The pilot and transcript. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1840-1841, 1840-12-10

be found in total abstinence from the exercise n
all doubtful powers the part Of the FederSi
Government, rather than in attempts To ASSURE
them by lsese construction of the constitnt;a,,
or an ingenious perversion Of its words, bave
underworld TO avoid recommending any measure
which had reason to apprehend would, in the
OPINION even of a considerable minority of NV
ieiio"-cil4ens, be regarded as trenching on the
rights Oh the States, or the provisions of the
hallowed instrument of our Union Viewing the
aggregate powers of the Federal Government as
voluntary concession of the States, il seemed
to me that such only should be exercised az
were at the time intended TO be given.
have been strengthened, too, in the propriety
oil TINS course, oy the conviction that all efforts
10 go beyond tnls' tend only to produce dssatis-
faction and distrust, to excite iealousies and To
provoke resistance. Instead Of adding strength
to the Federal Government, even when success
full, they must ever prove a sourca ofincurable
weakness, by alternating portion of these ,ybose
adhesion is indispensable TO the great agorepate
OF united strength, and whose voluntary attach
mentis, in my estimation, far more essential IA
the efficiency OF government strong in the hest
OF all possible strength-the confidence and at
tachment of all those who make up its constitu-
ent elements.
Thus believing, il has been my purpose TO
secure to the whole people, and TO every mem.
Der of the cenfederacy, by genera, salutary, and
equal laws alone, the benefit of those reDubIi-
can institutions which it was the end and aim
of the constitution to establish, and the Impair
tial influence of which is, in my Judgment, in
d;speusable to their preservation | cannot
bring. myself to believe that the lasting happi-
ness ofthe people, the prosperity OF the States
or the Permanency of their URion, can be main
tanned by giving preference or priority to any
class of citizens in the distribution of bene-
fits or privileges, or by the adoption of mea-
sures which enrich one portion of the Union at
the expense OF another; nor can | see in the
interference of the FL deral Government with
the local legislation and reserved rights of the
States remedy for present, or security ag-
ainst future, dangers.
The first, and assuredly not the least impor
tant step towards relieving the country from
the condition into which it had been plunged by
excuses in trade, banking, and credits of all
kinds, was TO place the business transactions Of
the Government itself on solid basis; giving
and receiving in all cases, value for value, and
neither countenancing nor encouraging in 9th
ers that delusive sy stem of credits from which
it has been lounf so difficult to escape, and
which has left nolhing behind il but the wrecks
that mark its fatal career.
That the financial affairs of the Government
are now, and have been during the whole pc
Rod of these wide-spreading difficulties, con
Quoted with a strict and invarable regard to
this great fundamental principle, and that by
the assumption and maintenance of the stand
thus taken on the very threshold of the APP
preaching crisis, more than by any other cause
or causes whatever, the community at large
has been shielded from the incalculable evils
of general and indefinite suspension of specie
payments, and consequent humiliation, for
the whole period it might have lasted, of Just
and inVariable standard Of value, will, it is
believed, at this period, scarcely be ques-
toned.
A steady adherence, on tie part of the Gov
eminent, to the policy which has produced such
salutary results, aided by judicous State legis-
lation, and, what is not less important, by the
industry, enterprise, perseverance, and economy
OF the American people, cannot fail to raise the
whole country, at early period, to a state of
solid and enduring prosperity, not subject to be
again overthrown by the suspension of banks or
the explosion OF bloated credit system. 1t is
for the people, and their representatives, to de-
eide whether or not the permanent welfare of
the country (Which all good citizens equally de-
sire, however widely they may differ as to the
means OF its accomplishment shall be in this
way secured; or whether the management of
the pecuniary concerns of the Government, and,
by consequence, to great extent, those of indi-
viduals also, shall be Carried back to a condi-
and expansions OF the currency, and those reck-
less abuses Of credit, from the baleful effects of
which the country has so deeply suffered-a re-
turn that can promise, in the end, no better re-
suits than to reproduce the embarrassments the
Government has experienced; and to remove
from the shoulders of the present, to those of
fresh victims, the bitter fruits of that spirit of
speculative enterprise to which our countrymen
are so liable, and upon which the lessons OF ex-
Fp IN UoIlt inn phn1o =
important one, and l sincerely hope that it may
be wisely made.
A report from the Secretary of War present
ing detailed view of the affairs of that depart
ment, accompanies this communication.
The desultery duties connected with the re-
moval of the Indians, in which the army has
been constantly engaged on the northern and
western frontiers, and in Florida, have render
ed it impracticable to carry into full effect the
plan recommended by the Secretary for i'm
proving its discipline. In every instance where
the regiments have been concentrated, they
have made great progress; and the best results
may be anticipated from continuance of this
system. During the last season, part of the
troops have been employed in removing Indi-
ans from the interior to the territory assigned
them in the west-a duty which they have per-
formed efficiently, and with praiseworthy hu-
manitY; and that portion of them which has
been stationed in Florida continued active ope-
rations there throughout the heats ofsummer.
The policy of the United States in regard to
he Indians, of which succinct account is
given in my message OF 1898, and of the wis
iom and expediency of which am fully salts
led, has been continued in active operation
throughout the whole period of my administra-
ion. Since the spring of 1887, more than forty
he usand Indians have been removed to their
new homes west of the Mississippi; and l am
lappy to add, that all accounts concur in repre-
enting the result Of this measure as eminently
beneficial to that people.
The emigration of the Seminoles alone has
'een attended with serious difficulty, and occa-
toned bloodshed; hostilities having been CON-
nenced by the Indians in Florida, under the APP
,rehension that they would be compelled, by
orce, to comply with their treaty stipulations.
The execution Of the treaty Of Payne's La nding,
igned in 1882, but not ratified until 1884, was