The Sun.
London, England, 1851-12-16 00:00:00

vexing parties have been organised, and soaie progress has
been made in establishing the principal base and meridian
lines. But further legislation ar.d additional appropriations
will be necessary before the proper subdivisions can be made,
and the general land system extended over those remote

parts of our territory.
On the 3d of March last an Act was passed providing for
the appointment of three Commissioners to settle private land
claims in California. Three persons were immediately ap-
pointed, all of whom, however, declined accepting the tithes,
in consequence of the inadequacy of the compensation.
Others were promptly selected, who, for the same reason, also
declined ; and it was not until late in the season that the
services of suitable persons could be secured. A majority of
the Commissioners convened in this city on the 10th of Sep-
tember last, when detailed instructions were given to them
in regard to their duties. Their first meeting for the trans-
action of business will be held in San Francisco on the Bth
day of the present month.
I have thought it proper to refer to these facts, not only to
explain the causes of the delay in filling the commission,
but to call your attention to the propriety of increasing the
compensation of the commissioners. The office is one of
great labour and responsibility, and the compensation
shotuld be such as to command men of a high order of ta-
letft and the most unquestionable integrity.
The proper disposal of the mineral lands of California is a
subject surrounded by great difficulties. In my last annual
message I recommended the survey and sale of them in
small parcels, under such restrictions as would effectually
guard against monopoly and speculation. But upon further
information, and in deference to the opinions of persons fami-
liar with the subject, I am inclined to change that recom-
mendation, and to advise that they be permitted to re-
main, as at present, a common field, open to the enterprise
and industry of all our citizens, until further experience
shall have developed the best policy to be ultimately adopted
in regard to them. It is safer to suffer the inconveniences
that now exist, for a short period, than by premature legisla-
tion, to fasten on the country a system founded on error,
which may place the whole subject beyond the future con-

trol of Cotigiess.
The agricultural lands should, however, be surveyed and
brought into market with as little delay as possible, that the
titles may become settled, and the inhabitants stimulated to
make permanent improvements, and enter on the ordinary-
pursuits of life. To effect these objects it is desirable that
the necessary provision be made by law for the establishment
cf land offices in California and Oregon, and for the efficient
prosecution of the surveys at an early day.
Some difficulties have occurred in organising the territorial
Governments of New Mexico and Utah, and when more
accurate information shall be obtained of the causes, a fur-
ther communication will be made on that subject.
In my last annual communication to Congress I recom-
mended the establishment of an agricultural bureau, and I
take this occasion again to invoke your favourable considera-

tion of the subject.
Agriculture may justly be regarded as the great interest
of our people. Four-fifths of our active population are
employed in the cultivation of the soil, and the rapid expan-
sion of our settlements over new to ritory is daily adding
to the number of those engaged in that vocation. Justice
and sound policy, therefore, alike require that the Govern-
ment should use all the means authorised by the Constitu-
tion to promote the interests and welfare of that important
class of our fellow-citizens. And yet it is a singular fact
that, while the manufacturing and commercial interests have
engaged the attention of Congress during a large portion of
every session, and our statutes abound in provisions for
their protection and encouragement, little has yet been
done directly for the advancement of agriculture. It is
time that this reproach to our legislation should be removed;
and I sincerely hope that the present Congress will not close
their labours without adopting efficient means to sapply the
omissions of those who have preceded them.
An Agricultural Bureau, charged with the duty of collect-
ing and disseminating correct information as to the best mode
of cultivation, and of the most effectual means of preserving
and restoring the fertility of the s and of procuring and
distributing seeds and plants, and other vegetable produc-
tions, with instructions in regard to the soil, climate, and
treatment best adapted to their growth, could not fail to be,
in the language of Washington, in his last annual message to
Congress, a " a very cheap instrument of immense national
benefit."
Regarding the Act of Congress approved 28th September
1850, granting bounty lends to persons who had been en-
gaged in the military service of the country, as a great
measure of national justice and munificence, an anxious de-
sire has been felt, by the officers entrusted with its imme-
diate execution, to give prompt effect to its provisions. All
the means within their control were, therefore, brought
into requisition to expedite the adjudication of claims, and
I am gratified to be able to state that near one hundred
thousand applications have been considered, and about
seventy thousand warrants issued within the short space of
nine months. If adequate provision be made by law to carry
into effect the recommendation of the department, it is con-
fidently expected that, before the close of the next fiscal
year, all who are entitled to the benefits of the Act will
have received their warrants.
The Secretary of the Interior has suggested in his report
various amendments of the laws relating to pensions and
bounty lands, for the purpose of more effectually guarding
against abuses and frauds on the Government, to all of which
I invite your particular attention,
The large accessions to our Indian population consequent
upon the acquisition of New Blexico and California, and the
extension of our settlements into Utah and Oregon, have
given increased interest and importance to our relations with
the aboriginal race.
No material change has taken place within the last year
in the condition and prospects of the Indian tribes who re-
side in the north-western territory, and west of the Mis-
sissippi river. We are at peace with all of them ; and it
will be a source of pleasure to you to learn that they are
cradually advancing in civilization and the pursuits of social

life.
Along the Mexican frontier, and in California and Oregon,
there have been occasional manifestations of unfriendly
feeling, and some depredations committed. lam satisfied,
however, that they resulted more from the destitute and
starving condition of the Indians than, from any settled hos-
tility towards the whites. As the settlements of our
citizens progress toward them the game upon which they
mainly rely for subsistence is driven off or destroyed, and
the only alternative left to them is starvation or plunder. It
becomes us to consider, in view of this condition of things,
whether justice and humanity, as well as an enlightened
economy, do not require that, instead; of seeking to punish
them for offences which are tie result ef our own policy to-
ward them, we should not provide for their immediate
wants and encourage them to engage in agriculture, and to
rely on their labour instead et the chase, for the means of
support.
Various important treaties have been nego ciated with dif-
ferent tribes during the year, by which their title to large
and valuable tracts of country has been extinguished, all of
which will, at the proper time, be submitted to the Senate
for ratification.
The joint commission ander the treaty of Guadeloupe Hi-
dalgo has been actively engaged in running and marking the
boundary line between the United States and Mexico. It
was stated in the last annual report of the Secretary of the
initial
Interior that thepoint en the Pacific and the point of
the junction of the Gila with the Colorado River had been
determined, and the intervening line, about 150 miles in
by temporary monuments. Since
of marble has been erected at the
landmarks of iron have been
initiall thate
placedng t h
time
runmotesnut
ana
ndbdpermanent
markede
monument
distances
along
the line.
The initial point on the Rio Grande has also been fixed by
the commissioners at latitade 32 deg. 22 min., and at the
date of the last communication the survey of the line had
been made thence westward about 150 miles to the neigh-
bourhood of the copper mines.
The commission on our part was at first organized on a
scale which experience proved to be unwieldy, and attended
with unnecessary expense. Orders have, therefore, been
reductionilc limits
tosaf
ctohnesistent with the safety of those
nsi gutlidge f
number of persons employed
the prompt and efficient execu-
tion of theirimportant dutie dt.
imp
Returns have been received. from all the officers engaged
in taking the censusi the states and territories, except
California. The superintendent employed to make the enu-
meration in that state has not yet made his full report, from
within the
n t smallesti
theie
causes, as he alleges, beyond his control. This failure is
much to be regretted, as it has prevented the Secretary of
the Interior from making the decennial apportionment of
representatives among the States, as required by the Act
d
approve May 23, ISoO. It is hoped, however, that the
returns will soon be received, and no time will then be
lost iu making the necessary arrangements, and in trans-
mitting the certificates required by the law. The
Superintendent of the Seventh Census is diligently em-
ployed, under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior,
in classifying and arranging, in tabular form, all the statisti-
cal information derived from the returns of the marshals, and
it is believed that when the work shall be completed it will
exhibit a more perfect view of the population, wealth, occu-
pations, and social condition of a great country, than has
ever been presented to the world. The value of such a work,
as the basis of enlightened legislation, can hardly be over-
estimated ; and I earnestly hope that Congress will lose no
time in making the appropriations necessary to complete the
classifications, and to publish the results in a style worthy of
the subject and of our national character.
The want of a uniform fee bill, prescribing the compen-
sation to be allowed district attorneys, clerks, marshals,
and commissioners in civil and criminal cases, is the cause
of much vexation in justice, and complaint. I would re-
commend a thorough revision of the laws on the whole
subject, and the adoption of a tariff of fees which, as far as
practicable, should be uniform, and prescribe a specific
compensation for every service which the officer may be re-
quired to perform. This subject will be fully presented in
the report of the Secretary of the Interior.
In my last annual message I gave briefly my reasons for
believing that you possessed the constitutional power to
improve the harbours of our great lakes and sea coast, and
the navigation of our principal rivers, and recommended
that appropriations should be made for completing such
works as had already been commenced, and for commencing
such
.others as might seem to the wisdom of Congress to be
of public and general importance. Without repeating the
reasons then urged, I deem it my duty again to call your
attention to this important subject. The works on many of
the harbours were left in an unfinished state, and conse-
quently exposed to the action of the elements, which is fast
destroying them. Great numbers of lives and vast amounts
of property are annually lost for want of safe and convenient
harbours on the lakes. None but those who have been ex-
posed to that dangerous navigation can fully appreciate the
importance of this subject. The whole north-west appeals
to you for relief, and I trust their appeal will receive due
consideration at your hands.
The same is in a measure true in regard to some ef the
harbours and inlets on the sea-coast.
The unobstructed navigation of our large rivers is of
equalimportance. Our settlements are now extending to the
sources of the great rivers which empty into, and form a part
of the Mississippi, and the value of the public lands in these
regions would be greatly enhanced by freeing the navigation
of those waters trom obstructions. In view, therefore, of
this great interest, I deem it my duty again to urge upon
Congress to make such appropriations for those improve-
ments as they may deem necessary.
The survey of the Delta of the Mississippi, with a view to
the prevention of the overflows that have proved so disastrous
to that region of country, have been nearly completed, and
the reports thereof are now in course of preparation, and will
shortly lie laid before you.
The protection of our southwestern frontier, and of
within
e
adjacent Mexican states, against the Indian tribes
our border, has claimed my earnest and constant attention.
Congress having failed at, the last session to adopt any re-
commendation that an additional regiment of mounted men
specially adapted to that service should be raised, all that
remained to be done was to make the best use of the means
at my disposal. Aceordiegly all the troops adapted to that
service that could properly be spared from other quarters
have been concentrated on that frontier, and officers of high
reputation selected to command them. A new arrangement
of the military posts has also been made, whereby the troops
are brought nearer to the Mexican frontier and to the tribe.
they are intended to overawe.
Sufficient time has not yet elapsed to realise all the bene-
fits that are expected to result from these arrangements,
but I have every reason to hope. that they will effectually
check their marauding expeditions. The nature of the
country, which furnishes little for the support of All army