The Sun. — London, England, 1835-12-30 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONIRVi‘i, I. ..ITE4IDNESDAY, DECEMBER 30, .18:i5_ lIESSAGE or THE PRESIDENT crimination is made in the ports of the United States. Giving the same privileges, the Belgians expected the seine .benefits—benefits that were in fact enjoyed when Belgium and Holland were united under one government. Satisfied with the justice of their pretensions to be placed on the same footing with Holland, I could not, nevertheless, ivithaut disregard to the principle of our laws, admit their claim to be treated as Americans ; •and at the same time a respect for Congress, to whom the subject had long since been referred, has prevented me from producing a just equality by taking from the vessels of,Holland privileges conditionally granted by : Acts of Congress, although the condition upon which the grant was made, has, in my judg ment, failed since 1322. I recs.-amend, therefore, a review of the Act of 1324, and such a m odification of it as will produce an equality on such terms as Congress shall thiok best comports with our settled policy, and the obligations of justice to two friendly Powers. With the Sublime Porte, and all the Governments on the coast of Barbary, our relations continue to be friendly. The proper steps have been taken to renew our treaty with Morocco. The Argentine -Republic has again promised to send within the current year, a Minister to the United States. A Convention with Mexico, for extending the time for the appointment of Commissioners to run the boundary line, has been concluded, and will be submitted to the Senate. Recent events in that country have awakened the liveliest solicitude in the United States. Aware of the strong temptations existing, and powerful inducements held out to the citizens of the United States to mingle in the dissensions of our immediate neighbours, instruc tions have been g iven to the District Attorney s of the United States, where indications warranted it, to prose cute, without respect of persons, all who might at tempt to violate the obligations of our neutrality, while at the same time it has been thought necessary to ap prise the Government of Mexico that we should require the integrity of our territory to be scrupulously respected by both parties. From our diplomatic agents in Brazil, Chili, Peru, Central America, Venezuela, and New Grenada, constant assurances are received of the continued good understand ing with the Governments to which they are severally ac credited. With those Governments upon which our citi zens have valid and accumulating claims scarcely an ad c anen towards a settlement of them is made, owing mainly to their distracted state, or to the pressure of im perative „domestic questions. Our patience has been, and will probably be still further severely tried ; but our fel low-citizens whose interests are involved may confide in the determination of the Government to obtain for them, eventually, ample retribution. Unfortunately, many of the nations of this hemipbere are still self-Amented by domestic dissensions. Revolution succeeds revolution, injuries are committed upon foreigners engaged in lawful pursuits, snitch time elapses before a Go vernment sufficiently stable is erected to justify expectation -of redress—Ministers aro sent and received, and before the discussions of past injuries are fairly begun, fresh troubles arise ; but too frequently new injuries are added to the old, to be discussed together, with the existing Government, after it has proved its ability to sustain the assaults made upon it, or with its successor, if overthrown. If this unhappy condition of things continues much longer, other nations will be under the painful necessity of deciding whether jus tice to their suffering citizens does not require a prompt redress of injuries by their own power, without waiting for the establishment of a Government competent and enduring enough to discuss and to make satisfaction for them. RELATIONS BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES AND F. Since the last session of Congress, the solidity of our claims upon France, as liquidated by the treaty of 1831, has been acknowledged by both branches of her Legis lature, and the money has been appropriated for their discharge ; but the payment is, I regret to inform you, still withheld. A brief recapitulation of the most important incidents in this protracted controversy will show how utterly untenable are the g rounds upon which this course is attem p ted to be justified. On entering upon the-duties of my station, I found the United States an unsuccessful applicant to the justice of France, for the satisfaction of claims the validity of which was never questionable, and has now been most solemnly admitted by France herself. The antiquity of these claims, their high justice, and the aggravating circumstances out of which they arose, are too familiar to the American . people to require description. It is sufficient to say that for a period of ten years and upwards our commerce was, with little interruption, the subject of constant aggression on the part of France—aggressions, the ordinary features of which were condemnations of vessels and cargoes under arbitrary decrees, adopted in contravention, as well of Me" laws of nations as of treaty stipulations—burnings on the high seas, and seizures and confiscations under special Imperial- re scripts, in the ports of other nations occupied by the ar mies, or under the control of France. Such, it is now conceded, is the character of the wrongs we suffered — wrongs in many eases so flagrant, that even their authors never denied our right to reparation: Of the extent of these injuries, some conception may be formed from the fact. that, after the burning of a large amount at sea, and the necessary deterioration, in other cases, by long detention, the American property so seized and sacrificed at forced sales, excluding what was adjudged to privateers, before or without condemnation, &ought into the French Treasury upwards of twenty-four millions of francs, besides large custom-house duties. • The subject had already been an affair of twenty years uninterrupted negotiation, except for a short time, when France was overwhelmed by the military power of united Europe. During this period, whilst other nations were ex torting from her payment of their claims at the point of the bayonet, the United States intermitted their demand for justice out of respect to the oppressed condition of a gallant people, to whom they felt under obligations for fraternal assistance in her own days of suffering and of peril. The bad effects of these protracted and unavailing discussions, as well upon our relations with France as upon our national character; were obvious ; and the line of duty was to my mind equally so. This was, either to insist upon the adjustment of our claims within a' reasonable period, or to abandon them altogether. I could not doubt that by this course the interest and honour of both countries would be best consulted. Instructions were therefore given in this spirit to the Minister, who was,sent out once more to de mand reparation. • Upon the meeting of Congress, in De cember, 1829, I felt it my duty to speak of these claims and the delays of France, in, terms calculated to call the serious attention of both countries to the subject. The then French Ministry took exception to the Message, on the ground of its containing a menace, under which it was not agreeable to the French Government to negotiate. The American Minister, of his own accord, refuted the con struction which was attempted to be put upon the Mes sage, and at the same time called to the recollection of the French Ministry, that the President's Message was a com munication addressed, not to foreign Governments, but to the Congress of the United States, in which it was enjoined upon him, by the Constitution, to lay before that body infor mation of the state - of the Union, comprehending its foreign as well as its domestic relations ; and that if, in the discharge of this duty, lie felt it incumbent upon - him to summon the attention of Congress in due time to what might be the possible consequences of existing difficulties with any foreign Government, he might fairly be supposed to do so, under a sense of what was due from him in a frank communication with another branch of his own Govern ment, and not from any intention of holding a menace over a foreign power. The views taken by him received my approbation, the French Government was satisfied, and the negotiation was continued. It terminated in the treaty of July 4, 1831, recognising the justice of our claims in part, and promising payment to the amount of 25 millions of francs, in six annual instalments. The ratifications of this treaty were exchanged at Wash ingten on the 2d of February, 1832, and in five days there after it was laid before Congress, who immediately passed the acts necessary, on our part, to secure to France the commercial advantages Conceded to her in the compact. The treaty had previously been solemnly ratified by the King of the French, in terms which are certainly not mere matters of form, and of which the translation is as follows : We, approving the above convention, in all and each of the dispositions which are contained in it, do declare, by ourselves, as well us -by our heirs and successors, that it is accepted, approved, ratified, and confirmed ; and by these presents, signed by our hand, we do accept, approve, ratify, and confirm it ; promising, on the faith and word of a King, to observe it, and to cause it• to be observed inviolably, without ever contravening it, or suffering it to be contra vened, directly or indirectly, for any cause, or under -any pretence whatsoever." Official information of ratifications in the United States reached Paris whilst the Otiambers were in session. The extraordinary, and to us injurious, delays of the French Government, in their action upon the subject of its fulfil ment, have been heretofore stated to Congress, and I have no disposition to enlarge upon them here. It is sufficient to observe that the then pending session was allowed to ex pire without even an 'effort to obtain the necessary appro priations ; that the two succeeding ones were also suffered to pass away without any thing like a serious attempt to obtain a decision upene the subject : and that it was not un til the fourth session, -almisse.t three years after the con clusion of tlO treaty, and more than two years after the exchange of ratifications, that the Bill for the execution of the treaty was -pressed to a vate, and rejected; In the meantime the Government of the United States, having full confidence that a treaty entered into and so so lemnly ratified by the- French King, would be executed in geed faith ; and not - doubting that provision would be made for the ryrnent of tl4 . 4r4 iiaoaltuent , which was to OF THE UNITED STATES. (From the New 1',*(14 Journal of Cominerce,r Dec. 9. ) The two Houses convened on Monday, in their respec tive Chambers. The Vice-President of the United States, being President of the Senate ex-ofiL•.io, took the Chair in thaCbody. The secretary and under officers will not be chosen till Monday next. In the House of Representa tives, on the first ballot, James K. Polk, of Tennessee, a Vein Buren man, was elected Speaker. Messrs. Blair and Rives, of the Globe, were elected printers to the House. The Message was delivered soon after the commence ment of the Session on Tuesday. The part relating to France, as was anticipated, is - pacific, though firm—charao teristics which accord unquestionably with the general of the nation.. The President most distinctly disavows the idea of menace in his former Message, - but as distinctly states that no other " explanation" will be given than what has been given already. Probably, however, this very Message will be regarded by the French Government as containing the " explanation" required ; and yet, in some respects, it is not wanting in severity. PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE. PFLLOW CITIZENS OF TIM SENATE AND THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES —In the discharge of my official duty, the task again devolves upon me of communicating with a new Congress. The reflection that the representa tion of the Union has been recently renewed, and that the constitutional term of its service will expire with my own, heightens the.solicitude with which I shall attempt to lay before it the state of our national concerns, and the devout hope which I cherish, that its labours to improve them may be crowned with success. You are assembled at a period of profound interest to the American patriot. The unexampled growth and prosperity of our c ountry having given us a rank in the scale of na tions which removes all apprehensions of danger to our in tegrity and independence from external foes, the career of freedom is before us, with an earnest from the past, that, if true to ourselves, there can be no formidable obstacle in the future, to its peaceful and uninterrupted pursuit. Yet, in proportion to the disappearance of those apprehensions which attended our weakness, as once contrasted with the power of the States of the old world, should we now be so licitous as to those which belong to the conviction that it is to our own conduct we must look for the preservation of those causes, on which depend the excellence and the dura tion of our happy system of Government. In the example of other systems, founded on the will of the people, we trace to internal dissension the influences which have so often blasted the hopes of the friends of free dom. The social elements, which were strong and successful when united against external danger, failed in the more difficult task of properly adjusting their own internal orga nization, and thus gave way the great principles of self government. Let us trust that this admonition will never be forgotten by the Government or the people of the United States ; and that the testimony which our experience thus far holds out to the great human family, of the practicability and the blessings of free Government, will be confirmed in all time to come. We have but to look at the state of our agriculture, ma nufactures, and commerce, and the unexampled increase of our population, to feel the magnitude of the trust committed to us. Never, in the former period of our history, have we had greater reason than we now have to be thankful to Divine Providence for the blessings of health and ge neral prosperity. Every bra nch of labour we see crowne with the most abundant rewards ; in every element of national resources and wealth, and of individual comfort, we witness the most rapid and solid improvements. With no inter ruption to this pleasing prospect at home, which will not yield to the spirit of harmony and good-will that so strikingly pervades the mass of the people in every quarter, amidst all the diversity of interest and pursuits to which they are attached ; and with no cause of solicitude in regard to our external affairs, which will not, it is honed, disappear before the principles of simple justice and the forbearance that mark our intercourse with foreign Powers—we have every reason to feel proud of our beloved country. The general state of our foreign relations has not ma terially changed since my last annual Message. In the settlement of the question of the north-eastern boundary, little progress has been made. Great Britain has declined acceding to the proposition of the United States, presented in accordance with the resolution of the Senate, unless certain preliminary conditions were admitted, which I deemed incompatible with a satisfactory and rightful ad justment of the controversy. Waiting for some distinct proposal from the Government of Great Britain, which has been invited, I can only repeat the expression of my confi dence, that with the strong mutual disposition which I be lieve exists, to make a just arrangement, this perplexing question can be settled with a due regard to the well founded pretensions and pacific policy of all the parties to it. Events are frequently occurring on the north-eastern fron tier of a character to impress upon all the necessity of a speedy and definitive termination ,of the dispute. This consideration, added to the desire, common to both, to re lieve the liberal and friendly relations so happily existig between the two countries from all embarrassments, M, no doubt, have its just influence upon both. Our diplofnatic intercourse with Portugal has been re newed, and it is expected that the claims of our citizens, partially paid, will be fully satisfied as soon as the Queen's Government will permit the proper attention to the subject of them. That Government has, lam happy to inform you, manifested a determination to act upon the liberal principles which have -marked our commercial policy—the happiest effects to the future trade - between the United States and Portugal are anticipated from it, and the time is not thought to be remote when a system of perfect reci procity will be established. The instalments due under the Convention with the King of the two Sicilies have been paid with that scrupu lous fidelity by which his whole conduct has been charac terized ; and the hope is indulged, that the adjustment of the vexed question of our claims will be followed by a more extended and mutually beneficial intercourse between the two countries. The internal contest still continues in Spain. Dis• tinguished as this struggle has unhappily been, by in cidents of the most sanguinary character, the obligations of the late treaty of indemnification with us have been, nevertheless, faithfully executed by the Spanish Govern- ment. No provision having been made at the last Session of Congress for the ascertainment of the claims to be paid, and the apportionment of the funds, under the convention made with Spain, I invite your early attention to this sub ject. The public evidences of the debt have, according to the terms of the convention, and in the forms prescribed by it, been placed in the possession of the United States, and the interest, as it fell due, has been regularly paid upon them. Our commercial intercourse with Cuba stands as regulated by the Act of Congress. No re-• cent information has been received as to the disposition of the Government of Madrid on this subject ; and the la mented death of our recently-appointed Minister, on his way to Spain, with their pressure of their affairs at home, render it scarcely probable that any change is to he looked for during the coming year. Further portions of the Flo rida archives have been sent to the United States, although the death of one .of the Commissioners, at a critical mo ment, embarrassed the progreas of the delivery of them. The higher officers of the local Government have recently shown an anxious desire, in compliance with the orders from the parent Government, to facilitate the selection . and delivery of all we have a right to claim. Negotiations have been opened at Madrid for the esta blishment of a lasting peace between Spain and such of the Spanish Amorican Governments of this hemisphere as have availed themselves of the intimation given to all of them, of the disposition of Spain to treat upon the basis of their entire independence. It is to be regretted that simulta mous appointments, by all, of ministers to negoeiqte with Spain had not been made ; the negotiation itself would have been simplified, • and this long-standing dispute, spreading over a large portion of the world, would have been brought to a more speedy conclusion. Otir political and comwercial relations with Austria, Prus sia, Sweden, and Denmark, stand on the usual favourable bases. One of the articles of our treaty with Russia, in relation to the trade on the North-west coast of America, baVing expired, instructions have been given to our Minister at St. Petersburg to negociate a renewal of it. The long and unbroken amity between the two Go vernments gives every reason for supposing the article will be renewed, if stronger motives do not exist to 'pre vent it than, with our • view of the subject, can be anti cipated here. I ask your attention to the Message of my predeces sor at the. opening of the second session of the nine teenth Congress, relative to our commercial intercourse With Holland, and .to the documents connected with that subject, communicated to the House of Represen tatives en the 10th of January, 1825, and 18th January, 1827. Coinciding in the opinion of my predecessor, that Holland is not, under the regulations of her pre sent system, entitled to have her • vessels and their car goes ,received into the United States on the footing of American vessels and cargoes, as regards duties of ton- - nage and impost, a respect for his reference of it to'the Legislature has alone prevented me firms going on the subject. I should still have waited, without conment, for the action of Congress, but recently a claim has been resat?, by Belgian subjects to admission into our ports for their ships and cargoes, on the same footing as American ; with the allegation, which we could not dispute, that our ves sels received in their ports the identical treatment shown o them in the ports of Holland, upon whose vessels no dis i)econie due on the 23 of February,.ll333, negociated a draft for the amount through the Bank of the United States:. ' When this draft was presented by the h older, with the credentials required bv the treaty to authorise, him to re ceive the money, the Government of France allowed it to be protested. In addition to the injury in the non-payment of the money by France conformably to her engagement, the United States were -exposed to a heavy claim on the pat of the Bank, under pretence of damages, in 'satisfaction of •ssliich that institution seized upon, and still retains', an equal amount of the public moneys. Congress •was in session when the decision of the Chambers reached Wash ngton, and an immediate communication of this apparently inal decision of France not to fulfil the stipulations of the .reaty was the course naturally to be expected from the President. The deep tone of dissatisfaction which perva led the public mind, and the correspondent excitement pro luced in Congress by only a general knowledge of the re rendered it more than probable that a resort to imme diate measures of redress would be the consequence of call ing the attention of that body to the subject. Sincerely desirous of preserving the pacific relations • which had so icing existed between the two countries, I was anxious to avoid this course, if I could be satisfied that by doing so, neither the interest nor the honour of my country would be compromised. Without the fullest assurances upon that point, I could not hope to acquit myself of the re sponsibility to be incurred in suffering Congress to adjourn without laying the subject before them. Those received by me were believed to be of that character. That the feelings produced in the United States by the news of the rejection of the appropriation would be such as I have described them to have been, was foreseen by the French Government, and prompt measures were taken by it to prevent the consequences. The King, in person, ex pressed, through our Minister at Paris, his profound regret at the decision of the Chambers, and promised to send forth with a national ship, with dispatches to his Minister here, authorising him to give such assurances as would satisfy the Government and people of the United States that the treaty would yet be faithfully executed by France. The national ship arrived; and the Minister received his instruc tions. Claiming to act under the authority derived from them, he gave to this Government, in-the name of his, the most solemn assurances, that as soon after the new elections as the charter would permit, the French Chambers would be convened, and the attempt to procure the necessary ap- • propriations renewed ; that all the Constitutional powers of the King and his Ministers should be put in requisition to accomplish the object ; and he was understood; and so expressly informed this Government at the time, to engage that the question should be pressed to a decision at a period sufficiently early to permit information of the result to be communicated to Congress at the commencement of their next Session. Relying upon these assurances, I incurred the responsi bility, great as I regarded it to be, of suffering Congress to separates without communicating with them upon the subject. The expectations justly founded upon the promises thus solemnly made to the Government by that of France, were not realized. The French Chambers met on the 31st of July, 1834, soon after the election, and although our Mi nister in Paris urged the French Ministry to bring the sub ject before them, they declined doing so. He next insisted that the Chambers, if prorogued without acting on the subject, should be re-assembled at a period so early that their action on the treaty might be known in Washington prior to the meeting of Congress. This reasonable request was not only declined, but the Chambers were prorogued to the 29th December, a day so late that their decision, however urgently pressed, could not, in all probability, be obtained in time to reach Washington before the necessary adjournment of Congress by the Constitution. The rea sons given by the Ministry for refusing to convoke the Chambers at an earlier period were afterwards shown not to be insuperable, by their actual convocation on the Ist of December, under a special call, for domestic purposes —which fact, however, did not become known to this Go vernment until after the commencement of the last session of Congress. Thus disappointed in our just expectations, it became my imperative duty to consult .with Congress in regard to the expediency of a resort to retaliatory measures, in case the stipulations of the treaty should not be speedily complied with ; and to recommend such as, in my judgment, the occasion called for. To this end, an unreserved communi cation of the case, in all its aspects, 'became indispensable. To have shrunk, in snaking it, from saying all that was ne cessary to its correct understanding, and that the truth would justify, for fear of giving offence to others, would have been unworthy of us. To have gone, on the other hand, a single step further, for the purpose of wounding the pride of a government and people with whom We had so many motives for cultivating relations of amity and reciprocal ad aismen svesshl—lessysnissnse, unwise and improper. Aanno, nished by the past of the difficulty of making even the sim plest statement of our wrongs, without disturbing the sen sibilitieS of those who had, by their position, become res ponsible for their redress, - and. earnestly desirous of pre venting further obstacles from that source, I went out of my way to preclude. a construction of the Message, by which the recommendation that was made to Congress • might be regarded as a menace to France, in not only dis avowing such a design, but in declaring that her pride and her power were too well known to expect anything from her fears. The Message did not reach Paris until more than a month after the Chambers had been in session ; and such was the insensibility of the Ministry to our rightful claims and just expectations that our Minister had been informed that the matter, when introduced, would not be pressed as a cabinet measure. Although the Message was. not officially communicated to the French Government, and notwithstanding the de claration to the contrary which it contained, the French Ministry decided to consider the conditional recommenda tion of reprisals, a menace and an insult, which the honour of the nation made it incumbent on them to resent. The measures resorted to by them to evince their sense of the supposed indignity, were, the immediate recal of their Minister at Washington, the offer of passports to the Ame rican Minister at Paris, and a public notice to the Legisla tive Chamber that all diplomatic intercourse with the United States had been suspended. Having, in this manner, vindicated the dignity of France, they next proceeded to illustrate her justice. To this end a Bill was immediately introduced into the Chamber of Deputies, proposing" to make the appropriations necessary to carry into effect the treaty. As this Bill subsequently passed into a law, the provisions of which now- constitute the main subject of difficulty between the two nations, it becomes my duty, in order to place the subject before you in a clear light, to trace the history of its passage, and to refer, with some particularity, to the proceedings and dis cussions in tegaird to it. The Minister of Finance, in his opening speech, alluded to the measures which had been adopted to resent the supposed indignity ; and recom mended the execution of the treaty as a measure required by the honour and justice of France. He, as the organ of the Ministry, declared the Message, so long as it had not received the sanction of Congress, a mere expression of the personal opinion of the President, for which neither the Government nor people of the - United States were respone sible, and that an engagement had been entered into, for the fulfilment of which the honour of France was pledged. Entertaining these views, the single condition which the French Ministry proposed to annex to the payment of the money was, that it should not be made until it was ascer tained that the Government of the United. States had done nothing to injure the interests of France,. or in other words, that no steps had been authorized by Congress of a hostile character towards France. What the disposition or action of Congress might be was then unknown to the French Cabinet. But on the 14th of January, the Senate resolved that it was at that • time inexpedient to adopt any legis!ative measures in regard to the state of affairs between the United States and France, and no action on the subject had occurred in the House of Representatives. These facts were known in Paris prior to the 28th of March, 1835, when the Committee, to whom the Bill of Indemnification had been referred, reported it to the Chamber of Deputies. That Committee substantially re-echoed the sentiments of the Ministry, declared that Con gress had set aside the proposition of the President, and re commended the pas Sage of the Bill, without any other re striction than that originally proposed. Thus was it known to the French Ministry and Chambers, that if the position assumed by them, and which had been so frequently and solemnly announced as the only one compatible with the honour of France, was m aintained, and the Bill passed as originally proposed, the money would be paid, 'and there would be an end to this unfortunate controversy. But this cheering prospect was soon destroyed by an amendment introduced into the Bill at the moment of its passage, providing that the money should not be paid until the French Government had received satisfactory explana tions of the President's Message of the 2d December, 1834, and what is still more extraordinary, the President of the Council of Ministers adopted this amendment, and consented to its incorporation in the Bill. In regard to a supposed in sult which had been formally resented by the recal of their Minister, and the offer of passports to ours, they now, for the first time, proposed to ask explanations. Sentiments and pro Positions, which they had declared could not justly be imputed to the Government or people of the United States, are set up as obstacles to the performance of an act of conceded justice to that Government and people. They had declared that the honour of France required the ful filment of the engagement into which the King had ca tered, unless Congress adopted the recommendations of the Message, They ascertained that Congress did_ 19t adopt them, and 74 that fulfilment is refused, unless • they first obtain froM the President explanations of an opinion eharapteripd by thernOlies . as pe'rion4l and in- operative. The conception that it was my intention to menace or in- stilt tire Government of France, is as unfounded as the at- I Yards, and to new national works, which are not enume tempt to extort from the fears of that nation what her sense rated in the present estimates, or to the more rapid com of justice may deny, w o uld be vain and ridiculous. But the pletion of all those already begun. Either would be Constitution of the United States imposes on the President .constitutional and useful, and would render unnecessary the duty oflaying before Congres3 the condition of the any attempt, in our present peculiar condition, to divide the country, in its foreign and domestic relations, and of recom- surplus revenue, or to reduce it any faster than will be mending such measures as may, in his opinion, be required effected by the existing laws. In any event, as the annual by its interests. • From the performance of this duty he report from the Secretary of the Treasury will enter into, cannot be deterred by the fear of wounding the sensibilities details,, showing the probability of some decrease in the of the people or Government of whom it.may be. necessary revenue during the next seven years, and a very consider to speak ; and the American people are incapable of sub- able deduction in 1842, it is not recommended that Con ticitting to an interference, by any Government on earth, gress should undertake to modify the present teriff, so as to however powerful, with the free performance of the do- disturb the principles on which the Compromise Act was mestic duties which the Constitution has imposed on their passed. Taxation on some of the articles of general con public functionaries. The discussions which intervene be- sumption, which are not in competition with our own pro t‘ven the several departments of our Government belong ductions, may be, no doubt, so diminished, as to lessen to to ourselves ; and - for anything said in them, our public ser. some extent the source of this revenue ; and the same oh vents are only responsible to their own constituents and to ject can also be assisted by more liberal provisions for the each other. If, in the course of their consultations, facts subjects of public defence, which in the present state of are erroneously stated, or unjust deductions are made, they our prosperity and wealth, may he expected to .engage your require no other inducement to correct them, however in- atten t i on. If, however, after satisf y in g all the demands which formed of their error, than their love of justice, and what is can arise from these sources, the unexpended balance in due to their own character ; but they can never submit to be the Treasury should still continue to increase, it would be interrogated upon the subject, as a matter of right, by a better to hear with the evil until, the great changes contem foreign power. w hen our discussions terminate in acts, plated in our tariff laws have occurred, and shall enable us our responsibility to foreign powers commences, not as indi- to revise the system with that care and circumspection viduals, but as a nation. The principle which calls in ques- which are due to so delicate and important a subject. tion the President for the language_ of his Message , would It is certainl y our dut y to diminish, as far as we can, the equally justify a foreign power in demanding explanation of burdens of taxation, and to regard all the restrictions which the language used in the report of a e committee, or by a are imposed on the trade and navigation of our citizens as member in debate. evils which we shall mitigate whenever we are not prevented • This is n o t the first time that the Government of France by the adverse legislation and policy of foreign nations; or has taken exception to the Messages of American Presi- those primary duties which the defence and independence dents. Pre s ident Washington, and the first President of our country enjoin upon us. That we have accomplished Adams, in the performance of their duties to the American much towards the relief of our citizens by the . changes people, fell under the animadversions of the French Direc- which have accompanied the payment of the public debt, tory. The objection taken by the Ministry of Charles X., and the adoption of the present revenue laws, is manifest, and removed by the explanations made by our Minister from the fact that, compared with 1833, there is a diminu upon the spot, has already been adverted to. When it tion of near twenty-five millions in the last two years, and was understood that the Ministry of the present King took that our expenditures, independent of those for th e pu bli c exception to my Message of last year, putting a construe- debt, have been reduced near nine millions during the same tion upon it which was disavowed on its face, our late Mi- period. Let us trust that, by the continued observance of nister at Paris, in answer to the note which first announced economy, and by harmonizing the great interests of agricul a dissatisfaction with the language used in the Message, ture, manufactures, and commerce, much more ma y h e ac e made a communication to the French Government under complished to diminish the burdens of Government, and to date of January, 1835, calculated to remove all impres- increase still further the enterprise and the patriotic affee sions which an unreasonable susceptibility had created. H e tion of all classes of our citizens, and all the members of our repeated and called the attention of the - French Govern- happy confederacy. As the data which the Secretary of ment to the disavowal contained in the Message itself, of the Treasury will lay before you, in regard to our financial any intention to intimidate by menace—he truly declared resources, are full and extended, and will afford a safe guide that it contained, and was intended to contain, no charge of in your future calculations, I think it unnecessary to offer ill faith against the King of the French, and properly dis- any further observations on that subject here. tinguished between the right to complain, in unexception - Amon g the evidences of the increasin g p ros p erit y of the abl terms, of the omission to execute an agreement, and country, not the least gratifying is that afforded by the re an accusation of bad motives in withholding such execu- ceipts from the sales of the public lands, which amount, in tion ; and demonstrated that the necessary use of that right the present year, to the unexpected sum of 11,000,000 dol ought not to be considered as an offensive imputation. lars. This circumstance attests the rapidity with which Although this communication was made without instruc- agriculture, the first and most important occupation of man, tions, and entirely on the Minister's own responsibility, y e t advances, and contributes to the wealth and power of our it was afterwards made the act of this Government by my extended territory. Being still of the opinion that it is our full approbation, and that approbation was officrally made best policy, as far as we can, consistently with the obliga known on the 25th of April, 1835, to the French Govern- tions under which those lands were ceded to the United ment. It, however, failed to h a ve a n y effect. The law, States, to promote their speedy settlement, I beg leave to after this friendly explanation, passed with the obnoxious call the attention of the present Congress to the suggestions amendment, supported by the King's Ministers, and was I have offered respecting it in my former Messages. finally approved by the King. The extraordinary receipts from the sales of the public The people of the United States are justly attached to lands invite you to consider what improvements the land a pacific system i n their intercourse with foreign nations. system, and particularly - the condition of the General It is proper, therefore, that they should know whether their Land Office, may require. At the time this institution Government has adhered to it. In the present instance it was or g anized, near a q uarter. of a centur y a g o, it would has been carried to the utmost extent that was consistent probably have been thought extravagant to anticipate, for with a becoming self-respect. The note of the 29th of this period, such an addition to its business has been J a nuary, to which I have before alluded, was not the only produced by the vast increase of those sales .during the one which our Minister took upon himself the responsibility past and present years. It may also be observed, that of presenting, on th e same subject and in the same spirit. since the year 1812, the land: offices and surveying dis- Finding that it was intended to make the payment of a just tricts ha'e been greatly multiplied, and that numerous debt dependent on the perf orma nce of a condition which h e legislative enactments, from year to year since that time, knew could never be complied with, he thought it a duty have imposed a great amount of new and additional du to make another attempt to convince the French Govern- ties upon that office ; while the want of a timely appli ment, that whilst -self-respect and regard to the dignity of cation of force, commensurate with the care and labour other nations would always prevent us from using any lan- required, bas caused the increasing embarrassment of accu guage that might give offence, yet we could never admit a mulated arrears in the different branches of the establishment. r ight in any foreign Government to ask explanations of, or These impediments to the expedition of much duty i n th e to interfere in any manner in, the communications which General Land Office induce me to submit to your judg one branch of our public councils made with another : that ment, whether some modification of the laws relative to in the present case no such language had been used, and its organization, or an organization of a new char ac te r , that this had in a former note been fully and voluntarily be not called for at the present juncture, to enable th e stated, before it was contemplated to make the explanation office to. accomplish all the ends of its institution, w ith a condition ; and, that there might be no misapprehension, a greater degree of facility and promptitude than expe he stated the terms used in that note, and he officially in- rience has proved to be practicable under existing regu formed them that it had been approved by the President ; lations. The variety of the concerns, and the magni and that, therefore, every explanation which could be rca- tuds and complexity of the details, occupying and di 'sonably asked, or honourably given, had been already made viding the attention of the Commissioner, appear to —th a t the contemplated measure had been anticipated by render it difficult, if not impracticable, for that officer, a voluntary and friendly declaration, and was therefore not by any possible assiduity, to bestow on all the multi only useless, but might he deemed offensive, and certainly farious subjects upon which he is called to act, the ready Vvolostriot-iis.a-th, if annexed as a condition. and careful attention due to their respective importance, When:thiilatter communication, t 4 'which d-specially in unless the _ Legislature shall assist him by a l aw prov idi ng , vite the attention of Congress, was laid before me, I enter- or enabling him to provide for a more regular and,econo tained the hope that the means it. was obviously intended mical distribution of labour, with the incident responsibi to afford, of an honourable and speedy adjustment of the lity, among those employed under his direction. The mere difficulties between the two nations, would have been ac t manual operation of affixing his signature to the vast num cepted ; and I therefore did not hesitate to give it my sane- ber of documents issuing from his office, subtracts so tion and full approbation. This was due to the Minister largely from the time and attention claimed by th e who bad made himself responsible for the act ; and it was weighty and complicated subjects daily accumulating in published to the people of the United States, and is now that branch of the public service, as to indicate the strong laid before their Representatives, to shew how far their necessity of revisin g the organic law of the establishment. Executive has gone in its endeavours to restore a good un - It will be eas y for Congress, hereafter, to proportion the derstanding between the two countries. It would have been, expenditure on account of the branch of this service to its at any time, communicated to the Government of France, real wants, by abolishing, from time to time, the offices had it been officially requested. • which can be dispensed with. The French Government having received an the expla- The extinction of the Public • Debt having taken place, nation which honour and principle permitted, and which there is no longer any use for the Offices of Commissioners could in reason be asked, it was hoped it would no longer of Loans, and of the Sinking Fund. I recommend, therefore, hesitate to pay the instalments now due. The agent autho- that they be abolished, and that proper measures be taken sized to receive the money was instructed to inform the for the transfer to the Treasury Department, of any funds, Fren c h Minister of his readiness to do so. In reply to this books, and papers, connected with the operations of th ose notice, he was told that the money could not then be paid, offices ; and that the proper power be given to that de because the formalities required. by the Act of the Cham- partment for closing, finally, any portion of their business bers had not been arranged. which may remain to be settled. Not having received any official communication of the It is also incumbent on Congress, in guarding the pe intentions of the French Government, and anxious to bring cuniare interests of the country, to discontinue by such a as far as practicable, this unpleasant affair to a close before law as was passed in 1812, the receipt of the bills of the the meeting of Congress, that you might have the whole Bank of the United States in payment of the public re subject before you, lenued our Charge d'Affaires at Paris venue, and to p rovide for the desi g nation of an a g ent, wh os e to be instructed to ask for the final determination of the duty it shall be to take charge of the books and stock of French Government, and in the event of thei r r e fusal to pay the United States in that Institution, and to close all con the instalments now due, without further explanations, to nection with it, after the 3d of March, 1836, when its char return to the United States. ter expires. In making provision in regard to the disposi- The result of this last application has not yet reached don of this stock, it will be essential to define, clearly and us, but is daily expected. That it may be favourable is my strictly, the duties and powers of the officer charged with sincere wish. France having now, through all the branches that branch of the public service. of her Government, acknowledged the validity of our It will be seen from the correspondence which the Se claims, and the obligation of the Treaty of 1831 ; and cretary of the Treasury will lay before you, that notwith there really existing no adequate cause for further delay, standini , the large amount of the stock which the United will at length, it may be hoped, adopt. the course which States hold in that Institution, no information has yet been the interests of both nations, not less than the principles of communicated which will enable the Government to anti justice, so imperiously require. The Treaty being once cipate when it can receive any dividends, or derive any be executed on her part, little will remain to disturb the nefit from it. friendly relations of the two countries. N o thing, in- Connected with the condition of the finances, and the deed, which will not yield to the suggestions of a pacific flourishing state of the country in all its branches of in and enlightened policy, and to the influence of that mutual dustry, it is pleasing to witness the advantages which have good will and of those generous recollections, which w e been already derived from the recent laws regulating the may confidently expect, will then he revived in all their value of the cold coinage. These advantages will he more, ancient force. In any event, however, th e principle in- apparent in the course of the next year, when the branch volved in the aspect which bas been given to the contro- mints authorised to be established in North Carolina, versy, is so vitally important to the independent administra- Georgia, and Louisiana shall have gone into operation. Lion of the Government, that ib can neither be surrendered Aided, as it is hoped they will bo by further reforms in the nor compromised without national degradation. I hope it banking systems of the States, and by judicious regulations on is unnecessary for me to say that such -a sacrifice will not the part of Congress, in relation to the custody of the public be made through any agency of mine. The honour of g s i moneys, it may be confidently anticipated that the use of gold country shall never be stained by an apology from me, for and silver, as a circulating medium, will become general in the statement of truth and the performance of duty ; nor the ordinary transactions connected with the labour of the can I g iv e any explanation of my official acts, except such country. The great desideratum in modern times, isa n e ffi c i en t as is due to integrity a n d j us ti ce , an d consistent with the check upon the power of banks, preventing that excessive principles on which our institutions have been framed. issue of paper whence arise those fluctuations in the standard This determination will, I. am confident, be approved by of value, which render uncertain the rewards' of labour, my constituents. I have, i n d ee d, s tudied their character was supposed by those who established the Bank of the to but little purpose, if the sum of twenty-five millions of United States, that from the credit given to it by the custody francs will have the weight o f a f ea th er , in the estimation of the public moneys, and other privileges, and the precau of what appertains to their nati ona l independence : and if, tions taken to guard against the evils which the country had unhappily, a different impr ess i on s h ou ld a t any time obtain suffered in the bankruptcy of many o f th e St a t e i ns tit u ti ons in any quarter, they w ill, I am sure , rally round the Go - of that period, we should derive from that institution all the vernment of their choice with a l acr i ty an d unanimity, and security and benefits of a sound currency, and every good silence for ever the degrading imputation. end that was attainable uncial' that provision of the constitu- Having thus frankly presented to you the circumstances tion which authorises Congress alone to coin money and re which, since the last session of Congress, have occurred in gulate the value thereof. . But it is scarcely necessary now this interesting and important matter,_with the views of the to say that these anticipations have not been realized. After Executive in regard to them, it i s at t hi s ti me only neces- the extensive embarrassment and distress recently produced sary to add, that whenever the advices, now daily expected by the Bank of the United States, from which the country from our Charge d'Affaires, shall h ave b een rece i ve d th e y is now recovering, aggravated as they were by pretensions ‘vill be made the subject of a special communication. to power which denied the public authority, and which, if The condition of the public finances was alever more flat- acquiescd in by the people, would have changed the whole tering than at the -present Period. character of our Government, every candid and intelligent Since my last annual communication all the remains of individual must admit that, for the attainment of the great the public debt have bee n redee med, or money , has been advantages of a sound currency, we must look to a course placed in deposit for this p ur p os e , whenever the creditors of legislation radically different from.that which created suchchoose to receive it. All the oth er pecun i ary engagemen t s an institution. of the government have been honourably and promptly ful- In considering the means of obtaining so important an filled, and there will be a balance in the treasury, at the end, we must set aside all calculations of temporary con close of the present year, of about nineteen millions of dol venience, and be influenced by those only which are in hers. , e tere will remain near eleven rh meeting all outstanding harmony with the true character and permanent interests of and the Repub W lic. e must recur to first principles, and see at u n I e t x p is e n ' ded believed app thatr 0 priat o a tl f s t millions to be applied to any new objects which Congress what it is that has prevented the legislation of Congress may designate, or to the more rapid execution of the and the States, on the subject of currency, from satisfying works already in progress. In aid of these objects, and to the public expectation, and realizing results corresponding satisfy the current expenditures of the ensuing year, it is es- to those which have attended the action of our system timated that there will be received from various sources, when truly consistent with the great principle of equa",• t y upon which it rests, and with that spirit of forbearance twenty millions more in 1836. „i 2 ;ll t e ns vital element of which was ori- Should Congress /hake nev i ppropriations,. in wurormpietvjr c ginall a o n n d ee m s u si s o t n e , v a e n r d gcoennteirnouus i 4 lab, crom the pro with the estimates which departments, amounting to about twenty-four millions, still our Union, the available surplus at the arise of the next year, after de- On this subject lam sure that I cannot be mistaken, in ducting all unexpended approprietions, will probably be not ascribing our want of success to the undue countenance less than six millions. This sum can, in my judgment, be which has been afforded to the spirit of monopoly. All the serious dangers which our system has yet encountered, now usefu4 applied to proposed improvemeats in our ;sl . as 7 may be traced to the resort to implied powers, and the use of corporations clothed with privileges, the effect of which is to advance the interests of the few at the expense of the rnany. Vie have left but one class of these dangers exhibited in the contest waged by the Bank of the United Siates affainst the Government, for the last four rears. Happily, they have been obviated for the present by the indignant resistance of the people ; but we should recollect that the principle whence they sprung is an ever active one which will not fail to renew its efforts in the same tend in other farms, so long as there is a hope of success, founded either on the inai; tention of the people, or the treachery of their represent*• fives, to the subtle progress of its influence. The bank is, in fact, but one of the fruits of a system at, war with thci genius of all our institutions—a system founded upon a po litical creed, the fundamental principle of which is a dis.. trust of the popular will as a safe regulator of political power, and whose great ultimate object and inevitable re sult, should it prevail, is the consolidation of all power in our system in one central Government. 'Lavish public dis bursements, and corporations wifu exclusive privileges, would be its substitutes for the original, and, as yet, sound checks and balances of the constitution—the means by whose silent and secret operation a control would be exer cised by the few over the political conduct of the many, by first acquiring that control over the labour and earnings of the great body of the people. Wherever this spirit has effected an'alliance with political power, tyranny and des.... potism have been the fruit. If it is ever used for the ends of Government, it has to be incessantly watched, or it cor rupts the sources of the public virtue, and agates the country with questions unfavourable to the harmonious and steady pursuit of its true interests. _ We are now to see whether, in the present favourable condition of the country, we cannot tal,-e an effectual stand against monopoly, and practically prove, in respect to the currency as well as other important interests, that 'there is no necessity for so extensive a resort to it as that which has been heretofore practised. The experience of another year has confirmed the utter fallacy of the idea that the Bank of the United States was necessary as a fiscal agent of the Government. Without its aid, as such, indeed in despite of all the embarrassment it was in its power to create, the revenue has been paid with punctuality by our citizens ; the business of exchange, both foreign and domestic, has been conducted with convenience ; and the circulating medium has been greatly improved. By the use of the State Banks, which do not derive their charters from the General Government, and are not controlled by its authority, it is ascertained that the moneys of the United States can be collected and disbursed without loss or inconvenience, and that all the wants of the community, in relation to exchange and currency, are supplied as well as they have ever been before. If, under circnmstances the most unfavourable to the steadiness of the money market, it has been found that the considerations on which the Bank of the United States rested its claims to the public favour were imaginary and groundless, it cannot be doubted that the experience of the future will be more decisive against them. It has been seen that without the agency of a great moneyed monopoly, the revenue can be collected and conveniently and safely applied to all the purposes of the public expenditure. It is also ascertained that instead of being necessarily made to promote the evils of an un checked paper system, the management of the revenue can be made auxiliary to the reform which the Legislatures of several of the States have already commenced with regard to the suppression of small bills, and which has only to be fostered by proper regulations on the part of Con , gress, to secure a practical return, to the ' extent required for the security of the currency to the constitutional me dium. .Severed from the Government as political engines, and not susceptible of dangerous extension and combina tion, the State banks will not be tempted, nor will they 1 - have the power which we have seen exercised, to diver:t the public funds from the legitimate purposes of' Govern meat. The collection and custody of the .revenue 3 0eing, , on the contrary, a source of credit to them, will increase the security which. the States provide for a faithful execution of their trusts, by multiplying the scrutinier, to which their operations and accounts will be sulai' e cted. Thus disposed, as well from interest as the. obligations _of their charters, it cannot be doubteil that such con ditions as Congress may see fit Cte adopt respecting the deposits in these institutiean, with a view to the gradual disuse of the small, bills, will be cheerfully complied with ; and that we share. soon gain, in the place of the Bank of the United States, :1 practical reform in the whole paper system of the country. If, by this policy, we can ul timately witness the suppression of- all bank bills below twenty dollars, it is apparent that gold and silver will take their place, and become the principal circulating medium in the common business of th e f armers and mechanics of the country. The attainment of such a result will form an era in the history of the country which will be dwelt upon with delight by every true friend of its liberty and independ: eoto . - It will lighten the great tax which our paper- sYs`..ent has so long collected from the earnings of labou-. and do more to revive and perpetuate those habits of e.conomy and simplicity which are so congenial to the cha',.acter o f Re publicans, than all the legislation which h'as yet been at tempted. To this subject I feel that I cannot feet; earnestly invite the especial attention of Congress, wiAh out. the exercise of whose authority, the opportunity to, 'accomplish so much public good must pass unimproved., Deeply impressed with its vital importance, the Executive has taken all the steps within his constitutional porsers to guard the public re venue, and defeat the expectation which the Bank of the United States indulged, of renewing and perpetuating its monopoly, on the ground of its necessity as a fiscal agent, and as affording a sounder currency than could be (~b-tamed tamed without such an institution. In the performane m o f this duty much responsibility was incurred which would have been gladly avoided, if the stake which the public ' had in question could have been otherwise preserved. Although clothed with the legal authority, and supported by precedent, I was aware that there was, in the act of the removal of the deposites, a liability to excite that sensitive= ness to Executive , ;,ower which it. is the characteristic and the duty of frv,:men to indulge : but I relied on this feel in, also di'.-ected by patriotism and intelligence to vindi cate the conduct which, in the end, would appear to have been called for by the best interests of my country.. The apprehensions natural to this feeling, that there may have been a desire, through the instrumentality of thet measure, to extend the Executive influence, or that it may have been - prompted by motives not sufficiently free from ambition, were not overlooked. Under the operation of our institu tions, the public servant who is called on to take a step of high responsibility, should feel in the freedom which gives rise to such apprehensions, his highest security. When }unfounded, the attention which they. arouse, and the dis cussions they excite, deprive these who indulge them of the power to do harm : when just, they but hasten the certainty with which the great body of our citizens never fail to repel an attempt to procure their sanction to any exer cise of power inconsistent with the jealous maintenance of their tights. Under such convictions, and entertaining no doubt that my constitutional obligations demanded the steps which were - taken in reference to .the re moval of' the deposites, it was impossible for me to be de terred from the path of duty, by a fear that my motives could be misjudged, or that political prejudices could de feat the just consideration of the merits of my conduct. The result has shown how safe is this reliance upon the pa triotic temper and enlightened discernment of the people. That measure has now been before them, and has stood the test of all the severe analysis which its general importance, the interests it affected, and the apprehension it excited, were calculated to produce ; and it now remains for Con gress to consider what legislation leas become necessary in consequence. I need only add, to what I have on former occasions said on this subject generally, that in the regulations which Congress may prescribe respecting the custody of the public monies, it is desirable that as little discretion as may be deemed consistent with their safe keeping should be givers to the executive agents. No one can be more deeply im pressed than 1 am with the soundness of the doctrine which restrains and limits, by specific provisions, executive dis cretion as far as it can be done consistently with the pre servation of its constitutional character. in respect to the control over the public money, this doctrine is pecu liarly applicable, and is in harmony with the great prin ciple which I felt I was sustaining in the controversy with the Bank of the United States ; which has resulted in severing, to some extent, a dangerous connection be tween a monied and political .power. The duty of the Legislature to define, by clear and positive enactment, the nature and extent of the action which it belongs to the Executive to superintend, springs out of a policy analogous to that which enjoins upon all the branches of the Federal Government, an abstinence from the exercise of powers not clearly granted. In such a Government. possessing only limited and specific powers, the s pi r i t o f i .is general administration r cannot be wise or just, &' en it op poses the reference of all doubtful points to tlr j great source of authority, the States and the people ; "nose number and diversified relations, securing them s - B ainst the influences and excitements which may 41 L- 10 ` ) ... their agents, make them the safest depository of peeve.e, In its application to the Executive, with referenee ...o the Legislative branch of the Government, tlt sate,e rule of' action should make the President e; e er mrsious to avoid' the exercise of any dis cretio,,,,a.,:y authority which can be regulated by Congress. rr • n e biases which may operate upon him will not be so likely to extend to the Representatives of the people in that body. In my former Messages to Congress, I have repeatedly urged the propriety of lessening the discretionary authority lodged in the various departments, but it has produced no effect, as yet, except the discontinuance of extra allowances in the Army and Navy t and the substitution of fixed salaries in the latter. It is believed that the same principles could be advantageously applied in all cases, and would promote the efficiency and economy of the public service, at th* time th I ' l2 'od be sect The accom Put you in pl confided to hi Past year. I am grat :teurrence h force, except cervices of duties at the land frontier, 6 f War. 0 !iequate to It forms a ni %fleeted, sh anY increase the subjec The pr operation given to I Ziecessit) Oquin in , it L 'O you rep e ,' fOT We niusi the come must sui force is to the f Iner day as well ; extensiv avoids dangef constitu This ob small n physica into op ,siScatic of effe 4 made proper calling instruct for the least it danger tonal I for the luntar: out .foi efficiet per tit object pense. goveri such the n; carry and i are b to co' cause certa inter'