The American Republican gazette — Concord, N.H., 1803-01-06 00:00:00, page 1

WASHINGTON, Dec. if. ?
This day, at 13 o'clock the following
'MESSAGE was delivered to each
House b, Mr. Lewis, Secretary to the
PreJident,
MESSAGE.
To the Senate and Hcufe es Re,refenta
trues of the United; States. ^
WHEN we assemble together, fellow
citizens, to confider the state of.our
beloved country, our just attentions
are firft drawn to those pleasing cir
cumftances which mark the goodness
' of that Being from whose favor they
flow, and the large measure of thank
fulntfswe owe for his bounty. An
other year has come around, and finds
us (tilt blessed with peace and friend,
ship abroad Law, Order and Re.
ligion at home, good affe&ion and
harmony with our Indian neighbors,
our burthens lightened; yet our in
come fufficient for the public wants,
and the produce ~ the year great to
yond example, These, fellow citi
zens, are the circumstances under
which we meet ; and we remark with
special fatisfadion those which, under
the smiles of Providence, result from
the Bill, industry and order of our
citizens, managing their own affairs
in their ownway, and for their own
^ use, unembarrassed by too much reg.
ulation, unoppre ffed by fiscal exac>
tions./
On the restoration of peace in Eu
rope,that portion of the carrying trade
which had fallen to our Chare during
the war, was abridged by the return
fe ing competition of the belligerent
powers; This was to be expelled,
and was just. But, in addition, we
find, in some parts of Europe, monop
olizing diferiminauons, which, in the
form of duties, tend effe&ually to pro
hibit the carrying thither our own pro
duce in our own vessels. From ex
} ifting amities and a spirit of justice, it
. is hoped that friendly difeuffion will
■ produce a fair and adequate recipro
city. But should falfe calculations of
interest defeat our hope, it rests with
dfyegiflature to decide whether they
will meet inequalities abroad with
'countervailing inequalities at home,
or provide sot the evil in any other
way.
It is with fatisfa&ion I lay before
you an a& of the British parliament,
anticipating this fubje&, so far as to
authorife a mutual abolition of the
duties and countervailing duties, per
mitted under the treaty of 1794. It
-shews on their part a spirit of justice
and friendly accommodation, whieri
it is our duty and our interest to cul
tivate with all nations. Whether this
. would produce adue equality in the
navigation between the two countries,
is a fubje& for your consideration. *
Another circumstance which claims
etteption, as direßly affecting the ve
ry source of our navigation, is the de.^
fed or the evasion of the law provid.
ting for the return of seamen, and pan
ticularly of those belonging to vessels
fold abroad. Numbers of them dis
charged in foreign ports, have been
^thrown on the hands of our confols,
who, to refeue them from the dangers
into which their distresses might plunge
?them§and save them to their country,
^ to^ found it necessary, in some caf- 1
'^~^^==- !--— —^^
THURSDAY, JAN. 6, 1803.]
AMERICAN REPUBLICAN GAZETTE.
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Error of Opinion ma, be tolerated, where reason is left free io combat it.— Jefferson.
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PRINTED AT CONCORD, N. HAMPSHIRE, BY E. RUSSELL.'
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LIBERTY AND THE CONSTITUTION.
es, to return them at the public charge.
The cession of the Spanilh province
Louisiana to France,which to k place
in the course of the late war, will, if
' carried into effe&, make a change in
the afpe& of our foreign relations,
which will doubtless -havejuft weight
in any deliberations of the legislature
conneaed With that fobjeH.
There was reason, tot long since,
to apprehend that the warfare in which
we were engaged with Tripoli, mighr
be taken up by some other of the Bar
bary powers. A reinforcement, there
fore, was immediately ordered to the
Yeffels already there, Subfeqm nt in
formation however has removed tbefe
apprehensions for the present. To
secure our commerce inthat sea, with
the fmalteft force competent, we have
supposed it best to watch Rriaiy the
harbor of Tripoli. Sriil, however,the
shallowness of their coast, and the
want of smaller veflels on our part, has
permitted some cruisers to escape un
observed ; and to one of these an A
merican vessel unfortunately fell a
prey. The captain, one American
seaman, and two others of colour, re-|
main prisoners with them ; unless ex.•
Changed under an agreement former-1
ly made w^h the Bafhaw, tri whom,!
on the faith of that, some of his cap.;
tive fubjeds had been restored. ~
The Convention with the State of
Georgia has been ratified by ,heir 1^
giflature, and a repurchase from the
Creeks has been consequently made,|
of afart of the Tallaffcee county. In
this! purchafe has been also comprehend
ed a part of the lands within the fork
of Oconee and Oakmulgee rivers.—
The particulars of the contrad will be
laid before congress so soon as they
shall be in a gate for communication.
In order to remove every ground
of difference possible with our Indian
^neighbors, I have proceeded in the
work of fettling, with them andmark
ing the boundarie /between us. That
with the Cho&aw nation is fixed in
one part, and will be thro' the whole
within a short time. The country to
which their title had been extinguish
ed before the revolution, is fufficient
to receive a very refoedable popula-j
tibn, which centreft will probably fee
the expediency of encouraging, fo}
soon as the limits shall be declared, j
We are to view this petition as an;
Outpost of the U. States, furrounded+
by drong neighbors, and distant fromj
its support. And how farthat mono-,
poly whjeh prevents population should
here be guarded against, and a&ual
habitation made a condition of the:
continuance oftitle, will'be for your§
consideration. < A prompt fettlement[
too of all exiting rights an&:laims;
within this territory, presents lifelf asl
a preliminary operation.l
In that part of the Indiana territoryl
which includes Vincennes, the linesl
fettled with the neighboring tribes fix
I the extinaionof their title at a breadth ;
I of twenty four leagues from East to /
Weft, and about the fame length pa-[
rallel with and including the Wabafh.J
They have also ceded a trad of lour I
miles fqure. including the fait springs
near the mouth of that rreek^ _
.In the department of finance, it is
with pleafare I inform you that the
receipts of external duties, for the laftl
■■«!■"■■"?! g—gg-g^ gg-Egjgggggggg^^
THE
twelve months, have exceeded those
of any former year, and that the ratio
of increase has been also greater than
ulual. This has enabled us to ar fwer
all the regular exigencies of governs
ment, to pay from the treasury, with
in one year UPWARDS of EIGHT
MILLIONS of DOLLARS, princi
pal and interest, of the public debt,
exclusive of upwards of one million
paid by the fafe of bank flock, and
making in the whole a redu&ion of
nearly five millions and an half of the
principal, and to have now in the
treasury four millions and an half
of dollars, which are in a course of
application to the further difeharge of
debt, and current demands. Expe
rience too, so far, authorifes us to be
lieve, if no extraordinary event fupe&„
venes, and the expenses which will be
adually incurred, shall not be greats
er (ban were contemplated by <:on
grefsat their last session, that we ihall
not be disappointed in the exp darions
then foimed. But nevertheless, as the
efFe& of peace on the amount of du
ties is not yet fully afeertained, it is
the more necessary to pia&ife every
ufefdt economy, and to incur no ex
pense, which may be avoided without
prejudice.
The collection of the internal taxes
having been completed in some of
the flares, the officers employed in it
are of course out of commission. In
others they will be so shortly. But
in a few, where the arrangements sot
the direct tax had been retarded, it
will dill be some time before the sys
tem is elofed. It has not yet been,
thought necessary to employ the agent
authorized by % an aft of the last fef-
Gon, for tranfafting business in Eurojte
relative to debts and loans. Ndr
have we used the power, confided
by the fame a&, of prolonging the for
eign debt by re-loans, and of redeem
ing instead thereof, an equal sum of
the domestic debt. -Should, howev
er, the difficulties of remittance on so
large a scale, render it necessary at a.
n/ time, the power shall be executed,
and the money thus unemployed a
broad shall, in conformity-with that
I law, be faithfully applied here in an
equivalent extinction of domestic
1 debt. When effe&s so salutary re
jfult from the plans you have already
;fan&ioned, when merely by avoiding
falfe obje&s of expence, we are able,
;without internal taxes, and without
I borrowing, to make large and effectu
al payments towards the difchargte of
our public debt, and the emancipa
;tian of our posterity from that MOR
-ITAL CANKER, it is an encourage.
I ment, fcllow-&izens, of the highest
:order, to pitteed as we have begun
lin luhftitwing economy for taxation,
I and in pursuing what is ufeful for a
Ination placed as we are, rather than
Iwhat is practiced by others under difr
ferent circumstances. And whehlo
eyer we are defined to meet events
Iwhich fait call forth all the energies
lof our countrymen, we have the firm
eft reliance on those encrgi%and
the comfort of leaving for ca^ li@ I
these; the extraordinary resources of
loans and internal taxes. In the
mean time, by payments of the priq,
cipal of our debt, we are liberating;
annually, nortions of the external tax-I
es, and forming from them a growing
fund, still further to lefleu the necel
fity of recurring to extraordinary re
sources.
The used aucdunt of receipts aad expendi
tures for the last year, with an estimate of the
experefe of the ebfuing one, will be laid before'
you by the Secretary of the Treasury
N) change being deemed neceflary in one
military eftabliforaent, an estimate of it# ex
pepfes for the ensuing year, on its present foot. 1
info as also the fams to be employed in forti
fications,and other obj& wiibia that depart
ment, has been prepared by the Secretary at
War, and will make a part of the general esti
mates which will be presen ted you.
Considering that our regular troops areem*
ployed for local purposes, end that the militia
is our general reliance for great and foddea
emergencies, you will doubtleG think this ia.
flitution worthy of areaiew, and gi«e it those
improvements of which you find it susceptible.
Eftimz'es for the naval department, prepar.
ed by the Secretary vs the Navy, for another
year, will in like manner be communicatadjr
with the general estimates. A Imall force In
the Mediterranean will still be necessary to re
train the Tripoliae cruisers ; and the uncer
tain tenure of peace with f me other of the
Barbery powers, may eventually require that
force to be augmented. The acceffity of pro
curing some smaller veflels for that service,
will raise the estimate ; but the difference in
their maintenance will soon rake it a me:fare
of economy.
Pfefaming it will be deemed expedient to
expend annually a convenient sum towards
providing the naval defence which our fi'ua
tjon may require, I cannot but recommend
that the fiftappropriations for 'hat purpose,
may go to the faring what we already poffifs.<
No cares, no attentions, can preserve veffel#
from rapid decay,whfch tic in wale#, and ex
posed to the fan. These decays require great
and constant repairs, and will cenforoe, i' cen.
tinned, a great portion of the monies rePited
for naval purposes. To avoid this w^fte of
our resources, it is proposed to add to cur navy
yard here a Deck, within which our pretext
vessels may be laid up dry, and under cover
from the fun. Under these circumstances ex
perience proves, that works of wood will re
main scarcely at all offeßed by time.
The great abund^pce of running
water which this fituaiion poffeffes^t
heights far above the level of the tide,
if employed as is pra&ifed for lock,
navigation, furnifhes the' means for
raising and laying up our vessels, on
adry and sheltered bed. And should
-the measure be found ufeful here, si
milar depofitaries for laying up, as
well as for building and repffiring
vessels, may hereafter be yfl&rtaken
a: other navy yards, o&tpthe fame<
means. The plantfffeftimates of
'the work, preparedly a person of
still and experience, will be present
ed-to you, without delay, and from
these it will be seen that fcarcelv more •
than has been the cost of one veffelU
necessary to save the whole, and that
the annual fam t 6 be employed to.
wards its completion, may be adapted ,
to the views of the legislature as W
naval expenditures.
To cultivate peace and maintain
commerce and navigation in all their
lawful enterprizes—to fofter our fify
eries as nurseries of navigation, and
forth; nurture of man, and prote&
the manufadures adapted to our cir,
cumftauces—to preterre the faith of
the nation by an exa& difeharge of
its debts and contrasts, expend tire
public money with the fame careand -
economy we ®oul^ pra&ife with our
own, and,jmpofe on our citizens no
unnecessary burthens—to keep in 4.^
things within the pale of our conffitu
tional powers, and cfieriffi the federal 7
union as the only rock of fafety—
I these, fellow citizens, are the land.
I marks by which we are to guide our.
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Volume ll.— Number 1%
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