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GE'rrYSBURG, ADAMS COUNTY, PA
VOL. IX.--NO. 37.]
President's elffessage.
t w1,,,r , 20a,
From the President *I the United Statce to the two
Houses of Congress, at the commencement of
the third session of the '2iith Congress.
Fellow Citizens of the Senate
and House of Repre.ventatircx:
1 congratulate you on the favorable cir
cumstances in the condition of our country,
•under which you reassemble for the perfOr.
:mance of your official duties. Though the
.anticipations of cm abundant harvest have
not every where 'been realized, yet, on the
whole, the labors of the husbandman nre re
warded with a bountifill return; industry
prospers in its various channels of business
and enterprise; general health again pre
vails through our vast diversity of climate;
nothing threatens, from abroad, the continu•
ance olextereal peace; nor has any thing at
home impaired the strength of those hater
nal and domestic ties which constitute the
only guaranty to the success and permanen
cy of our happy Union, and which, formed
in the hour of peril, have hitherto been hon
orably sustained 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 not lees reason to be grateful for
other bounties bestowed by the same muni•
ficent hand, and more exclusively our own.
The present year classes the first half
century of our Federal institutions; and our
system—differing, from all others in the ac•
knowfedged, practical, and unlimiteu opera
tion which it has for so long a period given
to the sovereignty of the people—has now
been fully tested by experience.
The Constitu•ion devised by our fore
fathers us the framework and bond of that
system, then untried, has become a settled
for:e of Government; not only preserving
and protecting the great principles upon
which it was founded, but wonderfully pro
moting individual happiness and private inte
rests. Though subject to change and entire
revocation, whenever deemed inadequate to
ell these purposes, yet such is the wisdom
of its construction, and so stable has been
the public Zentiment,that it remains unalter
ed, except in mutters of detad,comparative
ly unimportant. It has proved empty sufli.
cient for the various emergencies incident
to our condition as a nation. A formidable
foreign war; agitating collision between do.
mestic and, in some respects, rival sover
eignties; temptations to iiterfere in the in
testine commotions of neighboring countries.;
the dangerous influences that arise in periods
of excessive prosperity; and the anti.repub•
Bean tendencies of associated wealth—these,
with other trials not less formidable, have
all been encountered,and thus far successful.
ly resisted.
It was reserved for the American Union
to test the advantages of a Government en
tirely dependent on the continual exercise
of the popular will; and our experience has
shown that it is as beneficent in practice as
it is just in theory. Each successive ehange
made in our local institutions has contribut•
ed to extend the right of suffrage, has in
creased the direct influence of the mass or
the community, given greater freedom to ,
individual exertion, and restricted,more and
more, the powers of Government; yet the
intelligence, prudence, and patriotism of the
people have kept pace with this augmented
responsibility. hi no country has education
been so widely diffused. Domestic peace
hag nowhere so largely reigned. The close
bonds of social intercourse have in no in
stance prevailed with such harmony over a
space so vast. All forms of religion have
united, for the first time, to diftbse charity
and piety, because, for the first time in the
history of nations, all have been totally un
tract, melted, and absolutely free. The deep
est recesses of the w:lderness have been
penetrated; yet, instead of the rudeness in
the social condition consequent upon such
adventures elsewhere, numerow communi
ties have sprung up, already unrivalled hi
prosperity, general intelli g ence, internal
tranquillity,and the wisdom o f their political
institutions. Internal improvement, the
fruit of individual enterprise, fostered by the
protection of the States,has added new links
to the confederation, and fresh rewards to
provident industry. Doubtful questions of
domestic policy have been quietly settled
by mutual forbearance; and agriculture,
commerce, and manufactures, minister to
each other. Taxation and public debt, the
burdens which bear so heavily upon all other
countries, have passed with comparative
lightness upon us. Without one entangling
alliance, our friendship is prized by every
nation; and the rights of our citizens are
every where respected, because the. , are
known to be guarded by a united, sensitive,
and watchful people..,
To this practical operation of our institu•
lions, so evident and successful, we owe that
increased attachment to them which is ti
mong the most cheering exhibitions of popu.
Jar sentiment,and will prove their best secu
rity, in time to come, against foreign or do
mestic assault.
This review of the results of our institu•
tions, for'half a century, without exciting a
spirit of vain exultation, should serve to im•
press upon us the great principles from
which they have sprung; constant and direct
supervision by the people over very public
measure; strict forbearance on the part of
the Government from exercising any doubt•
ful or disputed powers . ' and a cautions ab•
otinence from all interfe rence with concerns
which properly belong, and are best lea to
State regulutions and individuel enterprise.
Full Wenn:Ohm of the stub) of our foreign
allaire buying been recently, on two
difler
ent oCCAot9lls:tubinitted to Congress,' dent
it necessary now to bring to your notice onl .
such events us have subsequently occurred
or are of such importance as to require par
liculSr attention.
The most amicable dispositions continue
to be exhibited by all the nations with whom
ihe Government and citizens of the United
States have an habitual ictercourso. At
the date of any last annual message,Mexico
was the only 'ration which could not be in
cluded in so gratifying a reference to our
foreign relations.
I am happy to be now able to inform you
that an advance has been made towards the
adjustment of our difficulties with that Re
public, an I the restoration of the customary
good feeling between the two nations. This
important change has been effected by con•
cihatory negotiations, that have resulted in
the conclusion of a treaty between the two
Governments, which, when ratified,will re•
fer to the arbitrament of a friendly power
all the subjects of controversy between us
growing out °lnjuries to individuals. There
is, at present, also, reason to believe that an
;ignitable sett'ement of all disputed points
wi:l be attained without furtherzdifliculty or
unnecessary delay, and thus authorize the
free resumption of diplomatic intercourse
with our sister Republic.
With respect to the northeastern bounda
ry of the United States,no official correspon
dence between this Government and that of
Great Britain has passed since that commu
nicated to Congress towards the close oftheir
last session. The offer to negotiate a con•
vent ion for the appointment of a joint com
mission of survey and exploration,) am,how
ever, assu-ed will be met by her Majesty's
Government in a conciliatory and friendly
spirit, and instructions to enable the British
Minister hero to conclude such an arrange
ment will be transmitted to him without
needless delay. It is hoped and expected
that those instructions will be of a liberal
character, and that this negotiation, if suc
cessful, will prove to be an important step
towards the satisfactory and final adjustment
of the controversy.
I had hoped that the respect for the laws
and regard for the peace and honor of their
own country, which has ever characterized
the citizens of the United States,would have
prevented any portion of them from using
any means to promote insurrection in the
territory of a power with which we are at
peace, and with which the United States are
desirous of tnaintaining the most friendly
relations. I regret deeply, however, to be
obliged to inform you that this has not been
the case. Information has been given to me,
derived from official and other sources,that
many citizens of the United States 11H9 as
sociated together to make hostile incursions
from our territory into Canada, and to aid
and abet insurrection there, in violation of
the obligations and laws of the United States
and in open disregard of their own duties as
citizens. This information has been in part
confirmed by a hostile invasion actually
made by citizens of the United States, in
conjunction with Canadians and others, and
accompanied by a forcible seizure of the
property of our citizens, and an application
thereof to the prosecution of military opera•
tions against the authorities and people of
Canada.
The results of these criminal assaults up
on the peace and order of a neighboring
country have been, as was to be expected,
fatally destructive to the misguided or delu
ded persons engaged in them, and highly
injurious io those in whose behalf they are
professed to have been undertaken. The
authorities in Canada, from intelligence re
ceived of such intended movements among
our citizens, have felt themselves obliged to
take precautionary measures against them;
have actually embodied the militia, and as•
sumed an attitude to repel the invasion to
which they believed the colonies were expo
sed from the United States. A state of
feeling on both sides of the frontier has thus
been produced, which called for prompt and
vigorous inteiference. if an insurrection
existed in Caliada,the amicable dispositions
of the United States towards Great Britain,
as well as their duty to themselves, 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
enforcement. But this Government recog.
rises a still higher obligation to'repress all
attempts on the part of its citizens to disturb
the peace of a country where order prevails,
or has been re-established. Depredations
by our citizens upon nations at peace with
the United States, or combinations for
committing them, have at all times been re
garded by the American Government and
people with the greatest abhorrence. Mili
tary incursions by our citizens into countries
so situated, and the commission of acts of
violence on the members thereof, in order to
alba a change in its government, or under
any pretext whatever, have, from the corn
mencenient dour Government, been held
equally criminal on the part of those enga
ged in them, and as much deserving of pun
ishtnent, ns would be the disturbance of the ,
public peace by the perpetration of similar
acts within our own territory.
By no country or persons have these in-
valuable principles of international law—
principles, the strict observance of which is
so indispensable to the preservation of social
order in the,world—been more earnestly
cherished or sacredly respected than by
those great and good men who first declared,
and finally established the independence of
our own country. They' promulgated and
maintained them at an early and critical
period in our history; they were subsequent
ly embodied in legislative enactments of a
highly penal character, the faithful enfbrce
went of which has hithortj been, and will,(
trust, always continuo to be, regarded 40 u '
duty inseparably associated with OM main;
mince of our untioal honors '}bat tho
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people of the United States should feel an
interest in the spread apolitical institutions
as free as they regard their own to be, is
natural; nor can a sincere solicitude for the
success of all these whu are, nt any time,in
good faith struggling for their arquisition,be
i m p u t e d t o our citizens as a chine. With
the entire freedom of opinion, and an undis•
guis9d expression thereof on their part, the
Government bus neither the right, nor, 1
t rust,t he disposition to interfere. But wheth
er the interest or the honor of the United
States require that they should be made a
party to any such struggle, and, by inevita•
hie consequence, to the Ivar which is waged
in its support, is a question which, by our
Gmstitution, is wisely left to Congress alone
to decide• It is, by the laws, already made
criminal in our citizens to embarrass or an
ticipate that decision, by unauthorized tuili•
tary operations on their part. O:1 aces of
this character, in addition to their criminal
ity as violations of the laws of our country,
have a direct tendency to draw down upon
our own citizens at large the multiplied evils
of a foreign war, and expose to injurious itn•
putations the good faith and honor of the
country. As such they deserve to be put
down with promptitude and decision. 1
cannot be mistaken, I am contident,in count
ing on the cordial and general concurrence
of our fellow-citizens in this sentiment. A
copy of the proclatnation which I have felt
it my duty to issue,is herewith communica
ted. I cannot but hope that the good sense
and patriotism, the regard for the honor and
reputation of their country, the respect for
the laws which they have themselves enact
ed for their own government, and the love
of order for which the mass of our people
have been so long and so justly distinguish
ed, will defer the comparatively few who are
engaged in them from a further prosecution
of such desperate enterprises. In the mean
time, the existing laws have been, and will
continue to be,faithfully executed; and every
effort will be made to carry them out in their
full extent. Whether they are sufficient or
riot, to meet the actual state of things on the
Canadian frontier, it is for Congiess to de
cide. •
It will appear from the correspondence
herewith submitted, that the Government
of Russia declines a renewal of the fourth
article of the convention of April, 1924, be
tween the United States and his Imperial
Majesty, by the third article of which ititis
agreed that "hereafter there shall not be
formed by the citizens of the United States,
or under the authority of the said States,
any establishment upon the northwest coast
of America, nor in any of the islands adja
cent, to the north of 50 0 40' of north lati•
tude; and that in the same manner there
shall be none formed by Russian subjects,
or under the authority of Russia, south of
-the same parallel;" and by the fourth arti
cle, "that, during a term of ten years, coun
ting from the signature of the present con
vention, the ships of both powers, or which
belong to their citizens or subjects respec
tively, may reciprocally frequent, without
any hindrance whatever, the interior seas,
gulfs, harbors, and creeks upon the coast
mentioned in the preceding article, for the
purpose.of fishing and trading with the na
tives of the country." The reasons assign
ed for declining to renew the provisions of
this article, are, briefly, that the only yaw'
made by our citizens of the privilege it se
cures to them, has been to supply the In•
deans with spiritous liquors, ammunition,
and fire-arms; that this trailic has been ex•
eluded from the Russian trade; and as the
supplies furnished from the United States
are injurious to the Russian establishments
on the northwest coast, and calculated to
produce complaints between the two Gov
ernments, Ins Imperial Nlajesty thinks it for
the interest of both countries not-ty, accede
to the proposition made by the American
Government for the renewal of the article
last referred to.
The correspondence herewith communi
cated will show the grounds upon which we
contend that the citizens of the United
States have, independent of the provisions
of the convention of 1824, a right to trade
with the natives upon the coast in question,
at unoccupied places, liable, however, it is
admitted, to be at any time extinguished by
the creation of Russian establishments at
such points. This right is denied by the
Russian Government, which assorts that,
by the operation of the treaty of 1824, each
party agreed to waive the general right to
land on the vacant coasts on the respective
sides of the degree of latitude referred to,
and accepted, in lieu thereof, the mutual
privileges mentioned in the fourth article.
The capital and tonnage employed by our
citizens in their trade with the northwest
coast of America, will, perhaps, on advert
tog to the official statements of the corn•
mere() and navigation of the United States
for the last few years, be deemed too in•
considerable in amount to attract much at.
tention; yet the subject may, in other res•
pects, deserve the careful consideration of
Congress.
1 regret to state that the blockade of the
principal ports on the eastern coast of Mex
ico, which, in consequence of difference be
tween that Republic and France, was insti
tuted in May lust, unfortunately still contin
ues, enforced by a competent French naval
three, and is necessarily embarrassing I A
our own trade in the gulf; in common % v itt )
that of other nations. Every disposition,
however, is believed to exist on titer part of
the French Government, to render this
measure us little onoraus aA practicable to
the interests of th.e citizens of the United
States, and to th,oso of neutral commerce;
and it is to k•di hoped that an early settle.
rent of thy. difficulties betwe en France and
Mexico, will soon ro-establish the harmo.
niouF, relations formerly subsisting between
tbent, and again open the ports of that Re-
Oct.FE.IRLESS .51. 7 1." D FREE.. 4Dlti
PRINTED AND PUBLISHED WEEKLY
public to the vesnds of ull friendly nations.
A convention f;)r marking thlt part of
the boundary between the United States
and thy: Republic of Texas, which extends
from the mouth of the Sabine to the Red
river, wily concluded and signed at this city
the 25th of April last. It has since been
ratified by both Governments; had seasona•
ble measures will 'le taken to carry it into
effect on the part of the United States.
'rip.; arolectitioo of that Republic for ad
mission into this UhMi, made in August
1837, and which way declined for reasons
already made known to you, hie been for•
molly withdrawn, as will appear from the
accoinpm) ing copy of the note of the him
ister Plenipotentiary of Texas, which wito
presented to the Secretary of State on the
occasion of the exchange of the ratifications
of the convention above mentioned.
Copies of the convention with Texa4, of
a commercial treaty concluded with the
King of G recce, and of a similai treaty with
the Pei u Bolivian Confederation, th ratifi
cations of which have been recently ex•
changed, accompany this message for the
informati,n of Congress, and for such legis
lative enactments as may be found neces
sary or expedient, in relation to either of
them.
To watch over and foster the interests of
a gradually increasing and widely extended
commerce; to guard the rights of Amdican
citizens, whom business, or pleasure, or
other motives, may tempt into distant
chines, and ut the same time to cultivate
those sentiments of mutual respect and good
will which experience has proved so benifi
cial in international intercourse, the Gov
eminent of the United States has deemed it
expedient, from time to time, to establish
diplomatic ciionections with diffi•rent for
eign States, by the appointment of represen
tatives to reside within their respective ter•
ritories. I um gratified to be„unabled to
announce to you that, since the close of
your last session, these relations have been
opened under the happiest auspices with
Austria and the Two Sicilies; that new
noininat loos have been niade in the respec
rive missions of Ressia, Brazil. Belgium,
and Sweden and Norway, in this country;
and that a Minister Extraordinary has been
received, accredited to this Government
from the Argentine Confederation.
An exposition of the fiscal affairs of the
Government, and of their condition for the
past year, will le^ made to you by the Sec
retary (doe Treasury.
The available balance in the Treasury,
on the: lei o`2t. January
next, is estimated at
."re receipts of the year,
from customs and lands, will probably ri•
mount to $20,615,598. These usual sour
ces of revenue have been increased by an
issue of Treasury notes—of which less than
eight millions of dollars, including interest
and principal, will be outstanding at the
end of the year—and by the sale of ono of
the bonds of the Bank of the United States,
for $2,254,871 The aggregate of means
from these an&other sources, with the hal
' unco on hand on the Ist of [armory last, has
been applied to the payment of appropria•
lions by Congress. The whole expenditure
tbr the year on their account, inclu.'ing the
redemption of more than eight millions of
Treasury notes, constitutes an aggregate of
about forty millions of dollars, and will still
leave in the Treasury the balance before
stated.
Nearly eight millions of dollars of Trea•
sury notes are to be paid during the coming
year, in addition to the ordinary appropria
tions for the support of Government. For
both these purposes, the resources of the
Treasury will undoubtedly be sufficient, it
the charges upon it are nut increased be
yond the annual estimates. No excess,
however, is likely to exist ; nor can the
postponed instalment of the surplus revenue
be deposited with the States, nor any con.
siderable appropriations beyond the esti
mates be made, without causing a deficion.
cy in the Treasury. Tho great caution,
ndvisible at all times, of limiting appropria
tions to the wants of the public service, is
rendered necessary at present by the pros
pective and rapid reduction of the tariff;
while the v , gilant jealousy, evidently excit
ed amm -, the people by the occurrences 'of
the last Few years, assures us that they ex
pect front their representatives, and will
sustain theni in the exercise of, the most
rigid economy. Much can be effected by
postponing appropriations not immediately
required for the ordinary public service, or
for ally pressing emergency; and much by
reducing the expenditures where the entire
and immediate accomplishment of the oh•
jects in view is not indispensable.
%Viten we call to mind the recent and ex
treme embarrassments produced by exces
sive issues of bank paper, aggravated by the
unforeseen withdrawal of much foreign cap
ital, and the inevitable dorangement arising
from the distribution ot the surplus revenue
iimong the States as. required by Congress;
and consider the heavy expenses incurred
by the removal of Indian tribes; by the mil
itary operatk.ns in Florida; and on account
large appropriations made
twoannual sessions of Congress
a l' the e
1 7 s unusu a lly A ually
for ot t .ier objects, we have striking evidence,
in ;Ate present efficient state of our finances,
of the , abundant resources of the country to
fulfil all its obligations. Nor is it le'si grat
ifying to find that the general business of
the community, deeply affected as it has
been, is reviving with additional vigor,
chastened by the lessons of the past, and
animated by the hopes of the future. By
the curtailment of paper issues; by curbing
the sanguine and adventurous spirit of spec
ulation; and by the honorable application.of
all available means to the fulfilment of obli•
gallons, confidence has been restored both
at home and abroad, and'ease anti facility
secured to all theoperations of trade.
BY ROBERT WHITE MIDDLETON.
The agency of the Government in pro
(hieing these results has been as efficient as
!its powers and means permitted. By with
! holding from the States the deposite of the
fourth instalment, and leaving several mil
lions at long credits with the banks, princi•
pally in one sectilm of the country, nod
more immediately beneficial to it; and, at
the same time, aiding the brinks and coin
mercial communities in other sections, by
postponing the payment of bonds for duties
to the amount of between four and five
millions of dollars; by an issue of Treasury
notes as n means to enable the Governmeot
to meet the consequences of their indulgen
ces; but affirding, at the same time, facili
ties for remittance and exchange; and by
steadily declining to employ as general de
positories of the public revenues, or receive
the notes of all banks which refused to re
deem them with specie; by these measures,
aided by the favorable action of some of the
banks, and by the support and co operation
of a large portion of the community, we
have witnessed an early resumption of spe
cie payments in our great commercial capi•
ital, promptly followed in almost every part
of the United States. This result has been
alike salutary to the true interests of agri
culture, commerce and manufactures; to
public morals, respect for the laws, and that
confidence between man and man which is
so essential in all our social relations.
The contrast between the suspension of
1814 and that of 1837 is most striking.
The short duration of the latter; the prompt
restoration of business: the evident benefits
resulting from an adherence by the Govern
ment to time constitutional standard of value,
instead of sanctioning the suspension by the
receipt of irredeemable paper; and the ad
vantages derived from the large amount of
specie introduced into the country previous
to 1837, afford a valuable illustration of the
true policy of the Government in such a
crisis; nor can the comparison fail to remove
the impression that a national bank is ne
cessary in such emergencies. Not only
were specie payments resumed without its
aid; but exchanges have also been more rap
idly restored than when it existed; thereby
showing that private capital, enterprise, and
prudence, are fully adequate to these ends.
On all these points experience seems to
have confirmed the views heretofore sub
milted to Congress. We have been saved
the mortification of seeing the distresses of
the community for the third time seated on
to fasten upon the country so dangerous an
' institution; and we may also hope that the
business of individuals will hereafter be re
lieved from the injurious effects of a contin•
ued agitation of that disturbing subject
The limited influence of a national bar. It in
adverting derangement in the exchanges of
the country, or in compelling the resump
tion of specie payments, is now not less ap.
parent than its tendency to increase inordi
nate speculation by sudden expansions and
contractions; its disposition to create panic
and embarrassment for the promotion of its
own designs; its interference with politics;
and its far greater power for evil than for
good, either in regard to the local institu
tions of the operations of Government itself.
What was, in these respects, but apprehen
sion or opinion when a national bank was
first established, now stands confirmed by
humilating experience. The scenes through
which we have passed conclusively prove
how little our commerce, agriculture, man
ufactures, or finances, require such an Insti
tution, and what dangers are attendant on
its power—a 'Hever, I trust, never to be,
conferred by the American people upon
their Government, and still less upon indi•
viduals not responsible to them for its una
voidable abuses.
My conviction of the necessity of further
legislative provisions for the safekeeping
and disbursement of the public moneys, and
my opinion in regard to the measures best
adapted to the accomplishment of those ob.
jects, have been already submitted to you.
These have been strengthened by recent
events; and, in the full conviction that time
and experience must still further demon.
strate.their propriety, I feel it my duty,with
respectful deference to the conflicting views
of others, again to invite your attention to
them.
With the exception of limited sums de
posited in the few banks still employed un
der the act of 1836, the amounts received
for duties, andovith very inconsiderable ex
ceptions, those accruing from lands also,
have, since the general suspension of specie
payments by the deposite banks, been kept
and disbursed by the Treasurer, under his
general legal powers, subject to the snatr
inlendence of the Secretary of the Tret;oury.
The propriety of defining more specifically,
and of regulating by law, the exercise of
this wide scope of Executive discretton,has
been already submitted to Congress.
A change in the oflii:e of collector at ono
of our principal ports,has brought to light a
defalcation of the gravest character,thu par
ticulars of whiQ.ll will be laid before you in a
Special report from the Secretary of the
Treasury. By his report and the accent-.
panytug documents, it will be seen that the
weekly returns of the defaulting officer ap
parently cxhibited,throughout, a fhithful ad
ministration of the affairs entrusted to his
management. It, however, =now appears
that he commenced ahstracting the public
moneys shortly after hik appointment, and
continued to do so, progressively increasing
the amount, for the term of more than seven
years, embracing a,portion of the period
during which the public moneys were de
posited in the Bank (tithe United States,the
whole of that of the State bank deposit° sys
tem, and concluditr , only on his 'retirement
from office, 'after that system had substanti
ally failed, in consequence of the suspension
of specie payments.
Th!Y war in wbith this tlrr.icnfinn Wag
[WHOLE NO: 453:
long concealed, and the steps token to
demnify the United States, as tar as prac
ticable, against loss, will also be presented
to you. The case is one which imperatively
claims the attention of Congress, and fur
iii3lies tile strongest unitive for the establish
ment of a more severe and secure system
tin- the safekeeping and disbursement of fhe
pubic moneyl , than any that has heretofore
existed.
It seems proper, at nil events, that, by an
early enactinent,si railer to that of othercoun
tries, the application of public money by an
officer of Government to private uses,should
be made a felony, and visited with seven,
and i4noininious punishment. This is already
in effect, the law in respect to the mint,and
has been productive of the most salutary
results. Whatever system is adopted,such
an enactment would he wise as an indepen
dent meaeure, since much of tho public
moneys mustan their collection and ultimate
dishuisement, pass twice through the hands
of public officers, in whatever manner they
are intermediately kept. The Government,
it must be admitted, has been from its com
mencement comparatively fortunate in this
respect. But the appointing power cannot
always be well advised in its selections, and
the experience of every country has shown
that public officers are not at all times proof
against temptation. It is a duty, thereforo,
which the Government owes, as well to the
interests committed to its care as to the Offi
cers themselve3, to provide every guard a
gainst transgressions of this character that
is consistent with reason and humanity.--
Congress cannot be too jealous of the con
duct of those who are entrusted with the
public money; and 1 shall at all times be dis
posed to encourage a watchful discharge of
this duty. Ifa more direct co•operation on
the part of Congress, in the supervision of
the conduct of the officers entrusted with
the custody and application of the public
money; is deemed desirable, it will give me
pleasure to assist in the establishment of any
judicious and constitutional plan by which
hat object may be accomplished. You will,
in your wisdom, determine upon the pro
priety of adopting such a plan, and upon the
measure necessary to its effectual execution:
When the late Bank of the United States
was incorporated, and made the depository
of the public moneys, a right was reserved
to Congress to inspect, at its pleasure, by . n
committee of that body, the books and the
proceedings of the bank.
In one of the States whose banking insti
tutions are supposed to rank among the first
in point of stability, they 'ire subjected to
constant examination by commissionera tip.
pointed for that purpose, and much of th 3
success of its banking system is attributed
to this watchful supervision. The same
course has also,in view ofits beneficial oper
ation, been adopted by an adjoining State,
favorably known for the care it has always
bestowed upon whatever relates to its finan
cial concerns. I submit to your considers
lion whether a committee of Congress might,
not be profitably employed in inspecting, at:
such intervals as might be deemed proper,
the affairs and accounts of officers entrusted
with the custody of the public moneys. The
frequent performance of this duty might bo
made obligatory on the committee in respect
to those officers who have large sums in
their possession, and left discretionary in
respect, to others. They might report to
the Executive such defalcations as were
tound to exist, with a view to a prompt re
moval from office unless the default was sat
isfactorily accounted for; and report, also,
to Congress, at the commencement of each'
session, the result of their examination's and ;
proceedings. It does appear to me that,
with a subjection of this class of public offi
cers to the genera! supervision of the Exe
cutive, to examinations by a committee of
Congress at periods of which they should
have no previous notice, and to prosecution
and punishment as for felony for oveny
breach of trust, the safekeeping of the pub
lic moneys,under the system proposed,might
be placed on a surer foundation than it has
ever occupied since the establishment of the
Government.
The Secretary of the Treasury will lay
before you additional information contain
ing new details on this interesting subject.
To these 1 ask your early attention. That
it should 'nave given rise to great diversity,
of opinion cannot he n subject of surprise.--
After The collection & custody of the public
moirzys had been for so many years connec
ted with, and- made subsidiary to, the ad
vancement of private interest), a return to
the simple and self-denying ordinances of
the Constitution could not bat be difficult.
But time and free discussion eliciting the
sentiments of the people, and aiding by that
conciliatory spirit which has ever charac.
terized their course on great emergencies,
were relied upon (or a satisfactory settlement
of the question. Already has this anticipa
tion on one important point at least—the
impropriety of diverting public money to
private purposes—been fu'ly realized upon
that branch of the subject would now be
embarrassed by a difference of opinion, or
fail to receive the cordial support of is large
majority of our constituents. The connec
tion which formerly existed between the
Government and banks, was in reality in-
jurious to both, as well as to the general in
(crests of the community at large. It aggra
vated the disasters of trade and the derange
ments of commercial intercourse, and ad
ministered new excitement and additional
means to wild andteckleessPeculations,the
disappointments of which threw,the country
into convulsions of panic, and all but pro.
ducod violence and bloodshed. The impru•
dont expansion of bank . crepe, which was
the natural result of the command of the-re
venues of the State, furnished the resources
for unbounded license in every species or
(ronP;n:tc-? !he rt:trih Ityyr.