The daily Minnesota pioneer. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1854-1855, 1854-12-13
Presidents Message.
Fsllo.c Citizens of the Senate

Falosc Citizens of the Senate
and House of Representatives:
The past has been an eventful year, and
will he hereafter referred to as marked
epoch in the history of the world. While
we have been happily preserved frem the
calamities of war, our domestic prosperity
has not been entirely uninterrupted. The
crops, in portions of the country, have been
nearly cut off. Disease has prevailed to a
greater extent than usual, and the sacri
flee of human life, through casualties by
sea and land, is without parallel. But
the pestilence has swept by, and restored
salubrity invites the absent to their hemes,
and the return of business to its ordinary
channels. If the earth has rewarded the
labor of the husbandnan less beautifully
than in preceding seasons, it has left him
with abundance for domestic wants, and
q large surplus for expectation.
In the present, therefore, as in the past,
we find ample grounds for reverent thank
fulness to the God of Grace and Provi.
dence for His protecting care and merci-
full dealings with us as people.
Although our attention has been ares
ted by painful interest in passing events,
yet our country feels no more than the
slight vibrations of the commissions which
have shaken Europe. AS individuals, we
cannot repress sympathy with human suffer.
ing, or the regret for the causes which pro-
duce it. AS a nation, we are reminded
that whatever interrupts the peace or checks
the prosperity of any part of Christendom
tends more or less to involve Our own.
The condition of states is not unlike that
of individuals. They are mutually depen.
dent upon each other. Amicable relations
between them and reciprocal good will, are
essential for the promotion of whatever is
desirable in their moral, social, and political
condition. Hence it has been my earnest
endeavOr to maintain peace and friendly in
tercourse with all nations.
The wise theory of this government, SO
early adopted and steadily pursued, of avoi-
ding all entangling alliances, has hitherto
exempted it from many complications in
which it would otherwise have become in
volved. Notwithstanding this our clearly
defined and well sustained course of action,
and our geographical position so remote
from Europe, increasing disposition has
been manifested by some of its govern
ments to supervise and in some respects to
direct our foreign policy.
plans for adjusting the balance of power among
themselves, they have assumed to take into &C.
count and would constrain us to conform our conduct
to their views. One another Of the powers of Eu
rope has, from time to time. undertaken to enforce
arbitrary regulations. contrary in many respects t.
established principles of international law. That law
the United States have, in their foreign intercourse
uniformly respected and observed; and they cannot
recognize any such interpretations therein AS the tenn
porary interests Of others may suggest. They do moi
admit that the eigns of one continent or of
particular community OF states, legslate for all
others.
Leaving the trans-a tlantic nations to adjust
their political system, in the way they may
think best for their common welfare, the indie
pendent powers of this continent may well as
sert the right to be exempt from all annoying
interference on their part. Systematic absti
hence from Intimate political connection with
distant foreign nations, does not conflict with
giving the widest range to our foreign com
merce. This distinction, so clearly marked il
history, seems to have been overlooked, OF
disregarded, by some leading foreign states
Our refusal to be brought within and subjected
Jealous distrust of our conduct, and induced
on their part, occasional acts of disturbing eff
feet upon our foreign relations.
Our present attitude and past course give
ASSURANCES, which should not be questioned
that our purposes are not aggressive or threat
ening to the safety and welfare of other ma
tioGs. Our military establishment, in time O
peace, is adapted to maintain exterior defen
fences, and to preserve order among the abOr
&inal tribes within the limits of the Union
Our naval force is intended only for the pro
lection OF our citizens abroad, and of our com
Merce, dtfused, ar it is over all the seas of the
globe. The government of the United States
Peiag essentially pacific in policy, stands pre-.
pared to repel invasion by the voluntary ser.
vice of patriotic people, and provides nc
permanent means of foreign aggression. These
considerations should allay ali apprehensions
that we are disposed to encroach on the rights
or endanger the security of other states.
Some European powers have regarded
with dsquieting concern, the territorial ex
pansion of the United States. This rapid
growth has resulted from the legitimate ex
ercise of sovereign rights, belongidg alike
to all nations, and by many literally exer
cised. Under such circumstances, it could
hardly have been expected that those among
them which have, within comparatively
recent period, sabdued and absorbed an