Under the benignant providence of Almighty God the representatives of the States and of the people are again brought together to deliberate for the public good. The gratitude of the nation to the Sovereign Arbiter of All Human Events should be commensurate with the boundless blessings which we enjoy. Peace, plenty, and contentment reign throughout our borders, and our beloved country presents a sublime moral spectacle to the world. The troubled and unsettled condition of some of the principal European powers has had a necessary tendency to check and embarrass trade and to depress prices throughout all commercial nations, but notwithstanding these causes, the United States, with their abundant products, have felt their effects less severely than any other country, and all our great interests are still prosperous and successful. In reviewing the great events of the past year and contrasting the agitated and disturbed state of other countries with our own tranquil and happy condition, we may congratulate ourselves that we are the most favored people on the face of the earth. While the people of other countries are struggling to establish free institutions, under which man may govern himself, we are in the actual enjoyment of them--a rich inheritance from our fathers. While enlightened nations of Europe are convulsed and distracted by civil war or intestine strife, we settle all our political controversies by the peaceful exercise of the rights of freemen at the ballot box. The great republican maxim, so deeply engraven on the hearts of our people, that the will of the majority, constitutionally expressed, shall prevail, is our sure safeguard against force and violence. It is a subject of just pride that our fame and character as a nation continue rapidly to advance in the estimation of the civilized world. To our wise and free institutions it is to be attributed that while other nations have achieved glory at the price of the suffering, distress, and impoverishment of their people, we have won our honorable position in the midst of an uninterrupted prosperity and of an increasing individual comfort and happiness. I am happy to inform you that our relations with all nations are friendly and pacific. Advantageous treaties of commerce have been concluded within the last four years with New Granada, Peru, the Two Sicilies, Belgium, Hanover, Oldenburg, and Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Pursuing our example, the restrictive system of Great Britain, our principal foreign customer, has been relaxed, a more liberal commercial policy has been adopted by other enlightened nations, and our trade has been greatly enlarged and extended. Our country stands higher in the respect of the world than at any former period. To continue to occupy this proud position, it is only necessary to preserve peace and faithfully adhere to the great and fundamental principle of our foreign policy of noninterference in the domestic concerns of other nations. We recognize in all nations the right which we enjoy ourselves, to change and reform their political institutions according to their own will and pleasure. Hence we do not look behind existing governments capable of maintaining their own authority. We recognize all such actual governments, not only from the dictates of true policy, but from a sacred regard for the independence of nations. While this is our settled policy, it does not follow that we can ever be indifferent spectators of the progress of liberal principles. The Government and people of the United States hailed with enthusiasm and delight the establishment of the French Republic, as we now hail the efforts in progress to unite the States of Germany in a confederation similar in many respects to our own Federal Union. If the great and enlightened German States, occupying, as they do, a central and commanding position in Europe, shall succeed in establishing such a confederated government, securing at the same time to the citizens of each State local governments adapted to the peculiar condition of each, with unrestricted trade and intercourse with each other, it will be an important era in the history of human events. Whilst it will consolidate and strengthen the power of Germany, it must essentially promote the cause of peace, commerce, civilization, and constitutional liberty throughout the world. With all the Governments on this continent our relations, it is believed, are now on a more friendly and satisfactory footing than they have ever been at any former period. Since the exchange of ratifications of the treaty of peace with Mexico our intercourse with the Government of that Republic has been of the most friendly character. The envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of the United States to Mexico has been received and accredited, and a diplomatic representative from Mexico of similar rank has been received and accredited by this Government. The amicable relations between the two countries, which had been suspended, have been happily restored, and are destined, I trust, to be long preserved. The two Republics, both situated on this continent, and with coterminous territories, have every motive of sympathy and of interest to bind them together in perpetual amity. This gratifying condition of our foreign relations renders it unnecessary for me to call your attention more specifically to them. It has been my constant aim and desire to cultivate peace and commerce with all nations. Tranquility at home and peaceful relations abroad constitute the true permanent policy of our country. War, the scourge of nations, sometimes becomes inevitable, but is always to be avoided when it can be done consistently with the rights and honor of a nation. One of the most important results of the war into which we were recently forced with a neighboring nation is the demonstration it has afforded of the military strength of our country. Before the late war with Mexico European and other foreign powers entertained imperfect and erroneous views of our physical strength as a nation and of our ability to prosecute war, and especially a war waged out of our own country. They saw that our standing Army on the peace establishment did not exceed 10,000 men. Accustomed themselves to maintain in peace large standing armies for the protection of thrones against their own subjects, as well as against foreign enemies, they had not conceived that it was possible for a nation without such an army, well disciplined and of long service, to wage war successfully. They held in low repute our militia, and were far from regarding them as an effective force, unless it might be for temporary defensive operations when invaded on our own soil. The events of the late war with Mexico have not only undeceived them, but have removed erroneous impressions which prevailed to some extent even among a portion of our own countrymen. That war has demonstrated that upon the breaking out of hostilities not anticipated, and for which no previous preparation had been made, a volunteer army of citizen soldiers equal to veteran troops, and in numbers equal to any emergency, can in a short period be brought into the field. Unlike what would have occurred in any other country, we were under no necessity of resorting to drafts or conscriptions. On the contrary, such was the number of volunteers who patriotically tendered their services that the chief difficulty was in making selections and determining who should be disappointed and compelled to remain at home. Our citizen soldiers are unlike those drawn from the population of any other country. They are composed indiscriminately of all professions and pursuits--of farmers, lawyers, physicians, merchants, manufacturers, mechanics, and laborers--and this not only among the officers, but the private soldiers in the ranks. Our citizen soldiers are unlike those of any other country in other respects. They are armed, and have been accustomed from their youth up to handle and use firearms, and a large proportion of them, especially in the Western and more newly settled States, are expert marksmen. They are men who have a reputation to maintain at home by their good conduct in the field. They are intelligent, and there is an individuality of character which is found in the ranks of no other army. In battle each private man, as well as every officer, fights   not only for his country, but for glory and distinction among his fellow-citizens when he shall return to civil life. The war with Mexico has demonstrated not only the ability of the Government to organize a numerous army upon a sudden call, but also to provide it with all the munitions and necessary supplies with dispatch, convenience, and ease, and to direct its operations with efficiency. The strength of our institutions has not only been displayed in the valor and skill of our troops engaged in active service in the field, but in the organization of those executive branches which were charged with the general direction and conduct of the war. While too great praise can not be bestowed upon the officers and men who fought our battles, it would be unjust to withhold from those officers necessarily stationed at home, who were charged with the duty of furnishing the Army in proper time and at proper places with all the munitions of war and other supplies so necessary to make it efficient, the commendation to which they are entitled. The credit due to this class of our officers is the greater when it is considered that no army in ancient or modern times was even better appointed or provided than our Army in Mexico. Operating in an enemy's country, removed 2,000 miles from the seat of the Federal Government, its different corps spread over a vast extent of territory, hundreds and even thousands of miles apart from each other, nothing short of the untiring vigilance and extraordinary energy of these officers could have enabled them to provide the Army at all points and in proper season with all that was required for the most efficient service. It is but an act of justice to declare that the officers in charge of the several executive bureaus, all under the immediate eye and supervision of the Secretary of War, performed their respective duties with ability, energy, and efficiency. They have reaped less of the glory of the war, not having been personally exposed to its perils in battle, than their companions in arms; but without their forecast, efficient aid, and cooperation those in the field would not have been provided with the ample means they possessed of achieving for themselves and their country the unfading honors which they have won for both. When all these facts are considered, it may cease to be a matter of so much amazement abroad how it happened that our noble Army in Mexico, regulars and volunteers, were victorious upon every battlefield, however fearful the odds against them. The war with Mexico has thus fully developed the capacity of republican governments to prosecute successfully a just and necessary foreign war with all the vigor usually attributed to more arbitrary forms of government. It has been usual for writers on public law to impute to republics a want of that unity, concentration of purpose, and vigor of execution which are generally admitted to belong to the monarchical and aristocratic forms; and this feature of popular government has been supposed to display itself more particularly in the conduct of a war carried on in an enemy's territory. The war with Great Britain in 1812 was to a great extent confined within our own limits, and shed but little light on this subject; but the war which we have just closed by an honorable peace evinces beyond all doubt that a popular representative government is equal to any emergency which is likely to arise in the affairs of a nation. The war with Mexico has developed most strikingly and conspicuously another feature in our institutions. It is that without cost to the Government or danger to our liberties we have in the bosom of our society of freemen, available in a just and necessary war, virtually a standing army of 2,000,000 armed citizen soldiers, such as fought the battles of Mexico. But our military strength does not consist alone in our capacity for extended and successful operations on land. The Navy is an important arm of the national defense. If the services of the Navy were not so brilliant as those of the Army in the late war with Mexico, it was because they had no enemy to meet on their own element. While the Army had opportunity of performing more conspicuous service, the Navy largely participated in the conduct of the war. Both branches of the service performed their whole duty to the country. For the able and gallant services of the officers and men of the Navy, acting independently as well as in cooperation with our troops, in the conquest of the Californias, the capture of Vera Cruz, and the seizure and occupation of other important positions on the Gulf and Pacific coasts, the highest praise is due. Their vigilance, energy, and skill rendered the most effective service in excluding munitions of war and other supplies from the enemy, while they secured a safe entrance for abundant supplies for our own Army. Our extended commerce was nowhere interrupted, and for this immunity from the evils of war the country is indebted to the Navy. High praise is due to the officers of the several executive bureaus, navy-yards, and stations connected with the service, all under the immediate direction of the Secretary of the Navy, for the industry, foresight, and energy with which everything was directed and furnished to give efficiency to that branch of the service. The same vigilance existed in directing the operations of the Navy as of the Army. There was concert of action and of purpose between the heads of the two arms of the service. By the orders which were from time to time issued, our vessels of war on the Pacific and the Gulf of Mexico were stationed in proper time and in proper positions to cooperate efficiently with the Army. By this means their combined power was brought to bear successfully on the enemy. The great results which have been developed and brought to light by this war will be of immeasurable importance in the future progress of our country. They will tend powerfully to preserve us from foreign collisions, and to enable us to pursue uninterruptedly our cherished policy of "peace with all nations, entangling alliances with none." Occupying, as we do, a more commanding position among nations than at any former period, our duties and our responsibilities to ourselves and to posterity are correspondingly increased. This will be the more obvious when we consider the vast additions which have been recently made to our territorial possessions and their great importance and value. Within less than four years the annexation of Texas to the Union has been consummated; all conflicting title to the Oregon Territory south of the forty-ninth degree of north latitude, being all that was insisted on by any of my predecessors, has been adjusted, and New Mexico and Upper California have been acquired by treaty. The area of these several Territories, according to a report carefully prepared by the Commissioner of the General Land Office from the most authentic information in his possession, and which is herewith transmitted, contains 1,193,061 square miles, or 763,559,040 acres; while the area of the remaining twenty-nine States and the territory not yet organized into States east of the Rocky Mountains contains 2,059,513 square miles, or 1,318,126,058 acres. These estimates show that the territories recently acquired, and over which our exclusive jurisdiction and dominion have been extended, constitute a country more than half as large as all that which was held by the United States before their acquisition. If Oregon be excluded from the estimate, there will still remain within the limits of Texas, New Mexico, and California 851,598 square miles, or 545,012,720 acres, being an addition equal to more than one-third of all the territory owned by the United States before their acquisition, and, including Oregon, nearly as great an extent of territory as the whole of Europe, Russia only excepted. The Mississippi, so lately the frontier of our country, is now only its center. With the addition of the late acquisitions, the United States are now estimated to be nearly as large as the whole of Europe. It is estimated by the Superintendent of the Coast Survey in the accompanying report that the extent of the seacoast of Texas on the Gulf of Mexico is upward of 400 miles; of the coast of Upper California on the Pacific, of 970 miles, and of Oregon, including the Straits of Fuca, of 650 miles, making the whole extent of seacoast on the Pacific 1,620 miles and the whole extent on both the Pacific and the Gulf of Mexico 2,020 miles. The length of the coast on the Atlantic from the northern limits of the United States around the capes of Florida to the Sabine, on the eastern boundary of Texas, is estimated to be 3,100 miles; so that the addition of seacoast, including Oregon, is very nearly two-thirds as great as all we possessed before, and, excluding Oregon, is an addition of 1,370 miles, being nearly equal to one-half of the extent of coast which we possessed before these acquisitions. We have now three great maritime fronts--on the Atlantic, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Pacific--making in the whole an extent of seacoast exceeding 5,000 miles. This is the extent of the seacoast of the United States, not including bays, sounds, and small irregularities of the main shore and of the sea islands. If these be included, the length of the shore line of coast, as estimated by the Superintendent of the Coast Survey in his report, would be 33,063 miles. It would be difficult to calculate the value of these immense additions to our territorial possessions. Texas, lying contiguous to the western boundary of Louisiana, embracing within its limits a part of the navigable tributary waters of the Mississippi and an extensive seacoast, could not long have remained in the hands of a foreign power without endangering the peace of our southwestern frontier. Her products in the vicinity of the tributaries of the Mississippi must have sought a market through these streams, running into and through our territory, and the danger of irritation and collision of interests between Texas as a foreign state and ourselves would have been imminent, while the embarrassments in the commercial intercourse between them must have been constant and unavoidable. Had Texas fallen into the hands or under the influence and control of a strong maritime or military foreign power, as she might have done, these dangers would have been still greater. They have been avoided by her voluntary and peaceful annexation to the United States. Texas, from her position, was a natural and almost indispensable part of our territories. Fortunately, she has been restored to our country, and now constitutes one of the States of our Confederacy, "upon an equal footing with the original States." The salubrity of climate, the fertility of soil, peculiarly adapted to the production of some of our most valuable staple commodities, and her commercial advantages must soon make her one of our most populous States. New Mexico, though situated in the interior and without a seacoast, is known to contain much fertile land, to abound in rich mines of the precious metals, and to be capable of sustaining a large population. From its position it is the intermediate and connecting territory between our settlements and our possessions in Texas and those on the Pacific Coast. Upper California, irrespective of the vast mineral wealth recently developed there, holds at this day, in point of value and importance, to the rest of the Union the same relation that Louisiana did when that fine territory was acquired from France forty-five years ago. Extending nearly ten degrees of latitude along the Pacific, and embracing the only safe and commodious harbors on that coast for many hundred miles, with a temperate climate and an extensive interior of fertile lands, it is scarcely possible to estimate its wealth until it shall be brought under the government of our laws and its resources fully developed. From its position it must command the rich commerce of China, of Asia, of the islands of the Pacific, of western Mexico, of Central America, the South American States, and of the Russian possessions bordering on that ocean. A great emporium will doubtless speedily arise on the Californian coast which may be destined to rival in importance New Orleans itself. The depot of the vast commerce which must exist on the Pacific will probably be at some point on the Bay of San Francisco, and will occupy the same relation to the whole western coast of that ocean as New Orleans does to the valley of the Mississippi and the Gulf of Mexico. To this depot our numerous whale ships will resort with their cargoes to trade, refit, and obtain supplies. This of itself will largely contribute to build up a city, which would soon become the center of a great and rapidly increasing commerce. Situated on a safe harbor, sufficiently capacious for all the navies as well as the marine of the world, and convenient to excellent timber for shipbuilding, owned by the United States, it must become our great Western naval depot. It was known that mines of the precious metals existed to a considerable extent in California at the time of its acquisition. Recent discoveries render it probable that these mines are more extensive and valuable than was anticipated. The accounts of the abundance of gold in that territory are of such an extraordinary character as would scarcely command belief were they not corroborated by the authentic reports of officers in the public service who have visited the mineral district and derived the facts which they detail from personal observation. Reluctant to credit the reports in general circulation as to the quantity of gold, the officer commanding our forces in California visited the mineral district in July last for the purpose of obtaining accurate information on the subject. His report to the War Department of the result of his examination and the facts obtained on the spot is herewith laid before Congress. When he visited the country there were about 4,000 persons engaged in collecting gold. There is every reason to believe that the number of persons so employed has since been augmented. The explorations already made warrant the belief that the supply is very large and that gold is found at various places in an extensive district of country. Information received from officers of the Navy and other sources, though not so full and minute, confirms the accounts of the commander of our military force in California. It appears also from these reports that mines of quicksilver are found in the vicinity of the gold region. One of them is now being worked, and is believed to be among the most productive in the world. The effects produced by the discovery of these rich mineral deposits and the success which has attended the labors of those who have resorted to them have produced a surprising change in the state of affairs in California. Labor commands a most exorbitant price, and all other pursuits but that of searching for the precious metals are abandoned. Nearly the whole of the male population of the country have gone to the gold districts. Ships arriving on the coast are deserted by their crews and their voyages suspended for want of sailors. Our commanding officer there entertains apprehensions that soldiers can not be kept in the public service without a large increase of pay. Desertions in his command have become frequent, and he recommends that those who shall withstand the strong temptation and remain faithful should be rewarded. This abundance of gold and the all-engrossing pursuit of it have already caused in California an unprecedented rise in the price of all the necessaries of life. That we may the more speedily and fully avail ourselves of the undeveloped wealth of these mines, it is deemed of vast importance that a branch of the Mint of the United States be authorized to be established at your present session in California. Among other signal advantages which would result from such an establishment would be that of raising the gold to its par value in that territory. A branch mint of the United States at the great commercial depot on the west coast would convert into our own coin not only the gold derived from our own rich mines, but also the bullion and specie which our commerce may bring from the whole west coast of Central and South America. The west coast of America and the adjacent interior embrace the richest and best mines of Mexico, New Granada, Central America, Chili, and Peru. The bullion and specie drawn from these countries, and especially from those of western Mexico and Peru, to an amount in value of many millions of dollars, are now annually diverted and carried by the ships of Great Britain to her own ports, to be recoined or used to sustain her national bank, and thus contribute to increase her ability to command so much of the commerce of the world. If a branch mint be established at the great commercial point upon that coast, a vast amount of bullion and specie would flow thither to be recoined, and pass thence to New Orleans, New York, and other Atlantic cities. The amount of our constitutional currency at home would be greatly increased, while its circulation abroad would be promoted. It is well known to our merchants trading to China and the west coast of America that great inconvenience and loss are experienced from the fact that our coins are not current at their par value in those countries. The powers of Europe, far removed from the west coast of America by the Atlantic Ocean, which intervenes, and by a tedious and dangerous navigation around the southern cape of the continent of America, can never successfully compete with the United States in the rich and extensive commerce which is opened to us at so much less cost by the acquisition of California. The vast importance and commercial advantages of California have heretofore remained undeveloped by the Government of the country of which it constituted a part. Now that this fine province is a part of our country, all the States of the Union, some more immediately and directly than others, are deeply interested in the speedy development of its wealth and resources. No section of our country is more interested or will be more benefited than the commercial, navigating, and manufacturing interests of the Eastern States. Our planting and farming interests in every part of the Union will Be greatly benefited by it. As our commerce and navigation are enlarged and extended, our exports of agricultural products and of manufactures will be increased, and in the new markets thus opened they can not fail to command remunerating and profitable prices. The acquisition of California and New Mexico, the settlement of the Oregon boundary, and the annexation of Texas, extending to the Rio Grande, are results which, combined, are of greater consequence and will add more to the strength and wealth of the nation than any which have preceded them since the adoption of the Constitution. But to effect these great results not only California, but New Mexico, must be brought under the control of regularly organized governments. The existing condition of California and of that part of New Mexico lying west of the Rio Grande and without the limits of Texas imperiously demands that Congress should at its present session organize Territorial governments over them. Upon the exchange of ratifications of the treaty of peace with Mexico, on the 30th of May last, the temporary governments which had been established over New Mexico and California by our military and naval commanders by virtue of the rights of war ceased to derive any obligatory force from that source of authority, and having been ceded to the United States, all government and control over them under the authority of Mexico had ceased to exist. Impressed with the necessity of establishing Territorial governments over them, I recommended the subject to the favorable consideration of Congress in my message communicating the ratified treaty of peace, on the 6th of July last, and invoked their action at that session. Congress adjourned without making any provision for their government. The inhabitants by the transfer of their country had become entitled to the benefit of our laws and Constitution, and yet were left without any regularly organized government. Since that time the very limited power possessed by the Executive has been exercised to preserve and protect them from the inevitable consequences of a state of anarchy. The only government which remained was that established by the military authority during the war. Regarding this to be a de facto government, and that by the presumed consent of the inhabitants it might be continued temporarily, they were advised to conform and submit to it for the short intervening period before Congress would again assemble and could legislate on the subject. The views entertained by the Executive on this point are contained in a communication of the Secretary of State dated the 7th of October last, which was forwarded for publication to California and New Mexico, a copy of which is herewith transmitted. The small military force of the Regular Army which was serving within the limits of the acquired territories at the close of the war was retained in them, and additional forces have been ordered there for the protection of the inhabitants and to preserve and secure the rights and interests of the United States. No revenue has been or could be collected at the ports in California, because Congress failed to authorize the establishment of custom-houses or the appointment of officers for that purpose. The Secretary of the Treasury, by a circular letter addressed to collectors of the customs on the 7th day of October last, a copy of which is herewith transmitted, exercised all the power with which he was invested by law. In pursuance of the act of the 14th of August last, extending the benefit of our post-office laws to the people of California, the Postmaster-General has appointed two agents, who have proceeded, the one to California and the other to Oregon, with authority to make the necessary arrangements for carrying its provisions into effect. The monthly line of mail steamers from Panama to Astoria has been required to "stop and deliver and take mails at San Diego, Monterey, and San Francisco." These mail steamers, connected by the Isthmus of Panama with the line of mail steamers on the Atlantic between New York and Chagres, will establish a regular mail communication with California. It is our solemn duty to provide with the least practicable delay for New Mexico and California regularly organized Territorial governments. The causes of the failure to do this at the last session of Congress are well known and deeply to be regretted. With the opening prospects of increased prosperity and national greatness which the acquisition of these rich and extensive territorial possessions affords, how irrational it would be to forego or to reject these advantages by the agitation of a domestic question which is coeval with the existence of our Government itself, and to endanger by internal strifes, geographical divisions, and heated contests for political power, or for any other cause, the harmony of the glorious Union of our confederated States--that Union which binds us together as one people, and which for sixty years has been our shield and protection against every danger. In the eyes of the world and of posterity how trivial and insignificant will be all our internal divisions and struggles compared with the preservation of this Union of the States in all its vigor and with all its countless blessings! No patriot would foment and excite geographical and sectional divisions. No lover of his country would deliberately calculate the value of the Union. Future generations would look in amazement upon the folly of such a course. Other nations at the present day would look upon it with astonishment, and such of them as desire to maintain and perpetuate thrones and monarchical or aristocratical principles will view it with exultation and delight, because in it they will see the elements of faction, which they hope must ultimately overturn our system. Ours is the great example of a prosperous and free self-governed republic, commanding the admiration and the imitation of all the lovers of freedom throughout the world. How solemn, therefore, is the duty, how impressive the call upon us and upon all parts of our country, to cultivate a patriotic spirit of harmony, of good-fellowship, of compromise and mutual concession, in the administration of the incomparable system of government formed by our fathers in the midst of almost insuperable difficulties, and transmitted to us with the injunction that we should enjoy its blessings and hand it down unimpaired to those who may come after us. In view of the high and responsible duties which we owe to ourselves and to mankind, I trust you may be able at your present session to approach the adjustment of the only domestic question which seriously threatens, or probably ever can threaten, to disturb the harmony and successful operations of our system. The immensely valuable possessions of New Mexico and California are already inhabited by a considerable population. Attracted by their great fertility, their mineral wealth, their commercial advantages, and the salubrity of the climate, emigrants from the older States in great numbers are already preparing to seek new homes in these inviting regions. Shall the dissimilarity of the domestic institutions in the different States prevent us from providing for them suitable governments? These institutions existed at the adoption of the Constitution, but the obstacles which they interposed were overcome by that spirit of compromise which is now invoked. In a conflict of opinions or of interests, real or imaginary, between different sections of our country, neither can justly demand all which it might desire to obtain. Each, in the true spirit of our institutions, should concede something to the other. Our gallant forces in the Mexican war, by whose patriotism and unparalleled deeds of arms we obtained these possessions as an indemnity for our just demands against Mexico, were composed of citizens who belonged to no one State or section of our Union. They were men from slaveholding and nonslaveholding States, from the North and the South, from the East and the West. They were all companions in arms and fellow-citizens of the same common country, engaged in the same common cause. When prosecuting that war they were brethren and friends, and shared alike with each other common toils, dangers, and sufferings. Now, when their work is ended, when peace is restored, and they return again to their homes, put off the habiliments of war, take their places in society, and resume their pursuits in civil life, surely a spirit of harmony and concession and of equal regard for the rights of all and of all sections of the Union ought to prevail in providing governments for the acquired territories--the fruits of their common service. The whole people of the United States, and of every State, contributed to defray the expenses of that war, and it would not be just for any one section to exclude another from all participation in the acquired territory. This would not be in consonance with the just system of government which the framers of the Constitution adopted. The question is believed to be rather abstract than practical whether slavery ever can or would exist in any portion of the acquired territory even if it were left to the option of the slaveholding States themselves. From the nature of the climate and productions in much the larger portion of it it is certain it could never exist, and in the remainder the probabilities are it would not. But however this may be, the question, involving, as it does, a principle of equality of rights of the separate and several States as equal copartners in the Confederacy, should not be disregarded. In organizing governments over these territories no duty imposed on Congress by the Constitution requires that they should legislate on the subject of slavery, while their power to do so is not only seriously questioned, but denied by many of the soundest expounders of that instrument. Whether Congress shall legislate or not, the people of the acquired territories, when assembled in convention to form State constitutions, will possess the sole and exclusive power to determine for themselves whether slavery shall or shall not exist within their limits. If Congress shall abstain from interfering with the question, the people of these territories will be left free to adjust it as they may think proper when they apply for admission as States into the Union. No enactment of Congress could restrain the people of any of the sovereign States of the Union, old or new, North or South, slaveholding or nonslaveholding, from determining the character of their own domestic institutions as they may deem wise and proper. Any and all the States possess this right, and Congress can not deprive them of it. The people of Georgia might if they chose so alter their constitution as to abolish slavery within its limits, and the people of Vermont might so alter their constitution as to admit slavery within its limits. Both States would possess the right, though, as all know, it is not probable that either would exert it. It is fortunate for the peace and harmony of the Union that this question is in its nature temporary and can only continue for the brief period which will intervene before California and New Mexico may be admitted as States into the Union. From the tide of population now flowing into them it is highly probable that this will soon occur. Considering the several States and the citizens of the several States as equals and entitled to equal rights under the Constitution, if this were an original question it might well be insisted on that the principle of noninterference is the true doctrine and that Congress could not, in the absence of any express grant of power, interfere with their relative rights. Upon a great emergency, however, and under menacing dangers to the Union, the Missouri compromise line in respect to slavery was adopted. The same line was extended farther west in the acquisition of Texas. After an acquiescence of nearly thirty years in the principle of compromise recognized and established by these acts, and to avoid the danger to the Union which might follow if it were now disregarded, I have heretofore expressed the opinion that that line of compromise should be extended on the parallel of 36° 30' from the western boundary of Texas, where it now terminates, to the Pacific Ocean. This is the middle ground of compromise, upon which the different sections of the Union may meet, as they have heretofore met. If this be done, it is confidently believed a large majority of the people of every section of the country, however widely their abstract opinions on the subject of slavery may differ, would cheerfully and patriotically acquiesce in it, and peace and harmony would again fill our borders. The restriction north of the line was only yielded to in the case of Missouri and Texas upon a principle of compromise, made necessary for the sake of preserving the harmony and possibly the existence of the Union. It was upon these considerations that at the close of your last session I gave my sanction to the principle of the Missouri compromise line by approving and signing the bill to establish "the Territorial government of Oregon." From a sincere desire to preserve the harmony of the Union, and in deference for the acts of my predecessors, I felt constrained to yield my acquiescence to the extent to which they had gone in compromising this delicate and dangerous question. But if Congress shall now reverse the decision by which the Missouri compromise was effected, and shall propose to extend the restriction over the whole territory, south as well as north of the parallel of 36° 30', it will cease to be a compromise, and must be regarded as an original question. If Congress, instead of observing the course of noninterference, leaving the adoption of their own domestic institutions to the people who may inhabit these territories, or if, instead of extending the Missouri compromise line to the Pacific, shall prefer to submit the legal and constitutional questions which may arise to the decision of the judicial tribunals, as was proposed in a bill which passed the Senate at your last session, an adjustment may be effected in this mode. If the whole subject be referred to the judiciary, all parts of the Union should cheerfully acquiesce in the final decision of the tribunal created by the Constitution for the settlement of all questions which may arise under the Constitution, treaties, and laws of the United States. Congress is earnestly invoked, for the sake of the Union, its harmony, and our continued prosperity as a nation, to adjust at its present session this, the only dangerous question which lies in our path, if not in some one of the modes suggested, in some other which may be satisfactory. In anticipation of the establishment of regular governments over the acquired territories, a joint commission of officers of the Army and Navy has been ordered to proceed to the coast of California and Oregon for the purpose of making reconnoissances and a report as to the proper sites for the erection of fortifications or other defensive works on land and of suitable situations for naval stations. The information which may be expected from a scientific and skillful examination of the whole face of the coast will be eminently useful to Congress when they come to consider the propriety of making appropriations for these great national objects. Proper defenses on land will be necessary for the security and protection of our possessions, and the establishment of navy-yards and a dock for the repair and construction of vessels will be important alike to our Navy and commercial marine. Without such establishments every vessel, whether of the Navy or of the merchant service, requiring repair must at great expense come round Cape Horn to one of our Atlantic yards for that purpose. With such establishments vessels, it is believed may be built or repaired as cheaply in California as upon the Atlantic coast. They would give employment to many of our enterprising shipbuilders and mechanics and greatly facilitate and enlarge our commerce in the Pacific. As it is ascertained that mines of gold, silver, copper, and quicksilver exist in New Mexico and California, and that nearly all the lands where they are found belong to the United States, it is deemed important to the public interest that provision be made for a geological and mineralogical examination of these regions. Measures should be adopted to preserve the mineral lands, especially such as contain the precious metals, for the use of the United States, or, if brought into market, to separate them from the farming lands and dispose of them in such manner as to secure a large return of money to the Treasury and at the same time to lead to the development of their wealth by individual proprietors and purchasers. To do this it will be necessary to provide for an immediate survey and location of the lots. If Congress should deem it proper to dispose of the mineral lands, they should be sold in small quantities and at a fixed minimum price. I recommend that surveyors-general's offices be authorized to be established in New Mexico and California and provision made for surveying and bringing the public lands into market at the earliest practicable period. In disposing of these lands, I recommend that the right of preemption be secured and liberal grants made to the early emigrants who have settled or may settle upon them. It will be important to extend our revenue laws over these territories, and especially over California, at an early period. There is already a considerable commerce with California, and until ports of entry shall be established and collectors appointed no revenue can be received. If these and other necessary and proper measures be adopted for the development of the wealth and resources of New Mexico and California and regular Territorial governments be established over them, such will probably be the rapid enlargement of our commerce and navigation and such the addition to the national wealth that the present generation may live to witness the controlling commercial and monetary power of the world transferred from London and other European emporiums to the city of New York. The apprehensions which were entertained by some of our statesmen in the earlier periods of the Government that our system was incapable of operating with sufficient energy and success over largely extended territorial limits, and that if this were attempted it would fall to pieces by its own weakness, have been dissipated by our experience. By the division of power between the States and Federal Government the latter is found to operate with as much energy in the extremes as in the center. It is as efficient in the remotest of the thirty States which now compose the Union as it was in the thirteen States which formed our Constitution. Indeed, it may well be doubted whether if our present population had been confined within the limits of the original thirteen States the tendencies to centralization and consolidation would not have been such as to have encroached upon the essential reserved rights of the States, and thus to have made the Federal Government a widely different one, practically, from what it is in theory and was intended to be by its framers. So far from entertaining apprehensions of the safety of our system by the extension of our territory, the belief is confidently entertained that each new State gives strength and an additional guaranty for the preservation of the Union itself. In pursuance of the provisions of the thirteenth article of the treaty of peace, friendship, limits, and settlement with the Republic of Mexico, and of the act of July 29, 1848, claims of our citizens, which had been "already liquidated and decided, against the Mexican Republic" amounting, with the interest thereon, to $2,023,832.51 have been liquidated and paid. There remain to be paid of these claims $74,192.26. Congress at its last session having made no provision for executing the fifteenth article of the treaty, by which the United States assume to make satisfaction for the "unliquidated claims" of our citizens against Mexico to "an amount not exceeding three and a quarter millions of dollars," the subject is again recommended to your favorable consideration. The exchange of ratifications of the treaty with Mexico took place on the 30th of May, 1848. Within one year after that time the commissioner and surveyor which each Government stipulates to appoint are required to meet "at the port of San Diego and proceed to run and mark the said boundary in its whole course to the mouth of the Rio Bravo del Norte." It will be seen from this provision that the period within which a commissioner and surveyor of the respective Governments are to meet at San Diego will expire on the 30th of May, 1849. Congress at the close of its last session made an appropriation for "the expenses of running and marking the boundary line" between the two countries, but did not fix the amount of salary which should be paid to the commissioner and surveyor to be appointed on the part of the United States. It is desirable that the amount of compensation which they shall receive should be prescribed by law, and not left, as at present, to Executive discretion. Measures were adopted at the earliest practicable period to organize the "Territorial government of Oregon," as authorized by the act of the 14th of August last. The governor and marshal of the Territory, accompanied by a small military escort, left the frontier of Missouri in September last, and took the southern route, by the way of Santa Fe and the river Gila, to California, with the intention of proceeding thence in one of our vessels of war to their destination. The governor was fully advised of the great importance of his early arrival in the country, and it is confidently believed he may reach Oregon in the latter part of the present month or early in the next. The other officers for the Territory have proceeded by sea. In the month of May last I communicated information to Congress that an Indian war had broken out in Oregon, and recommended that authority be given to raise an adequate number of volunteers to proceed without delay to the assistance of our fellow-citizens in that Territory. The authority to raise such a force not having been granted by Congress, as soon as their services could be dispensed with in Mexico orders were issued to the regiment of mounted riflemen to proceed to Jefferson Barracks, in Missouri, and to prepare to march to Oregon as soon as the necessary provision could be made. Shortly before it was ready to march it was arrested by the provision of the act passed by Congress on the last day of the last session, which directed that all the noncommissioned officers, musicians, and privates of that regiment who had been in service in Mexico should, upon their application, be entitled to be discharged. The effect of this provision was to disband the rank and file of the regiment, and before their places could be filled by recruits the season had so far advanced that it was impracticable for it to proceed until the opening of the next spring. In the month of October last the accompanying communication was received from the governor of the temporary government of Oregon, giving information of the continuance of the Indian disturbances and of the destitution and defenseless condition of the inhabitants. Orders were immediately transmitted to the commander of our squadron in the Pacific to dispatch to their assistance a part of the naval forces on that station, to furnish them with arms and ammunition, and to continue to give them such aid and protection as the Navy could afford until the Army could reach the country. It is the policy of humanity, and one which has always been pursued by the United States, to cultivate the good will of the aboriginal tribes of this continent and to restrain them from making war and indulging in excesses by mild means rather than by force. That this could have been done with the tribes in Oregon had that Territory been brought under the government of our laws at an earlier period, and had other suitable measures been adopted by Congress, such as now exist in our intercourse with the other Indian tribes within our limits, can not be doubted. Indeed, the immediate and only cause of the existing hostility of the Indians of Oregon is represented to have been the long delay of the United States in making to them some trifling compensation, in such articles as they wanted, for the country now occupied by our emigrants, which the Indians claimed and over which they formerly roamed. This compensation had been promised to them by the temporary government established in Oregon, but its fulfillment had been postponed from time to time for nearly two years, whilst those who made it had been anxiously waiting for Congress to establish a Territorial government over the country. The Indians became at length distrustful of their good faith and sought redress by plunder and massacre, which finally led to the present difficulties. A few thousand dollars in suitable presents, as a compensation for the country which had been taken possession of by our citizens, would have satisfied the Indians and have prevented the war. A small amount properly distributed, it is confidently believed, would soon restore quiet. In this Indian war our fellow-citizens of Oregon have been compelled to take the field in their own defense, have performed valuable military services, and been subjected to expenses which have fallen heavily upon them. Justice demands that provision should be made by Congress to compensate them for their services and to refund to them the necessary expenses which they have incurred. I repeat the recommendation heretofore made to Congress, that provision be made for the appointment of a suitable number of Indian agents to reside among the tribes of Oregon, and that a small sum be appropriated to enable these agents to cultivate friendly relations with them. If this be done, the presence of a small military force will be all that is necessary to keep them in check and preserve peace. I recommend that similar provisions be made as regards the tribes inhabiting northern Texas, New Mexico, California, and the extensive region lying between our settlements in Missouri and these possessions, as the most effective means of preserving peace upon our borders and within the recently acquired territories. The Secretary of the Treasury will present in his annual report a highly satisfactory statement of the condition of the finances. The imports for the fiscal year ending on the 30th of June last were of the value of $154,977,876, of which the amount exported was $21,128,010, leaving $133,849,866 in the country for domestic use. The value of the exports for the same period was $154,032,131, consisting of domestic productions amounting to $132,904,121 and $21,128,010 of foreign articles. The receipts into the Treasury for the same period, exclusive of loans, amounted to $35,436,750.59, of which there was derived from customs $31,757,070.96, from sales of public lands $3,328,642.56, and from miscellaneous and incidental sources $351,037.07. It will be perceived that the revenue from customs for the last fiscal year exceeded by $757,070.96 the estimate of the Secretary of the Treasury in his last annual report, and that the aggregate receipts during the same period from customs, lands, and miscellaneous sources also exceeded the estimate by the sum of $536,750.59, indicating, however, a very near approach in the estimate to the actual result. The expenditures during the fiscal year ending on the 30th of June last, including those for the war and exclusive of payments of principal and interest for the public debt, were $42,811,970.03. It is estimated that the receipts into the Treasury for the fiscal year ending on the 30th of June, 1849, including the balance in the Treasury on the 1st of July last, will amount to the sum of $57,048,969.90, of which $32,000,000, it is estimated, will be derived from customs, $3,000,000 from the sales of the public lands, and $1,200,000 from miscellaneous and incidental sources, including the premium upon the loan, and the amount paid and to be paid into the Treasury on account of military contributions in Mexico, and the sales of arms and vessels and other public property rendered unnecessary for the use of the Government by the termination of the war, and $20,695,435.30 from loans already negotiated, including Treasury notes funded, which, together with the balance in the Treasury on the 1st of July last, make the sum estimated. The expenditures for the same period, including the necessary payment on account of the principal and interest of the public debt, and the principal and interest of the first installment due to Mexico on the 30th of May next, and other expenditures growing out of the war to be paid during the present year, will amount, including the reimbursement of Treasury notes, to the sum of $54,195,275.06, leaving an estimated balance in the Treasury on the 1st of July, 1849, of $2,853,694.84. The Secretary of the Treasury will present, as required by law, the estimate of the receipts and expenditures for the next fiscal year. The expenditures as estimated for that year are $33,213,152.73, including $3,799,102.18 for the interest on the public debt and $3,540,000 for the principal and interest due to Mexico on the 30th of May, 1850, leaving the sum of $25,874,050.35, which, it is believed, will be ample for the ordinary peace expenditures. The operations of the tariff act of 1846 have been such during the past year as fully to meet the public expectation and to confirm the opinion heretofore expressed of the wisdom of the change in our revenue system which was effected by it. The receipts under it into the Treasury for the first fiscal year after its enactment exceeded by the sum of $5,044,403.09 the amount collected during the last fiscal year under the tariff act of 1842, ending the 30th of June, 1846. The total revenue realized from the commencement of its operation, on the 1st of December, 1846, until the close of the last quarter, on the 30th of September last, being twenty-two months, was $56,654,563.79, being a much larger sum than was ever before received from duties during any equal period under the tariff acts of 1824, 1828, 1832, and 1842. Whilst by the repeal of highly protective and prohibitory duties the revenue has been increased, the taxes on the people have been diminished. They have been relieved from the heavy amounts with which they were burthened under former laws in the form of increased prices or bounties paid to favored classes and pursuits. The predictions which were made that the tariff act of 1846 would reduce the amount of revenue below that collected under the act of 1842, and would prostrate the business and destroy the prosperity of the country, have not been verified. With an increased and increasing revenue, the finances are in a highly flourishing condition. Agriculture, commerce, and navigation are prosperous; the prices of manufactured fabrics and of other products are much less injuriously affected than was to have been anticipated from the unprecedented revulsions which during the last and the present year have overwhelmed the industry and paralyzed the credit and commerce of so many great and enlightened nations of Europe. Severe commercial revulsions abroad have always heretofore operated to depress and often to affect disastrously almost every branch of American industry. The temporary depression of a portion of our manufacturing interests is the effect of foreign causes, and is far less severe than has prevailed on all former similar occasions. It is believed that, looking to the great aggregate of all our interests, the whole country was never more prosperous than at the present period, and never more rapidly advancing in wealth and population. Neither the foreign war in which we have been involved, nor the loans which have absorbed so large a portion of our capital, nor the commercial revulsion in Great Britain in 1847, nor the paralysis of credit and commerce throughout Europe in 1848, have affected injuriously to any considerable extent any of the great interests of the country or arrested our onward march to greatness, wealth, and power. Had the disturbances in Europe not occurred, our commerce would undoubtedly have been still more extended, and would have added still more to the national wealth and public prosperity. But notwithstanding these disturbances, the operations of the revenue system established by the tariff act of 1846 have been so generally beneficial to the Government and the business of the country that no change in its provisions is demanded by a wise public policy, and none is recommended. The operations of the constitutional treasury established by the act of the 6th of August, 1846, in the receipt, custody, and disbursement of the public money have continued to be successful. Under this system the public finances have been carried through a foreign war, involving the necessity of loans and extraordinary expenditures and requiring distant transfers and disbursements, without embarrassment, and no loss has occurred of any of the public money deposited under its provisions. Whilst it has proved to be safe and useful to the Government, its effects have been most beneficial upon the business of the country. It has tended powerfully to secure an exemption from that inflation and fluctuation of the paper currency so injurious to domestic industry and rendering so uncertain the rewards of labor, and, it is believed, has largely contributed to preserve the whole country from a serious commercial revulsion, such as often occurred under the bank deposit system. In the year 1847 there was a revulsion in the business of Great Britain of great extent and intensity, which was followed by failures in that Kingdom unprecedented in number and amount of losses. This is believed to be the first instance when such disastrous bankruptcies, occurring in a country with which we have such extensive commerce, produced little or no injurious effect upon our trade or currency. We remained but little affected in our money market, and our business and industry were still prosperous and progressive. During the present year nearly the whole continent of Europe has been convulsed by civil war and revolutions, attended by numerous bankruptcies, by an unprecedented fall in their public securities, and an almost universal paralysis of commerce and industry; and yet, although our trade and the prices of our products must have been somewhat unfavorably affected by these causes, we have escaped a revulsion, our money market is comparatively easy, and public and private credit have advanced and improved. It is confidently believed that we have been saved from their effect by the salutary operation of the constitutional treasury. It is certain that if the twenty-four millions of specie imported into the country during the fiscal year ending on the 30th of June, 1847, had gone into the banks, as to a great extent it must have done, it would in the absence of this system have been made the basis of augmented bank paper issues, probably to an amount not less than $60,000,000 or $70,000,000, producing, as an inevitable consequence of an inflated currency, extravagant prices for a time and wild speculation, which must have been followed, on the reflux to Europe the succeeding year of so much of that specie, by the prostration of the business of the country, the suspension of the banks, and most extensive bankruptcies. Occurring, as this would have done, at a period when the country was engaged in a foreign war, when considerable loans of specie were required for distant disbursements, and when the banks, the fiscal agents of the Government and the depositories of its money, were suspended, the public credit must have sunk, and many millions of dollars, as was the case during the War of 1812, must have been sacrificed in discounts upon loans and upon the depreciated paper currency which the Government would have been compelled to use. Under the operations of the constitutional treasury not a dollar has been lost by the depreciation of the currency. The loans required to prosecute the war with Mexico were negotiated by the Secretary of the Treasury above par, realizing a large premium to the Government. The restraining effect of the system upon the tendencies to excessive paper issues by banks has saved the Government from heavy losses and thousands of our business men from bankruptcy and ruin. The wisdom of the system has been tested by the experience of the last two years, and it is the dictate of sound policy that it should remain undisturbed. The modifications in some of the details of this measure, involving none of its essential principles, heretofore recommended, are again presented for your favorable consideration. In my message of the 6th of July last, transmitting to Congress the ratified treaty of peace with Mexico, I recommended the adoption of measures for the speedy payment of the public debt. In reiterating that recommendation I refer you to the considerations presented in that message in its support. The public debt, including that authorized to be negotiated in pursuance of existing laws, and including Treasury notes, amounted at that time to $65,778,450.41. Funded stock of the United States amounting to about half a million of dollars has been purchased, as authorized by law, since that period, and the public debt has thus been reduced, the details of which will be presented in the annual report of the Secretary of the Treasury. The estimates of expenditures for the next fiscal year, submitted by the Secretary of the Treasury, it is believed will be ample for all necessary purposes. If the appropriations made by Congress shall not exceed the amount estimated, the means in the Treasury will be sufficient to defray all the expenses of the Government, to pay off the next installment of $3,000,000 to Mexico, which will fall due on the 30th of May next, and still a considerable surplus will remain, which should be applied to the further purchase of the public stock and reduction of the debt. Should enlarged appropriations be made, the necessary consequence will be to postpone the payment of the debt. Though our debt, as compared with that of most other nations, is small, it is our true policy, and in harmony with the genius of our institutions, that we should present to the world the rare spectacle of a great Republic, possessing vast resources and wealth, wholly exempt from public indebtedness. This would add still more to our strength, and give to us a still more commanding position among the nations of the earth. The public expenditures should be economical, and be confined to such necessary objects as are clearly within the powers of Congress. All such as are not absolutely demanded should be postponed, and the payment of the public debt at the earliest practicable period should be a cardinal principle of our public policy. For the reason assigned in my last annual message, I repeat the recommendation that a branch of the Mint of the United States be established at the city of New York. The importance of this measure is greatly increased by the acquisition of the rich mines of the precious metals in New Mexico and California, and especially in the latter. I repeat the recommendation heretofore made in favor of the graduation and reduction of the price of such of the public lands as have been long offered in the market and have remained unsold, and in favor of extending the rights of preemption to actual settlers on the unsurveyed as well as the surveyed lands. The condition and operations of the Army and the state of other branches of the public service under the supervision of the War Department are satisfactorily presented in the accompanying report of the Secretary of War. On the return of peace our forces were withdrawn from Mexico, and the volunteers and that portion of the Regular Army engaged for the war were disbanded. Orders have been issued for stationing the forces of our permanent establishment at various positions in our extended country where troops may be required. Owing to the remoteness of some of these positions, the detachments have not yet reached their destination. Notwithstanding the extension of the limits of our country and the forces required in the new territories, it is confidently believed that our present military establishment is sufficient for all exigencies so long as our peaceful relations remain undisturbed. Of the amount of military contributions collected in Mexico, the sum of $769,650 was applied toward the payment of the first installment due under the treaty with Mexico. The further sum of $346,369.30 has been paid into the Treasury, and unexpended balances still remain in the hands of disbursing officers and those who were engaged in the collection of these moneys. After the proclamation of peace no further disbursements were made of any unexpended moneys arising from this source. The balances on hand were directed to be paid into the Treasury, and individual claims on the fund will remain unadjusted until Congress shall authorize their settlement and payment. These claims are not considerable in number or amount. I recommend to your favorable consideration the suggestions of the Secretary of War and the Secretary of the Navy in regard to legislation on this subject. Our Indian relations are presented in a most favorable view in the report from the War Department. The wisdom of our policy in regard to the tribes within our limits is clearly manifested by their improved and rapidly improving condition. A most important treaty with the Menomonies has been recently negotiated by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs in person, by which all their land in the State of Wisconsin--being about 4,000,000 acres--has been ceded to the United States. This treaty will be submitted to the Senate for ratification at an early period of your present session. Within the last four years eight important treaties have been negotiated with different Indian tribes, and at a cost of $1,842,000; Indian lands to the amount of more than 18,500,000 acres have been ceded to the United States, and provision has been made for settling in the country west of the Mississippi the tribes which occupied this large extent of the public domain. The title to all the Indian lands within the several States of our Union, with the exception of a few small reservations, is now extinguished, and a vast region opened for settlement and cultivation. The accompanying report of the Secretary of the Navy gives a satisfactory exhibit of the operations and condition of that branch of the public service. A number of small vessels, suitable for entering the mouths of rivers, were judiciously purchased during the war, and gave great efficiency to the squadron in the Gulf of Mexico. On the return of peace, when no longer valuable for naval purposes, and liable to constant deterioration, they were sold and the money placed in the Treasury. The number of men in the naval service authorized by law during the war has been reduced by discharges below the maximum fixed for the peace establishment. Adequate squadrons are maintained in the several quarters of the globe where experience has shown their services may be most usefully employed, and the naval service was never in a condition of higher discipline or greater efficiency. I invite attention to the recommendation of the Secretary of the Navy on the subject of the Marine Corps. The reduction of the Corps at the end of the war required that four officers of each of the three lower grades should be dropped from the rolls. A board of officers made the selection, and those designated were necessarily dismissed, but without any alleged fault. I concur in opinion with the Secretary that the service would be improved by reducing the number of landsmen and increasing the marines. Such a measure would justify an increase of the number of officers to the extent of the reduction by dismissal, and still the Corps would have fewer officers than a corresponding number of men in the Army. The contracts for the transportation of the mail in steamships, convertible into war steamers, promise to realize all the benefits to our commerce and to the Navy which were anticipated. The first steamer thus secured to the Government was launched in January, 1847. There are now seven, and in another year there will probably be not less than seventeen afloat. While this great national advantage is secured, our social and commercial intercourse is increased and promoted with Germany, Great Britain, and other parts of Europe, with all the countries on the west coast of our continent, especially with Oregon and California, and between the northern and southern sections of the United States. Considerable revenue may be expected from postages, but the connected line from New York to Chagres, and thence across the Isthmus to Oregon, can not fail to exert a beneficial influence, not now to be estimated, on the interests of the manufactures, commerce, navigation, and currency of the United States. As an important part of the system, I recommend to your favorable consideration the establishment of the proposed line of steamers between New Orleans and Vera Cruz. It promises the most happy results in cementing friendship between the two Republics and extending reciprocal benefits to the trade and manufactures of both. The report of the Postmaster-General will make known to you the operations of that Department for the past year. It is gratifying to find the revenues of the Department, under the rates of postage now established by law, so rapidly increasing. The gross amount of postages during the last fiscal year amounted to $4,371,077, exceeding the annual average received for the nine years immediately preceding the passage of the act of the 3d of March, 1845, by the sum of $6,453, and exceeding the amount received for the year ending the 30th of June, 1847, by the sum of $425,184. The expenditures for the year, excluding the sum of $94,672, allowed by Congress at its last session to individual claimants, and including the sum of $100,500, paid for the services of the line of steamers between Bremen and New York, amounted to $4,198,845, which is less than the annual average for the nine years previous to the act of 1845 by $300,748. The mail routes on the 30th day of June last were 163,208 miles in extent, being an increase during the last year of 9,390 miles. The mails were transported over them during the same time 41,012,579 miles, making an increase of transportation for the year of 2,124,680 miles, whilst the expense was less than that of the previous year by $4,235. The increase in the mail transportation within the last three years has been 5,378,310 miles, whilst the expenses were reduced $456,738, making an increase of service at the rate of 15 per cent and a reduction in the expenses of more than 15 per cent. During the past year there have been employed, under contracts with the Post-Office Department, two ocean steamers in conveying the mails monthly between New York and Bremen, and one, since October last, performing semimonthly service between Charleston and Havana; and a contract has been made for the transportation of the Pacific mails across the Isthmus from Chagres to Panama. Under the authority given to the Secretary of the Navy, three ocean steamers have been constructed and sent to the Pacific, and are expected to enter upon the mail service between Panama and Oregon and the intermediate ports on the 1st of January next; and a fourth has been engaged by him for the service between Havana and Chagres, so that a regular monthly mail line will be kept up after that time between the United States and our territories on the Pacific. Notwithstanding this great increase in the mail service, should the revenue continue to increase the present year as it did in the last, there will be received near $450,000 more than the expenditures. These considerations have satisfied the Postmaster-General that, with certain modifications of the act of 1845, the revenue may be still further increased and a reduction of postages made to a uniform rate of 5 cents, without an interference with the principle, which has been constantly and properly enforced, of making that Department sustain itself. A well-digested cheap-postage system is the best means of diffusing intelligence among the people, and is of so much importance in a country so extensive as that of the United States that I recommend to your favorable consideration the suggestions of the Postmaster-General for its improvement. Nothing can retard the onward progress of our country and prevent us from assuming and maintaining the first rank among nations but a disregard of the experience of the past and a recurrence to an unwise public policy. We have just closed a foreign war by an honorable peace--a war rendered necessary and unavoidable in vindication of the national rights and honor. The present condition of the country is similar in some respects to that which existed immediately after the close of the war with Great Britain in 1815, and the occasion is deemed to be a proper one to take a retrospect of the measures of public policy which followed that war. There was at that period of our history a departure from our earlier policy. The enlargement of the powers of the Federal Government by construction, which obtained, was not warranted by any just interpretation of the Constitution. A few years after the close of that war a series of measures was adopted which, united and combined, constituted what was termed by their authors and advocates the "American system." The introduction of the new policy was for a time favored by the condition of the country, by the heavy debt which had been contracted during the war, by the depression of the public credit, by the deranged state of the finances and the currency, and by the commercial and pecuniary embarrassment which extensively prevailed. These were not the only causes which led to its establishment. The events of the war with Great Britain and the embarrassments which had attended its prosecution had left on the minds of many of our statesmen the impression that our Government was not strong enough, and that to wield its resources successfully in great emergencies, and especially in war, more power should be concentrated in its hands. This increased power they did not seek to obtain by the legitimate and prescribed mode--an amendment of the Constitution--but by construction. They saw Governments in the Old World based upon different orders of society, and so constituted as to throw the whole power of nations into the hands of a few, who taxed and controlled the many without responsibility or restraint. In that arrangement they conceived the strength of nations in war consisted. There was also something fascinating in the ease, luxury, and display of the higher orders, who drew their wealth from the toil of the laboring millions. The authors of the system drew their ideas of political economy from what they had witnessed in Europe, and particularly in Great Britain. They had viewed the enormous wealth concentrated in few hands and had seen the splendor of the overgrown establishments of an aristocracy which was upheld by the restrictive policy. They forgot to look down upon the poorer classes of the English population, upon whose daily and yearly labor the great establishments they so much admired were sustained and supported. They failed to perceive that the scantily fed and half-clad operatives were not only in abject poverty, but were bound in chains of oppressive servitude for the benefit of favored classes, who were the exclusive objects of the care of the Government. It was not possible to reconstruct society in the United States upon the European plan. Here there was a written Constitution, by which orders and titles were not recognized or tolerated. A system of measures was therefore devised, calculated, if not intended, to withdraw power gradually and silently from the States and the mass of the people, and by construction to approximate our Government to the European models, substituting an aristocracy of wealth for that of orders and titles. Without reflecting upon the dissimilarity of our institutions and of the condition of our people and those of Europe, they conceived the vain idea of building up in the United States a system similar to that which they admired abroad. Great Britain had a national bank of large capital, in whose hands was concentrated the controlling monetary and financial power of the nation--an institution wielding almost kingly power, and exerting vast influence upon all the operations of trade and upon the policy of the Government itself. Great Britain had an enormous public debt, and it had become a part of her public policy to regard this as a "public blessing." Great Britain had also a restrictive policy, which placed fetters and burdens on trade and trammeled the productive industry of the mass of the nation. By her combined system of policy the landlords and other property holders were protected and enriched by the enormous taxes which were levied upon the labor of the country for their advantage. Imitating this foreign policy, the first step in establishing the new system in the United States was the creation of a national bank. Not foreseeing the dangerous power and countless evils which such an institution might entail on the country, nor perceiving the connection which it was designed to form between the bank and the other branches of the miscalled "American system," but feeling the embarrassments of the Treasury and of the business of the country consequent upon the war, some of our statesmen who had held different and sounder views were induced to yield their scruples and, indeed, settled convictions of its unconstitutionality, and to give it their sanction as an expedient which they vainly hoped might produce relief. It was a most unfortunate error, as the subsequent history and final catastrophe of that dangerous and corrupt institution have abundantly proved. The bank, with its numerous branches ramified into the States, soon brought many of the active political and commercial men in different sections of the country into the relation of debtors to it and dependents upon it for pecuniary favors, thus diffusing throughout the mass of society a great number of individuals of power and influence to give tone to public opinion and to act in concert in cases of emergency. The corrupt power of such a political engine is no longer a matter of speculation, having been displayed in numerous instances, but most signally in the political struggles of 1832, 1833, and 1834 in opposition to the public will represented by a fearless and patriotic President. But the bank was but one branch of the new system. A public debt of more than $120,000,000 existed, and it is not to be disguised that many of the authors of the new system did not regard its speedy payment as essential to the public prosperity, but looked upon its continuance as no national evil. Whilst the debt existed it furnished aliment to the national bank and rendered increased taxation necessary to the amount of the interest, exceeding $7,000,000 annually. This operated in harmony with the next branch of the new system, which was a high protective tariff. This was to afford bounties to favored classes and particular pursuits at the expense of all others. A proposition to tax the whole people for the purpose of enriching a few was too monstrous to be openly made. The scheme was therefore veiled under the plausible but delusive pretext of a measure to protect "home industry," and many of our people were for a time led to believe that a tax which in the main fell upon labor was for the benefit of the laborer who paid it. This branch of the system involved a partnership between the Government and the favored classes, the former receiving the proceeds of the tax imposed on articles imported and the latter the increased price of similar articles produced at home, caused by such tax. It is obvious that the portion to be received by the favored classes would, as a general rule, be increased in proportion to the increase of the rates of tax imposed and diminished as those rates were reduced to the revenue standard required by the wants of the Government. The rates required to produce a sufficient revenue for the ordinary expenditures of Government for necessary purposes were not likely to give to the private partners in this scheme profits sufficient to satisfy their cupidity, and hence a variety of expedients and pretexts were resorted to for the purpose of enlarging the expenditures and thereby creating a necessity for keeping up a high protective tariff. The effect of this policy was to interpose artificial restrictions upon the natural course of the business and trade of the country, and to advance the interests of large capitalists and monopolists at the expense of the great mass of the people, who were taxed to increase their wealth. Another branch of this system was a comprehensive scheme of internal improvements, capable of indefinite enlargement and sufficient to swallow up as many millions annually as could be exacted from the foreign commerce of the country. This was a convenient and necessary adjunct of the protective tariff. It was to be the great absorbent of any surplus which might at any time accumulate in the Treasury and of the taxes levied on the people, not for necessary revenue purposes, but for the avowed object of affording protection to the favored classes. Auxiliary to the same end, if it was not an essential part of the system itself, was the scheme, which at a later period obtained, for distributing the proceeds of the sales of the public lands among the States. Other expedients were devised to take money out of the Treasury and prevent its coming in from any other source than the protective tariff. The authors and supporters of the system were the advocates of the largest expenditures, whether for necessary or useful purposes or not, because the larger the expenditures the greater was the pretext for high taxes in the form of protective duties. These several measures were sustained by popular names and plausible arguments, by which thousands were deluded. The bank was represented to be an indispensable fiscal agent for the Government; was to equalize exchanges and to regulate and furnish a sound currency, always and everywhere of uniform value. The protective tariff was to give employment to "American labor" at advanced prices; was to protect "home industry" and furnish a steady market for the farmer. Internal improvements were to bring trade into every neighborhood and enhance the value of every man's property. The distribution of the land money was to enrich the States, finish their public works, plant schools throughout their borders, and relieve them from taxation. But the fact that for every dollar taken out of the Treasury for these objects a much larger sum was transferred from the pockets of the people to the favored classes was carefully concealed, as was also the tendency, if not the ultimate design, of the system to build up an aristocracy of wealth, to control the masses of society, and monopolize the political power of the country. The several branches of this system were so intimately blended together that in their operation each sustained and strengthened the others. Their joint operation was to add new burthens of taxation and to encourage a largely increased and wasteful expenditure of public money. It was the interest of the bank that the revenue collected and the disbursements made by the Government should be large, because, being the depository of the public money, the larger the amount the greater would be the bank profits by its use. It was the interest of the favored classes, who were enriched by the protective tariff, to have the rates of that protection as high as possible, for the higher those rates the greater would be their advantage. It was the interest of the people of all those sections and localities who expected to be benefited by expenditures for internal improvements that the amount collected should be as large as possible, to the end that the sum disbursed might also be the larger. The States, being the beneficiaries in the distribution of the land money, had an interest in having the rates of tax imposed by the protective tariff large enough to yield a sufficient revenue from that source to meet the wants of the Government without disturbing or taking from them the land fund; so that each of the branches constituting the system had a common interest in swelling the public expenditures. They had a direct interest in maintaining the public debt unpaid and increasing its amount, because this would produce an annual increased drain upon the Treasury to the amount of the interest and render augmented taxes necessary. The operation and necessary effect of the whole system were to encourage large and extravagant expenditures, and thereby to increase the public patronage, and maintain a rich and splendid government at the expense of a taxed and impoverished people. It is manifest that this scheme of enlarged taxation and expenditures, had it continued to prevail, must soon have converted the Government of the Union, intended by its framers to be a plain, cheap, and simple confederation of States, united together for common protection and charged with a few specific duties, relating chiefly to our foreign affairs, into a consolidated empire, depriving the States of their reserved rights and the people of their just power and control in the administration of their Government. In this manner the whole form and character of the Government would be changed, not by an amendment of the Constitution, but by resorting to an unwarrantable and unauthorized construction of that instrument. The indirect mode of levying the taxes by a duty on imports prevents the mass of the people from readily perceiving the amount they pay, and has enabled the few who are thus enriched, and who seek to wield the political power of the country, to deceive and delude them. Were the taxes collected by a direct levy upon the people, as is the case   in the States, this could not occur. The whole system was resisted from its inception by many of our ablest statesmen, some of whom doubted its constitutionality and its expediency, while others believed it was in all its branches a flagrant and dangerous infraction of the Constitution. That a national bank, a protective tariff--levied not to raise the revenue needed, but for protection merely--internal improvements, and the distribution of the proceeds of the sale of the public lands are measures without the warrant of the Constitution would, upon the maturest consideration, seem to be clear. It is remarkable that no one of these measures, involving such momentous consequences, is authorized by any express grant of power in the Constitution. No one of them is "incident to, as being necessary and proper for the execution of, the specific powers" granted by the Constitution. The authority under which it has been attempted to justify each of them is derived from inferences and constructions of the Constitution which its letter and its whole object and design do not warrant. Is it to be conceived that such immense powers would have been left by the framers of the Constitution to mere inferences and doubtful constructions? Had it been intended to confer them on the Federal Government, it is but reasonable to conclude that it would have been done by plain and unequivocal grants. This was not done; but the whole structure of which the "American system" consisted was reared on no other or better foundation than forced implications and inferences of power, which its authors assumed might be deduced by construction from the Constitution. But it has been urged that the national bank, which constituted so essential a branch of this combined system of measures, was not a new measure, and that its constitutionality had been previously sanctioned, because a bank had been chartered in 1791 and had received the official signature of President Washington. A few facts will show the just weight to which this precedent should be entitled as bearing upon the question of constitutionality. Great division of opinion upon the subject existed in Congress. It is well known that President Washington entertained serious doubts both as to the constitutionality and expediency of the measure, and while the bill was before him for his official approval or disapproval so great were these doubts that he required "the opinion in writing" of the members of his Cabinet to aid him in arriving at a decision. His Cabinet gave their opinions and were divided upon the subject, General Hamilton being in favor of and Mr. Jefferson and Mr. Randolph being opposed to the constitutionality and expediency of the bank. It is well known also that President Washington retained the bill from Monday, the 14th, when it was presented to him, until Friday, the 25th of February, being the last moment permitted him by the Constitution to deliberate, when he finally yielded to it his reluctant assent and gave it his signature. It is certain that as late as the 23d of February, being the ninth day after the bill was presented to him, he had arrived at no satisfactory conclusion, for on that day he addressed a note to General Hamilton in which he informs him that "this bill was presented to me by the joint committee of Congress at 12 o'clock on Monday, the 14th instant," and he requested his opinion "to what precise period, by legal interpretation of the Constitution, can the President retain it in his possession before it becomes a law by the lapse of ten days." If the proper construction was that the day on which the bill was presented to the President and the day on which his action was had upon it were both to be counted inclusive, then the time allowed him within which it would be competent for him to return it to the House in which it originated with his objections would expire on Thursday, the 24th of February. General Hamilton on the same day returned an answer, in which he states: I give it as my opinion that you have ten days exclusive of that on which the bill was delivered to you and Sundays; hence, in the present case if it is returned on Friday it will be in time. By this construction, which the President adopted, he gained another day for deliberation, and it was not until the 25th of February that he signed the bill, thus affording conclusive proof that he had at last obtained his own consent to sign it not without great and almost insuperable difficulty. Additional light has been recently shed upon the serious doubts which he had on the subject, amounting at one time to a conviction that it was his duty to withhold his approval from the bill. This is found among the manuscript papers of Mr. Madison, authorized to be purchased for the use of the Government by an act of the last session of Congress, and now for the first time accessible to the public. From these papers it appears that President Washington, while he yet held the bank bill in his hands, actually requested Mr. Madison, at that time a member of the House of Representatives, to prepare the draft of a veto message for him. Mr. Madison, at his request, did prepare the draft of such a message, and sent it to him on the 21st of February, 1791. A copy of this original draft, in Mr. Madison's own handwriting, was carefully preserved by him, and is among the papers lately purchased by Congress. It is preceded by a note, written on the same sheet, which is also in Mr. Madison's handwriting, and is as follows: February 21, 1791.--Copy of a paper made out and sent to the President, at his request, to be ready in case his judgment should finally decide against the bill for incorporating a national bank, the bill being then before him. Among the objections assigned in this paper to the bill, and which were submitted for the consideration of the President, are the following: I object to the bill, because it is an essential principle of the Government that powers not delegated by the Constitution can not be rightfully exercised; because the power proposed by the bill to be exercised is not expressly delegated, and because I can not satisfy myself that it results from any express power by fair and safe rules of interpretation. The weight of the precedent of the bank of 1791 and the sanction of the great name of Washington, which has been so often invoked in its support, are greatly weakened by the development of these facts. The experiment of that bank satisfied the country that it ought not to be continued, and at the end of twenty years Congress refused to recharter it. It would have been fortunate for the country, and saved thousands from bankruptcy and ruin, had our public men of 1816 resisted the temporary pressure of the times upon our financial and pecuniary interests and refused to charter the second bank. Of this the country became abundantly satisfied, and at the close of its twenty years' duration, as in the case of the first bank, it also ceased to exist. Under the repeated blows of President Jackson it reeled and fell, and a subsequent attempt to charter a similar institution was arrested by the veto of President Tyler. Mr. Madison, in yielding his signature to the charter of 1816, did so upon the ground of the respect due to precedents; and, as he subsequently declared-- The Bank of the United States, though on the original question held to be unconstitutional, received the Executive signature. It is probable that neither the bank of 1791 nor that of 1816 would have been chartered but for the embarrassments of the Government in its finances, the derangement of the currency, and the pecuniary pressure which existed, the first the consequence of the War of the Revolution and the second the consequence of the War of 1812. Both were resorted to in the delusive hope that they would restore public credit and afford relief to the Government and to the business of the country. Those of our public men who opposed the whole "American system" at its commencement and throughout its progress foresaw and predicted that it was fraught with incalculable mischiefs and must result in serious injury to the best interests of the country. For a series of years their wise counsels were unheeded, and the system was established. It was soon apparent that its practical operation was unequal and unjust upon different portions of the country and upon the people engaged in different pursuits. All were equally entitled to the favor and protection of the Government. It fostered and elevated the money power and enriched the favored few by taxing labor, and at the expense of the many. Its effect was to "make the rich richer and the poor poorer." Its tendency was to create distinctions in society based on wealth and to give to the favored classes undue control and sway in our Government. It was an organized money power, which resisted the popular will and sought to shape and control the public policy. Under the pernicious workings of this combined system of measures the country witnessed alternate seasons of temporary apparent prosperity, of sudden and disastrous commercial revulsions, of unprecedented fluctuation of prices and depression of the great interests of agriculture, navigation, and commerce, of general pecuniary suffering, and of final bankruptcy of thousands. After a severe struggle of more than a quarter of a century, the system was overthrown. The bank has been succeeded by a practical system of finance, conducted and controlled solely by the Government. The constitutional currency has been restored, the public credit maintained unimpaired even in a period of a foreign war, and the whole country has become satisfied that banks, national or State, are not necessary as fiscal agents of the Government. Revenue duties have taken the place of the protective tariff. The distribution of the money derived from the sale of the public lands has been abandoned and the corrupting system of internal improvements, it is hoped, has been effectually checked. It is not doubted that if this whole train of measures, designed to take wealth from the many and bestow it upon the few, were to prevail the effect would be to change the entire character of the Government. One only danger remains. It is the seductions of that branch of the system which consists in internal improvements, holding out, as it does, inducements to the people of particular sections and localities to embark the Government in them without stopping to calculate the inevitable consequences. This branch of the system is so intimately combined and linked with the others that as surely as an effect is produced by an adequate cause, if it be resuscitated and revived and firmly established it requires no sagacity to foresee that it will necessarily and speedily draw after it the reestablishment of a national bank, the revival of a protective tariff, the distribution of the land money, and not only the postponement to the distant future of the payment of the present national debt, but its annual increase. I entertain the solemn conviction that if the internal-improvement branch of the "American system" be not firmly resisted at this time the whole series of measures composing it will be speedily reestablished and the country be thrown back from its present high state of prosperity, which the existing policy has produced, and be destined again to witness all the evils, commercial revulsions, depression of prices, and pecuniary embarrassments through which we have passed during the last twenty-five years. To guard against consequences so ruinous is an object of high national importance, involving, in my judgment, the continued prosperity of the country. I have felt it to be an imperative obligation to withhold my constitutional sanction from two bills which had passed the two Houses of Congress, involving the principle of the internal improvement branch of the "American system" and conflicting in their provisions with the views here expressed. This power, conferred upon the President by the Constitution, I have on three occasions during my administration of the executive department of the Government deemed it my duty to exercise, and on this last occasion of making to Congress an annual communication "of the state of the Union" it is not deemed inappropriate to review the principles and considerations which have governed my action. I deem this the more necessary because, after the lapse of nearly sixty years since the adoption of the Constitution, the propriety of the exercise of this undoubted constitutional power by the President has for the first time been drawn seriously in question by a portion of my fellow-citizens. The Constitution provides that-- Every bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate shall, before it become a law, be presented to the President of the United States. If he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it with his objections to that House in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the objections at large on their Journal and proceed to reconsider it. The preservation of the Constitution from infraction is the President's highest duty. He is bound to discharge that duty at whatever hazard of incurring the displeasure of those who may differ with him in opinion. He is bound to discharge it as well by his obligations to the people who have clothed him with his exalted trust as by his oath of office, which he may not disregard. Nor are the obligations of the President in any degree lessened by the prevalence of views different from his own in one or both Houses of Congress. It is not alone hasty and inconsiderate legislation that he is required to check; but if at any time Congress shall, after apparently full deliberation, resolve on measures which he deems subversive of the Constitution or of the vital interests of the country, it is his solemn duty to stand in the breach and resist them. The President is bound to approve or disapprove every bill which passes Congress and is presented to him for his signature. The Constitution makes this his duty, and he can not escape it if he would. He has no election. In deciding upon any bill presented to him he must exercise his own best judgment. If he can not approve, the Constitution commands him to return the bill to the House in which it originated with his objections, and if he fail to do this within ten days (Sundays excepted) it shall become a law without his signature. Right or wrong, he may be overruled by a vote of two-thirds of each House, and in that event the bill becomes a law without his sanction. If his objections be not thus overruled, the subject is only postponed, and is referred to the States and the people for their consideration and decision. The President's power is negative merely, and not affirmative. He can enact no law. The only effect, therefore, of his withholding his approval of a bill passed by Congress is to suffer the existing laws to remain unchanged, and the delay occasioned is only that required to enable the States and the people to consider and act upon the subject in the election of public agents who will carry out their wishes and instructions. Any attempt to coerce the President to yield his sanction to measures which he can not approve would be a violation of the spirit of the Constitution, palpable and flagrant, and if successful would break down the independence of the executive department and make the President, elected by the people and clothed by the Constitution with power to defend their rights, the mere instrument of a majority of Congress. A surrender on his part of the powers with which the Constitution has invested his office would effect a practical alteration of that instrument without resorting to the prescribed process of amendment. With the motives or considerations which may induce Congress to pass any bill the President can have nothing to do. He must presume them to be as pure as his own, and look only to the practical effect of their measures when compared with the Constitution or the public good. But it has been urged by those who object to the exercise of this undoubted constitutional power that it assails the representative principle and the capacity of the people to govern themselves; that there is greater safety in a numerous representative body than in the single Executive created by the Constitution, and that the Executive veto is a "one-man power," despotic in its character. To expose the fallacy of this objection it is only necessary to consider the frame and true character of our system. Ours is not a consolidated empire, but a confederated union. The States before the adoption of the Constitution were coordinate, co-equal, and separate independent sovereignties, and by its adoption they did not lose that character. They clothed the Federal Government with certain powers and reserved all others, including their own sovereignty, to themselves. They guarded their own rights as States and the rights of the people by the very limitations which they incorporated into the Federal Constitution, whereby the different departments of the General Government were checks upon each other. That the majority should govern is a general principle controverted by none, but they must govern according to the Constitution, and not according to an undefined and unrestrained discretion, whereby they may oppress the minority. The people of the United States are not blind to the fact that they may be temporarily misled, and that their representatives, legislative and executive, may be mistaken or influenced in their action by improper motives. They have therefore interposed between themselves and the laws which may be passed by their public agents various representations, such as assemblies, senates, and governors in their several States, a House of Representatives, a Senate, and a President of the United States. The people can by their own direct agency make no law, nor can the House of Representatives, immediately elected by them, nor can the Senate, nor can both together without the concurrence of the President or a vote of two-thirds of both Houses. Happily for themselves, the people in framing our admirable system of government were conscious of the infirmities of their representatives, and in delegating to them the power of legislation they have fenced them around with checks to guard against the effects of hasty action, of error, of combination, and of possible corruption. Error, selfishness, and faction have often sought to rend asunder this web of checks and subject the Government to the control of fanatic and sinister influences, but these efforts have only satisfied the people of the wisdom of the checks which they have imposed and of the necessity of preserving them unimpaired. The true theory of our system is not to govern by the acts or decrees of any one set of representatives. The Constitution interposes checks upon all branches of the Government, in order to give time for error to be corrected and delusion to pass away; but if the people settle down into a firm conviction different from that of their representatives they give effect to their opinions by changing their public servants. The checks which the people imposed on their public servants in the adoption of the Constitution are the best evidence of their capacity for self-government. They know that the men whom they elect to public stations are of like infirmities and passions with themselves, and not to be trusted without being restricted by coordinate authorities and constitutional limitations. Who that has witnessed the legislation of Congress for the last thirty years will say that he knows of no instance in which measures not demanded by the public good have been carried ? Who will deny that in the State governments, by combinations of individuals and sections, in derogation of the general interest, banks have been chartered, systems of internal improvements adopted, and debts entailed upon the people repressing their growth and impairing their energies for years to come? After so much experience it can not be said that absolute unchecked power is safe in the hands of any one set of representatives, or that the capacity of the people for self-government, which is admitted in its broadest extent, is a conclusive argument to prove the prudence, wisdom, and integrity of their representatives. The people, by the Constitution, have commanded the President, as much as they have commanded the legislative branch of the Government, to execute their will. They have said to him in the Constitution, which they require he shall take a solemn oath to support, that if Congress pass any bill which he can not approve "he shall return it to the House in which it originated with his objections." In withholding from it his approval and signature he is executing the will of the people, constitutionally expressed, as much as the Congress that passed it. No bill is presumed to be in accordance with the popular will until it shall have passed through all the branches of the Government required by the Constitution to make it a law. A bill which passes the House of Representatives may be rejected by the Senate, and so a bill passed by the Senate may be rejected by the House. In each case the respective Houses exercise the veto power on the other. Congress, and each House of Congress, hold under the Constitution a check upon the President, and he, by the power of the qualified veto, a check upon Congress. When the President recommends measures to Congress, he avows in the most solemn form his opinions, gives his voice in their favor, and pledges himself in advance to approve them if passed by Congress. If he acts without due consideration, or has been influenced by improper or corrupt motives, or if from any other cause Congress, or either House of Congress, shall differ with him in opinion, they exercise their veto upon his recommendations and reject them; and there is no appeal from their decision but to the people at the ballot box. These are proper checks upon the Executive, wisely interposed by the Constitution. None will be found to object to them or to wish them removed. It is equally important that the constitutional checks of the Executive upon the legislative branch should be preserved. If it be said that the Representatives in the popular branch of Congress are chosen directly by the people, it is answered, the people elect the President. If both Houses represent the States and the people, so does the President. The President represents in the executive department the whole people of the United States, as each member of the legislative department represents portions of them. The doctrine of restriction upon legislative and executive power, while a well-settled public opinion is enabled within a reasonable time to accomplish its ends, has made our country what it is, and has opened to us a career of glory and happiness to which all other nations have been strangers. In the exercise of the power of the veto the President is responsible not only to an enlightened public opinion, but to the people of the whole Union, who elected him, as the representatives in the legislative branches who differ with him in opinion are responsible to the people of particular States or districts, who compose their respective constituencies. To deny to the President the exercise of this power would be to repeal that provision of the Constitution which confers it upon him. To charge that its exercise unduly controls the legislative will is to complain of the Constitution itself. If the Presidential veto be objected to upon the ground that it checks and thwarts the popular will, upon the same principle the equality of representation of the States in the Senate should be stricken out of the Constitution. The vote of a Senator from Delaware has equal weight in deciding upon the most important measures with the vote of a Senator from New York, and yet the one represents a State containing, according to the existing apportionment of Representatives in the House of Representatives, but one thirty-fourth part of the population of the other. By the constitutional composition of the Senate a majority of that body from the smaller States represent less than one-fourth of the people of the Union. There are thirty States, and under the existing apportionment of Representatives there are 230 Members in the House of Representatives. Sixteen of the smaller States are represented in that House by but 50 Members, and yet the Senators from these States constitute a majority of the Senate. So that the President may recommend a measure to Congress, and it may receive the sanction and approval of more than three-fourths of the House of Representatives and of all the Senators from the large States, containing more than three-fourths of the whole population of the United States, and yet the measure may be defeated by the votes of the Senators from the smaller States. None, it is presumed, can be found ready to change the organization of the Senate on this account, or to strike that body practically out of existence by requiring that its action shall be conformed to the will of the more numerous branch. Upon the same principle that the veto of the President should be practically abolished the power of the Vice-President to give the casting vote upon an equal division of the Senate should be abolished also. The Vice-President exercises the veto power as effectually by rejecting a bill by his casting vote as the President does by refusing to approve and sign it. This power has been exercised by the Vice-President in a few instances, the most important of which was the rejection of the bill to recharter the Bank of the United States in 1811. It may happen that a bill may be passed by a large majority of the House of Representatives, and may be supported by the Senators from the larger States, and the Vice-President may reject it by giving his vote with the Senators from the smaller States; and yet none, it is presumed, are prepared to deny to him the exercise of this power under the Constitution. But it is, in point of fact, untrue that an act passed by Congress is conclusive evidence that it is an emanation of the popular will. A majority of the whole number elected to each House of Congress constitutes a quorum, and a majority of that quorum is competent to pass laws. It might happen that a quorum of the House of Representatives, consisting of a single member more than half of the whole number elected to that House, might pass a bill by a majority of a single vote, and in that case a fraction more than one-fourth of the people of the United States would be represented by those who voted for it. It might happen that the same bill might be passed by a majority of one of a quorum of the Senate, composed of Senators from the fifteen smaller States and a single Senator from a sixteenth State; and if the Senators voting for it happened to be from the eight of the smallest of these States, it would be passed by the votes of Senators from States having but fourteen Representatives in the House of Representatives, and containing less than one-sixteenth of the whole population of the United States. This extreme case is stated to illustrate the fact that the mere passage of a bill by Congress is no conclusive evidence that those who passed it represent the majority of the people of the United States or truly reflect their will. If such an extreme case is not likely to happen, cases that approximate it are of constant occurrence. It is believed that not a single law has been passed since the adoption of the Constitution upon which all the members elected to both Houses have been present and voted. Many of the most important acts which have passed Congress have been carried by a close vote in thin Houses. Many instances of this might be given. Indeed, our experience proves that many of the most important acts of Congress are postponed to the last days, and often the last hours, of a session, when they are disposed of in haste, and by Houses but little exceeding the number necessary to form a quorum. Besides, in most of the States the members of the House of Representatives are chosen by pluralities, and not by majorities of all the voters in their respective districts, and it may happen that a majority of that House may be returned by a less aggregate vote of the people than that received by the minority. If the principle insisted on be sound, then the Constitution should be so changed that no bill shall become a law unless it is voted for by members representing in each House a majority of the whole people of the United States. We must remodel our whole system, strike down and abolish not only the salutary checks lodged in the executive branch, but must strike out and abolish those lodged in the Senate also, and thus practically invest the whole power of the Government in a majority of a single assembly--a majority uncontrolled and absolute, and which may become despotic. To conform to this doctrine of the right of majorities to rule, independent of the checks and limitations of the Constitution, we must revolutionize our whole system; we must destroy the constitutional compact by which the several States agreed to form a Federal Union and rush into consolidation, which must end in monarchy or despotism. No one advocates such a proposition, and yet the doctrine maintained, if carried out, must lead to this result. One great object of the Constitution in conferring upon the President a qualified negative upon the legislation of Congress was to protect minorities from injustice and oppression by majorities. The equality of their representation in the Senate and the veto power of the President are the constitutional guaranties which the smaller States have that their rights will be respected. Without these guaranties all their interests would be at the mercy of majorities in Congress representing the larger States. To the smaller and weaker States, therefore, the preservation of this power and its exercise upon proper occasions demanding it is of vital importance. They ratified the Constitution and entered into the Union, securing to themselves an equal representation with the larger States in the Senate; and they agreed to be bound by all laws passed by Congress upon the express condition, and none other, that they should be approved by the President or passed, his objections to the contrary notwithstanding, by a vote of two-thirds of both Houses. Upon this condition they have a right to insist as a part of the compact to which they gave their assent. A bill might be passed by Congress against the will of the whole people of a particular State and against the votes of its Senators and all its Representatives. However prejudicial it might be to the interests of such State, it would be bound by it if the President shall approve it or it shall be passed by a vote of two-thirds of both Houses; but it has a right to demand that the President shall exercise his constitutional power and arrest it if his judgment is against it. If he surrender this power, or fail to exercise it in a case where he can not approve, it would make his formal approval a mere mockery, and would be itself a violation of the Constitution, and the dissenting State would become bound by a law which had not been passed according to the sanctions of the Constitution. The objection to the exercise of the veto power is founded upon an idea respecting the popular will, which, if carried out, would annihilate State sovereignty and substitute for the present Federal Government a consolidation directed by a supposed numerical majority. A revolution of the Government would be silently effected and the States would be subjected to laws to which they had never given their constitutional consent. The Supreme Court of the United States is invested with the power to declare, and has declared, acts of Congress passed with the concurrence of the Senate, the House of Representatives, and the approval of the President to be unconstitutional and void, and yet none, it is presumed, can be found who will be disposed to strip this highest judicial tribunal under the Constitution of this acknowledged power--a power necessary alike to its independence and the rights of individuals. For the same reason that the Executive veto should, according to the doctrine maintained, be rendered nugatory, and be practically expunged from the Constitution, this power of the court should also be rendered nugatory and be expunged, because it restrains the legislative and Executive will, and because the exercise of such a power by the court may be regarded as being in conflict with the capacity of the people to govern themselves. Indeed, there is more reason for striking this power of the court from the Constitution than there is that of the qualified veto of the president, because the decision of the court is final, and can never be reversed even though both Houses of Congress and the President should be unanimous in opposition to it, whereas the veto of the President may be overruled by a vote of two-thirds of both Houses of Congress or by the people at the polls. It is obvious that to preserve the system established by the Constitution each of the coordinate branches of the Government--the executive, legislative, and judicial--must be left in the exercise of its appropriate powers. If the executive or the judicial branch be deprived of powers conferred upon either as checks on the legislative, the preponderance of the latter will become disproportionate and absorbing and the others impotent for the accomplishment of the great objects for which they were established. Organized, as they are, by the Constitution, they work together harmoniously for the public good. If the Executive and the judiciary shall be deprived of the constitutional powers invested in them, and of their due proportions, the equilibrium of the system must be destroyed, and consolidation, with the most pernicious results, must ensue--a consolidation of unchecked, despotic power, exercised by majorities of the legislative branch. The executive, legislative, and judicial each constitutes a separate coordinate department of the Government, and each is independent of the others. In the performance of their respective duties under the Constitution neither can in its legitimate action control the others. They each act upon their several responsibilities in their respective spheres. But if the doctrines now maintained be correct, the executive must become practically subordinate to the legislative, and the judiciary must become subordinate to both the legislative and the executive; and thus the whole power of the Government would be merged in a single department. Whenever, if ever, this shall occur, our glorious system of well-regulated self-government will crumble into ruins, to be succeeded, first by anarchy, and finally by monarchy or despotism. I am far from believing that this doctrine is the sentiment of the American people; and during the short period which remains in which it will be my duty to administer the executive department it will be my aim to maintain its independence and discharge its duties without infringing upon the powers or duties of either of the other departments of the Government. The power of the Executive veto was exercised by the first and most illustrious of my predecessors and by four of his successors who preceded me in the administration of the Government, and it is believed in no instance prejudicially to the public interests. It has never been and there is but little danger that it ever can be abused. No President will ever desire unnecessarily to place his opinion in opposition to that of Congress. He must always exercise the power reluctantly, and only in cases where his convictions make it a matter of stern duty, which he can not escape. Indeed, there is more danger that the President, from the repugnance he must always feel to come in collision with Congress, may fail to exercise it in cases where the preservation of the Constitution from infraction, or the public good, may demand it than that he will ever exercise it unnecessarily or wantonly. During the period I have administered the executive department of the Government great and important questions of public policy, foreign and domestic, have arisen, upon which it was my duty to act. It may, indeed, be truly said that my Administration has fallen upon eventful times. I have felt most sensibly the weight of the high responsibilities devolved upon me. With no other object than the public good, the enduring fame, and permanent prosperity of my country, I have pursued the convictions of my own best judgment. The impartial arbitrament of enlightened public opinion, present and future, will determine how far the public policy I have maintained and the measures I have from time to time recommended may have tended to advance or retard the public prosperity at home and to elevate or depress the estimate of our national character abroad. Invoking the blessings of the Almighty upon your deliberations at your present important session, my ardent hope is that in a spirit of harmony and concord you may be guided to wise results, and such as may redound to the happiness, the honor, and the glory of our beloved country.
Under the benignant providence of Almighty God the representatives of the States and of the people are again brought together to deliberate for the public good. The gratitude of the nation to the Sovereign Arbiter of All Human Events should be commensurate with the boundless blessings which we enjoy. Peace, plenty, and contentment reign throughout our borders, and our beloved country presents a sublime moral spectacle to the world. The troubled and unsettled condition of some of the principal European powers has had a necessary tendency to check and embarrass trade and to depress prices throughout all commercial nations, but notwithstanding these causes, the United States, with their abundant products, have felt their effects less severely than any other country, and all our great interests are still prosperous and successful. In reviewing the great events of the past year and contrasting the agitated and disturbed state of other countries with our own tranquil and happy condition, we may congratulate ourselves that we are the most favored people on the face of the earth. While the people of other countries are struggling to establish free institutions, under which man may govern himself, we are in the actual enjoyment of them--a rich inheritance from our fathers. While enlightened nations of Europe are convulsed and distracted by civil war or intestine strife, we settle all our political controversies by the peaceful exercise of the rights of freemen at the ballot box. The great republican maxim, so deeply engraven on the hearts of our people, that the will of the majority, constitutionally expressed, shall prevail, is our sure safeguard against force and violence. It is a subject of just pride that our fame and character as a nation continue rapidly to advance in the estimation of the civilized world. To our wise and free institutions it is to be attributed that while other nations have achieved glory at the price of the suffering, distress, and impoverishment of their people, we have won our honorable position in the midst of an uninterrupted prosperity and of an increasing individual comfort and happiness. I am happy to inform you that our relations with all nations are friendly and pacific. Advantageous treaties of commerce have been concluded within the last four years with New Granada, Peru, the Two Sicilies, Belgium, Hanover, Oldenburg, and Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Pursuing our example, the restrictive system of Great Britain, our principal foreign customer, has been relaxed, a more liberal commercial policy has been adopted by other enlightened nations, and our trade has been greatly enlarged and extended. Our country stands higher in the respect of the world than at any former period. To continue to occupy this proud position, it is only necessary to preserve peace and faithfully adhere to the great and fundamental principle of our foreign policy of noninterference in the domestic concerns of other nations. We recognize in all nations the right which we enjoy ourselves, to change and reform their political institutions according to their own will and pleasure. Hence we do not look behind existing governments capable of maintaining their own authority. We recognize all such actual governments, not only from the dictates of true policy, but from a sacred regard for the independence of nations. While this is our settled policy, it does not follow that we can ever be indifferent spectators of the progress of liberal principles. The Government and people of the United States hailed with enthusiasm and delight the establishment of the French Republic, as we now hail the efforts in progress to unite the States of Germany in a confederation similar in many respects to our own Federal Union. If the great and enlightened German States, occupying, as they do, a central and commanding position in Europe, shall succeed in establishing such a confederated government, securing at the same time to the citizens of each State local governments adapted to the peculiar condition of each, with unrestricted trade and intercourse with each other, it will be an important era in the history of human events. Whilst it will consolidate and strengthen the power of Germany, it must essentially promote the because of peace, commerce, civilization, and constitutional liberty throughout the world. With all the Governments on this continent our relations, it is believed, are now on a more friendly and satisfactory footing than they have ever been at any former period. Since the exchange of ratifications of the treaty of peace with Mexico our intercourse with the Government of that Republic has been of the most friendly character. The envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of the United States to Mexico has been received and accredited, and a diplomatic representative from Mexico of similar rank has been received and accredited by this Government. The amicable relations between the two countries, which had been suspended, have been happily restored, and are destined, I trust, to be long preserved. The two Republics, both situated on this continent, and with coterminous territories, have every motive of sympathy and of interest to bind them together in perpetual amity. This gratifying condition of our foreign relations renders it unnecessary for me to call your attention more specifically to them. It has been my constant aim and desire to cultivate peace and commerce with all nations. Tranquility at home and peaceful relations abroad constitute the true permanent policy of our country. War, the scourge of nations, sometimes becomes inevitable, but is always to be avoided when it can be done consistently with the rights and honor of a nation. One of the most important results of the war into which we were recently forced with a neighboring nation is the demonstration it has afforded of the military strength of our country. Before the late war with Mexico European and other foreign powers entertained imperfect and erroneous views of our physical strength as a nation and of our ability to prosecute war, and especially a war waged out of our own country. They saw that our standing Army on the peace establishment did not exceed 10,000 men. Accustomed themselves to maintain in peace large standing armies for the protection of thrones against their own subjects, as well as against foreign enemies, they had not conceived that it was possible for a nation without such an army, well disciplined and of long service, to wage war successfully. They held in low repute our militia, and were far from regarding them as an effective force, unless it might be for temporary defensive operations when invaded on our own soil. The events of the late war with Mexico have not only undeceived them, but have removed erroneous impressions which prevailed to some extent even among a portion of our own countrymen. That war has demonstrated that upon the breaking out of hostilities not anticipated, and for which no previous preparation had been made, a volunteer army of citizen soldiers equal to veteran troops, and in numbers equal to any emergency, can in a short period be brought into the field. Unlike what would have occurred in any other country, we were under no necessity of resorting to drafts or conscriptions. On the contrary, such was the number of volunteers who patriotically tendered their services that the chief difficulty was in making selections and determining who should be disappointed and compelled to remain at home. Our citizen soldiers are unlike those drawn from the population of any other country. They are composed indiscriminately of all professions and pursuits--of farmers, lawyers, physicians, merchants, manufacturers, mechanics, and laborers--and this not only among the officers, but the private soldiers in the ranks. Our citizen soldiers are unlike those of any other country in other respects. They are armed, and have been accustomed from their youth up to handle and use firearms, and a large proportion of them, especially in the Western and more newly settled States, are expert marksmen. They are men who have a reputation to maintain at home by their good conduct in the field. They are intelligent, and there is an individuality of character which is found in the ranks of no other army. In battle each private man, as well as every officer, fights not only for his country, but for glory and distinction among his fellow-citizens when he shall return to civil life. The war with Mexico has demonstrated not only the ability of the Government to organize a numerous army upon a sudden call, but also to provide it with all the munitions and necessary supplies with dispatch, convenience, and ease, and to direct its operations with efficiency. The strength of our institutions has not only been displayed in the valor and skill of our troops engaged in active service in the field, but in the organization of those executive branches which were charged with the general direction and conduct of the war. While too great praise can not be bestowed upon the officers and men who fought our battles, it would be unjust to withhold from those officers necessarily stationed at home, who were charged with the duty of furnishing the Army in proper time and at proper places with all the munitions of war and other supplies so necessary to make it efficient, the commendation to which they are entitled. The credit due to this class of our officers is the greater when it is considered that no army in ancient or modern times was even better appointed or provided than our Army in Mexico. Operating in an enemy's country, removed 2,000 miles from the seat of the Federal Government, its different corps spread over a vast extent of territory, hundreds and even thousands of miles apart from each other, nothing short of the untiring vigilance and extraordinary energy of these officers could have enabled them to provide the Army at all points and in proper season with all that was required for the most efficient service. It is but an act of justice to declare that the officers in charge of the several executive bureaus, all under the immediate eye and supervision of the Secretary of War, performed their respective duties with ability, energy, and efficiency. They have reaped less of the glory of the war, not having been personally exposed to its perils in battle, than their companions in arms; but without their forecast, efficient aid, and cooperation those in the field would not have been provided with the ample means they possessed of achieving for themselves and their country the unfading honors which they have won for both. When all these facts are considered, it may cease to be a matter of so much amazement abroad how it happened that our noble Army in Mexico, regulars and volunteers, were victorious upon every battlefield, however fearful the odds against them. The war with Mexico has thus fully developed the capacity of republican governments to prosecute successfully a just and necessary foreign war with all the vigor usually attributed to more arbitrary forms of government. It has been usual for writers on public law to impute to republics a want of that unity, concentration of purpose, and vigor of execution which are generally admitted to belong to the monarchical and aristocratic forms; and this feature of popular government has been supposed to display itself more particularly in the conduct of a war carried on in an enemy's territory. The war with Great Britain in 1812 was to a great extent confined within our own limits, and she would but little light on this subject; but the war which we have just closed by an honorable peace evinces beyond all doubt that a popular representative government is equal to any emergency which is likely to arise in the affairs of a nation. The war with Mexico has developed most strikingly and conspicuously another feature in our institutions. It is that without cost to the Government or danger to our liberties we have in the bosom of our society of freemen, available in a just and necessary war, virtually a standing army of 2,000,000 armed citizen soldiers, such as fought the battles of Mexico. But our military strength does not consist alone in our capacity for extended and successful operations on land. The Navy is an important arm of the national defense. If the services of the Navy were not so brilliant as those of the Army in the late war with Mexico, it was because they had no enemy to meet on their own element. While the Army had opportunity of performing more conspicuous service, the Navy largely participated in the conduct of the war. Both branches of the service performed their whole duty to the country. For the able and gallant services of the officers and men of the Navy, acting independently as well as in cooperation with our troops, in the conquest of the Californias, the capture of Vera Cruz, and the seizure and occupation of other important positions on the Gulf and Pacific coasts, the highest praise is due. Their vigilance, energy, and skill rendered the most effective service in excluding munitions of war and other supplies from the enemy, while they secured a safe entrance for abundant supplies for our own Army. Our extended commerce was nowhere interrupted, and for this immunity from the evils of war the country is indebted to the Navy. High praise is due to the officers of the several executive bureaus, navy-yards, and stations connected with the service, all under the immediate direction of the Secretary of the Navy, for the industry, foresight, and energy with which everything was directed and furnished to give efficiency to that branch of the service. The same vigilance existed in directing the operations of the Navy as of the Army. There was concert of action and of purpose between the heads of the two arms of the service. By the orders which were from time to time issued, our vessels of war on the Pacific and the Gulf of Mexico were stationed in proper time and in proper positions to cooperate efficiently with the Army. By this means their combined power was brought to bear successfully on the enemy. The great results which have been developed and brought to light by this war will be of immeasurable importance in the future progress of our country. They will tend powerfully to preserve us from foreign collisions, and to enable us to pursue uninterruptedly our cherished policy of "peace with all nations, entangling alliances with none." Occupying, as we do, a more commanding position among nations than at any former period, our duties and our responsibilities to ourselves and to posterity are correspondingly increased. This will be the more obvious when we consider the vast additions which have been recently made to our territorial possessions and their great importance and value. Within less than four years the annexation of Texas to the Union has been consummated; all conflicting title to the Oregon Territory south of the forty-ninth degree of north latitude, being all that was insisted on by any of my predecessors, has been adjusted, and New Mexico and Upper California have been acquired by treaty. The area of these several Territories, according to a report carefully prepared by the Commissioner of the General Land Office from the most authentic information in his possession, and which is herewith transmitted, contains 1,193,061 square miles, or 763,559,040 acres; while the area of the remaining twenty-nine States and the territory not yet organized into States east of the Rocky Mountains contains 2,059,513 square miles, or 1,318,126,058 acres. These estimates show that the territories recently acquired, and over which our exclusive jurisdiction and dominion have been extended, constitute a country more than half as large as all that which was held by the United States before their acquisition. If Oregon be excluded from the estimate, there will still remain within the limits of Texas, New Mexico, and California 851,598 square miles, or 545,012,720 acres, being an addition equal to more than one-third of all the territory owned by the United States before their acquisition, and, including Oregon, nearly as great an extent of territory as the whole of Europe, Russia only excepted. The Mississippi, so lately the frontier of our country, is now only its center. With the addition of the late acquisitions, the United States are now estimated to be nearly as large as the whole of Europe. It is estimated by the Superintendent of the Coast Survey in the accompanying report that the extent of the seacoast of Texas on the Gulf of Mexico is upward of 400 miles; of the coast of Upper California on the Pacific, of 970 miles, and of Oregon, including the Straits of Fuca, of 650 miles, making the whole extent of seacoast on the Pacific 1,620 miles and the whole extent on both the Pacific and the Gulf of Mexico 2,020 miles. The length of the coast on the Atlantic from the northern limits of the United States around the capes of Florida to the Sabine, on the eastern boundary of Texas, is estimated to be 3,100 miles; so that the addition of seacoast, including Oregon, is very nearly two-thirds as great as all we possessed before, and, excluding Oregon, is an addition of 1,370 miles, being nearly equal to one-half of the extent of coast which we possessed before these acquisitions. We have now three great maritime fronts--on the Atlantic, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Pacific--making in the whole an extent of seacoast exceeding 5,000 miles. This is the extent of the seacoast of the United States, not including bays, sounds, and small irregularities of the main shore and of the sea islands. If these be included, the length of the shore line of coast, as estimated by the Superintendent of the Coast Survey in his report, would be 33,063 miles. It would be difficult to calculate the value of these immense additions to our territorial possessions. Texas, lying contiguous to the western boundary of Louisiana, embracing within its limits a part of the navigable tributary waters of the Mississippi and an extensive seacoast, could not long have remained in the hands of a foreign power without endangering the peace of our southwestern frontier. Her products in the vicinity of the tributaries of the Mississippi must have sought a market through these streams, running into and through our territory, and the danger of irritation and collision of interests between Texas as a foreign state and ourselves would have been imminent, while the embarrassments in the commercial intercourse between them must have been constant and unavoidable. Had Texas fallen into the hands or under the influence and control of a strong maritime or military foreign power, as she might have done, these dangers would have been still greater. They have been avoided by her voluntary and peaceful annexation to the United States. Texas, from her position, was a natural and almost indispensable part of our territories. Fortunately, she has been restored to our country, and now constitutes one of the States of our Confederacy, "upon an equal footing with the original States." The salubrity of climate, the fertility of soil, peculiarly adapted to the production of some of our most valuable staple commodities, and her commercial advantages must soon make her one of our most populous States. New Mexico, though situated in the interior and without a seacoast, is known to contain much fertile land, to abound in rich mines of the precious metals, and to be capable of sustaining a large population. From its position it is the intermediate and connecting territory between our settlements and our possessions in Texas and those on the Pacific Coast. Upper California, irrespective of the vast mineral wealth recently developed there, holds at this day, in point of value and importance, to the rest of the Union the same relation that Louisiana did when that fine territory was acquired from France forty-five years ago. Extending nearly ten degrees of latitude along the Pacific, and embracing the only safe and commodious harbors on that coast for many hundred miles, with a temperate climate and an extensive interior of fertile lands, it is scarcely possible to estimate its wealth until it shall be brought under the government of our laws and its resources fully developed. From its position it must command the rich commerce of China, of Asia, of the islands of the Pacific, of western Mexico, of Central America, the South American States, and of the Russian possessions bordering on that ocean. A great emporium will doubtless speedily arise on the Californian coast which may be destined to rival in importance New Orleans itself. The depot of the vast commerce which must exist on the Pacific will probably be at some point on the Bay of San Francisco, and will occupy the same relation to the whole western coast of that ocean as New Orleans does to the valley of the Mississippi and the Gulf of Mexico. To this depot our numerous whale ships will resort with their cargoes to trade, refit, and obtain supplies. This of itself will largely contribute to build up a city, which would soon become the center of a great and rapidly increasing commerce. Situated on a safe harbor, sufficiently capacious for all the navies as well as the marine of the world, and convenient to excellent timber for shipbuilding, owned by the United States, it must become our great Western naval depot. It was known that mines of the precious metals existed to a considerable extent in California at the time of its acquisition. Recent discoveries render it probable that these mines are more extensive and valuable than was anticipated. The accounts of the abundance of gold in that territory are of such an extraordinary character as would scarcely command belief were they not corroborated by the authentic reports of officers in the public service who have visited the mineral district and derived the facts which they detail from personal observation. Reluctant to credit the reports in general circulation as to the quantity of gold, the officer commanding our forces in California visited the mineral district in July last for the purpose of obtaining accurate information on the subject. His report to the War Department of the result of his examination and the facts obtained on the spot is herewith laid before Congress. When he visited the country there were about 4,000 persons engaged in collecting gold. There is every reason to believe that the number of persons so employed has since been augmented. The explorations already made warrant the belief that the supply is very large and that gold is found at various places in an extensive district of country. Information received from officers of the Navy and other sources, though not so full and minute, confirms the accounts of the commander of our military force in California. It appears also from these reports that mines of quicksilver are found in the vicinity of the gold region. One of them is now being worked, and is believed to be among the most productive in the world. The effects produced by the discovery of these rich mineral deposits and the success which has attended the labors of those who have resorted to them have produced a surprising change in the state of affairs in California. Labor commands a most exorbitant price, and all other pursuits but that of searching for the precious metals are abandoned. Nearly the whole of the male population of the country have gone to the gold districts. Ships arriving on the coast are deserted by their crews and their voyages suspended for want of sailors. Our commanding officer there entertains apprehensions that soldiers can not be kept in the public service without a large increase of pay. Desertions in his command have become frequent, and he recommends that those who shall withstand the strong temptation and remain faithful should be rewarded. This abundance of gold and the all-engrossing pursuit of it have already caused in California an unprecedented rise in the price of all the necessaries of life. That we may the more speedily and fully avail ourselves of the undeveloped wealth of these mines, it is deemed of vast importance that a branch of the Mint of the United States be authorized to be established at your present session in California. Among other signal advantages which would result from such an establishment would be that of raising the gold to its par value in that territory. A branch mint of the United States at the great commercial depot on the west coast would convert into our own coin not only the gold derived from our own rich mines, but also the bullion and specie which our commerce may bring from the whole west coast of Central and South America. The west coast of America and the adjacent interior embrace the richest and best mines of Mexico, New Granada, Central America, Chili, and Peru. The bullion and specie drawn from these countries, and especially from those of western Mexico and Peru, to an amount in value of many millions of dollars, are now annually diverted and carried by the ships of Great Britain to her own ports, to be recoined or used to sustain her national bank, and thus contribute to increase her ability to command so much of the commerce of the world. If a branch mint be established at the great commercial point upon that coast, a vast amount of bullion and specie would flow thither to be recoined, and pass thence to New Orleans, New York, and other Atlantic cities. The amount of our constitutional currency at home would be greatly increased, while its circulation abroad would be promoted. It is well known to our merchants trading to China and the west coast of America that great inconvenience and loss are experienced from the fact that our coins are not current at their par value in those countries. The powers of Europe, far removed from the west coast of America by the Atlantic Ocean, which intervenes, and by a tedious and dangerous navigation around the southern cape of the continent of America, can never successfully compete with the United States in the rich and extensive commerce which is opened to us at so much less cost by the acquisition of California. The vast importance and commercial advantages of California have heretofore remained undeveloped by the Government of the country of which it constituted a part. Now that this fine province is a part of our country, all the States of the Union, some more immediately and directly than others, are deeply interested in the speedy development of its wealth and resources. No section of our country is more interested or will be more benefited than the commercial, navigating, and manufacturing interests of the Eastern States. Our planting and farming interests in every part of the Union will Be greatly benefited by it. As our commerce and navigation are enlarged and extended, our exports of agricultural products and of manufactures will be increased, and in the new markets thus opened they can not fail to command remunerating and profitable prices. The acquisition of California and New Mexico, the settlement of the Oregon boundary, and the annexation of Texas, extending to the Rio Grande, are results which, combined, are of greater consequence and will add more to the strength and wealth of the nation than any which have preceded them since the adoption of the Constitution. But to effect these great results not only California, but New Mexico, must be brought under the control of regularly organized governments. The existing condition of California and of that part of New Mexico lying west of the Rio Grande and without the limits of Texas imperiously demands that Congress should at its present session organize Territorial governments over them. Upon the exchange of ratifications of the treaty of peace with Mexico, on the 30th of May last, the temporary governments which had been established over New Mexico and California by our military and naval commanders by virtue of the rights of war ceased to derive any obligatory force from that source of authority, and having been ceded to the United States, all government and control over them under the authority of Mexico had ceased to exist. Impressed with the necessity of establishing Territorial governments over them, I recommended the subject to the favorable consideration of Congress in my message communicating the ratified treaty of peace, on the 6th of July last, and invoked their action at that session. Congress adjourned without making any provision for their government. The inhabitants by the transfer of their country had become entitled to the benefit of our laws and Constitution, and yet were left without any regularly organized government. Since that time the very limited power possessed by the Executive has been exercised to preserve and protect them from the inevitable consequences of a state of anarchy. The only government which remained was that established by the military authority during the war. Regarding this to be a de facto government, and that by the presumed consent of the inhabitants it might be continued temporarily, they were advised to conform and submit to it for the short intervening period before Congress would again assemble and could legislate on the subject. The views entertained by the Executive on this point are contained in a communication of the Secretary of State dated the 7th of October last, which was forwarded for publication to California and New Mexico, a copy of which is herewith transmitted. The small military force of the Regular Army which was serving within the limits of the acquired territories at the close of the war was retained in them, and additional forces have been ordered there for the protection of the inhabitants and to preserve and secure the rights and interests of the United States. No revenue has been or could be collected at the ports in California, because Congress failed to authorize the establishment of custom-houses or the appointment of officers for that purpose. The Secretary of the Treasury, by a circular letter addressed to collectors of the customs on the 7th day of October last, a copy of which is herewith transmitted, exercised all the power with which he was invested by law. In pursuance of the act of the 14th of August last, extending the benefit of our post-office laws to the people of California, the Postmaster-General has appointed two agents, who have proceeded, the one to California and the other to Oregon, with authority to make the necessary arrangements for carrying its provisions into effect. The monthly line of mail steamers from Panama to Astoria has been required to "stop and deliver and take mails at San Diego, Monterey, and San Francisco." These mail steamers, connected by the Isthmus of Panama with the line of mail steamers on the Atlantic between New York and Chagres, will establish a regular mail communication with California. It is our solemn duty to provide with the least practicable delay for New Mexico and California regularly organized Territorial governments. The causes of the failure to do this at the last session of Congress are well known and deeply to be regretted. With the opening prospects of increased prosperity and national greatness which the acquisition of these rich and extensive territorial possessions affords, how irrational it would be to forego or to reject these advantages by the agitation of a domestic question which is coeval with the existence of our Government itself, and to endanger by internal strifes, geographical divisions, and heated contests for political power, or for any other because, the harmony of the glorious Union of our confederated States--that Union which binds us together as one people, and which for sixty years has been our shield and protection against every danger. In the eyes of the world and of posterity how trivial and insignificant will be all our internal divisions and struggles compared with the preservation of this Union of the States in all its vigor and with all its countless blessings! No patriot would foment and excite geographical and sectional divisions. No lover of his country would deliberately calculate the value of the Union. Future generations would look in amazement upon the folly of such a course. Other nations at the present day would look upon it with astonishment, and such of them as desire to maintain and perpetuate thrones and monarchical or aristocratical principles will view it with exultation and delight, because in it they will see the elements of faction, which they hope must ultimately overturn our system. Ours is the great example of a prosperous and free self-governed republic, commanding the admiration and the imitation of all the lovers of freedom throughout the world. How solemn, therefore, is the duty, how impressive the call upon us and upon all parts of our country, to cultivate a patriotic spirit of harmony, of good-fellowship, of compromise and mutual concession, in the administration of the incomparable system of government formed by our fathers in the midst of almost insuperable difficulties, and transmitted to us with the injunction that we should enjoy its blessings and hand it down unimpaired to those who may come after us. In view of the high and responsible duties which we owe to ourselves and to mankind, I trust you may be able at your present session to approach the adjustment of the only domestic question which seriously threatens, or probably ever can threaten, to disturb the harmony and successful operations of our system. The immensely valuable possessions of New Mexico and California are already inhabited by a considerable population. Attracted by their great fertility, their mineral wealth, their commercial advantages, and the salubrity of the climate, emigrants from the older States in great numbers are already preparing to seek new homes in these inviting regions. Shall the dissimilarity of the domestic institutions in the different States prevent us from providing for them suitable governments? These institutions existed at the adoption of the Constitution, but the obstacles which they interposed were overcome by that spirit of compromise which is now invoked. In a conflict of opinions or of interests, real or imaginary, between different sections of our country, neither can justly demand all which it might desire to obtain. Each, in the true spirit of our institutions, should concede something to the other. Our gallant forces in the Mexican war, by whose patriotism and unparalleled deeds of arms we obtained these possessions as an indemnity for our just demands against Mexico, were composed of citizens who belonged to no one State or section of our Union. They were men from slaveholding and nonslaveholding States, from the North and the South, from the East and the West. They were all companions in arms and fellow-citizens of the same common country, engaged in the same common because. When prosecuting that war they were brethren and friends, and shared alike with each other common toils, dangers, and sufferings. Now, when their work is ended, when peace is restored, and they return again to their homes, put off the habiliments of war, take their places in society, and resume their pursuits in civil life, surely a spirit of harmony and concession and of equal regard for the rights of all and of all sections of the Union ought to prevail in providing governments for the acquired territories--the fruits of their common service. The whole people of the United States, and of every State, contributed to defray the expenses of that war, and it would not be just for any one section to exclude another from all participation in the acquired territory. This would not be in consonance with the just system of government which the framers of the Constitution adopted. The question is believed to be rather abstract than practical whether slavery ever can or would exist in any portion of the acquired territory even if it were left to the option of the slaveholding States themselves. From the nature of the climate and productions in much the larger portion of it it is certain it could never exist, and in the remainder the probabilities are it would not. But however this may be, the question, involving, as it does, a principle of equality of rights of the separate and several States as equal copartners in the Confederacy, should not be disregarded. In organizing governments over these territories no duty imposed on Congress by the Constitution requires that they should legislate on the subject of slavery, while their power to do so is not only seriously questioned, but denied by many of the soundest expounders of that instrument. Whether Congress shall legislate or not, the people of the acquired territories, when assembled in convention to form State constitutions, will possess the sole and exclusive power to determine for themselves whether slavery shall or shall not exist within their limits. If Congress shall abstain from interfering with the question, the people of these territories will be left free to adjust it as they may think proper when they apply for admission as States into the Union. No enactment of Congress could restrain the people of any of the sovereign States of the Union, old or new, North or South, slaveholding or nonslaveholding, from determining the character of their own domestic institutions as they may deem wise and proper. Any and all the States possess this right, and Congress can not deprive them of it. The people of Georgia might if they chose so alter their constitution as to abolish slavery within its limits, and the people of Vermont might so alter their constitution as to admit slavery within its limits. Both States would possess the right, though, as all know, it is not probable that either would exert it. It is fortunate for the peace and harmony of the Union that this question is in its nature temporary and can only continue for the brief period which will intervene before California and New Mexico may be admitted as States into the Union. From the tide of population now flowing into them it is highly probable that this will soon occur. Considering the several States and the citizens of the several States as equals and entitled to equal rights under the Constitution, if this were an original question it might well be insisted on that the principle of noninterference is the true doctrine and that Congress could not, in the absence of any express grant of power, interfere with their relative rights. Upon a great emergency, however, and under menacing dangers to the Union, the Missouri compromise line in respect to slavery was adopted. The same line was extended farther west in the acquisition of Texas. After an acquiescence of nearly thirty years in the principle of compromise recognized and established by these acts, and to avoid the danger to the Union which might follow if it were now disregarded, I have heretofore expressed the opinion that that line of compromise should be extended on the parallel of 36° 30' from the western boundary of Texas, where it now terminates, to the Pacific Ocean. This is the middle ground of compromise, upon which the different sections of the Union may meet, as they have heretofore met. If this be done, it is confidently believed a large majority of the people of every section of the country, however widely their abstract opinions on the subject of slavery may differ, would cheerfully and patriotically acquiesce in it, and peace and harmony would again fill our borders. The restriction north of the line was only yielded to in the case of Missouri and Texas upon a principle of compromise, made necessary for the sake of preserving the harmony and possibly the existence of the Union. It was upon these considerations that at the close of your last session I gave my sanction to the principle of the Missouri compromise line by approving and signing the bill to establish "the Territorial government of Oregon." From a sincere desire to preserve the harmony of the Union, and in deference for the acts of my predecessors, I felt constrained to yield my acquiescence to the extent to which they had gone in compromising this delicate and dangerous question. But if Congress shall now reverse the decision by which the Missouri compromise was effected, and shall propose to extend the restriction over the whole territory, south as well as north of the parallel of 36° 30', it will cease to be a compromise, and must be regarded as an original question. If Congress, instead of observing the course of noninterference, leaving the adoption of their own domestic institutions to the people who may inhabit these territories, or if, instead of extending the Missouri compromise line to the Pacific, shall prefer to submit the legal and constitutional questions which may arise to the decision of the judicial tribunals, as was proposed in a bill which passed the Senate at your last session, an adjustment may be effected in this mode. If the whole subject be referred to the judiciary, all parts of the Union should cheerfully acquiesce in the final decision of the tribunal created by the Constitution for the settlement of all questions which may arise under the Constitution, treaties, and laws of the United States. Congress is earnestly invoked, for the sake of the Union, its harmony, and our continued prosperity as a nation, to adjust at its present session this, the only dangerous question which lies in our path, if not in some one of the modes suggested, in some other which may be satisfactory. In anticipation of the establishment of regular governments over the acquired territories, a joint commission of officers of the Army and Navy has been ordered to proceed to the coast of California and Oregon for the purpose of making reconnoissances and a report as to the proper sites for the erection of fortifications or other defensive works on land and of suitable situations for naval stations. The information which may be expected from a scientific and skillful examination of the whole face of the coast will be eminently useful to Congress when they come to consider the propriety of making appropriations for these great national objects. Proper defenses on land will be necessary for the security and protection of our possessions, and the establishment of navy-yards and a dock for the repair and construction of vessels will be important alike to our Navy and commercial marine. Without such establishments every vessel, whether of the Navy or of the merchant service, requiring repair must at great expense come round Cape Horn to one of our Atlantic yards for that purpose. With such establishments vessels, it is believed may be built or repaired as cheaply in California as upon the Atlantic coast. They would give employment to many of our enterprising shipbuilders and mechanics and greatly facilitate and enlarge our commerce in the Pacific. As it is ascertained that mines of gold, silver, copper, and quicksilver exist in New Mexico and California, and that nearly all the lands where they are found belong to the United States, it is deemed important to the public interest that provision be made for a geological and mineralogical examination of these regions. Measures should be adopted to preserve the mineral lands, especially such as contain the precious metals, for the use of the United States, or, if brought into market, to separate them from the farming lands and dispose of them in such manner as to secure a large return of money to the Treasury and at the same time to lead to the development of their wealth by individual proprietors and purchasers. To do this it will be necessary to provide for an immediate survey and location of the lots. If Congress should deem it proper to dispose of the mineral lands, they should be sold in small quantities and at a fixed minimum price. I recommend that surveyors-general's offices be authorized to be established in New Mexico and California and provision made for surveying and bringing the public lands into market at the earliest practicable period. In disposing of these lands, I recommend that the right of preemption be secured and liberal grants made to the early emigrants who have settled or may settle upon them. It will be important to extend our revenue laws over these territories, and especially over California, at an early period. There is already a considerable commerce with California, and until ports of entry shall be established and collectors appointed no revenue can be received. If these and other necessary and proper measures be adopted for the development of the wealth and resources of New Mexico and California and regular Territorial governments be established over them, such will probably be the rapid enlargement of our commerce and navigation and such the addition to the national wealth that the present generation may live to witness the controlling commercial and monetary power of the world transferred from London and other European emporiums to the city of New York. The apprehensions which were entertained by some of our statesmen in the earlier periods of the Government that our system was incapable of operating with sufficient energy and success over largely extended territorial limits, and that if this were attempted it would fall to pieces by its own weakness, have been dissipated by our experience. By the division of power between the States and Federal Government the latter is found to operate with as much energy in the extremes as in the center. It is as efficient in the remotest of the thirty States which now compose the Union as it was in the thirteen States which formed our Constitution. Indeed, it may well be doubted whether if our present population had been confined within the limits of the original thirteen States the tendencies to centralization and consolidation would not have been such as to have encroached upon the essential reserved rights of the States, and thus to have made the Federal Government a widely different one, practically, from what it is in theory and was intended to be by its framers. So far from entertaining apprehensions of the safety of our system by the extension of our territory, the belief is confidently entertained that each new State gives strength and an additional guaranty for the preservation of the Union itself. In pursuance of the provisions of the thirteenth article of the treaty of peace, friendship, limits, and settlement with the Republic of Mexico, and of the act of July 29, 1848, claims of our citizens, which had been "already liquidated and decided, against the Mexican Republic" amounting, with the interest thereon, to $2,023,832.51 have been liquidated and paid. There remain to be paid of these claims $74,192.26. Congress at its last session having made no provision for executing the fifteenth article of the treaty, by which the United States assume to make satisfaction for the "unliquidated claims" of our citizens against Mexico to "an amount not exceeding three and a quarter millions of dollars," the subject is again recommended to your favorable consideration. The exchange of ratifications of the treaty with Mexico took place on the 30th of May, 1848. Within one year after that time the commissioner and surveyor which each Government stipulates to appoint are required to meet "at the port of San Diego and proceed to run and mark the said boundary in its whole course to the mouth of the Rio Bravo del Norte." It will be seen from this provision that the period within which a commissioner and surveyor of the respective Governments are to meet at San Diego will expire on the 30th of May, 1849. Congress at the close of its last session made an appropriation for "the expenses of running and marking the boundary line" between the two countries, but did not fix the amount of salary which should be paid to the commissioner and surveyor to be appointed on the part of the United States. It is desirable that the amount of compensation which they shall receive should be prescribed by law, and not left, as at present, to Executive discretion. Measures were adopted at the earliest practicable period to organize the "Territorial government of Oregon," as authorized by the act of the 14th of August last. The governor and marshal of the Territory, accompanied by a small military escort, left the frontier of Missouri in September last, and took the southern route, by the way of Santa Fe and the river Gila, to California, with the intention of proceeding thence in one of our vessels of war to their destination. The governor was fully advised of the great importance of his early arrival in the country, and it is confidently believed he may reach Oregon in the latter part of the present month or early in the next. The other officers for the Territory have proceeded by sea. In the month of May last I communicated information to Congress that an Indian war had broken out in Oregon, and recommended that authority be given to raise an adequate number of volunteers to proceed without delay to the assistance of our fellow-citizens in that Territory. The authority to raise such a force not having been granted by Congress, as soon as their services could be dispensed with in Mexico orders were issued to the regiment of mounted riflemen to proceed to Jefferson Barracks, in Missouri, and to prepare to march to Oregon as soon as the necessary provision could be made. Shortly before it was ready to march it was arrested by the provision of the act passed by Congress on the last day of the last session, which directed that all the noncommissioned officers, musicians, and privates of that regiment who had been in service in Mexico should, upon their application, be entitled to be discharged. The effect of this provision was to disband the rank and file of the regiment, and before their places could be filled by recruits the season had so far advanced that it was impracticable for it to proceed until the opening of the next spring. In the month of October last the accompanying communication was received from the governor of the temporary government of Oregon, giving information of the continuance of the Indian disturbances and of the destitution and defenseless condition of the inhabitants. Orders were immediately transmitted to the commander of our squadron in the Pacific to dispatch to their assistance a part of the naval forces on that station, to furnish them with arms and ammunition, and to continue to give them such aid and protection as the Navy could afford until the Army could reach the country. It is the policy of humanity, and one which has always been pursued by the United States, to cultivate the good will of the aboriginal tribes of this continent and to restrain them from making war and indulging in excesses by mild means rather than by force. That this could have been done with the tribes in Oregon had that Territory been brought under the government of our laws at an earlier period, and had other suitable measures been adopted by Congress, such as now exist in our intercourse with the other Indian tribes within our limits, can not be doubted. Indeed, the immediate and only because of the existing hostility of the Indians of Oregon is represented to have been the long delay of the United States in making to them some trifling compensation, in such articles as they wanted, for the country now occupied by our emigrants, which the Indians claimed and over which they formerly roamed. This compensation had been promised to them by the temporary government established in Oregon, but its fulfillment had been postponed from time to time for nearly two years, whilst those who made it had been anxiously waiting for Congress to establish a Territorial government over the country. The Indians became at length distrustful of their good faith and sought redress by plunder and massacre, which finally led to the present difficulties. A few thousand dollars in suitable presents, as a compensation for the country which had been taken possession of by our citizens, would have satisfied the Indians and have prevented the war. A small amount properly distributed, it is confidently believed, would soon restore quiet. In this Indian war our fellow-citizens of Oregon have been compelled to take the field in their own defense, have performed valuable military services, and been subjected to expenses which have fallen heavily upon them. Justice demands that provision should be made by Congress to compensate them for their services and to refund to them the necessary expenses which they have incurred. I repeat the recommendation heretofore made to Congress, that provision be made for the appointment of a suitable number of Indian agents to reside among the tribes of Oregon, and that a small sum be appropriated to enable these agents to cultivate friendly relations with them. If this be done, the presence of a small military force will be all that is necessary to keep them in check and preserve peace. I recommend that similar provisions be made as regards the tribes inhabiting northern Texas, New Mexico, California, and the extensive region lying between our settlements in Missouri and these possessions, as the most effective means of preserving peace upon our borders and within the recently acquired territories. The Secretary of the Treasury will present in his annual report a highly satisfactory statement of the condition of the finances. The imports for the fiscal year ending on the 30th of June last were of the value of $154,977,876, of which the amount exported was $21,128,010, leaving $133,849,866 in the country for domestic use. The value of the exports for the same period was $154,032,131, consisting of domestic productions amounting to $132,904,121 and $21,128,010 of foreign articles. The receipts into the Treasury for the same period, exclusive of loans, amounted to $35,436,750.59, of which there was derived from customs $31,757,070.96, from sales of public lands $3,328,642.56, and from miscellaneous and incidental sources $351,037.07. It will be perceived that the revenue from customs for the last fiscal year exceeded by $757,070.96 the estimate of the Secretary of the Treasury in his last annual report, and that the aggregate receipts during the same period from customs, lands, and miscellaneous sources also exceeded the estimate by the sum of $536,750.59, indicating, however, a very near approach in the estimate to the actual result. The expenditures during the fiscal year ending on the 30th of June last, including those for the war and exclusive of payments of principal and interest for the public debt, were $42,811,970.03. It is estimated that the receipts into the Treasury for the fiscal year ending on the 30th of June, 1849, including the balance in the Treasury on the 1st of July last, will amount to the sum of $57,048,969.90, of which $32,000,000, it is estimated, will be derived from customs, $3,000,000 from the sales of the public lands, and $1,200,000 from miscellaneous and incidental sources, including the premium upon the loan, and the amount paid and to be paid into the Treasury on account of military contributions in Mexico, and the sales of arms and vessels and other public property rendered unnecessary for the use of the Government by the termination of the war, and $20,695,435.30 from loans already negotiated, including Treasury notes funded, which, together with the balance in the Treasury on the 1st of July last, make the sum estimated. The expenditures for the same period, including the necessary payment on account of the principal and interest of the public debt, and the principal and interest of the first installment due to Mexico on the 30th of May next, and other expenditures growing out of the war to be paid during the present year, will amount, including the reimbursement of Treasury notes, to the sum of $54,195,275.06, leaving an estimated balance in the Treasury on the 1st of July, 1849, of $2,853,694.84. The Secretary of the Treasury will present, as required by law, the estimate of the receipts and expenditures for the next fiscal year. The expenditures as estimated for that year are $33,213,152.73, including $3,799,102.18 for the interest on the public debt and $3,540,000 for the principal and interest due to Mexico on the 30th of May, 1850, leaving the sum of $25,874,050.35, which, it is believed, will be ample for the ordinary peace expenditures. The operations of the tariff act of 1846 have been such during the past year as fully to meet the public expectation and to confirm the opinion heretofore expressed of the wisdom of the change in our revenue system which was effected by it. The receipts under it into the Treasury for the first fiscal year after its enactment exceeded by the sum of $5,044,403.09 the amount collected during the last fiscal year under the tariff act of 1842, ending the 30th of June, 1846. The total revenue realized from the commencement of its operation, on the 1st of December, 1846, until the close of the last quarter, on the 30th of September last, being twenty-two months, was $56,654,563.79, being a much larger sum than was ever before received from duties during any equal period under the tariff acts of 1824, 1828, 1832, and 1842. Whilst by the repeal of highly protective and prohibitory duties the revenue has been increased, the taxes on the people have been diminished. They have been relieved from the heavy amounts with which they were burthened under former laws in the form of increased prices or bounties paid to favored classes and pursuits. The predictions which were made that the tariff act of 1846 would reduce the amount of revenue below that collected under the act of 1842, and would prostrate the business and destroy the prosperity of the country, have not been verified. With an increased and increasing revenue, the finances are in a highly flourishing condition. Agriculture, commerce, and navigation are prosperous; the prices of manufactured fabrics and of other products are much less injuriously affected than was to have been anticipated from the unprecedented revulsions which during the last and the present year have overwhelmed the industry and paralyzed the credit and commerce of so many great and enlightened nations of Europe. Severe commercial revulsions abroad have always heretofore operated to depress and often to affect disastrously almost every branch of American industry. The temporary depression of a portion of our manufacturing interests is the effect of foreign causes, and is far less severe than has prevailed on all former similar occasions. It is believed that, looking to the great aggregate of all our interests, the whole country was never more prosperous than at the present period, and never more rapidly advancing in wealth and population. Neither the foreign war in which we have been involved, nor the loans which have absorbed so large a portion of our capital, nor the commercial revulsion in Great Britain in 1847, nor the paralysis of credit and commerce throughout Europe in 1848, have affected injuriously to any considerable extent any of the great interests of the country or arrested our onward march to greatness, wealth, and power. Had the disturbances in Europe not occurred, our commerce would undoubtedly have been still more extended, and would have added still more to the national wealth and public prosperity. But notwithstanding these disturbances, the operations of the revenue system established by the tariff act of 1846 have been so generally beneficial to the Government and the business of the country that no change in its provisions is demanded by a wise public policy, and none is recommended. The operations of the constitutional treasury established by the act of the 6th of August, 1846, in the receipt, custody, and disbursement of the public money have continued to be successful. Under this system the public finances have been carried through a foreign war, involving the necessity of loans and extraordinary expenditures and requiring distant transfers and disbursements, without embarrassment, and no loss has occurred of any of the public money deposited under its provisions. Whilst it has proved to be safe and useful to the Government, its effects have been most beneficial upon the business of the country. It has tended powerfully to secure an exemption from that inflation and fluctuation of the paper currency so injurious to domestic industry and rendering so uncertain the rewards of labor, and, it is believed, has largely contributed to preserve the whole country from a serious commercial revulsion, such as often occurred under the bank deposit system. In the year 1847 there was a revulsion in the business of Great Britain of great extent and intensity, which was followed by failures in that Kingdom unprecedented in number and amount of losses. This is believed to be the first instance when such disastrous bankruptcies, occurring in a country with which we have such extensive commerce, produced little or no injurious effect upon our trade or currency. We remained but little affected in our money market, and our business and industry were still prosperous and progressive. During the present year nearly the whole continent of Europe has been convulsed by civil war and revolutions, attended by numerous bankruptcies, by an unprecedented fall in their public securities, and an almost universal paralysis of commerce and industry; and yet, although our trade and the prices of our products must have been somewhat unfavorably affected by these causes, we have escaped a revulsion, our money market is comparatively easy, and public and private credit have advanced and improved. It is confidently believed that we have been saved from their effect by the salutary operation of the constitutional treasury. It is certain that if the twenty-four millions of specie imported into the country during the fiscal year ending on the 30th of June, 1847, had gone into the banks, as to a great extent it must have done, it would in the absence of this system have been made the basis of augmented bank paper issues, probably to an amount not less than $60,000,000 or $70,000,000, producing, as an inevitable consequence of an inflated currency, extravagant prices for a time and wild speculation, which must have been followed, on the reflux to Europe the succeeding year of so much of that specie, by the prostration of the business of the country, the suspension of the banks, and most extensive bankruptcies. Occurring, as this would have done, at a period when the country was engaged in a foreign war, when considerable loans of specie were required for distant disbursements, and when the banks, the fiscal agents of the Government and the depositories of its money, were suspended, the public credit must have sunk, and many millions of dollars, as was the case during the War of 1812, must have been sacrificed in discounts upon loans and upon the depreciated paper currency which the Government would have been compelled to use. Under the operations of the constitutional treasury not a dollar has been lost by the depreciation of the currency. The loans required to prosecute the war with Mexico were negotiated by the Secretary of the Treasury above par, realizing a large premium to the Government. The restraining effect of the system upon the tendencies to excessive paper issues by banks has saved the Government from heavy losses and thousands of our business men from bankruptcy and ruin. The wisdom of the system has been tested by the experience of the last two years, and it is the dictate of sound policy that it should remain undisturbed. The modifications in some of the details of this measure, involving none of its essential principles, heretofore recommended, are again presented for your favorable consideration. In my message of the 6th of July last, transmitting to Congress the ratified treaty of peace with Mexico, I recommended the adoption of measures for the speedy payment of the public debt. In reiterating that recommendation I refer you to the considerations presented in that message in its support. The public debt, including that authorized to be negotiated in pursuance of existing laws, and including Treasury notes, amounted at that time to $65,778,450.41. Funded stock of the United States amounting to about half a million of dollars has been purchased, as authorized by law, since that period, and the public debt has thus been reduced, the details of which will be presented in the annual report of the Secretary of the Treasury. The estimates of expenditures for the next fiscal year, submitted by the Secretary of the Treasury, it is believed will be ample for all necessary purposes. If the appropriations made by Congress shall not exceed the amount estimated, the means in the Treasury will be sufficient to defray all the expenses of the Government, to pay off the next installment of $3,000,000 to Mexico, which will fall due on the 30th of May next, and still a considerable surplus will remain, which should be applied to the further purchase of the public stock and reduction of the debt. Should enlarged appropriations be made, the necessary consequence will be to postpone the payment of the debt. Though our debt, as compared with that of most other nations, is small, it is our true policy, and in harmony with the genius of our institutions, that we should present to the world the rare spectacle of a great Republic, possessing vast resources and wealth, wholly exempt from public indebtedness. This would add still more to our strength, and give to us a still more commanding position among the nations of the earth. The public expenditures should be economical, and be confined to such necessary objects as are clearly within the powers of Congress. All such as are not absolutely demanded should be postponed, and the payment of the public debt at the earliest practicable period should be a cardinal principle of our public policy. For the reason assigned in my last annual message, I repeat the recommendation that a branch of the Mint of the United States be established at the city of New York. The importance of this measure is greatly increased by the acquisition of the rich mines of the precious metals in New Mexico and California, and especially in the latter. I repeat the recommendation heretofore made in favor of the graduation and reduction of the price of such of the public lands as have been long offered in the market and have remained unsold, and in favor of extending the rights of preemption to actual settlers on the unsurveyed as well as the surveyed lands. The condition and operations of the Army and the state of other branches of the public service under the supervision of the War Department are satisfactorily presented in the accompanying report of the Secretary of War. On the return of peace our forces were withdrawn from Mexico, and the volunteers and that portion of the Regular Army engaged for the war were disbanded. Orders have been issued for stationing the forces of our permanent establishment at various positions in our extended country where troops may be required. Owing to the remoteness of some of these positions, the detachments have not yet reached their destination. Notwithstanding the extension of the limits of our country and the forces required in the new territories, it is confidently believed that our present military establishment is sufficient for all exigencies so long as our peaceful relations remain undisturbed. Of the amount of military contributions collected in Mexico, the sum of $769,650 was applied toward the payment of the first installment due under the treaty with Mexico. The further sum of $346,369.30 has been paid into the Treasury, and unexpended balances still remain in the hands of disbursing officers and those who were engaged in the collection of these moneys. After the proclamation of peace no further disbursements were made of any unexpended moneys arising from this source. The balances on hand were directed to be paid into the Treasury, and individual claims on the fund will remain unadjusted until Congress shall authorize their settlement and payment. These claims are not considerable in number or amount. I recommend to your favorable consideration the suggestions of the Secretary of War and the Secretary of the Navy in regard to legislation on this subject. Our Indian relations are presented in a most favorable view in the report from the War Department. The wisdom of our policy in regard to the tribes within our limits is clearly manifested by their improved and rapidly improving condition. A most important treaty with the Menomonies has been recently negotiated by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs in person, by which all their land in the State of Wisconsin--being about 4,000,000 acres--has been ceded to the United States. This treaty will be submitted to the Senate for ratification at an early period of your present session. Within the last four years eight important treaties have been negotiated with different Indian tribes, and at a cost of $1,842,000; Indian lands to the amount of more than 18,500,000 acres have been ceded to the United States, and provision has been made for settling in the country west of the Mississippi the tribes which occupied this large extent of the public domain. The title to all the Indian lands within the several States of our Union, with the exception of a few small reservations, is now extinguished, and a vast region opened for settlement and cultivation. The accompanying report of the Secretary of the Navy gives a satisfactory exhibit of the operations and condition of that branch of the public service. A number of small vessels, suitable for entering the mouths of rivers, were judiciously purchased during the war, and gave great efficiency to the squadron in the Gulf of Mexico. On the return of peace, when no longer valuable for naval purposes, and liable to constant deterioration, they were sold and the money placed in the Treasury. The number of men in the naval service authorized by law during the war has been reduced by discharges below the maximum fixed for the peace establishment. Adequate squadrons are maintained in the several quarters of the globe where experience has shown their services may be most usefully employed, and the naval service was never in a condition of higher discipline or greater efficiency. I invite attention to the recommendation of the Secretary of the Navy on the subject of the Marine Corps. The reduction of the Corps at the end of the war required that four officers of each of the three lower grades should be dropped from the rolls. A board of officers made the selection, and those designated were necessarily dismissed, but without any alleged fault. I concur in opinion with the Secretary that the service would be improved by reducing the number of landsmen and increasing the marines. Such a measure would justify an increase of the number of officers to the extent of the reduction by dismissal, and still the Corps would have fewer officers than a corresponding number of men in the Army. The contracts for the transportation of the mail in steamships, convertible into war steamers, promise to realize all the benefits to our commerce and to the Navy which were anticipated. The first steamer thus secured to the Government was launched in January, 1847. There are now seven, and in another year there will probably be not less than seventeen afloat. While this great national advantage is secured, our social and commercial intercourse is increased and promoted with Germany, Great Britain, and other parts of Europe, with all the countries on the west coast of our continent, especially with Oregon and California, and between the northern and southern sections of the United States. Considerable revenue may be expected from postages, but the connected line from New York to Chagres, and thence across the Isthmus to Oregon, can not fail to exert a beneficial influence, not now to be estimated, on the interests of the manufactures, commerce, navigation, and currency of the United States. As an important part of the system, I recommend to your favorable consideration the establishment of the proposed line of steamers between New Orleans and Vera Cruz. It promises the most happy results in cementing friendship between the two Republics and extending reciprocal benefits to the trade and manufactures of both. The report of the Postmaster-General will make known to you the operations of that Department for the past year. It is gratifying to find the revenues of the Department, under the rates of postage now established by law, so rapidly increasing. The gross amount of postages during the last fiscal year amounted to $4,371,077, exceeding the annual average received for the nine years immediately preceding the passage of the act of the 3d of March, 1845, by the sum of $6,453, and exceeding the amount received for the year ending the 30th of June, 1847, by the sum of $425,184. The expenditures for the year, excluding the sum of $94,672, allowed by Congress at its last session to individual claimants, and including the sum of $100,500, paid for the services of the line of steamers between Bremen and New York, amounted to $4,198,845, which is less than the annual average for the nine years previous to the act of 1845 by $300,748. The mail routes on the 30th day of June last were 163,208 miles in extent, being an increase during the last year of 9,390 miles. The mails were transported over them during the same time 41,012,579 miles, making an increase of transportation for the year of 2,124,680 miles, whilst the expense was less than that of the previous year by $4,235. The increase in the mail transportation within the last three years has been 5,378,310 miles, whilst the expenses were reduced $456,738, making an increase of service at the rate of 15 per cent and a reduction in the expenses of more than 15 per cent. During the past year there have been employed, under contracts with the Post-Office Department, two ocean steamers in conveying the mails monthly between New York and Bremen, and one, since October last, performing semimonthly service between Charleston and Havana; and a contract has been made for the transportation of the Pacific mails across the Isthmus from Chagres to Panama. Under the authority given to the Secretary of the Navy, three ocean steamers have been constructed and sent to the Pacific, and are expected to enter upon the mail service between Panama and Oregon and the intermediate ports on the 1st of January next; and a fourth has been engaged by him for the service between Havana and Chagres, so that a regular monthly mail line will be kept up after that time between the United States and our territories on the Pacific. Notwithstanding this great increase in the mail service, should the revenue continue to increase the present year as it did in the last, there will be received near $450,000 more than the expenditures. These considerations have satisfied the Postmaster-General that, with certain modifications of the act of 1845, the revenue may be still further increased and a reduction of postages made to a uniform rate of 5 cents, without an interference with the principle, which has been constantly and properly enforced, of making that Department sustain itself. A well-digested cheap-postage system is the best means of diffusing intelligence among the people, and is of so much importance in a country so extensive as that of the United States that I recommend to your favorable consideration the suggestions of the Postmaster-General for its improvement. Nothing can retard the onward progress of our country and prevent us from assuming and maintaining the first rank among nations but a disregard of the experience of the past and a recurrence to an unwise public policy. We have just closed a foreign war by an honorable peace--a war rendered necessary and unavoidable in vindication of the national rights and honor. The present condition of the country is similar in some respects to that which existed immediately after the close of the war with Great Britain in 1815, and the occasion is deemed to be a proper one to take a retrospect of the measures of public policy which followed that war. There was at that period of our history a departure from our earlier policy. The enlargement of the powers of the Federal Government by construction, which obtained, was not warranted by any just interpretation of the Constitution. A few years after the close of that war a series of measures was adopted which, united and combined, constituted what was termed by their authors and advocates the "American system." The introduction of the new policy was for a time favored by the condition of the country, by the heavy debt which had been contracted during the war, by the depression of the public credit, by the deranged state of the finances and the currency, and by the commercial and pecuniary embarrassment which extensively prevailed. These were not the only causes which led to its establishment. The events of the war with Great Britain and the embarrassments which had attended its prosecution had left on the minds of many of our statesmen the impression that our Government was not strong enough, and that to wield its resources successfully in great emergencies, and especially in war, more power should be concentrated in its hands. This increased power they did not seek to obtain by the legitimate and prescribed mode--an amendment of the Constitution--but by construction. They saw Governments in the Old World based upon different orders of society, and so constituted as to throw the whole power of nations into the hands of a few, who taxed and controlled the many without responsibility or restraint. In that arrangement they conceived the strength of nations in war consisted. There was also something fascinating in the ease, luxury, and display of the higher orders, who drew their wealth from the toil of the laboring millions. The authors of the system drew their ideas of political economy from what they had witnessed in Europe, and particularly in Great Britain. They had viewed the enormous wealth concentrated in few hands and had seen the splendor of the overgrown establishments of an aristocracy which was upheld by the restrictive policy. They forgot to look down upon the poorer classes of the English population, upon whose daily and yearly labor the great establishments they so much admired were sustained and supported. They failed to perceive that the scantily fed and half-clad operatives were not only in abject poverty, but were bound in chains of oppressive servitude for the benefit of favored classes, who were the exclusive objects of the care of the Government. It was not possible to reconstruct society in the United States upon the European plan. Here there was a written Constitution, by which orders and titles were not recognized or tolerated. A system of measures was therefore devised, calculated, if not intended, to withdraw power gradually and silently from the States and the mass of the people, and by construction to approximate our Government to the European models, substituting an aristocracy of wealth for that of orders and titles. Without reflecting upon the dissimilarity of our institutions and of the condition of our people and those of Europe, they conceived the vain idea of building up in the United States a system similar to that which they admired abroad. Great Britain had a national bank of large capital, in whose hands was concentrated the controlling monetary and financial power of the nation--an institution wielding almost kingly power, and exerting vast influence upon all the operations of trade and upon the policy of the Government itself. Great Britain had an enormous public debt, and it had become a part of her public policy to regard this as a "public blessing." Great Britain had also a restrictive policy, which placed fetters and burdens on trade and trammeled the productive industry of the mass of the nation. By her combined system of policy the landlords and other property holders were protected and enriched by the enormous taxes which were levied upon the labor of the country for their advantage. Imitating this foreign policy, the first step in establishing the new system in the United States was the creation of a national bank. Not foreseeing the dangerous power and countless evils which such an institution might entail on the country, nor perceiving the connection which it was designed to form between the bank and the other branches of the miscalled "American system," but feeling the embarrassments of the Treasury and of the business of the country consequent upon the war, some of our statesmen who had held different and sounder views were induced to yield their scruples and, indeed, settled convictions of its unconstitutionality, and to give it their sanction as an expedient which they vainly hoped might produce relief. It was a most unfortunate error, as the subsequent history and final catastrophe of that dangerous and corrupt institution have abundantly proved. The bank, with its numerous branches ramified into the States, soon brought many of the active political and commercial men in different sections of the country into the relation of debtors to it and dependents upon it for pecuniary favors, thus diffusing throughout the mass of society a great number of individuals of power and influence to give tone to public opinion and to act in concert in cases of emergency. The corrupt power of such a political engine is no longer a matter of speculation, having been displayed in numerous instances, but most signally in the political struggles of 1832, 1833, and 1834 in opposition to the public will represented by a fearless and patriotic President. But the bank was but one branch of the new system. A public debt of more than $120,000,000 existed, and it is not to be disguised that many of the authors of the new system did not regard its speedy payment as essential to the public prosperity, but looked upon its continuance as no national evil. Whilst the debt existed it furnished aliment to the national bank and rendered increased taxation necessary to the amount of the interest, exceeding $7,000,000 annually. This operated in harmony with the next branch of the new system, which was a high protective tariff. This was to afford bounties to favored classes and particular pursuits at the expense of all others. A proposition to tax the whole people for the purpose of enriching a few was too monstrous to be openly made. The scheme was therefore veiled under the plausible but delusive pretext of a measure to protect "home industry," and many of our people were for a time led to believe that a tax which in the main fell upon labor was for the benefit of the laborer who paid it. This branch of the system involved a partnership between the Government and the favored classes, the former receiving the proceeds of the tax imposed on articles imported and the latter the increased price of similar articles produced at home, caused by such tax. It is obvious that the portion to be received by the favored classes would, as a general rule, be increased in proportion to the increase of the rates of tax imposed and diminished as those rates were reduced to the revenue standard required by the wants of the Government. The rates required to produce a sufficient revenue for the ordinary expenditures of Government for necessary purposes were not likely to give to the private partners in this scheme profits sufficient to satisfy their cupidity, and hence a variety of expedients and pretexts were resorted to for the purpose of enlarging the expenditures and thereby creating a necessity for keeping up a high protective tariff. The effect of this policy was to interpose artificial restrictions upon the natural course of the business and trade of the country, and to advance the interests of large capitalists and monopolists at the expense of the great mass of the people, who were taxed to increase their wealth. Another branch of this system was a comprehensive scheme of internal improvements, capable of indefinite enlargement and sufficient to swallow up as many millions annually as could be exacted from the foreign commerce of the country. This was a convenient and necessary adjunct of the protective tariff. It was to be the great absorbent of any surplus which might at any time accumulate in the Treasury and of the taxes levied on the people, not for necessary revenue purposes, but for the avowed object of affording protection to the favored classes. Auxiliary to the same end, if it was not an essential part of the system itself, was the scheme, which at a later period obtained, for distributing the proceeds of the sales of the public lands among the States. Other expedients were devised to take money out of the Treasury and prevent its coming in from any other source than the protective tariff. The authors and supporters of the system were the advocates of the largest expenditures, whether for necessary or useful purposes or not, because the larger the expenditures the greater was the pretext for high taxes in the form of protective duties. These several measures were sustained by popular names and plausible arguments, by which thousands were deluded. The bank was represented to be an indispensable fiscal agent for the Government; was to equalize exchanges and to regulate and furnish a sound currency, always and everywhere of uniform value. The protective tariff was to give employment to "American labor" at advanced prices; was to protect "home industry" and furnish a steady market for the farmer. Internal improvements were to bring trade into every neighborhood and enhance the value of every man's property. The distribution of the land money was to enrich the States, finish their public works, plant schools throughout their borders, and relieve them from taxation. But the fact that for every dollar taken out of the Treasury for these objects a much larger sum was transferred from the pockets of the people to the favored classes was carefully concealed, as was also the tendency, if not the ultimate design, of the system to build up an aristocracy of wealth, to control the masses of society, and monopolize the political power of the country. The several branches of this system were so intimately blended together that in their operation each sustained and strengthened the others. Their joint operation was to add new burthens of taxation and to encourage a largely increased and wasteful expenditure of public money. It was the interest of the bank that the revenue collected and the disbursements made by the Government should be large, because, being the depository of the public money, the larger the amount the greater would be the bank profits by its use. It was the interest of the favored classes, who were enriched by the protective tariff, to have the rates of that protection as high as possible, for the higher those rates the greater would be their advantage. It was the interest of the people of all those sections and localities who expected to be benefited by expenditures for internal improvements that the amount collected should be as large as possible, to the end that the sum disbursed might also be the larger. The States, being the beneficiaries in the distribution of the land money, had an interest in having the rates of tax imposed by the protective tariff large enough to yield a sufficient revenue from that source to meet the wants of the Government without disturbing or taking from them the land fund; so that each of the branches constituting the system had a common interest in swelling the public expenditures. They had a direct interest in maintaining the public debt unpaid and increasing its amount, because this would produce an annual increased drain upon the Treasury to the amount of the interest and render augmented taxes necessary. The operation and necessary effect of the whole system were to encourage large and extravagant expenditures, and thereby to increase the public patronage, and maintain a rich and splendid government at the expense of a taxed and impoverished people. It is manifest that this scheme of enlarged taxation and expenditures, had it continued to prevail, must soon have converted the Government of the Union, intended by its framers to be a plain, cheap, and simple confederation of States, united together for common protection and charged with a few specific duties, relating chiefly to our foreign affairs, into a consolidated empire, depriving the States of their reserved rights and the people of their just power and control in the administration of their Government. In this manner the whole form and character of the Government would be changed, not by an amendment of the Constitution, but by resorting to an unwarrantable and unauthorized construction of that instrument. The indirect mode of levying the taxes by a duty on imports prevents the mass of the people from readily perceiving the amount they pay, and has enabled the few who are thus enriched, and who seek to wield the political power of the country, to deceive and delude them. Were the taxes collected by a direct levy upon the people, as is the case in the States, this could not occur. The whole system was resisted from its inception by many of our ablest statesmen, some of whom doubted its constitutionality and its expediency, while others believed it was in all its branches a flagrant and dangerous infraction of the Constitution. That a national bank, a protective tariff--levied not to raise the revenue needed, but for protection merely--internal improvements, and the distribution of the proceeds of the sale of the public lands are measures without the warrant of the Constitution would, upon the maturest consideration, seem to be clear. It is remarkable that no one of these measures, involving such momentous consequences, is authorized by any express grant of power in the Constitution. No one of them is "incident to, as being necessary and proper for the execution of, the specific powers" granted by the Constitution. The authority under which it has been attempted to justify each of them is derived from inferences and constructions of the Constitution which its letter and its whole object and design do not warrant. Is it to be conceived that such immense powers would have been left by the framers of the Constitution to mere inferences and doubtful constructions? Had it been intended to confer them on the Federal Government, it is but reasonable to conclude that it would have been done by plain and unequivocal grants. This was not done; but the whole structure of which the "American system" consisted was reared on no other or better foundation than forced implications and inferences of power, which its authors assumed might be deduced by construction from the Constitution. But it has been urged that the national bank, which constituted so essential a branch of this combined system of measures, was not a new measure, and that its constitutionality had been previously sanctioned, because a bank had been chartered in 1791 and had received the official signature of President Washington. A few facts will show the just weight to which this precedent should be entitled as bearing upon the question of constitutionality. Great division of opinion upon the subject existed in Congress. It is well known that President Washington entertained serious doubts both as to the constitutionality and expediency of the measure, and while the bill was before him for his official approval or disapproval so great were these doubts that he required "the opinion in writing" of the members of his Cabinet to aid him in arriving at a decision. His Cabinet gave their opinions and were divided upon the subject, General Hamilton being in favor of and Mr. Jefferson and Mr. Randolph being opposed to the constitutionality and expediency of the bank. It is well known also that President Washington retained the bill from Monday, the 14th, when it was presented to him, until Friday, the 25th of February, being the last moment permitted him by the Constitution to deliberate, when he finally yielded to it his reluctant assent and gave it his signature. It is certain that as late as the 23d of February, being the ninth day after the bill was presented to him, he had arrived at no satisfactory conclusion, for on that day he addressed a note to General Hamilton in which he informs him that "this bill was presented to me by the joint committee of Congress at 12 of the clock on Monday, the 14th instant," and he requested his opinion "to what precise period, by legal interpretation of the Constitution, can the President retain it in his possession before it becomes a law by the lapse of ten days." If the proper construction was that the day on which the bill was presented to the President and the day on which his action was had upon it were both to be counted inclusive, then the time allowed him within which it would be competent for him to return it to the House in which it originated with his objections would expire on Thursday, the 24th of February. General Hamilton on the same day returned an answer, in which he states: I give it as my opinion that you have ten days exclusive of that on which the bill was delivered to you and Sundays; hence, in the present case if it is returned on Friday it will be in time. By this construction, which the President adopted, he gained another day for deliberation, and it was not until the 25th of February that he signed the bill, thus affording conclusive proof that he had at last obtained his own consent to sign it not without great and almost insuperable difficulty. Additional light has been recently she would upon the serious doubts which he had on the subject, amounting at one time to a conviction that it was his duty to withhold his approval from the bill. This is found among the manuscript papers of Mr. Madison, authorized to be purchased for the use of the Government by an act of the last session of Congress, and now for the first time accessible to the public. From these papers it appears that President Washington, while he yet held the bank bill in his hands, actually requested Mr. Madison, at that time a member of the House of Representatives, to prepare the draft of a veto message for him. Mr. Madison, at his request, did prepare the draft of such a message, and sent it to him on the 21st of February, 1791. A copy of this original draft, in Mr. Madison's own handwriting, was carefully preserved by him, and is among the papers lately purchased by Congress. It is preceded by a note, written on the same sheet, which is also in Mr. Madison's handwriting, and is as follows: February 21, 1791.--Copy of a paper made out and sent to the President, at his request, to be ready in case his judgment should finally decide against the bill for incorporating a national bank, the bill being then before him. Among the objections assigned in this paper to the bill, and which were submitted for the consideration of the President, are the following: I object to the bill, because it is an essential principle of the Government that powers not delegated by the Constitution can not be rightfully exercised; because the power proposed by the bill to be exercised is not expressly delegated, and because I can not satisfy myself that it results from any express power by fair and safe rules of interpretation. The weight of the precedent of the bank of 1791 and the sanction of the great name of Washington, which has been so often invoked in its support, are greatly weakened by the development of these facts. The experiment of that bank satisfied the country that it ought not to be continued, and at the end of twenty years Congress refused to recharter it. It would have been fortunate for the country, and saved thousands from bankruptcy and ruin, had our public men of 1816 resisted the temporary pressure of the times upon our financial and pecuniary interests and refused to charter the second bank. Of this the country became abundantly satisfied, and at the close of its twenty years' duration, as in the case of the first bank, it also ceased to exist. Under the repeated blows of President Jackson it reeled and fell, and a subsequent attempt to charter a similar institution was arrested by the veto of President Tyler. Mr. Madison, in yielding his signature to the charter of 1816, did so upon the ground of the respect due to precedents; and, as he subsequently declared-- The Bank of the United States, though on the original question held to be unconstitutional, received the Executive signature. It is probable that neither the bank of 1791 nor that of 1816 would have been chartered but for the embarrassments of the Government in its finances, the derangement of the currency, and the pecuniary pressure which existed, the first the consequence of the War of the Revolution and the second the consequence of the War of 1812. Both were resorted to in the delusive hope that they would restore public credit and afford relief to the Government and to the business of the country. Those of our public men who opposed the whole "American system" at its commencement and throughout its progress foresaw and predicted that it was fraught with incalculable mischiefs and must result in serious injury to the best interests of the country. For a series of years their wise counsels were unheeded, and the system was established. It was soon apparent that its practical operation was unequal and unjust upon different portions of the country and upon the people engaged in different pursuits. All were equally entitled to the favor and protection of the Government. It fostered and elevated the money power and enriched the favored few by taxing labor, and at the expense of the many. Its effect was to "make the rich richer and the poor poorer." Its tendency was to create distinctions in society based on wealth and to give to the favored classes undue control and sway in our Government. It was an organized money power, which resisted the popular will and sought to shape and control the public policy. Under the pernicious workings of this combined system of measures the country witnessed alternate seasons of temporary apparent prosperity, of sudden and disastrous commercial revulsions, of unprecedented fluctuation of prices and depression of the great interests of agriculture, navigation, and commerce, of general pecuniary suffering, and of final bankruptcy of thousands. After a severe struggle of more than a quarter of a century, the system was overthrown. The bank has been succeeded by a practical system of finance, conducted and controlled solely by the Government. The constitutional currency has been restored, the public credit maintained unimpaired even in a period of a foreign war, and the whole country has become satisfied that banks, national or State, are not necessary as fiscal agents of the Government. Revenue duties have taken the place of the protective tariff. The distribution of the money derived from the sale of the public lands has been abandoned and the corrupting system of internal improvements, it is hoped, has been effectually checked. It is not doubted that if this whole train of measures, designed to take wealth from the many and bestow it upon the few, were to prevail the effect would be to change the entire character of the Government. One only danger remains. It is the seductions of that branch of the system which consists in internal improvements, holding out, as it does, inducements to the people of particular sections and localities to embark the Government in them without stopping to calculate the inevitable consequences. This branch of the system is so intimately combined and linked with the others that as surely as an effect is produced by an adequate because, if it be resuscitated and revived and firmly established it requires no sagacity to foresee that it will necessarily and speedily draw after it the reestablishment of a national bank, the revival of a protective tariff, the distribution of the land money, and not only the postponement to the distant future of the payment of the present national debt, but its annual increase. I entertain the solemn conviction that if the internal-improvement branch of the "American system" be not firmly resisted at this time the whole series of measures composing it will be speedily reestablished and the country be thrown back from its present high state of prosperity, which the existing policy has produced, and be destined again to witness all the evils, commercial revulsions, depression of prices, and pecuniary embarrassments through which we have passed during the last twenty-five years. To guard against consequences so ruinous is an object of high national importance, involving, in my judgment, the continued prosperity of the country. I have felt it to be an imperative obligation to withhold my constitutional sanction from two bills which had passed the two Houses of Congress, involving the principle of the internal improvement branch of the "American system" and conflicting in their provisions with the views here expressed. This power, conferred upon the President by the Constitution, I have on three occasions during my administration of the executive department of the Government deemed it my duty to exercise, and on this last occasion of making to Congress an annual communication "of the state of the Union" it is not deemed inappropriate to review the principles and considerations which have governed my action. I deem this the more necessary because, after the lapse of nearly sixty years since the adoption of the Constitution, the propriety of the exercise of this undoubted constitutional power by the President has for the first time been drawn seriously in question by a portion of my fellow-citizens. The Constitution provides that-- Every bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate shall, before it become a law, be presented to the President of the United States. If he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it with his objections to that House in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the objections at large on their Journal and proceed to reconsider it. The preservation of the Constitution from infraction is the President's highest duty. He is bound to discharge that duty at whatever hazard of incurring the displeasure of those who may differ with him in opinion. He is bound to discharge it as well by his obligations to the people who have clothed him with his exalted trust as by his oath of office, which he may not disregard. Nor are the obligations of the President in any degree lessened by the prevalence of views different from his own in one or both Houses of Congress. It is not alone hasty and inconsiderate legislation that he is required to check; but if at any time Congress shall, after apparently full deliberation, resolve on measures which he deems subversive of the Constitution or of the vital interests of the country, it is his solemn duty to stand in the breach and resist them. The President is bound to approve or disapprove every bill which passes Congress and is presented to him for his signature. The Constitution makes this his duty, and he can not escape it if he would. He has no election. In deciding upon any bill presented to him he must exercise his own best judgment. If he can not approve, the Constitution commands him to return the bill to the House in which it originated with his objections, and if he fail to do this within ten days (Sundays excepted) it shall become a law without his signature. Right or wrong, he may be overruled by a vote of two-thirds of each House, and in that event the bill becomes a law without his sanction. If his objections be not thus overruled, the subject is only postponed, and is referred to the States and the people for their consideration and decision. The President's power is negative merely, and not affirmative. He can enact no law. The only effect, therefore, of his withholding his approval of a bill passed by Congress is to suffer the existing laws to remain unchanged, and the delay occasioned is only that required to enable the States and the people to consider and act upon the subject in the election of public agents who will carry out their wishes and instructions. Any attempt to coerce the President to yield his sanction to measures which he can not approve would be a violation of the spirit of the Constitution, palpable and flagrant, and if successful would break down the independence of the executive department and make the President, elected by the people and clothed by the Constitution with power to defend their rights, the mere instrument of a majority of Congress. A surrender on his part of the powers with which the Constitution has invested his office would effect a practical alteration of that instrument without resorting to the prescribed process of amendment. With the motives or considerations which may induce Congress to pass any bill the President can have nothing to do. He must presume them to be as pure as his own, and look only to the practical effect of their measures when compared with the Constitution or the public good. But it has been urged by those who object to the exercise of this undoubted constitutional power that it assails the representative principle and the capacity of the people to govern themselves; that there is greater safety in a numerous representative body than in the single Executive created by the Constitution, and that the Executive veto is a "one-man power," despotic in its character. To expose the fallacy of this objection it is only necessary to consider the frame and true character of our system. Ours is not a consolidated empire, but a confederated union. The States before the adoption of the Constitution were coordinate, co-equal, and separate independent sovereignties, and by its adoption they did not lose that character. They clothed the Federal Government with certain powers and reserved all others, including their own sovereignty, to themselves. They guarded their own rights as States and the rights of the people by the very limitations which they incorporated into the Federal Constitution, whereby the different departments of the General Government were checks upon each other. That the majority should govern is a general principle controverted by none, but they must govern according to the Constitution, and not according to an undefined and unrestrained discretion, whereby they may oppress the minority. The people of the United States are not blind to the fact that they may be temporarily misled, and that their representatives, legislative and executive, may be mistaken or influenced in their action by improper motives. They have therefore interposed between themselves and the laws which may be passed by their public agents various representations, such as assemblies, senates, and governors in their several States, a House of Representatives, a Senate, and a President of the United States. The people can by their own direct agency make no law, nor can the House of Representatives, immediately elected by them, nor can the Senate, nor can both together without the concurrence of the President or a vote of two-thirds of both Houses. Happily for themselves, the people in framing our admirable system of government were conscious of the infirmities of their representatives, and in delegating to them the power of legislation they have fenced them around with checks to guard against the effects of hasty action, of error, of combination, and of possible corruption. Error, selfishness, and faction have often sought to rend asunder this web of checks and subject the Government to the control of fanatic and sinister influences, but these efforts have only satisfied the people of the wisdom of the checks which they have imposed and of the necessity of preserving them unimpaired. The true theory of our system is not to govern by the acts or decrees of any one set of representatives. The Constitution interposes checks upon all branches of the Government, in order to give time for error to be corrected and delusion to pass away; but if the people settle down into a firm conviction different from that of their representatives they give effect to their opinions by changing their public servants. The checks which the people imposed on their public servants in the adoption of the Constitution are the best evidence of their capacity for self-government. They know that the men whom they elect to public stations are of like infirmities and passions with themselves, and not to be trusted without being restricted by coordinate authorities and constitutional limitations. Who that has witnessed the legislation of Congress for the last thirty years will say that he knows of no instance in which measures not demanded by the public good have been carried ? Who will deny that in the State governments, by combinations of individuals and sections, in derogation of the general interest, banks have been chartered, systems of internal improvements adopted, and debts entailed upon the people repressing their growth and impairing their energies for years to come? After so much experience it can not be said that absolute unchecked power is safe in the hands of any one set of representatives, or that the capacity of the people for self-government, which is admitted in its broadest extent, is a conclusive argument to prove the prudence, wisdom, and integrity of their representatives. The people, by the Constitution, have commanded the President, as much as they have commanded the legislative branch of the Government, to execute their will. They have said to him in the Constitution, which they require he shall take a solemn oath to support, that if Congress pass any bill which he can not approve "he shall return it to the House in which it originated with his objections." In withholding from it his approval and signature he is executing the will of the people, constitutionally expressed, as much as the Congress that passed it. No bill is presumed to be in accordance with the popular will until it shall have passed through all the branches of the Government required by the Constitution to make it a law. A bill which passes the House of Representatives may be rejected by the Senate, and so a bill passed by the Senate may be rejected by the House. In each case the respective Houses exercise the veto power on the other. Congress, and each House of Congress, hold under the Constitution a check upon the President, and he, by the power of the qualified veto, a check upon Congress. When the President recommends measures to Congress, he avows in the most solemn form his opinions, gives his voice in their favor, and pledges himself in advance to approve them if passed by Congress. If he acts without due consideration, or has been influenced by improper or corrupt motives, or if from any other because Congress, or either House of Congress, shall differ with him in opinion, they exercise their veto upon his recommendations and reject them; and there is no appeal from their decision but to the people at the ballot box. These are proper checks upon the Executive, wisely interposed by the Constitution. None will be found to object to them or to wish them removed. It is equally important that the constitutional checks of the Executive upon the legislative branch should be preserved. If it be said that the Representatives in the popular branch of Congress are chosen directly by the people, it is answered, the people elect the President. If both Houses represent the States and the people, so does the President. The President represents in the executive department the whole people of the United States, as each member of the legislative department represents portions of them. The doctrine of restriction upon legislative and executive power, while a well-settled public opinion is enabled within a reasonable time to accomplish its ends, has made our country what it is, and has opened to us a career of glory and happiness to which all other nations have been strangers. In the exercise of the power of the veto the President is responsible not only to an enlightened public opinion, but to the people of the whole Union, who elected him, as the representatives in the legislative branches who differ with him in opinion are responsible to the people of particular States or districts, who compose their respective constituencies. To deny to the President the exercise of this power would be to repeal that provision of the Constitution which confers it upon him. To charge that its exercise unduly controls the legislative will is to complain of the Constitution itself. If the Presidential veto be objected to upon the ground that it checks and thwarts the popular will, upon the same principle the equality of representation of the States in the Senate should be stricken out of the Constitution. The vote of a Senator from Delaware has equal weight in deciding upon the most important measures with the vote of a Senator from New York, and yet the one represents a State containing, according to the existing apportionment of Representatives in the House of Representatives, but one thirty-fourth part of the population of the other. By the constitutional composition of the Senate a majority of that body from the smaller States represent less than one-fourth of the people of the Union. There are thirty States, and under the existing apportionment of Representatives there are 230 Members in the House of Representatives. Sixteen of the smaller States are represented in that House by but 50 Members, and yet the Senators from these States constitute a majority of the Senate. So that the President may recommend a measure to Congress, and it may receive the sanction and approval of more than three-fourths of the House of Representatives and of all the Senators from the large States, containing more than three-fourths of the whole population of the United States, and yet the measure may be defeated by the votes of the Senators from the smaller States. None, it is presumed, can be found ready to change the organization of the Senate on this account, or to strike that body practically out of existence by requiring that its action shall be conformed to the will of the more numerous branch. Upon the same principle that the veto of the President should be practically abolished the power of the Vice-President to give the casting vote upon an equal division of the Senate should be abolished also. The Vice-President exercises the veto power as effectually by rejecting a bill by his casting vote as the President does by refusing to approve and sign it. This power has been exercised by the Vice-President in a few instances, the most important of which was the rejection of the bill to recharter the Bank of the United States in 1811. It may happen that a bill may be passed by a large majority of the House of Representatives, and may be supported by the Senators from the larger States, and the Vice-President may reject it by giving his vote with the Senators from the smaller States; and yet none, it is presumed, are prepared to deny to him the exercise of this power under the Constitution. But it is, in point of fact, untrue that an act passed by Congress is conclusive evidence that it is an emanation of the popular will. A majority of the whole number elected to each House of Congress constitutes a quorum, and a majority of that quorum is competent to pass laws. It might happen that a quorum of the House of Representatives, consisting of a single member more than half of the whole number elected to that House, might pass a bill by a majority of a single vote, and in that case a fraction more than one-fourth of the people of the United States would be represented by those who voted for it. It might happen that the same bill might be passed by a majority of one of a quorum of the Senate, composed of Senators from the fifteen smaller States and a single Senator from a sixteenth State; and if the Senators voting for it happened to be from the eight of the smallest of these States, it would be passed by the votes of Senators from States having but fourteen Representatives in the House of Representatives, and containing less than one-sixteenth of the whole population of the United States. This extreme case is stated to illustrate the fact that the mere passage of a bill by Congress is no conclusive evidence that those who passed it represent the majority of the people of the United States or truly reflect their will. If such an extreme case is not likely to happen, cases that approximate it are of constant occurrence. It is believed that not a single law has been passed since the adoption of the Constitution upon which all the members elected to both Houses have been present and voted. Many of the most important acts which have passed Congress have been carried by a close vote in thin Houses. Many instances of this might be given. Indeed, our experience proves that many of the most important acts of Congress are postponed to the last days, and often the last hours, of a session, when they are disposed of in haste, and by Houses but little exceeding the number necessary to form a quorum. Besides, in most of the States the members of the House of Representatives are chosen by pluralities, and not by majorities of all the voters in their respective districts, and it may happen that a majority of that House may be returned by a less aggregate vote of the people than that received by the minority. If the principle insisted on be sound, then the Constitution should be so changed that no bill shall become a law unless it is voted for by members representing in each House a majority of the whole people of the United States. We must remodel our whole system, strike down and abolish not only the salutary checks lodged in the executive branch, but must strike out and abolish those lodged in the Senate also, and thus practically invest the whole power of the Government in a majority of a single assembly--a majority uncontrolled and absolute, and which may become despotic. To conform to this doctrine of the right of majorities to rule, independent of the checks and limitations of the Constitution, we must revolutionize our whole system; we must destroy the constitutional compact by which the several States agreed to form a Federal Union and rush into consolidation, which must end in monarchy or despotism. No one advocates such a proposition, and yet the doctrine maintained, if carried out, must lead to this result. One great object of the Constitution in conferring upon the President a qualified negative upon the legislation of Congress was to protect minorities from injustice and oppression by majorities. The equality of their representation in the Senate and the veto power of the President are the constitutional guaranties which the smaller States have that their rights will be respected. Without these guaranties all their interests would be at the mercy of majorities in Congress representing the larger States. To the smaller and weaker States, therefore, the preservation of this power and its exercise upon proper occasions demanding it is of vital importance. They ratified the Constitution and entered into the Union, securing to themselves an equal representation with the larger States in the Senate; and they agreed to be bound by all laws passed by Congress upon the express condition, and none other, that they should be approved by the President or passed, his objections to the contrary notwithstanding, by a vote of two-thirds of both Houses. Upon this condition they have a right to insist as a part of the compact to which they gave their assent. A bill might be passed by Congress against the will of the whole people of a particular State and against the votes of its Senators and all its Representatives. However prejudicial it might be to the interests of such State, it would be bound by it if the President shall approve it or it shall be passed by a vote of two-thirds of both Houses; but it has a right to demand that the President shall exercise his constitutional power and arrest it if his judgment is against it. If he surrender this power, or fail to exercise it in a case where he can not approve, it would make his formal approval a mere mockery, and would be itself a violation of the Constitution, and the dissenting State would become bound by a law which had not been passed according to the sanctions of the Constitution. The objection to the exercise of the veto power is founded upon an idea respecting the popular will, which, if carried out, would annihilate State sovereignty and substitute for the present Federal Government a consolidation directed by a supposed numerical majority. A revolution of the Government would be silently effected and the States would be subjected to laws to which they had never given their constitutional consent. The Supreme Court of the United States is invested with the power to declare, and has declared, acts of Congress passed with the concurrence of the Senate, the House of Representatives, and the approval of the President to be unconstitutional and void, and yet none, it is presumed, can be found who will be disposed to strip this highest judicial tribunal under the Constitution of this acknowledged power--a power necessary alike to its independence and the rights of individuals. For the same reason that the Executive veto should, according to the doctrine maintained, be rendered nugatory, and be practically expunged from the Constitution, this power of the court should also be rendered nugatory and be expunged, because it restrains the legislative and Executive will, and because the exercise of such a power by the court may be regarded as being in conflict with the capacity of the people to govern themselves. Indeed, there is more reason for striking this power of the court from the Constitution than there is that of the qualified veto of the president, because the decision of the court is final, and can never be reversed even though both Houses of Congress and the President should be unanimous in opposition to it, whereas the veto of the President may be overruled by a vote of two-thirds of both Houses of Congress or by the people at the polls. It is obvious that to preserve the system established by the Constitution each of the coordinate branches of the Government--the executive, legislative, and judicial--must be left in the exercise of its appropriate powers. If the executive or the judicial branch be deprived of powers conferred upon either as checks on the legislative, the preponderance of the latter will become disproportionate and absorbing and the others impotent for the accomplishment of the great objects for which they were established. Organized, as they are, by the Constitution, they work together harmoniously for the public good. If the Executive and the judiciary shall be deprived of the constitutional powers invested in them, and of their due proportions, the equilibrium of the system must be destroyed, and consolidation, with the most pernicious results, must ensue--a consolidation of unchecked, despotic power, exercised by majorities of the legislative branch. The executive, legislative, and judicial each constitutes a separate coordinate department of the Government, and each is independent of the others. In the performance of their respective duties under the Constitution neither can in its legitimate action control the others. They each act upon their several responsibilities in their respective spheres. But if the doctrines now maintained be correct, the executive must become practically subordinate to the legislative, and the judiciary must become subordinate to both the legislative and the executive; and thus the whole power of the Government would be merged in a single department. Whenever, if ever, this shall occur, our glorious system of well-regulated self-government will crumble into ruins, to be succeeded, first by anarchy, and finally by monarchy or despotism. I am far from believing that this doctrine is the sentiment of the American people; and during the short period which remains in which it will be my duty to administer the executive department it will be my aim to maintain its independence and discharge its duties without infringing upon the powers or duties of either of the other departments of the Government. The power of the Executive veto was exercised by the first and most illustrious of my predecessors and by four of his successors who preceded me in the administration of the Government, and it is believed in no instance prejudicially to the public interests. It has never been and there is but little danger that it ever can be abused. No President will ever desire unnecessarily to place his opinion in opposition to that of Congress. He must always exercise the power reluctantly, and only in cases where his convictions make it a matter of stern duty, which he can not escape. Indeed, there is more danger that the President, from the repugnance he must always feel to come in collision with Congress, may fail to exercise it in cases where the preservation of the Constitution from infraction, or the public good, may demand it than that he will ever exercise it unnecessarily or wantonly. During the period I have administered the executive department of the Government great and important questions of public policy, foreign and domestic, have arisen, upon which it was my duty to act. It may, indeed, be truly said that my Administration has fallen upon eventful times. I have felt most sensibly the weight of the high responsibilities devolved upon me. With no other object than the public good, the enduring fame, and permanent prosperity of my country, I have pursued the convictions of my own best judgment. The impartial arbitrament of enlightened public opinion, present and future, will determine how far the public policy I have maintained and the measures I have from time to time recommended may have tended to advance or retard the public prosperity at home and to elevate or depress the estimate of our national character abroad. Invoking the blessings of the Almighty upon your deliberations at your present important session, my ardent hope is that in a spirit of harmony and concord you may be guided to wise results, and such as may redound to the happiness, the honor, and the glory of our beloved country.
under the benignant providence of almighty god the representatives of the states and of the people are again brought together to deliberate for the public good the gratitude of the nation to the sovereign arbiter of all human events should be commensurate with the boundless blessings which we enjoy peace plenty and contentment reign throughout our borders and our beloved country presents a sublime moral spectacle to the world the troubled and unsettled condition of some of the principal european powers has had a necessary tendency to check and embarrass trade and to depress prices throughout all commercial nations but notwithstanding these causes the united states with their abundant products have felt their effects less severely than any other country and all our great interests are still prosperous and successful in reviewing the great events of the past year and contrasting the agitated and disturbed state of other countries with our own tranquil and happy condition we may congratulate ourselves that we are the most favored people on the face of the earth while the people of other countries are struggling to establish free institutions under which man may govern himself we are in the actual enjoyment of them a rich inheritance from our fathers while enlightened nations of europe are convulsed and distracted by civil war or intestine strife we settle all our political controversies by the peaceful exercise of the rights of freemen at the ballot box the great republican maxim so deeply engraven on the hearts of our people that the will of the majority constitutionally expressed shall prevail is our sure safeguard against force and violence it is a subject of just pride that our fame and character as a nation continue rapidly to advance in the estimation of the civilized world to our wise and free institutions it is to be attributed that while other nations have achieved glory at the price of the suffering distress and impoverishment of their people we have won our honorable position in the midst of an uninterrupted prosperity and of an increasing individual comfort and happiness i am happy to inform you that our relations with all nations are friendly and pacific advantageous treaties of commerce have been concluded within the last four years with new granada peru the two sicilies belgium hanover oldenburg and pursuing our example the restrictive system of great britain our principal foreign customer has been relaxed a more liberal commercial policy has been adopted by other enlightened nations and our trade has been greatly enlarged and extended our country stands higher in the respect of the world than at any former period to continue to occupy this proud position it is only necessary to preserve peace and faithfully adhere to the great and fundamental principle of our foreign policy of noninterference in the domestic concerns of other nations we recognize in all nations the right which we enjoy ourselves to change and reform their political institutions according to their own will and pleasure hence we do not look behind existing governments capable of maintaining their own authority we recognize all such actual governments not only from the dictates of true policy but from a sacred regard for the independence of nations while this is our settled policy it does not follow that we can ever be indifferent spectators of the progress of liberal principles the government and people of the united states hailed with enthusiasm and delight the establishment of the french republic as we now hail the efforts in progress to unite the states of germany in a confederation similar in many respects to our own federal union if the great and enlightened german states occupying as they do a central and commanding position in europe shall succeed in establishing such a confederated government securing at the same time to the citizens of each state local governments adapted to the peculiar condition of each with unrestricted trade and intercourse with each other it will be an important era in the history of human events whilst it will consolidate and strengthen the power of germany it must essentially promote the because of peace commerce civilization and constitutional liberty throughout the world with all the governments on this continent our relations it is believed are now on a more friendly and satisfactory footing than they have ever been at any former period since the exchange of ratifications of the treaty of peace with mexico our intercourse with the government of that republic has been of the most friendly character the envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of the united states to mexico has been received and accredited and a diplomatic representative from mexico of similar rank has been received and accredited by this government the amicable relations between the two countries which had been suspended have been happily restored and are destined i trust to be long preserved the two republics both situated on this continent and with coterminous territories have every motive of sympathy and of interest to bind them together in perpetual amity this gratifying condition of our foreign relations renders it unnecessary for me to call your attention more specifically to them it has been my constant aim and desire to cultivate peace and commerce with all nations tranquility at home and peaceful relations abroad constitute the true permanent policy of our country war the scourge of nations sometimes becomes inevitable but is always to be avoided when it can be done consistently with the rights and honor of a nation one of the most important results of the war into which we were recently forced with a neighboring nation is the demonstration it has afforded of the military strength of our country before the late war with mexico european and other foreign powers entertained imperfect and erroneous views of our physical strength as a nation and of our ability to prosecute war and especially a war waged out of our own country they saw that our standing army on the peace establishment did not exceed men accustomed themselves to maintain in peace large standing armies for the protection of thrones against their own subjects as well as against foreign enemies they had not conceived that it was possible for a nation without such an army well disciplined and of long service to wage war successfully they held in low repute our militia and were far from regarding them as an effective force unless it might be for temporary defensive operations when invaded on our own soil the events of the late war with mexico have not only undeceived them but have removed erroneous impressions which prevailed to some extent even among a portion of our own countrymen that war has demonstrated that upon the breaking out of hostilities not anticipated and for which no previous preparation had been made a volunteer army of citizen soldiers equal to veteran troops and in numbers equal to any emergency can in a short period be brought into the field unlike what would have occurred in any other country we were under no necessity of resorting to drafts or conscriptions on the contrary such was the number of volunteers who patriotically tendered their services that the chief difficulty was in making selections and determining who should be disappointed and compelled to remain at home our citizen soldiers are unlike those drawn from the population of any other country they are composed indiscriminately of all professions and pursuits of farmers lawyers physicians merchants manufacturers mechanics and laborers and this not only among the officers but the private soldiers in the ranks our citizen soldiers are unlike those of any other country in other respects they are armed and have been accustomed from their youth up to handle and use firearms and a large proportion of them especially in the western and more newly settled states are expert marksmen they are men who have a reputation to maintain at home by their good conduct in the field they are intelligent and there is an individuality of character which is found in the ranks of no other army in battle each private man as well as every officer fights not only for his country but for glory and distinction among his when he shall return to civil life the war with mexico has demonstrated not only the ability of the government to organize a numerous army upon a sudden call but also to provide it with all the munitions and necessary supplies with dispatch convenience and ease and to direct its operations with efficiency the strength of our institutions has not only been displayed in the valor and skill of our troops engaged in active service in the field but in the organization of those executive branches which were charged with the general direction and conduct of the war while too great praise can not be bestowed upon the officers and men who fought our battles it would be unjust to withhold from those officers necessarily stationed at home who were charged with the duty of furnishing the army in proper time and at proper places with all the munitions of war and other supplies so necessary to make it efficient the commendation to which they are entitled the credit due to this class of our officers is the greater when it is considered that no army in ancient or modern times was even better appointed or provided than our army in mexico operating in an enemy country removed miles from the seat of the federal government its different corps spread over a vast extent of territory hundreds and even thousands of miles apart from each other nothing short of the untiring vigilance and extraordinary energy of these officers could have enabled them to provide the army at all points and in proper season with all that was required for the most efficient service it is but an act of justice to declare that the officers in charge of the several executive bureaus all under the immediate eye and supervision of the secretary of war performed their respective duties with ability energy and efficiency they have reaped less of the glory of the war not having been personally exposed to its perils in battle than their companions in arms but without their forecast efficient aid and cooperation those in the field would not have been provided with the ample means they possessed of achieving for themselves and their country the unfading honors which they have won for both when all these facts are considered it may cease to be a matter of so much amazement abroad how it happened that our noble army in mexico regulars and volunteers were victorious upon every battlefield however fearful the odds against them the war with mexico has thus fully developed the capacity of republican governments to prosecute successfully a just and necessary foreign war with all the vigor usually attributed to more arbitrary forms of government it has been usual for writers on public law to impute to republics a want of that unity concentration of purpose and vigor of execution which are generally admitted to belong to the monarchical and aristocratic forms and this feature of popular government has been supposed to display itself more particularly in the conduct of a war carried on in an enemy territory the war with great britain in 1812 was to a great extent confined within our own limits and she would but little light on this subject but the war which we have just closed by an honorable peace evinces beyond all doubt that a popular representative government is equal to any emergency which is likely to arise in the affairs of a nation the war with mexico has developed most strikingly and conspicuously another feature in our institutions it is that without cost to the government or danger to our liberties we have in the bosom of our society of freemen available in a just and necessary war virtually a standing army of armed citizen soldiers such as fought the battles of mexico but our military strength does not consist alone in our capacity for extended and successful operations on land the navy is an important arm of the national defense if the services of the navy were not so brilliant as those of the army in the late war with mexico it was because they had no enemy to meet on their own element while the army had opportunity of performing more conspicuous service the navy largely participated in the conduct of the war both branches of the service performed their whole duty to the country for the able and gallant services of the officers and men of the navy acting independently as well as in cooperation with our troops in the conquest of the californias the capture of vera cruz and the seizure and occupation of other important positions on the gulf and pacific coasts the highest praise is due their vigilance energy and skill rendered the most effective service in excluding munitions of war and other supplies from the enemy while they secured a safe entrance for abundant supplies for our own army our extended commerce was nowhere interrupted and for this immunity from the evils of war the country is indebted to the navy high praise is due to the officers of the several executive bureaus and stations connected with the service all under the immediate direction of the secretary of the navy for the industry foresight and energy with which everything was directed and furnished to give efficiency to that branch of the service the same vigilance existed in directing the operations of the navy as of the army there was concert of action and of purpose between the heads of the two arms of the service by the orders which were from time to time issued our vessels of war on the pacific and the gulf of mexico were stationed in proper time and in proper positions to cooperate efficiently with the army by this means their combined power was brought to bear successfully on the enemy the great results which have been developed and brought to light by this war will be of immeasurable importance in the future progress of our country they will tend powerfully to preserve us from foreign collisions and to enable us to pursue uninterruptedly our cherished policy of peace with all nations entangling alliances with none occupying as we do a more commanding position among nations than at any former period our duties and our responsibilities to ourselves and to posterity are correspondingly increased this will be the more obvious when we consider the vast additions which have been recently made to our territorial possessions and their great importance and value within less than four years the annexation of texas to the union has been consummated all conflicting title to the oregon territory south of the degree of north latitude being all that was insisted on by any of my predecessors has been adjusted and new mexico and upper california have been acquired by treaty the area of these several territories according to a report carefully prepared by the commissioner of the general land office from the most authentic information in his possession and which is herewith transmitted contains square miles or acres while the area of the remaining states and the territory not yet organized into states east of the rocky mountains contains square miles or acres these estimates show that the territories recently acquired and over which our exclusive jurisdiction and dominion have been extended constitute a country more than half as large as all that which was held by the united states before their acquisition if oregon be excluded from the estimate there will still remain within the limits of texas new mexico and california square miles or acres being an addition equal to more than of all the territory owned by the united states before their acquisition and including oregon nearly as great an extent of territory as the whole of europe russia only excepted the mississippi so lately the frontier of our country is now only its center with the addition of the late acquisitions the united states are now estimated to be nearly as large as the whole of europe it is estimated by the superintendent of the coast survey in the accompanying report that the extent of the seacoast of texas on the gulf of mexico is upward of 400 miles of the coast of upper california on the pacific of 970 miles and of oregon including the straits of fuca of 650 miles making the whole extent of seacoast on the pacific miles and the whole extent on both the pacific and the gulf of mexico miles the length of the coast on the atlantic from the northern limits of the united states around the capes of florida to the sabine on the eastern boundary of texas is estimated to be miles so that the addition of seacoast including oregon is very nearly as great as all we possessed before and excluding oregon is an addition of miles being nearly equal to of the extent of coast which we possessed before these acquisitions we have now three great maritime fronts on the atlantic the gulf of mexico and the pacific making in the whole an extent of seacoast exceeding miles this is the extent of the seacoast of the united states not including bays sounds and small irregularities of the main shore and of the sea islands if these be included the length of the shore line of coast as estimated by the superintendent of the coast survey in his report would be miles it would be difficult to calculate the value of these immense additions to our territorial possessions texas lying contiguous to the western boundary of louisiana embracing within its limits a part of the navigable tributary waters of the mississippi and an extensive seacoast could not long have remained in the hands of a foreign power without endangering the peace of our southwestern frontier her products in the vicinity of the tributaries of the mississippi must have sought a market through these streams running into and through our territory and the danger of irritation and collision of interests between texas as a foreign state and ourselves would have been imminent while the embarrassments in the commercial intercourse between them must have been constant and unavoidable had texas fallen into the hands or under the influence and control of a strong maritime or military foreign power as she might have done these dangers would have been still greater they have been avoided by her voluntary and peaceful annexation to the united states texas from her position was a natural and almost indispensable part of our territories fortunately she has been restored to our country and now constitutes one of the states of our confederacy upon an equal footing with the original states the salubrity of climate the fertility of soil peculiarly adapted to the production of some of our most valuable staple commodities and her commercial advantages must soon make her one of our most populous states new mexico though situated in the interior and without a seacoast is known to contain much fertile land to abound in rich mines of the precious metals and to be capable of sustaining a large population from its position it is the intermediate and connecting territory between our settlements and our possessions in texas and those on the pacific coast upper california irrespective of the vast mineral wealth recently developed there holds at this day in point of value and importance to the rest of the union the same relation that louisiana did when that fine territory was acquired from france years ago extending nearly ten degrees of latitude along the pacific and embracing the only safe and commodious harbors on that coast for many hundred miles with a temperate climate and an extensive interior of fertile lands it is scarcely possible to estimate its wealth until it shall be brought under the government of our laws and its resources fully developed from its position it must command the rich commerce of china of asia of the islands of the pacific of western mexico of central america the south american states and of the russian possessions bordering on that ocean a great emporium will doubtless speedily arise on the californian coast which may be destined to rival in importance new orleans itself the depot of the vast commerce which must exist on the pacific will probably be at some point on the bay of san francisco and will occupy the same relation to the whole western coast of that ocean as new orleans does to the valley of the mississippi and the gulf of mexico to this depot our numerous whale ships will resort with their cargoes to trade refit and obtain supplies this of itself will largely contribute to build up a city which would soon become the center of a great and rapidly increasing commerce situated on a safe harbor sufficiently capacious for all the navies as well as the marine of the world and convenient to excellent timber for shipbuilding owned by the united states it must become our great western naval depot it was known that mines of the precious metals existed to a considerable extent in california at the time of its acquisition recent discoveries render it probable that these mines are more extensive and valuable than was anticipated the accounts of the abundance of gold in that territory are of such an extraordinary character as would scarcely command belief were they not corroborated by the authentic reports of officers in the public service who have visited the mineral district and derived the facts which they detail from personal observation reluctant to credit the reports in general circulation as to the quantity of gold the officer commanding our forces in california visited the mineral district in july last for the purpose of obtaining accurate information on the subject his report to the war department of the result of his examination and the facts obtained on the spot is herewith laid before congress when he visited the country there were about persons engaged in collecting gold there is every reason to believe that the number of persons so employed has since been augmented the explorations already made warrant the belief that the supply is very large and that gold is found at various places in an extensive district of country information received from officers of the navy and other sources though not so full and minute confirms the accounts of the commander of our military force in california it appears also from these reports that mines of quicksilver are found in the vicinity of the gold region one of them is now being worked and is believed to be among the most productive in the world the effects produced by the discovery of these rich mineral deposits and the success which has attended the labors of those who have resorted to them have produced a surprising change in the state of affairs in california labor commands a most exorbitant price and all other pursuits but that of searching for the precious metals are abandoned nearly the whole of the male population of the country have gone to the gold districts ships arriving on the coast are deserted by their crews and their voyages suspended for want of sailors our commanding officer there entertains apprehensions that soldiers can not be kept in the public service without a large increase of pay desertions in his command have become frequent and he recommends that those who shall withstand the strong temptation and remain faithful should be rewarded this abundance of gold and the pursuit of it have already caused in california an unprecedented rise in the price of all the necessaries of life that we may the more speedily and fully avail ourselves of the undeveloped wealth of these mines it is deemed of vast importance that a branch of the mint of the united states be authorized to be established at your present session in california among other signal advantages which would result from such an establishment would be that of raising the gold to its par value in that territory a branch mint of the united states at the great commercial depot on the west coast would convert into our own coin not only the gold derived from our own rich mines but also the bullion and specie which our commerce may bring from the whole west coast of central and south america the west coast of america and the adjacent interior embrace the richest and best mines of mexico new granada central america chili and peru the bullion and specie drawn from these countries and especially from those of western mexico and peru to an amount in value of many millions of dollars are now annually diverted and carried by the ships of great britain to her own ports to be recoined or used to sustain her national bank and thus contribute to increase her ability to command so much of the commerce of the world if a branch mint be established at the great commercial point upon that coast a vast amount of bullion and specie would flow thither to be recoined and pass thence to new orleans new york and other atlantic cities the amount of our constitutional currency at home would be greatly increased while its circulation abroad would be promoted it is well known to our merchants trading to china and the west coast of america that great inconvenience and loss are experienced from the fact that our coins are not current at their par value in those countries the powers of europe far removed from the west coast of america by the atlantic ocean which intervenes and by a tedious and dangerous navigation around the southern cape of the continent of america can never successfully compete with the united states in the rich and extensive commerce which is opened to us at so much less cost by the acquisition of california the vast importance and commercial advantages of california have heretofore remained undeveloped by the government of the country of which it constituted a part now that this fine province is a part of our country all the states of the union some more immediately and directly than others are deeply interested in the speedy development of its wealth and resources no section of our country is more interested or will be more benefited than the commercial navigating and manufacturing interests of the eastern states our planting and farming interests in every part of the union will be greatly benefited by it as our commerce and navigation are enlarged and extended our exports of agricultural products and of manufactures will be increased and in the new markets thus opened they can not fail to command remunerating and profitable prices the acquisition of california and new mexico the settlement of the oregon boundary and the annexation of texas extending to the rio grande are results which combined are of greater consequence and will add more to the strength and wealth of the nation than any which have preceded them since the adoption of the constitution but to effect these great results not only california but new mexico must be brought under the control of regularly organized governments the existing condition of california and of that part of new mexico lying west of the rio grande and without the limits of texas imperiously demands that congress should at its present session organize territorial governments over them upon the exchange of ratifications of the treaty of peace with mexico on the 30th of may last the temporary governments which had been established over new mexico and california by our military and naval commanders by virtue of the rights of war ceased to derive any obligatory force from that source of authority and having been ceded to the united states all government and control over them under the authority of mexico had ceased to exist impressed with the necessity of establishing territorial governments over them i recommended the subject to the favorable consideration of congress in my message communicating the ratified treaty of peace on the 6th of july last and invoked their action at that session congress adjourned without making any provision for their government the inhabitants by the transfer of their country had become entitled to the benefit of our laws and constitution and yet were left without any regularly organized government since that time the very limited power possessed by the executive has been exercised to preserve and protect them from the inevitable consequences of a state of anarchy the only government which remained was that established by the military authority during the war regarding this to be a de facto government and that by the presumed consent of the inhabitants it might be continued temporarily they were advised to conform and submit to it for the short intervening period before congress would again assemble and could legislate on the subject the views entertained by the executive on this point are contained in a communication of the secretary of state dated the 7th of october last which was forwarded for publication to california and new mexico a copy of which is herewith transmitted the small military force of the regular army which was serving within the limits of the acquired territories at the close of the war was retained in them and additional forces have been ordered there for the protection of the inhabitants and to preserve and secure the rights and interests of the united states no revenue has been or could be collected at the ports in california because congress failed to authorize the establishment of or the appointment of officers for that purpose the secretary of the treasury by a circular letter addressed to collectors of the customs on the 7th day of october last a copy of which is herewith transmitted exercised all the power with which he was invested by law in pursuance of the act of the 14th of august last extending the benefit of our laws to the people of california the has appointed two agents who have proceeded the one to california and the other to oregon with authority to make the necessary arrangements for carrying its provisions into effect the monthly line of mail steamers from panama to astoria has been required to stop and deliver and take mails at san diego monterey and san francisco these mail steamers connected by the isthmus of panama with the line of mail steamers on the atlantic between new york and chagres will establish a regular mail communication with california it is our solemn duty to provide with the least practicable delay for new mexico and california regularly organized territorial governments the causes of the failure to do this at the last session of congress are well known and deeply to be regretted with the opening prospects of increased prosperity and national greatness which the acquisition of these rich and extensive territorial possessions affords how irrational it would be to forego or to reject these advantages by the agitation of a domestic question which is coeval with the existence of our government itself and to endanger by internal strifes geographical divisions and heated contests for political power or for any other because the harmony of the glorious union of our confederated states that union which binds us together as one people and which for sixty years has been our shield and protection against every danger in the eyes of the world and of posterity how trivial and insignificant will be all our internal divisions and struggles compared with the preservation of this union of the states in all its vigor and with all its countless blessings no patriot would foment and excite geographical and sectional divisions no lover of his country would deliberately calculate the value of the union future generations would look in amazement upon the folly of such a course other nations at the present day would look upon it with astonishment and such of them as desire to maintain and perpetuate thrones and monarchical or aristocratical principles will view it with exultation and delight because in it they will see the elements of faction which they hope must ultimately overturn our system ours is the great example of a prosperous and free republic commanding the admiration and the imitation of all the lovers of freedom throughout the world how solemn therefore is the duty how impressive the call upon us and upon all parts of our country to cultivate a patriotic spirit of harmony of of compromise and mutual concession in the administration of the incomparable system of government formed by our fathers in the midst of almost insuperable difficulties and transmitted to us with the injunction that we should enjoy its blessings and hand it down unimpaired to those who may come after us in view of the high and responsible duties which we owe to ourselves and to mankind i trust you may be able at your present session to approach the adjustment of the only domestic question which seriously threatens or probably ever can threaten to disturb the harmony and successful operations of our system the immensely valuable possessions of new mexico and california are already inhabited by a considerable population attracted by their great fertility their mineral wealth their commercial advantages and the salubrity of the climate emigrants from the older states in great numbers are already preparing to seek new homes in these inviting regions shall the dissimilarity of the domestic institutions in the different states prevent us from providing for them suitable governments these institutions existed at the adoption of the constitution but the obstacles which they interposed were overcome by that spirit of compromise which is now invoked in a conflict of opinions or of interests real or imaginary between different sections of our country neither can justly demand all which it might desire to obtain each in the true spirit of our institutions should concede something to the other our gallant forces in the mexican war by whose patriotism and unparalleled deeds of arms we obtained these possessions as an indemnity for our just demands against mexico were composed of citizens who belonged to no one state or section of our union they were men from slaveholding and nonslaveholding states from the north and the south from the east and the west they were all companions in arms and of the same common country engaged in the same common because when prosecuting that war they were brethren and friends and shared alike with each other common toils dangers and sufferings now when their work is ended when peace is restored and they return again to their homes put off the habiliments of war take their places in society and resume their pursuits in civil life surely a spirit of harmony and concession and of equal regard for the rights of all and of all sections of the union ought to prevail in providing governments for the acquired territories the fruits of their common service the whole people of the united states and of every state contributed to defray the expenses of that war and it would not be just for any one section to exclude another from all participation in the acquired territory this would not be in consonance with the just system of government which the framers of the constitution adopted the question is believed to be rather abstract than practical whether slavery ever can or would exist in any portion of the acquired territory even if it were left to the option of the slaveholding states themselves from the nature of the climate and productions in much the larger portion of it it is certain it could never exist and in the remainder the probabilities are it would not but however this may be the question involving as it does a principle of equality of rights of the separate and several states as equal copartners in the confederacy should not be disregarded in organizing governments over these territories no duty imposed on congress by the constitution requires that they should legislate on the subject of slavery while their power to do so is not only seriously questioned but denied by many of the soundest expounders of that instrument whether congress shall legislate or not the people of the acquired territories when assembled in convention to form state constitutions will possess the sole and exclusive power to determine for themselves whether slavery shall or shall not exist within their limits if congress shall abstain from interfering with the question the people of these territories will be left free to adjust it as they may think proper when they apply for admission as states into the union no enactment of congress could restrain the people of any of the sovereign states of the union old or new north or south slaveholding or nonslaveholding from determining the character of their own domestic institutions as they may deem wise and proper any and all the states possess this right and congress can not deprive them of it the people of georgia might if they chose so alter their constitution as to abolish slavery within its limits and the people of vermont might so alter their constitution as to admit slavery within its limits both states would possess the right though as all know it is not probable that either would exert it it is fortunate for the peace and harmony of the union that this question is in its nature temporary and can only continue for the brief period which will intervene before california and new mexico may be admitted as states into the union from the tide of population now flowing into them it is highly probable that this will soon occur considering the several states and the citizens of the several states as equals and entitled to equal rights under the constitution if this were an original question it might well be insisted on that the principle of noninterference is the true doctrine and that congress could not in the absence of any express grant of power interfere with their relative rights upon a great emergency however and under menacing dangers to the union the missouri compromise line in respect to slavery was adopted the same line was extended farther west in the acquisition of texas after an acquiescence of nearly thirty years in the principle of compromise recognized and established by these acts and to avoid the danger to the union which might follow if it were now disregarded i have heretofore expressed the opinion that that line of compromise should be extended on the parallel of 30 from the western boundary of texas where it now terminates to the pacific ocean this is the middle ground of compromise upon which the different sections of the union may meet as they have heretofore met if this be done it is confidently believed a large majority of the people of every section of the country however widely their abstract opinions on the subject of slavery may differ would cheerfully and patriotically acquiesce in it and peace and harmony would again fill our borders the restriction north of the line was only yielded to in the case of missouri and texas upon a principle of compromise made necessary for the sake of preserving the harmony and possibly the existence of the union it was upon these considerations that at the close of your last session i gave my sanction to the principle of the missouri compromise line by approving and signing the bill to establish the territorial government of oregon from a sincere desire to preserve the harmony of the union and in deference for the acts of my predecessors i felt constrained to yield my acquiescence to the extent to which they had gone in compromising this delicate and dangerous question but if congress shall now reverse the decision by which the missouri compromise was effected and shall propose to extend the restriction over the whole territory south as well as north of the parallel of 30 it will cease to be a compromise and must be regarded as an original question if congress instead of observing the course of noninterference leaving the adoption of their own domestic institutions to the people who may inhabit these territories or if instead of extending the missouri compromise line to the pacific shall prefer to submit the legal and constitutional questions which may arise to the decision of the judicial tribunals as was proposed in a bill which passed the senate at your last session an adjustment may be effected in this mode if the whole subject be referred to the judiciary all parts of the union should cheerfully acquiesce in the final decision of the tribunal created by the constitution for the settlement of all questions which may arise under the constitution treaties and laws of the united states congress is earnestly invoked for the sake of the union its harmony and our continued prosperity as a nation to adjust at its present session this the only dangerous question which lies in our path if not in some one of the modes suggested in some other which may be satisfactory in anticipation of the establishment of regular governments over the acquired territories a joint commission of officers of the army and navy has been ordered to proceed to the coast of california and oregon for the purpose of making reconnoissances and a report as to the proper sites for the erection of fortifications or other defensive works on land and of suitable situations for naval stations the information which may be expected from a scientific and skillful examination of the whole face of the coast will be eminently useful to congress when they come to consider the propriety of making appropriations for these great national objects proper defenses on land will be necessary for the security and protection of our possessions and the establishment of and a dock for the repair and construction of vessels will be important alike to our navy and commercial marine without such establishments every vessel whether of the navy or of the merchant service requiring repair must at great expense come round cape horn to one of our atlantic yards for that purpose with such establishments vessels it is believed may be built or repaired as cheaply in california as upon the atlantic coast they would give employment to many of our enterprising shipbuilders and mechanics and greatly facilitate and enlarge our commerce in the pacific as it is ascertained that mines of gold silver copper and quicksilver exist in new mexico and california and that nearly all the lands where they are found belong to the united states it is deemed important to the public interest that provision be made for a geological and mineralogical examination of these regions measures should be adopted to preserve the mineral lands especially such as contain the precious metals for the use of the united states or if brought into market to separate them from the farming lands and dispose of them in such manner as to secure a large return of money to the treasury and at the same time to lead to the development of their wealth by individual proprietors and purchasers to do this it will be necessary to provide for an immediate survey and location of the lots if congress should deem it proper to dispose of the mineral lands they should be sold in small quantities and at a fixed minimum price i recommend that offices be authorized to be established in new mexico and california and provision made for surveying and bringing the public lands into market at the earliest practicable period in disposing of these lands i recommend that the right of preemption be secured and liberal grants made to the early emigrants who have settled or may settle upon them it will be important to extend our revenue laws over these territories and especially over california at an early period there is already a considerable commerce with california and until ports of entry shall be established and collectors appointed no revenue can be received if these and other necessary and proper measures be adopted for the development of the wealth and resources of new mexico and california and regular territorial governments be established over them such will probably be the rapid enlargement of our commerce and navigation and such the addition to the national wealth that the present generation may live to witness the controlling commercial and monetary power of the world transferred from london and other european emporiums to the city of new york the apprehensions which were entertained by some of our statesmen in the earlier periods of the government that our system was incapable of operating with sufficient energy and success over largely extended territorial limits and that if this were attempted it would fall to pieces by its own weakness have been dissipated by our experience by the division of power between the states and federal government the latter is found to operate with as much energy in the extremes as in the center it is as efficient in the remotest of the thirty states which now compose the union as it was in the thirteen states which formed our constitution indeed it may well be doubted whether if our present population had been confined within the limits of the original thirteen states the tendencies to centralization and consolidation would not have been such as to have encroached upon the essential reserved rights of the states and thus to have made the federal government a widely different one practically from what it is in theory and was intended to be by its framers so far from entertaining apprehensions of the safety of our system by the extension of our territory the belief is confidently entertained that each new state gives strength and an additional guaranty for the preservation of the union itself in pursuance of the provisions of the thirteenth article of the treaty of peace friendship limits and settlement with the republic of mexico and of the act of july 29 1848 claims of our citizens which had been already liquidated and decided against the mexican republic amounting with the interest thereon to have been liquidated and paid there remain to be paid of these claims congress at its last session having made no provision for executing the fifteenth article of the treaty by which the united states assume to make satisfaction for the unliquidated claims of our citizens against mexico to an amount not exceeding three and a quarter millions of dollars the subject is again recommended to your favorable consideration the exchange of ratifications of the treaty with mexico took place on the 30th of may 1848 within one year after that time the commissioner and surveyor which each government stipulates to appoint are required to meet at the port of san diego and proceed to run and mark the said boundary in its whole course to the mouth of the rio bravo del norte it will be seen from this provision that the period within which a commissioner and surveyor of the respective governments are to meet at san diego will expire on the 30th of may 1849 congress at the close of its last session made an appropriation for the expenses of running and marking the boundary line between the two countries but did not fix the amount of salary which should be paid to the commissioner and surveyor to be appointed on the part of the united states it is desirable that the amount of compensation which they shall receive should be prescribed by law and not left as at present to executive discretion measures were adopted at the earliest practicable period to organize the territorial government of oregon as authorized by the act of the 14th of august last the governor and marshal of the territory accompanied by a small military escort left the frontier of missouri in september last and took the southern route by the way of santa fe and the river gila to california with the intention of proceeding thence in one of our vessels of war to their destination the governor was fully advised of the great importance of his early arrival in the country and it is confidently believed he may reach oregon in the latter part of the present month or early in the next the other officers for the territory have proceeded by sea in the month of may last i communicated information to congress that an indian war had broken out in oregon and recommended that authority be given to raise an adequate number of volunteers to proceed without delay to the assistance of our in that territory the authority to raise such a force not having been granted by congress as soon as their services could be dispensed with in mexico orders were issued to the regiment of mounted riflemen to proceed to jefferson barracks in missouri and to prepare to march to oregon as soon as the necessary provision could be made shortly before it was ready to march it was arrested by the provision of the act passed by congress on the last day of the last session which directed that all the noncommissioned officers musicians and privates of that regiment who had been in service in mexico should upon their application be entitled to be discharged the effect of this provision was to disband the rank and file of the regiment and before their places could be filled by recruits the season had so far advanced that it was impracticable for it to proceed until the opening of the next spring in the month of october last the accompanying communication was received from the governor of the temporary government of oregon giving information of the continuance of the indian disturbances and of the destitution and defenseless condition of the inhabitants orders were immediately transmitted to the commander of our squadron in the pacific to dispatch to their assistance a part of the naval forces on that station to furnish them with arms and ammunition and to continue to give them such aid and protection as the navy could afford until the army could reach the country it is the policy of humanity and one which has always been pursued by the united states to cultivate the good will of the aboriginal tribes of this continent and to restrain them from making war and indulging in excesses by mild means rather than by force that this could have been done with the tribes in oregon had that territory been brought under the government of our laws at an earlier period and had other suitable measures been adopted by congress such as now exist in our intercourse with the other indian tribes within our limits can not be doubted indeed the immediate and only because of the existing hostility of the indians of oregon is represented to have been the long delay of the united states in making to them some trifling compensation in such articles as they wanted for the country now occupied by our emigrants which the indians claimed and over which they formerly roamed this compensation had been promised to them by the temporary government established in oregon but its fulfillment had been postponed from time to time for nearly two years whilst those who made it had been anxiously waiting for congress to establish a territorial government over the country the indians became at length distrustful of their good faith and sought redress by plunder and massacre which finally led to the present difficulties a few thousand dollars in suitable presents as a compensation for the country which had been taken possession of by our citizens would have satisfied the indians and have prevented the war a small amount properly distributed it is confidently believed would soon restore quiet in this indian war our of oregon have been compelled to take the field in their own defense have performed valuable military services and been subjected to expenses which have fallen heavily upon them justice demands that provision should be made by congress to compensate them for their services and to refund to them the necessary expenses which they have incurred i repeat the recommendation heretofore made to congress that provision be made for the appointment of a suitable number of indian agents to reside among the tribes of oregon and that a small sum be appropriated to enable these agents to cultivate friendly relations with them if this be done the presence of a small military force will be all that is necessary to keep them in check and preserve peace i recommend that similar provisions be made as regards the tribes inhabiting northern texas new mexico california and the extensive region lying between our settlements in missouri and these possessions as the most effective means of preserving peace upon our borders and within the recently acquired territories the secretary of the treasury will present in his annual report a highly satisfactory statement of the condition of the finances the imports for the fiscal year ending on the 30th of june last were of the value of of which the amount exported was leaving in the country for domestic use the value of the exports for the same period was consisting of domestic productions amounting to and of foreign articles the receipts into the treasury for the same period exclusive of loans amounted to of which there was derived from customs from sales of public lands and from miscellaneous and incidental sources it will be perceived that the revenue from customs for the last fiscal year exceeded by the estimate of the secretary of the treasury in his last annual report and that the aggregate receipts during the same period from customs lands and miscellaneous sources also exceeded the estimate by the sum of indicating however a very near approach in the estimate to the actual result the expenditures during the fiscal year ending on the 30th of june last including those for the war and exclusive of payments of principal and interest for the public debt were it is estimated that the receipts into the treasury for the fiscal year ending on the 30th of june 1849 including the balance in the treasury on the 1st of july last will amount to the sum of of which it is estimated will be derived from customs from the sales of the public lands and from miscellaneous and incidental sources including the premium upon the loan and the amount paid and to be paid into the treasury on account of military contributions in mexico and the sales of arms and vessels and other public property rendered unnecessary for the use of the government by the termination of the war and from loans already negotiated including treasury notes funded which together with the balance in the treasury on the 1st of july last make the sum estimated the expenditures for the same period including the necessary payment on account of the principal and interest of the public debt and the principal and interest of the first installment due to mexico on the 30th of may next and other expenditures growing out of the war to be paid during the present year will amount including the reimbursement of treasury notes to the sum of leaving an estimated balance in the treasury on the 1st of july 1849 of the secretary of the treasury will present as required by law the estimate of the receipts and expenditures for the next fiscal year the expenditures as estimated for that year are including for the interest on the public debt and for the principal and interest due to mexico on the 30th of may 1850 leaving the sum of which it is believed will be ample for the ordinary peace expenditures the operations of the tariff act of 1846 have been such during the past year as fully to meet the public expectation and to confirm the opinion heretofore expressed of the wisdom of the change in our revenue system which was effected by it the receipts under it into the treasury for the first fiscal year after its enactment exceeded by the sum of the amount collected during the last fiscal year under the tariff act of 1842 ending the 30th of june 1846 the total revenue realized from the commencement of its operation on the 1st of december 1846 until the close of the last quarter on the 30th of september last being months was being a much larger sum than was ever before received from duties during any equal period under the tariff acts of 1824 1828 1832 and 1842 whilst by the repeal of highly protective and prohibitory duties the revenue has been increased the taxes on the people have been diminished they have been relieved from the heavy amounts with which they were burthened under former laws in the form of increased prices or bounties paid to favored classes and pursuits the predictions which were made that the tariff act of 1846 would reduce the amount of revenue below that collected under the act of 1842 and would prostrate the business and destroy the prosperity of the country have not been verified with an increased and increasing revenue the finances are in a highly flourishing condition agriculture commerce and navigation are prosperous the prices of manufactured fabrics and of other products are much less injuriously affected than was to have been anticipated from the unprecedented revulsions which during the last and the present year have overwhelmed the industry and paralyzed the credit and commerce of so many great and enlightened nations of europe severe commercial revulsions abroad have always heretofore operated to depress and often to affect disastrously almost every branch of american industry the temporary depression of a portion of our manufacturing interests is the effect of foreign causes and is far less severe than has prevailed on all former similar occasions it is believed that looking to the great aggregate of all our interests the whole country was never more prosperous than at the present period and never more rapidly advancing in wealth and population neither the foreign war in which we have been involved nor the loans which have absorbed so large a portion of our capital nor the commercial revulsion in great britain in 1847 nor the paralysis of credit and commerce throughout europe in 1848 have affected injuriously to any considerable extent any of the great interests of the country or arrested our onward march to greatness wealth and power had the disturbances in europe not occurred our commerce would undoubtedly have been still more extended and would have added still more to the national wealth and public prosperity but notwithstanding these disturbances the operations of the revenue system established by the tariff act of 1846 have been so generally beneficial to the government and the business of the country that no change in its provisions is demanded by a wise public policy and none is recommended the operations of the constitutional treasury established by the act of the 6th of august 1846 in the receipt custody and disbursement of the public money have continued to be successful under this system the public finances have been carried through a foreign war involving the necessity of loans and extraordinary expenditures and requiring distant transfers and disbursements without embarrassment and no loss has occurred of any of the public money deposited under its provisions whilst it has proved to be safe and useful to the government its effects have been most beneficial upon the business of the country it has tended powerfully to secure an exemption from that inflation and fluctuation of the paper currency so injurious to domestic industry and rendering so uncertain the rewards of labor and it is believed has largely contributed to preserve the whole country from a serious commercial revulsion such as often occurred under the bank deposit system in the year 1847 there was a revulsion in the business of great britain of great extent and intensity which was followed by failures in that kingdom unprecedented in number and amount of losses this is believed to be the first instance when such disastrous bankruptcies occurring in a country with which we have such extensive commerce produced little or no injurious effect upon our trade or currency we remained but little affected in our money market and our business and industry were still prosperous and progressive during the present year nearly the whole continent of europe has been convulsed by civil war and revolutions attended by numerous bankruptcies by an unprecedented fall in their public securities and an almost universal paralysis of commerce and industry and yet although our trade and the prices of our products must have been somewhat unfavorably affected by these causes we have escaped a revulsion our money market is comparatively easy and public and private credit have advanced and improved it is confidently believed that we have been saved from their effect by the salutary operation of the constitutional treasury it is certain that if the millions of specie imported into the country during the fiscal year ending on the 30th of june 1847 had gone into the banks as to a great extent it must have done it would in the absence of this system have been made the basis of augmented bank paper issues probably to an amount not less than or producing as an inevitable consequence of an inflated currency extravagant prices for a time and wild speculation which must have been followed on the reflux to europe the succeeding year of so much of that specie by the prostration of the business of the country the suspension of the banks and most extensive bankruptcies occurring as this would have done at a period when the country was engaged in a foreign war when considerable loans of specie were required for distant disbursements and when the banks the fiscal agents of the government and the depositories of its money were suspended the public credit must have sunk and many millions of dollars as was the case during the war of 1812 must have been sacrificed in discounts upon loans and upon the depreciated paper currency which the government would have been compelled to use under the operations of the constitutional treasury not a dollar has been lost by the depreciation of the currency the loans required to prosecute the war with mexico were negotiated by the secretary of the treasury above par realizing a large premium to the government the restraining effect of the system upon the tendencies to excessive paper issues by banks has saved the government from heavy losses and thousands of our business men from bankruptcy and ruin the wisdom of the system has been tested by the experience of the last two years and it is the dictate of sound policy that it should remain undisturbed the modifications in some of the details of this measure involving none of its essential principles heretofore recommended are again presented for your favorable consideration in my message of the 6th of july last transmitting to congress the ratified treaty of peace with mexico i recommended the adoption of measures for the speedy payment of the public debt in reiterating that recommendation i refer you to the considerations presented in that message in its support the public debt including that authorized to be negotiated in pursuance of existing laws and including treasury notes amounted at that time to funded stock of the united states amounting to about half a million of dollars has been purchased as authorized by law since that period and the public debt has thus been reduced the details of which will be presented in the annual report of the secretary of the treasury the estimates of expenditures for the next fiscal year submitted by the secretary of the treasury it is believed will be ample for all necessary purposes if the appropriations made by congress shall not exceed the amount estimated the means in the treasury will be sufficient to defray all the expenses of the government to pay off the next installment of to mexico which will fall due on the 30th of may next and still a considerable surplus will remain which should be applied to the further purchase of the public stock and reduction of the debt should enlarged appropriations be made the necessary consequence will be to postpone the payment of the debt though our debt as compared with that of most other nations is small it is our true policy and in harmony with the genius of our institutions that we should present to the world the rare spectacle of a great republic possessing vast resources and wealth wholly exempt from public indebtedness this would add still more to our strength and give to us a still more commanding position among the nations of the earth the public expenditures should be economical and be confined to such necessary objects as are clearly within the powers of congress all such as are not absolutely demanded should be postponed and the payment of the public debt at the earliest practicable period should be a cardinal principle of our public policy for the reason assigned in my last annual message i repeat the recommendation that a branch of the mint of the united states be established at the city of new york the importance of this measure is greatly increased by the acquisition of the rich mines of the precious metals in new mexico and california and especially in the latter i repeat the recommendation heretofore made in favor of the graduation and reduction of the price of such of the public lands as have been long offered in the market and have remained unsold and in favor of extending the rights of preemption to actual settlers on the unsurveyed as well as the surveyed lands the condition and operations of the army and the state of other branches of the public service under the supervision of the war department are satisfactorily presented in the accompanying report of the secretary of war on the return of peace our forces were withdrawn from mexico and the volunteers and that portion of the regular army engaged for the war were disbanded orders have been issued for stationing the forces of our permanent establishment at various positions in our extended country where troops may be required owing to the remoteness of some of these positions the detachments have not yet reached their destination notwithstanding the extension of the limits of our country and the forces required in the new territories it is confidently believed that our present military establishment is sufficient for all exigencies so long as our peaceful relations remain undisturbed of the amount of military contributions collected in mexico the sum of was applied toward the payment of the first installment due under the treaty with mexico the further sum of has been paid into the treasury and unexpended balances still remain in the hands of disbursing officers and those who were engaged in the collection of these moneys after the proclamation of peace no further disbursements were made of any unexpended moneys arising from this source the balances on hand were directed to be paid into the treasury and individual claims on the fund will remain unadjusted until congress shall authorize their settlement and payment these claims are not considerable in number or amount i recommend to your favorable consideration the suggestions of the secretary of war and the secretary of the navy in regard to legislation on this subject our indian relations are presented in a most favorable view in the report from the war department the wisdom of our policy in regard to the tribes within our limits is clearly manifested by their improved and rapidly improving condition a most important treaty with the menomonies has been recently negotiated by the commissioner of indian affairs in person by which all their land in the state of wisconsin being about acres has been ceded to the united states this treaty will be submitted to the senate for ratification at an early period of your present session within the last four years eight important treaties have been negotiated with different indian tribes and at a cost of indian lands to the amount of more than acres have been ceded to the united states and provision has been made for settling in the country west of the mississippi the tribes which occupied this large extent of the public domain the title to all the indian lands within the several states of our union with the exception of a few small reservations is now extinguished and a vast region opened for settlement and cultivation the accompanying report of the secretary of the navy gives a satisfactory exhibit of the operations and condition of that branch of the public service a number of small vessels suitable for entering the mouths of rivers were judiciously purchased during the war and gave great efficiency to the squadron in the gulf of mexico on the return of peace when no longer valuable for naval purposes and liable to constant deterioration they were sold and the money placed in the treasury the number of men in the naval service authorized by law during the war has been reduced by discharges below the maximum fixed for the peace establishment adequate squadrons are maintained in the several quarters of the globe where experience has shown their services may be most usefully employed and the naval service was never in a condition of higher discipline or greater efficiency i invite attention to the recommendation of the secretary of the navy on the subject of the marine corps the reduction of the corps at the end of the war required that four officers of each of the three lower grades should be dropped from the rolls a board of officers made the selection and those designated were necessarily dismissed but without any alleged fault i concur in opinion with the secretary that the service would be improved by reducing the number of landsmen and increasing the marines such a measure would justify an increase of the number of officers to the extent of the reduction by dismissal and still the corps would have fewer officers than a corresponding number of men in the army the contracts for the transportation of the mail in steamships convertible into war steamers promise to realize all the benefits to our commerce and to the navy which were anticipated the first steamer thus secured to the government was launched in january 1847 there are now seven and in another year there will probably be not less than seventeen afloat while this great national advantage is secured our social and commercial intercourse is increased and promoted with germany great britain and other parts of europe with all the countries on the west coast of our continent especially with oregon and california and between the northern and southern sections of the united states considerable revenue may be expected from postages but the connected line from new york to chagres and thence across the isthmus to oregon can not fail to exert a beneficial influence not now to be estimated on the interests of the manufactures commerce navigation and currency of the united states as an important part of the system i recommend to your favorable consideration the establishment of the proposed line of steamers between new orleans and vera cruz it promises the most happy results in cementing friendship between the two republics and extending reciprocal benefits to the trade and manufactures of both the report of the will make known to you the operations of that department for the past year it is gratifying to find the revenues of the department under the rates of postage now established by law so rapidly increasing the gross amount of postages during the last fiscal year amounted to exceeding the annual average received for the nine years immediately preceding the passage of the act of the 3d of march 1845 by the sum of and exceeding the amount received for the year ending the 30th of june 1847 by the sum of the expenditures for the year excluding the sum of allowed by congress at its last session to individual claimants and including the sum of paid for the services of the line of steamers between bremen and new york amounted to which is less than the annual average for the nine years previous to the act of 1845 by the mail routes on the 30th day of june last were miles in extent being an increase during the last year of miles the mails were transported over them during the same time miles making an increase of transportation for the year of miles whilst the expense was less than that of the previous year by the increase in the mail transportation within the last three years has been miles whilst the expenses were reduced making an increase of service at the rate of 15 per cent and a reduction in the expenses of more than 15 per cent during the past year there have been employed under contracts with the department two ocean steamers in conveying the mails monthly between new york and bremen and one since october last performing semimonthly service between charleston and havana and a contract has been made for the transportation of the pacific mails across the isthmus from chagres to panama under the authority given to the secretary of the navy three ocean steamers have been constructed and sent to the pacific and are expected to enter upon the mail service between panama and oregon and the intermediate ports on the 1st of january next and a fourth has been engaged by him for the service between havana and chagres so that a regular monthly mail line will be kept up after that time between the united states and our territories on the pacific notwithstanding this great increase in the mail service should the revenue continue to increase the present year as it did in the last there will be received near more than the expenditures these considerations have satisfied the that with certain modifications of the act of 1845 the revenue may be still further increased and a reduction of postages made to a uniform rate of 5 cents without an interference with the principle which has been constantly and properly enforced of making that department sustain itself a system is the best means of diffusing intelligence among the people and is of so much importance in a country so extensive as that of the united states that i recommend to your favorable consideration the suggestions of the for its improvement nothing can retard the onward progress of our country and prevent us from assuming and maintaining the first rank among nations but a disregard of the experience of the past and a recurrence to an unwise public policy we have just closed a foreign war by an honorable peace a war rendered necessary and unavoidable in vindication of the national rights and honor the present condition of the country is similar in some respects to that which existed immediately after the close of the war with great britain in 1815 and the occasion is deemed to be a proper one to take a retrospect of the measures of public policy which followed that war there was at that period of our history a departure from our earlier policy the enlargement of the powers of the federal government by construction which obtained was not warranted by any just interpretation of the constitution a few years after the close of that war a series of measures was adopted which united and combined constituted what was termed by their authors and advocates the american system the introduction of the new policy was for a time favored by the condition of the country by the heavy debt which had been contracted during the war by the depression of the public credit by the deranged state of the finances and the currency and by the commercial and pecuniary embarrassment which extensively prevailed these were not the only causes which led to its establishment the events of the war with great britain and the embarrassments which had attended its prosecution had left on the minds of many of our statesmen the impression that our government was not strong enough and that to wield its resources successfully in great emergencies and especially in war more power should be concentrated in its hands this increased power they did not seek to obtain by the legitimate and prescribed mode an amendment of the constitution but by construction they saw governments in the old world based upon different orders of society and so constituted as to throw the whole power of nations into the hands of a few who taxed and controlled the many without responsibility or restraint in that arrangement they conceived the strength of nations in war consisted there was also something fascinating in the ease luxury and display of the higher orders who drew their wealth from the toil of the laboring millions the authors of the system drew their ideas of political economy from what they had witnessed in europe and particularly in great britain they had viewed the enormous wealth concentrated in few hands and had seen the splendor of the overgrown establishments of an aristocracy which was upheld by the restrictive policy they forgot to look down upon the poorer classes of the english population upon whose daily and yearly labor the great establishments they so much admired were sustained and supported they failed to perceive that the scantily fed and operatives were not only in abject poverty but were bound in chains of oppressive servitude for the benefit of favored classes who were the exclusive objects of the care of the government it was not possible to reconstruct society in the united states upon the european plan here there was a written constitution by which orders and titles were not recognized or tolerated a system of measures was therefore devised calculated if not intended to withdraw power gradually and silently from the states and the mass of the people and by construction to approximate our government to the european models substituting an aristocracy of wealth for that of orders and titles without reflecting upon the dissimilarity of our institutions and of the condition of our people and those of europe they conceived the vain idea of building up in the united states a system similar to that which they admired abroad great britain had a national bank of large capital in whose hands was concentrated the controlling monetary and financial power of the nation an institution wielding almost kingly power and exerting vast influence upon all the operations of trade and upon the policy of the government itself great britain had an enormous public debt and it had become a part of her public policy to regard this as a public blessing great britain had also a restrictive policy which placed fetters and burdens on trade and trammeled the productive industry of the mass of the nation by her combined system of policy the landlords and other property holders were protected and enriched by the enormous taxes which were levied upon the labor of the country for their advantage imitating this foreign policy the first step in establishing the new system in the united states was the creation of a national bank not foreseeing the dangerous power and countless evils which such an institution might entail on the country nor perceiving the connection which it was designed to form between the bank and the other branches of the miscalled american system but feeling the embarrassments of the treasury and of the business of the country consequent upon the war some of our statesmen who had held different and sounder views were induced to yield their scruples and indeed settled convictions of its unconstitutionality and to give it their sanction as an expedient which they vainly hoped might produce relief it was a most unfortunate error as the subsequent history and final catastrophe of that dangerous and corrupt institution have abundantly proved the bank with its numerous branches ramified into the states soon brought many of the active political and commercial men in different sections of the country into the relation of debtors to it and dependents upon it for pecuniary favors thus diffusing throughout the mass of society a great number of individuals of power and influence to give tone to public opinion and to act in concert in cases of emergency the corrupt power of such a political engine is no longer a matter of speculation having been displayed in numerous instances but most signally in the political struggles of 1832 1833 and 1834 in opposition to the public will represented by a fearless and patriotic president but the bank was but one branch of the new system a public debt of more than existed and it is not to be disguised that many of the authors of the new system did not regard its speedy payment as essential to the public prosperity but looked upon its continuance as no national evil whilst the debt existed it furnished aliment to the national bank and rendered increased taxation necessary to the amount of the interest exceeding annually this operated in harmony with the next branch of the new system which was a high protective tariff this was to afford bounties to favored classes and particular pursuits at the expense of all others a proposition to tax the whole people for the purpose of enriching a few was too monstrous to be openly made the scheme was therefore veiled under the plausible but delusive pretext of a measure to protect home industry and many of our people were for a time led to believe that a tax which in the main fell upon labor was for the benefit of the laborer who paid it this branch of the system involved a partnership between the government and the favored classes the former receiving the proceeds of the tax imposed on articles imported and the latter the increased price of similar articles produced at home caused by such tax it is obvious that the portion to be received by the favored classes would as a general rule be increased in proportion to the increase of the rates of tax imposed and diminished as those rates were reduced to the revenue standard required by the wants of the government the rates required to produce a sufficient revenue for the ordinary expenditures of government for necessary purposes were not likely to give to the private partners in this scheme profits sufficient to satisfy their cupidity and hence a variety of expedients and pretexts were resorted to for the purpose of enlarging the expenditures and thereby creating a necessity for keeping up a high protective tariff the effect of this policy was to interpose artificial restrictions upon the natural course of the business and trade of the country and to advance the interests of large capitalists and monopolists at the expense of the great mass of the people who were taxed to increase their wealth another branch of this system was a comprehensive scheme of internal improvements capable of indefinite enlargement and sufficient to swallow up as many millions annually as could be exacted from the foreign commerce of the country this was a convenient and necessary adjunct of the protective tariff it was to be the great absorbent of any surplus which might at any time accumulate in the treasury and of the taxes levied on the people not for necessary revenue purposes but for the avowed object of affording protection to the favored classes auxiliary to the same end if it was not an essential part of the system itself was the scheme which at a later period obtained for distributing the proceeds of the sales of the public lands among the states other expedients were devised to take money out of the treasury and prevent its coming in from any other source than the protective tariff the authors and supporters of the system were the advocates of the largest expenditures whether for necessary or useful purposes or not because the larger the expenditures the greater was the pretext for high taxes in the form of protective duties these several measures were sustained by popular names and plausible arguments by which thousands were deluded the bank was represented to be an indispensable fiscal agent for the government was to equalize exchanges and to regulate and furnish a sound currency always and everywhere of uniform value the protective tariff was to give employment to american labor at advanced prices was to protect home industry and furnish a steady market for the farmer internal improvements were to bring trade into every neighborhood and enhance the value of every man property the distribution of the land money was to enrich the states finish their public works plant schools throughout their borders and relieve them from taxation but the fact that for every dollar taken out of the treasury for these objects a much larger sum was transferred from the pockets of the people to the favored classes was carefully concealed as was also the tendency if not the ultimate design of the system to build up an aristocracy of wealth to control the masses of society and monopolize the political power of the country the several branches of this system were so intimately blended together that in their operation each sustained and strengthened the others their joint operation was to add new burthens of taxation and to encourage a largely increased and wasteful expenditure of public money it was the interest of the bank that the revenue collected and the disbursements made by the government should be large because being the depository of the public money the larger the amount the greater would be the bank profits by its use it was the interest of the favored classes who were enriched by the protective tariff to have the rates of that protection as high as possible for the higher those rates the greater would be their advantage it was the interest of the people of all those sections and localities who expected to be benefited by expenditures for internal improvements that the amount collected should be as large as possible to the end that the sum disbursed might also be the larger the states being the beneficiaries in the distribution of the land money had an interest in having the rates of tax imposed by the protective tariff large enough to yield a sufficient revenue from that source to meet the wants of the government without disturbing or taking from them the land fund so that each of the branches constituting the system had a common interest in swelling the public expenditures they had a direct interest in maintaining the public debt unpaid and increasing its amount because this would produce an annual increased drain upon the treasury to the amount of the interest and render augmented taxes necessary the operation and necessary effect of the whole system were to encourage large and extravagant expenditures and thereby to increase the public patronage and maintain a rich and splendid government at the expense of a taxed and impoverished people it is manifest that this scheme of enlarged taxation and expenditures had it continued to prevail must soon have converted the government of the union intended by its framers to be a plain cheap and simple confederation of states united together for common protection and charged with a few specific duties relating chiefly to our foreign affairs into a consolidated empire depriving the states of their reserved rights and the people of their just power and control in the administration of their government in this manner the whole form and character of the government would be changed not by an amendment of the constitution but by resorting to an unwarrantable and unauthorized construction of that instrument the indirect mode of levying the taxes by a duty on imports prevents the mass of the people from readily perceiving the amount they pay and has enabled the few who are thus enriched and who seek to wield the political power of the country to deceive and delude them were the taxes collected by a direct levy upon the people as is the case in the states this could not occur the whole system was resisted from its inception by many of our ablest statesmen some of whom doubted its constitutionality and its expediency while others believed it was in all its branches a flagrant and dangerous infraction of the constitution that a national bank a protective tariff levied not to raise the revenue needed but for protection merely internal improvements and the distribution of the proceeds of the sale of the public lands are measures without the warrant of the constitution would upon the maturest consideration seem to be clear it is remarkable that no one of these measures involving such momentous consequences is authorized by any express grant of power in the constitution no one of them is incident to as being necessary and proper for the execution of the specific powers granted by the constitution the authority under which it has been attempted to justify each of them is derived from inferences and constructions of the constitution which its letter and its whole object and design do not warrant is it to be conceived that such immense powers would have been left by the framers of the constitution to mere inferences and doubtful constructions had it been intended to confer them on the federal government it is but reasonable to conclude that it would have been done by plain and unequivocal grants this was not done but the whole structure of which the american system consisted was reared on no other or better foundation than forced implications and inferences of power which its authors assumed might be deduced by construction from the constitution but it has been urged that the national bank which constituted so essential a branch of this combined system of measures was not a new measure and that its constitutionality had been previously sanctioned because a bank had been chartered in 1791 and had received the official signature of president washington a few facts will show the just weight to which this precedent should be entitled as bearing upon the question of constitutionality great division of opinion upon the subject existed in congress it is well known that president washington entertained serious doubts both as to the constitutionality and expediency of the measure and while the bill was before him for his official approval or disapproval so great were these doubts that he required the opinion in writing of the members of his cabinet to aid him in arriving at a decision his cabinet gave their opinions and were divided upon the subject general hamilton being in favor of and jefferson and randolph being opposed to the constitutionality and expediency of the bank it is well known also that president washington retained the bill from monday the 14th when it was presented to him until friday the 25th of february being the last moment permitted him by the constitution to deliberate when he finally yielded to it his reluctant assent and gave it his signature it is certain that as late as the 23d of february being the ninth day after the bill was presented to him he had arrived at no satisfactory conclusion for on that day he addressed a note to general hamilton in which he informs him that this bill was presented to me by the joint committee of congress at 12 of the clock on monday the 14th instant and he requested his opinion to what precise period by legal interpretation of the constitution can the president retain it in his possession before it becomes a law by the lapse of ten days if the proper construction was that the day on which the bill was presented to the president and the day on which his action was had upon it were both to be counted inclusive then the time allowed him within which it would be competent for him to return it to the house in which it originated with his objections would expire on thursday the 24th of february general hamilton on the same day returned an answer in which he states i give it as my opinion that you have ten days exclusive of that on which the bill was delivered to you and sundays hence in the present case if it is returned on friday it will be in time by this construction which the president adopted he gained another day for deliberation and it was not until the 25th of february that he signed the bill thus affording conclusive proof that he had at last obtained his own consent to sign it not without great and almost insuperable difficulty additional light has been recently she would upon the serious doubts which he had on the subject amounting at one time to a conviction that it was his duty to withhold his approval from the bill this is found among the manuscript papers of madison authorized to be purchased for the use of the government by an act of the last session of congress and now for the first time accessible to the public from these papers it appears that president washington while he yet held the bank bill in his hands actually requested madison at that time a member of the house of representatives to prepare the draft of a veto message for him madison at his request did prepare the draft of such a message and sent it to him on the 21st of february 1791 a copy of this original draft in madison own handwriting was carefully preserved by him and is among the papers lately purchased by congress it is preceded by a note written on the same sheet which is also in madison handwriting and is as follows february 21 copy of a paper made out and sent to the president at his request to be ready in case his judgment should finally decide against the bill for incorporating a national bank the bill being then before him among the objections assigned in this paper to the bill and which were submitted for the consideration of the president are the following i object to the bill because it is an essential principle of the government that powers not delegated by the constitution can not be rightfully exercised because the power proposed by the bill to be exercised is not expressly delegated and because i can not satisfy myself that it results from any express power by fair and safe rules of interpretation the weight of the precedent of the bank of 1791 and the sanction of the great name of washington which has been so often invoked in its support are greatly weakened by the development of these facts the experiment of that bank satisfied the country that it ought not to be continued and at the end of twenty years congress refused to recharter it it would have been fortunate for the country and saved thousands from bankruptcy and ruin had our public men of 1816 resisted the temporary pressure of the times upon our financial and pecuniary interests and refused to charter the second bank of this the country became abundantly satisfied and at the close of its twenty years duration as in the case of the first bank it also ceased to exist under the repeated blows of president jackson it reeled and fell and a subsequent attempt to charter a similar institution was arrested by the veto of president tyler madison in yielding his signature to the charter of 1816 did so upon the ground of the respect due to precedents and as he subsequently declared the bank of the united states though on the original question held to be unconstitutional received the executive signature it is probable that neither the bank of 1791 nor that of 1816 would have been chartered but for the embarrassments of the government in its finances the derangement of the currency and the pecuniary pressure which existed the first the consequence of the war of the revolution and the second the consequence of the war of 1812 both were resorted to in the delusive hope that they would restore public credit and afford relief to the government and to the business of the country those of our public men who opposed the whole american system at its commencement and throughout its progress foresaw and predicted that it was fraught with incalculable mischiefs and must result in serious injury to the best interests of the country for a series of years their wise counsels were unheeded and the system was established it was soon apparent that its practical operation was unequal and unjust upon different portions of the country and upon the people engaged in different pursuits all were equally entitled to the favor and protection of the government it fostered and elevated the money power and enriched the favored few by taxing labor and at the expense of the many its effect was to make the rich richer and the poor poorer its tendency was to create distinctions in society based on wealth and to give to the favored classes undue control and sway in our government it was an organized money power which resisted the popular will and sought to shape and control the public policy under the pernicious workings of this combined system of measures the country witnessed alternate seasons of temporary apparent prosperity of sudden and disastrous commercial revulsions of unprecedented fluctuation of prices and depression of the great interests of agriculture navigation and commerce of general pecuniary suffering and of final bankruptcy of thousands after a severe struggle of more than a quarter of a century the system was overthrown the bank has been succeeded by a practical system of finance conducted and controlled solely by the government the constitutional currency has been restored the public credit maintained unimpaired even in a period of a foreign war and the whole country has become satisfied that banks national or state are not necessary as fiscal agents of the government revenue duties have taken the place of the protective tariff the distribution of the money derived from the sale of the public lands has been abandoned and the corrupting system of internal improvements it is hoped has been effectually checked it is not doubted that if this whole train of measures designed to take wealth from the many and bestow it upon the few were to prevail the effect would be to change the entire character of the government one only danger remains it is the seductions of that branch of the system which consists in internal improvements holding out as it does inducements to the people of particular sections and localities to embark the government in them without stopping to calculate the inevitable consequences this branch of the system is so intimately combined and linked with the others that as surely as an effect is produced by an adequate because if it be resuscitated and revived and firmly established it requires no sagacity to foresee that it will necessarily and speedily draw after it the reestablishment of a national bank the revival of a protective tariff the distribution of the land money and not only the postponement to the distant future of the payment of the present national debt but its annual increase i entertain the solemn conviction that if the branch of the american system be not firmly resisted at this time the whole series of measures composing it will be speedily reestablished and the country be thrown back from its present high state of prosperity which the existing policy has produced and be destined again to witness all the evils commercial revulsions depression of prices and pecuniary embarrassments through which we have passed during the last years to guard against consequences so ruinous is an object of high national importance involving in my judgment the continued prosperity of the country i have felt it to be an imperative obligation to withhold my constitutional sanction from two bills which had passed the two houses of congress involving the principle of the internal improvement branch of the american system and conflicting in their provisions with the views here expressed this power conferred upon the president by the constitution i have on three occasions during my administration of the executive department of the government deemed it my duty to exercise and on this last occasion of making to congress an annual communication of the state of the union it is not deemed inappropriate to review the principles and considerations which have governed my action i deem this the more necessary because after the lapse of nearly sixty years since the adoption of the constitution the propriety of the exercise of this undoubted constitutional power by the president has for the first time been drawn seriously in question by a portion of my the constitution provides that every bill which shall have passed the house of representatives and the senate shall before it become a law be presented to the president of the united states if he approve he shall sign it but if not he shall return it with his objections to that house in which it shall have originated who shall enter the objections at large on their journal and proceed to reconsider it the preservation of the constitution from infraction is the president highest duty he is bound to discharge that duty at whatever hazard of incurring the displeasure of those who may differ with him in opinion he is bound to discharge it as well by his obligations to the people who have clothed him with his exalted trust as by his oath of office which he may not disregard nor are the obligations of the president in any degree lessened by the prevalence of views different from his own in one or both houses of congress it is not alone hasty and inconsiderate legislation that he is required to check but if at any time congress shall after apparently full deliberation resolve on measures which he deems subversive of the constitution or of the vital interests of the country it is his solemn duty to stand in the breach and resist them the president is bound to approve or disapprove every bill which passes congress and is presented to him for his signature the constitution makes this his duty and he can not escape it if he would he has no election in deciding upon any bill presented to him he must exercise his own best judgment if he can not approve the constitution commands him to return the bill to the house in which it originated with his objections and if he fail to do this within ten days sundays excepted it shall become a law without his signature right or wrong he may be overruled by a vote of of each house and in that event the bill becomes a law without his sanction if his objections be not thus overruled the subject is only postponed and is referred to the states and the people for their consideration and decision the president power is negative merely and not affirmative he can enact no law the only effect therefore of his withholding his approval of a bill passed by congress is to suffer the existing laws to remain unchanged and the delay occasioned is only that required to enable the states and the people to consider and act upon the subject in the election of public agents who will carry out their wishes and instructions any attempt to coerce the president to yield his sanction to measures which he can not approve would be a violation of the spirit of the constitution palpable and flagrant and if successful would break down the independence of the executive department and make the president elected by the people and clothed by the constitution with power to defend their rights the mere instrument of a majority of congress a surrender on his part of the powers with which the constitution has invested his office would effect a practical alteration of that instrument without resorting to the prescribed process of amendment with the motives or considerations which may induce congress to pass any bill the president can have nothing to do he must presume them to be as pure as his own and look only to the practical effect of their measures when compared with the constitution or the public good but it has been urged by those who object to the exercise of this undoubted constitutional power that it assails the representative principle and the capacity of the people to govern themselves that there is greater safety in a numerous representative body than in the single executive created by the constitution and that the executive veto is a power despotic in its character to expose the fallacy of this objection it is only necessary to consider the frame and true character of our system ours is not a consolidated empire but a confederated union the states before the adoption of the constitution were coordinate and separate independent sovereignties and by its adoption they did not lose that character they clothed the federal government with certain powers and reserved all others including their own sovereignty to themselves they guarded their own rights as states and the rights of the people by the very limitations which they incorporated into the federal constitution whereby the different departments of the general government were checks upon each other that the majority should govern is a general principle controverted by none but they must govern according to the constitution and not according to an undefined and unrestrained discretion whereby they may oppress the minority the people of the united states are not blind to the fact that they may be temporarily misled and that their representatives legislative and executive may be mistaken or influenced in their action by improper motives they have therefore interposed between themselves and the laws which may be passed by their public agents various representations such as assemblies senates and governors in their several states a house of representatives a senate and a president of the united states the people can by their own direct agency make no law nor can the house of representatives immediately elected by them nor can the senate nor can both together without the concurrence of the president or a vote of of both houses happily for themselves the people in framing our admirable system of government were conscious of the infirmities of their representatives and in delegating to them the power of legislation they have fenced them around with checks to guard against the effects of hasty action of error of combination and of possible corruption error selfishness and faction have often sought to rend asunder this web of checks and subject the government to the control of fanatic and sinister influences but these efforts have only satisfied the people of the wisdom of the checks which they have imposed and of the necessity of preserving them unimpaired the true theory of our system is not to govern by the acts or decrees of any one set of representatives the constitution interposes checks upon all branches of the government in order to give time for error to be corrected and delusion to pass away but if the people settle down into a firm conviction different from that of their representatives they give effect to their opinions by changing their public servants the checks which the people imposed on their public servants in the adoption of the constitution are the best evidence of their capacity for they know that the men whom they elect to public stations are of like infirmities and passions with themselves and not to be trusted without being restricted by coordinate authorities and constitutional limitations who that has witnessed the legislation of congress for the last thirty years will say that he knows of no instance in which measures not demanded by the public good have been carried who will deny that in the state governments by combinations of individuals and sections in derogation of the general interest banks have been chartered systems of internal improvements adopted and debts entailed upon the people repressing their growth and impairing their energies for years to come after so much experience it can not be said that absolute unchecked power is safe in the hands of any one set of representatives or that the capacity of the people for which is admitted in its broadest extent is a conclusive argument to prove the prudence wisdom and integrity of their representatives the people by the constitution have commanded the president as much as they have commanded the legislative branch of the government to execute their will they have said to him in the constitution which they require he shall take a solemn oath to support that if congress pass any bill which he can not approve he shall return it to the house in which it originated with his objections in withholding from it his approval and signature he is executing the will of the people constitutionally expressed as much as the congress that passed it no bill is presumed to be in accordance with the popular will until it shall have passed through all the branches of the government required by the constitution to make it a law a bill which passes the house of representatives may be rejected by the senate and so a bill passed by the senate may be rejected by the house in each case the respective houses exercise the veto power on the other congress and each house of congress hold under the constitution a check upon the president and he by the power of the qualified veto a check upon congress when the president recommends measures to congress he avows in the most solemn form his opinions gives his voice in their favor and pledges himself in advance to approve them if passed by congress if he acts without due consideration or has been influenced by improper or corrupt motives or if from any other because congress or either house of congress shall differ with him in opinion they exercise their veto upon his recommendations and reject them and there is no appeal from their decision but to the people at the ballot box these are proper checks upon the executive wisely interposed by the constitution none will be found to object to them or to wish them removed it is equally important that the constitutional checks of the executive upon the legislative branch should be preserved if it be said that the representatives in the popular branch of congress are chosen directly by the people it is answered the people elect the president if both houses represent the states and the people so does the president the president represents in the executive department the whole people of the united states as each member of the legislative department represents portions of them the doctrine of restriction upon legislative and executive power while a public opinion is enabled within a reasonable time to accomplish its ends has made our country what it is and has opened to us a career of glory and happiness to which all other nations have been strangers in the exercise of the power of the veto the president is responsible not only to an enlightened public opinion but to the people of the whole union who elected him as the representatives in the legislative branches who differ with him in opinion are responsible to the people of particular states or districts who compose their respective constituencies to deny to the president the exercise of this power would be to repeal that provision of the constitution which confers it upon him to charge that its exercise unduly controls the legislative will is to complain of the constitution itself if the presidential veto be objected to upon the ground that it checks and thwarts the popular will upon the same principle the equality of representation of the states in the senate should be stricken out of the constitution the vote of a senator from delaware has equal weight in deciding upon the most important measures with the vote of a senator from new york and yet the one represents a state containing according to the existing apportionment of representatives in the house of representatives but one part of the population of the other by the constitutional composition of the senate a majority of that body from the smaller states represent less than of the people of the union there are thirty states and under the existing apportionment of representatives there are 230 members in the house of representatives sixteen of the smaller states are represented in that house by but 50 members and yet the senators from these states constitute a majority of the senate so that the president may recommend a measure to congress and it may receive the sanction and approval of more than of the house of representatives and of all the senators from the large states containing more than of the whole population of the united states and yet the measure may be defeated by the votes of the senators from the smaller states none it is presumed can be found ready to change the organization of the senate on this account or to strike that body practically out of existence by requiring that its action shall be conformed to the will of the more numerous branch upon the same principle that the veto of the president should be practically abolished the power of the to give the casting vote upon an equal division of the senate should be abolished also the exercises the veto power as effectually by rejecting a bill by his casting vote as the president does by refusing to approve and sign it this power has been exercised by the in a few instances the most important of which was the rejection of the bill to recharter the bank of the united states in 1811 it may happen that a bill may be passed by a large majority of the house of representatives and may be supported by the senators from the larger states and the may reject it by giving his vote with the senators from the smaller states and yet none it is presumed are prepared to deny to him the exercise of this power under the constitution but it is in point of fact untrue that an act passed by congress is conclusive evidence that it is an emanation of the popular will a majority of the whole number elected to each house of congress constitutes a quorum and a majority of that quorum is competent to pass laws it might happen that a quorum of the house of representatives consisting of a single member more than half of the whole number elected to that house might pass a bill by a majority of a single vote and in that case a fraction more than of the people of the united states would be represented by those who voted for it it might happen that the same bill might be passed by a majority of one of a quorum of the senate composed of senators from the fifteen smaller states and a single senator from a sixteenth state and if the senators voting for it happened to be from the eight of the smallest of these states it would be passed by the votes of senators from states having but fourteen representatives in the house of representatives and containing less than of the whole population of the united states this extreme case is stated to illustrate the fact that the mere passage of a bill by congress is no conclusive evidence that those who passed it represent the majority of the people of the united states or truly reflect their will if such an extreme case is not likely to happen cases that approximate it are of constant occurrence it is believed that not a single law has been passed since the adoption of the constitution upon which all the members elected to both houses have been present and voted many of the most important acts which have passed congress have been carried by a close vote in thin houses many instances of this might be given indeed our experience proves that many of the most important acts of congress are postponed to the last days and often the last hours of a session when they are disposed of in haste and by houses but little exceeding the number necessary to form a quorum besides in most of the states the members of the house of representatives are chosen by pluralities and not by majorities of all the voters in their respective districts and it may happen that a majority of that house may be returned by a less aggregate vote of the people than that received by the minority if the principle insisted on be sound then the constitution should be so changed that no bill shall become a law unless it is voted for by members representing in each house a majority of the whole people of the united states we must remodel our whole system strike down and abolish not only the salutary checks lodged in the executive branch but must strike out and abolish those lodged in the senate also and thus practically invest the whole power of the government in a majority of a single assembly a majority uncontrolled and absolute and which may become despotic to conform to this doctrine of the right of majorities to rule independent of the checks and limitations of the constitution we must revolutionize our whole system we must destroy the constitutional compact by which the several states agreed to form a federal union and rush into consolidation which must end in monarchy or despotism no one advocates such a proposition and yet the doctrine maintained if carried out must lead to this result one great object of the constitution in conferring upon the president a qualified negative upon the legislation of congress was to protect minorities from injustice and oppression by majorities the equality of their representation in the senate and the veto power of the president are the constitutional guaranties which the smaller states have that their rights will be respected without these guaranties all their interests would be at the mercy of majorities in congress representing the larger states to the smaller and weaker states therefore the preservation of this power and its exercise upon proper occasions demanding it is of vital importance they ratified the constitution and entered into the union securing to themselves an equal representation with the larger states in the senate and they agreed to be bound by all laws passed by congress upon the express condition and none other that they should be approved by the president or passed his objections to the contrary notwithstanding by a vote of of both houses upon this condition they have a right to insist as a part of the compact to which they gave their assent a bill might be passed by congress against the will of the whole people of a particular state and against the votes of its senators and all its representatives however prejudicial it might be to the interests of such state it would be bound by it if the president shall approve it or it shall be passed by a vote of of both houses but it has a right to demand that the president shall exercise his constitutional power and arrest it if his judgment is against it if he surrender this power or fail to exercise it in a case where he can not approve it would make his formal approval a mere mockery and would be itself a violation of the constitution and the dissenting state would become bound by a law which had not been passed according to the sanctions of the constitution the objection to the exercise of the veto power is founded upon an idea respecting the popular will which if carried out would annihilate state sovereignty and substitute for the present federal government a consolidation directed by a supposed numerical majority a revolution of the government would be silently effected and the states would be subjected to laws to which they had never given their constitutional consent the supreme court of the united states is invested with the power to declare and has declared acts of congress passed with the concurrence of the senate the house of representatives and the approval of the president to be unconstitutional and void and yet none it is presumed can be found who will be disposed to strip this highest judicial tribunal under the constitution of this acknowledged power a power necessary alike to its independence and the rights of individuals for the same reason that the executive veto should according to the doctrine maintained be rendered nugatory and be practically expunged from the constitution this power of the court should also be rendered nugatory and be expunged because it restrains the legislative and executive will and because the exercise of such a power by the court may be regarded as being in conflict with the capacity of the people to govern themselves indeed there is more reason for striking this power of the court from the constitution than there is that of the qualified veto of the president because the decision of the court is final and can never be reversed even though both houses of congress and the president should be unanimous in opposition to it whereas the veto of the president may be overruled by a vote of of both houses of congress or by the people at the polls it is obvious that to preserve the system established by the constitution each of the coordinate branches of the government the executive legislative and judicial must be left in the exercise of its appropriate powers if the executive or the judicial branch be deprived of powers conferred upon either as checks on the legislative the preponderance of the latter will become disproportionate and absorbing and the others impotent for the accomplishment of the great objects for which they were established organized as they are by the constitution they work together harmoniously for the public good if the executive and the judiciary shall be deprived of the constitutional powers invested in them and of their due proportions the equilibrium of the system must be destroyed and consolidation with the most pernicious results must ensue a consolidation of unchecked despotic power exercised by majorities of the legislative branch the executive legislative and judicial each constitutes a separate coordinate department of the government and each is independent of the others in the performance of their respective duties under the constitution neither can in its legitimate action control the others they each act upon their several responsibilities in their respective spheres but if the doctrines now maintained be correct the executive must become practically subordinate to the legislative and the judiciary must become subordinate to both the legislative and the executive and thus the whole power of the government would be merged in a single department whenever if ever this shall occur our glorious system of will crumble into ruins to be succeeded first by anarchy and finally by monarchy or despotism i am far from believing that this doctrine is the sentiment of the american people and during the short period which remains in which it will be my duty to administer the executive department it will be my aim to maintain its independence and discharge its duties without infringing upon the powers or duties of either of the other departments of the government the power of the executive veto was exercised by the first and most illustrious of my predecessors and by four of his successors who preceded me in the administration of the government and it is believed in no instance prejudicially to the public interests it has never been and there is but little danger that it ever can be abused no president will ever desire unnecessarily to place his opinion in opposition to that of congress he must always exercise the power reluctantly and only in cases where his convictions make it a matter of stern duty which he can not escape indeed there is more danger that the president from the repugnance he must always feel to come in collision with congress may fail to exercise it in cases where the preservation of the constitution from infraction or the public good may demand it than that he will ever exercise it unnecessarily or wantonly during the period i have administered the executive department of the government great and important questions of public policy foreign and domestic have arisen upon which it was my duty to act it may indeed be truly said that my administration has fallen upon eventful times i have felt most sensibly the weight of the high responsibilities devolved upon me with no other object than the public good the enduring fame and permanent prosperity of my country i have pursued the convictions of my own best judgment the impartial arbitrament of enlightened public opinion present and future will determine how far the public policy i have maintained and the measures i have from time to time recommended may have tended to advance or retard the public prosperity at home and to elevate or depress the estimate of our national character abroad invoking the blessings of the almighty upon your deliberations at your present important session my ardent hope is that in a spirit of harmony and concord you may be guided to wise results and such as may redound to the happiness the honor and the glory of our beloved country
benignant providence almighty god representatives states people brought together deliberate public good gratitude nation sovereign arbiter human events commensurate boundless blessings enjoy peace plenty contentment reign throughout borders beloved country presents sublime moral spectacle world troubled unsettled condition principal european powers necessary tendency check embarrass trade depress prices throughout commercial nations notwithstanding causes united states abundant products felt effects less severely country great interests still prosperous successful reviewing great events past year contrasting agitated disturbed state countries tranquil happy condition may congratulate favored people face earth people countries struggling establish free institutions man may govern actual enjoyment rich inheritance fathers enlightened nations europe convulsed distracted civil war intestine strife settle political controversies peaceful exercise rights freemen ballot box great republican maxim deeply engraven hearts people majority constitutionally expressed shall prevail sure safeguard force violence subject pride fame character nation continue rapidly advance estimation civilized world wise free institutions attributed nations achieved glory price suffering distress impoverishment people honorable position midst uninterrupted prosperity increasing individual comfort happiness happy inform relations nations friendly pacific advantageous treaties commerce concluded within last four years new granada peru two sicilies belgium hanover oldenburg pursuing example restrictive system great britain principal foreign customer relaxed liberal commercial policy adopted enlightened nations trade greatly enlarged extended country stands higher respect world former period continue occupy proud position necessary preserve peace faithfully adhere great fundamental principle foreign policy noninterference domestic concerns nations recognize nations right enjoy change reform political institutions according pleasure hence look behind existing governments capable maintaining authority recognize actual governments dictates true policy sacred regard independence nations settled policy follow ever indifferent spectators progress liberal principles government people united states hailed enthusiasm delight establishment french republic hail efforts progress unite states germany confederation similar many respects federal union great enlightened german states occupying central commanding position europe shall succeed establishing confederated government securing time citizens state local governments adapted peculiar condition unrestricted trade intercourse important era history human events whilst consolidate strengthen power germany must essentially promote peace commerce civilization constitutional liberty throughout world governments continent relations believed friendly satisfactory footing ever former period since exchange ratifications treaty peace mexico intercourse government republic friendly character envoy extraordinary minister plenipotentiary united states mexico received accredited diplomatic representative mexico similar rank received accredited government amicable relations two countries suspended happily restored destined trust long preserved two republics situated continent coterminous territories every motive sympathy interest bind together perpetual amity gratifying condition foreign relations renders unnecessary call attention specifically constant aim desire cultivate peace commerce nations tranquility home peaceful relations abroad constitute true permanent policy country war scourge nations sometimes becomes inevitable always avoided done consistently rights honor nation one important results war recently forced neighboring nation demonstration afforded military strength country late war mexico european foreign powers entertained imperfect erroneous views physical strength nation ability prosecute war especially war waged country saw standing army peace establishment exceed men accustomed maintain peace large standing armies protection thrones subjects well foreign enemies conceived possible nation without army well disciplined long service wage war successfully held low repute militia far regarding effective force unless might temporary defensive operations invaded soil events late war mexico undeceived removed erroneous impressions prevailed extent even among portion countrymen war demonstrated upon breaking hostilities anticipated previous preparation made volunteer army citizen soldiers equal veteran troops numbers equal emergency short period brought field unlike would occurred country necessity resorting drafts conscriptions contrary number volunteers patriotically tendered services chief difficulty making selections determining disappointed compelled remain home citizen soldiers unlike drawn population country composed indiscriminately professions pursuits farmers lawyers physicians merchants manufacturers mechanics laborers among officers private soldiers ranks citizen soldiers unlike country respects armed accustomed youth handle use firearms large proportion especially western newly settled states expert marksmen men reputation maintain home good conduct field intelligent individuality character found ranks army battle private man well every officer fights country glory distinction among shall return civil life war mexico demonstrated ability government organize numerous army upon sudden call also provide munitions necessary supplies dispatch convenience ease direct operations efficiency strength institutions displayed valor skill troops engaged active service field organization executive branches charged general direction conduct war great praise bestowed upon officers men fought battles would unjust withhold officers necessarily stationed home charged duty furnishing army proper time proper places munitions war supplies necessary make efficient commendation entitled credit due class officers greater considered army ancient modern times even better appointed provided army mexico operating enemy country removed miles seat federal government different corps spread vast extent territory hundreds even thousands miles apart nothing short untiring vigilance extraordinary energy officers could enabled provide army points proper season required efficient service act justice declare officers charge several executive bureaus immediate eye supervision secretary war performed respective duties ability energy efficiency reaped less glory war personally exposed perils battle companions arms without forecast efficient aid cooperation field would provided ample means possessed achieving country unfading honors facts considered may cease matter much amazement abroad happened noble army mexico regulars volunteers victorious upon every battlefield however fearful odds war mexico thus fully developed capacity republican governments prosecute successfully necessary foreign war vigor usually attributed arbitrary forms government usual writers public law impute republics want unity concentration purpose vigor execution generally admitted belong monarchical aristocratic forms feature popular government supposed display particularly conduct war carried enemy territory war great britain 1812 great extent confined within limits would little light subject war closed honorable peace evinces beyond doubt popular representative government equal emergency likely arise affairs nation war mexico developed strikingly conspicuously another feature institutions without cost government danger liberties bosom society freemen available necessary war virtually standing army armed citizen soldiers fought battles mexico military strength consist alone capacity extended successful operations land navy important arm national defense services navy brilliant army late war mexico enemy meet element army opportunity performing conspicuous service navy largely participated conduct war branches service performed whole duty country able gallant services officers men navy acting independently well cooperation troops conquest californias capture vera cruz seizure occupation important positions gulf pacific coasts highest praise due vigilance energy skill rendered effective service excluding munitions war supplies enemy secured safe entrance abundant supplies army extended commerce nowhere interrupted immunity evils war country indebted navy high praise due officers several executive bureaus stations connected service immediate direction secretary navy industry foresight energy everything directed furnished give efficiency branch service vigilance existed directing operations navy army concert action purpose heads two arms service orders time time issued vessels war pacific gulf mexico stationed proper time proper positions cooperate efficiently army means combined power brought bear successfully enemy great results developed brought light war immeasurable importance future progress country tend powerfully preserve us foreign collisions enable us pursue uninterruptedly cherished policy peace nations entangling alliances none occupying commanding position among nations former period duties responsibilities posterity correspondingly increased obvious consider vast additions recently made territorial possessions great importance value within less four years annexation texas union consummated conflicting title oregon territory south degree north latitude insisted predecessors adjusted new mexico upper california acquired treaty area several territories according report carefully prepared commissioner general land office authentic information possession herewith transmitted contains square miles acres area remaining states territory yet organized states east rocky mountains contains square miles acres estimates show territories recently acquired exclusive jurisdiction dominion extended constitute country half large held united states acquisition oregon excluded estimate still remain within limits texas new mexico california square miles acres addition equal territory owned united states acquisition including oregon nearly great extent territory whole europe russia excepted mississippi lately frontier country center addition late acquisitions united states estimated nearly large whole europe estimated superintendent coast survey accompanying report extent seacoast texas gulf mexico upward 400 miles coast upper california pacific 970 miles oregon including straits fuca 650 miles making whole extent seacoast pacific miles whole extent pacific gulf mexico miles length coast atlantic northern limits united states around capes florida sabine eastern boundary texas estimated miles addition seacoast including oregon nearly great possessed excluding oregon addition miles nearly equal extent coast possessed acquisitions three great maritime fronts atlantic gulf mexico pacific making whole extent seacoast exceeding miles extent seacoast united states including bays sounds small irregularities main shore sea islands included length shore line coast estimated superintendent coast survey report would miles would difficult calculate value immense additions territorial possessions texas lying contiguous western boundary louisiana embracing within limits part navigable tributary waters mississippi extensive seacoast could long remained hands foreign power without endangering peace southwestern frontier products vicinity tributaries mississippi must sought market streams running territory danger irritation collision interests texas foreign state would imminent embarrassments commercial intercourse must constant unavoidable texas fallen hands influence control strong maritime military foreign power might done dangers would still greater avoided voluntary peaceful annexation united states texas position natural almost indispensable part territories fortunately restored country constitutes one states confederacy upon equal footing original states salubrity climate fertility soil peculiarly adapted production valuable staple commodities commercial advantages must soon make one populous states new mexico though situated interior without seacoast known contain much fertile land abound rich mines precious metals capable sustaining large population position intermediate connecting territory settlements possessions texas pacific coast upper california irrespective vast mineral wealth recently developed holds day point value importance rest union relation louisiana fine territory acquired france years ago extending nearly ten degrees latitude along pacific embracing safe commodious harbors coast many hundred miles temperate climate extensive interior fertile lands scarcely possible estimate wealth shall brought government laws resources fully developed position must command rich commerce china asia islands pacific western mexico central america south american states russian possessions bordering ocean great emporium doubtless speedily arise californian coast may destined rival importance new orleans depot vast commerce must exist pacific probably point bay san francisco occupy relation whole western coast ocean new orleans valley mississippi gulf mexico depot numerous whale ships resort cargoes trade refit obtain supplies largely contribute build city would soon become center great rapidly increasing commerce situated safe harbor sufficiently capacious navies well marine world convenient excellent timber shipbuilding owned united states must become great western naval depot known mines precious metals existed considerable extent california time acquisition recent discoveries render probable mines extensive valuable anticipated accounts abundance gold territory extraordinary character would scarcely command belief corroborated authentic reports officers public service visited mineral district derived facts detail personal observation reluctant credit reports general circulation quantity gold officer commanding forces california visited mineral district july last purpose obtaining accurate information subject report war department result examination facts obtained spot herewith laid congress visited country persons engaged collecting gold every reason believe number persons employed since augmented explorations already made warrant belief supply large gold found various places extensive district country information received officers navy sources though full minute confirms accounts commander military force california appears also reports mines quicksilver found vicinity gold region one worked believed among productive world effects produced discovery rich mineral deposits success attended labors resorted produced surprising change state affairs california labor commands exorbitant price pursuits searching precious metals abandoned nearly whole male population country gone gold districts ships arriving coast deserted crews voyages suspended want sailors commanding officer entertains apprehensions soldiers kept public service without large increase pay desertions command become frequent recommends shall withstand strong temptation remain faithful rewarded abundance gold pursuit already caused california unprecedented rise price necessaries life may speedily fully avail undeveloped wealth mines deemed vast importance branch mint united states authorized established present session california among signal advantages would result establishment would raising gold par value territory branch mint united states great commercial depot west coast would convert coin gold derived rich mines also bullion specie commerce may bring whole west coast central south america west coast america adjacent interior embrace richest best mines mexico new granada central america chili peru bullion specie drawn countries especially western mexico peru amount value many millions dollars annually diverted carried ships great britain ports recoined used sustain national bank thus contribute increase ability command much commerce world branch mint established great commercial point upon coast vast amount bullion specie would flow thither recoined pass thence new orleans new york atlantic cities amount constitutional currency home would greatly increased circulation abroad would promoted well known merchants trading china west coast america great inconvenience loss experienced fact coins current par value countries powers europe far removed west coast america atlantic ocean intervenes tedious dangerous navigation around southern cape continent america never successfully compete united states rich extensive commerce opened us much less cost acquisition california vast importance commercial advantages california heretofore remained undeveloped government country constituted part fine province part country states union immediately directly others deeply interested speedy development wealth resources section country interested benefited commercial navigating manufacturing interests eastern states planting farming interests every part union greatly benefited commerce navigation enlarged extended exports agricultural products manufactures increased new markets thus opened fail command remunerating profitable prices acquisition california new mexico settlement oregon boundary annexation texas extending rio grande results combined greater consequence add strength wealth nation preceded since adoption constitution effect great results california new mexico must brought control regularly organized governments existing condition california part new mexico lying west rio grande without limits texas imperiously demands congress present session organize territorial governments upon exchange ratifications treaty peace mexico 30th may last temporary governments established new mexico california military naval commanders virtue rights war ceased derive obligatory force source authority ceded united states government control authority mexico ceased exist impressed necessity establishing territorial governments recommended subject favorable consideration congress message communicating ratified treaty peace 6th july last invoked action session congress adjourned without making provision government inhabitants transfer country become entitled benefit laws constitution yet left without regularly organized government since time limited power possessed executive exercised preserve protect inevitable consequences state anarchy government remained established military authority war regarding de facto government presumed consent inhabitants might continued temporarily advised conform submit short intervening period congress would assemble could legislate subject views entertained executive point contained communication secretary state dated 7th october last forwarded publication california new mexico copy herewith transmitted small military force regular army serving within limits acquired territories close war retained additional forces ordered protection inhabitants preserve secure rights interests united states revenue could collected ports california congress failed authorize establishment appointment officers purpose secretary treasury circular letter addressed collectors customs 7th day october last copy herewith transmitted exercised power invested law pursuance act 14th august last extending benefit laws people california appointed two agents proceeded one california oregon authority make necessary arrangements carrying provisions effect monthly line mail steamers panama astoria required stop deliver take mails san diego monterey san francisco mail steamers connected isthmus panama line mail steamers atlantic new york chagres establish regular mail communication california solemn duty provide least practicable delay new mexico california regularly organized territorial governments causes failure last session congress well known deeply regretted opening prospects increased prosperity national greatness acquisition rich extensive territorial possessions affords irrational would forego reject advantages agitation domestic question coeval existence government endanger internal strifes geographical divisions heated contests political power harmony glorious union confederated states union binds us together one people sixty years shield protection every danger eyes world posterity trivial insignificant internal divisions struggles compared preservation union states vigor countless blessings patriot would foment excite geographical sectional divisions lover country would deliberately calculate value union future generations would look amazement upon folly course nations present day would look upon astonishment desire maintain perpetuate thrones monarchical aristocratical principles view exultation delight see elements faction hope must ultimately overturn system great example prosperous free republic commanding admiration imitation lovers freedom throughout world solemn therefore duty impressive call upon us upon parts country cultivate patriotic spirit harmony compromise mutual concession administration incomparable system government formed fathers midst almost insuperable difficulties transmitted us injunction enjoy blessings hand unimpaired may come us view high responsible duties owe mankind trust may able present session approach adjustment domestic question seriously threatens probably ever threaten disturb harmony successful operations system immensely valuable possessions new mexico california already inhabited considerable population attracted great fertility mineral wealth commercial advantages salubrity climate emigrants older states great numbers already preparing seek new homes inviting regions shall dissimilarity domestic institutions different states prevent us providing suitable governments institutions existed adoption constitution obstacles interposed overcome spirit compromise invoked conflict opinions interests real imaginary different sections country neither justly demand might desire obtain true spirit institutions concede something gallant forces mexican war whose patriotism unparalleled deeds arms obtained possessions indemnity demands mexico composed citizens belonged one state section union men slaveholding nonslaveholding states north south east west companions arms common country engaged common prosecuting war brethren friends shared alike common toils dangers sufferings work ended peace restored return homes put habiliments war take places society resume pursuits civil life surely spirit harmony concession equal regard rights sections union ought prevail providing governments acquired territories fruits common service whole people united states every state contributed defray expenses war would one section exclude another participation acquired territory would consonance system government framers constitution adopted question believed rather abstract practical whether slavery ever would exist portion acquired territory even left option slaveholding states nature climate productions much larger portion certain could never exist remainder probabilities would however may question involving principle equality rights separate several states equal copartners confederacy disregarded organizing governments territories duty imposed congress constitution requires legislate subject slavery power seriously questioned denied many soundest expounders instrument whether congress shall legislate people acquired territories assembled convention form state constitutions possess sole exclusive power determine whether slavery shall shall exist within limits congress shall abstain interfering question people territories left free adjust may think proper apply admission states union enactment congress could restrain people sovereign states union old new north south slaveholding nonslaveholding determining character domestic institutions may deem wise proper states possess right congress deprive people georgia might chose alter constitution abolish slavery within limits people vermont might alter constitution admit slavery within limits states would possess right though know probable either would exert fortunate peace harmony union question nature temporary continue brief period intervene california new mexico may admitted states union tide population flowing highly probable soon occur considering several states citizens several states equals entitled equal rights constitution original question might well insisted principle noninterference true doctrine congress could absence express grant power interfere relative rights upon great emergency however menacing dangers union missouri compromise line respect slavery adopted line extended farther west acquisition texas acquiescence nearly thirty years principle compromise recognized established acts avoid danger union might follow disregarded heretofore expressed opinion line compromise extended parallel 30 western boundary texas terminates pacific ocean middle ground compromise upon different sections union may meet heretofore met done confidently believed large majority people every section country however widely abstract opinions subject slavery may differ would cheerfully patriotically acquiesce peace harmony would fill borders restriction north line yielded case missouri texas upon principle compromise made necessary sake preserving harmony possibly existence union upon considerations close last session gave sanction principle missouri compromise line approving signing bill establish territorial government oregon sincere desire preserve harmony union deference acts predecessors felt constrained yield acquiescence extent gone compromising delicate dangerous question congress shall reverse decision missouri compromise effected shall propose extend restriction whole territory south well north parallel 30 cease compromise must regarded original question congress instead observing course noninterference leaving adoption domestic institutions people may inhabit territories instead extending missouri compromise line pacific shall prefer submit legal constitutional questions may arise decision judicial tribunals proposed bill passed senate last session adjustment may effected mode whole subject referred judiciary parts union cheerfully acquiesce final decision tribunal created constitution settlement questions may arise constitution treaties laws united states congress earnestly invoked sake union harmony continued prosperity nation adjust present session dangerous question lies path one modes suggested may satisfactory anticipation establishment regular governments acquired territories joint commission officers army navy ordered proceed coast california oregon purpose making reconnoissances report proper sites erection fortifications defensive works land suitable situations naval stations information may expected scientific skillful examination whole face coast eminently useful congress come consider propriety making appropriations great national objects proper defenses land necessary security protection possessions establishment dock repair construction vessels important alike navy commercial marine without establishments every vessel whether navy merchant service requiring repair must great expense come round cape horn one atlantic yards purpose establishments vessels believed may built repaired cheaply california upon atlantic coast would give employment many enterprising shipbuilders mechanics greatly facilitate enlarge commerce pacific ascertained mines gold silver copper quicksilver exist new mexico california nearly lands found belong united states deemed important public interest provision made geological mineralogical examination regions measures adopted preserve mineral lands especially contain precious metals use united states brought market separate farming lands dispose manner secure large return money treasury time lead development wealth individual proprietors purchasers necessary provide immediate survey location lots congress deem proper dispose mineral lands sold small quantities fixed minimum price recommend offices authorized established new mexico california provision made surveying bringing public lands market earliest practicable period disposing lands recommend right preemption secured liberal grants made early emigrants settled may settle upon important extend revenue laws territories especially california early period already considerable commerce california ports entry shall established collectors appointed revenue received necessary proper measures adopted development wealth resources new mexico california regular territorial governments established probably rapid enlargement commerce navigation addition national wealth present generation may live witness controlling commercial monetary power world transferred london european emporiums city new york apprehensions entertained statesmen earlier periods government system incapable operating sufficient energy success largely extended territorial limits attempted would fall pieces weakness dissipated experience division power states federal government latter found operate much energy extremes center efficient remotest thirty states compose union thirteen states formed constitution indeed may well doubted whether present population confined within limits original thirteen states tendencies centralization consolidation would encroached upon essential reserved rights states thus made federal government widely different one practically theory intended framers far entertaining apprehensions safety system extension territory belief confidently entertained new state gives strength additional guaranty preservation union pursuance provisions thirteenth article treaty peace friendship limits settlement republic mexico act july 29 1848 claims citizens already liquidated decided mexican republic amounting interest thereon liquidated paid remain paid claims congress last session made provision executing fifteenth article treaty united states assume make satisfaction unliquidated claims citizens mexico amount exceeding three quarter millions dollars subject recommended favorable consideration exchange ratifications treaty mexico took place 30th may 1848 within one year time commissioner surveyor government stipulates appoint required meet port san diego proceed run mark said boundary whole course mouth rio bravo del norte seen provision period within commissioner surveyor respective governments meet san diego expire 30th may 1849 congress close last session made appropriation expenses running marking boundary line two countries fix amount salary paid commissioner surveyor appointed part united states desirable amount compensation shall receive prescribed law left present executive discretion measures adopted earliest practicable period organize territorial government oregon authorized act 14th august last governor marshal territory accompanied small military escort left frontier missouri september last took southern route way santa fe river gila california intention proceeding thence one vessels war destination governor fully advised great importance early arrival country confidently believed may reach oregon latter part present month early next officers territory proceeded sea month may last communicated information congress indian war broken oregon recommended authority given raise adequate number volunteers proceed without delay assistance territory authority raise force granted congress soon services could dispensed mexico orders issued regiment mounted riflemen proceed jefferson barracks missouri prepare march oregon soon necessary provision could made shortly ready march arrested provision act passed congress last day last session directed noncommissioned officers musicians privates regiment service mexico upon application entitled discharged effect provision disband rank file regiment places could filled recruits season far advanced impracticable proceed opening next spring month october last accompanying communication received governor temporary government oregon giving information continuance indian disturbances destitution defenseless condition inhabitants orders immediately transmitted commander squadron pacific dispatch assistance part naval forces station furnish arms ammunition continue give aid protection navy could afford army could reach country policy humanity one always pursued united states cultivate good aboriginal tribes continent restrain making war indulging excesses mild means rather force could done tribes oregon territory brought government laws earlier period suitable measures adopted congress exist intercourse indian tribes within limits doubted indeed immediate existing hostility indians oregon represented long delay united states making trifling compensation articles wanted country occupied emigrants indians claimed formerly roamed compensation promised temporary government established oregon fulfillment postponed time time nearly two years whilst made anxiously waiting congress establish territorial government country indians became length distrustful good faith sought redress plunder massacre finally led present difficulties thousand dollars suitable presents compensation country taken possession citizens would satisfied indians prevented war small amount properly distributed confidently believed would soon restore quiet indian war oregon compelled take field defense performed valuable military services subjected expenses fallen heavily upon justice demands provision made congress compensate services refund necessary expenses incurred repeat recommendation heretofore made congress provision made appointment suitable number indian agents reside among tribes oregon small sum appropriated enable agents cultivate friendly relations done presence small military force necessary keep check preserve peace recommend similar provisions made regards tribes inhabiting northern texas new mexico california extensive region lying settlements missouri possessions effective means preserving peace upon borders within recently acquired territories secretary treasury present annual report highly satisfactory statement condition finances imports fiscal year ending 30th june last value amount exported leaving country domestic use value exports period consisting domestic productions amounting foreign articles receipts treasury period exclusive loans amounted derived customs sales public lands miscellaneous incidental sources perceived revenue customs last fiscal year exceeded estimate secretary treasury last annual report aggregate receipts period customs lands miscellaneous sources also exceeded estimate sum indicating however near approach estimate actual result expenditures fiscal year ending 30th june last including war exclusive payments principal interest public debt estimated receipts treasury fiscal year ending 30th june 1849 including balance treasury 1st july last amount sum estimated derived customs sales public lands miscellaneous incidental sources including premium upon loan amount paid paid treasury account military contributions mexico sales arms vessels public property rendered unnecessary use government termination war loans already negotiated including treasury notes funded together balance treasury 1st july last make sum estimated expenditures period including necessary payment account principal interest public debt principal interest first installment due mexico 30th may next expenditures growing war paid present year amount including reimbursement treasury notes sum leaving estimated balance treasury 1st july 1849 secretary treasury present required law estimate receipts expenditures next fiscal year expenditures estimated year including interest public debt principal interest due mexico 30th may 1850 leaving sum believed ample ordinary peace expenditures operations tariff act 1846 past year fully meet public expectation confirm opinion heretofore expressed wisdom change revenue system effected receipts treasury first fiscal year enactment exceeded sum amount collected last fiscal year tariff act 1842 ending 30th june 1846 total revenue realized commencement operation 1st december 1846 close last quarter 30th september last months much larger sum ever received duties equal period tariff acts 1824 1828 1832 1842 whilst repeal highly protective prohibitory duties revenue increased taxes people diminished relieved heavy amounts burthened former laws form increased prices bounties paid favored classes pursuits predictions made tariff act 1846 would reduce amount revenue collected act 1842 would prostrate business destroy prosperity country verified increased increasing revenue finances highly flourishing condition agriculture commerce navigation prosperous prices manufactured fabrics products much less injuriously affected anticipated unprecedented revulsions last present year overwhelmed industry paralyzed credit commerce many great enlightened nations europe severe commercial revulsions abroad always heretofore operated depress often affect disastrously almost every branch american industry temporary depression portion manufacturing interests effect foreign causes far less severe prevailed former similar occasions believed looking great aggregate interests whole country never prosperous present period never rapidly advancing wealth population neither foreign war involved loans absorbed large portion capital commercial revulsion great britain 1847 paralysis credit commerce throughout europe 1848 affected injuriously considerable extent great interests country arrested onward march greatness wealth power disturbances europe occurred commerce would undoubtedly still extended would added still national wealth public prosperity notwithstanding disturbances operations revenue system established tariff act 1846 generally beneficial government business country change provisions demanded wise public policy none recommended operations constitutional treasury established act 6th august 1846 receipt custody disbursement public money continued successful system public finances carried foreign war involving necessity loans extraordinary expenditures requiring distant transfers disbursements without embarrassment loss occurred public money deposited provisions whilst proved safe useful government effects beneficial upon business country tended powerfully secure exemption inflation fluctuation paper currency injurious domestic industry rendering uncertain rewards labor believed largely contributed preserve whole country serious commercial revulsion often occurred bank deposit system year 1847 revulsion business great britain great extent intensity followed failures kingdom unprecedented number amount losses believed first instance disastrous bankruptcies occurring country extensive commerce produced little injurious effect upon trade currency remained little affected money market business industry still prosperous progressive present year nearly whole continent europe convulsed civil war revolutions attended numerous bankruptcies unprecedented fall public securities almost universal paralysis commerce industry yet although trade prices products must somewhat unfavorably affected causes escaped revulsion money market comparatively easy public private credit advanced improved confidently believed saved effect salutary operation constitutional treasury certain millions specie imported country fiscal year ending 30th june 1847 gone banks great extent must done would absence system made basis augmented bank paper issues probably amount less producing inevitable consequence inflated currency extravagant prices time wild speculation must followed reflux europe succeeding year much specie prostration business country suspension banks extensive bankruptcies occurring would done period country engaged foreign war considerable loans specie required distant disbursements banks fiscal agents government depositories money suspended public credit must sunk many millions dollars case war 1812 must sacrificed discounts upon loans upon depreciated paper currency government would compelled use operations constitutional treasury dollar lost depreciation currency loans required prosecute war mexico negotiated secretary treasury par realizing large premium government restraining effect system upon tendencies excessive paper issues banks saved government heavy losses thousands business men bankruptcy ruin wisdom system tested experience last two years dictate sound policy remain undisturbed modifications details measure involving none essential principles heretofore recommended presented favorable consideration message 6th july last transmitting congress ratified treaty peace mexico recommended adoption measures speedy payment public debt reiterating recommendation refer considerations presented message support public debt including authorized negotiated pursuance existing laws including treasury notes amounted time funded stock united states amounting half million dollars purchased authorized law since period public debt thus reduced details presented annual report secretary treasury estimates expenditures next fiscal year submitted secretary treasury believed ample necessary purposes appropriations made congress shall exceed amount estimated means treasury sufficient defray expenses government pay next installment mexico fall due 30th may next still considerable surplus remain applied purchase public stock reduction debt enlarged appropriations made necessary consequence postpone payment debt though debt compared nations small true policy harmony genius institutions present world rare spectacle great republic possessing vast resources wealth wholly exempt public indebtedness would add still strength give us still commanding position among nations earth public expenditures economical confined necessary objects clearly within powers congress absolutely demanded postponed payment public debt earliest practicable period cardinal principle public policy reason assigned last annual message repeat recommendation branch mint united states established city new york importance measure greatly increased acquisition rich mines precious metals new mexico california especially latter repeat recommendation heretofore made favor graduation reduction price public lands long offered market remained unsold favor extending rights preemption actual settlers unsurveyed well surveyed lands condition operations army state branches public service supervision war department satisfactorily presented accompanying report secretary war return peace forces withdrawn mexico volunteers portion regular army engaged war disbanded orders issued stationing forces permanent establishment various positions extended country troops may required owing remoteness positions detachments yet reached destination notwithstanding extension limits country forces required new territories confidently believed present military establishment sufficient exigencies long peaceful relations remain undisturbed amount military contributions collected mexico sum applied toward payment first installment due treaty mexico sum paid treasury unexpended balances still remain hands disbursing officers engaged collection moneys proclamation peace disbursements made unexpended moneys arising source balances hand directed paid treasury individual claims fund remain unadjusted congress shall authorize settlement payment claims considerable number amount recommend favorable consideration suggestions secretary war secretary navy regard legislation subject indian relations presented favorable view report war department wisdom policy regard tribes within limits clearly manifested improved rapidly improving condition important treaty menomonies recently negotiated commissioner indian affairs person land state wisconsin acres ceded united states treaty submitted senate ratification early period present session within last four years eight important treaties negotiated different indian tribes cost indian lands amount acres ceded united states provision made settling country west mississippi tribes occupied large extent public domain title indian lands within several states union exception small reservations extinguished vast region opened settlement cultivation accompanying report secretary navy gives satisfactory exhibit operations condition branch public service number small vessels suitable entering mouths rivers judiciously purchased war gave great efficiency squadron gulf mexico return peace longer valuable naval purposes liable constant deterioration sold money placed treasury number men naval service authorized law war reduced discharges maximum fixed peace establishment adequate squadrons maintained several quarters globe experience shown services may usefully employed naval service never condition higher discipline greater efficiency invite attention recommendation secretary navy subject marine corps reduction corps end war required four officers three lower grades dropped rolls board officers made selection designated necessarily dismissed without alleged fault concur opinion secretary service would improved reducing number landsmen increasing marines measure would justify increase number officers extent reduction dismissal still corps would fewer officers corresponding number men army contracts transportation mail steamships convertible war steamers promise realize benefits commerce navy anticipated first steamer thus secured government launched january 1847 seven another year probably less seventeen afloat great national advantage secured social commercial intercourse increased promoted germany great britain parts europe countries west coast continent especially oregon california northern southern sections united states considerable revenue may expected postages connected line new york chagres thence across isthmus oregon fail exert beneficial influence estimated interests manufactures commerce navigation currency united states important part system recommend favorable consideration establishment proposed line steamers new orleans vera cruz promises happy results cementing friendship two republics extending reciprocal benefits trade manufactures report make known operations department past year gratifying find revenues department rates postage established law rapidly increasing gross amount postages last fiscal year amounted exceeding annual average received nine years immediately preceding passage act 3d march 1845 sum exceeding amount received year ending 30th june 1847 sum expenditures year excluding sum allowed congress last session individual claimants including sum paid services line steamers bremen new york amounted less annual average nine years previous act 1845 mail routes 30th day june last miles extent increase last year miles mails transported time miles making increase transportation year miles whilst expense less previous year increase mail transportation within last three years miles whilst expenses reduced making increase service rate 15 per cent reduction expenses 15 per cent past year employed contracts department two ocean steamers conveying mails monthly new york bremen one since october last performing semimonthly service charleston havana contract made transportation pacific mails across isthmus chagres panama authority given secretary navy three ocean steamers constructed sent pacific expected enter upon mail service panama oregon intermediate ports 1st january next fourth engaged service havana chagres regular monthly mail line kept time united states territories pacific notwithstanding great increase mail service revenue continue increase present year last received near expenditures considerations satisfied certain modifications act 1845 revenue may still increased reduction postages made uniform rate 5 cents without interference principle constantly properly enforced making department sustain system best means diffusing intelligence among people much importance country extensive united states recommend favorable consideration suggestions improvement nothing retard onward progress country prevent us assuming maintaining first rank among nations disregard experience past recurrence unwise public policy closed foreign war honorable peace war rendered necessary unavoidable vindication national rights honor present condition country similar respects existed immediately close war great britain 1815 occasion deemed proper one take retrospect measures public policy followed war period history departure earlier policy enlargement powers federal government construction obtained warranted interpretation constitution years close war series measures adopted united combined constituted termed authors advocates american system introduction new policy time favored condition country heavy debt contracted war depression public credit deranged state finances currency commercial pecuniary embarrassment extensively prevailed causes led establishment events war great britain embarrassments attended prosecution left minds many statesmen impression government strong enough wield resources successfully great emergencies especially war power concentrated hands increased power seek obtain legitimate prescribed mode amendment constitution construction saw governments old world based upon different orders society constituted throw whole power nations hands taxed controlled many without responsibility restraint arrangement conceived strength nations war consisted also something fascinating ease luxury display higher orders drew wealth toil laboring millions authors system drew ideas political economy witnessed europe particularly great britain viewed enormous wealth concentrated hands seen splendor overgrown establishments aristocracy upheld restrictive policy forgot look upon poorer classes english population upon whose daily yearly labor great establishments much admired sustained supported failed perceive scantily fed operatives abject poverty bound chains oppressive servitude benefit favored classes exclusive objects care government possible reconstruct society united states upon european plan written constitution orders titles recognized tolerated system measures therefore devised calculated intended withdraw power gradually silently states mass people construction approximate government european models substituting aristocracy wealth orders titles without reflecting upon dissimilarity institutions condition people europe conceived vain idea building united states system similar admired abroad great britain national bank large capital whose hands concentrated controlling monetary financial power nation institution wielding almost kingly power exerting vast influence upon operations trade upon policy government great britain enormous public debt become part public policy regard public blessing great britain also restrictive policy placed fetters burdens trade trammeled productive industry mass nation combined system policy landlords property holders protected enriched enormous taxes levied upon labor country advantage imitating foreign policy first step establishing new system united states creation national bank foreseeing dangerous power countless evils institution might entail country perceiving connection designed form bank branches miscalled american system feeling embarrassments treasury business country consequent upon war statesmen held different sounder views induced yield scruples indeed settled convictions unconstitutionality give sanction expedient vainly hoped might produce relief unfortunate error subsequent history final catastrophe dangerous corrupt institution abundantly proved bank numerous branches ramified states soon brought many active political commercial men different sections country relation debtors dependents upon pecuniary favors thus diffusing throughout mass society great number individuals power influence give tone public opinion act concert cases emergency corrupt power political engine longer matter speculation displayed numerous instances signally political struggles 1832 1833 1834 opposition public represented fearless patriotic president bank one branch new system public debt existed disguised many authors new system regard speedy payment essential public prosperity looked upon continuance national evil whilst debt existed furnished aliment national bank rendered increased taxation necessary amount interest exceeding annually operated harmony next branch new system high protective tariff afford bounties favored classes particular pursuits expense others proposition tax whole people purpose enriching monstrous openly made scheme therefore veiled plausible delusive pretext measure protect home industry many people time led believe tax main fell upon labor benefit laborer paid branch system involved partnership government favored classes former receiving proceeds tax imposed articles imported latter increased price similar articles produced home caused tax obvious portion received favored classes would general rule increased proportion increase rates tax imposed diminished rates reduced revenue standard required wants government rates required produce sufficient revenue ordinary expenditures government necessary purposes likely give private partners scheme profits sufficient satisfy cupidity hence variety expedients pretexts resorted purpose enlarging expenditures thereby creating necessity keeping high protective tariff effect policy interpose artificial restrictions upon natural course business trade country advance interests large capitalists monopolists expense great mass people taxed increase wealth another branch system comprehensive scheme internal improvements capable indefinite enlargement sufficient swallow many millions annually could exacted foreign commerce country convenient necessary adjunct protective tariff great absorbent surplus might time accumulate treasury taxes levied people necessary revenue purposes avowed object affording protection favored classes auxiliary end essential part system scheme later period obtained distributing proceeds sales public lands among states expedients devised take money treasury prevent coming source protective tariff authors supporters system advocates largest expenditures whether necessary useful purposes larger expenditures greater pretext high taxes form protective duties several measures sustained popular names plausible arguments thousands deluded bank represented indispensable fiscal agent government equalize exchanges regulate furnish sound currency always everywhere uniform value protective tariff give employment american labor advanced prices protect home industry furnish steady market farmer internal improvements bring trade every neighborhood enhance value every man property distribution land money enrich states finish public works plant schools throughout borders relieve taxation fact every dollar taken treasury objects much larger sum transferred pockets people favored classes carefully concealed also tendency ultimate design system build aristocracy wealth control masses society monopolize political power country several branches system intimately blended together operation sustained strengthened others joint operation add new burthens taxation encourage largely increased wasteful expenditure public money interest bank revenue collected disbursements made government large depository public money larger amount greater would bank profits use interest favored classes enriched protective tariff rates protection high possible higher rates greater would advantage interest people sections localities expected benefited expenditures internal improvements amount collected large possible end sum disbursed might also larger states beneficiaries distribution land money interest rates tax imposed protective tariff large enough yield sufficient revenue source meet wants government without disturbing taking land fund branches constituting system common interest swelling public expenditures direct interest maintaining public debt unpaid increasing amount would produce annual increased drain upon treasury amount interest render augmented taxes necessary operation necessary effect whole system encourage large extravagant expenditures thereby increase public patronage maintain rich splendid government expense taxed impoverished people manifest scheme enlarged taxation expenditures continued prevail must soon converted government union intended framers plain cheap simple confederation states united together common protection charged specific duties relating chiefly foreign affairs consolidated empire depriving states reserved rights people power control administration government manner whole form character government would changed amendment constitution resorting unwarrantable unauthorized construction instrument indirect mode levying taxes duty imports prevents mass people readily perceiving amount pay enabled thus enriched seek wield political power country deceive delude taxes collected direct levy upon people case states could occur whole system resisted inception many ablest statesmen doubted constitutionality expediency others believed branches flagrant dangerous infraction constitution national bank protective tariff levied raise revenue needed protection merely internal improvements distribution proceeds sale public lands measures without warrant constitution would upon maturest consideration seem clear remarkable one measures involving momentous consequences authorized express grant power constitution one incident necessary proper execution specific powers granted constitution authority attempted justify derived inferences constructions constitution letter whole object design warrant conceived immense powers would left framers constitution mere inferences doubtful constructions intended confer federal government reasonable conclude would done plain unequivocal grants done whole structure american system consisted reared better foundation forced implications inferences power authors assumed might deduced construction constitution urged national bank constituted essential branch combined system measures new measure constitutionality previously sanctioned bank chartered 1791 received official signature president washington facts show weight precedent entitled bearing upon question constitutionality great division opinion upon subject existed congress well known president washington entertained serious doubts constitutionality expediency measure bill official approval disapproval great doubts required opinion writing members cabinet aid arriving decision cabinet gave opinions divided upon subject general hamilton favor jefferson randolph opposed constitutionality expediency bank well known also president washington retained bill monday 14th presented friday 25th february last moment permitted constitution deliberate finally yielded reluctant assent gave signature certain late 23d february ninth day bill presented arrived satisfactory conclusion day addressed note general hamilton informs bill presented joint committee congress 12 clock monday 14th instant requested opinion precise period legal interpretation constitution president retain possession becomes law lapse ten days proper construction day bill presented president day action upon counted inclusive time allowed within would competent return house originated objections would expire thursday 24th february general hamilton day returned answer states give opinion ten days exclusive bill delivered sundays hence present case returned friday time construction president adopted gained another day deliberation 25th february signed bill thus affording conclusive proof last obtained consent sign without great almost insuperable difficulty additional light recently would upon serious doubts subject amounting one time conviction duty withhold approval bill found among manuscript papers madison authorized purchased use government act last session congress first time accessible public papers appears president washington yet held bank bill hands actually requested madison time member house representatives prepare draft veto message madison request prepare draft message sent 21st february 1791 copy original draft madison handwriting carefully preserved among papers lately purchased congress preceded note written sheet also madison handwriting follows february 21 copy paper made sent president request ready case judgment finally decide bill incorporating national bank bill among objections assigned paper bill submitted consideration president following object bill essential principle government powers delegated constitution rightfully exercised power proposed bill exercised expressly delegated satisfy results express power fair safe rules interpretation weight precedent bank 1791 sanction great name washington often invoked support greatly weakened development facts experiment bank satisfied country ought continued end twenty years congress refused recharter would fortunate country saved thousands bankruptcy ruin public men 1816 resisted temporary pressure times upon financial pecuniary interests refused charter second bank country became abundantly satisfied close twenty years duration case first bank also ceased exist repeated blows president jackson reeled fell subsequent attempt charter similar institution arrested veto president tyler madison yielding signature charter 1816 upon ground respect due precedents subsequently declared bank united states though original question held unconstitutional received executive signature probable neither bank 1791 1816 would chartered embarrassments government finances derangement currency pecuniary pressure existed first consequence war revolution second consequence war 1812 resorted delusive hope would restore public credit afford relief government business country public men opposed whole american system commencement throughout progress foresaw predicted fraught incalculable mischiefs must result serious injury best interests country series years wise counsels unheeded system established soon apparent practical operation unequal unjust upon different portions country upon people engaged different pursuits equally entitled favor protection government fostered elevated money power enriched favored taxing labor expense many effect make rich richer poor poorer tendency create distinctions society based wealth give favored classes undue control sway government organized money power resisted popular sought shape control public policy pernicious workings combined system measures country witnessed alternate seasons temporary apparent prosperity sudden disastrous commercial revulsions unprecedented fluctuation prices depression great interests agriculture navigation commerce general pecuniary suffering final bankruptcy thousands severe struggle quarter century system overthrown bank succeeded practical system finance conducted controlled solely government constitutional currency restored public credit maintained unimpaired even period foreign war whole country become satisfied banks national state necessary fiscal agents government revenue duties taken place protective tariff distribution money derived sale public lands abandoned corrupting system internal improvements hoped effectually checked doubted whole train measures designed take wealth many bestow upon prevail effect would change entire character government one danger remains seductions branch system consists internal improvements holding inducements people particular sections localities embark government without stopping calculate inevitable consequences branch system intimately combined linked others surely effect produced adequate resuscitated revived firmly established requires sagacity foresee necessarily speedily draw reestablishment national bank revival protective tariff distribution land money postponement distant future payment present national debt annual increase entertain solemn conviction branch american system firmly resisted time whole series measures composing speedily reestablished country thrown back present high state prosperity existing policy produced destined witness evils commercial revulsions depression prices pecuniary embarrassments passed last years guard consequences ruinous object high national importance involving judgment continued prosperity country felt imperative obligation withhold constitutional sanction two bills passed two houses congress involving principle internal improvement branch american system conflicting provisions views expressed power conferred upon president constitution three occasions administration executive department government deemed duty exercise last occasion making congress annual communication state union deemed inappropriate review principles considerations governed action deem necessary lapse nearly sixty years since adoption constitution propriety exercise undoubted constitutional power president first time drawn seriously question portion constitution provides every bill shall passed house representatives senate shall become law presented president united states approve shall sign shall return objections house shall originated shall enter objections large journal proceed reconsider preservation constitution infraction president highest duty bound discharge duty whatever hazard incurring displeasure may differ opinion bound discharge well obligations people clothed exalted trust oath office may disregard obligations president degree lessened prevalence views different one houses congress alone hasty inconsiderate legislation required check time congress shall apparently full deliberation resolve measures deems subversive constitution vital interests country solemn duty stand breach resist president bound approve disapprove every bill passes congress presented signature constitution makes duty escape would election deciding upon bill presented must exercise best judgment approve constitution commands return bill house originated objections fail within ten days sundays excepted shall become law without signature right wrong may overruled vote house event bill becomes law without sanction objections thus overruled subject postponed referred states people consideration decision president power negative merely affirmative enact law effect therefore withholding approval bill passed congress suffer existing laws remain unchanged delay occasioned required enable states people consider act upon subject election public agents carry wishes instructions attempt coerce president yield sanction measures approve would violation spirit constitution palpable flagrant successful would break independence executive department make president elected people clothed constitution power defend rights mere instrument majority congress surrender part powers constitution invested office would effect practical alteration instrument without resorting prescribed process amendment motives considerations may induce congress pass bill president nothing must presume pure look practical effect measures compared constitution public good urged object exercise undoubted constitutional power assails representative principle capacity people govern greater safety numerous representative body single executive created constitution executive veto power despotic character expose fallacy objection necessary consider frame true character system consolidated empire confederated union states adoption constitution coordinate separate independent sovereignties adoption lose character clothed federal government certain powers reserved others including sovereignty guarded rights states rights people limitations incorporated federal constitution whereby different departments general government checks upon majority govern general principle controverted none must govern according constitution according undefined unrestrained discretion whereby may oppress minority people united states blind fact may temporarily misled representatives legislative executive may mistaken influenced action improper motives therefore interposed laws may passed public agents various representations assemblies senates governors several states house representatives senate president united states people direct agency make law house representatives immediately elected senate together without concurrence president vote houses happily people framing admirable system government conscious infirmities representatives delegating power legislation fenced around checks guard effects hasty action error combination possible corruption error selfishness faction often sought rend asunder web checks subject government control fanatic sinister influences efforts satisfied people wisdom checks imposed necessity preserving unimpaired true theory system govern acts decrees one set representatives constitution interposes checks upon branches government order give time error corrected delusion pass away people settle firm conviction different representatives give effect opinions changing public servants checks people imposed public servants adoption constitution best evidence capacity know men elect public stations like infirmities passions trusted without restricted coordinate authorities constitutional limitations witnessed legislation congress last thirty years say knows instance measures demanded public good carried deny state governments combinations individuals sections derogation general interest banks chartered systems internal improvements adopted debts entailed upon people repressing growth impairing energies years come much experience said absolute unchecked power safe hands one set representatives capacity people admitted broadest extent conclusive argument prove prudence wisdom integrity representatives people constitution commanded president much commanded legislative branch government execute said constitution require shall take solemn oath support congress pass bill approve shall return house originated objections withholding approval signature executing people constitutionally expressed much congress passed bill presumed accordance popular shall passed branches government required constitution make law bill passes house representatives may rejected senate bill passed senate may rejected house case respective houses exercise veto power congress house congress hold constitution check upon president power qualified veto check upon congress president recommends measures congress avows solemn form opinions gives voice favor pledges advance approve passed congress acts without due consideration influenced improper corrupt motives congress either house congress shall differ opinion exercise veto upon recommendations reject appeal decision people ballot box proper checks upon executive wisely interposed constitution none found object wish removed equally important constitutional checks executive upon legislative branch preserved said representatives popular branch congress chosen directly people answered people elect president houses represent states people president president represents executive department whole people united states member legislative department represents portions doctrine restriction upon legislative executive power public opinion enabled within reasonable time accomplish ends made country opened us career glory happiness nations strangers exercise power veto president responsible enlightened public opinion people whole union elected representatives legislative branches differ opinion responsible people particular states districts compose respective constituencies deny president exercise power would repeal provision constitution confers upon charge exercise unduly controls legislative complain constitution presidential veto objected upon ground checks thwarts popular upon principle equality representation states senate stricken constitution vote senator delaware equal weight deciding upon important measures vote senator new york yet one represents state containing according existing apportionment representatives house representatives one part population constitutional composition senate majority body smaller states represent less people union thirty states existing apportionment representatives 230 members house representatives sixteen smaller states represented house 50 members yet senators states constitute majority senate president may recommend measure congress may receive sanction approval house representatives senators large states containing whole population united states yet measure may defeated votes senators smaller states none presumed found ready change organization senate account strike body practically existence requiring action shall conformed numerous branch upon principle veto president practically abolished power give casting vote upon equal division senate abolished also exercises veto power effectually rejecting bill casting vote president refusing approve sign power exercised instances important rejection bill recharter bank united states 1811 may happen bill may passed large majority house representatives may supported senators larger states may reject giving vote senators smaller states yet none presumed prepared deny exercise power constitution point fact untrue act passed congress conclusive evidence emanation popular majority whole number elected house congress constitutes quorum majority quorum competent pass laws might happen quorum house representatives consisting single member half whole number elected house might pass bill majority single vote case fraction people united states would represented voted might happen bill might passed majority one quorum senate composed senators fifteen smaller states single senator sixteenth state senators voting happened eight smallest states would passed votes senators states fourteen representatives house representatives containing less whole population united states extreme case stated illustrate fact mere passage bill congress conclusive evidence passed represent majority people united states truly reflect extreme case likely happen cases approximate constant occurrence believed single law passed since adoption constitution upon members elected houses present voted many important acts passed congress carried close vote thin houses many instances might given indeed experience proves many important acts congress postponed last days often last hours session disposed haste houses little exceeding number necessary form quorum besides states members house representatives chosen pluralities majorities voters respective districts may happen majority house may returned less aggregate vote people received minority principle insisted sound constitution changed bill shall become law unless voted members representing house majority whole people united states must remodel whole system strike abolish salutary checks lodged executive branch must strike abolish lodged senate also thus practically invest whole power government majority single assembly majority uncontrolled absolute may become despotic conform doctrine right majorities rule independent checks limitations constitution must revolutionize whole system must destroy constitutional compact several states agreed form federal union rush consolidation must end monarchy despotism one advocates proposition yet doctrine maintained carried must lead result one great object constitution conferring upon president qualified negative upon legislation congress protect minorities injustice oppression majorities equality representation senate veto power president constitutional guaranties smaller states rights respected without guaranties interests would mercy majorities congress representing larger states smaller weaker states therefore preservation power exercise upon proper occasions demanding vital importance ratified constitution entered union securing equal representation larger states senate agreed bound laws passed congress upon express condition none approved president passed objections contrary notwithstanding vote houses upon condition right insist part compact gave assent bill might passed congress whole people particular state votes senators representatives however prejudicial might interests state would bound president shall approve shall passed vote houses right demand president shall exercise constitutional power arrest judgment surrender power fail exercise case approve would make formal approval mere mockery would violation constitution dissenting state would become bound law passed according sanctions constitution objection exercise veto power founded upon idea respecting popular carried would annihilate state sovereignty substitute present federal government consolidation directed supposed numerical majority revolution government would silently effected states would subjected laws never given constitutional consent supreme court united states invested power declare declared acts congress passed concurrence senate house representatives approval president unconstitutional void yet none presumed found disposed strip highest judicial tribunal constitution acknowledged power power necessary alike independence rights individuals reason executive veto according doctrine maintained rendered nugatory practically expunged constitution power court also rendered nugatory expunged restrains legislative executive exercise power court may regarded conflict capacity people govern indeed reason striking power court constitution qualified veto president decision court final never reversed even though houses congress president unanimous opposition whereas veto president may overruled vote houses congress people polls obvious preserve system established constitution coordinate branches government executive legislative judicial must left exercise appropriate powers executive judicial branch deprived powers conferred upon either checks legislative preponderance latter become disproportionate absorbing others impotent accomplishment great objects established organized constitution work together harmoniously public good executive judiciary shall deprived constitutional powers invested due proportions equilibrium system must destroyed consolidation pernicious results must ensue consolidation unchecked despotic power exercised majorities legislative branch executive legislative judicial constitutes separate coordinate department government independent others performance respective duties constitution neither legitimate action control others act upon several responsibilities respective spheres doctrines maintained correct executive must become practically subordinate legislative judiciary must become subordinate legislative executive thus whole power government would merged single department whenever ever shall occur glorious system crumble ruins succeeded first anarchy finally monarchy despotism far believing doctrine sentiment american people short period remains duty administer executive department aim maintain independence discharge duties without infringing upon powers duties either departments government power executive veto exercised first illustrious predecessors four successors preceded administration government believed instance prejudicially public interests never little danger ever abused president ever desire unnecessarily place opinion opposition congress must always exercise power reluctantly cases convictions make matter stern duty escape indeed danger president repugnance must always feel come collision congress may fail exercise cases preservation constitution infraction public good may demand ever exercise unnecessarily wantonly period administered executive department government great important questions public policy foreign domestic arisen upon duty act may indeed truly said administration fallen upon eventful times felt sensibly weight high responsibilities devolved upon object public good enduring fame permanent prosperity country pursued convictions best judgment impartial arbitrament enlightened public opinion present future determine far public policy maintained measures time time recommended may tended advance retard public prosperity home elevate depress estimate national character abroad invoking blessings almighty upon deliberations present important session ardent hope spirit harmony concord may guided wise results may redound happiness honor glory beloved country
benignant providence almighty god representative state people bring together deliberate public good gratitude nation sovereign arbiter human event commensurate boundless blessing enjoy peace plenty contentment reign throughout border beloved country present sublime moral spectacle world trouble unsettled condition principal european power necessary tendency check embarrass trade depress price throughout commercial nation notwithstanding cause united state abundant product felt effect less severely country great interest still prosperous successful review great event past year contrasting agitate disturbed state country tranquil happy condition may congratulate favored people face earth people country struggle establish free institution man may govern actual enjoyment rich inheritance father enlighten nation europe convulse distract civil war intestine strife settle political controversy peaceful exercise right freeman ballot box great republican maxim deeply engraven heart people majority constitutionally express shall prevail sure safeguard force violence subject pride fame character nation continue rapidly advance estimation civilize world wise free institution attribute nation achieve glory price suffer distress impoverishment people honorable position midst uninterrupted prosperity increase individual comfort happiness happy inform relation nation friendly pacific advantageous treaty commerce conclude within last four year new granada peru two sicily belgium hanover oldenburg pursue example restrictive system great britain principal foreign customer relax liberal commercial policy adopt enlighten nation trade greatly enlarge extended country stand high respect world former period continue occupy proud position necessary preserve peace faithfully adhere great fundamental principle foreign policy noninterference domestic concern nation recognize nation right enjoy change reform political institution accord pleasure hence look behind exist government capable maintain authority recognize actual government dictate true policy sacred regard independence nation settle policy follow ever indifferent spectator progress liberal principle government people united state hail enthusiasm delight establishment french republic hail effort progress unite state germany confederation similar many respect federal union great enlightened german state occupy central command position europe shall succeed establish confederated government secure time citizen state local government adapt peculiar condition unrestricted trade intercourse important era history human event whilst consolidate strengthen power germany must essentially promote peace commerce civilization constitutional liberty throughout world government continent relation believe friendly satisfactory footing ever former period since exchange ratification treaty peace mexico intercourse government republic friendly character envoy extraordinary minister plenipotentiary unite state mexico receive accredited diplomatic representative mexico similar rank receive accredited government amicable relation two country suspend happily restore destined trust long preserve two republic situate continent coterminous territory every motive sympathy interest bind together perpetual amity gratify condition foreign relation render unnecessary call attention specifically constant aim desire cultivate peace commerce nation tranquility home peaceful relation abroad constitute true permanent policy country war scourge nation sometimes become inevitable always avoid do consistently right honor nation one important result war recently force neighboring nation demonstration afford military strength country late war mexico european foreign power entertain imperfect erroneous view physical strength nation ability prosecute war especially war wag country saw stand army peace establishment exceed men accustom maintain peace large stand army protection throne subject well foreign enemy conceive possible nation without army well discipline long service wage war successfully hold low repute militia far regard effective force unless might temporary defensive operation invade soil event late war mexico undeceive remove erroneous impression prevail extent even among portion countryman war demonstrate upon break hostility anticipate previous preparation make volunteer army citizen soldier equal veteran troop number equal emergency short period bring field unlike would occur country necessity resort draft conscription contrary number volunteer patriotically tender service chief difficulty make selection determine disappointed compel remain home citizen soldier unlike draw population country compose indiscriminately profession pursuits farmer lawyer physicians merchant manufacturer mechanic laborer among officer private soldier rank citizen soldier unlike country respect arm accustomed youth handle use firearm large proportion especially western newly settle state expert marksman men reputation maintain home good conduct field intelligent individuality character find rank army battle private man well every officer fight country glory distinction among shall return civil life war mexico demonstrate ability government organize numerous army upon sudden call also provide munition necessary supply dispatch convenience ease direct operation efficiency strength institution display valor skill troop engage active service field organization executive branch charge general direction conduct war great praise bestow upon officer men fought battle would unjust withhold officer necessarily station home charge duty furnish army proper time proper place munition war supply necessary make efficient commendation entitle credit due class officer great consider army ancient modern time even well appoint provided army mexico operate enemy country remove mile seat federal government different corp spread vast extent territory hundred even thousand mile apart nothing short untiring vigilance extraordinary energy officer could enable provide army point proper season require efficient service act justice declare officer charge several executive bureau immediate eye supervision secretary war perform respective duty ability energy efficiency reap less glory war personally expose perils battle companion arm without forecast efficient aid cooperation field would provide ample mean possess achieve country unfading honor fact consider may cease matter much amazement abroad happen noble army mexico regulars volunteer victorious upon every battlefield however fearful odds war mexico thus fully develop capacity republican government prosecute successfully necessary foreign war vigor usually attribute arbitrary form government usual writer public law impute republic want unity concentration purpose vigor execution generally admit belong monarchical aristocratic form feature popular government suppose display particularly conduct war carry enemy territory war great britain 1812 great extent confine within limit would little light subject war close honorable peace evinces beyond doubt popular representative government equal emergency likely arise affair nation war mexico develop strikingly conspicuously another feature institution without cost government danger liberty bosom society freeman available necessary war virtually stand army arm citizen soldier fight battle mexico military strength consist alone capacity extend successful operation land navy important arm national defense service navy brilliant army late war mexico enemy meet element army opportunity perform conspicuous service navy largely participated conduct war branch service perform whole duty country able gallant service officer men navy act independently well cooperation troop conquest californias capture vera cruz seizure occupation important position gulf pacific coast high praise due vigilance energy skill render effective service exclude munition war supply enemy secure safe entrance abundant supply army extend commerce nowhere interrupt immunity evils war country indebted navy high praise due officer several executive bureau station connect service immediate direction secretary navy industry foresight energy everything direct furnished give efficiency branch service vigilance exist direct operation navy army concert action purpose head two arm service order time time issue vessel war pacific gulf mexico station proper time proper position cooperate efficiently army mean combine power bring bear successfully enemy great result develop brought light war immeasurable importance future progress country tend powerfully preserve u foreign collision enable u pursue uninterruptedly cherished policy peace nation entangle alliance none occupy commanding position among nation former period duty responsibilities posterity correspondingly increase obvious consider vast addition recently make territorial possession great importance value within less four year annexation texas union consummate conflict title oregon territory south degree north latitude insist predecessor adjust new mexico upper california acquire treaty area several territory accord report carefully prepared commissioner general land office authentic information possession herewith transmit contains square mile acre area remain state territory yet organize state east rocky mountain contains square mile acres estimate show territory recently acquire exclusive jurisdiction dominion extend constitute country half large hold united state acquisition oregon exclude estimate still remain within limit texas new mexico california square mile acres addition equal territory own united state acquisition include oregon nearly great extent territory whole europe russia except mississippi lately frontier country center addition late acquisition united state estimate nearly large whole europe estimate superintendent coast survey accompany report extent seacoast texas gulf mexico upward 400 mile coast upper california pacific 970 mile oregon include strait fuca 650 mile make whole extent seacoast pacific mile whole extent pacific gulf mexico mile length coast atlantic northern limit united state around cape florida sabine eastern boundary texas estimate mile addition seacoast include oregon nearly great possessed exclude oregon addition mile nearly equal extent coast possess acquisition three great maritime front atlantic gulf mexico pacific make whole extent seacoast exceed mile extent seacoast united state include bay sound small irregularity main shore sea island include length shore line coast estimate superintendent coast survey report would mile would difficult calculate value immense addition territorial possession texas lie contiguous western boundary louisiana embrace within limit part navigable tributary water mississippi extensive seacoast could long remain hand foreign power without endanger peace southwestern frontier product vicinity tributary mississippi must seek market stream run territory danger irritation collision interest texas foreign state would imminent embarrassment commercial intercourse must constant unavoidable texas fall hand influence control strong maritime military foreign power might do danger would still great avoid voluntary peaceful annexation unite state texas position natural almost indispensable part territory fortunately restore country constitute one state confederacy upon equal footing original state salubrity climate fertility soil peculiarly adapt production valuable staple commodity commercial advantage must soon make one populous state new mexico though situated interior without seacoast know contain much fertile land abound rich mine precious metal capable sustain large population position intermediate connecting territory settlement possession texas pacific coast upper california irrespective vast mineral wealth recently develop hold day point value importance rest union relation louisiana fine territory acquire france year ago extend nearly ten degree latitude along pacific embrace safe commodious harbor coast many hundred mile temperate climate extensive interior fertile land scarcely possible estimate wealth shall bring government law resource fully developed position must command rich commerce china asia islands pacific western mexico central america south american state russian possession border ocean great emporium doubtless speedily arise californian coast may destine rival importance new orleans depot vast commerce must exist pacific probably point bay san francisco occupy relation whole western coast ocean new orleans valley mississippi gulf mexico depot numerous whale ship resort cargo trade refit obtain supply largely contribute build city would soon become center great rapidly increase commerce situate safe harbor sufficiently capacious navy well marine world convenient excellent timber shipbuilding own united state must become great western naval depot know mine precious metal exist considerable extent california time acquisition recent discovery render probable mine extensive valuable anticipated account abundance gold territory extraordinary character would scarcely command belief corroborate authentic report officer public service visit mineral district derive fact detail personal observation reluctant credit report general circulation quantity gold officer command force california visit mineral district july last purpose obtain accurate information subject report war department result examination fact obtain spot herewith lay congress visit country person engage collect gold every reason believe number person employ since augmented exploration already make warrant belief supply large gold find various place extensive district country information receive officer navy source though full minute confirm account commander military force california appear also report mine quicksilver find vicinity gold region one work believe among productive world effect produce discovery rich mineral deposit success attend labor resort produced surprising change state affair california labor command exorbitant price pursuit search precious metal abandon nearly whole male population country go gold district ship arrive coast desert crew voyage suspend want sailor command officer entertains apprehension soldier keep public service without large increase pay desertion command become frequent recommends shall withstand strong temptation remain faithful reward abundance gold pursuit already cause california unprecedented rise price necessary life may speedily fully avail undeveloped wealth mine deem vast importance branch mint united state authorize establish present session california among signal advantage would result establishment would raise gold par value territory branch mint united state great commercial depot west coast would convert coin gold derive rich mine also bullion specie commerce may bring whole west coast central south america west coast america adjacent interior embrace richest best mine mexico new granada central america chili peru bullion specie drawn country especially western mexico peru amount value many million dollar annually divert carried ship great britain port recoined use sustain national bank thus contribute increase ability command much commerce world branch mint establish great commercial point upon coast vast amount bullion specie would flow thither recoined pas thence new orleans new york atlantic city amount constitutional currency home would greatly increased circulation abroad would promote well know merchant trade china west coast america great inconvenience loss experience fact coin current par value country power europe far remove west coast america atlantic ocean intervenes tedious dangerous navigation around southern cape continent america never successfully compete united state rich extensive commerce open u much less cost acquisition california vast importance commercial advantage california heretofore remain undeveloped government country constitute part fine province part country state union immediately directly others deeply interested speedy development wealth resource section country interested benefit commercial navigating manufacturing interest eastern state plant farming interest every part union greatly benefit commerce navigation enlarge extended export agricultural product manufacture increase new market thus open fail command remunerate profitable price acquisition california new mexico settlement oregon boundary annexation texas extend rio grande result combine great consequence add strength wealth nation precede since adoption constitution effect great result california new mexico must bring control regularly organize government exist condition california part new mexico lie west rio grande without limit texas imperiously demand congress present session organize territorial government upon exchange ratification treaty peace mexico 30th may last temporary government establish new mexico california military naval commander virtue right war cease derive obligatory force source authority cede united states government control authority mexico cease exist impressed necessity establish territorial government recommend subject favorable consideration congress message communicate ratify treaty peace 6th july last invoked action session congress adjourn without make provision government inhabitant transfer country become entitled benefit law constitution yet leave without regularly organize government since time limited power possess executive exercise preserve protect inevitable consequence state anarchy government remain established military authority war regard de facto government presume consent inhabitant might continue temporarily advise conform submit short intervening period congress would assemble could legislate subject view entertain executive point contain communication secretary state date 7th october last forwarded publication california new mexico copy herewith transmit small military force regular army serve within limit acquire territory close war retain additional force order protection inhabitant preserve secure right interest unite state revenue could collect port california congress fail authorize establishment appointment officer purpose secretary treasury circular letter address collector custom 7th day october last copy herewith transmit exercised power invest law pursuance act 14th august last extending benefit law people california appoint two agent proceed one california oregon authority make necessary arrangement carry provision effect monthly line mail steamer panama astoria require stop deliver take mail san diego monterey san francisco mail steamer connect isthmus panama line mail steamer atlantic new york chagres establish regular mail communication california solemn duty provide least practicable delay new mexico california regularly organize territorial government cause failure last session congress well know deeply regretted opening prospect increase prosperity national greatness acquisition rich extensive territorial possession affords irrational would forego reject advantage agitation domestic question coeval existence government endanger internal strifes geographical division heat contest political power harmony glorious union confederate state union bind u together one people sixty year shield protection every danger eye world posterity trivial insignificant internal division struggle compare preservation union state vigor countless blessing patriot would foment excite geographical sectional division lover country would deliberately calculate value union future generation would look amazement upon folly course nation present day would look upon astonishment desire maintain perpetuate throne monarchical aristocratical principle view exultation delight see element faction hope must ultimately overturn system great example prosperous free republic command admiration imitation lover freedom throughout world solemn therefore duty impressive call upon u upon part country cultivate patriotic spirit harmony compromise mutual concession administration incomparable system government form father midst almost insuperable difficulty transmit u injunction enjoy blessing hand unimpaired may come u view high responsible duty owe mankind trust may able present session approach adjustment domestic question seriously threaten probably ever threaten disturb harmony successful operation system immensely valuable possession new mexico california already inhabit considerable population attract great fertility mineral wealth commercial advantage salubrity climate emigrant older state great number already prepare seek new home invite region shall dissimilarity domestic institution different state prevent u provide suitable government institution exist adoption constitution obstacle interpose overcome spirit compromise invoke conflict opinion interest real imaginary different section country neither justly demand might desire obtain true spirit institution concede something gallant force mexican war whose patriotism unparalleled deed arm obtain possession indemnity demand mexico compose citizen belong one state section union men slaveholding nonslaveholding state north south east west companion arm common country engage common prosecute war brother friends share alike common toil danger suffering work end peace restored return home put habiliment war take place society resume pursuit civil life surely spirit harmony concession equal regard right section union ought prevail provide government acquire territory fruit common service whole people united state every state contribute defray expense war would one section exclude another participation acquire territory would consonance system government framer constitution adopt question believe rather abstract practical whether slavery ever would exist portion acquire territory even leave option slaveholding state nature climate production much large portion certain could never exist remainder probability would however may question involve principle equality right separate several state equal copartner confederacy disregard organize government territory duty imposed congress constitution require legislate subject slavery power seriously question deny many sound expounder instrument whether congress shall legislate people acquired territory assemble convention form state constitution possess sole exclusive power determine whether slavery shall shall exist within limit congress shall abstain interfering question people territory leave free adjust may think proper apply admission state union enactment congress could restrain people sovereign state union old new north south slaveholding nonslaveholding determine character domestic institution may deem wise proper state possess right congress deprive people georgia might choose alter constitution abolish slavery within limit people vermont might alter constitution admit slavery within limit state would possess right though know probable either would exert fortunate peace harmony union question nature temporary continue brief period intervene california new mexico may admit state union tide population flow highly probable soon occur consider several state citizen several state equal entitle equal right constitution original question might well insisted principle noninterference true doctrine congress could absence express grant power interfere relative right upon great emergency however menace danger union missouri compromise line respect slavery adopt line extend far west acquisition texas acquiescence nearly thirty year principle compromise recognize establish act avoid danger union might follow disregard heretofore express opinion line compromise extend parallel 30 western boundary texas terminates pacific ocean middle ground compromise upon different section union may meet heretofore met do confidently believe large majority people every section country however widely abstract opinion subject slavery may differ would cheerfully patriotically acquiesce peace harmony would fill border restriction north line yield case missouri texas upon principle compromise make necessary sake preserve harmony possibly existence union upon consideration close last session give sanction principle missouri compromise line approve sign bill establish territorial government oregon sincere desire preserve harmony union deference act predecessor felt constrained yield acquiescence extent go compromise delicate dangerous question congress shall reverse decision missouri compromise effect shall propose extend restriction whole territory south well north parallel 30 cease compromise must regard original question congress instead observe course noninterference leave adoption domestic institution people may inhabit territory instead extend missouri compromise line pacific shall prefer submit legal constitutional question may arise decision judicial tribunal propose bill pass senate last session adjustment may effect mode whole subject refer judiciary part union cheerfully acquiesce final decision tribunal create constitution settlement question may arise constitution treaty law united state congress earnestly invoke sake union harmony continue prosperity nation adjust present session dangerous question lie path one mode suggest may satisfactory anticipation establishment regular government acquire territory joint commission officer army navy order proceed coast california oregon purpose make reconnoissances report proper site erection fortification defensive work land suitable situation naval station information may expect scientific skillful examination whole face coast eminently useful congress come consider propriety making appropriation great national object proper defense land necessary security protection possession establishment dock repair construction vessel important alike navy commercial marine without establishment every vessel whether navy merchant service require repair must great expense come round cape horn one atlantic yard purpose establishment vessel believe may build repair cheaply california upon atlantic coast would give employment many enterprising shipbuilder mechanic greatly facilitate enlarge commerce pacific ascertain mine gold silver copper quicksilver exist new mexico california nearly land find belong united state deem important public interest provision make geological mineralogical examination region measure adopt preserve mineral land especially contain precious metal use united state bring market separate farm land dispose manner secure large return money treasury time lead development wealth individual proprietor purchaser necessary provide immediate survey location lot congress deem proper dispose mineral land sell small quantity fix minimum price recommend office authorize establish new mexico california provision make survey bring public land market early practicable period dispose land recommend right preemption secure liberal grant make early emigrant settle may settle upon important extend revenue law territory especially california early period already considerable commerce california port entry shall establish collector appoint revenue receive necessary proper measure adopt development wealth resource new mexico california regular territorial government establish probably rapid enlargement commerce navigation addition national wealth present generation may live witness control commercial monetary power world transfer london european emporium city new york apprehension entertain statesman earlier period government system incapable operating sufficient energy success largely extended territorial limit attempt would fall piece weakness dissipate experience division power state federal government latter find operate much energy extreme center efficient remote thirty state compose union thirteen state form constitution indeed may well doubt whether present population confine within limit original thirteen state tendency centralization consolidation would encroach upon essential reserve right state thus make federal government widely different one practically theory intend framer far entertain apprehension safety system extension territory belief confidently entertain new state give strength additional guaranty preservation union pursuance provision thirteenth article treaty peace friendship limit settlement republic mexico act july 29 1848 claim citizen already liquidate decided mexican republic amount interest thereon liquidate pay remain pay claim congress last session make provision execute fifteenth article treaty united state assume make satisfaction unliquidated claim citizen mexico amount exceed three quarter million dollar subject recommend favorable consideration exchange ratification treaty mexico take place 30th may 1848 within one year time commissioner surveyor government stipulates appoint require meet port san diego proceed run mark say boundary whole course mouth rio bravo del norte see provision period within commissioner surveyor respective government meet san diego expire 30th may 1849 congress close last session make appropriation expense run mark boundary line two country fix amount salary pay commissioner surveyor appoint part united state desirable amount compensation shall receive prescribed law leave present executive discretion measure adopt early practicable period organize territorial government oregon authorize act 14th august last governor marshal territory accompany small military escort leave frontier missouri september last take southern route way santa fe river gila california intention proceed thence one vessel war destination governor fully advise great importance early arrival country confidently believe may reach oregon latter part present month early next officer territory proceed sea month may last communicated information congress indian war break oregon recommend authority give raise adequate number volunteer proceed without delay assistance territory authority raise force grant congress soon service could dispense mexico order issue regiment mount rifleman proceed jefferson barrack missouri prepare march oregon soon necessary provision could make shortly ready march arrest provision act pass congress last day last session direct noncommissioned officer musician private regiment service mexico upon application entitle discharged effect provision disband rank file regiment place could fill recruit season far advance impracticable proceed open next spring month october last accompanying communication receive governor temporary government oregon give information continuance indian disturbance destitution defenseless condition inhabitant order immediately transmit commander squadron pacific dispatch assistance part naval force station furnish arm ammunition continue give aid protection navy could afford army could reach country policy humanity one always pursue united state cultivate good aboriginal tribe continent restrain make war indulging excesses mild mean rather force could do tribes oregon territory brought government law earlier period suitable measure adopt congress exist intercourse indian tribe within limit doubt indeed immediate exist hostility indian oregon represent long delay united state make trifle compensation article want country occupy emigrant indian claim formerly roam compensation promise temporary government establish oregon fulfillment postpone time time nearly two year whilst make anxiously wait congress establish territorial government country indians become length distrustful good faith seek redress plunder massacre finally lead present difficulty thousand dollar suitable present compensation country take possession citizen would satisfy indian prevented war small amount properly distribute confidently believe would soon restore quiet indian war oregon compel take field defense perform valuable military service subject expense fall heavily upon justice demand provision make congress compensate service refund necessary expense incur repeat recommendation heretofore make congress provision make appointment suitable number indian agent reside among tribes oregon small sum appropriate enable agent cultivate friendly relation do presence small military force necessary keep check preserve peace recommend similar provision make regard tribes inhabit northern texas new mexico california extensive region lie settlement missouri possession effective mean preserve peace upon border within recently acquire territory secretary treasury present annual report highly satisfactory statement condition finance import fiscal year end 30th june last value amount export leave country domestic use value export period consist domestic production amount foreign article receipt treasury period exclusive loan amount derived custom sale public land miscellaneous incidental source perceive revenue custom last fiscal year exceed estimate secretary treasury last annual report aggregate receipt period custom land miscellaneous source also exceed estimate sum indicate however near approach estimate actual result expenditure fiscal year end 30th june last include war exclusive payment principal interest public debt estimate receipts treasury fiscal year end 30th june 1849 include balance treasury 1st july last amount sum estimate derived custom sale public land miscellaneous incidental source include premium upon loan amount pay pay treasury account military contribution mexico sale arm vessel public property render unnecessary use government termination war loan already negotiate include treasury note fund together balance treasury 1st july last make sum estimate expenditure period include necessary payment account principal interest public debt principal interest first installment due mexico 30th may next expenditure grow war pay present year amount include reimbursement treasury note sum leave estimate balance treasury 1st july 1849 secretary treasury present require law estimate receipt expenditures next fiscal year expenditure estimate year include interest public debt principal interest due mexico 30th may 1850 leave sum believe ample ordinary peace expenditure operation tariff act 1846 past year fully meet public expectation confirm opinion heretofore express wisdom change revenue system effect receipt treasury first fiscal year enactment exceed sum amount collect last fiscal year tariff act 1842 end 30th june 1846 total revenue realize commencement operation 1st december 1846 close last quarter 30th september last month much large sum ever receive duty equal period tariff act 1824 1828 1832 1842 whilst repeal highly protective prohibitory duty revenue increase tax people diminish relieve heavy amount burthen former law form increase price bounty pay favored class pursuit prediction make tariff act 1846 would reduce amount revenue collect act 1842 would prostrate business destroy prosperity country verify increase increase revenue finance highly flourish condition agriculture commerce navigation prosperous price manufacture fabric product much less injuriously affect anticipate unprecedented revulsion last present year overwhelm industry paralyze credit commerce many great enlightened nation europe severe commercial revulsion abroad always heretofore operated depress often affect disastrously almost every branch american industry temporary depression portion manufacturing interest effect foreign cause far less severe prevail former similar occasion believe look great aggregate interest whole country never prosperous present period never rapidly advance wealth population neither foreign war involved loan absorb large portion capital commercial revulsion great britain 1847 paralysis credit commerce throughout europe 1848 affect injuriously considerable extent great interest country arrest onward march greatness wealth power disturbance europe occur commerce would undoubtedly still extend would add still national wealth public prosperity notwithstanding disturbance operation revenue system establish tariff act 1846 generally beneficial government business country change provision demand wise public policy none recommend operation constitutional treasury establish act 6th august 1846 receipt custody disbursement public money continue successful system public finance carry foreign war involve necessity loan extraordinary expenditure require distant transfer disbursement without embarrassment loss occur public money deposit provision whilst prove safe useful government effect beneficial upon business country tend powerfully secure exemption inflation fluctuation paper currency injurious domestic industry render uncertain reward labor believe largely contribute preserve whole country serious commercial revulsion often occur bank deposit system year 1847 revulsion business great britain great extent intensity follow failure kingdom unprecedented number amount loss believe first instance disastrous bankruptcy occur country extensive commerce produce little injurious effect upon trade currency remain little affected money market business industry still prosperous progressive present year nearly whole continent europe convulse civil war revolution attend numerous bankruptcy unprecedented fall public security almost universal paralysis commerce industry yet although trade price product must somewhat unfavorably affected cause escape revulsion money market comparatively easy public private credit advance improve confidently believe saved effect salutary operation constitutional treasury certain million specie import country fiscal year end 30th june 1847 go bank great extent must do would absence system make basis augment bank paper issue probably amount less produce inevitable consequence inflate currency extravagant price time wild speculation must follow reflux europe succeed year much specie prostration business country suspension bank extensive bankruptcy occur would do period country engage foreign war considerable loan specie require distant disbursement bank fiscal agent government depository money suspend public credit must sink many million dollar case war 1812 must sacrifice discount upon loan upon depreciate paper currency government would compel use operation constitutional treasury dollar lose depreciation currency loan require prosecute war mexico negotiate secretary treasury par realize large premium government restrain effect system upon tendency excessive paper issue bank save government heavy loss thousand business men bankruptcy ruin wisdom system test experience last two year dictate sound policy remain undisturbed modification detail measure involve none essential principle heretofore recommend present favorable consideration message 6th july last transmitting congress ratify treaty peace mexico recommend adoption measure speedy payment public debt reiterate recommendation refer consideration present message support public debt include authorize negotiated pursuance exist law include treasury note amount time funded stock unite state amount half million dollar purchase authorize law since period public debt thus reduce detail present annual report secretary treasury estimate expenditures next fiscal year submit secretary treasury believe ample necessary purpose appropriation make congress shall exceed amount estimate mean treasury sufficient defray expense government pay next installment mexico fall due 30th may next still considerable surplus remain applied purchase public stock reduction debt enlarge appropriation make necessary consequence postpone payment debt though debt compare nation small true policy harmony genius institution present world rare spectacle great republic possess vast resource wealth wholly exempt public indebtedness would add still strength give u still command position among nation earth public expenditure economical confine necessary object clearly within power congress absolutely demand postponed payment public debt early practicable period cardinal principle public policy reason assign last annual message repeat recommendation branch mint united state establish city new york importance measure greatly increase acquisition rich mine precious metal new mexico california especially latter repeat recommendation heretofore make favor graduation reduction price public land long offer market remain unsold favor extend right preemption actual settler unsurveyed well survey land condition operation army state branch public service supervision war department satisfactorily present accompany report secretary war return peace force withdraw mexico volunteer portion regular army engage war disband order issue station force permanent establishment various position extend country troop may require owe remoteness position detachment yet reach destination notwithstanding extension limit country force require new territory confidently believe present military establishment sufficient exigency long peaceful relation remain undisturbed amount military contribution collect mexico sum apply toward payment first installment due treaty mexico sum pay treasury unexpended balance still remain hand disburse officer engage collection money proclamation peace disbursement make unexpended money arise source balance hand direct paid treasury individual claim fund remain unadjusted congress shall authorize settlement payment claim considerable number amount recommend favorable consideration suggestion secretary war secretary navy regard legislation subject indian relation present favorable view report war department wisdom policy regard tribe within limit clearly manifest improve rapidly improve condition important treaty menomonies recently negotiate commissioner indian affair person land state wisconsin acre cede united state treaty submit senate ratification early period present session within last four year eight important treaty negotiate different indian tribe cost indian land amount acre cede united state provision make settle country west mississippi tribe occupy large extent public domain title indian land within several state union exception small reservation extinguish vast region open settlement cultivation accompany report secretary navy give satisfactory exhibit operation condition branch public service number small vessel suitable enter mouths river judiciously purchase war give great efficiency squadron gulf mexico return peace longer valuable naval purpose liable constant deterioration sell money place treasury number men naval service authorize law war reduce discharge maximum fixed peace establishment adequate squadron maintain several quarter globe experience show service may usefully employ naval service never condition high discipline great efficiency invite attention recommendation secretary navy subject marine corp reduction corps end war require four officer three low grade drop roll board officer make selection designate necessarily dismiss without allege fault concur opinion secretary service would improve reduce number landsman increase marine measure would justify increase number officer extent reduction dismissal still corps would fewer officer correspond number men army contract transportation mail steamship convertible war steamer promise realize benefit commerce navy anticipate first steamer thus secured government launch january 1847 seven another year probably less seventeen afloat great national advantage secure social commercial intercourse increase promote germany great britain part europe country west coast continent especially oregon california northern southern section united state considerable revenue may expect postage connect line new york chagres thence across isthmus oregon fail exert beneficial influence estimate interest manufacture commerce navigation currency united state important part system recommend favorable consideration establishment propose line steamer new orleans vera cruz promise happy result cement friendship two republic extend reciprocal benefit trade manufacture report make know operation department past year gratifying find revenues department rate postage establish law rapidly increase gross amount postage last fiscal year amount exceed annual average receive nine year immediately precede passage act 3d march 1845 sum exceed amount receive year end 30th june 1847 sum expenditure year exclude sum allow congress last session individual claimant include sum pay service line steamer bremen new york amount less annual average nine year previous act 1845 mail route 30th day june last mile extent increase last year mile mails transport time mile make increase transportation year mile whilst expense less previous year increase mail transportation within last three year mile whilst expense reduce make increase service rate 15 per cent reduction expense 15 per cent past year employ contract department two ocean steamer convey mail monthly new york bremen one since october last perform semimonthly service charleston havana contract make transportation pacific mail across isthmus chagres panama authority give secretary navy three ocean steamer construct send pacific expect enter upon mail service panama oregon intermediate port 1st january next fourth engage service havana chagres regular monthly mail line keep time united state territory pacific notwithstanding great increase mail service revenue continue increase present year last receive near expenditure consideration satisfy certain modification act 1845 revenue may still increase reduction postage make uniform rate 5 cent without interference principle constantly properly enforce making department sustain system best mean diffuse intelligence among people much importance country extensive united state recommend favorable consideration suggestion improvement nothing retard onward progress country prevent u assume maintain first rank among nation disregard experience past recurrence unwise public policy close foreign war honorable peace war render necessary unavoidable vindication national right honor present condition country similar respect exist immediately close war great britain 1815 occasion deem proper one take retrospect measure public policy follow war period history departure earlier policy enlargement power federal government construction obtain warranted interpretation constitution year close war series measure adopt united combine constitute termed author advocate american system introduction new policy time favor condition country heavy debt contract war depression public credit derange state finance currency commercial pecuniary embarrassment extensively prevailed cause lead establishment event war great britain embarrassment attend prosecution leave mind many statesman impression government strong enough wield resource successfully great emergency especially war power concentrate hand increased power seek obtain legitimate prescribe mode amendment constitution construction saw government old world base upon different order society constitute throw whole power nation hand taxed control many without responsibility restraint arrangement conceive strength nation war consist also something fascinating ease luxury display high order draw wealth toil labor million author system draw ideas political economy witness europe particularly great britain view enormous wealth concentrate hand see splendor overgrown establishment aristocracy upheld restrictive policy forget look upon poor class english population upon whose daily yearly labor great establishment much admire sustain support fail perceive scantily feed operative abject poverty bound chain oppressive servitude benefit favored class exclusive object care government possible reconstruct society united state upon european plan write constitution order title recognize tolerated system measure therefore devise calculate intended withdraw power gradually silently state mass people construction approximate government european model substitute aristocracy wealth order title without reflect upon dissimilarity institution condition people europe conceive vain idea building united state system similar admire abroad great britain national bank large capital whose hand concentrate control monetary financial power nation institution wield almost kingly power exert vast influence upon operation trade upon policy government great britain enormous public debt become part public policy regard public blessing great britain also restrictive policy place fetter burden trade trammel productive industry mass nation combine system policy landlord property holder protect enriched enormous tax levy upon labor country advantage imitate foreign policy first step establish new system united state creation national bank foresee dangerous power countless evils institution might entail country perceive connection design form bank branch miscall american system feel embarrassment treasury business country consequent upon war statesman hold different sounder view induce yield scruple indeed settle conviction unconstitutionality give sanction expedient vainly hop might produce relief unfortunate error subsequent history final catastrophe dangerous corrupt institution abundantly prove bank numerous branch ramify state soon bring many active political commercial men different section country relation debtor dependent upon pecuniary favor thus diffuse throughout mass society great number individual power influence give tone public opinion act concert case emergency corrupt power political engine longer matter speculation display numerous instance signally political struggle 1832 1833 1834 opposition public represent fearless patriotic president bank one branch new system public debt exist disguise many author new system regard speedy payment essential public prosperity look upon continuance national evil whilst debt exist furnished aliment national bank render increased taxation necessary amount interest exceed annually operate harmony next branch new system high protective tariff afford bounty favor class particular pursuit expense others proposition tax whole people purpose enrich monstrous openly make scheme therefore veil plausible delusive pretext measure protect home industry many people time lead believe tax main fell upon labor benefit laborer pay branch system involve partnership government favor class former receive proceeds tax impose article import latter increase price similar article produce home cause tax obvious portion receive favored class would general rule increase proportion increase rate tax impose diminish rate reduce revenue standard require want government rate require produce sufficient revenue ordinary expenditure government necessary purpose likely give private partner scheme profit sufficient satisfy cupidity hence variety expedient pretexts resort purpose enlarge expenditure thereby create necessity keep high protective tariff effect policy interpose artificial restriction upon natural course business trade country advance interest large capitalist monopolist expense great mass people taxed increase wealth another branch system comprehensive scheme internal improvement capable indefinite enlargement sufficient swallow many million annually could exact foreign commerce country convenient necessary adjunct protective tariff great absorbent surplus might time accumulate treasury tax levy people necessary revenue purpose avow object afford protection favor class auxiliary end essential part system scheme later period obtain distribute proceeds sale public land among state expedient devise take money treasury prevent come source protective tariff author supporter system advocate large expenditures whether necessary useful purpose large expenditure great pretext high tax form protective duty several measure sustain popular name plausible argument thousand delude bank represent indispensable fiscal agent government equalize exchange regulate furnish sound currency always everywhere uniform value protective tariff give employment american labor advance price protect home industry furnish steady market farmer internal improvement bring trade every neighborhood enhance value every man property distribution land money enrich state finish public work plant school throughout border relieve taxation fact every dollar take treasury object much large sum transfer pocket people favor class carefully conceal also tendency ultimate design system build aristocracy wealth control mass society monopolize political power country several branch system intimately blend together operation sustain strengthened others joint operation add new burthen taxation encourage largely increase wasteful expenditure public money interest bank revenue collect disbursement make government large depository public money large amount great would bank profit use interest favor class enrich protective tariff rate protection high possible high rate great would advantage interest people section locality expect benefited expenditure internal improvement amount collect large possible end sum disburse might also large state beneficiary distribution land money interest rate tax impose protective tariff large enough yield sufficient revenue source meet want government without disturb take land fund branch constitute system common interest swell public expenditure direct interest maintain public debt unpaid increase amount would produce annual increase drain upon treasury amount interest render augment tax necessary operation necessary effect whole system encourage large extravagant expenditure thereby increase public patronage maintain rich splendid government expense tax impoverished people manifest scheme enlarge taxation expenditure continue prevail must soon converted government union intend framer plain cheap simple confederation state unite together common protection charge specific duty relate chiefly foreign affair consolidate empire deprive state reserve right people power control administration government manner whole form character government would change amendment constitution resort unwarrantable unauthorized construction instrument indirect mode levy tax duty import prevents mass people readily perceive amount pay enable thus enrich seek wield political power country deceive delude tax collect direct levy upon people case state could occur whole system resist inception many ablest statesman doubt constitutionality expediency others believe branch flagrant dangerous infraction constitution national bank protective tariff levy raise revenue need protection merely internal improvement distribution proceeds sale public land measure without warrant constitution would upon mature consideration seem clear remarkable one measure involve momentous consequence authorize express grant power constitution one incident necessary proper execution specific power grant constitution authority attempt justify derive inference construction constitution letter whole object design warrant conceive immense power would leave framer constitution mere inference doubtful construction intend confer federal government reasonable conclude would do plain unequivocal grant do whole structure american system consist reared good foundation force implication inference power author assume might deduce construction constitution urge national bank constitute essential branch combine system measure new measure constitutionality previously sanction bank chartered 1791 receive official signature president washington facts show weight precedent entitle bear upon question constitutionality great division opinion upon subject exist congress well know president washington entertain serious doubt constitutionality expediency measure bill official approval disapproval great doubt require opinion write member cabinet aid arrive decision cabinet give opinion divide upon subject general hamilton favor jefferson randolph oppose constitutionality expediency bank well know also president washington retain bill monday 14th present friday 25th february last moment permit constitution deliberate finally yield reluctant assent give signature certain late 23d february ninth day bill present arrive satisfactory conclusion day address note general hamilton informs bill present joint committee congress 12 clock monday 14th instant request opinion precise period legal interpretation constitution president retain possession become law lapse ten day proper construction day bill present president day action upon count inclusive time allow within would competent return house originate objection would expire thursday 24th february general hamilton day return answer state give opinion ten day exclusive bill deliver sunday hence present case return friday time construction president adopt gain another day deliberation 25th february sign bill thus afford conclusive proof last obtained consent sign without great almost insuperable difficulty additional light recently would upon serious doubt subject amount one time conviction duty withhold approval bill find among manuscript paper madison authorize purchase use government act last session congress first time accessible public paper appear president washington yet hold bank bill hand actually request madison time member house representative prepare draft veto message madison request prepare draft message send 21st february 1791 copy original draft madison handwrite carefully preserve among paper lately purchase congress precede note write sheet also madison handwrite follow february 21 copy paper make send president request ready case judgment finally decide bill incorporate national bank bill among objection assign paper bill submit consideration president follow object bill essential principle government power delegate constitution rightfully exercised power propose bill exercise expressly delegate satisfy result express power fair safe rule interpretation weight precedent bank 1791 sanction great name washington often invoked support greatly weaken development fact experiment bank satisfy country ought continue end twenty year congress refuse recharter would fortunate country save thousand bankruptcy ruin public men 1816 resist temporary pressure time upon financial pecuniary interest refuse charter second bank country become abundantly satisfy close twenty year duration case first bank also cease exist repeat blow president jackson reel fell subsequent attempt charter similar institution arrest veto president tyler madison yield signature charter 1816 upon ground respect due precedent subsequently declare bank united state though original question hold unconstitutional received executive signature probable neither bank 1791 1816 would charter embarrassment government finance derangement currency pecuniary pressure exist first consequence war revolution second consequence war 1812 resort delusive hope would restore public credit afford relief government business country public men oppose whole american system commencement throughout progress foresaw predict fraught incalculable mischief must result serious injury best interest country series year wise counsel unheeded system establish soon apparent practical operation unequal unjust upon different portion country upon people engage different pursuit equally entitle favor protection government foster elevate money power enrich favor tax labor expense many effect make rich rich poor poor tendency create distinction society base wealth give favor class undue control sway government organize money power resist popular sought shape control public policy pernicious working combine system measure country witness alternate season temporary apparent prosperity sudden disastrous commercial revulsion unprecedented fluctuation price depression great interest agriculture navigation commerce general pecuniary suffer final bankruptcy thousand severe struggle quarter century system overthrown bank succeed practical system finance conduct control solely government constitutional currency restore public credit maintain unimpaired even period foreign war whole country become satisfied bank national state necessary fiscal agent government revenue duty take place protective tariff distribution money derive sale public land abandon corrupt system internal improvement hop effectually check doubted whole train measure design take wealth many bestow upon prevail effect would change entire character government one danger remain seduction branch system consist internal improvement hold inducement people particular section locality embark government without stop calculate inevitable consequence branch system intimately combine link others surely effect produce adequate resuscitate revive firmly establish require sagacity foresee necessarily speedily draw reestablishment national bank revival protective tariff distribution land money postponement distant future payment present national debt annual increase entertain solemn conviction branch american system firmly resist time whole series measure compose speedily reestablish country throw back present high state prosperity exist policy produce destine witness evil commercial revulsion depression price pecuniary embarrassment pass last year guard consequence ruinous object high national importance involve judgment continue prosperity country felt imperative obligation withhold constitutional sanction two bill pass two house congress involve principle internal improvement branch american system conflict provision view express power confer upon president constitution three occasion administration executive department government deem duty exercise last occasion make congress annual communication state union deem inappropriate review principle consideration govern action deem necessary lapse nearly sixty year since adoption constitution propriety exercise undoubted constitutional power president first time drawn seriously question portion constitution provide every bill shall pass house representative senate shall become law presented president united state approve shall sign shall return objection house shall originate shall enter objection large journal proceed reconsider preservation constitution infraction president high duty bound discharge duty whatever hazard incur displeasure may differ opinion bound discharge well obligation people clothe exalted trust oath office may disregard obligation president degree lessen prevalence view different one house congress alone hasty inconsiderate legislation require check time congress shall apparently full deliberation resolve measure deem subversive constitution vital interest country solemn duty stand breach resist president bound approve disapprove every bill pass congress presented signature constitution make duty escape would election decide upon bill present must exercise best judgment approve constitution command return bill house originate objection fail within ten day sundays except shall become law without signature right wrong may overrule vote house event bill become law without sanction objection thus overrule subject postpone referred state people consideration decision president power negative merely affirmative enact law effect therefore withhold approval bill pass congress suffer exist law remain unchanged delay occasion require enable state people consider act upon subject election public agent carry wish instruction attempt coerce president yield sanction measure approve would violation spirit constitution palpable flagrant successful would break independence executive department make president elect people clothe constitution power defend right mere instrument majority congress surrender part power constitution invest office would effect practical alteration instrument without resort prescribed process amendment motif consideration may induce congress pas bill president nothing must presume pure look practical effect measure compare constitution public good urged object exercise undoubted constitutional power assails representative principle capacity people govern great safety numerous representative body single executive create constitution executive veto power despotic character expose fallacy objection necessary consider frame true character system consolidated empire confederate union state adoption constitution coordinate separate independent sovereignty adoption lose character clothe federal government certain power reserve others include sovereignty guard right state right people limitation incorporate federal constitution whereby different department general government check upon majority govern general principle controvert none must govern accord constitution accord undefined unrestrained discretion whereby may oppress minority people united state blind fact may temporarily mislead representative legislative executive may mistake influenced action improper motif therefore interpose law may pass public agent various representation assembly senates governor several state house representative senate president united state people direct agency make law house representative immediately elect senate together without concurrence president vote house happily people frame admirable system government conscious infirmity representative delegate power legislation fence around check guard effect hasty action error combination possible corruption error selfishness faction often seek rend asunder web check subject government control fanatic sinister influence effort satisfy people wisdom check impose necessity preserve unimpaired true theory system govern act decree one set representative constitution interpose check upon branch government order give time error correct delusion pas away people settle firm conviction different representative give effect opinion change public servant check people impose public servant adoption constitution best evidence capacity know men elect public station like infirmity passion trust without restricted coordinate authority constitutional limitation witness legislation congress last thirty year say know instance measure demand public good carry deny state government combination individual section derogation general interest bank charter system internal improvement adopt debt entail upon people repress growth impair energy year come much experience say absolute unchecked power safe hand one set representative capacity people admit broad extent conclusive argument prove prudence wisdom integrity representative people constitution command president much command legislative branch government execute say constitution require shall take solemn oath support congress pas bill approve shall return house originated objection withhold approval signature execute people constitutionally express much congress pass bill presume accordance popular shall pass branch government require constitution make law bill pass house representative may reject senate bill pass senate may reject house case respective house exercise veto power congress house congress hold constitution check upon president power qualify veto check upon congress president recommend measure congress avows solemn form opinion give voice favor pledge advance approve passed congress act without due consideration influence improper corrupt motif congress either house congress shall differ opinion exercise veto upon recommendation reject appeal decision people ballot box proper check upon executive wisely interposed constitution none find object wish remove equally important constitutional check executive upon legislative branch preserve say representative popular branch congress choose directly people answer people elect president house represent state people president president represent executive department whole people united state member legislative department represent portion doctrine restriction upon legislative executive power public opinion enable within reasonable time accomplish end make country open u career glory happiness nation stranger exercise power veto president responsible enlighten public opinion people whole union elect representative legislative branch differ opinion responsible people particular state district compose respective constituency deny president exercise power would repeal provision constitution confers upon charge exercise unduly control legislative complain constitution presidential veto object upon ground check thwart popular upon principle equality representation state senate stricken constitution vote senator delaware equal weight decide upon important measure vote senator new york yet one represent state contain accord exist apportionment representative house representative one part population constitutional composition senate majority body small state represent less people union thirty state exist apportionment representative 230 member house representative sixteen small state represent house 50 member yet senator state constitute majority senate president may recommend measure congress may receive sanction approval house representative senator large state contain whole population unite state yet measure may defeat vote senator small state none presume find ready change organization senate account strike body practically existence require action shall conform numerous branch upon principle veto president practically abolish power give casting vote upon equal division senate abolish also exercise veto power effectually reject bill cast vote president refuse approve sign power exercise instance important rejection bill recharter bank unite state 1811 may happen bill may pass large majority house representative may support senator large state may reject give vote senator small state yet none presume prepared deny exercise power constitution point fact untrue act pass congress conclusive evidence emanation popular majority whole number elect house congress constitute quorum majority quorum competent pas law might happen quorum house representative consist single member half whole number elect house might pass bill majority single vote case fraction people united state would represent vote might happen bill might pass majority one quorum senate compose senator fifteen small state single senator sixteenth state senator vote happen eight small state would pass vote senator state fourteen representative house representative contain less whole population unite state extreme case state illustrate fact mere passage bill congress conclusive evidence pass represent majority people united state truly reflect extreme case likely happen case approximate constant occurrence believe single law pass since adoption constitution upon member elect house present vote many important act pass congress carry close vote thin house many instance might give indeed experience prof many important act congress postpone last day often last hour session dispose haste house little exceed number necessary form quorum besides state member house representative choose plurality majority voter respective district may happen majority house may return less aggregate vote people receive minority principle insist sound constitution change bill shall become law unless voted member represent house majority whole people united state must remodel whole system strike abolish salutary check lodge executive branch must strike abolish lodge senate also thus practically invest whole power government majority single assembly majority uncontrolled absolute may become despotic conform doctrine right majority rule independent check limitation constitution must revolutionize whole system must destroy constitutional compact several state agree form federal union rush consolidation must end monarchy despotism one advocate proposition yet doctrine maintain carry must lead result one great object constitution confer upon president qualify negative upon legislation congress protect minority injustice oppression majority equality representation senate veto power president constitutional guaranty small state right respect without guaranty interest would mercy majority congress represent large state small weak state therefore preservation power exercise upon proper occasion demand vital importance ratify constitution enter union secure equal representation large state senate agree bound law pass congress upon express condition none approve president pass objection contrary notwithstanding vote house upon condition right insist part compact give assent bill might pass congress whole people particular state vote senators representative however prejudicial might interest state would bind president shall approve shall pass vote house right demand president shall exercise constitutional power arrest judgment surrender power fail exercise case approve would make formal approval mere mockery would violation constitution dissent state would become bound law pass accord sanction constitution objection exercise veto power found upon idea respect popular carry would annihilate state sovereignty substitute present federal government consolidation direct supposed numerical majority revolution government would silently effect state would subject law never give constitutional consent supreme court unite state invested power declare declare act congress pass concurrence senate house representative approval president unconstitutional void yet none presume find disposed strip high judicial tribunal constitution acknowledge power power necessary alike independence right individual reason executive veto accord doctrine maintain rendered nugatory practically expunge constitution power court also render nugatory expunged restrains legislative executive exercise power court may regard conflict capacity people govern indeed reason strike power court constitution qualify veto president decision court final never reverse even though house congress president unanimous opposition whereas veto president may overrule vote house congress people poll obvious preserve system establish constitution coordinate branch government executive legislative judicial must leave exercise appropriate power executive judicial branch deprive power confer upon either check legislative preponderance latter become disproportionate absorb others impotent accomplishment great object establish organize constitution work together harmoniously public good executive judiciary shall deprive constitutional power invest due proportion equilibrium system must destroy consolidation pernicious result must ensue consolidation unchecked despotic power exercise majority legislative branch executive legislative judicial constitutes separate coordinate department government independent others performance respective duty constitution neither legitimate action control others act upon several responsibility respective sphere doctrine maintain correct executive must become practically subordinate legislative judiciary must become subordinate legislative executive thus whole power government would merge single department whenever ever shall occur glorious system crumble ruin succeed first anarchy finally monarchy despotism far believe doctrine sentiment american people short period remain duty administer executive department aim maintain independence discharge duty without infringe upon power duty either department government power executive veto exercise first illustrious predecessor four successor precede administration government believe instance prejudicially public interest never little danger ever abuse president ever desire unnecessarily place opinion opposition congress must always exercise power reluctantly case conviction make matter stern duty escape indeed danger president repugnance must always feel come collision congress may fail exercise case preservation constitution infraction public good may demand ever exercise unnecessarily wantonly period administer executive department government great important question public policy foreign domestic arisen upon duty act may indeed truly say administration fall upon eventful time felt sensibly weight high responsibility devolve upon object public good enduring fame permanent prosperity country pursue conviction best judgment impartial arbitrament enlighten public opinion present future determine far public policy maintain measure time time recommend may tend advance retard public prosperity home elevate depress estimate national character abroad invoking blessing almighty upon deliberation present important session ardent hope spirit harmony concord may guide wise result may redound happiness honor glory beloved country