The Sun.
London, England, 1857-12-21 00:00:00

insurrection and in restoring and maintaining the

sovereignty of the constitution and laws in the ter-
ritory of Utah.
I recommend to Congress establishing a territorial
government over Arizona, connecting with it such
portions of New Mexico as they may deem expe-
dient. I need scarcely adduce arguments in support
of this recommendation. We are bound to protect
the lives and the property of our citizens inhabiting
Arizona, and these are now without any efficient
pi otection. Their present number is already con-
siderable, and isprobably increasing, notwithstand-
ing the disadvantages under which they labour.
Besides, the proposed territory is believed to be rich
in the elements of mineral and agricultural wealth,

especially in silver and copper. -The mails of the.
United States to California are now carried over it
throughout its whole extent, and this route is
known to be the nearest, and believed to be the best
to the Pacific.

MISCELLANEOUS MATTERS.
Long experience ha,sdeeply convinced methat a strict
construction of the powers granted to Congress is
the only true as well as the only s•ife theory of the
constitution. While this principle shall guide my
public conduct, I consider it clear that under the
war-making power Congress may appoint and ap-
propriate money for the construction of a military
road through the territories of the United States
when this is absolutely necessary for the defence
of any of the public States against foreign inva-
sion. The constitution has conferred upon Con-

gress power to declare war, to raise and support
armies, to protect and maintain a navy, to call
forth tho militia, to repel invasions. These high
sovereign powers necessarily involve important
duties, and among them there is none so sacred and
so imperative as that of preserving our soil from the
invasion of a foreign enemy. The constitution has
therefore, left the powers of government on this
point to construction, but expressly requires that
the United States shall protect each of them against
invasion.

Now, if a military road over our own territories
be indispensably necessary to enable us to meet and
repel the invaders, it• follows as a necessary conse-
quence not only that we possess the power, but it is
our imperative duty to construct such road. It
would be an absurdity to invest a government
with the unlimit2d power to make and conduct
war and at the same time deny to it the only
means of reaching and defending the frontiers.
Without such a road it is quite evident we cannot
protect California and our Pacific territories against
invasion. We cannot expect by any other means
to transport men and munitions of war from At-
lantic states in sufficient time successfully to defend

these remote and distanif portions of the republic.
Experience has proved that the routes across the
isthmus of Central America are at best a very un-
certain and unreliable mode of communication ; but
even if this were not the case they would at once be
closed against us in the event of war with a naval
power so much stronger than our own as to enable
it to blockade the ports at either end of these routes.
After all, therefore, we can only rely upon a mi-
litary road through our own territories, and ever
since the origin of the government Congress has
been in the practice of appropriating money from
the public treasury for the construction of such roads.
The difficulties and the expense of the constructing
a military road to connect our Atlantic and Pacific
states have been greatly exaggerated. The distance
on the Arizona route, near the 32d parallel of north
latitude, between the western boundary of Texas
on the Rio Grande, by the eastern boundary of
California on the Colorado, from the best explora-
tions now within our knowledge, does not exceed
470 miles, and the face of the country is in the
main favourable.
Fur obvious reasons the government ought not
to undertake such a work itself by means of its own
agents. This ought to be committed to other agen-
cies which Congress might assist either by grants of
land or money, or by both, upon such terms and
conditions as they may deem most beneficial for the
country.
Provision might thus be made not only for the
safe, rapid, and economical transportation of troops
or munitions of war, but also of the public mails.
The commercial interests of the whole country,

both east and west, would be greatly improved by
such a road, and, above all, it would be a powerful
additional bond of union ; and although advantages
of this kind, whether postal, commercial, or politi-
cal, cannot confer constitutional power, yet they
may furnish auxiliary arguments for expediting a
work which, in my judgment, is clearly embraced
within the war-making power. For these reasons
I commend to the friendly considerationof Congress
the subject of the Pacific Railroad, without finally
committing myself to any particular route.
THE PUBLIC FINANCE.

The report of the Secretary of the Treasury will
furnish a detailed statement of the condition of the
public finances, and of the respective branches of
the public service devolved upon that department
of the Government.
By 6is report it appears that the amount of re-
venue received from all sources into the Treasury
duringthe fiscal year ending 30th June, 1857, was
68,631,513 dols. 67c., which amount, with the ba-
lance of 19,901,325 dole. 45c. remaining in the
Treasury at the commencement of the year, made
an aggregate for the service of 88,532,839 dole. 12c.
The public expenditure for the fiscal year ending
30th June, 1857, amounted to 70,822,724 dole. 85c.
of which 5,943,896 dole. 91c. were applied to the
redemption of the public debt, including interest
and premium, leaving in the treasury at the com-
mencement of the present fiscal year on let July,
1857, 17,710,114 dole. 27c.
The receipts into the treasury for the first quarter
of the present fiscal year commencing Ist July, 1857,
wore 20,929,819 dols. 81c., and the estimated re-
ceipts of the remaining three quarters to 30th June,
1858, ara 36,750,000 dole., making, with the bal-
ance before stated, an aggregate of 75,389,934 dole.
Bc. for the service of the present fiscal year.
The actual expenditure during the first quarter
of the present fiscal year, was 23,714,528 dole. 37c.,
of which 3,895,232 dols. 39c. were applied to the
redemption of the public debt, including interest
and premium. The probable expenditure of the
remaining three-quarters, to 30th June, 1858, is
51,248,530 dole. 4c., including interest on the pub-
lic debt, making an aggregate of 74,963,058 dole.
41c., leaving an estimated balance in the treasury
at the close of the present fiscal year, of 426,875
dols. 67c.
Time amount of the public debt at the commence-
ment of the present fiscal year is 29,060,386 dole.
29c., leaving a balance unredeemed at this time of
25,165,154 dole. 51c.
The amount of estimated expenditure for the
remaining thy ea-quarters of the present fiscal year
will in all probability be increased from the causes
set forth in the report of the Secretary. His sug-
gestion, therefore, that authority should be given
to supply any temporary deficiency by the issue of
a limited amount of Treasury notes, is approved,
and I accordingly recommend the passage of such
law.
As stated in the report of the Secretary, the tariff
of March 3, 1857, has been in operation for so short
a period of time, and under circumstances so un-
favourable to a just development of results as a
revenue measure, that I should regard it as inex-
pedient, at least for the present, to undertake its
revision.

mf
Themeavoo
to f h
tei
hor
h ot
mee w F t
hhce
commend thea
et end
reportsr
Gteon etn irhaael
e u
t the Secretaries of War and of the Navy, of the In-
contain valuable and important information and
suggestions,
rya bab by
°
consideration of Congress. I have already recom-
mended the raisins, of four additional regiments,
presents and the report of the Secretary of War
strong. reasons proving this increase of the army
under existing, circumstances to be indispensable.
I wßildicall the special attention of Congress to
the recommendation of the Secretary of the Navy
in favour of the construction of ten small war
vessels of light draught. For some years the
Government has been obliged on many occasions to
I
hire such steamers from such
t e otir.an ands
which
individuals to supply
its pressing wants. At the present moment we
have no armed vessels in the navy which can pene-
trate the rivers of China. We have but a few which
can enter any of the harbours south of Norfolk,
although many millions of foreign and domestic
commerce annually pass in and out of these har-
bours. Some of our most valuable points are thus
left exposed. This class of vessels of light draught,
great speed, and heavy guns would be formidable
in coast defence. The cost of their construction
will not be great, and they will require for them
but a comparatively small expenditure to keep them
in eommis,iion. In time of peace they will prove
as effective as much larger vessels, and often more
useful. One of them should be at every station
where we maintain a squadron, and three or four
should b 3 constantly employed on our Atlantic and
Pacific coast. Economy, utility, and effi-
ciency combine to recommend them. as
rlmost indispensable. Ten of these small
vessels' would be of incalculable advantage to
the naval service, and the whole cost of their con-
struction would not exceed 2,300,000 dc's.
The report of the Secretary of the Interior is
worthy of treat consideration. It treats of the
numerous and diversified branches of domestic ad-
ministration entrusted to him by law. Among
these the most prominent are the public lands and
our relations with the Indians.
Our system for the disposal of the public lands,
originating with the Fathers of the Republic, has
been improved, as experience pointed the way, and
gradually ad %pted to the growth and settlement of
our-western states and territories. It has worked
well in practice. Already thirteen states and seven
territories hvio been carved out of these lands, and

still more than a thousand million of acres remain i favourable consideration the interest of the pe; ph)
unsold. What a boundless project th's presents to of this district. Without a representative on the
our country for great future prosperito and power. floor of Congress they have, for this very reason,
We have heretofore disposed of 363,862,464 acres peculiar claims upon our just regard. To this I
of public lands. While the public lands are a source know, from my long acquaintance with them, they
of revenue, are of great importance, their import- are eminently entitled.
ance is far greater as furnishing homes for a hardy (Signed) JAMES BUCHANAN.
and independent race of honest and industrious Washington, Dec. 8, 1857.
citizens, who desire to subdue and cultivatethe soil.
They ought to be adminst ered mainly with a view of
promoting this wise and benevolent policy. In
appropriating them for any other purpose, we
ought to use even greater economy than if they had
been converted into money, and the proceeds were
already in the public treasury. To squander away
this richest and noblest inheritance which any
people have ever enjoyed upon objects of doubtful
constitutionality or expediency, would be to violate
one of the most important trusts ever committed to
any people. Whilst Ido not deny to Congress the
power when acting bona fide as a proprietor to give
away portions of them for the purpose of increasing
the value of the remainder, yet, considering the
great temptations to abuse the power, we cannot be
too cautious in its exercise. Actual sellers under
existing laws' are protected in their right of pre-
emption to the extent of a quarter section of 160
acres of laud. The remainder may be disposed of
at public or private sale. Speculation has of late
years prevailed to a great extent in the public
lands. The consequence has been that large por-
tions of them have become the property of in-
dividuals and companies, and that the price has
greatly enhanced to those who desire to purchase
for actual settlement. In order to limit
the area of speculation as much as possible the
extinction of the Indian titles and the extension
of public surveys ought to keep pace with the tide
of emigration.
If Congress should hereafter grant alternate sec •
tions of States or companies, as they have done
heretofore, I recommend that the intermediate sec-
tions retained by the government should be subject
to preemption by actual settlers. It ought ever to
be our cardinal policy to reserve our public lands
as much as may be for the actual settlers, and this
at moderate prices. We shall' thus not only best
promote the prosperity of the new states and terri-
tories and the powers of the Union, but shall secure
homes for our posterity for many generations.
The extension of our limits has brought within
our jurisdiction many additional and populous tribes
of Indians ; large proportions of which are wild,
'intractable, difficulty of control. Predatory and
warlike in their disposition and habits, it is impos-
sible altogether to restrain them from committing
aggressions on each other, as well as upon our
frontier and territories. Expensive military
expeditions are frequently necessary to over-
awe and chastise the more lawless and hos•

tile. The present system of making them
valuable presents to influence them to remain
at peace has proved ineffectual. It is believed to
be the better policy to colonise them in suitable
localities, where they can receive the rudiments of
education, and be gradually induced to adopt
habits of industry. So far as the experiment has
been tried it has worked well in practice, and it
will doubtless prove to be less expensive than the
present system. The whole number of Indians
within our territorial limits is believed to bee--
from the best data in the Interior department—
about 325,000. The tribes of Cherokees, Choctaws,
Chicksaws, and Creeks, settled in the territory sot
apart for them west of Arkansas are rapidly ad-
vancing in education and in all the arts of civilisa-
tion and self-government, and we may indulge the
agreeable anticipation that at no very distant day
they will be incorporated into the Union as one of
the sovereign states.
It will he seen from the report of the Postmaster
General that the Post-office Department still con-
tinues to depend on the Treasury, as it has com-
pelled to do for several years past, for an important
portion of the means of sustaining and extending
its operations. Their rapid growth and extension
are shown by a denominal statement of the number
of post. offices andsthe length of post roads, com-
mencing with the year 1827. In that year there
were 7,000 post-offices ; in 1837, 11,177 ; in 1847,
15,140 ; and in 1857 they numbered 26,586. This
y ear 1,725 post-offices have been established and 704
discontinued, leaving a net increase of 1,021. The
postmasters of 368 offices are appointed by the
President. The length of post roads in 1827 was
105,336 miles ; in 1837, 141,242 miles ; in 1847,
153,818 miles ; and in the year 1857, there are
242,601 miles of post road, including 22,530 miles
of railroad on which the mails are transported.
The expenditures of the department for the fiscal
year ending the 30th June, 1857, as adjusted by
the auditor, amounted to 11,507,670 dole. ; to de-
fray these expenditures there was placed to the credit
of the department on the 7th July, 1856, the sum
of 789,599 dollars. The gross revenue of this
year, including the annual allowances for the
tra.nportaaion of free mail matter, produced
8,053,951 dollars, and the remainder was supplied
by the appropriation from the treasury, 2,250,000
dollars granted by the act of Congress, approved
August, 1856. and by the appropriation of 66,883
dollars made by the act of March 3, 1857, leaving
252,763 to be carried to the credit of the depart-
ment in the accounts of the current year. I com-
mend to your consideration the report of the de-
partment in relation to the overland mail from the
Mississippi river to gan Francisco, California. The
route was selected with my full concurrence as the
one in my judgment best calculated to attain the
the important object contemplated by Congress.
The late disastrous monetary revolution may
have one good effect, should it cause both the Go-
vernment and the people to return to the
practice of a wise and judicial economy both in
public and private expenditures. An over-
flowing treasury has led -to habits of prodi-
gality and extravagance in our legislation it
has induced Congress to make large appropria-
tioni to objects for which they never would have
provided had it been necessary to raise the amount
of revenue required to meet them by increased
taxation or by loans. We are now compelled to
pause in our career, and to scruinise our expendi-
tures with the utmost vigilance, and in performing
this duty I pledge my co-operation _to the extent of
my constitutional competency. It ought to be ob-
served at the same time that true public economy
does not consist in withholding the means necessary
to accomplish important national objects entrusted
to us by the constitution, and especially such as
may be necessary for the common defence. In the
present crisis of the country it is our duty to con-
fine our appropriations to objects of this character
unless in cases where justice to individuals may
demand a different course. In all cases care ought
to be taken that the money granted by Congress
shall be rightfully and economically applied.
Under the federal constitution every bill which
shall have passed the House of Representatives
and the Senate shall before it becomes a law, be
approved and signed by the President ; and if not
approved, he shall return it, with his objections, to
that house in which it originated. In order to
perform this high and responsible duty, sufficient
time must be allowed the President to read maild.
examine every bill presented to him fora pprov
Unless this be afforded, the constitution becomes at
dead letter in this particular, and even worse,
becomes a means of deception. Our constituenti
s,
seeing the President's approval and signature at-
tached to each act of Congress, are induced to be-
lieve that he has actually performed this duty when
in truth nothing is, iu many cases, more utifosnded:
From the practice of Congress, such an examination
of each bill as the constitution requires has been
rendered impossible. The most important business
of each session is generally crowded into its last
sittings, and the all ernative presented to the
Pre-
sident is either to violate the constitutional y
which he owes to the people, and approve bills
which for want of time it is impossible.he sho.uld
have examined, or by his refasal to do this, subject
the country and individuals to.great loss and incon-
venience. Besides, a practice has grown up of
late times to advise me in appropriation bills at
the last hours of the session ou new and impor-
tant subjects. This practice constrains the Presi-
dent either to suffer measures to become laws which
he does not approve, or to incur the risk of stop-
ping the wheels of the Government by voting an
appropriation bill. Formerly such bills were con-
fined to specitie appropriation for carrying into effect
existing laws and the well-established policy of the
country, and little time was then left, to the Presi-
dent for their examination. For my own part I
have delibera'ely d.eterinined that I shall approve of
no bill which I have not examined, and it will be
a case of extreme and most urgent necessity which
shall ever induce me to depart from this rule. I
therefore, respectfully, but earnestly, recommend
that the two houses would allow the President at
least two days previous to the adjournment of each
session, within which no new bill shall be presented
to him for approval. Under the existing joint rule
one day is allowed, but the rule has been hithei to
constantly suspended in practice that important bills
continue to be presented to Melte the very last mo-
ment of the session. In a large majority of caqes
no
great public inconvenience can 11,1 iso from the want
of time to examine their provisions, because the
constitution has declared that if a bill
sonted to the President within the last ten be pro-
hr
n days
of the session he is not required. to return, a It
with a veto, ill which case it shall be
may then lay over, and be taken up And passed
at the next session. Great inconvenience would be
experienced in regard to appropriation bills; but,
fortunately, under the late excellent law allowinga
or
salary instead of a p
teT to members of Congress
the expense and inconvenience of a so-called session
will bo greatly reduced.
I cannot conclude without compaeuding to your

THE BELGIAN ELEC (lONS.

* This is an allusion to the Emperor Henry IV. of Ger•
many., who, being pen clothed in itentials, waited three
daysin the court of the castle of Canossa before be was
admitted to the presence of the Sovereign Pontiff Gregory
VII. The castle belonged to Mathilda, the Margiavine of
Tuscany, who was on remarkably intimate terms with hit
Holiness.
______-........

VIENNA, DEC. 16.
A leading article on the result of -Ore Belgian
election, which is in the Oesterreichische Zeitung of
this day is calculated to produce a deeper impres-
sion on the minds of the Austrians, as well of high
as of low degree, than all the pastoral letters and
Jesuitical homilies which have been addressed to -
them since the conclusion of the Concordat. The
article is too long to be transferred to your Columns,
but the following extract will convey its mean-
ing :—" Although the Papal Government, if
unaided, would not be able to maintain
possession of its territories, it has recently
obtained victories equal to those obtained by Gre-
gory VII., Innocent 111. and Sixtus V. The
policy of the Papal See in 1847 gave such offence
to the great Catholic Powers that it appeared as if
a long time must elapse before the Church could
regain its influence ; but she is as powerful, in-
fluential, and triumphant as she was in the tunes
of Louis XIV. If a great event had not a for
days since occurred in a small State, the world
would have been justified in believingthat thewheel
of history was moving backward, and would not
come to a stand until it reached the court-yard of
Canossa, where temporal power was trod under
foot by spiritual authority.* The issue of the
Belgian elections is neither a simple party'
triumph nor an occurrence of mere local
importance. It is a rgreat historical event, which
goes far to prove that the successes of the
Church during the last 10 years have not been
obtained over the masacs of the people. The
word Ultramontane' can be applied to single
men, and even to classes, but not to nations. In
Sardinia, Belgium, Spain, Portugal, France,
on the Rhine, in Austria, and' even in the
domains of the Church, the great masses ..of the
people are not Ultramontanists. To the Ultra-
montane party belong many men of high in-
tellect, pure character, and elevated position, but
still it has singularly little real power. Victories
obtained over the masses are generally durable in
their effects, but not so victories obtained over
individuals or classes. If the result of the elec-
tions had proved that the Belgian nation V'
proved of the policy of the ultra-Catholic
party, it would have been a tremendous triumph
for Rome. The reverse ,was the case, and cens°-
quently Rome has suffered a tremendous defeat.
L Ultramontanism may find supporters in Universi-
ties, in Governments, and in palaces, but sooner or
later it must give way to the opposition offered by
the masses of the people, with whom it finds no
favour."