Des Arc citizen., 1859-12-21

rro,ecting the lives and property of Ameri' can citizens in the event that they may oe VI cIa.ti., o.a and nnlawiully att aeSed in passing o,eo. tho trausit routes to and from California, osoi an;Iod .,i hv the seizure of their vessels in
 oi es.o, nort2 To deny this power IS to 9a. i9,oi sto navy in a great degree useless TOT .,,a ,,rotaction of the lives and property o
 A,,,oricsn n citizens in countries where nel'ne' nrotection nor redress can oe otiio' "isS VI" tained.
 The Thirty-fifth Congress terminated on the 3d of March 1859, without having passed the "act making approprlatlons ior me serVOce of the Post-office Department during the ts- cal wear ending the 30th Sune. 1860" This | ,ct also contained an appropriation to sup ply defciences in the revenue ef the Postof- fee Department for the year ending the 30th | of June. 1S59." believe this is the first in stance since the origin of the Federal Gov ernment, now more than twenty wears ago, when any Congress went out Of existence without having passed all the general appro priation bills necessary 10 carry on the gov | ernment until the regular period for the meet l inp or A new Congress This event imposed 1 on the Executive a grave responsiDillt. II presented choice of evils.
 Had this omission of duty occurred at the first session of the last Congress the remedy would have been plain. l might then have instantly recalled them to complete their work and this without expense to the Govern ment But on the 4th of March last there were fifteen of the thirty three States which had not elected any representatives to the present Congress. Had Congress been called together immediately, these States would | have been virtually disfranchlsed. If an m termediate period had been selected, several 1 of the States would have been compelled to | of I,pU2laturnS rreat inconvenience and expense, to provide for elections nt an earlier day than that prev- ousv fixed by law. In the regular course, ten of these States would not elect until after the beginning of August, and five of these ten not until October and November.
 l On the other hand, when came to examine carefully the condition of the Postoffice De- partment, did not meet as many or as great l difficulties AS had apprehended. Had the bill which failed been confined to appropria l lions for the fiscal year ending on the 30th Of l June next, there would have been no reason of pressing importance for the call of an ex- 1 tra session, Nothing would become due on | contracts Chose with railroad companies on- | 1v excepted) for carrying the ma'i Tor the ilrst | quarter of the present fiscal year, commence | ing on the 1st of July, until the 1st of De- cember-ess than one week before the meet inp of present Congress- The reason is that the mail contractors for this the current year l did not complete their first quarters service until the Both September last; and by the terms of thier contracts sixty days more al- lowed for the settlement of the of thier ac- counts before the Department could pc caileu upon for payment.
 The great difficulty and the great hardship consisted in the failure to provide for the pay | ment of the deficiency in the fiscal year end ing the 3Oth June 1859. The Department had entered into contracts, in obedience to exist | ing laws, for the service of that fiscal year, and the contractors were fairly entitled to 1 their compensaton as it became due. The deficiencv as stated in the bill amounted to S3. .S3S .72S, but, after careful settlement of all these accounts it has been ascertalned that it amounts to $4,296,000. With the scantv means at his command the Post mas ter. General has managed to pay that portion of this deficiency which occurred in the first two quarters of the past fiscal year, ending on | the 31st December last. In the meantime the contractors themselves, under these trying circumstances, have behaved in a manner worthy of all commendation.
 They had one resource in the midst Of | their endorsements After the amonnt due to each of them had been ascertained
 and finally settled according to law, thls De- cnme A specific debt of record against the United States, which enabled them to borrow
 money on this unquestionable security. Still
 they were obliged to pay interest in consc- ouence of the default of Congress- and on
 every principle of justice ought to receive
 interest from the Government This interest should commence from the date when war
 rant would have been issued for the payment of the principal had an appropriation been | made for this purpose Calculated up to lSt December, it will not exceed S96, ,660-a sum not to be taken into account when contrasted | with the great difficulties and embarrasS- ments of public and private character, both
 to the people and the States, which would
 have resulted from converting and holding a
 special session of Congress.
 For these reasons recommend the passage of bill, at as early day as may be practic- able. to provide for the payment of the
 amount with interest, due to these last-men- toned contractors, as well as to make the ne-
 cessarv appropriations for the service of the
 Post Office Department of the current fiscal
 year.
 The failure to pass the Post Office bill ne-
 cessarly gives birth to serious reflections. Congress, by refusing to pass the general ap-
 propriation bills necessary to carry on the
 poyernment, may not only arrest it's action,
 but might even destroy it's existence. The
 army. the navy, the judiciary, in short every
 department of the Government, can no long,
 or perform their functions if Congress refuse
 the money necessary for their support.
 If this failure should teach the country the l necessity or el6ctlUU Itii CplSiSoo III ouih-
 cen time to enable the President to convene
 them in any emergency, even immediately
 after the old Congress has expired. 1t wsll
 have been productive of great good. In a
 time of sudden and alarming danger, foreign
 or domestic which all nations mnst expect
 to encounter in their progress the very sal
 vation of our institutions may he staked up-
 on the assembling of Congress without delay :, If under such circumstances, the President | 4 ind al condition
 he was placed at the close of the last Con-
 with nearly half the States of the Union des , titute of representatives, the consequences
 might be disastrous. I, therefore, recon
 mend to Congress to carry into effect the pro visions of the Constitution on thls sun1ect
 and to pass a law appointing some day pre-
 yious to the 4th March in each year Of odd number for toe election of representatives
 throuoheut all the States. They have already
 appointed day for the election of electofs | for President and Vice President and thi
 measure has been approved by the country |. Iwoud again express a most decided opn I ion in favor of the construction Of Pacih'
 railroad, for the reasons stated Tn my two its , onnual messages. When reflect upon wha , would be the defenseless condition Of ou z States and Territories west of the Rocky
 mountains in case of war with maya
 power sufficiently strong to interrupt all in
 tercourse with them by the routes across th
 Isthmus nm still more convinced than eve
 of the vast importance of this railroad. f have never doubted the constitutional compe a tency of Congress to provide for It's construc
 ton, but this exclusively under the war-mak l. ing power Besides, the Constitution e1 f pressly requires, as an imperative duty, tha V ''the United States shall protect each 0 r. them (the States) against invasion" am
 a loss to conceive how this protection can b , afforded to California and Oregon agains
 such naval power b. any other means 9 repeat the opinion contained in my las | annual message, that it would be inexpedien | for the Government to undertake this grea ii work by ageuts of it's own appointment an !. under it's direct and exclusive control. Thl
 would increase the patronage of the Exect f. tive to a dangerous extent, and would foste a system of iobbing and corruption which n f l vigilance on the part of Federal officials coul
 prevent. The construction of this road ough . therefore, to be intrusted to incorporate n | companies. or other agencies, who would e2 o ercise that active and vigilant supervislo ~ over which it can be inspired alone by sens :, of corporate and individual interest. vel ture to assert that the additional cost ot tran fl porting troops, munitions of war; and nece |. sary supplies for tho army across the vast ! l. tervenng plains to our possessions on the ;s ciic coast would be greater in such w. ,f than the whole amount required to constru' ct the road. AUu yet tlls icsolt No"'N' '''' q all, be inadequate for their defense ana pro "a | lection.
 d We have yet scarcely recovered from Il
 habits of eXtravagBnt expenditure, produce T. by our overhowing Treasury, during sever 1t year- prior to the commencement of my a le l mnistration. The financial reverses whiS d we have since experienced ought to teach I re all to scrutinize our expenditures with u d greatest vigilance, and to reduce them to Il ;e lowest possible point. The Executive D n- partments of the Government have devot -e themselves to the accomplishment Of this o I feet with considerable success, as will app9 from their different reports and estimate ar To these I invite the scrutiny of Congres a. for the purpose of reducing them still lowe N if this be practicable, consistent with Il of great public interests of the country. In a IT. of the policy of retrenchment I pledge m at self to examine closely the bills appropriatiT r land or money, so that if any of the a should inadvertently pass both Houses: it must sometimes be the case, may ahol " them an opportunity for reconsideration. is the same time we ought never to forget m
 true public economy consists, not m wit "a l holding the means necessary to aecomphs -e important national objects confided to ous D ri the Constitution but in taking care thal th a. l money appropriated for these purposes sha
 - - . ], |, tssl,l
 i,stfffstfati0ii. sfi5 sz we have since experienced ought to teach us all to scrutinze our expenditures with the | ,;rr;r, op1 tc