PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE Fellow-eitieene of the Senate and of the Hones of Representatives: The Constitution requires that the President shall, from time, to time, not only recommend to the consideratiop of Congress such measures as be may judge necessary and expedient, but also that he shall give information to them of the state of the Union. To do this fully involves an ex position of all matters in the actual condition of the country, domestic or foreign, which essen tially, concern the general welfare. While per forming his constitutional duty in this respect, the President does not speak merely to express personal convictions, but as the executive minis ter of the government, enabled by his position, and called upon by his offioial obligations, to scan with an impartial eye the interests of the whole, and of every part of the United States. DOMESTIC INTERESTS. Of the condition of the domestic interests of the Union, its agriculture, mines, manufactures, navigation, and commerce, it is necessary only to say that the internal prosperity of the coun try, its continuous and steady advancement in wealth and population, and in private as well as public Well.being, attest the wisdom of our in ' stitutions, and •the predominant spirit of intelli gence. and patriotism, which, notwithstanding occasional irregularities of opinion or action re sulting from popular freedom, hoe distinguished and characterized the people of America. • MR PRESIDENCY. In the brief interval between the termination of the last and the commencement of the pre sent session of Congress, the public mind has , been ocoupie,d, with the care of selecting, for another 'constitutional term, the President and 'Vice Preeiden of the United .States. ' The determination;of the persons who are of right, or contingently; to . preside over the ad /.•ministration •of. the government, is, under our systemi . oommitted to the States and the people. We appeal to them, by their voieb pronounced in the forms of law, to call whomsoever they will to the high post of, Chief , Magistrate: And thus it is that as the Senators represent the respective States of the Union, and the mem bers of , the Hou3e of Representatives the several constitnericiev of ,eaoh State, so the President represents the aggregate population of the Uni ted States. Their election of him is the explicit and solemn act of the sole sovereign authority of the Union. GREAT PRINCIPLES It is impossible to misapprehend the great principles, which by their recent political action, the people of the United States have sanctioned and announced. They have asserted the constitutional equality, oteach and'all of the States of the Union, as States; they have , affirmed the constitutional equality of each and all of the citizens of the United' StateS as citizens, whatever their religion, wherever their birth or residence; they have maintained the inviolability of the constitutional rights of the different sections of the Union ; and they have p t °claimed their devoted and unalter able attachment to the Union and to the Consti tution as objects of interest superior to all sub jects of local or sectional controversy, as the safeguard of the rights of all, as the spirit and the essence of the liberty, peace, and greatness of the Republic. GEOGRAPHIC/kJ, PARTIES In doing this, they have, at the same time, emphatically condemned the• idea of organizing in these 'United States, mere geographical parties; .of marshalling in hostile array towards each other, the different parts of the country, North or South, East or West. Schemes of this nature, fraught with incalcu lable mischief, and which the considerate sense of the people has rejected, could have had coun tenance in no part of the country, had they not been disguised ,by suggestions plausible in ap pearance, acting upon an excited state of the public ,mind, induced by causes temporary in their character, and it is to be hoped transient in their influence. Perfect liberty of association for political ob jects, and the widest scope of discussion, are the received and ordinary conditions of government in our country. Oar• institutions, framed in the spirit of, confidence in the intelligence and in tegrity of the people, do not forbid citizens, eith er individually or associated together, to attack by writing, speech, or any other methods !Alert of physical force, the Constitution and the very existence of the Union. Under the shelter of this great liberty, and, protected by the lawis and usages of the government they assail, associations have been formed, in some of the States ' of in. dividuels, who, pretending to seek only to pre " vent the spread of the institution of slavery into the present or future inchoate States of the Union, are really inflamed with desire to change the domestic institutions of existing States. To accoornplish their objects, they dedioate them selves to the odious task of depreciating the gov ernment organization which stands in their way, and of calumniating, with indiscriminate invec tive, not only citizens of particular States, with whose laws they find fault, but all others of their fellow-citizens throughout the country, who do • not participate with them in their assaults upon the Constitution, framed and adopted by our fathers, and claiming for the privileges it hies se cured, and the blessings it has conferred, the steady support and grateful reverence of their children. They seek an object which they well • know to be a revolutionary one. They , are per- featly aware that the change in the relative con dition of the white and black races in the slave holdiitg States, which they would proinote, beyond their lawftilauthority ; that to them it is a foreign- object ; that it cannot be effected by any. peaceful instrumentality of theirs _; that for them, and the States of which they. are citizens, .the only path to its accomplishMent is through burniag cities, and ravaged fields, and slaught ered populations, and all there is Most terrible in foreign • complicated with civil and servile war ; `and that the first step in the attempt is the for cible disruption of a country embracing in its broad bosom a degree of liberty, and an amount of individual and public prosperity, to which there is no parallel in history, and substituting in its place hostile governments, driven at once and inevitably into mutual devastation and fra tricidal carnage, transforming the now peaceful and, felicitous brotherhood into a vast permanent camp of armed men like the rival monarchies of Europe and Asia. Well knowing that such, and such only, are the means and the consequences of their ,plans and purposes, they endeavor to prepare the people of the United States for civil war by doing every thing in their power to de prive the. Constitution ,and the laws of moral authority, and to undermine the fabric of the Union by appeals to-passion and sectional preju dice, by indoctrinating its people with reciprocal hat;ed, , and by educating them to stand face to face as enemies, rather than shoulder to shoulder as friends. SECTIONAL - ,CONTROVERSY It is, by She ,agency: of such unwarrantable interference, foreign and domestic, that the minds of Many, "otherivise goodveltizens, have heen so inthuned into the passionate coudemna don of the domestic institutions of the southern States, as 'at length to pass insensibly to almost equally passionate hostility toward their fellow.. citizens . or those States, and thus finally to fall into temporary fellowship with the avowed and active -enemies of the Constitution. Ardently attached' to liberty In the abstract, they do' not stop to consider practically how.the objects they would attain can be accomplished, nor to reflect that, even if the evil were as great as they deem it, they have no remedy to apply, and that it can be-only 'aggravated by their violence and uncon stitutional action. A question, which is one of the most difficult of all the problems of social • institutions, political economy and statesman shipt_they treat with unreasoning interference of thought andlanguage. Extremesbeget extremes. • Violent Attack from the north finds its inevitable consequence In the growth of a spirit of angry defi ance at 'the south. • Thus in the progress of events hid reached that consummation, which the "voice of the people has now eo pointedly rebuked, of attempt of a , portion of the States ' by a sectional organization and move . went , to usurp the control of the government of the United States. confidently believe that the great body of Alegi who inconsiderately took this fatal step, are sincerely attached to the Constitution and the'llnion, They would, upon deliberation, ehrhskytith unaffected horror, from any conscious act of disunion, or civil war. But they have enteredlnto a path, which leads nowhere, unless it be to civil war or disunion, and which has no other possible outlet. They have proceeded • thus far in that direction in consequence of the succeeding stages-of their progress having con sisted of a semi; of secondary issues, each of which confessed' to be confined within coned .tntional and peacefullimits, but ;which attempted indirectly what few men were , williing to do di reitly; that is, tenet' aggressively against the constitutional rights of nearly one half of the thirty•one States. long se t ries of acts orindirect aggres aitsa,the` first was.the .istionnotis agitation, by g esis of ni nor thern Stator, in Cone and out of it, of the question of negro emancipation in the southern States. The second step in this path of evil consisted of acts of the people of the northern States, and in several instances of their governments, aimed to facilitate the escape of persons held to service in the southern States, and to prevent their ex tradition when reclaimed according to law and in virtue of express provisions of the Constitu tion. To promote this object, legislative enact. ments and other means were adopted to take away or defeat rights, which the Constitution solemnly guarantied. In order to nullify the then existing act of Congress concerning the ex tradition of fugitives from service, laws were enacted in many States, forbidding their officers, under the severest penalties, to participate in the execution of any act of Congress whatever. In this way that system of harmonious co-opera tion between the authorities of the United States and the several States, for the maintenance of their common institutions, which existed in the enrly years of the Republic, was destroyed; conflicts of jurisdiction came to be frequent; and Congress found itself compelled, for the sup port of the Constitution, and the vindication of its power, to authorize the appointment of new officers charged with the execution of its acts, as if they and the office.rs of the - States were the ministers, respectively, of foreign governments in a state of mutual hostility, rather than fellow magistrates of a common country, peacefully subsisting under the protection of one well•con• stituted Union. Thus, here, also, aggression was followed by reaction ; and the attackti upon the Constitution at this point did but serve to raise up new barriers for its defence and security, THE MISSOURI COMPROMISE The third stage of this unhappy sectional con troversy was in connection with the organization of territorial governments; and the admission' of new States into the Union. When it, was pro• posed to admit the State of Maine, by separation of territory from that of Maseachusetts, and the State of Missouri, formed of a portion of the territory ceded by France to the United States, representatives in Congress objected to the ad mission of the latter, unless with eonditions suited to particular views of public policy. The imposition of such a condition was surcessfully resisted. But, at the same period, the question was presented of imposing restrictions upon the residue of the territory ceded by Fiance. That question was, for the time, disposed of by the adoption of a geographical eof limitation. In this connexion it should not be forgotten that France, of her own accord, resolved, from considerations of the most far-sighted sagacity, to cede Louisiana to the United States; and that accession was accepted by the United States, the,latter expressly engaged that "the inhabi tants of the ceded territory shall be incorpor ated in the . Union of the United States, and ad mitted as soon as possible, according to the prin ciples of the . Federal Constitution, to the enjoy ment of all the rights, advantages, and immuni ties of citizens of the United States ; and in the meantime they shall be maintained and. protected in the free enjoyment of their - liberty, property, and the religion which they profess''—that is to say, while it remains in a territorial condition, its inhabitants are maintained.and protected in the free enjoyment of their liberty and property, with a right then to pass into the condition of States on a footing of perfect equality with the original States. The enactment, which established the restric tive geographical line was acquiesced in rather thattapproved by the States of the Union. It stood on the statute book, however, for a num ber of years ;.and the people of the respective States acquiesced in the re.enactment of the principle as applied to the State of Texas: and it was proposed to acquiesce in its further appli cation to the territory acquired by the United States from Mexico. But this proposition was euccessfully resisted by the representatives from the northern States, who, regardless of the stat ute line, insisted Upowapplyiug the restriction to the new territory generally, whether lying north or south of it, thereby repealing it as a legisla tive compromise, and, on the part of the North, persistently violating the compact, if compact there was. Thereupon this enactment ceased to have bind ing virtue in any sense whether as respects the North or the South; and so in effect it was treat. ed on the occasion of the admission of the State of California, and the organization of the Terri tories of New Mexico, Utah, and Washington. KANS AS AND NEBRASKA Such was the state of this question, when the time arrived for the organization of the territo ries of Kansas and Nebraska. In the progress of constitutional inquiry and reflection, it had now at length come to be seen clearly that Con gress does not possess constitutional power to impose restrictions of this character upon any 'present or future State of the Union. In a long series of decisions, on the fullest argument, and after the most deliberate consideration, the Su preme Court of the United States had finally de termined this point, in every form under which the question could arise, whether as affecting public or private rights—in questions of the pub lic domain, of religion, of navigation, and of servitude. STATE RIGHTS The'several States of the Union are, by force of the Constitution, co-equal in domestic legis lative power. Congress can not change a law of domestic relation in the State of Maine ; no more can it, in the State of Missouri. Any statute which-proposes to do this is a mere nullity; it takes away no right, it confers none. If it re mains on the statute book unrepealed, it remains there only as a monument of error, and a bea con of warning , to the legislator and the states man.- To repeal it will be only to remove imper fection•frorn the statutes, without affecting, eith er in the sense of permission or of prohibition, the action of the States, or of their citizens. REPEAL OF . THE COMPROMISE Still, when the nominal reetriction of this na ture, already a dead letter in law, was in terms repealed by-the last Congress, in a clause of the act organizing the territories of Kansas and Ne braska, that repeal was made the occasion of a wide-spread and dangerous agitation. It was alleged that the original enactment be ing a compact of perpetual moral obligation, its repeal constituted an odious breach of, faith. An act of Congress, while it remains unre pealed, more especially if be constitutionally valid in the judgment of those Public functiona ries whose duty it is to pronounbe on that point, is undoubtedly binding on the conscience of each good citizen of the Republic. But in what sense can it be, asserted that the enactment in question was invested with perpetuity and entitled to the respect of a ,solemn compact? Between whom was the compact? No distinct' contending pow ers of the government, no separate sections of the 'Union, treating as such, entered into treaty stipulations on the subject. It was a mere clause of an act of Congress, and like any other con troverted matter of legislation, received its final shape and was passed by compromise of the con flicting opinions or sentiments of the members of Congress. But if it bad moral authority over men's consciences, to whoin did this authority attach ? Not to those of the North, who had re , peatedly refused' to confirm it by - extension, and who had zealously striven to establish other and incompatible regulations upon the subject.' And if, as it thus appears, the supposed compact had no obligatory force as to the North, of course it could . not have bad any as to the South, for all such compacts must be mutual and of reciprocal obligation. It has not =frequently happened that law.. givers, with undue estimation of the value of the law they give, or in the view of imparting to it peculiar strength, make it perpetual in terms; but they cannot thus bind the conscience, the judgment, and the will of those who may succeed them, invested with similar responsibilities, and clothed with equal authority. More careful in vestigation may prove the law to be unsound in principle. Experience may show it to be imper fect in detail and impracticable in execution. And then both reason and right combine not merely to justify, but to require its repeal. The Constitution, supreme as it is over all the departments of the" government, legislative, executive, and judicial, is open to amendments by its very terms ; and Congress or the States may in their discretion propose amendments to it, solemn compact though it in truth is be tween the sovereign States of the Union. In the present instance, a political enactment, which had ceased to have legal power or author ity of any kind, was repealed.. The position assumed, that Congress had no moral right to enact =oh repeal, was strange enough, and sin gularly so in view of the s fact that the argument came from those openly refusing obedience to ex isting laws of the land, having the same popular designation and quality as compromise acts— nay, more, who unequivocally disregarded and condemned the most positive and obligatory in junctions of the Constitution itself, and sought, by every means within their reach, to deprive a portion of their fellow-citizens of the equal en joyment of those rights and privileges guaran teed alike to all by the fundamental compact of our. Union. This argument against the repeal of the statute line in question, was accompanied by another of congenial character, and equally with the farmer destitute of foundation in reason and truth. It TEE PRESBYTERIAN BANNER ANT) ADVOCATE. was imputed that the measure originated in the conception of extending the limits of slave labor beyond those previously assigned to it, and that such was its natural as well its intended effect; and these baseless assumptions were made, in the northern States, the ground of unceasing assault upon constitutional right EFFECT OF VIE REPEAL The repeal in terms of a Statute, which was already obsolete, and also null for unconstitu tionality, could have no influence to obstruct or to promote the propagation of conflicting views of political or social institutions. When the act organising the Territories of Kansas and Nebras ka was passed, the inherent effect upon that por tion of the public domain thus opened to legal settlement, was to admit settlers from all the States of the Union alike, each with his convic tions of public, policy and private interest; there to found in their discretion, subject to such limb. tations as the Constitution and acts of Congress might prescribe; new States, hereafter to be ad matted into the Union. It was a free field, open alike to all, whether the statute line of assumed restriction . were repealed or not. That repeal die not open to free competition of the diverse opinions and domestic institutions 'a field, which, without , such repeal, would have been closed against them : it found that field of competition already opened, in fact, and law. All the repeal did waste relieve the statute-book of an objec- , tionable enactment, unconstitutional in. effect, and injurious in terms to a large portion of the Is it the fact, that, in all the unsettled regions of the United States, if emigration be left free to. act in this respect for itself, without legal prohi bitions on either. Side, slave labor will spontane osly go everywhere, in preference to 'free labor'? Is it the fact, that the peculiar domestic: institutions of the Southern States possess relth tively BO much of vigor, that, whereeoever an avenue is freely open to all the world, they _will penetrate to the exclusion of the Northern States? Is it the fact, that the former enjoy,, compared with the latter, snchirresistibly superior vitality, independent of, climate, soil, and all otheracci dental circumstances, as to be able to prochade the supposed insult, in spite of the assumed moral and natural obstacles to' its accomplish ment, and of the more numerous population of the Northern States? IMPUTATIONS: The argument of those, who advocate the en actment of newlaws of restriction, and condetna the repeal of old ones, in &foot avers that their particular views of government have no self-ex tending or self sustaining power of their own, and wilt go nowhere unless forced by act Of Con gress. If Congress do hut pause fo'r a Moment in the policy of stern coercion.; if it venture to try the experiment of leaving'men to judge for themselVeS what institutions will best suit them; if it be not strained up to perpetual legislative exertion on this point ; if Congress proceed thus to act in the very, spirit of liberty, it, is at once charged with aiming to extend 'slave labor into all the new Territories of the United States. Of course, these imputations on the intentions of Congress in this respect, conceive.d, as they were in prejudice, and disseminated iti passion, are utterly destitute of any justification in the nature of things, and contrary to all the funds-. mental doctriaes and principles of civil liberty and self-government. AGITATIONS. While therefore, in general, the people of the northern States have never, at any time, arroga ted for the federal government the power to iu terfere directly with the donnstic condition= of persons in the southern States, but on the con trary have disavowed all such intentions, and have shrunk froin conspicuous affiliation with those few who pursue their farlatical objects avowedly through the contemplated means of revolutionary change of the government, and with acceptance of the necessary consequences— a civil and servile war—yet many citizens have suffered themselves to be drawn into one evanes cent political issue of agitation after another, appertaining to the same set of opinions, and which subsided as rapidly as they arose when it came to be seen, as it uniformly did, that they were incompatible with the compacts of the Constitution and the existence of the Union. Thus, when the acts •of some of the States to nullify the existing extradition law imposed upon Congress the duty of passing a new one, ^the country was invited by agitators to enter into party organization for its repeal; but that agi• tation speedily ceased by reason of the iinprac ticabilit3r of its object. So, when the statute of restriction upon the institutions of new States, by a geographical line, bad been repealed, the country was urged to demand its restoration, and that project also died almost with its, birth. Then followed the cry of alarm from the North against imputed Southern encroachments ; which cry, sprang in reality from the spirit of revolt'• tionaryattack on the domestic institutions of the South, and, after a troubled existence of a few months, has been rebuked by the voice of a pa triotic people. THE DISORDERS IN KANSAS. -- Of this last agitation, one lamentable feature was, that it was carried at the immediate ex pence of the peace and happiness of the people of the Territory of Kansas. "That was made the battle-field, not so much of opposing factions or interests within itself, as of the conflicting-pas sions of the whole people of the United States. Revolutionary disorder in Kansas had its origin in projects of intertention, deliberately arranged by certain members of that Congress, which enacted the law for the organization of the Ter ritory. And when propagandist colonization of Kansas had thus been undertaken in one section of the Union, for the systematic promotion of its peculiar views of policy, there ensiled, as a mat ter of course, a counter-action with opposite views, in other sections of the Union: In consequence of- these and other incidents, many acts of disorder, it is undeniable, have been perpetrated in Kansas, to the occasional inter ruption 'rather than the permanent , suspension, of regular government. Aggressive and most reprehensible incursions into the Territory were undertaken, both in the north and the south, and entered it on its northern border by the way, of lowa, as well as on the eastern by way of Mis souri; and there bas existed within it a state Of insurrection against the, constituted authorities, with countenance from inconsiderate persons in each of the great' sections of the Union. But the difficulties in that Territory. have been extravagantly exaggerrated for purposes of political agitation elsewhere. The number and gravity of the sots of violence have been magni fied partly by statements entirely untrue, and partly by reiterated accounts of the stone rumors or facts. Thus the Territory has been seeming. ly filled with extreme violence, when the whole amount of such acts has not been greater than what occasionally passes before us' in single cities to the regret of all good citizens, but with out being regarded as , of, general or political consequence. IRREGULARITY IN ELECTIONS. Imputed irregularities in the elections had in Kansas, like oecasionalirregularities of the same description in the States, were beyond the ephere of action of the Executive." But incidents of. actual violence or of organized obstruotion of law, pertinaciously renewed from time to time, have, been met as they Occurred, by such means as were available and as the circumstances re quired ; and nothing of this character new remains to affect the general peace of the Union. The attempt of a part of the inhabitants of the territory to erect a revolutionary government, though sedulously encouraged and supplied with pecuniary aid from active agents of disorder in some of the States, has completely failed. Bodies of armed men, foreign to the Territory, have been prevented from entering or compelled to leave it. Predatory bands, engaged in acts of rapine, under cover of the existing political dis turbances, have been arrested or dispersed. And every wetl‘ disposed person is tow enabled once more to devote himself in peace to the pursuits of prosperous industry, for:the prosecution of which he undertook to participate in the egttle ment of the Territory. EMPLOYMENT OF UNITED PTATES TROOPS. It affords me unmingled satisfaction tints to announce the peaceful condition of things in Kansas, especially considering the means to which it was necessary to have recourse for the attainment of the end, namely, the employment, of a part of the military force of the United; States. The withdrawal of that force from its proper duty of defending th• country against foreign foes or savages of the frontier, to employ it for the suppression of domestic insurrection, is, when the exigency occurs, a matter of the most earnest solicitude. On this occasion of im perative necessity it has been done with the best results, and my satisfaction in the attainment of such results by such, means is 'greatly enhanced' by the:consideration, that, through the wisdom and energy of the present Executive of Kansas, and the.prudence, firmness and vigilance of the military officers on duty there, tranquillity has been restored without one drop of blood havink been shed in its accomplishment by the forces of the United States. THE CONTROVERSY INEVITABLE. The restoration of comparative tranquility . . ,that • Territoryfni*shes-the:means of !observing. calmly, and nOreeinting at their just wane, the events which have occurred 'there, and the dis eussion&of which the government of the Terri tory has been the subject. its future perceive that .controversy concerning future domestic institutions was inevitable ; that no human prudence, no form of legislation, no wisdom on the part of Congress, could have pre*. vented this. CAUSE OP TUE AGITATION. It is idle to suppose that the particular pros visions of their organic:l law were the cause of agitation. Those provisions were but the °p ension, or the pretext of an agitation, which was inherent in the nature of things. Congress legislated upon the subject in such terms as were most consonant with the principle of popue lar sovereignty which underlies our government, It could not have legislated otherwise without doing violence to another great principle of our institutions, the inprescriptible right of equality of the several States. We perceiVe, also, that sectional interests and party . passions, have been the great impediment to the salutary operation of the organic princi ples adopted, and the chief cause of the gnome- Hive disturbance& in Kansas. The assumption that, beeause in the organization of the Territo ries of:Nebraska and Kansas, Congress abstained from imposing restraints upon them to which certain'other Territories had been subject, there fore disorders occurred in the latter Territory, is emphatically contradicted by the fact that none have occurred in the former Those disorders were' not the conseqrience, - KanSas, of the ft : ceder& "of • selflgovernment conceded to that Territorrhy Cengress, but of unjust interference on the part of persons riot inhabitants of the Territory. Such interference, wherever -it has exhibited itself, - by'actiof insurrectionary char acter, or of obstruction to processes of law, has been repelled ,or suppressed, by all the, means which the COristitution and the laws ;place in the hands of the Eiecutive. NO POWER TO CONTROL ELECTIONS. In those parts of the United States where, by reason of the inflathed;state of the public mind, false immorri.and misrepresentations have the greatest currency, it has been assumed that it was the duty of , the Executive not only to sup press insurrectionary" movements in Kansas, but also`to see to r the, regularity of local elections. It nestle little argument to show that the Presi.. . dent his no such'potver. All government in the United States rests substantially upon popular election. The freedom of elections is liable to be impaired by the intrusion of unlawful votes, or the exclusion of lawful ones, by improper in fluences, by violence, or by fraud. But the people of the United States are themselves the 'all-sufficient guardians of their own rights, and to suppose that they will not remedy, in due season, any such incidents of civil freedom, is to suPpose them to haVe ceased to be °snob'. eof self government.- The President of the United States has not power to, interpose in elections, to see to their freedom, to canvass their votes, or to pass upon their legality in the Territories any more than in the State's: If he had such "power the government might be republican in form, but, it would be a monarchy in fact;` and if he had undertaken to exercise it in the case of Kansas, he would have been' justly subject to the charge of usurpation, and of violation of the dearest rights of the people of the United States, UNWISE LAWS Unwise laws, equally with irregularities at elections, are, in periods of great excitement, the occasional incidents of even the freest and hest political institutions'. , But all experience denten strates that in a country like ours, where the right of self . constitution exists in the completest form, the attempt to remedy unwise legislation by resort to revolution, is totally out of plabe ; inasmuch as existing legal institutions afford more prompt and efficacious means for the re dress of wrong. THE REMEDY I confidently trust that now, when the peace- ful condition of .Kansas , affords opportunity for calm 'reflection and wise legislation, either the legislative assembly of the Territory, or Congress, will see that no act remains on its statute.book violative 'of the provisions of' the Constitution, or subversive of the great objects for which that was ordained and established, and will: take all other necessary steps to 'assure to its inhabitants the enjoyment, without obstruCtion or abridge- went, of .all the constitutional righti, privileges, and immunities of citizens of the United States, is contemplated by the organic law of the Ter . rit ory,. Full information in•relation to recent events in this Teiritoii will be found in the documents communicated herewith frem the Departments of State and Wad. THE 'TREASURY I refer you to the report,of the Secretary of the Treasury for particular infOrmation concern ing thetnancial condition of. the government. and the various branches of the public service connected with the Treasury Department. During the last fiscal year the receipts from customs were, for the first time, more than sixty four million of Aollars, and from all sources, seventy-three million nine hundred and eighteen thousand one hundred and. forty-one dollars; which; with the balance on:handuP to the,lst of July, 1855, made the total resources of the year to amount to ninety-two million eight hundred and fifty thousand one hundred and seventeen dollars. The expenditures, including three mil lion dollars in execution of the treaty with Mex ico, and excluding sums paid on account of the public debt, amounted to sixty million one bun. dred and 'seventy=tiro thousand four hundred and one dollars; and, inclnd ing the latter, to seventy two million nine hundred and forty-eight thou _ •sand seven hundred and ninety-two , dollars, the payment on this account having amounted to twelve, million .seven hundred and seventy-six titioni . ationliiie - bilndred and ninety dollars. TUB PUBLIC DEBT. On the 4th of March, 1853, the amount of the public debt was sixty-nine million one hundred and twenty-nine thou-and nine hundred add thirty. seven dollars. There was a subsequent increase of two million. -seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars for the debt of Texas—making a total of seventymone million eight hundred and seventy-nine thousand nine hundred and thirty. seven dollars. Of this thesnm of fortymfivemillion five hundred 'and twentymfive thousand three nundred and nineteen dollars, including premim um, has been.discharged, reducing the debt to thirty million seven hundred and thirty-seven thousand one hundred and twenty-nine dollars ; all which. might: be - paid within a year without embarrassing the public service, but being not yet due, and' only redeemable at the option of the holder, cannot be pressed to payment by the government: EXPENDITURES AND REDUCTION OF REVENUE On examining the expenditures of the last five years, it will. Xic seen that the average, deducting payments on, account of the patio debt and ten mil lions paid bytreaty to Mexico, had been but about forty-eight, million dollars. It is believed that, un der an economical administration of the government, the average expenditure for the ensuing five years will not exceed that sum, unless extraordinary °ces sion for its iricrense should occur. The acts grant ing bounty lands will soon have been executed, while the extension of our frontier settlements will cause a continued deniand for lands and augmented receipts, probably, from that source. These considerations' `Frill j'uatifya reditction of the revenue from customs, so as not to exceed forty-eight or fifty million dollars. I think the exigency for such redaction is imperative, and again urgelt upon- the consideration of Congress. The amount of reduction, as well as the manner of effecting it, are questions of great and general inte rest; it being essential to industrial enterprise and the Public . prosperity, as well as the, dictate of ob viousjustice,Ahat the burden f taxation be made to rest as equally as possible upon all classes, and all sections and interests of the country. REVENUE "LAWS. I have heretofore recommended to your considera tion the revision of the revenue laws, prepared under the direction 'of the Secretary of the Treasury, and also legislation upon some special qnestions affecting the business of that department, more especially the enactment of a law to punish the abstraction of offi cial books and papers and all other public property to be turned over by the out-going officer to hie sue cessor ;• of X law requiring disbursing officers to de posit all public moneys in the vaults of the treasury, or in other legal depositories, wherethe same are con veniently accessible • and a law to extend existing penal provisions to all persons who may become pos sessed of public money by deposit or otherwise, and mho shall i'efuse or neglect, on due demand, to pay the same into the treasury. I invite your attention anew to each of 'these objects.. THE ARMY The army during the past year has been so con stantly employed against hostile Indiana in various • quarters, that it Can scarcely be said, with propriety of language, to have been a peace establishment. Its duties have been satisfactorily performed, and we have reason to expect, us a result of the.year's opera tions, greater security to the frontier inhabitauts than has been hitherto enjoyed. Extensive conthinationa among the hostile Indians of the Territories of Washington and Oregon at one time threatened the devastation of the newly-formed settlements of that remote portion of the country. Prom recent infor mation, we are permitted to hope that the energetic and successful operations conducted there will .pre vent such. combinations in future, and secure to those Territories an opportunity to make steady progress in the development of their agricultural and mineral 'resources. - Legislation.haa been recommended by me on pre iioaa occasions to cure defects in the existing organi zation, and .to increase the efficiency - of the army ri and furiher obldrvatitno hat but eatveld tb ethiform me in the views then expressed, and to enforce on my mind the conviction that such measures are not only proper but necessary.' I have, in addition, to invite the attention of Con gress to a change of policy in the distribution of troops, and to the necessity of providing - a more rapid increase of the military armament. For details of these and other subjects relating to the army, I refer to the report of the Secretary of. War. THE NAVY. The condition of the navy is not merely satisfac tory, but exhibits the most gratifying evidences 'of increased vigor. As it is comparatively, small, it is more important that it should be as complete as pm- Bible in all the elements of strength; that it should he efficient in the character of its officers, in the zeal and dilicipline of its men, in the reliability of its ordnance, and in the capacity of its ships. . In all these various qualities the navy has made great pro .gress within the' last few years. The execution of the law of Congress, of February 28, 1855, "to pro mote the effieiency f the navy," has been attended by the most advantageous results. The law for pro moting discipline among the men is found convenient and, salutary. The system of granting an honorable. discharge to faithful seamen on the expiration of the period of their enlistment, and permitting' them tore-enlist after a leave of absence of a few months, without cessation of pay, is highly beneficial in its influence. The apprentice system recently adopted is evidently destined to incorporate into the service a large number of our countrymen hitherto so difficult to procure. Several hundred American boys are now. on a three years' cruise in our, national vessels, and will. return well trained seamen. In the ordnance department there is a decided and gratifying indica ; tion of progress creditable to it and to the country. The suggestions of the Secretary of the Navy, in regard to further improvement in that branch of the service, I commend to your favorable action. ,The •new frigates Ordered by Congress are now afloat, and two of them in active service. They are superior models of naval architecture, and with their formidable battery add largely to public strength and • security. . , I concur in the views expressed by the Secretes' , of the Department s in favor of a still further increase of our naval force. , • • . DEPARTMENT OT THE DITEILIOR.. The ,reeort of the Secretary of the Interior pre. 5014n9 foots and views in relation'4to internal affairs over which the supervision of his department ex tends; of much interest 'and importancm Tile aggregate sales of the public lands, during the last fiscal year, amount to nine million two hundred and twenty-seven-thousand eight hundred and sev enty-eight acres; for which has been receivedthe sum of. eight millions eight , hundred and twenty-ono thousand four hundred and fourteen dollars. Daring the same period there have been located, with Mili tary scrip and land warrants, and for other purposes thirty million one hundred thousand two hundred and thirty acres, thus makirg a total aggregate of thirty-nine million three hundred and twenty-eight thousand one hundred and eight acres. On the 30th of September last r aurveys had been made of sixteen million eight hundred and sevanty-three thousand six hundred and ninety-nine acres, a large proportion of which is ready for market. -- The suggestions in his report in regard to the com plication and , progressive expansion of the business of the different bureaux of the department; to the pension system; ; to the colonization of Indian tribes, and the. recommendations in relation to the, various improvements in the District of enlumbla, are espe cially recommended to your Consideration. THE POST OFFICE The report of the Postmaster General- presents fully the condition of that department of the goiern ment. Its expenditures for the last fiscal year, were ten million four hundred and seven thousand eight hundredand sixty-eight dollars; and its gross receipts seven million six hundred and twenty thousand eight hundred and one dollars--making.an excess of ex.: peuditure over receipts of two million seven hundred and eighty-seven thousand and forty six dollars. The deficiency of this department is thus seven hundred and forty-four thousand dollars greater than for the year ending June 30,1855. Of this deficiency, three' hundred and thirty thousand dollars is to be attribu ted to the additional compensation allowed post masters by the act of Congress - of June 22, 1854. The, mail faculties in every part of the country have been very. much increased in, that period, and the large addition of railroad serviee,amounting to seven thousand nine hundred and eight miles, has added largely to the cost of transportation. The inconsiderable augmentation of the income of the Post Office Department under the reduced rates of postage, and its increasing expenditures, must, for the present, make it dependent, to some extent, upon the treasury for stipport. -The recommenda tions of the Postmaster_: General, in relation to the abolition of the franking privilege, and his views on the establishment of mail steamship lines, deserve the emasideration.of. Congress. I also call the spe.. cial attention of Congress`to the statement of the Postmaster General respecting the sums now paid for the transportation ef, mails to the Panama Rail road Company, and commend to their 'early and fo-- vorable consideration the stiggestions of that officer in relation to new contracts for mail transportation upon' that route, and also upon the-Tehuantepec and Nicaragua routes. OUR FOREIGN RELATIONS. The United States continue in the enjoymerit of amicable relations with alt foreign powers. GREAT. BRITAIN. When my last annual' message was transmitted to Congress, two subjects of controversy, one relating to the enlistment cf soldiers in this country for foreign service, and the other to Central America, threatened to disturb good understanding between the United States and Great Britain. Of the progress and ter mination of the former question you were informed at the time; and the other is now in the way °flat iafactory adjustment. The object of the convention between the United States and Great Britain of the 19th of April, 1850, was to secure, for the benefit of all nations, the nett= trality and the common use of any transit way, or interoceanic communication, across the isthmus of Panama, which might be opened within the limits of Central America. The pretension subsequently as serted by Great Britain, to dominion or control over territories, in or near two of the routes, those of Ni oaragna• and Honduras, were deemed by the United States not merely incompatible with the. main object of the treaty, but opposed oven to its express stipu lations. Occasion of controversy on this point has bean removed by an additional treaty, which our minister at London has Concluded, and which will be immediately submitted to the Senate for its consid eration. Should the proposed supplemental ar rangement be concurred in by all the, parties to be affected by it, tbe objects contemplated by the origi nal convention will have been fully attained. The treaty between the United States and Great Britain, of the sth of June. 1854, which went into effective operation in 1855, put an end to causes of irritation between the two countries, by securing to the United States the right of fishery on the coast of the British North American provinces, with advan tages equal to those enjoyed by British subjects. Besides the signal benefits of this treaty to a large class of our citizens engaged , in a pursuit connected to no inconsiderable degree with our national pros perity and 'strength, it has had a favorable effect upon other interests in the provision it made for re ciprobal freedom of trade between the United States and the British provinces in America. The exports of domestic articles to those provinces during the last year amounted to more than twenty two millions of dollars, exceeding those of the pre ceding year by nearly seven millions of dollars ; and the' imports therefrom, during the same period, amounted to more than twenty-one millions—an in crease of six millions upon those of the previous year. The improved condition of this branch of our commerce is mainly attributable to the above men tioned treaty. Provision was made, in the first article of that treaty, for a commission to-designate the mouths of rivers to which the common right of fishery, on the coast of the United States nod British Provinces, was not to extend. This commission has been employed a part of two seasons, but without much progress in accomplishing the object for which it was instituted, in consequence of a serious difference of opinion be tween the commissioners, not only as to the precise point where the rivers terminate, but in many in stances as to what constitutes a river. These_diffi culties, however, m ty be overcome by resort to the nuipirage provided for by the treaty. DENMARK. The efforts perseveringly prosecuted since the commencement of my administration, to relieve our trade to the Baltic from the exaction of sound dues by Denmark, have not yet been attended with suc cess. Otter governments have also sought to obtain a like relief to their commerce, and Denmark was thus induced to propose an arrangement to all the European powers interested in the subject; and the manner in which her proposition was received, war ranting her to believe that a satisfactory arrange ment with thorn could soon be concluded, she made a strong appeal to this country for a temporary sus pension of definite action on its part, in considera tion of the embarrassment which might result to her European negotiations by an immediate adjustment of the question with the United States. This re quest has been acceded to, upon the condition that the sums collected after the 16th of June last, and until the 16th ofJune next, from vessels and cargoes belonging to our merchants, are to be considered as paid under the protest, and subject 'to future adjust went. There is reason to believe that an arrange ment between Denmark and the maritime powers of Europe on the subject, will soon be concluded, and that the pending negotiation with the United States may then be resumed and terminated in a satisfacto ry manner. SPAIN. With Spain no new difficulties have arisen, nor has much progress been made in the adjustment of pend ing ones. Negotiations entered into for the purpose of re- Having our commercial intercourse with the Island of Cuba of some of its burdens, and providing for the more speedy settlement of local disputes grow. ing, out of that intercourse, have not yet been atten ded with any results. NEUTRAL COMMERCE. Soon after the commencement of the late war in Europe, this government submitted to the considera tion of all,maratime nations, two principles for the security of neutral commerce: one, that the neutral flag should cover enemies' goods, except articles con traband of war; and the other , hat neutral property 'on board merchant vessels of belligerents should be exempt from eciatemnetion, with the eiceptibe of contraband articles. These were not presented as new rules of international law; having been gener ally claimed by neutrals ' though not always admitted by belligerents. One of the parties to the war— Russia-,-as well as several neutral powers, promptly acceded to those propositions;, and the two other principal belligerants—Great Britain and France— having consented to observe thein. for the present ,oceasion, a favorable opportunity seemed to be pre sented for obtaining a general recognition of them both in Europe and America. But Great Brstain and France, in common with most of the states, of Europe, while forbearing to re ject, did not affirmatively ant upon the overtures of the United States. While.the question was in, this position, the Rep resentativea of Russia, France, Great Britain, Ads tria, Prussia, Sardinia, and Turkey, assembled at Paris, took into consideration the subdect of mare time rights, and put forth a declaration containing the two principles which this government had sub , mitted, nearly two years before, to the consideration of maratime powers, and adding thereto the folloir ing propositions: Privateering is and remains abolished," and " Blockades, in order to be binding, must be effective, that is to Bay, maintained by a force, sufficient really, to prevent access to the coast of the enemy;" and. to the declaration thus composed of four points, two of which had already been pro posed by the United States, this gpvernment hasbeen invited to accede by all the powers represented at Paris, except Great Britain and Turkey. To the Last of the two additional propositions—that in relation to blockades—there can certainly be no objection. It is merely the definition of what shall constitute the effectual investment of a blockaded place, a defi nition for which this government has always con tended,, claiming indemnity for losses where a practi cal violation of the rule, thus defined has been injn. emit; to our commerce. PRIVATEERINg. As to Jim remaining article of the declaration of the conference of Paris, " that privateering is and re- Mains abolished,"-:-.1. certidrily cannot ascribe to the powers represented in the conference of. Paris, tiny bat liberal and philanthropic views in the atttempt to change the unquestionable rule of maritime law in regard to privateering. Their proposition was doubtless intended to imply approval of the principle that private property upon the ocean,, although it might belong to citizens of a belligerent state, Shoara be exempted from capture; and had that'propositiOn been so framed as to giltefulleffect to the principle, it Would haie received my ready unfit on behalf of the United States. But the measure proposed is in adequate to that purpose. It is true that if adopted, private property upon the ocean would he Withdrawn from onemode of plunder, but left exposed, mean while, to another mode, which could be used with in creased effectiveness. The aggressive capacity of great naval powers would be thereby greatly aug mented, while the defensive ability of others ytould be reduced. Though the surrender of the means of prosecuting hostilities by employing privateers, as proposed' by' the conference of Paris, is mutual in terms, yet, in practical effect, it would be the relit'• quishment of a right of little value, to one class of states, but of essential importance to another and a far larger class. It ought not to Nave been antici. pated that a measure, so inadequate to the aceom plishment of the proposed object, and so, unequal in its operation, would receive the 'assent of 'all mari time powers. Private property would be still left to theelepredations of the•publie armed ; cruisers. THE PRESIDENT'S PROPOSITION I have expressed a readiness on the part of this, government to accede to alt the principles contained in the declaration of the conference of - Paris,' provi ded that relating to the abandonreent of privateer jug can be so amended as to effect the object for which, as is presumed, it was intended, the immuni ty of private property on the ocean from hostile cap ture. To effect this object, it is proposed to add to the declaration that "privateering is and remains , abolished," the following, amendment: "And .that, the private property of subjects and citizens,of a bel- . ligerent on the high, seas, shall be exempt from. sei-, sure by the public armed vessels of the other bellige-' rent, except it be contraband." This amendment has been presented not only to the , powers which have asked our assent to the declaration to abolish privateering, but to all other maritime states: Thus' far it has not been rejected by any, and is favorably' entertained by all which have made any communica tion in reply.. RUSSIA AND FRANCE ACCEPT. Several of the governments, regarding with favor the proposition of the United States,' have delayed 'definitive action upon it, only for the purpOse of cen , suiting with 'others, parties to the Conference of • Paris_ I have the satisfaction of stating, however; that the Emperor of Russia has entirely and expli citly approved - of that modification, and will co-ope rate in endeavoring to obtain the assent of other powers; aad that assurances of a similar purport have been received in relation to the diaposition of the Emperor of thegrench. The preient aspect of this important subject' al lows us to cherish the hope that a principle so hrt mane in its character, so just and equal in its opera tion, so essential to the'prosperity of commercial na. dons, and so consonant to the sentiments of this en lightened period of the world, will command the ap probation of all Maritime powers, and thus be Moor ,porated.into the code; of international law. My views on,the subject are more fully set forth in the.reply of the Secretary of Btate,.a copy of which is herewith transmitted, to, the communications on the subject made to this government, eve:6l6lllM `the camniunieatioa of France. TELE AkIBRICAN STITES The Government of the United States has at all 'times regarded with friendly interest the other States •of America, formerly, like this country, European colonies P arid now independent members of, the great 'family of nations. But the unsettled condition of some of them, distracted by frequent revolutions, and thus incapable of regular and firm internal ad ministration, has tended to embarrass oeciaionally our . publio intercourse, by reason of wrongs which our citizens suffer at their hands, and which they are slow to redress. NBRICO Unfortunately, it is against the Republic of Mex ico, with whioh it is our special desire to maintain a good understanding, that such complaints are moat numerous; and although earnestly urged upon its attention; they have not as yet received the consid eration which this government had a right to expect. While reparation for past injuries has been withheld, others have been added. The political condition of that country, however, has been such as to demand forbearance on the part of the United States. I shall continue my efforts to procure for the wrongs of env citizens that redress which is indispensable to the continued friendly association of the two republics NICARAGUA The Peculiar condition of affairs in Nicaragua in the early part of the present year, rendered it impor tant that this government -should have diplomatic relations with that state: Through its territory had been opened. one of the principal thoroughfares across the isthmus, connecting North and South America, on which a vast amount of property was transported, and to which our citizens resorted in great numbers, in passing between the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the United States. The protection of both required that the existing power ID that state should be regarded as a responsible govern ment; and its minister was accordingly received. But ha remained here only a short time. Soon thereafter the political affairs of Nicaragua under went unfavorable change, and became involved in much uncertainty and confusion. Diplomatic repre sentatives from two contending parties have been recently sent, to this government; but, with the im perfect . information possessed, it was not possible to decide whioh.waa the government de facto; and, awaiting further developments, I have refused to receive either. ' NEW GRANADA Questions of the most Barium nature are pending - between the United States and the Republio of New Granada. The government of that republic under took, a year since, to impose tonnage duties on for elgp vessels in her ports, bu t the purpose was resisted by this government, as being contrary to existing treaty stipulation with the United States, and to rights conferred by charter upon the Panama Railroad Company, and was accordingly relinquished at that time, it being admitted that our vessels were entitled to be exempt from tonnage duty in the free ports of Panama and Aspinwall. But the purpose has been recently revived, on the part of New Granada, by the enactment of a lavr to subject vessels visiting her ports to the tonnage duty of forty cents per ton; and, although the law has not been put in force, yet the right to enforce it is still asserted, and may, at any time, be acted on by the government of that republic. The Congress of New Granada has also enacted a law, during the last year, which levies a tax of more than three dollars on every pound of mail matter transported across the Isthmus. The sum thus re quired to be paid on the mails of the United States would be nearly two millions of dollars annually, in addition to the large sum payable by contract to the Panama Railroad Company. If the only objection to this exaction were the exorbitancY of its amount, it could not be submitted to by the United States. The imposition of it, however, would obviously contravene our treaty with New Grenada, and in fringe.the contract of that republic with the Panama Railroad Company. The law providing for this tax was,by its terms, to take effect on the Ist of Septem bor ast, but the ecal authorities on the Isthmus have been induced to suspend its execution, and to await further instructions on the subject from the govern ment of the republic. I am not yet advised of the determination of that government. If a measure so extraordinary in its character, and so clearly con trary to treaty stipulations, and the contract rights of the Panama Railroad Company, composed mostly of American citizens, should be persisted in, be the duty of the United States to resist its execution. THE PANAMA OUTRAGE. I regret exceedingly that occasion exists to invite year at. Motion to a subject of still graver import in our relations with the Republic of New Granada. On the fifteenth of April las t . a riot One assemblage of the inhabitants of Padayna ma committed a violent and outrageous attack on the pre mises of the railroad company, and the passenger@ and other persons in or near the me, inv o lyi ng . several citizens of the United sa States„the pillage of man y the death of others. and the destruction of a huge amount of property belonging to the railroad company. ea oae d full UM of that event to be made, and the result shows sagest iga- torily that complete responsibility for what occurred at- . Ladies to the government Of:New Granada. I have, there fore, demanded of that govet-nat ta t that the perpetrators of the wrongs in question should be punished; that provision should be loads for the familiee of citizens of the United p S t r ot lhowerefpljindemnity far the property dr deduitlyert. TELE ISTIIIIIIB The present condition of the Isthmus of Panama, i n far as regards the security of persons and property pu s i ng over it, requires serious consideration. Recent incidents, tend to show that the local authorities cannot be relied on, to maintain the public pence of Panama, and there is Just ground for app ehension that a portion or the inhabitant s are meditating further outrages, without adequate nee. sures for the security and protection of persons or property having been taken, either by the State of Panama or the general government of Best Unmade- Under the guaranties of treaty, citizens of the 'United States have, by the outlay of several millions of dollars, con. strutted a railroad across the Isthmus, and it has become the main route between onr Atlantic and Pacific posse-23t0n% over which multitudes of our citizens and a vast amend of property are constantly passing—to the security and protec tion of all which, and the continuance of the public edvas_ tages involved, it is impossible for the government of the United States to be indifferent. . . . I have deemed the danger of the recurrence of scenes of law less violence in this quarter so imminent as to matte it my duty to station a part of our naval force lu the harbors of Pans. ma and Aspinwall,. in order to protect the persons and pre_ perty of the citizens of the United' States in those ports, and to insure to them safe passage across the Isthmus. And it would, in my judgment, be unwise to withdraw the naval force now in those ports, until, by the spontaneous action of the republic of New Granada, or otherwise, some adequate airanizement shall have been made for the protection and security of a line of inter-oceanic communication so Impor tant .at this time, not to the United States only, but to all other maritime States both of Europe and Amt rice. Meanwlule, negotiations have been instituted by means of a special commission, to obtain from New Granada fall demnity for inparien received by oar citizens on the Isthnon, aud satisfactory security for the general interests of th e - United States. VALEDICTORY CONGRATULATION. In addreseing to you my last annual message, theoceision seems to me an appropriate one to express my congrntula• time in view of the peace, greatness, and felicity which the United States now possess and enjoy.- To point you to the state of the various departments of the government, and of all the great branches of the public service, civil and mit , they, in order to speak of the intelligence and the integrity which pervades the whole,' would be to indicate but imper fectly the administrative condition of the country, and the beneficial' effects of that on the general welfare Nor weeid it suffice to say that-the nation is actually at peace at bone aid abroad; that its industrial hateresteare prosperous; th a t the canvas of its mariners whitens every sea; and the plough of its hnsbandmen is marching steadily onward to the• bloodless congueet of the continent; that cities and poi.. ulons States are springing up, as if by enchantment, from the bosom of our western wilds, and that the cenrageou l energy of our people is milling of these United Stets the great republic of the world. These results have not been at tained without passing through triels and perils, by experi. once of which, and thus only, nations can harden into man hood. Our forefathers were trained to the wisdom which conceived, and the courage which achieved independence, by the eireimetances which atirrounded them, and they were thus made capable of the Creation of the republie. It de volved on the next generation to consolidate the work of the revolution, to deliver the country entirely from the in. flueeeee of conflicting transatlantic partialities or antea. this, which attached to onr colonial and revolutionary his tory, and to organize the practical operation