The true Democrat., 1856-09-09
PRESIDENTS MESSAGE. To the Extra Session of Congress. FplI17y (t.J;zo,7s Of tbo Co,,nfo ,,nJ
House of Representatives:

To the Extra Session of Congress. Fel.o10- Citizens of tue Senate and
 House of Representatives.:
 In consequence of the failure of Congress at Its recent session to make provision for the SUD- port of the army, it became imperatively in- cumbent upon me to exercise the power which the constitution confers on the executive for extraordinary occasions, and promptly to con- vene the two houses in order to afford them an opportunity of reconsiderng subject of such vital interest to the peace and welfare of the Onlon. With the exception of partial au- thorty vested by law in the Secretary of War, to contract for supply of clothing and sub slstence, the army is wholly dependent on the appropriations annually made by Congress- The omlsSlon of Congress to act in this respect before the termination of the fiscal year, has already caused endorsements to the service. which were overcome only in expectation of appropriations before the close of the present month. If the ra iuiste funds be not speedily provided, the Executive will no longer be able to furnish for transportation the equipments and munitions which are essential to the effective ness of a military force in the field. With no provision for the pay of the troops, the con- tracts of enlistment would be broken and the army must in effect be dsbanded-the conse quence of which would be so disastrous as to demand all possible efforts to avert the calamity
 It is not merely that the officers and enlisted men of the army are to be thus deprived of the pay and emouments to which they are entitled by standing laws, but that the construction of arms at the public armories the repair and con- struction of ordnance at the arsenals, and the manufacture of military clothing and camp equipage must be discontinued, and the per at~l, IL |. 4. service thus be deprived suddenly of the en- ployment essential to their subsistence. Nor is 1t merely the waste consequent on the forced abandonment of the seaboard Notifications and of the interior military posts and other tstab- lishments, and the enormous expense of re- cruiting and recognizing the army, and again distributing it over the vast regions which it now occupies. These are evils which may, it Is true, be repaired hereafter by taxes imposed on the country, but other evils are involved, which no expenditures, however lavish, could remedy, Tn comparison with which local and personal injuries interests sink into nsign;fi- canoe. great part of the army Is situated on the remote frontier or Tn the deserts and noun taus of the interior. To discharge large bodies Of men Tn such places, without the means of regalning their homes, and where few, if any, could obtain subsistence by honest industry, would be to subject them to suffering and temp tatiOn, with disregard of justice and right most derogatory to the government
 In the territories of Washington and Oregon numerous bands of Indians are in arms, and are waging war of extermination against the white inhabitants; and although our troops are actively carrying on the campaign. we have no intelligence as yet of a successful result. On the western pla ns, notwithstanding the inn posing display of military force recently made there and the chastlsement inflicted on the re- belllous tribes, others, far from being dismayed, have manifested hostile intentions, and been guilty of Outrages, which, if Tot designed 10 provoke conflict, serve to show that the ap- prehension of it is insufficient wholly to restrain their vicious propensitcs. A strong force in the State of Texas has produced the temI Iorarv suspension of hostiites there but in New Mexico inceSsant exertions on the part of the troops are required to keep ill check the ma rauding tribes which infest that territory The hostile Indians have not been removed from the State of Florida, and the withdrawal of the troops thereirom, leaving that object unaccom- pllshed, would be most injurious to the inhabi- tants, and breach of the positive Engagement of the general government.
 To refuse supplies to the army therefore, is to compel the complete cessation of all its ope- rations, and practical disbandment and thus to invite hordes of predatory savages from the western plains and Rocky mountains to spread devastation along frontier of more than four thousand miles in extent, and to deliver up the Soarse population of vast tract of country to rapine and murder. Such, in substance, would be the direct and immediate effects of the re- fusal of Congress- for the first time in the his tory of the government, to grant supplies; the inevitable waste of millions of public treasure the inliction of extreme wrong upon all per. sons connected with the military establishment by service, employment or contracts-the recall of our forces from the feld-the fearful sacr- flee of life, and ncalculablc destruction of pro perty on the remote fronters-the striking of our national flag on the battlements of the for tresses which defend our maratime citizens against foreig invasion-the violation of the public homo: and good faith, and the discredt of the United States in the eyes of the civil lized world.
 I confidently trust that these considerations, and others appertaining to the domestic peace of the country, which cannot fail to suggest themselves to every patriotic mind, wil on re- tlection, be duly appreciated by both houses of Congress, and induce the enactment of the re- quisite provisions of law for the support of the army of the United States.
 FRANKLIN PIERCE.
 Washington, August 21, 1856.