to the Gulf 'of Mexico,
imparted unity and strength to the whole con
federation and attached together by indissolu
ble ties the East and the West, as ell as the
North and the South. -
As to Florida, that was but a ander by
Spain to the United States of territory on the
east side of the river Mississippi, ih exchange
for large territory, which the United States
transferred to Spain on the west side of that
river, as the entire diplomatic history of the
transaction serves to demonstrate. Moreover,
it was an acquisition demanded by the com
mercial interests and the security of the whole
Union.
In the meantime, the people of the United
States had grown up to a proper consciousness
of their strength, and in a brief ttest with
France, and in a second serious was with Great
Britain, they had shaken off all'which remain
ed of undue reverence for Europe, I and emer
ged from the atmosphere of those transatlantic
influences which surrounded the infant Repub
lic, and had begun to turn their attention to
the full and systematic development of the in
ternal resources of the Union.
Among the evanescent controversies of that
period, the most conspicuous was the question
of regulation by Congress of the skial condi
tion of the future States to bo founded in the
territory of Lottiiiian&
The , rainance, for th
Ae ordinance, for the govennient of the
territory north-west of the river 'Ohio, had
contained a provision, which prohibited the
use of servile labor therein, subject to the con
dition of the extradition of " fugitives from ser
vicei) due in any other part of the U ited States.
Subsequently to the adoption of t e constitu
tion, this provision ceased to remai as a law;
for its operation as such was absol tely super
seded by the constitution. But the recollection
of the fact excited the zeal of social propa
gandism in some sections of the confederation;
and when a second State, that df Missouri,
came to be formed in the territory of Louisiana,
propo ition was made to extend 6 the latter
territory the restriction originallyiapplied to
the country situated between, the rivers Ohio
and Mississippi.
Most questionable as was this proposition in.
all its constitutional relations, nevertheless it.
received the sanction of Congress] with some
slight modifications of line, to save the exist
ing rights of the intended now State. It was
reluctantly' acquiesced in by sout lam States
as a sacrifice to the cause of peace and of the
Union, not only of the rights stiputed by the
treaty of Louisiana,
but of the rinciple of
equality among the States guaranteed by the
constitution. It was received by the northern
States with angry and resentful co damnation
and complaint, because it did not oucede all
which they had exactingly demands . Having
passed through the forms of legisla ion, it took
its place in the statute book, standing open to
repeal, like any other act of doubful consti
tutionality, subject to be pronounced ; null and
void by the courts of law, and possessing no
possible efficacy to control the rights of the
States, which might thereafter b t organized
out of any part of the original territory of
Louisiana.
In all this, if any aggression there were,
any innovation upon pre. existing rights, to
which portion of the Union are
chargeable? -
This controversy passed away
casion, nothing surviving it save
letter of the statute.
But, long afterwards, when, by
accession of the Republic of Tex,
States were to take their next gate
rial greatness, a similar contingen.
and became the occasion for syst.
tempts to intervene in the domest
0110 section of the Union, in defin
rights as States, and of the stipuh
constitution. These attempts assu
tical direction, in the shape of per
deavors, by some of the repress
both houses of Congress, to deprive.
ern States of the supposed benefit]
visions of the act authorizing the
of the State of Missouri.
But, the good sense of the people, and the
vital force of the constitution, triumphed ove
sectional prejudice, and the political errors of
the day, and the State of Texas returned to the
Union as she was, with social institutions which
her people had chosen for themselVea, and with
express agreement, by the re•annexing act,
that she should be susceptible of subdivision
into a plurality of States.
Whatever advantage the people of theßouth
ern States, as such, gained by this, were far
inferior in results, as they unfolded in the pro
gress of time, to those which sprang from pre
vious concessions made by the SoUth.
To every thoughtful friend of the Union,—
to the true lovers of their country 4 ,—to all who
longed and labored for the full seccess of this
great experiment of republican institutions,—
it was cause of gratulation that such an oppor
tunity occurred to illustrate our advancing
power on this continent, and to furnish to the
world additional assurance of the strength and
stability of the constitution. Who would wish
to see Florida still a European colony? Who
would rejoice to hail Texas as a lone star, in
stead of one in the galaxy of States? Who
does not appreciate the incalculable benefits of
the acquisition of Louisiana? And, yet nar
row views and sectional purposes would inevi
tably have excluded them all from the'Union.
But another struggle on the same point en
sued, when our victorious army returned from
Mexico, and it devolved on CongresS to provide
for the territories acquired by the treaty of
Guadalupe Hidalgo. The great ...relations /of
the subject had now become distinct and clear
to the perception of the public miind t which
appreciated the evils of sectional, controversy
upon the question of the admission of new
States. Is that crisis intense solicitude perva
ded the nation. But the patriotic impulses of
the popular heart, guided by the admonitory
advice of the Father of his Country rose su
perior to all the difficulties of the Pncorpora.
tion of a new empire into th e Union.
In the counsels of Congress there was mani
fested extreme antagonism of opmion 'and ac-
Sou between some representatives, who sought
by the abusive and unconstitutional employ
meat of the legislative powers of the govern
ment to interfere in the condition of the in
choate K'ntes, and to impose their own social
theories upon the latter ; and other represee
tatives, who repelled the interpcisitiou of the
goners' government in this respedt, and main
tained the self-constituting rights 'of the States
In truth, the thing attempted was,. is form
alone, action of the general goveinment, while
in reality it was the endeavor,", by abuse of
legislative power, to force the ideas of internal
' policy, entertained in particularj States, upon
allied independent States. ,
Once more the Constitution and the Union
triumphed signally. The new Tdrritories were
organized without restrictions oil' the disputed
points, and were thus left to judge in that par
ticular for themselves ; and the (sense' of con
stitutionar faith proved vigorons enough iu
Congress not only to accomplish this primary
(Concluded on Fourth J ose.)
MEE
ith the cc
he dormant
le proposed
the United.
in territo
fr occurred,
imatircd at
uffairs of
.nee of their
Itttions of the
ukted o -
Jed a prac
evering en
utatives, in
the South
of the pro
organization