East Saginaw courier. (East Saginaw, Mich.) 1859-18??, 1860-12-13


rising prices OF articles IN foreign
countries. 1t would not be diiiicult lor
Congress To arrange a system Of specific
,;les which would afford additional sta.
hllity both 10 the revenue aud our manu-
features, and without injury OF injustice
20 any interests Of the country. This
might be accomplished by ascertaining
the average value of any given article,
Tor series of years at the price of eX.
panaton, and by simply converting the
rate Of al ralorem duty upon it which
might be deemed necessary for revenue
purposes into the form Of a specific duty.
such an arrangement could not injugc
thc consumer. If be should pay great
er amount OF duty one year, this would
he counterbalanccd by a lesser amount
The next and in the end the aggregate
wQud be tic same.
] desire % recall yolr immediate at
tention to The present condition Of the
treasury, 50 a6ly and clearly presented
hy the Secretary in'hs report to Con
sress, and to recommend that measures
De promptly adopted to enable it to pis-
charge It's pressing obligations. The
other recommendations of the report arc
we'll worthy Of your favorable consider
alton.
herewith transmit to Congress the
reports Of the Secretaries of War, of the
Navy, Of the Interior and of the Post
master General, The recommendations
and suggestions Which they contain arc
highly valuable and deserve your careful
attention.
The tcpart ofthe Postmaster General
details the circumstances under which
Cornelius Vanderbilt, on my request,
agreed, in the month Of July last, to
carry the ocean mails between our At
!aHtic and Pacific coasts. Had he not
thus acted, this important iutcrcommuni.
cation must have been suspended, at
least for season. The Postmaster Cen
2ral had no power to make him any other
compensation than the hostages on the
mail matter which he might carry. 1t
was known at the time that these post
ages would fall far short Of an adequate
compensation, as well as Of the sum which
the same service had previously cost the
government. Mr.. Vanderbilt, in COM
mendablc spirit, was willing to rely upon
the Justice of Congress 90 make up the
deficiency; and | therefore recommend that
an appropriation may be granted for this
purpose.
! should do great injustice to the At
torney General were to omit the men
ton of his distinguished services in the
measures adopted and prosecuted by him
tor the defence Of the government against
the numerous and unfounded claims to
land in California, purporting to have
been made by the Mexican government
previous to the treaty of cession. The
successful opposition to these claims have
saved TO TIE United States public prop.
erty worth many millions of dollars, and
10 individuals holding title under them
at least az equal amount.
1t has been represented to me, from,
sources which deem reliable, that the
inhabitants in several portions of Kansas
have been reduced nearly to state Of
starvation on account of tue almost tota
failure Of their crops, whilst the harvests
in every other portion Of the country
have been abundant. The prospect be-
fore them for the approaching winter il
well calculated to enlist the sympathie.
of every heart. The destitution appears
TO be 50 general that it cannot be relieved
by private contributions, and they are il
svch INDECENT circumstances as to be un
able to lrchase the necessares of lil,
for themselves. / refer the subject t.
congress, Ifany constitutions measure
for their relief can be devised i woull
recommend its adoption.
cordially recommend to your favor
able regard the interests of the people 0
this district. They are eminently en-
titled to your consideration, especiall
since, unlike the people of the States
they can appeal to no government ex
cept that Of the Union.
JAMES BUCHANAN.
i