Raftsman's journal. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1854-1948, 1856-12-10
mama. or by the general government of New

! mama, or by the general government ot new
Granada.
| Under the guarantees of treaty, citizens OF
| the United States have, by the outlay OF seve-
| raj millions of dollars. constructed j railroad
across the Isthmus, and it has become the
I main route between our Atlantic and Pacific
| possessions over which multitudes of our cit
iZcns and vast amount of property are con-
stantly passing-to the security and protec-
tion of all which, and the continuance of the
! public advantages involved, it is impossible
| for the Government of the United States to be
| Indifferent.
! l have deemed the recurrence of scenes of
| lawlcSs violence in this quarter SO imminent
as to make it my duty to station a part of our
naval force in the harbors of Panama and As
| pinwall, in order to protect the persons and
property of the citizens Of the United States
! in those ports, and to insure to them safe pas
sage across the lsthmus. And it would, in my
Judgment be unwise to withdraw the naval
force now in those ports, until. by the spoBta-
neous action of the Republic OF y. Granada. or
otherwise, some adequate arrangement shall
have been made for the protection and securi-
| ty of line OF interoceanic communication so
| important at this time, not to the L. States
only, but TO all other maritime states both of
| Europe and America.
Meanwhile, negotiations have been institu-
ted 10y means OF special commission, TO OBJ
| tain from New Granada full indemnity for in
| ..
and satisfactory security for the general inter
ests of the United States.
| In addressing to you my last annual message
! the occasion seems to me an appropriate one
| to express my congratulations in view OF the
peace. greatness. and felicity which the Uni
ted States now possess and enjoy. To point
you to the state OF the various departments of
the government, and of all the great branches
of the public service, civil and military, in or
der TO speak of the intelligence and integrity
which pervades the whole, would be to indi-
cate but imperfectly the administrative condi-
tion of the country, and the beneficial effects
of that on the general welfare.
Ncr would it suffice to say that the nation is
actually at peace at home and abb Dad that
its industrial interests are prosperous that
the canvass Of its mariners whiten every sea:
and the plough of its husbandmen is marching
steadily onward TO the boodless conquest OF
the continent, that cities and populous States
are springing up, as if by enchautment, from
the bosom of our western wilds, and that the
courageous energy of our people is making Of
these United States the great republic of the
world. These results have not been attained
without passing through trials and pcrils, by
experience OF which, and thus only nations
can harden into manhood.
Our forefathers were trained to the wisdom
which conceived and the courage which a.
chieved independence, by the circumstances
which surrounded them, and they were thus
made capable of the creation Of the republic.
1t devolsed on the next generation to consoli-
date the work of the revolution, TO deliver the
countrT entirely from the influences of con-
fiicting transatlantic partialities antipathics,
which attached 20 our colonial and revolution
airy history, and 20 organize the practical ope-
ration OF the constitutional and legal instltu-
tions of the Union.
To us, of this generation, remains the not
| less noble task OF maintaining and extending
the power of the United States. We have, az
length, reached that stage of the national
reer, in which the dangers to be encountered,
and the exertions to be made, the Incl
dents, not OF weakness, but of strength. In
our foreign relations we have to attemper our
power to the less happy condition Of other re-
publics i11A6lertca- alEa "a Place ourselves, in
the calmsesS aud consciousf dignity of right,
by the side of the greatest and weathiest of
the empires Of Europe. In our domestic rcla-
tions, we have to guard against the shock of
the diScontents, the ambitions, the interests,
and the eNuberant, and, therefore, sometimes
irregular impulses of opinion, of action,
which are the natural product of the present
political elevation, the self-reliance, and the
restless spirit of enterprise of the people of
the United States.
/ shall prepare to surrender the Executive
trust to my successor, and retire to private
life with sentiments of profound gratitude to
the good providence which. during the period
of my administration, has vouchsafcd to carry
the country through many difficulties domestic
and foreign, and to enable me to contemplate
the spectacle of amicable and respectful rcla-
tions between ours and all other governments,
and the establishment of constitutional order
and tranquility throughout the Union.
FRANKLIN PIERCE.
WASHINGTON, Dec. >. 1856.