Nashville daily patriot. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1855-1857, 1856-08-28
Presidcnf,s nTeaaare.
Presidents messaRe.
The following is the Presidents Message
to Congress at the opening of the called
session last Thursday:

to Congress at the opening of the called
session last Thursday:
FeIIOaC citizens Of the Senate and
House Of Representatives.
In consequence of the failure Of Congress, at its
recent session, to make provision for the support
of the army, it became imperatively incumbent on
me to exercise the power which the constitution
confers on the Executive for extraordinary occa.
sions, and promptly to convene the two houses in
order to afford them an opportunity of reconsider
ing subject Of such vital interest 10 the peace and
welfare OF the Union.
With exception of a partial authority vested by
law in the Secretary of War TO contract for supply
of clothing and subsistence, the army is wholly de
pendent on the appropriations annually made by
Congress. The omission of Congress to act in
this respect before the termination Of the fiscal
year had already caused embarrassments to the
| service, which we're overcome only in expectation
Of appropriations before the close Of the present
month. II the requisite funds be rot speedily pro
vided, the Executive will no longer be able to fur
nish the transportation, equipments and munitions
which essential the effectiveness OF a milita-
ry force in the 6eld With no provision for the
pay OF troops the contracts OF enlistment would be
broken, and the army must in effect be disbanded;
! the consequence Of which would be so disastrous
as to demand all possible efforts to avert the calam
ity.
1t is not merely that the officers and enlisted
men of the army are TO be thus deprived of the
| pay and emOluments to which they entitled by
standing laws that the construction of at the
public armores the repair and construction of ord
nance at the arsenals, and the manufacture OF mill
| tary clothing and camp cqnipage, must be discon~
tinued, and the persons connected with this branch
| of the public service thus be deprived suddenly Of
the emplo yment essential to their subsistence;
! is it merely the waste consequent on the forced
abandonment of the seaboard Notifications, aud of
the interior military posts and other establishments,
and the enormous expense Of recruiting and reor-
ganizing 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 expendi-
lures, however lavish, could remedy, in comparison
with which local and personal injuries or interests
sink into iDsignIfcance.
A great part of the army is situated on the re-
mote frontier, or in the deserts and mountains OF
the interior. To discharge large bodies of men in
such places without the means Of reganing their
homes, and where few, if any, could obtain subss-
tence by honest industry, would be to subject them
to suffering and temptation with disregard of JUS
tce 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 determination against the white
carrying GU the campaign, we have no intelligence
as yet OF a successful result. On the western
plains, notwithstanding the imposing display Of
military force recently made there, and the cbas-
tsement inflicted on the rebellious tribes others,
far from being dismayed, have manifested hostile
intentions, and been guilty Of outrages, which, if
not designed to provoke conflict, serve to show
that the apprehension of it is insufficient wholly to
restrain their vicious propensItes strong force
6 81,
suspension of hOstilities there; but in New Mexico
incessant activity the part of the troops is
quired to keep in check the maraudng tribes
which infest that Territory. The hostile Indians
have not been removed from the State OF Florida;
and the withdrawal Of the troops thcrefrom, leav-
ing that object unaccOmplshed, would be most in
furious to the inhabitants, and breach Of the pos
tive engagement OF the general government
To refuse supplies to the army, therefore, is to
compel the complete cessation of all its operations
aud its practical disbandment, and thus to invite
hOrdes ofpredatOry savages from the western plains
and the Rocky Mountains to spread devastation
along frontier Of more than four thousand miles
IN extent, and to deliver up the sparse population
OF a vast tract of country to rapine aud murder.
Such, in substance, would be the direct and inn
mediate effects of the refusal o! Congress- for the
first time in the history of the government to
grant supplies for the maintenance Of the army;
the inevitable waste of millions Of public treasure
the infection of extreme wrong upon all persons
connected with the military establishment by SER
vice. employment, or contracts; the recall of our
forces rem the field; the fearful sacrifice of life
aud incalcuable destruction of property on the re
mote frontiers; the striking Of our national flag on
the battements OF the fortresses which defend our
maritime cities against foreign INVASION; the viola
ton of public honor and good faith; and the dis
credit OF the United States in the eyes of the civil
ized world.
| 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, will, on reflection, be duly
appreciated by both houses of Congress- and induce
the enactment of the requisite provisions of law for
the support OF the army of the United States.
FRANKLIN PIERCE.
WASHINGTON. AUGUST 81 1856.