December 1, 1834
Washington, DC
Fellow Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives
In performing my duty at the opening of your present session
it gives me pleasure to congratulate you again upon the prosperous condition
of our beloved country. Divine Providence has favored us with general
health, with rich rewards in the fields of agriculture and in every branch
of labor, and with peace to cultivate and extend the various resources
which employ the virtue and enterprise of our citizens. Let us trust that
in surveying a scene so flattering to our free institutions our joint
deliberations to preserve them may be crowned with success.
Our foreign relations continue, with but few exceptions, to
maintain the favorable aspect which they bore in my last annual message,
and promise to extend those advantages which the principles that regulate
our intercourse with other nations are so well calculated to secure.
The question of our North East boundary is still pending with
Great Britain, and the proposition made in accordance with the resolution
of the Senate for the establishment of a line according to the treaty
of 1783 has not been accepted by that Government. Believing that every
disposition is felt on both sides to adjust this perplexing question to
the satisfaction of all the parties interested in it, the hope is yet
indulged that it may be effected on the basis of that proposition.
With the Governments of Austria, Russia, Prussia, Holland, Sweden,
and Denmark the best understanding exists. Commerce with all is fostered
and protected by reciprocal good will under the sanction of liberal conventional
or legal provisions.
In the midst of her internal difficulties the Queen of Spain
has ratified the convention for the payment of the claims of our citizens
arising since 1819. It is in the course of execution on her part, and
a copy of it is now laid before you for such legislation as may be found
necessary to enable those interested to derive the benefits of it.
Yielding to the force of circumstances and to the wise counsels
of time and experience, that power has finally resolved no longer to occupy
the unnatural position in which she stood to the new Governments established
in this hemisphere. I have the great satisfaction of stating to you that
in preparing the way for the restoration of harmony between those who
have sprung from the same ancestors, who are allied by common interests,
profess the same religion, and speak the same language the United States
have been actively instrumental. Our efforts to effect this good work
will be persevered in while they are deemed useful to the parties and
our entire disinterestedness continues to be felt and understood. The
act of Congress to countervail the discriminating duties to the prejudice
of our navigation levied in Cuba and Puerto Rico has been transmitted
to the minister of the United States at Madrid, to be communicated to
the Government of the Queen. No intelligence of its receipt has yet reached
the Department of State. If the present condition of the country permits
the Government to make a careful and enlarged examination of the true
interests of these important portions of its dominions, no doubt is entertained
that their future intercourse with the United States will be placed upon
a more just and liberal basis.
The Florida archives have not yet been selected and delivered.
Recent orders have been sent to the agent of the United States at Havana
to return with all that he can obtain, so that they may be in Washington
before the session of the Supreme Court, to be used in the legal questions
there pending to which the Government is a party.
Internal tranquillity is happily restored to Portugal. The distracted
state of the country rendered unavoidable the postponement of a final
payment of the just claims of our citizens. Our diplomatic relations will
be soon resumed, and the long-subsisting friendship with that power affords
the strongest guaranty that the balance due will receive prompt attnetion.
The first installment due under the convention of indemnity
with the King of the Two Sicilies has been duly received, and an offer
has been made to extinguish the whole by a prompt payment -- an offer
I did not consider myself authorized to accept, as the indemnification
provided is the exclusive property of individual citizens of the United
States. The original adjustment of our claims and the anxiety displayed
to fulfill at once the stipulations made for the payment of them are highly
honorable to the Government of the Two Sicilies. When it is recollected
that they were the result of the injustice of an intrusive power temporarily
dominant in its territory, a repugnance to acknowledge and to pay which
would have been neither unnatural nor unexpected, the circumstances can
not fail to exalt its character for justice and good faith in the eyes
of all nations.
The treaty of amity and commerce between the United States and
Belgium, brought to your notice in my last annual message as sanctioned
by the Senate, but the ratifications of which had not been exchanged owing
to a delay in its reception at Brussels and a subsequent absence of the
Belgian minister of foreign affairs, has been, after mature deliberation,
finally disavowed by that Government as inconsistent with the powers and
instructions given to their minister who negotiated it. This disavowal
was entirely unexpected, as the liberal principles embodied in the convention,
and which form the ground-work of the objections to it, were perfectly
satisfactory to the Belgian representative, and were supposed to be not
only within the powers granted, but expressly conformable to the instructions
given to him. An offer, not yet accepted, has been made by Belgium to
renew negotiations for a treaty less liberal in its provisions on questions
of general maritime law.
Our newly established relations with the Sublime Porte promise
to be useful to our commerce and satisfactory in every respect to this
Government. Our intercourse with the Barbary Powers continues without
important change, except that the present political state of Algiers has
induced me to terminate the residence there of a salaried consul and to
substitute an ordinary consulate, to remain so long as the place continues
in the possession of France. Our first treaty with one of these powers,
the Emperor of Morocco, was formed in 1786, and was limited to fifty years.
That period has almost expired. I shall take measures to renew it with
the greater satisfaction as its stipulations are just and liberal and
have been, with mutual fidelity and reciprocal advantage, scrupulously
fulfilled.
Intestine dissensions have too frequently occurred to mar the
prosperity, interrupt the commerce, and distract the governments of most
of the nations of this hemisphere which have separated themselves from
Spain. When a firm and permanent understanding with the parent country
shall have produced a formal acknowledgment of their independence, and
the idea of danger from that quarter can be no longer entertained, the
friends of freedom expect that those countries, so favored by nature,
will be distinguished for their love of justice and their devotion to
those peaceful arts the assiduous cultivation of which confers honor upon
nations and gives value to human life.
In the mean time I confidently hope that the apprehensions entertained
that some of the people of these luxuriant regions may be tempted, in
a moment of unworthy distrust of their own capacity for the enjoyment
of liberty, to commit the too common error of purchasing present repose
by bestowing on some favorite leaders the fatal gift of irresponsible
power will not be realized. With all these Governments and with that of
Brazil no unexpected changes in our relations have occurred during the
present year.
Frequent causes of just complaint have arisen upon the part
of the citizens of the United States, some times from the irregular action
of the constituted subordinate authorities of the maritime regions and
some times from the leaders or partisans of those in arms against the
established Governments. In all cases representations have been or will
be made, and as soon as their political affairs are in a settled position
it is expected that our friendly remonstrances will be followed by adequate
redress.
The Government of Mexico made known in [1833] December last
the appointment of commissioners and a surveyor on its part to run, in
conjunction with ours, the boundary line between its territories and the
United States, and excused the delay for the reasons anticipated -- the
prevalence of civil war. The commissioners and surveyors not having met
within the time stipulated by the treaty, a new arrangement became necessary,
and our chargé d'affaires was instructed in [1833] January to negotiate
in Mexico an article additional to the pre-existing treaty. This instruction
was acknowledged, and no difficulty was apprehended in the accomplishment
of that object. By information just received that additional article to
the treaty will be obtained and transmitted to this country as soon as
it can receive the ratification of the Mexican Congress.
The reunion of the three States of New Grenada, Venezuela, and
Equador, forming the Republic of Colombia, seems every day to become more
improbable. The commissioners of the two first are understood to be now
negotiating a just division of the obligations contracted by them when
united under one government. The civil war in Equador, it is believed,
has prevented even the appointment of a commissioner on its part.
I propose at an early day to submit, in the proper form, the
appointment of a diplomatic agent to Venezuela, the importance of the
commerce of that country to the United States and the large claims of
our citizens upon the Government arising before and since the division
of Colombia rendering it, in my judgment, improper longer to delay this
step.
Our representatives to Central America, Peru, and Brazil are
either at or on their way to their respective posts.
From the Argentine Republic, from which a minister was expected
to this Government, nothing further has been heard. Occasion has been
taken on the departure of a new consul to Buenos Ayres to remind that
Government that its long delayed minister, whose appointment had been
made known to us, had not arrived.
It becomes my unpleasant duty to inform you that this pacific
and highly gratifying picture of our foreign relations does not include
those with France at this time. It is not possible that any Government
and people could be more sincerely desirous of conciliating a just and
friendly intercourse with another nation than are those of the United
States with their ancient ally and friend. This disposition is founded
as well on the most grateful and honorable recollections associated with
our struggle for independence as upon a well grounded conviction that
it is consonant with the true policy of both. The people of the United
States could not, therefore, see without the deepest regret even a temporary
interruption of the friendly relations between the two countries -- a
regret which would, I am sure, be greatly aggravated if there should turn
out to be any reasonable ground for attributing such a result to any act
of omission or commission on our part. I derive, therefore, the highest
satisfaction from being able to assure you that the whole course of this
Government has been characterized by a spirit so conciliatory and for
bearing as to make it impossible that our justice and moderation should
be questioned, what ever may be the consequences of a longer perseverance
on the part of the French Government in her omission to satisfy the conceded
claims of our citizens.
The history of the accumulated and unprovoked aggressions upon
our commerce committed by authority of the existing Governments of France
between the years 1800 and 1817 has been rendered too painfully familiar
to Americans to make its repetition either necessary or desirable. It
will be sufficient here to remark that there has for many years been scarcely
a single administration of the French Government by whom the justice and
legality of the claims of our citizens to indemnity were not to a very
considerable extent admitted, and yet near a quarter of a century has
been wasted in ineffectual negotiations to secure it.
Deeply sensible of the injurious effects resulting from this
state of things upon the interests and character of both nations, I regarded
it as among my first duties to cause one more effort to be made to satisfy
France that a just and liberal settlement of our claims was as well due
to her own honor as to their incontestable validity. The negotiation for
this purpose was commenced with the late Government of France, and was
prosecuted with such success as to leave no reasonable ground to doubt
that a settlement of a character quite as liberal as that which was subsequently
made would have been effected had not the revolution by which the negotiation
was cut off taken place. The discussions were resumed with the present
Government, and the result showed that we were not wrong in supposing
that an event by which the two Governments were made to approach each
other so much nearer in their political principles, and by which the motives
for the most liberal and friendly intercourse were so greatly multiplied,
could exercise no other than a salutary influence upon the negotiation.
After the most deliberate and thorough examination of the whole
subject a treaty between the two Governments was concluded and signed
at Paris on July 4, 1831 by which it was stipulated that "the French
Government, in order to liberate itself from all the reclamations preferred
against it by citizens of the United States for unlawful seizures, captures,
sequestrations, confiscations, or destruction of their vessels, cargoes,
or other property, engages to pay a sum of 25,000,000 francs to the United
States, who shall distribute it among those entitled in the manner and
according to the rules it shall determine"; and it was also stipulated
on the part of the French Government that this 25,000,000 francs should
"be paid at Paris, in six annual installments of 4,166,666 francs and
66 centimes each, into the hands of such person or persons "as shall
be authorized by the Government of the US to receive it", the first
installment to be paid "at the expiration of one year next following
the exchange of the ratifications of this convention and the others at
successive intervals of a year, one after another, 'til the whole shall
be paid. To the amount of each of the said installments shall be added
interest at 4% thereupon, as upon the other installments then remaining
unpaid, the said interest to be computed from the day of the exchange
of the present convention".
It was also stipulated on the part of the United States, for
the purpose of being completely liberated from all the reclamations presented
by France on behalf of its citizens, that the sum of 1,500,000 francs
should be paid to the Government of France in six annual installments,
to be deducted out of the annual sums which France had agreed to pay,
interest thereupon being in like manner computed from the day of the exchange
of the ratifications. In addition to this stipulation, important advantages
were secured to France by the following article, viz:
The wines of France, from and after the exchange
of the ratifications of the present conventions, shall be admitted to
consumption in the States of the Union at duties which shall not exceed
the following rates by the gallon (such as it is used at present for wines
in the US), to wit: 6 cents for red wines in casks; 10 cents for white
wines in casks, and 22 cents for wines of all sorts in bottles. The proportions
existing between the duties on French wines thus reduced and the general
rates of the tariff which went into operation 1829-01-01, shall be maintained
in case the Government of the United States should think proper to diminish
those general rates in a new tariff.
In consideration of this stipulation, which shall be binding
on the United States for 10 years, the French Government abandons the
reclamations which it had formed in relation to the 8th article of the
treaty of cession of Louisiana. It engages, moreover, to establish on
the long-staple cottons of the United States which after the exchange
of the ratifications of the present convention shall be brought directly
thence to France by the vessels of the US or by French vessels the same
duties as on short-staple cotton.
This treaty was duly ratified in the manner prescribed by the constitutions
of both countries, and the ratification was xchanged at the city of Washington
on February 2, 1832. On account of its commercial stipulations it was in
five days thereafter laid before the Congress of the United States, which
proceeded to enact such laws favorable to the commerce of France as were
necessary to carry it into full execution, and France has from that period
to the present been in the unrestricted enjoyment of the valuable privileges
that were thus secured to her.
The faith of the French nation having been thus solemnly pledged
through its constitutional organ for the liquidation and ultimate payment
of the long deferred claims of our citizens, as also for the adjustment
of other points of great and reciprocal benefits to both countries, and
the United States having, with a fidelity and promptitude by which their
conduct will, I trust, be always characterized, done every thing that
was necessary to carry the treaty into full and fair effect on their part,
counted with the most perfect confidence on equal fidelity and promptitude
on the part of the French Government. In this reasonable expectation we
have been, I regret to inform you, wholly disappointed. No legislative
provision has been made by France for the execution of the treaty, either
as it respects the indemnity to be paid or the commercial benefits to
be secured to the United States, and the relations between the United
States and that power in consequence thereof are placed in a situation
threatening to interrupt the good understanding which has so long and
so happily existed between the two nations.
Not only has the French Government been thus wanting in the
performance of the stipulations it has so solemnly entered into with the
United States, but its omissions have been marked by circumstances which
would seem to leave us without satisfactory evidences that such performance
will certainly take place at a future period. Advice of the exchange of
ratifications reached Paris prior to 1832-04-08. The French Chambers were
then sitting, and continued in session until 1832-04-21, and although
one installment of the indemnity was payable on 1833-02-02, one year after
the exchange of ratifications, no application was made to the Chambers
for the required appropriation, and in consequence of no appropriation
having then been made the draft of the United States Government for that
installment was dishonored by the minister of finance, and the United
States thereby involved in much controversy.
The next session of the Chambers commenced on 1832-11-19, and
continued until 1833-04-25. Not withstanding the omission to pay the first
installment had been made the subject of earnest remonstrance on our part,
the treaty with the United States and a bill making the necessary appropriations
to execute it were not laid before the Chamber of Deputies until 1833-04-06,
nearly five months after its meeting, and only nineteen days before the
close of the session. The bill was read and referred to a committee, but
there was no further action upon it.
The next session of the Chambers commenced on 1833-04-26, and
continued until 1833-06-26. A new bill was introduced on 1833-06-11, but
nothing important was done in relation to it during the session.
In 1834 April, nearly three years after the signature of the
treaty, the final action of the French Chambers upon the bill to carry
the treaty into effect was obtained, and resulted in a refusal of the
necessary appropriations. The avowed grounds upon which the bill was rejected
are to be found in the published debates of that body, and no observations
of mine can be necessary to satisfy Congress of their utter insufficiency.
Although the gross amount of the claims of our citizens is probably greater
than will be ultimately allowed by the commissioners, sufficient is, never
the less, shown to render it absolutely certain that the indemnity falls
far short of the actual amount of our just claims, independently of the
question of damages and interest for the detention. That the settlement
involved a sacrifice in this respect was well known at the time -- a sacrifice
which was cheerfully acquiesced in by the different branches of the Federal
Government, whose action upon the treaty was required from a sincere desire
to avoid further collision upon this old and disturbing subject and in
the confident expectation that the general relations between the two countries
would be improved thereby.
The refusal to vote the appropriation, the news of which was
received from our minister in Paris about 1834-05-15, might have been
considered the final determination of the French Government not to execute
the stipulations of the treaty, and would have justified an immediate
communication of the facts to Congress, with a recommendation of such
ultimate measures as the interest and honor of the United States might
seem to require. But with the news of the refusal of the Chambers to make
the appropriation were conveyed the regrets of the King and a declaration
that a national vessel should be forthwith sent out with instructions
to the French minister to give the most ample explanations of the past
and the strongest assurances for the future. After a long passage the
promised dispatch vessel arrived.
The pledges given by the French minister upon receipt of his
instructions were that as soon after the election of the new members as
the charter would permit the legislative Chambers of France should be
called together and the proposition for an appropriation laid before them;
that all the constitutional powers of the King and his cabinet should
be exerted to accomplish the object, and that the result should be made
known early enough to be communicated to Congress at the commencement
of the present session. Relying upon these pledges, and not doubting that
the acknowledged justice of our claims, the promised exertions of the
King and his cabinet, and, above all, that sacred regard for the national
faith and honor for which the French character has been so distinguished
would secure an early execution of the treaty in all its parts, I did
not deem it necessary to call the attention of Congress to the subject
at the last session.
I regret to say that the pledges made through the minister of
France have not been redeemed. The new Chambers met on 1834-07-31, and
although the subject of fulfilling treaties was alluded to in the speech
from the throne, no attempt was made by the King or his cabinet to procure
an appropriation to carry it into execution. The reasons given for this
omission, although they might be considered sufficient in an ordinary
case, are not consistent with the expectations founded upon the assurances
given here, for there is no constitutional obstacle to entering into legislative
business at the first meeting of the Chambers. This point, however, might
have been over-looked had not the Chambers, instead of being called to
meet at so early a day that the result of their deliberations might be
communicated to me before the meeting of Congress, been prorogued to 1834-12-29
-- a period so late that their decision can scarcely be made known to
the present Congress prior to its dissolution. To avoid this delay our
minister in Paris, in virtue of the assurance given by the French minister
in the United States, strongly urged the convocation of the Chambers at
an earlier day, but without success. It is proper to remark, however,
that this refusal has been accompanied with the most positive assurances
on the part of the executive government of France of their intention to
press the appropriation at the ensuing session of the Chambers.
The executive branch of this Government has, as matters stand,
exhausted all the authority upon the subject with which it is invested
and which it had any reason to believe could be beneficially employed.
The idea of acquiescing in the refusal to execute the treaty
will not, I am confident, be for a moment entertained by any branch of
this Government, and further negotiation upon the subject is equally out
of the question.
If it shall be the pleasure of Congress to await the further
action of the French Chambers, no further consideration of the subject
will at this session probably be required at your hands. But if from the
original delay in asking for an appropriation, from the refusal of the
Chambers to grant it when asked, from the omission to bring the subject
before the Chambers at their last session, from the fact that, including
that session, there have been five different occasions when the appropriation
might have been made, and from the delay in convoking the Chambers until
some weeks after the meeting of Congress, when it was well known that
a communication of the whole subject to Congress at the last session was
prevented by assurances that it should be disposed of before its present
meeting, you should feel yourselves constrained to doubt whether it be
the intention of the French Government, in all its branches, to carry
the treaty into effect, and think that such measures as the occasion may
be deemed to call for should be now adopted, the important question arises
what those measures shall be.
Our institutions are essentially pacific. Peace and friendly
intercourse with all nations are as much the desire of our Government
as they are the interest of our people. But these objects are not to be
permanently secured by surrendering the rights of our citizens or permitting
solemn treaties for their indemnity, in cases of flagrant wrong, to be
abrogated or set aside.
It is undoubtedly in the power of Congress seriously to affect
the agricultural and manufacturing interests of France by the passage
of laws relating to her trade with the United States. Her products, manufactures,
and tonnage may be subjected to heavy duties in our ports, or all commercial
intercourse with her may be suspended. But there are powerful and to my
mind conclusive objections to this mode of proceeding.
We can not embarrass or cut off the trade of France without
at the same time in some degree embarrassing or cutting off our own trade.
The injury of such a warfare must fall, though unequally, upon our own
citizens, and could not but impair the means of the Government and weaken
that united sentiment in support of the rights and honor of the nation
which must now pervade every bosom. Nor is it impossible that such a course
of legislation would introduce once more into our national councils those
disturbing questions in relation to the tariff of duties which have been
so recently put to rest. Besides, by every measure adopted by the Government
of the United Sstates with the view of injuring France the clear perception
of right which will induce our own people and the rulers and people of
all other nations, even of France herself, to pronounce our quarrel just
will be obscured and the support rendered to us in a final resort to more
decisive measures will be more limited and equivocal.
There is but one point of controversy, and upon that the whole
civilized world must pronounce France to be in the wrong. We insist that
she shall pay us a sum of money which she has acknowledged to be due,
and of the justice of this demand there can be but one opinion among mankind.
True policy would seem to dictate that the question at issue should be
kept thus disencumbered and that not the slightest pretense should be
given to France to persist in her refusal to make payment by any act on
our part affecting the interests of her people. The question should be
left, as it is now, in such an attitude that when France fulfills her
treaty stipulations all controversy will be at an end.
It is my conviction that the United States ought to insist on
a prompt execution of the treaty, and in case it be refused or longer
delayed take redress into their own hands. After the delay on the part
of France of a quarter of a century in acknowledging these claims by treaty,
it is not to be tolerated that another quarter of a century is to be wasted
in negotiating about the payment. The laws of nations provide a remedy
for such occasions. It is a well-settled principle of the international
code that where one nation owes another a liquidated debt which it refuses
or neglects to pay the aggrieved party may seize on the property belonging
to the other, its citizens or subjects, sufficient to pay the debt without
giving just cause of war. This remedy has been repeatedly resorted to,
and recently by France herself toward Portugal, under circumstances less
unquestionable.
The time at which resort should be had to this or any other
mode of redress is a point to be decided by Congress. If an appropriation
shall not be made by the French Chambers at their next session, it may
justly be concluded that the Government of France has finally determined
to disregard its own solemn undertaking and refuse to pay an acknowledged
debt. In that event every day's delay on our part will be a stain upon
our national honor, as well as a denial of justice to our injured citizens.
Prompt measures, when the refusal of France shall be complete, will not
only be most honorable and just, but will have the best effect upon our
national character.
Since France, in violation of the pledges given through her
minister here, has delayed her final action so long that her decision
will not probably be known in time to be communicated to this Congress,
I recommend that a law be passed authorizing reprisals upon French property
in case provision shall not be made for the payment of the debt at the
approaching session of the French Chambers. Her pride and power are too
well known to expect any thing from her fears and preclude the necessity
of a declaration that nothing partaking of the character of intimidation
is intended by us. She ought to look upon it as the evidence only of an
inflexible determination on the part of the United States to insist on
their rights.
That Government, by doing only what it has itself acknowledged
to be just, will be able to spare the United States the necessity of taking
redress into their own hands and save the property of French citizens
from that seizure and sequestration which American citizens so long endured
without retaliation or redress. If she should continue to refuse that
act of acknowledged justice and, in violation of the law of nations, make
reprisals on our part the occasion of hostilities against the United States,
she would but add violence to injustice, and could not fail to expose
herself to the just censure of civilized nations and to the retributive
judgments of Heaven.
Collision with France is the more to be regretted on account
of the position she occupies in Europe in relation to liberal institutions,
but in maintaining our national rights and honor all governments are alike
to us. If by a collision with France in a case where she is clearly in
the wrong the march of liberal principles shall be impeded, the responsibility
for that result as well as every other will rest on her own head.
Having submitted these considerations, it belongs to Congress
to decide whether after what has taken place it will still await the further
action of the French Chambers or now adopt such provisional measures as
it may deem necessary and best adapted to protect the rights and maintain
the honor of the country. What ever that decision may be, it will be faithfully
enforced by the Executive as far as he is authorized so to do.
According to the estimate of the Treasury Department, the revenue
accruing from all sources during the present year will amount to $20,624,717,
which, with the balance remaining in the Treasury on 1834-01-01 of $11,702,905,
produces an aggregate of $32,327,623. The total expenditure during the
year for all objects, including the public debt, is estimated at $25,591,390,
which will leave a balance in the Treasury on 1835-01-01 of $6,736,232.
In this balance, however, will be included about $1,150,000 of what was
heretofore reported by the Department as not effective.
Of former appropriations it is estimated that there will remain
unexpended at the close of the year $8,002,925, and that of this sum there
will not be required more than $5,141,964 to accomplish the objects of
all the current appropriations. Thus it appears that after satisfying
all those appropriations and after discharging the last item of our public
debt, which will be done on 1835-01-01, there will remain unexpended in
the Treasury an effective balance of about $440,000. That such should
be the aspect of our finances is highly flattering to the industry and
enterprise of our population and auspicious of the wealth and prosperity
which await the future cultivation of their growing resources. It is not
deemed prudent, however, to recommend any change for the present in our
impost rates, the effect of the gradual reduction now in progress in many
of them not being sufficiently tested to guide us in determining the precise
amount of revenue which they will produce.
Free from public debt, at peace with all the world, and with
no complicated interests to consult in our intercourse with foreign powers,
the present may be hailed as the epoch in our history the most favorable
for the settlement of those principles in our domestic policy which shall
be best calculated to give stability to our Republic and secure the blessings
of freedom to our citizens.
Among these principles, from our past experience, it can not
be doubted that simplicity in the character of the Federal Government
and a rigid economy in its administration should be regarded as fundamental
and sacred. All must be sensible that the existence of the public debt,
by rendering taxation necessary for its extinguishment, has increased
the difficulties which are inseparable from every exercise of the taxing
power, and that it was in this respect a remote agent in producing those
disturbing questions which grew out of the discussions relating to the
tariff. If such has been the tendency of a debt incurred in the acquisition
and maintenance of our national rights and liberties, the obligations
of which all portions of the Union cheerfully acknowledged, it must be
obvious that what ever is calculated to increase the burdens of Government
without necessity must be fatal to all our hopes of preserving its true
character.
While we are felicitating ourselves, therefore, upon the extinguishment
of the national debt and the prosperous state of our finances, let us
not be tempted to depart from those sound maxims of public policy which
enjoin a just adaptation of the revenue to the expenditures that are consistent
with a rigid economy and an entire abstinence from all topics of legislation
that are not clearly within the constitutional powers of the Government
and suggested by the wants of the country. Properly regarded under such
a policy, every diminution of the public burdens arising from taxation
gives to individual enterprise increased power and furnishes to all the
members of our happy Confederacy new motives for patriotic affection and
support. But above all, its most important effect will be found in its
influence upon the character of the Government by confining its action
to those objects which will be sure to secure to it the attachment and
support of our fellow citizens.
Circumstances make it my duty to call the attention of Congress
to the Bank of the United States. Created for the convenience of the Government,
that institution has become the scourge of the people. Its interference
to postpone the payment of a portion of the national debt that it might
retain the public money appropriated for that purpose to strengthen it
in a political contest, the extraordinary extension and contraction of
its accommodations to the community, its corrupt and partisan loans, its
exclusion of the public directors from a knowledge of its most important
proceedings, the unlimited authority conferred on the president to expend
its funds in hiring writers and procuring the execution of printing, and
the use made of that authority, the retention of the pension money and
books after the selection of new agents, the groundless claim to heavy
damages in consequence of the protest of the bill drawn on the French
Government, have through various channels been laid before Congress.
Immediately after the close of the last session the bank, through
its president, announced its ability and readiness to abandon the system
of unparalleled curtailment and the interruption of domestic exchanges
which it had practiced upon from 1833-08-01 to 1834-06-30, and to extend
its accommodations to the community. The grounds assumed in this annunciation
amounted to an acknowledgment that the curtailment, in the extent to which
it had been carried, was not necessary to the safety of the bank, and
had been persisted in merely to induce Congress to grant the prayer of
the bank in its memorial relative to the removal of the deposits and to
give it a new charter. They were substantially a confession that all the
real distresses which individuals and the country had endured for the
preceding 6 or 8 months had been needlessly produced by it, with the view
of affecting through the sufferings of the people the legislative action
of Congress.
It is subject of congratulation that Congress and the country
had the virtue and firmness to bear the infliction, that the energies
of our people soon found relief from this wanton tyranny in vast importations
of th eprecious metals from almost every part of the world, and that at
the close of this tremendous effort to control our Government the bank
found itself powerless and no longer able to loan out its surplus means.
The community had learned to manage its affairs without its assistance,
and trade had already found new auxiliaries, so that on 1834-10-01 the
extraordinary spectacle was presented of a national more than half of
whose capital was either lying unproductive in its vaults or in the hands
of foreign bankers.
To the needless distresses brought on the country during the
last session of Congress has since been added the open seizure of the
dividends on the public stock to the amount of $170,041, under pretense
of paying damages, cost, and interest upon the protested French bill.
This sum constituted a portion of the estimated revenues for the year
1834, upon which the appropriations made by Congress were based. It would
as soon have been expected that our collectors would seize on the customs
or the receivers of our land offices on the moneys arising from the sale
of public lands under pretenses of claims against the United States as
that the bank would have retained the dividends. Indeed, if the principle
be established that any one who chooses to set up a claim against the
United States may without authority of law seize on the public property
or money wherever he can find it to pay such claim, there will remain
no assurance that our revenue will reach the Treasury or that it will
be applied after the appropriation to the purposes designated in the law.
The pay masters of our Army and the pursers of our Navy may
under like pretenses apply to their own use moneys appropriated to set
in motion the public force, and in time of war leave the country without
defense. This measure resorted to by the bank is disorganizing and revolutionary,
and if generally resorted to by private citizens in like cases would fill
the land with anarchy and violence.
It is a constitutional provision "that no money shall be
drawn from the Treasury but in consequence of appropriations made by law".
The palpable object of this provision is to prevent the expenditure of
the public money for any purpose what so ever which shall not have been
1st approved by the representatives of the people and the States in Congress
assembled. It vests the power of declaring for what purposes the public
money shall be expended in the legislative department of the Government,
to the exclusion of the executive and judicial, and it is not within the
constitutional authority of either of those departments to pay it away
without law or to sanction its payment.
According to this plain constitutional provision, the claim
of the bank can never be paid without an appropriation by act of Congress.
But the bank has never asked for an appropriation. It attempts to defeat
the provision of the Constitution and obtain payment without an act of
Congress. Instead of awaiting an appropriation passed by both Houses and
approved by the President, it makes an appropriation for itself and invites
an appeal to the judiciary to sanction it. That the money had not technically
been paid into the Treasury does not affect the principle intended to
be established by the Constitution.
The Executive and the judiciary have as little right to appropriate
and expend the public money without authority of law before it is placed
to the credit of the Treasury as to take it from the Treasury. In the
annual report of the Secretary of the Treasury, and in his correspondence
with the president of the bank, and the opinions of the Attorney General
accompanying it, you will find a further examination of the claims of
the bank and the course it has pursued.
It seems due to the safety of the people funds remaining in
that bank and to the honor of the American people that measures be taken
to separate the Government entirely from an institution so mischievous
to the public prosperity and so regardless of the Constitution and laws.
By transferring the public deposits, by appointing other pension agents
as far as it had the power, by ordering the discontinuance of the receipt
of bank checks in the payment of the public dues after 1834-01-01, the
Executive has exerted all its lawful authority to sever the connection
between the Government and this faithless corporation.
The high-handed career of this institution imposes upon the
constitutional functionaries of this Government duties of the gravest
and most imperative character -- duties which they can not avoid and from
which I trust there will be no inclination on the part of any of them
to shrink. My own sense of them is most clear, as is also my readiness
to discharge those which may rightfully fall on me. To continue any business
relations with the Bank of the United States that may be avoided without
a violation of the national faith after that institution has set at open
defiance the conceded right of the Government to examine its affairs,
after it has done all in its power to deride the public authority in other
respects and to bring it into disrepute at home and abroad, after it has
attempted to defeat the clearly expressed will of the people by turning
against them the immense power intrusted to its hands and by involving
a country otherwise peaceful, flourishing, and happy, in dissension, embarrassment,
and distress, would make the nation itself a party to the degradation
so sedulously prepared for itss public agents and do much to destroy the
confidence of man-kind in popular governments and to bring into contempt
their authority and efficiency.
In guarding against an evil of such magnitude consideration
of temprary convenience should be thrown out of the question, and we should
be influenced by such motives only as look to the honor and preservation
of the republican system. Deeply and solemnly impressed with the justice
of these views, I feel it to be my duty to recommend to you that a law
be passed authorizing the sale of the public stock; that the provision
of the charter requiring the receipt of notes of the bank in payment of
public dues shall, in accordance with the power reserved to Congress in
the 14th section of the charter, be suspended until the bank pays to the
Treasury the dividends withheld, and that all laws connecting the Government
or its officers with the bank, directly or indirectly, be repealed, and
that the institution be left hereafter to its own resources and means.
Events have satisfied my mind, and I think the minds of the
American people, that the mischiefs and dangers which flow from a national
bank far over-balance all its advantages. The bold effort the present
bank has made to control the Government, the distresses it has wantonly
produced, the violence of which it has been the occasion in one of our
cities famed for its observance of law and order, are but premonitions
of the fate which awaits the American people should they be deluded into
a perpetuation of this institution or the establishment of another like
it. It is fervently hoped that thus admonished those who have heretofore
favored the establishment of a substitute for the present bank will be
induced to abandon it, as it is evidently better to incur any inconvenience
that may be reasonably expected than to concentrate the whole moneyed
power of the Republic in any form what so ever or under any restrictions.
Happily it is already illustrated that the agency of such an
institution is not necessary to the fiscal operations of the Government.
The State banks are found fully adequate to the performance of all services
which were required of the Bank of the United States, quite as promptly
and with the same cheapness. They have maintained themselves and discharged
all these duties while the Bank of the United States was still powerful
and in the field as an open enemy, and it is not possible to conceive
that they will find greater difficulties in their operations when that
enemy shall cease to exist.
The attention of Congress is earnestly invited to the regulation
of the deposits in the State banks by law. Although the power now exercised
by the executive department in this behalf is only such as was uniformly
exerted through every Administration from the origin of the Government
up to the establishment of the present bank, yet it is one which is susceptible
of regulation by law, and therefore ought so to be regulated. The power
of Congress to direct in what places the Treasurer shall keep the moneys
in the Treasury and to impose restrictions upon the Executive authority
in relation to their custody and removal is unlimited, and its exercise
will rather be courted than discouraged by those public officers and agents
on whom rests the responsibility for their safety. It is desirable that
as little power as possible should be left to the President or the Secretary
of the Treasury over those institutions, which, being thus freed from
Executive influence, and without a common head to direct their operations,
would have neither the temptation nor the ability to interfere in the
political conflicts of the country. Not deriving their charters from the
national authorities, they would never have those inducements to meddle
in general elections which have led the Bank of the United States to agitate
and convulse the country for upward of two years.
The progress of our gold coinage is creditable to the officers
of the Mint, and promises in a short period to furnish the country with
a sound and portable currency, which will much diminish the inconvenience
to travelers of the want of a general paper currency should the State
banks be incapable of furnishing it. Those institutions have already shown
themselves competent to purchase and furnish domestic exchange for the
convenience of trade at reasonable rates, and not a doubt is entertained
that in a short period all the wants of the country in bank accommodations
and exchange will be supplid as promptly and as cheaply as they have heretofore
been by the Bank of the United States. If the several States shall be
induced gradually to reform their banking systems and prohibit the issue
of all small notes, we shall in a few years have a currency as sound and
as little liable to fluctuations as any other commercial country.
The report of the Secretary of War, together with the accompanying
documents from the several bureaux of that Department, will exhibit the
situation of the various objects committed to its administration.
- Trouble on the Frontier
No event has occurred since your last session rendering necessary
any movements of the Army, with the exception of the expedition of the
regiment of dragoons into the territory of the wandering and predatory
tribes inhabiting the western frontier and living adjacent to the Mexican
boundary. These tribes have been heretofore known to us principally by
their attacks upon our own citizens and upon other Indians entitled to
the protection of the United States. It became necessary for the peace
of the frontiers to check these habitual inroads, and I am happy to inform
you that the object has been effected without the commission of any act
of hostility. Colonel Dodge and the troops under his command have acted
with equal firmness and humanity, and an arrangement has been made with
those Indians which it is hoped will assure their permanent pacific relations
with the United States and the other tribes of Indians upon that border.
It is to be regretted that the prevalence of sickness in that quarter
has deprived the country of a number of valuable lives, and particularly
that General Leavenworth, an officer well known, and esteemed for his
gallant services in the late war and for his subsequent good conduct,
has fallen a victim to his zeal and exertions in the discharge of his
duty.
The Army is in a high state of discipline. Its moral condition,
so far as that is known here, is good, and the various branches of the
public service are carefully attended to. It is amply sufficient under
its present organization for providing the necessary garrisons for the
seaboard and for the defense of the internal frontier, and also for preserving
the elements of military knowledge and for keeping pace with those improvements
which modern experience is continually making. And these objects appear
to me to embrace all the legitimate purposes for which a permanent military
force should be maintained in our country. The lessons of history teach
us its danger and the tendency which exists to an increase. This can be
best met and averted by a just caution on the part of the public itself,
and of those who represent them in Congress.
From the duties which devolve on the Engineer Department and
upon the topographical engineers, a different organization seems to be
demanded by the public interest, and I recommend the subject to your consideration.
- Removal Progresses
No important change has during this season taken place in the
condition of the Indians. Arrangements are in progress for the removal
of the Creeks, and will soon be for the removal of the Seminoles. I regret
that the Cherokees east of the Mississippi have not yet determined as
a community to remove. How long the personal causes which have heretofore
retarded that ultimately inevitable measure will continue to operate I
am unable to conjecture. It is certain, however, that delay will bring
with it accumulated evils which will render their condition more and more
unpleasant. The experience of every year adds to the conviction that emigration,
and that alone, can preserve from destruction the remnant of the tribes
yet living amongst us. The facility with which the necessaries of life
are procured and the treaty stipulations providing aid for the emigrant
Indians in their agricultural pursuits and in the important concern of
education, and their removal from those causes which have heretofore depressed
all and destroyed many of the tribes, can not fail to stimulate their
exertions and to reward their industry.
- Indian Trade and Intercourse Act
The two laws passed at the last session of Congress on the subject
of Indian affairs have been carried into effect, and detailed instructions
for their administration have been given. It will be seen by the estimates
for the present session that a great reduction will take place in the
expenditures of the Department in consequence of these laws, and there
is reason to believe that their operation will be salutary and that the
colonization of the Indians on the western frontier, together with a judicious
system of administration, will still further reduce the expenses of this
branch of the public service and at the same time promote its usefulness
and efficiency.
Circumstances have been recently developed showing the existence
of extensive frauds under the various laws granting pensions and gratuities
for Revolutionary services. It is impossible to estimate the amount which
may have been thus fraudulently obtained from the National Treasury. I
am satisfied, however, it has been such as to justify a re-examination
of the system and the adoption of the necessary checks in its administration.
All will agree that the services and sufferings of the remnant of our
Revolutionary band should be fully compensated; but while this is done,
every proper precaution should be taken to prevent the admission of fabricated
and fraudulent claims.
In the present mode of proceeding the attestations and certificates
of the judicial officers of the various States from a considerable portion
of the checks which are interposed against the commission of frauds. These,
however, have been and may be fabricated, and in such a way as to elude
detection at the examining offices. And independently of this practical
difficulty, it is ascertained that these documents are often loosely granted;
some times even blank certificates have been issued; some times prepared
papers have been signed without inquiry, and in one instance, at least,
the seal of the court has been within reach of a person most interested
in its improper application. It is obvious that under such circumstances
no severity of administration can check the abuse of the law. And information
has from time to time been communicated to the Pension Office questioning
or denying the right of persons placed upon the pension list to the bounty
of the country.
Such cautions are always attended to and examined, but a far
more general investigation is called for, and I therefore recommend, in
conformity with the suggestion of the Secretary of War, that an actual
inspection should be made in each State into the circumstances and claims
of every person now drawing a pension. The honest veteran has nothing
to fear from such a scrutiny, while the fraudulent claimant will be detected
and the public Treasury relieved to an amount, I have reason to believe,
far greater than has heretofore been suspected. The details of such a
plan could be so regulated as to interpose the necessary checks without
any burdensome operation upon the pensioners. The object should be two-fold:
- To look into the original justice of the claims, so far as
this can be done under a proper system of regulations, by an examination
of the claimants themselves and by inquiring in the vicinity of their
residence into their history and into the opinion entertained of their
Revolutionary services.
- To ascertain in all cases whether the original claimant is
living and this by actual personal inspection.
This measure will, if adopted, be productive, I think, of the desired
results, and I therefore recommend it to your consideration, with the further
suggestion that all payments should be suspended 'til the necessary reports
are received.
It will be seen by a tabular statement annexed to the documents
transmitted to Congress that the appropriations for objects connected
with the War Department, made at the last session, for the service of
the year 1834, excluding the permanent appropriation for the payment of
military gratuities under the act of 1832-06-07, the appropriation of
$200,000 for arming and equipping the militia, and the appropriation of
$10,000 for the civilization of the Indians, which are not annually renewed,
amounted to the sum of $9,003,261, and that the estimates of appropriations
necessary for the same branches of service for the year 1835 amount to
the sum of $5,778,964, making a difference in the appropriations of the
current year over the estimates of the appropriations for the next of
$3,224,297.
The principal causes which have operated at this time to produce
this great difference are shown in the reports and documents and in the
detailed estimates. Some of these causes are accidental and temporary,
while others are permanent, and, aided by a just course of administration,
may continue to operate beneficially upon the public expenditures.
A just economy, expending where the public service requires
and withholding where it does not, is among the indispensable duties of
the Government.
I refer you to the accompanying report of the Secretary of the
Navy and to the documents with it for a full view of the operations of
that important branch of our service during the present year. It will
be seen that the wisdom and liberality with which Congress has provided
for the gradual increase of our navy material have been seconded by a
corresponding zeal and fidelity on the part of those to whom has been
confided the execution of the laws on the subject, and that but a short
period would be now required to put in commission a force large enough
for any exigency into which the country may be thrown.
When we reflect upon our position in relation to other nations,
it must be apparent that in the event of conflicts with them we must look
chiefly to our Navy for the protection of our national rights. The wide
seas which separate us from other Governments must of necessity be the
theater on which an enemy will aim to assail us, and unless we are prepared
to meet him on this element we can not be said to possess the power requisite
to repel or prevent aggressions. We can not, therefore, watch with too
much attention this arm of our defense, or cherish with too much care
the means by which it can possess the necessary efficiency and extension.
To this end our policy has been heretofore wisely directed to the constant
employment of a force sufficient to guard our commerce, and to the rapid
accumulation of the materials which are necessary to repair our vessels
and construct with ease such new ones as may be required in a state of
war.
In accordance with this policy, I recommend to your consideration
the erection of the additional dry dock described by the Secretary of
the Navy, and also the construction of the steam batteries to which he
has referred, for the purpose of testing their efficacy as auxiliaries
to the system of defense now in use.
The report of the PostMaster General herewith submitted exhibits
the condition and prospects of that Department. From that document it
appears that there was a deficit in the funds of the Department at the
commencement of the present year beyond its available means of $315,599.98,
which on the first of July last (1834-07-01) had been reduced to $268,092.74.
It appears also that the revenues for the coming year will exceed the
expenditures about $270,000, which, with the excess of revenue which will
result from the operations of the current half year, may be expected,
independently of any increase in the gross amount of postages, to supply
the entire deficit before the end of 1835. But as this calculation is
based on the gross amount of postages which had accrued within the period
embraced by the times of striking the balances, it is obvious that without
a progressive increase in the amount of postages the existing retrenchments
must be persevered in through the year 1836 that the Department may accumulate
a surplus fund sufficient to place it in a condition of perfect ease.
It will be observed that the revenues of the Post Office Department,
though they have increased, and their amount is above that of any former
year, have yet fallen short of the estimates more than $100,000. This
is attributed in a great degree to the increase of free letters growing
out of the extension and abuse of the franking privilege. There has been
a gradual increase in the number of executive offices to which it has
been granted, and by an act passed in 1833-03, it was extended to members
of Congress throughout the whole year. It is believed that a revision
of the laws relative to the franking privilege, with some enactments to
enforce more rigidly the restrictions under which it is granted, would
operate beneficially to the country, by enabling the Department at an
earlier period to restore the mail facilities that have been withdrawn,
and to extend them more widely, as the growing settlements of the country
may require.
To a measure so important to the Government and so just to our
constituents, who ask no exclusive privileges for themselves and are not
willing to concede them to others, I earnestly recommend the serious attention
of Congress.
The importance of the Post Office Department and the magnitude
to which it has grown, both in its revenues and in its operations, seem
to demand its reorganization by law. The whole of its receipts and disbursements
have hitherto been left entirely to Executive control and individual discretion.
The principle is as sound in relation to this as to any other Department
of the Government, that as little discretion should be confided to the
executive officer who controls it as is compatible with its efficiency.
It is therefore earnestly recommended that it be organized with an auditor
and treasurer of its own, appointed by the President and Senate, who shall
be branches of the Treasury Department.
Your attention is again respectfully invited to the defect which
exists in the judicial system of the United States. Nothing can be more
desirable than the uniform operation of the Federal judiciary throughout
the several States, all of which, standing on the same footing as members
of the Union, have equal rights to the advantages and benefits resulting
from its laws. This object is not attained by the judicial acts now in
force, because they leave one quarter of the States without circuit courts.
It is undoubtedly the duty of Congress to place all the States
on the same footing in this respect, either by the creation of an additional
number of associate judges or by an enlargement of the circuits assigned
to those already appointed so as to include the new States. What ever
may be the difficulty in a proper organization of the judicial system
so as to secure its efficiency and uniformity in all parts of the Union
and at the same time to avoid such an increase of judges as would encumber
the supreme appellate tribunal, it should not be allowed to weigh against
the great injustice which the present operation of the system produces.
I trust that I may be also pardoned for renewing the recommendation
I have so often submitted to your attention in regard to the mode of electing
the President and Vice President of the United States. All the reflection
I have been able to bestow upon the subject increases my conviction that
the best interests of the country will be promoted by the adoption of
some plan which will secure in all contingencies that important right
of sovereignty to the direct control of the people. Could this be attained,
and the terms of those officers be limited to a single period of either
four or six years, I think our liberties would possess an additional safeguard.
At your last session I called the attention of Congress to the
destruction of the public building occupied by the Treasury Department.
As the public interest requires that another building should be erected
with as little delay as possible, it is hoped that the means will be seasonably
provided and that they will be ample enough to authorize such an enlargement
and improvement in the plan of the building as will more effectually accommodate
the public officers and secure the public documents deposited in it from
the casualties of fire.
I have not been able to satisfy myself that the bill entitled
"An act to improve the navigation of the Wabash River", which was
sent to me at the close of your last session, ought to pass, and I have
therefore withheld from it my approval and now return it to the Senate,
the body in which it originated.
There can be no question connected with the administration of
public affairs more important or more difficult to be satisfactorily dealth
with than that which relates to the rightful authority and proper action
of the Federal Government upon the subject of internal improvements. To
inherent embarrassments have been added others resulting from the course
of our legislation concerning it.
I have heretofore communicated freely with Congress upon this
subject, and in adverting to it again I can not refrain from expressing
my increased conviction of its extreme importance as well in regard to
its bearing upon the maintenance of the Constitution and the prudent management
of the public revenue as on account of its disturbing effect upon the
harmony of the Union.
We are in no danger from violations of the Constitution by which
encroachments are made upon the personal rights of the citizen. The sentence
of condemnation long since pronounced by the American people upon acts
of that character will, I doubt not, continue to prove as salutary in
its effects as it is irreversible in its nature.
But against the dangers of unconstitutional acts which, instead
of menacing the vengeance of offended authority, proffer local advantages
and bring in their train the patronage of the Government, we are, I fear,
not so safe. To suppose that because our Government has been instituted
for the benefit of the people it must therefore have the power to do what
ever may seem to conduce to the public good is an error into which even
honest minds are too apt to fall. In yielding themselves to this fallacy
they overlook the great considerations in which the Federal Constitution
was founded. They forget that in consequence of the conceded diversities
in the interest and condition of the different States it was foreseen
at the period of its adoption that although a particular measure of the
Government might be beneficial and proper in 1 State it might be the reverse
in another; that it was for this reason the States would not consent to
make a grant to the Federal Government of the general and usual powers
of government, but of such only as were specifically enumerated, and the
probable effects of which they could, as they thought, safely anticipate;
and they forget also the paramount obligation upon all to abide by the
compact then so solemnly and, as it was hoped, so firmly established.
In addition to the dangers to the Constitution springing from
the sources I have stated, there has been one which was perhaps greater
than all. I allude to the materials which this subject has afforded for
sinister appeals to selfish feelings, and the opinion heretofore so extensively
entertained of its adaptation to the purposes of personal ambition. With
such stimulus it is not surprising that the acts and pretensions of the
Federal Government in this behalf should some times have been carried
to an alarming extent. The questions which have arisen upon this subject
have related --
- To the power of making internal improvements within the limits
of a State, with the right of territorial jurisdiction, sufficient at
least for their preservation and use.
- To the right of appropriating money in aid of such works when
carried on by a State of by a company in virtue of State authority,
surrendering the claim of jurisdiction; and
- To the propriety of appropriation for improvements of a particular
class, viz, for light houses, beacons, buoys, public piers, and for
the removal of sand bars, sawyers, and other temporary and partial impediments
in our navigable rivers and harbors.
The claims of power for the General Government upon each of these
points certainly present matter of the deepest interest. The first is, however,
of much the greatest importance, in as much as, in addition to the dangers
of unequal and improvident expenditures of public moneys common to all,
there is super-added to that the conflicting jurisdictions of the respective
governments. Federal jurisdiction, at least to the extent I have stated,
has been justly regarded by its advocates as necessarily appurtenant to
the power in question, if that exists by the Constitution.
That the most injurious conflicts would unavoidably arise between
the respective jurisdictions of the State and Federal Governments in the
absence of a constitutional provision marking out their respective boundaries
can not be doubted. The local advantages to be obtained would induce the
States to overlook in the beginning the dangers and difficulties to which
they might ultimately be exposed. The powers exercised by the Federal
Government would soon be regarded with jealousy by the State authorities,
and originating as they must from implication or assumption, it would
be impossible to affix to them certain and safe limits.
Opportunities and temptations to the assumption of power incompatible
with State sovereignty would be increased and those barriers which resist
the tendency of our system toward consolidation greatly weakened. The
officers and agents of the General Government might not always have the
discretion to abstain from intermeddling with State concerns, and if they
did they would not always escape the suspicion of having done so. Collisions
and consequent irritations would spring up; that harmony which should
ever exist between the General Government and each member of the Confederacy
would be frequently interrupted; a spirit of contention would be engendered
and the dangers of disunion greatly multiplied.
Yet we know that not withstanding these grave objections this
dangerous doctrine was at one time apparently proceeding to its final
establishment with fearful rapidity. The desier to embark the Federal
Government in works of internal improvement prevailed in the highest degree
during the first session of the first Congress that I had the honor to
meet in my present situation. When the bill authorizing a subscription
on the part of the United States for stock in the Maysville and Lexington
TurnPike Company passed the two houses, there had been reported by the
Committees of Internal Improvements bills containing appropriations for
such objects, inclusive of those for the Cumberland road and for harbors
and light houses, to the amount of $106,000,000. In this amount was included
authority to the Secretary of the Treasury to subscribe for the stock
of different companies to a great extent, and the residue was principally
for the direct construction of roads by this Government. In addition to
these projects, which had been presented to the two Houses under the sanction
and recommendation of their respective Committees on Internal Improvements,
there were then still pending before the committees, and in memorials
to Congress presented but not referred, different projects for works of
a similar character, the expense of which can not be estimated with certainty,
but must have exceeded $100,000,000.
Regarding the bill authorizing a subscription to the stock of
the Maysville and Lexington TurnPike Company as the entering wedge of
a system which, however weak at first, might soon become strong enough
to rive the bands of the Union asunder, and believing that if its passage
was acquiesced in by the Executive and the people there would no longer
be any limitation upon the authority of the General Government in respect
to the appropriation of money for such objects, I deemed it an imperative
duty to withhold from it the Executive approval.
Although from the obviously local character of that work I might
well have contented myself with a refusal to approve the bill upon that
ground, yet sensible of the vital importance of the subject, and anxious
that my views and opinions in regard to the whole matter should be fully
understood by Congress and by my constituents, I felt it my duty to go
further. I therefore embraced that early occasion to apprise Congress
that in my opinion the Constitution did not confer upon it the power to
authorize the construction of ordinary roads and canals within the limits
of a State and to say, respectfully, that no bill admitting such a power
could receive my official sanction. I did so in the confident expectation
that the speedy settlement of the public mind upon the whole subject would
be greatly facilitated by the difference between the 2 Houses and myself,
and that the harmonious action of the several departments of the Federal
Government in regard to it would be ultimately secured.
So far, at least, as it regards this branch of the subject,
my best hopes have been realized. Nearly four years have elapsed, and
several sessions of Congress have intervened, and no attempt within my
recollection has been made to induce Congress to exercise this power.
The applications for the construction of roads and canals which were formerly
multiplied upon your files are no longer presented, and we have good reason
to infer that the current public sentiment has become so decided against
the pretension as effectually to discourage its reassertion. So thinking,
I derive the greatest satisfaction from the conviction that thus much
at least has been secured upon this important and embarrassing subject.
From attempts to appropriate the national funds to objects which
are confessedly of a local character we can not, I trust, have anything
further to apprehend. My views in regard to the expediency of making appropriations
for works which are claimed to be of a national character and prosecuted
under State authority -- assuming that Congress have the right to do so
-- were stated in my annual message to Congress in 1830, and also in that
containing my objections to the Maysville road bill.
So thoroughly convinced am I that no such appropriations ought
to be made by Congress until a suitable constitutional provision is made
upon the subject, and so essential do I regard the point to the highest
interests of our country, that I could not consider myself as discharging
my duty to my constituents in giving the Executive sanction to any bill
containing such an appropriation. If the people of the United States desire
that the public Treasury shall be resorted to for the means to prosecute
such works, they will concur in an amendment of the Constitution prescribing
a rule by which the national character of the works is to be tested, and
by which the greatest practicable equality of benefits may be secured
to each member of the Confederacy. The effects of such a regulation would
be most salutary in preventing unprofitable expenditures, in securing
our legislation from the pernicious consequences of a scramble for the
favors of Government, and in repressing the spirit of discontent which
must inevitably arise from an unequal distribution of treasures which
belong alike to all.
There is another class of appropriations for what may be called,
without impropriety, internal improvements, which have always been regarded
as standing upon different grounds from those to which I have referred.
I allude to such as have for their object the improvement of our harbors,
the removal of partial and temporary obstructions in our navigable rivers,
for the facility and security of our foreign commerce. The grounds upon
which I distinguished appropriations of this character from others have
already been stated to Congress. I will now only add that at the 1st session
of Congress under the new Constitution it was provided by law that all
expenses which should accrue from and after the 15th day of August, 1789,
in the necessary support and maintenance and repairs of all light houses,
beacons, buoys, and public piers erected, placed, or sunk before the passage
of the act within any bay, inlet, harbor, or port of the United States,
for rendering the navigation thereof easy and safe, should be defrayed
out of the Treasury of the United States, and, further, that it should
be the duty of the Secretary of the Treasury to provide by contracts,
with the approbation of the President, for rebuilding when necessary and
keeping in good repair the light houses, beacons, buoys, and public piers
in the several States, and for furnishing them with supplies.
Appropriations for similar objects have been continued from
that time to the present without interruption or dispute. As a natural
consequence of the increase and extension of our foreign commerce, ports
of entry and delivery have been multiplied and established, not only upon
our sea-board but in the interior of the country upon our lakes and navigable
rivers. The convenience and safety of this commerce have led to the gradual
extension of these expenditures; to the erection of light houses, the
placing, planting, and sinking of buoys, beacons, and piers, and to the
removal of partial and temporary obstructions in our navigable rivers
and in the harbors upon our Great Lakes as well as on the sea-board.
Although I have expressed to Congress my apprehension that these
expenditures have some times been extravagant and disproportionate to
the advantages to be derived from them, I have not gelt it to be my duty
to refuse my assent to bills containing them, and have contented myself
to follow in this respect in the foot-steps of all my predecessors. Sensible,
however, from experience and observation of the great abuses to which
the unrestricted exercise of this authority by Congress was exposed, I
have prescribed a limitation for the government of my own conduct by which
expenditures of this character are confined to places below the ports
of entry or delivery established by law. I am very sentible that this
restriction is not as satisfactory as could be desired, and that much
embarrassment may be caused to the executive department in its execution
by appropriations for remote and not well-understood objects. But as neither
my own reflections nor the lights which I may properly derive from other
sources have supplied me with a better, I shall continue to apply my best
exertions to a faithful application of the rule upon which it is founded.
I sincerely regret that I could not give my assent to the bill
entitled: An act to improve the navigation of the Wabash River;
but I could not have done so without receding from the ground which I
have, upon the fullest consideration, taken upon this subject, and of
which Congress has been heretofore apprised, and without throwing the
subject again open to abuses which no good citizen entertaining my opinions
could desire.
I rely upon the intelligence and candor of my fellow citizens,
in whose liberal indulgence I have already so largely participated, for
a correct appreciation on my motives in interposing as I have done on
this and other occasions checks to a course of legislation which, without
in the slightest degree calling in question the motives of others, I consider
as sanctioning improper and unconstitutional expenditures of public treasure.
I am not hostile to internal improvements, and wish to see them
extended to every part of the country. But I am fully persuaded, if they
are not commenced in a proper manner, confined to proper objects, and
conducted under an authority generally conceded to be rightful, that a
successful prosecution of them can not be reasonably expected. The attempt
will meet with resistance where it might otherwise receive support, and
instead of strengthening the bonds of our Confederacy it will only multiply
and aggravate the causes of disunion.
| |
 |
President Andrew Jackson
Sixth Annual Message to Congress
December 1, 1834 |
/
/
/
/