THE
OE
CR AT,
"I bare sworn upon tho Altar of God, eternal hostility to every fom of branny cv
cr the Blind of Man.Thomaa Jefferson,
PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BV IT. WEBC.
Volume Ilk
BliOOMSBURG,
Message
From the President of the'Uhitcd
State, to the two Houses of Con
gress, at the coriunencement of the
third sfosidn of the Twenty-fifth
'Congress.
Fellow-citizens of tho Sendto
' and House of Representatives.
. lr congratulate yVuVn hevfavdrabIo
MtWaVa Wc cbMtfon Of Our
country, under which you reasjem
for the performance of your official du
ties. Though the anticipations of an
f abundant harvest have not every .where
beeh realized, yet; on the whole, the
laborfl'of the husbandman aro reward
ed with a bountiful return; Industry
prospers in its variouB channels of bu
siness and enterprise; general health
again prevails through our vast diver
sity of climate; nothing threatens,
from abroad', tho 'continuance of exter
nal peace; nor has any thing at homo
Impaired the strength of those fratcfc
nal and domestic tics which constitute
the only guaranty to the success and
permanancy of our happy Union, and
which, formed in Uic hour of peril;
have hitherto been honorably sustain
ed through every vicissitude in our
national affairs. These blessings,
which evince the care and beneficence
of Providence, call for our devout and
fervent gratitude.
We have VjOt loss reason to be grate
ful for other bounties uestowed by the
same munificent hand; and more ex
clusively bur own. w ( . ,
The present year closes the first half
""century of bur Federal institutions;
and our system differing frdm all oth
ers in tho acknowledged, practical,
and unlimited operation which it has
for so long a period given to tho sov
ereignty of ilio pebplc has now been
fully tested by experience.
The Constitution devised by our
forefathers as the framework and bond
of that System then untried, has be
"come a settled form of Government;
not only preserving and jirdtecling the
great principle's Uripn . Which it was
founded, bnt wonderfully promoting
individual happiness and private inter
ests. Though subject to change and
ontiro revocation, whenever deemed
inadequate to all these purposes, yet
such is the wisdom of its construction
ond so stable has been tho public sen
timent, that it remains unaltered, ex
cept in matlerb of detail, comparative
ly unimportant. t.lt has proved am
ply sufficient for thb various emergen
cies incident to our condition as a na
tion. A formidable foreign war j agi
tating collisions Between domestic and
in some respects, rival sovereignties;
temptations to interfere in the intes
tine commotions of neighboring coun
tries; the dangerous influences that
arise in periods of excessive prosperi
ty; and the anti-republican tendencies
'of associated wealth these, with oth
'or trials not less formidable, have all
been encountered, and thus far success
fully resisted.
It was reserved for the American
tJnion to tejt the advantages of a gov
ernment, entirely dependent on the
'continual exercise of the popular will;
and, our experience has shown that it
'is as bcneficicnt in practice as it is just
In theory, Each successive change
made in our local institutions has con
tributed to extend the tight bf suffrage,
has increased the direct influence of
we mass of thb community, givbn
greater freedom td individual exertion,
Tind restricted, morb and more, tho
powers of Government; yet the intel
inicenco, prudence, and patriotism of
the neoDlo havo kent nace with this
! iujmented responsibility. In no coiin
i try has education been so widely dif
fused. Domestic peace has nowhere
so largely reigned. The close bonds
bf social intercourse have in no in
Lstanco prevailed with such harmony
ibver a space so vast. All forms of re
ligion havo united, for the first time,
ito diffuse charity and piety, because,
tTdr tho first time in tho history of na
tions, all have been totally unlramell
ed, and absolutely free. The deepest
; recesses of tho wilderness have beon
Senetratcd; yet, instead of the rude
ess in the social condition consequent
upon sucn aavemures eisewitcre, nu
COMMBIA
merous communities have sprung up,
already unrivalled' in prosperity, gen
eral intelligence, internal tranquility,
and the wisdom of their political in
stitution!. Internal improvement, tho
fruit of individual enterprise, fostered,
by tho protection of the States, lias ad
ded new links to the confederation,
and fresh rewards to provident indus
try. Doubtful questions of domestic
policy have been quietly settled by
mutual forbearance'; and agriculture,
""1 uwj..f..i...
commerce, anu '?r7t
to each other. TaxatiC Rndb'0
debt, the burdens whichbear b6 W
liy Upon ail Oilier cuuimico, ar ymo-
fced with comparative lightness upon
us". Without one entangling alliance,
our friendship is priced by every na
tion; and the rights of our citizens are
every where respected, because they
are known to be cuarded by a united.
sensitive, and watchful people.
To this practical operation of our
institutions'; so evident and 'successful,
we owe that increased attachment to
them which is among the most cheer
ing exhibitions of popular sentiment;
and will prove their best security, in
time to come, against foreign or do
mestic assaults.
This review of the results of bur in
stitutions, for half a century, without
exciting a spirit of vain exultation,
should serve to impress upon us the
great principles from , which they have
sprung; constant and direct supervision
by the people over every public meas
ure; strict forbearance on the part of
the GoVcrnment from exercising any
doubtful or 'disputed powers; & a cau
tious abstinence from all interference
with concerns which, properly belong,
and are best left to State regulation's
and individual enterprise. ,
Full information of tho state ol our
foreign affairs having been recently,
on two different occasions, submitted
to Congress, I deem it necessary now
to bring to your notice only such e
vents as have subsequently occurred,
or are of such importance as to require
particular attention;
The most amicable dispositions con
tinue to be exhibited by all the nations
with whom the Government and citi
zens of the United States have an ha
bitual intercourse. At the date of my
ast annual message, Mexico was tho
only nation which could not be includ
ed in so gratifying a reference to bur
foreign relations.
1 am happy to be now able to iniorm
you that an advance has been made
towards the adjustment of our difficul
ties with that Republic, and the resto
ration of tho customary good feeling
between the two nations. 1 his im
portant change has been , effected by
conciliatory negotiations, that have re
sulted in the conclusion of a treaty be
tween the two Governments, which
when ratified, .will refer to the arbi
trament of a friendly power all tho
subjects of controversy between us
crowing out of injuries td individuals.
There is, at present, also, reason to be-
licvo that an equitable settlement ol
all disputed points will be attained
without further difficulty or unneces
sary delay, and thus authorize the free
I . ! 1 a" I' I
resumption oi uipiomauc intercourse
with our sister Republic.
With respect to the northeastern,
boundary of the United States, no of
ficial correspondeoce between this
Government and that of Great Britain
lias passed since that communicated
o Congress towards the close ot their
ast session. The offer to negotiate a
convention for the appointment of a
joint commission ol survey and explo
ration, 1 am, however, assured will be
met by her Majesty's Government in
a conciliatory and friendly, spirit, and
instructions to enable tho British Min
ister here to concludo such an arrange
ment will be transmitted tb him with
out needless delay. It is hoped and
expected that these instructions will
b of a liberal character, and that this
negotiation, if successful, will prove
to be an Important step towards the
satisfactory and final adjustment of the
controversy.
1 had hoped that the respect lor the
aws and regard for the peace and hon
or of their own country, which has
ever characterized tho citizens of the
I United States, would have prevented
COTOTY, PA. SATURDAY BECBMBER
any portion of them from using any
means to promote insurrection in tho
territory of a power with which we
are at pence, and with which the Unh
id States are desirous of maintaining
the most friendly relations. 1 regret
deeply, however, .to be obliged to in
iorm you tnat mis Has not been tho
case, irildrmation has been given to
me, derived from official and other
sources, that many citizens of the Uni
ted States have associated together to
waKe noaitie incursions irom our terri
tory into Canada, and to aid and abet
J--.. ! I r. ..
iiiauuuuuun mere, in violation 01 the
opngations aim laws ot the United
States, ind in open, disregard of their
own duties as citizens'. ,This informa
tion has been in a part confirmed by a
hostile invasion actually made by Cit
izens of the United Slates, in conjunc
tion with Canadians and others, and
accOmmpanicd by a forcible seizure of
the property of our citizens, and an ap
plication thereof to the prosecution of
military operations against tho author
ities and people of Canada.
The results of - these criminal as
saults upon the peace and order of a
neighboring country have been, as was
to be expected, fatally destructive tb
ihe misguided or deluded persons en
gaged in them, and highly injurious to
those in whose behalf they are profes
sed to havo been undertaken. The
authorities In Canada! from intelli
gence received of such intended move
ments among our citizens, have felt
themselves obliged to take precaution
ary measures against them; have actu
ally embodied tho militia, and assum
ed an attitude to. repel the invasion to
which they believed the colonies were
exposed from the United States. A
state of feeling on both sides of the
frontier has thus been produced, which
called for prompt and vigorous inter
ference. If an insurection existed in
Canada, tho amicable dispositions of
the United States towards Great Bri
tain, as well as their duty to them
selves, would lead them to maintain a
strict neutrality, and to restrain their
citizens from all violations of the laws
which have been passed for its en
forcement. But this Government re
cognises a still higher obligation to re
press all attempts on thb part of its cit
izens to disturb the peace of a country
where order prevails, or has been re
established Depredations by our cit
izens upon nations at peace with the
United States, or combinations for
committing them, have at all times
been regarded by the American Gov
ernment and people with the greatest
abhorrence. Military incursions by
our citizons into countries eo situated,
and the commission of acts of violence
on tho members thereof; in order to ef
fect a change in its government, or
under any. pretext whatever, havo,
from the commencement of our Gov
ernment, been held equally criminal
on the part of those engaged in them,
and as much deserving of punishment,
as would He the disturbance of the
public peace by the perpetration of
similar acts within our own territory.
By no country or persons have
these invaluable principles of interna
tional law principles, the strict ob
servance of which is so indispensable
to the preservation of socd order in
the world been more earnestly cher
ished or sacredly respected than by
those great and good men who first
declared, and finally established the iri
dcpendeneelof our own country. They
promulgated and maintained them at
an early and critical period in our his
tory; they were subsequently embodi
ed in legislative enactments of a high
ly penal character, tho faithful en
forcement oi which has hitherto been,
and will, I trust, always continue to be
regarded as a duty inseparably associ
ated with the maintenance of our na
tional honor. That the people of the
United States should feel an interest
in the spread of political institutions as
free as thev recrard their own to be, is
natural; nor can a sincere solicitude
for tho success1 of all those who are, at
any tinie, in good faith struggling for
their acquisition, be imputed to our
citizens as a crime. With tho entire
freedom of opinion, and an undisguis
ed expression thereof, on their part,
tho Government has neither the right,
infprffirr.
But whether the intest or S,7.
or of the United State, renuir hnf
they should be made a. party, to. anj
such
struggle, amu , by Incvitab
consequence, to the war which is waff-
ed in its support, is a question which,
by our Const tut on. In wisolv lnf
Confess alone in A.A a V I 1.7.
k ,: ' i
i.uu imvo, aircaay maue criminal in our
citizens to embarrass or .nticinafe . Wt
u --.r.
orations on their nart. Offences of
.r. . "..; T
tins character, in addition to their
criminality as violations of the laws
oi our country, havo a direct tendency
iu uraw aown uaon our own citizens
at large tiio multiplied eyils of a for
eign war, and expose to injurious im
putations the good faith and honor of
me country. As such thev deservn
to be putclown with promptitudo and
decision. I cannot be mistaken, I am
confident, in counting on the cordial
j
and general concurrence of our fellow
citizcisin this sentiment. A copy of
the proclamation which I havo
felt it my duty to issue, is herewith
communicated. I cannot but hope
that the good sense and patriotism, the
regard for tho honor and reputation of
their country, the repect for the laws
which they have themselves enacted
for their own government, tand the
love of order for which the niaM of
our people have b'een so long and ao
justly distinguished, will 'deter the
comparatively lew who are engaged
in them from a further prosecution of
such desperate enterprises. In the
mean time, the existing laws have
neen, anu win continue to dc laiuuul-
ly executed; and every effort will be
made to carry them out in their full
extent. Whether they are sufficient
or not, to meet the actual state of things
on the Canadian frontier, it is for Con
gresi to decide.
It will appear from the correspon
dence hcrcwitn submitted, that the
Government of Russia declines a re
newal of the fourth article of the con
vention of April, 1824, between the
United States and his Imberial Maies-
ty, by the third article of which it is
agreed that "hereafter there, shall not
oe lorineu ay ino.ciiiseno 01 me unitea
States, or under the authority of the
said States, any establishment upen the
northwest cost of America, nor in any
of the islands cdjaccnt; to the north of
ii4 iu ui tiui 111 laiiiuuc, utiu iiiab 411
the same manner iherc shall be none
formed by Russian subjects, or under
the authority of Russia, south of the
sambparallcl;"and by the fourth, 'that,
during a term of ten years, counting
from the signature of the present con
vention, the ships of both powers, or
which belong to their citizens or sub
jects repectively, may reciprocally
frequont, without any hindrance what
ever, the interior seas, gulfs, harbors,
and creeks upon the coast mentioned
in the preceeuing article, lor the pur
pose of fishing and trading with the
natives of the country." The reasons
assigned for declining to renew the
provisions of this article, are, briefly,
that the only use made by our citizens
of the privilege it secures to thern, has
been to supply thb Indians withapir-
iiious liquors, ammunition, and fire-
arms; that this tralhc lias neen exclud
ed from the Russian trade; and as the
supplies furnished from tho United
States arc injurious to the Russian es
tablishments on the northwest coast;
and calculated to produce complaints
between the two Governments, his
Imperial Majesty thinks it for the in
terest of both countries not to accede td
tho proposition made by the American
Government for tho renewal of the
article last referred to; ,
The correspondence, herewith com
municated will show the ground upon
which we contend that the citizens of
the United States have, independent
of the p'rovisions of the sonvention of
1824, a right to trade with the natives
unon the coast in question, at unoccu
pied places, liable, however, it is adj
mitted, to be at any time extinguished
by the creation of Russian establish
ments at such points. Ihis right is
denied by the Russian Government,
which asserts that, by the operation of
thp treaty of 1834, each party agroed
to waive the general rigjit to land on
15, ig38i
Wuiribcr 3JL
1 Hi n u i i ',. .
f ,i ""3!! Wlw'afl'
ZaZZV f"0'' to
o art de. Th .-uli "
nlnJ t; " IVfi'"" "Y" em"
wiVh Th VniSSS of AmerW
L,:n "nwW??aM?i AmCrica
I 'l.'" aaVnB. ? .tbe pffi.
aimemenis oi the commerce unrl
navim nn tt o.i i .. 7 T
rnw T"" "tTVW"".6
-.,w.1.,UCUOTnEmoo mconoidera-
"4WV " ount to. attract much alien.
uon; yetthesubiectmaw in olh
speefs, deserve tho careful considera
tion of Cnnirrs
Irecret to state that thi M
we principal nort9 on thf pnstnm
of Mexiso, whirh, in consequence of
uiuciCUCG DBlWeOn that Annh . -.
Prance, was instituted in May last,
unfortunately still continues, enforced
by a competent French navnl Tnr
. . f . . f 4VtbU
jo iieiicaaaray emoarrassmg to our
V;t1rtatle the gulf, itt common
with that.of other nations., Eyery dis
position, however, is believed to Vv!
on me pari oi the French Government,
to render this measure as little oner
ous as practicable to the interests of tho
citizens ot the United States, and to
those of neutral commerce; and it is to
be hoped that an early settlement of
mo QlincUlt S3 botwnnn FV,n,.
Mexico, will soon re-c-tablisn the har
monious relatidna forme'rlv mil
between ,them'v and again open the
ports of that Republic tb the vessels oS
1 A convention for marking Vhlt ptrt
jof the boundary between the TTnifa
an jnenuiy nauona.
States and tho Renubli'e of T.'.
which extends from tho mouth of. tho
Sabine to the Red river, was conclud
ed and signed at this city on tye 25th
of April last. . It has since been rati
fied by both Governments'; and season-
-Li- .... : '
--.v. UH.I19UICO win dc uKen lo carnr
it into effect on the part of the United
States.
The application of that Republic for
admission into this Union, made in
August, 1837, and which
for reasons, already made knOwn to
I you, has been formally withdrawn
I will appear from the accomnanvfn
copy of the note of the Minister nlen-
1 ipuicimaiy 01 xexas, which was pre
scnted to the Secretarv of Sfnioon k
occasion of the exchange of the ratifi-
uauuna ot me convention above maa
tioned'. ,
Conies of the convention with Toil
as, of a commercial treaty concluded
with the Kine: of Greace.ahd of .mi
ilar(.treaty with the Per.u Bolivian
Confederation, the ratifications of
which have been recently exchanged.
accompany this messagefor the. infor
mation of Concress. and for such 1ir.
islative engagements as may be found"
necessary or expedient; in relation to
either ot them.
To watch over and foster tho intcrl
ests of a. rrraduallv
widely extend commerce: to iruard ih
rights of American citizens, whom bus
may tempt into distant climes', and af!
the same time to cultivate those senti-
merits of mutual respect.and good will
which experience has proved so benefi
cial in international intercourse, thq
Government of the United States hasi
iness, ur pleasures, or other motives;
aeemeu it expedient, frpm time to
time, to establish diolomatie corinec
tiohs with difficrpht foreign States, by
the appointment of renresentativeo t
residb within their respective territo
ries, x am gratilied to be epable to ant
nounce to you-that, since the close of
your last session, these relations, h.ve
been opened under the happiest jius
pices with Austria and tho .Two Sici
lies) that new nominations hive been
made in the respective missions, of
Russia; Brazil, Belgium, and Swederi
and Norway, in this country; thitil
Minister Extraordinary has bean re
cieved, accredited to this Government!
from the Argentine Confederation.
An exposition of the fiscal affairs of
of the Government, and of their con.:
dition for the past year, will.be made!
10 you ay tne Secretary of tho Treas
ury. ...
1 he available balance in the Treasu
ry, on tho 1st of January next, is esti
mated at Ss,766,34I. The receipts pf
me year, trom customs and lands, will
probably amourittog20f915598.TheSS