The Sun. — London, England, 1856-01-15 00:00:00

AMER C A. THE PRE3IDENT'S MESSAGE, [A summary of the Ille,wia,ge of the American PreAden appeared in our impression of yesterday.] LIVERPOOL, MoipaY. The royal mail steam-ship Asia, Captain . Lott, arrived this morning from the United Stares with the President's Message. The Asia sent in her mails by tug-boat. YV - eather very foggy. She brings 118 passengenrs, but no specie. Her dates are—New York, Jan. 1 ; Boston, Jan. 2 ; and Halifax, Jan. 4. The President's Message was delivered on the 31st of December. There was no balloting for the Speaker.. The day was consumed in debating whether the Message should be received or not. By sending the Message to the Congress before the popular branch of that body was prepared to re ceive it, the country was taken by surprise. The Presideut assigns as his motive for this extraordi nary strip, that his conviction of duty would not permit him to postpone the obligation enjoined on him by the Constitution, to give information of the state of the Union. The pacific tone of the Message gave great satisfaction. Gold has been found in Chili. $lO,OOO worth yeas found in 14 days at Naciamento by an Ame rican. The steam-ship Law arrived at New York on Dec. 28th, from Aspinwall the 19th ; on board one million and a half of treasure. The Indian war was raging. The fall of Sebastopol was cele brated in grand style at San Francisco on Nov. 26. The Peruvian Legislature is about to sell all guano in Chincha Islands, value $350,000000. The steam-ship Star o f t h e W est arrived at New York on Doc. 29th, from San Juan 23d, with half a mil lion in treasure. Walker's Government was more pcpular. The Northern Light bad been searched, and found to contain saddles, ploughihares, and types ; she s a il e d on t h e 26th for Nicaragua. The Central American imbroglios, between the United States and England, upon the Clayton and Bulwer Treaty, is the paramount topic of im portance. The Asia brought Capt. Griffin and crew of the schooner Sarah, of Halifax ; also an account by the master of the sinking of the vessel on the 7th Jan. On the 11th exchanged signals with the Africa ; and on the 13th passed the Baltic. West India dates, received up to Dec. 10, state that her Majesty's steamer Medea left for Antigua ; H.M.S. ;Cornwallis, Capt. G. G. Welle,dey, arrived from Portsmouth. Her Majesty's steam-sloop Rosamond, Commander Crofton, sailed fOr Halifax. Hist Eicellency Fr anc i s Hiucks, Esq. ' the newly appointed Governor-General of the Windward. Islands, was a passenger by the Curlew from Hali fax on his way to Barbadoes from Bermuda. On St. Andrew'a.day the usual church meeting was held. From Mexico we have dates to the 18th ; they state that Alvarez having resigned the Presidency, and retired to the south, GQneral Comonfort has assumed supreme authority, and organised a new ministry. THE MESSAGE. Fellow Citizens of the, Senate and House of Representativ es The constitation of the United States provides that Congress shall assemble annually on the first Monday of December, and it has been usual for the President to make no communication of a public character to the Senate and. House of Representatives until advised of their readiness to receive it. I have deferred to this usage until the close of the first month of the session, but my convictions of duty will not permit me longer to postpone the discharge of the obligation enjoined ey the constitution upon the President, 'to give to the Congress information of the state of the Union, and recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient.' It is a matter of congratulation that the republic is tranquilly advancing in a career of prosperity and peace. FOREIGN RELATIONS.—CENTRAL AMERICA. Whilst relations of amity contiaue to exist between the United States and all foreign powers, with some of them grave questions are depending, which may require t ie consideration of Congress. Of such questions, the most important is that which has arisen out of the negotiations with Great Britain in reference to Central America. By the convention concluded between the two govern ment,' on the 9th of April, 1850, both parties covenanted that ' neither will ever' `occupy, or fortify, or colonise, or assume or exercise any dominion over Nicaragia, Costa Rica, the Mosquito coast, weeny part of Central America.' It was the undoubted understanding of the United States, in making this treaty, that all the present states of the former republic of Central America, and the entire territory of each, would henceforth enjoy complete inde pendence, and that both contracting parties engaged equally, and to the same extent, for the present and for the future, that if either then had any claim of right in Central America, such claim, and all occupation or autho rity under it, were unreservedly relinquished by the stipu }Miens of the convention ; and that no dominion was thereafter to be exercised or assumed in any part of Cen tral America by Great Britain or the United States, This government consents 1 to reotrictons in regard to a region of country wherein we had specific and peculiar interests, only upon the conviction that the like restric tions were in the same sense obligatory on Great Britain. But fcr this understanding of the force and effect of the convention, it would never have been concluded by us. So clear was this understanding on the part of the 'United States, that, in core espoudence contemporaneous with the ratification of the convention, it was distinctly expressed that the mutual covenants of non occupation were not intended to apply to the British establishment at the Belize. This qualification is to be ascribed to the fact that, in virtue of successive treaties with previous Sove reigns of the country, Great Britain had obtained a con cession of the right to cut mahogany or dye woods at the Belize, but with positive exclusion of all domain or sove reignty ; and thus it confirms the natural construction unit understood import of the treaty as to all the rest of the region to which the stipulations applied. It, however, became apparent, at an early day after entering upon the discharge of my present functions, that Great tiritaia still continued in the exercise or asserti•ei of large authority in all that part of Central America com• timely called the Mosquito coast, and covering the entire length of the state of Nicaragua, and a p a rt o f C osta Rica; that she r egar d e d the ' Belize as her absolute do main, and was gradually extending its limits at the ex pense of the state of Honduras; acid that she had formally oielonised a considerable insular group known as the Bay Islands, and belonging, of right, to that state All these acts of pretensions of Grit Britain being contrary to the rights of the states of Central America and to the manifest tenor of her stipulations with the United States as understood by this government, have been made the subject of negotiation through the American Minister at London. I transmit herewith the instructions to him on the subject and the correspondence bet-veen him and the British Secretary for Foreign Affairs, by which you will perceive that the two Gosernments differ widely and irre coo cilabiy as to the construction of the convention, and its effect on their respective relations to Cen tral America. Great Britain so construes the convention as to mein lain unchanged all her previous pretensions over the Mos quito coast, and in different parts of Central America. These pretensions, as to the Mosquito coast, are founded on the assumption of political relations between Great Britain and the remnant of a tribe of Indians on that coast, entered into at a time when the whole country was a co lonial possession of Spain. It cannot be suceessfully con troverted that, by the public law of Europe and America, no possible act of such Indians or their predecessors could confer on Great Britain any political rights. Great Britain does not allege the assent of Spain as the origin of her claims on the Mosquito coast. She has, on the contrary, by repeated an.leuccessive treaties, renounced and relinquished all pretensions of her own, and recog nised. the full sovereign rights of Spain in the most en equivocal terms. Yet these pretensions, so without solid forindation in the beginninte and thus repeatedly abjured, were at a mews I; period revived by Great Britain against the Central American states, .the legitimate successors to all the ancient jurisdiction of Spain in that region. They were first applied only to a defined part of the coast of Nicaragua, afterwards to the whole of its Atiantic coast, and lastly to a part of the coast of Costa Rica; and they are now re-asserted to this extent, not , Vithstanding engage- Manta to the United States. On the eastern coast of Nicaragua and Costa Rica, the interference of Great Britain, though exerted at one time in the form of military occupation of the port of San Juan del Norte, then in the peaceful possession of the appro priate authorities of the Central. American States, is now presented by her as the rightful exercise of a protectorship over the Mosquito tribe of Indians. But the establishment. at the Belize, now reaching far beyond its treaty-limits into the state of Honduras, and that of the Bay Islands, appertai n i ng of right to the same state, are as distinctly col on i a l governments as those of Jamaica or Canada, and therefore contrary to the very letter as well as the spirit of the convention w ith t h e * United St ates, as it was at the time of ratification, and now is, understood by this government. The interpretation which the British government, thus in assertion and act, persists in ascribing to the convention, entirely changes its character. While it holds us to all our obligations, it hit a great measure releases G rea t B ritain from those which constituted the consideration of this government for entering into the convention. It is itnpos eible, in my judgment, for the Unit e d St a t es t o acquiesce in such. a construction of the respective relations of the two governments to Central America. tain To a renewed 'call by this government upon Great Bri , to abide by e and carry into effect, the stipulations of the convention according to its obvious import, by with ilee.wing f rom the possession or co l onisation of portions of Ole ( 3il'e•al American states of Honduras, Nicaragua, and r..arata, Rica, the British Government has a t length replied is prospective —affirming that the operation of the treaty only, and did not require Great Britain to abandon or contract any possessi us held by her in Central America at the date of its conclusion. This reply substitutes a partial issue, in the place of the general one presented by the United States. The Bri tiah,Government passes over the question of the rights of Great Britain, real or supposed, in Central America, and assumes that she had such rights at the date of the treaty, and that those rights comprehended the protectorship of the Mosquito Indians, the extended jurisdiction and limits of the Belize, and the the of the Bay Islands, and there upon proceeds by implication to infer that, if the stipule • tons of the treaty be merely future in effect, Great Bri tain may still continue to hold the contested portions of Central America. The United States cannot admit either the inference or the premises. steadily deny that, at the date of the treaty, Grea t Britain had a vn sessions there, other than the limited and n - t bols• ere surrendered es a establishment na at the Belize, and maintain that, if she had any, they were surrendered by the convention. This Government, recognising the obligations of the treaty, has of course desired to see it executedineood faith by both parties, and in the discussion, therefore, 6 has not looked to rights, which we might assert, independent of position the treaty, in consideration of our geographical and of other circumstances', which create for us relations t the Ce n t ra l A mer i can states different from those of any .vernment of Europe. The British Government in its last Constounicatione although well knowing the views of the United States, still declares that it sees no reason why a conciliatory spirit may not enable the two Governments to overcome all ob stacles to a satisfactory adjustment of the subject. As,ured of th, correctaess of the construction of the treaty constantly adhered to by this Governanant, and re solved to insist on the rights of the United States, yet actuated also by the same desire which is avowed by the British Government, to remove all causes of serious mis understanding between the two nations, associated by so ma ny ties of interest and kindred, it has appeared to me proper not to consider an amicable sAntion of the contro versy hopeless. _ . There is, however, reason to apprehend that, with Great Britain in the actual occupation of the disputed ter ritories, and the treaty therefore practically nall, b 0 far as regards our rights, this international difficulty cannot long remain undetermined, without involving in serious dangir the friendly relations which it is the interest as well as the duty of both countries to cherish and preserve. It will afford me sincere gratification if future efforts shall result in the success anticipated heretofore with more con fidence than the aspect of the ease permits me now to en tertain. RECRUITMENT. One other subject of discussion between the United States and Great Britain has grown out of the attempt which the exigencies of the war in which she is engaged with Russia induces her to malre, to draw recruits from the United States. It is the traditional and, settled policy of the U n it e d States to maintain impartial neutrality during the wars which from time to time occur among the great powers of the world. Performing all the duties of neutrality towards the respective belligerent states, we may reasonably expect them not to interfere with our lawful enjoyment of its benefits. Notwithstanding the existence of such hostilities, our citizens retain the individual right to continue all their accustomed pursuits, by land or by sea, at borne or abroad, subject only to such restrictions in this relation as the laws of war, the usage of nations, or - special treaties may impose ; and it is our sovereign right that our terri tory and jurisdiction shall not be invaded by either of the belligerent parties, for the transit of their armies, the operations of their fleets, the levy of troops for their ser vice, the fitting out of cruisers by or against either, or any other act or incident of war. And these undeniable rights of neutrality, individual and national, the United States will, under no circumstances, surrender. In pursuance of this policy, the laws of the United States do not forbid their citizens to sell to either of the bel igerent powers articles, contraband of war, or to take munitions of war or soldiers on board their private ships for transportation ; and although in so doing, the indi vidual citizen exposes his property or person to some of the hazards of war, his acts do not involve any breach of na tional neutrality, nor of themselves implicate the govern ment. Thus, during the progress of the present war in Europe, our citizens have, without national responsibility therefore, sold gunpowder and arms to all buyers, regard less of the destination of those articles. Our merchant men have been, and still continue to be, largely employed by Great Britain and by France in transporting troops, provisions, and munitions of war to the principal seat of military operations, and in bringin g h ome th e i r sick and wounded soldiers ; but such use of our mercantile marine is not interdicted either by the international or by our municipal law, and therefore does not compromise our neutral relations with Russia. But °lir municipal law, in accordance with the law of nations, peremptorily forbids, not only foreigners, but our own citizens, to fit ou t , w i t hi n t h e limits of the United States, a vessel to commithostilities against any state with which the United States are at peace, or to increase the force of any foreign armed vessel intended for such hostili ties against a friendly state. I Whatever concern may have been felt by either of the Lellieerent powers lest private armed cruizers or other ves sels, in the s rvice of one, might be fitted out in the ports of this country to depredate on the property of the other, all such fears have proved to be utterly groundless. Our citizens have been withheld from any such act or purpose by goof faith and by respect for the law. While the laws of the Union are thus peremptory in their prohibition of the equipment or armament of belli gerent cruisers in our ports, they provide not less absolutely that no person shall, within the territory or jurisdiction of the United States, enlist oioenter himself, or hire or retain another person to enlist er enter himself, or to go beyond the limits or jurisdiction of the United States with intent to be waisted or entered, in the service cf any foreign state either as a soldier, or as &marine, or seaman on board of any vessel of war, letter of marque, or privateer. And these swectments are also in strict conformity with the law of nations, which declares that no state has the right to raise troops for land or sea service in another state without its consent, and that, whether forbidden by the muncipal law or not, the very attempt to de it, without such con- - sent, is an attack on the national sovereignty. Such being the publi c r i g ht s an d th e municipal law of the United States, no solicitude en the subject was enter tained by this Government, when, a year since, the British Parliament passed an act to provide for the enlistment of foreigners in the military service of Great Britain. No thing on the face of the act, or in its public history, indi cated that the British Government proposed to attempt recruitment in the United States; nor did it ever give intimation of such intention to this government. It was a matter of surprise, therefore, to find subsequently that the enga g ement of persons w ithi n th e U n i te d States to proceed t o Halifax, in the British province of Nova Sco tia, and there enlist in the service of Great Britain, was I going on extensively, with little or no disguise. Ordinary legal steps were immediately taken to arrest and punish parties concerned, and so put an end to acts infringing the municipal law, and derogatory to our sovereignty. Mean while suitable representations on the subject wore ad dressed to the British Government. Thereupon it became known, by the admission of the British Government itself, that the attempt to draw re cruits ftom this country orig inated with it, or at l eas t h a d its approval and sanc ti on ; but it also appeared that the public agents engaged in it, had " stringent instructions " not to violate the municipal law of the United States. It is difficult to understand how it should have been sup posed that troops could be raised here by Great Britain without violation of the municipal law. The unmistakable object of the law was to prevent every such act, which, if performed, must be either in violation of the law, or in studied evasion of it; and, in either alternative, the act alone would be alike bjurious to the sovereignty of the United States. Meantime, the matter acquired additional importance by the recruitments in the United States not being discou tinued, and the disclosure of the fact that they were prose cuted upon a systematic plan devised by official authority; that recruiting rendezvous had been opened in the principal cities, and depots for the reception of recruits established yin our frontier; and the whole business conducted under the supervision and by the regular co-operation of British officers, civil and military, some in the North American provinces; and some in the United States. The compli city of those officers in an undertaking which could only be accomplished by defying our laws, throwing suspicion over our attitude of neutrality, and disregarding our terri torial rights, is conclusively proved by the evidence elicited on the trial of such of their agents as have been appre• handed and convicted. Some of the officers thus implicated are of high official position, and many of them beyond our jurisdiction, so that legal proceedings could not reach the source of the mischief. These considerations, and the fact that the cause of com plaint was not a mere casual occurrence, but a deliberate design, entered upon with a full knowledge of our laws and national policy, and conducted by responsible public func tionaries, impelled me to present the case to the British Government, in order to secure not only a cessation of the wrong, but its reparation. The subject is still under disc cussioe, the result of which will be communicated to you in due time. I repeat the recommendation submitted to the last Con gress, that provision bo made for the appointment of a Commissioner, in connection with Great Britain, to survey and establish the boundary line which divides the territ , ry of Washington from the contiguous Bi itish possessions I By reason of the extent and importance of the country in dispute, there has been imminent danger of collision be tween the subjects of Great Britain and the citizens of the United States, including their respective authorities in that quarter. The prospect'of a speedy arrangement has contributed hitherto to induce on both sides forbearance to assert by force what each claims as a right. Continuance of delay on the part of the two Governments to act in the matter will increase the dangers and difficulties of the controversy, Misunderstanding exists as to the extent, charactir, and value of the possessory rights of the Hudscin's Bay Com pany and the property of the Puget's Sound Agricultural Company, reserved in our treaty with Great Britain rela tive to the territory of Oregon. I have reason to believe that a cession of the rights of both companies to the United States, which would be the readiest means of terminating all questions, can be obtained on reasonable terms ; and: with a view to this end, I present the subject to the atten tion of Congress. The colony of Newfoundland, having enacted the law required by the treaty of the sth of June, 1854, is now placed on the same footing, in respect to commercial inter course with the United States, as the other British North American provinces. The commission which that treaty contemplated, for de termining the rights of fishery in rivers and mouths of rivers on the coasts of the United States and the British North American provinces, has been organised and has commenced its labours ; to complete whieh there is needed further appropriations for the service of another season. SOUND DUES. In pursuance of the authority, conferred by a resolution of the Senate of the United States passed on the 3d of Meter last, notice was given to Denmark, on the 14th day of April, of the intention of this Government to avail itself of the stipulation of the subsisting convention of friend ship, commerce, and navigation between that kingdom and the United States, whereby either pletrty might, after 10 years, terminate the same at the expiration of one year from the date of notice for that purpose. The considerations which led me to call the attention of Congress to that convention, and induced the Senate to adopt the resolution referred to, still continue in full force. The convention contains an article which, although it does not directly engage the United States to submit to the im position-of tolls on the vessels and cargoes of Americans passing into or from the Baltic Sea, during the continuance Of the treaty, yet may, by possibility, be construed as im plying such submission. The exaction of those tolls not being justified by any principle of international law, it be came the right and the duty of the United States to relieve themselves from the inenlication of engagement on the sub ject, so as to be perfectly free to act in the premises in such way as their public interests and honour shall demand. I remain of the opinion that the United States ought not to submit to the payment of the Sound Dues, not so much because of their amount, which is a secondary matter, but because it is in effect the recognition of the right of Dee mark to treat one of the great maritime highways of us- Lions as a close sea, and the navigation of it as a privilege, for which tribute may be impose upon those who have occasion to use it. This Government, on a former occasion, not unlike the present, signalised its determination to maintain the free dom of the seas and of the great natural channels of navi gation. The Barbary States had for a long time coerced the payment of tribute from all nations whose ships fre quented the Mediterranean. To the last demand of such payment made by them, the United States, although suf fering less by their depredations than many other nations, returned the explicit answer that we preferred war to tri bute, and thus opened the way to the relief of the corn-. Enema of the world from an ignominious tax, so long sub mitted to by the more powerful natio,s of Europe. If the manner of payment of Sound Dues dither from that of the tribute formerly conceded to the Barbary States, still their exactien by Denmark has no better foundation in right. Each was, in its origin, nothing but a tax on a common natural right, extorted by those who were at that tame able to obstruct the froe and secure eujeyruent of it, bait who no longer posssees that poWer. Denmark, while resisting our assertion of the freedom of the Baltic Sound and Belts, has indicated a readiness to make some new arrangement on the subject, and has invited the Governments interested, including the United States, to be represented in a convention to assemble for FRANCE. I announce with much gratification that, since the ad journment of the last Congress, the questi on th en ex i s ti ng between this Government and that of France, respecting the French Consul at San Francisco, has been satisfactorily determined, and that the relations of the two Govern ments continue to be of the most friendly nature. GREECE. A question also which has been pending for several years between the United States and the kingdom of Greece, growing out of the sequestration, by public autho rities of that country, of property belonging to the present American Consul at Athens, and which had been the sub ject of very earnest discussion heretofore, has recently been settled to the satisfaction of the party interested and of both Governments. SPAIN. With Spain peaceful relations are still maintained, and some progress has been made in securing the redress of the wrongs complained of by this Government. Spain has net only disavowed and disapproved the conduct of the officers who illegally seized and detained the steamer Black Warrior at Havannah, but has also paid the sum claimed as indemnity for the loss thereby inflicted on the citizens of the U. ited States. In consequence of the destructive hurricime which visited Cuba in 1814, the supreme authority of that island issued a decree permitting the importation, foi- the period of six months, of certain building materials and provisions, free of duty, but revoked it when about half the period only had elapsed, to the injury of the citizens of the United States, who had proceeded to act en the faith of that de cree. The Spanish Government refused indemnification to parties aggrieved until recently, when it was assented to, payment being promised to be made so soon as the amount due cau be ascertained. Satisfaction claimed for the arrest and search of the steamer El Dorado has not yet been accorded, but there is every reason to believe that it will be, and that case, with others, continues to be urged on the attention of the Span ish Government Ido not abandon the hope of conclud ing with Spain soma general arrangement, which, if it do not wholly prevent the recurrence of difficulties in Cuba, will realer them less frequent, and whenever they shall oc.ur facilitate their more speedy settlement. MEXICO. The interposition of this Government has been invoked by many of its citizens, on account of injuries dose to their persons and property, for which the Mexican Republic is responsible. The unhappy situation of that country for 5 me time past has not allowed its Government to give due cousideration to claims of private reparation, and has ap- I erred to call for and justify some forbearance in such mat ters on the part of this Government. But if the revolution ary movements which have lately occurred in that republic end in the organisation of a stable Government, urgent ap peals to its justice will then he made, and it may be hoped, with success, for the redress of all complaints of our citizens. CENTRAL AMERICA. In regard to the American Republics, which, from their proximity and odder considerations, have peculiar relations to this Government, while it has been my con stant aim strictly to observe all the obligations of political friendship and of good neighbourhood, obstacles to this have arisen in some of them, from their own insufficient power to check lawless irruptions, which, in effect, throws most of the task on the United States. Thus it is that the distracted internal condition of the State of Nicaragua has made it incumbent on me to appeal to the good faith of our citizens to abstain from unlawful intervention in its af fairs, and to adopt preventive measures to the same end, which, on a similar occasion, had the best results in reas suring the peace of the Mexican States of Sonora and Lower California. TREATIES. Since the last session of Congress a treaty of amity, com merce, and navigation, and for the surrender of fugitive criminals, with the kingdom of the Two Sicilies ; a treaty of friendship, commerce, and navigation with Nicaragua; and a convention of commercial reciprocity with the Haw aiin kingdom, have been negotiated. The latter kingdom and the State of Nicaragua have else acceded to a declara tion recognising as international rights the principles con temned in the convention between the United States and Russia of the 22d July, 1854. These treaties and conven tions will be laid before the Senate for ratification. TREASURY. The statements made in my last annual Message respect. ing the anticipated receipts and expenditures of the Trea sury have been substantially verified. It appears from the report of the Secretary of the Tree ' sury that the receipts duziiig the last fiscal year ending Juno 1 0, 1855, from all sources, were $64,093,930; and that the public expenditure for the same period, exclusive of payments on account of the public debt, amounted to $56,365,393. Daring the same period the payments made in redemption of the public debt, including interest and premium, amounted to $9,844,528. The balance in the Treasury at the beginning of the pre sent fiscal year, July 1, 1855, was $18,931,976 ; the receipts for the first quarter, and the estimatea receipts for the re mainiiig three quarters, amount, together, to $67,918,734; thus affording in all, as the available resources of the cur rent fiscal year, the sum of $36,856,710. If to the actual expenditure of the first quarter of the current fiscal year be added the probable expenditures for the remaining three quarters, as estimated by the Secre tary of the Treasury, the sum total will be $71,226,846, thereby leaving a❑ estimated balance in the Treasury on July 1, 1856, of $15,623,873 41. In the abeve estimated expenditure of the present fiscal year are included $3.000.000 to meet the last instalment of the $10,000,00 provided for in the late treaty with Mexico, and $7,750,00a appropriated on account of the debt due to Texas, which two sums makes an aggregate amount of $10,750,000, and reduce the expenditures, actual or esti metel, for ordinary objects of the year, to the stun of $60,476,000. The amount of the public debt at the commencement of the present fiscal year was $40,583,631, and, deduction being made of subsequent payments, the whole public debt of the Federal Government remaining at this time is less than $4'►,000,000. The remnant of certain other Government stock, amounting to $ '13,000, referred to in my last Message as outstanding, ha,. since been paid. I am fully persuaded that it would be difficult to devise a systeni superior to that by which the fiscal business of the Government is now conducted. Notwithstanding the great number of public ageuts of collecticn and disburse ment, it is believed that the checks and guards provided, including the tequirereent of monthly returns, render it scarcely possible for any considerable fraud on the part of those agents, or neglect involving hazard of serious public loss, to escape detection. I renew, however, the recom mendation, heretofore made by me, of the enactment of a law declaring it felony on the part of public - officers to insert false entries in their books of record or account, or to make false returns, and also requiring them on the termination of their service to deliver to their successors all books, records, and other objects of a public nature in their custody. Derived as our public memo is, in chief part, from duties on imports, its magnitude affords gratifying evi dence of the prosperity, not only of our commerce, but of the other great interests upon which that depends. The principle that all moneys not required for the cur rent expenses of the Government should remain for active employment in the hands of the people, and the conspicu ous fact that the annual revenue from all sources exceeds by many millions of dollars the amount needed for a pru dent and economical administration of public affairs can not fail to suggest the propriety of an early revision and reduction of the tariff of duties on imports. It is now so generally conceded that the purpose of revenue alone can justify the imposition of duties on imports, that in re-ad justing the impost tables and schedules, which unquestion ably require essential modifications, a departure from the principles of the present tariff is not anticipated. ARMY. The army, during the past year, has been actively en. gaged in defending the Indian frontier, the state of the ser vice permitting but few and small garrisons in our perms nont fortifications. The additional regiments authorised at the last session of Congress have been recruited and organised, and a large portion of the troops have already been sent to the field. All the duties which devolve on the military establishment have been satisfactorily performed, and the dangers and privations incident to the character of the service required of our troops have furnished additional evidence of their courage, zeal, and capacity to meet any requisition which their country may make upon them. For the details of the military operations, the diatribution of the troops, and additional provisions required for the mili tary service, I refer to the report of the Secretary of 'War and the accompanying documents. Experience, gathered from events which have transpired since my last annual message, has but served to confirm ; the opinion thee expressed of the propriety of making pro- I vision by a retired list for disabled officers, and for in- l creased co Lpensation to the officers retained on the list for I active duty. All the reasons which existed when these ' measures were recommended on former occasions continue without modification, except so far as circumstances have given to some of them additional force. The recommendations heretofore made for a partial reor ganisation of the army are also renewed. The thorough elementary education given to those officers who commence their service with the grade of cadet, qualifies them to a considerable extent to perform the duties of every arm of the service ; but to give the highest efficiency to artillery requires the practice and special study of many years ; and it is not, therefore, believed to be advisable to maintain, in time of peace, a larger force of that arm than can be usually employed in the duties appertaining to the service of field and siege artillery. The tidies of the staff in all its various branches belong to the movements of troops, and the efficieney of an army in the field would materially de pend upon the ability with which these duties are dis charged. It is not, as in the case of the artillery, a spe cialty, but requires also an intimate knowledge of the duties of an officer of the line, and it is not doubted that, zn to c omp l ete the education of an officer for either the line or th e general staff, it is desir a bl e th a t h e s h ou ld h ave served o n b o th . With this view it was recommended on a former occasion performedoccasi by onthat de th ta e ils du fr t o ie m s o ti f ie th li e ne st ; aff should be convicti on o f the advantsges which would resulatnfdrOmwistuhcha a change, it is again presented for the consideration of Congress. NAVY. The report of the Secretary of the Navy, herewith sub mitted, exhibits in full the naval operations of the past year, together_ with the present condition of the service, and it makes suggestions o f further legislation, to which your attention is invited. The construction of the six steam-frigates, for which ap propriations were made by the last Congress, has proceeded TIEE4 Cr N. the purpose of receiving and considering a proposition which she intends to submit, for the capitalisation of the Sound Dues, and the distribution of the sum to he paid as commutation among the Governments, according to the respective proportions of their maritime commerce to and from the Baltic. I have declined, in behalf of the United States, to accept this invitation, for the most cogent rea sons. One is, that enniark does not offer to submit to the Convention, the question of her right to levy the Sound Dues. A second is, that, if the Convention were allowed to take cognisance of that particular question, still it would tot be competent to deal with the great international principle involved, which affects the right in other cases of navigation and commercial freedom, as well as that of access to the Baltic. Above all, by the ex press terms of the proposition it is contemplated that the consideration of the Sound Dues shall be commingled with, and made subordinate to, a matter wholly extraneous—the balance of power among the Governments of Europe. While, however, rejecting this proposition, and insisting ou the right of free transit into and from the Baltic, I have expressed to Denmark a willingness, on the part of the United : 4 . totes, to share liberally with other Powers in compensating her for any advantages which commerce shall hereafter derive from expenditures made by her for the improvement and safety of the navigation of the Sound or Belts. I lay before you, herewith, sundry documents on the subject, in which my views are more fully disclosed. Should no satisfactory arrangement be soon concluded, I shall again call your attention to the subject, with recom mendation of such measures as may appear to be required in order to assert and secure the rights of the United States so far as they are affected by the pretensions of Dentrark. POST-OFFICE. It will be perceived by the report of the Postmaster- General, that the gross expenditure of the department for the last fiscal year was $9,968,341, and the gross receipts $7,34 52 2,l36—making an excess of expenditure over receipts of ,626,206; and that the cost of mail transportation during that year was $674,952 greater than the previous year. Much of the heavy expenditures to which the Treasury is thus subjected is to be ascribed to the large quantity of printed matter conveyed by the mails, either franked or liable to no postage by law, or to very low rates of postage compared with th rt charged on letters, and to the great cost of mail service on railroads and by ocean steamers. The suggestions of the Postmaster-General on the subject deserve the consideration of Congress. INTERIOR. The report of the Secretary of the Interior will engage your attention, as well for useful suggestions it contains, as for the interest and importance of the subjecel to which they refer. The aggregate amount of public land sold during the last fiscal year, located with military scrip or land warrants, taken up under grant, for roads, and selected as swamp land by States, is 2 4,557,409 acres, of which the portion sold was 15,729,524 acres, yielding in receipts the sum of $11,485,380. In the Same period of time, 8,723,851 acres have been surveyed; but, in consideration of the quantity already subject to entry, no additional tracts have been brought into market. The peculiar relation of the general Government to the district of Columbia renders it proper to commend to your care not only its material but also its moral interests, in cluding education, more especially in those parts of the district outside of the cities of W shington and Georgetown. The commissioners appointed to revise and codify the laws of the district have made such progress in the per formance of their task as to insure its completion in the time prescribed by the act of Congress. Information has recently been received that the peace of the settlements in the territory of Oregon and Washington is disturbed by hostilities on the part of the Indians, with indications of extensive combinations of a hostile character among the tribes in that quarter, the more serious in their possible effect by reason of the undetermined foreign inte rests existing in thoets territories, to which your attention has already been especially invited. Efficient measures have been taken, which, it is believed, will restore quiet, and afford protection to our citizens. In the territory of Kansas there have been acts prejudi cial to good order, bug as yet none has occurred under cir cumstances to justify the interposition of the Federal Executive. That could only be in case of obstruction to federal law, or of organised resistance to territorial law, assuming the character of insurrection, which, if it should occur, it would be my duty promptly to overcome and sup press. I cherish the hope, however, that the occurrence of any such untoward event will he prevented by the sound sense of the people of the territory, who, f y its organic law, possessing the right to determine their own domestic insti tutions, are entitled, while dep or ti ng th emse l ves peace fully, to th e free exercise of that right, and must be pro tected in the enjoyment of ii, without interference on the part of the citizeua of any of the States. The southern boundary line of this territory has never been surveyed and established. The rapidly-extending settlements in that region, and the fact that the main route between Independence, in the State of Missouri, and New Mexico, is contiguous in this line, suggest the probability that embarrassing questions of jurisdiction may conse quently arise. For these and other considerations I com mend the subject to your early attention. CONSTITUTIONAL THEORY 01 7 THE GOVERN MENT. I have thus passed in review the general state of the Union, incleding such particular concerns as the Federal Government, whether of domestic or foreign relations, as it appeared to me desirable and useful to bring to the spe cial notice of Congress. Unlike the great states of Eu rope and Asia, and many of those of America, these United States are wasting their strength neither in foreign war nor domestic strife. Whatever of discontent or pub lic dissatisfaction exists, is attributable to the imperfections of human nature, or is incident to all Governments, how ever perfect, which human wi'dom can devise. Such sub jects of political agitation as occupy' the publio mind, con sist, to a great extent, of exaggeration of inevitable evils, or over zeal in social improvement, or more imagination of grievance, having but remote connection with any of the constitutional functions or duties of the Federal Go vernment. To whatever extent these questions exhibit a tendency menacing to the stability of the Constitution, or inteerity of the Union, and no further, they demand the consideration of the Executive, and require to be pre sented by it to Congress. Before the Thirteen Colonies became a Coniederation of independent States, they were associated only bycommunity of trans-Atlantic origin, by geographical position, and by tne mutual tie of common dependence on Greet Britain. When that tie was sundered, they severally assumed the powers and rights of abaolare self-government. The muni cipal and social institutions of each, its laws of property, and of personal relation, even its political organisation, were such only as each one chose to establish, wholly with out interference from any other. In the language of the Declaration of Independence, each State had " full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, esta blish commerce, and to do an other acts and things which independentetates may of right do." The several colonies differed in climate, in soil, in natural productions, is re ligion, in systems of education, in legislation, and in the forms of political administration ; and they continued to differ in those respects when they voluntarily allied them selves as States to carry on the war of the Revolution. The object of that war was to disenthral the United Colonies from foreign rule, which had proved tole() oppres sive, and to separate them permanently from the mother country ; the political result was the foundation of a fede ral republic of the free white men of the colonies, consti tuted, as they were, in distinct and reciprocally inde pendent State Governments. As for the subject races, whether Indian or African, the wise and brave statesmen of teat day, being engaged in no extravagant scheme of social change, left them as they were, and thus preserved themselves and their posterity from the anarchy and ever recurring civil wars whi c h h ave preva il ed i n other revolu tionisedEuropean Colonies of America. When the confederated States found it convenient to modify the conditions of their association, by giving to the General Government direct access, in some respect 4, to the people of the States, instead of confining it to action on the States as such, they proceeded to frame the existing C m stitntion, adhering steadily to one guiding thought, which was to delegate only such power as was necessary and pro per to the execution of specific purposes, or, in other words, to retain as much as possible, consistently with those purposes, of the independent powers of the indivi dual States For object of common defence and security, they intrusted to the General Government certain care fully-defined functions, leaving all others as the undele gated rights of the separate independent sovereignties. Such is the constitutional theory of our Government, the practical observance of which has carried us, and us alone, among modern republics, through nearly three generations of time without the cost of one drop of blood shed in civil war. With freedom and concert of action, it lute enabled us to contend successfully on the battle-field against foreign foes, has elevated the feeble colonies into powerful States, and has raised our industrial productions, and our commerce whicte transports them, to the level of the richest and the greatest nations of Europe. And the admirable adaptation of our political institutions to their objects, combining local self-government with aggregate strength, has established the practicability of a Government ike ours to cover a continent with confederate States. The Congress of the United States is, in effect, that con gress of sovereignties, which good men in the old world have sought for, but could never attain, and which im parts to America an exemption from the mutable leagues for common action, from the wars, the mutual invasions, and vague aspi ra ti ons a ft er t h e balance of power, which convulse from time to time the Governments of Europ e , Onr co-operative action rests in the conditions of perm s . nent confederation prescribed by the constitution. O ur balance of power is in the separate reserved rights of t„ States, and their equal representation in the Senate. That independent sovereignty in every one of the States, wit h its reserved ,rights of local self-government assigned t, each by their co-equal power in the Senate, was the fun . &mental condition of the Constitution. Without it the Union would never have existed. However desirous the larger States might be to reorgenise the Government so as to give to their population its proportionate weight in the common councils, they knew it was impossible, unless they conceded to the smaller ones authority to exercise at least a negetive influence on all the measures of the Government, whether legislative or executive, through their equal representation in the Senate. In deed the larger Sta'es themselves coul I net have failed to perceive that the same power was equally necessary to them, for the security of their own domes tic interests against the aggregate force of the general Government. In a word, the original States went into this permanent league on the agreed premises of exerting their common strength frr the defence of the whole, and of all its parts, b u t o f utt e rly. excluding all capability of reci p rocal a ggression. Each solemnly bound itself to all the others, neither io undertake nor permit any encroach ment upon, or intermedeling with, another's reserved rights. Where it was deemed expedient, particular rights of the States were expressly guaranteed by the Constitution; but in all things beside these rights were ruarded by the limi tation of the powers granted, and by express reservation of all powers not granted in the compact of nuiou. Thus, the great power of taxation was limited to Purposes of common defence and general warfare, excluding objects appertaining to the local legislation of the several States ; and these purposes of general welfare and common defence were afterwards defined by specific enumeration, as being matters only of co - re l ation between the States themselves, or between them and foreign Governments, which, because of their commo n an d general nature, could not be left to the separate control of each State. Of the circumstances of local condition, interests, and rights, in which a portion of the States, constituting one great section of the Union, differed from the rest, and from another section, and, most important was the peculiarity of a larger relative coloured population iu the Southern than in the Northern States. A population of this class, hell in subjection, existed in nearly all the States, but was more numerous and of more serious concernment in the south than in the north, on account of natural differences of climate and produc tion; and it was foreseen that, for the same reasons, while this population would diminish, and sooner or later cease to exist in some States, it might increase in others. The peculiar character and magnitude of this question of local rights, not in material relations only, but still more in so cial ones, caused it to enter into the special stipulations of the constitution. Hence, while the General Government, as well by the enumerated powers granted to it, as by those not enume rated, and therefare refused to it, was forbidden to touch this matter in the sense of attack or offenca ; it was placed under the general safeguard of the Union, in the sense of defence against either invasion or domestic violence, like all other local interests of the several States. Each State expressly stipulated; as, well for itself as for each and all of its citizens, owl every citizen of each State became solemnly bound by his allegianc e to the Constitution, that any per son, held to service or labour in one State. escaping into another, should not in consequence of any law or regula tion thereof lee discharged from such service or labour, but should be delivered up on claim of the party to whom such service or labour might bo due by the Laws of his State. _ Thus, and thus only, by the reciprocal guaranty of all the rights of every Stategigainst interference on the part of another, was the pres en t f orm o f government estabDthed .1, (,) N. 1..) 0N , TUESDAY EVENING JANUARY 'r, and with such expedition , by our fathers, and transmitted to us ; and by no other will he ready for service me-ens is it possible for it to exist. If ouc Stele ceases to ` , lnt as this addition to respect the rights of another, and obtrusively in term eidlce inadequate to the with its local interests—if a potion of the States 3,3e:170 of the extensive to impo se their institutions on the other, or refuse to fulfil of the United their obligations to them— we are no l onger united friendly knowlelged St a t es, but distracted, hostile ones, with little capacity increase left of common advantage, but abundant means of reeipro e con- cal injury and mischief. Practically, it is immaterial whether aggressive inter -(' fereuce between the States, or deliberate refusal on the part of Islay one of them to comply with constitutional ob ligations, arise from erroneous conviction or blind preju dice, whether it be perpetrated by direction or indirection. In either case, it is full of threat and of danger to the durability of the Union. CONSTITUTIONAL REGULATIONS OF SLAVERY. Placed in the office of Chief Magistrate as the executive agent of the whole country, bound to take care that the laws be faithfully executed, and specially enjoined by the Constitution to give information to Congtesssen the state of the Union, it would be palpable neglect of duty on my part to pass over a subject like this, which, beyond all things at the present time, vitally concerns individual and public security. It has been matter of painful regret to see States conspi cuous for their services in founding this republic, and equally sharing its advantages, disregard their constitu tional obligations to it. Although conscious of their ina bility to heal admitted and palpable social evils of their own, and which are completely within their jurisdictieu, they engage in the offensive and hopeless undertaking of re forming the domestic institutions of other States wholly beyond their control and authority. In the vain pursuit of ends by them entirely unattainable, and which they may not legally attempt to compass, they peril the very existence of the Constitution,' and all thecountless benefits which it has conferred. While the people of the Sontbern States confine their attention to their own affair,, not pre suming officiously t o intermeddle with the social institu tions of the Northern States, too many of the inhabitants of the latter aro permanently organised into associations to inflict injury on the former by wrongful acts, which would be cause of war as between two foreign Powers, and only fail to be such in our system because perpetrated under cover of Coe Union. It is impossible to present this subject as truth and the occasion require without noticing the reiterated but ground less allegation that the South has persistently asserted claims and obtained advantages in the practical adminis tration of the General Government to the prejudice of the North, and in which the latter has acquiesced. That is, the States which either promote or tolerate attacks on the rights of persons and of property in other States, to dis guise their own injustice, pretend and imagine, and con stantly aver, that they whose constitutional rights are thus systematically assailed are themselves the aggressors. At the present time this imputed aggression, resting as it does only in the vague declamatory charges of political agitators, resolves itself into misapprehension, or misinterpretation, of the prineiples and fade of the political organisation of the new territories of the United States. What is the voice of history? When the ordinance, which provided for the government of the territory north west of the River Ohio, and for its eventual subdivision into new States, was adopted in the Congress of the Confe deration, it is not to be supposed that the question of future relative power, as between the States which re tained mil those which did not retain a numerous coloured population, escaped notice or failed to be considered. And yet the concession of that vast territory to the interests and 1 opinions of the Northern States, a territory now the seat of five among the largest members of the Union, was in groat measure the act of the State of Virginia and of the South. When Louisiana was acquired by the United States, it was an acquisition not less to the North than to the South, for while it was important to the country at the mouth of the river Mississippi to become the emporium of the coun• try above it, so also it was even more important to the whole Union to have that emporium ; and although the new province, by reason of its imperfect settlement, was mainly regarded as on the Gulf of Mexico, vet, in fact, it extended to the opposite boundaries of the United State,, with far greater breadth above than below, and was, in territory as in everything else, equally at least an accession to the Northern States. It is mere delusin and ejudice, therefo re, to speak of Louisiana as acquisition in pr the spe cial interest of the South. The patriotic and just mon who participated in that act were influenced by motives far above all sectional jea loesies. It was, in truth, the groat event w hi c h , b y com pleting for us the possession o the valley of the Missis sippi, with commercial assess to the Gulf of Mexico, im parted unity and strength to the whole Confederation, and attached together by indissoluble ties the East and the West, as Well as the North and the South. As to Florida, that was but the transfer by Spain to the United States of territory on the east side of the river Mississippi, in exchange for large territory which the United States transferred to Spain on the West side of that river, as the entire diplomatic history of the transac tion serves to demonstrate. Moreover, it was an acquisi sition demanded by the commercial interests and the secu rity of the whole Union. Meantime, the people of the United States had grown up to a proper consciousness of their strength, and in a brief contest with France, and in a second serious war with Great Britain, they had shaken off all which remained of undue reverence for Eerope, and emerged from the at mosphere of those transatlantic influences which sum rounded the infant Republic', and had begun to turn their attention to the full and sestematic development of the internal re sources of the Union. Among the evanescent controversies of that period, the most conspicuous was the question of regulation, by Con gress, of the social condition of the future states to be founded in the territory of Louisiana. The ordinance for the government of the territory north west of the river Ohio had contained a provision, which prohitdted the use of ser v il e l a b our t h erein, subject' to the condition of the extradition of fugitives from service clue in any other part of the United States. Subsequently to the adoption of the constitution this provision ceased to remain as a law, for its oper dion as such was absolutely superseded by the constitution. But the recollection of the fact excited the zeal of social propagandism in some sections of the confederation ; and when a second state— that of Missouri—came to be formed iu the territory of Louisiana, proposition was made to extend to the latter territory the restriction originally applied to the country situated between the rivers Ohio and Mississippi. Most questionable as was this proposition in all its con stitutional relations, nevertheless it received the sanction of Congress, with some slight modification of line, to save the existing rights of the intended new state. It was re luctantly acquiesced in by southern states as a sacrifice to the cause of peace and!of the Union, not only of the rights stipulated by the treaty of Louisiana, but of the principle of equality among the states guaranteed by the constitu tion. It was received by the northern states with angry and resentful coudemnation and complaint, because it did not concede all which they had exactingly demanded. Having passed through the forms of legislation, it took its place in the statute book, standing open to repeal, like any other act of doubtful constitutionalty, subject to be pro nounced null and void by the courts of law, and possessing no possible efficacy to control the rights of the States, which might thereafter be organised out of any part of the ori ginal territory of Louisiana. In all this, if any aggression there were, any innovation upon pre-existing rights, to which portion of the Union are they justly chargeable ? This controversy passed away with the occasion, nothing surviving it save the dormant letter of the statute. But long afterward, when, by the proposed accession of the Republic of Texas, the United States were to take their next step in territorial greatness, a similar contingency oc curred, and became the occasion for systematised attempts to intervene in the domestic affairs of one section of the Union, in defiance of-their rights as States, and of the , stipulations of the Constitution. These attempts assumed a practical direction in the shape of persevering endea yours by some of the representatives, in both Houses of , Congress, to deprive the S 'uthern States of the supposed , benefit of the provisions of the act authorising the orgeni nation of the State of Missouri. But the geed sense of the people, and the vital force of , the Conetitution, triumphed over sectional prejudice and the political errors of the day, and the State of Texas re , turned to the Union as she was, with social institutions which her people had chosen for themselves, and with express agreement, by the re-annexing act, that she should be susceptible of subdivision into a plurality of States. , Whatever advantage the interests of the Southern ' States, as such, gained by this, wore far inferior in results, as they unfolded in the progress of time, to those which , sprang from previous concessions made by the South. To every thoughtful' friend of time Utiion ; to the true lovers of tbeir c 'entry ; to all who lunged and laboured fu r the full suceese of this great experiment of republican in stitutions, it WWI cause of congratulation that such an op portunity had occurred to illustrate our advancing power on this continent, and to furnish to the world additional assurance of the strength and stability of the Constitution. Who would wish to see Florida still a European colony? Who would rejoice to hail Taxes as a lone star, instead of ono of the galaxy of States ? Who does not appreciate the incalculable benefits of the acquisition of Loui-i ram ? A I,i yet narrow views :mud sectional purposes would inevitably have excluded them all from the Union. But another struggle on the same point ensued, when our victorious armies returned from Mexico, and it de volved on Congre, e to provide for the territories acquired by the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. The great relations of the subject had now become distinct and clear to the perception of the public mind, which appreciated the evi le of section .l controversy upon the question of he admis• sion of new States. In that crisis intense 'solicitude per v ailed the nation. Bet the patriotic impulses of the popu lar heart, guided by the admonitory advice of the Father ,)f his Country, rose superior to all the difficulties of the ie corporation of a new empire into the - Union : In the counsels of Congress there was manifested extreme antago nism of opinion and action between some representatives, who sought, by the abusive and unconstitutional em ployment of the legislative powers of the Government, to , interfere in the (rendition of th e i nc h oa t e S tates, and to i impose their own social theories upon the latter ; and other representatives, who repelled the interposition of the General Government in this respect, and maintained the self-constituting rights of the States. In truth, the thing attempted was, iu form alone, action of the General Government, while in reality it was the endeavour, by abuse of legislative power, to force the ideas of internal policy entertained in particular St; tes upon allied indepen dent States. Once more the Constitution and the Union triumphed signally. The new, territories were organised without restrictions on the disputed point, and were thus left to judge in that particular for themselves; and the sense of constitutional faith proved vigorous enough in Congress not Only to accomplish this pri mary object, but also the incidental and hardly less important one of so amending the provisions of the to place lee that public for tle o i iuyu extradition t of fugitivesn( the safeguard uri servicefro f m ,t as of the General Government, and thus relieve it from obsta cles raised up by the legislation of some of the States. Vain declaration regarding the provisions of law for the extradition of fugitives from service, with occasional epi sodes of frantic effort to obstruct their execution by riot and murder, continued for a brief time to agitate certain localities. But the true principle of leaving each State and Territory to regulate its own laws of labour according to its own sense of right and expediency, had acquired fast hold of the public judgment to shell a degree that, by com mon consent, it was observed in the organisation of the Territory of Washington. . When, more recently, it became requisite to organise the territories of Nebraska and Kansas, it was the natural and legitimate, if not the inevitable, consequence of previ ous events and legislation, that the same great and Found principle which had already been a p p li e d t o U ta h an d New Mexico, should bo applied to them ; that they should stand exempt from the restrictions Proposed in the act re lative to the State of Missouri. These restrictions were, in the estimation of many thoughtful men, null from the beginning, unauthorised by the Constitution, contrary to the treaty stipulations for the cession of Louisiana, and inconsistent with the equality of the States. They had been stripped of all moral authority, by persis tent efforts to procure their indirect repeal through con. in the most satisfactory- manner, and with such expedition as to warrant the belief that they will he ready for service early in the coming spring. Itnoortant as this addition to oar naval force is, it still remains inadequate to the contingent exigencies of the protection of the extensive sea coast and vast commercial interests of the IJoited States. In view of this fact, and of the acknowledged wisdom of the p dicy of a gradual and systematic increase of the navy,. an appropriation is recommended for the con struction of six sloops of war. In regard to the steps taken in execution of the act of Congress to promote the efficiency of the navy, it is none cessarY for me to say more than to express entire concur rence in the observations on that subject presented by the secretary in his report. tradietory enactments. They had been practically abro gated by the legislation atteudinl the organisation of Utah, New Lllex.;co, and W , shingtou. If any vit,dity re mained in them, it would have been taken away in effect by the new territorial acts, in the form originally pro posed to the Beuate at the first session of the last Con gress. It was manly and ingenuous, as well as pa triotic and just, to do this directly and plainly, and thus relieve the statute-book of an act which might be of possible future injury, but of no possible future benefit ; and the measure of its repeal was the final consummation and complete recognition of th e princi ple that no portion o f th e United Staten shall undertake, through assumption of the powers of the General Go vernment, to dictate the social institutions of any other portion. The scope and effect of the language of repeal were not left in doubt. It was declared, in terms, to be " the true intent and meaning of this act not to legislate slavery into any territory or State, nor to exclude it therefrom, but to leave the people thereof perfectly free to form and regulate their domestic institutions in their own way, subject only to the Constitution of the United States." The measure could not be withstood upon its merits alone. It was attacked with violence on the false or de lusive pretext that it constituted a breach of faith. Never was objection more utterly destitute of substantial justifi cation. When before was it imagined by sensible men that a regulative or declarative statute, whether enacted ten or forty years ago, is irrepeulable —that an Act of Congress is above the Constitution ? lf, indeed, there were in the facts any cause to impute bad faith, it would attach to those only who have never coaxed—from tke time of the enactment of the restrictive provision to the present day— to denounce and to condemn it; who have constently re fused to complete it by needful supplementary legislation; whe have spared no exertion to deprive it of moral force ; who have themselves again and again attempted its repeal by the enactment of incompatible provisions ; and who, by the inevitable reactionary effect of their own violence on the subject, awakened the country to perception of the true constitutional principle o f l eav i ng the matter involved to the disc re ti on of the people of the respective existing or incipient States. It is not pretended that this principle, or any other, pre cludes the possibility of evils in practice, disturbed as politi cal action is liable to be by human passions. No form of government is exempt from inconveniences ; but in this case they are the result of the abuse, and not of the legiti • mate exercise, of the powers reserved or conferred in the organisation of a territory. They are not to be charged to the great principle of popular sovereignty; on the con trary, they disappear before the intelligent° and patriotism of the people exerting through the ballot-box their peace ful and silent but irresistible power. If the friends of the Constitution are to have another struggle, its enemies could not present a more acceptable issue than that of a State whose Constitution clearly em braces " a republican form of government," being excluded from the Union'because its domestic institutions may not in all respects comport with the ideas of what is wise and expedient entertained in some other State. Fresh from groundless imputations of breach of faith against others, men will commence the agitation of this new question with indubitable violation of an express compact between the independent Sovereign Powers of the United States and Republic of Texas, as well as of the older and equally so lemn compacts which assure the equality of all the States. But deplorable as would be such a violation of compact in ii self and in all its direct consequences, that is the very least of the evils involved. When sectional agitators shall have succeeded in forcing on this issue, can their preten sions fail to be met by counter-pretensions ? Will not dif ferent States be compelled respectively to meet extremes with extremes ? And if either extreme carry its point what is that so far forth but dissolution of the Union ? If a new State, formed front the territory of the United States, be absolutely excluded from admission therein, that fact of itself constitutes the disruption of union between it and the other States. But the process of dissolution could not stop there. Would not a sectional decision producing such result by a majority of votes, either Northern or Southern, of necessity drive out the oppressed and aggrieved mino rity, and place in presence of each other two irreconcilably hostile confe lerations ? It is necessary to speak thus plainly of projects, the offsprings of that sectional agitation now prevailing in some of the States, which are as i practicable as they are unconstitutional, and which, if l ersevered in, must and will end calamitously. It is - either disunion and civil war, or it is mere angry, idle, aimless disturitance of public peace and tranquilli y. Disenion for what ? If the passionate rage of fere. icism and risrtiean spirit did not farce the fact upon our attention it would be difficult to believe that any con siderable portion of the people of this enlightened country court have so surrendered themselves to a fanatical devotion to the supposed interests of the relatively few Africans in the United States, as totally to abandon and disregard the interests of the 25,000,001 of Americans—to trample under foot the injunctions of moral and constitutional obligation —and to engage in plans of vindictive hostility against those who are associated with them in the employment of the common heritage of our national institutions. Nor is it hostility against their fellow-citizens of one section of the Union alone. The interests, the honour, the duty, the peace, and the prosperity of the people of all sections are equally involved and imperilled in this ques tion. And are patriotic men in any part of the Union prepared, on such an issue, thus madly to invite all the consequences of the forfeiture of their constituticnal en gagements? It is impossible. The store, of frenzy and faction must inevitably dash itself in vain against the nu shaken rock of the Constitntion. I shall never doubt it. I know that the Union is stronger a thousand times than all the wild and commercial schemes of social change, which are guaranteed, one after another, in the unstable minds of visionary sophists and interested agitators. I rely confidently on the patriotism of the people, on the dignity and self-respect of the States, on the wisdom of Congress, and, above all, on the continued gracious favour of Almighty God to maintain, against all enemies, whether at home or abroad, the 'sanctity of the Constitution and the integrity of the Union. FRANKLIN PIERCE. Washington, Dec. 31, 1855. After the reading the message Mr. CLAYTON made some remarksrelative to the treaty of April 19tb, 185 0 , in order to show the people of the United States the strength of the position assumed by this Government relative to Cen tral American affairs, and the injustice of the position taken by Great Britain with regard to the construction of that treaty. He agreed generally with all that tho Presi dent had stated, and contrasted the pacific character of this country with the aggressive policy always pursued by Great Britain. Mr. SEWARD inquired whether the ground taken by the President has allowed the British Government to take ac-. tion regarding the construction of that treaty, namely— That it was merely prospective in its operation, and had no reforeuce to the actual occupation by that country of the territory in question, was the understanding of the Government of the 4Jnited States when the treaty was male, Mr. Clayton then being Secretary of State. Mr. CLAYTON replied that it was an entirely new con struction, something of which he had never heard. lie had never dreamed of such a construction being given to the language of the treaty. Does any man suppose (Clayton said) that I, in the possession of my senses, entered into a treaty with Britain to allow her to remain in possession of the whole of this isthmus, merely because she had been in possession of it, and then signed a treaty to prohibit my own countrymen from taking possession, leaving her to remain undisturbed ? What motive could an American senate have bad in voting for it? Is it possible that any man can believe for a single moment such a view was in contemplation by the negotiations when it was agreed that " neither will occupy, coloniee, fortify, or exercise domi nion" in Central America? Occupy means, first, to take possession, and, secondly, to keep possession. Great Bri tain agreed to do neither, also agreeing that they would not exercise dominion there. Ile concluded by offering a reso lution that the usual number of copies of the message and documents be printed, and that 15,000 copies of the same it addition be printed for the use of the Senate. Mr. Cass expressed his entire concurrence with what had fallen from Mr. Clayton, and his gratification at the course taken by the President, and the view enunciated in the Message. In the whole history of diplomacy there was nothing to be found at all comparable with the course of Britain regarding the construction of the Clayton-Bul wer treaty, and. Central American affabs. Mr. WELLER commended the Message. He believed this country could never abandon the position she had assumed relative to Central America. However the people of the United States might differ`on questions of domestic policy, whenever war menaced them they would be found acting in harmony and unanimity. The Message might he n lanced by pseudo-philanthropists, but it would meet with a ordial response from every friend of liberty and lover of the Constitution and Union. Mr. SEWARD announced he was prepared to stand up and support the Bulwer-Clayton treaty, and if need be, if the British Government could not be held to that treaty, he was ready to go further. He was ready for the assertion and practical maintenance of the Monroe doctrine. Mr. Clavton'a rEsolution was then agreed to, and the Hon . 3e adjourned. THE QUIMN AND •stlSi NIGHTINGALE A fortnight ago, we had the gratification of announc ing the preseetatien of a sp'endel jewel by the Queen to 111i.s Nightingle, as a lasting testimony of her Maj(ist', hi ;4 ll appr , cia'ion of that lad noble efforts in the cause of Charity and Mercy, by coming forward to wirninist.r to the wants and relieve the sufferings of the w, unded ,oldiers of our Crimean army. We are now enabled to furnish a description. of this zra , •eful gift. The design Of the jewel is admirable, and the effect no !els brilliant than chaste. It is charact , ristic and emble matical, being formed of a St. George's cross in ruby red enamel, on a white field, representing England. This is encircled by a black band, typifying the office of Cha rity, on which is inscribed a golden legend, "Blessed are the merciful," of course in allusion to the merit of Miss Florence, the recipient. The royal donor is ex pressed by the letters " V. R.," surmounted by a crown in diamonds, impressed upon the centre of the St. George's cross, from which also rays of gold emanating upon the field of white enamel are supposed to represent the glory of England. Wide spreading branches of palm in bright green enamel, tipped with gold, form a frame work for the shield, their sterns at tha bottom being banded with a ribbon of blue enamel (the colour of the ribbon for the Crimean medal), on which, in golden let ters, is inscribed "Crimea." At the top of the shield, between the palm branches, and connecting the whole, three brilliant stars of diamonds illustrat e the idea of the light of Heaven shed upon the labours of Mercy, Peace, and Charity, in connection with the glory of a nation. On the back of this royal jewel is an inscription on a golden tablet, written by her Majesty, which stamps upon it a value inappreciable; as recording it to be a gift-and testimonial in memory of services rendered to her brave army by Miss Nightingale. The jewel is about three inches in depth by two and a half in width. It is to be worn ; not as a brooch or orna ment, but rather as the badge of an order, the mcst pre cious from the manner of its conferring—the most sin gular in the merit of its receiver—the most illustrious in honour that has yet issued ; from the fountain of all honours —the Crown of England. W e believe the credit of the design is due to the illus trious Consort of her Majesty, and we understand that it was manufactured by Messrs. Garrard, the Crown jewel lers. THE LICHFIELD BANK FAILURE, —It appears that the d,c,aisd M r. Palmer was indebted to the firm of Palmer centand Gre ene , Li c h f i e ld , 60 . 000 /4 or 60,000/. ; as years by a n d th e c l a i m was n o.k . liquidaterl, Mr. Greene Was at len g th compe ll e d to sttOpayment. He had con suited fri en d s about stopping some four or five years ago, and was advised to (ro on. Co a l m i nts w hi c h h e Las are t o b e carr i e d on for 6 th 3 benefit of the creditors. A dividend of 12e. 6d. in the pound ia expected. ri.:Yuntry _:ifiLIAISFORD—JAN. 11. The favourai - de change in the weedier caused a marked improvement in the condition of the sample, and wheats. o f which therO wai a fair supply, realised 2s per qr. more than last week, with a better trade. The other kinds of grain were also the turn dearer, and meta mere readf sale. Wheat, white, old, per s. s. i 0. 0. qr. 62 82 I Oats, per qr 23 0v,,, new.... 68 ~ '.O 4 Peas, Partridge 39 94 red, old ..... 63 78 White 4O f 4 new....Gl 76 B o ili ng 43 . uw Barldly 29 36 Dun 37 n Chevalier ....3; 38 I Beans, Tick 36. o„' Grinding 26 .i 3 I . Harrow ticks 38 4 `: Malt 70 74 Mazagan ..... ..33 35 I Chevalier 72 76 Ditto, new... 35 '36 COLCHESTER— JA DT. 12. A swell supply of wheat, the condition is improved bf the change of weather, and the trade ruled brisk, at 2s pet qr. advance. . arley also Is to 2s per qr. dearer. In beano or peas nothing doing worthy of notice. Prices to-day were as follow :—Wheat, white, 80s to ti 4; red, 72s to 80s ; barley, 368 to 44s ; cats, 26s to 30a ; beans Mazagan, 40s to 42s ; middle and small, 4!s to 50s; peals white, 51s to 56s ; grey, 40s to 445. Official Statement of the Quantities of Corn, &c., Yeceivai in the port of London, from the following ports, fro.: the ith to the l'th Jau.,, both inclusive. - 1 Al 8 Colchester Harwich Leigh Idaldon 312 642 ..._ii 1731 27 315 . ..031064 - 401 90i- - )1554, 315, 250 - , 70 26 1 67 108 KIRKCALDY—JAN. 12. We had rather large supplies of wheat and oats to•dal. but small of barley. Sales quick for everything, at an a• vance of is to 2. per qr. on wheat and oats, and 1 1 . per qr. on barley. Wheat. Barley. Oats. 1 Beans. First B7s dd I 43s 6l 324 6d 1 Is Od Second Bos M 41s Od 130 s Od I Os O d Third Od 134 s Od 1 26s Od j Os Od rt-JAN. 14. the close of the ID art t. Walleend, &e. s. 0. Braddyll 2l 0 Framwellgate l9 6 Haswell 21 0 fletton 2l 0 Kepler Grange . 2l 6 Lambton 20 3 Plummer 2O 0 Richmund 2O 6 R,ussell's Hetton 20 0 iouth Hetton 20 0 itewart's 2l 0 Caradoc 19 ! Cassop 21 • Hartlepool 2O 6 Hough Hall l9 ! Kenos 21 0 south Hartlepool 2O 0 Tees 2l . 9 Derwentwater Hartley 19 0 Skiborwen Morthyr 23 0 Birchgrove Graigola 23 6 ISold ........... 196 COAL MARK. Priam. of Coal por ton at R. d. Bate's West Hartley 18 6 Davison's West Hartley 19 6 Holywcll lB 6 Longridge's Wst Hartley l 9 6 North Percy Hartley _lB C Tanfield Moor l7 0 ranfield Moor Butes 17 6 Tyne Main 18 0 Walker Primrose l7 0 West RldinK Hartley 18 6 Willington Hartley lB C 1 Welland, Zze. 1 Goafortli l9 3 flarton l9 9 Heaton Hilda 18 C Riddell l9 3 Wharneliffe l9 6 Eden Main 20 4., 801 l l9 fl Belmont 19 0 Ships at market... 307 SEABORNE MAILS. ti signinee that the mails are sent trom the General Fist aka the night—and .M by the morning---4enpatch.) J Day when moo.' .•i• From Iv t. a, Whet • COUNTRIXt. in General Post- Port doe a E Office s London.* Dispatch, g n s an d. 1 N Every P*ridaY Liverpool Jan. 14 1 tmerica(byßrit.pact, 'merles. kby Unit • 4 0 S' h. ' 'acket) .. .. •••• - . N -, • • • Liverpoo , Jan. 8 r ilnerica (by U Sia , ..is i ;Jacket) .. - .... . N • • Soutkam,t, Jaa. 26 ~ ..ostralia (via South- impton) .... - ~ .. M, • 4 7 ' •" • • Southittopton Limo (via Marseilles) N! . •"-• . , • Dover .. .!tto (via :.'ape of G oo d ' flopo) .......... ..N1 .. .. Uneertai 1 Vrica (West Coast) .. N lad o• the MOM. i, • Myra,: ':: . jaa. i v.:xandria.. ....• . - _ Nr l , ' 7 .. 24 , &30 0! r-• • Dover .. ~ . ••xandria.. - .... , M 4 t' ‘" 20th 'if ln“ -- - • Southampton 'At auras ~..„.. „ Ni 17th of the mon•'• Set:ahem:into, • , • . algium ~ ~,.. ._ , N.. ~'Y• .. - • razil ..., ~ .. .., ~ Nl' 9th of tho mo n th . • Sou: liivii;:. ' ot• Van. 13 1 - luonos Ayres .... . . Mil' , '-, .-' L').• rnonct • S , .uth ~, -,, - on 'Jan, 12 ,;-,e ot tiooa '(,), :: .NI Various port • lUneerteic ~--,1,.. 0 , (.40 , ,1 t 3 . -:: -• .:, I ~ ;.,o 1, v -, ,r , i.. ~ .. ..1‘;1 •;:.:• c''. '..,, 1.: :. d' h Southarn;:•lo:• Jan. 11 ... dy:, ,i , (see In. • , I •% - ;yloti., ...... • • .:••• I -;"nanuel Tshr ~ , , . N:Mon-Wed., &ErK Southampton Tn.Th.fial , :lhin. ...... .. ~, , , 1112,1 *l7th of mont,,lseuthampt i Jan. 19 a ... ......... Once a month.... o. -lonstantinople _. •i .8,13,18,23,VA oil rn Dover .. . t. .. . nstantinople ~.... „. i4thEc 20th of moo. gouthfrinapto, - , ont. of Europe M. !..< . ITrriee daily „ , ~. Dov er .. . , ..T w t ot t a n i Egypt (see I nd i a ), t rance ......... at tl , ..'S ,TW ,0 ••• dairt• • • • • • Dover .. . • .. Tortspoo4.o ' .4 1 braltar .. • • •• . MA, 7 . 17 . 20 . 27 ~f IT Southampton ireece (see India) I Fddey London ..... lroytown ....... , „A( 2ii.l & 17th of mon. Eloutbau2pc• .. lamburich .. .... . „2,7 Tuesday & Tl.Avannah ...._. ~...y 2nd of the month Southanapto,,Jan. 18. olland .. ~........ ht,DallY.• .. •• • ... • • Dover..... ... Daily . Tonduras —...... M .17t I ( (the month. Southamptov 16thotmo• • ridia (vlaSouth arnpt. )Ml 4'h ‘,.. 20th of mon. Pl ymouth .. jam._ 22 India (via Marseilles )DI ath& 25th of month Dover .... • .I lonian Ts'es (see India) 7. 17, & 27 of mon Dever.„ ~,, .. Ireland ........21 & N;Twide dilly •• •• .. ROT hold Twlseciat r.isbon ..............M;7. 9. 17, & 27 of m. Southampto7 Jan. 16 Madeira .......• „„ ,„ m i 9th of the month 'Southampton Madeira ....... . N 23d of month •• .. Liverpool ... malta (see India) I Malta Jan. so ...........„ N 'B. 18, &28 o f mon. Dover M,, . auritius (see India) ~ Mauritius ........ . , Nll4th of the month iimieo ............1,/,2nd of the mo nth. , Sonthazrept.m Jn. 1 gaples..... ........Ni6thl6th2sthormon.Dover ......I gew Granada .... , „ iti •21 & 17th of month 4 3outhanaptoi• : • • New Zealand .......... ;By private alp ../Verious port- Uncertain • Papal States ........2.; 15thl5th2Athoftnon. Dover ...... Peninsula ..... ..... ivi!lthl7th27thofaion. Southampton Peru ............... 2{ 2d & 27th of nion.:Southampton Port Natal ........ ~ic Ily private shlp...jVarious ports Mumma. Aicily •,..............y3thlsrh23thormon,lDover .... .. ..........othlsth2sthofmon. Dover ...... Tuscany v„ aue t i . .., ...... m I2d 1 17th ofmoutbilSouthampton llsl6 me Van Diemen 7 e Land (se,l iustralia) —. .. .1 . I West . Indies • ,,, t 12,' s t 7th o month ii...........-__ - - - i9O 7th o mom+ Ithampte% l&t8m, When any of these dates fall on a Sunday, the mails will ,e de g spatched on the following day, with the exception of the Kiwis (TIP 4 outhampton), and the Malta, both of Whieh will be despatch.' 1,111 preceding day. 8114 RE • ifAirirsra. LIVERPOOL, JAN. 14. STOCK EXCHANGE.—Th e tone of the market ham bileg quiet to-day, and prices are slightly improved. Groat Western of Canada, 2 43—South Eastern, 161. 18s. Midlands, 63 London and North Westerns, lElf—e Lancashire and Yorkshire, 71 6—Manehester, Sheffield. and Linccln, 23—Lancaster and Carlisle (i shares), 6 p, —Eastern Counties, Si—Luxembourg (Pref. 5 per mt. bonds), 3. MANCHESTER, JAN. 14. "ITOOR EXORANGE.—The market to-day has een doing a tilt busine ss , b u t pr i ces are firm. Manchester, b Sheffield - , and Lincoln, 24—Dover, 17—Leeds, 76. ~........____ BIRMINGHAM, JAN. 14. STOOK EXCHANGE. The market was rather indite to day, and stock generally in little demand. London anti North Wenterns closed at 9 .3i —Midlands, at 64-8 Stafford; 2.18.9 d.— Bi rm i ngham Canals, 901 to 91i. 01404 [ADVERTISEMENT.]—HoIIoway's Ointment and Pills Superior Remrdies fir Bad Legs.—Mr. John Nit, of Billericay, E- s«r, i nforms Professor Rollaway that Mrs. Mary White, ot Vanve, had been troubled will * bad leg ff,r more than 15 years, for the care of which then, appeared no remedy ; as she had tried various riellioll without e ff ec t ; b ut . b y his p . reuamos, she eoumenoad using Hoilfiway's Ointment and Pills, previous to *bl4 I for 16 weeks she was unable to crease the room ; theflO invaluable remedies, however,. cured the leg its a Ott short time. Sold by all medic ine vendors throughaut the world, at Professor Holloway's establishmenta i 214, Strand, London, and 80, Maiden-lane, New York ;by A. Srampa. Cnns antinople ; A. Guidioy, Sinn* .; and E. Muir, Malta. BIRTHS. OF A SON. On the 10th inat., at Rawmareh Rectory, Itothorhim, Lady Mahon. On the 12th inst., at Douro-terrace, Bishopereartactith, the lady of John Scott, Esq. QV • DAUGHTVIA. On the 13th inst.. at Duke'4-hill, Bagshot, wits of Thomas Andrews, Esq., solicitor. On the 12th inst., at 3, South-street, Bronipto )Irt, Henry Foreman. MARRIED. On the 12th inst., at St. john's, Notting-hilir Alexander King, only son of John Witt, Esq., of S onthaippSon, to Julia Eliza, only daughter of B. B. Chubb. Zig ef Oxt / ford-terrace Hyde -park. On the 1.4 h nit,, at St. Dunstan's in the /ad, Zondono Mr. James Weir, draper, Glocester-terrace, Lond se Mary, eld es t d aug ht er of Jas Smith, Esq., merchon on, cu d member of the C ommon C ounc il o f th e city o f z"4", DIED. On the 12th inst., at Betehworth sona. Surrey, Right Hon. Henry Goulburn, M.P. for the VT Cambridge aged 72. g nYders • On the 23d ult., at Cairo, C o l one l William MAY O 2. 11 14 ., de-camp t o th e Q ue en, Brigadier commondli bad C on ti ngen t, thi r d surv i ving son of thiativ. Rob ir s Mayne, formerly rector of Limpdeld, Seerrsh tied 36. On the 12th inst., at 3, Riehroond•oreseent, lciartsbry. park. London, the Rev. John Branch, Baptist Of Church-street, Blackfrists, aged 49. On the 12th inst., atWorcester-park, Se,Trm. Alizehetj widow of the lat e Ma rk Currie, Esq., AIM vu. h On the 12th inst., Mr. Wm. Strakar . , theological bo o k, seller, late of 3, Adelaide -street, Stran d , aged 59. On the 12 th inst., a t N o. 36, Lowndes•square, Hawksley, Esq., f ormerly of the 12ib Lancers, aged p 0 On the 11th i nst., at Rich mond.Vills, Battersea, Rmitl. Joseph Martin, late of Palegrave-place, Strand, aged 72. On the 10th i nst., at the Larchee,Wwickshire, .41.841 W• Morrie!, Esq., retired Commander R.N., aged 76, t,oNDoN: Printed and Published by MIJRDO YOUNO of No. lit', stranit, Printer, at Th.e Sun Officio. 1124 Strand, in the Precinct of the Savoy, ia the aplati of Middlesex, Tuee , lay, J 41111417 185 d. , t