Litchfield enquirer., 1838-12-13
PRESIDENTS MESSAGE.
 DECEMBER 4, 1885. FsElop Citizens of dhe Senate, @ 4 and House Of Representatives

Icongratulate you on the favorable circum- stances in the condition of our country, under which you re-assemble for the performance ] of your official duties. Though the antici- pations of an abundant harvest have not | every where been realized. yet, on inc ! whole, the labors of the husbandman are re- warded with a bountiful return industry 1 prospers in it's various channels of business ! and enterprise; general health again pre- l vails through our vast diversity of climate ; | nothing threatens, from abroad, the contin- 1 uance of external peace nor has aly thing at home impaired the strength of those frater- nal and domestic ties which constitute the only guaranty to the success and pernanen- cy of our happy Union, and which, formed in the hour of peril, have hitherto been honora- bly, sustained through every vicissitude in our national affairs. These blessings, which evince the care and benefcence of PrOvi- ! dence, call for devout and fervent gratitude.
 We have not less reason to be grateful for other bounties bestowed by the same munifi- cent hand, and more exclusively our own.
 The present year closes the first half cen- tury of our federal institutions and our sys- tenl--differing from all others in the ack. nowledged, practical, and unlimited opere- ton which it has for so long period given to the sovereignty of the people-has now been fully tested dby experience. H4{
 The constitution devised by Oar forefathers as the framework and bora of that system, then untried, has becoTie a settled form of government; not o;,iy preserving and pro- tecting the great principles upon which it was founded, but wonderfully promoting in- dividual happiness and private interests Though subject to change and entire revoca- tion, whenever deemed inadequate to all these purposes, yet such is the wisdom of it's construction, and SO stable has been the pub- lie sentiment, that it remains unaltered, ex- cept in matters of detail, comparatively un- important 1t has proved amply sufficient for the various emergencies incident to our condition as nation formidable foreign war agitating collisions between domestic and, in some respects, rival sovereignties i; temptations to interfere in the intestine con- motions of neighboring countries; the dan gerous influences that arise in periods of ex- scssive prosperity; and the anti-republican tendencies of associated wealth-these, with other trials not less formidable, have all been encountered, & thus far successfully resisted.
 1t was reserved for the American Union to test the advantages of a Government entire- lv dependent on the continual exercise of the popular will and our experience has shown that it is as benefcent in practice as it is just in theory. Each successive change made in our local institutions has contributed to ex- tend the right of suffrage, has increased the direct influence of the mass of the communi- ty, given greater freedom to individual exer- tion, and restricted. more and more, the pow CTS of Government; yet the intelligence, prudence, and patriotism of the people have kept pace with this augmented responsibility. In no country has education been so widely diffused. Domestic peace has nowhere so largely reigned. The close bonds of social intercourse have in no instance prevailed
 with such harmony over space so vast. All forms of religion have united. for the first time. to diffuse charity and piety, because, for the first time in the history of nations, all have been totally untrammelled, and abso- lutely free. The deepest recesses of the wilderness have been penetrated; yet, in- stead of the rudeness in the social condition consequent upon such adventures elsewhere, numerous communities have sprung up, al- ready u,srivalled in prosperity, general in- telligence, internal tranquility, and the wis., dom of their political institutions. Internal improvement, the fruit of individual enter prise, fostered by the protection of the States, has added new links to the confederation, and fresh rewards to provident industry.- Doubtful questions of domestic policy have been quietly settled by mutual forbearance and agriculture, commerce. and manufac- | lures, minister to each other. Taxation and public debt, the burdens which bear so heav- ily upon all other countries, have pressed | with comparative lightness upon us. With l out one entangling alliance, our friendshipis is 1 prized by every nation; and the rights of our citizens are every where respected, be- cause they are known to be guarded by a l united, sensitive, and watchful people.
 To this practical operation of our institu- tions, so evident and successful, we owe that | increased attachment to them which isamong the most cheering exhibitions of popular ssn- tinnent, and will prove their best security, in time to come. against foreign or domestic as- sault
 This review of the results, of cur institu- tions, for half a century, without exciting spirit of vain exultation, should serve ic !nn- press upon us the great principles from which they have sprung; constant and direct su- peryision by the people over every public measure strict forbearance on the part of the Government from exercising any doubtful or disputed powers; and cautious absti- ,nence from all interference with concerns which properly belong, and are best left, to State regulations and individual enterprise.
 Full information of the state of our foreign affairs having been recently, on different oc- casions, submitted to Congress, deem it ne- cessary now to bring to your notice only such events Hs have subsequently, occurred, or arc of such importance as to require par ticular attention.
 The most amicable dispositions continue to beexhibited by all the nations with whom tho Government and citizens of the United States have an 'habitnal intercourse. At the date of my last annual message, Mexico was the only nation which could not be included in sogratifying a reference to our foreign re- lations. 9...
 I lam happy to be now able to inform you that an advance has been made towards the adjustment ofour difficulties with that repub- lics and the restoration of the customary good feeling between the two aations. This 1 AaNLa hs,e.