The Sun.
London, England, 1853-12-20 00:00:00

TRUSTEES.

The Right Honourable the Lord Viscount Drumlanrig, M.P., P.C.,
Comptroller of her Majesty's Household.
Major-General Sir W. Clayton, Bart., 79, Gloucester-place, Port-
man-square.
Sir Charles Price, Bart , Banker, London.
Vice-Admiral Ayseough, Prospect House, Southampton.

CHAIRMAN.
The Right Hon. the Lord Viscount Dramlanrig, M.P., P.C., Comp-
troller of her Majesty's Household.
DEPUTY-CHAIRMAN.
George Coode, Esq., Victoria-street, Belgravia.
CONSULTING ACTUARY.
Francis G. P. Nelson, Esq., F.L.S.
STANDING COUNSEL.
R. B. Crowder, Esq., Q.C., M.p,, Recorder of Bristol, Counsel to the
Admiralty, and Judge Advocate of the Fleet.
R. Malin% Esq., Q.C., M.P,, Lincoln's-inn.
Chief Office, No, 18, New Bridge-street, Blackfriars, London.
Loans granted at 5 per cent. on real or personal security.
Annuities on most favourable terms. Diseased lives and lives de-
clined by other offices accepted at equitable rates.
For Prospectuses and further information apply to the agents 131
the country, or to C. IV. Bevan, Resident SeeretarY-
Agents wanted in all parts of the United Kingdom.
N.8.--341e Assurnoors eiroctvd on Um ordinaryplan.

in extenso : - -
Fellow-Citizens of the Senate, and of the House
of Representatives :
The interest with which the people of the Republic
anticipate the assembling of Congress, and the fulfil-
ment, on that occasion, of the duty imposed upon a
new President, is one of the best evidences of their ca-
pacity to realise the hopes of the founders of a political
system at once complex and symmetrical. While the
different branches of the Government are, to a certain
extent, independent of each other, the duties of all,
alike, have direct reference to the source of power. For-
tunately, under this system, no man is so high, and
none so humble, in the scale of public station, as to
escape from the scrutiny, er to be exempt from the re-
sponsibility, which allmfficial functions imply.
Upon the justice and intelligence of the masses, in a
Government thus organised, is the sole reliance of the
confederacy, and the only security for honest and earnest
devotion to its interests, against the usurpations and
encroachments of power on the one hand, and the as-
saults of personal ambition on the other.
The interest of which I have spoken is inseparable
from an inquiring, self- governing community, but
stimulated, doubtless, at the present time, by the un-
settled condition of our relations with several foreign
Powers ; by the new obligations resulting from a sudden
extension of the field of enterprise ; by the spirit with
which that field has been entered, and the amazing
energy with which its resources for meeting the demands
of humanity have been developed.
Although disease, assuming at one time the charac-
teristics of a wide-spread and devastating pestilence, has
left its sad traces upon some portions of our country, we
have still the most abundant cause for reverent thank-
fulness to God for an accumulation of signal mercies
showered upon us as a nation. It is well that a con-
sciousness of rapid advancement and increasing strength
be habitually associated with an abiding sense of de-
pendence upon Him who holds in his hands the destiny
of men and of nations.
Recognising the wisdom of the broad principle of ab-
solute religious toleration proclaimed in our fundamental
law, and rejoicing in the benign influence which it has
exerted upon our social and political condition, I should
shrink from a clear duty did I fail to express my deepest
conviction that we can place no secure reliance upon any
apparent progress, if it be not sustained by national in-
tegrity, resting upon the great truths affirmed and illus-
treated by divine revelation. In the midst of our sorrow
for the afflicted and suffering, it has been consoling to
see how promptly disaster made true neighbours of dis-
tricts and cities widely separated from each other, and
cheering to watch the strength of that common bond of
brotherhood which unites all hearts, in all parts of this
union, when danger threatens from abroad, or calamity
impends over us at home.
Our diplomatic relations with foreign Powers have
undergone no essential change since the adjournment of
the last Congress. With some of them questions of a
disturbing character are still pending, but there are good
reasons to believe that these may all be amicably ad-
justed.
For som years past Great Britain has so construed
the first arficle of the convention of the 20th of April,
1818, in regard to the fisheries on the north-eastern
coast, so as to exclude our citizens from some of the
fishing grounds, to which they freely resorted for nearly
a quarter of a century subsequent to the date of that
treaty. The United States have never acquiesced in
this construction, but have always claimed for their
fishermen all the rights which they had so long enjoyed
without molestation. With a view to remove all diffi-
culties on the subject, to extend the rights of our fisher.
men beyond the limits fixed by the convention of 1818,
and to regulate trade between the United States and
the British North American provinces, a negotiation
has been opened, with a fair prospect of a favourable
result. To protect our fishermen in the enjoyment of
their rights, and prevent collision between them and
British fishermen, I deemed it expedient to station a
naval fore in that quarter during the fishing season.
Embarrassing questions have also arisen between the
two Governments in regard to Central America. Great
Britain has proposed to settle them by an amicable
arrangement, and our Minister at London is instructed
to enter into negotiations on that subject.
A commission for adjusting the claims of our citizens
against Great Britain, and those of British subjects
against the United States,• organised under the conven-
tion of the Bth February la,st is now sitting in London for
the transaction of business.
It is in many respects desirable that the boundary line
between the United States and the British provinces in
the north-west, as designated in the convention of the
15th ofJune, 184 G, and especially that part which sepa-
rates the territory of Washington from the British pos-
sessions on the north should be traced and marked. I
therefore present the subject to your notice.
With France our relations continue on the most
friendly footing. The extensive commerce between the
United States and that country might, it is conceived, be
released from some unnecessary restrictions, to the mu-
tual advantage of both parties. With a view to this
subject some progress has been made in negotiating a
treaty of commerce and navigation.
Independently of our valuable trade with Spain, we
have important political relations with her, growing out
of our neighbourhood to the islands of Cuba and Porto
Rico. I am happy to announce, that since the last
Congress no attempts have been made by unauthorised
expeditions within the United States, against either of
those colonies. Should any movement be manifested
within our limits, all the means at my command
will be vigorously exerted to repre-s it. Several annoy-
ing occurrences have taken place at Havannah, or in the
vicinity of the island of Cuba, between our citizens
and the Spanish authorities. Considering the proximity
of that island to our shores, lying as it does in the track
of trade between some of our principal cities, and the
suspicious vigilance with which foreign intercourse, par-
ticularly that with the United States, is there guarded,
a repetition of such occurrences may well be apprehended.
As no diplomatic intercourse is allowed between our
consul at Havannah and the Captain-General of Cuba,
ready explanations cannot be made, or prompt redress
afforded, where injury has resulted. All complaint on the
part of our citizens, under the present arrangement, must •
be, in the first place, presented to this Government, and
then referred to Spain ; Spain again refers it to her local
authorities in Cuba for investigation, and postpones an
answer till she has heard from those authorities. To
avoid these irritating and vexatious delays, a proposition
has been made to provide for a direct appeal for redress
to the captain-general by our consul, in behalf of our
injured fellow-citizens. Hitherto, the Government of
Spain has declined to enter into any such arrangement.
This course on her part is deeply regretted ; for, without
some arrangement of this kind, the good understanding
between the two countries may be exposed to occasional
interruption. Our Minister at Madrid is instructed to
renew the proposition, and to press it again upon the
consideration of her Catholic Majesty's Government.
For several years Spain has been calling the attention
of this Government to a claim for losses, by some of her
subjects, in the case of the schooner Amistad. This
claim is believed to rest on the obligations imposed by
our existing treaty with that country. Its justice was
admitted, in onr diplomatic correspondence with the
Spanish Government, as early as March, 1847 ; and one
of my predecessors, in his annual message of that year,
recommended that provision should be made for its pay.
ment. In January last it was again submitted to Con-
gress by the executive. It has received a favourable
consideration by committees of both branches; but as yet
there has been no final action upon it. I conceive that
good faith requires its prompt adjustment, and I present
,onc.ame to this
it tom Martin}
Koszta,early an da favourable
nc o nhsyi dheirratthi
country in 1850, and declared his intention, in due form
of law, to become a citizen of the United States. After
remaining here nearly two years, he visited Turkey.
While at Smyrna ho was forcibly seized, taken on board
an Austrian brig of war, then lying in the harbour of
that place, and there confined in irons, with the
avowed design to take him into the dominions of
Austria. Our consul at Smyrna and legation at Con-
stantinople, interposed for his release, but their efforts
were ineffectual. While thus imprisoned, Commander
Ingraham, with the United States ship of war St. Louis
arrived at Smyrna, and, after inquiring into the circum-
stances of the case, came to the conclusion that
place.nd Koszta
was entitled to the protection of this Government,
t mutual
been role
s
took energetic and prompt measures for
his
se
release. United
Under an arrangement between theagents of
States and of Austria he was transferred to the custody
of the French consul-general at Smyrna,amreement of
there to remain
until he should be disposed of by
he
ate tehda, t
a
is
the consuls of the respective Governments
Pursuant to that agreement he has
now on his way to the Unitedthe d
of Austria has made cuSntaut of our officers Emperor
The Emperor
who took part in this transaction
of grave complaint. i Regardng. Koszta as still
claiming a right to seize him
a subject
his subject, and
tptiore, the he
surrender has de-
mandedof the prisoner, a disavowal o
within the limitsof the Turkish
itsur
of this Government
of
kiscohnseeimi
the acts of its agents,
r and satisfaction
faction for the alleged outrage. After a careful .

Recurring to these principles, which constitute the or-
ganic basis of the Union, we perceive that, vast as are the
functions and the duties of the federal government, vested
in or entrusted to its three great departments—the legis-
lative, executive, and judicial—yet the substantive power,
the popular force, and the large capacities for social and
material development, exist in the respective states, which
all being of themselves well constituted republics, as they
preceded so they alone are capable of maintaining and per-
petuatingent the American Union. The federal government
deffited
has its appropriate line of action in the specific an
fly as to
powers conferred on it by the constitution,
those things in which the states have a common ell
in their relations to one another and to foreigninterest
govern-
ments, while the °Teat mass of interests which
„ life, the springs
cultivated men, the ordina wh:,ch belong to
of industry, all the diversified the general reserved
af-
fairs of society, rest securely P°n-
btpiselrnseonal and domestic
There is the
powers of the people of the
and there the vital ,;,,,,
effective democracy of the naf7,,.
seuverai states.
es-
sence of its being and its grs3bu'—'
Of the practical cons
e 9 the primary one is the
equences which flow from the na-
ture of the federal g-th integrity and fidelity the high
duty of administering with trust reposed in it by the constitution, especially in the
lic funds, as drawn by taxation from
application of the P
A -Ub ropriated to specific objects bLdienl-
the Nee°, and
ny
Ours is
laEla've no occasion to suggest a
gross. IdaPrlenancial policy of the government.
the changes in
almost, if not Ablo u '
1 tely► the solitary power of Christendom
s
from imposts
on surplus revenue, drawn immediately
spontaneous
having a and therefore measured by the ,
on commerce, • la *ty of the country, with such
ri and nation prosper].
and the pro-
ductsenterP-l'e
indirect relation
and to violate no constitutional
the earth sea, as
of
promote the general welfare.
trine, and yet vigorously
treasure, nor as to
doctrine,
to the sources of the public .
Neither as
managing it, does any grave
manner of keeping
and
era' acquiescence
the
now prevail, there being a general
controversy
in the wisdom of thepresent system.
The report of tho Secretary of the Treasury will exhibit
in detail the state of the public finances, and the condition
of the various branches of the public service administered
by that department of the government.
levied The revenue of the country, almost insensibly to
' the taxpayer, goes on from year i to yearncreasing beyond
either the interests or the prospective wants of the govern-
ment.

At the close of the fiscal year ending June 30, 1852,
there remained in the Treasury a balance of $14,632,136.
The public revenue for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1853,
amounted to $58,931,865 from customs, and to $2,405,708
from public lands and other miscellaneous sources, amount-
ing together to $61,337,571 while the public expenditure
for the same period, exclusive of payments on account of
the public debt, amounted to $43,554,162 ; leaving a balance
of $32,425,447 of receipts above expenditure.
This fact, of increasing surplus in the Treasury, became
the subject of anxious consideration at a very early period
of my administration, and the path of duty in regard to it
seemed to me obvious and clear—namely, first, to apply
the gurplu mom to the diAchino 9f the public debt, "

W —Tl2e spirit of the constitution and a due regard to
justice require that all the states of the Union should be
placed on the same footing in regard to the judicial tri-
bunals. I therefore commend to your consideration this
important subject, which, in my judgment, demands the
will present to you, if deemed
speedy action of Congress. I
desirable, a -plan which I am prepared to recommend, for
the enlargement and modification of the present judicial
system.
The act of Congress establishing a Smithsonian Institu-
tion, provided that the President of the United States
and other persons therein designated should constitute an " establishment" by that name, and that the members
should hold stated special meetings for the supervision of
the affairs of the institution. The organisation not having
taken place, it seemed to me proper that it shoulclbo
effected without delay. This has been done n
gr
; dan occa-
sion was thereby presented for inspecting the condition of
the institution, and appreciating its successful
nen.
thus far, and its high promise of great and general useful-

I have omitted to ask your favourable consideration for
the estimates of works of a local character in 27 of the 31
states, amounting to $1,754,500, because, independently of
the grounds which have so often been urged against the
application of the federal revenue for works of this cha-
racter, inequality, with consequent injustice, is inherent
with the nature of the proposition, and because the plan
has proved entirely inadequate to the accomplishment of
the objects sought.
The subject of internal improvements, claiming alike
the interest and goodwill of all, has, nevertheless, been the
subject of much political discussion, and has stood as a deep
graven line of division between statesmen of great ability
ond*Pitridisin, The rule of Arid construction of All