Litchfield enquirer., 1842-12-15
.W E s S,.A G E:
To the Senate and House of

.W E s S..H c E:
 To the Senate and House of
 Representatives of Lse United States:
 We have continued reason to express our profound gratitude to the great Creator of
 all things for numberless benefits conferred 1 upon us as a people. Blessed with genial ! seasons, the husbandman has his gamers l filled with abundance, and the necessaries I of life, not to speak of its luxuries abound in every direction. While in some other
 nations steady and industrious labor can
 hardly find the means of subsistence, the greatpst evil which we have to encounter is
 a surplus of production beyond the home
 demand, which seeks, and with difficulty | finds, q partial market in other regions The health of the country, with partial ex- captions, has for the past year been well 1 preserved and, under their free and wise 1 institutions, the United States are rapidly advancing towards the consumu1ation of the | high destiny which an over-ruling Provi- dence seems to have marked out for them. Exempt from domestic con vulsion, and at peace with the world, we are left free to
 consult as 10 the best means of securing and l advancing the happiness of the people, Such are the circumstances under which ] you now assemble in your respective cham-
 bers, and which should lead us to unite in
 praise and thanksgiving to that great Being ! who made us, and who preserves us as a
 nation.
 congratulate you, fellow citizens, on the happy change in the aspects of our foreign affairs since my last annual message. Cau-
 sos of complaint at that time existed be- tween the United States and Great Britain,
 which, attended by irritating circumstances
 threatened most seriously the public peace.
 The difficulty of adjusting amicably the questions at issue between the two countries
 was in no small degree augmented by the
 the lapse of time since they had their origin.
 The opinions entertained by the Executive
 on several of the leading topics in dispute,
 were frankly set forth in the message at the
 opening of your late session. The appoint
 ment of q special minister by Great Britain
 to the United States, with power to nego-
 tiate upon most of the points of difference,
 indicated desire on her part amicably to adjust them, and that minister was met by the Exccrtive in the same spirit which had
 dictated his mission. The treaty conse-
 quent thereon, having been duly ratified by
 the two governments, a copy, together with the correspondence which accompanied it is herewith communicated. l trust that whilst you may see in it nothing objection. able, it may be the means of preserving, for m indefinite period, the amicable relations
 happily existing between the two govern
 ments.
 The question of peace or war between
 the United States and Great Britain, is question of the deepest interest, not only 10 themselves, but to the civilized world. since it is scarcely possible that war could exist between them without endangering the peace of Christendom. The immediate ho felt in the security afforded to mercantile enterprise, which, no longer apprehensive of interruption, adventures it's speculations in the most distant sea and, frcighted with the diversified productions of every land, return to bless our own. There is nothing
 in the treaty. which, in the slightest degree, compromits the honor and dignity of either nation. Next to the settlement ot the boun- dary line, which must always be matter 'of difficulty between states as between in- dividuals, the question which seemed to threaten the greatest embarrassment. was that connected with the African slave trade.
 Bv the 10th article of the treaty of Ghent
 it was expressly declared that "whcreas the traffic in slaves is irreconcilable with ihe principles of humanity and justice ; and whereas both his Majesty and the United States are desirous of continuing their ef- forts to promote its entire abolition. it is hereby agreed that both the contracting
 parties shall use their best endeavors 10 accomplish so desirable an object" In the enforcement of the laws and treaty siipula- tions of Great Britain, practice had threa- tened to grow up on the part of its cruisers of .nbjecting to visitation. ships sailing un- der ihc American faG, which, while it seri- ously involved our maritime rights. would subject to vexaiion branch of our trade
 which was increasing. and which required the fostering care of the goverrnT ri.
 And although Lord Aberdeen, in his cor
 respondence with the American Envoys at
 LonGon, expressly disclaimed all right fo
 detain any American ship on the high seas,
 even if found with a cargo of slaves on
 board, and restricted the British pretension to uaere claiso to visit aud enquire, yet #