A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents
by
James D. Richardson
Part 3 out of 9
with plenty and rapidly rising to greatness under a National Government
which operates with complete effect in every part without being felt
in any except by the ample protection which it affords, and under
State governments which perform their equal share, according to
a wise distribution of power between them, in promoting the public
happiness--it is impossible to behold so gratifying, so glorious a
spectacle without being penetrated with the most profound and grateful
acknowledgments to the Supreme Author of All Good for such manifold and
inestimable blessings. Deeply impressed with these sentiments, I can not
regard the pressures to which I have adverted otherwise than in the
light of mild and instructive admonitions, warning us of dangers to
be shunned in future, teaching us lessons of economy corresponding
with the simplicity and purity of our institutions and best adapted
to their support, evincing the connection and dependence which the
various parts of our happy Union have on each other, thereby augmenting
daily our social incorporation and adding by its strong ties new strength
and vigor to the political; opening a wider range, and with new
encouragement, to the industry and enterprise of our fellow-citizens at
home and abroad, and more especially by the multiplied proofs which it
has accumulated of the great perfection of our most excellent system of
government, the powerful instrument in the hands of our All-merciful
Creator in securing to us these blessings.
Happy as our situation is, it does not exempt us from solicitude and
care for the future. On the contrary, as the blessings which we enjoy
are great, proportionably great should be our vigilance, zeal, and
activity to preserve them. Foreign wars may again expose us to new
wrongs, which would impose on us new duties for which we ought to be
prepared. The state of Europe is unsettled, and how long peace may
be preserved is altogether uncertain; in addition to which we have
interests of our own to adjust which will require particular attention.
A correct view of our relations with each power will enable you to form
a just idea of existing difficulties, and of the measures of precaution
best adapted to them.
Respecting our relations with Spain nothing explicit can now be
communicated. On the adjournment of Congress in May last the minister
plenipotentiary of the United States at Madrid was instructed to inform
the Government of Spain that if His Catholic Majesty should then ratify
the treaty this Government would accept the ratification so far as
to submit to the decision of the Senate the question whether such
ratification should be received in exchange for that of the United
States heretofore given. By letters from the minister of the United
States to the Secretary of State it appears that a communication in
conformity with his instructions had been made to the Government of
Spain, and that the Cortes had the subject under consideration. The
result of the deliberations of that body, which is daily expected,
will be made known to Congress as soon as it is received. The friendly
sentiment which was expressed on the part of the United States in the
message of the 9th of May last is still entertained for Spain. Among
the causes of regret, however, which are inseparable from the delay
attending this transaction it is proper to state that satisfactory
information has been received that measures have been recently adopted
by designing persons to convert certain parts of the Province of East
Florida into depots for the reception of foreign goods, from whence
to smuggle them into the United States. By opening a port within the
limits of Florida, immediately on our boundary where there was no
settlement, the object could not be misunderstood. An early accommodation
of differences will, it is hoped, prevent all such fraudulent and
pernicious practices, and place the relations of the two countries
on a very amicable and permanent basis.
The commercial relations between the United States and the British
colonies in the West Indies and on this continent have undergone no
change, the British Government still preferring to leave that commerce
under the restriction heretofore imposed on it on each side. It is
satisfactory to recollect that the restraints resorted to by the United
States were defensive only, intended to prevent a monopoly under British
regulations in favor of Great Britain, as it likewise is to know that
the experiment is advancing in a spirit of amity between the parties.
The question depending between the United States and Great Britain
respecting the construction of the first article of the treaty of Ghent
has been referred by both Governments to the decision of the Emperor of
Russia, who has accepted the umpirage.
An attempt has been made with the Government of France to regulate by
treaty the commerce between the two countries on the principle of
reciprocity and equality. By the last communication from the minister
plenipotentiary of the United States at Paris, to whom full power had
been given, we learn that the negotiation had been commenced there; but
serious difficulties having occurred, the French Government had resolved
to transfer it to the United States, for which purpose the minister
plenipotentiary of France had been ordered to repair to this city, and
whose arrival might soon be expected. It is hoped that this important
interest may be arranged on just conditions and in a manner equally
satisfactory to both parties. It is submitted to Congress to decide,
until such arrangement is made, how far it may be proper, on the
principle of the act of the last session which augmented the tonnage
duty on French vessels, to adopt other measures for carrying more
completely into effect the policy of that act.
The act referred to, which imposed new tonnage on French vessels, having
been in force from and after the 1st day of July, it has happened that
several vessels of that nation which had been dispatched from France
before its existence was known have entered the ports of the United
States, and been subject to its operation, without that previous notice
which the general spirit of our laws gives to individuals in similar
cases. The object of that law having been merely to countervail the
inequalities which existed to the disadvantage of the United States
in their commercial intercourse with France, it is submitted also to
the consideration of Congress whether, in the spirit of amity and
conciliation which it is no less the inclination than the policy of the
United States to preserve in their intercourse with other powers, it may
not be proper to extend relief to the individuals interested in those
cases by exempting from the operation of the law all those vessels which
have entered our ports without having had the means of previously
knowing the existence of the additional duty.
The contest between Spain and the colonies, according to the most
authentic information, is maintained by the latter with improved
success. The unfortunate divisions which were known to exist some time
since at Buenos Ayres it is understood still prevail. In no part of
South America has Spain made any impression on the colonies, while in
many parts, and particularly in Venezuela and New Grenada, the colonies
have gained strength and acquired reputation, both for the management
of the war in which they have been successful and for the order of the
internal administration. The late change in the Government of Spain,
by the reestablishment of the constitution of 1812, is an event which
promises to be favorable to the revolution. Under the authority of the
Cortes the Congress of Angostura was invited to open a negotiation
for the settlement of differences between the parties, to which it
was replied that they would willingly open the negotiation provided
the acknowledgment of their independence was made its basis, but not
otherwise. Of further proceedings between them we are uninformed. No
facts are known to this Government to warrant the belief that any of
the powers of Europe will take part in the contest, whence it may be
inferred, considering all circumstances which must have weight in
producing the result, that an adjustment will finally take place on
the basis proposed by the colonies. To promote that result by friendly
counsels with other powers, including Spain herself, has been the
uniform policy of this Government.
In looking to the internal concerns of our country you will, I am
persuaded, derive much satisfaction from a view of the several objects
to which, in the discharge of your official duties, your attention will
be drawn. Among these none holds a more important place than the public
revenue, from the direct operation of the power by which it is raised on
the people, and by its influence in giving effect to every other power
of the Government. The revenue depends on the resources of the country,
and the facility by which the amount required is raised is a strong
proof of the extent of the resources and of the efficiency of the
Government. A few prominent facts will place this great interest in a
just light before you. On the 30th of September, 1815, the funded and
floating debt of the United States was estimated at $119,635,558. If to
this sum be added the amount of 5 per cent stock subscribed to the Bank
of the United States, the amount of Mississippi stock and of the stock
which was issued subsequently to that date, the balances ascertained to
be due to certain States for military services and to individuals for
supplies furnished and services rendered during the late war, the public
debt may be estimated as amounting at that date, and as afterwards
liquidated, to $158,713,049. On the 30th of September, 1820, it amounted
to $91,993,883, having been reduced in that interval by payments
$66,879,165. During this term the expenses of the Government of the
United States were likewise defrayed in every branch of the civil,
military, and naval establishments; the public edifices in this city
have been rebuilt with considerable additions; extensive fortifications
have been commenced, and are in a train of execution; permanent arsenals
and magazines have been erected in various parts of the Union; our Navy
has been considerably augmented, and the ordnance, munitions of war, and
stores of the Army and Navy, which were much exhausted during the war,
have been replenished.
By the discharge of so large a proportion of the public debt and the
execution of such extensive and important operations in so short a
time a just estimate may be formed of the great extent of our national
resources. The demonstration is the more complete and gratifying when it
is recollected that the direct tax and excise were repealed soon after
the termination of the late war, and that the revenue applied to these
purposes has been derived almost wholly from other sources.
The receipts into the Treasury from every source to the 30th of
September last have amounted to $16,794,107.66, whilst the public
expenditures to the same period amounted to $16,871,534.72, leaving in
the Treasury on that day a sum estimated at $1,950,000. For the probable
receipts of the following year I refer you to the statement which will
be transmitted from the Treasury.
The sum of $3,000,000 authorized to be raised by loan by an act of the
last session of Congress has been obtained upon terms advantageous to
the Government, indicating not only an increased confidence in the faith
of the nation, but the existence of a large amount of capital seeking
that mode of investment at a rate of interest not exceeding 5 per cent
per annum.
It is proper to add that there is now due to the Treasury for the sale
of public lands $22,996,545. In bringing this subject to view I consider
it my duty to submit to Congress whether it may not be advisable to
extend to the purchasers of these lands, in consideration of the
unfavorable change which has occurred since the sales, a reasonable
indulgence. It is known that the purchases were made when the price
of every article had risen to its greatest height, and that the
installments are becoming due at a period of great depression. It
is presumed that some plan may be devised by the wisdom of Congress,
compatible with the public interest, which would afford great relief
to these purchasers.
Considerable progress has been made during the present season in
examining the coast and its various bays and other inlets, in the
collection of materials, and in the construction of fortifications for
the defense of the Union at several of the positions at which it has
been decided to erect such works. At Mobile Point and Dauphin Island,
and at the Rigolets, leading to Lake Pontchartrain, materials to
a considerable amount have been collected, and all the necessary
preparations made for the commencement of the works. At Old Point
Comfort, at the mouth of James River, and at the Rip-Rap, on the
opposite shore in the Chesapeake Bay, materials to a vast amount have
been collected; and at the Old Point some progress has been made in the
construction of the fortification, which is on a very extensive scale.
The work at Fort Washington, on this river, will be completed early in
the next spring, and that on the Pea Patch, in the Delaware, in the
course of the next season. Fort Diamond, at the Narrows, in the harbor
of New York, will be finished this year. The works at Boston, New York,
Baltimore, Norfolk, Charleston, and Niagara have been in part repaired,
and the coast of North Carolina, extending south to Cape Fear, has been
examined, as have likewise other parts of the coast eastward of Boston.
Great exertions have been made to push forward these works with the
utmost dispatch possible; but when their extent is considered, with the
important purposes for which they are intended--the defense of the whole
coast, and, in consequence, of the whole interior--and that they are to
last for ages, it will be manifest that a well-digested plan, founded on
military principles, connecting the whole together, combining security
with economy, could not be prepared without repeated examinations
of the most exposed and difficult parts, and that it would also take
considerable time to collect the materials at the several points where
they would be required. From all the light that has been shed on this
subject I am satisfied that every favorable anticipation which has
been formed of this great undertaking will be verified, and that when
completed it will afford very great if not complete protection to our
Atlantic frontier in the event of another war--a protection sufficient
to counterbalance in a single campaign with an enemy powerful at sea the
expense of all these works, without taking into the estimate the saving
of the lives of so many of our citizens, the protection of our towns
and other property, or the tendency of such works to prevent war.
Our military positions have been maintained at Belle Point, on the
Arkansas, at Council Bluffs, on the Missouri, at St. Peters, on the
Mississippi, and at Green Bay, on the upper Lakes. Commodious barracks
have already been erected at most of these posts, with such works as
were necessary for their defense. Progress has also been made in opening
communications between them and in raising supplies at each for the
support of the troops by their own labor, particularly those most
remote.
With the Indians peace has been preserved and a progress made in
carrying into effect the act of Congress making an appropriation for
their civilization, with the prospect of favorable results. As connected
equally with both these objects, our trade with those tribes is thought
to merit the attention of Congress. In their original state game
is their sustenance and war their occupation, and if they find no
employment from civilized powers they destroy each other. Left to
themselves their extirpation is inevitable. By a judicious regulation of
our trade with them we supply their wants, administer to their comforts,
and gradually, as the game retires, draw them to us. By maintaining
posts far in the interior we acquire a more thorough and direct control
over them, without which it is confidently believed that a complete
change in their manners can never be accomplished. By such posts, aided
by a proper regulation of our trade with them and a judicious civil
administration over them, to be provided for by law, we shall, it is
presumed, be enabled not only to protect our own settlements from their
savage incursions and preserve peace among the several tribes, but
accomplish also the great purpose of their civilization.
Considerable progress has also been made in the construction of ships of
war, some of which have been launched in the course of the present year.
Our peace with the powers on the coast of Barbary has been preserved,
but we owe it altogether to the presence of our squadron in the
Mediterranean. It has been found equally necessary to employ some of
our vessels for the protection of our commerce in the Indian Sea, the
Pacific, and along the Atlantic coast. The interests which we have
depending in those quarters, which have been much improved of late, are
of great extent and of high importance to the nation as well as to the
parties concerned, and would undoubtedly suffer if such protection was
not extended to them. In execution of the law of the last session for
the suppression of the slave trade some of our public ships have also
been employed on the coast of Africa, where several captures have
already been made of vessels engaged in that disgraceful traffic.
JAMES MONROE.
SPECIAL MESSAGES.
DECEMBER 12, 1820.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
In compliance with a resolution of the Senate of the 6th of December,
requesting that the agent employed under the act entitled "An act
authorizing the purchase of fire engines and building houses for the
safekeeping of the same" should report in the manner stated in the said
resolution his conduct in execution of the said act, I now transmit
to the Senate a report from the agent, which communicates all the
information which has been desired.
JAMES MONROE.
DECEMBER 14, 1820.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I submit to the consideration of the Senate, for their advice and
consent as to the ratification, the following treaties, concluded with
the several Indian tribes therein mentioned since the last session
of Congress, with their documents, viz: With the Weas, Kickapoos,
Chippeways, Ottawas, Choctaws, and Mahas; and also a treaty with the
Kickapoos amended as proposed by a resolution of the Senate at their
last session.
JAMES MONROE.
WASHINGTON, _December 14, 1820_.
_To the House of Representatives_:
In compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives of
the 21st November last, requesting the President to lay before the
House information relating to the progress and expenditures of the
commissioners under the fifth, sixth, and seventh articles of the treaty
of Ghent, I now transmit a report from the Secretary of State, with
documents containing all the information in the possession of that
Department requested by the resolution.
JAMES MONROE.
WASHINGTON, _January 1, 1821_.
_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:
In compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives of the
22d of November last, requesting the President to inform that House what
naval force has been stationed for the protection of the commerce of
our citizens in the West India Islands and parts adjacent during the
present year, and whether any depredations by pirates or others upon the
property of citizens of the United States engaged in such commerce have
been reported to our Government, I now submit for the information of
the House a report from the Secretary of the Navy, with accompanying
documents, which contains all the information in the possession of the
Government required by that resolution.
JAMES MONROE.
WASHINGTON, _January 4, 1821_.
_To the House of Representatives_:
I communicate to the House of Representatives a report from the
Secretary of State, which, with the papers accompanying it, contains
all the information in the possession of the Executive requested by a
resolution of the House of the 4th December last, on the subject of the
African slave trade.
JAMES MONROE.
WASHINGTON, _January 4, 1821_.
_To the House of Representatives_:
In compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives of the
15th of December last, requesting the President of the United States
to cause to be laid before that House a statement of expenditures and
receipts in the Indian Department; also the nature and extent of the
contracts entered into, and with whom, from the 2d of March, 1811, to
the present period, I now transmit a letter from the Secretary of War,
with a report of the superintendent of Indian trade, which contains the
information desired.
JAMES MONROE.
WASHINGTON, _January 12, 1821_.
_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:
I transmit to the House of Representatives a report from the Secretary
of State, with the inclosed documents, relating to the negotiation for
the suppression of the slave trade, which should have accompanied a
message on that subject communicated to the House some time since, but
which were accidentally omitted.
JAMES MONROE.
WASHINGTON, _January 18, 1821_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
In compliance with a resolution of the Senate of the 4th instant,
"requesting the President of the United States to communicate to the
Senate any information he may have as to the power or authority which
belonged to Don John Bonaventure Morales and to the Baron Carondelet
to grant and dispose of the lands of Spain in Louisiana previously to
the year 1803," I transmit a report from the Secretary of the Treasury,
submitting a letter of the Commissioner of the General Land Office, with
the document to which it refers.
JAMES MONROE.
WASHINGTON, _January 18, 1821_.
_To the House of Representatives_:
In compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives
requesting the President to inform the House, if in his opinion proper,
whether any, and, if any, what, negotiations since the 1st of January,
1816, have been had with the Six Nations of Indians, or any portion
of them, who the commissioners or agents were, the objects of the
negotiation, the expenses of the same, the compensation of each
commissioner, secretary, or agent, and to whom the moneys were paid,
I now transmit a report from the Secretary of War communicating the
information desired.
JAMES MONROE.
WASHINGTON, _January 31, 1821_.
_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:
I transmit to Congress a report from the Secretary of the Treasury
submitting copies of the instructions given to the commissioners
appointed under the act of the 15th of May, 1820, authorizing the
location of a road from Wheeling, in the State of Virginia, to a point
on the left bank of the Mississippi River between St. Louis and the
mouth of the Illinois River, and copies of the report made by the said
commissioners to the Treasury Department of the progress they have made
in the execution of the duties prescribed by the said act, together
with maps of the country through which the location is to be made.
JAMES MONROE.
FEBRUARY 5, 1821.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I herewith transmit, in confidence, to the Senate reports from the
Secretary of State and of the Treasury, with the papers containing the
correspondence and the information in possession of the Government the
communication of which was requested by the resolution of the Senate of
the 23d of last month. It is desired that the original letters may, when
the Senate shall have no further use for them, be returned.
JAMES MONROE.
FEBRUARY 8, 1821.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
In compliance with a resolution of the Senate of the 1st instant,
requesting the President of the United States "to cause to be laid
before the Senate any information he may have in relation to the claims
of citizens of Georgia against the Creek Nation of Indians, and why
these claims, if any exist, have not been heretofore adjusted and
settled under the provisions of the treaties of 1790 and 1796," I
now transmit a report from the Secretary of War, with accompanying
documents, which contains all the information on this subject in the
possession of the Executive.
JAMES MONROE.
FEBRUARY 13, 1821.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
The ratification by the Spanish Government of the treaty of amity,
settlement, and limits between the United States and Spain, signed on
the 22d of February, 1819, and on the 24th of that month ratified on the
part of the United States, has been received by the envoy extraordinary
and minister plenipotentiary of that power at this place, who has given
notice that he is ready to exchange the ratifications.
By the sixteenth article of that treaty it was stipulated that the
ratifications should be exchanged within six months from the day of its
signature, which time having elapsed before the ratification of Spain
was given, a copy and translation thereof are now transmitted to the
Senate for their advice and consent to receive it in exchange for the
ratification of the United. States heretofore executed.
The treaty was submitted to the consideration of the Cortes of that
Kingdom before its ratification, which was finally given with their
assent and sanction. The correspondence between the Spanish minister of
foreign affairs and the minister of the United States at Madrid on that
occasion is also herewith communicated to the Senate, together with a
memorandum by the Secretary of State of his conference with the Spanish
envoy here yesterday, when that minister gave notice of his readiness
to exchange the ratifications.
The return of the original papers now transmitted, to avoid the delay
necessary to the making of copies, is requested.
JAMES MONROE.
WASHINGTON, _February 22, 1821_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
In compliance with a resolution of the Senate of the 16th instant,
requesting "the President of the United States to cause to be laid
before the Senate the original order for building the barracks at
Sacketts Harbor, together with all communications between the War
Department and Major-General Brown relative thereto, and the amount
of public moneys expended thereon," I now transmit a report from
the Secretary of War, with the papers inclosed, which contains the
information desired.
JAMES MONROE.
WASHINGTON, _February 22, 1821_.
_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_:
The treaty of amity, settlement, and limits between the United States
and Spain, signed on the 22d of February, 1819, having been ratified by
the contracting parties, and the ratifications having been exchanged,
it is herewith communicated to Congress, that such legislative measures
may be taken as they shall judge proper for carrying the same into
execution.
JAMES MONROE.
WASHINGTON, _February 24, 1821_.
_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_:
I transmit to Congress a letter from the Secretary of War, inclosing
an annual return of the militia of the United States, prepared by the
Adjutant and Inspector General conformably to the militia laws on that
subject.
JAMES MONROE.
WASHINGTON, _February 28, 1821_.
_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_:
I herewith transmit to Congress certain extracts and a copy of letters
received by the Secretary of State from the marshal of the United States
for the eastern district of Virginia, in relation to the execution of
the act of the 14th of March, 1820, to provide for taking the Fourth
Census, together with the answers returned to that marshal by the
Secretary of State. As the time within which the assistants of the
marshals can legally make their returns expired on the first Monday of
the present month, it would appear by the information from the marshal
at Richmond that the completion of the Fourth Census as it respects the
eastern district of Virginia will have been defeated not only as it
regards the period contemplated by law, but during the whole of the
current year, unless Congress, to whom the case is submitted, should by
an act of the present session allow further time for making the returns
in question.
As connected with this subject, it is also submitted for the
consideration of Congress how far the marshals ought to be liable to
the payment of postage on the conveyance of the papers concerning the
census and manufactures by the mail. In one instance it has been already
ascertained that this item of contingent expense will amount to nearly a
moiety of the compensation of the marshal for the whole of his services.
If the marshals are to be relieved from this charge, provision will be
necessary by law either for the admission of it in their accounts or the
refunding of it by the respective postmasters.
JAMES MONROE.
WASHINGTON, _March 2, 1821_.
_To the Congress of the United States_:
I communicate to the two Houses of Congress copies of a treaty this
day ratified on the part of the United States, concluded and signed at
the Indian Springs on the 8th of January last, with the Creek Nation of
Indians, in order to such legislative measures as may be necessary for
giving effect to it.
JAMES MONROE.
WASHINGTON, _March 3, 1821_.
_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:
The treaty concluded between the United States and the Kickapoo tribe
of Indians on the 30th of July, 1820, having been ratified by and with
the advice and consent of the Senate, I now lay a copy of the said
treaty before the House of Representatives in order to such legislative
provisions being made as may be necessary to carry into effect the
stipulations therein contained on the part of the United States.
JAMES MONROE.
SECOND INAUGURAL ADDRESS.
Fellow-Citizens: I shall not attempt to describe the grateful emotions
which the new and very distinguished proof of the confidence of my
fellow-citizens, evinced by my reelection to this high trust, has
excited in my bosom. The approbation which it announces of my conduct
in the preceding term affords me a consolation which I shall profoundly
feel through life. The general accord with which it has been expressed
adds to the great and never-ceasing obligations which it imposes. To
merit the continuance of this good opinion, and to carry it with me into
my retirement as the solace of advancing years, will be the object of my
most zealous and unceasing efforts.
Having no pretensions to the high and commanding claims of my
predecessors, whose names are so much more conspicuously identified
with our Revolution, and who contributed so preeminently to promote its
success, I consider myself rather as the instrument than the cause of
the union which has prevailed in the late election. In surmounting,
in favor of my humble pretensions, the difficulties which so often
produce division in like occurrences, it is obvious that other powerful
causes, indicating the great strength and stability of our Union, have
essentially contributed to draw you together. That these powerful causes
exist, and that they are permanent, is my fixed opinion; that they may
produce a like accord in all questions touching, however remotely, the
liberty, prosperity, and happiness of our country will always be the
object of my most fervent prayers to the Supreme Author of All Good.
In a government which is founded by the people, who possess exclusively
the sovereignty, it seems proper that the person who may be placed by
their suffrages in this high trust should declare on commencing its
duties the principles on which he intends to conduct the Administration.
If the person thus elected has served the preceding term, an opportunity
is afforded him to review its principal occurrences and to give such
further explanation respecting them as in his judgment may be useful
to his constituents. The events of one year have influence on those
of another, and, in like manner, of a preceding on the succeeding
Administration. The movements of a great nation are connected in all
their parts. If errors have been committed they ought to be corrected;
if the policy is sound it ought to be supported. It is by a thorough
knowledge of the whole subject that our fellow-citizens are enabled
to judge correctly of the past and to give a proper direction to the
future.
Just before the commencement of the last term the United States had
concluded a war with a very powerful nation on conditions equal and
honorable to both parties. The events of that war are too recent and
too deeply impressed on the memory of all to require a development from
me. Our commerce had been in a great measure driven from the sea; our
Atlantic and inland frontiers were invaded in almost every part; the
waste of life along our coast and on some parts of our inland frontiers,
to the defense of which our gallant and patriotic citizens were called,
was immense, in addition to which not less than $120,000,000 were added
at its end to the public debt.
As soon as the war had terminated, the nation, admonished by its
events, resolved to place itself in a situation which should be better
calculated to prevent the recurrence of a like evil, and, in case it
should recur, to mitigate its calamities. With this view, after reducing
our land force to the basis of a peace establishment, which has been
further modified since, provision was made for the construction of
fortifications at proper points through the whole extent of our coast
and such an augmentation of our naval force as should be well adapted
to both purposes. The laws making this provision were passed in 1815
and 1816, and it has been since the constant effort of the Executive
to carry them into effect.
The advantage of these fortifications and of an augmented naval
force in the extent contemplated, in a point of economy, has been
fully illustrated by a report of the Board of Engineers and Naval
Commissioners lately communicated to Congress, by which it appears that
in an invasion by 20,000 men, with a correspondent naval force, in a
campaign of six months only, the whole expense of the construction of
the works would be defrayed by the difference in the sum necessary to
maintain the force which would be adequate to our defense with the aid
of those works and that which would be incurred without them. The reason
of this difference is obvious. If fortifications are judiciously placed
on our great inlets, as distant from our cities as circumstances will
permit, they will form the only points of attack, and the enemy will
be detained there by a small regular force a sufficient time to enable
our militia to collect and repair to that on which the attack is made.
A force adequate to the enemy, collected at that single point, with
suitable preparation for such others as might be menaced, is all that
would be requisite. But if there were no fortifications, then the enemy
might go where he pleased, and, changing his position and sailing from
place to place, our force must be called out and spread in vast numbers
along the whole coast and on both sides of every bay and river as
high up in each as it might be navigable for ships of war. By these
fortifications, supported by our Navy, to which they would afford like
support, we should present to other powers an armed front from St. Croix
to the Sabine, which would protect in the event of war our whole coast
and interior from invasion; and even in the wars of other powers, in
which we were neutral, they would be found eminently useful, as, by
keeping their public ships at a distance from our cities, peace and
order in them would be preserved and the Government be protected from
insult.
It need scarcely be remarked that these measures have not been resorted
to in a spirit of hostility to other powers. Such a disposition does
not exist toward any power. Peace and good will have been, and will
hereafter be, cultivated with all, and by the most faithful regard to
justice. They have been dictated by a love of peace, of economy, and
an earnest desire to save the lives of our fellow-citizens from that
destruction and our country from that devastation which are inseparable
from war when it finds us unprepared for it. It is believed, and
experience, has shown, that such a preparation is the best expedient
that can be resorted to to prevent war. I add with much pleasure that
considerable progress has already been made in these measures of
defense, and that they will be completed in a few years, considering the
great extent and importance of the object, if the plan be zealously and
steadily persevered in.
The conduct of the Government in what relates to foreign powers
is always an object of the highest importance to the nation. Its
agriculture, commerce, manufactures, fisheries, revenue, in short, its
peace, may all be affected by it. Attention is therefore due to this
subject.
At the period adverted to the powers of Europe, after having been
engaged in long and destructive wars with each other, had concluded a
peace, which happily still exists. Our peace with the power with whom we
had been engaged had also been concluded. The war between Spain and the
colonies in South America, which had commenced many years before, was
then the only conflict that remained unsettled. This being a contest
between different parts of the same community, in which other powers
had not interfered, was not affected by their accommodations.
This contest was considered at an early stage by my predecessor a civil
war in which the parties were entitled to equal rights in our ports.
This decision, the first made by any power, being formed on great
consideration of the comparative strength and resources of the parties,
the length of time, and successful opposition made by the colonies, and
of all other circumstances on which it ought to depend, was in strict
accord with the law of nations. Congress has invariably acted on this
principle, having made no change in our relations with either party. Our
attitude has therefore been that of neutrality between them, which has
been maintained by the Government with the strictest impartiality. No
aid has been afforded to either, nor has any privilege been enjoyed by
the one which has not been equally open to the other party, and every
exertion has been made in its power to enforce the execution of the
laws prohibiting illegal equipments with equal rigor against both.
By this equality between the parties their public vessels have been
received in our ports on the same footing; they have enjoyed an equal
right to purchase and export arms, munitions of war, and every other
supply, the exportation of all articles whatever being permitted under
laws which were passed long before the commencement of the contest; our
citizens have traded equally with both, and their commerce with each
has been alike protected by the Government.
Respecting the attitude which it may be proper for the United States to
maintain hereafter between the parties, I have no hesitation in stating
it as my opinion that the neutrality heretofore observed should still
be adhered to. From the change in the Government of Spain and the
negotiation now depending, invited by the Cortes and accepted by the
colonies, it may be presumed that their differences will be settled on
the terms proposed by the colonies. Should the war be continued, the
United States, regarding its occurrences, will always have it in their
power to adopt such measures respecting it as their honor and interest
may require.
Shortly after the general peace a band of adventurers took advantage
of this conflict and of the facility which it afforded to establish a
system of buccaneering in the neighboring seas, to the great annoyance
of the commerce of the United States, and, as was represented, of that
of other powers. Of this spirit and of its injurious bearing on the
United States strong proofs were afforded by the establishment at Amelia
Island, and the purposes to which it was made instrumental by this band
in 1817, and by the occurrences which took place in other parts of
Florida in 1818, the details of which in both instances are too well
known to require to be now recited. I am satisfied had a less decisive
course been adopted that the worst consequences would have resulted from
it. We have seen that these checks, decisive as they were, were not
sufficient to crush that piratical spirit. Many culprits brought within
our limits have been condemned to suffer death, the punishment due to
that atrocious crime. The decisions of upright and enlightened tribunals
fall equally on all whose crimes subject them, by a fair interpretation
of the law, to its censure. It belongs to the Executive not to suffer
the executions under these decisions to transcend the great purpose
for which punishment is necessary. The full benefit of example being
secured, policy as well as humanity equally forbids that they should be
carried further. I have acted on this principle, pardoning those who
appear to have been led astray by ignorance of the criminality of the
acts they had committed, and suffering the law to take effect on those
only in whose favor no extenuating circumstances could be urged.
Great confidence is entertained that the late treaty with Spain, which
has been ratified by both the parties, and the ratifications whereof
have been exchanged, has placed the relations of the two countries on a
basis of permanent friendship. The provision made by it for such of our
citizens as have claims on Spain of the character described will, it
is presumed, be very satisfactory to them, and the boundary which is
established between the territories of the parties westward of the
Mississippi, heretofore in dispute, has, it is thought, been settled
on conditions just and advantageous to both. But to the acquisition of
Florida too much importance can not be attached. It secures to the
United States a territory important in itself, and whose importance is
much increased by its bearing on many of the highest interests of the
Union. It opens to several of the neighboring States a free passage to
the ocean, through the Province ceded, by several rivers, having their
sources high up within their limits. It secures us against all future
annoyance from powerful Indian tribes. It gives us several excellent
harbors in the Gulf of Mexico for ships of war of the largest size.
It covers by its position in the Gulf the Mississippi and other great
waters within our extended limits, and thereby enables the United States
to afford complete protection to the vast and very valuable productions
of our whole Western country, which find a market through those streams.
By a treaty with the British Government, bearing date on the 20th of
October, 1818, the convention regulating the commerce between the United
States and Great Britain, concluded on the 3d of July, 1815, which was
about expiring, was revived and continued for the term of ten years from
the time of its expiration. By that treaty, also, the differences which
had arisen under the treaty of Ghent respecting the right claimed by the
United States for their citizens to take and cure fish on the coast of
His Britannic Majesty's dominions in America, with other differences on
important interests, were adjusted to the satisfaction of both parties.
No agreement has yet been entered into respecting the commerce between
the United States and the British dominions in the West Indies and
on this continent. The restraints imposed on that commerce by Great
Britain, and reciprocated by the United States on a principle of
defense, continue still in force.
The negotiation with France for the regulation of the commercial
relations between the two countries, which in the course of the last
summer had been commenced at Paris, has since been transferred to this
city, and will be pursued on the part of the United States in the spirit
of conciliation, and with an earnest desire that it may terminate in an
arrangement satisfactory to both parties.
Our relations with the Barbary Powers are preserved in the same state
and by the same means that were employed when I came into this office.
As early as 1801 it was found necessary to send a squadron into the
Mediterranean for the protection of our commerce, and no period has
intervened, a short term excepted, when it was thought advisable to
withdraw it. The great interests which the United States have in the
Pacific, in commerce and in the fisheries, have also made it necessary
to maintain a naval force there. In disposing of this force in both
instances the most effectual measures in our power have been taken,
without interfering with its other duties, for the suppression of the
slave trade and of piracy in the neighboring seas.
The situation of the United States in regard to their resources, the
extent of their revenue, and the facility with which it is raised
affords a most gratifying spectacle. The payment of nearly $67,000,000
of the public debt, with the great progress made in measures of defense
and in other improvements of various kinds since the late war, are
conclusive proofs of this extraordinary prosperity, especially when it
is recollected that these expenditures have been defrayed without a
burthen on the people, the direct tax and excise having been repealed
soon after the conclusion of the late war, and the revenue applied to
these great objects having been raised in a manner not to be felt. Our
great resources therefore remain untouched for any purpose which may
affect the vital interests of the nation. For all such purposes they
are inexhaustible. They are more especially to be found in the virtue,
patriotism, and intelligence of our fellow-citizens, and in the devotion
with which they would yield up by any just measure of taxation all their
property in support of the rights and honor of their country.
Under the present depression of prices, affecting all the productions
of the country and every branch of industry, proceeding from causes
explained on a former occasion, the revenue has considerably diminished,
the effect of which has been to compel Congress either to abandon these
great measures of defense or to resort to loans or internal taxes to
supply the deficiency. On the presumption that this depression and the
deficiency in the revenue arising from it would be temporary, loans
were authorized for the demands of the last and present year. Anxious
to relieve my fellow-citizens in 1817 from every burthen which could
be dispensed with, and the state of the Treasury permitting it, I
recommended the repeal of the internal taxes, knowing that such relief
was then peculiarly necessary in consequence of the great exertions made
in the late war. I made that recommendation under a pledge that should
the public exigencies require a recurrence to them at any time while I
remained in this trust, I would with equal promptitude perform the duty
which would then be alike incumbent on me. By the experiment now making
it will be seen by the next session of Congress whether the revenue
shall have been so augmented as to be adequate to all these necessary
purposes. Should the deficiency still continue, and especially should it
be probable that it would be permanent, the course to be pursued appears
to me to be obvious. I am satisfied that under certain circumstances
loans may be resorted to with great advantage. I am equally well
satisfied, as a general rule, that the demands of the current year,
especially in time of peace, should be provided for by the revenue
of that year.
I have never dreaded, nor have I ever shunned, in any situation in
which I have been placed making appeals to the virtue and patriotism
of my fellow-citizens, well knowing that they could never be made in
vain, especially in times of great emergency or for purposes of high
national importance. Independently of the exigency of the case, many
considerations of great weight urge a policy having in view a provision
of revenue to meet to a certain extent the demands of the nation,
without relying altogether on the precarious resource of foreign
commerce. I am satisfied that internal duties and excises, with
corresponding imposts on foreign articles of the same kind, would,
without imposing any serious burdens on the people, enhance the price
of produce, promote our manufactures, and augment the revenue, at the
same time that they made it more secure and permanent.
The care of the Indian tribes within our limits has long been an
essential part of our system, but, unfortunately, it has not been
executed in a manner to accomplish all the objects intended by it.
We have treated them as independent nations, without their having any
substantial pretensions to that rank. The distinction has flattered
their pride, retarded their improvement, and in many instances paved
the way to their destruction. The progress of our settlements westward,
supported as they are by a dense population, has constantly driven them
back, with almost the total sacrifice of the lands which they have been
compelled to abandon. They have claims on the magnanimity and, I may
add, on the justice of this nation which we must all feel. We should
become their real benefactors; we should perform the office of their
Great Father, the endearing title which they emphatically give to the
Chief Magistrate of our Union. Their sovereignty over vast territories
should cease, in lieu of which the right of soil should be secured to
each individual and his posterity in competent portions; and for the
territory thus ceded by each tribe some reasonable equivalent should
be granted, to be vested in permanent funds for the support of civil
government over them and for the education of their children, for their
instruction in the arts of husbandry, and to provide sustenance for
them until they could provide it for themselves. My earnest hope is that
Congress will digest some plan, founded on these principles, with such
improvements as their wisdom may suggest, and carry it into effect as
soon as it may be practicable.
Europe is again unsettled and the prospect of war increasing. Should the
flame light up in any quarter, how far it may extend it is impossible to
foresee. It is our peculiar felicity to be altogether unconnected with
the causes which produce this menacing aspect elsewhere. With every
power we are in perfect amity, and it is our interest to remain so
if it be practicable on just conditions. I see no reasonable cause to
apprehend variance with any power, unless it proceed from a violation
of our maritime rights. In these contests, should they occur, and to
whatever extent they may be carried, we shall be neutral; but as a
neutral power we have rights which it is our duty to maintain. For
like injuries it will be incumbent on us to seek redress in a spirit
of amity, in full confidence that, injuring none, none would knowingly
injure us. For more imminent dangers we should be prepared, and
it should always be recollected that such preparation adapted to
the circumstances and sanctioned by the judgment and wishes of our
constituents can not fail to have a good effect in averting dangers of
every kind. We should recollect also that the season of peace is best
adapted to these preparations.
If we turn our attention, fellow-citizens, more immediately to the
internal concerns of our country, and more especially to those on which
its future welfare depends, we have every reason to anticipate the
happiest results. It is now rather more than forty-four years since we
declared our independence, and thirty-seven since it was acknowledged.
The talents and virtues which were displayed in that great struggle were
a sure presage of all that has since followed. A people who were able to
surmount in their infant state such great perils would be more competent
as they rose into manhood to repel any which they might meet in their
progress. Their physical strength would be more adequate to foreign
danger, and the practice of self-government, aided by the light of
experience, could not fail to produce an effect equally salutary on
all those questions connected with the internal organization. These
favorable anticipations have been realized.
In our whole system, national and State, we have shunned all the defects
which unceasingly preyed on the vitals and destroyed the ancient
Republics. In them there were distinct orders, a nobility and a people,
or the people governed in one assembly. Thus, in the one instance
there was a perpetual conflict between the orders in society for the
ascendency, in which the victory of either terminated in the overthrow
of the government and the ruin of the state; in the other, in which
the people governed in a body, and whose dominions seldom exceeded the
dimensions of a county in one of our States, a tumultuous and disorderly
movement permitted only a transitory existence. In this great nation
there is but one order, that of the people, whose power, by a peculiarly
happy improvement of the representative principle, is transferred from
them, without impairing in the slightest degree their sovereignty, to
bodies of their own creation, and to persons elected by themselves, in
the full extent necessary for all the purposes of free, enlightened,
and efficient government. The whole system is elective, the complete
sovereignty being in the people, and every officer in every department
deriving his authority from and being responsible to them for his
conduct.
Our career has corresponded with this great outline. Perfection in our
organization could not have been expected in the outset either in the
National or State Governments or in tracing the line between their
respective powers. But no serious conflict has arisen, nor any contest
but such as are managed by argument and by a fair appeal to the good
sense of the people, and many of the defects which experience had
clearly demonstrated in both Governments have been remedied. By steadily
pursuing this course in this spirit there is every reason to believe
that our system will soon attain the highest degree of perfection of
which human institutions are capable, and that the movement in all its
branches will exhibit such a degree of order and harmony as to command
the admiration and respect of the civilized world.
Our physical attainments have not been less eminent. Twenty-five years
ago the river Mississippi was shut up and our Western brethren had no
outlet for their commerce. What has been the progress since that time?
The river has not only become the property of the United States from its
source to the ocean, with all its tributary streams (with the exception
of the upper part of the Red River only), but Louisiana, with a fair and
liberal boundary on the western side and the Floridas on the eastern,
have been ceded to us. The United States now enjoy the complete and
uninterrupted sovereignty over the whole territory from St. Croix to the
Sabine. New States, settled from among ourselves in this and in other
parts, have been admitted into our Union in equal participation in
the national sovereignty with the original States. Our population has
augmented in an astonishing degree and extended in every direction.
We now, fellow-citizens, comprise within our limits the dimensions
and faculties of a great power under a Government possessing all the
energies of any government ever known to the Old World, with an utter
incapacity to oppress the people.
Entering with these views the office which I have just solemnly sworn to
execute with fidelity and to the utmost of my ability, I derive great
satisfaction from a knowledge that I shall be assisted in the several
Departments by the very enlightened and upright citizens from whom I
have received so much aid in the preceding term. With full confidence
in the continuance of that candor and generous indulgence from my
fellow-citizens at large which I have heretofore experienced, and with
a firm reliance on the protection of Almighty God, I shall forthwith
commence the duties of the high trust to which you have called me.
MARCH 5, 1821.
PROCLAMATIONS.
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
A PROCLAMATION.
Whereas information has been received that an atrocious murder,
aggravated by the additional crime of robbery, was, on the 6th or 7th
day of this present month, committed in the county of Alexandria and
District of Columbia on William Seaver, late of this city; and
Whereas the apprehension and punishment of the murderer or murderers and
his or their accessary or accessaries will be an example due to justice
and humanity and every way salutary in its operation:
I have therefore thought fit to issue this my proclamation, hereby
exhorting the citizens of the United States, and particularly those of
this District, and requiring all officers, according to their respective
stations, to use their utmost endeavors to apprehend and bring the
principal or principals, accessary or accessaries, to the said murder
to justice.
And I do moreover offer a reward of $300 for each principal, if there be
more than one, and $150 for each accessary before the fact, if there be
more than one, who shall be apprehended after the day of the date hereof
and brought to justice, to be paid upon his conviction of the crime or
crimes aforesaid.
In testimony whereof I have caused the seal of the United States to be
affixed to these presents, and signed the same with my hand.
[SEAL.]
Done at the city of Washington, this 10th day of July, A.D. 1821, and of
the Independence of the United States the forty-sixth.
JAMES MONROE.
By the President:
JOHN QUINCY ADAMS,
_Secretary of State_.
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.
A PROCLAMATION.
Whereas the Congress of the United States, by a joint resolution of the
2d day of March last, entitled "Resolution providing for the admission
of the State of Missouri into the Union on a certain condition," did
determine and declare "that Missouri should be admitted into this
Union on an equal footing with the original States in all respects
whatever upon the fundamental condition that the fourth clause of the
twenty-sixth section of the third article of the constitution submitted
on the part of said State to Congress shall never be construed to
authorize the passage of any law, and that no law shall be passed in
conformity thereto, by which any citizen of either of the States of this
Union shall be excluded from the enjoyment of any of the privileges and
immunities to which such citizen is entitled under the Constitution of
the United States: _Provided_, That the legislature of said State, by
a solemn public act, shall declare the assent of the said State to the
said fundamental condition, and shall transmit to the President of
the United States on or before the first Monday in November next an
authentic copy of said act, upon the receipt whereof the President,
by proclamation, shall announce the fact, whereupon, and without any
further proceeding on the part of Congress, the admission of the said
State into this Union shall be considered as complete;" and
Whereas by a solemn public act of the assembly of said State of
Missouri, passed on the 26th of June, in the present year, entitled "A
solemn public act declaring the assent of this State to the fundamental
condition contained in a resolution passed by the Congress of the United
States providing for the admission of the State of Missouri into the
Union on a certain condition," an authentic copy whereof has been
communicated to me, it is solemnly and publicly enacted and declared
that that State has assented, and does assent, that the fourth clause
of the twenty-sixth section of the third article of the constitution of
said State "shall never be construed to authorize the passage of any
law, and that no law shall be passed in conformity thereto, by which
any citizen of either of the United States shall be excluded from the
enjoyment of any of the privileges and immunities to which such citizens
are entitled under the Constitution of the United States:"
Now, therefore, I, James Monroe, President of the United States, in
pursuance of the resolution of Congress aforesaid, have issued this my
proclamation, announcing the fact that the said State of Missouri has
assented to the fundamental condition required by the resolution of
Congress aforesaid, whereupon the admission of the said State of
Missouri into this Union is declared to be complete.
In testimony whereof I have caused the seal of the United States of
America to be affixed to these presents, and signed the same with my
hand.
[SEAL.]
Done at the city of Washington, the 10th day of August, A.D. 1821, and
of the Independence of the said United States of America the
forty-sixth.
JAMES MONROE.
By the President:
JOHN QUINCY ADAMS,
_Secretary of State_.
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
A PROCLAMATION.
Whereas by an act of the Congress of the United States of the 3d of
March, 1815, so much of the several acts imposing duties on the ships
and vessels and on goods, wares, and merchandise imported into the
United States as imposed a discriminating duty of tonnage between
foreign vessels and vessels of the United States and between goods
imported into the United States in foreign vessels and vessels of the
United States were repealed so far as the same respected the produce or
manufacture of the nation to which such foreign ship or vessel might
belong, such repeal to take effect in favor of any foreign nation
whenever the President of the United States should be satisfied that
the discriminating or countervailing duties of such foreign nation so
far as they operate to the disadvantage of the United States have been
abolished; and
Whereas satisfactory proof has been received by me, through the charge
d'affaires of the United States in Sweden, under date of the 30th day of
January, 1821, that thenceforward all discriminating or countervailing
duties in the Kingdom of Norway so far as they operated to the
disadvantage of the United States had been and were abolished:
Now, therefore, I, James Monroe, President of the United States of
America, do hereby declare and proclaim that so much of the several
acts imposing duties on the tonnage of ships and vessels and on goods,
wares, and merchandise imported into the United States as imposed a
discriminating duty of tonnage between vessels of the Kingdom of Norway
and vessels of the United States and between goods imported into the
United States in vessels of the said Kingdom of Norway and vessels of
the United States are repealed so far as the same respect the produce
or manufacture of the said Kingdom of Norway.
Given under my hand, at the city of Washington, this 20th day of August,
A.D. 1821, and the forty-sixth year of the Independence of the United
States.
JAMES MONROE.
By the President:
JOHN QUINCY ADAMS,
_Secretary of State_.
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
A PROCLAMATION.
Whereas by an act of the Congress of the United States of the 3d of
March, 1815, so much of the several acts imposing duties on the ships
and vessels and on goods, wares, and merchandise imported into the
United States as imposed a discriminating duty of tonnage between
foreign vessels and vessels of the United States and between goods
imported into the United States in foreign vessels and vessels of the
United States were repealed so far as the same respected the produce or
manufacture of the nation to which such foreign ship or vessel might
belong, such repeal to take effect in favor of any foreign nation
whenever the President of the United States should be satisfied that
the discriminating or countervailing duties of such foreign nation so
far as they operate to the disadvantage of the United States have been
abolished; and
Whereas satisfactory proof has been received by me, under date of
the 11th of May last, that thenceforward all discriminating or
countervailing duties of the Dukedom of Oldenburg so far as they might
operate to the disadvantage of the United States should be and were
abolished upon His Highness the Duke of Oldenburg's being duly certified
of a reciprocal act on the part of the United States:
Now, therefore, I, James Monroe, President of the United States of
America, do hereby declare and proclaim that so much of the several
acts imposing duties on the tonnage of ships and vessels and on goods,
wares, and merchandise imported into the United States as imposed
a discriminating duty of tonnage between vessels of the Dukedom of
Oldenburg and vessels of the United States and between goods imported
into the United States in vessels of the said Dukedom of Oldenburg and
vessels of the United States are repealed so far as the same respect
the produce or manufacture of the said Dukedom of Oldenburg.
Given under my hand, at the city of Washington, this 22d day of
November, A.D. 1821, and the forty-sixth year of the Independence
of the United States.
JAMES MONROE.
By the President:
JOHN QUINCY ADAMS,
_Secretary of State_.
FIFTH ANNUAL MESSAGE.
WASHINGTON, _December 3, 1821_.
_Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and of the House of Representatives_:
The progress of our affairs since the last session has been such as
may justly be claimed and expected under a Government deriving all
its powers from an enlightened people, and under laws formed by their
representatives, on great consideration, for the sole purpose of
promoting the welfare and happiness of their constituents. In the
execution of those laws and of the powers vested by the Constitution in
the Executive, unremitted attention has been paid to the great objects
to which they extend. In the concerns which are exclusively internal
there is good cause to be satisfied with the result. The laws have had
their due operation and effect. In those relating to foreign powers,
I am happy to state that peace and amity are preserved with all by
a strict observance on both sides of the rights of each. In matters
touching our commercial intercourse, where a difference of opinion has
existed as to the conditions on which it should be placed, each party
has pursued its own policy without giving just cause of offense to the
other. In this annual communication, especially when it is addressed
to a new Congress, the whole scope of our political concerns naturally
comes into view, that errors, if such have been committed, may be
corrected; that defects which have become manifest may be remedied; and,
on the other hand, that measures which were adopted on due deliberation,
and which experience has shewn are just in themselves and essential to
the public welfare, should be persevered in and supported. In performing
this necessary and very important duty I shall endeavor to place before
you on its merits every subject that is thought to be entitled to your
particular attention in as distinct and clear a light as I may be able.
By an act of the 3d of March, 1815, so much of the several acts as
imposed higher duties on the tonnage of foreign vessels and on the
manufactures and productions of foreign nations when imported into the
United States in foreign vessels than when imported in vessels of the
United States were repealed so far as respected the manufactures and
productions of the nation to which such vessels belonged, on the
condition that the repeal should take effect only in favor of any
foreign nation when the Executive should be satisfied that such
discriminating duties to the disadvantage of the United States had
likewise been repealed by such nation. By this act a proposition was
made to all nations to place our commerce with each on a basis which it
was presumed would be acceptable to all. Every nation was allowed to
bring its manufactures and productions into our ports and to take the
manufactures and productions of the United States back to their ports in
their own vessels on the same conditions that they might be transported
in vessels of the United States, and in return it was required that a
like accommodation should be granted to the vessels of the United States
in the ports of other powers. The articles to be admitted or prohibited
on either side formed no part of the proposed arrangement. Each party
would retain the right to admit or prohibit such articles from the other
as it thought proper, and on its own conditions.
When the nature of the commerce between the United States and every
other country was taken into view, it was thought that this proposition
would be considered fair, and even liberal, by every power. The exports
of the United States consist generally of articles of the first
necessity and of rude materials in demand for foreign manufactories, of
great bulk, requiring for their transportation many vessels, the return
for which in the manufactures and productions of any foreign country,
even when disposed of there to advantage, may be brought in a single
vessel. This observation is the more especially applicable to those
countries from which manufactures alone are imported, but it applies in
a great extent to the European dominions of every European power and in
a certain extent to all the colonies of those powers. By placing, then,
the navigation precisely on the same ground in the transportation of
exports and imports between the United States and other countries it was
presumed that all was offered which could be desired. It seemed to be
the only proposition which could be devised which would retain even the
semblance of equality in our favor.
Many considerations of great weight gave us a right to expect that this
commerce should be extended to the colonies as well as to the European
dominions of other powers. With the latter, especially with countries
exclusively manufacturing, the advantage was manifestly on their side.
An indemnity for that loss was expected from a trade with the colonies,
and with the greater reason as it was known that the supplies which the
colonies derived from us were of the highest importance to them, their
labor being bestowed with so much greater profit in the culture of other
articles; and because, likewise, the articles of which those supplies
consisted, forming so large a proportion of the exports of the United
States, were never admitted into any of the ports of Europe except in
cases of great emergency to avert a serious calamity. When no article
is admitted which is not required to supply the wants of the party
admitting it, and admitted then not in favor of any particular country
to the disadvantage of others, but on conditions equally applicable to
all, it seems just that the articles thus admitted and invited should be
carried thither in the vessels of the country affording such supply and
that the reciprocity should be found in a corresponding accommodation
on the other side. By allowing each party to participate in the
transportation of such supplies on the payment of equal tonnage a strong
proof was afforded of an accommodating spirit. To abandon to it the
transportation of the whole would be a sacrifice which ought not to
be expected. The demand in the present instance would be the more
unreasonable in consideration of the great inequality existing in
the trade with the parent country.
Such was the basis of our system as established by the act of 1815 and
such its true character. In the year in which this act was passed a
treaty was concluded with Great Britain, in strict conformity with
its principles, in regard to her European dominions. To her colonies,
however, in the West Indies and on this continent it was not extended,
the British Government claiming the exclusive supply of those colonies,
and from our own ports, and of the productions of the colonies in return
in her own vessels. To this claim the United States could not assent,
and in consequence each party suspended the intercourse in the vessels
of the other by a prohibition which still exists.
The same conditions were offered to France, but not accepted. Her
Government has demanded other conditions more favorable to her
navigation, and which should also give extraordinary encouragement to
her manufactures and productions in ports of the United States. To these
it was thought improper to accede, and in consequence the restrictive
regulations which had been adopted on her part, being countervailed
on the part of the United States, the direct commerce between the two
countries in the vessels of each party has been in a great measure
suspended. It is much to be regretted that, although a negotiation has
been long pending, such is the diversity of views entertained on the
various points which have been brought into discussion that there does
not appear to be any reasonable prospect of its early conclusion.
It is my duty to state, as a cause of very great regret, that very
serious differences have occurred in this negotiation respecting the
construction of the eighth article of the treaty of 1803, by which
Louisiana was ceded to the United States, and likewise respecting the
seizure of the _Apollo_, in 1820, for a violation of our revenue laws.
The claim of the Government of France has excited not less surprise than
concern, because there does not appear to be a just foundation for it in
either instance. By the eighth article of the treaty referred to it is
stipulated that after the expiration of twelve years, during which time
it was provided by the seventh or preceding article that the vessels
of France and Spain should be admitted into the ports of the ceded
territory without paying higher duties on merchandise or tonnage on the
vessels than such as were paid by citizens of the United States, the
ships of France should forever afterwards be placed on the footing of
the most favored nation. By the obvious construction of this article it
is presumed that it was intended that no favor should be granted to any
power in those ports to which France should not be forthwith entitled,
nor should any accommodation be allowed to another power on conditions
to which she would not also be entitled on the same conditions. Under
this construction no favor or accommodation could be granted to any
power to the prejudice of France. By allowing the equivalent allowed by
those powers she would always stand in those ports on the footing of the
most favored nation. But if this article should be so construed as that
France should enjoy, of right, and without paying the equivalent, all
the advantages of such conditions as might be allowed to other powers in
return for important concessions made by them, then the whole character
of the stipulation would be changed. She would not be placed on the
footing of the most favored nation, but on a footing held by no other
nation. She would enjoy all advantages allowed to them in consideration
of like advantages allowed to us, free from every and any condition
whatever.
As little cause has the Government of France to complain of the seizure
of the _Apollo_ and the removal of other vessels from the waters of
the St. Marys. It will not be denied that every nation has a right to
regulate its commercial system as it thinks fit and to enforce the
collection of its revenue, provided it be done without an invasion of
the rights of other powers. The violation of its revenue laws is an
offense which all nations punish, the punishment of which gives no just
cause of complaint to the power to which the offenders belong, provided
it be extended to all equally. In this case every circumstance which
occurred indicated a fixed purpose to violate our revenue laws. Had the
party intended to have pursued a fair trade he would have entered our
ports and paid the duties; or had he intended to carry on a legitimate
circuitous commerce with the United States he would have entered the
port of some other power, landed his goods at the custom-house according
to law, and re-shipped and sent them in the vessel of such power, or
of some other power which might lawfully bring them, free from such
duties, to a port of the United States. But the conduct of the party
in this case was altogether different. He entered the river St. Marys,
the boundary line between the United States and Florida, and took his
position on the Spanish side, on which in the whole extent of the river
there was no town, no port or custom-house, and scarcely any settlement.
His purpose, therefore, was not to sell his goods to the inhabitants of
Florida, but to citizens of the United States, in exchange for their
productions, which could not be done without a direct and palpable
breach of our laws. It is known that a regular systematic plan had been
formed by certain persons for the violation of our revenue system, which
made it the more necessary to check the proceeding in its commencement.
That the unsettled bank of a river so remote from the Spanish garrisons
and population could give no protection to any party in such a practice
is believed to be in strict accord with the law of nations. It would
not have comported with a friendly policy in Spain herself to have
established a custom-house there, since it could have subserved no other
purpose than to elude our revenue law. But the Government of Spain did
not adopt that measure. On the contrary, it is understood that the
Captain-General of Cuba, to whom an application to that effect was made
by these adventurers, had not acceded to it. The condition of those
Provinces for many years before they were ceded to the United States
need not now be dwelt on. Inhabited by different tribes of Indians and
an inroad for every kind of adventurer, the jurisdiction of Spain may
be said to have been almost exclusively confined to her garrisons. It
certainly could not extend to places where she had no authority. The
rules, therefore, applicable to settled countries governed by laws could
not be deemed so to the deserts of Florida and to the occurrences there.
It merits attention also that the territory had then been ceded to
the United States by a treaty the ratification of which had not been
refused, and which has since been performed. Under any circumstances,
therefore, Spain became less responsible for such acts committed there,
and the United States more at liberty to exercise authority to prevent
so great a mischief. The conduct of this Government has in every
instance been conciliatory and friendly to France. The construction of
our revenue law in its application to the cases which have formed the
ground of such serious complaint on her part and the order to the
collector of St. Marys, in accord with it, were given two years before
these cases occurred, and in reference to a breach which was attempted
by the subjects of another power. The application, therefore, to the
cases in question was inevitable. As soon as the treaty by which these
Provinces were ceded to the United States was ratified, and all danger
of further breach of our revenue laws ceased, an order was given for the
release of the vessel which had been seized and for the dismission of
the libel which had been instituted against her.
The principles of this system of reciprocity, founded on the law of the
3d of March, 1815, have been since carried into effect with the Kingdoms
of the Netherlands, Sweden, Prussia, and with Hamburg, Bremen, Lubeck,
and Oldenburg, with a provision made by subsequent laws in regard to
the Netherlands, Prussia, Hamburg, and Bremen that such produce and
manufactures as could only be, or most usually were, first shipped from
the ports of those countries, the same being imported in vessels wholly
belonging to their subjects, should be considered and admitted as their
own manufactures and productions.
The Government of Norway has by an ordinance opened the ports of that
part of the dominions of the King of Sweden to the vessels of the United
States upon the payment of no other or higher duties than are paid by
Norwegian vessels, from whatever place arriving and with whatever
articles laden. They have requested the reciprocal allowance for the
vessels of Norway in the ports of the United States. As this privilege
is not within the scope of the act of the 3d of March, 1815, and can
only be granted by Congress, and as it may involve the commercial
relations of the United States with other nations, the subject is
submitted to the wisdom of Congress.
I have presented thus fully to your view our commercial relations with
other powers, that, seeing them in detail with each power, and knowing
the basis on which they rest, Congress may in its wisdom decide whether
any change ought to be made, and, if any, in what respect. If this basis
is unjust or unreasonable, surely it ought to be abandoned; but if it
be just and reasonable, and any change in it will make concessions
subversive of equality and tending in its consequences to sap the
foundations of our prosperity, then the reasons are equally strong for
adhering to the ground already taken, and supporting it by such further
regulations as may appear to be proper, should any additional support
be found necessary.
The question concerning the construction of the first article of the
treaty of Ghent has been, by a joint act of the representatives of
the United States and of Great Britain at the Court of St. Petersburg,
submitted to the decision of His Imperial Majesty the Emperor of
Russia. The result of that submission has not yet been received. The
commissioners under the fifth article of that treaty not having been
able to agree upon their decision, their reports to the two Governments,
according to the provisions of the treaty, may be expected at an early
day.
With Spain the treaty of February 22, 1819, has been partly carried into
execution. Possession of East and West Florida has been given to the
United States, but the officers charged with that service by an order
from His Catholic Majesty, delivered by his minister to the Secretary
of State, and transmitted by a special agent to the Captain-General
of Cuba, to whom it was directed and in whom the government of those
Provinces was vested, have not only omitted, in contravention of the
order of their Sovereign, the performance of the express stipulation
to deliver over the archives and documents relating to the property
and sovereignty of those Provinces, all of which it was expected would
have been delivered either before or when the troops were withdrawn,
but defeated since every effort of the United States to obtain them,
especially those of the greatest importance. This omission has given
rise to several incidents of a painful nature, the character of which
will be fully disclosed by the documents which will be hereafter
communicated.
In every other circumstance the law of the 3d of March last, for
carrying into effect that treaty, has been duly attended to. For the
execution of that part which preserved in force, for the government of
the inhabitants for the term specified, all the civil, military, and
judicial powers exercised by the existing government of those Provinces
an adequate number of officers, as was presumed, were appointed, and
ordered to their respective stations. Both Provinces were formed into
one Territory, and a governor appointed for it; but in consideration
of the pre-existing division and of the distance and difficulty of
communication between Pensacola, the residence of the governor of West
Florida, and St. Augustine, that of the governor of East Florida,
at which places the inconsiderable population of each Province was
principally collected, two secretaries were appointed, the one to reside
at Pensacola and the other at St. Augustine. Due attention was likewise
paid to the execution of the laws of the United States relating to the
revenue and the slave trade, which were extended to these Provinces.
The whole Territory was divided into three collection districts, that
part lying between the river St. Marys and Cape Florida forming one,
that from the Cape to the Apalachicola another, and that from the
Apalachicola to the Perdido the third. To these districts the usual
number of revenue officers were appointed; and to secure the due
operation of these laws one judge and a district attorney were appointed
to reside at Pensacola, and likewise one judge and a district attorney
to reside at St. Augustine, with a specified boundary between them;
and one marshal for the whole, with authority to appoint a deputy. In
carrying this law into effect, and especially that part relating to the
powers of the existing government of those Provinces, it was thought
important, in consideration of the short term for which it was to
operate and the radical change which would be made at the approaching
session of Congress, to avoid expense, to make no appointment which
should not be absolutely necessary to give effect to those powers, to
withdraw none of our citizens from their pursuits, whereby to subject
the Government to claims which could not be gratified and the parties
to losses which it would be painful to witness.
It has been seen with much concern that in the performance of these
duties a collision arose between the governor of the Territory and the
judge appointed for the western district. It was presumed that the
law under which this transitory government was organized, and the
commissions which were granted to the officers who were appointed to
execute each branch of the system, and to which the commissions were
adapted, would have been understood in the same sense by them in which
they were understood by the Executive. Much allowance is due to officers
employed in each branch of this system, and the more so as there is good
cause to believe that each acted under the conviction that he possessed
the power which he undertook to exercise. Of the officer holding the
principal station, I think it proper to observe that he accepted it
with reluctance, in compliance with the invitation given him, and from
a high sense of duty to his country, being willing to contribute to the
consummation of an event which would insure complete protection to an
important part of our Union, which had suffered much from incursion and
invasion, and to the defense of which his very gallant and patriotic
services had been so signally and usefully devoted.
From the intrinsic difficulty of executing laws deriving their origin
from different sources, and so essentially different in many important
circumstances, the advantage, and indeed the necessity, of establishing
as soon as may be practicable a well-organized government over that
Territory on the principles of our system is apparent. This subject is
therefore recommended to the early consideration of Congress.
In compliance with an injunction of the law of the 3d of March last,
three commissioners have also been appointed and a board organized for
carrying into effect the eleventh article of the treaty above recited,
making provision for the payment of such of our citizens as have
well-founded claims on Spain of the character specified by that treaty.
This board has entered on its duties and made some progress therein.
The commissioner and surveyor of His Catholic Majesty, provided for by
the fourth article of the treaty, have not yet arrived in the United
States, but are soon expected. As soon as they do arrive corresponding
appointments will be made and every facility be afforded for the due
execution of this service.
The Government of His Most Faithful Majesty since the termination of the
last session of Congress has been removed from Rio de Janeiro to Lisbon,
where a revolution similar to that which had occurred in the neighboring
Kingdom of Spain had in like manner been sanctioned by the accepted
and pledged faith of the reigning monarch. The diplomatic intercourse
between the United States and the Portuguese dominions, interrupted
by this important event, has not yet been resumed, but the change
of internal administration having already materially affected the
commercial intercourse of the United States with the Portuguese
dominions, the renewal of the public missions between the two countries
appears to be desirable at an early day.
It is understood that the colonies in South America have had great
success during the present year in the struggle for' their independence.
The new Government of Colombia has extended its territories and
considerably augmented its strength, and at Buenos Ayres, where civil
dissensions had for some time before prevailed, greater harmony and
better order appear to have been established. Equal success has attended
their efforts in the Provinces on the Pacific. It has long been manifest
that it would be impossible for Spain to reduce these colonies by force,
and equally so that no conditions short of their independence would be
satisfactory to them. It may therefore be presumed, and it is earnestly
hoped, that the Government of Spain, guided by enlightened and liberal
councils, will find it to comport with its interests and due to its
magnanimity to terminate this exhausting controversy on that basis. To
promote this result by friendly counsel with the Government of Spain
will be the object of the Government of the United States.
In conducting the fiscal operations of the year it has been found
necessary to carry into full effect the act of the last session of
Congress authorizing a loan of $5,000,000. This sum has been raised at
an average premium of $5.59 per centum upon stock bearing an interest
at the rate of 5 per cent per annum, redeemable at the option of the
Government after the 1st day of January, 1835.
There has been issued under the provisions of this act $4,735,296.30 of
5 per cent stock, and there has been or will be redeemed during the year
$3,197,030.71 of Louisiana 6 per cent deferred stock and Mississippi
stock. There has therefore been an actual increase of the public debt
contracted during the year of $1,538,266.69.
The receipts into the Treasury from the 1st of January to the 30th of
September last have amounted to $16,219,197.70, which, with the balance
of $1,198,461.21 in the Treasury on the former day, make the aggregate
sum of $17,417,658.91. The payments from the Treasury during the same
period have amounted to $15,655,288.47, leaving in the Treasury on the
last-mentioned day the sum of $1,762,370.44. It is estimated that the
receipts of the fourth quarter of the year will exceed the demands which
will be made on the Treasury during the same period, and that the amount
in the Treasury on the 30th of September last will be increased on the
1st day of January next.
At the close of the last session it was anticipated that the progressive
diminution of the public revenue in 1819 and 1820, which had been the
result of the languid state of our foreign commerce in those years,
had in the latter year reached its extreme point of depression. It
has, however, been ascertained that that point was reached only at the
termination of the first quarter of the present year. From that time
until the 30th of September last the duties secured have exceeded those
of the corresponding quarters of the last year $1,172,000, whilst the
amount of debentures issued during the three first quarters of this year
is $952,000 less than that of the same quarters of the last year.
There are just grounds to believe that the improvement which has
occurred in the revenue during the last-mentioned period will not only
be maintained, but that it will progressively increase through the next
and several succeeding years, so as to realize the results which were
presented upon that subject by the official reports of the Treasury at
the commencement of the last session of Congress.
Under the influence of the most unfavorable circumstances the revenue
for the next and subsequent years to the year 1825 will exceed the
demands at present authorized by law.
It may fairly be presumed that under the protection given to domestic
manufactures by the existing laws we shall become at no distant period a
manufacturing country on an extensive scale. Possessing as we do the raw
materials in such vast amount, with a capacity to augment them to an
indefinite extent; raising within the country aliment of every kind to
an amount far exceeding the demand for home consumption, even in the
most unfavorable years, and to be obtained always at a very moderate
price; skilled also, as our people are, in the mechanic arts and in
every improvement calculated to lessen the demand for and the price of
labor, it is manifest that their success in every branch of domestic
industry may and will be carried, under the encouragement given by the
present duties, to an extent to meet any demand which under a fair
competition may be made upon it.
A considerable increase of domestic manufactures, by diminishing the
importation of foreign, will probably tend to lessen the amount of the
public revenue. As, however, a large proportion of the revenue which is
derived from duties is raised from other articles than manufactures, the
demand for which will increase with our population, it is believed that
a fund will still be raised from that source adequate to the greater
part of the public expenditures, especially as those expenditures,
should we continue to be blessed with peace, will be diminished by the
completion of the fortifications, dockyards, and other public works, by
the augmentation of the Navy to the point to which it is proposed to
carry it, and by the payment of the public debt, including pensions for
military services.
It can not be doubted that the more complete our internal resources and
the less dependent we are on foreign powers for every national as well
as domestic purpose the greater and more stable will be the public
felicity. By the increase of domestic manufactures will the demand for
the rude materials at home be increased, and thus will the dependence of
the several parts of our Union on each other and the strength of the
Union itself be proportionably augmented. In this process, which is very
desirable, and inevitable under the existing duties, the resources which
obviously present themselves to supply a deficiency in the revenue,
should it occur, are the interests which may derive the principal
benefit from the change. If domestic manufactures are raised by duties
on foreign, the deficiency in the fund necessary for public purposes
should be supplied by duties on the former. At the last session it
seemed doubtful whether the revenue derived from the present sources
would be adequate to all the great purposes of our Union, including
the construction of our fortifications, the augmentation of the Navy,
and the protection of our commerce against the dangers to which it is
exposed. Had the deficiency been such as to subject us to the necessity
either to abandon those measures of defense or to resort to other means
for adequate funds, the course presented to the adoption of a virtuous
and enlightened people appeared to be a plain one. It must be gratifying
to all to know that this necessity does not exist. Nothing, however, in
contemplation of such important objects, which can be easily provided
for, should be left to hazard. It is thought that the revenue may
receive an augmentation from the existing sources, and in a manner to
aid our manufactures, without hastening prematurely the result which
has been suggested. It is believed that a moderate additional duty on
certain articles would have that effect, without being liable to any
serious objection.
The examination of the whole coast, for the construction of permanent
fortifications, from St. Croix to the Sabine, with the exception of part
of the territory lately acquired, will be completed in the present year,
as will be the survey of the Mississippi, under the resolution of the
House of Representatives, from the mouth of the Ohio to the ocean, and
likewise of the Ohio from Louisville to the Mississippi. A progress
corresponding with the sums appropriated has also been made in the
construction of these fortifications at the points designated. As they
will form a system of defense for the whole maritime frontier, and in
consequence for the interior, and are to last for ages, the greatest
care has been taken to fix the position of each work and to form it on
such a scale as will be adequate to the purpose intended by it. All the
inlets and assailable parts of our Union have been minutely examined,
and positions taken with a view to the best effect, observing in every
instance a just regard for economy. Doubts, however, being entertained
as to the propriety of the position and extent of the work at Dauphine
Island, further progress in it was suspended soon after the last session
of Congress, and an order given to the Board of Engineers and Naval
Commissioners to make a further and more minute examination of it in
both respects, and to report the result without delay.
Due progress has been made in the construction of vessels of war
according to the law providing for the gradual augmentation of the Navy,
and to the extent of existing appropriations. The vessels authorized by
the act of 1820 have all been completed and are now in actual service.
None of the larger ships have been or will be launched for the present,
the object being to protect all which may not be required for immediate
service from decay by suitable buildings erected over them. A squadron
has been maintained, as heretofore, in the Mediterranean, by means
whereof peace has been preserved with the Barbary Powers. This squadron
has been reduced the present year to as small a force as is compatible
with the fulfillment of the object intended by it. From past experience
and the best information respecting the views of those powers it is
distinctly understood that should our squadron be withdrawn they would
soon recommence their hostilities and depredations upon our commerce.
Their fortifications have lately been rebuilt and their maritime force
increased. It has also been found necessary to maintain a naval force on
the Pacific for the protection of the very important interests of our
citizens engaged in commerce and the fisheries in that sea. Vessels have
likewise been employed in cruising along the Atlantic coast, in the Gulf
of Mexico, on the coast of Africa, and in the neighboring seas. In
the latter many piracies have been committed on our commerce, and so
extensive was becoming the range of those unprincipled adventurers that
there was cause to apprehend, without a timely and decisive effort
to suppress them, the worst consequences would ensue. Fortunately, a
considerable check has been given to that spirit by our cruisers, who
have succeeded in capturing and destroying several of their vessels.
Nevertheless, it is considered an object of high importance to continue
these cruises until the practice is entirely suppressed. Like success
has attended our efforts to suppress the slave trade. Under the flag
of the United States and the sanction of their papers the trade may
be considered as entirely suppressed, and if any of our citizens are
engaged in it under the flags and papers of other powers, it is only
from a respect to the rights of those powers that these offenders are
not seized and brought home to receive the punishment which the laws
inflict. If every other power should adopt the same policy and pursue
the same vigorous means for carrying it into effect, the trade could
no longer exist.
Deeply impressed with the blessings which we enjoy, and of which we have
such manifold proofs, my mind is irresistibly drawn to that Almighty
Being, the great source from whence they proceed and to whom our most
grateful acknowledgments are due.
JAMES MONROE.
SPECIAL MESSAGES.
WASHINGTON, _December 16, 1821_.
_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_:
I transmit to Congress a letter from the Secretary of the Treasury,
inclosing the report of the commissioners appointed in conformity with
the provisions of "An act to authorize the building of light-houses
therein mentioned, and for other purposes," approved the 3d of March,
1821.
JAMES MONROE.
WASHINGTON, _December 16, 1821_.
_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:
By a resolution of Congress approved on the 27th of March, 1818, it was
directed that the journal, acts, and proceedings of the Convention
which formed the present Constitution of the United States should be
published, under the direction of the President of the United States,
together with the secret journals of the acts and proceedings, and the
foreign correspondence (with a certain exception), of the Congress of
the United States from the first meeting thereof down to the date of the
ratification of the definitive treaty of peace between Great Britain
and the United States, in the year 1783, and that 1,000 copies thereof
should be printed, of which one copy should be furnished to each member
of that (the Fifteenth) Congress, and the residue should remain subject
to the future disposition of Congress.
And by a resolution of Congress approved on the 21st April, 1820, it
was provided that the secret journal, together with all the papers
and documents connected with that journal, and all other papers and
documents heretofore considered confidential, of the old Congress, from
the date of the ratification of the definitive treaty of the year 1783
to the formation of the present Government, which were remaining in
the office of the Secretary of State, should be published under the
direction of the President of the United States, and that I,000 copies
thereof should be printed and deposited in the Library subject to the
disposition of Congress.
In pursuance of these two resolutions, 1,000 copies of the journals
and acts of the Convention which formed the Constitution have been
heretofore printed and placed at the disposal of Congress, and 1,000
copies of the secret journals of the Congress of the Confederation,
complete, have been printed, 250 copies of which have been reserved to
comply with the direction of furnishing one copy to each member of the
Fifteenth Congress; the remaining 750 copies have been deposited in the
Library and are now at the disposal of Congress.
By the general appropriation act of 9th April, 1818, the sum of $10,000
was appropriated for defraying the expenses of printing done pursuant to
the resolution of the 27th of March of that year. No appropriation has
yet been made to defray the expenses incident to the execution of the
resolution of 21st April, 1820. The whole expense hitherto incurred
in carrying both resolutions into effect has exceeded by $542.56 the
appropriation of April, 1818. This balance remains due to the printers,
and is included in the estimates of appropriation for the year 1822.
That part of the resolution of the 27th March, 1818, which directs
the publication of the foreign correspondence of the Congress of the
Confederation remains yet to be executed, and a further appropriation
will be necessary for carrying it into effect.
JAMES MONROE.
DECEMBER 30, 1821.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I transmit to the Senate a treaty of peace and amity concluded between
the United States and the Dey and Regency of Algiers on the 23d of
December, 1816.
This treaty is in all respects the same in its provisions with that
which had been concluded on the 30th of June, 1815, and was ratified, by
and with the advice and consent of the Senate, on the 26th of December
of that year, with the exception of one additional and explanatory
article.
The circumstances which have occasioned the delay in laying the
present treaty before the Senate for their advice and consent to its
ratification are, that having been received in the spring of the year
1817, during the recess of the Senate, in the interval between the time
when the Department of State was vacated by its late Secretary and the
entrance of his successor upon the duties of the office, and when a
change also occurred of the chief clerk of the Department, it was not
recollected by the officers of the Department that it remained without
the constitutional sanction of the Senate until shortly before the
commencement of the present session. The documents explanatory of the
additional articles are likewise herewith transmitted.
JAMES MONROE.
WASHINGTON _January 7, 1822_.
_To the Congress of the United States_:
I transmit a report of the Secretary of the Navy, together with a survey
of the coast of North Carolina, made in pursuance of a resolution of
Congress of the 19th January, 1819.
JAMES MONROE.
WASHINGTON, _January 8, 1822_.
_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_:
In pursuance of a joint resolution of the two Houses of Congress of the
3d of March, 1821, authorizing the President to cause such number of
astronomical observations to be made by methods which might, in his
judgment, be best adapted to insure a correct determination of the
longitude of the Capitol, in the city of Washington, from Greenwich or
some other known meridian in Europe, and that he cause the data, with
accurate calculations on statements founded thereon, to be laid before
them at their present session, I herewith transmit to Congress the
report made by William Lambert, who was selected by me on the 10th
of April last to perform the service required by that resolution.
As no compensation is authorized by law for the execution of the duties
assigned to Mr. Lambert, it is submitted to the discretion of Congress
to make the necessary provision for an adequate allowance to him and to
the assistant whom he employed to aid him in his observations.
JAMES MONROE.
JANUARY 17, 1822.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I nominate the persons whose names are stated in the inclosed letter
from the Secretary of War for the appointments therein respectively
proposed for them.
The changes in the Army growing out of the act of the 2d of March, 1821,
"to reduce and fix the military peace establishment of the United
States," are exhibited in the Official Register for the year 1822,
herewith submitted for the information of the Senate.
Under the late organization of the artillery arm, with the exception of
the colonel of the regiment of light artillery, there were no grades
higher than lieutenant-colonel recognized. Three of the four colonels of
artillery provided for by the act of Congress of the 2d of March, 1821,
were considered, therefore, as original vacancies, to be filled, as the
good of the service might dictate, from the Army corps.
The Pay Department being considered as a part of the military
establishment, and, within the meaning of the above-recited act,
constituting one of the corps of the Army, the then Pay master-General
was appointed colonel of one of the regiments. A contrary construction,
which would have limited the corps specified in the twelfth section of
the act to the line of the Army, would equally have excluded all the
other branches of the staff, as well that of the Pay Department,
which was expressly comprehended among those to be reduced. Such a
construction did not seem to be authorized by the act, since by its
general terms it was inferred to have been intended to give a power
of sufficient extent to make the reduction by which so many were to
be disbanded operate with as little inconvenience as possible to the
parties. Acting on these views and on the recommendation of the board of
general officers, who were called in on account of their knowledge and
experience to aid the Executive in so delicate a service, I thought
it proper to appoint Colonel Towson to one of the new regiments of
artillery, it being a corps in which he had eminently distinguished
himself and acquired great knowledge and experience in the late war.
In reconciling conflicting claims provision for four officers of
distinction could only be made in grades inferior to those which they
formerly held. Their names are submitted, with the nomination for the
brevet rank of the grades from which they were severally reduced.
It is proper also to observe that as it was found difficult in executing
the act to retain each officer in the corps to which he belonged, the
power of transferring officers from one corps to another was reserved
in the general orders, published in the Register, till the 1st day of
January last, in order that upon vacancies occurring those who had been
put out of their proper corps might as far as possible be restored to
it. Under this reservation, and in conformity to the power vested in
the Executive by the first section of the seventy-fifth article of
the general regulations of the Army, approved by Congress at the last
session, on the resignation of Lieutenant-Colonel Mitchell, of the corps
of artillery, Lieutenant-Colonel Lindsay, who had belonged to this corps
before the late reduction, was transferred back to it in the same grade.
As an additional motive to the transfer, it had the effect of preventing
Lieutenant-Colonel Taylor and Major Woolley being reduced to lower
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