Eastern times. [volume] (Bath, Me.) 1846-1857, 1853-12-15

to open to common use, under ,proper safe
guards, this great natural highway for inter
national trade. Several Of the South A1meri-.
can States are deeply interested In this aftempt
to secure the free navigation ofsfhe Amazon.
and it is, reasonable toseypect their coropera-
tion in the measure.
AS the advantages Of ftee commercial u inter- z
course among nations are better uflderstbbd
more liberal views are generally entertained
as to the common rights Of all teathe free use
of those means which nature has provided for
International communication To these more
liberal and enlightened views il ii hoped that
Brazil will conform her policy, and remove all
unnecessary Restrictions upon the free use Of a
river which traverses so manc States and 80
large part Of the continent. ~. .
am happy to inform you that the republic
of Paraguay and the Argentine Confederation
have yielded to the liberal policy still resisted
by Brazil, In regard to the nayigable rivers
/ within their respective territories. Treaties
embracing this subject among others, have
been negotiated with these governments, which
will be submitted TO the senate at the present
| session.
! A new branch Of commerce, important to
the agricultural interests Of the United States,
has, within few years past, beenopehed with
Peru. notwithstanding the inexhaustible de-
poslts of Guano upon the islands of the coun-
try, considerable difficulties are experienced
in obtaining the requisite supply. Measures
have been taken to remove these difficulties,
! and to secure more abundant importation Of
| the article. rt..-
Unfortunately there has been serious col
llsloh between our citizens, who have resorted
to the Chincha Islands for it, and Peruvian
Stafin fhor Da1r f.1v 4 he
| outrages committed by the latter was promptly
demanded by our minister at Lima. This sub
ject is now under consideration, and there is
reason to believe that Peru is disposed to offer
adequate indemnity to the aggrieved parties. !
We are thus not only at peace with all foreign
countries. but, in regard to political affairs,
are exempt from any cause of serious disquie-
| tude IN our domestic relations. rU3 1900
The controversies which have agitated the
country heretofore, are passing away with the
causes that produced them and the passions
which they had awakened: or. if any trace of
them remains, it may be reasonably hoped
that it will only be perceived in the jealous
rivalry of all good citizens to testify their re-
spect for the rights of the states, their devotion
to the Union, and their common determination
that each one of the states, its institutions its
welfare, and its domestic peace shall be alike
secure under the sacred @gis of the Constitu-
ton.
This new league of amity and mutual con-
fidence and support, into which the people of
the republic have entered, happily affords in
ducement and opportunity for the adoption of
more comprehensive and unembarrassed line
OF policy and action, as to the great material
interests of the country, whether regarded in
themselves or in connection with the powers of
the civilized world. ,. ..r...,. ....,,, sf.,-.-
The United States have continued gradually
and steadily to expand, through acquisitions
of territory, which, how muchsoever some of
them may have been questioned, are now uni
versally seen and admitted to have been wise
in policy, just in character and great ele-
ment in the advancement of our country, and.
with it, of the human race, in freedom, in
prosperity, and in happiness. The thirteen
states have grown to be thirty-one, with rela-
tions reaching to Europe on the one side, and
on the other to the distant realms of Asia.
am deeply sensible Of the immense res
possibility which the present magnitude Of the
republic, and the diversity and multiplicity of
its interests, devolves upon me the alienation
of which, so far as relates to the immediate
conduct of the public business is, first, in my
reliance on the wisdom and patriotism of the
|
directions afforded me by the principles of
public poIity, affirmed by our fathers of the
epoch of 1898, sanctioned by long experience,
and coHsecrated anew by the overwhelming
voice Of the people of the United States.
Recurring to these principles which consti-
tute 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
power, the popular force, and the large capaci-
ties for social and material development, exist
in the respective states, which, all being of
themselves well constituted republics, as they
preceded, SO they alone are capable of main
tanning and lPerpetuating, the American I'm
ion. ai aaifa io aii-a at -H+ iaE1o3
The federal government has its appropriate
line of action in the specific and limited pow
ers conferred on it by the Constitution, chiefly
as to those things in which the States have a
common interest in their relations to one anoth-
er 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
mestic affairs of society, rest securely UPon the
general reserved powers of the people of the
several states. There is the effective Democ-
racy of the nation, and there the vital essence
of its being and its greatness. s'24's
lc 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 by the constitution, especially in the ap-
plication of the public funds, as drawn by tax
alton from the people, and appropriated to
specific 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 en-
terprise and national prosperity OF the country,
with such indirect relation to agriculture, man
ufactures, and the products of the earth and
sea, as to violate no constitutional doctrine,
and vet vigorously promote the general well
fare. Neither as to the sources Of the public
treasure, nor az to the manner Of keeping and
managing it, does any grave controversy now
prevail, there being general acquiescence in
the wisdom 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 bran
ches of the public service administered BY that
department of the government.
The revenue of the country, levied almost in
sensibly to the taxpayer, goes on from year
to wear. increasing beyond either the interests
or the prospective wants of the government.
| : A. a. .losa of the f;scaI veaF erdino l,,ne