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VOL. LVII.
Fellow Citizens of the Senate
and of the House of Representatives
The Constitution requires that the Presi
dent shall from time to time not only recom
mend to the consideration of Congress such
measures as he may judge necessary and ex
pedient, but that he shall also give informa
tion to them of the state of the Union. To do
this fatly involves exposition of all matters in
the actual condition of the country, domestic
or foreign, which essentially concern the gen
eral welfare. While performing this constitu
tional daty in this respect, the President does
not speak merely to express personal convic
tions, bat as the executive minister of the go
vernment, enabled by his position, and called
'upon by his official obligations, to scan with an
impartial eye the intersets of the whole, and of
every part of the United States.
Of the condition of the domestic interests of
the Uniou,its agriculture,mines, manufactures,
navigation and commerce, it is necessary only
to say that the internal prosperity of the coun
try, its continuous and steady advancement
in wealth and population, and in private as
well as public well-being, attest the wisdom of
our institutions, and the predominant spirit
and intelligence and patriotism, which, not
withstanding occasional irregularities of opin
ion or action resulting from popular freedom,
has distinguished and characterized the peo
ple of America:
In the brief interval between the termination
of the last and the commencement of the
present session of Congress, the public mind
has been occupied with the care of ' selecting,
for another constitutional term, the President
and Vice President of the United States.
- -
The determination of the persons, who are
of right, or continently, to preside over the
administration of the government, is, under
our system, committed to the States and the.
people. e appeal to theth, by their voice
pronounced in the forms of law, to call whom
soever they will to the high post of Chief
Magistrate.
And thus it is that as the senators represent
the respective States of the Union, and the
members of the House of Representatives the
several constituencies of each State, so the
President represents the aggregate population
of the United States. Their election of him
is the explicit and solemn act of the sole sov
ereign authority of the Union.
It is impo-sible to misapprehend the great
principles, which, by their recent political ac
tion, the people of the United States have
sanctioned and announced.
They have asserted the constitutional equali
ty of each and all of the States of the Union
as States; they have affirmed the constitutional
equality of each and all of the citizens of the
United States as citizens, whatever their reli
gion, wherever their birth, or their residence ;
they have maintained the inviolability of the
constitutional rights of the different sections
of the Union; and they have proclaimed their
devoted and unalterable attachment to the
Union and to the Constitution, as objects of
interest superior to all subjects of local or sec
tional controversy, as the safeguard of the
rights of all, as the spirit. and the essence of
the liberty, peace, and greatness of the Repub
lic.
In doing this, they have, at the same time,
emphatically condemned the
s idea of organi
zing in these United States mere geographical
parties ; of marshalling in hostile array tow
ards each other the different parts of the
country, North or South, East or West.
Schemes of this nature, fraught with incal
culable mischief, and which the considerate
sense of the people has rejected,. could have
had countenance in no part of the country,
had they not been disguised by suggestions
plausible in appearance, acting upon an exci
ted state of the public mind, induced by causes
temporary in their character, and it is to be
transient in their influence.
Perfect liberty of association for political
objects, and the widest scope of discussion,
are the received and ordinary conditions of
government in our country. Our institutions,
framed in the spirit of confidence in the intelli
gence and integrity of the people, do not for
bid citizens either individually or associated
together, to attack by writing, speech, or any
other methods short of physical force, the
Constitution and the very existence of the
Union. Under the shelter of this great liberty,
and protected by the laws and usages of the
government they assail, associations have
been formed, in same of the States, of indi
viduals, who, pretending to seek only to pre
vent the spread of the institution of slavery
into the preselkt or future inchoate States of
the Union, are really inflamed with desire to
change the domestic institutions of existing
States.
To accomplish their objects, they dedicate
themselves to the odious task of depreciating
the government organization which stands in
their way, and of calumniating, with indis
criminate invective, not only the citizens of
particular States, with whose laws they find
fault, but all others of their fellow-citizens
throughout the country, who do not participate
with them in their assaults upon the Consti
tution, framed and adopted by their fathers,
and claiming for the privileges it has secured,
and the blessings it has conferred, the steady
support and grateful reverence of their chil
dren. They seek an object which they well
know to be a revolutionary one. They are
perfectly aware that the change in the relative
condition of the white and black races in the
slaveholding States, which they would pro
mote, is beyond their lawful authority ; that
to them it is a foreign object ; that it cannot
be effected by any peaceful instrumentality of
theirs ; that for them and the States of which
they are citizens, the only path to its accom
plishment is through burning cities and rava
ged fields, and slaughtered populations, and
all there is most terrible in foreign, complica
ted with civil and servile war; and that the
first step in the attempt is the forcible disrup
tion of a country embracing in its broad bo
som a degree of liberty, and an amount of in
dividual and public prosperity, to which there
is no parallel in history, and substituting in
its place hostile governmentp,..flriven at once
and inevitably into mutual devastation and
fratricidal carnage, transforming the now
peaceful and felicitous brotherhood into a vast
permanent camp of armed men like the rival
monarchies of Europe and Asia. Well know
ing that such, and such only, are the means
and consequences of their plans and purposes,
they endeavor to prepare the people of the
United States for civil war by doing every
thing in their power to deprive the Constitu
tion and the laws of moral authority, and to
undermine the fabric of the Union by appeals
to passion and sectional prtludice, by indoc
trinating its people with reciprocal hatred, and
by educating them to stand face to face as 'en
emies, rather than shoulder to shoulder as
friends.
It is by the agency of such unwarrantable
interference, foreign and domestic, that the
minds of many, otherwise good citizens, have
been so inflamed into the passionate condem
natidn of the domestic institutions of the sou
thern-states as at length to pass insensibly to
almost equal passionate hostility towards their
fellow citizens of those states, and thus to fin
ally to fall into temporary fellowship with the
avowed and active enemies of the constitution.
Ardently attached to liberty in the abstract,
they do not stop to consider practically how
the objects they would attain can be accom
plished, nor to reflect that, even if the evil
were as great as they deem it, they have no
remedy to apply, and that it can only be ag
grairated by their violence and unconstitution
al action. A question, which is one of the
most difficult of all the problems of social in
stitution, political economy and statesmanship,
they treat with unreasoning intemperance of
thought and language. Extremes beget ex
tremes. Violent attacks from the North finds
its inevitable consequence in the growth of a
spirit of angry defiance at the South. Thus
in the progress of events we had reached the
consummation, which the voice of the people
has now so pointedly rebuked of the attempt
of a portion of the States, by a sectional orga
nization and movement to usurp the control
of the government of the United States.
I confidently believe, that the great body
of those, who inconsiderately took this fatal .
step are sincerely attached to the constitu
tion and the union. They would, upon 'delib
eration, shrink with unaffected horror from
suar conscious act of disunion or civil war.
Bat they have entered into a path, which
leads nowhere, unless it be to civil war and
disunion, :and which has no other possible
outlet. They have proceeded thus far in that
direction in consequence of the successive
stages of their progress having consisted of
a series of secondary issues, each of which
professed to be confined within constitution
al and peaceful limits, bat which attempted
indirectly what few men were willing to do
directly, that is, to act aggressively against
the constitutional rights of nearly ons-half
of the thirty-one States.
In the long series of acts of indirect ag
gression, the first was the strenuous agitation,
by citizens of the northern States, in Con
gress, and out of it, of the piestion of negro
emancipation in the southern States.
The second step in this path of evil con
sisted of acts of the people of the northern
States, and in several instances of their gov
ernments, aimed to facilitate the escape of
persons held to service in the southern
States, and to prevent' their extradition
when reclaimed according to law and in vir
tue of the express provisions of the Consti
tution. To promote this object, legislative
enactments and other means were adopted to
take away or defeat rights, which the Consti
tution solemnly guaranteed. In order to
nullify the then existing acts of Congress
concerning the extradition of fugitives from
service, laws were enacted in many States,
forbidding their officers, under the severest
penalties,
to participate in the execution of
any act of Congress whatever. In this way
that system of harmonious co-operation be
tween the authorities of the United States
and of the several States, for the mainte
nance of their common institutions, which
existed in the early years of the Republic,
was destroyed; conflicts of jurisdiction came
to be frequent ; and Congress found itself ,
compelled, fur the support of the Constitn
ion, and the vindication of its power, to au
thorize
the appointmet of new officers charg
ed with the execution of its acts, as if they
and the officers of the States were the minis
ters, respectively, of foreign governments in
a state of mutual hostility, rath,lr than fel
low magistrates of a common country,
peacefully subsisting under.the protection of
one well-constituted Union. Thus here, also,
aggression was followed by reaction ; and
the attacks upon the Constitution at this
point did but serve to raise up new barriers
for its defence and security.
The third stage of this unhappy sectional
conrroversy was in connexion with the or
ganization of territorial governments, and the
admission of new States into the Union.—
When it was proposed to admit the State of
Maine, by separatiou of that territory from
Ilia of Massachusetts, and the State of Mis
souri, formed of a portion of the territory ce
ded by France to the United States, repre
sentatives of Congress objected to the admis
sion of the latter, unless with conditions sui
ted to particular views of public policy. The
imposition of such a condition was success
fully resisted. But, at the same period, the
question was presented of imposing restric
tions upon the residue of the territory ceded
by France. That question was, for the time,
disposed of by the adoption of a geographi
cal line of limitation..
In this connexion is should not be forgot
ten that France, of her own accord, resolved,
for considerations of the most far-sighted
sagacity, to cede Louisiana to the United
States, and that accession was accepted by
the United States, the latter expressly en
gaged that " the inhabitants of the ceded
territory shall be incorporated in the Union
of the United States, and admitted as soon as
possible, according to the principles of the
Federal Constitution, to the enjoyment of all
the rights, advantages, and immunities of
citizens of the United States ; and in the
meantime they shall be maintained and pro
tected in the free enjoyment of their liberty,
property, and the religion which they pro
fess."—that is to say, while it remains in a
territorial condition, its inh - dbitants are main
tained and protected in the free enjoyment of
their liberty and property, with a right then
to pass into the condition of States on a foot
ing ~f perfect equality with the original
States.
The enactment, which established the re
strictive geographical line, was acquiesced in
rather than approved by the States of the
Union. It stood on the statute book, how
ever, for a number of years ; and the people
of the respective States acquiesced in the re
enactment of tlie principle as applied to the
State of Texas; and it was proposed to ac
quiesce in its further application to the terri
tory acquired by the United States from
Mexico. But this proposition was success
fully resisted by the representatives from the
northern States, who, regardless of the statute
line, insisted upon applying restriction to the
new territory generally, whether lying north
or south of it, thereby repealing it as a legis
lative compromise, and, on the part of the
North, persistently violating the compact, if
compact there was.
Thereupon this enactment ceased to have
binding virtue in any sense, whether as re
spects the North or the South ; and so in
effect it was treated on the occasion of the
admission of the State of California, and. the
organization of the Territories of New - Mexico,
Utah, and Washington.
Such was the state of this question, when
the time arrived for the organizatiou of the
Territories of Kansas and Nebraska. In the
progress of constitutional inquiry and reflec
tion, it had now at length come to be seen
clearly that Congress does not possess Con
stitutional , power to impose restrictions of
this character upon any pri)isant-or future
State of the Union. In it long series of de
cisions, on the fullestargument, and after
the most deliberate 9onsideration, the Su
preme Court of the United States had finally
determined this point, in every form under
which the 'questioitotruld arise, whether as
affecting public or titivate rights—in ques
tions of. the public domain, of religion, of
navigation, and of servitude.
The several Slates of the Union are, by
force of the Constitution, co-equal in domes
tic legislative power. Congress cannot change
a law of domestic relation in the State of
Maine ; no more can it in the State of Mis
souri. Any statute which proposes to do
this is a mere nullity ; it takes away no
right, it confers none. If it remains on the
statute-book unrepealed, it remains there on
ly as a monument of error, and a beacon of
warnrng to the legislator and the statesman.
To repeal it will be only to remove imperfec
tion from the statutes, without affecting, ei
ther in the sense of permission or of prohibi
tion, the action of the States, or of their citi
zens.
Still, when the nominal restriction of this
nature, already a dead letter in law, was in
terms repealed by the last Congress, in a
clause of the act org zing the Territories of
.1;4
Kansas and Nebrask that repeal was made
the occasion of a wide-spread and dangerous
agitation.
It was alleged that the original enactment
being a compact of perpetual moral obligation,
its repeal constittited an odious breach of faith.
An act of Congress, while it remains mire
pealed, more especially if it be constitutionally
valid in the judgment of those public func
tionaries whose duty it is to pronounce on that
point, is undoubtedly binding on theconscience
of each good citizen of the Republic. But in
what sense can it be asserted that the enact
ment in question was invested with perpetuity
and entitled to the respect of a solemn com
pact ? Between whom was the compact ? No
distinct contending powers of the government,
no separate sections of the Union, treating as
such, entered into treaty stipulations on the
subject. It was a mere clause of an act of
Congress, and like any other controverted mat
ter of legislation, received its final shape and
was passed by compromise of the conflicting
opinions or sentiments of the members of Con
gress. But if it had moral authority overmen's
consciences, to whom did this authority.attach?
Not to those of the North, who had repeatedly
refused to confirm it by extension, and who
had zealously striven to establish other and
incompatible regulations upon the snject. And
it, as it thus appears, the supposed compact
had no obligatory force as to the North, of
course it could not lave had any as to the
South, for all such compacts must be mutual
and of reciprocal obligation.
It has not unfrequently happened that law—
"THAT COUNTRY IS THE MOST PROSPEROUS WHERE LABOR COMMANDS THE GREATEST REWARD."
LANCASTER CITY, PA., TUESDAY MORNING, DECEMBER 9, 1856.
givers, with undue estimation of the value
of the law they give, or in the view of im
parting to it peculiar strength, make it per
petual in terms ; but they cannot thus bind
the conscience, the judgment, and the will
of those who may succeed them, invested
with similar responsibilities, and clothed
with equal authority. More careful investi
gation may prove the law to be unsound in
principle. Experience may show it to be im
perfect in detail and impracticable in execu
tion. And then both reason and right com
bine not merely to justify, but to require its
repeal.
The Constitution, suprethe as it is over all
the departments of the government, legisla
tive, executive, and judicial, is open to
amendment by its very terms ; and Congress
or the States may, in their discretion, pro
pose amendment to it, solemn compact
though it in truth is between the sovereign
States of the Union,' In the present instance,
a political enactment, which had ceased to
have legal power or authority of any kind,
was repealed. The position assumed, that
Congress had no moral right to enact such
repeal, was strange enough, and singularly
so in view of the fact that the argument
came from those who openly refused obedi
ence
to existing laws of the land, having the
same popular designation and quality as I
compromise acts—nay, more, who unequivo
cally disregarded and condemned the most
positive and obligatory injunctions of the
Constitution itself, and sought by every
means within their reach, to deprive a por
tion of their fellow citizens of the equal en
joyment of those rights and' privileges guar
antied alike to all by the fundamental com- I
pact of onr Union.
This argument against the repeal of the sta
tute line in question, was accompanied by
another of congenial character, and equally
with the former destitute of foundation in rea
son and truth. It was imputed that the mea
sure originated in the conception of extending
the limits of slave-labor beyond those pre
viously assigned to it, and that such was its
natural as well as intended effect ; and these
baseless assumptions were made, in the north
ern States, the ground of unceasing assault
upon constitutional right.
The repeal in terms of a statute, which was
already obsolete, and also null for unconstitu
tionality, could have no influence to obstruct
or to promote the propagation of conflicting
views of political or social institution. 'When
the act organizing the Territories of Kansas
and Nebraska was passed, the inherent effect
upon that portion of the public domain thus
opened to legal settlement, was to admit set
tlers from all the States of the Union alike,
each with his convictions of public policy and
private interest, there to found in their discre
tion, subject to such limitations as the Con
stitution and acts of Congress might prescribe,
new States, hereafter to be admitted into the
Union. It was a free field, open alike to all,
whether the statute line of assumed restriction
were repealed or not. That repeal did not open
to free competition of the diverse opinions and
domestic institutions a field, which, without
such repeal, would have been closed against
them : it found that field of competition al
ready opened, in fact and in law, All the re
peal did was to relieve the statute book of an
objectionable enactment, unconstitutional in
effect, and injurious in terms to a large pro
portion of the States.
Is it the fact, that, in all the unsettled re
gions of the United States, if emigration be
left free to act in this respect for itself, with
out legal prohibitions on either side, slave la
bor will spontaneously go everywhere, in
preference to free labor ? Is it the fact, that
the peculiar domestic institutions of the
southern States possess relatively so much of
vigor, that, wheresoever an avenue is freely
open to all o ,the world, they will penetrate to
the exclusion of those of the northern States?
Is it the fact, that the former enjoy, compar
ed with the latter, such irresistibly superior
vitality, independent of climate, soil, and all
other accidental circumstances, as to be able
to produce the supposed result, in spite of
the assumed moral and natural obstacles to
its accomplishment, and of the more numer
ous population of the northern States ?
The argument of those, who advocate the
enactment of new laws of restriction, and
condemn the repeal of old ones, in effect
avers that their particular views of govern
ment have no self-extending orself-sustaining
power of their own, and will go nowhere un
less forced by act of Congress. And if Con
gress'do but pause for a moment in the policy
of stern coercion ; if it venture to try the ex
periment of leaving men to judge for them
selves what institutions will best suit them;
if it be not strained up to perpetual legisla
tive exertion on this point ; if Congress
proceed thus to act in the very spirit of lib
erty, it is at once charged with aiming to ex
tend slave labor into all the new Territories of
the United States.
Of course, these imputations on the inten
tions of Congress in this respect, conceived
as they were in prejudice, and disseminated
in passion, are utterly destitute of any justi
fication in the nature of things, arid contrary
to all the fundamental doctrines and priuci
pies of civil liberty and self-government.
While therefore, in general, the people of
the northern States have never, at any time
arrogated for the federal government the
power to iuterefere directly with the domes
tic condition of persons in .the southern
States, but on the flontrary have disavowed
all such intentions, and have shrunk from
conspicuous affiliation with those few who
pursue_their fanatical objects avowedly
through the contemplated means of revolu
tionary change of the government, and with
acceptance of the necessary consequences—
a civil and servile war—yet many citizens
have suffered themselves to be drawn into
one evanescent political issue of agitation af
ter another, appertaining to the same set of
opinions, and which subsided as rapidly as
they arose when it came to be seen, as it
uniformly did, that they were incompatible
with the compacts of the Constitution and
the existence of the Union. Taus, when the
acts of some of the States to nullify the ex
isting extradition law imposed upon Con
gress the duty of passing a new one, the
country was invited by agitators to enter in
to party organization for its repeal ; but that
agitation speedi'y ceased by reason of the
impracticability of its objects. So, when the
statute restriction upon the institutions of
new States, by a geographical line, had been
repealed, the country was. urged to demand
its restoration, and that project also died al
most with its birth. Then followed the cry
of alarm from the North against imputed
southern encroachments ; which cry sprang
in reality from the spirit of revolutionary at
tack on the domestic institutions of the
South, and, after a troubled existence of a
few months has been rebuked by the voice
of a patriotic people.
Of this last agitation, obe lamentable fea
ture was, that it was carried on at the imme
diate expense of the peace and happiness of
the people of the Territory of Kansas. That
was made the battle-field, not so much of op
posing factions or interests within itself, as
of the conflicting passions of the whole peo
ple of the United States. Revolutionary
disorder in Kansas had its origin in projects
of intervention, deliberately arranged by
certain members of Congress, which enacted
the law for the organization of the Territory.
And when propagandist colonization of Kan
sas had thus been undertaken in one section
of the Union, for the systematic promotion
of its peculiar views of policy, there ensued,
as a matter of course, a counter-action with
opposite views, in other sections of the
Union.
In consequence of these and other inci
dents, many acts of , disorder it is undenia
ble, have been perpetrated in Kansas, to the
occasional interruption, rather than the per
manent suspension, of regular government.
Aggressive and most reprehensible incursions
into the Territory were undertaken, both in
the North and the South, and entered it on
its northern border by the way of lowa, as
well as on the eastern by way of Missouri ;
and there has existed within it a state of in
surrection against the constituted authori
ties, not without countenance from inconsid
erable persons in each of the great seotions
of the Union. But the difficulties in that
Territory have been extravagantly exaggera
ted for purposes of political agitation else
where. The number and gravity of the seta
of violence have been magnified partly by
. statements entirely untrue, and partly by
reiterated accounts of the same rumors or
facts. Thus the Territory has been seeming
ly filled with extreme violence, when the
whole amount of such acts has not been
greater than what occasionally passes before
tie in single cities to the regret of all good
citizens, lint without being regarded as of
general or permanent political consequence.
Imputed irregularities in the elections had
in Kansas, like occasional irregularities of the
same description in the States, were be) and
the sphere of action of the Executive. But
incidents of actual violence or of organized
obstruction of law pertinaciously renewed
from time to time; have been met as they oc
curred, by such means as were available and
'as circumstances required ; and nothing of
this character now remains to affect the gen
eral peace of the Union. The attempt of a
part of the inhabitants of the Territory to
elect a revolutionary government, though Se
dulously encouraged and supplied with' pe
cuniary aid from active agents of disorder in
some of the States, has completely failed.—
Bodies of armed men, foreign to the Territo- ,
ry, have been prevented from entering or
compelled to leave it. Predatory bands, en
gaged in acts of rapine, under cover of the ex
isting political disturbances, have been ar
rested or dispersed. And every well dispos- I
ed person is now enabled once more to de
vote himself in peace to the pursuits of pros
perous industry, for the prosecution of which
he undertook to participate in the settlement
of the Territory.
It affords me unmingled satisfaction thus
to announce the peaceful condition of things
in Kansas, especially considering the means
to which it was necessary to have recourse
for the attainment of the end, namely, the
employment of a part of the military force of
the United States. The withdrawal of that
force from its proper duty of defending the
country against foreign foes or the savages of
the frontier, to employ it for the suppression
of domestic insurrection, is, when the exi
gency occurs, a matter of the most earnest
solicitude. On this occasion of imperative
necessity it has been done with the best re
sults, and my satisfaction in the attainment
of such results by such means is greatly en
hanced by the consideration, that, through
the wisdom and energy of the present Exec
utive of Kansas, and the prudence, firmness
and vigilance of the military officers on du
ty there, tranquility has been restored with
out one drop of bloodjhaving been shed in its
accomplishment by the forces of the United
States.
The restoration of comparative tranquility
in that Territory furnishes the means of ob
serving calmly, and appreciating at their
just value, the events which have occurred
there, and the discussions of which the got
ernment of the Territory has been the sub
ject. .
We perceive that controversy concerning
its future domestic institutions was inevita
ble ; that no human prudence, no form of le
gislation, no wisdom on the part of Congress,
could have prevented this.
It is idle to suppose that the particular
provisions of their organic law were the
cause of agitation. Those provisions were
but the occasion, or the pretext of an agita
tation, which was inherent in the nature of
things. Congress legislated upon the subject
in such terms as were most consonant with
the principle of popular sovereignty which un
derlies our government. It could not have
legislated otherwise without doing violence
to another great principle of oar institutions,
the inaprescriptible right of equality of the
several States.
We perceive, a Is°, that sectional interests
and party passions, have been the great imped
iment to the salutary operation of the organic
principles adopted, and the chief cause of the
successive disturbances in Kansas. The as
sumption that, because in the organization of
the Territories of Nebraska and Kansas, Con
gress abstained from imposing restraints upon
them to which certain other Territories had
been subject, therefore disorders occurred in
the latter Territory, is emphatically contra
dkted by the fact that none have occurred in
the former. These disorders were notthe con
sequence, in Kansas, of the freedom of self
government conceded to that Territory by
Congress, but of unjust interference on the part
of persons not inhabitants of the Territory.—
Such interference, wherever it has exhibited
itself, by acts of insurrectionary character, or
of obstruction to processes of law, has been
repelled or suppressed, by all the means which
the Constitution and the laws place in the
hands of the Executive.
In those parts of the United States where by
reason of the inflamed state of the public mind,
false rumors and misrepresentations have the
greatest currency, it has been assumed that it
was the duty of the Executive not only to sup
press insurrectionary movements in Kansas,
but also to see to the regularity of local elec
tions. It needs little argument to show that
the President has no such power. All govern
ment in the United States rests substantially
upon popular election. The freedom of elec
tions is liable to be impaired by the intrusion
of unlawful votes, or the exclusion of lawful
ones, by improper influences, by violence, or
by fraud. But the people of the United States
are themselves the all-snfficient guardians of
their own rights, and to suppose they will not
remedy, in due season, any such incidents of
civil freedom, is to suppose them to have ceased
to be capable of self-government. The Presi
dent of the United States has not power to in
terpose in elections, to see to their freedom, to
canvass their votes, or to pass upon their legal
ity in the Territories any more than in the
States. If he had such power, the government
might be republican in form, but it would be
a monarchy in fact; and if he had undertaken
to exercise it in the case of Kansas, he would
have been justly subject to the charge of usurp
ation, and of violation of the dearepiti rights of
the people of the United States.
Unwise laws, equally with irrg ties at
elections, are, in periods of great °Bement,
the occasional incidents of even e freest
and best political institutions. Bu all expe
rience demonstrates that in a country, like
ours, where the right of self-constitution ex
ists in the completest form, the attempt to
remedy unwise legislation by resort to revo
lution, is totally out of place ; inasmuch as
existing legal institutions afford more prompt
and efficacious means for the redress of wrong.
I confidently trust that now, when the peace
ful condition of Kansas affords opportunity for
calm reflection and wise legislation, either the
legislative assembly of the territory, or Con
gress, will see that no act shall remain on its
statute-book violative of the provisions of the
Constitution, or subversive of the great objects
for which that was ordained and established,
and will take all other necessary steps to as
sure to its inhabitants the enjoyment, without
obstruction or abridgement, of all the consti
tutional rights, privileges and immunities of
citizens of the United States, as contemplated
by the organic law of the Territory.
Full information in relation to recent events
in this Territory will be found in the docu
ments communicated herewith from the De
partments of State and War.
I refer you to the report of the Secretary of
the Treasury for particular information con
cerning the financial condition of the govern
ment, and 'the various branches of the public
service connected with the Treasury Depart
ment.
During the last fiscal year, the receipts from
customs were, for the first time, more than
sixty-four million dollars, and from all sources,
seventy-three million nine hundred and eight
een thousand one hundred and forty-one dol
lars ; which, with the balance on hand up to
the Ist of July, 1555, made the total resources
of the year to amount to ninety-two million
eight hundred and fifty thousand one hundred
and seventeen dollars. The expenditures, in
chiding three million dollars in execution of
the treaty with Mexico, and excluding sums
paid on account of the public debt, amounted
to sixty million one hundred and seventy-two
thousand four hundred and one dollars; and,
including the latter, to seventy-two million
nine hundred and forty-eight thousand seven
hundred and ninety-two dollars, the payment
on this account having amounted to twelve
million seven hundred and seventy-six thou
sand three hundred and ninety dollars.
On the 4th of March, 1853, the amount of
the public 'debt was sixty-nine million one
hundred and twenty-nine thousand nine hun-
-BUCH&NAN
dred and thtgty-seven dollars.. There was a hundred and eight miles, has added largely Ito add to the declaration that "Privateering is and
subsequent increase of two million seven hnn- to the cost of transport lion. , , remains abolished,' the following amendment :
"
Bred and fifty thousand dollars for the debt of The inconsiderable augmentation of the income of : And that the private property of subjects and
Texas—making a total of seventy-one million the Post Office Department under the reduced citizens of a beligereut on the high seas, shall be
exempt from seizure by the public armed vessels
eight hundred and seventy-nine thousand nine rates of postage, and its increasing expenditures,
i of the other belligerent, except it be contraband."
mast, for the present, make it dependent to some
hundred and thirty-seven dollars. Of this the
support. The
relationronl.
sum of forty-tire million five hundred and ex e t :d g a t t ' io po ns n o t f he th u ?rt ry m -fo te r srurre; This h a w m e e r n s dz i n e t h h h m aye be as en ke p d re o se ur nted ,en n t ot to onl t
the y de n
twenty-five thousand three hundred and nine- de
to the abolition of th e os franking as privileg e , nen
and bis ' c t la e r! ' ;ion to abolish privateering, but to all other
teen dollars, including premium, has been views on the establishment of mail steinus hip lines, maritime states. Thus far it has noneen rejected
discharged, reducing the debt to thirty million deserve the consideration of Congress.; I also call by any, and is favorably entertained by all which
seven hundred acid thirty-seven thousand one the special attention of Congress to the statement I have made any communication in reply.
hundred and twenty-nine dollars ; all of which of the Postmaster General respecting the sums now Several of the governments, regarding with fa•
might be paid within a year without embair, paid for the transportation of mails to the Panama vor the proposition of the United States, have de.
rassing the public servict, but being not yet Railroad Company, and commend td their early layed definitive action upon it, onl7 for the
due, and only redeemable at the option of the and favorable consideration the suggestions of that Purpose of consulting with others, parties to the
`,holder, con.not be pressed to payment b the officer in relation to new contracts for mail trans. conference of Paris. I have the satisfaction of
government. I
y
-, portation upon that route, and also upon the Te- stating, however, that the Emperor of Russia has huantepec and Nicaragua routes.
• entirely and explicitly approved of that modifica
•
On examining the expenditures of the last ' The United States continue in the Onjoyment of tion, and will eo-operate in endeavoring to obtain
five years, it will be seen that the average, de- amicable relationtswith all foreign potters. 1 the assent of other powers ; and that assurances of
ducting payments on account of the public When my last annual message was ;transmitteda similar purport have been received in relation to
debt, and ten mllions paid by treaty to Mex-... to Congress, two subjects of controversy, one rat I
the disposition of the Emperor of the French.
ico, has been about forty-eight millions dol- ' flog to the enlistment of soldiers in this country i The present aspect of this-important subject al
.. . . ... . .. . , ..
lars. It is believed that, under an econom
cal, administration of the government, the
average expenditure for the ensuing 5 years
will not exceed that sum unless extraordina
ry occasion for its increase occur. The acts
granting ,bounty lands will soon have been
executed, while the extension of our frontier
settlements will cause a continued demand
for lands and augmented receipts, probably,
from that source. These considerations will
justify a reduction of the revenue on cus
toms, so as not to exceed forty-eight or fifty
million dollars. I think the exigency for
such reduction is-imperative Land again urge
it upon the consideration of Congress.
The amount of reduction, as well as the
manner ofeffecting it, are questions of great
and general interest; it being essential to in
dustrial enterprise and the public prosperity,
as well as the dictate of obvious justice, that
the burden of taxation be made to rest as
equally as pbssible upon all classes, and all
sections and interests of the country.
I have heretofore recommended to your
consideration the revision of the revenue laws;
prepared under the direction of the Secretary
of the Treasury, and also legislation upon some
special questions affecting the business of that
department, more especially the enactment of
a law to punish the abstraction of official books
or papers from the files of the government, and
requiring all such books and papers and all
other public property to be turned over by the
out-going officer to his suceessor; of a law re
quiring disbursing officers to deposits all pub
lic money in the vaults of the treasury or in
other legal depositories, where the same are
conveniently accessible; and a law to extend
existing penal provisions to all persons who
may become possessed of public money by de
posits or otherwise, and who shall refuse or
neglect, on due demand, to pay the same into
the treasury. I invite your attention anew to
each of these objectS.
The army during the past year has been so
constantly employed against hostile Indians
in various quarters, that it can scarcely be
said, with propriety of language, to have been
a peace establishment. -Its duties have been
Satisfactorily performed, and we have reason
to expect, as a result of the year's operations,
greater security to the frontier inhabitants
than has been hitherto enjoyed. Extensive
combinations among the hostile Indians of
the Territories of Washington and Oregon at
one time threatened the devastation of the
newly formed settlements of that remote por
tion of the country. From recent informa
tion, we are permitted to hope that the ener
getic and successful operations conducted
there will prevent such combinations in
future, and secure to those Territories an op
portunity to make steady - progress in the de
velopment of their agrichltural and mineral
resources.
Legislation has been recommended by me
on previous occasions to cure defects in the
existing organization, and to increase the effi
ciency of the army, and further observation
has but served to confirm me in the views then
expressed, and to enforce on my mind the con
viction that such measures are not only proper
but necessary.
I have, in addition, to invite the attention of
Congress to a change of policy in the distribu
tion of troops, and to the necessity of providing
a more rapid increase of the military arma
ment. ,gor details of these and other subjects
relating To the army, I refer to the report of the
Secretary of War.
The condition of the navy is not merely sa
tisfactory, but exhibits the most gratifying evi
'deuces of increased vigor. As it is compara
tively small, it is more important that it should'
be as complete as possible in all the elements
of strength; that it should be sufficient in the
character of its officers, in the zeal and disci
pline of its men, in the reliability of its ord
nance, and in the capacity of its ships. In all
these various qualities the navy has made
great progress within the last few years. The
execution of the law of Congress, of February
23, 1855, "to promote the efficiency of the
navy," has been attended by the most advan
tageous results. The law for promoting disci
pline among the men is found convenient and
salutary. The system of granting an honor
able discharge to faithful seamen on the expi
ration of the period of their enlistment, and
permitting them to re-enlist after a leave of ab
sence of a few months, without cessation of pay,
is highly beneficial in its influence. The ap
prentice system recently adopted is evidently
destined to incorporate into the service a large
number of our countrymen hitherto so difficult
to procure. Several hundred Americans boys are
now on a three years' cruise in our national ves
sels, and will return well trained seamen. In
the ordanance department there is a decided
gratifying indication of progress creditable to it
and to the country. The suggestions of the
Secretary of the Navy, in regard to further
improvement in that branch of the service, I
commend to your favorable action.
The new frigates ordered by Congress are
now afloat, and two of them in active service.
They are superior models of naval architecture
and with their formidable battery add largely
to public strength and security.
I concur iu the views expressed by the Se
cretary of the Department in favor of a still
further increase of our naval force.
The report of the Secretary of the fnterior
presents facts and views in relation to inter
nal affairs over which the supervision of his
department extends, of much interest and im
portance.
The aggregate sales of the public lands dur
ing the last fiscal year, amount to nine mill
ion two hundred and twenty-seven thousand
eight hundred and seventy-eight acres ; for
which has been received eight millions eight
hundred and twenty-one thousand four hun
dred and fourteen dollars. ' During the same
period there have been located, with militars ,
scrip and land warrants, and for other purpo
ses, thirty million one hundred thobsand two
hundred and thirty acres, thus making a total
aggregate of thirty-nine millions three hun
dred and twenty-eight thousand one hundred
and eight acres. On the 30th of September
last, surveys had been made of sixteen mill
ions eight hundred and seventy-three thous
and six hundred and ninety-nine acres, a large
proportion of which is ready for market.
The suggestions in this report in regard to
the complication and progressive expansion
of the business of the different bureaux of
the department, to the pension system; to
the colonization of Indian tribes, and the re
commendations in relation to various im
provements in the District of Columbia, are
especially recommended to your considera
tion.
The report of the Postmaster General pre
sents fully the condition of that department
of the government. Its expenditures for the
last fiscal year, were ten millions four hund
red and seven thousand eight hundred and
sixty-eight dollars; and its gross receipts
seven millions six hundred and twenty thou
sand eight hundred and one dollars—making
an excess of expenditure over receipts of two
millions seven hundred and eighty-seve
thousand and forty-six dollars. The defi
ciency of this department is thus seven hun
dred and forty-four thousand dollars greater
than for the year ending June 30, 1853.
Of this deficiency , three hundred and
thirty thousand dollars is to be attributed to
the additional .compensation allowed post
masters by the act of Congress of June 22,
1854. The mail facilities in every part of the
country have ben very much increased in
that period, and the large addition of railroad
service amounting to seven thousand nine
for foreign service, and the other to Central America,
threatened to disturb good understanding between
the United States and Great Britain. Of the pro.
gress and termination of the former q!lestion you
were informed at the time ; and the other is now
in the way of satisfactory adjustment.:
The object of the convention between the United
States and Great Britain of the 19th of April, t 859,
was to secure, for the benefit. of all nations, the
neutrality and the common use of any transit way
or interoceanic communication, across the isthmus
of Panama, which might be opened :within the
litiiito of Central America. The preteitsion subse
quently asserted by Great Britain, to dominion or
control over territories, in or near two of the routes,
those of Nicaragua and Honduras, were deemed
....earagua and Honduras, we'
by the United States, not merely incompatible
with the main object of the treaty, but opposed
even to its express stipulations. Deco Zion of eon
troversy on this point has been removed by an ad.
ditional treaty, which our minister at i.olllloll has
concluded, and which will be immediatlsly submits.
ted to the Senate for its consideratithot. Should
the proposed supplemental arrangetne'nt be con
curred in by all the parties to be affected by it, the
objects contemplated by the original convention
will have been fully attained.
The treaty between the United StateS and Great
Britain, of the sth of June, 1854, which went into
effective operation in 1855, put an and to causes of
irritation between the two countries, by securing
to the United States the right of fishery - an the
coast of the British North Americarprovinces,
with advant'ages equal to those enjoyed' by British
subjects. Besides the signal benefits ofithis treaty
to a large class of our citizens engaged in a pur
suit connected to no inconsiderable degree with our
national prosperity and strength, it hes had a fa
vorable effect upon other interests in the provision it
made for reciprocal freedom of trade between the
United States and the British provincesfp America.
The exports of domestic articles to thhee provin
ces during the last year amounted to imore than
twehty-two millions of dollars, exceeding those of
the preceding year by nearly seven millions of dal
lars ; and th imports therefrom, during the same
period, amounted to more than twenty-one mil
lions,—an increase of six millibns upon those of
the previous year.
The improved condition of this branch of our
commerce is mainly attributable to the oho, e
mentioned treaty.
Provision was made, in the first article of that
treaty, for a commission to designate the mouths
of rivers to which the common right of fishery, on
the coast of thh United States and the British Pro
vinces, was not to extend. This commission has
been employed a part of two seasons, but without
much progress in accomplishing the object for
which it was instituted, in consequence of a seri
ous difrerence of opinion between the commission
ers, not only as to the precise point where the
rivers terminate, but in many instances as to
what constitutes a river. These difficulties, how
ever, may be overcome by resort to the umpirage
provided for by the treaty,
The efforts perseveringly prosecuted since the
commencement of my administration, to relieve
our trade to the Baltic from the exaction of sound
dues by Denmark, have not yet been- attended
- with success. Other governments have also sought
to obtain a like relief to theircommence, and Den
mark was thus induced to propose an arrangement
to all the European Powers interested in the sub
ject ; and the manner in which her proposition
was received, warranting her to believe that a sa
tisfactory arrangement with them could soon bo
concluded, she made a strong appeal to this gov
ernment for temporary suspension of definite ac
tion on its part', in consideration of the embarrass.
ment which Might result to her European negotia
tions by an immediate adjustment of the question
with the United States. This request has been
acceded to, upon the condition that the sums col
lected after the 16th of June lust, and until the
16th of June next, from vessels and cargoes be
longing to our merchanttare to be consideied as paid
under protest and subject to future adjustment.—
There is reason to believe that an arrangement,
between Denmark and the maritime powers of Eu
rope on the subject, will be soon concluded, and
that the pending negotiation with the United States
may then be resumed and terminated in a satis
factory manner.
With Spain no new difficulties have arisen, nor
has much progress been made in the adjustment
of pending ones.
Negotiations entered into for the purpose of re
lieving our. commertial intercourse with the Island
of Cuba of ;time of its burdens, and providing for
the more speedy settlement of local dismites grow
ing out of that intercourse, have not yet been at
tended with any result.
Soon after the commencement of the late war in
Europe, this government submitted to the consid
eration of all maritime nations, two principles for
the security of neutral commerce : -One, that the
neutral flag should cover enemies' goods, except
articles contraband of war ; and the other, that
neutral property on board merchant vessels of bel
ligerents should be exempt from condemnation,
with the exception of contraband articles.
These were not presented as new rules of inter
national law ; having been generally claimed by'
neutrals, though not always admitted by belliger
ents. One of the parties to the,war—Russia—as
well as several neutral powers, promptly acceded
to these propositions ; and the two other principal
belligerents, Great Britain and France, having eon
sented to observe them for the present occasion, a
favorable opportunity seemed to be presented for
obtaining a general recognition of them both in
Europe and America.
But Great Britain and France, in common with
most of the states of Europe, while forbearing to
reject, did not affirmatively act upon the dvertares
of the United States.
While the question was in this positionr - the rep
resentatives of Rueeia, France, Great Britain, Aus
tria, Prussia, Sardinia, and Turkey, asee'rnbled at
Paris, took into consideration the subject of mari
time rights, and put forth a declaration containing
the twooprinciples which this government had sub
mitted, nearly two years before, to the considera
tion of maritime powers, and adding thereto the
following propositions : "Privateering is and re
mains abolished," and " Blockades, in order to be
binding, must be effective, that, is to say, main.
tamed by a force, sufficient really, to prhvent ac
cess to the coast of the enemy ;" and to the dec.
laration thus composed of four points, two of which
had already been proposed by the United States,
this government has been invited to accede by all
the powers represented at Paris,
except Great Brit.
sin and Turkey. To the last of the twcraddition
al propositions—that in relation to blOckades--
there can certainly be no objection. It is merely
the definition of what shall constitute the effectual
investment of a blockaded place, a deflaition for
which this government has always contended,
claiming indemnity for losses where a prictical vi
olation of the rule thus defined has been :injurious
to our commerce. As to the remaining }article of
the declaration of the conference of Paris,." that
privateering is and remains abolished,'?—l cer•
tainly cannot ascribe to the powers reprisented in
the conference of Paris, any but liberal' and phi
lanthropic views in the attempt to change the un
questionable rule of maritime law in !regard to
privateering. Their proposition was dohbtless in
tended to imply approval of the principal that pri
vate property upon the ocean, although it might
belong to the citizens of a belligerent state, should
be exempted from capture ; and had that prop
osition been so framed as to give full effect to
the principle, it would have received thy ready
assent, on behalf of the United Stites. But
the measure proposed is inadequate tothat pur
pose. It is true that if adopted, priVte prop
erty upon the ocean would be withdrawn from one
meanwhile. '
mode of plunder, but left exposed, meanwhile, to
another mode, which could be used witlOnoreased
effectiveness. The aggressive capacity' , of mat
naval powers would be thereby figgmented, while
the defensive ability of others would be reduced.
Though the surrender of the means of prosecuting
hostilities by employing privateers, as proposed by
the conference of Paris, is mutual in terms, yet, in
practical effect, it would be the relinquishment of
a right of little value to one class of states, but of
essential importance to another and a , far larger
class. It ought not to have been anticipated that
a measure, so inadequate to the accomplishment
of the proposed object, and so unequal in its oper
ation, would receive the assent of all maritime
powers. Private property would be etiltleft to the
depredations of public public armed °misers.
I have expressed a readineis on the part of this
government, to accede to all the minciples 'con
tained in the declaration of the confeyende of Paris,
provided that that relating to the abandonment of
privateering canobe so amended as titeffect the
object for which, as is presumed,, it Avasei intended,
the immunity of private property on the ocean from
bostileospture. To effect this object, it IS proposed
lows us to cherish the hope that a principle so
humane in its character, so just 'and equal in ita
operation, so essential to the prosperity ofcommer
cial nations, and so consonant to the sentimenta
of this enlightened period of the world, will com
mand the approbation of all maritime powers, and
thus be incorporated into the code of international
law.
My views on the subject are more fully set forth
in the reply of the Secretary of State, a copy of
which is herewith transmitted, to the communica
tions on the subject made to this government, es
pecially to the communication of France.
The government of the United States has at all
times regarded with friendly interest the other
States of America, formerly, like this county'
European colonies, and now independent members
of the great family of nations. But the unsettled
condition ofsOme of them, distracted by frequent
revolutions, and thus incapable of regular and firm
internal administration, has tended to embarrass
occasionally our public intercourse, by reason of
wrongs which our citizens suffer at their bands,
and which they are slow to redress.
Unfortunately it is against the Republic of
Mexico, with which it is our special desire to
maintain a good understanding, that such com
plaints are most numerous; and although earnest
ly urged upon its attention, they have not as yet
received the consideration which this government
had a right to expect. While reparation for past
injuries has been withheld, others have been added.
The political condition of that country, however,
has been Welk as to demand forbearance on the
part of the United States. I shall continue my
efforts to procure for the wrongs of our citizens
that redress which is indispensable to the continu
ed friendly association of the two republics.
The peculiar condition of affairs in Nicaragua
in the early part of the present year, rendered It
important that this government should have diplo
matic relations with that State. Through its
territory had been opened one of the' principal ,
thoroughfares across the isthmus connecting North
and South America, on which a vast amount of
property was transported, and to which our citi
zens resorted in great numbers, in passing between
the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the U. States.
The protection of both required that the existing
power in that state should be regarded as a re
sponsible government, and its minister was ac
cordingly received. But he remained here only a
short time. Soon thereafter the political affairs of
Nicaragua underwent unfavorable changes and
became involved in much uncertainty and confus
ion. Diplomatic representatives from two con
tending parties have been recently. sent to this
government; but with the imperfect information.
possessed, it was not possible to decide which was
the government de facto; and, awaiting further
developments, I have refused to receive either.
Questions of the most serious nature are pending
between the United States and the Republic of
New Granada. The government of the republic
undertook, a year since, to impose tonnage duties
on foreign vessels, in her ports, but the purpose
was resisted by this government, us being contrary
to existing treaty stipulation with the U. States,
- and to rights conferred by charter upon the
Panama Railroad Company, and was accordingly
relinquished at that time, it being admitted that
our vessels were entitled to be exempt from ton
nage duty in the free ports of Panama:and Aspin
wall. But the purpose has been recently.revived,
on the part of New Granada, by the enactment of
a law to subject vessels visiting her ports to the
tonnage duty of forty cents per ton; and,although
the law has not beep put in force, yet the right to
enforce it is still asserted and may, at any time be
acted on by the goverement of that republic.
The Congress of New Granada has also enacted
a law during the last year, which levies a tax ef
more than three dollars on every pound of mail
matter transported across the Isthmus. The stun
thus required to be paid on the mails of the Unit
ed States would be nearly two,millions of dollars
annually, in addition to the large sum payable by
contract to the Railroad Company. If
the only objection to this exaction were the exor
bitancy of its amount, it could not be submitted
to by the United States.
The imposition of it, however, would obviously
contravene our treaty with New Granada, and in
fringe the contract of that republic with the Pan
ama
Railroad Company. The law providing for
this tax was, by its terms, to take offset' on the
first of September last, but the local authorities
on the isthmus have been induced to nuspend its
execution, and to await further instructions on the
subject from the government of the republic. I
am not yet advised of the determination . of that
government. If a measure so extraordinary in
its character, and so clearly contrary to treaty
stipulations, and, the contract rights of the Pan
ama Railroad Company, composed mostly of Ame
rican
citizens, should be persisted in, it will be
the duty of the United States to resist its execu
tion.
I regret exceedingly that occasion exists to in
vite your attention to a subject of still graver im.
port in our relations with the Republic of New
Granada. On the fifteenth day of April last, a
riotous assemblage of the inhabitants of Panama
committed a violent and outrageous attack on the
premises of the railroad company, and the passen
gers and other persons in or near the same, involv
ing the death of several citizens of the United
States, the pillage of many others, and the
destruction of a large amount of property belong.
ing-to,the railroad company. I caused full inves
tigation of that event to be made, and the result
shows satisfactorily that completeresponsibility for
what occurred attaches to the government of New
Granada. I have, therefore, demanded of Unit
government that the perpetrators of the wrongs in
question should be punished; that provision should •
be made for the families of citizens of the United
Stateswho were killed, with full indemnity for the
property pillaged or destroyed.
The. present condition of the Isthmus of
Panama, in so far as regards the security of per.
eons and property passing over it, requires serious
consideration. Recent incidents tend to show
that the local authorities cannot be relied on to
maintain the public peace of Pananta, and'there is
just ground for apprehension that a portion of the
inhabitants are meditating further outrages, with
out adequate measures for the security and pro.
tectiod of persona or property having been taken,
eitheriby the State of Panama, or by the general
.r.ji
goverriment of New Granada. .
Under the guaranties of treaty, citizens of the
United States have, by the outlay of several mil
lions or dollars, constructed a railroad across the
Isthmus, and it has become the main route
betwetin our Atlantic and PaCific possessions, over
which 'a multitude of- our citizens and a vast
amount of property are constantly paasing—to the
security and protection of all which, and the con.
tinuanPe of the public advantages involved, it is
impossible for the government of the United States
to be 'indifferent. ,
I have deemed the danger of the recurrence of
scenes of lawless violence in this quarter so im
.minen . as to make it my duty to station a part of
our naval force in the harbors of Panama and
Appinall, in order to protect the persons and pro
perty f the citizens of the United States in those
ports, nd to insure to them safe passage across
the Is hmus. And it would, in my judgment, be
1 ,
unwis to withdraw the naval force now in those
ports, ntil, by the spontanedus action of the re
public of New Granada, or otherwise, some iade
quate rangement shall have been made for the
protection and security of a line of inter-ocearao
communication. so important at this time, not to
the United States only, but to all other maritime
States' of Europe and' America.
Me while, negotiations 'have been instituted
by means of a special commission, to obtain from
.‘w Granada full indemnit, r.....:- • • - 'ned
~ _,•
New Cfranada full indemnity for injuries sustains,
by ou citizens on the Isthmus, and satisfactory
securi y for the general interests of the United
State
In addressing to you my last annual message,
the oc3asion seems to me an appropriate one 'to
express my congratulations in view of the peace,
greatness and felicity, which the United States
now pp!sess and enjoy. To point you to the' state of
the various departments of the government, and
of all the great branches of the public service,
civil.„ and military, in order to speak of the, in.
telligebce and the integrity which pervades the
whole) would be to indicate but imperfectly, the
administrative condition of the country, and. the
benefi :MI effects of that on the general welfare.
Nor would it suffice to say that the nation is actu-
ally at peace at home and abroad; thaeitalados•
trial interests are prosperous ; that the canvas -of
its mariners whitens every sea; And the plough of
its ha
f
andmen is marching stead il y Onward to the
blood so conquest of theeontinent ; that oitteniste
poptd ns States are springingnik, es ithrelesitaut,
ment, from the bosom of our we tern wild., and.
(Concluded on foiith,*pe.) l, - • - ~,-.
NO 47