Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1853-12-15

0ofN'' tuhCll ~ remove lLCSC QllllcuUCS, ana lC
secure more abundant importation Of the ar,
tlce' Unfortunately, there has been serious
collision between our citizens who have resort
ca to the Chincha Islands for it, and the Peru
wan authorities stationed there. Redress for
the outrages committed by the latter, was
promptly demanded by our minister at Lima.
l his subject is now under consideration, and
there IS reason to believe that Peru is disposed
to offer adequate indemnity to the aggricvcd
parties.
We are thus not only at peace with all for
elgn countries, but, in regard to political af-
fairs, are exempt from any cause OF serious
dsQuietude in our domestic relations.
\ Ne controversies which have agitated the
coaIry heretofore, are passing away with the
causes which produced them, and the passions
which they had awakened or, if any trace of
them remains, it may be reasonably hoped that
it will OnI y be perceived in the Jealous rivalry
of all good citizens TO testify their respect for
the rights of the States, their devotion to the
Union, and their common determination that
each one Of the States, its institutions, its well
fare, and its domestic peace, shall be held alike
secure under the sacred ngis of the Constitu-
tion.
This new league of amty and of mutual
confidence and support, into which the people
of th} republic have entered, happily affords
induc,ment and opportunity for the adoption
Of a more comprehensive and uncmbarrasscd
line d policy and action, as to the great mate
rial Interests Of the country, whether regarded
in themselves or in connection with the powers
of the civilized world.
The United States have continued gradually
and seadIy to expand, through acquisitions Of
territory, which, how much socver some of
them may have been questioned, are now uni
vcrsaly seen and admitted to have been wise
in policy, just in character, and great element
in the advancement of our country, and, with
it, of he human race, in freedom, in prospcrl-
! tv, anil in happiness. The thirteen States have
growl to be thirty-onc, with relations reaching
to Europe on the one side, and on the other TO
the distant realms of Asia.
an deeply sensible of the immense rcspon-
sibiity which the present magnitude Of the re-
public, and the diversity and multiplicity of its
interests, devolves upon me: the alienation of
which, so far as relates to the immediate con-
duct of the public business, is, first, in my re-
lance on the wisdom and patriotism of the two
Houses Of Congress; and, secondly in the di-
rcctcns afforded me by the principles of pub
lie poIity, affirmed by our fathers Of the epoch
of 1898, sanctioned by long experience, and
consccmtcd anew by the overwhelming voice
Of the people of the United States.
Recurring to these principles, which conSti-
tue the organic basis of union, we perceive
that vast as are the functions and the duties OF
the federal government, vested in, or entrusted
to, its three great departments, the legislative
executive and judicial, yet the substantive pow
or, the popular force, and the large capacities
for social and material development, exist in
the respective States, which, all being Of them
selves wclI-constitutcd republics, as they pre-
ccded so they alone are capable Of maintain
inc and pcrpetuating, the American Union.
The federal government has its appropriate
line of action in the specific and limited pow
crs conferred on it by the Constitution, chiefly
as to those things in which the States have Il
common interest in their relations to one aEoth-
cr, and to foreign governments; while the great
mass of interests which belong to cultivated
men, the ordinary business of life, the springs
of industry, all the diversified personal and do
mcstic affairs of society, rest securely upon the
general reserved powers Of the people of the
several States. There is the effective Dcmoc-
racy of the Nation, and there the vital essence
of its being and its greatness.
OF the practical consequences which flow
from the nature of the federal government, the
primary one is the duty of administering with
integrity and fidelity the high trust reposed in
it bv the Constitution, especially in the appl-
cation of the public funds, as drawn by taxa
ton from the people, and appropriated to spe-
cifc objects by Congress, Happily have no
occasion to suggest any radical changes in the
financial policy Of the government. Ours is
almost, if not absolutely, the solitary power Of
Christendom having a surplus revenue, drawn
Immediately from imposts on commerce, and
therefore measured by the spontaneous enter
prise and national prosperity ofthc country, with
such indirect relation to agriculture, manuiac-
lures, and the products of the earth and sea- as
10 violate no constitutional doctrine, and yet
vigorously promote the general welfare Mel
tier as to the sources of the public treasure,
nor lis to the manner Of keeping and managing
i, does any grave controversy now prevail,
there being general acquicsccncc in the Wis
dom Of the present system.
The report Of the Secretary Of the Treasury
will exhibit, in detail, the state of the public
finances, and the condition Of the various
branches of the public service administered by
that department of the government.
! The revenue of the country, levied almost
Inscnsibly to the taxpayer, goes on from year
to year increasing beyond either the interests
or the prospective wants Of the government.
At the close of the fiscal year ending June
30, 1852, there remained in the treasury bal
ancc of fourteen million six hundred and thr-
ty-wo thousand one hundred and thirty y-siX dol
lars, The public revenue for the fiscal year
ending June 80, 1858, amounted to Iifty-cight
million nine hundred and thirty-onc thousand
eight hundred and sixty y-fve dollars from GUS
toms, and to two million four hundred and five
thousond seven hundred and ciubt dollars from