The Sun.
London, England, 1845-12-23 00:00:00

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bigfietirAlifj4:o4Y articles of import which they will
hear within tligriesinue standard, for such rates would
penbablesepredU6eVmuch larger amount than the eco-
e„s komicnl ildmiiiiitation of the Government would re-
sire. Nor-doeiftfollow that the duties on all articles
should be at the!same, or a horizontal rate. Some ar-
tieles will bear a much higher revenue duty than others.
Below the maximum of the revenue standard Congress
may and ought to discriminate in the rates imposed,
taking care so to adjust them on different articles as to
produce in the aggregate the amount which, when
added to the proceeds of sales of public lands, may be
nesded to pay the economical expenses of the Government.
In levying a tariff of duties Congress exercises the
taxing power, and for purposes of revenue may select
the objects of taxation. They may exempt certain
articles altogether, and permit their importation free of
duty. On others they may impose low duties. In
these classes should be embraced such articles of neces-
sity as -are in general use, and especially such as are
consumed by the labourer and the poor, as well as by-
the wealthy citizen. Care should he taken that all the
great interests of the country, including manufactures,
agriculture, commerce, navigation, and the mechanic
arts, should, as far as may be practicable, derive equal
advantages from the incidents: protection which a just
system of revenue duties mey afford. Taxation, direct
or indirect, is a burden, and it should be so imposed as
to operate as equally as may be on all classes, in the
proportion of their ability to bear it. To make the
taxing power an actual benefit to one class necessarily
increases the burden of the others beyond their pro-
portion, and would be manifestly unjust. The terms
" protection to domestic industry," are of popular im-
port ; but they should apply under a just system to all
the various branches of industry in our country. The
farmer or planter who toils yearly in his fields is engaged
in " domestic industry," and is as much entitled to have
his labour " protected," as the manufacturer, the man of
commerce, the navigator, or the mechanic, who are en-
gaged also in "domestic industry" in their different pur-
suits. The joint labours of all these classes constitute
the aggregate of the "domestic industry" of the nation,
and they are equally entitled to the nation's " protection."
No one of them can justly claim to be the exclusive re-
cipients of "protection," which can only be afforded
by increasing burdens on the " domestic industry" of
the others.
If these views be correct, it remains to inquire how
far the Tariff Act of 1842 is consistent with them. That
many of the provisions of that Act are Li violation of the
cardinal principles here laid down all must concede. The
rates of duty imposed by it on some articles are pro-
hibitory, and on others so high as greatly to diminish
importations, and to produce a less amount of revenue
than would be derived from lower rates. They operate
as " protection merely," to one branch of " domestic in-
dustry," by taxing other branches.
By the introduction of minimums, or assumed and
false values, and by the imposition of specific duties, the
injustice and inequality of the Act of 1842, in its prac-
tiCal operations on different classes and pursuits, are
seen and felt. Many of the oppressive duties imposed
by it under the operation of these principles, range from
1 pwr cent. to more than 200 per cent. They are pro-
hibitory on some articles and partially so on others, and
bear most heavily on articles of common neceesity, and
but lightly on articles of luxury. It is so framed that
much the greatest burden which it imposes is thrown
on labour and the poorer classes, who are least able
to bear it, while it protects capital and exempts the rich
from paying their just proportion of the taxation required
for the support of' government. While it .protects the
capital of the wealthy manufacturer, and increases his
profits, it does not benefit the operative or labourer in
his employment, whose wages have not been increased
by it. Articles of prime necessity, or of coaese quality
and low price, used by the masses of the people, are, in
many instances, subjected by it to heavy taxes, while
articles of finer quality and higher price, or of luxury,
which can be used only by the opulent, are lightly taxed.
It imposes heavy and unjust burdens on the farmer, the
planter, the commercial man, and those of all other pur-
suits, except the capitalist who has made his investments
in manufactures. All the great interests of tho country
are not, as nearly as may be practicable, equally pro-
tected by it.
The Government in theory knows no dietinction of
persons or classes, and should not bestow upon some fa-
vours and privileges which all others may not enjoy. It
was the purpose of its illustrious founders to base the
institutions which they reared upon the great and un-
changing principles of justice and equity, conscious that
if administered in the spirit in which they were con-
ceived they would be felt only by the benefits which they
diffused, and would secure for themselves a defence in
the hearts of the people, more powerful than standing
armies, and all the means and appliances invented to
sustain governments founded in injustice and oppression.
The well-known fact that the Tariff Act of 1842 was
Passed by a majority of one vote in the Senate, and two
in the House of Representatives, and that some of those
who felt themselves constrained, under the peculiar cir-
cumstances existing at the time, to vote in its favour, pro-
claimed its defects, and expressed their determination
to aid in its modification on the first opportunity, affords
strong and conclusive evidence that it was not intended
to be-permanent, and of the expediency and necessity of
its thurongh revision.
In recommending to Congress a reduction of the pre-
sent rates of duty, and a revision and modification of the
Act of 1842, I am far from entertaining opinions un-
friendly to the manufacturers. On the contrary, I desire
to see them prosperous, as far as they can be so, without
imposing unequal burdens on other interests. The ad-
vantage, under any system of indirect taxation, even
wPhin the revenue standard, must be in favour of the
manufacturing interest ; and of this no other interests
will complain.
I recommend to Congress the abolition of the minimum
principle, or assumed, arbitrary, and false value, and of
specific duties, and the substitution in their place of ad
duties, as the fairest and most equitable indirect
tax which can beimposed.,,By the ad valorem principle all
articles are tested according to their cost oryalue, and those
which are of inferior quality or of small cost bear only the
just proportion of the tax with those which are of supe-
rior quality or greater cost. The articles consumed by
all are taxed at the same rate. A system of ad valorem
revenue duties, with proper discriminations and proper
guards against frauds in collecting, them, it is not
doubted will afford ample incidental advantages to the
manufacturers, and enable them to derive as great pro-
fits as can be derived from any other regular business.
It is believed that such a system, strictly within the re-
venue standard, will place the manufacturing interests
on a stable footing, and ensue to their permanent ad-
vantage, while it will, as firmly as may be practicable,
extend to all the great interests of the country the inci-
dental protection which can be afferded by our revenue
laws. Such a system, when once firmly established, would
be permanent, and not be subject to the constant com-
rdsints, agitations, and changes which must ever occur,
when duties arc not laid for revenue, but for the " pro-
w& r merely" of a favoured interest.
in the deliberations of cdpgress on this subject, it is
hoped a spirit of mutual concession and compromise be-
tween conflicting interests may prevail, and that the
result of their labours may be crowned with the happiest
sucees.
RECOMMENDATION OP A GOVERNMENT
BANK.
Tly th,;:tonstitution of the United States it i provided,
that " no money shall be drawn from the treasury but
in e,msequence of appropriations made by law." A
puYie treasury was undoubtedly contemplated and in-
tended to be created, in which the public money should
be kept koiu the period of collection until needed for
the pubic use. In the collection and disbursement of
the public money no agencies have ever been employed
by law, except such as were appointed by the Govern-
!tient, directly responsible to it, and under its control.
The sere keeping of public money should be confided to
a public treasury created by law, and under like respon-
sibility and control. It is not to fee imagined that the
framers of the constitution could have intended that a
treasury should be created es a place of deposit and safe
keeping of the public money which was irresponsible to
the Government. The first Congress under the consti-
tution, by the Act of the 2d September, 1789, " to esta-
blish the treasury department," provided fir the appoint-
ment of a treasurer, and made it his duty to " receive
and keep the moneys of the United States," and " at all
times to submit to the secretary of the treasury and the
cornetrol;er, or either of. them, the iuspection of the
wooer in his hands."
Titat banks,_ national or state, could not have been
intended to be used as a substitute for the treasury
spiken of in the constitution, as keepers of the public
nioncy, is manifest from the fact, that at that time there
was no national bank, and but three or four state banks
of limited capital existed in the.country. Their employ-
ment as depositories was at.tiratxesorted to, to a limited
extent, but with no avowed intention orcontinuing them
permanently, in place of the treasury of the constitu-
tion. When they were afterwards from time to time
employed, it was from motives of supposed convenience.
Our experience has shown that when banking corpo-
rations save been the keepers of the public money, and
been thereby made in effect the •treasury, the Govern-
ment can have no guaranty that it can command the
use of its own money for public purposes. The late
Bank or the United :elates proved to be faithless. But
a few
years ago, with millions of money in their
keeping, the Government was brought almost 0;
henkruptcy, and the public credit seriously impaired,
because of their inability or indisposition to pay, en
demand, to the public creditors, in the only cur-
rency. recognised by the constitution. Their failure
fwetirred in a period of peace, and great inconvenience
and loss were suffered by the üblie from it. Had the
country been involved in a foreign war, that incon-
venience and loss would have been much greater and
might have resulted in extreme public calamity. The
public money should not be mingled with the private
funds of banks or individuals, or be used for private pur-
poses. When it is placed in banks for sale i
keser,,latllgAe,tiitbiys
in effect loaned to them without interest,
them npon interest to tie) borrowers frotn them. Th.,
piddeemeney is converted biltiLlog capital, and is
used and lea-le,l out i'or the private profit of bank Sto(-k.
holders ; and when called fur (as was the case in 1837), it
ma be in the pockets of the horror-:ors from the banks,
instead of being in the public treasury contemplated by
constitution. The framers of the constitutiou could
never have intended that the money paid into the trea-
sury should be thus converted to private use, and pieced
beyond the control of the Government.
Balks which hold the public money are often tempted
by a desire of gain to exceed their loans, increase their
circulation, and thus stimulate, if not produce, a spirit
of speculation and extravagance, which, sooner or later,
must result in ruin to thousands. If the public money be j
not permitted to be thus used, but he kept in the treasury
and paid out to the public creditors in gold and silver,
the temptation afforded by its deposit with banks to an
undue expansion of their business would bo checked,
while the amount of the constitutional currency left in
circulation would be enlarged by its employment in the
public collections and disbursements, and the banks
themselves would, in consequence, be found iu a safer
and sounder condition.

a At the present, state banks are employed as deposito-
ries, but without adequate regulation of law, whereby
the public money can be secured against the casualties
and excesses, revulsions, expansions, and defalcations, to
which, from over-issues, over-trading, an inordinate de-
sire ffor gain, or other causes, they are constantly ex-
posed. The Secretary of the Treasury has in all cases,
when it was practicable, taken collateral security for the
amount which they hold, by the pledge of stocks to the
United States, or such of the states as were in good
credit. Some of the deposit banks have given this de-
scription of security, and others have declined to do so.
Entertaining the opinion that " the separation of the
moneys of the Government from the banking institutions
is indispensable for the funds of the Government and the
rights of the people," I recommend to Congress that
provision be made by law for such separation, and that
a constitutional treasury be created for the safe-keeping
of the public
is money. The constitutional treasury re-
commended designed as a secure depository for the
public money, without any power to make loans or
discounts, or to issue any paper whatever as a cur-
rency or circulation. I cannot doubt that such a
tree- ury as was contemplated by the constitution
should be independent of all banking corporations. The
money of the people should be kept in the treasury of
the people created by law, and be kept in the custody of i
agents of the people chosen by themselves, according to
the forms of the constitution ; agents who are directly
responsible to the Government, who are under adequate
bonds and oaths, and are subject to severe punishments
for any embezzlement, private use, or misapplication of
the public funds, or for any failure in other respects to
perform their duties. To say that the people or their
Government are incompetent, or not to be trusted with
the custody of their own money, in their own treasury,
provided by themselves, but must rely on the presidents,
cashiers, and stockholders of banking corporations, not
appointed by them, nor responsible to them, would be
to concede that they are incompetent of self-government.
In recommending the establishment of a constitutional
treasury, in which the public money shall be kept, I
desire that adequate provision be made by law for its
safety, and that all executive discretion or control over
it shall be removed, except such as may be necessary in
directing its disbursements in pursuance of appropriation
made by law.

expected that this arduous service will be completed in
season to enable me to communicate the result to Con•
gress at the present session.
THE INDIAN TRIBES.
Our relations with the Indian tribes are of a favour-
able character. The policy of removing them to a coun-
try designed fur their permenant residence, west of the
Mississippi, and without the limits of the organised
states and teritories, is better appreciated by them than it
was a few years ago ; while education is now attended to,
and the habits of civilised life are gaining ground among
them.

Serious difficulties of long standing continue to distract
the several parties into which the Cherokees are unhap-
pily divided.:lThe efforts of the Government to adjust the
difficulties between them have heretofore proved unsuc-
cessful ; and there remains no probability that this desir-
able object can be accomplished without the aid of fur-
ther legislation by Congress. I will at an early period
of your session, present the subject for your conside-
ration, accompanied with an exposition of Oa com-
plaints and claims of the several parties into which the
nation is divided, with a view to the adoption of such
measures by Congress as may enable the Exeeetire to
do justice to them respectively, and to put an ens. if pos-
sible, to the dissensions which have long prevailled, and
soil prevail among them
THE NAVY.
I refer you to the report of the Secretary of the Navy
for the present condition of that branch of the national
defence; and for grave suggestions, having for their ob-
ject the increase of its efficiency and a greater economy
in its management. The orders which have been given
have been executed with promptness end fidelity. A
larger force than Las often formed one squadron under
our flag was readily concentrated in the Gulf of Mexico,
and apparently without unusual effort. It is especially
to be observed, that, notwithstanding the union of so
considerable a force, no act was committed that even
the jealousy of an irritated power could construe as an
act of aggression ; and that the commander of the
squadron and'his officers, in strict conformity with their
instructions, holding:themselves ever ready for the most
active duty, have achieved the still purer glory of con-
tributing to the preservation of peace. It is believed
that at all our foreign stations the honour of our flag has
been maintained, and that, generally, our ships of war
have been distinguished for their good discipline and
order. lam happy to add, that the display of maritime
force which was required by the events of the summer
has been made wholly within the usual appropriations
fur the service of the year, so that no additional appro-
priations are required.
The commerce of the United States, and with it the
navigating interest, have steadily and rapidly increased
since the organisation of our Government, until it is
believed a e are now second to but one in power in the
world, and at no distant day we shall probably be in-
ferior to none. Exposed as they must be, it has been a
wise policy to afford to these important interests pro-
tection with our ships of war, distributed in the great
highways of trade throughout the world. For more than
thirty years appropriations have been made, and annually
expended, for the gradual increase of our naval forces.
In peace, our navy performs the important duty of pro-
tecting our commerce; and, in the event of war, will be,
as it has been, a most efficient metrs of defence.
The successful use of steam navigation on the ocean
has been followed by the introduction of war steamers
in great and increasing numbers into the navies of the
principal maritime powers of the R orld. A due regard
to our own safety and to an efficient protection to
our large and increasing commerce demands a cor-
responding increase on our part. No country has
greater
facilities for the construction of vessels of this
description than ours, or can promise itself greater ad-
vantages from their employment. They are admirably
adapted to the protection of our commerce, to the
rapid transmission of intelligence, and to the coast de-
fence. In pursuance of the wise policy of a gradual in-
crease of our navy, large supplies of live oak timber and
other materials for ship-building have been collected,
and are now under shelter, and in a state of good pre-
servation, while iron steamers can be built with great
facility in various parts of the Union. The use of iron
as a material, especially in the construction of steamers,
which can enter with safety many of the harbours along
our coast now inaccessible to vessels of greater draught,
and the practicability of constructing them in the inte-
rior, trongly recommends that liberal appropriations
should be made for this important object. Whatever
may have been our policy in the earlier stages of the
government, when the nation was in its infancy, our
shipping interests and commerce comparatively small,
our resources limited, our population spare, and scarcely
extending beyond the limits of the original thirteen
States, that policy must be essentially different now that
we have grown from three to more than twenty
millions of people ; that our commerce, carried in our
own ships, is found in every sea, and that our ter-
ritorial boundaries and settlements have been so
greatly expanded. Neither our commerce, nor our
long line of coast on the ocean and on the lakes,
can be successfully defended against foreign ag-
gression by means of fortifications alone. These are
essential at important commercial and military points,
but our chief reliance for this object must be a well
organised and efficient navy. The benefits resulting
from such a navy are not confined to.the Atlantic states,
The productions of the interior, or which seek a market
abroad, are directly dependent on the safety and freedom
of our commerc. The occupation of the Belize below
New Orleans by a hostile force would embarrass, if not
stagnate, the whole export trade of the Mississippi, and
effect the value of the agricultural products of the entire
alley of that mighty river and its tributaries.
It has never been our policy to maintain large stand-
ing armies in time of peace. They are contrary to the
genius of free institutions, would impose heavy burdens
on the people, and be dangerous to public liberty. Our
reliance for protection and defence on the land must be
mainly on our citizen soldiers, who will be ever ready,
as they have ever been ready in times past, to rush with
alacrity, at the call of their country, to her defence.
This description of force, however, cannot defend our
coasts, harbours, and inland seas, nor protect our com-
merce on the ocean or the lakes. These must be pro-
tected by our navy.
Considering an increased naval force, and especially
of steam-vessels, corresponding with our growth and
importance as a nation, and proportioned to the in.
creased and increasing naval power of other nations, o
vast importance as regards onr safety, and the great
and growing interests to be protected by it, I recom-
mend the subject to the favourable consideration of
Congress.

THE LAND SYSTEM..
Under our present land system, limiting the minimum
price at which the public lands can be entered to one
dollar and 25 cents, per acre, large quantities of lands of
inferior quality remain unsold, because they will not com-
mand that price. From the records of the General Land-
office it appears, that of the public lands remaining UR-
sold in the several stater. and territories in which they
are situated, 39,105,577 acres have been in the market,
subject to entry more than twenty years ; 49,638,644
acres for more than fifteen years ; 73,074,600 acres for
mere than ten years, and 106,176,961 acres for more than
five years. Much the largest portion of these lands will
continue to be unsaleable at the minimum price at which
they are permitted to be sold, so long as large territories
of lands from which the more valuable portions have not
been selected are annually brought into market by the
Government. With the view to the sale and settlement
of these inferior lands, I recommend that the price be
graduated and reduced below the present minimum rate,
confining the sales at the reduced prices to rettlers and
cultivators, in limited quantities. If graduated and
reduced in price for a limited term to one dollar per
acre, and after the expiration of that period for a
second and third term to lower rates, a large portion
of these lands would be purchased, and many worthy
citizens who are unable to pay higher rates could pur-
chase homes for themselves and their families. By adopt-
ing the policy of graduation and reduction of price, these
inferior lands will be sold for their real value, while the
states in which they lie will be freed from the incon-
venience, if not injustice, to which they are subjected, in
consequence of the United States continuing to hold
large quantities of public lands within their borders, and
not liable to taxation for the support of their local go-
vernments.
I recommend the continuance of the policy of granting
pre-emption, in its most liberal extent, to all those who
have settled or may hereafter settle on the public lands,
whether surveyed or unsurveyed, to which the Indian
title may have been extinguished at the time of settle-
ment. It has been found by experience, that in conse-
quence of combinations of purchasers and other causes,
a very small quantity of the public lands, when sold at
public auction, commands a higher price than the
minimum price established by duty. The settlers on
the public lands are, however, but rarely able to
secure their homes and improvements at the public
sales at that rate ; because these combinations, by
means of tho capital they command, and their superior
ability to purchase, render it impossible for the
settler to compete with them in the market. By putting
down all competition, these combinations of capitalists
and speculators are usually enabled to purchase the
lands, including the improvements of the settlers, at the
minimum price of the Government, and either turn them
out of their homes, or extort from them, according,to
their ability to pay, double or quadruple the amount paid
fur them to the Government. It is to the enterprise and
perseverance of the hardy pioneers of the west, who
penetrate the wilderness with their families, suffer the
dangers, the privations, and hardships attending the set-
tlement of a new country, and prepare the way for the
body of emigrants who, in the course of a few years,
usually follow them, that we are in a great degree in-
debted for the rapid extension and aggrandisement of our
country.
Experience has proved that no portion of our popula-
tion are more patriotic than the hardy and brave men of
the frontier, or more ready to obey the call of their coun-
try, and to defend her rights and her honour, whenever
and by whatever enemy assailed. They should be pro-
tected from the grasping speculator, and secured, at the
minimum price of the public lands, in the humble homes
n hich they have improved by their labour. With this
end in view, all vexatious or unnecessary restrictions
imposed upon them by the existing pre •emption laws
should be repealed or modified. It is the true policy of
the Government to afford facilities to its citizens to be-
come the owners of small portions of our vast public do-
main at low and moderate rates.
The present system of managing the mineral lands of
the United States is believed to be radically defective.
More than a million of acres of the public lands, sup-
posed to contain lead and other minerals, have been re-
served from sale, and numerous leases upon them have
been granted to individuals upon a stipulated rent. The
system of granting leases has proved to be not only un-
profitable to the Government, but unsatisfactory to the
citizens who have gone upon the lands, and must, if con-
tinued, lay the foundation of much future difficulty be-
tween the Government and the lessees. According to
the official records, the amount of rents received by the
Government for the years 1841, 1842, 1843, and 1844,
was 6,354 dolls. 7.1 cents, while the expenses of the
system during the same period, including salaries of su-
perintendents, agents, clerks, and incidental expenses,
was 26,111 dolls. 11 cents.—the income being less than
one-fourth of the expenses. To this pecuniary loss may
be added the injury suatained by the public in conse-
quence of the destruction of timber and the careless and
wasteful manner of working the mines. The system has
given rise to much litigation between the United States
and individual citizens, producing irritation and excite-
inent in the mineral region, and involving the Govern-
ment in heavy additional expenditures. It is believed
that similar losses and embarrassments will continue to
occur while the present system of leasing these lands re-
main.; unchanged. These lands are now under the su-
p rintendeuce and care of the war department, with the
ordinary duties of which they have no proper or natural
connexion. I recommend the repeal of the present
system, and that the lands be placed under the super-
intendence and management of the General Land-office
as other public lands, and be brought into market
and sold upon such terms as Congress in their wisdom
may prescribe, reserving to the Government an equit-
able per centage of the gross amount of mineral pro-
duct, and that the pre-emption principle be extended to
resident miners and settlers upon them, at the minimum
price which may be established by Congress. I refer
you to the accompanying report of the Secretary of War
fur infUrmation respecting the present situation of the
army, and its operations during the past year ; the state
of our defences ; the condition of the public works, and
our relations with the various Indian tribes within our
limits, or upon our borders. I invite your attention to
the suggestions contained in that report, in relation to
these prominent objects of national interest.

THE ARMY.
When orders were given during the past summer
for concentrating- a military force on the western
frontier of Texas., our troops were widely dispersed,
and in small detachments, occupying posts re-
mote from each other. The prompt and expe-
ditious manner in which an army, embracing
more than half our peace establishment, was
drawn together on an emergency so sudden, reflects
great credit on the officers who were entrusted with the
execution of these orders, as well as upon the discipline
of the army itself. To be in strength to protect and
defend the people and territory of Texas, in the
event that Mexico should commence hostilities or invade
her territories with a large army which she threatened,
I authorised the general assigned to the command of the
army of occupation to make requisitions for additional
forces from several of the states nearest the Texan ter-
ritories, and which could most expeditiously furnish
thorn, if in his opinion a larger force than that under
his command, anti the auxiliary aid which, under like
circumstances, he was authorised to receive from Texas,
should be required. The contingency upon which the
exercise of this authority depended has not occurred.
The circumstances under which the two companies of
state artillery from the city of New Orleans were sent to
Texas, and mustered into the service of the United
States, are fully stated in the report of the Secretary of
War. I recommend to Congress that provision be made
for the payment of these troops, as well as a small num-
ber of Texan volunteers, whom the commanding general
thought it necessary to receive or muster into our service.
Dating the last summer the 1 st Regiment of Dragoons
made extensive excursions through the Indian country
on her borders, a psrt of them advancing nearly to the
possessions of the Hudson's Bay Company in the north,
anti a pert as far as the South Pass of the Rocky Munn-
ttitis„„ and the head waters of the tributary streams of
t'i.9 (.??Jorado of the West. The exhibition of this mi•-
loaFy torce among the Indian tribes in those distant
regions, and the councils held with them by the com-
manders of the expeditions, it is believed, will have a
influence salutary in restraining them from hostilities
among themselves, and maintaining friendly relations
between them and the United States. An interesting
account of one of these excursions accompanies the re-
port of the Secretary at War. Under the directions of
the War Department, Brevet Captain Fremont, of the
corps of 'topographical Engineers, has been employed
since 1842 in exploring the country west of the Mis-
sissippi and beyond the Boeky Mountains. Two expe-
ditions have already been brought to a close, and the
reports of that scientific and enterprising. officer have
furnished much interesting- and valuable
information.
He is now engaged in a third expedition ; but it is not

THE SUN, LONDON, ViTT_ESDA Y EVENING, DECEMBER 23, 1845.

law fur his department, as may be required to discharge
the additional duties which have been, or may be, de-
volved upon him.

COLUMBIA.
Congress possess the power of exclusive legislation
over the district of Columbia ; and I commend the inte-
rests of its inhabitants to your favourable consideration.
The people of this district have no legislative body of
their own, and must confine their local, as well as their
general, interests to the representatives in whose election
they have no voice, and over whose official conduct they
have no control. Each Member of the National Legis-
lature should consider himself as their immediate repre-
sentative, and should be the more ready to give atten-
tion to their interests and wants, because he is not re-
sponsible to them. I recommend that a liberal and ge-
nerous spirit may characterise your measures in relation
tion to them. I shall be ever disposed to show a proper
regard fur their wishes, and, within constitutional limits,
shall at all times cheerfully co-operate with you for the
advancement of their welfare.

THE LATE GENERAL JACKSON.
I trust it may not be deemed inappropriate to the oc-
casion for me to dwell for a moment on the memory of the
most eminent citizen of our country, v% ho, during the sum-
mer that is gone by, has descended to the tomb. The
enjoyment of contemplating, at the advanc?d age of near
four score years, the happy condition of his country,
cheered the last hours of Andrew Jackson, who de-
parted this life in the tranquil hope of a blessed immor-
tality. His death was happy, us his life had been
eminently useful. He had an unfaltering confidence in
the virtue and capacity of the people, and in the perma-
nence of that free government which he had largely
contributed to establish and defend. His great deeds
had secured to him the affections of his fellow-citizens,
and it was his happiness to witness the growth and glory
of his country, which he loved so well. He departed
amidst the benedictions of millions of freemen. The
nation paid its tributo to his memory at the tomb.
Coming generations will learn from his example the love
of country and the rights of man. In his language on a
similar occasion to the present, " I now commend you,
fellow-citizens, to the guidance of Almighty God, with a
full reliance on his merciful Providence for the mainte-
nan,.!e of our free institutions ; and with an earnest sup-
plication, that whatever errors it may be my lot to
commit in discharging the arduous duties which have
devolved on me, will find a remedy in the harmony of
our counsels." JAMES K. POLK.
Washington, Dec. 2, 1845.

Two very important votes were taken in the House of
Representatives, on Monday, and by very decisive ma-
jorities. The first against rescinding the one-hour rule,
the other against rescinding the 21st rule, which, it will
be remembered, prohibited the reception of any petition
or other papers requesting the abolition of slavery in the
slave states or in the territories of the United States.
The Treasury notes outstanding, December 1, 1845,
amounted to 592,864 dollars.

the crew were dissatisfied and grumbling. It was re
marked that therecould have been mare water obtained at
the last place they called at. There had been no disturbance
that he was aware of up till that time. He recollected
bespeaking a French barque, about five or six days of er
leaving the parallel of Ascension, and three days before
J. Rambert jumped overboard. They got some water
and provisions, and a cask of wine, from the barque.
About this time the captain found fault with the mate
about the boat being damaged. Witness heard the mate
say that if he had not a wife and family he would have
jumped overboard. Witness did not hear the reason of
his saying so, as he was only passing along. The
same night they bespoke the barque, witness over-
heard Barry Yelverton tell the captain, that Reason
had said, "if he (the captain) did not make the island
of Ascension next day, there would he no more Captain
Johnstones." This was alleged to have been said the
day before the time when the ship should have reached
Ascension, but it was not told the captain till after be-
.Teaking the French barque. Witness afterwards
heard the captain call Rambert, and t, 11 him
that there were intentions amongst the
,crew against
him. Rambert said he did not know of any at that
time. The captain then ordered the first and
second mate, and witness, and the three boys to take arms,
and they all did so. This was about nine o'clock at
night. The watch, comprising eight men and a boy,
were down asleep at the time. The other watch was on
duty and all orderly as far as he knew. Up to this
time witness heard nothing of any mutiny but what he
heard Barry Yelverton tell the captain, and the captain
saying when he ordered them to be armed, " that he
believed the crew had sharpened their knives to take
his life." Svveral other questions were put
respecting subsequent proceedings, but the answers
were mainly corroborative of the evidence of the
other witnesses, fully given, as to the manner the captain
had acted towards the deceased. The only point ma-
terially differing from the former examinations was re-
specting the conduct of the captain after Reason
jumped overboard. The witness stated that on Reason
jnmping overboard the captain called the crew together
and asked if they should try to save him, but the crew
were of opinion that it would be of no use,
the ship being under such 'a crowd of sail. Wit-
ness at the same time heard Curtis tell the
captain that Rambert was the cause of all the
disturbance as he wanted to take the ship to America.
Peter Curtis, examined—He said, that the mate
came to him about two hours before he jumped over-
board. He was all cut about the head tied face. Wit-
ness told Burton and others to go aft, and make the
cabin fast, as the captain would murder all hands.
Witness took iron belaying pins, and so did another of
the crew, and went aft with the mate, as far as the
break of the poop. French told them not to be foolish,
and so they went forward again, throwing down
the iron belaying pins. He saw French forward with
a pistol loaded, who threatened to shoot Rambert if
he did not go aft to the captain. French had a bayonet
in his hand as well as the pistol. Witness also heard
the captain threaten that if he did not bring the mate
aft, he would take his (French's) life. Rambert went
aft, and the captain struck him several times on the
head with the butt-end of the pistol, and cut him with
the cutlass about the head and face. Rambert
was then put in irons, but immediately after re-
leased ; and witness saw the captain chase him
round the deck with a drawn cutlass in his hand,
when the mate jumped overboard. Before Rambert
jumped overboard witness did not tell the captain the
mate intended to seize the ship, and take it to America.
He did not hear any one say so but the captain. The
only reason is by he wanted to seize the captain was fur
their own protectionaon account of his going about the
deck pricking and cutting the crew with a cutlas and
bayonet. The attempt he had named was the only one
made by the crew.

Mr. Hayward said this was all he had to offer
on ho three principal charges, and he would now
proceed to call evidence respecting the proceedings of
the captain when the ship arrived in the channel, re-
specting the cutting and wounding of the crew.
Beresferd, Curtis, Tucker, Blackdon, Spencer, Glover,
and Alison, being the remaining pootion of the crew that
had not been examined or. the fourth cha!ge, were then
called in, and, with the consent of Mr. Humphries, and in
order to economise time, Mr. Hayward confined the
examination to the actual injuries each had received from
the captain, without going into the general case on which
evidence Lad already been fully taken. Berzsford said he
had got two cuts on the head and one on the wrist,
and was made to kiss the sole of the captain's foot. Curtis-
stated that he had been cut in several places about the
head and body with a cutlas, all hands being down in
the cabin at the time on their knees. Tucker deposed,
on the 7th of November he had been called down to the
cabin and ordered on his knees, and that while in
that position he was fired at by French through
order of the captain, on the face, the captain standing
by at the time with a cutlass over his head. He was
afterwards cut and fired at while on deck. The state-
ments of Spence, Blackdon, Glover, and Alison, were
(,f a similar character.

The evidence being closed, the depositions were read
over, and the witnesses severally bound over to appear
and give evidence against the prisoner at the next ses-
sions to be held at the Central Criminal Court.
Mr. BRODERIP then addressing the prisoner, informed
him that, after a long and careful examination, it was
his painful duty to commit him for trial at the ensuing
session of the Central Criminal Court, on three capital
charges of murdering William Rambert, chief mate of
the ship Tory, Thomas Reason, second mate, and Wm.
Mars, common sailor; and also on the charge of feloni-
ously cutting and wounding the crew of the same ship.
The prisoner was then removed in a most exhausted
state, and thus terminated one of the longest and most
extraordinary magisterial investigations upon record.

RETIREMENT of LORD STANLEY.
We are assured that Sir Robert Peel will be enabled to
retain the co-operation of all his former colleagues, with
the exception of Lord Stanley.
Lord Stanley, we regret to learn, feels himself com-
pelled to withdraw from her Majesty's service. his
Lordship acted throughout the late painful and pro-
tracted discussions with perfect fairness and openness.
All the other colleagues of Sir Robert Peel will re-
main in office. They are influenced, no doubt, by the
same motives by which Sir Robert Peel was influenced,
when he informed her Majesty, on Saturday last,
that he required no time for consultation or delibera-
tion ; that on the instant he should resume the
functions and responsibilities of Prime Minister.
The question to be decided at the Council, summoned
at short notice on Saturday night, was simply this—
shall the Queen and the country be left at such a crisis
without a Minister and without a Government?
The decision of the Duke of Wellington and of those
of his colleagues who had, in the first instance, dissented
from the views of Sir Robert Peel, was not to leave him
to pursue his arduous and patriotic course alone, but
to share the burthen with him, and give him
all the aid which their high station, their known abi-
lity, and disinterested integrity so well enabled them to
afford. The position of Lord Stanley was peculiar; and
acting On strong conviction and on his sense of public
duty, he resolved on retiring.— Tory (Evening) paper.

MEETING OT PARLIAMENT. —lt was arranged
to-day, at the meeting of the Privy Council, that
Parliament should be further prorogued from 'rues
day, the 30th instant, to Tuesday, the 20th of Ja-
nuary, then to meet for the dispatch of business.

rilE LONDON GAZETIT.

(THIS EVENING.)

WHITEHALL, DEC. 20, 1845.
The Queen has been pleased to nominate, constitute, and
appoint the Right Hon. Henry Goulburn to be one of the
Ecclesiastical Commissioners for England in the room of the
Right Hon. Sir Herbert Jenner Fust, resigned.
CROWN-OFFICE, DEC. 22.
MEMBER RETURNED TO SERVE IN THE PRESENT PARLIAMENT.
Borough of Woodstock—Alfred Spencer Churchill, com-
monly called Lord Alfred Spencer Churchill, in the room of
John Henry Loftus, commonly called Viscount Loftus, now
Baro❑ Loftus, called up to the House of Peers.
OFFICE OF ORDNANCE, DEC. 22.
Royal Regiment of Artillery—Second Captain G. Innes to
be Adjutant, vice Sandham, who resigns the Adjutancy only,
Dec. 18 ; Second Captain H. T. Fyers to be Adjutant, vice
Shone, promoted; Second Captain A. Benn to be Adjutant,
vice P. Berm, promoted, Dec. 22.

OFFICE OF ORDNANGE, DEC. 22.
Royal Regiment of Artillery—Captain and Brevet Major
W. E. Lock, to be Lieutenant-Colonel, vice Hanwell, retired
on full :pay ; Second Captain J: Hill, to be Captain, vice
Lock ; First Lieutenant J. 11. Lefroy to be Second Captain
vice Hill; Second Lieutenant R. Phelips, to be First Lieu-
tenant, vice Lefroy; Dec. 12.
Commission by the Lord-Lieutenant of the West Riding a
Yorkshire.
Sir W. Lawson, Bart, to be Deputy-Lieutenant, Afarcli
7, 1844.
Commission by the Lord-Lieutenant of Worcestershire.
T. S. Lea, Esq., to be Deputy-Lieutenant, Dec. 1.
Commission by the Lord Lieutenant of Cornwall.
J. K. Lethbridge, to be Deputy-Lieutenant, Dec. 13.
Commissions by the Lord Lieutenant of Norfolk.
Joseph Scott, Esq., to be Deputy Lieutenant; Thomas
Blake, Esq., L.L.D., to be ditto; John Longe, Esq., to be
ditto; Thomas Havers, Esq., to be ditto; Frederick North,
Esq., to be ditto; 'William Sancroft Hollins, Esq., to be
ditto; William Robert Cann, Esq., to be ditto; Thomas
Edward Scott, Esq., to be ditto, Dec. 6, 1845.
Commission by the Lord-Lieutenant of Somersetshire.
North Somerset Regiment of Yeomanry Cavalry—L. Hel-
bert, Gent., to be Cornet, vice Maule, promoted, Dec. 17.
WHITEHALL DEc. 5.
The Lord Chancellor has appointed Thomas Rodham, of
Wellington, in the county of Somerset, Gent.. to be a Master
Extraordinary in the High Court of Chancery.
WHITEHALL,
The Lord Chancellor has appointed C. B. Portmore, of
Leicester, Gent., to be a Master Extraordinary in the High
Court of Chancery. _

- BANKRUPTS.
Thomas Winston, merchant, Coptball-buildings, City, to
surrender Dec. 30, at half past twelve, and Feb. 6, at two,
at the Court of Bankruptcy. Belcher, official assignee ;
Crowder and Maynard, Coleman-street.
Elizabeth Rolph andThomtut Rolph, builders, Upper Brook-
street, Grosvenor-square, Dec. 31, at half-past eleven, and
Feb. 4, at two, at the Court of Bankruptcy. Bell, official
assignee, Coleman-street-buildings; Huson Ironmonger-lane.
Felix Herpent, warehouseman, Sherrard-street, Golden.
square, Dec. 31, at two, and Feb. 4, at one, at the Court of
Bankruptcy. Johnson, official assignee, Basinghall-street ;
Raw, Furnival's-inn, Holborn.
Joseph Howard Rand, glass dealer, Westminster-bridge..
road, Jan. 3, at eleven, and Feb. 13, at twelve, at the Court
of Bankruptcy. Grean, official assignee, Aldermanbury ;
Buchanan, Basinghall-street.
James Miller, cordwainer, High-street, Southampton, Jan.
6, and Feb. 3, at eleven, at the Court of Bankruptcy. Groom,
official assignee, Abchurch-lane; Overton and Hughes, Old
Jewry.
Thomas Brown, shoe/maker, Paddington, Dec. 30, at one,
and Feb. 3, at eleven, at the Court of Bankruptcy. Graham,
official assignee, Coleman-street; Buchanan, Basinghall.
street.