The agitator. (Wellsborough, Tioga County, Pa.) 1854-1865, December 21, 1854, Image 1
PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE. Rt/raenUtiittt; , /*'s post htta been an eventful year, and will bo, hereafter referred to u t marked epocji in (hp history of the world. While we happilypteserved from the ca. lamitiea’of war, our,, domestic prosperity has. Entirely uninterrupted,, The crops in.portions .of. tbqptountry, bave.bren nearly tijnßl loan,usual; podlbe sacrifice of human. through, casualties by tea and land, is wahoUt a parallel. But the pestilence has swept hs> and salubrity invites the absent to their homes, and the return of busi ness to its ordinary channels, tf the .earth has rewarded the l«,bor of the husbandman less bountifully than in preceding seasons, it has left him with abundance for domestic wants, and a large surplus for exportation. Ie the present, therefore, as in the past, we find ample grounds/or reverent thankfulness to thh God of Grace and Providence, for His protecting care and merciful dealings with us as a people. Although our attention has been arrested by painful interest in passing events, yet our country feels no more than (he slight vibra tions of the convulsions which- have shaken Europp. As individuals we cannot repress sympathy with human suffering nor regret for the causes which produce it. As a na tion, we are reminded that whatever inter rupts the peace or checks the prosperity of any pari of Christendom tends, more or less, to involve our own. The conditions of Slates is not unlike thatpf individuals. They are mutually dependent upon each other. Amicable relations between (hem, and recip rocal good will, are essential for the promo tion of whatever is desirable in (heir moral, social and political condition. Hence it has been my earnest endeavor to maintain peace and friendly intercourse with ail nations. The wise theory of this Government, so early adopted and steadily pursued, of avoid ing all entangling alliances, has hitherto ex empted it from many complications, in which r< would otherwise have become involved. Notwithstanding this, our clearly defined and well-sustained course of action, and our geo graphical position so remote from Europe, increasing disposition has been manifested by some of its Governments to supervise, and, m certain respects, to direct, our foreign poli cy. lu plans fur adjusting the balance of D»\ver among themselves, they have assumed to lake us into account, and would constrain ue to conform our conduct to their views. One or another of the powers of Europe has, Irnm lime to time, undertaken to enfore arbi trary regulations, contrary in many respects, to established principles of international law. That taw the [/lined Slates have, in their for eign intercourse, uniformly respected and ob served, and they cannot recognize any such interpolations therein, as the temporary inte rests of others may suggest. They do not admit that the sovereigns of one continent, or of a particular community of Slates, can leg islate for all others. Leaving the trnns-allantic nations to adjust their political system, in the way they may think best for their common welfare, the in dependent powers of this continent may well assart the right to be exempt from all annoy ing interference on their pari. Systematic niisimence from intimate political connection wnh distant foreign nations, does not conflict with giving the widest range to our foreign commerce This distinction, so clearly marked in history, seems to have been over looked, or disregarded, by some leading for eign States. Our refusal to be brought with in, and subjected to, their peculiar system, has, I fear, created a jealous distrust of our conduct, and induced, on their part, occa sional acts of disturbing effect upon our for eign relations. Our present attitude and past course give assurances, which should not be Questioned, that our purposes are not aggres sive, nor threatening to the safety and welfare of other nations. Our military establish ment, in lime of peace, is adapted to main lain exterior defenses, and to preserve order among the aboriginal tribes within ihe limits o:' the Union. Our naval force is intended only for ihe protection of our citizens abroad, and of our commerce, diffused, as it is, over all the seas of the globe. The Government of the United States, being essentially pacific in policy, stands prepared to repel invasion by Ihe voluntary service of pairiotic people, and provides no permanent means of foreign aggression. These considerations should al lay ail apprehension, that we are disposed to encroach on the rights, or endanger the se curity, of other Slates. Some European powers have regarded, wiih disquieting concern, the territorial ex pansion of the United Stales. This rapid growth has resulted from the legitimate ex ercise of sovereign rights, belonging alike to all nations, and by many liberally exercised. Under such circumstances, it could hardly have been expected that those among them, which have, within a comparatively recent period, subdued and absorbed ancient king doms, planted their standards on every conti nent, and now possess, or claim the control of, the islands of every ocean as their appro priate domain, would look with unfriendly sentiments upon the acquisitions of this coun try, in every instance honorably obtained, or would leel themselves justified in imputing our advancement to a spirit of aggression or to a passion for political predominance. Our foreign comlherce has reached a mag nitude and extent nearly equal to that of the first maritime power of lbe «artb, and excee ding that of any other. Over this great in terest, in which not only our merchants, but all classes of citizens, at least indirectly, are concerned, it is the duty of the executive and legislative branches of the Government to ex ercise a careful supervision, and adopt proper measures for its protection. The policy which 1 have had in view, in regard to this interest, embraces its future as well as its present security. Long experience has shown that, in gene ts', when the principal powers of Europe are engaged in war, the rights of neutral nations ere endangered. This cpnsideration led, in trie progress of ihe war of oor independence, to the formation of the celebrated cohfedera cy of armed neutrality, a primary object of which was, to assert the doctrine that free ships make free goods, except in the case of article* contraband of war—a doctrine which, from the very commencement of our national being, has been a cherished idea of t|\o states- ” '’ ; B ■ ■ .-us’-: n.: - j.-:>;/■<.M>' ~ ■f. ' •’«*; W' I* b««i «!! ism Jt' Mjfe'i-’) -i >i>: .j£i'»'aps t M. H. COB?!, EDITOR. YOIi. 1. men of this com I her, every mat solemn treaty principle; and ii it would come tc respected as a But the refusal < and in the next of the French B spected among rope. Notwithsi •try. At one period or a no* ititne power hasjvby some stipulation, recognized that might-have been hoped that be 1 universally received and rule as international law. T ode power prevented this, treat war which ensued, that devolution, it Tailed to be ra the belligerent States of Eu landing this, the principle is generally admit ry.one; so mac menl of the exi Britain and Fra lo observe it fo as a recognized mere conctssio co-operation, he maratime natio rights, appeared inviting and juj United Stales, ed lo be a sound and saluta h so, that, at the- commence sting war in- Europe, Great rice announced their purpose r the present; not, however, international right, but as a n for the time being. The wever, of these two powerful is in the interest of neutral . to me to'afford on occasion, istifying, on the part of the n renewed effort’to make the doctrine in question a principle of interna tional law, by means of special conventions between the several powers of Europe end America. Accordingly,*a proposition, em bracing not only the rule that free ships make free goods, except contraband articles, hut also the less contested one, that neutral pro perty, other than contraband, though on board enemy’s! ships, shall be exempt from confislicalion, has been submitted by this Government to those of Europe and America. Russia acted promptly in this matter, and a convention was concluded between that country and the United Slates, providing Tor the observance! oT the principles announced, not only as between themselves, but also as between them and all other nations which shall enter into like stipulations. None of the other po«ei lion on the su ever, that any"( ulalions has be they are ackno security of net apparent obstat in the possibilit bv inadmissible s have as yet taken final ac )ject. lam not aware, how ibjeclion to the proposed siip =n made; but on the contrary wledged to be essential to the tral commerce; and the only :le to their general adoption is y, that it may be encumbered conditions f The King ol ed to our Mint: concur in our rights, and to i subject. the Two Sicilies has express ler at Naples his readiness to proposition relative to neutral nter into a convention on that Prussia entirely approves of treaty to the same effect aub- The King ol ihe projeci of c milled to him.jbut proposes an additional arti cle providing for the renunciation of privatee ring. Such ah article, for most obvious rea sons, is much desired by nations having na val establishments large in proportions to their foreign Commerce, If it were adopted as an international rule, the commerce of q nation having comparatively a small naval force would be very much at the mercy ol its enemy in case of war with a power of de cided naval superiority. The bare statement of the condition in which the United States would be placed, alter having surrendered the right to resort to privateers* in the event of war with a belligerent of naval supremacy., will show that! this Government could never listen to such a proposition. The navy of the first marit me power in Europe is at leas ten limes as large as that of the United Stales. The foreign commerce of the two countries is nearly equa'l, and about equally exposed to hostile depredations. In war between that power and the United Stales, without resort ou our part to our mercantile marine, the means of our enemy to inflict injury upon our commerce would be lend fold grea'er than ours to retaliate. We could not extri cate our country from this unequal condition, with such an enemy, unless we at once de parted from cjur present peaceful policy, and became a grbat naval power. Nor would this country jbe better situated in war with one of the secondary naval powers. Tho’ ihe naval disparity would be less, the great extent, and more exposed condition of our wide-spread commerce would give any of them a like advantage over us. The proposition to enter into engagements to forego resort to privateers, in case this country should be forced into war with a great naval power, is not entitled to more fa vorable consideration than would be a propo sition to agree not to accept the setvices of volunteers for operations on land. When the honor or the rights of our country require it to assume a hostile attitude, it confidently relies upon the patriotism of its citizens, not to the military profession, to augmentMie army-and the navy, so as to make them fully adequate to the emergency which calls them into action. The proposal to surrender the right to employ privateers is professedly founded upon the principle, that private property of unoffending non-combat ants, though enemies should be exempt from the ravages of war; but the proposed surren der goes but little way in carrying out that principle, which equally requires that such private property should not be seized or mo lested by national ships-of-war. Should the leading powers of Europe concur in propo sing, as a rule of international law, to ex empt private property r upo.n the ocean, from seizure by public armed cruisers, as well as by privateers, the United Stales will readily meet them upon that broad ground. Since the adjournment of Congress,'the ratifications of the Treaty between the United Stales and great. Britain, relative to Coast fisheries,'and to reciprocal trade with the British North American Provinces have been exchanged, and some of its anticipated ad vantages are already enjoyed by us, although its full execution .was to abide certain acts of legislation not yet fully performed. So soon as it was ratified, Great Britain' opened to our commerce jhe free navigation of the river Si. Lawrence, and to our fishermen unmoles ted access to the shores and bays, from V ‘‘l VI v\S SJl.v;>- i?t I .t'VW iTJX i WEILSBOKOUGH, MOCA COITOT. PA., wthich they had been previously excluded, bn the coasts brher North American Provinces; in return Tor which, she asked Tor the intro ductiop.'iree qf duly, into the ports if the United Slates, of the fish caught oh the same coast by British fishermen. This being the compensation, stipulated in the treaty, for privileges of the highest importance and value to the United States, which were thus volun tarily yielded before it became effective, the request seemed to me to be a reasonable, one; but it could not be acceded to, from want of authority to suspend our laws imposing du ties upon all foreign fjsh. Iq the meantime, the Treasury Department issued' a regula tion for ascertaining the duties paid or secu red by bonds on fish caught on the costs of the 'British 1 subjects, after the fishing grounds had been made fully accessible to the citizens of the United States. I rec ommend to your favorable consideration a proposition, which will be submitted to you, for authority to refund the duties' and cancel the bonds thus received. The’ Provinces of Canada and New-Brunswick have also an ticipated the full operation of the treaty, by legislative arrangements, respectively, to ad mit, free of duty, the produdts pf.lhe United Stales mentioned in the free list of the treaty ; and arrangement, similar to that regarding British fish, has been made for duties now chargeable on the products of those Provin ces enumerated in the same free list, and in troduced therefrom into the United States ; a proposition for refunding which will, in my judgment, be in like manner entitled to your favorable consideration. There is difference of opinion between the United Stales and Great Britain as to the boundary line of the Territory of Washing ton, adjoining the British possessions on the Pacific, which has already led to difficulties on the part of the citizens and local authori ties of the two Governments. I recommend that provision be made for a commission, to be joined by one on the part of Her Britannic Majesty, for the purpose of running and es tablishing the line in controversy. Certain stipulations of the third and fourth articles of the treaty concluded by the United States and Great Britain in 1846, regarding posses sory rights of the Hudson’s Bay Company, and properly of the Puget’s Sound Agricultu ral Company, have given rise to serious dis putes, and it is important to all concerned, that summary means of settling them amica bly should be devised. I have reason to be lieve, that on arrangement can be made on just terms for the extinguishing the rights in question, embracing, also, the right of the Hudson’s Bay Company to the navigation of the river Columbia p and 1 therefore suggest lo your consideration, the expediency of ma king a contingent appropriation for that pur pose. France was the early and efficient ally of the United Slates in their struggle for inde pendence, From that time to the present, with occasional! slight interruptions, cordial relations of friendship have existed between the governments and people of the two coun tries. The kindly sentiments cherished alike by both nations have led to extensive social and commercial intercourse, which, I Irtisl, will not be interrupted Jor checked by any casual event of an apparently unsatisfactory character. The French Consul at San Fran cisco was, not long since, brought into the United States District Court at that place, by compulsory process, as a witness in favor of another foreign Consul, in violation, as the French Government conceives, of his privi leges under our consular convention with France. There being nothing in the trans action which could imply any disrespect to France or its Consul, such explanation has been made, as [ hope will be satisfactory. Subsequently, misunderstanding arose on the subject of the French Government having, as it appeared, abruptly excluded the American Minister to Spain from passing thro’ France, on his way from London to Madrid. But that Government has unequivocally disavow ed any design to deny the right of transit to the Minister of the United States ; and, after explanations to this effect, he has resumed his journey, and actually returned home through Frqnce to Spain. 1 herewith lay before Con gress the correspondence on this subject be tween our Envoy at Paris, and the Minister of Foreign Relations of the French Govern ment. The position of our affairs with Spain re mains as at the close of your last session. Internal agitation, assuming very nearly the character of political revolution, has recently convulsed that country. The late Ministers were violently expelled from power, and men of very different views in relation to its in ternal affairs have succeeded. Since this change, there has been no propitious oppor tunity to resume, and press on negotiations for the adjustment of . serious questions of difficulty between the Spanish Government and the United States/ There is reason to believe that our Minister will find the present Government more favorably inclined than the preceding ko comply with our just de mands, and tp make such suitable arrange ments for restoring harmony and preserving pence between the two countries. : Negociations are pending with -Denmark to discontinue the practice of levying tolls on our .vessels and their cargoes passing through the Sound. Ido not doubt that we can claim exemption as a matter of right. It is admit* ted oh all hands that this exaction ia not sanctioned, not ■ by the general principles of the law of nations, but only by special con* ventions, which most commercial nations have entered into with Denmark. The fifth article of our treaty of 1635, with Denmark provides that there shall not .be paid,-on the vessels of (lie United States and their cargoes when passing through the Sound,' higher du ties than those of the most favored nations. 'V-ssi'l ii**t 1.-V- •n jiji JiU nr‘! v!1 hiho-.--. ->1 ' ’ ' •'• i.i ,ilarr.i ,W nu f L f! ‘,‘TWII AtHTATiqH ,0^ TH> ; * ■' v '■ft v3Eo;r.:l -B Vi<-uiHki ;I: fl .B” ■ ■' ■; “ib 1-' tu ■ ' Vv .**■? uc Tliis may be regarded as ao implied agree*: meat to submit to the tolls daring the contin uance of the treaty, and, may embarass the assertion of our right to be released there from. There are,'also, Wher provisions in the treaty which ought to- be modified. It was to remain in force'for ten years, and un til one year oilier either parly should give no tice to theolher of intention (o 'terminate it. I deem it expedient that the contemplated no tice should be given to the Government of Denmark. The naval expedition,dispatched about two years since for the purpose of establishing relations with the Empire of Japan, has been ably and skillfully conducted to successful termination by the officer to whom it was in trusted. A treaty opening certain of the ports of that populous country, has been ne gociatetJ: and in order to give full effect thereto, it only remains to exchange ratifica tions, and adopt requisite commercial regu lations. The treaty lately concluded between the United Stales and Mexico settled gome of our most embarassing difficulties with that coun try, but numerous claims upon it for wrongs and injuries to our citizens remained unad justed, and many new cases have been recent ly added to the former list of grievances. Our legation has been earnest in its endeav ors to obtain from the Mexican Government a favorable consideration of these claims, bu t hitherto without success. This failure is, probably, in some measure, to be ascribed to the disturbed condition of that country. It has been my anxious desire to maintain friendly relations with the' Mexican Republic, and lo cause its right and territory to be re£- spected, not only by our citizens, but by for eigners, who have resorted lo the United Stales for the purpose of organizing hostile expeditions against some of the States of that Republic. The defenceless condition in which its frontiers have been left, has stimu lated lawless adventurers to embark in these enterprises, and greatly increased the difficul ty of enforcing our obligations of neutrality. Regarding it as my solemn duly to fulfil, ef ficiently, these obligations, not only toward Mexico, bui other foreign nations, I have ex erted all the powers with which 1 am invest ed to defeat such criminal proceedings and bring lo punishment those who by taking a part therein, violated our laws. The ener gy and activity of our civil and military au thorities have frustrated the designs of those who meditated expeditions of this character, except in two instances. One of these, com posed of foreigners, was at first countenanc ed and aided by the Mexican Government it self, it having been deceived as to their real object. The other, small in number, eluded the vigilance of the magistrates at San Fran cisco, and succeeded in reaching the Mexican territories; but the effective measures taken by Government compelled them lo abandon the undertaking. The commission to establish the new line between the Unitad Slates and Mexico, accor ding to the provisions of the treaty of the 30th of December last, has been organized, and the work is already commenced. Our treaties with the Argentine Confeder ation, and with the Republics of Uruguay and Paraguay, secure to us the free naviga tion of the river La Plata, and some of its larger tributaries ; but the same success has not attended our endeavors to open the zoni The reasons in favor of the free use of that river, I had occasion to present fully in a former message ; and, considering the cor dial relations which have long existed be tween this Government and Brazil.it may be expected that pending negotiations will, even tually, reach a favorable result. ■ Convenient means of .transit between the several parts of| a country are not onlyjde sirable for the objects of commercial and per; sonal communication, but essential to its iex islence under one Government. Separated as are the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the United Stales by the whole breadth of the continent, still the inhabitants of each are closely bound together by community of or igin and institutions, and by strong attach ment to the Union. Hence the constant and increasing intercourse, and vast interchange of commerical productions, between these re mote divisions of the Republic. At the pres ent time, the most practicable and only com modious routes for communication between them are by the way of the Isthmus of Cen-. tral America. It is the duly of the Govern ment to secure:these avenues againct all dan ger of interruption. In relation t!o Central America, perplexing questions existed between the United States and Great Britain, at the time of the cession of California. ’ These, as well as questions which subsequently arose, concerning inter ' oceanic communication across the Isthmus, were, as it wes supposed, adjusted by the treaty of April 19,1864; but, unfortunately they have been reopened by serious jfnisun derstanding ns to the import of some of its provisions, a Readjustment of which'is now under consideration. Our Minister at Lon don has made efforts to accomplish this desirable object but has not yet found it possible to bring the negotiations to a termi nation. I As incidental to these questions I deem it proper to notice an occurrence which hap pened in Central America near the close of the last session of Congress. So soon as the necessity was perceived of establishing inter oceanic .communications,across the Isthmus a company wis organized, under authority of the State of Nicaragua but composed for the most part of citizens of the United Slates, for the purpose of opening .such a transit way, by the river San Juan and Lake Nicaragua, which soon became an eligible and much used rout in the transportation of opr citizens and their property between the Atlantic and So' ipsiPfilifi 1 )T. > r - _., V' >;• V" .. .j.am:: .\ucv \- r JsW&mss.uv '■f^j iAT MOROTSG, DECEMBER 2t, 1854. 1 '■ W. p. BA&EX, POBLISBEH^^y Pacific; "Meanwhile, and in anticipation of ihe completion and importance of this (ran* sit way, a number nf adventurers hod taken possession of the old Spanish port! .at the mouth of the river San Juan, in open defi ance of the State or States of Central Ameri ca, which, upon their beboming independent, had rightfully succeeded to the local sover eignly and jurisdiction of Spain. These ad venturers undertook to change the name of the place from San'Juan del Norte toGreytown, and , though at first pretending to act as the subjects of (he fictitious sovereign of the Mosquito Indians, they subsequently tepudi ated the control of any power whatever, as sumed to adopt a dislincj political organiza tion,and declared themselves an independent sovereign Stale. If, at some time, a faint hope was entertained that they might become a stable and respectable community, that hope soon vanished, They proceeded to as sert unfounded claims to civil jurisdiction over Punta Arenas, a position on the opposite side of the river, San Juan, which was in possession, under a title wholly independent of them, of citizens of the United States, in terested in the Nicaragua Transit Company, and which was indispensably necessary to the prosperous operation of that route across "the Isthmus. The company resisted their ground less claims; whereupon they proceeded to destroy some of its buildings, and attempted violently to dispossess it. At a Inter period they organized a strong force-for the purpose of demolishing the es tablishment at Puma Arenas, but this mis chievous design was defeated by the interpo sition of one of our ships of war, at that lime in the harbor of San Juan. Subsequent ly lo this, in May last, a body of men from Grey town crossed over to Punta Arenas, ar rogating authority to arrest, on a charge of murder, a captain of one of the steamboats of the Transit Company. Being well aware that the claim to exercise jurisdiction there would be resisted (hem, as it had been on pre vious occasions they went prepared lo assert it by force of arms. Our Minister of Central America happened to be present on that oc casion. Believing that the captain of the steamboat was innocent, fur he witnessed the transaction on which ihe charge was foun ded, and believing, also, that the intruding party, having no jurisdiction over the place where they proposed to make the arrest, would encounter desperate resistance if (hey persis ted in their purpose, he interposed, effectually, to prevent violence and bloodshed. The American Minister afterward visited Grey town, and, while ho was there, a mob, inclu ding certain of the socalled public functiona ries of the place, surrounded the house in which he was, avowing that they had come to arrest him, by order of some person ex ercising (he chief authority. While parley, ing with them he was wounded by a missile from the crowd. A boat, dispatched from the American steamer Northern Light to re -lease him from the perilous situation in which he was understood to bo, was fired into by the town guard, and compelled to return. — These incidents, together with the known character of the population of Greytown, and their excited state, induced just apprehen sions that the lives and property of our citi zens at Punta Arenas would be in imminent danger after the departure of the steamer, with her passengers, for New York, unless a guard was left for their protection. For this purpose, and in order lo insure the safety of passengers and property passing over the route, a temporary force was organized, at considerable expense lo the United Stales, for which provision was made at the last ses sion of Congress. This pretended community, a heterogenous assemblage gathered from various countries, and composed, for the most part of blacks and persons of mixed blood, had previouly given other indications of mischievous and dangerous propensities. Early in the same month, property was clandestinely abstracted from the depot of the Transit Company, and taken to Greylown. The plunderers obtained shelter there, and their pursuers were driven back by its people, who not only protected the wrongdoers and shared the plunder, but treated with rudeness and violence those who sought to recover their property. Such, in aubstace, are the facts submitted to my consideration, and proved by trustwor thy evidence. I could not doubt that the case demanded the interposition of this Gov ernment. Jusiieq required that reparation should be made for so many and such gross wrongs, and that a course of insolence and plunder, lending directly to the insecurity of the lives of numerous travelers, and of the rich treasure belonging to our citizens, pass ing over this transit-way, should he perempt orily arrested. Whatever it might be in oth er respects, the community in question, in power to do mischief, was not despicable. It was well provided with ordnance, small arms, and ammunition, and might easily seize on the unarmed boats, freighted with millions of property, which passed almost daily within its reach. It did not profess to belong to any regular Government, and had, in fact, no re cognized dependence, or connection with, any one to which the United States or their in* jured citizens might! apply for redress, or which could be held responsible, ini any way, for the outrages committed. Not standing before the world in the attitude of an organ ized political society', being neither compe tent U> exercise the rights, nor to discharge the obligations of a Government, it was, in fact, a marauding establishment, too danger ous lb be discharged,.and too guilty to pass unpunished, and yet incapable of being trea ted in any other way than as a piratical re sdrl of outlaws, or.aj camp of savages, dep redating on emigrant trains or caravans, and the frontier settlements of civilised Slates. Seasonable notice was given to the people IT! '• 'i <*. i. 5 v 1/. t'< nt-.'W NO.m !> of them to repair the Injuries they bad dooe to our ciifemy antl to makesritabje apology for their, itjsulf if WnWeri;a6 j that « a n^yy,ii4, ; . s lW*ofrwar ~*• "to re-. PO# tho.depwind*,arid (o iq^iymtL.cop-, PWdKfc npf, those Miunaing toibayf ■ ity over, them, manifested pny ffiffiitfnn ~W make the or eveb-io offer ezeusefor their .cofldua.hewaroedihemp bjf a puhliq proolaraatipn,,lhki .if ; tbeydid noj ( give, s?iiffcc|tqn within o( tinwf specified, bei, would bomhard thp lowD. Bythisproceduro. hp afforded thcm.ppporlunity, to . provide for their personal safety. To those, also, who desired to avoid loss of propety, in the pun ishment about to. be inflicted pn the offending town, he furnished the means of removing their effects, by the boats of bis own ship, aod of a steamer which he procured and tea-- dered to them for that.purpose. At length,', perceiving no disposition on the part of the town to comply with his requisitions, he ap-' pealed to the commander of her Britannic Majesty’s schooner Bermuda which was seen to have intercourse and apparently much in fiuence with the leaders among them, to in* terpose, and persuade them to lake some course calculated to save the necessity of re sorting to the extrem| measure indicated in his proclamation; but that officer, instead of acceding to the request, did nothing mors than to protest against the contemplated bom bardment. No steps of any sort were ta ken, by the people, to give the satisfaction required. No individuals, if any there were, who regarded themselves as not responsible for the misconduct of the community, adop ted any means to separate themselves from the fate of the guilty. The several charges, on which the demands for redress were foun ded, had been publicly known to all for some time, and were again announced to them.— They did not deny any of these charges ; they offered no explanation, nothing in exten uation of their conduct; but contumaciously refused to hold any intercourse with the com mander of the Cyaue. By their obstinate silence they seemed rather desirous to pro voke chastisement than to escape it. There is ample reasons to believe that this conduct of wanton defiance, on their part, is imputa ble chiefly to the delusive idea that the Amer ican Government would be deterred from punishing them, through fear of displeasing a formidable foreign power, which, they pre sumed to think,; looked with complacency upon their aggressive and insulting deport ment toward the United Slates. Thu Cyane at length fired upon the town. Before much injury hod been done, <he fire was twice suspended, in order to afford opportunity for an arrangement; but this was declined.— Most of the buildings of the place, of little value generally, were, in the sequel destroy ed; but, owing to the considerate precautions -taken by our naval commander, there was no destruction of life. When the Cyano was ordered to Central America, it was confidently hoped and expect ed that pq occasion would arise for “ a resort to violence and destruction of properly and loss of. life.” Instructions to that effect were given to her commander. And no extrema act would have been requisite bad not the people themselves, by their extraordinary conduct in the affair, frustrated all the pos sible mild measures for obtaining satisfaction. A withdrawal from the ■ place, the object of his visit entirely defeated, would, under the circumstances in which the commander of tho Cyane found himself, have been abandonment of all claim of our citizens for indemnifica tion, and submissive acquiescence in national indignity. It would have encouraged in these lawless men a spirit of in'spleoce and rapine most dangerous to the lives and prop erty of our citizens at Punta Ajrenas, and probably emboldened them to grasp at the treasures and valuable merchandise continu ally passing over the Nicaragua route. It certainly would have been most satisfactory to me if the objects of the Cyane’s mission could have been consummated without any act of public force ; but the arrogant contu macy of the offenders rendered it impossible to avoid the alternative, either to break up their establishment, or to leave them impres sed with the idea that they might persevere with impunity in a career of insolence and plunder. This transaction has been the subject of complaint on the part of some foreign powers, and has been characterized with more of harshness than of justice. If comparisons were to be instituted it would not be difficult to present repeated instances in the history of Slates, standing in the very front of modern civilization, where communities, far less of fending and more defenseless than Greytown, have been chastised with much greater sever ity, and where pot cities only have been laid in ruins, but human life has been recklessly sacrificed, and the blood of the iflnooent made profusely to mingle with that of the guilty. Fussing from foreign to domestic aSuire, your attention is naturally directed to the financial condition of the country, always tv subject of general interest. For complete and exact information regarding the finances, and the various branches of the public ser vice connected therewith, I refer you to the Report of the Secretary of the (Treasury, from which it will appear, that the amount of revenue during the last fiscal year, from all sources, was seventy-three million five hun dred and forty-nine thousand seven hundred and five dollars ; and that the public expend!- turce for the same period, exclusive, of pay ments on account of the public detit, amoun ted to fifty one million eighteen thousand two hundred and forty-nine dollars. During the same period, the payments made in redempt ion of the public debt, including interest and premium, amounted 10. 824,3139,880. To the sum total of tho > receipts of that year ia to be added a balance remaining in (lie Treas ury at the commencement ihereof.amounting to $21,942,602 {.and at the close of the same year, a corresponding balance amoun ting to §20,137,967 of receipts above ex pendituros'also remained in the-Treasury.— Although,.in the opinion of the -Secretary of the Treasury, the receipts of the current fiscal year are not likely to cqualin amount those of the last, yet they will; undoubtedly exceed expenditures by at leastBlB,ooo,ooo, [OO.NCt,UI}EtJ QX TUU FOURTH SAGE.]